Corporate Entrepreneurship Essay

Background: US Broadcasting Industry: The US media industry was the second largest market around world at $255.1 billion and was forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 2.3 percent till 2017. Within the media industry, broadcasting and TV was the largest category with a market of $142.6 billion. The industry players were competing mainly with one another for viewership to drive advertising revenue which was the primary source of profits. The traditional advertising driven business model started to shift due to a few trends. First of all, there were more ways for broadcasting advertisers to reach customers. The progressive consumerization of technologies such as social media tools had contributed to this trend. Secondly, new technology products made it possible for users to skip advertising. Thirdly, the content creation was getting localized and the audience was fragmenting. Fourthly, more television advertising was purchased through consolidated conglomerates which had various resources with better insights about their target audiences. Lastly, the switch from analogue to digital TV broadcasting not only led to multicasting with more channels but also made the industry more favorable for new entrants. In general, the technologies were putting so much pressures on the traditional business of this industry. Latinos in the US: There were also unique factors for this largest minority group in US. Firstly, the Latinos were growing at 8 times the rate of the non-Latino population and contributed to nearly 17% of US total population. Other than that, the per capita income of US Latinos were higher than any of the BRIC and households and was growing at a faster rate than the number of total households in US. Thirdly, Latinos were on the path of â€Å"acculturation† and they were leading dual lives. However, the Latinos formed only 6% of the total marketing pie as an audience and there did exist a huge gap. As a result, Latino market had truly become the most potential market segment for various industries. Entravision, Luminar and the Big Data: Entravision, which had 56 TV stations and 49 radio stations in most popular Latino markets across US in 2013, was the largest independent public media company focused principally on the US Latino audience. Regards all the strong corporate performances and growths, Franklin Rios and Walter Ulloa, the founding chairman of Entravision, had agreed on to set up an analytics division called Luminar in Entravision. The main objective of Luminar was to act as the first mover which would leverage Big Data analytics at Entravision to offer exceptional marketing and advertising products as well as lead Entravision to transform from a media company into an information and analytics company. Situation: Rios understood the impacts both the technological trends and the Latino demographic trends had made to the US broadcasting industry. He understood that the traditional market research tools had limitations which would not help him to further extract insights from the US Latino market and the search for alternatives led him to the Big Data. His Big Data initiative was strongly supported by Ulloa as he believed that leveraging Big Data at Entravision could not only help them to fully understand the Latino market to extract its huge potential values but also serves as a new element of corporate strategy to lead Entravision to stand out from its traditional media industry competitors. As a result, Rios and Ulloa decided to establish Luminar as the Big Data analytic division at Entravision. At the same time, Ulloa’s own interest in the launch of Luminar we driven by these 4 objectives: Entravision should transform from a media company into an information and analytics company. Laminar would be the centerpiece of such a transformation of Entravision. The new data driven approach of Luminar would complement the traditional survey driven approach of Entravision. Luminar would in the long run to be a new revenue stream for Entravision. As the first mover in the space without any competitor in sight, Luminar and Entravision had gained strategic advantages over their competitors. Using the Socio-technical framework to further understand Luminar and Entravision’s positions under the Big Data environment, it is important to consider Entravision and Luminaries respectively and then collectively to evaluate how closely they align with each other: Entravision: Structure: A listed company, multiple broadcasting stations, with traditional corporate function units such as Finance, Marketing, R&D, Sales and etc. People: Nearly 1,000 employees, familiar with the old industry norms, believe qualitative data was more important than quantitative data. IT: Majorly TV and Radio, mobile, digital, web, other interactive media Process: All kinds of traditional ways of delivering values to customers, community involvement, local content creation. Luminar: Structure: New corporate entrepreneurship, division of Entravision, President Rios reporting directly to Ulloa, initial investments all from parent company People: Exposed to technologies and innovations, data driven, IT: Huge amount of data from various sources, Hortonworks, MapReduce, high performance data analysis platform Process: New revenue streams, data analytics, using various algorithms From the above Socio-technical framework analysis, there were huge differences between Entravision and Luminar in terms of structure, people, IT and process. Also, this distinct misalignment could seed potential roadblocks for Luminar’s future growth. Problems: Rios was truly facing some problems before the launch of Luminar. First of all, the growth target set by Ulloa for Luminar to generate 10% of the revenues of Entravision in 5 years was achievable but was too aggressive and pressuring. He was confident that with no competitors in the market Luminar could reach this target, however, he did need more time to sort out other problems. Secondly, unbalanced interests lead him to question about the  effectiveness of Luminar’s structure fit into Entravision as a fully embedded division. Moreover, there was no proper performance measurement system existing at that moment for Luminar to build up the credibility both internally and externally. Furthermore, although Luminar could approach internally or externally, there was still no clear direction for Luminar regarding how to leverage Big Data analytics at Entravision. Lastly, Rios was also worried about how he could sustain a first mover advantage for Luminar and the business model could not easily been imitated by competitors. Based on all the issues Rios were concerning, the fundamental problem should lied on that there were no internal buy-in at Entravision because people were skeptical about Luminar. Therefore, how to successfully securing internal buy-in became extremely critical to Luminar’s sustainable long term growth. Analysis: Obviously, for Entravision, it had stable business and constant growth for years. At the same time, the strong demographic trend of Latino group was bringing more and more opportunities for future business of Entravision. Furthermore, the traditional marketing method based on qualitative data were still believed to be reliable. As a result, there was no evidence of any burning platform at Entravision and thus no urgency for any organizational change. The socio-technical framework analysis in the situation part also shows that there were distinct misalignments between Luminar and Entravision regarding the 4 organizational aspects including structure, people, IT and processes. These misalignments indicates that it could be really hard for Entravision people to understand, accept and then support what Luminar was about to do. Securing internal buy-in Entravision was really critical to Luminar. First of all, as its entrepreneur division, Entravision would be committing funds for the laun ch of the Big Data initiative and its growth. The funds would be provided to Luminar on annual basis. Thus, if the internal buy-in was not in place, Luminar’s funds for growth would not be guaranteed regardless the performance of Luminar. Secondly, one of the major objectives for establishing Luminar was to make it as a central part of corporate strategy to transform Entravision from a traditional media company  to an information and analytics company. Rios and Ulloa had to admit that this was also an attempt to change the underlying corporate culture of Entravision and culture change has been considered as the most challenging part for any organization change. Without internal buy-in, the transformation efforts would quickly fade out without changing the DNA of Entravision. Thirdly, the new data driven approach of Luminar was expected to be complemented with the traditional survey driven approach of Entravision. Without internal support from Entravision R&D department, Luminar would not be able to come up with more int egrated and systematic solutions to its customer and offer its customer with better and insightful marketing solutions to target at the US Latino group. In addition, Luminar relied strongly on the partnership with Entravision. Entravision’s market experiences as well as customer relationships could provide Luminar with a very resourceful platform to start their sales. If Luminar could not secure internal buy-in from department such as Marketing, Luminar would not be able to leverage this resourceful platform to make itself as a new revenue stream for Entravision. When we look back at the minor problems in the previous section that Rios was trying to figure out, it seems that most of them were resulted from the major issue that there were no internal buy-in in place. For example, Rios was wondering what kind of structural fit Luminar should be, what caused this was exactly the different interests from internal stakeholders. If they all the internal stakeholders were supporting Luminar, the anticipated structural fit for Luminar to be a strategic division in Entravision should be the win-win solution. Other than that, Rios’ concern on performance milestones was also caused by the lack of internal buy-in because Rios needed to lead Luminar to achieve those milestones to establish credibility with not only with customers but also with employees of Entravision. Decision Criteria: 1: Financial stability The first criteria for evaluating the best option is financial stability. Although Luminar was different from traditional type of startup companies which were always looking for sources of funds, Luminar still faced  pressures from losing support from Ulloa and Entravision. If there was not any feasible substitution for funds available for Luminar, Luminar should try to ensure the current committed funds from Entravision. 2: Remove resistances from R&D, finance and sales department Internal resists came primarily from the three sources which are R&D, finance and sales departments. The winning option should effectively remove the roadblocks from all of these 3 departments. Luminar absolutely needed corporations from these 3 departments to support its long term growth. The R&D would be providing human and technical resources for Luminar to develop the Big Data analytic solutions. The finance department would be responsible for funding Luminar and measuring its performance. Sales department would help Luminar approach its new products and solutions to Entravision’s existing customers as well as any new potential customers. 