Crime Against Women in Ncr Essay

The Delhi-NCR region has thrown up numerous such instances of police apathy in rape cases. When asked to explain the rising instances of rape, the cops have invariably blamed the women, an array of extraneous factors or resorted to specious arguments instead of looking inwards and focusing on police reforms. The most disturbing aspect of this is the rank misogyny that underlies it. Crime against National Capital Region is alarming. Usually every day a single case of rape is reported in every city area of India. So it is wrong to say NCR alone. But The National Capital Region has become a hub for rapes and sexual assaults. In 2010, as many as 414 rape cases were reported in Delhi, the highest among 35 major cities in the country. At least three women were raped or molested in the national capital. A total of 128 cases of molestations and rapes were reported from Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad in the first 45 days of the year. Delhi/NCR Often been called the rape capital of India. Why is Delhi India’s most dangerous city for women? May be because Chaotic growth, bad policing and a judicial system close to collapse. Recently A 23-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and gang-raped in a moving car by a neighbor and his friends in Noida A woman was gang raped by five youths, who also thrashed her boyfriend in Kamla Nehru Nagar in Ghaziabad.  A 14-year old girl was raped by a neighbor in Mehrauli in south Delhi. And The 23-year-old Girl, who worked at a pub in a mall in Gurgaon, had alleged that she was sexually assaulted by a group of six men. In view of gang rape incidents recently in Gurgaon Police tells women Don’t work after 8pm: Deputy Commissioner P. C. Meena has issued many Do’s and Don’ts to women to avoid eve-teasing and molestation. What tops his list is the criteria that women should not be out in the public after 8 PM. As per to his orders, now shopping mall and pub owners and those running shops and commercial establishments have been asked to not to keep women employees on duty beyond 8 in the evening. If women employees are detained on duty after that, it should be with the permission of the Labour department. Instead of implementing stringent laws to curb the few rapists out there, the Gurgaon Police decided to uproot all the women from their work places by 8’o clock in the evening. This curfew clearly reflects the authority’s attitude towards women. There is an obvious attempt to restrain women’s freedom, but apart from that legitimizing 8 PM as the standard time for women to be out of the public areas has rather put them in more danger. Instead of ensuring for safety for women, the Gurgaon police have imposed limitations on them. He said women employee are deputed on duty during the night shift, that is, after 8PM, her safe transportation from her home to place of duty and vice versa will be the responsibility of the employer who will have to keep a daily record of the vehicle used, its registration number, time of departure, name of driver who is entrusted the task of picking up or dropping the women employees. Meena made it worse by stating that if these instructions were not followed, then case will be registered against the pub and mall owner as well. What the Gurgaon police seems to have did is giving a free pass to the rapists to do their thing post 8 in the night. Any woman now who is out after the official curfew of 8 would do nothing but ‘invite’ men to sexually harass her. The police forces have shed their responsibilities of making Gurgaon safer by playing the classic card of holding the women responsible for being raped. Who are responsible for all this Our society is deeply gendered Apart from physical abuses, psychological violence against women in the form of social insults, coercion in family, eve teasing in streets and public transports on daily basis is not less humiliating, On the reason behind such violence against women, he says that violent behavior against women does not erupt all of a sudden. Men and women undergo different process of socialization. Men take up gendered roles that by themselves involve domination and control, where as women are assigned roles that involve submission.†Moreover, women are portrayed as an inferior sex which is the reason why many go for female infanticide, rape, molestation.IN rape cases, where the victim does not come out and report due to fear of humiliation, social stigma etc. laws not strong enough One can ask that why such incidental are taking place? Doesn’t the govt have enough laws to stop such atrocities? Isn’t the society is not mature enough to deal with such things. Combined with a judicial system on the point of collapse, where cases routinely take years to be processed, and an almost total lack of modern forensic capability on the part of investigators, it is easy to see why the stringent rape laws are not a major deterrent. â€Å"Government needs to contemplate devising three-prong policy. Drastic change in our legal system, strengthening law enforcement agencies to deliver quicker results have to be backed by social reforms and investment in social sector.† he further added. Our Policing: One main reason behind the crime against women in NCR is Lack of Police personnel. We don’t have sufficient police personnel to tackle the criminals. About Half number of police personnel are deputed in the service of our minister. The other reason is the thinking of our police, A great number of policemen believe that what a woman wears is one of the reasons for rape. They say â€Å"do rapes really happen†? Many policemen are not even sure. Recognition of a crime as heinous as rape is something the police in the NCR do not appear to have come to terms with. Some of the Statement of our Policemen which shows their thinking. . Many cops think that it is ok to judge the victim of rape and blame them rather than dealing with the crime. But, what about the numerous 2 year olds who are raped? what about the young school girls who are raped? what did THEY do to bring it on themselves? So it’s time the police wake up and make public spaces safe for women. Ways to reduce Crime Against Women Changing the outlook of the society is the best way. But it is a very long process. For immediate results girls have to believe that they are still living in a very conservative society. The place where they are living or their friend circle is not their society. One has to consider the whole area / city where they are moving to reach their off/ college as a society and then judge it. Girls should act accordingly. I do believe that precaution is always better than cure. women should take as much precautions as they can specially when they are moving alone using a public transport or a two wheeler. Following steps Should be taken : 1. Police and Government Sensitivity: State agencies should stop ‘blaming the victim’ and shift the responsibility onto the state agencies mandated to protect women’s rights. They should refrain at all times from making any gender-insensitive statements and character assault of women. Strict actions should be taken against such statements be made in the public sphere. We demand respect and dignity of all women. 2. Monitoring: CCTV’s in rape prone areas in Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon. CCTV Should also be installed in parking, the place from where the women employees boarded the vehicle, there so that it can be ascertained that the woman was not lifted forcibly. 3. Increase in deployment of police: Immediate and sustainable preventive mechanisms should be designed and adopted in the National Capital Territory Region, which can act as a deterrent to future such incidents. This should also include, increasing the frequency of the patrolling of the PCR vans and increased traffic vigilance in all areas 4. Sexual assault prevention and redressal policy: The Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for sexual assault cases should be drafted with immediate effect and ensure that support from relevant other service providers (government & non-government) be effectively implemented in every case thereon. The SOPs should also ensure strict adherence for procedures to be followed and address any violations with strict actions thereon. Immediate actions against relevant police personnel on dereliction of duty should be made mandatory. Fast Track Courts on cases of Sexual Assault for immediate redressal and effective justice delivery to be ensured. 5. Women’s help lines: Emergency numbers like 1901 should be monitored by women – which makes it easier for the victim to explain her problem/situation. Victim’s privacy should be respected. These numbers should be advertised through posters and billboards in all three cities. 6. Workplace safety: The Government must ensure procedures for accountability in all workplace to follow strict safety mechanism. 7. Awareness: The state needs to campaign against sexual harassment – public messaging on women’s rights, shift male perspective of women, display hotlines and safety procedures all over the city. 8. Girls should Avoid Dangerous Situations: * Be aware of surroundings. Knowing where you are and who is around you may help you to find a way to get out of a bad situation. * Try to avoid isolated areas. It is more difficult to get help if no one is around. * Walk with purpose. Even if you don’t know where you are going, act like you do. * Trust your instincts. If a situation or location feels unsafe or uncomfortable, it probably isn’t the best place to be. * Make sure your cell phone is with you and charged and that you have cab money. * Try to think of an escape route. How would you try to get out of the room? Where are the doors? Windows? Are there people around who might be able to help you? Is there an emergency phone nearby? * If you and/or the other person have been drinking, you can say that you would rather wait until you both have your full judgment before doing anything you may regret later. Conclusion: The city being one of the most important metros of India should have been much secured for its citizens. However the main causes behind the increased crime rate in Delhi/NCR are the lack of awareness of its residents, careless approach of Delhi Police and indifference of Delhi chief minister who is herself a lady. Delhi police can put an end on the crime incidents by responding more promptly and sensibly to each and every case reported at the police stations. Also political intervention in criminal incidents should be strictly cut off to ensure the city’s safety and security.

