Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Extra cridit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Extra cridit - Essay Example This is one of the most applied contemporary philosophies, since it explains human behavior, morality and decision-making. The theory classifies motives of people into three broad descriptions, which are the ego, the id and the super-ego. This theory also categorizes various personalities and answers the question why people are different. The main theory that guides this contention is determinism theory, which argues that the past, the present and the future are all interconnected. Arguably, another key theory that is also universally applicable developed by Sigmund Freud, is the human psyche theory. These theories are connectable to various political situations and numerous people have tried to implement these theories in a political context. By nature, most people argue that Sigmund Freud was a conservative. However, throughout his life, he underwent various first hand mistreatments from the politicians, such as the invasion of his house by Nazi Germany troops when he was in his la te seventies. Sigmund’s psychoanalytic theory holds a variety of views. Primarily, the philosopher indicates that the nature of decisions we make, or the type of personality we exhibit is located in three parts of our minds, which are the ego, super ego and the id. ... From the id, Freud introduces the ego, which operates under the principal of reality. In this contention, the philosopher argues that the ego works to satisfy the wants of the brain, through socially acceptable ways. As such, the ego is in touch with reality and functions to control our intrinsic desires to a context that is socially acceptable. From the ego, Freud then introduces the super-ego, which is more complex, and acquired as during a person’s lifetime. Behaviors that people in the society view as good or bad are inscribed in our super ego. Thus, the super-ego suppresses our morally unacceptable desires from the id and cultivates good behavior and morality from the ego. It thus works to ensure that the id operates under morality, and that the ego operates on idealism as opposed to reality. Though this is a psychoanalytic theory developed to assist people understand the various desires and personalities of people, it has been a guiding principle in the development of nu merous political philosophies. For instance, it is evident that theories such as idealism and realism are derived from this psychoanalytic theory. Freud’s introduction about reality and about idealism are the birthing principles for most political theories. Idealism and realism are two philosophies that could be held by leaders. The philosophy each leader holds determines the social and economic development limits of a nation. Idealists believe that things should be as one wants them to be, hence pushing people to pursue their desires in socially acceptable ways, whereas realism holds the argument that things have to be practical and pragmatic,

Monday, October 28, 2019

Indigenous knowledge Essay Example for Free

Indigenous knowledge Essay The project is the instrument for supporting, collecting and storing indigenous knowledge provided by the diverse community population. As long as the project is aimed at creating neighbourhood portals to store oral, pictorial and other creations of community members (Vancouver Community Network, 2001), the use of this tool will lead to effective sharing and transferring the indigenous knowledge among different community members. Funding issues Funding remains one of the most problematic areas in any non-profit community-based project. (Baum, HS 2001, p. 21) As a result, the current project does not provide the readers with sufficient financial information. It is understandable, that Vancouver Community Network is a stable developing organisation with financial issues professionally addressed (brief information is provided on the system of organization’s revenues, membership fees and similar financial data). (Vancouver Community Network, 2001) It is yet unclear, what the exact resources of project financing would be and how they would comply with the community project requirements. Organizational challenges and dilemmas The major challenge faced by project organisers is in dealing with diverse community populations. Diversity has traditionally been admitted as a serious barrier to the development of technological tools. (Vancouver Community Network, 2001) Though project initiators recognise diversity as one of the organizational issues, there is still vast area of research to be conducted, whether the project will lead to equal access and outcomes for all layers of community population. Traditional and non-traditional project approaches The traditional striving towards provision of the vulnerable communities with the opportunities to learn and interact has been supplemented by the new idea of using Internet to enhance community resources. (Vancouver Community Network, 2001) It has become an essential aspect of the project development. This is why the project is expected to be successful in promoting community interactions, indigenous knowledge transfers, discussions of the local issues and learning opportunities on the equity bases. Conclusion. Despite the fact that the project contains several ‘weak’ aspects to be re-considered, its initial idea will prove to be a success in case the discussed problematic areas are properly addressed. Otherwise, the existing social issues and related problems may become a serious organisational obstacle on the way of project development and implementation. Bibliography Atherton, JS 2005, Learning and teaching: Reflection and reflective practices. Retrieved September 30, 2007 from http://www. learningandteaching. info/learning/reflecti. htm Baum, HS 2001, ‘How should we evaluate community initiatives?’, Journal of the American Planning Association, vol. 67, pp. 19-22 Day, P Schuler, D 2004, Community practice in the network society: Local action, global interaction, Routledge, London. Messinger, L 2004, ‘Comprehensive community initiatives’, Social Work, vol. 94, pp. 39-41 Vancouver Community Network 2001, Vancouver Community Learning Network. Retrieved September 30, 2007 from http://www2. vcn. bc. ca/ Wack, P 2006, ‘Planning for sustainability: Creating livable, equitable, and ecological communities’, Journal of the American Planning Association, vol. 72, pp. 123-131 \.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Person Centered Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Post Traum

Carl Roger’s believed that everyone is inherently good. Therefore, even the vilest of people would be included. Some disputes have been made among behavior theorists that because the theory lacks structure, it is not as effective in treating illness. However, it is one of the main theories utilized by therapists today. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is another popular theory that is used. It emphasizes the present and fixing cognitive distortions that clients may have. However, it too received some arguments against it, such as; treating symptoms and not the underlying cause of an illness. The theories that will be discussed are Carl Roger’s theory of Person Centered Therapy, Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and how they would treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In Person Centered therapy, the therapist establishes a solid therapeutic alliance with the client. â€Å"The therapeutic alliance is a more encompassing term for therapy that emphasizes the collaborative nature of the partnership between counselor and client. This partnership incorporates client preferences and goals into treatment and outlines methods for accomplishing those goals. The therapeutic alliance is an alliance based on listening to the client without being judgmental or giving unwarranted advice.† Individuals are working toward self actualization. They also look for ways to improve experiences. Individuals try hard to reach an optimal sense of satisfaction. This eventually leads them to become fully functioning. After the individual is fully functioning they are able to trust their own feelings and experience a better life (Rogers, 1961). Rogers found that very few become fully functioning. To cope with this they create defense mechanisms.... ...Capsule. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). 14 Mar. 2008.http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/ptsd.htm. National Institute of Mental Health. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder : Signs and Symptoms. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 15 Mar. 2008. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/post-traumatic-stress-disorder.shtml. National Institute of Mental Health. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder : Treatment. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 15 Mar. 2008. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/post-traumatic-stress-disorder.shtml. Wikipedia. â€Å"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.† Wikimedia Foundation. 15Mar. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Post-traumatic_stress_disorder&redirect=no

Thursday, October 24, 2019

A Review of American History

The Spanish-American war started with the declaration of war on April 25, 1898 by the United States on Spain following several incidents.These two incidents that prompted US President Mckinley to ask Congress for a declaration of war was the sinking of the American Battleship Maine in Havana harbor with 260 people and the interception of a private letter written by Spanish Minister Dupuy De Lome in Washington describing Mckinley as a â€Å"weak man and a bidder for the admiration of the crowd† (Brinkley, 320).This stirred and fan the American public’s uproar against the Spanish’ brutal occupation of Cuba and many Americans initially supported the war initiative.Meanwhile, during this time in history, a lot of global stirrings were already prompting the other superpowers to â€Å"slice the global cake† with vulnerable continents and countries like Africa and the weak Chinese Empire. The US government has had its taste of â€Å"conquering† so called d ependent people – the American Indians. This experience and the expansionist moves of the other superpowers started the US expansionism tendencies which were further stoked by the so called â€Å"yellow press† or sensationalist journalism.Meanwhile, huge American businesses have also been expanding overseas – beyond American boundaries in search of sources of raw materials, cheap labor and market for its own products.Thus, when the two incidents (Maine and Dupuy’s letter) occurred almost simultaneously, the opportunity to intervene in Cuban affairs presented itself with the overwhelming support of the American public and added pressure from the American business community who has huge investments in Cuba. Soon, the war against Spain reached not only the shores of Cuba but also Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, Guam, and other islands like Hawaii and Alaska.While the sensationalism of the news from Cuba stirred the American Public’s support, it w as in the same manner – through the news wire that American public learned about the brutal annexation of the Philippine islands and the subjugation of its rebellion for freedom initially fought against its Spanish rulers, then later on, with its new colonizers – the US government.No less than the famous American author Mark Twain objected to the colonization of the Philippines knowing that like the Cuban rebels, there was an organized Filipino rebellion against Spain prior to the intrusion of the US government into the Philippine islands.   Mark twain openly pointed out the enormous contradictions between the US claim of â€Å"benevolent† foreign policy and its brutal occupation of the islands.When US involvement became progressively more difficult to justify, and eventually came to be defended on the grounds that the U.S. could not retire from it without suffering â€Å"dishonor† according to then President McKinley, Twain advocated the position that â€Å"An inglorious peace is better than a dishonorable war† (Cushing, 1998).Meanwhile, the war in Cuba was referred to as â€Å"a splendid little war† by Secretary of State John Hay (Brinkley, 320). The war was over in as little as four months.   The actual battlefield casualties on the American’s side were 460 but about 5,200 died of diseases (Brinkley, 320). The joint forces of the Cuban rebels and the American Naval blockade already toppled whatever little resistance the Spanish forces mustered to put up.According to Brinkley’s chronology of events (321), the U.S. troops won four decisive battles within a week.   The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898.   What begun as a war to help the Cubans free themselves from Spain’s brutal government ended up as the US government practically wrangling control over Spain’s former colonies – Cuba, the Philippine Islands and Puerto Rico in 1917.At this t ime, many Americans who first supported the efforts against Spain now swayed public opinion against the continuing US expansionism and brutal annexation of other countries.   The true colors and objectives of the US going to war â€Å"to help the Cuban rebels† swiftly shifted not long after the war was declared.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Technologyâ€Ups Competes Globally with Information Technology:

