Le Corbusier's Toward's a New Architecture and Adolf Loos' Ornament Essay

Le Corbusier's Toward's a New Architecture and Adolf Loos' Ornament and Crime - Essay Example nt roles in the transformation of the conception of art and architecture, the dawning of a new age in styles and composition, making a mark in the discipline of architecture. In this paper, we will discuss and compare the similarities in the theories of Loos exhibited in â€Å"Ornament and life† to that of Le Corbusier’s â€Å"Towards a New Architecture†. We will discuss in specific, the most influential theory presented by Le Corbusier, in â€Å"eyes which do not see† in comparison to Adolf Loos’ â€Å"Ornament and Crime†, both relating to the need to emphasize the role of purpose or utility of an architectural structure and the absence of ornaments. The interesting aspect of the comparison between Loos and Corbusier lies in the two common vies they shared. On the one hand, the work of both is concerned with the autonomy of architectural means; on the other, both try, each in his own way, to place his work in a context, something which each makes particularly clear in his writing. (Risselada, Loos and Beek, 1). In Corbusier’s reading of â€Å"eyes which do not see†, he begins with explaining the need to see the connection between architecture and the new machine age, implying that architecture must focus not on art but on needs and functionality. He explains this aspect by comparing the evolution of architecture to the evolution of a car. In the beginning, the sole purpose was transportation, later began to give importance to durability, resistance and such. Further, they went on to incorporate luxury and style on having attained the basic necessity. With the lapse of time, appearance and luxury began to delude people and the main aspects were given less importance, as if resistance and durability were aspects that were to be sidelined. He believes that architecture has taken that direction, competing in beauty and magnificence, while failing to address purpose. This may be easily compared to the view of Adolf Loos in â€Å"Ornament and Crime†, where he

Budgeting Importance Essay Example for Free

Budgeting Importance Essay Abstract Beyond Budgeting has been proposed as an influential idea that will reinvigorate management accounting contribution in business  operation and performance. It is claimed that the traditional system has lost relevance with the modern business environment and is no longer satisfying the needs of managers. Budgets have been ingrained in the culture of business since their inception in the 1920s and managers will find it extremely difficult to radically shift to a system without budgets. The implications of a Beyond Budgeting system are; performance measures relative to competitors and a decentralised organisation structure. Alternatives such as the Better Budgeting techniques may be more favourable to management who desires a formal planning and control system. The Beyond Budgeting concept is still in its infancy and requires further development and practical implementation. Keywords: Budget; Beyond Budgeting; BBRT; Management Control I. Introduction Beyond Budgeting has been proposed as an influential idea that will reinvigorate management accounting contribution in business operation and performance. According to Hope and Fraser (2003) the budgeting system, as implemented by most businesses, should be eradicated. The budgeting debate has arisen due to a movement into the information age (Drury, 2008). It is considered that the environment is now so complex and competitive that budgeting in its existing form is no longer useful for businesses. Dissatisfaction with traditional budgets is growing in the business world and ‘Beyond Budgeting’ has been suggested as a method to reinvigorate the managerial contribution of management accounting. This article discusses how budgeting has evolved into its current state, before examining why this universal technique has come under such heavy criticism of late. The limitations and weaknesses of traditional budgeting system will be supported with appropriate references. At the he heart of this paper is the evaluation whether the Beyond Budgeting model is more relevant in today’s business environment and if it can be a prominent tool in the future practices of management accounting. After critically evaluating academic scholars’ views on this issue, a conclusion will be drawn as to whether Beyond Budgeting really is the way forward. This article is organised as follows: Section II introduces and discusses evolution of various concepts of budgeting; Section III discusses limitations of traditional budgeting; Section IV discusses how beyond budgeting addresses the limitations of traditional budgeting and is indeed the way forward and finally section V concludes. II. Evolution of Various Concepts of ‘Budgeting’ Bhimani et al. (2008) define a budget as a quantitative future plan created by managers to assist the implementation of this plan. Becker et al. (2009) state the common view is that at the foundation of management accounting  systems is budgeting. In the 1920s budgets were born in order to help managers control costs and cash flows (CIMA, 2007). This concept grew into fixed performance contracts involving future income and expenditure estimations. Budgets were used to drive and evaluate management performance. Furthermore, Rickards (2006) believes the main purpose of budgets is to help implement a firm’s strategy, not just controlling and planning. The changes in the economic environment and business processes led to evolutions in budgeting. From the initial cash budgets to more modern techniques of zero based budgeting (ZBB) and activity based budgeting (ABB). Drury (2008) details six functions of traditional budgets: Refining the company’s long term plans; Coordinating the different departments and helping to improve