Report on Primary School Essay Example for Free

Report on Primary School Essay Drop-out problem is not caused by any single reason, in fact, a whole lot of different factors work behind it. These factors are also inter-related to each other and therefore one factor influences many other factors. For example, poverty has inter-linkages with many other factors that influences drop-out like quality of education, parental attitude etc. Poverty also has intra linkages with facts like direct cost, indirect cost and opportunity cost of schooling, early pressure for marriage. As poverty is one of the major reasons behind drop-out, it has various linkages with most of the other problems. Although primary education is declared as tuition-free, there are many direct costs like exam fees, enrollment fee; certain amount from the stipend money is also taken for various reasons. These expenses become a big problem for the poor households and it influences dropping out because when survival is the issue, things like education is less important. Another problem was the hidden costs of schooling that are clothes, pen and paper, etc. all of the 12 samples and their parents said that buying clothes, pen and papers was a huge problem for them. All of the parents said that as they are poor people, these extra costs of schooling are unbearable to them. Almost all of 12 dropouts have missed school frequently due to failure in obtaining these articles. They feared that they will be punished if they go to school without pen or paper. Teachers said that children who come to school without pen or paper cause a lot of trouble because they are unable to do any class work and disturb the other students. So they are given punishment. The opportunity costs of schooling include chore time, sibling care and foregone earnings of children. The opportunity costs of educating children are higher in poor families because these families rely more on each member to contribute to the family’s economic survival. Girls and women are the unpaid household labourers. All of the 6 female samples’ labour in the household is an economic necessity because it frees others to earn outside. All of them had to do important works like collecting water and firewood, washing utensils, helping in cooking and taking care of siblings. Dropouts who belonged to large families, less earning members and unstable income due to illness of earning members had to do wage work for  cash. All of the female samples told that they had worked in rich households as domestic helps when their family needed cash or could not afford a satisfactory meal. It is difficult for poor families to afford the opportunity cost of schooling because the contribution of their child’s labour at household work or earning is essential at certain times for the survival of their families. All of these direct, hidden and opportunity costs are intra-linked with poverty, which causes poor attendance rate. This encourages dropping-out as the school terms clash with the agricultural cycle and those who miss school over several weeks drop behind, teachers withdraw their books and they are disqualified for stipend, as a result, they ultimately abandon school. Poverty is interlinked with quality of education as poor families cannot afford private tuitions for their children. Apart from a few parents most of them were illiterate and they could not give any effective help to their children in their studies. Hence these parents have regarded the need of going to private tuitions as a very urgent one. All the samples agreed that students who took private tuitions performs in the class and does well in exams. All the parents agreed that if the teachers had taught the students well in the class, then the parents would not have to spend extra money to send their children for private tuitions. The parents even said that the teachers do this deliberately to earn money. The students who receive private coaching get promoted to the next class regardless of their results, so they do not get dropped from the PESP receiver’s list. As a result, only the children from solvent families are able to continue their studies. Dropping out due to disqualifying for PESP have been observed in this research amongst those households who sent their children to school after hearing about the PESP. During harvest period, there are many works to be done, so a lot of the children do not go to school. Consequently, many of them fail in the exams as they fail to catch up with the class due to absence. As a result, they get dropped from the PESP receiver’s list. So again the economic factors affect the situation because it can be seen that only the children of the well to do families can receive stipend. This is because since the children of solvent people do not have to work at home, they can attend school regularly and on the other hand, they can attain private lessons by using the money they get from stipend, so they can pass in the exams. Poverty is interlinked to students’ eagerness to learn. As the drop-out children belonged to the poor households they all suffered from certain extent of malnutrition. The samples told that usually they went to school after eating rice, rice crisps, banana, molasses etc and 7 of the children said that very often they had to take insufficient food and so they felt hungry in the class. Some of the children had to do household works and they felt tired and sleepy in the class. All of these children said they found it hard to concentrate in the study. So the eagerness and motivation of the children of the poor households are affected by their economic condition. The irregular and low salary of teachers influences their motivation to teach and forces them to depend on alternative income sources like private tuition. As a result they are obligated to favour their private students which create frustration amongst the other students. These children found school unfriendly and unfair. They become reluctant to attend school and as a result they miss classes and this causes poor performance in exams. All of these factors contributes to disqualifying from stipend program and finally leads to drop-out. Societal reasons are also found to be affecting drop-out of children, especially girls. The people of this village are very pious and they think that school education is the trend of the new age. They think that receiving religious lessons is more important since it will help them in the afterlife. Maximum people think that it is foolish for children of poor people to receive higher education because there are no such job opportunities for them, and the people who have no certainty of their day meal will obviously send their children to work and earn money to run the family, this is reality. Pressure for early marriage is also present as most of the community members agreed that this the safest option for the parents. Incidents of eve teasing were seen and sadly the societal pressure was on the girl as she will earn a bad reputation and her prospect of marriage will be ruined. These types of societal pressures are interlinked with unsupportive parental attitudes, because all parents and especially the poor parents do not have much of a say in the society and they are the most vulnerable ones. So the parents of a girl child prefer marriage over education as that is safest option and also this is what the society expects them to do. So all of these different factors are interlinked with each other which affects dropping out of children. CHAPTER 7: IMPACTS OF PESP 7. 1 BACKGROUND OF PESP. The most notable among the incentive programs undertaken by the government at the primary level were the Food for Education Program (FFE) and the Primary Educational Stipend Program (PESP). The FFE Program was launched in 1993 to increase the enrollment, persistence, and attendance rates of children from landless and very poor families. Forty percent of the children enrolled in primary schools in the targeted poor areas received a monthly allocation of wheat or rice for their family if they attended primary school regularly. To be eligible for receiving the food, the children were to be present at school for 85 percent of classes each month. A sliding scale increased the amount if more than one child per family attended school. Ultimately, the FFE was implemented in 1255 unions, covering 27 percent of the country. The World Bank’s 1998 Poverty Assessment found that the FFE did raise enrollment and attendance rates, and by 2000, the FFE program had covered about 27 percent of all primary schools in Bangladesh. Out of 5. 