Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Developing Countries’ Healthcare Systems

Creating Countries’ Healthcare Systems Question: Global Fund in the ongoing past suspended the subsidizing to Uganda government refering to net money related misappropriation particularly by Ministry of wellbeing authorities. As a monetary expert, recognize and talk about the practices and approaches that could have prompted this money related misfortune and recommend both interior and outer controls that ought to be set up to limit the reoccurrence of such situations. Presentation Creating countries’ human services frameworks are frequently financed by the donors’ gives notwithstanding open assets from the legislative spending plans. In any case, sometimes, these assets might be botched and this could prompt overwhelming money related misfortunes thus denying its recipients. The fumble of those assets may take various structures: squandering, fake misappropriation or theft (The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria). In this article, we survey the instance of Uganda where The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2005 suspended the country’s subsidizing following an arrival of a review report that demonstrated gross fumble of assets that should bolster the administration of Uganda in its endeavors to handle AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Kapiriri Martin, 2006). The practices and arrangements that could have prompted this blunder and misappropriation are distinguished and talked about along with the control measures, both inside and outside, that ought to be attempted to forestall such money related redirection later on. 2. Practices and approaches that could have prompted budgetary botch The issue of monetary assets fumble is by all accounts across the board in creating nations as well as in created ones (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1997). A few deficient practices and arrangements are allegedly associated with the event of this issue. 2. a. Non-existing clear money related standards and guidelines/none consistence to monetary standards and guidelines The absence of clear standards and guidelines to give direction to those associated with the administration of monetary assets can make a route for them to blunder the assets that they should oversee. Mulling over the instance of Uganda, the absence of clear standards and guidelines on how assets would have been utilized perhaps made a money related administrative tumult that encouraged the individuals who were in the places of assets the executives, at each degree of authoritative stepping stool, to abuse or abuse them. Then again, budgetary standards and guidelines may have been set up however presumably the supervisory group, at various levels, was not consistent with them. 2. b. Absence of straightforwardness in regulatory chain of command, jobs and duties Vague authoritative and detailing structure, hazy jobs and obligations among individuals from different groups engaged with reserves the executives may likewise have made administrative issue which prompted absence of monetary responsibility. 2. c. Poor correspondence Poor correspondence among individuals from various groups may likewise have been a key factor in reserves money related administration disappointment. Conceivably, groups didn't share key venture archives about assets the board for audits before being discharged as legitimate reports. Further, they probably won't have coordination gatherings in which they ought to have examined money related issues with key partners in the execution of the undertakings. 2. d. Administrative inadequacy and incompetent budgetary/bookkeeper officials Inadequacy in the administration of assets and actualizing the arranged exercises may likewise have prompted the above money related misfortune. Budgetary techniques probably won't have been watched, this may have been the consequences of awkward chiefs combined with incompetent money related officials and bookkeepers. Further, as indicated by Global Fund’s 2009 Office of the Inspector General report on Lessons gained from the nation reviews and audits attempted, Uganda’s case, Principle Recipient’ the executives of Sub-Recipient was poor as was appeared by confirmations in the report and this was one of the issues that the award was suspended. Expressing a similar source, there were poor inner controls at various levels either at Principle Recipient level or at Sub Recipient level as was prove by the report. For instance, some measure of cash evaluated at 4,939,497 US dollars were not represented, sufficient supporting archives for a few exchanges were missing, work plan and financial plans were not dwelling place by which brought about a few costs not identified with the automatic spending plan and work plan. What's more, records identified with the costs like books of record were not appropriately kept. There were likewise instances of unsupported costs and when supporting reports were discovered, they were really fake. It is accounted for that proficient monetary administration requires flawless budgetary and reviewing apparatuses. Inadequacy in budgetary oversight and control systems prompts money related bungle like preoccupation or misappropriation of assets (Mobegi et al, 2012). 2. e. Absence of dynamic association of some key partners As per Kapiriri and Martins (2006), one of the announced potential reasons for fumble of Global Fund concedes in Uganda was low degrees of common society interest. As indicated by Global Fund’s prerequisites for award qualification, the interest of different partners in the dynamic is of principal significance. Be that as it may, in Uganda, it was accounted for that piece of key partners, including common society, who should be spoken to in Country Coordinating Mechanisms were not either included or were deficient with regards to the ability to give significant data sources (Kapiriri Martins (2006). 3. Interior and outside controls that ought to be set up to limit the reoccurrence of such situations It is expressed that there is one regular thing in all organizations either in broad daylight or private organizations: â€Å"To be effective, they should control their operations†. This implies employing the opportune individuals, pay them the perfect measure of compensations, arrange and get the correct items and administrations, and so on (Libby et al, 2009). To accomplish this, it is imperative to set up and follow explicit techniques and strategies which depict how the business ought to be run. These particular systems and arrangements are controls which can be either inner or outside. This hypothesis is applied to the case being talked about. 3.1. Interior controls Interior controls are characterized as set of strategies an association sets up so as to secure the burglary of its benefits, guarantee the bookkeeping data is dependable, support powerful and proficient tasks, and discover that relevant laws, guidelines and codes of morals are agreed to (Libby et al, 2009). For the instance of Uganda, given the weaknesses that were distinguished, inner control systems ought to be improved and set to target them. The inside measures would include: Normal consistence reviews: these reviews would learn that the particular techniques, rules or guidelines set out by Global Fund and as portrayed in award consent to guarantee the great administration of awards are seen at each degree of the administration. Normal operational reviews: these reviews would concentrate every single working methodology at all administration levels so as to quantify their exhibition as far as viability and proficiency. As per Hayes et al (2005), operational reviews are not just restricted to monetary issues, they may likewise put more accentuation on different regions of the association ; structure, working methodologies the same or different regions where assessment is required. Normal reviews of budget summaries: these reviews would examine the fiscal summaries to guarantee that they are exact and as per set standards. Including partners in dynamic procedure and upgraded correspondence: The association of partners and improved dynamic procedure concerning the usage of Global Fund projects could have been a foundation in the anticipation of awards fumble. It is contended that if real and reasonable dynamic procedure were utilized, the suspension of awards could have been deflected (Kapiriri Martins (2006). Given that the poor correspondence between individuals from Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) was refered to among the reasons for award bungle in Uganda, upgraded correspondence inside CCM and with different partners would be similarly significant in forestalling such gross monetary misfortune. 3.2. Outside controls To limit open doors for awards blunder later on, outer control components ought to likewise be improved. These include: Worldwide Fund should direct normal and opportune reviews and audits to guarantee that the set rules for the administration of its awards are watched. Free examiners ought to be delegated and lead reviews on various degrees of awards the executives. It is suggested by the Global Fund’ Office of the reviewer general that the outer review reports ought to be submitted to Global Fund not later than a half year after the period to be evaluated ( Global Fund, 2009). Worldwide Fund should refresh its rules with respect to the administration of awards to fill the holes when they are recognized. 4. End Legitimate Global Fund awards the executives is vital in battling against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria whose mortality and bleakness rates are still inadmissibly high in creating nations. Administration of Global Fund-bolstered nations have the order to guarantee that the awards are utilized as per the set rules and the understandings marked among them and the Global Fund. Therefore, this will keep away from awards bungle or theft cases and subsequently diminish mortality and dismalness rates because of the previously mentioned sicknesses.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Labor Relation Management

