Thursday, August 27, 2020

The Red Cardigan Essays

The Red Cardigan Essays The Red Cardigan Essay The Red Cardigan Essay The red Cardigan is about a little youngster who professes to have a ‘gift’ where she knows things and see’s them before they occur. Evie, the little youngster had the unique blessing went down from her grandma. The content investigates the topics of mental authenticity, wrongdoing secret and the extraordinary. This book was itemized and fascinating which kept me needing to understand more. The Red Cardigan is about Evie seeing things that others don’t. She gets a kick out of the chance to draw yet some of the time her hands draw something totally unique then what she was needing to draw.Evie wears an opshop store red cardigan which used to have a place with another young lady who is currently killed and missing. Since she began wearing it she has been getting clues from that young lady, for example, her hands drawing an image of the missing young lady, and every one of these clues in the long run lead to an explained wrongdoing puzzle. Evie first found her blessing extremely youthful when she was in the vehicle and each time she drove past a specific spot she would see a young lady remaining on the corner shrouded in blood. Later on she discovers that that was the place a young lady had been hit and killed.She was the one in particular who could see this however and didn’t comprehend at that point. Evie’s mum doesn’t endorse of this blessing and needs to have nothing to do with it so as Evie battles to settle this wrongdoing she additionally fights with her mum and makes life exceptionally hard for her. The positive parts of this content is that it is truly intriguing and has a great and solid story line. This book isn't befuddling however extremely straightforward what's going on and it has numerous subtleties to help tell the story.The text is exceptionally composed and furthermore has flashbacks all through the content which assist you with comprehension and keep you intrigued and continually thinking. We can see this when Evie encounters a flashback in the book of one she had always wanted she had about a particular spot, which didn’t sound good to her at that point, yet now when she’s at that place, she understands what the fantasy was attempting to advise her and it drives Evie to finding the missing young lady. For me I don’t feel that there are any negative parts of this book as I cherished each moment of it and couldn't discover anything negative about it at all.The writer profoundly investigates the subjects of the extraordinary and mental sides of things which has made her being fruitful in connecting with her perusers. J. C. Burke has done a generally excellent activity at making an incredible storyline and arranging out the story so it functions admirably and bodes well all through. The Red Cardigan composed by J. C. Burke, is a fascinating and contacting anecdote about a young lady who has an extraordinary blessing and is set for locate a missing person.It investigates mental authenticity down to each and every detail and keeps you interested all through the book. The message of this story was to consistently follow your faculties as it drives you the correct way and J. C. Burke was effective in imparting this to her perusers, as she gives us that by Evie following hers it lead her the correct way and winds up fathoming a wrongdoing secret. This book has an exceptionally amazing and fascinating story and I would rebelliously rate it profoundly.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

The Kraken Story Essay Example

The Kraken Story Paper Day 126 We’ve been at the salty ocean for 18 weeks we still haven’t arrived at land. What to do? My entire team is prepared to pivot however I will not pivot without finding what I set out searching for. Day 128 CAN YOU BELIEVE IT.! We endure the frightful assault from the kraken. . . It began when I was writing in my diary, when I peered out my window to locate a humongous eye the size of 3 supper plates. I hopped in my britches and hurried to the deck. It was pouring down downpour and the sky was totally dark with roaring mists framing surrounding us. I attempted to pull in the sail before STRIKE! The lightning hit the mass and off it went to the ocean. I pivoted and my team was running and shouting like a crazy whirlwind. I hollered and shouted and hollered yet they didn’t appear to tune in until 8, monster, red arms came swinging at the pontoon. Fortunately they missed. I turned on the engines of the pontoon trusting we could escape the krakens grasp. He had us encircled! Everybody went to their fight stations. Men were firing firearms, tossing spears, and impacting standards. The kraken was enraged! Out of no where the pontoon began to rise, and before you know it we slid back in the water to locate the goliath head straightforwardly above us. The eyes were gazing at us in the face, its arms grasped a the pontoon, and we had no more weapons to shoot. We thought we were without a doubt dead when STRIKE! The lightning had spared us. The kraken gradually glided to the base of the sea as we celebrated in drinking a decent, cool brew. Presently were simply gradually cruising the sea, with no sail, wanting to discover land, and arrive soon. We will compose a custom exposition test on The Kraken Story explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom exposition test on The Kraken Story explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom exposition test on The Kraken Story explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer

Friday, August 21, 2020

WebHostingpad Review, Complaints and Everything Else for 2020

WebHostingpad Review, Complaints and Everything Else for 2020 .elementor-19992 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19992{text-align:center}Last Updated on January 15, 2020On its website, WebHostingPad claims to offer hassle-free hosting. The company works with shared hosting, WordPress, and VPS hosting, putting customer service first. Founded in 2005 and based in Illinois, WebHostingPad is a bit newer to the web host scene. But being in business for 11 years is no mean feat.WebHostingPad primarily bills itself as a low-cost shared hosting option. The company caters to individuals and small businesses with tight budgets. WebHostingPad is primarily based in the US but it may establish business in China, as well. The demand for low-cost web hosting looks to be as strong as ever. Disclosure As an independent review site, we get compensated if you purchase through the referral links or coupon codes on this page â€" at no additional cost to you. Dismiss alert Get hosting for only $2.64/month here Table of Contents The big picture review of Web hostingpadWebhostingpad reviews: pros consPROSCONSOur WebHostingPad reviews conclusionThe big picture review of WebhostingpadWebHostingPad also offers WordPress hosting at more reasonable prices than the competition. The cheapest plan has nearly no frills, but is only $2.99 a month. Their most expensive plan, which includes backups, WordPress support, and free SSL, is only $5.99. Try finding another WordPress host offering those prices.Both WordPress plans include automated malware scanner and malware quarantine, keeping your site secure. Again, practically a steal compared to other WordPress services. Here’s a video about installing WordPress on WebHostingPad. Youll get an idea of how their control panel is set up, as well. Get hosting for only $2.64/month here Has the basics coveredWebHostingPad may not have a lot of features or frills, but its got the basics covered. If you sign up, you get cPanel and Softaculous, a script installer for WordPress, Joomla, and forum hosting . You also get secure POP 3 and IMAP email included with either plan.If you sign up for shared hosting, you get some free extras thrown in with your account. In addition to a domain name, you get various ad credits as well as Access Guardian site protection software. Web Hosting Pad offers a 30-day money back guarantee â€" which is fairly generous compared to some competitors.WebHostingPad also handles customer service well, considering their rather low prices. They announce service disruptions, both planned and unplanned, on their Twitter account. They also respond to some users via social media. Their staff seems to know plenty about the ins and outs of web hosting.A lot of web hosting companies have been bought by the conglomerate EIG in recent years, but not WebHostingPad. Many users feel that EIG has decreased the quality of the services that it had bought out. Some may even be looking to change platforms. WebHostingPad could be that new platform. But it, too, is not immune fro m issues.CONSWebHostingPad is one of the cheapest hosting providers out there, and as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. WebHostingPad offers 24/7 customer service via phone, live chat, and email. But the quality of that customer service is another story. WebHostingPad reviews tend to be lukewarm at best. Thirty-seven complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau over the past three years. Many users reported a lack of response on the part of customer support, submitting multiple tickets and emails before their issue is even addressed.Unimpressive performanceWebHostingPad claims to maintain 99% uptime, but it turns out that’s not always true. In one study, WebHostingPad only maintained 98.53% uptime â€" well below the industry standard of 99.94%. Their page load times are also twice as slow as the industry average of 700ms. Not very impressive performance.Free doesn’t mean freeThe offer of a free domain name registration is also misleading. To get the free domain name, you have to sign up with a “FREEDOMAIN” coupon, and no other coupon. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll have to pay $14.95 to annually renew your domain name. Most other sites offer domain names for purchase at less than $10.Free backups is another misleading claim. In WebHostingPad’s fine print, they state that only 1GB of website files are eligible for free backups. This 1GB of data does not include emails or databases, or anything other than website files.The company may also charge a backup restoration fee of $39.95. Thats pretty hefty. And manual backup via cPanel is extra. Now WebHostingPads offerings don’t look so good after all.A third misleading free option is unlimited data storage. According to WebHostingPad.com, users should not exceed 150,000 total files. For more, you’ll have to pay $10 a month extra. They’ll do it automatically if you don’t respond.Other restrictions also apply. Youre not allowed to use more than 10% CPU and memory, and your sessions may not exceed ten minutes. Nor can you send more than 300 emails per hour.Customers with large or multiple websites may want to skip out on WebHostingPad. They offer free transfers, but only if the site is less than 2 GB. Nor will the transfer include email addresses, FTP accounts, sub domains or add-on domains. Those would have to be recreated from scratch. Get hosting for only $2.64/month here Our WebHostingPad reviews conclusionWebHostingPad is a cheap option for the small business or startup â€" but only if you don’t mind no frills and stay small. Large businesses and websites will be able to find better options for their capacity. And even some small businesses may find all the hidden fees too much to make it worth it.For customers who want more options, a provider such as HostGator  may be a better choice. While they cost a bit more WebHostingPad, they offer more services at all price levels. HostGator also has fewer upsells and hidden fees, and is a generally more reliable site overall. But it’s up to the individual customer to do their research and decide. Click here to get great hosting today!

