Medical Specialties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Medical Specialties - Essay Example Pulmonologists specialize in treatment of diseases and other conditions of the lungs. This is subspecialty of internal medicine, and it is necessary that one becomes an internist first before being a pulmonologist (What as a Pulmonologist, 2000). An infectious disease specialist is an internist or podiatrist concerned with the treatment of infectious diseases, especially of "sinuses, heart, brain, lungs, urinary tract, bowel, bones and pelvic organs." Usually, they work in conjunction with other specialists to diagnose and treat more effectively such diseases (Infectious Disease, n.d.). An allergist is a specialist treating allergies. Allergies are the body's defense mechanism against foreign objects such as dust or other particles. However good is the purpose of allergies, they are very uncomfortable for the person having them. Essentially, allergists are there to give a person some kind of relief (Finegold, 2001). Podiatrists are specialists on foot care. There are many diseases and discomforts involving the feet, and even injuries of the feet may cause complications. Therefore, these make the podiatrist important in many ways (Podiatrists, 2007). Proctologists are medical specialists on the diseases of the colon, rectum, and anus. ... Orthopedist Orthopedists are specialists "concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the bones and joints." They are often consulted when people especially players and sports enthusiasts are injured. Comprehensive Information on Internists Introduction As stated earlier, internists specialize in the treatment of internal organs. The purpose of this report is to provide short but comprehensive information on the specialist on internal medicine. It is the author's hope that any pre-medical or medical student will consider being an internist after reading this report. Education and Training To be an internist, a person must first complete the standard four years of undergraduate studies and four years at medical school to become a medical doctor. After which, the would-be internist must spend three to eight years of on-the-job training called residency (General Internist, n.d.). For information on state-specific requirements on how to be an internist, one can consult the Education Online Search's website on the following hyperlink: http://www.education-online-search.com/programs/medical_training/ Common Ailments, Conditions, or Diseases Internists must work with several other specialists depending on the internal organ and disease treatment a particular internist is specializing. For example, if an internist wants to treat hearts, he or she must learn to work with a cardiologist. This is necessary because an internist may not be specifically trained in the specialized procedure needed to treat a disease. Sometimes, internists are not really working with patients having problems in internal organs. It just so happens that they are the available personnel. It happens that they may work together with a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist

Report Proposal - Recommendations for Corporate Email Policy Essay

Report Proposal - Recommendations for Corporate Email Policy - Essay Example The vast potential of internet and email services, therefore, necessitates the organizations to re-evaluate their business strategy and incorporate business plans so that the organizations can successfully exploit its potential for business purposes. But it is equally true that the internet, with its huge scope for expansion has also wide ranging implications, which may have damaging effects for the overall development of the organization if it is not used with caution and with an approach that calls for greater control and discipline. The impact of computer has been extensive in almost every area of one’s life including professional and personal. The direct and indirect use of computer technology in every sphere has made it extremely popular which has, in turn, made it highly susceptible for misuse by one and all, in the absence of any tangible means of control. According to a report in CNN ‘the survey of 294 U.S. companies with at least 1,000 employees found that, in many cases, employees who sent e-mails containing confidential information about the organization or e-mails that were considered obscene and offensive were disciplined or terminated’ (CNN, 2006). We would, therefore, be focusing on the urgent need for addressing the proper and efficient use of internet and email services in the organization that would help to develop internet and email policy to effectively monitor its use. Internet has become a very cost effective and time efficient tool with its wide ranging ramifications. But at the same time, it can also be easily misused by unscrupulous people for their own vested interests that may be extremely disastrous for the organization, general public and the states at large. As is evident by the latest trend, the use of information technology and internet by the various terrorist outfits has resulted in some of the worst human tragedies in

Regulating Manipulative Advertisements

Regulating Manipulative Advertisements Should subtle manipulation advertisements be regulated by the government? Introduction In view of the fact that mass media develop into mass media, companies have obviously utilized this ways of communications to allow a huge numeral of people to be acquainted with their products. There is not anything faulty with that, as it let’s pioneering concepts and ideas to be shared with others. On the other hand, as the years have evolved, the style of techniques and methods of advertising has been sophisticated, alluring and influential and even generating needs and consumerism where there has been nothing before, or turning lavishness into necessities. The major and commanding industry, the advertising industry, employs in misleading subliminal advertising which the majority us are ignorant of. By means of subliminal techniques, by detouring our unconscious mind, advertisers strike into the susceptibility adjacent to our unconscious mind, controlling and influencing us in a lot of ways. So main question arises does government should implement actions to regulate such subtle manipulation? The significance of advertising is progressively on the increase in contemporary society. While the social communication media themselves have huge influence all over the place, so does advertising, by means of media as its medium, is an invasive, commanding power shaping behavior and attitudes in todays world. Advertising can deceive its function as a resource of information by parody and by withholding pertinent data. Occasionally, too, the media’s information function can be undermined by pressure of advertisers upon programs or publications not to care for of questions that may prove awkward or not convenient. More often, despite the fact that, advertising is utilized not merely to inform other than to motivate and persuade — to induce people to take action in definite ways: acquire definite products or services, support definite institutions, and similar to. [Ayanwale, A. B., Alimi, T. Ayanbimipe, M. A. (2005).]This is where particular subtle manipulation can take place. A great deal of advertising expressed at children in fact tries to make use of their suggestibility and credulity, in the expectation that they will place pressure on their parents to acquire merchandises of no actual gain to them.[ Moore, S.E. (2004), ] Advertising similar to this affronts in opposition to the rights and dignity of both parents and children; it encroaches upon the relationship of parent-child and seeks out to influence it to its individual base ends. As well, a few of the moderately little advertising directed specially to the elderly or culturally deprived seems designed to participate upon thei r frights consequently as to influence them to assign a few of their restricted resources to goods or services of questioning value. Advertisers make use of subliminal techniques to manipulate the 2nd and 3rd consciousness level. They mark the consumers desires and fears; manipulate them in ways on no account considered likely. Advertisers On the other hand, provide to the customer on the cognizant level a neutral, safe, logically engaging ad to appease the resistance of consumers to subliminal marketing. While glancing in the course of an ad, the normal consumer block-reads paras and hardly notices an ad that they have appear several times. This is prime time in subliminal response since the conscious mind is indifferent in the potentially unpleasant subliminal matter. [Brooke, Roger. ]There are soft drinks advertisements of naked women in floating ice cubes. Also there are subliminal messages being flickered in theaters informing people to eat popcorn and drink soda It is apparent that by pattering into the unconscious mind of consumers devoid of their understanding, the advertisers are appealing in misleading practices. It is as well an invasion of privacy. However, is this lawful? The reply is no. There are many legislation that forbid advertisers from utilizing subliminal messages in their advertisements. The Sec 5 of Federal Trade Commission Act forbids unjust or deceptive practices or acts in interstate commerce. They as well assert they have prime responsibility for ruling of advertising in US. Subliminal are intrinsically misleading since the customer does not distinguish them at a standard level of consciousness, and consequently is specified no choice whether to recognize or decline the message, as is the instance with normal advertising. ATF seizes that this kind of advertising method is forged and deceptive, and is forbidden by law. The Supreme Court For several years, apprehended that the wide government powers to regulate commerce incorporated the â€Å"minor power† to limit commercial communication1 the Court in Valentine (1942) case , held that the First Amendment does not safeguard â€Å"solely commercial advertising.† This outlook was functional when the courts uphold the prohibition of broadcast cigarettes advertising, on the other hand, in the mid-1970s this view begin to change as the Court nullify more than a few state rulings influencing advertising of products and services for instance pharmaceutical drugs and abortion providers The majority states as well have laws typically in the structure of deceptive practices statutes or consumer fraud that control advertising. State or local officers beneath these laws, can seek out injunctions in opposition to illicit ads and take lawful action to obtain repayment to consumers. A few laws offer for criminal penalties jail and fines but proceedings of criminal for false advertising are uncommon except if fraud is engaged.[ Bagwell, Kyle.] The difficulty in this legal battle is not legislation, sadly. It is the evidence. Since of its temperament, subliminal messages are almost unfeasible to establish. How do you establish to the judge in the Diet Coke there is a naked woman? How do you establish to the judges there are blaring faces concealed ice cubes? In this system of legal, you cannot establish. The proof would be deemed circumstantial. Advertisers would certainly rebuff any such activity and assert that if you gaze into something long adequate, you will position it. The majority substantial proof is yearly spending billions on research and subliminal advertising by these advertisers. Conclusion Advertisers have got a solid hold on our everyday lives. Half of their controlling influence can be trailed to their employ of subliminal advertising. They take benefit of the susceptibility in our subconscious brains. By means of the most recent computer technology, they have supreme resources to influence each picture to target a precise weakness in us. The needs of government regulations are essential in modern day as this subliminal advertising unconsciously attack our minds and intrude our privacy. References Ayanwale, A. B., Alimi, T. Ayanbimipe, M. A. (2005). The Influence of Advertising on Consumer Brand Preference. Journal of Social Science, 10(1), 9-16. Bagwell, Kyle. â€Å"The Economic Analysis of Advertising.† In Handbook of Industrial Organization, vol. 3, edited by M. Armstrong and R. Porter. Amsterdam: North-Holland, forthcoming 2005. Brooke, Roger. Pathways into the Jungian World: Phenomenology and Analytical Psychology. New York: Routledge, 2000. Moore, S.E. (2004), â€Å"Children and changing world of advertisements†, Journal of Business Ethics, 52: 161-167

