The role of International Financial Reporting Standards Essay

The role of International Financial Reporting Standards - Essay Example This facet consists of mathematical approach that most of managers do not have insight towards the norm and get scared of the mathematical issue. Other prevailing issue as per the management of numbers is that most of seniors as well as managers are busy that they do not have time give attention as far as the aspect of company data analysis and its interpretation is of more concern (Cunningham and Fiume 10-15). Many companies however, prefer to adapt the issue of numbers management for realizing their level of production. One of the companies that have adopted numbers management is the wall mart companies, one of the largest fashion companies on this world. Senior manager have articulated this norm with saying that their clients usually ask help to make them understand why workload within the company is at increase norm compared from the previous years Wal-Mart have been providing its services. Cumulatively, number management produces a stable, repeatable, and predictable pattern of variation in the output of a process as far as the aspect the aspect of business is taken into consideration. Some of the factors leading to the control of numbers and its management includes; capability of equipments, the level of training given to staff, and the choice and specification of paperwork/materials used in the process. Special Causes arise from time to time, with an unstable and unpredictable pattern. They are however, often within the control of staff or work-teams, for example in setting up and following procedures, using the correct paperwork or information (Cunningham and Fiume 21-25). Wall-mart being one of the outstanding business company worlds has had bad articulation as availed by Johnson. It is realized that in the year 2009 the company practiced manipulation on inventory counts, which is believed that it extended beyond Carmon supervised regions anticipated. As per the research, it showed that wall-mart organization decided to shrink rate of over 400 of their stores around the United States of America country, one of the issue that astonished Johnson, who was an employee and a senior manager by then. At the world of business, competition norm is evitable and that is why a standard practice comes at hand and makes us consider giving shrinkage rate of other stores an attention. Management of number generally affects only minority of people, equipment, procedures, or materials and a control Chart becomes the main tool used in SPC to give a visual representation of process performance based on data collected from the process. SPC helps one to identify any prevailing statistically significant variation that channelizes the aspect of corrective action. The Control Chart provides direction on when to take a concrete action and this in turn avoids the essence of error production. However, it also gives an oversight on when not to take an action and this avoids any possibility of over-adjustment or over-reacting from both the clients as well as employees (Cunningham and Fiume 32-36). Projecting the aspect of wall-mart numbers management, Johnson states that â€Å"It was a standard practice to look at [the shrink rates of] other stores because everyone competes with each other,† Johnson said. â€Å"When you see these overages in there that clearly should be investigated but the regional VP is saying ‘this is exactly what we're looking for,’ or ‘outstanding job,’ it is a point of concern,† Johnson said.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I think there is an unspoken culture at Wall-mart that a store is allowed to have excessive overages if it makes that store and the company look more profitable.†

NetFlix company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

NetFlix company - Essay Example Another reason why the mission statement of Netflix should be reformulated is because its company philosophy does not appear in the statement. The company’s basic beliefs, values and aspirations are not reflected in their mission statement. What is clear in their statement is where their strategies are directed and what they want to be in the future. The firm’s strategy of increasing its streaming subscription globally is the appropriate strategy for the company. Over time, it is expected that their domestic DVD by mail service to decline significantly in the near future; thus, their strategy to focus on their streaming service is a good move for the company. Netflix has decreased its budget in their DVD business to allocate more to its global streaming business (Netflix, Inc. 8). One can say that this strategy of Netflix has produced the desired results because as of the first quarter of 2012, there was an additional three million streaming subscribers; therefore, reaching a total of 26 million global subscribers (Netflix 1). This strategy further strengthened their position as the world’s leading internet TV network (Netflix 1). The domestic streaming service alone contributed $67 million to the company’s profit, which is 13% contribution margin (Netflix 1). Indeed, the firm’s strategy is providing them a relevant competitive advantage and is working well for them. Another strategy implemented by Netflix that is to their advantage is their continuous move to increase the quantity and quality of their TV shows and movies. Their approach is to sign licensing agreement with TV and movie outfits and major film distributors and producers in order to reinforce their content offerings and have a steady flow of new titles (Netflix 2-3). This is a competitive advantage which they enjoy over their competitors. As

Cons of a bioassay

Cons of a bioassay 1. Cons of a bioassay- firstly the response to a hormone by a specific tissue may not reflect the in vivo response. For example, a hormone may be modified by another factor within the tissue before it acts on the tissue. Furthermore, the hormone that you are testing i.e the number of contractions in uterine tissue in response to a specific oxytocin concentration, may not be entirely be due to oxytocin i.e. PGF2a is also psent in uterine tissue which acts locally to cause contractions also(Callegari et al, 2005). Also, an animal may need to be killed in order to isolate one organ only i.e. the uterus in mice. There is also biological variation between species i.e. human and mouse, and so the physical outcome in response to a particular hormone in mice may not reflect what the outcome is in man. Pros of a bioassay-allows you to determine whether a hormone is psent in a particular tissue and/or plasma. This gives you an idea of how the hormone may act in vivo and how the effects may be modified in a dose response fashion on a particular tissue. The outcomes on hormone responses observed in mice tissue might repsent the way the drug works in man(Bulletti, 2005). An unknown concentration of a particular hormone can be devised. You can also use a bioassay to configure the biological response of an exogenous substance, and to make comparisons of the variety of effects of different substances on different tissues. 2. According to Furchgott and Zawadzki (1980) the type of cut of tissue does not matter. As long as the section is carried out carefully so that the endothelial cells remain intact. The myometrium is part of an endothelial layer that contains the receptors for oxytocin. Basically the cut does not matter; however, the receptors need to remain intact. 3. We would automatically think that in the absence of any hormones the baseline activity will be zero. However, this is not the case i.e. if the cotton string was interfered with the baseline activity may be altered. Furthermore, the baseline activity probably is not a reflection of the absence of hormones. Therefore, it is very important to obtain a baseline bioassay measurement, to establish how psence of other factors in the tissue could interfere with subsequent measurements. 4. The greater the amount of oxytocin added to the water bath the greater was the frequency. However, the amplitude sid not change. In other words a greater amount of oxytocin added to the water bath-the greater number of contractions within the uterus, although the force of the strength of the contractions was not altered. 5. To quantitate the amount of oxytocin of the unknown (the amount of oxytocin in IU per g in mice pituitary tissue) the area under the curves for each concentration (1IU, 5IU, and 10IU) added to the water bath-the unknown was calculated. The area (uterine work) was figured by printing the curves on graph paper, cutting out the curves and weighing the paper in grams and dividing the weight by the weight of a 1cm2 piece of paper to give the uterine work (area under curve (cm2)). Subsequently, the value of the uterine work for each concentration including the unknown concentration plotted on the graph. Please see graph and calculation on the next page. Calculating the area in this way was a more simple option compared to calculating the work by using the amplitudes (which did not vary considerably) and the frequency, or by counting the number of squares underneath the curves. 6. Please see graph and calculation on following page. 7/8. This assay was not specific. In regards to the uterus in mice other hormones which affect the frequency of contractions are psent. For example, PGF2a which also acts on the myometrium of the uterus works to increases the amount of contractions. Furthermore, progesterone is responsible for making uterine muscle more contractile, while estrogen and relaxin causes it to relax(Blanks and Shymgol, 2007). In a pituitary, hormones such as progestins, estrogens, androgens, which alter uterine contractility, may be found. Additionally, vasopssin is secreted by the posterior pituitary and binds to a receptor very similar to the oxytocin receptor within the uterus (Furchgott and Zawadzki, 1980). At any one time vasopssin may bind to an oxytocin receptor stimulating the same response (Furchgott and Zawadzki, 1980). Therefore, depending on weather or not and how much of the above hormones were psent in the mice uterus and the pituitary- alters the effect of oxytocin acting alone. Also, other hormones such as prolactin, dopamine, inhibin, LH and FSH are found within the pituitary gland. 9. This bioassay was not good in terms of its specificity as mentioned in questions 7/8. However, it could be made more specific i.e. add antagonists of the hormones psent in both the uterine and pituitary tissues to the water bath except for oxytocin, or to isolate the oxytocin from the pituitary tissue first which is obtained by density gradient centrifugation of isolated pituitary tissue, subsequently adding it to the water bath. 10. Blanks, A., Shmygol, S. (2007). Myometrial function in pmaturity. Best Practice Research Clinical Obstetrics Gynaecology 21: 807-819. Bulletti, C., Zieglar, D. (2005). Uterine contractility and embryo implantation. Experimental Physiology 3: 265-76. Callegari, A.E., Furguson-Gotschall, S., Gibori, G. (2005). PGF2alpha induced differential expssion of genes involved in turnover of extracellular matrix in rat decidual cells. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinolgy 3:3. Furchgott R.F, and Zawadzki J.V.(1980) The obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle by acetylcholine. Nature. Vol 288.

