Food Retailing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Food Retailing - Research Paper Example Cereal forms an important part of the food industry. Kellogg contains cereal like fiber and whole grain. Cereals are the world’s most important sources of food industry. US is the largest production of cereals, the average production per 1000 metric tons in the US is 334,554 in the year 2001. The output of cereal globally is expected to be 2219 million tons in the year 2009, 2008 experienced a decreased by 3% (UN News, â€Å"UN News Centre†). Agricultural production Food marketing Value added components The value added components of the product Kellogg’s consists of some important cereals which are essential is day to day of life for all age group. Kellogg consists of cereals like whole grains, fiber, minerals and vitamins. Main ingredients and define The main ingredients in Kellogg’s contain fiber, whole grain, vitamins and minerals. Fiber is considered to be healthy for hearts. A diet which is high in fiber ensures all around wellness of the family. Acco rding to the Institute of Medicine, recommendation on fiber is mainly based on age and gender. But it seems like people fall short to achieve the goals as most of the people are losing out the benefits of fiber such as promoting good digestive and keeping the heart healthy. Therefore in order to help the people to overcome such issues, Kellogg have introduced delicious cereals such as All-Bran, Corn pops, Raisin Bran and other such products which aims to provide good and excellent sources of fiber (Kellogg’s, â€Å"Nutrition†). Whole grain has been defined by American Association of Cereal Chemists also known as A.A.C.C., whole grain consists of ground, intact, flaked or cracked whose main components i.e. anatomical components includes the germ, bran and starchy endosperm which are present in the same proportion as in intact caryopsis (Marquart & McIntosh, p.138) . Supply Chain Manufacturing/ processing The Supply chain encompasses all the activities which are associat ed with the transformation and flow of the goods from raw materials to the end users. In the global supply chain management the manufacturing and distribution facilities are scattered all around the world. Figure 1: Supply Chain of Cereals (Source: Radrigue, â€Å"The Geography of Transport Systems†) Storage/ Delivery The above figure explains the supply chain process that takes place in case of cereals. The cereals are processed and manufactured and then they are stored and distributed on to the stores. The cereals are packaged properly with proper label and then they are transported to the retailers. Supply chain of the company Kellogg’s is a well known brand and delivers all the essential requirements for the day to day activities of life through its product. The business primarily focuses on creation of profit but also keeping the environmental and social impact to a high importance. Kellogg’s believes that by acting responsible through supply chain through which the company aims to reduce energy as well as emission in the manufacturing and also distribution and improving the packaging of the product. Kellogg’s supply chain consists of three sectors which are the primary, secondary and the tertiary sector. The process includes a range of agencies which includes the quality, research, sales, purchasing, distribution and transport. As an essential part of the