Escaping Reality in Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Ess

Running From Reality in Huckleberry Finn        Ã‚  Ã‚   In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a main target of satire is the romantic view of life. Though the characters and symbols, it is evident that the idyllic views are being disparaged. Some of the people in this book are simply deluded, while others cause major tribulations during their lives. Literary romanticism can be pleasant, but it is not real and can confuse those not sage enough to distinguish the difference between a writer's fantasy and their reality. For a person who sees the delusions that humans allow themselves, this can be aggravating. The annoyance caused is not the problem, however. It is the harm caused. The romantic problems brought to light in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn show how desperate mankind is to escape from its problems rather than face their reality.    The sinking of the steamboat Walter Scott is symbolic of Twain's dislike for Ivanhoe and its author. In the adventure book, the characters live through a near revolution and even receive a happy ending. Realistically, unless the force was greater, a small group of men would have little chance against an army in a castle. Also, in history, love does not always exist between the heroine and the hero. The events described could happen, but the people are not real. Their actions do not always fit those of someone from their background. A believable character would be like Pap, who stays in character until he is found dead. The reader can tell that when Pap signs the temperance pledge, he will not keep it. He is humorous to those that see how ignorant he is, chasing his own son for being "the Angel of Death". As for the characters in such a book as Ivanhoe, their actions only... ...further their existence any. Substituting a fantasy for the truth of one's situation cannot help ameliorate the impediments of life.    Works Cited Pritchett, V. S.   Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:   An Annotated Text, Background and Sources, Essays in Criticism.   Eds.   Sculley Bradley, Richmond Croom Beatty, and E. Hudson Long.   New York:   Norton, 1961. Pearce, Roy Harvey.  Ã‚   "Yours Truly, Huck Finn."  Ã‚   One Hundred Years of Huckleberry Finn.   Ed. Robert Sattlemeyer and J. Donald Crowley.   Baltimore:   The John Hopkins University Press, 1985.   Rpt. in Mark Twain.   Modern Critical Views.   Ed. Harold Bloom.   New York:   Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.   159-82. Railton, Stephen.   "Jim and Mark Twain:   What Do Dey Stan' For?"   Virginia Quarterly Review 63.3 (Summer 1987):   393-408. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam, 1994

