Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Low Pressure Atmospheric Systems

Low pressure atmospheric systems are also known as depressions or cyclones and they form in mid- and high-latitudes. They are formed by the mixing of cold and warm air, the warm air is lighter, so it rises above the denser, cold air and forms a centre of low pressure. High pressure atmospheric systems are also known as anticyclones and have very different characteristics to depressions. Anticyclones are large masses of subsiding air, which produces high pressure at the surface.There are a variety of difference between anticyclones and depressions, including the weather conditions, the length of time they last and the impact they have upon diverse countries and areas. Low pressure atmospheric systems can cause hazards because of severe weather such as blizzards and heavy snowfall, as well as high winds and heavy rainfall. This can have harsh impacts among individuals, being a lead cause of hypothermia, and frostbite, especially those vulnerable, such as the elderly. Also, these depres sions can cause crops to be destroyed, and a high mortality rate throughout the spring lambing season.Extreme cold spells can have a massive negative effect on a global scale, but also in a specific country or region. High pressure atmospheric systems affect the globe, especially the southern hemisphere, as it is nearly always continuous, although in places such as Australia and South Africa, this is broken throughout their summer. With anticyclones, there are few winds, so maps usually have circular spaced out isobars. Also, these atmospheric systems block depressions, which mean that their impacts are usually long-term, because they are constant. Weather associated with anticyclones differentiates depending on the time of year.In summer, anticyclones produce long periods of dry, hot, sunny weather, which can then cause heat waves and drought. However, in winter the cloudless nights mean that temperatures drop, and does not recover the next day because of weak sunshine and lingerin g fog. The impacts of anticyclones and depressions vary, as does the period they remain and the effect they have. The North American blizzard of 2003 lasted for five days throughout February and occurred on the East Coast of the USA and Canada. It was a record-breaking blizzard, which caused 27 deaths and over $14 million worth of damage.The cities in America were bought to a standstill, as there was a range of 38-76cm of snow covering the ground. The cause for such an unusually extreme blizzard was the fact that the conditions were favourable, with moisture from the Atlantic Ocean enhancing precipitation and a high pressure system over Canada, allowing cold air to be brought down coastal areas. This meant that the precipitation was mainly snow, hence the record-breaking statistics. The effects this storm had were mainly short-term, but the roof of the historic Railroad Museum collapsed and 27 people lost their lives.Additionally, transport infrastructure was brought to a halt, and three major airports were also closed. So, the impacts of depressions are mainly short-term, although the destruction can be horrendous, whereas, anticyclones usually cause long-term impacts on a country such as the Drought in Britain and Europe in 2003. This drought effected many locations, but the main focus was on the UK, France and Portugal. Not all impacts are negative, as the heat wave did boost the tourist industry in most countries and sales for summer items such as barbeques and sun cream increased, but this positive outlook is short-lived.In the UK, an estimated 200 people lost their lives due to poor air quality, and this figure was 10% higher than the average. Furthermore, transport was disrupted because of roads melting at such high temperatures, and the London Underground was 37Â °, which is over the legal limit to transport animals. Finally, in the UK the cost of people taking days off work to enjoy the hot weather was between ?7. 5million and ?10million per day. In France, the death toll was as high as 30,000 and harvests were down by 30 to 50% on 2002.Additionally, the nuclear power plants could not produce the soaring demands for energy, which was used for refrigerators and air conditioning, because there was less water available for cooling. Portugal declared a State of Emergency after the worst forest fires in 30 years. Approximately 35,000 hectares of forest, farmland and scrub was burned, and 1300 people died. 80 families were forced to abandon their homes, and arsonists begun deliberately causing fires, to gain compensation. The impacts of anticyclones on all of these countries had a massive effect, and it lasted over a month, with the hottest temperatures for up to 500 years.This demonstrates the long and short term impacts that anticyclones have on regions, countries and on a global scale. Location does have a result on the impact of low and high atmospheric pressure systems because they can be underdeveloped or have a lot of technolo gy that can be damaged or ruined. MEDC’s usually lose fewer lives than LEDC’s, no matter if it is a depression or a cyclone. Also, the evidence seems to suggest that depressions have a shorter impact on an area than anticyclones, but this is not necessarily true.Long-term secondary hazards can be a large issue after a depression, as the damage from flooding or heavy snow can be excessive and highly damaging. I conclude, low pressure atmospheric systems do usually have shorter-term impacts on a location, rather than high pressure atmospheric systems, but the secondary hazards can be a long-term issue for both of these hazards. Furthermore, the impact they have, may be different, depending on location, because a LEDC will be severely affected by both of these hazards, and will most likely have long-term consequences.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

How to solve high employee turnover rate in a retail company or retail business? Essay

