Hnc Poverty Essay - 1080 Words

|In this report you will read about poverty and what is meant by poverty. Included will be an exploration of the differences between | |absolute and relative poverty. You will also read about the relationship between poverty and inequality, covering the types of | |inequality between gender and class and also, the extent of poverty in the current British context. I will also cover causes of | |poverty and inequality using sociological theories. Ending this report you will read into the effects of poverty and inequality in | |relation to behaviour, experiences and life chances on young people. | |†¦show more content†¦There are four classes in society; these are the underclass, the working class, the middle | |class and the upper class. The inequality of class causes poverty as individuals are limited to wealth, resources and opportunities | |within society. A case of inequality that relates to poverty is gender. This is when men and women are treated differently from each| |other regarding their roles and position within society. It is fair to say that women have been treated as less than equals and have| |had lesser opportunities within employment and chances | | | |Within Scotland, there were 980,000 people living in relative poverty and 620,000 across Britain working but living in relative | |poverty in 2007. (www.bbc.com). There were also 250,000 children living in relative poverty, and 150,000 children living in absolute| |poverty within Scotland in the same year. (Save the Children in Scotland). | | | |A feminist perspective is the sociology theory you could useShow MoreRelatedHnc Social Care Essay4439 Words   |  18 PagesHNC Social Care Booklet of Assessments This document contains all the assessment information you will need for the HNC Social Care. They are collated in chronological order with the lecturer responsible (where this is known) identified on the assessment. It is up to the learner to ensure that the assessment is handed in by the deadline. The assessment schedule will be posted on the moodle site. All work should be word processed and include appropriate references both in main

Quazi Free Essays

string(38) " to invest and produce more products\." African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5(27), pp. 11005-11010, 9 November, 2011 Available online at http://www. We will write a custom essay sample on Quazi or any similar topic only for you Order Now academicjournals. org/AJBM DOI: 10. 5897/AJBM11. 326 ISSN 1993-8233  ©2011 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Impact of working capital on firms’ profitability Hassan Aftab Qazi1*, Syed Muhammad Amir Shah2, Zaheer Abbas3 and Tanzeela Nadeem4 1 University of Central Punjab, Lahore 1-Khayaban-e-Jinnah Road, M. A. Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan. 2 Illama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan. 3 Islamic International University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Accepted 20 April, 2011 The correlation between working capital and profitability of firms is analyzed for the management of cash cycle management. Working capital is made by the three important factors, debtor, creditor and stock. When we include cash conversion cycle (CCC) to working capital then it becomes working capital management (WCM). Two sectors are selected as a sample size: automobile and oil and gas sector. The time period is from 2004 – 2009. Different variables affecting the profitability of firms are selected. In this study, networking capital, inventory turnover in days, average account receivable and financial asset to total assets (FATA) are taken as independent variables. The result shows positive movement of working capital (WC) on firm’s profitability. R shows the fitness of the model which is 49. 95%. The independent variables explain 49. 95% of the model. Key words: Working capital management (WCM), cash conversion cycle (CCC), account receivable (AR). INTRODUCTION A good number of firms have put sufficient cash in working capital. Working capital management (WCM) is an important factor of financial management (FM). Debtor, creditor and inventory are the major components of working capital (WC). Large stock and trade credit policy can increase the sales volume. Inventory is the main part of the working capital. Increase in the inventory will give decrease in the risk of stock out. Inventory is done for fulfilling the demand of the public. Inventory is the liability of the company to sell it. The other element of working capital (WC) is accounts payable (AP). Firms can check the quality of the products provided by the producer by giving them late payment, whether it is suitable for the firm or not. Late payments create very bad impression of the firm in the market. Accounts receivable is also the major part of the working capital. Delay in the days of receivable creates more complication for the company. Working capital management is still taken lightly by some companies. It works as a key to free the cash from stock, accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR). To deal with the less important aspects of efficient and effective Working Capital (WC), firms can sharply reduce the out sourcing and they can save the money for future investment or opportunities. This can create more financial flexibility and increase the worth of the firm by reducing capital employed (Buchmann and Jung, 2008). This study basically focuses on the long run financial decisions, future investments and allocations of funds, dividends and valuation of the firm in the stock market. However, balance sheet components assets and liabilities are significant in short term planning and they need to be carefully analyzed by the firm. Short term assets and liabilities are managed carefully by working capital management (WCM) for the growth of the firm’s profitability (Smith, 1980). For creating good worth of the share in front of shareholders, firms have to manage working capital efficiently and effectively. Working capital management process starts from the purchase of raw material up to the sales of the goods. It creates significant impact on the profitability and liquidity of the firms (Shin and Soenen, 1998). Net working capital (NWC) and gross working capital (GWC) are the two major concepts of working capital (WC). The total current assets and *Corresponding author. E-mail: mac_hassan174@hotmail. com. Tel: +92-42-35880007 or +923334604314. 