Contemporary Issues in Management Accounting Assignment

Contemporary Issues in Management Accounting - Assignment Example The Balanced Scorecard was referred to as a means to illustrate the "cause and effect relationship of strategic objectives" (Creelman & Makhijani, 2011). Next is the behavioral aspect of budgeting, which has been considered a relevant component to the study of organizational behavior. In conclusion, it has been claimed that the ABC, the balanced scorecard, and the behavioral aspects of budgeting are useful in todays modern business environment. As a recommendation, it has been proposed that a broader and continuous research be conducted to allow the evolution of management accounting. The report intends to present a brief view of the changes brought by the evolution of management accounting research to modern industrial management. Furthermore, it also aims to examine the impact of these significant changes to the administration of modern business or modern industrial management. To provide an idea of the areas focused by researchers in the field of management accounting, it will tackle three relevant topics covered by management accounting research such as the ABC (Activity Based Costing), the Balanced Scorecard, and the Behavioral Aspects of Budgeting. These topics will then be explored in relation to modern industrial management or modern business. The present methods applied in management accounting are being rooted from those applied by people in the past. Understanding the distant origins of these techniques is necessary in order for one to appreciate the use of such methods in todays modern world. The study of accounting has always been considered difficult and arduous. It is one challenging aspect of business that requires research for its continuous improvement (Argenti, 2002, p.172). Hence, a conscious effort also has to be made to understand the beginnings of management accounting (Porter & Ross, 2003, p.566). For over twenty years, management accounting research has evolved