2 million students enrolled in schools with FFE, about 40 percent received food grains (mostly wheat) through the program. About two million families benefited from the FFE program. But there negative issues related to the FFE program as well. It suffered from high levels of leakage (it cost 1. 59 taka to transfer 1 taka in benefits) and was poorly targeted (50 percent of the beneficiaries came from households above the lower poverty line). Increases in the price of the food commodities in 2001-2002 caused the government of Bangladesh to reduce the amount of food assistance, until the program was discontinued in June 2002. However, universal primary education was still far from achieving. So, a new program, the PESP was introduced. The new Primary Education Stipend Project was designed to provide cash assistance through a stipend program to poor primary school pupils and their families throughout rural Bangladesh. The targeted beneficiaries of the PESP were an estimated 5. 5 million pupils from the poorest households who were enrolled in eligible primary schools in all rural areas of Bangladesh (469 upazillas). In order to qualify for the stipend, selected pupils were to maintain 85 percent monthly attendance and attain a minimum of 50 percent marks on the annual exam administered for each grade. To continue to participate in the program, a school must demonstrate at least 60 percent pupil attendance, and 10 percent of its grade 5 pupils must sit for the Primary School Scholarship Exam. Households of qualifying pupils would receive 100 taka (about $1. 76) per month for one pupil (not to exceed 1200 taka annually) and 125 taka per month for more than one pupil (not to exceed 1500 taka annually). Six designated national banks would disburse the stipends on a quarterly basis to authorized parents/guardians on a pre-determined date at the local bank branch or at a temporary distribution post (â€Å"camp’) established at a convenient location within 5 kilometres of the school site. Stipends would be disbursed to pupils’ parents or legal guardians who present the proper PESP bank-issued identity card. Preferences were to be given to issuing cards to the mothers of the selected pupil. The new features of the PESP were: †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Subsidies provided in cash, rather than in kind (as in the FFE Program) would ease transfer to poor recipients and would limit the involvement of school personnel in distribution (FFE required teachers to dole out the wheat and rice). †¢Cost-effectiveness would increase as the government of Bangladesh can offer stipends to more families for the same cost and not be vulnerable to increases in food prices (as with the FFE Program that necessitated decreasing the amount of food provided). †¢The stipend amount is fixed at a level that will significantly offset household poverty (unlike the 25 taka offered through the PES Project). †¢The cash stipend is more flexible, so the family can determine its best use according to their needs—whether it is used for food purchase, school expenses or financing income generating activities (unlike the FFE Program where households often sold the food at less than market value to obtain cash). †¢Disbursing the stipend funds to the mother will increase her power within the household and she will be more likely to spend the money to improve the children’s welfare (earlier programs disbursed to fathers or male household heads). †¢Leakage will be reduced because (i) commodities (such as the FFE Program’s wheat and rice rations) are more liable to misappropriation and (ii) bank-mediated distribution eliminates scope for underpayment or kick-backs. †¢Provision of stipends on a nation-wide basis (rather than in selected areas) will reach the poor families throughout rural Bangladesh who must restrict their children’s participation in primary school. 7. 2 ProgramME Performance. The Primary Education Stipend Project (PESP) aims to increase the educational participation—enrollment, attendance, persistence, and performance–of primary school-aged children from poor families throughout Bangladesh by providing cash payments to targeted households. The new Primary Education Stipend Project is designed to provide cash assistance through a stipend program to poor primary school pupils and their families throughout rural Bangladesh. The impacts of PESP in the research area are described below according to the official objectives of the PESP: †¢ Increase the enrolment rate among primary school-aged children from poor families. The researcher found this objective successful to some extent because the statistics provided by the teachers show that enrolment rate has increased after the PESP have been introduced. The school enrolled the new students in only class one. The numbers of enrolment of last five years has been shown in the table below. YearNumber of students enrolled in class 1Total students of the school 200084270 200195280 2002102288 2003108295 2004116309 Table 6: The number of students enrolled in class 1. †¢ Increase the attendance rate of primary school pupils. The PESP rationale is that regular attendance will improve pupils learning outcomes and contribute to good grades on exams. Attaining 40 percent marks will motivate the pupil to study and the pupil’s family to support his/her studies, by ensuing school attendance (not withdrawing for labour) and providing the necessary supplies and inputs. Combined these conditions are expected to lead to reduced repetition and drop-out and increased completion. Meeting the attendance requirement on a monthly basis will  determine the amount of the quarterly stipend disbursement. If a pupil does not meet the condition, the stipend will not be paid for that month. Classroom teachers record attendance daily, checked by head teachers. The 85 percent target is relatively high, compared with average primary school attendance rates that are reported to be 61 percent or below and even with the FSSAP which has a target of 75 percent. This objective was not very successful as the attendance rate was very poor in the primary school were this research have been done. Teachers said that in general attendance rate is well below 85 percent. Students from the poor households are the most irregular ones. The reason for absenteeism is primarily due to the inability to pay for school expenses and/or the need to work either at home or outside the home. However, in some of the cases, reasons behind absenteeism were temporary or chronic illness, disinclination for schooling, bad weather, flooding, etc. During the rainy season the attendance was low as the roads were muddy and slippery and transportation was unavailable. During the bad whether some of them stayed absent as they didn’t want to damage their clothes. Two of the samples said that they had only two clothes, of which one was torn so they wore it in the house and the other one they wore in the school. They remained absent if the better cloth was wet as they couldn’t were the other one. The direct and opportunity costs of schooling, cultural constraints and prejudices, and special needs of vulnerable children—prevent these children from going to school. Although primary education is declared as tuition-free, there are many direct costs like exam fees, enrolment fee etc and with this there are many indirect costs like pen, papers, clothes etc. Though the stipend money was a help to some extent to the poor families, it was distributed after 3 months and during that time whenever the family couldn’t afford the necessary equipments, the children remained absent. Although the stipend receivers said that they bought pen, papers, clothes etc, they also said they still missed school