Rhetorical Analysis Of Water Works - 1515 Words

The article â€Å"Water Works†, published by Orion Magazine and written by environmental specialist Cynthia Barnett intends to inform the reader anyone can make water an important factor. Overlooking it has become common many people in the United States have adapted to through the changes that have occurred in society over time. At the beginning of her article, she describes an area that does not make water care a priority, whereas in another location they make it very evident water is important. The location she describes is gloomy, grey, and is a populated area that has old water systems that are damaging environmental factors. Barnett continuously emphasizes that people are the ones who can help restore nature. This is at a less cost than†¦show more content†¦The word choice in her entire article is left for the reader to assume which can be a way of compelling the audience to take action. I really enjoy reading articles that make me think twice about the meaning o f a concept; engaging. The style is likewise characterized in other ways. Having an engaging article to read that not only sounds good but looks good is another important part in convincing audience of the cause. â€Å"Water Works† uses small paragraphs with different facts and examples meant not only to make the author credible with facts, but allow the reader to think about each small idea to verify it is a logical argument on the authors behalf. Although more facts than ideas may disengage the audience, or the fact it is ten pages, it seems she at least made an attempt to accommodate the reader with her paragraph lengths, and space. Analyzing appeals the author uses can further clarify her intention. The appeals of logos, pathos, and ethos can be seen throughout the piece â€Å"Water Works†. On page three Barnett introduces a source she obviously finds credible: George E. Waring. I noticed the reason she probably finds him credible is that she sees it important for the audience to hear his point she brought into the mix. The point he brought up is, what I would say, a low-key turning point. George roasts the United States people on page three paragraph three saying it isShow MoreRelatedMistrys First Person Narrative: Indian Nationalism Disguised as Wistful Recollection.794 Words   |  3 PagesHowever, a rhetorical analysis of the speaker in the essay, which as mentioned is a first person autobiographical narrative lead us to an agenda that is hidden below the surface: Indian nationalism and pride. This is not to insinuate that the author has some hidden, malevolent agenda to thrust Indian nationalism upon the reader. Rather, the tools of rhetorical analysis rev eal the subtle undertones of the essay in a manner that perhaps even the author is not full conscious of. 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Kap Report Endline September 2012 Free Essays

KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES (KAP) END-LINE ASSESSMENT On Water, Sanitation and Hygiene LOLKUACH Village, IDPs of Akobo September-2012 DRC-Gambella WASH Team Conducted in the frame of an ECHO funded project â€Å"Improving access to short-term food security, safe drinking water, hygiene and basic household items in Ethiopia† Wanthowa Worda, Gambella, Ethiopia September 30, 2012 i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 2 3 3. 1 INTRODUCTION SUMMARY OF FINDINGS METHODOLOGY Objectives of the Survey 1 2 3 3 4 4. 1 FINDINGS General Background Information 4 4 5 5. We will write a custom essay sample on Kap Report Endline September 2012 or any similar topic only for you Order Now 1 5. 2 5. 3 WATER RELATED INFORMATION Water Sources Water collection and storage Household Water Treatment 5 5 9 11 6 6. 1 6. 2 HEALTH AND HYGIENE Diseases Washing Hands and Good Hygienic Practices 12 12 15 7 7. 1 7. 2 SANITATION Defecation Waste and Waste Management 18 18 20 8 9 CONCLUSION RECOMMENDATIONS 23 24 25 10 REFERENCES i 1 Introduction The 2012 report states that as of end of 2010: Over 780 million people are still without access to improved sources of drinking water and 2. 5 billion lack improved sanitation. If current trends continue, these numbers will remain unacceptably high in 2015: 605 million people will be without an improved drinking water source and 2. billion people will lack access to improved sanitation facilities. An estimated 801,000 children younger than 5 years of age perish from diarrhea each year, mostly in developing countries. This amounts to 11% of the 7. 6 million deaths of children under the age of five and means that about 2,200 children are dying every day as a result of diarrheal dis eases. Unsafe drinking water, inadequate availability of water for hygiene, and lack of access to sanitation together contribute to about 88% of deaths from diarrheal diseases (UNICEF, WHO, 2012: 2; Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). As to Andrea Naylor: although worldwide there have been thousands of projects to address water and sanitation issues as they relate to public health with continued improvements since the 1980’s, research has shown that due to lack of evaluation surveys on the effectiveness and success of these interventions, many are not sustainable . To this end, the essence of conducting end-line survey is very critical to gauge the effectiveness and success of the interventions of DRC-Gambella. The Gambella Region has an approximately population of 332,600 people, with 49,457 living in Akobo and Wantawo Woredas. These populations are subjected to water shortage and floods. Moreover the population is prevalently pastoralist and follows seasonal migration patterns for cattle grazing and protection of livestock from drought and floods. The perennial attacks by the Murle tribe, coupled with intra-clan conflicts among the Nuer tribes of Ethiopia and South Sudan, aggravates a situation of chronic displacement, making populations of bordering areas, especially Akobo, susceptible of massive and prolonged internal displacements. Conflicts, drought and floods are the key challenges to the populations in Akobo and in Wantawo. The consequent perennial movement makes the community vulnerable to food insecurity, disease and water shortage. It is in view of this that Danish Refugee Council seeks to address in the short term the basic needs of these populations by providing access to clean drinking water, and tools to improve hygiene and to build the capacity of the community to respond to these challenges. From the period of July 2011 to June 2012, DRC implemented a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project, funded by ECHO, with the goal of rehabilitating 7 hand pumps (and subsequently chlorinating the water), distributing NFI kits, hygiene kits, and implementing hygiene promotions. DRC decided to conduct two in-depth KAP surveys (as a baseline and endline) to evaluate the impact brought by the implementation of the project in the targeted area. The baseline survey was conducted in the month of May 2012 and the end line survey was conducted in the second week of September 2012. In the period between the two surveys, a number of activities covering water, sanitation and hygiene were implemented in the frame of the project. 2 Summary of Findings Project outputs and behaviour and knowledge change (as indicated by the pre and post implementation KAP surveys) indicate the following key findings: o o o o o o Seven hand pumps were rehabilitated/ disinfected Hygiene promotion targets were surpassed. planned: 5,490 beneficiaries; 10,950 reached) Hygiene kit distributions were surpassed (planned: 2,250 beneficiaries; 8,870 reached) NFI kit distributions were surpassed (planned 6,300 beneficiaries; 7,470 reached) The number of respondents who use hand pumps as source of water increased from 4% to 75% Knowledge and practice of feasible water purification practices such as boiling, filtration or adding tablet/sachet has been greatly impr oved Instance of diarrhoea has decreased from 60% to 24% of respondents stating that they had had diarrhea in during the 3 weeks prior to the survey Knowledge that rain water is a safe drinking water source has improved from 24% to 62% of respondents, however, the use of rain water remains limited. Knowledge of the causes of unsafe drinking water (including germs, visible particles and bad taste) increased from 40% to 81%. The practice of open defecation has reduced from 100% to 15% of respondents. Hand washing at critical times has increased from 34% to 85% of respondents. 2 o o o o o o o Appropriate waste disposal mechanisms improved from 39. 2% in baseline to 75% of respondents.. Although there has been an improvement in the knowledge of respiratory and eye infection transmission/protection, there is still room for improvement 3 Methodology A cross sectional, qualitative study was conducted through house to house interviews, taking 150 respondents randomly as study subjects. The sample represents nearly 10% of the total targeted household 1 n Lolkuach village (1,500 household). The questionnaire (See Annex I) was employed to collect data on general background information, knowledge, attitude and practices of the IDPs of Lolkuach village. However the results can also be consi dered pertinent for the host communities if considering the cultural and environmental homogeneity. Verbal consent from the respondents was obtained after explaining the purpose of the study. Data was collected from 13 to 14 September 2012. The data from the questionnaires was entered into SPSS software (version 13) by the principal investigators for further analysis. Data reliability was assured using different techniques such as: ? Properly designed questionnaires were prepared and pretested. ? Data collectors were hired locally and tested during the training on the contents of the questionnaire. Constant supervision was done by DRC WASH Team Leader, and problems encountered at the time of data collection were reported immediately and appropriate actions taken. 3. 1 Objectives of the Survey ? To identify gaps in knowledge regarding health and hygiene practices and existing practices leading to negative impact on health. ? ? To describe the socio demographic, cultural information of respondents and villages. To find out the information on incidence of communicable disease due to unhygienic practice. 1 It is estimated, on the base of IOM Akobo IDPs database, that the number of households currently living in Lolkuach is 1500 and average family size is 5. 3 ? To assess the effectiveness and impact of the DRC water, sanitation and hygiene promotion activities. 4 Findings 4. 1 General Background Information The beneficiaries of the programme, and KAP survey respondents are all part of the displaced NuerGajok population from Akobo Woreda now living in Wantawo. Among the KAP survey respondents, the majority (about 65 %) were female, whereas 35% were male. Females were particularly targeted for the KAP survey, as they were the primary recipients/participants in the DRC project, and are traditionally responsible for child care and household WASH issues. This survey was conducted near the end of the rainy season, in Lolkuach IDP settlement. Respondents reported moving between the river banks temporary camps and dry land permanent villages according to seasonal variations. During the dry season, the majority of the respondents live in Dimbierow village (79%), and Nyawich village (17%), while only 4 % of the respondents indicated that they live in Lolkuach village throughout all the year. However there are frequent movements among the settlements throughout all the year. Most of the respondents (86. 2%) indicated that they arrived at Lolkuach between February and June 2009 following a recurrence of conflict with Lou Nuer in Akobo woreda. Minority of the respondents arrived during the same period of 2008 (12. 8%) or 2010 (1 %). Most of the respondents therefore have been displaced since 2009. When respondents were asked if they plan to return to their villages of origin, a pronounced number (55%) indicated that they don’t have any plans to return due to security problems (expressed as ‘war’, ‘conflict’, ‘insecurity’). The remaining 45% of the respondents indicated that they plan to return back in the future if the security situation is restored and the construction of the road from Mathar to Akobo is finalized. In this regard, as it can be observed from the baseline survey, no significant difference noted in the end line survey. However looking in detail at the positive answers (from the 45% of respondents), 21% expressed a plan to go back within six months and the remaining 34% indicated a time longer than six months. Moreover even the respondents who indicated that they have a plan to return back to 4 Kebele of origin also mentioned their fear about the security situation (expressed as ‘if peace come back’, ‘if cattle raiding ends’, if the construction of the road to Akobo is completed and similar). 5 Water Related Information 5. 1 Water Sources Before the project interventions, the baseline data indicated that almost 100% of the respondents were accessing unsafe drinking water from the river, which is contaminated from the presence of livestock and open defecation. At the end of the project implementation, the hand pump aintenance/rehabilitation/water chlorination, coupled with pure sachet distributions, bucket distributions, and hygiene promotions resulted in a significant posit ive change. As you can observe from the Figure 1, the majority of the respondents are now using water from newly maintained/rehabilitated hand pumps. Due to seasonal movement however, the proportion of respondents using hand pumps during the dry season reduces, as many of the beneficiaries move to areas without hand pumps. The following graph outlines both the shift in hand pump use (pre and post intervention), and also the relation of this use in terms of seasons. There are still not sufficient hand pumps in Lolkuach area to support the population however, which explains why 100% of the respondents are not using these protected sources. Considering that the 7500 inhabitants of Lolkuach, Thore and Lolmokoney have only 7 hand-pumps (hand dug wells), this is insufficient as per SPHERE standards)2 , highlighting the need to construct new hand pumps. 2 Considering the maximum number of users for 1 hand pump should be 500, at least 15 hand pumps would be needed in Lolkuach 5 Seasonal Use of Protected Water Sources – Pre and Post Intervention 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Dry Season Rainy Season % of Respondents Seasons Baseline Endline Figure 1: Shift in Use of Protected Water Sources (KAP baseline an d end-line) Seven hand pumps in Lolkuach and surrounding villages were disinfected and beneficiaries received pure sachet as well bucket and filter. From the findings, the graph below states that it is only 27% of the respondents indicated that the main problems with their water source are water is dirty and it tastes bad. Whereas 40. 7% of the respondents also signified that the water source is far. Problems Related to Water Supply 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Dirty Water Bad Taste Irregular FlowSource is Dried Distance to No problems Up Source % Respondents Baseline Endline Water Source Issues Figure 2: Main problems related to water supply. 6 Consequently 63% of the respondents consider the water they are using is safe for drinking, and 33% consider it is unsafe instead (Figure 3). This represents a reduction in the proportion of respondents who stated that they were using unsafe water from 77% in the baseline to 33% in the end-line survey. Of these 33% of respondents who noted that they were drinking unsafe water, 8% of the respondents were using hand dug wells (Which were rehabilitated by DRC) as source of water for drinking. Figure 3: consideration of water safety Figure 4: reasons why 33% declared water is unsafe In relation to the safety of water, the reason why 33% of respondents declared that they are using unsafe water is mainly because the water contains germs, is not filtered and not cleaned. This shows that their understanding about the causes of unsafe water has improved since the baseline (Figure 4). When it comes to use of rainwater as source, though improvement is registered, much needs to be done to bring about significant change. Considering the shortage of safe water sources in the area observed by DRC, and the abundant rain-fall in Gambella region3, reasons for not using the rainwater (which is almost distilled4) were assessed more closely. Although the number of respondents who believe that 3 The annual rain falls in Gambella region ranges between 800 and 1200mm, but about 85% of rains are concentrated between May-October (Woube, 1999). 4 In this regards, Dev Sehgal, indicated that rainwater harvesting is an easy method to collect drinking water, and the quality of the water is almost distilled. First when the water touches the catchment surface it usually gets contaminated (Dev Sehgal, 2005). 7 rainwater is unsafe has reduced from 76% to 38% of respondents, more can be done to raise awareness on this water collection method. Of the 38% of respondents who would not collect rain water given the choice, the principal reasons were given as follows: Figure 5: Investigation about unused rain water When questioned on their knowledge of safe drinking water and water pollution causes, respondents were given the option of providing more than one answer. The number of respondents who indicated that drinking water shouldn’t have germs, visible particles and/or bad taste, increased from 40% at the baseline to 81. 3% at the end-line. The respondents who indicated that the proximity of a latrine to water sources can cause water contamination increased from 7. 2% in the baseline to 15% in the end-line survey. In this regards, water quality and health council indicated that especially the proximity of latrine to water sources can cause Removing the first harvested water, so-called first flush, can prevent this. When the rain starts to fall the first water cleans the catchment surface and fills up the first flush diverter, by the time it is full a ball closes the opening and leads the water to the main tank. The downside of rainwater harvesting is that it requires double storage, as it is hard to purify water at the same speed as it rains (Gould, J. Nissen-Petersen, E. , 2005). 8 contamination . The majority of the respondents (85%) also indicated that garbage disposal or animals feces containers near a water source, or unprotected source can cause water contamination (Figure7). 5 Knowledge of Causes of Water Source Pollution 100 90 80 % Respondents 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Defecation Nearby Garbage Nearby Dirty Container Causes of Pollution Figure 7: Knowledge of Water Source Pollutants Baseline Endline Although only a small proportion of respondents acknowledge that water can be contaminated through the ground from a latrine constructed too close to a water source, 95% of respondents are now aware that defecation near a water source is a pollutant, resulting in a change of behavior in which open defecation has reduced from 100% in the baseline to 15% in the end-line survey. 5. 2 Water collection and storage From the Figure 8, it can be observed that nearly 50% of respondents less than 50 minutes to fetch water during dry seasons6, meaning that SPHERE standards for these respondents are met for watersource distance because of the rehabilitations of the hand pump in the vicinity of the village. Concerning rainy season, it can be observed that respondents spend more time getting water. As it is observed, respondents need to travel some distance to fetch water and during the dry season respondents also move to river banks. Hence, this can make the access to hand pump difficult. So besides constructing 5 The causes of water pollution vary and may be both natural and anthropogenic. However, the most common causes of domestic water pollutions includes : garbage disposal and defecation near water sources, animals feces, sharing the same sources with animals, use of dirty or open water container can affect the safety of our water . Use (Water Quality and Health Councils, 2010; CAWST, 2009; Laurent, P. , 2005). 6 According to SPHERE key indicators, the maximum distance from any household to the nearest water point is 500 metres 9 new hand pumps, encouraging the community for rain water catchment strategy is very essential at household at household level. 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0-50 50-100 Min 100-250 Min More than 250 Dry Season Rainy Season Figure 8: Average time spent to collect water Given that water collection requires women and girls to walk distances to find water sources, there may be heightened protection issues for these family members, although protection was not assessed in the KAP. Question posed to respondents on what devices that they are using to store and collect water indicated that 55% of the respondents are using plastic jerry cans to collect water and 34% of the respondents use plastic bucket for water collection. For storing water, nearly 33% of the respondents use traditional clay pot and plastic jerry cans; the rest 36% of the respondents indicated plastic jerry cans or buckets with lid. DRC distributed NFI (Contains 2 Jerry cans each 20 litters among others) and Hygiene kits (Contains 2 Buckets each 10 litters among other) to 302 and 283 households respectively living in Lolkuach areas. To this end, most of the respondents own more than one container. But still those who didn’t receive water storage and collection device also were among the respondents who took part in the survey, we can 10 observe that 70% of respondents meet the minimum SPHERE7 requirement for water collection container, and 74% meet the requirement8 for water storage. Whereas in the baseline, it was noted that only 50% of the respondents met the requirement for water storage and collection devices. 5. 3 Household Water Treatment The knowledge of practical purification methods like boiling, filtration or adding tablet/sachet was assessed. As it can be observed from Figure 12, there is great leap in knowledge of the basic methods of household water treatment. For instance, use of purifying sachet/tablet increased from 8% at baseline to 85% at the end-line survey. The findings also suggested that the majority of the respondents (more than 75%) know the use of feasible practices like boiling, filtration or adding tablets/sachet for water treatments9. This figure was only 25% in the baseline survey. After the baseline survey, it is worth to note that DRC-Gambella has been distributing purifying sachet and providing demonstrations for those villages with no access to hand pumps. 