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis Essay example -- Fear Silent Pl

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis In the year 1625, Francis Bacon, a famous essayist and poet wrote about the influences of fear on everyday life. He stated, â€Å"Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other† (Essays Dedication of Death). Clearly, external surroundings affect perceptions of fear as well as human nature in general. Although C.S. Lewis published the novel, Out of the Silent Planet, over three centuries after Bacon wrote his theory on fear, Lewis similarly portrayed external surrounding to manipulate perceptions of fear. From the first chapter of the novel, Lewis revealed fear to be a weakness that leads to ignorance. It was this ignorance that apparently fueled the cycle of corruption and immorality on â€Å"The Silent Planet.† Using the character Ransom to reveal the effect of memory and morality on fear, C.S. Lewis demonstrates that fear is a quality of the â€Å"bent† race (humans), and only by eliminating fear in our lives can the human race become hnau.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout Out of the Silent Planet, memory, in particular, appears to have a tremendous impact on Ransom’s perception of fear. The influence of memory on fear was noticeable since the early abduction of Ransom in this novel. After spending mere hours on the spaceship, Ransom reveals his ignorant notion that space was a â€Å"dark and cold abyss (29).† While Weston contemptuously corrects him, asking, â€Å"Forgotten the sun?† it is clear that Wellsian novels such as The Time Machine created this pessimistic view of space. This â€Å"Wellsian† ideology continues to influence the thoughts and actions of Ransom throughout his journey on the spaceship. When overhearing the conversation between Weston and Divine about the sorns, Ransom instinctively envisions these creatures as â€Å"the bogies† he read in the novels by Wells (37). Ransom later reiterates this idea when assuming that key words including â€Å"Giants, ogres, ghosts, and skeletons† represented the sorns or, â€Å"the horrors of [my] imagination† (47). When arriving at Malacandra (Mars), Ransom’s memories of Sci-fi novels causes him to instinctively categorize the living animals on the planet as savage beasts. Believing Weston and Divine’s ignorant notion that he would be tortured and consumed by the sorns, Ransom resists â€Å"donkey-fashion† when being handed over to them... ... Ransom ties all of his experiences on Malacandra together and learns that trivial aspects of life should not be feared (153). Instead of fearing life and death, mankind should fear ignorance and inequality (imbalance). Through this mere statement, Ransom proved his understanding that through the use of morality, a greater understanding of life (especially fear) may be attained.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, while Ransom journeyed to Malacandra as an ignorant young man, fearful of the unknown, he was completely transformed by the end of the novel by his complex understanding of fear. Although memory primarily inhibited any development in Ransom’s character during the first half of the novel, following Ransom’s understanding that initial reactions are often erroneous, Ransom’s memory allowed him to see the problems of Earth clearly. On the other hand, Ransom additionally learned to use morality to overcome fear rather than the converse. While modern dictionaries describe fear as â€Å"an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by expectation or awareness of danger,† Ransom would define fear as ignorance, the possibility of lost opportunities, and most importantly, inequality within the world.

The Crucible Comparison

Katelyn Mittler 10/4/12 4th hour Hegemony through Terror Lost, terrified, and not in control of their own thoughts, Mary Warren and Shawn Hornbeck strive for the life they once lived. In 1692, The Crucible character, Mary Warren comes under the control of foil character, Abigail Williams. In a similar, more recent story, Shawn Hornbeck’s normal life of video games, hanging out with friends, and dirt biking, is ripped away from him with Michael Devlin forcefully kidnaps him with the intent of murder. Everyday coerced by their fear, constantly reminded death reigns imminent.In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, character Mary Warren, threatened by Abigail Williams not to release they are pretending, lives a lie; just as missing child, Shawn Hornbeck, manipulated by Michael Devlin, cannot release his true identity. Falling into great peer pressure while facing threats from Abigail, Mary makes the courageous decision to tell the truth, but Abigail strengthens her grip and the tr uth crumbles. Mary knows the girls are lying but struggles with the imminent threats from Abby in her rebuke to Proctor, â€Å"She’ll kill me for sayin’ that! (Miller 80). Mary gets this idea from the death threat imposed on her by Abby â€Å"and mark this. Let either of you breathe a word or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you† (20). Abigail scares not just Mary, but all the girls with threats. After trying to tell the truth, Mary succumbs to the torment of Abby. â€Å"Abby, Abby, I’ll never hurt you more† (119).The â€Å"pointy reckoning† that Abigail threatens Mary with does its justice and Mary morphs back into a powerless silenced girl. Similarly, from Shawn’s abduction on October 6th 2002 to his discovery on January 12th 2007, Devlin forces Shawn into living a lie. Shawn spares himself from the wrath of D evlin as he remains powerless in a glass case of emotions. â€Å"From day one he had the gun, he had the power. I was powerless and there was nothing I could physically do† (Kidnapped: Shawn Hornbeck). Devlin holds all of the power, leaving Shawn unable to even think clearly.According to Shawn’s stepdad, Craig Akers, â€Å"Devlin’s control over Shawn was complete and total† (Kidnapped: Craig Akers). Through Devlin’s â€Å"complete and total control,† Shawn makes what his parents call â€Å"A deal with the devil† to save his own life. â€Å"Shawn told the defendant that he would do whatever he wanted him to if he didn’t kill him† (Kidnapped: Akers). â€Å"Devlin agreed not to kill Shawn as long as he made what we called ‘a deal with the devil’. He could never contact anyone, never try to run. And if he did he would be killed† (Kidnapped: Akers).This â€Å"deal with the devil† results in Shawn li ving a lie. â€Å"Shawn became Shawn Devlin and for the next four and a half years the deal he made that day left him tied to his tormentor†(Kidnapped: Sheriff Gary Toelke). The haunting agreements made that day leaves Shawn trapped in a world of terror only known by few. Mary Warren and Shawn Hornbeck are under what psychologists call â€Å"control by terror†. Living a lie, both are coerced into deciding between saving themselves by staying in this lie or to reveal the truth and face the forever imminent death threats.Mary and Shawn fear if they release the truth, they will be killed. Through this fear, Shawn and Mary start to believe their fake stories. Mary believes the girls are doing God’s work, and Shawn starts accepting the harsh reality of being Shawn Devlin. Mary and Shawn predicaments are not predestined; they are, as Devlin says when he first grabs Shawn, â€Å"you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time†. Mary’s â€Å"wrong plac e† starts with her dancing in the woods. Shawn’s begins with taking the shortcut road to a friend’s house.Eventually, Mary gives up and gives in. she succumbs to Abby, becoming the person she never intended. On a brighter note, even though he accepts Shawn Devlin as his new identity, Shawn never gives up hope. Shawn knows his family is still seeking his safe return and makes some efforts to discreetly contact them. On the day the police find Shawn, a huge weight liftes off his shoulders. He says, â€Å"It was a new feeling to say who I really was. † Shawn starts slowly back into his old set of norms.Mary and Shawn lose their personal identities to save themselves, each take a different route in trying to rediscover them. Through further investigation, it is evident that Mary Warren and Shawn Hornbeck encounter the same feelings of terror but are also uniquely different from each other. They fear for their lives as they struggle internally with revealing th e truth or living with the guilt and constant terror behind the lies. Shawn and Mary both encounter numerous times when opportunities to tell the truth stands right in front of them; however, struck by fear they remain silent.Though Mary’s story does not result in a sugar-coated ending, Shawn’s story of torment and terror leads to triumph and a truly heart-warming story. Shawn teaches everyone to never give up hope and that you will always find your way back home, Mary’s story teaches a valuable life lesson to stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone. Though Shawn and Mary encountered horrific events, they are truly two people (fictional or not) who show evident and inspirational life lessons.

Domestic Violence Essay

Before I answer to this question, let me tell you a short story. Her friends describe Maria â€Å"as the perfect girl†. She is beautiful, she is working and she has many friends. However, Maria has many problems in her family. Her father is alcoholic and he is not working to feet his family. So, Maria and her mother are doing two or three jobs each in order to earn enough money to survive. Her father was hitting her and her mother almost everyday. One day one of Maria’s friends that know what it was happening report this situation to the police in order to help Maria. When the police ask Maria if she believes that there are any signs of Domestic Violence in her family, her answer was just like that â€Å"Of course not, no one rape me or my mother or my little brother.† I am here to talk you about Domestic Violence and specifically what it is, how common it is and some basic signs of identifying it in everyday life. In 1993 the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) Report on Domestic Violence used the following definition: â€Å"any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship. In most cases, the relationship will be between partners (married, cohabiting, or otherwise) or ex-partners†. So domestic violence can affect many aspects of someone’s life. It is more likely to acts against women more than men. Crime survey found that 45% women and 26% men had experienced at least one incident of inter – personal violence in their lifetimes. This means that women affected almost twice as much than men. Domestic violence is repetitive, life – threatening and can destroy the lives of women, children and men. I will be concentrating on how common is domestic violence nowadays. The association for domestic violence prevention in the family was founded in Nicosia on the 25th July 1990. The association is an non- profitable organization. An Administration Body of 9 members also administrates the association. The goals of the association are prevention of use in the family, immediate help to victims in the family, shetter to victims of family members and provide information and generate awareness of the public for the problem of domestic violence. According to the statistics 20% of the murders are due to family violence, generally speaking the police signify two events of domestic violence murders a year. In 2009 8 out of 19 murders are family-violence murders. 85% of murderers are men and 15% are women. 36% of victims are men and 54% are women. We have seen until know how common is domestic violence between sexes but it is very important to highlight some points that can help you to recognize an abusive act or relationship. All forms of domestic violence, psychological, economic, emotional and physical come from the abuser’s desire and control over other family members or intimate partners. Although every situation is unique, there are common factors that link the experience of an abusive relationship. Acknowledging these factors is an important step in preventing and stopping the abuse. This list can help you to recognize if you, or someone you know, are in an abusive relationship. Firstly, is the destructive criticism and verbal abuse like shouting/mocking/ accusing/name/calling verbally threatening. Secondly, the Pressure tactics like sulking; threatening to withhold money, disconnect the telephone; lying to your friends and family about you; telling you that you have no choice in any decisions. Thirdly, when they show to you disrespect for example putting you down in front of other people; not listening or responding when you talk; interrupting your telephone calls; taking money from your purse without asking. Also when breaking your trust, for example lying to you; being jealous and having other relationships. The most serious forms of domestic violence is the sexual and physical violence. Using force, threats or intimidation to make you perform sexual acts or having sex without want it. Punching, slapping, hitting, biting kicking and so on are part of the physical violence. Maria now, knows that the problems that she was having are fall in Domestic Violence. Now she can realize that rape is not only the main cause of it. She and her mother report her father in the police. But even though Maria she is never going to forget what it was happening to her all these years. Further to my analysis of what Domestic Violence is, how common it is and what are the basic signs of it I will show you once again which are the statistics about reported facts of Domestic Violence in the UK. 1. One call about Domestic Violence every minute†¦ 2. 1,300 calls each day†¦ 3. 570,000 every year†¦ After all now you know what Domestic Violence is. Next time you are asked what Domestic Violence is †¦., now you Know the answer.

