Code of Ethics Comparison

Comparison of Ethics Codes: Church Focused or Self Focused Diana Calhoun Liberty University Abstract The American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) and the American Counseling Association (ACA) have both established a code of ethics to assist and protect their members in serving and protecting their clients. While there are many differences between the two ethics codes, there are also many similarities. The first part of this essay will discuss the general differences in ethics codes adhered to from the AACC and the ACA.The second part of this essay will discuss the differences between the two organizations’ codes of ethics in subjects of conflict of interest in fees, sexual intimacies, and discrimination. In conclusion clarification on how the similarities between the two codes are the AACC’s attempt to not adopt areas in which the ACA’s practice is not glorifying to Christ and how His church should respond in such subject matters. Comparison of Ethics Codes: Church Focused or Self FocusedThe ultimate goal between the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) and the American Counseling Association (ACA) is different in their code of ethics pursuit. In the ACA Code of Ethics the main goal of the association’s members are to â€Å"recognize diversity, and embrace a cross-cultural approach in support of the worth dignity, potential and uniqueness of people within their social and cultural contexts† (2005, p. 3).The AACC Code of Ethics primary goal is â€Å"to bring honor to Jesus Christ and his church, promote excellence in Christian counseling, and bring unity to Christian counselors† (2004, p. 3). Even though these goals are vastly different, in order for the AACC to accomplish its goal of honoring Christ and the church it also wants to lovingly respect God’s creation while counseling people. With that in mind the AACC Code of Ethics consulted the American Counseling Association in addition to other ethics codes in the drafting of its statement (2004, p. ). This creates many similarities and differences between the two codes. The similarities are revealed as the AACC retained ethical stances from the ACA that supported the AACC’s goal, not contradict it. The practices on how these two different goals are achieved by both organizations will be reviewed along with its affects on ethical views. Section I: General Comparison of the Two Codes Both the AACC and ACA have a similar general goal to do â€Å"no harm† to the client, and that all their actions should be consistent with that counseling goal.There are many sub goals and protocols to assist the counselor in abiding to this counseling goal. Sub goals consist of regards to privacy, appropriate counselor-client relationship guidelines, counseling plans, training and resolutions of ethical issues. However the difference between the AACC and ACA is the perspective or definition of what each group considers bei ng â€Å"no harm† to the client. The ACA code of ethics appears to be legal guidelines in counseling clients to learn to look inward and make decisions in life on their own based on the client’s moral values.This can include to any degree the client’s view on sex, drugs, money, power or any pleasure deriving device to provide the client with immediate satisfaction. As stated in Competent Christian Counseling this however can be a numbing agent providing short term relief when one desires to find purpose for their life. This short term relief can lead to long term sorrow. Being entrapped in long term sorrow is not classified as a ‘no harm’ counseling goal for any client (Clinton, & Ohlschlager, 2002, p. 26).The AACC Code of Ethics goes beyond just legal guidelines in their dedication â€Å"to Jesus Christ as their ‘first love,’ to excellence in client service, to ethical integrity in practice, and to respect for everyone encounteredâ₠¬  (2004, p. 5). According to Competent Christian Counseling, Christian counselors not only want to help foster growth for a healthy lifestyle but also to assist clients in a more fulfilling life that will sustain, to show clients â€Å"relief that lasts, purpose that remains, and direction that leads to a hope-filled future.The sufferers who flee into the arms of God can discover this relief† (Clinton, & Ohlschlager, 2002, p. 26). This is ultimately the ‘no harm’ perspective and goal; long term ‘no harm’ and not just short term relief ‘no harm’. The AACC Code of Ethics also strives that even in having this ultimate goal they also honor the client’s choice in spiritual interventions in counseling, verifying that the client’s goals are the counselor’s goals and that the counselor is respecting the client’s counseling goals (2004, p. 11, 1-330).This balance is shown by the counselor not condoning abortions, adu ltery, abuse, addictions, and divorce; yet the counselor will not discriminate against a client whose beliefs and values are not the same. The Christian counselor is spurred on to use the counseling sessions as Jesus did when he ate and fellowshipped with sinners (Matthew 9:10 NLT). The only similarity with the ACA Code of Ethics is the stance to avoid imposing values that are inconsistent with counseling goals. (2002, p. 4, A. 4) Section II: Specific Comparison of Three Particular AreasFees Fees for services rendered should be clearly stated to the client. Both code of ethics for the ACA and the AACC contain guidelines for possible options for how fees can be rendered. The profound difference between the two is the lack of provision by the ACA for when funds are not sufficient from the client to cover the cost. In their code of ethics, the ACA (2002) makes an optional provision through bartering in section A. 10. d as an only alternative before referring clients to affordable compa rable services as stated in section A. 10. c (p. 6).In addition to bartering, in their code of ethics, the AACC (2004) goes on to encourage a sliding fee scale or even pro bono work as stated in sections 1-513 and 1-512 in order to meet the client where they are financially (p. 13). These solutions can be temporary or permanent for the client’s financial situation. These are additional ways that the AACC suggest for ethical compensation. They are also great ways to go beyond the basic legal criteria as stated in the ACA code of ethics in order to make assistance available for clients to obtain counseling.These techniques are also supportive of the counselor’s goal of not abandoning the client. Sexual Intimacies Sexual intimacies are the application of pre-marital or extramarital sexual behavior in a client’s life. Both the AACC and the ACA share the ethical guideline of not imposing the counselor’s values and beliefs on the client. However the AACC and th e ACA’s similarities stop at that point. In their code of ethics the ACA (2002) states in section A. 4 that counselors are to avoid imposing their own values and are to respect the diversity of their clients (p. -5). The AACC (2004) states in their code of ethics in section 1-125 that counselors will refuse to condone or advocate the pursuit or active involvement in sexual behavior outside of marriage (p. 7). There is a clear distinction between the two ethical codes on this matter. Christian counselors will not abandon a client by discriminating against a client even when the client’s beliefs and values are different. A counselor is not to impose their own beliefs and values on a client but the counselor can review a client’s motives that may fuel their actions.Discrimination Discrimination is when someone is treated differently from others, due to involvement in a certain group. Specific groups receiving differential treatment can be identified by age, gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, education, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, denomination, belief system, values, or political affiliation. Both the ACA Code of Ethics and the AACC Codes of Ethics contain guidelines for on discrimination, and neither will tolerate discrimination.In their code of ethics the ACA (2002) states that counselors do not discriminate in a manner that has a negative impact on a person (p. 10, C. 5). In the AACC Codes of Ethics states that not only would they not treat persons in a harmful manner, but that they will challenge harmful attitudes and actions while express a loving care and ultimately loving one well when pushing them forward (2004, P. 6, 1-101). These harmful attitudes and actions will not exclude discriminatory topics of sexual behavior, belief systems, values or others; but will be lovingly examined to what may fuel the actions in these areas.Conclusion The distinctions between the two ethical codes from the AACC and the ACA do not exclude the Christian counselor from treating clients with situations that differ from the counselor’s personal values. Since Christian counselors are not to condone and advocate actions that do not bring honor to Jesus Christ and his church, they are challenged with â€Å"fitting their counseling models to people, rather than fitting people to counseling models† as stated by Clinton & Ohlschlager in their book, Competent Christian Counseling (2002, p. 6). These counseling models may include some unique methods such as a willingness to confront people with an attitude of love and to challenge them to correct erroneous beliefs about the world. Research has shown these techniques to be most beneficial and potent (Clinton & Ohlschager, 2002, p. 43). These techniques can lead a client to a more fulfilling life that will sustain, as the Christian counselor honors Jesus Christ by handling his creation, the client, in the best way possible.Excluding Christian counselors from working with clients whose lifestyles are different from the counselor’s personal values, gives the client the only option to find counselors that hold the same personal values and belief perspectives as the client. Counseling for the client will then be focused on themselves and the pursuit of their happiness. The AACC encourages Christian counselors not to let financial, personal value differences, or discrimination to interfere the main goal of the Christian counselor; to honor Jesus Christ and the church in the pursuit of the gospel call through counseling.The ACA encourages the counselor to keep all personal values out of the counseling environment in order to push the client forward in their own personal pursuit of happiness as long as it is legal and supportive of their counseling goals. This illustrates differences in church and self focused ethics. References American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. Retrieved from http://www. counseling. org/reso urces/codeofethics/TP/home/ct2. aspx. American Association of Christian Counselors. (2004). AACC Code of Ethics. Retrieved from http://www. aacc. net/about-us/code-of-ethics/.Clinton, T. & Ohlschlager, G. (2002). Christian counseling and compassionate soul care: The case for twenty-first-century practice. In T. Clinton & G. Ohlschlager (Eds. ). Competent Christian counseling: Foundations and practice of compassionate soul care. (pp. 11-34), Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press. Clinton, T. & Ohlschlager, G. (2002). Competent Christian counseling: Definitions and dynamics. In T. Clinton & G. Ohlschlager (Eds. ). Competent Christian counseling: Foundations and practice of compassionate soul care. (pp. 36-68), Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press.