Programs Associated With Behavior Modification Psychology Essay

Programs Associated With Behavior Modification Psychology Essay This papers intent is not to address all of the programs associated with behavior modification, But simply to establish the some of the types of behavior modification programs available to probation and parole authorities. This report covers the basics of behavior modification, the theory behind it, as well as cognitive behavior modification. It touches on the use of evidence-based practices, motivational interviewing, as well as some of the types of programs available. Such as Boot Camps, Community Correction Centers, Day Reporting Centers, substance abuse programs, and lastly it talks about the very successful HOPE program in the state of Hawaii. Understanding behavior modification begins with the understanding of what is called Learning Theory. Learning Theory generally focuses on Ivan Pavlovs classical conditioning and B.F. Skinners operant conditioning. Both theories relay on the common belief that either through a stimulus or a strategic reinforcement, learned behavior could be altered. Under the belief of classical or reflex conditioning, the desired learning outcome is achieved through the creation of a conditioned response. Pavlov was able to create a conditioned response in dogs by associating the ringing of a bell with salivation. Every time the dogs were fed, a bell was rung. Soon the dogs were conditioned to expect food when the bell rang regardless of any food being present. You have to understand that Pavlov was actually studying the digestion of dogs, when he discovered that his dogs salivated when anyone walked in with a lab coat on. What he discovered was that whenever they fed the dogs, the person was wearing a lab. Pavlov followed up with the idea of ringing a bell whenever they were going to feed the dogs, the dogs soon learned to associate the bell ringing to them getting food. Hence, reflex conditioning. Although loosely related, operant conditioning is different from classical conditioning, in that a stimulus is not given for a conditioned response. Instead, operant conditioning applies a reward or a punishment after certain behaviors are observed. B.F. Skinner believed that behaviors in an individual were the result of contact with rewards and punishments within an environment. Operand conditioning happens when an animal learns to perform particular behaviors in order to obtain a fundamentally rewarding stimulus. B.F. Skinners work was in the field of psychology. He conditioned a pigeon to raise his head above a certain point in order to receive food. To put it another way, it is when a trained dog repeatedly comes when called in order to obtain a treat or reward. The down side to this type of learning is that after a while the dog expects a treat every time he comes when called. When he no longer receives the treat, with any type of frequency, the response becomes less and less fr equent this is called operant extinction. In general, when we engage in behavior that no longer pays off, we find ourselves less inclined to behave in that way again. Putting it another way, let us say we wear a wristwatch all the time, we do not notice that we look at it often. Now if you forgot that wristwatch we still look at our wrist, to see the time, after a while of not wearing the watch we look less and less at our wrist for the time. That is operant extinction. The majority of behavior modification in parole and probation is based on the principles of operant conditioning. Therefor I will discuss operant condition more in depth. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. In other words, behavior modification uses systematic reinforcement in order to encourage the learning of a desired behavior. Operant conditioning, works whether it is through reinforcement or through punishment. Anything that increases a behavior is considered reinforcement and anything that decreases behavior is considered punishment. The promise or possibility of a reward causes an increase in behavior, but operant conditioning can also be used to decrease a behavior as well. The elimination of an unwanted behavior thru the use of a punishment is often what is used in raising children, along with the reward system or the positive reinforcement. Unfortunately, most often than not the focus of attention is o n the child thru negative reinforcement, and not the positive reinforcement. It is the idea or the potential for punishment, which may lead the child to a decrease any disruptive behaviors. Through operant conditioning the environment builds the basic repertoire with which we keep our balance, walk, play games, handle instruments and tools, talk, write, sail a boat, drive a car, or fly a plane. A change in the environment-a new car, a new friend, a new field of interest, a new job, a new location-may find us unprepared, but our behavior usually adjusts quickly as we acquire new responses and discard old. (Skinner, 1953) There are four types of operant conditioning: Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Punishment, and Extinction. Both Positive and Negative Reinforcement strengthen behavior while both Punishment and Extinction weaken behavior. (Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction, 1999) In Positive Reinforcement, a particular behavior is strengthened by the consequence of experiencing a positive condition. For example, a hungry rat presses a bar in its cage and receives food. The food is a positive condition for the hungry rat. The rat presses the bar again, and again receives food. The rats behavior of pressing the bar is strengthened by the consequence of receiving food. In Negative Reinforcement, a particular behavior is strengthened by the consequence of stopping or avoiding a negative condition. For example, another a rat is placed in a cage and immediately receives a mild electrical shock on its feet. The shock is a negative condition for the rat. The rat presses a bar and the shock stops. The rat receives another shock, presses the bar again, and again the shock stops. The rats behavior of pressing the bar is strengthened by the consequence of stopping the shock. In Punishment, a particular behavior is weakened by the consequence of experiencing a negative condition. For example, yet another rat presses a bar in its cage and receives a mild electrical shock on its feet. The shock is a negative condition for the rat. The rat presses the bar again and again receives a shock. The rats behavior of pressing the bar is weakened by the consequence of receiving a shock. In Extinction, a particular behavior is weakened by the consequence of not experiencing a positive condition or stopping a negative condition. For example, a rat presses a bar in its cage and nothing happens. Neither a positive nor a negative condition exists for the rat. The rat presses the bar again and again nothing happens. The rats behavior of pressing the bar is weakened by the consequence of not experiencing anything positive or stopping anything negative. The mission statements of most corrections agencies emphasize two main tasks: holding offenders accountable to conditions (compliance), and encouraging positive behavior change (rehabilitation). (Walters, Clark, Gingerich, Meltzer, 2007) Methods include increasing a persons opportunities and capacity for positive actions (e.g., skills training, education, employment) or helping the person succeed at some new behavior (e.g., drug treatment). Many shifts in correctional philosophy have occurred over the years. During some periods, corrections professionals have emphasized deterrence strategies; during others, they have relied more on treatment and constructional strategies. No period has emphasized one strategy alone; the difference has been in the degree to which they relied on one or the other. (Walters, Clark, Gingerich, Meltzer, 2007) Among the range of offender programs designed to reintegrate offenders into society, those that are most common, seek to address the offenders way of thinking, their reasoning and their associated behaviors through what is termed cognitive behavioral techniques. Cognitive behaviorism is an approach that applies learning theory to mental events like thoughts and feelings. Cognitive behavior programs teach people new ways of thinking, and in so doing, help them to overcome various problems that stem from dysfunctional or bad thinking. Cognitive behavior techniques are widely viewed as offering considerable advantages over more traditional forms of intervention. Because this term is so broad it is difficult to define precisely, but it involves helping offenders to face up to the consequences of their actions, to understand their motives, and to develop new ways of controlling their behavior. (Vennard, Sugg, Hedderman, 1997) Cognitive behaviorism is not a separate psychological theory nor is it a method, it is a term given to a range of mediations or interventions derived from the following three psychological theories, Behaviorism, Cognitive theory, and Social learning theory. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Behaviorism, which stresses the role of external or environmental factors that shape an individuals actions so that, for offenders, for example, encouragement from peers and/or the lack of immediate punishment from authority figures rein forces criminal behavior à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Cognitive theory is concerned with the development of a persons thought processes. It also looks at how these thought processes influence how we understand and interact with the world. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Social learning theory emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Thus, it focuses on learning by observation and modeling. Cognitive behavioral modification assumes that offenders are shaped by their environment and they have failed to acquire certain cognitive skills or have learned inappropriate ways of behaving. The therapy assumes that most people can become conscious of their own thoughts and behaviors and then make positive changes to them. A persons thoughts are often the result of experience, and behavior is often influenced and prompted by these thoughts. (Clark, 2010) The Cognitive behavioral approach does not attribute the causes of criminal behavior solely to individual or psychological factors. It also takes into account the social conditions, which affect individual development, and is not in conflict with sociological explanations of criminal activity, such as those, which view such behavior as acquired from influential delinquent peer groups. (Vennard, Sugg, Hedderman, 1997) Since it is considered that such these behaviors are learned rather than inherited, offender programs that are cog nitive based are intended to teach offenders to face up to what they have done, to understand their motives and to develop new coping strategies and ways of controlling their behavior. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been found effective with juvenile and adult offenders; substance abusing and violent offenders; and probationers, prisoners and parolees. In most cognitive behavioral therapy programs, offenders improve skills, means-ends problem solving, critical reasoning, moral reasoning, cognitive style, self-control, impulse management and self-efficacy. (Clark, 2010) Evidence-based practice (EBP) highlights the important role that agents have in offender outcome. For a treatment or program to be called evidence based, its effectiveness must be substantiated by a measurable outcome (e.g., decreased recidivism, increased public safety). In the past, rehabilitation was primarily the domain of mental health professionals, but EBP emphasizes that frontline staff, such as probation and parole officers, also have the opportunity to influence the change process. (Walters, Clark, Gingerich, Meltzer, 2007) Chronic behaviors are not resolved with some fixed amount or duration of treatment. As with substance abuse and mental health treatment, for example, an interim goal is to engage and retain the offender in treatment at an appropriate level of care and monitoring until the offender can successfully manage his or her own care and behavior. For many chronic offenders continuing care spans the period of at least six to nine months of intensive treatment fol lowed by a period of often longer aftercare. (Warren, 2007) The six principles of an effective EBP are: 1. The Risk Principle- The risk principle of effective intervention refers to the risk or probability that an offender will reoffend. It also identifies the risk level of those offenders who are the most appropriate targets of recidivism. Risk in this context does not refer to the seriousness of the crime or the likelihood that an offender will incur technical violations, but to the likelihood that the offender will commit another crime. 2. The Need Principle- Offenders typically have many needs, only some of which are associated with the risk of criminal behavior. The need principle of EBP identifies the most appropriate needs of offenders to target. Effective programs must target their criminogenic needs, i.e., those values, attitudes, or behaviors of the offender that are most closely associated with the likelihood of committing crime. The criminogenic needs most predictive of the likelihood of criminal behavior are: Low self-control, i.e., impulsive behavior Anti-social personality, i.e., callousness, lack of empathy Anti-social values, i.e., disassociation from the law-abiding community Criminal peers Substance abuse Dysfunctional family 3. Use of Risk/Needs Assessment Instruments-Determination of the degree of risk of reoffending that an offender presents, and of the offenders criminogenic needs, requires a careful assessment of relevant information about each offender. Often, determinations of risk are based solely on the nature of the offense committed and prior criminal history. Although both of these factors are legitimate risk factors, especially prior criminal history, they are not a sufficient basis for an accurate assessment. Offender characteristics are usually more predictive of whether an individual is likely to commit a future crime than offense characteristics. 4. The Treatment and Responsivity Principles- The treatment principle of EBP combines the research findings that cognitive-behavioral programs rooted in social-learning theory are the most effective in reducing recidivism. A clear set of consequences, both positive and negative, is helpful to people in developing their sense of self-control, of responsibility for their own behaviors. Related research on human behavior indicates that people respond better, and maintain learned behaviors longer, when approached with carrots rather than sticks, rewards rather than punishments. 5. Motivation and Trust- Motivation to change on the part of the offender is an important starting place for behavioral change. Behavior change will only take place if the offender chooses to do so. Effective treatment professionals and probation officers are therefore often trained in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢motivational interviewingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬- (MI), a set of interpersonally sensitive communications techniques that effectively enhance intrinsic motivation for behavioral change by helping clients explore and resolve their ambivalence in a positive way. 6. Integration of Treatment and Community-Based Sanctions- Effectively utilize rehabilitation and treatment programs to reduce offender recidivism and promote public safety. Research clearly demonstrates that in the absence of treatment, neither punishment, nor incarceration, nor any other criminal sanction reduces recidivism, beyond the period of confinement, restraint, or surveillance. In fact, punishment and sanctions increase the likelihood of recidivism slightly, even when controlling for respective offender risk levels. Community-corrections programs based on EBP are not an alternative to appropriate punishment; they can often be combined with appropriate punishment. (Warren, 2007) Motivational interviewing grew out of the substance abuse and addiction treatment fields in the 1980s. At that time, research began to show that the widely accepted confrontational approaches to dealing with addicts simply were not successful. (Walters, Clark, Gingerich, Meltzer, 2007) Instead of confrontation, MI is a collaboration or partnership that is formed between the therapist and the person with the addiction, based on the addicts point of view and their experiences. This view of MI differences with earlier views on interventions. Previously, the idea was to confront the person with the addiction, and impose societys point of view about the persons addictive behavior. Today, this collaboration or partnership has the effect of building a rapport between the counselor and the person with the addiction, and allows the person with the addiction to develop trust towards the counselor, which was difficult in a confrontational atmosphere of the past. This does not mean that the cou nselor automatically agrees with the person with the addiction. Although the person with the addiction and their counselor may see things differently, the therapeutic process is focused on mutual understanding, not the counselor being right and the person with the addiction being wrong. A person is more likely to follow through with behavior he believes he has freely chosen and believes he can accomplish. MI is a person-centered method of fostering change by helping a person explore and resolve ambivalence. Rather than using external pressure, MI looks for ways to access internal motivation for change. It borrows from client-centered counseling in its emphasis on empathy, optimism, and respect for client choice. MI also draws from self-perception theory, which says that a person becomes more or less committed to an action based on the verbal stance he or she takes. Thus, an offender who talks about the benefits of change is more likely to make that change, whereas an offender who argues and defends the status quo is more likely to continue his present behavior. (Walters, Clark, Gingerich, Meltzer, 2007) Although MI suggests some tangible strategies, it is better thought of as a style of interaction that follows these basic principles: Express empathy. Empathy is about good rapport and a positive working environment. It is an attempt to understand the offenders mindset, even though the agent may not agree with the offenders point of view. Empathy also involves an effort to draw out concerns and reasons for change from the offender, instead of relying on the agents (or courts/boards) agenda as the sole persuasion strategy. Roll with resistance. Rolling with resistance means finding other ways to respond when the offender challenges the need for change. It is normal to have mixed feelings when thinking about change. Therefore, the agent does not argue with the offender. Develop discrepancy. Discrepancy is the feeling that ones current behavior is out of line with ones goals or values. Rather than telling the offender why he should change, the agent asks questions and makes statements to help the offender identify his own reasons for change. Support self-efficacy. A person is more likely to follow through with behavior that they believe they have freely chosen and believes they can accomplish. Therefore, the agent remains optimistic, reminds the offender of personal strengths and past successes, and affirms all efforts toward change. (Walters, Clark, Gingerich, Meltzer, 2007) The success of motivational interviewing is based on the belief that an offender that who talks about the benefits of change is more likely to make that change, whereas an offender who argues and defends the status quo is more likely to continue his present behavior. Shock Incarceration programs, popularly known as boot camps, are one of the most publicized intermediate sanction programs. Since the 1980s society has looked for ways to reduce the cost of housing offenders. The office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) thought they had the answer for teen offenders with juvenile boot camps. By 1996, 48 camps were in operation in several states. Congress had authorized $24.5 million for the states to open boot camps. By 1995, 52 juvenile boot camps were in operation housing an estimated 4,500 juveniles. (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) These boot camps have five main purposes: Deterrence Incapacitation Rehabilitation Punishment Cost control. Programs vary in size, duration, location, control of entry, the level of post-program supervision and in the level of training, education, or treatment programming provided. All are relatively brief (most are three to four months) and are designed for offenders who have not yet served time in a state prison. The programs draw on the model of a military style of boot camp. They stress strict discipline, obedience, regimentation, drill and ceremony, and physical conditioning, sometimes including manual labor. Shock programs participants are expected to learn self-discipline, teamwork and develop improved self-respect. Program participants are housed separately from the general prison population, although in some programs they are within sight and earshot of general population inmates. Often times these programs also incorporate drug and alcohol counseling, GED requirements, and anger management programs, social skill building, etc. Community corrections center are non-prison sanctions that are imposed on convicted adults or adjudicated juveniles by a court instead of a prison sentence or by a parole board following release from prison. Community corrections programs are usually operated by probation and parole agencies and the programs can include general community supervision as well as day reporting centers, halfway houses and other residential facilities, work release, and other community programs. The centers ease the transition for parolees and inmates who are nearing release. The centers provide a structured environment and a variety of supportive services, including counseling, employment assistance and drug and alcohol treatment. Community-based residential settings offering structure, supervision, surveillance, drug/alcohol treatment, educational and vocational programs, employment counseling, socialization and life skills programs, and community work transition, and/or forms of treatment and programs. Housing stability has long been related to success for persons who are on probation and parole. Experts have debated whether homelessness contributes to arrests and vice versa, but most agree that procuring offenders housing decreases recidivism and increases offender compliance. Housing stability has been related to preventing relapse for persons with a substance abuse history. Reentry projects that have helped create housing options for offenders are finding that obtaining housing is related to employment, sobriety and other individual assets. The ability of individuals to obtain housing, sobriety and employment builds personal resiliency and community assets. (Shilton Vail, 2005) Common reentry services include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Housing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Education à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Employment assistance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Peer mentoring or case management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Physical and mental health services à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Family reunification Over the last two decades, states have turned to community corrections programs to manage more offenders in the community in an effort to reduce prison and jail populations, reduce recidivism, and reduce costs within the criminal justice system. One type of community corrections program known as a day reporting center (DRC) has gained popularity as an alternative to incarceration as evidenced by the rapid increase in the number of programs operating nationwide. DRCs bring groups of parolees together from throughout a municipality or larger geographic area for supervision, services, and programming, and requires them to spend significant amounts of time together on a daily basis. (Boyle, Ragusa, Lanterman, Marcus, 2011) DRCs are non-residential facilities that offer offenders rehabilitative programming and daily supervision. Offenders assigned to DRCs generally report to the facility during daytime hours and return home at night when programming is complete. Typical DRCs can save age ncies on average of about $1,000 per offender, compared to the cost of incarceration. (Jones Lacey, 1999) To aid in reentry and reintegration, treatment programming available to offenders can include educational and/or vocational training, job placement services, drug abuse education and treatment, and life-skills training, among others. DRC programs offer an array of services designed to increase the success of the parolees reintegration into the community and parole adjustment. The services include, but are not limited to: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Transitional/sober living environments (housing shall not exceed 6 months and is provided to ten-percent of the parolees served) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Individual and group counseling à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Random breathalyzer and urinalysis testing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Substance abuse education à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Anger management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Domestic violence prevention and awareness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Educational/GED preparation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Job readiness and job search assistance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Cognitive and life skills development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Budgeting and money management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Aftercare Commonly as a condition of probation or parole, offenders are required to participate in community-based substance abuse treatment programs. The most common substances of abuse reported by probation or parole admissions were alcohol, marijuana, and methamphetamines; more than one half reported more than one substance of abuse at admission. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration , 2011) According to recent reports, 60 to 80 percent of prison and jail inmates, parolees, probationers, and arrestees were under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the commission of their offense, committed the offense to support a drug addiction, were charged with a drug- or alcohol-related crime, or are regular substance users. (Marlowe, 2003) Residential or In-Patient Programs usually require a commitment of at least 30 days and typically include room and board. Through intensive counseling and group interactions, addicts/alcoholics learn how to regain control of their lives using key recovery tools. Often, clients who have attempted outpatient treatment programs but have ultimately relapsed back into drug and alcohol use, or have found outpatient programs difficult to complete, achieve success in a residential program. Clients who require detoxification services due to concerns about withdrawal also benefit from residential programs, as detox services are often included as a part of a residential treatment program. The most effective programs regularly monitor clients substance use through random breathalyzer tests and urinalyses. Drug-free test results are met with rewards, such as reduced monitoring requirements, reduced criminal sanctions, or goods and services that support a productive lifestyle. Drug-positive results, on the other hand, are met with such sanctions as loss of privileges, increased counseling requirements, or a brief return to detention. Most drug and alcohol programs follow the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Drug Courts are a court supervised, treatment oriented program that targets non-violent participants whose major problems stem from substance abuse. The Drug Court Program is a voluntary program, which includes regular court appearances before the Drug Court Judge. Treatment includes drug testing, individual and group counseling, and regular attendance at 12-Step meetings. The probation officer and the treatment team may also assist with obtaining education and skills assessments and will provide referrals for vocational training, education, and/or job placement services. The program length, is usually determined by the participants progress, however should be no less than one year. Successful completion and graduation from the Drug Court Program may result in having probation terminated early. Hawaiis Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE), launched in 2004, by First Circuit Judge Steven Alm, is an experimental probation program that emphasizes the delivery of swift and certain punishment when a probationer violates conditions of probation. The HOPE program has seen remarkable success, and has gained the attention of several states, as a possible cost saving alternative in their states. The HOPE program has a strong theoretical basis. That swiftness and certainty outperform severity in the management of offending is a concept that dates back to 1764 to Cesar Beccarias, On Crimes and Punishment. The formula H.O.P.E. follows for controlling hard-drug use in the criminally active population is simple: (Hawkin, H.O.P.E. for Reform, 2007) Weekly randomized testing (or twice weekly scheduled testing), to eliminate any safe window for undetected drug use. Fixed sanctions on a set schedule: As little as two days in jail is adequate, so long as enforcement is reliable, with sentence length increasing gradually for successive violations. A formal warning to the probationer in open court, putting him on notice that violations have consequences. As short a time as possible between violations and sanctions. (For offenders with paycheck jobs, the first sanction could be deferred to the following weekend.) Quick service of bench warrants on those who abscond. Treatment services for those who prove unable to comply on their own. Under HOPE, probationers are given a color code at the warning hearing. Every morning, they must call a hot line to hear which color has been selected for that day. If it is their color, they must appear at the probation office before 2 p.m. for a drug test. If a HOPE probationer fails to appear for the drug test, a bench warrant is issued and served immediately. A probationer who fails the random drug test is immediately arrested and within 72 hours is brought before a judge. If the probationer is found to have violated the terms of probation, he or she is immediately sentenced to a short jail stay. Typically, the term is several days, servable on the weekend if the probationer is employed; sentences increase for successive violations. Violating terms of probation sends a consistent message to probationers about personal responsibility and accountability. (Hawkin Kleiman, 2009) HOPE has proven itself to be effective. While the program isnt perfect, its offenders have had a better track record than those in regular probation. NIJ-funded researchers evaluated HOPE to determine if it worked and results were positive. (Hawkin Kleiman, Managing Drug Involved Probationers with Swift and Certain Sanctions: Evaluating Hawaiis HOPE, 2009) Compared to probationers in a control group, after one year the HOPE probationers were: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Fifty-five percent less likely to be arrested for a new crime. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Seventy-two percent less likely to use drugs. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Sixty-one percent less likely to skip appointments with their supervisory officer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Fifty-three percent less likely to have their probation revoked. In Conclusion, this report only touches on the basics of Behavior modifications in use in probation and parole today. There is much more to the concept of behavior modification than meets the eye. While the success of behavior modification is not a new concept. In

