Ryman Is Famous For Customer Service Marketing Essay

Ryman Is Famous For Customer Service Marketing Essay Introduction Ryman is famous for customer service. Everyone who works at the 237 Ryman stores nationwide aims to deliver the best possible customer experience to everyone who visits the specialist stationery stores.   This is achieved through a number of routes, including the companys investment in training so that people in the stores have an in-depth knowledge of their product range. Employees feel valued by the organization that encourages them to come up with bright ideas that are then shared within the business.   As well as being the nations high street stationery specialist, many Ryman stores offer additional services to customers. For example, many stores have a photocopier machine for customers to use and all stores provide printed stationery.   Other services range from document binding, a fax service, a photo booth, laminating, and a bulk copying service. Some stores usually based in the larger cities have a Copy Shop where all these services are offered. There are four Ryman stores that also have a Post Office. Industrial Plan Industry analysis is a tool that facilitates a companys understanding of its position relative to other companies that produce similar products or services. Understanding the forces at work in the overall industry is an important component of effective strategic planning. Industry analysis enables small business owners to identify the threats and opportunities facing their businesses, and to focus their resources on developing unique capabilities that could lead to a competitive advantage. Many small business owners and executives consider themselves at worst victims, and at best observers of what goes on in their industry. They sometimes fail to perceive that understanding your industry directly impacts your ability to succeed. Understanding your industry and anticipating its future trends and directions gives you the knowledge you need to react and control your portion of that industry, Kenneth J. Cook wrote in his book The AMA Complete Guide to Strategic Planning for Small Business.However, your analysis of this is significant only in a relative sense. Since both you and your competitors are in the same industry, the key is in finding the differing abilities between you and the competition in dealing with the industry forces that impact you. If you can identify abilities you have that are superior to competitors, you can use that ability to establish a competitive advantage. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis An industry analysis consists of three major elements: the underlying forces at work in the industry; the overall attractiveness of the industry; and the critical factors that determine a companys success within the industry. The premier model for analyzing the structure of industries was developed by Michael E. Porter in his classic 1980 book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Porters model shows that rivalry among firms in industry depends upon five forces: the potential for new competitors to enter the market; the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers; the availability of substitute goods; and the competitors and nature of competition. These factors are outlined below. INDUSTRY FORCES The first step in performing an industry analysis is to assess the impact of Porters five forces. The collective strength of these forces determines the ultimate profit potential in the industry, where profit potential is measured in terms of long term return on invested capital, Porter stated. The goal of competitive strategy for a business unit in an industry is to find a position in the industry where the company can best defend itself against these competitive forces or can influence them in its favor. Understanding the underlying forces determining the structure of the industry can highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a small business, show where strategic changes can make the greatest difference, and illuminate areas where industry trends may turn into opportunities or threats. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis EASE OF ENTRY Ease of entry refers to how easy or difficult it is for a new firm to begin competing in the industry. The ease of entry into an industry is important because it determines the likelihood that a company will face new competitors. In industries that are easy to enter, sources of competitive advantage tend to wane quickly. On the other hand, in industries that are difficult to enter, sources of competitive advantage last longer, and firms also tend to benefit from having a constant set of competitors. The ease of entry into an industry depends upon two factors: the reaction of existing competitors to new entrants; and the barriers to market entry that prevail in the industry. Existing competitors are most likely to react strongly against new entrants when there is a history of such behavior, when the competitors have invested substantial resources in the industry, and when the industry is characterized by slow growth. Some of the major barriers to market entry include economies of scale, high capital requirements, switching costs for the customer, limited access to the channels of distribution, a high degree of product differentiation, and restrictive government policies. POWER OF SUPPLIERS Suppliers can gain bargaining power within an industry through a number of different situations. For example, suppliers gain power when an industry relies on just a few suppliers, when there are no substitutes available for the suppliers product, when there are switching costs associated with changing suppliers, when each purchaser accounts for just a small portion of the suppliers business, and when suppliers have the resources to move forward in the chain of distribution and take on the role of their customers. Supplier power can affect the relationship between a small business and its customers by influencing the quality and price of the final product. All of these factors combined will affect your ability to compete, Cook noted. They will impact your ability to use your supplier relationship to establish competitive advantages with your customers. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis POWER OF BUYERS The reverse situation occurs when bargaining power rests in the hands of buyers. Powerful buyers can exert pressure on small businesses by demanding lower prices, higher quality, or additional services, or by playing competitors off one another. The power of buyers tends to increase when single customers account for large volumes of the businesss product, when a substitutes are available for the product, when the costs associated with switching suppliers are low, and when buyers possess the resources to move backward in the chain of distribution. AVAILABILITY OF SUBSTITUTES All firms in an industry are competing, in a broad sense, with industries producing substitute products. Substitutes limit the potential returns of an industry by placing a ceiling on the prices firms in the industry can profitably charge, Porter explained. Product substitution occurs when a small businesss customer comes to believe that a similar product can perform the same function at a better price. Substitution can be subtle-for example, insurance agents have gradually moved into the investment field formerly controlled by financial planners-or sudden-for example, compact disc technology has taken the place of vinyl record albums. The main defense available against substitution is product differentiation. By forming a deep understanding of the customer, some companies are able to create demand specifically for their products. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis COMPETITORS The battle you wage against competitors is one of the strongest industry forces with which you contend, according to Cook. Competitive battles can take the form of price wars, advertising campaigns, new product introductions, or expanded service offerings-all of which can reduce the profitability of firms within an industry. The intensity of competition tends to increase when an industry is characterized by a number of well-balanced competitors, a slow rate of industry growth, high fixed costs, or a lack of differentiation between products. Another factor increasing the intensity of competition is high exit barriers-including specialized assets, emotional ties, government or social restrictions, strategic inter-relationships with other business units, labor agreements, or other fixed costs-which make competitors stay and fight even when they find the industry unprofitable. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis http://kelas.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/porters-five-forces-model.jpg Production Plan Production planning is the function of establishing an overall level of output, called the production plan. The process also includes any other activities needed to satisfy current planned levels of sales, while meeting the firms general objectives regarding profit, productivity, lead times, and customer satisfaction, as expressed in the overall business plan. The managerial objective of production planning is to develop an integrated game plan where the operations portion is the production plan. This production plan, then, should link the firms strategic goals to operations (the production function) as well as coordinating operations with sales objectives, resource availability, and financial budgets. The production-planning process requires the comparison of sales requirements and production capabilities and the inclusion of budgets, pro forma financial statements, and supporting plans for materials and workforce requirements, as well as the production plan itself. A primary purpose of the production plan is to establish production rates that will achieve managements objective of satisfying customer demand. Demand satisfaction could be accomplished through the maintaining, raising, or lowering of inventories or backlogs, while keeping the workforce relatively stable. If the firm has implemented a just-in-time philosophy, the firm would utilize a chase strategy, which would mean satisfying customer demand while keeping inventories at a minimum level. The term production planning is really too limiting since the intent is not to purely produce a plan for the operations function. Because the plan affects many firm functions, it is normally prepared with information from marketing and coordinated with the functions of manufacturing, engineering, finance, materials, and so on. Another term, sales and operations planning, has recently come into use, more accurately representing the concern with coordinating several critical activities within the firm. The production plan also provides direct communication and consistent dialogue between the operations function and upper management, as well as between operations and the firms other functions. As such, the production plan must necessarily be stated in terms that are meaningful to all within the firm, not just the operations executive. Some firms state the production plan as the dollar value of total input (monthly, quarterly, etc.). Other firms may break the total output down by individual factories or major product lines. Still other firms state the plan in terms of total units for each product line. The key here is that the plan be stated in some homogeneous unit, commonly understood by all, that is also consistent with that used in other plans. PRODUCTION SCHEDULING The production schedule is derived from the production plan; it is a plan that authorized the operations function to produce a certain quantity of an item within a specified time frame. In a large firm, the production schedule is drawn in the production planning department, whereas, within a small firm, a production schedule could originate with a lone production scheduler or even a line supervisor. Production scheduling has three primary goals or objectives. The first involves due dates and avoiding late completion of jobs. The second goal involves throughput times; the firm wants to minimize the time a job spends in the system, from the opening of a shop order until it is closed or completed. The third goal concerns the utilization of work centers. Firms usually want to fully utilize costly equipment and personnel. Often, there is conflict among the three objectives. Excess capacity makes for better due-date performance and reduces throughput time but wreaks havoc on utilization. Releasing extra jobs to the shop can increase the utilization rate and perhaps improve due-date performance but tends to increase throughput time. Quite a few sequencing rules (for determining the sequence in which production orders are to be run in the production schedule) have appeared in research and in practice. Some well-known ones adapted from Vollmann, Berry, Whybark and Jacobs (2005) are presented in Operations Scheduling. THE PRODUCTION PLANNING AND PRODUCTION SCHEDULING INTERFACE There are fundamental differences in production planning and production scheduling. Planning models often utilize aggregate data, cover multiple stages in a medium-range time frame, in an effort to minimize total costs. Scheduling models use detailed information, usually for a single stage or facility over a short term horizon, in an effort to complete jobs in a timely manner. Despite these differences, planning and scheduling often have to be incorporated into a single framework, share information, and interact extensively with one another. They also may interact with other models such as forecasting models or facility location models. It should be noted that a major shift in direction has occurred in recent research on scheduling methods. Much of what was discussed was developed for job shops. As a result of innovations such as computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) and just-in-time (JIT), new processes being established in todays firms are designed to capture the benefits of repetitive manufacturing and continuous flow manufacturing. Therefore, much of the new scheduling research concerns new concepts and techniques for repetitive manufacturing-type operations. In addition, many of todays firms cannot plan and schedule only within the walls of their own factory as most are an entity with an overall supply chain. Supply chain management requires the coordination and integration of operations in all stages of the chain. If successive stages in a supply belong to the same firm, then these successive stages can be incorporated into a single planning and scheduling model. If not, constant interaction and information sharing are required to optimize the overall supply chain. productdevelpment Operational Plan An  operational planning  is a subset of strategic work plan. It describes short-term ways of achieving milestones and explains how, or what portion of, a strategic plan will be put into operation during a given operational period, in the case of commercial application, a fiscal year or another given budgetary term. An operational plan is the basis for, and justification of an annual operating budget request. Therefore, a five-year strategic plan would need five operational plans funded by five operating budgets. Operational