Effects of premarital sex and early sexual relationships on teeenagers Essay

The present day unipolar system has left USA as the only super power capable of conducting or organizing political military action anywhere in the world.. However, hegemony is present in a system where there is a unipolar structure of influence to match the unipolar structure capabilities for example in the 1990s the United Nations was gradually displaced from its primary responsibility for maintaining peace and security in favour of a revitalized NATO which provided the multilateral cover for US military action in the Balkans. In the war aganst Iraq, the process was taken a step further as NATO was itself sidelined in favour of a coalition of the willing(Bull,2000;23). Politically, because all states recognize that it is in their overriding self-interest to maximize their power, that’s what Waltz says they do. To do anything else is crazy because a state without enough power is a vulnerable state. And, anyway, it is too scary for states not to try to maximize their power. For instance as China continues to expand its military spending $91.  5 billion in 2011,this only represents about one seventh of the total US defense budget(estimated to reach $663. 8 bilion by the end of the year)according to China: USA FOCUS a non profit organization based in Hong-Kong. Hence this is what Waltz calls the â€Å"security dilemma( waltz,1979:123). † He argues that when one state sees another state trying to increase its power to increase its security, it gets scared, feelsthreatened, and recognizes that it too must increase its power. But, of course, thatscares the other states, and basically there is this mad spiral in which all states are T rying to have more power than all other states. According to Waltz, this competition for power among states is not always as dangerous as it at first sounds. In the international system, every state is sovereign and this implies that sovereign states are not answerable to any higher power. When one sovereign state intervenes in another sovereign state monitoring the domestic affairs of that certain country, it shows the aspect of political hegemony. One good example is that of America which has been intervening in various sovereign states under the disguise of protecting human rights. In doing so it seems like America is becoming a police man of the world. A realist scholar Hobbes (1952) postulates that the powerful will always do what they want and the weak will always comply. In other respects politics and economy are said to have existed in two separate spheres and are not logically connected to one another. In the option of the Marxist and leftists writers on one hand politics and economics are intimately linked. The insatiable desire of capitalists for continuous accumulation has been the force behind the political endeavors in every capital economy state. According to the theory of hegemonic stability, as I am using it in this article, the creation and maintenance of an open and liberal world economy such as the one that has characterized most of the world economy since the end of World War II requires a powerful leader. This leader uses its power and influence to promote trade liberalisation and a stable international monetary system primarily in order to advance its own political and economic interests. The leader, however, can seldom coerce reluctant states to obey the rules of a liberal international economic order and must seek their co-operation. These other states co-operate with the hegemony because it is in their own economic and security interests to do so. For example, although the American hegemony played a crucial role in establishing and managing the world economy following World War 2, it did so with the strong co-operation of its Cold War. Coercion involves the study of threats and demands that encourage the adversary to either reverse its action or stop what it has been doing. Unlike Deterrence, which stresses the prevention of an attack or the use of threats by state A to dissuade its enemy, state B, from attacking, coercion consists of the use of threats by state A, or the coercer (e. g. state hegemony, NATO, UN), to reverse a n act of aggression by state B. To coerce a state, then, means to employ a range of diplomatic and military options. These may include economic/trade sanctions, blockades, embargoes, and precision air-strikes. The threat of exercising these options serves as either an inducement to the transgressor state to stop what it is doing, or as punishment for not taking the steps to comply with the coercer’s demands. Such options, therefore, reflect the costs and benefits of calculated threats, and are often referred to as ex ante demands. The ex ante mix of punishment and inducements, in this case, can either take the form of a carrot/stick or use for that approach.