Project Management-Transformational Corporate Strategy Essay

Overview of the case study The business environment is very competitive. Consequently, companies need to offer customers proficient and reliable service. If they do not, customers will switch to more consumer efficient companies. Furthermore, as companies grow in size, it becomes harder to keep track of the growing amount of sales and customer information. If a company does a poor job by not focusing and maintaining customer satisfaction, it can result in problems for both the company and the consumer. This study will focus on the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, more commonly known as 3M, and how it empowered its employees, improved its growth rate, customer service and sales by introducing a new approach to growth. This study also provides critical interrogation on the approaches and strategies applied by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company in its efforts to turn around the company after the loss of profit despite the reputable strong tradition of innovation culture. Firstly, the study provides critical elements of innovative methods applied in order to exploit the profitable gains from the excellent research practise. This is done by explicating innovation process that has been applied at the 3M Company  leading to innovative strategic thinking coupled with the work done on the ground. It then identifies the curative recommendations in addressing the major problems that have been identified throughout the case. The fundamental problem of the 3M Company was the inability to exploit profitable improvements by exploiting its excellent and reliable research practice to the advantage of the company. Consequently, the company could not diversify its products in relation to the demands of the fast changing and sophisticated markets at a worldwide level. The company needed to embark on a major example change without compromising its excellent research tradition but to seek turn around strategies in order to maximise its profits. Recommendations and conclusions are clearly defined and they reveal what the author thinks about being an innovative leader who is able to support employees’ in their new ideas by implementing the company culture which is supportive to all of them to produce successful projects. QUESTION 1: What are the main elements of the innovative process at 3M? Is it possible and desirable for other companies to emulate them? â€Å"Richard Lynch defines Innovation as the generation and exploitation of new ideas. Furthermore it also provides organisations with the ammunition to move ahead of the competition. He states that innovation can deliver three priceless asserts to strategic management: 1. Substantial future growth 2. Competitive advantage 3. Ability to leapfrog major competition, even dominant competitors The innovative process at 3M has usually been a focus area for the top management. The company adopted a get out of the away approach towards the product developers in return worked accordingly towards innovation, together with technicians each team had a process engineer to ensure that the product was efficiently made. ï  ¶ The whole team did not face any risk if the product has failed. ï  ¶ The product developers should pay visits in the factories and workplaces to talk to the workers to get ideas for products. ï  ¶ The developers were not given the share of product royalties as the company believed that innovation was driven by sheer love of it. But the developers were encouraged by various means like rewards for innovation and grants for innovative projects. ï  ¶ There was also a dual ladder approach that provided the senior technical persons with great career opportunities to advance without switching over to management. Some of the elements of an innovative process at 3M is a free frame, people are able, capable and freed from any restrictions. Nevertheless someone should judge, review the Innovation Process. Stage stones should be set up otherwise it is no real process. Furthermore the consistency and the success factor should beat a specific period extremely revised and reconsidered regarding implement capability. In today’s competitive industry, cost plays a big role. Innovation is perhaps one of the most words that are over used in the business world today, and some of the organisations blow the innovation trumpet preach but don’t necessarily practice. But there are organisations like 3M that do practice innovation which gives hope to the organisation as they are using innovation in their daily lives through ground breaking products & services which made the company to be in the top ten of Fortune magazine’s most admired US Company. 3M Company sticks to its innovation, If we take a step back from the Innovation process, for the process to be successful it needs an environment to encourage Innovation, below are the points of what the environment characteristics needs to be: ï  ¶ Organizations eager to take measured risks. ï  ¶Ã‚  Business leaders being able to understand technology and the application of it. ï  ¶ An organization that is exposed to change. ï  ¶Ã‚  An organization that is brave enough to see beyond the financial benefits is not made visible that quickly. ï  ¶ Processes and structures to encourage brave thinking business leaders that are able to see what tomorrow will look like The Innovation Process: (Tidd et al., 2005). States that â€Å"the ability to manage the innovation process is an essential competence of any organization, but members must first understand the workings of the process to be successful† Figure 1.1 Adapted from: O’Sullivan (Innovation Process) – 5/29/2008 â€Å"O, Sullivan further explains that† Idea generation The first stage in this perspective of the innovation process relates to the creative activity of generating an opportunistic idea. This stage involves the continuous scanning of the internal and external environment for threats and opportunities that might be developed into an innovation by the organization. This stage involves mining the sources of innovation for new ideas and evaluating solutions to identified problems. An organizational culture that encourages creativity and empowerment can significantly support this phase of the process; this is exactly the similar culture that functional at 3M Company. The input typically stems from a technical insight into a product or process. This is evident in the case of 3M, when Fry had an idea of taking a peelable  adhesive that had been developed some year’s earlier at the 3M research laboratories and spreading it to marketers, it is further mentioned in the case study that it worked well. Opportunity Recognition The second stage of the process is opportunity recognition, in which the opportunity of developing the idea into a new product, process, or service is assessed and evaluated relative to other opportunities. This phase of the process involves deciding which innovative ideas will be pursued by the organization and which are deemed outside its interest. The undertaking of innovative actions is both expensive and resource intensive for any organization, and even large organizations such as 3M. Development If an opportunity is recognized as appropriate for the organization, then the idea moves to a new stage where it can be developed further. This phase involves the development of the idea or solution into a potential innovation that is ready for launch to its internal or external market. The development of an innovation can be highly resource intensive for any organization. It also applies to Fry when his ideas worked well and requested permission to develop the product commercially and he was given an opportunity to develop a manufacturing process. Realization This phase of the innovation process relates to the launch to the market, which is where the customer makes the final evaluation of the innovation. Understanding customer needs is essential to ensure that the eventual offering to the market meets these needs. Competitive Advantage: A superiority gained by an organisation when it can provide the same value as its competitors but at a lower price, or can charge higher prices by providing greater value through differentiation which results from matching  core competencies to the opportunities. They had strong innovation and research foundation at 3M Company that has ability of adaptability, although they experienced loss before but they managed to turn around the situation. It appears that they do not have a competitor in the world with the same level as they are. Instead, there appears to be several competitors in each sector or industry in which 3M offers its products and services. Frequently, as companies grow, they tend to become more bureaucratic and less able to adapt to changes in the market or industry. To conclude I would say that 3M Company’s existing controls are very good and support their strategy. However, they should also incorporate the other missing controls to ensure greater innovation power and profitability. Looking at today’s Industries and competitions amongst them, in my opinion ,I would suggest other company’s follow the steps of 3M, the have made some mistakes but were able to turn around the situation due to their elements of innovation process. QUESTION 2: What do you think of Six Sigma? Can other companies do the same? Firstly Six Sigma is defined as a â€Å"program that is used to improve processes within the organization be it in manufacturing or production processes. Six Sigma is usually prepared at defining goals and problems, measuring existing data and processes, analysing problems and goals, improving processes or tasks and controlling how the problems will be resolved in the future. According to the research I have identified three traits from Six Sigma† I.  The advantages ï  ¶ The benefits of Six Sigma contain the improvement and development of operating processes to ensure quicker response time, quality products and services and better monitoring of performance and work outputs, which I think it is the best approach to growth for 3M since they have dropped their sales. ï  ¶ This type of an approach or model surely and possibly saved 3M Company to come up with the said results and benefits because it provides a formula in which an existing processes is checked for consistency, efficiency and effectiveness, if it fails to measure to the existing industry standards it is revised and redesigned to match the best practices . I would advise other companies to do the same because it is the model that guides the company. II.  