Cash Connection Essay

Allen Franks, President of Cash Connections, a short-term cash lending firm realized that the most profitable endeavor in the check-cashing store industry is to set up stores in towns where no check-cash stores exist. Setting up Cash Connections in these places, his business became one of the leading companies in his industry by the mid to late 1990’s. The payday industry grew from larger financial institutions leaving the market, huge overdraft and late fee costs, and increased regulation of the firms allowing higher consumer trust. In an industry that reaches to 10% of all U. S. households, advanced about $40 billion in short-term credit a year, and contributed $2. 9 billion in direct labor income, Cash Connection utilized Sun Tzu’s principle of attacking where unprepared to beat his competitors. Charging these enormous fees and costing only around $130,000 to start-up, the industry entails a lucrative structure. The Complication: There has been some concern for how high the fees are and how the model could take advantage of those caught in a troubling financial situation. Payday loans averaged around $300, and charged fees between around $15 to $20 per $100 loaned, resulting in an annual percentage rate of 520% (Gamble 2011). The media has decried this credit system as a predatory industry thrusting people into debt, which it no doubt absolutely has in some cases. The demographic of payday customers were middle income, earning mostly between $25,000 to $50,000 a year. They were usually of average education, made up of young families, and were a part of the somewhat normal working class. Many companies including Cash Connection had requirements such as holding a job and having a bank account in order to do business with the company. As media and public outcry have risen, lawmakers have begun to react and regulate the industry. The more it does so, the more people use it. On the state level, some completely outlaw it, as 13 currently have (Teegardin 2007). Some states limit the amount of rollovers the vendor is allowed to require, and all supervise with regulatory regimes.

Government Spending and Revenues in America and China

Government spending and revenues in China and America International accounting four 0092962 Chen Yuting Public finance is a subject about the taxing and spending activities of government. Considering the function of government, two opposite views stand out. One is organic view of government. The main idear is that the government can be though of as the society’s heart. Another is mechanisitic view of government. It insists that government is not an organic part of society while it is a contrivance created by individuals to better achieve their individual goals.Government Regulation on Media in AmericaNeverthless, nobody can deny that the spending and revenues have a significant influence on our society. Our living standard is associated with government actions. As a result, it is meaningful to compare the government spending and revenues in China and America. Without doubt, the revenues of government is the root of spending of government. In addition, it gives the government t he power and the ability to put policy into effect. At the beginning of 2011, a piece of news comes that it is the first time for China that its annual revenues are more than 8,000 billion yuan. Details are from: http:// paper. people. com. cn/rmrbhwb/html/2011-01/22/content_730659. htm? div=-1) Just in terms of the number of total revenues, American holds the number of 4214 billion dollars. (Details are from: http://www. usgovernmentrevenue. com/ ) If we conver the dollars to RMB, it is far more than China. However, in my opinions, the number of total revenues is not the unique factor affecting the size of government revenues. In my opinion, it is more rational to consider the rate of revenues in GDP. The rate of China is 20. 88%. The number of GDP is from the website: http://baike. baidu. com /view/368359. htm) Compared to America, its rate is 29. 05%. ( The number of GDP is from the website: http://www. usgovernmentrevenue. com/classic. html? year=2010) As a result, the shortfall between China and America shrinks. In spite of the analysis of government revenues’s size, maybe the structure of the revenues is more attractive and more significant. In China, value-added tax play an important role in the revenues, accounting for almost 25%. (The tax is from: http://gks. mof. ov. cn/zhengfuxinxi/tongjishuju/201101/t20110120_421479. html) The following tax is business income tax and business tax. However, the major portion in America is income tax and ad-valorem taxes, accouting for 32. 99% and 26. 29%. ( The tax is from: http://www. usgovernmentrevenue. com/classic. html? year=2010 ) Actually,the considerable part of taxation in China almostly belong to commodity tax while that of America is income tax. As far as the function of regulating social incomes, America’s revenue is more beneficial to accomplish the mission.Because the commodity tax is nonexcludable. Everyone who buys the product will undertake the tax. On the contraty, the policy of Ameri ca is progressive. The richer you are, the more you pay. So, I think it’s more appropriate. In this day and age, a commonly held belief is that the size of revenue have a positive effect on the balance of social economy. Concretly, its object is that maximuming the social investment, maximuming the efficience of social resources and maximuming the social welfare. Another opinon is balancing revenues with spendings.To some extend, it is reasonable. When the revenues is far more than spendings, it is a waste of resources. When the spendings is far more than revenues, it will add burden to government. So it is also important to compare the spending in China and Ameirica. The total spending of America is 5797 billion (The number is from the website: http://www. usgovernmentspending. com/)while the revenue of Ameirica is 4214. Compared to China, its spending is 8957. 5 billion (http://gks. mof. gov. cn/zhengfuxinxi/tongjishuju/201101/t20110120_421479. html) while the revenue is 83 08.Just compare the revenue to spending, both America and China spend more than it received. To some extent, America is spending the money they haven’t received yet. Personally, it is a bit dangerous and risky to do this. Because excessive deficits will have a negtive effect on dollars and interst rate when investors look down on the ability of government to control the deficits. Eventually, it will present a serious drag on the economy. There is a world of difference between the structure in America and in China. The first three portion of American spending is pensions, health care and education.The counterpart in China is economic construction spending and administrative spending. From what is said above, it is easy to see the primary function of each government. America is a developed country so that it do well in the social securiry. The percent are almost 60%. (http://www. usgovernmentspending. com/classic. html? year=2010)As a result, people in America don’t worr y about the life when they are old. Then let us take a look on China. Because China is a developing country, its main aim is to develop economy. The economic construction spending is always taking an important part.However, in recent years, the spending on economic construction is decreasing while the spending on education, health care and other things related to the people’s livehood is increasing. The impressive increasing items are spending on demnificatory housing and on environmental protection, accouting for 30. 7% and 25. 4%. (http://gks. mof. gov. cn/zhengfuxinxi/tongjishuju/201101/t20110120_421479. html) It is a neccesary and significant step to act on international convention and turn to developed country. As a rising power, it is time to shoulder the responsibility of the world and pay more attention to Gross National Happiness.On the other hand, there are still some problems to deal with. The most urgent problem is the increasing administrative spending. Though ad ministrative department is a huge institution, the percent in Ameirica is about 10%. So the efficiency and effect of Chinese department are supposed to be improved. The act of government should be more apparent and public. On March 14th, Premier Wen said corruption is the most dangerous thing in China. The best method to solve the problem is promoting the system of reform, both in politics and economy.Comparing the revenues and spending in China and America, there is something we can learn from America. Firstly, increasing the percent of things related to people’s livehood, especially education. Secondly, improving the legislation of public finance. Thirdly, enhancing check and balance between people and government. It is a long and endless way for government to improve itself. But the same purpose is to make people live a better life. For public finance, it is important for government to ensure what is taken from people is used in the

Performance Appraisal Case Study on “Dada Corporation”

