Poe And Burial Motifs Essays - Fiction With Unreliable Narrators

Poe And Burial Motifs Poe is a very complicated author. His literary works are perplexed, disturbing, and even grotesque. His frequent illnesses may have provoked his engrossment in such things. In 1842 Dr. John W. Francis diagnosed Poe with sympathetic heart trouble as well as brain congestion. He also noted Poe's inability to withstand stimulants such as drugs and alcohol (Phillips 1508). These factors may have motivated him to write The Tell-Tale-Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Black Cat. All of these stories are written in or around 1843, shortly after Poe became afflicted. His writing helped him to cope with his troubles and explore new territory in literature. Poe's interest in the supernatural, retribution, and perverse cause them to be included in his burial motifs; therefore sustaining his interest. There is a common thread laced through each subject, but there is variation in degrees of the impact. The supernatural is the phenomena of the unexplained. With this comes an aura of mystery and arousal of fear. Death in itself is the supreme mystery. No living human being can be certain of what happens to the soul when one dies. It is because of this uncertainty that death is feared by many. These types of perplexing questions cause a reader to come to a point of indifference within one of Poe's burial motifs. One is uncertain of how the events can unfold, because a greater force dictates them. Reincarnation in The Black Cat is a supernatural force at work. There is some sort of orthodox witchcraft-taking place. The whole story revolves around the cat, Pluto, coming back to avenge its death. One can not be sure how Pluto's rebirth takes place, but it is certain that something of a greater force has taken hold. The cat's appearance is altered when the narrator comes across it the second time. There is a white spot on the chest "by slow degrees, degrees nearly imperceptible...it had, at length, assumed a rigorous distinct outline...of the GALLOWS" (Poe 4). Foretelling the narrator's fate a confinement tool appears on the cat's chest. This also foreshadows the cat's confinement in the tomb. It reappears like a disease to take vengeance on a man that has committed horrid crimes. "I was answered by a voice within the tomb! --By a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and quickly swelling into one long, loud and continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman--a howl--a wailing shriek, half of honor and half of triumph (Poe 6). Pluto is like Poe's reoccurring illness it keeps coming back just when he thinks it is gone. This can be related to the ever-looming question of why people become afflicted with disease. Is it punishment for wrongdoing? Some religions find this to be the answer. Poe's intrigue in reincarnation may have been in that of his own immortality. Metaphysical events take place in The Tell-Tale-Heart. The perpetrator is driven by some unknown source to reveal his evil deed. The paranoia he feels is very real to him. "I fancied a ringing in my ears...[it] became more distinct...I found that the noise was not within my ears...It is the beating of the hideous heart [of the old man]" (Poe 3). Ringing is heard only in the man's head, but because a impetus has compelled him to believe otherwise he is inclined to reveal his misdeed. The source of the man's "voices" is from a force within himself. One's soul is an unexplainable power, which governs over the body. The murder of the old man is committed in passion. Disregarding any rational thoughts the narrator is engaged in his own desires. His unconcern for mankind causes his own insanity. Even he can not live with his actions. The mind as a supernatural force, that dictates life, can only cope with so much. Poe himself experiences hallucinations from his illness, and abuse of alcohol. Years of defilement caused his body, and mind to break down. At one point in time Poe raved "...for protection from an imaginary army of conspirators disguised as 'loungers'" (Mankowitz 232). Constant weight on ones mind can lead to insanity. Human beings can lose control of their lives. The Tell-Tale-Heart illustrates the human spirit as a mysterious and unexplainable force. Poe's life was full of turmoil, which inevitably caused his madness. The enveloping force of evil drives Montressor to commit murder in The Cask of Amontillado. If supernatural is used in its broadest sense to mean "unexplained" then the force that impels Montressor's lack of humanity is indeed

African Americans in World War I

African Americans in World War I Fifty years after the end of the Civil War, the nation’s 9.8 million African Americans held a tenuous place in society. Ninety percent of African Americans lived in the South, most trapped in low-wage occupations, their daily lives shaped by restrictive â€Å"Jim Crow† laws and threats of violence. But the start of World War I in the summer of 1914 opened up new opportunities and changed American life and culture forever. â€Å"Recognizing the the significance of World War I is essential to developing a full understanding of modern African-American history and the struggle for black freedom,† argues Chad Williams, Associate Professor of African Studies at Brandeis University.      The Great Migration While the United States wouldn’t enter the conflict until 1917, the war in Europe stimulated the U.S. economy almost from the start, setting off a 44-month long period of growth, particularly in manufacturing. At the same time, immigration from Europe fell sharply, reducing the white labor pool. Combined with a boll weevil infestation that devoured millions of dollars worth of cotton crops in 1915 and other factors, thousands of African Americans across the South decided to head North. This was the start of the â€Å"Great Migration,† of more than 7 million African-Americans over the next half-century. During the World War I period, an estimated 500,000 African Americans moved out of the South, most of them heading for the cities. Between 1910-1920, the African American population of New York City grew 66%; Chicago, 148%; Philadelphia, 500%; and Detroit, 611%. As in the South, they faced discrimination and segregation in both jobs and housing in their new homes. Women, in particular, were largely relegated to the same work as domestics and childcare workers as they had at home. In some cases, tension between whites and the newcomers turned violent, as in the deadly East St Louis riots of 1917. Close Ranks African American public opinion on America’s role in the war mirrored that of white Americans: first they didn’t want to get involved in a European conflict, the quickly changing course in late 1916. When President Woodrow Wilson stood before Congress to ask for a formal declaration of war on April 2, 1917, his assertion that the world â€Å"must be made safe for democracy† resonated with African American communities as an opportunity to fight for their civil rights within the U.S. as part of a broader crusade to secure democracy for Europe. â€Å"Let us have a real democracy for the United States,† said an editorial in the Baltimore Afro-American, â€Å"and then we can advise a house-cleaning on the other side of the water.†    Some African American newspapers held that blacks shouldn’t participate in the war effort because of rampant American inequality. On the other end of the spectrum, W.E.B. DuBois wrote a powerful editorial for the NAACP’s paper, The Crisis. â€Å"Let us not hesitate. Let us, while this war lasts, forget our special grievances and close our ranks shoulder to shoulder with our own white fellow citizens and the allied nations that are fighting for democracy.†    Over There Most young African American men were ready and willing to prove their patriotism and their mettle. Over 1 million registered for the draft, of which 370,000 were selected for service, and more than 200,000 were shipped off to Europe. From the beginning, there were disparities in how African American servicemen were treated. They were drafted at a higher percentage. In 1917, local draft boards inducted 52% of black candidates and 32% of white candidates. Despite a push by African American leaders for integrated units, black troops remained segregated, and the vast majority of these new soldiers were used for support and labor, rather than combat. While many young soldiers were probably disappointed to spend the war as truck drivers, stevedores, and laborers, their work was vital to the American effort. The War Department did agree to train 1,200 black officers at a special camp in Des Moines, Iowa and a total of 1,350 African American officers were commissioned during the War. In the face of public pressure, the Army created two all-black combat units, the 92nd and 93rd Divisions. The 92nd Division became mired in a racial politics and other white divisions spread rumors that damaged its reputation and limited its opportunities to fight. The 93rd, however, was put under French control and didn’t suffer the same indignities. They performed well on the battlefields, with the 369th- dubbed the â€Å"Harlem Hellfighters†- winning praise for their fierce resistance to the enemy.    African American troops fought at Champagne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne, Belleau Woods, Chateau-Thierry, and other major operations. The 92nd and 93rd sustained over 5,000 casualties, including 1,000 soldiers killed in action. The 93rd included two Medal of Honor recipients, 75 Distinguished Service crosses, and 527 French â€Å"Croix du Guerre† medals. Red Summer If African American soldiers expected white gratitude for their service, they were quickly disappointed. Combined with labor unrest and paranoia over Russian-style â€Å"Bolshevism,† the fear that black soldiers had been â€Å"radicalized† overseas contributed to the bloody â€Å"Red Summer† of 1919. Deadly race riots broke out in 26 cities across the country, killing hundred. At least 88 black men were lynched in 1919- 11 of them newly-returned soldiers., some still in uniform. But World War I also inspired fresh resolve among African Americans to keeping working towards a racially-inclusive America that truly lived up to its claim to be the light of Democracy in the modern world. A new generation of leaders was born from the ideas and principles of their urban peers and exposure to France’s more equal view of race, and their work would help lay the groundwork for the Civil Rights movement later in the 20th Century.