3: Sustain long term culture change This criteria requires the option to be able to sustain long term culture change inside Entravision. Basically, the option could further help the Entravision employee understand what Big Data is and what kind of benefits Big Data could bring to them. If the Entravision employees started to realize the solutions based on quantitative data is better than the traditional norms based on the qualitative data, they would start to accept Big Data and Luminar and finally start to change the culture. 4: Potence of creating business synergies and new revenue streams. This criteria is used to evaluate if the options have potential to create business synergies and new revenue streams. The Luminar was not even started so everything was still unknown. As a result, one of the easiest ways to secure internal buy-in would be showing that the option had potential to create business synergies and new revenue streams. The above 4 criteria are listed according to their priorities. Criteria 1 must be satisfied as it is critical to all new business adventure. Criteria 2 also needs to be satisfied because unable to remove those major resistances could directly result in failing the process of securing  internal buy-in. Criteria 3 also needs to be satisfied as it could further strengthen the internal buy-in by eventually encoding the data analytics into Entravision’s DNA. The last criteria is also important as satisfying it could deliver Entravision with even higher level of confidence in Luminar. Options: Since Luminar was not even started, the proposed options here are basically strategic proposals that Rios could present to Ulloa and the board of directors to show how he could possibly secure the internal buy-in. 1: Luminar as an independent startup company and acts as a strategic partner with Entravision For this option, Rios would propose that Luminar to become a separate company and maintain an arm’s-length with Entravision. As an independent startup company, Luminar would acquire its own resources such as R&D, HR, Operation, Marketing and Sales. With initial funds from Entravision, Luminar could go out and seek more venture capitals for its build up and future development. At the same time, the company can focus on its own corporate vision and objectives without worrying about any resistances from Entravision. As a strategic partner with Entravision, Luminar could still take advantage from Entravision’s resourceful platform. For this option, since Luminar did not have any prototype available and with only the ideas in Rios’ mind, it could be really hard for Luminar to seek external venture capitals. In the meantime, securing funds from Entravision executives would also become harder as it is no longer a part of Entravision. As a result, this option has very high risk in securing the financial stability and could not satisfy the first criteria. Luminar would no longer act as a change agent in Entravision if it becomes independent. Thus this option would also not meet criteria 3. Although this option strongly satisfying criteria 2, it still can be easily opted out as it does not meet the most important criteria 1 and 3. 2: Luminar as a strategic division and focus on leveraging Big Data externally For this option, Luminar would keep the current structure fit to be a strategic division of Entravision. At the same time, Luminar would  focus on leveraging Big Data externally by targeting with external customers. Rios already had initiatives in mind and he planned to develop three specific products based on Big Data at Luminar. The first product would be Analytics which could interpret data to help clients target their customers better. The second product would be a service that could â€Å"cookie-tize† offline transactions data to merge with online data and altogether to enable clients to expand the scope of their digital market. The third product could improve the accuracy of social media to provide customers with more fine-grind market insights. Rios would initially use the three new products to aim at blue chip marketers and advertisers who were Entravision customers and provide them with competitive advantages. For this option, as long as Luminar could generate topline performance, Entravision would continue to invest in Luminar. As a result, this option satisfy criteria 1 as it keeps Entravision as the best investor to keep financial stability. Luminar’s focus on external customers might not effectively remove the resistance from its R&D department. However, by targeting at the blue chip key customers, any successful sales closure could turn the marketing team from resistance to support. Regarding the financial department, as long as the revenue starts to come in, CFO and the financial folks would start to believe in Luminar. Thus, for the second criteria, this option could partially satisfy it. For the third criteria, as most of Entravision employees were still not able to see the benefits that Big Data could bring to them and with remaining major resistance from R&D department, this option could not effectively sustain the long term culture change. For the criteria 4, this option successfully satisfy it as it would definitely create new revenue streams for Entravision. 3: Further leveraging Big Data at Entravision through internal innovations. This option is basically built on the top of option 2 and Lumina would further leveraging Big Data internally. Luminar would still focus strongly on the existing external customers and developing those 3 products for offering. Other than that, Luminar would design and develop tools and solutions specifically tailored to internal departments. For example, Luminar could develop Big Data initiatives to help finance department to tracking real time cash flows as well as forecasting budgets. For HR  department, solutions could be created for helping them in team building and performance evaluation. For sales department, Big Data could also help them in inventory management, forecasting, relationship management, closing deals and etc. Regarding the R&D department, Luminar could also offer solutions which were basically better than what they were having. Meanwhile, Luminar could work with R&D department to achieve predictive analytics in the future. For this option, it would boost the corporate performance through both internal and external initiatives. It could definitely satisfy criteria 1. For criteria 2, this option further indicates what Luminar and Big Data could bring to those 3 departments. With both the external performance and internal benefits, the 3 departments would likely to start buy-in and thus this criteria is also satisfied. For the third criteria, this option allows Lumina to distinguish most number of early adopters throughout the corporation and they could simply help with spreading the DNA out to rest of the corporation to sustain the long term culture change. For the last criteria, this option is truly able to show that Luminar would be potential to create business synergies by offering various internal initiatives and new revenue streams through those 3 mentioned products targeting external customers. By comparing all of the above options, approaching the third option seems the most favorable as it satisfy all of the four criteria. When Rios was about to propose this option to Ulloa and the board of directors, they would be confident that Luminar could successfully remove the resistances and secure sufficient internal buy-in. Plan: Short term: 6 months to 1 year For the short term, Rios should clearly propose the winning option to Ulloa and rest of the board of directors. He needed to explain the proposal with great details which would help the directors to carry forward his ideas and messages down to each department of Entravision. The next thing Rios should do was to officially establish Luminar and start seeking for the resources to build up his team. The DNA of the Entravision was not analytical, thus,  it would be better to attract resources from outside of Entravision. At the same time, Luminar should target at hiring analytic resources with strong Latino background as they know how to generate better insights from the Latino market. By end of the 6th month, Luminar should have the core team successfully built. After that, Luminar should start the data acquisition tasks. The process he envisioned involved building a database of US adults and a subset of Latino adults in US. Then, Luminar would extract data from social media tools such as blogs, tweets and YouTube. Together, this would generate, from preliminary reckoning, about 125 terabyte of living, breathing data which could be analyzed in real time. Going forward, the data would be ingested into Hortonworks along with algorithms such as MapReduce and Luminar customized ones to profile consumer types with a high degree of precision. This fundamental technical platform for Big Data analytic should be established and tested to be reliable by end of year 1. Medium term: 1 year -3 years Starting this period, Luminar should invite representatives from each internal department and work together on the development of both external customer facing products as well as the internal customer facing products. Those representatives should be people welcome to any change and they would also be responsible for acting as the change agents for their corresponding departments. Those 3 products targeting at external customers should receive higher priority. By end of mid of year 2, the prototypes of the 3 products should be ready for test. Sales team should working closely with Luminar and get involved in the product development process. The reason why promoting sales team involvement is that it would offer enough information and training for them to change their messages to pitch customers. And by end of year 2, the final delivery of these 3 products should be ready for any potential business opportunity to generating revenue. After the external products were developed, Luminar would shift their efforts to focus on developing those internal products. Those representatives from each department should be involved within the development process and feed update back to their own departments. By end of the mid of year 3, prototypes for internal products should be ready for testing and initial training. By end of the year 3, the final internal products should be in production and full  scale of training should be in place. Organizational change effort could be started parallelly in this period with the product development. Successful transformational change must have supports from the c-level, as a result, Rios should work with Ulloa to secure buy-in within board of directors and executives to support the organization culture change. Kotter’s 8 steps could be used to direct the change process. By end of this period, Luminar should be able to successfully secure large scale internal buy-in and would offer them a health and sustainable environment for future growth. Long term: 3 – 5 years In this long term period, with further adoption of internal products within various departments, analytical DNA should started to spread over through word of mouth, performance dashboards and etc. The culture change process should also benefit from the above achievement. For Luminar, its primary objectives in this term would be maintain and improve both the external and internal products. At the same time, Luminar would focus on revenue growth and work hard to achieve that 10 percent of total revenues of Entravision by end of the fifth year. If Luminar turned out to be a successful corporate entrepreneurship adventure, Entravision should make Luminar as an example in the future to leverage another corporate entrepreneurship to facing any future revolutionary industry change.