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Caree paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Caree paper - Essay Example The ultimate mission of a teacher is to produce a skilled and an informed citizenry. The paper covers the history, requirements, duties, and the job outlook of a high school or a secondary teacher. In the earliest times, cultural, social values, religion, knowledge, traditions, skills, and morality were passed on to generation by informal education. Education was achieved by imitation and observation. It was in oral form. Parents, kids, and extended family acted as teachers to the young. With the complexity of the ancient civilization, customs and knowledge about agriculture, boat building, military, and other activities called for the demand for teachers. The revolutionary war led to an improvement of education in America. Majority of the teachers at the time were male (Saleh & Khine, 2012). Horace Mann in 1647 opened the first free public school. A significant step in the education sector took pace in 1857, coming up with National Teachers Association. It gave rise to the current teacher profession. Becoming a teacher is not easy. A secondary teacher has to pass through high school, complete college and obtain a four-year bachelor degree in the field or subject they wish to teach. In addition, they have to go through one to two years of college in a Credential program. The program entails classes on how to teach. It also tests knowledge of PRAXIS, CBEST, and SSAT (Saleh & Khine, 2012). Teachers are of different types. Each has a unique and a complicated job. Elementary teachers teach grade K to 8. Secondary teachers teach grade 6 to 12. Special Ed teachers teach students with disabilities. The substitute teachers fill in for the absent teachers. Finally, we have the professors who teach in colleges. A secondary teacher teaches in one major subject area like Mathematics, English, Science, History, and Arts. Their daily duties involve making lesson plans, attending lessons, grading papers, assigning grades, contacting parents, keeping attendance and

Business analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business analysis - Research Paper Example The market prices for paper and other wood products have been fluctuating with the ever-changing supply. To be able to succeed under the stressful market conditions, Domtar Corporation has had to set its goals clearly and come up with strategies of achieving these goals. This paper discusses how the recent economic trends have influenced Domtar business, the strategies that Domtar management has used as well as those it can use to adapt to the changing market. Additionally, the paper will focus on the tactics that Domtar has implemented and others that it can implement to adjust to the changing market in addition to the role that the Domtar Corporation human resource department has played in enabling Domtar adapt. How Recent Economic Trends Are Influencing Domtar Business Like any other industry, the paper industry has also been gravely affected by the recent frequent economic crisis that has hit the global economy. One of the direct effects of the global economic crisis has been a c onsiderable decline in the price of Domtar shares. The economic crisis has affected the market prices of not just the paper but also the cost of obtaining machineries and fuels to run Domtar’s factories. Additionally, factor such as global warming that have become a great concern have affected Domtar due to its reliance on forest for raw materials. The need to sustain the environment has led to limitation on the tree harvesting making the raw material expensive and less available. Additionally, forest products tend to be seasonal which might not coincidence with high market prices. What is more, forest products, inclusive of the paper and pulp are global and tend to be affected by fluctuations in the value of United States dollar. Over the last few years, the dollar has been depreciating greatly which has negatively affected the Domtar earnings. The fluctuations have affected even the prices of raw materials hence affecting Domtar’s operating margins negatively. Anothe r factor that has changed in the paper market is the decline in the demand for paper products as well as pulp (Domtar, 2011; Clancy, 2004). Other factors have affected the Domtar market for its products include, poor conditions in the credit market in its core operational area which are Canada and U.S. Likewise, the frequent windstorm and hurricanes slow down the shipment of Domtar paper and other products. Additionally, there have been increased taxes particularly in United States, which is also one of the major markets of Domtar. The increased taxes have negatively affected the Domtar income earnings. The increasing costs of fuels such as petroleum and coal have increased the transport costs. Additionally, Domtar is frequently affected by the ever-changing currency exchanges, especially those involving the Canadian Dollar and the U.S. dollar (Domtar, 2011). Strategies That Domtar Has Used to Adapt to Changing Market Over the last two decades, more paper companies have started comp eting with Domtar for market in the North America where it had previously enjoyed little competition. To curb competition, Domtar mainly relies on producing highly specialized, quality, and customized products that enables it to thrive in the competitive market. Additionally, Domtar relies on its wide market as compared to other paper companies. Domtar’s paper products are competitively priced. Additionally, they keep analyzing the changing market requirements that characterize the paper industry through their website. After

Sutainable operations - industry sector report Essay

Sutainable operations - industry sector report - Essay Example Therefore, in order to retain its reputation, it implemented varied types of sustainable operations. The industry of aviation is described as one of the fastest growing segment in the entire globe. It is mainly due to the rapid transformation that took place in this sector after liberalization. As a result, the number of passenger as well as cargo airlines increased both in domestic and international levels. This geared the revenue by $ 147.2 billions along with an annual growth of 3 percent in 2011 and 2012. Side by side, the profit margin of the airline industry also enhanced by $ 2.1 billions that helped in contributing a significant portion to the gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national product (GNP). So, aviation industry presented a significant impact over the economic condition of the country as compared to others. The aviation industry is one of the most innovative one that connects individual and countries from one place to another. However, inspite of such positive effects, it is facing varied types of challenges. All of them are mentioned below: Effect of green houses gases (GHG) - due to the emission of varied types of poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and other air polluting gases, traps the outgoing sources of energy emitting from the lower surface of the ground thereby increasing its temperature as a whole. Depletion of ozone layer - due to the emission of varied types of harmful gases, the level of ozone is depleting day by day to a significant extent. Due to which, the rate of harmful ultra-violet rays are entering into the surface of the earth thereby making presenting varied types of disorders within the human beings. Aircraft noise pollution- aircrafts are also a prime reason for generating huge rate of noises thereby disrupting the general live of the society

Professional Development of Nursing Professionals Essay

Professional Development of Nursing Professionals - Essay Example It suggests understanding a nurse as an important part of the whole system whose education, wit, strong leadership and interpersonal skills make her an equal partner with other health care professionals. The Impact of the IOM Report on Nursing Education The need to improve nursing education is one of the focal points discussed in the IOM Report. Specifically, the Report determines that an improved system of education is an obligatory foundation of nurses’ educational achievements. The latter have been defined as â€Å"seamless academic progression†. To illustrate: â€Å"Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.† (The IOM Report, 2011, Transforming Education) For this, key areas of change have been defined. These are 1) suggested improvements in the system of nursing education; 2) general upgrade of the level of nursing education to a baccalaureate degree (BSN); 3 ) emphasis on lifelong learning opportunities; 4) managing the transition of graduate nurses from school to practice through various programs. The Report stresses the need to improve the ways in which modern nurses are educated. Due to the complex character of patient needs and healthcare environments, a number of competencies that nurses need to attain has grown of late. The following competencies are called crucial for providing high-quality care: leadership skills, knowledge of health policy, methods of improving systems, skills of teamwork and close collaboration, skills of working within a community, evidence-based, as well as research practice, etc. Respectively, the need to upgrade the existing standards of the nursing profession has been stated firmly. To be more specific, the Report recognizes the growing demand for nurses with a BSN degree. This will expectedly help achieve â€Å"a more educated workforce† in the nursing area (The IOM Report, 2011, Transforming Educ ation). For this purpose, a few models/programs are suggested that will help increase the number of nurses with a baccalaureate degree. Furthermore, the Report has established the need for nurses’ lifelong education and suggested ways of providing enough opportunities for this. To illustrate, â€Å"Nursing education should serve as a platform for continued lifelong learning and should include opportunities for seamless transition to higher degree programs† (The IOM Report, 2011, Transforming Education). These opportunities are represented by various bridge programs, such as LPN-to-BSN, ADN-to-MSN, and ADN-to-BSN. Finally, the Report has determined that managing the transition of graduate nurses from school to practice through various programs should be a priority. This will help decrease high turnover rates in hospitals, as well as nursing homes, and stabilize this workforce in the country. The Impact of the IOM Report on Nursing Practice The impact of the IOM Report o n nursing practice is evident, first of all, in the area of primary care. Apart from this, the need of the overall improvement of nursing care quality has been stated. Importantly, ways of redesigning roles for nurses and methods of overcoming barriers for improved practice have been outlined. As for primary care, this area has been established as lacking in nurse practitioners. However, medical students should be encouraged to enter this specialty since it is expected that â€Å"as access to coverage, service settings, and services increases under the

