Film Analysis of City of God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film Analysis of City of God - Essay Example The story of City of God was adapted from the novel of the same name written by Paulo Sins. The central idea and the events portrayed in both the movie and the book are based upon actual incidents. The theme of City of God showcases the emerging criminal activities taking place in the sub-urban town of Rio de Janeiro. The criminal events showed in the movie were thought to be taking place between the end of 60s and in the early years of 80s. The movie discusses different social and political events which are present everywhere in every society of the world. It also shows that how these issues are eating the fabrics of a civilized society, what impact these issues are leaving on the minds of young generation and how lives of people are being affected by such events. City of God has received positive acclamation from all around the world due to the fact that the director has tried to convey the message of injustice and social infringement taking place not just in Brazil but everywhere in all parts of the world. Analysis of the movie: The director of the movie has made an effort to raise the questions concerning the social infrastructure, declining social values and growing youth crimes emerging in Brazil particularly in Robert de Janeiro which holds a strong position as a centre of all criminal activities. ... me of the movie revolve around the central idea that how lives of the poor people living in slums (favelas) of Rio were affected to the worse end in the time period of two decades. The movie is based upon real life events that are told through the eyes and words of a photographer Rocket who witness children and the youth of Rio taking a keen interest in forming street gangs and getting involved in drugs dealing and other criminal activities. The movie shows the clear transition of poor becoming poorer and rich becoming richer in Rio due to political instability and social injustice. The message conveyed through this movie is simple; it shows that how social inequality can harm the delicate minds of kids (in an imbalanced society as showed in the movie) which push them to transform into drug dealer, gangsters and wanted criminals. From â€Å"being a good human† their motive changes to â€Å"being rich and powerful.† The movie also raises the questions of political instab ility and corruption that are prevailing in Brazil from early times. Corruption in the country has further given rise to unequal distribution of wealth, divided society and racial discrimination which is expanding its sphere day by day greatly in different parts of Latin America (Jan Rocha). The story of City of God spans around two decades with 13 different characters; each representing a new face of violence with a tormented unrest soul. The movie revolves around violence which is an outcome of unjust social structure. The movie also highlights the burning question that how government fails to provide better living conditions and a promising future to the people of favelas. Civilized societies are known for their values, excellent social infrastructure, equality and justice. In advanced civilized

Financial Polynominal Essay Example for Free

Financial Polynominal Essay For this assignment the following in instructions are to complete and review the example of how complete the mat required for the assignment. To solve the problem 90 on page 304 of Elementary and Intermediate Algebra and to be sure that all steps of the squaring of the binominal and multiplication along with any simplification that might be used. Evaluate the polynomial resulting from step 1 using: P= $200 and R=10%, and Also with P=5670 and R= 3.5% Complete problem 70 on 311 page on Elementary and Intermediate Algebra show all steps of the division then incorporate words like foil, like terms, descending order, dividend, and divisor. Problem #1 P (1+r/2)2 P [(1+r/2)*(1+ r/2)] P [1 + r/2 +r/2 + r2 /4] P (1+ r + r2/4) Let P + $200 and R = 10% Convert 10% to a decimal which is 10/100 = .1 200* (1 + .1 + .12 /4) 200 + (200* .1) + (200 * .01/4) = 200+ 20+ .5 = 220.5 So you would make 20.5 dollars in the first year and the second year your total account balance would be $ 243.10 Problem #2 Let P = 5670 and r = 3.5 % Convert 3.5 % to a decimal 35/1000 = .035 P (1 + r +r2 /4) 5670* (1 + .035 + .03/4 52) 5670 + (5670 * .035) + (5670 * .00123/4) = 5670 + 198.45+1.74 = 5870.19 Problem #3 In this problem we follow the rules of normal division and exponents division Since the exponent in the divisor -3 xs is positive we will subtract on x from x 3 and that will become x2. So, now that we have 32 the process is the same with the entire exponent in the equation. (-933 +32- 15) / (-3x) (-93/-3x) + (3x/-3x) – (15x/-3x) 32 –x +5 This equation cannot be Foil, because it is a quadratic equation.

Spirituality in Howl by Allen Ginsberg Essays -- Papers Poem Poetry

Spirituality in Howl by Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" is a complex and intriguing poem about the divine in the common world. The minor themes of drugs and sexuality work together to illuminate the major theme of spirituality. The poem reveals through a multitude of sharp images and phrases that everything from drug use to homosexuality to mental illness is holy, even in a world of atom bombs and materialistic America, which Ginsberg considers not to be holy and he refers to as Moloch. As it is stated in Ginsberg's "Footnote To Howl," "The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is/ holy! The tongue and cock and hand and *censored* holy! / Everything is Holy! Everybody's holy! Everywhere is holy!" (3-5). Sexuality is a theme that runs throughout the entire poem. It is not an uptight sexuality of the 1950's culture but a liberated one. And this sexual imagery, that mostly takes place in the first part of the poem, constantly refers to spirituality and the divine. The poem reads, "who let themselves be *censored*ed in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and/ screamed with joy, / who blew and were blown by those human seraphim, the sailors," (91-93). These two images contrast the common view of homosexuality in the 1950's. The sailors are "seraphim", and the motorcyclists are "saintly". They are not corrupt as the common view might see it. The combination of these images helps to uncover the true theme of the piece. The things that most people of the time would consider to be depraved, such as homosexuality, are actually divine. Images of drug-use are other tools that are used in this poem to help illuminate the major theme. Once again, even though the drug -users " †¦ate fire in paint... ... machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb! Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks! Moloch whose poverty is the specter of genius! Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen! Moloch whose name is the mind! (262-73) Even with all this negativity in the poem, the major theme of spirituality remains. The poem "Footnote To Howl" sums up the theme of spirituality in "Howl". It reads, "The bum's as holy as the seraphim! the madman is as holy as you my/ soul are holy!" (7-8). Spirituality and the divine run through "Howl" like veins. They carry the theme throughout the piece and deliver it to the reader. Works Cited Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and other Poems City Lights Books San Francisco 1956

City Life During The Mid 1800s Essay

Source Two: Taken from the internet site ‘Victorian Web’; 2002 During the first decades of Victoria’s reign, baths were virtually unknown in the poorer districts and uncommon anywhere. Most households of all economic classes still used â€Å"privy-pails†; water closets (flush toilets) were rare. Sewers had flat bottoms, and because drains were made out of stone, seepage was considerable. If, as was often the case in towns, streets were unpaved, they might remain ankle-deep in mud for weeks. Source Three: 1850s cartoon; ‘A Court for King Cholera’ (From Punch Magazine) Source Four: Henry Mayhew, ‘Jouneys through London’; 1849 W e then journeyed on to London Street, down which the tidal ditch continues its course. In No. 1 of this street the cholera first appeared seventeen years ago, and spread up it with fearful speed; but this year it appeared at the opposite end, and ran down it with like severity. As we passed along the reeking banks of the sewer the sun shone upon a narrow slip of the water. In the bright light it appeared the colour of strong green tea, and positively looked as solid as black marble in the shadow – indeed it was more like watery mud than muddy water; and yet we were assured this was the only water the wretched inhabitants had to drink. As we gazed in horror at it, we saw drains and sewers emptying their filthy contents into it; we saw a whole tier of doorless privies in the open road, common to men and women, built over it; we heard bucket after bucket of filth splash into it, and the limbs of the vagrant boys bathing in it seemed by pure force of contrast, white as Parian marble. In this wretched place we were taken to a house where an infant lay dead of the cholera. We asked if they really did drink the water? The answer was, â€Å"They were obliged to drink the ditch, without they could beg or thieve a pailful of water.† But have you spoken to your landlord about having it laid on for you? â€Å"Yes, sir and he says he will do it, and do it, but we know him better than to believe him.† Source Five; Father Thames introducing his offspring (Diptheria, Scrofula and Cholera); A cartoon published in 1858 (From Punch Magazine) [If this image is unclear, use the following summary: This shows a lady with a crown being introduced by a strange kind of man coming out of the river to three deformed creatures, looking horrific as they are pushed forward to greet the lady.] By Mr Jones www.SchoolHistory.co.uk Questions; 1. Study source one carefully – What does it show? (3 marks) – What is the message of the picture? (3 marks) – Skeletons don’t ‘dispense’ water. Therefore the source is useless to a historian of mid 1800s city life. Do you agree? (6 marks) 2. Read source two carefully – Give three threats to health mentioned in the source (3 marks) 3. Study source three carefully. – How can you tell that this ‘court’ is a very unhealthy place? (4 marks) – Do you think this cartoon is likely to be reliable? Explain your answer. (6 marks) 4. Study source four carefully – Do Henry Mayhew’s comments back up the views of the cartoonist in source three? (7 marks) 5. Study source five carefully – ‘Dirty water certainly was the main cause of disease in the 1800s’. Do you agree? Explain with reference to any sources you wish and your own knowledge. (8 marks)

Genetically- Modified Foods and Ingredients Essay

Visiting a supermarket has become a usual experience of each one of us. We have to read all the labels that warn us against genetically-modified ingredients and its expiry date. I, try myself to calm down that epidemic services take control over dangerous products. Yet, I have my doubts in eating my favorite snack, French fries that is done in a fast food. The cumulative effect of genetically-modified foods is particularly dangerous for sensitive populations, including kids, elderly people and people who have indigestion people and even us, whose normal healthy living people. I have studies literature on genetically-modified ingredients, trying to be objective in my judgment. Genetically-modified ingredients advance the modern biology achievements. These products and ingredients strengthen the resistance to herbicides and improve nutritional food contents. Genetically-modified (GM) foods production lessens time-consuming than conventional breeding. Molecular Biologists have not discovered yet how harmful GM products and ingredients are but they claim that GM foods may be environmentally hazardous. Only allergy was recognized as negative effect of GM foods. We, cannot break out from the GM products, since two-thirds of genetically modified crops are corn, cotton, soybeans, potatoes even the fruits we eat. This is just a sign that we should be well inform on what is going in our world especially in our foods that can affect our living. We cannot escape from this advancement in our modern world but we, people, can prevent this to have real healthy living life style.

