Touch Screen Alarm Clock Marketing Plan Term Paper

Contact Screen Alarm Clock Marketing Plan - Term Paper Example l guarantee that it effectively meets the prerequisites of each client by charging sensible cost for the item extend and give includes in the morning timer as needs be. Since the business condition is getting wild and serious, it has gotten indispensable for the organizations to do a statistical surveying before propelling the item in the market (Ranjhita, 2011). With the assistance of the exploration, it was discovered that the touch screen morning timer has a colossal potential for the new contestants and section obstructions are moderately low (Cako, 2005). The new participants can be extremely testing to bargain as the opposition by means of new contestants gets fiercer in the business showcase. In US, each top positioned brand is offering its items however there are a few zones where individuals have constrained access to these tickers. This constrained access makes an open door for different associations to advertise their items. The three territories distinguished by our organization are Ohio, Florida and California; the geographic division has been done to get an away from of the kind of clients that the organization will target. From the investigation of the examination discoveries, it is concluded that the brand name will be â€Å"Express Alarm Clock† and it will include two models based on highlights. One model will be basic with less highlights and other will be with confounded highlights and it will comprise of very high specialized highlights. The two models are chosen by the necessities and requests of the objective market. Different parts of the promoting plan are examined underneath in detail. So as to provide food the correct objective market, it is significant that the objective market is chosen heretofore which will guarantee that there will be sure number of customers who would purchase the item (Flink, 2011). The objective market of this new touch screen Alarm Clock is as per the following: Way of life: Depending on the existence cycle stage; little youngsters and grown-ups who are carefree, courageous and innovatively canny.

Barriers of interpersonal communication in organization free essay sample

Hierarchical correspondence can be said as the procedure of data is traded and comprehended by at least two individuals where it for the most part with the aim of rousing or impact conduct. Aware that this definition has the reason that may go past simply moving data as regularly, the senders have the expectation to impact the beneficiary to do what they need (Dawn Kelly 2006). Relational correspondence is basic and assumes an essential job in the working of any association. Subsequently, compelling in conveying has become a significant factor in deciding the productivity of the association execution all in all. Each and everybody in the organization is required to have a decent relational correspondence aptitude so as to guarantee that the activities and procedures from the most reduced to the most elevated level of the association can work all the more proficiently. DMG Corporation as one of the association in the Banking and Finance Service industry has at present endured with the issue of need correspondence among their partners where it has messed some up like low representative assurance, wastefulness in execution and development has diminished. As the CEO of DMG Corporation, Bob Jensen knows about the reality of poor correspondence has chosen to utilize a specialist to examine the issues. Consequently, the reasons for inadequate relational correspondence from all degree of workers will at that point be recognized in this report and practical suggestion will at that point be laid out to improve the distinguished issues. 2. 2 Outline of research This point of this examination report will be completely exploring the relational correspondence issues between the administrators and the workers of DMG Corporation and the viability of their ebb and flow methods and approaches. The key instruments that will be utilized in this exploration report will include the reviews, poll and perception of defined example size of 200 representatives. The reason for this exploration report is to contemplate the reasons for poor relational correspondence of DMG Corporation with the utilization of contemporary models, hypotheses and ideas to especially improve every region of the featured issues. Distinguishing proof of Main Issues Digital specialized strategy In building up an all encompassing exploration on the issues looked by DMG Corporation, we have discovered that one of the reasons for poor relational correspondence between the supervisors and the workers is the utilization of advanced specialized technique. As time passes by, progression of mechanical correspondence has become increasingly complex where it has changed the way how the chiefs and representatives impart to one another. A large number of the associations have deserted the customary method of vis-à-vis correspondence in their exchanges of tasks in the workplace as associations these days more lean toward with the utilization of computerized specialized strategies in speaking with their partners. The most mainstream correspondence that generally utilized by the associations are the personal computers, PC and cellphone. Through the examination that has been led, representatives of DMG Corporation are approached to present the poll that mostly request that they compose their closely-held convictions and assessment of their workplace through email as the examination of poor relational correspondence looked by DMG Corporation. Through the messages got from the representatives, it shows that lion's share of the workers in DMG Corporation has low degree of fulfillment in their activity condition and don't have the feeling of harmony, especially as far as correspondence. Not just that, we additionally discovered that the poor correspondence between the chiefs and the workers have caused DMG Corporation in enduring the falls in their business execution, from 5% to 29% over the most recent five years which likewise have influenced the assurance and inspiration of the representatives. All through the examination of this exploration report, deals execution of DMG Corporation can be assessed as under normal where their presentation is said as 33 out of 100. Utilizing the result that we got from the examination before as a lead, we have proceeded in analyzing the issue of use of advanced correspondence dependent on the point of view of DMG Corporation’s workers. The examination shows that advanced specialized strategies utilized by DMG Corporation have expanded the likelihood of the event of perceptual hindrances in the correspondence between the administrators and the representatives. This is because of the explanation of theâ traditional up close and personal specialized strategies are supplanted by trend setting innovation specialized techniques, for example, short messages, reminders, messages and others. In this specific circumstance, the various qualities, standards, interests, beneficial encounters, convictions of every single one in DMG Corporation will see an occasion or a message in entirely unexpected manners where these invalid discernments or thinking have caused the ascent of misconception, clashes among the partner s where arrangements and given undertakings are being attempted by them mistakenly (Grasso, Golen, and Burns 2005). Social effect Globalization has caused the separation among every single individual to turn out to be more abbreviate, and cross-culture has caused a considerable lot of the issues emerge and one of them is the decent variety in culture. From the review led for DMG Corporations, we found that chiefs and representatives with various social foundation is one of the prime issues that should be featured to improve their relational correspondence. Host nation language capability Through the exploration being embraced, it shows that remote representatives in DMG Corporation have the issue of confronting language obstructions in their working spot. This is a direct result of the normal way where individuals these days are increasingly favored in utilizing their own local language to speak with their own races where the issue of inclination to bias will at that point happened and this will demotivate the assurance of working for the representatives in DMG Corporation. For example, the remote worker of DMG Corporation that work under the branch situated in western nation where there have high language abilities and made them experience issues in speaking with different representatives that originate from different nations like Japan and Korea. This is a direct result of the distinctions in letters in order, sentence structure, understanding of significance and language grammar are diverse in various nations. Consequently, the language obstructions came about because of the correspondence in various nations is one reason of causing the issues of misconception and struggle between DMG Corporation and their accomplices and brought about wastefulness execution (Froesea, Peltokorpib, and Koa 2012). By utilizing the result produced from the overview directed in DMG Corporation as a lead, further perception is led on the essential of various social foundation of representatives in DMG Corporation. As DMG Corporation possessed workers with various races, social foundations, standards and convictions, consequently the practices of how the contribution of the data is grasped and deciphered will at that point be impacted by the qualities, measures, mental self portrait, objectives, observations, desires, social standards, convictions of the indicate representatives (Balsmeier, and Heck. 1994). In this situation, because of the explanation of various social foundation and convictions, representatives of DMG Corporation will at that point grasp the data from a similar message in two totally various ways. The social viewpoints or language are the hindrances happened in the multifaceted business correspondence where it is a direct result of the distance of the workers, their vulnerability, inclination to generalization, social stun, racial separation, bias and others (Guoqiang n. d. ). With the components created from the review led in DMG Corporation before as a rule, we proceed to watch and dissect the practices of workers in alternate points of view and the key issues that cause the occurs of contentions and errors between the chiefs and the representatives are assembled as follows. †¢Physical boundaries Physical correspondence boundaries are the issues that influenced by the natural factor. From the review directed dependent on the viewpoints of representatives in DMG Corporation, it shows that 36% of the workers explain that one of the impacts influenced their correspondence is the area of their company which is situated close to the LRT station where they said that they frequently upset by the clamor of LRT going through them. Subsequently, it influences the consideration of the representatives in DMG Corporation in appreciating the messages passed on by their chiefs, particularly for the over-burden and complex data. †¢Physiological obstructions Physiological obstructions are the attributes of transmission or gathering of data being meddled by the speaker or the audience. As what has appeared in the outcome acquired from the self-assessment of 200 workers in DMG Corporation where 20 of them are having hypersensitivity issue, 37 of them are regularly absence of rest as need to fulfill the tight time constraints, 77 of them are effectively in feeling sluggishness, ravenous, passionate pain and the remainder of them are typical. Thus, it shows that dominant part of the workers in DMG Corporation are troublesome in amassing in hearing and translation of a message in the correspondence. †¢Semantics and word usage Semantics and style is the most customary issue happens in DMG Corporation as DMG is a globalization association. Semantics and style is characterized as the decision and utilization of words between two individuals that will have noteworthy contrast among them. A proof from a report shows that huge numbers of the regular English word has normal of 28 definitions where it will be a lot of cautious in choosing a word to guarantee that the importance and thought of the sentences can transmitted precisely. End The key factor

