Restorative Justice The Justice System - 1931 Words

Introduction Restorative justice is a comparative newcomer to the world of criminal justice; however restorative justice has been around, ‘officially’- by means of legislation for 14 years, and unofficially (in innovative practice), for longer. The knowledge and skills associated with restorative justice have slowly but surely migrated to other services, such as education, with startling results (Daniels, 2013). With the criminal justice system being so unfair and bias for years maybe even centuries, restorative justice has been bought up as a useful tool for victims and offenders. Plenty of scholarly articles, journals, books, and research have been written about Restorative Justice. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE Restorative justice is an innovative approach to the criminal justice system that focuses on repairing the harm caused by crimes committed. The methods used in the conventional justice system may deter the offender from committing further crimes, but it does neither repair the harm caused, nor help them acknowledge their responsibility, instead it stigmatizes them, worsening the situation instead of improving it. Many have attempted to facilitate a consensual understanding for RJ. The truth is that has not yet been possible for RJ proponents to formulate a definition to which all would be subscribed. (Gavrielides, 2008) What’s required for the successes of restorative justice when an event occurs that disrupt the equilibrium, methods must be establishShow MoreRelatedRestorative Justice : The Justice System1993 Words   |  8 Pages Restorative Justice in the Criminal Justice System Nathan Tabita Columbia College Abstract Throughout this paper, various articles will be discussed in further detail on the issue of restorative justice within the criminal justice system in the United States. Both benefits and disadvantages of restorative justice will be analyzed, in order to have a greater understanding of the alternative justice program, and to remove any preconceived ideas unsubstantiated by facts. FocusRead MoreRestorative Justice And Justice System2338 Words   |  10 Pages Restorative justice has some key restorative values that are vital in the restorative justice conference to make the experience ‘restorative’. Concerning addressing victim needs and concerns means for listening, respecting, being non-judgmental, not blaming the victim and apologizing. The RJ system was bought as an alternative to the criminal justice system to give greater emphasis on victim rights and needs, offender accountability and community involvement. Throughout the essay, there will beRead MoreRestorative Justice And The Justice System1905 Words   |  8 Pagestwo forms of justice that the American society has come to know today. One is the traditional justice system and the other is restorative justice. The first half of this paper will provide an overview of how justice is achieved using the traditional due process system of our criminal justice system. Specifically, I will assess each step of due process, pointing out the possible outcomes of how justice is traditionally attained. I will also provide several examples of how the system has successfullyRead MoreRestorative Justice And The Justice System1044 Words   |  5 PagesRestorative justice has can be seen to have multiple definitions among the most used are: A) a theory of justice that focuses on repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior and B) an approach of justice that aims to satisfy the needs of the victims and offenders, as well as the entire community. The most broadly accepted definition of restorative justice, however, is a process where all the parties that have equal power in a specific offense and collectively come to a solution on how to deal withRead MoreRestorative Justice : The Justice System2505 Words   |  11 PagesRESTORATIVE JUSTICE A DEFINITION The Oxford Dictionary defines the word restorative as having the ability to restore (i.e. repair, renovate or reinstate) health, strength or a feeling of well-being. Also, it defines the word justice as the administration of the law or authority in maintaining just behaviour or treatment. Thus, in lay man’s terms restorative justice would mean having the ability to reinstate a feeling of well-being by the administration of the law. Although there is an increasedRead MoreRestorative And Restorative Justice System3870 Words   |  16 PagesRestorative verses Retributive Justice Approaches in Context Background The criminal justice system is a set of agencies and processes established by governments to control crime and impose penalties on those who violate laws. Different jurisdictions have diverse laws, agencies, and ways of managing criminal justice processes. In recent years, it has been debated that the criminal justice system has two primary and possibility conflicting perspectives known as the retributive justice approachRead MoreRestorative Justice : The Criminal Justice System987 Words   |  4 Pagesconcept in the criminal justice arena, restorative justice has become a popular tool in the fields of both victimology and criminology (Doble Greene, 2000). According to Doble Greene, (2000) Restorative justice has been defined as: â€Å"A theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behavior. It is best accomplished through cooperative processes that include all stakeholders.† Unlike the traditional criminal justice system, restorative justice main focus is on repairingRead MoreRestorative Justice And The Criminal Justice System2380 Words   |  10 PagesTo What Extent Should Restorative Justice be incorporated within the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales? (2500 words) This essay will look into the notion of restorative justice and its relationship with the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Furthermore, it will also seek to show the extent of the relationship that the two hold. I believe that although some academics have provided research on the potential benefits regarding young offenders (Katz, 2000), there are still fundamentalRead MoreRestorative Justice Is A System Of Criminal Justice1948 Words   |  8 PagesRestorative justice is a system of criminal justice that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large. Understanding the definition may be really hard to understand, however when we put it in a different form that many can understand it comes down to repair, encounter and transformation. Our book describes restorative justice in three parts as accountability, community protection and competency development (Sieh, 2006). AccountabilityRead MoreRestorative Justice vs. the Criminal Justice System965 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Restorative justice is a humanistic way of addressing the gap that exists between constructive resolution of crime and the institutional systems devised by societies to address crime and manage criminals. The tack that restorative justice takes is to ameliorate the impact of crime on victims and other individuals, and to establish a responsive model of crime prevention and response to criminal incidents. Conventional criminal justice relies on the threat of punishment in order to

Effects Of Soft Drugs On Society, And On Adolescent Youth

1 Introduction I have written this essay in response to the essay prompt Recreational use of soft drugs such as marijuana or ecstasy is less harmful than alcohol consumption and therefore should be decriminalised. In this essay I will talk about the effects that soft drugs have on society, and on adolescent youth. I will also talk about my position on this matter, and what I believe is the right course of action to take in regards to the essay prompt. After learning about the issues regarding both sides or the argument, I would choose to support those who oppose decriminalization of any drug. Drugs simply create problems that affect society in different ways. People believe that making drugs legal will take away the temptation to use them. This idea is wrong and far from logical. If the drugs are legalized, then they will be more accessible to the young, addicted and ignorant. 2 Body Drugs have been a problem in society for a very long time and it is still an ongoing subject of debate. Different organisations work hard to keep people from using drugs, though a new issue has arisen. During the last few years there have been discussions in some countries to decriminalize soft drugs, including cannabis and ecstasy. I believe it is wrong to legalize any sort of recreational drug, no matter what sort of effect it has on the user and society. All drugs have a negative impact on the issue, whether it be short term or long term side effects. There are already serious issuesShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Alcohol Consumption On Popular Recreational Soft Drugs1446 Words   |  6 PagesThe recreational use of soft drugs such as marijuana or ecstasy is less harmful than alcohol consumption and therefore should be decriminalised. When you hear the word drugs, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? A nightclub full of adolescents, hopped up on happy pills, raving until night turns to day, or going down to the liquor store to buy a bottle of wine with dinner? Decriminalising recreational soft drugs is something that cannot be taken lightly, and a decision that can have many negativeRead MoreEssay about Benefits and Drawbacks of Legalizing Marijuana1177 Words   |  5 PagesCompared with harder drugs as cocaine and heroin, marijuana, also named as cannabis or hemp, is considered as a soft drug with less addiction and harm. In the 19th century, it was one of the most important crops in the American continent to the common wealth (Newton, 2013, p.32), but it has been banned to grow in most countries since the 20th century (Newton, 2013, p.45). Given the clamour for â€Å"decriminalization† of the personal possession of small amounts of marijuana is growing (Single, 2013, pRead MoreA Research Stu dy On The Lgbt Homeless Youth Essay1660 Words   |  7 PagesThese costs and effects are in are in another research project. Markus Bidell, Professor of Education at CUNY, research stress levels in the LGBT Homeless Youth. â€Å"Is There an Emotional Cost of Completing High School? Ecological Factors and Psychological Distress Among LGBT Homeless Youth,† was a conducted study of LGBT homeless youth experiences in during high school (Bidell 366). Bidell reported that 40 percent did not compete high school, and most did not search for support from GSAs and schoolRead MoreThe Problem of Teen Pregnancy1335 Words   |  5 Pagespregnancy is affecting our society in innumerable ways and has become one of our top social issues of all time. â€Å"The latest estimates show that approximately 1 million teens become pregnant every year† (East, Felice, and Associates 1). With this high number of teenage pregnancy, it is no wonder that many authors try to exemplify this common su bject matter. Katrina L. Burchett, author of Choices, accurately and effectively depicts teenage pregnancy among female adolescents living with domestic issuesRead MoreEssay on The Problem of Teen Pregnancy1594 Words   |  7 Pagespregnancy is affecting our society in innumerable ways and has become one of our top social issues of all time. â€Å"The latest estimates show that approximately 1 million teens become pregnant every year† (East, Felice, and Associates 1). With this high number of teenage pregnancy, it is no wonder that many authors try to exemplify this common subject matter. Katrina L. Burchett, author of Choices, accurately and effectively depicts teenage pregnancy among female adolescents living with domestic issuesRead MoreNegative Effects of Sex in Advertising1151 Words   |  5 Pagesboasted a lot company’s revenues, but it also has its negative side which has caused a lot of problems in societies around the world. The idea of using sex in adverti sing is a very smart way that advertisers use to gain attention of consumers, but it has its negative effects like depicting women as sex objects, forcing sexual innuendos on children, causing body dissatisfaction among youths even adults and it also attracts negative backlash on the companies that use it. It can attract the wrong kindRead MoreProposal of Marijuana Legalization Essay1528 Words   |  7 PagesMarijuana has a greater beneficial impact on society then many people realize. Marijuana should be legalized for medical as well as recreational purposes. This is a highly controversial issue that is being debated throughout the country. In essence marijuana is evaluated by the effectiveness of the drug. It is defined as the dried flowered clusters and leaves of a hemp plant smoked for the intoxicating effect. Whether it should be legalized or not is the real question. Many could argue that marijuanaRead MoreAdolescent Is Emotional And Emotional Development1925 Words   |  8 Pagesdevelops physically, cognitively, emotionally, socially and forms a specific role in society. The first advancement in the period of adolescent is emotional development. During the stage, an adolescent becomes sensitive to other people’s emotions. Adolescents start to get better at reading and processing other people’s emotions when they get older. They can sometimes misread facial expressions or body language. Adolescents also may show strong feelings and intense emotions are different times. The reasonRead MoreDrug Abuse2895 Words   |  12 PagesDay against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking every year. It is an exercise undertaken by the world community to sensitize the people in general and the youth in particular, to the menace of drugs. The picture is grim if the world statistics on the drugs scenario is taken into account. With a turnover of around $500 billions, it is the third largest business in the world, next to petroleum and arms trade. About 190 million people all over the world consume one drug or the other. Drug addiction causesRead MoreThe P revailing Issues For And Against Legalization Of Marijuana1409 Words   |  6 Pagesperceived as a menace to the public and the discussion of legalizing Marijuana was greatly frowned upon. Particularly during the early 1970’s when President Nixon proposed the ‘war on drugs’ policy, where he proclaimed, â€Å"The public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse (Sharp, 1994, p.1).† Despite the ‘war on drugs’ policy, several decades later, America began legalizing the recreational use of Marijuana in four different States including; Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. Similarly