Houdini :: History

Houdini Kendall, Lace Houdini Master of Escape Philadelphia: Macrae Smith Company, 1960, 187 pages. "Ladies and gentlemen, you can see there isn't anything up my sleeve."1 Erich Weiss states at the beginning of the book. Even as a child Erich Weiss, a.k.a. Harry Houdini, knows that his goal in life is to become a world famous illusionist. It was difficult for Erich's family being pilgrims from Europe. His father worked hard, but being from Germany and not knowing English made it difficult. "Promise me you will always look after your mother and see to it that she is never in want."2 Erich promises his father that he will look after his mother and other brothers. At the age of thirteen he decides to leave and join the circus. He journeys to Texas performing small, road-side shows on the way, but only gets half-way when he turns around. Erich realizes it's not his time. At the age of fifteen he moves with his family to New York. That is when he acquires his name, Harry Houdini. He dubs himself Houdini after the famous French magician Robert Houdin. In one of his small shows in New York he spills acid on the audience member's dress. Little did he know how much that would change his life. He offer to have his mother make a new dress for Miss Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. It was love at first sight. He and Bess are married at Coney Island the day he gives her the new dress. Often when I here of Houdini I think, and even have been told, that he died in an escape accident. That is not only untrue it is nowhere near his true means of death. During a performance one night he broke an ankle. That is when it all started. He began feeling worse everyday. He had stomach pains. He waited to late. He had a ruptured appendix and gangrene had set in. The doctors told him that he would not survive more that twelve hours. However he fought for seven days. He died at the age of fifty-two on October 31, 1926, Halloween. This book was like a time machine in that it let me see into the past. I not only got to live along with Mr. Harry Houdini, I got to visit the places he did through the words of Lace Kendall. The place I enjoyed most was New York City.

Growing Number of Kindergarten Franchises to Drive Revenues of China Preschool Industry: Ken Research Essay

The preschool market is the fastest growing sector of the education industry in China presently. Over the span of last seven years, the industry has grown at an annualized rate of 10. 3% from 2006. The industry showcased increasing revenues in the period of 2006-2012, owing to the inflating tuition fees charged by the growing number of the private kindergartens. The enrollment figures have also shown a progressive trend throughout the years, instigated by the growing market presence and awareness about the importance of the pre-primary education amongst masses. Kindergartens in China are responsible for providing both childcare and preschool education to the children aged 3-6 years. The transition of Chinese economy from publicly administered to market-run has put a great impact on the kindergarten market of the country. Private sector funded kindergartens have gained increasing hold over the overall market and had accounted for a dominant share in 2012. Rural areas of China host the maximum of the kindergartens which are primarily run by the education department or are publicly funded. However, with a rising number of private entities adopting the franchised business model to operate in the underpenetrated market of China preschool industry, the urban areas have showcased an increasing share of enrollments over the years. The preschool industry of China is characterized by a high degree of fragmentation with increasing number of players implementing acquisition expansion strategies to build on their market shares. RYB Education, Oriental BabyCare, Gymboree Play and Music are some of the chief brand names operating in the market. Other emerging players include Noah Education holdings, Beijing Hongying Education group, I Love Gym etc. A significant number of publicly led kindergartens also are prominent in China which includes players such as Huijia Kindergarten and Hong Huanlan Education Group. Increasing number of working mothers has led to an increasing demand for the kindergartens in the country. Additionally, the large population base of the country promises an increasing cohort of children aged under- six, which presents huge opportunities for the foreign and domestic investors to attain growing levels of revenues in coming years. Additionally, the talent-based trainings provided in the kindergartens of China, has also welcomed a growing number of children to participate in the preschool programs. However, the trend of bilingual kindergartens is being most prominently witnessed in this sector, stressing the growing importance of early language training, as preferred by parents. The report â€Å"China Pre-primary Education and Childcare Industry Outlook to 2017† provides detailed overview on the preschool industry from various perspectives. The report encloses a comprehensive analysis of the various segments of the market reflecting the present scenario and future growth affected by changing industry dynamics in coming years. Additionally, the report also entails information about the government rules and policies, rational analysis of the macroeconomic factors, along with the competitive landscape of the pre-primary education and childcare industry. The report will help industry consultants, companies and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to ongoing and expected trends in future. For more information on the industry research report please refer to the below mentioned link: http://www. kenresearch. com/education/pre-school-education/china-pre-primary-education-market-research-report/401-99. html.