Japan & higher education Essay

Many parents in Japan firmly believe that higher education will ensure better positions, higher incomes, and superior life-styles for their children. Some even go into debt, spending over 60 million yen ($480,000, U. S. ) to put a child through the best private schools and universities. Do they reap the expected dividends? â€Å"In reality . . . the belief no longer holds true,† says the Mainichi Daily News. â€Å"There are not enough privileged positions to accept them,† and many have had to accept corporate positions formerly filled by high school graduates. While average lifetime earnings were higher for university graduates—206. 55 million yen ($1,650,000, U. S. ) as opposed to 192. 93 million yen ($1,540,000, U. S. ) for high school graduate office workers—â€Å"Japanese parents may realize some day that the gaps are too small to merit a serious burden on their household economy,† says the paper. Most of the parents around the world, or even mature individuals at that see education as a stepping stone towards a better future for all. Moreover, attaining a higher level of learning is believed to ensure the said individuals of better lives in the future as they are given the exact challenges that they are to face in the actual market that they are to serve after they have attended their scholastic appointments. This is the reason why the objectives of higher education is further focused in the way that the curriculum of the education actually pursues the concerns and the entities of the national progress of the countries around the world. It is through this that the systems of higher education in terms of aiding the society with the knowledge that they are due of receiving from the institutions. To prove this fact the following statements have been made by the â€Å"article on the changes on tertiary education†: â€Å"General objectives of higher education are sustainable national development optimizing and the production of new knowledge. † (http://www. see-educoop. net/education_in/pdf/bela_knjiga-09-cro-enl-t02. pdf) From this particular statement, it is noticeably obvious that the aims of higher education are focused on implying a much better possibility for national progress. This is also the primary reason why the enhancement of the process is strongly initiated through its integration within the systems of technological advancements such as synchronous learning and other online based learning systems as per offered to several adult learners who have lesser time that could be spent on going to school and taking up formal physical classes. The said innovative design of education actually makes it possible for a huge number of higher education learners to grasp their lessons through online classes that are held virtually through the internet connections that the institutions have towards their students. How is this process primarily applied? Virtual schools as well as virtual training programs work in a way that a person or a student in that matter who is a member of a virtual; program is given his or her own security number, which serves as a security access to the virtual class. Then, the virtual lessons could already be presented to that member in a virtual class setting. The instruction in such classes usually occurs between a panel or a group of instructors interacting with at a maximum number of 200 students around the globe simultaneously. (Robins, 2003, p 6) The students are aided with the knowledge they need to understand their lessons better with the use of online libraries, electronic sources and both visual and audio materials used for better explanation of the subject matter being tackled (Robins, 2003, p 8). â€Å"Virtual learning started in the year 1996, when Virtual High School had been first established in Canada. The said virtual school offered two complete courses on Biology and Canadian literature. The said school grew into becoming groups of interconnected classes and became among the pioneer providers of virtual education† (Carchidi, 2001, p 21). The challenge of offering online courses and assisting students online proved to be a challenge for these pioneers but they strived and thus were able to survive up until the present time. Today they are known to have been hosting at least a thousand students from all over the globe and assisting these people attain their goals of both gaining more knowledge and finishing a degree at their own convenience (Preston, 2004, p 22). Virtual learning is closely related to the systems used by home schooling only that this time instructors are able to completely communicate with their students through the Internet. Not to mention the high tech presentation of information through the integration of technological presentations along with the presentation of the subject matter, and the convenience brought about by the internet connection to the students and the easier understanding brought about by the innovations in this form of education really brings major changes in the modern learning process. Today, this form of learning had also been integrated in public schools in the United States. This had been designed to assist especially students who have a hard time learning their subjects through simple classroom presentations. In this case, a student is asked to sit in front of the computer and be connected to an instructor through the Internet and is thus assisted using media presentations. Other high-tech materials used for the said educational system are Adobe products and articles, Jasc Products, as well as Macromedia. (Preston, 2004, p 24) Aside from this, other institutions also include Corel Products as a cheaper version of the ones mentioned earlier. In this way, learning becomes easier, not to mention that the student could access these institutional provisions completely free of charge. When it comes to the pricing and location of the virtual classes, at times these classes are free or if not, the parents or the students at that needs to pay a minimal amount of money to obtain certain services. Grading and student evaluation processes are still done by the instructors with the help of electronic systems within the computer programs. In this way, the students are given assistance in the areas of learning they specially need help with. Yes, in this way, education is provided with the highest level of effectiveness. Along with this, seeing that online learning had been exceptionally effective for students, several business companies began to see the benefits of the said learning program (Rothwell, 2006, p 2). In this regard, several companies around the globe opted to avail the benefits of online training, having been able to learn through the Internet without spending so much for the venue, the materials and other food expenses compared to that of traditional training methods. Surely, business companies mostly benefit from this way of training. Indeed, although virtual training gives the most beneficial way of learning for both the companies and the employees as well, it could not be denied that these changes taken by business organizations post several challenges for the company itself. In this regard, it is not only the employees who need to be trained but the administrators as well. This issue then opens the questions regarding the challenges given by adult learning difficulties as well as usage of technology for learning shall be a matter of concern for the organization. The main challenges of online learning programs is the fact that training people using technology requires a lot of skills on the part of the facilitators and the instructors. In this regard, several writers placed some patterns, which new facilitators could use to be able to come up with effective and efficient learning programs provided through the Internet.

