An Analysis of the Importance of Setting In James Baldwins Giovannis Essay

An Analysis of the Importance of Setting In James Baldwins Giovannis Room - Essay Example The story itself is well written and intriguing, but many of the elements involved are only able to arise in the unique atmosphere of Paris. This paper will attempt to examine some of the reasons for Baldwin's choice of setting. The two American characters in the novel have both left the United States for different reasons. David, the narrator, claims that "I wanted to find myself" (p. 31) when leaving towards France, reflecting in hindsight that he would only find the self that he kept trying to escape. His past hinges on a dysfunctional relationship with his father, who spent most of David's youth drunk, to the point that by the time David grows older and the father attempts to get closer, then David no longer wishes it. David's rejection of his father stems from two root causes: firstly, David has begun to judge his father and, while not disapproving of the alcohol exactly, David resents his father's emotional absence through the years. Secondly, David has had at least one homosexual experience by this time - with a boy named Joey - whom he then promptly rejects. David's actions show a subconscious shame about his own homosexual tendencies, as well as a concern that his father might discover this aspect of his son. David's departure from the United States is an attempt to put physical distance between himself and his father, as well as psychological distance between himself, the experience with Joey, and the possibility of his father's discovery. Hella is on a similar journey of self-discovery with similar parallels of trying to escape. She is from Minneapolis and not much is said about her hometown. Instead, she is absent the first half of the novel because she is in Spain, contemplating David's marriage proposal. Hella's quest is to find a nobler purpose in her life than to become an average mother and housewife, yet when she returns to Paris, she grudgingly says that "it's really all I'm good for." (p.163). Her spirit is broken. Her old stance had been that a woman's attachment to a man was degrading, yet she now feels that even though a man will always be a stranger to a woman, she will only be free once she is committed to a relationship. She claims that "women get attached to something by default." (p.167), and that, essentially her purpose is therefore defined by David's need for her. Both of these characters go through an evolution in the course of the novel: they seek to escape their own nature, then accept it for a time and are happy, only to become miserable in the end by denying it once more. David only acknowledges his love for Giovanni when Giovanni is slated for execution; Hella leaves David when he needs the most support, primarily because of the revelation of David's love for Giovanni. Because of the very nature of the Americans, they are portrayed in sharp contrast to the Parisians. Hella declares that "coming back to Paris is always so lovely" (p. 160), implying the American romanticism attached to the city, but her true confusion of the Europe experience is hidden in her description of Spain "it's very beautiful. I just didn't know what I was doing there." David, while he enjoy Parisian life, identifies closely with the his fellow customers at the American Express Office, whom he perceives as having a quality "unedited, unrealized the sorrow of the disconnected." (p. 119). These aspects have become

Knowledge partner-VP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Knowledge partner-VP - Essay Example Besides, this is the people who gave their assistance from the Island to develop their vision, and have the same vision with Lab Vlieland. Moreover, Lab Vlieland provides municipality the information. However, the move is to make value proposition. That is; if one needs to earn extra money, one need to understand correctly customer’s demands. The producer or the company should have adequate information on what the customer will be getting as well as what the customer will be willing to pay. Moreover, the organization should be able to analyze who is this person to pay for the network and to be in the inner cycle. Ecological stability, Economic security are also factors that will enable one to understand clearly their customer. Therefore, Suitability is an act of trying to find people in who are willing to want to finance and participate in the project. Moreover, they should be able to share the dream of a community that is about energy independence. However, with sustainable energy, they will be able to earn more income in any particular period. The project is all about generating the solar power field, water or sustainable energy. Time is also another major factor that needs to ensure their efficiency and effectiveness of the operations. Moreover, knowledge sharing helps speeds up the response to the right individuals with the required knowledge and skills. Therefore, time consideration will enable the firm timely identify the right personnel to partner with the business. Also, partners like Google can offer to give time instead of cash. That is; they can use their staff to help Vlieland in their presentation. They can just provide approximately 1% of their employee’s time. Pain relievers are also another thing that needs to be considered. That is; it will help describe the techniques that Vlieland’s service will able to address the challenges. There will be various challenges that the business will be expecting

Role of the Line Manager and Devolved Responsibility