33 Fun Tax Facts!

33 Fun Tax Facts! 33 Fun Tax Facts! 33 Fun Tax Facts!Now that we’re smack in the middle of tax season, it’s probably time to take a break, right? That’s why we reached out to a group of tax experts and asked them for some of their favorite tax-related facts, tips, and trivia.Fair warning: the list gets kind of weird. Enjoy!“The word “tax” comes from the Latin taxo, which means “I estimate.” Josh Zimmelman, owner of Westwood Tax Consulting.The motto of American colonists who participated in the Boston Tea Party was “no taxation without representation!” Because residents of Washington DC lack voting representation in Congress, their unofficial motto is “taxation without representation.” Don’t believe us? Check the receipts license plates.Uncle Sam wants you to be healthy! If you quit smoking, you can write off any smoking cessation products or programs. Have a life-threatening medical condition like diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease? If a doctor signs off on it, you can write off diet/fitness products, classes, and programs. One person was able to write off the cost of their new pool because it was their form of exercise, as signed off by a doctor. However, if it was for recreational purposes, the IRS wouldnt accept it. â€" Ivy Chou, Content Director for DealsPlus.“Income tax didnt exist until the Civil War, in 1861, but the tax was actually disbanded in 1872 because it was deemed unconstitutional. It wasnt until 1913 when the constitution was changed, via the 16th amendment, that these taxes were again re-introduced.” Emilee Morehouse, SimpleKeep“There are more words in the tax code than there are in the Bible. The tax code is about 4 million words long.” â€" Marc Roche, Co-founder and CEO of Annuities HQ.“The first known taxes were in Sumer (Mesopotamia) almost 5,000 years ago. They were recorded on clay cones and paid in livestock.” Josh Zimmelman, owner of Westwood Tax Consulting.The writing on the Rosetta Stone, a monumentally important artifact and the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, is mostly about taxes.“The IRS was created during World War II and that’s when the government starting withholding taxes from paychecks.” Josh Zimmelman, owner of Westwood Tax Consulting.Al Capone was a famous Chicago mobster. He was eventually brought down by agents from the Treasury Department (this was pre-IRS) who were able to prove that he was avoiding income tax.“The IRS receives more than 130 million tax returns each year. Its surprising that theyre able to keep up! In 2016, Americans spent about 6.1 billion hours and $29.6 billion on tax preparation services and/or tax software like TurboTax and HR Block.” â€" Ivy Chou, Content Director for DealsPlus.“In the 1st century, the Roman emperor taxed urine. It was collected for the ammonia and use to launder garments and tan hides.” Josh Zimmelman, owner of Westwood Tax Consulting.In 2011, the country of Romania was trying to pull itself out of a steep recession, decided to add a new profession to the country’s labor code, making it subject taxation. The profession? Witchcraft.“During the Great Depression, twelve states collected only fractions of a penny on sales of low-price items. For a product that only costs 10 cents, for example, the tax due was less than a penny. To avoid Americans being overcharged, in a time where that amount could be critical, tokens were generally used with some multiple of 1/10 of a cent.” Susan Petracco, Co-Founder of AccurateTax.comDouble amputees in Oregon get a $50 tax credit. Single amputees? They get bupkus.“The IRS has more people working for it than the Federal Bureau of Investigation!” â€" Marc Roche, Co-founder and CEO of Annuities HQ.So-called “sin taxes” are taxes on things like tobacco, gambling and alcohol. Their proper name is “excise taxes.”“Speaking of income tax, if we think taxes are bad now, we should take a gander back to WWII when tax levels rose to 94% for wealthy Americans. Talk about burning through your (very well padded) paychecks!” Emilee Morehouse, SimpleKeepUp until President Trump’s controversial decision to withhold his tax returns, every presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter had released theirs during the campaign.“Get creative with your business expenses. A businessman deducted the cost of beer, a stripper her breast implants, and a work-at-home business owner deducted the costs of his lawn care. If it benefits your business in any way, you can probably write it off.” Ivy Chou, Content Director for DealsPlus.“Here’s the story about the stripper who deducted her boob job and ended up in tax court. Her name was Cynthia Hess (aka “Chesty Love”) and she originally deducted the surgery as a medical expense as a medical expense. The IRS disallowed it because cosmetic surgery that isn’t to correct a disfigurement or for life-saving purposes is not deductible. The higher court allowed the expense but no t as a medical expense. They allowed it as a bona fide ordinary and necessary business expense.” â€" Bonnie Lee, E.A., Owner of  Taxpertise“In the 1600s and 1700s in England, there was a tax on the number of windows in a house. (This was repealed in the 1800s because people started to get sick from living in homes with a lack of air, due to having limited windows.)” Josh Zimmelman, owner of Westwood Tax Consulting.“In England there is a tax on televisions. Color televisions are taxed more than black and white televisions, and if a blind person has a television they only have to pay half the tax. Truly bizarre!”  â€" Max Robinson, Jumpstart TaxSeveral European nations have a tax on cow flatulence. It’s actually very important because methane gas is one of the main greenhouse gases that causes climate change. But still: cow flatulence.“Over 1 million accountants are hired each year in America to help with taxes.” â€" Marc Roche, Co-founder and CEO of Annuities HQ .†œThe Russian Emperor Peter the Great taxed beards. (He wanted men to be clean shaven.)” Josh Zimmelman, owner of Westwood Tax Consulting.“New York City has the highest corporate income tax in the world.” â€" Marc Roche, Co-founder and CEO of Annuities HQ.Texas has a “Sexually-Oriented Business Fee” that charges strip clubs that serve alcohol $5-per-patron. Of course, it’s most commonly referred to by a different name: the pole tax. Revenue raised to the tax goes to health care and programs for victims of sexual assault.“One of the causes of the French Revolution was a salt tax (the gabelle).” Josh Zimmelman, owner of Westwood Tax Consulting .In 1982, Madison Square Garden was granted a 10-year property tax abatement. However, a clerical error led to the abatement being permanent. This has cost New York City approximately $200 million in tax revenue.“In an effort to keep citizens healthy, France imposed a soda tax on all carbonated soft drinks in 2012. Theyre no w about 3.5% more expensive than other drinks. But with all that wine, why would you even bother?” Emilee Morehouse, SimpleKeepIf you were going simply by tax documents, 7 million US children disappeared in 1987â€"the same year that the IRS started requiring that parents list their children’s Social Security numbers on their taxes.“Are you a drug dealer, thief, or corrupt official? The IRS wants to tax your dirty money, too. You can include your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if youre self-employed. As part of the Fifth Amendment, you have no obligation to disclose where the money came from. Now the question is, how many thieves and drug dealers are honest enough to pay up?” Ivy Chou, Content Director for DealsPlus.In 1935, the US tax code’s highest income tax bracket (63 percent) applied to only one person: Nelson Rockefeller, who earned over $5 million the previous year.If you need help self-filing your own taxes in 2017, ch eck out our blog post: Ready, Set, Deduct! and our ebook Tax Season 101: An OppLoans Explainer eBook.About the Contributors:Ivy Chou,  Ivy Chou is the content director at DealsPlus.com, one of the most popular shopping, coupon, and deal sites on the web. As a self-proclaimed shopaholic, she loves sharing her coupon-ing expertise and money-saving tips with fellow shoppers.Bonnie Lee, For over 20 years, as the owner of Taxpertise and as an Enrolled Agent, Lee has represented taxpayers across the country in audits, offers in compromise, tax problem resolution, and non-filing issues. She specializes in resolving tax problems for independent contractors, the self-employed and small business owners.Emilee Morehouse,  is a marketing maven dedicated to finding fresh ways to bring people together â€" a fancy way of saying she’s obsessed with social media. With a BA in Journalism, she worked as Managing Editor for The Exploress, then joined the team at SimpleKeep; bringing the worlds of mar keting, small business and finance closer together. In her spare time you can find Emilee on Twitter, travel blogging, painting or exploring her home city of Seattle, WA.Susan Petracco, is Co-Founder of AccurateTax.com, where she manages partner integrations and development. With a background of fifteen years in e-commerce, she has worked with large brands including Talbots, Serta, and Avid, as well as many smaller retailers. This experience consulting for retailers brought the need for more advanced sales tax solutions to her attention, leading to the founding and subsequent growth of AccurateTax.Max Robinson  works for Jumpstart Tax, an RD tax claim provider based in Scotland. Jumpstart pride themselves on bringing a bit more personality to their work than other tax specialists, and believe that this is why theyve managed to establish such a loyal following.Marc Roche, is the Co-founder and CEO of Annuities HQ an online resource for information and rates on annuities and retiremen t planning. Working steadily in the financial services, online marketing and lead generation industry for over eight years, Marc has had literally thousands of conversations concerning annuities with prospective buyers and advisors.A forward-thinking entrepreneur and passionate family man, Josh Zimmelman graduated from Yeshiva University in 2003 with a degree in accounting. Josh launched his own launch his own firm Westwood Tax and Consulting  and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, USA Today, The Huffington Post, and US News World Report.

The Issue Of Women s Equality - 1347 Words

In the past 50 years, women have gained much more equality in America. That progress was a necessary step for our modern nation, but such a big change has been a factor in the breakdown of our nation s families. In the past 50 years, divorce rates have more than doubled. In the present day, it is just as likely that a married couple will divorce as it is that they will stay together (Marriage and Divorce). The push for women s equality has been a factor in the breakdown of the American family by increasing women s individuality, complicating family decisions, and moving women into the workforce. Although the idea of females being individuals is true and logical, it has caused an imbalance and disconnect in American families. Women s†¦show more content†¦Those roles do not need to be held by the traditional gender, but their presence is vital. For example, my friend comes from a family where the father is the disciplinarian, handyman, and worker of the family, while the mother does not fulfill the other needed roles such as being a nurturer, organizer, or forgiver. In that family, the husband assumes traditional gender roles while the woman does not, so there are traits missing from the group. If you put their family on the scale mentioned above, they would be unstable and fall much to the man s side. In reality, also, they are very unstable and have separated many times because of that imbalance. The individuality that women have gained has also caused them to be more focused on themselves than the family as a whole. Females have gained a sense of individuality and uniqueness, so they want to be able to pursue their own wants. Traditionally, the man was the only one able to go after his wants, and many men still do. When only one parent focused on themselves, the family could still be stable. Now, both sexes are viewed as individuals who can pursue their goals. Just because women can now do that, doesn t mean that men have stopped. In moderation, parents having individual goals and journies is healthy and helps families be content, but when both parents are seeking that, it easily gets out of hand and causes a disconnect within families. The family

