The Legality of Risk Management in Healthcare (United States) Essay

The Legality of Risk Management in Healthcare (United States) - Essay Example Dr. Harris diagnosed the patient with pneumonia and impending respiratory failure. She thought of intubating the patient herself on the floor, but then decided against it and handed over the patient to a pulmonologist and intensivist. The patient suffered intense and seemingly irreversible brain damage. After a few months had elapsed, the relatives of the patient consulted a legal counselor and came to the conclusion that the patient had suffered due to malpractice. Dr. Harris was held accountable. The case was settled by giving compensatory damages to the plaintiff. The end of the paper has an executive summary analyzing the case. The history of risk management in health care goes as far as four thousand years. The Babylonians were famous for punishing their medical practitioners if they were involved in any malpractice or if their negligence had incurred any physical or metal harm to the ill. The increased incidence of malpractice during the 1970s had a seminal effect on how the legislations that were made regarding health care. Health care providers found themselves in a quandary. The money-intensive lawsuits that had been filed against them was not only a huge financial burden, but also compromised their reputation. They were also faced with the possibility of losing their license. Therefore risk management became all the more important, with agencies using both financial resources and specialized risk management staff to ensure patient safety and higher standard of professional conduct for health care practitioners. Risk management in health care is defined as the systematic management of administrative and clinical processes to prevent uncertainties and potential dangers and to mitigate the risk of the institution’s exposure to liability if loss occurs. Risk management can come into play in case of mal practice. The Joint Commission (2010) defines mal practice as the â€Å"improper or unethical

Porters 5 Forces Essay Example for Free

Porters 5 Forces Essay 1) New Business / Threat of New Entrants Changing Conditions in PESTEL, Product, Service differences, brand identity, access to distribution, necessary resources, learning curve, inertia of existing markets. Expected retaliation, switching requirements, scale economics and experiences. Capital requirements. Example: Upcoming smartphone known as the OnePlus One from a completely new firm. Cheaper than other firms such as Samsung, Apple and HTC but the quality is just as good, if not better. http://www.cnet.com//oneplus-one-to-hit-general/ 2 + 3) Bargaining Power of Suppliers and Customers Concentration Number of Buyers, Switching costs esp Relationships, Control of information, Forward and backward integration, threat of Vertical integration, availability of substitutes. Importance to others performance. Brand identity, marketing and purchasing incentives. Alliances, relationships and expectations. The ability of suppliers to change the firms performance. Eg Samsung has increased costs now that their suppliers went on strike. http://www.clb.org.hk//workers-samsung-supplier-china Likewise the same thing refers to consumers, but I cant of an example off the top of my head. 4) Threat of Substitutes Sideways competition, Comparative price/performance, backing by rich competitor. Comparative technological life cycle. Benefits no product features. Theres tons of substitute products in the smartphone industry of all ranges in price and quality, so that one is self explanatory. 5) Rivalry amongst Competitors Aside from the other four forces, the nature of rivals also determine the intensity and degree of rivalry. Competitors with different values, vision,  mission, strategy and operational effectiveness, combined with different perceptions and abilities of their senior managers will influence not only the degree of competition but also its patterns. The intensity of competition is also elevated when; there are severally equally strong players such as Samsung vs Apple Few chances for differentiation They all know whats coming up and they all copy each other. Galaxy Gear, Moto 360, Apple iWatch (Rumored)

Challenges and Techniques of the Oil Industry

Challenges and Techniques of the Oil Industry The Oil Sand Energy availability and economic progress go hand in hand. It is not possible to achieve economic progress in the absence of cheap, reliable energy availability. The use of energy on the part of society has increased systematically over the past two centuries, since the time of the industrial revolution. And there is no end in sight to the increase in the consumption of energy. This will continue because as global population continues to increase and especially in some of the emerging countries like China and India, the consumption of energy is bound to increase exponentially. In the past fifty years, global energy consumption has increased monotonously and how is this demand satisfied? This demand is being meet primarily with crude oil. Crude oil has been the largest energy component since 1960 and grew very rapidly in the 1970s and ever since, has grown less rapidly. Though oil has been losing ground but nevertheless, it remains the most important source of energy, second being coal, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Oil is a fossil fuel and the world is about 80 to 85% dependent on fossil fuels for our energy supply. This is a challenge because when fossil fuels are burnt, they emit CO2 in the atmosphere and since CO2 is a greenhouse gas, it contributes to global warming Oil is a mix of hydrocarbons that are liquid under atmospheric conditions. The fact that they are liquid allows for easier processing, transportation, storage, and has a higher content of energy per volume. These are the greatest advantages that oil has over other energy resources.   However, there are scenarios where the oil is not trapped in a cap rocks and forces it way out to the surface, or very close to the surface of the ground, at which point, the lighter molecules evaporate into the atmosphere and what is left are heavier molecules, which are normally called extra heavy oil or bitumen. This is known as Oil sands or Tar sand and it is made up of a mixture of sand, water, clay, and bitumen[1]. Oil sands or Tar sand are found in various countries throughout the world, but the vast quantities of oil sand reserves are found in Canada and Venezuela, according to EIA. Alberta, Canada, is estimated to have about 1.7 to 2.5 trillion barrels of oil sand reserve, thus, represent ing the largest single reserve of oil in the world.[2] Accordingly, Canada produced about 3.8 million barrel per day of crude oil, in 2014 alone. Of this, 2.2 million barrel per day was produced from the oil sands.[3] About 10% of the worlds oil reserves are located in the Alberta oil sands and about 96 percent of Canadas total oil reserves are contained in the oil sands.[4] Moreover, Canada is said to be the leading supplier of crude oil and refined oil products to the United States and the trend continues to grow in terms of percentage of US oil imports. About 60 percent of Canadas production capacity from oil sand, about 1.34 million barrels per day is exported to the US.[5] Energy as found in nature needs to mined, processed, refined and transported before it is available for end use. Unlike oil produced by conventional oil drilling which is generally less dense than water, extracting oil from oil sands is more complex. There are two methods for getting bitumen out of the ground and turning it into usable products in-situ and open pit mining. The extraction method used will depend on how deep the oil sand deposits are below the surface. Both methods are complex, energy-intensive and expensive processes. In-situ (in place) In-situ extraction process is used to mine bitumen that lies deep below the surface of the ground (greater than 75 meters underground). According to studies, about 80% of oil sands reserves in Canada are accessible via in-situ techniques.[6] The in-situ method normally uses a process called Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD). This method requires the drilling of two horizontal wells; one is used for injecting steam into the oil sand deposit to heat the oil sand making the bitumen to become more fluid and easy to flow more easily. The second well is used to pump out the flowing bitumen to the surface.[7] Open-Pit Mining Like the conventional oil mining Open-pit mining is used when mining oil sand reserves that are closer to the surface of the ground (less than 75 meters below the ground). According to industry report, 20% of oil sand reserves in Canada are extracted using this mining technique.[8] With this method, trees and top layer of soil are cleared, large shovels are used to scoop the oil sand, which is mix of sand, water and bitumen into large trucks and then moved it to onsite processing facility, where hot water is added to this mixture of sand, clay, bitumen, in a large separation vessel. Bitumen froth is forced to rise to the surface, during the separation process and then removed and diluted with chemicals.[9] Normally, the spent sand and other materials that are recovered during this process is then returned to the mines to fill in empty space that has been mined as a way of reclamation Upgrading Once the Bitumen is recovered from either through open-pit or from in-situ operation, the viscous substance is then processed in order to make it easier to transport through pipelines to various refinery, where it is to be used as feedstock. This process is called upgrade. The purpose of upgrading is to transform bitumen into synthetic crude oil, a high quality, light sweet crude oil, by removing carbon and adding hydrogen and chemical to bitumen.[10] Typically the upgrading process comes in two phases namely primary and secondary upgrading. The primary upgrading involves breaking down the heavy molecules of bitumen into lighter and less viscous molecules. The secondary upgrading is used to further cleanse and purify the bitumen attained from primary phase. This phase involves removing other impurities such as nitrogen, Sulphur, and trace metals and get it ready for oil refineries.[11] Refining The bitumen is finally delivered to through pipelines the refinery through pipelines. The SCO product is then sent to a downstream refinery for conversion into final product.[12] Here the oil is processed and converted into final products like gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, plastics, asphalt and other consumer and industrial products. Environmental Challenges The mining and processing of oil sands present a variety of environmental impacts, such as global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, disturbance of land structure, and air and water quality. It also may have significant social and economic impactson local communities. Another major concern is related to the tremendous amount of water required for oil sands development -extraction, upgrading and refining. It is estimated that the process requires an average of three barrels of water for one barrel of oil produced,[13] though some of the water are be recycled. The major environmental challenges to oil sand extraction among others are land, water, air: Land Development of oil sand crate concern about the accumulation of large amounts of residual waste known as tailings. Tailing, which contain a mix of water, clay, un-recovered bitumen, and dissolved chemicals, including some organic compounds are considered to be extremely toxic and very hazardous to the environment. Moreover, the tailings are stored in large ponds and causes seepage into the surrounding landscape, though the water released from the ponds can be recycled and reused, however, most still remains as mud almost indefinitely. The massive activities associated with oil sand project are also known to create tremendous structural disturbances of the landscape including seismic exploration and construction of wells, roads pipelines etc. negatively impact the environment and endangers the wildlife. Water Since oil sand is made up of a mixture of sand, water, clay and bitumen, a hot water process is required to separates the bitumen from the associated sand, water, clay and minerals. The process takes enormous amount of water of fresh water to produce a barrel of bitumen from mined oil sands. In many cases, the water is sourced from ground water aquifers. Rapid expansion of oil sands projects are causing great strains on fresh water resources, which leads to ecological and environmental problems.[14] Also, since bitumen is denser than water, it can be harder to clean up when there is a spill. Additionally, oil sands mining operations produce huge amounts of toxic waste, known as tailings, which consist of water, sand, silt, clay, hydrocarbons and contaminants.   The contaminates may contain various levels of naphthenic acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phenolic compounds, ammonia and mercury etc., some of which, according to International Agency for Research on Cancer an d the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are known to be cancer-causing agent.[15] Even worst, the tailings are mostly stored in ponds or man-made dams, thus causing the tailing to leak into ground water and surrounding water resources. It is estimated that about four billion liters of tailings leak each year, thereby triggering immense environment devastation.[16] Air Extracting Oil sands require a substantial amount of energy in processing to process, upgrading and refining bitumen to the final products suitable for market. The entire development process is so energy intensive that it contributes immensely in carbon emissions. Reports suggest that the oil sand industry is among the highest contributors of national air emissions in Canada. Oil is produced to be consumed, more than half of the oil consumed in the world is for transportation fueling societys unquenchable demand for mobility. More than 50 percent of oil produced is used for transportation needs.[17]. As the worlds population grows, so will the global passenger mobility, global freight and transportation volumes. Additionally, the current global rise in urbanization, the global economic growth, as well as high level of economic development are other important factors prompting the increase in demand for oil. As fossil fuel, final oil products are burnt for energy through the various applications for which they are used. When burnt, they emit high amounts of harmful emissions, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particles that drift into the atmosphere and contribute to air pollution. Carbon dioxide and water vapor, along with other gases such as ozone and nitrous oxide, are known greenhouse gases and the increasing amounts of these greenhouse g ases in the atmosphere are linked to global warming and could have disastrous environmental consequences.[18] However, since the business of producing oil from oil sand is base generally on oil price, chances are that there will be some slowdown in sand oil operations around the world, as oil prices decline. Due to the recent downward trend of oil prices, the economic viability and financial attractiveness of oil sands projects have also declined. Financial analysts including those from Goldman Sachs and Total have concluded that oil sands projects require long-term prices in excess of $80/barrel to break even[19]. Deutsche Bank and BP, among others, have raised doubts about the future of investing in oil sand and Shell Oil has significantly scaled back its oil sands plans[20]. If these phenomena should continue, it might be the preeminent way in reducing and mitigating the environmental degradation being caused by oil sand. [1] http://www.canadasoilsands.ca/en/what-are-the-oil-sands/recovering-the-oil [2] http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy [3] lbid [4] www.oilsandsmagazine.com/technical/oilsands-101 [5] Kenny Bruno, Bruce Baizel, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Elizabeth Shope, and Kate Colarulli, Tax Sands Invasion: How Dirty and Expensive Oil from Canada Threatens Americas New Energy Economy (May 2010) [6] http://www.suncor.com/about-us/oil-sands [7] http://www.canadasoilsands.ca/en/what-are-the-oil-sands/recovering-the-oil [8] http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy [9] http://www.canadasoilsands.ca/en/what-are-the-oil-sands/recovering-the-oil [10] http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy [11] lbid [12] http://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/technical/oilsands-101 [13] http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy [14] lbid [15] Kenny Bruno, Bruce Baizel, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Elizabeth Shope, and Kate Colarulli, Tax Sands Invasion: How  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Dirty and Expensive Oil from Canada Threatens Americas New Energy Economy (May 2010) [16] lbid [17] https://www.iea.org [18] Kenny Bruno, Bruce Baizel, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Elizabeth Shope, and Kate Colarulli, Tax Sands Invasion: How Dirty and Expensive Oil from Canada Threatens Americas New Energy Economy (May 2010) [19] lbid [20] lbid

