Project Proposal for Ministry of Trade Web Portal

COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR MINISTRY OF TRADE WEB PORTAL PRESENTED BY: RAHAB WAMBUI KIARIE REG NO: SP13/20526/08 COURSE CODE: COMP 402 PRESENTED TO: MR. OMWOYO SUBMISSION TIME: OCTOBER 2011 A project proposal submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science of Egerton University. Table of Contents ABSTRACT3 CHAPTER ONE: 1. 0 INTRODUCTION4 1. 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT4 1. 2 OBJECTIVES5 CHAPTER TWO: 2. 0 LITERATURE REVIEW5 2. SCOPE OF THE SYSTEM6 STARNDARD REQUIREMENT6 3. 0 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT6 3. 1) HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS6 3. 1. 1) APPLICATION PROGRAM6 3. 1. 2 Operating System6 CHAPTER FOUR: 4. 0 DEVELOPMENT PROCESS7 4. 1 PROJECT SCHEDULE AND BUDJET8 4. 1. 1 PROJECT SCHEDULE8 4. 1. 2 PROJECT BUDGET9 4. 1. 3 REFERENCES10 ? ABSTRACT As envisaged in Kenya’s vision 2030, trade will be one of the key sectors to drive economic development of our country. The sector is the link between consumption and production within the economy and contributes towards the employment and wealth creation.There are tremendous potentials for trade to play a central role in driving and sustaining growth and poverty reduction in Kenya. The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), cuts across all sectors of the Kenyan economy but face various development challenges like overreliance on agriculture which mainly depends on unpredictable weather, underdevelopment of Information, Communication and Technology and lack of market information of local goods both locally and internationally.This project will provide a solution to investors and MSMEs by providing information on the various investment opportunities available in Kenya apart from agriculture, know about the various trade policies to avoid unfair trade and also provide a platform where local companies can upload their company profiles and the ministry promotes their products at trade fairs at an international level. CHAPTER ONE: 1. 0 INTRODUCTIONThe Ministry of Trade†™s current mandate is: Trade development policy; Development of micro and small business; Fair trade practices and consumer protection; Private sector development and international trade affairs. The ministry will champion the promotion of both domestic and foreign trade through creation of an enabling business and investment environment as highlighted in this project proposal. The purpose of this proposal is to explain in detail the aim of the project, the methods used in the implementation of the system, scope of the system and budget and time schedule for the implementation of the project.It begins with the introduction which introduces the system to be developed. The next part is the problem statement, the literature review, the scope of the system and the requirements for the system. In the scope of the system we have the system functionalities and its limitations. Since the system is to be developed within a located time frame and budget constraint, it is imperative that the proposal also contains the budget and time schedule. This explains the time schedule for the system and also the budget for the system. . 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT Kenya trade industry faces a number of challenges: unsound business regulatory framework leading to multiple licensing and heavy or cumbersome regulations for SMEs which in turn leads to high cost of business transactions; Lack of comprehensive trade information on the existing and emerging markets to investors and SMEs. Lack of sound business managerial skills and exposure to international best business practices has hampered the growth of the MSE sector.To overcome the problem a system needs to be developed with the springboard objective of providing Kenyans with a centralized location where they can get trade information and thus lead to economic growth and realization of vision 2030. 1. 2 OBJECTIVES 1. To develop a successful Ministry of Trade web portal 2. To identify conditions for successful implementation of a new impr oved system. 3. To enhance access of trade information to Kenyans. CHAPTER TWO: 2. 0 LITERATURE REVIEWHaving collected information on the ministry of trade I was able to define the main drawbacks associated with the services of the industry. Information sharing between the ministry and the business people is not easy. Enormous opportunities exist in the domestic, regional and international markets. These opportunities should be fully exploited through the systematic promotion of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and providing information to them.It is crucial to note that as trade becomes free and global, technological innovations will become increasingly important, offering consumers more and more options at cheaper prices in the country and all over the globe. With this system in place all the requests for trade information, will be available to recipients at any given time. Therefore potential users’ are:- oInvestors both local and international. oConsumers. oOt her ministries in the government that work closely with ministry of trade. oOwners of small and medium sized businesses. 2. SCOPE OF THE SYSTEM The web portal will aid in the availing all the details of the trade industry. It will, as its name suggests, be place where the ministry can interact with the general public on matters pertaining its mode of operation. There are several issues about the system’s scope. STARNDARD REQUIREMENT The requirements include the following: 1. Computers 3. 0 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT 3. 1) Hardware requirements ?Processor – Pentium IV with 2. 0 GHz or higher ?Memory – 1GB of RAM or more ?Hard Disk size – 320 GB for host, 20 GB for client 3. 1. ) Application program Programming: PHP and JavaScript, Database design: MySQL, Interface: Macromedia Dream weaver, Macromedia fireworks, Macromedia Flash, Web browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Internet explorer, Web server: Apache, System: Linux and Windows. 3. 1. 2 Operating System ?Windows XP (32 -bit), Vista(32 – 64-bit), or Windows 7 (32 – 64-bit) ? Linux CHAPTER FOUR: 4. 0 DEVELOPMENT PROCESS The program development process will involve a number of steps as shown in the flow diagram below: 4. 1 PROJECT SCHEDULE AND BUDJET 4. 1. 1 Project scheduleMinistry of Trade web portal is a large project that can be accomplished in a period of six months which equates to two semesters. The initial loading of the system with data takes place at the commissioning of the system. A complete schedule is as below. Period/TimeActivityDescription November 2011 Acquisition of use ¬ful Resources. This involves collecting the useful facts from the ministry of Trade November 2011Databases Design Building individual databases, tables and individual record sets and loading with sample test data. December 2011 o January 2012Defining Record setsInvolves defining relations of data within various databases and means of accessing them February 2012Creating a Graphi ¬cal User Interface Involves creating user inter ¬face that users of the system will use to search for information March 2012TestingInvolves testing the system with sample data and correcting any anomalies especially in the database design if any. April 2012Loading DatabasesInvolves clearing databases with test data and loading with actual data. May 2012Commissioning the System This involves deployment of the system, hosting it so that it can be accessed by anybody.Table 1) Project schedule 4. 1. 2 PROJECT BUDGET PARTICULARSQUANTITYUNIT PRICE (Kshs)TOTAL COST(Kshs) 1Transport 5000 2Storage devices flash drive, CDs2 GB Flash Drive 2 Compact Disks 1,000 252,000 50 3Printing expenses1000 4Stationery2 A4 Books 2 pens 100 25200 50 5Computer Machine and softwareAvailable but limited 6Internet costs 2000 7Airtime6000 TOTALKshs 16,300 Table 2) project budget 4. 1. 3 REFERENCES ?Ministry of Trade Strategic Plan 2008-2012. ?Hawryszkiewycz, I. (1998), Introduction to System Analysis and Design, Prentice Hall, A ustralia.