Roman Government Compared to United States Government

Brooke BulfBulf 1 Mr. Vansant L. A 19 march 2013 The government from ancient Rome had a big impact on our modern government. Our senate is modeled after the Ancient Roman government. Although there are some similarities there are many differences between the Roman government and the U. S government. At first early Rome was ruled by kings and in 510 B. C Romans agreed that a king would never rule them again. The last king was the most unpopular because he ruled in the worst way. His name was Tarquinus. He ruled without telling the council his ideas. He also put to death anyone he pleased.The Romans drove Tarquinus out of Rome. One similarity from ancient Rome and our government is the Senate. For example a senator is a person from the government in Rome that is also in the modern government. Our Senators for the state of California are Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. A senator in the United States acts as a representative in Congress. There are two senators elected in each state t herefore there are 100 senator within the U. S. A senator in ancient Rome was a little different. Their senate was chosen from patricians’. Patricians were considered the upper class of Rome.Senators were usually relatives of past senators. They were also the people who made up the laws and controlled much of the spending. Although ancient Rome had senator the emperor was the ultimate ruler. Romans did not elect people to the senate. They were chosen from the Bulf 2 council and there were hundreds of senators. One of the differences in the government of the United States and ancient Rome is the United States has a two party system, Democrats and Republicans, but Romans had an emperor. Within our two party systems a president is elected into office and the Romans chose an emperor based on their social status.Our president serves a four-year term and no more than two terms. Emperors had no term limits and served for life. One of the similarities of the United States and ancient Rome includes their government started out as a republic. By definition a republic means, â€Å"A state in which  the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them. † The romans divided their citizens into citizens, noncitizens, and slaves. The citizens were then divided again into patricians and plebeians. These people had more right than the other noncitizens.There were also equestrians were rich men who served in the army. It was very possible to change ranks in Roman society. Equestrians could become senators and many roman citizens had slave ancestors. Some slave or freemen (ex-slaves) ran the civil service. Women in Rome were expected to be good wives and mothers. They were in charge of the life in the house. Girls were educated to primary level if at all. Wealthy woman enjoyed their independence. Large numbers of women were slaves. If you were wealthy it consist of play and scho ol. Some Roman fathers would educate their own children. A school day typically ran from dawn to noon.Some parents who were very poor couldn’t feed their children and they left them out to die. Family was vey important to the Romans. The paterfamiliases were wealthy Bulf 3 families. The husband had the power from life to death of his children. The men were the masters of the house and the family. During the day, they worked outside of the home. If you were a rich man you would begin your day by putting on a toga and eating breakfast with bread, cheese, honey, and water. A rich man would start his work by writing letters to other Romans, seeing clients, and going to the forum to meet other businessmen.Poor men were craftsmen, shopkeepers, or farmers. Also if you were a poor man you would start work at delight. Poor men only had bread for breakfast. Rome territory included an area that is now more than 30 countries. The size of The Roman Empire led to its fall. Since the area w as so huge, barbarian tribes started to invade the borders and slowly the Roman Empire fell. In fact Rome’s area was so large it was split into western and eastern empires with separate government and emperor for each territory. Rome covered most of Europe, most of North Africa, and some of Asia. That massive rea created problems for the Roman Empire which led to the western and eastern split. This made it easier to protect their land. Western Rome controlled Europe and North Africa including the city of Rome. Eastern Rome controlled Turkey and parts of Asia and included the city of Byzantium. In conclusion ancient Rome was a very interesting place with a government and normal life. Our government has both similarities and differences of the ancient Roman government. It was interesting to learn how large Rome was and the vast area that was hard to control. Based on what I learned I would prefer to be in the wealthy social status of ancient Rome.

Political Science- Democratic Theory of Peace

Political Science- Democratic Theory of Peace PAGE The Theory of Democratic PeaceThe theory of democratic peace argues that nation-states governed by democratic regimes do not tend to have conflicts with other democratic countries. This theory suggests that democracies never or rarely go to war with each other. Political scientists debate this theory and express opposing viewpoints to the question: do democracies fight each other?Among the proponents of the theory, several explanations have been offered for it: First, democracies are said to view non-democracies as threatening making it more likely to go to war with them; unlike a fellow democratic nation where a conflict would be solved peacefully. War is often considered to be inconsistent with democratic values. Democracies do not fight one another because it is morally and ethically the wrong thing to do. Second, democratic leaders must answer to its voters. This policy gives leaders an incentive to seek peaceful resolutions. Third, democratic nation-states are often more we ll off or wealthier than non-democratic nations.Originally from en.wikipedia; description page is/...Wealthier nations tend to avoid war because there is more to lose. And fourth, democracies trade heavily with each other making the will to go to war less likely. There would be no real gain for either nation. Also, in their foreign relations, nations will try to follow the same norms of conflict that characterize their domestic political processes. They expect the other side to resolve disputes through compromise and nonviolence.Thomas Paine appears to be the first person to describe the theory of democratic peace in Common Sense, written in 1776. Paine re. According to Paine Kings would declare war to in an effort to command respect and republics would not. In 1795, Immanuel Kant suggested the theory of democratic peace in his essay, Perceptual Peace. Kant believed that republics lack aggressors and that governments...

The Bastille, and its Role in the French Revolution

The Bastille, and its Role in the French Revolution The Bastille is one of the most famous fortifications in European history, almost entirely because of the central role it plays in the mythology of the French Revolution. Form and Prison A stone fortress based around eight circular towers with five foot thick walls, the Bastille was smaller than later paintings have made it look, but it was still a monolithic and imposing structure that reached to seventy-three feet in height. It was built in the fourteenth century to defend Paris against the English and started to be used as a prison in the reign of Charles VI. This was still its most (in)famous function by the era of Louis XVI, and the Bastille had seen a lot of prisoners across the years. Most people had been imprisoned on the orders of the king with any trial or defense and were either nobles who had acted against the interests of the court, Catholic dissidents, or writers who were deemed seditious and corrupting. There was also a notable number of people whose families had deemed them stray and appealed to the king to have locked up for their (family’s) sake. By the time of Louis XVI conditions in the Bastille were better than popularly portrayed. The dungeon cells, whose damp hastened illness, were no longer in use, and most prisoners were housed in the middle layers of the building, in cells sixteen feet across with rudimentary furniture, often with a window. Most prisoners were allowed to bring their own possessions, with the most famous example being the Marquis de Sade who bought a vast quantity of fixtures and fittings, as well as an entire library. Dogs and cats were also permitted, to eat any rats. The governor of the Bastille was given a fixed amount for each rank of prisoner each day, with the lowest being three livres a day for the poor (a figure still better than some Frenchmen lived on), and over five times that for high ranking prisoners. Drinking and smoking were also allowed, as were cards if you shared a cell. A Symbol of Despotism Given that people could end up in the Bastille without any trial, it’s easy to see how the fortress developed its reputation: a symbol of despotism, of the oppression of liberty, of censorship, or royal tyranny and torture. This was certainly the tone taken by writers before and during the revolution, who used the very certain presence of the Bastille as a physical embodiment of what they believed was wrong with the government. Writers, many of whom had been released from the Bastille, described it as a place of torture, of living burial, of body draining, mind-sapping hell. The Reality of Louis XVI’s Bastille This image of the Bastille during the reign of Louis XVI is now largely believed to have been an exaggeration, with a smaller number of prisoners treated better than the general public had been led to expect. While there was undoubtedly a major psychological impact to being kept in cells so thick you couldn’t hear other prisoners – best expressed in Linguet’s Memoirs of the Bastille – things had improved considerably, and some writers were able to view their imprisonment as career building rather than life ending. The Bastille had become a relic of a previous age; indeed, documents from the royal court shortly before the revolution reveal plans had already been developed to knock the Bastille down and replace it with public works, including a monument to Louis XVI and freedom. The Fall of the Bastille On July 14th, 1789, days into the French Revolution, a massive crowd of Parisians had just received arms and cannon from the Invalides. This uprising believed forces loyal to the crown would soon attack to try and coerce both Paris and the revolutionary National Assembly, and were seeking weapons to defend themselves. However, arms needed gunpowder, and much of that had been moved to the Bastille by the crown for safety. A crowd thus gathered around the fortress, fortified by both the urgent need for powder, but by hatred for almost everything they believed was wrong in France. The Bastille was unable to mount a long-term defense as, while it had a forbidding number of guns, it had few troops and only two days worth of supplies. The crowd sent representatives into the Bastille to order the guns and powder be handed over, and while the governor – de Launay – declined, he did remove the weapons from the ramparts. But when the representatives left, a surge from the crowd, an accident involving the drawbridge, and the panicked actions of the crowd and soldiers led to a skirmish. When several rebel soldiers arrived with cannon, de Launay decided it was best to seek some sort of compromise for his men and their honor, although he did consider detonating the powder and most of the surrounding area with it. The defenses were lowered and the crowd rushed in. Inside the crowd found just seven prisoners, including four forgers, two insane, and one stray aristocrat. This fact was not allowed to ruin the symbolic act of seizing such a major symbol of once all-powerful monarchy. However, as a number of the crowd had been killed in the fighting – later identified as eighty-three instantly, and fifteen later on from injuries – compared to just one of the garrison, the crowd’s anger demanded a sacrifice, and de Launay was picked. He was marched through Paris and then murdered, his head being displayed on a pike. Violence had bought the second major success of the revolution; this apparent justification would bring many more changes over the next few years. Aftermath The fall of the Bastille left the population of Paris with the gunpowder for their recently seized weapons, giving the revolutionary city the means to defend itself. Just as the Bastille had been a symbol of royal tyranny before it fell, so after it was swiftly transformed by publicity and opportunism into a symbol of freedom. Indeed the Bastille â€Å"was much more important in its â€Å"afterlife† than it ever had been as a working institution of the state. It gave shape and an image to all the vices against which the Revolution defined itself.† (Schama, Citizens, p. 408) The two insane prisoners were soon sent to an asylum, and by November a fevered effort had demolished most of the Bastille’s structure. The King, although encouraged by his confidants to leave for a border area and hopefully more loyal troops, conceded and pulled his forces away from Paris and began to accept the revolution. Bastille Day is still celebrated in France each year.