Riordan Benchmarking †Human Capital Development

Riordan Benchmarking – Human Capital Development Free Online Research Papers Riordan Manufacturing is facing a decline in morale and work ethics. Declining sales and uneven profits over the years not only forced the company to change its sales processes, but also prompted them to adopt a customer-relationship system. Riordan’s HR reward and compensation policy program need to be revised to deal with the existing problem. HR professionals over the world know that their toughest job is recruiting and retaining top-notch employees for their companies. With unemployment at its current rate, expanding businesses search for qualified workers like big-game hunters stalking the most elusive prey (Vault, 2008). Compensation plan and benefit plans are two compensation package’s companies are using to invest in its employees. Some organization form compensation committees to ensure that strategies and compensation programs are properly managed (Vault, 2008). To assist Riordan Manufacturing in changing its sales process, Team B has chosen the following com panies to use as a benchmark: Toyota, Infosys, Qualcomm, IBM, Disney, and Honda. Team B will then analyze each company by providing key concepts, such as; designing the elements of an effective employee relations program, create a career development planning model that incorporates attention to key developmental success factors, evaluate compensation and motivation practices as they relate to organizational strategy, and discuss the impact of ethics on the determination of compensation and rewards systems. Elements of an effective employee relations program Toyota has a different approach of how they run their company compared to most corporations. Part of Toyota’s success stems from the philosophy using employees ideas. The philosophy is, since employees are the individuals who perform the work, then why not ask them for ideas involving efficient methods of completing job tasks. This philosophy gave employees the opportunity to express ideas, which helped maintain employee morale therefore, improving relationships between employer and employee. What makes Infosys Technology a successful business is that it offers a benefit program to company employees, which is designed to boost morale and promote healthy careers? (Frauenheim, E., 2006, para 1). During the companies annual survey the results revealed that three quarter of Infosys employees were satisfied with the company. According to the VP of Human Resources, low turnover, high employee satisfaction and a reputation as an employer are critical to a company whose chief assets are the programming and problem-solving skills of its employees. (Frauenheim, E., 2006, para 4). Infosys offers a group of workplace initiatives, the company’s employee relations program. This program provides a variety of benefits to their employees such as counseling services, celebration of cultural events, athletic contests and health fairs to their employees and immediate family members. This program adheres to create an environment of professionalism but provides an incentive to the emplo yees. Management creates strong relationships with their employees. The employee relation program helps keep attrition low while maintaining a strong reputation. Infosys Technologies won the award for the 2006 Optimas Award for Service. Riordan Manufacturing is a diverse industry that includes multiple educational backgrounds, generations, ethnicities and family situations. In comparison to Infosys Technology, management believes that the employee’s families are a priority. Culturally they have strong family bonds. Riordan needs to create a work environment in which employees are confident that they can achieve important behaviors if they attempt and perceive that many positively valued outcomes will result if they perform these behaviors. (Dreher, G. and Dougherty, T.W., p. 36-37, para 5). Like Riordan Manufacturing, Infosys Technology conducted an internal annual survey. The results were very different for both companies. Riordan’s report shows a decline in overall job satisfaction, particularly in the areas of compensation and benefits. As for Infosys Technology’s report, employees are satisfied with the company. Career development plan Career development planning is one of the alternative solutions to motivation and rewards problem. Employees want their career development program outlined and expect company to help and provide means to achieve the career goals. Company wants to make sure that career development goals are mapped to company goals. Training programs in an organization is the key to help employees moving forward to their career path along with business goals achievement. Both benchmark companies have career development programs and different effective training programs to help developing career and making development programs a success. According to Southgate (2002), Qualcomm has always been a company where growth and development opportunity and challenging positions exist. Employees have been part of the company from day one. According to McMurrey (2007), a new employee’s orientation is significant in the first impression of the organization. A company’s sincere efforts to include and inform its new hires helps to build a foundation of trust that will support the employee in the future. Qualcomm has a youthful and relaxed corporate culture. Employees can plan the training objectives with managers, who make sure the training plans are mapped to company business goals. Qualcomm has an innovative online development tool that allows customized professional development plans and aligns learning with divisions’ goals and objectives. Each employee has its own development plans and way of achieving it. Employees choose new challenging and innovative projects, e-learning and other available training programs from their learning center depending upon individual interests and capabilities. In IBM, career development plan is for both employees and as well as managers. IBM executives learned from survey that workers wanted greater access to more and varied experiential learning. Employee development model has following 6 steps mentioned by IBM web page: 1. Establish personal business commitment 2. Assess skills/competencies 3. Update individual development plan 4. Complete actions on individual development plan 5. Review individual development plan progress with manager 6. Document development results for the year IBM has created different training programs to help employee achieving the career development plans. IBM has created ‘Blue Opportunities’, a program offering training opportunities such as stretch assignments, cross-unit projects, short and long term job rotation, and on-site job shadowing via an employee only internet site. The goals of ‘Blue Opportunities’ are developing employees skills, expanding their knowledge, and offering exposure to potential career or job changes. Enhancing leadership and management skills in a time-efficient way is of critical importance to managers. Morton (2004) mentions that a new program named ‘Role of the Manager@IBM’ uses the learning process to address business unit priorities and define action plans. It creates new e-approaches to align teams on key business objectives and target managers’ individual development needs in leading performance through people. Surveys conducted with all participants after the learning program application showed that 92 percent of participants were satisfied with the program. An article ‘Addressing retirement of the baby boomer generation from IBM mentions that IT executives will need to do more than just maintain their workforce skills. Executives will need to proactively address succession planning with a training solution geared toward equipping younger workers and older non-IT hires with the knowledge and skills needed to advance their careers within the company. In Riordan Manufacturing scenario, research and development employees feel that they’re not being challenged and company doesn’t have any career development programs. Other than providing better benefits and rewards, company has an opportunity to develop a career development plan model that incorporates attention to key development success factors. Riordan can develop in house learning center and other web based programs like Qualcomm and IBM to provide more resources for career and skills development. Riordan can assign more challenging assignments to individuals based on their development plans like Qualcomm and IBM. Evaluate Compensation and Motivation Practices Riordan Manufacturing is not having success with its new corporate strategy primarily because the company failed to revise its employee rewards system when they chose to adopt a new customer-relationship management (CRM) system. The new strategy also involves forming self-directed sales teams comprised of a sales person, a product engineer and a customer service representative. The product engineers and customer service representatives are not yet rewarded for their contributions toward sales. This inequity is contributing to Riordan’s problems with employee retention. All company’s must 1) encourage desired job behaviors by 2) offering to exchange them for 3) a reward that the employee feels is important; these are the three elements of motivation (Milkovich, 2004). Honda provides a good example of a company that designs employee rewards programs to support its organizational strategies. For one division of Honda, this type of alignment occurred to support a new company-wide environmental objective. The division began by first choosing a goal of winning environmental accreditation known as ISO 14001. Other tangible steps this division took were; to reward employees for recycling practices, offering employees carbon credits as part of their benefits package, hiring an environmental engineer to promote the accreditation goal, and creating an educational program to explain to staff why the goal was important and how employees could benefit from the program (Cotton, 2008). The same division of Honda has another strategic objective to design employee rewards to retain key staff. â€Å"A good brand makes it easier to attract, retain and motivate talent† (Cotton, 2008). Toward that end, the division incorporates the family into employee benefits as an essential part of its reward strategy. Two specific examples of these family benefits are gym membership and childcare for staff returning from maternity leave (Chubb, 2008). Disney augments traditional salary and benefit rewards with earned incentives of training and two-day park passes for families. The proof that Disney is successful with its choice of employee rewards is described by Mr. Lynch, â€Å"we enjoy the lowest turnover rate in the industry† (Boisclair, 2000). Riordan can learn from both Honda and Disney to design a reward program to help the company achieve success with its new strategy. Impact of Ethics Ethics play an important role in designing compensation and rewards systems because â€Å"how you reward and recognize employees sends a powerful message to staff at all grades about what the organization sees as important† (Cotton, 2008). Unethical behavior may occur through the actions of the employer or through the actions of the employee. Business leaders need to design equitable plans that don’t discriminate against any legally protected groups. Also, business leaders need to avoid designing incentive programs that entice employees to engage in unethical behavior such as was discovered at Sears in the 1990’s where employees were charging customers an average of $235 for unnecessary car repairs (Milkovich, 2004). Some workers of a Lincoln, Alabama auto assembly plant recently raised concerns that Honda exhibits favoritism with regard to job promotions (Kisiel, 2007). Some of Honda’s workers are beginning to wonder if their best recourse for solving this inequity will be to form a union at that plant. If the accusation is true, it raises a question about Honda’s ethics relative to employee career development practices, which ultimately relates to employee compensation. â€Å"As in other employment matters, employers must make decisions without regard to individuals age, sex, race, or other protected status† (Noe, 2003). Overall Analysis Riordan Manufacturing has now determined what it must do to motivate its employees, but to what cost or risk to Riordan or the employees? The perception Riordan’s management team portrays is one that their departments need more money or acceptance. The risk may be high for Riordan here because if one area is rewarded and not another, then distrust is created due to favoritism. Riordan may need to utilize an employee performance and job function-based evaluation formula to achieve who needs to be compensated and who is actually missing the inner needs. It may be the senior management that needs to be retrained in understanding the inner needs of their staff. Riordan Manufacturing can sustain minimal risk if it looks into the inner needs of the senior management, as well as retraining management on understanding the inner needs within their own departments. This understanding will create low to minimal risk for employees, creating a win-win for Riordan Manufacturing. Motivation is a â€Å"willingness to exert effort toward a goal† (Dreher Dougherty, 2001, p23) and rewards motivate people. When a leader develops a system for compensation and rewards, then communicates it clearly to his/her employees, he/she will begin to align his/her employees to the company’s strategic goals (Rosalis, 2005). Communication is important while implementing any rewards system. The employee must understand what is expected of him/her and what he/she will get in return for his/her efforts. Riordan Manufacturing might find the use of flexible hour’s works for some of the employee population. By allowing the sales staff to work flexible hours, Riordan Manufacturing would be adding to the employees’ quality of life and in return, the employees are motivated and less likely to leave the company. The same could be done for the RD staff. Riordan Manufacturing is dealing with turnover and changing the leave program or introducing something as simple as on-site massages might start to motivate the employees and create a better culture. Conclusion Team B has provided a thorough analysis of the benchmarking companies that will assist Riordan Manufacturing’s sales processes and successfully transition into a customer-relation system (CRS). Riordan Manufacturing will align the company’s reward and compensation with their business strategy. Riordan Manufacturing will provide opportunities as rewards; create employee relations, develop career plans while boosting employee morale and work ethics. Generic Benchmarking Infosys Technologies/ Melissa Lohman Infosys Technologies, (Frauenheim, 2006) founded in 1981 based in Bangalore has 49,400 employees. Infosys Technologies is of the major Indian firms that provides software-outsourcing services in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The company specializes in application development, system integration and product engineering. They provide these services to industries in healthcare, energy and financial services. In addition, Infosys subsidiary Progeon provides business process outsourcing services and has a consulting division based in Fremont, California. (Frauenheim, 2006). Infosys Technology offers a benefit program designed to boost morale and promote healthy careers, (Frauenheim, E., 2006, para 1) which makes an impact to the employees who have since left the company. Bikramjit Maitra, the VP of Human Resource Development was unaware that the company had a fitness program available to all the employees. Just a year ago, Infosys was shy of 10%, which is a low figure for the software industry. The company conducted an internal survey in 2004. The results were that three quarters of Infosys employees were satisfied with the company. Low turnover, high employee satisfaction and a reputation as an employer are critical to a company whose chief assets are the programming and problem-solving skills of its employees. (Frauenheim, E., 2006, para 4). The VP of Human Resources believes that the reason for Infosys Technologys success is due to a group of workplace initiatives, which happens to be the companys employee relations program. The program offers counseling services, celebrations of cultural events, athletic contests and health fairs to their employees and immediate family members. This program adheres to create an environment of professionalism but provides an incentive to the employees. (Frauenheim, 2006) Infosys Technologies creates strong relationships with their employees. The program assures that Infosys as a company avoids impersonal and bureaucratic and because of this, the company grew from a handful of employees to 40,500 in just five years. This program has been a success to Infosys Technologies in developing a workforce and management that keeps attrition low (Frauenheim, E. 2006, para 10) while maintaining a strong reputation. The company wins the 2006 Optimas Award for Service. Toyota Corporation/ Melissa Lohman Toyota Motor Company was established around 1935. How the vision became a reality occurred when an inventor created a prototype for a vehicle called the A1. Once he created the prototype, he knew at that moment that his legacy must continue and that occurred when Toyota Motor Company was born. Toyota holds a different view from our western one. The same way their culture is different, so is how they run their companies and how they treat their employees. Toyota looks to their employees for ideas. Since the employees are the ones on the assembly line, they are in the best position to come up with time saving ideas. The employees are very likely to look for new and better ways to do things because of the mere fact that they are given most of the responsibility. The reason this process works so well for Toyota is that they give their employees more opportunities to make decisions. The workers do not have to stop production to ask management a question. The