The costs ï  ¶ The Six Sigma model also ensures that costs will be dropped because there will be limited time spent in the process and more time to work on the actual tasks which is already handy at 3M. ï  ¶ It appears time its cost is huge and that an organization has to appoint or hire a person that would guide and train top management and middle management in the principles of Six Sigma which is wise for all the companies like 3M than running their businesses at a lot, dropping sale, losing profit. ï  ¶ Furthermore Six Sigma will also empower the employees to gain knowledge as it is the model that will require trainings, yes it will be costly but with productive results at the end. III.  The risks ï  ¶ Six Sigma might also have its own risks, some organisations might not be patient but looking at its approach, it had a positive impact on the 3M Company; it also developed leadership skills and focused on customer satisfaction. Furthermore, even though the approach does wonders in the company, not all  companies of the 3M embraces Six Sigma some of these reasons are very costly training of human force, only applies to the manufacturing industry, and it is just a trend. Other companies might think that, main issue that have to challenge with is if the Six Sigma really benefits the company or  it cost the company to sacrifice the innovative and creative culture for the sake of continuous improvement of products to satisfy the customers and accelerate the financial performance. Nevertheless it proven worth it by 3M because of the rescue it has done to the company while it was falling behind. Organisational Culture: In terms of its organization culture, 3M’s Company culture is promoted to be freedom and full of excitement and anticipation. Employees enjoy being heroes. 3M Company is being innovative in its cultures and company growth, so the focus needs to be on how innovation in 3M, including working cultures and people management etc. can be replicated and benefits different areas in our daily applications Goldman, Maritz, Nienaber, Pretorius, Priilaid and Willliams (2010:94) referring to Roger Harrison’s model of organisational culture mentions that â€Å"it has various attributes with four types of culture that could be easily observed at 3M Company although one called power culture seemed to be more dominant than others. Goldman et al., (2010:95) continue their notion by saying that a person whose personality is suitable for the culture of the organisation will be more likely to succeed than the person who does not naturally fit within the organisation’s culture. The table below reveals all these cultures and their attributes. Culture Attributes Achievement culture Competence, growth, success and distinction Power culture Strength, direction, decisiveness, determination Role culture Structure, order, stability, control Support culture Relationships, mutuality, service, integration Figure 2.1: Adapted from: Goldman et al., (2010:95). Organisational cultures and their attributes. This case study has stressed some of the key activities and principles that contribute to 3M Company’s performance. Most of these are not new and are certainly used by other companies. In 3M Company’s case they may be summarized as an effective company culture that nurtures innovation and a range of management techniques and strategies that together have delivered long-term success. Most of companies pay lip service to the organisation values and practice set out in this case study. There is evidence that 3M Company supports these words with actions. 3M Company hire good people and trust them; this will bring about innovation and excellent performance. 3M Company ensured that introducing Six Sigma is a good move than at other companies. Moreover, the success of the approach is due to the continual reinforcement of its objectives. Indeed, also the performance of individuals is partly judged on whether they are able to achieve the objective. Marketing pull and Marketing push technology According to Lynch (2009:283) market pull is one of the principal sources of innovation which is customer needs analysis. Baker in Lynch (2009:293) emphasize by suggesting that innovation takes place when companies identify new market opportunities and this is how 3M Company attempted to employ market pull by introducing Six Sigma and this exposes that they had ability for creating innovation. The 3M Company business area was completely different from what Six Sigma specialised on so they were necessary forced to encourage creativity, develop leadership skills, customer satisfaction, and exploration and focus where new ideas can come from a wide variety of sources. According to Lynch (2009:283) Technology Push is technology development analysis whereby other industries are being surveyed for their technology developments and assessment of their relevance to its own. 3M Company joined forces with external companies as mentioned above in trying to introduce new approach to growth and link the internally controlled culture of technology push even though they assumed that it was market pull. Their main challenge at 3M Company is that they need to know what technologies to push so that they do not dissolve their establishments. The diagram below illustrates how the two sources of innovation should be exploited by organisation without distinction. Figure 2.2 Adapted from Lynch (2009:283) Two major drives of innovation. QUESTION 3: To what extent, if at all, does innovation matter in setting the purpose of an organisation? Yes innovation does matter in this case because; many organizations invest in innovation in order to change. Organizations put aside a percentage of turnovers to change products, processes, and services. In particular, the  objectives should be achieved because of this investment. Yet, a very large amount of innovation activities does not meet these objectives. The motives behind failure provides clue regarding how to avoid such failure in the future. In this case study the process by which the companies should apply innovation has been examined. It has been examined by making sure that employee understands the process by which innovation takes place in the work place and then improving. In this case study 3M organizations has tried to lower their innovation failure rates and move faster with the process of growth as mentioned previously above about Six Sigma, the approach to growth. Looking at the process of innovation from idea generation, through evaluation, and on to realization, you will also find customers who become evaluators of the success of an  innovation in the company and by concluding there is also key ways to improve the ability of the company or organisation by monitoring the following innovation processes: ï  ¶ Goals, Actions, Teams, Results. Goals of Innovation The principal goals required by an organization in return for this investment vary between organizations. The following have been found across a large number of manufacturing and service organizations and ranked in order of popularity, with the first goal being common to most organizations (European Commission, 1996): ï  ¶ Improved quality ï  ¶ Creation of new markets ï  ¶ Extension of the product range ï  ¶ Reduced labour costs ï  ¶ Improved production processes ï  ¶ Reduced material ï  ¶ Reduced environmental damage ï  ¶ Replacement of products or services ï  ¶ Reduced energy consumption ï  ¶ Conformance to regulations Following are the critical factors that managing technical innovation in 3M Company: a) Organization culture b) Communication and c) Management The causes of failure can vary widely depending on the individual innovation. Some causes will be external to the organization and outside its influence of control. Others will be internal and ultimately within the control of the organization. Some of the more common causes of failure in organizations can be distilled into the following five types (O’Sullivan, 2002): ï  ¶ Poor goal definition It means that organizations find it difficult to define their goals. Poor goal definition requires that organizations decide on appropriate goals for their environment and define these goals in terms that are understandable to everyone involved in the innovation process. ï  ¶ Poor alignment of actions to goals Means that organizations find it difficult to continuously link the ideas and projects they are pursuing with their goals. This is perhaps even more acute if goals are difficult to define in the first place. It also influences effective management of the portfolios of projects that the organization is undertaking to ensure they are balanced appropriately. ï  ¶ Poor participation in teams It refers to the behaviour of individuals and teams, latent knowledge of the organization, and the particular skills of individuals to contribute to the achievement of innovation. It also refers to the payment and reward systems that link individuals to goals. ï  ¶ The poor monitoring of results It refers to sharing of the status of goals, actions, and teams involved in the innovation process within the innovation team and its main stakeholders. ï  ¶ Poor communication and sense of community It relate to ineffective channels of communication and collaboration that constrain knowledge sharing and the ability of employees to participate as a broader community in the innovation process and make informed decisions when needed. Steyn, Schmikl and van Dyk (2010:66) state that knowledge delivers sustainable competitive advantage as illustrated below Leading to> Resulting to> Increased revenue Knowledge creation Technology development Experimental and emergent purpose Innovation Enhanced value added Stronger sustainable competitiveadvantage Figure 3.1: Adapted from Lynch 2009:261- An emergent approach to purpose According to Palmer and Kaplan (2007:2) Strategic Innovation is the creation of growth strategies, new product categories, services or business models that change the game and generate significant new value for consumers, customers and the corporation. According to Lynch (2009:282) innovation is the generation and exploitation of new ideas. This has helped the 3M Company to gain strength in applying lessons learnt from previous experiences like the one of losing the sales and profit. This has made them to be able to deliver what refers to as the priceless assets to strategic management such as the following: ï  ¶ Substantial future growth: The process of improving some measure of the organisation’s success which can be achieved either by boosting the top line or revenue of the business with greater product sales or service income. 