Writers of Term Papers

Writers of Term Papers Writers of Term Papers Writers of Term PapersA term paper is rather a complicated research project that requires sufficient experience in analyzing, writing, and presenting the project. That is why writers of term papers should develop a certain set of qualities and abilities. Do you want to know which ones? Then go ahead reading. Do not forget to read article on The Stolen Party term paper writing, how to write term papers, as well as guide on college entrance essay outline writing and how to write a good college essay .Writers of term papers should practice building sentences logically. One of the possible and rather effective methods to do it is to tape-record what you have written and then listen to the record made. You can also ask someone to read your paper to check whether your writing is consecutive and logical enough. Writers of term papers should be well informed on their research area. That is why it is important for writers of term papers to read as much information relevant to their research topic as possible. So, if for example, you are to write a term paper on hurricane Katrina, read all the possible information about hurricanes, watch videos and documentaries, listen to CNN reports, etc. Your professor will certainly appreciate your awareness of the subject, thus, you will have more chances to get an A+ grade.Writers of term papers should learn to be persuasive. The art of persuasiveness is not easy to learn, still, possible. To sound persuasively, it is important for term paper writers to avoid emotions while writing. Besides, emotions are inadmissible in academic writing, and if you want to master in the use of scientific language, you have to keep it in mind. The best and the most important tool that all writers of term papers should use to sound persuasively is argumentation. Make your argumentation reasonable and logical. Provide the reader with enough evidence to prove that your point of view is the only right.Writers of term papers should be able to develop strong and catchy thesis statements. Some writers of term papers confuse a thesis statement with a well known fact. The main difference between a generally known fact and a thesis statement is that a thesis statement is something that you personally consider to be truth while a commonly known fact is something that does not leave grounds for debates. This mistake can make a paper sound unskillfully and become the cause of a low grade. That is why it is of a great importance for writers of term papers to understand the difference between these two notions.Striving at self-perfection is the best way to success. That is why writers of term papers should strive at it.

Landscape Painting Description Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Landscape Painting Description - Essay Example The paper "Describe the landscape painting" aims to analyze the two drawings by two different artists, Chen Guan and Mi Wazhong. Seemingly, the artist was making an attempt to depict a connection between mountains and trees; this also indicates that the artist had proper environmental knowledge in the sense that: Mountainous regions are characterized by heavy rainfall; in these areas there tend to be excessive growth of trees especially at the foot of the mountain. Additionally, it is apparent that the artist is aware that the growth of trees cannot be supported by the steep slopes of any mountain. The artist did not draw tree on the steep slopes of the mountain; a scenario which may also indicate that the slopes are characterized by excessive soil erosion hence lack of tree. Consequently, the drawing depicts an attractive natural scenario that appeals to the viewers; sceneries of trees have usually been ascribed to a sense of relaxation to human mind. It also exposes the viewer to a situation of mental activity whereby; Apart from the trees and the mountains, there are also signs of fog that are evident on the mountain top as well as at the foot of the mountain around the tree tops. The fog might have been used by the artists to indicate that the region is characterized by very cold temperatures. Moreover, the fog may be an indication of high level of humidity experienced in the region. In order to provide his viewers with more detailed information, Mi Wazhong indicated shallow.

Reading response paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reading response paper - Essay Example Indeed, it acts as effective weapon of sexism, especially for women because they live in men dominant society where their personal desires play secondary role to the wider expectation from family and social institutions like marriage. Lesbians and even gays are not accepted and treated with overt and covert violence. Homophobia develops because their preferred sexual identity would make them social outcast and they would be deprived of family, financial aid, safety, community and also stripped of credibility! Most interestingly, as Pharr says, if women even ask for the right to equality vis-a-vis employment, wages, social status, they are liable to be treated as lesbians! Feminism for them is equivalent to man-hater and therefore not acceptable within the broader framework of conservative society. Women surrender their lesbian sexuality out fear and it is time that power and control of social fabric become more equitable. The reforms in the social institution of society must focus on the root cause and not the peripheral issues of women. (words:259) ‘Cat’ by Julie Blackwomon has touched the awareness of burgeoning sexuality amongst girls when they enter their teens. In fact, author has shown that gender differentiation and sexuality among children does not rear its dirty head till parental control become more emphatic and visible. In this case, the protagonist, ‘Cat’ is confused as to why her mother does not want her to play with neighborhood boys. Her insistence to befriend girls of her age, especially one like ‘Sheila’ makes Cat more rebellious. Her adolescence becomes a cause of shame as it would bring in physical changes that would make her gender differences more visible and may alter her relations with her friends who are boys. The author has shown how sexual awareness could challenge social norms imposed by dominant male bastion. The innocent love between two girlfriends gradually turns into sexual awareness leading to lesbian behavior. Indeed, it is very important aspect of our conservative society as it disapproves friendship between genders in adolescents. The restraining environment and parental control may lead girls to experiment their sexuality with themselves as was the case with Cat and Sheila. If children are not forced to segregate in their teens because of the gender, the need to experiment deviant sexual behavior could be averted or atleast minimized. It is important for parents to become more open in their explanation of sex and empower children with information. It would help children to confide their fears and their doubts with their parent rather than explore sexuality in secret and develop preferences which otherwise could have been avoided. (words: 262) ‘Older women: The realities’ by OWL or Older Women League is highly relevant article because it has shown that sacrifices made by women as carers within family are not appreciated by society, especially when they become old. It reveals that in America, women above the age of 65 and above live six years longer than men and mostly alone. Despite spending most of their life in caring for other, they are relatively poor in their old age and live in poverty, unable to support their physical and medical expenses. Due to their family constraints they have lower or no pension, insufficient Medicare and most importantly low social security because they were unable to pay for it during their short employment period. The

Case study-essay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case study- - Essay Example This leads to the production of the products to the markets while they target a special group. For example, the company is aware that the sick or the people who have health ailments take organic tea makes them come up the organic and maintain the company produce more tea making the group depend on them an remain as costumers. The company also supplied the products to hotels, to learning institution and the shops that market tea. The marketing director explains that the company is much better in the sense that the regulars stick with their products each time they would buy. The Numi tea organization treats the customers with a better option therefore; they had to develop a new market that would target another group of customers. The marketing manager of the group explains that the company’s major customer are the youth since the company mostly sold the products at the learning institutions and the prices were cheaper that all the students could afford. The management of the com pany is trying to come up with ways that they would come up with the best skill that will convince the people from different age groups such as the old. The tea product from Numi explains why the people keep asking at the coffee shops and the restaurants. This happens after a person tastes the tea in the sense that they go ahead and asks where they can obtain the tea or how to come up with tea. The advertisement of the company is all over Facebook and Twitter making the product grows fast across United States of America. Numi’s relationship with its customers The relationship with the producers in Numi is dismal in that they need to come up with a better way of relating the two parties. To Numi the consumers are better than the producers are because the concern on the producers is. Marketing relate well with the consumers since they have to convince the consumers on how to purchase the products frequently and have to buy their tea but not from another company. The company goe s miles ahead to advertise through various available means such as the internet and through the restaurants and coffee shops or the cafes. The producers’ collies with the company and the achievement of the company will eventually lead to the achievement of the producers. Technology and its relations with customers The company has adapted the current technology since they look up for better ways that will attract more customers to adept to their product. Currently Numi uses the tea products and the necessary skill that will lead to development of the tea company. For example, Numi takes advantage of the numerous populations that access the internet. This stimulates the management of the company in the sense that the company advertises its product online and the information get across numerous people. The company has taken advantage of the social media on the internet such as Twitter and Facebook. The company uses these social sites for the advertisements since numerous people across the world access them frequently. However, the management needs to come up with better ideas such as the creating of free posters and post them online or back their services by introducing other services such as the free deliveries. This service will encourage even customers from far countries or states to access the products. Suggestion on methods of data collection Several data collection methods For easy running

Loss in Baldwins Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Loss in Baldwins Music - Essay Example As the discussion highlights the reason why music is represented is his brother was jazz musician and his life takes a turn once he gets addicted to drugs. The story The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Hijuelo is almost similar to that of Baldwin’s. The stories are similar in many ways, as this story also revolves around a musician and his losses in life. In this story, Castillo, the main character loses his friends, brother and collaborators of his band. The loss is personal and similar to the one that Baldwin faces. Music plays a major role in this novel too, as Castillo is one of the most renowned musicians of the band, Mambo Kings. This paper outlines that when comparing these two novels, it is certain that music has been used as a toll to represent their loss in life. The next story, Accordion Crimes by Annie Proulx revolves around the instrument which survives for a longer period of time. This instrument’s journey is certainly remarkable, but the saddest part is the death of people who acquire the instrument. When compared to the other two stories, Accordion Crimes describes about the loss of people who sacrifice their life for the sake of music. The experience is societal, as many people, irrespective of their caste and creed are involved in this journey.

Financial Analysis of Durango Manufacturing Company Research Paper

Financial Analysis of Durango Manufacturing Company - Research Paper Example Durango Manufacturing Company is a firm that deals in manufacturing of a variety of products and the supply of industrial products. The firm deals in aircraft manufacturing, apparel manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, chemical and allied products, glass manufacturing, home and garden supplies, industrial importers and exporters, paper and pulp, railroad manufacturing, and other forms of manufacturing. The organization has in the past received Best Business Bureau (BBA) accreditation, which recognized their relentless commitment to making strenuous efforts of satisfying consumer complaints. The award considers the period of time the business has been in operation, the amount of information available concerning the business, and most importantly, there should be no consumer complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau (Csaszar, 2012). Durango manufacturing company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) does not have sufficient expertise in financial management and creating valu e for the firm’s various stakeholder groups. ... Corporate finance is crucial as it defines how organizations fund their activities and achieve their goals and objectives. Organizations are always faced with a dilemma between re-investing their excess revenues or using it to pay shareholder dividends. An ample financial literature is crucial as it enables chief executive officers to rationally appropriate the finances of an organization while maintaining high quality shareholder relations. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Durango manufacturing limited should seek financial training to enhance his financial literature. The firm is a large multinational firm with extensive financial implications. Also, the magnitude of its daily operations represents a relatively large financial risk that requires high-tech financial management expertise. Because of the complexity of the organization, the managing director should seek training in financial management or management accounting. Management accounting comprises the provision of finan cial information, as well as the financial advisor to a business (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2013). Financial management starts with the management of financial information (Bhat, 2008). Financial information refers to data like credit card numbers, account balances, credit ratings, and other monetary details concerning an organization, which are used in implementing various activities like credit assessment, loan transactions and sundry. The chief executive officer should know how to process financial information to safeguard Durango Manufacturing Company profile from bad publicity associated with financial misappropriations.  