plans should establish the activities and budgets for each part of the organization for the next 1 3 years. They link the strategic plan with the activities the organization will deliver and the resources required to deliver them. An operational plan draws directly from agency and program strategic plans to describe agency and program missions and goals, program objectives, and program activities. Like a strategic plan, an operational plan addresses four questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How do we get there? How do we measure our progress? The OP is both the first and the last step in preparing an operating budget request. As the first step, the OP provides a plan for resource allocation; as the last step, the OP may be modified to reflect policy decisions or financial changes made during the budget development process. Operational plans should be prepared by the people who will be involved in implementation. There is often a need for significant cross-departmental dialogue as plans created by one part of the organisation inevitably have implications for other parts. Operational plans should contain: clear objectives activities to be delivered quality standards desired outcomes staffing and resource requirements implementation timetables a process for monitoring progress. Helping Students   Budgeting can be difficult for students, which is why Ryman offers a discount on line of 12.5% for extra NUS customers. All you need to do is enter your card number in the shopping basket page or show your card in store.   If you are student but not a member of NUS Extra, you can receive a 10% discount in store if you show your student ID.   Helping those Looking for Gift Ideas   The great thing about stationery is that it is always useful, so it is an ideal gift for the practically-minded. You can now buy special pre-paid  gift cards  at various prices. Helping sport the Ryman League   Ryman are proud sponsors of the Isthmian Football League, called the Ryman League. The clubs are highly supportive of the companys charity fundraising and played with red footballs in support of the Red Nose Day and Sport Relief, as well as organising bucket collections.   Helping those in Need   The business has a great track record in supporting  good causes  and raised half a million pounds for Red Nose Day in 2009 and over  £225,000 for  Sport Relief  this year.   Employee fundraising is encouraged at all levels.   Ryman people   The companys dynamic Chief Executive Officer, Kypros Kyprianou, says that business should be fun, as well as being about making money. Perhaps this is why the company holds conferences for employees twice a year and encourages high performance through bonus schemes.   The high level of employee satisfaction might explain the low turnover of employees within the business, something that is very unusual within the competitive retail industry.   It is the belief of Chairman  Theo Paphitis, who is the Skillsmart Retail Apprentices Champion, that happy employees provide the best possible customer service.   All store employees have to be thoroughly trained before they can serve a customer, not least because they need to be aware of legislation relating to the sale of various goods. Training is then run on an on-going basis, resulting in employees joining the companys own Five Star Training program.   In addition, the company has just set up a Retail Academy that is currently training groups of store employees who are gaining a new qualification while working and so far the feedback has been very positive all round.   Ryman is a supporter of the  retail trust  charity which offers a confidential counselling service to retail employees.   Product Range and Sourcing   Product quality is important to Ryman and the company makes sure that all suppliers comply with the code of ethical trading (The Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code) and continues to monitor these standards on a regular basis. Like all forward-thinking companies, Ryman aims to minimize its carbon emissions and has put plans in place to achieve this important aim. Marketing plan A  marketing plan  is a business document written for the purpose of describing the current market position of a business and its  marketing strategy  for the period covered by the marketing plan. Marketing plans usually have a life of from one to five years. Purpose of a Marketing Plan The purpose of creating a marketing plan is to clearly show what steps will be undertaken to achieve the business marketing objectives. While some small business owners include their marketing plan as part of their overall business plan, if a business owner follows the recommended SBA format, parts of the marketing plan will be included in the various areas of the business plan. As an alternative, the marketing plan may be attached in its entirety as an appendix to a business plan. Whats in a Marketing Plan? A typical small business marketing plan might include a description of its competitors, the demand for the product or service, and the strengths and weaknesses from a market standpoint of both the business and its competitors. Other elements usually contained in a marketing plan include: Description of the product or service, including special features Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan Description of the business location, including advantages and disadvantages for marketing Pricing strategy Market segmentation (specializing in specific niche markets or, if mass marketing, how marketing strategy might differ between different segments, such as age groups). Behind the corporate objectives, which in themselves offer the main context for the marketing plan, will lie the corporate mission, which in turn provides the context for these corporate objectives. In a sales-oriented organization, the marketing planning function designs incentive pay plans to not only motivate and reward frontline staff fairly but also to align marketing activities with corporate mission. This corporate mission can be thought of as a definition of what the organization is, of what it does: Our business is. This definition should not be too narrow, or it will constrict the development of the organization; a too rigorous concentration on the view that We are in the business of making meat-scales, as IBM was during the early 1900s, might have limited its subsequent development into other areas. On the other hand, it should not be too wide or it will become meaningless; We want to make a profit is not too helpful in developing specific plans. Abell suggested that the definition should cover three dimensions: customer groups to be served, customer needs to be served, and technologies to be utilized. Thus, the definition of IBMs corporate mission in the 1940s might well have been: We are in the business of handling accounting information [customer need] for the larger US organizations [customer group] by means of punched cards  [technology]. Perhaps the most important factor in successful marketing is the corporate vision. Surprisingly, it is largely neglected by marketing textbooks, although not by the popular exponents of corporate strategy indeed, it was perhaps the main theme of the book by Peters and Waterman, in the form of their Super ordinate Goals. In Search of Excellence said: Nothing drives progress like the imagination. The idea precedes the deed.  