Introduction The problem of high turnover employee rate is quite a spread problem that most businesses have been facing for years. Employee turnover has a negative influence on the efficiency of business, profits, customer service and satisfaction from customers in different businesses and industries. The recent study made by Roper Starch Worldwide, Inc. and Unify Network in a wide range of industries and businesses showed a strong link between employee retention and the satisfaction from the service quality got by the customers. As the research was based on the analysis of 3005 interviews it has quite strong facts and conclusions. â€Å"The negative effects of the increase in employee turnover are no longer being felt exclusively by the human resource managers,† said Tom Casey of Unify Network’s talent management practice. â€Å"It is apparent that consumers are directly impacted by turnover as well,† Casey added. â€Å"As a result, turnover is now a principal concern because it directly affects the bottom line.†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Casey also added that new attitudes towards the workforce, as well as drop in the birth rate, and the emergence of innovative technologies have resulted employee turnover to skyrocket across retail business.   Ã‚   The most vivid outcome of the employee turnover is a direct effect on customer retention or the loses of customers. In the whole, more than 60 percent of the respondents of the survey, who were the customers of retail companies with high employee turnover, said that they were less than satisfied with the service they received. Companies, themselves, confess that high employee turnover issues cause more problems than product or price issues.   In the average one in three consumers marked that employee turnover negatively and directly affected the quality of the service. And just 20 percent of the survey participants agreed that they would like working for their service provider. Another problem of low level of satisfaction from customers was named to be low quality and absence of needed qualification and skills. To be more specific fifty seven percent of respondents agreed that the problem was in poor training, and only 20 percent remained satisfied with the quality of the service.   The Consequences of Turnover The outcomes of turnover cause extra expenses, loss of valuable time and stagnation in business. All these are quite obvious results of turnover, because it’s not that easy to find a qualified worker nowadays, especially one that will fully suit the position he is hired on. The impact on business of the turnover will be reflected in â€Å"hard† and â€Å"soft† costs that are associated with looking for a new employee as well as the following factors: Customers get lower quality services that changes the reputation of the company Managers spend time looking for employees, which prevents them from their primary functions in the company which results in lower organization of business Disorder in the company influences on the work of other employees    It’s estimated that replacement of workers will cost  Ã‚   from 33% – 250% of the annual wages, depending on the workers position. Hard Costs $$$ Pre-Departure Exit interview  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   29 Separation processing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   12 Vacancy Costs Temporary fill-ins  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  902 Coworker overtime  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   483 Advertising job availability  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   110 Recruiting administration  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   97 Selection and Sign-on Interviewing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  110 Testing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   100 Reference checking  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   28 Informational literature  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   50 On-the-job training  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  874 Total  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $2,795 Soft costs Besides â€Å"hard† costs there exist soft costs that come out with losing of the employee, and that make more understandable and clear the outcomes and consequences of losing an employee. It even often happens that it cost 10 times more to look for a new customer than to gain repeat sales. In addition the company is more likely to get what is called â€Å" turnover causes turnover† and the company is likely to lose other employees. Soft Costs $$$ Pre-Departure Lost productivity of incumbent  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   80 Lost productivity of coworkers  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   97 Lost productivity of supervisor  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   207 Vacancy Costs Lost productivity of vacant position  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0 Lost productivity of supervisor  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   138 Selection and Sign-on Lost productivity during learning curve  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   482 Lost productivity of coworkers  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0 Lost productivity of supervisor  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   483 Combined Impact Current business lost  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   350 New business not acquired  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   350 Turnover resulting from turnover  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  350 Total  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $2,537 Add up the costs This statistics is more likely to be called a demo illustration of what can be the impact of the $7 per hour job loss. The loss of a big employee number can deadly reflect on the financial health of the company and can even cause bankruptcy. The exist lots of strategies that allow to reduce turnover rate in business, but nevertheless none of them can be suitable for the majority of retail businesses, because of   their specifics, particularities in the working atmosphere, relationships in working time, etc. But still there are strategies that will make business more effective and will stabilize the working atmosphere in the company. By the observation of many specialists who worked on the issues of high employee turnover in retail business for years, it became obvious that its reason is in low effectiveness of human resources departments of the companies. In the most companies with high turnover rate human resource managers did not more than simple recruiting and interviewing people, who would more likely to leave the company in months by their expectations but had not a big choice. â€Å"Evaluate your company A good first step in improving your retention rate is to ask yourself these questions. If you answer â€Å"no† to more than two questions, you are likely to be experiencing high employee turnover. Are most employees clear about your company’s mission? Do any of these words appear in your mission or core values? Respect, teamwork, trust, fairness, openness, and development. Do most or all employees have written job objectives? Are employees actively involved in shaping their own job assignments or projects to include their own personal interests and abilities? Does a manager speak with associates each quarter about their changing performance priorities and matters affecting their work? Does your company regularly invest in developing employee knowledge and skills? Does your company routinely applaud individual initiative and provide recognition for large and small performance successes? Would most employees say their manager is supportive of their ideas and concerned about their needs?†    Different approaches to solve the turnover problem The experience of one of the researches, Louis Rovner, Ph.D., was more than bold or genius. He was employed by many retail companies that had problems with high turnover, and some of them had 50% turnover rate from the entire workforce employed a year.   As a skillful and qualified manager he spent hours conducting endless interviews and administrating numerous surveys and quizzes to determine the reasons of turnover and reasons of what the employees were unsatisfied with.    To his expectations if the company changed the way of employees treating, the workers will be more satisfied and there will be more chances that they’ll stay in the company. But the problem was more complicated that it seemed to be for the first sight.    Employees were managed cooperatively. People were encouraged and reinforced, the working schedule was optimized and was better control as the other modern management measures were taken to improve the labor and working atmosphere conditions. The employees got a higher range in the strategic decision making participation as well as new approach to please unsatisfied customers. The company was changing to one were the workers as well as their labor and participation was highly appreciated and valued.    Even though that much had been done and the expectations seemed to look very optimistic the true results were opposite to what was expected at the beginning. The 50% turnover rate didn’t really change, but it became worse because in the list of those who left their jobs were the oldest and the most qualified employees of the company. So the impact of such outcomes seemed to be more negative than usual practices for the company.   The analysis had shown that there were two main reasons for such outcomes, that primary related to job psychology. The first one was explained by the failure of managers to arrange things in proper order because they were unfamiliar with new strategies and considered them to be irrational and illogical. The lack of comfort in new working tendencies resulted the failure of the introduced strategies. New form of management resulted in lack of attention to the primary functions that began to fulfill improperly that resulted in profits fall. The second reason appeared to be more commonplace than the first one.   One group of unhappy employees was replaced by other one, and the cycle was repeating again and again. But the was a significant change in this practice, that qualified employees appeared in this list. As in every company there always exists a group of employees that are satisfied with management, working conditions and their work as well, and they form the basement of the company’s team. With new changes that began to occur in the company their needs never no longer met and the conditions of labor no longer fully satisfied them. In this case the management that was introduced in practice was directed to satisfy primary the newcomers, but it didn’t meet the needs of checked and long working employees.    The solution of the problem became obvious and the reasons of the failed management were determined. The problems with employee turnover are based not in something wrong with the decisions taken by the company’s authorities, but they are related to the people employed who most likely don’t suit the business they are hired for.    The first steps that need to be taken to stabilize the staff policy and regulations, should identify best long-term working employees and look for the business qualities they possess in those that need to be hired. Those, unsatisfied who are more likely to leave should be replaced by those who have much in common with company’s loyal workers.    In order to be successful in hiring productive and loyal employees it’s necessary to spend some time with the core group of the company to study their likes and preferences of working in the company.    Strategies for improving labor conditions The workers a company hires are expecting more benefits from their work along with the salary they get. As it’s predicted by the experts in the nest five years, most of businesses will offer a wider range of benefits and programs for their employees, which will cause addition competition on the market labor as well as probable employee turnover in the companies that will not be able to accept new changes. These benefits and programs will most likely include: Paid time off plans Domestic partner benefits Flexible scheduling Flexible spending accounts Retirement and financial planning Employee assistance programs (EAPs) It’s naturally understood that employees want to get competitive encouragement from their work as well as competitive salaries. The loss of employees may be both because of salaries that are not competitive (financial issues) and because the job doesn’t meet the needs of the employee. As it’s quite know people leave their jobs for plenty of reasons that can be controlled by the managers or the companies authorities or not. Nevertheless, it’s suggested by the scientists that employers usually have abilities to control the reasons that motivate employees to leave, the most spread of them are the following: Feeling unappreciated or that his/her contribution is not valued. A lack of growth potential in the company. No help to turn a dead-end job into something more appealing. If these factors will be taken into consideration with the development of new businesses or it’s expansion in future most of turnover issues can be prevented. It will be much cheaper for the company to hire a human resource manager or skillful psychologist who will hire those who won’t demand job promotion in future and will be loyal if the company’s business looks like slowly developing, than to hire new and new people for some kind of position again and again in definite time intervals.   On the other hand there can be people who are attached to particular company because they consider it to offer them professional growth and promotion as well as development of their skills and job opportunities. In this case it will be reasonable to organize job trainings and provide them with the job that mostly suits them and answers their qualifications and to be objective in such decisions. It will often be cheaper to spend some money in employee’s qualification investment that will be of a need in future than to ignore his abilities and professional traits, that can result his discharge. The problem of retaining employees is one of the main concern of many retail companies nowadays. It should be clear that work ethic is changing from day to day, and the demands of nowadays workers differ from those of the 1950s, 70s, and even from those of 90s. The tendencies of the employees demands had changed are defined to be today and tomorrow as following: Balance and synergy Work that is seen as a noble cause Personal growth and development Partnerships Community at work Trust   There are several approaches to meet these needs that will prevent business from employee â€Å"drain†: Provide interesting work that will respond to employees’ talents. Don’t hide appreciation for work done successfully. Encourage employees to be in â€Å"shape† Provide opportunities for professional learning and career growth. Provide competitive wages for employees. Organize training for managers to be supportive coaches. Provide a clear mission with personal goals. Build a safer, pleasing and fun working environment. Support opportunities to reasonable experiments in working environment.    