Skinheads in the Antelope Valley :: essays papers

Skinheads in the Antelope Valley William Finnegan's essay "The Unwanted" explains the history and make-up of the Antelope Valley and then explores the lives of some teenage citizens in order to discover reasons that two rival gangs have such a significant role in the community and on its people. Absent parents and lack of education are just two factors facing teens that ultimately led the Los Angeles Suburb into becoming a society where Skinheads and Boneheads are a norm and accepted as a part of everyday life. C. Wright Mills' idea of the sociological perspective, looking past the facades, is useful when analyzing the micro; individual, and macro; broad, causes of teens becoming skinheads. Each day America seems to become more and more diverse. Some people learn to accept the fact that America is made up of many different ethnic groups, while others believe the only ethnic group should be their own. There are various reasons for discrimination and it is a very controversial issue. In Finnegan's article he describes two gangs with opposing views concerning racism and how each group expresses their beliefs. The racist and anti-racist beliefs don't always end at the individual. Death is an all too common end and when an opinion becomes life threatening a problem arises. According to Finnegan, one of the two major gangs that occupy the streets of Lancaster and the Antelope Valley is, "a white-supremacist skinhead gang, the Nazi Low Riders (N.L.R.'s)" and the other is, "their rival gang of anti-racist skinheads, the Sharps" (1998, p.88). One major quality the two gangs share is their lack of education. Most, if not all, of the teens Finnegan interviewed, dropped out of school, even though later some used other means of getting a high school diploma or acquiring a higher education. Also it appears both gangs tend to resolve their issues with violence. Most people would agree that some violence is in everyone, but it seems that well educated people often find other means to conquer their problems or go about solving them. Through history knowledge has proved to be an unavoidable part of life. As children in the community began dropping out of schools in vast numbers these kids were forced to, willingly or not, gain knowledge elsewhere (1998). A macro cause for the growing numbers of students dropping out of school and joining the gangs, could be that the ideas and values of those gangs quickly spread through the streets and classrooms. This Leads the teenagers to make decisions about wether or not they agree with the

Describe the functions Essay

Received assignment which is to cover element 3. 1 all PCs. My initial task is to Gather all relevant information on the basic data structures for storage and retrieval. I will research through lecture notes and the books BTEC Information Technology, BTEC in Computing, File structures theory and practice, as well as to search through the CD ROM Groliers Encyclopaedia. Take notes on any relevant Information 9/5/95 – 11/5/95 Research information on the way that Basic data structures are analysed for different applications. Research through above books and CD ROM’s and take relevant notes. 11/5/95 13/5/95 Find out about logical and physical file organisation, with regards to PC3 Element 6. 1 of the log book. Take notes on relevant Information. 13/5/95 – 15/5/95 16/5/95 18/5/95 Research information using methods as above with regards to how the physical file organisation is analysed in relation to different media, PC4. Make notes Research information to cover PC 5, which needs me to explain location and access methods. Use literature as above 19/5/95 Word process first draft, and take to tutor for first review After outcome of first review take tutors advice accordingly. 20/5/95 Check work to see if any important facts have been omitted, ask Tutor for a second review. After outcome of second review finalise any missing facts. Word process final draft, check the work for mistakes and hand in finished report for 1/6/95 Nicky Wilson GNVQ Advanced IT Investigate data Structure for storage and Retrieval Element 6. 1 Introduction The report will analyse basic data structures for different applications and physical file organisation in relation to different media. The report will also explain basic data structure for storage and retrieval, logical and physical file organisation and location and access methods. A data structure is essentially a number of data items, also called elements or nodes with some relationship linking them together. Each item consists of one or more named parts called fields occupying one or more memory locations in the computer. For instance a list of numbers occupying consecutive memory locations in a computer is a simple data structure. Array: This is an ordering of the data elements so that the data is able to be extracted in a logical fashion, shown below is a diagram showing an example of this 1 6 9 3 Dim x (3) Index value 7 4 4 1 Dim y (3) Index value Dim x (3,3) Index value 9 2 6 7 Dim y (3,3,3) Index value Stack: The stack is a data structure chacterized by the expression LIFO = Last in first out this means that most recent item added to the stack is the first one which can be removed from the stack. A stack pointer is used to keep track of the last item added to the stack, which is the current top of the stack. Stacks are frequently used for data temporary storage. One common application of stacks is for storing return addresses (link values) for closed routines. TOP SP BOTTOM A stack only has two operations PUSH: Add an item POP: Remove the top item. FULL & EMPTY: Stack pointer It can define maximum values only one end used. Queue: The data structure known as a queue has the same characteristics as the queues that we encounter in everyday life. A queue in a data structure in which elements are added only at the rear of the list and removed only from the front of the list. A queue structure is often given the name FIFO which stands for first In first out. Data in what we call a queue is not moved along like people in a cinema queue, instead each datum stays in its storage location until its turn comes, thereby reducing time spent in data movement. The use of pointers makes this possible. FRONT BACK JOIN HERE Take items from the front, add items to the end. List: Lists provide a flexible way of handling data items in order. Changes to the order can be achieved with minimal data movement and little loss of storage space These can be ordered can contain N > 0 items, each data is an element, 3, 4, 41, 62, 79, 8, 11 or FRED, JIM, ANDY, CHRIS, SID. Tree: The tree structure is an Hierarchical structure, the term tree refers to a non linear data structure in which nodes have two or more pointers to other nodes forming an hierarchical structure. The top node is called the root node The bottom node are called leaf (Terminal nodes) and the nodes are connected by branches. Shown below is an example of a tree structure showing how a record in a employee file may have the structure shown below. Works Number Name County Sex Post Holidays Status Nation`ty phone Street Town Age Service Dept Years Salary Entitmnt Storage & Retrieval For example in a banking organisation, the information that must be recorded could be information on a customers checking or savings account, on loan applications, about employees of banking institutions etc. Due to the four parts of information, each part is related to as a file, so the banking organisation must record the information in four separate file shown below. Checking Savings Loan Employee Accounts Accounts Applications File File File File Records: Are a collection of related fields, an example to show this could be a record of an accounts file, which contains four fields. Illustrated below is a diagram showing this. ACCOUNT NAME ADDRESS BALANCE 9783 – 59 -812 JOE BLOGGS BLOGGS AVENUE 1000. 89 Files: Logical is referred to as the external view of the file a logical file is nothing more than a collection of all logical data. Media Access: File storage media is of two main types, Serial access and direct access, below is a short explanation of the two. Serial Access media: This means that in order to access a particular record, it is necessary to read all records which precede it in the relevant file. An example of this storage medium is in normal cassette tape. A difficulty with this storage media is that there are no readily identifiable physical access areas on the medium which can be addressed, it is non addressable. Thus to look for an individual record the software needs to examine eachreco rd key field, in sequence from the start of the file until the required record is found. Direct access media: This allows direct access to a particular record, for example floppy or Hard drives. They have physical divisions which can be identified by computer software, as well as hardware, and can be addressable so that particular locations can be referred to by name or code, to retrieve a record which is shared at the location. Basic data structures are analysed for different applications Input / output Queuing and spooling Computer and printer everytime you print work out in room 107 YCC you go into a queue, it stores the information and prints it out in the order it went in. Queuing information uses first in first out. If it was more advanced, for example you needed to have certain priorities for printing ( small files first) to make the system more efficient you would need to use a list structure. Spooling is the other way round, putting things together ready to go out. It would be possible to use a queue data structure. Storage (tables, declarations, files, databases) Table for example containing storage devices. TABLE 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 Two dimensional, one column specifies, and one column specifies the row. Stored in a two dimensional array structure. Files are made up by a number of logical records. 1 Dimensional array Dimensional array Field Record Record Record Record Record Problem must contain the same type of information Each box of array can only store the same type of Information Retrieval: All structure storage and retrieval vary from structure to structure. It may use a tree, to extract information from a tree the name given is traversing the tree or tree walking, for simplicity we will use binary trees. The reason for this is that each node can only have two branches. Left Subtree Node Right Subtree A B C D E F G. Inorder Traversal: Traverse the left subtree, visit the node. Traverse the right subtree. = DBEEAFCG Preorder Traversal Start at Node A Traverse the left Subtree. = ABDECFG Post Order Traversal Traverse the left Traverse the right Return to the Root. (Node) = DEBFGCA. Searching For searching list and array structures. Compilation: is the process of translating a High level language into machine code (Basic, Pascal, FORTRAN) There are 3 main steps   Lexical   Syntax Analysis Data structures is what we are interested in   Code generation Lexical analysis: This involves breaking the input to the compiler into chunks, also known as tokens. Syntax Analysis: This involves checking whether the input tokens form valid sentences when put together. This process is known as parsing. The second process of syntax analysis involves determining the values of arithmetic expressions. Code Generation: The final stage of the compilation process, where the machine code is generated. Methods of Syntax Analysis Parse trees can be used to evaluate whether a statement has the correct syntax. Customer 27 Customer 6 Customer 33 Customer 49 Sequential access files These are the files where the records are stored one after another in a predetermined order. This is usually around the key field, when files of data are created you need a means of access to a particular record within those files. This is done by giving each record a key field by which the record can be recognised or identified. Examples of key fields could be Customer number in a customer ledger record Stock code number in a stock record   Employee clock number in a payroll record Customer 10 Customer 26 Customer 34 Customer 47. Indexed sequential file: Records are stored in a sequence like sequential, the important difference is that an index is provided to enable individual records to be located. Strictly speaking the records may not always be stored in sequence but the index will always enable the sequence to be determined. Illustrated below is an example of an indexed sequential file. 1 INDEX 2 3 1 . . 10 . 10 11 20 12 . . . 20 21 22 Random access file structure This allows the ability to retrieve a record without having to read all the records that appear before it in the file. it allows fast access to records it is ideally suited for Interactive systems. Physical file organisation is analysed to different media Magnetic tape. Because of the physical characteristics of magnetic tape it is necessary when processing a file that the tape unit starts to read the tape unit at the beginning of the tape. Magnetic tape is a low cost high storage capacity device, its advantages are that it is very cheap. Files can be organised two ways serial and sequentially. Shown below is a diagram showing how a file is arranged on tape both logically and physically. Block or physical record File I I header R1 R2 R3 R4 B R5 R6 R7 B R9 R10 R11 R12 †¦ label G G Logical Records Inter Block Gap. Magnetic Disk: Magnetic disk provides storage facilities far more flexible than magnetic tape. The surface of the disk is divided into physical locations. It is a direct access medium. Magnetic disk supports the following file organisation methods Serial, Sequential. CD ROM Uses tracks to store the data on, the tracks are very close together . They have a mass storage capacity, they can hold about 600Mb of information and are direct access medium. Latest CDs now allow you to put information on and keep adding to it. RAM Random access memory is Electrical memory, it is a temporary store for holding programs and data that has either been put into the computer from either disk, typed at the keyboard or input from some other device. This type of memory is called volatile memory that means that the contents of main memory can be destroyed, either by been overwritten or when the machine is switched off. It is direct access and very fast access, it has a limited capacity and is relatively expensive. Location and access methods are explained serial sequential order: The lowest value is at the top, and the highest at the bottom. You would start at the beginning and work your way, the advantage of using this way is if for instance if you wanted to find number 29, if by the time it gets to number 34 the value is not found, the search will be terminated immediately. If it wasn’t sequential you would have to go through the entire list. 4 13 26 34 If number 29 is not found by here, search will be stopped 97 102 Serial search: Using a serial search you would go through the files in each order, look through data items one at a time, from the start of the data structure to the end. This can be a very inefficient type of search because all of the data items must be examined unless the data is ordered. This is the only type of search that can be used with unordered information. Serial record search: This means that in order to identify and retrieve a particular record it is necessary to read all the records which precede it in the relevant file, until the file you require is found RECORD 1 RECORD 2 RECORD 3 RECORD 4 Evaluation I am happy with the outcome of the assignment, I feel that I have covered the criteria and the range that was required. The way I approached the assignment was as such, first of all I researched Information from the books Information Technology by Roger Carter, BTEC Computer Studies, Information Processing BTEC, A level BTEC and first degree computing. The next process was to decide which way, was the best way to try and cover the PCs and ranges for the unit were covered. Eventually I reached the conclusion that it would be easier for me to work through the PCs in the order that they appear in the log book. Thus starting with PC1. The other way I thought of approaching the assignment was to start by doing PC1 first but to try and bring in other elements of the ranges in accordingly. The reason why I opted out of doing it this way was because I thought that it would make it more difficult. The way that I tried to checked the validity of the Information was by, trying to compare the information that I had it with the different books and CD ROM’s to see if it was correct. This way proved hard. In my opinion it is hard to judge the validity of the information for this assignment, because certain areas relating to this subject is hard to find a wide range of Information on. I have not done the work as instructed on my action plan, I have had reviews by tutor earlier than stated in my action plan, the reason for this is because I have other assignments that need completing. If any criticism is to be applied to my work, I feel that I have not gone into depth with certain parts of the assignment, but elaborated too much on other areas. Bibliography Books and CD ROM’s Used Computer Studies for BTEC (3rd Edition) Geoffrey Knott, Nick Waites, Paul Callaghan, John Ellison. Business Education Publisher ltd. 1993 Information Processing for BTEC 2nd Edition Geoffrey Knott, Nick Waites, Paul Callaghan, John Ellison. Business Education Publisher ltd. 1990. A level, BTEC & first degree Computing by Nick Waites, Geoffrey Knott. Business Education Publishers Limited 1992 Information Technology by Roger Carter, first published 1991, reprinted 1992. Encarta encyclopaedia, Times, Guardian, Groliers Encyclopaedia (CD ROMS).

