Privatized School Systems

Our society, as a whole, has been heading toward a decentralized system of conducting its affairs. Large corporations have been getting larger , meanwhile governments have been giving up increasing amounts of their control. This decentralization has affected even former mainstays of government control, such as phone and power companies. As decentralization becomes more of a reality, there has been a great deal of debate over what controls the government should maintain or relinquish. The public school system has long been a source of frustration. Many feel the schools would be run more efficiently and with better results if privately run companies were to take over. They feel that with the existing large, encumbering bureaucracy, the government is simply unable to provide the proper base that is necessary to support a successful school system. The proponents of privatized school systems have long maintained that governments are not as knowledgeable about individual school environments as those who and they have to manage many schools, whereas the owners of a specific private subsidized school would be well informed about the school's circumstances and can concentrate on that school alone. They say that the governments role should become that of regulator, not schoolmaster, and that since the private schools do not face the political constraints that the municipal governments face,they would be more able to adapt to change. Since the operation of public schools is more bureaucratic and centralized than private subsidized schools, it is expected to inhibit rather than promote educational innovation. Private schools, being less bureaucratic and more decentralized, are expected to be more efficient organizations and to have a better perspective than their public school counterparts. They are also expected to provide a greater incentive and opportunity to come up with more innovative programs than public schools in order to stay competitive. Bureaucracy is expected to hinder initiative and efficiency, whereas the private sector in general is expected to be more dynamic and responsive because of their need to stay competitive. It is hoped that this competitiveness will foster innovation. On the other side of the debate is the group that favors continued government control over the school system. They argue that privatizing the schools would lead to a decreased focus on the needs of the children with an increased emphasis placed on the bottom line. They maintain that the companies taking over for the government would focus their attention more on cutting corners to make larger profits rather than on the education of children. With continued government control over the school system, there will remain a stability that is necessary to insure a full and equal educational opportunity for all. Having the education system privatized would create inequalities in the method that education would be provided. Those who oppose privatization agree that not only would municipal control maintain stability, but would also ensure fair and equal teatment for all. The same would not hold true if the schools were placed in private hands. Schools that do not make a profit along with teachers that are no longer needed would simply let go in order to save money or maintain profits. I can see that there are several benefits on both sides. The economic benefits are obviously in favor of a decentralized school structure. There be no bureaucracy to wade through to make the simplest decisions, in the system would allow teachers to make important ground level decisions as they see fit. This increased efficiency includes many benefits, but with what cost? What about the special needs children, or the under privileged, will the private companies take care of them? What happens when these companies don't make enough money on a school, will they close it down? The children whose schools have been closed will have to travel further and further just to get to school, if they even go. Maybe there should just be mega-schools were ten schools are combined into one, all to save the managing company money. With government control, there may not be efficiency but there is some stability. That is the important thing. Companies can open and close their doors in a day, but schools are more important than companies. Education is the key to our futures, can we afford to gamble with what is a stake? The government must become more efficient at doing its job in managing our schools, and business has proven itself to be efficient. Maybe there is a way to combine the two and receive the best of both worlds.

War Poetry

Modern History Sourcebook: World War I Poetry: Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967):†How to Die† Link to Collected Poems [At Columbia] Wilfred Owen (1893-1918):†Anthem for a Doomed Youth† Link to Collected Poems [At Toronto] Wilfred Owen: â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† Herbert Read (1893-1968): â€Å"The Happy Warrior† W. N. Hodgson (1893-1916): â€Å"Before Action† Wilfred Gibson (1878-1962) â€Å"Back† Link to Collected Poems [At Columbia] Philip Larkin (1922-1985): â€Å"MCMXIV† Link to Poems [At Hooked. net] Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) â€Å"How to Die† Dark clouds are smouldering into red While down the craters morning burns.The dying soldier shifts his head To watch the glory that returns; He lifts his fingers toward the skies Where holy brightness breaks in flame; Radiance reflected in his eyes, And on his lips a whispered name. You'd think, to hear some people talk, That lads go West with sobs and curses, And sullen fa ces white as chalk, Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses. But they've been taught the way to do it Like Christian soldiers; not with haste And shuddering groans; but passing through it With due regard for decent taste. Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) â€Å"Anthem for a Doomed Youth† What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? -Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries for them from prayers or bells, Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,- The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds. Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est â€Å"Bent double, like old beggars u nder sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! — An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,As under I green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corr upted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, — My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old lie: Dulce et decorum estPro patria mori. Herbert Read (1893-1968) â€Å"The Happy Warrior† His wild heart beats with painful sobs, His strin'd hands clench an ice-cold rifle, His aching jaws grip a hot parch'd tongue, His wide eyes search unconsciously. He cannot shriek. Bloody saliva Dribbles down his shapeless jacket. I saw him stab And stab again A well-killed Boche. This is the happy warrior, This is he†¦ W. N. Hodgson (1893-1916) â€Å"Before Action† By all the glories of the day And the cool evening's benison, By that last sunset touch that lay Upon the hills where day was done, By beauty lavisghly outpoured And blessings carelessly received,By all the days that I have lived Make me a solider, Lord. By all of man's hopes and fears, And all the wonders p oets sing, The laughter of unclouded years, And every sad and lovely thing; By the romantic ages stored With high endeavor that was his, By all his mad catastrophes Make me a man, O Lord. I, that on my familiar hill Saw with uncomprehending eyes A hundred of Thy sunsets spill Their fresh and sanguine sacrifice, Ere the sun swings his noonday sword Must say goodbye to all of this;– By all delights that I shall miss, Help me to die, O Lord. Wilfred Gibson (1878-1962) â€Å"Back†They ask me where I've been, And what I've done and seen. But what can I reply Who know it wasn't I, But someone just like me, Who went across the sea And with my head and hands Killed men in foreign lands†¦ Though I must bear the blame, Because he bore my name. Philip Larkin (1922-1985) â€Å"MCMXIV† Those long uneven lines Standing as patiently As if they were stretched outside The Oval or Villa Park, The crowns of hats, the sun On moustached archaic faces Grinning as if it were all An August Bank Holiday lark; And the shut shops, the bleached Established names on the sunblinds, The farthings and sovereigns,And dark-clothed children at play Called after kings and queens, The tin advertisements For cocoa and twist, and the pubs Wide open all day; And the countryside not caring The place-names all hazed over With flowering grasses, and fields Shadowing Domesday lines Under wheats' restless silence; The differently-dressed servants With tiny rooms in huge houses, The dust behind limousines; Never such innocence, Never before or since, As changed itself to past Without a word–the men Leaving the gardens tidy, The thousands of marriages Lasting a little while longer: Never such innocence again.

Advantage And Disadvantages Of Dividend Payout Policy Finance Essay

Advantage And Disadvantages Of Dividend Payout Policy Finance Essay When a company has a surplus of profit, it can be used either pay back the shareholders or reinvest into the business. The way that company pay back to shareholders is call dividend payout. In the recent years, the number of companies paying dividends has declined. For example, the PSEG Company in the United State, the payout ratio was about 67% in 2004 and fallen to 45% by 2007.Shows in the graph below: (http://www.pseg.com/index.jsp) This essay will mainly discuss the advantage and disadvantage about the dividend-paying. What are dividends? Dividends are payment made by corporation to the shareholders. Dividends come from the profit earned by company. There are two ways where company spends the surplus of profit, one is to reinvest to the business and the other is to pay back to the shareholders as dividends. The companies who pay dividends are usually taking no benefit if the reinvest the surplus profit back into the business, under this condition dividends are chosen to pay to t he shareholders, which is call payout. The forms of dividends are variable. The most common one will be the made by cash, which is the most common method of sharing corporate profits with the shareholders of the company. The second one is the stock dividends that is paid in form of additional share and it is counted by proportion, for example, if the shareholder owns 100 shares of the stock with 5% stock dividends, the shareholder can gain 5 more shares. Others like property dividends are taken as dividends payout as well. Advantage of dividend payout policy There is certain amount of people of the rightist position state that company pays a high dividend payout is important for investors for the reasons that paying dividends can convince the shareholders about the company’s financial well-being. The higher rate of dividends payout shows better the company operating as well as larger number of profit, which might attracts the investors. Dividends are also attractive for the i nvestors who want to get the stable current income easily. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“There is also a natural clientele of investors, such as the elderly, who looking to their stock portfolios for a steady source of cash to live onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (P456, Richard, 2008). In principle, the shareholders could sell a part of the shares to gain money even if the company does not pay dividends, but it is more convenience for the investors to get the money if companies pay the dividends by checks. In this case, the payout policy of cash dividends will reduce the cost of transaction as well as the inconvenience for the shareholders selling the shares. In addition, the long-term stable dividends payouts could help the company less affected by the changes of the dividends. Those companies with long history of stable dividends will be less influenced if the dividends decrease, but will be positively affected when dividends payout increases or even dividends stay the same level. Furthermore, companies with out a dividend history are generally viewed favorably when they declare new dividends. The dividends announcement has resulted in a 4% rise of the stock price according to the dividend initiations studied by Healy and Palepu (P448, Richard, 2008).

Feminist Theory Reader- Critical Analysis Paper Term

Feminist Theory Reader- Critical Analysis - Term Paper Example Shakespearian tragedies were male-centered though some of his female characters like Lady Macbeth in â€Å"Macbeth† and Portia in the tragi-comedy, â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† expressed the glimpse of heroism. The presentation of women as suppressed under the male folk is not specifically the peculiarity of the literature of Shakespeare’s time, but one find it even in modern literatures as found in the plays of the modern dramatist Bernard Shaw. Shaw’s â€Å"Pygmalion† clearly reveals how the girl Eliza Doolittle is suffocating under Professor Henry’s treatment. Therefore, one can infer that history has not marked tremendous changes in the treatment of women in literature even if there were many feminist movements. Nevertheless, one cannot disregard the significant role of the various revolutionary feminist movements occurred during the first part of 19th century and spread all through the following centuries. The mushrooming of the feminis t movements facilitated women writing and witnessed some classical writing, purely challenging male chauvinism in both social and cultural life. Analyzing the feminist theories and writing, one may feel that they have the right claim of equality with the male folk, and should not be considered a second class. McCann & Kim (2003, p.1) identifies that â€Å"The term â€Å"feminism† usually refers in its most general sense to political activism by women on behalf of women.† They have also identified that feminism can be regarded as a movement that started in the 1970s which was actually originated in France in the 1880s. Analyzing the historical origin of the word ‘feminism’ one can see, â€Å"it combines the French word for woman, â€Å"femme,† with the suffix meaning political position, â€Å"ism,† and was used in that time and place to refer to those who defended the cause of women† (McCann & Kim, 2003, p.1). It was the French philosop her, Simone De Beauvoir who first used this term in The Second Sex which later spread all over the world. McCann & Kim (2003, p.1) have clearly stated the claim of feminism when they said thus, â€Å"Feminism involves the implicit claim that the prevailing conditions under which women live are unjust and must be changed.† The feminists also propounded the view that women have the ability to recognize the injustices that they face in their day to day life, and as such, they can change the existing situations. Thus, one can see that the feminists set out various theories that would promote their status totally refuting the present status as second class citizens. McCann & Kim (2003) in their book, "Feminist Theory Reader" explores the important works in feminist theory by incorporating the works of some of the feminists, specifically the women of color and post colonial scholars. These scholars provide both global and local perspectives of feminism by challenging the hegemony o f white, Western feminism, providing an approach to feminist theory for the twenty-first century. This is also to be noted that this approach includes the conversations among postcolonial women and women of color about issues of gender, race, colonialism, and sexuality as paramount to understanding the concerns of feminism (McCann & Kim, 2003). The feminists anthologized in this book are of the opinion that the females should endeavor to attain respect, mutual benefits, equal wages, a voice or presence in male dominated world. They solely have the right of liberty as the country itself has obtained it by