7 According to SPHERE key indicator: Each household has at least two clean water collecting containers of 10-20 litres, plus enough clean water storage containers to ensure there is always water in the household. The amount of storage capacity required depends on the size of the household and the consistency of water availability e. g. approximately 4 litres per person would be appropriate for situations where there is a constant daily supply 8 Requirement for storage is calculated according to certain specificities, but considering the minimum of 4lt/person/day, for an average household of 5, should be at least 20 lt. 9 Different researchers suggested some feasible practices like boiling, filtration or adding Figuret/sachet and chlorination for water treatment (CAWST, 2009; Davis Lambert, 2002). 11 Knowledge of Household Water Treatment 140 120 % Respondents 100 80 60 40 20 0 special container Boiling Use of sachet Cleaning Filtering container with cloth Covering sunlight Baseline Endline Figure 12: Knowledge of household water treatment methods 6 Health and Hygiene 6. 1 Diseases Respondents were asked about the diseases their family experienced during the three weeks before the interview. The number of respondents who caught diarrhea in the three weeks prior to the interview reduced from 60% in the baseline to 27. 3% in the end-line survey. Hence, you can see from the end-line survey that hygiene conditions and practices are improving. When it comes to the causes of diarrhoea, more than 85% of the respondents referenced unsafe drinking water, children feces, germs/bacteria, open defecation, poor hygienic practices and flies as causes of diarrhea (Figure 16), indicating that the hygiene promotion has resulted in an increase in knowledge. 12 Figure 16: Knowledge about diarrhea transmission Interviewees were asked to indicate in a multiple choice question, which action to be taken to protect their families from the different diseases that they suffered from. The respondents who indicated that they can be protected from malaria by sleeping under mosquito net increased from 40% to 75%. Keeping the environment clean and good hygienic practices also attributed as a method of prevention of malaria by many respondents (Figure 14). 13 Knowldge of Malaria prevetion measure 120 100 Respondents 80 60 40 20 0 Keeping environment Clean Safe water Good hygienic practice Use mosquitonet Wash cloth Wash hand Baseline Endline Figure 14: knowledge of malaria prevention measures When it comes to skin diseases, most of the respondents indicated that good hygienic practice as way of prevention of skin diseases (Figure 15). 14 Figure 15: Knowledge of skin diseases prevention measur es Nearly 51. 2% of the respondents indicated that good personal hygiene, keeping the environment clean, use of safe water for drinking, washing hands, washing clothes and hanging them in the sun can protect their families from respiratory and eye problems. The above results indicate that the knowledge of the people has improved with regards to respiratory illness and eye infection transmission and protection, however there is still room for improvement. 6. 2 Washing Hands and Good Hygienic Practices General question about hygiene and more specific ones about hand washing were posed. Keeping food away from flies, bathing regularly, keeping compounds clean, protecting food and washing hands are considered as good hygienic practices by the majority of the respondents in the end-line survey. This means that the figure increased from nearly 51% at the baseline to nearly 85% in the endline. 15 Figure 18: Knowledge about keeping good hygiene Likewise, when respondents specifically asked if they wash their hands, 89% of the interviewees gave affirmative answer in the end-line Survey. People who wash hands reported to be doing it in order to eliminate bad smell and prevent diseases. Similarly more details of the hand washing practice can be seen from Figure 20, and it can be concluded that more than three fourth of the population who wash their hands, are doing it at the appropriate times. 16 Figure 20: Frequency of hand washing practice While the vast majority of the respondents (95%) stated they would like to bathe once a day, when it comes to practice, 29% of respondents expressed they have problems in taking bath regularly mainly because of lack of container and soap (Figure 21). Hygiene practices were also considered to be a major issue by nearly 40. 6% of the respondents, these respondents indicated that poor practices are due to both a lack of access to hygiene items, and a poor attitude brought on by a lack of knowledge. So the majority of the respondents signified that the distributed hygiene kits solved some of their problems and they were adhering to good hygienic practices. 17 7 Sanitation 7. 1 Defecation Before the DRC intervention, the majority of the adults practiced open defecation. Because changing habits is not easy, the baseline assessment was designed to understand the risk practices that were most widespread and identify those that could be changed. From the point of view of controlling diarrhoea, the priorities for hygiene behavioral change included hand washing at critical times and safe stool disposal. To this end, the efforts of the organization brought significant behavioral change. From the end-line survey it is noted that 85% of the respondents use traditional latrines, which is up from 0%. Similarly, when asked to indicate the best option for defecation, 85% indicated the latrine. On the other hand, privacy, water pollution, presence of bad smell and flies, as well as spread of disease was reported as the main problem related to open defecation practices (Figure 23). Respondents were also asked about post defecation cleansing habits and mostly indicated pieces of paper. Figure 23: Problems related to defecation practice 18 Considering the majority of respondents indicated that a latrine is the best option for defecation, and that the main issue with defecation is privacy, disease, water pollution, smell and environmental pollution, it was observed that the traditional latrine which is constructed by the participation of the communities has been welcomed and used by the community. In the baseline survey it was found out that inadequate sanitary conditions and poor hygiene practices played major roles in the increased burden of communicable disease within the village. Similarly, the baseline information stated that beneficiaries had problems with access to safe water and sanitation facilities. To this end, DCR Gambella set a strategy to solve the problems through community participation. DRC- Gambella inculcates the basic principles and approaches Sanitation) of into CLTS the (Community newly Lead Total PHAST designed Participatory hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) training. As both approaches opt f or communities’ participations and empowerment and focus on igniting a change in sanitation and hygiene behaviour, a PHAST training manual that encompasses both PHAST methodology and catalysts for change in sanitation behaviour was prepared and distributed. After community based health promotions work, and community conversation establishments at each village, the accessibility to sanitation facilities and sanitation practices improved. 1446 households who completed hand washing points and traditional pit latrine (See the figure on the right side) were awarded NFI to recognize their efforts of behavioral changes. Hand washing after stool contact and safe disposal of stool have been priorities in hygiene and sanitation promotion interventions in Wanthowa Woreda. By understanding that for the quickest and widest adoption of good hygienic practices it is often more cost-effective to rely on social ambitions rather than health arguments to encourage change, DRC linked hygiene promotion works with social and cultural values, norms as well as NFI distributions, such that all hygiene promotions were linked with cultural problems of Nuer society and social values. As a result good improvements in both hand 19 washing and safe stool disposal were registered. This can be confirmed by looking at the end line KAP survey results. 7. Waste and Waste Management The majority of disease measures are related to environmental conditions: appropriate shelter, clean water, good sanitation, and vector control, personal protection such as (insecticide-treated nets, personal hygiene and health promotion). Appropriat e waste disposal mechanism is vital to avoid environmental pollution and breading place for vectors and pathogens. In this regards, the majority of the respondents (75%) indicated that they are now burning the household solid wastes on timely bases (Figure 24). The number of respondents who had been disposing solid wastes in open space and river significantly decreased after the interventions. Figure 24: waste disposal practice 20 The problems concerning waste were indicated in flies, bad smell, breeding place for mosquitoes. Majority of the respondents understood that appropriate solid waste disposal plays a vital role in minimizing the breading of vectors and other pathogens (Figure 25). Figure 25: Problems related to waste disposal The majority of respondents indicated that the practice used to dispose household waste is burning. Improvement in waste disposal and keep the villages clean is observed by DRC field staffs. Similarly the views of the majority of the respondents on the attributes of clean and health village is improved. It is noted that availability of safe water, cleanness of the village and availability of latrine considered by more than three fourth of the respondents as the attributes of clean and health village in the end-line survey. But those we stated the same were nearly 50% in the baseline survey. 21 Similarly, the benefits of keeping a village were mainly identified as decrease of diseases occurrence, improved beauty of village, minimized presence of mosquitoes and flies by more than three fourth of the respondents in the end-line where as this nearly 53% in the baseline. From end-line survey, it can be inferred that majority of respondents indicated that important public health factors such as availability of safe water and atrines, absence of stagnant water and mosquitoes among the attributes of an healthy village. They also noted that this has great impact in reduction of infection disease prevalence. Hence, it can be concluded that the understanding of the majority of the respondents on disease transmission, transmission routes and its preventions tremendously improved after the interventions. 22 8 Conclusion Diarrhoea causes dehydration and kills approximately 2. 2 million people, mostly children, every year. Children are more likely than adults to die from diarrhea because they become dehydrated more quickly. In the past 10 years, diarrhea has killed more children than all of the people lost to armed conflict since World War II. Its occurrence is closely related to the opportunities that poor people (especially poor mothers) have to improve domestic hygiene10. Diarrhoea does not only cause disease and early death in children, but also affects children’s nutritional status, stunting children’s physical and intellectual growth over time. Skin and eye infections are especially common in arid areas. Both diarrhoea and other infectious diseases have health as well as socio-economic consequences. Washing more often can greatly reduce their spread11 . Similarly, the training manual of Amhara region indicated that improved hygiene, particularly hand washing at critical times can reduce diarrhea by one third and reduce malnutrition12. Soiled hands are an important source of transmitting diarrhoeas. Recent research also suggests that hand washing is an important preventive measure in the incidence of acute respiratory infections, one of the top killer of children under five. 13 This KAP survey was conducted in order to compare its results with the results of the baseline survey, to identify whether the hygiene promotion activities conducted in the frame of the ECHO funded project had been effective. The baseline and end-line survey results revealed that positive results have been achieved in the overall hygiene situation. In the baseline survey the situation was poor i. e. lack of safe water, poor sanitation facilities, poor hygiene practice etc. At the end of the project, an improvement was noted in the overall hygiene and sanitation behaviour. Though improvements were noticed after the implementation of project, it should not be forgotten that it takes time to consolidate behaviour changes, so more follow up is necessary for further improvement. 10 11 12 (Curtis et al. , 2000). Brian Appleton and Christine van Wijk (IRC), 2003. Amhara Regional State Health Bureau, 2011; Isabel Carter, 2005 13 See for instance the study of Ryan et al. published in 2001 23 9 RECOMMENDATIONS Although the WASH project can been seen as a success, the team noted some recommendations for future interventions. ? ? Construct 15 shell wells in Lolkuach village so that inhabitants meet SPHERE standards Assess whether it is possible to dig wells in the locations where people move to during the dry season ? Introduce rain water harvesting techniques, which are easy sources of potable water and would reduce the distance travelled to access water, thus improving the protection status of the women and girls that are responsible for this task. ? ? Follow up on well water quality in rehabilitated wells Although respondents recognized that animal feces can contaminate water, only 15% in the end-line noted that the proximity of a latrine to a water source can contaminate drinking water. This could be stressed and improved in future hygiene promotion activities. 24 10 References 1. Amhara Regional State Health Bureau (2011). Training Manual on Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion and Community Mobilization for Volunteer Community Health Promoters (VCHP)/ Draft for Review. Online Available at: http://pdf. usaid. gov/pdf_docs/PNADP828. pdf 2. Andrea Naylor. Development and Implementation of Sanitation Survey Using a Knowledge Attitudes Practices (KAP) Model. University of South Florida (Tampa): CGN6933 â€Å"Sustainable Development Engineering: Water, Sanitation, Indoor Air, Health† and PHC6301 â€Å"Water Pollution and Treatment†. 3. Brian Appleton and Christine van Wijk (IRC) (2003). Hygiene Promotion Thematic Overview Paper. IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 4. Boot, Marieke T. and Cairncross, Sandy (1993). Actions speak: The study of hygiene behaviour in water and sanitation project. The Hague: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. 5. CAWST (Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) (2009) Household water treatment and safe storage factsheet: natural coagulants. Online Available at: http://cawst. org/en/resources/pubs/file/38-hwts-fact-sheets-academic-english 6. Davis, J. and Lambert, R (2002) Engineering in emergencies – A practical guide for relief, workers 2nd edition, Rugby: Practical actions publishing 7. Dev Sehgal, J. (2005) A guide to rainwater harvesting in Malaysia. Online Available at: http://www. wasrag. org/downloads/technology/A%20Guide%20to%20Rainwater%20Ha rvesting%20in%20Malaysia. pdf 8. Esrey, S. A. (1994). Complementary strategies for decreasing diarrhea morbidity and mortality: water and sanitation. Paper presented at the Pan American Health Organization, March 2-3. 9. Gould, J. Nissen-Petersen, E. 2005) Rainwater catchment systems for domestic supply. Rugby: ITDG publishing. 25 10. Green, C. E. (2001). Can qualitative research produce reliable quantitative findings? Field Methods 13(3), 3-19. 11. Isabel Carter (2005). Encouraging good hygiene and sanitation. A PILLARS Guide. Tearfund. A company limited by guarant ee. Regd in England No 994339. Registered Charity No 265464. 12. Laurent, P. (2005) Household drinking water systems and their impact on people with weakened immunity. MFS-Holland, Public health department. Online Available at: http://www. who. int/household_water/research/HWTS_impacts_on_weakened_immun ity. pdf 13. McKee, Neill (1992). Social mobilization and social marketing in developing communities: Lessons for communicators. Penang: Southbound. 14. Nichter, M. (1993). Social science lessons from diarrhea research and their application to ARI. Human Organization 52(1), 53-67. 15. Ouagadougou: Ministere de la Sante du Burkina Faso. Curtis, V. A. , Cairncross, S, Yonli, R. (2000) Domestic hygiene and diarrhoea, pinpointing the problem. Tropical Medicine and International Health 5(1):22-32. 16. Pru? ss, A. , Kay, D. , Fewtrell, L. Bartram, J. (2002). Estimating the global burden of disease from water, sanitation, and hygiene at the global level. Environmental Health Perspectives 110(5), 537–542. 17. Ryan, M. A. K, Christian, R. Wohlrabe, J. (2001). Hand washing and respiratory illness among young adults in military training. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 21(2):79-83. 18. Saade, Camille, Bateman, Massee, Bendahmane, Diane B. (2001). The story of a successful public-private partnership in Central America: Handwashing for diarrheal disease prevention. Arlington, BASICS, EHP, UNICEF, USAID and World Bank. 19. UNICEF (2000). Learning from experience: Evaluation of UNICE’s water and environmental sanitation programme in India, 1966-1998. New York, UNICEF Evaluation Office, Division of Evaluation, Policy and Planning. 26 20. Verma, B. L. Srivastava, R. N. (1990). Measurement of the personal cost of illness due to some major water-related diseases in an Indian rural population. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 19, No. 1: 169-175. 21. Water Quality and Health Councils (2010) Water storage tips to assist in emergency preparedness. Online Available at: http://www. waterandhealth. org/drinkingwater/water_storage. php3 22. WHO (World Health Organization) (2008a) Safer water, better health – Costs, benefits and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote the health. Online Available at: http://whqlibdoc. who. int/publications/2008/9789241596435_eng. pdf 23. WHO (World Health Organization) (2008b) Guidelines for drinking-water quality- Third edition Incorporating the first and second addenda. Online Available at: http://www. who. int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/fulltext. pdf 24. WHO(2002). Water Supply. Environmental Health in Emergency. Online Available at: http://www. who. int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/emergencies/em2002chap7. pdf 25. WHO/UNICEF (2005). Water for Life: Making it happen. http://www. who. int/water_sanitation_health/waterforlife. pdf . 26. WHO UNICEF (2006). Meeting the MDG Water and Sanitation Target: The Urban and Rural Challenge of the Decade, WHO, Geneva and UNICEF, New York. 27. WSSCC (2004). The Campaign: WASH Facts and Figures. Online Available at: Online Available at: http://www. wsscc. org/dataweb. cfm? edit_id=292CFID=13225CFTOKEN=70205233. 28. Wijk, Christine van (1998). Gender in water resources management, water supply and sanitation: Roles and realities revisited. Technical paper No. 33-E). The Hague: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. 29. http://www. unicef. org/media/files/JMPreport2012. pdf: UNICEF, WHO: Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation update 2012 UPDATE. 27 30. http://www. cdc. gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics. html : Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (2012) Global WASH Fast Facts 28 How to cite Kap Report Endline September 2012, Essay examples