Real successful practices of retention T.I.M.S., Inc. Denis H. Arian and his wife Karen Arian started Technical Information Management Services, Inc., (T.I.M.S.) in their own house 13 years ago. Over the past decade, T.I.M.S., Inc. has developed into a successful consulting and information technology services company with nearly 40 members in staff and offices in Cleveland, OH and Chicago, IL. Both in the year of 1999 and 2000, T.I.M.S. was awarded Weatherhead 100 and Northcoast 99. It’s purpose is to develop and optimize the most effective business systems that will meet the needs of either companies and their employees or the needs of the customers by the usage of both technological innovations and management strategies and methods. The primary strategy of T.I.M.S. was process of â€Å"hiring right† people first. What they did was the following: they established the atmosphere of partnership with each employee beginning with interviewing and hiring processes. T.I.M.S. introduced and realized in their practices the concept, which is called PASS Program (Performance Appraisal Scorecard System) for performance evaluation using employee’s input as criteria for future success. The core of their strategies was training as an essential part of retention practices.   According to their methodic it’s very important to devote time for interaction with employee, for finding an individual approach to his concerns and needs as well as stimulate his success. Mazel Stores, Inc.   Mazel Stores, Inc. is one of the leading wholesalers of clothing in the USA. Its founder Bill Mazur has been working in this business for more than 30 years as a head of the company, that purchases sells and distributes through their retail outlets or through other store companies from direct manufacturers. Its partners are Newell (Rubbermaid), American Greetings, Ketter Plastics, and Sunbeam, as well as smaller companies such as Marc’s Deep Discount, Family Dollar Tree, and Medic Drug Stores. The retention need of the company was to find and save employees, most of whom had been facing troubles that would prevent them from being employed by the company in future. Company’s strategy was based in recruitment using assistance of the professionals in employment business such as Empowerment Zone and the Convictions Fair for its headquarters in Solon. The company’s employees faced troubles with transportation, so the company had to develop and introduce van pool service as well as other transportation solutions to ensure getting to and from work punctually. The company worked with government and municipal agencies to solve and improve employment issues as well as to increase and save employment stability rate.   The company also practiced hiring part-time psychologists and managers that worked on overcoming barriers and other job related issues faced by the employees. General strategies for reducing turnover The best way to reduce turnover and save employees is establishing human resource expertise for business. A human resource manager or organization development (also called OD) expert, who can be permanent employee or employed as an outsourced service provider is able to help company to save its employees through an analyzed and deeply examined approach that includes: Recruitment: sourcing for candidate, testing on job suitableness Compensation: market analysis Benefits: competitive, cost-containment Training and employee development Employee relations: pro-active programs, dispute resolution Performance management systems Organization assessments Legal compliance          Employee selection and training The selection and training of the employee should be organized in the way so that nearly hired person will meet all the requirements of the business and working environment. As it’s generally agreed a salesperson is a communicator: he interpreters the features of the product into those benefits that will satisfy the customer. And it’s very important to remember that a salesperson is the store representative to its customers. There is a very specific quality that differentiates a sales person from others involved in promotional activities and it’s an opportunity for feedback between customer and a seller. Only good marketing policy such as advertising and promotion will get customers to the store. The quality of products as well as good sales representatives will keep people coming back to the store again and again. As the specialists suggest, the importance of right employee choice and their trainings cannot be overvalued or exaggerated. It often happens that retailers are surprised when they find out that salary, which is important for employees, is not of the primary concern for them. Attitudes as  fairness, security, honesty, and opportunity are also of the high importance for them.    Organization and supervision of business  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management functions of the retailer business basically include planning on the hand with other as organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.       Organizing business, the retailer introduces relationships among people, products, goods, and other materials or resources to get a job fulfilled.  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Staffing entails the recruitment and selection of employees. It is a vitally important function because the employees of a store represent that store to the public.   People can really be the most important asset of a retail firm.       Every retailer is in a leadership position.   Leadership means motivating employees to achieve their maximum potential, while at the same time accomplishing the goals of the organization.   Because leadership means understanding people, it is one of the most creative and challenging aspects of a retailer’s job.   The retailer’s professionalism and attitudes set the tone for employees’ attitudes and per formance. Controlling is the follow-up function of retail management.   Actual performance is compared with planned performance to spot and evaluate deviations.† (from Charting the course of retail Business available on web http://www.etretailbiz.com/Jan2003/strategy.html) Financial analysis   The financial analysis of retail business is very important step in the optimization of the whole functioning of business. First it allows to determine the main priorities for the improvement of management of employee resources, probably reform the personnel policy, cut off or make new workplace and determine whether it’s necessary to spend more expanses on management or to save some money on particular part of business management and to redistribute the finances (to improve labor conditions or increase employees wages). On of the most innovative and spreading method of retail business management as other sales businesses management is distant organization of work. Top managers and top sales managers use Internet and other means of communication to regulate business, especially if it refers to international companies. The organization of a workplace for one person costs not more than 2-3 thousand dollars, and it’s arranged in employees house. It allows saving a lot of money on rent, property taxes, etc. Those saved finances are redistributed as a result the employees get higher salaries, plus they get more flexible and comfortable conditions of labor that plays a role of additional motivation in their work.   Another aspect that attracts the attention of specialists in food retail business is concern about investments into online retailing. Even though that some of the major e-commerce consultants and advisors make optimistic prognosis about the potential of online food retailing market, these conclusions are still not very reliable. For example Andersen consulting predicted a market portion of online food retailing to be 20% in the year of 2003. This statistics is used by both Peapod.com and Webvan.com as the foundation for a nationwide investment program with a capital of nearly one billion US$. But the real statistics is very different from that one predicted by Cap Gemini (30-40%) and is approximately about 3% for a total retail sector with only 2.3% for grocery sector.   In potential it won’t greatly increase in the next five years. Its predicted growth is not more than 3-4% either for the USA or for Europe. So the decisions of some retail businesses to make investments into online retails cannot be considered as the best choices in this situation. It will require to hire new employees, to develop new management strategies and will require a lot of expenses, that won’t bring any desired payment but may result in turnover because of the changed priorities of the company. Joost W. van der Laan highlights the following reasons for that in his article The future of online food retailing: â€Å"†¦On top of those disadvantages: traditional supermarkets are fighting for consumer loyalty by improving their marketing mix and increasing their efficiency. Reason 1. In my view online shopping for dry groceries and perishables is boring. It does not even come close to the fun of buying books at Amazon.com or the joy of   assembling your own PC at Dell.com. There is absolutely no advantage here over the weekly trip to the supermarket. I dare you to try it yourself a couple of times, and then convince your partner who is not in the food business or consultancy business. Only when the online business focuses on special products and on rich information content, the consumer will become interested and stay interested. Reason 2. Online shopping is less time consuming than traditional shopping, but it adds complexity to your lifestyle. Let us assume in an optimistic mood that every â€Å"household manager† will master the skill of shopping online. After ordering online you first have to make sure that the goods are properly received at home. Second you often have to go to the store anyway for miscellaneous articles. Third you have to check proper billing and payment. Fourth you have to follow up on orderpicking mistakes and delivery errors. Reason 3. The distribution costs of homeshopping are twice as high as the costs of traditional food retailing, and most consumers are not willing to pay the extra 15 %. Internet startups will first try to gain market share with low prices and low service fees, but when the shareholders cash is consumed they will have to ask higher than â€Å"normal† prices to cover the costs and survive. Of course their is a small niche market for expensive homeshopping services: affluent PC-minded and service oriented consumers and consumers with no easy access to a nearby store. Reason 4. In recent years Efficient Consumer Response and Category Management had a significant and positive impact on the quality and efficiency of traditional supermarkets. Food retailing has always been a very competitive business, and in recent years super-marketing has become a professional science that is constantly improving the value to the consumer. Both in the USA and in Europe very competitive stores with Every Day Low Prices and high service levels are gaining market share and are making the food business a war zone for new entrants. Conclusion: the average consumer does not have a good reason to go food shopping online.† (available on web: http://www.retaileconomics.com/index.htm) According to the article ULW Effect on Business and Tax Payers:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"†¦Successful companies have been able to draw the line between low employee turnover and high profitability. The line connecting those two dots passes through high employee satisfaction, and high employee satisfaction impacts directly on the customer experience. We’ve already seen how consumers rate quality of service as the most important aspect of their experience with a hotel, and that’s true of many businesses in this sector. Satisfied customers become repeat customers, and when those repeat customers are in the desirable top 20 percent, profitability inevitably improves†¦Henry Ford, the father of the American automobile, was facing exorbitant retraining costs due to high employee turnover. He was being forced to replace every employee four times per year. He also found that absenteeism was at an equally unacceptable level. His response was to almost double the daily wage of his workers to $5.00/day. * The immediate result was: 1) significant reduction in employee turnover, 2) significant reduction in retraining costs, 3) significant reduction in unscheduled absenteeism, 4) and almost complete stoppage of internal theft (roughly 50% of the theft in today’s retail world is committed by its own employees).3 Furthermore, 5) he created a true economic stimulus resulting in a business boom for his own company when his workers put discretionary funds right back into his company as purchasing consumers.4 *All of these savings/benefits are possible today with the enactment of the Universal Living Wage.† (available on web: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/globalization/2.html) Building HR expertise It is of a high concern that in majority supervisors and managers are generally not evaluated on employee turnover levels. If to refer to a COSE survey of retail business (April 2003), only 20 percent of respondents applied the use of a specific target or measure in evaluations. Although 26 percent marked that they â€Å"informally† used turnover statistics as a part of evaluations that shows what a great number doesn’t consider it to be an important part of manager’s job.   In ideal all managers should also be able to work as   â€Å"HR managers.† However, the participation of a real â€Å"expert† is important to be developed – the participation of someone with specific HR responsibilities, who would be part-time HR or OD specialist. Employee opinion survey One of the most important and essential issue for the discussion between the retail human resource executives is an employee opinion survey. An objective survey conducted by the HR manager will truthfully describe the working environment of the company and will direct the further work of the manager on solving of job related issues, that will help to improve motivation and working process as well. The importance of the survey is quite obvious. It’s cheaper and more comfortable and even more safer and reliable for business to make changes in management policy using the data provided by the employees themselves, than to try to solve coming issues relying on experiment and manager’s personal experience, even if it’s an experience of a skillful and highly qualified professional. As the effective employee survey process can be an essential, high-ROI tool for store morale improvement, improvement of customer service, reduction of turnover and introduction of new ways a nd means for communication and interaction.    The Retail Survey Group made long-term researches and studies in the field of job related relations in retail business and had developed the following methods of making an effective and objective successful survey. It introduced eight important keys to the success of the survey: In most cases, an employee survey should be perceived as an operations- driven initiative rather than an HR department program. Companies that differ by high organization of the survey processes put it on the high priority when it’s needed to gather opinion. Even so that making the survey is job of HR center or HR manager that works in the company, the survey made from the name of the head of the company always gets a higher feedback and is more objective, because it’s treated by the whole management chain from the tops to the bottom line of the company. The experience of The Retail Survey Group shows that the employee’s psychology is more likely to pay more attention to the job authorities than to the human resource center, which is made for these perporses. But the job to analyze the results of the survey is human resources center primary. Your goal for response rate should be 100%.   