Technology—UPS Competes Globally with Information Technology: The website is pretty straight forward and easy to navigate. UPS has spent a lot of time and millions of dollars making a website user friendly and easy to use for all customers, whether small, large, international, etc. What Services does Website Provide? 1. Individuals. Individual shippers can check time in transit zones, how long it will take to ship a package to a particlar destination, costs of that shipment, and can even keep a mail list directly on-time for frequently used shipment addresses. The website will till you prices for each service such as ground, 3 Day Select, 2 Day Air or 1 Day Air overnight†¦ even Sonic Air which can move stuff in just hours. 2. Small businesses. Can do all things an individual user can plus track shipments, maintain contact lists, offer multiple options of transportation to the end user. The customers can even get notified through email and texts the location of their shipment or any delays, this is invaluable for UPS’s just-in-time logistics world. 3. Large businesses. Large business can track large volume of shipments using a service call Quantum View. It will track delivery performance, track exceptions during the delivery cycle, and get notified on key service thresholds. It can monitor shipping trends, zones, and potential help analyze the cheapest and most effective way to use all of UPS's services. Many large customers have volume discounts, incentives and all that can be managed within the UPS information network. I think the newly updated website has offered customers a lot of options and help clarify the complicated world of logistics†¦ specially international shipping and brokerage. UPS have actually won some awards in the internet world for our user friendly website. It is important to mention the international support the UPS can give a start up company. To many customers, information regarding a package is almost as important as the package itself. UPS has invested in scanning and tracking technologies to provide up to the minute information on where each package is while in the UPS system. If there are weather or service delays, that is tracked as ell and can even prompt a message to the receiver and shipper. Large companies also benefit from the full array of UPS's extensive portfolio, such as freight, ocean and air, trade direct, international brokerage, banking, logistics management, billing, managing customer databases, etc. UPS have logistics specialists that work with new companies to assist them in all the customs, brokerage, transportation, warehousing, payments, security, delivery, inventory managing, etc. all while doing business internationally. UPS has worked hard to offer customers a â€Å"one-stop-shop† so their customers won't need to look elsewhere for part of there logistics needs. UPS try to develop a deep, integrated relationship with each customer by developing value based solutions that support their business and in turn gives them business. If businesses grow, UPS grow, that is their motto. UPS have also business development associates that work with each customer and they become the one â€Å"go to† person for all issues when it comes to trade and transportation. It is almost like a partnership to help navigate the complicated world of logistics and shipping. UPS want business to focus on their core competency while they take over almost everything else, some large companies that have a deep relationship with UPS that they rarely talk about: Nike, DELL, IBM, Amazon, Ford, Williams Sonoma, Costco, HP, Verizon, Apple, ATT, etc. UPS also handle almost all of their logistics needs so they focus on what they do best. A department that I specially think is very important and unique in UPS is the overnight just in time world of UPS. They help manage the airline for them. UPS handle the most critical time sensitive shipments for their customers, such as machine parts, medical supplies, prescriptions, healthcare stuff, legal documents, etc. whatever needs to be there tomorrow for something urgent. UPS started the airline in 1987 and have grown to 245 jets and the largest cargo airline fleet in the world. Some trade direct stuff: Get Time Back on Your Side When doing business in North America, bypassing distribution centers and shipping direct to retail stores or end consumers can result in a competitive advantage. As your merchandise flows between the U. S. Canada, and Mexico borders, UPS Trade Direct ® Cross Border can eliminate inefficiencies in your North American supply chain. This results in a cost savings to you and enhanced service for your customers. Streamlined Supply Chain Let UPS act as your single source for cross-border supply chain management needs. From pickup to delivery across the Mexico/U. S. and Canada/U. S. borders, UPS Trade Dire ct Cross Border is the integrated solution that lets you focus on improving service to your customers. Definitely the UPS website is one of the most powerful tools of the company in order to attract and keep their customers loyalty.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

