Developing Managerial Strategy in Recruitment and Selection Process Free Essays

Chapter 1INTRODUCTION The following study will be based upon the recruitment and selection strategy adopted by McDonald’s. McDonald’s is the largest chain of fast food restaurants. Currently the company operates in 119 countries, having approximately 30 thousand restaurants across the globe. We will write a custom essay sample on Developing Managerial Strategy in Recruitment and Selection Process or any similar topic only for you Order Now Its headquarters is located in the United States. In 2011 McDonald’s increased its global sales by 5.6% while its revenues reached a record of $27 billion. Following its Plan To Win, in 2012 McDonald’s aims to: â€Å"optimize and evolve their menu, modernize the customer experience and broad accessibility to their Brand† (McDonald’s Corporation, 2012). In particular, the following study will focus on McDonald’s in the United Kingdom. Currently McDonald’s has more than 1250 restaurants across the country. McDonald’s Company owns approximately 63% of them while the rest is franchised. McDonald’s hires over 67.000 people in the UK, including hours-paid employees, management team and office staff. Steve Easterbrook, Chief Executive and President of McDonald’s, postulates that Human Resources is a key priority at McDonald’s. He believes that â€Å"If you get the people part right, the rest will follow† (Fuller, 2006). McDonald’s, similarly as other global giants, aims to recruit employees that will be willing to develop and to become managers in the future. Hence, recruitment and selection process seems to be an interesting topic to examine. 1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT The hospitality sector has a bad reputation amongst the jobseekers. A number of businesses within a sector do not have an employment agreement or employment policy. The jobs within a sector are mostly part-time or temporary. Additionally they are low-paid. The managers often lack people skills, as they have no solid experience in management. Hence, the hospitality sector has been characterized by a high turnover of staff (Lye, 2007). McDonald’s reputation as an employer has changed over the past decades. In 1991, Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland postulated that McDonald’s jobs were â€Å"low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-job in the service sector† (Fuller, 2006). In 2011, McDonald’s has been awarded HR Excellence Award for its Employment Engagement Strategy. Currently, McDonald’s is a significant employer in the United Kingdom, having 67.000 staff. In 2012 McDonald’s announced its plan of creating additional 2.500 jobs in the United Kingdom. As a reasonable actor, McDonald’s aims to recruit further right people that will support management team and contribute to the company’s growth in the future. Therefore, the dissertation aims to answer the following research question: â€Å"What steps have been taken by McDonald’s to select the best types of employees?† The research question indicates that the dissertation will consider recruitment process as a determinant of a successful selection of employees. Further, the dissertation will also analyze an employment policy at McDonald’s as a guarantor of low turnover of staff. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Human Resource Management is one of key functions within a company. It includes attraction and recruitment of new employees as well as training, assessment and rewarding system within a company. The employees are perceived as a backbone of the organization, as they jointly contribute to the company’s success (Beach, 1980). As the business environment becomes highly competitive, the companies need to attract potential employees and to make sure that the employees will be willing to develop within a company and to contribute to its growth. While small businesses delegate HR issues to their senior officials or management team, large companies have a staff specializing in Human Resource Management or hand over a part of this job to the external bodies, recruitment agencies. In both cases, recruiters have to be very selective in order to prevent long-term negative consequences of hiring wrong staff such as poor performance, high turnover and failure to achieve company’s goal s (Evans, 2007). Not only do recruitment processes and employment policies become of keen interest to people working in HR departments, but they are also a subject of an ongoing debate in an existing literature. Considering first Human Resources Management in general, there is a number of scholars who analyzed the relationship between working incentives and worker’s productivity. Three scholars who gave solid theoretical basics to HR discipline should be mentioned. These are Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor. Maslow is a founder of a hierarchy of needs. Employment is regarded as a safety need, a next level after bottom basic needs. However, self-actualizations (i.e. climbing the career ladder) is at the top of the hierarchy of needs. It indicates that people need to be encouraged to climb the career ladder at the expense of other needs such as family or leisure (Wahba and Bridwell, 1976). Herzberg, in turn, specifies two sets of factors that increase people’s productivity at work in his Tw o Factor Theory. The first group are motivator factors such as achievement, responsibility, growth, promotion, while the second group – hygiene factors such as pay and benefits, supervision, company policy and administration (Feder, 2000). Lack of hygiene factors leads to the dissatisfaction of employees. Good organizational hygiene, in turn, constitutes a good foundation for the development of the motivator factors. The following theory has two important implications. First, the employers should focus on the worker’s attitudes to the performed job rather than on their interest in the job. Second, salary has been often wrongly perceived as a motivator while it has been a hygiene factor (Feder, 2000). McGregor developed Theory X and Theory Y. These theories divide employees into two groups, based on their job attitude and then, shape two different management styles. Theory X assumes that people are lazy and avoid responsibilities. Hence, managers should tightly control their workers. As the employees are not ambitious, a strong incentive program needs to be implemented in order to increase their productivity. Contrary, Theory Y postulates that the employees are self-motivated and self-controlled. Managers should create the right conditions for self-development of their employees. According to McGregor, Theory Y managers are more successful than Theory X managers in building mutual trust with their employees and hence, in HR development. As HR is a key function of the organizations, Theory Y managers are also more effective in achieving company’s goals (Steward, 2009). Considering the recruitment process, there is a little discussion in the literature on the selection criteria, as the companies have been recruiting on various positions and hence, selection criteria are entirely dependent on the vacancies. Instead, the scholars (i.e. Richardson) focus on the recruitment