Drunk Drivers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Drunk Drivers - Research Paper Example The most alarming statistics is the number of people being killed in drunk driver cases. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) a total of 1 individual experiences demise after every 51 minutes as a result of being involved in a drunk driver case and a total of 30 individuals experience death due to the same reason each day (Cdc.gov, 2015). Several arrests take place in which individuals are arrested for driving under influence of alcohol and these individuals mostly have a blood alcohol level of 0.08% at the time they are behind the driving seat of a vehicle (Cdc.gov, 2015). CDC even has reported that during the period of 2010 a total of drunk drivers arrested with 1.4 million individuals (Cdc.gov, 2015). Another alarming statistic is the amount of money that driving under influence of alcohol cases cost the government each year. CDC reports that every year America has to experience a cost of higher than $59 million due to vehicle accidents in which the individ ual driving the vehicle was under the influence of alcohol. Individuals belonging to different ages, genders as well as race have been found to be indulged in drinking and driving cases. But people with certain characteristics are quite involved in such cases. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is an institute that has collected piles of information in relation to profiles of drinking and driving. They state that majority of the drunk drivers are those who have already had their driving license suspected as a result of driving under influence and this accounts for 75% of the individuals who have been arrested for this crime (Madd, 2015). Furthermore, the majority of the drunk drivers are quite young and they age around 21 to 25 years (Madd, 2015). Individuals, who drink and drive mostly do so during night hours of the day and these incidences are at peak during the weekends (Madd, 2015). Majority of the individuals indulged in

The Good, The Bad And The m ouldy Essay Example for Free

The Good, The Bad And The m ouldy Essay Introduction: In 2008 a YouTube video of a lady displaying a McDonald’s cheeseburger which she had kept for 4 years, went viral. A normal McDonald’s cheeseburger which had been exposed to the elements had kept in the same state for 4 years. No mould or mildew was found on the meat patty, the only thing that was slightly wrong was the burger bun which had become stale and was beginning to crumble. The composer of the video then compared McDonald’s fries which had been around for 4 years, to sliced potatoes which had been cut 3 months ago. The McDonalds fries were perfectly intact, they still had an oily, salty and greasy feel. However, the potato cuttings were covered in mould and were incredibly hard and in an attempt to snap them in half, they did not flex at all. If ‘real’ potatoes aged like that, why wouldn’t McDonald’s fries (the main ingredient being potatoes). This leads to the main experiment, if a McDonald’s burger doesn’t age, would a burger from home prepared ingredients be any different? My experiment consists of purchasing a regular McDonalds cheeseburger and then preparing a homemade cheeseburger using the same ingredients. The homemade burger must have the same dimensions as the McDonalds burger and share the same characteristics. For example, the weight of the McDonalds beef patty must be equivalent to that of the butcher-bought patty for the homemade burger. As all McDonalds patties are frozen, the butcher patty must be cooked in advance, frozen and then defrosted on the day of the burger preparation. The McDonalds burger will be purchased within the same hour as the homemade burger will be prepared. Even though an hour is an insignificant amount of time, I do not wish for the results to be altered in any way. The two burgers will be placed in two identical containers for 30 days. The burgers will be monitored every day and must only be handled with gloves on. Once the 30 days are up, the two will be weighed and examined to see if there are any changes to either burger. Depending on whether or not the McDonalds burger decays, I plan to conduct a survey and propose the question to 20 – 30 people â€Å"If cost was excluded from the equation, would you purchase a McDonalds burger over a burger from a takeaway shop made with reliable ingredients? † This question will be asked before the experiment takes place and once again after the 30 days. References: Adriana Velez, (January 3, 2013), Cheeseburger That Stayed Exactly the Same After a Whole Year Raises Alarm, http://thestir. cafemom. com/food_party/130975/cheeseburger_that_stayed_exactly_the * More to be decided for further research Aim: To determine whether a home-prepared cheeseburger will be in the same state as a McDonald’s cheeseburger after 30 days. Hypothesis: The burger made from natural ingredients will show signs of decomposition as opposed to the McDonalds burger which I believe will stay in the same state (based on previous research). Variables: Independent Variable – The burgers used for the experiment. One will be purchased from McDonalds, the other will be prepared at home, using butchers meat and store bought ingredients. *Note: Different cooking oils may be used to prepare the meat patty Dependent Variable – The amount of days which the two burgers will under examination (30 days). Also the weight of the two beefs patties before and after the experiment. Controls – The two containers in which the burgers will be situated. They