Role of the Line Manager and Devolved Responsibility Understanding how HR function equips line manager to deal with devolved responsibility Literature review: Government deregulation, strong competition and big pressure in domestic and overseas market have led many organisations to concentrate on the management of employees in order to meet increasing demands for quality goods and services. It was posited that HRM represented an opportunity for the function to improve its status by making innovative and positive contributions to corporate goals and business success (Tyson, 1987) There is however general agreement over one structural change that has taken place, many organisations have devolved manpower responsibility from a function personnel office to line manager ( Hutchinson and wood,1995) In order to maintain competitive advantage, companies have been forced to come up with a new strategic innovation and devolved some HR responsibility to line managers to keep the business on track and to achieve the overall HRM strategy and thus the business strategy. This new vision of bringing HR task to the line has been dictated by the fast changing business environment, keenoy (1990) tend to see HRM as an instrumental approach to people management, driven by market oriented activities that affect the business as a whole. Cunningham and Hymans (1999) noticed that personnel function was being removed from departments and devolved to line managers because it has consistently failed to achieve results in the past, but other causes that helped to build up a new way in how hr function and line managers work together, many changes in the corporate environment like competition, decentralisation, and privatisation has reformed HR function. Another problem is that HR profession does not control access to personnel job, a non HR manager can become an HR manager when the employers decide so. The rational of why line involvement has become more frequent following the idea of (Brewster, Larsen.2000.p196) is mainly because of five factors: To reduce cost To provide a more comprehensive approach of HRM. To place responsibility for HRM with managers most responsible for it. To speed-up decision making. As an alternative to outsourcing the HR function. Defining line managers role : The literature make a distinction between line and staff function, line function are those who have direct responsibility for achieving the objectives of the organisation (Stewart ,1963). Dalton (1959) said that line officers are lacking skills when translating staff advice into effective working practice. We can notice different layers of line activity within organisations but for the purpose of our research the term line managers refers to section or area heads that exists above supervisory level but doesnt include senior position within the hierarchy (Noreen, Michael, 1995) Drucker (1974) views that the management job consist of five basic  operations: Setting objectives Organising Motivating and communicating Measurement People development March and Gilies (1983) said that industrial relation and day to day personnel activities lie with line and staff manager and subordinate supervisors. A useful typology of senior/middle line manager was proposed by storey (1992), this typology give us better view about different roles that a manager can do in the organisation, he used two key dimension of the line manager described in the matrix figure 1. Source : Storey 1992 , Typology of middle line managers . The first dimension is when a manager is commercially oriented or technically oriented and the second dimension is measuring whether a manager is taking a proactive or reactive attitude. storeys typology is useful because it let us know different role that a manager can do in the area of HRD which is part of the devolved task to line managers. The HR role : We understood from the previous that line manager have the responsibility of HR task in their area, in the other side HR department is responsible for HRM across all the organisation (Henrick , Brewster .2003). Tyson and fell 1992 proposed a conceptualised classification of three models of personnel management as follow: From 1960s clerk of works doing routine works. From 1970s as a contract manager From 1980s as an architect business manager who is responsible of planning , Tyson and fell concluded that personnel managers facilitate other management task to occur, and their most important skills depend in their timing of applying techniques and their ability to sell their services to client line managers. Storey (1992) came up with the intervention /non intervention dimension and a strategic/tactical axis and he presented four main types of personnel practitioner : advisers , handmaiden(reactive, client/contractors of line manager), regulators (intervene to monitor the observance of employment rules) , and last the highest position which is strategic and interventionary change makers, storey findings explain that personnel in the majority of companies wasnt the main drivers of the change wanted , because the regulator still outnumbered the change makers in most of the companies. Source : Storey J 1992, four roles of personnel managers. The HR function is responsible of giving guidance and taking initiative, in order to support and solve all the problems associated to the organisations employee. HR function is a very important part in an organisation providing the advice and services that facilitate organisation to get the job done through people. The HR function is in place to make sure HR strategies, policies and practices are known by everybody in the organisation and maintained, but also providing the support for everything concerning the employment, well being of people and their development and the existent relationship between management and employee. It plays a major role in creating an environment that encourage employee to realize their potential to the benefit of the company and themselves (Armstrong, 2010) HR function, line management set up : Many researchS have been done to prove the consensual relation between hr function and line managers , (Guest 1987) presented a framework which resulted in an HRM approach, according to him the adoption of an HRM should result in an organisational pay-off designed to produce a strategic integration, high commitment , high quality , and flexibility among employees . guest