Work Relation Management Haggling Laws Covering Public Employees The establishment of rules allowing open area shared exchange in the U.S states needs consistency because of the abberations in wants and political objectives of the various states. This implies in states where laborers can appreciate aggregate understandings, they despite everything use legislative issues and blended types of routine representation.Advertising We will compose a custom article test on Labor Relation Management explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, a few states set extreme standards against the associations and doesn't remember them officially. What's more, different states additionally boycott exchanges, strikes, and any type of interventions prompting restricting agreements with workers (Slater, 2004) Impasse Resolution Procedures Regularly organization the executives and association pioneers may neglect to agree on contract conditions coming about into an impasse. This improvement requires outsider inclusion to encourage goals of the two party’s absence of concordance. Intercession is a technique of settling these divergences where the outsider will in general accomplish intentional accord among associations and bosses (Riccucci, 2006). Intervention turns into the last advance in settling lines involving accommodation to an outsider any agitated questions for extreme goals. The technique normally discovers application in modern settings. Businesses likewise use association shops methodology to deal with stalemates (Riccucci, 2006). This involves managers tolerating to keep up association workforce just on its finance and may enlist non-association staff given that they consent to join the laborers association inside a particular period. There is mollification strategy where an outsider behaviors contest goals through casual intends to attempt to address the issues. Open Employees Right to Strike Public employee’s option to strike does is superfluous since the ope n common help framework exists to address their complaints. The laborers opportunity to strike ought to be prohibited or compelled. This is on the grounds that open workers benefit administrations, which are vital to the prosperity of the network. Formally dressed representatives are not permitted at all to picket.Advertising Looking for article on business financial aspects? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, a few workers get the opportunity to hit yet with a guarantee that the outcomes of their activity won't result into issues influencing the open prosperity. The administration benefits different methods for settling debates including assertion (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). Open Employees Right to Interest Submission for Dispute Resolution Public representatives ought to submit consideration question to extreme and required assertions as opposed to holding a legitimately obtained strike request. The significance of this is the workers can have a chance to attempt settlement. Lawful strike may prompt more issues and loss of time and benefits for the organization. Furthermore, lawful strikes may prompt exploitation of different workers who might be released. Intervention may give upgraded results since considerably after strikes association should haggle with the businesses for better arrangements. A chance to accomplish a similar end coming corresponding with striking, the laborers need to picked mediation. Purposes behind Slow Development of Labor Unions in Latin American Countries The worker's organizations in Latin America clearly grows gradually than in the U.S. purposes behind this situation may incorporate the pace of work, which decreases in numerous segments. This outcomes to organizations releasing specialists or neglecting to employ individuals. The low number of workforce has affected unionization level in the Latin America (Inter-American Development Bank, 2003). Likewise, most y oung people on work in the nations with little training have a contrary mindfulness on the significance of associations. The adolescents subsequently neglect to join the associations along these lines causing the moderate advancement of the associations because of low participation. The compensation profited to laborers in the Latin America is additionally clearly low, making most specialists to incline toward fulfilling their necessities than giving to the unions.Advertising We will compose a custom exposition test on Labor Relation Management explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More Actually, this has exacerbated the issues of association advancement, which requires colossal accounts to run solid association activities (Inter-American Development Bank, 2003). Moreover, most nations in Latin America with practically equivalent economy have various unionization rates and administrative measures. At long last, political angles including suppression and wrecking addition ally have huge effect on the speed of unionization in Latin America. Laborer Participation in Western Europe Worker cooperation is a type of laborers portrayal in the organizations, which occur when representatives partake legitimately or by implication in dynamic in their work environments. The ascent of laborers interest in Western Europe came about because of issues including reaction to strikes (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). The laborers intrigue deception during aggregate haggling by association pioneers came about into certain representatives partaking in strikes obviously, as exchanges never qualified into tending to interests. The laborers fought over poor work conditions, methodological adjustments, and cognizance in compensation. The laborers were assuming liability in directing occupation settings and dismissing employer’s request to oversee work puts after strikes (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). This kept on guaranteeing that representatives oversaw settling on cho ices at work puts through portrayals. The reaction of the businesses after strikes and representatives assuming liability involved better arrangements and consenting to laborers requests of organization portrayals and work committees. To support the cultural request, orders came up expanding the specialists of associations contrasted with those of businesses and making stable imperative aggregate dealing (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). Highlights of Japanese Labor Relation Systems Japanese work organization relations go through opposite blueprint where the enterprise turns into a paternal unit and care for its faithful representatives. This framework is known as big business associations. The nearby working affinity between the workforce and partnership reinforces the structures for specialist investment and conciliation.Advertising Searching for article on business financial aspects? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More Venture associations need authority along these lines aggregate haggling occurs in the expansive organization through very much blended methodology (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). Laborers complaints are fathomed when organization make gigantic continues showing a decentralized haggling advance. The Japanese framework likewise observes the dealing settlements accomplished in the mother businesses. Compensation holes are everyday among chiefs and incompetent staff. The model of position gets huge and vows always work and when business comes up short, workforce are moved other line organizations. The business utilizes systems to avoid releasing workforce. At long last, settling debates happen through the procedure of shop levels (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). The Japanese structures are not transferable to the U.S frameworks since they need work environment equity. The venture associations controlled by organization the board deny the associations autonomy. The strategy for compromise o f debates through shop levels isn't pertinent in the U.S. moreover, the position approach might be deplorable to the U.S work relations since it is ridiculous to keep workforce in any event, during downturns (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). Transnational Collective Bargaining The progression of aggregate bartering power in new business markets requires a couple of components to be satisfied (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). The transnational firm should join the new markets work associations as a first essential for aggregate bartering. This empowers the organizations to deal with the unification ensuring laborers in those business sectors. The work force selected into the enterprise likewise need to shape an association to use in aggregate bartering. The organization should likewise comply with the national work relations guidelines in the new markets before dealing can happen viably. Organizations likewise need to introduce its proposition on how it expects to secure laborers (Holley, Kenneth Roger, 2008). This empowers the bargainers to have an outline of the company’s method of workers’ treatment. The company’s activities must agree to work guideline rehearses in the new market including enlistment of laborers, planning of installment for work, and laborers premium insurances. Canada Labor Relation System The Canadian work rules have comparable segments as the U.S. after Canada received all the work relations declarations from the Wagner Act. Be that as it may, Canada has created work sanctioning with two extraordinary highlights. The highlights transferable to the U.S work laws remember partition of expert for the constitution among administrative and the local governments (Estreicher, 2011). This profits total order over the business relationship to the districts. Moreover, government law additionally maintains a strategic distance from expectation of territorial principles. Government organization has full position contained in the const itution to follow up on work debate worries more than barely any specialists in enterprises inside its locale (Estreicher, 2011). Furthermore, Canada’s governing body structure of organization is likewise transferable. This is the place a head administrator under the government organization and local chief keen on modifying makes certain of achieving famous mass for passing bills. This guarantees conceivable authorization of questionable orders required

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Will the pie be bitter or sweet