Teen Suicidal Behavior in our Society - 1781 Words

To live is a very fragile and misunderstood term. Countless lives are taken unwillingly each day by mere accidents, while others are lost fighting to defend their countries’ beliefs. Some of these lives grow old, and some do not, but many are not being lived in the way they were intended. Somewhere along the lines in our society, people have the idea that their own life might not be worth living. Ending their life is called suicide, and it is becoming more and more popular among teenagers in this generation. For people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, suicide is the third leading cause of death, only behind accidents and homicides (New, 2012). It was recorded in 1996, that more teenagers and young adults committed†¦show more content†¦This is where the school needs to step in and have a greater crack down of the nationwide epidemic of bullying. Research suggests preventing teenage suicides through better school based support systems is key, which all starts with preventing bullying (Fisher, 2006). Aside from religious beliefs, homosexual teens undergo an abnormal amount of stress. From being confused about their feelings to being worried about how they will be accepted, these teens have enough on their plate. When homosexual teens get bullied at school for their different views, classmates’ rude comments may be enough to send them over their stress limit. Thirty percent of teen suicides annually are from teenagers who have come out as being homosexual (Woodward, 2005). There is much controversy over the topic of homosexuality, especially when people bring the matter of religion into the equation. Individuals who are against this choice in life say that the thirty percent statistic is flawed because it was calculated by a man who was a known homosexual. They believe that homosexuals should not be looked upon as mentors in schools to help struggling children, but rather be kept away from them. Controversy aside, it all comes down to saving lives. Whether people agree with how they live or not does not matter, but their souls do. No one should be made to feel so insignificant that they wouldShow MoreRelatedTeen Suicide Essay1495 Words   |  6 Pagessituations. Over the years, teen suicide ratings have been steadily increasing. For young people in the United States, suicide is ranked the second in the leading cause of death. Society needs to bring more awareness to this issue. There should be more awareness on how to identify suicidal people, the risk factors, and ways to prevent suicide attempts. Anyone can be suicidal, it just depends on their situations they are currently going through. People around a suicidal person may not know how toRead Moreâ€Å"Dying Before Their Time: The Startling Trends in Adolescent Suicide†1217 Words   |  5 Pageschange in family dynamics, and difficulty getting along with peers. Thio (2010), reports that the suicide rate is going up amongst adolescents because of the conflicting lifestyle that a young person leads. This conflict is illustrated in the American society through its allowance of children to engage in some adult activities like: driving, voting, and working while on the other hand, preventing other activities like: staying out late, having sex, and drinking. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)Read MoreTeen Suicide Is A Complicated Tragedy1476 Words   |  6 PagesTeen Suicide Suicide is always a complicated tragedy that leaves people with many questions and few answers. When a teen commits suicide, everyone is affected, family members, friends, classmates, teachers, neighbors, and even outsiders. Teen suicide rates have had a major increase over the years. It has been proven to be the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds (APA â€Å"Teen Suicide is Preventable†). Society must provide reliable resources to help ensure that American society isRead More Teenagers and Suicide Essay1190 Words   |  5 Pagesthe U.S today. It is estimated that 300 to 400 teen suicides occur per year in Los Angeles County; which is equivalent to one teenager lost every day (1). Many concerned people ask, What is going on? and Why is this happening? Among many things, some suicidal youths experience family trouble, which leads them, to doubt their self-worth and make them feel unwanted, superfluous, and misunderstood. According to one study, 90 percent of suicidal teenagers believed their families did not understandRead MoreCanada in a Youth Suicide Crisis Situation Essay1532 Words   |  7 PagesCanada in a Youth Suicide Crisis Situation The idea of youth committing suicide mystifies our societal logic. We do not understand the reasons why youth -normally associated with energy, determination and possibilities- turn to such a final act as a solution. Suicide eventually enters all of our lives, either directly or indirectly. However, the situation becomes more cruel and unfair when a youth commits suicide. We can not help but think of the opportunities and potential lost so swiftlyRead MoreCauses Of Youth Suicide1316 Words   |  6 PagesYouth Suicide Suicide can be described as a process which includes thoughts of death (killing one’s self), to the actual act of carrying out the suicide attempt. In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death among our young people (McWhirter, McWhirter, McWhirter, McWhirter, 2017). Approximately 16% of youth have thoughts of suicide, 13% will attempt to develop a plan, and 8% will actually carry out this plan every year (McWhirter et al, 2017). Every day, five young peopleRead MoreConsidering The Causes Behind Increased Teenage Suicide.1536 Words   |  7 Pages Considering the Causes Behind Increased Teenage Suicide Yesterday, 16-year-old Rachel decided to commit suicide-- an all too common increased trend in America as suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds (â€Å"Teen Suicide Is Preventable†). Rachel felt like she could not handle her life anymore. Her parents were in the process of getting a divorce, she was being bullied at school, was having trouble succeeding in academics and co-curricular activities, and was recently beenRead MoreTeen Suicide Essay866 Words   |  4 PagesNydria Daniel Leslie Campos Enc1101 31 October 2017 Emotional Suicide amongst Teens Suicide has become an extremely important social issue in our society. Did you know that suicide rate is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States according to the A.F.S.P (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)? Teen suicide rates continue to increase every year according to statistics. Today, teens are having mental struggles that can affect their everyday lifestyle and they can’t seem to find anyoneRead MoreKelly Yao. British Literature. Mr. Carlucci. May 15, 2017.1377 Words   |  6 Pagesone of the most serious public health and mental issue in the society. In daily life, there are even more reports of teenage suicide by media. People may wonder about the actual reasons why teenager decide to commit suicide to end their lives. There are potential causes for teenage suicide. Teenagers’ motivation for suicidal behaviors mostly come from physical or sexual abuse, cyberbullies, pressure from school and substance abuse. Teens commit suicide when these things are out of control. AccordingRead MoreTeenage Suicide On The Rise Essay1521 Words   |  7 Pagesestimated that, 42% of LGBT of youth have experienced bullying, and they are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than other teens (BullyingStatistics.org, 2016). It’s very hard in this day and age to be young, and let alone to be young and identify as lesbian, gay, bi or transgender. In Los Angeles County, researchers estimate that 70.6% of teens have seen bullying occur in their schools, and 30% admit to doing it themselves (Juvonen, 2012). Whereas, in Orange county between the years

Year One Ba-Hons Photography Image Analysis Free Essays

Photographs are one of the media or instruments of visual representations. It is an embodiment of visual elements which appear as symbols and are linked together to convey several meanings. According to McLean (1973), they are pictures which have many characteristics and attributes in common with other images (quoted in Noth 1995: 461). We will write a custom essay sample on Year One Ba-Hons Photography Image Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now They play an important role, along with film, in broadening the visual field for examination and analysis and in molding critical approaches to visual representation (Chaplin 1994: 80). This paper aims to present an image analysis of Nick Ut’s Trang Bang (1972). It will narrate a brief biography of the artist then it will reveal the photograph’s visual elements and their corresponding meanings. It will also identify the underlying symbols behind the image and demonstrate their impact on the society. Furthermore, it endeavors to express and to show the implication of photographs with regards to visual culture and visual literacy. Nick Ut (b. March 29, 1951- ) whose real name is Ut Cong Huynh is a Vietnamese photographer. His photography career begins when he has been introduced by his mother to the Associated Press office in Saigon; he is 14 years old then. The occurrence on the rainy day of the 8th of June, 1972, the epoch when the Americans and South Vietnamese invaded Cambodia, draws attention with his career when he shoots Kim Phuc—a nine year old girl—running and blaring naked in down Route 1 (Ut 2007); the photograph is entitled as T rang Bang. Trang Bang, a gelatin silver print, depicts the June 8, 1972 event when the children and their families run away and flee the village of Trang Bang down Route 1; their bodies are being burned and seared by napalm (Faas and Fulton n. d. ). The image encompasses five children that are running and screaming and behind them are militant troops, walking after the terrified kids. The focus of the picture is the naked little girl who is squealing. Figure 1 Children Fleeing an American Napalm Strike, Trang Bang, June 8, 1972 Her stretched arms bestow a line element in the image which illustrates balance and symmetry. The eyes of the spectator will usually fix on the dead center due to the strong and powerful expression of Kim Phuc, revealing an excruciating pain. Nevertheless, if the focus of the picture will be given to the screaming boy on the foreground whom is said to be Kim Phuc’s brother Phan Thanh Tam, technically speaking, Ut demonstrates the rule of thirds in his masterpiece due to his manipulation to the placement of the subject which is off the center; therefore the eyes of the spectator will definitely turn and fix with the other elements in the whole picture per se. He also displays a shallow depth of field in the photograph because only the subjects of interest or focus are enhanced—the shrieking and running children, the other element—the troops—is quite out of focus due to the blurry details of the figures. The black smoke on the background gives a strong contrast in the picture. The said photograph is a historical account that records and synthesizes the incident of June 1972. It analyzes and demonstrates the notion of horror and agony during wars which can be pulled out from the facial expressions of the children especially Phan Thanh Tam’s. He summarizes and encapsulates the terror, fear and affliction of the people during the Vietnam War (Pyle 2000). That image can imply a lot of things if it will be based to John Berger’s Way of Seeing theory (1972): it is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe (Berger 1972: 7-8). With that, it can be hauled that whatever the interpretation or analysis of the spectators with the image, it will still be anchored on what he or she knows regarding the event that has transpired in Vietnam during the year 1972. The photograph is a representation of the reality that it portrays (Noth 1997: 46). However, Eco (1984) disagrees because according to him, a photograph can lie (quoted in Noth 1997: 461), by which Berger (1984) states that the result of the treatment and manipulation of the reality is that to a definite level, â€Å"the photographer creates the reality of the photograph (quoted in Noth: 461). Nevertheless, in the case of Nick Ut’s Trang Bang, it cannot be implied that the photographer has altered and manipulated the reality that he has documented during the occurrence in 1972 because the reproduction of the image, which have been placed in newspapers, magazines, etc. , creates a different perspective from the original photo that is taken by Ut. The reproduction delineates a cropped image of the original (Look at figure 1 and 2). Figure 2 Napalm Bomb Attack, Vietnam It shows that the original, which has been signed by Ut, encompasses other elements in the picture, for instance, the official member of the press who looks like fixing his camera, the lines on the background which probably signifies the napalm. The manipulated image appears more closely to the spectators and constructs a more focused representation of the event. Because of the reproductions, Ut cannot be blamed for the cropped photo because of the intervention of the press with regards to the dissemination of the image to narrate the historical event. It is definitely the press’ responsibility as to how they will broadcast and transmit the information with wide, visual consumers all over the world. According to Gillian Rose in her Visual Methodologies (2001), the novelty and advantage of photography branch out from its most evident potential: it is about rendering that particular moment in time (quoted Mirzoeff 1999: 67) by which Ut demonstrates in his Trang Bang. In accordance with what he said during an interview, â€Å"the girl was running with her arms out. She was crying, ‘nong qua! Nong qua! (Too hot! Too hot! ). She had torn off all her clothes. When I saw she was burned, I dropped my camera beside the road. I knew I had a good picture. I got her into our van and took her and the family to the Cu Chi hospital. † (quoted in Pyle 2000). Moreover, his magnum opus implies that photography makes achievable ways of seeing what is unimaginable then (Mirzoeff 1999: 68). It does illustrate that the language and expression of the photograph is to combine naturalism and realism. The artifact then evolves to be reality (quoted Molyneaux 1997: 80). Nick Ut’s Trang Bang may be manipulated or not, it still conveys a scheme of meanings and symbols. The implication of an image is created from an interaction of a myriad of schemes and codes. A photograph is not a realistic illustration of what is real in spite of its appearances. It is a material that has been produced in an elaborate manner and approach of production and has been dispensed, circulated and consumed by a set of social relations (Forrester 1996: 140). Burgin (1982) has argued then that a photograph presents itself as something that cannot be disagreed with in which he states as â€Å"an offer you cannot refuse† (quoted in Forrester 1996: 142). Trang Bang being an object of representation communicates with its spectator about the Vietnam War that happens in mid-1972. Nick Ut, as one of the war photographers, has to deal with the lack of viewing space for his work because he is confined and restricted to what he sees in the lens compared to other artists who can demonstrate an array of symbols and emotionally-driven and affecting scenes however, war photographers are offered with revolutionizing and altering the reality into an allegorical and symbolic masterpieces (Marien 2006: 46). How to cite Year One Ba-Hons Photography Image Analysis, Papers

