Communication plan for childhood obesity Term Paper

Communication plan for childhood obesity - Term Paper Example This essay "Communication plan for childhood obesity" outlines the draft how to reduce the growing rate of obese children in consequence of communication strategy. Parents have the greatest responsibility in bringing change to the current level of obesity among the young children in US. Parents have a duty to determine the kind of food their children eat and the involvement of children in physical activities (Williams, et.al, 2013). The mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed their babies adequately and avoid feeding them babies with foods containing high calories, sugar and fat. Parents should encourage their children to take part in physical activities regularly and limit the time which those children spend watching television, videos and playing computer games Teachers determine the kind of physical activities that children engage in which in school. In most cases, teachers are focused on academic performance of their schools and limit the time in which their students engage in physical activities (Williams, et.al, 2013). All training institutions should have a well structured program that specifies the time for students’ involvement in physical activities and time for class work. Therefore, teachers should give adequate time for physical activities to their students every day in order to improve their wellbeing. In addition, students take their meals at school during the day. Therefore, teachers have a duty to ensure that health foods are available for the students while in school.

Issues and challenges faced by Starbucks corporation

Issues and challenges faced by Starbucks corporation In 1971, four people fill with passion of coffee open their first coffee retail store-Starbucks in Seattle, Washington. By 1981, the company had 4 retail stores, which were sale whole bean coffee. Howard Schultz, who is the chairman and CEO of Starbucks, was hired and join the marketing team in 1982. At that time, Schultz wanted to create an idea that Starbucks become Americans third place to go, which is a place people can enjoy, relax themselves and not far away from work or home. Hence, Schultz suggested company set up an espresso bar in the retail, hence, the idea was allow to test in the sixth store in 1983. From then on, the development of company increased significantly. Few years later, Schultz bought Starbuck. After Schultz took over the company, Starbucks turn into high-speed expansion stage. By 1992, Starbucks already had 140 stores, which serviced coffee, beverage, cake and some stores even sold jazz CDs (Tuck business school, 2002). Now, Starbucks is worldwide company wi th 17,800 stores in 49 countries including more than 10000 stores in US, 1000 in Canada and 800 in UK (google map, 2010) Methods Data collection methods Methodology As members of Group 8 (ASB 4431 Organisations People Assignment Groups 2010-11) perusing a Masters degree in Bangor University, have done a report on Starbucks critically evaluating the organisations structure, strategy, culture, and management/leadership style. Data collection method The research strategy that the study utilized is the explanatory or Analytical research approach. As this study is based on our analysis of Starbucks, structure, culture, leadership and other issues would be explored; questions will need answering thereby a need to understand the phenomena. The use of a Qualitative data analysis will be employed since the data we use will all be non-numeric data. Saunders et al, (2009) Source of data Secondary data was obtained from already existing data mainly from Starbucks website, other Internet sources, journals and textbooks. Issues and challenges There are three issues considered in this report, first is the resource constrains, most of the articles we found are all available online, however not all of them are free to assess, especially for those authoritative articles that always need to pay to assess, for example, the book named Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, which written by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is a good reference for our report, however, we can not assess it without buying it. Second issues is the lack of critical review for Starbucks, most paper we found was regard Starbucks as the positive example in explaining organisational behaviour, there is no doubt that Starbucks doing a great job in rewarding their employees, however it brings challenges to be critical in our report. The final issues is the ethical and legal issues, as all the article we found can published publicly, and we all using appropriate reference, as a result, there is no ethical and legal issues to co nsider for our report. Analysis In this study, qualitative data analysis has been conducted to evaluate the organisational feature of Starbucks Corporation rather than using quantitative analysis such as statistical analysis.   In order to gather the data, remote data collection, such as Internet search and literature review about has been mainly conducted.   The purpose of this study is to critically evaluate the organisation structure, strategy, culture and management or leadership applications of Starbucks Corporation, therefore all information are gathered by internet search and literature review.   In order to analyse gathered data to evaluate feature of Starbucks Corporation, observed data analysis method has been practiced.   Comprehensive search for several facts related to structure, strategy, culture and management/leadership applications of Starbucks, has been executed by using Internet search and literature review.   Afterwards, critical evaluation has been conducted to link all information or ganically.   Finally, all analysis results were integrated and final conclusion has been created. Results Overview of corporate strategy business goals Mission statement A mission statement is a brief description of an organisations fundamental purpose, which is steered in outlining the existence of the organisation; this is to enable members of the organisation to be aware of the companys purpose as well as the general public. (David, 2009) A mission statement should be a short and brief declaration of goals and objectives. The primary goal of any business is to maximize stakeholder worth, which includes shareholders of the business, business employees and clients or customers who purchase business goods and services. (David, 2009; Abell, 1980) Diverse works have outlined what should be covered in a mission statement (Abell, 1980; Pearce and David, 1987). It is not the content of the mission statement that really matters but rather the process used to prepare the document and the principles employed to fulfil the prepared document (Mullane, 2002). In the mission statement of Starbucks which talks about inspiring and nurturing the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighbourhood with principles to live out every day as an