strategies that can generally be divided on internal and external recruitment strategies. Internal recruitment refers to the recruitment within a company (a promotion of existing personnel or hiring through a recommendation of friend or family member by existing staff). The main advantage of internal recruitment is that the insiders know company’s strengths and limitations, its employees and culture. The internal promotion also strengthens the employees’ commitment to the company. On the other hand, sometimes it might be hard to find a right candidate on a particular vacancy and hence, the position might be offered to the person that does not have possibly best qualific ations. Similarly, the company might not have a sufficient number of qualified staff to take newly created positions. Hence, it might lead to the promotion of people that did not get a full training and do not have a solid knowledge. External recruitment, in turn, includes informal and formal methods. Formal methods concern wide searches at the labour market for the candidates with no previous connection to the company. Informal methods regard searching company’s database for the retained resumes (i.e. rehiring former employees, hiring students who took internship programme within a company). The later method is faster and inexpensive compared to external methods (Richardson, 2000). Chapter 3METHODOLOGY The following section will discuss the methodology used in the following research work. First, it will focus on the research design (research objectives, philosophy, strategy and approach) and then, it will consider methodology and its limitations. 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN Research objectives The dissertation displays two main objectives. First, it aims to analyze the recruitment strategy developed by McDonald’s in order to demonstrate how McDonald’s attracts people to apply for a job as well as to reveal what employees McDonald’s is looking for. Second, it intends to examine an employment policy of McDonald’s in order to discuss the working incentives used by McDonald’s to ensure low turnover of staff. Research philosophy The research philosophy is based on research question, objectives and methodology. The following research considers recruitment strategy and employment policy as key elements of successful HR management. Hence, interpretivism is considered to be the most accurate research philosophy, as it focuses on social actions and their influence on people. Research approach The following research work will use both inductive and deductive research approaches. The deductive approach will be reflected in the review of existing literature on human resources management as well as in the discussion on the relevance of various recruitment strategies to McDonald’s recruitment concept. The inductive approach, in turn, will be reflected in the interview with McDonald’s Vice President. The interview will demonstrate the main values and principles of HR policy at McDonald’s in order to deliver a detailed understanding of the research context. Research strategy (methodology) As the recruitment strategies and recruitment processes are deeply researched elements of HR sector, the most accurate methodology seems to be the case study. It will focus on an in-depth analysis of the research topic on an example of a single company, McDonald’s. The following case study will have an explanatory character as it examines relationships between organization and its employees (In general, an explanatory research concerns relationships between variables i.e. the causes and the results). 3.2 DATA COLLECTION METHODS Both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used in the following dissertation in order to collect data. First, the research will include the semi-structural interview (qualitative method) with David Fairhust, McDonald’s vice-president responsible for HR department. This interview will be based on the list of 15 questions on recruitment strategy and employment policy at McDonalds and will provide a reliable data from the company’s side. Further, the interview will create an opportunity to gain the additional information due to the open-ended questions and the new questions brought up while interviewing. Second, the questionnaire will be conducted amongst the McDonald’s employees (quantitative methodology). The questionnaire aims to demonstrate how employees perceive the recruitment process within McDonald’s (How easy was a recruitment processHow did they like the questions they have been askedDid any questions concern their growth within the company and potential career in management?) as well as to present how willing they are to work for McDonald’s within next five years. In order to present reliable and objective information, the research target is to survey a group of 100 employees from five McDonald’s restaurants in London. The designed questionnaire will include twenty multiple choice, closed-ended questions, as it intends to provide comparable data. Nonetheless, it will also leave some space for comments so that the employee will have an opportunity to present any additional issues (concerns). 3.5 LIMITATION OF THE DATA COLLECTION’S METHODOLOGY The validity and reliability of gained information are crucial for the research purposes. Hence, the researcher is aware of the limitations of the methodology and aims to minimize them. Considering the interview first, the researcher is aware that too sensitive topic, inexplicit questions as well as behaviour of the interviewer can affect interviewee’s response. Prior to the interview, the researcher will guarantee that all information will be used exclusively for the research purpose. Further, the interviewee will be given a copy of his answers in order to confirm that the interview does not offend the company and that the interviewee agrees to use the information in the following research work. Considering the questionnaire, the questions might be imprecise or inaccurate and hence, the respondents might understand the questions differently than the researcher did. Hence, the pilot study will be conducted first. They will include a group of 5 employees and they will check the level of difficulty and feedback by the respondents. The pilot study also helps researcher to obtain some assessment about the reliability of the questionnaire which will be very helpful in detecting the weaknesses and grey areas. This will also provide help about some ambiguous and vague queries so that they will be amended prior to final presentation. Further, the uncomfortable environment can also have an impact on the questionnaire’s results. Hence, the researcher intends to ensure that the questionnaire will be anonymous and it will not have an impact on the working conditions of the employees who agreed to participate. The management teams in the McDonald’s restaurants are expected to help in achieving this goal. TIMETABLE Prepare Proposal MM:DD:2012 Literature ReviewMM:DD:2012 Final Literature ReviewMM:DD:2012 Pilot Questionnaire MM:DD:2012 Final Questionnaire MM:DD:2012 Results And AnalysisMM:DD:2012 First DraftMM:DD:2012 Final Draft MM:DD:2012 PresentationMM:DD:2012 Final ReportMM:DD:2012 REFERENCES Andrews, Y., (1988). The personnel function. Pretoria: Educational Publishers. Armstrong, M., (1996). A hand book of personnel management practice. 