Personal Development through Reflective Practice Essay

Personal Development through Reflective Practice - Essay Example The organisational structure for Outcomes UK Ltd is mainly controlled by the strategic director along with a number of secondary employees working under him. In the executive management group, officers have been assigned with the task of corporate management of the council, ensuring timely and regular meetings for discussion of current issues perceived to have a significant impact on the council and its services. The executive management has the responsibility of managing projects and other day-to-day activities in order to establish an entity that holds consistent values and views (NRC 2002). Their fixed responsibility lies in a number of tasks such as providing tactical advice and skillful plans to the council; making sure that policy objectives are effectively integrated within their services; managing the development of all strategies; providing information and establishing strong communication with councilors, managers, and staff members; supervising the working relationships between councilors and staff members; keeping watch over organisational values, attitudes, and structure; bringing together the council’s work with other organisations and establishing working relations; and handling resolution of conflicts. All these duties reflect Devlin’s (2006) assertion that executive management plays a major role in every action that the organisation takes. Often times, the members of the executive management group are handpicked by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) based on their individual strengths and the values that they have displayed. Those who can liv e up to the specific tasks assigned to executive management are selected. On the other hand, though much of the organisation’s responsibility lies upon this high ranking group, there is still a need for every member of the council to be involved in daily tasks for organisational goals to be successfully

Conflicts in the Workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words - 1

Conflicts in the Workplace - Research Paper Example Managing a conflict is an important task that occurs at three levels, according to Masters and Albright According to them, first of all, an individual must know how to deal with the conflict at a personal level like when he enters a conflict with a senior, a junior, a colleague, or a client. Second, he must be able to enable others in the organization to manage their personal conflicts. This is important because those conflicts will eventually come to you taking your extra time if they are not resolved in time by the people involved. Third, he must be able to work out an effective plan or strategy that should make sure that workplace conflicts are avoided and if occur then resolved in time. Conflicts at work â€Å"reflect systemic processes and patterns in how work gets done† thus it is important to determine those patterns so that better conflict management is made possible. It is also important to discuss here why at all managing a conflict at a workplace is important and wh y medication becomes necessary. Moore defines the mediation as the involvement of a third party, the mediator, in the resolution of the conflict, where the mediator has no personal relations with any of the conflicting parties involved. The mediator does not make decisions but assists the parties to reach such a solution that is acceptable for all those involved. Doherty and Guyler suggest that â€Å"there is a direct ratio between the quality of relationships across the workplace and long-term business effectiveness and success.†

Briefly examine the life and work of an entrepreneur (Momofuku Ando), Essay

Briefly examine the life and work of an entrepreneur (Momofuku Ando), analysing the major factors contributing to their success as an entrepreneur, what element - Essay Example Entrepreneurial attitude can be measured in terms of achievement, innovation, personal control, self esteem, and opportunity recognition (Lindsay, 2005). Lindsay further clarifies that innovation includes recognizing and acting upon business activities in new and unique ways. Achievement can be associated with business start-up and growth results, while self-esteem includes self-confidence. Personal control involves individual perceptions of control and influence over business affairs. Creativity is one of the key characteristics of entrepreneurial and part of the innovation process. Momofuku Ando, initially an unsuccessful businessman, was one such entrepreneur who made a break through while watching his wife deep-fry vegetables (Hall, 2007). Ando has dabbled unsuccessfully in business ventures ranging from salt to prefab houses (Beech, 2006). He had been experimenting with a newfangled idea for packaged ramen noodles. While watching his wife he hit upon the idea that fried noodles would turn hard yet be porous enough and soften immediately when dipped in boiling water. This opportunity recognition not only made Ando into a noodle king but also created a multi-billion dollar market for instant noodles. Considered as a classic invention, instant noodles was a gift which saved people hard labor of grinding and chopping for hours to get food ready. This paper will examine the life and work of this entrepreneur analyzing the major factors that contributed to his success. Creativity and innovation is what marked the growth of this entrepreneur. Moved by the death due to starvation in Japan following the World War II, he was inspired to produce a cheap and convenient food (Katayama, 1988). The construction workers with ten minutes between shifts and the salarymen hunched over their desks at midnight needed something, cheap, and fast and filling (Beech 2006). This led to the invention of the instant

Contemporary Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contemporary Issues - Essay Example It is, therefore, the engineers’ prerogative to offer this protection. The education bar needs to be raised to ensure all those who qualify are up to the task of offering their services to the world (Osif, 2006). This paper will review some of the contemporary issues they face, and their possible solutions. There are many issues that face the civil engineering fraternity. One of the issues they face today is the lack of investment. The fraternity faces a particularly immense problem with lack of investment that they cannot conduct business as usual. Every engineer is aware of the dangers and consequences of poor structures. They have to face the burden of proving their innocence when it comes to disasters concerning their structures. It is a risky investment, thus; not many individuals are willing to invest in this field (Hansen & Zenobia, 2011). Organizations prefer to play it safe. The need to invest in a risky business is usually not appealing to anyone. Even in the past, the need to have structures built in order to connect people and the world was downplayed by lack of capital (Hansen & Zenobia, 2011). It played a frighteningly crucial role in preventing the creation of exceptional structures for a long time. When infrastructure over the years does not get the recognition, they tend to have a negative impact on society. This presents a problem to everyone in today’s modern society. Society evolves on a daily basis. Many individuals do not want their society to be depleted of all its natural beauty. Civil engineers need to realise this and strive to be â€Å"sustainers†, not just builders or designers. This is another problem or challenge they face. They need to shape society to accept the new, innovative way in which the world is changing (Hansen & Zenobia, 2011). The world should be ready and willing to invest in some of the civil engineering projects. This can prevent some of the problems that face the fraternity. Capital is

The Communication of Window Displays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Communication of Window Displays - Essay Example Henry Selfridge, the owner of Selfridge retailer store and the initiator of visual merchandising understood the significant of window display. Thus, he came up with innovative window designs in order to communicate to customers on the available brand offered in the Selfridge store. The creative director of Burberry store (London-Regent Street), Christopher Bailey also came with innovative ideas for communicating to the shoppers about the brands available in the store. Selfridges and Burberry are among the fashion retailer companies that employ window displays strategy in order to increase sales in the highly competitive global market. Bhalla and Anuraag (2010, p.145) argue that wherein gratification precedes loyalty, retailers have learn that it is through being smart that one can achieve success in the highly competitive market. Therefore, retailers attempt to use window displays as a strategy of communicating to the consumer about the products and services they deliver to them. Selfridges London and Burberry use window display in order to communicate at physical interfaces with the consumer right from the point of sighting the store or the shop. The aim of window display is to catch the attention of the consumer at the store front and entice him or her into the shop; thus creating enough interest for him or her to make a consumption decision. This technique of window display is known as visual marketing; hence, retailers use this technique to deliver a differentiated and shopping experience. Visual marketing technique plays significant role in shopper acquisition and customer loyalty, in which a lot of efforts and expenditure are invested (Bhalla and Anuraag 2010, p.145). Additionally, window displays create first impressions of the retailer stores and its offering through tactical communication. For instance, Selfridges London and Burberry retailers use art and visual communication designs or images for sustaining the preference of the