Marian Halcombe Between Genders And Gender Roles

Marian Halcombe Between Genders And Gender Roles According to Lyn Pykett most of Collinss novels explored the way in which gender roles were constructed, and, at the same time, explored various pressures for and anxieties about changes in gender roles in the mid-nineteenth century (2005: 128) and offered a critique of the class and gender hierarchies of Victorian society (2005: 223). The Woman in White is one of those novels to which Pykett referred to and Collins uses his unconventional heroine Marian Halcombe to serve his purposes. In this chapter I want to show that Marians unconventionality resides in the way she looks and behaves and that this allows Collins to challenge gender roles and that she is used to blur gender boundaries. The novel begins with Walter Hartrights words This is the story of what a Womans patience can endure, and what a Mans resolution can achieve. (Collins 1) After a first reading of the novel these words will prove he is an unreliable narrator at least, if not a man who consciously wants to mislead the readers into thinking that a woman is only passive and must endure and that only a man is strong and capable of great deeds, when this is not always the case, especially in this novel. I say this because throughout the novel there are male characters that must have patience and endure and female characters that are resolute and active. For instance, Sir Percival must have patience if he wants to get in possession of his wifes money and Count Fosco constantly reminds him of that patience, Percival -patience. Youre always talking of patience' (Collins 285). Marian Halcombe, although a woman, has resolution Miss Halcombe cut the knot of the little embarrassment forthwith, in her resolute, d ownright way (Collins 42) and throughout the novel her resolution will recommend her as a powerful woman as I will show later on in this chapter. His words can be interpreted as reflecting the Victorian ideology of the separate gender roles for women and men. However, I argue that these words are not fully illustrative for the content of the novel and for its characters because of Marian Halcombe and what she represents in the economy of the novel. What she does shows that a woman is not always patient and enduring but can be also resolute. Marian Halcome whose far more interesting character represents the only significant variation on business-as-usual in the novels gynaeceum (Miller 176) is portrayed from the beginning of the novel as being between the genders in the sense that her physical description shows she is both masculine and feminine (Pykett 2005:126). From her description it can be seen that at this point in the narrative that her femininity resides in the beauty of her body and her masculinity in the traits of her face. Walter Hartright describes her and his contradictory reactions thus Her figure was tall, yet not too tall; comely and well-developed, yet not fat; her head set on her shoulders with an easy, pliant firmness; her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) The ladys complexion was almost swarthy, and the dark down on her upper lip was almost a moustache She had a large, firm, masculine mouth and jaw; prominent, piercing, resolute brown eyes; and thick, coal-black hair, growing unusually low down on her forehead (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦)To see such a face as this set on shoulders that a sculptor would have longed to modelto be charmed by the modest graces of action through which the symmetrical limbs betrayed their beauty when they moved, and then to be almost repelled by the masculine form and masculine look of the features in which the perfectly shaped figure endedwas to feel a sensation oddly akin to the helpless discomfort familiar to us all in sleep, when we recognise yet cannot reconcile the anomalies and contradictions of a dream. (Collins 24-25) As Sophia Andres well remarks Walters conventional expectation of femininity is unsettled by the disjunction of femininity with masculinity (371) when he first sees Marian and his reaction could have been the reaction of any other Victorian that had fixed conceptions about the way a woman had to look like but I argue that Collins mocked in a way the gendered expectations of Victorians when he created Marian and showed that women are not all the same and that masculinity can characterize a woman too and not only a man. Her sister Laura makes an indirect remark about her masculine face when she returns from her honeymoon and exclaims that she missed her own dear, dark, clever, gipsy-face (Collins 188). Talking about Marians description Valerie Pedlar notes that Walter finds himself face to face with a lady who is not at all easy to categorize and who falls outside conventional literary or social models (76) My opinion is that it is precisely because she cannot be categorized by the con ventional society of the age that she can be seen as expressing Collinss contempt for the Victorian gender norms and gender definitions. Apart from her masculine face she has other masculine physical traits of which she is aware My hands always were, and always will be, as awkward as a mans (Collins 204) because they are big. Another remark that she makes about herself and that implies she is aware of her masculinity is that made when she tries to stop herself from crying because she says My tears do not flow so easily as they ought they come almost like mens tears, with sobs that seem to tear me in pieces, and that frighten every one about me (Collins 144). When she makes choices about her personal items she intentionally highlights her masculine side because from Laura we learn that she has a horrid heavy mans umbrella with which she always would walk out with when it rained (Collins 188).Her personal choices like that of having a mans umbrella instead of a smaller womans umbrella show that she disregard the etiquette of the time and this furthermore implies that her wishes are more important for her than what other s think is right for a woman to do. One would think that a discussion about the fact that she has a heavy mans umbrella is not very illustrative for the subject of this chapter but the fact that it is heavy shows that Marian has physical strength and since women in that period were considered fragile mentally, morally and physically and she is a woman, again points to one conclusion: Victorian gender expectations are flouted. According to Carolyn Oulton her masculinity is initially signaled in the references to physical traits such as facial hair (84) but throughout the novel instances when she is seen as masculine and treated like if she were a man and when she behaves in a masculine way occur. Masculinity is associated with physical and mental strength and Marian possesses these qualities that lastly make those who know her realize she is unique. One of these persons is Eliza Michelson who said to Laura when she realized that Marian had disappeared from Blackwater Park despite the fact she was ill Remember, my lady, what surprising energy there is in Miss Halcombeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She might well make an effort which other ladies in her situation would be unfit for (Collins 344). She is an extraordinary woman and without doubt people notice that. Count Fosco is surely the one person who most sees how different she is from other women and admires her despite all her masculine traits. He says to Percival when they talk about how to get in possession of Lauras money She is sharp enough to suspect something, and bold enough to come downstairs and listen, if she can get the chance. (Collins 285) Can you look at Miss Halcombe and not see that she has the foresight and the resolution of a man? With that woman for my friend I would snap these fingers of mine at the world. With that woman for my enemy, I, with all my brains and experienceI, Fosco, cunning as the devil himself, as you have told me a hundred timesI walk, in your English phrase, upon egg-shells! And this grand creatureI drink her health in my sugar-and-waterthis grand creature, who stands in the strength of her love and her courage, firm as a rock, between us two and that poor, flimsy, pretty blonde wife of yoursthis magnificent woman, whom I admire with all my soul, though I oppose her in your interests and in mine, you drive to extremities as if she was no sharper and no bolder than the rest of her sex. (Collins 291) He acknowledges her as a powerful enemy because she is resolute, courageous and intelligent as a man but he is also capable of seeing her as a feminine woman and this furthermore makes him admire her. After reading her diary he states Admirable woman! I allude to Miss Halcombe. Stupendous effort! I refer to the Diary. Yes! These pages are amazing. The tact which I find here, the discretion, the rare courage, the wonderful power of memory, the accurate observation of character, the easy grace of style, the charming outbursts of womanly feeling, have all inexpressibly increased my admiration of this sublime creature, of this magnificent Marian (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) Under happier circumstances how worthy I should have been of Miss Halcombehow worthy Miss Halcombe would have been of ME. The sentiments which animate my heart assure me that the lines I have just written express a Profound Truth. (Collins 302-303) He not only praises her for all that she is and does but he also seems to declare his love for her. He considers himself powerful, courageous as I am by nature (Collins 545) and intelligent and she being an unparalleled woman as he himself observed, could have been the perfect match for him precisely because of her strong nature. They are very much alike. She is the first and last weakness of Foscos life (Collins 556). What Collins seems to suggest through Count Foscos voice who does not blame Marian for not being as feminine as women have to be but on the contrary is that such atypical Victorian women as her should be acknowledged in their society although they undermine mens domination. Not only Count Fosco realizes that she has things in common with men and admires her. Walter Hartright says about her She caught me by both handsshe pressed them with the strong, steady grasp of a man à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She stopped, drew me nearer to herthe fearless, noble creature (Collins 107). The same Count Fosco who talked about Marian in such admiring terms had talked previously in terms that express the mentality of the time about ways in which men can rule women and about resolution that is characteristic of men and that women cannot possess. After reading what he later on says about Marian and after all the instances when she uses her resolution it is clear that Marian does not fail in resolution and that again conventional ideas of the time do not fully apply in her case. Human ingenuity, my friend, has hitherto only discovered two ways in which a man can manage a woman. One way is to knock her downa method largely adopted by the brutal lower orders of the people, but utterly abhorrent to the refined and educated classes above them. The other way (much longer, much more difficult, but in the end not less certain) is never to accept a provocation at a womans hands. It holds with animals, it holds with children, and it holds with women, who are nothing but children grown up. Quiet resolution is the one quality the animals, the children, and the women all fail in. If they can once shake this superior quality in their master, they get the better of HIM. If they can never succeed in disturbing it, he gets the better of THEM (Collins 291) Although Marian has manly impulses like that of hitting Sir Percival I started to my feet as suddenly as if he had struck me. If I had been a man, I would have knocked him down on the threshold of his own door, and have left his house, never on any earthly consideration to enter it again. But I was only a womanand I loved his wife so dearly! (Collins 218) and Count Fosco, My hands tingled to strike him, as if I had been a man! (Collins 495) she refrains herself because she knows that a violent act would do her no good as she is in neither cases in the position of gaining anything from hitting them. Often, her transgressions of gender roles are made with the purpose of protecting her sister and in the first case if she strikes Sir Percival she risks being thrown out from his house leaving her sister unprotected from his villainies and in the second case the situation is the same, she risks leaving her sister unprotected and alone as Walter is not in the city to stay with her. With all her transgressions her options as a woman are limited and being a man would have certainly opened up more possibilities for her. When she arrives at Blackwater Park she waits impatiently for her sisters arrival from her honeymoon and she affirms If I only had the privileges of a man, I would order out Sir Percivals best horse instantly, and tear away on a night-gallop, eastward, to meet the rising sun () Being, however, nothing but a woman, condemned to patience, propriety, and petticoats for life, I must respect the house- keepers opinions, and try to compose myself in some feeble and feminine way. (Collins 174) The last sentence describes the condition of middle-class women in Victorian England, condemned to a domestic existence but these are not necessarily her own words expressing her beliefs and opinions because she says that she must respect the housekeepers opinions and the fact that she mentions this thing makes me interpret what she says as being the ironical rendering of the housekeepers words. Marian is glad when some people around her, for example Count Fosco, see her masculine side and treat her differently than they would treat a conventional Victorian woman He flatters my vanity by talking to me as seriously and sensibly as if I was a man (Collins 197). Not all who meet her treat her like Count Fosco and there is an amusing moment with a school teacher that thinks she is as traditional Victorian woman, therefore weak and who tries to protect her from a shock. Instead of being grateful she is ironical and the answer to his attitude shows that she is not satisfied when people treat her as a weak woman I beg your pardon, Miss Halcombe, interposed the school-master a little uneasilybut I think you had better not question the boy. The obstinate folly of his story is beyond all belief; and you might lead him into ignorantly- Ignorantly what? inquired Miss Halcombe sharply. Ignorantly shocking your feelings, said Mr. Dempster, looking very much discomposed. Upon my word, Mr. Dempster, you pay my feelings a great compliment in thinking them weak enough to be shocked by such an urchin as that! She turned with an air of satirical defiance to little Jacob, and began to question him directly. (Collins 72- 73) On the other hand, although she is not satisfied when people think she is a weak person she herself has moments of weakness. Those moments attest she is feminine too. After the discussion with Laura, during which Laura said she was going to marry Sir Percival after all, she starts to cry The tearsmiserable, weak, womens tears of vexation and rage started to my eyes. She smiled sadly, and put her handkerchief over my face to hide for me the betrayal of my own weaknessthe weakness of all others which she knew that I most despised (Collins 159). She despises weak people and tries to hide her own weakness. She tends to believe that it is the fact that she is only a woman (Collins 529) and has a womans body that makes her weak and that this weakness is not representative for who she really is inside. Her femininity is not as accentuated as her masculinity but without a doubt it is a part of who she is too and she learns to accept it. After she moves with Laura and Walter she has to take c are of the household and she says to Walter What a womans hands ARE fit for, she said, early and late, these hands of mine shall do. They trembled as she held them out (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) the unquenchable spirit of the woman burnt bright in her even yet. I saw the big tears rise thick in her eyes, and fall slowly over her cheeks as she looked at me. She dashed them away with a touch of her old energy, and smiled with a faint reflection of her old good spirits. Dont doubt my courage, Walter, she pleaded, its my weakness that cries, not ME. The house-work shall conquer it if I cant. (Collins 390) Although moments like the one mentioned in the last paragraph that show her femininity are not as many as those that show her masculinity they exist in the novel. For example, in the beginning of the novel Walter is shocked to see she has masculine qualities and he expects her to have an inexpressive facial expression like that of a man and to have the voice of a man too but he is pleased to see that her dark face lighting up with a smile, and softening and growing womanly the moment she began to speak (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) These odd words of welcome were spoken in a clear, ringing, pleasant voice (Collins 25). Also, she dresses in a feminine way. Walter notices when he looks at her, Mrs. Vesey and Laura that she is richly clad with delicate primrose-yellow colour which matches so well with a dark complexion and black hair (Collins 44). When she prepares to spy on Count Fosco and Sir Percival she says that A complete change in my dress was imperatively necessary for many reasons () In my ordinary evening costume I took up the room of three men at least (Collins 287). When Walter asks her if she would write to him after he leaves Limmeridge House her dark eyes glitteredher brown complexion flushed deepthe force and energy of her face glowed and grew beautiful with the pure inner light of her generosity and her pity (Collins 107) showing that despite her masculine face she is capable of having womanly feelings. Another moment when her femininity is revealed is when she talks with Walter about telling Laura that her husband died and Walter notices that An unaccustomed tenderness trembled in her dark eyes and softened her firm lips, as she glanced aside at the empty chair in which the dear companion of all our joys and sorrows had been sitting (Collins 499). She has a robust physicality (Oulton 85) but her body has its limits and because of that she has to give up doing things despite herself like the moment when she wants to go and look for Laura after talking with Count Fosco who told her she does not have to sign Sir Percivals act my head was giddy and my knees trembled under me. There was no choice but to give it up again and return to the sofa, sorely against my will (Collins 244). The limitations of her body show again her femininity. From the beginning of the novel she makes mean and sarcastic remarks about women herself included. For example, she says to the puzzled Walter Hartright that How can you expect four women to dine together alone every day, and not quarrel? We are such fools, we cant entertain each other at table. You see I dont think much of my own sex, Mr. Hartright (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) no woman does think much of her own sex, although few of them confess it as freely as I do (Collins 25-26). Her words can be interpreted as showing her disappointment for the way women behave. I opinion that at the same they show she tends to have misogynistic views on women. Normally misogyny is associated with men and in this case her words furthermore show that she is masculine too. She observes his bewilderment and continues I will give you some tea to compose your spirits, and do all a woman can (which is very little, by-the-bye) to hold my tongue (Collins26) The irony is that she does not hold her tongue but on the contrary so her remark is somehow sarcastic attacking the ideology of separate gender roles. After she says this Walter remark that she was laughing gaily (Collins 26) so this sustains what I have just said. Other examples of remarks about women coming from her are Women cant draw-their minds are too flighty, and their eyes are too inattentive (Collins 27), Women, as everybody knows, constantly act on impulses which they cannot explain even to themselves (Collins 227) and Women can resist a mans love, a mans fame, a mans personal appearance, and a mans money, but they cannot resist a mans tongue when he knows how to talk to them ( Collins 228). According to Lyn Pykett she does not think much of either sex (Collins 126) and her affirmation is confirmed by Marians words about men No man under heaven deserves these sacrifices from us women (Collins 159). The same Lyn Pykett sustains that Collins uses Marians proto-feminist pronouncements and her active involvement in rescuing Laura and helping Walter to restore her half-sisters identity as a way of questioning and challenging current gender roles (Collins 126). In the light of the matters discussed in this chapter it is clear that these instances named by Pykett are not the only ones when Collins challenges gender roles. Another instance when gender roles are clearly challenged is when Marian disregards all the rules of proper womanly behaviour and spies on Count Fosco and Sir Percival staying on the roof of a verandah. Throughout the novel she is active and helps Walter not only by doing different activities that are not typical for a woman in the Victorian period but also by giving him advices that are helpful and that determine him to trust her. In an age when few middle-class women had the power to act against the gender norms and defy the hierarchy of gender roles of their society she is one such example of woman who behaves differently than expected and when for example she fails to express her opinion as she usually does people around her are astonished. Such a situation is when asked by Mr. Gilmore to say whether they should trust Sir Percival when he said that Anne Catherick was taken by him to the asylum with the permission of her mother she says nothing and his reaction is resolute, clear-minded Miss Halcombe was the very last person in the world whom I should have expected to find shrinking from the expression of an opinion of her own (Collins 117). According to Lilian Craton the dark and ugly qualities of Marians physical appearance defy the feminine ideal but enable her strong sense of individuality as do the masculine personality traits (133). I agree with her but I would also add that her feminine qualities should not be disregarded. Marian is not defined exclusively by the masculine but by the masculine and the feminine at the same time and the fact that she is a combination of these two is what make her unique. By presenting her as being between genders Collins subverts traditional Victorian gender definitions. She fails to comply with contemporary gender roles and as a consequence she affirms her individuality.