employees are allowed to run their own quality control. This empowerment fives employees much more of a feeling of pride in work as well as wanting to produce the highest quality so that it reflects well on them. To look at the view of some of the independent dealerships employees have expressed why they are happy with Toyota. An employee named Jeff expressed how he feels about Toyota he states, Toyota treats their employees well; he especially enjoys the work/life balance. He is proud to work for a company that is moving in the right direction. Another individual who owns and operates one of the franchises believes the importance to treat employees with the same respect and care that they would give to family. He believes that the atmosphere is friendly because the employees are happy and enjoy what they do. In closing, the determining factor of the success of a company is brainpower. It does not matter so much about whom to hire; it matters when companies correctly use the brainpower that they already have. Qualcomm Inc. (Sameer Sangal) Qualcomm Incorporated (Qualcomm) is a developer and supplier of integrated circuits and system software, based on code division multiple access (CDMA) technology, for wireless voice and data communications, multimedia functions and global positioning system products headquartered in San Diego, California. Qualcomm is in a robust financial position. Qualcomm makes consistent investment in research and development (RD). The 2008 SWOT analysis prepared by DATAMONITOR states the company’s RD expenditure in fiscal years 2007, 2006 and 2005 were approximately $1.8 billion, $1.5 billion, and $1 billion, respectively. Qualcomm’s RD expenditure as a percentage of sales was 32.4%, 20.4%, and 17.8% during 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. Staff turnover can cost companies dearly. Qualcomm has a history of keeping employee highly motivated and low employee turnover rate. According to Southgate (2002), when most of the companies were laying off people in 2001, Qualcomm created new 1500 jobs. Half of the newly created 1500 positions got filled with internal staff. The key to avoiding big layoffs is tied to a strong employee-retention program. Qualcomm employees appreciate the company’s commitment to employee education and the company’s responsiveness to needs. The strong two-way communication benefits Qualcomm. Raises are given twice a year, with the average raise being around three percent (excite.com). Employees can get hands-on experience by working on cutting-edge technology or may plan formal training objectives with managers, who make sure the training plans are mapped to company business goals. Employees who choose formal training objectives which could involve classroom time or reading a book on a technology topic, Qualcomm pays for the employees’ hours spent on such initiatives. According to Phillips and Connell (2006), in Qualcomm, each employee has individual development plans aligned with organization’s goal. Employee development for job growth and career advancement is achieved by interesting and more challenging work assignment according to individual abilities and interests. As per details from Qualcomm web page, Qualcomm has a corporate learning center which provides hundreds of leading-edge professional and technical development solutions for local, regional and international offices. Learning opportunities available on Qualcomm’s campuses, online, and at nearby colleges and universities include advanced engineering degree programs online, live classroom sessions, web-based programs and computer-based training in technical and professional areas such as leadership development, supervisory skills, time management, and other advanced wireless technologies. An innovative online development tool that allows customized professional development plans and aligns learning with divisions’ goals and objectives. A tuition reimbursement program and a library filled with educational and technical resources are other resources available to help employees developing their skills and career path. Qualcomm is demonstrating to the employees that company has a plan for career development and training. Competitive compensation packages such as salary, bonuses, stock options, and the traditional health and retirement package are another tool that helps keep employees onboard. Sullivan (2006), executive vice president of human resources at Qualcomm says, â€Å"Qualcomm is as exciting a place to work today as it was in the early days. To me, this implies both a continuous renewal and focus on the individual (and on the organization) to maintain a very successful and stimulating environment†. Fortune magazines list of 100 Best Companies to Work for in America for nine consecutive years shows that company has the right career development programs to motivate employees. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) Sameer Sangal International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is the world’s largest information technology (IT) company providing business consulting, IT services, hardware, software and financing. The view at IBM is that offering employees flexible working patterns is an option that must be taken seriously. Flexibility and mobility need to be the cornerstone of ones thinking, no matter what area or line of business one is in. The ability to work flexibly is seen by employees as an added benefit so to have the option in place is an important factor in attracting, retaining and motivating key staff. Meredith (2005), IBM’s worldwide mobility strategy and program manager says that mobility and flexibility not only assist in the responsiveness demanded by customers, but it’s key to attracting and retaining crucial talent and skill, the nature of our industry requires knowledge-based employees. IBM study (IBM, 2008) indicates that the majority of the 400-plus human resources (HR) executives surveyed are more concerned about their organizations’ ability to upgrade existing employee skills than attracting new talent. Company further explains the greater effectiveness from traditional forms of learning, such as on-the-job training and instructor-led classroom experiences. E-learning in its various forms also a very effective form of employee development techniques. Employee development model has defined 6 steps mentioned by IBM web page, establish personal business commitment, assess skills/competencies, update and complete actions on individual development plan, complete actions on individual development plan, review individual development plan progress with manager and finally document development results for the year. IBM created a program to offer experiential learning opportunities to thousands of employees. Nancy (2007) mentions that during IBMs World Jam 2004, a 72-hour online dialogue that senior leaders opened up to the companys 355,766 employees worldwide, executives learned that workers wanted greater access to more and varied experiential learning. Nancy further explains that as a result of such interest, the IBM learning and career development department created Blue Opportunities, a program now offering 95,000 learners about 1,400 training opportunities such as stretch assignments, cross-unit projects, short and long term job rotation, and on-site job shadowing via an employee only internet site that erases country borders. The goals of ‘Blue Opportunities’ are developing employees skills, expanding their knowledge, and offering exposure to potential career or job changes. Once managers and employees build individual development plans, employees can search for opportunities from Blue program to help them achieve their goals. IBM managers are not different from employees and would need more training to lead the global teams and creating an innovative environment for employees in the fast changing and challenging world. IBM learning group believes that management development is a transformational and extended process, rather than a classroom event. Morton (2004) states that at IBM, managers work 10 to 12 hours per day, sometimes longer and in this situation off site training is not feasible. IBM learning team created a new program the â€Å"Role of the Manager@IBM program†. This program uses the learning process to address business unit priorities and define action plans. It creates new e-approaches to align teams on key business objectives and target managers’ individual development needs in leading performance through people. Finally it provides learning and communications initiative that would support peer learning and shared objectives. Disney – Phyllis Duzenack â€Å"Deliver the right rewards to the right people to align employees with your strategic goals† (Rosalie, 2005). Disney has mastered this approach so well that other companies clamor to attend the Disney Institute for training. â€Å"For more than two decades, we’ve offered professional development programs to those interested in studying the Disney approach,† said George Aguel, senior vice president for Walt Disney Parks and Resort. â€Å"Since that time, more than a million business leaders from around the world have experienced ‘the business behind the magic’ (Alonzo, 2007). The type of training offered at the Disney Institute is â€Å"targeted, professional development that helps organizations meet their business challenges† (Boisclair, 2000). The idea is to not just offer interesting training content, but to present it in an environment that is stimulating and entertaining. An example of a company successfully using the Disney Institute as a key resource is taken from the global audit firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers. After participating in the college recruitment course offered at the Disney Institute, the audit firm was able to increase its job-offer acceptances from 40% to 70% (Boisclair, 2000). It’s important that Riordan’s management team provide all workers with an explanation of what is expected from them, and to provide them with training and tools necessary to do their jobs. The next essential step is to determine the extra rewards to be given only to those committed workers who achieve the company’s new strategic goals. Rewards will provide a higher return for a company when they are targeted for the most critical workers, in this case the newly formed sales teams, because those workers create the most value for the company in the marketplace (Rosalie, 2005). Management needs to provide these employees with a clear understanding of which of their day-to-day responsibilities correlate most strongly with company strategy. As it would be for any company, the logical next step is for Riordan to learn what motivates their sales teams and to offer custom rewards. Disney recognizes that a competitive salary and benefits are no longer enough to ensure workers achieve company goals. Disney augments such traditional rewards with earned incentives of training and two-day park passes for families. Disney is â€Å"known for creating a service culture, stimulating creativity, and recruiting, training, and managing our own employees,† says Larry Lynch, the Disney Institute sales director. Further proof that Disney is successful with its choice of employee rewards is described by Mr. Lynch, â€Å"we enjoy the lowest turnover rate in the industry† (Boisclair, 2000). If a particular business approach is working, others will want to copy it. This is the experience of the Disney Company, and helps clarify why Disney represents a good benchmark for Riordan Manufacturing to develop new employee compensation and motivation practices in support of its new strategies. Honda – Phyllis Duzenack Some workers of a Lincoln, Alabama auto assembly plant recently raised concerns that Honda exhibits favoritism with regard to job promotions (Kisiel, 2007). If true, this raises a question of Honda’s ethics relative to employee career development practices, which ultimately relates to employee compensation. â€Å"As in other employment matters, employers must make decisions without regard to individuals age, sex, race, or other protected status† (Noe, 2003). To make an informed decision about whether to form a union or not, Honda’s workers met with United Auto Worker recruiters to learn about the benefits that may be gained by forming a union at the Lincoln, Alabama assembly plant (Kisiel, 2007). Honda representatives responded by writing two letters to plant employees. The purpose for writing the letters was to remind workers of the financial benefits they have enjoyed by not forming a union thus far. Honda’s North American operations have not had to layoff anyone for the past 30 years (Kisiel, 2007). The company attributes this circumstance in part to the fact that its North American plants are not unionized. A 30-year history without layoffs, for an industry fraught with layoffs, certainly presents a compelling case for employee job security. Assuming the content of both letters was appropriate; Honda has taken the right approach to merely state its position on the issue without interfering with the worker’s right to learn about, or form a union if they so choose. The question workers need to weigh is whether their concerns about career development and fair compensation and will be maximized by forming a union or by remaining non-union. Likewise, Riordan Manufacturing has a problem with regard to its career development system. We know about this problem from reading the multiple comments from Riordan’s employee survey that reveal discontent with the lack of career development. If left unaddressed, staff will likely continue to leave their jobs, or may consider forming a union. Secondly, Riordan failed to revise its employee rewards system when they chose to adopt a new customer-relationship management (CRM) system. Only the sales person of each newly formed sales team is currently receiving rewards. Product engineers and customer service representatives are not yet rewarded for their contribution. This obvious reward inequity is contrary to the concept of employment outcome fairness (Noe, 2003), and has contributed to Riordan’s problems with employee retention. References Addressing retirement of the baby boomer generation. (2008). Retrieved May 15, 2008, from http://www-304.ibm.com Alonzo, V., Disney Institute Premiers Revamped Leadership Program. Meeting News; 6/11/2007, Vol 31 Issue 8, p38-38, 3/4p, 1 color, retrieved from EBSCOhost database 5/13/2008 Boisclair, M., The New Face of Incentives. Incentive; Oct2000, Vol 174 Issue 10, Special section p2, 2p, 1c, retrieved from EBSCOhost database 5/13/2008 Career development. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from http://www-03.ibm.com Chubb, L., Family Benefits Keep Honda in Pole Position. People Management; 2/21/2008, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p14-14, 1/2p, retrieved from EBSCOhost database 5/13/2008 Cotton, C., Go the Green Mile. People Management; 1/24/2008, Vol.14 Issue 2, Special Section p8-9, 2p, retrieved from EBSCOhost database 5/13/2008 Dreher, G., Dougherty, T.W. (2001). Human resource strategy, 1e chapter 4: Reward and compensation systems. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-Text]. New York: McGraw Hill-Companies. Retrieved May 13, 2008, from University of Phoenix, rEsource, MBA/530 Web site. Fortune Magazine. 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://money.cnn.com Frauenheim, E. (2006). 2006 Winner Service Infosys Technologies; the Bangalore Company’s commitment to work/life balance keeps turnover low, employee satisfaction high and the company’s reputation strong. Workforce Management, 85 (5): 28, March 13, 2006. High level of satisfaction. Retrieved May 13, 2008, from http://excite.com Kisiel, R., Honda to Ala. Workers: UAW Not Needed. Automotive News; 10/8/2007, Vol. 82 Issue 6276, p34-34, 1/5p, retrieved from EBSCOhost database 5/13/2008 Learning. (2006). Employees and Workplace. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://qualcomm.com McMurrey S. (2007). Joining the Team: Getting Oriented at QUALCOMM. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from greatplacetowork.com Meredith D. (2005). Offering flexible and remote working options at IBM. Strategic HR Review; Nov/Dec2005, Vol. 5 Issue 1, p12-13, 2p. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from EBSCOhost database. Milkovich, G., Newman, J., (2004). Compensation. New York: McGraw-Hill. Morton D. (2004). Case Study: Role of the Manager @ IBM. Retrieved May 16, 2008 from learningcircuits.org Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhert, B., Wright, P.M., (2003). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Norihiko Shirouzu (2005, July 14). Mean but Lean, Toyota Seeks Outside Help; With In- House Quality Gurus in Short Supply, Auto Maker Turns to Its Assembler Affiliates. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. B.4. Retrieved May 9, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 867761901). One-on-One Training Crosses Continents. HRMagazine; Nov2007, Vol. 52 Issue 11, p54-56, 3p. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from EBSCOhost database. Phillips J and Connell A. (2006). Managing Employee Retention. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://books.google.com Qualcomm Incorporated SWOT Analysis. (2008). DATAMONITOR. Company Report. Retrieved May 13, 2008 from EBSCOhost database. Rosalie, J., Reward for Value: Six Steps to Increasing Your Company’s â€Å"People Value†. Benefits Compensation Digest; Jul2005, Vol. 42 Issue 7, p28-33, 6p, 3 diagrams, 1 color, retrieved from EBSCOhost database 5/14/2008 Southgate D. (2002). A best of breed in staff retention. Retrieved May 13, 2008, from http://articles.techrepublic.com Toyota Motor Corporation. (2008). History of Toyota. Retrieved on May 10, 2008 from, toyota.co.jp/en/history/index.html Research Papers on Riordan Benchmarking - Human Capital DevelopmentTwilight of the UAWAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaResearch Process Part OneMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductThe Project Managment Office SystemOpen Architechture a white paperInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in Capital