1 Malaysia Free Essays

A very good afternoon to the honor judges, Ms Linda and Ms Joane, all my friends and the fellow audience, and especially the organizer of this public speaking competition. My name is Chin Kar Mei, from DHT. Well! This is my pleasure for having a chance to present my speech at this stage. We will write a custom essay sample on 1 Malaysia or any similar topic only for you Order Now I am here seeking for your attention; my topic is about ? ExcellentCulture in Malaysia.? Hopefully all of you will enjoy for it. Ladies and gentlemen: First and foremost, our 6th Prime Minister, Dato ¶ Seri Najib Razak used to say, ? OneMalaysia should be existed today onwards?. Dato ¶ Seri continued saying that, ? This is the best solution for restructuring our society during the outbreak of a global recession?. What does it mean by One Malaysia concept? One Malaysia concept consists of 8 values. They are culture of excellence, perseverance, humility, acceptance, loyalty, meritocracy, education and the last one, integrity. All of these are prime conditions to reach 1Malaysia. This concept is neither too hard nor too easy to be achieved. Since Malaysia is being developed, current Prime Minister espoused 1Malaysia concept and it is purposely takes into considerations the interests and aspirations of all communities in moving country forward. Ladies and gentlemen: Malaysia is a multi-racial community. For instance, Malays, Chinese, Indians, Iban, Kadazan and so on. Every Malaysian should understand and tolerate among each other in order to create a harmony place. There is a good example, understanding Islam among Muslims and non-Muslims. Non-Muslims cannot take alcoholic beverages, cannot take pork product and so forth. There is another situation, still could remember, when I was working in hotel last time. I have realized that there was several gangs in my department. They are Malays, Chinese and Indians gang. They were arguing among each other every time just because of small, little things. They were never ever tolerating among themselves. Until once upon a time, there was a severe mistake done by someone else. And because of this, warning letter will be given to everyone unless we able to find out the solution. Therefore, all the 3 gangs finally discussed together regardless the races and we really found the best solution. How to cite 1 Malaysia, Essay examples

Dead Poets Society Neil Perrys Death Essay Example For Students

Dead Poets Society: Neil Perrys Death Essay There are various diverse factors which contribute to Knells death. Discuss. Nell Perrys death In Peter Weirs 1 989 film, Dead Poets Society, was the result of various factors which ultimately built up to this tragedy. Perry had decided to commit suicide by shooting himself after realizing that his life had been planned out for him and was nothing like he wanted It to be. His ultimate death can be blamed on three main characters: Neil, himself; his English teacher, Mr. John Keating and his father, Mr. Perry. Nell, himself, and his attitude is one of the many factors that contribute towards his death. Nell had lost control of himself to his passions quite early on In the film when Mr. John Keating first Introduced the notion carper idle to the students. Neil took this to heart and let it delve so deep within him that he was willing to sacrifice his life for non-conformity. Thinking that he was taking his life back in to his own command by doing whatever he wanted, Neil allowed himself to spiral out of control and lose his sense of responsibility and logic. He would act before he thought about it and even when Todd tries to reason with him, Neil instantly opposes the reasoning, This Impulsiveness Is Knells mall flaw which lead to his tragic death on the night of the play. In general, suicide Is a planned act which has been contemplated for a long time, but for Neil is was a spontaneous decision made on the basis of the hopelessness he felt. It seemed to be that it was a final act to rebel against and escape his fathers dictatorial control. In addition, Neil never seeks for help even when the opportunities arise. He tries to please everyone thinking that it would, too, please himself, however it leads to many lies and a complex misunderstanding between the boys, Mr. Keating and the Perry family. Without consulting others or considering other rational options, Nell Impetuously, and quite selfishly, decided to give up his own life and forfeit his real destiny. Mr. John Keating, the new English teacher of Walton Academy, also plays a major part in Nils death. Realists would think that Nils death al started from when Mr. Keating first introduced the idea of non-conformity to the students, emphasizing the importance of making life extraordinary. Though It was a noteworthy lesson and had many of the boys trying new activities, Mr. Keating had not presented his philosophy clearly enough and the boys, including Neil, went overboard with the idea of seizing the day. If it werent for Mr. Seatings lesson, the students would not have begun to think about taking their life and all decisions into their own hands. Neil would not eave dared or had the urge to rebel against his father and audition for the local play. This misinterpretation of Seatings Carper Diem led to many incidents of being too hasty and, In Nils case, led to his ultimate death. As positioned by the director, Peter Weir, viewers automatically associate Knells death with his fathers dictatorial authority. The relationship between father and son was never strong and lacked communication. Mr. Perry had only wanted the best for his son, leading to extremely high expectations and a planned route for the next years of Nils life. Neil only saw his father as a dictator-like figure who expected obedience unquestioningly. This lead to Nell being to discuss his opinions and options with his father, and Mr. Perry being wanted to do. This cycle led to Neil believing that suicide was the only choice he had to regain control of his life. From Mr. Perrys perspective, seeing his model child acting as a farer, was enraged and overreacted by concluding that it was Mr. Seatings doing and the only solution was to change schools. .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 , .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .postImageUrl , .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 , .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540:hover , .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540:visited , .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540:active { border:0!important; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540:active , .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540 .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u38f26dd2e7214433e95d9d32fc52c540:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: How does death dominate in Shakespeare's Hamlet EssayHearing this, Neil would have en devastated, not only to lose his good friends, but also to leave this teacher who inspired him so much. This would have been a final straw after quitting numerous extra-curricular activities at his fathers command, and as a result, to prove that he could stand up to his father and manage his own life, Neil ultimately committed suicide. Overall, it can be concluded that Nils death cannot be blamed on Just one person and the tragedy was really was the result of many lies, misinterpretations and lack of communication between Neil and his peers.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Community free essay sample

The advantages and disadvantages of Community service or social service as modes of criminal punishment. Community service or social service is a mode of punishment provide by the law which the offender can escape imprisonment or fines. Community service acts as an alternative to the harsh criminal punishment. Generally, community service is handed down by a Judge or magistrate to the first- timer offender or teenage offender. This punishment can also be handed down in the case of minor offences for example traffic violations, petty theft, and other nonviolent offenses. The offender is required to perform unpaid work or other activity in the community under the direction of a probation officer or supervisor. Among the community work undergo by the offender are cleaning up roadside or parks, attending educational programs and presenting speeches and seminars concerning the negative effect of crime. The community work may be a specific community service which imposed a particular service, depending on the types and degrees of the offences. We will write a custom essay sample on The Advantages and Disadvantages of Community or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For instance, offender of littering will have to clean a park so that he understands the effect of littering, thus change his perception towards littering. Meaning to say, community service is designed to ensure that the guilty party is punished in some way other than simply paying a fine which can be nothing in the way of a deterrent. Many individuals convicted of a crime and have to pay a fine simply done the same offence again and this leads only to their continual committing of crime. The community service is imposed for a specific period which measured by hour of service. The hours imposed is vary, depending on the nature of the offence. Community service is a healthy alternative mode of punishment and has lots of dvantages. It is seen to benefit a country and the government in so many ways. Firstly, community service provide for less expensive punishment compared to imprisonment. It takes a lot of money to send a person to Jail. In United Kingdom, it costs EIOO per day to keep a low-risk drug-addicted offender in Jail and E37,500 for sending a person to prison for one year. In contrast, only E3,OOO is needed to send a person to one year of community rehabilitation order. On average, sending a person to prison is 12 times higher than sending a person to community service. Prisons round the world are facing the same problem which is overcrowding prison. More prisoners means more foods and more security is needed. The increase in the numbers of prisoners subsequently increases the cost for running the prison. So, based on the facts, community service is a great way to cut government cost on punishing offenders as it provide for the less expensive approach with similar effect and helps in reducing the overcrowding problem in prison. Consequently, the money saved can be used for development thus improve the living of the country. Secondly, community service is healthier than imprisonment. This is because, community service offer help to the offenders to rehabilitate themselves more effectively than in something back to the community as prove that they have change. By doing so, the offenders will have small risk of reoffending neither in the number of crimes nor the seriousness of the crimes. If the offender is stuck in the 68 feet cell, the offender will have limited resources to help him rehabilitate. Furthermore, putting a first time offender with minor offence in the same room with big time criminal for quite sometimes will negatively affect the first time offender in term of his thinking towards rimes. So, separating the offender is a way to avoid an escalation in deviant behavior when new offenders are mixed with hardened criminals. Next, community service benefits the courts as it provide sentencing alternatives for the courts in making judgment so the courts are not bound to only impose imprisonment or fines. Moreover, the offenders will be placed where their skills and interest can be maximized for community benefit. By doing so, the offenders have greater chances to rehabilitate and repel. It will also help in preventing and reducing the social stigma oward the offenders. Social stigma can be defined as severe social disapproval of personal characteristics or beliefs that are perceived to be against cultural norms. In this context, social stigma can be referred to the negative perception of the public toward the offenders. Protection from social stigma is important for young and new offenders as it help to build confident for rehabilitate purpose. Social stigma has great potential in forcing the offenders to commit the same or other serious offences. Community service provides a Just punishment to the offenders. In cases which nvolve monetary penalty, for instances fine, compensation or restitution, it is not practical to fine a person who does not have the capacity to pay the fine due to financial problem such as limited salary. This is where community service comes in as incapability to pay the fine is not an excuse to escape punishment. However despite the advantages, such punishment has defects of its own. Community service is often being regarded as a waste of time. This is because the time taken for the offenders to complete a service is too long and sometimes unreasonable. For example, a traffic offender needs to work unpaid for 100 hours ver a $100 fines. This situation is seen to be an impractical and unproductive method in favor of the offender because the time use for the work can be used for the offender to improve his living. Moreover, the long hours of community service may affect the offender normal life as he needs to Juggle his life with the service. Community service is not an adequate punishment for the offenders. This is because community service is not harsh enough to educate and rehabilitate the offenders compare to imprisonment. Community service is only seen as a ticket to escape imprisonment. Many argued that offences punishable with community service do not really ample together. In some cases, the punishment of community service imposed is to kind towards the offenders. Such punishment will only result the offenders to re- offence as the consequences of the guilty act are minor. Then, the administration of community service requires administrative oversight that may exceed the capacity of the non-governmental organizations to provide. If the agencies of community service where the offenders serve do not have the capacity to provide required punishment, the rehabilitation of the offenders will be affected. Thus little chances of recovery for the offenders and later lead to re-offending. Community service sends the exposure may result in stigmatization towards the offenders. Negative perception from public will affect the offenders psychology in recovering from the offences. It will bring the morale and confident of the offenders down. At the time of recovering, confident and support of the community are important for successful recovery. Unfortunately, community service will expose the offenders to public and the higher the risk of stigmatization. In conclusion, community service can be seen as great ethod of punishment as it gives the offenders the opportunity to give something back to the community.

