US Economic Situation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

US Economic Situation - Essay Example This essay discusses that  the problem lies in somewhere else. As the country is technically upgraded enough, the production technique they use in the industrial sector is mostly capital intensive. This leads to unemployment as the labour input is not extensively used in the production system. Nevertheless, the population of the country is not as high as the developing countries. Hence the unemployment rate is not so severe in this country. It has been found that the rate of unemployment in this country has remained at the level of 5.8 per cent for the last two years. The country has witnessed economic growth near about 5 per cent in the last quarter of this year.From this paper it is clear that  US economy is globally considered as a developed economy. However this paper will examine the amount of stress the country has witnessed in the path of development for the last two years. Globalisation has caused the integration of this economy with various developing as well as under de veloped and many other developed countries. The appreciation of the exchange rate causes low inflation and it influences the international trade in a greater extent. The United States achieves the score 76.2 in case of economic freedom. The freedom in business has fallen compared to the last year. However, control over the government spending has achieved modest gains compared to the recent past.  It has been found by the US officials that the unemployment rate of the country has fallen to 5.5 per cent in the last quarter.

Technology vs Man Essay Example for Free

Technology vs Man Essay Technology versus man is not only a theme found in literature, such as when the scientist, Frankenstein, created the monster who came alive and turned on the scientist, but is also a theme found in the real-life world of American economy. The Economist is a weekly newspaper focusing on politics and business news and opinion. It ran an article called â€Å"Into the Unknown† which put forth the idea that changes in technology that destroy jobs can also create new ones. The machine (created by man) will not necessarily turn on the man to destroy him by taking away his means of making a living. Though the machine may eliminate one means of making a living, in so doing it may create a number of new means. When technology starts to eliminate jobs, it also creates an opportunity to profit from the creation of new jobs. â€Å"Into the Unknown† says the fear that a rise in technology would cause a decline in jobs is not a new one. In 1929 American economist Stuart Chase in his book Men and Machines, made the prediction that the creation of machines to do the work that man once did would soon destroy the American economy. The machines would go on producing the same amount of product, but jobless people would not have the money to buy the product. He felt that this economic disaster was just around the corner. Time has proven him wrong according to this article. What Chase didn’t understand was that the machine that destroyed one job set the course for the creation of new, possibly unthought-of jobs. Economic predictions are often wrong and short-sighted. Even short-term labor-market predictions can be wrong as seen in the 1988 example of the twenty occupations that the government predicted would suffer the most job losses between 1988 and 2000. Half of those occupations gained jobs instead of lost. The fear of out-sourcing jobs to other countries is another modern day economic fear according this article; but the author feels out-sourcing could be a way of getting rid of less valuable jobs and then using those workers to do more valuable jobs. Retraining workers and remembering that human desire for new technology will help keep Americans working. The idea that changes in technology that destroy jobs can create new ones is not accepted by everyone. Two hundred years ago in England a group called the Luddites – 19th-century English textile workers – revolted against industrialization by sabotaging mechanical looms. They felt these looms made it possible to replace them with less-skilled, low-wage workers, leaving them without work. An English economist of that day, David Ricardo, was the first to predict that technology would result in unemployment. There have been many others that have agreed with that prediction – economists such as John Maynard, Wassily Leontief, Pater Drucker, and Stuart Chase. Yet despite massive mechanization and automation, the U.S. economy has kept creating jobs. These fears are still being advanced today by people such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew P. McAfee. If Stuart Chase thought economic disaster was just around the corner, these men believe we have turned that corner. They believe automation is replacing people faster than the economy can create jobs. Catherine Mann, who is quoted in The Economist article, disagrees with this assessment. She says that Information Technology (IT) jobs have risen from 1999-2003 (Behrens 246). IT jobs, such as health information experts, machine-to-machine communications enablers, and outsourcing/offshoring managers, are increasing. Ms. Mann actually predicts an IT labor shortage (Behrens 246). Is America on the brink of economic disaster due to IT replacing men with machines, or is IT actually producing more jobs than it is taking away as the theme states? History would cause one to believe that the economy will adjust as it always has, and new jobs will be generated; yet a new variable could prove that wrong. America’s gross domestic product has grown 75% since 2009, yet unemployment has hovered above 9% since the same date. This would indicate that Stuart Chase and his kind are right. The new variable is Moore’s Law – microprocessors double their performance every eighteen months. They have been doing this ever since they were introduced in 1958. To illustrate this growth, if one grain of rice was placed on a chessboard square and then doubled on the second square and then that amount was doubled on the third square, by the time all sixty-four squares were filled, the amount of rice would be equal to Mount Everest. Simply put, computers have grown far more powerful over the past fifty years. An example of this is the technological advancement in pattern recognition which now surpasses human capability. This is seen in autonomous vehicles and voice recognition software. Over time, a well-functioning economy should adjust to technological unemployment, but it’s important that workers learn new skills and new business models be invented. As the article states, computer professionals have learned that maintaining standard business-software packages is no longer lucrative, but tailoring business software and services is. There is not a big supply of IT graduates to recruit and train in America. Therefore, companies have to retrain their employees in these sought-after skills (Behrens 246). When technology starts to eliminate jobs, it also creates an opportunity to profit from the creation of new jobs. Even though it is a possibility that we have actually turned the corner in our economy and that technology is actually eliminating jobs faster than they can be created, it is not the time to throw hands in the air and give up. It would be good to remember that technology has created jobs today that would not have been dreamed of twenty-five to fifty years ago. Who knows what jobs will be available twenty-five to fifty years from now?

Can Sri Lanka Apparel Industry Face Future Challenges?

