Baldwins Views on Struggles of Blacks in America Essay -- James Baldw

Same Story, Different Continents During the late 1950?s and early 1960?s, many African nations were struggling for their independence from Europe. In ?Down at the Cross,? James Baldwin relates this struggle to that of blacks in the United States during the same time period, and there are far more similarities than Baldwin mentions. Although this comparison offers hope, demonstrating the power of blacks over white oppressors, the ongoing European presence in Africa is a painful reminder that independence and freedom are not complete. Since the 1880?s, when European nations colonized Africa, Europe had almost complete control over the continent, but this changed during the 1950?s and 60?s. By 1958, ten African countries had gained their independence, and sixteen more joined the list in 1960 alone. Although these nations? gain of independence demonstrates the ability of blacks to overpower their white oppressors, Baldwin argues ?The word ?independence? in Africa and the word ?integration? here are almost equally meaningless; that is, Europe has not yet left Africa, and black men here are not yet free? (336). While black people had been legally free in the United States since 1863, two decades before the European colonization of Africa, they were still not truly free, almost a century later. The absence of true freedom is apparent in Baldwin?s other essays, in which he writes about the rampant prejudice and discrimination of the 1950?s and 60?s. Blacks during this time were limited as to where they could live, go to school, use the bathroom, eat, and drink. ?Such were the cases of a Nigerian second secretary who was rebuffed last week when he tried to order breakfast in Charlottesville, VA, and a Ghanaian second secret... .... The National Park Service. 17 Mar. 2004 . ?Lumumba Moved; Reported Beaten.? New York Times 19 Jan. 1961: 7. McLaughlin, Kathleen. ?U.N. Jobs Easing Plight in Congo? New York Times 22 Jan. 1961: 8. ?New Money Set for South Africa? New York Times 16 Jan. 1961: 2. Power Struggle. Revolutionary Suicide: Controlling the Myth of Huey P. Newton. 17 Mar. 2004 . Schmidt, Dana Adams. ?Africans Protest Prejudice in U.S.? New York Times 21 Jan. 1961: 4. Tanner, Henry. ?Mali President Calls on Nation To Fight ?Foreign Subversion. New York Times 16 Jan. 1961: 2. The Tripartite Invasion, 1956. About.com. 5 Mar. 2004 . ?U.N. Shuns Effort in Lumumba Case.? New York Times 20 Jan. 1961: 3.

Welty’s A Worn Path: The Strength of Love :: A Worn Path essays

Strength of Love in A Worn Path   In the story A Worn Path, Eudora Welty shows an old woman living in a time period where racial prejudice is rampant and out of control.   Phoenix Jackson is a grandmother whose only motivation for living is to nurture her grandson back to health.   The strength of love may make people do or say unusual and implausible things.   The central idea of this story is that love can empower someone to over come many life-threatening obstacles.   The idea is shown when an old woman conquers all odds against her to show her everlasting love for her grandson.   Throughout the story Phoenix Jackson has to overcome many types of obstacles that hinder her in her devotion to help her grandson.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the main hindrances that stand in her way is the physical aspect of her age as well as the journey.   Phoenix Jackson is very weak and feeble because of her old age so that makes her long journey very strenuous.   Another physical obstacle is that she has to weave and duck under a barbwire fence.   Her feeble body cannot handle such tasks at her age.   The third hindrance she must defeat is that she must cross over a log that lay across a creek.   This requires concentration, skill, and patients.   Even people whom are twice as young as Phoenix have trouble doing such things.   Not many other emotional force other then love is strong enough to give power to an old woman who is living only for one reason.   She realizes that if she were to die then the fate of her grandson would be damned.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are also mental obstacles that obstruct Phoenix’s journey.   She has to triumph over her weariness because of her old age and her mental fatigue.   As she is walking her mind plays tricks on her, such as the time when she is in the field and mistakes the scarecrow for a dark mysterious figure that she is frightened of.   Another time is when she talks to herself and the animals in the woods.   She tells them not to get in her way because she has a long trip ahead of her.   The love that one person gives to another is never truly appreciated until the recipient realizes what that person has actually done.   The grandson may be too ill or even too young to realize what his grandmother is doing for his safety.