organisation to fulfil their mission statement. The principles below are what Starbucks employ in achieving their mission statement; Our Coffee; It has always been, and will always be, about quality. Were passionate about ethically sourcing the finest coffee beans, roasting them with great care, and improving the lives of people who grow them. We care deeply about all of this; our work is never done. Our Partners; Were called partners, because its not just a job, its our passion. Together, we embrace diversity to create a place where each of us can be ourselves. We always treat each other with respect and dignity. And we hold each other to that standard. Our Customers; When we are fully engaged, we connect with, laugh with, and uplift the lives of our customers even if just for a few moments. Sure, it starts with the promise of a perfectly made beverage, but our work goes far beyond that. Its really about human connection. Our Stores; When our customers feel this sense of belonging, our stores become a haven, a break from the worries outside, a place where you can meet with friends. Its about enjoyment at the speed of life sometimes slow and savored, sometimes faster. Always full of humanity. Our Neighbourhood; Every store is part of a community, and we take our responsibility to be good neighbours seriously. We want to be invited in wherever we do business. We can be a force for positive action bringing together our partners, customers, and the community to contribute every day. Now we see that our responsibility and our potential for good is even larger. The world is looking to Starbucks to set the new standard, yet again. We will lead. Our Shareholders; We know that as we deliver in each of these areas, we enjoy the kind of success that rewards our shareholders. We are fully accountable to get each of these elements right so that Starbucks and everyone it touches can endure and thrive. Environmental Mission Statement; Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business Our Starbucks Mission Statement; Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time. (Starbucks: Our Mission Statements) Business strategy To understand and analyse corporate strategy and business goal of Starbucks, we firstly need to have a clue of what corporate strategy is. By Johnson and Scholes, corporate strategy is defined as: Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations. In the case of Starbucks, the organization is employing Porters Differentiation Focus Strategy. This strategy provides a product or service to a specific market niche and differentiates from competition in specific areas. (Rebecca Larson, 2009) Starbucks does not exist as a low-cost company to the competitors. It focuses on the specialized selections, provides specially tailored lines of coffee and tea related products for a premium price. Starbucks does not promote itself by using traditional means; they generally concentrate on high-level marketing and branding by word-of-mouth, as well as alliances and partnerships. They try not to promote the company, however automatically they are promoted by providing customer support and also their excellent works in which up to now has becoming a successful strategy. By the companys hard work, focusing on details and ethical decision-making, customers have experienced a wonderful service, as a result, the company gradually built up its reputation and becoming one of the most valuable global brands.(Theodore,2002,p.62) It is incredible that Starbuckss achievement with very few commercials, ads or any other kind of marketing means. Starbucks could not become a coffee-related products giant retailer and remain long-term success only by selling coffee on its own. One important part of the companys strategy is strategic alliances, which could also be called joint venture approach. This strategy leads the globalization of the company with higher recognition and reputation of the brand also exposing the brand to other potential customers. The variety of companys products is relatively being expanded demographically and geographically. For example, in order to advance social and economic equality, the company allied with NAACP, the company donated and together with NAACP organized events for social equality has becoming a great success. It showed that Starbucks is no longer a simple business organization, it also exists as a charity and that brings the company higher reputation. They also partnered with Barnes and Noble bookstores to be the in-house coffee shop in 1993, (Isidro, 2004) co-produce coffee-related drinks such as Starbucks Frappuccino with PepsiCo from 1996, formed alliances with ice-cream manufactures and hotel chains to offer Starbucks brand and flavored ice-creams and Starbucks coffees within the hotels (Rebecca Larson, 2009). Explanation of organisational structure Board Committee organization structure of Starbucks The structure of Starbucks Company is shown in Figure 1.   As mentioned by Starbucks Corporation Fiscal Annual Report (2009), as group member of the Board of Directors, Howard Schultz was appointed to Companys chairman and chief executive. Barbara Bass, William W. Bradley, Mellody Hobson, Olden Lee, James G. Shennan, Javier G. Teruel, Myron E. Ullman and Graig E. Weatherup were appointed to director individually. Kevin R. Johnson and Sheryl Sandberg were appointed to Chief Operating Officer individually. Additional, Starbuck Corporation consisted of 38 members of Senior Officers. Board Committees are composed of Audit and Compliance Committee, Corporation Compensation and Management Development Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Composition Job Design Board of Director The Board of Director inclusive twelve members, independence of each member are requested to meet of the NASDAQ Stock Market efficiently. When Board getting direction about recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Board of Directors will appoint a new member in case of there is a vacancy occupation occur on the Board. The Board of Directors of Starbucks Company are responsible for monitoring company powers and ensuring that the company business meet goals which is requested by shareholders. The Board have responsibility to select nominees for the Board of Directors who have appropriate qualifications and diversity of backgrounds experiences. And also, it is in charge of appointing chief operating officer.   (Starbucks Corporation Fiscal Annual Report, 2009) Composition Job Design Audit and Compliance Committee The Audit and Compliance Committee are in charge of financial reporting and internal, external audit processes. The Committee assists the Board of Director reviewing financial issue. The Committee was appointed from the Board of Directors. The Committee have three members at least and all of them shall match The NASDAQ Stock Market requirements independence. The Committee be recommended by the Corporate Governance Committee, and finally appointed by the Board of Director. The Committee has authority to investigate any financial activity and free access to members of management. It is retain independent legal counsel. All employees have responsibility to assisting members of the Committee investigation (Starbucks Corporation Audit And Compliance Committee Charter, 2010) Composition Job Design Corporation Compensation and Management Development Committee The Compensation and Management Development Committee has responsible for working with management to establish appropriate compensation practices for the Company. There are deciding the benefits and compensations for senior officers of the Company. The Committee consists of three members at lease, which one member be required come from Board of Director. The members of Committee will be pointed from Board as well. The Committee conducts an annual review of companys compensation for Senior Officer instead of president and chairman. Together with the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee, the Chair of the Committee shall annually review the performance of the president and chief operating officer and meet with them to share the findings of such review when after discussing with the member of independent directors of the Board (Starbucks Corporation Compensation and Management Development Committee Charter, 2010). Composition Job Design Corporation Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee The Corporate Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures of the Board of Directors. They are intended to constitute and organize appropriately to meet its obligations to Starbucks Company and its shareholders. The Committee will be comprised of at least three members, all of whom have to meet the independence requirements of the NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC as well as. Under Board of Directors direction, members of the Committee and a Chair of the Committee shall be appointed. The Board of Directors shall appoint a new member or members, which is a vacancy on the Committee. The Committee have professional capability to assist Board identifying candidates personality. Reviewing the Companys Corporate Governance Principles and Practices annually according to changing shareholders interests and suggesting appropriate modifications to the Board of Directors. And evaluate the overall effectiveness of the organization of the Board Committees performance. Evaluation of the organisation structure of Starbucks According to SeaZone (2009), organisation structure of Starbucks Company is Matrix structure.  Ã‚  This is one type of organisation structures that is presented by Gareth Morgan.   The organisation structure is quite important to manage organisation, it plays important role for organisations activities.  Ã‚  Moreover, the organisation structure is related to its business purpose and aims. (Mullins, 2005)   Matrix structure is the organisation structure that has both of vertical structure and strong horizontal structure.   It requires employees to have two reporting relationships concurrently.  Ã‚  In this structure, employees work in provisional group constituted by employees from different function.  Ã‚  There are two lines of authority in this structure and employees have two bosses in their team namely boss for their project and boss for their function. (Mullins, 2005) Specific future of matrix structure Matrix structure provides organisation flexibility, and contributes to keep security and control of project information.  Ã‚  Moreover, organisation can have a possibility to develop stuff well.  Ã‚  (Mullins, 2005)  Ã‚  However, there are some disadvantages of matrix structure.  Ã‚  At first, there is limitation of number of employees who report to the project manager directly, because most of all stuffs are assigned from department managers.  Ã‚  This situation may lead uncertainty in organisation and employees may be unwilling to accept that their situation is changed constantly and willing that they establish in their functional group.  Ã‚  Next, matrix structure has a possibility that organisation make more complex.  Ã‚  Thirdly, extension of the authority of manager to the stuff coming from other sections can be a course of problem in organisation.  Ã‚  Finally, it is expected that functional group may not attention to their normal tasks and role.  (Mullins, 2 005)   What is required in matrix structure? Matrix structure strongly deeply rely on teamwork spirits, it demand culture of co-operation.  Ã‚  In this structure, managers are required high level of behavioural and management ability and organisation needs culture of collaboration.  Ã‚  It is necessary to educate employees to support other stuffs and to create the teamwork spirits.  Ã‚  Moreover, stuffs must have a special competence to solve the conflict in their team in the matrix-structured organisation.  Ã‚   How organisation structure works in Starbucks There are some disadvantages in matrix structure as mentioned before, however, Starbucks, especially Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks Company, may have understood these problems.   Therefore he gave special statement to employees when he expanded Starbucks structure to reinforce their internal and external communication in 2008.  Ã‚  He has explained the difficulties of doing business in situation in those days and strongly suggested change of not only structure but also employees in order to enhancing the customer experience.  Ã‚  In that message, he also stated that structure of Starbucks Company faced the revolutionary  change, however it was necessary to improve customers and stuffs experiences and recapture the vigour and benefits in the company.  Ã‚  As he explained in that message, he recognised or realised that this structural modification was hard for some stuffs owing to increase and complex of their tasks, however he also described that he made this decision unde rstanding these kinds of issues.  Ã‚  He explained that he had decided this numerous change of structure with speculation and he respected for stuffs concerned.   (Starbucks, 2008) Analysis of organisational culture With the development of economy, the competitions between companies not only aim at the product they offered but also their internal organisation culture. Deal and Kennedy researched organization culture for 15 years and they found that organisation with weak culture always beaten by organisation with strong culture (1999). Edgar Schein who is generally consider the father of organization culture defined that organization is a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problem (1985). Organization cultures pay attentions to individuals in a organization that it establish an appropriate platform make individual join in the organization quickly and help people work together toward the same organizati on goals. In addition, organization culture help employee improve their personal ability and knowledge to maximum. In the meantime, organisation culture forms the external performance and reputation, which are important to decision making during purchasing Starbucks is one of the successful chain coffee stores. It is because it has a unique organisation culture. In order to understand internal culture in Starbucks, we will use the Great Holsfedes cultural framework. Holsfedes used different five aspects to evaluate culture, which are power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation (Holsfedes, 1991). . Base on this model, it can reveal that Starbucks have long power distance, because every employee in Starbucks have the same basic rights no special treatment. In addition, for the gander issue, Starbucks view all the employees the same regardless of their gender, thus, Starbucks has high masculinity and femininity. And it also has low uncertainty avoidance; due to it have a vast number of brunch stores abroad, Starbucks has to take huge risk for that. In terms of collectivistic, Starbucks belongs to high collectivistic, although it have branch store everywhere, but there is a core team to conduct the whole company. Starbuck still pay attention to environment and other charity event, so Starbucks is long term oriented. The strong power of Starbucks organisation culture appeals a great number of people, including both consumer and potential employee. Great quality of coffee and well service make Starbucks become a global company with hundreds of chain stores. Its organisation present a great service, consumer always be expected to be confronted with enthusiastic well trained employees with a great number of coffee knowledge and their service always base on consumers need. Starbuck also appeal people because of its values. As we talked above, Starbucks support many organisations in a long term, such as Conservation International, The Earthwatch Institute, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, the African Wildlife Foundation, and Planet Green. Starbucks convey a message that corporations need to concern about the society and environment around them. And then, Starbucks establish diversity internal working environment in order to satisfy the entire consumer. The strong organisational culture in Starbucks also embodied in the way they treat their employees. Starbucks hold a job fairs every year in different places, and there are also some guidelines for manager to interview the candidates and test whether they have full knowledge about the companys product, and who are adaptable, dependable and passionate in interacting with customers. Starbucks also need to deal with hundred of thousands of online applications using software developed by Taleo, this software help to screen out the candidates by answer the basic information and skills-based questions (Weber G. 2005). After recruiting people, Starbucks will also offer 24 hours of trainings to their employees, and learn how to use espresso machines, how to interact with the customers, the process and production of coffee beans. During the training, employees also need to understand the companys mission statement, and bring company culture to their customers (Cesario Minor, Jr. 2009), Starbu cks spends more on recruitment and development than on advertising which in 2004 is $68.3 million (Weber. G.2005), the mangers and assistance mangers also have trainings in computer, leadership and coffee knowledge. As Starbucks offers both product and services, people become an important factor in maintaining the quality, Starbucks treat their employees as partners by connecting their contribution to companys market value, and give the opportunity to share the success in the company, their employees are highly involved in companys activity by reporting their concerns to companys Mission review team, each employee will receive a comment card when they newly hired, and they can write down some suggestion, advice or disagreement in management decisions, the managers will response and sign for all the comment cards within two weeks, and their CEO Howard Schultz also review all the comments every month(Cesario Minor, Jr. 2009), the high involvement also increase the level of responsibil ity to the company. Starbucks also well known in retaining and rewarding their employees by good salary, stock options and health cares, according to Thompson Strickland (1999), the store employees were paid $6 to $8 per hour that is above the average minimum wages, their employees can also paying the initial years price and receiving the current years price by cashing in one-fifth of the shares granted each succeeding year. Part-time staffs is the major workforce in Starbucks, and they receive the same health insurance as full-time employees, the insurance including preventive care, crisis counselling, dental care, eye care, mental health care and treatment for chemical dependency. Howard Schultz also been invited to white house and meet with president Clinton to brief the Starbucks health care programme in 1994. Starbucks have a relative low turnover rage compare with the other companies, the turnover rage for Starbucks was about 65% compare with 150% to 400% for other retailers and fast-food chains, and the turnover rate for store manager was much lower, which is 25% compared with 50% in other retailers. Starbuckss organisation culture, especially the strong spiritual culture appealing lots potential employees, employees not only attracted by the salary, stock plans and health care, they would like to work for Starbucks because the trust, power and autonomy given by the organisation, Starbucks promotion for fair trade and environmental contributions also bring positive image and reputations. Critical evaluation of Management Leadership practices CE for business goal CE for organisational structure Critical evaluation of Management and Leadership practices As we have described previously, the organisation structure of Starbucks is the matrix structure. This structure influence management style and leadership style, too. The matrix structure strongly relies on the teamwork and relationship between employees and managerial stuffs. In the matrix structure, a line of command and report is complicating and the line is changed frequently. Therefore, employees are required more complex work rather than in other organisation structures. Moreover, organisation must provide employees good education system to create teamwork spirits in organisation. Additionally, in order to lead employees in the matrix structure, strong leadership and well-organised management style is necessary. (Mullins, 2005) It would appear that Starbucks Company might be able to overcome with these problems coming from disadvantage of the matrix structure and achieve to create good working relationship atmosphere. Therefore, they have been awarded a prize of 100 Best Compan ies to Work For by Fortune during 1998 to 2009, except 2001. (Starbucks 2010) CE for organisational culture There are two critical issues to discuss in Starbucks culture, firstly, David A. Pace, who has been an Executive Vice President of Partner Resources of Starbucks Corporation since 