Where in the U.S. Can Nurses Find the Most Opportunities

Where in the U.S. Can Nurses Find the Most Opportunities Logistically, every state needs Nurses. But where are Nurses in higher demand? Where you work can ultimately shape your career path so it’s important that you choose the right location. Naturally, big cities like New York are a no brainer when it comes to Nursing opportunities. But if you’re someone who prefers a quieter city or town, then this list has plenty of options for you to consider.

How successful is the ending of Rattigans The Browning Version Essay Example

How successful is the ending of Rattigans The Browning Version Essay Example How successful is the ending of Rattigans The Browning Version Paper How successful is the ending of Rattigans The Browning Version Paper Essay Topic: Literature Almost more beautiful than the original-Andrews comment about his own translation of the Agamemnon. This just about sums up The Browning Version- the troubles of a husband struggling with illness and the infidelity of his wife. The Browning Version is the Agamemnon with a twist at the end giving it a very effective anti-climax. The era the play is set in is important to some of the plays points and messages. It is set in post-war Britain sometime around the late 1940s. At this time the country was under rationing and money was very important to the vast majority of the populace. So Taplows stealing of the chocolates at the beginning shows the rationing at the time-he feels bad about taking the second chocolate and puts it back. Public schools were very strict at the time and very backward. They refused to change very much and were very backwards in some cases for example it is never revealed what Taplows first name is; they only called boys by their surnames. This is evident in Andrews conversations the only person he does not call by their surname is his wife, Millie. Also Millies incessant mentioning of her inheritance and her uncle Sir William Bartop is to show that she has money and it is almost a boast. This is her fai ade to improve her social standing and she uses it to imply that she is better off than your average schoolmasters wife. This is evident when the Head says Your wifes remarks had lead me to imagine something a little more extensive. At this time divorce was frowned upon greatly. Divorcees were ostracised completely from society- for example divorcees were not allowed in the royal enclosure at Ascot and even the late Princess Margaret was not allowed to marry a RAF war hero because he was a divorcee. That is why Andrew says he does not want to do Millie a second grave wrong and why they do not even discuss splitting up or divorce. The divorce would ruin all of Millie aspirations of social climbing and joining the aristocracy. The Browning Version is named after a translation of the Agamemnon, written by Aeschylus as one third of the Oresteia, by Robert Browning (1812-1889). This particular book is given to Andrew by Taplow in the play and plays an integral part in the story. The plot itself contains many similarities to the Agamemnon: a cheating wife, the lack of love between the married couple and the death of a husband. To make it even worse in Millies obvious spite for her husband she tells him all the details of many affairs. Andrew is so worn down by this that he is referred to as dead by Millie This is the killing of Andrew by his wife as is in the Agamemnon and he says later I fear it [the manuscript of his version of the Agamemnon] is lost like so many other things. The so many other things refers to the lack of faith in his wife and the lack of love and joy in his marriage. Personally I think that The Browning Version is a version of the Agamemnon with a change of scenery and a twist at the end. Andrew admits that he himself wrote a version of the Agamemnon when he was a teenager in rhyming couplets and says when I had finished it, I remember, I thought it very beautiful almost more beautiful than the original. Almost, but not quite in my opinion Andrew means that you cannot beat the original therefore numbing the success of the ending of The Browning Version. The characters of The Browning Version are very stereotypical of the times and the setting. Crocker-Harris for example is the characteristic draconian old schoolmaster- by the book to the letter and ruthless. He is built up in the short time of the play to give the impression of a disrespected and unlovable man without feeling, fully deserving of the title the Himmler of the lower fifth as bestowed on him by Frobisher. He changes throughout the second half of the play and we as the audience see him to be pleasant, friendly and bullied by his evil wife. This means that the emotions displayed at the end are all the more surprising and cathartic. His history with Millie is outlined in sketchy little facts linked into the conversations. He has always had a stormy marriage and it has never been fulfilled for either party. Millie hints at all the affairs she has had and she has always told Andrew the sordid details. This has worn Andrew down and he is referred to as dead, an utter failure, a Henpecked husband and he is thought to be by Taplow to be all shrivelled up inside like a nut. Again this makes the ending much more emotional. Andrew believes his life is a subject for farce, but in fact he has misread his life and it is more like a tragedy. He also believes that his life is a common occurrence worldwide. Millie is a social climber and is completely evil. She dashes Andrew feelings about the book with a completely evil comment about it being appeasement so that Taplow can get his remove. She is so mean to him to the point of resentment because he cant provide her with what she needs and she is a free spirit. She has to find this kind of love through other channels for example affairs. Frank is typical of young teachers- lively, vigorous and liked by the boys in his care. In the 1994 film version he is made to be American; a rarity in the time period and it makes him even more of a wildcard. But Frank changes over time to regret his actions with Millie and suddenly sees her true colours and recognizes that Andrew is in fact a very admirable person indeed. Taplow the epitome of a schoolboy, a lively character and he recognizes that the Crock is not liked. He notices Andrewss fai ade and sees through it and furthermore admires him for what he is worth. There are two film versions of The Browning Version one made in 1951 by Anthony Asquith, staring Michael Redgrave as Andrew, and a 1994 version directed by Mike Figgis, with Albert Finney in the leading role. Both are very good in their own respects but they both change a good deal in their adaptations. The 1951 version is closer to the original in the plot and setting . The end is similar to the 1994 version with Andrew making a triumphant speech at prize day after Fletcher and providing the several minutes of applause the head master predicted while winning the respect of the boys. The 1994 version is set in a slightly different time but is similar in many ways to the 1951 version. The endings of these are cathartic and the audience goes away feeling very pleased that Andrew has finally done something to please himself and gained the respect of his pupils. On the stage it is kept nicely in a one room set and there are no scene changes making it very compact. It manages to cram a lot of information into a very small time without leaving the audience asking background questions about the play. It leaves the audience pleased that the underdog has come out on top but still asking questions in the backs of their minds about what happens next. The ending is calm and simple compared to the other emotional and physical turmoil of the previous conversations making it very successful in not leaving the audience weary of the characters. The stagecraft is simple and easy to carryout and therefore works to not confuse or change the perspective of the audience. I doubt its effectiveness for a group of teenagers in this modern world of loud music and huge climaxes, but I myself then must be an exception. In their opinion, The Browning Version is very dull, slow and boring play indeed but I actually enjoyed reading this play. It is very effective to the Aunt Ednas of the audience as Terrence Rattigan himself used to call them. The name Edna conjures the image of middle aged women of a certain upbringing and social standing. A tragedy is a play ending with a serious action such as death or defeat in a crescendo of sorrow. The Browning Version almost accomplishes this but accomplishes an anti-climax instead, with the audience expecting the cathartic ending of a tragedy. The tragic themes and motives of The Browning Version are occasionally cut with humour; most of the time provided by Taplow, for example are his golfing skills and his impressions of the Crock. Andrew claims that an anti-climax can be very effective and this is true of The Browning Version in these circumstances. The way the anti climax is executed and the preamble to it makes it a very successful way of ending the play. The ending is kept under wraps in a very simple and straightforward way with the ambiguity of a telephone call, which is very anonymous. At the very end, the meal is almost the picture of an ideal marriage but with a twist of bitterness in the expression on the face of Millie. As The Browning Version is based on a tragedy it could have ended like one, but it does the reverse and finishes in the way you would least expect if you had no knowledge of the play beforehand. If it had ended like a tragedy would likely be less successful in its message and the ending would not mean so much to the audience in the same way. The ending of The Browning Version is a very strange one compared to the other plays I have read or seen, and I find the ending a pleasant surprise. With all things considered, I think the anti-climax is as effective as Andrew claims it to be. Rattigans use of tragedy and anti-climax, and his characters, make the ending of The Browning Version a very good one undeniably.

