Marketing Management

Introduction Marketing Management is a business aspect that entails the marketing department of an organization researching and giving proposals on how best an organization can change its business techniques to best suit the changing environmental conditions. The roles of a marketing manager or consultant vary depending on the size of an organization and general industry characteristics.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To create an effective marketing strategy, marketing managers or consultants should understand clearly the market environment within which they operate[1]. A marketing environment consists of factors or elements such as customers, competitors, suppliers, government policies or controls among other micro and macro-economic factors that affect a business. Given the fact that all those aspects, which form the marketing environment, are always const antly changing, marketing consultants are compelled to be up to date. It is only when a marketing manager is armed with current information that he or she can come up with new strategies and ideas to ensure his or her organization remains competitive.[2] Based on this understanding, this paper provides an analysis of Singapore’s Manor House Country Club Hotel. Manor House Country Club Hotel Manor House Country Club Hotel (MCCH), which is the case study in this paper, is located in Singapore; is an island of almost 650 square kilometers. Manor Country Club House is on a 1.2 ha piece of land and given its strategic geographical location on the Island, it attracts many customers. It is situated near Theme Park and a Museum, which increases its economic prospects. In order to understand factors affecting its profitability, a marketing consultant has to look in both the microenvironment and the macro-environment in which it operates[3]. Microenvironment of MCCH The microenvironmen t of a business consists of factors such as organizational culture, organizational resources, organizational structure, customers, competitors, suppliers and the immediate public that surround the organization. It is reported that the hotel industry has witnessed an increase in sit-down meal customers i.e. a growth rate of 16% was registered since 2003. Based on this trend, an increase in customers should be expected if variety of sit-down meals from diverse parts of the world are introduced.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Additionally, the management should consider introducing a boutique at MCCH to attract customers. Information from hotels in other middle-east countries, like Qatar, shows that tourists prefer services of boutique while on holiday. Therefore, the new CEO of MCCH should consider investing in a boutique to provide more value for tourists who lodge at the ho tel. The new CEO will be preparing to fail if he does not address himself to competitors’ characteristics. It has to be noted that in the Singapore market, there is lack of differentiation i.e. all the hotels do the same things save for different prices and the different locations of these hotels. The only things that distinguish MCCH from competitors are price and location. Differentiation through the introduction of more quality and diverse services is thus very important in delivering a competitive advantage[4]. It is recommendable that MCCH focuses of tailored cultural experiences in order to attract and delight customers more than competition. Many visiting tourists must necessarily find it exciting when they are exposed to different Singaporean cultures while staying in MCCH. Macro-environment of MCCH A business’ macro-environment consists of factors that affect an organization but the organization has no direct control over the same[5]. Macro-economic factors th at affect business operations include demographic, economical, environmental, legal technological, cultural, and political forces. Macro-environmental factors keeps on changing over the years[6]. Therefore, it is important for marketers to keep scanning the business environment to respond to change in time. In the year 1990, the total population in Singapore was 2.705 million. The latest population projection indicates that Singapore’s total population is 3 million. This means that for a period of ten years the population has increased by a paltry 300,000 people. It therefore follows that Singapore has a very low population growth rate and majority of the total population are ageing people. Such statistics should inform all decisions made by the marketing department at MCCH. For instance, the marketing strategy has to target largely people who are ageing and couples.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The marketing manager at MCCH has to come up with policies that best suit the kind of people targeted, as given by population statistics. Away from the aging segment, the luxury bedrooms that were made available at MCCH in the year 2002 and the bar inside MCCH that was licensed to sell alcoholic drinks will on the other hand attract all the young couples and singles to MCCH. Just as changes keep on occurring in the Singaporean, the relative demand by tourists for products also keeps changing. Psychographic trends are measured y studying specific characteristics of a certain population, and they include attitudes, motives, values, and interests of a certain population.