The problem with lower respond rate is not just that it can not give an accurate picture on the questions asked in the survey. The low respond rate for large businesses with more than a 1000 people employed won’t draw an objective picture, but can be valid for small selling departments or stores, but still the statistics can be not as accurate as it’s desired. Moreover the respond rate of the employees determines their ability to draw and determine the answers on the questions about working environment. Once being determined these issues will be also desired to be solved by the employees themselves as well as by the management department. In this case the results will be more fruitful because both sides who participate in this process will be determined with their choices. As the Retail Survey Groups states: â€Å"Surveys are deemed successful when one or both of the following occur: One or two large-scale organization-wide improvements are made as a result of having conducted the survey. A â€Å"critical mass† of smaller-scale improvements happens throughout the organization, based upon department- and store-level improvement efforts. While a single year’s survey effort may have been made worthwhile by virtue of the first reason, a survey becomes a valuable ongoing management tool usually by virtue of the second.† By their words : â€Å"The best way to get an acceptable response rate, i.e., one that is certain to yield accurate reports down to the department level, is to make survey participation an expected occurrence, and to set up an administration procedure that makes this a reality.† A survey for retail employees should take less than 10 minutes to complete. The research had determined that both the questionnaire size and the method of its administration influence on the results of the response rate and on the objectiveness of its quality. As the questionnaire’s purpose is to get an accurate data, it is believed that long questionnaires that take a lot of time to be completed provided not accurate data and have lower response rates. The benefits of short 5-10 minutes survey are basically in their easy administration and no time loses.   They can be easily administered during the breaks or before the meetings. It’s very comfortable because no special arrangements are required. There are experiences with companies that spent more money on the administration of the survey that had to be taken after the working day and that took nearly 30-45 minutes. But the results were not that much different from those short-time surveys and even often were not responded properly. (Good) Norms are important. As soon as the results of the survey are analyzed it appears another task that faces the organization and is addresses to the issues and problems that found reflection in the survey. It’s the essential part of the survey process. And as a result the company has to determine correct improvement areas in order to get the most effective and fruitful return from the survey. The set of norms for survey’s data give an opportunity to compare the effectiveness of the company to the similar businesses that are held by other companies. The Retail Survey group gives the following example: â€Å"consider the case of a supermarket chain that has conducted its first-ever company-wide employee survey. Senior management is reviewing the results, trying to figure out how they will allocate their resources toward making improvements. Let’s assume that they get what appears to be a fairly high score on workplace safety and a fairly low score on developingemployees for future promotions. Without the benefit of normative data to tell them how other supermarkets faired on those items, they might decide not to do any work to improve the safety item, and instead focus on the development item. Had they had access to a good retail norm base, they would have seen that the safety item typically receives a very high score, and that their score was significantly lower than the norm, indicating a potentially serious problem. Conversely, the item regarding development for future promotions is typically among the lowest scoring items on the survey. In fact, their score on that item places them in the upper quartile of the norm base.   Of course, the money they put toward further work on development might well pay dividends, because it is such an important item. And improving the promotional process might cement their image as a great company for which to work. However, relative to the safety item, it might not be as critical to target for immediate improvement.† Each store should get a report detailing its overall results and the results of its major departments. Many companies make the fault of not disseminating the outcomes to the store level. By the view of The Retail Survey group, this greatly diminishes the chance that the survey will be successful. First, as has already been marked, surveys are most effective when they are the impulse behind change efforts undertaken at the store and department levels. Only by getting direct access to the results of the survey employees can begin to take part in the action planning process. Second, keeping the results within the restrictions of senior management can easily be understood as a breaking of the social contract common in most employee-based feedback systems. The representatives of The Retail Survey Group state that â€Å"for reasons beyond the scope of this paper, employee surveys are assumed to be closed-loop feedback systems. The loop begins with the employees filling out a survey form. Next, the survey forms are tabulated, and their collective opinions are shared with management. To close the loop, management must in turn share the collective results with the employees. If this loop is not closed, employees are left with a sense of unmet expectations. It is similar to the feeling one gets when applying for a position and then never hearing back about it one way or the other.†   It often happens that employees know very little about the results of prior surveys and they think about them the following: â€Å"The results must have been so bad they were embarrassed to publicize them.† â€Å"They can’t tell us what they found because then they’d have to change things.† â€Å"They just did the survey to make us feel like our input was important†¦they could care less how it turned out.† With the exception of special circumstances, the Representatives of Retail Survey Group advocate that employer share with all employees an item-by-item comparison between the results for their store and the results for the overall company. For most employees, this constitutes a full and deserved disclosure of the results, and it is a great way for employees to begin to get a handle on what the results mean. Once employer has done this, he would have set the stage for store-level action planning. Anyone who completes a survey should be able to understand a survey report. If you employer is going to share the results of the survey with store employees, he needs to present them in a report format that is easy to be looked through. Some people understand statistics and numbers better others easily catch the graphs and charts. The Retail Survey Group recommends that results be presented in a combination of these ways, but most of all in a order that is simple and understandable. It should be understood that the goal of the survey is to enlist the help of the employees in analyzing the survey results. The author of the survey wants employees to be excited about the potential insight they have into the results of the survey, because they were the ones who gave the feedback. They also have ideas about how to arrange and change things for better. Give those responsible for creating action plans some basic ideas to use as starting points for their plans. â€Å"Imagine that came the most critical point in the survey process†¦the point at which store and department managers are sitting down with their employees, report in hand, with a good understanding of the results and having selected a few problem areas to target for improvement. The group is ready to create action plans. The store manager is at the flip chart†¦her marker is poised†¦and then it strikes the group that no one has the faintest idea about what a good action plan looks like, let alone how to go about creating one.†   This is considered to be the point where many surveys lose their value and significance, which is quite understood. Most retail store managers don’t have any training or knowledge about working with a group to present and discuss an improvement plan. â€Å"To make matters worse, consider the following Survey Research 101 axiom: Managers at stores with the lowest employee survey scores are the very managers least likely to be able to facilitate a productive action planning session. In other words, those stores most in need of good post-survey action plans are the ones least likely to succeed in creating them. Fortunately, it is not that difficult to provide managers with the tools they need to write effective action plans. The easiest way to do so is to provide them with a template for the format and content of their plans. For example, our firm provides clients with an Action Planning guide, which not only offers store managers a step-by-step guide to action planning, but also suggests several actions for each topic covered by the survey. It is easy to use these ideas as the starting point s for the group discussion, and to transform them into high quality action plans.†    After all, if there is an essential   role for the Human Resources department during the survey process, it is to determine store managers most in need of help with action planning, and to offer them the help they need to do the work properly. The organization should commit to a follow-up survey even before the first one is administered.    Companies that fully use the surveys they administer usually treat them as a part of a cycle. Each finished survey is considered to be a benchmark for the next one. The data reflected in the survey describes the condition of company’s finances, employee environment and indicates the â€Å"working† health of the company. It can be used to primary predict and take measures to prevent turnover issues and job related conflicts. Managers also rely on the surveys as on the sources and guidance for finding a common language with employees. Employees also consider the administering of the survey to be a good sight from the side of companies authorities to get the opinion about inner life of the company and its functioning.    But for such successful monitoring the company had to start with a successful survey that will definitely bring results. From the beginning of survey introduction into the practices of the company managers have to think about an employee survey program or survey process rather than about one-time employee survey that will stand alone. Conclusion As it was discussed the turnover employee rate causes a lot of troubles for retail businesses as well for other businesses. The expenses spent on hiring new employees are often as high as the monthly wages of the employees, but at the same time the absence of the worker causes work disorder and losses of clients.   Ã‚   Nowadays the problem of saving workplaces is very actual and attracts a lot of attention from the side of managers, who propose different strategies to stabilize personnel activities and improve working environment. These strategies include individual approach to the employees, encouragements, surveys, and special management techniques.   As it was stated above, very often the financial side of the job is not of the main concern for the employees. It’s understood that the salary means a lot, but appreciation, encouragements, benefits and other rewards the employee gets while working are of a high value as well. Still most of them also have any relationship to finances.   Ã‚  That’s why it’s quite important to make business efficiency monitoring and find new solutions for its optimization. Saving money on some ineffective investments and redistributing them to increase the salaries, social benefits and educational opportunities for the employees will increase their motivation.   It may refer to their transportation issues (organization of the transportation services for employees who really need that), improving working conditions (introduction of the new equipment and organization of special training programs for workers). It’s understood too be quite expensive, but the results that these innovations will bring in future will definitely cover all the expenses. (It’s quite enough to estimate how much will be the transportation service organization for people who live in the same area and how much do they spend on parking and gas a day. Or it’s enough to figure out how much useless work does an accountant or a m anager using old computer software or even worse just pen and paper. It’s easy to understand how these trainings will optimize his work will save him time and of course will save employer’s money).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Appreciation of the employees is really important; especially it’s very necessary for the core of the company’s team, for people who are in company’s business for years and who are the most valuable. Before doing any changes it’s necessary to consult those employees and to take into consideration their opinion. At this point it’s quite important for human resource managers to administer employee opinion surveys that will draw the priorities for future management changes and better organization of the work.   Every case is very special and needs a search of individual approach. But the methods that were discussed above had recommended themselves as successful and can be used in management practices worldwide. List of references 1.†The future of Food Retailing: e-Commerce and other Predictionsâ€Å", Prof. Dr. Edward McLaughlin of Cornell University, presentation â€Å"State of the Art in Food†, January 2000. 2.†Internet Retailingâ€Å", Henk Gianotten of EIM, Food Personality, February 2000. 3.†Futurize your Enterpriseâ€Å", David Siegel, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York, 1999. 4.â€Å"The future of online food retailing† Joost W. van der Laan ,†Journal of Marketing†, February 2000 and â€Å"Food Personality† ,August 1997 â€Å"Erasmus Food Management Institute† rapport on E-marketplaces, January 2001 â€Å"Marketing Logistics†, Martin Christopher, Reed Elsevier, 1997 â€Å"From Supply Chain to Collaborative Network†, Gordon Anderson, Bruce Walton, Andersen Consulting, 2000 â€Å"Eight keys to a successful employee survey† The Retail Survey Group, 2001-2002 (available on web: www.rsg.com) â€Å"Charting the course of retail business† Article (available on web: http://www.etretailbiz.com/Jan2003/strategy.html) â€Å"To Cut Employee Turnover, Don’t Change Anything† ,Louis Rovner, Ph.D. Article (available on web:http://www.drilleronline.com/CDA/ArticleArchiveSearch/1,5692,,00.html) â€Å"Globalization and Labor — Part 2† Article (available on web: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/globalization/3.html) â€Å"Taming turnover: A Strategic advantage for business† Article (available on web: www.cose.org/PDF/WLA/Taming_Turnover.pdf) â€Å"Store Wars:   How Retail eCommerce Executives Can Win the Battle for the Last Aisle Four Tips for Success for In-Store Digital Merchandising & Customer Self-Service† , Richardson,Alex   Article (available on web: http://www.kiomag.com/informermj04) â€Å"Leading the quick service and food retailing industries† Kay Division, 2004(available on web: http://www.ecolab.com/Publications/FactBook/Kay.pdf) â€Å"Work Environment More Important to Employees† Gregory P. Smith (available on web: http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/workenv.htm) â€Å"High employee turnover raises safety concerns† Ledyard King, Article Gannett News Service   (available on web: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2001-02-26-airportsafety.htm) â€Å"Reducing Turnover† Article (available on web http://www.accountemps.com/AT/ReducingTurnover)    18. â€Å"Calculating the High Cost of Employee Turnover†Ã‚   Yves Lermusiaux (available on web: http://www.ilogos.com/en/expertviews/articles/strategic/20031007_YL.html)