will be in the same environment (a dark room). The two burgers must weigh the same and have the same portion of ingredients. Risk Assessment: Whilst preparing the homemade burger, proper cautions must be taken to avoid injury. Following proper safety guidelines while using the stove to prepare the patty is most important. As the experiment goes on, touching the burgers for examination will be required. Proper safety gloves must be worn to prevent any form of mildew or mould from making contact with the skin. Equipment List: * McDonalds cheeseburger (freshly cooked) * Ingredients for homemade burger (butcher’s meat, cheese slice, tomato sauce, chopped onion, burger bun, pickles) * Cooking utensils (frying pan, spatula). * Two identical air-tight containers * Safety gloves * Scales * Camera * Journal (to document observations) Method: Step 1: Prepare homemade burger using listed ingredients and freeze for 2 to 3 days. Step 2: Defrost burger, cook patty and purchase a plain McDonalds cheeseburger. Step 3: Place burgers in two separate airtight containers and place in a location which each container receives an equal amount of light, heat, etc. Step 4: Conduct a survey by proposing the question â€Å"If cost was excluded from the equation, would you purchase a McDonalds burger over a burger from a takeaway shop made with reliable ingredients?† to 20 – 30 people. Step 5: Observe the two burgers each day for 30 days, taking note of any change. (Handle only with safety gloves) Step 6: Collect findings and present results. Step 7: Briefly outline results to the same 20 – 30 people who were surveyed and ask them whether their views have changed at all. Step 8: Research the health benefits of home prepared meat as opposed to commercial, processed meats. Results: Photos and descriptions of the burgers will be presented in the form of a journal. Weight of the burgers will be presented in a line graph designed in Microsoft Excel.

Motivation In A Business Start Up Business Essay

Motivation In A Business Start Up Business Essay There are misconceptions on the meaning of motivation and the ways in which it influences organisations if at all. Motivation can be seen as the drive an individual has to achieve a set goal; however Laurie J. Mullins (2005) describes motivation as the direction and persistence of action. There has been a wide range of research concerning the topic of motivation; however there are still arguments on the extent to which it has an influence on existing businesses and if so how these businesses can use it to their advantage. I am quite intrigued by the idea of motivation, as my main aim at present is to become a Financial Manager. As a result of this main aim I have decided to broaden the ideas I have about individuals thinking and the factors that increase their performance during the course of this assignment for future use. Research and Observation Using books and online case studies I have found that it could be argued that motivation is quite a broad topic as there are many aspects to it; however I find that motivation is as simple as an individuals desire to achieve. Business analysts like Mullins (2007:251) have identified that motivation is not only brought about by the individual but also by the environment in which they are working in. Laurie J Mullins (2005) seems to believe that performance = function (ability * motivation) which seems to suggest that an individuals motivation to achieve is a factor of their performance (for example how well they get the job done). This then brings about the main question, how essential is motivation in a business setup? How can motivation be practised in a given business set up? The Volvo case study (Robbins, Judge, Campbell 2010); Volvo being a car manufacturing business, its goal was to motivate its employees to produce these quality cars which would in turn maximise its profits. In order to motivate its employees it decided to practice the strategies of a self-managed team, where the team members were responsible for producing the cars and had a supervisor to report to if any problems were to occur. Volvo genuinely believed that this autonomy would motivate employees to would harder, however it all went pear shaped as it turned out that the meetings with supervisors were now get-togethers where the team members criticised each others performances to the supervisor. Having observed this strategy we find that this was not a form of motivation, as the individuals felt they had to work in order to reduce complaints about them to the team supervisors, not because they genuinely wanted to perform better. Many companies like Volvo set out to motivate their emplo yees in various ways (such as the self-managed team), but I believe that the business should then be aware and monitor their strategies to make sure they go according to their plans. The way I see it is that the situation with Volvo may be seen as an ethical issue as the employee stress could have resulted due to the fact that they always had to watch their backs when working (due to the fact that they may have felt that their jobs were not secure). This thereby demonstrates that businesses have identified that their employees need to be motivated in order to perform on the job. This self-management strategy turned out to be a great strategy for the business product line, but the real question is was this strategy an incentive? Linstead, Fullop and Lilly (2004) point out McKenna (1999: 301) states that the topic of motivation has lost its relevance and needs to be replaced with concepts such as sense making, identity