Photography & Construction of Identity by Blogging-Myassignment

Question: Requires you to use various media to construct a blog post in which you critically and creatively reflect on the issue of online identity, analyse your own online persona(s), and draw on scholarly sources to reinforce your ideas. Answer: Photography is a great way to spending time and capturing moments. This involves the practice of capturing still images from a specific background using high definition equipment made only for that purpose. For choosing a perfect shot, a photographer needs to choose the appropriate lens and film and then frame it according to the perfect shot required. In addition, the photographer can also use filters and lights for achieving enhancement features in the picture. This blog will present various photography materials, which will be used to share with friends and familiar persons. In addition, this blog will also be used to undertake various online identity-based measures for safe blogging. Construction of an online identity Identity is a way people recognize us and interact with us. Social identity is a method for online identification, which is used to make a name in the online community. The construction of online identities in the social world is a great way to increase awareness (Best, Manktelow and Taylor 2014 p. 28). The basic sites used for this are the social media sites, which quickly makes an impression in front of the minds of the users. The main concept used in any social media site is that users engage in the posts created and this, in turn, creates an impression among other people who are engaging in that post for the first time. Using these methods, the construction of an identity in the online world is very easy. Aspect of online identity I use the blog post for posting pictures related to photography because I am very passionate about it. I mainly use Instagram for sharing my pictures. The moments that have been captured by me are posted on my Instagram feeds (Forbes 2013 p. 107). Moreover, I also take pictures of beautiful places whenever during my visit to different countries. This is done by maintaining a private profile in Instagram where only my friends and families will be able to see my statuses. In addition to this, I also use Snapchat for sharing my daily routine pictures in it like going to a store or posting information about the weather. For Snapchat, the audience related to my posts is only my friends and my family as I use a private profile, which cannot be seen by everyone (Forbes 2013 p. 107). Facebook is another platform that is very effective in making an online identity. This platform is used by many people and this is the sole reason I use to make an online identity. However, I only use this platf orm for participating in online group conversations. This usually denotes the University group work or group assignments. I would like to use it for sharing my photos by creating a page. Another social media platform, which I use to make a name for myself, is the Twitter. This is a great place where people share posts, which are termed as tweets. These tweets carry information or some regular status update. I use this platform for sharing some facts, memes, news and quotes related to photography. However, I am trying to use it the right way to getting maximum exposure. Lastly, I use the Whatsapp messenger application to communicate with my friends and family. The Whatsapp messenger is a Smartphone application, which is used to communicate via texts or multimedia messages utilizing internet access (Kim and Ko 2012 p. 1483). As I study abroad, I use it to keep contact with my family and friends. However, the use of this application is basically adopted for conversing with only the people I know. Effectiveness and limitations The effectiveness of these adopted processes can be seen directly by the influence it creates. A social media is an effective tool for getting users committed to the services or products (Majchrzak et al. 2013 p. 52). This, in turn, increases the engagement of the product or the service in the market and this helps in creating an online presence in the market. All the above-mentioned platforms will be used to create an online identity for myself and I will post more photography related content. There are major limitations of these applied strategies. The first limitation is that the profiles and the post that will be shared are going to be public and this will lack the engagement from the vast audience all over the world (Gil de Ziga, Jung and Valenzuela 2012 p. 332). This will only be shared with friends and family and thus the engagement will lack the momentum it needs. The main requirements include assigning public profiles to all the social accounts. Build relationship The social profiles that I have made will be used to set up an online identity for myself. Although I have made these profiles private, I will make them go public after some time (Goh, Heng and Lin 2013 p. 88). The friends I have made and my family will be able to comment on my posts. After getting a successful post engagement from all my friends and families, I will make my posts go public so that they can share my posts to their accounts. This will help me to build my relationship with my audience and thus my online identity will be established on a massive scale (McGowan et al. 2012 p. 466). Interactions with an online community As I have said earlier that I use my Facebook profile to communicate with the online communities, the interactions it makes is a great way to bring traffic to my blogs (Forbes 2013 p. 108). This is a known and recognized component of digital marketing which is known as influencer marketing (Laroche, Habibi and Richard 2013 p. 78). The interactions that I make will eventually make them come into my blog. Similarly, I will also use the Facebook online communities based on photography and try to make good posts on them. This will make the members of the group to engage on my posts and on my blogs, which will increase my blog traffic (Best, Manktelow and Taylor 2014 p. 28). In addition, I will also try to befriend some people in the social media, Facebook with a good amount of followers and ask them to include my blog link in their next posts. In this way, I will increase my blog traffic. Thus, the blog, which I will make, will be used to make an identity for myself in the online media especially the social networks. The use of the social media has made innovations in the existing technologies and values (Chianucci and Cutini 2013 p. 133). This is the reason for the use of the social media to create a cultural identity and thus an online identity will be made successfully. The beneficial utilization or use of the social media will be a great way to make some of the innovative strategies by utilizing the methods discussed. The further use of the web presence will be utilized by targeting the organic traffics too. This will successfully make a web presence, which will eventually lead to the creation of an online identity. References Best, P., Manktelow, R. and Taylor, B., 2014. Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review.Children and Youth Services Review,41, pp.27-36. Chianucci, F. and Cutini, A., 2013. Estimation of canopy properties in deciduous forests with digital hemispherical and cover photography.Agricultural and Forest Meteorology,168, pp.130-139. Forbes, L.P., 2013. Does social media influence consumer buying behavior? An investigation of recommendations and purchases.Journal of Business Economics Research (Online),11(2), p.107. Fotis, J., Buhalis, D. and Rossides, N., 2012.Social media use and impact during the holiday travel planning process(pp. 13-24). Springer-Verlag. Gil de Ziga, H., Jung, N. and Valenzuela, S., 2012. Social media use for news and individuals' social capital, civic engagement and political participation.Journal of Computer?Mediated Communication,17(3), pp.319-336. Goh, K.Y., Heng, C.S. and Lin, Z., 2013. Social media brand community and consumer behavior: Quantifying the relative impact of user-and marketer-generated content.Information Systems Research,24(1), pp.88-107. Gu, B. and Ye, Q., 2014. First step in social media: Measuring the influence of online management responses on customer satisfaction.Production and Operations Management,23(4), pp.570-582. Kim, A.J. and Ko, E., 2012. Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity? An empirical study of luxury fashion brand.Journal of Business Research,65(10), pp.1480-1486. Laroche, M., Habibi, M.R. and Richard, M.O., 2013. To be or not to be in social media: How brand loyalty is affected by social media?.International Journal of Information Management,33(1), pp.76-82. Majchrzak, A., Faraj, S., Kane, G.C. and Azad, B., 2013. The contradictory influence of social media affordances on online communal knowledge sharing.Journal of Computer?Mediated Communication,19(1), pp.38-55. McGowan, B.S., Wasko, M., Vartabedian, B.S., Miller, R.S., Freiherr, D.D. and Abdolrasulnia, M., 2012. Understanding the factors that influence the adoption and meaningful use of social media by physicians to share medical information.Journal of medical Internet research,14(5).