Monday, May 25, 2020

An Investigation Of The Psychopath - 1417 Words

An Investigation of the Sociopath and the Psychopath in American Literature and Film Chances are you’re acquainted with a sociopathic character; you’ve probably read a book, watched a film or watched a television show that displays a character with sociopathic personality traits and have grown to enjoy following them through their story. It’s not uncommon; they’re charismatic, manipulative, powerful, and have an extremely different personality than most people. They’re charming and entertaining to watch, so it’s no wonder authors and producers alike have begun to use sociopaths and psychopaths in their work more frequently. Many of the most popular television shows, films, and books in American culture today feature a sociopathic main character; even if it isn’t blatantly obvious. The first step in identifying a sociopathic character is knowing what kind of characteristics real life sociopaths possess. By definition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders: Volume five (DSM-V), sociopaths are those afflicted with antisocial personality disorder and display a variety of characteristics centered on a complete lack of empathy. Some of the included traits are narcissism, deceitfulness, failure to conform to social norms, callousness toward other people and their emotions, and hostility. They also harness the inability to express emotions such as anxiety or guilt. They are almost ubiquitously unable to form connections or relationships with other peopleShow MoreRelatedCommon Traits And Characteristics Of Psychopaths917 Words   |  4 PagesCharacteristics of Psychopaths. Research Questions: 1. What is the definition of a psychopath? 2. What is it about psychopaths that fascinate us? 3. Are there certain traits that make victims vulnerable to psychopathic manipulation? 4. What are some of the common traits of psychopaths? Problem Statement: Psychopaths are the group of people who kill over a longer period of time without being caught or stopped. Unlike mass murderers, who may kill many people at one time, psychopaths usually have reasonsRead MorePsychopathy and Crime Essay821 Words   |  4 PagesPsychopathy is a disease of the mind, in which the psychological state of someone has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric evaluation. Psychopaths have no concern for the feelings of others and a complete disregard of any sense of social obligation. Psychopaths are characterized by lack of empathy, poor impulse control and manipulative behaviors. They use charm, manipulation, intimidation, and the use of severe to mild violence to satisfy their own needs. PsychopathyRead MoreThe Is The Scientific Study Of Mental Disorders Essay848 Words   |  4 PagesPsychopaths can be defined or determined by many different characteristics, and there are many sub categories to psychopaths, however more often than not psychopaths have common beginnings. Although most psychopaths have common beginnings, police still don’t profile or find psychopaths using efficacy. Psychopathology is the scientific study of mental disorders. A psychopath is a person suffering from a chronic mental disorder with violent social behavior. Psychopaths lack conscience and feelingsRead MoreSerial Killers Statistics : Serial Killer Statistics Essay818 Words   |  4 Pages8). Inside the Mind of a Psychopath: The psychopath killer. Retrieved July 28, 2016 from http://www.crimetraveller.org/2015/07/inside-mind-of-psychopath-psychopathic-killer/ In this article of nonfiction, the author explains in an organized manner the mind of a psychopath killer. Consequently, the many subtopics related to this article covers (with a brief description of each); the psychopath scale by Dr. Robert Hare, The interconnecting behavioral traits of a psychopath, nature VS nurture, the brainRead MoreCorrelation Between Secondary And Secondary Students On Empathy, And Was Conducted By Applying Levenson s Srps And Tom1437 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract: The aim of this study was to determine whether primary and secondary psychopaths had deficiencies in empathy, and was conducted by applying Levenson’s SRPS and ToM test to a non-institutionalized group. Studies show that psychopathic individuals have no deficiency with empathy, and support the first hypothesis of a negative correlation between primary psychopathy and empathy. The study doesn’t support the second hypothesis of a negative correlation between secondary psychopathy and empathyRead MoreThe Columbine High School Massacre1384 Words   |  6 Pagesthe publishing date of your book. Columbine, Dave Cullen, 2009. What is the primary topic with which this book deal? The Columbine High School massacre, including the shooting, investigation and aftermath, is the primary topic of this book. Give a summary of the book (4-6 Sentences). Eric Harris, an undiagnosed psychopath, and Dylan Klebold, a depressive, strategically planned and placed bombs in their school, Columbine High School, and cars, but the explosives did not detonate. The Colorado highRead MorePsychopathic Serial Killers Essay1668 Words   |  7 Pagesto study the minds of psychotic killers. Psychopathic killers usually grow up in similar, unstable homes. However, they usually have completely different crime scenes. Most of these killers have different motives for murdering their victims. Psychopaths are stereotyped. They are shown as vicious, violent people, but in reality they can seem nice.. Their one, common peculiarity is their lack of empathy. They lie and manipulate and do not regret or care that they do. Honestly, they do not care aboutRead MoreThe Relationship Between Cognitive Empathy And Primary And Secondary Psychopathy1583 Words   |  7 Pages PSYC 121: Introduction Psychology 1 Assessing the Relationship between Cognitive Empathy and both Primary and Secondary Psychopathy A. Craig 300353012 Amanda Richardson Monday, 5:10-7:00pm, EA404A Abstract This investigation is aimed to find whether there is a relationship between cognitive empathy and primary and secondary psychopathy. A correlational design was used, in which the Levenson self-report scale’ Levenson (1995) and the Reading Eyes Mind Test (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) wereRead MorePhysical And Psychological Symptoms Of A Psychiatric Disorder1682 Words   |  7 Pagesevaluations of criminal defendants that do present psychopathic characteristics. The key point of this article is to determine whether psychopaths are more likely to exaggerate their symptoms, but also know which of those characteristics associated with psychopathy are associated with the exaggeration of symptoms (L. Thomas Kucharski, 2006). To prove the association of psychopaths with malingering, a study was conducted on a group of 280 male criminal defendants who were referred by the courts for competencyRead MoreThe Minds of Serial Killers and how They Work1125 Words   |  5 Pagesthere’s a period of calm and they do it again. Some people believe that the killers are psychopaths and/or sociopaths due to the way their nervous system is made up. These psychopaths feel different than what the normal persons nervous system as in psychopaths don’t fear as much and have less anxiety (Scott, chapter 10, psychopaths?). An issue with serial killers is some of them are considered to be Psychopaths or sociopaths, which also can be diagnosed by the way the act and handle things without

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Electronic Mail Acceptable Use Policy - 1054 Words

On December 16, 2003, Congress enacted the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM) of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-187, 117 Stat. 2669 (2003) requiring the Federal Trade Commission to issue regulations defining the relevant criteria to facilitate the determination of the primary purpose of an electronic mail message, specifically commercial electronic mail messages. An electronic mail acceptable use policy is a document stipulating constraints and practices that users must agree to and comply with when accessing and using the organization’s network system and electronic mail servers. The electronic mail acceptable use policy is a component of the Individual Use and Operation of Information†¦show more content†¦L. No. 100-235 (H.R. 145), (Jan. 8, 1988) C. Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), 18 U. S. C.  § 2510 et seq. D. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C.  § 552 et seq. E. Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003(CAN-SPAM), 15 U. S. C.  § 103 et seq. The CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have entities stop emailing them, and sets forth the penalties for violations. However, the law does not apply just to bulk e-mail. â€Å"It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as ‘any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service† (Federal Trade Commission, 2009). If an entity is found guilty of violating the CAN-SPAM Act, each separate email in violation is subject to penalties of up to $16,000 and more than one person may be held responsible for violations. The CAN-SPAM Act has certain aggravated violations that may give rise to additional fines. The law provides for criminal penalties—including imprisonment—for:  · Accessing someone else’s computer to send span without permission.  · Using false information to register for multiple email accounts or domain names.  · Relaying or retransmitting multiple spam messages through a computer to mislead others about