3M Company able to restructure by introducing the approach to growth. ï  ¶ Ability to leapfrog major competition, even dominant competitors: Ability to conquer competition focusing on extensive promotions to highlight the distinctive benefits or features of products. 3M Company had employees who are strong in making sales and come up with high successful product â€Å"Post-it notes†. In terms of the competition, it started internally. â€Å"Every company seeks the keys to innovation, but few find them. Over the decades, 3M learned how to be innovative and today the company uses that skill to great competitive advantage.† — Jerry I. Porras, Co-author, Built to Last â€Å"Innovation is more than just a bright idea; it is an idea that gets implemented and has a real impact. In other words, somebody has to make it happen.† — Ernest Gundling, Author, The 3M Way to Innovation: Balancing People and Profit 2.  CONCLUSION It is advisable that, organisation should have its own database in order to fix or limit the problems in the company rather than running at a loss. 3M Company created their database and spent about $20 million, it in an integrated database, which stores information on customers, products, sales, inventory, and finance from all divisions and geographies. If all the organisations of the same nature can follow what 3M Company did, access can be gained to the database through a user-friendly website. Strong search which bring together related products and services from across the entire 3M Company can be easily accessed. Personnel and partners can also access latest information on product prices, availability, specifications and reviews of customer accounts. â€Å"The profitability of customers and products and the performance of partners can also be analysed across the entire company allowing better allocation of company resources. This allows 3M Company to take advantage of market opp ortunities and cross-selling opportunities and at the same time meet and customize the needs of customer segments. â€Å"(Some of the information is adapted from Harvard Business Review) 3.  BIBLIOGRAPHY ï  ¶ Ernest Gundling, Author, The 3M Way to Innovation: Balancing People and Profit ï  ¶ (European Commission, 1996): Goal Innovation ï  ¶ Goldman, G., Maritz, R., Nienaber, H., Pretorius, M., Priilaid,D. & Williams, D.2010.Strategic Management: Supplement for Southern Africa. (1st Edition) South Africa: Pearson Education. ï  ¶ Havard Business Review. Vol 75 (6): 102-103 ï  ¶ Jerry I. Porras, Co-author, Built to Last ï  ¶ Lynch, R. 2009. Strategic Management. (5th Edition). England; Pearson Education Limited. ï  ¶ McQuarrie, E.F. 1993. Customer visits. Building a better market focus. California: SAGE Publication. ï  ¶ O’Sullivan (Innovation Process) – 5/29/2008

How to Write the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Essays 2018-2019

The University of Minnesota — Twin Cities is a large public university, offering a huge variety of resources across two campuses in two cities: Minneapolis and St. Paul, sister cities that are approximately three miles apart. In the 2017-2018 school year, UM – Twin Cities enrolled just over 51,000 students, about 31,000 of whom were undergraduates. UM — Twin cities offers top-caliber research, with faculty including 29 Nobel Prize winners. It is currently ranked #79 on the US News and World Report’s National Universities list and is ranked #30 on the US News Top Public Schools list . UM — Twin Cities typically accepts about 45% of applicants; accepted students’ average GPA is 3.78 and their SAT scores average a 1360 composite. UM — Twin Cities requires supplemental essays only for specific majors. Prospective dance majors and mortuary science majors are required to answer an array of questions specific to their field. Responses to all applicable questions must fit onto two double-spaced pages. Dance majors are required to answer three questions: What has brought you to dance? Why do you plan to pursue a degree in dance? How do you imagine the relationship between writing about dance and dancing? Additionally, there is an optional question about diversity, which asks you to explain how you might contribute to, or benefit from, UM – Twin Cities’ diverse community of scholars. Prospective Mortuary Science majors must answer four questions. The first asks about a time when you handled a difficult situation professionally. The second asks for an example of your compassion or empathy making a difference in another person’s life. The third asks for an example of your tact and level-headedness under pressure. The fourth asks you to describe a time when you made an important decision and the impact of that decision on yourself and others. There are also additional essays for applicants to the Freshman Nursing Guarantee Program . These consist of three 250-word essays. One question asks you to explain why you have chosen to pursue a nursing career. The next asks about how your studies and activities have prepared you to be a nurse. The last question asks you to reflect on why the Freshman Nursing Guarantee Program fits your degree and career plans. This question is an intentionally broad starter question: the admissions committee is giving you the chance to open your two-page response with a â€Å"thesis† of sorts about your deepest motivations or most personal connections to dance. While you can–and should–include specific stories or the timeline of your dance discovery in your response, you should begin by taking a step back and consider your high-level strategy. Also, keep in mind that â€Å"brought you to† can be interpreted in two ways: in a strict sense, as the literal thing or person that introduced you to dance; or, more broadly, as the thing that really made you passionate about or committed to dance. Your essay ideation process should include three basic elements: Below, these steps are outlined in the order they are listed above. However, these steps can be somewhat modulated. Some writers will already know that they want to tell a story–for example, one about how their older sister introduced them to dance. Other writers might have a clear idea of how they’d like to open but need to think more about what their underlying thesis might be. What really matters is completing all three points before you begin writing. This is the theoretical core of your essay: the essential information about you that you want to make sure your readers understand. This thesis, however, is not something that you will necessarily write as a â€Å"topic sentence† at the end of your paragraph. Instead, your thesis is something to guide your thought process as you plan your essay so that you have a clear idea in your mind of what you are trying to get your reader to understand. Of course, some writers will include more explicit thesis statements than others–and that can work well.   However, for planning purposes, you should think of your thesis as something that you want the reader to understand from the story you tell . As you might have already guessed, if you’ve had some experience with college essays, this means showing not telling (more on this later!). Now, how do you actually come up with a thesis? Try responding to a slightly different question from the one that the prompt asks. Ask yourself: what do you love about dancing? Or, what is meaningful to you about dance? The answer to these questions is, ultimately, what your essay should convey. This thesis could be something very simple: dancing makes me happier than anything else. Or, it could be a little more complex: dancing makes my mind and body feel connected. It could also be more external: dance is a language that allows me to communicate my experiences with others, and understand their pain and joy. Before you figure out what structure your essay will take, you need to consider what anecdote, story, or example you can use to show the reader your thesis. At this point, you should feel free to dive into your early memories of dance, or even more recent ones that you feel really crystallized your love for the art. Do you have just one moment you want to share or a few different memories? Is there a particular person who introduced you to the world of dance? With each anecdote you consider, ask yourself, â€Å"Can this convey my thesis? If so, how?