Basic Economic Question

Through market research and analysis it has been found out that there are several economic choices that every firm must face. This is in line with the core objective of the firm which basically entails producing standardized product to meet the customers demand and making profits for the firm.Research from surveys and focus groups have indicated that our investment bank needs to develop a product which best suits the clients establishing good consumer behaviour and meeting the impacts of government policies.No longer are banks interested in their own interest of making profits but what is of fundamental concern is whether the customer is satisfied. Our investment bank is not an exceptional one. We need to address the issues of developing a product that will make the bank outstand despite its rivals in the market. Development of product Economic choices imply that the forces of demand and supply need to be put into consideration when choosing a particular product for the firm.The cent ral question therefore that I considered in developing this product was the ease at which the customers will learn on the use and the reliability of the product when it’s introduced into the market. As an investment bank, a structured deposit is one of the products which is fundamental in the bank. This is because they allow customers to attain higher yields and also be able to take market risks upto a certain degree will be set by the bank.The bank through this product will be able to meet the needs and expectations of the consumers and the management team of the bank too. The product is introduced into the market just like any other products which have been introduced before. The customer is taken into an orientation so that he gets to learn that this product involves saving just like any other saving accounts. They will be informed that this service provides more services beyond the traditional savings such as mutual funds.Reasons for choosing this product One of the reaso ns why a structured deposit would be important in our investment bank is that it provides cash to the customer ant time he needs it. The customer does not need to wait upto a certain maturity date or pay a penalty for withdrawal of the money in his account. Another important issue which is fundamental is that through this product the bank can get more profits by soliciting so much money at a specific time so that it can invest at a go and get maximum returns.The customer will also benefit in that incase he requires some loan, then he will be granted since the pool from the other investors in this type of fund will have contributed. Another major reason that is important is that a structured deposit is a very good method of investment of ones money. An individual who has an account with a structured fund will find it easier in the future to get his money in a lumpsum amount. This therefore is a good investment solution to an individual. ConclusionFor our bank to achieve the demands o f the product there is need for awareness to be created to customers so that they can be in apposition to get the products and benefit from it. Reference: California Institute of Technology (2008, February 16). Insights on Economic Choices and challenges facing banks, an article pp. 35-56. Products of investment banks Retrieved on 8th April 2009 from http://www. citibank. ro/romania/corporate. Sample memo for business executives retrieved on 8th April 2009 from http//www. purdue. edu/owl/resource

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

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Sound Leadership Essay Example for Free

Sound Leadership Essay The focus of leadership and the dynamics that make up sound leadership drives our day to day interaction in a continuous revolving world of business. Sound leadership is the core of every organization and solving its problems. Understanding leadership, its purpose, and dynamics enables executives to solve problems and maintain a competitive edge in a continuously changing business environment. In order to address the strategic implications that organizational behaviors have on leadership, justify the business needs of leadership, and codify the implications leadership has on organizational behaviors this paper will focus on the definition of different leadership styles and processes, how they relate to organizational behaviors within an organization, and how they form sound leadership. 14. November 2011 Throughout this course we have focused a significant amount of time discussing an organizational moment. 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The leadership having buy-in, aligning their beliefs and attitudes toward the strategic goals of the organization, and relaying their beliefs and attitudes to their employees shapes the direction of the organization and provide a solid foundation for the organization to be successful. Leadership drives the mission of an organization and in order to impart these beliefs on their employee’s, leaders practice three basic leadership styles. Leadership styles determine the atmosphere of the organization. Understanding leadership and the many methods to employ it is as quintessential to an organization as its resources. According to Beebe and Masterson (2006), no two people practice the same methods of leadership; however, all people lead with three basic leadership styles; authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire. 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Laissez-faire behavior is a complete avoidance of leading. â€Å"These non-leaders completely abdicate their leadership role and refuse to make decisions. This is a manager who is relatively inattentive, indifferent, frequently absent, and uninfluential† (Humphreys, 2001). These leadership styles greatly impact an organization and directly contribute to the directions and futures of a business. Leadership styles explain the persona leaders exude in managing their people. Leadership theorists incorporated processes into leadership to explain how leadership styles impact the performance of workers within an organization. Theorists have made their mark in the world of business. Over the past decades, researchers focused on defining the personal traits of effective leaders but ultimately concluded that it is not so much the traits as it is how individuals utilize these traits (Boseman, 2008). Theorists have focused their efforts toward understanding the processes of leadership to assist managers with leading their people and achieving the organization’s goals. Abraham Maslow, Clayton Alderfer, Victor Vroom, Edwin Locke, Henry Landsberger, Frederick Taylor, Paul Hersey, Ken Blanchard, Robert House, and Douglas McGregor studies in leadership have made major contributions to the world of business. Of these prolific theorists Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Alderfer’s ERG Theory, House’s Path-Goal Theory, and Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership will be utilized to explain how leadership effect organizational behaviors. Abraham Maslow’s introduce his concept of leadership in 1943. Maslow’s  Hierarchy of Needs was based on motivational leadership. Maslow’s leadership concept is derived from the concept of a pyramid with five levels of employee needs; physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Clayton Alderfer, later in 1969, revised Maslow’s Hierarch of Needs into three categories; existence needs, relatedness needs, and growth needs. According to the studies of both theorists it is important for a leader to understand the needs of their people to effectively lead and motivate. Through their studies, these pioneers of leadership have established that the understanding that leaders have of their employee’s needs directly effects organizational behaviors and accomplishment of company goals and objectives. In 1971 Robert House’s introduce Path-Goal Theory. According to Lyons (2007), an effective leader is one who can help carve a path for subordinates that allow them to fulfill personal goals through the achievement of group and organizational goals. In path-goal theory a leader adopts either a directive, supportive, participative, or achievement oriented leadership style to accomplish this objective. The leadership style performed is dependent on two variables; characteristics of the employee and characteristics of the work environment. Based on both variables the leader practices directive, supportive, participative, or achievement oriented leadership. The leadership style practiced ensures the needs of the employee are fulfilled and organizational goals and objectives can be met. House’s path-goal theory is a needs base process that shapes the organizational behavior of an organization. Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership developed in 1974 distinguishes between four leadership styles that are characterized by a combination of task and relationship. Telling: High task, low relationship style Selling: High task, high relationship style Participating: Low task, high relationship style Delegating: Low task, low relationship style (Hitt, Miller, Colella, 2011) DeCaro, DeCaro Bowen-Thompson (2010) stated, â€Å"The model is useful in determining if a person’s leadership style is relationship or task oriented and if the situation such as task structure and leader members relationship, match the leader’s style to maximize performance.