What Are the Health Benefits of Fenugreek

What Are the Health Benefits of Fenugreek SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Fenugreek is truly a multi-purpose herb. People from Western Asia and the Mediterranean have used fenugreek for thousands of years to flavor food, improve health, and soothe skin maladies. In more recent years, fenugreek has gained global popularity as anherbalsupplement with a variety ofhealth benefits. While fenugreek has many promising applications, not all of its uses have yet been backed up by rigorous scientific examination. This guide will tell you which of fenugreek’s health benefits are supportedby evidence, and which ones remain more folklore than fact. Read on to learn what fenugreek is, what it does in the body, and where you can buy fenugreek to try it for yourself. To start, what exactly is this multifunctional herb? What Is Fenugreek? Fenugreek (scientific name Trigonella foenum-graecum) is a plant native to Western Asia and the Mediterranean. It has three green or yellow oblong leaves, which can be consumed fresh or dried. Fenugreek leaves and seeds areimportant for cooking and medicines. Fenugreek seeds, also known as methi seeds, are a common ingredient in Indian curries, as well as Turkish, Persian, Eritrean, Ethiopian, and Egyptian cuisine. Because of their sweet, maple-syrup like smell and flavor, fenugreek seeds are also added to artificial maple syrup, candies, ice cream, beverages, tobacco, soaps, and cosmetics. While people use fenugreek seeds ina wide array of products today, they have also been consuming themfor thousands of years. Archaeologists have discovered cooked fenugreek seeds in Iraq dating back to 4,000 BC! Not only do fenugreek seeds taste good, but they have several health benefits. Let’s take a closer look at the composition of fenugreek or methiseedsto figure out why they work as an effective herbal supplement. Fenugreekseeds are where the medicinal magic happens. What Makes Fenugreek Work? Important Compounds As you’ll read below, the health benefits of fenugreekinvolve the regulation of blood sugar, stimulation of milk flow in new mothers, maintenance of hormones, and treatment of inflammation. Scientists have broken down some of the main compounds in fenugreek seeds to get to the root of the herb's beneficialeffects. These are some of the most important ones: Trigonelline: a betaine molecule also present in coffee and alfalfa that may help prevent and treat diabetes. 4-hydroxyisoleucineand2-oxoglutarate: molecules with aninsulin-stimulating effect. Protodioscin: compound that may have aphrodisiac effects. Diosgenin and Yamogenin: compounds used in the commercial synthesis of progesterone and other steroid products. 3-Hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2(5H)-furanone: compound that causes amaple-syrup scentin body excretions. Now that you’ve started to get a sense of itsmain uses, let’s look closer at what fenugreekdoes and why it works. First, though, a word of caution about herbal supplements. Look before you leap! Some retailers care more about their bottom line than your health. Why You Should Be Cautious AboutHerbal Supplements Herbal remedies can be very effective alternative treatments to prescription medication. At the same time, there’s a big business of retailers that exaggerate health claims to market their products and make money. The best way to evaluate these claims is to take a look at objective, rigorous scientificresearch. Has the supplement been tested in a randomized control trial and been proven to have statistically significant effects? If its benefits are purely anecdotal, then you might not want to waste your time or money, or worst case scenario, risk causing yourself more harm than good. With these guiding principles in mind, we’ve analyzed the scientific evidence behind the top supposed fenugreek benefits. Read on for the best fenugreek uses and the scientific evidence that backs them up. Fenugreek Benefits: Analysis of 4 PopularUses People take fenugreek in a variety of forms as an herbal supplement. Its most common form isa pill or capsule, but it can also be made into a tea or ground up and combined with other ingredients to make a poultice and applied to injured skin. The most commonly claimed fenugreek benefits aremilk production in new mothers, blood sugar levels, testosterone and male libido, and treating inflammation. Let’s look at the top four benefits of fenugreek, along with the research studies backing upthese effects. While these are the top studies currently available, hopefully, scientists will continue to evaluate its effects and gain more insight into what fenugreek does and why it works. Fenugreek can act as a galactagogue. (Keep scrolling to learn what galactagogue means.) Use 1: To Enhance Milk Production in New Mothers Fenugreek is widely used as a galactagogue, or a milk flow-enhancing agent in new mothers. Nursing women take fenugreek in pill form or drink it as a tea after they’ve had a baby. While fenugreek appears to be an effective galactagogue, it can have adverse effects if you take it while pregnant. Most doctors advise that women should only take fenugreek supplements once they’ve had their baby and not before. Let’s take a look at one of the studies backing up fenugreek’s efficacy as a galactagogue. The Evidence: Fenugreek and Milk Production This study examined the effectiveness of fenugreek tea as a galactagogue in new mothers. It divided 66 mother-infant pairs into three groups. One group drank the tea everyday, the second drank a placebo tea, and the third drank no tea and served as the control group. Researchers looked at breast milk volume and infant weight gain over a few days and found significantly higher volume and weight gain among the fenugreek tea-drinking group. From the study, researchers concluded that â€Å"Maternal galactagogue herbal tea supplementation seems to be useful for enhancing breast milk production and facilitating infant birth weight regain in early postnatal days.† If you’re interested in trying fenugreek as a milk-enhancing agent, how should you take it? How to Take Fenugreek to Stimulate Milk Production First and foremost, new mothers should consult their doctorsbefore adding fenugreek as an herbal supplement to their diet. Since it can have significant effects, everyone should make sure that they don’t have any pre-existing conditions that could interact adversely with fenugreek. If you decide to take fenugreek, you could take it as fenugreek tabletsor drink it as a fenugreek tea. A typical dosage is two to three capsules (580 to 610 mg each) taken by mouth three times a day. Drinking it as a tea is a more mild amount. You might drink between one and three cups a day as a hot tea, iced tea, or mixed with apple juice. Again, in most cases, pregnant women should not take a fenugreek supplement. You can read more about some of fenugreek’s potential side effects below. Once it enters your bloodstream, fenugreek goes head to head with the gummy bear brigadein the Battle of Blood Sugar. Use 2: To Maintain Blood Sugar Levels Fenugreek seeds arecommonly used as a supplement to control blood glucose, especially to prevent or treat diabetes. It appears to alleviate problems around the metabolism of blood sugar. Let’s take a look at some of the evidence behind this use of fenugreek. The Evidence: Fenugreek and Blood Sugar Several studies have looked at fenugreek and found that it hada significant effect on blood glucose levels. This first study gave a fenugreek supplement in both capsule and cooked form (on biscuits) to 60 non-insulin-dependent male diabetics. Ultimately, the study found that â€Å"2 grams of a powdered mixture of traditional medicinal plants in either raw or cooked form can be successfully used for lowering blood glucose in diabetics.† A second study also gave fenugreek to diabetic subjects in the form of food, this time incorporating it into bread. Like in the first study, researchers found that â€Å"acceptable baked products can be prepared with added fenugreek, which will reduce insulin resistance and treat type 2 diabetes." Alleviating problems of blood sugar metabolism is a common use of fenugreek, and people with diabetes may consider adding it to their diets in capsule or food form. How to Take Fenugreek to Control Blood Glucose The most common ways to take fenugreek to control blood sugar levels are in capsule form, ground up and added to food, or made into a tea. The recommended dosage falls between 2.5 and 15 grams a day. The amount you take varies depending on your weight, any other medications you take, and other factors. Fenugreek seeds alone haven'tbeen shown to treat diabetes, and it may have adverse interactions with certain diabetes medications. To figure out dosage and account for any variables, you should talk to your doctor before adding fenugreek to your healthcare routine. Ooh la la. Wine and roses have got nothing on fenugreek when it comes to getting in the mood. Use 3: To Boost Libido One of fenugreek’s ancient uses is to enhance libido. Mediterranean and Western Asian cultures have incorporated the herb into their diets for thousands of years to enhance sexual desire. Recent studies have suggested that fenugreek may increase libido in both men and women. The Evidence: Fenugreek and Sexual Desire Let’s take a look at one study involving males and another involving females. This 2011 study tested the effect of fenugreek extract on male libido, which it defined as sexual drive, urge, or desire. It recruited 60 men between the ages of 25 and 52 and gave them either 600 mg of fenugreek twice a day or placebo capsules. The physiological results were self-reported by participants, meaning that the results have some room for subjective bias. Overall, the group taking fenugreek supplements reported a 28% increase in libido while those taking the placebo reported a decrease overall. Scientists concluded that fenugreek can have â€Å"a significant positive effect on physiological aspects of libido† and that the herb â€Å"may assist to maintain normal healthy testosterone levels.† This 2015 study gathered 80 female participants between the ages of 20 and 49 with a self-reported low sex drive. They took fenugreek extract or a placebo for eight weeksand reported their experiences using the â€Å"Derogatis Interview for Sexual Functioning† and â€Å"Female Sexual Function Index† questionnaires. Ultimately, researchers concluded that â€Å"T foenum-graecum [fenugreek] seed extract is a well-tolerated and an effective botanical medicine for use in the support of sexual function for pre-menopausal women, in particular increasing sexual desire and arousal, with positive effects in concentration of E2 [estradiol] and free testosterone.† Thestudies suggest that fenugreek supplements may increase libido in both men and women. How to Take Fenugreek to Boost Libido Fenugreek can be taken as a capsule or brewed into a tea, or the seeds can be ground up and added to food or bread. A dose of 500 to 600 mg fenugreek capsules per day is recommended to boost libido. As with any herbal supplement, you should check with your doctor to determine the right amount for you. Is your skin red, bumpy, or injured? A fenugreek-based poultice can help. Use 4: To Soothe Skin Inflammation or Injury Fenugreek powder has long been combined with other soothing herbs to make poultices and treat skin inflammation and injury. Recent studies have suggested that fenugreek may have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The Evidence: Fenugreek andSkin Inflammation A group of researchers in Saudi Arabia extracted and isolated compounds in fenugreek seeds to determine whether or not they had anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. They found that â€Å"water extracts and flavonoids† from fenugreek seed extract did have the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that people have long reported. However, further research is needed on the effects of taking fenugreek on a daily basis. A 2012 study found that fenugreek reduced joint inflammation and arthritis in rats. Research on fenugreek’s anti-inflammatory properties in humans is needed to back up its effectiveness in this area as an herbal supplement. How to Use Fenugreek to Treat Skin Inflammation To soothe injured or inflamed skin, people traditionally grind dried herbs or boil fresh herbs in water and make a paste. You might combine fenugreek seed powder with other skin-soothing herbs, like slippery elm, flaxseed, lobelia, or goldenseal, as well as medicinal charcoal. After combining everything into a paste, you would spread itacross a clean piece of gauze, linen, or cotton and apply it directly to the skin. You would leave the poultice on the skin for anywhere from one to 24 hours, taking it off when the skin feels better. Some people warm the poultice before pressing it to the skin. Along with thefour main uses described above - enhancing milk production, controling blood glucose, boosting libido, and treating skin inflammation -people claim a number of otherfenugreek health benefits. Let’s take a look at other potential positive effects of taking fenugreek. People have been consuming fenugreek seeds for thousands of years. Other Potential Health Benefits of Fenugreek People have been consuming fenugreek for thousands of years, and many believe that it has a wide range of physical benefits. These are a few additional anecdotal fenugreek seeds benefits: Balance cholesterol Soothe upset stomach and digestive problems Reduce menstrual cramps Reduce appetite Reduce fat mass Maintain liver and kidney health Soothe muscle pain Reduce fever Can fenugreek seeds really accomplish all this? At this point, there’s little scientific evidence behind these alleged benefits, so much more research is needed to assess the efficacy of this herbal supplement. If you’re not experiencing serious injury or fever that would be better treated with prescription medication, then it may be worth trying fenugreek capsules or seeds to see if they work for you. As with any other new drug, you should consult with your doctor to make sure that you don’t take any medicines or have any other conditions that could interact poorly with fenugreek. Fenugreek does have some potential adverse side effects, and it’s important to be aware of them before incorporating the supplement into your routine. Before you introduce fenugreek to your diet, you should talk to a medical practitioner about possible side effects and interactions. Fenugreek Side Effects: 6 Potential Problems While it’s common to think of herbal remedies as harmless, that’s not necessarily the case. Fenugreek can potentially have adverse effects in the body, and it’s important to be aware of them so that your healthcare plan doesn’t do more harm than good. The following are the six main potential fenugreek side effects. Side Effect 1. Induce Childbirth For the most part, pregnant women are advised not to take fenugreek. Because it contains oxytocin, fenugreek couldact as a uterine stimulant, meaning itcould cause contractions and preterm labor. Some people have used fenugreek to induce labor, but you shouldn’t try this without speaking to a medical practitioner first. You should also be aware that studies have shownthat a large dose of fenugreek caused birth defects in rats and developmental problems in mice. The other side effect of taking fenugreek while pregnant is that it can give a false alarm of Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD). MSUD is an inherited genetic disorder so named because it causes a maple syrup-like smell in body excretions. Fenugreek won’t cause this often fatal disorder, but it can cause a serious scare and unnecessary emergency testing when the baby is born. Side Effect2. Diarrhea Fenugreek may cause stomach irritation and diarrhea. This can be especially dangerous if the nursing infant gets sick, as she could get dehydrated. Be careful if you take a blood thinner, as fenugreek could cause excessive bleeding. Side Effect 3. Bleeding Fenugreek contains a chemical compound called coumarin that can act as a blood thinner. While researchers don’t know yet if the normal dosage of fenugreek has a significant effect on the blood, they warn people on blood-thinning or anti-coagulant medications to be careful and consult their doctors before taking fenugreek supplements. Side Effect 4. Hypoglycemia If you’re taking both medicine for diabetes and fenugreek supplements, you should measureyour blood sugar levels so they don’t become too low and cause hypoglycemia. Since fenugreek can lower blood glucose levels, you don’t want to take too many medications and cause your levels to dip too low. Similarly, you should be cautious if you’re already prone to low blood sugar. Consult with your doctor about the right amount, and carefully monitor the effects that fenugreek supplements have on your blood sugar levels. Side Effect 5. Allergic Reactions Whenever you’re introducing a new supplement into your diet, you should be aware of any possible allergic reactions. Fenugreek is in the same family as chickpeas, green peas, soybeans, and peanuts, so you should be especially mindful about your body’s reaction if you have allergies to any of these foods. An allergy to one doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have an allergy to another, but you should proceed with caution if you've never consumed fenugreek before. Check with your doctor, and try just a small dosage of fenugreek at first. Stop taking it if you experience a rash, hives, swelling, or trouble breathing. This last side effect isn't dangerous, but it may cause unpredictable cravings for Belgian waffles. Side Effect 6. â€Å"Maple Syrup† Sweat or Urine This last side effect doesn’t cause any harm, apart from the false alarm about MSUD in infants described above. Fenugreek has a strong, sweet odor, and eating the seeds might pass that maple syrup-like smell into your sweat and urine or the sweat and urine of a nursing baby. If you start to notice this maple syrup-like odor, then you’ll know the cause! If you’d like to try taking fenugreek for any of the above-described health benefits, where can you find it? Where to Buy Fenugreek Fenugreek is a common herbal supplementthat you can buy in many healthcare or grocery stores or online. Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS, for instance, sell fenugreek in capsule and tea form, and Whole Foods sells the capsules, tea, and seeds (look for methi seeds). You can also find methi seeds and powder in many smaller Indian and Middle Eastern grocery stories. Finally, you can shop online and buy capsules, tea, and seeds from Amazon or a number of other online retailers that pop up via Google Shopping. Some good brands include Nature's Way, Solaray, Oregon's Wild Harvest, Alvita, Yogi Tea, and Nature's Answer. Teas and capsules cost somewhere between $5 and$10.You can also take powdered fenugreek seeds, or fenugreek extract in a liquid tincture. Read on for suggested dosages for how to take fenugreek in capsule, tea, powder, or tincture form. Fenugreek is most commonly taken in capsule form. How to Take Fenugreek As you read above, you can take fenugreek in capsule form, brew it into a tea, or add the powdered seeds to food. Fenugreek is also available in a liquid tincture form, so you could add a few drops to juice or water. Here's how much fenugreek to take in each form. Capsule:500 to 600 mg, three times a day. Tea:two to three cups a day. You can make hot or iced tea or combine it with juice. Powder:five to 30 grams of de-fatted seed powder up to three times a day. It's best to consume fenugreek powder before or as part of a meal. Tincture: three to four mL three times a day. One drop is similar to a 500-600 mg capsule. Your dosage depends on a number of factors, including weight, age, and health status. Your doctor or an herbalist can help you determine the right individualized dosage. Taking Fenugreek as an Herbal Supplement: Best Uses Fenugreek, anherb native to the Mediterranean and the Middle East, has a number of health benefits. While scientific research remains limited at this point, there's some substantial evidence that points to fenugreek's effectiveness in enhancing milk production, regulating blood glucose levels, boosting libido, and acting as an anti-inflammatory agent on irritated skin. While people have claimed for a long time that fenugreek has a number of other positive effectsas well, as this point many of its purported benefits remain anecdotal.Without the weight of a controlled study, you should be skeptical of anyone claiming fenugreek is a miracle drug. You should also be cautious about fenugreek'spotential side effects, and make sure to speak with a medical practitioner before introducing itas an herbal supplement into your diet. If you do find that fenugreek has beneficial effects on your health, then you may be glad to hear that fenugreek or methi seeds in various forms arewidely accessible and affordableat a variety of grocery and healthcare stores, both of the online and brick-and-mortar variety. If fenugreek turns out tobe the herbal supplement you've been looking for, thenyou can joinan ancient practice of fenugreek consumption that dates back almost 6,000 years.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Implementation Commentary Essay Example