Research on Atlas Honda

OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY An analysis of the financial situation of ATLAS HONDA Ltd. Introduction The topic chosen by me for the research and analysis project is AN ANALYSIS OF THE FINANCIAL SITUATION OF YOUR CHOICE OF ORGANISATION. The reason for choosing this topic is that I am very comfortable with financial techniques and methods that are used to carry out financial analysis. Financial courses covered in ACCA part 1 and 2 were of key interest to me.The organization selected for the financial analysis is ATLAS HONDA LIMITED being the market leader in the motorcycle industry in Pakistan. The company attracted me to be selected for the project because the company is the leading company in the motorcycle industry with few unestablished competitors. The company is a public limited company with an annual turnover of Rs6,977. 4 millions, which makes it a leading company of public sector in our country.As the project is related with financial analysis of the company it is easier for me t o apply the financial tools learned in ACCA. It is easier for me to examine the financial position of Atlas Honda Ltd, as the management of the company is willing to provide me with sufficient financial data that will aid in carrying out a financial analysis. As this is public limited company information related to the company is also available through different magazines, government agencies, credit rating agencies (pacra), industry experts and websites.Atlas Honda Ltd is a company of Atlas group of companies. The foundation of the Atlas Group was laid in 1962 with the establishment of Shirazi Investments (Pvt) Limited with a capital of half a million rupees and three men doing business in trading shares and real estate. (www. atlasgrouppk. com) Atlas Honda Ltd was incorporated as a public limited company on October 16, 1962 and its shares are listed on Karachi and Lahore Stock Exchanges in Pakistan. Atlas Honda Limited is a joint venture between the Atlas Group and Honda Motor Co. , Japan.The merger of Panjdarya Limited and Atlas Autos Ltd created the company in 1991. The Atlas Group established both these motorcycle-manufacturing concerns. (www. atlasgrouppk. com) Atlas management is striving to modernize company operations by adapting applicable aspects of research and theory and more specially, Honda’s unique philosophy of hard/soft technologies to the realities of Pakistani conditions. Company management structure, systems and processes are changed according to the demands of the customer, growth and new technology. www. atlasgrouppk. com) Atlas Honda Ltd is a dynamic, profitable and growth oriented company through market leadership, maximizing export and excellence in quality and service. The company ensures attractive returns to equity holders, reward employees according to their ability and performance. Atlas Honda Ltd fosters a network of researchers and engineers ensuing unique contribution to the development of the industry. The company ensu res customer satisfaction and protection of the environment by producing emission friendly green products.The company aims to remain a good corporate citizen fulfilling its social responsibilities in all respects. Atlas Honda Ltd also received the best corporate report excellence awards in the engineering sector by the joint committee of ICAP/ICMAP. (Annual Report 2003) The company quality is gaining greater acceptance globally year after year the company takes it as a national cause to make â€Å"MADE IN PAKISTAN† accepted and Atlas Honda Ltd respected all the over world. An increase of 52% in exports on year-to-year basis is an indication of the growing popularity of the company products globally.Atlas Honda Ltd as being a market leader in motorcycle industry recognized the fact that excellence in business is dependent on the quality of human resource. As a result the company has continued to invest in development of its manpower over the years. The company has a well sprea d out service network of antenna shops, service dealers and four strokes mechanics with a combined strength of well over five thousand service points all over the country which has successfully covered the needs of company costumers.The network of 5S (Sales, Service, Spare parts, Credit and Second Hand Exchange) dealers all over country has given Atlas Honda Ltd a competitive edge over other players of the automotive industry. Due to the greater customer care and after sales service the customers of Atlas Honda Ltd are more obliged and satisfied then with any of the other competitors. As every market leader company Atlas Honda Ltd duly complies with the standards of safety health and environment (SHE). Sizeable capital expenditure was made by the company to install various equipments at assembling plants to minimize the risk of haphazard.The vision of Atlas Honda Ltd is to remain a leading group through effective use of its resources, technology and good business practices; attract and retain high quality people by developing them to their fullest potential; always keep the customer in their highest esteem and to give attractive returns to the share holders through a sustained growth of profit. (www. atlasgrouppk. com) The auto industry has been a major beneficiary of the macro economic stability of the country. The unprecedented reduction in the cost of the funds has helped promote greater consumer financing for automotive products.Atlas Honda Ltd has taken some tough decisions in enhancing the total customer base as well as dealing with the menace of the unauthorized sector. The motorcycle market has under gone a severe change in the last year. Ninety percent of the market is dominated by established brands from the organized sector. The players in the organized sector consist of the traditional Japanese manufacturers as well as a couple of Chinese assemblers and all are members of officially recognized Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA). A nnual report 2003) The aim of the report is to apply the tools learned in ACCA and to carry out practical work in a real time company. Through this report I will have exposure to Pakistan industry that will help me in the development of skills acquired during my ACCA studies. The report also aims to critically view the financial statements in order visualize that adequate returns are available to shareholder, company is a going concern, company is generating sufficient profits, assets of the company are well managed and guarded by the management in the best interest of the share holders.I will also review that the best practices of management stewardship is carried out to ensure that the company is maintaining the best practices of corporate governance. The objective of the report is to carry out financial analysis of Atlas Honda Ltd for the year 2003. The financial analysis has been carried out by using financial techniques such as ratio analysis, trend analysis and vertical analys is on the data available in the annual report of the year 2003 of the company. INFORMATION GATHERING Information gathering is the process through which processed and meaningful data is available to carry out the required task.Extensive amount of information is available through Internet, media, newspapers and other business magazines. These all sources of information these days make the process of information gathering simple. There are two main source of information gathering through which information is gathered, first is my personal visits and meetings with the different personnel’s in the company and secondly the financial statements available in the stock exchange on which the company is listed and also the data available through print media publicly.The information gathered depends on the reliability of the source from which it is gathered. These both sources are reliable to gather authentic information. Information was also obtained from credit rating agencies such as (pacra) and industry experts. Some government agencies also hold information relating to companies such as Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). The financial statements and print media information used for the report are for the period ended 2003,the broachers of Atlas Honda Ltd, financial and business news papers such as THE NEWS BUSINEES PAGE, DAWN BUSINESS PAGE.As Atlas Honda is a leading company in the motorcycle industry information relating to the company is also available through different business magazines such as the Gulf Economist. They are good source of reliable information, that too with a critical viewpoint about the company. Information relating to Atlas Honda is also available through Internet by access to sight www. atlasgrouppk. com that makes it easier to be familiar with the company and have access to the financial and other authentic information that helps in the effective completion of this research and analysis project.Published documents of Atlas Honda Ltd provides a reliable method of data collection through which sufficient financial data can be collected easily so that financial analysis can be conducted in a effective way. Interview is very effective means of gathering information, providing precise and accurate data. Interviews with the officials of Atlas Honda also provided quality information that helped me to have a sufficient knowledge about Atlas Honda, about its financial position, where it stands in the market, its new competitors in the motor cycle ndustry, its adequate returns to share holders, about its expansion of the business and its unique 5S(service) network that give Atlas Honda Ltd edge over its competitors. ANALYSIS The analysis stage of the report carries critical view of the financial statements to ensure that adequate returns are available to share holders, assets are properly utilized by the management and are depreciated as par the accounting policies of the company, the company is financia lly sound and that investors have confidence in the company. There are few un established competitors of Atlas Honda with little penetration in the market.The ratios are computed on the basis of audited financial data for the year 2003. PROFITABILITY The profitability of any company is the key concern to the shareholders and to its employees and is also the symbol of market leadership for any company in the market. I have analyzed the profitability trend over the period of 8 years. The key ratios during the 8 years that demonstrate profitability are Profitability 2003 Gross Profit Ratio (%) Profit Before Tax (%) Profit After Tax (%) 14. 7 9. 3 6. 1 2002 13. 3 7. 1 4. 9 TABLE: 1 2001 9. 7 4. 3 2. 5 2000 10. 4 3. 0 1. 1999 11. 6 5. 3 3. 6 1998 12. 4 5. 6 3. 7 1997 1996 11. 3 5. 4 3. 6 10. 9 5. 7 3. 3 There is a constant increase in the gross profit during the first 3 years 1996 to 1998 but the year 1999 had a slump causing a decline for the next 3 years up till 2001. After that huge r ecovery has been made by the company with G. P Ratio from 9. 7 in 2001 to 14. 7 in 2003. Corresponding increase in cost and the relationship between profits and cost reveal that the profit before tax was almost half (5. 7) to 10. 9 in the year 1996 and this relationship is maintained in 2003.On the other hand the operating profit have not shown a considerable growth in comparison to the tax rates as shown by the relationship between G. P ratio and profit after tax. In the year 1999 it was 1/3rd to the G. P ratio but has increased to come up with ? of the G. P ratio. This indicates that the company is trying to improve its profit by maintaining its cost but the increase in taxes has jeopardized the efforts and consequent increase in profit after tax has not been obtained. Returns to Shareholders The returns are of key interest to shareholders as they invest in the company that gives more returns than the other.Atlas Honda distributed 5% of its total wealth to its shareholders in the year 2003. The company proposed a cash dividend of Rs. 7 per share. The return on capital employed, Earning per share (E. P. S), Price earning ratio, their trend can be seen below in the table. Returns to share holders 2003 ROE – Before Tax (%) 60. 5 2002 49. 8 TABLE: 2 2001 31. 5 2000 17. 4 1999 32. 7 1998 39. 6 1997 48. 0 1996 61. 0 ROE – After Tax (%) 39. 7 34. 1 18. 3 10. 3 22. 3 26. 1 31. 8 35. 0 Return on Capital Employed (%) 34. 2 29. 8 14. 7 7. 6 17. 3 18. 7 23. 4 28. Market Price 80. 00 40. 05 25. 00 19. 25 19. 25 30. 00 31. 00 27. 00 E. P. S – After Tax – Rs 20. 91 13. 24 8. 07 4. 12 8. 45 8. 60 9. 41 8. 41 Price Earning Ratio 3. 83 3. 03 3. 10 4. 67 2. 28 3. 49 3. 29 3. 21 Industry Average . P. E Ratio 3. 21 3. 14 3. 52 3. 50 2. 14 3. 31 3. 27 3. 25 The Return on equity before tax ratio showed a downward trend and declined from 61% to 17. 4% in 2000,there by recovering to a satisfactory figure of 60. 5% in 2003. The ROE after tax declined from acceptable figure of 35% in 1996 to a dangerous level of 10. % in 2000 and reaching a satisfactory figure of 39. 7% in the year 2003. Earning per share is widely used to measure the performance of the company over a number of years. E. P. S of Atlas Honda started to decline after 1997 and declined to a poor figure of 4. 12,there by up streaming to the figure of 20. 91,compariably stronger than last year due to improved profits. Price Earning ratio shows partial ups and downs through years not having significant variation except 1999 where it shows a downward trend, showing a healthy upward trend in 2000.This indicates that the investors have a strong confidence in the company abilities to maintain the earnings. Overall the P/E ratio of the company is above the industry average as indicated in table 2. The market price of the shares has grown rapidly and has become twice as compared to the last year, which indicates people’s confidence. Cash Flow situation The cash flow statem ent with the same importance as profit and loss account and balance sheet is used to emphasize the difference between profit and cash. Cash flows, including net present value calculations, have always been a popular management tool.The situation of the company cash flow showed that net cash generation from operations increased to Rs. 724. 20 million as compared to Rs. 519. 34 million last years. Increased net income and customers’ advances created a positive impact on the net cash provided by operations. Net cash used in investing activities decreased to Rs. 67. 53 million compared to Rs. 150. 04 million last year. Net cash used in financing activities was Rs. 42. 33 million as compared to Rs. 121. 74 million last year. During the year Rs. 150 million long-term loans were acquired and Rs. 71. 11 million loans were repaid.Cash and bank balance increased by 1. 5 times to Rs. 1, 021. 23 million this year Rs. 406. 88 million for the operating year 2002. Investment income increase d to Rs. 38. 3 million from Rs. 32. 6 million of last year. Debt equity ratio was 10:90. The equity of the company stood at over Rs. 1 billion including reserves of Rs. 872. 2 million, with cash surplus of Rs. 1. 02 billion, reflecting a sound financial position of the company. Asset turnover Assets are held by companies to utilize them in their business activities and generate profits in order the company to prosper.Assets are held and maintained by Atlas Honda in the course of their business activities and the company to meet their growing requirements also acquires new capital assets. Asset turnover ratios are computed for a period of eight years. Asset turnover (Times) Sales to Total Assets Sales to Fixed Assets 2003 2. 63 12. 39 2002 3. 02 10. 32 2001 3. 16 10. 44 2000 2. 28 6. 93 1999 2. 80 9. 34 1998 2. 23 9. 02 1997 2. 89 13. 02 1996 2. 97 11. 42 Inventory Turnover 10. 34 9. 57 7. 46 6. 87 7. 39 6. 06 5. 41 5. 38Major portion of the total assets are current assets, which not an admirable situation and the company is bearing increase in the opportunity cost of assets not invested by the company. In the other scenario the company have superfluous current assets to meet its current liabilities, which is appreciable. In the sale to fixed asset turnover there is a major acquisition in the year 2000 then in other years where there is normal acquisition during the course of business. This is indicted by the reduction of only 0. 99% in the sale of year 2000 from previous year where as there is a reduction of 2. 1 times in the sale to fixed asset turnover ratio. This acquisition by the company in the year 2000 was made to cope with predict future growth. In other years the fixed asset turnover ratio is increasing due to increasing sales and there is usual acquisition of fixed assets. In the case of the inventory turnover ratio there is a constant increase in the figures over the years. The company in warehouses does not hold idle stocks thus reducing the stock holding cost. Demand based production is carried out by the company and there are no over purchases by the company.Solvency/Liquidity Solvency is the term used to determine that are the assets of the company surplus enough to pay its liabilities. This is a key measure of the financial reliability of a company and the key ratios that computes solvency are of key interest to investors. 2003 Current ratio (Times) 1. 47 2002 1. 38 2001 1. 48 2000 1. 46 1999 1. 64 1998 1. 31 1997 1. 21 1996 1. 10 Interest Cover Ratio (Times) 17. 17 11. 18 3. 65 2. 04 3. 18 2. 58 3. 95 3. 81 The intent of the current ratios is to determine that how many current assets are there to repay current liabilities on demand.The company holds surplus current assets. This is also discussed above in the Total Asset turnover that a major portion of the total assets is current assets showing a healthy prospect in terms of the company to meet its current liabilities. The company is showing an acceptable current ratio o ver the period indicating the company’s capability to meet its liabilities. The interest cover ratio for the year 2002 and 2003 shows that the company is having added profits that allows the company to borrow more loans but the company is not utilizing this facility. This is also the reason the company is low geared.This also indicates financial soundness of the company in the market. If the company takes advantage of this facility it would be beneficial for the company and would facilitate the company in reducing its taxes, as interest expense is a tax allowable expense. The company has been obtaining loans in the rest of the period as indicated by the interest cover ratios of rest of the periods. Investments Investments are held by companies to have adequate returns from their sales. Investments held by Atlas Honda in associates are proposed for sale and are stated at fair value.The investments held by the company are in listed and also some unlisted companies. Investments are counted as company’s principal financial assets. Listed Atlas Battery Limited – Associated undertaking NIL (2002: 165,550 Ordinary shares of Rs. 10 Each includes bonus shares 25,550) 2003 (Rupees in 000’s) 9,548 2002 Unlisted Arabian Sea Country Club (private) Limited 200,000 ordinary shares of Rs. 10 each Break-up value on the basis of audited Accounts for the year ended June 30, 2002 Rs. 6. 25 per share 2003 2002 (Rupees in 000’s) 2,000 2,000 Automotive Testing and Training Center (private) Limited 187,500 ordinary shares of Rs. 0 each Break-up value on the basis of audited Accounts for the year ended June 30,2001 Rs. 5. 75 per share 1,875 1,875 The credit risk represents the accounting loss that would be recognized at the reporting date if counter parties failed to perform as contracted. Out of the total financial assets, following amount of financial assets are subject to credit risk: 1,118,907. The company believes that it is not exposed to major concentration of credit risk. To manage exposure to credit risk, the company applies credit limits to its customers. STAEMENT OF VALUE ADDITION 2003 WEALTH GENERATEDTotal Revenue Material & Services (excluding duties) 8,066,365 (5,219,313) __________ 2,847,052 __________ 6,382,219 (4,177,572) _________ 2,204,647 _________ 2002 100% 100% WEALTH DISTRIBUTED To Government Sales Tax, Income Tax, Import Duty & Workers’ Welfare Fund To Employees Salaries, benefits and related cost To Providers of Capital Dividend to shareholders Markup on borrowed funds Retained with the business Depreciation Retained profit 89,645 284,345 _________ 2,847,052 _________ 3% 10% ______ 100% ______ 83,433 4% 143,058 20,487 5% 1% 122,621 19,913 5% 1% 346,762 12% 322414 15% 1,962,755 69% 1,508,389 68% 47,877 7% _________ ____ 2,204,647 100% _________ ____ As can be seen from the table above and the chart that a greater portion of wealth generated is distributed to the government. The company paid sales tax, income tax and custom duties amounting to Rs. 1. 96 billion during the year, which represents 69% of the total wealth generated. The company’s contribution to the national economy by way of value addition this year amounts to Rs. 2. 85 billion, which is 29. 13% higher as compared to last year showing company’s responsibility towards overall economy.This is also the reason that the company is unable to increase its profit after tax even though the company is maintaining its cost. This huge amount of tax payments has jeopardized the efforts made by the company. A good proportion of wealth generated is distributed to employees as salaries and benefits showing that the company is facilitating its employees and maintaining a healthy environment of working by offering benefits to them. WORKING CAPITAL The company has maintained a good working capital that shows the stewardship of the management in the use of financial resources in the operations.Company maintains a 5:1 to the current assets that is a working capital of Rs. 6, 671. 50 million, Showing good liquidity performance. Capital Structure The company shows a very low financial gearing (0. 165b: 1b) but the timing of the repayment cash flows is a cause of concern, as 50million out of a total of 166million has to be repaid during the next 12 months. As the net increase in cash and cash equivalent is 614million it would not be a major cause of concern but shows the company’s vulnerability and dependence on maintaining very high liquid assets.This indicates that the company is in a desperate need to maintain its profits and to increase them. The period where the company is unable to make any profit the company will be in a critical situation beyond its accepting power. Presentation of Findings The SWOT analysis is used as a technique to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the company and the opportunities and threats outside faced by the company. A SWOT analysis of Atlas Honda Limit ed would be a significant appraisal of the company’s position in the automotive industry.Strengths: Market leader †¢ Advance cash receipts from dealer’s hence additional cash available for investment. †¢ Customer satisfaction. †¢ Trained technical staff. †¢ Atlas Group patronage. †¢ Sound financial standing in the market. Weakness: †¢ †¢ No customer support in rural areas. Burden of taxes by the Government. Opportunities: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Opportunities for new technologies. Development of latest IT infrastructure. Effective media promotion. No threat of established competitor. Threats: †¢ †¢ †¢ Threat of new entrants.Unestablished Competitors imitating the models of motorcycles at low price. Demands for low priced motorcycles. The strengths of the company are the key to triumph and the company should seize advantage from its opportunities and should devise such that its opportunities should be part of its strengths. Atlas Honda has been able to prolifically make its way through the heavy burden of taxes this year but it’s my anticipation that the burden of taxes will increase further, to counter this the company should plan a head.Atlas Honda is having a sound financial standing in the market and had attained customer satisfaction by quality products and after sales customer service. Customers are drawn in due to quality and services provided by the company, which the company should sustain and enhance, by making available price controlled motorcycles. Company has developed latest IT infrastructure to make good use of IT in manufacturing using computer techniques such as CAD (computer aided design) and CAM (computer aided manufacturing) thus enhancing costs.The edifying aspect of the report has been the findings that Atlas Honda is a financially sound company with market penetration and strong customer base. Conclusion The essence of the research and analysis report was to ca rry out a comprehensive financial analysis of Atlas Honda Ltd. The core objective of the report was to scrutinize that ample returns are available to share holders, the company is generating sufficient profits, and the financial situation of the company is sound and investors have confidence in the company and its financial position.In my surveillance over all the company has maintained a good level of profit even after an amplified amount of tax over the period of time. This has caused an increase in Earning per share of the company and eventually the market value of the company, which is avowed at 700% premium (Market value Rs. 80 per nominal value of Rs. 10 per share). The investors have confidence, which is reflected in the Price Earning Ratio of the company, which the company has maintained over the period of 8 years.The overall enhancement in the level of operations and market demand indicates that the company is moving on the right track even after facing rigid rivalry from i ts competitors. Atlas Honda has maintained a very low level of gearing and so far is unable to acquire market loans, which indicates low level of financial risk the company is exposed to. On the other hand this can hamper the potential available in the market by scarcity of the funds in the company when investment climate is good and market demands is high.In the Automotive industry Atlas Honda is still a market leader as far as the wealth distribution to the government is concerned. In the statement of value addition it is indicated that 69% of the company’s wealth had been distributed to the government as sales tax, income tax, import duty and workers welfare fund. Subsequent to the distribution the company has maintained sufficient levels of profit to distribute to the shareholders in the form of dividends. The company has continued to improve the net generation of cash and cash equivalents during the year causing the company to increase its cash resources.Positive inflow of cash from operations is a signal of company’s ability to improve the liquidity position of the company on a continuous basis. This is the main reason the liquidity situation of the company is very good. The analysis shows that the company is making headway well in terms of profitability, liquidity but as far as the capital structure of the company is concerned it is still at very low level of gearing thus hampering the opportunities available in the market and without exploiting the internal strengths available in the company.A high level of profits, good liquidity and sufficient working capital indicates that the financial situation of the company has improved over the period of time and is still improving. On the basis of the research and analysis work carried out I foresee that Atlas Honda will be more profitable over the period of time and will be able to exploit the opportunities available in the market. In my viewpoint Atlas Honda will remain to be the market leader for the coming years too. The company will also prove arduous to compete by new entrants in the industry.