5th ed. London: Kogan Page. Ary, D. Jacobs, C.L. Razavich, A., (1996). Introduction to research in education. California: Thompson Learning. Beach, D.S., (1980). The management of people at work. 5th ed. New York: Macmillan. Beatty, R.H., (1994). Interviewing and selecting high performers. New York: Wiley. Berman, D.R., (1997). State of local politics, 8th ed. New York: Armonk. Booi, S. , (2005). An assessment of the recruitment and selection strategies used in the sales department of Old Mutual Group Schemes in the Eastern Cape. Port Elizabeth: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Brounstein, M. and Visconti, R., (1992). Effective recruitment strategies. Menlo Park: Crisp. Cascio, W.F., (1998). Managing human resources. 5th ed., New York: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Collins, J. and Hussey, R., (2003). Business research. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Cooper, D.R. and Emory, C.W., (2001). Business research method. 4th ed. Massachusetts: Irwin. Decenzo, A. and Robbins, S.P., (2002). Human resource management. 7th ed. New York : John Wiley Sons. Freder, B.J., (2000). F.I.Herzberg, 76, Professor and Management Consultant. New York Times. 1, p.26. Fuller, G., (2006). The burger meister: McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook’s view from the top [online] Available from: http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2006/10/10/37557/the-burger-meister-mcdonalds-ceo-steve-easterbrooks-view-from-the-top.html (Accessed on 19.04.2012). Lye, P., (2007). Human Resources issues in the hospitality industry [online] Available from: http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=2205 (Accessed on 19.04.2012). McDonald’s Corporation, (2012). McDonald’s momentum delivers another year of strong results for 2011 [online] Available from: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/Aboutus/Newsroom/news_pages/mcdonalds-results.html (Accessed on 19.04.2012). O’Neill, B., (1990). The manager as an assessor. London: The Industrial Society. Personnel Today. Richardson, M., (2000). Recruitment strategies. Managing/ effecting the recruitment process. Trinidad: Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Saunders, M.N.K. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., (1997). Research methods for business students. London: Pitman. Saunders, M.N.K. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., (2000). Research methods for business students. 2nd ed. Harlow: Financial Times. Schultz, H.B., (2001). Recruitment and selection, [In:] Nel, J., (ed). Human resources management. 5th ed., Cape Town: Oxford. Steward, M., (2010). Theories X and Y revised. Oxford Leadership Journal, 1(3), p.1-5. Wahba, M.A. and Bridwell, L.G., (1976). Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the Need Hierarchy Theory. Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance. 15, 212-240. How to cite Developing Managerial Strategy in Recruitment and Selection Process, Essay examples

Inherent Risk Assessment in an Audit to Assess the Susceptibility

Question: Discus about the Inherent Risk Assessment. Answer: It is the responsibility of the auditor to determine the risk attached to audit while he is working with the clients. There are several kinds of risk; one of them is inherent risk. For the purpose of assessing this risk, auditor ignores whether the client has internal controls so that inherent risk can be mitigated (Internal control are the controls like financial statements secondary review).Strength of clients internal control is assessed when assessment is made about the control risk of the client. Auditors job for the purpose of assessing the inherent risk is to assess the susceptibility of the financial stamen assertions to material mistaken depending on the clients business nature. Below are the factors that may increase the inherent risk:- External and Environmental factors: - Below are few examples of external and environmental factors which may result in inherent risk. Rapid Change: Nature of business wherein inventory becomes quickly obsolete has higher inherent risk. Expiring Patents: Any business relating to industry like pharma also has risky external and environmental factors. Patents of drug expire ultimately and hence Pharma Company has to enter into competition with other manufacturers who are marketing the similar drug. Sate of the economy : Economic growth levels also impacts the external factors and hence impacts the business Availability of financing : Interest rates and other financial availability also impacts the external factor .If client faces issues in fulfilling the short term cash payments , availability of loans at low interest rate may result in client staying in business or shutting the same. Prior Period misstatements Any mistakes in previous years which were not material and if these mistakes exist in financial statements. Auditor has to collate current year and prior year misstatements to observed and analyze whether to adjust the books with total mistaken post clients approval Susceptibility to theft or fraud: If assets are prone to fraud or theft, the balance or account is expected to be risky inherently. For Ex- If most of the payments of client receive in cash from its customer, then this cash is more prone to fraud or theft as compared to credit card or payment by cheque. Similarly, small inventory items are riskier. (Loughran, 2017) In the given case, One Tel is a Telecom Company; the company has been established in the year 1995. The company engaged in offering a fully integrated product list including low-cost international and national calls, Internet services, prepaid and post paid calling cards plus GSM mobile phone services. The company works on the strategy of providing better and quality services to the clients at reduced cost. From the last annual report of the company i.e. for the year 2000, it was evident that out of the total sales that have been made in by the company, 64% of the sales come in from Australia. From the perspective of inherent risk assessment several factors that would have contributed to an increased inherent risk assessment at the financial report level for the company. One among them is the stiff competition that is already there in Australia in relation to the telecom industry. In the telecom industry, as per the US department of state, Telstras market share is around 57 per cent, Optus 31 per cent and Vodafone 11 per cent. (Source: US Department of State FY2001 Country Commercial Guide). The telecommunication infrastructure in Australia is very sophisticated in the world. In this situation, it is difficult for the management of Tel One Company to penetrate the existing market. As already provided, the Australian market meets out 64% of the total sales of the company. In this situation if by any means, there has been a decrease in the market share of the company in the country, the same will have a great impact on the sales of the company on a larger scale. This big inh erent risk for the company and in long run may impact the going concern