11006 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. orking capital (WC) can be replaced as a Gross working capital of the firm. By subtracting Current Liabi-lities from Current Assets it becomes Net Working Capital. Net working capital (NWC) can also be used to measure the liquidity but it is not useful when firms are compared with each other regarding performance, but useful in measuring the internal control of the firm. The net working capita l helps to compare the liquidity of previous record of the firm performance. The main purpose of the working capital management (WCM) is to make the sustainable level of the working capital (WC) which is favorable for the firm. Net working capital (NWC) is the part of the currents assets which is main-tained through funds having maturity life more than one year. Current assets represent the source of short terms funds. If the firm has less short term funds then it is supported by long term funds and sustains the firm value and market share price. This is very useful for the ana-lysis of trade between profitability and risk in the shares of the firm. Positive working capital (PWC) and Negative Working Capital (NWC) are the two possible signs. Positive working capital (PWC) is the sign of firm healthiness. Positive working capital (PWC) means that firm have the ability to pay the liabilities which maturity date are less than one year of the firm on due date. Positive working capital (PWC) is calculated by comparing Current Assets (CA) by current liabilities (CL). Negative Working Capital is the sign of firm weakness. Negative working capital means that company does not have the ability to pay the short term liabilities. When the Working Capital (WC) shows negative sign, it indicates long term funds support the short term funds and firm can easily pay the obligations on due date and save the value or worth of firm in the market. But in the different case, firm declining means bankruptcy. If declining working capital ratio continues for longer period then it can affect the firm value. If the firm efficiency is more in the operation, the more increase in working capital (WC). It can be analyzed by comparing the operation of working capital (WC) periodically. Working capital is raised from profits or outsourcing. Outsourcing means when there are more sales in the season but the firm is not able to invest and produce more products. You read "Quazi" in category "Papers" From outsourcing, more liabilities arise but on the other way from investing more, revenue will generate from more sales and it will increase the assets of the firm. Working Capital Management (WCM) has its impact on profitability as well as liquidity of the company and the primary goal of a company is to increase the annual revenues. Keeping the company liquid is an extremely main task also. Increase in company profitabiliy by reducing the liquidity of the company can bring some serious problems for it. Goals cannot be ignored at any cost because each individual goal has its own importance. If goal of maximizing the profit is gnored, survival is not possible for a longer time. Similarly, if liquidity objective is ignored, insolvency or bankruptcy could be faced. Because of these bases, proper attention should be given to Working Capital Management (WCM) which affects the companies profits and through this, it will show the effect of the Working Capital (WC) on profitability (PRT). T he research problem of this study is: does working capital have significant impact on profitability of a company? The objective of this reseach is to find out the correlation between working capital and profitability (PRT) through statistical analysis of a sample of listed companies. The purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of traditional working capital policies (WCP) on the profitability (PRT) of the firms, to analyze whether Working Capital Policies (WCP) can become stable over a long run-up and to draw a conclusion about the impact of working capital on the profitability of companies. LITERATURE REVIEW A significant portion of financial research is concerned with the Management of working capital (MWC). This issue has been investigated at both theoretical and empirical levels. Different researchers have worked on working capital from different perspectives and in different economic environment. The environments and perspectives are discussed in detail in this work. This paper is conducted for the association between working capital (WC) and value creation for shareholders. Working capital has three parts. First, account receivable; second, account payable; and third, inventory. Account receivable is a part of balance sheet, placed in the Asset Side (AS) and it is the inflows of firm. Account receivable is maintained when a company makes sales on credit bases. Account payable is also the part of the balance sheet, placed on the liabilities side and also the outflows of the firm. Account payable is maintained when a company do sum expenditures on the credit bases and make a payment on different terms. Inventory is maintained for generating the revenues from sales. The standard measure for working capital management (WCM) is cash conversion cycle (CCC). Cash conversion period reflects the time span between disbursement and collection of cash. Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) is based on three components: number of days of account receivable, number of day of accounts payable and number of day of inventory. It is measured by the sum of inventory conversion period less payable conversion period. Different researchers use the name like net trade cycle for calculating the Working Capital Management (WCM). In this, every component is calculated in percenttage of sales (Soenen, 1998). Qazi et al. 11007 In Marc’s view most firms invest cash in working capital (WC) and it shows that the management of Working Capital leaves good impression on the Profitability of firms. Similarly, firm’s Working Capital Management (WCM) is a major part of financial positions. It helps the firms in maximizing their wealth and value of the shares. Larger inventory and trade policy can make higher sales for the firm. Large inventory reduces the risk of stock out for fulfilling the demand of the public. By providing credit sales to the customers, suppliers have significant cost advantage over financial institution (Deloof, 2002). Different researchers have different views that they test on the working capital. There is a positive correlation between account receivable and operating income of firm. Because if the good provided on credit bases then the days of the accounts receivable will not be for long period. On the basis of the accounts receivable, firms running their operations can meet the payment on due date. Efficient liquidity management (ELM) is a process which includes planning and controlling of current assets (CA) and current liabilities (CL). Liquidity and profitability of firm have great relation with each other. This relationship can be analyzed by current ratio (CR) and cash gap (CG) (Abdual, 2007). Firms short terms liabilities are directly related to the former while the continuity of liabilities is concerned with the latter. Higher investment blocked in stock and accounts receivable creates problem for operation. Decrease in number of days of account receivable gives increase in early eserves (Padachi, 2006). Financial managers can gain profit by maintaining component of cash conversion cycle (CCC) at a higher level (Nazir and Afza, 2009). If the inventory gets to the minimum level and the number of days account receivable (NDAR) also becomes minimum, then firms can increase their profits and run their project efficiently and effectively (Abdul, 2007). The policies of working capital management can help to measure the WC. If the policies which the firm is going to implement are very strict and helpful for the firm then the firm will not bear losses or stock out or less short term assets. The financing policies mean how to allocate the revenue to different departments and after how many days the firm is going to receive their payments and ability to pay his own payments. The share value can be created by the financial managers if they efficiently manage through conservative approach (Nazir and Afza, 2009). Different researchers use different analysis models. For empirical investigation, the anova and Pearson correlation analysis is applied. From these models, firm size and cash cycle can be measured easily. It is easy to measure the efficiency of working capital management (WCM), performance evaluation and the whole efficiency of the firm by setting up their targets. For calculating the overall efficiency of the firm, the target has to be achieved in limited time period. Researchers use pooled data for the analysis. In the pooled data, different independent variables such as regress combine with the dependent variable (Zariyawati, 2009). The financial leverage and growth in sales are the major factor of firm profitability. Firms have to select the best policy to improve their collection and payment period. Efficient management financing of working capital can increase their operational profitability (Abdul, 2010). After studying the above articles, it is seen that the results of all researchers are the same on working capital management (WCM) and profitability (PRT) regardless of different companies, environments and situations. METHODOLOGY This research is to analyze the impact of working capital (WC) on the profitability (PRT) of oil and gas and automobile industry with reference to Pakistan. Different statistical tools are applied to analyze the significance of the variables. So, the method of coefficient of correlation has been selected. Regression analysis is applied for testing the model reliability and significant relationship between variables. Data set and sample Two sectors are selected from Karachi Stock Exchange. The first is oil and gas and the second is automobile sector. A total of 20 companies are taken as sample for the data collection, which are collected from different sources. They are taken from 2004 – 2009 from the annual report. Some data are collected from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) provides an analysis report of different sectors and companies which were listed in Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). In this study, different variables are taken to measure the working capital (WC). Working Capital is taken as independent variable (WC) while profitability is taken as dependent variable (PRT). In this case, profit after tax is taken as profitability of firms. Working Capital can be measured by different ways. First is net working capital (NWC), which is measured by current assets (CA), divided by current liabilities (CL). Second is inventory turnover in days (ITID), which is calculated by inventory divided by Cost of Goods Sold (CGS) and multiplied by 365. Third is number of day of accounts receivable (AAR), which is calculated by other current assets divided by sale and multiplied by 365. Forth is financial asset to total assets (FATA), which is calculated by adding cash and investment and the whole divided by total assets. In addition, current ratio (CR), debt to equity ratio (DER) and sales natural logarithm (LOS) are taken as control variable in this analysis. All the aforementioned variables are affecting the Working Capital, Working Capital Management (WCM) and it will have negative or positive impact on the profitability of the firms. Hypotheses testing The objective of this research is to examine the impact of Working Capital (WC) on the profitability of firms. Figure 1 shows the impact 11008 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. Figure 1. Impact of Working Capital on Profitability. of working capital on profitability† H1: Working capital has positive effect on the profitability of firms. H0: Working capital has no positive effect on the profitability of firms. Model specification In this study, panel data regression analysis and time series of data are taken. For the regression analysis, pooled data are used. In this pooled data, all variables are combined on the same level and selected variables are grouped as independent and dependent variables. After that, all variables are selected for regression and correlation analysis. Model equation PRT it = ? 0 + ? 1 (AAR it) + ? 2 (ITID it) + ? 3 (CR it) + ? 4 (DER it) + ? 5 (LOS it) + ? 6 (FATA it) + ? 