whenever they couldn’t manage them as they were given punishments. Another reason for low attendance of the students was the opportunity cost of the child. Students frequently remained absent during different times of agricultural cycles as their labour was needed by their family. In the rainy seasons some of the boys helped their father in boat rowing so they stayed absent and because of this, they were dropped from the stipend receivers list. †¢ Reduce the drop out rate of primary school pupils and increase the cycle completion rate of primary school pupil. Unlike enrollment, persistence in primary school requires an ongoing household commitment that, especially among the vulnerable poor, is easily assailed by family circumstances (e.g. illness, death), the economy, and a host of other factors. The continuous payment of a stipend for the pupil’s entire primary school career—does provide both motivation and a monetary cushion for the family by helping to offset the opportunity costs associated with economic hardship that could pull a child from school. However, as a child ages both the direct and opportunity costs (for boys in the labour market and girls in the marriage market) increase, and the stipend is not sufficient to meet these costs. In addition, considerations other than monetary—such as lack of interest in schooling, dissatisfaction with the quality of schooling, cultural imperatives to marry, etc. –may come into play that are not amenable to financial incentives. Although primary education is declared as tuition-free, there are many direct costs like exam fees, enrolment fee; certain amount from the stipend money is also taken for various reasons. These expenses become a big problem for the poor households and it influences dropping out. The number of drop-out children in last five years is given below. Table 7: Number of dropouts in the last 5 years provided by the school YearNumber of drop-out childrenNumber of children completed class fiveTotal students in class five 1999104555 2000124254 2001114455 2002114960 2003124759 Chart: The number of dropouts and completions during last five years Although the dropout numbers provided by the school shows that dropout from school in class five is around 10 to 12, the researcher found that in reality the number was more than that as certain amount of underwriting is done so that the school remains in the PESP allotting list. The PESP stipend does not appear to meaningfully offset the opportunity costs of child labour, averaging less than 5 taka per day or $2 per month. But, its ability to attract children from the labour market to school clearly depends on the situation of the family. It is unlikely that a desperately poor family would be able to forego the income or even the food earned by a regularly-employed child. However, in some cases the child may continue to earn a sufficient amount outside of school hours and during school absences tolerated by the PESP (15 percent). The additional 25 taka per month for any subsequent children enrolled in primary school represents a much smaller contribution towards meeting the opportunity cost of schooling, and acts more as a reward to those households who have already made the decision to send their children to school than to encourage households to send non-attending children to school. Since opportunity costs must also be added to direct costs of schooling to assess the real cost, families of working children may not be able to cover both the sacrifice of a child’s income or labour and the cash outlays for the direct costs discussed above. Both the direct and opportunity costs of schooling increases as the child ages and progresses in primary school, increasing the burden for very poor families. Consequently, the PESP stipend may not be sufficient to overcome the financial barriers to primary schooling in families where children must work constantly to increase household production or income or to feed themselves. †¢ Enhance the quality of primary education. The PESP is least likely to be successful in improving the quality of education (as defined by learning outcomes and completion rates), because it places the entire burden of quality improvement on the child (maintaining high attendance) and household (purchasing educational inputs to ensure good grades), rather than on the teacher or school. First, failure to achieve is more often the result of poor instruction than of incapable students. Second, families targeted for support are poor, and it is far more likely that the stipend will be used to provide additional food and clothing for the family than purchase educational materials or tutoring for a primary school child. And while it would not be reasonable to expect a stipend program to also be a quality improvement program, the PESP may have negative consequences for educational quality of the 75-85 percent of primary school-age children already in school by diverting resources away from  needed supply-side improvements. The impact of PESP in the research area seemed to favour access over quality. The teachers said as the most of the parents who enrolled their children for stipend, they don’t worry about the quality of education; instead they want to receive the stipend money anyhow. This attitude can never help to improve quality of education. †¢ Ensure equity in the provision of financial assistance to primary school-age children and alleviate poverty. Bangladesh ranks as one of the poorest countries in the world, with a GDP per capita of $350. The poor account for about 50 percent of Bangladesh’s total population, and 37 percent are counted among the â€Å"hard-core† poor, who live in the direst circumstances (Bangladesh Human Development Report 2000, BIDS). That fifty-three percent of pupils in the primary education system come from poor households reflects the high demand for primary education among Bangladeshi parents. Ultimately, much of the success of the PESP in combating poverty and helping families deal with the direct and opportunity costs of sending their children to primary school will depend on the validity of the targeting mechanism and on the real value of the stipend in offsetting those costs. Primary school-age children become eligible for stipend benefits if their families meet at least one of the following five targeting criteria: ? Children from a landless or near-landless household that owns less than half an acre of land; ? Children of day labourers; ?Children from female-headed households (i. e. , a household headed by a female who is widowed, separated from husband, divorced, or having a disabled husband); ? Children from households that earn their living from low-income professions (such as, fishing, pottery, weaving, blacksmithing, and cobbling); and ? Children of sharecroppers. At present, the targeting methodology does not appear sufficiently well-defined to ensure that the poorest families in Bangladesh benefit, but rather the poorer families relative to their specific locale (which may not be terribly poor). With no clear-cut guidelines or empirical methods for identifying the poorest students, it is not clear how poor children can be identified. More over, a lot of community members and parents of the dropout children blamed the teachers and SMC members of deliberate biases and distortions. Almost universally, those interviewed said that SMC members and teachers complicit in giving favour to local elites and the non-poor in school admission and enrollment in the PESP or extracting some form of payment for consideration. Because the SMC members are generally members of the local elite, it has been told by the parents of the drop-outs and community member that they have a tendency to favour their own friends and relatives. The stipend amount appears sufficient to cover the education costs of one child, but the PESP often employs a rationale that double- and triple-counts the stipend, by stating that it will offset direct costs, eliminate opportunity costs, and increase household income. It is unlikely that the stipend is adequate to address all three at the same time. It does not appear to fully recognize that the PESP will also