Alien Nation or Conspiracy Theory free essay sample

Science is Extraordinary Since I was a little boy I’ve been interested in the vast field of science. I love everything from DNA analysis to looking into the far galaxies. When introduced to the theory that we (as in humans) were not the only life-forms on this planet, I was instantly hooked. Watching shows on the discovery channel about alien mimicry blew my mind every time I saw them. By the transitive property, the universe is infinite, therefore the amounts of planets are infinite, and therefore the amounts of life-forms are infinite. The one thing I hated about the study of aliens was that there was never hard evidence, only fuzzy stories from â€Å"wack-job† farmers. So when I found an article containing information about the Roswell UFO incident and other stories, I instantly wanted to use this article as my analysis for class. UFO Info Many accounts of people seeing UFOs have been heard of. We will write a custom essay sample on Alien Nation or Conspiracy Theory or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They have been heard from all kinds of different places from all over the world. The Roswell UFO Incident is a case in which an object crash landed on a ranch on July 2, 1947, approximately 75 miles northwest of Roswell, leaving a large field of debris. A rancher claimed to find pieces from an alien spacecraft near his property. Eventually the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) said that the crash was from an experimental weather balloon. Some people believe that this was an actual spacecraft; some believe that a Japanese spyplane crashed. The Roswell Incident was right around the time of a huge rate of growth of technology in the United States. Some people believe that aliens helped humans and shared their technology, which is why we had the technology boom. One person who believes these theories is a man named William Cooper. He tries to proof that aliens do exist in his article UFO Cover-Up: Alien Nation Or Conspiracy Theory? Cooper’s First Encounter Cooper grew up in a military family. He served for the United States Air Force and the United States Navy for quite a long time. Knowing this, one should know he traveled all over the world serving. He had always heard stories of UFOs from other servicemen but never believed them. Cooper saw his first UFO while on his submarine, the U. S. S. Tyroot, which at the time was on transit between Portland/Seattle area and Pearl Harbor. Cooper was effective in his claim that he saw a UFO. He used so much detail describing the saucer; it was the size of a Midway class carrier which tumbled on its axis about 2. 5 nautical miles from his submarine. He even gave the exact name of his officer, Ensign Ball, who also saw the saucer again minutes later. He even makes a great claim stating that it was definitely not from this earth, because no man-made machine can fly in the air then seconds later effectively fly beneath the sea (William Cooper, UFO Cover-Up, abovetopsecret. om). Cooper Finds More Shortly after his first encounter on the submarine, Cooper was sent to Vietnam as a patrol boat captain. His job was to patrol the area around the DMZ. He then discovered that there were also reports of UFO activity in Vietnam, as well. He noticed that messages of attackers were reported as ‘enemy helicopters. ’ He knew that the North Koreans did not have any helicopters; they used guerilla warfare tactics. They defini tely did not have helicopters after the first U. S. air raids (abovetopsecret. com). Cooper’s claim was effective because he was an intelligent soldier describing soldier terminology. Any civilian would have not questioned a message of ‘enemy helicopters’ in Vietnam, but because Cooper was a soldier he knew the North Vietnamese did not have any. This shows a major flaw in the terminology used and shows that something was trying to be covered up. He even recalled that he knew for sure one entire village disappeared in one night (abovetopsecret. com). Cooper is absolutely sure that UFOs/aliens are among this world, in our time. Roswell Plus More Cooper continues to say that he received documents that were so unbelievable it took him a while to realize that they were real (he refers to the documents reporting alien activity) (abovetopsecret. com). He then makes a statement about the messages he receives â€Å"Occasionally we would get messages . . . and it would be coded in such a way that all you had were answers to questions which you didn’t know what the questions were so you really didn’t know what the message was all about† (abovetopsecret. com). Cooper then says he finds out about Project Grudge and Operation Majority. Grudge contained history of alien involvement since the mid 1930s and talked about the German Nazis trying to duplicate the technology they found in a crashed UFO around that time (abovetopsecret. com). He then brings up what people hold to be the biggest UFO mystery of time: the Roswell UFO Incident. He claims Russian and U. S. Scientists rebuilt a downed spacecraft in Roswell, New Mexico. He claims there were aliens (one alive and the rest dead) recovered from the craft; he saw photographs of live aliens, of autopsies, internal organs, and of the alive alien ‘E. B. (where it died June 2, 1952) in its captivity (abovetopsecret. com). At first he was ineffective in his claim because his own credibility is being questioned by himself. He blatantly says that the messages he received couldn’t always be decoded, which shows that the information he is giving could be made up. However, when he mentions Project Grudge (which really is real) and the Roswell UFO Incident, his claim was instantly effective about these incidents that he mentioned because these are well-known cases in which the Discovery Channel and other stations do reports on countless numbers of times. It’s much harder to deny evidence someone has seen with explicit detail than to deny a regular claim of a myth. One Short Shock One key idea Cooper talks about is hidden technology hidden among us today. He says that a lot of our development technology has been swapped out with Area 51 since the end of WWII on a regular basis and confidently claims that â€Å"We had technology way beyond the limits of what we have been told† (abovetopsecret. com). Cooper is effective in this claim because even if one believes in aliens or not, this is known to be true from the current supply and demand rule. The government releases little bits of technology at a time while constantly updating in secret. Area 51 has also been heard to stockpile technology, which also helps Cooper’s theory that we have technology beyond us hidden somewhere. Citing Oberth Cooper gives support to his own cause by citing Professor James Oberth, who was a well-known rocket scientist around the time of this technology boom. Cooper cites that Oberth addressed the public with the statement [about technological advancement]: â€Å"Gentlemen, we cannot take credit for all the technological developments that we have had in the last decade. We have had help† (abovetopsecret. com). He stopped there, implying that a more superior force helped them with the technological advancements. Oberth’s claim implies that there aliens/UFO among the human race at this time. Cooper’s source was effective in his claim that aliens are among us. Unless there are secret human geniuses that propelled the country into technological advancement, there has to be a more intelligent force helping the rocket scientists. The only explanation for this intelligence is intelligent beings not of this world. This reason definitely help’s Cooper’s argument that aliens do in fact exist. Project Redlight Cooper goes on to talk about Project Redlight. This project was to be carried out at Area 51, code name Dreamland, which was ordered to be built by President Eisenhower. The mission was to test/fly alien craft. This went well until an explosion was seen over a three-state area killing the pilots (abovetopsecret. com). Cooper then says that aliens supplied us with three aliencraft and helped U. S. pilots learn to fly. One of Cooper’s key claims to the fact that aliens do exist follows as such from a statement â€Å"The project is ongoing and we now have not only alien craft that we are flying, we have craft we have built, using the captured technology, and some of the UFO’s that people report seeing in the United States, and maybe even elsewhere, are flown by United States personnel† (abovetopsecret. com). Cooper was extremely effective in his claim that aliens do exist. Not only did he name the specific project name and mission for evidence, he used a direct quote (from an unknown source) that United States personal now have the ability to fly aliencraft. This strong argument certainly amazes me. The only thing that could make this claim ineffective is the fact that Cooper did not list who made that statement. The speaker should be noted for a reader to judge the credibility of the claim. Strength In Numbers William Cooper brings up the Billy Goodman show in Las Vegas. He says it’s the only show that multiple callers can call in and talk to each other for a designated time period as long as there is no profanity. The reason he brings this up is because a couple people said they saw aliens at a place called Groom Lake. Eventually one hundred people kept watch on the first night after this was heard. Shortly after these hundred people kept watch, the same one hundred people said they saw four aliencraft fly, doing things that no airplane and no helicopter could do (abovetopsecret. om). One hundred people certainly strengthen Cooper’s idea that aliens/UFOs do in fact exist. These one hundred people’s claims were very effective in strengthening Cooper’s argument that aliens do exist because there is definitely strength in numbers. This is a time that a story is way more believable because it is not the typical drunk farmer [stereotype] who claims to see an aliencraft zip by in the night. Government Secrecy Cooper continues t o claim that the government has known about aliens for a long time. Cooper knows the story will eventually come out and everyone will know aliens are real. He claims the government is desensitizing the people so that the people aren’t shocked when they find out that aliens are real; if the people were shocked the society as the people know it would collapse, the religious structure could fall to pieces, or the stock market could go insane (abovetopsecret. com). Cooper was very effective in his claim that the government knows about aliens and it’s gradually leaking information to avoid mass panic among the people. Such a sudden burst of high quality news could send the negative actions listed above spiral into action. Analyzing Logos, Ethos, and Pathos Cooper used a balance between logos and ethos throughout his argument, without using any pathos. When one would analyze Cooper’s use of logos, one would see he used clear, precise definitions in his arguments. He used quotations and cited information from his officers and known professors. He gave detailed opinions and reasons behind them. When analyzing his use of ethos, one could see that Cooper used appropriate language to his audience anyone who would read). He didn’t use complicated words and broke his argument down to a level that a lower age group, as well as a high age group, could understand. Cooper did not use any pathos at all. It is probably best that he did not use any pathos because he couldn’t have exactly argued a case debated for hundreds of years based off of his personal emotions. Overall Summary Throughou t reading UFO Cover-Up: Alien Nation Or Conspiracy Theory? , I thought William Cooper had a very thorough and effective argument that aliens do exist. He lists multiple personal experiences of himself seeing aliencraft and finding clues to alien existence. I enjoyed his explicit detail Project Grudge, Operation Majority, the Roswell UFO Incident, and Project Redlight. He used an appropriate amount of logos and ethos, and did a good job not being emotional and using pathos. Conclusion If I could meet William Cooper I would ask him questions in more detail that what has already been asked such as questions dealing with alien energy efficiency and speed travel. I am curious to know what really lies outside our solar system. Maybe it’s possible that aliens were once humans but mutated into a separate society. I will continue to watch shows on the Discovery Channel about alien encounters and stories and I will continue to believe in other life forms the universe is infinite, therefore the amounts of planets are infinite, and therefore the amounts of life-forms are infinite. Maybe sometime I might even try to go to Area 51 if I get a top-secret clearance from. If that does not happen, hopefully the government secrecy of aliens will cease to exist and the world will know of another race. It would be very interesting to see for myself the collections and data the United States Government/military has stockpiled away from society.