Arguments against abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Arguments against abortion - Essay Example Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign." The aspect of abortion has been in vogue for centuries in all parts of the world and debated for and against ever since. While individuals arguing for abortion have been insistent on certain safety related issues and also often alleged business related factors, aspects against abortion too have various and even more credible grounds including religious, medical, legal, ethical and so on. While abortion is definitely a favourable decision in case of a medical emergency whereby at least the mother's life can be saved, in today's world abortion has actually become a matter of choice on various counts, and unfortunately, even a family planning tool. Across the country, people on both sides of abortion debate agree that women have a right to make informed decisions about their pregnancy. Women have a right to know what is right, safe and good for them and the child in the long run ethically, morally, medically and even psychologically. However, in honest opinion of this author, there are certain critical issues involved when terminating a pregnancy willingly, which may affect her for a long time. While there are adequate instances of medical practitioners and employers advising women regarding terminating pregnancies purely to save them monetarily through savings on maternity benefits, the abortion decision should not be taken under pressure from the employers. Unfortunately, even this happens far too often in modern world. "Coercive and unethical counselors lie to vulnerable women and pressure them. This has happened in some abortion clinics as well as some pregnancy care centers. Women have died from botched abortions, both before abortion was legalized and after, when it is supposed to be safe. After all, employers do not want to pay for maternity benefits or lose productivity when a mother takes time off to care for a newborn or sick child. "(Source: Feminists for Life, Serrin M. Foster, 1999) WHAT RELIGION SAYS Bible doesn't advocate anything against abortion for the basic reason that abortion was unthinkable in those days when a child was considered to be a gift from the god. Further, childlessness was seen as the greatest curse. Hence, there was no need to mention this aspect at all in the bible. However, "some verses appear to teach that if a woman gives birth prematurely, but the baby is not injured, then only a fine is appropriate. However, if the child dies then the law of retaliation (lex talionis) should be applied. In other words, killing an unborn baby would carry the same penalty as killing a born baby. A baby inside the womb has the same legal status as a baby outside the womb." (Arguments Against Abortion, Kerby Anderson, President of Probe Ministries International, 1997) Roman Catholicism: The popes have taught that abortion is

Financial Analysis of Durango Manufacturing Company Research Paper

Financial Analysis of Durango Manufacturing Company - Research Paper Example Durango Manufacturing Company is a firm that deals in manufacturing of a variety of products and the supply of industrial products. The firm deals in aircraft manufacturing, apparel manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, chemical and allied products, glass manufacturing, home and garden supplies, industrial importers and exporters, paper and pulp, railroad manufacturing, and other forms of manufacturing. The organization has in the past received Best Business Bureau (BBA) accreditation, which recognized their relentless commitment to making strenuous efforts of satisfying consumer complaints. The award considers the period of time the business has been in operation, the amount of information available concerning the business, and most importantly, there should be no consumer complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau (Csaszar, 2012). Durango manufacturing company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) does not have sufficient expertise in financial management and creating valu e for the firm’s various stakeholder groups. ... Corporate finance is crucial as it defines how organizations fund their activities and achieve their goals and objectives. Organizations are always faced with a dilemma between re-investing their excess revenues or using it to pay shareholder dividends. An ample financial literature is crucial as it enables chief executive officers to rationally appropriate the finances of an organization while maintaining high quality shareholder relations. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Durango manufacturing limited should seek financial training to enhance his financial literature. The firm is a large multinational firm with extensive financial implications. Also, the magnitude of its daily operations represents a relatively large financial risk that requires high-tech financial management expertise. Because of the complexity of the organization, the managing director should seek training in financial management or management accounting. Management accounting comprises the provision of finan cial information, as well as the financial advisor to a business (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2013). Financial management starts with the management of financial information (Bhat, 2008). Financial information refers to data like credit card numbers, account balances, credit ratings, and other monetary details concerning an organization, which are used in implementing various activities like credit assessment, loan transactions and sundry. The chief executive officer should know how to process financial information to safeguard Durango Manufacturing Company profile from bad publicity associated with financial misappropriations.  

Study abroad for Turkish students Essay Example for Free

Study abroad for Turkish students Essay From the later periods of Ottoman Empire, generally, Turkish students have a dream about having their education in abroad. Taking an education in foreign countries seems to be very advantageous for Turkish students because improved social structure and modern cities attracts their attention. Although foreign education standards seem to be attractive, they have a lot of disadvantages. The main disadvantages of study abroad for Turkish students are low education standards in state universities and high education costs. Low education standards in foreign state universities are a disadvantage for Turkish students, because abroad universities can not provide adequate education standards for them. First, as a consequence of professors unmotivated mood, Turkish students can not have a chance to ask their questions about their lessons. Also, students from turkey unable to concentrate to their lectures because of lecture halls overcrowded circumstance. So, Turkish students are getting inadequate degrees. Second, Turkish students have to do lots of researches in their university but, if foreign universities fails to find a sponsorship to finance their researches there will be no research, as a result of lack of money. For instance, as mentioned in the Growing pains (2002) text New Zealand home universities and research centers lack inspiration and research funding. So, Turkish students in New Zealand Universities can not learn how to use a lab or experiments about their lectures. On the other hand, In Turkish universities professors can earn enough money and universities can support students researches from their own budgets. As a result Turkish students can get qualified education from their university. High education costs forces Turkish students to think about not only their education and future, but also their tuition fees and other expenses. In Turkey state universities are nearly free but in US State Universities students have to pay $3,700 for tuition, so this difference surprises their families who are supposed to finance their children; in addition, Turkish Private Universities are generally charged $10,000 per year but the top price of US private Universities can reach $30,000 per year, as a consequence study abroad concerns only rich Turkish families. Another  consequence is, students tried to earn money by working part-time, rarely full-time, to afford their tuition fees and share that burden, partly, from their . For example, a student who lives in Oxford has to work full-time as a waitress and parents but this affects their graduation grades. However, in Turkish universities, students can attend their classes without a fear about the university payments because there have been lots of scholarship types in every university and the tuition fees are prepared according to the average income of Turkish families. In Conclusion, low education standards and high education costs in abroad, makes Turkish students education difficult for them. Although some European countries have well-organized universities, they have some racial problems besides the money based problems, so Turkish students have to take their education in their own land.

The benefits of mental toughness in sport

The benefits of mental toughness in sport ABSTRACT On the basis of advantages that a mental toughness can offer to a performer, the study was designed to develop the understanding of the components of mental toughness in sport. The purpose of this study was to identify the components of mental toughness as perceived by the researcher and was guided by the two questions, which are as follows: What are the components of mental toughness and To what degree those components of mental toughness are trainable or teachable to a particular player. 10 cricket players ageing from fourteen years of age to twenty years of age were selected for the research so that they have enough experience to answer the questions in the research. The procedure of this was that the research is based on the questionnaire of mental toughness given by Sparkes in 1998. Each participant had to fill the questionnaire for the purpose of evaluating the importance and trainability of twenty different components of mental toughness. INTRODUCTION Cricket is one of the most popular games having a very high viewership and followers. Cricket is basically a mental game that requires a lot of psychological skills in addition to basic playing skills. These skills make player a champion and different from ordinary player. He (champion) is able to display his psychological as well as playing skills during the course of the game. Among the various psychological skills, mental toughness is an important psychological factor that effect’s player’s performance in matches. Sometimes, cricket teams despite their talents lose their matches. The researches on these poor performance lead to the finding that the players in these teams lack mental toughness and the ability to bounce back from the setback of losses. There is an evident to prove it when cricket’s great legend Sir Vivian Richards attributed the Indian cricket team’s loss in West Indies during the cricket world cup 2007 in the first round as the lack of m ental toughness in Indian players. Loehr (1986), he popularised the term mental toughness in sports performance and contested that at least half of superior performances can be due to mental toughness. Mental toughness is regarded as the most important factor in sports to achieve the goals and perform excellent. Jones, Hanton and Connaughton (2002), they stated that mental toughness can be defined as having a natural or developed psychological edge that helps or enables a player to generally cope better than his opponents in many demands (competition, training) and specifically would be more consistent and better than the opponents in remaining focused and determined and goal oriented in his sport. Attributes of mental toughness (Sparkes 1998), he talked about twelve different attributes that a player should have to be ideally mentally tough performer. For further investigation of mental toughness, the following questions were developed to guide this research. What are the essential components of mental toughness as perceived by the cricketers? To what degree are these stated components of mental toughness are trainable or teachable? On the basis of these two major criteria, the player was asked the following questions: I can bounce back from the from the set back as a result of increased determination to succeed. I have an unshakable self belief that i possess the unique qualities that make me better than my opponents. I have an insatiable desire and internalised motive to succeed. I remain fully focused on the task in hand in the face of competition- specific distractions. I am able to regain psychological control if facing uncontrollable situations. I can push back the boundaries of emotional and physical pain, while still maintaining techniques and effort in distress in training and competition. I accept that competition anxiety is inevitable and knowing that i can cope with it. I don’t get adversely affected by other’s good or the bad performances. I can thrive on the pressure of competition. I remain fully focused in the face of personal life distractions REVIEW OF LITERATURE The present study was undertaken to explore the physiological profile of the cricket players and to find to what degree their mental toughness, goal orientation actually helps them in their performances. The result showed that there is no significant correlation between mental toughness and different types of goal orientation i.e. task orientation and ego orientation. At the same time, the motivation dimension of mental toughness was found to be significantly related to both ego and goal orientation. (Duda and Hall,2001) Moreover task orientation has been found to be positively associated with various indicators of motivation, including intrinsic motivation positive affect and the tendency to seek out the new and challenging experiences and to try hard in difficult situations. (Ntoumanis and Biddle, 1999) â€Å"The general lack of clarity and precision surrounding the term mental toughness is unfortunate, since it ism arguably one of the most important physiological attributes in achieving performance excellence. (Jones, 2002) Another study conducted by researchers stated that mental toughness is an important physiological characteristic of the game. (Gould, 1987, 1993 and 2002); (Williams, 1998);( Jones, 2002) â€Å"It appears therefore, that virtually any desirable positive psychological characteristic associated with sporting success has been labelled as mental toughness at one time or the other†. (Jones,2002) METHOD This chapter will discuss the participants, procedure, analysis and instrument used in the study. This study involves both quantitative and qualitative measures of the components of the mental toughness of sportspersons. PARTICIPANTS This, study consisted of 10 male cricketers from the division 3 and 2 category of cricket teams in the city. A mix of different teams and players were chosen to increase the diversity of the group. Each participant was needed to have a minimum of three years of playing cricket so that they can answer the questions in their knowledgeable way. INSTRUMENTATION The instrument used in this study is the questionnaire comprised of twenty questions of mental toughness. These twenty questions comprised of twelve different components of mental toughness and eight components of preservance that were given by Sparkes in 1998. Each component was assessed by participants based on their perception of: The importance of including each component in the construct of mental toughness. The degree to which each component is trainable. The participants assessed both the importance and the degree to which the component is trainable, using a 5 point scale. Besides this two additional questions were also asked which are as follows: Are there other components of mental toughness that should be included which are not there in the questionnaire? Do you believe that there is any component that could be combined to form an individual, essential component of mental toughness? PROCEDURE When the questionnaire of mental toughness (Sparkes,1998) was adopted by the researcher, he then approached 10 different cricketers and asked them to fill up the questionnaire. Researcher also made sure that the identity of the players will be kept confidential i.e. it would not be disclosed to anyone. Researcher sat down with the players and asked them the questions and marked the answers himself. 1

