Health In Society Unequally Distributed Health And Social Care Essay

This essay will concentrate on the inequalities that exist around Cardiovascular Disease, specifically that of Coronary Heart Disease. Harmonizing to the British Heart Foundation ( 2010 ) incidences of decease attributed to Coronary Heart Disease are far more likely to happen within the lower socio-economic category. The British Heart Foundation ( 2010 ) besides report that those populating in the most disadvantaged countries of Wales, have a fifty-percent more opportunity of deceasing from CHD than those populating in the least disadvantaged countries. Furthermore, they claim that persons who undertake manual and unskilled employment have a 10 per centum more opportunity of enduring from Coronary Heart Disease than those employed in managerial places, despite those persons populating in the same country ( ibid ) . First, a brief definition of CHD will be offered in order to help apprehension of how this disease develops, and how unhealthy behaviors can lend to its oncoming. Second, an account of a wellness inequality will be given. Then, assorted studies that have been published in relation to wellness inequalities will be examined in order to offer an account for this inequality. This will include analyzing assorted facets of the lives of persons that are placed in the lower socio-economic category in an effort to explicate behavior that is harmful to wellness. Finally, the function of the Multi Disciplinary squad and the nurse will be discussed, this will include authorities schemes for societal policy, in order to place countries of enterprises to better cases of decease from CHD. CHD is a term used to depict the effects of impaired or absent coronary blood flow to the myocardium, by and large caused by fatty plaques known as atheroma developing within the interior liner of the coronary arterias ( Porth 2004 ) . NHS Choices ( 2009a ) province that cases of CHD are far more likely to happen if an single fumes, is corpulent or has a diet that has a high content of concentrated fat. The National Office of Statistics ( 2008 ) reported that in 2007 there were 2951 deceases under the age of 75 in Wales straight linked with CVD, and that 1662 of these were due to CHD The wellness of the state has shown marked betterment throughout the old ages. Harmonizing to the House of Commons ( 2008 ) the life anticipation in 1948 for work forces was 66.4 old ages and 71.2 old ages for adult females. In 2000 they had risen to 75.6 old ages and 80.3 old ages severally. However, despite these betterments, wellness inequalities still exist amongst specific groups within society ( ibid ) .According to the World Health Organisation ( WHO 2010 ) a wellness inequality constitutes a pronounced difference in the distribution of wellness between changing societal groups. These societal groups can run from societal category, age, gender, ethnicity, disablement, geographics gender or linguistic communication ( ibid ) . Historically, those included in the lower ranks of employment and hence placed in the lower socio-economic category, are far more likely to endure sick wellness and higher morbidity rates than those at the top of the societal graduated table ( WHO 2010 ) . Harmonizing to Black ( 1980 ) poorness has ever been a major factor in high mortality rates amongst the lower socio-economic categories, peculiarly in cases of famishment, infection and respiratory unwellness. However, Black acknowledged that the nexus between poorness and circulatory disease was less straightforward ( ibid ) . In an effort to mensurate the extent of these inequalities, during 1977 the Labour authorities commissioned The Working Group on inequalities chaired by Sir Douglas Black to measure the deductions of wellness and societal policy, and to garner information about differences in wellness position amongst changing societal categories ( Townsend and Davidson 1992 ) . The findings were presented to the Secretary of State of the new Conservative authorities in April 1980 ( ibid ) . Black ( 1980 ) concluded that despite the general betterment in wellness across Britain, marked differences in the wellness between those in societal category I and those in societal category V have remained, and in some cases increased. Black ( 1980 ) suggested that one of the grounds for this could be due to the displacement in occupational position across the UK. He explained that those undertaking traditional semi-skilled or unskilled employment tended to be older than those from the mean work force. However, Townsend and Davidson ( 1990 ) argue that despite the age disparity between societal categories, the likeliness of an single death before the age of retirement in societal category IV is dual that of those in societal category I. Furthermore, they go on to state that mortality is a characteristic of category across the life span and non merely during old age, with persons from the lower categories enduring higher morbidity rates during childhood, adolescence and maturity ( ibid ) . A follow on from the Black Report was commissioned in 1986 by the Health Education Council before its death in 1987, and was updated in 1992 ( Whitehead 1992 ) . The Health Divide published grounds which revealed serious inequalities in wellness had continued throughout the 1980 ‘s and into the 1990 ‘s ( ibid ) . During the 1990 ‘s the work of Sir Douglas Black was acknowledged and built on in a study by Sir Donald Acheson, who was invited by the Secretary of State for Health to place a scope of countries for future policy development in order to cut down wellness inequalities ( DOH 1998 ) . Black ( 1980 ) suggested that the high proportion of incidences of certain diseases, including that of circulative disease in the lower socio-economic categories could be attributed to the complete indulgence of merchandises that are harmful to the organic structure, and non to want and poorness. Black ( 1980 ) specifically highlighted the significance of the ingestion of baccy merchandises in the aetiology of diseases such as circulative disease. He questioned the impression that the usage of baccy merchandises is a strictly voluntary pre-occupation by and large undertaken by the irresponsible and highlighted the fact that the authorities makes huge sums of money out of its production and sale. However, Black besides acknowledged that the usage of baccy merchandises could non be blamed for the cause of sick wellness, but suggested that it should be viewed as a secondary phenomenon caused by underlying characteristics of society. He raised concerns for the hereafter, admiting that although pre-conceptions sing the usage of baccy were altering, this alteration had finally taken topographic point within the higher socio-economic categories, and would go on to make so, doing the wellness spread to turn even wider. Acheson ( DOH 1998 ) found, that as Black had predicted there was a clear societal category gradient in both work forces and adult females sing the ingestion of baccy merchandises. He found that 12 % per centum of professional work forces and 11 % of professional adult females were reported to be tobacco users, compared with 41 % of unskilled work forces and 36 % of unskilled adult females go oning to smoke. Furthermore, those in the higher socio-economic category who professed to smoking consumed fewer coffin nails than their opposite numbers in the lower socio-economic category ( ibid ) . Acheson ( DOH 1998 ) besides found that those in the lower categories had lower surcease rates than tobacco users in the higher categories. Similarly, the category gradient had widened in regard of deceases from CHD ( see appendix 1 ) . Acheson concluded that smoke is a clear component in mortality differences between societal categories, doing deceases from assorted malignant neoplastic diseases, respiratory unwellnesss and CHD ( ibid ) . The Wanless Report ‘Securing Good Health for the Population ‘ was published in 2004, and besides highlighted smoke as a major cause of high mortality rates under the age of 70 in the lower socio-economic category ( Wanless 2004 ) . Wanless called for smoke to be banned in public topographic points, particularly within the workplace, faulting inactive smoke for cases of malignant neoplastic disease ‘s and bosom disease amongst both tobacco users and non tobacco users ( ibid ) . Harmonizing to Acheson ( DOH 1998 ) the wider socio-economic factors of an person ‘s life style should be taken into consideration when explicating wellness inequalities. Marmot ( 2010 ) concurs, saying than unhealthy behaviors entirely, can non be responsible for the serious wellness inequalities that exist in today ‘s society. As a consequence, Acheson ( DOH 1998 ) implemented a socio-economic theoretical account of wellness, which examined an person ‘s exposure to inequalities from before birth and throughout the full life span. Acheson ( DOH 1998 ) acknowledged that an person ‘s age, sex and constitutional position did so impact their wellness, as did their personal wonts such as smoke and hapless diet. However, Acheson argued that wider influences such as friends, household, community, instruction, lodging, work environment and entree to wellness attention besides had a bearing on an person ‘s wellness position ( ibid ) . Therefore, in order to understand the relationship between low socio-economic category and CHD, it is necessary to look into the psychological and societal influences that are experienced by persons within this group. Harmonizing to Acheson ( DOH 1998 ) unemployment rates amongst unskilled workers are four times higher than those from professional groups. Acheson goes on to state that employment is a major constituent in an person ‘s position within society ; it determines their income, societal standing and their ability to take part within society. Furthermore Acheson states that being unemployed can hold damaging effects in both physical and mental wellness, being linked to a sedentary life style and increased ingestion of baccy and intoxicant ( ibid ) . However, the nexus between unemployment and sick wellness is hard to turn out, as it is non clear whether the ground for the unemployment is due to ill wellness that is already present, or whether being unemployed is the cause of the sick wellness ( Schurring et al 2007 ) . Acheson besides suggests that those persons who are in employment tend to be engaged in work that is low paid, insecure and of hapless quality and that offers little, or no chance of publicity ( DOH 1998 ) . Johnson ( 2004 ) argue that those from the lower categories constantly experience high degrees of physiological emphasis, and low degrees of control in the workplace, coupled with low wagess in footings of occupation security, publicity chances, money and regard. However, Stansfield and Marmot ( 2002 ) point out that despite grounds to propose that psychological emphasis at work can be a conducive factor in cases of CHD, it is besides of import non to undervalue the consequence of other nerve-racking constituents of an person ‘s life that are non work related. Persons that are unemployed or have low paid occupations constantly face poorness and adversity. They are more likely to brood in unsuitable lodging, that is frequently moist, overcrowded and in an country that has hapless entree to comfortss ( Acheson DOH 1998 ) . Harmonizing to Siegrist and Marmot ( 2006 ) those from the lower socio-economic category tend to populate in vicinities that experience high degrees of offense, and physical impairment. Skogan ( 1990 ) concurs, saying that persons that reside in these countries have, non themselves, chosen to make so ; hence, they have no existent motive to keep their belongingss or that of their vicinity. This in bend discourages commercial investing in the country, doing it to drop further into want ( ibid ) . Due to miss of fundss these persons are less likely to have any signifier of private conveyance ( DOH 1998 ) . This can hold a direct impact on entree to low-cost food markets, health care, and employment chances. WHO ( 2010 ) suggest that hapless lodging and location non merely do physical wellness jobs but that they are besides a direct cause of emphasis, depression and associated psychological unwellnesss. Harmonizing to Stansfield and Marmot ( 2002 ) nerve-racking life conditions, including those of employment and lodging have marked associations with coffin nail smoke. They go on to province that the prevalence of coffin nail smoke is closely linked with the experience and direction of emphasis. Many people use smoking as a self-medication to assist them get by with the emphasis they experience in their mundane lives ( ibid ) . However, harmonizing to Parrott ( 1999 ) , baccy ingestion is in fact a cause of emphasis, and non the emphasis stand-in that many tobacco users believe it to be. NHS Choices ( 2009b ) agree, saying that tobacco user ‘s may experience a diminution in emphasis degrees once they have smoked a coffin nail, nevertheless this lone occurs because they have satisfied their craving for nicotine. Once the nicotine has worn of the person will one time once more experience stressed ( ibid ) . Harmonizing to Stansfield and Marmot ( 2002 ) both emphasis and baccy ingestion are both clear markers in morbidity rates for CHD, and could take some manner to explicating high cases of this disease within the lower socio-economic category. In an effort to undertake emphasis caused by work, the authorities introduced the ‘Fairness at Work Act ‘ in 1999 ( House of Commons 1999 ) . This measure was introduced in order to guarantee that employees have specific rights at work, including occupation security ( ibid ) . Harmonizing to Acheson ( DOH 1998 ) , employment jurisprudence in the United Kingdom is highly under regulated, compared to that of other industrialized states. Assorted policies sing lodging have been introduced since the Acheson Report, the most recent in Wales being ‘Improving Lifes and Communities ( Welsh Assembly Government 2010 ) . This policy aims to supply Wales with more societal lodging, and to give prospective renters more pick with respects to the countries in which they live. It pledges to better the criterion of lodging offered, to better the visual aspect and feel of communities, and to supply persons shacking in the country entree to services and installations ( ibid ) In a command to undertake happenings of diseases, including that of CHD, the authorities announced a 10 twelvemonth committedness through a white paper, Salvaging Lifes: Our Healthier Nation ( DOH 1999 ) . To run into this committedness the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease was implemented and included 12 criterions to better wellness and prevent disease ( DOH 2008 ) . These rules are reflected in public wellness policy in Wales through the debut of a policy papers â€Å" Tackling Heart Disease in Wales: Implementing Through Evidence ( Welsh Assembly Government 2001 ) . As portion of the 10 twelvemonth program, they advised that local marks should be implemented in order to forestall, and cut down the ingestion of baccy merchandises. It was advised that the sale of illegal coffin nails and baccy should be closely monitored and reduced, that media coverage and national runs should be encouraged and that smoking surcease services should be implemented at local degree. In peculiar, mention was made to cut downing smoke in those on low incomes, with peculiar attending being made to pregnant adult females and their spouses ( ibid ) . The authorities pledged that by the twelvemonth 2010 deceases attributed to CHD would be reduced in the under seventy-fives by 40 % . This mark was in fact met five old ages early, with deceases rates falling by 44 % ( DOH 2008 ) In order to cut down disease caused by smoke, and to protect non tobacco users from passively inhaling baccy, a smoke prohibition was initiated on 1st July 2007 ( BBC News 2007 ) . This policy prohibits smoking in any public topographic point, including saloons, eating houses and topographic points of work. Since the smoke prohibition, research carried out by the Department of Health claim that cases of Myocardial Infarctions have reduced by 10 per centum ( Times Online 2009 ) . However, curates and anti-smoking groups think the authorities should travel farther, and are naming for smoking to be banned in autos, in order to protect kids from 2nd manus fume ( ibid ) . Despite the smoke prohibition some persons continue to smoke, harmonizing to Nice ( 2008 ) the multi disciplinary squad has a cardinal function to play in encouraging and authorising these persons to give up. Harmonizing to the Royal College of Nursing ( 2004 ) wellness publicity is the duty of every nurse. The NMC Code of Professional Conduct ( 2009 ) concur, saying that nurses are personally accountable for safeguarding and advancing the involvements of all patients and clients, irrespective of age, gender and societal fortunes. Harmonizing to Youdan and Queally ( 2005 ) nurses have a cardinal function to play in encouraging patient ‘s to give up smoke, they are ideally placed, and should enter the smoke position of all in and out patient ‘s, and where appropriate offer advice and smoke surcease options. In 2008, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, acknowledged that smoke is a major contributory factor in the wellness spread that exists between the higher and lower socio-economic categories ( Nice 2008 ) . As a consequence, NICE published its first elaborate counsel on smoking surcease ( ibid ) . Harmonizing to these guidelines all persons that come into contact with a wellness professional should be questioned on their smoke position ( ibid ) . Harmonizing to Thomas ( 2007 ) brief oppugning on the topic of smoke has become the foundation of national smoke surcease policy. Nice ( 2008 ) besides stipulate that wellness professionals should utilize as many avenues as possible to make tobacco users, saying that links between birthrate clinics, ante-natal groups, station natal assignments, tooth doctors, infirmaries and GP surgeries should be made in order to aim as many person ‘s as possible. If an single professes to smoke, the wellness professional should offer suited advice and nicotine replacing therapy ; this should be given in concurrence with continued support and a referral to the local NHS Stop Smoking Service ( Nice 2008 ) . Behavioral guidance should besides be offered where appropriate ; this can take topographic point on a one to one footing or in group Sessionss ( ibid ) . Nice ( 2008 ) acknowledges that an person ‘s societal fortunes can be hard to change in the short term ; nevertheless, they believe that behaviour alteration on an single degree is more accomplishable. Evidence has shown that category is a cardinal determiner of wellness. Those in the lower socio-economic category suffer higher degrees of CHD than those in the higher socio-economic category. It has besides been shown that they consume more tobacco merchandises and are more susceptible to emphasize. As antecedently discussed, emphasis and baccy ingestion are both clear markers in cases of CHD, therefore policy aimed at cut downing the emphasis related facets of these persons lives demands to be addressed. Similarly, the ingestion of baccy by this group besides needs to understood. This fact has been recognised by the authorities, who have introduced societal policies related to employment, lodging and smoke in an effort to cut down mortality rates within the lower categories from diseases such as CHD. Nurses and the multi disciplinary squad besides have a portion to play, peculiarly within the community. It is the duty of every wellness professional to oppugn an person with respects to their smoke position, by making so, advice, support and encouragement can be offered, in a command to alter the person ‘s attitude towards this wellness damaging behavior.Mentions:BBC News ( 2007 ) Smoking Ban Takes Effect. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6258034.stm ( Accessed 16 April 2010 ) . Black ( 1980 ) The Black Report: Inequalities and Health.Socialist Health Association. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sochealth.co.uk/Black/blackintro.htm ( accessed 15 March 2010 ) British Heart Foundation ( 2010 ) UK Coronary Heart Disease Statistics. Department of Health. ( online ) . Available at: www.bhf.org.uk/plugins/PublicationsSearchResults/idoc.ashx? †¦ 1 ( Accessed 25 April 2010 ) . DOH ( 1998 ) Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health Report. Chair Sir Donald Acheson. London: The Stationary Office. DOH ( 1999 ) Salvaging Lifes: Our Healthier Nation. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4118614 ( Accessed 19 April 2010 ) . DOH ( 2008 ) The Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework: Building on Excellence keeping Progress. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_096556.pdf ) . ( Accessed 9 April 2010 ) . House of Commons ( 2008 ) Health Committee Third Report – Health Inequalities 2008-2009. Health Committee Publications. ( Online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhealth/286/28602.htm ( Accessed 4 March 2010 ) . House of Commons ( 1999 ) Fairness at Work. House of Commons Library. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp98/rp98-099.pdf ( Accessed 16 April 2010 ) . Johnson ( 2004 ) Work Stressors and Social Class. ( online. ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.workhealth.org/risk/johnson % 20article.html ( Accessed 20 April 2010 ) . Marmot ( 2010 ) Fair Society, Healthy Lives. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ucl.ac.uk/gheg/marmotreview/Documents/finalreport/FairSocietyHealthyLivesChapter2 ( Accessed 17 March 2010 ) . NHS Choices ( 2009a ) Coronary Heart Disease. ( Online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Coronary-heart-disease/Pages/Causes.aspx ( Accessed 26 February 2010 ) . NHS Choices ( 2009b ) Does Smoking Help Stress. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1114.aspx? CategoryID=53 & A ; SubCategoryID=531 ( Accessed 20 April 2010 ) . National Office for Statistics ( 2008 ) All Deaths Under 75 by Cause and Sex 2007 England Wales Scotland N Ireland and United Kingdom. ( Online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html ( Accessed 15 March 2010 ) . NICE ( 2008 ) Smoking Cessation Guidance ( Online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do? pageId=8024618 ( Accessed 19 April 2010 ) . The Nursing and Midwifery Code of Professional Conduct ( 2009 ) . ( Online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nmc-uk.org/aArticle.aspx? ArticleID=3 056 ( Accessed 16 October 2008 ) . Parrott A ( 1999 ) Does Cigarette Smoking Cause Stress. American Psychologist. 25 ( 54 ) pp 817-20. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.tobaccoprc.org/download/file/stress.pdf ( Accessed 15 April 2010 ) . Porth CM ( 2004 ) Necessities of Pathophysiology Concepts of Altered Health States. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. 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( online ) . available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //books.google.co.uk/books? id=ASrAMJh7LngC & A ; printsec=frontcover & A ; dq=skogan+disorder+and+decline & A ; source=bl & A ; ots=_-DBYsfGXN & A ; sig=kPSCk3NGusegOJ_B ( Accessed 18 April 2010 ) . Stansfield A Marmot G ( explosive detection systems. ) ( 2002 ) Stress and the Heart Psychological Pathways to Coronary Heart Disease. London: BMJ Books. Timess Online ( 2009 ) Heart Attacks Plummet After Smoking Ban. ( online ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6832384.ece ( Accessed 18 April 2010 ) . Townsend P and Davidson N ( 1992 ) The Black Report. ( 2nd edn. ) London: Penguin Group. Thomas S ( 2007 ) Smoking Cessation Part 1: Brief Interventions. Nursing Standard. 22 ( 4 ) pp 47-49. WHO ( 2010 ) Developing the EvidenceBase for Tackling Health Inequalities and differential Effectss. ( online ) . 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Youdan and Queally ( 2005 ) Nurses ‘ Role In Promoting and Supporting Smoking Cessation. The Nursing Times. 10 ( 10 ) pp 26-28.