said that integration as a concept is composed of four aspects, firstly the integration of HR policy making and corporate strategic planning process, second HRM policy should be integrated with one another and with other business strategy in the organisation like finance and marketing, the third one is that it should be an integration between attitude and practices of line managers within the organisations HR policies, the fourth aspect is the integration of the employees with the interest of the organisation by showing a high commitment to the organisation. The leadership behaviour and HR practice of line managers will affect the employees commitment, the commitment could be to the organisation or more likely to the line manager as proved by the team at bath university and supported by CIPD, the research showed where people feel positive about their relationship with their front line managers they are more likely to have higher levels of job satisfaction, commitment and loyalty which result in better performance. Sisson (1994) emphasise that the first two aspect of integration are difficult to achieve unless they are seriously managed by top and middle managers in the organisation. Storey (1992) as well refers to three key elements and suggested to associate them with a distinctive approach of HRM, the first element is that the HRM of an organisation is the one that makes the difference. The second element is that in order to make the difference , HRM needs to be managed in a strategic way . The third element is the one that requires line managers to know the link between HRM and the strategic direction of the organisation designed by its top managers. This third element matches the third aspects of integration , and (guest 1987.p514) add that in order to achieve the third outcome of flexibility , managers need to have change agent skills. Hutchinson examined the involvement of line manager in HR and found that HR manager do consult line managers, and some other managers are working in partnership. The empirical evidence from Hutchinson and wood study (1995) shows a joint working between personal and line managers and also an increasing role for line manager in the HR function. Another study from Cunningham and Hymans noted that more line manager are getting involved in HR work, an evidence from Saragota study suggested that the extent that line management were involved in HR task was wide with the line doing around third of core HR department roles.(IRS,1995). Torington and Hall (1996) found HR specialist work in partnership with line manager when they design the HR strategy, the study showed that personnel function was involved in strategy at some point and was developed in cooperation with line managers, the conclusion was that the approach was small rather than holistic and personnel was reactive rather than proactive . the impact of this devolved responsibility to the line was that some line managers supported the move, but others taught that it starts people problem which is the responsibility of HR to deal with , because line managers didnt have the skills to take on these new tasks , some other problem was lack of consistency and inadequacy of train ing and support provided for line management. Pool and Jekins (1997) analysed the extent of line management responsibility for HR practices concluding that line managers were far more responsible than might have been supposed with a central pattern of line dominance in operational responsibility on most personnel HR matters. Mc Govern et al (1997) study of line management practice discovered the reluctance of some managers to take on personnel responsibilities, believing that its not their job but personnels job, as a result many HR department were afraid or reluctant to devolve responsibilities to the line as there was lack of knowledge and ability to take it on. They identified a model of line managers getting involved directly in HR activities with the support of the HR function and personal motivation was the factor motivating the line , but some obstacles were facing them like the quality of practice by line managers, short term managerial approaches another big problem was that the line couldnt devote much time to HR activ ities as their return on effort was not directly quantifiable and they concluded : The prospect for full-blown devolvement to the line are not promising given the current priorities of these business , attempts to devolve HRM to the line may be possible but only by providing support from HR specialist (McGovern et al ,1997 , p 26) Other researcher report a joint working arrangement at two different level, the first one is at director level between HR and other directors, and the second at a subsidiary company level between line managers and personnel managers (Genard, Kelly , 1997) and this resulted in business driven partnership to improve performance and a big importance was given to the influential role that HR director has to play . Tornhill and Saunders (1998) came up with the worst scenario for the HR specialist known as The absentee specialist which suggest the complete devolution of HR task to line managers and could result in negative implication for successful HR outputs. Other researcher argued that overall the personnel function is still vulnerable even though line manager work in managing subordinates could help the presence of personnel to assist the line in less than a strategic function. Some researchers even suspect devolution of HR responsibilities to the line came from the desire to cut cost and the companies wish to free themselves from some responsibilities. Thus the claim (Guest, 1987,P.51) could mislead the reader because to achieve a successful HRM practices within an organisation a qualified HRM specialist is needed and line managers need the appropriate designed HR practices to use in their management activities. (Purcell , Hutchinson , 2007, p .57) However there is an alternative that a close participation between line management and