The Portrayal of War in On the Idle Hill and The Destruction of Sennach

The Portrayal of War in On the Idle Hill and The Destruction of Sennacherib The structure of these 2 poems are similar but comparisons can be made between "On the idle hill" and "The destruction of Sennacherib" Although the content is similar the title, tone, language, devices, structure and punctuation are very different. In the early 1800's when Byron wrote "The destruction of Sennacherib" a large war campaign was occurring; The Napoleonic Wars. The wars surrounding him would effect his view on war. In the late 1800's when Housman wrote "On the idle hill", no major battle was occurring. However, ironically within 20 years of this poem more "lads" were being sent to the slaughter in World War One. The titles of the two poems are very different. "On the idle hill" portrays a very passive image, whereas "Destruction of Sennacherib" is very active. Byron's poem is a stereotype of war. The title shows action and it brings a sense of all encompassing. Whereas "On the idle hill" shows laziness as "idle" personifies the hill making the start of the poem peaceful and natural. This image contradicts war, which is very ironic. The two poems by Byron and Housman portray war. "On the idle hill" is a very natural affair. "The Destruction of Sennacherib" is a very violent and graphic event. Both of the poems show the beginning and the end of the battle and misses out the actual war. This firstly leaves the battle to the readers imagination so it can be interpreted differently, and secondly it makes the reader concentrate of the consequences. Although Byron's poem doesn't show the battle it has a brutal and horrific image of the aftermath, "the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf." This makes the battle s... ...ay. "On the Idle hill" finishes with two war instruments calling back from the battle. This may be reflecting back to the initial dreamy state. When it says, 'woman bore me, I will rise' it can be read in many different ways. It can be read into as a warning that war may rise again because it is inevitable. Or it can alternatively be read as there being a female influence in nature that will rise up. Altogether it is a positive ending that shows Humanity versus evil. "The Destruction of Sennacherib" has a very religious ending. It ends with the all the soldiers dead. God killed the Assyrians because they killed the holy people. There is a strong reference to nature that may be a reference to God, 'Hath melted like snow'. Both of the poems are ended extremely differently, "On the idle hill" is optimistic and "Destruction of Sennacherib" is pessimistic.

Is Lady Macbeth More Ambitious Than Macbeth Essay

Lady Macbeth has more ambition than Macbeth. When Lady Macbeth has received the letter from her husband, Macbeth, telling her about the three witches’ prophecies and the future king Macbeth, she decides to make it come true immediately. Macbeth who is loyal man and unwilled at first, but unfortunately gets convinced by Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is cold-blooded person as she thinks to regicide Duncan right after reading Macbeth’s letter. In the other hand, Macbeth is a brave soldier, a powerful man and also shows great loyalty. â€Å"I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none,† meaning that it is the power to put responsibility before selfishness. It tells us that Macbeth is too generous to kill King Duncan without good enough reason. He is born loyal. However Lady Macbeth convinced Macbeth to commit a dark act. He became indecisive and confused which eventually lead him to murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth would do anything to fulfil her ambition where Macbeth has ambition but he is indecisive and afraid of the consequence that will come after murder of Duncan. She is stubborn because she encourages Macbeth to regicide. When Macbeth backs out, refusing to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth accuses Macbeth for being a coward. She also says he is not a man if he doesn’t murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth assures him that they won’t fail if they have courage. Definitely this is not exactly true and never right. This shows Lady Macbeth is desperate to fulfil her needs. Macbeth is the one who kills King Duncan and he is the one who goes mad over his ambition. Macbeth is the one who decides to murder everyone who he thinks it will be a threat in the future. It is clearly not Macbeth’s fault that made him mad over power. The three witches are responsible as well but Lady Macbeth is the reason that made Macbeth chooses to decide Duncan and fulfil his needs. The fact that Macbeth was unwilling to murder King Duncan showed us that he has the ambition but knows what is right or wrong. He was brave, smart and showed real loyalty in the beginning of the act and at the end where he regrets all his actions. And later in the act, Macbeth wishes that Lady Macbeth was still alive so he could blame her for all the actions. Lady Macbeth’s ambition is almost opposite to Macbeth’s. She is the type of person who is willing to achieve anything to fulfil her ambition. Lady Macbeth is the one who made all situations possible and it shows us that Lady Macbeth clearly has more ambition than Macbeth.