cause the families—especially those with working children—to incur significant costs that may not represent a net gain for the household (at least in the short-term). The PESP may be too expensive for very poor households whose children are not already enrolled, as the stipend amount is not sufficient to pay for education, compensate for lost wages/production and increase household income as well. Poverty impedes households’ ability to pay for school fees and/or other direct (e. g. textbooks) and indirect (e. g. â€Å"donations† for school authorities) costs that may be required for school admission or full participation in primary school. Poor households are more likely to need children’s labour for income-producing or cost-saving activities, and be less able to sacrifice the child’s time to schooling, resulting in frequent absenteeism and/or early withdrawal from school. The poor are more prone to disease and malnutrition than the non-poor. Poor health and nutritional status among young and school-aged children can result in illness and/or physical and cognitive impairment or delays, causing late enrollment, drop-out, absenteeism and poor learning outcomes. Additional objectives (mentioned by MOPME officials): Eradication of child labour and empowerment of women were the additional objectives. PESP could not eradicate child labour as it was seen that the samples often missed classes because of various household works. All of the 6 male samples helped their fathers in the field at different times of agricultural cycles. The boys who worked in the agricultural field worked in two phases. For working in the morning from 8AM to 1PM, they received 1 meal and 50 to 70 taka and for working from 2PM to 5PM, they are given 30 taka. In the rainy season a some of the male samples helped their fathers in boat rowing. Girls and women are the unpaid household labourers. All of the 6 female samples’ labour in the household is an economic necessity because it frees others to earn outside. All of them had to do important works like collecting water and firewood, washing utensils, helping in cooking and taking care of siblings. Because of these reasons, parents were reluctant to spare their daughters for schooling. There is no evidence of gender disparity in enrollment rates among the poor, but it is likely that girls who belonged to poor families are less likely to persist and perform in school than boys. But as there is a stipend programme for the secondary female students, girls are now getting the opportunity for higher studies. Social Impact of PESP: Irrespective of the PESP’s impact on primary education or its reaching the poorest 40 percent of families, the prevalence of poverty in Bangladesh is such that the PESP must be regarded as a positive move in improving social welfare, in that it represents a substantial redistribution or transfer of income from the wealthier sections of society to the poorer ones. Given the rural focus, it is seen that these cash transfers has some positive impact on the economies of small rural communities. As households spend the PESP stipend on commodities (books, food, clothing, etc) and services (tutoring, medical, etc. ), the effects are rippling through the community, generating additional income for merchants and suppliers. Insofar as mothers are the stipend recipients, it is expected that they will have decision-making authority over its use and their economic prestige will be enhanced somewhat. The political and social impact is also positive as beneficiary poor families and community members appreciate the recognition of need and the benefits offered by the PESP. But the major negative impact of this program is that those parents who sent their children to school after hearing about the stipend money, many of them withdrew their children when they were dropped from the stipend receivers list. These parents were unaware of the rules for achieving the stipend and they became angry and  annoyed by the rules. They also claimed that rules are strictly followed in the cases of poor students and teachers showed biasness while distributing stipends. According to them, the students who take private tuitions from the teachers and the children of the rich and powerful people receive stipend even if they are irregular or have failed in exams. Many of the parents said with anger that the strictness of rules happens only for the poor. Thus even though the stipend programme has increased the enrolment rate it has also became a reason for dropping out of children. The people who have two or more children enrolled in school do not support the rule of Tk. 125 for two children. They feel that all of their children should receive Tk. 100 each. Some of the parents of the dropouts were very annoyed with this rule. Few dropout children had their siblings reading in the same schools as well, so the amount of money received from PESP due to this rule made the parents take different strategy. Although both children received stipend, many of these parents withdrew their eldest child from school and engaged them in work, while the other children continued studying as long as they receive stipend. It is difficult for a poor family to afford the opportunity cost of more then one child. Matrix 1—Knowledge, attitude and perception towards the primary education stipend project Key issues Students ParentsTeachersCommunity 1. Knowledge regarding the project. Selection criteriaFor poor and regular students, in primary school are eligible for stipendFor poor and regular students85% attendance and at least 45% pass marks in each subjects in all examsGiven to all poor and good students schools Retention CriteriaRegular attendance and at least pass marks in all examsRegular attendance and good result85% attendance and at least 50% pass marks in each subjects in all examsRegular attendance in school and good result Disbursement ProcessDistributed by bank officials or teachers to the students in school/nearby camps arranged for disbursement. Distributed from school and received by studentsDistributed from school or camps arranged by UPO in the presence of headmaster, class teacher, and SMC members Distributed by school among students 2. Attitude towards the projectBeneficial for all especially the poor. Helpful for allHighly beneficial particularly to the poor studentsHelpful for children Adequacy of stipend amount Disbursement processNot sufficient and should be increased ReasonableInadequate for expenses of direct and hidden costs but still helpful. ReasonableThough inadequate but helpful for the very poor students Though reasonable but takes a whole working day Key issuesStudentsParentsTeachersCommunity 3. Impact of the project Enrollment Attendance Increased, particularly for the poor students Increased a little Increased Increased a little Increased for all, and especially increased for poor students Attendance is still the same amongst poor students but in general increased a little Increased Probably more regular than before Dropout Completion rate Incidence of early marriage. Support towards female education Family pressure for marriage Social pressure for marriageDecreased High Still the same Same as before Still the same Still the sameLess than before Higher than before Still the same Increased a little Decreased a little Still the sameDecreased a little Higher than before Still the same Increased a little Still the same Still the sameDecreased a little Higher than before Still the same Increased Decreased a little Still the same Key issues Students ParentsTeachersCommunity 4. Problems regarding the project. Inadequate stipend amount Late distribution of text books Late disbursement of stipend Extortion of stipend money in forms of school fees and private tuitionInadequate stipend amount, Indirect cost of schooling (fees, uniform, cost of education aids), Late distribution of stipend Extortion of stipend money in forms of school fees and private tuitionInadequate stipend amount for the very poor students, Lack of training opportunities for teachers in the project Late disbursement of stipend money by the government Inadequate stipend amount 7. 3 IMPACTS ON BENEF.