Mcdonalds Operating Strategy Essay

Introduction McDonald?  ¦s, first started by Ray Krov, is now one of the most popular fast food restaurants across the world. They proudly serve more than 46 million customers in 59 different countries and have more than 30,000 different locations domestically and internationally (Food Service). The fast food industry is booming at a rapid rate, especially the healthy trend, with this in mind, McDonald?  ¦s has strategically plan to stay on top of their competitors by providing consumers with more options of healthy meals, cheaper prices, and better service. McDonald? ¦s is competitive in many categories; examples are price, quality, management and employee training, other categories will be explained throughout the preceding sections. Consumers trust McDonald?  ¦s products because they use many of the same trusted brands that families buy at local grocery stores. The only difference is that their shopping cart is a whole lot bigger. OPERATIONS COMPETITIVE STRATEGY McDonald?  ¦s Corporation competes in a challenging market segment by providing need-satisfying products to customers. In this segment, ineffective competitors often fail without proper strategies . To sustain its viability, the McDonald?  ¦s corporation employs an effective competitive strategy to make it stand out against competitors such as other fast food restaurants. McDonald?  ¦s competes on several bases, including cost, speed, and nutrition, their strongest priority is ?  §making customers happy (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 3). The company recently made drastic changes to its process by introducing the ?  §Made for You system (Chase). Competition Bases Speed McDonald?  ¦s competes on several bases mainly to ?  §make their customers happyby providing speedy, affordable, and nutritious foods. Through extensive market research and survey, the organization discovered that its customers desire speed as one of the restaurants?  ¦ top priorities. Therefore, McDonald?  ¦s vision aims to ?  §provide fast, friendly and accurate service (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 5). McDonald?  ¦s realizes that specific targets are necessary to measure the performance of speed, and continuously takes relevant measurements to compare actual performance with desired targets (measurements are detailed later in this report in the ?  §Quality Managementsection). To achieve efficient service times, the company utilizes proven, standardized training processes for its employees and new drive-thru layouts to reduce service times. Along with speed, McDonald?  ¦s also competes by offering prices at a low cost. Cost To offer high quality products at low cost, requires efficient processes throughout the entire McDonald?  ¦s organization. Once again, this goal is built into their vision statement when they claim that ?  §We will be the most efficient provider so that we can be the best value to the most people (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 5). McDonald? ¦s incorporates several avenues to provide great value to its customers: ? XOne strategy that the company has employed for many years is the value meal. The value meal allows customers to buy a sandwich, french fries, and beverage at a discount when purchased together. McDonald?  ¦s restaurants offer from seven to twelve value meals, both for their lunch menu and breakfast menu. ?XMore recently, McDonald?  ¦s began offering a value menu, consisting of many individual items costing only $1. 00 each. First tested in southern California, the value menu has proved to be very successful and has been since incorporated to the individual stores .? Some individual franchise owners choose to offer daily specials of special menu items, such as ?  §$0. 39 hamburger Wednesdays, or other similar specials. Big Mac Mondays are a popular regional promotion. Nutrition McDonald?  ¦s third main competitive base is nutrition. The organization understands that health trend is an increasingly popular trend therefore; the organization has recently focused extraordinary efforts to promote their new nutritious choices. Although not specifically built into the organization?  ¦s vision, McDonald?  ¦s has already introduced many options to achieve this goal: ? In the United States, ?  §Go-Active meals have been offered within the last few years. These meals include a salad, bottled water, and a ?  §step-o-meter to help customers keep track of how many steps they take a day. ?XOther countries have seen similar healthy options. The United Kingdom saw fresh fruit bags, containing apples and grapes, as an alternative to french fries (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 12). ?XNot only does McDonald?  ¦s care about its customers, but it is also considerate of its employees?  ¦ health. In Europe, the organization worked with external nutritionists to develop an ? Employee Guidebookwhich contains tips and nutrition information for healthy lifestyles (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 13). ?XMcDonald?  ¦s has assembled their Global Advisory Council on Balanced Lifestyles. This council consists of exercise & obesity specialists, environmentalists, and other professionals to ensure that McDonald?  ¦s takes appropriate steps in helping its customers achieve optimal health. ?XThe company is also utilizing technology to their advantage. The current McDonald?  ¦s website lets a user select any combination of menu items, place the items in the online bag, and conduct a nutritional analysis on their selections. The user can break down the analysis even further than a menu item, down individual condiments, including ketchup, pickles, etc. (?  §Bag a McMeal ). Not only has the company introduced many steps to ensure nutrition, but it will strive to continue the trend toward nutrition. McDonald?  ¦s plans to: add additional healthy menu options (fruits and vegetables); increase nutrition awareness among McDonald?  ¦s employees; conceive new ways to deliver nutrition information to its customers, and other actions (?  §McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide 13). Strongest Priority ? §At McDonald? ¦s, making customers happy is what our business is all about. And we know it takes a lot to make that happen. We work hard to provide every customer with a choice of meals and an experience that exceeds their expectations. The preceding statement is the quote which introduces McDonald?  ¦s Worldwide Corporate Social Responsibility Report (2004). Although the company strives to compete on several bases, their ambient goal is customer satisfactions. They reach this goal through a variety of efforts. McDonald?  ¦s visionary goal is to continually improve their organization. One example is the manager on duty task of completing a ?  §travel path every thirty minutes of his shift. During a travel path, the manager personally checks every aspect of the restaurant, including: the lobby area where customers eat; the restrooms; the grill area behind the counter; the walk-in refrigerators and freezers; the stock area; as well as the entire perimeter outside the restaurant (Phillips, Eddie). Through completing travel paths, management continuously checks every aspect of the restaurant throughout the day. In addition to short term continual improvement, McDonald?  ¦s organization also thinks ahead for long term improvement. To ensure that they serve 100% safe food, McDonald?  ¦s conducts food safety tests multiple times throughout the day. The corporation changes ?  §Food Safety book used by the managers several times a year, in efforts to think toward the future for the most appropriate variables to measure (food safety will be further illustrated in the ?  §Quality Management section). Along with internal improvement to the organization, McDonald?  ¦s also collects external information from its customers to discover which aspects the company performs well, and which aspects could be improved. The manager is supposed to talk to at least one customer during each travel path and the manager can immediately react to this direct face-to-face communication. On a larger scale, McDonald surveys its customers two times per year. To entice customers to submit feedback, the organization offers a free sandwich in return for a completed survey (Phillips, Kenny). In summary, McDonald?  ¦s strives to reach its goal of ?  §making customers happy through their normal competitive bases of speed, price, and nutrition, and they also ensure customer satisfaction through continual improvement of their operations. Strategy Changes Made for You McDonald?  ¦s organization recently underwent drastic strategy changes to better serve their customers. Under their ?  §old system, the company would make several sandwiches at once, and hold the sandwiches in a warming bin until purchased by a customer. Under this system, management had to precisely predict how much food had to be put on hold. Precise prediction had to be used because if there were not enough food placed on hold, this would create the problem of increase waiting times for customers, and too much food would cause waste of expired items. McDonald?  ¦s dramatically changed their strategy in order to stay competitive with other fast food organizations. In 1999, McDonald?  ¦s spent $181 million to introduce their ?  §Made for You system (Chase). Under this new system, standard food items are not held in a bin until they are sold. In the ?  §Made for You system, modern technology greatly assists McDonald?  ¦s operations. When a customer places an order, the sandwich items are immediately displayed on a computer monitor in the kitchen and a tone sounds to alert the kitchen staff. Upon a new order, an employee in the kitchen will toast the bun, and assemble the sandwich accordingly. Standard items simply list the name of the sandwich, while customized orders list the sandwich name and the desired condiments. Once the sandwich is assembled, it is presented to the food loading area, where a different staff person retrieves the sandwich and completes the order by adding french fries, desserts, etc. The system works the same for front counter orders as well as drive-thru orders (Phillips, Kenny). Unfortunately, the introduction of the ? Made for Yousystem did not come easily. McDonald?  ¦s watched its customer satisfaction drop for the three consecutive years beginning in 1999 (Chase). After further research, they realized that although the new system provided fresher food, it was not as quick as the previous system. Instead of reverting back to the old system, McDonald?  ¦s continues to fine tune ?  §Made for You and add new options to help the system work faster. Revitalization Plan In order to cope with the first ever quarterly loss that resulted from inefficient use of the Made for You system (Chase), McDonald? ¦s has devised a new plan to increase profits. Previously, the corporation emphasized adding more restaurants to increase sales, but the new plan places emphasis on increasing sales at existing restaurants. The new plan will reduce spending, to enable more cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases (Cantalupo). Specific goals of the revitalization plan are to: ? XAttract new customers ?XEncourage existing customers to visit more often ?XBuild brand loyalty ?XCreate enduring profitable growth The main goal is to increase sales by creating an exceptional customer experience. McDonald?  ¦s plans to achieve this goal by focusing on its people, products, places, prices, and promotions. Menu Along with changes in their process strategies, McDonald?  ¦s has flirted with menu changes as well. Last year, they offered a ?  §new taste menu, where they offered a new sandwich for one week. The purpose was to offer customers a variety of options to satisfy peoples?  ¦ desire for variety. However, the new taste menu proved to be ineffective. Some customers would fall in love with an item, but it would only last one week, and they would be frustrated that they couldn? ¦t purchase their new beloved favorite sandwich. More recent changes to the menu have proved effective. McDonald?  ¦s realized that many of today?  ¦s customers seek healthy food options, and the corporation has offered items accordingly. As mentioned under ?  §Competition Bases, McDonald?  ¦s now offers a wider variety of nutritious items and provides information to help its customers as well as employees make informed healthy choices. QUALITY MANAGEMENT McDonald?  ¦s Corporation incorporates many quality management factors in its business process. Some of the most important plans undertaken to ensure quality include speed measurements, the five P?  ¦s (People, Product, Price, Place, and Promotion), employee training, and other factors. Speed One of the major quality management control factors includes minimizing the time that processes are done; this ensures an effective and efficient operations. A lot of these processes are done through the use of the latest information technology, whether it was through calculating the time of the processes or even making a database to value and make improvement to their processes. For example, one measurement is called Total Time in Line (TTL) which calculates the total time customers spend in the McDonald?  ¦s line, from the time the customer begins ordering until the time they get their food. TTL measurements are calculated the same way, the target TTL differs because of the service provided through the drive through or inside the restaurant. McDonald?  ¦s considers the fact that drive through customers usually expects their order faster and therefore, the drive through target TTL is 90 seconds. The target is slightly higher for the in-the-store customers because of the extra time they are willing to spend in the store (Phillips, Eddie). Along with measuring TTLs, other programs are utilized to make the speed of the service more efficient. The ?  §Made For You system uses the Kitchen-Video-System (KVS) to support fulfilling speedy orders. The Made for You system allows the order taker to enter or delete the orders on a touch screen that lists sandwiches, as well as individual condiments, in a way that eases the data entry process for the worker. As soon as any food is ordered, from any register, the necessary food items are displayed on a computer monitor in the kitchen. The kitchen staff immediately begins to prepare the food, and then erases the orders from the screen as the food is finished. Similar to TTLs, the time is measured between when an item is first displayed on the monitor, to the time when it is served. McDonalds continuously monitors these kitchen times in order to ensure that the Made for You system is working as efficiently as planned (Phillips, Eddie). Technology not only measures performance values within the organization, but it also assists in the drive through area. When a drive through worker is taking an order, it is displayed automatically on a screen available to the customer outside, called the Customer Order Display (COD). The customer can review the COD and correct any mistakes, thus making the ordering process more precise. More precise orders eliminate time wasted from correcting mistakes (Phillips, Kenny). Maintaining the speed and accuracy of the processes in McDonald?  ¦s is also done through less technological techniques. McDonald?  ¦s uses different colored packages to help the employee recognize the different types of food; colored wrapped sandwiches makes it easier to distinguish what is wrapped beneath. For example, a cheese burger is wrapped in yellow colored paper and a fish fillet is wrapped in blue, while a hamburger is wrapped in white paper. Special ordered sandwiches without standard condiments come in red and white paper, with a paper receipt attached which details the items on the sandwich (Phillips, Eddie). Quality Inspections Food safety is one of McDonald?  ¦s top priorities. Every restaurant is required to check food temperatures, expiration dates, and other food safety hazards several times throughout each day of operation. The corporation sends a standardized Food Safety book to every store which includes a comprehensive list of every item that needs to be measured. Cooked food temperatures are measured to ensure that all food is cooked properly before served. Refrigerated and frozen foods are also checked to make certain that they do not get too warm and are not spoiled. Expiration dates are checked on foods frequently, if the item is expired than it is discarded. Equipment is also measured to ensure that it is functioning properly. Also included in the safety checks is the water temperature in the restroom sinks, workers must be caution because water that is too hot can burn customers. Food safety checks are performed throughout the day, often during one of the manager?  ¦s many travel paths, which were described earlier in this report under ?  §Competitive Strategy (Phillips, Eddie). Periodic corporate inspections are one of the major quality management controls at McDonald?  ¦s. The McDonald?  ¦s Corporation applies two major inspections on each restaurant per year. One is called Field Operations Review (FOR), and the second is called System Observation Review (SOR). Since the inspections are made periodically, restaurants have two opportunities to pass the test. If the store fails to pass the inspection the second time, corporate takes over the store and brings in better employees to ensure that the proper processes and equipment is being used properly. Both inspections are extraordinarily thorough and they are based on a point system, points can be taken off for many different reasons. For example, points can be reduced if the credit card system is too slow, the store? ¦s walls have cracks, or even if the restaurant performs processes that slows the serving time. Points will also be lost if employees are not dressed according to regulations, this includes wearing name tags (Phillips, Kenny). Mcdonald?  ¦s must also provide a food safety log of recorded entries to ensure that proper food testing is completed properly (Phillips, Eddie). The Five P?  ¦s Even though many of the quality management processes in McDonald?  ¦s are done through the use of information technology, other quality management factors such as maintaining the five P? ¦s forces (People, Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) are essential in any business. Consequently, McDonald?  ¦s Corporation uses these related forces in the sense that each P creates a chain affect on each other. The following is a list of methods using the P forces. The first force is the people working in the McDonald?  ¦s chains, which are represented by service, hospitality, and pride. The staff employed in McDonald?  ¦s are continuously trained and kept in the company to reduce the cost of training short-term inexperienced workers. Moreover, the training process has been improved to include online e-learning tools for the restaurant staff. Maintaining the workers in the company is very important to McDonald?  ¦s and the corporation rewards workers who do outstanding services. This form of incentive is motivational to the workers (Cantalupo 4). The second force is the products which include the quality, taste, and price of the goods sold. McDonald?  ¦s is trying to establish flexibility with the changing tastes and preferences in the market, Moreover, they are also seeing growing interest in premium product and wholesome food choices. The quality and safety of the food is a main entity in maintaining the quality of the food at McDonald?  ¦s (Cantalupo 4). The third force is place which is represented by the clean, relevant, and modern store environments. Whether it was in the main restaurant area, the kitchen, or even the restrooms, the company ensures the safety and comfort for the consumers and staff workers. The company intends on having the gold standards for cleanliness (Cantalupo 5). The fourth factor is price, which is presented in the productivity and value. The value of the product is increased when consumers gets high quality products for lower costs. Therefore, McDonald?  ¦s Corporation ensures that its customers receive the highest value of food for the price they pay (Cantalupo 5). The fifth factor is promotion which is presented in marketing, leadership, and trust. The company has already earned its reputation for good quality food so they just focus on customers cares. They do this through community involvement and their social responsible towards the environment. This process will gain the trust of loyal customers and keep them for life (Cantalupo 5). Training McDonald?  ¦s realizes that its employees must understand their duties in order to fulfill the organization? ¦s goals. To ensure that all employees properly perform their assigned duties, McDonald?  ¦s invests greatly in their training program. The company continues to receive prestigious awards for their leading-edge training, including the ?  §Employer of Choice Award from the Restaurant Business Magazine (?  §Restaurant Management ). New crew members go through a thorough orientation process consisting of several videos, followed by several days of direct one-on-one training by a trainer. After employees feel comfortable with the operations, they may be promoted to Crew Trainers. Crew Trainers undergo further training for specialized processes such as the grill area, front counter, drive-thru, and other areas. Shift supervisors are the next step in the organization, followed by Second Assistant Managers, followed by First Assistant Manager, and the top manager at each McDonald?  ¦s restaurant is the Restaurant Manager (Phillips, Eddie). Training never stops at McDonald?  ¦s, no matter which position an employee holds. Some current employees describe McDonald?  ¦s as the ?  §best training company in the world (Phillips, Kenny). To improve the Made for You system, McDonald? ¦s recently introduced a strategy called ?  §Shift into Overdrive,?  ¦ and this strategy focuses on helping shift managers work more efficiently. All McDonald?  ¦s restaurants are required to send at least one manager to participate in the new training program (Phillips, Kenny). This training mainly focuses on the human aspects of Made for You, this ensures that the system is being used as design. Since the new system requires seamless work from several people, the entire team must work together for the system to work quickly to provide food to customers. Finally, to ensure the quality of the operations, McDonald? ¦s does surveys periodically to get feedbacks from customers (Phillips, Eddie). As shown throughout this section, the McDonald?  ¦s Corporation has been doing a very good job at keeping the quality of its products and services, whether it was through using computerized equipment or to train their human resources. RAW MATERIALS The Arrival & Maintenance Through the intense process of choosing and manufacturing raw materials, McDonald?  ¦s customers can be assured of a quality product. Whether arriving via truck or train, raw materials are delivered fresh and ready to use everyday. To ensure that this freshness is passed onto the customer, each arriving package is personally inspected for damage during its travel. In addition, the condition of delivery trucks are also taken into account to make sure that meat was untainted due to a filthy meat cooler. The meat cooler should always be set at 10 degrees below zero and the meat should remain at a constant temperature of 34 to 38 degrees. While some inspections are known, others are random to ensure that quality is consistent from one delivery to the next. The promise of high quality for McDonald?  ¦s raw materials does not cease to end at the delivery trucks. Inside the restaurant, the temperatures of freezers and refrigerators are recorded twice a day to guarantee the highest grade of ingredient usage. These temperatures are recorded in a book which is required to stay on premise for 60 days. After such time span, the book is moved to a local record storage where all previous data information is held. Grade ?  §A Beef and Other Meats All beef cooked at McDonald?  ¦s is of Grade ?  §A quality and 80%-82% lean. McDonald?  ¦s not only supports humane slaughtering of animals and refuses to purchase dairy cows over 5 year old due to the toughness of their meat. Upon the arrival of meat, received from Otto & Sons, Inc. in Chicago, a two hour supply is taken directly to the grill side freezers which stand at a constant temperature of 0 degrees. Once placed on the grill, the meat is cooked at a specific temperature to assure the meat holds the proper internal temperature to meet the requirements of food safety and yet hot enough to hold its natural juices. Cooked hamburger patties and other meat products are stored in a humidity controlled cabinet until usage to ensure that patties remain hot and moist. The preparation time of a hamburger should not take longer than 90 seconds and only 35 seconds after the hamburger bun itself has been toasted. This allows each customer to receive his/her meal in the timeliest fashion. Produce It is a known fact that agronomists can spend up to two years assisting a farmer grow perfect russet potatoes, 6-inches long, that produces a finished fry which is appealing both in looks and taste. In addition many produce items, lettuce for example, have specifications that are two pages long. With this many guidelines in place, McDonald? ¦s can guarantee that they are delivering to their customer the best ingredients possible. The produce delivered from Condie?  ¦s in Salt Lake City to the Evans and Colorado McDonald?  ¦s restaurant arrives via railroad to ensure that freshness is maintained. Upon inspection, should any produce not meet the correct internal temperature, the refrigerator is either immediately altered or the items are discarded. Restaurant Inspection Since McDonald?  ¦s believes so strongly in high quality products, Licensees are expected to obtain their desired product needs directly from suppliers rather than the McDonald? ¦s Corporation. While this ensures that the best raw materials are purchased at a reasonable price, it often leaves the McDonald?  ¦s Corporation ?  §in the dark concerning the safety precautions and procedures of franchised restaurants. As a result, the McDonald?  ¦s Corporation makes both announced and unannounced visits to international McDonald?  ¦s restaurants to ensure that proper procedures are being followed. With each visit, the restaurant being inspected is graded on their proficiency and performance. Based on this grade, the corporation will determine eligibility for growth of new franchise locations. In addition, the failure to meet requirements can result in a default in your franchise agreement for the following term. FORECASTING Aspects of Forecasting McDonald?  ¦s has a continual means of receiving information from customers, employees, and the industry that effects short, medium, and long term decision making and forecasting. Different kinds of information are received from all levels of the corporation and are used to learn more about the market movement and advertisement structure, to basic everyday processes in production and packaging of goods for the targeted markets. Forecasting is done in large by the corporation, as part of their responsibility to the franchisee?  ¦s and McDonald?  ¦s shareholders. Through our interview with the owner, we learned a lot about the basics of McDonald?  ¦s business and hierarchy; we were not able to get more in-depth information that is used for their budgeting, marketing, advertising, forecasting, and innovations of new products to come because it contains confidential contents. This is due to the scrutiny from people looking for flaws, bad business conduct, and other degrading allocations of McDonald? ¦s. Everything that was recorded was cleared at the corporate level. Forecasts are vital to McDonald?  ¦s organization and significant management decisions. Forecasts provide the basis for budgetary planning, cost control, planning new products, process selection, capacity planning, and facility layout. Typically, McDonald?  ¦s uses a qualitative type of forecasting. The main information used in forecasting the stability and future growth of the corporation is by the number of customers going in and out the door and all voiced opinions. There are different medians of communication for customer to relay there ideas, opinions, concerns, and problems they have with McDonald?  ¦s. At the particular location, a customer has employees, managers, and owners to voice what?  ¦s on their mind and how they like what?  ¦s going on in the restaurant. Often, McDonald?  ¦s managers and owners use open ended questions to allow customers to expand on what they want to talk about. McDonald?  ¦s nationally offers an 800 number for customers to use when the corporation has fallen short of their expectations or when a location makes a mistake with their order. Internationally, McDonald?  ¦s has a website that is not only interactive and informative throughout the 59 nations they supply to, but is a place for customers to voice their opinions and complaints. And as an owner of the McDonald?  ¦s on the intersection of Evans Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, Ronald Lessnau exclaimed, ?  §We listen! At the corporate level, qualitative forecasting can be seen, even with limited information that was given. Market research department takes data from talking with customers to find out how they like or feel about a particular ad campaign or a specific commercial. And product development department uses input on developing a new product or changing how the new product is prepared, priced, or packaged. McDonald?  ¦s has been extremely accurate in forecasting trends or needs the customers want and request. Mr. Lessnau states, ?  §McDonald?  ¦s, in the past has helped customers deal with their changing lifestyles. An example of this is when the Egg McMuffin, the first hand held breakfast sandwich by Herb Peterson, was introduced for the first time. ? §It took 10 years for breakfast to be successful at McDonald?  ¦s and now McDonald?  ¦s cracks more farm fresh, grade ?  §A eggs daily than the largest institution in the United States, the US Military. As consumers, it is known that McDonald?  ¦s has gone through a lot and where not always correct in projections influenced by the greatest number of customers. Even with using a qualitative forecast, the future is not always so clear so see. 12 years ago, due to the strong focus group surveys responses to healthier products put into motion the making of McLean Burger. McDonald developed and marketed the McLean Burger. It had 7% fat and was the best low fat burger on the market, costing 53 cents a pound more then the normal beef. It did not sell! Customers later decided that the product was too expensive and did not taste as good as its?  ¦ fatty brother. And maybe decisions that are based on the idea that the history of occurrences over time can be used to predict the future, time series forecasting, can explain why McDonald?  ¦s is slow to react to the Atkins Diet trends. Ronald Lessnau also gave examples of when qualitative forecasting influences how he fixes errors of the passed business decisions at his establishment. Decisions he has made have been based on estimates and opinion from surveys, interviews, history of products, and questionnaires. That particular McDonald?  ¦s has extended their hours as a result of many comments. Also, years ago they reduced some of the seasoning in the chicken products in a test market, and based on interviews and focus groups they went back to the original product and did not take the change national. He also described that in Denver, Colorado locations went back to the 99-cent double cheese burgers years ago because of feedback they received in focus groups that were conducted as part of their normal market research. As Lessnau explained, ?  §Sometimes you can prevent a good idea from going bad by talking to those closest to the customer, your sales people. The data collected for these long terms and every day business decisions were from employees as well as customers. SUPPLY CHAIN Examination of Supply Chain. Food quality is the key at McDonald’s restaurant. That?  ¦s why they take pride in the foods they serve to their customers. They seek out fresh lettuce and tomatoes, quality buns and potatoes, pure ground beef, select poultry and fish and wholesome dairy products. McDonald?  ¦s ensures that their products are guaranteed to be the best quality before serving to their customers. McDonald?  ¦s has many suppliers in which each supplier plays a vital role in providing McDonald?  ¦s with their products. First, McDonald?  ¦s receives its raw.