Definitions and Interpretations of Rhetorical Irony

Definitions and Interpretations of Rhetorical Irony To say one thing but to mean something else - that may be the simplest definition of irony. But in truth, theres nothing at all simple about the rhetorical concept of irony. As J.A. Cuddon says in A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (Basil Blackwell, 1979), irony eludes definition, and this elusiveness is one of the main reasons why it is a source of so much fascinated inquiry and speculation. To encourage further inquiry (rather than reduce this complex trope to simplistic explanations), weve gathered a variety of definitions and interpretations of irony, both ancient and modern. Here youll find some recurrent themes as well as some points of disagreement. Does any one of these writers provide the single right answer to our question? No. But all provide food for thought. We begin on this page with some broad observations about the nature of irony - a few standard definitions along with attempts to classify the different types of irony. On page two, we offer a brief survey of the ways that the concept of irony has evolved over the past 2,500 years. Finally, on pages three and four, a number of contemporary writers discuss what irony means (or seems to mean) in our own time. Definitions and Types of Irony The Three Basic Features of IronyThe principal obstacle in the way of a simple definition of irony is the fact that irony is not a simple phenomenon. . . . We have now presented, as basic features for all irony,(i) a contrast of appearance and reality,(ii) a confident unawareness (pretended in the ironist, real in the victim of the irony) that the appearance is only an appearance, and(iii) the comic effect of this unawareness of a contrasting appearance and reality.(Douglas Colin Muecke, Irony, Methuen Publishing, 1970)Five Kinds of IronyThree kinds of irony have been recognized since antiquity: (1) Socratic irony. a mask of innocence and ignorance adopted to win an argument. . . . (2) Dramatic or tragic irony, a double vision of what is happening in a play or real-life situation. . . . (3) Linguistic irony, a duality of meaning, now the classic form of irony. Building on the idea of dramatic irony, the Romans concluded that language often carries a double message, a second often moc king or sardonic meaning running contrary to the first. . . .In modern times, two further conceptions have been added: (1) Structural irony, a quality that is built into texts, in which the observations of a naive narrator point up deeper implications of a situation. . . . (2) Romantic irony, in which writers conspire with readers to share the double vision of what is happening in the plot of a novel, film, etc.(Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press, 1992) Applying IronyIronys general characteristic is to make something understood by expressing its opposite. We can therefore isolate three separate ways of applying this rhetorical form. Irony can refer to (1) individual figures of speech (ironia verbi); (2) particular ways of interpreting life (ironia vitae); and (3) existence in its entirety (ironia entis). The three dimensions of ironytrope, figure, and universal paradigmcan be understood as rhetorical, existential, and ontological.(Peter L. Oesterreich, Irony, in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, edited by Thomas O. Sloane, Oxford University Press, 2001)Metaphors for IronyIrony is an insult conveyed in the form of a compliment, insinuating the most galling satire under the phraseology of panegyric; placing its victim naked on a bed of briars and thistles, thinly covered with rose leaves; adorning his brow with a crown of gold, which burns into his brain; teasing, and fretting, and riddling him through and through with incessant discharges of hot shot from a masked battery; laying bare the most sensitive and shrinking nerves of his mind, and then blandly touching them with ice, or smilingly pricking them with needles.(James Hogg, Wit and Humour, in Hoggs Instructor, 1850) Irony SarcasmIrony must not be confused with sarcasm, which is direct: Sarcasm means precisely what it says, but in a sharp, bitter, cutting, caustic, or acerb manner; it is the instrument of indignation, a weapon of offense, whereas irony is one of the vehicles of wit.(Eric Partridge and Janet Whitcut, Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English, W.W. Norton Company, 1997)Irony, Sarcasm, WitGeorge Puttenhams Arte of English Poesie shows appreciation for subtle rhetorical irony by translating ironia as Drie Mock. I tried to find out what irony really is, and discovered that some ancient writer on poetry had spoken of ironia, which we call the drye mock, and I cannot think of a better term for it: the drye mock. Not sarcasm, which is like vinegar, or cynicism, which is often the voice of disappointed idealism, but a delicate casting of a cool and illuminating light on life, and thus an enlargement. The ironist is not bitter, he does not seek to undercut everything that seems worthy or serious, he scorns the cheap scoring-off of the wisecracker. He stands, so to speak, somewhat at one side, observes and speaks with a moderation which is occasionally embellished with a flash of controlled exaggeration. He speaks from a certain depth, and thus he is not of the same nature as the wit, who so often speaks from the tongue and no deeper. The wits desire is to be funny, the ironist is only funny as a secondary achievement.(Roberston Davies, The Cunning Man, Viking, 1995) Cosmic IronyThere are two broad uses in everyday parlance. The first relates to cosmic irony and has little to do with the play of language or figural speech. . . . This is an irony of situation, or an irony of existence; it is as though human life and its understanding of the world is undercut by some other meaning or design beyond our powers. . . . The word irony refers to the limits of human meaning; we do not see the effects of what we do, the outcomes of our actions, or the forces that exceed our choices. Such irony is cosmic irony, or the irony of fate.(Claire Colebrook, Irony: The New Critical Idiom, Routledge, 2004) A Survey of Irony Socrates, That Old FoxThe most influential model in the history of irony has been the Platonic Socrates. Neither Socrates nor his contemporaries, however, would have associated the word  eironeia  with modern conceptions of Socratic irony. As Cicero put it, Socrates was always pretending to need information and professing admiration for the wisdom of his companion; when Socrates interlocutors were annoyed with him for behaving in this way they called him  eiron, a vulgar term of reproach referring generally to any kind of sly deception with overtones of mockery. The fox was the symbol of the  eiron.All serious discussions of  eironeia  followed upon the association of the word with Socrates.(Norman D. Knox, Irony,  The Dictionary of the History of Ideas, 2003)The Western SensibilitySome go so far as to say that Socrates ironic personality inaugurated a peculiarly Western sensibility. His irony, or his capacity  not  to accept everyday values and concepts but live in a state of  perpetual  question, is the birth of philosophy, ethics, and consciousness.(Claire Colebrook,  Irony: The New Critical Idiom, Routledge, 2004) Skeptics and AcademicsIt is not without cause that so many excellent philosophers became Skeptics and Academics, and denied any certainty of knowledge or comprehension, and held opinions that the knowledge of man extended only to appearances and probabilities. It is true that in Socrates it was supposed to be but a form of irony,  Scientiam  dissimulando  simulavit, for he used to dissemble his knowledge, to the end to enhance his knowledge.(Francis Bacon,  The Advancement of Learning, 1605)From Socrates to CiceroSocratic irony, as it is constructed in Platos dialogues,  is therefore  a method of mocking and unmasking the presumed knowledge of his interlocutors, consequently leading them to  truth  (Socratic  maieutics). Cicero establishes irony as a rhetoric figure which blames by praise and praises by blame. Apart from this, there is the sense of tragic (or dramatic) irony, which focuses on the contrast between the protagonists ignorance and the spectators, who ar e aware of his fatal destiny (as for example in  Oedipus Rex).(Irony, in  Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters, edited by Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen, Rodopi, 2007) Quintilian OnwardsSome of the rhetoricians recognize, though almost as if in passing, that irony was much more than an ordinary rhetorical figure. Quintilian says [in  Institutio Oratoria, translated by H.E. Butler] that in the  figurative  form of irony the speaker disguises his entire meaning, the disguise being apparent rather than confessed. . . .But having touched on this borderline where irony ceases to be instrumental and is sought as an end in itself, Quintilian draws back, quite properly for his purposes, to his functional view, and in effect carries nearly two millennia worth of rhetoricians along with him. It was not until well into the eighteenth century that theorists were forced, by explosive developments in the use of irony itself, to begin thinking about ironic effects as somehow self-sufficient literary ends. And then of course irony burst its bounds so effectively that men finally dismissed merely functional ironies as not even ironic, or as self-evidently les s artistic.(Wayne C. Booth,  A Rhetoric of Irony, University of Chicago Press, 1974) Cosmic Irony RevisitedIn  The Concept of Irony  (1841), Kierkegaard elaborated the idea that irony is a mode of seeing things, a way of viewing existence. Later, Amiel in his  Journal Intime  (1883-87) expressed the view that irony springs from a perception of the absurdity of life. . . .Many writers have distanced themselves to a vantage point, a quasi-godlike eminence, the better to be able to view things. The artist becomes a kind of god viewing creation (and viewing his own creation) with a smile. From this it is a short step to the idea that God himself is the supreme  ironist, watching the antics of human beings (Flaubert referred to a blague supà ©rieure) with a detached, ironical smile. The spectator in the  theatre  is in a similar position. Thus the everlasting human condition is regarded as potentially absurd.(J.A. Cuddon, Irony,  A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, Basil Blackwell, 1979)Irony in Our TimeI am saying that there seems to be o ne dominating form of modern understanding; that it is essentially ironic; and that it originates largely in the application of mind and memory to the events of the Great War [World War I].(Paul Fussell,  The Great War and Modern Memory, Oxford University Press, 1975) Supreme IronyWith supreme irony, the war to make the world safe for democracy [World War I] ended by leaving democracy more unsafe in the world than at any time since the collapse of the revolutions of 1848.(James Harvey Robinson,  The Human Comedy, 1937) Contemporary Observations on Irony The New IronyThe one truth the new irony has to tell us is that the man who uses it has no place to stand except in momentary community with those who seek to express a comparable alienation from other groups. The one conviction it expresses is that there are really no sides left: No virtue to oppose to corruption, no wisdom to oppose to  cant. The one standard it accepts is that on which the simple manthe untutored non-ironist who fancies (in his dolt-hood) that he knows what good and bad should meanis registered as the zero of our world, a cipher worth nothing but uninterrupted contempt.(Benjamin DeMott, The New Irony:  Sidesnicks  and Others,  The American Scholar, 31, 1961-1962)Swift, Simpson, Seinfeld . . . and Quotation Marks[T]echnically,  irony  is a rhetorical device used to convey a meaning sharply different from or even opposite of the  literal  text. It’s not just saying one thing while meaning anotherthat’s what Bill Clinton does. No, itâ₠¬â„¢s more like a wink or running joke among people in the know.Jonathan Swift’s  A Modest Proposal  is a classic text in the history of irony. Swift argued that English lords should eat the children of the poor to alleviate hunger. There is nothing in the text which says, hey, this is sarcasm. Swift lays out a pretty good argument and it’s up to the reader to figure it out that he’s not really serious. When Homer Simpson says to Marge, Now who’s being naà ¯ve? the writers are winking at all those people who love  The Godfather  (these people are commonly referred to as men). When George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld keep saying Not that there’s anything wrong with that! every time they mention homosexuality, they are making an ironic joke about the culture’s insistence that we affirm our non-judgmentalism.Anyway,  irony  is one of those words that most people understand intuitively but have a hard time defining. One good test is if you like to put quotation marks around words that shouldn’t have them. The quotation marks are necessary because the words have lost most of their literal meaning to the  new  politicized interpretations.(Jonah Goldberg, The Irony of Irony.  National Review Online, April 28, 1999) Irony and EthosSpecifically rhetorical irony presents few problems. Puttenhams drie  mock pretty well describes the phenomenon. One kind of rhetorical irony, however, may need further attention. There can be relatively few rhetorical situations where the target of persuasion is utterly ignorant of the designs someone has on himthe relationship of  persuader  and persuaded is almost always self-conscious to some degree. If the persuader wants to overcome any implicit sales resistance (especially from a sophisticated audience), one of the ways he will do it is to acknowledge that he  is  trying to talk his audience into something. By this, he hopes to gain their trust for as long as the soft sell takes. When he does this, he really acknowledges that his rhetorical maneuvering is ironical, that it says one thing while it tries to do another. At the same time, a second irony is present, since the pitchman is still far from laying all his cards on the table. The point to be made is that every rhetorical posture except the most naive involves an ironical coloration, of some kind or another, of the speakers  ethos.(Richard Lanham,  A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, 2nd edition, University of California Press, 1991) The End of the Age of Irony?One good thing could come from this horror: it could spell the end of the age of irony. For some 30 yearsroughly as long as the Twin Towers were uprightthe good folks in charge of Americas intellectual life have insisted that nothing was to be believed in or taken seriously. Nothing was real. With a giggle and a smirk, our chattering classesour columnists and pop culture makersdeclared that detachment and personal whimsy were the necessary tools for an oh-so-cool life. Who but a slobbering bumpkin would think, I feel your pain? The ironists, seeing through everything, made it difficult for anyone to see anything. The consequence of thinking that nothing is realapart from prancing around in an air of vain stupidityis that one will not know the difference between a joke and a menace.No more. The planes that plowed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were real. The flames, smoke, sirensreal. The chalky landscape, the silence of the streetsall real. I feel your painreally.(Roger Rosenblatt,  The Age Of Irony Comes to an End,  Time  magazine, September 16, 2001) Eight Misconceptions About IronyWe have a grave problem with this word (well, in fact, its not really gravebut Im not being ironic when I call it that, Im being  hyperbolic. Though often the two amount to the same thing. But not always). Just looking at the definitions, the confusion is understandablein the first instance, rhetorical irony expands to cover any disjunction at all between language and meaning, with a couple of key exceptions (allegory  also entails a disconnection between sign and meaning, but obviously isnt synonymous with irony; and lying, clearly, leaves that gap, but relies for its efficacy on an ignorant audience, where irony relies on a knowing one). Still, even with the riders, its quite an umbrella, no?In the second instance,  situational irony  (also known as cosmic irony) occurs when it seems that God or fate is manipulating events so as to inspire false hopes, which are inevitably dashed (1). While this looks like the more straightforward usage, it o pens the door to confusion between irony, bad  luck  and inconvenience.Most pressingly, though, there are a number of misconceptions about  irony  that are peculiar to recent times. The first is that September 11 spelled the end of irony. The second is that the end of irony would be the one good thing to come out of September 11. The third is that irony characterizes our age to a greater degree than it has done any other. The fourth is that Americans cant do irony, and we [the British] can. The fifth is that the Germans cant do irony, either (and we still can). The sixth is that irony and cynicism are interchangeable. The seventh is that its a mistake to attempt irony in emails and text messages, even while irony characterizes our age, and so do emails. And the eighth is that post-ironic is an acceptable termit is very modish to use this, as if to suggest one of three things: i) that irony has ended; ii) that postmodernism and irony are interchangeable, and can be conflated into one handy word; or iii) that we are more ironic than we used to be, and therefore need to add a prefix suggesting even greater ironic distance than irony on its own can supply. None of these things is true.1. Jack Lynch, Literary Terms. I would strongly urge you not to read any more footnotes, they are only here to make sure I dont get in trouble for plagiarizing.(Zoe Williams,  The Final Irony,  The Guardian, June 28, 2003) Postmodern IronyPostmodern  irony is allusive, multilayered, preemptive, cynical, and above all, nihilistic. It assumes that everything is subjective and nothing means what it says. Its a sneering, world-weary,  bad  irony, a mentality that condemns before it can be condemned, preferring cleverness to sincerity and quotation to originality. Postmodern irony rejects  tradition,  but offers nothing in its place.(Jon Winokur,  The Big Book of Irony, St. Martins Press, 2007)Were All in This Togetherby OurselvesImportantly, the Romantic of today finds a real connection, a sense of groundedness, with others  through  irony. with those who understand what is meant without having to say it, with those who also question the saccharine quality of contemporary American culture, who are certain that all diatribes of virtue-lament will turn out to have been made by some gambling, lying, hypocritical talk-show host/senator overly fond of interns/pages. This they see as doing an inj ustice to the depth of human possibility and the complexity and goodness of human feeling, to the power of the imagination over all forms of potential constraint, to a basic ethics that they themselves are proud to uphold. But ironists, above all else, are certain that we must live in this world as best we can, whether or not it suits our own moral outlook, writes Charles Taylor [The Ethics of Authenticity, Harvard University Press, 1991]. The only alternative seems to be a kind of inner exile. Ironic detachment is exactly this sort of inner exilean  inner emigrationmaintained with humor, chic bitterness, and a sometimes embarrassing but abidingly persistent hope.(R. Jay Magill Jr.,  Chic Ironic Bitterness, The University of Michigan Press, 2007) Whats Ironic?Woman: I started riding these trains in the forties. Those days a man would give up their seat for a woman. Now were liberated and we have to stand.Elaine: Its ironic.Woman: Whats ironic?Elaine: This, that weve come all this way, we have made all this progress, but you know, weve lost the little things, the niceties.Woman: No, I mean what does ironic mean?(Seinfeld)