Monday, July 29, 2019

Breast Cancer And Ovarian Cancer

Breast cancer begins as a group of cancer cells that invade tissues in the breast . When new cells form when they are not needed from the body or don 't die when they are supposed to, a build up of cells creates a mass of tissue called a tumor or lump. Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that forms in the tissues of the breast. Mostly in women but can also occur in men. Statistics show that 1 in 8 women in America will have invasive breast cancer in her lifetime and it is estimated that†¦ Breast Cancer My paternal grandmother has batteld cancer three times. She was diagnosed with breast cancer first and then six years later with ovarian cancer. Both times, she had to have radiation to cure her from the cancer. After four years of being in remission, the cancer came back. This time it was on a viscous rampage. My grandmother had to receive a month of intense chemotherapy and two critical surgeries to remove the tumors that were invading her body. Seeing her go through all of this†¦ Cancer is a disease that is caused by abnormal cells in a part of someone’s body. Anyone can be diagnosed with cancer, it is not something that only affects certain people. Sometimes the cancer can be hereditary meaning that a family member has had the same type of cancer in the past. However, one of the most common cancers for women is breast cancer. Breast cancer is a cancer that is well known since there is a month that is dedicated to bring awareness to breast cancer but not many people realize†¦ Breast cancer is one of the leading cancers that affect a myriad of people in today’s society. â€Å"About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.† (Breast Cancer, 2016). Some people diagnosed with this type of cancer could have the opportunity to detect it early on due to screenings or self-evaluations. However despite early detection, it does not guarantee that the cancer can be treated in its entirety. Different stage levels decide the degree in which†¦ After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the United States. Breast cancer is cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts. It can occur in both men and women, but it is extremely more common in women. â€Å"Each year there are about 2,300 new cases of breast cancer in men and about 230,000 new cases in women† (National Cancer Institution, 2016). Breast cancer survival rates have increased, which is largely due to earlier detection, a new personalized treatment†¦ Cancer refers to several diseases that the involve uncontrolled growth of mutated cells in the body. Normally, cells grow and divide based on signals and the body’s needs, and new cells replace old or damaged cells. However, cancer is able to develop when cell signaling is interrupted. The old cells stop dying and instead form new abnormal cells, possibly resulting in a tumor. Cancerous cells are malignant, which means they can invade nearby tissue, and can potentially metastasize and spread to various†¦ Introduction Breast cancer is the abnormal growing of cells within the breast tissues. It has been identified to be number two killer of all cancer demises among women. The first common sign that can lead to cancer diagnosis is the presence of a breast lump. Breast cancer is more common in women than men are, but they also need to realize that they can also be diagnosed with breast cancer. Fibro adenoma has been identified as the most prevalent form of benign breast tumor, while Invasive Ductal†¦ Krystal Headen Professor Kaitlin Sidorsky Poli 201 1 December 2015 BLOC Cancer The breast cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and colon cancer (BLOC) interest group was formed in September 2012 as an effective organization. It began when the founder, Krystal Headen was unfortunately informed that some of her friends and family members had been diagnosed with (remove either) breast cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, or the Kahler’s disease. Krystal spent several months building a group†¦ mother had found in her breast. â€Å"I told her, ‘Maybe it is that Froot Loop I gave you earlier,’† Sands remembered. â€Å"She laughed and said, ‘I hope so!’† That day was the beginning of Sands’ journey with cancer. Five years later, her mother died of breast cancer at the age of 43, when Sands was 9 years old. A few years after that, Sands’ aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went into remission but later died of ovarian cancer. Then a cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer at 34. Two years ago,†¦ of different cancers that people tend to hear of. Cancer is abnormal cells that grow out of control and invade a healthy person’s body. When these cells do not grow normally things can go wrong. When cancer occurs it is because the cells divide more than they should and begin to form masses also known as tumors. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the most common type of cancer is breast cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer death in woman. Breast cancer is when the malignant†¦

The Issue with Sex Offenders at MySpace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Issue with Sex Offenders at MySpace - Essay Example Sullivan discusses the fallout of the seemingly innocuous experiment run by Wired News reporter Kevin Poulsen, in which Poulsen matched registered sex offenders against MySpace profiles and discovered hundreds of matches (116). MySpace’s response was to hire a third-party vendor to compare member profiles to registered sex offender rolls and â€Å"root out sex criminals from the site† (117). A debate arose, however, regarding the amount of time associated with the action that MySpace took. MySpace identified 7,000 profiles of members who were potentially on the registered sex offender rolls, but this action took several months. MySpace promptly deleted the profiles but did not notify authorities at the same time (117). Sullivan states that â€Å"the presence of 7,000 registered offenders on the site—and the time span required to remove them, raises inevitable questions about MySpace’s ability to keep its neighborhood safe† (119). Conversely, Texas A & M student Kevin Alexander wrote â€Å"MySpace Not Responsible for Predators†, an article discussing the experience of a 14-year old girl who met and was allegedly raped by a 19-year old man she befriended on MySpace (119). Alexander argues that the lack of age verification by MySpace does not preclude the responsibility of those using the service to act with caution and common sense (119). He believes that culpability resides with the parent and child who made poor decisions with tragic consequences (120). When setting up a profile, MySpace users must sign a waiver indicating that they understand that MySpace has no control over the actions of its users online or offline (120). The nature of the MySpace service limits the amount of power the company has over who is a member at any given time. Even the action taken in the previous example in which MySpace checked member profiles against the registered sex offender rolls would not have identified this particular situation as a threat to anyone. Online users should be aware of the dangers inherent to cyberspace usage, protect their personal information, and only consider meeting online acquaintances in secure situations. Additionally, parents should educate their children, monitor their online behavior, and not allow them to meet strangers without supervision (120). According to Alexander, by using MySpace, the mother, in this case, sends â€Å"the wrong message by deflecting the responsibility onto a Web site that has no control over sociopaths† (120). Both authors agree that there is a risk inherent to the use of services such as the one offered by MySpace. However, they differ in the assessment of who should assume the responsibility of mitigating this risk. Sullivan prescribes to the idea that companies are ultimately responsible to protect the end users of their products and services wherever possible. Sullivan implies that MySpace has a social responsibility to identify threats and take act ion to create a safe and secure environment, and to protect the children who use the service for fun and entertainment. Alexander believes that people must apply common sense and act in an individually responsible manner. Users should be cautious and careful in all online interactions, and should not depend on the company to do this for them.  

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Wildlife and Wind Energy. Leah Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wildlife and Wind Energy. Leah - Essay Example The researcher did cover the topic well and broad enough. She discussed how wind energy is a great potential of cleaner and renewable source of energy but it will be more successful if further measures of conserving the habitat are embraced. The researcher concentrated mostly on the negatives of the energy production method and provided measures which if implemented could reduce fatality rate of wildlife. The methods discussed include radar technology, GPS tracking, Ultrasonic acoustics and design of the wind turbines. Studies have been conducted to determine the effect of industrial wind turbines on the environment. There are both positive and negative effects which provide clear evidence. Modern turbines are developed in a way that birds can’t rest on them. This still is not a proper solution because the birds still rest on the generators which have rotating blades that can slaughter them. Many nations are contemplating on methods of generating more sustainable, domestically available energy. Wind energy is seen as the most convenient method because it has economic benefits of development, lack of water consumption and emissions during operation and has low impact on humans. This can be the best method of energy production if it will cater for the wildlife

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Discuss the reforms of Solon and Cleisthenes . what were the problems Essay

Discuss the reforms of Solon and Cleisthenes . what were the problems in Athenian society that made reform necessary how did th - Essay Example Additionally, Solon divided society into four classes—each of which were based on wealth. The two highest classes were allowed to serve on the Areopagus, which was the highest council of Athens. The third class were permitted to serve on elected councils, and the lowest class was able to take part in the assembly, which brought affairs to the elected council. On the other hand, Cleisthenes developed a constitution in order to make Athens a democracy. Cleisthenes is commonly referred to the founder of democracy in Athens for this very reason. This constitution was loosely based on the ideas of Solon, but Cleisthenes expanded on them. As part of the new constitution, all men aged 18 years and older were registered as Athenian citizens and became members of their village. This was a significant step in the evolution of Athenian society because these new citizens were each allowed to vote, thus giving them power over elected officials. At that time women were not considered citize ns of Athenian society, and because of this they did not have any voting powers. The council that was established worked as the chief arm of the government and had full executive and administrative power. Any citizen aged over 30 was qualified to be part of this council. Each year the members of the council were picked at random. The Assembly had the power to veto any of the council’s decisions.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Marine Nature Conservation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Marine Nature Conservation - Essay Example As the report declares the consultation proposal seeks to address a number of areas in an attempt to provide a comprehensive framework for marine conservation and providing a situation where the various demands made upon the environment can be managed more effectively as part of a concerted effort to encourage sustainability against a backdrop of the increasing demands that are being made on our seas and its resources. The five areas, which the proposals concentrate upon, are fisheries management, planning, activity licensing, improving marine nature conservation and the setting up of a new marine management organisation. The purpose of this report concentrates the studies on the improvement of marine nature conservation, with reference to the other factors if and where relevant. This essay stresses that there are four main areas where the proposals for the Marine Bill are considering the way forward in terms of the imposition of relevant laws or regulations, with particular relevance to marine nature conservation. The response to the Review of Marine Nature Conservation, Safeguarding Sea Life, identified some key areas that needed to be addressed by government. These included stopping the decline and attacks upon the biodiversity in the environment, in a way that would create recovery of these areas; provide more support for ecosystems and sites for conservation of marine species, especially those most in danger; improve water quality and endeavour to reduce the impact of man’s impact upon it.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Realist and Feminist Structures in Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Essay

Realist and Feminist Structures in Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper and Kate Chopin's The Storm - Essay Example Another similarity is the use of naturalist devices to construct both stories. Each story depicts the life of a single female protagonist who is mired in realistic situations that the reader can easily relate to. In addition to these similarities, both stories carry overriding feminist ideas and critique which essentially form the bulwark of both stories. This paper will compare and contrast both stories based on these structural, thematic and literary devices. The development of climax in both stories is gradual, uses symbols and both stories tend to end as soon as the climax is achieved. Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper depicts the protagonist as going mad over time as her husband John locks her up in her room. The author has chosen the yellow wallpaper as a symbol to reflect changing attitudes and mental state on the part of the protagonist. The yellow color itself is something that the protagonist tends to loathe from the first time she looks at it. As the story proceeds to i ts climax, the yellow wallpaper tends to indicate and enhance the climax. According to Gilman (Carnley 23): â€Å"It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw—not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things. But there is something else about that paper—the smell!† Again towards the end of the story (Carnley 26): â€Å"For outside you have to creep on the ground, and everything is green instead of yellow.† At the climax, the protagonist goes mad thinking that she just managed to extricate herself from the yellow wallpaper which signals and symbolizes the climax. The story ends immediately afterwards as the protagonist’s husband John enters the room and faints while the protagonist continues her mad movements across the room. This is comparable to Chopin’s The Storm where the author has used the storm as a symbol while she moves slowly towards the climax. The behavior of Calixta and Alcee tends to change as the storm develops gradually. At the start of the story, the author states (Gale 81): â€Å"She stood there with Bobinot's coat in her hands, and the big rain drops began to fall.† However, as the story is about to end the author expresses the character of the storm as (Gale 82): â€Å"The growl of the thunder was distant and passing away.† This indicates that the gentle rain at the start of the story developed into a large storm with thunder and lightning that subsided as the protagonists were done with their adulterous affair. What is noticeable is that the story’s climax is symbolized by a storm and that the story tends to end as soon as the climax is achieved. The end is again abrupt much similar to Galmin’s The Yellow Wallpaper. In addition to this similarity, both stories employ naturalist devices in order to develop the story. The characters and the imagery provided by either author are realist and the reader c an relate these characters and scenarios to common life with ease. The protagonist in Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper is a common housewife while her husband is a physician and predictably they have a middle class background. The protagonist’s thoughts and emotions expressed in the story signify that she is an ordinary person like anyone else. The fastidious nature of the protagonist’s husband is also attributable to the trends of the time. In the late nineteenth century physicians were still discovering new methods of treatment and took their time to differentiate right treatment from wrong. The