Will the pie be bitter or sweet While I may lack Bens ability to speak to the heart, Matts wisdom, Yans vocabulous wit, and Annas inspirational eloquence, I can offer you a byte (or a few) from my bottomless cache of labyrinthine analogies, inappropriately timed humor, and meme pictures. There will ultimately be a binary outcome to the decision you receive from MIT, and the odds are heavily weighted against one. I dont know which envelope youll find in the mailbox on Monday. But I can tell you that it wont change who you are. Regardless of whether you go to MIT or elsewhere, your intrinsic drive and talent are the real players at work. To borrow Barney Stinsons catchphrase, the ability to make the impossible possimpible lies within you. source: encyclopedia dramatica So dont ever let anything get you down enough to stop riffing on that quadruple-necked guitar, analyzing brainwaves, building fuel cells, pushing gastronomy to new heights, designing bridges, or whatever it is you do. Theres a whole new world full of opportunities about to open up to you, wherever you end up. Best of luck to you all in admissions, yes, but more importantly, in life.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Work book for sh6000 leadership and management in professional contexts - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 14 Words: 4289 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Case study Did you like this example? Part 1: Management Style Description and feelings This essay aims to reflect on my experience when working with a group of seven students tasked to critically analyse a case study and develop a group presentation. The Gibbs (1988) model of reflection will be used to discuss and analyse the lessons gained from my experience. At the start of our group meeting, a leader was selected and helped the group in planning and implementing the task. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Work book for sh6000 leadership and management in professional contexts" essay for you Create order However, my experience with the group was marked with difficulties and challenges. In the first stages of our group formation, or the norming stage, we had difficulties meeting as a group due to differences in university schedule. During the meetings, some of the members chose not to participate while others were more demanding and tried to dominate the discussions. The leader tried to create some sense of order in our first meetings and demonstrated the authoritarian leadership style. Throughout our team meetings, some of the members were absent, while others who were present continued to depend on the more dominant members to accomplish the tasks. I was frustrated in the beginning of our meetings and felt that we could have been successful in our presentation if we managed to work more effectively. Our team presentation was not what I expected. I was disappointed with our overall team performance. Discussion and Analysis Management is described as a process where leaders govern and make decision-making within an organisation (Bach and Ellis, 2011). This also involves planning of tasks, organising work, staffing, directing activities and controlling (Belbin, 2010). The main aim of management is for managers to influence or encourage team members to accomplish a task (Belbin, 2010). On reflection, my team leader demonstrated the authoritarian leadership style. This type of leadership is described as one where the leader provides the direction of the team and gives specific instructions and directives on how to achieve the team goal (Daly et al., 2015). An authoritarian leader also supervises the activities of the subordinates and strongly discourages members to validate or question his or her directives (Bach and Elllis, 2011). This type of leadership is appropriate in workplaces where there is a highly-structured setting with routine operations (Bishop, 2009). Autocratic leadership is also favourabl e for activities that are simple and of shorter duration (Marquis and Huston, 2012). On evaluation of my experience in the team, we had very little interaction and cohesion during the first few stages of the team working. According to Tuckman’s model of team development, there are four stages of group formation (Clark et al., 2007). These include the following: forming, norming, storming and performing. Our lack of cohesion and difficulties in conducting team meetings may reflect the first stage of group formation, which is the establishing stage. In this this step, Clark et al. (2007) has explained that team members are still beginning to form their team roles and tend to be polite and diplomatic. At this stage, a team leader was chosen, who in turn reflected the authoritarian leadership style. Since most team members were reluctant to accept a task, our leader decided to assign team roles and ensured that each team member would attend the team meetings. The leader also s upervised the entire group. On reflection, the authoritarian leadership style was appropriate in the first few stages of our team working since this ensured that tardiness and absenteeism were prevented (Belbin, 2010). Further, the authoritarian leadership style was also appropriate since our assigned task was not complex and was of shorter duration (Bishop, 2009). Our group leader was able to make follow-ups on our assigned task. However, as we progressed towards the second stage, which is the storming stage, conflicts soon arose. There were members who tended to dominate the discussion and did not agree with our leader on our assigned team roles and how the case study should be presented. Although Goodman and Clemow (2010) argue that conflicts in teams are natural and may not always have a negative impact on the function and development of the team, in my experience, the conflicts had negative impact on our team development. Members who disagreed with our team leader on how the case study should be presented chose not to participate in our succeeding meeting and role-playing. Since the authoritarian leadership style was adopted, our team leader did not consider the team member’s suggestions. Morgan et al. (2015) reiterate that conflicts could help in the development of a team if each team member acknowledges the differences of the team members and learn to adjust to their individual roles. On reflection, most of my team members chose not to adjust to our individual differences. In turn, this created a discordant team, which also reflected on our final presentation. I felt that our presentation was chaotic and reflected poorly on our role as team members. On consideration, our team would have benefitted with the transformational leadership style. This type of leadership encourages members to actively participate in decision-making and is associated with achievement of goals and objectives (Bach and Ellis, 2010). Conclusion The authoritarian leadership style was not the most appropriate style in managing our team since this failed to encourage team members to participate in decision-making. This type of leadership is also not applicable in actual healthcare settings since patient-centred care is promoted and team working and participation highly encouraged. Action Plan When managing a team in the future, I will ensure that I am aware of my own team role. Conflicts should be used to develop and not destroy teams. I will also adopt a leadership style that allows teams members to actively participate in decision-making. Specifically, I will develop the transformational leadership style since this ensures that all members have opportunities to be actively involved and valued during achievement of a task (Bishop, 2009). References: Bach, S. Ellis, P. (2011) Leadership, Management and Team Working in Nursing. Exeter: Learning Matters. Belbin, R. (2010) Management of teams: why they succeed or fall. London: Butterworth-Heinemann. Bishop. V. (2009) Leadership for nursing and allied healthcare professionals. Open University Press: Milton Keynes. Clark, P., Cott, C. Drinka, T. (2007) ‘Theory and practice in interprofessional ethics: a framework for understanding ethical issues in health care teams’, Journal of Interprofessional Care, 21(6), pp. 591-603. Daly, J., Speedy, S. Jackson, D. (2015) Leadership and Nursing. Contemporary Perspectives. 2nd ed. Chatswood: Elsevier. Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods, Oxford: Further Educational Unit, Oxford Polytechnic. Goodman, B. Clemow, R. (2010) Nursing and collaborative practice: A guide to interprofessional learning and working. Exeter: Learning Matters, Ltd. Marquis. B. Huston. C. (2012) Leadership and management tools for the new nurse. A case study approach. Lippincott: Philadelphia. Morgan, S., Pullon, S. McKinlaey, E. (2015) ‘Observation of interprofessional collaborative practice in primary care teams: An integrative literature review’, International Journal of Nursing Studies, doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015 03.008 [Online]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25862411 (Accessed: 15 May 2015). Part 2: Leadership, Management and Change Description and Feelings In our team meetings, the concept of change management surfaced since our team leader struggled in influencing team members to assume different team roles. I also realised that I used to complete tasks individually and not as a team. Although I was not the team leader, I also have to learn how to reflect an appropriate leadership style that will be used in future team working. During our team meetings, I was frustrated since we were accomplishing little, but in the end, I felt that I have developed my ability to work in a team. Discussion and Analysis Change is described as a transition that involves movement from the present state of an organisation to a desired, future state (Marquis and Huston, 2012). Changes often occur in healthcare settings and require change management. During the role-play and team meetings, collaborative team working was encouraged to achieve the goals of the team. This represented a change in how I accomplish tasks. From completing assigned tasks individually, I have to learn how to complete tasks as a group. Apart from changes on how to complete tasks, there was also a suggested change on leadership style from authoritarian to the transformational leadership style. On evaluation, change management was necessary in our group since this could have addressed the factors that caused our poor performance and increased the factors that would lead to a successful group performance. Practising change management is crucial since this would help prepare myself in my future role as a registered nurse and as a nurse leader. At least three theories have been proposed in managing change. These include the Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle (PDSA), Kotter’s Model and Lewin’s change model (Bach and Ellis, 2010; Appelbaum et al., 2012; Reed and Card, 2016). The PDSA cycle is often used in the NHS and allows nurse leaders and other healthcare practitioners to create a plan on how to implement a change while the ‘do’ stage constitutes the actual performance of the plan. In the third or ‘study’ phase, nurse leaders and team members analyse the performance and whether this needs to be enhanced or changed (Reed and Card, 2016). In the ‘act’ phase, the proposed changes in the action plan and performance are implemented. The entire process is then repeated until change has been integrated within an organisation. A critique of the PDSA is the difficulty in repeating this cycle, with Reed and Card (2016) noting that only 20% of healthcare groups using PDSA actually repeat the cycle. The applicability of the PDSA is limited with some healthcare settings not benefitting from this type of change management (Taylor et al., 2013). Meanwhile, the Kotter Model of change adopts the top-down approach and is often used in corporate settings (Appelbaum et al., 2012). It is difficult to use this model of change in actual healthcare settings since the NHS encourages all team members and patients to actively participate in planning and implementation of a change initiative (NHS Leadership Academy, 2011). However, a reflection of my own group would show that the Kotter Model of change was demonstrated as our team leader exercised the authoritarian leadership style. The change came from the leader and trickled down to the team members. Finally, the Lewin’s model of change proposes three stages of change: unfreezing, change and refreezing (Gopee and Galloway, 2013). This model is often used in healthcare settings since it takes into account the factors that enable or deter change in actual practice. Force-field analysis is done and factors that enable change are increased while factors that deter change are reduced (Gopee and Galloway, 2013). On reflection, employing this type of change management is crucial in my future role as a registered nurse leading a multidisciplinary team. In the NHS, it is recognised that there are several factors that deter or promote change in practise. For instance, the perception that a proposed change initiative only increases paperwork could deter the uptake of change in practice (Bach and Ellis, 2011). This perception is supported in literature with the Royal College of Nursing (2013) reporting that nurses spend an average of 2.5 million hours per week completing clerical tasks. Hence, I have to be aware of factors that deter or enable change. On reflection, the autocratic leadership style, coupled with the top-down approach to change did not lead to a successful performance of my gr oup. The Lewin’s model of change would have been more appropriate in helping my team members accept their individual roles and in changing their own way of completing tasks. This model would have helped our team leader investigate the factors that lead to poor attendance to our team meetings and the team members’ refusal to resolve conflicts. Conclusion Effective leadership and change management are crucial when implementing a change initiative and in completing group tasks. Using the Lewin’s model of change would have helped the team leader identify the factors that enable and deter change. Successful use of this model would lead to achievement of the goals of the team. Action Plan I will develop my leadership skills and abilities to carry out Lewin’s change model. I will find opportunities to practice change management skills in my own healthcare setting and report regularly to my mentor and colleagues on my progress. I will ask feedback from my mentor and colleagues if I have achieved leadership and change management skills. References: Appelbaum, S., Habashy, S., Malo, J. Shafiz, H. (2012) ‘Back to the future: revisiting Kotter’s 1996 change model’, Journal of Management Development, 31(8), pp. 764-782. Bach, S. Ellis, P. (2011) Leadership, Management and Team Working in Nursing. Exeter: Learning Matters. Gopee, N. Galloway, J. (2013) Leadership and Management in Healthcare. 2nd ed. London: Sage. Marquis. B. Huston. C. (2012) Leadership and management tools for the new nurse. A case study approach. Lippincott: Philadelphia. NHS Leadership Academy (2011) Clinical Leadership Competency Framework. Coventry: NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. Reed, J. Card, A. (2016) ‘The problem with Plan-do-study-act cycles’, British Medical Journal Quality and Safety, 25(3), pp. 147-152. Royal College of Nursing (2013) Nurses spend 2.5 million hours a week on paperwork- RCN Survey [Online]. Available at: https://www2.rcn.org.uk/newsevents/press_releases/uk/cries_unheard_-_nurses_still_told_not_to_raise_concerns (Accessed: 10 May, 2017). Taylor, M., McNicholas, C., Nicolay, C., Darzi, A., Bell, D. Reed, J. (2013) ‘Systematic review of the application of the plan-do-study-act method to improve quality in healthcare’, British Medical Journal Quality and Safety, doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2013-001862. Part 3: Leadership, Management and Decision Making Description and Feelings In our group work, our team leader did not make a decision to identify the factors that deterred participants from resolving conflicts and adjusting to team roles. There was also no decision to reflect on why team members were reluctant to accept the assigned tasks and the reasons for poor attendance to the team meetings. I felt that these non-decisions heavily influenced our team performance. As a group, we made the erroneous conclusion that our team leader can handle all the required tasks. This group conclusion might have also contributed to our failed group presentation. During our meetings, I was anxious and apprehensive that we were not accomplishing our tasks with the given time frame. Discussion and Analysis The indecision to identify factors that deterred the group from participating in meetings and accepting tasks had a negative impact on our team performance. The ability to make decisions is crucial when completing tasks as a student nurse and in preparation for my role as a registered nurse or a nurse leader. Marriner-Tomey (2009) has argued that decision-making is crucial in healthcare organisations and within teams. In actual healthcare settings, decisions are made constantly and range from decision on whether to admit a patient to decisions on which interventions to use for a specific healthcare condition. These decisions are influenced by legislations, policies, leadership styles and the practice of patient-centred care (NHS Leadership Academy, 2011). On analysis, it is crucial to make decisions within groups. However, it is cautioned that collective decisions might reflect ‘groupthink’ and lead to failure instead of success (Marriner-Tomey, 2009). The theory of gr oupthink is described as faulty decision made by a group that represents deterioration in reality testing, mental efficiency and moral judgment (Wilcox, 2010). Groups who demonstrate groupthink often do so without realising the impact of their decisions on other groups and in the process, ignore alternatives or actions (Cooke and Young, 2002). It is important to note that groupthink often occurs when members have similar background, when rules for decision-making are not clear and when members do not consider the opinions of others (Wilcox, 2010). In my experience, we were not able to make a decision or demonstrate groupthink despite the similarities of our background. I felt that our lack of cohesion prevented us from also making faulty decisions, which are common when a team ‘groupthinks’. An analysis of our group revealed that we were not able to examine the power relations within the group. Power relations could have an impact on who make the decisions and whethe r these decisions are followed (Bach and Ellis, 2010). Power is described according to who has the formal authority to make decisions for the group and according to who has access to resources (McDonald et al., 2012). Power is also described according to who has less ability to control ideas (McDonald et al., 2012).   In teams, there may be power imbalance especially when professional systems, social and cultural factors reinforce these imbalances (Martin-Rodriguez et al., 2005). This power imbalance may be more evident in hospital settings where medical dominance is seen. For example, medical doctors have traditionally retained their independence and professional autonomy and status when collaborating with other groups of healthcare workers (Hudson, 2002). This may create power imbalance as doctors tend to have more power in decision-making compared to the rest of the group. This is in contrast with what is often seen in community healthcare settings where each member of a health care team tends to share power and make decisions according to what is best for the patient (Hudson, 2002). Meanwhile, Weir-Hughes (2011) asserts that in order for a therapeutic relationship to develop, there is a need to consider the power relationships between healthcare practitioners and patients. It is suggested that power may be used negatively (i.e. through coercion and force) or positively (i.e. through encouragement and empowerment).   On analysis, my ability to understand power relations through my experiences in team working will be essential when caring for actual patients. In our team, power was used negatively since our team leader had to force our team members to accept assignments. However, I realised that in actual settings, it is important to encourage and empower patients and my colleagues to improve patient care. It has been shown that patient empowerment tends to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes (Sullivan and Garland, 2010). On analysis, ther e was power imbalance in our group since the team leader made all the decisions and the top-down approach to change was followed. Conclusion Making decisions is crucial in team working and when caring for patients. However, the ability to make decisions would depend on one’s power. Those with more access to resources and power have greater ability to influence decisions. In healthcare settings, it is crucial to use power positively and empower patients and other members of the healthcare team to make decisions. Positive use of power is also important in preventing ‘groupthink’, a phenomenon that tends to result to negative consequences for the group. Action Plan When faced with a similar situation in the future, I will ensure that I actively participate in decision-making. However, I need to empower others and myself to make good decisions. Empowerment is necessary to prevent power imbalance. I will continue to engage in training on how to practice effective leadership and management skills in order to empower others to actively engage in decision-making. References: Bach, S. Ellis, P. (2011) Leadership, Management and Team Working in Nursing. Exeter: Learning Matters. Cooke, M. Young A. (2002) Managing and Implementing Decisions in Healthcare. London: Healthcare Balliere Tindall/RCN. Marriner-Tomey (2009) Guide to Nursing Management and Leadership. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier. Martin-Rodriguez, L., Beaulieu, M., D’Amour, D. Ferrada-Videla, M. (2005) ‘The determinants of successful collaboration: a review of theoretical and empirical studies’, Journal of International Care, 19(2), pp. 132-147. McDonald, J., Jayasuriya, R. Harris, M. (2012) ‘The influence of power dynamics and trust on multidisciplinary collaboration: a qualitative case study of type 2 diabetes mellitus’, BMC Health Services Research, 12(63). Doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-12-63. NHS Leadership Academy (2011) Clinical Leadership Competency Framework. Coventry: NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. Sullivan E., Garland G. (2010)   Practical Leadership and Management in Nursing. Pearson Education, Harlow. Wilcox, C. (2010) Groupthink: An impediment to success. USA: Xlibris Corporation. Part 4: Reflection on Development of Skill Description and Feelings I participated in a second group activity where I was chosen as the leader. In the second group, I was able to practice leadership skills such as effective communication, motivation, change management and integrity. During one of our discussions, I assigned a group member to search for evidence-based interventions for a specific healthcare condition. Following some research, my team member decided to use the case of a real patient to explain the interventions. However, she identified the name of the patient and the context of her care, including the names of the nurses who were involved in her care. I talked to my colleague privately after our discussion and informed her of the NMC (2015) code of conduct on patient autonomy and the need to observe the privacy of the patient. I asked her to use a pseudonym instead when discussing the case of a patient. My colleague accepted my suggestion and protected the identity of the patient during succeeding discussions. On reflection, I felt t hat my decision to inform my colleague on how to discuss patient care was based on the ethics principles of patient autonomy. Discussion and Analysis From my participation in teams/groups throughout the module, I was able to develop effective communication skills. Specifically, I learned how to listen and show compassion to my colleagues and my patients during placement when they converse with me. Kourkouta and Papathanasiou (2014) have emphasised that effective communication skills is crucial in healthcare settings and when working in teams. These communication skills include recognising both verbal and non-verbal messages (Johnston, 2013). Patients who feel that their nurses are listening intently tend to report higher patient satisfaction with the care they receive (Kourkouta and Papathanasiou, 2014). Effective communication skills are also necessary in resolving conflicts in teams and understanding the perspectives of others (Craig and Moore, 2015). In nursing teams or when working with patients, it is recognised that conflicts in ideas also occur. Hence, the ability to communicate effectively and resolve conflicts will be n ecessary in preparing myself in my future role as a registered nurse (Craig and Moore, 2015). Apart from effective communication, I also learned how to motivate my fellow team members. Motivation is crucial in team working since this would help team members to complete tasks. In my experience with my first group, team motivation was not practiced. In contrast, my second team was able to use motivation to help team members accept and carry out tasks. I realised that the main difference was the support that my team members received in the succeeding group. Craig and Moore (2015) state that team support is critical in team working since the absence of support could create dissatisfaction and loss of motivation. In addition to the skills on motivation, I also saw the importance of change management in our team. In my first group, change management was not practised. Managing change is critical in healthcare practice. Thorpe (2015) has stated that planned change, which is described as purposeful, requires collaborative effort and the presence of a change agent. The NMC (2015) has emphasised that nurses must deliver quality care that is based on evidence, suggesting that nurses have to continually update their skills and practice. This also means that changes in practice have to be made. However, in practice, implementing change is challenging. It is suggested that almost 70% of change projects do not succeed (Mitchell, 2013). In my experience with the group, I also realised the necessity of recognising factors that influence or deter change. Mitchell (2013) suggests that advances in science, shortages of the nursing workforce, an ageing population, the need to increase patient satisfaction and rising cost of treatment all influence change. Inappropriate leadership, poor communication and under-motivated staff also deter the uptake of change in practice (O’Neal and Manley, 2007). In my future practice, I have to identify factors that promote change in p ractice. On reflection, I was not able to promote change in our first group. I could have assisted the team leader in my first group in analysing the factors that deter my colleagues from accepting their assigned tasks. Integrity was also practiced in the succeeding groups that I was involved in. Specifically, power was not misused as all team members in these groups had equal chances to participate in decision-making. In addition, the team leader and group members exercised honesty and transparency in the decisions made. Finally, ethics in decision-making was observed. For instance, all personal information of patients discussed during case studies was not mentioned and patient autonomy was observed. The NMC (2015) has reiterated the importance of protecting the privacy and autonomy of the patients. Conclusion Practising effective leadership skills and ethical decision-making are important when working as teams and in providing quality care to the patients. Inability to work effectively could result to poor performance, which in turn could affect the quality of care that my future patients will receive. Developing these leadership skills early in my undergraduate years would help prepare me in my role as a registered nurse. Action Plan As part of my action plan, I will continue to engage in training on how to develop effective communication skills. Specifically, I will refine my skills on how to show empathy when listening to my patients and colleagues. The ability to demonstrate empathy is crucial since this would help my patients feel that they matter to the team (Fowler, 2015). References: Craig. M. Moore. A. (2015) ‘Providing support for teams in difficulty’,  Nursing Times.  111(16), pp. 21 23. Fowler. J. (2015) ‘What makes a good leader?’,  British Journal of Nursing, 24(11), pp. 598 599. Johnston, B. (2013) ‘Patient satisfaction and its discontents’, Journal of the American Medical Association, 173(22), pp. 2025-2026. Kourkouta, L. Papathanasiou, I. (2014) ‘Communication in nursing practice’, Materia Socio Medica, 26(1), pp. 65-67. Mitchell, G. (2013) ‘Selecting the best theory to implementing planned change’, Nursing Management, 20(1), pp. 32-37. Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2015) The Code: Professional Standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives [Online]. Available from: https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/nmc-publications/revised-new-nmc-code.pdf (Accessed: 12 May, 2015). O’Neal, H. Manley, K. (2007) ‘Action planning: making change happen in clinical practice’, Nursing Standard, 21(35), pp. 35-39. Thorpe. R. (2015) ‘Planning a change project in mental health nursing’,  Nursing Standard, 30(1), pp. 38 44.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Analysis Of Charlotte Perkins Gilman s Life - 1174 Words