Free Essays on Persusasive Speeches Are Bad Assignments

There is no logical reason to write a persuasive speech for an English class. Persuasive speeches definitely do not need to be a requirement for high school students. The definition of â€Å"persuade† in The Macquarie Dictionary is: To induce one to believe or do something; to argue into an opinion or procedure; to plead with, urge. I have always thought that someone who let his own opinion be changed by someone else is a person who lacks a strong will. I understand that some people have a certain talent for convincing other people, but I personally would not change my mind about a subject unless I was unsure about that subject in the first place. I became aware of one personal trait when writing this paper that is I do not really care about much. I have no intention of letting other people know about the few things that I do care about either. I found it pointless to try to write a persuasive speech about a subject for which I do not care. The only thing I could think to try to convince people to do was to refuse to write a persuasive speech ever again. I faced a kind of moral paradox with this, though. If I wrote a persuasive speech telling people not to write persuasive speeches, what kind of example would I be? I was convinced that I was not going to do this paper, but in a showing of my own lack of will. I realise that teachers would be angry about this somewhat counterproductive speech, but nevertheless students should refuse to write persuasive speeches unless their own will convinces them to do so. People of my age do not really have many reasons to complain. Most persuasive essays written by adolescents are fluff in the eyes of authority anyway. Sure, you could write a persuasive essay about plenty of subjects. For example, â€Å"Kids should be allowed to skateboard anywhere they want.† It's a perfectly fine essay for someone who really cares about it. The problem is that most of the authorities who would decide where... Free Essays on Persusasive Speeches Are Bad Assignments Free Essays on Persusasive Speeches Are Bad Assignments There is no logical reason to write a persuasive speech for an English class. Persuasive speeches definitely do not need to be a requirement for high school students. The definition of â€Å"persuade† in The Macquarie Dictionary is: To induce one to believe or do something; to argue into an opinion or procedure; to plead with, urge. I have always thought that someone who let his own opinion be changed by someone else is a person who lacks a strong will. I understand that some people have a certain talent for convincing other people, but I personally would not change my mind about a subject unless I was unsure about that subject in the first place. I became aware of one personal trait when writing this paper that is I do not really care about much. I have no intention of letting other people know about the few things that I do care about either. I found it pointless to try to write a persuasive speech about a subject for which I do not care. The only thing I could think to try to convince people to do was to refuse to write a persuasive speech ever again. I faced a kind of moral paradox with this, though. If I wrote a persuasive speech telling people not to write persuasive speeches, what kind of example would I be? I was convinced that I was not going to do this paper, but in a showing of my own lack of will. I realise that teachers would be angry about this somewhat counterproductive speech, but nevertheless students should refuse to write persuasive speeches unless their own will convinces them to do so. People of my age do not really have many reasons to complain. Most persuasive essays written by adolescents are fluff in the eyes of authority anyway. Sure, you could write a persuasive essay about plenty of subjects. For example, â€Å"Kids should be allowed to skateboard anywhere they want.† It's a perfectly fine essay for someone who really cares about it. The problem is that most of the authorities who would decide where...