Resourcing talent Essay Example for Free

Resourcing talent Essay The aims and objectives of this report are to: identify factors affecting an organization’s approach to attracting talent explain the benefits of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce describe factors affecting organizational approach to recruitment and selection give examples of recruitment and selection methods explain the purpose of induction and give a sample induction plan 2. ATRACTING TALENT 2. 1. 4 FACTORS THAT AFFECT AN ORGANISATION’S APPROACH TO ATTRACTING TALENT An organisation’s ability to attract talent from outside depends on how potential applicants view the company, the sector in which it operates and its culture. This is why BRAND IDENTITY seems to be one of the most important factors influencing an organisation’s approach to attracting talent. The top-notch candidates will always ask ‘what’s in this for me’? ‘Unless a business is a brand new start-up, they’re likely to have an existing reputation as an employer – whether this is intentional or not. Given that potential new employees make decisions about joining based on this impression, it pays to define a strategy to make sure the right (and real) messages are being heard. ’ (http://www. pageexecutive. com/insights/talent-attraction-through-employer-branding). WORKFORCE PLANNING which is company likely needs for talent is another very important factor. An organisation’s approach to attracting talent is determined by its workforce planning (WFP). This means: predicting organisation workforce requirements by taking into account: existing skills, training and development, retention, career progression, staff turnover, external factors like: economic climate, demographics, working patterns, and most importantly the demand and supply in labour market. Organisations need to have strategic approach to attracting talent and need to understand the importance of investment in human capital. Talent strategy must be as close to corporate strategy as possible. SIZE OF ORGANIZATION – A small organization cannot have same staffing practices which a large organization may have; it may not be able to attract highly talented staff. Even if it tries to do so it may increase the staffing cost. TYPE OF TALENT THE ORGANISATION IS LOOKING FOR is a very important factor in organisation’s approach to attracting potential employees. For example the level of staff required will determine the recruitment pool, low level team members will be easy to find locally whilst to find a senior manager or a director a company may have to resource internationally. Other factors influencing a company’s talent management are: type of product/services the company is delivering, recruitment tools/methods available, the labour market, national as well as international, legal factors, socio-culture factors or political influences. 2. 2. CIPD POINT OF VIEW ON TALENT MANAGEMENT HR professionals have a very important role in talent management. They have to understand the 4 areas of talent management which are: attracting, developing, managing and evaluating talent. In the current uncertain economic climate strategic approach to talent management is even more important than ever before. 3. A DIVERSE WORKFORCE 3. 1. 3 ORGANISATION BENEFITS OF ATRACTING AND RETAINING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE Diversity is the art of thinking independently together’ Publisher Malcolm Forbes People need to be treated differently in ways that are fair and tailored to their needs but in ways that are aligned to business needs and objectives (The business case for diversity). There are many advantages of a diverse workforce: WIDENS THE RECRUITMENT POOL ACAS points out that the working generation is getting older therefore people from different cultural ; ethnic backgrounds are entering the workforce. REDUCES LABOUR TURNOVER – looking at the UK labour market in the last 10 years, foreign workers are more motivated to work for lower salaries than people living permanently in the UK. They tend to stay in a job for long mainly due to their financial commitment to families living abroad. GIVES GOOD CORPORATE REPUTATION and this helps to attract talent. Organizations with high level of diverse workforce are valued by many people e. g. large supermarkets by having a diverse workforce on the shop floor help international customers to communicate with staff in their own languages. Other benefits of a diverse workforce include: it’s a key to fostering new ways of thinking, opens up a wealth of possibilities and helps to encourage creativity and foster innovation, gives bias-free people policies and working practices, helps to develop new products and practices, opens up new markets and provides due diligence against discrimination claims. 3. 2. CIPD POINT OF VIEW ON DIVERSE WORKFORCE Recognizing and valuing diversity is crucial to good people management practice. HR practitioners have important role in creating inclusive workplace. CIPD advises to companies to go beyond legal compliance with anti-discrimination laws and create diversity strategy or they will become less attractive to potential employees. Company diversity strategy needs to support business objectives and strategies. 4. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION 4. 1. 3 FACTORS THAT AFFECT AN ORGANISATION’S APPROACH TO RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION Recruitment and selection is the process of having the right person, in the right place, at the right time. It should be affected by current needs as well as future plans (see workforce planning, page 3). One of the factors that can affect an organization’s approach to recruitment and selection is the EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES LEGISLATION. Companies should ensure that they take account of equality and diversity at all times. Organizations should monitor whole recruitment processes continuously to ensure their validity, and that they are non-discriminatory. Advice and guidance is provided by Equality and Human Rights Commission, for example wider advertising, flexible working hours arrangements or child care vouchers for employees. THE SIZE OF THE COMPANY AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE – small companies will have to use different recruitment and selection methods that the larger ones. The infrastructure and finance will determine if it’s a newspaper advert or TV campaign, for example: ‘Join the Army’ Campaign being used to recruit candidates. Also a small organisation will not be able to use assessment centres or psychometric testing due to low budget available. SUPPLY AND DEMAND The availability of manpower both within and outside the organization is an important determinant in the recruitment process. If the company has a demand for more professionals and there is limited supply in the market for the professionals demanded by the company, then the company will have to depend upon internal sources by providing them special training and development programs. Other factors include: costs, recruitment policy or unemployment rate. 4. 2. 3 DIFFERENT RECRUITMENT METHODS There are many recruitment methods available on the market including: advertising, agency, website, word of mouth, newspaper, posters, ‘milk round’, internships, head hunters, recommend a friend scheme, social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, job centre, etc. For the purpose of this exercise I will describe 3 methods in a table below: RECRUITMENT METHOD BENEFITS OTHER COMMENTS Advertising on the website Cost effective Creates employer’s branding Easily accessible Gives understanding of organization’s culture Broad recruitment pool HR managers are actively involved in recruitment and selection Recruitment agency Time effective Efficient Broadens the recruitment pool High standard UK eligibility and CRB checks done Is used to hire management level employees, mainly by larger organizations Recommend a friend scheme It’s less expensive than agency It comes with a recommendation of someone we already trust Used to employ all levels staff from waiters and chefs to senior management There is a risk of discrimination claim Source: Aleksandra Wozniak 2013 4. 3. 3 SELECTION METHODS There are many selection methods, including: assessment centres, speed networking, psychometric testing, daily trail – role practice, competency based interviews, telephone interviews/screening, group interviews/exercises or occupational tests. For the purpose of this exercise I will describe 3 methods in a table below: SELECTION METHOD BENEFITS OTHER COMMENTS Assessment centre Creates employer’s branding Time effective It’s expensive Doesn’t give understanding of organizational culture Face to face interview Time effective Efficient Cost effective Availability to see candidates’ attitude Opportunity for probing Needs good preparation Should be done by a trained and experienced interviewer Psychometric tests Gives highly predictive results Improves the efficiency of the recruitment process There is a risk of standardisation Source: Aleksandra Wozniak 2013 5. INDUCTION Induction is the process of familiarisation with the organisation and settling into the job (acas. org. uk). 5. 1. PURPOSE OF INDUCTION 1. Social welcome – employees feeling valued 2. Introduction to the Company’s culture 3. Physical orientation 4. Explanation of employee’s benefits: staff discount and pension scheme. 5. Check of eligibility to work in UK 6. Explanation of house rules – staff uniforms, reporting absences, etc. 5. 2. HOW DOES INDUCTION BENEFIT INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS Most labour turnover is among new employees, and work efficiency is reached only after a period of learning and adjusting to the new environment. Induction benefits for individuals are: Builds positive attitude of the company Allows quick adjusting, especially for school leavers or people returning to the workforce Saves time The benefits of induction for an employer are: The chance to build on the positive attitude of the new recruit To answer their anxieties about how well they will get on with their co-workers and understand the standards and rules of the organisation Chance to welcome new employees and build on their positive attitude and enthusiasm for their new job An opportunity to familiarise new members of staff with your organisation To introduce them to their immediate colleagues and other members of the wider workforce Health and safety, equality and discrimination Case study illustrating the result of the lack of an induction process: A new employee starts on a Monday, reports to reception and no one knows he is due to start work on that day. He is sent to room 302 where 3 very surprised team members welcome him in a cold way. It transpires that the desk and computer are not ready and he has to share a desk with one of his colleagues. The new starter feels very lost and disappointed. He doesn’t know who to ask for help and find out only after going back home and visiting the web site. He contacts HR but the situation isn’t resolved until the following week. He doesn’t think positively about his new company and starts regretting quitting his last job. 5. 3. INDUCTION PLAN A copy of an induction plan should be kept by new starter to enable him to follow what is happening and will act as a reminder of anything missed or that needs particular attention. POSITION: EMPLOYEE START DATE: NAME: INDUCTION COMPLETION DATE: SIGNATURE: AREAS TO BE COVERED WHEN WHO HOW COMMENTS PERSONAL DOCUMENTATION/ ELIGIBILITY TO WORK IN UK CHECKED First day HR Take copies P45 First day HR Take copies NIN First day HR Take copies INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY First week Line manager Presentation Who’s who History Products/services/markets Future plans and developments TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT First day HR Written Written terms and conditions issued Contract of employment issued Hours, breaks, method of payment Holidays Clocking on/flexitime/reporting procedures Probationary period Period of notice Sickness provisions Pension provisions Maternity/paternity/parental leave provisions AREAS TO BE COVERED WHEN WHO HOW COMMENTS EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY AND WORKER DEVELOPMENT First week HR Verbal/Written Equal opportunities policy Training needs and objectives Further education/training policies Performance appraisal Promotion avenues Policy/procedures to prevent bullying and harassment WORKER/EMPLOYER RELATIONS First week Line manager Verbal Trade union membership Other worker representation Worker communications and consultation Grievance and disciplinary procedure Appeals procedure ORGANISATION RULES First week Mentor/Buddy Verbal/Coffee chat Smoking policy General behaviour/dress code Telephone calls/emails and use of the internet Canteen/break facilities Cloakroom/toilets/lockers HEALTH AND SAFETY First week Safety officer E learning Risk assessment Emergency procedures AREAS TO BE COVERED WHEN WHO HOW COMMENTS Awareness of hazards – any particular to type of work Safety rules Emergency procedures Clear gangways, exits Location of exits Reporting of accidents First aid Personal hygiene WELFARE AND WORKER BENEFITS/FACILITIES First month Section supervisor Coffee chat Sports facilities Protective clothing – supply, laundry, replacement Transport/parking arrangements Company discounts THE JOB First week Mentor/Buddy Coffee chat Introduction to manager/supervisor Requirements of new job Standards expected Co-workers Supervision and work performance appraisals Source: Induction, Appendix 3, acas. org. uk with small changes by Aleksandra Wozniak 2013 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pathology And Laboratory Medicine Organisation Health And Social Care Essay