Market Segmentation: Product Concepts

ZULQARNAIN BIN ABU HASSAN SCM 022431 REVIEW OF SEPTEMBER ISSUE When talking about mix and match and color blocking it is normally related to the fashion world. It is also involves modeling, in terms of clothes, accessories, gadgets, men and women, and trending. There are various ways for customer to get reference in fashion. Some will refer to the while other may use word of mouth. However most will use fashion magazine as their main reference. So just what fashion do you prefer? Mix and match? Color Blocking? Trending? There are many answers and you can make a long list if you want.Here we will focus on a September Issue documentary film about the construction of a prominent magazine in New York City, â€Å"Vogue†. Vogue magazine led by its editor Anna Wintour a strong influential and is supported by fashion designers all over Europe. A bit of background of the Editor. She was an ex model and is a hardcore follower of Vogue magazine since her teens. Her father Charles Wintour , former editor of a newspaper, persuade join the Vogue magazine. In this documentary film it will highlight how a fashion magazine is being published.Publishing a magazine will involved planning the content of the magazine for each month, what message to be conveyed to the reader and followers of Vogue, and try to anticipate future fashion or trending today. The production of the magazine should always be able to communicate to the readers. It also should express its views despite the bitter outlook. This is done through pre-production. The publication of a magazine will have to looked in terms of quality and not just profit alone. In the pre-production, editor has to play a big role in ensuring that choices and decisions are made clearly.She has to understand the desires of the readers and followers of the Vogue. For September 2007 Issue, the goals is to make history by producing over 100 pages. Other factors such as fashion related activities, advertising and cover page by endors ed celebrity also plays an important role in a magazine. All the hard work is done during the pre-production. Post mortem is then conducted before they proceed to real production. As editor of Vogue magazine said in 2007 ‘fashion is not about looking back but is about looking forward â€Å".

The New Weave- Culturally Inclusive Curriculum

The New Weave- Culturally Inclusive Curriculum A ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’ is the planning and delivery of education to ensure that social and cultural perspectives are reflected in all aspects of teaching and learning across the curriculum. Any part of the curriculum cannot be primarily altered by the teacher, so in order to adapt a culturally inclusive curriculum a collaborative support is needed as a means of creating sustainable change and improvement that integrates successful outcomes of programmes into mainstream schooling practice.The needed support will rely on expertise, decisions and the involvement of key stakeholders such as; parents, teachers, the community and the Education Department in establishing, implementing and monitoring the procedures. Going through all this procedures is as important as culturally inclusive will not only involve within the classroom but within the community and the school.This assignment will be discussing the importance of culturally inclusive curriculum to students learning, then describe how as a teacher would facilitate the sharing of cultural experiences of students, outline the challenges faced when facilitating of cultural experiences and how it was dealt with and finally the concluding with the fact that diverse cultures in schools is emerging. Education is an introduction to worthwhile learning with teaching methods that must be morally accepted.Culture is the background or foundation of a person’s upbringing within their society which includes their store of important knowledge, skills and values expressed through their language and passing them on to the younger generation for the sake of cultural continuity and survival. In this context, education and culture are inextricably linked since the content of all education has value of structure that is associated with a particular cultural scheme. As education and culture are inextricably linked, culturally inclusive curriculum is a vi tal approach to the education system. In most Oceanic societies today, traditional cultural values underpin much of what people emphasise and think about, and continue to be the framework that people use to justify their behaviour and to explain the behaviour of others†. (Thaman, 1988). To embrace the knowledge of diverse cultures of all students in education is to understand the cultural backgrounds of the students, from there, teachers will be able to create a learning space for their students’ which is known as ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’.With different cultural backgrounds and heritage ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’ is based on reflecting on students’ prior knowledge, views, values and understanding, teachers can then build on that foundation with activities and resources that are familiar to the students. The importance of a ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’ approaches have various benefits in the classroom, th e school and the community.The Solomon Islands Education Strategic plan 2002-2004 takes this into consideration when it states: †¦there is an acceptance that education has increased tensions with communities†¦The education system is seen by many as being unconnected and antagonistic to the social and cultural values on which Solomon Island communities and society is based†¦Education must be available to all regardless of gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background of citizens. (Ministry of Education, Solomon Islands 2002:1-2).The approaches will be describing how a teacher would facilitate the sharing of cultural experiences of students which with benefits that will explain the essential features that will reflect back towards the students’ wellbeing that will be focused on enhancing students learning. The approaches are: Teaching programs will meet the specific needs of students from diverse backgrounds to ensure equitable learning outcomes where students are provided with support to develop language and literacy proficiency.While English is the major shared language within the Pacific Island countries, it can be used as a tool and mean of communication for our literacy and language development of the social, cultural, community and economic vitality of our nation to draw upon adoption of cultures such as language and a wide variety of languages other than English. Activities that they will be able to relate to, for example are: 1.Sharing ideas of the different uses of plants for medicinal purposes and other uses and plant names. This idea will bring students to able to make connections with other cultures as some plant names and uses will be similar. e. g. similar names of coconut; ini- Nauruan, naniu- Fijian and niu- Tongan and Hawaiian. 