Stage 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stage 1 - Essay Example Annual reports comprise the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows. This paper compares and contrasts the financial statements of Amazon, Apple, and eBay for the period of 2009-2013. Liquidity ratios are financial metrics used to determine a company’s ability to pay off its short-term debts obligations. A higher liquidity ratio indicates a company has a larger safety margin to cover short-term debts. The most widely used liquidity ratios are the quick ratio, current ratio, and the operating cash flow ratio. From the above analysis of the 2010-2013 financial statements of Amazon, Apple, and EBay, several comparisons on the performance of the firms can be deduced. Over the five-year period, all the three companies experience a dip in financial health. The current ratio of the three companies drops yearly from 1.33, 2.02, and 2.32 in 2009 to 1.07, 1.08, and 1.84 in 2013 for Amazon, Apple, and eBay respectively. EBay has the highest current ratio indicating that it is the financially strongest followed by Apple and then Amazon. The managers at Amazon are not generating enough returns on assets. This is indicated by the low return on assets over the five-year period. Managers at Apple are generating stable returns on assets with an average of 20% ROA over the five-year period. On the other hand, managers at eBay are generating unstable returns on assets as indicated by the volatile figures over the five-year period. Amazon’s average return on capital over the five-year period is 4% while Apple’s average return on capital is 33%. On the other hand, the average return on capital for eBay is 14%. From this figures, Apple managers at Apple are providing the highest return on capital followed by managers at eBay and finally managers at

Smoking cigarettes is deadly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Smoking cigarettes is deadly - Essay Example Over half of all long-term smokers eventually die of a smoking-related disease. Smoking affects many parts of the body; both internally, e.g. increased risk of infertility, impotence and reduced sperm count, and externally, e.g. dry skin, smelly breath and stained teeth. In the short-term, smokers are prone to suffer from a shortness of breath as less oxygen gets transported to the lungs. Long-term, there is increased risk of respiratory problems, e.g. chronic bronchitis, emphysema and chronic asthma. Smokers also have lower level of antioxidants in the blood to repair damaged cells than non-smokers. This makes them less immune to viruses, which weaken their natural defences. The Surgeon General Report (2010) also highlights that thousands of non-smokers die each year from heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory infections due to breathing in second hand smoke. The scientific link between health risks and second hand smoke is now so strong that a number of countries including the UK have banned all forms of smoking in public places such as restaurants and cinemas. I now wish to turn my attention to 2 of the most well known harmful effects of smoking. Firstly, 85% of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking and Martin (2005) states that it’s the leading cause of cancer death amongst smokers.

Source of error Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Source of error - Lab Report Example It is expressed by the equation: A source of error is described as any factor that affects the final result of an experiment. However, careful evaluation of a source of error makes it possible for experimenters to improve on their techniques. One source of error in Newton’s second law of motion is found in the incomplete definition, this is because gravitational force usually causes mass to speed up. In Newton’s definition, he excludes mentioning the effect of gravitational force as a co-effect to the variables. Therefore Newton’s law can also be expressed as; Secondly, a source of error found in the law is the systematic failure to account for constancy in change as the net force changes. It is predicted that the speed of an object mass increases constantly when the net force acting on the object itself changes. For example in these calculations; In addition, the third source of error in this law is found in the systematic or random environmental factors where Newton did not account for possible effects of environmental condition for instance temperature and how they affect the final results. For example when measuring the mass of a stone, we avoid highly ventilated rooms and use small strings on a pulley instead of large ones to minimize the percentage error. Moreover, parallax and experimental apparatus errors is a common source of error in experiments, for instance when the observers eyes is not in proper alignment with the scale the mass recorded will be faulty. It is advisable to use the null difference method instead of measuring mass directly thus creating a sensitive measuring instrument. Finally, a source of error in Newton’s law involves the rate of variation of a body which is directly proportional to the applied force and follows the direction where the force acts upon. This force as earlier said is not in

Cross cultural awareness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Cross cultural awareness - Essay Example Stereotypes are simplified and standardized conceptions about groups of people or individuals (Hurst, 2007). These stereotypes are used as mental shortcuts by people when they are dealing with people about whom they know little personally (Hurst, 2007). For example, there are stereotypes about Blacks, Latinos, Older Workers, Female Workers, Arabs and Asians among scores of others. When interacting with a person from any of these stereotypical groups, it becomes easier to think of them as having the specific characteristics that are associated with the group. For example, two African persons – though they may be coming from countries as diverse as America and Egypt, might be considered to be both aggressive, good in sports and bad in academics etc. as these attributes come with the stereotype of ‘Black’ person. Stereotypes are not all bad as they may actually help you in making quicker decisions as they provide an easy way to understand behaviors (Ewen and Ewen, 2006). For example, in the case of Germany, the people can be expected to desire more efficiency in overall hotel operations while in the case of Japan, the hotel guests may require more expression of courtesy from the staff. Having this knowledge from the typical stereotypes, the hotel can tailor its package accordingly to provide the best service delivery as desired by different people. Stereotypes can also help in understanding the differences in a non-complex manner and thus enable better decision making (Ewen and Ewen, 2006). For example, in the hotel context, stereotypes can help in serving the people belonging to different groups better. It may be useful to know what people from different regions prefer in terms of dà ©cor, food or service, and this knowledge can be derived from stereotypes. Next benefit of stereotyping is that it provides us with a mental file or a mental background in the context of which we can make sense of

Hard Times Essay Example for Free

Hard Times Essay Mr Gradgrind says is it satisfactory to me to know that you do not come to the consideration of that question with the previous habits of mind, and habits of life, that belongs to many young women in reference to fancy and emotion when deciding whether to marry Mr Bounderby or not. Later on in the page we are told that Louisa was compelled to throw herself upon his breast and give him the pent-up confidences of her heart. However this doesnt happen because Mr Gradgrind fails to see it. This is because of the artificial barriers that have been set up between him and his daughter and these barriers are primarily fact and his utilitarian views. It is a utilitarian view because he believes the decision should not be made based on the individual happiness of Louisa but on what will be best for everyone and therefore looking past her. It also is criticising Utilitarians and Mr Gradgrind through the use of dramatic irony in the sense that we see that Loo yearns to talk to her father but he doesnt and we are criticising his inability to see it. The barriers being set up are metaphorical barriers he has put between himself and his daughter emotionally to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The barriers are themselves blocking out subtle essences of humanity with reference to fancy. By saying that fancy is an essence of humanity in accompaniment with Gradgrinds will to get rid of fact we see that Dickens is showing us that utilitarian principles strip us of these essences of humanity and therefore de-humanises us. Furthermore it is a very human ideal for a daughter to confide with her father or parent in general but here Louisa has been stripped of that showing us even more then de-humanising qualities of fact. Dickens then goes on to say that these subtle essences of humanity will elude the utmost cunning of algebra until the last trumpet blow even algebra to wreck saying to us that fancy and emotion will always beat fact. The last trumpet is judgement day so Dickens is saying that fancy will win until the end of eternity. This passage clearly shows Dickens preferences to emotion and how he feels it is superior although he does give fact some credit when he says blow even algebra as if algebra is a tough subject to blow. Then dickens talks about how with his utilitarian face he hardened her again telling us that utilitarianism is hardening Loo. First of all this builds sympathy for Loo because we were told earlier that Loo wanted to throw herself upon her father but she cant because of the barriers and is hardened again and secondly builds up our dislike for Gradgrind and utilitarianism more because of its hardening qualities.