20 Creative Presentation Topics on Online Education

20 Creative Presentation Topics on Online Education Online education otherwise known as e-learning has come to stay and its mainstream acceptance by the corporate and educational industry gives it the legitimacy needed to attract individuals planning to further their education. Today,   majority of the higher institutions in the United States offer online courses to the public and, more importantly, credit in some of these courses are now been recognized by brick and mortar colleges across the world. Interest in online education is at an all-time high because students from every quota of life can now further their education following personal schedules, while professionals can also enroll for courses that help their professional development and attend the corresponding virtual classes after work hours. The phenomenal growth of online education has seen it become a subject matter to be studied and discussed in traditional classrooms. Therefore, once in awhile students may be tasked with drafting a presentation on online education and if you happen to fall into this category, here are 20 cool presentation topics on online education: The State of E-Learning in Higher Education Profitable Uses of Online Education in Government Departments Online Education and its Role in Corporate Learning Online Education as a Catalyst for Reforming Higher Education How Ivy Colleges are Using Online Education Discussing the Emerging Trends in E-Learning How Online Learning Can Reduce the Cost of Higher Education How Online Education Impacts Corporate Training The Impact of Online Learning in Adult Education Online Education vs Traditional Education: The Pros and Cons How Online Education Bridges Learning Gaps Gender Considerations in Online Education The Global Race for Online Learning How Online Education Aids Professional Development Online Learning: A 21st Century Approach to Education How Online Education aids distance learning Busting the Myths Associated with Online Education The Worlds Most Rapid Growing E-Learning Markets Reviewing the Tools that Make Online Education Tick Exploring Gamification as a Teaching Tool in Online Education So we come to the end of the 20 topics you can choose from when writing a presentation or research paper on the topic of online education. Going through the list, I believe you would agree with me when I say these are some cool presentation topics right? If you do, then do not hesitate to read the sample paper based on one of the listed topics above as well as to check on our 10 facts on online education and guide for a creative presentation. How Online Learning Can Reduce the Cost of Higher Education The cost of receiving higher education in the United States has skyrocketed to impossible heights and this has led to questions on the relevance of pursuing a professional course of study through traditional educational channels. The latest numbers on student loan debt puts the overall debt owed in the US at a trillion dollars and this figure does not include loans taken by students currently studying in our Nations Institutes. As student loan debts continue to rise to new heights due to payment defaults and the circle of new students seeking loans, online education is being currently discussed as a mean of reducing the cost of securing an education. To this end, a majority of traditional education institutes have integrated online learning as a means of studying at your own pace while minimizing the money spent in securing an education. This move by traditional institutions has led to a decrease in the cost of receiving higher education as can be seen from the example of Georgia Institute of Technologys online Computer Science masters degree program which costs approximately $35,000 less than the comparative on-ground program. The reasons given for its massive fee reduction includes the fact that students will not have access to on-ground facilities such as libraries, cafeterias, accommodation and utilities which means the University will not need to pay anything for their upkeep and physical comfort. Other reasons include not taking up the time of college professors who will be free to pursue other responsibilities and facility sharing between the University and provider of the Learning Management Systems (LMS) platform to be used. Concern on the cost of receiving higher education led to the formation of the National Center of Academic Transformation (NCAT) which tasks itself on developing policies that simplify education as well as the cost of obtaining one. In order to meet its goals, the NCAT has successfully introduced a paradigm shift in over 100 institutions on how popular courses are taught. The method employed is quite simple and involves the redesign of courses with multiple sections by introducing a single master course that covers every section in record time. The NCATs policy which has received financial support from major organizations including the Sloan Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has been quite successful for to the integration of IT techniques and online learning tools. The use of online education by the NCAT has played a huge role in redesigning courses and the sharing of these master courses materials across multiple institutions online platforms. Thereby reducing the cost of higher education as well as the time needed to complete the popular courses most students participate in. Lastly, it is important to also note that as online education and its teaching tools become widely accepted or used in institutions of higher learning, a domino effect will occur and it would lead to a reduction in the fees students pay to enroll at traditional colleges in the near future. References: Justin, F. (2013). 10 Unique Facts about Online Learning. learndash.com/10-unique-facts-about-online-learners/ 8 Battaglino, T. Haldeman, M. and Laurans, E. (2011). The Costs of Online Learning. The Thomas Fordham Institute. http:// www.edexcellencemedia.net/publications/2012/20120110- the-costs-of-online-learning/20120110-the-costs-of-onlinelearning.pdf. Lee, Jr., M. (2011). The College Completion Agenda 2011 Progress Report. College Board Advocacy and Policy Center. http://completionagenda.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/reports_pdf/Progress_Report_2011.pdf. Babson Survey Research Group: Tracking Online Education in the United States www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/gradechange.pdf Santosh, K. (2013). Surprising Facts about Online Education. http://edtechreview.in/data-statistics/787-surprising-facts-about-online-education-infographic 41 Surprising Facts about Online Students on the Internet.collegeatlas.org/41-surprising-facts-about-online-students.html Kaplan Open Learning: The Facts about Online Education.careerealism.com/facts-online-education/

Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy - Essay Example ion, in deed brought about transformation of the whole world’s politics resulting into a reformulation of economic, political, and military alliances in the entire world. This is evident from the current events and diplomatic relation that has improved between US and Russia since the end of the cold war. The objective of this paper is to explore the current relationship between US and Russia since the end of the cold war. The paper will also discuss the current US diplomatic approach to Lithuania, a former Soviet nation and provide a comparison of the relationships. Finally, the paper will summarize how the US has changed it relates to other countries over the past 20 years. The climax of Cold War gave Russia and United States a new chance to corporate. In fact, Russia took over the permanent seat which previously had been held by Soviet Union at the United Nations Security Council. It was also invited to join G-7, the world’s largest economic powers making it G-8. This has given Russia, and US and opportunity to cooperate in securing loose ties in the former Soviet Union. Trade has also improved between US and Russia. For instance, it is noted that Russia is the biggest producer of hydrocarbons, which US is the biggest consumer. The two nations have also developed a common bilateral corporation in missile defense as a way of ensuring security in the world (American Association for Advancement of Slavic Studies, American Council of Learned Societies and Ohio State University, 2009). However, U.S and Russia still lock horns in certain diplomatic matters. For instance, the United States has tried to push hard for further economic and political reforms in Russia, something that Russia sees as meddling in its internal affairs. The other area that has raised eye brows is the fact that US has invited other former Soviet Union countries to join NATO, an issue that Russia is opposed to. The two nations have also differed on the approach that should be used to

Career in Financial Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Career in Financial Planning - Essay Example To be able to deliver that effectively, the scope that requires thorough understanding is listed below. A good financial planner understands investments, taxes, estate planning issues and strategies. In order to acquire adequate expertise, financial planners must be familiar with legal restrictions and laws concerning retirement plans, tax shelters, insurance, and trusts. There are several journals and other reliable sources that provide details which planners need to be aware of; few of the sources have been listed in forth coming sections. In order to succeed in financial planning one not only needs to know the details of various investments, tax law, estate planning strategies, but also needs to be an active listener, good at marketing oneself, above average interpersonal skills with an analytical mind that can work with numbers and budges, understand complicated financial and legal documents. In addition, they should be articulate, persuasive, and have fairly decent selling ability. While associating myself in knowing the significant elements of financial world, I have also kept myself engaged in developing the required skills. 4. Target Clients - High Net worth Individuals are a Key Target A growth area in financial planning and money management is targeting the high net worth individual. PSI, a financial services consultant, estimates that over 4 million US households have a net worth in excess of $1 million, which is encouraging enough to dwell more on this crowd to explore more opportunities for business and sales. 5. Sources There is benefit of attending local chapter meetings of financial planner organizations. The best way to find out the identity of a local chapter is through any of the three national financial planner organizations: (1) Institute for Certified Financial Planners (2) International Association for Financial Planning or (3) National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. I also plan to be updated from top trade magazines including Today's Realtor and Mortgage Banking Magazine and online at Inman News, the leading electronic broadcast service in real estate Informally I will also keep track of all the blogs veteran certified financial planners maintain, to develop some kind of competitive intelligence and be better facilitated with facts about the sector as a whole. Websites of leading firms that hire Financial Planners like AIG, Ameriprise Financial, Edward Jones, John Hancock. Primerica also will provide enough insights about the