Ben and Biff’s

In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, the character Biff is the son of Willy Loman, the protagonist. The character Ben is Willy’s brother. They are very different but they share some similarities. Biff is real, in the sense that he appears in the play in the present, while Ben is a hallucination and a product of Willy’s delusions, appearing in an alternate time-line. Biff is Willy’s hope for the future and a symbol of his own lost hopes and dreams. Ben is a paragon of success and a standard for which Willy strives.Barron’s Booknotes says of Ben, â€Å"From the moment we see Ben he turns out to be a highly idealized figure, for Willy’s memory turns him into a god,† (Miller, Williams, Paul 1984 p 21). Both characters further the plot but Ben is more purely a rhetorical device that helps to drive the play by allowing the audience a glimpse inside the mind of Willy Loman in a way that would be difficult otherwise. Both Biff and Ben are adept at taking Willy’s mind off his own problems.He goes into a sort of hallucinatory trance and speaks to both characters when he is troubled. Sometimes these conversations are rehashes of conversations past and sometimes they are conversations carried on as Willy wishes they had been. Willy remembers conversations with his brother that never happened. He believes that his brother is the success that he is not and the success that he wants his son to be so he wants Ben to explain the secrets of making a fortune.Both Ben and Biff are amoral and have virtually no social values. Biff is willing to steal and goes out of his way to take a pen as a sort of trophy to show he is superior to someone to whom he actually is subservient. Ben knocks down his nephew Biff in a fight and then tells him that is ok to cheat and do anything necessary to win against a stranger. â€Å"Ben, patting Biff’s knee: Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You’ll never get out of th e jungle that way,† (Act I p 49).Biff’s mother does not like this advice but Biff obviously believes that it is a good motto to live by. His father, Willy, then instructs him to steal material from a construction site. Biff and Ben both seem to think that the end justifies whatever means is used to achieve their goals. Ben shows that he is proud of Biff for being a thief. He praises Biff for having the courage to steal from the construction site, showing he is not afraid. Biff comes to realize his father is a failure at life and his idea of how to achieve dreams is not logical.Biff is more like his Uncle Ben, who treats him as the person he really is and not like the image that he wants to create, as his father does, living on imagined past glory. The characters of Biff and Ben are used by Miller to allow Willy to vent his rage and frustration. They both give Willy Loman an opportunity to address the audience. It shows he is losing his grasp of reality, of course, but m ore so, it gives Miller the opportunity to advance the themes of the play in a direct way. He is not ‘dime-a-dozen’, he is Willy Loman, Miller has him say.Ben and Biff both say things to Willy that makes Linda, his wife, try to protect him. â€Å"Linda, frightened of Ben and angry at him: Don’ t say those things to him. (He is doing) well enough to be happy right here. Right now,† (Act II p 8). They say things that she doesn’t want Willy to have to deal with. Both Ben and Biff are characters that have a close relationship with Willy even though Willy doesn’t really know either of them. He is lost in his own world. Ben is more the realist than is Willy. He is a man who does not live in the past.He grabs what he wants and makes it his own. Biff at last loses his rose-colored glasses and accepts his uncle’s view of the life. He sees that he is more like his uncle than he realized and that he is nothing like his father. He at last understa nds that his father is a loser and a tragedy. References Miller, A. , Weales, G. Death of a Salesman New York: Penguin Group 1977 Miller, A. , Williams, L. and Paul, K. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (Barron’s Booknotes) Hauppauge, N. Y. : Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. Copyright 1984

Sleep Disorders essays

Sleep Disorders essays The effect between the number hours asleep and performance on tests. The problem is that if the number hours sleeping will effect what you will do the next day. Or, does the hours sleeping have no effect on what happens the next day. Does the hours asleep really effect performances we meet the following day? Do people feel better if they had the right hours asleep the night before? Do they feel more relaxed and more devoted on what they are doing if they get the right hours asleep. I went to articles to pursue this topic and found out a lot of information about it. There were many different studies on sleeping disorders and being deprived of sleep. This problem has been around for awhile. A lot of people ave done experiments on the effects of seeping. People always wondered about if sleep has an effect on how we live the next day. They might think that you would not does as well if not given enough sleep the night before. But does sleep has an effect on our performance on any given thing. Glory Cochrane wrote an article on the effects of sleep deprivation. She wrote about sleep loss has negative effects on three basic areas, motor performance, cognitive functions, and mood. It has the strongest effect on mood and weakness on motor functions. She also says that any loss of sleep can have varying effects on an individuals ability to deal with day today situations. An author of science news named B. Bower also wrote an article on sleep deprivation. He wrote that sleep deprived people display generally lower brain activity while grappling with math problems than do when rested. He also wrote that the build up sleep promoting substances, such as adenosine, in the prefrontal cortex of sleepy individuals may cause that area to work harder when confronted ...