hr function can have a mutual benefit and could help to solve business problems. (Gennard, Kelly , 1997) Partnership between HR and the line : Its argued that people responsible for HR are those directly responsible for supervising staff that there primary purpose is to manufacture products , sell goods or equipments or deliver a public or customer service , but the problem could be that these line managers have a lack of knowledge and skills to supervise staff effectively (Sisson , storey , 2000) and this is why it would be more rewarding if HR specialist and line managers work together in partnership (Witacker , Mick, 2003) Tyson and Fell (1992) noticed that there is no clear communication between management and employee of their personnel function, this gives the opportunity to act as partners with senior line managers to create orderly change storey 1992 called that as full team member where the running of the business is shared between line manager and personnel . Tomlinson (1993) describe partnership as being where HR needs to get involved in more supportive, collaborative relationship with managers. Other researcher described the partnership approach between HR executives and line managers to be an ideal situation, but recognise that we dont find this partnership happening in all companies. The idea of HR professional acting in partnership with senior line managers was raised by (Ulrich , 1997) to identify HR practices that achieve business strategy (figure 2). http://www.stw.de/typo3temp/pics/c98097d6bc.jpg The HR Business Partner (based on an idea by Dave Ulrich, 1997) he says that line managers and HR professionals working separately cannot be HR champions, this is why they have to form a partnership and in this partnerships line managers will have authority , power and sponsorship , and have the overall responsibility for the HR community, and HR professional will bring technical expertise which show a competence credibility, Ulrich (1997,2005) pointed four new HR roles which are as follow ( business partners, change agent, administrative expert and employee champion ) those new roles lead to three important HR function : Centres of excellence. Shared services. Business partners. But this redefinition of roles and reorganisation of HR function was seen by (CIPD 2007) as having some difficulties to define the new roles, to make change, to deal with skills gap and resources deficiency. Maxwell and Watson (2006) argued that the dominant model for HR operation within organisation is the partnership between HR specialist and line managers. We can understand that the concept of partnership is a good one if everybody is making the effort in the same direction for the benefit of the organisation , we can describe this relation as a reciprocal one , where line manager has to do some HR task but in order to do it properly the right support and training is needed from the HR specialist , but for this partnership to be successful a lot of work need to be done and specially a lot of communication is needed to act fast and solve problems quickly, finally getting the line more involved in HR tasks is not a threat for the HR specialist , because the need of specialist is real and their presence is very important to supervise , help and support the line but also their job will be more strategic. Line manager role for devolved responsibility and the obstacles facing them: First of all let see how line manager are involved in making the policy , ( Hutchinson , wood,1995. P. 17) found that HR specialist are the one responsible for making the policy across all area, they noticed that line managers are not leaders in making the policy either on their own or in consultation with personnel colleagues, but in HR practice they found that line managers are more involved in resourcing and employee relation , however in employee development and employee reward the HR specialist had a major role to play . Hall and Torrington (1998) found that a bigger role is played by HR manager in issues relates to pay and benefit , and the least in appraisal , health and safety , quality initiative and communication . It appears that HR specialist have higher involvement when its a matter of consistency and specialist expertise and lower when line managers are dealing with every day responsibilities. Storey (1992) concluded after doing a survey of fifteen companies that the responsibility of line managers are becoming more important in human resources and their task can include : pay award , training and development , motivating teams , appraisal , on the job coaching , reducing cost , improve the quality , respond to customer service needs , continuous improvement and deploying labour. Another research from Renwick (2002, p. 262) has studied three big organisation which has an HR director on the top team management or board of director and has noticed that the most devolved HR task to the line include : Grievance management, performance appraisal, redundancy selection , pay award , communication with employee , recruitment , employee development and handling sickness absence . CIPD (2010) supported a research made by team of researcher from bath university and describe area where line managers make the biggest difference in people management are as follow : Performing appraisal Training , coaching and guidance Employee engagement ( communication between line management and employee ) Openness ( how easy is it for employees to talk about problems ) The devolution of some HR task to the line is a fact but many research has identified some difficulties facing line managers while handling performance management system , and Gratton et al (1999) said that managers dislike the bureaucracy involved in this process , in the other side there was a reluctance to accept responsibility for decision and adjustment taken by line manager from HR managers, and Redman (2001) found that where line managers are doing performance appraisal they are doing it poorly . another research has shown