If the organization in general, and its chief executive in particular, has a strong vision of where its future lies, then there is a good chance that the organization will achieve a strong position in its markets (and attain that future). This will be not least because its strategies will be consistent and will be supported by its staff at all levels. In this context, all of IBMs marketing activities were underpinned by its philosophy of customer service, a vision originally promoted by the charismatic Watson dynasty. The emphasis at this stage is on obtaining a complete and accurate picture. A traditional albeit product-based format for a brand reference book (or, indeed, a marketing facts book) was suggested by Godley more than three decades ago: Financial data-Facts for this section will come from  management accounting, costing and finance sections. Product data-From production, research and development. Sales and distribution data Sales, packaging, distribution sections. Advertising,  sales promotion, merchandising data Information from these departments. Market data and miscellany From  market research, who would in most cases act as a source for this information. His sources of data, however, assume the resources of a very large organization. In most organizations they would be obtained from a much smaller set of people (and not a few of them would be generated by the marketing manager alone). It is apparent that a marketing audit can be a complex process, but the aim is simple:  it is only to identify those existing (external and internal) factors which will have a significant impact on the future plans of the company.  It is clear that the  basic  material to be input to the marketing audit should be comprehensive. Accordingly, the best approach is to accumulate this material continuously, as and when it becomes available; since this avoids the otherwise heavy workload involved in collecting it as part of the regular, typically annual, planning process itself when time is usually at a premium. Even so, the first task of this  annual  process should be to check that the material held in the current  facts book  or  facts files  actually  is  comprehensive and accurate, and can form a sound basis for the marketing audit itself. The structure of the facts book will be designed to match the specific needs of the organization, but one simple format suggested by Malcolm McDonald may be applicable in many cases. This splits the material into three groups: Review of the marketing environment. A study of the organizations markets, customers, competitors and the overall economic, political, cultural and technical environment; covering developing trends, as well as the current situation. Review of the detailed marketing activity.  A study of the companys  marketing mix; in terms of the 7 Ps (see below) Review of the marketing system.  A study of the marketing organization,  marketing research  systems and the current marketing objectives and strategies. The last of these is too frequently ignored. The marketing system itself needs to be regularly questioned, because the validity of the whole marketing plan is reliant upon the accuracy of the input from this system, and `garbage in, garbage out applies with a vengeance. Portfolio planning.  In addition, the coordinated planning of the individual products and services can contribute towards the balanced portfolio. 80:20 rule.  To achieve the maximum impact, the marketing plan must be clear, concise and simple. It needs to concentrate on the 20 percent of products or services, and on the 20 percent of customers, which will account for 80 percent of the volume and 80 percent of the profit. 7 Ps: Product, Place, Price and Promotion, Physical Environment, People, Process. The 7 Ps can sometimes divert attention from the customer, but the framework they offer can be very useful in building the action plans. Financial plan A financial plan consists of sets of  financial statement  that forecast the resource implications of making business decisions. For example, a company that is deciding to expand e.g. by buying and fitting out a new factory will create a financial plan which considers the resources required and the financial performance that will justify their use. You can see from this statement that the financial plan will need to take into account sources of finance, costs of finance, costs of developing the project, as well as the revenues and likely profits to justify the expansion program.   Planning models may consist of thousands of calculations. Typically these plans will be constructed with the aid of forecasting models and spreadsheets that can calculate and recalculate figures such as profit, cash flows and balance sheets simply by changing the assumptions. For example, the business may want to do one set of calculations for low, medium, and high demand figures for its products. Financial plans Financial plans are typically made out for a given time period, e.g. one, three or five years. The length of the time considered depends on the importance of projecting into the future and the reliability of estimates the further we consider the future. Long-term plans are created for major strategic decisions made by a business such as: take over and merger activity expansion of capacity development of new products overseas expansion. In addition financial planning will be carried out for shorter time spans. For example, annual budgets will be created which can be analysed by month and by cost centre. Short term financial plans then provide targets for junior and middle management, and a measure against which actual performance can be monitored and controlled. In addition it is normal practice for a business to prepare a three- or five-year plan in less detail, which is updated annually. A  budget  is a short term financial plan. It is sometimes referred to as a plan expressed in money but it is more accurately described as a plan involving numbers. A cost centre is defined by CIMA as a production or service location, function, activity or item of equipment whose costs may be attributed to cost units. This Financial Plan template will help you to identify the: Types of labour costs to be incurred during the project Items of equipment needed to deliver the project Various materials needed by the project Unit costs for labor, equipment and materials Other costs types such as administration Amount of contingency needed You can then use the Financial Plan template to create a budget by: Calculating the total cost involved in completing the project Identifying the total cost of each project activity Creating a schedule of expenses Creating a project budget is an extremely important part in any project, as it gives you a  goal post  to aim for. This Financial Plan will help you meet that goal post, by giving you a clear process and template for creating a budget for your project. http://www.myrightplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Financial-planning-process.jpg

Willa Sibert Cather And His Works :: essays research papers