Alcohol Abuse Rehabilitation

Sojourners Recovery and Becket Springs offer options such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and pharmacological options that do increase the likelihood of remaining abstinent after treatment. Alternative methods of treatment at these centers, such as acupuncture, have not been proven to be effective at promoting abstinence, but may help to ease withdrawal symptoms. In addition to enrolling in a rehabilitation program at a licensed facility, the individual should seek out support from his or her family members, as this will help the individual cope with the enormous stress of giving up alcohol.Alcohol has a long and storied history in not Just American culture, but in many other world cultures as well. Its use in beverages is believed to have begun almost 10,000 years ago when civilizations in ancient Persia and the Middle East produced a fermented drink from honey and wild yeasts (â€Å"An Alcohol History Timeline,† 2011). Wine, beer and liquor would eventually follow (in that o rder), as numerous societies enjoyed the intoxicating effects of the drug.During the 19th century in the United States, the average American drank 7 gallons of pure alcohol per year (â€Å"What in America's History,† 2005). This rampant drinking led to temperance movements and reformers that pushed for local and national prohibition. Groups such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WEST) would eventually merge with the Anti- Saloon League and form a powerful coalition that elected officials to Congress and put pressure on the government to ratify Prohibition (â€Å"What in America's History,† 2005).The National Prohibition Act was subsequently enacted in 1920, outlawing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol. The Act was repealed 13 years later in 1933, but the message was clear: the effects of alcohol were seen by many as ungenerous and destructive, and these effects needed to be addressed. Today, the problems of alcohol abuse and alcoholism have be come almost epidemic in American society, as recent studies have asserted that 53% of adults in the U. S. Have reported that one or more of their close relatives has a serious problem with drinking (â€Å"Alcohol Stats,† 2013).Each year in the United States alone, nearly 50,000 cases of alcohol overdose are reported, and in 2009, over 30 million people stated they had driven under the influence of alcohol at least once in the previous year (â€Å"Alcohol Stats,† 2013). In 2007, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported over 14,000 alcoholic liver disease deaths and over 23,000 alcohol-induced deaths (not counting accidents and murders) (â€Å"Alcohol Stats,† 2013). The CDC also reported that in 2006, excessive alcohol consumption cost the United States' economy $223. Billion (â€Å"Excessive Drinking,† 2014). In an effort to combat the dangers of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, numerous in- patient and out-patient treatment centers are av ailable to those that are seeking help for their affliction. This paper takes a look at four of these treatment options in the rater Cincinnati area. These options include Alcoholics Anonymous, Sojourner Recovery Services in Hamilton, OH, Delbert House in Cincinnati, OH, and Becket Springs in West Chester, OH.The model of treatment that each facility or program employs will be examined, as well as success rates and recidivism. Additionally, this report will look at the efficacy of various models of alcohol treatment and how successful they are for the patient. Ultimately, it will lend advice as to the optimal treatment strategy one should choose when trying to overcome one's addiction to alcohol. Treatment Review One of the most common and well-known methods of alcohol treatment in the United States is the group-oriented, outpatient design of Alcoholics Anonymous (AAA).At its core, AAA is a 12-step program that utilizes anonymous group meetings to help facilitate the overarching goa l of abstinence for each of its members (â€Å"Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Steps,† 2010). The 12 steps are divided into four phases: admitting one has an addiction and needs to abstain; submission of the alcoholic's will to â€Å"the power of God or a Higher Authority'; making amends to those the individual has armed or wronged in the past; and spreading the message of AAA and its 12 steps to others (â€Å"Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Steps,† 2010).By â€Å"working the steps† and attending the meetings, the individual is purportedly given a plan and support group to help him or her resist the urge to drink alcohol. According to Lee Ann Gaskets, Drop, of University of California-Berkeley, there is controversy on the research into the capability of AAA. Therefore, she provides â€Å"a focused review of the literature on AAA effectiveness† (Gaskets, 2009). Using six criteria to establish a causal link between AAA ND abstinence, Swastikas states that there is some ev idence that AAA is an effective course of treatment for someone seeking to quit drinking.She writes, â€Å"rates of abstinence are about twice as high among those who attend AAA, and higher levels of attendance are related to higher rates of abstinence† (Swastikas, 2009). Still, she ultimately concedes that more exhaustive research needs to be completed before judging the effectiveness of AAA. In a separate article entitled â€Å"Exposing the Myth of Alcoholics Anonymous,† freelance technical writer and attendee of â€Å"hundreds of AAA tenting,† Stephen Mohr rejects the notion that AAA is an effective mode of treatment for alcoholics.He writes, â€Å"The truth is that the available evidence strongly suggests that AAA treatment provides very little or no long-term help for active alcoholics. Further, there is ample evidence that long-term repeated exposure to this program is actually dangerous to many alcoholics who would fare better if left on their own† (Mohr, 2009). Mohr cites Ass own statistics when establishing the ineffectiveness of AAA, writing, â€Å"in 1989 AAA reported that, on average, after six months 3 percent of new attendees had left the program and that after one year only 5 to 7 percent remained† (Mohr, 2009).Perhaps more damning, Mohr recounts the findings of Harvard psychiatrist Dry. George Valiant. Beginning in 1983 and then every year for eight years afterward, Dry. Valiant followed up on 100 alcoholic subjects admitted to a clinic in Cambridge, MA, and who were subsequently enrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous. He found that only five of the 100 subjects never relapsed back into alcoholic drinking, which was a rate no better than if they had been left to attempt abstinence on their own (Mohr, 2009).Worse yet, he found that three subjects a year died from their drinking habits, despite being enrolled in the 12-step program (Mohr, 2009). And while these findings were from the asses, the fact that AAA has not c hanged its approach and/or treatment methods in the 80+ years of its existence indicates that they are still pertinent to today. Moreover, these data suggest that AAA is not only ineffective, but the fact that it is so widely regarded as the premier source of alcohol treatment prevents patients from pursuing more useful modes of treatment – ones that could potentially save the alcoholic's life.The Becket Springs rehabilitation facility in West Chester, OH, is one of the alternatives to AAA that an individual suffering from alcoholism may consider. Becket Springs offers both in- patient and outpatient services to help meet the needs of the patient. The in-patient program's goal is â€Å"to teach [the individual] the tools of recovery and relapse prevention so that [he or she] can create a life worth living† (Patient Handbook, 2). When the patient is first admitted, he or she is assessed to develop an individual treatment plan. The assessment team and the patient will fo rmulate a set of goals to Ochs on during treatment.The assessment team itself is comprised of a psychiatrist, psychologist, staff nurse, patient care assistant, recreational therapist and social therapist all working together to facilitate the recovery of the patient. Individual treatment includes detoxification (if necessary), medical prescriptions written by a psychiatrist, psychological evaluations with the psychologist, group therapy through â€Å"games, crafts, leisure education, creative expression and relaxation training,† and individual and family therapy provided by a licensed therapist or social worker (Patient Handbook, 2).Becket Springs encourages communication between the patient and family throughout treatment, and designates a daily time period for phone calls in addition to a visitation schedule that allows two hour-long visits per week and a family meal during the weekend. Along these same lines, Sojourner Recovery Services, located in Hamilton, OH, is a non- profit organization that provides in-patient and outpatient substance abuse treatment for those addicted and their families.Sojourners assessment service is a thorough evaluation conducted during a face-to-face session in order to determine the extent of addiction and optimal recovery strategy. The staff at Sojourner takes a holistic approach toward treatment, and offers a diverse array of programs, including: one-on-one counseling, lectures, group therapy, family sessions and discussion groups. The aforementioned staff consists of â€Å"experienced counselors, professionals and volunteers – many of whom are recovering from addiction themselves – that genuinely care about each and every person's success† (â€Å"Sojourner Recovery,† 2012).Therapy models of recovery include: motivational enhancement to encourage the patient to become receptive to the healing process; â€Å"seeking safety' to improve coping skills; â€Å"seven challenges† for adolesc ents seeking recovery; â€Å"stages of change† which helps patients progress through the five stages of recovery; cognitive-behavioral, which utilizes the belief that one's thoughts cause one's feelings and behaviors, rather than external people or factors; and acupuncture to help alleviate symptoms and stresses associated with alcohol or drug withdrawal (â€Å"Sojourner Recovery,† 2012).The duration of stay for the in-patient program varies according to the needs of the patient, giving the person as much or as little time as he or she needs. The Delbert House in Cincinnati, OH has a few different branches across the city. The Delbert House located in Clifton, OH, is a non-profit organization focused on intensive inpatient treatment of homeless men dealing with substance abuse – namely, alcohol abuse.According to general manager Chris Weanling, this branch of the Delbert House is a â€Å"shelter-plus-care† operation, which attempts to rid patients of thei r addictions while helping to reintegrate the individuals as functioning units of society (C. Weanling, personal communication, July 21, 2014). They are encouraged to actively seek out employment and permanent residency. The Delbert House models of treatment include self-help classes, group concussions, one-on-one counseling, AAA meetings, and AN meetings (C. Weanling, personal communication, July 21, 2014).A typical day in the life of a patient starts with a 7:30 a. M. Wake-up call followed with breakfast at 8 a. M. The rest of the morning consists of life-skills classes and chemical dependency education courses. At noon, the patients have lunch, and then attend their various therapy sessions (group and/or individual) in the afternoon. Dinner is served at 5:00 p. M. , and then the patients have some free time before they are required to attend an AAA or AN meeting (C. Weanling, personal communication, July 21, 2014).The Delbert House does not allow patients to use alcohol or any il licit drugs while they are enrolled, and thus each patient is subjected to a random, periodic urinalysis and/or breath-analysis test. In any given month, five or six patients out of 60 will test positive, with the incidences of positive tests fluctuating from season to season and spiking around a holiday(C. Weanling, personal communication, July 21, 2014). The operation is largely state- funded, with tax dollars making it possible for the Delbert House to help the lives of the men it houses (C. Weanling, personal communication, July 21, 2014).Given all the models of alcohol treatment (AAA, group therapy, cognitive behavioral, motivational enhancement, acupuncture, etc. ), Just how effective are they at promoting abstinence within the alcohol abuser? As discussed above, the effectiveness of AAA seems dubious at best, and downright dangerous at worst. This is very unfortunate considering the fact that almost all court-appointed rehabilitation for alcohol offenders in Hamilton County i nvolves AAA or an equivalent 12-step program (â€Å"Treatment Options,† 2009). On the other hand, research on continuous outpatient group therapy seems to indicate its effectiveness.In J. Kim, et al. ‘s article, â€Å"The Effectiveness of Continuous Group Therapy for Outpatients with Alcohol Dependence,† he states that 3, 6 and 12 month abstinence rates of 94 cognitive group therapy subjects â€Å"were 56. 4%, 30. 6%, and 16. 9%,† respectively (Kim et al. , 2011). The same abstinence rates for 83 subjects in a standard outpatient therapy group â€Å"were 28. 6%, 11 . 7% and 5. 2%,† respectively (Kim et al. , 2011). He thus concludes that continuous group therapy for outpatients is a practical and effective means of achieving abstinence.Inpatient group cognitive behavioral therapy (CAB), though, is a little murkier. In their article, â€Å"The Effectiveness of an Inpatient Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program for Alcohol Dependence,† New s and Owe evaluated the effectiveness of attendance at an in-patient CAB program aimed at treating alcohol abuse. The study included 37 males and 34 females that attended 42 CAB sessions in three weeks, with News and Owe gathering evidence on one and three-month follow- ups regarding the drinking habits of the subjects.The study data indicated that greater attendance at CAB sessions for inpatients did not result in greater abstinence rates, nor did it correlate with a reduction in the quantity of alcohol consumed from he levels of pre-treatment (News & Owe, 2005). Thus, while patients that attended CAB sessions did seem to stand an improved chance of abstinence, News and Owe concluded â€Å"this study was unable to provide full support for the effectiveness of group CAB and cognitive models on problem drinking† (News and Owe, 2005).Another strategy for alcohol recovery is that of acupuncture. Acupuncture is a form of complementary and alternative medicine that uses the penetr ation of thin needles into specific â€Å"occupants† along the skin of the body (â€Å"Acupuncture† 2014). Choc and Hang reviewed the efficacy of this approach in their article, â€Å"Acupuncture for Alcohol Dependence: A Systematic Review. † After systematically searching nineteen electronic databases for randomized controlled trials, they found eleven studies that involved 1,110 cases.Though they conclude the results were â€Å"equivocal† and that â€Å"more research and well-designed, rigorous and large clinical trials are necessary,† the data they did discover suggest that there is no difference between acupuncture treatment and â€Å"sham treatments† (Choc and Hang, 2009). In a separate study by Karts, Passive, Frederica, Wises and Schneider, thirty-four alcoholics were treated tit acupuncture to assess its effect on withdrawal symptoms.The study was able to conclude that â€Å"acupuncture as an adjunctive treatment to carbonized medic ation shows promise for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal symptoms† (Karts, Passive, Frederica, Wises, & Schneider, 2002). Thus, while acupuncture may not be helpful for an individual hoping to obtain abstinence, it does look to be promising in helping to relieve some of the anguish of going through withdrawal. In addition to models of therapy, most treatment centers also offer medications to help the patient on their road to recovery. Daniel E.Jonas, M. D. , M. P. H. , of University of North Carolina, et al. , completed a recent study that analyzed more than 120 different studies as to the effectiveness of various pharmacological pills on the alcoholic, and found that comparative and oral maltreatment showed the greatest potential for decreasing alcohol ingestion Moons et al. , 2014). Dissimilar, an oral medication available since the asses, did not show adequate evidence to support the notion that it can prevent relapse drinking or improve drinking level outcomes Moons et al. 2014). The article goes on to state that the four most effective medications are commemorates, maltreatment, depreciate and maleness, but cautions that patients should share in the decision-making process with the physician, and medication should be taken in conjunction with other modalities of treatment Moons et al. , 2014). Conclusion Judging by national recovery data, it can require a nearly Herculean effort for an alcoholic to successfully abstain from alcohol for a long period of time (years).The national average for alcoholics that try to remain abstinent for one year without outside help is around 5% (â€Å"Alcohol Stats,† 2013). Even Alcoholics Anonymous, by its own admission, has a 93% turnover rate in one year. With this in mind, it's important for anybody that is trying to quit to not try to do so alone. The individual should attempt to enroll in either an inpatient or outpatient program at a local recovery facility. In the Cincinnati area, this could include S ojourner Recovery Services in Hamilton, OH, or Becket Springs in West Chester, OH.Both offer a variety of programs to foster an intrinsic change within the individual, and employs a multitude of treatment models and pharmacological aids that can be blended together for an optimal individual recovery plan. Perhaps most importantly, the person that is trying o recover should actively seek the help from his or her immediate family, if possible. Abstinence from alcohol is very difficult to achieve for an alcoholic, and a strong support system from people close to the affected individual will go a long way to facilitating a successful and long-lasting recovery.