Can Sri Lanka Apparel Industry Face Future Challenges? 1. Sri Lanka has traditionally been an agro-based economy from the ancient time. With the Industrial Revolution taking root in Europe and later spreading to the rest of the world, Sri Lanka too had to take its place in this scenario. Factory scale production of ready made garments in Sri Lanka had its beginnings in the early 1950s to become the largest industry in the Sri Lankan economy. During the pre-liberalization era (pre-1977), the domestic textile industry was essentially an import substitution industry confined to a few large-scale textile industries run by the government. The textile industry did not make much progress during this period. The garment industry has its origins in the mid- 1960s, but unlike the textile industry, the former was mainly run by the private sector. Initially, almost all of the garments produced were for the domestic market and there were hardly any exports during this period. A large share of the industry was in the hands of few companies. Since the importation of textiles was either banned or restricted, locally produced textiles mainly fed the garment industry. GARMENTS: All external and internal finished common clothing items such as shirts, T shirts, pants, dresses, sports clothing, fashion garments, under garments etc. APPAREL : finished clothing that can be considered as supporting clothing or accessories such as jackets, lingerie, leather clothing, knitted garments, shoes, hats, gloves, fashion accessories etc. 2. The period after the late 1970s saw a rapid expansion of the garment industry in Sri Lanka. The phenomenal growth during this period can be attributed to three major factors: a. The first is the market-oriented liberal economic policies introduced in 1977, which placed greater emphasis on the export-led industries. b. The second is the supportive measures taken by the government through the Board of Investment, such as duty free importation of industrial inputs, off-shore borrowing facilities, tax holidays or concessional taxation, etc. These measures together with the availability of labour- intensive industries such as garments. c. The next important factor which contributed to the Sri Lankan apparel industry is the Multi Fibre arrangement ( MFA ). AIM 4. The aim of this research is to discuss about the apparel industry in Sri Lanka and analyse the future challenges. CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGY STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: 1. The apparel sector had grown tremendously after introducing the open economy. Now it has become the leading export industry replacing the traditional tea and rubber. It is the most significant and dynamic contributor of Sri Lankan economy. 2. The major drawback in the Sri Lankan apparel industry is that it has not upgraded with latest technologies and modern consumer demands to compete with the other countries, mostly the South East Asian countries. National economy will definitely be affected if the country fails to address the drawbacks in the industry. 3. The aim of my research is to identify the weaknesses in the apparel sector and to suggest favourable and appropriate solutions to secure the industry. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS 4. It is hypothesized that the reason for not upgrading with the latest technology and consumer demands is lack of capital, incompatible demands and high competition.    SCOPE OF THE STUDY 5. The scope of the study covers an assessment of the ready made garment industry in Sri Lanka taking three well known factories in to consideration. Factors that had been an impact to the industry will be identified through the research and the root causes of the problem will be then be identified. Recommendations will be made for the improvement. METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION 6. The required data for the research will be drawn from the following sources; a. Primary sources Primary sources will include information collected by interviewing resource personnel in the garment sector. b. Secondary sources Information will be gathered from relevant books, journals, the internet, treaties, conventions as well as international and local enactments of relevance. CHAPTER THREE OVERVIEW OF THE APPAREL INDUSTRY HISTORY   1. The textile and clothing industry had emerged from a modest beginning in the early 1950s A few pioneering industrialists who started out on an uncertain course at this time , confident their manufacture to only some popular items of garments and catered essentially to local demand. By the end of the 1950s there was a reversal in policies and the economy moved towards restrictions on imports and a policy of import substitution in industry began to be perused. While the major basic industries were reserved for the state; a wide range of consumer goods industries were opened to the private sector , which was provide with various investment incentives and a protected market. Over the decade of the 1960s as many as 300 categories of industrial products began to be manufactured locally. Among this range of products a major item was textiles and another ready made garments, though from the outset raw materials required for the garments industry were imported. 2. It was in the late1960s that Sri Lankas ready made garments began to break into export markets. Sri Lankas shirts had found acceptability in markets such as the UK and Soviet Union and a leading shirt manufacture began exporting up to Rs:2 million worth of product annually to the USSR, within the bilateral trade agreement between Sri Lanka and the USSR. 3. Around 1972 there was a change in outlook towards the industry as existing policy was altered to allow certain sectors to adapt an export oriented approach. Special foreign exchange allocations and other fiscal and tax incentives were offered to selected export oriented industries under this package. In the first six years of the 1970s over 2500 industrial units received approval from the Local Industries Approve Committee (LIAC) and of these nearly 2000 were in the product group of Textiles and Textile based industries. By the mid 1970s wage/ pries inflation and imposition of trade quotas on exports of traditional Asian Suppliers of made-up garments such as Hong Kong , Taiwan, South ,Korea and Singapore made Sri Lanka more attractive location for the industry. New units began to be established in collaboration with foreign capital/marketing, while production was being upgraded through import. 4. The period after the late 1970s saw a rapid expansion of the clothing industry in Sri Lanka. The impressive growth witnessed during this period can be attributed to two major factors. The first is the market-oriented liberal economic policies introduced in 1977. The market friendly economic reforms, which identified the private sector as the engine of growth, places greater emphasis on the export-led industries. 5. The second important factor which contributes to the remarkable expansion of the Sri Lanka textile and clothing industry is the Multi Fibre Arrangement ( MFA ). Sri Lanka is one of the countries that benefited from the quota hopping investments. The overseas manufactures of garment who relocated their production facilities in Sri Lanka include firms from both and Newly Industrialize Countries ( NICs) in East Asian and Europe. While the NIC firms moved their operations mainly as a means of quota hopping the motivation for producers of countries such as Germany and the UK to move into Sri Lanka was the rising production costs in their home countries. Given the ability to separate to different stages of the clothing industry, these overseas producers were able to disintegrate their production lines into low-cost countries like Sri Lanka without much difficulty. Investments by these two categories of foreign manufacturers fuelled the growth of the Sri Lankan clothing industry to a lar ge extent. In fact, the factories set up as joint ventures and wholly owned foreign companies account for almost half of the total exports earning from garments. MULTI FIBRE ARRANGEMENT 6. The Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) is a system of quotas designed to protect garment industries in first world countries by slowing down the pace of globalization. The MFA does not apply to the expanding garment trade between rich countries. 7. The MFA has had a complex but crucial impact on the development of the garment industry. In the Third World, by imposing limits on poor country exports, it encouraged investors to shop around for new countries. This because of the increase in volumes of ready made garment entering developed countries caused concern and eventually led the developed countries to seek the occurrence of The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ( GATT) to protect their markets. The reason for this concern was due to the fact that the industrialised countries never caused to be textile and garment manufactures because the industry employed a large number of women specially minorities and immigrants in the USA and Europe. GATT,s solution to the dilemma of the industrialised nations was the Multi Fibre Arrangements (MFA) which imposed quota restrictions on certain garment categories, there by limiting the quantity of apparels that could be exported to the developed countries by any single developing cou ntry. This curtailed the potential of countries like Hong Kong, South Korea, Mexico and Yugoslavia which were advanced textile manufactures. In turn it allowed countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to enter the industry with guaranteed markets. It was first introduced in 1974 and will end in 2005. As a result there was a world wide boom in the textile and apparel export industry in the mid 1980s. 200 GARMENT FACTORIES PROGRAMME (200 GFP)   8. In view of the infrastructure facilities and close proximity to the port and airport facilities etc. most textile and clothing manufacturers concentrated their operations in or around the Western province, where the countrys capital is located. As a result, unemployment one for the major problem faced by Sri Lanka continued to remain high in the other parts of the island. Growing unemployment resulted in youth unrest in most of the rural areas. Thus, in 1990,a Cabinet Sub-Committee recommended that garment factories should be opened in provincial areas other than the Western Province. Consequently, the 200 garment factories programme (200 GFP) was launched with the idea of opening at least one garment factory in each of the 200 Assistant Government Agent (AGA) divisions. The main incentive which encouraged the private sector to take part in this programme was quotas. For this purpose, the remote areas of the country were classified into three categories, namely non-difficult, difficult and most difficult. Quotas were allocated on the basis of the location for the industry. The more isolated and difficult the area, the higher was the quota allocated. While about 40 percent of the areas were identified as difficult, just over 40 percent fell within the most difficult category. The rest, just fewer than 20 percent, were classified as non difficult. In addition to quotas, the factories setup under the 200 GFP were also offered various other incentives such as tax holidays or lower corporate taxes, duty-free importation machinery and raw materials, loans from foreign currency banking units, etc. as the main thrust behind the 200 GFP was the high unemployment in the rural sector, each factory was intended to employ at least 500 workers. By the end of 1996, there were 154 factories in commercial operation under this programme, providing 76,821 employment opportunities.   CHAPTER FOUR THE ROLE OF TEXTILE AND CLOTHING INDUSTRY IN THE SRI LANKAN ECONOMY 1. The common features of developing countries are high rates of population growth, high rates of unemployment, low savings, insufficient capital formation, low investment, high capital output ratio, rudimentary technology and cheap skilled and unskilled labour. These countries are also mainly exporters of primary agriculture products. Further being too small to achieve economies of scale in their domestic markets, these countries have adopted export led growth policies which are designed to generate foreign exchange and expose the productive factors of the country to the stimulus of competitive influence. 2. The textile garment industry there for became the initial response of developing countries to this call for export led growth. Being a labour intensive industry requiring a small capital base. Production of textile and apparel shifted to developing countries in the 1960s. It provided employment for a large number of persons earned foreign exchange allowed for diversification of the export industry and paved the way for industrialization. Some countries attracted foreign investors by opening up free trade zones. Many critics called it textile led growth. 3. At the time Sri Lanka began to pursue liberal economic policies in 1977, the textile and clothing industry played only a minor role in the countrys economy. In the light of the broad based economic liberalisation and the benign impact of the MFA, the industry since then has recorded a remarkable growth and assumed a key role in the economy. While garments accounted for the largest share of all commodity exports (27 per cent) in 1986, it became the largest foreign exchange earner (US$ 0.4 billion) by 1992, by 1995; garments export exceeded US$ 1.5 billion, nearly half of all commodity exports. 4. Of the 21 percent contribution made by the manufacturing industries to the countrys economy in 1996, 40 per cent was from the textile and clothing sector. The growth of the garment industry was particularly rapid in 1992 and 1993 due to the attempts taken by the government under the 200 GFP decentralise the industry away from the Western Province. Although the textile and clothing sector registered a slow growth of 5.1 per cent against 14.8 per cent in 1995, it still accounted for 33.7 per cent of the growth witnessed in the private sector industrial output. (The slow growth in 1996 was primarily because of the continued power cuts due to prolong drought). According to the Ministry of industrial Development, there has been a total of 859 garment factories at the end of 2001 while the number of textile manufacturing firms stood over 140, with less than 10 companies accounting for most of the output. The largest garment factories (in terms of employment) were located within the free -trade-zones (FTZs) run by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOISL) the authority responsible for the promotion of foreign direct investment. 5. Today the textile and clothing sector has replaced the tea industry the traditional front line export industry as the leading foreign exchange earner. Specially, the growth of garment export has been highly impressive. For instance during the period 1980 to 1990 the value of apparel export increased from US $ 100 million to US $ 620 million. In terms of quantity, the exports grew from 52 million pieces to 212 million pieces during the same decade. Exports of garments, which were only 10 percent Sri Lankas total export in 1980, reached nearly half in 1993, registering in average annual increase of 30 percent. In 1996 the textile and clothing sector accounted for 46 percent of the countrys total export earning. Its share among the industrial exports reached as high as 63 percent. The highest growth, (21 percent) was in the woven fabric categories. 