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Second, there are also relevant data which are made available for the expenditures which are placed for residential repairs and improvement. This type of data shows the amount of money that has been used for the purpose of improving the residential places for purposes of repairs and improvement. For the year 2003, the data shows that $179,700,000,000 has been spent on the first quarter, $173,200,000,000 has been spent on the second quarter, $187,400,000 has been spent on the third quarter, and $166,700,000,000 has been spent on the fourth quarter (US Census Bureau News, 2008). On the other hand, there are costs of $198,900,000,000 for the first quarter, $192,600,000,000 for the second quarter, $202,100,000,000 for the third quarter, and $200,500,000,000 for the fourth quarter (US Census Bureau News, 2008). For the year 2005, the respective value for the first to fourth quarters are $213,600,000,000 $192,800,000,000, $220,900,000,000 and $235,500,000,000 (US Census Bureau News, 2008). For the year 2006, the values for the respective four quarters are $232,200,000,000, $225,000,000,000, $231,000,000,000, and $226,000,000,000 (US Census Bureau News, 2008). As for the year 2007, the value for the first to the fourth quarter is $230,900,000,000, $227,700,000,000, $213,200,000,000, and $236,600,000,000 (US Census Bureau News, 2008). From these values, it is shown that the expenditures for each quarter and across the years are increasing such that there has been more cost spent for this on the latest years of the historical data. Third, the report of the US Census Bureau also shows that there are also expenditures for residential construction which can be studied from the year 2003 to 2007. For the year 2003, the total expenditure is $705,276,000,000. The succeeding values are: $803,305,000,000 for 2004, $897,989,000,000 for 2005, $937,047,000,000 for the year 2006, and $875,010,000,000 for the year 2007 (â€Å"Construction and housing,† 2009). While the trend shows that here is a constant increase from the year 2003 to the year 2006, there is a sudden plunge for 2007 which can be accounted to several economic factors that prohibit the construction of new residential infrastructures. Fourth, there is also an economic index available for expenditures on nonresidential units, which is also taken from the US Census Bureau. From the year 2003 to 2007, the respective values are $229,335,000,000, $238,478,000,000, $256,644,000,000, $295,715,000,000, and $349,566,000,000 (â€Å"Construction and housing,† 2009). From these data, it can be observed that there is a continuous increase in the amount spent for the purpose of construction nonresidential units. In relation to the power tool market, these economic general indices are considered to be important because of the role it plays in terms of the demand for power tools which are required for construction. The housing start data would dictate how many new power tools may be required together with the amount of expenditures that are seen to be used for improvements and construction of new infrastructures. The fact that power tools are considered to be a necessity for the construction and repair of housing and nonresidential units relates this industry to the construction of housing and nonresidential ones. During cases where there are disparities, it is important to note that these general economic indices will be of great help only when accuracy is present. However, when there are cases where it is difficult to see which of the current findings are accurate, there should be information from other related economic factors that come from the government which could be a reliable source of data. Thus, it can be seen that there are several factors which affect the power tool market considering the economic relations it has with the construction industry. There are several ways through which the economic forecasts for the power tool industry can be obtained in relation to the construction data. References Frumkin, N. (2005). Guide to economic indicators (4th Ed. ). Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe. Newly Privately Owned Housing Units Started. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://www. census. gov/const/startsan. pdf. Section 20: Construction and housing. (2009). Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://www. census. gov/prod/2008pubs/09statab/construct. pdf. US Census Bureau News. (2008). Expenditures for improvements and repairs of residential properties estimated at $226. 4 Billion in 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://www. census. gov/const/c50_curr. pdf.