Slaves in the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire existed from year 1453 to 1923 and was one of the largest and most well organized empires in world history. The Ottomans were very successful and conquered enormous territories with their large and professional standing armies. The Ottoman Empire was a slave society and slavery was very popular among the Ottomans. The sultan owned all property and had enormous power, and that was partly because he had so many slaves. That gave him much more control than if he had hired freemen, since slaves were always loyal but freemen could not be trusted in the same way.Islamic law regulates all aspects of the slave's status. It lays down the obligations of masters and slaves and determines the relations between them. The law commends manumission but does not require it. No distinction is made between types of slaves — such as according to color, function, or origin of servile state. During the early period of Islam, most of the slaves were prisoners-of-war captured by th e victorious Muslim armies. With the stabilization of the frontiers,†¦ this situation changed and many of the captives were exchanged or ransomed.Since the Sharia forbids the enslavement of free-born Muslims and Zimmis (protected minorities) who do not violate the conditions of their status, and since the various mechanisms of manumission and the absence of slave-breeding practices limited the ability of the slave population to reproduce itself, slaves had to be recruited from outside the Islamic world. Slaves in the Ottoman empire in general were brought from Eastern Europe and parts of Southern Russia. In the Islamic world slavery had religious rather than racial connotations, with most of the slaves in Ottoman history being Christians.The Ottomans had many European and Central Asian â€Å"Mameluk† slaves and the elite Janissary troops of the Ottoman army were all Christian-born slaves taken mostly from the Balkans Male and female slaves in the Ottoman Empire; what the ir status and rights were, what work they had to do and who they were. Most male slaves did military service. They were either bought from Spain, North Africa or Venice, captured in battle or acquired through devshirme. Devshirme was a system by which young Christians were recruited for the army or the imperial civil service.The sultan had agents that searched for promising Christian children who they then converted to Islam and trained to be janissary soldiers. But the best of these children, in terms of physique, intelligence and other qualities, were selected for education in the palace school, where they instead were trained for civil service. There were also some slaves who were personal servants or bodyguards. The sultan had slaves called â€Å"agents† who took care of his administrative and financial affairs, and these agents were actually the ruling class of the Ottoman society.They had the authority to collect revenues and their main function was to expand the wealth of the empire. Major slave import routes, 19 th Ottoman Empire Female slaves were mostly concubines or servants of their owners' wives. Slave concubinage was the central element of Ottoman reproductive policy and most sultans never married. They did not have to because in Muslim law a child held the legal status of his father and therefore a slave concubine's sons could claim the throne just as well as the sons of the sultan's wife or a freewoman.The slave concubines lived in the harems and if a concubine gave birth to a child she then took care of it until it, if it was a boy, became about ten years old, or if it was a girl, got married. A boy would then be given a province to govern and the mother would look after him and make sure that he behaved well. Some female slaves were given as gifts from lower officials to their superiors, for example the sultan, so that the lower officials would gain more status. There were not many powerful women in the Ottoman Empire, but one called H urrem, or later Roxelana, has become quite famous.She was a Russian slave who was purchased for Suleiman's harem and she soon became the sultan's favorite slave. They had five children, four of them which were sons, and after a time Suleiman visited only her. About eight years later he married her and Hurrem became the first woman who went from slave concubine to legal wife. An Ottoman source of the early 17th century explains the exemption of Muslim Turks from the Devshirme: â€Å"If they were to become slaves of the sultan, they would abuse this privilege. Their relatives in the provinces would oppress the reaya and not pay taxes.They would oppose the sanjak beyis and become rebels. But if the Christian children accept Islam, they become zealous in the faith and enemies of their relatives. † The government considered the Devshirme as an extraordinary levy on the reaya (tax paying subject) not as the enslavement of its own subjects. There were levies every three to seven yea rs, according to need. (Estimates very from 1000 to 3000 taken annually) When the youths arrived in Istanbul the best of them were selected as pages for the Palace. .. They then went to Palaces in Istanbul and Edirne to receive a special training, while the remainder were hired out†¦ to Turkish villagers in Anatolia before entering the January corps. According to Ottoman sources, Mehmed the Conqueror established this practice which was intended to teach the boys the Turkish language and Turkish customs. †¦ European observes record that the temperament and capabilities of each boy were carefully considered.Those who showed an ability in the religious sciences prepared for the religious professions; those proficient in the scribal arts prepared for a career in the bureaucracy. According to (one writer) who had himself been a page, the Palace education aimed to produce â€Å"the warrior statesman and loyal Muslim who at the same time should be a man of letters and polished s peech, profound courtesy and honest morals†. But its fundamental aim was to instill complete obedience and loyalty to the sultan. Slavery in the Ottoman Empire has been stated as comparatively mild, which is quite true.Great men (such as the sultan) cared much about their own safety and wanted a big and loyal slave household, and therefore they treated their slaves well and with kindness. Some slaves were actually wealthy and had slave households of their own, which proves that a slave career in the Ottoman Empire could be rather advantageous. People did not look down on slaves as if they were worth less, like it was the case in many other places in the world. Sometimes Christian parents even bribed the government to make them accept their children as slaves, since that meant social advancement for the children.Female slaves were sometimes abused by their owners though, but the mere fact that cases of such problems have been found in high court records tells us that slaves had quite an unusual position in the Ottoman society. Slave owners did apparently not have the right to do whatever they wanted with their slaves, even though they owned them. Ottomans had no history of segregation on racial grounds and many of those both black and white who were the descendants of slaves have intermarried with the Ottoman population.To sum it up, the male slaves in the Ottoman Empire were janissary soldiers, bodyguards, personal servants or civil service workers. Many of them were Christians who had been acquired through a system called devshrime when they were young. The female slaves in the Ottoman Empire were either slave concubines in the harem or servants of their owners' legal wife/wives. The slaves in the Ottoman Empire were not at the bottom of the society, they did actually have some status and many of them were wealthy.Slaves could even have their own slaves and gain power in the society. Slaves were accepted by the people and they sometimes had advantageous positions. It happened that Christian parents wanted their children to become slaves and they paid the government so that they would enslave their children. Though, after all they were slaves and they could not decide over their own life or do what they wanted to do, and it can be questioned if it really was something positive to be a slave. By Recep MAZ