2. A discussion, students share stories of adapted languages. e. g. Story of how the Ikiribati and the Nauruan adopted a word A European boy came off a ship with a pet dog, the Ikiribati and the Na uruan bserved carefully at the strange looking creature and they asked each other, â€Å"What is it called? † The European boy called his dog, â€Å"come here Rover† The Ikiribati went back to his people and told them that the creature (dog) is called a ‘Dagamea’ as from the word ‘come here’. The Nauruan went back to his people and told his people that the creature (dog) is called ‘Robar’ as from the word ‘Rover’. Until now in Kiribati, dagamea mean dog and in Nauru, robar means dog. These benefits are:Schools actively engage with parents and community members from diverse backgrounds to support the engagement and learning of their children this will enable the classroom to become an independent space which promotes open dialogue and communication to allow for personal and social education and will also encourage a cooperative learning. Students will develop an understanding and respect for different cultures, religio ns, values and views, as they are able to understand and see the similarities between their own cultural backgrounds and other cultures and relate to them.Diverse cultural backgrounds of all students are recognised and valued so no students are being left out but will be given the opportunity to express and share their own cultural background and build on their prior knowledge in a diverse and meaningful way this will enable students to gain confidence in their self image. The inference are the approach will analyse the cultural similarities, it is human nature that having something in common always attract interest and will create a diverse society within the classroom. Students will view that culture is a web of interrelationships and will provide meaning to and a framework for their existence in a particular society†. (Thanman , 2001). Pacific education must prepare our children for the reality of life beyond the walls of the classroom, the schoolyard and their familiar soc iety; they must be a prepared for the complex life beyond their comfort zone, but to prepare them to inculcate values and character that would enable full and positive participation in both local cultural community life and in the global community.However, there is yet another perspective of the issue concerning the idea of sharing cultural experiences of student which are the challenges teachers will face when utilizing the idea. It is always best to speculate and evaluate the idea of adopting changes and the pedagogy used. In spite of the importance highlighted of the idea of sharing cultural experiences let us not overlook the challenges which the teacher will be facing.Challenges that I may be facing as a teacher are to mention a few are; trying to get to know all the cultural background of all my students and not leaving one behind due to my lack of knowledge and understanding, coming to terms with my own cultural beliefs, religion and values into accepting other beliefs, relig ions and values and the limited understanding of what curriculum reform was about and unable to satisfactorily implement the new curricula.Trying to get to know all the cultural background of all my students and not leaving one behind due to my lack of knowledge and understanding, is as a teacher, more research, planning and extra hard work have to be carried out. As some cultural experiences maybe dominant than the other, as a teacher I have to try to balance them out and be resourceful and creative in planning activities to be made as equally interesting and not letting one culture dominate the other. Coming to terms with my own cultural background, religion and values and accepting other beliefs, religions and values.As an adult without the opportunity of a culturally diverse upbringing or teacher training on the issue, it will be a challenge to understand and interrelate with other cultural beliefs especially when it comes to religion and beliefs. While moulding my students to b e culturally diverse I will be going through the same process and learning myself. The limited understanding of what curriculum reform was about and unable to satisfactorily implement the new curricula of ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’.Due to my lack of knowledge of other cultural backgrounds, it will be a challenge to implement or even teach the new cultural inclusive curricula. In conclusion, culturally inclusive curriculum is an important approach in this modern time, as even though there will be challenges when teachers are actually facilitating the sharing of cultural experiences within the classroom. Culture inclusive in our curricula is becoming a demand due to the increase of multicultural backgrounds of students which has brought attention to educators to take action on the issue.Diverse cultures in Pacific schools is increasing so let us use this as an opportunity to prepare our children to be able to strive in the wider global network. Bibliography Ministr y of Education, Solomon Islands. 2002. Education strategic plan 2002- 2004. Government of Solomon Islands, Solomon Is. Thaman, K. H. (1988). Ako and Faiako: cultural values, educational ideas and teachers’ role perceptions in Tonga. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of the South Pacific, Suva. Thanman, K. T. (2001). Culturally inclusive teacher education in Oceania. International Education Journel, 26 (5), 1-2.