† Utilizing situational leadership a leader can accommodate an employee’s needs by varying their own behavior and applying the most suitable style for a given situation. By varying leadership style based on the employee’s needs a leader can manage organizational behaviors and achieve organizational goals and objectives. As one can see leadership and organizational behaviors work hand in hand. They both influence one another to meet the strategic goals and objectives of an organization. Hitt, Miller, Colella (2011), stated the strategic organizational behavior approach relies on the premise that people are the foundation of an organization’s competitive advantage. As evidence to this, leadership theorists developed processes based on the people within the organization. The processes developed guided organizational leaders in achieving the company’s goals and objectives. People and the leadership that shape the direction and culture of an organization play a vital role in establishing an organization’s organizational behaviors. Leadership is the quality to achieve desired results by giving the proper direction to the organization (Giri Santra, 2010). The influence that leadership and organizational behaviors have on a business establishes leadership as a critical and most vital asset an organization can employ. Throughout the eight weeks of this course we analyze an organizational behavior moment that discussed leadership struggles within organizations. The leadership struggles faced in the organizational moments relay the importance of leadership within an organization. In the case study, â€Å"Bright and Dedicated What more can you ask for?† Anita Lockwood is a perfect example of an authoritative leader. Anita rules with an iron fist over Susan  and her employees. Anita never empowers Susan to run the finance department and as a result Susan’s leadership development is hindered. The importance of Anita’s and Susan’s moment in organizational behavior is it displays the effects that authoritarian leadership style has and how it impacts others. In an authoritative leadership environment the organizational goals and objectives are met, however at the expense of the professional development of people within the organization. In situational leadership it is sometimes necessary to practice authoritative leadership in order to stimulate the growth during the training process of learning a new job or position. Once the training process is over it is important that the leader is able to transition out of the authoritative leadership style and into one that continues to allow their personnel to grow and develop within the organization. â€Å"The Two Presidents† is another organization moment that provides an example of the importance of leadership to business. In this case study Alvin Thomas displays the attributes of a democratic leader. Alvin exhibits an active role of leadership, empowers his employees to make decisions, and establishes goals and objectives based on organizational dynamics. Thomas’s leadership allows the university, the people around him, and himself to prosper due to his style of leadership. A democratic leadership style broods balance and creates a positive environment that allows a leader to be directive, supportive, participative, or achievement oriented when necessary. The importance of this characteristic is the leader understanding their employees. Understanding employees enables leaders to meet the needs of their employees and companies to maintain their competitive edge. The last organizational moment that I would like to discuss in support of the argument of why leadership is important to business is â€Å"A Sea Change in Staffing at Leapfrog Innovations, Inc.† In this case study Dick Eaton dons the role of a laissez-faire leader. Dick’s hands-off approach failed him miserably in the end. Due to his negligence his company experienced a high turn-over rate of personnel and had no foundation for stability once the three long-time employees begun to transition to other opportunities. This left Dick holding the bag per say and his company in shambles with no  direction and a bleak future. Dick’s experience was an extreme case of laissez-faire leadership. There are instances where this style of leadership is appropriate. Laissez-faire leadership is appropriate when personnel are performing and meeting the expectations of the leader and goals of the organization. In Dick’s case he was a laissez-faire leader from beginning to end. He took a huge gamble in placing all his faith in the leadership of one individual to run his company and when they decided to leave the experience, knowledge base, and foundation of his company left also. Three different case studies, three different leadership styles, and three different outcomes; the key theme to note in each case is the importance of leadership. Leadership is one of the key fundamental building blocks of running a business and is as quintessential to an organization as its resources. According to Giri Santra (2010), Leadership is the quality to achieve desired results by giving proper direction to the organization. In order to achieve the desired results leaders utilize motivation to motivate employees toward achieving the organization’s common goal. The assumption that leadership is a set of behaviors that can actually be observed, measured, and developed is critical to the development of any process (Kanji, 2008). Leadership theorist understood the importance of leadership to business and developed processes to assist leaders in understanding what motivates people. Each topic discussed in this paper depicts the basics of leadership. The purpose for this paper was to understand how leadership affects business and relates to organization behaviors. The organizational behaviors a company employs and the practice of leadership has a significant impact on the strategic implications of an organization. Business challenges effects every industry and creates vast opportunities to establish sound organization behaviors to support sound leadership. It is paramount that the organizational behaviors that a company employs support its leadership. In summary there are four key points to note in the importance of leadership to a business: a. Leadership styles vary in types and it is important that businesses adopt practices that best fits their organization and people. b. Leadership Theorist improvements in processes that define leadership, helps organizations to understand, manage, and lead personnel. c. Leadership and Organizational behaviors work together to form sound leadership. d. Sound leadership within an organization creates a healthy work environment. The importance of leadership to an organization could mean its success or could lead to its demise. The choice of leadership style is crucial to the success of business operations and hence also the ultimate performance of the company (Juhl, Kristensen, Kanji, Batley, 2000). Every business, organization, or group of people striving together to accomplish a common goal needs only one thing to be successful, Leadership! At the forefront of every fortune 500 company, military, government, and country is sound leadership to meet company objectives and goals. No matter which style of leadership is practiced, it is leadership at the foundation of every organization that drives the company. The strategic implications that organizational behaviors have on leadership, codify the importance of leadership to business. The implications that leadership, leadership styles, and leadership processes have on an organization directly relate to the organizational behaviors within an organization and how they assemble to establish sound leadership. References Beebe, S. A., Masterson, J. T. (2006). Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and Practices, Eighth Edition. Bostin, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon. Boseman, G. (2008). Effective Leadership in a Changing World. Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 62(3), 36-38. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. DeCaro, F. P., DeCaro, N., Bowen-Thompson, F. O. (2010). An Examination of Leadership Styles of Minority Business Entrepreneurs: A Case Study of Public Contracts. Journal of Business Economic Studies, 16(2), 72-78. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Giri, V. N., Santra, T. (2010). Effects of Job Experience, Career Stage, and Hierarchy on Leadership Style. Singapore Management Review, 32(1), 85-93. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Hitt, M. A., Miller, C. C., Colella, A. (2011). Leadership. Organizational Behavior (Third Ed), CH 8, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Humphreys, J. H. (2001). Transformational and Transactional Leader Behavior. Journal of Management Research (09725814), 1(3), 149. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Juhl, H. J., Kristensen, K. K., Kanji, G. K., Batley, T. W. (2000). Quality Management: A Comparison of Cultural Differences. Total Quality Management, 11(1), 57-65. doi:10.1080/0954412007026 Kanji, G. K. (2008). Leadership is prime: How do you measure Leadership Excellence? Total Quality Management Business Excellence, 19(4), 417-427. doi:10.1080/14783360802002834 Lyons, P. (2007). A Leadership Development Model to Improve Organizational Competitiveness. Advances in Competitiveness Research, 15(1/2), 103-115. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

The Home Depot, Inc. Essay Example for Free