Pathology And Laboratory Medicine Organisation Health And Social Care Essay My aims of this section will be achieved through independent research, reading and reviewing articles, books, newspapers and accredited websites which will be demonstrated throughout this process of reflection. State the activities that you have carried out to help you to achieve your learning goal? To build a basic understanding in pathology and laboratory medicine organisation several activities were carried out to reflect the learning goals. Initially, through the attendance of lectures, the basic understanding of the five major disciplines such as microbiology, histopathology, cytopathology, clinical chemistry, Haematology and transfusion science was developed which enabled me to appreciate the various roles in pathological science. In supplementation to the notes taken, a variety of books related to the learning objectives of each lecture, were analysed in order to build upon the knowledge gained. This was done through the use of taking notes after actively processing information absorbed. Subsequently, detailed research was undertaken to gain up to date information on the quality standards laid by accredited governing bodies such as IBMS and HPC. To demonstrate, focused learning took place that reflect individual learning goals by looking at relevant journal articles, webs ites, government reports and newspaper articles. Furthermore, peer group discussion helped in expanding knowledge beyond the scope of the module content by discussing the financial factors which influenced the delivery of pathological and laboratory medicine. To conclude, a continual process of reflection will take place to appreciate setbacks, changes and developments in the learning process. How have these activities helped you with your learning? Activities undertaken have had a varied impact on my learning and development of the subject matter. Attending lectures and listening has enabled me to actively process the information by writing down notes. Notes have enabled me to have a basic understanding of the subject matter for example, one of my learning goals was to understand the different disciplines involved in pathological and laboratory medicine. Subsequently, learning objectives were used as a basis for further research in literature. For example, one of my learning objectives was current and future settings for the delivery of pathology and laboratory medicine organisation. The relevant chapters within and beyond the recommended reading lists was read and further notes were taken to supplement my notes thus, further developing my understanding. Moreover, a more complex understanding of certain aspects with in the subject matter was achieved through the activity of reading and analysing current journals and government reports for instance, the Carter Report on National Health Service (NHS) pathology services. Furthermore, examining peered reviewed websites, which were easy to access, gave me valid and up to date information on the quality standards lay down by different governing bodies such as the Health Professional Council (HPC). This enabled me to gain a more focused understanding of the subject content as required. Another activity which aided my learning was taking part in peer group discussion in tutorials. This provided me with knowledge beyond the subject content. For instance, financial impacts on the role a biomedical scientist undertakes. Finally, rigorous reflection has supported my learning by allowing me to change and adapt my learning goals and developed my thought processes. Describe your progress with this topic during the previous three weeks Development within each week was made in accordance to the learning goals I set myself in that week. I created a logical sequence in order to meet aims set within each week, as demonstrated below: Week 1: Learning goals: 1, 5 and 7 To achieve my first learning goal, I attended week 1 lecture on What is pathology and laboratory medicine. This lecture and written notes gave me the understanding of the five major disciplines and sub-specialities and the professional roles associated such as doctors and clinical scientists. Moreover, the relevant books were read to gain a more detailed understanding, these were biomedical science practice: experimental and professional skills and articles such as general pathology helped in consolidating and extending my understanding of the subject. Subsequently, learning goal five was accomplished through lecture 1 and, again, written notes which were highlighted and condensed gave me a broader understanding into quality standards laid down by different governing bodies such as CPA and MHRA and how stringent guidelines, which are followed by pathological laboratories, enable quality and accurate service to be provided. In addition, books and articles such as biomedical science practice: experimental and professional skills chapter 19 were read. Moreover, specialist website such as www.CPA.org.uk and www.mhra.gov.uk/index.htm was looked at to gain an idea of the specific guidelines that need to be followed by laboratories. Finally, learning goal seven was achieved through lecture 1 and written notes gave me and understanding of the current and future settings for the delivery of the pathological medicine and how the current hospital based lab may become a factory warehouse to maximise space and meet the demands of the workload. To supplement this goal, articles such as the Carter Report was read to further focus my learning on how changes such as Hub and Spoke working could increase effectiveness of the delivery of pathological medicine. Week 2: Learning goals: 2 and 3 The second learning goal was achieved through attendance of the second lecture on pathology and laboratory medicine organisation. This lecture and written notes, again, enabled me to gain the understanding of the services provided by pathology and how it is split into core and specialists services. Furthermore, e-books such as An introduction to biomedical science in professional and clinical practice and from NHS specialised services website, information on specialist services was looked at to supplement my learning. Lastly, learning goal three was accomplished by the end of week 3 through the combination of lecture two and notes taken from e-books and articles such as Pre-analytical Variables in the Chemistry Laboratory helped to further enhance and focus my learning; presenting to me different prospective on the same matter thus, allowing me to reach my own conclusion Week 3: Learning goals: 4, 6 and 8 To attain learning goal four, lecture three in pathology and laboratory medicine allowed me to gain an understanding of the different professional bodies within pathology and their purpose. Notes and further reading in the relevant materials allowed me to actively process the information presented to me and develop my knowledge. To help supplement by progression towards achieving this learning goal, I looked at specialist websites created by the governing bodies in pathology medicine, such as www.cpa.org.uk to enable me to gain a specialist insight for instance, the role the professional bodies play in the successful delivery of BSc (Hons) in Biomedical science degree. Moreover, lecture three also allowed me to achieve learning goal six which was to understand the overall contribution of pathology medicine on healthcare. It demonstrated to me how the work undertaken by pathology laboratory is vital to the success and treatment of many diseases such as Tuberculosis (TB). Also, further research in to books like Biomedical sciences: essential laboratory medicine allowed me to gain appreciation of the broad spectrum of work carried out by biomedical scientist and their influence on healthcare. Finally, goal eight was also, achieved in lecture three as it gave me an brief insight into the role of private health care, NHSBT and pharmaceutical companies on pathology medicine. Furthermore, notes and further reading in newspapers such as the Guardian allowed me to understand that Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) is a way of creating Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to alleviate the financial constraints on the NHS as it cannot afford to do all the tests that is required of them however, in return for their funding, the repayments on the debt owed, is more than what was put in. Describe any setbacks that you have encountered in trying to achieve your learning goal. I believe the word setback can be seen as a positive step in achieving my goals in academia because they are not setbacks but, steps I should avoid when trying to achieve other goals. Setbacks came in many different forms when accomplishing goals in this section. To begin with first setback that I encountered was that my goals didnt reflect the objectives of the lectures. This meant that it was harder to come into the lecture prepared with a brief understanding as I had prepared for different learning goals which were in accordance with my plan. To overcome this I will try to create a plan that can adapt to change and try not to let this have too much of an impact or have an effect on performance within the lecture. Furthermore, another setback was that different array of resources were available in trying to achieve each learning goals. For example, for my first learning goal a wide array of resources was available such as books to articles to newspapers whereas, for some goals not all the types of resources were available. To overcome this I will try to allow more time for researching a particular goal and then while I am gathering information on the topic, I wi ll research again to look at more focused learning sources such as articles. Moreover, on some occasions, when I did locate the necessary articles the abstract was only available. This gave a brief insight, it would have been easier to draw valid conclusions and understand the subject content proposed, if the whole information was available. This was only a slight setback as to overcome this just meant refining my research so that I could locate the complete articles. Another setback was that we did not have a tutorial after the first lecture in pathology and laboratory medicine organisation this meant this impeded my ability to test whether the information that was taught in the lecture was understood and tutorial were also used to provide me with any further detail. However, this was no fault of mine but I just felt a tutorial after the first lecture would have been beneficial in testing the understanding of the lecture. Simply, for this setback I will continue to attend all futur e tutorials. Lastly, another setback was to try and complete the necessary section in time with the interim deadlines that I set myself, to effectively complete the learning log to a decent standard. This was because I did not anticipate the duration of which some the sections of the learning log will take. For example the section where it stated explain what you have learnt took longer than expected due to the further reading that I did. To overcome this I will set myself more realistic interim deadlines which are more reflective of ability to achieve them. Explain what you have learnt Gain an understanding of the different disciplines involved in pathology, for example, microbiology and histopathology, and the professional careers associated. As defined by Bezabeh et al. (2004) [online]), pathology is the scientific study of disease. It is derived from the Latin words patho meaning disease and logy meaning study. Therefore, pathology is the study of disease using scientific methods for example a haematologists will examine blood content by taking a blood test. There are five major disciplines and sub-specialities under pathology: Microbiology and Virology Histopathology Cytopathology and immunology Clinical Chemistry Haematology and Blood Transfusion Microbiology It is the study of pathogens that penetrate the bodys defences and cause disease. A microbiologist will understand the mode of function of a variety of different fungi, bacteria and parasites; they will identify the correct pathogen that has infected the host and recommend the correct antibiotic treatment to eliminate the disease. Many pathogenic diseases identified by microbiologists include tuberculosis, tetanus and meningitis. Virology This is the study of viruses and their mode of action in terms of penetration and infectious ability. Viral diseases that are commonly identified are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), chickenpox and German measles. Virologists also have major roles in the production and efficiency of vaccines. Histopathology This is the study of tissue structure and components which can relate to the establishment of disease. Common samples are from living individuals during surgery or deceased individuals in a post mortem. Sample size ranges from small samples such as biopsies to whole organs to identify the ailment afflicting the individual (Glencross, 2011). Moreover, histologists will look at abnormal features or functions of tissue to establish which disease is infecting the individual. Many types of tumours such as benign or malignant ones which lead to cancerous diseases such skin cancers are identified due to their appearance on the skin. Cytopathology This is the study of cells not tissues and abnormal features or components in cellular material will allow cytologists to identify the infecting disease. The samples are from a wide variety of sources such as cervical smears or natural shedding in the mouth when a swab is taken (Glencross, 2011). This is then studied under a microscope. Clinical cytopathologists, medical staff and biomedical scientists work closely together to interpret the results from a patient and administer the correct diagnosis to the affected individual. Immunology It is the study of the immune system and its role in inhibiting infectious diseases such as tumours, parasitic infestations and allergies. Their samples come from a wide array of sources such as blood samples and urine samples. Variety of tests which are carried out by immunologists on samples can be either automated or manual (Glencross, 2011). A disease of the immune system is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) which is the result of a HIV infection. AIDS disables the immune system thus, allowing infected individual to become more prone to diseases and without a defence mechanism the individual dies. Clinical chemistry Tests on blood or other biological materials such as urine are carried out to understand and diagnose diseases such as diabetes which renders a person unable to absorb sugar properly which can lead to dangerously high blood-sugar levels in the blood plasma which leads to a Hyperosmolar Hyperglycaemic State (HHS) which is life threatening (Diabetes UK, 2012) [online]). Toxicology studies on the liver and kidney are also carried out and tests can be done to monitor the development of disease. Haematology This is the study of the physiology of blood samples taken by nurses. Samples are required by medical staff such as doctors to identify diseases such as anaemia or leukaemia. Haematological tests will identify in the blood sample, the amount erythrocytes or haemoglobin is present so that medical staffs and biomedical scientists can determine if the patient is anaemic so that treatment can start immediately. Transfusion science Transfusion science involves the sorting, identification and administration of blood and blood products to individuals that require it. For example, anaemic patients, patients suffering from blood loss