2002 said that, even company were to hit hard times, the strategy of above-average investment in training and rewarding employees isnt going to change (Weber G. 2005). Starbucks now is an successful company, and Paces announcement really help to build a good reputation on taking social responsibilities, however, once the company suffer from the crisis, can they still keep the promise, if they can, it helps to gain more support from their employee, but if they cant, the employees will feel disappoint and may break down the reputation. Secondly according to Weber G. (2005), Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks on October told Business week Online that, for the following two years, Starbucks would spend more on employee health care costs than it does on coffee. What Schulze said may have both impacts on their employees and customers. For their employees, they will feel appreciate and proud to work for Starbucks, and it may also attract more people desired to work for Starbucks. For Starbucks customers, some may feel Starbucks is a responsible and ethical company and feel comfortable to buy coffee from Starbucks. However, spending less on coffee may misleading other customers that the company will pay more attention on employee health care rather than coffee, customers may feels they are not regarded. Conclusions recommendations Conclusion Business goal Organisational structure As previously mentioned, Starbucks adopts matrix structure for their organisation structure. (SeaZone, 2009)    Matrix structure has a complex aspect owning to the characteristics of that structure, namely it has both of vertical structure and strong horizontal structure.   Matrix structure provides organisation flexibility, and contributes to keep security and control of project information.   Moreover, organisation can have a possibility to develop stuff well. (Mullins, 2005)   On the other hand, matrix structure has disadvantages, for example, it has limitation of number of employee who report to the project manager directly, moreover, matrix structure has a possibility that organisation make more complex. (Mullins, 2005)   However, Starbucks seems to have good relationship and well-organised education system for managerial stuffs to overcome with these disadvantage and they seems to convert these disadvantages to advantages of matrix structure.   Moreover, Howard Schu ltz, CEO of Starbucks, has strong leadership and he is trying to encourage stuffs in order to achieve their business well. (Starbucks, 2008)   In reality, the fact that Starbucks have been awarded a prize of 100 Best Companies to Work For by Fortune during 1998 to 2009, except 2001 gives evidence that many stuffs who are working for Starbucks satisfy to work in this circumstances. (Starbucks 2010) Organisational culture To conclusion, the Comprehensive and thoughtful organisation culture is Starbucks core competitive strategy, which is not only appeal potential employees but also the customers. Almost all the customers satisfied Starbucks services because they are treated very well. At the same time, they are faced with passionate employees and high quality coffee. For employees, they have well trained before they participate in the work formally, which allow them to introduce customer professionally. In addition, employees are satisfied with the wage and even part-time employees have the insurance as well. Feedback makes Starbucks culture special then their company. Their employees have the rights to write down their disagreement or suggestion to company. Recommendations Business goal Organisational structure(included in conclusion) Organisational culture As we know, Starbucks turnover rate is low, because their rewarding system attracts a great number of employees. We recommend company could change its rewarding system to performance base system, which means employees rewarding base on their personal working performance (e.g. set up best employee of the month/year). In terms of health care of employees in Starbucks, it is excellent to treat their employees in such a good way. However, consumers need an image that Starbucks devote itself to improve the quality of coffee and develop the environment in stores. Hence, we recommend Starbucks could increase spending on retail store decoration and offering more kinds of food.

The Digital Divide Essays -- essays papers

The Digital Divide Abstract: Around the world 429 million people are connected to the Internet. Forty-one percent of those people can be found in North America. Although 429 million seems like a large number it is only 6 percent of the global population (Fact Sheet, 2004). Numbers like this reflect the digital divide that has grown since the creation of the computer and more recently, the ‘Information Super Highway’ called, the Internet. The digital divide describes the issue that some people have access to and use computers and the Internet while others do not. There are several factors that play into those that do not have access and there are programs that have been created to close the gap between these people and those that have access. Full Text: Bridges.org (2003) describes the digital divide as â€Å"the wide division between those who have access to ICT [information and communications technologies] and are using it effectively and those who do not.† These groups are labeled the â€Å"have† and the â€Å"have-nots.† As technology increases the importance of having access to it grows also. Those who do not have access to technology lag behind and end up in the ‘gap’ of the digital divide. Usually the majority of people that fall in the ‘have-nots† category are in developing countries around the world, but a large number can be found right in the United States. Several factors seem to play a part in who becomes a victim of the digital divide. These include race, socioeconomic status, education, location, age and gender. The statistics for race and access to Internet access in the home show that 46.1% of white households are online and 56.8% of Asian American and Pacific Islanders have access to the Internet in th... ...e Network. (2004). Digital Divide Basics Fact Sheet. Retrieved April 18, 2004 from http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/content/stories/index.cfm?key=168 6.) Hillebrand, M. (1999). US Government Attempts to Bridge Digital Divide. E-Commerce Times. Retrieved April 12, 2004 from http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/1086.html. 7.)Holmes, S. (2000). NMSU project aims to bridge ‘digital divide.’ Retrieved April 24, 2004 from http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/070600/usn_nmsu.shtml. 8.) PBS.org. (2001). Outreach Activities. Retrieved April 18, 2004 from http://www.pbs.org/digitaldivide/news.html. 9.) Steele-Carrin, S. (2000). Caught in the Digital Divide. Education World. Retrieved April 27, 2004 from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech041.shtml. 10.) Vail, K. (2003). Next Generation Divide. American School Board Journal, 190, 23-25.