The Home Depot, Inc. Essay The Home Depot sells a wide assortment of building materials and home-improvement and lawn and garden products, and they provide a number of services such as design and installation. The stores serve three different types of customers: (1) Do-It-Yourself(D-I-Y) customer, (2) Do-It-For-Me (D-I-F-M) customer and (3) the professional customer, such as home improvement contractors, building maintenance professionals, interior designers, and other professionals. The Home Depot has expanded its business by acquisitions in the same and other markets. Legally, the company consists of a set of companies: Home Depot, EXPO Design Center, Home Depot Floor Store, Home Depot Landscape Supply, Home Depot Supply, Home Depot Mexico, and Home Depot Canada. In December 2000 Bob Nardelli was appointed to be CEO of the Home Depot. The founders were hoping that with the new CEO the company could continue to grow. However he succeeded in doing so, there were also some negative changes within the company. Among the negative changes, since the appointment of Nardelli, was the change of the corporate culture. The orange-blooded culture made room for a culture of fear. The orange-blooded cultureemphasized individuality, informality, nonconformity, growth, and pride. The new culture under the management of CEO Nardelli emphasized on building a disciplined manager corps, one predisposed to following orders, operating in high-pressure environments, and executing with high standards. This resulted in a decrease in moral among the employees and thus a lower customer service index. Other negative changes were the Human Resource management, the Agency Problem and the store location. The work staff changed from 90% full-time employees to only 68% and employee turnover was extremely high. Nardelli’s new format at the annual shareholder’s meeting was strongly criticized as well as the drop in the stock price tied with the change in his earnings metrics. The many new stores that were opened sometimes cannibalized sales of other stores owned by the Home Depot. In this report we will create a thorough internal analysis by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the Home Depot and with this information we will create an IFAS Table. IFAS Table We as a team discussed our findings in the case on the Home Depot and listed the strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, we made an IFAS Table to measure its performance. We do this through weighting, rating and scoring each factor. The last column states a description of why this is a strength or weakness. Internal Factors| Weight| Rating| Score| Description| Strengths| | | | | Price amp; Supply| 0,25| 5| 1,25| Low price, no middle man cost, great sale results| Acquisitions| 0,15| 5| 0,75| Improve supply chain| CSR| 0,10| 4| 0,40| Environmentally aware and contribute to society| | | | | | Weaknesses| | | | | Agency Problem| 0,10| 2| 0,20| Changed earning metrics, new format meeting| Corporate Culture| 0,20| 2| 0,40| Orange-blooded culture turned into culture of fear| HRM| 0,10| 3| 0,30| Less full-time employees less experience employee turnover much too high| Store location| 0,10| 3| 0,30| Too suburban, 3 stores in 1 market area, cannibalization| | | | | | Total| 1,00| | 3,60| | As we can conclude from the table the company scores reasonably well with a total score of 3,60. This score is above company average standard, which is between 1 and 5 meaning 3. Even though, the Home Depot has some weaknesses and some negative changes have occurred since 2000, the company is performing reasonably well. Throughout the entire case we can see this in the high financial returns and the goals that are met. Weakness Agency Problem Earning Metrics Nardelli had changed the metrics of his compensation from according to the change in stock price to being based on the sales results. As we all know, a corporation’s prime goal is to maximize shareholders’ equity not sales, even profits. Nardelli was hired to work in the interests of the shareholders and should get compensations based on how well the share price went. After the change in the metrics, what did Nardelli work for? Who knows? The construction companies that built new Home Depot stores maybe. Under the new metric of earning, any manager could simply borrow money from the banks and build new stores and make acquisitions to enlarge sales volume which would not be necessarily good for the long-term growth of the company because getting bigger so rapidly leads to not only increasing revenue but also increasing costs in management and control, less centralization, more uncertainty, cannibalization, more complicated organizational structure that could cause problems in internal control and management and other negative effects of being big. However, under the new metrics, Nardelli didn’t have to think about those effects at all. That being so, who is still surprised about Home Depot’s sales performance going so well resulting in its stock price going down? Corporate Governance In such a big company like The Home Depot, there is usually a committee formed by independent directors to decide how much the CEO should be paid and more importantly how to calculate his bonus. Having 9 independent directors of 11 directors in the board, Home Depot didn’t have such a committee, or had one but didn’t take its responsibilities. More ridiculously, the CEO could decide how he was paid in this own wishes. At the annual shareholder’s meeting on May 2006, it happened so many strange things including Nardelli being the only director present, the time limit that each shareholder proposal was allow to be spoken and Nardelli’s refusal of answering questions. These were all evidences of poor corporate governance that made Nardelli able to work on his own interests much more than the interests of shareholders. Those non-management directors seemed not doing anything and receiving quite a good amount of compensation. Some even had been criticized being not independent enough. Corporate Culture The old culture and the new one were like two extremes. The old culture made employees working happily but too relax, which means not enough focus. The new military culture was even worse, making employees working with fear and hence declining their morale of working, eventually resulting in customer satisfactory going down. Lowe’s at the same time had grown a culture being demanding but low-profile, collaborative and collegial, which made their customers and employee very comfortable. Home Depot could have lost a number of customers to Lowe’s for this reason. Poor morale resulting from the new culture would also lead to more errors and mistakes in working hours. Like a former Home Depot stated which we agree, â€Å"Nardelli’s effort to measure customer service, instead of inspiring it, was to blame. † Store Location From 2000 and 2005, Home Depot opened more than 900 stores. During the fiscal 2005, the company opened 140 new Home Depot stores, including four relocations in the United States. Most of the U. S. Store opened in existing markets as the managements clustering strategy. However, the new store locations cased some problems. The management intentionally cannibalized sales of existing stores by opening two other stores in a single market area. According to management, approximately 20% of its stores were cannibalized by new stores in 2005. The older stores were being gradually replaced with new ones to add room for new merchandise, to increase selling space, and more parking areas. Since the company opened so many new stores, the store layout, appearance, and store productivity remains weak. Moreover, the new stores were located in suburban areas populated by members of the Home Depot target market. In a certain sense, the company will lose some potential customers, due to the location of the stores. Human Resource Management Human Resource Management could also be a weakness for Home Depot. The companys career development was formally addressed during semiannual performance reviews, with goals and development plans mutually set by employees and managers. Vacancy lists were prepared at the regional level and distributed to the stores. However, under Nardellis tenure, the employees were evaluated on the basis of four performance metrics: financial, operational, customer, and people skills. The employee population varied among stores, depending on size, sales volume, and the season of the year. Full-time employees had filled about 90% of the positions, but in 2005 filled only 68% of the positions. The decrease of full-employee employees lead to an increase of the employee turnover. In the first year of new stores operations, turnover could run 60% to 70% which was extremely high. The major causes of turnover were too many part-time employees who terminated for poor performance, and tradespeople who considered Home Depot an interim position, and students who returned to school. Recommendations Agency Problem For a big company that is included in Dow Jones Index such as The Home Depot, a well functioned compensation committee must not be missed in the system of corporate governance. We strongly recommend Home Depot organizing a compensation committee composed of independent directors that does its job seriously. As all the independent directors seemed not doing anything useful and some of them even had independence issues, we suggest shareholders propose a shareholders’ meeting and fire some of the independent shareholders that are possibly not sufficiently independent to the top management. The compensation included too much straight pays, too little for each meeting attended. We suggest the straight compensation dropping to $100,000 annually for each of the non-management directors, $50,000 cash and $50,000 stock units, and increasing payments for attending meetings to $5,000 for board meetings and $4,000 for committee meetings. If the above changes don’t work any reasons we could not foresee by now and the stock price of the company continues bearish, we suggest the shareholders fire Mr. Nardelli and change a CEO who has a record of working for the shareholders’ interests seriously. Corporate Culture Since the old also had obvious drawbacks, we would not recommend the culture going back to where it used to be. It would also be impossible since Nardelli had been such a military fan. Military culture does have its merits, building discipline and leading people working in good order. The suggestion here would be to hire more people that are military fans, either from schools, the society or from those retired soldiers. Moreover, solving such a number of retired soldiers’ employment, this would result in a good relationship with the government or even some government grants. The salary of the employees could be slightly higher than those who work in Lowe’s and