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act

The moment a patient’s information is entered into a healthcare system, they are given patient rights; one of those rights is the right to patient information confidentiality. This right confirms that the patient’s information will only be accessed by care providers, people who are providing reimbursement for care, when information is ordered by the court or if the patient gives written consent for the release of information. The patient is allowed access to view their medical records (Confidentiality, Patients Rights and Responsibilities, 2014). The healthcare team can assist in building a trusting relationship with their patients by ensuring the patients right to privacy. By ensuring a patients right to privacy, this encourages the†¦show more content†¦If HIPAA were inactive, a patient’s health care information could be discussed freely, without any repercussions. With HIPAA, patients can feel at ease when disclosing personal information that can brin g forth judgments, such as, having HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and other infections or diseases that are viewed negatively by society. Under the HIPAA act, information that identifies a person (name, social security number, birthdate and demographic information), as well as, health information and form of payment is considered confidential (Health Information Privacy, 2003). Failing to abide by HIPAA regulations can result in civil and criminal cases. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 established a tiered civil case structure for violation of HIPAA regulations (HIPAA Violations and Enforcement, 2014). Below are the penalties for HIPAA violations when faced with a civil case: HIPAA Violation Minimum Penalty Maximum Penalty Person was unaware they were breaking HIPAA standards. $100 per violation with annual max of $25,000 for repeated violations. $50,000 per violation with annual max of $1.5 million for repeated violations. Violation was because of a reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. $1,000 per violation with annual max of $100,000 for repeated violations. $50,000 per violation with annual max of $1.5 million for repeated violations Violation was a result of willful neglect. Violation is corrected within the given time period. Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act In August of 1996, Congress enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA. The primary purpose of HIPAA was to protect an individual from losing their health insurance; If they decided to change jobs or have pre-existing conditions. Another purpose of HIPAA was to reduce the costs and administrative burdens of healthcare by creating electronic formats. HIPAA is also used to develop standards and requirements to protect the privacy and security of protected health information. HIPAA consist of five titles. The main two important titles were title I and II. Title I focuses on the health insurance reform. The second title of HIPAA, applies to the Administrative simplifications; in which, includes the electronic transactions and code sets, unique indemnifiers, privacy and security. However, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), was required to issue two separate Regulations referred to as the Privacy Rule and the Security rule. The administrative simplification Provisions of HIPAA required the DHHS to publish standards for electronic exchange, privacy and security of health information. The main goal of the privacy rule was to protect the use and disclosure of an individuals protected health information . The privacy rule began on April 14, 2003. The Office for Civil Rights was responsible for enforcing the privacy rule and the security rule. OCR enforcement activities have obtained significant results thatShow MoreRelatedThe Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Essay1704 Words   |  7 PagesThe Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, most commonly known as HIPAA, was passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton on August 21, 1996. The purpose of this act was to regulate the privacy of patient health information, lower the cost of health care, as well as to help fix the many pieces of our complicated healthcare system. When switching employers or possibly losing employment, HIPAA secures individuals their health insurance. HIPAA nearly affects all individualsRead MoreThe Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act890 Words   |  4 Pagesinformation. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is Protected Health Information (PHI) that: Relates to a person’s physical or mental health, the provision of health care, or the payment for health care. Identifies the person who is the subject of the information. Is created or received by a covered entity Is transmitted or maintained in any form (paper, electronic, or oral) There are five major components to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) PrivacyRead MoreHealth Insurance Portability And Accountability Act1253 Words   |  6 Pagesgiving information to the healthcare professional and motivates the patient to seek health care when needed (Jessica De Bord, Burke, MD PhD, Dudzinski, PhD MTS, 2013). In 1996, Congress passed an act that enforces the patient’s right to information confidentiality. The act was named, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or for short â€Å"HIPAA†. Not only does HIPAA regulate the protection of patient’s health information, but they work to reduce healthcare fraud and abuse, mandate standardsRead MoreThe Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act1416 Words   |  6 PagesHistory The history of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA, began in 1996 when a legal mandate was issue by Congress to protect the ethical principles and confidentiality of patient information (Burkhardt Nathaniel, 2014). Prior to this legislation, employees were not protected between jobs. Waste, fraud and abuse in health insurance and healthcare delivery was prevalent. The need to protect the rights of the patient was needed but also the Act contained passages to promoteRead MoreThe Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Essay1267 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is divided into five titles. Title I is health insurance portability, title II is administrative simplification, title III is medical savings accounts and health insurance tax related provisions, title IV is enforcement of group health plan provisions, and title V is revenue offsets. HIPAA affects many features of health care, including providing the privacy rights of patients for release of financial and medical informationRead MoreHealth Insurance Portability And Accountability Act1914 Words   |  8 Pageshave always and will always be behind criminal acts, and new laws are put in place to tackle the every changing technological advancement. Law Review Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop regulations protecting the privacy and security of certain health information. To fulfill this requirement, HHS publishedRead MoreThe Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act946 Words   |  4 Pagesour own health information, but how is this beneficial to us as patients and healthcare providers? As healthcare is increasingly becoming complex what are ways to enforce these policies and rules? HIPAA rules and standards will need to be the same in each state so there is interoperability the proper way, but will we be able to really accomplish this? This paper will discuss these aspects and ways to overcome these obstacles that are occurring. What is HIPAA? HIPAA also known as the Health InsuranceRead MoreThe Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act1609 Words   |  7 PagesIt has always been the job of health care providers to maintain doctor-patient confidentiality. Not only is it a legal obligation it is also an ethical obligation to many doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants and many other medical staff. Until recently medical records were primarily recorded on paper and stored in cabinets and locked in what was believed as a secure room. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act also known as HIPAA, was passed on August 21, 1996. Although the lawRead MoreHealth Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Essay1382 Words   |  6 Pages Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Final Research Paper Dominique Bracco Healthcare Today (300) Professor Diana December 7, 2016 â€Æ' Abstract The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is divided into five titles. Title I is health insurance portability, Title II is administrative simplification, Title III is medical savings accounts and health insurance tax related provisions, Title IV is enforcement of group health plan provisions, and title V is revenueRead MoreThe Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act768 Words   |  4 Pages/ Mrs. CEO, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule is the driving force in protecting our patient’s information. We take patient privacy serious and will continue to do so. The following is a summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP). Organizations/facilities that are regulated by the Privacy rule are called entities. Entities play a major part in protecting patient’s health information. Per the Health and Humans Services

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Memorandum On Quantas Airways Financial -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Memorandum On Quantas Airways Financial? Answer: Introducation We wish to draw our angle of understanding to the constitute of the company to be that of the Group company with the parent company Quantas that is entirely expected to be declaring consolidated information of all its sub constitutes that are mostly under the control of it based on percentage controlling interest according to Epstein(2006, Pg.4) . Quantas Company has sub-constitutes operating segments that are some subsidiaries, associates while others are joint ventures. Which is further said to be foreign or local depending on route of operation it takes with Jetstar and Quantas International operating as foreign subsidiaries and Quantas Domestic as the local subsidiary. The composition is the further done depending on the tasks involved from that of flying passengers to that of cargo as well as that of controlling operations, management and full governance not forgetting the task of special programs and loyalty confirmation. Its from this that we are able to declare the groups main business operations to be that of provision of freight services and air transport services both locally and international as well as time to time issuance of loyalty programs. The aforesaid group operations together with the various company investments the likes of data and digital innovation, clients branding, investment in culture and leadership as well as that of energy and emissions are therefore explaining the great sources of revenue of the company according to Choi(2006, Pg.65) Muthupan dian(2010, Pg.8) states that holding company that entirely controls subsidiary that is permitted by law and regulations to come up with financial statements of all the outlets it controls. Its therefore seen to bar subsidiaries that arent independent in nature by virtue of being owned 100% from preparation of its own financial statements as well as reporting. Most companies that are public in nature and those which has allowed individual interest ownership with Qantas Group of the company being one of it is seen to get its finance from issuance of securities the-the likes of shares, debenture, loans and share options and interest. Payment of debts or debt servicing as well as that from debentures has been to raise funds for operations. Interest on debentures and dividends received as well as payment on the capital return as well as proceeds or return on investments from hedges has seen to be financing Qantas operation. According to Deegan(2012, Pg.5), shares based means of finance of Qantas clearly declares that the owners of the company are the shareholders and especially the first four i.e. HSBC custody with 26%, J P Morgan with 18%, National Nominee and the fourth one City Corp, Colonial First. The diversification on sources of revenue from customers payment has seen the business operation successful as well as exhaustion of the prevailing available ways of finance hence ability to curb finance and operational risks. From the point of view shareholders being the owners of the business the ultimate value and concern is seen to be accorded to them priority wise. Management risks being mitigated by the proper decisions made by directors and respective personnel management levels clearly depicts the high level of corporate governance underway at Qantas Group of companies. Group of Companies the likes of Qantas cant be separated from participation in corporate governance especially having in mind at Qantas the interest of the shareholders is ranked first of all the others comes second. Corporate Governance law Farrar (2008, Pg. 11) requires audit of group companies to be done within the financial year and presentation of financial statements according to the stipulated international standards of auditing as well as that of international accounting standards hence therefore allowing Qantas to have an audit committee comprising of three members responsible for checking on independence of the external auditors via imposition of lawful audit set policies. The law requires that all existing company should operate friendly with the environment hence tasking relevant management to ensure there is compliance safety wise and health wise. Qantas being a company in existence is seen to participate in the aforesaid campaign on environment preservation through access to lawful licences and permits. Great portion of sustenance is witnessed as per the members of the board report to having being caused by labour cost, technology as well as limited resources .According to Eling(2007, Pg.70) ability to clear debts as a going concern attribute is a compliance of the regulation. All sorts of debts especially long term ought to be able to meet in due course as stipulated in the accounts of Qantas referenced in Sharpe(2007, Pg.384). Associates and joint ventures in Qantas Group accounts has minimised the level of control hence leading to the NCI control room as described in So(2009, Pg.167 ) Any interest item under NCI should be accounted for in the ratio manner of controlling interest from the expenses to the revenue as well as for its representation in the statements though in the balance sheet should be in the equity section alone. Non-Controlling Interests depicts representation of the lesser in ownership of the business hence reducing the percentage powers of controls of the head office company There is only disclosure of NCI in the year 2015 hence not being able to state whether the minority control influence is direct or not by virtue of non-disclosure.. Qantas Group of company have being involved in acquisition of subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures there expected to be goodwill on acquisition being disclosed as per Carlin(2007, Pg. 5) However in the year 2016 there was no disclosure and therefore an assumption that the one for year 2015 of $8 million on the acquisition of the controlled entity to have been impaired and written off as an expense according Carlin(2011,Pg.370) ,hence if impaired in profit and loss while if its at par should form part of asset i.e. intangible asset in the financial position. Although there are proceeds gain on disposal of PPE, there is no disclosure of this gain in the profit before tax statement Ozkan(2012, Pg. 1125) hence probably an indication that the gain had not been ascertained as at the close of the period, however a note on the same should be presented as after balance sheet event to inform the users of post balance sheet events taking place Ruscher( 2013, Pg.120) Foreign subsidiaries Jetstar and Quantas International are involved in foreign transactions rate exchanges as described in the consolidated statements of comprehensive and that of changes in equity. As recommended by the law the accountability of this foreign currency conversion is done as per the equity form method Choi(2011, Pg.4). Qantas foreign subsidiaries transactions is accounted for as per the regulations requirements hence an indication of compliance as stated in Pinto (2005, Pg.100). Events or transactions deemed to take place after the reporting day is supposed to be mention so as to facilitate in decision-making. Management reports and guidelines on the operations as well as that of top management should not be left behind while reporting. Conclusion is therefore made informing that this paraphrase is done to the best of our knowledge as well as according to the accounting law and regulation as well as per the data in the Qantas Airways Ltd 2016 Annual Report. References So, S. and Smith, M., 2009. Value Relevance of IAS 27 (2003) Revision on Presentation of Non?Controlling Interest: Evidence from Hong Kong. Journal of International Financial Management Accounting, 20(2), pp.166-198. Eling, M., Schmeiser, H. and Schmit, J.T., 2007. The Solvency II process: Overview and critical analysis. Risk management and insurance review, 10(1), pp.69-85. Sharpe, I.G. and Stadnik, A., 2007. Financial distress in Australian general insurers. Journal of Risk and Insurance, 74(2), pp.377-399. Carlin, T.M. and Finch, N., 2011. Goodwill impairment testing under IFRS: a false impossible shore. Pacific Accounting Review, 23(3), pp.368-392. Carlin, T.M., Finch, N. and Ford, G., 2007. Goodwill impairment-an assessment of disclosure quality and compliance levels by large listed Australian firms. Ozkan, N., 2012. Do CEOs gain more in foreign acquisitions than domestic acquisitions?. Journal of Banking Finance, 36(4), pp.1122-1138. Ruscher, E. and Wolff, G.B., 2013. Corporate balance sheet adjustment: stylized facts, causes and consequences. Review of Economics, 64(2), pp.117-138. Choi, F.D. and Meek, G.K., 2011. International accounting. Pearson Higher Ed. Pinto, J.A., 2005. How comprehensive is comprehensive income? The value relevance of foreign currency translation adjustments. Journal of International Financial Management Accounting, 16(2), pp.97-122. Council, F.R. and Britain, G., 2006. The Combined Code on Corporate Governance, June 2006. FRC. Deegan, C., 2012. Australian financial accounting. McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Tan, L.T., 2012. Financial accounting and reporting in Malaysia. CCH Asia Pte Limited. Muthupadian, K.S., 2010. IAS 27 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements-A Closer Look. Choi, S., 2006. Group revenue management: A model for evaluating group profitability. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 47(3), pp.260-271. Epstein, B.J. and Mirza, A.A., 2006. Wiley IFRS 2006: interpretation and application of international financial reporting standards. Wiley. Barker, R., 2004. Reporting financial performance. Accounting horizons, 18(2), pp.157-172. Deegan, C., 2013. Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Farrar, J., 2008. Corporate governance: Theories, principles and practice. Oxford University Press Godfrey, J.M. and Koh, P.S., 2009. Goodwill impairment as a reflection of investment opportunities. Accounting Finance, 49(1), pp.117-140. Evans, L., 2003. The true and fair view and the fair presentationoverride of IAS 1. Accounting and Business Research, 33(4), pp.311-325.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Report on International Development