Should recruiters know your salary history

Should recruiters know your salary history Throughout your professional life, you’ll likely go on a wide array of job interviews, and each one will be a different and unique experience. But if there’s one common element of all job hunting processes, it’s that they eventually must include a salary discussion. If you make it to the finish line and reach the point where a job offer is made, congratulations- but the process isn’t over yet. After you learn the position is yours, you’ll likely be given all of the key details regarding the position, including the salary. At this point you may be wondering, â€Å"Do they need to know my salary history in order to make a fair and accurate offer?† Great question- let’s take a closer look.It’s fine to offer it if asked at the start†¦The decision of whether or not to disclose your salary history might come up at the very beginning of the process, when you’re crafting your targeted cover letter and resume for a specific j ob opening. Current conventional wisdom holds that you shouldn’t detail your salary history unless requested to do so by a prospective employer. And if you are, you should always be honest- remember, if they do a thorough background check they may find out the truth, and it won’t look good if what you told them doesn’t add up.†¦but it’s not absolutely necessary.Okay, so if conventional wisdom holds that you shouldn’t disclose your salary history unless asked to do so, how do you know if you’re going to be presented with a fair offer if you make it through the hiring process and have not given them a sense of what you’re worth? The truth is, effective recruiters and hiring managers have thoroughly researched competitive salaries for any and all positions they’re hiring for in their given geographical area. Remember, they’re competing against other companies for talent, so it’s in their best interest to make sa lary offers that will attract the best and brightest talent.They already have a final number in mind.Furthermore, recruiters and hiring managers don’t need to know your salary history because most companies have a pre-determined salary range for any given position they’re hiring for. This predetermined range can be based on a variety of factors, including a company’s budget and industry trends.This range typically means that there’s some room for you to negotiate if and when an offer is made. If you’re presented with a job offer and salary that meets your expectations, then great- congratulations on your new job! However, if you receive an offer that’s lower than what you’re looking for you can use your salary history as a negotiating point, but be sure to handle this delicate situation carefully.Now you know the facts- good recruiters don’t need to know your salary history in order to hire for a position and make an offer, and you shouldn’t feel obligated to provide it unless asked specifically to do so. However, you can always use this information during the negotiating process, if you make it that far, in an effort to get a new position that meets your needs.

Was Abraham Lincoln a racist Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Was Abraham Lincoln a racist - Term Paper Example ave evaluated the matter agree that calling Lincoln a racist is an overtone to his early political life; typically, in the late 1850s, on the debates with. Douglas, Lincoln spoke to what he considered to be basic black and white racial differences "which, in my [Lincolns] judgment, will probably forever forbid their [blacks] living together on the footing of perfect equality" (Gewen, 1). Additionally, Lincoln is known to have agreed that the blacks were not in some aspects equal to the whites, one of them being color but when it came to other aspects like the right to eat the bread without leave of anybody he was equal to Lincoln, Judge Douglas and any other man. From this and most of his statements, Lincoln depicts that his belief that both black and white were entitled to equal rights and protection under the Constitution. Lincoln, as president, struggled to the end of civil war and preserved the nation making him extensively sympathetic when it comes to the matter of slaves; moreover, it also increased the urge for equality among the races in America (Walker 1). Radically, Lincoln dropped his support for plans to colonize freed slaves to Africa after the Civil War after seeing over 200,000 African-Americans volunteer and fighters alongside Union forces; additionally, in 1865 Lincoln delivered an address in which he became the first activist president extending voting rights to African-Americans who fought for the Union. On this notion, Lincoln campaigned that there it was fair that people of the black color are denied some of the rights and franchise yet some of them serve their cause as soldiers and significant members of the society hence they should also experience the same privileges. Abraham Lincoln’s statement on this matter and others was an indication of his belief that any African American should a full political equality; unfortunately, this was the last speech that he made as initially said by John Wilkes Booth from the crowd (Zeeboe 1).

Moral, ethical and legal issue surrounding cell phones Research Paper

Moral, ethical and legal issue surrounding cell phones - Research Paper Example Recent researches have shown that cell phones have given rise to many ethical problems related to exchange of adult material resulting in sexting, child and adult pornography. In addition to that, there are also studies supporting the notion that cell phones usage has serious consequences during driving. Many countries and states have devised several laws which prohibit exchange of nude/ semi-naked material and use of cell phone for bullying, harassment, and cell phone use’ during driving however a policy model is required which would keep ensure the use of cell phone for unethical activities. With the use of cell phones comes moral responsibility of information rights, property rights and obligations, accountability and control, system quality and quality of life. Due to excessive use of cell phones, one of the fundamental moral comprises arise from invasion of privacy. It is a right of every individual to be free from surveillance or interference from individuals, organizations and state and have complete control over information regarding him. In U.S., individual privacy is protected by various laws such as First Amendment (freedom of speech), Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search and seizure), Additional federal statues (e.g. Privacy Act of 1974) etc (Lauden & Traver, 2012). There is an extensive research performed on cell phones and ethical issues arising out of it. Other than breach of privacy, forced intimacy, inane conversations, inappropriate timings of usage, and disregard for immediate others are some of the major issues considered as violation of etiquettes (J ohnson, 2003). Other than the basic ethical dilemmas mentioned above, another area which requires immediate attention is the use of cell phones for the purpose of exchanging pornography, sexting, sex-oriented tele-conversation and adult pornography. Most of ethical issues

The Role of Women in Japan and Middle East Research Paper

The Role of Women in Japan and Middle East - Research Paper Example This essay will discuss the impact of globalization on different types of families in different societies and cultures. The terms ‘traditional’, ‘modern’ and ‘postmodern’ will be defined, elaborated upon and discussed on a continuum of change. Social change, in the face of globalization, will be discussed with relation to how cultures and families have grown or resisted the forces of globalization. We now turn to an exploration of the types of families in the world and follow with a concise description of the American family of today. Ranging from ‘traditional’ to ‘postmodern’, there are a variety of family forms in this world. For the theoretical purposes of this essay, a family will be defined as â€Å"two or more people who are in a relationship created by birth, marriage or choice.† (Roopnarine & Gielen 33). There are a multitude of family forms and family types across the globe and the global family is a social unit in a constant state of evolution. The ‘traditional’ family is a heterosexual, nuclear family headed by two parents in which the husband is the primary breadwinner and the wife is the homemaker. On the far left side of the continuum of change, the traditional nuclear family model is widespread across the globe and represents a traditional gendered division of labour, both within the house as well as outside of the home. In the Western world, the traditional model is becoming less and less viable as many families require the incomes of both parents. Wom en’s increased education and employment prospects have made the transition from the traditional model to the modern familial model more and more prevalent in modern Western society (Bossen 128-133; Roopnarine & Gielen 32-34). As with the traditional family, the ‘modern family’ is nuclear in the sense that it involves the cohabitation of two heterosexual partners but differs in that it involves dual

Produce a report on the case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Produce a report on the case study - Essay Example Most commonly, the above effort is delayed because of the market pressures and the appearance of problems in the internal organizational environment. Therefore, in order for a firm to secure its position in its industry it is necessary to ensure that its strategies are appropriately aligned to the market needs and that conflicts in its internal are effectively controlled. Current paper focuses on the examination of the organizational problems of Fishery Products International (FPI), a key competitor in the global fishery industry. The changes that the firm had to promote, mostly because of its transformation in 1087, from a public-sector firm to a firm of the private sector, have negatively affected its performance. Of course, the high level of the firm’s profitability, especially compared to its rivals, cannot be denied. However, it seems that the transition of the firm from the public sector to the private sector has been problematic, even if the problem was not revealed imm ediately, i.e. in 1987 when the firm entered the private sector. The ability of the firm to survive in the private sector depends on the willingness of its stakeholders to support this effort but also on the market’s conditions, which have been proved to be critical for the firm’s stability. ... ? organizational problems The history of the firm is rather short; the firm was established in 1984 through the amalgamation of three major seafood companies. However, the firms participated in the particular organization had a long presence in the particular industry, being related to the first efforts for the establishment of the fishery industry in Canada. This fact should be taken into consideration when evaluating the firm’s performance after the transformation to a legal entity of the private sector. From a first view, the performance of the firm in its industry can be characterized as satisfactory, taking into consideration the market conditions and the environmental challenges, referring especially to the limitation of the fish stock. Despite the above issues, the firm should stabilize its performance and strengthen its position in the global fishery industry in order to be able to face any potential attacks from competitors, as such attack was expressed through the â €˜unsolicited takeover bid’ (case study, p.15) against the firm by NEOS Seafoods Inc. in 1999. The firm’s key organizational problems are highlighted below; suggestions are made for their elimination and the increase of the firm’s competitiveness, so that similar events, like the takeover bid of NEOS, to be avoided in the future. 2.1 Management roles and responsibility One of the key characteristics of FPI is its leadership style. As noted above, the first established in 1984; in 1987 the firm entered the private sector, which means that for about 3 years the firm was under the control of the government. It was in 1984 when the current CEO of the firm, Vic Young, was appointed in his current position. During this period of transition, from 1984 up to 1987, it was unavoidable for the