Free Essays on Hidden Wars Of Desert Storm

Hidden Wars Of Desert Storm â€Å"Oil is too important to us to allow the Arabs to control† a statement made by Henry Kissinger, Secretary Of State during President Fords Administration. It is a phrase that would be the hidden agenda behind the invasion of Iraq, which led to the Gulf War. Our so called great Democracy and Country has bullied its way to the top of the world economy by exploiting other races and Countries from robbing Native Americans of their land to enslaving Africans and now to stealing Iraq oil all in the name of God and spreading ‘democracy’. In 1991 Iraq invaded Kuwait under the assumption that America would not interfere with the invasion given recent statements at that time by White house representatives, but unknown to Sadams regime and most of the World at that time America had systematically found a way to plot the seed of evil between the two countries and had employed plans on how to counter attack Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait, which would give them a legitimate reason to attack Iraq. Saddam Hussein was made out to be a trigger-happy ruthless dictator by the U.S government with the help of mass media. The American public was led to believe that Saddam Hussein was planning to rule over all the oil in the middle east and spread his terror around the world, which was much like the mind games used on the American public in the 1960’s during the Vietnam war in regard to the Domino effect, and they would be doing a great deal of good by getting rid of this evil dictator who was even using his weapons on his own people. The irony of the story though is that Saddam Hussein was supplied these weapons by America during the Iraq- Iran war and only became a threat to American National Security when he decided to Nationalize his countries oil. Stealing Iraq’s oil was not the only hidden agenda behind the gulf war, American defense contractors and other private arms companies profited immensely from t... Free Essays on Hidden Wars Of Desert Storm Free Essays on Hidden Wars Of Desert Storm Hidden Wars Of Desert Storm â€Å"Oil is too important to us to allow the Arabs to control† a statement made by Henry Kissinger, Secretary Of State during President Fords Administration. It is a phrase that would be the hidden agenda behind the invasion of Iraq, which led to the Gulf War. Our so called great Democracy and Country has bullied its way to the top of the world economy by exploiting other races and Countries from robbing Native Americans of their land to enslaving Africans and now to stealing Iraq oil all in the name of God and spreading ‘democracy’. In 1991 Iraq invaded Kuwait under the assumption that America would not interfere with the invasion given recent statements at that time by White house representatives, but unknown to Sadams regime and most of the World at that time America had systematically found a way to plot the seed of evil between the two countries and had employed plans on how to counter attack Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait, which would give them a legitimate reason to attack Iraq. Saddam Hussein was made out to be a trigger-happy ruthless dictator by the U.S government with the help of mass media. The American public was led to believe that Saddam Hussein was planning to rule over all the oil in the middle east and spread his terror around the world, which was much like the mind games used on the American public in the 1960’s during the Vietnam war in regard to the Domino effect, and they would be doing a great deal of good by getting rid of this evil dictator who was even using his weapons on his own people. The irony of the story though is that Saddam Hussein was supplied these weapons by America during the Iraq- Iran war and only became a threat to American National Security when he decided to Nationalize his countries oil. Stealing Iraq’s oil was not the only hidden agenda behind the gulf war, American defense contractors and other private arms companies profited immensely from t...

A Study of the Relation of Gender and Self-Esteem in Conformity

A Study of the Relation of Gender and Self-Esteem in Conformity Abstract Conformity studies have been extensive following Asch’s (1956) classic line judgement task. Numerous factors have been purported to affect conformity behaviours. The present study investigates gender differences in conforming behaviours, and how self-esteem is associated with conformity, by replicating Asch’s original experiment. The study further explores if self-esteem is associated with conformity differently between gender groups. Twenty-two psychology undergraduates (eight males and fourteen females) were recruited. An independent t-test and bivariate correlation analyses were used to analyse the data. The results revealed 1) no gender difference in conforming behaviours, 2) a significant negative correlation between self-esteem and conforming behaviours, 3) differential association of self-esteem and conformity between males and females. In all, the results suggest that conformity is influenced by an individual’s sense of self-worth instead of a person†™s gender identity; gender may be a moderating variable in self-esteem and conformity research that future studies can explore. Gender and Self-Esteem Differences in Conformity: Revisiting Asch’s Conformity Test People are often faced with situations where they are pressurized to conform to certain norms or behaviours. Conformity is the change in behaviours in response to real or imagined pressure from members of the social environment (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, Nisbett, 2013). In a classic study by Asch (1956), it was demonstrated that people can give obviously wrong answers even when they knew it was incorrect because of the sense of pressure from others. Specifically, participants in the study were shown three different comparison lines and were asked which line was similar to a target line presented adjacent. The participants were seated among a group of 7 to 9 and had to answer after the others indicated their response. There was only one participant in each group and the rest were confederates who gave unanimous incorrect answers on specified trials, known as critical trials. Approximately 75% of the participants conformed on at least one trial – of these participants, 5% confor med on all critical trials. Qualitative analysis after the experiment revealed that the participants knew the answers were incorrect, but felt the need to conform as they did not want to feel rejected, suggesting that people have a psychological need to fit in with a group. The yielding to group pressure because of a need to fit in is termed normative social influence, as opposed to informational social influence wherein people are uncertain of a situation and look to others for guidance (Asch, 1956; Gilovich et al, 2013). Clearly, Asch’s study explores the aspect of normative social influence. Numerous studies had since found divergent findings (Bond Smith, 1996; Mori Arai, 2010), questioning the external validity of the study. Perhaps the most important limitation to Asch’s study was the use of only male participants, indicating the need for further studies exploring gender differences. Literature on gender differences remains inconsistent – while women was generally found to conform more than men in the past (Bond Smith, 1996), recent studies suggest no gender differences (Rosander Eriksson, 2012), or mixed results in conformity between gender groups (Enjanjan, Zeigler-Hill, Vonk, 2015). Reviewing Gender Differences Women were generally found to conform more than men possibly due to gender roles and the conforming towards such roles during the period (1960s – 1990s) when the experiments took place (Rosander Eriksson, 2012). The social identity of women was arguably more submissive and conforming than present. Good and Sanchez (2010) posited that people conform to gender roles of the society due to intrinsic enjoyment of pulling together an individual’s actual and ideal selves, or due to extrinsic pressure from society. According to the self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, as cited in Gilovich et al., 2013), people are constantly motivated to compare between their actual selves – representing who people truly believe themselves to be – and two other selves, the ideal and ought selves. The former refers to the more positive connotation of people’s ambitions and what others maintain about them; the latter refers to the sense of obligation people feel pressurized to follow. Bond and Smith (1996) meta-analysis seems to substantiate this theory. In retrospect, the review was also done in the 1990s and conformity behaviours might have changed since then. Agreeably, Rosander and Eriksson (2012) found that women did not conform more than men. The study utilized the Asch’s paradigm, but on the internet where participants were not interacting face-to-face with each other. An additional measure of task difficulty (Easy/Difficult) was introduced. The overall conformity result was like Asch’s original study. Additionally, men were found to conform more than women on difficult task (specifically on difficult and logical questions, for details see Rosander Eriksson, 2012). This is corroborated by Enjanjan and colleagues (2015) where men with varying levels of self-esteem were found to conform more on difficult trials. Furthermore, women might not have been more conforming but that men tend to report less conformity depending on the context (Rosander Eriksson, 2012). Recent explanation of why men conform less alludes to the idea that non-conformity portrays uniqueness, thus making an individual stand out and increase prospective opportunities such as leadership roles (Griskevicius, Goldstein, Mortensen, Cialdini, Kenrick, 2006; Rosander Eriksson, 2012). Taken together, the findings suggest no concrete direction of gender difference, and hints a relationship between conformity and self-esteem. Reviewing Self-Esteem in Conformity Following the self-discrepancy theory, conformity towards ascribed norms may increase self-esteem due to inherent positive feelings. Conversely, conforming due to feelings of pressure may induce lower levels of self-esteem (Good Sanchez, 2010; Gilovich et al., 2013). Alternatively, this paper aims to identify if self-esteem levels affect people’s conforming behaviours. One of the main reasons people conform is the desire to fit in or to be correct (i.e. normative and informational social influences, Gilovich et al., 2013). Since these desires are associated with self-esteem (Enjanjan et al., 2016), it is intuitive to think that people with low self-esteem conforms more. Truly, studies converge on the notion that individuals with low self-esteem tend to conform more than individuals with high self-esteem (Enjanjan et al., 2016), possibly to protect their weak sense of self and mitigate the damaging impacts of failure (Ardnt, Schimel, Greenberg, Pyszczynski, 2002). Research on the relationship of gender in self-esteem and conformity remained scarce, with identifiable studies placing self-esteem as the outcome/dependent variable in their study instead of conformity (Good Sanchez, 2010). Due to inconsistencies in the literature, this paper expects a non-directional gender difference in rate of conformity. Next, it is expected that self-esteem is negatively correlated with conformity. Finally, this paper further explores if self-esteem levels between gender groups is differently associated with conformity. Methods Design There were two designs of the study – a between-subject quasi-experimental design for test of group difference and a correlational design for test of association. The independent variable for the former test was gender; the dependent variable was social conformity operationalised as the rate of conformity (out of 12 critical trials) of Asch’s (1956) conformity test. Self-esteem, measured using Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965a), was correlated with the dependent variable. Participants responded to both RSES and the conformity experiment. Participants A total of 22 Participants (8 Males, 14 Females), age ranging from 18 – 25 years (M = 20.7, SD = 2.35 years) were recruited from James Cook University as part of their course requirement PY3102. Majority of the participants (N = 19) were First year students, and the remaining (N = 3) were Second year students. All participants were included in the study as all relevant details were filled up in both the demographics form (Gender, Age, and Year of study in college), and all participants completed the experiment. Materials Asch’s (1956) line judgement task. Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 was used to create the stimuli and presented through in-class overhead projector in James Cook University Singapore, room C2-06. The stimuli (Appendix A) consist of 18 trials of line judgement test, 12 of which were critical trials whereby the researcher recorded responses of the participants. The confederates were told to give wrong responses unanimously on the critical trials. The target lines were copied exactly (copy-paste function) from the correct comparison line while the remaining lines were created such that the correct answer was always obvious. All lines were between 2 – 10 inches (5.08cm – 25.40cm) following the original study. Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES; 1965a). The RSES is a 10-item scale that measures feelings of self-worth by assessing both positive and negative feelings about the self (Rosenberg, 1965b). The items are scored on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Items 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 are reverse scored. Item scores are summed and higher scores indicate higher self-esteem (Appendix B). The scale was found to have good internal consistency, a = .91, and demonstrated good internal and external validity (Sinclair et al., 2010). Procedure Participants were given an information sheet and were told that their participation is completely voluntary; they could leave at any point in the experiment. Only one participant was present for each experiment. Upon agreeing to informed consent and filling up of the demographics sheet, participants completed the RSES. Participants were told that they were in a group study of visual judgement together with three other confederates, and were assigned to the last seat in the row. The researcher presented the line judgement task on screen (5 metres away) and participants had to answer: â€Å"Which comparison line A, B, or C is the same as the target line?† after responses from all confederates. The confederates were instructed to give unanimous correct responses on trials 1, 2, 6, 10, 15, and 16 (randomly generated order, except for 1 and 2, following Asch’s original study), while incorrect responses for all other trials (critical trials). Only responses from the critical trials were recorded. Finally, participants were debriefed and given the true nature of the experiment. Statistical Analysis IBM SPSS 22 was used to analyse the data. An independent t test was used to test for gender differences and bivariate correlation analysis was used to test for the relationship between self-esteem and the dependent variable. Results The present study explored gender differences in social conformity, and its relationship to self-esteem. Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics of each group. Contrary to the hypothesis, an independent t test revealed no significant differences between male and female, t(20)= -0.067, p = .947, 95% CI [-0.256, 0.240]. A significant moderate negative correlation was found between self-esteem and social conformity, r(20) = -.58, p = .004, indicating that people with higher self-esteem tend to conform less. Finally, this study further explored if self-esteem levels between males and females would be associated differently with rate of conformity. A bivariate correlation analysis between gender groups indicated differential association with conformity – there was a significant strong negative correlation in the female group, r(12) = -.73, p = .003; there was no significant correlation in the male group, r(6) = -.31, p = .45. Discussion In all, the results revealed no gender differences in rate of conformity, a significantly moderate negative correlation of self-esteem and conformity, and different associations of self-esteem and conformity in males and females – women with higher self-esteem seems to conform less, while there was no significant correlation in men with varying levels of self-esteem. Contrary to previous findings, it appears that males and females do not differ in their rate of conformity. One possible explanation can be that gender roles in the current globalized society are not as prominent and people are more liberal in their social identity, thus blurring the distinction between gender. The result was consistent with the hypothesis of negative correlation of self-esteem and conformity, thus supporting previous findings and the notion that conforming behaviours seem to be a form of defensiveness toward threats to the self (i.e. fear of criticism or judgement by others, feeling excluded etc). Additionally, this paper showed that different levels of self-esteem in males and females are associated with conformity, consistent with Enjanjan et al.’s (2016) findings. It is likely that females with low self-esteem value the desire to be liked by others more than men with low self-esteem, while women with high self-esteem is more confident to make autonomous decisions. Conversely, men probably do not consider conforming behaviours as being impactful to their self-esteem as they may feel that uniqueness is a preferable trait rather than being liked by others. However, it is puzzling that no gender difference emerged overall, but differential associations emerged at var ying levels of self-esteem in males and females. The findings imply that conformity in people may be related more to an individual’s sense of self-worth rather than to gender, and complex interactions may exist between gender groups and self-esteem levels. The findings may be of interest to people working in groups, especially leaders – to identify the tendency for people to conform and therefore impeding productive generation of ideas. Limitations and Future Directions This study is limited due to the small sample size (N = 22), and very low count of male participants (n = 8). Also, all participants were psychology students and they might have guessed the nature of the study. This was controlled by asking for the year of study – with older-year students having the tendency to guess the true nature. Furthermore, due to the quasi-experimental nature, random assignment was not possible thereby confounding the results. Future studies may recruit more participants and include a question at the end of the experiment (â€Å"What is the study about?†) to exclude participants who know the true nature of the study. This was not done in the present study due to restrictive sample size. Perhaps with adjustments to the study and with more advanced statistical procedures, complex interactions between gender, self-esteem, and conformity can be discovered.