A Moral Evaluation of Child Labor in the Philippines

A Moral Evaluation of Child Labor in the Philippines in the Perspective of Immanuel Kant’s Second Formulation of Categorical Imperative- Formula of End Itself Introduction Children are the prime movers of the country. They are very much endowed with so much potentialities in which may contribute for the betterment of the many. They are indeed really important in everybody’s life not only of their own family but also of their fellow human persons. Every person including the child must be respected and valued in virtue of his/her being a human person.Thus, children must and necessarily be treasured by valuing their own dignity as human persons capable of rationalizing for the betterment of the future. However, in the Philippines; most of the children in the past and even until now are being exploited in many different ways. Every child in this country is somehow is in the state of danger because the child may be abused at anytime, anywhere, and of anyone. Evidently, Phili ppines is a young country by which most of the people are composed of youth and/or children. By this, Philippines is very vulnerable to any forms of child exploitation.Similarly, one of the most evident forms of child exploitation in the Philippines is the child labor. Child labor is prevalent in the Philippine society. It should be noted that children are abused by forcing them to bare labor at their very young age. They are supposed to be in the classroom to learn and become educated but because of child labor they could be seen in many places working to earn a living. Because of child labor, it is evidently that children at their very young age are dehumanized. Their own inherent dignity has been taken away from them and thus makes children as objects of exploitation.Moreover, the researcher has decided to conduct a study on this matter to find out the reality of this phenomenon. The researcher wants to assess the morality of child labor in the Philippines and to see its moral im plications to other moral agents. Through the aid of Immanuel Kant’s ethical concept, the researcher may find philosophical and moral basis of child labor. The philosophy of Kant particularly his Categorical Imperative and it second formulation- Formula of end itself- will be applied in the subject matter.Library research, internet surfing, journals, and other sources related to the study will be used to achieve the main objectives. By this, the study is reliable and substantial in nature. The substantiality of the study focuses on the child labor in the Philippines. Body The Categorical Imperative Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative clearly states that â€Å"act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law† (Kant, 1964, p. 88).By this very definition of categorical imperative, Kant contends that morality involves universality and necessity. That is, morality should be applicable to all, and the action m ust and necessarily be done. Kant distinguishes between two imperatives- categorical and hypothetical. The latter for Kant cannot be the standard of morality since it only applies to some and thus cannot be universalized. It comes to man’s selfish inclination since it is only a â€Å"necessary as a means to the attainment of something else that one wills† (Kant, 1964, p. 2) and therefore this cannot be accepted. On the one hand, categorical imperative derive from rational inclination where in reason is that which makes the categorical imperative universal. For Kant, categorical imperative is based on human reason because it must be â€Å"entirely a priori, since here we do not enjoy the advantage of having its reality given in experience and so if being obliged merely to explain, and not to establish, its possibility† (Kant, 1964, p. 87).This, however, does not mean that Kant totally rejected the consequence of any action to determine whether the action is moral ly right or wrong but he only emphasize the rational faculty of man to act morally which is universal and necessary. Kant further expound his moral philosophy by presenting the four formulations derive from categorical imperative but only the second formulation shall be discussed in the succeeding section because it is the focal point which is needed in the study, formula of end itself. Formula of End ItselfThis second formula of Kant stresses the value of human person. It states that â€Å"act in such a way that you will always treat humanity whether in your own person or in the person of any other never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end† (Kant, 1964, p. 96). In this formula, Kant argues that any person should not be used as a mere tool or instrument for the attainment of something else. Every human person then has inherent value regardless of his/her culture, physical stature, nationality, and the like. Thus, every human person has dignity.He added, h uman person should not be used as a mean because of the person’s rationality. It is his/her rational faculty that which makes man a man and thus should be respected and developed further. Human person is always treated as end because his/her â€Å"rational nature exists as an end in itself† (Kant, 1964, p. 96). Kant explains his contention about man’s inherent dignity by distinguishing inherent value from instrumental value. The latter primarily are the things which do not have innate value such as money, food, and any material beings.Things such as those are really intended to the service for the human person. They are just the means and not the ends of themselves. â€Å"Beings whose existence depend, not on our will, but on nature, have nonetheless, if they are non-rational beings only a relative value as means and consequently called things† (Kant, 1964, p. 86) as Kant says. Thus, it cannot be that the things around us will be regarded as an end for th ey could only have value when they are being used but after they are being used, then their value is lost. So to say, things only have temporal value.In contrary, human persons are â€Å"persons because their nature already marks them out as an ends in themselves- that is, as something which ought not to be used merely as means- and consequently imposes to that extent a limit on all arbitrary treatment of them (and is an object of reverence)† (Kant, 1964, p. 96). Here, Kant firmly justifies his contention on human value by reiterating the nature of man, rationality, as the prime factor by which every man should be considered as the finality of all actions. Man, in virtue of his/her reason, is the end and not as a mean which leads to his/her dignity.Kant emphasizes more this second formulation by saying: Persons, therefore, are not merely subjective ends whose existence as an object of our actions has a value for us: they are objective ends- that is, things whose existence is in itself an end, and indeed an end such that in its place we can put no other end to which they should serve simply as means; for unless this is so, nothing at all of absolute value would be found anywhere. But if all value were conditioned- that is contingent- then no supreme principle could be ound for reason at all. (Kant, 1964, p. 96). Nevertheless, Kant presented in the second formulation of categorical imperative, formula of end itself, the value of man (man’s dignity) which is justified by man’s nature that is capable of reasoning. Thus, through and through, man regardless of anything has the absolute value of being as man higher than any other worldly beings. Child Labor The innocence of the child simply makes the child as a child. No other beings could have an equal innocence of the child except the child itself.Child’s innocence is very unique characteristic. It is self evident to every child that he/she possesses such quality. Since the child is born , innocence has already been inherited by the child. Innocence is not given to a child but it is already in every child without the influence from the outside. This innocence is equal among other children regardless of child’s parental background, physical appearance, or culture. This equality is evidently true for the fact that every child is born naked, dependent, and innocent. Thus, every child, indeed, is innocent.In the same way, this child’s innocence is not static which stagnates on that particular stage but child also develop towards maturity. Every child has innate potentials and capacities to become adult. The child does not remain as a child forever but he/she is always going towards adulthood. However, most of the children especially in developing countries are being exploited and abused. Children at very young age have already engaged to dangerous and oppressive labor. In the Philippines, it is prevalent that most of the children are working to earn money. Children in such case could be seen in the streets, factories, or agricultural heavy activities. Definitely, children of those cases have bet their lives into death. Summing up these kinds of oppression of children, it water down to child labor. Child labor is a perennial societal problem not only of the other countries but also of this country- Philippines. Basically, children are expected to enjoy their childhood and should be in the school so as to develop their selves and discover their identity and skills.Childhood is a complex stage of personhood where the child is starting to grow up with dependency to other persons especially of the children’s parents. Children should be protected and nurtured because most of the children are exploited in many ways. This exploitation has become real because of child labor. Child labor is so rampant in the Philippines. Child labor prevents the natural and proper development of children. Thus, child labor has become a threat to every ch ild’ innocence. The Child Child, according to the law, is defined as person below eighteen (18) years of age.Anyone who haven’t yet attain the age of eighteen may considered as a child or youth. Nevertheless, that person below eighteen years has no civil obligation in the state. But when a person has attained the age of eighteen, â€Å"he/she is no longer considered a child and becomes automatically entitled to do all acts of civil life†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Diokno, 1998). By this, a person then has the duty to follow the civil law and become responsible for any misconduct. Moreover, the child has been defined in a broader sense in conformity to R. A. 610 (Child Protection Law) which states that, â€Å"persons who below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination because of physical or mental disability or condition† (Diokno, 1998). It shoul d be noted that the term child in this Child Protection Law is in wider perspective because child refers not only to physical aspect of a person which could be seen empirically but it includes the inner dimension of the person.The law states that a child is primarily be classified as incapable or less capable to protect itself because of disabilities from any harmful influence or oppression. Thus, it does not only imply that person over eighteen years of age may consider as adult or not anymore a child. This law is trying to emphasize the innocence and dependency of a person to persons outside itself. In addition, every child is endowed with rights of the society. Child at his/her young age must enjoy his/her childhood by giving to the utmost his/her needs as a child.The child must be provided with his/her basic needs such as food, shelter, clothes, care, and education. Because the child is really dependent on others, it is imperative to care, protect, feed, and educate such child. These are important in the child’s development towards maturity. Thus, â€Å"parents [should] go into all sorts of sacrifice to provide the highest educational opportunities for their children† (Andres & Ilada-Andres, 2005, p. 34). Child Work vs. Child Labor To understand the oppression happening in most of the children in the Philippines, it is better to distinguish and clarify these terms- child work and child labor.Child labor, as defined by the ILO-IPEC, is work situations where children are compelled to work on regular basis to earn a living for themselves and their families, and as a result are disadvantaged educationally and socially; where children work in conditions that are exploitative and damaging to their health and to their physical and mental development; where children are separated from their families, often deprived of educational and training opportunities; where children are forced to lead prematurely adult lives. Diokno, 1998). This definition impl ies then that any work which could harm and will destroy the development of a child, either physically or mentally or both, including his/her social and emotional aspects is regarded as child labor. In addition, work that which could hinder the child’s education and his/her better future. Child labor is really an illness of the society which annihilates the child familial growth and that which really â€Å"deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (About Child Labor, 2002).Child labor, nevertheless, is a form of injustice in the society which needs to be responded by the authority and most especially â€Å"for those willing to stake their time and efforts to save the country’s children† (Diokno, 1998). Child work, on the one hand, is very much different to child labor. Although, both of them have similarity because they are both engaging with work, child work deals with any activities which do not hinder the well-deve lopment of a child. Work that does not maltreat and exploit the child is classified as just.Generally, if the work does not affect the development of a child’s body and holistic dimensions, and also his/her education then that work could help the child and contributes positively (About child labor, 2002). Why Child Labor? There are certain reasons on why child labor is continually happening in the Philippines. Child labor does not emerge out of the blue but it has come into reality brought by various problems. Thus, child labor is not the only problem in the Philippines but it becomes the result of combining societal problems. Basically, there are four prime reasons which cause this problem according to Jose W.Diokno (1998) and these are poverty, tradition and culture, educational opportunity, and economy. The Philippines is one of the poorest countries in the world. Poverty has been regarded as the root-cause of many social problems in the country including child labor. Beca use of poverty, a big number of Filipino families are living in slums areas with limited food. Their hunger, which is needed to be satisfied, is pushing the families to work in any ways including their children. Thus, children cannot refuse to do so but â€Å"to satisfy basic requirements† (Diokno, 1998).Although parents should work and earn a living for their children, their money is insufficient to sustain their needs and thus the parents has to decide that their children â€Å"must work to help in their family’s struggle for survival† (Diokno, 1998) otherwise, the whole family will suffer from hunger. In Filipino cultural context, children are expected to work at their young age because it has been practiced by the people in the past. It has been a â€Å"centuries-old tradition that the child must work through solidarity with the family† (Diokno, 1998) as a sign of respect and obedience to the Filipino culture.Filipinos have the kind of mentality that a child must work â€Å"to compensate†¦ the economic burden that he/she represents and to share in the maintenance of his/her family† (Diokno, 1998). So to say, children have become the burden in the family. Moreover, every child at his/her young age has the responsibility to take share with the family’s needs especially of its financial matters. Thus, Filipino culture has regarded the children’s work â€Å"as a phase of socialization where future roles are learned and working to share in the family is seen as training† (Diokno, 1998).Lack of educational opportunity is one of the reasons of child labor it deprives children to learn and develop their skills as persons. Parents usually prefer not to send their children in school because of family’s home far distance to the school, opportunity to earn more money through children’s labor, or to the expensive cost of schooling. Nevertheless, family could not take this kind of education syste m because â€Å"poor schooling has little credibility†¦ since it does not promote economic improvement† (Diokno, 1998) in the family. Education is important yet the ind of education in the Philippines most of the time does not give learning quality to them and thus cannot contribute to be competitive individuals. Finally, the economy of the country has influenced child labor. The fact that the country is mostly composed of young people, the economy demands young workers. The economic sectors look for more profit and thus they employed children to work so as to pay minimally. Employers prefer to hire children because â€Å"they represent docile work face, which could be hired and replaced at a fraction of adult wages† (Diokno, 1998) that which is an advantage for the employer.Children could easily be exploited because they cannot refuse the opportunity to help their family through labor. The economy does not only give good opportunities for progress but it also det eriorates the potentials and personhood of every child engages in â€Å"hazardous work† (About Child Labor, 2002). Exploitation of Children Nevertheless, child labor is a perennial issue in the Philippines which slowly destroy the humanness of every child. This ethical issue is continually growing as the local government and international organizations are trying to eliminate this problem.The United Nations (2008, p. 241) has recognized the value of children in particular as it issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights. By this, it recognizes the inherent value of human persons including the children. Despite the attempts of the public and private organizations to terminate this societal problem, child labor is still do exist at the present. Some of these forms of child labor in the Philippines have been identified by the International Labor Organization (ILO).It has been reported that children are abused in agricultural works such as the â€Å"sakada,† domestic work where children are victims of child trafficking and physically, verbally, and/or sexual abuse. Manufacture where children work as adult employees with heavy labor, scavenger and street children because of extreme poverty, mining and quarrying where children work dangerously as they unravel minerals inside the mountains. Unconditional worst forms where children are very much exploited by recruiting them as to become child soldiers training them to fight in the battle field and young girls are said to be sex slaves which contribute to rostitution minors (What kind of work children do? , 2012). Analysis Human person in virtue of hi/her reason has innate dignity. This is a basic truth which man holds as he/she exists in the world. To live in the world without dignity is futile. Man cannot live having without value to himself/herself and to others. His/her dignity gives man the right to be respected and protect ed. Man is quite different to other beings such as the material objects, plants, and animals precisely because man has a rational nature. Without it, man is perhaps the valueless being. So, man in nature is a dignified being.Because the term man is used in this in general sense, it encompasses any human person including the children. Children are also human persons and thus they have rational faculty which in return causes their dignity. Every child, therefore, has inherent dignity. Child is, nonetheless, a mature rational individual but it does not compel the dignity of the child because the child even in that stage of childhood has the mind which continually develops as the child is going toward maturity. Reasoning of a child may differ to one another but it remains the dignity to the child because of the child’s innate capacity of reasoning and rationalizing.Thus, child is always endowed with reason which makes the child a dignified person. The dignity of a child must be r espected, protected, and preserved. However, child labor makes the child undignified being. It is said that labor is different from work although both of them have similarity because the former pertains to involvement in economy while the latter is a general notion of any human activities. Human labor in a sense is not bad in itself because â€Å"through labor, man realizes and humanizes himself; †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Timbreza, 2008, p. 94). By this, labor also makes man a man because it distinguishes man to other beings.Although reason primarily causes the distinction of man to other beings, labor has also become a factor which causes man to realize his/her humanness. Thus, labor does not only give negative implication but also good realization. However, child labor, although labor in form, is not the same with the true meaning of the word labor. In this context, child labor does not humanize children but it certainly dehumanizes every child. Child labor exploits and abuses the child in terms of heavy work which greatly affects the child’s natural development.Child labor is a form of oppression and it does not give any value to the child. Thus, child’s dignity has been taken away because of child labor. In Kant’s perspective, child’s dignity is justified through his second formulation of categorical imperative- formula of end itself. His contention is that any human person in virtue of his rationality must be regarded as the end of all actions. Man should not be used as a mean to acquire something else. All action should be done by considering man as an end. Similarly, every child, regardless of anything except of his/her reason, must be regarded as an end in itself.Reason will tell us that child’s dignity is important. It is morally right, universal, and necessary that the child’s dignity must be promoted. And any inhuman activity which destroys the dignity of the child must be eradicated especially child labor. Child lab or, nevertheless, promotes oppressions and exploitations in which make the child a valueless human being. Such reasons of child labor like poverty, culture, educational opportunity, and demand of economy are nonetheless insufficient and unjustifiable reasons for the dignity of every child does not depend on these.Poverty is a perennial societal problem in the Philippines and this issue is not new to everybody. By extreme poverty, the family members, including the child, are push to bare labor even though it is not yet proper to the child to do so. A child engaging in hard labor is not yet proper because the child is supposed to be in the home or in the school so as to develop himself/herself and eventually realizes his/her meaningful existence. It cannot be that the child labor is morally right because of poverty which gives way to a child earning money for the family.Child here is not the end of labor precisely because labor is intended to get away from poverty but not for the sake of child’s benefit. It uses the child to overcome poverty rather than dignifying the child without poverty. In the midst of poverty, a child must be dignified as a human person. The parents should sustain the needs of the family and the community should protect the dignity of every child. Culture and tradition, on the one hand, must not dehumanize the child. Every child must not be enslaved by the culture.Culture also involves a matter of choice and thus anything which destroys the dignity of a child must be avoided and stopped. People are the makers of certain culture, and then people also have the capacity to change culture through man’s rationality. Human person’s rational faculty could obliterate such acquired and practiced culture and tradition. Nevertheless, culture in a way makes use of the child as a mean in order to continue such culture and not for the dignity of the child. This cannot be morally right that the child’s dignity be destroyed beca use of culture. It is irrational to follow certain culture which dehumanizes a child.Lack of educational opportunities and the demand of the economy, in the same way, make the child undignified human person in a way that they affect the natural development of a child. Lack of educational opportunities compels the right of the child to learn and to know his/her identity and demand of economy, in the same way, exploits the innocence of every child. They are both factors which give nevertheless worthless value to every child. In the end, children’s dignity has been destroyed because of child labor. Child labor does not respect, protect, and nurture the humanness of every child.Children in a sense have become mere objects to attain certain goal. They became instruments to alleviate poverty, maintain culture and tradition, victims of poor educational system, and exploited by economic interest. Child labor treated every child in a subjective end by which inclined by selfish interes t. Objective end then must be realized and should be done so as to give dignity to every child. Summary and Conclusion The subject matter of this research study is about the morality of child labor. Through the second formulation of categorical imperative by Immanuel Kant, child labor has been assessed.The definition and meaning of the term â€Å"child† also has been presented that which aging below eighteen (18) years and above yet holistically incapable to protect and dependent to other people because of mental or physical disabilities. The distinction between child labor and child work has been discussed also. After which, child labor then has been evaluated that which hinders the natural development of a child. The reasons of child labor have been discussed in this study such as poverty, culture and tradition, lack of educational opportunity, and the demand of economy.Kant’s ethical ideas have been presented and discussed particularly the categorical imperative and its second formulation formula of end itself. Finally, the combining of facts and theory has been discussed in the analysis. In conclusion, child labor through evaluation using the second formulation of categorical imperative- end itself- of Kant is certainly unethical because it humiliate the dignity of every child. Child labor is the result of other societal problems and thus it should be answered. Certainly, child labor in effect gives an unethical implication in every child.It is morally wrong that the dignity of every child should be taken away because of child labor. Child, in virtue of being a human person, is always endowed with gift of rationality by which makes every child unique and higher than any other temporal beings. Rationality gives the child to have the right to be respected. Child’s dignity is innate in him/her thus it should be protected. Indeed, child labor is morally wrong because it primarily dehumanizes every child by destroying his/her dignity. Bibli ography Primary: Kant, I. (1948). Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals (H. J. Paton, Trans. ). New York:Harper and Row Publishers, Inc. Kant, I. (1993). Grounding for the metaphysics of moral: On supposed right to lie because of philanthropic concerns. In J. W. Ellington (3rd ed. and Trans. ). Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hacket Publishing Company, Inc. Secondary: Andres, T. D. & Ilada-Andres, P. L. B. (2005). Understanding the Filipino (8th ed. ). Quezon City: New Day Publishing. Timbreza, F. T. (2008). Filipino philosophy today. Kalayaan Avenue Diliman, Quezon City: Kalayaan Press Mktg. Ent. Inc. United Nations. (2008). Universal declaration of human rights: Dignity and justice for all of us.New York: UN Department of Publication. On-line: About child labor. (February 24, 2012). International Labor Organization. Retrieved March 2, 2012, from http://www. ilo. org/ipec/fects/lang–en/index. htm Diokno, J. W. (1998). Part one: Understanding child labor. Working Together Against C hild Labor: Philippine Campaign. Retrieved March 2, 2012, from http://ipecphils. tripod. com/pillaws/intro. htm What kinds of work do children do? (2012). Retrieved March 2, 2012, from http://www. knowledgelabor. org/child labor/kinds of child labor. php