Concept Paper on Medical Aid Schemes

MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY Concept paper on the proposed State Universities Medical Fund Distribution List Mrs. V. Chirasha / Deputy Registrar (Human Resources) Author Mr. S. Masiyiwa / Lecturer, Department of Insurance & Risk Management 1. Introduction Healthcare finance and services providers in Zimbabwe were not spared by the economic downturn of the past decade. Most medical aid societies, practically collapsed when co-payments demanded by service providers exceeded their global limits on benefit payaments. For example, patients were being asked to pay Z$10 billion cash as o-payment and the medical aid society would only pay Z$1 million according to their tariffs. This mismatch, saw many clients, the state universities included, canceling their membership to such schemes and retaining the risk themselves, either funded or unfunded. The introduction of the multicurrency system in February 2009 brought the much needed stability to various sectors of the economy. However, the system was not backed by significant foreign currency inflows and as a result economic activity has remained subdued. Many organizations are currently operating below capacity and are downsizing to remain afloat. This development has significantly reduced inflow of contributions to medical aid societies, who although operating, are still to fully recover and offer full scale benefits. 2. Recent developments Contributions made to medical aid societies are made on the understanding that â€Å"if you do not use it you lose it†. This is understandable as medical aid schemes are basically risk pooling and sharing solutions and premised on the concept that the misfortunes of a few should be met by fortunes of many. However, the tight liquidity situation is forcing many entities to adopt innovative risk management strategies intended to retain as much cash as possible and only outsource those risks that exceed their risk appetite. The economic challenges of the past decade, we faced as a nation exposed the limitations of insurance as a risk financing mechanism. We have all learnt that insurance is not â€Å"THE† solution but part of the solution and that there are also equally good alternatives to insurance. Some medium to large scale organizations have since created self administered insurance schemes to cater for a variety of risks they face in their operations, e. g. material damage, health, funeral, superannuation, etc. Cell Insurance Company has spearheaded the adoption of the concept in Zimbabwe through its â€Å"rent-a-cell† captive arrangement and today it administers a lot of these schemes. However, a worrisome development in Zimbabwe is the transfer of the superannuation and morbidity risk to the employees by cash strapped or unscrupulous employers. Recently most if not all of the state university staff had no membership to any medical aid or health insurance scheme. They were paying for their health and related expenses from personal resources. The extent to which this approach could be used was obviously limited due to the low salaries and allowances staff is currently receiving. The state universities have started receiving funding from the fiscus and renewed their membership to medical aid societies. However, the concept is still the same: if you do not use it, you lose it! How many times have been to the doctor lately, once, twice or none? Literally, medical aid societies are getting richer at the expense of the members, university staff included. Retaining in-house the contributions state universities currently pay to various medical aid societies and health insurance schemes could make a difference to the underfunded institutions. 3. Suggestions for the state universities It is against the above background that I propose that the state universities should consider setting up a unified independent medical benefit fund to finance health and related risks the state university staff are exposed to on a daily basis. It is also proposed that both the employer (state universities) and the employees should make periodic contributions to the fund, the employer paying 80% and the employees meeting the balance of 20%. 4. Costing basis According to latest personnel records, the state universities employ about 3100 in total. Costing of commercial health and self insurance schemes is based on the â€Å"law of large numbers†. The larger the statistical base, the more accurate the loss ratio becomes. Many schemes operating in Zimbabwe today actually started as in-house schemes with even fewer numbers, e. g. FLIMAS and First Mutual. The 3100 university employees constitute a sizeable number, to allow for costing of the proposed medical benefit fund. In addition to the level of benefits required, existing university clinic utilization figures should be analysed and included in the costing model. 