macro essays

macro essays Classical macroeconomics is the theory and the classical model of the economists Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Mills and Jean Baptiste Say. Below the assumptions of the classical macroeconomics are described. Competitive markets: Classical theories all make many assumptions about the markets and their competitiveness.these assumptions are that all the markets are easy to enter and exit. No monopoly elements are present in the market to prevent newcomers from entering the market or stopping the present ones from quiting the market. Pricess and wages are flexible in both upward and downward directions according to the demand and supply forces. No single seller or buyer of a product has sufficient market power to influence the industry price, nor does any supplier or purchaser of labor services have sufficient market power to influence the market wage rate. Thus all economic agents are price-takers and not price-setters. Because the markets are competitive, a disequilibrium can only exist for a short period of time which economists call the short run. The firm can not change some of its aspects of operation. So every firm has some fixed inputs while the pricess and the wages are changing a nd flexible. So, if for some reason the product market were experiencing excess demand in some industry, with quantity demanded greater than quantity supplied, prices would rise until quantity demanded once again equaled quantity supplied. The rise in price returns the market to equilibrium. On the factor side, if there were an excess supply of workers, wages would decline until equilibrium in the labor market was restored and everyone who wanted to work can find a jobwhich is called the full employment. Perfect information: In classical theory all economic decision-makers are assumed to be operating by having all the information they needed to make the best decisions. The cost of acquiring information, transactions costs are s...

How to Hire Freelance Writers to Scale Your Content Marketing

How to Hire Freelance Writers to Scale Your Content Marketing You’ve started a content marketing program. You’ve followed the best practices. You’ve done customer research, and you’re writing 10x content  targeted  at your ideal buyer personas. And you’re getting results! Shares on social are up. You’re seeing a boost in organic traffic. Everyone in the organization is psyched. At the same time, while you’re excited, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of work that went into getting those results. Instead of just publishing a blog post, you’re also writing a downloadable checklist, setting up an evergreen series of social posts, adding in click-to-tweets and reaching out to influencers about the blog post. You’d be forgiven for wondering whether this process is sustainable when resourced with a single marketing manager. That’s where building out a plan for hiring freelance writers can help you. When you write yourself, youre limited by your time and energy. When you hire others, youre only limited by the return you can demonstrate on your content marketing investment. In this article, we’ll look at how you can build a repeatable system for: Finding the best talent online for your content marketing program. Convincing talent to work for you, rather than your competition. Keeping track of all the applications. Selecting the best talent from your pool of applications. Qualifying potential writers. Onboarding your writers so they hit the ground running. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to identify and find the best writers for your business with confidence. You’ll feel able to increase your content production safe in the knowledge that you have the systems for scaling up reliably. How to Hire Freelance Writers to Scale Your Content MarketingDownload Your Free Content Writer Job Description Template If youre going to hire the best freelancers, youll need to start with a good job ad. And the easiest way to write a good job ad is with this free template. Snag it quick, then read the post to learn how to use it.Looking to hire freelance writers to scale your content marketing? Start by writing the perfect job...Outbounding Recruiting: Reach Out Directly to Writers You Admire While you’re researching blog topics, you’ll undoubtedly stumble across some excellent writers in your field. These writers are a great place to start. You can reach out via email or a direct message to ask whether they’re interested in freelance work. You might find that many of these writers don’t have availability right now, so it can be worth keeping them on a list of potential fits. For example, I was following a great writer on Twitter for some time. Then, one day she tweeted that she was looking for freelance work, so I swooped in. Another option is to look on Twitter for who is popular within your field. You can use industry-specific hashtags to find heavily shared writers. Here’s one way you can find the most popular hashtags in your industry: 1 ) Search for your niche on Twitter - i.e. search for "project management" or "human resources"; 2 ) Browse through the tweets looking for common industry specific hashtags such as "#PMOT", which stands for project management on Twitter or "#HRtech" for human resource technology; 3 ) Use these industry-specific hashtags to find writers who routinely pop up in the top results. You can use date operators in Twitter to find the most popular Tweets with in a specific date range such as the last month via a search such as â€Å"#pmot since:2017-10-01 until:2017-10-14†. [Tweet "Here are three ways to use Twitter to find great writers (who can write great content for your brand).:] You can also use a tool such as BuzzSumo to find the most popular posts for a specific keyword. Here I searched for â€Å"project management† on BuzzSumo, and you can see a list of writers, some of whom may be worth reaching out to: Action Steps: Make a Twitter list of writers you admire in your industry, so you can keep an eye on them for availability. Search via hashtags for popular writers in your industry Use tools such as BuzzSumo to find the most shared writers for a particular topic Inbound Recruiting You also need a steady stream of incoming applications from potential writers. The reason is that you’ll find you’ll lose some freelance writers over time, as they move on to other opportunities. Secondly, if you want to scale aggressively, you’ll need more writers than you can reach out to manually. These inbound â€Å"leads† present a different challenge than the outbound recruiting, however. A large proportion of the applicants will not be suitable, so you’ll have to figure out how to qualify the applicants to focus on the ones that are a good fit. We’ll dig into how you can qualify applicants, but first let’s focus on your job ad, as it will help you reduce the number of unqualified applicants in the first place. Recommended Reading: How to Structure Your Content Marketing Team to Get the Best Results Write an Amazing Job Ad that Focuses on the Writer You want to find freelance writers who write amazing pieces of content that generate qualified traffic for years at a price you can justify. But you can’t write a job ad about what you want. First, you have to tap into the hopes, fears, and dreams of the best freelance writers want. A good job advert should push the very best to get in touch, while gently deterring applicants will little chance of success. To give an example, here is a job ad I found on Problogger: To put it mildly, they are looking for a â€Å"unicorn† writer who has experience working in an Agile software development team, yet can also write superb copy and wants to work as a freelance writer. And prior experience doing so is required. I think it’s great that this company has a clear idea of what they need, but I think that they could sell the opportunity better. The only line about benefits was one line on the price they were willing to pay: Those job ads will get you a large list of unqualified candidates, and a much smaller list of qualified ones. You’ll get a better quality of candidate if you include a section on the benefits that your writers will get from working with you. These benefits might be obvious to you, but they won’t be obvious to your writers. Include examples of benefits you could offer: Creative freedom to write evergreen pieces of content that will stand the test of time, particularly if your business doesn’t have an established blog Reach and impact, particularly if you do have an established blog Insights into how well their writing does Opportunities to network with other writers Input into content strategy Here’s a job ad that I wrote that attracted a huge number  of highly qualified writers: In terms of a template, here’s what I’d include: A short introduction about your company and product or service offering; A line on the ideal client persona; A paragraph on the types of content you need written, including links to existing content if available; A list of the benefits of working with you; A list of the bonus items that you might be looking for (industry experience or access to audience in the industry); and Next steps. This would translate into a job ad that looks like this: ACME corp is an performance feedback SaaS tool that's used daily by thousands of people in Fortune 500 companies worldwide to them improve in their career. A key persona is the VP Human Resources in a Fortune 500 corporation We want you to write articles aimed at pain points in rolling out new HR processes in Fortune 500 organizations, new trends in employee performance evaluation as well as product marketing pieces for new releases. The long term goal is to increase awareness of our product as well as generate new customers for ACME corp. How you'll benefit from working with us: 1) Full credit and bio on our website (no ghostwritten articles) 2) Scope to write high quality, original work that will be an asset i n your portfolio for years to come 3) Experience working for a B2B SaaS startup (high career potential) 4) High production values thanks to beautiful custom illustrations for your work from our designers 5) Competitive remuneration on a per-article basis How you can grab our attention 1) Show how you can bring your article to a wider audience in the HR space after it's published 2) Willingness to learn about and understand our product 3) Attention to detail in following our processes Next Steps Fill out this google form and we'll get in touch if we think you might be a good fit: [Link to Form] Use this template to write an awesome job ad that attracts the best freelance content writers.Put Your Job Ad in Front of a Qualified Audience A small investment to get great applicants is worth every cent. For example, if a job advert costs $100 and results in 100 total applicants and 10 highly qualified ones, you’re paying $10 for a qualified applicant. An ad your own site might net you ten total applicants and one highly qualified applicant. At the same time, you have to spend further time qualifying and testing out new applicants, so the investment of $100 will pay off. Sites I’ve found good for advertising: Problogger  ($100); AngelList  (free); WeWorkRemotely  ($299 for 30 days). Sites like UpWork, Fiverr  or Craigslist  might be a good fit, depending on the type or quality of content you’re working with. You are unlikely to find excellent B2B writers with industry experience on these sites, but you may find writers for lightweight, consumer-oriented content. DID YOU KNOW: makes it easy to share social content (including your freelance job listings page) across all the most popular networks? See how it works. Ask Qualifying Questions via a Survey When it comes to hiring freelance designers, it’s a good rule of thumb that you should expect their work for you to be fairly similar to what you find in their portfolios. In the same vein, when you’re hiring freelance writers, you’ll be frequently disappointed in my experience if you expect an entirely different style of writing than what you found in the past work. Therefore, I’d ask for samples of writing in line with the type of work you want them to do. If you want in-depth case studies with clients, ask them to submit examples of case studies. When you’re looking for industry-specific thought leadership articles, you’ll need a writer who has some experience writing thought leadership style articles. And if you need product marketing style posts outlining how to use your product, I’d look for similar pieces in their portfolio. Here are a few questions I’ve asked in surveys for applications: These questions give me: a feel for their past portfolio, but not so many articles that I don’t have time to read them all; their understanding of what makes an article successful. If they’ll list article reach or generation of qualified leads, they’ll be a good fit for content marketing; an idea of how they write their articles in terms of the research process, time length and input required. Action Step: Test out setting up your first Google Form by following this step-by-step guide. Keep Track of Your Applicants Perhaps you have an applicant tracking system (ATS) in place. In that case, use it! Otherwise, feeding the applications into a Google sheet will do the trick with minimal effort, and you’ll be able to see all the applications in one place. My process for assessing the applications is to go through each one, assigning that application a score between 1 and 10 based on whether they’re a good fit or not. I look for candidates who demonstrate that they have put a little thought into their answers. Relevancy is a crucial part of being a great content writer, so if I see someone has submitted irrelevant content examples, I'll automatically put them at 4 or 5. Then, I'll add on points for each bonus item I'm looking for. For example, if I'm looking for a writer with a large audience, relevant industry experience and experience in long-form content, I'll give an applicant who has two of those bonuses as well as relevant responses a "9" on the scale. Once I’m done, I’ll filter the applications to get the applications with the highest score. Usually, I’m looking for 10-20 applications with a score above 7. These are the application I’ll proceed with to the next stage. Hiring freelance writers for your content marketing team? Read this post first.How Do You Know If Someone Will Be a Good Writer? Now that you’ve gotten a collection of writers who seem promising, the next task is to assess who will be a good fit for your content program. Some applicants who are great on paper won’t work out in practice. At this point, there’s only one way to find out: get them to write a test piece. Provide Editorial Guidelines At this stage, you’ll have a good idea of the type of content you expect from your writers. Scaling your content productions means putting these ideas into words in your editorial guidelines for writers. You can handle the trivialities that keep your content consistent: US or UK English, title case or sentence case for headings, size of images, etc. But you should also demonstrate the type of content you are looking for with examples from your own content or articles from around the web, detailing what makes them special. By giving your freelance writers this information upfront, you’re maximizing their chances of success. Now, you can give your writers this information along with a request to write a single post and see how they do with the challenge. Recommended Reading: How to Build Social Media Branding Guidelines That Will Make Your Brand Memorable Judging the Test Piece Your standards for the test piece should be very high. After all, the test piece is probably the best writing you’ll see from them because the writers want to make a good impression. If the writer returns the piece late or doesn’t follow your style guide, I’d move immediately onto the next candidate. Secondly, if the writing itself isn’t up to scratch, I’d also move on quickly. You’re unlikely to have much success coaching a poor writer. Your time is better off spent helping an â€Å"A† writer move to an â€Å"A+† writer. This is also the reason why it’s important to have a steady stream of inbound candidates. Follow this process to attract tons of qualified freelance content writer candidates to your...Onboarding Your Writers Once you have writers who produce amazing content, you want to keep them onboard. One of the big pieces of information any writer wants to know is how their writing went down. Therefore, sharing stats such as Google analytics reports about how many people read their content is a great way to give them an insight into what’s working and what’s not. Secondly, giving them input and ownership of the content schedule will not only help them feel empowered but also take some of the work off your shoulders. Finally, some writers enjoy putting a face to a name and networking with your peers. You can consider having monthly Google hangouts where you discuss what happened last month, go over analytics reports and share ideas for the upcoming content calendar. DID YOU KNOW: is the industry's leading interactive marketing calendar software platform? See how we can make managing your marketing team all in one place easy. Plus, see how to easily onboard your freelance writing team and turn them into power users in no time. Creating Systems Instead of Campaigns Putting in place the systems for hiring writers takes time and effort. You’ll have to make adjustments over time to suit your individual situation. The payoff, however, is that you’re building a system that can be scaled on demand. Instead of randomly hiring writers, you’ll be able to find the best writers repeatedly, no matter your industry or content style. If leadership asks whether you can hit aggressive goals for your content marketing, you’ll have a system you can trust in, rather than just aspirations of â€Å"working harder†. Have you hired writers? What went well? What didn’t?