7 (NWC it) + ? PRTi t = Net Profit t; i = 1- 20 firms. ?0 : Beta ? i: Coefficients X it X it: Independent variables i at time t t: Time = 1-5 years. ?: The error term Whereas, AAR = Average Account Receivable ITID = Inventory Turnover in Days CR = Current Ratio LOS = Sales logarithm FATA = Financial Assets to Total Assets NWC = Net Working Capital DER = Debt Equity Ratio Qualitative analyses In this paper, two analyses are applied. First, correlation and statistical tools are applied in these data. We select person correlation model for this study to find out the degree of correlation among dependent and independent variables. In the regression analysis, we gather the data from annual reports and turn it to the same level. This gathering of data is called pooled data. For this analysis, we select E-views software to analyze it correctly in the case of pooled data. DATA ANALYSIS AND REGRESSION RESULTS The correlation and determination coefficients are the measures of the regression model. First, correlation coefficient (49. 95%) and the determination coefficient (26. 12%) show the degree of correlation among working capital and profitability of selected firms from oil and gas and automobile sector over 2004 – 2009. The standard error value is 6. 5926 and F-statistics value is 5. 4213 which is significant at 1% and shows 100% fitness of the model (Table 1). Similarly, the Durbin-Watson statistics is 1. 9991 which clearly defines that there is no serial correlation in this regression model. Table 2 shows the estimation results of the six antecedents for the independent variable of working capital at Qazi et al. 11009 Table 1. Model summary. R R2 Adjusted R-squared Standard Error of Estimate Durbin-Watson statistics F statistics 0. 499599 0. 261211 0. 213029 6. 592679 1. 991426 5. 421362 Table 2. Estimation results. Variable NWC NDAR ITID FATA DER CR Means 23. 58595 129. 4913 75. 80012 0. 217936 17. 96434 18. 85266 SD 8. 415465 351. 7532 143. 2339 0. 191679 3. 368055 0. 597391 T stats 4. 520358 0. 254527 0. 937944 -0. 477942 -0. 554939 0. 096545 Remarks Sig Not Sig Not Sig Not Sig Not Sig Not Sig Table 3. Correlation matrix. PROFIT NWC NDAR ITID FATA DER CR PROFIT 1. 000000 0. 474400 0. 109619 0. 112621 -0. 124623 -0. 201328 -0. 217375 NWC 1. 000000 -0. 086246 -0. 125120 -0. 054646 -0. 308676 -0. 397314 NDAR IITD FATA DER CR 1. 000000 0. 748882 -0. 190807 -0. 095937 -0. 040053 1. 000000 -0. 311687 0. 061122 -0. 118921 1. 000000 0. 078238 0. 396036 1. 000000 0. 008978 1. 000000 1% significance level. The results show that Net Working Capital (NWC) has positive and significant impact on the Profitability (PRT) of firms and the rest of the variables explain the behavior of profitability but have no significant impact on profitability. In the correlation results shown in Table 3, networking capital has strong positive relationship with profitability of firms while number of days of account receivable (NDAR) and Inventory turnover in days (ITD) are positive but have weak correlation power with profitability of firms; financial assets to total assets (FATA), debt equity ratio (DER) and current ratio (CR) are weak and negatively correlate with the Profitability (PRT) of the firms. But the correlation results of independent variables somehow showed positive and strong correlation of inventory turnover in days (ITD) with number of days account receivable (NDAR) and a strong but negative correlation of current ratio with net working capital; the remaining variables correlate but are weak in both the positive and negative sense, thus the concept of colinearity does not exist among the variables as evident by the analysis results. Conclusion This study is the relationship of working capital (WC) and profitability (PRT) of firms. orking capital (WC) is the major portion of the balance sheet. In this paper, data are collected form Annual Reports (AR) and analysis report which is provided from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). In this analysis report, the companies which are listed in stock exchange are analyzed and summarized. In this research, oil and gas and automobile sectors are taken 11010 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. as sample. Data are taken from 2004 – 2009. I n this research, R shows the fitness of model which is 49. 95%. The independent variables explain 49. 95% of the model. In the regression results, only net working capital is positive and significant and Number of Days of Account Receivable (NDAR) and Inventory Turnover in Days (ITD) are positive but insignificant; and all other independent variables are negative and insignificant. In the correlation results, networking capital is positively correlated with profitability of the firms. The other two variables are weakly correlated with the profitability of firms and the other three independent variables are negatively correlated with profitability of firms. Hence, the empirical results of the paper show the positive trend of working capital on profitability of the firms. The results are supported by previous studies of Rahman (2007) and Nazir and Afza (2009) and Deloof (2002) on the Working Capital (WC). REFERENCES Abdual RMN (2007). Working Capital Management And Profitability – Case Of. Int. Rev. Bus. Res. Papers, pp. 279-300. Abdul RMN (2007). Working Capital Management And Profitability – Case Of Pakistani Firms. Int. Rev. Bus. Res. Papers, pp. 79-300. Abdul RTA (2010). Working Capital Management and Corporate Performance of Manufacturing Sector in Pakistan. Int. Res. J. Finan. Econ. , 47: 152. Buchmann P, Jung U (2008). Best-practice working capital management: Techniques for optimizing inventories, receivables, and payables. Q. Financ. , pp. 1-7. Deloof M (2002). Does Working Capital Management Affect Profitability of Belgian Firms? investopedia. com. (2010). Working capital : definations; negative working capital, p ositive working capital. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from www. investopedia. com: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/w/workingcapital. asp. Nazir S, Afza T (2009). Impact of Aggressive Working Capital Management Policy on Firms’ Profitability. J. Applied Manage . Padachi K (2006). Trends in Working Capital Management and its Impact on Firms’ Performance: An Analysis of Mauritian Small Manufacturing Firms. Int. Rev. Bus. Res. Papers, pp. 45 -58. Shin HH, Soenen L (1998). Efficiency of working capital management and corporate profitability. Financ. Pract. Educ. , pp. 37-45. Smith K (1980). Profitability versus liquidity tradeoffs in working capital management, in readings on the management of working capital. ST. Pual,New York: West Publishing Company. Soenen S (1998). Liquidity management, operating performance, and corporate value: evidence from Japan and Taiwan. J Multi. Manage. , 159-169. Zariyawati MN (2009). Working capital management and corporate performance:Case of Malaysia. J. Modern Account. Audit. , 5(11): 4754. How to cite Quazi, Papers