† Thesis: Dance has allowed you to find a sort of inner peace. Anecdote(s): For a thesis like this, you likely will need to convey some sort of change over time. You could open with a story about your early childhood; perhaps you were tempestuous in elementary school, struggling to acclimate socially or academically. Pick a specific â€Å"moment† from those days to illustrate these tendencies–this could be a classroom argument, a test you did poorly on, or a moment when you felt left out. Then, you could describe your first dance class, contrasting the peace you felt with your instructor and peers Thesis: You were able to work through personal hardship with the help of dance. Anecdote(s): To show the reader this thesis, you’ll need to think of a specific time that dance really helped you through hardship. For example, you could discuss how you processed a parent’s sickness or a difficult relationship by pouring your emotions into dance. Perhaps before this, dance was merely a hobby for you. Use a detailed depiction of this painful experience–and how you danced through that pain–to show the reader how dance became more than just a hobby for you, that is, to show how this experience â€Å"brought you† to dance as a true passion. The particular anecdotes you choose, along with your thesis, will ultimately determine the length of your essay. If you want to simply articulate how happy dancing makes you, then telling a short story about the first time you felt that pleasure might be the perfect choice. If you want to explain how you’ve learned to communicate through dance, your narrative might need to involve a few anecdotes that show this progression. The key is to center your essay around a â€Å"moment† or â€Å"moments† that depict the core of what dance means to you, and what has made you choose it as your major. This prompt asks a more concrete version of the question asked in the first prompt. This actually will make your response to this second prompt easier, since you will have already touched on the deepest reasons why you love to dance. Now, you have a chance to build on that initial response with a practical description of your interests in a dance degree. There are three main approaches that you can take to this prompt: Of course, there can be endless variation and intermingling in these broad buckets. However, these categories can be a good starting point for brainstorming as you consider what approach to take to this essay. If one of these categories speaks directly to you, it can help you define the approach that you’ll take to this essay, which will help you focus and expedite your drafting process. Take a step back and ask yourself: What goals will I fulfill by earning a dance degree? Some of these goals are likely too general or too random to fit cohesively into a focused essay for a specialized program (for example the general satisfaction and usefulness of having a college degree or the excitement of getting to tell people you studied dance). Other goals, though, will link to one of the broader approaches mentioned above. Perhaps you want to help people express themselves; perhaps you want to teach dance; perhaps you want to direct arts programs in your community; perhaps you want to become an academic who studies dance, too; perhaps you want to study something you are truly passionate about. Though you’ll likely think of a number of goals, you should choose just a few that fit well together. For example, teaching dance and promoting arts could easily be synthesized in one essay–however, it might be too much to try to thread together aspirations to pursue a formal academic career, a career as a dance teacher, and a career as an arts program director. Once you’ve come up with a goal, you need to explain how this particular program can help you achieve that goal. This will require doing some research into the program’s offerings and requirements. Find specific resources, and explain how those resources, part of a dance degree, will enable you to reach your goal. If you want to become a dance teacher, you should mention specific pedagogical resources available through UM — Twin City’s dance program. You could discuss how the practical aspects of the program (actual dancing) will refine your own technique and personal experience of dance instruction; then, you could transition to discuss how the theoretical aspects of the program would give you a rich understanding of dance’s history, thereby enabling you to give your students an appreciation of their art’s significance and potential. If your goal is to help others express themselves, you might acknowledge that you won’t necessarily stay in the â€Å"dance world† forever. Therefore, you might identify particular aspects of the program (courses, internships, talks) that focus on how dance can facilitate broader personal expression. In an essay focused on a broader goal like this, your overall approach should be to focus on the skills and knowledge that this program provides, describing how these skills can be transferred to domains beyond dance. The purpose of this question is pretty straightforward: you are applying to an academic program, to receive a degree in dance. This means that you will not only be dancing, but also doing scholarly work on dance–that is, theorizing about dance, reading about dance, discussing dance, and writing about dance (and, of course, dancing). For many applicants, this will be new terrain. Most high schoolers do not take academic courses where they get to discuss and write about dance (or any arts) in-depth, from a theoretical and analytical perspective. The admissions committee knows that you’ll likely be jumping into something new: combining two parts of your life that might have been separate up to this point–your academic endeavors with your passion for dance. They want to hear your best argument for why you’re prepared to merge these two spheres. Of course, this question isn’t phrased as â€Å"Convince us you can write about dance, and that you want to do it, too†Ã¢â‚¬â€œthe use of the word â€Å"imagine† in the prompt invites you to be a bit creative, too (even though you absolutely should convince the reader of those things). So with this baseline approach, how do you proceed? A good first step would be to familiarize yourself a little bit with the sort of writing and reading on dance that you’ll be required to do in this program. This means reading through course syllabi, skimming scholarly articles or more general pieces on dance, and thinking about which strategies and approaches to writing about dance you find to be meaningful and effective. If you’ve already written extensively about dance, or are familiar with formal and informal writing on dance, you might be able to skip or truncate this step. Then, as you consider both any experience you have writing about dance and others’ writing on the topic, ask yourself: What do I like? Why do I like it? How does writing help me understand dance? What relationship do I see between writing and dance? Note that my suggestions so far assume that your focus will be on writing about dance . However, keep in mind that the relationship can also go the other way: you can talk about how writing (potentially not directly about dance) inspires your dance or shapes your understanding of dance. However, keep in mind that your response should touch on the more analytical aspects of writing about dance, since (as mentioned above) this will be a component of your experience as a dance major. Once you’ve developed an answer to this question, it’s time to come up with a thesis. At this point, you should come up with a clear â€Å"thesis† in answer to the prompt. Here are a few example theses: Once you’ve developed a thesis, try to think of concrete examples of either how you’ve already experienced this relationship or of how you imagine this relationship will play out in your future. If your thesis is focused on explaining your love of dance through writing, you could tell about a time that you wrote a piece in your school paper describing a performance, in hopes of encouraging your peers to come, but also just to share your art form with them. If your thesis is focused on sharing the power of dance with the general public, you could describe, using specific examples, your ongoing frustration with the low attendance at local dance performances. Then, you could describe–again, using specific examples linked to the problem you identified–how you believe more writing on dance could encourage both academics and the general public to take dance more seriously. Avoid an overly-theoretical, impersonal response. With a somewhat abstract prompt like this, it’s far too easy to write a response that’s replete with broad statements and about writing and dance–but includes no concrete examples.   Take care to not make wide overgeneralizations about dance and writing (â€Å"Writing has long allowed non-dancers to understand the mysterious world of dance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) and avoid obvious, broad comparisons between the two (â€Å"Writing and dance could not seem more different–but, in fact, they are both art forms†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Your response should certainly have a strong theoretical component, and can even reference other writers, dancers, or thinkers. However, this broader thesis should be conveyed as your personal view (remember, the prompt asks â€Å"how do you imagine†), and substantiated by personal experiences and examples. As is almost always the case when it comes to â€Å"optional† college essays, this essay is not really optional. You should view every essay as a precious opportunity to share a little more about yourself. There are only two reasons not to write this essay. First, remember that you’re limited to two double-spaced pages for all your responses. If you need every line for your major-specific essays, skipping this one would be acceptable. Second, it’s better not to respond to this prompt than to write something tone-deaf or downright offensive in response (more on that later). This prompt is a classic example of the â€Å"diversity question† that a number of universities now include in their applications. The intention is to get a sense of how you think about diversity–and, more importantly, how you will engage with your peers in an unfamiliar environment populated by people who are different from you in myriad ways. Your goal should be to: thoughtfully convey (1) your appreciation for and understanding of diversity, along with (2) your practical knowledge of how to navigate and grow in/contribute to a diverse environment. You should begin by considering whether you want to focus on what you’ll contribute to, or what you stand to gain from, a diverse community of scholars. If you come from a group typically underrepresented in higher education, your angle on this essay might be somewhat easy to find. For example, most college campuses have very low numbers of Native Americans enrolled. If you are of Native American heritage, writing about your own experiences and traditions and how you could share those with your peers could be very powerful. After all, it’s almost guaranteed that the very grounds students will walk on each day were once trodden by Native Americans–as such, there are a number of points you could make about the value of adding this underrepresented historical perspective to the campus community. (Note that, for this particular example, your heritage should be verifiable, preferably through tribal membership, not just speculative. Many families have stories about Native American ancestors, which, though powerful for that particular family, do not meet institutional standards for claiming a Native American identity, and, in a drastic case, might make it look like you’ve misrepresented yourself.)    