Health Care Innovations

Health Care in growing within their technological field every day. They are continuously coming out with new things that can help improve the world of health care as we know it. One of those things that they have come up with is online health care clinics. Online health care clinics are clinics that you can go to from anywhere where you have internet access, most people use it from home or by phone, but you can also use it while you are traveling as well. You can use these services day or night, and you just pick the state that you will be traveling through when the prescription is available.These clinics have all the same staff that a normal clinic that you would visit would have, accept you can do everything online right at from your fingertips. Virtual clinics treat common conditions such as acne, bladder infections, breast infections, burn and sunburns, some STI’s (chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Trichomoniasis) Cold, Cough and Allergy’s, Deer tick bites, ear pain, Flu, lice, pinkeye and styes, skin and nails issues and yeast infections. (â€Å"Virtuwell†, 2013). What happens is when you first log on to the clinic you create a username and password for future reference if you need to come back all your information can be saved.You provide all your information to a nurse practitioner, they review your information and within 30 minutes or so they get you a prescription or whatever treatment that is needed. You do not have to have insurance; if you do, the cost may be reduced if you do not have insurance its $40, plus the cost of the prescription. This is a quick and easy way to get those common conditions evaluated and treated by trained health care workers from the convenience of your home.Online health care can benefit patients because they do not have to leave their homes or offices in order to speak with a doctor about a condition and can get advice right there online or over the phone without having to wait in line and pay the costly office vi sit. Although this program is not available for more in depth conditions, common conditions that are easily treatable can be addressed in these online clinics. Online health care clinics can improve quality of life because of the convenience of seeing a physician online.However, for someone who does not have access to the internet or does not really know how to use the internet it may not be as useful for them. By having these services available to speak with a doctor online and having common conditions diagnosed it will decrease health care spending because not as many patients are going into the clinics or hospitals for common conditions which allows lower cost in health care. It is also more cost effective for the patients because if they do not have insurance it’s a small fee versus getting a higher medical bill by going into an actual clinic that they would not be able to pay later.Patients can decrease the amount of money they are spending on health care by utilizing th ese online health care clinics. They will not be paying for expensive office visits and if a prescription is required for their condition, they can ask for a generic drug that will also reduce health care spending. These virtual clinics are also nice for health care providers because it allows them to see and diagnose more patients in a shorter time. In addition, everything is online so you are avoiding the cost of paper being used because it is all stored online.You even have the option of keeping your records online for you to come back and access at anytime that need to see them. This is not only cost effective for the patient but also for the health care provider as well because they are reducing the amount of money it cost to store those records. I believe that online health care clinics will become a big trend into the future as our technology continues to advance. I know there isnt a lot of states right now that offer this program.Virtuwell is only offered in Minnesota, Michi gan and Wisconsin, but as the word gets out about this program, I think that more and more states will develop online health care clinics because it avoids people coming into the clinics and passing germs around, with the option of going online you can stay at home and the sicknesses can be more controlled. ————————————————- References Virtuwell. (2013). Retrieved from http://www. virtuwell. com

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Drones for Domestic Video Surveillance Research Paper

Drones for Domestic Video Surveillance - Research Paper Example Drones are easy and are expected to revolutionize security surveillance as well as being considered essential asset in future despite privacy concerns and other abuses. People of different political ideologies have raised debate regarding the use of drone with opponents complaining of infringement of fundamental privacy (Yanklowitz Web) interests and right to associate with others freely while proponents emphasize on potential benefits such as protecting public safety (Locke Web). Thompson asserts that issues of security and interests have always been triggered by arrival of surveillance technology in the past since law enforcers can now see through walls or track one’s movement from the sky (7). It is therefore apparent that many people question the proper balance between the necessity of the government to keep people safe and the privacy needs of the public even though the public support drone usage in some circumstances and less enthusiastic about using them as part of routine law enforcement. It is therefore undeniable that drones have limited abilities such as failure to communicate with civilians for more detailed intelligence and the fact that they cannot go from door to door. Moreover, some drones are lethal and can therefore not be used for surveillance and the public feel paranoid and feel like the government watches them. Yanklowitz argues that privacy concerns are the main challenges to domestic use of drones because continuous surveillance may torture, shame and even make one loss dignity (Web). Drones let the government spy on the public at home in various circumstances such as while taking showers or doing some sensitive things that may require some form of privacy hence depriving rights of the public and lowering their dignity. Thompson explains that home plays an integral role in American life and is accorded the greatest fourth amendment protection by ensuring that the right of

Short Answer Questions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Short Answer Questions - Coursework Example An example of a landscape radically transformed for economic reasons is the Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet Canal. This canal was constructed on the river for the transportation of goods into the interior of the United States of America from the harbor. In the long run, humans do not benefit from such environmental changes since the construction of this canal has resulted in storm surge amplification and wetland erosion. Severe weather conditions such as those witnessed during Hurricane Katrina lead to massive loss of life and property (Jones, 2010). The social functions of kinship in traditional non-state societies may be considered unsociable and dangerously selfish because it involves dividing duties based on ones gender. This is unsociable because boys and girls will not socialize when performing their social functions and will not know how to act in each other’s company. For example in marriage the woman has the role of taking care of the children, while the father protects the family from physical harm. This is dangerous since it portrays the woman as a weaker sex. The man in society is also considered the head of the family; this means that the opinion of the woman shall not be taken into consideration. In certain religions, women are not allowed to perform certain rituals and this leaves them spiritually unfulfilled. An example of soft power is the several fast-food franchises exported to Asia and Europe such as McDonalds. This has changed the manner in which people eat whereby people prefer French fries and fried chicken. The social media in the internet has influenced the political world in the Middle East. This is evident through the â€Å"Arab Spring† that liberated several Middle Eastern countries from tyranny. Such influence turns into propaganda when these freedoms encouraged are meant to bring a nation to its knees through civil war (Jones,

Equity and Trusts Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Equity and Trusts Law - Essay Example The researcher states that a will is normally made in the presence of two witnesses who are not beneficiaries of the will. In a situation where the witnesses become beneficiaries, the will can be contested and invalidated under court’s guidance. After making the entire necessary directive, the testator should append their signature at the end of the will to indicate that everything else above the signature should be followed to the latter. If a clause or any kind of statement is made under the signature, such is considered null and void and cannot be implemented by the court. On 2nd January a one Mr. Clive made a will bequeathing Jamie and Muhammad  £100,000 absolutely. He also bequeathed his sister  £ 50, 000 indicating that he had communicated to her the purpose of this amount. A day before he made the will he had explained to Muhammad that he wished that the  £100,000 be held in trust for Ruth an old friend of his. He, later on, informed Karen that he had an illegitim ate child named Katherine whom he wanted to be taken care of after he was gone. He asked Karen to be his administrator and Karen Obliged. The law of equity states that equity seeks to deliver justice and not in halves. This means that where there is a need for justice such will be given; no more or less. The courts have been noted over the years to strictly observe the wishes of a dead man more than those of greedy relatives left behind fighting for something they did not create or help in any way to create. Despite the fact that Katherine is an illegitimate child, the will left behind by his father is enough indication that the deceased wanted the child taken care of when they are going to. Mr. Clive’s will has not left any ground for a challenger to stand on in court and an attempt by the widow Jane to challenge the will might turn out tone a big undoing for the widow. Once a will has been made and parties have been allocated gifts or any other kind of inheritance, the only way to nullify such a will is by proving that the testator made the will under duress and or was not in the right frame of mind when he was making the will.

Politics in Everyday Life Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Politics in Everyday Life - Case Study Example Every decision that is made should, therefore, be centered on their decisions so that a fair judgment can be given. The real law comes from the will of the people. This is based on democracy and social compact. How much influence should interest groups play in your decision making? Interest groups is one of he factors as they are all citizens of the town. They should not be put in a position where they can directly influence the decision. This is because; they are an interested party that could give a suggestion to favor them (Roskin, 2006). How do you respond to those that support the project/against the project and donated to your campaign? Having people supporting the project with the knowledge of the reasons of why they support, it is very essential. They could be supporting it for personal gain or to avoid responsibilities. Those not supporting the idea, on the other hand, could be those that are oppressed by the suggestion. The only solution to these two parties is listening to all their suggestions. Making a point of dealing with the situation in a manner that will not be oppressive could also be an important gesture. What role should lobbyists play? In this case, a lobbyist will come in handy in advising the city dwellers (Roskin, 2006). They are the people that are in a position to influence the final decision made by the authorities.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY - Essay Example The use of social media, specifically Twitter has encouraged EFL/ESL learners to openly express themselves in their acquired language without fear of reprimand or ridicule from those around them, or their teachers (Junco, 2011). Students are more at home in this virtual environment and find themselves openly using the written English language to express themselves in an atmosphere where they can double check their grammar and spelling before sending out any message. The ability to ensure that communication is fluent as well as making sure that that the social posts are conveying some important messages makes Twitter an effective teaching tool for written English. The aim of this of this paper is to review current findings regarding the possible benefits of using Twitter as a written English teaching tool. The technology allows for a greater vocabulary acquisition among students through the effective use of Twitter in the practice of their written English skills (Junco, 2011). In this paper, a detailed review of the six articles is done. The articles define the reasons as to why Twitter makes for an effective teaching tool for written English with respect to EFL and ESL learners. Borau, K, et al. (2009). Micro-blogging for language learning: using twitter to train communicative and cultural competence. Advances in web-based learning - icwl. Berlin/New York: Springer Berlin Heidelberg Borau's article begins with an introduction to the fact that most English learners use Twitter as an active way of learning rather than a passive version. The author goes on to explain that students taught using various types of technologies have shown a remarkable improvement in their grasp and usage of the English language due to their ability to constantly practice the written version of the language online via Twitter. The specific mention of Twitter in the study was done in relation to a specific study done at the Shanghai Jiao Tong Distance College where ESL students were taug ht via online correspondence for a whole summer term in 2007. The article is very interesting as far as Twitter effect on written English is concerned. It is easy to agree with the article because the results of the experiment were quite successful and pointed towards the ability of Twitter to allow students to learn how to express themselves in effectively in English using only 140 characters. Cano, E. (n.d.). Mobile learning with twitter to improve linguistic competence at secondary schools. The New Educational Review, 134 -147. This article entails a study that was done within three school districts in Spain. In each school district, Twitter was used as part of the interdisciplinary program to develop linguistic competence among learners. Twitter was used as the main communication tool in this instance and it proved to be highly promising as a teaching tool for written English. In the article, Cano concluded that Twitter managed to promote a substantial improvement in terms of te aching and learning for both teachers and students respectively. This happened especially when the language is studied from a reading and writing perspective. It is agreeable with the author in the sense that he made mention of the ready availability of Twitter through various mediums such as tablets, laptops, and mobile phones which encourage students to practice their ESL writing skills during