Walt Whitman: Homoeroticism in Leaves of Grass Essay -- Poetry Analysi

Leaves of Grass is Walt Whitman’s life legacy and at the same time the most praised and condemned book of poetry. Although fearful of social scorn, there are several poems in Leaves of Grass that are more explicit in showing the homoerotic imagery, whereas there are several subtle – should I say â€Å"implicit† – images woven into the fabric of the book. It is not strange, then, that he created many different identities in order to remain safe. What Whitman faced in writing his poetry was the difficulty in describing and resonating manly and homosexual love. He was to find another voice of his, a rhetoric device, and his effort took two forms: simplified, and subverted word play. The first was to understand and render the experience in everyday terms, as in the poem Behold This Swarthy Face. Whitman puts emphasis on masculinity â€Å"in this swarthy face, these gray eyes† (149), and other words, too, are expressive enough to explain to the reader what kind of person is to be loved. What is not as subtle as in some other of Whitman’s poems is the idea in the second part of the poem: â€Å"And I on the crossing of the street or on the ship’s deck give a kiss in / return† (149) – the meeting of the two is to be recognized anywhere, be it on the street or on a ship's deck. When it comes to the second form, Davidson notices that â€Å"The other and far more prevalent form of presented homoerotic love was by means of terms of oppression, subversion† (54). Exemplar poem of this form is Not Heaving from My Ribb’d Breast Only. In it the lyrical subject is trapped in fears and must break out of suppression in order to be himself. In the end of the poem there is a sudden release: â€Å"O pulse of my life! / Need I that you exist and show yourself any more than in... ...d Bergman, David. Choosing Our Fathers: Gender and Identity in Whitman, Ashbery and Richard Howard. American Literary History 1.2 (1989): 383-403. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Davidson, Edward H.. The Presence of Walt Whitman. Journal of Aesthetic Education 17.4 (1983): 41-63. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Herrman, Steven B.. Walt Whitman and the Homoerotic Imagination. Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche 1.2 (2007): 16-47. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Maslan, Mark. Whitman and His Doubles: Division and Union in Leaves of Grass and Its Critics. American Literary History 6.1 (1994): 119-139. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Metzer, David. Reclaiming Walt: Marc Blitzstein’s Whitman Settings. Journal of the American Musicological Society 48.2 (1995): 240-271. JSTOR. Web. 29 March 2012. Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Pennsylvania: the Pennsylvania State University, 2007. Print.

Essay --

Kevin Cherry Animal Welfare and Rights There has recently been a lot of dispute between those who believe in animal welfare and those who believe in animal rights. Most farm animals today are raised in confinement on huge manufacturing systems that are more like factories than farms. Animal welfare is based on the belief that animals can contribute to humans by providing us with food, work, and entertainment. It also ensures that humans who work with animals follow those moral obligations to provide the animal well-being. Animal rights on the other hand is based on the belief that animals should have the same or similar rights to humans. Animal rights activists believe that humans have no right to use animals at all, no matter how humane their operations are. Animals have always played an important role in agriculture. Much concern for animal welfare is based on the belief that animals have the ability to feel and perceive what is happening to them. This is why it is considered that attention should be paid to their well-being. While the killing of animals for food does not n...

Social Networking and College Athletes

Freedom of Speech in College Athletics Brent Schrotenboer argues that the reputation of colleges is more important than the views and opinions of a student-athlete that attends such colleges. Student-athletes participating on the women’s soccer team at San Diego State University were suspended for posting inappropriate pictures and statuses on a social networking site. They were warned by their coach that a punishment would be issued upon their continuance of posting such statuses about consuming alcoholic beverages and criticisms of the soccer program.The students did not heed their coaches warning and were thus penalized for it. The student-athletes felt that the punishment violated their fundamental right of freedom of speech outlined in the Constitution. College administrators are desperately searching for a solution to this ongoing problem that allows anyone to access the postings of college students and athletes alike. Some colleges allow the discretion of college coache s to regulate their players’ social networking activities and others set regulations for all sports programs.The total prevention of the use of social media by college athletes should not be implemented by college administrators because alternative solutions exist such as programs that aid coaches in controlling students’ social activities, social media is a valuable tool for student-athletes to connect with their fans and the world, and criticism is a fundamental right owned by any citizen of the United States.As the issue of social networking in the college environment increases in difficulty, solutions to this debate have been researched, and one potential aid to coaches is the development of applications to help monitor student-athletes social media postings. Medcalf explains that Varsity Monitor is a firm that provides a computer application that allows schools to filter and identify problematic social media activity (â€Å"Policing†). Applications such as Varsity Monitor can greatly increase the power of coaches in regulating what their athletes post without encroaching on the right of freedom of speech.These applications do not prevent the athletes from posting inappropriate statuses, yet they allow the coaches to filter the statuses and delete them if warranted. This does not take away the freedom of speech because once the posts are up anyone can see them, so the act of free speech is upheld. If the coaches do not want the statuses to be continued to be seen however, they have the ability to delete them at their own discretion.The coaches should clearly include that the applications are being used in their code of conduct if one exists at the university or college so as to prevent discrepancies among players and coaches when the coaches use their application to delete a post. Social media is a very effective way for fans and peers of college athletes to connect with each other. It is also used to quickly convey news about the team or college from the players to the fans which is considered vitally important to the recipients of the news because they want to support their favorite team.Bruce Feldman interviewed Matt Barkley, USC’s starting quarterback who frequently uses twitter, and he stated â€Å"It’s my own words, my own thoughts that are coming directly from me, they (the media) can’t twist your words, because that’s exactly what you wrote† (â€Å"Social-media†). The social networks allow the athletes to voice their own opinion that is not altered by the media because what they post is exactly in their own words and it is not relayed to the public by a separate news writer or analyst.This is a valuable aspect of social networking to college athletes because it solidifies their right of freedom of speech, and it allows their true opinion to be relayed directly to their fans. This also means that student-athletes must take responsibility for their own posts, and be aware that a negative response from their fans and the public is a possible outcome in reaction to their posts. Criticism is an important factor included in the freedom of speech, and at times it can be very controversial.College athletes must be aware of what they post and they must consider if they post criticism that it may be risky. College coaches around the nation agree that student-athletes can be immature, and it is their responsibility to guide their players in what they say and do when in the public light. Zain Motani writes that we acknowledge that athletic departments and universities need to protect their brand, but at what point does this monitoring become Big Brother like and overstep the boundaries of what is and is not okay? (â€Å"The Use of Social Media†).Coaches should guide their players in what they say instead of over regulating their social networking policies in order to uphold the first amendment which includes the freedom of speech. Many colleges a nd universities agree that their reputations cannot be tainted under any circumstances and they will take any degree of action to prevent a scandal associated with their respected college. Many administrators have the opinion that the easiest way to prevent a scandal is to ban all social networking activity by student-athletes.Another policy that is being enforced at universities is that the players are required to give their passwords to their coaches. These policies violate the freedom of speech because it completely prevents players from expressing their own opinions. In this regard, college athletes are just like any citizen of the United States, and preventing them from using social networking sites takes away their constitutional right. The ongoing debate between coaches and their student-athletes seems monumentally difficult to resolve.Finding a solution that pleases both sides of the argument is a delicate procedure. New technologies should be researched that allow coaches a nd administrators to exercise their power of regulating what their athletes post without angering them. An application like Varsity Monitor can be implemented with improvements that give coaches the ability to monitor and regulate what their athletes post before they are submitted for the public to see unlike the present programs that only allow the deletion of already posted statuses and pictures.However, the use of these applications must be aware to the athletes and explained in detail in order to prevent misunderstanding between the two parties. Coaches can include what applications they are using and how they are using them in their original code of conduct that is signed by both coach and athlete. This can entirely prevent the posting of inappropriate statuses and pictures by student-athletes for good.