If you don’t have an obvious â€Å"diversity hook,† there’s no need to worry. Take a step back and consider how you fit into your community, who you enjoy interacting with–or even any â€Å"blind spots† you have. A carefully-constructed essay focusing on a non-traditional type of diversity (are you the only literary geek in your STEM-focused school?) could work here, though you need to be careful not to write an essay that implies that you misunderstand or undervalue â€Å"diversity† in the more traditional sense of the word. Excellent responses on this topic also can address the self-awareness that you haven’t experienced much diversity yet. Do you attend an almost all-white, single-gender private school, where most students are from similar economic backgrounds? You could use a detailed description of this environment as a jumping off point to describe your eagerness to experience a more diverse setting and your awareness of how much you have to learn. Keep in mind that, in a case like this, you shouldn’t strive to put down your current environment, but rather to express an eagerness for new experiences. No matter what your level of diversity or experience with diversity, there is an â€Å"angle† for you here. The key is to ensure that you make it clear that you understand the value of diversity and have something to contribute to or learn from it. This means that the only â€Å"wrong† answers are answers that woefully misconstrue diversity (i.e. focusing myopically on your own feeling of being â€Å"different† without drawing broader connections to the myriad ways that people in college will be diverse) or discount its value. Like most essays, your response to this prompt should have a strong thesis–that is, a central theme that guides your writing, and a main, high-level claim that you want to convey to the reader, even if you don’t explicitly state it. Note that this is not a typical five-paragraph high school essay, so this thesis does not need to be stated at the end of your introductory paragraph. After you’ve thought about how you engage with diversity, take a step back and state, just for your own â€Å"framing† purposes, what you think your thesis should be. In this process, you should decide whether you want to focus on â€Å"contributing to† or â€Å"benefitting from† diversity–or both. Here are a few strong examples of experiences you could draw on and theses you could develop from those theses: Sentences like these should not necessarily be included in your essay. These thesis sentences are not statements to be inserted in your essay . Rather, they are the guiding principle that could build a strong essay. Once you’ve developed this thesis, you can begin outlining and drafting your essay This response will likely be fairly short, but you should still start off with an outline. As usual, the best way to convey your thesis is to â€Å"show not tell,† so begin thinking of an example or anecdote that can show your experience with or perspective on diversity. For the first example thesis given above, this could mean describing a policy discussion that the writer has had with his/her friends, in which he realized that, though they offered intelligent thoughts, they all shared the same experience/perspective. For the second example thesis given above, this could mean describing a moment during football practice when the writer was reminded of his different ethnic identity by a well-meaning, but perhaps inconsiderate, teammate. Examples like these usually works best near the start of the essay, though they certainly can be integrated throughout. Next, consider how you’ll frame your example: perhaps you want to use it to introduce the reader to your relationship to diversity; perhaps you want to use it to elaborate on a point later in the essay; perhaps you want to use it to close out your essay with a powerful image. Once you’ve decided how to use your example(s), you can begin to flesh out the rest of the outline. What other crucial information do you need to convey? Specific information about what you want to learn in college? A particular perspective that you hope to share with others? Carefully consider how this information will interact with your example, and then structure your outline around this relationship. Once your outline is done, you’ll be ready to start writing! Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. Mortuary Science is a specialized program for those who want to dedicate their lives to helping others through the loss of a loved one. Committing to a life path like this in high school is not something to take lightly, and requires a certain serious, professional character that, frankly, most students will not sufficiently develop in high school. As a professional in this industry, you’ll need to deal with incredibly difficult situations on a daily basis–situations that aren’t about you, but rather about the family has suffered a loss. This will require professionalism, empathy, but also stoicism: your job will not to be to weep with the family, but rather to remain steady throughout emotional turbulence. This reality informs all of these Mortuary Science prompts: their purpose is to test out your maturity, professionalism and thought process, to see if you have the instincts and learned character traits necessary for such a delicate, emotionally demanding career. This does not mean that you need to pick examples of times that you comforted friends or relatives who had recently experienced a personal loss. However, you should focus on specific examples of times that you remained cool (yet caring), decisive and compassionate, in situations of stress and emotional difficulty. The above points apply to all four Mortuary Science prompts. In the case of this particular prompt, note that the focus is on professionalism. This means that you should begin by thinking about your understanding of professionalism, particularly in the context of dealing with customers/clients who are in the midst of a difficult experience. Note that, for this question, an example from your family or personal life might not be a good fit, since it is not typically very appropriate to treat close family and friends with â€Å"professionalism.† Note also that this prompt asks about â€Å"a time,† which means that they are clearly looking for a concrete, detailed description of a single example. While it might be tempting to offer a smattering of stories to show how professional you are, resist this urge: in general, it’s better to focus on quality, not quantity in college essays–and when the prompt explicitly asks about a time , you should absolutely adhere to this guideline. With this basic understanding in mind, it’s time to dive in and choose a particular example. Aside from the basic guidelines I’ve listed above–sticking to just one example, not choosing personal or family scenarios–there’s a lot of leeway in terms of what example could fit. In fact, it’s not so much that the example itself matters. What really matters is what you do with it–which we’ll get to next. With that said, try to start by considering your professional experiences. Do you have a job? Or have you held an internship or research position? If so, these are natural scenarios where you’ve likely had to stay professional in the face of some sort of challenge. Here are some examples of scenarios you could choose, and what aspects you should focus on to best tailor your response to the prompt: Luckily, with a prompt like this one, most of your work will be done once you’ve picked and developed your central example. All that’s left to do is to write the essay, which should take up about  ¼ of a double-spaced page (a fairly short essay). This means that you’ll need to really dive in and show not tell . Focus on giving basic background information to orient the reader as part of your description . Don’t waste words on summary sentences (â€Å"Last summer I worked at a local print shop, in a managerial role†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Instead, dive right into the example and incorporate details that make this context clear (â€Å"As I walked up to the print shop where I worked, I heard a noise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Your focus should be on (1) concisely depicting the difficulty of the situation, (2) concisely depicting how you managed your own feelings and deliberately chose which actions to take and (3) depicting the outcome (as applicable). The overall purpose described above, for the first Mortuary Science prompt, applies here. Keep this in mind as you move forward with this essay. This essay is, similarly, asking you to pick a particular example–in this case, an experience that shows your compassion and empathy. As the prompt indicates, the key here is to convey your ability to sense and respond to others’ emotions–not just in an abstract way, but with purpose and action that â€Å"made a concrete difference.† Like the first prompt, this prompt will require a concise, focused response that centers around your depiction of a particular anecdote. As such, your main task will be choosing one specific example. For this question, it’s fine to consider more personal examples–in fact, the strongest responses are likely to be about times you comforted and helped those close to you, though a discussion of a time when you showed compassion and/or empathy to a stranger could also be very effective. The key is to come up with an example that both shows your feeling and ability to respond to others and shows the efficacy of that response. Many people try to reach out to and help others, but this prompt is asking for something more: evidence that you can actually make a difference to those in pain. Here are a few examples of potentially strong responses: Much like the first Mortuary Science prompt, this will be a relatively simple process once you’ve chosen your central example. As much as possible, strive to â€Å"show not tell.