Executive Summary The country of Syria â€Å"is an Asian country located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan and Palestine to the south, the Mediterranean Sea and Lebanon to the west (Benn 2010 p. 138). Some people like to refer to it as the Euphrates, famous from industrialization and civilization of Mesopotamia.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Report on International Development – Syria specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Syria is in the headlines currently for all the wrong reasons one may say. These reasons are based on the riots to demonstrate about the politics of the country and the struggle for ‘democracy’. Devlin indicates that, â€Å"The People and Their Culture Syria is a Muslim society, that is to say, six out of seven Syrians identify themselves as Muslims† (1983 p. 25). And the â€Å"Syrians still resent th e loss of so many lands and peoples formerly associated with their country. Syria’s people are mostly Arabs, and the major religion is Islam, although there are other ethnic and religious minorities† (Morrison and Woog, 2008 p. 16). Once a revolution is experienced in a state, there may be many reasons for that to happen. One may be able to emancipate people from political tyranny or poor state of the country. Whichever the reasons are, this paper examines why Syria is classified as a developing country. The World Bank definition of developing countries includes all low income and middle income countries (except economies with a population of less than 30000), including countries in transition (Ross and Harmsen, 2001 p.4). The question then should be, is Syria a developing economy country or is it developed? The paper tries to examine the situation in the country focusing mainly on the status of its economy and why the country is a developing country. Statement of the P roblem In the recent past, Syria has hit the headlines because of its security situation. The security situation became worse because of the uprising popularly known as the Arab uprising which hit countries like Libya, Morocco, Egypt and now Syria which are Arab countries. It is rare for the masses to rise against their governments in protest. Uprising usually comes in when people realise they are being oppressed or have been made political slaves of a given family lineage. The situation in the Arab countries has been associated with long serving heads of state. With the world economy dwindling and food prices escalating, the masses have experienced inflation in their houses. Generally, people are facing extreme conditions and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening which may make people to revolt.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Considering the situation in Syria , what would be the state of the economy of Syria? Developing, underdeveloped and developed countries are the terms used to explain the economic status of a country. The characteristics which are common to these countries are specified by the definition itself. Poverty, income and accumulated capital backwardness in technique by the standards of North America, Western Europe and Australia. But even with respect of these characteristics, there are big differences between the under developed countries and the rich under developed countries and is close to the poorest advanced country (Perthes, 2004 p.4). The state of the economy of one country as compared to the other determines whether it will trade competitively. The economic growth of a country as well depends mainly on the policies and legislation that encourages business activities while protecting the consumer. The work of the Central Bank to control the flow of money and curbing of money crimes is also very important. With this information, the basis of this study is set and the main point is to analyse and conclude that Syria is a developing country. It will also be important to analyse the actual state of the economy of Syria. In summative phrase, the main theme is to prove that Syria is considered a developing country. Objectives The main objective of this report is to explain why Syria is a developing country. To achieve this objective, it would be subdivided to more discrete objectives that can be quantified as follows: To find out the indicators of underdevelopment To find out the remedies put in place by the government in improving the state of the economy in Syria To find out the problems preventing the moving out of underdevelopment in Syria and why are the remedies are not being effected effectively What is the political will in the improvement of the economic status What are factors contributing mainly to the state of the economy in Syria As this report tries to sum up the objectives above, i t is proper to state that in Syria, â€Å"a state agricultural policy also becomes more essential, now that the obstacles to expansion of the cultivated area have been removed by mechanization and water control it is time to think of better farming† (Taheri 2002 p. 22). Perhaps these statements that may have been made years ago would have made sense now that the economy is far from a developed country’s economy. Ethical Considerations on the Report The work reported in this work is purely based on the available information from academic and credible internet sources. The report is a collection of information trying to analyse the state of the economy of Syrian as indicated by the scholarly and other peoples work. The report is none biased to the best of the ability of the writer. However, some of the information may not be verified but the sources of the information are credible. Extreme care is to taken in giving fair reporting of the information and as accurate as po ssible. It would be awkward to imply religion, racial or even economic discrimination. The careful selection of the sources of information presented in this report gives it the credibility that may be desired.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Report on International Development – Syria specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other issues relating to copying someone else’s work without person is well taken care of by citation and actual request for information. Otherwise, all information relating to information rights were strictly adhered to. The work is also presented in a way that does not prejudice the Syrian people in any way. The Economic Status as Indicated by World Bank Economy (2010) GDP $59.4 billion Real growth rate (2010) 3.0%. Per capita GDP (2010) $2,893. Natural resources Petroleum, phosphates, iron, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower. Agricu lture Products–wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas, olives, sugar beets, and other fruits and vegetables; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, and other dairy products. Arable land–33%. Industry: Types–petroleum, textiles, pharmaceuticals, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining, cement, oil seed extraction, and car assembly. Trade: Exports (2010 est.)–$12.84 billion: crude oil, minerals, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fibre, textiles, clothing, meat and live animals, wheat. Major markets (2007)–Italy 22%, France 11%, Saudi Arabia 10%, Iraq 5%, Egypt 4%, Jordan 4%. Imports (2008 est.)–$17.2 billion f.o.b.: machinery and transport equipment, electric power machinery, food and livestock, metal and metal products, chemicals and chemical products, plastics, yarn, and paper. Major suppliers (2007)–Russia 10%, China 8%, Saudi Arabia 6%, Ukraine 6%, South Korea 5%, Turkey 4%. In 2010 the European Union (EU) was Syria’s biggest trading partner, accounting for 22.5% of Syrian trade, followed by Iraq (13.3%), Saudi Arabia (9%) and China (6.9%.) Turkey was in fifth place with 6.6% and Russia was ninth with 3%. *according to International Monetary Fund (IMF 2010) statistics The data above shows the average transactions in terms of the economic activities being carried out by the Syrian people in income generation. These factors generally explain the state of the economy. The relationship between exports and economic growth, including the direction of causality between the two variables has been a subject of much debate in the international economics literature over the past two decades (Kaushik, Arbenser and Klein 2008 p. 155). It is vividly clear that the relationship between imports and exports of a particular country mainly determines the state of the economy. Despite this fact, other players may come like the ability of the citizens to afford basic needs like food, cloth ing and shelter. From the above report of World Bank, it is clear that Syria is a developing country. According to Benn (2010, p.8), â€Å"in its extreme form, it is characterized by lack of basic human needs such as adequate and nutritious food, clothing, clean water and health services.† Agba et al (2009, p. 1) believe that poverty is a state where people lack basic human commodities which are inadequate food, clothes and housing. If the poverty level of a country is that one that 20% or more people are living below the poverty line then, even if the country has a balanced importation versus exportation, it is terribly underdeveloped. When we look at the economic indicators in comparison with the population, an assumption that one can make is that the country is a middle economy country. A middle economy country is a country that is developing at a very high rate per year. The Syria crisis could be a deterrence of the growth. The installation of proper development policies that encourage investment both local and international would be a brilliant thing that any government must do. Another thing is that the government must be in a position to work ways of increasing exports in other goods other than petroleum products and tourism so as to encourage foreign income.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The World Bank (2012) classifies countries using some Criteria. According to World Bank (2012), â€Å"Economies are divided according to 2010 GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method.† The groups are classified as; low income, $1,005 or less; lower middle income, $1,006 – $3,975; upper middle income, $3,976 – $12,275; and high income, $12,276 or more (â€Å"Data† 2012). From the assumption, Syria is a developing economy. Array of Indicators What would be the indicators of underdevelopment in Syria? A nation that is developing is defined as country whose cumulative average income is much below that of industrialised states. Such economies are characterised by low volumes of exports and traditional agricultural techniques. Food supply in these countries does not meet the demands of the population. â€Å"Developing nations have also been called underdeveloped nations,† (Hirsch, Kett and Trefil 2102 pp. 316). Having this in mind, on e can be able to list the indicators of Syria as a developing country. From the IMF classification, it is evident that Syria is a middle lower income country. According to Syria Agriculture (2012), the following indicators are listed: â€Å" Farming methods are crude: The average farmer’s reliance on out dated and inefficient irrigation methods is a major obstacle to improving agricultural outputs. The introduction of drip, sprinkler, and subsurface irrigation methods is handicapped because of the limited amount of money available to the common farmer. Because of these shortcomings, Syria is susceptible to food shortages during long droughts.† The decline of oil reserves, therefore, casts a shadow of uncertainty on the sustainability of the current Syrian economic program as oil revenues decline, the government could be faced with hard times (Cavendish 2006 pp. 280). This kind of economic activity is serious pegged on the amount of the reserves that are available for export. The economy mainly depends on the oil industry but it is affected by extremist activities and terrorism. Sometimes the country has been put under economic sanctions which are not healthy. According to Sukkar (2006, p.33), â€Å"Al-Utri attributed the moderate performance of the Syrian economy to eight negative factors which will be explored more fully in the subsequent analysis: Weakness in the performance of some economic sectors and low personal income Population growth pressures Dependency of export on declining oil production Small return on investment Low levels of national and foreign investments Low productivity and growing unemployment Low levels of wages and corresponding low levels of incentives Poor technical standards in the production sectors.