managers attitude to employee involvement and describe it as no more negative than those of senior managers , and in case of failure of the employee involvement , line manager will be the one to blame (Fenton , Ocreavy , 2001) another research concentrate on line management handling of grievance and discipline, the outcomes shows that line managers are more involved than before but not as much as HR managers and this is because of the complexity of the task , and this task being time consuming and the fear of failing in this task which can have a huge impact in the finance of the company (IRS,2001) Cunningham and James (2001) found that line managers handling of sickness and disability was limited and that was because line managers didnt want to attend training session. Many constraints face line managers in achieving the goal of this devolution because of many reasons , even though there are a positive aspects of devolving HR task to line managers as described in Renwick (2003) as a career enhancer for them in doing HR work but also line managers are the one who apply the HR strategy in practice and bring the HR policy to life (Hutchinson .Purcell 2003) One of the major problem is the workload that the line have to perform especially if they know that they are not expert in doing HR tasks, and this workload leads them to be reluctant on doing HR tasks (Brewster, soderstrom.1994). Another big issue is a lack of training because if line managers have a lack of understanding of HR practices it will prevent the organisation from developing a strong learning culture. This lack of support and training show a bit of confusion because if an organisation devolved HR task to the line , it is to be more efficient and more profitable , but if the line lacks the necessary skills as McGovern et al (1997) describes it that a lack of training can lead to a failure in implementing HR policies, and exposing the organisation to tribunals and this is why the line should be equipped with the right tools to enable them to perform the devolved HR tasks properly which means that continuous and well designed training is needed to be able to achieve the goal set by the organisation. And to be able to achieve the goal , the organisation need to put a special budget for training and development of manager and not leaving them to develop themselves on their own. (McGuire et al 2008) Another big problem is the lack of specialist expert to support managers when dealing with HR tasks, this is happening because of the downsizing of the HR departments in most organisations ignoring the precious need of the line to the specialist and just focusing on reducing cost , but as Renwick and Brewster (2003. P. 231) noticed that reducing the size of HR department could reduce the cost but could also increase it, if managers make inappropriate and wrong decision. (Henrick, Brewster , 2003 . p30) noted that when an organisation has an HR department with a high number of specialist it is more likely to be able to influence line management practice directly , there is a case study evidence that shows how important and influent are HR specialist and they were given the name of strategic change makers (Gennard , Kelly 1997.p35) Many of the criticism concerning the lack of contribution from HR specialist to organisational performance were from line managers, firstly personal practitioner are far away from the commercial realities, and its difficult for them to understand the business , the customer and the corporate target. Secondly HR stops line manager to make decision that they feel are in best interest for the company. Third HR manager act slowly and always want to check how many options do they have rather than making a series of appropriate actions (Marchington ,Wilkinson , 2003.p248) The role of line managers in implementing HR policies was not taken seriously by senior managers, or taken for granted by many companies and there is a small evidence of companies that provide a formal training to equip their line manager to undertake the role of facilitating HRM outcomes. (Cunningham , Hyman. 1995) , Brewster and Larsen has identified three main reason for this : Senior managers presume that line managers already knows the technical aspects of HRM to base their decision. Senior managers do not offer appropriate training before delegating tasks. Senior managers believe that line managers will learn HRM by practising it. Lack of training is a negative factor that make line mangers weak when dealing with devolved HR tasks, but also they are very important for delivering a good HR practice because they are working on the shop floor and they are the one that can make change, which means that an HRM strategy without the line playing a major role would never succeed, in the other side HR specialist will have to equip them with the right training to develop their capacity to deal with people management and excessive stress because of the workload. Another negative aspect is reducing the number of HR expert that can provide the line with precious advise and help and equip them with the right training, this partnership will give HR specialist to concentrate more on making positive change in the organisation, another important question which is worth to research in the future is whether reducing the number of HR experts really reduce the cost in organisation or is it just wrong and cost more money to the organisation? Hutchinson and Purcell (2003) proposed the following suggestion on how line manager can better deal with people management: Provide them with time to carry out their people management duties . Pay more attention to the behavioural competencies required while recruiting manager. Support line managers with strong organisational value in relation to leadership and people management. Develop a good working relationship with different level of management. Make sure the line receive sufficient skills training to enable them to perform their people management activities appropriately.