and diversity. He seems to believe that motivation is brought about by the individual; organisation intervention suggests that the organisations are influencing or manipulating the situation as we have identified with the Volvo case study. McKenna (1999)s theory being quite an interesting observation one is able to visualise what he was trying to put across (Volvo case study), but does this then mean that motivation can only be brought about by the individual, with it being essential to businesses? There are other researchers such as Roy Jacques (1996:160-1) who believe that, there are categories of workers who do not need motivation, who are more career and professionally oriented. However observing ourselves we find that each individual, not looking at whether they are career oriented or not, has days when they feel down or times when they do not feel like performing. There then has to be an incentive to encourage them to carry out their daily routines, such money or the need to socialise which we know as motivation incentives. Having acknowledged this observation, if an individual needs motivation to carry out their daily routines then we are reluctant to believe that (all the more) they will need them in order to perform at a high standard for the business to achieve its goals. Marchese (2003) As identified above, there are quite a number of theories different researchers have come up with, which now shape the way in which many individuals perceive motivation. All the theories above, in one way or another are stating that individuals need to be motivated in order to perform, thereby implying that the more motivated an individual is the higher their performance level will be. One of the well-known theories of motivation being Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs, Maslows theory argues that individuals have a hierarchy of needs, that motivation is attained by satisfying higher order needs, as identified below; Conclusion Siemens is an organisation that has based its motivational theories for employees on Maslows Hierarchy of needs. This was a result of the organisation acknowledging that not only do production levels increase when its employees are motivated but other factors too, such as the fact that employees who are motivated feel that their work is valued, which inspires them to take pride in the tasks they perform. Ultimately Siemens has identified that with as a set of demotivated staff; the organisation loses out on benefitting from factors that revolve around production maximisation. An example is that if staff do not feel valued (an incentive to motivation) then the organisation is more likely to suffer from staff absences or high staff turnover as no individual desires to be in an environment where they feel they are not required. This then brings the topic back to product/profit maximisation; the more absent the employees are the less the organisation will produce and the less profit the organisation will make. The higher the employee turnover (job satisfaction is low) a business has the more money it has to spend on recruitment which means the more the business loses money. This altogether brings down the level of efficiency the production level of the business is. Here we have only identified one aspect in which motivation increases performance, there are many more such as the fact that motivated individuals are more willing to work together as they feel they are all working towards the same goal, self-achievement. This is implying that the more employees feel that their needs are being met, the more they are willing to achieve the business needs, thereby stating that motivating employees in turn motivates the business. Work Cited Marchese M.C., 2003. Phycology applied to work; Concept Charts for Study and Review for Muchinskys, 12;24 Linstead S, Fulop L, Lilley S, 2004. Management and Organisation; a critical text, 9; 281-282 Robbins S.P., Judge T.A., Campbell T.T., 2010. Organisational Behaviour, 6;140-195 Mullins L.J., 2005, 2007. Management and Organisational Behaviour, 4; 471-503, 7;250-285 Mckenna E 1994. Business Psychology Organisation Behaviour; a student handbook, 2;63-107 The Siemens Case Study- http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-studymotivation-within-a-creative-environment89-405-2.php#ixzz13WeKNXsZ

Ghost Stories Essay -- Literary Analysis, Realism and Victimization

Ghost stories are a truly timeless form of literature, the ghost, like death, has no end. Stories of the supernatural date back to early ancient manuscripts involving mythology, legend, and religion. The past few centuries have seen the supernatural flourish in Gothic romanticism through tales of fantastic creatures, demonic forces, and parallel dimensions (Scarborough). Interest in the other-worldly has provoked many stories involving the interaction between the living and the returning dead. The well-engineered ghost stories of M.R. James seem to arouse these eerie skin tingling feelings. Techniques aimed at involving the readers awareness James's narrative and folkloric superstitions in â€Å"the mezzotint† engage the reader's imagination and psyche. The realistic settings, supernatural elements, and sensational fiction that is doused in mystery, builds anticipation. James's clear an intelligent knowledge of human nerves elicits fear, excitement, and curiosity through imag ery, the uncanny, and subtle suggestions that transform into personal supernatural experiences. The oratory nature of James's stories bring the characters and the drama to life and constructs fear in the reader with