† The indicators listed above are characteristics of an unstable middle economy of the state of Syria. It is clear that if there is a problem in any economy in its production and labour channels, then one can conc lude that the economy is facing hard times in the economic development of the country. With the facts presented, it is evident that the economy of this country needs a number of remedies in order to forge forward and move away from a low middle income economy to a higher middle income economy as the oil reserves are getting depleted. Therefore, one can conclude that Syria is a developing country (United Nations Development Program, 2012). Remedies of the indicators of Underdevelopment In every situation a country gets into, there are avenues through which it can forge its prosperity ahead. This purely depends on the political will and the workmanship of the people of the country. The policies that will be designed and followed to the later will enable the country to do great things in economic development. Syria put in place such remedies to the obstacles of development in the country and are examined below. At times, the economic policies of a country do not rhyme with the demand o f its local market thereby, going against each other. This in turn makes it difficult for the government to go beyond its boundaries to look for foreign markets (â€Å"AKDN† 2012). The country is using development partners in wealth creation and foreign investments to increase employment opportunities which are not enough for the ever growing population. A high population may be a very good market for locally produced goods but if production is not sufficient, there is extreme pressure on the available products. That will cause an undesirable effect of high prices and occasional lack of commodities for sale. The increase in population should be looked at carefully and be controlled as much as possible with regard to the growth of the economy. For instance, â€Å"the Aga Khan foundation introduced the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture which are proposing investments that will combine tourism development with conservation and re- use of landmark monuments, rehabilitation of historic areas, urban planning, and wide-ranging socio-economic development to boost living conditions in historic areas and create new opportunities for residents† (Aga Khan Development Network 2012). This may help in the improvement of the tourism sector which will increase employment opportunities in Syria. Talking about policies that affect both international and local business in the country is a thing that the government has been trying to do in order to make the country sail ahead. Simmers et al (2008, p.67) stated that, â€Å"as indicated by the U.S. Library of Congress, spot shortages of basic commodities occurred frequently and industry operated far below capacity because of routine power outages. Foreign exchange reserves plummeted, the trade deficit widened, and real gross domestic product (GDP) growth fell as economic difficulties compounded. Although the government instituted limited reforms to respond to the burgeoni ng crisis, Syria’s pressing economic problems required a radically restructured economic policy to improve future economic performance†. It is clear that the policy makers and implementers have not thought of far reaching effects of the policies they make and try to implement. Its trade partners like Iraq have been in a series of crisis activities which have been making trade with its neighbours very difficult. It is recorded that Iraq that was under war had sanctions but since Syria is its neighbour, it was allowed to trade with it (Simmmers et al 2008, p.9). As it engaged in the trade of essential commodities, the country helped Iraq to smuggle oil to other countries which was against the sanctions that were put. This made Syria to be charged at the United Nations Security council and later, Iraq was attached and it lost because the pipeline they purported they were trying was destroyed. These and many more instability issues affected largely its endeavours in economi c policies hence, dragging it to be a developing economy (Aldosari 2002, p.6). Modernisation theory, â€Å"sees economic development as a process by which traditional societies become more complex and differentiated, in order for economic development to take place, modernisation theory proposes that countries have to change their traditional attitudes, values and institutions† (Andersen and Taylor 2007 p. 252). Syria however, did not embrace much change in its development. For instance, it did not open the internet services as fast and the telecommunication facilities were so much controlled by the government. If some of these ways of disseminating information cannot be liberalised so that people can communicate freely and effectively, a country may lag behind. A number of Syrians are Muslim extremists which mean that they had to conserve some values that may not be good for economic development. An example perhaps could be the fact that Muslim women cannot work in a bar woul d really affect the tourism sector in one way or another. Things like satellite TV, Facebook, twitter and other social networks were not allowed in the country. The information system was strictly controlled implying that there was no innovation or even copying from the outer world. However, since the effects of these restrictions were evident, the government allowed people to access social sites. In February 2011, Syria announced on a Wednesday that it would reopen access to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. For the first time since 2007, Syrians were able to access these sites freely without going through proxy servers abroad (â€Å"France 24†, 2011). As the news spread, the internet activity was evident because people who were under restriction and had devised mechanisms of manoeuvring around found using the facility very easy. Some sites and blogs were never left open to the public. This may have been confused with westernisation which in their view is a bad t hing. The hate of the so called Western Culture would have influenced the thinking. This in itself indicates signs of a developing country. Analysis of the Alternative Perspectives Dependency In any country, the dependency ratio is very critical in its economic status. If the economy’s population is largely containing working youth with less people depending on them, the growth of the economy may be fast. The Age dependency ratio of the old (% of working age population) in Syria was last reported at 6.67% in 2010, and the age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Syria was last reported at 69.05 in 2010 according to a World Bank report released in 2011 (Trading Economics 2012). This indicates the population that depends on the working population is very high hence, a slow growth in development. If this won’t change in a few years, then Syria may as well retard back to the low income economy rather than a developing economy that it is right now. Post Colonia lism Chaitani’s goal is to show that the approaches to economic relations between Syria and Lebanon before and after independence did not necessarily follow the lines that one would have expected (2008 p. 268). He first lists three main groups of economic and political voices which are Syrian Arab nationalists, Lebanese Arab nationalists and Lebanese nationalists. These divisions within the Syrian people did not work well for the economy of the country. Some of them were seen to be detrimental to the economy of the country because of the extremist’s activities within the Syrian economy. It is clear that a divided nation with political agitation is not healthy to economic development but scares aware investments. Localism In plain words, localism is the use of political philosophies which prioritize the local, that mainly support local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identity. Clea rly, this is something that can affect trade directly in the Syrian Republic. Trade is something that must involve exchange of goods and services. Syria has to be ready to buy goods from countries it sells oil to. Critical Feminist Hooks indicates that, â€Å"feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and exploitation† (2000 p. 1). For sure, the past was so blurred because any economic opportunity was mainly directed to men. This meant that women cannot do certain things in the society just because they are women. This has remained an issue in Syria for quite long because of the traditional and religious beliefs. Country’s that embraced the feminism strategy surely realised changes in lifestyles because the number of dependants on the working was drastically reduced. For Syria, this is still a challenge. Religious Views Other factors that can affect the economy are things that people believe in and which define their way of life. Religion can be defined as the spiritual beliefs and practices of an individual (Simmers et al. 2008 p. 291). Religion obviously affects people’s way of life and their day to day activities. Some religious practices are backward whereas others enable people to practice moderation in all that they do which is a good thing. In Syria however, Islamic extremism has made the economy to have little or no progress at all. Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that Syria is a low middle economy country referred to as a developing country. With its numerous economic issues like unemployment, classify it as an underdeveloped country. Its economy solely depends on oil production, tourism and commerce. Industrialisation is not coming out clearly. Another issue is that it has been in various political crises, its neighbours too have experienced political instabilities which has adversely affected its economy from time to time. Its implication of helping Iraq to smuggle oil outside the sanctions that had been pu t on them was a setback in its economic operations. Reference List Agba, M., et al 2009, Poverty, Food Insecurity and the Rebranding Question in Nigeria, Canadian Social Science, Vol. 5, No. 6,Pp., Canadian Research Development Centre of Sciences and Cultures. Aga Khan Development Network 2012. Web. Aldosari, A. 2002, Middle East, western Asia, and northern Africa, Marshall Cavendish, Singapore. Andersen, M. Taylor, H. 2007, Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society, Belmont, California. Benn, T. 2010, Muslim Women and Sport, Taylor Francis Publishers, New York. Cavendish, M. 2006, World and Its Peoples, Marshall Cavendish, New York, NY. Chaitani, Y. 2007, Post-Colonial Syria and Lebanon: The Decline of Arab Nationalism and the Triumph of the State, Journal of Islamic Studies, Vol. 19, no. 2, Tauris, London. Hirsch, E., Kett, J. Trefil, A. 2002, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, NY. Hooks, B. 2000, Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionat e Politics, Pluto Press, London. IMF, 2010, Syria, Journal on Syrian Arab Republic, Vol 167, International Monetary Fund Publication Services, Washington D.C. Kaushik K., Arbenser, L., Klein K. 2008, Export Growth, Export Instability, Investment and Economic Growth in India: a Time Series Analysis, The Journal of Developing Areas, Vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 155+, via ProQuest LLC. Morrison, J. Woog, A. 2008, Syria, 2nd Edition, InfoBase Publishing, New York. Perthes, V. 2004, Economic Challenges and Policy Responses. Web. Ross, D. and Harmsen, R. 2001, Official Financing for Developing Countries, International Monetary Fund Press, Washington, DC. Simmmers, A., et al. 2008, Diversified Health Occupations, 7th Edition, Cengage Learning, Clifton Park, NY. Sukkar, N. 2006, Pitfalls Along Reform Road, Oxford Business Group, Lebanon. Syria Agriculture 2012, Information about Agriculture in Syria. Web. Taheri, A, 2002, An Alternative Syrian Voice: Meet Nabil Sukkar, National Review Online Journ al, Vol 3, No. 2, Syrian Embassy. The World Bank 2012, How we Classify Countries. Trading Economics 2012, Age Dependency Ratio: Syria. Web. United Nations Development Program 2006, Human Development Report. Web. This report on Report on International Development – Syria was written and submitted by user Hugo Mccarthy 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.