Communications between Group Members Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communications between Group Members - Essay Example The author of the paper states that solving the problem involves taking on a leadership role, one where the group leader tries to bridge differences between group member principles. By setting a vision for the group, which is a constant reminder of the goals set for discussion, everyone can remember to stay focused and not let individual differences guide decision-making or problem-solving. It is necessary, I have found, or the group to have a solid leader with strong emotional intelligence. Actions to take include role playing, which allows a person in the group to understand the needs and emotions of others by pretending to walk in their proverbial shoes. A leader acts as the moderator for others to ensure discussion stays on topic. Another action is role modeling or setting the example for others by maintaining professionalism and using empathy to show others that they are understood and their suggestions considered. This brings group harmony.

Business Statistics Homework Speech or Presentation

Business Statistics Homework - Speech or Presentation Example What proportion of brook trout caught will be between 12 and 18 inches in length? 8. The discrete random variable X is the number of students that show up for Professor Smiths office hours on Monday afternoons. The table below shows the probability distribution for X. What is the expected value E(X) for this distribution? 10. The time required for a citizen to complete the 2000 U.S. Census "long" form is normally distributed with a mean of 40 minutes and a standard deviation of 10 minutes. The slowest 10% of the citizens would need at least how many minutes to complete the form? 11. On average, a major earthquake (Richter scale 6.0 or above) occurs 3 times a decade in a certain California county. What is the probability that less than six months will pass before the next earthquake? 17. On a Sunday in April, dog bite victims arrive at Carver Memorial Hospital at a historical rate of 0.6 victims per day. On a given Sunday in April, what is the probability that exactly two dog bite victims will arrive? 19. If the mean time between unscheduled maintenance of LCD displays in a hospitals CT scan facility is 4,000 operating hours, what is the probability of unscheduled maintenance in the next 5,000 hours? 21. In Melanies Styling Salon, the time to complete a simple haircut is normally distributed with a mean of 25 minutes and a standard deviation of 4 minutes. What percent of customers require less than 32 minutes for a simple haircut? 22. A large number of applicants for admission to graduate study in business are given an aptitude test. Scores are normally distributed with a mean of 460 and standard deviation of 80. What fraction of applicants would you expect to have scores of 600 or above? 23. On average, a major earthquake (Richter scale 6.0 or above) occurs 3 times a decade in a certain California county. Find the probability that at least one major earthquake will occur within

Study case Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Case Study Example Currently, Global Motors has different models that are feasible in terms of engineering and production. Though the company has different brands and models of vehicles, the company is experiencing a problem in their marketing of the vehicles. The company gets problems in knowing the customer loyalty or the level of desirability of the models by the customers. These spans from determining the most desirable price range for potential buyers, determining the most desirable size of the vehicle (seats) and determining the models have the most desirable form of energy used for vehicle transportation. The company also faces problems in positioning of the cars to the customers in aspects such as demographic, psychographics, global warming, lifestyle and other perceptions. The company also faces problems in promotional /marketing tactics to use to reach potential buyers.Specificaly; the company wants to know the best social media to use so that they may use it to avoid spending large amounts of money on online promotions. Lastly, the company gets problem in getting the target market and the bes t segment. It is evident that these problems that concern the positioning of the cars, desirability or customer loyalty, target markets and segments, and promotional tactics relate to the marketing plans. This research therefore seeks to evaluate the effective marketing plan of the Global Motors. This research will implore both qualitative and quantitative research methods to get the important information. The research will have a sample size of 100 customers with 50 buyers in the social media and 50 and 50 who are not in the social media. The data will be collected through the usage of questionnaires and interviews as source of primary information. The secondary data will include environmental, automotive and marketing information from the

Applications Of Lanthanides For Medicine

Applications Of Lanthanides For Medicine Lanthanides have been used for medicinal applications since the 1980s but the development of technology has led to a demand for new developments.1 Lanthanides, known as rare-earth elements, have a wide range of photophysical properties that are amenable to spectroscopic and crystallographic studies.1 This, along with the absence of lanthanides in biological systems, makes them ideal for studying protein structure and interactions. The chemistry of lanthanides arises from the shielded electrons in the 4f orbitals, located within the outermost filled 5s/5p orbitals2. This shielding means the luminescent f-f transitionsehibited by lanthanides are almost ligand-dependent. Despite their chemical similarities each lanthanide gives its own distinctive colour, luminescence emission spectra and nuclear magnetic properties.2 They are electropositive, very reactive and favour the Ln3+ oxidation state. It is these properties that make them useful as medicinal agents.1 Figure The f block lanthanidesLn3+ ions have similar ionic radii, donor atom preferences and coordination numbers in binding sites as Ca2+ ions which means that to some extent Ln3+ can mimic Ca2+ behaviour.3 For drugs molecules to reach their target they first need to be absorbed across the cell membrane a calcium dependent process. Calcium concentrations of mM are needed for efficient drug uptake, but these are rarely achieved under cellular conditions and even when it is the cell is likely to become damaged.3 It has recently been found that Ln3+ can perforate the membrane at concentrations as low as 10-5 M. It is therefore no surprise that co-administration of drugs with Ln3+ has led to an increased intracellular accumulation.3 This property has allowed lanthanides to be used as a co-administer to drugs, as a drug itself and imaging agents.3 Medicinal applications Anti cancer agents Lanthanides have been known to be anti cancer agents since the early 1990s primarily through the induction of apoptosis.3 Lanthanides, particularly Tb3+, increase the infux of Ca2+ into cells thus increasing the intracellular levels. This increases the endonuclease activity, leading to DNA cleavage and therefore apoptosis.4 The same result is achieved by the inhibition of phosphodiesterase, the molecule responsible for the degradation of cyclic adenosine 3,5-monophosphate (cAMP).4,5 The molecule cAMP has an important role in DNA replication and an increase in its levels leads to a corresponding increase in the protein kinase (PKA) levels. This has two effects both of which lead to apoptosis; the increase of endonuclease activity and the expression of apoptosis genes.3,5 However, these methods were not selective and influenced healthy tissues as well as cancerous ones.4 New developments have targeted this drawback in an attempt to limit the side effects of treatment. Titania nanoparticles (NPs) have the potential to target tumours in a non-invasive manner.4 Titania, a wide band gap semiconductor, produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) following excitation of valence band electrons to the conductance band upon stimulation.4 These photoelectrochemical reactions can be promoted by x-ray irradiation which allows non-invasive penetration of the human body. Two papers, published by H.Townley et al. and A.Gnach et al., reported the discovery that the interaction of titania-NPs with x-rays can be optimised by using lanthanides as dopants.4,5 Normal cells can tolerate a certain level of exogenous ROS due to a reserve of antioxidants which counteract the ROS activity.3 Cancerous cells have metabolic abnormalities which increase the intracellular ROS levels. This makes them more dependent on the intracellular antioxidant system and vulnerable to exogenous ROS levels.4,5 Lanthanide doped NPs generate higher levels of ROS, due to the lanthanides allowing increased x-ray absorption, than general NPs thus playing on this vulnerability. The increased levels cause DNA and mitochondrial damage, causing apoptosis.4,5 NPs have the capability to accumulate in tumours as a result of the defective tumour vasculature. This gives them the potential to be selective to cancer cells thus reducing side effects. The NPs can also be coated with moieties for specific targeting and activation further limiting the damage to healthy tissues.5 These properties of the NPs are enhanced by lanthanide doping thus giving a new application for lanthanides. The best results have been seen for [emailprotected] and [emailprotected] Imaging Figure The traditional contrasting agent with Gd3+ bound to the chelate ligand and the water molecule under observation.Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been vastly improved due to the use of contrasting agents (CA) since 1988.6 These act to improve the contrast between healthy and pathological tissue by influencing the relaxation rate of protons of bound water molecules, T2.7 The faster the relaxation rate, the higher the intensity and the sharper the image achieved. Relaxation rates are increased when the water molecule is close to a paramagnetic centre. Gd3+ has 7 unpaired electrons and is used as contrasting agents in MRI due to its highly paramagnetic centre.6 The traditional contrasting agents used Gd3+ bound to a chelate ligand through eight donor atoms (figure 2). This gives the complex the stability and strong binding needed to ensure that Gd3 is not released into the blood.6 However, Gd3+ is unselective and distributes over a wide region of extracellular space. Develop ments have been made to make the distribution more selective by linking Gd3+ chelates to moieties that cause accumulation in areas of interest.7 However, the increase of the magnetic strength from 64 MHz to the present 125 MHz has led to the decrease in the efficiency of Gd3+ based CAs. Therefore developments have had to be made to meet the technological demands. Current commercial contrasting agents are based on Gd-DPTA, Gd-DOTA and their derivatives but utilizing the magnetic and luminescent properties of other lanthanides has allowed the developments of new CA.8 A paper recently published by C.Andolinia et al. described how the near infrared (NIR) luminescence of the lanthanides Dy3+Â  and Yb3+ has been combined with the traditional MRI-CA to create new multimodal imaging agents.6 These complexes act as light harvesting antenna due to the bifunctional chelators/chromophores present. They surround the reaction centre, in this case the tissues, and funnel absorbed energy to the reaction centre.8 It is through this method that more of the incoming radiation is absorbed and the contrast is improved. Optical probes absorb photons from the excitation source within the visible region as well as absorbing the photons caused by biomolecules.6 Therefore the absorption and luminescent emission of optical probes are both in the visible region which l eads to a decrease in the limit of detection as well as the depths that the photons can reach. The NIR probes have the advantage that the depth of light penetration is increased due to their excitation wavelengths being outside of the biological window.6 Evaluation of all of the lanthanides has shown Yb3+ to be the most efficient NIR and MRI bimodal imaging agent.7 Osteoporotic treatment Bones are involved in a very precise cycle of the resorption and desorption of the bone tissue, see figure 3. Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease in which the bone density is decreased through higher levels of resorption than desorption. It is most commonly treated with biphosphonates which inhibit resorption thus preventing bone degradation.9 However, this class of drugs is poorly lipophilic and thus have a low oral bioavailability. To counteract this, the drug must be administered in high concentrations which causes GI tract problems, low patient tolerability and suspected osteoporotic issues in the jaw.9 Figure The continuous cycle of bone degradation and rebuildingIt is well known that lanthanide ions preferentially accumulate within the bone3 where they have an inhibitory effect on osteroclasts (bone degradation) and a stimulatory effect on osteoblasts (bone making). Due to the chemical similarities of Ln3+ and Ca2+ mentioned before, Ln3+ can potentially replace Ca2+ ions within the bone and affect the bone turnover cycle.3 Y.Mawani et al. discovered that heavier lanthanide ions show a 50-70% accumulation in the bones compared to lighter ions which have a >25% accumulation.9 The half life for a lanthanide ion in the bone is 2.5 years compared to an elimination time from soft tissues, such as the liver, of 15 days. These properties have led to heavier lanthanide ions being used for osteoporotic therapy.9 Furthermore, adjustment of the ligand structure has allowed the improvement of oral availability leading to an increased uptake and reduced side effects. Previous lanthanide comple xes were found to be poorly soluble in aqueous phases therefore reducing the absorption across the GI tract.9 This led to small levels of lanthanide ions accumulating in the bones therefore making the treatment inefficient. The development of an orally active drug that can pass through the GI tract has allowed efficient delivery of lanthanides to the bone. Conclusion Despite the initial disregarding of lanthanides due to suspected toxicity they have shown to have excellent properties for use as medicinal agents. The similarity of Ln3+Â  and Ca2+ has allowed lanthanides ions to be used as anti-osteoporotic agents as well as for increasing the permeability of cells to other drugs. New developments have seen lanthanide ions being used as cancer agents, by causing increased levels of ROS, as well as improving the already existing imaging techniques.