Railway Development in Hong Kong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Railway Development in Hong Kong - Essay Example As the essay declares Hong Kong is a unique urban area with exceedingly high densities and strong commercial core. It cannot rely on automobiles to the same extent as other cities. Thus Hong Kong is the most favorable environment in the world for urban rail. The key to keeping Hong Kong moving will be to provide mobility alternatives that can make extensive automobile use unnecessary. This paper stresses that railways play a central role in the new transport strategy as they serve as efficient and environmentally friendly mass carriers. The location of employment centres within walking distance of rail stations ensures the usage of railways making the reliance on road-based transport minimal. The Government’s policy is to accord priority to railways so that they will form the backbone of a balanced transport system for Hong Kong. The other reasons put forward to the Provisional Legislative Council to request funding for the development of railway infrastructure are the population increase by 8.2 million in 2016, the need to access new areas, the need to redefine cross-boundary passenger and freight rail services. All the reasons can be summed up into one: the rapid changes in the Hong Kong environment in the last three years with the fundamental change being the reverting of Hong Kong to China in 1997. These changes urged the Government to formulate the fir st Railway Development Strategy in 1994.

Positive nonverbal messages Essay Example for Free

Positive nonverbal messages Essay From the way we dress to the way we move, our nonverbal signals can reveal a great deal about our emotions, perceptions and intentions. When a person is talking or listening, he sends continuous messages consciously or unconsciously through his body movements, such as the way he holds his head, the angle at which he hold his body, his movements of limbs and his changing facial expressions. This kind of communication in which no verbal language is used comes under the category of non verbal communication. According to Knapp Hall (2002) non verbal communication refers to communication that is produced by some means other than words, e. g. , eye contact, body language or vocal cues. The significance of nonverbal communication, in establishing interpersonal relationships, is far greater than any one can think of. According to experts, a substantial portion of our communication is nonverbal. On the basis of its effect nonverbal communication can be classified under following three categories. 1. POSITIVE NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION Positive nonverbal messages puts the other person at ease. When a person expresses an open and positive attitude towards the person with whom he is interacting, it creates a supportive and collaborative atmosphere. Use of positive non-verbal communication helps a person to become more effective and successful. It significantly affects the level of interpersonal relationship. It also determines the overall impression people form about a person. There are several types of positive non verbal indicators. For example turning face to the sender, leaning slightly forward towards him indicate that he is interested. , Nodding to express understanding, smiling or touching the person gently are other types of positive non verbal cues. The eye contact is most effective non verbal cue to achieve the goal of gaining someone’s trust. The way one uses his body and limbs, his eyes and face, will have a major influence on how his non verbal messages are perceived. 2. NEGATIVE NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION Sometimes non verbal body movements, gestures and facial expressions generate disinterest distrust. It creates a state of confusion on the part of the receiver. The type of communication which comes under the above category is known as negative nonverbal communication. Negative nonverbal messages hampers collaborative and supportive environment. To ensure effective communication one must avoid giving such type of cues. Staring or gazing at other can create pressure and tension between the receiver and the sender. Negative facial expression, shifty eyes, too much blinking suggest deception Eyebrow muscle draws the eyebrows down and toward the center of the face if someone is annoyed. Talking to someone without maintaining the eye contact is distracting and often interpreted as insulting. If a person keeps talking on phone or keeps working on the computer during the conversation, it shows that he is not interested. 3. NEUTRAL NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION –This is the type of nonverbal communication which have neither positive or negative effect on the receiver. The type of body movements , postures and tone which have neutral effect on the receivers feelings and emotions comes under this category. It is very difficult to label any non verbal cue as neutral. People attach meaning even to a neutral message. During listening one rarely can stay silent for long, silence in some instances may be treated as neutral non verbal communication. If it lasts more than for 5-6 seconds then it turns into a negative cue. Sounds like ‘Mmm’, ‘Ah’ and ‘Hmmm’ when used in a neutral way invite learner to continue talking. CONCLUSION Sending clear nonverbal messages and understanding correctly the message send by someone, largely depends upon the way how you are perceiving the total situation, and the person with whom you are communicating. Your mind set and the environment in which the communication is taking place also determine how you interpret and react to the non verbal messages. Interpretation of the messages depends upon past experiences,feelings, attitude and socio cultural background of the receiver. Communication can be misperceived if the source and the receiver does not share common experiences and common frame of reference. REFERENCES Knapp,M. L Hall, J. A (2002) Non Verbal Communication in Human Interaction, Crawfordsville, IN : Thompson Learning Smith,T. E, Gartin B. C, Murdick, N. L, Hilton,A (2006) : Positive Indicator Of Non Verbal Communication Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall retrieved on 13th May,2010 Windle,R Warren, S Communication Skills retrieved on 13th May 2010 from http://www. directionservice. org/cadre/section4. cfm

Marks and spencers as an international retailer

Marks and spencers as an international retailer Marks and Spencer, known as M S, is one of the biggest retailers in the world. It has around 150 stores in 30 countries, including 130 franchises operating across the globe. Though it is very popular for its clothing chains in the United Kingdom, M S is also known for its multi-million pound food industry. M S also sell home furnishings, footwear and gifts other than clothing and food. In the United Kingdom alone it has 450 stores and under the trademark St. Michael, it has a chain of 294 stores. Almost all the companys overseas branches are locally franchised. M S owns the United States of Americas Brooks Brothers and King Super Markets. To meet the demands of the customers the company gets facilitated by Direct Mail. The companys core objectives of meeting the customer expectation and giving consumers easier and better access to a wide list of products. The financial services for the customers are provided by the groups financial services which comprise of the unit trust manage ment, life insurances etc. M S in recent years suffered a succession of adversities, both at home and abroad. The sales of the company have dropped. The market capitalization and stock prices reduced substantially and the overseas profits have tremendously declined. As a result the company was forced to form a marketing department in January 1999 and become more proactive and market driven. M S followed a very simple marketing philosophy for a very long time. That is to produce high quality products under a recognised brand and advertise through the word-of-mouth. But in the recent past, this advertising strategy has come under criticism as the company started losing its competitive touch. The challenge now is to develop a good marketing strategy and emerge from the slump to reposition M S as a fierce global competitor in the international arena. Internationalization Strategy of M S The internationalization of the M S began in the early 1940s. It is because the company started to feel that the domestic market has been saturated and the expansion has to come from abroad. Unlike most of the firms, M S began to export its products on the brand name St. Michael as a way to test the waters. It has been successful and the company was exporting about $1,146,000 worth of products by 1955. Externally, the members of a local labour party were suggesting nationalizing the leading domestic retailers. Sooner as a tool of diversification, some international franchising relationships were formed. This franchising allowed the company to achieve global presence with minimum political and economic risks. As the relations of the company grew with other global countries, MS choose to invest directly (FDI). MS uses various types of foreign entry around the world. But mostly the company believes in opening its own stores in major economies. It has its own stores in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Netherlands; and franchises in Cyprus, Israel, Bermuda, etc. when forming international alliances; it often prefers an experienced retailer in that particular country. Its first joint venture was established in Spain as it felt the cultural distance and market power of its co company will help to mitigate the political climate and behaviour of the company. Its international strategies in Spain yielded successful results which helped it to gain popularity in the global markets. Through franchising, its approach was mostly top-down. That is it has a centralised management which could not be better off in various marketing situations. Hence it was forced to change its internationalization strategies through foreign direct investment. Due to this there is a forced change in its technolog y, cultural behaviouring and regional promoting aspects. MS started to open stores in America, Far East and Europe. In different parts it has slightly different operational strategies depending upon the host countries values. In America it used acquisitions with Brook Brothers (clothing company), in Europe it has its direct stores running and in Far East, some stores were run with franchise and others through direct investment. Following a wide range of strategy reviews of its business, board of MS announced in 2001 significant changes to its strategies. The important decisions in its strategy are: Expansion in growth of profitable products. Acceleration of store renewal program Being close to the customer More intensive use of space Release value from half the property portfolio Cost cutting. MS has a wide range of returns on food products and has earned customer trust. So it decided to invest its major investment in food, home and beauty products. Its other plan was to accelerate the renewal of store renewal. Under this, it planned to refurbish more stores faster at the lower cost. It also reallocated to higher growth product areas to maximise returns per sqft. Apart from these strategic changes, it uses direct investment in global sectors which gained them a competitive advantage. Factors affecting MS strategy There are various factors which has a certain impact on the MS internationalization strategy. Of them, technology has been one of the factor in which the company was forced to change its strategy in various countries. But broadly speaking, in this fast developing technological world, technology used by Ms is been available where ever it opened its stores. A small adjustment to the technical functioning of a store is enough for the company to have its strategy working. The most important factor that has its resemblance in the formulation of internationalization strategy is geography and distance. As the marketing strategy of MS is universal, however it does not mean that it uses similar strategies in all parts of the world. There is a large effect of globalisation to the formulation of internationalization strategies. Consumers from various countries are different due to varying culture, economic development, and income level and so on. So in certain cases MS does not use its centralised operating strategies instead it combines with some other company through mergers but has its own standards running. This initial phenomenon of outsourcing and then after some recognition opening its own store had a significant upward success in MS organization. As marks and spencer is generally known for its clothing and food products, the locality of the company is very important. As MS runs its stores in different countries, transportation of the products has to be done in a prà ©cised manner such that there is no shortage. So in order to overcome this transportation and time differences, MS has its own outlets in specific countries. These outlets have immediate access to the supply of products whenever required. There are certain situations where it cannot have its own outlets due to some government policies and other factors. In these cases, marks and spencer uses its internationalization strategy of franchising. So that it has its own functionality running by other company. All these have significant impacts in the brand distribution globally. Apart from these, government trade policies also play a part in the strategy formulation. Given the growing links among nations, it is very difficult to consider domestic policy without considering international repercussions. In the case of formulating its strategy in US, bilateral negotiations are carried out covering wide range of products, services and investments. Such a policy should pursue the government to facilitate competitiveness and encourage collaboration among companies in the areas of goods and process technologies. MS is an UK company where the marketing conditions have to be emphasized by the government and the product is socially accepted. Also great emphasis is placed on efficiency by government policies. Where as in US and Far East countries, they regard individualism and the promotional appeals should be relevant to the individual to incorporate lower power distance within the market. Also the main advantage of Marks and Spencer government policy is that it had an opportunity of taking advantage of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) in US. It takes advantage of tax under this agreement and is outsourcing its products to Mexico and Canada. It also has an advantage of making economic sense in terms of logistics. The important policy priorities for the tax Policy Action Group (PAG) in the future include: The Tax Framework for Business The Value Added Tax The National Insurance Contributions M S will be benefitted over the above made policies by the government. The idea is to focus on the oversight and the management of the policy implications in indirect tax, company tax, personnel tax and customs duty. Conclusion The conventional wisdom on development of the developed companies like MS has focused on learning from mistakes. The leading MS Company showed that their high risk strategy of acquisition and direct investment can yield successful results backed up with technology, and cultural values. The insights from the study on MS suggest that overseas expansion is related to the need to improve global competitiveness in order to boost their outsourcing capabilities. No matter the distance and differences between the countries, MS has been the successful organization to open its companies in different countries and make them profitable ones. The only important aspect for it is to make a minimum number of changes to the functioning and marketing aspects depending upon the country in which it is operating in. thus from the above analysis it can be understood that the globalization strategy of MS created a new marketing paradigm in its success and also gained superior advantage and reputation irres pective of the host country policies and other factors. Hence it is clear from the strategies of an MS company that we live in a truly globalised economy where differences across countries are given little importance in development.