Ethnos and Anthropologos free essay sample

Peranakan is a Malay term designating a particular Creole culture of partly assimilated Chinese in Malaysia and Indonesia. To an unknown extent, these peoples distinctive identities were the by-products of political-economic and culture historical forces of social integration within a colonial Southeast Asian context. In certain places during the colonial era, especially in the so-called Straits Settlements, of Penang, Malacca and Singapore, the Peranakans emerged as a distinctive, fully crystallized ethno-cultural orientation with its own sense of cultural focus and elaboration of distinctive, ethnically defined traits. This became the highly stylistic culture of the Babas and Nyonyas.The Babas represent something unusual and therefore interesting in the world, but not something that was to be unexpected, given the social conditions and historical contexts in which they emerged to define themselves as distinct and separate from all other people. They are not to be facilely dismissed as but one more of many sub-groupings of the Chinese nation, but another minor variant upon a dominant theme of sinicization, because they stand clearly apart from all other Chinese in Southeast Asiatheir cultural orientation ran somewhat across the Chinese grain. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethnos and Anthropologos or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They represent a dynamic aspect of Chinese cultural character that would be considered uncommon in terms of the patriarchal and xenophobic Sinitic stereotypes. They represented a synthetic and syncretic capacity of Chinese to readily incorporate and assimilate foreign elements in a creative way when given the context and opportunity, and incentive, to do so, and to redefine their own identity in a way which does not always fall beneath the umbra of their Ancestors Shadow.But the Babas also stand for something else which is perhaps more interesting from an anthropological standpoint. The study of their provenience in time and place, their emergence, historical elaboration, and subsequent submergence beneath the tides of modern historical developments, allow us to ask critical questions about some of foundational concepts concerning culture, ethnicity, social structure, historical patterning, and even evolutionary processes of change.