A New Earth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A New Earth - Essay Example It is true that one never realizes the importance of a person in his/her life unless that person is detached from him/her. Just like I realized the importance of my best friend in my life when he passed away in an air crash. I had never come across such a situation before. My entire existence clung like a thread on his presence in my life and I was nothing without him. His departure from this world brought me so close to reality, it taught me the biggest lesson of my life. The way others react to such a situation is both helpful and displeasing for you. Helpful in a way, that you can vent out your feelings. You can shout, cry and yell out at them. And displeasing in the sense that everyone directs his/her sympathies towards you. It makes you a victim of self pity and denial. It hurts your ego and your conscience. The worst part of it is that you cannot share the feeling of agony and excruciating pain with anyone else. My best friend’s death left an irreparable scar on my soul. It made me feel isolated and helpless. I thought I was the only one to be a victim of this folly while everyone else lived their lives normally. I thought some calamity had struck me and it is unnatural. However after reading A New Earth, I realized that this was not anything unnatural and a lot of people in this world have been through the pain of losing their loved ones. This book gave me a part of the peace that I was long looking for. In chapters two, three and four, Tolle talks about human ego. It explains how this sense of â€Å"us† against â€Å"them† leads to lethal rivalries. He talks about how others make us a victim of inferiority complexes. This was so true in my case. Whenever I’d see a pair of best friends together in my school, I’d plunge down into an inferiority complex. Why is my best friend separated from me? I thought. I asked myself some unanswerable questions and went down the memory lane of all the good times I had spent with my bes t friend. The laughter, the smiles and those moments of rejoice had all become memories. It was just so hard to believe in that. This book gave me a chance to understand that the accident that occurred, occurred by the will of God and hence I shouldn’t be the one blaming myself or feeling inferior. I felt that the grief had settled within and there was no way I could be happy or jolly again. I could never be the same hyper and fun-filled person again. There are different ways in which others react to accidents or losses of this magnitude. Either they become introverts and start suppressing their feelings or they find other ways of venting out their frustrations. Some become angry, some bitter. Some try to become self-destructive in trying to cope up with the pain better, while others become jealous of people around them. It’s the feeling of loss and deprivation that inflicts more pain on you. The most appropriate lines that I found in the reading are: â€Å"Apart from the obvious ones such as anger, hatred and so on, there are other more subtle forms of negativity such as impatience, irritation, being fed up and nervousness† (Tolle 148) If you just feel that your loved one is just around you, he can feel you, he is watching you, guiding you in every step of your life. The thought that my best friend is close to me even after his departure has made me feel better and has given me strength. So it’s a trick to not think about the loss deeply when you are in such situations.

Produce a report on the case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Produce a report on the case study - Essay Example Most commonly, the above effort is delayed because of the market pressures and the appearance of problems in the internal organizational environment. Therefore, in order for a firm to secure its position in its industry it is necessary to ensure that its strategies are appropriately aligned to the market needs and that conflicts in its internal are effectively controlled. Current paper focuses on the examination of the organizational problems of Fishery Products International (FPI), a key competitor in the global fishery industry. The changes that the firm had to promote, mostly because of its transformation in 1087, from a public-sector firm to a firm of the private sector, have negatively affected its performance. Of course, the high level of the firm’s profitability, especially compared to its rivals, cannot be denied. However, it seems that the transition of the firm from the public sector to the private sector has been problematic, even if the problem was not revealed imm ediately, i.e. in 1987 when the firm entered the private sector. The ability of the firm to survive in the private sector depends on the willingness of its stakeholders to support this effort but also on the market’s conditions, which have been proved to be critical for the firm’s stability. ... ? organizational problems The history of the firm is rather short; the firm was established in 1984 through the amalgamation of three major seafood companies. However, the firms participated in the particular organization had a long presence in the particular industry, being related to the first efforts for the establishment of the fishery industry in Canada. This fact should be taken into consideration when evaluating the firm’s performance after the transformation to a legal entity of the private sector. From a first view, the performance of the firm in its industry can be characterized as satisfactory, taking into consideration the market conditions and the environmental challenges, referring especially to the limitation of the fish stock. Despite the above issues, the firm should stabilize its performance and strengthen its position in the global fishery industry in order to be able to face any potential attacks from competitors, as such attack was expressed through the â €˜unsolicited takeover bid’ (case study, p.15) against the firm by NEOS Seafoods Inc. in 1999. The firm’s key organizational problems are highlighted below; suggestions are made for their elimination and the increase of the firm’s competitiveness, so that similar events, like the takeover bid of NEOS, to be avoided in the future. 2.1 Management roles and responsibility One of the key characteristics of FPI is its leadership style. As noted above, the first established in 1984; in 1987 the firm entered the private sector, which means that for about 3 years the firm was under the control of the government. It was in 1984 when the current CEO of the firm, Vic Young, was appointed in his current position. During this period of transition, from 1984 up to 1987, it was unavoidable for the

Economic environment effect on Build-a-Bear Essay

Economic environment effect on Build-a-Bear - Essay Example When consumers’ income decrease, then it is expected that their purchasing power will fall thus impacting on the brand negatively. For example, after the financial crisis of 2007/2007, consumers’ income fell remarkably in the United States as a result of closure of companies, laying down of workers and reduction of salaries of wages (Nanto Dick). As a result consumers were unable to spend money buying items in the manner they did before the financial crisis. This is what resulted in the decline in sales of the Build-a- bear company thus negatively affecting its brand. According to the company’s press release the company increased its sales remarkably in the first quarter of 2013 (yahoo finance). Other external factors that affected the company’s brand are savings, debts, employment and credit. All these factors were also greatly influenced by the financial crisis of 2007/2008 thus negatively affecting the company’s brand. This is due to the fact thi s industry dependent highly on consumers’ disposable income (Accuval). How Recent Stock Market Movements have Affected the Company Despite the economic crisis of 2007/2008, the United States of America economy has been recovering gradually. This has been as a result of the austerity and stimulus policies that have been adopted by the United States of America government (Weaver, 189). ... At the same time the company’s sales increased by1.4 dollars more than the previous quarter. This is a remarkable improvement considering the company was performing poorly after the financial crisis of 2007/2008. This is because consumers in the united Sates of America opted for imported toys and other commodities in the industry from countries such as china since they were at a cheaper price. Thus it can be concluded that the recent stock market movements have favored the company. Actions Has the Company been Taking in Response to these Developments and Trends In order to cope with the developments and trends in the economy, the company came up with a number of strategies. Firstly, the company introduced a store design that is new where the company introduced 11 stores which were newly imagined. These stores increased sales to 20 percent in the second quarter. The company expects that by 2013 it will have established the new store design in at least 30 locations and 25 more i n 2014. The company decided to reduce on operational costs by closing up 38 stores in 2012 and transferring the sales of these stores to other stores in the market. The company also remodeled it stores in order to save on cost by reducing the square footage occupied by the stores. It also moved to smaller premises in small malls. Build-a Bear also changed its approach to marketing and advertising in order to increase shopping frequency. The company did this by building their brand through television advertising in its markets in the United States of America 2012 mid October. It also rebalanced its marketing mix in Europe in order to retain existing customers and attract more consumers to their products. This has resulted in the company realizing

Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia Essay Example for Free

Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia Essay While researching information about women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, I found a few articles that confirm that the Saudi guardianship system continues to treat women as minors. These articles contain valuable information about the requirements for women in the conservative Kingdom. Under these requirements, girls and women are forbidden from studying, work, or even traveling without the permission from their male guardian. While many women are fighting for their rights, there is evidence that some women in Saudi Arabia do not want change because of the fear. My goal is to make a big impact in the world, in order to help these women, who deserve to be treated as human beings. In Saudi culture, the sharia is interpreted according to a strict Sunni form known as the way of the Salaf. The law is unwritten, leaving judges with significant discretionary power, which they usually exercise in favor of tribal customs. â€Å"It’s the culture, not the religion,† is a Saudi saying. Many Saudis do not see Islam as the main impediment to women’s rights. Said one female journalist, â€Å"If the Qur’an does not address the subject, then the clerics will err on the side of caution and make it haram. The driving ban for women is the best example.† Women in many other Islamic nations, have more political power than Saudi women. The 2009 Global Gender Gap Report that, Kyrgyzstan, Gambia, and Indonesia significantly higher than Saudi Arabia for women’s equality. In 2006, a government poll found that over 80 percent of Saudi women do not think women should drive or work with men and hold political office. I think this is due to the custom and the fear feel by these women. They don’t know what they are missing , for that reason I thin k they need a change in their life because women are not animals, we live now in the 21st and they can’t still live I the past. MALE GUARDIAN All females must have a male guardian, typically a father or husband. The guardian has rights over the woman in many aspects of civic life. Depending on the guardian, women may need their guardians permission for: marriage and divorce; travel, if under 45; education; employment; opening a bank account; elective surgery, particularly when sexual in nature. Guardianship requirements are not written law. They are applied according to the customs and understanding of particular officials and institutions as hospitals, police stations, banks, etc. In a 2010 interview with the New York Times, Noura Abdulrahman, a female employee of the Saudi Ministry of Education, defended male guardianship as providing protection and love. In Saudi culture, women have their integrity and a special life that is separate from men. As a Saudi woman, I demand to have a guardian. My work requires me to go to different regions of Saudi Arabia, and during my business trips I always bring my husband or my brother. They ask nothing in return—they only want to be with me. The image in the West is that we are dominated by men, but they always forget the aspect of love. People who aren’t familiar with Shariah often have the wrong idea. If you want stability and safety in your life, if you want a husband who takes care of you, you won’t find it except in Islam. In 2008, Rowdha Yousef and other Saudi women launched a petition â€Å"My Guardian Knows What’s Best for Me, which gathered over 5,000 signatures. The petition defended the status quo and requested punishment for activists demanding equality between men and women, mingling between men and women in mixed environments DRESS CODE I think it is too much that these women had a dress code. Why they cant use normal cloths? For me it’s all about to take control of the women. Traditionally, womens clothing must not reveal anything about her body. It is supposed to be thick, opaque, and loose. It is also required to be a dull color, unadorned, and generally not of interest to the male. It should not resemble the clothing of men. Although the dress code is often regarded in the West as a highly visible symbol of oppression, Saudi women place the dress code low on the list of priorities for reform or leave it off entirely.[46] Journalist Sabria Jawhar complains that Western readers of her Huffington Post blog are obsessed with her veil. She calls the niqab trivial: (People) lose sight of the bigger issues like jobs and education. That’s the issue of women’s rights, not the meaningless things like passing legislation in France or Quebec to ban the burqa Non-Saudis presume to know what’s best for Saudis, like Saudis should modernize and join the 21st century or that Saudi women need to be free of the veil and abaya And by freeing Saudi women, the West really means they want us to be just like them, running around in short skirts, nightclubbing and abandoning our religion and culture. A majority of women say they want to wear the veil. They cite Islamic piety, pride in family traditions, and less sexual harassment from male colleagues. For many women, the dress code is a part of the right to modesty that Islam guarantees women. Some also perceive attempts at reform as anti-Islamic intrusion by Westerners: They fear Islam, and we are the worlds foremost Islamic nation. SEX SEGREGATION Women and men must minimize social interaction. Most offices, banks, and universities have separate entrances for men and women. According to law, there should be physically and visually separate sections for the sexes at all meetings including weddings and funerals. Many Saudi homes have one entrance for men and another for women. Private space is associated with women while the public space, such as the living room, is reserved for men. Traditional house designs use high walls, compartmentalized inner rooms, and curtains to protect the family and particularly women from the public. As a practical matter, gender mixing is fairly common in parts of daily life. Women customarily take taxis driven by men. Many households have maids, who mix with the non-mahram men of the households. Maids, taxi drivers, and waiters tend to be foreigners, which are sometimes used as a reason to be less strict about segregation. EMPLOYMENT Girls are taught that their primary role is to raise children and take care of the household. According to Saudi culture, a womans place is at home and a mans place is at the workplace. Saudi sharia allows women to work, provided it does not lead to her neglecting her essential duties of homemaking. Women may also work if it is necessary for their support, such as a widow with children. Women are allowed to work as long as their husbands or their male guardians approve of the work. Her work must also be deemed suitable for the female physique and mentality. It is forbidden for women to be appointed as judges, and positions of high public office are also reserved for men. Teaching and nursing are common professions for women. EDUCATION Approximately 71% to 78% of females are literate, in comparison to 85% literacy rates in males. More women receive secondary- and tertiary-education than men. Fifty percent of working women have a college education, compared to 16 percent of working men. In contrast, in 1970, only 2% of women were literate. Now Saudi Arabia is planning to build a new city exclusively for women as it bids to combine strict Sharia law and career minded females, pursuing work. The plan coincides with the governments ambitions to get women to play a more active part in the development of the country. Among the stated objectives are to create jobs, particularly for younger women. Im sure that women can demonstrate their efficiency in many aspects and clarify the industries that best suits their interests, their nature and their ability, Modon’s deputy director-general, Saleh Al-Rasheed, told Saudi daily newspaper al-Eqtisadiah. CONCLUSION After researching all this information, I conclude that women in Saudi Arabia need to have right and be treat as equal as a men. This is going to make a big impact into their life because they need chance to express themselves, freedom of speech, and at the same time, they need to express their opinions without an appropriate manner. Remember, women are human and they had feelings, they are not an animal. Works Cited Ed Husain.† Why Womens Rights in Saudi Arabia Are Still So Bad.† The atlantic.Web.28Sep.2011. Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-saudi-arabia

Interleukin-6 Levels in Early Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis

Interleukin-6 Levels in Early Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis Study of Interleukin-6 Levels in Early Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis Dr. Sonawane Vijay B., Dr. Mehkarkar Nitin S., Dr. Jadhav Pradnya B., Dr. Gaikwad Sonali U., Dr. Kadam Nitin N. Department of Pediatrics, MGM Medical College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA ABSTRACT Introduction: Neonatal septicemia is one of the commonest causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Interleukin-6 Levels appears to be one of the most promising candidate cytokine for early diagnosis of neonatal septicemia. The aim and objectives of this study was to study the role of IL-6 levels as an early marker for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis and to compare IL-6 levels with other septic markers. Materials and Methods: This is a hospital based prospective study to evaluate the efficacy of IL-6 as an early diagnostic marker of neonatal sepsis. Eighty neonates, delivered in the hospital, having risk factors for neonatal sepsis, along with those coming to hospital with signs and symptoms of sepsis up to 28 days of life (as study group ) along with normal newborns admitted to the postnatal ward without high risk factors (control group) were enrolled for this study. Results: IL-6 Levels has shown maximum Sensitivity of 95.83%, Specificity of 87.50%, Positive Predictive Value of 92 %, Negative Predictive Value of 93.33 % and Accuracy of 92.50 %. E.Coli was the most common organism responsible for sepsis. CRP was reported to be highly sensitive(84.21%), and CBC was highly specific (75.00%), IT ratio has sensitivity of 62.5% and specificity of 56.25% while Micro-ESR has shown sensitivity of 50.0% and specificity of 62.5%, Out of 80 cases, blood culture (BacTalert) showed growth in 48 cases in study group while two cases in control group. Thus blood culture positivity was 60%. Conclusion: IL-6 test has maximum sensitivity as well as specificity in comparison with other septic markers. Blood culture is the gold standard for the diagnosis of septicemia.CRP is most sensitive while CBC is most specific marker in neonatal sepsis. KEY WORDS: Neonatal Sepsis, Diagnostic Markers, Mortality, IL-6 Levels. INTRODUCTION Neonatal Septicemia is the leading cause neonatal mortality and morbidity in India. It is estimated that 20% of all neonates develop sepsis1 and is responsible for 30-50% of total neonatal death in developing countries2. Accurate and timely diagnosis of neonatal sepsis still remains a major challenge to the pediatricians and neonatologists. Mortality due to neonatal sepsis is preventable and if diagnosed early the outcome is better. Several indicators have been evaluated as septic screen for the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis like CBC, CRP, Micro-ESR, IT ratio, and Blood Culture. There is a constant search for better and ideal diagnostic marker. Ideal marker should be sensitive, specific and easily available. Its results should be immediate and reproducible. Recently various new markers are being studied such as IL-6, TNF-ÃŽ ±, Procalcitonin, G-CSF etc. IL-6 is an inducer of hepatic protein synthesis which promotes production and liberation of CRP and can be detected early when t here is bacterial bloodstream invasion. It appears to be one of the most promising candidate cytokine for early diagnosis of neonatal septicaemia.3,4 In the present study conducted at Mahatma Gandhi Mission Medical College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai, IL-6 levels were assessed in normal healthy newborns as well as newborns with high risk factors for sepsis and the usefulness of IL-6 was evaluated as an early marker for sepsis detection and its effectiveness was compared with other septic markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study Design: A prospective study design was used to evaluate the efficacy of IL-6 as an early diagnostic marker of neonatal sepsis. This is a hospital based study conducted in M.G.M Medical College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai. Study Period: July-2005 to August-2007 Sample Size: Eighty neonates, delivered in the hospital, having risk factors for neonatal sepsis, along with those coming to hospital with signs and symptoms of sepsis up to 28 days of life (as Study Group) also normal newborns admitted to the postnatal ward without high risk factors (Control Group) were enrolled for this study. Newborns were treated with antibiotics for clinical evidence of sepsis positive septic score as per neonatal sepsis score system (Table 1). Table 1: Neonatal sepsis score system5 Score1=risk of infection, Score2=need septic work up to exclude, Score 3 or more=investigate and treat A detailed history was taken and examination was done. Following laboratory tests were done as soon as presumptive diagnosis of sepsis was made based on septic score system and on clinical grounds. All investigations were done within 24 hours of birth or at presentation before starting antibiotics like IL-6 levels, CBC, CRP with titer, Micro ESR, Immature to Total (IT) ratio, peripheral smear for toxic granules and band forms, blood culture (BacTalert), x-ray chest, CSF whenever indicated etc. Soon after birth, 1 ml of venous blood was drawn for blood culture. Also 5 ml of venous blood was collected for TLC, DLC, peripheral blood smear, micro-ESR and CRP. CRP was sent at 12 hours of life in newborns with high risk factors for sepsis. This study was approved by Ethical Committee of this hospital. Informed Written Consent was obtained from parents before entry into this study. Information of selected neonates including detailed history and clinical examination was recorded on a predesi gned proforma. Interleukin-6 Levels Determination3,4 : 1 ml blood was collected in plain bulb and serum was tested by Chemiluminescent Immunometric technique in IMMULITE Machine1000 (Table 2). IMMULITE 1000 IL-6 is a solid phase, enzyme labeled, Chemiluminescent sequential immunometric assay. The use of an ultracentrifuge is recommended to clear lipemic samples. Volume required – 100  µL serum, EDTA or Heparinized Plasma (Sample cup must contain at least 250  µL more than the total volume required). Interpretation6,7: Table 2 – Interpretation Guide for Immune Monitoring DATA ANALYSIS Data was collected, classified, tabulated and analyzed. Tests of significance were applied at appropriate places and interpretation was done accordingly. To evaluate the difference between the categories, McNemar Chi Square test was used as a test of significance. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Of total of 80 cases, with risk factor and clinical signs and symptoms of sepsis (40 cases as study group) and normal healthy newborns without risk factors (40 cases as control group). The study group consists of 28 males (70%) and 12 females (30%) while control group consists of 21 males (52.50%) and 19 females (47.50%). Among 40 babies of study group, 24(60%) are blood culture (BacTalert) positive and 16 (40%) are blood culture (BacTalert) negative while in control group, 1(2.50%) is blood culture (BacTalert) positive and 39(97.50%) are blood culture(BacTalert) negative (Fig. 1). Fig. 1: Bar Chart Showing Distribution of Cases According to Blood Culture In study group, E-coli comprised the maximum number of cases accounting for sepsis i.e. 7 (17.5%) followed by 5 cases (12.5%) of Acinetobacter baumanii, 5 cases (12.5%) of Klebsiella Pneumoniae, 2 cases(5%) each for Citrobacter and Staphylococcus aureus and 1 case (2.5%) has shown Pseudomonous Sp., Burkholderia cepacia and Fungus while no growth in 16 (40% ) cases. In control group, only 1 case (2.5%) shows growth of Acinetobacter baumanii and 39 cases (97.5%) are sterile (Fig. 2). Bhargava et al8 noted in their study that the incidence of E.Coli as the causative organism of neonatal sepsis was 45%. Mirfet al9 in their study of 50 cases also showed similar results. McCraken10 , Faridi and Gupta11 , Kumar GD et al12 have also reported that gram negative septicemia is more common than gram positive septicemia Study Group Control Group Fig. 2: Pie Chart Showing Distribution of Cases According to Microbiological Growth on Blood Culture Out of 40 cases in study group, CBC is abnormal in 13 cases (32.5%), Blood Culture (BacTalert) was positive in 24 cases (60%) and 4 cases (10%) has CBC abnormal with sterile blood culture. In this study CBC had low sensitivity (37.50%) and high specificity ( 75.00%). Chan and Ho13 revealed in their study that abnormal CBC had the lowest sensitivity and PPV while abnormal ANC had the lowest specificity and NPV among them. (Fig. 3) Fig. 3: Bar Chart Showing Distribution of Cases According to CBC Out of 40 cases in study group, CRP is reactive in 31 cases (77.5%), Blood culture is positive in 24 cases (60%) and 15 cases (37.5%) are having CRP reactive with sterile blood culture. In this study CRP was reported most sensitive (84.21%) but low specific(28.57%), Franz AR et al14 showed that there is generally a delay of up to 24 hours between onset of symptoms of infection and a rise in serum CRP. Sensitivity of the test at presentation is only 40% that is, 60% of subsequently proven sepsis episodes will have a normal initial CRP. (Fig. 4). Fig. 4: Bar Chart Showing Distribution of Cases According to CRP Out of 40 cases in study group, IT Ratio is abnormal in 22 cases (55%), Blood Culture is positive in 24 cases (60%) and 7 cases (17.5%) are having IT Ratio abnormal with sterile blood culture. In our study IT ratio was reported NPV of 50.0%. Ghosh et al15 studied 103 high risk neonates having predisposing perinatal factors or clinical suspicion of sepsis and found that an abnormal immature to total neutrophil (IT) ratio were the most sensitive indicators in identifying neonates with sepsis showing high negative predictive value over 94%. (Fig. 5) Fig. 5: Bar Chart Showing Distribution of Cases According to IT Ratio Out of 40 cases in study group, Micro-ESR is abnormal in 18 cases (45%), Blood Culture is positive in 24 cases (60%) and 6 cases (15%) has Micro ESR abnormal with sterile blood culture. In our study Micro-ESR has shown sensitivity of 50.0%, specificity of 62.5. K.K. Diwakarand Rosul G16 studied on 114 term neonates for early neonatal sepsis. The sensitivity and specificity of the revised Micro-ESR was 62.5% and 60.9% respectively in diagnosing culture proven sepsis. (Fig. 6) Fig. 6: Bar Chart Showing Distribution of Cases According to Micro-ESR Among 40 babies of study group, 25 (62.50%) has IL-6 Test positive and 15 (37.50%) has IL-6 Test negative while in control group, 3 (7.5%) has IL-6 Test positive and 37 (92.5%) has IL-6 Test negative. In present study, neonatal mortality is seen in 4 cases (5%) of the total 80 cases. Of these 4 cases, all cases have shown elevated IL-6 levels. Hence, strongly elevated IL-6 levels in this study have found to be associated with bad prognosis as indicated by death. Statistical analysis of IL-6 levels concentration >100 pg/ml in this study of 40 cases (study group) yielded a sensitivity of 95.83% and specificity of 87.50 % whereas Positive predictive value and the Negative predictive value is 92% and 93.33% respectively. Many studies have also reported similar results. The recent study of IL-6 in early neonatal sepsis by Silveira et al17 using normal newborns as controls, showed similar sensitivity of 96%. Recently, Silveira and Procianoy18 reported that IL-6 and TNF-ÃŽ ± are likely cand idate cytokines for use in early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. (Fig. 7) Fig. 7: Bar Chart Showing Distribution of Cases According to IL-6 Assay Out of 40 cases in study group, blood culture is positive in 24 cases (60%), IL-6 is positive in 25 cases (62.5%) and 2 cases (5%) have IL-6 positive with sterile blood culture. (Fig. 8) Fig. 8: Bar Chart Showing IL-6 Levels in Sepsis Same group of patients are tested with both Blood Culture (BacTalert) as well as IL-6 levels. Therefore McNemars (ChiSquare) test is used to evaluate whether results of these tests vary significantly from each other. It is observed that the results of both tests are not statistically significant from each other with x2 = 0.083, p-value equal to 1.00 and degree of freedom equal to 1. There is no statistically significant difference between Blood Culture (BacTalert) and IL-6 assay (p=1). Hence use of IL-6 levels for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis can be justified. (Table 3) Table 3 – IL-6 Parameters: Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV and Accuracy Chi-square (X2) = 0.083, Degree of Freedom = 1, p-value = 1.00 Thus, IL-6 test has maximum sensitivity as well as specificity in comparison with other septic markers in early detection of neonatal sepsis. (Table 4) Table 4 – Comparative Parameters: Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV and Accuracy Hence, it can be concluded that IL-6 concentration increases to significant level in the patient having bacterial septicemia. IL-6 test has maximum sensitivity as well as specificity in comparison with other septic markers. Therefore, IL-6 levels can be used as an early diagnostic marker for neonatal sepsis. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION Thus, IL-6 has shown Sensitivity of 95.83%, Specificity of 87.5%, Positive Predictive Value of 92%, Negative Predictive Value of 93.33% and Accuracy of 92.5%. Neonatal mortality was seen in 4(5%) of the 80 cases studied. Of these 4 mortalities, all 4 cases showed IL-6 levels strongly positive. Hence, strongly elevated IL-6 levels, in this study, are found to be associated with bad prognosis as indicated by death. The result of the present study appears to emphasize that serum IL-6 levels increases to a significant level in the patients having bacterial septicemia. The level of rise depends upon the severity of the sepsis. Hence, it can be concluded that IL-6 levels can be used as an early diagnostic marker of neonatal sepsis. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Authors are thankful Dr. V. Kotrashetti for guidance during study period. We also express thanks to Mr. Dattatray Parle and Dr. Tabish Pathan for editing this study. Funding: None Conflict of Interest: None Permission from IRB: Yes REFERENCES â€Å"NNF Teaching Aids: Newborn Care† www.newbornwhocc.org/pdf/ teaching-aids/neonatalsepsis.pdf. Siegel J, McCracken G, â€Å"Sepsis Neonatarum† NEJM, 1981(304):642-646. â€Å"IMMULITE: IL-6† Manual on IMMULITE Published by Siemens Medical Solutions and Diagnostics, Los Angels, CA, USA, 2006. Saunders, B. M., Z. Liu, Y. Zhan and C. Cheers, â€Å"Interleukin- 6 production during chronic experimental infection† Immunol. Cell Biol. 1993(71):275-280 Gupte S., â€Å"The Short Text Book of Paediatrics† 9th Ed., Jaypee Brothers, New Delhi, 2001:559-561. Milenia QuickLine IL-6 Published by Milenia Biotec, USA SepsisNeoEnglish, 2005. de Bont, E., A. Martens, J. van Raan, G. Samson, W. P. Fetter, A Okken and L. H. F. M. de Lei, â€Å"Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-6 plasma levels in neonatal sepsis† Pediatr. Res., 1993(33):380-383. Bhargav SK, Gupta A, Bhargav M. Bacterial Infections in Newborn. Newer Development in Pediatric[A1] Research 1977; 1. MirfAmans and Khan SR. Neonatal sepsis; a review with study of 50 cases. Journal[A2] of Tropical Pediatrics 1987; 33(3):131-5. McCraken and Shinefield. Changes in the pattern of neonatal septicemia and meningitis. Am J Dis. Child 1966; 112:33. Faridi et al[A3]. Chest radiograph in neonatal sepsis. Ind. Ped[A4]. 1972; 29:871. Kumar GD et al[A5]. Bacteriological analysis of blood culture isolates from neonate in tertiary care hospital in India. J Health, Population and Nutrition, 2002; 20(4): 343-347. Chan DK and Ho LY. Usefulness of C-reactive protein in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Singapore MedicalJournal[A6] 1997; 38(6): 252-5. Franz AR, et al. Reduction of unnecessary antibiotic therapy in newborn infants using interleukin-8 and C-reactive protein as markers of bacterial infections. Pediatrics 1999; 104:447-53. .Ghosh S, Mittal M, Jaganathan G. Early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis using a hematological scoring system 2000;54(9):495-500. Diwakar KK, Rosul G, â€Å"Revised Look at Micro-Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate in Neonates† Indian Pediatrics[A7] 1999; 36:703-705. Silveira RC, Procianoy RS, â€Å"Evaluation of interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor-a and interleukin-1 for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis† Acta. Paediatr ,1999(88): 647-650. Renato S. Procianoy, Rita C. Silveira, â€Å"The role of sample collection timing on interleukin-6 levels in early-onset neonatal sepsis† J Pediatr (Rio J), 80(5):407-10, 2004. [A1]AS ABOVE [A2]BBR [A3]ET AL ONLY IF THERE ARE MORE THAN SIX AUTHORS, PLEASE CHECK [A4]CORRECT AS ABOVE; NO FULL STOPS AND CORRECTLY ABBREVIATED NAMES OF JOURNALS. [A5]CHECK ET AL [A6]Sing Med J [A7]Abbr