The early nineteen hundreds were a very bad time to be alive if you were a woman. The disrespect and expectations of women were unbelievable by today’s standards. However, if these expectations were to drive a woman mad, that woman would be in for an even bigger ride than before. Writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s life was unfortunate enough to receive the short end of the stick. Driven to depression, Gilman was appointed to the rest cure. A cure that she later found out was the exact opposite of what anyone in her situation needed. A cure in which after Gilman was able to survive, was poised to banish it and rid the world of this cure, while at the same time, putting the state of women in society under a microscope. This is how Gilman, using her own experiences, successfully contributed the protest of the rest cure, marriage and the place of women in society of her time period. The rest cure was a sentence to complete isolation from daily life for women who were suffering depression. Thinking that the mind was like a muscle, doctors thought that depression was just a damaged muscle that needed to not be used until it felt better. Gilman’s experience with the rest cure contributed greatly to the writing of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† A short story about a wife who was submitted to the rest cure by her husband, who was also a doctor. The starts off with the wife slightly depressed, and ends with her having gone completely mad. Having gone through the actual treatment gave herShow MoreRelatedA Critical Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1051 Words   |  5 PagesEnglish 102 Esposito, Carmine. A Critical Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a famous social worker and a leading author of women’s issues. Charlotte Perkins Gilman s relating to views of women s rights and her demands for economic and social reform of gender inequities are very famous for the foundations of American society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In critics Gilman ignored by people of color in the United StatesRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper, By Harriet Beecher Stowe1603 Words   |  7 Pagesdomination through their literary work. The Yellow Wallpaper is a direct reflection of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and her political view on women’s health, both mental and physical. In order to have a better understanding of The Yellow Wallpaper, it is imperative to understand the life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In 1860, Gilman borned as Charlotte Anna Perkins in Hartford, Connecticut. Her father, Frederick Beecher Perkins abandoned the family when she was only an infant. She surrounded herself by influentialRead MoreAnalysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1727 Words   |  7 Pages Analysis of the Short Story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Originally published in January 1892 issue of New England Magazine. Charlotte Perkins Gilman s short story The Yellow Wallpaper was personal to her own struggles with anxiety and depression after the birth of her daughter with her first husband and S. Weir Mitchell s resting cure treatment she received. The Yellow Wallpaper describes, from the patients point of view, the fall into madness of a woman who is creativelyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Yellow Wall Paper1699 Words   |  7 Pagesin the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you. It is like a bad dream.†(Knight 175) Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Early in her life her parents divorced, so her father could remarry.(Wladaver) Despite family problems, she loved an intellectual environment. She studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she met her first husband.† ( Wladaver) During her life she suffered from and was diagnosed with varieties of depression disorders. She lived in anRead MoreYellow Wallpaper1673 Words   |  7 PagesSvetlana Kryzhanovskaya Prof. Grajeda ENC 3014-MidTerm Paper March 12, 2012 Structuralism amp; Feminist Theory ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ written by Charlotte Gilman can be affectively analyzed from two schools of thought structuralism and feminist theory. Though structuralists’ deny the work of literature any connection to its author (it must be what it is, no underlying meaning) feminist theory must first and foremost be understood in its historical framework. By the turn of the century,Read MoreVoices Of The Woman Beyond The Pattern1484 Words   |  6 PagesYellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892, is at first glance the story of a woman driven to madness in a desperate attempt to escape the strict confines placed on her by the treatment regime of the day. More than that though, Gilman has created an alter ego to give voice to her own experiences and frustrations with the societal constraints imposed on women at the time of its publishing. This tale of disempowerment and the subjugation of one woman s wants and needs, is in factRead MoreAnalysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1269 Words   |  6 PagesDestiny Banks Mrs. H. Myers ENGL 1002-63639 15 February 2017 Analysis of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† Life during the 1800s for a woman was rather distressing. Society had essentially designated them the role of being a housekeeper and bearing children. They had little to no voice on how they lived their daily lives. Men decided everything for them. To clash with society s conventional views is a challenging thing to do; however, Charlotte Perkins Gilman does an excellent job fighting that battle by writingRead More Critical Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins1179 Words   |  5 PagesCritical Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a detailed account of the author’s battle with depression and mental illness. Gilman’s state of mental illness and delusion is portrayed in this narrative essay. Through her account of this debilitating illness, the reader is able to relate her behavior and thoughts to that of an insane patient in an asylum. She exhibits the same typeRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1667 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a semi- autobiography by author Charlotte Perkins Gilman who wrote it after going through a severe postpartum depression. Gilman became involved in feminist activities and her writing made her a major figure in the women s movement. Books such as â€Å"Women and Economics,† written in 1898, are proof of her importance as a feminist. Here she states that women who learn to be economically independent can then create equality between men and women. She wrote other books such asRead More Oppression of Women in Chopins Story of an Hour and Gilmans Yellow Wallpaper 1246 Words   |  5 PagesYellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman share the same view of the subordinate position of women in the late 1800s. Both stories demonstrate the devastating effects on the mind and body that result from an intelligent person living with and accepting the imposed will of another. This essay will attempt to make their themes apparent by examining a brief summery of their stories and relating them to their personal histories. It will reveal this theme further through analysis of setting, visual