Implementation Commentary Essay Example Implementation Commentary Essay Implementation Commentary Essay I split the design problem into a number of different sections, which are explained:Analysis of ProblemThe Analysis of Problem is when the problem is recognised.Design of SolutionThe Design of Solution is when everything from the Analysis is taken into account, and an appropriate solution is drawn up.ImplementationThe Implementation is when the Design is transferred into a real thing e.g. the touch screen presentation.TestingThis is where the solution is examined to find any faults or spelling/grammar errors. At this stage, any changes are made to the system.EvaluationThis is where the final system is evaluated, and any things hat would be done differently next time are mentioned but not carried out.There are various different inputs, processes and outputs which I had to control to make my presentation. These are very important to be able to make the foundations to the main presentation:InputsAll the data that was input was:* The NHS logo which I copied from a website.* The map which I copied from MultiMap, which is on the final slide.* The names and positions of all the staff who work there* All the information about the health centre i.e. the policiesProcessing* I had to paste the NHS logo into PhotoFiltre and then crop it, and then re-paste it into the presentation.* Similar to the NHS logo, I had to paste the picture into PhotoFiltre, crop it and then re-paste it into the presentation.* I had to cut the table which I produced in Microsoft Excel, make it the correct size and then place that into the presentation, moving it to the correct position.* I had to change the font and size of the policies writing and then make the background white of the textbox, and move it into the correct position on the page.Accuracy and Spelling / TestingAccuracy and spelling/grammar is very important when doing a professional presentation like this. When data is inputted, its creditability needs to be monitored just to make sure that it is always telling the truth and the righ t thing. Also, if spelling is incorrect, it looks very unprofessional and irresponsible. When data such as Opening Times are inputted, it is essential that they are correct and always up-to-date as customers need to know the vital information. Errors could be made when the data is being typed into the system, or when the original data is being printed/produced. After data has been inputted and checks have been made to ensure it is correct, the presentation needs to be stored safely so that changes are not made accidentally. The system needs to be stored on a password-locked server which can only be accessed by the vital few people who run it. This means that someone inexperienced cannot have access to the system and change it. Proof-reading the document to see if there were any visible mistakes, and the Spelling and Grammar checker on Microsoft checked any spelling mistakes.Storage DevicesA storage device is used to save all work done by a user and to ensure that no information is l ost. There are two main types of storage devices:* Read Only (ROM) is not ever erased from the memory when the power supply is switched off i.e. turning the computer off will mean the document will still be there when it is turned back on again, all the information is permanent. This is sometimes called non-volatile memory.* Random Access Memory (RAM) this is erased when the power supply is switched off i.e. turning the computer off will mean the document will not be there when it is turned back on again. This is sometimes called volatile memory.The main storage devices I would use for my hard disk would be:* Hard Disk This is built into the computer, and things can be saved to it very easily. They are normally quite large in capacity, so many, many text documents can be stored at one time. This works by a magnetic head reading the information off the hard disk as it spins around very quickly* Floppy Disk Floppy Disks are portable storage devices that can hold around 300 pages o f text. But actually they only hold 1.44MB of stuff, so often pictures or word art will not fit onto the floppy.* USB Drive This is a reasonable new method of portable storage, and they normally have a much larger free space than a floppy disk.I created a presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint. I did this by adding a background picture into all the slides. Then I went on to put the rectangular buttons on the right hand side of the slide. The buttons on this list were then hyperlinked to the correct slides, so when that button was pressed, the computer would be directed to that wanted page. I then inserted a text box and wrote in the information; I decided to make the background of the text white to ensure it could be read easily. Headings were then inserted, as were the relevant pictures.My presentation went well, but some changes had to be made on the way. When I first produced it, there was barely any colour on it, and it was not very attractive to look at. Inserting a background p icture into the presentation, which made it look a lot better to look at, rectified this. There was various spelling and grammar mistakes on the presentation, and using the Spell Checker helped this. There was no colour on the heading of the Opening Times table, which meant that users might get confused. I changed this by making the heading of the table yellow. Sometimes incorrect words were used: I described the staff as okay but then changed that to good which improves the reputation of the Health Centre. Some of the important writing did not stand out enough, so I changed the text colour to purple to help this.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

How to Make Marketing Team Management Easy (Free Templates)

How to Make Marketing Team Management Easy (Free Templates) Managing a team can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You’re responsible not only for your own work, but for the output of all your direct reports, too. In fact, it has been said that the true measure of a manager’s productivity, is actually the measure of their team’s output as a whole. No pressure, right? Fortunately, learning how to effectively guide high-functioning marketing departments isn’t impossible. By investing in proper skill development and establishing solid processes, you can stop feeling like you’re herding cats and successfully lead your team to success. Free templates to help you effectively manage your marketing team.First, Snag Some Free Templates Before digging into the meat of this post, take a second to download these no-cost resources: Marketing Project Management Calendar Template (Excel): See everything your team is working on. Marketing Workflow Checklist Template (Excel): Help each team member execute projects correctly with clear checklists. Marketing Project Management Plan (Word): Map out a strategy for managing your team’s projects. Combined with the in-depth advice in this post, you’re well on your way to taking the pain out of corralling creative teams and managing marketers the best way.What is the Real Role of a Team Manager? Managing people is about much more than just being someone else’s boss. It means making your success be other’s success. Everything else about the role stems from this simple truth. When you’re in the lead, it isn’t all about you, even though you’re ultimately the one steering the ship. It’s about making sure everyone performs up to their potential. Achieving that aim is easier said than done though. Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline.Introducing the Team Management Dashboard in One way to give yourself the edge when it comes to team management is to use the Team Management Dashboard in (and if you’re new, it’s an industry-leading marketing management platform). It makes it easy to see your entire team’s workload and the progress they’re making in one place: Check it out. Then, schedule a demo to see how it can change the way you manage your team. What Are Some Common Team Management Roadblocks? Whether you’re new to management or you’ve been leading marketing teams for a while, you’re bound to face some barriers. Barrier #1: Siloed Teams The team you’re managing will likely need to collaborate with other teams, too. But, if those teams are siloed, that can make getting things done difficult. There are a few reasons for that: You can’t move faster than the other team is willing to go. They likely have other projects and their own priorities, beyond just the things you’re collaborating on. Getting teams on the same page can be tough. For the reasons listed above. Different processes can clash. They have their way of doing things, and you’ve got yours. If the two can’t be reconciled, work starts to break down. Barrier #2: Lack of Clear, Shared Goals Rallying your team to succeed requires having a shared goal. Otherwise, what are you actually working toward? Without some sort of objective, you’re liable to just do a lot of stuff, look busy, and accomplish nothing. That, in turn, leads to a burned out team that’s working hard but ends up with nothing to show for it. Rallying your team to succeed requires having a shared goal. Otherwise, what are you working toward?Barrier #3: Lack of Leadership If no one’s steering the ship, you’ll never end up where you want to go. And if you’re reading this, odds are leadership falls on your shoulders. Businesses, in general, are feeling a gap between leadership wants and reality, too. According to a study from Globoforce, a full 93% of managers need training on how to train their teams. If that sounds shocking, perhaps it shouldn’t. Management and leadership are skills that take years of experience to develop. Excelling at helping others excel takes years of intentional practice. Fortunately, you don’t have to depend completely on hard-fought lessons in the rough and tumble trenches of marketing and business. For one thing, you’re reading this blog post. That’s a point in your favor. And if you’re part of the 93% who need some help, at least you’re not alone (and odds are the other 7% are lying anyway).

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Evaluation of Theoretic Structure of Research Paper Term

Evaluation of Theoretic Structure of Research - Term Paper Example sideration of outcomes of the experiment conducted, the authors concluded that conducted imaginary interventions contributed significantly to the reduction of patients’ depression, anxiety, and stress, and improved their comfort. To confirm the statement it is enough to consider the quantity of psychiatric inpatients all over the world: according to the report ‘Mental Health Policy and Practice across Europe: The future direction of mental health care’, approximately 450 million of population undergoes various types of mental disorders at any point of time (Knapp, McDaid, Mossialos, and Thornicroft, 2007). It is not a rare situation when people with mood disorders need to repeat their treatment for several times and although hospitalization provides them with some kind of refuge, it also implies certain limitations on patients’ freedom. Moreover, hospitalization could also cause extra discomfort in addition to that, which is invoked by the illness itself. Taking into account that GI interventions might ease patients’ depression, anxiety and stress factors and improve their health, the method influences essentially on the whole success of mental disorders treatment (Shapiro, 2003). Implementation of nursing should be grounded on relevant theories and is aimed to provide psychiatric inpatients with the highest possible level of comfort in order to help them to be full-fledged members of society. Regarding the fact that Comfort Theory application relieves patients reduce their depression, anxiety, and stress and increase their comfort, the method is an important element of nursing process. The main purpose of the paper is to examine the effects of GI interventions recorded on compact discs (CDs) on psychiatric patients’ mental health and test the Null hypothesis, which states that people with mood disorders, who receive GI interventions, would perceive higher comfort level and lower stress and nervousness. Relief is defined as a state when certain

Analysis on Home Burial by robert frost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis on Home Burial by robert frost - Essay Example The very first line suggests the strange and dubious aspects of her action as it is perceived by the man. It is absolutely incomprehensible and irksome to him. Making up his mind to confront her openly, he demands to know what it is that attracts her attention at the top of the stairs. He makes this demand when he sees her at the top of the stairs in the house, about to start down, but looking over her shoulders â€Å"at some fear†. She takes a doubtful step and withdraws to have one more glance. He sees her before she sees him, thus getting the full benefit of witnessing her action. He asks her to describe what she sees there â€Å"always†. When she reacts to his query by turning and sinking upon her skirts, her facial expression changing â€Å"from terrified to dull†, he asks the question again to â€Å"gain time† and starts mounting the stairs. His approach towards her is very calculated as if he is dealing with someone who has unpredictable behavioral patterns. She cowers under him as he reaches the top and refuses to offer any help: â€Å"With the least stiffening of her neck and silence she let him look†. She is firm in her belief that he will not see what she sees as he is a â€Å"blind creature† in her opinion. The woman seems to have preconceived notions with regard to his possible responses. It is also possible that she has formed her opinions based on her real experiences of living with him as his wife. But quite contrary to her notions, though he takes a while, he finally spots out the object in question without any help of even confirmation from her. When he mourns â€Å"Oh,oh† as if he is at last convinced innate justifiability of her action, she is still doubtful, rather quite convinced that he has mistaken something else for it. She demands a clarification and eventually gets it in fairly good detail. But instead of feeling surprised at his â€Å"lack of blindness† and regretting