relationships between them; Communicating ideas and expectations from top management to all other employees; Motivating managers to achieve challenging targets and goals.; Controlling the business activities using variance analysis to determine areas requiring attention; Evaluating the performance of managers in relation to achieving targets. A study of 40 managers revealed that budgeting is still very popular (Dugdale Lyne, 2006). They found that all businesses in question were using budgets and that when used alongside other tools; budgets can harmonise, motivate and control. Budgeting is ingrained in the cultures of many companies; therefore it can be difficult to convince managers that the business will be better off without them (Libby Lindsay, 2007). Daum (2002) argues that in the dynamic business environment managers should be looking to grow, expand, exceed targets and limits, and not be restricted by them. He describes many features of this environment such as; complex activities, innovation, retention of good employees. The new business environment is vastly different from the 1920s and although budgets have evolved to adapt to these changes, they are increasingly coming under criticised. III. Criticisms of Traditional Budgeting The traditional budgeting methods are considered too time consuming and unresponsive to external changes. According to a research by Neely et al. (2003) the budget creation uses 20% of management time. Following on from this, Bartram (2006) found that even the leanest and most efficient  companies take 79 days to organise their budgets, whilst 210 days are spent in the worst practice companies. This is a considerable amount to time for a firm to spend on an activity that arguably adds no value to the business. The budget culture has restricted the ability for a firm to reshape into a modern business because the budgets reign and contain management behaviours into old  paradigms (Hope and Fraser, 1997). In today’s environment the traditional systems of frequently found to be an obstacle to innovation and enterprise by management (Daum, 2002). Daum Hope (2003) highlight the growth of organisations as a factor in causing the irrelevance of traditional budgeting methods. Previously, businesses were smaller and staff relationships were built on trust. Trust to act in the best interests of the company. The expansion and development of multinational companies has caused a break down in trust between employees. To combat this, budgets were used as systems of control. However, now this control aspect has become a restriction to progress for a modern and forward thinking company. The following are weaknesses suggested by Neely et al. (2003) and they advocate these as an area for improvement. Budgets lack strategic focus and value creation, instead the aim is always cost reductions. The bureaucratic style restricts flexibility which in turn impacts a firm’s creative instincts. Annual budgeting is too infrequent therefore feeding into the unresponsive argument. Employees may not react well to having controls forced onto them thus having the potential to de-motivate. Also the top down style of budgets strengthens vertical command structures, which can lack adaptability and responsiveness. Working to budgets can cause dysfunctional behaviour as managers are often under pressure to meet targets, this behaviour is also known as budget games. Bartram (2006) breaks down budget  games into five areas. Firstly, ‘The Sky’s the Limit’, this entails management pushing the boundaries and trying to get as large a budget as possible instead of asking for just what they need. This feeds into ‘Mine’s Bigger than Yours’ whereby managers use the size of their budget to judge their own status within the company. ‘Cooking the Books’ relates to a delay of declaring revenue if the targets are already met so that they can use this revenue to meet future objectives. Next is ‘Hey Big Spender’, managers feel that they must spend the entirety of their budget otherwise it will be cut next year. Finally, ‘Bonus or Bust’ is concerned with the managers focus on measures that impact their own salaries or bonuses, whilst ignoring targets which may be more vital to long term success. On the subject of budget games, Jensen (2003) feels the integrity of the whole firm can be compromised when managers partake in this type of behaviour. The traditional system is based on a flawed principle; reward managers for meeting targets but punish if they fail to do so. This only encourages the type of dysfunctional behaviour described by Bartram. In order to end these games, Jensen proposes abolishing the using budgets as a system for rewarding performance. Otley (2003) believes budget system has the potential to create dysfunctional behaviour and discusses his experience of a coal mine that held back stock to meet weekly quotas, an example of ‘Cooking the Books’. The majority of criticism of traditional budgeting methods has been published by the proponents behind the Beyond Budgeting movement, Hope Fraser. Their initial criticisms were used as a spearhead to create a better management tool. Traditional methods rely on past information which can have negative knock on effects. An example is the incremental budgeting tool, where the previous year’s budget is slightly adjusted for the new year without any analysis into areas which are over/under performing. The performance evaluation is generally carried out at the end of the budget period; this can be too late to remedy deficiencies. Leading on from this, the common practice is to carry out fixed percentage cuts when early results appear unacceptable (Hope Fraser, 2003). Libby Lindsay (2007) feel that the problems are originating from how budgets are implemented and used within business, if used correctly they still can be a very effective tool. Ekholm Wallin (2010) agree with Libby and Lindsay, and add that if properly