Consultant’s Skills Essay Example for Free

Consultant’s Skills Essay In the corporate world, there is always a need to structure the best possible process of production. In this integral approach, a consultant’s skills can be utilized in order to provide a different or better insight about the needs of the company as well as to guide it for a better path of development.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A consultant is someone who has gained expertise about a particular field of study, research or work. He provides an advice in order to proceed with a particular action (Wikipedia, 2007). In this aspect, consultants are invited in most company functions to share his thoughts and assumptions about a certain business dilemma. Of course, these assumptions do not always reflect that of an enterprise solution but can also be used for some research and development principles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are several responsibilities that a consultant needs to accomplish for a company. First, he needs to provide the most effective ways of dealing with a problem to the fullest of his knowledge. Second, he should communicate in the best possible way, probably in layman’s terms, what he thinks is the best approach in getting a resolution for a particular concern. Third, he must have quite a number of credible materials or resources that he can present to support his claims. Of course, there should be minimal questions about his skills since the company has hired him to become a consultant. But in order to gain a wider perspective of his talents, supporting materials must be available.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a general classification of consultants, the internal and external ones. The main difference between the two can be identified on the way their skills are used for the company processes. It may be thought that external consultants work as freelancers who may then be regarded as a â€Å"contractor† (Friedl) while the internal counterpart is an in-house consultant engaged in direct company decisions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the aspect of contributions, there might be a slight difference between the two categories. Internal consultants are more exposed to company operations which is of great advantage in sending information efficiently and in a faster way. They can utilize the core skills needed for a resolution (Robertson). On the other hand, external consultants may also provide the same quality of logical problem solving but it would probably take longer since he needs to first see the big picture of the problem before coming up with a solution. References Friedl, S. N.D. â€Å"So you want to be a consultant?† Unixwiz. Retrieved January 11, 2008 from http://unixwiz.net/techtips/be-consultant.html. Robertson, S. N.D. Experiences in Growing Internal Consultants with Object-oriented Skills. The Atlantic Systems Guild. Retrieved January 11, 2008 from http://www.systemsguild.com/GuildSite/SQR/internal_Consultants.html. Wikipedia. 2007. Consultant. Wikipedia-The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 11, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consultant.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Values and Objectives

Cadbury Dairy Milk Values and Objectives Identify the mission, values and key objectives of the chosen organization and assess the influence of stake holders Vision Vision of Cadbury Dairy Milk Working together to create brands people love A vision statement reveals the ideal image of the organization in the future. Vision is an important point in corporate strategic plan and is bound to be on time. It communicates both the value and purpose of organization. Vision is intended to give directions to employees about how they should behave and inspires them to give their best. A vision when shared with customers can help shape a customers understanding of why they should work with the organization. Mission Cadbury Dairy Milk mission statement Says simply, Cadbury means quality; this is our promise. Our reputation is to built upon quality; our commitment to continuous improvement will ensure that our promise Mission statement defines an organizations primary objectives and its key purpose. Its prime function is internal – to define the key measure or measures of the organization’s success – and its prime listeners are the leadership team and stockholders. Mission statements are the starting points of an organizations strategic planning and goal setting process. They try to assure and focus the attention on both the external and internal stakeholders to understand and know what organization is trying to accomplish. Key Objectives Cadbury Dairy Milk main aim and objective is to become world best and biggest confectionery company. The company is really keen to perform better than the competitors. Cadbury Dairy Milk is among the leading companies of the world. Objectives are the ends toward which activity is aimed-they are the end results to ward which activity is aimed. â€Å"Objectives are goals, aims or purposes that organizations wish over varying periods of time†-McFarland â€Å"A managerial objective is the intended goal that prescribes definite scope and suggests direction to the planning efforts of a manger†-Terry and Franklin Stakeholders Their Main Interests/Objectives/Goals in an Organization Shareholders Growth in their profits, dividends price growth of their shares Employees Salary wages, secured job, motivation satisfaction of the job Customers Quality products, availability of the product, to obtain good value for money customer care Community Environmental effects, job opportunities the business`s impact on its surroundings Directors managers Salary, job satisfaction, to retain power to increase their status power in the organization from business growth Banks building societies Interest, debt to be collected credit rating Government Jobs, legal operation of the organization collection of tax Suppliers Quick payments, increase in purchase long term contracts (P2) Evaluate the extent to which an organization achieves the objectives of three stakeholders Stakeholders of an Organization    Stakeholders are group of people who are directly interested in the activities of the business. Different stakeholders of an organization are shown in the picture. Stakeholders Their Main Interests/Objectives/Goals in an Organization Employees Salary wages, secured job, motivation satisfaction of the job Customers Quality products, availability of the product, to obtain good value for money customer care Community Environmental effects, job opportunities the business`s impact on its surroundings Meeting the objectives of its Stakeholders Cadbury is one of the world’s largest confectionary manufacturers. Cadbury believes that good ethics and good business go together naturally to produce the best long-term results for all the stakeholders. Its success is sustained by understanding and responding to the needs of consumers, customers, suppliers, colleagues and citizens. Employees Cadbury identifies the abilities of its employees and then these abilities are further enhanced and developed by offering them on-the-job assignments, executive education and coaching. Part of Cadbury’s line managers responsibility is to identify the training needs of his or her direct reports, match those needs to training and development opportunities and ensure that learning is transferred back into the workplace. Consumers Cadbury is providing high quality, tasty products with reasonable prices and it also deals directly with consumers and has significant resources in the business so to respond to customers complaints and questions. Community Cadburys Purple Goes Green project was launched back in July 2007 setting a vision for the company to deal with change in climate. What they did was they intended to minimize global environmental footprints by reducing excess packaging, energy use and managing water use. Purple Goes Green targets are: 50% reduction in our absolute carbon emissions. 