6. The textile and clothing sector has also been an outstanding source in generating employment opportunities. Being a highly labour intensive industry, this sector has been successful in absorbing a fairly large number of workers. By end of 2001, garment sector provided direct employment to approximately 391682 personal. The garment sector as whole represented about 14 percent of the 5.5 million of the countrys total employed work force. Approximately 40 percent of which was engaged in the textile and clothing sector. Of the total work force employed in the textile and clothing industry, more than 60 percent was with the clothing sector. CHAPTER FIVE PRESENT POSITION OF THE SRI LANKA APPAREL INDUSTRY MAJOR MARKETS OF SRI LANKA 1. Since more than 90 percent of exports from the Sri Lankas textile and clothing industries consist of ready made clothing, the focus here is on clothing. Sri Lanka currently maintains bilateral textile agreements in the context of the MFA with Canada, the EU and the USA. More than 90 percent of Sri Lankas exports of clothing are accounted by only two markets, the EU and the USA. The USA continues to account for about 60 percent of total clothing exports from Sri Lanka. About 90 percent of exports (by value) to the USA consist of quota items. The bilateral agreement between the US and Sri Lanka contains more than 30 quota categories, covering over 50 clothing items. While the quota performance against the US market is generally high, utilisation rate of certain quota categories such as knitted shirts and blouses, trousers, underwear, coveralls, and overall, terry and other pile towels etc. has reached almost 100 per cent during the recent years  [1]  . 2. The EU has been absorbing about 35 percent of Sri Lankas total exports of clothing every year. The largest buyer of Sri Lankan garments within the EU is the UK (about 45%) which is followed by Germany (about 20%), the Netherlands (about 9%), France (about 5.5%), Belgium- Luxembourg (about 5% ) and the rest Sri Lankas exports to the EU has been subject to quotas under four categories namely, trousers, blouses, shirts and jackets. The utilisation rate of quotas of the first three categories (most sensitive ones) during 1996 was 84 percent, 100 percent and 73 percent respectively, while the rate of the fourth category was nearly 30 percent. Canada continues to account for about 1.5 percent of Sri Lankas total exports of garments. While Sri Lankas bilateral textile agreement with Canada contains about 15 product categories under quotas. THE ABOLITION OF QUOTA SYSTEM 3. Sri Lankas apparel industry is now a major contributor to the countrys economy after its modest beginnings in the seventies. It represents 54% of our total exports and 71% of Sri Lankas total industrial exports. The garment exports make a direct contribution of 7% to the overall economy. The rapid growth of this industry could be attributed to the followings: a. A stable market because of the quota system. b. Low labour cost. c. Liberal economic and trade policies. d. Tax benefits and the concessions granted to the industry. 4. From its inception the quota system was a boom to Sri Lankas apparel industry. The availability of a stable market eliminated the danger of competition from established industrialists in the international field, and attracted direct foreign investment and helped Sri Lanka prosper in this industry. 5. Although the abolition of quota system in 2005 had a negative impact on the industry it also opened up an expanded free market. As such the future of the garment industry in Sri Lanka will depend on our ability to face competition. One third (1/3) of the total exports from Sri Lanka are done by 25 large scale manufacturers. These organizations are in a position to restructure and sustain themselves in a competitive market according to surveys. But the survival of the other small and medium scale industries is at stake, making the situation critical because these small and medium scale manufacturers are the biggest employers in the apparel industry  [2]  . SWOT FOR THE APPAREL INDUSTRY 8. Strengths.   The product quality level for the current market segments is considered high Reputation as a country which follows labour laws and good working conditions. The product price ranks second with large customers confirming that price quality relation of Sri Lanka is good On time delivery is the third best strength with effort towards reducing lead-times. Availability of skilled labour, educated and trainable work force and management of production capacity and ability to handle high volume orders are also considered strengths the Sri Lankan industry presently possesses. Apart from those the geographical size of the country facilitates easy movement with in the country serves a further advantage  [3]  . 9. Weaknesses. The weaknesses in the Sri Lankan industry can be listed down as follows; a. Lack of marketing skills with over dependence on buying officers, and allocation of quotas. b. Low level of marketing information, and knowledge about export marketing with hardly any marketing activities. c. Lack of fabric base and over dependence on input suppliers with long lead times d. Lack of a strong work ethic along with high absenteeism and labour turn over. e. Warm climatic condition of the country which reduces productivity f. Increasing cost of labour and availability of employment in other industries and foreign employment opportunities 10. Opportunities. To overcome the loss of orders due to the expiry of Multi Fibre Arrangement after year 2005, the position in the traditional export markets in the USA and UK by should be strengthened by establishing a strong relationship with distributors and buyers and developing an expansion strategy for the markets with good potential. Thereafter the opportunity exists to gain a higher market share by implementing an aggressive marketing strategy in the markets, where Sri Lanka has a weak positioning. Further there is a very good opportunity to capture a bigger market share in the EU: As at present Sri Lanka is not with in first 15 exporters to the EU. 11. Further opportunities exists in capturing the South Asian Market especially the High Price garments with designer wear and Intimate garments, a market where Sri Lankan Manufactures are now experts in producing and marketing. The available free trade agreements should be exploited in trade between India and Pakistan to export finished garments and to import fabric and accessories. It is also important to establish and identity for of Sri Lanka as a destination, which manufactures very high quality garments   12. Threats. The threats to the present Garment Industry are as follows; a. An intensification of the competition, especially from the sub Asian member countries, before and after the phasing out of the MFA. b. Improvement of the former socialist economies, who have a good textile industry and a large domestic Market which are highly potential and geared to meet the quality and delivery requirements especially from EU. c. The arrival of new competitors in the Asian sub continent such as Vietnam, Cambodia , Myanmar and Laos. d. Special advantages created for the USA market by the NAFTA, consolidation and other regional economic cooperation e. The increase in Sri Lankas labour costs at a faster pace than productivity f. The necessity to reduce lead time from the manufactures to the shop, and the distant suppliers inability to deliver the value added garments on time g. Successive government has not addressed the issue of low productivity, and even at this stage a government funded garment manufacturing and production management training institute has not been established and this posses a threat to the industrys future h. Geographical location of the country. Sri Lanka is located at the furthest end of the Indian Ocean, when compared with other competitive garment exporting countries, which export to the USA, EU and other wealthy nations. Almost all the countries, which are geographically located close to Sri Lanka are under developed and, low income countries struggling to survive. CHALLENGES FACED BY THE SRI LANKAN APPAREL INDUSTRY 13. In the recent past, the global garment industry has been subject to significant changes in terms of changes in consumer demands, changes in technology, and fierce competition. These changes have also filtered down to the Sri Lankan garment industry and there is now considerable pressure on the industry to each higher standard of production and service. 14. As the garment industry is a relatively low skilled and labour intensive operation, over time there has been a shifting of production from countries such as Hong Kong. South Korea and Taiwan to low wage countries such as Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. As this process of shifting (or shifting comparative advantage) has continued, Sri Lanka has gradually lost its low labour cost comparative advantage. 15. As the majority of Sri Lankan manufactures currently produce standard garments where competition is primarily based on price, Sri Lanka faces stiff competition from other developing countries of South and South East Asia where production cost is low (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam). China has also emerged as a dominant force in the global apparel industry with its massive supply capability and low costs of production. These countries have a lower ranking in terms of cost of production in comparison to Sri Lanka. Given this situation, there may be a need for Sri Lanka to move some of its exports to the top end of the market as a reputable and dependable supplier of quality apparel in Asia. In the higher value clothing segment, countries such a Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan are serious competitors  [4]  . 16. While Sri Lanka s global market share has been recorded at 1.5 percent, more recent estimates indicate that there has been a marginal increase, and stands at 2 percent of the global garment market. During the period 1995 to 2000, Sri Lanka maintained a 19 percent export earning growth in the garment industry. If there is a lifting of the US tariff barriers for Sri Lankas apparels, then according to some commentators there would be a significant increase of exports. As mentioned earlier, although over 90 percent of Sri Lankas garment exports are destined for the USA and the EU, Sri Lanka does not rank amongst the top exporting nations to the EU. Sri Lanka ranked 20th and 16th place among suppliers of apparel products to the EU and the USA market, respectively, in 1998. The positive feature is that the Sri Lankan garment manufacturers, in general, have built up a good rapport and sound reputation the world over. It is a great advantage when compared to her competing neighbours. 17. Buyers now have a range of sources from which to choose, and countries such as Mexico (supplying to the USA) and Turkey (supplying to the EU) have the added advantages of being in close proximity to their major markets, lower transport cost and shorter turn-around times. Moreover, Mexico and free of quota restrictions access to their major markets. 18. One factor contributing to this reduced level of price competitiveness is the increasing cost of labour in Sri Lanka compared to other garment producing nations. Labour costs have been steadily increasing and currently constitute between 15-30 percent of total production costs in the average Sri Lankan garment manufacturing firm, highlighted the hourly wage rates of a number of garment manufacturing nations and indicated that Sri Lankas competitors currently have relatively lower wage cost structures. For those competitors who gave higher wage cost structures (and higher global market shares), their strengths lie particularly in their high levels of productivity. HOW SHOULD WE FACE THE COMPETITION? 18. The researcher recommends the following changes to preserve the garment industry in Sri Lanka. Developing Skills Of Labour Force The skill level on high speed machines have been found to be in sufficient. This resulted in low efficiency levels and low Needle Down Time. Which are two important performance measurements in the garment industry. Intensive training to upgrade skill level, parallel to technological advancement is important to gain a competitive advantage in the garment industry. b. Establishment of a Government Administered Garment industry related training institute. It is recommended to the government, at least at this stage to focus on this issue, and establish a dedicated training institute for all levels of employees in the apparel industry, as the future of thee industry and employment of 350000 personnel will purely depend on countries competitiveness on productivity and cost of labour. e. Increasing Needle Down Time (1) Use of Modern Machinery Needle down time could be increased through training and use of modern advanced machinery. Introduction of modern machines as under bed trimmers and computerised machines will speed up the sewing process and assist the operator to use other advanced facilities of the machines. (2) Reduction of secondary activities Needle Down Time (NDT)could be further increased by following General Sewing Data Standards, which indicates the ideal movements by machine operators to reduced idle time and speed up the sawing process. f. Backward Integration. Due to lack of modernisation and technological advancement in the textile manufacturing sector the garment industry has to depend for its requirement on imported fabric. Therefore to be competitive backward integration is necessary, but it requires high capital expenditure- is around US $ 25-30 million. In Sri Lankan terms this is a huge investment. Therefore it is prudent for Sri Lankan to concentrate from processing stage onwards and import grey fabric from abroad. Given proximity to Asian producers fabric can be soured with minimal lead time. Joint ventures, strategic alliances, etc. will be ideal if can be so arranged. g. Export Alliance. A group of small / medium sized companies with not so unique products and only limited funds available for export market development can form an export alliance. This group of entrepreneurs exporting can exploit the market much more professionally than an individual. In addition they can benefit by sharing the very heavy marketing expenses and the orders received from buyers. h. Product Quality. As the cost of fabric constitutes a major share in the unit cost of garments, a great deal of attention has to be paid for quality controls at the fabric level. An integrated approach in quality assurance in the process from fabric to garments can be a powerful tool in using quality as a differentiation strategy for competitive advantage. i. Management of Lead Time. Lead-time taken by Sri Lankan exporters around 60-120 days is a