Amazon.com is a multinational ecommerce company

Amazon.com is a multinational ecommerce company Amazon.com is a multinational Ecommerce company, which was founded by Jeff Bezos who is considered to be one of the worlds top innovative executives. Amazon.com started as an online bookstore and expanded with time to sell almost everything. The role of information system in this company is a leading role, because the company is an online retailer. The company started as an online store for books to rapidly expand to sell everything such us beauty items, auto parts, apparel, electronics and groceries. Amazon has started as an online book retailer and later on has grown to sell products such as VHS, DVD, Computer software, furniture, food, music CDs and toys. The company has also been able to launch websites in different countries such as United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Germany. By 2001 the market place of Amazon has been launched to enable Amazons customers to sell used books, DVDs and CDs Amazons logo shows an arrow that stretches from A to Z, which also forms a smile to indicate Amazons care for customers satisfaction. eBay on the other hand is one of Amazons rival online companies. Amazon.com has been an innovative company in its domain; therefore it attracted lots of competition from different companies. eBay as an example is a very strong competitor. It is the number one online auction website. It recruited more than 15000 employees. Just like Amazon, eBay provides customers with comprehensive web services such as: Search via keyword or phrase. Submit new items. Re-list items. Provides information about certain seller or bidder. eBay is considered to be the largest online trading company in the world. It was founded in 1995 to become one of the most popular online shopping sites in the world. It has over 100 million registered users internationally. It allows buyers and sellers from the around the word to facilitate sales of services and products and form a diverse international community. In order for users to be able to transfer money to sellers, eBay started up Pay Pal, which became the worlds largest online bank. Until 2005, eBay has enjoyed a decade of online auction monopoly. Right now it is challenged by google and it is no longer the worlds only online auction community. Information system: Amazon uses an information system (MIS) that focuses on the customer supplier relationship. It focuses on increasing intimacy between customers and suppliers. Amazon uses a sophisticated Information system and sophisticated techniques that allow Amazon to standardize the processes it uses in order to give customers high satisfying experiences. The website opens up with a search bar where customers can type down their desired item and then be able to sift through the data base where the item and similar items can be found. The customer once finding the desired item can give the option of ordering the item and buy it through credit card or gift vouchers that can be purchased through cashu. Once the item is shipped, the customer can receive it within few days up to few weeks depending on the destination required. Unlike its competitors, amazon.com does not ship items through warehouses owned by the company. Books for example are shipped directly from publishers; therefore, warehouses ar e not needed. These systems are managed by different technological applicants in order to help Amazons employees work with efficiency. Once a customer places an order, the management system would start working on reserving the item, schedule the shipment, make invoices and update the customers account and record. Amazon uses TPS (Transaction Processing Systems) in the process of the transaction done, as in once picking up the number of items needed the website calculates the total amount. It can also be seen in the preparation of invoices. DSS (Decision Support System) in Amazon can be seen in how Amazon presents its customers with the chance to choose items from a best selling list added to the home page. It is also implemented in a service provided by the website called â€Å"Look inside the book†. Customers are left with the choice to make a decision in buying a specific book or not by taking a look at random pages of the content of the book. It can also be seen in the typ e of shipment that is considered appropriate for the customer. ESS (Executive support system) is seen in the executives handling of queries and answering questions of customers. Amazon uses its own customized database called Amazon S3 (Amazon Simple Storage Service). It is predicted that with time, this system will take the place of Oracle databases because it is simple and less expensive. On the other hand, eBay uses Business 2 Business (B2B) information system. eBay works through a person 2 person process. Customers can search for items via eBay and then directly contact the seller by negotiating the price with other buyers. B2B can be seen through the way processes are made. Customers are in direct contact with buyers and the transaction and money transfer occurs through PayPal, which is an individual website by itself-though it is fully owned by eBay-. eBay has a massive oracle database that includes over 200 million registered users, two petabytes of data, ECRM: Amazon takes the privacy of its customers very seriously. It is true that it keeps a profile about its customers according to what they buy and what items they are interested in, but it does not sell information about its customers to other companies. It also verifies the price of the item ordered to ensure items are not mispriced. This is done to ensure the satisfaction of the customers. Amazon manages knowledge through allowing customers to be able to see pages of the books desired for purchase. On the other hand, customers cannot review a whole book nor can they print the pages. Customers are only allowed to review pictures of the reviewed pages and not the actual page. This method has been used by Amazon to prevent violation of copyrights as well as manage knowledge. E-CRM (E-Customer Relationship Management) can be easily seen on Amazon.coms webpage. Amazon uses E-CRM by suggesting items to the customers based on previous purchases. As an example, previously I have bought the Kindle reading device through Amazon.com. This picture shows recommended items other customers with similar purchases have bought. The second part also shows books that I might be interested in. Amazon.com. 2010. Todays Recommendations For You. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/yourstore?ie=UTF8ref_=pd_irl_gwsignIn=1. [Accessed 05 May 10]. Amazon has also provided its customers with special features. They are: Products and pricing information retrieval. Customer reviews. Wish lists retrieval. Performing simple and advanced searches. Updating Shopping carts. eBays reputation of being the biggest online auction house in the world has attracted hackers and fraudsters who find it easier to access illegal information about customers and their accounts. This led criminals to sell fraud and sell knock-off and fake items. eBay works hard on detecting fraud activities on its website and considers this as its core activity of its business in order to provide its customers with safety and security. eBay uses whois domain in order to provide its customers with the highest security system. wikipedia. 2010. WHOIS. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whois. [Accessed 23 May 10] eBay uses whois to fight scam and phishing issues because of an epidemic scam that occurred few years back. The scammers used phishing emails that seemed to come from a trustworthy companies asking for customers financial information. With whois system, eBay was able to detect thousands of phishing attacks (1125 in 2005). Management challenges: Amazon has a competitive edge that shows its concern with its customers. This can be seen through making the shopping experience fun and easy for Amazons customers. Most of the online shopping standards were innovated by Amazon. One of the most obvious examples is the 1 click system, which allows returning customers to shop using one click instead of being forced to re-enter their information and payment method. Amazon.com has thought of a very intelligent idea to increase sales on the website. This has been done through inventing Kindle. Customers can purchase books for their kindle only through the website, and this can increase the sales of books sold on Amazon.com. eBay has a famous issue with â€Å"glitches† on its website. Many customers have been complaining about this issue for years. In 2009, the website had a whole day glitch and sellers suffered from losses. What these glitches do is that they disable search for items for a period of time. At some point, a glitch was responsible to delete an 11 years old account of a reliable user. Dan Goodin. 2007. The Register. [online] Available at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/12ebay_glitches/. [Accessed May 25th 10] Online/offline communication: It seems that Amazon.com takes it customers needs and satisfaction very seriously. Amazon controls all operations between customers and vendors. Customers order the required products through Amazon, while Amazon contacts the specific vendor for the product, the customer does not have a direct connection with the vendor. This type of communication is an online communication, because the customers whole transaction occurs through Amazon.com. Customers are not transferred to the vendors homepage. The transaction does not occur through the vendors homepage as well. The whole process is done fully via Amazon.com, even the final payments and delivery systems. Even though shipments are done through vendors, Amazon.com has given instructions that all packaging happens in a specific way. Hence, the Amazon.com packages and boxes. Shipments can also be tracked through Amazon instead of communicating with the vendor directly. This proves that Amazon.com uses in online communication service with its customers, because it controls all the transaction starting from giving the customer choices for a product and ending with the products delivery, exchange and refunding. eBay works as a broker between sellers and buyers. Buyers and bidders can place their orders via eBay. Sellers ship items to the highest bidder, which means that eBay does not control the process of shipment or money transaction. Money is transferred directly to the seller through PayPal. This means that eBay is not involved in the process, because sellers control the process starting from deciding the price of the product and ending with the shipping of the product. Knowledge Management: There are two types of knowledge management, the usual knowledge management and Customers knowledge management. Amazon uses Customers knowledge management, because it is more efficient and innovative. Managers in Amazon.com are aware of the fact that customers are more knowledgeable than the company can realize. Knowledge is a key to competitiveness. Knowledge is managed through Amazon by motivating customers to share their knowledge by providing products reviews, customers order histories, suggestions based on customers prior orders. Amazon allows knowledge to be exchanged through its customers rather than keeping it within the company. The knowledge does not get lost this way because the more customers the company has, the more knowledge it gains. eBay manages knowledge through providing managers with the playbook concept and providing eBay customers with Whois. Playbook concept is about knowing the steps needed for success. It allows managers to take the necessary steps that would allow eBay to grow as fast as the managers want. Playbook works in setting the suitable conditions of electronic trading in order to allow certain areas to flourish and grow. Playbook consists of hundreds of web pages that include information that are considered to be a collective of wisdom for all eBay managers worldwide. It consists of updated topics about online marketing and management categories. eBay has also provided its customers with free available Whois data base so they can check the legitimacy of websites that are forwarded to them that may be part of a phishing scam. This database provides them with information about websites, if the information is incorrect, then it means that this website is part of a phishing scam. This comes under both eCRM and knowledge management, because it is a service presented to the customers that allow them to identify scammers while at the same time it provides them with the knowledge about which website is secure and which website is a fraud. References: Junnarkar, Sandeep, (2010) eBay taps business-to-business boom, [Online] Available: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-238000.html [March 15th 2010] Keith Regan. 2003. ecommerce times. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/20603.html?wlc=1275082118. [Accessed 29 January 03] Schoenfeld, E, 2005. The World According to Ebay. Enterprise Information System, [online]. 13, 2-4. Available at: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2005/01/01/8250238/index.htm [accessed 17th May 2010] wikipedia. 2010. WHOIS. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whois. [Accessed 23 May 10] Dan Goodin. 2007. The Register. [online] Available at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/12ebay_glitches/. [Accessed May 25th 10] Gosnell, Denise. (2005) Professional Web APIs: Google ®, eBay ®, Amazon.com ®, MapPoint ®, FedEx ®, Indianapolis, Indiana:Wiley publication, inc. Shanahan, Francis. (2007) Amazon.com ® Mashups, Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publication, inc.