10% decline in packaging of product and a more stretch target of 25% for gift and seasonal ranges. We will also aim for 60% biodegradable packaging. 100% â€Å"water scarce† sites will have water reduction programs in place. Outcome 2 (P4) Explain how economic systems attempt to allocate and make effective use of resources Function of an economy: Government control economies and each economy have a certain amount of scares resources. Knowing that they exist on economic problem of scarcity however the economic system that a country has adapted to must ask the following questions and find suitable answers for them. 1) What to produce 2) How to produce 3) For whom to produce There are 3 economic systems they are discussed in detail below: Free market economy: All the economic resources are owned by private people. In a market economy only those goods are produced and resources are devoted towards those goods that are in demand and are also showing an increase in demand. This means that private sector will gather information from the market about those goods whose prices are rising. Meaning they will find out goods which are in demand and produce those goods only. In a market economy firms only operate to make profits or firms work only for profit motives. Poor people will be in distress as they will be unable to find hospitals that are free or very cheap, and also will find prices of necessities going up as there will be no government control. In a market economy a government may have limited role of providing legal systems, justice system, police etc. In a market economy because of no government control firms often hide there external costs due to this cost is less and so is the selling price this creates and artifi cial demand in the market and too many scares resources are being used. Advantages / Disadvantages A wide variety of goods are produced to meet consumer’s wants Encourages use of new and better methods to produce goods and services. It relies on producers and consumers to decide what, how and for whom to produce. In market economy factors of production will only be employed if it’s profitable. May fail to offer public with certain goods or services. Can encourage the use of harmful goods. Example drugs Social effects of production may be ignored. Planned economy: All economic resources are owned and controlled by the state. The state works for social motives and every decision is for the betterment of the society. There is central planning and the state decides what goods must be produced. Usually resources are devoted towards making necessities first. Consumers have no influence over what goods should be produced. Only those goods are produced which the government wants and not what the people want. In panned economies there is always a problem of knowing the correct level of demand as the market mechanism does not register them. Due to this there is miss allocation of resources and either resources are over or under utilized by the government. Currently there are only three countries with planned economies. (China, North Korea, Cuba) Advantages / Disadvantages Government works on social motives. Government charges high taxes on harmful goods. Goods are produced both for the poor and those having money. Social effects of production will be taken care of. The state can fail to provide certain goods. Cannot respond quickly to the changes in people’s wants. Produces only those goods which the government wants and not what the people want. Goods produced are of poor quality. Firms do not have a reason for doing a good job its because they work on social motive and there are no profit motives. Mixed Economic system: Many goods are produced by the private sector E.g. car, phones, PC etc. Many goods and services are provided only by the state E.g. police, defense, justice, railways, airlines, electricity. Some goods and services are provided both by the private and the government. And it is a person’s choice weather to go to a public hospital or a private hospital, public school or private school. In order to finance projects like health care and education the government raises money through taxes. In order to make better use of scare resources the government has the power to control or limit business activities. Government can control business activities in many ways E.g. Putting tax on pollution. Controlling employee rights. Anti competitive practices. Monopolies. E.g. merger or takeovers. A mixed economic system is usually adopted by governments to promote free enterprises. Advantages / Disadvantages Government helps in creating jobs for those people who are out of work. Government in mixed economies stops people from consuming harmful drugs by making them illegal or placing high taxes. In market economy firms can avoid their own costs but in mixed economies government may use laws, higher taxes and possible penalties on firms to try to prevent polluting the environment. Mixed economies overcome the problem of not producing goods for the poor as the state works on social motives and provide certain goods free of charge to the customers. Government often charges higher taxes from people and this discourages people from working. (P5) Discuss the impact of social welfare and industrial policy initiatives on organizations and the wider community Social welfare: The objective of social welfare is to measure value welfare judgments and social ethics. It not just includes the standard of living but also the environment (water, air and soil), maintenance of income, health, housing, crime level, education and its connection to society and politics. Industrial policy: Industrial policy helps government take active role in supporting investment and encouraging a faster economic growth in industry to help stop the manufacturing sector from decline. It emphasizes the cooperation between private enterprises, government, banks and employees to strengthen the economy. The social impact was always positive on Cadbury because as Quaker family they were participating reforms in society. Example choosing chocolate for career in business line is by their religious outlook. As he felt that alcohol is a major cause for poverty he introduced coca and chocolate for drinking as alternative. Welfare reforms among labor: Cadbury directly ban the climbing boys who cleaned the chimney. Took major steps against the cruelty on animals and protested against royal cruelty on animals. Plus he manage a structure to give adults awareness. He had good relations with his labors taking fruitful steps he gives Saturday a half day for his labors. He arranged committee in 1918 that had optional voting one for men other for women. The councils main aim is to provide education, training, safety and social life of the worker. They also arranged places for prayers and timings for prayers for workers on spiritual reasons. For example on this particular time bible has to be read as a morning prayer in church. Bibliography BPP Learning Media. (2007). Business Environment (Course Book). London: BPP Learning Media Ltd. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Social-Welfare-496646.html http://www.papercamp.com/group/internal-and-external-stakeholders-store/page-1140 http://www.scribd.com/doc/157174637/Cadbury http://www.ask.com/question/cadbury-schweppes-mission-statement