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

How World War One Led to the Creation of the Modern Middle East Essay

How World War One Led to the Creation of the Modern Middle East - Essay Example This essay declares that Britain took the central part in the War against the Middle Easterners with the aim of capturing the empty Otto Man Empire. In order to succeed, it had to involve the Indians forces in the war. It also underwent changes in the troops including the officials. A more social soldier, General Sir Edmund who managed to create bonds with his soldiers, making it easy to wage war against the Mesopotamians, replaced Murray. The Ottoman had combined forces with the Turkish soldiers. The following essay will succinctly describe the aftermath of the war on some of the Middle Eastern nations. Outlining and description of the today’s Middle East economic, political, and social situations will be done. As the paper explores the Ottoman/Turkish army was one of the armies’ of unstated quality. However, with Germany as an ally, the empire became a real threat to the British Empire; and in a quick rejoinder, London hurriedly landed an Anglo-Indian influence at Basra that situated between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. This was mainly done to safeguard the rich Anglo-Persian oil pipeline that was very crucial to the British Army, and to show the Union Jack this purposefully significant area near the Persian Gulf. During the conflict, the cluttered reasoning resulted to this crusade that proceeded during the moment of recovering from conflict, and principally British force major losses and these sick and wounded soldiers had to withdrawn from the area of the conflict. The Ottoman/ Turkish Fifth Army, who were well equipped with military weapons and had strong defense positions and strategies, had proved to be much stronger than there allies. When the Gallipoli conflict subsided, an Anglo-Indian influence was cut-off and was encircled at Kut-el-Amara, a city that was situated approximately 100 miles south of the town of Baghdad (Woodward, 2011). The restricted, protective stance at Basra had emerged into a distant and uncertain development up the Tigris towards Baghdad, and this eventually was the outcome. During this period, the Anglo-Indian influence lacked enough reserves and logistical structures to maintain and sustain the city of Baghdad, although they had recaptured it. In addition, a well-built British forces was present in Mesopotamia, but had no link to conquer Britain’s principle approach on the rival, Germany. However, the government of India was more worried that the holy war may spread to Persia and Afghanistan, hence intimidating the stability in India. The Indians needed the British reputation upheld in the Islamic community to avoid such a war. In the process of the war the troops were

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Critical Response (SPANISH) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical Response (SPANISH) - Essay Example Argentina gozaba de un gobierno republicano y Brasil ese mismo aà ±o cambiarà ­a su gobierno monà ¡rquico en un gobierno republicano. Estos factores contribuyeron a que ambas naciones se mostraran entusiastas con presentar sus mejores imà ¡genes ante el mundo en la Exposicià ³n Universal de Parà ­s. Fernà ¡ndez Bravo concluye su artà ­culo sobre la participacià ³n de Argentina y Brasil en este evento internacional enfatizando que desde un punto de vista estos paà ­ses fracasaron en mostrar una imagen favorable y desde otro punto de vista tuvieron à ©xito en otros aspectos. El autor citado resume su ensayo del siguiente modo: â€Å"Tanto en el pabellà ³n brasilero como en el argentino, las mercancà ­as funcionaron como actores de un espectà ¡culo en el que se intentaron reflejar nuevas imà ¡genes de la nacià ³n. En ninguno de los dos casos estos retratos parecen haber sido exitosos frente a la percepcià ³n europea, que siguià ³ considerà ¡ndolos paà ­ses exà ³ticos y todavà ­a alejados de los està ¡ndares del progreso universal. Sin embargo, en su imagen domà ©stica las iconografà ­as montadas en la Exposicià ³n Universal de 1889 parecen haber construido representaciones perdurables en la memoria colectiva: las de paà ­ses ricos en materias primas y marcados por ellas, como una cifra de la naturaleza americana nacionalizada, finalmente sometida por los dispositivos estatales que la transformaron en objeto de consumo y tambià ©n en un espectà ¡culo. Un espectà ¡culo poblado de mercancà ­as pero todavà ­a vacà ­o del sujeto colectivo que los pabellones parecà ­an querer imaginar: aq uà ©l que ayudarà ­a a construir la inmigracià ³n europea, en la que veà ­an un remedio para los problemas que aquejaban a sus naciones.† Por un lado, los pabellones de Argentina y Brasil presentaron principalmente productos agrà ­colas como sus principales bondades que les daban identidad

Falcon-Star Software Essay Example for Free

Falcon-Star Software Essay Falcon-Star Software is newly established Software Company which came into existence in 1994. It has offices in both Washington and Canada. The company is based on providing web based solutions to its customers worldwide. It aims to fulfill all our customers’ software based and customized application based needs. Our mission is to provide quality service to our customers who need our help for their businesses at reasonable rates and provide them the best solutions that will solve their problems for a extensive period of time. At the moment we have two offices to develop our software, our main competitors are also situated close to us and also across the globe, therefore we have to be much focused and plan our strategies accordingly else we can run out of business. Our company is divided into three main departments of information systems group, provisioning services Group, and manager of customer Service. Each department has its own set of directors under whom each of the heads of the departments and managers will be functioning. Since our organization is new we don’t have too many departments that is why each person will be doing multiple roles at the same time. You will be answerable to the CEO who will be there to over look your work and help you with your decisions. (Robbins Judge, 2005) Since we are in the initial stages of our business therefore we all need to work as one team and plan things ahead so that we can reduce the mishaps that can occur in future. As the manger of our departments I expect you all to be very clear of the mission of this company and based on that you define and identify your goals. This would include strategic planning and staff planning. Your senior managers are going to establish the over all objectives for the company and its your job to turn them into tactical objectives and make your less seniors workers understand them. (Fleming, 2005) Leadership is an important part of becoming a successful manager. It is your ability to lead other people so that they look up to you, trust you and therefore give in their best. It is your responsibility to take care of your sub ordinates who will be helping you with your work. Motivation is an important part of leadership. You need to keep your employees intact with the goal of the company. Make them understand their importance to this company. Employees are one of the greatest assets of a company and we don’t want to lose this asset. (Employee Engagement – A Concept Clean Up) As a manager you are responsible to look into all the matters that are under your control. In order to make things works in a systematic way you will have do organize your team of workers, time and resources in the most efficient manner. It is not about giving instructions only. You need the right kind of people to work under you and delegate responsibility to them . There should be clear division of work. And each department is accountable for its outcome but they all should work for one common vision. Well planned and organized work is a sign of good management and that is what we want our managers to be like at Falcon-Star Software. It is your duty to measure the performance of your department and your employees by comparing it against the targets that you had set for your self and if there are any shortcoming you need to over come that by taking appropriate corrective actions. This will help you in not repeating the same mistake again and learn more from the past experience. As it is said by Hertzberg that giving feed back is very important if things are going the way you wanted them to be. (Echols, 2005) Apart from them you are responsible for coordination between your different activities. The goals of each department should be the same. Try to avoid situations which would end up wasting resources, money and effort. Our aim is to give our customers the best developed software to fulfill their requirement. Communicate with your staff and encourage them. Failure to keep satisfied employees can adversely affect the business. Different managers have different ways of approaching problems. You can choose your own ways of doing work as long as it’s giving us result. You should understand your role and what we want from you at work. You have to plan, organize, control, communicate, and lead the organization and its employees. Our focus is our customers. We together have to work as a team so that our goal is met and we are able to compete with our competitors successfully. For that we require efforts from every individual however, the role of a manager in a company is versatile. They give fuel to the organization. Its now on your ability and work and commitment and how you undertake pressure. (Echols, 2005) Works Cited †¢ Fleming, John H. (November 2005). Where Employee Engagement Happens. Harvard Business Review †¢ Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge (2005). Organizational Behavior, Twelfth edition: Pearsons Publishers †¢ Employee Engagement – A Concept Clean Up. bsiconsulting, Retrieved June 26, 2008, from http://bsiconsulting. com. au/pdfs/Engagement%20Clean%20Up%2003. pdf