Teddy Roosevelt Essay example -- essays research papers

Roosevelt, Theodore (American President) (c. 1858-1919) Roosevelt’s presidency began with the chaos of McKinley’s assassination in 1901, when Roosevelt was 43 years old, and ended after his second term, achieved by his election to President in 1904. Although Roosevelt’s selection as McKinley’s Vice-President was more of a political pay-off, and the New York political machine, fearing an independent Roosevelt, was more than ready to say good-bye to Roosevelt as Governor, Roosevelt is acknowledged by most historians as having waged a vigorous and winning campaign, while his presidential candidate seemed content to stay behind. With McKinley’s assassination, the Republicans and the country had bought themselves an activist president who, in the span of seven years, turned an isolationist America into a world power which created American leadership and power in world affairs, dealt corporations a new set of rules, enacted a philosophy and policy of environmental conservation, set forth a progressive agenda which held Victorian values at its fulcrum, and dealt with the social and economic issues presented by the burst of immigrants. The issues of non-english speaking immigrants, large corporate trusts acting with greed, defining America’s role in the world politic, all faced Roosevelt, as they face Bush today. Moreover, Roosevelt fashioned policies, rationales, and enacted legislation to engage this challenge and pursued an even more aggressive presidential activism in his second term. This activist president, currently the public icon invoked by members of both parties, was descended from a mixed cluster of immigrant lineage: Welsh, German, and French, to name a few. Influencing his political ambitions and policies were his wealthy background; he was the son of a wealthy and successful glassware merchant whose Dutch family of origin, the Knickerbockers, had been residents of Manhattan since the mid-1600’s. Born on October 27, 1858 in New York City, â€Å"Teedie† was known as a scrawny, weak child, sick from asthma, until his father’s comments regarding his physique as representative of his manhood, turned young Teddy around. Because of his father’s tremendous influence over the young boy, Teddy responded to his father’s encouragement and began to work out vigorously in a gym installed in the home by his father. Despite his efforts to improve his physical abili... ...moral decline), the nation was in peril. Thus, these values formed the fulcrum of Roosevelt’s presidential actions: active mind, healthy body; corporations must do the â€Å"right† thing by society or government could compel them to do â€Å"good†; immigrants must be assimilated into American society with inter-marriage by the third generation; an only English spoken policy was necessary to promote assimilation. He had a natural ability to communicate with the American people. Roosevelt integrated the physicality and roughness of the frontiersmen with the values of a reformer. Roosevelt believed that politicians could make life better for the average citizen. Roosevelt created and implemented a reformist agenda: the Panama Canal despite Colombia’s protests, â€Å"dollar diplomacy† became a substitute for inter-countries’ debt, reserved thousands of acres of federal lands for the people and further, established an activism in the president ial office which has influenced its occupants for years to come. Although Roosevelt wished to serve again in 1912, he failed to halt Woodrow Wilson with his newly formed â€Å"Bull Moose Party† and lived the remainder of his life as a hunter and informal ambassador.