Free Essays on Hell, Healing and Resistance

I know enough about American culture not to be surprised that films like Schindler’s List, about the Holocaust, and Saving Private Ryan, about war, have had Hollywood’s highest honors bestowed upon them. These are well produced and directed fantasies. However, after reading the rest of Hell, Healing and Resistance, I realize that there is a huge and significant difference between movies about violence and real violence. In reality, war is prolonged, messy, and has an impact which goes on much, much longer than the hours it takes to watch in the comfort of a movie theater. I guess it is easier to justify genocide and war as entertainment if it is fictionalized and not real, but it is why we can view these subjects as desirable for entertainment that is problematic for me. Daniel Hollack agrees saying, â€Å"Knowledge alone does not lead to truth. Films like Apocalypse Now and Platoon offer no answers, no matter how powerful and convincing the drama may be. They have become ends ! in themselves, and the fact that such graphic depictions of war have become entertainment is an indictment of our unfeeling culture (406).† Only powerful documentary and true narrative, like in this book, will lead to understanding and truth of the evils of war and the path to peace. The book considers the effects of the anti-war movement, and attaining peace, including â€Å"inner† peace involving healing spaces and managing survivor guilt. There is power in the real-life accounts of the destruction of war both immediate and long lasting. Take, for example, Agent Orange and the years it has taken veterans to force the military to recognize its effects and offer some compensation for it. But, also, there are powerful revelations that suggest that war might be fought unnecessarily. Contributors to Hallock's book represent a wide variety of veterans living in wide-ranging situations from a Jesuit hospice in Manhattan to a Black Panther in New Haven;... Free Essays on Hell, Healing and Resistance Free Essays on Hell, Healing and Resistance I know enough about American culture not to be surprised that films like Schindler’s List, about the Holocaust, and Saving Private Ryan, about war, have had Hollywood’s highest honors bestowed upon them. These are well produced and directed fantasies. However, after reading the rest of Hell, Healing and Resistance, I realize that there is a huge and significant difference between movies about violence and real violence. In reality, war is prolonged, messy, and has an impact which goes on much, much longer than the hours it takes to watch in the comfort of a movie theater. I guess it is easier to justify genocide and war as entertainment if it is fictionalized and not real, but it is why we can view these subjects as desirable for entertainment that is problematic for me. Daniel Hollack agrees saying, â€Å"Knowledge alone does not lead to truth. Films like Apocalypse Now and Platoon offer no answers, no matter how powerful and convincing the drama may be. They have become ends ! in themselves, and the fact that such graphic depictions of war have become entertainment is an indictment of our unfeeling culture (406).† Only powerful documentary and true narrative, like in this book, will lead to understanding and truth of the evils of war and the path to peace. The book considers the effects of the anti-war movement, and attaining peace, including â€Å"inner† peace involving healing spaces and managing survivor guilt. There is power in the real-life accounts of the destruction of war both immediate and long lasting. Take, for example, Agent Orange and the years it has taken veterans to force the military to recognize its effects and offer some compensation for it. But, also, there are powerful revelations that suggest that war might be fought unnecessarily. Contributors to Hallock's book represent a wide variety of veterans living in wide-ranging situations from a Jesuit hospice in Manhattan to a Black Panther in New Haven;...