The War on Terror Has Contributed To Abuse of Human Rights Essay

The War on Terror Has Contributed To Abuse of Human Rights - Essay Example It is an intriguing topic, in addition to a debatable position whether indeed; the world is safer almost a decade after the United States and its allies declared war on terror (Merritt 2012). This paper discusses the problems that underlie the tainted image that the United States and her western allies have attained in the fight against terror. Governments around the world get accused of committing questionable atrocities to otherwise non terror squads within different countries. Countries like Egypt, Russia and Uzbekistan, got singled out in Human Rights watch groups as the worst violators of human rights to political opponents in a scheme to rid themselves of terror. The BBC report got based on a report by a Human Rights Watch Group in the United States. The United States believed that their efforts to fight terror groups became silent on human rights abuses. A complete disregard to the positives that war on terror has realized would sound myopic. The 9/11 attack in the U. S. soil was unethical and deserves all means possible to avert any other acts of such nature. Unfortunately, up to this far war on terror has not brought any more peace than before. My position regarding this topic is that this is a fascinating topic. The fact is that we are no safer than we were 10 years ago. The result of fighting against terrorism has led to abuse of human rights. This would not have been the case if America and its allies had stayed out of another war. As discussed earlier on the other assignment; this topic has to key different claims (Duffy 2008). The first claim is that the world is far much safer a decade after the United States and its allies declared war on terror. The second claim is that the war between United States and its allies led to denial of human rights especially for the people in the Middle East. According to Associate Press, Central Intelligence Agency final report: No WMD got found in Iraq. Retrieved on May 28, 2012 from, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/the internationalsecuritynews-mideast_n_africa/t/cias-final-report-no-wmd-found-iraq/#.T8MGrVIsE7A, the national and international security has been a matter of concern to different governments across the world. Since the September 11 terror attack on the United States, the United States government and its allies have launched a war for more than a decade; however, the gains made through the wars have come with a price. There have been reports by Human Rights group; that the United States and its western friends in the war against terror have committed a lot of human rights abuses. As said before, the first claim is a fallacy by itself. Hence, gets ruled out since it is invalid and has no any clear evidence to support it. Having put this position and the claimed evidence through the Scientific Method and Proving a theory steps; there are steps to which the claim and the evidence does not measure to the examination. This claim is just an assumption hence it is not applicable. This claim is, therefore, invalid. Basing on the two claims over this issue, it is more evident that the second claim is valid. The fact that the war between United States and its associates led to denial of human rights especially for the people in and around Middle East is supremely true. Grounding on the evidence from the survey it is a claim that is free from both formal and

Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Advertising - Essay Example Advertising has changed over time, and advertising of the  present  time is not as the same what advertising used to be sixty years ago. In this paper, I will look at how the techniques used in advertising have changed over the years while some aspects still maintain the  appeal, as well as analyze how advertising works. The  gradual  technological advancement over the years has bought with it  modern  forms of advertising such as the use of the internet. However, in all the developing aspects of advertising media, there is still that appeal that advertisers use to get the attention of potential customers. According to  Fowles  (2011), advertisers usually  target  the  psychological  needs of consumers through their use of graphics and texts based on the emotional point of view. Advertisers take advantage of the fact that people have deep-lying desires and that individuals  privately  yearn for certain things to  present  their propositions in the most  appealing  ways. They do this by creating images in the minds of consumers about how  good  they will  feel  when they finally  satisfy  their  longing (Fowles, 2011). An advertisement contains a  combination  of both texts and graphics but in some cases, only texts or graphics. When there is the use of textual components in advertisement, one has to make sure that the words used  bring  out the message in the best way possible. Bovà ©e et al. (2009) suggest that the services of a copywriter, as unknown to many, are  extremely  crucial in the success of an advertisement. Copywriters know how to play around with words that capture the attention of  possible  buyers and promote the merits of products and services to the consumer. They combine the various aspects of textual components to make sure that when the advert is finally out, everything flows well, and the intended  message  is clear to all. Coming up with an effective

Water Provision Methods For Abu Dhabi In UAE Research Paper

Water Provision Methods For Abu Dhabi In UAE - Research Paper Example It is also comparatively cheaper in terms of fuel consumption and this means that the cost reflected on the consumers water bill is affordable which is in line with the government’s efforts to improve the living standards of people at affordable cost. From the cost data on the pipeline project that has been supplying water, Pipeline is fairly reliable since it cannot be affected by changes in weather as it could be in other alternatives. It is worth to note that pipeline supply originates from one point of processing and this means that all the volumes in supply are fresh and not subject to any additional treatment. This explains the case of the ongoing project managed by Lindenberg-Emirates of pipelines meant to supply water to a group of islands in Abu Dhabi (Jeffreys, 2011, pg72). This is preferred due to the large volumes that can be provided by pipe for expansionary industrial and residential policies. An alternative method of providing water that has been floated for imp lementation by the ministry in charge of water and the local government is construction of desalinization plants. This concept will require much technology and this means it is capital intensive hence costly. It has various features that include recycling sections that help in reducing the amount of water that is discharged as wastage and this is environmentally friendly. Decentralization has been realized to help in reducing the cost of supply network and enhance chances of flexibility in response to changes in population and consumption in addition to technological advancement that may be required for adjustments. Desalinization plants are to be located near... On the basis of cost/benefit analysis, the need to reconcile cost against environmental factors in respect to water provision, pipeline has been proved to be efficient with plans to install recycling and other water saving mechanisms. The exponential expansion of population means the need for more and reliable water supply to cater for domestic consumption and industrialization. This is in line with the efforts of the local authority to cut down costs of providing public essential commodities like water and electricity. Desalinization should be regulated to produce water for only domestic use so that cost is considerably reduced to affordability and effectiveness. The best way to counter the environmental issues and costs associated with the pipeline, the water providing agencies need to develop a mechanism that will capture the left over from different points of use for recycling (Wilde, 2011, pg 24). This may be coupled with cutting down on the daily consumption rate per household by installing water use reduction technological systems. Such techniques include the imposition of water tariffs that will promote consumption efficiency, sophisticated water meters that update the consumers on their rate of use and smart meters that will enhance elimination of leakages across the supply system. Water remains an essential item for the survival of the city and it is important that the government and other stakeholders strategize with consideration of environment care since UAE is already in a harsh climate region.

Product Liability Claims in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Product Liability Claims in the UK - Essay Example However, such inequities cannot be redressed through the law, since they arise from political and judicial differences that exist in the U.K. and Japan. As compared to Western law systems, especially in the U.K. which is governed by the EU and UK Competition law that prohibits any interference with competition, in Japanese law systems traditional theories still predominate and the only remedy available is to introduce litigation to annul an administrative act, unlike the U.K. where there are five kinds of remedies: mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, injunction and declaration (www.iias.nl).In a class action case dealing with UK tax treaties with Japan and other countries, the UK Court found bilateral treaty discrimination and reached a similar decision as in Metallgesellschaft/Hoechst v. CIR(European Court of Justice), where the EU treaty prohibits such discrimination to In the case of NEC Semi-Conductors Ltd, et al. v. CIR (November 24, 2003), the UK Court’s conclusions about discrimination were based upon the freedom of establishment principle, under Article 43 of the EU Treaty (www.bnatax.com). However, as opposed to this case law of U.K. Courts deciding in favor of establishments outside the U.K. being protected from discrimination, recent Japanese decisions on product liability claims reveal an opposite trend. The decision of the Nagoya District Court on 30th June 1995 went against MacDonalds and they were held liable for damages revealing that Japanese courts do not impose a burden of proof in civil proceedings (Nottage, 2000). Â  

Grammatical prescriptivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Grammatical prescriptivism - Essay Example The article began with the statement that â€Å"The New York Times can be quite accessible for English language learners.† The article then illustrated that there are ten tips that can be followed to help utilize the publication as a learning tool. The main argument to the paper is the fact that the New York Times is an excellent source for English as second language students. The first major tip in the article was that the New York Times (NYT) has a â€Å"Look Up† function on the website for the reader to access the definition of any word. The second tip illustrates that articles and prepositions are easily put into context, insofar as one can ‘scratch out’ the articles and prepositions from NYT Articles as a test to determine understanding. At this point it is important to highlight that the article also recommends several related articles that further reinforce the arguments made by Ojalvo. The third strategy highlights that a learner can start from a ve ry small article and work up towards more difficult pieces. The fourth tip stresses the point that the NYT has an extensive photo database with captions that describe the action taking place in the picture. This can be a useful tool in relating vocabulary to actions/images.

Leadership Styles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Leadership Styles - Essay Example Visionary leadership has a direct impact on psychological well-being of nursing homes residents. Visionary leadership style demands the directors be assertive and persistent while dealing with nursing homes employees. Visionary leadership insists on performance and implementation of action plans. This entails having quality performance development discussions (OReilly & Caldwell, 2010). The director of nursing and social services must have a clear image of the developments that affect nursing home residents positively. Directors of nursing and social services must demonstrate professional development and delegation of assignments. For nursing homes residents to get maximum psychosocial services, employees must be empowered to work independently (Weberg, 2010). Leadership must train employees and attendants on how to develop confidence and expertise while offering psychosocial nursing services. Common instructions are vital in coaching naive nurses (Kenmore, 2008). Coaching junior nurses and attendants in nursing homes is a reflection of leadership (Kuokkanen & Leino-Kilpi, 2001). The director of nursing must inspire and coach other workers through excellent coordination and restructuring of work units (Laschinger & Wilk, 2009). Coaching enables nurses to work independently within their bounds. Nursing homes demands motivated and passionate experts. Commanding leadership style is characterized by control and compliancy. This style of leadership is vital in nursing homes because it motivates nurses to operate with clear guidelines and directions. This enhances the delivery of resources to the residents in the nursing homes (Kenmore, 2008). Employees are expected to obey the orders (Reynolds & Rogers, 2003). This leadership style demands that director of nursing to enquire the opinions of nursing home attendants. The style is perceived to be authoritarian, inflexible and extremely hierarchical (Morjikian & Kimball, 2007). The style is vital although it is being