Monday, March 9, 2020

Attentional Deficit, Alcoholism, and P300 Amplitude essays

Attentional Deficit, Alcoholism, and P300 Amplitude essays Two of the largest issues concerning youth in the United States today are psychiatric illness and drug abuse. Increasingly large numbers of young people are being diagnosed with various neurological problems, such as depression, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems. In fact, the incidence of children diagnosed with ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, has risen from 4.4 million in 1997 to six million today. Drug use and abuse amongst young adults is also on the rise, with alcohol second only to cigarettes as the drug most commonly abused by teenagers. This paper will explore the neurological properties behind attention and alcohol abuse in relation to deficiencies in cognitive functioning; specifically that of working memory and attentional processing. Such deficiencies are validated by decreased amplitude at positive 300 ms (P3). in the measurement of event-related potential for certain cognitive tasks. These shared properties, along with other psychological evidence, show a possible correlation between ADHD and alcohol abuse, and consequently reveal many implications involving diagnoses and treatment of such disorders. One article that is particularly relevant to these issues is "Meta-Analysis of P300 Amplitude From Males at Risk for Alcoholism," by John Polich, Vicki E. Pollock, and Floyd E. Bloom. Since P3 amplitude is dependant on many variables and is therefore very hard measure in an experimental setting, this article is basically an analysis of numerous studies, all if which include testing for correlations between abnormal waveforms at P300 ms. and risk for alcoholism. In addition, all the studies reviewed in the article are concerned with the comparison of P3 measurements in control subjects and sons of alcoholics; this criterion was instated given that the only conclusive information available at the time (the article was published in 1998) regarding genetic risk for alcoholism related to...

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Being a family in Greek and Roman Mythological Period Essay

Being a family in Greek and Roman Mythological Period - Essay Example What is negative is the complexity brought about by fights within the family. This is where the rightfulness of the loyalty shown is tested (Thury and Devinney 56-7). On a deeper perspective, Jung and Freud provide extensive, reflective, and philosophical interpretations of mythology. According to Jung, myths illustrate the ongoing psychic biases of a society. They also contain symbols or images upon which the society has come to perch. Some examples of these archetypes are wise old men (which can be referred to how families see their elderly members), the great earth mother (denotes the typical women’s role of giving birth, etc.), and powerful male sky-god (demonstrates how males are seen in the society). Jung also describes the Electra complex that shows the first sexual feelings of a daughter is towards the father, thus developing hatred and jealousy towards the mother. Freud has a counterpart theory of this called the Oedipus complex that says the first sexual feelings of a male child is directed towards his mother, which results also in hatred and jealousy directed towards the rival --- the father (Bowlby 13-5). These theories are demonstrated in several myths.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Virtual communities Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Virtual communities - Article Example t block or the other side of planet of any individual who is a part of a computer-mediated social group, as well as the potential benefits for personal or societal wellbeing of belonging to such communities. From virtual discussion blogs, networking communities and play-station networks to virtual shops, jobs, and even virtual classrooms, this widespread medium is phenomenal for bringing about such a greater sense of community. This concept/term has become so pervasive in its use that there is a propensity to blend all social activity into a sole concept and disregard the diversity of virtual frameworks (Renninger 2002, p.293). The World Wide Web has made it simpler for individuals to form virtual communities. Geographically dispersed, these communities are used for multiple social and professional groups to hold discussions, share activities, and build strong ties among members; they have become central to motivating people to get wired. There are many examples of virtual communities that serve different purposes and target different segments. For instance, for independent contractors and consultants, About.com is a key example of a virtual community that can be utilized to assist a distributed workforce. This community provides discussion platforms, online training, and other resource areas for assistance. Moreover, another example of a virtual community is BlackPlanet.com, which specifically caters to the African American society. It allows the Black minority to interact, by offering email, free personal pages, chat rooms, forums, news, instant messaging, and Internet telephony, as well as online events and special promotions. Furthermore, this community features online channels which cover a variety of topics, like career, health, money, politics, news, music, beauty, love, sex, and spirituality etc.; it also has a ‘Black Expressions’ book club (McKay 2000, p.157). Virtual communities go far and beyond to cover all segments, for example, for gaming and

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Accounting and Finance Degree Reflection