[7] According to a research by Kau et al, 65% Singaporeans said that family was the most important thing for them[8]. 65% is great majority thus need to bear in mind that Singaporeans value their families when planning any marketing venture. The government also seems to ag ree with these facts since a family day is usually organized by the government every year where families get together to share various activities. MCCH through its new CEO should therefore look out for these family days and organize family day promotions. MCCH can also organize special treats on specific weekends monthly for families to just come together and spend some time at the facility. Religion and education also matter a great deal of most Singaporeans. MCCH through its CEO should desist from inclining towards any kind of religion be it Buddhism or Christianity since it can lead Singaporeans from one religion completely ignore MCCH. Another critical macro-environmental factor that may affect MCCH’s performance is government control through bureaucracy. This is evident through bans on smoking and licensing laws that affect the hotel industry[9]. Finally, it is worth noting the contribution of technology in improving operations at the hotel. Technological changes that im prove efficiency e.g. use of credit cards in all hotel transactions and electronic door systems on hotel rooms have been adopted by MCCH. SWOT Analysis SWOT is an acronym for the words Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and strengths. To understand an organization, an analyst has to look within its internal environment to identify strengths and weaknesses therein and within its external environment to identify opportunities and threats. Based on the information given a SWOT analysis on MCCH is as shown below.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Strengths Well managed Market leader in profitability Prime physical location i.e. proximity to famous tourist sites 11 years of continued investment Increased capacity due to buying of adjacent property and increasing luxury bedrooms in 2002 Extended and modernized function suite Busy and successful bistro New Spacious Foyer Beauty salon that offers latest beauty treats Well trained staff in communication skills and customer care Opportunities Increased consumer spending on sit down meals Increasing adoption to new cuisines from different parts of the world Eating out major part of lifestyle of young and middle aged couples Growing demand for healthier eating Growth in domestic tourism Increased inbound tourism in the country Increased family travel Weaknesses Decline in corporate client bookings Retirement of one of the major partners Lack of enthusiasm from other partners towards new ideas Threats Highly competitive hotel industry Lack of product differentiation Increased government control Persistent war prices Highly demanding customers; i.e. affluent customers who wish to have an authentic experience Ansoff’s Matrix Ansoff’s matrix indicates that growth of a company depends on whether the organization markets old products in existing markets, develops new product or services, develops markets or diversifies i.e. goes into other businesses that are not similar to current business[10]. MCCH should foster its growth through market penetration. This can be made possible through anchoring on the opportunities in the business environment. For instance, there is growth or increase in both foreign and domestic tourism. Therefore, through proper market communication suited for different market niches, MCCH can tap into the market potential. Slow and sure bus tours should be made available for the ageing couples while live concerts and all night music at the licensed bars could be introduced to bring in young couples and singles . This strategy will help MCCH maintain develop and increase its market share. MCCH can also expand in the next 2 years through market development. Market development involves coming up with strategies that help an organization to enter new markets[11]. For MCCH, there are new market frontiers due to increased foreign and local tourism. More importantly is the change in tastes and preferences by locals leading to adoption of eating delicacies from other parts of the world. Market development will also require proper market communication but on a much greater scale unlike when focus is on market penetration. For instance, MCCH should use channels like the internet, 24-hour television channels like CNN and BBC to ensure the message is spread everywhere. The third strategy that MCCH can adopt as per Ansoff’s matrix is product development. Product development is the creation of new services and products. The tastes of customers are changing. In tandem, MCCH should bring in new pr oducts in tandem with changing customer needs. For instance, family tours are becoming more popular thus, introduction of family fun days, additional educational services and live concerts in the bars and restaurants can be the way to go for MCCH. Diversification is also an important strategy and it helps bring some differentiation in an industry that is direly in need of difference. Introduction of complimentary or supplementary businesses or even very different business could help cushion MCCH against any changes in the market. Porters Five Forces Model There are five forces, which a business owner has