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Investor Ratio Analysis Free Essays

Investor Ratios There are various ratios that are designed to help investors who hold shares in a company to assess the returns on their investment. These are: Dividend per Share The dividend per share ratio relates the dividends pertaining to an accounting period to the amount of shares in issue during the period. The ratio is given as follows: Dividend per share = Dividends pertaining to a period Number of shares in issue The ratio provides an indication of the cash return a shareholder receives from holding shares in a company. We will write a custom essay sample on Investor Ratio Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although it is a useful measure, it must be remembered that the dividend received will usually only represent a partial measure of the return to an investor. Dividends are usually only a portion of the earnings generated by the firm and available to shareholders. A business may decide to plough back some of its earnings back into the business in order to achieve future growth. These ploughed back profits belong to the shareholders and should in principle increase the value of the shares. Thus w h e n assessing the total return to an investor we must look at both the dividends received and any movement in the share price. The dividend per share for Alexis Ltd is given as follows: Page 1 of 5 Dividends per share can vary considerably between companies. A number of factors will influence the amount that a company is willing or able to issue in the form of dividends to shareholders. These factors include: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ The profit available for distribution to investors The future expenditure commitments of the company The expectations of shareholders concerning the level of dividend payment The cash available for dividend distribution Comparing the dividends per share between companies is not always useful as there may be differences between the nominal value of the shares issued. It may be more useful to monitor the trend in dividends per share over a period of time. Dividend Yield Ratio This ratio relates the cash return from a share to its current market value and is given as follows: Dividend Yield Ratio = Dividend per Share Market Value of a Share * 100 1 The ratio for Alexis pic is given as follows: Page 2 of 5 In essence this ratio measures the real rate of return on a share. Investors can compare the returns from a company’s shares to the returns that could be earned by investing either in another company or by investing in another form of investment. Dividend Cover Dividend cover (for ordinary shares) looks at how many time a firm’s profits (after interest, lax and preference dividends) cover the ordinary dividends. Dividend Cover = Profit after interest, tax and Pref Share Dividends Ordinary Share Dividends For Alexis plc this ratio is calculated as follows: Interpretation: Alexis plc profits covers ordinary dividends 3. 96times. Dividend cover is calculated using the profit after interest and tax figure because banks, government and preference shareholders have a preferential claim on the profits of the firm. This ratio is of particular interest to ordinary shareholders. Earnings per share The earnings per share relate’s the earnings generated by the company during a period and available to shareholders to the number or snares in issue. For ordinary shareholders the amount available will be net profit after interest, tax and preference dividends because banks, the government and preference shareholders have a preferential claim on the profits of the firm. Page 3 of 5 Earnings per share = Earnings available to ordinary shareholders Number of ordinary- shares in issue For Alexis plc this ratio is calculated as follows: The EPS is regarded by many investment analysts as a fundamental measure of share performance. Tracking the EPS over time can help assess the investment potential of the company’s shares. Care must be taken when comparing EPS from different firms as capital structures differ from one firm to the next. Price Earnings (P/E) R a t i o The price earnings ratio relates the market value of a share to the earnings per share. It is calculated a s follows: P/E Ratio = Market value per share Earnings per Share The P/E Ratio for Alexis is calculated as follows: Page 4 of 5 The ratio reveals that the capital value of the share is 9. 4 times higher than its current level of earnings. The ratio is essence is a measure of market confidence in the future of the company. A high P/E ratio means that relative to profits the price of the share is quite high. Why would this be the case? The higher the P/E ratio the greater the confidence in the future earning power of the company i. e. lthough current earnings are low investors expect them to increase in the future and therefore investors are prepared to pay a high price for the share in relation to the current earnings of the share. A low P/E ratio means that the share price is quite low compared to earnings – this implies a pessimistic view of the future. Nobody will be willing to pay a high price for a share in a company that has unexciting trading prospects . Because the P/E ratio gives a guide as to market confidence in a share it can therefore be helpful when comparing different companies although P/E ratios per sector will vary. Page 5 of 5 How to cite Investor Ratio Analysis, Essay examples

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Taxation Law Clothing Business Purchase

Question: Discuss about the Taxation Law for Clothing Business Purchase. Answer: The owners of clothing business purchase many products from the manufacturers and whole sellers so that they can sell these clothes to the customers in the market. They deal with more than one retailers and shops. There administrative work includes the service related to customer and maintaining the stock of the company[1]. The income earns by an individual either from providing services or for continuing any business is assessable to tax under section 6-5 of the ITAA 1997 as an ordinary income. The section 6-20 of the ITAA 1997 states that certain exemptions are available for the person, which he can claim while calculating his total income[2]. In the given case, the company Tom ltd started its business in Australia. The nature of the business is to sell clothes on retail basis to its customers. The company Tom Ltd seeks an advice based on ATO rulings and recent case laws for tax implication. According to Australian Law individual who resides in the country can claim an exemption on the starting amount of $6,000 under the head tax-free threshold. The section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 states that a person can claim deduction for the amount spent on dividend or interest prescribed by the act[3]. Particulars Cost of Goods sold Bonus Bad debt Legal fees Dividend received Income tax paid Issue dividend to shareholders Gross total income Reason (Opening stock + purchases-closing stock) Expenses Loss Expenses Income Expenses Expenses Amount [(120,000+180,000)-160,000] $10,000 $15,000 $30,000 $35,000 $15,000 $280,000 Amount $140,000 Exempted ($15,000) ($30,000) $35,000 ($15,000) $280,000 ($165,000) The taxable income is computed under section 4-15 of the ITAA 1997 and since the company is earning a loss during the year so the company does not require paying tax on the loss. Hence, the company Tom Ltd is not eligible to pay tax during the year[4]. After analyzing the whole case it was found that the company met with a heavy loss during the year by issuing dividend. Therefore, it is advisable for the company to hold the issue of dividend for next assessment year. References and bibliography: Evans, C., Hansford, A., Hasseldine, J., Lignier, P., Smulders, S. and Vaillancourt, F., 2014. Small business and tax compliance costs: A cross-country study of managerial benefits and tax concessions.eJournal of Tax Research,12(2), p.453. Lignier, P. and Evans, C., 2012, August. The rise and rise of tax compliance costs for the small business sector in Australia. InAustralian Tax Forum(Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 615-672). Ma, D., 2015. Small business tax compliance burden: what can be done to level the playing field. Scollo, M., Bayly, M. and Wakefield, M., 2015. Availability of illicit tobacco in small retail outlets before and after the implementation of Australian plain packaging legislation.Tobacco control,24(e1), pp.e45-e51.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Tell it To Me Straight, Doc free essay sample

â€Å"The happiness I feel at this moment is indescribable. It is difficult to explain the joy I feel standing in front of so many young people interested in becoming doctors. I owe my life to my doctors. Because of their help I stand here today, five years strong with AIDS.† Marcus was just one of many speakers who came to the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in Chicago that I had the pleasure of listening to as part of a summer program. I came to this program hoping it would help me decide between medicine and another profession. I began wondering whether or not such a sensitive person as myself could handle the hardships and sad realities of this occupation. While I walked into this program unsure of what profession I should pursue academically, I left confident in a decision to study medicine after listening to Marcus. The forum had many interesting speakers who talked about a wide range of topics, but none of them held a candle to Marcus. We will write a custom essay sample on Tell it To Me Straight, Doc or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Tall, rail thin, and feebly dressed in an old suit, Marcus did not give the impression of a dynamic speaker. However, I quickly found I had misjudged Marcus completely. Though he talked very quietly and with apprehension, his story was intriguing and unique. His words were not like any other I had heard, and his life chronicle sent chills throughout the room. Marcus, a homosexual, high school drop-out, war veteran, who has been fighting HIV since he was twenty-five years old, has undoubtedly faced his share of life challenges. Physically weak from battling a disease that was slowly tearing apart his immune system, Marcus spoke with surprising strength and the epitome of sincerity. His words were not eloquently put together like the previous speakers, but they were real and inspiring. While Marcus recalled his latest hospital visit due to a low T-cell count, I wanted nothing more than to be the doctor at his side. When Marcus came to a close on his speech, I too found closure. I di dn’t want to be a doctor; I needed to be a doctor. As a person considering medicine as a profession, it seems almost comical that I cannot put a diagnosis to my aspiration to help others. The feeling is like a heavy weight on my heart that can only be lifted if I try to make a difference in someone’s life. While this summer program provided me with numerous memorable experiences that also helped to influence my decision, what I took away most from the program was the emotional satisfaction of being a doctor. Finding hope for patients who have lost optimism would provide me with the utmost fulfillment. I’ve always been the person who went the extra mile for a friend, so I feel my personality strengths are traits of a good doctor. For now, the pressures of being a doctor seem minimal, and my sensitivity for others will undoubtedly help, not hinder my ability to care for patients.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Project Management Theories Essays