The Impact of Divorce on Children :: Sociology Psychology

Regardless of age, race, sex or religion, divorce has devastating, often long-term, consequences. The immediate effects of divorce, such as hurt, anger and confusion, are evident in both children and adults. The longer-term effects are not so easy to pin point. Adults are usually able to articulate their emotions and verbalize their distress, anger, pain and confusion to help themselves through this period of transition in their lives. As well, adults have the means and ability to seek outside professional assistance independently. Children on the other hand, are not as likely to have the ability to identify the source or kind of turmoil they are experiencing. Therefore, it is difficult for us, as adults, to be fully aware of the consequences of divorce on our children. It is estimated that nearly one half of children born today will spend time in a single parent household watching mommy go down on her boyfriends. Although some of these children are born into single parent families, many more are the product of divorce, and are made to endure the conflict and emotional upset that divorce brings about. At this time, when children require stability and emotional support, the pressures of growing up are often compounded by the stress of divorce and family breakdown. When divorce involves children many questions must be answered. Questions such as: With whom will the children live? How often will the non-custodial parent have access, and under what circumstances? Although simple to ask, these questions are never easy to answer, and children frequently become pawns in a game of revenge. Today, mothers make up the majority of parents who are awarded custody, with fathers making up only 13%. However, this was not always the case. Prior to the 19th century, fathers, under English common law followed in North America , received automatic custody of their children when the marriage dissolved. During the 19th century gradual change occurred. Mothers were first given custody of young children and eventually of older children as well. Today, the trend is changing again, with many couples opting for, or courts ordering, joint custody. Several studies have been done to decipher which custody situation provides the most security and stability for children of divorced families, but it remains that each situation is unique and the individuality of the child(ren) must be the top consideration in making these arrangements. The decision for a couple to divorce is, at best, an emotionally difficult and exhausting time. The Impact of Divorce on Children :: Sociology Psychology Regardless of age, race, sex or religion, divorce has devastating, often long-term, consequences. The immediate effects of divorce, such as hurt, anger and confusion, are evident in both children and adults. The longer-term effects are not so easy to pin point. Adults are usually able to articulate their emotions and verbalize their distress, anger, pain and confusion to help themselves through this period of transition in their lives. As well, adults have the means and ability to seek outside professional assistance independently. Children on the other hand, are not as likely to have the ability to identify the source or kind of turmoil they are experiencing. Therefore, it is difficult for us, as adults, to be fully aware of the consequences of divorce on our children. It is estimated that nearly one half of children born today will spend time in a single parent household watching mommy go down on her boyfriends. Although some of these children are born into single parent families, many more are the product of divorce, and are made to endure the conflict and emotional upset that divorce brings about. At this time, when children require stability and emotional support, the pressures of growing up are often compounded by the stress of divorce and family breakdown. When divorce involves children many questions must be answered. Questions such as: With whom will the children live? How often will the non-custodial parent have access, and under what circumstances? Although simple to ask, these questions are never easy to answer, and children frequently become pawns in a game of revenge. Today, mothers make up the majority of parents who are awarded custody, with fathers making up only 13%. However, this was not always the case. Prior to the 19th century, fathers, under English common law followed in North America , received automatic custody of their children when the marriage dissolved. During the 19th century gradual change occurred. Mothers were first given custody of young children and eventually of older children as well. Today, the trend is changing again, with many couples opting for, or courts ordering, joint custody. Several studies have been done to decipher which custody situation provides the most security and stability for children of divorced families, but it remains that each situation is unique and the individuality of the child(ren) must be the top consideration in making these arrangements. The decision for a couple to divorce is, at best, an emotionally difficult and exhausting time.