other competitors. Although managing internally in a military way, it is not suggested to show a military atmosphere to customers because few people like to shop in an army. We cannot assure this would work because we don’t any examples of doing so in such a big firm. However, if it works, the outcomes could be surprisingly good, better customer service, a cool place to work at and good relationship with the government which is valuable in every country. Another piece of advice as an alternative is to combine the discipline of the military culture with the individuality, informality, nonconformity, growth, and pride that were emphasized in the old culture. Store Location Since Home Depot opened a large number of new stores, the store layout, appearance, and store productivity remains weak. The company should focus on the improvement of the store productivity by positioning well-trained employees and store managers into the new stores. Furthermore, the stores were placed in suburban areas which is not that convenient for a group of customers. We recommend the company to improve the online shopping service. Human Resource Management Since the employees changed from 90% full-time employees to only 68% and the employee turnover was extremely high. The high employee turnover hurts a companys bottom line. It will costs upwards of twice an employees salary to find and train a replacement, and it will damage morale among remaining employees. The company should embarked on decreasing turnover and increasing retention. We could recommend the following steps: * Hire the right people and concentrated on effective caress development. The company should have an ongoing career development program which is a continuing cycle. Always hiring the people that really fit wit the organization- the companys value, culture, goals, etc. Moreover, skill training program is also important, training is a necessary part that will ensuring employee loyalty and retention. * Level the percent of full-time and part-time employees. The company should hire less part-time employees to decrease the turnover. Part-time employees often leave if offered full-time employment by another company, and possibly creating turnover problem. However, full-time employees are more likely to develop company loyalty and improve the performance of the corporation. Conclusion After analyzing the case, we can see that The Home Depot, Inc. was a company with high net sales and extremely well ranking among the world. After Bob Nardelli appoint to be the CEO of the Home Depot, he has brought the company keep going well, even with some negative changes, as corporation culture modified and the change of human resource management. We believe that it is very necessary to reform the problems of the management. Especially about decrease the governance power of Bob Nardelli and organize a board of independent directors. Meanwhile, change the structure of employees is also should on the company’s plan list. However, the defects don’t outweigh the merits. We clearly see that the company remains a lot of strengths. Strong brand awareness and conscientious social responsibility help Home Depot to keep its good reputation; meanwhile, wise international strategy and low price make the company to maintain good revenue. We are not doubt the Home Depot will keep maintain its current strengths and with a bright future, but with these necessary changes will definitely make the company better.

Risk Assessment And Decision Making Of Adult Protection

Risk Assessment And Decision Making Of Adult Protection This essay gives an overview of the risk assessment and decision making in adult protection. The main purpose of this essay is to bring a more clear concept of risk; meaning of risk assessment and risk management decision making in adult protection and further it will examine existing based on upon research and evidence finally, it will critically analyse national and local reports which are related to risk assessment. It also contains a section dedicated to the specialized agencies in social assistance and their role in helping vulnerable adults, by creating procedures meant to assure the proper protection and care, offering them security, assistance and guidance to create a normal life. Identify a series of definition of risk and risk management for better understanding the concepts that are aiming to develop. Next, it will connect the existent literature review on this topic to own research. Furthermore, it will present the risks that the adults with disabilities are exposed to, t hat can cause their injury, or even death, as we will understand from a presented case study. Discussing about risk management, risk assessment, it can automatically presume that are referring to a situation in which something might go wrong. According to Hope and Sparks (2000) risk assessment may only able to identify probability of harm or danger, consider the impact of risk on individuals key and pretence intervention strategies which may reduce the risk or minimize the harm. However, assessment does not prevent risk. Risk level (or simply risk) should be seen as a continuous probability statement, rather than a dichotomous variable (risk or no risk) since risk levels are often not stable but fluctuate over time and context, estimates of risk should be in the form of ongoing assessments rather than one-time predictions. The above definition speaks about the fluctuations of risks in time and in different contexts. It recommends that risk should be continuously monitored. Further, in their study, the authors refer to clinical risk assessment, a more related issue to this study. A frequent suggestion for improving the validity of clinical risk assessment is to take into account predictor variables reflecting the environmental or situational context in which violent behaviour is likely to occur, in addition to measuring dispositional, historical, or clinical factors. (Monham and Steadman 1994, p. 8) A more precise definition of the term is offered by Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (2010, p.1) the act of identifying possible risks, calculating how likely they are to happen and estimating what effects they might have. Risk is closely linked to dangerousness, resulting in harm which seems to be agreed means harm to self or others and extend of harm which constitutes a risk in various situations especially adult with learning disabilities. Brown (2005) states assessment of risk for adult with learning disabilities which should be evolutionary in nature constantly informed and shaped by changes of circumstances upon service users needs. The practice of risk assessment and management is the process of data collection, recording, interpretation, communication and implementation of risk reduction plan (Brown, 2005). According to Kemshall and Pritchard (2001) every human being becomes vulnerable during their lifetime for many of reasons they all respond differently to events that happen to them because of who they are and the lack of support that they have For the risk of learning disability, clinical model of risk assessment have become the norm. There are two kinds of risk that are relevant to work people with learning disabilities, risk of unnecessary exposure to undesirable events or experience, and risk of negative consequences when possible benefits and desirable experiences are perused (William et al, 2006). Further present a series of acceptance regarding the risk management concept. Risk Management aims to facilitate the exchange of information and expertise across countries and across disciplines. Its purpose is to generate ideas and promote good practice for those involved in the business of managing risk. (Palgrave-journals, 2011, p.1.). In this definition, the risk management is perceived as a discipline, moreover, as a business solution meant to ease the communication flow and to propose a model for the risk management practice across countries and business areas. The concern of this study is not so general. Main focus is upon the risk management in the protection of vulnerable adults. Increasingly responding to the risks of others, preventing risks to vulnerable adults or running risks to themselves is all in days work for the busy practitioners and manager in the field of social care (Brearley, 1982). Adult with learning disabilities are subject to risk all time due to their vulnerability they sometimes abused by those who have control over them or by those who realize that they are vulnerable because of their disabilities they often find it very much more difficult to assess risk the way most of social carer and services do. According to Vaughn Fuchs (2003) adult with learning disabilities they always find this difficult and also fail to recognize any risk at all as they cant explain due to lack of communication. Nevertheless, take risks because they feel vulnerable to a point approaching hopelessness (Fischhoff et al., 2000). In either case, these perceptions can prompt adults to make poor decisions that can put them at risk and leave them vulnerable to physical or psychological harm that may have a negative impact on their long-term health and viability. According to Kemshall and Pritchard (2001) there has been much debate about a welfare model or a criminal justice model should be adopted. Alaszewski (1998) states that, risk is used different ways. It is possible to identify a narrow common sense definition of risk which risk is equated with danger and the negative outcomes of events. Kemshall and Pritchard (2001) indicate that, adults vulnerable protection systems are likely to come under close scrutiny. Protecting Vulnerable Adults, Valuing People (2010, P. 93) states: People with learning disabilities are entitled to at least the same level of support and intervention from abuse and harm as other citizens. This needs to be provided in a way that respects their own choices and