Project Management Theories Essays Project Management Theories Essay Project Management Theories Essay Assessment 2: Pre-Course Assignment (20%) Carry out a comprehensive literature review on the software development methodologies (for eg: Rapid Application Development, Object-Oriented Software Development etc) adopted by organizations emphasizing on the following for each method addressed: * What are the main characteristics of the method? * What are the main constraints of the method? * What are the advantages and drawbacks of the method? * When is this method more suitable to use? This is an individual assignment. All reference materials used must be properly acknowledged. Use Harvard referencing method. Assessment 3: Main Assignment (20%) Select an organization of your choice. * Describe the nature of the organization and the nature of the industry to which it belongs to. * Identify the major competitors and the competitive forces affecting the organization. Describe any environmental opportunities or threats to the chosen company that can be considered as significant or likely to be significant over the next few years. * Identify key business, functional or standalone strategies formulated by the chosen company to face the changing environmental conditions. How are these strategies matched with the strengths and weaknesses of the company? * Critically examine the Information systems/strategic IS used, development alternatives used, the purpose of use and analyze the benefits achieved and drawbacks of these information systems. Explain how each of these systems supports the overall business goals of the organization. * Describe the nature of the relationship between the IT division and the other divisions of the organization. Explain problem, change and recovery management processes adopted by the IT division. If the organization does not posses such processes, you may make suitable suggestions as part of your recommendations) * Explain the types of controls used by the IT division in order to protect the IT assets of the organization. * Explain briefly how IT costs are recovered and charge back mechanisms used by the IT division. * Based on you findings make suitable recommendations to improve the Information Systems and the IT division that would enable the organization to emerge as a market leader.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Cessna 421 Cockpit Modernisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cessna 421 Cockpit Modernisation - Essay Example It uses geared Continental GTSIO-520-D engines. The gearing is such that the drive shaft drives through a set of reducing gears instead of being directly connected to the propeller. The 421 series was first produced in May 1967 followed by the 421A in 1968 which was redesigned in 1970 and sold as the 421B. The 421C came into service in 1975 replacing the earlier versions 421A and the 421B. The aircraft had wet wings, the absence of wing tip fuel tanks and landing gear which was changed from straight leg to a trailing-link design which was produced from 1981 onwards. Its production came to halt in 1985 after 1901 aircrafts had been delivered. The 421C is a light passenger transport aircraft which was approved on October 28, 1975. The aircraft is powered by two Continental GTSIO-520-Ls or Continental GTSIO-520-Ns which are turbocharged, fuel injected and geared six-cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled piston engine that produce 375hp each. Some general characteristics of this aircr aft include a crew of one or two, a capacity of six passengers, and length of 11.09, wingspan of 12.53m, wing area of 19.97m2, empty weight of 4501 lb, height of 3.49m and a maximum takeoff weight of 3379kg. It has a maximum speed of 256 knots with a cruise speed of 240 knots and a range of 2755km. the service ceiling is 9,205 m and a rate of climb of 1940 ft/min. (Cessna 421 Golden Eagle: Cessna model 421C information manual. 1979) Aim The main objective here is to upgrade the existing avionics panel of the Cessna 421C to the Garmin G600 display in order to reap the benefits of this modern design. Some of these include improved situational awareness, pilot safety and workload reduction. The other objective is to introduce modern avionics to the display panel for the venerable Eagle to make it more modern and efficient. To achieve this, we will employ the G600 together with some other retrofits to come up with a cockpit that is not only modern but also perfect in operation. Addition ally, further improvement of the passenger In Flight Entertainment System is also conducted to bring it to modern levels of service. The upgraded panel offers much more capability and comfort to the pilot. With the space so created from the reduced clutter, the interior design is refurbished. It is fitted with new light gray lather seats, writing tables, refreshment center and a belted potty. Discussion Cessna 421C Cockpit Diagrams are shown here bellow. Before retrofitting Fig 1: Cessna 421 Cockpit before upgrade Source: http://sarasotaavionics.com/panel-gallery/cessna-421/ After retrofitting Source: http://sarasotaavionics.com/panel-gallery/cessna-421/ The cockpit of the Cessna 421 in figure 1 above has several instruments cluttered across the main display panel making it rather tedious to the pilot to work. Most instruments here are mechanical and thus time consuming to read and interpret. Some of these instruments include: a Comm. Dual King KTR 905, Nav Dual King KNR 630, MFD Av idyne EX500, King KLN- 90B Approach GPS, ADF Dual King KDM-805, and Transponder Dual King KXP-755. It also includes autopilot King KFC 250 with Flight Director and yaw. Other important features are the dampener, the HIS Dual Cessna 1000 and a fuel management system. For instance, the altimeter which measures the aircrafts barometric settings, the attitude indicator, the horizontal situation indicator, the gyroscopes, all engine and emergency equipment are all mounted in the basic T fashion. It is therefore my desire to retrofit this window to a modern digital panel by using the Garmin G600 display. With this upgrade, we expect a safer, easy to operate

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Community - Essay Example I attended a conference organized by the California State University, Northridge to address the issue of women empowerment in Latin America. The Conference was held on 12th December 2011, with powerful women attending, including Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton. One of the objectives of the conference was to show that despite the negative prejudices placed on women, there are those who have conquered that belief and succeeded in their daily undertakings. Women’s great contributions to the community were greatly acknowledged, especially those realized in hospitals, schools, and institutions that support the poor. In the conference, it was noted that economic inequalities as well as legal and political structures play a vital role in worsening the overall empowerment of women. In her speech, Oprah Winfrey stated that inheritance laws and cultural practices discriminate and undermine women in several fields (Ellison 233). For example, in some of the Latin American communities, girls inherit half as much as their brothers, while mothers get less than what their children get; and if children pass away, mothers inherit less than fathers do. Such cultural practices deny women key resources that can help them emerge as successful people in the society. The conference was organized in a way that, the day was divided into shorter sessions and evening sessions where the real objective of giving the techniques to be used by women to conquer the social prejudices were addressed by the speakers. The audience did not consist of women alone, but men as well, since the whole community has a role to play in the empowerment of women. The conference seemed extremely lively as everyone participated wholly in his or her own way. Some questionnaires were passed around in the conference concerning women issues, and the audience ware so positive in answering. Participants