Willa Sibert Cather and His Works Willa Sibert Cather was an early twentieth century writer. She wrote about the qualities of courage, sensitivity, and perseverance. Most often, her novels and short stories took place in rural townships. She was born sometime in 1873, in her grandmother's house. She was named after an Aunt Willela who had died; however, she chose to believe that her name was derived from her grandparent's names. She was the first child of Charles Fectigue and Mary Cather. Willa was the oldest of the seven children. In 1877, Willa and her family moved out of Virginia to Nebraska. The Cather family had been living in Virginia for four generations. When she was nine, her father bought a ranch near Red Cloud, Nebraska. Willa was excited with this change, because she was free to roam outdoors. Willa would often listen to old ladies, and hear of their immigration from Bosnia and Sweden. There were no schools near the ranch, so Willa studied at home. A neighbor taught her Latin, and Willa would practice English skills by reading the classics to her grandmother. When Willa was in her teens, the family moved out of the ranch and into the village, where she attended Red Cloud High School. She attended the University of Nebraska, and graduated in 1895. As a student she worked as a journalist, copy editor, critic, and fiction writer. When she graduated, she moved back east to Pennsylvania. It was here where she worked on a Pittsburgh newspaper named The Library. She also taught English in a high school. Willa published "The Dance at Chevalier's," and four other short stories under a pen name of Henry Nicklemann. Another major publication for her was in April 1900, when "Eric Hermannson's Soul," was published in Cosmopolitan magazines. In 1903, The April Twilights, a collection of poems was published. In the Spring of 1905, publisher's Melbourne and Phillips brought out the Troll Garden, a collection of short stories. Willa then took time off from her writing. She took a month off to go home and visit her family in Nebraska. In 1907, Willa Cather sent Sara Jewett a letter that contained a story. This story would later appear in the April issue of Harper's. The story was entitled, "The Treasure of Car Island." It was a story of a man who comes home after an absence of 12 years, and the emotions and feelings he deals with upon returning home. Willa also continued to publish stories in McClure's magazine. In 1908 she became the magazine's managing editor. However, she resigned in 1912, because editing left her little free

daily language :: essays research papers

The way we talk and the language that we use is heavily influenced by the people we are around all the time. Due to our diverse culture, our population consists of many people who act and do things differently. This affects the way we talk to each other whether it be with friends or family. A person who grows up around a group of people who are very proper and speak eloquently tends to incorporate that into the way he or she talks. If a person grows up around people who curse constantly, obviously that person is going to grow up to use vulgar language. This is true in the case of Weaver, a M.F.A. candidate at George Mason University, who refers to his use of profanity in terms of self-identity, proclaiming, â€Å"So I grew up into who I am† (182). Scott Weaver grew up around his dad’s baseball team who constantly swore at every chance they got. Because he was around them all the time, the vulgarity that he heard everyday was incorporated into his language. Scott Weaver said, â€Å"I speak English adequately, Spanish horribly, and Profanity fluently. I thrive on it. I live through it. I’m only comfortable in class if the professor lets some curse words slip. Vulgar language is my home† (182). In a way I sort of grew up with the same kind of peers that Scott Weaver had. I went to school at La Salle Academy which is predominantly comprised of African Americans who have no problem saying the â€Å"N-word† to each other in practically every sentence. It is also happens to be an all boys school so with no girls for anyone to impress, the amount of cursing is out of control. Since I went to that school for four years, I have gotten used to all the cursing and have used it in my vocabulary as well. Although everyone around me would say the â€Å"N-word† it has never caught on with me. Since the word was so popular, Hispanic people would say it as well as white people who would try to â€Å"act black†. But no one would have a problem with it particularly because it is â€Å"cool to be black.† I don’t live or thrive on curse words myself like Scott Weaver but I use them a fair amount. Some even say that my cursing is multilingual. I speak English and slang fluently because most of my peers speak a lot of slang, as well as all the television and music that I am exposed to everyday.

Is Censorship Justified? Essay -- social issues

Is Censorship Justified? Ever wondered the reason behind racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, children committing crime or violence? The main reason is that censorship is not properly imposed or there is a need of censorship in the society. Censorship is the suppression of ideas and information that certain people, individual, groups or government officials find it objectionable, offensive or dangerous on others. There are varieties of other definitions but all have in common the concept of withholding information and/or resources from those who seek it. Hence censorship is essential in society to eliminate discrimination on basis of race and sex, protect children, maintain stability and restore what censor sees as lost moral values. Censorship occurs when expressive materials like books, magazines, movies, videos, music or work of art are restricted to particular audiences based on their age or other characteristics. (http://www.ala.org/oif/intellectualfreedeomandcensorship.html) Censorship is not a recent development. It wasn’t imposed properly or there weren’t strict regulations before. In the article â€Å"Hate Radio† by Patricia J. Williams, the writer says that radio was a powerful source of media. It had influenced a lot of people. The power of media can change the course of history. The host on the radio such as Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern were also influencing a lot of people. The theme was not merely the specific intolerance on hot topics as race and gender, but a much more general contempt for the world, a verbal stoning of anything different. Most of the audience on this radio shows were white and male. Most of the callers have spent their lives walling themselves off from any real experience with blacks, feminists, lesbians or gays. Rush Limbaugh tell his audience â€Å"what you believe inside, you can talk about it in the marketplace.† Unfortunately what’s inside is then mistaken for what’s outside, tr eated empirical and political reality. Most of the talks on the radio were being racist against the blacks. This had influenced so much that a statistics showed that 53 percent of people in America agree that blacks and Latinos are less intelligent than whites, and a majority believed that blacks are lazy, violent, welfare-dependent and unpatriotic. Hence this stereotype among the people was due to the lack of censorship.(Williams,502) ... ... between exposure to pornography and commission of violence, but this research was conducted in 1993 which is now outdated. Another point, which she emphasized, was that a greater availability of sexually explicit material seems to correlate with higher indices of gender equality. But when the sexually explicit material shows the subordination of women or women presented as sexual object who enjoy pain or humiliation, how can they be equal as men when the men are shown as the gender that enjoys subordinating women. (Strossen,550). Feminist author Diana Russell notes in her book Rape and Marriage the correlation between deviant behavior (including abuse) and pornography. She also found that pornography leads men and women to experience conflict, suffering, and sexual dissatisfaction. (http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/porno.html) Hence censorship is essential in order to maintain peace and stability in the society. It will decrease the crime rates. Children can be exposed to sexual matters in school in a different manner as education. Excessive amount of sexual explicit material would surely be harmful. Censorship does not have a downside and it will be a better society.