The Sociological Perspective of Suicide Research Paper

The Sociological Perspective of Suicide - Research Paper Example An individual who has decided for his own self to commit suicide will find no alternative to delay his decision (Novak 1997). He finds the best possible methodology and the tools to make sure that suicide is the order of the day as far as his life is concerned. However having said all this, suicide is no escape from this world because as the sociological theory suggests, suicide is indeed the end of everything but not exactly a logical conclusion to a life that can bring about solutions if proper consideration and hard work are devoted. It is a given that suicide can always be avoided but the ones who believe in it are usually in support of this form of death. The Sociological Perspective of Suicide Under the sociological perspective, positivism suggests that social processes need to be analyzed and studied in terms of the cause and effect using a scientific model which depicts that the suicide process is indeed a study between life and death for the ones who believe in this dictum i n essence. ... s well, which include – the differential association theory, the labeling theory, the rational choice theory, the social disorganization theory, the social learning theory, the strain theory and lastly the sub-cultural theory. The Humanistic Perspective If seen from a humanistic perspective, suicide is a bane in the time and age of today as well as in the past. It does not offer any form of solace because it takes a life away from the worldly affairs and makes other feel bad about the whole suicide situation. The individuals who are near and dear to the ones who commit suicide feel that they have been hard done by. They encounter societal imbalance because people feel that these individuals are the reason why suicide took place on the part of the deceased person. It is a well-known fact the world over that suicide does not solve the problem, in fact it is the start of a problem which has long-lasting and consequential affects on the family of the deceased as th ey have to go through a tough time at the hands of the police authorities and the society at large which continuously questions the legitimacy of the suicide. The cause is found out because this is pertinent to the overall study of suicide in the first place (Bayatrizi 2010). The Negativity within the Phenomenon of Suicide The sociological perspective pays a great deal of significance on how suicide is taken as something of a very negative tenet within its folds. The suicide activity is the result of a lot of breakdown on the part of the deceased since he has got to the decision of giving up his life due to internal and external pressures which have come to his realization. There are a number of reasons why suicide is the end result.

Staffing as the Phase of the Management Process Article

Staffing as the Phase of the Management Process - Article Example Nevertheless, upon their encounter, Fred Western got mesmerized with the noteworthy credentials of Mimi Brewster, not to mention her being knowledgeable and well-versed about the Chinas customs, traditions, and its business situation. However, Mr Westerns impression of Mimi is counteracted by Miss Virginia Flanders discovery of some background information from one search engine on the web. Indeed, the facts that have been discovered by Miss Flanders undeniably stirred the mind of Mr Western, thereby putting him in a considerable dilemma— whether to hire Mimi and approve her candidacy to suit the position, or otherwise. The aforesaid issues revolve around one important management elements or functions, that is staffing. â€Å"Staffing is the third phase of the management process, where the leader or manager recruits, selects, orients, and promotes personal development to accomplish the goals of the organization† (Marquis and Huston 229). As such, the success of this process depends upon how efficient and efficacious is the leader or manager in fulfilling his or her roles and functions all throughout this phase (Marquis and Huston 230). In response to the scenario in the case study, Mimi's academic and previous work backgrounds are undeniably sufficient to meet her desired position. In fact, her credentials are superb: (1) she graduated with honours (cum laude) and (2) excellent recommendations from previous employers. The literature says that it is really very important to check the academic and professional credentials, as well as reference checks, of the job applicants or candidates (Marquis and Huston 246). In this regard, there is really nothing wrong with Mimi's application except for some internet articles describing her as somewhat â€Å"activist†.Nevertheless, since those distracting articles were published more than eight years ago, they can be disregarded. This is supported by the literature as Marquis and Huston affirmed that  information obtained by any method may not be used to reject an applicant unless a justifiable reason for disqualification exists.  

Leadership and its views in football Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership and its views in football - Essay Example Starting from the developing a team, training, developing strategies, executing those in the field all depends on the manager. Thus, success or failure of the team also considered as the responsibility of the manager. According to the report of Barnes (2013), in the EPL (English premier league), the role of the manager is very important. Being considered as the toughest and most competitive football league of the world, team managers play an important role in the success or failure of the team. Signing new footballer, coaching them, developing team strategies-all depends on the manager. In his review, he cited the example of Paolo Di Canio-manager of the Sunderland football club. According to the report of British media, his enthusiasm was the key behind the success of the Sunderland football club, as they were able to retain their position in the premier league after a horrible start. In his report he pointed out the fact that it is not necessary that only the change in managers bri ngs about the good result. It is nothing to do with the change but it is a trend of event which may happen no matter whether club has change the manager or not. In his word, changing manager may give good result for a game or two, in short for a shorter period of time, but that does not means it will give continuous good result. According to his view, â€Å"it s a misleading statistic because not changing the manager would have had the same result†. He cited the example of Aston Villa in the EPL, where they also have facing the threat of relegation like Sunderland, but they did not change their manager. The result of the first 5 games of Sunderland after changing manager and Aston Villa without changing the manager was same: 2 wins, 1... The essay goes though 5 different phases of an employmet cycles. These are recruitment/selection, induction, managing the performance, controlling different level of performance and workforce planning/role or job analysis-job redesign. Being a manger one has to look up to all these parameters and control the performance of his or her team members. At the end, manager has to carry the responsibility of both success or failure of the team as he or she is the leader of the group. (p.4). Being the leader of the group or the team, managers have the responsibility of both success and failures. In any organization or any sports managers have a key role to play.b Thus, success or failure of the team also considered as the responsibility of the manager. Then, we see the issues in the essay. There are several causes and consequences associated with the dismissal of the manager. All across the globe, the performance of any team is the only parameter by which any manager’s work is being r eviewed. Same is applicable for any organization also. Being the manager of the group or at the top of the organization performance is the only parameter. In conclusion, we get more information on the football manager's profession. According to the review of Markham (2012), in the game of football managers used to get sacked or fired due to 3 main reasons. These are: 1) Poor on-field performance. 2) Breakdown in relations with club directors/owners and 3) Increasing pressure from the supporters and media for delivering better result.