Monday, January 27, 2020

Tic Tac Toe Game Computer Science Essay

Tic Tac Toe Game Computer Science Essay Most of the research nowadays is focused towards problems that deal with complexity or are influenced by some kind of random events. Interesting about these problems is that if they are deterministic, then a solution is expected to exist, at least a theoretical one. These problems are often inspired by games, such as mathematical games (ex. Tic-Tac-Toe, Chess). On the other hand the point of randomness involved in these problems increases the difficulty of prediction on the possible solution, or in some situations outcome. This is thy, there are certain methods of operations devised, that in turn give some supplementary information to a decision maker. In most of the cases, the probability distribution of an even which took place randomly, it is possible to be affected by prior events. These games are often played by at least 2 players (or many), out of which the one is called an opponent. The decisions at each step are made by the last move of the opponent. The operations research in these games is called game theory. The vital Tic-Tac-Toe game consists of two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3ÃÆ'-3 grid (Crowley, 1993; Gardner, 1998). The game usually begins with the X player, and the player who will manage to place three respective marks (in any direction, i.e. in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row) wins the game. This basic version of the game is rather simple, what allows the game to be used as a useful tool in combinatorial game theory, as well as a branch of artificial intelligence that deals with the searching of game trees (Beck, 2008). Using game theory there are few approaches that can be undertaken: The games solution is resulted by dominance when the game has only 1 rational strategy for each player Minimax strategies decide a stable solution useful if the opponent makes the wrong play Minimax strategies do not decide a stable solution using a probability distribution Even though, game theory researches are made on the possible playing strategies, they might not be employed in real life when playing a game, because: There might be too many strategies to enumerate (this number is simply too large to be estimated). Players are not always rational. There might be more than two players. Real-life games are not zero-sum games. This project deals with developing a Tic-Tac-Toe to be used on a mobile device. The following chapter discusses the Aims and Objectives of the game. Chapter 3 talks about a background research on this game, starting with a review on existing Tic-Tac-Toe games, which in turn leads to discussion about the existing models of this game and the proposed model of this work. Finally, Chapter 3 concludes with a technology research concentrated towards Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME). Chapters 4 and 5 describe the system requirement analysis and design on this work, and chapters 6, 7, and 8 include explanation on the implementation, testing and evaluation. And finally, chapter 9 concludes this work. 2. Aim and Objectives The aim of this project is to develop a Tic-Tac-Toe game for mobile device. The game is supposed to consist of two parts, one a single player game (a player against a system), and the other a multi-player game (two players on their mobile devices, playing against each other). In order to accomplish these, the following objectives were defined. Single player game The player should play Tic-Tac-Toe game on his mobile device. The player should have option to edit his name. The player will start the game of choosing his symbol as X or O. If player 1 selected X then O has to be automatically allotted to the mobile device as a second player, and vice versa. The player has an option to choose the small game grid out of 4 small tic-tac-toe games. If player X marked horizontally or vertically or diagonally of his symbol X in a row, then player X won that small match. Finally, which player won the maximum small games will be declared as winner of the tic-tac-toe game. Multi-player game Using Bluetooth as communication channel the two players should play Tic-Tac-Toe game from different mobiles. Players should have options to edit his name. Once both players connected together, then first player will start the game of choosing his symbol as X or O. If player 1 selected X then O has to be automatically allotted to player 2. Then main game grid has to display in both mobiles. Player2 have option to choose the small game grid out of 4 small tic-tac-toe games. After grid selection both players will play tic-tac-toe game in that small grid. If player X marked horizontally or vertically or diagonally of his symbol X in a row, then player X won that small match. That small grid is marked with X and Player1 awarded 1 point, screen should zoom out and have to display whole main game grid and now player who won the previous game will have the choice to choose on which grid have to be select to play remaining game. This process will be repeated until the whole Four (4) small games grids marked with X, or O, or T. Finally which player won the maximum small games will be declared as winner of the tic-tac-toe game. then game ends. 3. Background Research In this section the Tic-Tac-Toe game will be discussed in details. At the outset, the basic rules of the game are going to be covered. Then, there will be a review on existing Tic-Tac-Toe games, which in turn will lead to discussion about the existing models of this game and the proposed model of this work. Finally, this section is going to be concluded with a technology research concentrated towards Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME). 3.1 Basic Rules of Tic-Tac-Toe game The basic Tic-Tac-Toe game consists of two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3ÃÆ'-3 grid (Crowley, 1993; Gardner, 1998). The game usually starts with the X player, and the player who will manage to place three respective marks wins the game. The marks can be placed in any direction, i.e. in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row. This basic version of the game is rather simple and very often leads to draw. This simplicity allows the game to be used as a useful tool in combinatorial game theory, as well as a branch of artificial intelligence that deals with the searching of game trees (Beck, 2008). The Roman Empire is known to have established the beginnings of the earliest known variant of tic-tac-toe. It originated around the first century BC (Crowley, 1993). At that time, the game was called Terni Lapilli. Instead of having any number of pieces, each player only had three. The game was played by moving them around to empty spaces to keep playing. However, according to Claudia Zaslavskys book, the game Tic Tac Toe is originating from ancient Egypt (Zaslavsky, 1982). Chess and Tic-Tac-Toe are one of the most famous games to which the moves are not left to chances, rather than pure mathematics and logical reasoning. In these games, a player wins by achieving a winning configuration first, like for instance: checkmate in chess, and 3-in-a-row in a basic Tic-Tac-Toe game in 33 board (Gardner, 1998). Thus, the question which can be posed at this point is: How a player can achieve a winning configuration first? Even though there isnt a general theorem to answer this question, there might be a well-known strategy stealing argument that can give a partial answer about when a player can achieve a winning configuration first (Beck, 2008). In order to find a winning strategy, in theory all the paths could be explored. However, in practice this is not easy because the total number of strategies can be calculated a double exponential function of the size of the board. For example, a 3-dimensional 5ÃÆ'-5ÃÆ'-5 version of Tic-Tac-Toe, has about 3125 positions. This is because each one of the 53 cells has 3 options: Marked by the first player, Marked by the second player, or Unmarked. Thus the backtracking on a graph of 3125 vertices takes at least 3125 steps. This is the main reason that this 3-dimensional 5ÃÆ'-5ÃÆ'-5 version of Tic-Tac-Toe remains unsolved up to date. Moreover, only two explicit winning strategies are known from in the whole class of nÃÆ'-nÃÆ'- ·  ·  ·ÃƒÆ'-n = nd Tic-Tac-Toe games. This is the 33 version and it is characterized with an easy winning strategy, and the 43 version that in turn has an extremely complicated winning strategy. In order to play a perfect tic-tac-toe game, i.e. a win or a draw, the player can play given they move consistent with the uppermost possible moves. This is presented in the following table (Crowley, 1993): Win If the player has two in a row, play the third to get three in a row. Block If the opponent has two in a row, play the third to block them. Fork Create an opportunity where you can win in two ways. Block opponents fork Option 1: Create two in a row to force the opponent into defending, as long as it doesnt result in them creating a fork or winning. For example, if X has a corner, O has the center, and X has the opposite corner as well, O must not play a corner in order to win. (Playing a corner in this scenario creates a fork for X to win.) Option 2: If there is a configuration where the opponent can fork, block that fork. Center Play the center. Opposite corner If the opponent is in the corner, play the opposite corner. Empty corner Play in a corner square. Empty side Play in a middle square on any of the 4 sides. Initially, the player that starts first gets the X and has 3 probable positions to mark in his turn. Even though it seems that there are 9 possible positions, as there are 9 squares in the grid, by rotating the board, this is not the case. It can be observed that: Every corner mark is tactically equal to every other corner mark, and Every edge mark is tactically equal to every other edge mark. There are therefore only three possible first marks: corner, edge, or center. The first player could win (or make a draw) from any of these starting marks. It can be also observed that playing a corner would give the opponent the smallest choice of squares. This is a nice strategy as could be played to avoid losing (Zaslavsky, 1982) . The second player can be identified as O and this player must respond to Xs opening mark. However, this should be done in such a way as to avoid Player X to win. It can be stated that Player O must always respond with (Zaslavsky, 1982): To a corner opening with a center mark, To a center opening with a corner mark and To an edge opening either with a center mark, a corner mark next to the X, or an edge mark opposite the X. Any different play would allow X to compel a win. After every next turn of player X, the player O should follow the above list. This way the player O can achieve a draw (or a win if the player X makes a weak play). 3.2 Existing Tic-Tac-Toe games As many other games like: three mens morris, nine mens morris, pente, gomoku, Qubic, Connect Four, Quarto and Gobblet, Tic-Tac-Toe also has the same goal, i.e. a player wins if he is the first one to get n-in-a-row. Basically, if a generalization is to be provided, it can be concluded that all the different formations of Tic-Tac-Toe can be represented as nd-games, which are accordingly played on a d-dimensional boards with edge n (Zaslavsky, 1982). As it was discussed in the previous section as well, the original Tic-Tac-Toe game is actually a 32-game. There are many variations, discussed as follows (Patashnik, 1980; Gardner, 1998; Beck, 2008). A slightly different version of a Tic-Tac-Toe game is the 33-game, played on a 3x3x3 board (Patashnik, 1980). It can be noted that this game gives good opportunities to the player that plays first, so he could achieve an easy win by playing at the center with his first move. Similarly, playing on a 4x4x4 board also gives the first payer better chances for wining. More complex version of a Tic-Tac-Toe game is playing it on a board with higher dimensional space. 4 dimensional, i.e. 3ÃÆ'-3ÃÆ'-3ÃÆ'-3 board is one of the most commonly played Tic-Tac-Toe (Patashnik, 1980). In this version there are 2 possible aims. One of them is to position elements through all of the board, thus the player that has more rows of 3 totally than the other one is the winner of the game. And the other strategy is to include 4 players, in which case the winner is the payer that will get a row of 3 first. Another version is the misà ¨re tic-tac-toe game. It is played according to its conventional rules, such as in this variation 33 game would be a draw, whereas the winner is the player that will get n in a row (Berlekamp, 1982). Quite a new game is the Tic Tac Tactic variation of tic-tac-toe (Berlekamp, 1982). This game is played on a 3 dimensional curved board, and the here each player tries to roll a ball at least half the way, as it would then drop on a grid that has 9 positions (33 grid). This way the players should make a row of 3 in order to gain a ball. The winner is the player that will have won the first 5 balls. In order to roll their balls precisely, they could use a device that helps into changing a balls trajectory. Yet another version is the nine board tic-tac-toe. In this game, there are in essence 9 boards, arranged as 33 grids, and the first payer can start on any of them by his choice (Gardner, 1998). The following moves are supposed to be places on the board chosen by the first player. Once this board gets full and there is no more space left, the next move can be again on any of the boards left, by the choice of the player. The winner is the one that will achieve 3 in a row. However, having 9 boards gives the game yet another spirit than the usual tic-tac-toe game, as the players can have an opening, middle and end of their game. Similar to the nine board tic-tac-toe game is the super tic-tac-toe game (Beck, 2008). The difference in this variation is that this game does not end once a player makes 3 in a row in one of the 9 boards. As an alternative, the position of that board is marked on a new 33 grid, and the winner is the one that will make 3 in row there. Tic-Tac-Chess is an interesting combination of games, as it involved playing a chess game, as well as a tic-tac-toe game at the same time (Beck, 2008). In this variation, once a player captures a piece from the challenger on the chess game, makes a move on the tic-tac-toe game (even if the challenger has not placed anything on the tic-tac-toe game yet). And of course, the winner is the player that will make 3 in a row on the tic-tac-toe game first. A game that in essence is an isomorphic to a tic-tac-toe game, even though it seems as a completely different game, is described as follows (Beck, 2008). Basically, there are 2 players that should say a number between 1 and 9, without repeating the previously said numbers. The winner is the player that will first make a sum of 15. This game is isomorphic to a tic-tac-toe, because if those numbers are to be placed on a 33 magic grid, then it will be exactly as playing a tic-tac-toe game, because a straight line is formed only if the sum of the numbers is 15. This information is mostly useful in programming variations of a tic-tac-toe game. Another different variation again employs numbers from 1 to 9 (Gardner, 1998). These are to be placed on a 33 grid, but must be held with an order of precedence defined by the players. Then the players play a tic-tac-toe game, filling the grid by the precedence defined beforehand. Check Lines is a very old variation of tic-tac-toe game, invented