Movie review Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare Assignment

Movie review Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare - Assignment Example The beautiful transition from the comedy to tragedy even made the audience feel the desired effect that are usually created by Shakespeare in his plays (YouTube, â€Å"Much Ado About Nothing (1993)" - full movie†). The movie had several good moments with clear depiction of Shakespeare’s best comedy and hence could easily bring out the humour of the movie. Moreover, the director could successfully depict the different romance between the couples and defined a clear shift from comedy to tragedy. By holding on to the original plot, the director was successful in developing a clear picture of the different cases in that era. However, the movie deviated from depicting the facts of a romantic comedy. There were also several issues regarding characterisation and genre of the play that hindered the picturesque of the play (YouTube, â€Å"Much Ado About Nothing (1993)" - full movie†). The depiction of romance between the young couple was so appealing that it kept the audience glued and created a feel of anxiety. The conspiracies even were quiet appealing depicting the complicacies that were brewing in the minds of the offenders of the couple. The movie had a synchronised flow of events that successfully brought out the humour. The movie is worth watching and should be recommended to others to watch and enjoy the plots (YouTube, â€Å"Much Ado About Nothing (1993)" - full movie†). Dogberry in Shakespeare’s play was depicted to be a constable in charge of Messina. The character is depicted to be a sincere policeman, performing his jobs effectively. The character of Dogberry is depicted to be one of the middle class characters of Shakespeare’s plays and portrays a desire to speak elaborately and formally with the noble men. However, in the paly the character is depicted to be the chief of the police and is portrayed to be a character of high farce. The

EUROPEAN BUSINESS- ENLARGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Meditation on first philosophy, Rene Descartes, 3 pages attached Essay

Meditation on first philosophy, Rene Descartes, 3 pages attached follow the instruction - Essay Example However, most people might not understand these arguments since they require a developed mindset, as is the case with geometry. To understand these arguments, one needs to give full attention to the philosophy, and free themselves from prejudicial thoughts. Rene Descartes believes that most people would rather seek out what is wrong than defend the truth which they cannot understand. The writer seeks to use philosophy as a tool to demonstrate that God and the Soul exist. People are usually blinded by their arrogance to defend what is wrong, than to seek out the truth. In geometry, something has to be proven before it is printed, in philosophy, however, critics seek to question the best arguments without giving proper thought to the writer’s agenda. It is not the philosophy that fails to prove itself, it is the readers that fail to give credit to the truth in the detail. Prejudicial mindsets make people see errors in philosophy, rather than admit to the facts. If absolute patronage can be given to this philosophy, it is possible for the reader to understand the truth in it, and even go ahead to correct the errors in the detail. Descartes, R., & Cress, D. A. (1979). Meditations on first philosophy: in which the existence of God and the distinction of the soul from the body are demonstrated (3rd ed.). Indianapolis: Hackett Pub.

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Hiring practices IP2 - Assignment Example t process is fair and without discrimination, a manager should ensure that all activities included review the skills that suit a certain job and that they are consistent with each applicant and not to specific applicants only. As a human resource person, I would recommend that the manager use the guidelines while conducting an interview to hire a marketing representative for our company. The objective of every interview is to acquire relevant information and provide a conducive and friendly environment for the applicants, therefore, the interviewing panel should avoid asking unnecessary and uncomfortable questions (Tunstall, 2010). Such questions include: 8. Do you have any outstanding debt? The interviewer should have a legal permit to ask about the interviewees’ credit background. Without the permit, he cannot ask such a question since it can affect the applicant’s performance in a certain

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Ergonomics - Research Proposal Example Hence, a reasonable application of the principles of ergonomics diminishes the disorders and injuries caused due to repetitive motion, faulty posture and an over use of body muscles. This can be achieved by taking into consideration the physical abilities and concerns of the employees while fabricating various attributes of the workplace environment like tasks, hardware, space, lighting, controls, storage space, etc (MacLeod 2006). The primary concern of ergonomics is to optimally enhance the element of comfort at workplace so as to make way for maximum efficiency. Thus the human-machine interface at work should be so arranged so as to extend the desirable physical and mental comfort to the employees. This definitely enhances the efficiency and productivity at work by making the scheduled and general tasks relatively easier and facile. Therefore, ergonomics can play a positive role in bettering the scope of human resources in any institution and organization (Helander 2005). Though the advent of digital gadgets like the computers, fax machines, telephones, scanners, photocopiers, etc has added a measure of speed and accuracy to the work culture, such devices certainly have physical and mental issues associated with them. ... ning and faulty usage of digital gadgets could lead to a counterproductive compromising of the comfort associated with the back, shoulder, neck and wrist movements, which is so cardinal to the overall health and productivity of the employees (Wogalter 2006). In order to enable the individual employees to find out their desirable comfort zone, it is imperative for the digital hardware installed in the office to comply with ergonomic principles. In fact the manufacturers now days are trying their best to come out with the customized lines of ergonomic digital gadgets. Besides there is a growing awareness amongst the employers regarding the benefits of hardware ergonomics (Stein et al 2006). A more then average initiative is being taken by the manufacturers and the organizations to incorporate the elements of cutting-edge ergonomics at work to reduce stress, to stimulate productivity and to diminish employee absenteeism. Introducing ergonomics in the designing of office furniture and di gital gadgets like offering adjustable chairs with lumbar support, right sized desks, adjustable keyboards, trackballs, good lighting, low glare monitors can do wonders for the work environment in an office (Alexander 2006).2.0 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT The purpose of this report is to redesign a workplace for two employees (124cmx75cm), in coherence with the principles of ergonomics (Picture 1). The office under consideration is equipped with an array of digital gadgets and furniture like computers, printer, coffee maker, cupboards, desks, chairs, which are not placed in compliance with the employee comfort. There is no denying the fact that digital gadgets though being efficiency multipliers have physical and mental issues associated with them,

Series of questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Peer response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Peer response - Assignment Example Fracking indeed has various perspectives from which it can be viewed. Whereas some see fracking as a very important aspect considering its benefits to both economy and countries, others on the contrary, believe that indeed fracking is unethical, and therefore, should be stopped as it is the greatest contributor towards the frequent occurrences of earthquakes in regions that constantly experience fracking. In spite the truth associated with the argument that fracking is beneficial to the economy, it is argued that such is a one-sided argument and one that lacks any scientific proof. Ideally, fracking involves a number of processes that cause the land and surrounding environment to look ugly. Despite the little truth associated with such a perspective, it is evidently clear that such a point of view is self-centered and attributed to an individual’s opinion and one that lacks any scientific support. A similar perspective is observed on matters pertaining to autism. Evidently, on aspects pertaining to the vaccination of autism, opposing viewpoints have been realized. On the non-scientific approach to the issue, many people have been left scared on the aspects involved in the vaccination process of autism, which has contributed towards the deaths of many children. Provision of autism cure would ideally be the greatest achievement of both researchers and parents towards taking care of