OfficeMax Corporate Description

Introduction The purpose of this essay is to describe the background of OfficeMax, Inc., financial statements, organizational structure, industry overview, and overall performance of this company.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on OfficeMax Corporate Description specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Company and Industry Description OfficeMax is a diversified company and the pioneer of retail office products industry, which serves the pubic and private sector for the office supplies, paper, print, document services, and technological solution with high integrity, accountability, and corporate social responsibility through 29,000 associates all over the USA; in addition, it establishes several subsidiaries with 1,000 stores in the US and Mexico (OMX, Inc. 1). The performance of the office-supply retail industry is very significant to the manufacturers as they directly linked with the quick unstable demand, while the secto r generated profit of US$ 151.5 million with sales revenue US$ 7.6 billion in 2011, but the industry has been suffering from a declining profit from 2.6% to 2.0% during 2006 to 2011 (IBISWorld 4). History of firm OfficeMax started its journey in 1931 in the name of Boise Cascade Corporation; in 2003, it acquired OfficeMax, Inc. that provided the company to double its office products supply chain in the US market and the company bannered as OfficeMax; at the same time, it registered in NYSE and established headquarter in Naperville, Illinois (OMX, Inc. 1). In 2004, the company diversified its business from manufacturing to independent office products distribution channels for different technology based office supplies; in 2006, it brought remarkable changes at the management and shifted headquarters with strategic plan that rescued the company from the serious impact of global financial crisis and the company introduced five-year growth plan in 2010. Ownership and Stockholders of Company ZACKS (6) pointed out that OfficeMax Inc. has already listed company in the New York Stock Exchange, and it has aligned with 94% Institutional Ownership, 1 % Insider Ownership with US$ 696 million of market capitalization and 87 millions of outstanding shares while its Mexican outlets operated through 51% joint venture. The debt equity scenario of the company is as followsAdvertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Figure 1: Equity and Debt Position of OMX Source: Modified from Morningstar, Inc. (1) The current equity owners of the company is as – Figure 2: Current Equity Owner Source: Modified from Morningstar, Inc. (1)Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on OfficeMax Corporate Description specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Morningstar, Inc. (1) reported that the stockholders of the OfficeMax are Franklin Balance Sheet Investment Fund, Thornburg Value, CREF Stock, and Fidelity Value and so on while Countryman (1) pointed out that the share of the company is significantly undervalued and they think to break-up or realize their full investment, such threatening trend of investors have generated huge challenges. Financial Condition: Past, Present, Trends According to the Yahoo Finance (1), share price of OfficeMax experienced extreme growth in the stock market at the initial stage, and the share price of this company decreased in 2008 and it was below $2 at that time though the position developed steadily; however, the following figure shows the historical stock price of OfficeMax for three stock exchanges – Figure 3: Historical stock price performance of OfficeMax from 2008 to 2011 Source: Yahoo Finance (1) Key variables 1997 ($ million) 1998 ($ million) 1999 ($ million) Sales Revenue 3.765.444 4,337.768 4,842.698 Gross profit 870.36 973.23 1,111.543 Net Income 89.6 2 48.62 10.041 EPS 0.72 0.39 0.09 Table 1: Key financial variables of OfficeMax Source: Self generated from O’Malley (14)Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More O’Malley (20) pointed out that the performance of this company deteriorated from the fiscal 2000 and the earning per share declined as well; however, the present performance of the company is satisfactory, but it must have to consider global financial crisis to hold stable position in the future. Analysis of financial statements and performance The operating costs of this company had not increased significantly, but the net income fluctuated dramatically, for instance, net income attributable to OfficeMax was $34.894 million, $71.155 million and $ 0.667 million for 2011, 2010 and 2009 accordingly; the following tables show key financial statistics and operating expenses for OfficeMax – Key variables 2011 ($ million) 2010 ($ million) 2009 ($ million) Sales Revenue 7,121.167 7,150.007 7,212.050 Gross profit 1,809.18 1,849.652 1,737.598 Total Assets 4,069.275 4,078.93 4,069.531 Total Liabilities 3,468.359 3,428.918 3,566.335 Total cash flows from investing activities (69.373) (87.338) 2.822 Table 2: Key Financial Variables of OfficeMax Source: self-generated from OfficeMax (74-78) and Yahoo Finance (1) Variables 2011 ($ million) 2010 ($ million) 2009 ($ million) Cost of sales 5,311.99 5,300.36 5,474.45 Operating, selling, and general and administrative expenses 1,690.97 1,689.13 1,674.71 Asset impairments 11.20 10.98 17.612 Other operating expenses 20.53 3.077 49.30 Table 3: Total operating expenses of OfficeMax Source: Self generated from OfficeMax (78) and OMX, Inc. (1) Performance and Soundness in Comparison to Industry/ Competitors The presence of strong competitors in office-supply retail industry is one of the main threats for OfficeMax while the market position of the competitors is outstanding and it has both direct and indirect competitors those offer similar services, for example, local and international office goods markets are extremely and increasingly competitive (Yahoo Finance and OfficeMax 35). Accor ding to the figure 2, the performance of this company was not enough sound considering the performance of the competitors because it generated about $40 million profits in 2011 while Office Depot earned approximately $80.95 million and Staples, Inc. generated more than $917 million; however, the following figure demonstrates direct competitor comparison among the major competitors – Figure 4: Direct Competitor Comparison among Office Depot, Inc., Staples, Inc. WMT, and industry (Specialty Retail, Other) Source: Yahoo Finance (1) Figure 5: Comparison of stock price performance between OfficeMax and Staples, Inc. for the last five years Source: Yahoo Finance (1) Figure 6: Comparison of stock price performance between OfficeMax and Office Depot, Inc. for the last five years Source: Yahoo Finance (1) Many small companies are offering similar products and many others are trying to produce innovative products using modern technology, which can change the customer behavior and in crease market demand; moreover, the existing large companies are not the only threatening aspect for OfficeMax, but prospective new entrants can also cause of competitive challenges in the free market economy. Industry Type: Manufacturing/ Service In 2010, Sales revenue from manufacturing was US$ 3,634.2 million and from retailing US$ 3,515.8 million while the consolidated sales revenue was US$ 7,150.0, this data illustrated that the contribution of Manufacturing was 51% and the rest 49% earning from retailing; thus, the company has both attributes of manufacturing and service; at the same time, it is labor intensive (OMX, Inc. 6). Organization and Structure The Chief Executive Officer named Ravichandra Saligram is responsible to control all departments; in addition, the vice-president and Chief Diversity Officer are accountable to maintain the OfficeMax Diversity Council to prepare various reports and improve operational performance by implementing strategic plan. Figure 7: Organi zational Structure 2012 of OfficeMax Source: Official Board (1) Diversification The company is extremely diversified company, for instance, it has retail segment, contract section and so on – Figure 8: Sales from different segment Source: OfficeMax (5) Centralization The top management and board members are responsible to exercise decision-making power, which demonstrates that OfficeMax is following centralized organizational structure (Barney Hesterley 135). Compensation Policies According to the annual report 2011 of OfficeMax, Executive Vice-President Steve Parsons is responsible for all aspects related with compensation and benefits; however, compensation committee designs salary structure for the employees, directors and other board members. On the other hand, OfficeMax (1) reported that salary of the directors is competitive, non-employee directors obtain a form of long-term equity reimbursement, but non-employee board members merely receive salary for their boa rd service; however, it fails to ensure high compensation and benefits to attract and retain qualified associates. The following figure shows information related with equity compensation plan – Figure 9: Equity Compensation Plan Information Source: OfficeMax (117) Management Controls The management of OfficeMax is committed to control the company and review the performance of the Company by maintaining ethical codes with integrity, the regulations and conducts for the board member, and legal provisions of national and international markets; however, Ethisphere Institute awarded this company for quality leadership in ethical business practices (OfficeMax 1). Types of Organizational Structure OfficeMax is following hierarchical or formal organizational chart to control the company; in addition, OfficeMax is highly differentiated in its own industry, which influences the company to maintain several common functional departments to operate the business, for instance, legal d epartment, merchandising, supply chain, diversity management and human resource department; however, the subsequent figure shows a simple organizational of OfficeMax- Figure 10: Organizational Chart of OfficeMax Source: OfficeMax (1) Works Cited Barney, Jay. Hesterley, William. Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage. London: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print. Countryman, Andrew. Major shareholder seeks sale or breakup of OfficeMax Inc. 2005. Web. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2005-03-12/business/0503120309_1_officemax-capital-partners-k-capital. IBISWorld. 2011. Office Stationery Manufacturing in the US. PDF file. 02 November 2012. http://www.texastrade.org/resources/documents/doc_download/507-office-stationery-manufacturing-in-the-us-industry-report. Morningstar, Inc. OfficeMax Inc OMX. 2012. Web. http://investors.morningstar.com/ownership/shareholders-overview.html?t=OMX. OfficeMax. Annual Report 2011 of OfficeMax. 2011. Web. http://investor.officemax.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=851 71p=irol-reportsannual. OfficeMax. Corporate Governance of OfficeMax. 2012. Web. http://investor.officemax.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=85171p=irol-govguidelines#2. OfficeMax. Organizational Chart of OfficeMax. 2012. Web. http://about.officemax.com/csr2007/working+organizational+structure.html. Official Board. Organizational Structure 2012 of OfficeMax. 2012. Web. http://www.theofficialboard.com/org-chart/officemax. O’Malley, Judge. 2000. In re OfficeMax, Inc. Securities Litigation. PDF file. 02 November 2012. http://securities.stanford.edu/1015/OMX00/2001427_r01c_0002432.pdf. OMX, Inc. Company Facts. 2012. Web. http://about.officemax.com/html/officemax_company_facts.shtml. OMX, Inc. OfficeMax Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Financial Results. 2012. Web. http://investor.officemax.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=85171p=irol-finnewsArticleID=1529468highlight=. OMX, Inc. 2009. OfficeMax’s Living Values 2008, Corporate Social Responsibility Report. PDF file. 02 November 2012. http:// about.officemax.com/csr2009/downloads/OMX_CSR_Report_08.pdf. OMX, Inc. 2011. OfficeMax’s Fact Sheet 11. PDF file. 02 November 2012. https://www.eandi.org/PDF/OfficeMax_Difference_5.11.pdf. Yahoo Finance. Comparison of stock price performance between OfficeMax and Office Depot, Inc. for the last 5 years. 2012. Web. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5ys=OMXl=onz=lq=lc=ODPql=1. Yahoo Finance. Comparison of stock price performance between OfficeMax and Staples, Inc. for the last 5 years. 2012. Web. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5ys=OMXl=onz=lq=lc=SPLSql=1. Yahoo Finance. Direct Competitor Comparison. 2012. Web. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/co?s=OMX+Competitors. ZACKS. 2012. OfficeMax Incorporated. PDF file. 02 November 2012. http://www.zacks.com/ZER/zer_get_pdf.php?r=Z921561t=OMXid=23723. This essay on OfficeMax Corporate Description was written and submitted by user Natasha M. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on “A Scarlet Ibis“ Literary Essay