The Usage Of Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 9

The Usage Of Statistics - Essay Example In the business world of present times, figures and statistics have attained a very significant position and without their usage, companies can literally become bankrupt and economically unstable. It is the fiscal power that makes the organizations of today stands out from each other. Thus statistics are changed even in the business realms and misquoted at different points in time. The use of statistics is manifold. They are literally used in every software and program of the world, whether this one is operating in an airport or a highway. They cannot be denied of their presence at even the remotest of locations and are made available through the efficient and knowledgeable statisticians. Even in the world of sports, their usage is undeniable and these statisticians and record keepers make sure each and every record on the part of the player or a team for that matter is updated within a matter of seconds. The uses of statistics are in wars and weapons that are spread all over the wor ld now and can be easily traced with different computer programs and software which only deal with these statistics and nothing else. It is the human being that understands these statistics and thus acts upon them, bringing and carrying out orders after they understand what is the scene on hand. statistics is taught as a completely different module to the students and they are imparted of the knowledge concerning this subject so that they comprehend the actual importance of the same as well as employ it in this business world.

Jews and Race in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jews and Race in the United States - Essay Example History has it that Jews entered America years earlier than 1700s (Pattai and Pattai 27). They mainly immigrated to the Southern States of the US, where they were slave masters, big economists, planters and slave traders. As they continued to stay in America alongside increased immigration of other races into America, Jews related and liquidated with the new races as well as the original ones. These interrelations led to complication in identification of the Jews and to an extent tell whether Jews have a race or not. With reference to Marcus, before 1790, American Constitution did not allow room for naturalization of impure white race(s) into America (3). Fascinatingly, by that time Jews who immigrated to America were white and thus got naturalized as citizens of the US. Today, determining Jews is a big problem that may require expertise of doctors to determine genetic makeup of the suspected Jews. Steinsaltz and Henegbi mention that in the 19th century, Jews were considered merely a s religious group and not people belonging to any special race (1). Jews were most known to be anti-Christian though they lived and originated from Israel believed to be birth place of Christ. The recruits into Judaism or Jews have to learn and adhere to the strict commandments of Torah. Jews constitute of diversity of races among them Africans, Asians and Europeans and as religion, every individual who join Judaism becomes an automatic Jew. From the prior review, Jews therefore disqualifies to be a race but rather a people sharing common beliefs. Unlike other races whose physical makeup changes when they mingle and live long with other races, Jews at all times despite the color variations are identical when certain physical characteristics are carefully speculated (Pattai and Pattai 30). Jews are naturally promiscuous group who in the early 18th centuries when they dominated as slave masters in the US, copulated with Negros in the Southern part of America to produce intermediary ra ces or just Negro. The Jews also intermarried with the some of the European races like the Irish, Celts, and Anglo-Saxons among others. The intermarriages produce individuals of varied races depending on the Jew’s intermarrying partner. Among the characteristics used to determine Jews is the self-hatred psychology. As observed by Goldstein, Jews will easily be identified from their motives towards the Semites, they are always anti-Semites and this is a common attitude in every descendant of Jew in spite of color (10). Goldstein indicates that the facial appearance of the Jews that makes them easily identified, resemble that of a black African (5). First, Jews are characterized by muzzled-shaped mouth that does not resemble any race. Second, Jews have small chins, projected mouth and closely packed eyes. Jews are also at times in America, viewed as cultural people who share certain cultural and social beliefs. Jews are like a family believing in the same orders and rules. This aspect was also dominant in the American history when the slave masters taught and influenced the slaves with their cultural practices and finally converting the slave Negros to adapt Jews concepts. Fishberg dictates that the spread and contamination of the original Jewish race was due to their capabilities of mixing and fitting in any environment despite of weather, culture and language differences

Latin America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Latin America - Essay Example In addition, thousands of people moved in to work on the projects, an aspect which further led to degraded environment and global warming. The subdivision of land led to reduced food, turning small holder’s farmers into peasants ( Hobbs, 2008). Mining areas degraded farming lands and destroyed the natural environment for micro-organisms. These developments were both for worse and better of the region. For worse, the natural environment had been destroyed and better, it lead to production of minerals which spurred economic growth. Initially, the entire Latin America was under colonial government which also had many interests in the region. It had an America based United Fruit company which functioned as a unifying factor in the region. The Company owned large tracts of land which covered or spilled in nearly all countries in Latin America. This means that Latin America during colonial time was actually treated like one region geographically ( Hobbs, 2008). As such, the company and thus, the United States had a lot of influence on the regional politics. However, local leaders started changing laws governing land. For instance, the president of Guatemala, Arbenz developed land reform laws that were actually seen as a threat to the existence or interests of the American Based Fruit company. The president did not stay for long; he was ousted in 1954 by a group supported by CIA. This aspect disorganized the politics of the region. In fact, some of the countries in the region have not been so stable in terms of leadership. They also play second fiddle to the US when it comes to international trade treaties. What is more, its institutions have lacked behind of because of the unstable leadership. For instance, Mexico only started maximizing its petroleum potential in 2003, despite having discovered the mineral in 1960 ( Hobbs, 2008). Personally, I think the challenges faced by the region were instigated or triggered by the colonial government. For instance, most of

Corporate Social Responsibility and the US Economy Research Paper

Corporate Social Responsibility and the US Economy - Research Paper Example The moral minimum anticipates being part of the customary business practice and the forces restraints on the high-powered managers of companies (Cornelissen, 2004). The biggest environmental challenge that is facing most industries is development of an account on the environmental responsibilities widely but within the moral minimum to motivate most business compliances. Therefore, this becomes the accepted way of increasing profits in an accepted manner. In US, most companies assimilate corporate social responsibilities as their marketing strategies. In this regard, consumers may decide to purchase the products with reasons that they are supporting the social causes. Due to this, there is heightened financial performance aimed at the corporation through huge consumer profits. In addition, numerous companies have tried to establish social responsible corporate images. Through such techniques, consumers are involved either directly or indirectly in supporting the causes. Furthermore, there exists a superior model for sustaining development, which posits that businesses have the moral responsibilities to ensure that the activities are ecologically sustainable. Through this theory, the moral minimum should include ecologically sustainable perspectives. This seeks to reunite the natural ecological laws and the moral limits placed on the business activities (Adams, 2002). Businesses recycle the resources in appropriate rates and later compensate the ecosystem due to the losses that the productive capacity posses on its activity. Therefore, this knowledge on social environment perspectives is vital in the management of corporations. Case studies The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company... According to the research findings corporations like the Home Depot and the Minnesota Company has the responsibilities and duties to remain more significant in terms of environmental and social responsibilities in enhancing the financial performance. The company makes huge profits in participating and promoting the conservation of the environment. If all the resources involved in production are used and destroyed then the future success of the company is not feasible. Thus, the two companies promote environment and social responsibilities. They are partaking to better the natural environment through recycling some of the products and conserving the natural environment. These two companies have been prospects in preserving the environment basing on the social perspectives to act as recommendation for all our companies. Therefore, the companies should focus on the ways and methods of improving the manufacturing process to reduce all forms of pollution. Companies should also play activ e roles in the society and further sponsoring the communal projects to better the community. Through this, the companies will thrive both financially and advocate for our social well being in the society. The use of available natural resources in the U.S economy has been set in accordance to the satisfaction of the current living standards. Nevertheless, the environmental impacts on the global business have caused increased surveillance of United State corporations.