† Be sure that you hit on the following points: (1) Offer sufficient background to make sure the reader understands the severity of the situation, and why you felt a need to intervene; (2) offer a specific depiction of your thought process–that is, how you put yourself in someone else’s shoes in order to consider how to best help them (this is how you show your compassion/empathy); and (3) offer concrete examples of the concrete impact that this had on the other person . The high-level logic behind this essay is much the same as that of the first two essays. Your main goal here is to relate one particular scenario in which you stayed calm under pressure. This prompt is, actually, quite similar to the first prompt, since a large component of â€Å"professionalism† is staying calm and collected no matter what you face. As such, you should strive to pick a different kind of example for this prompt. Rather than focusing specifically on a professional situation, try to think of examples from new areas of your life, that you haven’t covered in your first two responses, which can illustrate more than just your professional sensibilities. Here, you have the chance to take the reader a little deeper and show your overall temperament and general conduct in wider areas of your life.    With this in mind, consider what areas of your life you haven’t yet covered with the examples you’ve given so far. You can broadly think of the different areas of your life as work, academics, extracurriculars, personal life, and miscellaneous. If you touched on work in your first example and your personal life in the second, then it might be a good idea to think about your academics, extracurriculars, or miscellaneous experiences. This last category could include travel experiences, artistic or performance endeavors, or unexpected crises. Note that it’s also OK to pick an example from a category you’ve already covered, too. The key, however, is to make sure that your example doesn’t feel redundant. Two examples of work crises or two examples of times you’ve comforted a loved one will â€Å"show† the same dimension of your character, and so won’t be an optimal use of the limited space you have. Here are a few examples of a good potential instance, and how you could develop each one: As in the first and second essays, once you’ve chosen your example and thought out how it fits each aspect of the prompt, you’ll already have done most of the hard work. The key here is to write your essay in a way that zooms in on the â€Å"moment,† showing the reader: (1) your tact, (2) your level-headedness, and (3) the positive results that came directly from those two attributes. Many of the principles that applied to the first three essays apply here: you need to zero in on one particular moment to answer the prompt, and you should be focused on how your example reflects on your ability to pursue a mortuary science-related career. However, this prompt isn’t trying to assess traits like professionalism, compassion/empathy, calm under pressure, or tact: it’s trying to assess your decision-making ability, particularly under pressure. It’s useful to consider why this matters for prospective Mortuary Science majors before we move on. Firstly, there is the â€Å"meta point†: you’re making a big decision at a young age by choosing such a specialized major. The admissions committee wants to see an example of your ability to make weighty decisions; essentially, they’re trying to assess whether or not you have the awareness of what constitutes a weighty decision and the experience in making weighty decisions that they deem necessary to make one here–that is, in the weighty decision of choosing your major/career. Secondly, the admissions committee is trying to assess your ability to make decisions that impact others. As a mortician or funeral director, you will regularly be confronted with choices that impact others–particularly those in a vulnerable state due to the recent loss of a loved one. The best way to convince your reader that you’re both prepared to make this academic/career decision for yourself and to make potential decisions for future customers is to choose a strong example. There are two major pitfalls here to avoid. The first is picking an example that is too trite or immature. If you choose to describe a time that you picked out a birthday gift for a friend or a color to paint your room, you likely will give the impression that you really don’t have the serious decision-making experience necessary to enter the program. The second pitfall is that you pick an example that either only impacts someone else or only impacts you. The key here is to pick a â€Å"two for one† example, as the prompt asks: one that had tangible impacts (that you will discuss in your response) on both you and someone else. Try to think of decisions that you’ve made that you feel have shaped your â€Å"life path† or seriously altered someone else’s experience or worldview. Needless to say, these examples should, generally, be of â€Å"good† decisions, though some â€Å"mixed† examples–that is, a time when you made a choice that had a combination of positive and more negative results–could also work in some scenarios. Here are some strong potential topics, along with explanations of how they would need to be tailored to fit the prompt: As before, once you’ve chosen and worked through an example to fit it to the prompt, your work will be almost done. As you write, be sure to â€Å"show not tell,† and to hit these three points: (1) Provide the context that shows the importance of the decision; (3) show how it affected someone else. This question, like most questions for specialized or guaranteed-admission programs, is intended to assess your commitment to a difficult, long-term path–as a high school senior. As such, your primary focus here should be to convey, with concise focus and concrete examples, your commitment to and passion for this path. Furthermore, in such a short space, it’s crucial that you remain focused. There might be a million reasons that you want to be a nurse–and that’s great! Just don’t list them all here. Your reader won’t assume that this response is an exhaustive list of all the reasons you want to be a nurse–instead, they’ll assume that you’ve chosen one or two of the most compelling experiences you’ve had to illustrate the core motivation behind this aspiration. This brings me to the final important thing to note: With why -driven essays, your focus should be on digging beyond basic explanation. Try to show not only the experiences that have inspired you but also what your deepest motivations and aspirations are. What drives you? What makes you tick? What do you aspire to do with your life? Use specific examples to offer insight into these important, deeply personal questions, even as you explain why you want to be a nurse. Though strong responses will have an abstract/aspirational dimension, your response should still be grounded in concrete examples. This means that your writing process should still begin with some brainstorming as you search for concrete examples. Think back: is there an obvious experience that made you go â€Å"Aha! I want to be a nurse?† Strong experiences to focus on can include: The experiences you choose to depict should be vivid and meaningful enough that you can offer a brief, but detailed, description that shows the reader how they impacted you. As such, a brief glimpse of a nurse on a break from work or an impression you got from watching a TV show might be too superficial to develop as an experience that â€Å"shaped your decision.† One note of caution: Note that the next prompt asks about how your â€Å"studies and activities† have prepared you for a career in nursing. This means that you’ll get a chance later to focus on specific academic or extracurricular things that have given you the skills and knowledge to dive into nursing studies. Here, your focus should be on motivations and interests, not preparation. Once you’ve chosen your example, take a moment to consider what this experience touched in you. Was it your desire to help others? Your anger at the suffering in the world? Your fascination with biology and the mechanisms of the human body? These sorts of more abstract motivations are what, ultimately, will provide a deep, satisfying answer to this question’s â€Å"why.† However, you need to â€Å"pull† these sorts of deeper points out of your examples. A strong response will seamlessly interweave introspection/deeper reflection and concrete examples. In order to plan your essay, you should consider the relationship between your motivations/interests and the example(s) you’re giving. It’s sort of a â€Å"chicken and egg† question, but your job is to decide which came first. This is a fairly straightforward question. However, as with the previous question, the key here is to not go overboard. Your focus should not be to exhaustively list everything that has prepared you in any way for a career in nursing. Instead, pick 2-4 specific academic and/or extracurricular activities to discuss. Crucially, this should not just be a list: for each example, go into detail. Explain what specific skills or information each experience you cite has given you; explain how this has prepared you to become a nurse. This essay should cite specific studies and activities, so your first order of business should be to pick which studies or activities you want to discuss. However, your examples shouldn’t be chosen just because they â€Å"seem† like the good nursing prep. Instead, try working backward. First, think about what skills and knowledge you have that would make you a good nurse. Then, think about how you acquired these competencies. Whatever comes out of this last reflection will be a potential â€Å"study or activity† to include in your response. Given the framing of the prompt, however, you should try to focus on clearly defined things, like courses or extracurriculars, rather than on personal experiences. Importantly, avoid choosing redundant examples. Each course or activity that you describe should touch on a different aspect of your preparation. Once you’ve chosen your examples, the key is just to weave them together. The key, however, is to make sure that for every example you give, you do three things: (1) Explain