Vitamin C Determination By Iodine Titration Biology Essay

Vitamin C Determination By Iodine Titration Biology Essay Vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid, it is an antioxidant that is essential for human nutrition. Antioxidants help to reduce the damage to the body caused by toxic chemicals and pollutants. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin meaning that it dissolves in water, it is essential for growth and repair of all body tissues. Collagen is an important protein that is used to make skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels. Vitamin C is essential to form this and is also required to cure wounds, repair and maintain cartilage, bones and teeth. The body does not store vitamin C and cannot make it by itself, therefore it is important for lots of vitamin C-containing foods to be included in the diet. Excellent sources of vitamin C are: green peppers, citrus fruits, strawberries, broccoli, papaya, watermelon and cauliflower. Vitamin C deficiency can lead to many problems in the body including: dry and splitting hair, bleeding gums, easy bruising, anemia and nosebleeds with one o f the most serious being scurvy. Eating a balanced diet is the best way to get the daily requirements of vitamin C and other essential vitamins. The Food and Nutrition Board at the Institute of Medicine recommends the following amounts of vitamin C: Infants and Children 0 6 months: 40 milligrams/day (mg/day) 7 12 months: 50 mg/day 1 3 years: 15 mg/day 4 8 years: 25 mg/day 9 13 years: 45 mg/day Adolescents Girls 14 18 years: 65 mg/day Boys 14 18 years: 75 mg/day Adults Men age 19 and older: 90 mg/day Women age 19 year and older: 75 mg/day One way to establish the amount of vitamin C in food is to use a redox titration. The redox reaction is better than an acid-base titration since there are additional acids in a juice, but few of them interfere with the oxidation of ascorbic acid by iodine. Iodine is relatively insoluble, but this can be improved by complexing the iodine with iodide to form triiodide: I2 + I- I3- Triiodide oxidizes vitamin C to form dehydroascorbic acid: C6H8O6 + I3- + H2O > C6H6O6 + 3I- + 2H+ As long as vitamin C is present in the solution, the triiodide is converted to the iodide ion very quickly. However, when the all the vitamin C is oxidized, iodine and triiodide will be present, which react with starch to form a blue-black complex. The blue-black colour is the endpoint of the titration. Vitamin C Ascorbic Acid Method The 1% starch solution, iodine solution and vitamin C solution were made up by the technicians. The solutions were standardised before the unknown samples were titrated using the following method: 25.00 ml of vitamin C standard solution was added to a 125ml Erlenmeyer flask 10 drops of 1% starch solution were added to the flask The burette was rinsed with a small volume of the iodine solution and then filled, the initial volume was recorded. The solution was titrated until the end point was reached The final volume of the iodine solution was recorded The titration was completed twice more. Samples of red pepper juice, apple juice and vinegar were then titrated in the same way. This is an example of a titration: Results Sample Your Hypothesis: high medium or low Vitamin C content? Titration 1 Titration 2 Titration 3 Calculated Vitamin C content (g/l) Your result versus the Hypothesis Red Pepper Juice High Vitamin C content 16.0 17.0 18.0 28.5 Correct Apple Juice Medium Vitamin C content 4.0 4.0 4.0 6.8 Correct Vinegar Low Vitamin C content 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.67 Correct Analysis The ml of titrant used for each flask is calculated using: Average volume = total volume number of trials The amount of vitamin C in the samples are calculated using: V itamin C titrant = Titrant used in Sample Standard of Vitamin C unknown Red Pepper Juice   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Titrant  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  =     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Used Sample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Standard of Vitamin C  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unknown Vitamin C   Ã‚  Ã‚   14.9ml  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  =  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   17      0.025g/ml  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   P 596 = 17.0   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   P P= 17.0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   P= 0.0285g/ml   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   596 Litres = 0.0285 x 1000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 28.5g/litre Apple Juice   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Titrant  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  =     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Used Sample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Standard of Vitamin C  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unknown Vitamin C   Ã‚  Ã‚   14.9ml  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  =  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4.0  Ã‚      0.025g/ml  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A 596 = 4.0   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A A= 4.0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A= 0.0067 g/ml   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   596 Litres = 0.0067 x 1000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 6.8g/litre Vinegar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Titrant  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  =     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Used Sample  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Standard of Vitamin C  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unknown Vitamin C   Ã‚  Ã‚   14.9ml  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  =  Ã‚  Ã‚     0.4  Ã‚      0.025g/ml  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   G 596 = 0.4   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   G G= 0.4   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   G= 0.00067g/ml   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   596 Litres = 0.00067 x 1000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 0.67g/litre Discussion One of the main problems when completing this experiment is that the concentration of solution was unknown as it was prepared by the technician, the concentration was too high so had to be diluted. The hypothesis was correct in that the red pepper juice had the highest vitamin C content, vinegar the lowest and apple juice medium. Many safety procedures were carried out during the experiment; safety glasses, gloves and goggles were worn, all bags and jackets were in the lockers and chairs were tucked under the desk. There was a good experience with the number of people in the group as it gave everyone a chance to be involved with the experiment. A reading was taken at the first point when the colour started to change and it could be seen easily when it was complete as the change happened gradually. Two examples of other food that are rich in vitamin C that were not tested are tomatoes and raspberries. Iron increases the absorption of vitamin C in the human body, iron is important as i t is used by the body in the production of red blood cells, it is specifically used in the production of hemoglobin which is the main protein in red blood cells. Polyphenol oxidase, also known as tyrosinase, is an enzyme contained in fruits and vegetables such as apples, pears, potatoes, and other starchy foods. When oxygen comes in to contact with the enzyme it causes the fruit to turn brown. Vitamin C has many functions in the body, it is essential for growth and repair of all body tissues. Collagen is an important protein that is used to make skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels. Vitamin C is essential to form this and is also required to cure wounds, repair and maintain cartilage, bones and teeth. Anti-oxidant vitamins are Vitamins that help the body in cleansing itself from waste and radical free agents, Free radicals are atoms or groups of atoms with an (unpaired) number of electrons and can be formed when oxygen interacts with certain molecules. As well as vitamin C, vitamins A and E are also antioxidants. Vitamin A helps form and maintain healthy teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, mucous membranes, and skin. It is also known as retinol because it produces the pigments in the retina of the eye. Vitamin E is important in the formation of red blood cells and can help the body to use vitamin K. Selenium is an essential trace mineral that works strongly with vitamin E to provide the body with powerful antioxidant protection from the free radicals that may add to the development of cancer, heart disease, and arthritis. Selenium protects the body from free radical damage in two ways: It is included into proteins to make selenoproteins, which are important antioxidant enzymes, and it helps the body manufacture its own natural antioxidant, glutathione. Conclusion In conclusion, the experiment worked well as the amount of vitamin C in the samples was established and the results were accurate and as expected.

Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Experiments Essay example -- Business Managemen

Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Experiments Biography of Elton Mayo George Elton Mayo was born on 26th December 1880 in Adelaide, South Australia. He was brought up by his respected colonial family. His father was a civil engineer who was married to Henrietta Mary nee Donaldson. They wanted their son, Elton Mayo to do well in his education and to succeed something in life. Mayo was looking forward to follow his grandfather’s path in medicine but, he failed his studies at university in Edinburgh, Scotland. In Great Britain, he wrote a book on Australian politics for the Pall Mall Gazette and taught at the Working Men’s College in London. Mayo returned to South Australia to work in an Adelaide Publishing organisation, where his management practices were not accepted. He went to university and he became the most intelligent student in philosophy. In 1912, he became a foundation lecturer and taught many subjects such as, philosophy, economics and new psychology of Pierre Janet (the French psychologist, who had researched the problems of repetitive and monotonous tasks in industry), at a newly established university in Queensland. In Queensland, Mayo married to Dorothea McConnell, who has been educated in landscape art at the Sorbonne. They had two daughters, Patricia and Ruth Elton Mayo. Patricia followed her father’s management thinking. Ruth became a British artist and novelist. Throughout the First World War, he served on government bodies and lectur...

Over the Rhine Essay -- Music Musicians Bands Essays

Over the Rhine   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a rare occurrence in today’s over-amplified, bass-kicking sound world to leave a concert feeling as if you actually heard the music. Over the Rhine provided one of those concerts on Thursday October 2nd at Birdys Bar and Grill in Indianapolis. My personal congratulations to the sound guy, who’s mixing allowed the audience to really hear all the different layers of music and different instrumentation really being played.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another rare occurrence; real songwriters and musicians playing their own music! The five-piece band is led by vocalist, Karin Barquist, and her husband Linford Detweiler, keyboardist and collaborator. The rest of the band consists of Paul Moak who played the sitar during the opening song and lead guitar during most of the others, Will Seyles on drums, and Rick Plant on bass guitar. But Barquist seems to be the key member in the band. She has all the qualities a good lead singer should have; great voice, good-looking, poised, mature and confident. She really runs the show up there, and makes it look effortless in the process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The style of music cannot really be defined as one genre. The audience made it even harder to discern the kind of music being played. The people ranged in ages, gender, race, and dress. They just seemed like â€Å"real† people, not trying to be any part of one group, just like their music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This mix of folky, pop, one attempt at a slowly spoken rap song, and country music produced all different kinds of songs. The songs have the type of lyrics that make you relate your own life to every single one of them. They’re deep, and well thought out. Barquist doesn’t just repeat the same nonsense lyric over and over. Her voice, to me, sounds a little like my favorite artist, Sarah McLaughlin. But it could really go any way she wanted; hard, soft, loud, weak, whiny, smooth, short and breathy. I have also heard her compared to singer Norah Jones. It seems like the marital bond between Barquist and Detweiler might have served as a source for lyric material.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On Thursday night, the stage at Birdys was adorned with oriental rugs, candles, and vases of flowers to create ambiance. It was nice, but they wouldn’t have needed it, the music spoke for itself. They played songs from two of their albums, Good Dog Bad Dog, but mostly their latest, Ohio. This album is the one that drew the crowd ... ...never articulate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A couple of other songs they played were â€Å"Bothered,† â€Å"Cruel and Pretty† and â€Å"Changes Come.† If you had never heard the band before tonight, this is where you would probably think all the songs sounded very similar. Slow, piano and sad. The variety lies in the songwriting, if you start paying attention to the lyrics now, you’d have a different opinion. I almost think what they say is so poignant sometimes it should be in a book or poem by itself. But on the other hand, if you took away the way Barquist sings it, or the accompanying instrumentation, I doubt you would get the same idea. They can even make an acoustic guitar sound like it’s in pain and crying.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They performed two songs during a much appreciated encore, the title track to their new album, â€Å"Ohio,† and a freestyle guitar solo. Even though all their songs are pretty much slow and sad, I left the concert feeling as if I had just experience every emotion or feeling there was. There style is so soft and bare. They lay it all on the table, take it or leave it. Not interested in mainstream, happy with their underground following, and plus one more fan after the show in Indianapolis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Constructive Teaching Methods: Nursing