An Overview of Human Resources

An Overview of Human Resources Introduction: Human Resource Management is an offshoot of the management discipline, which emphasis on how to attract, hire, train, motivate and retain employees. Skilled employees become a cause of competitive advantage in this global village, who continually faces the turbulent environmental changes taking place in the business world. The researcher found that Human Resource practices are too important to have an impact on the achievements of organizational objectives in the world of competition (Khan, 2011). Human Resource is the back bone in managing the organizational resources and its performance efficiently and effectively. Better the human resource management, better the production of the organization. Managing the human capital effectively guarantees the right person at right place at the right time, which helps the organization to achieve its strategic objectives. Human resources of any business are vital assets who convert inputs up to finished goods, thus enhancing the profits by meeting the societal challenges and meeting the needs of society(Uddin 2014). The traditional act of personnel manager/HR manager as an HR administrator is inadequate for existence in this turbulent business world (Payne, 2010). In the present era HR manager should act as a business partner and HR manager simultaneously. Due to rapid changes in technology and excessive use of information technology, business has emerged in a global community and this emerging field has become a Global Strategic Management. This emerging meadow is the amalgamation of strategic management and global business environment which forms strategies globally, expanding the business across the territorial boundaries to compete globally(Johansson 2014). The human resource management of any setup, institution, firm, having ongoing turbulent milieu changes, is unable to be a stagnant phenomenon. By aligning the business strategies with the human resource management, the organization can obtain the competitive edge in the industry. Firm can optimally utilize the appropriate opportunities with the help of the strategic human resource management. Strategic amalgamation is a predictable requisite in creation of evenness between human resource strategy and organizational strategy. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) remained the utmost, authoritative and the most significant emerging concept in the arena of business and management during the past twenty-five years(Festing 2012; Dudin 2013). Strategic human resources are referred to the development of the strategies which can assist motivating employees to produce more quantity/better quality and performance. The concept of SHRM emerged and got popularity in the USA during late 90s(Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall et al. 2009). The importance of strategic human resource management in an organization cannot be overemphasized due to the fact that human beings are the pushing force behind any organization. In this respect, organizations must be able to implement well-planned and well-thought out strategic human resource ideas that will be transported out to coordinate and transmit the human capital into increased productivity. A strong human resource strategy will allow an organization to have a good relationship with its workers and to coexist peacefully and in a mutually beneficial manner with its host community. Convergence of HRM is supposed to be the effect of global rivalry, which demands more efficient and more effective solutions (Larsson 2013). Another example of organizational convergence is the movement toward Western-style organization. At times, a blueprint model for nonprofit organizations has been advanced, founded on the construction and funding of specific organizational structures. The ‘convergence hypothesis’ stated that ‘best management practices’ could be applied everywhere, irrespective of the different political, ideological and cultural environments. National culture can impact on organisational culture by the development of organisational values which are influenced by a manager’s basic assumptions that have been developed by their own sets of behaviours and norms. The differences in management practices should also be viewed in the same way as many scholars attribute this to the ‘country of origin effect’ which comes about through clashed between organisational factors and local culture (Aycan, 2005). The relation between globalization and convergence has been examined in various ways within the social sciences. Political scientists often show how globalization produces the convergence of political institutions, systems or political economies (Radice, 2000). A prominent economic approach has been to chart the convergence of markets and real wage dispersion (e.g. Alderson and Nielson, 2002). Divergence is about organizations who are maintaining their culturally based dissimilarities (McGaughey De Cieri, 1999). Webber (1969: Cited in Ralston, 2008, p. 29) defined divergence as socio-cultural influence is the driving force that will cause individuals from a society to retain the specific values system of the societal culture through time, regardless of other possible influences, such as technological, economic and political change. This research paper aims to Convergence and divergence issues in strategic management with the help of Balanced Scorecard in HR management and the sector in which we are going to investigate our model is banking sector of Pakistan. Banks play vital role in any society because they expressively subsidize in the expansion of an economy by accelerating the business. Banks similarly support the saving plans and other instruments of the government’s fiscal approach in their development. One function of banks is credit facility or provision, Credit energies economic actions by permitting companies to invest further than their current cash in hand, individuals to acquire homes, and also help governments to finance new infrastructure projects. Globalization and advancement in technology led banking sector to experience rapid transformations in last few decades. State Bank of Pakistan and private sector commercial banks and insurance companies set up their in-house TD establishments. Gradually, the leading universities set up Public Administration departments and with this developed the basic know-how among the industrialists about Human Resource Management. This led to the setting up of separate Human Resource Departments by not only the leading organizations, but also by the smaller ones. Dudin, A. Y. (2013). Challenges Facing the Application of Strategic Management in Arabic Business Organizations: The Case of Telecom Sector in Jordan. Editorial Advisory Board 37(1): 111-120. Festing, M. (2012). Strategic Human Resource Management in Germany: Evidence of Convergence to the US Model, the European Model, or a Distinctive National Model? The Academy of Management Perspectives 26(2): 37-54. Johansson, J. K. (2014). Brands in International Trade Theory. Multidisciplinary Insights from New AIB Fellows (Research in Global Strategic Management, Volume 16) Emerald Group Publishing Limited 16: 139-157. Larsson, O. S. (2013). Convergence in Ideas, Divergence in Actions. Administrative Theory Praxis 35(2): 271-289. Lengnick-Hall, M. L., C. A. Lengnick-Hall, et al. (2009). Strategic human resource management: The evolution of the field. Human Resource Management Review 19(2): 64-85. Uddin, M. N. (2014). HRM Practices in insurance companies:: a case study of Bangladesh. Journal of Accounting, Business Management 21(1): 1-11.

COP 3530, Discrete Data Structures and Algorithms, Summer 1999, Homework 2 :: UFL Florida Computer Programming Homework

Class Notes: Data Structures and Algorithms Summer-C Semester 1999 - M WRF 2nd Period CSE/E119, Section 7344 Homework #2 -- Due Fri 28 May 1999 : 09.30am * Question 1. Assume that an n-element array (vector) a contains distinct integers arranged in no particular order. Write an algorithm to find the value and location of (a) the mean of a and (b) the value v in a closest to the mean. Note: If v equals the mean, then v is the value closest to the mean. Example. If a = (1,2,3,5,4,6,7,9), then the mean equals 37/8 = 4.625. The value 5, which is in the fourth location (i = 4), happens to be the value closest to the mean. Answer: FindMean(a : array [1..n] of int): { sum = 0; posmean = -1, posclose = -1 for i = 1 to n do: sum = sum + a[i] endfor mean = float(sum) / n mdif = 9E13 for i = 1 to n do: dif = abs(a[i] - mean) if (dif if (dif = 0) then

New Leadership in Indonesia and Singapure Essays -- International Gove

The emerging globalized world brings with it new global threats. Various forms of advancement have made the threat of terrorism a global threat. As a result, leaders of democratic states have been forced to work together to contain such threats. This paper examines the extent to which the Indonesian leadership transition from 2004 to 2009 affected security policy relations with Singapore. First, this paper takes a brief look at the new leadership transition of Indonesia and Singapore in 2004. Second, this paper examines whether the new leadership was able to strengthened regional security through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). New Leadership in Southeast Asia The year 2004 was of significant change not only for Indonesia, but also for Singapore. Both, Indonesia and Singapore, went trough a leadership change in 2004, which allowed them to realign their relationship and interest in the region. On August 12, Lee Hsien Loong was sworn in as Singapore’s third prime minister since independence. Lee Hsien Loong preceded Goh Chok Tong’s 14-year leadership. Lee had long been expected to have some sort of leadership because his father, Lee Kuan Yew, was Singapore’s first prime minister. More notably on October 20, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was sworn in as Indonesia’s sixth president since independence. Mr. Yudhoyono was the fourth president in six years, but was the first directly elected president since the fall of President Suharto in 1998. The leadership transition of 2004 is crucial to understanding foreign relations between Indonesia and SIngapore because it laid the platform from which they could renew, strengthen, and expand their regional ideals. In the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Singapo... ...nd Southeast Asia: Australia, the U.S., and ASEAN’s Counter-Terror Strategy.† Asian Survey 48, no. 4 (July/August 2008): 626-649. Chow, Jonathan T. â€Å"ASEAN Counterterrorism Cooperation since 9/11.† Asian Survey 45, no. 2 (March/April 2005): 302-321. Febrica, Senia. â€Å"Securitizing Terrorism in Southeast Asia: Accounting for the Varying Responses of Singapore and Indonesia.† Asian Survey 50, no. 3 (May/June 2010): 569-590. Kassim, Yang Razali. Transition Politics in Southeast Asia: Dynamics of Leadership Change and Succession in Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2005. Lee, Kuan Yew. â€Å"The United States, Iraq, and the War on Terror: A Singaporean Perspective.† Foreign Affairs 86, no. 1 (January/February 2007): 2-7. Narine, Shaun. â€Å"ASEAN and the Management of Regional Security.† Pacific Affairs 71, no. 2 (Summer, 1998): 195-214.