The hostages situation

Judging from the information provided, the hostage taker falls into the category of a mentally disturbed individual (Miller, 2005).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The hostage’s situation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The 42-year-old male hostage taker appears to be psychotic, delusional and mentally unstable considering the demands he places in order to free his captive who happens to be a member of his family and friend. In addition, it is possible that the hostage taker has an explosive personality since his victims are closely related to him. Judging from the hostage’s situation, my role would be to directly engage the hostage taker in negotiations in order to harness the situation and conduct psychological profiling of the victims and the host taker (Fernald, 2008). The hostage’s situation is usually very delicate and critical during three key periods. The initial period of the negoti ation which ranges between 15 to 45 minutes is usually characterized by tension. They are also delicate because during the surrender of the hostage taker, ambivalence and strong emotional responses are highly likely from the hostage taker. Tactical rescue operations by members of the rescue team may pose the greatest danger since the possibility of the hostages being harmed in the process is high. In the very first minutes, my main role would primarily be to establish the demands of the hostage taker and determine his mental state, the current situation of the hostages and more importantly, to calm down the situation (Fernald, 2008). Calmness and professionalism are vital at this stage since they can make or break the negotiation process. After 30 minutes, the situation will be assessed and appraised to determine the criticality of the dangers involved especially to the hostages.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More If nothing threatening is observed within this period, it is mostly likely that the danger involved will be minimal. If the hostage taker proceeds to endanger the life of any of the victims after the period of heightened tension has subsided, this will mean that the negotiation process will be failing and speedy action will need to be taken to avert more casualties (Green Groff, 2003). Under such circumstances, the only option likely to be taken is a tactical assault rescue by trained and well equipped members of the crisis response teams. Such an operation should be carried out with absolute precision if a life threatening situation is to be avoided (Vecchi, Hasselt Romano, 2005). During the first 45 minutes, I will establish myself as the contact person for the kidnapper with the outside world and skillfully draw his attention away from the victims thereby giving them time to calm themselves down. The focus will not be to address the demands of the h ostage taker but to wear down his mental aggression through calm and persuasive dialogue. After an hour has passed and not ugly incidents have been witnessed, it will be important to switch positions with a female negotiator. This will be a tactical move aimed at solidifying the gains made so far in the negotiation process and will create an assurance to the hostage taker by introducing the soft and nurturing voice of a woman. This will further calm down the host taker. It is important to note that every effort should be made to ensure that the line of communication between the hostage taker and the negotiators should be open at all times. The team should ensure that contact with the hostage taker is not lost. After one and half hours with no major incidences, it would then be important to profile the mental status of the hostage taker. This must be done with a lot of caution to ensure that there is not much probing of the hostage taker.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The hostage’s situation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The mental profiling will seek to establish whether there are any symptoms of delusion and whether there is any response to non-existent stimulus. A thorough examination of the communication between the negotiator and the hostage taker would be important and this would also help in identifying anything that could be acting as a barrier to the negotiation process. For example, if the hostage taker continues to emphasize the need for being exempted from prosecution, he would then sink into a crisis and the best course of action would be to apply empathy and actively listen and encourage the hostage taker to communicate in order to bring him to a point of rationalization (Miller, 2005). The point here is to employ distraction as a technique to move the hostage taker from focusing on his demands and direct him towards a self examination of his actions by persuading him to assess the nature of his actions. With calm and persistent probing, the hostage taker will soon start to be rational and begin seeing the absurd nature of his actions and this will then open an avenue for the negotiator to persuade the hostage taker to consider a more sensible and peaceful way of resolving the matter. In the current scenario, the use of basic needs as bargaining chips is not probable since the incident of hostage has occurred in the home of the host taker and therefore, the only other need the host taker seems to have is secondary. On the other hand, if the basic needs are unavailable, the host taker will essentially begin to demand for the same to be brought to him. If so, there could be the possibility that some or one of the hostages will be released. However, the central focus should remain on the hostage taker. The whole essence is to make sure that the hostage taker feels he is the all important person and that the negotiator does not care about the hos tages.