Prompt: In the story â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† James Hurst uses setting imagery to parallel characterization. The two aspects of characterization that are reflected through the author’s use of setting imagery are [ the hopes and dreams] and [the disappointments] of the main characters. In â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† by James Hurst, setting imagery is used to parallel the characters’ moods. He uses these forms of nature to reflect both [ the hopes and dreams ] and [ the disappointments ] of the main characters. [ The first illustration of setting imagery is when Hurst describes the hopes and dreams, the hopes of Doodle being able to walk, and how it became reality. ] { Doodle had a title of being â€Å"Handicapped† hanging over his head. } { The brother had a problem with having a â€Å"Handicapped† brother, so he set out to teach him [ Doodle] how to walk. } James Hurst, describes when the dream of having Doodle be able to walk becomes a reality here, â€Å"Finally one day, after many weeks of practicing, he [ Doodle ] stood alone for a few seconds. When he fell, I grabbed him in my arms and hugged him, our laughter pealing through the swamp like a ringing bell. Now we knew it could be done. Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible. â€Å"Yes, Yes,† I cried and he cried it too.† This passage shows how the brother’s dream went from hope to reality. The brother and his family thought that Doodle would never be able to stand on his own, let alone walk. Doodle’s walking wasn’t very important, but since the dream had existed in his brother’s head for weeks, Doodle made his brother’s dream become a reality. It is this picture of setting imagery that James Hurst has built his story around that continues the hope and dreams of the main characters’, both as a dream and now a reality for the family to remember. This very moment is a moment that Dood... Free Essays on â€Å"A Scarlet Ibisâ€Å" Literary Essay Free Essays on â€Å"A Scarlet Ibisâ€Å" Literary Essay Prompt: In the story â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† James Hurst uses setting imagery to parallel characterization. The two aspects of characterization that are reflected through the author’s use of setting imagery are [ the hopes and dreams] and [the disappointments] of the main characters. In â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† by James Hurst, setting imagery is used to parallel the characters’ moods. He uses these forms of nature to reflect both [ the hopes and dreams ] and [ the disappointments ] of the main characters. [ The first illustration of setting imagery is when Hurst describes the hopes and dreams, the hopes of Doodle being able to walk, and how it became reality. ] { Doodle had a title of being â€Å"Handicapped† hanging over his head. } { The brother had a problem with having a â€Å"Handicapped† brother, so he set out to teach him [ Doodle] how to walk. } James Hurst, describes when the dream of having Doodle be able to walk becomes a reality here, â€Å"Finally one day, after many weeks of practicing, he [ Doodle ] stood alone for a few seconds. When he fell, I grabbed him in my arms and hugged him, our laughter pealing through the swamp like a ringing bell. Now we knew it could be done. Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible. â€Å"Yes, Yes,† I cried and he cried it too.† This passage shows how the brother’s dream went from hope to reality. The brother and his family thought that Doodle would never be able to stand on his own, let alone walk. Doodle’s walking wasn’t very important, but since the dream had existed in his brother’s head for weeks, Doodle made his brother’s dream become a reality. It is this picture of setting imagery that James Hurst has built his story around that continues the hope and dreams of the main characters’, both as a dream and now a reality for the family to remember. This very moment is a moment that Dood...

A View of the Political Power of the Weimar Republic during the Golden Age

A View of the Political Power of the Weimar Republic during the Golden Age â€Å"The Weimar Republic enjoyed a golden age of political stability in the years 1924-28† When the armistice was signed by Germany in 1918, Germany was in a complete state of disarray. A naval mutiny broke out in Kiel, and Germany was plunged into a revolution. Several groups scrambled for control of Germany. Eventually, the Weimar Republic was formed, it promised a democratic republic with equal rights to all its citizens. However, to say the republic calmed tensions and provided political stability post-1918 would be far from accurate. Hyper-inflation and the harsh terms of the treaty of Versailles led to increasing resentment towards the newly-found republic from the German public up to the crisis year of 1923. However, historians have argued that between 1924 and 1928, Germany experienced a period of political stability, this is mainly attributed to Stresemann’s addressing of the hyper-inflation crisis by introducing the Rentenmark, as well as American loans and investment from the Dawes plan assisting the German economy in recovering. However critics have argu ed that there is no such thing as the â€Å"golden age† and that the Weimar Republic was still in a state of crisis. Some historians argue that it would be impossible to describe the period in Germany from 1924-1928 as a â€Å"golden age of political stability â€Å"because there was no stable Government during this period. Over this period there were 9 successive governments in the space of 4 years, all of them being coalition governments. The frequent change in leadership meant there was no time for any meaningful impact to take place as the next Government would scrap what the previous Government had been planning. In addition, some of the Governments during the period were minority Governments, leading to cases were Governments were unable to pass legislation due to other parties grouping together to prevent it from passing. The lack of strong government during the period highlighted the weakness of German democracy and led to the German public becoming disenfranchised with the establishment. However, looking at the period pre-1924, and compare it to the years 1924-28, it is clear that following 1924, there was a period of growing stability. Up to 1923, inflation was increasing at an exponential rate with the Government printing more and more money in order to pay of the overwhelming debts they held following the treaty of Versailles. The continual printing of money led to the Deutschmark becoming so worthless many German’s opted for a primitive barter economy instead. Hyper-inflation was only made worse by the French-Belgium invasion of the Ruhr. German workers in the Ruhr went on strike meaning reparations weren’t being paid; this led to a joint force of France and Belgium occupying the Ruhr. The German government at the time opted for a policy of passive resistance; they paid the German workers to stay on strike, but did not actively confront the occupying forces. The effect of passive resistance was that it led to even more money being paid out then the annual reparation payments cost them, which in turn exacerbated the hyper-inflation crises When Stresemann became chancellor in 1923 he set up a new currency, the Rentenmark which helped stabilise the economy and effectively ended the hyper-inflation crisis. Therefore, the crisis period up to 1923 is in great period with the relatively calmer more prosperous years from 1924-28. During this â€Å"golden age† real wages for Industrial workers increased and there was a sense of newfound prosperity, quite the opposite of the years leading up to the golden age. On the other hand, some historians would argue that the so-called economic prosperity of the â€Å"Golden age† wasn’t as prosperous as it is made out to be. Stresemann says in a speech shortly before his death â€Å"the economic position is only flourishing on the surface,† whilst the economy grew from 1924-1927 it shrunk in 1928; unemployment was a continuous issue, by March 1926 unemployment was at 3 million, this and the wall street crash which happened just after the golden age indicate that whilst the economy seemed to have recovered, in reality the foundations it was built on were unsafe to begin with. In conclusion, I would argue that whilst the Weimar Republic appeared to be more politically stable, the reality was that the short-lived prosperity was only due to American investment, and when the wall-street crash occurred, Germany was unable to rely on the USA, leading to an economic disaster. Thus the Weimar Republic enjoyed a false sense of political stability, but no real stability was present.

Strategic growth plan for Simply Coffee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Strategic growth plan for Simply Coffee - Essay Example There are several components which factor into a strategic growth plan, all which provide different alternatives for continuous growth and development of a business. Within this are several special alternatives that are associated with small businesses, specifically because the growth incorporates not only changes within the external environment, but are also inclusive of ways in which the internal environment needs to change. Incorporating specific alterations can provide further development within an organization while promoting healthy growth within a company. 2.0 Strategic Growth Plan 2.1 Executive Summary The small business which will be evaluated for a strategic growth plan is â€Å"Simply Coffee.† The focus of this particular business is to provide coffee machines to other businesses that are interested in extra compensation with the on the go concept. The machine is placed into a specific business with available coffee which the individuals can pay for while they are g oing through for other needs. The coffee machines are combined with special coffee beans that are provided regularly to clients for a specific taste, including beans of espresso, latte, cappuccino or regular black coffee. The company has provided a commitment to sustainable economics, specifically with a guarantee that rainforest won’t be harmed and that the farmers that provide the coffee receive fair compensation. Each of these products are also inclusive of on – site training to connect the machine and make sure that all of the components are ready for servicing so individuals can get their own coffee while moving through a line or while on the go. Retailers are also provided with marketing materials, including graphics, floor graphics, wobblers, interior and exterior graphics and external banners (Simply Coffee, 2011). The main concept of Simply Coffee began several years ago because of the noticed trend of individuals who needed items faster. The main ideology was to create a coffee machine which could provide a variety of coffees quickly and without waiting for the specialized mixes which are often included in coffee houses. The main ideal began with noticing that coffee and tea are one of the fastest growing sectors in the coffee industry and is inclusive of 22% of sales and growth each year and a profit of 120 million per year. The industry is combined with the ideology of on the go becoming even more popular, specifically which the majority of the population is interested in because of the need to move quickly while getting the daily enjoyment of tea or coffee. The machine is designed to not only offer quick coffee but also adds into retail value without taking up retail space. It is through the noticed trends in the market and changes which are associated with this that has built the main demand of the business (Simply Coffee, 2011). 2.2 Vision and Mission The vision of the Simply Coffee will be based on growth for the coffee machines a s well as popularity that will be provided to those who are interested in the coffee. The vision will include retailers implementing the machines in the stores with continuous demand for the coffee beans. The vision will also be inclusive of consumers recognizing the coffee as high quality, specifically in relation to coffee from home or from cafes. The mission will be based on growth of the demand of the coffee machines and finding the perfect cup for consumers while they are on the go. 2.3 Critical Success Factors The main concept which will need to be used with Simply Coffee is one which is based on changing the success of the company by altering the growth of the company. For the company to succeed, a stronger plan needs to be implemented with marketing. This will need to be based on recognizing the

Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Russia - Essay Example The Prime Minister heads the government, which the president appoints but at the parliaments approval. The crafty use of democratization agenda in the post-Cold War world has evoked a backlash against the whole notion of the expected transition to democracy. Democratization is also in question here as the ground reality has prompted rethinking because much of the post-Soviet region appears trapped between authoritarian past and a murky future. The experts use the term of managed democracy for the Russian system of government. The rise of political authoritarianism or managed democracy is an object of fascination for the West. The geopolitical realities such as Russian oil and gas reserves make sure that these Western interests remain engaged in evolution of the Russian democracy. It is hard to conclude whether Russia is still a democracy or not. But one thing is certain that it represents a unique version of democracy which is considerably

Legal and regulatory environment that influenced the Internet Essay Example for Free

Legal and regulatory environment that influenced the Internet Essay The internet is a dynamic field which is a product of several influences, which at times are contradictory. The constitutions of several countries were created before the advent of the internet, the need to create and amend laws and regulations governing the internet have influenced the internet. However, two major issues that have been of legal and regulatory contention are privacy and security; this is because privacy seems to be conversely related with security. The internet has made it possible for detailed personal information to be easily availed and shared, this has however infringed on the personal rights of privacy, according to Frackman, et al. (2002), several acts such as Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act have influenced immensely the internet since firms have to comply with the provisions of the Acts on all the personal information they collect ,and the personal information availed as content in the internet, since availing much information infringes of personal rights . However the issues of electronic commerce, cyber crime, network and state security, intellectual property rights, consumer rights and exchange of credit information have called for sharing of more information on the internet. Laws and regulations, such as Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, have called for extensive sharing of personal information on the internet, due to security concerns which in essence contradicts the objective of privacy. The privacy and security legal and regulatory environment have therefore greatly influenced the Internet. Explain how Dell initially used software and the Internet to increase sales and yield cost savings Dell is an international company offering computing services and products. Facing increasing costs in product distribution, the company founded the Integrated Dell Desktop (IDD); this offers simple desktop functionality to sales representatives, who are connected together via the internet. The system offers the clients the possibility of ordering bespoke systems directly from hence eliminating the middle men, therefore saving costs; this has been made possible by the company’s website dell. com and call centres. Dell was able to increase sales due to increased customer satisfaction, as a result of customers having the product of their selection. IDD also saved costs for dell, and improved profit for the company as well as offering competitive strategic advantage since the sales personnel were empowered to get any relevant information , since all the back end systems were integrated. In addition, the company was also to save on personnel costs, costs on offering training to the sales representatives were reduced as well as customers being able to get all the relevant information concerning the products from the website. Moreover, storage costs were reduced since the machines were produced depending on the customers’ customization and shipped to customer. IDD and the internet have therefore contributed to reducing costs and increasing sales at Dell.

The Manifesto of the Communist Party Essay -- Politics Political

The Manifesto of the Communist Party Drafted in 1848 by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, the â€Å"Manifesto of the Communist Party† outlines the views, tendencies, and aims of the communist party through the so-called philosophy of historical materialism (Distante). These views were expressed throughout four distinct sections of the â€Å"Manifesto of the Communist Party.† The first section describes the relationship between the bourgeois and the proletarians. The next section depicts the relationship between the proletarians and the communists. The third section of the document presents socialist and communist literature. The â€Å"Manifesto†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is ended with a section stating the position of the communists in relation to opposition parties. The first section begins with a brief history of the bourgeois in various societies. Marx shows that like earlier civilizations, the bourgeois, or modern capitalists and employers, has oppressed the proletarian class, or the working class of the society. Comparisons are made regarding ancient Rome as well as the middle ages with the modern bourgeois. Marx claims that the â€Å"modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society [†¦.] It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression (Marx).† During the feudal period, the feudal lords monopolized industry. As time progressed, this system was insufficient for the growing needs of the nation. A new manufacturing system took the place of the monopoly system and soon provided for the natural evolution of the capitalist class. Due to increased work and efficiency, the markets continued to grow to the point that even the manufacturing system was not sufficient. Industrial revol... ...tionary movement against the existing social and political order of things. In all these movements they bring to the front, as the leading question in each, the property question†¦Working men of all countries unite! (Marx)† Works Cited 1. Brians, Paul. Communist Manifesto Study Questions. http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/hum_303/manifesto.html (19 Oct. 2001). 2. Distante, Patrick. Evolutionary Philosophy---the Late 19th Century. http://home.earthlink.net/~pdistan/howp_9.html (19 Oct. 2001) 3. Kuhn, Rick. The Communist Manifesto. http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html (19 Oct. 2001). 4. Marx, Karl and Engels, Freidrich. The Manifesto of the Communist Party. (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1964) 5. Marxism Made Simple. http://www.marxism-made-simple.fsnet.co.uk/mainpage.htm (19 Oct 2001).

How far are woman and goddesses responsible for the problems that Odysseus faces on his journey? Essay

In Homer’s Odyssey women are responsible for many of the problems that Odysseus faced during his journey back to Ithaca. This essay will analyse how far women were responsible and also compare it to far other things caused problems for Odysseus. The first woman that I think caused Odysseus problems on his journey is Calypso. Calypso, her name meaning â€Å"the concealer† in Greek, using her beauty kept Odysseus captive on her island for seven years. â€Å"He is left to languish in misery in the island home of Calypso, who keeps him captured there.† (Page 63) Odysseus is upset because firstly on the island of Ogygia, Odysseus is powerless: he is no longer warrior and king but Calypso’s lover. The fact that she kept him captive is bad because had he remained on Ogygia, he would have no chance of ever getting any fame and glory. â€Å"His eyes were wet with weeping, as they always were† (Page 66). This quote also refers to this point because Odysseus w ants more than anything to return home, but he can’t and there is nothing Odysseus can do about it. The second reason that Calypso caused problems was the fact that she offered eternal life to Odysseus. â€Å"Yet had you any inkling of the full measure if misery you are bound to endure before you reach your native land, you would stay and share this home with me, and take on immortality.† (Page 68) This ironically, she is just offering him a form of death as he would be isolated from the rest of the world. It would also prevent him continuing on his journey. On the other hand though, firstly, if it hadn’t been for the Charybdis and the Gods, Odysseus wouldn’t be on Ogygia. â€Å"Nine days of drifting followed; but in the night of the tenth the gods washed me up on the island of Ogygia† (Page 168), conveys that the Gods caused Odysseus to be on Ogygia. Also the person who alerts the Gods of Odysseus current location and situation is Athene, who of course is also a woman. Not only that but while Odysseus was being held on Ogygia he was very well treated by Calypso, she fed him, bathed him and clothed him and she shows great signs of Xenia not just to Odysseus but to Hermes as well. The second woman who was responsible for problems that Odysseus faced was Circe. Firstly she turned all but one of Odysseus’ men into pigs and delayed Odysseus’ progress. â€Å"Now they had pig’s heads and bristles and they grunted  like pigs; but their minds were as human as they had been before,† (Page 131) this quote depicts Circe’s cruelness towards Odysseus’ men. Secondly Circe again stalls Odysseus from completing his journey back to Ithaca. â€Å"You are worn out and dispirited, always brooding on the hardships of your travels. Your sufferings have been so continuous that you have lost all pleasure in living.† (Page 136) This quote shows how Circe convinced Odysseus and his men to spend more time on the island. Thirdly Circe made Odysseus and his men take a different route, via the prophet Teiresias, rather than going straight back to Ithaca. â€Å"But Circe has marked out a very different route- to the Halls of Hades and the dreaded Persephone.† (Page 139) This makes the rest of Odysseus’ crew very upset. â€Å"When I told them they were heart-broken. They sat down where they were and tore their hair out.† (Page 139) Circe was very useful on the other hand. Had they not resumed their journey via the prophet Teiresias in the Underworld they would be completely ignorant to the dangers of Scylla, Charybdis and the Sirens ahead. She was also useful to Odysseus as she bore his child. The last women who were responsible for problems on Odysseus’ journey were the Sirens. â€Å"For with their high clear song the Sirens bewitch him, as they sit there in a meadow piled high with the mouldering skeletons of men, whose withered skin still hangs upon their bones.† (Page 158) This quote conveys how savage the Sirens are and that if Odysseus and his men did cross the Sirens without knowing they would have had a nasty death. â€Å"There is no homecoming for the man who draws near them unawares and hears the Sirens’ voices; no welcome from his wife, no little children brightening at their father’s return.† (Page 158) This quote depicts the fact that if Circe hadn’t told Odysseus and his men to go and seek Teiresias then they would never have found out about the Sirens and therefore suffered as a result. So to conclude I think that women were only responsible for some of the problems on Odysseus’ journey as although most of the women hold him up on his journey, (one of them for seven years) they not only show him xenia but they also give him good and sometimes life saving advice.