Is Deterrence Still a Useful Concept in the Post-Cold War World Research Paper

Is Deterrence Still a Useful Concept in the Post-Cold War World - Research Paper Example In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, international policymakers became increasingly preoccupied with the potential ramifications of nuclear warfare in creating an imbalance within the world political order. After the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Stalin asserted that â€Å"A single demand for your comrades†¦ Provide us with atomic weapons in the shortest possible time. You know that Hiroshima has shaken the whole world. The balance has been destroyed. Provide the bomb – it will remove a great danger from us1†. From a historical perspective, the Cold War phase following the Second World War led to what has been termed the â€Å"First Nuclear Age†2. This phase highlights how nuclear weapons’ programmes were rooted in the need of both superpowers to assert power in the arms race3. Moreover, Walton & Gray submit that the demise of this superpower rivalry has re-ignited the nuclear proliferation question in arms control measures within the world political framework4. This in itself highlights that the stability of international relations and the political balance at the international level is inherently dependent on the axis of nuclear control. Therefore, whilst the deterrence theory undoubtedly plays a central role in the relationship between nuclear war programmes and international relations, the inherent weakness of the theory is the failure to account for the changing global political climate, whereby nuclear strategy and proliferation is shaped by a correlation of complex, mu ltifarious.

Essay response Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Response - Essay Example Mahay analyses the that technology has played in advancing the message of holiday cards to include social class and status as well as construct an ideal of what happiness is all about. The author employs professional analysis to understand the actual message being carried by the digitally constructed photos. She understands very well that such cards were in the past used to wish paper an enjoyable or eventful holidays. However, this is no longer the case in the technologically advanced world where people have been given much power to professionally produce their photos. Her analysis leads her to a number of findings among which include how the holiday cards signify status. For example, she notes that a person’s status is seen through the cultural and economic capital represented in an elite holiday photo card (Mahay). Many photos on holiday cards show pictures of a family in different places enjoying life with their family members. These cards have certainly become a powerful tool used to express oneself. They are no longer sent to only those people who are far away from the sender, but also to the persons they meet on a daily basis. For many, the holiday c ard is the only communication they have with much of their extended social network (Jenna, 86). It is this simplicity of bringing out the message that captures the readers’ attention. Even though she applied two methodologies, the qualitative analysis which is reflected in the costly materials, sophisticated designs and modern digital technology, and the quantitative analysis on the displays of these retail websites to gather her information, she only rested on two photo card retail websites. These websites are the Shutterfly and Tiny Prints (Jenna 85). The use of other Medias like the holiday photo card retail shops, magazines and interviews could have given her more support on how the holiday photo card have greatly

Corporate Social Responsibility and the US Economy Research Paper

Corporate Social Responsibility and the US Economy - Research Paper Example The moral minimum anticipates being part of the customary business practice and the forces restraints on the high-powered managers of companies (Cornelissen, 2004). The biggest environmental challenge that is facing most industries is development of an account on the environmental responsibilities widely but within the moral minimum to motivate most business compliances. Therefore, this becomes the accepted way of increasing profits in an accepted manner. In US, most companies assimilate corporate social responsibilities as their marketing strategies. In this regard, consumers may decide to purchase the products with reasons that they are supporting the social causes. Due to this, there is heightened financial performance aimed at the corporation through huge consumer profits. In addition, numerous companies have tried to establish social responsible corporate images. Through such techniques, consumers are involved either directly or indirectly in supporting the causes. Furthermore, there exists a superior model for sustaining development, which posits that businesses have the moral responsibilities to ensure that the activities are ecologically sustainable. Through this theory, the moral minimum should include ecologically sustainable perspectives. This seeks to reunite the natural ecological laws and the moral limits placed on the business activities (Adams, 2002). Businesses recycle the resources in appropriate rates and later compensate the ecosystem due to the losses that the productive capacity posses on its activity. Therefore, this knowledge on social environment perspectives is vital in the management of corporations. Case studies The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company... According to the research findings corporations like the Home Depot and the Minnesota Company has the responsibilities and duties to remain more significant in terms of environmental and social responsibilities in enhancing the financial performance. The company makes huge profits in participating and promoting the conservation of the environment. If all the resources involved in production are used and destroyed then the future success of the company is not feasible. Thus, the two companies promote environment and social responsibilities. They are partaking to better the natural environment through recycling some of the products and conserving the natural environment. These two companies have been prospects in preserving the environment basing on the social perspectives to act as recommendation for all our companies. Therefore, the companies should focus on the ways and methods of improving the manufacturing process to reduce all forms of pollution. Companies should also play activ e roles in the society and further sponsoring the communal projects to better the community. Through this, the companies will thrive both financially and advocate for our social well being in the society. The use of available natural resources in the U.S economy has been set in accordance to the satisfaction of the current living standards. Nevertheless, the environmental impacts on the global business have caused increased surveillance of United State corporations.

Essay response Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Response - Essay Example Mahay analyses the that technology has played in advancing the message of holiday cards to include social class and status as well as construct an ideal of what happiness is all about. The author employs professional analysis to understand the actual message being carried by the digitally constructed photos. She understands very well that such cards were in the past used to wish paper an enjoyable or eventful holidays. However, this is no longer the case in the technologically advanced world where people have been given much power to professionally produce their photos. Her analysis leads her to a number of findings among which include how the holiday cards signify status. For example, she notes that a person’s status is seen through the cultural and economic capital represented in an elite holiday photo card (Mahay). Many photos on holiday cards show pictures of a family in different places enjoying life with their family members. These cards have certainly become a powerful tool used to express oneself. They are no longer sent to only those people who are far away from the sender, but also to the persons they meet on a daily basis. For many, the holiday c ard is the only communication they have with much of their extended social network (Jenna, 86). It is this simplicity of bringing out the message that captures the readers’ attention. Even though she applied two methodologies, the qualitative analysis which is reflected in the costly materials, sophisticated designs and modern digital technology, and the quantitative analysis on the displays of these retail websites to gather her information, she only rested on two photo card retail websites. These websites are the Shutterfly and Tiny Prints (Jenna 85). The use of other Medias like the holiday photo card retail shops, magazines and interviews could have given her more support on how the holiday photo card have greatly