Sources Of Finance For Kfc Finance Essay

Sources Of Finance For Kfc Finance Essay KFC began with Colonel Harland Sanders. He discovered his penchant for cooking when he was only 9 years old. Through the years he grew up to become a personage the world knows as Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC. He reached celebrity status in 1952, when he decided to franchise his famous Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe blends of 11 herbs and spices to the rest of America. By the early 70s, that special recipe reached Malaysia. KFC Holdings owns approximately 27 Kedai Ayamas and 4 Ayamas Depots, making them the nations first branded chicken and chicken-based retain chain. KFC Holdings operates the KFC chain of restaurants in Malaysian, Singapore and Brunei (523 restaurants) and the Rasamas chain of restaurants in Malaysia (about 37 outlets). Sources of finance are where finance comes from. There are three kinds of sources which are Bank loans, Owners (share) capital and Trade credit . Finance is money which is a scarce resource. To obtain it, a business has to compete for it. Individuals, the government and other businesses all seek money to finance their needs. Those with money to lend will lend it provided the rate of return (interest), the risk and flexibility (how quickly the money can be repossessed) are consistent with their expectations. The word lend often implies to short-term; the word invest implies to long-term. Individuals or organisations that lend money, expect to get their money back, with a fixed annual return in a comparatively short time. Those who invest in a company become part-owners share holders. They expect regular payment of cash dividends (whose size varies with the companys success) plus an increase in the value of their shares. A major source of finance for many businesses is the retained profit from sales to customers. A business just starting up or one expanding rapidly has to raise its finance from other sources. There are three kind of finance question which relates the finance which the management should consider. Duration: for how long is the finance required? Cost: which source of finance is the least expensive? repayment: what level is acceptable Duration Duration depends on the reason the money is needed. No-one would take out a 25 year mortgage to finance the purchase of a personal HiFi. Few people would buy a house with a bank overdraft. Businesses apply the same principles of matching the purpose of finance with the source of finance. This makes sense all round. For the business it ensures that finance is guaranteed as long as it is needed. For the investor it ensures that adequate security is available for the duration of the loan as in the case of a 20 year loan secured against a property that will continue to have value for all the 20 years. Cost In general, businesses look for the cheapest source of finance. The easiest way to compare the cost of finance is to express the annual payment to lenders/investors as a percentage of the amount of finance provided. Interest on a loan can be expressed in percentage terms. So can the rate of return to shareholders. Return on investment in shares = Dividend per share, share price change since the start of year The rate of return expected by shareholders becomes the cost to the business of using this form of finance. Repayment A business should not get into a position where all of its profits are being swallowed up in interest payments. There is a real danger of borrowing too much. The same applies to individuals. Type of sources of finance: government purchase loan stock leasing venture capital hire purchase ordinary shares warrant retailed earning borrowings Ordinary Shares Ordinary shares also known as common stock or voting share is a share of stock giving stockholders the right to vote no matters of corporate policy and the composition of the members of the board of directors. Ordinary shares are issued to the owners of a company. They have a nominal or face value, typically of RM1 or 50 cents. The market value of a quoted companys shares bears no relationship to their nominal value, except that when ordinary shares are issued for cash, the issue price must be equal to or be more than the nominal value of the shares. Preference Shares Preference shares, also called preferred stock or preferred shares, is typically a higher ranking stock than common stock, and its terms are negotiated between the corporation and the investor. Preference shares usually carries no voting rights, but may carry priority over common stock in the payment of dividends and upon liquidate Preference shares may carry a dividend that is paid out prior to any dividends being paid to common stock holders. Preference shares may have a convertibility feature into common stock. Preference stockholders will be paid out in assets before common stockholders and after debt holders in bankruptcy. Terms of the preferred stock are stated in a Certificate of Designation. From the companys point of view, preference shares are advantageous in that:  · Dividends do not have to be paid in a year in which profits are poor, while this is not the case with interest payments on long term debt (loans or debentures).  · Since they do not carry voting rights, preference shares avoid diluting the control of existing shareholders while an issue of equity shares would not.  · The issue of preference shares does not restrict the companys borrowing power, at least in the sense that preference share capital is not secured against assets in the business. Loan Stock Common or preferred stock shares that are used as collateral to secure a loan from another party.  The loan will earn a fixed interest rate, much like a standard loan, and can be secured or unsecured.  A secured loan stock may also be called a convertible loan stock if the loan stock can be directly converted to common shares under specified conditions and with a pre-determined conversion rate, as with an irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stock (ICULS).   Retained Earnings Retained earnings refer to the portion of net income which is retained by the corporation rather than distributed to its owners as dividends. Similarly, if the corporation makes a loss, then that loss is retained and called variously retained losses, accumulated losses or accumulated deficit. Retained earnings and losses are cumulative from year to year with losses offsetting earnings. Retained earnings are reported in the shareholders equity section of the balance sheet. Companies with net accumulated losses may refer to negative shareholders equity as a shareholders deficit. A complete report of the retained earnings or retained losses is presented in the Statement of retained earnings or Statement of retained losses. The major reasons for using retained earnings to finance new investments, rather than to pay higher dividends and then raise new equity for the new investments, are as follows: a) The management of many companies believes that retained earnings are funds which do not cost anything, although this is not true. However, it is true that the use of retained earnings as a source of funds does not lead to a payment of cash. b) The dividend policy of the company is in practice determined by the directors. From their standpoint, retained earnings are an attractive source of finance because investment projects can be undertaken without involving either the shareholders or any outsiders. c) The use of retained earnings as opposed to new shares or debentures avoids issue costs. d) The use of retained earnings avoids the possibility of a change in control resulting from an issue of new shares. Borrowings Receiving something of value in exchange for an obligation to pay back something of usually greater value at a particular time in the future. Borrowings are divided into three terms. Short term lending may be in the form of: a) An overdraft, which a company should keep within a limit set by the bank. Interest is charged (at a variable rate) on the amount by which the company is overdrawn from day to day; b) A short-term loan, for up to three years. Medium-term loans are loans for a period of from three to ten years. The rate of interest charged on medium-term bank lending to large companies will be a set margin, with the size of the margin depending on the credit standing and riskiness of the borrower. A loan may have a fixed rate of interest or a variable interest rate, so that the rate of interest charged will be adjusted every three, six, nine or twelve months in line with recent movements in the Base Lending Rate. Longer-term bank loans will sometimes be available, usually for the purchase of property, where the loan takes the form of a mortgage. Leasing Leasing is a process by which a firm can obtain the use of a certain fixed assets for which it must pay a series of contractual, periodic, tax deductible payments. The lessee is the receiver of the services or the assets under the lease contract and the lessor is the owner of the assets. The relationship between the tenant and the landlord is called a tenancy, and can be for a fixed or an indefinite period of time (called the term of the lease). The consideration for the lease is called rent. There are two basic forms of lease: operating leases and finance leases. Operating leases Operating leases are rental agreements between the lessor and the lessee whereby: a) The lessor supplies the equipment to the lessee b) The lessor is responsible for servicing and maintaining the leased equipment Finance leases Finance leases are lease agreements between the user of the leased asset (the lessee) and a provider of finance (the lessor) for most, or all, of the assets expected useful life. Suppose that a company decides to obtain a company car and finance the acquisition by means of a finance lease. A car dealer will supply the car. A finance house will agree to act as lessor in a finance leasing arrangement, and so will purchase the car from the dealer and lease it to the company. The company will take possession of the car from the car dealer, and make regular payments (monthly, quarterly, six monthly or annually) to the finance house under the terms of the lease. Hire Purchase Hire purchase is the legal term for a contract developed in the United Kingdom. It is also called closed-end leasing. In cases where a buyer cannot afford to pay the asked price for an item of property as a lump sum but can afford to pay a percentage as a deposit, a hire-purchase contract allows the buyer to hire the goods for a monthly rent. When a sum equal to the original full price plus interest has been paid in equal installments, the buyer may then exercise an option to buy the goods at a predetermined price (usually a nominal sum) or return the goods to the owner Venture Capital Venture capital (also known as VC or Venture) is a type of private equity capital typically provided for early-stage, high-potential, growth companies in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company. Venture capital investments are generally made as cash in exchange for shares in the invested company. It is typical for venture capital investors to identify and back companies in high technology industries such as biotechnology and ICT (information and communication technology Franchising Franchising is a method of expanding business on less capital than would otherwise be needed. For suitable businesses, it is an alternative to raising extra capital for growth. Franchisors include Budget Rent-a-Car, Wimpy, Nandos Chicken and Chicken Inn Other possible alternatives can be used by KFCH KFC Holdings have been running their operation with all the types of source of finance as stated above. In order to further enhance themselves as well improving their investors relations, they can apply other kind of source to run their business KFC has not issue warrants throughout the financial year. Warrants are, in effect, options granted by the business that entitle the holder to subscribe for a specified quantity of ordinary shares, for a specified price at, or after, a specified time- usually several years following their issue. The business would usually issue the warrants in one of two ways, that is to sell them, in which case it would derive a cash inflow, or attach them to a loan stock issue as a sweetener or incentive to investors to take up the loan stock. Apart from that, KFC can even issue Employees Share Option Scheme at various options. An employee share scheme is one way to give employees a stake in your business and help  improve its performance. As employees normally have to remain with the business to get this benefit, share schemes encourage loyalty and can help you retain valued staff. They act as an incentive or reward and may also help recruitment. (Extracted from Business Link, http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1074472937) In fact, KFC could even use hire purchase to source their finance. Hire purchase is referred to sales promotion device that creates customers purchasing power in the form of a fixed cost, fixed period installment loan, secured by a lien on the purchased item as the collateral. In case of capital equipment, the customer repays the loan from the earnings generated by the purchased asset (which otherwise would have remained unsold due to the customers lack of cash). During the repayment period the buyer has the possession and use but not the ownership (title) to the item. Only upon the full payment of the loan, the title passes to the buyer. Also called installment buying, it is a social innovation that expands the economy with additional income. (Extracted from Business Dictionary.com, http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/hire-purchase.html) APPENDIX Share capital From the financial statement for the year 2008, KFC holdings issued 1,000,0000 new ordinary shares valued RM1.00 each for the year 2008 and 2007. . However, only 198,275 shares at RM 1.00 each was issued and fully paid. SHARE CAPITAL Number of Ordinary Shares of RM1 each Amount 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 000 000 RM000 RM000 Authorised At 1 January/ 31 December 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 Issued and fully paid At 1 January/ 31 December 198,275 198,275 198,275 198,275 Retained Earnings The percentage of net earnings not paid out  as dividends, but retained by the company to be reinvested in its core business or to pay debt. It is recorded under shareholders equity on the balance sheet. The formula calculates retained earnings by adding net income to (or subtracting any net losses from) beginning retained earnings and subtracting any dividends paid to shareholders: KFC Holdings recorded RM 316,703,000 of retained earnings in year 2008 compared to RM 257,611,000 in year 2007 for company. This shows that KFC retained their net earnings higher in year 2008 so that they can reinvest in its core business to pay its debt. Borrowings Borrowings are classified under short term borrowings and long term borrowings. KFC Holdings borrowed RM 20,000,000 in year 2008 while there were no borrowings for the year 2007 under company. On the other hand, KFCs long term borrowings amounted to RM 40,000,000 in year 2008 compared to RM 60,000,000 in year 2007. The total borrowings for the two years were RM 60,000,000 respectively. (Refer note: 26) The term loans granted to the Company are secured by the following: i First and third party charge over certain land and buildings as disclosed in Note 12(b) and Note 15 ii Deposits pledged with licensed banks as disclosed in Note 18 iii Corporate guarantee of the Company and a related company iv Debenture of a subsidiarys assets Company 2008 2007 RM000 RM000 Short term borrowings Secured Term loans 20,000 Unsecured Term loans 20,000 Long term borrowings Secured Term loans 40,000 60,000 Unsecured Term loans 40,000 60,000 Total borrowings Secured Term loans 60,000 60,000 Unsecured Term loans 60,000 60,000 Leasing KFCs leasing is analysed as long term leasehold land and short term leasehold land. The groups long term leasehold land notched RM 63,733,000 in 2008 compared to RM 63,868,000 in 2007. However, their short term leasehold land was RM 68,000 in 2008 while in year 2007, it was RM 73,000. Overall, their total leasing was RM 63,841,000 and RM 63,941,000 for the two years respectively. Leasehold land with an aggregate carrying value of RM30, 434,000 (2007: RM30, 822,000) are pledged as securities for borrowings. Group 2008 2007 RM000 RM000 At 1 January 63,941 62,687 Addition 1,830 Disposal (106) Acquisition of a subsidiary 722 Reclassification from property, plant and equipment 333 Amortisation for the year (822) (803) At 31 December 63,841 63,941 Analysed as: Long term leasehold land 63,773 63,868 Short term leasehold land 68 73 63,841 63,941 INCOME STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2008 Group Company Note 2008 2007 2008 2007 RM000 RM000 RM000 RM000 Revenue 3 2,179,788 1,730,371 97,220 88,000 Cost of sales 4 (1,064,548) (770,048) Gross profit 1,115,240 960,323 97,220 88,000 Other income 22,615 22,797 30,210 26,972 Administrative expenses (118,670) (109,061) (28,757) (22,713) Selling and marketing expenses (837,547) (712,109) Other expenses (6,622) (24) (2,310) (26,229) Operating profit 175,016 161,926 96,363 66,030 Finance costs 5 (7,559) (11,302) (2,887) (5,823) Profit before tax 6 167,457 150,624 93,476 60,207 Income tax expense 9 (47,107) (45,081) (9,522) (23,437) Profit for the year 120,350 105,543 83,954 36,770 Attributable to: Equity holders of the Company 118,535 1 04,269 Minority interests 1,815 1,274 120,350 105,543 Earnings per share attributable to equity holders of the Company (sen): Basic, for profit for the year 10 59.8 52.6 BALANCE SHEETS AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2008 Group Company Note 2008 2007 2008 2007 RM000 RM000 RM000 RM000 Assets Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment 12 615,059 529,658 19,750 19,908 Investments in subsidiaries 13 354,250 353,590 Investment properties 14 898 2,000 585 Prepaid land lease payments 15 63,84 1 63,941 Intangible assets 16 69,835 68,063 Other investment 17 4,500 Fixed deposits 18 6,324 6,324 749,633 674,486 374,000 380,407 Current assets Inventories 19 158,474 112,312 Trade and other receivables 20 128,112 78,972 222,742 156,642 Other investment 17 20,203 Cash and bank balances 21 97,985 140,358 6,797 11,826 404,774 331,642 229,539 168,468 Total assets 1,154,407 1,006,128 603,539 548,875 Equity and liabilities Equity attributable to equity holders of the company Share capital 22 198,275 198,275 198,275 198,275 Other reserves 23 47,705 50,963 22,080 26,560 Retained earnings 24 446,178 352,783 316,703 257,611 692,158 602,021 537,058 482,446 Minority interests 10,232 6,920 Total equity 702,390 608,941 537,058 482,446 Non-current liabilities Retirement benefit obligations 25 3,313 3,758 Borrowings 26 65,944 110,907 40,000 60,000 Deferred tax liabilities 27 31,602 25,036 107 444 100,859 139,701 40,107 60,444 Current liabilities Retirement benefit obligations 25 623 Borrowings 26 75,111 12,080 20,000 Trade and other payables 28 275,424 242,110 6,374 5,985 Current tax payable 3,296 351,158 257,486 26,374 5,985 Total liabilities 452,017 397,187 66,481 66,429 Total equity and liabilities 1,154,407 1,006,128 603,539 548,875