Impact of Absenteeism on Productivity

Impact of Absenteeism on Productivity Employees of different establishments are entitled to a given number of leaves like sick and local leaves among others according to the law. Therefore, all organisations can expect a certain degree of absence and illness. However, it can be observed that more and more people in organisations are having frequent absences and many cases of illness have been recorded. In 2007, Confederation of British Industry/AXA Absence Survey has set the cost of absence to employers in the UK at more than  £13 billion a year, while cost per employee is  £659 annually. According to Williams (2003), in Canada also billions of dollars are lost each year due to absenteeism. Sickness absenteeism and sickness is therefore a growing major global problem affecting thousands organisations. High level of absenteeism is a serious problem for both large and small organisations, since they are costly to both individual establishments and economy as a whole and adversely affecting efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Sickness absenteeism and sickness can be an indication of fundamental organisational problems. Therefore, it is important to establish the cause and find out solutions through the examination of organisations policies and activities. There are several reasons why employees might be absent or fall sick. These reasons might be poor working conditions and relationship with management, no motivation, and no scope of self-development, a culture within the organisation and no career opportunities, too much stress at work among others. Thus, it is recognised that it is becoming necessary to find social and institutional remedies. When employees are absent and ill, it leads to poor productivity. And therefore, costs of the organisation rises as the goods and services are of poor quality. In the United States according to the Commonwealth Fund, about $260 billion are loss in output due to health-related problems. Hence, it is crucial for an organisation to understand the causes of sickness absenteeism and sickness and their impact on the organisation. Therefore, it is both the legal and morale duties of the employer to prevent people in the organisation from being made ill with their respective jobs. This is because, a healthy worker in both public and private organisations is important, as the corporate objective of organisations largely depends on health and as well non-health issues of its population. That is, happy employees are efficient and productive employees. Problem Statement The problem of high level of sickness absenteeism and sickness at work is an existing problem at Air Mauritius, affecting productivity. These are most frequent among staffs working on shift hours. The sickness absenteeism rate at Air Mauritius is illustrated as follows: Year Sickness Absences (man-days) 2006 12457 2007 14654 2008 17323 2009 15418 Out of the sickness absences recorded, an average of 23.5% is registered on week-end. In addition, a research of the non-communicable screening exercise carried out at the Head Office and the SSR International Airport among 1100 employees illustrates that an average of 50% of the persons are pre-diabetic or diabetic, have high risks of suffering from cardiac arrest and are either obese or overweight. Therefore, the above information gives a clear indication that the prevalence of health problems, absenteeism problem which is quite pronounced among employees of Air Mauritius Ltd. That is why, absenteeism and health issues have to be closely monitored and supported else it would have a serious effect on the performance of employees. Hence, the study will be based on finding the reasons of a high sickness absence rate and find ways to help employees to remain in good health. 1.3 Research Objectives Identify the causes of sickness absenteeism and sickness at Air Mauritius Ltd. Does sickness absenteeism and sickness impact on productivity at Air Mauritius Ltd. Give Air Mauritius Ltd employees incentives to be more productive and regular at work. Establish an absence management policy at Air Mauritius. 1.4 Proposed Methodology Data collection includes primary sources and secondary sources. The primary source includes an interview with the Human Resources department and the Health Safety department to find out the rate of absenteeism and sickness reports in the ground operations, engineering and cabin operations departments. Discuss with employees and collect data through questionnaire which will be administered to a sample of employees. Secondary sources consist of data collected from the companys website, magazine articles, journals records like Emerald, EBSCO among others and various books about human resources absenteeism and productivity. 1.5 The layout of the dissertation The subject under study will be presented as follows: Chapter 2: Literature Review Under this chapter, a literature review has been done concerning the nature of sickness absenteeism, sickness and productivity, their costs, the factors leading to sickness absenteeism and sickness and the possible solutions to reduce sickness absenteeism and sickness and increase productivity at work. Chapter 3: Company Profile This chapter set an overview of the company Air Mauritius Ltd. The business in which it operates, its products and its customers are described. Its work environment, management and staff population and its evolution are as well presented. Chapter 4: Research methodology This chapter explains the methodology that has been used to get an insight in the subject and discuss the limitations of this project. Chapter 5: Survey findings and analysis Here the findings that have been generated from the survey are presented using graphs, charts and they are analysed in relation to this project. Chapter 6: Recommendations and conclusion After the survey findings are analysed the shortcomings in the project are noted and recommendations are made. Annex 1: Sample questionnaire given to employees. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Definitions 2.1.1 Absenteeism In general absenteeism is defined as the failure to show for work or any other habitual duty. This usually disrupts work schedules adding workloads to those who are at work which might lead to low morale among employees. Therefore, absenteeism obstructs the good functioning of production and efficient running of an organisation. Lokke A.K, Eskildsen. J and Jesen. T. W (2007) similarly reported that the traditional definition of absence is about not being physically present at the place and time the employee is expected to be. Davey. M.M, Cummings. G, Newburn-cook. C. V, and Lo. E. A (2009) have defined absenteeism as the failure to appear to work when planned, and according to them absence is measured by frequency or amount of work days missed. The Entrepreneur (http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia) described absenteeism as an employees deliberate or habitual absence from work. Everybody misses a day of work now and then. But its a problem when an employee misses too many days of work. Not showing up for work can cause serious problems when other employees have to cover for the missing worker or, worse, the work simply doesnt get done. Another definition by Nicholson (1977, p. 237) said that Absence, in the language of economics, is an unpredictable variation in the firms labour supply and in labour-intensive and technologically primitive settings which can produce costly concomitant variations in output. Furthermore, Harvey and Nicholson (1993), p. 841 recognized that absenteeism was the major cause of lost productivity in business and industry. In a similar vein, Buschak. M, Craven. C and Ledman. R (1996) stated that absenteeism is a difficulty that every organisation or business faces creating costs and productivity problems. Thus, leading to a heavier work load on the majority of employees who have shown up for work. This type of situation tends to create dissatisfaction, frustration, stress and fatigue among employees 2.1.2 Types of Absenteeism There are two main types of absence voluntary and involuntary. Hackett and Guion, (1985) have defined voluntary absences as what is in the control of the employee. These can take form of short-term, casual and illegitimate absences which is based on the motivation of the employee. On the other hand, involuntary absences are what are beyond the control of the employee; they are usually due to sickness or family responsibilities. 2.1.2 Sickness Reijenga. F. A. (2006) defined sickness as all types of health problems or disabilities. As mentioned before there are two types of sickness, short term sickness for example influenza and long term sickness such as diabetes which is classified as a chronic disease. Tabaluyan, T., Kuswadji, S (1996) reported that sickness absence is defined as not being able to work due sickness or injury, that is, the incapability to work. In the same way, Employers Organisation, (2005) elaborated that sickness absence should include industrial injury, part days absence, and other self-certificated absence which is not explicitly ascribed to be an acceptable reason other than sickness. However, M. Borritz, R. Rugulies, K. B Christensen, E. Villadsen and T. S Kristensen (2005) indicated that sickness absence is a complex phenomenon that can be caused by individual, work related, organisational, and societal factors. Sickness absence has been discussed as a consequence of ill health,  a coping mechanism, behaviour of social equity, a reaction to organisational injustice, or a consequence of exposure to adverse work-environment factors. Furthermore, Whitaker S. also agreed with the fact that sickness absence is influenced by many factors like social causes other than health issues. 2.1.3 Productivity In an economist point of view productivity is a ratio of some measure of output to some index of input use, according to Eatwell and Newman (1991). Therefore, productivity is nothing more than the arithmetic ratio of amount produced to amount of any resources used in the course of production. An online definition by http://business.yourdictionary.com, stated that productivity is the efficiency with which output is produced by a given set of inputs. Productivity is generally measured by the ratio of output to input. An increase in the ratio indicates an increase in productivity. Conversely, a decrease in the output/input ratio indicates a decline in productivity. However, definitions of productivity in the above context are meant to the manufacturing sector. 2.1.3.1 Productivity in the Service Sector Rutkauskan. J and Paulaviciene. E (2005) have studied the concept of productivity in the service sector and they aroused that productivity, efficiency and effectiveness are terms that should be used together. This is because to be productive one should be both efficient and effective. The analysis of productivity is a difficult task in the service sector. As the productivity concept in the service sector involves both the organisation and the customer. According to Tolentini (2004) productivity depends on the value of the products and services and the efficiency upon which they are produced and distributed to the customers. Similarly in the research work of Maroto-Sanchez. A (2010) productivity is about being both efficient and effective. He described effectiveness as to how an organisation meets the active needs and expectations of its customers. Hence it can be seen that, to be productive in the service sector employees have to be both effective and efficient. Therefore, employers have to ensure that their employees are effective and efficient enough to provide a good service to their customers. 2.2 Causes of sickness absenteeism and sickness There are various factors that affect sickness absence and sickness. Factors affecting sickness absence in the aviation sector can be classified as health related issues such as injury at work such as musculoskeletal pains stress and fatigue and so on, and non-health related issues like organisational commitment, job satisfaction among others since according to Whitaker. S. research, sickness absenteeism is influenced by a variety of factors non-related to health. Testimonials that have been gathered among employees at Air Mauritius have proved that sickness absenteeism is mostly related to the non health-related issues. However, it is only after the analysis of the questionnaires that we will be able to understand the real causes of absenteeism and its impact on productivity. 2.3 Non Health-related issues 2.3.1 Organisational Commitment Organisational Commitment is typically measured by items tapping respondents willingness to work hard to improve their companies, the fit between the firms and the workers values, reluctance to leave, and loyalty toward or pride taken in working for their employers (Maume, 2006, p. 164). Similarly, Boolaky. M and Gokhool. D, p. 73 defines organisational commitment as the degree to which a person is committed to the organisation he or she is working for. The person is proud to be associated to the organisation and is committed to work towards the objectives and goals of the organisation. Many studies have reported that there is a relationship between organisational commitment and absenteeism. Gellatly, 1995 and Somer, 1995 studies have concluded that organisational commitment is negatively related to absenteeism. That is, when an employee is not committed to its organisation, this will tend to impact negatively on absenteeism. A research carried out by Meyer and Allen (1991) reported that commitment comprises three components namely affective, continuance and normative. Where affective commitment refers to the individuals emotional attachment to the organisation her/she is working, that is the individual participates in the organisations activities because he/she wants to. Continuance commitment is when someone realises that too much energy or time have been devoted to leave the organisation or that they would not be able to find another job. And normative commitment is when an individual feels that he/she has an obligation to participate in the activities of the org anisation and that it is the right thing to do. Meyer (1997) found that affective commitment was strongly linked to absence behaviour. However, normative commitment according to Meyer (1993) was negatively related to absenteeism on the other hand Somers (1995) has found no relationship between the two. And at last, Mayer and Schoorman (1992) concluded that continuance commitment did not have a strong relation with absenteeism. 2.3.2 Job Involvement Job involvement commonly includes identifying with the job,   actively participating in the job, and perceiving job performance to be important   to self-image (Blau. G. J, 1985; Rabinowitz Hall, 1977). Robbins (1998) defines job involvement as the degree to which a person identifies with his or her job, actively participates in it, considers his or her performance important to self-work. That is, job involvement refers to the extent to which one is committed and participates in his or her job. The direct relationship of job involvement to absenteeism is very ambiguous. Blau. G. J (1986) review of the studies carried out at that time, found that the studies had different conclusions; this is because there are differences in the measurement and samples taken. Taunton et al. and Cohen (2000) showed that there is a negative relationship between job involvement and absenteeism. However, job involvement and productivity have a positive relationship. That is, as job involvement increases, productivity increases and vice versa. According to W. H. Weiss (2006) employees who are involved in their jobs, that is, they have the know-how of why they need to carry out certain tasks and how does these contribute to the organisations goals are the most productive workers. Therefore, it can be noted that job involvement is necessary to increase productivity of employees. 