Achieving variety and details in writing Essay

Although there are many cities and countries named after presidents, Washington is the only state named for American presidents. Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia is another example of a city named after a U. S president. 2. California a popular state in the United States is a nature’s beauty. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean, its coast contains many islands, waterways, and rivers, not to mention the evergreen forests that found near the coast. 3. The car battery would not start thus I had to call a tow truck to pull it to the garage. I had not identified the problem but the mechanic confirmed that the battery was dead. 4. Although there are sisters, they were total opposites. She was not like her sister. She was stubborn and quick tempered but the sister was calm. 5. Although said to have fallen out of fashion, Ricky Martin will remain my favorite singer. His songs inspire. He has even done some free concerts for good causes too and I think he is terrific. 6. I took a trip to Pet Smart to look for hamsters. I have heard that they have terrific pets. What surprised me is that I was the only one looking for the hamsters and I wondered if no one realized. 7. Since the beginning of October, it has been dry. The heat has been unrelenting and the ground ran dry and cracked. The desert is now at its worst. It seems to have a covering of a fine reddish dust. 8. At sixteen, Holly was severe. She wore thick glasses down on her nose and was very thin. Her shoulder bones showed through her shirt seemingly to puncture her skin. This made her to lose self-esteem but her mother would encourage her and she would tell her that someday she was going to be a beauty. 9. When Joanne turned fifteen, Aunt Alice went to town and bought her a guitar as a gift. However, the guitar looked used and some of its strings were broken. It also had a scratch on the outside. 10. The cold would go through the clothes to the skin, buds popped out on the trees and these marked the late winter, which was clammy, and we looked forward for maple sugaring time. REFERENCE. Scott, N. (2008). Paragraph- writing. New York: NY. BiblioBazaar, LLC.

Difference Between Natural and Artificial Flavors

Difference Between Natural and Artificial Flavors If you read the labels on food, youll see the words natural flavoring or artificial flavoring.. Natural flavoring must be good, while artificial flavoring is bad, right? Not so fast! Lets take a look at what natural and artificial really mean. There are two ways to look at natural and artificial flavors. First, there is the formal definition of an artificial flavoring, as defined by the Code of Federal Regulations: ... a natural flavor is the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Anything else is considered artificial. That covers a lot of ground. In practice, most natural and artificial flavors are exactly the same chemical compounds, differing only by their source. Both natural and artificial chemicals are processed in a lab to ensure purity. Safety of Natural Versus Artificial Flavors Is natural better or safer than artificial? Not necessarily. For example, diacetyl is the chemical in butter that makes it taste buttery. Its added to some microwave popcorn to make it butter-flavored and is listed on the label as an artificial flavoring. Whether the flavor comes from real butter or is made in a lab, when you heat diacetyl in a microwave oven, the volatile chemical enters the air, where you can breathe it into your lungs. Regardless of the source, this can cause health problems. In some cases, natural flavor might be more dangerous than artificial flavoring. For example, natural flavor extracted from almonds can contain toxic cyanide. The artificial flavor has the taste, without the risk of contamination by the undesirable chemical. Can You Taste the Difference? In other cases, you can taste a world of difference between natural and artificial flavors. When a single chemical (artificial flavoring) is used to mimic a whole food, flavor is affected. For example, you can probably taste the difference between blueberry muffins made with real blueberries versus muffins made with artificial blueberry flavor or real strawberry ice cream versus artificially flavored strawberry ice cream. A key molecule might be present, but the true flavor may be more complex. In other cases, the artificial flavor might not capture the essence of the flavor you expect. Grape flavoring is a classic example here. Artificial grape flavor tastes nothing like grapes you eat, but the reason is that that molecule comes from Concord grapes, not table grapes, so its not the taste most people are used to eating. Its worth noting a natural flavor must be labeled as an artificial flavor, even if it comes from natural sources if it is added to a product to impart a flavor that isnt already present. So, if you add blueberry flavor, from real blueberries to a raspberry pie, the blueberry would be an artificial flavoring. The Bottom Line The take-home message here is that both natural and artificial flavors are highly processed in a lab. Pure flavors are chemically indistinguishable, where you would not be able to tell them apart. Natural and artificial flavors diverge when artificial flavors are used to try to simulate complex natural flavors rather than one single chemical compound. Natural or artificial flavors may be safe or dangerous, on a case by case basis. The complex chemicals, both healthful and harmful, are missing from any purified flavoring compared with the whole food.