to understand to guide an organization to greater heights[12]. The first force that the management at MCCH has to consider and evaluate is supplier power. The new chief executive officer of MCCH has to understand how powerful the organization’s suppliers are. This is usually calculated in terms of the number of suppliers the organization has; the number of individuals in the industry that supply a commodity needed by an organization. If the suppliers are few, they are more powerful and can alter prices as they wish[13]. Although, information is not provided on the suppliers of MCCH, the new CEO has to work closely with suppliers to gain economies of scale, have competitively priced supplies or enjoy better performance due to just in time delivery of supplies. The second force to contend with is buyer power. Buyer power refers to capacity of buyers to influence prices[14]. Buyer power increases with increase in competition among suppliers[15]. It has to be noted that consumers especially the affluent are becoming even more quality conscious. This means that going into the future, customers are likely to enjoy more power over what hotels offer and how they offer it. MCCH has to in readiness for the same becoming a leader through better anticipating of customer preferences and designing appropriate responses. The third force that managers have to take into account as per Porter’s grid is threat of new entrants. Exit and entrance barriers determine threat of new entrants[16]. If it is easy for another firm to enter an industry, the threat of new entrants is high. Given the continuing growth of the Singaporean tourism market, and with projections of 17 million tourists annually, by the year 2015, the threat of new entries prevails. However, given the high cost involved in setting up an international hotel, the likelihood of many other international hotels being set up is limited. Therefore, the head of MCCH should expand to attract the many tourist expected in Singapore in future. Competitor rivalry in the hotel industry in Singapore is very high[17]. However, MCCH is leading the pack and there are more opportunities that can be tapped into. Through diversification and developing of new products, differentiation can be introduced by MCCH thus setting itself apart for a successful future. The final force, as per Porter’s m odel is threat of substitutes. In the case study, there is no indicator whatsoever of substitute offerings. Therefore, there is no threat of substitutes. However, through improving on its offering and tapping into emerging opportunities, MCCH should be able to grow in leaps regardless of whether substitute offerings arise or not. Bibliography Bryant, EF AJ Morrison, â€Å"Travel market segmentation and the  implication of market strategies†, Journal of Travel Research, Vol.18, no.3, 1981, pp. 2-6 Crask, MR, â€Å"Segmenting the Vacationer Market: Identifying the Vacation Preferences, Demographics and Magazine Readership of Each Group†, Journal of Travel Research, vol.20, no.2, 1981, pp. 29- 33 Doole, I. P Lancaster R Lowe, Understanding and Managing Customers, Prentice Hall, London, 2004 Engle, J F RD Blackwell, Consumer Behavior, New York: The Dryden Press, 1982 Kau, A K, WY, Yeong D Richmond, A Delphi Study of Future Lifestyles and Consumption Patterns in Singa pore, Center for Business Research and Development, National University of Singapore, 1993 Kau, AK C Yang, Values and Lifestyles of Singaporeans: A Marketing Perspective, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1991 Kay, J, Foundations of Corporate Success: How Business Strategies add Value. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003 Kotler, P, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1984 Mills, G, Retail Pricing Strategies and Market Power. Melbourne University, Publishing, Melbourne, 2002 Yergin, D. J Stanislaw, The Commanding Heights, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2002 Footnotes J,F,Engle R D Blackwell, Consumer Behavior, New York: The Dryden Press, 1982, p. 45 P Kotler, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1984, p. 122 MR Crask, â€Å"Segmenting the Vacationer Market: Identifying the Vacation Preferences, Demographics and Magazine Readership of Each Group†, Journal of Trav el Research, vol.20, no.2, 1981, p.31 EF Bryant AJ Morrison, â€Å"Travel market segmentation and the  implication of market strategies†, Journal of Travel Research, Vol.18, no.3, 1981, p. 4 Ibid., p. 2 Ibid., p. 3 Engle Blackwell,p. 34 AK Kau, WY Yeong D Richmond, A Delphi Study of Future Lifestyles and Consumption Patterns in Singapore, Center for Business Research and Development, National University of Singapore, 1993, p.5 Kau, et al, p.11 G Mills, Retail Pricing Strategies and Market Power. Melbourne University, Publishing, Melbourne, 2002, p. 102 Engle Blackwell, p. 75 I Doole, P Lancaster R Lowe, Understanding and Managing Customers, Prentice Hall, London, 2004, p. 221 D Yergin J Stanislaw, The Commanding Heights, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2002, p. 123 Ibid., p. 128 Mills, p. 44 J Kay, Foundations of Corporate Success: How Business Strategies Add Value. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003, p. 113 Kau et al, p. 7 This essay on Marketing Management was written and submitted by user Deacon C. 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.