Friday, October 18, 2019

BHS 499 (Senior Capstone Project) Module 4 CBT Essay - 1

BHS 499 (Senior Capstone Project) Module 4 CBT - Essay Example y aging of present qualified nursing faculty; ineffective and diluted role expectations of some nursing faculty due to tremendous role-related stress and high faculty workload; lack of salary competitiveness in the clinical setting; nursing faculty members are not motivated to prepare for doctoral programs and too few applicants are willing to teach clinical courses at the same time conduct research, which are both essential roles in academic arena (Starnes-Ott & Kremer, 2007). Are there any solutions to the above-mentioned problems? Are some of the solutions already implemented? Or are the implemented programs for it working? These are some of the questions which require honest evaluations and can be answered by the facts below. Hospitals and other related agencies have fortunately identified significant elements crucial to the health as well as well being in work environment of a nurse, at the same time, the security and safety of the health care delivery system. According to Buerhaus, Donelan, Ulrich, Norman, & Dittus (2008), the said elements were identified based on the 2002 and 2004 surveys conducted and further disclosed that there are several positive changes in the work environment of nurses that have occurred and resulted in decreased overtime and stress, heightened job and career satisfaction and has improved relationships among nurses. Moreover, to arrive at the optimum approach to attain a healthy work environment basically depend on the employment setting, available resources, size, and the commitment of administration. Lovell (2006) rationalized that â€Å"overworking† pushes nurses out of their workplace to other health care settings this do not address the continuing concerns on wages and working conditions of nurse workforce. Cited by Lovell (2006), research published in peer-reviewed journals, workforce analyses, and other professional publications have confirmed that the crucial role played by wages in additional nurse labor supply. The

Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Regulations Assignment

Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Regulations - Assignment Example It is the role of the government to make the business regulations so that they are uniform to everyone despite in certain circumstances bearing merits and demerits, which this essay seeks to highlight. Advantage of these regulations is that a business is able to run smoothly as there is a clear logical framework on how to conduct logistics. This approach makes staffs have a technical knowhow about ethics and decisions that govern their business. Hence, being able to adapt to the working conditions without any difficulties and still comply to what the industry demands (Handlin, 2011). Rules and regulations are of major importance to a business since it removes much of guesswork by the staff since they ought to work according to the prescribed set of behavior. Through this, conducting of varied practices is effective in both to the staff and those they are serving compared to any industry that do not operate within certain procedures. Another advantage is that rules are able to prevent owners of companies from using power to abuse their workers (Handlin, 2011). If there were no regulations, most of the rights of workers could be stepped on by their employers. The workers could be receiving meager wages or compelled to work in extremely deplorable conditions, hence regulations safeguard their settings. Since without those regulations, owners could be resulting to actions that not only harm the environment or pursue business ventures that are profit making but also exploit staff. Therefore, by having rules and regulations some of these hazardous behaviors are preventable thus help govern protect its people. Conversely, business makes it hard to execute certain changes (Nijsen, 2009). Having a rules makes it is a very rigid process to make changes like decision making. In some cases, the regulations made do not account for some situations, this may be a major drawback to a business thus taking

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Analysis of a Marketing News Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of a Marketing News Story - Essay Example Although this particular news report talks about the business tactic of Google, it also brings up new idea with regards to the future developments in online marketing options. Advertisements are referring to a â€Å"paid-message in a form of media† with the purpose of attracting the attention of the target consumers (Faber, Lee and Nan, 2004). Aiming to reach for the target audience, the traditional advertisers utilizes newspapers, magazines, radio, television, mail, telephone, billboards, posters, fliers, CDs, and audiotapes as a communication channels (Kotler, 2000, p. 15). On the other hand, the use of on-line advertisements such as the use on-line banners (usually appears at the top end of a web page), e-mail, search engine advertisements such as Google.com or Yahoo.com, the interactive on-page media ads, streaming audio and video among others has been widely used to catch the attention of online viewers. In fact, the use of online advertisement tools is considered as on o f the fastest growing medium for modern advertisements (Faber, 2002). According to Kotler (2003, p. 4), the main reason why large-scale companies are advertising their products is to â€Å"inform, persuade, remind, or reinforce† the public consumers’ purchasing behaviour. ... 7, 12). Based on consumers’ response with regards to the use of online and traditional advertisements, Gallagher, Foster, and Parsons (2001) revealed that the use of a traditional print ads and advertiesements in Web format does not necessarily provide any significant difference with regards to the viewers’ ability to recall the advertised message. After exploring the impact of pop-up windows and animation on the memory of 60 online advertisement viewers, Diao and Sundar (2007) revealed that the viewers ability to recall the pop-up advertisements is higher as compared to the use of banner advertisements. Not all advertisements are effective in terms of sending the company’s message accross their target customers. For this reason, a lot of researchers have focused their studies on examining the effectiveness of online advertisements (Callaway, 2010; Chtourou and Abida, 2010; Shukla, Sharma and Swami, 2010; Diao and Sundar, 2007). After conducting a researh study w ith regards to the effectiveness of online advertisements, Shukla, Sharma and Swami (2010) explained that the ability of the online advertisers to make the online viewers satisfied with what they see and read about the advertised products and services increases the public viewers’ intention to make online purchases. Therefore, online advertising companies are looking for new ways to improve their existing online advertising services through product and technology innovation. Recently, Sparkes (2012) mentioned that roughly 16,000 businesses are already using the social media as part of their marketing campaign. In line with this, Chtourou and Abida (2010) revealed that the continuously increasing number of existing

Airfix Footwear LTD v. Cope [1978] ICR 1210 Case Study

Airfix Footwear LTD v. Cope [1978] ICR 1210 - Case Study Example It is irrelevant in the case observed in the paper whether the individual daily contracts were separate employment or not. The IT concluded that no individual contracts existed between the worker and the company. The company only delivers work sporadically from time to time, and from time-to-time the worker chooses to do it, so that there is a pattern of an occasional week done a few times a year, then it might well be that there comes into existence on each of these occasions a separate contract of service or contract for services, but the overriding arrangement is not itself a contract of employment, either of services or for services. But these matters must depend upon the facts of each particular case. This case confirms the view that an "umbrella" contract can exist if a practice of dealing has been built up over the years with expectations and obligations on each side. It was only in respect of the overall contract that the question of mutuality of obligation came into effect, and in this particular case, it was considered that this obligation was so overpowering that it meant that no individual contracts had existed. However, it is often difficult to establish the necessary ongoing mutuality of obligation to change a series of short-term contracts into a single "umbrella" contract. In this case, the IT denied the worker's claim because the worker is not obligated to accept the work and the provider is not under any obligation to consistently provide the work to the worker. In order for the 'worker' to be classified as an 'employee', the case must be able to pass the test for employee status. In this case, the company does not have or is not in a position to exercise any control over the worker. "The more control the supervisor or employer can exercise, the more likely the worker will be deemed an employee. Temporary workers engaged through employment agencies have for a number of years been a popular choice for UK businesses. The benefits to businesses o f engaging a flexible labor resource have been tangible. The resource can, in theory, be turned on and off at will, without the problems associated with headcount, the need for redundancy procedures or risk of unfair dismissal. In short, temporary agency workers have proved a cost-efficient resource to end-user businesses. For an employment contract to exist, as a minimum the following ingredients must be met; first a contract between the parties, second, an element of control over the worker and third, a mutuality of obligation between the worker and the employer. Up until 2004, most cases considered by the courts found that whilst there may be sufficient control exercised by the hiring end user over the worker and mutuality of obligation, there was no actual contract between the worker and the end user. In contrast, the courts found that whilst there was a contract between the agency and the worker, there was insufficient mutuality of obligation or control by the agency over the w orker for it to be an employment contract. The consequence was the worker was not employed by either the agency or the hiring end user. It soon became obvious to the court that the base was not broad enough, using merely mutuality of obligation as the test. It broadened its scope of the test by including the concept of control of the worker.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Analysis of a Marketing News Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of a Marketing News Story - Essay Example Although this particular news report talks about the business tactic of Google, it also brings up new idea with regards to the future developments in online marketing options. Advertisements are referring to a â€Å"paid-message in a form of media† with the purpose of attracting the attention of the target consumers (Faber, Lee and Nan, 2004). Aiming to reach for the target audience, the traditional advertisers utilizes newspapers, magazines, radio, television, mail, telephone, billboards, posters, fliers, CDs, and audiotapes as a communication channels (Kotler, 2000, p. 15). On the other hand, the use of on-line advertisements such as the use on-line banners (usually appears at the top end of a web page), e-mail, search engine advertisements such as Google.com or Yahoo.com, the interactive on-page media ads, streaming audio and video among others has been widely used to catch the attention of online viewers. In fact, the use of online advertisement tools is considered as on o f the fastest growing medium for modern advertisements (Faber, 2002). According to Kotler (2003, p. 4), the main reason why large-scale companies are advertising their products is to â€Å"inform, persuade, remind, or reinforce† the public consumers’ purchasing behaviour. ... 7, 12). Based on consumers’ response with regards to the use of online and traditional advertisements, Gallagher, Foster, and Parsons (2001) revealed that the use of a traditional print ads and advertiesements in Web format does not necessarily provide any significant difference with regards to the viewers’ ability to recall the advertised message. After exploring the impact of pop-up windows and animation on the memory of 60 online advertisement viewers, Diao and Sundar (2007) revealed that the viewers ability to recall the pop-up advertisements is higher as compared to the use of banner advertisements. Not all advertisements are effective in terms of sending the company’s message accross their target customers. For this reason, a lot of researchers have focused their studies on examining the effectiveness of online advertisements (Callaway, 2010; Chtourou and Abida, 2010; Shukla, Sharma and Swami, 2010; Diao and Sundar, 2007). After conducting a researh study w ith regards to the effectiveness of online advertisements, Shukla, Sharma and Swami (2010) explained that the ability of the online advertisers to make the online viewers satisfied with what they see and read about the advertised products and services increases the public viewers’ intention to make online purchases. Therefore, online advertising companies are looking for new ways to improve their existing online advertising services through product and technology innovation. Recently, Sparkes (2012) mentioned that roughly 16,000 businesses are already using the social media as part of their marketing campaign. In line with this, Chtourou and Abida (2010) revealed that the continuously increasing number of existing