or individuals involved in a road traffic accident. The primary source of blood is from blood donors who can donate their blood which is then stored and prepared for re-administration to individuals that require it (Glencross, 2011). Blood is regarded as a product so, it is highly regulated by the MHRA which makes sure that hospitals and other organisation follow EU directives which were transferred into UK law through the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 in UK Blood transfusion and tissue transplantation service (UKBTS), 2012) [online]. There are many professional careers that are in pathology. They are: Doctors Clinical Scientists Biomedical Scientists Assistant Practitioners Cytoscreeners Medical Laboratory Assistants Anatomical Pathology Technicians Administration and Clerical staff There are many routes to each of the professions for example, to become a biomedical scientist, who can specialise in any of the five departments of pathology after further training, a Bachelors of Science (BSc) degree in biomedical science must be obtained and state registration on the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC) register is also required to be able to practice as a biomedical scientists in the National Health Service (NHS) or other organisations. To understand the organisation within pathology and laboratory medicine including the variety of specialist services provided. There are services in pathology and laboratory medicine that can be classified under: traditional, core and specialist services. The five major departments within pathology are categorised under these three services. As stated by Beastall (2008) the NHS laboratories have always provided twenty-four hour services in clinical biochemistry, haematology and blood transfusion. However, services in microbiology and histopathology have been provided by core laboratories may that be not always on a daily basis. The above services cover the five major departments which should be provided to everyone and at most if not every NHS hospital. Specialist services as defined by (NHS specialised services, 2012) [online] is a service that has a planning population of one million which means that it will not be available to everyone or by every hospital, typically, it is provided by less than 50 hospitals. Such services relate to rare disorders or conditions such as mutations in lymphomas and leukaemia s which require specialist equipment in pathology laboratories for diagnosis and treatment. There are a variety of services of specialist services that have developed for example Ophthalmic Pathology Services which diagnoses and provides advice on eye conditions. Services include diagnosis for malignant and non-malignant conditions for a variety of specimens including eyelid, conjunctiva and cornea. Moreover, a more recent development of specialised services in histopathology and haematological oncology services is molecular pathology which looks at genetic analysis for the diagnosis and prognosis of tumours in breast cancers, lymphomas and leukaemias. A demonstration of good practice is the Fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) testing human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein (HER2) in breast cancer to select patients suitable for Herceptin  ®. Herceptin  ® is the first monoclonal antibody which binds onto the HER2 receptor blocking human growth factor from binding thus preventing the chance of uncontrolled replications which lead to tumours. To determine whether patients require Herceptin  ® patients are tested using immunohistocompatibility (IHC) test which detects HER2 proteins through staining tumour cell membranes (Breastcancer.org, 2012) [online]. Many other specialist services are provided by the pathology laboratory medicine departments in the NHS to treat complex disorders that your average NHS hospital cannot deal with such as Bone Marrows, Colourimetric in Situ Hybridisation (CISH) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests. To understand the process that takes place when the samples arrive in pathological lab to when it leaves There are three stages in the processing of samples from when it arrives to when it leaves, these are: Pre-analytical Analytical Post-analytical Pre-analytical It is a phase in the process which deals with the request for a sample to be taken to when it is ready for the analytical phase in a laboratory. In this phase nearly 32 75% of errors occurs which delays and makes the job of a biomedical scientist harder (Magee (2005) [online]). There are many types of errors than can occur, these are: Patient Identification: this is important as you need to take the sample from the correct patient. If it is done incorrectly then this can contribute to laboratory error Patient Preparation: this is again very important because if one needs to take a blood sample to test glucose level, the patient has to fast prior to the sample collection so that when the sample is taken it will not give an inaccurate reading Proper Tube Mixing: once the blood sample has been taken correctly then good mixing needs to occur to distribute the clotting factors in the tube evenly so that the sample does not clot in anyway Correct Specimen Volume: this s essential as each specified volume on the tube has the correct additive and if too much is added to a tube which is above the specified, it will distort the blood-additive ratio thus contributing to a lab error (Magee (2005) [online]) There are many other errors that could occur, above is a synoptic view of the wide variety of errors that could occur. Analytical phase This phase is when the specimen that has been taken, for example, a blood sample is tested in an auto analyser or other analytical machines to get a full blood count of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. This is done electronically and there is a very low error rate. The possibility of error only occurs with human intervention during reading and recording result or when the specimen is put into the machine. An error could also occur if the machine is faulty and that its fault is not picked up in time. Post-analytical phase This phase involves the time form when it has been fully analysed to when it arrives back at the organisation from where it came from. This phase also can have a lot of errors in it which again reduces the accuracy of results. There are many errors that could occur, for example: If an analyst is under pressure to produce test results required urgently, he or she may be tempted to present the results which look credible but has been achieved through the breach of Westgards rules which is identified through internal quality control (Pitt and Cunningham, 2009, pp. 111) [online]). This error or factor may highlight someone as ill when they are not, which is very serious. Post analytic data entry error: this is dangerous as it can highlight someone as ill when they are not Oral miscommunication of results Error in reporting to downstream printer and fax Provider fails to retrieve test result: this causes further delays and the sample has to be searched and retrieved Failure to communicate critical value Provider misinterprets lab result: this and the above error again could harm the patient as they could be given drugs that they do not require There are many other errors that could occur in this phase and these errors are a direct result of human error. To make the system more efficient the pre and post-analytical phase should become more automated to reduce the risk of human error however, this action may reduce the number of jobs available to medical laboratory assistants which again is another factor to consider when trying making pathology medicine more efficient. To find out about the different professional bodies within pathology and their purpose There are four main professional bodies that governs pathology, they are: Institute for Biomedical Science (IBMS) Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Clinical Pathology Accreditation (CPA) The IBMS is a professional body for biomedical science in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1912 and has 16000 active members. The body aims to promote and develop biomedical science and its members. It has three primary roles in biomedical science: General This involves setting standards of practices for biomedical scientists to protect patients. Also, the institute represents the interests of biomedical science to the universities, media and government. Furthermore, they promote public awareness and advises government departments on all matters relating to biomedical science Educational The institute accredits university degrees and assess qualifications for registration with the HCPC. Also, they assess the competence for biomedical scientists to practice and they award Chartered Scientists status. Scientific They update members through meeting and professional events and organise continual professional development schemes. Furthermore, they publish scientific research and professional development documents. They help part fund critical research in the development of medicine. Also, they can be assessors for senior job interviews The role of the IBMS is not explicitly narrowed down to the above as they also, work closely with the institute of HCPC to help develop and accredit competent biomedical scientists. The HCPC is a UK-wide regulatory body which is responsible for setting and maintaining standards of proficiency, professional training, performance and conduct of healthcare professionals. The purpose of imposing regulations is to protect the patient, the professionals and to prosecute anyone who breaks their rules and regulations. Moreover, the HCPC publishes a wide variety of documents to help registered scientists to understand exactly what is required of them when practicing. Also, in the documents on the HCPC website, there are several rules on how to act in the best interest of your patient and how to keep high standards of personal conduct. For example, one of the rules is that you should be aware that conduct outside your programme may affect whether or not you are allowed to complete your programme or register with us (HCPC (2012) [online]). This means that the conduct of a biomedical scientist regulated in and out of the work place and any wrongdoing of a biomedical scientists will be referred to the HCPC for conduct unfitting for a professional outside of work and although this does not mean they will be struck of the register, there is still a possibility of this happening (Ricketts, 2012). Moreover, to continue to remain on this register, it is obligatory to sign a personal declaration every two ye ars, confirming that he or she meets their standards of proficiency and competence to practice. Also, evidence for Continual Professional Development (CPD) is required to prove the validity of the personal declaration document (Glencross, 2011). The CPA originated in 1992, from a collaboration of four institutes: the Royal College of Pathologists, the Association of Clinical Pathologists, the Institute of Biomedical Science, and the Association for Clinical Biochemistry. CPA primarily accredited medical laboratories but now they have extended their accreditation to External Quality Assessment (EQA) schemes. The CPA is a non-profiting distributing institute that act in the best interest of the public (CPA (2012) [online]). Moreover, the CPA evaluates and declares the capability of the medical laboratories and External Quality Assessments (EQA) schemes in the UK and overseas. This will give the public the confidence that there specimens, are sent to laboratories that adhere to the strictest regulations and will be treated properly. Although this registration for laboratories is voluntary, if they do enrol it will demonstrate that they have been assessed against the accepted standards and will ensure that there is the highest standards in the NHS laboratories (CPA (2012) [online]). There are many other governing bodies such as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which regulate the blood products in a pathological laboratory. This is essential in pathology as peoples lives are at stake and the results are needed to be accurate as it can determine whether a patient is critically or not. This gives the public confidence that the tests are carried to the highest accuracy and that the laboratory abides by the strictest rules to provide highly quality outcomes. To learn about the quality standards laid down by different governing bodies which all biomedical scientists and pathological laboratories are obliged to follow. The environment of healthcare is very controlled, with internal and external quality control checks to ensure that the highest standards are maintained at all times. To assess this conformation, there are formal standards to comply with also there are clinical and non-clinical checks by independent assessors of the laboratory from the CPA, if the laboratory is registered with them. This will ensure a high standard is maintained in every individual associated with the laboratory. There are many governing bodies, United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), CPA, Human Tissue Authority (HTA) and MHRA, which assess clinical laboratories against a wide variety of standards. This is done through professional quality inspectors and peer assessors from within the profession. The CPA which is a part of UKAS works to accredit medical laboratories to standards laid down in ISO 15189, Medical laboratories Particular requirements for quality and competence which incorporates ISO 9001 which are adhered to by the CPA. In these international standards, they cover eight major areas: Organisation and quality management system (A standards) Personnel (B standards) Premises and environment (C standards) Equipment, information systems, and materials (D standards) Pre-Examination process (E standards) Examination process (F standards) Post examination process (G standards) Evaluation and quality assurance (H standards) CPA assessment will take place every four years by three assessors, two from UKAS and one peer assessors which are normally clinical experts in specific fields such as immunology (Glencross, 2011). All of this is done to ensure that patient specimen examinations are done accurately, to a high standard and conform to high health safety standards to give the patient the highest confidence that the tests will be carried out properly and the results will be accurate. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) regulates medicines, medical devices and equipment used in healthcare and investigates harmful incidents. Also, they regulate blood and blood products to ensure that when administered to patients that the blood sample has been treated, stored and administered in accordance with the rules set down by the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations (BSQR) (MHRA (2008) [online]). MHRA inspection takes place when a laboratory fills in an online compliance report to the MHRA, they will then assess the report in accordance to the BSQR and then if any further action is required, MHRA will send an inspector who will check the traceability, quality and storage of blood to ensure the laboratory is complying to the MHRA standards, this will normally take about a day to complete (Glencross, 2011) Also, MHRA publish standards on medicine and medicinal devices to ensure that any medical product has been stringently regulated to ensure highest patient safety. They regulate a variety of thing such as new biological compound or chemical compounds, new forms of existing medicines and r