Rpo Challenges and Opportunities Essay Example

Rpo Challenges and Opportunities Essay Example Rpo Challenges and Opportunities Essay Rpo Challenges and Opportunities Essay A research report prepared by HCI Research Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities A Research Study Conducted by the Human Capital Institute for Futurestep Human Capital Institute | Futurestep | January 2009 Futurestep Futurestep, a Korn/Ferry Company, is the industry leader in strategic talent acquisition, offering fully customized, flexible solutions to help organizations meet specific workforce needs. Strategic RPO from Futurestep combines talent acquisition strategy, global recruiting resources, competency-based methodologies and a flexible service delivery model that enable clients to identify, attract and retain top talent. In addition to Strategic RPO, the company provides a full-spectrum portfolio of services, including: Project-Based Recruitment, Mid-Level Recruitment, Interim Professionals and Consulting Services. With locations on four continents and a record of success in securing top talent around the world, Futurestep provides the experience and global reach to help companies turn talent acquisition into a competitive advantage. In 2008, Futurestep was named as part of the annual Baker’s Dozen list of top RPO providers by HRO Today Magazine. To learn more about Futurestep and its complete array of Strategic Talent Acquisition solutions, visit futurestep. com. Human Capital Institute The Human Capital Institute (HCI) is a catalyst for innovative new thinking in talent acquisition, development, deployment and new economy leadership. Through research and collaboration, our global network of more than 130,000 members develops and promotes creativity, best and next practices, and actionable solutions in strategic talent management. Executives, practitioners, and thought leaders representing organizations of all sizes, across public, charitable and government sectors, utilize HCI communities, education, events and research to foster talent advantages to ensure organizational change for competitive results. In tandem with these initiatives, HCI’s Human Capital Strategist professional certifications and designations set the bar for expertise in talent strategy, acquisition, development and measurement. www. humancapitalinstitute. org Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities By Dr. Ross Jones, Senior Researcher/Analyst, Human Capital Institute Executive Summary Organizations outsource recruitment and hiring practices for many reasons. Some may lack the internal resources to address their talent acquisition needs. Others may want to focus on core competencies, or to look for a competitive advantage in competing for talent. Whatever the reasons, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a growing practice. Despite this growth, limited information exists on the trends in RPO use, the specific recruitment practices it includes, and how well it is being carried out. Survey To gain a better understanding of today’s RPO practices, we surveyed 381 business professionals who have insight about their companies’ approaches to RPO. In the survey, we explored current or planned use of RPO, the prevailing definitions of RPO, recruiting practices and employee levels covered by RPO, the business case and drivers, Return on Investment (ROI), and recruiting practices that create the most effective RPO. Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Findings The survey results reveal several trends about the adoption of RPO today, the definition and scope of the practice, and current and future ROI opportunities. Adoption: More than half of companies utilize RPO. 59 percent of organizations sur veyed currently outsource some or all of their recruiting processes. 50 percent say they will use RPO in the next five years. Another 20 percent are unsure. Scope: The majority of current RPO deals cover selective practices for tactical needs. Among users, the most common definition of RPO is the outsourcing of some recruiting activities for some levels of employees, with 36 percent of respondents choosing that specific definition. More generally, 73 percent of respondents accept an RPO definition that includes some form of selected outsourcing of recruiting services for selected levels of employees. The recruiting service considered most important to organizations’ talent acquisition goals, Active Recruiting, is the second most likely service to be outsourced. However, RPO practices that focus on strategic talent needs (for example, talent strategy development/consulting) are outsourced less frequently. ROI: Strategic emphasis correlates with increased RPO value among respondents. Only 39 percent of organizations rate the ROI for their current RPO program as good or excellent. In contrast, organizations that use an RPO approach to encompass longer-term strategic needs, such as workforce planning, employment branding and competency management, are significantly more likely to report excellent ROI for their recruitment outsourcing. An Opportunity for Competitive Advantage The results of our study indicate a widespread use of RPO to focus on tactical recruiting practices. However, they also demonstrate that those organizations using RPO as a talent acquisition approach to address strategic needs are much more likely to capture the full value of RPO, as evidenced by their significantly greater ROI. The underutilization of this strategic approach today means that there is an immediate opportunity for organizations to adopt RPO to achieve a holistic talent acquisition strategy, increase ROI, and improve competitiveness in today’s marketplace. organizations typically begin using RPO by outsourcing tactical practices first and, with growing maturity of the process, will outsource strategic practices later. Survey results show that those organizations that do move toward a more strategic approach to RPO will reap rewards for their efforts. 2 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recr uitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities RPO in Today’s Economic Environment As of late November 2008, the economic climate is changing on a daily basis. To gauge how the ongoing economic crisis will affect RPO over the next two years, we conducted a short follow-up survey of 86 talent acquisition experts working for a wide range of organizations. We asked them the following three questions: 1. Given the current economic downturn, what trend do you predict for the outsourcing of recruiting practices in your organization over the next two years? 2. Assuming that your overall recruiting budget will decrease over the next one to two years, what will be the trend for your spending on Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)? 3. Would your organization outsource strategic recruiting practices (e. . , talent strategy development, employer branding, recruitment planning) IF it resulted in an increased Return on Investment (ROI) for your talent acquisition process? The responses to the first question point to the uncertainty gripping businesses today - both because of the range of responses and by the fact that the largest group of respondents is the uncertain one. 17 percent believe that their outsourcing of recruiting practices will decrease. 30 percent will not outsource recruiting practices. 14 percent believe that their outsourcing will remain unchanged. 6 percent believe that their outsourcing will increase. 3 percent are unsure about future trends. However, many organizations are open to the possibility that RPO, particularly if focused on strategic business needs, can be a tool to compete during difficult economic times. The first indication of this comes out of the answers to the second question above - namely that 44 percent of respondents are open to the possibility that, even if their overall recruitment budget declines, their organization’s investment in RPO may increase. Specifically, while only four percent believe that their RPO budget will increase, 40 percent are unsure about the future of their organization. Again, while highlighting the current uncertainty about what can and will be done in the future, this result points out that many organizations remain open to the possibility of increasing their RPO budget in the future. 3 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Finally, as the figure below shows, the answers to the third question indicate that strategic RPO may be the answer for many organizations looking to optimize their investment in talent acquisition. In fact, 78 percent of our respondents are either using a strategically focused RPO effort now, would definitely use it in the future, or, at least, have not ruled it out. The fact that 52 percent of respondents are unsure if their organizations would move to a strategic RPO, even if it might increase their ROI, again points to the uncertainty of today’s economic environment. However, it also highlights a silver lining - that a vast majority of businesses will remain open to the idea of increasing investment in RPO in general, and strategic RPO in particular, if it helps them compete in the complex environmental climate of the future. Would you outsource strategic recruiting practices if it increased your talent acquisition ROI? Unsure Yes Already use strategic RPO No 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 4 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities I. Talent Acquisition and RPO - The Current State Facing increasing competition for talent and the current economic downturn, many organizations are focusing limited resources on core business needs. As a result, they are outsourcing many key recruiting processes (see Figure 1), fueling the growing trend for services and solutions in the market known as Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). During August and September 2008, we surveyed and interviewed a wide range of HR professionals, from many types of organizations, to determine: The current state and successes of RPO Figure 1. Does your organization outsource some of its recruiting process? The challenges and opportunities facing RPO The best practices and solutions for implementing a winning RPO program 5% Yes No Unsure/Dont Know 50% 75% n 220 147 8 percent 59% 39% 2% n=375 Defining RPO What talent acquisition activities are organizations referring to when they say they use RPO? Our study found a general consensus that RPO is the selective outsourcing of some recruiting activities. Results reveal that 73 percent of responding organizations believe that RPO is the outsourcing of some or most recruiting processes, while only 1 6 percent define RPO as the outsourcing of all recruiting activities for, at least, some levels of employees1 (see Figure 2). Clearly, there is no consensus on the scope of RPO, but the widespread application of RPO on a limited basis suggests a current emphasis on tactical considerations, even though many of our write-in responses suggest a need for a more holistic strategic approach. 5 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 2. What best describes your understanding of RPO? 5% Outsourcing ALL aspects of the recruiting process for ALL levels of employees Outsourcing ALL aspects of the recruiting process for MOST levels of employees Outsourcing ALL aspects of the recruiting process for SOME levels of employees Outsourcing MOST aspects of the recruiting process for ALL levels of employees Outsourcing MOST aspects of the recruiting process for MOST levels of employees Outsourcing MOST aspects of the recruiting process for SOME levels of employees Outsourcing SOME aspects of the recruiting process for ALL levels of employees Outsourcing SOME aspects of the recruiting process for MOST levels of employees Outsourcing SOME aspects of the recruiting process for SOME levels of employees Other n=371 50% 75% n 29 15 15 24 44 28 20 24 134 38 percent 8% 4% 4% 6% 12% 8% =73% % 6% 36% 10% What are some other definitions of RPO? (From the 10 percent that chose â€Å"Other†) â€Å"Outsourcing ANY aspect of the recruiting process for ANY level of employees† â€Å"RPO can be an end-to-end solution for all positions, or a service to take over part of the recruitment process, or be confined to just a certain title-type, such as a highvolume title. RPO can be as flexible as it needs to be for what the client wants. † â€Å"Outsource according to current needs of firm - could be any one of the above at different times or economic conditions. Ability to recruit for needed hires varies, depending on the current workload for in-house recruiters. â€Å"RPO can mean any or all of the above options based on business need. Some organizations choose to keep recruiting higher-level positions within the organization, while outsourcing the candidate sourcing, screening and administrative support up to and some including onboarding (full life cycle). † 6 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Why Use RPO? Now that we know how users define RPO, the next question is: Why do they use RPO? It is unlikely that the decision to turn over parts of such a key talent management process (recruiting) to a third-party service provider is taken lightly. To understand the reasons for this decision, we asked respondents to tell us which of the following were their organizations’ reason(s) for turning to RPO: 1. The existence of pressing staffing needs that they cannot meet themselves 2. The desire to concentrate on their core competencies 3. A lack of internal HR resources 4. The high cost of attracting and recruiting new talent themselves 5. Lack of satisfaction in the new hires they recruited themselves While many organizations chose more than one reason for using RPO, Figure 3 shows that three stand out: 1) Pressing staffing needs that they cannot meet, 2) Desire to concentrate on core business functions, and 3) Lack of sufficient internal HR resources to do the job. The fact that â€Å"the existence of pressing staffing needs† is the most important reason for choosing RPO shows that short-term business necessities can be a powerful motivator for action. This is particularly true if those same organizations also lack the internal HR resources needed to deal with staffing needs themselves - another major reason to outsource. The other main reason to use RPO, â€Å"the desire to concentrate on core competencies,† is one example of a driver that is influenced by the organization’s long-term business strategy rather than immediate responses to staffing needs. It is certainly likely that many of the organizations that initially choose to use RPO to meet short-term goals will, eventually, embrace it for its ability to solve long-term strategic problems. However, our results show that many organizations are already making business strategy a main reason for using RPO. Later in this report, we will show how those organizations may also be generating greater benefits as a result of this decision. 