Shouldice Hospital Limited Essay Example

Shouldice Hospital Limited Essay Example Shouldice Hospital Limited Essay Shouldice Hospital Limited Essay Shouldice is a private hospital founded by Dr. Earle Shouldice in Toronto in July 1945. The hospital started out as a six-room nursing home in downtown Toronto. As demand increased for hernia operations, he expanded the facilities to a capacity of 36-beds, which turned into a 89-bed facility after adding a large wing. Dr. Shouldice devised a method called the Shouldice method to increase the efficiency and the overall experience of the surgery and the post surgery recovery period. The hospital specializes on external hernia cases and will not treat internal hernia patients. The method proved to be a big success. In this case, we will analyze the process flow of the hospital, determine the bottlenecks and finally offer recommendations. Background: Dr. Earle Shouldice is a famous operator for his private method of hernia surgery. Unlike normal methods, his way allowed the patient to walk around right after the end of surgery, and move freely at the end of the day. When the number of patients he had increased, he decided to exploit this by founding his own hospital. He died in 1965, but his hospital continued to grow, and at the end of 1982, his hospital had 6850 operations per year. Analysis: Initially, the hospital sends out a medical questionnaire to figure out whether the patient has hernia. If the patient requires the operation, they were sent a confirmation card for the surgery. However, after initial examination at the hospital, some of the patients were found healthy, so they were also sent back. After the examination, an administrative personnel checks the insurance of the patient. Then, a nurse takes blood and urine samples from the patient, and sends the patient to his room. All this is done by 5PM, after which there is an information session regarding the operation. The patients are sent to bed at 9:30PM, and waken up at 5:30AM. The operation takes 1 hour (although the recurring ones take up to 90 minutes, but theyre rare so are not included). The patient then stays in the hospital for 3 more days, but since the resource (nurse, doctor etc) requirements would be low (and are not stated in the case). Shouldice was successful because of the following strategies: 1) Unique and well defined surgical procedure (cannot be varied), 2) Operation and recovery time lower than industry average, 3) Educated, experienced, and efficient surgeons (600 surgeries per year as opposed to 25-50), 4) Lower nurse to patient ratio (reduces costs), 5) Efficient, good quality, and uniform service (dependable), 6) High demand from reputation, 7) Higher pay than union standard for employees, 8) Being selective with patients ensures speed and better outcomes The bottleneck of pre-operation is Insurance check, as shown in Exhibit 2. The second bottleneck is the number of surgeons available to perform surgery and keep patients flowing through the system. Once people have a place in the system, the next wait is for a surgeon to become available. Bottlenecks are both a burden and a blessing in this scenario. We build up a queue because people want the service but we are forced to find a way to alleviate the pressure on the bottlenecks. Recommendations: Simply adding capacity may upset the current balance that exists and lower the quality of the process. If the company would simply expand to add beds or create more hospitals, quality would eventually be lowered because you would be hiring doctors you would have eliminated for the first hospital. One possible improvement to the process would be to minimize idle time of surgeons spend doing anything other than surgeries. Since they are a bottleneck, Shouldice should make surgeons not waste time doing a job that a nurse or someone with a less important role can do. This way throughput rate is lowered because surgeons can get more operations done at the end of the day without affecting the systems balance. Another solution to improve throughput without physically expanding would be to include working on Saturday and Sunday. Shouldice can rearrange its resources to keep the hospital running weeklong. This would alleviate the burden on the bottleneck so that buildup is minimized and more patients are put through the process. One of the major limits to expansion is the number of beds available for patients. Therefore, a possible area of capacity expansion is creating an additional facility where more beds can be put for patients. But  to accommodate the increased amount of demand a bigger kitchen and a dining room would be necessary. Moreover, an additional staff should be hired as long as the amount does not exceed the current staff per patient ratio in order to keep the operational costs from increasing too much. Another limiting factor is the number of doctors. Thus, the more doctors there are, the more patient acceptance will be. However there would be a limit on the amount of additional surgeons hired since each surgeon should at least perform three surgeries a day. Additionally, having a new facility outside of Canada dealing on a different specialty is a good option for capacity in which case a careful analysis should be done to make sure that the successfulness of the additional facility is not lower then the original one. Exhibit 1: The process flow chart is attached. Exhibit 2: Examination ? 17. 5 minutes per patient X 6 ? 20. 57 Patients per Hour Insurance ? 10 minutes per patient X 2 ? 12 Patients per Hour Blood/Urine ? 7. 5 minutes per patient X 2 ? 16 Patients per Hour.

The Psychology of Deceit

The Psychology of Deceit Hashtag: #TypicalLies The Psychology of Deceit Everyone lies but the rate, objective, and extent of those lies vary among people. Many #TypicalLies are attempts to avoid punishment and they emerged during childhood (â€Å"No mom, I did not eat any cookies†) and continue into adulthood (â€Å"Officer please, I was only driving maybe 1 or 2 miles per hour over the speed limit†). People lie for many different reasons and the most typical include exploratory lying, bragging, make-believe, and cover-up. However, lies that aim to mislead or cover-up are the most serious and become more sophisticated as people get older. The study shows that majority of people lie to cover up past misdeeds or attempts to get out of some unpleasant situation. Some people lie through facial expression such as hiding their anger, fear, sadness, and distress through a smile. In fact, increased blinking, blushing, blanching, and facial sweating are signs of lying. White lies are falsehoods but often not intended to harm anyone. For instance, if your grandmother asks, â€Å"Did I knit your sweater too big?† most us might reply, â€Å"Oh, it’s perfect, I love roomy sweaters† just to avoid hurting her feelings. Similarly, we lie to uplift other people’s spirits through flattery such as â€Å"You look so sexy in that dress† to boost her confidence about the weight loss program. Intentional false statements are a moral issue but most people believe that trivial lies are beneficial. In fact, study shows that academic dishonesty in the form of white lies, altruistic lies, and trick lies are common in schools. Related articles: College Students Why Students Hate Monday? Why Some Students Hate Their Teacher? Students Right to Conscientious Objection   Helping Autistic Students Shine in Mainstream Classroom   White Lies in the Classroom â€Å"Do you understand?†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Yes, mam!† Lying is a common occurrence in the classroom, as students tend to avoid social losses by hiding the truth. However, the most typical are lying about his or her understanding of the lesson, the real reason for not doing the assignment, and respond over an irritating reprimand with a poker face. Some students lie to avoid getting into trouble or doing additional tasks thus often responding with a â€Å"Yes Mam!† rather than telling the truth of his or her lack of knowledge. Similarly, it is far more convenient for students to lie about his assignment than to admit that he spent the night out with friends. Most students, regardless of rage over teacher’s reprimand respond with silence and a poker face. This according to the study of students learning and classroom behavior is the negative result of reinforcing classroom teaching with punishment. Punishment produces a rapid and significant behavioral effect and although such reinforcement can result in permanent suppression of potentially injurious behavior, it can lead to aggression, escapes, apathy, abuse, and imitation of those who punished them. An infuriated student with a poker face is trying to escape or avoid the source of punishment by cheating and lying about his true feelings. Similarly, a student saying ridiculous excuses like â€Å"The dog ate my assignment† or copying someone else’s homework is escaping the punishment by lying. Other students’ escape tactics include flattery, crying, and showing remorse. However, it is important to note that aggression becomes a viable alternative to cheating and lying when escape is no longer possible. In fact, aggression becomes all too common and not always directed to the source of injury such as vandalizing valuable school property and shooting rampage in worse cases.

Marketing planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Marketing planning - Essay Example In the recent past, the notion of marketing planning has changed from various perspectives (Hatton 12). Companies nowadays put in strong efforts to identify the problems of market and formulate a strategy only on that basis. In the similar way, the technique of promotion has undergone drastic changes. There have been evident changes in the strategies of selling as well. Considering the scenario of the market, aggressive and push selling are being are being actively pursued by the companies. P&G created an artificial demand in the market for their product Surf Excel, which clearly exemplifies an innovative marketing technique. Another evident change is the increased stress on the consumer needs and ‘go to market’ approach. In the meantime, future planning has been also considered important by the marketers. However, the ability of an organization to predict its future marketing activity depends upon the level of competence. In addition, their ability to adapt to a particu lar situation also acts as a decisive factor. This is because the future is uncertain and it is impossible to predict the situation of market 2-3 years down the line. The marketing planning of an organization helps in identifying the most appropriate direction a company should move, while operating in the market. Furthermore, a well defined marketing plan allows a firm to accurately define the tasks and responsibilities and also provide better insights to the market and economy. Hence, it is apparent that with a better marketing plan, a company will be able to save resources as well as time. Therefore it can be affirmed that marketing planning is essential in the strategic planning process of a firm (McDonald 1-10). This study aims to create a marketing plan for a product/company by analysing the market situation of the chosen firm. The company chosen in this aspect is Vodafone UK and the product for which the marketing plan will be developed is their telecommunication services. The refore, a brief overview of the chosen company is presented below. Vodafone: A Brief Overview Vodafone Group plc, commonly known as Vodafone is a telecommunication company based in UK. The company offers telecommunication services and other related services to both end customers and business customers. The company initiated its business venture in the year 1991 in the city of Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom. However, at present the company is headquartered in London, UK. In terms of the overall revenue as well as the number of subscribers, the company is presently ranked in the second position. The company is only behind China Mobile, which is the largest telecommunication company of the world. The company presently operates in 30 countries of the world. In addition, it also carries out operation in 40 other countries with partner networks. The company employs around 86,400 people across the globe. One of the positive aspects of the company is that despite being a telecommunicati on firm, the company has a diversified product line. For example, Vodafone offers telecommunication services, internet services, DTH services and also sells different enterprise system solutions. Additionally, the