Tibetan Silver

Tibetan Silver Tibetan Silver is the name given to the metal used in some jewelry available online, such as on eBay or via Amazon. These items typically ship from China. Have you ever wondered how much silver is in Tibetan Silver or about the chemical composition of Tibetan Silver? Would you be surprised to learn that this metal can be dangerous? Tibetan Silver is a silver-colored alloy consisting of copper with tin or nickel. Some items described as Tibetan Silver are cast iron that has been plated with the silver-colored metal. Most Tibetan Silver is copper with tin rather than copper with nickel because nickel causes skin reactions in many people. Health Hazards Ironically, the metal often contains other elements that are much more toxic than nickel. It is inadvisable for pregnant women or children to wear items made with Tibetan Silver because some of the items contain high levels of dangerous metals, including lead and arsenic. eBay issued a buyer warning so that bidders would be aware of the metallurgical testing conducted on Tibetan Silver items and the possible toxicity of these items. In six of seven items that were analyzed using x-ray fluorescence, the primary metals in the Tibetan Silver were actually nickel, copper, and zinc. One item contained 1.3% arsenic and extremely high lead content of 54%. A separate sampling of items revealed comparable compositions, with trace amounts of chromium, aluminum, tin, gold, and lead, although in that study, all of the samples contained acceptable levels of lead. Note that not all items contain toxic levels of heavy metals. The warning for pregnant women and children is intended to prevent accidental poisonings. Other Names Sometimes comparable metallurgical compositions have been called Nepalese silver, white metal, pewter, lead-free pewter, base metal, or simply tin alloy. In the past, there was an alloy called Tibetan Silver that actually did contain the element silver. Some vintage Tibetan silver is sterling silver, which is 92.5% silver. The remaining percent could be any combination of other metals, although usually, it is copper or tin.

Thoughts of seven wonders of Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Thoughts of seven wonders of Egypt - Essay Example The two main influences of architecture are the sphinx and the great pyramid, since the two artifacts have been in existence for a long period of time. After an analysis of ancient Egyptian culture, I would say that the world has a lot to learn from the work and life of the ancient Egyptians. The first thing that is learnt is the importance of religion and the significance of religious aspects to world history. For example, it is evident that most of Egypt’s artifacts and important architecture have some religious significance or other, therefore, the importance of religion in confirming opinion is noted. The other learning point from the ancient Egyptian studies is the importance of literary thinking and record-keeping. The libraries that were used by the ancient scholars are still accessible, indicating that the Egyptians thought to document all aspects of their civilization. In my opinion, ancient Egyptian civilization was the single most important facet of worldly development and

Human resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Human resources - Essay Example Current competitive environment has made employees more devoted towards their work and they end up having issues with their personal life (Friedman 2008). Various relationships have experienced breakups due to increased devotion towards work by either one or both members of the couples. Due to problems in personal life, organizations end up paying higher costs (Beard 2011). Researchers have proven that increase in work-life imbalance has resulted in high employee turnover rate, increase in number of days when employees are absent from work, health issues, dissatisfaction from job and life, and increased pressure on managers (Imam 8644). All of these problems are directly linked with decrease in productivity of an organization. When the rate of employee turnover increases, work is halted until empty positions are filled (Beard 2011). When employees do not attend work, the amount of production that they would have been able to conduct is compromised. Dissatisfaction from working condit ions results in de-motivating the workers to work efficiently and effectively, which decreases the quality and the quantity of goods produced. The organizations do not only face loss of productivity due to work life imbalance, they even end up paying higher cost incurred for employee’s psychological health, which is disturbed by this imbalance. Various ways have been continuously pointed out to solve the problem of work-life imbalance; managers need to assess these ways and create programs constituting these methods to increase productivity and increase work-life balance. Managers can offer flexible work timings to employees, for example, managers have to allot a specific number of hours for an employee to work and the employee can decide what bracket of hours he choose to work (Kanter 2010). Managers can assign a work day of 5 hours to an employee and the employee can choose whether to work from 9am to 2pm or 2pm to 7pm etc.