of the company as well. This dependency of the management on Australian geography may act as an inherent risk. Further in the year 2000, the management of the company has made considerable expenditures in acquiring licenses worth more than $500 million. This is big expenditure from the standpoint of the company and the company has issued additional shares in this regard to meet out the payment requirements for the licenses. Being it has been just 5 years for the company and making such a huge investment in such a stage at times when the company has been incurring losses; it is a big inherent risk for the management and for the company. Further the company has been incurring huge losses in the year 2000. The operating loss of the company in the year 2000 was around $282 million which is relatively on a higher side increasing the risk for the company. During the strategic business risk assessment, the risk related to the dependency of the management on Australian geography exists. The management should admit the same and should take adequate steps to mitigate the same in long run. The management in this case should work on identifying new markets all across the globe and even work on increasing the sales volume in the existing market as well. In this situation, the management should work on looking in for developing nations for expansions. There are several inherent risk factors that would have contributed to an increased inherent risk assessment at the account balance level. In the year 2000, the management of the company has made considerable expenditures in acquiring licenses worth more than $500 million. The company at the same time has made considerable expenditure on the plant and equipments. This expenditure has been made by the management with an intention to increase the revenue and profit of the company. In spite of the losses the company has incurred huge losses. The operating loss of the company in the year 2000 was around $282 million which is relatively on a higher side increasing the risk for the company. This is big expenditure from the standpoint of the company and the company has issued additional shares in this regard to meet out the payment requirements for the licenses. Being it has been just 5 years for the company and making such a huge investment in such a stage at times when the company has bee n incurring losses; it is a big inherent risk for the management and for the company. In order to meet of the increasing capital expenditure, the management has issued additional shares and made borrowing from outside sources. This has turned out to be an additional risk for company at an account level as the same would put an additional interest cost charge on the profit and loss account of the company putting extra pressure and trued out to be an inherent risk for the company. Going concern has been regarded as a basic accounting assumption that needs to be adhered by the management of all companies. As per the concept all the transactions that have been entered into by the company should have been entered with an intention that the company will carry on business for longer period of time. At times of entering into the transaction it has been assumed that the company will carry on business for a longer period with an objective that the business will continue for the period till the business will not be able to meet out its commitments and objectives. In the case of One Tel, the area of going concern should be assessed as high. The business that needs to be carried out by the company should be done with the intention that the same should in no case hamper the going concern of the company. In the given case, the company faces stiff competition in Australia. In the telecom industry, as per the US department of state, Telstras market share is around 57 per cent, Optus 31 per cent and Vodafone 11 per cent. The telecommunication infrastructure in Australia is very sophisticated in the world. In this situation, it is difficult for the management of Tel One Company to penetrate the existing market. As already provided, the Australian market meets out 64% of the total sales of the company. In this situation if by any means, there has been a decrease in the market share of the company in the country, the same will have a great impact on the sales of the company on a larger scale. This in long run will affect the going concern ability of th e company, being if the sales fall, the management will not be in a position to meet out the basic needs of the company. The company in order to grow has made considerable investment in acquiring licenses and plant machinery and the management has to bear all related cost. This will affect the going concern of the company and thus, the company should be prioritizing the same and considering the going concern part on high mode. Conclusion Considering the overall position of the company and analyzing the financial health of the company by reviewing the balance sheet and profit and loss account of the company, it has been concluded that the financial health of the company is not very sound. The company has made considerable capital expenditure in increasing the sales and profit numbers but all turned out negative for the company and ultimately the company has to incur huge losses. The company in the year 2000 has ended up in making an operating loss of $282 million which is huge considering the capital expenditure that they have made in licenses and machineries. IN this situation, it is advisable for the management to look in for new market and should work on reducing their dependency on Australian market. The Australian telecom market is too condensed where the existing players have their fixed market share and it is very difficult to penetrate their existing share. The management in this case should work on identifyin g new markets all across the globe and even work on increasing the sales volume in the existing market as well. In this situation, the management should work on looking in for developing nations for expansions. References Loughran M, 2017, HOW TO ASSESS INHERENT RISK IN AN AUDIT, Viewed on 22nd May 2017, reterived from https://www.dummies.com/business/accounting/auditing/how-to-assess-inherent-risk-in-an-audit/

Silver Pavements Golden Roofs free essay sample