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Cost method november Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cost method november - Essay Example It is crucial for managers to comprehend the merits and demerits of the two systems to satisfy the needs of their business operations. The budget presented entails schedules that raise various concerns leading to the recommendation that the company should switch to the activity-based costing system of accounting. The first concern is the quarterly budget that in my opinion requires further subdivision to generate quarters. Mainly, cycling takes place in temperate weather conditions. Buying materials for bicycle production for the start of sales hikes demand therefore, requires the producer to incur a quarter before the demand. Another concern regards accounts that remain uncollectable. The master budget for the company is not specific it its cash budget line. It closely refers to the uncollectable receivables. Variable factors in this context emanate from economic features among them limited sponsorship and thus resulting in wrong accounts (Gazely & Lambert, 2006). From the budget, the company is setting aside a budget for 140 bikes inclusive of labour costs. It is appropriate to cut down on the level of production of extra parts in the inventory. The viability of any business can be measured by how the company effectively utilizes its resources while plummeting unnecessary costs hence Competition Bikes Inc. should strive to avert extra discretionary costs. The method of distributing manufacturing overhead by activity-based costing (ABC) to products is efficient compared to the traditional method of costing. Precisely, activity-based costing assigns the right percentage of resources to particular products. While monitoring and allocating organizational costs to products and objects, activity-based costing remains a more sophisticated and logical method as opposed to the traditional costing system (Bragg, 2001). It is possible to distribute

Monday, October 14, 2019

CMR Enterprise Essay Example for Free

CMR Enterprise Essay This particular case depicts the history and issues faced by a relatively small company active in the custom architectural millwork industry for the past 25 years. The new owners wanted the newly-acquired company to grow even further. The first few months seems to have been a success Marcus spent a lot of his time with employees and customers, learning the field since he was, as mentioned in the text, an outsider. However, keeping the companys integrity and image intact was a priority. However, the problems outlined in the case seems to start or at least have been worsened with what will become CMRs largest account, Blackstone Homes. Problem Identification After reviewing the text in question, three major problems stand out: 1) Customers change requests: When Blackstone Homes sell a house, it does of course! come with a pre-finished and installed kitchen, included in the price. However, if the customer wishes, he or she would visit CMRs showroom and they would build these woodwork according to their new specifications. The added cost will then be charged to the contractor, which will later add it to their bills. This takes time and lead to price increases. This is, in part, what contributed to the clash with Blackstone Homes. 2) IT solution not adapted: InfoCentral, the software implemented by Marcus, does not work out as intended and do not fit the business needs. It is not always updated as required by the employees. According to the text, it may be helpful for the commercial and financial/accounting side, but is lacking several features for its residential counterpart to be really as useful as it can be. 3) Deteriorating business relationship The business relations between the two companies started well and was fulfilling for both part. When the business expended, so did the problems. The root cause seems to be the change requests made by the homeowners. This lead to late delivery, poorly reviewed performance and then the 7% price increase. Future homeowners started considering the prices charged by CMR to be too high. We could therefore expect lower level of sales and revenues in the future. Alternatives generation While we will mostly concentrate our alternatives on the three points mentioned above, we will also include other alternatives, even if they may not be realistic or feasible in the short/medium term. 1) Review customers change requests: We obviously cannot stop change requests and modifications made by the customers. The company and its employees pride themselves by offering flexibility and higher customers satisfaction. It would be therefore self-destructive for CMR to put a term to these showrooms. Any person also deserve to have reasonable alternative options when they are buying an object, a home more than anything. However, there is a clear misunderstanding between CMR and Blackstone Homes regarding the fixed allowances for kitchen ($6,000) and the final cost of the installation. In order to solve this issue, it may be a good thing to review the billing part: Instead of having the installation costs forwarded to the contractor, all expenses over $6,000 (parts + labor) should be charged to the homeowners themselves; customers can have access to all options made available by CMR, whilst eliminating cost forwarding and the said related disagreements. 2) Software adaptation It seems clear from the text that the whole issue also come in part from InfoCentral. In order to remediate this issue, we would suggest that all account managers from CMR and employees involved with this software should meet and discuss its performance. What should be changed, what must be kept, or what should be included in order to fit everyones needs. However, for any IT solution to bring tangible additional value, it must be easy to use and should not impose additional work. It is supposed to simplify the work, not making it more complicated. 3) The right people on the right place Again, according to the text, there was a clear misunderstanding between both parties; it was even referred as a shouting contest, which is far from being a normal and healthy business relationship. The Key Account Managers (from both sides) could not agree on contract terms and conditions. It could therefore be a good thing to change points of contact and see if the situation can be resolved; a stronger relation, transparency, honesty and business awareness between the two companies might also help straighten things out. 4) Additional ideas The solution to increase profit may not be by simply increasing selling price. We would suggest CMR to run an audit on their Supply Chain, Logistics and Selling, General Administrative Expenses to see if cost reductions are possible. Could modern machinery help cut their production costs? Could they outsource some of their non-core business or reduce raw material costs by creating a joint-venture with a competitor? Chasing down inefficiencies in the production line can be even more effective than a price increase. Recommendations Using the previous points, we would suggest the three following recommendations: 1) Change the billing process: If possible, all additional costs over $6,000 should be charged to the homeowner directly. In order to make this easier for the customers, offering various financing options may be a good idea. 2) Adapt InfoCentral: Review, correct and revamp the software in order to meet real business needs. May be a good thing to check what competitors are using. 3) Organize recurrent meetings: The situation with Blackstone did not get bad in one day. It may be a good idea to set up weekly or monthly operational reviews; meetings lasting no longer than 30 minutes, where all potential issues can be discussed among stakeholders and managers. The idea is not to let such situation worsen and take the correct actions as soon as possible.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Affirmative Action :: essays research papers

Affirmative action is a growing argument among our society. It is multifaceted and very often defined vaguely. Some can define affirmative action as the ability to strive for equality and inclusiveness. Others might see it as a quota-based system for different minority groups. Is affirmative action fair? Are minority groups on equal footing? Is gaining employment for minorities difficult? Is education easily obtained for the minority groups of people? Affirmative action endeavors to answer all these questions, while allowing society to believe harmony exists. Affirmative action has definitely helped women and minorities in their careers, but it has yet to succeed in the goal of equality in the business world for women and minorities. As more and more women are faced with discrimination in large firms, more have decided to strike out on their own. Today employers both private and public require individuals to take a test before entering their place of employment. For example, if one were to apply for a job in a supermarket a test for your basic educational skill is required. To become a fireman, policeman, teacher, or Kentucky Fried Chicken employee you are required to take a test before being hired. To further your education you need to take a test to enter a University. Jobs for today are in the technological, computer, and Internet areas. The need to be educated is a part of life. In our society there are difficulties with basic education. Affirmative action gives minorities the right to equal education. Is affirmative action fair? Affirmative action has become a tool for minorities to use for equality in the business world. Women, African Americans, Hispanics and the like now have a level tool that would support their rights as individuals in the business world. Yes, affirmative action demonstrates fairness. Are minority groups on equal footing? Today, affirmative action is recognized however, the 'glass ceiling' is still there. The glass ceiling refers to "you can see it, but you can't get it". Minorities can reach for the ceiling but still have difficulty actually trying to touch it. Unfortunately affirmative action cannot tell society to behave in a way that would place every individual, every minority group on equal footing. Affirmative action is a great tool for minorities. It encourages equality in humanity. I agree and support affirmative action in that individual's should be treated equally. Affirmative action is still needed. Although women and people of color have come a long way in the decades since the Civil Rights Act was passed, discrimination still exists.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Candide 3 :: essays research papers

I am not too familiar with the events that occurred in this book. It is set back in the times of kings and queens, barons, lords and other titles. The author, Voltaire, who was born Francios-Marie Arouet, was very critical and suspicious of government and officials. He used his writing talens to make fun of them or criticize abuses of the time. In the middle of the 18th century, Voltaire turned against the popular philosophy of “optimism'; because of a tragic earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, which killed 30,000 people and did millions of dollars in damage. He wrote Candide to show that proponents of optimism were, well – crazy! The first thing that happens in this book is that the main character, Candide, a good natured young man, gets kicked out of his home. His home happens to be the castle of a Baron who has a 17-year old daughter named Cunegonde. Candide is seen by the baron kissing the hand of Cunegonde. So, what’s the big deal about that? She was the one who started it. And it was just her hand, all right? But for some reason, this really upset the Baron and out Candide went. He is picked up by Bulgarian soldiers and made part of their army, but when he goes out for a walk one day, they think is going AWOL. He is then given a choice of taking 12 bullets to the dome or being whipped 4,000 times! Nice choice! By now I’m thinking not much is happening for the good. But not Candide. He just doesn’t understand. He takes the whipping. Over and over again Candide tries to do his best and tragedies happen to him. The way I feel about Candide is that he is undecided and confused about what is going around him and what is happening to him. Some people here and there help him and others capture him and torture him. He is also scared of being out alone with no one there for him until he runs into his old Master of Philosophy, Dr. Pangloss. The doc tells him of dreadful things that happened at the castle and the condition everyone was in. The Baron and his entire family, including his beloved Cunegonde are all dead. Candide faints on the spot when he hears of that and that shows that he is not very emotionally strong. He can’t deal with the pain of life very well. Candide 3 :: essays research papers I am not too familiar with the events that occurred in this book. It is set back in the times of kings and queens, barons, lords and other titles. The author, Voltaire, who was born Francios-Marie Arouet, was very critical and suspicious of government and officials. He used his writing talens to make fun of them or criticize abuses of the time. In the middle of the 18th century, Voltaire turned against the popular philosophy of “optimism'; because of a tragic earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, which killed 30,000 people and did millions of dollars in damage. He wrote Candide to show that proponents of optimism were, well – crazy! The first thing that happens in this book is that the main character, Candide, a good natured young man, gets kicked out of his home. His home happens to be the castle of a Baron who has a 17-year old daughter named Cunegonde. Candide is seen by the baron kissing the hand of Cunegonde. So, what’s the big deal about that? She was the one who started it. And it was just her hand, all right? But for some reason, this really upset the Baron and out Candide went. He is picked up by Bulgarian soldiers and made part of their army, but when he goes out for a walk one day, they think is going AWOL. He is then given a choice of taking 12 bullets to the dome or being whipped 4,000 times! Nice choice! By now I’m thinking not much is happening for the good. But not Candide. He just doesn’t understand. He takes the whipping. Over and over again Candide tries to do his best and tragedies happen to him. The way I feel about Candide is that he is undecided and confused about what is going around him and what is happening to him. Some people here and there help him and others capture him and torture him. He is also scared of being out alone with no one there for him until he runs into his old Master of Philosophy, Dr. Pangloss. The doc tells him of dreadful things that happened at the castle and the condition everyone was in. The Baron and his entire family, including his beloved Cunegonde are all dead. Candide faints on the spot when he hears of that and that shows that he is not very emotionally strong. He can’t deal with the pain of life very well.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Steve Jobs : Book Review