The History of Criminology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The History of Criminology - Research Paper Example The Philosophers like John Locke, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham prolonged upon the social contract theory to clarify as to why people entrust crime and how societies can successfully fight crime? The concepts can go on to play a huge role in the legal systems in a lot of nations nowadays, even though the approach in the current world tends to be a little more flexible. â€Å"According to Beccaria, crimes occur when the potential pleasure and rewards from illegal acts outweigh the pains of punishment. Beccaria’s theory was that in order for punishment to be effective, it must be public, prompt, necessary, the least possible in the given circumstances, proportionate and dictated by law† (Classical Vs. Positivist Criminology, 2013, par.2). It is significant to recognize the situation in which the classical criminology was expanded. At the time of the Enlightenment, Europe was altering completely, with a lot of nations rising from the feudal monarchies and completely i mproving their laws. Across Europe, this law was wildly conflicting and it still applied more variable. Board of judges and another legal official’s frequently lacked a wide training, and it arranged punishments completely out of quantity to some crimes as ignoring others. A lot of people understood the need for a more consistent and efficient justice system, and this method was the result. Classical criminology is basically a financial theory of crime that concentrates on the criminal act as per the definition which is given by the law. The significant idea is those individuals who are less or more free to decide any offense as to one by a choice or of behavioral choices. The comparative attractiveness of any option is influenced by the costs that are connected with an illegal action.

Social Viewpoints Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Social Viewpoints - Research Paper Example The system would also promote affirmative action programs to ensure racial minorities have better opportunities. I am not a big fan of this model as it takes away the incentive to work had if you cannot keep a lot of your money. Another model is the opposite of social justice. People should be personally responsible. Taxes should be at a low level for everyone. Social security payments should be small to avoid people becoming dependent on them. A third model you might find would be an extreme version of social justice: the nanny state. This system does everything for everyone, but it is very coercive. It provides cradle to grave benefits but at a high cost (Harsanyi, 2). People lose a lot of freedom in this system. It is a bit like the book Brave New World. People have everything, all their material needs, but they lack freedom. If I had to choose I would choose freedom: the personal responsibility to

Leadership and its views in football Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership and its views in football - Essay Example Starting from the developing a team, training, developing strategies, executing those in the field all depends on the manager. Thus, success or failure of the team also considered as the responsibility of the manager. According to the report of Barnes (2013), in the EPL (English premier league), the role of the manager is very important. Being considered as the toughest and most competitive football league of the world, team managers play an important role in the success or failure of the team. Signing new footballer, coaching them, developing team strategies-all depends on the manager. In his review, he cited the example of Paolo Di Canio-manager of the Sunderland football club. According to the report of British media, his enthusiasm was the key behind the success of the Sunderland football club, as they were able to retain their position in the premier league after a horrible start. In his report he pointed out the fact that it is not necessary that only the change in managers bri ngs about the good result. It is nothing to do with the change but it is a trend of event which may happen no matter whether club has change the manager or not. In his word, changing manager may give good result for a game or two, in short for a shorter period of time, but that does not means it will give continuous good result. According to his view, â€Å"it s a misleading statistic because not changing the manager would have had the same result†. He cited the example of Aston Villa in the EPL, where they also have facing the threat of relegation like Sunderland, but they did not change their manager. The result of the first 5 games of Sunderland after changing manager and Aston Villa without changing the manager was same: 2 wins, 1... The essay goes though 5 different phases of an employmet cycles. These are recruitment/selection, induction, managing the performance, controlling different level of performance and workforce planning/role or job analysis-job redesign. Being a manger one has to look up to all these parameters and control the performance of his or her team members. At the end, manager has to carry the responsibility of both success or failure of the team as he or she is the leader of the group. (p.4). Being the leader of the group or the team, managers have the responsibility of both success and failures. In any organization or any sports managers have a key role to play.b Thus, success or failure of the team also considered as the responsibility of the manager. Then, we see the issues in the essay. There are several causes and consequences associated with the dismissal of the manager. All across the globe, the performance of any team is the only parameter by which any manager’s work is being r eviewed. Same is applicable for any organization also. Being the manager of the group or at the top of the organization performance is the only parameter. In conclusion, we get more information on the football manager's profession. According to the review of Markham (2012), in the game of football managers used to get sacked or fired due to 3 main reasons. These are: 1) Poor on-field performance. 2) Breakdown in relations with club directors/owners and 3) Increasing pressure from the supporters and media for delivering better result.

Social Viewpoints Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Social Viewpoints - Research Paper Example The system would also promote affirmative action programs to ensure racial minorities have better opportunities. I am not a big fan of this model as it takes away the incentive to work had if you cannot keep a lot of your money. Another model is the opposite of social justice. People should be personally responsible. Taxes should be at a low level for everyone. Social security payments should be small to avoid people becoming dependent on them. A third model you might find would be an extreme version of social justice: the nanny state. This system does everything for everyone, but it is very coercive. It provides cradle to grave benefits but at a high cost (Harsanyi, 2). People lose a lot of freedom in this system. It is a bit like the book Brave New World. People have everything, all their material needs, but they lack freedom. If I had to choose I would choose freedom: the personal responsibility to

Technical textiles Essay Example for Free

Technical textiles Essay A small proportion of technical textiles are manufactured from high-end fibres like Kevlar or Nomex. Most technical textiles are made from everyday fibres such as polyester, polypropylene, polyamide or acrylic. Gore-Tex ® fabrics are created by laminating the Gore-Tex ® membrane to high performance textiles, then sealing them with a solution for guaranteed waterproof protection. Phosphorescent textiles are a class of luminescent materials that show long-lasting bright afterglow in dark after charged by a source of light capable of exciting the material to a persistent excited state. Some other technical textiles are Scotchlite, electronic textiles, the smart bra, microfibres, Nano-fibres and Skintex skincare. Smart fibres have been developed to provide functions that will respond to and protect our bodies. They can be said to be intelligent because of their ability to react to external stimuli or changes in the environment without human intervention. Smart fibres are split into four categories; Biomimetic fibres that mimic nature, Shape Memory textiles, Sense and Track fibres and Chromatic fibres. Biomimetic fibres mimic good design in nature; some of these include Fastskin by Speedo and a fabric by Stomatex. Fastskin enables the swimmer to be streamlined by reducing passive drag by up to 4%. Stomatex uses a pattern of dome-shaped vapour chambers to allow body heat and perspiration to exit through tiny pores at a controlled rate. The body temperature remains stable at whatever activity is being carried out. Technical textiles differ from Smart fibres due to the fact that they have different uses. Smart fibres were developed to provide functions that will respond to our bodies and protect them, whereas technical textiles already have a function and usually respond to changes in the environment. Most smart fibres aim to enhance performance, for example fastskin aims to reduce drag for swimmers and stomatex aims to maintain a stable body temperature throughout exercise, probably enabling you to work harder for longer. Technical textiles have different functions, they are widely used for their useful functions. Scotchlite if for safety, it reflects light, enabling the wearer to be seen in the dark by headlights or torches. The smart bra detects the early stages of breast cancer using microwave antennae. Odour control- does as it says; an antimicrobial agent can be encapsulated within the fibres to prevent bacterial growth. Technical textiles can be extremely useful to users in the 21st century. Softswitch joined forces with ONeill to produce the first wearable electronics product with Bluetooth. The ski jacket was adapted to withstand snowboarding environments, and many functions such as a mobile phone and mp3 player were integrated into the sportswear. Also woven into the jacket are electrically conductive fabric tracks which connect the chip module to a fabric keyboard and built in speakers to the hood. There is a microphone integrated into the collar of the jacket for phone calls. This is similar to the Nike ACG Comm jacket. It is Nikes latest snow jacket and comes with a built in radio, microphone and earpiece. Equipment like this could be lifesaving. If you are taking part in snowsports and you happen to get hurt you can communicate via the built in functions, this is particularly useful in the 21st century as many people go skiing and snowboarding off-piste and if theyre not careful they may get injured, the only way for them to communicate could be via the built in communicational devices. Nomex is a registered trademark for a flame-resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont (now Invista) and first marketed in 1967. A Nomex hood is a common piece of firefighting equipment. The hood protects the parts of the head that are no covered by the helmet and face mask from the intense heat of the fire. Most of a fire-fighters suit would be made from Nomex