In writing a narrative essay Essay

Include sensory and emotional details, so the reader will experience the story, not just read about it Have the story support the point you are making, and make reference to that point in the first sentence. Write in the first or third person Descriptive Descriptive essays have text which describes traits and characteristics of people, objects, events, feelings, etc in intricate detail. Whatever is being described will be thoroughly examined. For example, if you were describing roses, you would explain: Where they come from What they look like What colors they are How they grow and smell When you write a descriptive essay, you want to involve the reader’s senses and emotions. For example, you could say, â€Å"I got sleepy† or describe it like this, â€Å"As I was waiting for Santa, my eyelids began to get heavy, the lights on the tree began to blur with the green branches, and my head started to drop.† The second sentence gives vivid details to make the reader feel like he is there. Exposition See more: how to start a personal narrative essay examples Expository essays can compare, explore and discuss problems, or tell a story. An exposition essay gives information about various topics to the reader. It: Informs Describes Explains In writing an exposition, the text needs to: Be concise and easy to understand Give different views on a subject or report on a situation or event Explain something that may be difficult to understand as you write your essay. Remember that your purpose is to explain. Argumentative In an argumentative essay the writer is trying to convince the reader by demonstrating the truth or falsity of a topic. The writer’s position will be backed up with certain kinds of evidence, like statistics or opinions of experts. The writer is not just giving an opinion, but making an argument for or against something and supporting that argument with data. To know how to write an essay in an argumentative way, you have to research and backup what you say in the text. Learn by Example When learning how to write an essay, sometimes the best way to learn is to look and analyze essay examples. Following are excerpts from narrative essays: â€Å"Looking back on a childhood filled with events and memories, I find it rather difficult to pick on that leaves me with the fabled â€Å"warm and fuzzy feelings.† As the daughter of an Air Force Major, I had the pleasure of traveling across America in many moving trips. I have visited the monstrous trees of the Sequoia National Forest, stood on the edge of the Grande Canyon and have jumped on the beds at Caesar’s Palace in Lake Tahoe.† â€Å"The day I picked my dog up from the pound was one of the happiest days of both of our lives. I had gone to the pound just a week earlier with the idea that I would just â€Å"look† at a puppy. Of course, you can no more just look at those squiggling little faces so filled with hope and joy than you can stop the sun from setting in the morning. I knew within minutes of walking in the door that I would get a puppy†¦ but it wasn’t until I saw him that I knew I had found my puppy.† â€Å"Looking for houses was supposed to be a fun and exciting process. Unfortunately, none of the ones that we saw seemed to match the specifications that we had established. They were too small, too impersonal, too close to the neighbors. After days of finding nothing even close, we began to wonder: was there really a perfect house out there for us?† The following is an example of a famous narrative written by John Updike, â€Å"Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu†: â€Å"The afternoon grew so glowering that in the sixth inning the arc lights were turned on–always a wan sight in the daytime, like the burning headlights of a funeral procession. Aided by the gloom, Fisher was slicing through the Sox rookies, and Williams did not come to bat in the seventh. He was second up in the eighth. This was almost certainly his last time to come to the plate in Fenway Park, and instead of merely cheering, as we had at his three previous appearances, we stood, all of us, and applauded.† Following are excerpts from descriptive essays: â€Å"Like his twisted feathers, his many scars, the reliable old owl chose the gnarled, weather-beaten, but solid branch often—it being a companion to the wise alone with the night and the last branch to creak in the heaviest wind. He often came to survey the fields and the clouds before his hunt, to listen to the steady sound of the stream passing through reeds under the bridge, while combing his feathers for the unwanteds—whatever they might be.† Here is a descriptive essay about a first visit to a favorite diner written by a student at Roane State Community College:†When entering the door at Lou’s, two things are immediately noticeable: the place is rarely empty and seems to consist of a maze of rooms. The first room, through the door, is the main part of the restaurant. There is another, rarely used, dining room off to the right. It was added during the oil well boom of the seventies. Through the main dining room is yet another room; it guards the door leading into the kitchen. This room contains the most coveted table in the place. The highest tribute Lou can bestow on anyone is to allow them access to seats at this table. This table is the family table; it is reserved for Lou’s, and her daughter Karen’s, immediate family and treasured friends.† Here is an example of a descriptive essay from St. Cloud State:†Billy Ray’s Pawn Shop and Lawn Mower Repair looked like a burial ground for country auction rejects. The blazing, red, diesel fuel tanks beamed in front of the station, looking like cheap lipstick against the pallid, wrinkled texture of the parking lot sand. The yard, not much larger than the end zone at General G. Patton High School on the north end of town, was framed with a rusted metallic hedge of lawn mowers, banana seat bicycles, and corroded oil drums. It wasn’t a calico frame of rusted parts, but rather an orchestra of unwanted machinery that Billy Ray had arranged into sections. The yellow-tanked mowers rested silently at the right of the diesel fuel. Once red, now faded orange, mowers stood at attention to the left. The oil barrels, jaded and pierced with holes, bellared like chimes when the wind was right. The bikes rested sporadically throughout the lot. In the middle of it all was the office, a faded, steel roof supported by cheap two-by-fours and zebra paneling. Billy Ray was at home, usually, five blocks east of town on Kennel Road.† Following are excerpts from exposition essays: â€Å"This family was a victim of a problem they could have avoided-a problem that, according to Florida park rangers, hundreds of visitors suffer each year.† Several times a month,† ranger Rod Torres of O’Leno State Park said, â€Å"people get scared and leave the park in the middle of the night.† Those people picked the wrong kind of park to visit. Not that there was anything wrong with the park: The hikers camped next to them loved the wild isolation of it. But it just wasn’t the kind of place the couple from New Jersey had in mind when they decided to camp out on this trip through Florida.† Here is an example of a student model answer of an Expository Essay from The Write Source:†Did you know that 7 out of 10 students have cheated at least once in the past year? Did you know that 50 percent of those students have cheated more than twice? These shocking statistics are from a survey of 9,000 U.S. high school students.Incredibly, teachers may even be encouraging their students to cheat! Last year at a school in Detroit, teachers allegedly provided their students with answers to statewide standard tests.†Here is an another example of an expository essay. This example comes from Essay Start:†Throughout history and through a cross-section of cultures, women have transformed their appearance to conform to a beauty ideal. Ancient Chinese aristocrats bound their feet as a show of femininity; American and European women in the 1800s cinched in their waists so tightly, some suffered internal damage; in some African cultures women continue to wear plates in their lower lips, continually stretching the skin to receive plates of larger size. The North American ideal of beauty has continually focussed on women’s bodies: the tiny waist of the Victorian period, the boyish figure in vogue during the flapper era, and the voluptuous curves that were the measure of beauty between the 1930s and 1950s. Current standards emphasize a toned, slender look, one that exudes fitness, youth, and health. According to psychologist Eva Szekely, â€Å"Having to be attractive at this time . . . means unequivocally having to be thin. In North America today, thinness is a precondition for being perceived by others and oneself as healthy† (19). However, this relentless pursuit of thinness is not just an example of women trying to look their best, it is also a struggle for control, acceptance and success.† Finally, here are excerpts from argumentative essays: â€Å"Gun control has been a controversial issue for years. A vast majority of citizens believe that if gun control is strictly enforced it would quickly reduce the threat of crime. Many innocent people feel they have the right to bear arms for protection, or even for the pleasure of hunting. These people are penalized for protecting their lives, or even for enjoying a common, innocent sport. To enforce gun control throughout the nation means violating a persons Constitutional rights. Although some people feel that the issue of gun control will limit crime, the issue should not exist due to the fact that guns are necessary for self defense against crime, and by enforcing gun control is violating a citizen’s second amendment right to bear arms.† Another examples of an argumentative essay comes from Bogazici University:†Throw out the bottles and boxes of drugs in your house. A new theory suggests that medicine could be bad for your health, which should at leastcome as good news to people who cannot afford to buy expensive medicine. However, it is a blow to the medicine industry, and an evenbigger blow to our confidence in the progress of science. This new theory argues that healing is at our fingertips: we can be healthy by doing Reikion on a regular basis.† On Essay By Example, on the other hand, the sample argumentative essay addresses online games and socialization:

Letters from the Ground Zero

â€Å"Letters from the Ground Zero† is an essay about the tragedy of September 11 in New York City which was unexpected and unbelievable but still happened in broad daylight and caught everyone all over the world unaware and for someone who lived six blocks away from the World Trade Center when the acts of terrorism happened in the American soil like Jonathan Schell, the author of this essay, it is one unforgettable moment in his life to witness such devastation in your country and your countrymen. Schell narrated and illustrated what he had heartrendingly encountered firsthand that day and according to him, â€Å"My specific neighborhood was violated and mutilated.   As I write these words, the acrid, dank, rancid stink—it is the smell of death—of the still smoking site is in my nostrils.† The occurrence of such an attack could have been prevented if every government’s vigilance was increased and complacency was not heightened.  Ã‚  Ã‚   It will always be a better option for all countries to be circumspect, to take extra precautions and do what they can to obliterate such demonic creations. In the time of development of such sophisticated weapons of mass destruction, it is never impossible anymore for a specific part of the globe to become the next ground zero. As Schell told, â€Å"We have known this intellectually, but now we know it viscerally, as a nausea in the pit of the stomach that is unlikely to go away.† The author was able to give a testimonial to the tragedy since he lived near the ground zero and who better to narrate it than someone like him.   What the essay tries to impart is for people to see that something has to be done to stop this from happening again to each one’s homeland and protect the countrymen. The author effectively narrated what can be seen on the television at the same time the streets of New York right after what happened like how people helped each other in any way they can and how so many heroic deeds emerged after such consecutive acts of terror occurred in the United States of America.   The author said â€Å"the surrounding buildings were smashed but still standing and looked down eyelessly on their pulverized brethren†. He was also able to witness how heroic men and women tried to slowly and patiently work in finding the people under the numerous piles of rubbles in ground zero which made it very difficult for the rescue operations to get as many people out of the site alive yet their persistence somehow gave him the reassurance. Despite all these the American people rose above the devastation and destruction even after so many lives of people, employees, firemen, policemen and rescuers were lost.   America has truly learned a huge lesson in a most traumatic, appalling and heartrending way. The essay gives the reader a glimpse of the atmosphere of the perimeter near ground zero, immediately after the World Trade Center was struck.   It makes the reader see what it took and how much courage and strength it took for people whose presence was literally there when it happened. Everyone should try to move and take action on how these attacks can be prevented in the country known to be most powerful in this world. Works Cited Schell, Jonathan. â€Å"Letters from the Ground Zero.† Connelly, Mark. The Sundance Reader, Fourth Edition. Boston, Massachussetts: Thomas Wadsworth, 2006. 119-120.      