disembodied texuality; â€Å"fearing that these words on the page might spring to life† (Mulbey-Roberts 236). In contrast to supernatural Gothic tradition, James's short stories shy away from the elaborate romanticism and concentrate on basic elements of fear such as realism and victimization. The narrative style of James's â€Å"The Mezzotint† is similar to the original delivery of his ghost stories. With elements of direct speech and candid conversation the narrator awakens the readers awareness by controlling and regulating the flow of information similar... ...t no man wish's to be buried on the north-east side of a churchyard for it is Hells corner (48). Another popular superstition or tradition that can be found in today's culture is the number three. The number appears several times in the story and James's small attention to detail adds to the mystery. Sayings like â€Å"all things thrive at thrice . . . and encouragement . . . to try the third time . . . will say that the third's a charm† or â€Å"a coroner never comes once but thrice†(Opie,Tatem 403). Gawdy is executed and returns for his persecutors, Francis's, only son. Francis is found dead on the third anniversary of his sons disappearance, having just completed the mezzotint, with all three dead and the climax coming to an end James ensures that a residual effect from the fear continues with the narrator stating that the picture still hangs in Ashliean Museum.

Human Resources Essay

Human resources involves a wide variety of activities related to the arrangement and implementation of organisational policies, the requirement of opportunities for monitoring, evaluation and change and the application of resources to the fulfilment of organisational ends. Aspects of ‘people management’ include: * The recruitment, retention and dismissal of staff. * The training, development and promotion of staff. * Liaison with employee organisations and trade unions. These are areas with which the human resources staff is involved. The overall purpose of the human resources function can for that reason be identified as: * To attract and retain good high-quality staff. * To ensure that the organisation operates within the law in relation to employment and health and safety. The Philip Markham organisation believes they will not be successful if they do not have the commitment of all staff and intend to look after all their employee’s needs through the functions of the human resources department. Finance The overall contribution of the finance function can be grouped in to three main areas: > Preparing accounts. > Preparing wages and salaries. > Obtaining capital and resources. Philip Markham employs ten members of staff in the finance department. The department makes sure internal customers receive the money they are owed and customers pay their bills. To keep control of finances the organisation allocates different department budgets and expects them to keep to there planned levels income and expenditure. Finance also has the task of preparing all the accounts each year so that they comply with legal responsibilities to the Inland Revenue. They also complete VAT returns to HM Customs and Excise. Pete Martin the management accountant at Philip Markham is responsible for checking that production levels and sales are on target. He advises all internal customers who are the directors, about the current financial health of the organisation on a weekly basis. An additional responsibility for the finance function is advising the organisation about more money for the purpose of expansion to buy raw materials or expensive equipment so it can remain competitive obtaining extra finance, called CAPITAL at the best rates possible. Production The contribution production makes to the overall business is to make a product and provide a service. The core function of the production department is to obtain the resources required by the organisation and transform those into a product. The production function is also concerned with organising the resources to produce the goods and service in the most appropriate way. Philip Markham carry out three different operations in their production department, these are as follows: > Purchasing > Manufacturing > Despatch The layout of the production area has been designed to maximise the flow of materials when producing the shirts from cutting to finishing. The cutting area is near to the stores so that materials can be transported the minimum distance. Quality control is extremely important to Philip Markham and each team cutters, machinists and finishers is responsible for ensuring that quality is right at every stage of the process. The shirts and ties pass to the packing department, which is part of despatch. All items are boxed and labelled and goods linked to the correct paperwork and the dispatchers that each box includes the correct delivery note and advice note for the haulier. Also part of the production function is purchasing staff and the designers. Purchasing is responsible for obtaining the best quality fabrics at the best prices and making sure all raw materials are delivered on time. Sales and Marketing The contribution sales and marketing makes to the overall business is to identify what the customer needs and providing it. The activities of sales and marketing include: > Market research – to find out what customer’s need and customer opinions on proposed and existing products or services. > Promotion – to inform the customers that their particular organisation can fulfil these needs. > Sales – to provide the goods or service the customer