used traditional budgets are a strong framework to plan and measure a company’s operations. Therefore it can be suggested that many of the inadequacies of traditional budgets could be down to the implementation and not the tool itself. Despite the reasoning behind these limitations, Hope and Fraser (1997) report that 99% of European companies use formal budgeting procedures, this figure is likely to remain high even today. In addition, a survey of US organisations by Libby Lindsay (2007) revealed that over 50% of senior managers felt businesses could not cope without budgets and that they were imperative to success. Managers also believed that despite the associated time and costs, budgets were adding value to a company. Ekholm Wallin (2010) feel the annual budget is not dead yet, but it is past its peak and has lost usefulness and become outdated. IV. Beyond Budgeting Beyond Budgeting promotes the most ideal characteristics of a budgeting system; flexibility, coordination and responsiveness (Pilkington Crowther, 2007). It is not just another system of tools; it requires a complete overhaul of the organisations culture and a shift in the management style (Becker et al, 2009). Hansen (2011) states this can be performed in two stages; move toward performance evaluation relative to competition and then implement a decentralized structure. Hope Fraser (2003) believe the limitations of traditional budgetary systems require businesses to abandon budgeting altogether and instead focus on financial and non financial measures. The process should look to external benchmarks and competitors rather than internally set targets. The restrictive nature of budgets is removed and this can enhance the potential of a firm whilst empowering employees to make better decisions. Player (2003) describes Beyond Budgeting as extreme approach but with vast benefits to be r ealised. A key problem area is with rewarding managers using traditional systems. A Beyond  Budgeting reward system is far more appropriate as it is relative to performance measures, often derived from competitors and benchmarks (Hope Fraser, 2003). Daum Hope (2003) argue that Beyond Budgeting is a more adaptive approach to management, with more frequent performance reviews. A second feature is that centralized and hierarchical structures are converted to a decentralized management style. This empowerment pushes authority and decision making to lower levels of the business. The effect can be found in increased productivity and motivation. Managers have embedded budgets into their culture so it is likely they will struggle to manage without them. Hope and Fraser (2001) believe that the volatile nature of the environment mean budgets and plans are redundant. Budgets try to remove surprises from business. Instead, managers should embrace them and look to them as opportunities for improvement. They continue by saying that in order to take full advantage of the opportunities lower level staff need the authority to make strategic decisions. Furthermore the removal of budgets creates extra time for managers spend on  problem solving and adding value to the business, as the time taken to prepare budgets is a particular disadvantage (Ostergren Stensaker, 2011). The Beyond Budgeting model is becoming increasingly popular and many companies are now following its principles. Hope Fraser (1997) discovered that the Scandinavian bank Svenska Handelsbanken abolished all forms of traditional budgeting in 1979. Since then it has grown into the largest bank in Scandinavia and one of Europe’s most efficient banks. Their CEO reported that a cultural change from budgets and targets to improvement has enabled costs to be driven down. Daum (2002) states that Svenska Handelsbanken utilised a decentralised structure to enable each branch to run as an independent profit centre. This is an example of the potential that Beyond Budgeting can unlock. The Beyond Budgeting Round Table (BBRT), a network designed to transform the  traditional budget system, studied 14 companies without budgets or almost without budgets and from this they produced 12 guiding principles to Beyond Budgeting: i. Measure performance against the competition, not internal targets. ii. Motivate employees by empowerment. iii. Delegation to divisional managers allows them to take responsibility. iv. Give operational managers independent access to resources. v. Create customer focused teams. vi. Provide transparent information sharing across the organisation. vii. Set targets on external benchmarks. viii. Rewards in line with beating the competitors. ix. Allow managers to be involved with strategy planning. x. Grant management access to local resources. xi. Coordinate the internal use of resources. xii. Performance measurement information should be available freely. (Daum, 2002) Pilkington Crowther (2007) have found that Beyond Budgeting is most commonly adopted by large firms employing over 1,000 people. The smaller firms (10 50 employees) tend to impose strict budgets for employees to follow. This is likely to be due to the size, management style and ability to train staff in unfamiliar concepts. DeWaal (2005) suggests an entry scan before implementing Beyond Budgeting to ensure that staff feels the current systems are failing. The scan creates discussion into whether staff wants, and if the organisation can, implements Beyond Budgeting. The main advantage of questioning the employment of Beyond Budgeting is that staff will feel involved in decision making and internal business processes. Beyond Budgeting appears to have many advantages over traditional systems but it is not without criticism of its own. CIMA (2007) believe that having no budget  creates various problems. A business will have no framework for planning, coordinating and controlling its activities. The business can lose direction without detailed plans of its current position and future goals. Finally, a