Set It and Forget It Three Small Tweaks That Can Make a Big Difference in Your Bottom Line

Set It and Forget It Three Small Tweaks That Can Make a Big Difference in Your Bottom Line In business, people outsource. In business, people use technology to solve their problems and make their lives easier. Writers? Not so much. We like to find that hardest, longest, most frustrating way of doing things and hold onto it as if our very existence depends on it. Right? Or perhaps you’re a writer who feels there’s nothing in your business that could even be automated, certainly not the process of finding clients or generating assignments. And that’s where I come in. Because I’m a big believer in making life easy when it can be made easy. I don’t skimp on research, I certainly don’t skimp on the time I spend perfecting my writing and my work, but if there’s a way in which I could automate the business end of my work, I’m all for it. Here then are three things I do routinely in the set it and forget it category that could help free up some time and generate a bit more income for you. Your Website I like to think of assignments that come to me through my website as â€Å"found money.† It’s not work I go looking for and it usually pays pretty well, because clients who’re searching on Google for freelancers in India just haven’t found the right ones yet and are willing to pay good rates for someone they think might make their life easy. I built my website once, and, while I update it frequently, it doesn’t actually require work or effort on my part to find these clients. A presence on Google is enough. My website works for me because of location, but you may have another specific skill set. You may, for instance, be a writer who does a lot of copywriting work for waste management companies. You want to make sure that when someone searches for that niche, your name pops up. That’s going to bring you business constantly and if you’re not popping up on some niche on some Google search, you’re losing money. Your Reprints I don’t believe there’s a lot of found money in reprints anymore but if you automate the process and make it simple, a few resulting sales may be worth the time investment you make in setting up the system. My trick is simple: When you get a contract for your piece, make a note of how soon after the piece is published you’re allowed to have it reprinted and set that date on your calendar. On that date, spend an hour or two looking for markets for that reprint (you can usually find about 20-30 markets) and do an e-mail blast. If the market is good, the timing is perfect, and you’re lucky, you’ll make a sale - or three - and if not, you haven’t spent hours wasting your time on trying to market a reprint that’s not going anywhere. If it sells, great. If not, move on. The next time you have something published, do this again. Your Letter of Introduction I’ve just rewritten my Letter of Introduction because I wanted it to have an even greater impact, but my last LOI brought in tens of thousands of dollars worth of revenue for me. I did a blast every couple of months when I felt that work was drying up. Without fail, it managed to either drum up some business or help me connect with a new editor or client. A good Letter of Introduction takes work, though, so don’t expect to just bang one out in ten minutes and expect to see the money rolling in. I try to personalize my LOIs each time I send them out, even though the basic format remains the same. And I also take great care to write it well the first time so that it’s a template I can build off. Spend a few hours perfecting your LOI like you would a brochure or any other marketing material. But once you’ve done it, it’s an easy income generator that can bring in clients quickly without much more than an email blast every few months. When you set it and forget it, you create time for yourself to do the things that are important to you, like writing. What part of your freelancing business will you automate today?

How Delegates to Presidential Conventions Are Selected

How Delegates to Presidential Conventions Are Selected In the summer of every presidential election year, political parties in the United States typically conduct national conventions to choose their presidential candidates. At the conventions, the presidential candidates are selected by groups of delegates from each state. After a series of speeches and demonstrations in support of each candidate, the delegates begin to vote, state-by-state, for the candidate of their choice. The first candidate to receive a preset majority number of delegate votes becomes the partys presidential candidate. The candidate selected to run for president then selects a vice presidential candidate. Delegates to the national conventions are selected at the state level, according to rules and formulas determined by each political partys state committee. While these rules and formulas can change from state-to-state and from year-to-year, there remain two methods by which the states choose their delegates to the national conventions: the caucus and the primary. The Primary In states holding them, presidential primary elections are open to all registered voters. Just like in general elections, voting is done through a secret ballot. Voters may choose from among all registered candidates and write-ins are counted. There are two types of primaries, closed and open. In a closed primary, voters may vote only in the primary of the political party in which they registered. For example, a voter who registered as a Republican can only vote in the Republican primary. In an open primary, registered voters can vote in the primary of either party, but are allowed to vote in only one primary. Most states hold closed primaries. Primary elections also vary in what names appear on their ballots. Most states hold presidential preference primaries, in which the actual presidential candidates names appear on the ballot. In other states, only the names of convention delegates appear on the ballot. Delegates may state their support for a candidate or declare themselves to be uncommitted. In some states, delegates are bound, or pledged to vote for the primary winner in voting at the national convention. In other states, some or all delegates are unpledged, and free to vote for any candidate they wish at the convention. The Caucus Caucuses are simply meetings, open to all registered voters of the party, at which delegates to the partys national convention are selected. When the caucus begins, the voters in attendance divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support. The undecided voters congregate into their own group and prepare to be courted by supporters of other candidates. Voters in each group are then invited to give speeches supporting their candidate and trying to persuade others to join their group. At the end of the caucus, party organizers count the voters in each candidates group and calculate how many delegates to the county convention each candidate has won. As in the primaries, the caucus process can produce both pledged and unpledged convention delegates, depending on the party rules of the various states. How Delegates are Awarded The Democratic and Republican parties use different methods for determining how many delegates are awarded to, or pledged to vote for the various candidates at their national conventions. Democrats use a proportional method. Each candidate is awarded a number of delegates in proportion to their support in the state caucuses or the number of primary votes they won. For example, consider a state with 20 delegates at a democratic convention with three candidates. If candidate A received 70% of all caucus and primary votes, candidate B 20% and candidate C 10%, candidate A would get 14 delegates, candidate B would get 4 delegates and candidate C would get two delegates. In the Republican Party, each state chooses either the proportional method or a winner-take-all method of awarding delegates. Under the winner-take-all method, the candidate getting the most votes from a states caucus or primary gets all of that states delegates at the national convention. Key Point: The above are general rules. Primary and caucus rules and methods of convention delegate allocation differ from state-to-state and can be changed by party leadership. To find out the latest information, contact your states Board of Elections. 2020 National Nominating Conventions: Dates and Sites The 2020 Democratic National Convention will be held from July 13th to 16th, 2020, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since by tradition, the convention of the party currently holding the White House is held after that of the opposing party, the 2020 Republican National Convention will be held on August 24th to 27th, 2020, at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Why was it is necessary to replace GATT 1947 what are the main Essay

Why was it is necessary to replace GATT 1947 what are the main differences between GATT 1947 and the WTO Do you think that the - Essay Example .................................................................... 5 Interim Commission for the International Trade Organisation (1947-1994).......5 Review Session (1950s)....................................................................................... 6 European Economic Community (EEC) (1957).................................................. 6 Multifibre Arrangements (MFA-I through MFA-IV).......................................... 6 The Uruguay Round (1993-1994)....................................................................... 8 Multilateral Investment Agreement (MIA) (1996)............................................... 9 U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy .............................................................. 9 Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)............................................................................10 WTO’s Articles III and IV.....................................................................................10 Converting GATT 1947 to WTO Introduction The GATT was formed by states with a decisive idea of the co-operation that was required to promote economic development and modernisation. Even though the idea required an International Trade Organisation (ITO), the GATT was also able to achieve the goals of the original participants.1 It was, to a certain extent, efficient trade-liberalising machinery. The removal of QRs by developed nations in the aftermath of World War II was confined under its control, and excise taxes were cut down considerably.2 Barriers to trade, as of the 1970s, in the form of quotas and tariffs had weakened radically in value3, and governments were beset by the trade-misleading features of other economic strategies. The first five decades of GATT’s existence has a close resemblance to a product’s lifecycle. In the beginning market growth is sluggish, as the public become used to it. This is pursued by a phase of drastic improvement of market productivity and share as the pro duct launches.4 In the developed or third phase, growth stabilises but profits remain elevated. In the last stage profits start to drop. Core marketing theory informs us that by the third phase a company had to create a new product in order to thrive and survive.5 In the case of GATT, the stages of take off and maturity took place in the 1950s and the 1960s.6 This was the time when the greatest development was accomplished in terms of trade liberalisation. The demand for the products of GATT had stabilised by the 1970s.7 An effort was made to branch out into new markets by moving to non-tariff barriers (NTB), but this move was not quite productive. Indecisive strategies were implemented to deal with trade-related national regulations, but development was sluggish.8 The GATT-1947, with the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), was converted into an organisation, and its expanse was considerably enlarged.9 Hence, the important issues to be addressed here are: (1) why was it necessary to replace GATT 1947? (2) What are the main differences between GATT 1947 and the WTO? (3) Is WTO an improvement, if so, why? In addressing these issues it is helpful to analyse briefly several of the major developments that took place in the world economy in the twentieth century. From GATT 1947 to WTO GATT was not officially a global organisation, specifically, an official unit in its own right. GATT is an inter-governmental agreement. Hence, GATT had contracting participants rather than member states.10 This transformed with the formation of an international organisation that governs multilateral contracts concerning trade in goods, trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs), and trade in services (GATS): the WTO.11 The different treaties governed by the WTO are between customs territories

Effectiveness of Business Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Effectiveness of Business Communication - Essay Example Planning a business message is the first step in ensuring that the organization’s goals and objectives are achieved. Prior planning prevents failure and, therefore, planning before- hand the intended purpose of the business message is very helpful (Courtland & Thill, 2008). To ensure that one gets the right message across, research has to be done or carried out. This is with the intention of finding out if the organization is capable of carrying out or handling the intended message. If members of the organization agree with the intended message, it is okay to carry on. If the intended message does not augur well with some of the members of the organization, it is important that whoever is in charge goes back to the drawing board to re-evaluate the proposal. When the research is being carried out, the intended audience should have a say in the matter. This is to prevent little or no satisfaction from members of the group after the message has been put across. After the intended message’s information has been analysed and gathered, it is tantamount that it, the information, be organized orderly (Courtland & Thill, 2008). This is so that it may support the intended message completely. The next stage is the writing stage. This is where the information being planned is adapted. It should be adapted to the intended audience with consideration to their needs (Courtland & Thill, 2007). Communicating to the audience in a polite manner is the best way to go about this. Adopting a ‘don’t care’ mentality is not how to go about this because the audience may not be responsive. The message should be written in a manner that suggests or oozes positivity because the intended audience is much connected to the business as much as the person writing the message. It should also be unbiased. This suggests that the language used to communicate the message should not be for a specific group of people rather, should cover everyone in the organization. The use of a good tone when writing the message is also needed. Good tone use in a message could indicate that the writer is appreciative of the audience intended. If the tone comes off as being harsh, the audience mi ght think they are unappreciated and, therefore, may not be as productive as they ought to be (Courtland & Thill, 2007). Feeling appreciated in any job description means that one may consider putting in extra effort just to be acknowledged. This means that the organization may benefit tremendously from the extra and hard work. The words chosen when drafting a business message could also be very helpful in communication. Strong and positive words may help the message have a very strong impact and can come off as being coherent (Courtland & Thill, 2007). Addressing the audience in a manner to suggest that they are slow may take the seriousness out of the message. They may also not take it very lightly to the fact that they are being thought of as being slow. The completion of the message is the third, final stage. This stage involves other