Georgia Atlantic Company Essay Example for Free

Georgia Atlantic Company Essay During the depression of the 1930s, Ben Jenkins, Sr., a wealthy, expansion-oriented lumberman whose family had been in the lumber business in the southeastern United States for several generations, began to acquire small, depressed sawmills and wholesale lumber companies. These businesses prospered during World War II. After the war, Jenkins anticipated that the demand for lumber would surge, so he aggressively sought new timberlands to supply his sawmills. In 1954, all of Jenkins’s companies were consolidated, along with some other independent lumber and milling companies, into a single corporation, the Georgia Atlantic Company. By the end of 1992, Georgia Atlantic was a major force in the lumber industry, though not one of the giants. Still, it possessed more timber and timberlands in relation to its use of timber than any other lumber company. Worldwide demand for lumber was strong in spite of a soft world economy, and its timber supply should have put Georgia Atlantic in a good position. With its assured supply of pulpwood, the company could run its mills at a steady rate and, thus, at a low per-unit production cost. However, the company does not have sufficient manufacturing capacity to fully utilize its timber supplies; so it has been forced to sell raw timber to other lumber companies to generate cash flow, losing potential profits in the process. Georgia Atlantic has enjoyed rapid growth in both sales and assets. This rapid growth has, however, caused some financial problems as indicated in Table 1. The condensed balance sheets shown in the table reveal that Georgia Atlantic’s financial leverage has increased substantially in the last 10 years, while the firm’s liquidity position markedly deteriorated over the same period. Remember, though, that the balance sheet figures reflect historical costs, and that the market values of the assets could be much higher than the values shown on the balance sheet. For example, Georgia Atlantic purchased 10,000 acres of cut timberland in southern Georgia in 1961 for $10 per acre, then planted trees which are now mature. The value of this acreage and its timber is estimated at $2,750 per acre, even though it is shown on the firm’s balance sheet at $230 per acre, the original $10 plus capitalized planting costs. Note also that this particular asset and others like it have produced zero accounting income; indeed, expenses associated with this acreage have produced accounting losses. When Georgia Atlantic was originally organized, most of the outstanding stock was owned by the senior Jenkins and members of his family. Over time, however, the family’s ownership position has gradually declined due to the sale of new common stock to fund expansion. In 1987, Ben Jenkins, Sr. died; the presidency of the firm was passed to his son, Ben Jenkins, Jr., who was 61 at the time. By the end of 1992, the Jenkins family held only about 35 percent of Georgia Atlantic’s common stock, and this represented essentially their entire net worth. The family has sought to finance the firm’s growth with internally generated funds to the greatest extent possible. Hence, Georgia Atlantic has never declared a cash dividend, nor has it had a stock dividend or a stock split. Due to the plowback of earnings, the stock currently sells for almost $2,000 per share. The family has stated a strong belief that investors prefer low-payout stocks because of their tax advantages, and they also think that stock dividends and stock splits serve no useful purpose—they merely create more pieces of paper but no incremental value for shareholders. Finally, the family feels that higher-priced stocks are more attractive to investors because the percentage brokerage commissions on small purchases of higher-priced stocks are lower than on large purchases of lower-priced shares. They cite the example of Berkshire-Hathaway, whose stock price has risen phenomenally even though it now sells for over $15,000 per share and pays no dividends. (The family does acknowledge, though, that Warren Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman, has done a superb job of managing the company’s assets, and that the rise of its stock price reflects that factor as well as Buffett’s financial policies.) As the date for Georgia Atlantic’s annual stockholders’ meeting approached, Mary Goalshen, the corporate secretary, informed Ben Jenkins, Jr., who is commonly called â€Å"Junior† at the company, that an unusually low number of shareholders had sent in their proxies. Goalshen felt that this might be due to rising discontent over the firm’s dividend policy. During the last two years, the average payout for firms in the paper and forest products industry has been about 35 percent; yet for the 58th straight year, Georgia Atlantic’s board, under the Jenkins family’s dominance, chose not to pay a dividend in 1992. The Jenkins family was also aware that several reports in the financial press in recent months indicated that Georgia Atlantic was a possible target of a takeover attempt. Since the family did not want to lose control of the company, they were anxious to keep the firm’s stockholders as happy as possible. Accordingly, Junior announced that the directors would hold a special meeting immediately after the annual meeting to consider whether the firm’s dividend policy should be changed. Junior instructed Abe Markowitz, Georgia Atlantic’s financial vice president, to identify and then evaluate alternative dividend policies in preparation for the special board meeting. He asked Markowitz to consider cash dividends, stock dividends, and stock splits. Markowitz then identified six proposals that he thought deserved further consideration: (1) No Cash Dividends, No Stock Dividend or Split. This was the position Markowitz was certain that Junior and the family would support, both for the reasons given above and also because he thought the company, as evidenced by the balance sheet, was in no position to pay cash dividends. (2) Immediate Cash Dividend, but No Stock Dividend or Split. This was simply the opposite of the no dividend policy. If a cash dividend policy were instituted, its size would still be an issue. (3) Immediate Cash Dividend plus a Large Stock Split. The stock split would be designed to lower the price of the firm’s stock from its current price of almost $2,000 per share to somewhere in the average price range of other large forest products stocks, or from $20 to $40 per share. (4) Immediate Cash Dividend plus a Large Stock Dividend. The reasoning underlying this policy would be essentially the same as that of Alternative 3. (5) Cash Dividend, Stock Split, and Periodic Stock Dividends. This policy would require the company to declare an immediate cash dividend and, simultaneously, to announce a sizable stock split. This policy would go further than Alternatives 3 and 4 in that, after the cash dividend and stock split or large stock dividend, the company would periodically declare smaller stock dividends equal in value to the earnings retained during the period. In effect, if the firm earned $3 per share in any given period-quarter, semi-annual period, and so on—and retained $1.50 per share, the company would also declare a stock dividend of a percentage amount equal to $1.50 divided by the market price of the stock. Thus, if the firm’s shares were selling for $30 when the cash dividend was paid, a 5 percent stock dividend would be declared. (6) Share Repurchase Plan. This plan is based on the premise that investors in the aggregate would like to see the company distribute some cash, but that some stockholders would not want to receive cash dividends because they want to minimize their taxes. Under the repurchase plan, individual stockholders could decide for themselves whether or not to sell some or all of their hares and thus to realize some cash and some capital gains, depending on their own situations. To begin his evaluation, Markowitz collected the data shown in Tables 2 and 3. As he was looking over these figures, Markowitz wondered what effect, if any, Georgia Atlantic’s dividend policy had on the company’s stock price as compared to the prices of other stocks. Markowitz is also aware of one other issue, but it is one that neither he nor anyone else has had the nerve to bring up. Junior is now 66 years old, which is hardly ancient; but he is in poor health, and in recent years he has been almost obsessed with the idea of avoiding taxes. Further, the federal estate tax rate is currently 60 percent, and additional state estate taxes would be due; so well over half of Junior’s net worth as of the date of his death will have to be paid out in estate taxes. Since estate taxes are based on the value of the estate on the date of death, to minimize his estate’s taxes, Junior might not want the value of the company to be maximized until after his death. Markowitz does not know Junior’s view of this, but he does know that his tax advisors have thought it through and have explained it to him. Finally, Markowitz knows that several Wall Street firms have been analyzing Georgia Atlantic’s â€Å"breakup value,† or the value of the company if it were broken up and sold in pieces. He has heard breakup value estimates as high as $3,500 per share, primarily because other lumber companies, including Japanese and European companies, are eager to buy prime properties such as those owned by Georgia Atlantic. Of course, Georgia Atlantic could sell assets on its own, but Markowitz does not expect that to happen as long as Junior is in control. Now assume that you are an outside consultant and have been hired by Abe Markowitz to help him with the analysis and make a presentation to the executive committee. First, Abe is not sure whether an announced dividend policy is a good idea. He believes an announced policy could cause the firm to feel forced to take actions that otherwise would be undesirable. He has also expressed concern about signaling and clientele effects. As old man Jenkins used to say, â€Å"If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.† Thus, analyze the firm’s present dividend policy to determine how well the company has performed compared to other firms in the industry before discussing the implications of the alternative dividend policies and making a recommendation. Markowitz also wants you to discuss whether the firm’s historical rate of return on investment has been affected by its dividend policy, the estate tax issue, and the takeover issue. Junior is famous for asking tough questions and then crucifying the person being questioned if he or she has trouble responding. That is probably why Markowitz wants you to make the presentation. So be sure that you thoroughly understand the issues and your answers so that you can handle any follow-up questions that you might receive.