5. Advantages of the proposed scheme The proposed scheme has the following advantages: – Contributions to the fund should be lower as members will not pay for medical aid society or insurer’s administration and profit margins. – Interest from the investment of funds will accrue to the benefit fund – Any profits will accrue to the benefit fund Benefits can be tailor made, improved and enhanced with time as the fund grows – There will be no disputes with medical aid society or insurers over claims settlement – There would be a strong incentive by members to reduce claims and control losses – Global limits can be increased easily with minimum or no increase in contributions fr om the employer and employers – Improvement in staff morale can be achieved thereby increasing productivity and the restoration of financial independence and dignity. 6. Disadvantages of the proposed scheme The proposed scheme has the following disadvantages: – The claims statistics, which are used to decide on contributions will come from a narrow base – A catastrophic loss (although remote) could occur in the formative years and wipe out the fund. However, catastrophe cover can be separately arranged with leading reinsurers for a very low premium to cover the fund against an accumulation of claims above the expected budget in any given accounting period. – Individual small claims may not affect the fund too much but their aggregate effect may have catastrophic effects. Catastrophe cover, described above can also mitigate this risk – There will be need to employ additional staff to handle the fund’s administrative matters. True, but use of existing clinics and facilities at state universities should reduce the number of additional staff required. – There may be a temptation to dip into the fund and pay for unrelated activities. This must be resisted by the board of management/trustees. In any case the business of the fund should be separate from that of sponsoring universities. If the †dip† is to be allowed it should be a loan based on prevailing commercial bank loan terms and conditions. – Benefits from the basic insurance principle of spreading risk will be lost. From the foregoing, it can be concluded that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. The disadvantages, although real, are highly theoretical and remote. 7. Establishment of a technical working committee To expedite the process a technical committee consisting of representatives from the state universities should be set up. The committee should consist of both management representatives (50%) and employee representatives (50%). This intended to ensure buy in at the early stages and also incorporated the various stakeholders’ interests and ideas in the scheme. 8. The mandate The technical committee must be mandated to carry out the following tasks: 10. 1 Drafting of the constitution The proposed benefit fund will be run according to its Rules and Regulations as enshrined in its Constitution. The technical committee will be responsible for drafting the Rules and Regulations, which will include, inter alia: ) The name and objects of the proposed benefit fund b) Board of management/trustees, appointment and composition, meetings, its powers and functions c) Membership issues e. g. eligibility, application, termination, deprivation of membership, etc d) Subscriptions e. g. level, frequency and mode of payment of subscriptions. e) Beneficiaryship e. g. eligibility, application and termination of benefi ciaryship. f) Schedule of benefits e. g. nature and amounts of benefits, eligibility for benefits, waiting periods, claims for benefits, rejection of claims, ex-gratia payments. ) Assets, liabilities, rights and obligations of the medical fund h) Actuarial valuation i) Dissolution/wing-up of medical benefit fund j) Amendment of rules e. g. power, requirements for amending the rules k) General information for members e. g. benefit exclusions, lodging of members’ complaints and requests, payments of awards not supported by receipts, payment of service providers, list of approved providers, letters of guarantees for services provided outside Zimbabwe, shortfalls, travel cover on holiday, business or study. ) Promotion of the medical fund for acceptance by target service providers and establishing working relationships with them 2. Benefit design The technical committee must develop a number of benefit options which members can choose from. I propose the following plans, that I h ave christened, for want of better names, the university premier plan, university medium plan and the university standard plan. a) University Premier Plan This would be similar to the CIMAS Medexec Plan/PSMAS Pinnacle Plan and is meant to provide executive benefits for the principal officers and senior management. ) University Medium Plan This would be similar to the CIMAS Private Hospital Plan/ PSMAS Select Plan and is meant to provide members who want global limits higher than those provided under the University Standard Plan described below: c) University Standard Plan This should be the entry point and would be similar Excel Plan from PSMAS which currently covers most staff. The plan will pay for consultation and treatment received from Government, Mission, Municipal & Private Hospitals, general practitioners and specialists up to a limit, per person per annum 3. Registration of the fund with the authorities The technical committee should be mandated to register the proposed medical benefit fund in terms of the Medical Services Act, Chapter 15: 13 and any other applicable and relevant legislation. 