drastic culture change can leave employees feeling disillusion and the decentralized structure may be impractical for some organisations. An alternative option for firms that still want a formal budgeting system is Better Budgeting. Better Budgeting entails five techniques that can be used to overcome some of the limitations of traditional methods (Neely et al, 2003). Activity Based Budgeting involves planning using value adding activities, following a similar concept to ABC and ABM. Zero Base budgeting forces managers to justify their budgets every year to try and prevent dysfunctional behaviour and budget games. Thirdly, a Value Based technique encourages a focus on creating shareholder wealth and linkages with strategy. Profit methods consider both short and long term projections whilst ensuring sufficient cash is generated. Finally, Rolling Budgets create frequent budgets to provide more accurate forecasts. A major problem with Better Budgeting techniques is that they can actually take even more management time to be used effectively, which is likely to cause greater dissatisfaction with the processes. The Beyond Budgeting movement is still in the early stages of development and Rickards (2006) feels that further research and practical implementations are required before a real breakthrough in management accounting is achieved. Becker et al (2009) believe that the initial fascination with Beyond Budgeting is fading and that some principles are being put into practice, just not under the umbrella of Beyond Budgeting. Decentralisation and empowerment may be growing in popularity due to the current business environment. V. Conclusion To conclude, Hope’s view is that Beyond Budgeting is a far more effective system which conquers the limitations of traditional methods. He foresees the international expansion of the BBRT and that Beyond Budgeting will become a ‘major management theme for the future’ (Daum Hope, 2003). After evaluating the thoughts and opinions of various academics, this article believes that Beyond Budgeting has an important role to play in the future of management accounting. However, it is unlikely that it will be fully adopted as the BBRT imagined; a number of principles are extremely useful within the modern environment. These may be adopted but management will find it hard to completely abandon budgeting, as it is embedded it business culture. Perhaps some Better Budgeting techniques could be practiced in order to update the failing traditional system. This article supports the argument that traditional budgets are outdated and no longer appropriate for the current environment. Furthermore, budgets can actually destroy shareholder value within a firm therefore it is vital that new systems are developed. It is the view of this article that the traditional budget requires refreshing and revitalizing but is not yet ready for removal. References Bartram, P. (2006). Forecasting the end for budgets. Director. 30. Becker, S., Messner, M. and Schaffer, U. (2009). The Evolution of a Management Accounting Idea: The Case of Beyond Budgeting. Working paper. Bhimani, A., Horngren, C., Datar, S. Foster, G. (2008). Management and Cost Accounting, 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson. Michael Goode, Ali Malik CIMA 213 (2007). Beyond Budgeting. [Online] Available at: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/cid_tg_beyond_bu dgeting_oct07.pdf [Accessed: 28/11/11] Daum, J. (2002). Beyond Budgeting: A Model for Performance Management and Controlling in the 21st Century? Controlling and Finance. Daum, J. and Hope, J. (2003). The origins of Beyond Budgeting and of the Beyond Budgeting Round Table (BBRT) An interview with Jeremy Hope. DeWaal, A. (2005). Is Your Organisation Ready for Beyond Budgeting? Measuring Business Excellence, 9(2), 58-67 Drury, C. (2008). Management and Cost Accounting. 7th Edition. Andover: Cengage Learning. Dugdale, D. and Lyne, S. (2006). Budgeting. CIMA Financial Management, 32-35. Ekholm, B. and Wallin, J. (2010). Is the annual budget really dead? European Accounting Review, 9(4), 519-539. Hansen, S. (2011). A Theoretical Analysis of the Impact of Adopting Rolling Budgets, Activity-Based Budgeting and Beyond Budgeting. European Accounting Review, 20(2), 289-319. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (1997). Beyond budgetingbreaking through the barrier to the third wave. Management Accounting, 75(11), 20-23. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (2001). Beyond Budgeting Questions Answers. CAM-I Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (2003). New ways of setting rewards: the Beyond Budgeting model. Californian Management Review, 45(4), 104-119. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (2003). Who needs budgets? Harvard Business Review. 81(5), 125-126. Jensen, M. (2003). Paying People to Lie: the Truth about the Budgeting Process. European Financial Management, 9(3), 379-406. Libby, T and Lindsay, R. (2009). Beyond budgeting or budgeting reconsidered? A survey of North-American budgeting practice. Management Accounting Research. Neely, A., Bourne, M. and Adams, C. (2003). Better budgeting or beyond budgeting?Measuring Business Excellence, 7(3), 22-28 Ostergren, K. and Stensaker, I. (2010). Management control without budgets: A field study of â€Å"Beyond Budgeting† in practice. European Accounting Review, 19(1), 1-33. 214 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. 2 Otley, D. (2003). Management Control and Performance Management Whence and Whither? British Accounting Review, 35, 309-326. Pilkington, M. andCrowther, D. (2007). Budgeting and control. Financial Management, 29-30. Player, S. (2003). Why some organizations go Beyond Budgeting. Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, 14(3), 3-9. Rickards, R. (2006). Beyond budgeting: boon or boondoggle? Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 3(2), 62-76.