Improving Job Quality in the UK Labour Market

Improving Job Quality in the UK Labour Market The prospects for improving job quality at the lower end of the labour market in the UK pay Introduction Frederick Engels once wrote that labour is the prime basic condition for all human existence, and this to such an extent that, in a sense, we have to say that labour created man himself (1934). A person’s job helps define who they are. The level of income, time spent working, and the quality of the job, highly influence a person’s life. As Sweet and Meiksins say: â€Å"work occupies most of our waking hours; it is a crucial part of identities and influences life chances.† (2008, p. 1) As it has always been, employers are mostly looking for hardworking, well-educated people with particular sets of skills. These days education has become the Alpha and Omega of employment as Daniel Bell puts it: â€Å"If capital and labour are the major structural features of industrial society, information and knowledge are those of post-industrial society.† (1973, p. 211) With the rise in the number of people with higher education, one would expect a rise in higher, well-paid jobs. But in the UK, the situation is quite different. Not only is there a lot of low skilled service sector jobs with low wages, which result in poverty, but there is also growing pay inequality. The worst off are those on the lower end of the labour market who receive a pay of the bottom 20-25% and hold low-skilled jobs which are routine and semi-routine, and require no qualification. The most common job among these is that of the sales assistant. The number of these kind of low-wage workers in the UK is a staggering 20.6% (OECD 2011). This kind of inequality brings health and social problems. Studies show that more unequal countries have worse health and social problems such as lower life expectancy, higher mental illness and obesity, more teenage births and infant mortality, more homicides, etc. (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2009). This is quite a logical deduction to make, since a big part of an individual’s life is his/her job, and dissatisfaction with one’s job – which is directly linked to the dissatisfaction with one’s income – greatly influences the physical and psychological health of the said individual. Changes in the new economy In recent years, there has been a shift from the old economy to the new. These terms were thought up and are used by Sweet and Meiksins in their work – Changing countours of work. There they state that the old economy represents the various ways of assigning and structuring work that developed in the wake of the Industrial Revolution through to the mid-20th century. It included systems which were built around mass production, gendered divisions of labour, unionized labour, etc. The new economy brought about changes. For one, good jobs that require a limited education are disappearing, which forces a big group of people to take on menial, low-paid jobs with little prospects for future advancement. This system partially stems from Frederick Winslow Taylor who introduced his philosophy at the beginning of the 20th century. He argued for the separation of ‘thought’ from ‘execution’, which resulted in the creation of legions of deskilled jobs and the decli ne in the individual worker’s ability to control the conditions and rewards of work. (2008, p. 10). This fit perfectly into the abiding cultural belief that some should be owners and others workers. This popularized the idea that inequality in the workplace is actually desirable in a capitalistic system. (Sweet and Meiksins, 2008, p. 11) The belief that workers are indolent and cannot be trusted is directly responsible for the creation of the so-called McJobs – a.k.a. jobs on the very low end of the labour market. Wikipedia defines a McJob as a low-paying, low-prestige dead-end job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of intercompany advancement. The quality of these types of jobs is extremely low. The deliberations of the European Commission show that there is a propensity for the representatives of governments to assert that all parties would gain from job quality improvements. Francis Green states that wage rate is a key indication of a job’s quality, and claims that for the pay to be fair, it should be related to a worker’s contribution to the performance of the organization. (2006, p. 111) Green claims that there are no specifically economic reasons to look forward to long-term improvements or any other trend in the perceived fairness of material rewards. In the mid-20th century countries in transition would experience rising inequality, followed by a later equalizing trend. A lot of countries experienced declining income inequality for most of the 20th century, which started to rise again after the 1970s. (2006, pp. 119-20). This could be construed as a realistic standpoint, but it could also be called unnecessarily pessimistic. Although trends are not promising, this issue is one yet to be tackled. Concerns over wage inequality Public debates and policy discussions are brimming with concerns over inequality of wages. Despite the increased importance of tax credits as a source of household income growth over the past decade, pay still remains central to maintaining adequate living standards for most low to middle income households. (Pennycook and Whittaker; 2012, p. 4) It has widely been agreed that by far the best single measure of income inequality is the Gini coefficient of concentration. (Chen, Tsaur and Rhai; 1982, p. 473). With the Gini coefficient, 0 marks that everyone has the same income, and 1 that the richest person has all the income. In the UK this number is 4 which is well below what one would hope for. OECD shows that the gap between the rich and the poor has widened in the past decades. The incomes of top earners in the UK have