Accounting and Finance Degree Reflection Accounting has always been an interest of mine. Since I was a child, I have always been good in calculation, which makes it clearer that accountancy would be a good choice. After years of studying it, I realised accounting is not only about numbers but theory that require various skills in order to perform a good accounting. The increase number of students in the accounting field has made employment extremely competitive. Major findings suggest that, employers require a broad range of generic and professional skills in graduates to add value to business. In the past, generic skills was broad in that it was usually associated with those skills developed outside the technical curriculum. More recently the scope of the term generic skills has extended to emphasize relevance to graduate outcomes in terms of the world of work and, more specifically, employability (Barrie, 2004). The mixture of skills is necessary by the employers as it helps them solve the diversity of business challenges . Generic and professional skills that employers require The embedding of generic and professional skills in higher education curriculum has been of interest for many years. Skills are important for life-long learning and employability. B. Jackling and P. De Lange (2009) suggested that the skills most desired by employers include communication skills, analytical skills and team skills. Communication skill is particularly essential to accounting profession for which interaction between the providers and the recipients of information. For accounting it is important to starts with gathering and processing of information and end with communication of processed information. Previous research shows that accounting graduates experience communication problem in early employment (McLaren, 1990: Pattern and Williams, 1990). Despite that accounting curriculum has positively contributed to the development of written communication skills (Zaid, O. and Abraham, A. 1994) Analytical skills is relating to using analysis or logical reasoning to solve a problem. It is the ability to visualize and solve complicated problems while making accurate and informed decision. Employers are looking for people that are able to think critically and its consequence. For example, one could be good at spread sheets, can manipulate data effectively but they arent good at figuring out whether the information is reasonable or realistic (Ballantine, J. A. Larres, D. M. 2004). There are an increasing number of companies that want employees to work in a collaborative environment in order to respond quickly in an environment with intense complexity. Avery (2001) proposes teamwork as and individual skills, meaning each individual in a team must take responsibility for the process necessary to accomplish a similar goal. Teamwork is used a lot in the field of accounting such as complete tasks, evaluate clients and report and analyse financial statements. Learning outcomes that are relevant to achieving these skills The degree that Im currently pursuing is Accounting and Finance. The module chosen from this course is Financial Accounting and Reporting (U50035), delivered in semester two of the 2011-2012 academic year, and Financial Accounting Theory (U50081), delivered in semester one of the 2012-2013 academic year. As a credit entry student, I took a module in year one similar to Introduction to Accounting delivered in semester one 2010-2011 academic year. The learning outcomes from the modules in the area of financial accounting were designed to provide students with opportunities to build their employability profile alongside developing their knowledge. The modules were designed to encourage students to build their skill base as part of their way to higher level of intellectual development. In my second year I did Financial Accounting and Reporting module. Throughout this module, I manage to develop some skills and achieve some learning outcomes. For instance outline the regulatory framework for financial reporting which applies to UK and international companies and also using financial and other reports to appraise the performance, financial situation and cash position of companies. We were given two coursework assignments: one individual and one group. The individual coursework is regarding IAS 19, Employee Benefits that has been amended. At a glance, the coursework is intimidating because there are substantial amount of research and reading. They reduced my motivation. However, as I started to read, common key term such as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), defined benefits, termination benefits, service cost, net interest, re-measurements tend to appear in most of the articles. The skimming phase confirmed that my initial problems came from jargons and new terms about the IAS 19. It taught me to use critical and analytical skill in order to find key words and phrases, which help me to read long articles. The second assignment of this module is to do a group presentation on the financial performance, financial situation and cash position of Good Energy Group plc. Further, I have improved my presentation and writing skill because this coursework is presented in a professional report with graphs and financial data. We have limited time to carry out research and we were worn off by the intensive lectures. This is where I found out how time management and teamwork skills play as important elements for success. We distributed the workload among ourselves and set a time frame for completion. Group members were to adhere to the time frame stipulated. This is how we manage to complete a simple presentation, with many hidden hard work behind our success. Currently Im doing Financial Accounting Theory module. There are several learning outcomes from this module one of it is to understand the function and operation of Accounting in a range of contexts, informed by current thinking and research in the discipline. We were given homework almost every time after a seminar. In week 4 we were asked to read a few articles regarding revisiting the conceptual framework. This article refers that the framework needs updating and refining, the inconsistencies need to be eliminated because framework being less helpful in providing guidance for standard setting decisions. During the seminar in week 5, we then discussed our findings in a small group of three. Through this Ive learned a lot more than self-reading, the interaction has definitely improved my communication skills. One strategy describes by Cunningham (1998) to develop creative and critical thinking skills in students are by analysing real life case studies. During the seminars, students were asked to analyse articles provided by the lecturer. Learning outcome such as able to demonstrate the use of current accepted technical language of accounting and accounting practices internationally is achieved. A constructive feedback is given on the spot after a question is raised. This will assists students to develop a questioning attitude as well as able to update their knowledge. Introduction to Accounting is a first year compulsory module, which introduces student to certain principles and techniques of accounting. The module will be concerned with the processes used to record, summarize and present accounting data. The objective of this part of the module is to enable students to prepare company financial statements. Learning outcome after having completed this module is the ability to prepare a set of financial statements for a company from a trial balance and incorporating a variety of simple adjustments. For example when learning how to produce a financial statement, it requires technical and theoretical knowledge once I discovered how to present the information, thats when I develop non-verbal communication skills (Ballantine, J. A. Larres, D. M. 2004). When I started my first semester, I find myself struggling for time. My lifestyle has become chaotic, as I have to juggle between school, work and family. I felt tired everyday and have no motivation to complete my tasks. This is mainly due to my poor time management. As part of the module, an educational talk from one of the accounting firm, Ernst and Young has made me realize that many things could be achieved with proper time management. A person that works at least 12 hours a day still find himself some time spend with family and for his favourite sports. Conclusion This reflective statement is a learning tool, which will help students better understand, learn and reflect on issues covered in the entire course and in other relevant areas. I believe that a strong academic background is a fundamental issue for student but might not be enough in indicating whether or not a student will be successful in a particular work environment. Throughout this course I personally think that the modules I have taken have been benefiting me in terms of the aspects in which I have learned. It is designed to encourage communication skill, teamwork, critical thinking and analytical skill. This is what employers seek for in a potential candidate. Researching on coursework have opened my eyes and made me aware of any jargons that come across during reading. In the final (third) year, I feel as if I have a great deal of knowledge of the information that I looked at for these modules. The use of case studies, group-based learning, and task designed to address communica tion and presentation skills are suitable for developing appropriate competencies in accounting graduates for future employment.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Things Fall Apart Essay examples -- essays research papers

Things Fall Apart   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart is a narrative story that follows the life of an African man called Okonkwo. The setting of the book is in eastern Nigeria, on the eve of British colonialism in Africa. The novel illustrates Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs, and his eventual downfall, all of which basically coincide with the Igbo?s society?s struggle with the Christian religion and British government. In this essay I will give a biographical account of Okonwo, which will serve to help understand that social, political, and economic institutions of the Igbos.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the beginning of the novel Okonkwo was a fairly wealthy and well-respected member of the Igbo society, but it had not always been that way for him. Okonkwo?s father, Unoka, had been a lazy man who would rather play his flute than take care of his crops. Unoka was said to be a charming man, and was able to borrow large amounts of money from his friends, but was never able to pay it back. As a result, Okonkwo has grown up very poor and ashamed of his lazy father. At one point in the book, Okonkwo remembers hearing one of his playmates calling his father an ?agbala,? which was the word for woman, but all described a man who had taken not titles (13). Okonkwo never forgets this, and actually develops a deep-seated fear that people will think that he is weak like his father. As I mentioned, Okonkwo became very well known, and his wealth and prestige rested solely on his own personal achievements. Okonkwo had received no inheritance from his poor father, no land and no money. As a young man, Okonkwo had been very successful wrestler, and as he grew older he became a well-known warrior. He was said to have brought home five human heads, which was a great achievement even for men who were much older that he was. At the beginning of the story, Okonkwo had obtained two titles, and had the respect of every man from all nine villages of Umuofia. Symbols of his wealth and prestige were his family and his compound. As I mentioned earlier, Okonwo had received no inheritance, and at the time of this story Okonkwo is still fairly young, and the fact that he had three wives, several children, and a very productive piece of land showed that Okonkwo was a very diligent worker. ?Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially... ... a meeting, Okonkwo, knowing that his clansmen would do nothing to drive the white men away form their villages, killed a messenger. He then went home and committed suicide.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Okonkwo is often described as being similar to characters in Greek tragedies. Okonkwo knew that the end of his clan was coming, and that they would do nothing to prevent it from happening. He took his life out of desperation. He had struggled his whole life to become a respected member of his community, and suddenly his world is turned upside down and changed forever because of an accident. Okonkwo sees that he is fighting a losing battle, so he quits. Suicide was one of the biggest offenses that could be committed against the earth, and Okonkwo?s own clansmen could not bury him. Okonkwo?s death symbolizes the end of patriarchy in Umuofia. The last page of the book is from the point of view of the white Commissioner, who notes that he wants to include a paragraph on Okonkwo?s life in his book entitled The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of Lower Niger. Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs and defeats are all reduced to a paragraph, much like his culture and society will be reduced.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Designing Compensation Systems and Employee Benefits Essay