9. Administration The technical committee should consider the following issues that affect the efficient running of the business of the proposed medical benefit fund. 9. 1. Location of registered office and other offices. This could be either in Harare or Bulawayo with satellite offices at all state universities. Any other center could be considered for the location of the head office. My suggestion is based on the density of service providers in Harare and Bulawayo. Most members would be referred to these big centers for specialist medical tests and treatment. Existing facilities could be used as satellite offices e. g. the existing clinics could be expanded and resourced to offer a variety of services normally available from general practitioners. This will save on costs. 2. Staffing issues Additional staff will be required especially for the head office. This will include the principal officer, finance manager, membership and claims administrators. However, they should be very few, because most of the work will be done from satellite offices. Initially there may be a lot of work when the office is set up but that should stabilize with the effluxion of time. 3. Finance and claims administration This could be centralized at head office and payments to service providers and refunds to members made once every fortnight i. e. only on two occasions per month. 4. Dispensary It is advisable to buy the essential drugs from source and keep them in stock for use by members. It will also save on costs. Railmed currently operates such a facility countrywide for the benefit of railway employees scattered across the country. The state universities should use the existing clinics for a similar purpose. Alternatively, mutually beneficial arrangements (drug schemes) can be made with leading private pharmacies to allow members’ access to drugs without paying for them upfront. 5. Approved provider network For the members to benefit, the scheme should be promoted for broader acceptance by as many service providers as possible so that members are not inconvenienced in the time of need. The management of the medical fund should promote the scheme and establish working relationships with all health service providers. This can also save on cost as it is possible to negotiate preferential rates. 6. Access to technical advice The state universities have a large pool of experts on their payroll. The technical committee should tap on that expertise. This will not only serve on cost but show the world that we can use knowledge to the benefit of mankind and practice what we preach! 10. Conclusion Emerging trends in risk management indicate that more and more organizations are electing funded risk retention strategies in an effort to contain cost and get more value for their money. State universities should embrace the philosophy and design and implement robust enterprise wide risk management strategies that mitigate the risks they are exposed to. For a start, establishing a unified independent medical benefit fund to finance the morbidity risk university staff are exposed to will be a good step in that direction. Proposed State Universities Medical Benefit Fund Benefit Limits Schedule General Practitioners, Specialists, Public & Private Hospitals) | |Services |Benefit Limits (US$) | | |General Practitioner |Paid in full | | |Physician specialist |Paid in full | | |Hospitalisation | | | |Prescription drugs | | | |Rehabilitative services | | | |Haemodialysis |Paid in full | | |Chemotherapy |Paid in full | | |Chronic disease drugs |Paid in full | | |Dental services | | | |R efraction |Paid in full | | |Optical |Paid in full | |Maternity |Paid in full | | |Family planning | | | |Hearing aids | | | |Pathology |Paid in full | | |Radiology |Paid in full | | |Blood transfusion |Paid in full | | |Psychiatric care |Paid in full | | |Prosthetic appliances | | | |Ambulance |Paid in full | | |Air Evacuation |Paid in full for life threatening situations| | | |only subject to prior authorization by board| | | |of management/trustees | | |Foreign treatment |Local benefit limit apply subject to prior | | | |authorization by board of | | | |management/trustees | ———————– [pic]

Agrarian Discontent In The Late 1800s Essays - Free Essays

Agrarian Discontent In The Late 1800s Essays - Free Essays Agrarian Discontent in the Late 1800's "Why the Farmers Were Wrong" The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American politics. The country was for once free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the bulwark of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. Furthermore, improvement in transportation allowed foreign competition to materialize, making it harder for American farmers to dispose of surplus crop. Finally, years of drought in the midwest and the downward spiral of business in the 1890's devastated many of the nation's farmers. As a result of the agricultural depression, many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline in agriculture. During the last twenty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw monopolies and trusts, railroads, and money shortages and