Anatomy shsort answer discussions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Anatomy shsort answer discussions - Assignment Example For this reason, lymphatic capillaries assist in the immune system while the lower permeability of blood capillaries helps maintain blood pressure during circulation. In addition, nodes interrupt lymph capillaries while blood capillaries are not. This allows for continuous blood flow while filtration occurs in the lymphatic system (Zuther, 2011). The central nervous controls the intake of oxygen and expulsion of carbon dioxide from the body while regulating respiration. This is through initiating breathing and maintaining it in order to remove harmful carbon dioxide produced by metabolic functions. This process occurs through sensitivity of chemoreceptors that detect chemical substances in the body and relay the information to the respiratory control center. The other system that controls the rate of respiration is the acidity tracking system in the body. This tracks the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood leading to a rise in acidity causing an increase in respiration that retains pH balance (Hendrickson, 2011). Defense mechanisms also regulate respiratory levels through epinephrine and its effects. This is concerning preparing the body for fight or flight where the heart rate increases and decreases respectively (Hendrickson,

Cities of Salt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cities of Salt - Essay Example The historical setting of this novel is crucial in explaining the relationship that existed between tradition and modernity. This novel is set in an Arabian emirate, where western companies are involved in hunting for oil (Munif, 9). This leads into the transition of the people of this emirate from their traditional methods or ways, in to modernity. The author uses this dynamic for purposes of explaining the forces of commoditization and alienation which are depicted to any emerging capitalistic culture. Take for example Miteb al-Hathal, the leader of Wadi al-Uyoun (Munif, 22). This person is confronted by the various changes occurring in his home, and he finds it difficult to use words for purposes of explaining these changes. The silence of Miteb and his disappearance is a representation of the loss that his people are experiencing. It is a symbol of the effects of imposed modernization, and even people who are supportive of it, are unable to use language for purposes of explaining the events and issues that is affecting their lives. A good example that can be used to illustrate this point is Daham al-Muzil (Munif, 25). He is an enthusiastic and loyal worker of Ibn Rashed, an Arabic Speaking individual. He refuses to stop working for Rashed, and learn modern skills that come with technology (Munif, 25). Furthermore, he is unable to speak effectively with the Western workers, who were speaking English. This is a sign that Daham al-Muzil was reluctant to embrace modernity by learning new skills, and working for the new companies that were searching and hunting for oil in the emirates. In this novel, the dramatic change from the Bedouin nomadic culture to modernity, which is represented by Western companies, is problematic. For example, when modernity arrives at Wadi al-Uyoun, the people in this region have been living in a similar manner as their ancestors (Munif, 29). These

UPS case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

UPS case study - Essay Example With the objective of providing complete supply chain solutions to its customer, the company established the UPS Logistics Group in 1995. Today, the company manages the flow of goods, funds and information in more than 200 countries and territories every day. UPS provides specialized transportation, logistics, capital, and e-commerce services to its valued customers. It also enables its clients with warehousing, freight forwarding and returns management (Research and Markets 2011). UPS owns a large fleet of trucks, trailers, vans et al to ensure smooth functioning of day to day business. The company has imbibed the latest technology from time to time so as to provide superior services to its clients. UPS offers both ‘LTL’ and ‘TL’ services to cater to needs of all its clients ((PR Newswire 2006). From time to time, the Atlanta based company ventured in oversees markets and made a mark there as well. 2) The U.S. Postal Service, headed by a Postmaster General and a Board of Governors, is a branch of the federal government. The USPS is, by statute, under obligation to provide mail services to all Americans. This mandate has to be followed by the USPS irrespective of where the customers live. USPS has to serve these customers/territories even if a cost-benefit analysis suggests that they do not make commercial sense (Harreld, Heather 2000). This obligation obviously leads to high costs, reduced efficiency and thus puts a strain on the financials of the company. Since USPS, a government agency is bound to operate even in non lucrative areas; UPS is relieved of this obligation, legal as well as moral, to do business in such areas. As such, UPS can concentrate on areas, services and customers that it deems would give the company decent profits. 3) An intermodal approach entails the placing of parcels, packages or letters that UPS is required to deliver in an intermodal container  or vehicle. This intermodal

Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Questions - Assignment Example Some of the differences between mitosis include but not limited to, mitotic cells divide once whereas meiotic cells divide twice. Mitosis results in cell replication as for meiosis, genetic recombination and production of reproductive cells being the sole aim. Mitosis doesn’t yield exact copies whereas meiosis does. Mitosis also gives rise to diploid cells while meiosis gives haploid cells. DNA crossover occurs only in meiosis (Armstrong, 2007). As for similarities, duplication of an organism’s genome takes place only once preceding any other duplication in both processes. There is the existence of metaphase plates, centrioles in both (Armstrong, 2007). Basic steps of division are the same for both. Mitosis and meiosis occurs both in eukaryotic cells. Finally, both represent reproduction processes. A wild population contains tall and short plants. In one cross, two parental tall plants yield all tall progeny. In another experiment, two short plants are crossed and all progeny are short (cross 2). In the third experiment (cross number 3), two different short plants from cross 2 are crossed and 23 tall progeny and 77 short progeny are observed. The F1 generation came about through selfing of F1 plants. While maintaining Mendel’s first law, law of segregation, where the gamete is formed when each member of the allelic get disjointed from their other member. Confirmation of accuracy of his law through selfing of F2 plants yielded all tall and short plants respectively (Tornqvist, 2006). This can be depicted using a Punnet square as depicted on the next

Cities of Salt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cities of Salt - Essay Example The historical setting of this novel is crucial in explaining the relationship that existed between tradition and modernity. This novel is set in an Arabian emirate, where western companies are involved in hunting for oil (Munif, 9). This leads into the transition of the people of this emirate from their traditional methods or ways, in to modernity. The author uses this dynamic for purposes of explaining the forces of commoditization and alienation which are depicted to any emerging capitalistic culture. Take for example Miteb al-Hathal, the leader of Wadi al-Uyoun (Munif, 22). This person is confronted by the various changes occurring in his home, and he finds it difficult to use words for purposes of explaining these changes. The silence of Miteb and his disappearance is a representation of the loss that his people are experiencing. It is a symbol of the effects of imposed modernization, and even people who are supportive of it, are unable to use language for purposes of explaining the events and issues that is affecting their lives. A good example that can be used to illustrate this point is Daham al-Muzil (Munif, 25). He is an enthusiastic and loyal worker of Ibn Rashed, an Arabic Speaking individual. He refuses to stop working for Rashed, and learn modern skills that come with technology (Munif, 25). Furthermore, he is unable to speak effectively with the Western workers, who were speaking English. This is a sign that Daham al-Muzil was reluctant to embrace modernity by learning new skills, and working for the new companies that were searching and hunting for oil in the emirates. In this novel, the dramatic change from the Bedouin nomadic culture to modernity, which is represented by Western companies, is problematic. For example, when modernity arrives at Wadi al-Uyoun, the people in this region have been living in a similar manner as their ancestors (Munif, 29). These

Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Questions - Assignment Example Some of the differences between mitosis include but not limited to, mitotic cells divide once whereas meiotic cells divide twice. Mitosis results in cell replication as for meiosis, genetic recombination and production of reproductive cells being the sole aim. Mitosis doesn’t yield exact copies whereas meiosis does. Mitosis also gives rise to diploid cells while meiosis gives haploid cells. DNA crossover occurs only in meiosis (Armstrong, 2007). As for similarities, duplication of an organism’s genome takes place only once preceding any other duplication in both processes. There is the existence of metaphase plates, centrioles in both (Armstrong, 2007). Basic steps of division are the same for both. Mitosis and meiosis occurs both in eukaryotic cells. Finally, both represent reproduction processes. A wild population contains tall and short plants. In one cross, two parental tall plants yield all tall progeny. In another experiment, two short plants are crossed and all progeny are short (cross 2). In the third experiment (cross number 3), two different short plants from cross 2 are crossed and 23 tall progeny and 77 short progeny are observed. The F1 generation came about through selfing of F1 plants. While maintaining Mendel’s first law, law of segregation, where the gamete is formed when each member of the allelic get disjointed from their other member. Confirmation of accuracy of his law through selfing of F2 plants yielded all tall and short plants respectively (Tornqvist, 2006). This can be depicted using a Punnet square as depicted on the next

The Controversy Of Genetic Testing Essay Example for Free

The Controversy Of Genetic Testing Essay The issue of genetic engineering and testing has become one of the most contentious issues in our contemporary society. The debate is battled over by credentialed scientists on both sides and the likelihood is very high that it will continue. Most of the pro genetic testing advocates claim that since it is a technological and scientific process, genetic testing governmental regulation and evaluation should be purely based on objective and scientific criteria. Â  Genetic testing opponents argue that there should be more science (or rather further advancement) especially on environmental and human studies in order to have such a purely perceived scientific evaluation of genetic testing. The contradiction brought about by such pure scientific assessment of genetic testing is the fact that it ignores the varied and differentiated religious, cultural, and ethical dimensions of different individuals that must be considered (Coates, Mahaffies, Hines, 1997, 13). Thus, genetic testing is not an isolated technology but rather one that employs a wide range of methods that will eventually gauge the absence, activity or presence of defective genes in cells. Its costs ranges from as less than $50 for simpler screenings like sickle cell anemia blood screens to the $10,000’s bracket for more complicated screens such as the pre-implantation genetic investigation for diseases like the Tay Sachs. Many individuals tend to prefer genetic testing when it happens that their families have shown some symptoms, which, given an early diagnosis, can substantially be improved. They may also consider it if they wish to pass on some desired genetic traits to their progeny. It goes without saying that the potential that genetic testing has for humankind in all societies is quite paramount. The most significant is the fact that genetic testing has a capability of lengthening and improving the quality of human life. When used and administered in the most appropriate ethical standards, genetic testing will/can eventually eliminate many unforeseen distresses and suffering. However, a number of issues including discrimination, social engineering, consent, equity, and privacy pose as potential hindrances that have been confronted by many people so far. There have been some personal family and legal conflicts which have arisen as a result of individual and/immediate relatives testing (Coates, Mahaffie, Hines, 1997, 17). Considering the issue of privacy for example, there has been many doubts whether insurance firms and potential employers for example, should access a person’s genetic records. There have been proposals that only genetic researchers should in their attempt to come up with more promising technologies that will ensure improvement and longevity of human life. This possibility of other unauthorized individuals or groups being informed of such genetic statuses is viewed by many as an incriminating genetic privacy deficiency. Moreover, genes are shared among parents and siblings, and as such, many wonder if there is a moral obligation for a person to disclose the information to people who could be potentially affected. Other issues that have brought additional controversy related to genetic testing include possible offensive discrimination of those found with defective genetic composition. This mainly happens in insurance related processes among others such as foster parenting or adoption. (Coates, Mahaffie, Hines, 1997, 22) Equality in availability of genetic testing to all is yet another worrying factor. Some people have thought that the rich might well be able to alienate themselves from all forms of genetically oriented complications because they can relatively afford the staggering costs as compared to the less fortunate. This has however, been addressed by appropriate regulatory measures that ensure there is no unnecessary skyrocketing of genetic testing costs. In conclusion, I’d say that no matter what the magnitude of opposition towards the issues revolving genetic testing, it is fundamental to appreciate one fact that the bottom line of all the debates will always depend heavily on the eminent advantages that this scientific advancement has brought to humanity. All we are required to do now is to streamline a few bends and we will soon be one army against a common enemy, ignorance of the benefits awaiting mankind after perfecting the methods and procedures involved. Most of these controversial issues can comfortably be prevented if we all make concerted efforts to understand the legal and social policies, national and state legislation as well as the health care reforms that will prevent disillusion about genetic testing. The gifts to be achieved by treating devastating inherited diseases out rightly outweigh the societal risks involved. Work cited: Coates Joseph, Mahaffie John Hines Andy. The Promise of Genetics. The Futurist, Vol.31, September, 1997, pp. 13, 17, 22