Recording, Analysing & Using HR & L&D information Essay Example for Free

Recording, Analysing Using HR LD information Essay There are several reasons why an organisation needs to collect HR data and are no different. During my review I have discovered the following reasons we are collecting this information and examples of information that we are collecting: †¢Legal requirements- This has covered working time regulations, tribunals, accident at work reports †¢To be able to contact family or individuals- This allows us easy access to personal details in case of accidents, sickness or emergency contacts †¢To allow for decision making- Information stored allows us to consider promotions, planning training associated costs, work force planning Types of information: †¢Sickness records- Allows HR to track staff sickness and provides evidence for use of the staff sickness policy. †¢Staff appraisals- these allow HR to track the progress of staff, reward high standards and address offer support for staff who any areas to work on. These also allow the HR department to plan future training requirements as agreed through appraisals. †¢Staff contracts- by storing these it allows HR to maintain their records and consult with the documents if any queries occur for entitlements, holidays, sickness, retirements, pay, etc. †¢Training records- these are essential records that allow the HR department to track and maintain the workforce’s level of competency and training as identified through the individual’s appraisals, CPD and job descriptions which are vital for client audits. It also helps to build the training plan and associated budget requirements. During my review I discovered that had 2 methods on holding these types of information. A manual filing system, where documents are stored in filing cabinets and in their computerised system, , where documents are created, stored and scanned into the company computer system. The benefits of these two methods are: Manual System †¢Less costs involved for storage †¢Original hard copies that are easy to access †¢System can’t go down like a computer system †¢No need for technical support or technical training Computerised system- †¢Documents can be viewed anywhere in the company †¢Easy to access Send information †¢Takes up less space †¢Environmentally friendly †¢Easy to update Backup documents Due to the personal information that handles, there is a number of legal obligations that they must abide by to protect that information under the Data Protection Act 1998. As such we must comply with the 8 data protection principles in that personal Data shall: 1)Be fairly and lawfully processed 2)Processed for limited purposes 3)Adequate, relevant and not excessive 4)Accurate and up to date 5)Not kept longer than is necessary 6)Processed in line with your rights 7)Secure 8)Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection. Another legislation that governs this is the freedom of information Act. This provides the public access to information held by public authorities. It does this in two ways: †¢Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and †¢Members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities. For the public to gain this information they must provide a written request with their: †¢Name †¢Address †¢Description of information And can be liable to a cost for providing this information, but will be entitled to a notice stating reasons if request is refused. Word count 542 Activity 2 Training department The training department currently consists of the Training and competency manager and a training co-ordinator. Their role has been to support the projects, offer advice on training and competency requirements whilst organising any training that is required. Training I have analysed the training that has been completed since June 2013, looking at the qualitative data consisting of the different types of training and analysing the quantitative data including the total of over 600 candidates and shown this in data base and a Bar Graph (appendix 1) To allow us to accommodate this essential amount of training, we have had to utilise different training providers ranging from within our own group, , local providers HITs, Sureclean and STS and even gaining cooperation from providers based in London, workplace Law. By utilising these training providers, we have been able to provide a trained workforce as required for our projects but at a substantial cost to our business and with different standards of delivery. Since June, Training department have been responsible for arranging the following courses that we could easily facilitate given the correct investment: 24 Confined Space sessions at a cost of 1 1st Aid Course at a cost 5 Helper Training at a cost 3 IOSH managing safely at a Cost of As this clearly demonstrates, a substantial volume of capital constantly has to be allocated to training our project workforce to bring them up to the required competence standard for each project. Unfortunately as they are not on permanent contracts these new skill sets and level of competence can and does disappear with the employees when they leave the project and as such means that we will require continued training to maintain this level and as such incur continuous costs. I Believe that by investing in our own Training facility and dedicated team, it would allow to provide a significant cost effective and fit for purpose training to meet national standards and project requirements to our workforce. An example of the benefits of having our own team and facility is the fact of the costing’s for delivery of our supervisory training on IOSH managing safely courses. preferred supplier for this training at present has been. I have negotiated their cost down from approximately ? 8000 to the following: IOSH MANAGING SAFELY Figures based on 15 delegates over 3 days Cost per delegate @ ? 650. 00 per delegate? 3000 Mileage for Trainer @ 45p per mile? 108. 00 Room Hire @ ? 100 per day? 300. 00 Food/Refreshments @ ? 209 per day? 627. 90 Total cost? 3,927. 90 Using our own trainer Projected Costs: Per course Managing Safely ? 50 Delegate Workbooks ? 1815? 270 ?20 per certificate x15? 300 Food/Refreshments @ ? 209 per day? 627. 90 Trainer x 3 days? 345 Total cost? 1592. 90 It is very clear from this quantitative data that a significant saving by having our own trainer and training facility as we do not have any of the extra costs involved for having the trainer traveling, staying in hotels and booking of suitable training rooms.

Religious Beliefs in Jane Eyre

Religious Beliefs in Jane Eyre Through Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte expresses numerous issues of the Victorian Era. Class and gender inequality, race prejudices, colonialism, and religious beliefs are all but few of the problems addressed. Throughout the novel, Jane struggles with her dilemmas, namely the choice between moral duty and earthly pleasures, and the obligation to her spirit and attention to her body. Despite Jane’s simple life, Bronte often presents Jane various characters that offer contrasting religious beliefs, and in so doing, Bronte shows her disapproval of the Evangelical Movement. Perhaps no character in the novel other than Mr. Brocklehurst best demonstrates the danger and sanctimony of this nineteenth-century church movement. Superficially, he is a devoted Christian who adopts the rhetoric of Evangelicalism by preaching puritanical morality to his students. A brief address on those occasions would not be mistimed, wherein a judicious instructor would take the opportunity of referring to the sufferings of the primitive Christians; to the torments of martyrs; to the exhortations of our blessed Lord himself, calling upon His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him; to His warnings that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; to his divine consolations, ‘if ye suffers hunger or thirst for my sake, happy are ye.’ Oh, madam, when you put bread and cheese, instead of burnt porridge, into these children’s mouths, you may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!†(63; ch.7) Clearly, he is reciting an Evangelical idea—the corruption of the human body and the need of Christ to save them—that is popular during this time. Mr. Brocklehurst takes this idea to the extreme by emphasizing the enrichment of the soul by starving the body. This path of reaching salvation may be acceptable at the time. However, his method of subjecting his student to follow such principles is evidently intolerable and un-Christian-like. The cutting of Julia Severn’s naturally curly hair and the poor nutrition he provides for Lowood’s students are example of such extreme cruel methods. He furthers contradicts his beliefs by supporting his own luxuriously wealthy family at the expense of the Lowood students. By displaying Mr. Brocklehurst hypocrisy, Bronte shows her concerns for the new movement. Not only does Bronte condemn Brocklehurst’s religious doctrine, but she also undermines Helen Burn’s absolute and self-abnegating beliefs. The Christ-like Helen adopts a forbearing mode of Christianity that is too passive for the headstrong Jane to comprehend and to accept. When Helen comforts Jane, Hush, Jane! You think too much of the love of human beings; you are too impulsive, too vehement: the sovereign hand that created your frame, and put life into it, has provided you with other resources than your feeble self, or than creatures feeble as you. Besides this earth, and besides the race of men, there is an invisible world and a kingdom of spirits; that world is round us, for it is everywhere; and those spirits watch us, for they are commissioned to guard us; and if we were dying in pain and shame, if scorn smote us on all sides and hatred crushed us, angels see our tortures, recognise our innocence . . . Why, then, should we ever sink overwhelmed with distress, when life is soon over, and death is so certain an entrance to happiness — to glory? (70; ch.8) Jane feels an â€Å"inexpressible sadness† from those words. Helen consoles Jane by offering the idea that death is the ultimate â€Å"entrance to happiness.† However, Jane is more concern about the life on Earth rather than the life after. She cannot accept Helen’s submissive attitudes toward injustice and the belief that justice will be found in God’s ultimate judgment—reward the good and punish the evil. Jane is overwhelmed by Helen’s blind faith; she thirsts for love and happiness in this world rather than the eternal life that Helen seeks. Thus, at Helen’s deathbed, Jane continuously questions about Helen’s depravity and her deep affinity with God. â€Å"By dying young, I shall escape great sufferings. I had not qualities or talents to make my way very well in the world: I should have been continually at fault.† â€Å"But where are you going to, Helen? Can you see? Do you know?† â€Å"I believe; I have faith: I am going to God.† â€Å"Where is God? What is God?† â€Å"My Maker and yours, who will never destroy what he created. I rely implicitly on his power, and confide wholly in his goodness: I count the hours till that eventful one arrives which shall restore me to him, reveal him to me.† â€Å"You are sure, then Helen, that there is such a place as heaven; and that our souls can get to it when die?† (83; ch.9) Even with Helen’s reassurance that there is really heaven, Jane still questions her self with the thoughts: â€Å"Where is that region? Does it exist?†(83; ch.9) These questions may not affect Helen’s faith at any rate, but her death ultimately make Bronte’s point clear—one cannot relies on faith for survival but can depend on it for guidance. Although St. John Rivers shares many Christian beliefs with Helen Burns, he presents another spectrum of the religious movement that Bronte dissuades. It is clear that St. John is a religious zealot who devotes â€Å"a large portion of his time†¦visiting the sick and poor among the scattered population of his parish.† (357; ch.30) However, his devotion to God does not make him a saint. â€Å"Zealous in his ministerial labours, blameless in his life and habits, he yet did not appear to enjoy that mental serenity, that inward content, which should be the reward of every sincere Christian and practical philanthropist.† (357; ch.30) Bronte makes this point clear when Jane observes at one of his sermons. â€Å"Throughout there was a strange bitterness; an absence of consolatory gentleness; stern allusions†¦I was sure St. John Rivers—pure-lived, conscientious, zealous as he was—had not yet found that peace of God which passeth all understanding: he had no more found it, I thought, than had I†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (358; ch.30) Bronte not only questions St. John’s saintliness but also doubts his devotion to Christianity. As a clergyman, he should enjoy his job and love his enemies, rather he â€Å"did not appear to enjoy† his works and ignores Jane, avoids her, and treats her differently after she rejected his proposal. He like Mr. Brocklehurst preaches to serve but does not always practice this himself. He believes the words that he speaks are those of Go speaking through him: â€Å"Do you think God will be satisfied with half an oblation? Will he accept a mutilated sacrifice? It is the cause of God I advocate: it is under His standard I enlist you. I cannon accept on His behalf a divided allegiance: it must be entire.†(413; ch.34) He believes that he knows what God thinks and wants others to do. The arrogance nature of his, together with his cold, dispassionate attitude toward serving God deviates St. John from a true Christian. Unlike Helen Burns, he is a defective mortal. By revealing St. John’s flaws, Bronte shows that doing God’s work on Earth does not mean complete Christian piety. Jane ultimately finds a comfortable religious middle-ground that is not oppressive like Mr. Brocklehurst’s, that is not submissive like Helen Burn’s, and that is not dispassionate like St. John’s. For Jane or rather for Bronte, religion not only helps them find eternal happiness in heaven, but also help them find the essential needs of human life—love.