I am a registered nurse working in one of the largest NHS hospitals in the UK. There are three different specialities on my ward. Infection disease, Tropical disease, Immunology, but we are well known as the Infection Disease ward. My ward is a Fourteen bedded ward; consisting of mostly single and double lobby side rooms, we also have five bedded bay. Due to the NMC (2008a) confidentiality code I must refrain from using any information regarding the identity of people in order to protect the identities, trust and clinical settings. The purpose of this assignment is to explore the experience of mentoring student nurses and also to establish a working relationship. This professional study will enable me to nurture the student nurses and improve the outcome of the student learning process and how the experience will affect my future practise. The definition of a mentor is a registrant professional e.g. nurse, midwives or any other professionals who has successfully completed an accredit ed mentor preparation programme from an approved HE programme. The NMC definition of a mentor is, a registrant who following successful completion of an NMC approved mentor preparation programme – or comparable preparation that has been accredited by an AEI as meeting the NMC mentor requirements – has achieved the knowledge, skills and competence required to meet the defined outcomes† (NMC, 2008b).Mentors need to be qualified for at least a year in their current profession and most mentors would have worked with students as co-mentors. A mentor is therefore an individual who has achieved the knowledge, skills and competence required to meet the defined outcomes of stage 2 of the developmental framework to support learning and assessment in practice (NMC, 2008b). The role of the mentor is teach and guide future nurses in a clinical area, whilst keeping to the NMC standards of mentoring in health and social care (NMC, 2008b). Mentors play a vital role in supporting , teaching and assessing students in the practice area. Helping study to learn or have better understanding of the ward speciality, according to their level of learning stage.Relate learning and teaching strategies to ensure effective learning experiences and the opportunity to achieve learning outcomes for students by giving the student nurses the confidence to ask questions about their learning experience. Communicating and evaluating principles of assessment, including direct observation to the demonstration of competence, utilising appropriate  criteria for the student nurse. Facilitating learning opportunities, by allowing students to work with the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) and going to surgical or non-surgical procedures to improve their learning development.Part 2.The NMC also known as The Nursing and Midwifery Council is a supervisory body for nurses and midwives. The main purpose of the NMC is to protect the health and welfare of the general public by retaining a regi ster of all nurses, midwifes and specialist community public health nurses that are able to work inside the UK. They ensure this by setting up a framework for their education, conduct, training, presentation and principles.When issuing new standards or giving advice, the NMC turn to nurses and midwives as well as potential nurses and midwives, the general public, employers and all those involved in the teaching and educating of nurses and midwives. When those standards have been set, they are revised once every five years (NMC, 2004a). As part of the NMC standards for mentors; practice teachers, teacher nurses and midwives must correspond to the 8 domains. †¢Establishing effective working relationships†¢Facilitation of learning †¢Assessment and Accountability †¢Evaluation of learning †¢Creating an environment for learning †¢Context of practice †¢Evidence-based practice †¢LeadershipEstablishing an effective working relationship and creating an environment for learning are two important standards that a mentor must create at the start of their mentorship. When establishing an effective working relationship with their student they must exhibit a decent understanding of all factors that affect how the undergraduates integrate into the practice as well as helping the student overcome obstacles that would affect meeting that standard.They must also provide the continuous support and guidance to simplify change from one learning environment to another by providing the student with time to adjust to the changeover. Above all a mentor must have  an authentic professional and semi-professional working relationship to support the student with their entry into the register (NMC, 2004). When creating an environment for learning, a mentor must remember to give guidance and support to a student by identifying the level their working at and by giving the right provision that they need.Also they must use a variety of learning experienc es including patients, clients, carers and the professional team; to meet definite learning needs; also they must classify aspects of the learning environment which could be improved by discussing with others to make suitable alterations. But above all they must perform as a resource to simplify the personal and professional growth of others. The daily challenges that mentors face is time and having a place to address their students. As a mentor you have your own job to carry out as well as teaching and assessing students, which makes time-keeping difficult.A mentor is expected to perform different roles, the main focus lies on a mentor's ability to serve as a role model to nursing students. A mentor cannot neglect their other duties as a nurse, they need to be able to carry out the duty of being a nurse which is a time consuming job, and this also affects how they assess their students as they have barely enough time to do so. Another problematic issue that is hard to solve is havi ng a place to address students in the work environment, it is understandable that a hospital isn’t exactly an office building but a busy environment where all the employees need to be attentive, however this is our place of work nonetheless and students deserve a place where their mentors can thoroughly converse with them on any issues they may have.If mentors were able to instruct their students on certain responsibilities that they need instructions on and assess their students without the challenges that occur around the work place, mentors would have less of a hard time trying to see to all of their responsibilities at once (NMC, 2008b). The Nursing and Midwifery Council standards are to support the learning and assessment in the practise setting. The practise do provide a framework for mentors, however the nature of documents it is not comprehensive enough to consider all angles of competence in the interpretation of the student assessment (Cassidy, 2009)It could be refl ected that on some level of assessment that it can remain biased despite the framework being provided, due to the innate nature of the involved profession and the variation of skills to be  assessed. Duffy (2003) identified that one reason mentors may â€Å"fail to fail† students in practise is lack of knowledge of the assessment process. Price (2005) says that practise-based assessment needs to be conducted transparently, rigorously and fairly, and discussed two purposes of assessment: Formative and summative assessment.Holistic assessment of competence is challenging to structure on a framework, predominantly when considering a student reflexive action to develop their knowledge skills and attitude with emotional intelligence (Freshwater and Stickley 2004). This is somewhat corrected by the responsive development of a ‘sign off mentors’ who make a final judgement on the fitness for practice of the student at the end of their training at the end of their third year placement (NMC 2008b).Part 3: My practice based assessment sessionPractice based assessment is a core method of assessing the knowledge, skills and attitude of a student (Bloom 1956, Wallace 2003), but is complex to ensure objective management (Carr, 2004). To accommodate a diversity of patients and needs (Dogra and Wass, 2006), different types of assessment are necessary, all of which are part of the mentor student relationship (Wilkinson et al 2008, Figure 3, NMC 2008b).Type of assessmentClinical evaluation exercise; is a demonstrations of the student performing an important clinical skill, this can be integrated into ward environment or routine patient encounter (e.g. seeing a student wash their hands with alcohol gel after seeing a patient) Direct observation of procedural skill; observing a student carrying out a procedure and providing feedback afterwards (e.g. performing the seven stages of the hand washing technique). Case based discussion; this is a structured intervi ew to explore behaviour and judgement (e.g. discussing aspects of a study and what a student did or observed). Mini peer assessment; is when a qualified professional providing feedback on an individual’s performance, including self-assessment (e.g. feedback from observers that supervise a student in their clinical placement).Validity and reliability are the cornerstones of a fair and objective method assessment, and mentors need to ensure that their  assessment sessions is appropriate to the level of the learner (Walsh, 2010) Assessment is formal knowledge that allows mentors to review of abstract of knowledge, including the possibility of probable risks or other influencing factors. Assessing an individual in practice, is related to collecting information as evidence of the student’s ability to perform particular in a clinical settings, these includes observing, measuring, interviewing and making decision (Gopee, 2011).These skills are also used to evaluate a studen ts’ knowledge and skills. For the evaluation of health professional learners’ for the clinical competencies and related knowledge, assessments can be described as a purposeful observation and questioning commenced to ascertain the learners’ ability to perform particular clinical interventions in a precise accordance with established or approved guidelines, and the knowledge of rationales for each action (Gopee, 2011).Consistent assessments have limitations regarding validity and reliability for many reasons. There is an obligation for co-ordination between educators and service providers to approve on suitable assessment pathways for formative and summative assessments, allowing a fitting level of an assessment and practice theory link (Price, 2007). Mentoring in a complex clinical setting, makes it difficult to assess the competence of our student learners, also student skills might be ignored due to congruence necessary between possession of personal qualities and their applications in a moment of care, given the complexity of many nursing situation.Therefore, mentors need to be conscious of providing safe, high quality patient care while supporting the participants and learning in complex care situations (Cassidy, 2009). This is critical, as being an expert practitioner may not automatically equate with being a proficient assessor (Cassidy, 2009). Competence has become especially significant to the achievement of clinical learning outcomes as 50% of fitness for practise (Department of Health, 1999).My assessment was to assess the competence of a first year student using the seven stages hand washing technique in a clinical setting. I consider hand washing to be an important skill in nursing because it prevents the spread of diseases and infections from carer’s to patients. Poor hygiene enables infections and bacteria to spread around the hospital, especially when health professionals do not wash their hands thoroughly before and after seeing a patient.Therefore, if everyone washed their hands thoroughly we  would reduce the risk of cross contamination. By teaching my student the importance of the hand washing technique this would then make a huge impact on their learning outcome. I would consider this assessment a direct observation of a procedural skill (Wilkinson et al, 2008). During my assessment, an