Medical Record Security Essays

Medical Record Security Essays Medical Record Security Paper Medical Record Security Paper With the advent of technology, the keeping of medical records has now been made convenient and effective for both the doctor and the patient themselves. Your medical history can now be viewed in great detail by only logging in the correct account information. This can save a lot of time and energy for your doctor to effectively address whatever ailment you are encountering. This system of keeping electronic health records or EHR is now becoming mainstream which would ultimately culminate in the creation of the National Health Information Network. The National Health Information Network aims to connect every American EHR to facilities that need them through the use of the online interface by the year 2009 (Health and Fitness, 2006). Although a great convenience would be rendered by this, it also raises a lot of questions regarding the privacy and security of crucial and highly confidential medical information of American individuals. In an organization which espouses such system, there are a number of electronic and ethical threats that they may encounter. So what are these threats? Well firstly, there is the availability of access. If their medical records become online, there would be no safeguarding measure to protect or delimit the personnel who could readily access it. EHR could be subject to hacking by unauthorized individuals as all that protects it from them is a simple username and password. If this is so as well, their medical records are not only made available for doctors, pharmacists and other practitioners of medicine, but to virtually anyone. Drug manufacturers could access their patient’s history to be used for research and product development even without their patient’s explicit consent. Crucial information like the specific type of disease could be exploited for fundraising activities or other schemes that are only targeted by different medical companies for profits. With the development of this system, consumers are also allowed to view their own records and, even make changes if there are errors, all for an access fee. This means that consumers themselves could manipulate their medical records to suit their own purposes (i. e. removing certain ailments that might lower their chances in job application). Information gleamed from these records without proper authorization could be very harmful to an individual. Actually, any information regarding a patient receiving medical attention is considered private and confidential. According to the privacy rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Protected Health Information (PHI) includes everything, rather broadly at that, that concerns a patient’s medical history. This includes mental and physical condition of the patient, both present and past as well as all of the provisioned care administered to the said patient. It even includes all information regarding the payment of such provisions that transpired between a patient and the medical institution that s/he is associated with (45 CFR 164. 501). So in essence, every minute detail in a patient’s medical record is held confidential under the rule of law and thus must be protected from unauthorized utilization. To be able to render quality services to the patients, I recommend establishing a sound reputation when it comes to handling medical records. You could do this by affiliating yourselves with privacy ensuring sites like TRUSTe. org. Since online transaction really entails a great deal of risk when it comes to information theft, being rewarded, for example, with a TRUSTe seal assures customers of the privacy and security of vital information contained in their medical records. It is also wise to disseminate information to your patients regarding the nature of electronic health records so that they could take necessary precautions for themselves. There are products that they can avail themselves of to protect their own medical records. Nifty gadgets like portable emergency medical record holders from companies like SGMS Corporation could really help secure a patient’s and his or her family medical records safe and secure. It will also be to your organization’s benefit to educate the patients regarding the laws that are already enacted to help secure their electronic health records like HIPAA. Organize seminars and conferences to better spread the message of caution. For example, when being asked for consent (i. e. waivers) about releasing a patient’s medical records, teach them to be meticulous about what they sign. Advice them against signing â€Å"blanket waivers† that are not specific about what records they want to share and just do so in a general way. Specify things like releasing to a particular doctor (who will be accountable to any exchange of information that would take place without your knowledge), or releasing only that records that are necessary for a specific type of ailment. As an organization, the patient’s welfare should be our top priority, therefore it is our responsibility to provide them the necessary information so that they may do their part well when it comes to upholding medical record security. Laws can only do so much and without the proper education, loopholes could be easily taken advantaged of by external agencies which may not have a patient’s interest at heart. References Health and Fitness. (2006, March). Retrieved December 16, 2007, from ConsumerReports. org: consumerreports. org/cro/health-fitness/health-care/electronic-medical-records-306/overview/index. htm Code of Federal regulations (2003, April). Retrieved December 16, 2007 from http://frwebgate. access. gpo. gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr. cgi? 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Strategy at Different Levels of a Business Essay

Strategy at Different Levels of a Business - Essay Example It defines the tactics that will assist the company to realize its objectives. The business strategy also defines the number of resources that an organization requires and it is going to manage in order to achieve its goals. This business plan dictates the steps to be followed and the responsible persons for each step. Â  Business strategy is more than visioning, forecasting, and planning. Implementation is what matters most and this should be done carefully to ensure that there is a match between the internal capabilities of the organization and its external environment. The strategies should influence the position of the organization at any time. It should enable the stakeholders to understand the better ways of realizing the desired objectives. Application of the business strategy is very paramount as it bounds business operations together. Â  Corporate Strategy- business should meet the expectations of the diverse stakeholders; customers, employees, and the owners. This level of strategy deals with the objectives and the purpose of the business in satisfying the stakeholders. At this level, the owners or the investors are very influential as they act to guide the decision makers to achieving the stated goals. Â  Business Unit Strategy- Fair competition is a factor that cannot be neglected by the organization. It is imperative that the organization is in a position to compete successfully in the economy. This strategy is governed by the demands of the market hence the organization is obliged to ensure that the right products of the right quality are supplied in the market to enable it to compete with others competitively. At this level, the products should meet customers needs enabling the organization to outwit the competitors.

Health Policy and the Federal Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health Policy and the Federal Government - Essay Example The congress is also tasked with the implementation of programs such as the Medicare and veterans administration. It also serves to ascertain that the various institutes of health research receive enough funding and support. The Congress also ought to mull over Medicaid and consider its funding sources (McLaughlin, 2008). The Congress has instituted committees that are tasked with the implementations of health programs and policies based on their specific needs. Various commissions perform functions that include standardizing, devising programs, financial control and supervision of the implementation. The Senate and the House of Representatives form the Congress. The Senate comprises of 100 members, two members from every state while the House of Representatives comprises of 435 members (McLaughlin, 2008). The duration of their term in office differs since the term of Senators expires after six years, while the House of representative members only last for two years. Both houses have four committees each, mandated with the task of deliberating on health issues. Since these houses have dissimilar times in office, the tasks of these committees also differ. Both houses make up eight committees that possess diverse expertise on health issues. Such representatives’ core task is to draft bills based on the appeals of the people, and forward them to the congressional clerk for consideration. The pertinent committee then takes up these opinions and creates motions that deliberate on various changes, through careful consultations. The clerk then conducts a poll and the draft passes the other house for further deliberation and final approval (Holtz, 2008). The bill then sets off to the president who finally ascends it into law. Eight steps form the core part of the legislation. Identifying the problem is the initial stage of

Written case study analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Written analysis - Case Study Example there were a lot of mothers who killed their children since their biological father was a Tutsi and there were many more people who killed their relative just because they were of the Tutsi community (Reed, 2014). The deaths of thousand of Tutsi and Hutu community member were a major drawback that occurred during the genocide. The militia killed women and children mercilessly for no reason during the genocide. For Kagame to fully support the reconciliation campaign I would strictly adhere to his beliefs and philosophies in order to gain his support while at the same time sensitizing him to be less ethnic-based and biased. The president, Paul Kagame, is believed to be an economist due to this fact, I would present the economic statistics of a united country compared to the economic statistics of an unstable country like the present day Sudan to portray the need for reconciliation and the economic benefits it would have on his country. The pitch would contain a detailed and well laid out presentation of the statistics and the economical possibilities that would, in no doubt, be guaranteed if he accepted to fund the campaigns. The use of visual charts and diagrams would be of great importance in laying out the data and statistics for easier understanding of the economic comparisons between a stable and unstable country. I would empathize on the effects the genocide caused on the people, by clearly demonstrating the effects the genocide had to all the communities in Rwanda including his own ethnic community will have triggered his soft and caring self thereby persuading him to fund the reconciliation campaigns. As an antagonistic journalist and a reconciler, I would greatly emphasize on the need of peace talk that would facilitate the reconciliation process. I would greatly emphasize on the president, Paul Kagame, the need of a peaceful country and the productivity it brings to the economy to have a united people to govern. I would emphasize on the need of a