Reflective Account Essay

Introduction This assignment will show a detailed account based on an experience in my second year community placement. The framework I shall be using to reflect is Gibbs’ (1988) model of reflection. Within this model are six phases incorporated into a cycle. Each phase will allow me to think systematically about the experience and identify areas where improvement is needed. This reflective account will incorporate the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) aim to ‘Prevent Pressure Ulcers’ (SPSP, n.d.a). Pressure ulcers are defined as â€Å"an area of damage to the skin and underlying tissue that is caused by unrelieved pressure, friction and/or sheer forces† (Posnett and Franks, 2008). The SPSP is co-ordinated by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) and aims to improve patient safety and reduce adverse events. (SPSP. n.d.b). This aim is relevant to the patient involved in this experience as they are a high risk of developing a pressure ulcer therefore preventative measures need to be addressed. To ensure privacy and confidentiality in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2012a), I have renamed this patient Mathew for the purpose of this assignment. Description Mathew is an 82 year old man who recently suffered a fall within his home and was admitted to hospital with a fractured hip and subsequently had to have a total hip replacement. Mathew was discharged from hospital back to his home with the care of District Nurses visiting him on a daily basis to administer his Clexane injection. Due to Mathew’s injury his mobility has been compromised and has subsequently become incontinent. During our first visit with Mathew my mentor asked me to carry out a ‘Waterlow’ assessment with him. This tool is a scoring system which identifies if a patient is at risk of developing a pressure ulcer (HIS, 2009). As the score was above 10 Mathew was deemed ‘at risk’. Both my Mentor and I discussed with Mathew regarding his risk level, we suggested a pressure†¦ In this assignment, I need to reflect on the situation that taken place during my clinical placement to develop and utilize my interpersonal skills in order to maint ain the therapeutic relationships with my patient. In this reflection,  I am going to use Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle. This model is a recognized framework for my reflection. Gibbs (1988) consists of six stages to complete one cycle which is able to improve my nursing practice continuously and learning from the experience for better practice in the future. The cycle starts with a description of the situation, next is to analysis of the feelings, third is an evaluation of the experience, fourth stage is an analysis to make sense of the experience, fifth stage is a conclusion of what else could I have done and final stage is an action plan to prepare if the situation arose again (NHS, 2006). Bairdand Winter (2005, p.156) give some reasons why reflection is require in the reflective practice. They state that a reflect is to generate the practice knowledge, assist an ability to adapt new situations, develop self-esteem and satisfaction as well as to value, develop and professionalizing practice. However, Siviter (2004,p.165) explain that reflection is about gaining self-confidence, identify when to improve, learning from own mistakes and behavior, looking at other people perspectives, being self-aware and improving the future by learning the past. In my context with the patient, it is important for me to improve the therapeutic relationship which is the nurse-patient relationship. In the therapeutic relationship, there is the therapeutic rapport establish from a sense of trust and a mutual understanding exists between a nurse and a patient that build in a special link of the relationship (Harkreader and Hogan, 2004, p.243). (Peplau 1952, citedin Harkreader and Hogan 2004, p.245) note that a good contact in a therapeutic relationship builds trust as well as would raise the patient’s self-esteem which could lead to new personal growth for the patient. Besides, (Ruesch 1961, cited in Arnold and Boggs 2007, p.200) mention the purpose of the therapeutic communication is to improve the patient’s ability to function. So in order to establish a therapeutic nurse-patient interaction, a nurse must show up caring, sincerity, empathy and trustworthiness (Kathol, 2003, p.33). Those attitudes could be expressed by promoting the effective communication and relationships by the implementation of interpersonal skills. Johnson (2008) define the interpersonal skills is the total ability to communicate effectively with other people. Chitty and Black (2007, p.218) mention that communication is the exchange of information, thought and ideas via verbal and non-verbal which both present simultaneously. They explain  that verbal communication is consists of all speech whereas non-verbal communication consists of gestures, postures, facial expressions, tone and level of volume. Thus, in my reflection in this assignment would be discussed on my development of therapeutic relationship in the circumstance of the nurse-patient relationship using the interpersonal skills. My reflection is about one patient whom I code her as Mrs. A, not a real name(Appendix I) to protect the confidentiality of patient’s information (NMC, 2004).In this paragraph I would describe on the event takes place and describe that event during my clinical placement. I was on the female psychiatric ward having a 2 weeks clinical placement for mental health care in semester 3.Generally, there were two separated psychiatric wards which were male psychiatric ward and female psychiatric ward but both wards were sharing the small cafeteria in the area of psychiatric ward. The psychiatric wards were locked up from one main entrance. In the ward, the female psychiatric patients were encouraged to walk out from the female ward and combine with the male psychiatric patients at the small cafet eria during their meal time. During lunch, I noticed one lady was still sitting on her bed. She was Mrs. A, 76 years old been diagnosed a schizophrenia. She was unable to control the muscle also called tremor due to lack of the chemical as she was having a side effect of antipsychotic medication which was a Parkinsonism (Sahelian, 2005). She could not walk herself and need to be assisted if she wanted to stand or walk. So I took the Mrs. A’s lunch meal and fed on the bed. This old lady was unable to feed on her own. So I checked her diet and served her meal. I fed her meal until finished. In this paragraph, I would discuss on my feelings or thinking that took place in the event happened. Before I started to feed her, I introduced myself and approached Mrs. A. So I tried to build a good rapport with her as I do not want her to feel strange as I was not her family members or her relatives. My first approached was to her was to ask whether she wanted or refused to take her lunch. She was on soft diet as she was having a difficulty in swallowing or dysphasia. Then I asked her permission to feed her. She looked at me and looked like blur. In this situation, I showed up my emphatic listening as I put myself in her shoes and assuming I was having a hearing problem. According to Wold (2004, p73) the emphatic listening is about the willingness to understand the other person not just judging the person’s  fact. Then, I touched her shoulder, kept saying, and raise my tone a bit because I was afraid if she had a hearing trouble. At the same time, I did somebody gesturers which could be interpreted an action of eating. I paused, repeated my actions but this time I was using some simple words in the patient dialect. Then she looked at me again and nodded her head. Fortunately the body gesturers also helped me in the conversation with her. In the meantime, I was thinking whether the first language was not her mother tongue but I kept myself communicate verbally with her including using my body gesturers and facial expression. Body gesturers and facial expressions are referred as a non-verbal communication (Funnellet al , 2005, p.443). In my thinking, I needed to speak louder and know more words in her language so that she could understand and interpret of my actions towards her. I thought of the language barrier that breaks our verbal communication. Castledine (2002, p.923) mention that the language barrier arises when there are individuals comes from a different social background use their own slang or phrases in the conversations. Luckily, those particular body gesturers could make her understand that I was going to feed her lunch. During the feeding I maintained the eye contact as I do not want her to feel shy. This is because; my eye contact could show up my interest to help her in feeding. This is supported by Caris-Verhallenet al (1999) which mentioned that the direct of eye contact could express a sense of interesting the person to the other person involves in that communication. In the meantime I communicated with my best with her do that she felt comfortable. As a result, she gave a good cooperation and e njoyed the meal until finished. In my evaluating, I feel I make the right decision to accompany and assist Mrs. A in feeding. Furthermore, I could develop my nurse-patient relationship. Although McCabe (2004, p.44) would describe it as a task-centered communication as one of the element caused the lack communication among nurses, but I think my nurse-patient relationship communication both involved a good patient-centered communication and task-centered communication. In my personal opinion, I attended to Mrs. A as a patient to show my empathy because she was unable to feed herself. It was also as my duty to feed her so that I could make sure the patient get the best care in the ward. So my involvement in this nurse-patient relationship does not only restrict to the task-centered communication because (Burnard 1990, and Stein-Parbury 1993,  cited in McCabe 2002, p.44) define attending as a patient-centered process as wells as to fulfill the basic conditions as a nurse to provide the genuineness, warmth and empath y towards the patient. I was able to improve my non-verbal communication skills in my conversation with her during the feeding. As she was having a hearing problem and could not communicate in the first language properly, so the non-verbal communication plays a role. Caris-Verhallen et al (1999, p.809) state that the non-verbal communication becomes important when communicating with the elderly people who develop a hearing problem. Hollman et al (2005, p31) suggests some effective ways to maximize the communication with hearing impairment people such as always gains the person’s attention before speaking, visible yourself to prevent them feel frighten and try to use some sensitive touch. I feel this is a good experience to me because I learn to develop my non-verbal communication. I used most of the body gesturers because of the language barrier was being a gap in my conversation with Mrs. A. She could speak very limited in the first language so I tried to speak in her dialect. Furthermore, Wold (20 04, p.76) mention that gesturers are one specific type of non-verbal communication intended to express ideas and are useful for people who cannot use much words. However I also used my facial expressions to advise her to finish the meal. It might be not so delicious because she withdraws the meal after few scopes but I smiled and assured Mrs. A that it was good for her health to finish her meal. In addition, the facial expressions are most expressive which are not limited to certain cultural and age barriers (Wold, 2004,p.76). Therefore my facial expression worked out to encourage her to finish the meal. Although I could not explain detail to her about the important nutrition diet that she should take, but I could advocate her to finish the meal served because the meal was prepared according to her condition. In order to analysis of the event, I could evaluate that, my communication skills are very important to provide the best nursing care to Mrs. A. My communication with Mrs. A was the interpersonal communication. This is because the interpersonal communication is a communication which involved of two persons (Funnell et al 2005, p.438). I realized that my nonverbal communication did help me a lot in my duty to provide the nursing care to Mrs. A. Even though she could understand few simple words when I was asking her but I noticed that one of the  problems occurs within the communication was the language barrier. As the patient was not using the official language and the second language, I tried to speak in her language. I still could manage the communication in our conversation. However, it was quite difficult to promote the effective verbal communication with the patient. Besides, White (2005, p.112) recommend that a nurse should learn a few words or phrases in the predominant second language to put a patient at ease for better understanding. Although it was quite difficult but using the nonverbal simultaneously with the verbal communication did encou rage her to speak on her best to make me understand her words. In the event showed that, there was a response from Mrs. A. when I was asking her questions. Funnel et al (2005, p.438) point out that a communication would occur when a person responds to a message received and assigns meaning to it. She nodded her head to assign that she agreed with me. Delaune and Ladner (2002, p.191) explain that the channel is one of the component of the communication process which act as a medium during the message is sent out. In addition, Mrs. A also gave me a feedback that she understood my message by transmitting the message via her body gesturers and eye behavior. Thus I could consider that the communication channels used in my conversation were visual and auditory. Delaune and Ladner (2002, p.191) state a feedback is that the sender receives the information after the receiver react to the message. However, Chitty and Black (2007, p.218) define feedback is a response to a message. In my situation, I was a sender who conveyed the message receiving the information from Mrs. A, the receiver who agreed to take lunch and allow me to feed. Consequently, I could analyze that my communication with Mrs. A involved of five component of communication process which are sender, message, channel, receiver and feedback (Delaune and Ladner, 2002, p.191).In a nutshell, for my reflection of this event explores about on how the communication skills play a role on the nurse-patient relationship in order to deliver the nursing care towards the patient especially the adult. She needed quite some time to adapt the ability changes in her daily activities living where I was trying to help her in feeding. I was concerning my feeling and thoughts during the feeding so that I could improve more skills in my communication. I successfully communicated with her effectively as she enjoyed finishing the meal. So it  is vital to build rapport with her to encourage her ability to speak up ver bally and non-verbal. Moreover, this ability could help her to communicate effectively with other staff nurses. Later, she would not be neglected because of her age or her disability to understand the information given about her treatment.