From the begin inning of the story, Sanity shows signs of assimilation and acceptance, to become an American. Before reaching America, she promises to give herself a typical American look as she mentions, As soon as I get to Chicago, I promise myself, I will have it cut and styled (70). She later states, I lick them, wanting to capture that taste, make it part Of me forever convincing the readers she has already started taking in the new environment around her (70). When Sanity arrives in America and meets her uncle and Aunt, she feels ashamed to practice her traditional customs openly n the public.As she says, l touch their feet like a good Indian girl should, though I am somewhat embarrassed. Everyone in the airport is watching us (72). This is where we see how assimilation begins to contribute to the loss of her customs and who she is. One of the main reason Sanity opens herself up to assimilation is her self- absorption of what she imagines the life in America will be like and live that life. We will write a custom essay sample on Silver Pavements Golden Roofs or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Little does she know that the grass is greener on the other side. Even though her uncle, Buckram, points out the harsh reality of the struggles of life n America, as he says Things here arent as perfect as people at home like to thinkThe Americans hate us. Theyre always putting us down because were dark-skinned foreigners Youll see it for yourself soon enough, Sanity chooses to ignore it and focus on more colorful objects such as, the sky outside is filled with strange and beautiful stars which she claims to be ruined with his bitter words (75). Sanity chooses to disregard her uncle which shows that all she wants is everything to happen the way she imagines. In addition, disappointment is another reason Sanity chooses to let assimilation take over her self-identity.When she finally realizes that America is not as glamorous as she imagined, read about or saw in pictures, she feels disheartened. When she arrives, she looks forward in seeing, neat red brick house with matching flowery drapes, the huge, perfectly mowed lawn green like it had been painted, the shiny concrete driveway on which sat two shiny motorcars(73). However, she is greeted by a, crowded [apartment] with faded, over stuffed sofas and rickety end tables that look like theyve come from a larger place E tiny room am to occupy it is the same size as my bathroom at home (73, 74). On the other hand, we get a clear picture of what Sanity wants her life to be like. Her daydream of her more exciting matters in Modern Novel class gives readers a better understanding of her American Dream. In which she is wearing an ideal American private school clothing, with a typical American hair style, a handsome professor who falls in love with her and asks to marry her, unlike her Aunt, as she comments, No arranged marriage like Aunts for me (76).Finally, Sanitys first exposure to the world outside her Aunts house and the events that lead after, changes who she really is, and wants to become. When she and her Aunt run into the boys in the street, not only are they called Niger and experience racism for the first time, they also get attacked by the boys with slush. Furthermore, her Uncles reaction shocks Sanity even more when, the back of his hand catches Aunt Prima across the mouth, because she stepped out of the house without his permission(82).After overlooking these events, Sanity feels the need to assimilate and blend in onto her new found environment, as she says, notice that the snow has covered my own hands so they are no longer brown but white white white. And now it m akes Sense that the pain should be part Of each toothed (83). The repetition of white shows the urge of becoming white because she sees white as the only color that will not be discriminated against. And by pain, she refers to the struggles she will have to face so she can assimilate and feel accepted in the new environment she has decided to live in, as she states, until theyre completely covered.Until they do not hurt at all (83). Sanitys urgency to assimilate compels her to change herself just so she can blend in and become the person the society would accept. In this process, she loses her true identity just so she can achieve the American dream. This short story is a good explanation of Steve Forbears quote, The essence of the American dream is the understanding that we are here on this earth and in this land for a higher purpose Anything that stands in the way of the dream, we must fight. Anything that enhances the dream, we must support.

The Lakota Sioux essays

The Lakota Sioux essays The Sioux were a tribe of Native Americans who lived in the Great Plains. They flourished for hundreds if not thousands of years, before they were decimated and re-settled by White Men in after a long series of wars in the 1800s. The Sioux were a very religious people. Like almost (if not) all Native Americans, they were Polytheistic-although, unlike other polytheistic tribes, they did believe in one supreme power. They called the supreme power Wakan Tanka, the great spirit, who includes all the other gods combined, most notably Wi, the sun, Skan, the sky and judge of everyone, and Maka the earth. Other famous and important powers are The buffalo, the four winds, bear, the four directions, Hanwi the the moon, Iktomi the trickster, and Tate the wind. The Sioux had many rituals. Examples are the sun dance and heyokas. Heyokas were people who dreamed of thunder or a legendary thunderbird. Heyokas would do everything backwards-including riding horses. They interpreted dreams. They basically were religious clowns. If and when they want to quit this role, they would rid themselves of it by sticking their hand in a steaming kettle and drawing a chunk of meat out from it. The sun dance was a 12 day prayer to the sun. The first four days all the men wore red skirts and put sage wreaths in their hair. While gazing at the sun and blowing eagle bone whistles, they danced around the Sacred Pole, which was a cottonwood tree. They then stuck sticks attached to the Sacred Pole into their chests. At the end, people who didnt want to become holy men pulled the sticks out of their chests. If they wanted to become holy men, they were lifted by the sticks in the air until their flesh ripped. if you survived, you were considered a holy man. The Sioux religion also had many legends. Among them is the white Buffalo woman, a legend that is intended to explain how various Sioux customs developed. The daughter of wi the s...

Writting comparison and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writting comparison and contrast - Essay Example The pre-lapserian innocence is an affordable luxury for Belloc and his contemporaries, but to the generation of McCarthy there is no reason to be incurably optimistic; this is perhaps the most visible of contrasts between the two writers. The locale of the "The Path to Rome" is more or less homogenous topography of Europe that is connected by climate, by the predominant European ethnicity and the Christian religion in different form. In contrast, McCarthy's "The Road" has the whole world for its locale. The world of the "The Road" is varied in climate, barren by the work of man himself and had been home to divergent ethnicity and religious faith. Though both McCarthy and Belloc share the same Catholic heritage, the traces of the former's Catholic loyalty are hardly visible while that of the latter stands out as a champion of Catholicism. There is convergence in the attitudes of both writers that the ultimate solutions to the problems of the world would come through man's faith in God. The faith in God, which Mathew Arnold lamented in the "Dover Beach" as an eroding phenomenon, is perhaps the only sustaining power in a world is the key point iterated by Belloc and McCarthy. Though both works, by their title might evoke a feeling of a travelogue through the roads, Belloc's work is the recapture of a genuine journey that he made to Rome. " The Path to Rome" is the story of the pilgrimage made on foot to fulfill a vow he made "to