thinks he or she needs. The contribution of sales and marketing is vital in that it directly influences the number of sales that are made and as a result the profitability of the company. Each functional area operates to support the business aims and objectives and a range of activities goes on in each one. How the functional areas interact with one another is important. For an organisation to be efficient and effective there must be links between the people who work in different functional areas, especially when their activities overlap. Philip Markham is aiming to set up an e-commerce site to sell classic menswear and their objective is to be the leading British supplier of this type of clothing on the Internet within the next two years and double sales home and abroad within the same period. In order to achieve such a particular set of aims and objectives the organisation will need the support of a representative from finance, production and sales and marketing. The finance representative can present all the facts and figures that need to be considered when exploring this venture. The overall budget set-aside for web-page development and marketing is à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½80,000 in the first year. Tina the financial manager believes this is generous given the financial position of the company. She believes it will be vital to control costs of setting up this new venture and to focus on those products that will bring in the most profit for the company. Her key consideration is that the site should be secure (identified by a padlock symbol), as payments will be made over the Internet. She has also advised that because VAT regulations differ, a separate order form would need to be completed by purchasers from abroad. The site would have to have a communications link with finance as all payments must be logged, collected and recorded by finance before orders are fulfilled by dispatch. Finance would have to notify dispatch when payments had been received. Only then can goods can be sent. The production representatives Tariq Choudrey (Production Director) and Marsha Webb (Manufacturing Manager) have concerns about the Internet site. Marsha believes there is a limit as to how much production rates can increase to meet additional orders without sacrificing quality. Details which need to be addressed are as follows: > The cutting tables – new tables have been requested for two years. They are essential if orders increase at a cost of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½15,000 each. > The eleven sewers produce on average five shirts a day each. The maximum which can be produced without additional staff is seven unless quality is sacrificed. > The three finishers spend a lot of time on special orders. More staff will be needed in this area unless the website only allows for ‘standard orders’. > The despatch manager advises unless more mechanisation is introduced more staff will be needed if orders have to be completed quickly. > It would be easier to sell knitwear and overcoats on the website most of which are supplied by other companies. However the suppliers of knitwear and overcoats would need at least two months notice if the volume of orders were going to increase substantially. The manufacturing manager supports the overall ideas but stresses it is absolutely no use trying to sell goods which cannot be produced in a reasonable time period as this would do more harm than good to the company’s reputation. Production need to be involved in the communication process at all times unless they are fully aware of what is happening at all times there wont be any goods to sell. The sales and marketing function are excited by this new venture. Jade Marsh (sales and marketing director) would like to see the task of setting the website given to a professional web development firm who are likely to charge à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½40,000 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50,000 for a site with multi-media images. This will be vital to show the type of fabric that can be selected, the colour and the designs especially for the ties. The site must be user-friendly quick to access and use and that it can cope with a large number of ‘hits’ without crashing. She believes the key date for it to be finalised is September, so that the company can benefit from Christmas orders. In order for the site to be marketed it will cost money, it must be registered with good search engines. She would like to have special offers to tempt visitors to return again. All stationary must be reprinted to include the website address. During the first year the site needs advertising as widely as possible. The sales and marketing director believes that the e-commerce should be located in marketing (as it is a method of selling goods). Ideally she would like two more staff, one to join the mail-order team and be responsible for Internet orders and another to join customer services in case there are any problems with goods sold over the Internet. She believes this would minimise communication problems as all sales will be controlled in one area. She estimates that the company could sell 200,000 shirts and 150,000 ties if a good job of setting up and marketing the website was accomplished. The human resources function is concerned about three main aspects. > Where the website operations will be controlled. > How the website will be developed. Kim Fields the administration and IT service manager believes she should have control of website operations as she is IT manager