Project How Iim Students Improve Their Career

Two IIM-A grads shun Rs 1-cr offer AHMEDABAD: Declining pre-placement offers is nothing new for students of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, but declining the highest offers ever made in the institute has raised more than a few eyebrows. Two of the six second-year post-graduate programme students of IIM-Ahmedabad who were offered the position of associates by Deutsche Bank, declined it despite their salaries, in rupee terms, was more than Rs 1 crore. Debashish Chakravarty, one of the two students who refused the offer said, â€Å"I declined the offer because I wanted to be on my own. The challenge of entrepreneurship was more exciting for him than taking up a cushy job. â€Å"Three other classmates and I have planned to start our own business. We plan to start production and retailing of women's lingerie,† said Chakravarty, who was serving in the Army before taking voluntary retirement. Vineeta Singh, who too rejected the Deutsche Bank offer will be joining Chakravar ty, along with Bhushan Dabir and Vishal Prabhu Khan-olkar. â€Å"We did a detailed market research on women's lingerie and found huge customer dissatisfaction. We have a business plan ready,† said Chakravarty. The financing of the project is being negotiated with venture capitalists and if everything goes as per plan we hope to be in the market with our product by next year,† Chakravarty said. Source: http://timesofindia. indiatimes. com/articleshow/968988. cms IIM-A alumni run online CAT coaching Though the country’s six Indian Institutes of Management’s Admission Group have decided to make their Common Admission Test (CAT) online from next year, four alumni of IIM Ahmedabad have managed to beat their alma mater in the Net game. Four students of the Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management, who opted ut of the placement process in 2007, already have a Website that imparts online coaching for CAT. The foursome, Vineeta Singh, Bhusan Davir, Vishal Prabh ukhanolkar and Debashish Chakravarty, were in the news in 2007 for spurning high-paying job offers, to start a venture to manufacture a new range of lingerie. Though this new venture did not take off, they started a Website,www. tenaday. co. in, which provides online coaching for CAT. The venture currently has about 29,000 registered users, Prabhukhanolkar told the Hindustan Times on Tuesday. Presently, the venture is the only online CAT coaching portal in the country.Asked about what made them start an online CAT coaching site, Prabhukhanolkar said that the logistics of the admission examination was becoming a nightmare, due to the growing number of aspirants every year. â€Å"It was soon becoming imperative for the exam to go online some day,† he added. The online examination would be much easier to mange than the current system, Prabhukhanolkar said. An IIM-A source confirmed that the online examination would cut down administrative costs, involving people travelling to pl aces, and sending papers all over the country, with risks of leaks.The conventional examination can be conducted from a limited number centers while the online tests can be taken from anywhere. Source: http://www. hindustantimes. com/IIM-A-alumni-run-online-CAT-coaching/Article1-295258. aspx Past students return to IIM-A to recruit The Indian Institutes of Management are globally renowned as transformers of bright young students into enterprising adults capable of promoting, running and leading their businesses to success at world level. There have been several examples of IIM Alumni who have succeeded in India and abroad.Graduating students from IIMs often find themselves being offered multiple job postings at top-dollar salaries. While most students opt for such high-profile placements there are few who go ahead and promote their own enterprises. Here are four young alumni from the highly rated  Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad  (IIM-A) who passed out in 2007 and promo ted their own dotcom company who are  returning to the campus, this time to recruit. When they rejected their placement offerings of Rs. 80 lakh – one crore salary packages people were surprised, but the team was confident of breaking out into the market and making it big.And now the proof of the pudding is in the fact that they are back in the campus recruiting. They want highly talented, enthusiastic and hardworking business savvy IIM-A grads to take their company to new heights. The quartet include  Vishal Prabhukhanolkar,  Bhusan Davir,  Vineeta Singh  and  Debashish Chakravarty  who grouped together to promote ‘ten-a-day’, an online website which offers coaching for the CAT examination, the gateway to the IIMs and several other B-Schools in India. The venture operational online @  www. tenaday. co. in, has attracted over 22,000 fully registered users in just a year since promotion.According to the promoters the ventue needs more heads to make it big and none but IIM alumni will do. In less than a year the  website  has become the largest online CAT training and education preparation platform. The  modus operandi  of the website is simple, registered students are required to answer just 10 questions every day and generates a daily percentile rankings of the student. This is one way to monitor the students progress on a daily basis. This will enable students to know where they are lacking and work on the areas in which they are weak. The explanations and ten questions a day are free.But the detailed analyses of the answers and rankings and advising students on the areas they need to work to succeed in CAT are charged. Fees range from Rs. 210 onwards and is very affordable compared to other institutes across the country whose courses are priced anywhere between Rs. 5,000-14,000 for similar services. The annual CAT entrance test is written by nearly two lakh students every year. This number is poised to grow to six lakh in the next three years and sounds fantastic business opportunity for those who offer quality and effective training to students desirous of getting the coveted IIM seats.Tags:  CAT,  entrance test,  IIM,  website,  coaching,  online education,  Business Source : http://www. hellocompany. org/entry/past-students-return-to-iim-a-to-recruit/ It's raining money at the IIMs! Gaurav Dagaonkar passed out of IIM last year and instead of dancing to his employer's tune he decided to sing his own song. He opted out of placements to become a full time singer. A year later, he's giving the same advice to his juniors. Dagaonkar says, â€Å"It is essential for a person to start off as early as possible, So, that within two years you start networking with the right kind of people – you have people in place and you become confident. But everyone doesn't seem to agree. Ram Ganesh Aiyer passed out of IIM-A in 2004 but instead of starting off on his own, he worked for a cons ultancy firm for two years before starting off on his own and he recommends the same for his juniors. He explains, â€Å"It is good idea for students to have corporate exposure before starting on their own. Some reasons being, it helps to get more experience in the real world as against case studies that we do in these schools. † JOB ACCEPTANCE IN IIM-A Finance –  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  44% Consulting – 30% Marketing –   8% Operations  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 5% IT  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4% Strategy –  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3%Others –  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6%| | A recent trend suggests that the number of IIM graduates daring to start their own ventures is on a rise. While eight students opted out of placements from IIM-A last year, it's still early in the process. Sources say more than two dozen students presented theirbusiness ideas  to venture capitalists last month. With an entrepreurial fair, that wa s organized on campus for the first time, IIM-A is also encouraging students by allowing their former students (who have passed out over two years ago only) to participate in their placements. The trend is catching up in other IIMs as well.So, does  money  make the world go round? Well, IIM graduates this year proved otherwise. In an unprecedented trend, IIM students are turning down offers worth crores of rupees. To talk about the IIM placement quirks, here's what Debashish Chakravarty from IIM-Ahmedabad has to say. Debashish turned down a jaw-dropping one crore offer and plans to start a lingerie business. Also, discussing this issue of why IIM graduates are not tempted by hefty offers are IIM-Bangalore Professor Saurav Mukherjee and Partner at an human resources firm, Redilion, Vikram Bhardwaj. Excerpts from an interview given to CNBC-TV18Q: What was your motivation to opt out of placements and become an entrepreneur? Chakravarty: I have neither been an entrepreneur nor worke d in the corporate world. I was a major in the Indian army before joining this institute and coming here and learning a lot about management. I thought the most challenging future I could ever have was entrepreneurship – ie. building something of my own and getting a job wasn’t such an exciting idea but building a company, hiring people, doing something fruitful, I thought this was much more challenging and interesting, that is why I opted out of placements.Q: Are we seeing a similar trend in Bangalore? Mukherji: Last year, we had one student who decided to take the plunge but this year none of students as far as I know have walked out of placement, to have a start up of their own. So, I haven’t seen it as a trend in IIM-Bangalore and if anyone asks for my advice on choice – whether to start up their own company versus going through the placement process, and especially if the student is a fresher or relatively low in experience – then I would advi ce them to go and join an industry first, build up their network and gain experience and then be an entrepreneur.Q: You have been helping people to get into the corporate world, is it a pipe dream to become an entrepreneur immediately, or would you advice taking up a job? Bhardwaj: The aspirants from MBA institutes are realizing that despite high salaries, they are the first ones to be laid off if the environment changes in high volatile businesses like i-banking, and so they don’t mind setting this aside as a trade-off, against working independently.Q: IIM -Ahmedabad has promised this year that entrepreneurs like you, who for some reason, if your business doesn’t take off as expected in two years time, then you can once again opt for the placement process and join your juniors? Chakravarty: Yes, it is a good offer that the institute has come up with and it does offer reassurance to a candidate, who is still on edge, deciding on entrepreneurship and taking up a job. Ri ght now, in our batch, we have 11 students including freshers who are going into entrepreneurship and that is nearly 5% of the batch, and it is a strong rising trend. NEW RECRUITERS AT IIM-CING Optiver CIC International Bain & Co Value Partner(IIM-C: Highest international salary offered in 2006: $1,52,000)| | Q: How hard is it for people to get the cream of the talent from these campuses? Bhardwaj: It is getting harder by the day and Indian companies cannot even match the deep pockets, which global firms have and increasingly these MBA hirings are driven at a global level. So, they don’t mind paying a slight premium over what a  Wharton MBAwould get to an IIM graduate. It's not only the paypackets grabbed by IIM graduates that's increasing but also their entrepreneurial spirit.The placement process is not yet over but experts say that the number of students who opted out of placements to start off on their own, will definitely be the highest this year than ever before. FLOC KING TO IIM-B – 90 firms participated – Consultancies comprise 32% – Non-bank finance firms comprise 32% –  Marketing firms  comprise 14% – Overseas offers made: 60 – Sun Group offers Deepak Goyal VP position – Arcelor Mittal offers 2 GM posts in Trinidad Source: http://www. moneycontrol. com/news/business/its-raining-money-atiims_271556. htm