decisions. Vaughn Fuchs (2003) state that, the difficulty for a person with learning disabilities is that carers often do feel often they are expected to make these choices for them. The law of negligence often can appear to inhibit decision making personal freedom and choice sit uncomfortably next to the concepts of duty of care and professional liability. Above the study and definition, it needs to identify the risk that a vulnerable adult was exposed to. However, it will not be able to make precise mathematical calculations to exactly identifying the risk factor that the vulnerable adult was submitted to. These studies are mostly concerned with the risk assessment that a mental disordered person can cause to others and to himself/herself. An orientation towards the abuse that other people or the society, through its system, can cause to a disordered person is not clearly presented. The murder of Steven Hoskin has been rendered cold bloodedly by a five peoples in St. Austell, Cornwall on July 6, 2006 (BBC, 2007; Daily Mail, 2007). Hoskin was a 39 years old man with an IQ level equal to a six year old child and living lonely in bedsit when the perpetrators made friendship with him to accomplish their brutal task (Society Guardian, 2007; BBC, 2007). Darren Stewart, the ring leader of the gang, along with his accomplices arrived at his apartment during the night of 5th and 6th July, 2006 (Daily Mail Online, 2007; BBC, 2007). Soon they started torturing and burning his body with cigarettes out of their hate toward his learning disability (Daily Mail Online, 2007). Later on, they coerce him to swallow more than 70 pills of Paracetamol which severely damaged his liver (BBC, 2007). Then they dragged him to the nearby viaduct where he was again stamped on and lashed out by the felons (BBC, 2007; Daily Mail Online, 2007). He was then forced to jump from a 100 feet tall b ridge (Daily Mail Online, 2007). Later on, he was found dead in the river (BBC, 2007). The crooks were later arrested and penalized by the court (BBC, 2007). The question arises here is that why this event occurred in the first place? Why the concerned authorities failed to protect him from the perpetrators even after the fact that some agencies (e.g. adult social care) know about his mental condition (Ahmed, 2007) and let him die helplessly? This is the subject of next discussion. It was found in the investigation report of multiagency that Hoskin has cancelled his contact with the adult social care unit some days before his death (Society Guardian, 2007; BBC, 2007). This unilateral suspension was not taken seriously by the authorities and did not bother to inquire into the matter seriously (Ahmed, 2007). It was also found that he tried to contact many emergency service agencies nonetheless the matter was considered as a routine and over looked by the officials (Ahmed, 2007). Cornwall Adult Protection Committee (2007) report, before his death Steven Hoskin gave up his social care protection. Hoskin was placed in a bed-sit by adult social care in April 2005 and he was allocated two hours of help each week, but he chose to cancel the service in August and by September the council closed his case (Community Care, 2007, p.1). The institutions involved in investigating Hoskins death and the reasons for which the specialized social cares agencies failed to prevent his death, didnt searched on how and why did the man gave up his rights of social care. The multiagency report further indicated that every single agency (i.e. Police, the housing association, emergency ambulance and adult social care etc.) did posses some piece of information regarding the conditions of Hoskin owing to the complaints of his neighbours or of himself (Ahmed, 2007). On the other hand no one of them has the complete information that can be used to see the big picture of the situation at hand (Ahmed, 2007). Each one of them was analysing the matter in an isolated environment (Ahmed, 2007). Perhaps, this can be better understood by following the jigsaw approach (Aronson, 1990). In this approach, every member of the group has some minor but important piece of information, nonetheless to make the whole picture complete, every ones contribution is essential (Aronson, 1990). Likewise, in the case of Hoskin, every agency has some minute but important pieces of information about him that can be used to make out what is actually going on with him and help can be la unched to stop the danger approaching toward him (Aronson, 1990). For example, police knew that Darren Stewart, the main murder of Haskin, has already criminal record nonetheless this information was hidden to the adult social care which has the information that Stewart is now being seen with Hoskin (Ahmed, 2007). If these two pieces of jigsaw put together, it is very easy to conclude that Darren Stewart may be planning to do something wrong to the vulnerable Hoskin. Hence, it is clear that the lack of integration was the first drawback found in the previous setup. Second main problem was that there was no mechanism to assemble discrete complaints from the same address several times at the emergency helpline service (Cornwall Adult Protection Committee, 2007). In the multiagency report, it is found that police and ambulance services visited the resident of Steven several times however, these individual complaints were not considered sufficient to alert an authority (Cornwall Adult Protection Committee, 2007). At the call centre, each time when a person in emergency calls, the phone is picked by some random person and the information remain isolated from the other people. There was no such system in place that can assemble the complaints from a unique address which can be used to raise alert (Cornwall Adult Protection Committee, 2007). Third important problem was the lack of effective communication within an emergency service agency (Ahmed, 2007). For example, Carol Tozel, the director of adult social care, was unaware of the death of Hoskin until June 2007 (Ahmed, 2007). Carol Tozel was taken aback at the extreme lack of intra-communication in her department (Ahmed, 2007). Moreover, she was not provided any risk assessment review regarding the unilateral suspension of adult care services by Hoskin (Ahmed, 2007). This may be due the absence of any alert which her agency failed to raise for Hoskin or the common red-tape problem prevalent in governmental agencies almost all over the world. Another significant issue was the reduction in the budget of social care services agency for disabled and old aged (Forder and Fernà ¡ndez, 2010). The politicians have played a prominent role in the reduction of budget for this purpose (Forder and Fernà ¡ndez, 2010). It is sorrowful to know that there are millions of pounds available for buying bombs to through at Iraq and Afghanistan however there is little money available to spend on the social care services of helpless and disabled persons. Steven Hoskin was a vulnerable man who did not receive the professional help that he ought to. The specialized institutions mistreated the case and because he had no protection, the man was brutally murdered. Only after Stevens murdered his case considered and in addition identified as a vulnerable adult. The agencies responsible for social care did not make the clear connections to determine the man a vulnerable adult while he was still alive. According to the Adult Protection Act.(1989 p.1) R.S., c. 2, s. 1 an adult in need of protection means an adult who, in the premises where he resides, (i) is a victim of physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental cruelty or a combination thereof, is incapable of protecting himself therefore by reason of physical disability or mental infirmity, and refuses, delays or is unable to make provision for his protection therefore, or (ii) is not receiving adequate care and attention, is incapable of caring adequately for himself by reason of physical disability or mental infirmity, and refuses, delays or is unable to make provision for his adequate care and attention. After learning the atrocities that Hoskin was exposed to, there is no doubt about the fact that he was a vulnerable adult, in need of protection. According to a report issued by Devon County Council (2007, p.1) an abuse to a person in need is also when he/she is neglected and specialized authorities failed to act upon his/her problem. Hoskins problems were long time ignored and through the end of his life he did not benefit of the protection guaranteed by his rights as an adult in need, also because of the bureaucracy of the social care system, which at the time implemented a ration of the time and resources. Hence, because the man was not considered a vulnerable adult (his needs criteria were established within low to low moderate), the authorities just pulled him out of their system (An independent management review, cited in Community Care, 2007). From the Community Care website we find out that social care representatives are being investigated for failing to prevent the abuse upon Steven Hoskin. According to the online publication Community Care (2007), the agencies in charge with protecting Hoskin missed more than 40 opportunities to help the man and to prevent him being killed. As keep on investigating this subject, other interesting facts about this case are being revealed. According to Health Service Journal (2008, p.8) the man who took advantage of Hoskins mental state, into living with him, was also a mental disordered person. His own history was chaotic: from being a runaway child, he became a violent and self-harming young man, leading a nomadic existence and making frequent suicidal gestures. He had convictions for arson and assault. Here is another case of authoritys incompetency. Because of the repeated calls to hospital, the ambulance service representatives acknowledged the fact that Steven Hoskin was sharing his accommodation with