Parental Involvement in Education Essay -- Parent Involvement in Educat

Parental involvement in education is a vital essential for creating a cooperative environment for the student to thrive and succeed in. When a student knows that he or she is receiving support both inside and outside the school, the chances of that child becoming responsible for and active in their education are more likely. I know that there can be difficulties including parents for many reasons. Such parents may be too busy, uninterested or just feel helpless. However, as an educator, I will still have an obligation to reach out to these parents and assist them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is important to start the year off making parental involvement a top priority. Establishing clear and open lines with the parent early in the year lays the foundation for successful communications later. This can be done in many different ways, such as with a phone call, an email, or a letter mailed or sent home via the students. When the first instance of communication is positive, it will aid in setting a positive tone for parental involvement throughout the whole school year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the initial contact, communication should remain constant. Also, remember that if all of the communication is about solving problems, the parent may feel attacked. Therefore, all communication should reflect concerns as well as successes and accomplishments regarding the child. Dialogue between the parent and teacher should be cooperative, helpful, and meaningful. Both p...

Osteoarthritis Essay

Osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease is defined as a form of arthritis in which one or many joints undergo degenerative changes, including subchondral bony sclerosis, loss of articular cartilage, and proliferation of bone spurs or osteophytes and cartilage in the joint, according to Mosby’s Medical Dictionary (Anderson, 2001). Bullock, on the other hand, defines osteoarthritis as destruction of the articular cartilage and subchondral bone with cyst and osteophyte formation (Bullock and Henze, 2000). Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis affecting more than 20 million people in the country (Shiel, 2008). Osteoarthritis is usually acquired by the elderly (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). In males, there is a greater chance of contracting osteoarthritis before the age of 45, while in females, the greater chance is after the age of 45 (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Osteoarthritis can be called primary osteoarthritis when there is no known cause, or it has an idiopathic etiology and it is called secondary osteoarthritis when it is caused by another underlying disease condition (Shiel, 2008). Risk factors that can predispose an individual to developing this disease condition are an increased age, obesity, previous joint damage, trauma to joint due to repetitive use, occupations that involve carpet installation, construction working, farming and sports injuries, anatomic deformity, and genetic susceptibility (Kaplan, 2007). Osteoarthritis most often targets weight bearing joints at the hips, knees and cervical and lumbar spinal area; it also affects finger joints, most especially those at the proximal and distal regions (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Osteoarthritis occurs when the articular cartilage matrix is depleted thus exposing the basic collagen structure (Bullock and Henze, 2000). Due to the stress of everyday usage of the affected joint, the articular cartilage matrix will try to spread this compression hydrostatically but will fail to do so. This will cause the collagen fibers to rupture and the articular cartilage will flake, fissure and erode (Bullock and Henze, 2000). The exposed subchondral bone will crack and the synovial fluid will enter the cracks towards the marrow, and subchondral cysts are formed (Bullock and Henze, 2000). Since the subchondral bone is already exposed, there will be proliferation of fibroblasts in order to form new bone in this area. The periosteal bone growth increases at the joint margins and at the attachment sites of ligament or tendons and will develop into bone spurs or ridges called osteophytes (Bullock and Henze, 2000). The development of osteophytes will lead to an increase in synovial capsule size which in turn causes limited movement (Bullock and Henze, 2000). Also, osteophyte formation will irritate nerve endings in the periosteum causing pain (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Both the pain and movement limitation causes functional impairment in and individual suffering from osteoarthritis (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Clinical manifestations of osteoarthritis include the symptoms of pain, most specifically joint pain, possibly due to an inflamed synovium, stretching of the joint capsule or ligaments, irritation of nerve endings in the periosteum over the osteophytes, trabecular microfracture, intraosseous hypertension, bursitis, tendonitis, and muscle spasm (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). There is stiffness which is usually experienced in the morning but has a less than fifteen minutes duration and can be lessened with movement (Gardner, 2005). The patient’s functional impairment is due to pain on movement and his or her limited motion is due to the structural changes in the joints and is seen as Heberden’s and Bouchard’s nodes (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Physical assessment for osteoarthritis will reveal tender and enlarged joints (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Diagnostic tests of choice will be an x-ray of the affected area and it will show narrowing of the joint space due to progressive loss of the cartilage (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Osteoarthritis can be managed with conservative treatment, pharmacologic treatment, and surgical management. Conservative treatment involves heat application, weight reduction if obese, joint rest and avoidance of overuse, use of orthotic devices to support the affected joints, and isometric and postural exercises (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Medications to give patients include an analgesic therapy and acetaminophen is the drug of choice, glucosamine and chondroitin can be given too, to improve tissue function (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004). Surgical management involves osteotomy, arthroplasty and tidal irrigation of the knee (Smeltzer and Bare, 2004).