Drainflow Repairing Jobs That Fail to Satisfy Essay

William Assemiah, 12021643 Irene Aidoo, 12021610 Sroda Adzo Apam, 12021626 Asare Ohenedwira Thomas, 12021639 Dorothy Dede Aklerh Asamoah, 12021634 Sampson Abbey Armah, 12021630 Arthur Sherifa, 12021631 Amadu Waliu, 12021617 Report Summary 1. Executive Summary DrainFlow, a plumbing maintenance firm in the USA, has been losing its customers to competitors due to poor services. Job motivation and satisfaction among employees is declining across various job categories within the firm. This dissatisfaction has been attributed to the overspecialization of some job functions in the company. The report attempts to assist DrainFlow improve in three key areas: job structure and design, incentive policies, and recruitment practices. It will go further to analyze the causes of the woes being faced by DrainFlow and provide a constructive recommendation on how to overcome them The main contents include an introduction to the problems DrainFlow is encountering, analyses of the current business, and recommendations on how DrainFlow can overcome these issues to foster a long-term competitive advantage. 2. Introduction Research shows that a happy worker is a productive employee. Satisfied employees tend to be better at their workplaces. Many of the individual behaviors at the workplace are affected by job satisfaction The main contents include an introduction to the problems DrainFlow is encountering, analyses of the current business, and recommendations on how DrainFlow can overcome these issues to foster a long-term competitive advantage. The goal of this proposal is to provide recommendations for a new job structure, a new incentive structure, and new hiring practices. The job structure recommendations will allow for more cross training between office workers and service providers. This will enrich all jobs at DrainFlow by adding different tasks, autonomy, and feedback. The new incentive structure will allow for flexible benefits and recognition. This is designed to motivate  employees and improve customer service. Lastly, the new hiring practices will provide a repeatable solution for finding a cohesive set of new employees. The report consists of five (5) parts: Executive Summary, Introduction, Motivation and Job Structure Analysis, Recommendations and Implementation. 3. Motivation and Job Structure Analysis 3.1. Job Design Research shows that there is a moderate relationship between job satisfaction and job performance as well as customer satisfaction. Satisfied employees perform better at their jobs and provide better customer service. Employees of DrainFlow are dissatisfied and that is the root cause of their present situation. Generally, specialization results in cost effectiveness and delivering of core competencies among employees when jobs are complex and require years of experience and learning for mastery. It becomes an albatross when jobs have few tasks and require little skill. The bottom line is, jobs have different effects on efficiency and motivation. The current job structure of DrainFlow due to its specialization has contributed to job dissatisfaction among employees and in 25% cases, turning employees away from the company. Work groups are dissatisfied with each other’s output. The current job structure only assigned tasks without considering the interdependency of those tasks. Due to this, problems such as assigning a plumber assistant on a job meant for a plumber, and vice versa, and poor customer service have plagued DrainFlow. DrainFlow should adopt Hackman’s Job Characteristic Model to describe current jobs in the firm. The JCM has five core dimensions which include skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. Skill variety is the use of different skills and talents to complete a variety of work activities. The current job- tasks in DrainFlow are very narrow and do not allow employees that skill variety. Task identity is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole or identifiable piece. This will help communicate the interdependence of work from one group and the other through the order to bill process. Task significance is the degree to which the job affects the organization and society. There no feedback channels in the firm at present and as such it’s difficult to measure customer satisfaction. Autonomy will provide the freedom, independence and discretion in scheduling  work and determining the procedure to be used in accomplishing it. DrainFlow has a preplanned and stringent procedure to follow. Feedback will provide employees with direct and clear information about their own performance. DrainFlow’s employees haven’t that information to assess their performance. 3.2 Incentive Scheme DrainFlow has no incentive scheme in place that will motivate employees to put any extra effort on the job. The present reward system is based on skill and qualification. Plumbers are rewarded the most as compared to the others because of their level of skill and not on performance. Generally, reward systems tend to motivate employees better when they are:   linked to performance; the rewards are important, when team rewards are used for interdependent jobs and those rewards are valuable. Lee’s attempt to salvage DrainFlow by introducing the reward system is laudable but it will need a few modifications. 3.3. Recruitment Practices The current recruitment processes by DrainFlow are based on unstructured interviews by different managers thereby creating a higher level of inconsistencies in the choices of selection of employees. The use of shortcuts for judgment such as selective perception (tendency to selectively interpret what one sees based on one’s interests, background, experience and attitudes), or stereotyping (judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs) are prevalent. Although the shortcuts may aide accurate perceptions and hence predictions, they are not full proof and may result in perception inaccuracies. Research indicates that impressions are formed within a tenth of a second, based on a first glance. Wrong perceptions may result in employees that are unqualified for the position and/or dissatisfied with work. The current situation at DrainFlow was aggravated by these perceptional recruitment inefficiencies. Most employees lack training in customer service, organizational behavior and are anxious about speaking with customers. Order processors do not have  sufficient knowledge or skill to explain the customer’s situation to DrainFlow Plumbers or Plumber Assistants. Billing representatives must deal with the negative reactions of dissatisfied customers; however, Bill processors are only involved at the end of the job process and unaware of any job details. DrainFlow plumbers are sometimes reluctant to deliver bad news of an unexpectedly high bill to customers. Furthermore, it is clear that a majority of order processors do not know any more about plumbing than customers calling in. These deficiencies have resulted in a direct negative impact on the revenue and cost savings, which were to be achieved by dividing assignments and specializing job responsibilities. 4.0 Recommendations A. Job Redesign DrainFlow work units have been overspecialized and there is little or no coordination among employees of different functional units. Therefore, we recommend a radical redesign of the job structure and business processes to achieve dramatic performance improvements and motivation. Order and Bill Processing be merged into one work unit under a job title. This will enable employees to have a first-time touch with customers. Cross training programs should be organized to enhance their knowledge of plumbing and plumbing-related activities. Feedbacks on customer satisfaction can easily be tracked. Plumbing assistants, besides performing less technical plumbing works, should be given the opportunity to do rotational job activities in Order and Bill Processing unit. This will foster a better relationship among employees, enhance skill variety, cross training; reduce boredom and increase motivation and job satisfaction. Plumbers should organize training sessions on plumbing for worker in Order and Bill Processing Unit and continue to do complex plumbing works. The training should be interactive and focus on providing skill on how to respond to plumbing problems. This is to add a variety to plumbers’ activities. B. Incentive Scheme There is no current incentive scheme in place that is capable of providing employee satisfaction and motivation. DrainFlow should introduce an incentive scheme geared towards increasing employee satisfaction. This scheme should be both intrinsic and extrinsic; it should be both skill-oriented and performancebased.   Skills in customer service, plumbing and work attitude should be considered in the scheme. Performance-based will reward employees who create and maintain high customer retention rates. At the end of any job, a customer satisfaction survey should be conducted to assess level of customer satisfaction. Results from the survey should be the bases for implementing Lee’s reward scheme. Rewarding performance should be an ongoing managerial and not just periodic. Therefore, extrinsic rewards such as performance pay should be consistent with overall management objectives, used to reinforce a motivational in which nonmonetary rewards exist such as employee recognition. C. Recruitment Practices Based on the problem analysis concerning recruitment practices in DrainFlow, we recommend that management should design a consistent recruitment procedure that is capable of finding and hiring individuals who have the skill and experience to function well on the job. The recruitment policy procedure should emphasize on: ï‚ · A brief summary judgment about the applicant’s strength and weaknesses ï‚ · Interpreting facts as they appear on resume and make judgments; highlight and comment on experience and skills only as they apply to the needs of DrainFlow ï‚ · Identifying personality  traits (such as Agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, and emotional stability) that will improve customer service and emotional labor 4. Implementation This is probably the hardest part of it all. DrainFlow’s challenges of improving employee and customer satisfaction whiles increasing profit levels through cost containment and job performance is contingent on implementing our recommendations. However, any successful implementation of these recommendations will require support from toplevel management. The objectives of the changes should be clearly communicated to employees. DrainFlow should not do any radical changes; they should introduce the changes gradually in order of importance. Redesigning the job structure is essentially the first change management should introduce. The focus is on combining order and billing work responsibilities into a single work unit. This should be followed by cross training and weekly job rotational activities. Workers of the newly created Order and Billing Unit should be given the opportunity to clone a plumber or plumber assistant to learn the basic concepts of plumbing. This will equip them with the necessary competencies in executing order and bill processing. DrainFlow needs to implement a new incentive scheme that is capable of boosting employee satisfaction to put in more effort in their work. The proposed incentive scheme should include a financial reward system, as proposed by Lee, and an intrinsic, employee recognition program. Research has shown that financial rewards are mostly effective and deliver good results  only in the short-run. Employee loyalty and long-term motivational needs are triggered by non-financial rewards such as recognition. 5. Conclusion This report summarized recommendations on how DrainFlow will gain a competitive advantage by improving three key knobs: job structure and design, incentive scheme and recruitment practices. The recommendations are clear and understandable and should be technically easy and financially cost effective to implement. The report proposes combining some job units,  encouraging a weekly job rotational activities, cross training by utilizing the current talents available within the organization, etc. A new incentive scheme will create job satisfaction through job motivation; this will boost productivity, performance and customer retention. The new recruitment policy entails finding and training employees that fit and share the dreams and aspirations of DrainFlow. Consequently, DrainFlow will see positive changes in employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and retention, motivation, loyalty, performance, productivity and profitability.