Should Surrogate Motherhood be Allowed? Essay -- essays research paper

Surrogate Motherhood is when one women carries to term the fertilized egg of another woman. This procedure is chosen by married couples who can not conceive a child in the â€Å"natural way†. In some occasions the mother may be able to produce an egg, but has no womb or some other physical problem which prevents her from carrying a child. Whether or not the husband can produce a large amount of sperm is not a problem. Once the egg and sperm are combined in a petri dish fertilization is very likely to occur. The couple will then choose a surrogate mother and make an agreement in which she will carry the baby and release it to the genetic parents after the birth. There are four different kinds of surrogacy arrangements. Total Surrogacy is when the woman bears a child that has been formed from the gametes of another woman and man and implanted in her body. Partial Surrogacy occurs when the birth mother contributes the ovum and the sperm is introduced by artificial insemination. She is a biological parent of the child. Commercial Surrogacy means a business-like transaction where a fee is charged for the incubation period. Lastly, there is a Non-Commercial Surrogacy in which there is no formal contract or any payment to the birth mother. It is usually an arrangement between close friends or family members.(1-10) There is no federal policy on the issue of surrogacy, all fifty states have been left to decide theses issues themselves and create their own policies. The majority of the states have not yet legislated on this subject. Those states that have taken positions differ greatly from one another, such as California and Virginia, who have taken opposing viewpoints California is the state that is the most sympathetic to the genetic parents. Under California law surrogacy agreements are enforceable and the genetic parents are given all legal parental rights to the child. In Virginia, all legal parental rights to the child are given to the surrogate mother. Who is the legal mother? In the case of Johnson v. Calvert, in Virginia, the surrogate mother was found to be the legal mother of the child. If this case would have taken place in California, the biological mother is the legal mother. So it really depends on which state the act of surrogacy is taking place to name the legal mother. Are contracts for surrogate motherhood enforceable under American law? Again, i... ... both expert medical and psychological evaluations. Another major question that arises is whether or not the commissioning parents have the right to tell surrogate mother how to live? Can the couple ban smoking, control alcohol, and other substance intake? These issues need to be taken into mind before choosing a surrogate mother and needs to be stated in the contract.(1-2) In conclusion, surrogate motherhood raises many legal and ethical dilemmas, especially that of who the legal mother is. Surrogate motherhood dramatically alters society norms and creates many different legal viewpoints. But no matter which legal body is dealing with this issue, they all face the same moral and ethical dilemma: that a child born out of surrogacy has a bond with both the genetic mother and the surrogate mother. The bond between these two women and this child is permanent and cannot be changed by law. The law can only govern which woman has the legal right to raise the child. Works Cited Centre Points, Volume 1, No. 1, Article #2, Surrogate Motherhood and its Human Costs, Suzanne Rozell Scorsone, Ph.D. ;1-2 Johnson v. Calvert, 5 Cal. 4th 84, 851p.2d 776, 19 Cal. Rptr. 2d 494 (1993); 1-10