Canadian Business Cycles

Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically, the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across the World's longest unfortified border. Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care, and education, social services, and economic competitiveness, as well as responding to the particular concerns of predominantly francophone Quebec. In addition, Canada also aims to develop its diverse energy resources while maintaining its commitment to the environment.Canada is a well-developed country that resembles the United States in its market oriented economic system. This system is characterized by the private ownership of resources and the use of markets and prices to coordinate and direct economic activity. It is an industrial society in the trillion-dollar class, and is currently The United States most important trading partne r. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban.The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US. Canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with the US, which absorbs about three-fourths of Canadian exports each year. Canada is the US's largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, gas, uranium, and electric power. Given its great natural resources, skilled labor force, and modern capital plant, Canada enjoyed solid economic growth from 1993 through 2007.The proceeds from the global economic crisis, dropped into a sharp recession in the final months of 2008 and Ottawa posted its first fiscal deficit in 2009 after 12 years of surplus. Canada's major banks, however, emerged from the fin ancial crisis of 2008-09 among the strongest in the world, owing to the financial sector's tradition of conservative lending practices and strong capitalization. During 2010, Canada's economy grew only 3%, due to decreased global demand and a highly valued. The chart below shows a clear understanding of how the GDP rates were affected: †¢GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) 1. 335 trillion (2010 est. ) $1. 297 trillion (2009 est. ) †¢GDP (Official Exchange Rate) $1. 564 trillion (2010 est. ) †¢GDP (Real Growth Rate) 3% (2010 est. ) -2. 5% (2009 est. ) †¢GDP Per Capita (PPP) $39,600 (2010 est. ) †¢GDP Composition by Sector Agriculture: 2% Industry: 20% Services: 78% (2010 est. ) †¢Labor force 18. 59 million (2010 est. ) Inflation rates are the rate at which prices for goods and services increase and measures against the standard level of purchasing power of the dollar.The main source of measured data is through Consumer Price Index. The inflation rate in Canada was last reported at 3. 3 percent in March of 2011. Between 1915 and 2010, Canada’s Inflation Rate averaged 3. 26 percent. The highest rate of Inflation was reported in June of 1920 at 21. 60 percent, and the lowest was reported in June of 1921 at -17. 80 percent. The Public service is a term used to describe services that are provided by the Government to its citizens. They are generally provided through a public sector. These services are provided free of charge.In addition, public services are offered to protect the welfare of citizens and are available to everyone regardless of income. It is often associated with human rights. Also, through public service are public goods which are non-rival and non-excludable. This means that everyone may benefit simultaneously and no one may be denied access. Canada has public police forces that enforce laws, maintain safety and fight crime. The military branches in Canada consist of Land Forces Command, Maritime Command, Air Command, and Canada Command which is homeland security.Canada is a member of the Nato Alliance and its military services are regulated by the 1950 National Defense Act and the 1968 Canadian Forces Reorganization Act. In 2005 public expenditures on education were estimated at 1. 1 percent of GDP. There are several government social programs such as family allowances, old-age security, universal health care and unemployment insurance, giving Canadians a high standard of living and desirable quality of life. Canada created a public school system in the 19th century and was established in all provinces except Quebec and Newfoundland. You can read also  Similarities and Conflicts in † a Streetcar Named Desire†In 2007 public expenditures on education were estimated at 4. 9 percent of GDP. They provide public transportation in the forms or subways, trains, streetcars and buses. Canada has a Public Health Agency that protects and improves the health of its citizens from illness and disease. Canada’s healthcare system provides coverage to all its citizens. This program is publicly funded and regulated by the federal government. All citizens are eligible for benefits regardless of medical history, existing conditions or income.They receive preventative care, medical treatments, dental care, access to hospitals and other medical services. Canada is also known to have the highest life expectancy and lowest infant mortality rate; it is said to be contributed to their healthcare system. The labor force is comprised of individuals who are above the age of sixteen, who are not institutionalized and inclu des both employed and unemployed. Canada performs a monthly Labor Force Survey which estimates the rate of employment and unemployment. The results allow aid in measuring the performance of its economy.The unemployment rate in Canada was last reported at 7. 6 percent in April of 2011, a rise by 58,000 from the previous two months. Between 1976 and 2010, Canada’s Unemployment Rate averaged 8. 53 percent. The highest rate of Unemployment was reported in December of 1982 at 13. 10 percent, and the lowest was reported in September of 2007 at 5. 90 percent. Over the past year, employment in the public sector has grown by 2. 8 percent. The Canadian business cycles mostly compares to the one of the United States of America.The Canadian and U. S economies are highly integrated and have an abundant correlation between the two. These two economies correspond with each other through strong trade and financial linkages. The United States accounts for over three quarters of Canadian expor ts, and are an important source of financing for Canadian firms. There are four stages of business cycles which are Expansion, Recession, Trough, and Recovery. The most relevant business cycle Canada is in right now is considered to be Expansion. Why Expansion?Some may say more of a recession, but the main reason is because Canada between 2003 and 2009 went through its trough. Now Canada is moving to its peak where business activity and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expands until it reaches its peak. Canadian business cycles are led through a series of shocks where situations in which events don’t meet expectations. One negative shock highly related to the United States playing a major role because Canada being a net exporter of commodities, in which they suffered from negative terms of trade and wealth effects as world commodity prices started to decline.The fall of U. S demand for tradable goods decreased the demand of Canadian Exports. As a consequence, the decline in the w orld commodity prices contributes to the fall in the Canadian businesses net worth, which creates additional pressure on Canadian Investment. This is a prime example of how the country went into a recession. On the other hand, Canada is now facing some positive results from their expansionary business cycle. Most recent statistics show that the domestic demand trade in billions of retail went up 3. 