A compensation system has an important role in a company. An ideal compensation system can motivate employees to enhance their job performance. An organization can use adequate compensation to retain talented employees. Retaining talented employees is important because they help organizations grow and earn high profits. A well-constructed compensation system is the key to an organization being successful and prosperous (â€Å"Importance of Compensation,† 2007). To further elaborate on the importance of compensation, the differences amongst job analysis and job evaluation and how these practices aid in creating internally consistent job structures will be described, and details will be given on the challenges that occur when creating compensations that are both internally consistent and market competitive. Also, the fairness of merit increases based upon quartiles will be discussed, the fundamental concept of insurance and how this concept applies to health care will be discussed, and the changes in the business environment and society that may affect the importance of legally required benefits will be described. Describe the Differences Between Job Analysis and Job Evaluation and How These Practices Help Establish Internally Consistent Job Structures Job analysis and job evaluation are the key to creating internally consistent job structures. An internally consistent compensation system will define the relative worth of each job amongst all jobs in a company. Companies use a basic principle when creating internally consistent compensation systems, which is jobs that require higher abilities, more responsibilities, and more intricate job tasks should be compensated more than jobs that require lower abilities, lesser responsibilities, and fewer intricate job tasks. Internally consistent job structures recognize distinctions in job traits that allow compensation managers to set pay based upon the distinctions. Furthermore, compensation professionals create internally consistent job structures by using job analysis and job evaluation. A job analysis will reveal the duties as well as compensation factors such as skill and effort that are required to sufficiently perform the job. The results of the job analysis will be used to conduct the job evaluation. Job evaluation will create pay differentials for jobs within a company. The results of the job analysis help compensation professionals set pay rates by quantifying the main similarities and differences between jobs (Martocchio, 2011). In the end, the job evaluation will categorize jobs according to their relative worth in the company. The relative worth of a job will be determined based upon compensation factors such as skill, job duties, and working conditions. Finally, job evaluation will guarantee internal equity because the value of jobs will be determined based upon compensation factors (Williams, 2012). Describe the Challenges in Developing Compensations That are Both Internally Consistent and Market Competitive One challenge in creating compensation systems that are internally consistent and market competitive deals with flexibility. Internally consistent pay systems have the potential to decrease a company’s flexibility to react to changes in the pay practices of competitors because job analysis creates structured job descriptions and job structures. Also, job evaluation creates the relative value of jobs within an organization. Reacting to competitors may require employees to perform tasks that are not included in their job descriptions whenever competitive pressures arise. This process makes equity appraisals more difficult because the definitions of jobs become more changeable (Martocchio, 2011). Moreover, some employees may resent being required to perform tasks that are not in their job descriptions. These employees may believe that the employers are taking advantage of them because they are not being compensated for performing the extra job duties. As a result, employees could become unmotivated to help their employers compete against competitors. Another challenge in developing compensations that are both internally consistent and market competitive is the bureaucracy that results from the internally consistent compensation structures. Organizations that develop job hierarchies have a tendency to create narrowly defined jobs, which results in larger number of jobs and staffing levels. This type of structure can place heavy compensation burdens on companies. Heavy compensation burdens can reduce profits for companies, which can affect whether companies use a market lead, market match, or market lag policy for compensating employees. Organizations that use the market lead policy compensate its employees more highly than most of its competitors. Employees receive pay that is above the market pay line. Organizations that use the market match policy compensate employees based upon the market pay rates. Employees will receive pay on the market pay line. The market lead and market match policies can help companies attract and retain talented employees; thus, the companies using these policies can obtain competitive advantage in a highly competitive business environment by using its talented employees. Furthermore, organizations using the market lag policy compensate its employees less than the majority of its competitors. Employees receive pay below the market pay line (Martocchio, 2011). Furthermore, a company should not be forced to choose the market lag policy because of heavy compensation burdens that could result from bureaucracy. Some companies may use the market lag policy as a cost savings method to offset heavy compensation burdens. A market lag policy could prevent a company from attracting and retaining talented employees, which could affect the competitiveness of a company. Moreover, a company could lose customers and profits if it does not have the talented employees in place to produce goods and services than can compete with the goods and services of competitors. Two Employees Perform the Same Job and Each Received Exemplary Performance Ratings. Discuss Whether it is Fair to Give One Employee a Smaller Percentage Merit Increase Because His Pay Falls Within the 3rd Quartile But Give a Larger Percentage Merit Increase to the Other Because His Pay Falls Within the 1st Quartile and Explain Why Supervisors use the merit pay grid to designate merit increases to employees. A merit pay grid contains a pay range for a pay grade. The pay range is divided into four quartiles. Employees with the lowest salaries fall into quartile 1. The salaries increase as the quartiles increase. Employees with the highest salaries fall into quartile 4. Furthermore, the lower an employee’s salary falls within its designated pay grade the larger the percentage pay raise. For example, if two employees perform the same job and both employees receive excellent performance ratings, the employee whose pay falls in quartile 3 will receive a smaller percentage merit increase than the employee whose pay falls in quartile 1. The employee whose pay is in quartile 3 may receive a 7% merit increase for excellent job performance; whereas, the employee whose pay is in quartile 1 may receive a 12% merit increase for excellent job performance. Furthermore, using the merit pay grid may be logical but not fair. It is logical because compensation professionals decrease merit pay increase percentages as quartile ranks increase to control employees’ advancement through their pay ranges. If employees in quartile 1 and quartile 3 were to receive the same merit pay increase percentage, the salary for the employee in quartile 3 more than likely would exceed the maximum pay rate for the range quicker than would the salary for the employee in quartile 1 (Martocchio, 2011). Moreover, the merit pay grid may be viewed as unfair because employees performing the same job and displaying the same amount of effort and job performance are not receiving an equal percentage merit increase. Employees may view this procedure as an unfair work practice. Furthermore, the employees may believe that the company places more value on some employees’ job performance more so than on other employees’ job performance. Discuss the Basic Concept of Insurance and How This Concept Applies to Health Care The basic concept of insurance is to spread risks. Risk does not mean that an unfavorable incident will occur but that there is a possibility of an unfavorable incident occurring. All persons have the risk of suffering a major illness. Thus, the whole concept of insurance when relating to health care is that an individual will be able to spread his or her risk among other people so that if an unfavorable incident occurs, he or she will not be overwhelmed because of high health care costs (â€Å"Understand the Concept,† 2012). In the United States, health care is classified as a multiple payer system, which means that multiple parties are held accountable for paying the costs of health care. The multiple parties can include the government, employers, labor unions, employees, and unemployed individuals (Martocchio, 2011). Moreover, insurance allows an individual to pay a few hundred dollars a month in level premium rather than having to pay a $50,000 surgery bill once (â€Å"Understand the Concept,† 2012). Finally, health-related expenses can become costly; thus, it would be wise for individuals to have some form of insurance for health care. Health insurance covers the costs of various services that promote sound mental and physical health such as physical exams, surgical procedures, and psychotherapy. Normally employers enter into contractual relationships with insurance companies to provide employees and possibly their dependents with health care. Moreover, the insurance policy or contractual relationship will specify the amount of money insurance companies will pay for health-related services such as physical exams. Furthermore, employers pay insurance companies a negotiated amount or premium to create and sustain insurance policies (Martocchio, 2011). Health insurance premiums are costly. The average monthly health insurance premium for an employee is $309. 03. The average monthly health insurance premium for an employee and his or her family members is $708. 83. Numerous private sector companies make it mandatory that employees pay a portion of health insurance premiums because of the high costs. Employees only contributed a small percentage toward health insurance premiums in 2008. Moreover, employees with single coverage contributed around 19% and employees with family coverage contributed around 29% (Martocchio, 2011). Except For the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Remaining Legally Required Benefits Were Conceived Decades Ago. Describe the Changes in the Business Environment and Society That Might Affect the Relevance or Perhaps the Viability of Any of These Benefits There are several legally required benefits in the United States. Legally required benefits are the benefits provided by the Social Security Act, which are retirement; unemployment insurance; old-age, survivor, and disability insurance; and Medicare. Other legally required benefits are workers’ compensation insurance and family medical leave. The United States government created legally required benefits to protect individuals from calamitous incidents such as unemployment and disability. Legally required benefits try to maintain the flow of family income, promote worker safety and health, and assist families in critical situations. Furthermore, providing employees with legally required benefits can be costly to companies. Present day, companies in the United States spend an average $4,400 for each employee yearly to provide legally required benefits (Martocchio, 2011). Finally, the effect that legally required benefits have on costs and the competitiveness of businesses could affect the sustainability of legally required benefits For numerous years, there have been genuine concerns that there will be lack of funding to provide the legally required benefits, especially the social security benefits. There are continuous political debates about how to safeguard the viability of social security programs. President George W. Bush signed an executive order that established the new Presidential Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Politicians have debated the advantages and disadvantages of differing solutions to strengthen the Social Security system. The administration of George W. Bush focused on encouraging tax credits for persons who save for retirement and promoting additional savings through employer-sponsored retirement plans. Furthermore, the Democratic Party suggested enhancing the tax under the Federal Income Contributions Act to strengthen the trust fund. However, business leaders have opposed the suggestion of the Democratic Party. Business leaders, especially small business leaders are concerned that the increase in tax will lower company profits (Martocchio, 2011). Legally required benefits may hinder businesses in the short term because these benefits require sizeable employer expenditures. Employers are required to make contributions that are mandated by the Social Security Act and several state workers’ compensation laws. These mandated expenses prevent businesses from investing these funds in direct compensation programs designed to increase productivity and product or service quality (Martocchio, 2011). If the money for mandated expenses could be used for compensation programs then the company could increase its competitiveness. Furthermore, enhancing productivity, products, and services can help businesses become strong competitors against its competitors. Conclusion In conclusion, a job analysis will reveal compensation factors that will be used in the job evaluation to determine the worth of jobs. Compensations that are both internally consistent and market competitive can affect a company’s flexibility to respond to changes in the pay practices of competitors, and companies have to deal with the heavy compensation burdens as a result of bureaucracy. Usage of the merit pay grid is logical but unfair. Insurance allows employees to share the costs of health care with multiple parties. The effect that legally required benefits have on costs and the competitiveness of companies could cause companies to view the mandated benefits as burdensome. Finally, compensation will always have a vital role in the strategies of companies.