The Transmission Model Of Communications

The Transmission Model Of Communications Most professionals need a few theories to back up their thinking and also to help give substance to their recommendations. A few theories and models give us a concrete and rational foundation for decision-making. These are especially helpful when thinking about how to tackle an issue and how to work out what is going on. They are useful too when devising plans and writing communications strategies, explaining concepts to colleagues and clients or giving focus when we need direction. These are my ten top theories, the ones I have found most useful in over thirty years as a practitioner, consultant and lecturer. Theory One Shannon and Weaver the transmission model of communications One of the oldest and simplest theories about communications came from Shannon and Weaver (1949). But Shannon and Weaver were not PR professionals; they worked for Bell Telephone Labs in the USA. Shannon and Weaver were focused on issues about accuracy and efficiency in telephony. Their model is both simple to understand and generally applicable and this originally made it attractive to not only people working in PR and communications but also academics who have since developed more sophisticated models and theories to explain the process of human and organisational communications. Shannon and Weavers original model often called the transmission model consisted of five sequential elements: An information source, that produces a message. A transmitter, that encodes the message into signals A channel, that carries the signals, which have been adapted to allow transmission A receiver, that decodes the message from the signal A destination, where the message arrives. They also included a sixth element, noise, defined as any interference with the message travelling along the channel that could change or impair the signal and so change the original message into something different from that intended. This transmission model, which has been around for a long time, is somewhat simplistic. But it does serve as a reminder to practitioners about the basic processes involved in communications and in PR. Its also the basis for social scientist and guru on propaganda Harold Lasswells explanation of communications as being Who says What to Whom in What Channel with What Effect Shannon and Weaver argued that there are three problems when thinking about communications: The technical problem: how accurately can the message be transmitted? The semantic problem: how precisely is the meaning conveyed? The effectiveness problem: how effectively does the received meaning affect behaviour? They assumed that sorting out the technical problems would largely solve the semantic and effectiveness problems (and that really is simplistic). You can see that there are a few problems with this model. It is linear and one-way there is no engagement with the receiver. The sender is called the information source it is not a complex sender. The receiver appears to be a passive and accepting, a simple and willing absorber of information, hardly a critical interpreter of what he or she is exposed to. There is no way to assess whether the receiver has accurately picked up the message and then believed it or acted upon it. There is no consideration of the context of meaning (is this teacher to parent, politician to floating voter?). Nor to when in terms of time the communication takes place. But then again this theory was devised by and for telecommunications engineers. Consequently this simple model cannot reflect the complex psychology of the human being or the physiology of the human brain. Nor does it accommodate the existing relationships between sender and receiver, or the infinite ways a message can be encoded in term s of words and pictures. Also it does not allow for the unique characteristics of the multiple channels that could be use d to get the message across and that affect how a message will be seen and interpreted. So theor y one is a useful start point. Theory Two James Carey transportation/communications links http://wyolife.com/Thank%20US/morse%20telegraph.jpg Invention and technology have a huge part to play in the development of corporate communications. James Carey was an American academic and journalism specialist. In his book Communication As Culture (1989) Carey discussed the development of the telegraph and its understated role in future developments in communication. The non-electric telegraph was invented by Claude Chappe in 1794 and was a visual system using semaphore, a flag-based alphabet, and depending on a line of sight for communication. The optical telegraph was subsequently replaced by the electric telegraph, the invention of Samuel Morse. Morse proved that signals could be transmitted by wire and, to facilitate this developed the Morse Code. The first news dispatched by electric telegraph was in May 1844. The death knell for the electric telegraph came with the invention of the telephone in 1877. So before the nineteenth century the movement of information was more or less the same as the transport of goods or people and both were described as communication. Before the telegraph (and the telephone) most decisions particularly business and political decisions were made face to face. Carey argued that the telegraph permitted for the first time the effective separation of communication from transportation. So after the telegraph, as soon as messages could travel faster than the people, horses or trains that delivered them, everything changed, in terms of how humans communicated across distances and over time. Geography became irrelevant, enabling communities to move away from the local, towards the national, and international or global. The telegraph allowed people from one side of the world to communicate almost instantaneously with someone on the other side of the world. How quaint this seems in todays digital world but this helps us look at the origins of modern communication. Because this shows to some extent where plain English came from. The short brief telegraph demanded a prose style that Carey noted was more à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦lean and unadorned. Think of a tweetà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. So all those years ago it was the simple old telegraph that first called for the plainest of writing and, as a knock-on effect, changed the way news was written. At the same time style became more objective because these words would be read by individuals of many different beliefs and opinions, from many different communities, regions and countries. Technological advances continue to have a huge impact on how we practice communications on what messages work, on how we encode our message, on what channels to use so that the receiver sees and hears it accurately and so on. The meaning of the message comes from the process listeners, readers and/or viewers go through when they make sense of what they see, hear and feel. Meaning is not extracted from but constructed by the message. Its clear that, while we dont need to be technician, everyone working in the field of communications must keep abreast of developments in technology because you can bet your bottom dollar they will have an impact of professional communications practice. Theory Three Grunig and Hunts Four Models for Public Relations Managing Public Relations written by Grunig and Hunt (1984) highlighted four models for how organizations can chose to practice public relations. The four models developed more or less chronologically through the twentieth century. This is the most often cited theory of public relations and these theories are still relevant, taught as part of graduate, post-graduate and vocational qualifications across the UK and overseas. The Four Models Press agent model one way communication where an organization tells an audience what it wants it to believe. Little or no research to determine audiences needs interests or inclinations to agree with the organisations objectives. This is the simple, original, historic model for PR with the focus on getting favourable coverage (ie publicity) for your organization, cause, celebrity, brand via the media. One -way transfer of information No feedback Little or no research Information is not always accurate all publicity is good publicity Public information model a journalists approach to public relations, offers truthful accurate information about an organisation leaving our damaging or harmful information. This model developed pretty much as a reaction to attacks on large corporations and government agencies by investigative journalists. The leaders of these institutions needed more than simple propaganda peddled by press agents to counter the attacks on them in the media. So they hired their own journalists to act as public relations practitioners, and press handouts were written and distributed to give their point of view and explain actions. This is also the model where essential information is provided to the people and persuasion or attitude change is not essential. Examples might be letting people know about the weather, about road traffic, or internally about new appointments and soon. The approach is very much lets get the facts out. One way transfer of information Some evaluation on effectiveness Little or no research about the audience(s) Used most often by government Truthful and accurate Two-way asymmetrical model emphasises a change in attitudes or behaviours in the audience only in accordance with the objectives and goals of the organisation. Persuasive communication really has its origins here. In 1917 during World War 1 US President Woodrow Wilson set up The Creel Committee (AKA CPI Committee on Public Information). Committee members included the so-called founder of modern public relations practice, social scientist Edward Bernays. Communications took a more scientific approach that made the practice two-way with practitioners both seeking information from and giving information to publics. Theories introduced by Bernays were those of propaganda, persuasion, and the engineering of consent. This model is clearly at work when attempts are made to influence publics to adopt a preferred point of view or behaviour. Research provides input into the process (for example research into why people buy a new car help manufacturers create motivating relevant messages). Scientific persuasion Two-way transfer of information Research done to persuade audience(s) Messages created to persuade Model slanted in favour of organization The two-way symmetrical model uses research to better understand the audience and to resolve disputes. Each party the sender and receiver is willing to alter messages and even behaviours to accommodate the others needs. The two-way symmetrical model makes use of research and other forms of two-way communication. Unlike the two-way asymmetrical model, however, it uses research to facilitate understanding and communication rather than to identify messages most likely to motivate or persuade publics. A good example might be management and workforce in a consultation process enabling a change of policies and practices resulting in higher productivity and better pay and conditions. This model includes ideas and principles like telling the truth, interpreting the client and public to one another and management understanding the viewpoints of employees and neighbours as well as employees and neighbours understanding the viewpoints of management. It is perhaps a communications ideal as many organisations are unwilling to go all the way and engage so fully with audiences as they wish to retain the concept of control. It could be argued that modern technology and digital communications is forcing even the most reluctant organisation to have to consider this model seriously to maintain a competitive or an ethical position that enhances reputation. Behaviour change on both sides Research done to understand, not manipulate, the audience Strategies include consultation, bargaining, negotiation , discussion, compromise Best model of communication? http://tidforlivet.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/tabell.png https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalnEkDl6XBu4GnlMSrAvBS38jnzOgxTJrLrnIpuZDnVAelBexKgpaue8u9FTnSZhEgrn0q8kuOVO7AKHDeklxUYb5aiOiggq57pY3kewGwS6E-DcdlaKPa69GrSYLfY1gyZ_Kx7_md-0/s400/Ethical_Influence.png http://www.derekchristensen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/cialdini-influence-chart.png Theory Four Robert Cialdini and Influence Arguably one of the key tasks of corporate communications is to influence others to comply with what you want; which may be to understand an issue, engage in debate, prefer or like or support your point of view, or behave a different way. Robert Cialdini, Regents Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University has made influence his lifes work. Having observed extensively how influence works by studying compliance professionals (people skilled in getting others to do what they want them to do salespeople, fundraisers, recruiters, advertisers and so on) he published, in 1984, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. I was given this book when I worked in the advertising industry and I go back to these ideas time and time again. Cialdini arrived at what he called his six weapons of influence and we can see these six principles at work in many successful PR and communications programmes. But do take care influence in the wrong hands becomes manipulation. There are many examples when this thinking has been used for evil ends. Use these strategies for good, not to persuade people to do things that are wrong. Examine your conscience and apply this thinking ethically 1. Reciprocity People generally aim to return a compliment. They invite people to come to dinner having been invited themselves; they pay back debts; they treat others as they are treated. Its youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. This leads us to feel obliged to offer concessions or discounts to others if they have offered them to us first because we feel uncomfortable if we feel indebted to them. For example youll giving money to a fundraiser who has given you a little badge or sticker; a free tasting of a new food product in-store may make you buy a pack; you might decide to buy more from a supplier if they have offered you preferential terms first. You can sometimes use this principle by simply reminding the other person of how you have helped them in the past. Key thing is to give a service, information or a concession. Your target will then be primed to return the favour. To use reciprocity ethically to influence others, identify objectives, and consider wha t you want the target to do. You can then identify what you can give to them in return. 2. Commitment and Consistency Once weve committed to something, were then more inclined to go through with it because, says Cialdini, we human beings have an innate desire to be consistent. For example people who sign a petition supporting a new community facility are more likely to donate money to that cause when asked later. Get peoples commitment early on, either verbally or in writing. For example, if the communications programme is building support for the building of a new supermarket, communicate early on with stakeholders, and take their comments and views into account. 