The Cobb-Douglas Production Function for South Africa Essay -- South A

Introduction For every firm to produce goods it needs inputs such as capital and labour. Mankiw (2005) refers to capital set of tools that workers use in the process of production e.g. Machineries such as computers whereas labour refers to the hours that employee invest working. Production function refers to the output of a firm, an industry or an entire economy for all combination of inputs (Banaeian and Zangeneh, 2001).Economists use production function to precise the relationship between labour and capital and according to Mankiw (2005). Production functions reveal the available technology for transforming labour and capital into output. Tang (2008) highlighted the fact that theory of productivity was proposed by Knut Wicksell in 1851 which contributed a lot towards the works of Charles Cobb and Paul Douglas. Cobb-Douglas production function was developed by Cobb and Douglas in 1928 which is a fundamental function even now in both Macroeconomics and Microeconomics. The Cobb-Douglas production function is normally utilized by economists in the direction of explaining the correlation between contributions of resources involved in production such as labour, capital and technology.Cobb-Douglas production function and constant elasticity of substitution functions are playing a significant role for analysis in economics. Cobb-Douglas production function is still universally used toward the analysis of productivity and growth (Felipe and Adams, 2005). Felipe and Adam accepted as true that Paul Douglas is one of the economists who deserved a Novel Price for his marvelous works. Cobb and Douglas suggested that elasticity of substitution between capital and labour should be constant or equals to one even though they did not specify ... ....worldbank.gov. (2011). Data on Gross Domestic Product and Total employment of South Africa. World Bank. http://www.southafricanreservebank.co.za. (2011). Data on Fixed Capital Stock of South Africa. South African Reserve Bank Mankiw, NG. (1995). â€Å"The Growth of the Nations†. Brookings paper of economics activities. pp 275-326 Mankiw, NG. (2005). Macroeconomics, International edition. Worth Publishers: New York Mankiw, N.G (2013) Principle of Macroeconomics 7th edition. Congage Learning: United States of America Romer, P.M. (1986). Increasing returns and long run growth. Journal of political economy Vol 94. Pp 1002-37 Romer, P.M. (1990). Capital, Labour and productivity. Journal of political economy Vol. 98, No 5: university of Chicago. Pp 339341 Solow, R.M (1956). A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics. Pp 65-94

Consolidation of Learning

I have come to understand that in order for a student to develop professional nursing skills, he or she needs to have the ability to apply knowledge from theory into practice. This I believe is a fundamental key to the success of becoming a competent nurse. My practice and the invaluable experiences I have gained from my placement, as a nursing student, have enabled me to reflect on the dimensions of nursing practice. I can testify that clinical practice is really an essential component of learning process for any nursing student. My Clinical practice has allowed me to have direct experience with the real world of nursing, to practice the clinical skills required for the job and to learn about the responsibility of the nurse. Reflecting back at my previous semesters, I can begin to say that my acute clinical experience has served as a wonderful and memorable learning opportunity for me to practise some of the skills that I have learned. I had a lot of mixed feelings going into this clinical because I did not know if I was going to make a difference. And little did I know how much this experience would impact me. As I reflect on this experience, I realised that I finished my clinical not only with more experience than when I started, but with a different aspect of nursing all together. In this paper, I will discuss an in-depth factual experience on my role in caring for a hypertensive patient. I will critically analyze my actions, feelings and strategies that I used to deal with the situation. I will also present how I was able to connect the knowledge that I had gained from my nursing classes and clinical laboratory. Over the course of my clinical placement, I was assigned to different patients with different illness. Caring for these patients has deepened my understanding of the need to develop my intellectual capacity for good clinical judgement and safe decision making. While caring for these patients, I encountered situations that were both positive and negative. Regardless of the outcome of these situations, I believe I have learned one or two things from them. There was a particular event that really stood out for me among the patients that I cared for. The reason why this event stood out is because of the impact it had on my learning. This event helped me to start pulling information from all the resources available to me right on the spot. THE SIGNIFICANT NURSING EVENT I was on an evening rotation on this fateful day. I had done my patient research and ready to carry out my care plan for my patient. Unfortunately, I was not able to implement this care plan because my patient assignment was changed due to staffing issue. An undergraduate nurse was the primary nurse of the same patient that I was assigned to. Due to the policy that I have to be monitored by a registered nurse, my patient assignment was changed. I was then assigned to an eighty two year old woman diagnosed with acute renal failure with history of hypertension. I had very little time to quickly research my patient diagnosis; my primary nurse just gave me brief information on her status. I had to quickly go in to do my initial assessment and take her vital signs. As I approached her room, I was prepared for all reactions, but my patient responded with soaking kindness. I introduced myself, asked her how her day was going and informed her of the care that I will be providing for her. Then I began to perform a head to toe assessment and I explained the rationale of each test and action. My patient would always smile and respond with â€Å"I know that you are a student just do what you gotta do†. Then I began to check her vital signs and realised that her blood pressure was way over the normal range120/80. I was startled, so I decided to check the blood pressure on the opposite arm, just to reaffirm the data obtained previously. This time around I knew I had obtained the same data, which were 180/ 98. I auscultated her lungs fields bilaterally and