Examining The Holy Books

Examining The Holy Books Most people think of the holy books as a set of heartless rules, laws and ancient story empty of clear meanings, which are difficult for our mind to comprehend fully. Their languages are strange to our modern languages, we do not know their true meanings and their purposes, and we do not have any clue how they can help us in life. Prove 30:5-6, Romans 7 :12-14 Every word of God is pure he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Gods law is holy just good and spiritual. All of these concepts are justifiable because we do not know any thing about them as much as we should do, just to reach them for some religious events. No wonder we are not able to experience God because we do not know his words, the more we learn about Gods word the more we become that close to God. The Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, the Gospel of Jesus and the Koran of Mohammad, they are magnificent holy books, pure truth, with matchless value, which come from the one and the same source. These heavenly books have been the most influential books in history all of them are miracle with no equal, beyond the capacity of human. Divine religions help people to save and develop their faith , their original holy books are best references which are exclusive from any personal preference, if the people do not add or take away from them for better translation or some times for personal advantage. Koran 32:2 This is scripture free from all doubt has been sent down from the lord of the worlds. They provide us with all the information we need to get enlightened and advanced. Through considering and appreciation our holy books, we could become conscious and to realize the universal realities, secrets, messages and cods. These heavenly books are, slightly cross bridge between visible and invisible worlds, connection between the creator and creature we have been honored with this amazing set of connections. These luminous books tell us how to purify our soul from the impurities for perfection in order to prepare ourselves for our journey toward God, we are people of love who want to observe and experience his love and truth. Their messages have addressed directly to all people regardless to their class, gender and age, they have instruction and information in different styles and ways for all classes of human beings in favor of their happiness. They are the source of truth and true knowledge, which teach us all rational, moral, spiritual matters and principle of happiness, make us aware of our creator through his magnificent creation, and explain our divine purpose for his creation. Romans 10:17 So then faith comes from hearing the words of God. These revelations are the life-maps for us to find our right path and any one could find his own share, they are Gods timeless speeches for whole universe regardless of era, sex, ethnic group and location. They reveal the tremendous meanings and purposes of life and are inspired by God for eternal life and salvation they are heavenly divine truth, religious beliefs, laws and mortality. These practical books contain different subjects; philosophy, sociology, history, psychology, physics, biology, law, tradition, spirituality, mortality, and religion, every body with different level of understanding can obtain benefit from them. Through them, we are able to see how God acts and rules in universe, their insignificant historical events have verity meanings we could draw universal conclusion from those ordinary events. They hold the vast store of divine purposes, facts, and bear hidden universal principle and general law even the rules of personal, social conduct and principal of happy life. Koran 3:164In deed God conferred a great favor on the believers when he sent among them a messenger from among themselves reciting to them his holy book and purifying them. These divines words are a gift of mercy beyond our expectations which enable us to attach ourselves to the spirit of God to see the source of truth, understand the way to the eternal life, find out about the secrecy of life and our magnificent destiny. They are healing for any kind of spiritual sickness that treats any patient in a certain way since human beings are different in the condition of their heart. They invite us to the unlimited peace and delight, the most important thing is to train our heart and our mind to unite with God. To have all answers to all our needs (physically and spiritually) according to our moral purity and our intellectual capacity, we would achieve perfection, and to elevate and revive our soul through learning and understanding these scriptures. God shows his true signs to people through his divinely revelation in order that they find out about the reality of creation. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works All revelations have specific purposes, to know and believe our creator through his creation, to open the door of more love and blessings, to achieve lasting happiness, to give inner power for faith testing trail. We should take Gods words prayerfully with all our heart because their truth protects our spirit and our body. God has blessed us with extensive knowledge and guidance we should learn and internalize the true meaning of his word through understanding, experiencing, following our heart and our conscience. The most important matter is, to apply Gods principles into our ordinary lives and avoid regretting from making wrong decisions in additional, to build our lives upon the solid rock of divines word in order to achieve eternal happiness. We should recite them over and over to fix them in our scattered heart firmly it means to recite them with the tongue of our heart. KORAN 5:15-16 In deed there has come to you from God a light and a clear book with which God guides him who seeks his pleasure to the ways of safety and brings them out of darkness into light by his permission and guides them to a straight path Every time we read them, our mind and our soul recognize the new truth and meaning from them. When we read them with holiness and sincerity, we discover new meaning and understanding. There is no point in reciting them with out understanding and contemplation. We believe in heavenly books because we follow our heart and our conscious, they are supported by light of faith and signs of Gods wisdom and power and mercy we glorify our God through thankfulness, obedience and specially loving attitude. James 2:21-24 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed GOD, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness

The Sea Wolf Essay -- essays research papers

The crew of the seal hunting ship the Ghost stood in disbelief as they gazed upon their recently departed first mate. Then a most unusual thing occurred. The captain began yelling at the dead man like a raging storm. Oaths rolled from his lips in a continuous stream. And they were not nice and thoughtful words or mere expressions of indecency. Each word was a blasphemy, and there were many words. It is this lack of remorse for others that defines Wolf Larsen, the antagonist in The Seal Wolf by Jack London.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the beginning of the book you are introduced to the contrast of characters at hand. The feeble gentleman Humphrey Van Weydon, who is cruelly forced upon the voyage, and the devilish and somewhat divine captain Wolf Larsen. This combination of good and evil sets the stage for an amazing battle of wit and perseverance. But to understand the great battle between these two men, you have to understand the almost invincible nature of Captain Wolf Larsen. Wolf is a five foot ten inch, tan skinned brute. His height is not at all the most striking characteristic of the captain. His amazing muscular build and strength rival that of an enlarged gorilla. In fact, the author repeatedly compares Wolf’s immense strength with that of a wild animal. The name London gives him is perfect to describe his nature. It is this godlike ability to kill anyone with his bare hands that keeps the crew in fear of him. There is a scene in the book where the crew atte...

Managing a Culturally Diverse Workforce Essay -- Business Management

In today’s ever changing and highly integrated world, corporations have a growing need to hire and maintain an exceedingly diverse and multicultural workforce. With increasing globalization, multinational corporations have a great advantage as they have an opportunity to work in different cultures and take advantage of a diverse pool of skills. However, there is a major cost of working in a different culture. Various issues arise when managing a culturally diverse workforce and the management needs to tackle the problems effectively. It is important to have an idea of different cultures as it helps in improving the efficiency and productivity of the employees. However, there are many issues when we are conducting cross-cultural analysis. These issues arise because of our lack of understanding of other cultures and at times, we are ignorant about our own culture. This can result in confusion about other cultures and we fail to understand that completely. This is a very serious issue that needs to be identified and resolved, as it is results in serious distortions about the cultures we are trying to understand. The paper will highlight various theoretical and practical cross-cultural management issues and will include various recommendations to solve these problems. CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT ISSUES The term culture is versatile and can be explained as a broad idea or concept. It is difficult to explain the term with a single definition, however, It can be defined as a set of values which define a way of life for the individuals and the society. It explains what is good or bad and right or wrong in a particular society. Thus, culture is a value system, which provides the ways of perceiving people, thinking patterns and the socia... ...ndations, which are helpful in solving these issues. Though sophisticated stereotyping and schemas are a helpful tool in understanding a culture but they are not sufficient. We need certain advanced tools to understand a culture completely. One of the most essential elements is attributional knowledge along with factual and conceptual understanding. This simply means that one should have an understanding to give credit when credit is due i.e. a person should have a clear understanding that any characteristic can be applied to anyone in a particular situation. This can be done through practice and by using a step by step model of cultural understanding. A detailed description of the Cultural Sense Making Model has been provided. By having a thorough understanding of our own culture and by considering context, we can have a better understanding of a different culture.