risen much faster than for everyone else. The richest people have an income of about 10 times that of the poorest. Since the 1990s there has been a rise in people reporting high incomes, and also, high income taxes dropped. (2014) Groups that are most likely to hold low paid jobs are women, part-time or temporary workers, young workers, and workers in relatively low-skilled occupational groups such as Elementary Occupations (cleaners, security guards, catering assistants, leisure workers) and Sales Customer services (Pennycook and Whittaker; 2012, p. 5) What causes wage disparities? Over the past few decades, the UK, as well as other countries, has gone through significant changes. It underwent rapid technological progress and was more closely integrated into the global economy. When talking about the issue of income inequality, a lot of people tend to recognize globalization and technological advancement as the main culprits. They affected the job market by bringing high skilled workers greater rewards than the low-skilled ones, thus widening the gap between their respective earnings. Technological progress also penalized those who did not have the necessary skills to adapt and use technology effectively. (OECD; 2011, p. 28). This tended to have the worst effect on the people in low social positions which caused the gap between the well-off, who could afford the time and money to tackle the changing demands, and those who got stuck doing work that was becoming less and less appreciated. Alongside these changes, minimum wage also declined across many countries, as did the share of union members among workers. A lot of policies and institutions also made significant changes which contributed to higher employment, but also wage disparities. (OECD; 2011, p. 30). A lot of people found employment in factories, the service department and other low-skilled jobs which were in abundance, but had low wages and no prospects for the future. Some other things that encourage inequality are: privatization, subcontracting, deregulation, welfare to work policies, and neo-liberal policies. Possible solutions Britain’s reliance on an extensive pool of low-skilled, low-paid labour is not predetermined. The particular incidence and composition of low-paid work in any given country is the result of unique patterns of production and employment and these patterns are influenced, in part, by policy choices. Reducing the share of workers who are low paid is not a political objective that can be easily addressed by legislative levers. It is therefore not surprising that many policymakers have been justifiably reluctant to intervene in the market, preferring instead to correct market inequities through remedial redistribution (Pennycook and Whittaker; 2012, p. 39). But the redistribution systems in reality did little to reduce inequality. (OEDC; 2011, p. 92) Reforming tax and benefit policies would help soften the problem of inequality, by getting more people into the labour force, while making sure they stay in jobs paying good wages is essential. (OEDC; 2014). Government help and transfers also have an important role of making sure that low-level income households don’t fall further down into poverty. The reform of the tax policies for high-income individuals, whose job and income is generally more stable, would also help the redistribution of wealth and social mobility. However, these reforms would have to be thoroughly examined, and well thought up. The key would be ensuring that the poorly represented groups, such as young people, women and immigrants, have access to jobs with prospects for advancement. Another key point would be to allow low-paid individuals additional job-related education and skill-acquirement by incentivising companies to invest in their ‘human capital’. Due to the high demand for high-skilled individuals, especially in the newer fields of technology, marketing, and such, in the long haul, one of the possible solutions would be better government-supported education in these deficit fields for children of low-income families. This would create better social mobility, and at least a small boost in economy. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 introduced a wide range of reforms to the benefit and tax credit system (Universal Credit). Under the current system a working-age individual with low earnings and no disabilities may be entitled to receive payments from one or more of three main benefit groups; unemployment benefits and social assistance; the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and Tax Credits. Different benefits within each of these three groups are internally coordinated and roughly based on the same framework, while there is close to no coordination across the three benefit groups, leading to a rather erratic incentive structure. Under Universal Credit, the main means-tested benefits, except the Council Tax Benefit will be pooled into one single benefit with generous earnings disregards and one single rate of benefit withdrawal against income (taper rate). At the same time, support for childcare through the benefit system is made accessible for parents regardless of how many hours a week they work. Stated goals of the Universal Credit reform include giving people incentives to work, diminishing complexity, reducing relative poverty and containing the rising cost of welfare dependency (Andrà ©, C.et al. 2013). This act is important for this discussion because, what is hoped to be achieved in the long run is giving people incentives to work. Combined with some of the measures mentioned before, this would also allow people, who are now in a vicious circle of not having enough money for up-skilling, and not enough skills to make money, to break free and start climbing the proverbial social ladder – better jobs and better pays. Some say that the greatest priority is bound to be employment