Progression and the Structure of The Blue Hotel :: Blue Hotel Essays

Progression and the Structure of The Blue Hotel In his essay, Robert F. Gleckner discusses progression, as it is related to the structure of "The Blue Hotel." He follows the progression of power and control in the story, as it shifts to different characters. Gleckner also follows the progression of the storm outside and how it symbolizes a natural force that will always be more powerful than human control. In the beginning of "The Blue Hotel," Scully has the power, as he "practically makes [his three guests] prisoners. They are "conducted" into the Blue Hotel. At this time the Swede feels weak and nervous in the unfamiliar territory and scared of "The West." Scully shows his power over the paranoid Swede by saying, "If anybody has troubled you I will take care of him. This is my house. You are under my roof, and I will not allow any peaceable man to be troubled here." As the story progresses, Scully loses control, and the power shifts to the Swede. Gleckner states, "With his final gesture of warm comradeship, the offer of his private whiskey, Scully loses control completely. . .the Swede regains control of himself and will now try to extend it, like Scully, to all men." When they return to the card game the Swede shows his control subtly by sitting where he wants and getting his own drink. Scully tries to regain his control by talking about the guests "under his roof," but the Swede continues to exert his power by insisting on another game High-Five. During this next game, control shifts between characters. Gleckner writes, "the cowboy and the Swede whack the board in violent control; Johnnie cheats to control; the Easterner allows the others to control by remaining silent." During the fight as well, each character tries to gain control, "Scully by refereeing, the cowboy by restraining the Swede, the Easterner by pleading to end the fight, all thr ee of them by cheering." As these shifts of control occur, Gleckner analyzes the storm. He writes about how "Crane suggests a greater force imminent, ready to take over at any moment. . .The storm takes over, dashing the cards 'helplessly' against the wall, ripping words away from the lips of Scully and the Swede, overshadowing and surrounding the entire fight." Gleckner believes Crane is showing that even as the human characters fight for control, there will always be a more powerful natural force.

Lt. Colonel Jay R. Jensens six Years In Hell :: essays research papers

Lt. Colonel Jay R. Jensen's "Six Years In Hell" The book I have chosen to read for this review is one entitled "SIX YEARS IN HELL." It is a book written by one Lt. Colonel Jay R. Jensen in a first person manor. He was a military pilot who flew over Vietnam and was captured and taken as a POW. This book covers his time in the military before hand describing the daily procedures etc. of his military life. The author graduated from Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah in 1949. He then joined The Utah Air National Guard during the Korean war. Mr. Jensen was on active duty for 20 months, after which he attended Brigham Young University. He graduated with a B.S. degree in Accounting and majors in Banking and Finance. After college he obtained the rank of cadet Colonel in the Air Force ROTC. Lt. Colonel Jensen was well decorated after his retirement in 1978 that concluded 28 years of service. His decorations included: Two Silver Stars, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with V for Valor, Air Medal, two Purple Hearts, Presidential Unit Citation, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with two Oak Leaf Clusters, POW Medal, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Vietnam Service Medal with 14 Bronze Campaign Medals, Air Force Longevity Award (for over 24 years), Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Hour Glass Device (for 20 years), Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, Vietnam Cross for Gallantry with Device, and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. All these decorations and the time spent in the military I believe more than present his qualifications for writing this book. This book that he was so qualified to write I must bend to say was rather well written. The author took time to explain everything individually and even those things that seem quite trivial were given careful explanation. If there was something that the author felt was not apparent or was not to be taken at face value he footnoted it at the bottom of the page. These footnotes were especially helpful for those of us readers who may not be that "militarily inclined." I particularly enjoyed the story of Roscoe the base's mascot which was probably one of the longest examples of footnoting throughout the book. The book is written from the perspective of the author at the time he experienced it. The descriptions are so well written that one can almost see or relate to what is being described, but as time progresses you can tell the author's moods change as the mode of descriptions differs.

Critically discuss the extent to which the duty to make reasonable adjustments has eliminated discrimination and inequality of opportunity faced by disabled individuals