in the 1970s by Tri-ang Toys Games. In this game the board is actually any geometrical pattern that consists of 12 lines. There are 11 holes in total, distributed in a way that each line has 3 holes. At this point, each player is given 5 coins, and each player on their turn should place a coin on the board. The winner is the one that will have first completed 2 lines. Because the players have only 5 coins, this means that they have to complete intersecting lines. If none of the players have won after placing their 5 coins, then they will continue playing by replacing the position of the coins, on the remaining spaces, with the rule that it must be done only on an adjacent hole. Very similar game to the tic-tac-toe game is the Toss Across game. Here, the players are given bags with beans and they are throwing them on a big board for marking the squares. Star Tic Tac Toe is another popular variation of tic-tac-toe. This game is played with checkers like movable pieces. It has a 33 board, thus a player has 3 pieces accordingly. The participants keep on replacing pieces into the spaces which are left empty in the board, until one the players wins; this actually adds some more dynamism in the game. Moreover, the players have supplementary star shaped pieces, which can be swapped. Similar category of games as the previous bullet, are the: Mojo, Mojo Too and Mojo tic-tac-toe games. In these variation the payers also pieces and pawn(s) onto empty positions until there is a winner. Moreover, there are many shows based on the tic-tac-toe game, as well: Hollywood Squares is a show with 9 celebrities, which fill the cells of the tic-tac-toe grid. Tic-Tac-Dough is a show on which the players put symbols up on the board. This is achieved by answering queries in a variety of categories. In Beat the Teacher competitors respond to questions to win a turn, again on a tic-tac-toe grid. On The Price Is Right, there is a pricing game called Secret X, in which players must estimate prices to win Xes, in order to place them on a blank board. They must position the Xes as to provide speculation of the location on the secret X. This is in turn hidden in the middle line of the board, forming a tic-tac-toe line across. The fictional game Dni game of Gemedet, has an aim to place 6 balls in a row to a 9x9x9 grid (Gardner, 1998). The fictional game Squid-Tac-Toad, has an aim to place 4 or 5 balls in a row to a 44 or 55 grid, accordingly (Gardner, 1998). A more simplistic variation of this game is having the rules as of the Y formations to count as a win. This is rather simple, because all the scenarios basically forming some kind of a Y configuration. Quantum tic tac toe is yet another variation in which the participants are positioning a quantum superposition of numbers on a tic tac toe board (Gardner, 1998). A larger grid (for example 1010) tic-tac-toe games also exist. In a 1010 grid the winner should place 5 in a row. The more the grids there are on a board, the larger complexity of the game is. Another similar game named Go-moku, originating from Vietnam, also has the strategy for a player to get 5 in a row in order to win the game (Gardner, 1998). The players put Xs and Os, but in order to try blocking each other, in this variation they should also try to create changes for wining. Another difference is that the board has no limit, thus the game is played until there is a winner. Three Mens Morris and Nine Mens Morris are also variations, in which there is a limiting on the number of pieces in order for a move to be allowed (Gardner, 1998). Finally, the last variation of the tic-tac-toe game, employs the words: eat, an, laf, it, line, if, lot, on and foe. In this game, the winner is the one that will select 3 words that start with the same letter. If the game was places on a tic-tac-toe grid, it would mean 3 words in order to form a line (three in a row line). 3.3 Proposed model There are quite a few algorithms hat can be used for creating the Tic-Tac-Toes game strategy. The most popular ones are the semantic algorithms and the lexical algorithms. For this project, a lexical algorithm was utilized. The model of the tic-tac-toe game described in this work contains 2 different game strategies. Basically, the one strategy is the Single Player game where a player plays against a system. The other strategy involves Multiple Player environment, and it is being played by a player versus another player. In order to analyze this game, a decision tree might be used. Moreover, for the analyzing part it should be assumed that both the players in the Multiple Player environment, and the single player in the Single Player game, are in essence experienced. This means that the result of a game can be foreseen after the first move from each participant (again assuming that there are no mistakes). Let us represent with 1 if the player that has the X wins and with -1 if the player that has the O wins. The following figure represents the decision tree after the first move from each participant. As it was already discussed in section 3.1 Basic Rules of Tic-Tac-Toe game, the tic-tac-toe game is symmetric and therefore it is sufficient to consider only the squares 1, 2 and 3 for the first player (see the figure below). The rest of the moves are symmetric and will be presented. So, following this reasoning, the first player has the positions 1, 2 and 3 available, and the second player has the remai ning two positions. The figure above presents an expansion, so called an extensive form. It demonstrates that even in the simplest scenario the decision tree can be quite large. For example, if the first two moves were to be presented, this would be impossible to be demonstrated on a single page. Similarly to this discussion, the strategic form of the game can be presented by a different model, i.e. as a matrix. In order to demonstrate this approach, it should be assumed that the players choose one strategy and they strictly follow it when their turn comes. Of course, each strategy should represent all the paths of action and in every possible situation. At the beginning, let us assume that there is a strategy that the first player uses for their first move, and another strategy for the first move of the second player. This logic would create some rules like the following (Zaslavsky, 1982): For the first player: select one of the nine squares on the game board. For the second player: Select one of the nine squares on the game board. If the first player already uses the selected square, then à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ put an O in square 3, 5, 7, or 9 if an X is in square 1 (center) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ put an O in cell 1 if an X is in cell j. These rules are examples of complete strategies, and these can be selected by the payers before the beginning of the game, and thus followed with their first moves. The strategic form of a tic-tac-toe game is presented on the figure below. It should be noted that the entries in the table below are in essence the values of the game. They hold values for every possible selection of strategies. Each tic-tac-toe game that can be actually presented in an extensive form would have an equivalent strategic form similar to the one shown in the table presented above. Moreover, this table is also equivalent to the matrix established previously. The payoff matrix in cooperation with the descriptions of the strategies comprises the model for the two-person tic-tac-toe game. 3.4 Comparison of Proposed model with Existing Models The semantic algorithm is yet another approach towards the tic-tac-toe game. The semantic algorithm is in essence a learning algorithm, and it might be structured in the following way. It might have as initial information the ability to recognizing the 3 states of a game: lost, won or a draw. The algorithm in this case would play the X, and it will play against another algorithm, i.e. the O. As soon as a game is finishes, the information if the game was won or lost is stored. Moreover, the moves are presented with the smaller letters x and o accordingly. A possible structure of stored information could be the following line: x5 o3 x9 o4 x1 won. The first move is always randomly selected. So, given that the algorithm played 7 (x7), and the opponent played 6 (o6), the algorithm will search for previous games that are most similar to x7 o6. If such a case is found, then the following rules apply: If the game found was a win, than the algorithm will try to reproduce the move. If the position is not available, it will play randomly. If the game found was a loss, the algorithm will try to correct the move, by not placing an element in the same position as in the lost game. This is repeated until there is a winner. Moreover, if a game end with a draw, it is not saved in the database. Comparing this algorithm with a lexical algorithm such as our proposed model, it might be noted that the semantic algorithm usually plays very badly at the begging. But, after a certain number of games, the learning curve of the algorithm becomes better. On the other hand, our proposed model behaves well during all the stages of the game. 3.5 Technology Research (j2me) Being quite different from other programming languages, Java does both compiling and interpreting when it comes to process code. As it can be seen from the photo above, the source code (i.e. the .java files) is initially translated by the compiler. This gives an output of an intermediate language, called Java bytecode (i.e. the .class files). The bytecode is then ready to be executed (or in other words, interpreted) within a particular virtual processor, known as the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) (Hayun, 2009; Knudsen, 2008). This is in essence a simulated processor that executes all the bytecode commands. The Java Virtual Machine is the basic components that give to Java the feature to compatibility. This is simply because it represents a reliable layer between bytecode and the concrete machine instructions, translated at runtime. Over the years, the Java language has undergone many changes and development. J2SE (Java 2 Standard Edition) had its first edition targeting GUIs, applets, and other basic and rather simple applications. Recently, the language was extended with the Java suite known as J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition). This edition is based for server side development, and includes tools for: database access, messaging, content rendering, inter-process communications, and transaction control (Hayun, 2009; Li, 2005). J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) came into existence as to cover the needs for applications targeting mobile devices. As it can be seen from this short overview, there are versions of Java to suit different environments: from the enterprise development tools intended for use in servers, to the micro systems. An important thing to note at this point is that the separation between platforms is not just unconditional (Knudsen, 2008). Many times these are not a simple line than can be drawn. In ord er to demonstrate this, it might be explained that Java 2 Micro Edition development sometimes requires the use of Java 2 Enterprise Edition and Java 2 Micro Edition. This is the case with multiplayer games for instance, so and Java 2 Micro Edition is used for the client side, but Java 2 Enterprise Edition is used for the server side of the application/game. Moreover, different Java editions target different hardware configurations. Similarly, there are 3 virtual machines to be used for the different environments (Li, 2005). For example, Hotspot VM is a default virtual machine suitable for a executing the full-scale edition of JavaHotspot. JavaHotspot is a newer type of virtual machine competent of vigorously optimizing a great deal of executed code (called as hotspots) during the runtime (Li, 2005). Other versions of virtual machine are the Compact Virtual Machine (CVM) and Kilobyte Virtual Machine (KVM). These are in essence smaller virtual machine implementations. They are targete d to run within the restrictions of the limited resources found on the micro devices (these will be discussed later in this section, as well). The requirement of having another version (like the Java 2 Micro Edition) for the mobile devices came because these devices do not have sufficient recourses to run Java 2 Standard Edition, since J2SE was clearly way excessively large to fit on even the bigger micro devices. However, the question was imposed initially was which features should be left out from the J2SE, so to be minimized in a smaller edition. Also, having great diversity of different devices, it would not have been a nice decision to restrict all the J2ME applications to the lowest compatible hardware configuration (Li, 2005; Kochnev, 2003). Moreover, this solution would not have been practical as well, because it would incorrectly neglect the capabilities of the higher end devices. The final solution is comprehended through a mixture of J2ME configurations and profiles (Krikke, 2005). It represented a revised Java architecture, which actually offers for the leaving out of parts of the platform, at the same time as a ddition to device and category precise components. Along these lines, the configuration would identify the abilities of a Java platform intended for use on a sequence of analogous hardware. Possible components that can be removed are the following (Kochnev, 2003; Lefevre, 2005): Java language mechanism smallest amount hardware necessities, such as the memory, screen size, and processor power for the family of devices integrated Java libraries By utilizing this approach, there are actually 2 preset configurations for mobile devices: one for somewhat restricted devices such as PDAs and Set-Top-Boxes (for instance the digital TV receivers), and another one for devices such as pagers and mobile phones. These two configurations are (Kochnev, 2003; Krikke, 2005; Lefevre, 2005): CDC (Connected Device Configuration) CLDC (Connected, Limited Device Configuration) All of these configurations are to be reviewed as follows. On the other hand, a good example of java profiles is the UI (User Interface) for mobile phones. For example, the J2ME configuration CLDC that wraps this type of device, keeps out the typical Java UI libraries (AWT and Swing). The devices do not have the ability of presenting anything derived from these libraries in any case. This is due to the fact that their screens are just too small. Thus, there is no point to slaughtering valued space on them. The solution was to generate an innovative User Interface, fitting to the exact necessities of the poor mobiles LCD display. The consequential LCD UI is built-in in the CLDC profile. This targets MIDs (Mobile Information Devices), for this reason the name is MIDP. The CDC is built for bigger devices such as digital TV set-top-boxes and PDAs. These are devices characteristically with numerous space of memory. The CDC is the bigger brother of the J2ME configurations. It encloses a single profile (the Foundation profile) as well as a high performance virtual machine (known as the Compact Virtual Machine CVM). This Java language implementation, as well as the API, practically has all the influence of J2SE. Unluckily, the CDC is not accessible on the platform for the most micro-game players (the mobile phones). The CLDC is especially targeted to micro devices, like mobile phones. It fundamentally defines a standard, which in turn is used by all the device manufact