Descriptive Essay - The Evangelic Church :: Descriptive Essay, Descriptive Writing

It may seem a little bit strange, but my favorite place in town in none other than this beautiful Evangelic Church. However, it wasn’t always so. When I was a child I used to be frightened of entering such a place for it seemed so imposing and somewhat dangerous, especially when music was being played. One day, in order to keep a promise I had made, I saw myself forced to enter. It took me quite a while to get the courage to pass through the old oak door, but the moment I stepped in, I realized just how enchanting and breathtaking this building could be. Its fantastic architecture and exquisite frescoes reflect perfectly the unity between this earth and the unseen kingdom of angels in such a manner that one cannot say where one ends and the other begins. The way in which the church was built is also the vivid testimony of a medieval period. Although it is a place that can sometimes be cold and ask for respect it is where prayers are answered and magic is done. An overwhelming feeling of inner harmony takes over you once you enter and God seems much closer. Darkness and light are welded perfectly together creating Redemptionâ⠂¬â„¢s house. The tower allows you to see the entire town from the smallest river to the biggest building site, offering you its mightiness. In the early summer mornings, when the sunshine is young and playful, inside the church another realm is born. Sitting in the back rows one can see a heavenly mist flowing though the windows and filling the sleepy altar with life and hope. It is a different dimension in the breast of an unsuspecting world. Moments such as these bring you joy and reassurance and also show you that there really is someone out there: your soul is elevated, your mind is thirsty for new experiences and your body is strengthened. Each time I come to the Evangelic Church something changes inside myself for the better. Descriptive Essay - The Evangelic Church :: Descriptive Essay, Descriptive Writing It may seem a little bit strange, but my favorite place in town in none other than this beautiful Evangelic Church. However, it wasn’t always so. When I was a child I used to be frightened of entering such a place for it seemed so imposing and somewhat dangerous, especially when music was being played. One day, in order to keep a promise I had made, I saw myself forced to enter. It took me quite a while to get the courage to pass through the old oak door, but the moment I stepped in, I realized just how enchanting and breathtaking this building could be. Its fantastic architecture and exquisite frescoes reflect perfectly the unity between this earth and the unseen kingdom of angels in such a manner that one cannot say where one ends and the other begins. The way in which the church was built is also the vivid testimony of a medieval period. Although it is a place that can sometimes be cold and ask for respect it is where prayers are answered and magic is done. An overwhelming feeling of inner harmony takes over you once you enter and God seems much closer. Darkness and light are welded perfectly together creating Redemptionâ⠂¬â„¢s house. The tower allows you to see the entire town from the smallest river to the biggest building site, offering you its mightiness. In the early summer mornings, when the sunshine is young and playful, inside the church another realm is born. Sitting in the back rows one can see a heavenly mist flowing though the windows and filling the sleepy altar with life and hope. It is a different dimension in the breast of an unsuspecting world. Moments such as these bring you joy and reassurance and also show you that there really is someone out there: your soul is elevated, your mind is thirsty for new experiences and your body is strengthened. Each time I come to the Evangelic Church something changes inside myself for the better.

Consumer Goods :: miscellaneous

Consumer Goods A few years ago I was walking around my old hometown, Portland, Oregon. I walked past a basketball court full of teens wearing Ambercrombie shirts and Nike shoes. "Bro, why don't you get some of these cool clothes, rather than that boring and odd shirt you have on? one of them said to me. "No, thanks. I like what I have on." I wasn't going to let them persuade me to waste my money on expensive popular clothing when I already liked what I was wearing. As you can see by my experience, many Americans, especially high school students, shop to "look cool" by wearing popular clothing. They emphasize wearing the right type of clothes. For instance, an adolescent clothing addict named Delia Cleveland believed "clothes made the woman and everything else was secondary" (193). Teenagers buy the right clothes so they'll be popular. In high schools today, many students are seen with an "Ambercrombie & Fitch" label or shirt bearing the name of the company. That's because they "repeatedly rank it near the top in terms of coolness." (Cave 199). By wearing the A&F clothes, people see them as "cool" and therefore respect them. However, it's not always about wearing a certain company's clothes to look cool; it can be about wearing the right color clothes or buying caps that show a logo of a sports team. Why do teenagers make such a big deal out of wearing the right kinds of clothes? A big reason is the fact that many of them go to rough high schools, so they have to wear the right type of clothes, because if they don't, they might get picked on. I have had many friends in this situation. This can make them get used to wearing popular clothing, and then they really start doing it, possibly even to show off their clothes. Luckily I've never had to go to high school (I was homeschooled), so I haven't had to go through with looking cool by wearing popular clothing. IN my opinion, clothes are clothes, and it doesn't make any difference what they look like. But in America today, often that's not the case. Another reason people buy what they buy is because the media influences them greatly, with symbols and rule-breaking strategies. On the telvision today I often see commercials influencing the viewer to buy a prodcut, one way or the other.