Change and Culture Essay

A merger is the combining of two or more corporate entities to create one new organization with one licensure and one provider number for reimbursement purposes (Lielber & McConnell, 2008). Mergers occur for the following reasons; a desire to increase size to gain clout for negotiations with managed care providers, the desire to penetrate new markets to attract additional customers, the need for improved efficiencies resulting from centralized administrative practices, and the desire to express overall value of promoting readily available comprehensive care (Lielber & McConnell, 2008). Mergers occur on a daily. Mergers are a type of horizontal integration. Horizontal integration combines two or more corporations together through mergers and acquisitions (Borkowski, 2005). Horizontal integration increases the merged organization market base (Cai & Obara, 2009). Competition plays a huge role in business. In each industry, organizations compete against one another to get a foothold in the market. Competition can be beneficial and detrimental to the success of organizations. Competition benefits organizations in that it keeps organizations current on the latest trends in technology and equipment. It can be detrimental in that it can cause organizations to take shortcuts in procedures that can be harmful to patients and consumers. Competition can cause management to only focus on being number one and maintaining that spot at whatever cost. Customers are left holding the bag when and suffer when organizations focus solely on competition instead of focusing meeting the needs of the customer. Some organizations and industries strive on competition. Their goal is to be the best in their field and industry. In the health care industry, competition can be beneficial if organizations maintain their focus on providing quality patient care. This paper will focus on the effects of merging a healthcare organization with a competitor. Discussions will focus on the impact the sale will have on the culture of the new organization, what I can do as a middle manager to ensure the combined staff will work together to provide quality care without taking on a competitive stance, and describing what the organization will look like in terms of systems and shape. I will begin by looking at the organization in terms of systems and shape. Description of the Organization When merging organizations, the systems and shape of the organization will change to reflect the combining of the organizations. When merging organizations you have to create a perfect blend of the two organizations to create the new organizations. The best qualities of the organizations need to be combined to make the new organization a success. The goal of a merger is to â€Å"achieve mutual benefits through synergies of mission, strategies, operations, and ultimately competitive and financial position† (Kaufman & Grube, p. 46, 2009). The new organization will combine the best assets of both organizations. Services not previously offered at one or the other organization will be offered at the new organization as a result of the change. The new inpatient and outpatient services offered will increase our patient base. Although we will be offering new services, we will also have to eliminate some services offered that are not used on a consistent basis. We will have to make cuts that will help sustain the new organization. We will also make cuts to staff. When combining organizations, some departments will have to be downsized and combined to meet the needs of the new organizations. The new organization will be structured in a way that we provide efficient quality care to our patients. Providing Quality Care â€Å"Mergers require a significant commitment on the part of leadership to understanding and addressing the challenges and potential risks inherent in such an undertaking—to both the acquiring entity and the acquired/partner-seeking organization† (Kaufman & Grube, p. 46, 2009). We have to work to find a balance between providing the new inpatient and outpatient services, while maintaining quality care. Management has to review the strengths and weaknesses of both organizations and apply the strengths to the new organization. As a middle manager, it is my job to ensure that the combined staff works well together. It is my job to listen to any concerns that staff may have about the merger and answer their questions to the best of my ability. I think the key to getting the combined staff to work together without taking a competitive stance is communication. To eliminate the competitive stance, I would hold a meeting with the new staff and give them an opportunity to discuss their concerns about working together. I would also have training seminars to make sure everyone is working to the best of their abilities and providing quality care. By realizing that there will be some minor hiccups caused the by the change, I am better prepared to handle the problems. When implementing a change to any aspect of the daily functioning of an organization it is important to realize that there will be some degree of uncertainty with the effectiveness of the change. This degree of uncertainty will be caused by the newness of the change and getting use to retiring the old operating standard (Hauptman & Tyre, 1992). It is important to face these uncertainties head-on in order to implement the change successfully. The competitive stance is caused by the degree of uncertainty, employees are unsure of how the merger will affect their job. They are afraid that the new staff will come in and take pushing them out of the way. I have to ensure the staff that we are a team and that we are all working toward the same goal of providing quality care to our patients. Providing quality care is the goal of the healthcare organization, the needs of the patients has to come first. Although healthcare organizations are a business and it is important that the business aspects of the organization are met, patient care is the main goal of healthcare organizations. The focus has to be on what is best for the patient, not how much business or publicity the organization will receive from being competitive. The merger will change every aspect of the organization; it is my job to bring unity to the new organization. The Culture of the New Organization The sale will have a huge impact on the new combined organization. Changes have to be implemented to support the new organization. Staffing and budget cuts have to be made in order to make the merger a success. The new organization has to combine the best aspects of both organizations to fill the void of what each organization was lacking. The new organization will focus on providing efficient quality services to their patients. The new organization will provide a competitive edge to the organization while maintaining quality care. The new organization will provide more services to patients that each organization could not previously provide. The combined organization will be able to create a stronger brand and reach more people. The new organization will be able to reach a larger patient base. More revenue will be gained by combining both organizations. The new organization will be able to provide care to more people in the community and surrounding communities. Conclusion In conclusion combining health care organizations will affect a larger number of people. Mergers require a commitment from both the acquiring organization and the acquired organization to work together to mutual benefits. Each organization enters into the merger to receive benefits they were not able to receive by themselves. Whether it is for financial reasons or to gain a competitive advantage, mergers are necessary for healthcare organizations to survive in today’s industry. â€Å"The healthcare industry has started to experience a musical chair situation. When the music stops, certain hospitals are going to find themselves without a chair† (Kaufman & Grube, p. 50, 2009). The hospitals without chairs have to merge in order to stay in the game. When merging, it is important to analyze the risks and benefits to ensure the success of the merger. To ensure success, the merger has to be mutually beneficial for all parties involved.

My Mom, My Hero, My Best Friend

My mom is definitly my best friend. She has been here for me through think and thin, good and bad, and ups and downs. When I was seven my father passed away who was there for me and my sister ? My mom she was my mom and my dad for a while untill one day she met a man who has been my dad for the past 12 years couldnt ask for a better dad then the one she found. My mom has helped me through so many things in my life pushed me through school an went over and beyond to make sure i had all the help i needed to make sure i graduated. And i did in 2006 thanks to her and my dad i graduated. She has been there for me when i was heart broken an felt as though my world was falling apart she helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel. Three months ago i became a mother to a beautiful baby boy. And who was there at the hospital day an night the whole time i was there my mom helping me through everything. I pray every day that im only half the mom she is. There is no way i could ever pay her back for all the things she has done for me an she dont expect me to but this would be really nice to give her. She really is my MOM MY HERO AND MY BEST FRIEND. My best friend is Sara Lopez. She’s sixteen years old and she lives in Empuriabrava. Sara is a person that is thin and not very high. Before she was taking the long hair of orange color, but one day decided to cut it very shortly and now she has a dark hair. Her eyes are very beautiful, are green and similar with a cat. She has a straight lips and she has them very sensitive. Sara has a white skin and also very sensitive. She dresses simple and comfortable with jeans, wide T-shirts†¦ Sara is very intelligent and ready, she have a very good marks in a school. She also is quite responsible but sometimes not. She is a good person and helps me always that I need and when is necessary. She don't have two-faces because she is very sincere with the people. My best friend Probably my best friend is one of my schoolmates. Her name is Marcela and we have known each other since we were 8 years old. If I were to describe how she looks, I would say she is very pretty. She has short brown hair, brown almond-shaped eyes, a small nose and a small pointed chin. She is not very tall but not short either and she is quite slim. She doesn't like to dress up so I usually see her wearing jeans and a T-shirt or sweater. It seems like she and I are always talking or laughing about something. She has a very nice personality and a wonderful sense of humor but she can also get a little depressed from time to time. I can always count on her to be honest and to give me the best advice. We are interested in many of the same hobbies. We both enjoy music, playing the guitar and singing. We like going to the cinema but sometimes can't agree on which movie to see. Sometimes we just walk around, trying to find a new area of the city to explore. We both like traveling, reading, and swimming. Sometimes during the summer, I go with her and her family to their summer house which is located next to a large lake. We usually spend most of the day swimming or exploring the area but sometimes we take a small row boat and go fishing. In the evenings we might walk into town and see a movie or stay at home and watch television. Whatever we're doing, it's always fun to be with her. I know I can rely on her. Even when our lives get busy we still make time to see each other. I can't imagine going to school and not having her there. Since I am better in math and science and she is better in English and languages, we can always help each other if we get confused about a difficult homework assignment. We are lucky that we complement each other so well and that we get along so well. I hope that our friendship will continue and be just as strong after we graduate from high school. We would like to study at the same university. My Best Friend I have a true best friend Nora is my best friend. She is always there for me. She knows everything about me; even my secrets. I can’t keep anything from her, she is the person who will help me when I am down, turn my frown upside-down, and make me feel better about myself. I can’t imagine any better of a friend Nora and I are always together; no matter where we are! We go to places like the mall and movies, to the mountains and lakes together we go most everywhere, A few days ago we got Pose pictures together we always go shopping I am so lucky to have her and I could not live without her. Hard to find a friend like that. Without her I would not be as happy as I am now. Through good and bad times, I’m positive that forever we will still remain friends. She is a friend that I could and will never forget. Nora can tell if Im lying even if I am keeping a straight face I do know how she does it We think so alike and it’s like were communicating with our minds, At the same time were always thinking the same thing or have the same idea. Even if I did try to lie to her, she knows me so well; she could tell I was lying. You may just have good friends that you can count on sometimes, but to be dependable on a person and knowing they will be there for you, it’s hard to find someone like that. She helps me through my toughest times, and is there for my best times together and she helps me pick out what and what not to buy together we are unstoppable we also help each other with schoolwork, and family and friends problems. It’s hard to find a friend like that. We have so many inside jokes that nobody would understand unless they were there, or if they were just us Not everyone gets our stupid jokes, and they might think that there immature and childish, but together we make them funny and get a good laugh out of it She is the kind of person that I could never lie to. Our friendship is so strong that we can get through anything. She also knows all my expressions and how I sound when I am hyper, frustrated, depressed, annoyed, or happy.