Hard Hits in Womens Tennis Industry Causes a Racket Essays -- Explora

Hard Hits in Women's Tennis Industry Causes a Racket From sunrise to sunset, I constantly hit fuzzy balls over the net. At age eight, my plan was to be a professional women's tennis player, so I figured that I needed to start training now. Wanting to be just like Martina Hingis, I loved to watch how she could hit the ball with such pace and accuracy. Some of the best women athletes drive themselves to participate in this grueling sport, and, although tennis was once not the most popular sport, I still wanted to be one of these women. Throughout history, women competing in sports has been debated, and women were once excluded from sports entirely. Luckily, I was not born in this era. Within the last century, women have made complicated advances towards being created equal in sports. Broer discusses how women were once degraded from playing sports since the physical activity was considered unlady-like and masculine, but times are changing. When women tried to participate in athletic competitions, they were labeled as inferiors to the men and were thought to be unfeminine. The reason for this was the difference in upbringing of men and women. Men were taught to show evidence of physical strength and control; while on the other hand, women were expected to develop physical attributes and domestic abilities (201-223). Women broke through these stereotypical thoughts of being homemakers during the second part of feminism. This was precisely when doors began to open, and playing courts were allowing the shift in sports. Women's tennis was gaining national and global attention. The combination of elegance and athleticism in tennis was thought to be perfect for women. Women were only allowed to play in mixed gender tournaments.... ...ky.com. 2002 Aug 1. 2004 March 17. <http://www.twincities.com/mld/kentucky/sports/other_sports/3775992.htm>. Smith, Lisa. Nike is a Goddess: the History of Women in Sports. New York: Atlantic Monthly Pr., 1998: 135-149 "Special Report: Women and Minorities in Tennis". Tennis Industry. 1997 March/April. 14 March 2004. <http://www.tennisindustry.com/mar_apr1997/news.html#Women1>. Tennis Channel Quotes. 10 March 2004. 10 March 2004. <http://www.thetennischannel.tv/quotes.php>. "The Tennis Channel". Lexisnexis. 8 Jan. 2004. 15 March 2004. <https://web.lexisnexis.com/universe/document?_m=bd9aacf99e3b88fe751f9ce1a8f28998&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLbVtzzSkVA&_md5=4194a3fcba6e3f0903bb26231282f86c>. "Two-handed or One-handed Backhand?" United States High School Tennis Association. 17 March 2004. <http://www.ushstca.org/HSTMAG/202twohand.htm>.

Belize Before and After Independence

Belize has evolved since its official declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom in 1981. Before independence Belize–British Honduras–was a country that was part of an Empire; that was under the rule of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. However because of the British strategy of acquiring territories such as Belize, The United Kingdom would feed on Belize’s resources, and manipulate the country. This strategy left Belize crippled and underdeveloped. Prior to its Independence Belize had poor standards of living, poorly equipped schools, and below par social life.However infrastructural and technological changes have proved to be the catalyst that have improved how people live, learn at school, and their social lives. Standards of living in Belize have changed drastically over the years compared to the years before independence. The standards of living before independence were very low, almost poverty level if you may say so. People still relied on what was available to them in order to try to live a prosperous life. Because of the nature of British Honduras– Belize– at that time development in the country was little or very slow.Most people lived in very poorly constructed houses, with no heed to appearance or color . They were either made of bush sticks or board cabins, that offered no real protection from the weather and its elements. Modern furnished houses were few at that time; only necessities were most commonly found in houses such as a bed or sleeping mat and a seating room area. With a very basic kitchen most commonly found outside of the house fuelled by wood. Plumbing in those days was also very basic with mostly only cold water.Diet also differs from that of today. The years before independence food was mostly, food that was grown in backyard gardens by people; markets were unusual. Most common foods in those times were mostly beans, sweet potato, cassava, potatoes, yams, and poultry raised in back yards suc h as chickens and ducks. On the contrary modern day Belize has been revolutionized country with improvements in standards of living. Houses these days are those of character and distinction.The inside of the houses is planned to detail with bedrooms with comfortable bedding, wardrobes and painted with its own unique colors, bathrooms with showers with hot water, lounges indoor kitchens and quality appliances that make almost