World History Unit

Which of the forces at work in Europe played the greatest role in helping to prompt the outbreak of war? A force at work in Europe that played a large role in helping to prompt the outbreak of the war would be the formation of alliances between the several superpowers at the time. If they would have gone along with themselves and Just keep each other In check while keeping everything balanced It would be easier to create a treaty Instead of war. The alliances created Increased tensions. Another main factor is the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Hungary. . Was he description of the Balkans as the â€Å"powder keg† of Europe justified? Yes, the Balkans was overlapping many groups that were trying to unite the Slavs and take ore more and more territory. That caused major conflict in Europe. Powder Keg refers to a keg full of explosives. It would be very unstable. The Balkans caused instability in Europe due to different people wanting its land. Not everyone could ha ve it. Everyone wanted It and no one would Just allow the other to invade it and take it for them. 8. Do you think World War I was avoidable?Yes, practically any war Is avoidable. The thing Is that more often than not the people Involved don't always know the consequences of their actions or simply don't know how everything can happen peacefully, especially when there Is tension. If Balkan â€Å"powder keg† was taken care of earlier on then the war could have been avoided. World War I would have been a difficult thing to avoid, but if tension in Europe could have been resolved then it might not have happened. Page 415 3. Which countries comprised the Central Powers? Which countries comprised the Allies?The countries that comprised the Central Powers are Germany, Austria/ Hungary and Turkey. The countries that had comprised the Allies are Britain, France, Russia, Italy, United States, and Japan. 4. What were the characteristics of trench warfare? The soldiers that were in tren ch warfare had to undergo horrible conditions. It was muddy, rat infested, and messy. Rats, lice, diseases, and fleas would be spread In massive numbers In the trenches. There would be bodies Just lying In the trenches and sometimes water would flood the trenches.Blood would be everywhere. For defense and offensive there was barbed wire, machine guns, poison gas attacks, tank attacks, and more. The trenches were set up with interlinking passages to the front and the command center. 5. What factors contributed to Russian's war difficulties? The first factor was the factories. Out of all the European nations, Russia was the least developed. The factories could not manufacture enough supplies and didn't always have enough materials. Second factor is Education. Russians weren't able to be trained too well for the war.Most troops weren't educated well. A large majority couldn't read or write. Third factor is transportation. As I said earlier the Russians are much undeveloped. Their railw ays were not efficient and It took a long time to bring food and supplies up to the front. Fourth and last factor Is leadership. Russian generals were not the best generals. Plus with the uneducated troops, most of them weren't able to effectively give orders. 6. How was war on the Western and Eastern front different? How was It the same?The war for the Eastern led to the collapse of Russia whereas the war in the Western front did Austrian defeated the Allied forces and defeated Russia. The Western front had very developed trenches, while the Eastern had less developed trenches. 7. Why did the Schlemiels Plan ultimately collapse? The Schlemiels plan was designed so that the German army would not have to fight on two fronts. It failed more several reasons. There were many delays, for example the Belgians resisted Germany. Although Germany definitely overpowered them, Germany was still delayed one month.This allowed the French to move north to confront the German army. Because of the delays caused by the British and Belgians, the French had more time to transfer troops. The Russians were then able to mobile their army in an amazing 10 days instead of the expected 6 weeks. 8. Why might it be fair to say that neither side won he battles of the Some or Verdure? Both sides lost a massive amount of soldiers. The losses were extremely horrendous. Very little ground was gained for either side. Both of the sides lost hundreds of thousands of men. All of that gave them no gain in distance.It was a negative battle for both sides, therefore neither side had won. It would be hard to choose if a side won because both lost so much and gained so little. Page 422 6. In what ways was World War I truly a global conflict? World War I was a global conflict for a number of reasons. It involved fighting in many different nations. Not only in Europe but outside countries, such as United States, Japan, and the countries of the British Empire which are Australia, Canada, India, New Zeal and, and South Africa). There wasn't a nation in the world that wasn't somewhat affected.The world was shifted. It involved a majority of the world's great powers. 7. Do you think governments are Justified in censoring war news? Why or why not? In wartime some censorship is necessary. People who do not value freedom tend to be cautious and censor too much. However sending out false news is not ethical. The government also wouldn't want a lot of panic. The enemy could also easily read their papers so they wouldn't want to give out information that might Jeopardize their battle plans. Censoring could help with rebellion against the government. . Which of the non- European countries had the greatest impact on the war effort? America had the greatest impact on World War l. Before we came in the Allies had virtually lost and even Britain was nearly overtaken. America also took part in the treaty. President Wilson attended the conference and was one of the four who created the entire peac e treaty. Page 427 6. Were the Versailles treaties fair? Consider all the nations affected. The Versailles readies were after World War l. The Versailles was fair to everyone except the Germans.Most of the nation's got what they were looking for. Those nations made sure to get what they wanted for the pain and suffering that they had undergone. 7. Why might the European allies have been more interested in punishing Germany than in creating a lasting peace? The European allies still went to war with Germany. They would have their reasons to be interested in punishing them. They did kill their men. 8. Was the United States right to reject the Treaty of Versailles? Why or why not? Yes, because those terms towards the Germans were very harsh and not

Unit 37 Understanding Business Ethics