The British Foreign Policy

The British Foreign Policy This essay aims to establish the role the Prime Minister plays in setting, shaping and implementing foreign policy in the UK by exploring decision-making patterns by former Prime Ministers in the related field, as well as current governments choices and aspirations on the international arena, and the contribution of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and other bodies. As Paul Williams (2004: 911) noted that foreign policy is not made in a political vacuum it is paramount to take into consideration Britain`s national interest in international relations and the countrys position in the existing paradigm of world politics. First, it will define what foreign policy is and why it takes a special place in policy making. Foreign policy will be analysed against following factors: globalisation, public opinion and national interest. Also, it will summarize the key models of the Foreign Policy Analysis (Allison 1971) and question their effectiveness and drawbacks. Second, the essay will refer to case studies on the subject to bring empirical data into analysis. The case studies include the Europeanization of the foreign policy in the UK, the US-UK intervention in Iraq in terms of the ethical foreign policy. They will help to access the role played by foreign policy makers. Given the length of this essay it will not comment in detail on the influence of NGOs, British ambassadors abroad and the economy; however, they are undeniable parts of foreign policy-making process. Finally, the essay will discuss a possible course of action for the UK to take in order to achieve a successful foreign policy and bring back the power to British decision-makers. What could be done to overcome common thinking of foreign policy being about getting our way in an unhelpful world (Cradock 1997: 99-100). What foreign policy is? Definition, context, goals In the modern world it is impossible to imagine a country without a well-defined set of rules of behaviour towards its geopolitical neighbours and economic partners. The question remains, however, as to what extent foreign policy represents interests of leaders, political parties and general public of a particular country. Collective coping with the international environment is, indeed, a useful shorthand definition of foreign policy according to Christopher Hill (2003: 9) but this definition leaves infinite variants of interpretation of what collective is and who plays the leading role in doing so the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, a collaboration of both, official agents interpreting and implementing policies or influence of powerful countries that Britain has close relationship with? In order to understand who conducts the British foreign policy it is essential to outline the policy goals first. William Hague, the current Foreign Secretary, in his speech on the 1st of July, 2010 promises to deliver a distinctive British foreign policy that extends our global reach and influence, that is agile and energetic in a networked world, that uses diplomacy to secure our prosperity, that builds up significantly strengthened bilateral relations for Britain, that harnesses the appeal of our culture and heritage to promote our values, and that sets out to make the most of the abundant opportunities of the 21st century systematically and for the long-term. So for the first time in years in my view Britain will have a foreign policy that is clear, focused and effective. His statement highlights the fact that UK foreign policy is not pursuing one goal; on the contrary, it seeks to accomplish multiple aims: to extend Britain global influence, to secure prosperity, to promote values through culture, etc. Successfully achieving them means achieving each part separately which involves resources and actors in different areas. As a result some policies might overlap and even contradict one another (Williams 2004: 913) and it is worthwhile looking at specific parts of the policy rather than a whole. Foreign policy has been characterised by being overly secretive and elitist which makes it more complicated to trace the decision-making process. Foreign policy takes a special place in the whole policy-making field as it is closely linked with politics. It should not come as a surprise since it deals with sensitive issues like intelligence services and diplomacy, which seldom become available to general public, for obvious reasons: the information might fall into the wrong hands and undermine the objectives set by the policy. Nevertheless, it is possible to comprehend in which direction foreign policy is headed based on the past decisions made by politicians and the impact they made at the time. This direction a state chooses to follow depends greatly on the personality of a leader, current administration and economic situation a state finds itself in. Foreign policy is conducted in complex internal and international environments; it results from coalitions of active actors and grou ps situated both inside and outside state boundaries; it involves bargaining and compromise affecting the interests of both domestic and international groups (Neak cited in Carlsnaes 2008). Foreign Policy Analysis To analyse foreign policy scientifically Graham Allison (1971) in his work Essence of Decision comes up with three models of decision-making related to foreign affairs (known as Foreign Policy Analysis) trying to explain the reasons and causes behind states decisions in a crisis. The first model, Rational Actor Model (RAM), assumes that a single actor (state) makes decisions upon a calculation of possible outcomes, thus decisions are rational reactions to a particular situation. It can be said that state chooses a course of action in line with its national interest trying to avoid losses and maximize benefits. The second model, Organizational Process Behaviour (OPB), is characterised by decision made by multiple organisations that look back at previous precedent and act accordingly. Thus it tries to bring down the importance of central control in decisions. The final model, Bureaucratic Politics, is summarized by Allisons own words where you sit determines where you stand, meaning t hat governmental organizations normally have a preferred way of dealing with an international crisis. These models were used by the scholar to apply different lenses to explain the origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis and establish how and why the USA and the USSR came to the choices they made during the conflict. Allison admits that these three models are not capable of encompassing all possible variants, his study became a milestone in FPA as it attempted to present social science capable of achieving clear and objective explanations of social and political actions. Stein (2008) develops the idea of rational-decision making further: in order for a policy maker to make a rational choice, he/she needs to value how reliable the information is, and whether it comes from a trustworthy source. Moreover, any new information that might turn up has to be evaluated against diagnostic evidence that takes into consideration the consequences the policy maker is considering. Who is in charge? On paper it is the Foreign Secretary who conducts foreign policy in the UK although it hasnt always been the case. The Prime Minister retains the power to declare war and deploy military troops, making the fragile equilibrium of power shift. Tony Blair has shown that depending on who is leading the country, the style of policy-making changes dramatically. During New Labour the most important decisions on foreign policy were not taken at the FCO but in the Cabinet. His leadership earned the name interventiolalist as Britain took part in several military operations: Barras in Sierra Leone, Desert Fox in Iraq amongst others. It is the Prime Ministers decision whether to send troops into combat or not and Blair chose to consult not the cabinet as a whole but rather small ad hoc committees of advisers. Anthony Sheldon (2004: 692) named these groups denocracy as their meetings took place in Blairs office, the den. Such exclusiveness promotes confusion as a small circle of trusted ministers and advisors gives an impression that the policy as a whole is reactive rather than proactive. It is worthwhile mentioning that the UK is a parliamentary monarchy and the Queen is the official ruler in the UK. Although her power is mostly of a ceremonial nature, nevertheless, she plays an important role in representing the country at various levels: the UK, the Commonwealth and internationally. In her speech to the Parliament on the 9th of May 2012 the Queen set the following agenda: to strengthen oversight of the security and intelligence agencies, to seek approval of Parliament on the anticipated accession of Croatia to the EU, to support a secure and stable Afghanistan, to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation in Iran and to build strategic partnerships with the emerging powers. These goals show that the Queen is far from being above politics, on the contrary, she is greatly concerned with Britains position in the fast developing world and foreign policy is one of her concerns. Factors influencing the British foreign policy: American influence The UK boasts to have a special relationship with the USA in terms of foreign policy. British foreign policy has privileged the idea of working closely with the United States, particularly in the area of international security, where the UK has provided the largest and most effective non-US contingent to three American-led conflicts in recent years twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan (Wallace and Phillips, 2009: 267). The two countries have been allies for a long period of time and acted accordingly. Britain considers its international relations with the USA to be as important as its ties with Europe, if not more. However, in the light of Britain losing its imperial power long ago and the hegemonic rise of the US, arguably, Britain plays along with the American directives. This was the case in all interventions where the USA took part in the last 60 years except the conflict in the Falklands. It appears that Britain is torn among its own interests, the EU integration and Anglo-American ties (Atlanticism). Blair decided to strengthen the countrys position by addressing these three issues at once. The USA will benefit from a special relationship with the UK when making decisions in Europe and vice versa. This special relationship (Wallace and Philips 2009: 267-274) includes defence cooperation, military nuclear cooperation, provision of bases to the United States and intelligence relationship. But does Britain get out as much as the USA in this relationship? The answer to this question remains unclear: On issues as varied as the Kyoto Treaty, the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines, the war in Kosovo, the attack on Afghanistan, the Middle East peace process, the Iraq war and subsequent occupation, or the holding of British captives at Guantà ¡namo Bay, there has been little evidence of the UKs ability to shape US policy. Indeed, British governments, in clinging to the idea of the special relationship, have generally overlooked the fact that the US has several privileged relationships, notably with Mexico, Israel, Australia, Italy and Poland. (Wallace 2009: 65) While Brits assume that Americans hold certain sentiment towards shared past and noble goals, the USA might be pursuing its own national interest instead. Riddell (2003) argues that America is not disposed to sacrifice national interest on the altar of nostalgia or sentiment and shows scant regard for those who do. It shows that no matter who the USA considers to be its allies, it is going to pursue its own national interest and foreign policy. Tony Blair was not the first Prime Minister who chose to play a bigger role in foreign-policy making. Margaret Thatcher in her role as the Prime Minister had her own very specific view on how to conduct foreign policy. Her initiative to take part in the military conflict in the Falklands wasnt supported by the USA at first which didnt stop her. She had very distinctive views about Anglo-European relationship as well and the FCO was often excluded from the decision-making process. She blamed the FCO for being pro-European and considered creating a separate body to counteract the FCOs dominance in foreign policy-making. The UK and the EU: the FCO adapting to Europeanization While Anglo-American relations occupy an important place in Britains foreign policy there is another undeniable partner that has become more and more relevant in the recent years the European Union. British policy-makers have traditionally accorded a higher priority to transatlantic security relations than to relations with their European partners. This is despite having enjoyed arguably more success in shaping the actions of the EU than in influencing key decisions in Washington. In recent years, and on crucial issues such as defence, energy and environmental policy, Tony Blair played a crucial role in shaping the EU agenda. (Wall cited in Menon, 2010) After Britain joined the EU (EEC) in 1973 it became apparent that the country needs to integrate into the EU and to do so it had to adapt and reform its foreign policy. The FCO anticipated the changes both with suspicion and high hopes for a stronger Europe. Inevitably the line between domestic and foreign has become thinner and thinner as the EU touched upon an array of issues. Since the creation of the EU has influenced its member states so greatly it is argued that they became Europeanized. Bulmer and Burch (1998: 602) define Europeanization as the extent to which EC/EU requirements and policies have affected the determination of member states policy agendas and goals. Arguably the FCO lost part of its power to the EU in terms of policy-making towards Europe. The FCO wanted to retain its power as a sole determinant of Britains national interest. David Allen (2008: 3) points out that the FCOs position within British central government has been both enhanced and challenged by European integration. At the same time David Milliband (2009) emphasizes how important albeit difficult the integration is we can lead a strong European foreign policy or lost in hubris, nostalgia or xenophobia watch our influence in the world wane. Structurally, a Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS) remains as the top role of the FCO. PUS coordinates the FCOs work overseas and its administration. Another key role is held by Political Director, who makes sure that Britains interests are represented at European Political Cooperation (EPS), which is now effectively the top policy advisory post. Allen (2008) explains how these posts work as a tandem: The specific position of Political Director can be explained in terms of Europeanization in that the FCO willingly adapted its management structure so as to effectively participate in the EPC. This adaptation has led to spillover whereby the Political Director now plays a larger role than perhaps originally intended. However, the different roles played by the PUS and Political Director are the result of both EU membership and other factors, especially the need for improved management within the FCO. Britain remains being euro-sceptic towards further integration in the EU, it repeatedly criticises the current weakness of the economy in Europe and is not satisfied with being a member of the three major states (along with Germany and France) that have to help out weaker countries sometimes at their own expense. However, in the era of globalisation further integration is inevitable and the UK is more Europeanized than it thinks is. At a general level British foreign policy has undoubtedly been affected by a process of Europeanization, although the extent to which this has impacted upon actual policy will vary from issue to issue. In particular, British policy has been Europeanized at an ideological level, in regard to foreign policy-making, and in relation to the agenda and content of policy. However, the process of Europeanization has not entirely subsumed a distinctly British foreign policy. In this sense, successive British governments have been quite successful at using the European level of foreign policy to achieve its own objectives and simultaneously prevent unnecessary levels of integration. (Williams, 2002) Paradoxically, the EU shouldnt have foreign policy in the first place as it is not a sovereign state. Because of Maastricht Treaty 1993 the EU member states are committed to a common European and Security policy (CFSP) which enables them to pursue their own national interests but at the same time to coordinate them on the European level. This can be achieved with the help of the European Community, the CFSP and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) which are responsible for different policy issues such as external economic relations, political and security question, international crime and terrorism respectively. Sometimes events on a global scale are capable to change foreign policy almost overnight. The 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York transformed British, European and American foreign policy and only after three days, on the 14th of September, the EU passed a declaration on European arrest warrants and measures to combat terrorism. This brings another foreign-policy dilemma the ethical dimension. As Tone Blair declared to bring human rights at the very heart of foreign-policy it remains unclear which ethics British foreign policy should pursue. The war on terror had best intentions in its core; nevertheless, Britain has to draw a line on its use of power to do so. Blair followed the doctrine of liberal interventionism, promoting liberal beliefs and sometimes imposing it on the countries with contrasting views: Afghanistan, East Timor, Iraq, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. If democracy and the rule of law are imposed in a non-negotiable way it becomes unethical as a result. Cases such as Iraq invasion in 2003 bring to attention this delicate matter in foreign policy. There was no direct threat to either US or UK sovereignty, the public polls disapproved of the intervention, yet both countries favoured the invasion. The workings of the EU institutional system mean that the coalition government may also struggle to exert the influence it desires. Britain already suffers from its exclusion from and lack of clear engagement with a key consultative forum the Eurogroup (comprising those member states that have adopted the euro). This structural weakness is only heightened by the absence of the Conservative Party from the European Peoples Party, whose members include the German Chancellor, the French President and the President of the European Commission. David Cameron will not be able to attend their pre-summit meetings, at which they coordinate negotiating positions. In other ways too, Conservative suspicions of European integration may limit the ability of the UK to achieve all that it could within the framework of the Union. What is more, to be reliable and effective foreign policy must attract domestic legitimacy, which means involving the public in the same kind of continuous dialogue as takes place over tax or transport policy. If we can accept the centrality of foreign policy in our political life without seeing it as a way of merely exporting our own superiority, we shall stand a better chance of, first, coping collectively with outsiders; second, making a contribution to a more stable and civilized international system; and third, avoiding the kind of catastrophic mistakes which cost hundreds of millions of individuals their lives in the last century, the century of progress. Public opinion and media shaping foreign policy Public opinion is another important lens of foreign-policy making. As we live in a world where communication has become instantaneous powered by digital media both politicians and policy-makers try to use it to their advantage. According to Robinson (2008) there exist two models capable of analyzing the impact of public opinion and media on a policy. The pluralist model suggests that the media and publics are independent of political influence and, as such, can act as a powerful constraint upon governments. The elite model, on the contrary, assumes that media act merely as mouthpieces for government officials, operating to mobilize publics in support of respective policies. The case of the polls on the Iraq War in the UK showed that although the majority disagreed with Tony Blairs decision to engage in the conflict, they did not stop the Prime Minister from changing his course of action. The consequences of this decision resulted in Blair not being re-elected, as the media coverage r evealed more details about the rising number of casualties in the war. Bias of the media should also be put under scrutiny the newspapers in the UK (as well as the rest of the world) often cater to different political parties promoting a certain agenda and delivering a policy chosen by that party to the public. Thus, it is extremely difficult to account for the influence of the media due to the fact that public opinion might not be partial having been shaped by the media. Foreign policy is always the product of a society, a polity, interpreting its situation and choosing who chooses is another matter to act or react in a particular, unpredetermined way. Conclusion In conclusion there is not a definite answer to who conducts the British foreign policy. Different Prime Ministers showed a ranging level of involvement into foreign policy-making process. Factors such as Europeanization, the US-UK alliance, public opinion and economic crisis make it more difficult to understand to what extent one person or several people (the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary along with advisors) can follow through with the propositions set at the beginning of a governments term. The process of foreign-policy making involves civil servants, ministers and officials of all spectrums as well as independent advisors, experts from the UK and worldwide. While most significant decisions are made by the Prime Minister, he makes his choice based on the data and evidence he has been given. Finally, it is not enough to simply formulate foreign policy, the major stages of the policy-making process fall onto the shoulders of civil servants who interprete, implement and pr esent the policy. Moreover, there are multiple foreign policies in the UK which demand different approaches. If the UK wants to remain its international power that has been in decline after the fall of the Empire and maintain the foreign policy that is coherent at all stages of the policy-making process, it needs to find balance between pursuing its national interest, skilfully presenting and implementing the policy at the domestic and the international levels and managing the members involved in the process. Britain faces not a menu of alternative routes to far-reaching international influence, but a choice between imperfect options (Cradock 1997). UK needs to go through the three-step process identified by Christopher Layne (cited in Menon, 2010) determining the countrys vital interests, identifying threats to these and deciding how best to deploy national resources in order to protect them.