Nuclear Weapons And The Development Of Nuclear Warfare Essay -- Nuclea

Nuclear weapons are the most powerful and destructive technology ever created. From the first notion that nuclear technology could be harnessed to create a bomb, massive amounts of time and energy (as well as government funding) have been invested in further increasing the destructive yield of nuclear weapons. The process of development was carried out independently by governments worldwide. Despite the segregation of groups of scientists and secrecy surrounding their discoveries, design strategies and problems remained basically the same in all development projects with similar solutions being realized more or less concurrently. The first and most basic fission bomb quickly evolved to produce higher and higher yields. Through discoveries and modifications, nuclear technology evolved to eventually produce fission-fusion weapons, which are what compose most of the nuclear arsenal today. Further development, ironic as it may seem, is highly unnecessary and unlikely (except, perhaps, t o increase efficiency) due to the ridiculous power wielded in every modern thermonuclear weapon. The popular modern threat of nuclear weapons is the possibility of terrorist groups acquiring the materials to produce bombs. 'Lo-tech' nuclear weapons are feasible and would seem highly desirable for such groups to possess. The home enthusiast might even flirt with the idea of creating his or her own nuclear arsenal. Assuming one could obtain 10-20kg of highly enriched fissionable material, this may not be such a romantic idea after all. There are a number of things anyone must know about nuclear weapons, however, before declaring themselves a nuclear power. Fission Weapons (Atomic Bombs) Fission weapons, or "Atomic Bombs", are based on nuclear fission. Nuclear fission occurs when the nuclei of certain isotopes of heavy elements (such as uranium or plutonium) capture neutrons. The result is that the nuclei become unstable and break apart into two smaller nuclei. This process converts some of the mass into energy and releases varying numbers of neutrons that go on to collide with other nuclei causing them to break apart and so on and so on. In nature this process is irrelevant due to the low natural occurrence and densities of radioactive isotopes. During weapons construction, however, isotopes are refined and concentrated to ultra-pure forms so that fission can occur at the ... ...can be added on. The fusion reaction can go on to start another fusion reaction and so on with unlimited yield. The most powerful weapon ever conceived was of a similar design. The Russian "Tsar Bomba" (King of Bombs) was a fission-fusion-fusion weapon with an additional fission jacket surrounding the third stage that would have produced a yield of at least 100 megatons if it were ever exploded. Without the additional fission jacket it still produced the largest nuclear explosion ever at 50 megatons. Works Cited Brown, Richard K. "Nuclear Weapons Diagrams" href="http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/hew/Library/Brown/index.html">http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/hew/Library/Brown/index.html "Nuclear Explosive Devices" href="http://www.accutek.com/~moistner/homepg1.htm">http://www.accutek.com/~moistner/homepg1.htm Sublette, Carey "The High Energy Weapons Archive: A Guide to Nuclear Weapons" <a href="http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/hew/">http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/hew/ "The Atomic Bomb" <a href="http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/4526/index1.html">http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/4526/index1.html Nuclear Weapons And The Development Of Nuclear Warfare Essay -- Nuclea Nuclear weapons are the most powerful and destructive technology ever created. From the first notion that nuclear technology could be harnessed to create a bomb, massive amounts of time and energy (as well as government funding) have been invested in further increasing the destructive yield of nuclear weapons. The process of development was carried out independently by governments worldwide. Despite the segregation of groups of scientists and secrecy surrounding their discoveries, design strategies and problems remained basically the same in all development projects with similar solutions being realized more or less concurrently. The first and most basic fission bomb quickly evolved to produce higher and higher yields. Through discoveries and modifications, nuclear technology evolved to eventually produce fission-fusion weapons, which are what compose most of the nuclear arsenal today. Further development, ironic as it may seem, is highly unnecessary and unlikely (except, perhaps, t o increase efficiency) due to the ridiculous power wielded in every modern thermonuclear weapon. The popular modern threat of nuclear weapons is the possibility of terrorist groups acquiring the materials to produce bombs. 'Lo-tech' nuclear weapons are feasible and would seem highly desirable for such groups to possess. The home enthusiast might even flirt with the idea of creating his or her own nuclear arsenal. Assuming one could obtain 10-20kg of highly enriched fissionable material, this may not be such a romantic idea after all. There are a number of things anyone must know about nuclear weapons, however, before declaring themselves a nuclear power. Fission Weapons (Atomic Bombs) Fission weapons, or "Atomic Bombs", are based on nuclear fission. Nuclear fission occurs when the nuclei of certain isotopes of heavy elements (such as uranium or plutonium) capture neutrons. The result is that the nuclei become unstable and break apart into two smaller nuclei. This process converts some of the mass into energy and releases varying numbers of neutrons that go on to collide with other nuclei causing them to break apart and so on and so on. In nature this process is irrelevant due to the low natural occurrence and densities of radioactive isotopes. During weapons construction, however, isotopes are refined and concentrated to ultra-pure forms so that fission can occur at the ... ...can be added on. The fusion reaction can go on to start another fusion reaction and so on with unlimited yield. The most powerful weapon ever conceived was of a similar design. The Russian "Tsar Bomba" (King of Bombs) was a fission-fusion-fusion weapon with an additional fission jacket surrounding the third stage that would have produced a yield of at least 100 megatons if it were ever exploded. Without the additional fission jacket it still produced the largest nuclear explosion ever at 50 megatons. Works Cited Brown, Richard K. "Nuclear Weapons Diagrams" href="http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/hew/Library/Brown/index.html">http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/hew/Library/Brown/index.html "Nuclear Explosive Devices" href="http://www.accutek.com/~moistner/homepg1.htm">http://www.accutek.com/~moistner/homepg1.htm Sublette, Carey "The High Energy Weapons Archive: A Guide to Nuclear Weapons" <a href="http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/hew/">http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/hew/ "The Atomic Bomb" <a href="http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/4526/index1.html">http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/4526/index1.html

the bomb :: essays research papers

I read the book After the Bomb. I though this was a great book. The beginning of the book went slow. It was not very interesting. Philip is the main character. He likes to play the guitar and he likes girls. Matt, Philips, older brother is dating the girl he likes Cara. Cara is a popular girl at school. The book takes place in a town in the outskirts of Los Angeles, California.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the book Philip is trying to keep his family alive. The book starts in Philips room when he is playing his guitar. Then he goes down to dinner. The next night him and Matt go to the dance at their school. Matt is talking to a lot of girls so Cara takes Philip to dance on the dance floor. Then after the dance Philip goes home to practice his guitar and then he went to bed. The next day Matt barrows some money from Philip. That night at dinner Philip and his mother get into a very big fight.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Philip gets his guitar and goes in to the bomb shelter. Then Matt and Cara go down into the shelter to try to cheer him up. After a little while of talking they hear a very loud sudden sound. Matt opens the top of the shelters door and see’s a very bright dome shaped light. He jumps back into the shelter as fast as he could. Cara started freaking out and crying. A few minutes after the bomb stuck the earth Matt went out looking for his mother. After a while Philip starts to get very worried and goes out to check if Matt is all right. He see’s Matt trying to pick up his mother up so Philip goes and helps his brother pick up his mother and take her to the shelter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Philips mother is very severely burnt. She has burns all over her body from head to toe. Matt starts getting radiation sickness and throughs up. Philip goes to see if he could get help. Mean while the shelter starts to get real hot inside. Then Philip returns and gets his family to go next door to take shelter in the next door neighbors house’s basement. They stay cool there until all of the fires the bomb started go out and until the air gets better. After the fire goes out Philip and Cara go to explore.

Literature - Postmodernism, Economic Domination, and the Function of Art :: Literature Essays Literary Criticism

Postmodernism: Economic Domination and the Function of Art    Does aesthetic creativity relate to or influence reality? Does art possess the capacity to heal society? These questions seem implicit to Walker Percy's understanding of literature and art in general. Literature is a thought-involved process concerned with communication; it selves as a moral guidepost to commend society as well as correct it. Literature represents and describes; it presents readers with a method of articulating and resolving problems in society.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "So it is clear that redescribing a world is the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   necessary first step towards changing it" (Rushdie   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   18).       Art, in one sense, creates its own political agenda. Percy pursues his diagnostic theory of literature having reckoned with the basic relationship between language and life. Percy seems to answer the initial two questions posed with a resounding yes.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The issue of art's impact upon a society is not quite so easily resolved, however. Not every person writes or thinks about art with the same set of assumptions. In order to strike at the heart of the question "what is the purpose of art?" we must first identify, understand and appreciate certain fundamental assumptions inquiries, mediating contexts, surrounding the political nature of art and the role of the artist in authentic creativity. I would like to frame my discussion within the apparent struggle between two ideological contexts: modernism and postmodernism. Using Percy's diagnostic theory of literature to facilitate the discussion, we can examine how modem and postmodern assumptions attempt to shape the purpose of aesthetic creativity.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Percy's approach to art is inherently modern. He is concerned with unity and truth and achieving them through the creative process. Modernism claims to Speak to some form of ideological absolute, a universal quality. All things ultimately move to reveal a unified whole, a universe bathed in Truth. Reason is the primary tool of the modernist. It is privileged above all other human faculties. Reason allows humanity to possess knowledge, to know, to assimilate, to unify. Truth and knowledge are hopelessly intertwined. The search for knowledge is thus the search for truth as well. Percy mirrors this modern reverence for the power of human thought, when he claims that literature is essentially cognitive. Art is an expansion and extension of the mind. Art is thus actively involved in the search for Truth.

Aspects of a Tragic Hero

Aspects of a Tragic Hero To be a tragic hero, the character must show a great strength of heroism, including a vulnerability, that could lead to his or her demise. Sophocles, the great ancient playwright of the Greek Empire was as popular then as he is today. Antigone, one of his many plays, is still appreciated in modern day literature. Sophocles’ main characters Antigone and Creon are both similar and diverse in which they could qualify as tragic heroes. Antigone and Creon have very many similar traits that could qualify them both as tragic heroes. Creon demonstrates excessive pride by declaring that â€Å"He would never have any dealings with an enemy of the people† (1. 26-27 Sophocles). Creon only wanted Antigone to be an enemy of the people to allow his pride to stand strong. Even though Creon had sent down the orders to lay Antigione‘s brother, Polyneices, â€Å"out for the birds†, Antigone is determined to go against Creon’s demands for what she feels is right, therefore becoming a battle of wills. In contrasting Antigone and Creon, Antigone’s actions could be viewed as hubris, but she was only doing what was right for the sake of someone else, and probably would have done it for anybody. Where as Creon uses every moment to prove his power, instead of even considering what is right. This is proven true, even to the end when Creon wants to kill Antigone for her betrayal to him and his pride, while Antigone accepts it and decides to die with dignity. Unlike a samurai in Japan dying with dignity would not be submitting to their enemy, it would have been to take it into your own hands before the enemy had the pleasure (Strayer394). Antigone and Creon could qualify as tragic heroes because they were both equally Traylor2 engrossed in preserving their own pride. In the play, the gods look down upon Creon in his actions he took toward the burials of Etocles and Polyneices. This was enough for the gods to create a dust storm, so the reader thinks, until the dust settles. They soon realize it was Antigone creating it to cover up her underhanded plans to give her brother a proper burial. As you can see, both Antigone and Creon will go to tragic lengths to fulfill their desires. Traylor3 Works Cited Sophocles. â€Å"Antigone. † Holt McDougal Literature. Texas: Holt McDougal. 1068-1106. Print. Strayer, Robert W. Ways of the World: a Brief Global History. Boston: Bedford/St Martin's, 2009. Print.

An Analysis of the Poem Dusting by Julia Alvarez

Sarah Winn 11/13/12 Literature Mrs. Wiggins â€Å"Dusting† Julia Alvarez In the poem â€Å"Dusting† written by Julia Alvarez, a young girl tries to leave imprints on the dusty objects in her house in which later are wiped away by her mother. ‘Each morning I wrote my name / on the dusty cabinet, then crossed / the dining table in script, scrawled / in capitals on the back of chairs, / practicing signatures like scales† (1-5) I believe that the author is trying to compare the young girl’s aspirations to her mother’s.In life, the girl wishes to leave her imprint on the world. Her goals are larger than life itself, and they refuse to break. No matter how often her mother wiped away the smudged fingerprints, they would always reappear. In the poem, the girls shows us how she â€Å"refused with every mark / to be like her, anonymous† (17-18). This statement shows us how the girl feels about her mother’s accomplishments.She believes tha t her mother achieved as much as anyone else; her mother’s achievements are almost transparent to her – anonymous. She can’t stand the thought of ending up like this, so day after day, she continues to leave her mark. As a child, your aspirations are wild. Many of us wish to accomplish more in our lives than our family members, especially some of our parents. At some point we all wish to be recognized as something bigger – something that no one has witnessed before.We have a need for appreciation. Ever since I was young, I’ve wanted to accomplish great things. I’ve hit setbacks in school and at home, but I’ve never let them break me. Even when I was little, whenever I received a good grade on an assignment or test, I would rush home to call my mom and dad to tell them. Seeing that look in their eyes that says â€Å"I’m so proud to call you mine. † Thats what gives a child the will to succeed. The will to never let those small fingerprints across the table disappear.