see all Europe which the Christian faith has saved" In Christian tradition such pilgrimages were not adventure trips but exercises in faith. The path to Rome that too on foot, in a spirit of contemplation and prayer made Belloc see the Europe that Christian faith had made. There is a quality of innocence in his musings and the language is naturally poetic as he makes his ruminations of the places that he saw and the experiences that he relished. "Beneath the bridge there tumbled and swelled and ran fast a great confusion of yellow water: it was Tiber. Far on the right were white barracks of huge and hideous appearance; over these the Dome of St.Peter's rose and looked like something newly built. It was a delicate blue, but made a metallic contrast against the sky". In contrast to this McCarthy's "The Road" is not the literary production of a man of faith or that of the zealot of Catholicism. If the vignettes painted by Eliot in "Wasteland" shocked and disturbed the sensibilities, "The Road" of McCarthy gave the apocalyptic vision of the final days. While, Belloc glorified the achievements of Christendom in a narrow region of the world, McCarthy's arena is the whole would at the final days of man's existence. Belloc's colorful vision of the Europe as it unfolded before him made him poetic, McCarthy also makes brilliant poetry out of material that are grim, gruesome and bizarre. Though he has never celebrated the sunny side of life in his fiction, in "The Road", he crafts the delineation of hell on earth and by the use of his brilliant prose he makes the grim material models of enduring poetry. Unlike, the journey of Belloc through snow covered mountain passes, fringed by the vineyards of Italy, where hospitable rustic flock greeted him, gave him warmth of human company, freshly baked bread, the wine to

Corporate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Corporate finance - Essay Example This analysis will include; A fundamental analysis and valuation of the British Airways using the free cash flow method. And a recommendation will follow suit. Valuation methods will be attended for the purpose of selecting equities for portfolio investments. Valuation methods though are used for proper valuation however, they do not fit all in one place some methods are used for specific companies, as we have inherent differences within firms, companies, industries, outlets etc. and method falls with each member. Some may take more than one, however, about tour valuation methods are to be used. Dividend capitalization goes in to baring out the real truth of a company, its history and ways of behaviour, e.g. Paying of dividends, expansion plans, paying history of business, operation cushion. It opens the investors eyes to see the risks of investment and take caution. Discussions concerning real option analysis in strategic investment decisions will be adequately attended to stressing and bringing out the use of real option analysis in strategic investment decisions. However in attempt to give a fundamental analysis of the British Airways, the examination of the subject will refer to it’s earnings, each flow, equity value and sales and other accounting statements of the airways will be critically analyzed and discussed. The financial record of the British Airways over the years has been quite interesting because for the past three years, its net profit has been appreciating steadily. Since the year 2003 the British Airways have seconded success at the recorded of every year. Below is a table showing the progress of the British Airways since 2003-2005. It is interesting and important to note the difference in the profit margin this clearly shows and suggests that some new policies or new managerial skills have been employed to rightly enhance such as steady progress without any break for

Eating Behaviour and Perceptions of Body Image in School

Eating Behaviour and Perceptions of Body Image in School Eating behavior and perception of body image in school children Background Body dissatisfaction, which is defined as the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image, can start during childhood (Smolak 2004) and can lead to eating and weight problems in adolescence (Stice 2002; McKnight 2003). Specifically, Stice 2002 reported that when an adolescent presents with body dissatisfaction the probability of engaging to dieting and eating habits that are precursors of eating disorders was increased. Besides that body dissatisfaction was linked to bulimia (Stice 2002). Moreover, McKnight 2003 suggested that school children who presented with thinner preoccupation were in greater risk of developing an eating disorder (McKnight 2003). In addition, body dissatisfaction has been associated with obesity, since obesity is an eating disorder risk factor (Fairburn, Welch et al. 1997; Mustillo, Worthman et al. 2003) and body image is a moderator of the risk of developing eating disorders (Dounchis, Hayden et al. 2001). Except from body dissatisfaction, eating proble ms in early childhood can lead to eating disorders in adolescence and early adulthood (Kotler, Cohen et al. 2001). A number of studies have focused on the relationship between eating styles that precede the development of eating disorders, and the perception of body image in various age groups like school children, adolescents and university students and have reported that individuals with high EAT and ChEAT scores were more likely to choose a thinner ideal body image and consequently had body dissatisfaction (Edlund, Halvarsson et al. 1996; Nishizawa, Kida et al. 2003; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012; del Mar Bibiloni, Pich et al. 2013; Kutlu and Civi 2013). In more detail, Kutlu and Civi (2013) investigated the association between symptoms of eating disorders and body perception by using the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40) in university students and found that individuals who perceived themselves obese reported higher scores in the EAT-40 and thus demonstrated a relation between eating disorders and body image perception. Similar results were presented in a study that investigated the association between self-physique and symptoms of anorexia nevrosa in high school individuals in Japan and showed that students with an eating disorder often chose the thinnest ideal body image when compared to the students who did not have an eating disorder (Nishizawa, Kida et al. 2003). Additionally, Edlund et al. 1996 investigated the relation between the ChEAT, DEBQ questionnaires and body image in school girls and observed that girls with high ChEAT scores were more likely to diet and engage to restrained eating and these girls had a higher discrepancy between ideal and perceived body image. Other studies have focused on eating behaviors like restrained and emotional eating and the relation with perception of body image (Kapka-Skrzypczak 2012; Wiedemann and Saules 2013; Ohara, Kato et al. 2014). Ohara et al. 2014 investigated the association between eating behavior, by using the DEBQ questionnaire, and discrepancy of body image in Japanese university students and suggested that restrained eating was negatively associated with body dissatisfaction in both