there was an adventitious sound. I palpated her peripheral pulses for their strength and equality and auscultated her apical pulse rate to check for the rhythm and the quality of heart sound and I could hear an abnormal sound of blood rushing. In this paragraph, I will discuss on my feelings and thinking that took place in the event. Based on my knowledge about the implications of high blood pressure and knowing that she is hypertensive and over eighty years old, that would increase her risk of having stroke or heart attack. I was fearful of handling this patient being my first time of experiencing this situation. Reflecting in action, I began to have a therapeutic conversation with my patient. Understanding my own values and beliefs I composed myself and tried not to sound scared, while I was asking questions regarding how she was feeling. I used all my senses of perception to assess her and asked if she was having chest pain or feeling light headed. My patient complained of being fatigue, a little bit dizzy, and that she was finding it hard to breathe, and then I knew something was certainly wrong. This can be supported by (Quote) At the same time I did not want her to panic or aggravate the situation. I knelt down and checked if there was any urine in her Foley catheter bag, but there was nothing. I asked her when was the last time that her bag was drained and she replied that she was not sure if it was early in the morning or at midnight. Then I noticed that she had edema in her lower extremities, I inspected her legs and palpated the areas of edema, noting the tenderness and pitting. I went on to ask her if she had been going for a walk around the unit and if she knew her blood pressure baseline, and she responded that it’s been very high lately, but for me I was not really satisfied with the data. Certainly my patient was having fluid retention, and other symptoms which might be as a result of her kidney failure or hypertension. Given the assessment and further investigation this was a possible indication of stroke or heart attack. While reflecting in action, I told myself that I needed to act fast as soon as possible because I could not tell what the outcome will look like. According to the Canadian Nursing Association (CNA, 2008) state that nurses should provide safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care. Instantly I knew I had to quickly determine my goal of care for my patient because I was certain that something was wrong. I came up with three goals, firstly I have to make sure that her blood pressure get lowered and controlled. Secondly, make sure that she was having adequate urine output and lastly, encourage her to go for a walk in order to increase her blood flow. In order to achieve these goals I had to find a way to get hold of my primary nurse or instructor, to inform them on what was happening to the patient. Carper, (1978), notes that it is of paramount importance to understand the clinical situation, act timely and appropriately for the good of the patient. This was an opportunity to take what I had learned from my courses and in lab and apply to real situations. I was not really prepared but I was very excited to use my skills and knowledge that I had gained so far from the nursing courses and laboratory. At the same time, I always had it at the back of my mind to always make sure I stay within my scope of practice and also critically think about the care I want to provide to the patient. I excused myself and told my patient that I needed to see my primary nurse. I quickly logged in to the SCM to check her flow sheet and realised that her previous data was 139/85. I checked to see if there was any order or medications if her blood pressure gets beyond certain parameter. I found that an order was made and that if her blood pressure get above 180/100, hydrazaline should be given every four hours and patient should be monitored continuously. I researched the drug class, it usage, side effect and contraindication of hydrazaline, so that I know what I am giving my patient and what I need to watch out for after administration. My findings deepened the knowledge about implications of high blood pressure and what I thought and knew. In response to my findings, I knew for sure that she was having the signs and symptoms of stroke or heart attack. I was really eager to pass on this new information to my primary nurse and instructor. I really felt that I had paid full attention to my patient while performing my head to toe assessment. Tanner (2006) stated â€Å"that clinical judgement is more influenced by what the nurse brings to the situation than the objective data about the situation at hand† (p. 204). I hurried quickly and informed my primary nurse on what was happening, and she came with me to get the medications. As we approached the room the nurse took the patient vitals again, I believe that she needed to confirm the data herself. My nurse got the same data and asked me to administer the medication to the patient. My primary nurse then asked me what my goal of care was for the patient and I responded with what I had planned earlier. I began to evaluate if my intervention was achieved by monitoring my patient’s blood pressure and ensuring that her other vital signs were all in the normal range. About fifteen minutes later, I asked my patient if she was still having the signs and symptoms that she mentioned to me earlier, and she replied that she was feeling much better. Brunners & suddant stressed that educating the patient on self care is a therapeutic regimen that is the responsibility of the patient in collaboration with the nurse. I began to educate my patient on the importance of lifestyle changes and medications to control the blood pressure. I emphasized on the concept of controlling her blood pressure, rather than curing it. I encourage her to develop a plan for weight loss, limit food high in salt and fats and increase intake of fruits and vegetables. It was all a new experience getting to see the symptoms and effects in first hand. Everything makes so much more sense when you get to connect the dots yourself. Although I did not have enough time to research on my patient diagnosis, this experience really impacted my learning because I realised that in the real nursing world, nurses do not have any knowledge about the patient that they will care for. This has really made me reflect on my actions and my future practise. It also made me to really value the learning from the class, clinical labs and evidenced based research. Above all, knowing my patient was very integral to my practice and this event raised some questions for me.