Why do people play computer games

Why do people play computer games Video and computer games, like many popular, entertaining and addicting kid activities are looked down upon by many parents as time-wasters, and worse, parents think that these games rot the brain. Also, the media and some experts readily blame violent video games as the reason why some youth become violent or commit extreme anti-social behavior. But many scientists and psychologists find that video games actually have many benefits. Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skill that they will need in the future. Video games give your childs brain real workout. In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking. These skills are not even taught at the school. Some of the mental skills trained by video games include hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skill. In shooting games, the character may be running and shooting at the same time. This requires the real-world player to keep track of the position of the character, where he/she is heading, their speed, where the gun is aiming, if the gunfire is hitting the enemy, and so on. All these factors need to be taken into account, and then the player must then coordinate the brains interpretation and reaction with the movement in their hands and fingertips. This process requires a great deal of eye-hand coordination and visual-spatial ability to be successful. Researches also suggest that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention skills from video games. There have been even studies with a dults showing that experience with video games is related to better surgical skills. Also, a reason given by the experts as to why fighter pilots of today are more skillful is that the generations pilots are being weaned on video games. Sometimes the player does this almost every second of the game giving the brain real workout. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events such as those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for real-world situations. The study suggests that playing action video games primes the brain to make quick decisions. Video games can be used to train soldiers and surgeons, according to the study. It can test your hypothesis and Inductive reasoning based to James Paul Gee, Professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he said that playing video games is similar to working through a science problem. Like students in a laboratory, gamers must come up with the hypothesis. For example, players in some games constantly try out combinations of weapons and powers to use to defeat an enemy. If one does not work, they change hypothesis and try the next one. Video games are goal-driven experiences, says Gee, which are fundamental to learning. Simulation, real world skills. The most well known simulations are flight simulators, which attempt to mimic the reality of flying a plane. All the controls, including airspeed, wing angles, altimeter, and so on, are displayed for the player, as well as a visual representation of the world, and are updated in real time. Video games introduce your kid to computer technology and the online world. You should recognize that we are now living in a high-tech, sophisticated world. Video games make your kid adapt and be comfortable with the concepts of computing. This is particularly important for girls who typically are not interested in high technology as much as boys. Video games allow you and your kid to play together and can be a good bonding activity. Some games are attractive to kids as well as adults, and they could be something that they share in common. When your child knows more than you, he can teach you how to play and this allows you to understand your childs skills and talents. Finally, and this is controversial, violent video games may act as a release of pent-up aggression and frustration of your kid. When your kid vents his frustration and anger in his game, this diffuses his stress. Games can provide a positive aggression outlet the same way as football and other violent sports. Video games also can teach important skills or address serious issues, Organizations such as Games for Change promote the use of games for education and social action, and often involve kids in the creation of games they can use to express themselves on important issues and current events. Some medical professionals, such as Doctor Kourosh Dini, also feel that age appropriate multi-player video games can allow children to learn how other people think. A key aspect of empathy. Games can also help a child become more comfortable with new and ever progressing technology. Recent studies have shown that video games can have a positive or negative effect on how players behave. Depending on the content. Pro social games can increase empathy, co-operation, helping and emotional awareness, while violent games can diminish these traits. Video games are not all violent, but most of them are, and many of them are pretty gruesome. It has been estimated that up to 89% of games contain some violent content. People are concerned that violent games might be causing young people to become violent and there is some evidence to support this. Studies have shown that violent games can increase physiological arousal, increase aggressiveness thoughts and emotions, increase aggressive behavior, and reduce helping behavior (where people become less likely to help other). These effects seem to be stronger in young people who already tend to be aggressive. It has been argued that more hostile or aggressive young people will be attracted to violent games, and that it is not the games causing the problem. However, even taking into account the persons hostility, it is clear that exposure to violent games causes increased aggressive behavior (as indicated by things like the degree to which they get into physical fights or argue with teachers). Desensitization to violence has been suggested as part of the problem. Desensitization is when someone gradually begins to feel that violence is normal. When games reward players for doing violent actions, it is easy to see how this could happen. For most teens, playing video games is just another recreational activity they enjoy with friends. The concern is when video game playing becomes an addictive or isolating activity. According to a Harris Interactive poll released in January of 2007, 23% of gamers surveyed reported that they felt addicted to video games. Some teens are heavy users of only role-playing games (RPGs) such as World of Warcraft and multiplayer games such as Call of Duty in which they interact with other players in real time. Students will often neglect schoolwork and other aspects of their daily lives when they become immersed in these games. While it remains unclear whether this can be termed an addiction, the American Medical Association has identified video game overuse as a behavior, and may include it in a future edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Children who are heavy users of video games may also be getting less exercise and develop poor eating habits. Make sure that your teen is getting outside and not snacking too much on unhealthy foods while gaming. If you are concerned about the amount of your time your teen is spending on video games, keep in mind that it is normal for young people to throw themselves enthusiastically into hobbies. Consider the effect your teens gaming is having on his or her life. People can become addicted to games. Young gamers have shown similar symptoms to people who have drug or alcohol dependence. An ability to stop playing, and withdrawal symptoms (anxiety, agitation) if they go without access to their gaming fix. Gamers also report that they play games to escape things like family or personal problems. In a similar way to people who use drugs or alcohol to escape their problems. There have been reports of adults that play so much they neglect their families. There are even support groups for family members of people with an addiction to one game in particular. Computer gaming is much maligned at times for the level of violence in some games and for the amount of time that is claims that could be put to more productive uses. Some advantages of gaming are that it has educational applications, increase visual processing of information and teaches problem solving skills. Violence in games has an unquestionable negative effect on players, making them more likely to be violent themselves, according to Craig Anderson of the American Psychological Association. He points out that experiments in the lab and in the field, and longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have all shown this to be true. The interactive nature of the games makes them more influential in teaching violence that more passive media like television or books. Time spent in front of the computer has increased fir kids 8 to 18, and media use now stands at an average of 7.5 hours per day, taking into account computers, televisions and other media, as reported in a study by the Kaiser Foundation. Much of the time is spent multitasking or combining TV and video games, for example. Half surveyed said they had a computer game console of their own on their room. In addition time spent reading has decreased. Games have educational uses, for example, teaching economic skills like negotiating and purchasing strategies, and are used in college level economics courses to do so. For example, many games allow players to accumulate points or money and then purchase things that will advance their interest in the game. These features simulate markets, and in fact can become commodities outside the game. Gaming teaches problem solving skills. Players are given a set of rules to follow and must figure out the best strategy for achieving the goals set in the gaming context. If the game has multiple players or teams, the problem solving is done in a social context, which teaches people to communicate and cooperate. Computer game addiction generally refers to an excessive, unhealthy amount of playing computer games. Rather than engaging in the real world, an addicted user devotes the majority of his or her time to gaming. The addicted gamer often isolate him/herself from others, ignores more important responsibilities, and is often obsessed with obtaining higher status/rankings/achievements in his/her favorite computer game. According to the DSM-IV (the current manual for classifying emotional, psychological, and mental disorders), No. Although there have been calls from some mental health professionals and parents to recognize computer game addiction as a real disorder, it has not been granted official diagnostic status. As more research on the effects of excessive gaming is conducted, many believe that it is only a matter of time before computer game addiction is classified as a compulsive behavior similar to gambling addiction. Because there is no official diagnosis of computer game addiction, there is obviously no universally agreed upon list of symptoms. Psychologists and other mental health professionals initially adapted the diagnostic criteria for gambling addiction and used this as a rough assessment tool for computer game addiction. This classification approach is rarely used today and for better or for worse, it is essentially up to the individual researcher or clinician to define the symptoms of computer addiction. Depending on the research methodology and the definition of computer addiction used, estimates range from 2 to 10% of all children who play video games. More accurate and consistent estimates should be possible if formal diagnostic criteria for computer game addiction are introduced. Because computer game addiction is a new development in the world of mental health, treatments are not as well established as those for depression, anxiety, anger, and etc. most interventions take a cognitive-behavioral approach, which involve changing how the addict thinks about the addiction (for example, recognizing cognitive distortions designed to convince the gamer that it is not a problem), and simultaneously changing his/her behaviors (for example, setting strict limits for play, taking care of other responsibilities before gaming, using game blocking software of devices, and etc.) treatment can take a variety of forms including: Individual therapy Individual therapy with a psychologist who specializes in treating computer game addiction or who has experience with addictions in general. Treatment is tailored to the individual player and is based on established psychological principals and interventions. Family therapy Especially if the addicted player is a child or younger teen. Computer game addiction almost always affects other family members, and the chance for recovery is increased if these members are involved in treatment and are working together toward mutually agreed upon goals. Wilderness therapy Wilderness therapy in which the addicted gamer enters an outdoor treatment program focused on survival skills, team building, goal setting, and developing self-confidence. The programs typically last at least thirty days and the participants have absolutely no access to video games and limited access to other technologies. Although somewhat similar to the symptoms of computer game addiction, the negative consequences of excessive gaming are often divided into five main categories: Social Consequences As a computer game addict spends more time gaming, he/she tends to spend less time interacting with others in person. As such, he/she may lack face-to-face human contact, experience isolation and loneliness, and the loss of friends or relationships. Academic/Career Consequences Children and teens that are addicted to computer games very often experience falling grades and decreased academic performance and dedication. Completing homework, studying for tests, and efforts during school become very low priorities. Adults who are addicted to computer games may experience a similar deterioration in work performance, job dedication, and career aspirations. Financial Consequences Adults and teens may spend large amounts of money on new games, expansion pack, micro-transaction, service fees, and computer upgrades. In extreme cases, jobs may be lost due to poor work performance, playing while at work, and frequent absences. Family Consequences Computer game addiction often leads to deterioration in family relationships. Tension and conflict between family members escalates as requests to cut back or stop are ignored. The addicted player may initially deny that a problem exists, try to hide how much he/she plays, and accuse the other of trying to control his/her life. Parents of addicted children may disagree on how to address the problem. Which may lead to frequent arguments and conflicts. Health Consequences Computer game addicts may neglect personal hygiene, have poor sleep habits, give up healthy physical activities, and may make meal decisions based on quick and easy preparation so that gaming is not interrupted rather than dietary needs. Emotional/Psychological Consequences Those addicted to computer games may experience depressed mood, low self-esteem, social anxiety, low frustration tolerance, anger, and feelings of guilt and shame for not being able to control their gaming habits. Of note, it seems likely that difficulties in other areas can cause and be caused by computer game addiction. Is computer game addiction different from video game addiction, online addiction, and Internet Addiction? Yes, because computer game addiction refers to excessively playing games on a PC. Most often these games are of the MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) or the FPS (First Person Shooter) genre. Competing online with and against other players is a significant factor in what makes these particular genres more addictive than others. Video game addiction refers to excessive play on computer, home consoles, or handheld system. The terms Internet addiction and online addiction are occasionally used to describe computer game addiction, but more appropriately describe excessive web surfing, email checking, instant messaging, Facebook use, or downloading movies, images, or music Do you think it is okay to play computer games? Yes, most people can and do play computer games but in moderation. They play games for casual entertainment, as a way to relax, and to socialize with friends. However, there are those who are far more likely to become addicted to computer games. For these people, certain games (very often Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO)) appear to present a high risk for addiction and may need to be avoided or banned in order to prevent unhealthy gaming habits.