males and females. In addition, university female students with emotional eating had higher levels of discrepancy of body image. This pattern was not observed in males (Ohara, Kato et al. 2014). Wiedemann and Saules (2013) suggested that the positive association between emotional eating and weight problem perception, another term for body image perception, could be explained by the fact that individuals that perceive themselves as overweight engage to emotional eating because they experience strong emotions like anger, d epression or anxiety more often than individuals who are satisfied with their body image. Kapka-Skrzypczak (2012) studied the relationship between dietary habits in adolescents and young adults and reported that students that weren’t on a diet were more satisfied with their body image as compared to students that tried to lose weight. Another important fact that arises from the existing literature is that the majority of studies are cross-sectional and examine the association between eating disorders symptoms or eating behavior and body dissatisfaction in a specific point in time. This results in a lack of longitudinal data studying the exact pathway that connects eating behavior and the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image. Moreover, most of the studies that were found during the literature search included adolescents and university students and only two studies investigated this relationship in school children (Edlund, Halvarsson et al. 1996; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012). Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the association between eating behavior of school children (9 year old), reported by mothers, and the discrepancy of body image. For this purpose data from the Generation R study will be used. Additionally, eating behavior will be assessed by the Children’s Eating Beh aviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the perception of body image by the Children’s Body Image Scale (CBIS). In conclusion, future studies should focus on younger ages, between 4-9 years old, because currently it is not known whether the association that is demonstrated by the aforementioned studies for adolescents and university students is present at this age group too. Furthermore, longitudinal studies investigating whether eating behavior of preschool children is a predictor of the perception of body image are needed and besides the individual and parental factors, sociocultural factors should be taken into consideration. Generation R Generation R is a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life to young adulthood (Jaddoe, van Duijn et al. 2012). This study aims to investigate the causes (environmental and genetic) and the pathway that contribute to a normal or abnormal growth and consequently the state of health throughout fetal life, childhood and adulthood. In Generation R there are certain areas of research interest: maternal health, growth and physical development, behavioral and cognitive development, respiratory health and allergies, diseases in childhood, and health and healthcare for children and their parents. Generation R invited all pregnant women living in Rotterdam and were expected to deliver between April 2002 and January 2006. Furthermore, follow-up studies included children born by mothers that participated in the study. Participants had to sign a written informed consent in order to be able to participate in the study. Physical examinations and questionnaires were included in the a ssessments, where the majority (86%) of the questionnaires were filled out by parents. Generation R has been approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam. More information and details of Generation R can be found elsewhere (Jaddoe, van Duijn et al. 2012). Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) The CEBQ was developed in order to assess the eating behavior of children and study which eating styles lead to obesity and overweight (Wardle, Guthrie et al. 2001). Children’s eating behavior is reported by parents and consists of 8 eating behavior items: food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, emotional overeating, desire to drink, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating and fussiness. In order to measure these items a 5-point Likert scale is used and ranges from 1 to 5, where 1 denoted â€Å"never† and 5 â€Å"always† (Wardle, Guthrie et al. 2001). Children’s Body Image Scale (CBIS) The CBIS is an instrument that is used to assess the perception of body size in children (Truby and Paxton 2002). CBIS consists of 7 figures which have different versions for males and females. These 7 figures range from the thinnest body shape to the fattest (3rd to 97th NCHS percentiles) (Truby and Paxton 2002). Usually, children have to choose between these 7 figures the one that represents the perceived and the one that denotes the ideal body image. Covariates Child BMI, gender, ethnicity, maternal BMI and education will be included in the regression analysis as potential confounding variables (Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012; Baillie and Copeland 2013; Bergmeier, Skouteris et al. 2014; Sukariyah and Sidani 2014). It has been demonstrated that female high school students had higher scores on emotional eating and binge eating than males (Sukariyah and Sidani 2014). Additionally, Baile and Copeland (2013) observed that women had higher score on the Body Shape Questionnaire. An different pattern was reported in Goncalves et al. (2012), where boys who were not satisfied with their body image had higher score in the ChEAT questionnaire, a pattern that was not seen in girls who participated in the same study. Moreover, another study in Korean adolescents found that males had higher percentage of body image distortion and thus were in greater risk of developing an eating disorder than females (Hyun, Jung et al. 2014). BMI has been associated with body image dissatisfaction, since individuals with a higher BMI are more likely to be dissatisfied with their body image and engage to restrained eating (Jones and Crawford 2005; OHaver, Melnyk et al. 2009; Gonà §alves, Silva et al. 2012). Furthermore, differences in the magnitude of body image dissatisfaction concerning ethnicity have been suggested by some studies (Gluck and Geliebter 2002; Baillie and Copeland 2013). Glunk and Geliebter (2002) reported that Caucasians and Asians had a higher discrepancy of body image than African Americans and Caucasians scored higher on the eating disorder questionnaire than Asians and African Americans. Baillie and Copeland (2013) observed that Caucasians had a greater body dissatisfaction with their body image than Chinese but no differences were found concerning the scores on the eating disorder questionnaire (EAT-26). Lastly, maternal BMI and education have been associated with food fussiness in children (Bergmeier, Skouteris et al. 2014). Besides that, Goncalves et al. (2012) found that higher maternal BMI was associated with higher scores on the ChEAT questionnaire. Research question(s) Is there an association between eating behavior and the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image? In case an association