Darren Stewart, who was no stranger to them. They even called police to join them in several actions, to Stevens apartment, because they knew that Stewart, who shared the bed-sit with Steven, was a very dangerous man (Health Service Journal, 2008). Evan so, because neither the police nor the ambulance service communicated this fact to the social assistance institutions, the case was further neglected. Further discuss about some procedures that the social care institutions need to follow for avoiding cases like Steven Hoskins to happen. Actually, Hoskins case was the base of many new regulations for the social care institutions: No Secret refers to this case. Created in November, 2003 the Adult Protection and Decision Act. Provide a rate of tools to assist adults (19 and older) who have some diminished ability to make their own decisions (Health and Social Services, 2010 p.1). The No Secrets (2000) guidance refers to the adult being any person of 18 and older. According to Health and Social Services (2010), the tools refer to decision making and representation agreements, guardianship appointed by court and adult protection for persons who are unable to look out for them and to search for help when abused or neglected. Hence, the Health and Social Services (2010) definition of a vulnerable adult, the adults who need protection are the ones who are not able to make their own decisions Studying Hoskins case; we learnt that the man cancelled his social care assistance. Knowing these facts, an interesting question arises how was Steven Hoskin allowed to cancel his social care program if he was acknowledged as a vulnerable patient, incapable of taking decisions and to protect himself? Unfortunately there have no evident information to understand the context in which the man gave up his social care rights and what authority and on what grounds approved the mans request, as these issues were not investigated. The single information that have for this issue, was found in the Community Care article (2007), which presented Ray Jones (former social service director Cornwall Council) findings on the case. The Cornwall Council was, at that time, limited to adult care with critical needs. As seen above, Hoskin was considered a low to medium low case, so his was dropped, according to Ray Jones. This is the only statement that we found regarding Hoskins cancellation of his social assistance rights. No Secrets (2000) sates that, guidance defines the term abuse as a violation of an individuals human and civil rights by any other person or persons. (2:9). Cornwall Adult Protection Committee (2007) presents in its serious case review study the measures created in order not to neglect adults with mental disorders and to prevent them of being harmed. A first recommendation would be to identify the disabled adults who live in a certain community (within conferences and meetings between multi-agencies meant to discover the persons who abused the ambulance or police services and that neighbors identified as problem-makers or disordered persons; by enhancing the communication between the social care institutions through trainings and communication conferences; by improving the information sharing across the statutory agencies; by raising community awareness and understanding about the identity and the possible behavior of vulnerable adults). The No Secret (2000), guidance also imposes procedures for the statutory agencies to follow, when dealing with a case of vulnerable adult abuse. It is needed to indentify the responsible and relevant agencies (3:14). This is a very serious concern, because in order to understand how a vulnerable adult should be taken care of, one needs to understand which the institutions are involved in offering protection and support to vulnerable adults. Among the statutory agencies, such as commissioners of health and social care services, providers of sheltered and supported housing, police, regulator services, the guidance also specifies other actors as relevant agencies: voluntary and private sector agencies (3:14). The guidance also suggests creating a multi agency management committee, which should consist of the leaders of the appointed agencies, in charge with identifying objectives and setting priorities, coordinating activities between agencies, creating training programs, monitoring and reviewing the progress of the institutions responsible for the vulnerable adults welfare. (3:15). From studied case, Steven Hoskin was also the victim of the agencies negligence. The specialized institutions who were in charge with the mans health status did not communicate amongst each other the reactions that they observed his behaviour. Other actions established in the No Secrets (2000) guidance frameworks, to identify roles and to appoint authority; to develop procedures that need to be followed by the agencies involved in the social care system. To protect the vulnerable adults confidentiality, as much as possible (the act specifies that a disabled persons identity should only be communicated on need to know basis); to involve the local authority in this matter (for instance, local police should work closely to the directly appointed agencies by communicating their observations) and all the actions that the multi-agency management committee undertake should be submitted to an annual audit in order to establish if its policies and strategies were correctly applied (No Secrets 2000,3 : 15, p 17, 18). The Adult Protection Committee (2007) serious case review, also proposes an induction procedure, as part of the training policy, which is to be undertaken every three years. Within the training plan, as part of the supervision, there is also included a day to day supervision. (Cornwall Adult Protection Committee 2007, p.16). These procedures are followed in Cornwall district but this seems to be an effective model that could be established in the social care system, in general. Following these rules and suggestions, the risk assessment is supposed to decrease. Just by communicating certain observation that an institution makes upon a vulnerable adult, this could bring many changes. Should a care assistant observe certain reactions at a disabled person and he/she doesnt assure that the monitored observations are treated with the proper gravity, the treated vulnerable adult can suffer greatly, because his/her symptoms were not detected on time (Adult Protection Committee, 2007). This is why, all the social care workers should be trained and their tasks and completion of their work to be daily supervised. This requires a more complex system, in which there should be included different levels of co-ordination. Within such a bureaucratic system, another risk factor interferes, the long communication flow which can cause information losses or redundant data (Adult Protection Committee, 2007). This also encounters a beneficial factor the different interpretation forms of certain information. According to Adult Protection Committee (2007), as in the case of a common work of different specialized social care institutions, the agencies can interpret differently a communicated problem related to the vulnerable adults monitored problems. Consequently, inter-communication and the information exchange between multi-agencies are so important. If certain information regarding the disabled adult might seem unimportant for a care institution, one other specialized care agen cy might find it crucial. Like in the case of Hoskin, the police and the ambulance service didnt consider very important the fact the that man made so many phone calls to hospitals and neither the fact that he was living with another disabled man seemed to be reflected as a problem for the police or the ambulance. If these facts would have been further communicated to the social care specialized agencies, the mans live could have been saved. According to Sellars (2002) risks change constantly and people grow, change, and develop. It is important to review risk assessment regularly, and aim always to increase choice and freedom for the people with learning disability. The presented and analyzed case is a serious, sad and unwanted example for understanding that the social care agencies, and other departments involved in the protection of vulnerable adults did not properly did their jobs. After studying the reports and the publications that treated Steven Hoskins case, conclude that the man was the victim of the institutional abuse. His problems were not treated with seriousness, even more; the man was considered a danger to his community because of his lout outburst and violent behaviour. Hoskins case is a clear prove that the institutions didnt take into consideration the mans repeated outburst, obvious factors of risk assessment: his repeated calls to hospitals, requiring ambulance services to his home; the polices visits to his bed-sit (in many occasions required by the ambulance service, aware of the fact that Hoskin was leaving with a dangerous, ex-convicted man, the noisy visits that the neighbours identified with a few months before Steven Hoskins death, coming from his apartment). All these examples were neglected by the agencies responsible for Hoskins case. Actually no institution took into consideration that the man was vulnerable. He was known to have severe learning problems, having the IQ of a six year child. These are serious facts which prove that the man was a vulnerable adult, not able to make decisions for his own welfare and not able to take care of himself. The authorities involved in Hoskins case didnt properly manage the mans life. They didnt ev en properly investigated the mans abuse and the reasons that brought him in the situation that caused his death (what determined him to cancel his social assistance program, or did he really cancelled it, who approved this, how did Hoskin come to share his bed-sit with one of his murderers, months before his death).