MG3122 STRATEGIC MARKETING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MG3122 STRATEGIC MARKETING - Essay Example 2.0 John Lewis John Lewis is renowned departmental store chain of United Kingdom. The store chain has expanded business throughout the country within last hundred years. The company is headquartered at London, United Kingdom. The departmental store chain was founded by John Lewis in the year 1864. In the initial period the organization started their operation as single store but soon they transformed their business model into departmental store chain with the help of John Lewis Partnership. 2.1 John Lewis Partnership The partnership model gives opportunity to employees to gain partial ownership and contribute as stakeholder to business operation of the departmental store chain. John Lewis Partnership provides partial ownership or partnership benefits to existing thirty nine thousand employees of the company (McCallion, 2010). The John Lewis Partnership has won 'Retailer of the Year' in the year 2011. Recent report published by the company shows that they have more than 81,000 permane nt staff as well as partners. John Lewis has been ranked as one of premium departmental store chains of United Kingdom. They have already opened thirty eight outlets and also planning to establish strategic business units in foreign shore within next five years. The London based departmental store chain has achieved annual gross sales revenue of ?8.7bn in the year 2011 (John Lewis Partnership, 2012). 2.2 Business Strategy Business model of the company can be understood in the following manner. The company operates with 30 departmental stores across United Kingdom in order to provide multi brand products to customers The company has opened eight John Lewis at home stores They have also established 285 Waitrose supermarkets for selling products on online platform Business strategy of the company relies on three interdependent variables such as s Partners, profit and customers in order to achieve sustainable business growth. Strategic initiatives of the company can be analyzed in the f ollowing manner. Providing maximum sustainability and security to partners in order to motivate them to perform well. The company has understood that satisfied partners can help them to improvise in daily operation which will help them to increase operational excellence. Partners need to emphasize on recruiting and retaining loyal customers through providing them excellent customer triads such as quality, service and price. The company tries to retain sufficient profit margin for partners in order to sustain commercial vitality of the company. John Lewis distributes profits to staffs and partners on regular basis in order to motivate them to perform well (John Lewis Partnership, 2012). 3.0 Industry Overview John Lewis has cemented a premier position in retail and departmental store industry. The company faces competition in the field of Furniture Manufacturing, Consumer durable Manufacturing, Textile Manufacturing and Grocery Supermarket. ASDA Group, Arcadia Group, Marks & Spencer a nd Argos Limited are major competitors for John Lewis. Swedish furniture retailing giant IKEA has recently entered in retail

Literature class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Literature class - Essay Example This short story reflects Clarke’s attitude about coming from Barbados himself. Clarke was raised on the island, only to come to Toronto to find a whole new world, just like his narrator of â€Å"The Motor Car†. The sense of losing oneself in a new country, which has a different culture, was one of Clarke’s fears, which he expresses in this story. Unlike the narrator in â€Å"The Motor Car†, Clarke managed to move and keep his traditional values. â€Å"Hazel† by Carol Shields is a novel that any middle aged homemaker can relate with. After raising two daughters and being supported by her husband, Hazel’s life is changed forever when her husband dies. Hazel felt depressed and lonely, so decided to take a job. Her mother-n-law, best friend, and daughters were appalled. Hazel’s mother-n-law said â€Å"there is no need† (Shields). She felt that since Hazel was well provided for, that a job was not necessary. Maxine, Hazel’s best friend, said â€Å"your not the type† (Shields). Her daughters insisted their father would not have approved. What Hazel’s family and friends did not realize was Hazel needed her job. It might have been a nothing small job, but she needed to feel useful. People need a purpose in life. Hazel just happened to find hers in a job demonstrating pots and pans. Alistair Macleod’s â€Å"The Boat† is a story about the narrator’s sorrow regarding his father’s death. The sorrow expressed by the narrator was wrapped up in a boat. The boat symbolized tradition and a family bonding around working on it. In fact â€Å"Jenny Lynn had been my mother’s maiden name and the boat was called after her as another link in the chain of tradition† (Macleod). The narrator relates stories from every stage of his life by remembering times in the boat. The boat is the focal point of the narrator’s life. When he remembers his father, he remembers

E COMMERCE @ AMAZON OPM 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

E COMMERCE @ AMAZON OPM 5 - Essay Example No geographical boundaries limit online transactions. Huge market penetration allows companies to gain popularity overnight without much cost. Another huge advantage that e-commerce has to offer is they can effectively evaluate the response to a particular campaign online with the help of tools like frequent visitors etc. Like any other business, online selling has its set of disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is the lack of direct contact between the sales force and the customers. All the transactions take place online, limiting contact. Another disadvantage is the security issues that are rising in this medium of selling. With fraudulent activities on the rise, companies selling online now have to take expensive measures to protect the important credentials of their customers such as credit card numbers etc. These measures cannot be taken by small businesses limited on budgets and spending. Another important issue is the delivery of goods over the whole world. This problem however, has been counteracted by Amazon who now has alliances with different companies to deliver goods to various places all over the world. Also, perishable items have to be delivered on time, which requires exceptionally quick service. This problem has also been covered by Amazon as it is test marketing its service of de livering goods overnight in certain suburbs of Seattle. Books are one of the best selling products on Amazon.com. Many books are now available in formats which are downloadable. However, this phenomenon is not very popular. If online downloading of books start, Amazon will be faced by a downfall in sales and share price to a certain extent as one of their main products will not be available online. However, they can venture into this market of downloadable book purchase as well, to make up for the loss on their other sector. In short, Amazon has all the resources to venture into the market of downloadable books as well; they can take full

102-Exam1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

102-Exam1 - Essay Example The modern technology is now being used as a means to gather credible information from all sources that are available. So now there is a combined effort of the management and the systems that are created by the management to process these information. Management Information System (MIS) is a computer-based system that administers the flow of information in an organization, thus allowing them to quickly access precise data. It particularly points to organizational information systems that contain data with huge commercial value (Sadagopan, 2004, p. 1). MIS converts the obtained raw data into useful information which is then disseminated to the different departments of an organization that eventually becomes the source of idea needed by the management for decision making ("Management Information Systems," n.d.). The changes in technology are now becoming the cause of conflict in the application of MIS by organizations. The modification of some computer equipments and gadgets that are important to successfully carry out MIS affects the smooth flow of its operations. The result of which is a delay on the transmission of extremely relevant information. a system to convert data from internal and external sources into information and to communicate that information, in an appropriate form, to managers at all levels in all functions to enable them to make timely and effective decisions from planning, directing, and controlling the activities for which they are responsible. (p. 2) Based on the definition of Lucey, one can never deny the fact the MIS is crucial to the process of decision-making in organizations. Without MIS, the access to the available data would be slower as compared to the times when a company uses it. Thanks to technology, the accumulation of data and its conversion to more useful information has become an easy job. If during the ancient times people had to use their own strength to gather information, the businessmen

Land Right Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Land Right Issues - Essay Example The most interesting interpretation of this right of return is that the Israeli Jews are to be blamed for the present predicament of all Palestinian diaspora as a result of the establishment of Israeli State and Zionism (Beinin and Rebbecca 68). Under such an interpretation, liability for the Palestinian quandary can only be correctly carried out by allowing all the Palestinians in the diaspora to return to their original homeland and evicting all the Jews who live in such areas, more so those who gained these lands as a result of Zionism. An antithesis to such an interpretation of Jewish accountability for the predicament of the Palestinians is the total denial of any such forms of responsibility as well as the complete rejection of the return of the Palestinians. These are the two key positions of the dilemma, between which several intermediate possibilities lie. A central intermediate position tends to agree with the reasoning that all or part of the Palestinian diaspora should go to Israel within the scope of the Palestine pre-1967 borders. The Israelis are against this position, though they see it is a worthy step toward reconciling them with Palestinians. In this case, the issue of distributive justice is evidently in play. This concerns what some people believe to be socially correct with regard to resources allocation in a given society. In the book A Theory of Justice, John Rawls makes efforts of solving the dilemma of distributive justice by using an alternative of the much familiar social contract device.

102-Exam1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

102-Exam1 - Essay Example The modern technology is now being used as a means to gather credible information from all sources that are available. So now there is a combined effort of the management and the systems that are created by the management to process these information. Management Information System (MIS) is a computer-based system that administers the flow of information in an organization, thus allowing them to quickly access precise data. It particularly points to organizational information systems that contain data with huge commercial value (Sadagopan, 2004, p. 1). MIS converts the obtained raw data into useful information which is then disseminated to the different departments of an organization that eventually becomes the source of idea needed by the management for decision making ("Management Information Systems," n.d.). The changes in technology are now becoming the cause of conflict in the application of MIS by organizations. The modification of some computer equipments and gadgets that are important to successfully carry out MIS affects the smooth flow of its operations. The result of which is a delay on the transmission of extremely relevant information. a system to convert data from internal and external sources into information and to communicate that information, in an appropriate form, to managers at all levels in all functions to enable them to make timely and effective decisions from planning, directing, and controlling the activities for which they are responsible. (p. 2) Based on the definition of Lucey, one can never deny the fact the MIS is crucial to the process of decision-making in organizations. Without MIS, the access to the available data would be slower as compared to the times when a company uses it. Thanks to technology, the accumulation of data and its conversion to more useful information has become an easy job. If during the ancient times people had to use their own strength to gather information, the businessmen

Screening of Sugar Cane Alley and Eve's Bayou Essay

Screening of Sugar Cane Alley and Eve's Bayou - Essay Example It is one of the French films, which were directed by Palcy Euzhan in 1989. It has its setting in Martinique during the 1930s. The film revolves around the story of the mistreatment by the whites as they worked as slaves during the 1930s. The film is mainly based on the semi-autobiographical novel that was compiled by Zobel Joseph (Rue). The cinematography that has been used in the movie consists of tilt-shift photography. The cinematographer applied medium sized lenses to ensure the control of the plane of focus orientation making certain parts of the image appear sharp. This is the reason for the different shapes and lightings of the image in the film. Part of the film also reveals the traditional cinematography with dull brown outlooks. The music in the movie is has slow rhythm and low tone that allows for the clear narration of the movie hence facilitating the comprehension of the viewers. The teacher, Mr. Rock has the most influence on Jose. His influence is academic and racial related (Rue). He accuses him falsely because of plagiarism when he writes an essay explaining the suffering of the slaves in the sugar cane plantations. I identify myself with Jose. He is focused and is forgiving. He actually marches my traits. Formal education is portrayed in the film through the school learning system. Scholarships are other examples or elements found in the formal education. The movie also shows that formal education does not allow for copying of other people’s ideas (plagiarism), therefore, it stresses on creativity and absolute originality. Joe runs away from school after being accused of plagiarism. Informal education is shown on the movie through the teachings of Joe by his grandmother. This form of education does not require class work or education.... Joe runs away from school after being accused of plagiarism. Informal education is shown on the movie through the teachings of Joe by his grandmother. This form of education does not require class work or education. It is not also expensive like formal one hence no scholarships for it. Contrast, in the film, is portrayed through the depiction of class difference in the film. Joe’s grandmother, Tine is one of the extreme poor individuals in this society. There are extremely rich people in the same society, for instance, Leopold’s parents who are landowners. The filmmaker has employed his tactics and experience in ensuring that the entire film is not about the sentiments of Jose’s education, through the inclusion of his grandmother. The way Tine is treated is meant to inform the viewers on the core theme of the film, which is racism, and class disparities during the 1930s American societies. Leopold and his parents have been portrayed as opportunistic individuals. They offer Jose food in return for his labor service in their farm making him miss classes. This, in turn, is a portrayal that the society consists of class disparities and unfairness reins the entire society. The scene with Jose and Medouze is an educative one whereby Jose learns of the past and the experience undergone by his grandparents and ancestors (Rue). Despite being the fact that the movie is based on the novel, there is a distinct between the novel and the movie. The difference is on the settings of the two. The settings are on two different places and time. The movie was produced in the 1960s whereas the book was published earlier than that. Gender issues have been revealed in the movie as one of