Pyrotechnics :: essays research papers

PYROTECHNICS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pyrotechnics special effects are widely used in motion picture production to create all types of effects involving explosions, fires, light, smoke and sound concussions. The types of pyrotechnics materials used include flash powder, flash paper, gun cotton, black powder (gunpowder), smokeless powder, detonator explosives, and many more. They are used in bullet hits (squibs), blank cartridges, flash pots, fuses, mortars, smoke pots, sparkle pots, etc. The main problems of pyrotechnics include prematurely triggering the pyrotechnic effect, use of larger quantities or more dangerous materials than needed, causing a fire, lack of adequate fire extinguishing capabilities, and, of course, inadequately trained and experienced pyrotechnics operators. As a result of these risks, all pyrotechnics special effects are regulated at the federal, state and local level. In general, all pyrotechnics are explosives, but not all explosives are pyrotechnics. Class A explosives (high explosives) are materials like dynamite and Primacord which may detonate even if unconfined. Pyrotechnic special effects materials are Class B explosives. They will burn, but not explode unless confined. Examples are black powder and pellet powder, safety fuses, igniters, igniter cord, fuse lighters, Class B special fireworks, and Class B composite solids propellants. Class C explosives are common fireworks. Note that short lengths of Primacord may be classified as Class C under certain conditions. Both Class B and C explosives are also called low explosives. All pyrotechnic materials and other explosives consist of an oxidizer (source of oxygen) and a reducer (fuel). Examples of oxidizers include potassium nitrate, strontium nitrate, potassium perchlorate and potassium chlorate. Examples of fuels include metals like magnesium and aluminum, sulfur, silicon dioxide, and organic fuels like charcoal, starch, resins, and chlorinated hydrocarbons. The choice of fuel and oxidizer determines the type of effect (flash, smoke, sound, etc.) its color, and its intensity. There are two basic types of pyrotechnic materials: single component and two component systems. Single component materials will either burn if ignited, or explode if ignited when enclosed, since the oxidizer and fuel are in the same mixture. Flash paper, for example, is a partially nitrated cellulose and contains both fuel and oxidizer internally. The traditional black powder has potassium nitrate as the oxidizer, and sulfur and charcoal as fuels. In two component or binary systems, the oxidizer and fuel are separate components which are transported and stored separately and only mixed when ready to use.

Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Hanging of the Mouse” Reaction Paper

Elizabeth Bishop’s â€Å"The Hanging of the Mouse†, places animals in the roles of humans in reference to an execution. The writer uses animals to replace humans to possibly convey a message or point of view towards the death penalty. In the story, the mouse is being executed for what we believe is some sort of crime. It isn’t clear whether or not the mouse actually committed a crime, but we are led to believe that an act occurred in which caused the mouse to be executed on this particular day. The writer doesn’t convey their opinion on capital punishment or the death penalty. As the story plays out, all the writer is doing is telling a story of a mouse and incorporating all these different animals. Every animal has a different role. And each role is specific to want happens in a hanging. â€Å"A raccoon, wearing the traditional black mask, was the executioner†¦. A large praying mantis was in charge of the religious end of the ceremonies. † (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2010, p. 1309) Is the writer trying to tell the reader something? It isn’t clear, but the writer does convey the hardship of watching such a thing occur. Most of the animals have a difficult time watching the hanging. â€Å"It was all so touching that a cat, who had brought her child in her mouth, shed several large tears. They rolled down on to the child’s back and he began to squirm and shriek, so that the mother thought that the sight of the hanging had perhaps been too much for him,† (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2010, p. 1310). Stereotypically mice fall prey to cats, and in this case, the cat feels remorse, sadness for what happens to the mouse. This theory can lead to a thought that not everyone who believes in capital punishment can withstand to watch the punishment be carried out. Reading through the story, the writer doesn’t have a specific reader in mind. This story can easily be read by a vast majority of different people and each one may have a different take on its meaning. Small children wouldn’t benefit from a story like this, because questions would arise as to why the mouse is being punished? Young adults and adults would find the story an interesting read. Each, again, may grasp a different meaning or have a different feeling towards the story, only because of the different backgrounds may be involved. â€Å"The Hanging of the Mouse† brought to light a few questions on my feelings on capital punishment and the death penalty. Questions like â€Å"Do I believe in capital punishment? †, â€Å"Do I believe in the death penalty? † and â€Å"Can I withstand to watch someone die in front of my eyes? † crossed my mind as a read through the story. The death penalty should be carried out depending on the crime committed, and I don’t believe that I am one to watch the punishment to be carried out. I would be that cat feeling remorse and sadness for what was happening in front of me. The last line in the story, â€Å"but an excellent moral lesson, nevertheless. † (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2010, p. 1310) sticks out the most from the entire story. Having the belief that the death penalty should be carried out, but not being able to watch such an event†¦should children and teens be subject to such things? For sure this would teach them a lesson on what happens when extremely bad crimes are committed, but is that a lesson that should be taught in that way? Elizabeth Bishop’s very short story brought up more questions than answers. It’s refreshing to read something that may have a clear message, e. g. the agreement of having the death penalty, but it could mean so much more. Questions arose to the feelings of victims watching the execution and children being taught a â€Å"valuable† lesson. There isn’t a clear answer and I don’t believe that was the intention of the writer. Overall the intention was to have thoughts, to have conversations about the underlying topic.