Howards End Essay -- Gender Roles, Feminism, Womens Rights

Throughout the novel, we are often led to question the gender roles into which the men of Howards End are forced. As the novel is highly feminist, due to the ideas, words, and actions of both the Schlegel sisters, it is merely inevitable that the concept of masculinity should be in the novel as well, for its existence only supplements the feminist themes. However, the pervasiveness of masculinity is multifaceted. We are made aware of Henry’s powerful masculinity, but also of Leonard’s meeker acceptance of manhood not as something taken for granted but as a privilege, a thing to be desired. Coupled with Tibby’s queerness, the range of masculinity portrayed in the novel breaks the mold of stereotype. In this time period, being a man means acting in such a way as to imitate a Wilcox man. This involves essentially running England (albeit perhaps to a lesser degree than the Wilcoxes) while still maintaining one’s gentility. â€Å"If Wilcoxes hadn’t worked and died in England . . . There would be no trains, no ships . . . no fields even. Just savagery† (149). It takes masculinity to essentially run the country, and the Wilcox men have this. They are the ones who have built up society and as such, they are the ideal men to follow in example. A man is allowed to participate in general society much more than a woman–in fact, often he can do whatever he wishes (within basic means) and end up in less trouble than a woman. This is shown clearly when Henry Wilcox is thought just a little bit lesser of when his affair with Jacky is found out, compared to the societal shun that the Schlegels expect once they discover Helen is having a child. Being a man ideally does not mean succumbing to temptation, although Henry, Charles, Leonard, and Pau... ...es gets hay fever, he â€Å"gets quite cross when [Helen] inquires after it† (3). The Wilcoxes are so stagnant in their roles of manliness that they are reluctant to even admit that they could be weak enough to contract an illness. In their eyes, weakness is a characteristic of the female, and certainly not the male. Masculinity is not limited simply to one model in Howards End, that of the Wilcox men, but it is in fact malleable. Although it is not always beneficial (especially in Leonard’s case) to not fit the stereotype, the fact remains that one can still be a man, per se, without having to live up to the stereotype. Indeed, the eccentricity of Forster’s characters allow for the stereotypical male to seem ridiculous and out of place. The novel’s true heroes are those who do not conform (or are not able to conform) and thus break out of their stifling gender roles. Howards End Essay -- Gender Roles, Feminism, Women's Rights Throughout the novel, we are often led to question the gender roles into which the men of Howards End are forced. As the novel is highly feminist, due to the ideas, words, and actions of both the Schlegel sisters, it is merely inevitable that the concept of masculinity should be in the novel as well, for its existence only supplements the feminist themes. However, the pervasiveness of masculinity is multifaceted. We are made aware of Henry’s powerful masculinity, but also of Leonard’s meeker acceptance of manhood not as something taken for granted but as a privilege, a thing to be desired. Coupled with Tibby’s queerness, the range of masculinity portrayed in the novel breaks the mold of stereotype. In this time period, being a man means acting in such a way as to imitate a Wilcox man. This involves essentially running England (albeit perhaps to a lesser degree than the Wilcoxes) while still maintaining one’s gentility. â€Å"If Wilcoxes hadn’t worked and died in England . . . There would be no trains, no ships . . . no fields even. Just savagery† (149). It takes masculinity to essentially run the country, and the Wilcox men have this. They are the ones who have built up society and as such, they are the ideal men to follow in example. A man is allowed to participate in general society much more than a woman–in fact, often he can do whatever he wishes (within basic means) and end up in less trouble than a woman. This is shown clearly when Henry Wilcox is thought just a little bit lesser of when his affair with Jacky is found out, compared to the societal shun that the Schlegels expect once they discover Helen is having a child. Being a man ideally does not mean succumbing to temptation, although Henry, Charles, Leonard, and Pau... ...es gets hay fever, he â€Å"gets quite cross when [Helen] inquires after it† (3). The Wilcoxes are so stagnant in their roles of manliness that they are reluctant to even admit that they could be weak enough to contract an illness. In their eyes, weakness is a characteristic of the female, and certainly not the male. Masculinity is not limited simply to one model in Howards End, that of the Wilcox men, but it is in fact malleable. Although it is not always beneficial (especially in Leonard’s case) to not fit the stereotype, the fact remains that one can still be a man, per se, without having to live up to the stereotype. Indeed, the eccentricity of Forster’s characters allow for the stereotypical male to seem ridiculous and out of place. The novel’s true heroes are those who do not conform (or are not able to conform) and thus break out of their stifling gender roles.

Five Pillars of Islam Essay -- Islam Religion Essays

The Five Pillars of Islam   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After watching The Five Pillars of Islam it has made me rather interested in the history and origin of the Islamic religion. So often today we see the Islam as a religion of terrorism, and war. We see it as a religion of people that have nothing in their heart but bad. The truth is that Islam was started on principles very different from what we see in the news or hear on the radio. Islam rather has a long rich history that is full of some of the same principles and morals of Christianity that are seen in the western world as the foundation of good. Islam has what it calls The Five Pillars that are in purpose much like the Christian Ten Commandments. They are a set of rules that are the foundation of the Islam as a whole. The Five Pillars are: Shahadah, Salah, Zakah, Sawm, and Hajj.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shahadah is the first pillar that is the act of believing and saying the words â€Å"There is no god worthy of worship except god and Muhammad is his messenger†. This is at the very heart of Islam. Before Muhammad and his message the Islamic people worshiped many gods. They had a different god for everything, and gave sacrifices to these gods to keep them happy. After Muhammad brought his message people were to only believe in one god and that no other god was worthy of ones worship. This is identical to the first commandment of the Christian church that says â€Å"You shall have no other God before me†, and the second commandment that says "You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I The Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the child ren to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Commandments." Both of these commandments are identical to that of the First pillar in that they both set up the fact that there is only one god and that his followers shall only worship him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Salah is the second pillar that is requires all Islamic people to pray five times a day. These prayers are not just any old prayer they are rather set prayers that are expected of a good Islamic person to pray. They are very ritualistic and must be done in a very ordere... ...ammad had said, â€Å"A person who performs Hajj properly will return as a newly born baby (free of all sins)†. The pilgrimage also enables Muslims from all around the world, of different colors, languages, races, and ethnicities, to come together in a spirit of universal brotherhood and sisterhood to worship their god together. In much the same way Christians have revivals where they come together and worship with other believers at a central event. Although there is a definite difference between revivals of the Christian church and the trip to Mecca for the Muslim people the idea is the same, worship your god with your fellow brothers and sisters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After watching The Five Pillars of Islam and looking into the beliefs of Islam, it occurs to me that the Christian and Islamic faiths have a lot in common. The Islamic faith is very different than what we see on TV and here in the news. We often times only allow our selves to see the bad and look over the good. After watching this movie I believe we as people of the western world need to look at The Five Pillars and realize truly what the Islamic faith is based on, and not what we have been led to believe from the news and media.