STEVE JOBS BY WALTER ISAACSON Dear all dignitaries and peers present here, Welcome to this hall, where we are all presented with the rarest opportunity on hearing about various respected and popular members of this world. On given an opportunity, I wondered what should be the theme of my speech. Should I go for the Nobel laureates or the most popular figurines or people who changed this world? Nobel laureates are historic, and popular people as noted are already quite popular. So, let’s hear about a person who changed the way we look at technology now. The way he drove a multibillion dollar company, the way he became a symbol of youth GOD!Yes, I’m here to talk about the authorised biography, the i-bio of the master, STEVE JOBS by Walter Isaacson. ‘Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography' was one of the most eagerly awaited books of the year 2011. The book is a journey into the life of a legend who revolutionized the way people saw technology. Walter Issacson brings to life, the innovator, the dreamer and the devil within Steve Jobs. An absolutely must read! In my mind the sole purpose of reading non-fiction is to learn, and if you learn something, by definition you will be changed. So, what did I learn from this book? 1.I have a better understanding of Apple products and understand why they enjoy premium pricing. 2. Jobs ability to focus on only 2-3 things at once with absolute intensity. I, like many, have too many interests and hobbies and could benefit from a tighter focus on just a few. 3. Jobs was able to get the most from his employees, but sometimes with tactics that I wouldn’t be comfortable using, including intimidation and tearing down of others. 4. His goal was to surround himself with  Grade A minds. Surrounding yourself with the best is not a bad motto. 5. Life is short-treat time with your family as if you are aware of your short time on earth.So, How does the author portray the genius Was he unbiased? Well, to the authorà ¢â‚¬â„¢s credit, Walter Issacson  is a biographer and a writer. He is also the director of Aspen Institute and has been the Managing Editor of TIME. Issacson has previously written the biographies of Henry Kissinger and Albert Einstein. As a  biographer of Albert Einstein  and Benjamin Franklin, Mr. Isaacson knows how to explicate and celebrate genius: revered, long-dead genius. But he wrote â€Å"Steve Jobs† as its subject was mortally ill, and that is a more painful and delicate challenge. He had access to members of the Jobs family at a difficult time.Mr. Isaacson treats â€Å"Steve Jobs† as the biography of record, which means that it is a strange book to read so soon after its subject’s death. Some of it is an essential Silicon Valley chronicle, compiling stories well known to tech aficionados but interesting to a broad audience. Some of it is already quaint. Mr. Jobs’s first job was at Atari, and it involved the game Pong. (â€Å"If youâ€⠄¢re under 30, ask your parents,† Mr. Isaacson writes. ) Some, like an account of the release of the  iPad  2, is so recent that it is hard to appreciate yet, even if Mr. Isaacson says the device comes to life â€Å"like the face of a tickled baby.    And some is definitely intended for future generations. â€Å"Indeed,† Mr. Isaacson writes, â€Å"its success came not just from the beauty of the hardware but from the applications, known as apps, that allowed you to indulge in all sorts of delightful activities. † One that he mentions, which will be as quaint as Pong some day, features the use of a slingshot to launch angry birds to destroy pigs and their fortresses. So â€Å"Steve Jobs,† an account of its subject’s 56 years (he died on Oct. 5), must reach across time in more ways than one. And it does, in a well-ordered, if not streamlined, fashion.It begins with a portrait of the young Mr. Jobs, rebellious toward the parents who raised him a nd scornful of the ones who gave him up for adoption. (â€Å"They were my sperm and egg bank,† he says. ) Although Mr. Isaacson is not analytical about his subject’s volatile personality (the word â€Å"obnoxious† figures in the book frequently), he raises the question of whether feelings of abandonment in childhood made him fanatically controlling and manipulative as an adult. Fortunately, that glib question stays unanswered. As far as the making of the book, that in itself is a wondrous story.During the summer of 2009, Walter Isaacson got a phone call from Steve Jobs. It so turned out that Jobs wanted Isaacson to write a biography of him. After  Steve Jobs  anointed  Walter Isaacson  as his authorized biographer in 2009, he took Mr. Isaacson to see the Mountain View, California, house in which he had lived as a boy. He pointed out its â€Å"clean design† and â€Å"awesome little features. † He praised the developer, Joseph Eichler, who bu ilt more than 11,000 homes in California subdivisions, for making an affordable product on a mass-market scale. And he showed Mr.Isaacson the stockade fence built 50 years earlier by his father, Paul Jobs. â€Å"He loved doing things right,† Mr. Jobs said. â€Å"He even cared about the look of the parts you couldn’t see. † Mr. Jobs, the brilliant and protean creator whose inventions so utterly transformed the allure of technology, turned those childhood lessons into an all-purpose theory of intelligent design. He gave Mr. Isaacson a chance to play by the same rules. His story calls for a book that is clear, elegant and concise enough to qualify as an iBio. Mr. Isaacson’s â€Å"Steve Jobs† does its solid best to hit that target.Mr. Jobs promised not to look over Mr. Isaacson’s shoulder, and not to meddle with anything but the book’s cover. (Boy, does it look great. ) Steve Jobs asked for no right to read it before it was published and had no control over what was being written before it was published. He also encouraged people to speak honestly. In the book Jobs sometimes speaks brutally and candidly about the people he worked along with and also his competitors. And he expressed approval that the book would not be entirely flattering. But his legacy was at stake. And there were awkward questions to be asked.At the end of the volume, Mr. Jobs answers the question â€Å"What drove me? † by discussing himself in the past tense. His friends, colleagues and foes offer an unparalleled view of the perfectionism, passion, artistry, obsessions, compulsions and devilry that shaped his approach to the innovative products and business that resulted. Within hours of Steve Jobs's death in October, impromptu shrines began to appear outside Apple Stores – flowers, half-eaten apples and iPhones and iPads with images of flickering candles. The man whose company had always attracted a cult following was fast becoming a saint.But, no more than a day later, the backlash began. Jobs was not a saint or even a genius, just, in the words of AN Wilson, ‘a clever backroom boy who got lucky'. What Walter Isaacson's masterful biography reveals is that both the true believers and the cynics got Jobs wrong. In a warts-and-all portrait that continually had this reader recoiling in disgust at the petulant pioneer's behaviour, he shows that Apple's co-founder was very far from being a saint. As a teenager, he browbeats his kindly parents into sending him to a college they cannot afford – then drops out after a year. After teaming up with the rilliant but naive engineer Steve Wozniak he cheats him out of his share of a bonus they get for designing a game. ‘Ethics matter to me,' the always tolerant Wozniak tells the author, ‘but, you know, people are different. ‘ And as a tyrannical leader, he is either screaming at Apple staff about their appalling inadequacies or stealing their ideas and taking the credit for them before an adoring public. Throughout, we see the cranky food habits, the misguided belief that a fruit diet means you only need to shower once a week and an almost wilful disregard for the feelings of others, including those of his family.But, hey, Henry Ford was not the world's nicest man and Thomas Edison was apparently a ruthless egomaniac. Those who aspire to change the world are almost always difficult people, and Isaacson, while obeying the instructions of Jobs's wife not to whitewash his life, presents a compelling case for his genius. Yes, he was a magpie, snatching the idea for the graphical user interface from Xerox Parc, the iPod concept from other MP3 players, the iPad from Microsoft's tablet computer. But, as he said: ‘Picasso had a saying – â€Å"good artists copy, great artists steal† – and we've always been shameless about stealing great ideas. It was what he did with those ideas that proved his genius f or spotting where technology might head next and shaping it to his will. The perfectionism meant driving his executives to distraction with constant demands for tiny adjustments – a different font, a paler shade of green – before anything could be shipped. Jobs was not a quarter the engineer that Wozniak was or as gifted artistically as Jony Ive, the designer whose close but somewhat tortured relationship with his boss is an interesting subplot in the latter half of the book.But his creative imagination changed a series of industries – computers, mobile phones, music and, with Pixar, the movie business. His greatest creation, though, was Apple itself, a company that always wanted to be about more than technology. ‘It is in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough,' he said at the unveiling of the iPad 2. ‘We believe that it's technology married with the humanities that makes our hearts sing. ‘ Cynics would say that it has been not the hu manities or the arts but a ruthless attention to marketing and margins that has enabled Apple to put more than $70bn in the bank.But the Jobs strategy of management remained pretty constant throughout his career, and it was always centred on product not profit. At its core was complete control over hardware and software and of every stage of the product's life cycle, from conception through to the retailer. We see that strategy triumph as early Apple products define home computing, then fail as Microsoft's rival philosophy of licensing its software prevails. Then in 1996, with Apple on the ropes, its co-founder returns.This amazing book takes you on a rollercoaster ride into the ferociously intense personality of a passionate and creative entrepreneur whose powerful drive and vision revolutionized six industries: music, personal computers, phones, animated movies, digital publishing and tablet computing. Steve Jobs also re-imagined and tried to revamp retail stores, but it did not t urn out to be as revolutionary. Instead, he paved the way for an entirely new market for app based digital content. This is a book that's mainly about innovation.Steve Jobs stands tall as the sole icon of imagination, sustained innovation and inventiveness. His vision was very clear; if you want to create value in the industry, connect technology with creativity. A company called Apple was built on this vision, which changed the entire face of technology with its imagination blended with remarkable feats of engineering. Often driven by his demons, Jobs could make those around him lurch in despair and fury. His products and personality were interrelated and his life was cautionary and instructive at the same time.Apple's rise to that position has been