7 percent. The wholesale trade went up about 7 percent since last year.Another important factor of Canada expanding shows the Exports rising to about 7. 7 percent and imports up to about 9. 1 percent. These simple statistics exemplifies how the Country is progressing. Since the late 1980s until the year 2000, the Canadian Federal economic policy was influenced by two goals which were to eliminate the federal deficit and to reduce the total debt relative to economic output and to maintain the control over inflation. Of course they wanted to keep this expansionary fiscal policy alive but, w ith world economic situations recessions are sometimes expected.During the 2008-09 global recessions, Canada’s economy suffered a major decline in real GDP which fell by 5. 4 percent which was the largest drop since 1991. Now in January 2009, the Canadian federal government released its budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year titles Canada’s economic Action Plan. Still keeping its commitment for fiscal management as the key long term economic stability, there was a shift towards the expansionary fiscal policy and stimulus spending to try to stabilize the Canadian economy. Similar to the U.S stimulus package, Canada also got involved in a stimulus package which dealt with income tax reductions, and focused merely on the demand of the Canadian economy. Some contents of the package focused on the Canadian skills and transition strategy, which provided support to those who lost they jobs seeking new skills, training, and development. Another positive aspect of the package allow ed the government to provide 7. 8 billion in the form of tax credits and spending advantages to stimulate the housing market and construction.These are just a few examples of how the Canadian government temporarily tried and of course are still trying today to get the economy back on its feet. Of course, since Canada is now focusing its basis on the expansionary fiscal policy, government spending is at its high and taxation is at its low. How is the Canadian government affording all of this? Canada’s budget retains the federal government’s commitment to fiscal management and balanced budgets as a key aspect of the long term economic policy. Well of course the debt levels are very high at this point and of course a major risk is taken place.For example, in 2009-2010, TD bank reported as an estimate that Canada would hold about 170 billion in debt within that one year. But, it turned out to be that the government’s debt rose to about 463 billion. This shows that t he large spending to help could maybe hurt them in the long run, but they still have time to get out of it. The Bank of Canada is the Canadian central bank. This was created during the Great depression out of the Bank of Canada Act of 1934. The cause of the creation led to the country’s political climate at the time which was very poor.The bank of Canada is responsible for managing of government funds and the public debt as well as keeping inflation low and stable. Today, the Bank of Canada’s main monetary policy is to keep the inflation rates between 1% and 3% through its power on determining the interest rates paid on the borrowed money. The bank projects economic growth of 2. 9% in 2011, 2. 6% in 2012, and 2. 1% in 2013. If this hypothesis does work out, Canada will be expected to be running at full capacity in the year of 2014. The Bank carries out monetary policy by influencing short-term interest rates.It does this by raising and lowering the target for the overn ight rate. The overnight rate is the interest rate at which major financial institutions borrow and lend one-day or overnight funds among them; the Bank sets a target level for that rate. This target for the overnight rate is often referred to as the Bank's key interest rate or key policy rate. Changes in the target for the overnight rate influence other interest rates, such as those for consumer loans and mortgages. They can also affect the exchange rate of the Canadian dollar.In November 2000, the Bank introduced a system of eight fixed dates each year on which it announces whether or not it will change the key policy rate. Target for the overnight rate, recent data Date Target (%) Change (%) 12 April 20111. 00— 1 March 20111. 00— 18 January 20111. 00— 7 December 20101. 00— 19 October 20101. 00— 8 September 20101. 00+ 0. 25 20 July 20100. 75+ 0. 25 1 June 20100. 50+ 0. 25 Canada has been referred to as one of the strongest economies in the world. It prominent productions include the following: gold, silver, copper, nickel, lead, wood.In 1993, Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and the United States. This agreement allows free trade and eliminated tariffs and fees between the three North American countries. Canada has a Canadian-Dollar exchange rate index (CERI) which is a weighted average of exchange rates for the Canadian dollar against the currencies of Canada’s main trading countries. The six major trading countries measured in the CERI are the U. S. dollar, the European Union euro, the Japanese yen, the U. K. pound, the Chinese Yuan, and the Mexican peso.The Canadian dollar is usually a little weaker than the U. S. dollar. The United States consumes 75 percent of Canada’s exports annually. Canada is the United States largest foreign supplier of energy. To conclude, Canada is very high in correlation with the United States. They follow the same business models and both countries respectfully feed off each other. Canada is known for its exports in commodities and if there are any issues globally, for instance a recession, Canada will decline. Currently, Canada is at its climbing point out of its recession and is currently pushing for expansion.Canada’s main focus at this point is to grow and maintain a strong and healthy society, especially in the monetary aspect. Works Cited Statistics Canada. â€Å"Economy inputs and outputs† March 2009. 5 May 2011 Canadian Business. â€Å"Outlook 2007: Canada, by Province. January 2007†. 5 May 2011< http://www. canadianbusiness. com/article/14236–outlook-2007-canada-by-province> Index Mundi. â€Å"Canada Public Debt† June 2010. 5 May 2011< http://www. indexmundi. com/canada/public_debt. html> IBTIMES. â€Å"Canada employment picks up steam in April†. April 2011. 5 May 2011< http://www. indexmundi. com/canada/public_debt. html>