especially as computer staff are responsible to her. She believes maintenance of the site will be crucial, it is important to set it up fairly quickly and then it can expand. Kim considers the most sensible route for website development would be to hire their own multi-media web developer to set up the page and sub-contract specialist parts to an outside firm if needed. In addition a programme/copywriter would be needed. The software and other associated costs would be about à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10,000. Having these staff would mean that the website could be continually updated in house. Keith is concerned about the effect on staff, he is anxious that the mail-order clerks should be trained to be able to print off and process orders arriving through the website as well as carrying out their current job. He thinks they will need extra help at busy periods such as Christmas. If the website is to be successful than eventually another member of staff may be required. He believes it to be more sensible to move this group of staff to the HR/Admin department so there would be better communications with the computer staff. Keith considers any communication problems during planning the stages can be solved by regular meetings between the IT and sales staff. Finance will also need to be included. Philip Markham has always aimed to produce menswear of excellent quality at affordable prices. The fabric used for shirts is of highest quality and designers aim to produce new designs each year. The functional areas which relates to these aims is the production department, finance department, human resources and sales and marketing. The first action to take would be in human resources the company needs to recruit the best people for the job including cutters, machinists, and finishers and look after them whilst they work. The finance function make sure that a budget is maintained when buying materials, paying wages and embarking in market research when embarking on achieving these particular aims. The finance function can give up-to-date information on the level of expenditure at any time. The production function uphold quality control at Philip Markham ands each team cutters, machinists and finishers is responsible for ensuring that quality is right at every stage of the process. Production is responsible for obtaining the best quality fabrics at the best prices and making sure all raw materials are delivered on time Human resources relates to these aims because their function is to recruit and train staff to meet all customer needs in relation to providing a service. The function incorporates company policy to treat employees fairly and equally in all aspects relating to their employment. A content workforce will achieve a friendly atmosphere and staff are keen to help consumers as well as each other.

Perfect family Essay

Perfect family Essay Perfect family Essay In â€Å"The Way We Wish WE Were†, Stephanie Coontz examines her students’ visions of traditional family life, Pleas evaluate the article for the purpose of constructing a comparison and contrast essay wherein you compare the truths of the American past concerning family structures to the reality of American Family life. Read the article entirely and find instances of false ideas about what was in early American Family life compared to what really was, or the facts of reality. Conclusion This book takes a critical look at how Americans long for a time that never was. She also includes many fascinating facts about marriage such as: In the nineteenth century, the age of sexual consent in some states was nine or ten. Teenage pregnancy peaked in the often-favored 1950s. Families of the 1950s were more diverse and less idyllic than many believe. Pioneer marriages did not last as long as modern day marriages. People have when they realize that the reality of their lives doesn't match the myths they have been led to believe. The cherished illusions of the so-called "normal", traditional marriage are just that - illusions. Stephanie Coontz looks at the historical record and shows us that at no time in history did the family live up to a perfect model. She also teaches us to question the statistics and look at a variety of underlying reasons for historic and contemporary social issues. Please watch this video lecture by Stephanie Coontz on the topic of this book. family values are what makes people act like they do in certain situations and affects what they care about in life. When people think of the perfect family, they think of the 1950’s, but that was not what the perfect family. People in Marigees When people think of the perfect family, they think of the 1950’s, but that was not what the perfect family. Modern society is being criticized for its lack of family values and the declining respect. The 1950s are being the basis of comparison. Many blame the the ilss of modern of ills in society its important to recall that drug and Marrige is different from what it used to be. The things we think are traditional are really just current traditions not practiced back then. One parent families where the norm in , one parent would die before their children Was ready to leave their home, in the 1970s children would expierence their parents divorcing. Many step families were made but were much worse than thte ones now . Traditional families back in the day did not protect kids, kids had to sacrifice for their parents. child labor paid for their parents’ retirement. Parents would pull kids out of school to start working. Thesis In â€Å"The Way We Wish We Were†,