the demonetization of silver as threats to their way of life, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The growth of the railroad was one of the most significant elements in American economic growth. However, in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers. Extreme competition between rail companies necessitated some way to win business. To do this, many railroads offered rebates and drawbacks to larger shippers who used their rails. However, this practice hurt smaller shippers, including farmers, for often times railroad companies would charge more to ship products short distances than they would for long trips. The rail companies justified this practice by asserting that if they did not rebate, they would not make enough profit to stay in business. In his testimony to the Senate Cullom Committee, George W. Parker stated, "...the operating expense of this road...requires a certain volume of business to meet these fixed expenses....in some seasons of the year, the local business of the road...is not sufficient to make the earnings...when we make up a train of ten of fiftee n cars of local freight...we can attach fifteen or twenty cars...of strictly through business. We can take the latter at a very low rate than go without it." Later, when asked the consequences of charging local traffic the same rate as through freight, Mr. Parker responded, "Bankruptcy, inevitably and speedy...". While the railroads felt that they must use this practice to make a profit, the farmers were justified in complaining, for they were seriously injured by it. A perfect example of this fact can be found in The Octopus by Frank Norris. A farmer named Dyke discovers that the railroad has increased their freight charges from two to five cents a pound. This new rate, "...ate up every cent of his gains. He stood there ruined." (Doc. H). The railroads regularly used rebates and drawbacks to help win the business of large shippers, and made up this loss in profit by increasing the cost to smaller shippers such as farmers. As a result, many farmers, already hurt by the downslide in agriculture, were ruined. Thus, the farmers of the late nineteenth century had a valid complaint against railroad shippers, for these farmers were hurt by the unfair practices of the railroads. Near the end of the nineteenth century, business began to centralize, leading to the rise of monopolies and trusts. Falling prices, along with the need for better efficiency in industry, led to the rise of such companies as Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which controlled a majority of the nation's supply of raw steel and oil respectively. The rise of these monopolies and trusts concerned many farmers, for they felt that the disappearance of competition would lead to erratic and unreasonable price rises that would hurt consumers. James B. Weaver, the Populist party's presidential candidate in the 1892 election, summed up the feelings of many Americans of the period in his work, A Call to Action: An Interpretation of the Great Uprising. He wrote, "It is clear that trusts are...in conflict with the Common law. They are monopolies organized to

Tools and Techniques Essay Example

Tools and Techniques Essay Example Tools and Techniques Essay Tools and Techniques Essay Critical thinking can be argued to have enormous impacts on the typical decision-making process. Throughout the decision-making cycle we, as individuals or groups, analyze, interpret, assume, hypothesis and eventually take action, in reference to a given event, in order to make changes for the better. Similar to a master woodworker, there are specialized tools and techniques which can be used to influence our products or final decisions. Picture this, a wooden salad bowl created by a 12th grade student in shop class versus a wooden salad bowl made by Bob Villa or Norm Abram of The New Yankee Workshop. Experience has an impact on the outcome but the tools and techniques are the greatest influence. The purpose of this document is to discuss and describe the Pareto Principle and Pareto Charts, a specific decision-making tool and technique. In addition to a brief history, an attempt will be made to illustrate how the Pareto Principle and Pareto Charts apply to common business practices. Originations The Pareto Principle. According to the life summary by the Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist and sociologist, known for his application of mathematics to economic analysis and for his theory of the circulation of elites'(2005, p. 2). Pareto recognized that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. This realization is widely known today as the Pareto Principle or the 80-20 Rule. The realization is important to note this because Vilfredo Pareto also discovered that the principle was recognizable in other components of his life. In order to make the transition from Paretos original view to common business practices we can thank Dr. J. M. Juran. Joe De Feo, CEO and President of the Juran Institute, stated, Dr. Juran has been called the father of quality (2003, p. 1). Dr. Juran has been credited with establishing quality control standards which aid current-day managers in using