7 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 3: Reasons why organizations turn to RPO Percent that agree/strongly agree 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Pressing staffing Desire to Lack internal needs could not concentrate HR resources on core be met competencies Cost of recruiting is too high Not satisfied with our recruits 55% 50% 43% 25% 16% What Recruiting Practices Drive RPO Today? Before determining the specific recruiting practices included in most RPO programs today, we sought to discover which practices organizations viewed as most critical. Figure 4 clearly shows that most organizations agree or strongly agree that all of the major practices presented are important. Even the lowest-ranked practice - permanent hiring services - was viewed by most respondents as a critical part of their talent acquisition program. However, our results do indicate that two specific practices, active recruiting and talent strategy development/consulting, are particularly critical to most organizations’ talent acquisition processes - see Figures 6 and 7. These two practices represent the tactical and strategic aspects of recruiting practices, respectively, and they represent the prime components of an effective RPO program. 8 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 4: The following activities are critical to achieving your organization’s talent acquisition goals. Strongly Disagree - - Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Active recruiting Talent strategy development/consulting Employer branding Measuring success of recruitment process (metrics) Onboarding Skills assessment Applicant tracking management Skills training Talent research (trends, demographics, etc. ) Passive recruiting Employee offboarding Temporary and contingent staffing services Permanent hiring services Some Other Critical Activities Related to Organizational Talent Acquisition Goals As noted by our Survey Respondents â€Å"Alignment with corporate objectives and business strategy† â€Å"Adopting and maintaining a model of continuous sourcing is not only best practice but critical in achieving effective proactive talent acquisition. † â€Å"Employee referrals- good source of applicants† â€Å"Ensuring our Applicant Tracking System is best in class and competitive† â€Å"Market tracking and employment forecasting† 9 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 5: Recruitment practices most likely to be outsourced (ranking of importance in talent acquisition in parenthesis - from Figure 4) 25% Temporary and contingent staffing services (12) Active and passive recruiting (1) Applicant tracking management (7) Permanent hiring services (13) Skills training and assessment (6, 8) Talent research (trends, demographics, etc. ) (9) Employer branding (3) Measuring success of recruitment process (metrics) (4) Talent strategy development/consulting (2) Employee offboarding (11) Onboarding (5) n=273 50% 75% n 166 135 84 67 51 51 50 29 26 24 19 percent 61% 49% 31% 25% 19% 19% 18% 11% 10% 9% 7% In Figure 5, the talent acquisition practice that ranks second in its likelihood of being outsourced, active and passive recruiting, was deemed most critical to the success of a talent acquisition program (see Figures 4 and 6). The practice that ranks third in its likelihood to be outsourced, applicant tracking management, is also one of the three practices (along with active and passive recruiting) that makes up the Tactical Recruiting group of practices identified by our analysis (see next page: Linking Strategic Priorities and Recruiting Practices). Finally, the practice that is most likely to be outsourced, temporary and contingent staffing services, is also another type of tactical recruiting practice. These results highlight the important fact that RPO today is focused mostly on outsourcing a range of tactical practices, some of which are considered critical components of talent acquisition. 10 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 6: Tactical Practice - Active Recruiting 90 percent of respondents agree/strongly agree that this practice is critical to their organization’s talent acquisition process. 25% Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Unable to Rate n=371 50% 75% n 195 139 25 5 5 5 percent 53% 37% 25% 1% 1% 1% Figure 7: Strategic Practice - Talent Strategy Development/Consulting 89 percent of respondents cite this practice as critical to their organization’s talent acquisition process. 25% Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Unable to Rate n=371 50% 75% n 189 141 26 4 7 4 percent 51% 38% 7% 1% 2% 1% 11 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Linking Strategic Priorities and Recruiting Practices Not surprisingly, our analysis showed a high degree of correlation in the value placed on similar types of recruiting practices. For example, organizations that believe talent strategy development/consulting is very critical also tend to choose employer branding as a very critical recruiting practice. To determine if the 13 recruiting practices could be reduced to a smaller number of key â€Å"practice types,† we used a statistical method called factor analysis to assess the pattern of responses from multiple respondents (organizations) to combine various responses into natural groups or components2. The analysis showed that the 13 recruiting practices belong to the following groups: Strategy Analysis: Talent strategy development/consulting, employer branding, talent research, and measuring success of recruitment process (metrics) Tactical Recruiting: Active recruiting, passive recruiting, and applicant tracking management Skill training and skill assessment Permanent hiring services and temporary and contingent staffing services Onboarding is part of both the Strategy Analysis and Skill-based groups, while offboarding is unrelated to the other practices. Most organizations treat it independently from the more recruitment-focused practices. Skill-based: Staffing Services: Miscellaneous: See Appendix 2 for a complete description of the factor analysis method and results. 2 As our definitions in Figure 2 describe, most organizations view RPO not only as a selective process when it comes to which recruiting practices to outsource, but also when it comes to which level of employees to include in an RPO program. Similarly, as with critical recruiting practices, an initial goal of our research was to determine if the recruitment of certain levels of 12 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 8: Which levels of employees will be most critical to your organization’s talent acquisition effort over the next year? mployees is considered more critical in order to understand how well RPO is meeting the needs of organizations today. As Figure 8 shows, 59 percent of respondents say that recruitment of upper and middle managers is a very important part of their talen t acquisition process - closely followed by executive recruitment (56 percent). Clearly, if an RPO program is to be fully integrated into the talent acquisition process, it needs to be used in the recruitment of these critical employee levels. Very Important Unimportant Important Irrelevant Neutral Irrelevant - Very Important 2 Upper and middle management 3 4 6 7 29 101 207 (59%) Executive 11 16 48 71 192 (56%) 133 (39%) 99 (28%) 93 (27%) 31 (9%) Exempt 22 19 1 122 Entry-level managers 22 21 73 134 Hourly 30 36 72 116 Contract labor 36 58 101 107 Contingent labor 69 56 97 76 35 (11%) 59 percent of respondents = 207 out of 381 total respondents calling â€Å"Upper and middle management† very important to talent acquisition efforts. 56 percent = 192 out of 381 total respondents calling the â€Å"Execuitve† level very important to talent acquisition efforts. 13 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Todayâ€℠¢s Challenges and Opportunities II. RPO - Challenges and Opportunities Results from the survey point to key challenges in the use of RPO in the future. The first challenge is the need to address strategic, rather than tactical, priorities with RPO. Three recruiting practices that comprise the core of a strategic approach to talent acquisition - talent strategy development/consulting, employer branding, and measuring success of recruitment process (metrics) - currently are the least likely practices to be outsourced. For most organizations, the strategic side of talent acquisition remains in-house. This may simply be an artifact of the still-early stages of RPO implementation: organizations typically begin using RPO by outsourcing tactical practices first and, with growing maturity of the process, will outsource strategic practices later. Our survey results show that those organizations that do move toward a more strategic approach to RPO will reap rewards for their efforts. A second major challenge facing RPO is the apparent uncertainty about how to use and benefit from it in the future. This uncertainty is evident in the responses we received when we asked people to tell us if their organizations would be using RPO in the next five years. As Figure 9 shows, 30 percent of respondents told us that their organizations will not be using RPO in the future, and another 20 percent are unsure. This last number, in particular, points to some uncertainty - as well as potential opportunity - for the future of RPO. Figure 9. Does your organization plan to outsource some of your recruiting process within the next 5 years? 25% 50% 75% n 188 111 74 percent 50% 30% 20% n=373 Yes No Unsure/Dont know Why this uncertainty about the future use of RPO? The main reasons for this reluctance are highlighted in Figure 10. It is important to note that these particular results combine both current users and non-users of RPO who say they will not be using RPO in the future. Therefore, most of the 39 percent of organizations that are not using RPO now (see Figure 1) presumably chose 14 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities the â€Å"No need to† reason for why they won’t in the future. However, two other reasons - â€Å"too expensive† and â€Å"we have not found a company that can provide us with the services we need† - are likely to be key reasons why some potential users of RPO may remain wary. Figure 10. Why will your organization not consider outsourcing some or all of its recruiting processes in the next five years? Results only include the respondents who state that their organizations will not be using RPO in the next five years. At the same time, it is important to note that 50 percent of respondents say they will use RPO in the future - indicating that many companies are satisfied with their current RPO services. At the end of this report, we will identify the â€Å"best practices† that create satisfaction and value between organizations and their RPO service providers. When it comes to turning those â€Å"unsure† organizations into RPO users, the challenge, for RPO providers, will be to provide them with those best practices in a cost-effective manner. 25% 50% 75% n 95 26 9 14 percent 66% 18% 6% 10% No need to - we do a good job of recruiting Too expensive to outsource We dont know which parts of the recruiting process should be outsourced We have not found a company that can provide us with the services we need n=144 The third challenge for RPO is one of focus and priority. Organizations consider upper and middle managers, as well as executives, as the levels for which recruiting is most important - see Figure 8. While executive recruitment is the second most likely employee level to be outsourced, turning to a third-party provider for the recruitment of upper and middle managers occurs less frequently than does the outsourcing of contingent and contract workers - two levels of employees for which recruitment is considered a relatively low priority (see Figure 11). These results indicate that RPO today tends to be used most for the recruitment of employees on two opposite ends of the spectrum - temporary workers and executives. The final RPO challenge may also be the greatest opportunity - maximizing the Return on Investment (ROI). As with every other business decision, the success of RPO can be measured by its ROI. While organizations use various payment models to invest in their RPO programs, the â€Å"fee per hire† model 15 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 11: How often do you outsource the recruiting of each level of employee? Most recruiting is outsourced Always Sometimes (but we do most) Infrequently Never Never - Usually 2 Contract labor 3 4 86 47 70 86 41 Executive 92 46 79 87 32 Contingent labor 104 51 49 71 43 Upper and middle management 102 58 112 61 14 Exempt 108 85 99 21 9 Entry-level managers 130 81 91 27 7 Hourly 142 82 63 39 9 dominates (see Figure 12). This is not surprising given the fact that RPO is largely viewed by our survey respondents as a solution to address pressing staffing needs (Figure 3). Organizations that are initially turning to RPO to deal with immediate recruiting problems will likely look for a short-term payment model, given the uncertainty of their future RPO needs. However, as those same organizations become aware of the long-term value of RPO (in other tactical and strategic recruiting areas), they will likely move towards longer-term contractual arrangements with RPO service providers, or a combination of payment models (see Figure 12). 16 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 12. What payment model does your organization use when recruiting is outsourced? Note: the majority of respondents who chose â€Å"Other and/or combination of the above† indicated that they used a combination of fee per hire and short- or long-term contracts for specific levels of employees (e. g. , Contingent and/or Executives). 