Unit 37 – Understanding Business Ethics Explain at least 3 general activities from an ethical viewpoint your chosen business needs to consider in its operational activities. Describe how the business is attempting to show its stakeholders that it is aware of the ethical concerns that apply. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. Business ethics Business ethics is the accepted set of moral values and corporate standards of conduct in a business organization.The specifics of what this actually means can vary from one organization to another. Task 1/P1 Include the following, which should explain: Virgin Airlines operational activities A Virgin Atlantic employee has resigned following allegations she passed on eight celebrities' flight details to paparazzi agency Big Pictures in 2010. Among those reportedly affected were Tottenham Hotspur player Jermaine Defoe, actress Sienna Miller and singer Cheryl Cole, the Guardian reported. Virgin Atlantic has said it is investigating while Defoe's spokeswoman said he was consulting lawyers.The employee has denied the allegations. Other celebrities named by the paper include Ms Cole's ex-husband, the Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole, actresses Scarlett Johansson and Gwyneth Patrol and pop stars Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger. http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-17637277 Virgin started a trial of free Wireless In-flight Entertainment on a few selected air crafts; the idea was to see if flight entertainment boosted annual profits, they wanted to provide state of the art systems including 300 hours of movies, TV shows and music all available on your own device.The device can be accessed on an iPod, iPhone, iPod, and laptops this shows that Virgin is also in touch with modern technology Virgin yet needs to consider potential price changes for the customers and how this might effect them travelling with the company. Vi rgin Atlantic has reduced fuel emissions by 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually following the introduction of innovative, new flight software. New, innovative computer software will save Virgin Atlantic almost 20 million and reduce fuel emissions by 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, it has emerged.The sophisticated system can pin-point accurately where fuel can be used more efficiently, monitoring 300 different points during each flight and enabling the airline to reduce fuel burn significantly. As a result the airline can now boast impressive emission cuts and savings of of ? 20 million. http://www. clickgreen. org. uk/news/national-news/123721-airline-virgin-atlantic-reveals-100,000-tonnes-of-annual-co2-savings. html Virgin airlines mission Statement and corporate aims and objectives?Virgin airlines mission statement says that they want to provide safety, security and consistent delivery of the basics that are the foundation of everything that they do. Virgin also h as their aims and objectives. These aims are to provide their passengers with pleasurable flying experience from the time they book the flight to the time the plane lands at their destination. Virgin Atlantic also want provide a cost affective way to travel which appeals to all classes.How Virgin Airline attempts to show its stakeholders that it is aware of the ethical concerns Virgin have already created more than 200 branded company’s world wide, employing approximately 50,000 people, in 29 countries Virgin have Corporate social responsibility (CSR) which is how companies manage the business process to produce an overall positive impact on society, Virgin are now doing this by delivering brand values, which are: value for currency, superior quality, dazzling customer service, pioneering, competitively testing and fun. to provide a quality service by motivating employees and to assist and examine consumer feedback. Virgin value all its stakeholders which is anyone who is inv olved in the running of the business, they are an essential part of virgin production and brand and keeping trust in Virgin is one of their core values. In 2006 the group defined a Code of Conduct, covering human rights, environmental concern and business ethics issues. Virgin also launched 3 non for profit projects.These where Virgin earth, Virgin Green Fund and Virgin Unite Virgin Earth rewards a $25 million dollar prize for inventing a method or design of anthropogenic and atmospheric greenhouse gases removal which results in Earths climate stability. http://www. examiner. com/article/a-company-profile-virgin P2 Task 2 Explain the implications, benefits and drawbacks for the business and its stakeholders of operating ethically and any conflicts of interest between different stakeholders, with reasons. The meaning of stakeholders and why they are important to the business with regards to ethical behaviour.Stakeholders are anyone that makes a significant difference or shares and in terest in the overall success and running of the business e. g. the stakeholders in Virgin are the shareholders, management and employees, customers and suppliers, banks, government, trade unions, pressure groups. At Virgin they like to promote good ethical behaviour because they want a good reputation among all the stakeholders, if Virgin behaves ethically then this can attract more and more stakeholders such as suppliers and customers, which in turn can boost the annual profit.Virgin’s stakeholders play a vital role in the progress of the company which is why Virgin needs to behave ethically. This means that all the staff must be treating fairly by complying with all legislation, to attract good employees, always creating new jobs; recently Virgin has decided to go into banking by putting in a bid to buy Northern Rock, the banks today are responsible for our current economic state thus far, Sir Richard Branson ( Virgin Owner) wants put the trust back in banking and shake up the sector, Branson seams like he genially shares an interest in society, he makes comments such as we genuinely try to do what’s right. Any company that does that, hopefully, gets a good, positive brand, and if you’re not trying to do what is right in life, then your brand is damaged. We like to run our company ethically. ’ Richard Branson sets a persona of a person who cares about the public, which proves beneficial to the company because people are more likely to take an interest due to Virgin running its business ethically. The reasons for conflict of interest between stakeholdersTheir are many reasons for conflict of interest between businesses, at Virgin more than 300 GPs decided to end their partnerships with Richard Branson's Virgin Care to provide healthcare services after criticism that the arrangements might see doctors personally profit from sending patients to clinics they part-own under the coalition's health reforms. Under Virgins former name Ass ura, set up 24 local companies, knows as GPCOS which wanted the NHS to fund them to offer community