Bilateral Trade Agreements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bilateral Trade Agreements - Essay Example Bilateral trade agreements can also create political and economic ties between the parties, which in turn provide more stability" (Rodrguez). However, it provides loopholes wherein powerful nations can exploit the agreements to the disadvantage of the developing countries. One of the opposition to the free trade, such as the bilateral trade agreements is the "infant industry argument" (Mankiw). It is based on the belief that the industries of the developing nations might not be well equipped to compete against the giants of the more powerful nations. This then will lead to the death of the local industry. Bilateral trade agreements simply kill the local industries who have not exhibited economies of scale. In economics terms, the failure to achieve economies of scale on the part of the local industries, because they are relatively new will result to a less efficient production compared to those who are old in the industry and this will be manifested in the relatively high prices of the former (Robert S. Pindyck). This argument is validated by the study of Rodriguez. According to him trade agreements between nations with large economic level discrepancy can actually hurt the weakest party (Rodrguez). Moreover, he gave the following effects on the developing nations of trade agreements. Reciprocity and national treatment (the obligation whereby foreign goods, services and economic operators must receive the same treatment as local ones) oblige developing countries to implement broad liberalisation in market access in goods, services and government procurement, which may result in surges of imports; moreover, tariff elimination, besides depriving developing countries of revenues, removes powerful instruments of industrial and agricultural policy to protect their infant industries. Market access gains for developing nations may be limited if agricultural subsidies in rich nations are not reduced; restrictive rules of origin, technical barriers to trade (TBTs) such as quality standards and supply-side constraints also limit the possible gains from improved access to developed countries' markets. Reduction of policy space for developing countries; many of the issues included in the current North-South FTAs 'reduce or fully remove policy options and instruments available to a developing country to pursue its development objectives' (UNCTAD, 2007) Source: Rodrguez The United States is one of the countries who have been very active in pursuing bilateral trade talks against smaller nations. Some of these agreements are with Costa Rica, Chile and Singapore. "In the past two years, the US has initiated comprehensive free trade negotiations with 19 countries, a market representing an estimated US $2.5 trillion worth of opportunities to American business. Simultaneously, however, these agreements open the American market, exposing, in particular, US industries dependent on sweat labour that cannot compete with low labour costs in poorer countries around the world. The difference is that the US has the resources to diffuse the pain of the transition, amounting to support of US$1.8 billion in 2003, while developing

Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations Essay Charles Dickens is best known as a writer of novels, many of which are read today and regularly used in stage productions, on television and in the cinema. He was also a journalist, he used his stories to get across what he felt were important messages.  Although he tried to get his message across he wanted his work to be entertaining. In so doing, he created some of the most well remembered characters of English literature, such as Mr Pickwick, Oliver Twist and Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens wrote about Victorian life and particularly Victorian life in London. Dickens campaigned for things he believed in like the welfare and education of children. He addressed the public in public speakings and through his writings.  Great Expectations  Chapter one  At the start of Great Expectations Charles Dickens introduces us to a boy called Pip. This name is explained in the novels very first sentence and stated that this is the name he is commonly called by in the second.  My fathers family name being Pirrip and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip. Pip goes onto explain that he never saw his mother or father and so the audience straight away feels very sorry for this young boy. As I never saw my father or my mother,  The setting in the first chapter is a graveyard with Pip looking at his father and mothers tombstones. Pip must be quite imaginative as he uses the shape of the letters on his fathers tombstone to create a mental picture of what he and his mother was like. The shape of the letters on my fathers, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the character and turn of the inscription, Also Georgina Wife of the Above , I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly. We go on to learn that he also had five brothers that must of all died at an early age.  To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine-who gave up trying to get a living exceedingly early in that universal struggle  Throughout this novel the narrator is a young Pip and this is to make the reader feel empathy for the character for the whole of the novel. It also means there is a childish view on things and a lack of understanding. For example in the graveyard he cant really understand why his father, mother and five brothers were dead and he was still alive. Although the reader feels sad because of this Pip is not that sad as he cant understand the situation fully. When the focus switches to the scenery and Pip starts to describe the churchyard and its view. Pip begins to cry and almost out of nowhere Hold your noise! Cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at he side of the church porch. Keep still, you little devil, or Ill cut your throat!  This is the introduction of Magwitch an escaped convict from a nearby jail. In Charles Dickens days capital punishment was enforced in the United Kingdom and conditions in jails were very poor an so Magwitch would have been n a terrible condition. First impressions of Magwitch are that he is an evil man for the obvious reason of him being a convict. He has no sympathy for others. A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. The iron is the giveaway that he is an escaped convict. The iron is like a clamp that will have maybe been connected to a ball and chain.  A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, with an old rag tied round his head. This shows the terrible condition that he is in.  A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and those teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin. These things are what make me think he has escaped.  Magwitch is also quite a violent man, Pip is only a young boy and he feels it necessary to grab him by the throat and threaten him. He bullies a young child into getting things for him.  After darkly looking at his leg and at me several times, he came closer to my tombstone, took me both arms, tilted me back as far as he could hold me; so that his eyes looked most powerfully into mine, and mine looked most helplessly up into his.  You know what a file is?  And you know what wittles is?