3. Social Proof This principle relies on peoples sense of safety in numbers because people tend to follow similar others. For example, were more likely put some money into a dish for staff tips if theres money already in that dish, well buy a product if lots of others have done so and provide testimonials that its good and and were more likely to support a policy if support seems high already. The assumption is that if lots of other people are doing something, then it must be OK, safe to do, good, right to do too. Were more likely to be influenced if we feel uncertain and, another key factor, is whether those people already behaving a certain way are like us in terms of lifetsage and lifestyle. Internally you could use social proof when trying to get support for a new project by getting the support from influential people in your organisation whose opinions others respect. And if you are selling a product, say how many people use it and get them to recommend it on social networking sites. 4 Liking Were more likely to be influenced by people we like. And people are more likely to buy from people like themselves, from friends, and from people they know and respect. Likability comes in many forms people might be similar or familiar to us, they might give us compliments, or we may just simply trust them.. Put in the time and effort needed to build trust and rapport with clients and people you work with, and behave with consistency. Develop your emptional intelligence together with active listening skils. But dont try too hard to be liked by others people can always spot a phoney. Companies that use sales agents from within the community employ the liking principle extensively and with huge success. 5. Authority We feel a sense of duty or obligation to people in positions of authority. This is why advertisers of pharmaceutical products employ doctors to front their campaigns, and why most of us will do most things that our manager requests. Job titles, uniforms, and even accessories like cars or gadgets can lend an air of authority, and can persuade us to accept what these people say. 6. Scarcity This principle says that things are more attractive when their availability is limited, or when we stand to lose the opportunity to acquire them on favorable terms. For instance, we might buy something immediately if were told that its the last one, or that a special offer will soon expire. Authority Here you can use both your own authority, and the authority of others, as influencers. When you use your own authority, be careful not to use it negatively. Our article onFrench and Ravens Five Forms of Power has more on different sources of power, and explains how you can use power and authority positively. To use authority, get support from influential and powerful people, and ask for their help in backing the idea. (Use Influence Maps to help you network with people who can help.) If youre marketing a product or service, highlight well-known and respected customers, use comments from industry experts, and talk about impressive research or statistics. Things like well-produced brochures, professional presentations, impressive offices, and smart clothing can also lend authority. Scarcity With this principle, people need to know that theyre missing out if they dont act quickly. If youre selling a product, limit the availability of stock, set a closing date for the offer, or create special editions of products. This principle can be trickier to apply within your organization if youre trying to influence others to support your ideas or projects. You can, however, use urgency to get support for your ideas. For example, you can highlight the possible urgent consequences of the problem that your idea helps to solve. http://www.mindtools.com/images/box/top460grey.png Tip: Remember that these are just six ways that you can influence others. Use these principles alongside other tools such as the Rhetorical Triangle, Monroes Motivated Sequence, Win-Win Negotiation, the Persuasion Tools Model, and the Minority Influence Strategy. You can also use Stakeholder Analysis and Management to build support for your ideas and projects. http://www.mindtools.com/images/box/bottom460grey.png Resisting Influence You can also use this tool when others are trying to influence you. In these situations, bear the following points in mind: Before accepting a free gift or a discounted service, or before agreeing to hear confidential information, ask yourself whether youre going to feel obliged to give the same or more in return. Should you decline, so that you dont feel indebted? Before agreeing to a course of action, even at a very preliminary level, think about the consequences of your decision. Will you feel so invested in this new course of action that you wont want to change your mind? Though everyone else is pursuing a particular route or buying a product, it may not be right for you. Avoid falling victim to the herd mentality. You might decide that its best to go against the trend. When you feel tempted to buy a product or sign up for a service, ask yourself whether youve fallen under the spell of a particularly likable salesperson. Is the salesperson similar to you, familiar to you, or extremely complimentary? Carefully note your reaction to authority figures. Has the person youre negotiating with triggered your respect for authority? Are you making your choice because you want to, or are you swayed by an expert opinion? And does this person genuinely have the authority he is implying, or is he merely using the symbols of that authority? Before you fall for a sales pitch claiming that a product is running out of stock or that a discount deal is soon to expire, think again. Do you really want or need the product now, or has its lack of availability caught your attention? http://www.mindtools.com/images/box/top460grey.png Key Points The Six Principles of Influence were created by Robert Cialdini, and published in his 1984 book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. The principles are: reciprocity, commitment, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. You can use the six principles whenever you want to influence or persuade others. However, its also useful to use them with other tools. And, by knowing about the principles, you can become resistant to people who try to use them to manipulate you. You also need to make sure that you dont misuse these principles avoid using them to deceive or mislead people, and make sure that you use them for peoples good, rather than to disadvantage them. Theory Five Patrick Jackson and others the people change ladder Patrick Jackson was a public relations practitioner working in the US he and others considered the steps communicators has to go though in order to effect behaviour change Build awareness eg publicity, advertising, face to face communications Develop a latent readiness an inclination to make change during which opinions begin to form Trigger a desire to change via a natural or planned event Utilise an intermediate behaviour during which an individual begins to investigate new behaviours Changing behaviours and adopting the new behaviour Theory Six Mendelsohns Three Assumptions for Success Mendelsohn (1973) believed campaigns often failed because campaign designers overpromised, assumed the public would automatically receive and enthusiastically accept their messages, and blanketed the public with messages not properly targeted and likely to be ignored or misinterpreted. His Three Assumptions are still a touchstone for communications planning 1.Target your messages 2. Assume your target public is uninterested in your messages. 3. Set reasonable, midrange goals and objectives. Theory Seven Hierarchy of effects theory of persuasion This is a sequential representation of how advertising in particular influences a consumers decision to purchase or not a product or service. The hierarchy-of-effects theory is used to set up a structured series of message objectives with the aim of building on each successive step until the sale is achieved. Although this model is often used to plan advertising campaign it is a useful one to look at in relation to PR campaigns as often these too require a stepped approach. This thinking informs AMECs communications objectives funnel (see section on measurement and evaluation) Step 1 Exposure. Some PR programmes get no further than this just putting the message out. But just placing a message in an environment cannot guarantee it is seen or acknowledged. Step 2 Attention Even paid-for placed advertising will fail if the audience is not paying attention. A PR message must be capable of attracting attention and cutting through the noise of daily life. Complex messages have to capture even higher levels of attention, especially with attention spans diminishing as they are. Creativity, presentation and encoding are key elements at this stage. Carefully selected culturally specific and acceptable multi-sensory PR and communications techniques, using symbols, colours and music, are used to grab peoples attention and wake them up. Some aspects of attention are controlled by the potential receiver and some are involuntary responses to sensory cues. A sudden noise, for example, can get someones attention (essentially a human response mechanism to ensure quick responses to danger.) Conversely something amusing will draw attention because the receiver enjoys seeing it. Advertising practitioners may use physiological triggers like fast cut video to get and retain attention. But this is exhausting process requiring high levels of mental processing. So sometimes even though attention is gained, the desired message is lost in term sof being able to remember wht that was all about. Step 3 Involvement/Engagement Although research indicates people pay attention to sudden changes in sounds or visual effects, its true too that they stop paying attention if a message seems irrelevant, uninteresting, or distasteful. Messages that are relevant keep people interested and make them primed to absorb the information. This is essentially saying that communications needs to answer the question Whats in it for me? Once that is demonstrated, techniques like storytelling, examples and case histories and the use of novel content keeps the receiver engaged and interested. Step 4 Comprehension Keeping the receivers attention does not ensure he or she will understand the message. Step 5 Skill acquisition (learning how). Well-intentioned people may be unable to follow through on an idea if they lack the skills to do so. Potential voters without transportation to the polls will not vote; intended nonsmokers will not quit smoking without social support; interested restaurant patrons will not come if they cannot afford it; parents interested in a civic betterment program will not attend a meeting if they do not have child care. An effective campaign anticipates the target publics needs to provide the help they require. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), for example, found, through a Burke Marketing survey, that many people had a passive attitude about fire, many believed they had much more time to escape than they really do, and only 16% had developed and practiced a home fire escape plan. As a result, NFPAs 1998 Fire Safety Week promotion focused on teaching students about fire escape planning and practice, with incentives to encourage them to part icipate in a documented practice drill with their families. Although the Silver Anvil Award-winning campaign generated an enormous amount of publicity, the most dramatic result was that at least 25 lives were saved as a direct result of the families participation in the promotion. Step6 Persuasion (attitude change). Although McGuire listed this step following skills acquisition, attitude change often precedes skill development. People who lack the skills to follow through on an idea may tune out the details, figuring it is not relevant for them. Attitude change is another of the necessary but often insufficient steps in the persuasion process. Sometimes, however, attitude change is all that is necessary, particularly if the goal of a campaign is to increase a publics satisfaction with an organization in order to avoid negative consequences such as lawsuits, strikes, or boycotts. Usually, however, a campaign has an outcome behavior in mind. In that case, remember that people often have attitudes inconsistent with their behaviors. Many smokers believe smoking is a bad thing but still smoke. Many nonvoters say voting is important and they intend to vote, but they still fail to show up on election day. Step 7 Storing the new position in memory emory storage. This step is important because people receive multiple messages from multiple sources all day, every day. For them to act on your message, they need to remember it when the appropriate time comes to buy a ticket, make a telephone call, fill out a form, or attend an event. They need to be able to store the important information about your message in their memory, which may not be easy if other messages received simultaneously demand their attention. Key elements of messages, therefore, need to be communicated in ways that make them stand out for easy memorization. Step 8. Information retrieval. Simply storing information does not ensure that it will be retrieved at the appropriate time. People might remember your special event on the correct day but forget the location. Reminders or memory devices such as slogans, jingles, and refrigerator magnets can help. Step 9. Motivation (decision). This is an important step that many campaign designers forget in their own enthusiasm for their campaign goals.Remember Mendelsohns (1973) admonition that people may not be interested in the campaign? They need reasons to follow through. The benefits need to outweigh the costs. In addition, the benefits must seem realistic and should be easily obtained. The more effort required on the part of the message recipients the less likely it is that they will make that effort. If the message recipients believe a proposed behavior is easy, will have major personal benefits, or is critically important, they are more likely to act. The challenge for the program planner is to discover what will motivate the target audience successfully, an issue addressed later in this chapter. Elgin DDB of Seattle, when asked to help reduce Puget Sound curbside disposal of grass clippings by 5%, realized motivation would be an important focus. Focus groups and phone surveys indica ted that the target group, male homeowners aged 25 to 65, had an interest in grass-cycling but needed the proper tools to make it easy and practical. As a result, they arranged to recycle consumers old polluting gas mowers for free at a special event and sell Torro and Ryobi mulch mowers at below the normal retail price, with an additional rebate. With a goal of selling 3,000 mowers, they sold 5,000. They hoped to remove 1,500 gas mowers from the market and ended up recycling approximately 2,600. And, as for their original goal of reducing curbside disposal of grass clippings by 5%? They more than tripled the target amount, reducing grass clippings by 17%, winning a 1999 Silver Anvil Award. 10. Behavior. Success often is measured in terms of behaviors such as sales or attendance figures. Marketing experts, however, know that getting someones business once does not guarantee long-term success. One study (Building Customer, 1996) found that keeping customers loyal can boost profits up to 80%. As a result, the program planner needs to do everything possible to ensure that behavior attempts