Innovation and Change Management: Banqer

Innovation and Change Management: Banqer This study will focus on an online financial education software which is based in New Zealand. The study will highlight its mission, vision, objectives and its external environment. It will also outline impact of the internal environment and will lastly recommend certain new types of innovation that can be used by the company. History Banqer evolved out of the extensive rise of the financially illiterate children of the society which has ramifications with it. Banqer is a simulated online banking for classroom that provides helps on ecology for the kids in order to make them creative, curious and confident with money. It pays the students for providing positive behavior and completing the tasks that are assigned in the classroom (Banqer, 2017). With the students, they explore budgeting as they educate themselves with the valuable skills of their life by the management of their desks receiving payment for the privileges of the class. Students aging from 2 to 8 explore various topics that range from savings, interest, and tax to the insurance. Products and services Banqer allows the students to gain knowledge about the financial literacy responsibility in an extremely engaging and an immersive manner. As far as the product is concerned it is an online software which is concerned with education which the teachers and the students prefer (Banqer, 2017). Mission, Vision, objectives The mission lies in improving the financial capabilities of the entire world. Thus making the students well aware of the financial aspects. The vision statement is associating the teachers in order to make Banqer the best. The objective is to improve Banqers space within the domain of where they are positioned now and collaborating with certain movers and shakers in order to understand the worth and the potential of Banqer. Their goal lies in gaining direct experience in terms of education, technology, finance and design (Banqer, 2017). In the year 2016, the main focus of Banqer was in building partnerships both in the financial services as well as in the allied industries. The students in this industry were capable of buying and investing in the virtual properties as they might need to mortgage and earn rental income in order to pay off the amount they have borrowed. Political factors New Zealand has a stable government. Chances of success are huge. Special Education policy. Inclusive education system. Economic factors Resources are available abundantly due to the population of the country. The rate of unemployment is high against 99% literacy. Banqer promotes educational software by hiring skilled staffs. Social factors It is dependent on other countries for business. Spends a minimal amount on research and development. The banking system is strong. Technological factors Educational system is effective. Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES) to provide licensed software IT technology and the usage of Internet. Legal factors The government changes after every three years. Education Legislation Amendment Act 2016 to support digitalization in education sector Education Act 1989 beneficial universally Environmental factors The country has a unique ecological system. Latest technology has been adopted to keep the surrounding clean. Steps created to pollution free country Political factors When a certain company begins its business in this country, it takes into consideration political system, the economic stability along with the law and order of the country so that it can provide the economic strength to the trade and business. As New Zealand has a stable government so there is a huge chance of success due to the impactful rules and the regulations. Hence, the chances of Banqers success is immense. The New Zealand government had conducted changes in the education administration and introduced special education policy along with other policies (Ministry of Education, 2017). The policies and political stability of New Zealand would promote Banqer as the country aims to achieve inclusive education system (Banqer, 2017). Economic factors The economic condition of New Zealand is excellent with 3.5% GDP growth as in 2014 (Tradingeconomics, 2017). Due to the huge population of the country the resources are abundantly available. The products are economical in nature and are easily afforded by everyone. The unemployment is quite high at 3.5% in spite of literacy rate of 99% in the country. Banqer can easily appoint skilled staffs who are willing to work. The company would be able to promote the educational tool in the country to further literate children and decrease unemployment. Social factors The social system of New Zealand is such which is dependent on business with the other countries.As it depends on other countries for technology so it makes them spend quite an amount on the work of research and development. As the banking system is extremely strong so allows foreign direct investment in the country (Banqer, 2017).   Banquer would be impacted by the social status of New Zealand as education imparted using technology would ensure welfare of the country. Technological factors The country has an effective educational system. With the help of the technological advancements it has introduced IT and the use of Internet which has helped Banqer in the provision of its service in this country (Richard, 2012). Due to the various online education facilities it has increased the rate if literacy to almost 99% which is more than most of the countries. Ministry of New Zealand had also launched a program named Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES) to provide licensed program for software which is beneficial for Banqer (Dashper, 2017). Legal factors As the government changes after every three years so there is an establishment of new laws and regulations (Moskovitz, 2016). The Education Legislation Amendment Act 2016 and Education Act 1989 positively impacted Banqer as educational institutes abide by the laws and plan and digitalized their educational status using software (Martin, 2016). Environmental factors People of New Zealand are well aware of the unique ecological system. People have adopted the latest technology in order to cope up with the garbage and helps to not pollute the atmosphere (Crossley, et al., 2015). Certain initiatives are taken in order to make the country free from pollution and dust which is also abided by Banqer. The SWOT analysis is an effective framework to understand how a company in sector compare its internal and external conditions within an industry. Banqer as a startup has been effective in simulating financial exercises and helping students to gain literacy in the topic and subject. The following contains a brief discussion about its various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths The major strength of the start-up has been to understand the key to develop STEM (Science and Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) among school kids. In this regard, the company has tried to the bridge the gap that was noted in the endeavours to focus on these subjects in Australian and New Zealand school systems. Another major strength of the company has been word-of-mouth marketing that helped built its credibility, mostly because the teachers who had tried the system understood its ingenuity and efficiency (startupdaily, 2015). The company has also grown on the basis of its partnerships with renowned firms like those in real estate to develop modules for students and attract more kids who would be more interested in such subjects. What has also worked for Banqer is their simple pay model which starts at free of cost for the initial trial period after which 3.5 dollars are charged per student per semester, which can reduce down to 2 dollars if the student signs up for multiple semesters (stuff.co.nz, 2015). It has also partnered with Kiwibank in order to provide better flexibility to students who cannot support their subscription fees. Weaknesses One of the major weaknesses can be noted is the lack of diversification in the kinds of services that are offered. At present, the company is only focussed in the financing subject which could pose problems for the company. Another problem that can be noted is to rope in the appropriate investor for the project. The company is looking to reach a high saturation point before entering into other markets. In this regard, it is looking for investors who can form part of the team but also who need to understand the basic concept of the start-up and not meddle with the inherent strategy of the company. Another initial challenge that had proved to be a weakness in the past was to change the attitude of the schools and parents. While expanding, such a challenge can also be felt in other countries as well. Opportunities: The opportunities for the company have already been identified by one of the co-founders, Kendall Flutey. She has noted that the opportunities lie in expanding the services on a global scale starting with Australia and moving on to the United States. She has also noted that since United States place emphasis on financial based learning, it would be profitable for the business to consider expanding there (Robson, 2016). While finding investors can be an issue while expanding, crowd-funding might also be looked into as a possible source of investment and finding the right of investors who are as motivated on making education convenient rather than making profits. Threats The biggest threat is possibly the over-dependence on the online medium as with the various technological advances, there are several ways, nowadays, in which hackers might interrupt and pose problems for the company and the novelty which had made it successful in the first place. The novelty that has worked for Banqer can also change quickly as more companies see the profit generating capabilities and develop their own versions and certainly with technological advances, there might be better options as well. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Focus on bridging the gap. Valuable partnerships Earning credibility through word-of mouth Lack of diversification in the product range. Getting like-minded investors. Different approach to education can prove to be problematic Expansion Crowd-funding. Over-dependence on the online medium Technological advances Replication by other companies. With the considerable advances in the technological aspects and the ways in which communication is being impacted all over the world, it would be particularly relevant for the company to administer certain changes and develop modules that are more student specific. One of the recent developments that have been made is the CV writing and application process that the company is providing within simulated environments (McNicol, 2016). What is really interesting to note in this regard is the emphasis on student-teacher interaction which is the value of this innovation to the organization. However, the modules and the courses can be noted to be developed on a comprehensive level, and probably it would be hugely beneficial if specific modules are created keeping in mind the specific abilities and needs of the students. Another important aspect has been the developments in the curriculum innovation that is changing the education on global levels. What had been considered to be the most important subjects in school are now being regarded as auxiliary to the main subjects. So, it would be a naturally evolutionary process to incorporate the various developments that are being made all around the world in order to stay updated with the recent developments. The most effective strategy to motivate the innovation would be to develop a basic plan that is flexible in order to incorporate the changes that are being made on a daily basis. In this context, it can be recommended that the company regularly set up meetings with the schools and the educational experts in order to gain a more comprehensive knowledge about the developments that are being made on a global scale. Also, in order to incorporate the changes that are required to be made in terms of providing personal assistance, it would probably be recommended to set up one-to-one sessions with the students in order to understand their personal lacks and how those can be overcome through effective sessions. The task might be tedious at first, but the whole process can be streamlined if teachers are integrated within the system and involved. Banqer has been one of the most efficient online programs in the recent past that has sought to redefine financial literacy for the students. It has been successful in the New Zealand market and hopes to expand. However, the threats of replication can be major problem. In this regard, the company can start innovating and customize their modules to suit the needs of the students.