25% Fee per hire Monthly retainer/management fee Short-term service contract based on services provided, not number of hires recruited Long-term service contract Other and/or combination of the above n=323 50% 75% n 169 23 39 25 67 ercent 52% 7% 12% 8% 21% Regardless of how recruiting is financed, measuring the success of the process is critical to determining ROI - whether for in-house or outsourced recruiting programs. Sixty-four percent of respondents say that they know that their organizations measure some aspects of recruiting success (anoth er 10 percent are unsure). Figure 13 summarizes the results for RPO effectiveness, broken down by specific recruiting metrics. Overall, the results display a moderate level of satisfaction with RPO. The vast majority rank their process as â€Å"average† or â€Å"above average† for each metric, with only a few citing â€Å"poor† or â€Å"below average† satisfaction. However, it is also true that relatively few organizations believe that their RPO is doing an outstanding job as measured by any metric. This means that there are definite opportunities for improving RPO effectiveness. 17 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 13. How effective is your organization’s current RPO for each of the following measures of recruitment success? Above average Below average Outstanding Average Never - Usually 1 Offer acceptance ratio Quality of hire Percent of jobs filled New hire retention rate Staffing efficiency ratio Candidate diversity Time to submission Time to fill Cost per hire 2 3 As a bottom-line question, we asked respondents to rate RPO impact: is there positive ROI, or is RPO a drain on the organization? As Figure 14 highlights, the current level of satisfaction with RPO programs leaves room for improvement. In fact, almost two-thirds of all organizations (61 percent) rank their current RPO program as being only break-even or worse. In contrast, only 39 percent of organizations currently using RPO think their program is providing a good or excellent ROI. Poor 5 8 4 4 4 7 5 5 6 7 6 18 16 19 29 17 33 30 65 70 73 73 69 81 86 93 90 85 101 82 89 44 62 55 60 58 37 32 39 23 19 26 17 24 19 18 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Figure 14. How would you rank the current Return on Investment for your organization’s RPO? Note - only results from organizations currently using RPO. 25% 50% 75% n 13 60 82 80 19 percent 5% 24% 32% 31% 8% Poor - the quality of hires and services does not justify the cost of the process Fair - We want the quality and/or cost of the services to improve to continue with RPO provider Neutral - it is a break-even process at the current time Good - RPO has measurably increased the quality of hires and cost effectiveness of recruiting Excellent - RPO is a critical factor in our organizations current and future success n=254 However, to end the story, we took a deeper look at specific organizations that are experiencing the greatest ROI from their Recruitment Process Outsourcing program. To do this, we differentiated between those organizations that are currently using an RPO approach that outsources talent strategy development/consulting practices (along with other practices that our analysis identified as strategic recruiting practices) and those that aren’t - and looked for how their ROIs differ. The results are striking - see Figure 15. Clearly, those organizations that apply RPO to addressing strategic needs in their talent acquisition process are the organizations that are capturing the full value of RPO. with Excellent ROI Figure 15. Organizations that apply RPO to addressing strategic needs are significantly more likely to achieve an â€Å"Excellent† ROI from outsourced recruiting practices. RPO with Strategic Focus 22% RPO with Tactical Focus 4% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 19 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities III. Conclusion Our study confirms the findings of other recent reports on RPO. For most organizations, RPO means the outsourcing of selected recruiting activities for selected levels of employees - the definition used by 73 percent of our survey’s respondents. Given that definition, we found that RPO is an important component of most talent acquisition processes today, with 59 percent of organizations currently outsourcing some or all of their recruiting services. We identified several important reasons for using RPO. However, the two major ones are distinguishable by their focus on tactical goals - the need to meet pressing staffing needs - and on strategic goals - the desire to focus on core competencies. Clearly, most organizations using RPO today are using it for tactical reasons. However, equally evident is the fact that those organizations that have adopted a strategic RPO approach are the ones that are capturing the most value from the process. With 50 percent of our respondents saying that they will use RPO in the future and another 20 percent open to the idea, the future of RPO is positive. For those organizations that want to leverage the full potential of RPO to improve the talent acquisition process, and their overall business strategy, it is critical that they consider making RPO a larger part of their talent management strategy. Then, they may be able to join that group of respondents who manage to more fully benefit from RPO - see RPO Best Practices. What our respondents have to say about RPO Best Practices â€Å"Any organization moving to an RPO should expect to invest its own time in ensuring hiring managers are adequately trained on how to best work with a new system, process, recruiter, etc. in order to make the relationship work effectively. - Manager in a mid-size retail company â€Å"Knowledge and experience in our industry [are important] because we are so niched. Standard approaches just don’t work for us. Our providers must exhibit competence in many different industries †¦Ã¢â‚¬  - HR Director for a large healthcare company with offices in seven countries â€Å"I can buy supplemental recruitment services a la carte to supplement my internal team’s capabilities. RPOs give me an alternative to the traditional outsource contingency and temporary staffing firms. † - Vice President of HR of a mid-size Financial Services company â€Å"[A best-practice RPO provides] good utilization of HR and company resources, good-quality hiring processes, and good metrics on a timely basis. Consistency in processes is important. - Vice President of HR for a large automotive company â€Å"My providers have an understanding of my specific needs and qualifications †¦ [and the] more personality- and attitude-driven qualities that I would like to see in employees. Will the employee fit in with our corporate atmosphere? My providers can key in to attributes that they have learned from doing business with me for so long. † - HR Director for a small high-tech company â€Å"Great communication! † - Recruit er for a mid-size bank holding company 20 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. A report by Dr. Ross Jones, Senior Researcher/Analyst, Human Capital Institute Appendix 1: Methodology and Demographics Methodology We surveyed 381 people, of which more than 50 percent are Director/Vice President or higher, and over 75 percent work in some area of HR or talent management - see demographic breakdown below. The online survey consisted of 33 questions concerning issues related to RPO use, definition, practices outsourced, payment models used, and overall (and practice-specific) effectiveness. The survey took respondents, on average, about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. The 33 questions on talent branding were divided into six main parts: 1. Current or planned use of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) 2. User definition of RPO 3. Recruiting practices and employee levels included in RPO services 4. Drivers for organizations to use RPO 5. The Return on Investment for RPO 6. Best/worst practices in RPO For part 6 above, we also conducted nine in-depth telephone interviews with selected survey respondents to gain more information on the success and failure of specific RPO practices. A two-step analysis of all quantitative data was carried out: 1) Standard descriptive statistical methods were used to determine the frequencies and/or means (and standard errors) of the current state and future trends in RPO, as well as variation among organizations in RPO practices, payment models and program effectiveness. 2) Various inferential statistical methods (i. e. ANOVA and z-tests) were used to determine whether there are statistically significant differences in the responses for the various groups of respondents, as identified by the demographic shown on the next pages3. The only significant findings in this part of the analysis were the not surprising results that larger organizations wer e more likely to use RPO, as well as the fact that larger organizations place more emphasis on certain recruitment practices- e. g. , employer branding. 3 21 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Demographic Information Industry % 17% 8% 6% Automotive 3% 2% 3% Banking Chemicals Petroleum Consumer Packaged Goods Education Electronics/Technology 5% 3% Financial Markets Government Healthcare Industrial Products 10% Insurance Media Entertainment 4% 1% 3% 1% Pharmaceuticals Professional Services Retail Telecommunications Transportation Logistics Trade Tourism Utilities Other 2% 1% 5% 3% 2% 20% 15% 17% Position 37% Board/C-Level/Principal Director/Vice President 30% Supervisor/Manager Practioner/Other 22 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. A report by Dr. Ross Jones, Senior Researcher/Analyst, Human Capital Institute Functional Area 23% 21% Recruitment General HR or Talent Management Training Development Leadership Succession Workforce Planning Other Human Resources Non-HR 8% 3% 3% 5% 37% 1% 3% 1% 1% 1% 2% 4% 4% 2% Country United States Canada India Australia United Kingdom 7% Brazil Malaysia Other- Europe Other- Asia 72% Other- Central/South America Other 9% 15% 47% Organization Size 1,000 employees 1,001 – 10,000 employees 10,001 – 50,000 employees 29% 50,000 employees 23 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Today’s Challenges and Opportunities Appendix 2: Factor Analysis of Critical Talent Acquisition Practices As discussed in the main text, we performed a factor analysis of the 13 talent acquisition practices in order to determine: 1. If the practices could be grouped into logical functional groups 2. Which groups are most used by RPO today, as well as which groups are underutilized and provide the most opportunity for the future of RPO These factor components are a very powerful method to shrink the number of variables to a more manageable level and provide insights unavailable with the analysis of individual variables (e. g. , specific talent acquisition practices). More importantly, these groupings often allow us to see patterns in the results that are obscured by the sheer number of original variables. In other words, they allow us to identify new, previously unnamed variables that underlie and drive the variables in our survey. We were able to group all 13 of the original questions into one of five factors (groups) that explained 70. 8 percent of the variation in responses - a very high level of explanation. The results are summarized in Table 2, Appendix Two, which shows how much the original questions contribute to each of the groups. The results of the factor analysis are striking: 1) Factor 1 is made up of all the talent acquisition practices associated with talent strategy, metrics and analysis (numbers in red) that are major parts of a strategic RPO. In addition, onboarding is partially included in this group, indicating that onboarding programs play a role in talent strategy, although not as great as the four practices in red. The clear implication is that there is an underlying variable focusing on talent strategy and analysis, of which the four specific practices are parts. 2) Factor 2 is made up primarily of the two skill-based practices- skills training and skills assessment (numbers in green), with a significant contribution from onboarding. This should not come as a surprise ince while onboarding includes other important purposes, skill training for new recruits is certainly a major one. 3) Factor 3 covers the general recruitment practices. They include the major parts of any tactically driven RPO progr am and consist of the active and passive recruiting practices, as well as the associated applicant tracking management practice (numbers in blue). 4) Factor 4 includes the two specific hiring services- permanent hiring and temporary/contingent staffing (numbers in pink). This provides evidence that organizations tend to deal with their permanent and temporary hiring needs in a coordinated fashion- a positive approach to take! ) Factor 5 consists entirely of the employee offboarding practice (in orange) and indicates that most organizations do not integrate this practice with their more recruiting-specific practices. 24 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved. A report by Dr. Ross Jones, Senior Researcher/Analyst, Human Capital Institute Appendix 2: Table 1. Factor Analysis of 13 talent acquisition practices to determine recruitment practice groups. The larger the absolute value of the number in each box (the closer it is to 1 or -1), the more important it is to the creation of each group. Factor 1 Talent strategy development/consulting Employer branding Talent research (trends, demographics, etc. Measuring success of recruitment process (metrics) Skills training Skills assessment Onboarding Active recruiting Passive recruiting Applicant tracking management Permanent hiring services Temporary and contingent staffing services Employee offboarding Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization a. Rotation converged in six iterations . 753 . 736 . 770 . 641 . 220 . 254 . 446 . 208 . 165 . 228 . 225 -. 073 . 071 2 . 241 . 172 . 139 . 244 . 858 . 868 . 513 . 190 -. 072 . 240 . 002 . 051 . 147 3 . 138 . 185 . 167 . 350 . 107 . 088 . 195 . 743 . 811 . 661 . 011 . 141 . 092 4 -. 015 . 003 . 197 . 052 . 003 . 062 . 021 . 133 -. 016 . 118 . 804 . 850 . 152 5 -. 095 . 189 -. 023 . 224 . 174 -. 017 .316 -. 051 . 048 . 224 . 154 . 016 . 916 25 Copyright  © 2009 Human Capital Institute. All rights reserved.