security. Macroeconomic and financial stability is the prime job quality policy at the moment. It is the job of government to try to ensure stable macroeconomic conditions, which, despite efforts, has not worked out recently. This recession has hit the lower end of the working class the hardest, but recessions have in the past always ended and, despite climate change we can expect a renewal of growth over the next few years, which will gradually reduce job insecurity again. Francis Green’s analysis of recent trends in Britain implies that the three urgent ongoing issues for policymakers to address are skills, autonomy and effort. (2009. pp. 28-29.) Conclusion Jobs are a very important part of who a person is. It is one of the ways we define ourselves. Job satisfaction is one of the principal issues in the overall life satisfaction of an individual. The quality of a job is directly linked to wages. In recent decades, due to various reasons which include globalisation and technological advancement, there has emerged a trend of rising disparity of wages in the UK. The incomes of top earners in the UK have risen much faster than for those receiving low wages. The demand for high-skilled workers is rising, but 20% of people still work in low-paid jobs with no intercompany prospects. This wage inequality is the object of much public and political debate. Although every part of the government asserts that solving this inequality and improving job quality would be better for everyone, this is not a political objective that can be easily tackled by legislature. This is why many policymakers have been justifiably reluctant to intervene in the marke t, preferring instead to correct market inequities through remedial redistribution. Some of the ways in which the inequality could be softened are the reformation of tax policies for high-income individuals and households, benefit policies for low-income households, better education and skill acquiring opportunities, ensuring employment security and stabilizing macroeconomics and finances. These changes will have to be made gradually and carefully, but nothing in the economic research suggests that this wage disparity is necessary and cannot be avoided. References Andrà ©, C.et al. 2013. Labour Market, Welfare Reform and Inequality in the United Kingdom. OECD Economics, Department Working Papers, No. 1034, OECD Publishing Bell, D. 1973. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. New York: Basic Books. Chen, C.N., Tsaur, T.W. and Rhai, T.S. 1982. The Gini Coefficient and Negative Income; Oxford Economic Papers, New Series, (34/3) pp. 473-492. New York: Oxford University Press Engels, F. 1934. The Part played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Green F. 2006. Demanding work: The Paradox of Job Quality and Affluent Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Green, F. 2009. Job Quality in Britain. Praxis, issue 1, November, London: UK Commission for Employment and Skills. OECD, Jan. 2013, Income Distribution and Poverty at the OECD [Online] Available at: http://www.oecd.org/social/inequality.htm [Accessed: 18 January 2014] OECD. 2011. Divided we stand: Why inequality Keeps Rising, OECD Publishing. Pennycook M., Whittaker M. 2012. Low Pay Britain. London: Resolution Foundation. Sweet S. and Meiksins P. 2008. Changing countours of work. Newbury Park: Pine Forge Press. Wilkinson, R.G. and Pickett K. 2009. The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. London: Allen Lane

Are You Unique? (for Cloning) :: essays research papers fc

You have been told that you are unique. The belief that there is no one else like you in the whole world has made you feel special and proud. In the near future, this belief may not be true. The world was stunned by the news in the summer of 1995, when a British embryologist named Ian Wilmut, and his research team, successfully cloned Dolly the sheep using the technique of nuclear transfer. Replacing the DNA of one sheep’s egg with the DNA of another sheep’s udder created Dolly. Plants and lower forms of animal life have been successfully cloned for many years, but before Wilmut's announcement, it had been thought by many to be unlikely that such a procedure could be performed on larger mammals and life forms. The world media was immediately filled with heated discussions about the ethical implications of cloning. Some of the most powerful people in the world have felt compelled to act against this threat. President Clinton swiftly imposed a ban on federal funding for human-cloning research. Bills were put in the works in both houses of Congress to outlaw human cloning because it was deemed as a fundamentally evil thing that must be stopped. But what, exactly, is bad about it? From an ethical point of view, it is difficult to see exactly what is wrong with cloning human beings. The people who are afraid of cloning tend to assume that someone would, for example, break into Napoleon's Tomb, steal some DNA and make a bunch of emperors. In reality, infertile people who use donated sperm, eggs, or embryos would probably use cloning. Do the potential harms outweigh the benefits of cloning? From what we know now, they don't. Therefore, we should not rush placing a ban on a potentially useful method of helping infertile, genetically at-risk, homosexual, or single people to become parents. Do human beings have a right to reproduce? No one has the moral right to tell another person that they should not be able to have children, and I don't see why Bill Clinton has that right either. If humans have a right to reproduce, what right does society have to limit the means? Essentially all reproduction done these days is with medical help at delivery, and even before. Truly natural human reproduction would make pregnancy-related death the number one killer of adult women. Some forms of medical help are more invasive than others.