services such as dermatology, physiotherapy and rheumatology to patients this was all run as partnerships with local GPS.The government decided to force GPs to commission health services but they put family doctors in a position of conflict of interest. As a result of this Virgin had taken over the provider companies, they released the doctors from there obligations, and talks with the GPS have been going on for around 18 months. http://www. guardian. co. uk/society/2012/oct/24/doctors-virgin-partnership-conflict-of-interest The benefits and drawbacks of ethical practice to the business on the way in which it is operating and give reasons with examples.Richard Branson ( Virgins owner) likes to make sure that society believe and trust in the company, recently Sir Richard Branson offered a $25m prize for scientists who find away to prevent the threatening effects off climate change to o r planet. Richard Branson’s is trying to offer scientists incentives to come up with a way to extract greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Richard Branson understands the importance of behaving ethically and has shown an interest in the future of the planet, also by him doings so he encourages other organisations to match this by operating in a similar more positive way. Task 3Assess how your selected business could improve the ethics of their operations. †¢Assess how your selected business could change or alter some of its practices, showing how the changes would contribute to ethical behaviour, with reference the 3 issues discussed in Task 1, (eg Walker’s Crisps altering the fat and salt content in their crisps to address consumer health; Europe’s largest oil and gas companies planning to survey their suppliers to establish, for the first time, a global database on supplier corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies to check compliance with treatment of the environment, workers and customers. This task addresses M1 In comparison to all the over airlines Virgin Atlantic by far operates the most ethically, like most companies they still have problems within the airline, recently their has been conflict with Virgin and its customers. It came to light that their has been an issue with a member of staff leaking information to the media about who and when, celebrity’s and politicians where traveling on the airline this matter has serious implications, although this is simply immoral, it effects the privacy of the individual and could potentially put the person in danger.Following these allegations in the press in April Virgin voluntary contacted the information Commissioners office and fully assisted with the enquiries, they couldn’t find any other evidence of other members of staff leaking the information and breaking the data protection act, however this is a matter that Virgin takes seriously as it says in the missio n statement that they want to provide safety and security. In my opinion they should take action to prevent this from happening again.I think Virgin should improve the way they structure the recruitment process by asking more questions in the interviews that are relative to this matter, such as have you ever work for the media? Do you have any friends that work for the press? I also think that how they handle personal information needs to improve and should be looked at again to see if their are any loop wholes of gaining access to this type of information. Virgin media needs to keep matching its reputation if the company wants to keep up the trust it’s built over the last few years.I also spoke about Virgin having free wireless internet and flight entertainment on the planes this has proved to rapidly boost of annual profits, I only have one idea to improve this idea and that is to make this device available to all classes not just upper class individuals. Virgin still need to change the price but I think if they didn’t do this so vigorously and applied the idea to lower class passengers more people would then fly with Virgin and enjoy the experience.Virgin Atlantic has reduced fuel emissions by 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide saving them 20 million each year, Virgin have worked with emissions specialists CICS and environ to assess both the emissions of the air craft operations and the carbon foot print. I think this puts Virgin in a good position and most certainly makes them look like a well organised ethical business. I would recommend Virgin to promote this idea to over airlines; this should work because although they are taking into account global warming they are reducing expenses which n turn will lead to an increase in profit. Task 4 Evaluate the impact the changes and suggestions from Task 3 would have on the selected business and its stakeholders. This will need to be supported with evidence of research. Related to your chosen organis ation, select 2 stakeholders and explain the relationship between these stakeholders and the organisation. I have chosen to work on the relationship between 2 stakeholders in Virgin Atlantic; these stakeholders are the employers and the employees who work for the organisation.The relationship between these stakeholders and the organisation is tied to the success of the business e. g. In task 3 I talked about why staff leaking information to the media would affect the customers, this is because the customers in this case who were people in the public eye did not want the public to know when or where they were traveling. This concerned the customers; if you are making your customers concerned about their safety then they are less likely to use your organisation which in turn will mean a loss of profit.I thought of a solution to try and prevent this from happening again, the idea was to find out information about potential employees at the interview stage, and to offer good incentives for employers who report these people, this act would also let them know that leaking information has been an issue and might make them think twice about doing this in the future, in my opinion the more you make your staff aware about these issues their is less chance of them reacquiring. Evaluate how the suggested changes and suggestions on ethical practice will impact on the stakeholders and the business.I think with staff signing more legal documents and training staff to look out for people not complying with company policy and offering incentives for them to catch these people, will lead to the customers preferably upper class customers gaining more trust when using the airline, because their has been some bad press about the information leak, it has had a knock on effect on the image of the business and now Virgin needs to put the trust back into the business. With this idea they can almost reassure customers that any information on the whereabouts can be considered safe. With the practice in place it will take a lot of