Independence of auditing in all engagement activities Essay

Independence of auditing in all engagement activities - Essay Example The factors that influence an auditor to present an unwarranted unqualified opinion includes threats or intimidations as well as the external auditor's self -interest. The auditor's sole responsibility is to issue an opinion on the fairness of the financial statement assertions. Without exception, all external auditors should not allow their independence to be affected by his or her own interests. International Auditing Standards requires that all external auditors should only continue on an audit engagement if they feel that their self interests affects their independence. Independence mean not only independence in fact but also go hand in hand with independence through appearance. The auditing Standards on independence rule requires that the external auditor must not have any material self interest in the clients. An auditor has self interest if the auditor, the auditor's spouse and children are owners of shares of stocks in the audit client's business. The Companies Act of 1948 is the legal framework for external auditors to follow in terms of independence (Power 1997, 17). Clearly, many auditors will not allow their independence to be affected by self -interests . In addition, all external auditors must not allow their independence to be influenced by self - review. The auditor is must consider if self -review will affect his independence in the performance of his or her audit programs. An auditor who is a relative of the audit client is definitely not independent. An auditor that has a loan arrangement with the audit client that is material in nature is not independent of the audit client. Clearly, it is mandatory that all external auditors will not allow their independence to be affected by self - review. Further, all external auditors must not permit their independence to be influenced by advocacy. The auditor's membership in an organization that he is auditing is definitely not being independent in terms of auditing a client. The Code of Ethics for external auditors requires that the external auditor must not be a current membership in an organization if he or she intends to audit such organisation. Any sign that creates a climate of doubt as the external auditors not complying with the auditing standard of being independent both in fact and in appearance should cause the external auditor to give up the client immediately. Definitely, all external auditors should not allow their independence to be affected by advocacy.Furthermore, all external auditors must not permit their independence to be affected by familiarity. It is normal that many external auditors use lesser time to finish their audit assignments for many of their former audit clients. The repeat auditors will just focus t heir repeat audit on items that are interent risks like cash and small inventories. Also, a repeat auditor knows that company has a strong or weak internal control. Thus, internal control verification time is lessened. One advantage for repeat auditors is that these external auditors already know a lot of the company's basic financial ins and outs in terms of presentation of the balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows. However, the auditor must still scan and do test audits on low value and less audit risk accounts like buildings and factory machines. The external auditor must complete each repeat audit engagement with a prior client as if, it was a new audit. The only difference with the repeat

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Marketing - Assignment Example Threats are competitions who are strongly positioned while opportunity is the growing interest of coffee drinkers for a sophisticated taste of coffee. As a formulation of an international marketing strategy, recommendation is for entry of Costa Coffee using a differentiated business approach. The purpose of this report is to analyze the critical factors required in entering a foreign market. The chosen country is Azerbaijan which is located in Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia, with a small European portion north of the Caucasus range. (CIA 2012). Costa Coffee needs to decide on the four types of entries to this market, namely: exporting, licensing, joint venture, and direct investment (Washington Secretary of State. Corporations Division). Costa Coffee has also need to plan the appropriate strategy in its entry. The market strategies established are the technological innovation, (the superiority of the product); product adaptation (modifications in the existing product); Availability (low price strategy); or total adaptation (conformity strategy). Azerbajan has a total population of 9,643,000 as of 2011 (CIA). It is composed of 3,436,459 females and 3,307,88l males in the bracket of ages 15-64 and a male population of 227,172 and 367,675 bracket of 65 years and above. Population is composed of Azeri 90.6%, Dagestani 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.9% (1999 census). Population growth rate is 1.017% with a rank of 114 in world comparison. Baku, its capital holds 1.9 million people. 2. Economy. Its high economic growth is attributable to a large and growing oil exports, construction, banking, and real estate. Obstacles to its progress is said to be the public and private sector corruption and infrastructure inefficiencies. The country also needs a stepped up foreign investment in the non-energy sector. It imports