Monday, July 22, 2019

Birth Control Pills Essay Example for Free

Birth Control Pills Essay Teen age also referred to as puberty is the age between twelve years and nineteen and it is one of the most crucial stages in life. For many young people, this is one period that presents difficulties for many as it is the time they get to discover exactly who they are. They begin to experience certain changes in their body and it is usually at this stage that they realize that there is a difference between a boy and a girl. Of the many issues that the young people discover during puberty is their sexuality. They get to learn how the reproductive system works and are sensitized that at this age they are capable of being reproductive as their reproductive systems at this point are fully mature. Although sexual intercourse is a reserve of the adults, it is a fact that cannot be refuted that young people, even as young as teenagers are now engaging in the act (Seaman. 54-57). Teenagers are getting sexually active as early as at the age of ten years. It is for this reason that it has become necessary for the teenagers to be sensitized among crucial issues like methods of protection from pregnancy and other sexually transmitted diseases. This paper focuses on birth control pills as one of the methods of contraceptives which is now very common among teenagers (Seaman. 75-77). Birth control pills are tablets whose chemical composition is made up of hormones which are meant to later the normal functioning of the body and specifically the reproductive system. The birth control pills just as the name suggests are taken as a precautionary measure to prevent a woman from getting pregnant after getting sexually involved with any form of protection (Zonderman. 83-86). How it Works As already mentioned birth control pills are made up of hormones that are meant to alter the normal functioning of the reproduction system and specifically the ovaries and the uterus. Most birth control pills contain a combination of hormones, mainly progesterone and estrogen whose function is to prevent ovulation and consequently prevent fertilization of the egg by the sperm during sexual intercourse. As a result, a woman cannot conceive since no egg was available for fertilization. The chemicals in these pills also thicken the mucus that normally surrounds the cervix making it extremely difficult for the sperm to swim through to the uterus to reach any eggs that may have been released during ovulation. Sometimes these pills have the effect of making it hard for the egg to attach itself on the wall of the uterus and thus fertilization becomes impossible (Zonderman. 99-103). Dosage While the dosage of these pills differs depending on the type, most of them are taken for 21 days or 28 days. This means that a woman is required to take these pills on a daily basis and once one pack of 28 pills is complete, a woman gets her periods. Some pills are such that they reduce the frequency at which a woman gets her monthly periods. This means that instead on the normal monthly period being received every month, a woman get period once in three months. Some pills have one hormone (progesterone) instead of the combination of progesterone and estrogen. The effect of such a pill is such that changes the mucus that surrounds the cervix and the lining around the uterus. However this pill has been found to be less effective in prevention of pregnancy in comparison with other birth control pills. For this pill to work it must be taken at the same time everyday without skipping (Watkins. 153-156). Any woman taking the minipill as it is commonly referred to is likely to miss her periods or get them but at irregular frequencies. During the first seven days when a woman begins to use birth control pills it is always advisable to use an additional form of contraception like a condom to prevent pregnancy. However after the seven day period the birth control pill should be strong enough to prevent pregnancy even without the use of an additional form of contraceptive. However it is important to note that birth control pills only protect a woman from getting pregnant and not from contracting sexually transmitted diseases. This therefore means that even when a woman is using the birth control pills it is important to use condoms to protect them from getting sexually transmitted infections. It is also important to note that birth control pills are not to be shared. A person should stick to their pack and never take pills belonging to a friend even though they are of the same type (Zonderman. 112-116). Effectiveness Research conducted by medical practitioners indicates that, even though the birth control pills are effective to a large extent, if used for a prolonged period they become ineffective and possibilities of becoming pregnant are high. This is because, just like any medicine, when the pills are used for lengthy periods, the body tends to develop resistance against the pill and thus the ineffectiveness. However this largely depends on how disciplined one is in taking the pills on a daily basis. Skipping taking the pills increases the chances of getting pregnant. In general the effectiveness of birth control pills is dependent on a number of factors including any inhibiting factor, for example intake of some medication may interfere with the effectiveness of birth control pills. How properly the pills are taken (without skipping) also determines the effectiveness of the pills (Watkins. 175-178). Side Effects Just like all others types of medication, birth control pills have various side effects. Some of the most common side effects of these pills include nausea, irregular menstrual cycle and change in moods. However these side effects are rarely felt and those who experience the side effects, they are only mild cases. Most of these side effects fade away with time and especially after the first three months most women no longer experience the side effects of these pills. Some of the most likeable side effects among teenagers of birth control pills include reducing the flow of the monthly periods so that they become lighter and reducing cramps that come with the monthly periods. In addition these pills have been said to offer protection from anemia, cancer of the ovaries and some diseases that affect the breast (Zonderman. 135-137). Conclusion Although birth control pills play an important role in keeping away unwanted pregnancies, it is important to remember that they do not protect one from sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS which has no cure. Abstinence especially among teenagers is the only sure to keep STDs and unwanted pregnancies at bay. If one has to engage in sexual intercourse then perhaps use of a condom may be advisable. Work cited Seaman. B. The doctors case against the pill. New York: Doubleday, 1980. Watkins, E. Siegel. On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950- 1970. Baltimore, Md: New York: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. Zonderman. J. Birth control pills, New York: Chelsea House, 2006.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Criminal Profiling vs Racial Profiling