the 80-20 rule. In reference to business operations, the 80-20 rule is best understood in this manner, 80% of an organizations problems arise from 20% of the organizations processes. Knowing the basis of the Pareto Principle is critical to managers. With this knowledge leaders can visually track problem areas with a valuable tool, the Pareto Chart. Pareto Charts What, Why and When A Pareto Chart is a tool which portrays the frequency of occurrence of a variable of interest in various categories, arranged in order of descending frequency. (Stevenson, 2000, p. 51) Simply stated, a Pareto Chart is a specialized tool bar graph. The chart is used to display the importance of problems or conditions. The construction of a Pareto Chart is quite simple. Relating back to the 80-20 rule, 80% of problems usally stem from 20% of the processes or actions, the first step would be to determine the breakdown of problems or causes to be compared. In my organization, the main problem could be customer dissatisfaction regarding service calls. Specific examples for customer unhappiness could be service calls not answered at all, service calls not completed due to product knowledge and service calls delayed due to unavailable parts. The second steps would be to select a unit of measurement or time to be studied. To continue the example within my organization, the frequency could be weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. The third step toward completing a Pareto Chart would be to collect and summarize the data. Using the selected examples, our managers would start to track when a problem would satisfy the selected criteria. If we missed a service call due to unavailable parts during a given time then the issue would be logged. The final step would be to create the chart. Using horizontal and vertical axes a visual picture would emerge. The categories or problems would populate on the horizontal axis and the frequency for each category would reflect on the left vertical axis. If done correctly the resulting picture will clearly highlight the critical areas for improvement. There are many reasons why a Pareto Chart should be used. The big picture question is what to do with the results. The clearest example would be to focus on a problem or improve a process that will yield the biggest benefits. (Manktelow, 2003, p.1) If we, Bennetts Business Systems, were trying to improve customer satisfaction and our target problem was service calls we would look to rectify the category with the highest frequency of mishaps. In most cases, this category will reflect about 80% of the problems. By using the Pareto Chart we would be able to achieve the highest return on efficiency for our efforts. There are other benefits to using the Pareto Principle and Pareto Charts. From a managerial perspective, the tool and technique will aid in breaking down complex problems into smaller components. In addition, the breakdown will assist leaders in allocating resources. This decision-making by-product is an enormous benefit. The best case scenario of any critical decision result is to end up at a better outcome. Not realizing or recognizing the importance of resources can drastically alter the decision-making process and implementation plan. Failure at this stage can be devastating. The Pareto Principle and Pareto Chart can and should be used in organizational environments when problems or issues are apparent. The obvious situation for use occurs when data or information can be separated into categories. The ideal example would be when a department can count the number of times an event happens. Outside of the typical problem analysis, Bennetts Business Systems uses Pareto Charts to illustrate sale activity. Through this example the 80-20 rule is supported. 75% of the highest sales activity is produced by 25% of the sales staff. We use this summary analysis to find out what activities the successful 25% are accomplishing and in turn coach the remaining 75% on how to improve. Conclusion Michael Williamsen might have said it best, The Pareto Chart is one of the most helpful tools in the Six Sigma tool box. These charts help pinpoint unacceptable occurrences that warrant high priority. The charts show the frequency and severity of problems and where they occur. ( 2005, p. 9). From an enlightened mathematician and economist to a master of quality control we have been given an extremely useful decision-making tool and technique. The Pareto Principle and Pareto Chart provide managers the needed edge to succeed in a complex problem-filled business environment. References Pareto, V. (2005). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved September 27, 2005 from Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service https://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9058449 Feo, J. (2003). Juran Institute: Quality Improvement Tools. Retrieved September 27, 2005 from Juran Institute, Inc. https://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9058449 Stevenson, W. (2000). Quality Progress. Milwaukee. Oct 2000. Vol. 33, Iss. 10; pg. 51, 5pgs Retrieved September 26, 2005, from the ProQuest Database. Manktelow, J. (2005) Mind Tools: Pareto Analysis.