every chore in the house a mere walk over. Most houses are now built from concrete, given a pitch of modern strong roofing, sparkling windows, astounding colors according to fondness and even a well trimmed garden to finish of the look. Even though Wood cabins exist today are well built with quality and attention to the exterior is immaculate. The even have glass windows, doors and even electricity!The diet of most people have most definitely changed too in Belize years after independence, fine dining areas are available for people to go to and eat, there are mo re markets available in the cities to buy fresh produce of either fruits or vegetables. If they do not want to eat out, people now have the luxury of cooking quality food at home in the privacy of their own kitchens, products such as canned food or quick foods are now very common in Belize, with products such as Ramen and â€Å"Mac & Cheese†, having a very supported market of mostly students or people who feel like cooking up quick meals.Education was very different in Belize during the era before independence was announced. Children attended poorly constructed schools that did not offer an adequate environment for the learners. School had poor seating, poor or no lighting, if it was too hot in class then the only thing to do was open the windows, and most children went to school without the appropriates such as books and pencils in order to do the job with the right tools. Uniforms hardly existed in those times, they were–children–allowed to put on casual cloth es to take to school.Teaching subjects such History material was also that of a controversial nature, because they were mostly taught about the history of Europe and little about Belize itself and its surroundings such as Central America, The Caribbean and The Americas. Technology in the schools was under developed technology such as computers fans and so on in schools were only available in the better schools. On the other hand after independence the government has made improving education a necessity rather than priority. Children of today’s Belize enjoy a good education system that has evolved over the years.Most schools are constructed with concrete and high grade materials with most schools adopting their own unique colors that represent them as a school, with well groomed gardens. Students are now provided with chairs that have been designed with ergonomics and aesthetics in mind, not only to they get a good chair to sit on, but it is good looking too! Lighting in the c lassrooms has been improved, and when it’s hot the entire teacher has to say â€Å"put on the fans, or get the remote and out on the air conditioner†.Saying that most children do not have any supplies to take to school these days would be out of line, because most children carry good bags they like, they have most of the books they need to obtain the best chance of passing at school, and most importantly most if not all schools these days in Belize wear unique uniforms that represent the school as a brand and are easily distinguished by a badge that they wear, that identifies which school they come from.Teaching methods have also changed with the emphasis of teaching to be that of Belize, The Caribbean, The Americas and the rest of the world, which has been made easier by the use of technology such as computer that has improved current affairs of the children in Belize, especially with the introduction of the World Wide Web. Social Life in Belize pre independence is no t one that most people who would want to live through, because socially compared to today’s hustle and bustle.Before independence the societal life of most people consisted of mainly socializing around canteens or friends houses to drink homemade alcohol, such as chicha, because company brewed alcohol was not that affordable, and were not that popular. For those who did not fancy alcoholic beverage, options were limited to mostly natural juices and coconut water, because products such as Coca-Cola were not cheap, or readily available. Clubs and Discotheques were not of high quality and importance as they are today, and fashion sense was not as it is today.Then again after independence Belize turned to their true Caribbean culture of sing and dance, with clubs that provide high quality music and alcoholic beverages that differ from Rum,Brandy,Gin and Lagers such as Belikin beers,Lighthouse lager and other beverages that differ to many tastes of people. For now alcoholic drinke rs they can enjoy the good company of music and dance in clubs, with their options not just limited to natural juices, but to more choice is now available Company brands such as Coca-Cola provide a wide variety of fizzy drinks, for those seeking energy boosting drinks have choices such as Full Throttle and Red Bull.All in all the two periods between before and after independence are very different, with today being a more developed country than it was then. Never the less Belize is pretty much a country that has not fully developed yet, and I strongly believe if Belize had stayed under the rule of the Queen, it would have been better of country.