Portfolio Assessment

Portfolio assessment is a multi-faceted process characterized by the following recurrent qualities: * It is continuous and ongoing, providing both formative (i. e. , ongoing) and summative (i. e. , culminating) opportunities for monitoring students' progress toward achieving essential outcomes. * It is multidimensional, i. e. , reflecting a wide variety of artifacts and processes reflecting various aspects of students' learning process(es). It provides for collaborative reflection, including ways for students to reflect about their own thinking processes and metacognitive introspection as they monitor their own comprehension, reflect upon their approaches to problem-solving and decision-making, and observe their emerging understanding of subjects and skills. * They clearly reflect stated learner outcomes identified in the core or essential curriculum that students are expected to study. * They focus upon students' performance-based learning experiences as well as their acquisition of key knowledge, skills, and attitudes. They contain samples of work that stretch over an entire marking period, rather than single points in time. * They contain works that represent a variety of different assessment tools. * They contain a variety of work samples and evaluations of that work by the student, peers, and teachers, possible even parents' reactions. Source: Paul S. George, (1995). What Is Portfolio Assessment Really and How Can I Use It in My Classroom? Gainesville, FL: Teacher Education Resources. Purposes of the Portfolio The Professional Portfolio we describe at PortfolioMaker. a differs from others you may see elsewhere in that it includes the following two main purposes: * To demonstrate your professional knowledge and skill in what some people call teaching ‘competencies' and which we call ‘Dimensions of Teaching'. * To emphasize your reflections on your entries. Your reflections will prove to be an integral part of the whole portfolio process because without them, the portfolio remains merely a scrapbook, a collection of information — not a portfolio. Our philosophy of the Professional Portfolio builds on the work of Donald Schon (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books. * To illustrate your knowledge and skills in interviews or job appraisals. * To make your teaching visible so that you can: * Ensure that your teaching includes practices that reflect the reasons that you chose this profession. * Reflect on your practice and establish learning goals and/or targets. * Reflect on your practice to determine the extent to which you have achieved these goals and/or targets. * Ensure that your teaching reflects your beliefs about what good teaching should be * And, to celebrate your professionalism. Different Types of Portfolios * Documentation Portfolio: This type is also know as the â€Å"working† portfolio. Specifically, this approach involves a collection of work over time showing growth and improvement reflecting students' learning of identified outcomes. The documentation portfolio can include everything from brainstorming activities to drafts to finished products. The collection becomes meaningful when specific items are selected out to focus on particular educational experiences or goals. It can include the bet and weakest of student work. Process Portfolio: This approach documents all facets or phases of the learning process. They are particularly useful in documenting students' overall learning process. It can show how students integrate specific knowledge or skills and progress towards both basic and advanced mastery. Additionally, the process portfolio inevitably emphasizes students' reflection upon their learning process, including the use of reflective journals, think logs, and related forms of metacognitive processing. * Showcase Portfolio: This type of portfolio is best used for summative evaluation of students' mastery of key curriculum outcomes. It should include students' very best work, determined through a combination of student and teacher selection. Only completed work should be included. In addition, this type of portfolio is especially compatible with audio-visual artifact development, including photographs, videotapes, and electronic records of students' completed work. The showcase portfolio should also include written analysis and reflections by the student upon the decision-making process(es) used to determine which works are included.