(Hyland and Donaldson 1989, cited in Harrison and Hart 2006 p.22) mention that communication express what the patients think and feel. In order to communicate with adult, it is important to assess her common communication language and her ability to interact in the other languages. As I used some words in her dialect, I essentially encouraged the patient to speak out verbally and communicate non-verbal so that the message could be understood and do not break the nurse-patient communication. In my opinion, I evaluated that it does not a matter whether it was a patient-centered communication or task-centered communication because both communication mentioned by McCabe (2004) actually does involves communication to the patients. So it was not a problem to argue which type of communication involves in my conversation with my patient. After I analyzed the situation, I could conclude that I was be able to know the skills for effective communication with the patient such as approach the patient, asking questions, be an active listening, show my empathy and support the patient emotions (Walsh, 2005, p.34). Actually helping the adult was a good practice in delivering the nursing care among adults. My action plan for the clinical practice in the future, if there were patients that I need to help in feeding or other nursing procedure, I would prepare myself better to handle with the patients who would have some difficulty in communication. This is because, as one of the health care worker, I want the best care for my patients. So in related to deliver the best care to my patients, I need to understand them very well. I have to communicate effectively as this is important to know what they need most during warded under my supervision as a nurse. According to my experience, I knew that communication was the fundamental part to develop a good relationship. Wood (2006, p.13) express that a communication is the key foundation of relationship. Therefore a good communication is essential to get know the patient’s individual health status (Walsh, 2005, p.30). Active listening could distinguish the existence of barrier communication when interactions with the patients. This is because, active listening means listening without  making judgment to listen the patients ’opinions or complaints which give me chances to be in the patients’ perspective(Arnold, 2007, p.201). On the other hand, it also crucial to avoid the barriers occurs in the communication with the patients. I could detect the language barriers by interviewing the patients about their health or asking them if they needed a ny help in their daily activities living. However, I would remind myself for not interfere my communication with barriers such as using the open-ended questions, not attending to non-verbal cues, being criticizing and judging, and interrupting (Funnell et al, 2005, p.453). Walsh (2005, p.31) too summary that making stereotyping and making assumptions about patients, perceptions and first impression of patients, lack awareness of communication skills are the main barriers to communications. I must not judge the patients by making my first impression and assumption about the patients but I have to make patients fee devalued as an individual. I should be capable to respect their fundamental values, beliefs, culture, and individual means of communication (Heath, 2000,p.27). I would be able to know on how to build rapport with the patients. There are eleven ways suggest by Crellin (1998, p.49) which are becomes visible, anticipate needs, be reliable, listening, stay in control, self-disclosure, care for each patient as an individual, use humour when appropriate, educate the patient, give the patient some control, and use gestures to show some supports. This ways could help and give me some guidelines to improve my communication skills with the patients. Another important thing to add on my action plan list is to know which the disabilities of the patients have such as hearing disability, visual impairment and mental disability. Once I could know the disability that a patient has, I could well-prepared my method of communication effectively as Heath(2000, p28) mention that communicating with people who was having some hearing impairment, sight impairment and mental health needs required the particular skills and considerations. Nazarko (2004, p.9) suggest that do not repeat if the person could not understand but try to rephrase and speak a little more slowly when communicating with the hearing difficulties people. Hearing problem commonly occurs among adults because of ageing process (Schofield,2002, p.21). To summarize for my action plan, I would start a communication with a good rapport to know what affects the patients’ ability to communicate well and  to avoid barriers in effective communication in future. In conclusion of my reflective assignment, I mention the model that I chose, Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle as my framework of my reflective. I state the reasons why I am choosing the model as well as some discussion on the important of doing reflection in nursing practice. I am able to discuss every stage in the Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle about my ability to develop my therapeutic relationship by using my interpersonal skills with one patient for this reflection. Reflection on a Clinical Skill The purpose of this assignment is to reflect upon a clinical skill that I undertook whilst on my second year community placement. I have chosen to use Gibbs (1988) model of reflection. In accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), The Code of Professional Conduct (2008), confidentiality shall be maintained and all names changed to protect identity. The clinical skill I have chosen to reflect upon during this assignment is the monitoring of capillary blood glucose (CBG). I have chosen this skill as during my previous acute placements as a student I was not permitted to undertake them, and whilst in the community the Primary Care Trust (PCT) allows it. Having yet to develop this skill I thought that by reflecting on carrying it out would help me to gain the knowledge and confidence needed to perform it in the future. According to Siviter (2004) reflection is about gaining confidence, identifying when you could have improved, learning from your mistakes and about your beha viour, viewing yourself as others do, self awareness and changing the future by learning from the past. Description During a routine daily visit with my mentor Jane, a District Nurse, to Nisha, an elderly Asian lady who was Diabetic, Jane asked me whether I would like to take Nishas CBG. As I had only started doing CBGs during this placement I thought it would be a good learning opportunity so I agreed to do it. Jane asked Nisha whether she minded me doing her CBG and although she did not speak very much English she understood and consented for me to do it. I went into the kitchen and washed my hands. I returned to the living room where  Nisha was and asked her whether her hands were clean, to which she answered yes. I then assessed that Nisha was sat down on a low sofa, and thought it best to kneel down and lay my equipment out on the coffee table so that they were all to hand. Once checking that the blood glucose monitor had been calibrated and that the test strips were in date I opened a test strip and placed it into the monitor. I then put on gloves and asked Nisha whether she was comfortable and ready and which finger she wanted me to use, she said yes and held up her right third finger so I got the single use lancet and pricked the side of Nishas finger, disposing of the lancet into the sharps box. The blood came immediately and I applied it to the test strip and waited for the result, in the meantime I held a clean cotton wool ball to Nishas finger to stop the bleeding. I discarded the test strip and my gloves and recorded the CBG.I then washed my hands again. Once we had left Nishas property my mentor commented that I had done very well, but should have asked Nisha to wash her hands before commencing the CBG test. Feelings When Jane, my mentor, first asked me if I wanted to do Nishas CBG I felt slightly nervous as I had only done a few previously and was aware that she would be observing me through the procedure which also gave me reassurance that if I were to do anything wrong she would be there to highlight it. Once Nisha had consented to me doing the CBG I felt pleased that she trusted me to carry out the process, which allayed my nerves. During the procedure I was aware that my mentor was watching me, which once again made me anxious, but she was encouraging me the whole time and totally supportive. When I instantly got blood once pricking Nishas finger I felt a sense of relief that I had done it correctly. Once the whole process was over Nisha held my hand and smiled and in broken English said â€Å"thank you, thank you†, I was humbled by her response as I felt I was just doing my job. Overall I was satisfied with my performance and felt positive that I wouldn’t be so nervous next ti me round. Evaluation On the whole performing this clinical skill went really well, and having not had much practice at doing this particular skill I was glad to have had the  opportunity to do it whilst under direct supervision from my mentor. I think that my communication with Nisha, even though she spoke little English was very good and that I had formed a strong therapeutic relationship with her. I feel that on reflection I should of asked Nisha to wash her hands before the procedure, and that my mentor should have ensured this, to guarantee that the reading was not contaminated. Analysis I will start by looking at the skill and the evidence supporting it. CBG monitoring is part of many diabetics daily routine. If a patient’s CBG goes up (hyperglycaemia) or down (hypoglycaemia) it can cause the patient to become unwell (Baillie, 2009). Dougherty & Lister (2008) state that in the short term CBG monitoring can prevent hypoglycaemia and ketoacidosis and in the long term can considerably lower complications arising that could affect the patient both vascularly and neurally. Patients can control their condition through diet, oral hypoglycaemic agents, insulin therapy or a combination of the above, (Higgins, 2008). By asking Nisha whether she minded me performing the CBG my mentor had gained informed consent in accordance with the NMC (2008), who say that consent must be gained before any treatment is commenced. I washed my hands following the Ayliffe (1978) technique in order to prevent the spread of infection, Pratt et al (2007) state that hands must be decontamina ted between each and every episode of patient care. I asked Nisha whether her hands were clean, as one of the main causes of inaccuracy of CBG readings are fingers that are contaminated with foodstuffs (Alexander et al, 2000). I assessed that Nisha was sat comfortably on a low sofa, Jamieson et al (2007) says to ensure patient comfort and prevent any injury occurring should the patient feel faint during the procedure . I then knelt down and laid my equipment out on the table, as Baillie (2009) suggests that all equipment needed for a procedure should be within easy reach, and avoid any twisting or stooping which could cause me injury, in line with the PCT Moving and Handling Policy and Procedure (2006). I then checked the CBG monitor had been calibrated and that the test strips were in date, to prevent false positive/ negative readings (Hastings, 2009). I then put on my gloves and asked Nisha whether she was ready and which finger she wanted me to use, Jamieson (2007) says  that gloves should be used to prevent the patient and nurse from any potential blood borne infection. The NMC (2008) state that you must allow patients to make decisions about their care, and also that patients should be treated indiv idually and with dignity. Suhonen et al (2007) conclude that individualised patient care leads to positive patient outcomes, such as patient satisfaction, patient autonomy and patients perceptions on health related quality of life. I used both verbal and non-verbal communication, which involved speaking slowly and clearly so that Nisha could understand what I was saying. I also used non-verbal communication through touch, eye contact, facial expressions and body language, (Funnell et al, 2009). I then using a single use lancet, in accordance with PCT (2005) policy on blood glucose monitoring, pricked the side of Nishas right third finger and disposed of the lancet into the sharps box. Baillie (2009) suggests that the third, fourth or fifth finger should be used as the thumb and index finger are important for touch, and to use the side as it is less painful. To prevent injury sharps and unused drugs must be placed in disposal boxes at the point of use, (Dougherty and Lister, 2008). I applied cotton wool to stop any bleeding and then disposed of the test strip and my gloves, washed my hands again using the Ayliffe (1978) technique and recorded my findings. Hastings (2009) recommends applying pressure briefly to the puncture site to prevent painful extravasation of blood into the subcutaneous tissues. The Department of Health (2007) state that to reduce the risk of cross infection any waste must be disposed of appropriately. Flores (2006) maintains that it is important to wash your hands after removing gloves as bacteria can contaminate them through small defects in the gloves or during removal. Records should be completed as soon as possible following an event (NMC, 2008), and as a student all documentation needs to be countersigned (Siviter, 2004). My mentor said that I should have asked Nisha to wash her hands, not if they were clean the rationale being the same as previously stated, (Alexander et al, 2000), and also Cowan (1997) also agreed that patients hands should be washed to ensure a non-contaminated result. Conclusion In conclusion I now appreciate how in depth a â€Å"simple† CBG procedure actually is, when done correctly. I have looked further for evidence stating that patients hands should be washed before the CBG test is performed and realise that I should have asked Nisha to do so as the result could potentially have been wrong. On reflecting on undertaking this skill I have developed my learning of the need to carry out this procedure and the importance of it to a Diabetic. I have also found that following guidelines is vital to accurate results. Action Plan In future when I carry out this procedure I will continue to practice as I have done as long as this is in line with local trust policy and supporting evidence. I will always ensure that the patient washes their hands before commencing the process, as this is what evidence suggests is good practice and also important for an accurate result.