Elijah Heart Center

I will discuss the best options for the healthcare center; this will include evaluating funding options for capital expansion, what the best option would be when it comes to upgrading the hospitals equipment, and how bridging a working capital shortage will help to turn financial matters around. Phase l: Capital Shortages In 1998 – 1999 New York, the hospitals lost on an average $678 million due to Medicare cuts that were imposed by the Balanced Budget of 1997.It was difficult for managed care organizations to receive the full payments on managed care plans. I am assisting EACH in the best way possible to reach $750,000 for the first quarter. The simulation offered two options to choose from in order to receive the best loan to cover the remaining shortfall for Elijah Heart Center (EACH). I chose Loan option 1, it seemed to make more sense, and according to the simulation option 1 was the best to choose from to solve the working capital shortfall at EACH. In 3 months EACH will be receiving from Medicare and Managed Care Organizations to assist in loving the cash flow issue.EACH will have to pay a higher rate interest at 9. 45% but there is no repayment limitation. Loan option 2 had to be prepaid within six months (impossible without going further in debt). I also suggested that reducing a great amount of agency contracted staff would be beneficial for Elijah Heart Center as well, because the contracted workers receive much higher wages than those of the staff. The full – time staff at the care center has been there a long time and have established a patient worker relationship, the staff truly care for the patients whereas, the agency come and go.When this is implemented there will be a huge change in the â€Å"Revenue and Expenditure Projections†, and all will notice this is the most effective measure in reducing cost. I also chose changing the skill mix (first time I had heard of this), this will increase the â€Å"Revenue and Expenditur e projections† in the beginning and the future months. It is a good decision to hire unlicensed assisted personnel; they may have 40 or less hospital training but they can help out by doing such work as the Stanza's (feed, bathe, and dress the patient), and theRegistered Nurses can focus fully on his or her Job duties and the patient will receive appropriate care. By making these decisions EACH will not only save $811,249 but they would have exceeded their goal by the first quarter. The capital shortfall issue has been solved for EACH and it also is increasing. Phase II: Funding Options for Equipment Acquisition CEO Gilbert Sanchez is interested in acquiring hospital equipment such as a High- Speed CT Scanner, X-Ray Machine, and a new Ultrasound System. Mr.. Sanchez wants the best for the patients as well as the staff; having updated equipment will reduce tress, and patient wait times.The most cost effective equipment acquisition strategy would be to purchase wisely, meaning g et the best for your dollar. I liked the idea of buying refurbished medical equipment. The best option would be to purchase a refurbished High-Speed CT Scanner, do operating lease on the Ultrasound, and a capital lease on the X-Ray Machine. The High-Speed CT Scanner seems to be the smartest buy because it is the cheapest of the three, and the life span is approximately 10 years, and it is medium technology that can become obsolescent in years, it is already 5 years old, this equipment can be upgraded.Elijah Heart Center also wants to keep up with the latest technology, and in doing the Ultrasound System would be the best option for this reason, but we would need to acquire an operating lease for the low upfront payments and low monthly payments. It does cost more to keep up with the Joneses. Phase Ill: Funding Options for Capital Expansion HAD 242 Loan Insurance Program is the best choice for the expansion of She's project; this program provides mortgage insurance for hospitals. Acc ording to RuralAssistance Center (2002 – 2014), â€Å"The maximum term on the loan is 25 years, loan to value may not exceed 90%, a one-time fee of 0. 8%, the fixed annual premium is 0. 5% of the remaining balance and the FAA insures 99% of the loan amount† (HAD Section 242: Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program). This insurance can be used for remodeling, construction, refinancing, equipment and what EACH needs expansion. Hospitals are able to finance as an investment grade, and the hospital will get the lowest rate possible when it comes to borrowing funds in capital markets.The rejects Net Present Value (NP) is $221 million thru this program. In 8 years the hospital can buy back the bonds if interest rates were to decrease. In conclusion, I learned that when making money matter decisions it is best to look at all every option possible; what may seem like a good option at the time may not be good for me in the long run. Elijah Heart Center will have a promising future as long as they follow the options and strategies given. References Rural Assistance Center. (2002 – 2014). Rural Assistance Center. Retrieved from http:// www. Reconcile. Org/funding/95.