Quantitative Easing

Evan Schrager 11/14/2011 Quantitative Easing Research Paper The term  quantitative easing  (QE) describes a process in which the Federal Reserve expands its balance sheet through purchasing back government bonds from financial institutions with electronically created funds. The government purchases, by way of account deposits, give banks the excess reserves required for them to create new money by the process of  deposit multiplication  from increased lending in the fractional reserve banking system. As the supply of medium and long-term government bonds decreases, their prices increase. This leads to a decrease in their yield; yields are often a determinant of long-term interest rates, mortgages and most business lending. Since it is easier for individuals to borrow money, consumer wealth increases, which leads to investment and consumption increases as well. Risks include the policy being more effective than intended, spurring  hyperinflation, or the risk of not being effective enough, if banks opt simply to pocket the additional cash in order to increase their capital reserves in a climate of increasing defaults in their present loan portfolio. In the quantitative easing process, the Fed goes to a network of dealers, in search of Treasury bonds. The Fed buys the bonds in a competitive bidding process between the approved bond dealers. The Fed takes a bond certificate and gives the dealers freshly printed US dollars. The transactions are done electronically, but it is still referred to as printed money. The US  Federal Reserve  held between $700 billion and $800 billion of Treasury notes on its balance sheet before the current recession. In late November 2008, the Fed started buying $600 billion in  Mortgage-backed securities. By March 2009, it held $1. 75 trillion of bank debt, MBS, and Treasury notes, and reached a peak of $2. 1 trillion in June 2010. The primary dealers can offer to sell the Fed bonds held by their clients. The newly printed money moves from the Fed, to the dealer, to the client’s brokerage account. Cash is moving directly into the real economy. The customer can buy another bond, buy stocks, use it at the grocery store, or simply keep the cash. Right now, however, cash is earning next to nothing, so investors are motivated to find alternative stores of value. They are motivated to spend or invest their cash. With an ongoing battle taking place between inflationary and deflationary forces in the economy and financial markets, it is extremely important for investors to understand how â€Å"quantitave easing† programs will impact their investments and their long term purchasing power. Since quantitative easing represents a threat to our wealth based on its potential adverse impact, this topic warrants serious attention above and beyond a boilerplate analysis. Common references to â€Å"cash sitting at banks† will give investors a poor read on what quantitative easing is and the possible ramifications for our portfolios and the economy. In order to put QE in context, I will discuss the Japanese deflationary spiral of the ‘90s. Japan suffered from stagflation throughout the 1990’s, so the Bank of Japan instituted a quantitative easing program of its own, referred to as QEP. The QEP consisted of three key elements: â€Å"(1) The BOJ changed its main operating target from the uncollateralized overnight call rate to the outstanding current account balances (CABs) held by financial institutions at the BOJ (i. e. , bank reserves), and ultimately boosted the CAB well in excess of required reserves. 2) The BOJ boosted its purchases of government bonds, including long-term JGBs, and some other assets, in order to help achieve the targeted increases in CABs. (3) The BOJ committed to maintain the QEP until the core CPI (which in Japan is defined to exclude perishables but not energy) stopped declining. † The effect of the Bank of Japan’s liquidity injections on bank lending was muted by the substitut ion of central bank liquidity for interbank liquidity. Second, despite the dampening of the stimulus from the liquidity injections due to this substitution, there was a positive and significant effect of liquidity on bank lending. This implies that quantitative easing can affect the supply of credit, particularly during periods of financial stress. However, the overall effect was fairly small, so that huge amounts of liquidity would have been needed to achieve noticeable effects. Third, weak banks benefited more from QEP than stronger banks. However, â€Å"the rapid unwinding of liquidity infusions observed at the conclusion of QEP had little impact on lending growth once bank health and confidence in the banking system had been restored. † It is possible that QEP exerted ositive effects, but that these were simply overwhelmed by the drag on total spending coming from weakness in the banking sector and balance sheet problems among households and firms. Since there are a number of ways that QEP may have stimulated spending, we can infer that the QE programs in the United States will stimulate some spending as well, but perhaps we will overestimate the effects just like Japan did years ago. When you consi der some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds may participate in QE, you can understand the potentially broad impact of the Fed’s actions. The largest ones control billions of dollars. With the currency risk involved when foreigners hold treasury bonds, it is not a stretch to believe that some sovereign wealth funds will be interested in selling some of their treasuries to the Fed in exchange for newly printed US dollars. They may also quickly exchange the cash for gold, silver, copper, oil or stocks to reduce their currency risk. Fears of future inflation can make cash unattractive in the eyes of investors and consumers. A big part of the Fed’s approach is to increase the expectations of future inflation since it can change the investing and buying habits of businesses and consumers. Since there are many unknowns, and many moving parts, listen with skepticism to anyone who claims to know the long term impacts of QE programs on both the financial markets and the economy. † We need to better understand the QE process, and monitor and assess the market’s reaction to details as they are released by the Fed. We must be willing to make inflationary a nd deflationary adjustments based on market internals and economic data. Adopting a â€Å"QE will work or won’t work† approach in advance would be highly speculative. Flexibility is always important in the markets, but maybe more so when it comes to the possible long term impacts of QE. This newly printed money will find its way around the globe, impacting currencies, commodities, and foreign stock markets. According to Brian P. Sack of the NYFRB, â€Å"The effect of asset purchases on the economy remains a point of ongoing debate, with some uncertainty about the channels through which such purchases operate and the magnitude of those effects†¦ In particular, by purchasing longer term securities, the Federal Reserve removes duration risk form the market, which should help reduce the term premium that investors demand for holding longer term securities. That effect should, in turn, oost other asset prices, as those investors displaced by the Fed’s purchases would likely seek to hold alternative types of securities. † â€Å"Nevertheless, balance sheet policy can still lower longer-term borrowing costs for many households and businesses, and it adds to household wealth by keeping asset prices higher than they otherwise would be. It seems highly unli kely that the economy is completely insensitive to borrowing costs and wealth, or to other changes in broad financial conditions. † Notice the references to â€Å"boosting asset prices,† and â€Å"lowering borrowing costs,† and â€Å"adding to household wealth by keeping asset prices higher. From Mr. Sack’s perspective, the Fed buys intermediate term treasuries, which drives down the yield for new investors. Mr. Sack hypothesizes that those new investors will decide to purchase other bonds, perhaps with longer maturities as they search for higher yields. As the Fed pushes demand to other areas of the bond market, longer term interest rates would fall. As new investors look at their options, they may decide to purchase other high yielding assets since the Fed’s actions have made yields on more conservative investments unattractive. Since the Fed promises to remain in the market with QE for an extended period, the risk associated with holding stocks, higher yielding bonds, commodities, precious metals and real estate are reduced. If you think in extremes, if the Fed stated that all treasuries would pay no interest for the next 5 years, investors would move into investments with more risk in search of higher yields. A good way to summarize QE is as follows: QE attempts to lower long term interest rates, keep them low for a pre-defined period of time, while pouring cash into the economy in an effort to boost consumption and investment. Like gold, US dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. The government has technology that allows it to produce as many US dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost. By increasing the number of US dollars in circulation, or by threatening to do so, the US government can reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is the same as raising the price in dollars of those goods and services. Thus, we can conclude that, under a paper money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and hence, positive inflation. The important takeaway is the concept, which is to print money, and devalue the purchasing power of US dollars in your wallet/bank account. Based on the government and Fed’s extreme actions during the financial crisis, it is safe to say that we have a determined government. Investors cannot underestimate how determined our government will be, in terms of â€Å"how much money are they willing to print? † and â€Å"what assets are they willing to buy? † For example, if buying T-bonds doesn’t work, what prevents them from moving to corporate bonds, stocks, residential housing, or commercial real estate? That sounds extreme, but five or six years ago, having the Fed buy treasury bonds or having the government take over AIG seemed extreme. But that happened right before our eyes. A problem around the globe is weak balance sheets from consumers to corporations to municipalities all the way up to the United States’ assets and liabilities ledger. There are two ways to address weak balance sheets. You can attack the asset side or the liability side. During recessions, bad debt is removed from the system when entities go out of business, defaulting on their debts. This is a painful part of a recession, but is necessary to allow capital to reform, which eventually leads to new investment and sustainable economic growth. The hard way to address our problems with balance sheets is to let those who deserve to fail go out of business. Unfortunately for the country’s long term outlook, the hard way, or short term pain, does not sit well with those in positions of power—especially politicians, who are always concerned about the next election. This is a huge flaw: we need to think in terms of what is best for the future of our country instead of thinking in the short term. If we need to reduce our standard of living in order to combat the national deficit, then so be it. Americans need to stop complaining about the recessionary conditions and must make sacrifices now in order to guarantee future standards of living. In order to understand all of the bailouts, government takeovers, and money printing, you basically need to think about powerful people in business and government who are simply trying to stay in power, regardless of whether or not their actions are in the best long term interest of shareholders, taxpayers, and ordinary hard working citizens. These comments do not apply to the select few in positions of power who still make decisions based upon sound principles and integrity, but most politicians do not. I’ll stay away from this topic because it is a political issue, but quite relevant so I felt it was worth mentioning. In a healthy credit market, banks lend while consumers and businesses borrow to invest and consume. Demand, based upon available credit, boosts asset prices and profits. As asset prices rise, balance sheets strengthen. With healthy balance sheets, businesses and consumers feel wealthy, and borrow more, invest more, and consume more. This is known as the wealth effect. As asset prices rise, the collateral backing the loans remains sound, allowing the banks to lend even more, and around and around we go, until credit causes the creation of too much supply. A good example is the recent overbuilding in the housing market. Then asset prices begin to fall. Now the wealth effect becomes the reverse wealth effect, as consumers, businesses, and banks begin to see their net worth deteriorate. When the Fed lowers interest rates, they attempt to spur borrowing and lending. This, in turn, can get the wealth effect back into gear, as borrowed money creates demand for goods, services, and assets. In the present day, traditional banks are reluctant to lend, and many consumers either don’t want a loan, or cannot get a loan. In this environment, the Fed, via QE, is trying to spark the wealth effect by attempting to re-inflate asset prices. QE II refers to the decision in November 2010 in which the FOMC announced the purchases of 600 billion longer-term treasury debt. A fair question to ask is, â€Å"Why did we pursue QEII? There are several reasons the government went through with another round of QE. Firstly, the Japanese experience with mild deflation and a near-zero nominal interest rate has been poor. Second, inflation in the US was close to the implicit FOMC inflation target during the first part of 2010. However, during 2010, a renewed disinflation trend developed and the recovery slowed down in the summer of ’10. These developments leav e the US at risk of a Japanese-style outcome. Was QEII effective? The financial markets effects of QEII looked the same as if the FOMC had reduced