Religion And Politics In The Revolutionary Era :: essays research papers

The Christians objective is not this world-certainly not the world of politics-but the Kingdom of God. Christianity is therefore essentially other-worldly. Jesus himself was entirely apolitical, and we, his, followers, must similarly hold aloof from the political arena. However, God is a political God, and a belief in God requires political involvement. (Davies 9) Consequently, the entanglement of politics with religion is inevitable. This concept is supported in Jon Butler’s article, Coercion, Miracle, Reason. Several colonies including Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware that lacked any kind of establishment used the law to uphold Christianity in general terms. For example, the Quakers in Pennsylvania forced office holders to affirm their belief in Christ’s divinity, banned blasphemy, forbade Sunday labor, and urged settlers to attend church so â€Å"looseness, irreligion, and atheism may not creep in under pretense of conscience.†(Butler 5) A s if evident, the age of Revolution had motivations and justifications that were concerned with religion. The question is not whether politics and religion go hand in hand- that is apparent-but to what extent? Examining Christianity and its basis, the Bible or scripture, supports the notion that politics is unavoidably involved with religion. Looking at the Bible on can find a plethora of references that evade to the fact of God being political and that the acts in history. God is referred to as lord, king, and ruler, one who sit on a throne. He has made them a people, having delivered them from slavery, entered into a covenant with them and given them a land or country. He was to give freedom to the captives and the oppressed, to have all things subject to himself and he will reign as one having supreme authority. But if politics is what God is doing, then equally politics is what people must do in response to God. (Davies 11-12) According to Davies politics should and will be involved and such that to the extent of where it is used serving God and only God. How can one say that religion (especially Christianity) be aloof of politics and vice-versa when it is obvious that the two work tog ether. This is evident in biblical history as mentioned above. Nevertheless, what does it mean to be a Christian? Some feel that saying their prayers and going to Church constitutes one as being a Christian. However, the Bible does not emphasize strictly religious acts but upon obedience to God in everyday life.

Gender and Technology Essay

This essay will take a look into an article called, â€Å"Caring About Connections: Gender and Computing† written by Jane Margolis, Allan Fisher and Faye Miller. In their article they take a look at differences in women and males with their uses and influence in technology, and women’s efforts to pursue an education in computer science and technology. This paper will be able to sum up their main ideas, critically analyze their beliefs, and take a particular look at women pursing fields of study in the technological workplace and technological studies. Gender Definition The definition of gender is not a very easy word to define. There are many meanings and terms that can be characterized under both males and females and mixed genders. However according to dictionary. com gender is the following: â€Å"(in many languages) a set  of classes that together include all nouns, membership in a particular class being shown by the form of the noun  itself or by the form or choice of words that modify, replace, or otherwise refer to the noun, as, in English, the choice of he   to replace the man,   of she   to replace the woman,   of it   to replace the table,   of it   or she   to replace the ship. The number of genders in different languages varies from 2 to more than 20; often the classification correlates in part with sex or animateness. The most familiar sets of genders are of three classes (as masculine, feminine, and neuter in Latin and German) or of two (as common and neuter in Dutch, or masculine and feminine in French and Spanish). â€Å" (Dictionary. com 2012) This definition of gender is what said to best fit the word however I believe that this is not the only way to describe a gender. Gender in my opinion the biological make up and the combination of actions and norms an individual follows and goes through. The biological make up of an individual is not the only way to depict what gender they are associated with but the actions and ideas they follow can also influence them. People are able to choose which gender they are associated with even if they pursue a gender different from their biological make up. Definition of Technology Technology is similar to gender where there truly isn’t one single definition behind the word. This term is also relatively new and has was not heavily used until World War one and two and after these event, the term began to be used as much as the word science. (Lecture18, March 27th). Science and technology are often closely related to one another because technology relies on science and the more science that is understood, the more technology can be created and change. With this is mind, innovation is key to defining technology and how to describe what technology is. In one our lectures, Kevin Kelly described technology as, â€Å"Anything that is invented after we are born. † With this in mind, a definition of technology can be described as any new innovation created that may help or hurt society as a whole. Authors’ Main Ideas The Authors of this article take a look into many different angles in the field of computer science. The ideas of the authors vary from some being where these individuals first got their first interest into this study. The authors also discuss the world around computer science and the individuals that are apart of this select group. Finally the authors also touch on the overall fact that the computer science is a field of study that is heavily associated with male users and students. Students who want to pursue this field of study often have different reasons and answers as the first enthusiastic moment in the study. The different reasons also relate to the basis of their gender. For many women in this study, there reasons to enter this field of study were to use the knowledge and information from studying to work with another field of study, such as education or science. Men on the other hand had different explanations or reasons for entering the field of computer science. Many men that were interviewed brought up a time in which they first remembered a time in which computers interested them or discussed items that are used for technology. Margolis, Fisher and Miller, also discuss a finding from a studying done by a researcher named Brunner. In his study, he found â€Å"The feminine take on technology looks right through the machine to its social function, while the masculine view is more likely to be focused on the machine itself. As a result, when technology is introduced as an end in itself, as in a programming class, for instance, young women are less likely to be interested than young men. (Brunner, 1997). This study done by Brunner helps show partial reason why men are more likely to show a strong interest n technological studies and pursue degrees in these fields. Because of this gender barrier that women are going to have to overcome in these fields it does show that many women do face a harder time in this field because of a view they are more likely to see rather then males. Many individuals that pursue the study of technology often associate themselves as different from the average group of people. Many men that pursue this field often believe they are truly the right individual and they often see women in the field as weaker or as someone that may struggle. According to Margolis, Fisher and Miller, in regard to the selective image and individuals that are perceived in the technological fields. â€Å"The pervasive image of the computer science student has a more deleterious affect on women students† (Margolis, Fisher and Miller 1998). Women are more affected by the â€Å"image† that select individuals are able to be apart of this industry. However not only are the classroom settings and social impact of other members impacting women. The media, Internet, and many other factors also impact women and the opportunities to pursue technology. These factors include the media depicting men as experts in technology, societal expectations of different goals for boys and girls, the structure of learning tasks, the nature of feedback in performance situations, and the organization of classroom seating† (Hale Pg 1). The social implications that women face show that they struggle when they are trying to join the field of technolog y. Finally, the field of technology is a field in which males already heavily dominate the workforce amount often turning women away from pursuing jobs and technological influence in the field. In their essay, Margolis, Fisher and Miller discuss the curriculum of computer science and its basic functions. Many classes in technological studies involve mathematics and scientific studies. Overall many of these classes have shown on average the men usually score high grades in these classes as these classes. Many women seem to steer away from classes like these because of the heavy presence of males, and the pressure of males in the classroom setting. Another item that many individuals that are apart of this industry are often characterized as nerds or geeks. According to the New York Times, â€Å"†¦another explanation for the drop in interest, which is linked to the pejorative figure of the â€Å"nerd† or â€Å"geek. † She said that this school of thought was: â€Å"Girls and young women don’t want to be that person. †Ã¢â‚¬  (Spertus, 2008). Many individuals, but particularly men and women want to avoid being called a geek or nerd and because of these names associated with many people in this industry, many women avoid these studies. Critical Analysis Overall Margolis, Fisher and Miller have shown many areas in which women and men have differences in the studies of computer Science field. The reasons for many of these individuals were different depending on their genders, which is often the case for many jobs and areas of studying. Many fields of studies do relate to individuals with certain preferences and the way many are set up in structure can benefit one gender over another gender. This is a fair argument because there are certain curriculums that do tend to have classes that are easier and a slight advantage to different genders. Secondly, the fact that many women are steered away because of the intimidation of not having the â€Å"image† of a computer science individual is also true. People in general want to fit in with a group of people that they are going to be studying their major in. Because of the large decrease of women entering the field of computer science and technological studies, many women are beginning to feel isolated from others and intimidated by the class structure. Finally, the heavy dominating field of men and the often-characterized nicknames of geeks and nerds also turns many women away from these studies. The increasing number of men studying in this field turns away many women from entering the field through intimidation and the infamous nickname of â€Å"geeks† and â€Å"nerds†. These names often associated with people in technological studies can steer individuals that want to learn more about the technological field into a different area of study to prevent harassing. However, though Margolis, Fisher and Miller did bring up many excellent points about gender inequality and differences in the fields of technology, these authors did fail to bring into that fact the usage of ICTs varying amongst genders. Though many women do not pursue degrees or jobs in technological fields, they are still heavily active in their use. Women in general are the largest users of cell phones, and among races, African American Women are the largest users of the Internet. However men do dominate women in some categories of ICT usage. Males are most notably the users of online gaming, however among races, African American men are least likely to use any form of technology. These differences are important to acknowledge with gender differences in technology. Men and women do both have different usages of ICTs and races do play a small role in the measurement of ICTs. With this in mind, though there are gender differences that exist in the fields of technology and ICT usage, each gender does have an area in which they do have the dominant share of usage. Conclusion In the world we live in, technology is constantly growing and adopting. New innovations are causing changes in simple items and transforming items we would have never thought to have. Genders are playing roles in the usage of technology. Though genders may face barriers or issues that can cause them to struggle, each gender does control heavy usage in certain ICTs. Margolis, Fisher and Miller passage has helped show the decline in women in the field of technological studies, particularly in computer science. Many women meet much conflict from the curriculum, to the intimidation factor of a primarily men filled class setting, to the often associate selective group of people in this field. Though these problems are common, many women do continue to pursue in these fields. As a result, men and women both face gender conflicts with technology, and certain technologies are more associated with genders. Overall, men and women still benefit from technology and the growing rate of technology in the world will lead to new items and new change.