characterised by a management style that is now right out of fashion – the egomaniac CEO, the obsessive secrecy, the total disregard for market research, the suspicion of collaborative ventures. Walter Isaacson has written an ent hralling history of the birth of our modern digital world and the company that may have done more than any other to shape it. And, in his obnoxious, smelly, ranting, impatient, intuitive, creative and inspirational Steve Jobs, he has presented us with the greatest business genius of the past 30 years. Mr.Jobs, who founded  Apple  with Stephen Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976, began his career as a seemingly contradictory blend of hippie truth seeker and tech-savvy hothead. â€Å"His Zen awareness was not accompanied by an excess of calm, peace of mind or interpersonal mellowness,† Mr. Isaacson says. â€Å"He could stun an unsuspecting victim with an emotional towel-snap, perfectly aimed,† he also writes. But Mr. Jobs valued simplicity, utility and beauty in ways that would shape his creative imagination. And the book maintains that those goals would not have been achievable in the great parade of Apple creations without that mean streak.Mr. Isaacson takes his reade rs back to the time when laptops, desktops and windows were metaphors, not everyday realities. His book ticks off how each of the Apple innovations that we now take for granted first occurred to Mr. Jobs or his creative team. â€Å"Steve Jobs† means to be the authoritative book about those achievements, and it also follows Mr. Jobs into the wilderness (and to NeXT and Pixar) after his first stint at Apple, which ended in 1985. With an avid interest in corporate intrigue, it skewers Mr. Jobs’s rivals, like John Sculley, who was recruited in 1983 to be Apple’s chief executive and fell for Mr.Jobs’s deceptive show of friendship. â€Å"They professed their fondness so effusively and often that they sounded like high school sweethearts at a Hallmark card display,† Mr. Isaacson writes. Of course the book also tracks Mr. Jobs’s long and combative rivalry with Bill Gates. The section devoted to Mr. Jobs’s illness, which suggests that his canc er might have been more treatable  had he not resisted early surgery,  describes the relative tenderness of their last meeting. â€Å"Steve Jobs† greatly admires its subject. But its most adulatory passages are not about people. Offering a combination of tech criticism and promotional hype, Mr.Isaacson describes the arrival of each new product right down to Mr. Jobs’s theatrical introductions and the advertising campaigns. But if the individual bits of hoopla seem excessive, their cumulative effect is staggering. Here is an encyclopedic survey of all that Mr. Jobs accomplished, replete with the passion and excitement that it deserves. Mr. Jobs’s virtual reinvention of the music business with iTunes and the  iPod, for instance, is made to seem all the more miraculous (â€Å"He’s got a turn-key solution,† the music executive Jimmy Iovine said. ) Mr. Isaacson’s long view basically puts Mr.Jobs up there with Franklin and Einstein, even if a tiny MP3 player is not quite the theory of relativity. The book emphasizes how deceptively effortless Mr. Jobs’s ideas now seem because of their extreme intuitiveness and foresight. When Mr. Jobs, who personally persuaded musician after musician to accept the iTunes model, approached Wynton Marsalis, Mr. Marsalis was rightly more impressed with Mr. Jobs than with the device he was being shown. Mr. Jobs’s love of music plays a big role in â€Å"Steve Jobs,† like his extreme obsession with Bob Dylan. (Like Mr. Dylan, he had a romance with Joan Baez.Her version of Mr. Dylan’s â€Å"Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word† was on Mr. Jobs’s own iPod. ) So does his extraordinary way of perceiving ordinary things, like well-made knives and kitchen appliances. That he admired the Cuisinart food processor he saw at Macy’s may sound trivial, but his subsequent idea that a molded plastic covering might work well on a computer does not. Years from now , the research trip to a jelly bean factory to study potential colors for the  iMac  case will not seem as silly as it might now. Skeptic after skeptic made the mistake of underrating Steve Jobs, and Mr.Isaacson records the howlers who misjudged an unrivaled career. â€Å"Sorry Steve, Here’s Why Apple Stores Won’t Work,† Business Week wrote in a 2001 headline. â€Å"The iPod will likely become a niche product,† a Harvard Business School professor said. â€Å"High tech could not be designed and sold as a consumer product,† Mr. Sculley said in 1987. Mr. Jobs got the last laugh every time. â€Å"Steve Jobs† makes it all the sadder that his last laugh is over. Perhaps the funniest passage in Walter Isaacson's monumental book about  Steve Jobs  comes three quarters of the way through.It is 2009 and Jobs is recovering from a liver transplant and pneumonia. At one point the pulmonologist tries to put a mask over his face when he is deeply s edated. Jobs rips it off and mumbles that he hates the design and refuses to wear it. Though barely able to speak, he orders them to bring five different options for the mask so that he can pick a design he likes. Even in the depths of his hallucinations, Jobs was a control-freak and a rude sod to boot. Imagine what he was like in the pink of health. As it happens, you don't need to: every discoverable fact about how Jobs, ahem, coaxed excellence from his co-workers is here.As Isaacson makes clear, Jobs wasn't a visionary or even a particularly talented electronic engineer. But he was a businessman of astonishing flair and focus, a marketing genius, and – when he was getting it right, which wasn't always – had an intuitive sense of what the customer would want before the customer had any idea. He was obsessed with the products, rather than with the money: happily, as he discovered, if you get the products right, the money will come. Isaacson's book is studded with mome nts that make you go â€Å"wow†. There's the  Apple  flotation, which made the 25-year-old Jobs $256m in the days when that was a lot of money.There's his turnaround of the company after he returned as CEO in 1997: in the previous fiscal year the company lost $1. 04bn, but he returned it to profit in his first quarter. There's the  launch of the iTunes store: expected to sell a million songs in six months, it sold a million songs in six days. When  Jobs died, iShrines popped up all over the place, personal tributes filled Facebook and his quotable wisdom – management-consultant banalities, for the most part – was passed from inbox to inbox. Thisbiography  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ commissioned by Jobs and informed by hours and hours of interviews with him – is designed to serve the cult.That's by no means to say that it's a snow-job: Isaacson is all over Jobs's personal shortcomings and occasional business bungles, and Jobs sought no copy approval (though, typic ally, he got worked up over the cover design). But its sheer bulk bespeaks a sort of reverence, and it's clear from the way it's put together that there's not much Jobs did that Isaacson doesn't regard as vital to the historical record. We get a whole chapter on one cheesy ad (â€Å"Think Different†). We get half a page on how Jobs went about choosing a washing machine – itself lifted from an interview Jobs, bizarrely, gave on the subject to  Wired.Want to know the patent number for the box an iPod Nano comes in? It's right there on page 347. Similarly, the empty vocabulary of corporate PR sometimes seeps into Isaacson's prose, as exemplified by the recurrence of the word â€Å"passion†. There's a lot of passion in this book. Steve's â€Å"passion for perfection†, â€Å"passion for industrial design†, â€Å"passion for awesome products† and so on. If I'd been reading this on an  iPad, the temptation to search-and-replace â€Å"passionâ €  to â€Å"turnip† or â€Å"erection† would have been overwhelming.Isaacson writes dutiful, lumbering American news-mag journalese and suffers – as did Jobs himself – from a lack of sense of proportion. Chapter headings evoke Icarus and Prometheus. The one on the Apple II is subtitled â€Å"Dawn of a New Age†, the one on Jobs's return to Apple is called â€Å"The Second Coming†, and when writing about the origins of Apple's graphical user interface (Jobs pinched the idea from Xerox), Isaacson writes with splendid bathos: â€Å"There falls a [sic] shadow, as TS Eliot noted, between the conception and the creation. † But get past all that pomp and there's much to enjoy.Did you know that the Apple Macintosh was nearly called the Apple Bicycle? Or that so obsessed was Jobs with designing swanky-looking factories (white walls, brightly coloured machines) that he kept breaking the machines by painting them – for example bright bl ue? As well as being a sort-of-genius, Jobs was a truly weird man. As a young man, he was once put on the night-shift so co-workers wouldn't have to endure his BO. Jobs was convinced his vegan diet meant he didn't need to wear deodorant or shower more than once a week. His on-off veganism was allied to cranky theories about health.When he rebuked the chairman of Lotus Software for spreading butter on his toast â€Å"Have you ever heard of serum cholesterol? â€Å", the man responded: â€Å"I'll make you a deal. You stay away from commenting on my dietary habits, and I will stay away from the subject of your personality. † That personality. An ex-girlfriend – and one, it should be said, who was very fond of him – told Isaacson that she thought Jobs suffered from narcissistic personality disorder. Jobs's personal life is sketchily covered, but what details there are don't charm.When he got an on/off girlfriend pregnant in his early 20s, he cut her off and aggres sively denied paternity – though he later, uncharacteristically, admitted regretting his behaviour and sought to build a relationship with his daughter. Jobs himself was adopted, and seems to have had what Americans call â€Å"issues around abandonment†. He cheated his friends out of money. He cut old colleagues out of stock options. He fired people with peremptoriness. He bullied waiters, insulted business contacts and humiliated interviewees for jobs.He lied his pants off whenever it suited him – â€Å"reality distortion field† is Isaacson's preferred phrase. Like many bullies, he was also a cry-baby. Whenever he was thwarted – not being made â€Å"Man of the Year† by Time magazine when he was 27, for instance – he burst into tears. Nowadays we are taught that being nice is the way to get on. Steve Jobs is  a  fine counter-example. In 2008, when  Fortune magazine  was on the point of running a damaging article about him, Job s summoned their managing editor to Cupertino to demand he spike the piece: â€Å"He leaned into Serwer's face and asked, ‘So, you've uncovered the fact that I'm bad.Why is that news? ‘† Well.. that’s the story. Sorry if I had given out a few spoilers on the book.. but they were essential to bring out the nature of an awesome personality! The book is well written and an easy read. To tell the story of Jobs’ complete life, the cast of characters is large. Mr Isaacson identifies the importance of those he included and what influence they had on Jobs. So, in a nut shell, this book, to use a few words from Job’s dictionary, is a ‘Must read! ’