is present, which items from the CEBQ questionnaire are related with the discrepancy between perceived and ideal body image? Hypothesis This study will not be based on a specific hypothesis. Instead an exploration of the association between eating behavior and discrepancy of body image will be conducted in 9 year old children from the Generation R study. Methods Subjects In this study data were collected from both mothers and their children. Firstly, mothers provided information on their child’s eating behavior by filling out the CEBQ questionnaire, when their children were at the age of 9. Secondly, children at the age of 9 filled out the CBIS for the assessment of the perception of body image. In total data from approximately 4000 children are available at this point. Statistical Analysis CBIS provides ordinal data but usually it is treated as interval data (Collins 1991). From the CBIS questionnaire the variable discrepancy of body image will be created. Discrepancy of body image is defined as the difference of perceived-ideal body image. Plots to check whether the variables of interest are normally distributed will be done. Descriptive statistics will be performed for eating behavior items and body image (ideal, perceived and discrepancy of perceived-ideal) (mean scores and standard deviations). For this purpose statistical tests, parametric (ANOVA, χ2) and non-parametric tests for not normally distributed data will be done. Check correlation between confounding variables, eating behavior and body perception. Multiple linear regression will be performed where eating behavior (in the form of CEBQ scores) will be the outcome variable and discrepancy of body perception will be the independent/explanatory variable. Sensitivity analysis will be performed for the participants that didn’t have any missing values, in order to check whether individuals with missing data are different from individuals without missing data. Multiple imputation techniques will be used in order to check for missing data and avoid bias. Statistics SPSS 21 Period of thesis/internship 1 April 2015 – 31 August 2015 Investigation scheme: 1-24/04: Conducting literature search and writing research proposal 27/04-01/05: First acquaintance with dataset 04-08/05: Preparation of data analysis 11/05-05/06: Statistical Analysis and writing part of the report 08-12/06: Interpretation of results for the data analysis 15/06-22/07: Writing report 23/07-09/08 Holidays 10-17/08: Correcting and improving manuscript 18-21/08: Outline and submit report 24-31/08: Preparation of presentation and presentation References Baillie, L. E. and A. L. Copeland (2013). Disordered eating and body image in Chinese and Caucasian students in the United States. Eating Behaviors 14(3): 314-319. Bergmeier, H., H. Skouteris, et al. (2014). Child temperament and maternal predictors of preschool children’s eating and body mass index. A prospective study. Appetite 74(0): 125-132. Collins, M. E. (1991). Body figure perceptions and preferences among preadolescent children. International Journal of Eating Disorders 10(2): 199-208. del Mar Bibiloni, M., J. Pich, et al. (2013). Body image and eating patterns among adolescents. BMC public health 13(1): 1104. Dounchis, J. Z., H. A. Hayden, et al. (2001). Obesity, body image, and eating disorders in ethnically diverse children and adolescents. Body image, eating disorders, and obesity in youth: Assessment, prevention, and treatment: 67-98. Edlund, B., K. Halvarsson, et al. (1996). Eating Behaviours, and Attitudes to Eating, Dieting, and Body Image in 7à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ old Swedish Girls. European Eating Disorders Review 4(1): 40-53. Fairburn, C. G., S. L. Welch, et al. (1997). Risk factors for bulimia nervosa: A community-based case-control study. Archives of General psychiatry 54(6): 509-517. Gluck, M. E. and A. Geliebter (2002). Racial/ethnic differences in body image and eating behaviors. Eating behaviors 3(2): 143-151. Gonà §alves, S., M. Silva, et al. (2012). Disordered eating among preadolescent boys and girls: the relationship with child and maternal variables. Nutrients 4(4): 273-285. Hyun, M.-Y., Y.-E. Jung, et al. (2014). Factors associated with body image distortion in Korean adolescents. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment 10: 797. Jaddoe, V. W. V., C. M. van Duijn, et al. (2012). The Generation R Study: design and cohort update 2012. European journal of epidemiology 27(9): 739-756. Jones, D. C. and J. K. Crawford (2005). Adolescent boys and body image: Weight and muscularity concerns as dual pathways to body dissatisfaction. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 34(6): 629-636. Kapka-Skrzypczak, L. (2012). Dietary habits and body image perception among Polish adolescents and young adults-a population based study. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine 19(2). Kotler, L. A., P. Cohen, et al. (2001). Longitudinal relationships between childhood, adolescent, and adult eating disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry 40(12): 1434-1440. Kutlu, R. and S. Civi (2013). Evaluation of eating habits, body perception and depression status of university students. Gulhane Medical Journal 55(3): 196-202. McKnight, I. (2003). Risk factors for the onset of eating disorders in adolescent girls: results of the McKnight longitudinal risk factor study. American Journal of Psychiatry 160(2): 248-254. Mustillo, S., C. Worthman, et al. (2003). Obesity and psychiatric disorder: developmental trajectories. Pediatrics 111(4): 851-859. Nishizawa, Y., K. Kida, et al. (2003). Perception of selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ physique and eating behavior of high school students in Japan. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences 57(2): 189-196. OHaver, J., B. M. Melnyk, et al. (2009). The Relationship of Perceived and Actual Weight in Minority Adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Nursing 24(6): 474-480. Ohara, K., Y. Kato, et al. (2014). Eating behavior and perception of body shape in Japanese university students. Eating and Weight Disorders-Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity 19(4): 461-468. Smolak, L. (2004). Body image in children and adolescents: where do we go from here? Body image 1(1): 15-28. Stice, E. (2002). Risk and maintenance factors for eating pathology: a meta-analytic review. Psychological bulletin 128(5): 825. Sukariyah, M. B. and R. A. Sidani (2014). Prevalence of and Gender Differences in Weight, Body, and Eating Related Perceptions among Lebanese High School Students: Implications for School Counseling. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 159: 184-191. Truby, H. and S. J. Paxton (2002). Development of the childrens body image scale. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 41(2): 185-203. Wardle, J., C. A. Guthrie, et al. (2001). Development of the childrens eating behaviour questionnaire. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 42(07): 963-970. Wiedemann, A. A. and K. K. Saules (2013). The relationship between emotional eating and weight problem perception is not a function of body mass index or depression. Eating behaviors 14(4): 525-528. 1