Activity Based Management Essay

Activity based management (ABM) is an approach to management that aims to maximize the value adding activities to the customers while minimizing or eliminating non-value adding activities. The objective of ABM is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization in securing its markets. It draws on activity based-costing (ABC) as its major source of information and focuses on managing activities to (1) reduce costs, (2) create performance measures, (3) improve cash flow and quality and, (4) produce enhanced value products in order to improve customer value (Business Dictionary.com). This ABM system’s top priority is in eliminating or improving those activities to increase profitability by seeking out areas where a business is losing money such as the factors which cause activities to be performed or activity cost to change. Undeniably, in order to improve an organization’s work processes and activities to effectively and efficiently meet the rapidly changing environment in this globalisation world, management practices and methods have changed over the last decade and will continue to change in future. THE TRADITIONAL ABSORPTION COSTING is the first system implemented to keep track of the true cost of a product or service. It assigns indirect cost to cost object and uses unsophisticated methods to assign indirect costs. It allocates overheads to production and service departments and uses small number of 2nd stage cost drivers to allocate costs from cost centres or pools to productions or cost objects. This system will only be appropriate when the (i)direct costs were the dominant costs, (ii)indirect costs were relatively small, (iii)information costs are high, (iv)there is a lack of intense global competition and (v)a limited range of products is produced, it might be difficult for every organization to use it. For instance, this system might not be appropriate for companies with complex processes and manufacturing practices. The large increase of indirect and overhead expenses will make the traditional costing method less efficient. Therefore, in 1980s, ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING (ABC) was introduced to overcome these  problems. ABC is a system for managing the organization better. It is a one-off exercise that measures the activities’ cost and performance, resources and the objects which consume them so as to generate more accurate and meaningful information for decision-making. It uses sophisticated or modern methods to assign the indirect costs. This ABC system allocates overheads to each major activity but not to departments and allocates costs to products or cost objects. However, it limits the company to have advantage of the ABC technique. It cannot be used for official record keeping as the IRS and stockholders require the use of traditional methods to create necessary reports for taxes. In another words, companies need to use two different costing methods in order to get the benefit. The system is costly to build, complex to sustain and to modify. Therefore, the emphasis has shifted from ABC to ACTIVITY-BASED MANAGEMENT (ABM) which is also known as ACTIVITY-BASED COST MANAGEMENT (ABCM) later on. ABC is a subset of ABM as the application of ABC evolved from a manufacturing product costing orientation to a management philosophy of activity management applied in industries and organizations (Business Dictionary.com). ABM has grown largely out of the work of the Texas-based Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing-International (CAM-I) (Investopedia). The CAM-I has initiated the development of a comprehensive glossary on ABCM terms by clarifying the significant confusion regarding the semantic and acronym associated with the activity based information (Investopedia). This ABM system makes the cost and operating information useful to improve decision making. Through the ABM analysis process, the management will gain a thorough understanding of its business processes and cost behaviour and management team in the company. In addition, the results of an ABM analysis can help a company generate more accurate budgets and financial forecasts (Investopedia). It gives management insight into the cost structures for making and selling diverse products. In a simplified term, ABC is used to answer the question, â€Å"what do things cost?† and for ABM, a process view is taken to understand factors which cause the costs to occur. This system focuses on the ways to redirect and improve the use of resources, by using  ABC data, to enhance the value created for customers and other stakeholders (Investopedia). These two systems (ABC and ABM) have attracted high levels of interest from both academics and practitioners since its emergence in the late 1980’s. It is mainly due to the significant change in cost management systems they have brought. Due to the lack of pertinence and relevancy of traditional costing that leads to mutual subsidy between products and cost, ABC and ABM are used to enhance or replace the traditional cost calculation methods. For example, ABM approach reports by activities while traditional analysis is by departments; ABM reporting is by sub-activities but traditional is by expense categories and ABM reporting can reports information on activities that are cross departmental boundaries whereas traditional is not allowed(Drury C, 2008). Thus, ABM is concluded to have more meaningful information as it gives more visibility to the cost of undertaking the activities that make up the organization and may raise the issues that are not highlighted in traditional analysis. Most forward-thinking companies have implemented them, or are in the process of doing so as it can be applied to different types of companies, including manufacturers, service providers, non-profits, schools and government agencies (Business Dictionary.com). CONTENTS 1. Features of ABM system _A. STAGES OF IMPLEMENTATION_ In order to implement ABM system, the companies are required to carry out the three out of the four stages in ABC (Drury C, 2008). The steps are listed as below: (i) Identify major activities that result in costs being incurred, The activities are the aggregation of units of work or tasks such as machine  set-up cost, purchasing cost and warehousing cost that use up resources. In order to identify all the activities within the company, activity analysis has to be carried out. The activities chosen must be at a reasonable level of aggregation based on the cost verses benefit criteria. In addition, the activities have to be either influenced by the total cost of activity centre or the ability of a single cost driver to provide a satisfactory determinant of the cost of the activity. (ii) Assign cost centers to each activity, and The companies should not use the arbitrary allocations in assigning the significant proportion of costs to activities as it will reduce the reliability of cost. They have to identify and assign the direct costs to specific activity and assign the indirect costs on cause-and-effect cost drivers. By doing so, the cost incurred on each activity can be determined. (iii) Determine the cost driver for each major activity In this stage, the drivers are called as activity cost drivers. In selecting the cost driver, there are two factors which the companies need to consider. Firstly, the cost driver should provide a good explanation of costs of each activity cost pool. Additionally, the cost driver should be measurable easily, and the data should be easily obtained and be identifiable with products. (The cost driver can be production or service oriented). _B. TWO CATEGORIES OF ABM APPLICATION_ Based on the source adapted by Kaplan & Cooper (1998), this system accomplishes its objectives through two complemetary applications which are the operational ABM (â€Å"Doing things right†) and strategic ABM (â€Å"Doing the right things†). Operational ABM enhances efficiency of operation and asset utilization and lowers costs. Its focus are mainly on doing things right and performing activities more efficiently. Management techniques such as activity  management, business process reengineering, total quality management, and performance measurement are used in the ABM application. As for strategic ABM, it attempts to change the activities demands and boost proï ¬ tability by improving activity efficiency. It focuses on choosing proper activities for the operation, eliminating non-essential activities and selecting the most proï ¬ table customers. Strategic ABM applications use management techniques such as process design, customer proï ¬ tability analysis, and value chain analysis. 2. Comparison between Activity-based management system (ABM) and traditional system ABM focuses on activity performed by business and hence, it views business as a set of linked activity that ultimately adding value to customers. Its goal is to satisfy customer needs while making fewer demands on organizational resources. Hence, ABM could have information of activities such as why activities to be performed, how to perform the activities and how well they are performed. In contrast, traditional system focuses on types of cost from departments. It gives less information to manager for the needs in decision making. ABM is better than traditional system as ABM could provide wider information and information could go deeply and more detailed as needed by the management in decision making. Besides, the ABM system only seeks to use cause-and-effect cost driver which is different than the traditional system. It does not rely on arbitrary allocation bases. As we can see from table 1, the information provided by both systems is about customer order processing. However, these two systems take into account different information while preparing the customer order processing. ABM focuses on information that is relevant in the process of customer ordering while traditional analysis focuses on the types of cost incurred in the customer order processing. ABM ANALYSIS RM Preparing Quotations 100 Receiving Customer Order 280 Expediting 120 Total 500 TRADITIONAL ANALYSIS RM Salaries 110 Telephone bill 170 Depreciation of Asset 120 Total 500 Table 1 In addition, ABM is different from traditional system in terms of the report approach. ABM report is determined by activities while traditional system is determined by departments. It can include crossing departmental boundaries. For instance, material purchasing process might involve not only one department but it includes inventory control department, purchasing department and account payable department. The manager will be able to know how the amount spent (e.g: RM 2000) to be used in purchasing material under ABM system. It may show the relevant information such as inventory reviewing, sending purchase requisition and sending purchase order. The manager will be able to know how purchasing of material works on and what are the reasons of purchase delay as well as how to minimize the cost of purchase. It focuses on information based on activity. As for traditional system, manager can get the information on material purchase which costs for RM2000 only. However, this RM2000 does not comply with the amount of goods order. By looking at one information itself, the reasons of non-compliance cannot be tracked as there is lack of information. Therefore, ABM system is better since it did not focus on information based on cost but it assigns  cost of activities to products according to product’s demand for activities and relies on cost centres and cost drivers that cause activity resource consumption. Other than that, it assigns activity costs to cost objects on basis of cost driver usage and measures resources consumed by cost objects more accurately. In addition, ABM system provides both information from value and non value added activities. As for traditional system, it provides information on value added activity only. Value added activity is an activity that supports primary objective of producing outputs. For instance, activity like colouring adds value to a book. Under value added activity, traditional report will show the amount spent in colouring since it adds usefulness to customers. Customers would likely to buy books with some colouring or some pictures rather than books with only words as it might help them in memorizing and understanding the information stated in the book better. However, if the profit does not increase like what the company expected, manager will be able to trace back the cost incurred by looking at amount spent in colouring – non-value added activity. Hence, non value added activity is important as it may affect the company’s profit. Non value added activity is an activity where an opportunity is available for cost reduction without decreasing product’s service potential to customer such as storing and moving raw materials. Under ABM system, manager will be able to draw attention on this issue and trace back the reasons such as waste in the production. Manager will be able to track the cost which has been wasted in the production by reducing material movement and improving production flow without reducing the value added to customer. In other words, customer can have same quality of products-same kind of books while management could reduce the cost of production. 