Reflective Account: Ethical Dilemma Treating Cancer

Reflective Account: Ethical Dilemma Treating Cancer This reflective account will discuss an ethical dilemma which arose during a placement within a community setting. To assist the reflection process, the Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle which encompasses 6 stages; description, thoughts and feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan will be used which will improve and strengthen my nursing skills by continuously learning from both good and bad experiences, and develop my self confidence in relation to caring for others (Siviter 2008). To comply with the Nursing and Midwifery Code of Conduct (NMC) (2008) and maintain confidentiality all names have been changed and therefore for the purpose of this reflection the patient will be referred to as Bob. Bob is a forty four year old man who has been receiving aggressive and invasive treatment for several months in the form of chemotherapy in an attempt to cure his Hodgkinsons lymphoma cancer. Throughout the treatment Bob remained positive that he would be able to put the worries behind him and live a normal life with his partner and teenage daughter. However, Bob was unable to control his body temperature, which was a possible sign the chemotherapy had not been successful and was offered further investigations to establish his prognosis. Whilst my mentor who is a Community Matron, was talking to Bob, his partner Sue took me to one side and asked me if the investigations revealed bad news would it be possible to withhold this information from Bob because she felt he would not be able to deal with a poor prognosis and would give up hope. Prior to Bobs original admission the possibility of f the chemotherapy failing was discussed but he refused to consider this was an option and was convinced the condition could be treated successfully. I explained to Sue that this situation was outside of my area of expertise but with her permission would discuss it with my mentor and ask her to contact Sue at a mutually convenient time to discuss further. My mentor contacted Sue and advised her that she would discuss the situation with Bobs Consultant once they had received the results of his tests. However, my mentor diplomatically informed Sue that she has no legal right to insist that information be kept from Robert (Dimond 2005). As expected Bobs test results concluded the chemotherapy treatment was unsuccessful. Considering what he knew of Bob, the consultant agreed it would be advantageous to withhold the diagnosis from him. Therefore it was agreed to discuss Bobs test results with his partner. Thoughts and feelings In the first instance I felt that the Consultant was ethically wrong to withhold the results of the investigations from Bob and not necessarily acting in his best interests. I felt that in order to ensure Bobs rights were protected and to give him the opportunity to be involved in his own plan of care he should be informed of the outcome of the tests. Bob had the capacity to consent and as during my placement would be acting as an advocate for him. I felt that if I was in Bobs position, I would want to know what the outcome of any investigations were and it did not seen right that the diagnosis would be documented in his records and his family and possibly friends around him would be aware of his diagnosis whilst he was kept in the dark. I felt that if we were to visit on a regular basis that I would feel very uncomfortable knowing something that had been kept from him and possibly have to lie to him or avoid answering directly when asked difficult questions. I felt that I would be a ble to have a better relationship and understand the care he wanted if he was told the truth about his condition. I also felt that his family were taking denying him the right to autonomy and th right to make informed choices in his end of life care. Analysis The situation was complex in terms of ethical principles. It was not just a matter of clinical practices but providing the best holistic care to Bob during his forthcoming terminal illness. This situation gave rise to multi-disciplinary team discussions to assess whether the diagnosis should have been delivered to Bob. Standing back from the situation, I realize that my own feelings were perhaps judgmental and that I should have taken a more holistic approach rather than just clinical. It also made me aware of the importance of promoting advance directives to patients in situations where an illness may lead to terminal care Evaluation Today patient autonomy is a highly regarded principle that healthcare professionals promote at all times and is fundamental for all patient interactions of which telling the truth to a patient about their diagnosis and prognosis is part (Dimond 2005). Lo (2009) says to be totally autonomous competent patients have to be told the nature of their illness, recovery prospects, how their illness will develop, treatments available and the consequences of any such treatments to enable them to make an informed choice in order to grant consent to treatment of their choice or refuse treatment they do not want. However this has not always been the case, traditionally, paternalism, where the doctor alone would make a decision about whether or not to inform their patient of the diagnosis used to be the preferred method of treating and caring for patients (Lo B 2009). It is only over the past 20 years or so where it is the norm to share decision making with the patient to enable them to make informed choices in their preferred care and treatment (Boyle 1995). However not all patients want to know their prognosis or take part in their end of terminal treatment and care. A study which took place in 1995 concluded that some ethnic groups were less likely to approve of truth telling in respect of diagnosis than others (Blackwell 1995). The UK is culturally diverse and not all patients and families want or accept autonomy. When a person is sick in some cultures, the family prefers to take responsibility for the medical decisions and often wish to receive the diagnosis and nursing plan before the patient. Although this is often the case within Chinese and Japanese cultures, it does not automatically mean that the request to withhold diagnosis from the patient will be upheld. To add to this complex issue, there may be differences within these cultures, such as recent immigrants and older family members wishing to adhere to cultural traditions and younger family members wishing to practice autonomy (Lo B 2009). Advanced care directives definition are used to enable a person to have autonomy. These ethicalBarbosa da Silva (2002) defines an ethical dilemma as: A situation where a person experiences a conflict where he or she is obliged to perform two or more duties, but realizes that whoever action he or she chooses will be an ethically wrog one. Many experts agree healthcare professionals are faced with many ethical dilemmas when caring for terminally ill cancer patients. Communicating the diagnosis and subsequent prognosis is one of the most common (Kuupelomaki and Lauri 1998)(Roy and MacDonald 1998). It is not unusual for relatives to ask a Consultant to withhold information (Alexander et al 2006) which Kenworthy et al (2002) says family members request out of compassion and love. However, (2006) disagrees and suggests it is often the relatives who are unable to cope and have difficulty coming to terms with the impending prognosis. Dimond (2005) suggests withholding the truth can be harmful or lead to a conspiracy of silence but may be justifiable if it is in the patients best interest not to know. In agreement, Lo (2009) points out receiving bad news can have a negative and drastic effect on a patients view of their future. Nurses have a duty in accordance with their professional code of conduct to act as a patients advocate. Whatever their personal thoughts are in relation to withholding diagnosis from a patient, if the Consultant deems it in the best interest of the patient then a nurse has a duty to adhere to the Consultants decision (Dimond 2005).However Georges and Grypdonk 2002 suggest this can lead to nurses feeling powerless, frustrated and concern when involved in palliative care. Evidence suggests that if a Consultant establishes it is not advisable to inform the patient of the diagnosis or prognosis then it is right to give information to the family (Rumbold 2006). Dimond (2005) states patients have no legal rights to information and therefore if a Consultants believes it is in the best interest of the patient they can refuse to give a diagnosis to them. However, some would argue to withhold information would be considered paternalism (Lo B 2009). Paternalism is when an individual, in this case the Consultant, believes they are in a position to act in the best interest of another individual. Although Bobs welfare is key, the consultant has taken away his right to his autonomy to make future healthcare choices including important end of life decisions by making the decision not to inform him of his diagnosis (Sandman and Munthe 2010). Tingle and Cribb (2005) define this as hard paternalism as opposed to soft paternalism in which Bob would not have the capacity to make an informed decision regarding treatment and care following his diagnosis. The may be in beneficience to the patient but conflicts with autonomy. While considering the decision to not tell Bob the truth regarding his diagnosis, the consultant would have taken into account the ethical principles of beneficence (to do good) and non-malifience (to cause no harm) (Dimond 2005). In Rumbolds (2006) opinion it is wrong to not tell the truth or withhold information from a patient as it denies the patient autonomy and is in conflict with the ethical principles of beneficence and non-malificience. Research carried out by Sullivan (2001) suggests patients believe that Doctors should tell them the truth with a staggering ninety nine per cent of patients wanting to be informed of their diagnosis. However there is evidence to suggest the consultant was right to withhold diagnosis as it can initiate denial, and cause the patient psychological damage (Kenworthy et al 2002). Patients react differently to bad news and Elliott and Oliver (2007) suggests information should given slowly enabling the patient to have enough time to absorb the information given. Sadness, despair, anxiety and depression are feelings patients suffer when faced with life threatening illness. >believes that if healthcare professionals have an open and honest relationship with their patients it enables greater trust (Elliott and Oliver 2007). Bowers and Arnold (2010) agrees with this and adds that an open relationship based on trust enables healthcare professionals to support patients to be in control and make preferred choices with issues relating to their end of life care. However, Kenworthy, Snowley, Gilling (2002) are in disagreement with these statement say to force a patient into to face the trust regarding their diagnosis is both unethical wrong and damaging. Millard and Florin (2006) (nursingtimes) says that patients have different needs which can often be complex and it is important to recognise that some patients choose not be involved, that some individuals do not want to be part of their care but put their trust in health care professionals who are t rained in what they do. Elliott and Oliver (2007) states that a hope is fundamental to a terminally ill persons wellbeing and as such is something to be protected. She adds that hope of a cure whilst facing a terminal illness is an individuals right and helps them to face the final stages of life and points out that if hope is taken away it leaves a patient with only fear. Conclusion This experience has made me aware that good listening, hearing and communication skills are vital to gain a holistic view when dealing with patients and close ones in end of life care. It is also important to liaise with other members of the multi-disciplinary team to ensure that the best possible approach and care is delivered to the patient. It is important not to be judgemental but to incorporate all issues when taking a holistiv view in order to make the right decision. As this was my first experience of end of life care in the community, I was in unfamiliar surroundings and as such not experienced enough to make the right decision in Bobs case. The consultant was correct in determining that Bob was not in a position to accept a poor diagnosis and therefore withholding the information was the correct decision. Action Plan. My action plan is to promote advanced decision and power of attorney Assess holistically and taken into account I also feel than advance directives may have cleared some of this issues and will read about their importance in would have resolved some of this issues and read about their importance and promote their importance when the opportunity arises However, the circumstances surrounding this decision could only be applied to Bobs situation. I believe that as a Nurse I will be involved in ethical dilemmas again however I feel that now I my decisions will be based on each unique patient recognising their own individual needs and wants. Delegation This essay is a reflection of a situation I came across whilst on Community Placement. To assist with this process, Driscolls model of reflection will be used to focus my thought processes whilst learning. Driscolls is a straight forward model which encourages one to return to a situation to understand it better and improve future experiences (Driscoll 2000). To comply with the Nursing and Midwifery Code of Conduct (NMC) (2008) and protect the confidentiality of patients pseudonyms have been used throughout. As required by the first stage of Driscolls model I will describe the event s which took place whilst my mentor was on annual leave and I was assigned to Dianne, another district nurse within the community team. The reason I have decided to return to this situation is because registered nurses should ensure their practice does not compromise duty of care to individuals and at the time I felt that Dianne was delegating duties inappropriately and therefore may have been in breach of NMC requirements (NMC 2004). Whilst assigning the days work Dianne said that it would be a good opportunity for my personal development to go out unsupervised to visit patients within the area to carry out their care and treatment. I was asked to visit a 92 year old patient called Rose who the team visited on two or three times a week to treat a couple of problems. Firstly, she had ulcerated legs which the team were treating with four layer compression bandaging which evidence suggests is the best way to encourage venous return in order to maximise the healing process (OMeara et al 2009). Secondly she had a small sacrum sinus which was packed and redressed. Diannes request put me in an awkward position as I had visited Rose on a number of occasions with my mentor and with her supervision had been able to assess, treat and care for Roses problems appropriately with the exception of applying compression bandages as my mentor had explained to me were only to be applied by staff who had received appropriate training . I am keen to take advantage of any professional development opportunities and improve my clinical skills. However I felt that although I was able to manage most of the delivery of care to Rose as required by the NMC Code of Conduct (2008) applying the compression bandaging was outside my remit and would have been unsafe practice. My feelings were that Dianne was not doing this for my personal development but for her own personal reasons resulting in her abdicating her responsibilities. She did not ask me how I felt about attending patients without supervision or check I had the necessary clinical skills. With this in mind I agreed I would visit Rose, take down her dressings, assess and debride the wound, apply appropriate dressings and the first two layers of bandages. However I requested that Dianne called in after me to apply the compression bandages. Dianne did not appear to be very happy with my request but reluctantly agreed. When I arrived at Roses I introduced myself and explained the purpose of my visit and that Dianne would follow me to apply the compression bandages. I explained at each stage what I was doing, to put Rose at ease, remembering look up and face Rose, so that she could hear clearly what I was saying or read my lips and facial expression as she was partially deaf. As agreed with Dianne I took down the existing dressings, debrided and assessed the wound against the current wound care plan. The wound bed had reduced considerably and although an Inodine dressing had been applied previously, the wound had dried considerably and in my opinion did not require replacing. Therefore I telephone Dianne to let her know of my assessment and it was agreed to dress the wound with a simple NA dressing before bandaging. Whilst at Roses I took the opportunity to update the wound care plan and therefore documented the size of the wound, excudate, smell etc etc and documented all my findings and actions in the care plan. Whilst at Roses I also required to redress the sacral sinus in accordance with her care plan. When assessing the wound I noticed that although her skin was not broken, her sacrum was very red. I had also previously noticed that although she had a pressure cushion sitting on another chair I had never actually seen her sat on it. Therefore I took the opportunity to encourage her to become involved in promoting her own health and explained that her sacrum was very red and that as she sat for long periods of time, it was possibly that her skin would break down, which was why she had been issued with a pressure cushion. We discussed why she did not use the pressure cushion, she said that she did not find it very comfortable in her favourite chair, I explained the benefits of the pressure cushion and we agreed that she would sit in another chair with the pressure cushion in situ for a least part of the day and that we would discuss how she got on next time I visited. Before leaving Roses I documented my assessments, nursing interventions, evaluation and actions in her care plan. The second stage of Driscolls entitled now what will look at the chain of events which has led me to reflect on when it is appropriate to delegate care. Delegation involves entrusting and transferring a task or responsibility to another person who is able to accept responsibility for the task, typically one who is less senior than oneself (Sullivan and Decker 2005, Oxford dictionary 2011). However Wheeler (2004) argues that delegation and abdication amount to the same thing. On the other hand MacKenzie (1998) states that abdication is giving up either by abandonment or resignation and says that whilst delegation can offer potential benefits to both individuals and organisations, many nurses practice abdication which can be attributable to the current economic climate of underpaid and overstretched employees. Whilst I did appreciate that Dianne thought I was capable to deliver appropriate care to Rose I also suspected that she thought it she would have an easier day if she asked me to carry out the more routine and mundane tasks. The NMC standards of proficiency (2004) state whilst nurses should delegate care to others they should also accept responsibility and accountability for such delegation. As a registered nurse under the NMC Code of Conduct (2008) nurses have a duty of care to ensure that patients receive care in a safe and skilled manner. Dianne was not aware if I was competent or not to carry out compression bandaging as she had neither previously worked with me or questioned me about my clinical skills. In line with the NMC Code of Conduct (2008) I understand that I must work within the scope of my professional competence and it is for this reason I refused to apply the compression layer. It is important for organisations and individuations to delegate in order for them to develop and function resourcefully and successfully (Ellis and Hartley 2004). Effective Delegation requires skills in planning, analysis and self-confidence. The tasks to be delegated should be assessed, planned, communicated, implemented, monitored and evaluated (Royal College of Nursing 2006). In the UK, the rate of change is accelerating and the delivery of services are regularly restructured in an attempt to provide the most effective and efficient care to patients (Shepherd 2008). This environment has lead to the evolvement of work from junior doctors to nursing staff such as giving intravenous therapy and with the evolvement of nursing practitioners many agree that the role of the nurse is increasingly difficult to define as the boundaries are constantly changing (Shephard 2008, Spilbury and Meyer 2005, McKenna et al 2006). A study conducted by Ulster University condones that there is much ambiguity amongst the nursing role. It concluded that although nurses are happy with role extensions they have less patient contact as they would like. Some nurses like the role extension of technical jobs, however others see it at the menial tasks Doctors do not want to do (Allen 2002). However this was only a small survey of 26 nurses and therefore may not be a true representation of all RGNs (McKenna et al 2006). It can be assumed therefore that demands on nursing care at times are greater than RGNs can cope with, and therefore increasing expected to to delegate some tasks routinely, traditionally carried out by RGNs, such as personal care (Curtis and Nicholl 2004). Effective delegation can give RGNs more time for other activities which enables them to focus on doing fewer tasks well rather than many tasks poorly and offer HCAs the opportunity to become competent and improved confidence (Kourdi 1999). Shepherd (2008) articulates that it is important for these tasks to be defined and when devolved it should not be at the detriment to the patient. As a result health care assistant (HCA) roles have increased in both numbers and cope of activity undertaken and it is therefore important that all health care staff understand their roles and accountability in the delegation process. Health care staff need to work together in order for patients to receive safe and effective care from the most appropriate personnel (Pearcey 2007). However some nurses find it difficult to relinquish any part of their role and find it difficult to delegate (Wheeler 2004) Zimmerman (1996) suggests this might be because some nurses were trained before delegation skills were required. However Nicholl and Curtis (2004) state that delegation is not an art and but a nursing skill which can be learned and is becoming increasing important in changing times. Delegation also enables health care professionals to train in new skills and broaden their skill range. However Wheeler argues that some could abuse their power of delegation for example to provide themselves with extra breaks while their subordinates may have to forfeit theirs to complete additional tasks. Or one nurse could favour a subordinate resulting in some always receiving more appealing tasks than others. Delegation is a complex process and to successfully delegate consideration should be given to both existing workload and skill mix of staff should be known. Delegation of too many tasks may result in loss of control, but failing to delegate may lead to one member of staff being overwhelmed, overworked and can lead to incompletion of duties and de-motivated and un-cooperative team. Most HCAs give personal care due to the fact they are usually more available than RGNS. Many studies have indicated that RGNS favour the employment of HCAs (McKenna and Hansson 2002). However the MIDRIS (2001) study suggests that care provided by HCAS is task based and fragmented. There are many pros and cons for delegating tasks. Detailed Job Descriptions (JD) may result in staff being reluctant to take on new responsibilities that are not specified on their JD. Others will be reluctant and believe if you want a job done properly do it yourself. This can inhibit delegation leading to nurses being overworked stressed with little job satisfaction (Kourdi 1999). On the other hand Wheeler (2001) suggests effective delegation encourages staff to have a better understanding and be able to influence the way in which work is carried out. She also says that by participating in decision-making it will increase motivation, morale and ultimately job performance enabling the organisation to become more flexible and responsive to change. Effective delegation will enable a business to move forward as new ideas and viewpoints will be encourage and it will better prepare nurses to be able to cope when career opportunities arise (Wheeler 2001). Delegation frees up time to enable a nurse to carry out other duties which cannot be delegated. Although at first the time saved might me minimal once the HCA becomes proficient more time will become available. Fewer tasks are better than many that are inefficient (Kourdi 1999). In order to delegate effectively it important to decide which task to delegate , select the best person to carry out that task, assessing the task in detail and offer clearly the level of authority associated with it, , check the skills and experience of the delegates, follow the task process and assess and discuss the progress (Curtis and Nicholl 2004). Cohen suggests it is right to delegate in order to carry out an organisations needs as long as certain criteria is met such as right task, right circumstance, right person right communication and right supervision. The third stage, of the Driscolls reflection model requires what can be done differently in the future and what actions to be taken. Dianne was right to delegate the more junior tasks in order to ensure the fewer tasks she had were carried out more effectively. However should have verified my competence prior to delegating. If she had communicated with me effectively to assess my competence I would not have felt awkward having to point out that I did not have the skills to carry out compression bandaging and only practice within my capabilities (NMC 2008). In the future in such a situation I would not do anything differently as I believe I have a responsibility for practicing within my own capabilities in line with the NMC Code of Conduct (2008). Had I been a permanent member of staff I would have asked for compression training, however this would have been impractical as I was on placement for only a short period of time. When I qualify this situation I will be aware that I am ultimately responsible for the care of patients even when tasks are delegated to HCAs. I will also ensure that I do not delegate anything that involves critical thinking skills such as nursing assessments, planning and evaluation of patient care and nursing judgement. (take off 90 for references)