Achieving Sustainable Development in Developing Countries

Achieving Sustainable Development in Developing Countries Sustainable development was defined by (Brundtland, 1987) as a development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need. Economists generally accepted and supported Brundtland definition of sustainable development. Pearce barbier (blueprint for Sustainable Economy, 2000) also defines sustainable development as development that last. They also said that future generations should be entitled to at least the same level of economic well-being as is currently available to the present generation. It can also be defined as meeting human fundamental needs while preserving the life-support systems of the planet Earth. This is a scientific perspective on the sustainable development relation between nature and society. The main pillars of sustainable development are: Economic development Social development and Environmental development The United Nations 2005 World Summit Outcome Document refers the above pillars as the interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development. There has been an indigenous controversy over the main pillars of sustainable development through various International Forums such as United Nation Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Conversion of Biological Diversity that there are four pillars of sustainable development which they called the fourth one , Cultural development. Also, The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO, 2001) further detailed the concept by saying that the cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. This basically becomes one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence. The universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity stated that Cultural diversity is the fourth policy area of sustainable development. Barriers to achieving sustainable development in developing countries. Sustainable development has been widely promoted as a holisticconcept which aims or targets to integrate social, economicand cultural policies to ensure high-quality growth. However, there are barriers combating the implementation of sustainable development in developing countries. These barriers are: Economic / financial barriers Social barriers Political barriers HIV and Injecting Drug use Poor monitoring and evaluation system Institutional barriers Cultural barriers Trade barriers Poverty and disease Climate change Economic and financial barriers: Economists observed that the dominating development model tends to focus on economic growth as precedence rather than peoples rights or welfare, and environmental processes and limits. Various contributors supported economic growth coming first in developing countries, especially least-developed countries (LDCs), and concluded that investment in environmental protection should be left to a later stage of development, essentially accepting environmental degradation to meet immediate needs. In other words, there was a controversy by other researchers saying that the future generations ability to enjoy an acceptable standard of living would be on shambles if due attention were not immediately paid to social and environmental aspects as well as economic. This they said requires shift in the worldview from treating the environment as part of the economy to treating the economy as part of the environment; strategically this means the economy should be adapted to ensure environmental servic es are maintained. Some contributors recommended developed capitalist societies to act quickly to become more sustainable. Other researchers underscored the imperative for developing countries not to follow the western models of unsustainable development. Three basic constraints to financing sustainable development (SD) are: Competing priorities for limited resources, particularly in LDCs Undelivered pledges made at the international conferences to finance SD. Externalities, such as increased oil prices, conflict, and natural disasters that alter the development priorities of many countries. Initiatives to overcome economic and financial barriers In other to achieve economic growth without threatening social development and environmental resources, new and different vehicles for growth must be oriented to different country situations. Governments should be responsible for market-led problems with incentive for the private sector to become problem-solvers, and not polluters. There is need to shift the incentive and motivating structure for farmers around the world. Policies makers should promote agricultural production that is based on significantly higher labor inputs per area and significantly more diverse production streams. There is need to reform the calculation of economic growth and removal of weapons-related cost from GDP would provide a strong indication of relative spending toward sustainable development to politicians. Justifying the need to abandon linear system of industrial production based on total exploitation of natural resources, over production, and waste generation in favor of a circular system of production using clean technologies and the elimination of waste resources. Social barriers Population growth, paired with unsustainable consumption and production patterns among the wealthy, are the biggest social challenges to achieving sustainable development in the world and developing countries. Absent of a significant change in human behavior, sustainability will not be potential. There are other social barriers which are: The marginalization of the poor and entrenched inequities Limited awareness about sustainable development Environmental issues among both politicians and the wider public fragmented civil society Inadequate interaction between civil society and government Insufficient incentives to for the private sector to pursue sustainable development Initiatives to overcome the social barriers Need for stronger policies to address income disparity and population growth. The introduction of programmes to create awareness and build capacity in the field of sustainable development among the general public can assist to the change in behavior and lifestyle that is needed to achieve sustainability. Efforts to increase scientific capacity will take place within a context of different funding patterns (which involves philanthropic foundations, business, and governmental and intergovernmental bodies), environmental concerns, and research orientations. Governments must foster their relationships with NGOs and other civil society organizations. Also , civil society must take on a great role in policy making and implementation. Participation of civil society in social programmes and related decision making process would ensure accountability; this will help in creating condition for receiving financial aid or UN assistance. Concrete partnership among national and local governments, the grassroots, private sector, civil society and development actors should be developed. Political barriers: Inadequate economic, social and environmental methods for policies, plans and projects are the major barrier combating the implementation of sustainable development in developing world. Researchers believed that governments are stuck in the old development paradigm ,emphasizing economic growth and believing that industrial countries have made no significant effort to change their patterns in production and consumption, thereby threatening global resources. To meet sustainable development objectives requires genuine political and institutional will at all levels of government in all countries, developed and developing. Nevertheless, Corruption, ineffective government and weak inactive law enforcement are hindrances to achieving genuine sustainability. Moreover, lack of information and relevant data availability, limited capacity of policy and decision-makers were identified as reasons for the limited cooperation of governments. The outcome of the discussion by the World Summit on Sustainable Development that was held in South Africa in 2002 was that sustainable development has not been able to evolve out of its environmental roots and that greater focus on climate change may be pulling the issue towards a purer environmental direction rather than integrating sustainable development perspective. They also warned that SD is being replaced by climate change on the political agenda, leaving the rest of the sustainable development agenda forgotten. Lack of coordination to integrate the three pillars of sustainable development has been a major challenge at all levels. At the global level, the United Nations failed to join together its efforts to promote a genuinely sustainable development. Campaigns for integrating many factors are themselves not harmonized, but try to meet different purposes at different times. It was noted that the sectionalized approach to the MDGs has dissolved the broader context of development, and MDG 7 on sustainable development has been largely neglected in favor of other goals rather than being a basis for achieving the rest of the MDGs. More consistent policies to support SD are needed at the international level, including within the United Nations system. At the regional level, regional agreements on SD and mechanisms for their implementation are not stable. There was an agreement that, at national level, a multi-disciplinary approach to governance is needed rather than the persisting tendency for different line ministries, departments and agencies to act without a clear framework for coordination across sectors. Sectorial systems of governance create and perpetuate silo thinking and behavior. It was observed that there is basically no effective national forum for strategic planning on pro-poor economic growth, social development, environment and climate change for developing countries. For instance, inCentral Asia, it was noted that few countries have policies linking environment, poverty, trade and social development, that few environmental policies target equity or poverty issues, and health policies are still mainly formulated in isolation without blending to related sectors. Also at the institutional level, responsibility for the implementation of sustainable development is generally assigned to the Ministry of Environment, Environmental Protection Agency or the tantamount, which traditionally receive little attention and a insufficient budget. Environmental agency would find it difficult to take a balanced approach to economic growth, social development and environmental protection. Poor community involvement was noted as a final major political barrier to achieving sustainable development goals. A top-down approach by centralized authorities often imposes projects and programmes on local governments. Moreover, policy making and implementation does not take into consideration the grassroots need or involve the lower levels of government. Initiatives to overcome political barrier In combating political barrier, sustainable development strategies must be streamlined, but also applied with more severity. The need for environmental institutions to blend and work with other (non-environmental) institutions. Also all ministries must cooperate and work together to achieve an integrated sustainable development for their countries. Stringent efforts should be directed to encroach structural problems that deform both developmental and environmental prospects by focusing on key injustices, notably in trade, environment and climate change. There should be an analytical work on advanced financing for SD. Poverty and environment linkages must be undertaken to further incorporate economic, social and environmental factors. Basic components like sensitization of political leaders, private sector involvement, and participation of local communities need to be concrete in developmental approach. Capacity-building is also necessary across the board. Progress in sustainable developmental goals involves strong, innovation-driven science and technology policies. HIV and Injecting Drug Use Poverty and disease in relation to HIV and Drug Use frustrates the implementation of sustainable development in many developing countries. In many developing countries, HIV epidemics between injecting drug users (IDUs) are preceding larger epidemics in the broader population. Notwithstanding recent expansion of responses, within individual countries, these tend to be several years behind the pace and scale of the actual epidemic. These are factors closely linked to development. The current policy environment makes it difficult for community-based programmes to prevent HIV between injecting drug users. Deficiency in policy dialogue between sectors of government responsibility for reactions to HIV and drug use There is an economic, social and political breakdown which leads to increase in drug injecting, needle sharing and, consequently HIV. Inadequate community capacity, in terms of skills, resources and experience to respond to HIV among IDUs. Injecting drug users, especially women, being demonized for their drug use, rather than supported, placing them at particular risk of both human rights abuses and HIV infection Donor agencies and countries alike failing to recognize the long-term threat to development posed by HIV and injecting drug use. Initiatives to overcome HIV and Injecting Drug Use UNDP and partner agencies, especially UNAIDS and UNDCP, are in a unique and appropriate position to take the lead in the planning and implementation of responses in the following areas: Policy dialogue and reform Programme development and monitoring Creating awareness and understanding of the development implications of HIV and IDU Powering community capacity to respond Addressing gender considerations Responding to legal , ethical and human right issues Fig 2. This is a cartoon drawn as part of an art competition to create awareness among youths about HIV and injecting drug use. This activity was part of the UNDP regional project in Eastern Europe, CIS and Baltic States. Also there is need to implement the MDGs in all developing countries especially on reducing poverty and ensuring good health. Poor monitoring and evaluation systems A basic problem is lack of specific targets (globally, nationally and at local level), measurement and data to track progress, resulting in a lack of information available to decision-makers. It is suggested for strengthening monitoring and evaluation of sustainable development strategies in order to establish a dynamic improvement process, with an objective of increasing their effectiveness. It is recommended that governments should turn up deeper and assess the socio-economicimpacts of developmental projects, rather thanthe outcomealone. Initiatives to overcome poor monitoring and evaluation systems Co-ordination of data within which the vast amount of data can be easily accessed. Countries specific knowledge bases are needed to guide decision making. This is a comprehensive mechanism for monitoring the outcomes of interventions that feeds into subsequent planning processes. National research and development systems need to be strengthened, as well as south-south and south-north knowledge sharing and management. Institutional barriers Institutional barriers as a result of lack of institutional experience to operate all the mechanism of democratic system has been combating and frustrating sustainable development in many developing countries. Since the end of the civil war, developing countries have made a striking movement towards democratic capitalism as the operative model of governance. Moreover in making that transition, many countries discovered that they lack institutional experience to operate all the mechanism of democratic system. They discovered that they have never witness free and fair elections with a full ballot of candidates from multiple parties. In other hand, they were not prepared to run a parliament, also not prepared to have journalists and broadcasters looking at the problems of government in a very public way. Initiatives to overcome institutional barrier Generating enough scientific capacity and institutional support in developing countries is particularly urgent as they are most vulnerable to the multiple stresses arising from rapid, simultaneous changes in social and environmental system. USAID and other governmental donors have facilitated institutional building to help these countries to help these countries fix all the mechanism operating in an open democratic society. Sponsoring democratic programs, introducing new approaches to crisis management and conflicts analysis to assist opposing parties in resolving their peacefully and within the framework that a democratic system provides. Trade barriers Basically developing countries find the EUs strict food safety requirements disruptive to trade. In addition to sanitary standards, new technical product specifications and industrial norms might obstruct the exports of developing countries .The EU introduced a series of directives varying from technical specifications for cars, weighing machines and toys, to the compulsory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), eggs and voluntary eco-labels. In addition to Community standards, there are regulations at the member-state level. However the level to which this continual flow of new standards helps to restrict imports from developing countries is not properly known. It is clear, however, that WTO notification leads to protests by developing countries .Some of the developing countries expressed their concern, regarding new EU directives on discarded electronic apparatuses proposed by the Commission in 2000 Initiatives to overcome trade barriers Trade liberalization including the removal of existing distortion in international trade must be pursued to support sustainable development policies in developing countries. Sustainable development requires a dynamic international economy and an open, equitable, secure, non-discriminatory and predictable multilateral trading system to support sound domestic economic and environmental policies in both developed and developing countries. Trade and environment should be reciprocally supportive in the pursuit of sustainable development. Conclusion In achieving sustainable development, the 3pillars of SD should be integrated. Progress in sustainability will require fostering problem -driven , interdisciplinary research; building capacity for research; creating coherent system of research planning , operational monitoring , assessment , and application; and providing reliable long term financial support. The need to generate adequate scientific capacity and institutional support in developing countries is particularly urgent as they are most vulnerable to multiple stresses that arise from rapid, simultaneous changes in social and environmental systems. REFERENCES Achieving Sustainable Development, an e-journal of the U.S Department of State.April 2002, volume 1, Num 1. Barbier, E.,1987.The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development.Environmental Conservation, 14(2):101-110 Promoting trade for sustainable development by UNCTAD Secretariat (www.unctad.org/en/docs/tdxibp10_en.pdf) Pearce, D., A. Markandya and E. Barbier,1989.Blueprint for a green economy,Earthscan, London, Great Britain UNDP, 2006. Making Progress on environmental sustainability. Lessons and recommendations from a review of over 150 MDG country experiences (www.undp.org/fssd/report) Summary of e -discussion on achieving sustainable development, April 2008. (http://www.undg.org/docs/8885/eDiscussion-on-Achieving-Sustainable-Development.htm) Sustainability science , science 292.5517 (April 27 ,2001):p 641. Working together towards SD (http://www.oecdwash.org/DATA/DOCS/working_together.pdf) World Summit Outcome Document 2005,World Health Organization, 15 September 2005