2.3.3 Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction refers to an emotional state of mind that reflects an affective reaction to the job and the work situation, whereas the focus of organizational commitment is on a more global reaction (emotional or non-emotional) to the entire organization (Dipboye et al., 1994; Farkas and Tetrick, 1989; Lance, 1991; Russell and Price, 1988). (Falkenburg. K and Schyns. B, 2007, p. 710) Job satisfaction is defined as the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs (Spector, 1997, p. 2). This description implies that job satisfaction is a broad or global emotional reaction that individuals hold about their job. Researchers and practitioners have evaluated different facets or dimensions of satisfaction. Examining these facets is usually useful for assessing employee satisfaction with critical job factors. Traditional job satisfaction facets consist of: co-workers, pay, job conditions, supervision, nature of the work and benefits  (Williams). Studies have found that job satisfaction can also be an independent variable affecting both productivity and absenteeism. (Boolaky. M and Gokhool. D, p. 75). There have had many theories on the relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism. Most of these studies concluded that as job dissatisfaction increases, self-reported absenteeism increases (Taunton et al. 1885, Drago and Wooden 1992). In 1982, a study made by the Business Roundtable stated that job dissatisfaction affects absenteeism to a great extent. Employers should understand that the companys goals and quality supervision are necessary for job satisfaction. It has also been noted that as size of job increased, job satisfaction decreased. Furthermore Hinze et al. (1985), report that identified the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction describe that absenteeism was lower among those who had strong cohesiveness that is, team spirit, and when management criticised workers for being absent it was observed that absenteeism was lower, employees who regarded their work as mentally inspiring had fewer absences. Moreover Hausknecht, Hiller and Vance. (2008), defined job satisfaction as the sense of enjoyment that individuals derive from their experiences on the job and within the team they work with. Therefore, according to this report high attendance is expected in working environment where there is high satisfaction. This is because, the members of the team have this feeling of belonging and support among themselves. Moreover, it can be observed that in a working environment where there is high satisfaction it increases the level of productivity. P. Valdes-Flores and J. A. Campos-Rodriguez (2008) describe job satisfaction as a set of favourable or unfavourable feelings for the employees to perceive their work and that determine the possibility of a major disposition to achieve higher performance, consequently, job satisfaction refers to an individuals general attitude towards his or her job. Link between involvement and commitment Blau (1986) had developed the interaction of job involvement and organisational commitment and how this affected absence behaviour. Moreover, Blau and Boal (1987) refined the idea. The study reported that there are four level of contribution of high and low of job involvement and job commitment. When job involvement and job commitment are high, employees are not likely to be absent and if they happened to be absent this could be due to genuine sickness. This type of employees is called institutional stars. Those who experience a low job commitment but high job involvements are absent because of career prospects or due to working environment, these persons are called lone wolves. Individuals with low job involvement and high organisational commitment called the corporate citizen respect their co-workers and also abide to the norms and goals of the organisation they work for. Those could be absent from work in according to the organisations lawful absence rules. And lastly the apatheti c employees identify themselves having a low job involvement and organisational commitment, they have highest rate of absence. Link between organisational commitment and job satisfaction Many studies have reported the association between organisational commitment and job satisfaction (Meyer et al, 2002). According to Levison and Moser, (1997) employees tend to be lethargy without job satisfaction, which reduces organisational commitment. Furthermore, a study carried out by Steers and Rhodes (1978) stated that job satisfaction and organisational commitment play a big role in determining employee attendance. Griffeth et al (2000), indicated that organisational commitment was a better predictor of absenteeism than job absenteeism. However, as job satisfaction is more about the emotional state of mind, it is influenced by daily events rather than organisational commitment which cover the organisation as a whole and develops over time (Sagie, 1998). Link between job satisfaction and job involvement Wegge. J, Schmidt. K, Parkes. C and Dick. R. V (2007) found that events at work impact on how employees feel at work thus determining job satisfaction. Furthermore, job involvement measures the importance of the job to ones self opinion and therefore represents personality differences. Job satisfaction is situational variable and job involvement personality in our reasoning. Thus, they both interact. That is, if job satisfaction is low, job involvement will negatively affect absenteeism. However, when job satisfaction is high in any situation it will overcome the impact of job involvement on absence behaviour. Job satisfaction therefore has a moderate impact on job involvement and absence. To be more precise, when job satisfaction is low, job involvement is negatively related to absenteeism whereas, when job satisfaction is high, job involvement is not associated to absenteeism. 2.3.4 Organisational Culture Morgan. G has described organizational culture as: The set of the set of beliefs, values, and norms, together with symbols like dramatized events and personalities, that represents the unique character of an organization, and provides the context for action in it and by it. Another definition of organizational culture by Schein. E a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems that has worked well enough to be considered valid and is passed on to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.   Norms influence everyone in an organisation; they are unwritten and usually tell things like they are influencing everyones perception in the organisation and they contribute to the norms and support them. Nowadays, we live in an absenteeism culture. According to Smit (2000), absenteeism and culture are negatively related. That is, employees encouraged and supported by the society to call a sick leave. However, employers do support absenteeism as a cultural phenomenon. That is, when people take sick days when they are not sick, employers accept this as a cost to the organisation. (Allen. R. F, Higgins M. 1979) 2.3.5 Motivation Robbins and Coulter (1999) have defined motivation as the willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach organizational goals as conditioned by that efforts ability to satisfy some individual need. Luthans (1998) stated that motivation is the process that arouses, energizes, directs, and sustains behaviour and performance. That is, it is the process of stimulating people to action and to achieve a desired task. One way of stimulating people is to employ effective motivation, which makes workers more satisfied with and committed to their jobs. Money is not the only motivator. There are other incentives which can also serve as motivators. Steers Rhodes (1978), developed the most common model of absenteeism. They depicted that attendance is determined by the employees motivation to go to work. However, Lee (1989) evaluated the theoretical facts of the Steers Rhodes Model (1978) and found that motivation is not strongly related to attendance. Nevertheless, the study of Burton. J. P, Lee. T. W, Holtom. B. C (2002), claimed that sickness absenteeism was related to ones motivation to attend work. That is, according to some theories sickness absenteeism is not only due to illness but it may be voluntary, Brooke (1986). Employees might use sickness as an excuse not to go to work, where there are other causes of this particular behaviour, Martocchio (1996). Moreover, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) suggested that in order to reduce absence, the best way was to ensure that employees are well-motivated by their jobs. And to motivate employees, employers have to keep them informed of their behind-the-scenes strategies for survival during recession, Anne Fairweather (2009), head of public policy at an organisation. Motivated employees can be productive employees. Recognition, working environment and work achievement are factors that can keep employees motivated thus highly productive. Employees who achieve the goals directed by their supervisor are usually well-motivated. And expect recognition after the long hours of hard work, for instance an increase in salary, bonuses or promotions. According to a research carried out by Personnel Today (2008), employees were more productive when they received recognition for their work and praise from management. Working environment is another factor to motivate employees in being productive and need to be provided with a pleasant environment to work. Therefore it can be noted that motivation is necessary to increase productivity. Personal Issues Every employee in any organisation has to go through personal issues. It can be observed that facing these issues most of the time and energy of that particular person is focused on their personal issue they are dealing with. Personal issues can take the form of family problems, ill parents or young children to take care of, drug abuse, drinking problems, sexual orientation and many more distracting one from his or her job. According to Ericson (2001) issues like child and eldercare, single-parent families are those characteristics that might lead to an impact on absenteeism at any level in an organisation. Furthermore, Goff et al. (1990) found that when ones work and family issues are conflicting there is a greater frequency of absenteeism. It has also been noted that management in most organisations are lenient, staffs make excuses of being sick so as not to attend work, consequently, recording a sick leave. This is also common in the aviation sector especially among staffs having odd working hours; they find it easier to register for sick leave so as to be able to manage their own issues. Shift work influence the working choices of parents and to be able to retain shift workers child-care services should be offered, P. D. Brandon and J. B. Temple (2007). Employees have to make sure that they do not bring their personal issues into the office. Therefore, organisations must be able to provide a pleasant environment where employees would not think about their personal issues instead of concentrating on their work. Some company might also provide psychological help to their staffs. As personal problems can lead to a fall in productivity. Health Related Issues Health promotion seems to impact positively on employees health, morale, level of sickness absenteeism and productivity. Unfortunately it is noted that the necessary structures and facilities to promote health are not available at Air Mauritius, however, management has shown its intention to change the situation and has establish wellness and fitness centres. Chronic Diseases Chronic diseases do have an impact on employees sickness absence and sicknesses at work, example of chronic diseases are diabetics, cancers among others. The productivity of the organisation is also affected when the employee is ill. For example an employee suffering a particular form of cancer will have various complications and might not be able to attend work for a few days. This will lead to a lack of staff, thus increasing the workload of others. Therefore, organisations can exercise some control over illnesses by ensuring a safe and healthy workplace, proper ergonomic design, health and safety management 27policies/practices to address absenteeism in the workplace (Ericson, 2001). These can facilitate healthier working environments and provide favourable conditions to reduce absenteeism and enhance satisfaction and productivity. Fatigue and Stress According to the New Grolier Webster International Dictionary of English Language fatigue is defined as the tiredness of a persons physical or mental energy. More precisely it is described as a specific reaction of our central nervous system and muscular system due to exertion (S. L. Smith et al., 2009). That is, the exhaustion of strength due to continued stress. Stress on the other hand is identified as factors causing mental or emotional strain or tension to a person (New Grolier Webster International Dictionary of English Language). Khodabakhsh Ahmadi and Kolivand Alireza, (2007) stated that stress is often used to describe the bodys responses to demands placed upon it, whether these demands are favourable or unfavourable. In this context however, stress is related to the work place where due to unsatisfactory work organisation, management, environmental design and differences between the efforts put into work compared to the rewards received (S. L. Smith et al., 2009). The level of work-related stress has increased consequently during the past few years in the aviation sector. C. Kelleher S. McGilloway, 2005, claimed in a research carried out for an Irish airline that the level of work-related stress among stress is high. Khodabakhsh Ahmadi and Kolivand Alireza, 2007, have found that the level of work stress among military pilots has also increased. The report of the ITF 2009, indicated that there has been a serious increase in stress and fatigue since 2000. There are various causes of work-related stress and fatigue in the aviation sector. The odd and long hours of work which usually results in overtime, drain staffs both emotionally and physically. Fatigue and stress is also caused due to the lack of rest. Airline staffs working in different time zones and odd hours are the ones experience chronic sleep deprivation. A rise in the level of flights and passengers has led to uncontrollable work load due to high work demands causing stress and fatigue among staffs. The tradition of overbooking flights in almost all airlines is the cause of various problems. Passengers who find themselves left behind due to the lack of seats on the flights are usually furious and tend to shout at staffs using abusive language thus stressing them. People working in the aviation sector have experience a consequent rise in the stress level at work (S. L. Smith et al., 2009). Hence this impact on sickness absenteeism and sickness thus affecting the productivity level of employees. Injury at work An organisation must make sure that it provides the proper safety equipment to its employees. This is because accidents can happen where employees could be injured. This would cause sickness absenteeism due to the employees inability to attend work, leading to a fall in productivity due to the lack of employees and increased work load on those present at work. Also the costs