3. Benefits and Limitations of ABM system One of the benefits of the system is to help the management in decision making. It provides better decision making as the information provided by the ABM system is more useful and reliable. The management can make informed decision about product mix, lines of business, process, product design,  services, capital investment and pricing. For instance, manager will able to make decision on how much capital to invest in new product and what kind of new product to be launched based on information that manager obtains in ABM system. Furthermore, ABM is a system for continuous improvements. The system is not just an accounting tool but it also provides many tools that can enhance organizational performance management. In other words, ABM system provides other information as well (the product mix, customer services, line of business and capital investment) that would be able to help an organization in its future development and improvement. For instance, an organization knows how to serve customer better by looking into information provided in customer services activity. ABM also provides a better understanding of cost driver. It is a factor that affects the costs associated with an activity. Managers apply activity- based management system to the operational activity in order to determine the cost to perform an activity and the cost associated with not performing the activity. Through this activity cost drivers, it seeks to provide an extensive view on the actual costs of an activity. For instances, we can see in the Mason & Cox. In Mason & Cox, they feel that it is expensive to implement the activity-based costing system because it is more complex and expensive to maintain. Nevertheless, ABM seems to be more helpful to them in term of improving the company profitability. For example, saving had been achieved by targeting non-value-added activities. Their real cost driver had been identified so that manager may know what to eliminate. The drop in the price of the high-volume lines had met with customer approval. Furthermore, ABM enables company to monitor and improve quality and delivery customer value by tracking cost driver. The new approach provided timely information about factors that were important to customers and factors that employees could control. There was no doubt that ABM had helped Mason & Cox to improve both profitability and customer value. Besides that, in Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF) needs more sophisticated cost information to make better decision in order to compete in the nature of the health care insurance industry and the need to manage the cost of operation like ways to  allocate administrative cost to the products and services. Hence, BCBSF decided to implement ABM system. ABM helps manager to examine the analysis of value added cost and non-value added costs. A value added cost is the cost of an activity that cannot be eliminated without affecting a product’s value to the customer. Some value added costs are always necessary, as long as the activities that drive such cost are performed efficiently and effectively. For instances, we can truly understand this concept in the Carpenter Company. The senior vice president of sales and marketing said that pillow fall into two distinct segments, the â€Å"commodity† part of the business and value-added line. For the â€Å"commodity† part of the business- consists of polyester-filled pillows which are a normal pillow. Besides that, the â€Å"value-added line†, which features technology-driven fibers and fabrics designed to enhance sleep. As we can see, Carpenter Company had produced variety function of pillow like muscle stress and pain relieve pillow as well as pillow which reduce unnatural awakenings. Today, consumers are better educated about the benefits of various sleep surfaces and they recognize that the role of pillow can play in quality sleep. Although the price for a pillow which features technology-driven fibers and fabrics designed will be expensive but it can help consumer to have a quality sleep. Thus, consumers will not mind to pay more to improve a quality sleep. As a result, we can see that the â€Å"value-added line† may help company to gain profit. In contrast, a non-value added cost is the cost of an activity that cannot be eliminated without diminishing the value. Non-value added cost activities are assumed to be unnecessary as a result it always be minimized like storing and handling inventories; transportation of raw material or partly finished products. If this non-value added costs happened, company may reduce or eliminate it by careful redesign of the operational process. As we can see how Taipei Fubon Bank deals with those non-value added costs in this mature and complex market. Taipei Fubon Bank needs to accurately determine profit and loss data by customer and customer group so that it could help bank to reduce operating costs and increase profit while maintaining it quality of service. Hence, the bank had developed a customer profitability  management (CPM) system that provide thorough information regarding cardholder spending pattern and profitability to build highly targeted marketing and retention program. This system did helped bank to reduce cost by updating timely management report, thus speeding marketing strategy adjustment decision. However, they wanted more information regarding a detailed analysis such as the profitability by card type at the individual customer level. As a result, they entered into the new CPM system by performing an in-depth analysis at the transaction level. The new CPM system contributes to division-wide productivity through the delivery of as-needed reporting to the user custom portal. The reporting may include customer spending habits, customer ranking by demographic criteria or the profitability of co-branded card by service channel. After using this system, Taipei Fubon Bank has significantly improving division profitability and now they can make more faster and accurate decision. In Dow Chemical Company (DCC) which produces chemicals and plastics implement ABM to identify the activities they perform, eliminate non-value-added activities, determine cost drivers, set activity price to charge users and benchmark these price to ensure that they are competitive. While ABM has brought benefits to DCC but also brought many challenges to them. For instances, DCC feels that it is difficult to capture cost driver information without creating additional work. As the activity analysis became more and more detailed, DCC had to justify the complexities in obtaining and processing activity information. Ultimately the company decided that should not break activities down to task level, otherwise the resultant activities were too small and numerous. By comparing with the traditional system, ABM system is more costly. Implementation of ABM system requires many resources such as human resources and time consuming. Different activities require different resources. Data that concerns on major activities must be measured, collected and entered into system. As we can see that Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) feels that ABM system is a timely and costly system. By using ABM system, they need to implement a thorough mapping of all processes, drill down and filtering of all â€Å"relevant† activities, the identification of cost  driver and others are enormous challenges. Thus, this may cause the company to take up much time and resources because this company consists of over 1100 staffs. Furthermore, everyone may have different point of view and searching for different data therefore they need times to eliminate and collect the right data into the right activities. Incorrect data collection and allocation may result to setbacks during the implementation stages and may jeopardize the whole project. Misinterpretation might also happen in ABM system. This is because most of the information is interrelated and ambiguous. For instance, cost assigned to material, products and customer may be relevant and cause the manager to overlook some information. This causes misinterpretation happen and link to the wrong decision making. Wrong decision making may cause some issues happen in the operation such as production delay, over-production and wrong shipping. Reports by using ABM system are suitable for internal users only and cannot report to external users. This is because ABM system has limitations since it does not conform to generally accepted accounting principles (G.A.A.P). Stakeholder might not be able to understand the reports on ABM system and therefore, ABM system is only restricted for internal use. CONCLUSION Previously, company usually apply traditional accounting system to manage the company’s operational activity but this system does not provide more detailed information that needed in this competitive environment. Therefore, managers require better information by developing activity-based management. This approach allow everyone in the organization understand where costs are being incurred, why are they being incurred and how these activities contribute to a higher value added to customers. Moreover, ABC explores to identify activities that can be eliminated or improved. In additional to that, communications will improve and changes are easier to make if company conducts the activity-based approach. In addition to the above purpose, we feel that ABM system may be useful for a company. This is because it not only focuses on the product of a company but also the services and customers of a company. Besides that, it also help company to find out the cause of a problem, action plan for future development as well as evaluation of managers’ or departments’ present performance. In addition to that, it also helps company utilize true cost data which generated through ABC for further improvement in business profitability in the long run. ABM in best practice firm lies at the heart of the decision-support process. Integrating ABM within the total information and management control system of the organization can lead to quantum improvements. Therefore, an organization needs to understand and address the common pitfalls and barriers to success at every stage of implementation. Besides, the ABM system should include and draw on the insights of the people who use it no matter during planning, activity analysis or other so that the implementation will success when the people use the system. Organization should tailor to the unique strategy, structure, capabilities, and needs of the firm so that the implementation will be succeeded. This is because ABM will not look the same in every organization although it is a universally useful concept. Finally, we have an in-depth understanding of ABM during the process of working out this assignment and we found out that activity-based approach has more advantages than disadvantages. We have learned many things like time management and how to get along with our group members. Although we spent much time for discussing the lessons and recommendations, we didn’t have any argument during our discussion and everything went on smoothly. BIBLIOGRAPHY _Advantages, Disadvantages and Limitations of Accounting Based Costing (ABC) System_. (n.d.). Accounting For Management. Retrieved March 9, 2013, from http://accounting4management.com/limitations_of_activity_based_costing.htm Business Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2013, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/activity-based-management- ABM.html Cardos,I.R., & Pete,S. 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