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More If food would not be availed in the house, most likely the hostage taker would start making demands for the same after three hours. This is a period for the negotiator to maximize in trying to secure the release of some hostages. From this point on, fatigue would begin to set in on both the hostage taker and the hostages due to a prolonged period of heightened emotions. The negotiator would have an advantage since he would switch positions but the hostage taker would have no option but to remain alert during the whole period of negotiations. This would be a very important phase for the negotiator to continue probing and distracting the hostage taker (Miller, 2005). Due to heightened emotional stress, it would most likely be that the hostage taker would be completely fatigued and would be seeking for an opportunity to get some sleep. This would be highly possible after five hours of actively engaging the hostage taker. Complete exhaustion of the hostage taker would be appropriate sin ce at such moments; the hostage taker would start to lose concentration and control of his immediate surrounding and could easily give in to the requests of the negotiator. The sixth hour would mark the point of climax of the negotiation period and there would only be two possible outcomes in this case scenario. The first would be for the hostage taker to surrender and face prosecution or the members of the rescue team to stage a precision assault to rescue the hostages and arrest the hostage taker. The second option could lead to death or injuries and therefore, should come as a last resort. The negotiators should fully take advantage of the physical and mental fatigue of the hostage taker to persuade him to surrender and therefore avoid an unnecessary forced rescue attempt. The sixth hour would provide the best possible time to act and avert the hostage’s crisis from getting out of control. One of the precautions that the rescue team would take would be to ensure that the m edia is restrained from airing the hostage’s crisis while the operation is still on. This can have devastating effects on the process of negotiation. In the course of the incident, it is possible that the hostage taker can have access to a television and therefore can easily be enraged or act out of panic. Secondly, the negotiation team would ensure that the hostage taker has no other external contact apart from the team itself. This would make sure that other distractions do not divert focus from the rescue efforts of the negotiators. Information regarding the hostage taker can be gathered from neighbors, other family members, workmates and other social places where the hostage taker has been known to frequent. The purpose for collecting this information is to aid the negotiator in analyzing and understanding the personality, character and behavior of the hostage taker which will be important during the negotiation process. It is important to note that less than 95% of all h ostage incidences are successfully solved through negotiation and yield less life threatening dangers than forced rescue missions. Conclusion The role played by police psychologists in hostage negotiation teams is vital since they bring a level of experience which other police officers may not have acquired during their professional training. The approaches of police psychologists in rescuing hostages that are kidnapped are better and much more specialized in nature than the approaches used by ordinary police officers. Every police department should explore the possibilities of recruiting police officers that will purposely be trained to meet the challenge that hostage takers pose to the security of innocent people. Even before cases of kidnap occur, police psychologists can actively be involved in training members of the police department on how to respond to such sensitive and delicate operations. These kinds of training programs would equip the police officers with valuable knowl edge and skills on how to handle agitated offenders especially in dangerous operations such as a hostage crisis. The police psychologist is also actively involved in assessing the outcomes of such a crisis long after they have been concluded in order to deduce valuable lessons for the police department and offer advice on corrective measures that should be taken in future engagements. The important role played by a police psychologist will continue to grow as more complex crimes continue to take shape in society. References Fernald, L.D. (2008). Psychology: Six perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Green, C.D. Groff, P.R. (2003). Early psychological thought: Ancient accounts of mind and soul. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Press. Miller, L. (2005). Hostage Negotiation: Psychological Principles and Practices: International Journal of Emergency Mental Health.USA: John Wiley Sons. Vecchi, G., Hasselt, V., Romano, S. (2005). Crisis (hostage) negotiation: current strategi es and issues in high-risk conflict resolution: Aggression and Violent Behavior. Oxford: Oxon Press. 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The History of the Zamboni Invented by Frank Zamboni

The History of the Zamboni Invented by Frank Zamboni The fourth Zamboni every built they simply called it No. 4 sits  enshrined in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame  in Eveleth, Minnesota, along with its creator and inventor, Frank Zamboni. It stands, fully restored, as a symbol of the integral part this ice-resurfacing machine has played in professional hockey, as well as ice-skating shows and in ice rinks around the country. Always Amazed Indeed, Zamboni, himself, who died in 1988, is also enshrined in the  Ice Skating Institute Hall of Fame and has been honored with about two dozen awards and honorary degrees. He was always amazed about how (the Zamboni) became associated with the game of hockey, with ice, with whatever, said Zambonis son Richard in a video marking the 2009 induction ceremony. He would have been surprised and pleased about being inducted into the (ice hockey) hall of fame. But, how did a simple, tractor-like  machine  used on an ice-skating rink to smooth the ice as the Associated Press describes it come to be held in such high esteem in the ice hockey and ice skating worlds both in the U.S. and globally? Well, it