The Role Of Macronutrients

The Role Of Macronutrients In developed countries such as the UK, diets and lifestyles have changed dramatically since the end of the Second World War. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the principal cause of death among adult men and women accounting for approximately ninety four thousand deaths (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). The increase in the incidence of CVD is supported by evidence which suggests that the leading factors contributing to this condition are obesity, high blood pressure, psychological stress, poor cardiovascular system health, an unsuitable diet and tobacco and drug use (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003; BBC heath website; De Lorgeril et al, 1999). 33% of all deaths are believed to be caused by CVD with developing countries hit the hardest (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003) It is possible too that the developing world which includes countries like China, India, some middle east countries, A frica and South America will suffer large effect sizes in the incidence of CVD in the future. Macronutrients that increase the risk of CVD Various fatty acids including LDL cholesterol (low density lipoprotein) sometimes called saturated fatty acids, have been highlighted by many types of study as increasing the incidence of CVD among samples of the populations tested (De Lorgeril et al 1999; Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003; BBC heath website, 2011). High blood cholesterol levels and CVD are strongly and positively correlated (BBC health website, 2011). Amongst these, myristic acid and palmitric acid have been found to increase the risk of CVD and are abundant in foods such as diary and meat products. Myristic acid is a common saturated fatty acid and can be found is foods such as coconut milk and butter oil as well as in animal fats. Palmitric acid is another saturated fatty acid and is commonly found in plant and animal fats as well as butter, cheese, milk and some meats. Trans-fatty acids are another risk factor for CVD and are found in the form of a monounsaturate and a polyunsatura te and have been found to increase LDL cholesterol (BBC health website, 2011). Folate (vitamin B9) and homocysteine (a  homologue the amino acid cysteine) have both been found to be risk factors for CVD (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). However, both folic acid and homocysteine may be a consequence and not a cause of conditions such as arthrosclerosis (De Lorgeril et al, 1999; Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). High sodium content in the diet has been strongly correlated with CVD (De Lorgeril et al 1999; Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003; BBC heath website, 2011). High blood pressure associated with excessive ingestion of sodium salts has been shown in many studies to be a predictor of myocardial infarction and subsequently increases the probability of both types of stroke with the greatest risk being among the male obese populations (BBC heath website; De Lorgeril et al 1999; Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). Macronutrients that decrease the risk of CVD Foods such as fresh vegetables, fruits, fish oils have been found to be effective in reducing the risk of CVD (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003; De Lorgeril et al 1999; BBC heath website). Polyunsaturated vegetable oils such as linoleic acid have been found to be promoters of low risk for CVD (De Lorgeril et al 1999; BBC heath website). Some fibres consist of polysaccharides and lignin which is a constituent of plant cells walls and aids water transport and structure. These types of fibre along with more traditional celluloses have been found to reduce the incidence of LDLs as part of a regular diet (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). Wholegrains are another type of fibre that has in clinical trials been found to reduce the risk of CVD, this type of fibre is abundant in the cereal crops. Antioxidants are found in fresh fruit and vegetable and have been suggested to reduce the risk of CVD (Diet, nutrition and the preven tion of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003; De Lorgeril et al 1999; BBC heath website) however the evidence for this is not strong and the decreased risk of CVD may be due to other nutrients present in the food. For example, vitamin C, E and beta-carotene have all been studied for their potential positive effects on individuals at risk from myocardial infarction and stroke. The results of this research are as yet however inconclusive (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). Flavonoids are also present in many plants and display anti-allergic, anti-cancer, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). A negative correlation has been found between some flavonoids and incidence of CVD although methodological problems have been mentioned in such studies (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). Potassium salts have been found in a number of cohort studies to be a protec tive factor in CVD an may measurably decrease systolic and diastolic blood pressure (De Lorgeril et al 1999; Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003). Some of these studies found an inverse relationship between risk of a stroke and potassium salt ingestion as part of a regularly monitored diet. The essential fatty acids such as omega-3 have been found to be conducive to the reduction in the risk of CVD for a number of reasons including reducing triglycerides (a VLDL) which is associated with high incidence of atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke (De Lorgeril, 1999). Omega 3 is an unsaturated fatty acid found in oily fish such as tuna and herring, other beneficial cardiovascular effects may be reduced blood clotting (helping to reduce aneurisms and other blockages) and possibly promoting heart beat regulation (BBC health website, 2011). Stanols and sterols are plant derived esters which have been found to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood supply of sample populations (BBC website, 2011). These types of esters can be found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, legumes, and vegetable oils and may help to reduce previously high levels of cholesterol. Moderate levels of alcohol have been found in some studies to reduce the risk of CVD (BBC website, 2011). This beneficial effect however is based upon the consumption of the no more than the recommended daily limit for a person of a given weight, height and age (BBC website, 2011). Alcohol ingestion has been correlated with increases in the beneficial HDL cholesterol. Pathophysiological processes that occur in relation to macronutrients and CVD The major pathophysiological change that may occur in the human body in relation to macronutrients or lack of is cardiovascular disease which may also be associated with obesity and diabetes (Poirier et al, 2006). Atherosclerosis is a disease of the arterial system in which the arterial vessels become blocked due to a build up of the LDL fats (atheromas or atherosclerotic plaques) which accumulate inside the epithelium of the vessel walls thus reducing the blood flow and increasing the risk of infarction (Merck medical library, 2008). All the factors already mentioned above have been strongly linked to atherosclerosis (tobacco smoke, long term saturated fat ingestion, diabetes, lack of exercise, stress and excessive levels of cholesterol in the blood supply). The vital organs are particularly vulnerable (heart, kidneys brain) as well as some not so vital areas like the arteries of the legs. (Merck medical library, 2008; Poirier et al, 2006). Subtle repeated injury to the arterial sys tem appears to be the main developmental factor leading to atherosclerosis, the artery gradually becomes thicker and loses its elastic ability, this leads to a situation where the blood is restricted and the heart is placed under greater and greater pressure due to the resistance in the increasingly furred arteries (Merck medical library, 2008; Poirier et al, 2006). This effect can be compounded by obesity and diabetes which interfere with circulation and metabolism and may even lead to infection (Merck medical library, 2008; Poirier et al, 2006). Atherosclerosis can be recognised histologically when arterial walls creates endocrine signals that cause monocytes and T cells to accumulate within the affected artery. Monocytes and T cells move into the wall of the artery where they are signalled to turn into another type of cell, foam cells. Foam cells accumulate cholesterol and trigger growth of smooth muscle cells in the artery wall. These foam cells form patchy deposits and are cove red with a fibrous cap. Over time calcium accumulates in these plaques. Plaques normally form where the arteries branch and over time cause such a stress upon the cardiovascular system that it may suddenly fail (usually bought on by a combination of high blood pressure, bad diet and obesity) or a major blockage may form causing a stroke (Merck medical library, 2008; Poirier et al, 2006; Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO, 2003; De Lorgeril et al 1999; BBC heath website).

Working on My Scholarship Essay :: Scholarship Essays

Working on My Scholarship Essay That fateful night I stayed up too late working on a scholarship essay. Worked up into a frenzy with all this paperwork, I faded in and out of the work I was doing. I stopped for a few minutes to rest my eyes and upon opening them I gazed into a face crowned by a laurel-leaf and wore philosophers robes. "What doest thou?" he asked in a thick Italian voice. I could not believe it. Who was this man who entered my room unannounced and demanded from me what I do? "What doest thou?" he asked again, more forcefully. "I...I'm writing a paper for a scholarship, sir." I added 'sir' unintentionally. "What needest thou with this scholarship application?" "I have two brothers who are going to college, one of whom will be returning to UTD next year to continue his education, and the other will be attending medical school." "Aye, but what need hast thou for 'scholarship'?" He rolled the words in a soft Florentine accent. "My brother who will be attending medical school will be living on campus and the expense of room and board along with tuition and the tuition of my other brother attending UTD puts a great strain on our family. I really need this scholarship." "'Tis true, I believe it. But for what purpose needest thou this scholarship?" "Well," I said a bit unnerved at this intruding interrogator, "I hope to receive a masters degree in Commercial Art and I hope to join an advertising or design company." "Aye, but what other duties hast thou outside of education?" "To begin with, every two weeks I feed the homeless with my church. We pack lunches for them and, rain or shine, we hand out the food and water.