Cost Cut Theory

Ritter explained. the bigger loss, of course, is the future value of the money, according to the financial analysts. â€Å"if you left the $10,000 in for 20 years and it earned 8 percent, that would have amounted to $46,600,† Ritter noted. Ritter said that taking money out of a 401(k) plan—as either a loan or a hardship withdrawal—can be a false solution that keeps the person in crisis from taking appropriate action, such as selling the house, getting another job, or cutting expenses. You need a systemic solution, something that’s going to change your household cash flow,† he said. liberto said another reason to avoid a hardship withdrawal in the current market is that the employee would be borrowing funds that have dropped in value, with no chance to recoup the loss when the market recovers.Barbara Bird, a management professor and entrepreneurship expert at american university in Washington, d. c. , said that at this time of such dramatic financial upheaval, companies can help employees by providing financial education. a lot of people out there don’t know what diversification means,† she said, or what the difference is between stocks and bonds. Bird said that some people who take hardship withdrawals do not understand the tax consequences until april. companies can set up training classes or communicate through a newsletter or Web page, she added. â€Å"one of the things managers need to do in times of crisis is to communicate,† Bird said, â€Å"to share as much as they can about what’s happening at the company as the financial situation plays out nationally. q MaRcH 2009 COST-CUTTING TIPS, TACTICS & STRATEGIESInTRODuCeHDHPsTOCuTHeALTHCAReCOsTs Issue:in 2005, a business services company sought to cut its health care costs by introducing high deductible health plans ( HdHps) to its employees in hopes of increasing its enrollment. Response:â€Å"along with the HdHp options, we also started offering health savings accounts that included employer contributions to these accounts,† the benefits administrator at the 225-employee firm told us. Result:â€Å"these new plans increased our participation in 2006; 65 percent of our employees who participate in the health program are covered in one of he HdHp plans,† the benefits administrator added. â€Å"due to the increased enrollment in 2006 and the reduced claims experience, we were able to offer our plans to employees in 2007 with no increase in premium amounts. †Issue:a 400-employee transportation company was looking for simple changes to its benefits plan that would keep costs from rising more than 8 percent. Response:â€Å"our principal move was to couple an increase in deductibles with a contribution increase,† the controller told us. Formerly, we also included dental coverage with the cost of medical. now, we charge additional amounts for it. Finally, we increased copayments for our drug program. † Result:increasing the deductibles saved the company roughly $150,000. â€Å"and to lessen the sting of these increases to employees, we supplemented our life offering, which was viewed positively,† the controller added. CHAnGeyOuRCOnTRIBuTIOnTIeRs Issue: the benefits manger at a new York-based hotel, hospitality, and lodging company was looking for a way to change its contribution toward health care coverage to help cut costs.Response:â€Å"We changed from a two-tiered contribution single and family to a four-tiered contribution (single, couple, single with child(ren), and family). it was done during open enrollment for 2007 benefits,† the benefits manager told ioMa. Result:â€Å"it enabled us to reduce costs. Many associates with dual coverage opted out as the family plan went up by 105 percent for a contribution. it went from $22 per week to $46. www. ioma. com/HR 15

Demonstrative speech outline Essay Example

Demonstrative speech outline Essay Example Demonstrative speech outline Paper Demonstrative speech outline Paper How to Make Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies General Purpose: To Inform Specific Purpose: I will teach my audience how to make a vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Central Idea: You dont need eggs to make cookies Introduction A When you think of cookies I bet you most likely think of eggs and milk, but what if I tell you, you dont necessarily need those ingredients to make delicious cookies? Good morning. My name is R Have you ever wanted to make cookies and realized you were out of eggs? R Im sure that at least some of us have O Today I will teach you how to make vegan peanut butter chocolate chips cookies W I will share with you a recipe for cookies that does not require eggs Body I The first step Is assembling all of your necessary tools and Ingredients A. For this easy recipe you only need cups peanut butter, 1/3 cups vegan butter, % cups sugar, h cup almond or simile, h teaspoon vanilla extract, h teaspoon salt, I-teaspoon baking powder 2 cups flour, and h cup vegan chocolate chips. B. You will also need a medium mixing