started with ice. Iceland In 1920, Zamboni then just 19 moved from Utah to Southern California with his brother, Lawrence. The two brothers soon began selling block ice, which local dairy wholesalers used to pack their product that was transported by rail across the country, according to the Zamboni companys informative and lively  website. But as refrigeration technology improved, demand for block ice began to shrink and the Zamboni brothers began to look for another business opportunity. They found it in ice skating, which was skyrocketing in popularity in the late 1930s. So in 1939 Frank, Lawrence, and a cousin built Iceland Skating Rink in Paramount, a city about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles, notes the companys website. It was, at the time it opened in 1940 with 20,000 square feet of ice, the largest ice skating rink in the world and could accommodate up to 800 ice skaters at one time. Business was good, but to smooth the ice, it took four or five workers and a small tractor at least an hour to scrape the ice, remove the shavings and spray a fresh coat of water onto the rink and it took another hour for the water to freeze. That got Frank Zamboni to thinking: I finally decided Id start working on something that would do it faster, Zamboni said in a 1985 interview. Nine years later, in 1949, the first Zamboni, called the Model A, was introduced. A Tractor Body The Zamboni was, essentially, an ice-cleaning machine placed on top of a tractor body, hence the APs description (though modern Zambonis are no longer built over tractor bodies). Zamboni modified the tractor adding a blade that shaved the ice smooth, a device that swept up the shavings into a tank and an apparatus that rinsed the ice and left a very thin top layer of water that would freeze within a minute. Former Olympic ice-skating champion Sonja Henie saw the first Zamboni in action when she was practicing at Iceland for an upcoming tour. She said, Ive got to have one of those things, recalled Richard Zamboni. Henie toured the world with her ice show, carting along a Zamboni wherever she performed. From there, the machines popularity began to soar. The NHLs Boston Bruins bought one and put it to work in 1954, followed by a number of other NHL teams.   Squaw Valley Olympics But, what really helped the ice-resurfacing machine shoot to fame where iconic images of a Zamboni efficiently cleaning ice and leaving a smooth, clear surface at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. Since then, the name Zamboni has become synonymous with the ice-resurfacing machine, notes the hockey hall of fame induction video. The company says that about 10,000 of the machines have been delivered worldwide each one traveling about 2,000 ice-resurfacing miles a year. Its quite a legacy for two brothers who began selling blocks of ice. Indeed, notes the company website: Frank often pointed out to rink owners a comment indicative of his own lifelong mission: The principal product you have to sell is the ice itself.†

Black Actresses Speak Out About Colorism

Black Actresses Speak Out About Colorism Gabrielle Union, Tika Sumpter, and  Lupita Nyong’o have all been praised for their good looks. Because they are dark-skinned, however, they have all been asked to discuss how  colorism, or skin color discrimination, affected their self-esteem. These women and other actresses, such as Keke Palmer and Vanessa Williams, have all had unique experiences in and out of the entertainment industry based on their skin color. Hearing them discuss their encounters, or lack thereof, with colorism, sheds light on the hurdles that have yet to be overcome in race relations. Pretty For a Dark-Skinned Girl Actress Keke Palmer of â€Å"Akeelah and the Bee† fame discussed her desire to be lighter-skinned while sitting on the Hollywood Confidential Panel in 2013. â€Å"When I was like 5 years old I used to pray to have light skin because I would always hear how pretty that little light skin girl was, or I would hear I was pretty ‘to be dark skinned,’†Ã‚  Palmer revealed. â€Å"It wasn’t until I was 13 that I really learned to appreciate my skin color and know that I was beautiful.† The actress went on to say that African Americans need â€Å"to stop separating ourselves by how dark or how light we are.† Praying For Light Skin Palmer’s prayer for lighter skin sounds eerily similar to Lupita Nyong’o’s prayers as a youth. The Oscar winner revealed in early 2014 that she, too, begged God for lighter skin. Teased and bullied for her dark skin, Nyong’o desperately believed that God would answer her prayer. â€Å"The morning would come and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of a mirror because I wanted to see my fair face first,†Ã‚  she said. â€Å"And every day I experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as I was the day before.† The success of dark-skinned model Alek Wek helped Nyong’o to appreciate her skin color. â€Å"A celebrated model, she was dark as night, she was on all of the runways and in every magazine and everyone was talking about how beautiful she was.† â€Å"Even Oprah called her beautiful and that made it a fact. I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a woman who looked so much like me as beautiful. My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome and all of a sudden Oprah was telling me it wasn’t.† Colorism Still Affects Gabrielle Union Actress Gabrielle Union has no shortage of admirers but  she revealed in 2010 that growing up in an all-white town led to her developing low self-esteem, particularly about her skin color. Her white classmates did not pursue her romantically and she did not meet black boys until she, an athlete, headed off to basketball camp. â€Å"When I got to go to basketball camp and I got to be around black boys, I was like cool†¦until I got dumped†¦for a light skinned girl,† she said. â€Å"And then that whole thing started. My hair isn’t straight enough. My nose isn’t pointy enough. My lips are too big. My boobs aren’t big enough. And you start going through all of that. And I realize as I’ve gotten older a lot of issues that I was dealing with at 15, I am still dealing with today.† Union said that she’s also witnessed her teenaged niece confront the same issues with skin color and hair texture, leading her to believe â€Å"that there is a lot more work to do be done.