the policy rate substantially. Specifically, real interest rates declined, the dollar depreciated, and equity prices rose. These are the classic financial market effects one might observe when the Fed eases monetary policy in ordinary times (in an interest rate targeting environment). The QEII experience shows that monetary policy can be eased aggressively even when the policy rate is near zero. However, it is difficult to observe the overall effects of QE and QEII because of the lags involved. Effects on the real economy would be expected to lag by six to twelve months. Real effects are difficult to disentangle because other shocks hit the economy in the meantime. This happened, apparently, during the first half of 2011, and is a standard problem in evaluating monetary policy. Overall, QE2 has shown that the Fed can conduct an effective monetary stabilization policy even when policy rates are near zero. Now I will discuss investment strategies for inflationary and deflationary outcomes of quantitative easing. Inflationary and deflationary forces coupled with possible Fed intervention require a flexible approach to financial markets. Common sense tells us that money printing is probably not the path to long term prosperity, but I do believe QE can impact asset prices in a manner not fully understood by many individual investors as well as many financial advisors. If the Fed is successful for a period of time, I would invest in inflation friendly and weak-dollar assets such as gold, silver, copper, oil, and emerging market stocks. If the Fed fails in the long run, then a deflationary spiral may be the outcome, making cash, gold, dividend payers, conservative bonds, and CDs attractive. Middle of the road choices include utilities, consumer staples stocks, and other dividend payers. Financial markets tend to anticipate Fed announcements. We always have to be on our toes for information/news relevant to QE. If you read the writings of Ben Bernanke and more recently writings by James Bullard, you know the Federal Reserve is willing to use every tool and printing press in their arsenal in attempt to re-inflate asset prices and restore some semblance of the wealth effect. However, we must understand that the Fed faces high hurdles, in the form of mountains of global debt and fragile asset prices. So far, the U. S. has been able to get away with massive debts and unsustainable deficits for one simple reason. The U. S. dollar is still the world’s reserve currency, as it has been effectively since World War II and literally since the early 1970? s. Because all governments and banks in the world accept and hold U. S. dollars as the majority of their reserves, the United States is able to simply print more money whenever it cannot afford to pay for things that it needs. Besides this, the country can borrow money in its own currency at incredibly low interest rates that we have seen approach almost zero. US citizens personally benefit in another critical way every time that they stop to get gas. With the U. S. dollar as the international reserve currency, oil and almost all  commodities  are all priced in dollars. As a result, you see an enormous amount of inexpensive goods available. Food items and other items that use oil/gas as inputs are extremely cheap. This makes restaurants and other attractions affordable in America. The level of wealth seen in the United States is simply unprecedented, and most of this results from the benefits of the dollar as universal reserve currency. There will be dramatic consequences difficult to imagine if the dollar finally ceases to be the reserve currency of the world. Should this happen, then the value of the dollar will plummet. The immediate painful effects will be that commodities prices skyrocket. These would no longer be priced in U. S. dollars, and you would see the falling value of the dollar buy fewer and fewer commodities. Gasoline at five to ten dollars a gallon is not only possible, but highly likely. Along with higher gas prices, we could see higher prices for anything that uses oil to ship goods around the world. This means practically everything that you buy would all cost dramatically more. As prices skyrocket, your lifestyle would sustain a punishing drop overnight. This is a very scary succession of possible events. Unfortunately, this is not the only consequence that you would see of a dollar that is no longer the reserve currency of the world. Interest rates would rise dramatically. They could easily reach ten to fifteen percent. This would wreck the housing market far worse than it is today. It would also cause the stock market to crash by almost half in a number of weeks. As the costs of supplies and materials go up with the falling currency value, businesses would be forced to cut back on  employees  because of their falling sales. Unemployment could reach twenty to thirty percent or more as a result of this. As if this is not bad enough,  inflation  would be sky high along with the rising prices and disappearing jobs. It is important to remember that the only thing that has to occur for all of these terrible things to happen is for other countries to prefer to be paid in anything besides U. S. Dollars. In the event that non-United States holders of dollar-denominated assets decided to shift holdings to assets denominated in other currencies, there could be serious consequences for the US economy. The possibility of QE3 has some serious implications, although Bernanke has denied that there will be another round easing. The dollar has plunged nearly 20% against the euro over the last year and a half, a period that includes the run-up to and aftermath of the last round of quantitative easing, the Fed's $600 billion bond-buying program known as QE2. But a QE3 may not pack the same dollar-slamming punch. If there is a QE3, the dollar's fall could easily approach 10% on a trade-weighted basis against rival currencies, said David Woo, head of G-10 global rates and currencies research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York. But â€Å"the market is now more skeptical of the benefits of QE for the economy,† Mr. Woo said. â€Å"It is possible that by extension this means any short-term [dollar] decline on the back of QE3 will be also more limited. † Instead of QE3, Bernanke and the Fed decided to implement â€Å"Operation Twist,† a widely expected stimulus move reviving a policy from the 1960s. The policy involves selling $400 billion in short-term Treasuries in exchange for the same amount of longer-term bonds, starting in October and ending in June 2012. While the move does not mean the Fed will pump additional money into the economy, it is designed to lower yields on long-term bonds, while keeping short-term rates little changed. The intent is to thereby push down interest rates on everything from mortgages to business loans, giving consumers and companies an additional incentive to borrow and spend money. Some reputable names believe the dollar is going to depreciate in value over the next decade or two. Bestselling authors Robert Wiedemer of â€Å"Aftershock† and David Skarica of â€Å"The Great Super Cycle† both forecasted the housing collapse, financial crisis, and stock market collapse years ahead of them happening. They are calling for a collapse of the dollar. This could lead to many unsophisticated investors to â€Å"hop on the train†, causing a swing in technical expectations. QE attempts to lower long term interest rates, keep them low for a fairly well-understood period of time, while flooding the economy with cash in an effort to boost consumption and investment. In my opinion, quantitative easing in the US was a mild success. The markets were in a state of flux and we needed to do something. QE2 was necessary because we needed to increase the scale to which the LSAPs (large scale asset purchases) affected the economy. As for QE3, I don’t believe it is in our country’s best interest, because it would show even greater weakness, leading many foreign investors to flee from the dollar. Somewhere down the line, I predict that the IMF will attempt to overtake the dollar as the world reserve currency, but it certainly won’t happen overnight. If this happens, Americans will have to downgrade their wealthy standard of living due to increased commodity prices. However, I don’t believe the US Dollar will lose its currency reserve status anytime soon, nor do I believe that QE3 will happen. My recommendation is to continue QE in small amounts, unwinding it under Bernanke’s plan from his September speech in Minneapolis. Bernanke has stated that there will be no more easing, but you never know with the â€Å"Bernanke, Obama, Geithner brain trust. † Thus, our best option is to remain flexible in our policy schemes and monitor and react to relevant news as best as we can. Ben Bernanke concludes his Minneapolis speech in an attempt to reassure us that our country will be okay. â€Å"The Federal Reserve will certainly do all that it can to help restore high rates of growth and employment in a context of price stability. † Let us hope they act with rationality and in the best interest of the long term growth and stability of our economy. If America is ever going to dig itself out of the enormous debts it has taken, we must not devalue the dollar to the point that it is phased out as the world reserve currency. Perhaps a downgrade in American’s standard of living is necessary to reduce the deficit by a significant enough margin. There is some hope for a return to prosperity and consistent growth, but Americans need to be aware of the implications of QE on their portfolios and their long term purchasing power. Works Cited 1. United States. Richmond Federal Reserve. By Thomas M. Humphrey. The Theory of Multiple Expansion of Deposits: What It Is and Whence It Came. Mar. -Apr. 1987. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. . 2. A QE1 Timeline. † Calculated Risk, 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. . 3. Ciovacco, Chris. â€Å"Video Series: Quantitative Easing. † Ciovacco Capital Management. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. . 4. Sack, Brian P. â€Å"Managing the Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet – Federal Reserve Bank of New York. â€Å"Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 04 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. . 5. Bowman, David, Fang Cai, Sally Davies, and Steven Kamin. Quantitative Easing and Bank Lending: Evidenc e from Japan. †Ã‚  Www. federalreserve. gov. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, June 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. ;http://www. federalreserve. gov/pubs/ifdp/2011/1018/ifdp1018. pdf;. 6. Eichengreen, Barry. â€Å"Dollar's Reign as World's Main Reserve Currency Is Near an End. â€Å"Foreign Exchange Report. The Wall Street Journal, 02 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. 7. Herold, Thomas. â€Å"What If The U. S. Dollar Loses Reserve Currency Status? † Wealth Building Course, 14 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. ;http://www. wealthbuildingcourse. om/dollar-loses-reserve-currency-status. html;. 8. Bullard, James. â€Å"QE2: An Assessment. † Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 30 June 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. ;http://research. stlouisfed. org/econ/bullard/pdf/Bullard_QE_Conference_June_30_2011_Final. pdf;. 9. Wieland, Volker. â€Å"Quantitative Easing: A Rationale and Some Evidence from Japan†, in  NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2009  (2010), Univ ersity of Chicago Press   http://www. nber. org/papers/w15565 10. Cronin, Brenda. â€Å"Slow-Paced Recovery Feels Like a Recession. † The Wall Street Journal, 10 Oct. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 011. ;http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052970203499704576623053674426690. html;. 11. Fontevecchia, Agustino. â€Å"Central Banks Dump Treasuries As Dollar's Reserve Currency Status Fades. † Forbes, 03 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. ;http://www. forbes. com/sites/afontevecchia/2011/03/16/central-banks-dump-treasuries-as-dollars-reserve-currency-status-fades/;. 12. Case, Karl E. , John M. Quigley, and Robert J. Shiller. Wealth Effects Revisited. Yale University, Feb. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. ;http://cowles. econ. yale. edu/P/cd/d17b/d1784. pdf;. 13. Rooney, Ben. IMF Discusses Plan to Replace Dollar as Reserve Currency. † CNNMoney, 10 Feb. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. . 14. Weisenthal, Joe. â€Å"This Is How The Dollar Could Lose Its Reserve Currency Status. † Business Insider, 15 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. . 15. Bernanke, Ben. â€Å"The U. S. Economic Outlook–September 8, 2011. † Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 08 Sept. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. . 16. Hamilton, James. â€Å"5 Key Arguments Against Quantitative Easing. † Business Insider, 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. . 17. Johnson, Andrew J. â€Å"Sizing Up Dollar's Pain From a QE3. † The Wall Street Journal, 05 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. . 18. Censky, Annalyn. â€Å"Federal Reserve Launches Operation Twist. † CNNMoney, 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 011. . ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Richmond Federal Reserve. By Thomas M. Humphrey. The Theory of Multiple Expansion of Deposits: What It Is and Whence It Came. [ 2 ]. Wieland, Volker. â€Å"Quantitative Easing: A Rationale and Some Evidence from Japan† [ 3 ]. Calculated Risk. â€Å"A Q E1 Timeline. † [ 4 ]. Videos: Quantitative Easing, Chris Ciovacco [ 5 ]. Videos: Quantitative Easing. Chris Ciovacco [ 6 ]. Bowman, â€Å"Quantitative Easing and Bank Lending: Evidence from Japan. [ 7 ]. Bowman, â€Å"Quantitative Easing and Bank Lending: Evidence from Japan. †Ã‚   [ 8 ]. Hamilton, James. â€Å"5 Key Arguments Against Quantitative Easing. † [ 9 ]. Hamilton, James. â€Å"5 Key Arguments Against Quantitative Easing. † [ 10 ]. Sack, Brian P. â€Å"Managing the Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet [ 11 ]. 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