Criminal Profiling vs Racial Profiling Racial profiling is a social problem that has erupted throughout the country. Many provinces, cities, social groups, and academics have studied racial profiling and how race and ethnicity may play a part in police investigations. Allegations of racial profiling have been around for years, and still is a subject that creates a lot on media hype and controversy surrounding police and their interaction with minorities. In Toronto, there have been numerous newspaper and television articles accusing the Toronto Police Service of systematic racism (Canadian Race Relations Foundations, 2005). Racial profiling should not be confused with criminal profiling, because they are two different things (Mucchetti, 2006, pp. 1-32). Racial profiling is not specific to one race or one country. Actually being racially profiled can happen to anyone at any time no matter what race or sex or country they live in. This paper will examine racial profiling and criminal profiling by police and explaining how the different sociological perspectives; functionalist, conflict, interactionist, and feminist perspectives view it. The paper will also attempt to argue if there is systematic racial profiling by the Toronto Police. My thesis is the Toronto Police does not systematically racially profile, instead they systematically criminally profile. In order to examine racial profiling and criminally profiling one must understand the differences between the two. Although there is no clear or universal definition of racial profiling, there is a common component in all of the definitions (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2009). This paper defines racial profiling as the practice of targeting racial minorities for criminal investigation solely or, in part, on the basis of their skin colour (Court of Appeal for Ontario, 1999). According to the Harvard Latino Law Review, criminal profiling involves: The use of racial or ethnic characteristics by police departments in stopping an individual because his or her description matches that of an actual suspect. In this sense, race functions as the equivalent of hair color or height, which can then be used in combination with other factors to paint a more accurate portrait of a suspected criminal. As a result, generalized notions of criminal propensity are not projected onto an individual because of that persons membership in a particular racial or ethnic group (Mucchetti, 2006, pp. 1-32). The term racial profiling began in the 1980s, when the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the United States developed and used common characteristics to profile drug couriers as part of the agencies war on drugs (Harris, 2006, pp. 213-239). When community members began to complain about police investigations and their actions towards minorities the uses of the profiling technique emerged to be labelled as racial profiling (Ibid). Functionalist, conflict, interactionist, and feminist perspectives all believe racial profiling is one of discrimination, pressure and manipulation of subordinate groups so that the dominant group can exercise their social class, race, and sexual superiority over others (Banks, Eberhardt, Ross, 2006, pp. 1169-1190). Prejudice in racial profiling is caused by psychological and socially constructed influences, where individuals are influenced by their surroundings to hate another solemnly based on their race (Guimond, Dambrun, Michinov, Duarte, 2003, pp. 697-721). The functionalist perspective believes society is divided into two groups, the dominant and subordinate. And, that these groups are a natural part of society (Kendall, Nygaard, Thompson, 2011). Functionalist also believe society is not balanced in terms of race, because it is natural for one group of people to be superior over the other and that racial equality will reduce the dominate group power on subordinate group (Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, 1988, pp. 1331-1387). Therefore, functionalist view racial profiling as being formed by dominate groups to cause the subordinate groups to feel inferior, so they can have their own roles in society because it is how society intended it to be. Conflict perspective believe that all groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle because the dominant groups who have social, political and economical power, struggle to maintain their privileged position over the subordinate groups (Kendall, Nygaard, Thompson, 2011). Conflict theorists also believe everyone is equal, despite his or her race, sex or employment, opposed to the functionalist theory (Ibid). They also believe racialized and ethnic inequality is caused due to economic stratification (Ibid). The dominate group determines what laws should be enforced and what penalties are to be administered. They also determine what subordinate group will be targeted, arrested and punished unfairly in order to maintain their positions in a capitalist society. The police are used as a tool by the dominate group to maintain their position in society. Racial profiling by police is only one of the methods used by police to enforce the rules of the dominate class. Symbolic interactionist perspective can be used to explain officers behaviour which is based in social psychology (Kendall, Nygaard, Thompson, 2011). The social dynamics involving the interaction between officer and citizen may influence officers behaviour and cause them to racially profile. The interactionist approach emphasizes how racialized socialization contributes to feelings of solidarity with ones own racialized or ethnic group and hostility towards others (Ibid) which could cause citizens to challenge officers authority if they felt their identities were being challenged, their civil liberties were being restricted, or the officer was acting in a rude behaviour. Although symbolic interactionist perspective does not directly explain why police initially stop minorities, it does explain the social interaction between the officer and citizen and how it could result in the citizen feeling of being racially profiled if the officers interaction was professional. Feminist perspective is based on critical-conflict perspective (Kendall, Nygaard, Thompson, 2011). A feminist view on racial profiling is about gender and race differences, and the limitations associated with traditional male-dominance in society. There is no one feminist perspective that can explain a social problem such as racial profiling because all are theories of oppression, differences, and inequality (Ibid). Social activist groups along with minority groups claims of systematic racial profiling by the Toronto Police Service exists and refer to published articles to support their claims, such as the 2002 series of newspaper articles written by the Toronto Star, and the lack of racial statistics compiled by the Toronto Police Service. In these articles, the Toronto Star articles used empirical data collected from the Toronto Police Services Criminal Information Processing System (CIPS) database. According to the newspaper articles that examined 480,000 files contained within the database, relating to arrest and traffic stops, claim Blacks arrested by Toronto Police are treated more harshly than white, and a disproportionate number of black motorists are ticketed for violations that only surface following a traffic stop. According to civil libertarians, community leaders and criminologists, the difference could suggest that police use racial profiling in deciding whom to pull over (Toronto Star Newspaper, 2009, p. A01). Social and minority groups also support their claims of systematic racial profiling by the Toronto Police Service, as the Service does not collect or release race base statistics. They argue One fears that the only reason the Police Board refuses to release this data is to ensure that the public does not get updated information on racial profiling (Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, 2008). This paper concedes that racial profiling may exist on an individual basis (micro-level) within the Toronto Police Service. This was confirmed by Chief Blair of the Toronto Police Service who was speaking a diversity conference and said: Racism is a human failing. Racial profiling can occur. Weve acknowledged that right up front (Doolittle, 2009). As a police officer, it is obvious that there are errors in the Toronto Stars conclusions. The Toronto Star compiled its data using the files contained in the CIPS database, which only contained files relating to arrest and tickets issued to persons. The problem using only this database is that it does not take into account the number of people the police actually investigate where there were no arrest or tickets issued, or the fact that the CIPS system excludes information on part 1 Provincial Offences tickets; i.e. seatbelt, speeding etc. as it only includes part 3 Provincial offences tickets (more serious offences). By only selecting the CIPS database and not the true number of persons stopped by police skewed the final results. Professor Edward B. Harvey, a PhD, from the University of Toronto confirmed this fact that the Toronto Police database, which was not designed for research purposes, contains so many flaws that its uses in research is limited (Harvey, 2003). The data-collection by the Toronto Star was also disputed by Allan Gold based on the distinction between reactive and proactive policing (2003, pp. 391-399). Gold argues reactive policing could attribute to claims of racial profiling while proactive policing will not. When it comes to the collection of data, the Toronto Start uses both styles of policing which flawed their conclusion (Ibid). It is very well known that any and every methodology in the social sciences is open to criticism and attack (May, 2001). Max Weber a pioneering sociologist and social researcher stresses the importance of proper methodology in social research in examining any social problem, and how crucial it is to understanding the problem (Alasuutari, 2010, pp. 139-155). The Toronto Stars article and how they used the data and the omission of vital data has skewed the final results. These errors have created false evidence of systematic racial profiling by the Toronto Police Service, which has been proven. The argument of race based crime statistics date back to 1929 (Johnston, 1994, p. 166). Social activist groups along with minorities groups have argued that the reason Toronto Police Service is not releasing race based crime statistics is due to the that the Service in fact racially profiling, which would be proven by the statistics (Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, 2008). In fact in 1989 the opposite argument was used by community groups when then Inspector Julian Fantino released crime based statistics, claiming them to be inherently racist calling for their abolishment (Johnston, 1994, p. 166). According to Robin S. Engel an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati and Director of the University of Cincinnati Policing Institute, Data will never prove or disprove racially biased policing, we contend that vehicle stop data collection and analysis should never be viewed-either by police or resident stakeholders-as a pass fail test. Rather, it should be viewed as a diagnostic tool to help pinpoint the decisions, geographic areas, and procedures that should get priority attention when the agency, in concert with concerned residents, identifies its next steps for addressing the problem or perception of racial profiling (2008, pp. 1-36). Institutional racism consists of the day-to-day practices of an organization that have a harmful impact on members of a subordinate group (Kendall, Nygaard, Thompson, 2011) and delivered at the macro-level. In order for the argument of systematic racial profiling by the Toronto Police Service to be true, the Service would have to have policies or procedures in place that sanctioned it. In fact, the Toronto Police Service does not sanction any form of racial profiling by its members. The Service has numerous rules and procedures that prohibit racial profiling along with a Diversity Management Unit that monitors all human rights complaints and ensures that all members provide a bias-free service to the community (2009). Members of the Toronto Police Service are also being constantly reminded their responsibility in providing a bias-free service to the community. These reminders are done through training and education, the Services Core Values and letters to the members of the Service, such as a letter written in 2003 by then Chief Juilian Fantino who wrote; we must be aware that social and institutional pressures can lead to unacceptable instances of racial bias in policing. Police officers must make their decisions to engage the public based on the actions or conduct that they observe, on actual witness information and/or on hand evidence. Police officers must have articulable cause or reasonable grounds in order to pursue legitimate law enforcement activities with a member of the public. We must not make any decision to stop, question and/or search citizens based solely on a persons race. All of us, at all times, must provide equitable and respectful service to all persons regardless of race. I believe that the best way to deal with this and all other issues is simply by always treating people, all people, professionally. Lets continue to treat all people and each other with dignity and respect. Professional conduct means that we will never go wrong or be found wanting in our dealings with all components of our diverse society (Toronto Police Service, 2003). To ensure that members of the Toronto Police Service are not racially profiling the Toronto Police Service is working in partnership with the Ontario Human Rights Commission to ensure the Services hiring practices reflect the diversity of the City of Toronto, training officers in ethics, and diversity and how to recognize racial bias policing (2009) Although the Toronto Police Service does not systematically racially profile, they do systematically criminally profile. Criminal profiling also known as Criminal Investigative Analysis (CIA) is an effective tool enabling law enforcement agencies to enforce the law more effectively (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). The origins of criminal profiling can be traced back to 1800s when it was first used in case to identify Jack to Ripper (Winerman, 2004, p. 66). The current use of criminal profiling by law enforcement was developed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in the United States by their Behaviour Science Unit (Ibid). The uses of this technique has also with stood the threshold of law and been recognized as a valid investigative technique. Criminal profiling involves a multidisciplinary approach that examines and understands criminal behaviour using many sociological perspectives. Functionalist perspective view crime as a result of the lack moral order within a society which is necessary to hold society together (Kendall, Nygaard, Thompson, 2011). Conflict perspective suggests that disadvantage groups are more likely to become criminals than those who are privileged. It also sees higher-income citizens being able to hide their criminal acts better and punished differently then disadvantage groups, if caught. Symbolic interactionist perspective helps us understand how people learn to become criminals and how being labelled a criminals can increase the probability that the person will engage in criminal behaviour (Ibid). Each perspective traces criminal behaviour to social conditions rather than to the individuals race, sex, ethnicity or disability. Criminal profiling can be broken into two stages; the first could be described as general profiling and the second as specific profiling (Palermo, 2002, pp. 383-385). General profiling is part of an officers everyday duties and investigations of any crime, such as traffic stops, while specific profiling is more refined in the officers approach to evidence and crime scene investigations (Ibid). Criminal profiling can also take on several forms. The first form of criminal profiling can be institutional, which is where the organization develops the profile of the offender, while the second for can be formed by the individual officer. This form of criminal profiling is developed by the officer from his or her own experiences (Higgins Gabbidon, 2009, pp. 77-88). In todays policing, Toronto Police Service front-line officers incorporated the general profiling aspect of criminal profiling when performing their general duties but will on occasion incorporate specific profiling aspects when responding to a serious radio call. The officers will also use both institutional and individual forms of criminal profiling as well. A basic form of institutional criminal profiling is taught to members of the Toronto Police Service when he or she attends the Ontario Police College as a basic recruit. The recruits are provided the necessary knowledge of laws, procedures and skills that will help them perform their duties as frontline officers. With emphasis on the core function of police services found in the Ontario Police Service Act section 4(2) which focuses on Crime Prevention, Law Enforcement, Assistance to Victims of Crime, Public Order Maintenance, and Emergency Response (2009). The officers are also provided training a variety of subjects including, ethics, anti-racism and community policing (Ibid). The training does not stop when a officer leave the Ontario Police College, the officers are further trained at the Toronto Police College in the Services Rule and Procedures, Core Values and Mission Statement of the Service along with officer safety training. Officers develop individual criminal profiling skills when they start patrolling the streets of Toronto. The officer will respond to thousands of calls varying from thefts, domestics, fights, to vehicle stops. Each time the officer interacts with the individuals, he or she develops their own brand of policing and individual criminal profiling techniques. In community policing, officers work closely with problem communities, in developing strategies to help the community combat crime. Working with the community, officers receive information from residences on potential criminal activities and individuals within the community, so that they can develop strategies to reduce crime. Officers will incorporate all aspects of criminal profiling to either be reactive or proactive in an attempt to reduce criminality. Being reactive, officers focus their attention on direct information that is received from the community to reduce the current problem within the community, while proactive policing allows the officers to profile activities and individuals within the community to prevent further victimization. Officers also use criminal profiling when they perform traffic stops. The officer use individual criminal profiling when he or she selects an area to monitor the traffic flow, which is based on the officers personal experience. The officer might select an area where there is a high rate of incidences of failing to stop at a sign or a section or roadway where vehicle speed. When the officer decides to stop the vehicle for a violation of the Highway Traffic Act, he or she again criminally profiles the vehicle and occupants for officer safety reasons. The officer will conduct registration checks on the vehicle and the registered owner, all the time observing the occupants of the vehicle before stopping the vehicle, in order identify any criminal activity. This part of criminal profiling it taught to the officers by the Ontario Police College and the Toronto Police College (institutional criminal profiling) as part of the Officers Safety Section within both colleges, in order to keep the officer safe. There are those who argue that criminal profiling is not supported by scientific evidence and should be dismisses as rhetoric and never be used. This paper agrees that criminal profiling is limited in empirical data but is still a useful tool to combat crime. According to a research study which states, criminal profiling will persist as a pseudoscientific technique until such time as empirical and reproducible studies are conducted on the abilities of large groups of active profilers to predict, with more precision and greater magnitude, the characteristics of offenders (Snook, Eastwood, Gendreau, Goggin Cullen, 2007, pp. 437-453). In conclusion, it is important to rethink racial profiling through the lens of criminal profiling and to reduce race to the role that it is purportedly playing in racial profiling, namely a predictive factor; to treat race no differently than we would gender, class, age, or any other profile that works; to take the focus away from race and place it on criminal profiling more generally. Rethinking racial profiling through the lens of criminal profiling actually sheds light on police practices. The Toronto Police Service does not systematically racially profile as the media, social and minority groups would have us believe. In order for the Toronto Police Service to be blamed for systematically racially profiling, the Service would have to be a plan or procedure in place to support it. The Toronto Police Service does not support any form of racial profiling by it members Criminal profiling plays a crucial and significant role in deterring and combating criminal behaviour and activity. Criminal profiling provides a valuable tool for police in which they can assess and analyze the patterns of criminal behaviour (Turvey, 2008, pp. 1-43). The Toronto Police Service systematically criminally profiles and treats the race component of criminal profiling no differently than they would gender, class, age, or any other profile that works.