† In Hollywood, where there’s a high premium on looks, Union said that she continues to grapple with insecurities. â€Å"In the business that I am in now, it is incredibly tough, and to be honest, sometimes it is hard to keep my head above the water, sometimes I feel like I’m drowning,† she said. â€Å"†¦You don’t get a job, and you immediately want to blame it on, if my hair was different, or maybe if my nose†¦or they just want to go with light-skin girls, and you start to doubt yourself, and the self-doubts and the low self-esteem starts to creep in.† Tika Sumpter Never Felt Less Than Actress Tika Sumpter remarked in 2014 that being dark-skinned never made her feel less than her five siblings, all of whom are lighter than she is. She said that her mother, who is lighter than her, and her father, who is also dark-skinned, always appreciated her complexion. â€Å"I never felt less than, so even growing up and getting into this business I always felt like well yeah of course you’re going to like me,†Ã‚  she told Oprah Winfrey. â€Å"†¦I never felt like, wow, the light-skinned girl- she’s going to get all the boys. Growing up I was like, yeah, of course I’m cute. †¦Of course I’m going to be the president of my class three years in a row. I was never made to feel less than, and it starts at home. It really does.† Hollywood Poses Challenges For All Black Women Actress Vanessa Williams, who has light skin and eyes, was asked in 2014 to discuss the success of Lupita Nyong’o and whether skin color poses a barrier for dark-skinned women. â€Å"Getting a good role is hard no matter what you look like, and Lupita did a phenomenal job,†Ã‚  Williams said. â€Å"She went to Yale School of Drama and this was the first thing she did out of her tutelage there and she’s a brilliant actress†¦ She’s amazing because she embodied that role and made you feel. â€Å"It’s hard to get good roles anyway, no matter how fair your skin is†¦no matter how brown your skin is. It’s up to you to make the best out of each opportunity that you’re given.†

Why did God become man in Jesus Christ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Why did God become man in Jesus Christ - Essay Example How the death of Jesus Christ, as a man, could become an act of redemption for all human beings is further explained by St. Athanasius. It is revealed that â€Å"in His death all might die, and the law of death thereby be abolished because, having fulfilled in His body that for which it was appointed, it was thereafter voided of its power for men.† And this became the completion of a circle that started when man was banished from the Garden of Eden with the cure of death fallen upon him. And this is why as Corinthians 15:22 says, â€Å"in Adam, all die† but in Jesus, all resurrect. Such an intervention by God became imperative just because man had once â€Å"shared the nature of the Word† but the same man was now the slave of corruption, made so by the â€Å"deceit† of the devil. As the second coming of Jesus as indicated in the Messianic prophesy, is to impart the â€Å"final death blow† to Satan, this second coming in all possibilities will not be in the form of man again. The Revelation 001:007 of the Bible has made a record of this second coming and has said, â€Å"behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him.† From the allusion to the clouds, it is clear that Jesus is not coming the second time as a man, a mortal. Hence it has to be concluded that only the first coming of Jesus is the first and last instance in which he is coming as a mortal. This is the real rarity of the situation.

Enterprise Resource Planning Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Enterprise Resource Planning - Article Example While there has been detailed analysis and interpretation in the forth coming sections, a few basic definitions have also been added to facilitate the study here. It is important that companies have an absolutely clear understanding regarding what is enterprise resource planning before contemplating on its implementation as the urgency to acquire results in a limited time frame most often defeat the very purpose of investing in ERP. While we are aware ERP accelerates results and speed is one of the key drivers, the faster it is implemented the quicker and better are the advantages and delivery in terms of results, however this early process has a huge hindrance, the returns are sought at a shorter period which may blind the companies to foresee long term effects. This deviation from the conventional practice is being largely implemented as far as many companies are concerned. Business process reengineering played a vital role with respect to its implementation. One needs to know the components of Enterprise resource planning beyond the definition to further the interest of ERP . The most natural outcome of this effort lead to development of gaps between the actual results and the one derived during the process of foreseeing or at planning stage. Customizing ERP without a thought through analysis, merely at the slightest requirement of various stakeholders in the organization, molding of practices followed in the company would inevitably drag the assessment of results beyond the time limits permitted to evaluate its success. Let alone the huge monetarily impact, it also damages basic customer's trust. It is also necessary to understand that mere ERP planning does not guarantee the benefit of ERP. It has to be implemented as planned project after understanding the components of enterprise resource planning. In spite of having improved the implementation issues what remains static is the manner in which companies go ahead with ERP implementation. The objectives regarding why ERP, need to be very clear to any firm that is planning to implement it. The key ones are listed in the diagram below with enhanced customer service at the top of it as increased customer service is directly proportional to additional business and growth in revenue. Why ERP 2. Enterprise Resource Planning Approach The section above briefly explains the key drivers an organization need to consider prior to using the ERP approach. It can be increasingly difficult to manage and measure effectiveness and success of the approach if it is implemented as a need of the times exercise, just for name sake without following systematic procedures. It is important to