bowl, parchment paper, cookie sheet and a tablespoon-measuring scoop. Transition: You can start once you have the Ingredients. II. First, take your milling bowl add the peanut butter and the vegan butter and mix everything together. B. Then add the vanilla extract and the almond milk and stir it up again. C. Last, but not least fold in the vegan chocolate chip cookies. Find some parchment paper and put it on a cookie sheet. Take your cookie dough scoop it out with the tablespoon-measuring spoon to form little balls. Dip the cookie dough balls and roll them in some sugar. D. After that you put them on the parchment paper and pop the cookies in the oven on 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. When you take them out take a fork and make the cookies flat. E. Let them cool down for 10 minutes and then hey are ready to enjoy. Conclusion Now, you may not want to make vegan cookies and I am in no way saying that they are better than regular cookies, but it is nice to know that you can make cookies without eggs and they still turn out great. You can Just take your regular butter and milk and leave the eggs out.

Short Commentary on Othello Act 4 scene 1 lines 1-46 Essays

Short Commentary on Othello Act 4 scene 1 lines 1-46 Essays Short Commentary on Othello Act 4 scene 1 lines 1-46 Paper Short Commentary on Othello Act 4 scene 1 lines 1-46 Paper Essay Topic: Othello The opening scene of Act 4 in Othello succeeds one in which Othello begins to confront Desdemona about Cassio via the loss of her handkerchief. Bewildered by her husbands strange new violent and jealous behaviour, Desdemona, unknowingly, tries even harder to help Cassio. She continually implores that Othello gives him back his position as officer, if just in order to remind her husband of his esteemed position among the society, and in general, of his own sense of honour and morality that she, as his wife, had always seen in and respected of him. Act 4 Scene 1 opens up in media-res of a conversation taking place between Iago and Othello. This scene chiefly introduces to the audience Iago as having gained full control, as we see Othello now to be the one unconsciously repeating after him. Through the use of intimation, imagery and the theme of appearance vs. reality, the audience is convinced of Iagos success and Othellos deterioration.   In this scene, the overarching theme of appearance vs. reality is an implied but a recurrent and significant one. Through Iagos character, Shakespeare analogizes materialistic/physical things to the main values explored in the play, successfully conveying to the audience the importance of both, but on a deeper level, how Iago has the ability both to hinder and manipulate them in his acts of double knavery. The handkerchief Othello gives to Desdemona, for example, embodies his love and trust for her, but more deeply his honour in her having accepted him, the moor, the outcast. Thus, the loss of the handkerchief grew to become synonymous with the loss of its value, as is evident from Othellos change in narrative form, as it goes from a form of verse to prose. In addition, Othello says, in line 35 on page 153, Handkerchiefconfessionshandkerchief! To confess and be hanged for this labour. First to be hanged and then to confess. in prose form, and Shakespeares use of it accommodates Othellos use of chiasmus in his speech. Ironically, where chiasmus is used typically as a device to articulate balance or order within a text, the use of it in Othello marks precisely the opposite. Through this Shakespeare conveys Othellos convoluted state of mind both mentally and emotionally, and therefore, Iagos success in his motivations. Furthermore, in pairing both the physical and non-physical things, Iago is also able to draw contrasts between them, as, unlike Desdemonas handkerchief, her honour is an essence thats not seen, thus insinuating her deceit to Othello. Likewise, the reverberation of Iagos use of the word poison throughout several acts reflects his own duplicity, almost as if he chose to name it as such. Poison works slowly but effectively the same way Iagos deception worked on Othello. However, on a deeper level, it also marks Iagos character development as his successes continually accelerate more of his schemes and plans, while at the same time weakening Othello. However, it is the analogy between and a value and a sensual physical action, in an unauthorized kiss in line 3, that epitomizes and conclusively portrays Iagos complete manipulation of Othello, that by combining values of reputation and authority with love and emotion, Othellos weaknesses are used in Iagos power, leaving Othello to seemingly self-destruct. In conclusion, it is Shakespeares use of language and his successful implicit portrayal of themes through characters that allows his audience to unwrap themselves not only the true nature of the relationships between the characters, but also the complementing and contrasting values and ideals that inevitably exist amongst them.