Introduction The Government described the duty to make reasonable adjustments as â€Å"a cornerstone of the [Equality] Act and requires employers to take positive steps to ensure that disabled people can access and progress in employment.† On the face of it, this should have resulted in a decrease of disability discrimination in the UK, unfortunately has not been the case. This essay will critically discuss the extent to which the introduction of reasonable adjustments has been successful in the UK, and whether or not the duty to make reasonable adjustments has eliminated discrimination and inequality of opportunity faced by disabled individuals. This essay will focus upon disability and employment as its main point of reference to highlight any discrepancies between non-disabled and disabled people in the workplace. Background to the Equality Act 2010 Disability is defined in the Equality Act 2010 in Section 6(1) as meaning a physical or mental impairment, which adversely affects normal day-to-day activities, with the adverse effect needing to be substantial. Instead of a list of disabilities that are capable of this definition, the Act has given a broad definition, which the disability would have to adhere to if a Claimant is to be successful in their claim. Whether or not a person is disabled is often the first hurdle for an Applicant and can be the most contentious in employment litigation. Discrimination is defined in the Act as when, â€Å"A person (A) discriminates against another (B) if, because of a protected characteristic, A treats B less favourably than A treats or would treat others.† Prior to 2010, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was the leading statute in this area, ensuring employers were under a duty to make reasonable adjustments for their disabled employees. The House of Lords in Archibald v Fife Council stated that, â€Å"The DDA does not regard the differences between disabled people and others as irrelevant. It does not expect each to be treated in the same way. The duty to make adjustments may require the employer to treat a disabled person more favourably to remove the disadvantage, which is attributable to the disability. This necessarily entails a measure of positive discrimination.† This case was the first substantial case to be litigated on the basis of making reasonable adjustments. The employee had been dismissed on the bas is that they could no longer fulfil their job duties following an operation. This was a discrimination claim and the House of Lords held that there had been a failure by the employer to make reasonable adjustments. Current Law As the law currently stands, the duty to make reasonable adjustments is found in Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010, which states that this duty is comprised of three requirements found at section 20(3), (4) and (5). Firstly, where an employer’s â€Å"provision, criterion or practice of A’s puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled,† then the duty arises. Secondly, it also arises if the disabled person has a physical feature which puts him at a substantial disadvantage and thirdly, without an auxiliary aid, the disabled person would suffer from an inequality of opportunity. Overall, the duty arises when, without such adjustments, the disabled person would be put in a severely disadvantaged position when compared to their non-disabled colleagues. The law imposes upon employees a duty to take reasonable steps to ensuring that the adjustments made would avoid this disadvanta ge. It is interesting to note that the duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments to disabled individuals extends to contract workers and other temporary members of staff such as trainees. This should provide adequate protection from disability discrimination as it extends to all staff but this does not necessarily suffice. Section 20(7) of the Act states that employers are not permitted to charge disabled employees for the costs in making any reasonable adjustments. This is arguably a very important section of the Equality Act as it ensures that disabled individuals are not penalised and bearing the costs themselves for any adjustments to make. It is fair to say that without such protection, the opportunity for discrimination in this way would have been rife in the workplace. Therefore, the duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments is a positive step forward to eliminating disability discrimination in employment. The requirement for equal opportunities for all employee s extends to the recruitment policies of an organisation as well. This will include ensuring that the job advertisement and description is adequately detailed about what is required of the job, yet at the same time making no discriminatory claims. If applicants have to complete an application form then it should be available in different forms to accommodate all disabled people, such as an option in braille. When individuals are invited for interview, all reasonable adjustments should be made to welcome them and assist them on the day, such as having the interview on the ground floor if the applicant is a wheelchair user. The recruitment committee should, ideally, have an equality and diversity officer within the human resources team to ensure compliance with their legal duty of no discrimination against disabled people. When selection tests form part of the recruitment process, applicants with dyslexia or other conditions, should be given longer to read and answer the questions to ensure a fair process. If an applicant is offered the job, then discussions should take place as to what steps and measures should be given to enable the individual to work in a comfortable environment. On the other hand, if an individual is not suitable for the position, then reasons why they were deemed not suitable should be recorded. There should be no evidence of discrimination in these reasons as this could potentially form the basis for a discrimination claim. Reasonable Adjustments The importance of making reasonable adjustments was emphasised by a previous Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment, who advised that local authorities, â€Å"will be able to do virtually anything to encourage and enable disabled people to work for them, as long as they appoint the person who is most suitable for the job after they have made reasonable adjustment †¦ there is no maximum for such adjustments. If a local authority is prepared to invest vast sums of money in making provision so that a disabled person is suitable for a job, that is up to the authority, and it has that privilege†. The Tribunal in Wynn v Multipulse Electronics Ltd also considered this, where the job applicant was not interviewed on â€Å"health and safety† grounds because of his disability. The Tribunal found that the applicant had the requisite skills and experience for the job, but had been initially rejected as the small company decided that they did not ha ve the resources/finance to make the necessary reasonable adjustments. The Tribunal rejected this reasoning and decided that the company had not made a sensible consideration for the reasonable adjustments, including the fact that the Government provided support for work initiatives and, on this basis, they were successfully sued for disability discrimination. The duty to provide reasonable adjustments to disabled workers has provided the individuals with the statutory vehicle to pursue litigation to alleviating disability discrimination. It is an important outcome from the legislation. Reasonable adjustments can be temporary and can include improvements to the workplace to enable disabled employees to access their workspace and to be able to do their job correctly. This is often seen by the providing of ramps to work premises to assist wheelchair users. There is also the option of delegating certain parts of the job to temporary staff. By allowing disabled people the option of flex ible working hours and by granting them leave of absence for medical appointments etc, employers would be satisfying their legal duty of reasonable adjustments. This ties nicely with the opportunity of job-share. Before starting their role, employers should ensure that disabled people have had the requisite training for their role and correctly understand what is required of them. Employees should have the right equipment in order to complete their duties and this can include specially formatted computers for those with hearing and speaking difficulties. The statute has ensured that employers should take into consideration and take action into the above, and this on the face of it should be sufficient to combat discrimination to provide all employees with equal opportunities at work. Section 21 of the Equality Act 2010 states that it is against the law for an employer to fail to comply with this duty and they can face a discrimination claim if a breach has occurred. Notwithstanding this, Part 3 of Schedule 8 of the Act allows employers the defence that if they lacked knowledge of the disability then they cannot be sued for any lack of action on their part. This is arguably a fair section in the Act as the legal duty on employees has to be reasonable and employers cannot be expected to act if they were unaware of the disability. This is especially so when there is no legal duty on employees to report their disability to their employers. Although, if at interview the person’s disability is obvious at first sight, for example a wheelchair user, then the defence will not be permitted. Similarly, employers are permitted to ask such questions at interview and/or through an application form as to whether reasonable adjustments would be necessary for interview etc. It is argued that organisations that subscribe through these methods are adequately protecting themselves against potential disability discrimination claims. This may be more difficult for current em ployees whose conditions develop during their employment. The most common example is when an employee is suffering from depression and does not exhibit any outward symptoms. The question for the Tribunal is whether or not the employer ought reasonably to have known about the disability. These questions are arguably fair restrictions on the duty to make reasonable adjustments that should not prevent a clear case of disability discrimination. Approach by the Employment Tribunal If successful, Claimants can be awarded substantial fines by the Employment Tribunal, which should, in principle, lead to adequate deterrence to prevent further discrimination by organisations. Despite this, it is not necessarily the case as numerous claims have occurred every year since the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, thereby highlighting the large numbers of discrimination occurring in the workplace. Although, this figure is not truly representative as a number of employees do not take their case to the Tribunal, and it is worrying that the current figure may hide more discrimination in the UK. The lack of cases being taken to the Tribunal may be accounted for the rise in costs to take such action that is largely preventing claimants from pursing their claims. Those in the legal profession have voiced their concerns over the Government’s cuts in legal aid to this area and rising costs. Whilst the statue has in place the duty to make reasonable adjustments, if peop le cannot take their cases to Tribunal, this will severely reduce the deterrence and enforcement impact of the duty. The question of whether or not the adjustments made were ‘reasonable’ is assessed objectively by the Employment Tribunal: â€Å"The question of whether any reasonable adjustments were required †¦ depends on an objective assessment of what could be done to ameliorate the disadvantage in fact created.† The objective nature of the test was reinforced by the case of Tarbuck v Sainsbury Supermarkets Ltd and this remains under the Equality Act 2010. When deciding whether or not the employer has taken ‘reasonable’ measures, the Tribunal will consider factors, such as effectiveness and questioning whether it was a practical move. For example, by providing a blind employee with a computer formatted with braille, is both an effective and practical move to assisting the employee. Costs are a very important consideration and this will depend on a number of factors, such as the resources available to the organisation. It is common sense that a bigger company with more disposable income will be expected to have contributed more to the reasonable adjustments than a smaller company. Notwithstanding this, it is no justification for the employer to say that they could not afford the adjustments required to enable the disabled person to work. It is their legal duty to comply and the Government have providing numerous ways of funding these adjustments. Therefore the legal duty should be complied with and it should have initiated a sharp decrease in the instances of disability discrimination. In Tribunals today, the most popular test is that of The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Wilson, where the EAT held that firstly employers have to ask themselves whether the adjustment would overcome the disadvantage the disabled person is currently facing. If this is answered affirmatively, then the Tribunal considers whether or not it was practicable to take these steps. By assessing practicality, the Tribunal will consider the company’s resources and finances to ensure a fair decision is reached. Therefore a smaller company cannot have the defence of saying that they cannot afford to employ a disabled person. On this basis, the legal duty should be alleviating disability discrimination as it applies to all businesses. Academic Commentary Academics such as Anna Lawson point to the fact that disability is the only protected characteristic whereby an employer is under a reasonable adjustment duty. The UK is not unique in this respect, as the same situation is found in the EU and international law. â€Å"There have been calls for a more expansive approach which would extend such duties to religion or to other characteristics more generally. There was, however, surprisingly little discussion of such a possibility in the lead up to the Equality Act. Such a discussion might have been helpful in identifying whether disadvantages often associated with other protected characteristics require the flexibility of response of a reasonable adjustment duty or can be more effectively tackled through specific schemes (such as those applying to flexible working and parental leave).† From this academic perspective, it is fair to say that the legal duty on employers is a positive development in removing discrimination from disable d people. In this article, Lawson is such a supporter of the concept that she campaigns for its existence in other protected characteristics such as religion. This is because failing to comply with the duty to make reasonable adjustments is a form of discrimination in Employment law and the same cannot be said for other protected characteristics. On this viewpoint, it is strongly suggested that disabled people face higher protection than others in this regard. One of the many positives of the legal duty is that it, â€Å"If an employer has failed to make a reasonable adjustment which would have prevented or minimised the unfavourable treatment, it will be very difficult for them to show that the treatment was objectively justified.† However, one of the major problems with discrimination affecting disabled people is that, even if an employer complies with his duty to make reasonable adjustments, they can still treat the disabled employee unfairly on the basis of their disabili ty. For example, an employer may change an employee’s working hours to ensure they attend medical appointments, but that does not prevent them from dismissing the employee on the ground of absence from work. From an objective perspective, the legal duty on employees to make reasonable adjustments for disabled workers has resulted in an increase in the number of disabled people in employment. This can be viewed as a positive step forward in support of disabled people in the workplace. Yet this has occurred with at the same time as an increase in the number of disability discrimination claims. Given the high number of claims, it is at least arguable that reform of the law is required to provide stronger deterrence against disability discrimination. Case Law The case law in this area is interesting and provides valuable assistance in examining whether or not adjustments have eliminated discrimination and inequality of opportunity faced by disabled individuals. The case of Wilson v DWP provides a useful insight into the attitudes of the Tribunal and the way that disability discrimination law has developed, as the Tribunal was seen to be making a substantial award as a mark of deterrence. The case of O’Hanlon v Commissioner for HM Customs said that, â€Å"It will be a very rare case indeed where the adjustment said to be applicable here, that is merely giving higher sick pay than would be payable to a non-disabled person who in general does not suffer the same disability related absences, would be considered necessary as a reasonable adjustment†¦although we do not rule out the possibility that it could be in exceptional circumstances.† Therefore, in exceptional circumstances this could form part of the employer’s legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people to alleviate any disadvantages or inequality of opportunity. The Tribunal in Nottinghamshire County Council v Miekle echoed this, where the employee was awarded full sick pay for her leave of absence from work. But, this was namely because the failure to make reasonable adjustments was the reason for the employee’s absence, there was a causal connection that assisted her claim. Therefore, this should provide sufficient protection for disabled people from discrimination in the work place. Although, successful cases against employers have been found in cases, such as Burke v Clinton Cards. In this case, a female employee was diagnosed with cancer and despite her employer being aware of her condition, she received an increased workload and the work was not suitable for her. The Tribunal found that her employer had not complied with their legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments, such as a lighter workload or job d uties more suitable to her condition. Both of these measures could have been easily implemented and it only highlights the lack of action by the employer. Therefore, the Tribunal awarded the employee ?10,000 in compensation for her discriminatory treatment. This shows that the Tribunals are willing to find actions of disability discrimination and are doing their part to significantly reduce disability discrimination at work. In the case of Chief Constable of South Yorkshire police v Jelic, the Employment Appeals Tribunal upheld the ruling by the trial Tribunal that the employer had failed to make reasonable adjustments for the disabled employee. The EAT ruled that it would have been a reasonable measure to have allocate the employee’s duties to another police officer in order to assist them. Job sharing and allocating of responsibilities is an important delegation decision for the employer and the Tribunal views it as a reasonable action to take in the circumstances views it. The relatively simple nature of such an action is arguably strong evidence of the continual presence of discrimination against disabled people by employers. The fact that it is against the law to do so does not appear to be an adequate deterrent against discriminatory behaviour. In the media, there have been a couple of high profile cases involving disabled people and the lack of reasonable adjustments. One of the most controversial cases, which showed an apparent discrimination case that shocked the nation, was the female employee at Abercrombie & Fitch. The woman had had her arm amputated and as a result, the employer said it was not a sight that customers should have to see whilst they were shopping. Instead, of making reasonable adjustments to accommodate this, the female employee was sent to the stockroom. The Tribunal and most reading the case were appalled with the behaviour and attitude of the employer. This was reflected in the award the Tribunal provided to the employee. The high profile nature of such claims should act as sufficient deterrence but this case shows that it has been successful at this. Therefore, more is required in order to reduce discriminatory actions against disabled work to allow everyone to be treated equally at work. Conclusion The statute provides that the employer has an important duty to take reasonable practicable steps to ensure that their employees are protected from any risk of harm. This is extended when the situation concerns disabled people as employers must go one step further to make sure that the work and their work premises do not prohibit their ability to do their job. On the face of it, it is clear that the duty to make reasonable adjustments has, to some extent, eliminated discrimination and inequality of opportunity faced by disabled individuals. The same problem applies across the law of discrimination as protection is only granted to the individual if their condition meets the definition of ‘disability.’ It is arguably a complex definition that should be given wider scope to ensure adequate protection for all disabled people in the UK against discrimination. The high number of hurdles a claimant has to jump over to be successful in this litigation is a worrying concern for s ome academics, as they propose that even more has to be done in this area to alleviate disability discrimination in the workplace. As one academic, who campaigns for a reform in the law, says: â€Å"The requirement of knowledge reinforces the reactive nature of the reasonable adjustment duty and likewise places no obligation on employers to consider adjustments until they are confronted either by an applicant, or employee whom they know, or ought to know, to be disabled and to be exposed to a substantial disadvantage as a result of their provisions, criteria, practices or physical features.† Also, the vast number of cases being heard by Employment Tribunals nationally shows that the law is not acting as deterrence to employers. Instead, it may be advisable that reforms do occur in the law to ensure that disabled people have the same opportunities that are open to all. 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