observing qualified mentor was present and observing at all angles of the assessment and feedback. The observing assessor has completed the written feedback about the assessment provided (Appendix 2). My assessment was planned using the criteria and a number of selected questions developed, to test the students understanding (Appendix 1).The criteria for the assessment, was planned at an appropriate level for the student to comprehend on both a theoretical and practical level (Stuart, 2007).I will establish a rapport by introducing myself to the student and explaining the teaching that I will do without ma king the student learner feel anxious or nervous. I am planning to do a checklist where my student will be able to evaluate my teaching by completing a questionnaire. In this questionnaire my student will be able to evaluate me by choosing a mark between 1-5, 1 being very bad and 5 being very good (Appendix 3). With this plan I will be able to reflect on my teaching and identify my weaknesses so that future students will be able to learn even more from me.My observer informed me that I had established a good rapport with my student which helped reduce any anxiety with the student, also I was informed that I connected with my student which helped the student feel comfortable. The environment was calm which means that the location was suitable for the teaching session. My observer also indicated that I had a good use of verbal language which also means that the student and I had no difficulties communicating pre and post teaching sessions.My positive attitude helped the teaching outco me as it eased the student’s anxiety and provided a good learning atmosphere. Considering the feedback and upon my own reflection on the assessment, there is need for my future development. However, I can say that my teaching was affective in a positive light, and I feel that my student has demonstrated a good hand washing technique that they have learnt from my teaching demonstrations.For future references, I will arrange for my student to take on more responsibilities for example; doing a hand washing audit. In conclusion, my observing assessor thought that my assessment of the student was suitable for their level of knowledge, skill and attitude (Bloom 1956,  Hinchliffe 2009, NMC 2008b) and effective in defining the level of competency in this clinical area.Part 4: My practice based teaching sessionI have arranged a teaching plan (Appendix 4), a power-point presentation and a hand out of the presentation prior to the teaching session. My presentation mentions the importa nce of the hand washing technique and gives step by step instructions that my student will find valuable. This teaching took an andragogy approach as an opposed to pedagogy approach, however, during my demonstrations it was clear that the learning allows for a more pedagogy approach. The pedagogy approach uses a descriptive of the old-style approach to teaching which regards the teacher as the font of all knowledge and upon whom the student is dependent. The learning theory descriptionThe humanistic approach takes into account base feelings, attitudes and values when examining knowledge and skills and recommends that rationale for learning in personal growth. This approach is very useful in nursing, as the attitudes and ethics are closely linked to nursing. One of the key factors of this approach is the importance of creating an independent, student centred, pleasant and safe teaching environment. The humanistic theories identify two different types of teaching approach, andragogy a nd pedagogy. The andragogy uses the concept of adult learning, where the pedagogy is generally regarded as relating to teaching children. There are four basic differences between the adult learner and child learner. Self-concept:Adult are more responsible for their own learning experience, they are less dependent and self-directed in their own learning. Adults are more involved in the planning and evaluation of their work, whereas children rely predominantly on the teacher to plan and also evaluate their learning. Experience:Adults use their past experiences and previous knowledge as a guide to their future learning. Readiness to learn: Adult learners are likely to be in education of their own accord therefore they take their initiative for learning and tend to focus more on that which has direct relevance on their lives. Orientation to learning:Adults are more enthusiastic to try and apply their learning to life and will usually become more problem focused rather than content orien ted.The difference between the cognitive and behaviourist learning theories is that behaviourist believe that learning is based upon the key concept of stimulus response and condition whereas the cognitive believe that learning involves the mental process such as perception, reasoning, memory and information processing (Walsh, 2010).I have arranged for a qualified mentor to assess and observe my teaching and my feedback that I provided to the student (appendix 5). My assessor provided written feedback on my session. My assessor also noted how beneficial the use of further reading and hand outs. Provision of printed hand-outs, particularly with space for notes beside them, may help accommodate students who have dyslexia, and may otherwise struggle to absorb the information provided (White, 2007).I arranged the presentation to a standard where my student would be able to comprehend, with visual and audio guidance where each slide has just enough information to be thoroughly understood ; as I was going through the presentation I was keeping good eye contact and body language to ensure that my students felt comfortable. At the end of the slide, I asked my student if they understood what I said and demonstrated. My assessor commented upon the open questions I asked, keeping the student interested, engaged and relating to practice, encouraging andragogy learning.Learning StyleVisual; Learns through images, visual tools or imagining events. Completed tasks on time, has a reasonable interest in theoretical values Auditory; Learns well through talks or lectures. Absorbs sequenced organised information well, Uses checklist. Great at multitasking. Can focus well and understands the big picture. Kinaesthetic (Tactile) Learns through doing. Tends to enjoy the experience of learning. Finds it easy to demonstrate. Can  completely understand instructions or information when presented orally. Finds attention to detail simple.Upon reflection I can use this experience to expand my personal knowledge and how to develop my skills as mentor in the future. I will different resource to expand on my teaching as a mentor, different methods to suit the individual needs to learn. A wider range of learning styles would accommodate all types of learning (Rassool and Rawaf 2007, Pashler et al 2009). I would also ask my student, the best way to learn and accommodate their learning needs. I can also put more emphasis on patient safety issues (Beskine 2008).Part 5During my mentorship preparation, I have learnt that being a mentor is essential part of the student learning curve. As a mentor it is my responsibility to support my student in meeting the continues professional developments needs in agreement to the Code of Practice (NMC 2008b, Ali and Panther 2008). I also learnt that being a mentor is fragment and section of leadership behaviour to teach students (Girvin, 1998). Transformational direction focuses on the ability to influence circumstances or people by affect ing their methodology of thought and their role modelling (Girvin, 1998). Transformational guidance in nursing inspires independence and allows students or staff to reach their potential and encourages good interprofessional rapport (Pollard, 2009).By assessing and addressing the daily obstacles mentors face in clinical environment, I would act as role model to overcome the difficulty of time and having a quiet place to assess my student. I would manage my time by planning ahead and adhere to this set time and book a room to interview my student in advance. This will help me to develop my student and help me as a mentor, but would also set a good example for the other mentors on the ward, this will improve their behaviour and practice in a positive way (Girvin 1998, Pollard 2009).Overcoming obstacles such as bad staffing levels, busy ward situation and the burden of clinical commitments influence me on a harmful effective working relationship between the student and I (Beskine 2009, Hurley and Snowden 2008, McBrien 2006). Finding time to provide written feedback in the student’s documentation can be limited (Price, 2007). By e-mailing other colleagues mentors regarding the student progress on regular basis it may become common practice providing a greater range of student evaluation and a positive learning environment (Cassidy, 2009). This feedback can then be sent to the mentor at a quieter time, and discussed with the student prior to signing and entry into their documentation with time being less of an issue. Despite this being a good use of resources and time management (Beskine 2009).Preventing influencing factors such as anxiety of the student or I affecting the reliability, subjectivity and the validity of the assessment (Price, 2007). This can be supported by facilitating the learning of my student by having flexibility and understanding of the different learning styles of the student, including students with learning difficulties or disability (White 2007, Stuart 2007). As mentors, we must place strong relations between practice and theory to ensure suitability of assessment and teaching. With these concerns, the student mentor relationship must be encouraged to provide a good quality learning experience (Ali and Panther, 2008).Pre-assessing my students learning style in the initial interview would help me encourage the student to participate in a higher standard of learning (Knowles, 1990). This would help me to adjust my working strategy to build a better relationship between the student and I. I am currently mentoring a first year student on their first clinical placement, and from observation I could identify they lack a great deal of experience with adult learning and constantly need extra support and provision of resources to facilitate the learning curve, predominantly with practical skills.Orientation is the gateway to a positive placement (Beskine, 2009). All students deserve to be assessed fairly and objectively (Ali and Panther 2008), however this might cause hostile emotions or teaching environment to both the student and assessor, so it is important that this is done properly, to ensure student  progression is not impaired (Duffy 2003, Wilkinson 1999) and competence is insured to maintained patient safety(NMC 2008b, Lomas 2009).My main concern is to ensure that all the students I work with are properly assessed and are competent and fit for practice (NMC, 2008b). It is vital to frequently work with students and have clear objectives set for them from the initial interview (Duffy and Hardicre, 2007a). I am aware that my responsibility as their mentor is to make sure all concerns with the student performance are raised by midpoint the latest, so we can set action plan for the final interview. There should be no sudden surprises for the student summative assessment and for their progress and level of competence (Duffy and Hardicre, 2007a).In conclusion, mentoring is a complex and diverse role, and it is a role I will take on with focus and knowledge and the endeavour to continue to develop as a practitioner, assessor and teacher in the clinical setting. This reflective process has been incredibly valuable in preparing me to be a mentor, and my personal and professional development. I have gained a much deeper understanding of the mentor student process through investigation of the various aspects of NMC standards, as well as various assessments and teaching strategies. Areas on which I must develop are clear and in completing this course I feel adequately prepared, and look forward to further developing my skills and knowledge within this role.