the study experience activity in some detail; (2) describe what skills or knowledge you gained; and (3) explain how this has prepared you to become a nurse. If several of your examples do show similar knowledge/skills, you can group them together. If your examples all feel quite disparate, that’s fine. Each paragraph can focus on a different skill/area of knowledge–just be sure that all three components (example, detailed description, and explanation of how this will allow you to be a good nurse) are present. Then, try to add transitions and tie all your examples together in a strong, specific, personal conclusion. First, a note about what this prompt is not asking: This prompt is not asking you to explain why you want to be a nurse (you’ve already done that, hopefully, in your first response!) or why you like the University of Minnesota in a broad sense. This is a very specific question about why this particular program fits your degree and career plans . Given this, your response should contain three elements: (1) A statement of your career and degree plans; (2) a reflection on key elements of the University of Minnesota’s Freshman Nursing Guarantee Program; and (3) an explanation of how these elements facilitate the achievement of your plans). These elements can be combined in different ways, but all strong essays will contain all three in some form . Unlike most essays here, this one doesn’t require the incorporation of specific examples, though you might end up giving specific examples of what you aspire to do with your life. Instead, you should begin stating your goals. What undergraduate degree do you want to get? What do you aspire to do with your nursing degree? Note that you need to go beyond â€Å"I want to be a nurse† as your career plan–this is already self-evident. Instead, you should explain the particular kind of nursing you want to practice, or, more abstractly, the kind of impact you want to have on your patients. Furthermore, you might also mention aspirations beyond simply working as a nurse: perhaps you would like to eventually advocate for better nursing practices on a policy level, or work in a more managerial or administrative role in a hospital. Feel free to be as specific as you like here. The more clearly you set your â€Å"targets,† the more focused, personal and powerful your essay will be. Though you are hopefully already familiar with the program, take some time to brush up on its essential features. Identify particular requirements that really fit your goals. Go beyond what is readily accessible on their website’s front page. Try making a list of all the unique features of the program that excite you and that you know you couldn’t find on a regular undergrad-nursing school path. Then, dig a bit deeper. Find specific mentors, courses, labs, etc., that really excite you. Once you have this list, go back to the goals that you’ve defined. Which of these resources fit your goals? Can you draw a line from one particular offering of UMTC’s Freshman Nursing Guarantee Program to achieving that aspiration? This brings us to the final step: explaining exactly how the features of the Freshman Nursing Guarantee Program fit your goals. Remember, the key here is to show how this program will better fit your aspirations than a normal path (undergrad, then nursing school). You should not spend too many words explicitly making negative statements about a â€Å"normal† path–however, you should avoid elaborating on things that a â€Å"regular† path could also provide to you. Want help on your University of Minnesota -Twin Cities application or essays? Learn about our College Apps Program . Want us to quickly edit your college essay? Submit it to our Rapid Review program , and we’ll get it back to you quickly with comments from our expert team.

Strateguc Management of Apple Inc Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strateguc Management of Apple Inc - Assignment Example The main internal factors that have impacted the functioning of Apple Inc, and the strategic management processes and decisions of the company are discussed as follows. Resources and capabilities of the company: The availability of resources and capabilities including financial resources, physical resources, human resources and other key competencies of the company are major internal deciding factors for the strategic management of Apple Inc. The company is rich in terms of both tangible and intangible resources which act as value adding factors for the technology giant. The cur competencies of Apple Inc. like product designing capabilities, high investments made in fostering radical innovations, breakthrough inventions, highly robust research and development systems act as the key strengths as well as the Critical Success Factors (CSF) of the company. Thus, the business focuses on leveraging on such competencies and resources to create a strategically advanced position for the corpo ration in the global technology industry. The company has also remained highly efficient in product design and development which forms the backbone for the operability of a technological company. Te high investments made in the research and development arenas of the organization also add to the success of the company. The company culture and the shared values within the organization are other important external factors that can negatively or positively impact the growth, success, sustainability and future direction of Apple Inc.

Tourism - Operation Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tourism - Operation Management - Essay Example Handling the transport of the visitors is a major concern for tourist sector because it would influence the activities of major hotels that would be hosting visitors (Alcantara, 2012:1). A delay created by the transport department would reverberate to influence programs of tourism industry. The intention of this paper is to investigate London 2012’s, current transportation network, and how it may affect the transfer of clients during the duration of their stay. The paper will recommend how tour operator business can ensure good performance while delivery high quality. London has embarked on infrastructure development, which includes building of rail line, expansion of roads as well refurbishing of personal houses be individuals. The private sector expects to rent their apartments to Olympics tourists. Stores have made adequate arrangement for goods in the wake of the Olympics. Goal of London Olympics Olympics has diverse goals which aim at creating development opportunities, p romoting women interest, protecting athletics, creating of avenues, which bring sustainable development and creating sporting opportunity during summer. The current situation London transport system depends on the services of trains, roads, underground trains, and air transport. Since UK got the opportunity to host Olympics think tanks have been assessing the current trends of transport network with a view of meeting needs of visitors that London would host. Current reports shows that London trains, buses and underground trains struggle to make 12 million journeys in a day. The figure is likely to rise following the demands that the transport sector would meet during Olympics. Organizers of the Olympics believe that London will have to meet the needs of 3 million extra journeys. London expects to host 10,500 athletes, 20,000 journalists, and 9,000 officials (Travis, 2011:16). The major concern is the ability of the transport system to facilitate timely arrival of the athletes. The c hallenges have necessitated creation of a program, which intends to upgrade the transport sector to cope with the anticipated number. Tour sector has numerous services, which include transportation, booking, reservation, ticketing among others. The sector host taxi operators as well as tour cars that offer services from one destination to the other. The road situation in London has an ability of supporting a given number of vehicles thereby influencing the approach that London Olympic committee would take (Great Britain. 2006:132). The idea is to meet the needs of the Olympic tourists as well as meeting the needs of tourists. Balancing the two issues is quite intricate given the situation of infrastructure (roads, railway line, and airports). Environment for Tour Industry Strength London boost of its capacity to receive tourists across the globe. It is one of most visited city in the world. It is a major destination for visitors because of business that it commands and leisure activ ities that many visitors acquire when they come to London. Hotel industry in London is one of flourishing sectors because of the population that they serve around the year. London has regional air services, which offer transport at reasonable costs. Olympic tourists can use the opportunity to visit in lands or other regions of the country. Opportunities London has a legacy of housing plan that can accommodate the visitors. It also command sustainable

A circumstance in ministry where issues of professional conduct Essay

A circumstance in ministry where issues of professional conduct required exploration - a reflection - Essay Example Anent to these responsibilities, the church is also constituted with peoples of varying educational level, cultural roots, philosophy of life, political paradigms, social influences, strata in the community, familial orientations, standards of relations and their ‘otherness’ including the walls they built or their varying perceptions to almost everything. Ministers or pastors will deal with them everyday with their differences although they may share commonalities. At such context, church ministers and leaders would possibly be handling varied and conflicting responses whenever there are radical structural changes that will disturb the normative processes and operation of the church such as conversing or adding missionary functions to pastoral works (Adair, 2005). Conflicting expectations and assumptions may also get in the way as tension mounts in work-situation or if there are changes in its theological frameworks of service. This situation is further exacerbated with rapid cultural and social changes which can trigger defensive or bewildering reactions due to sudden shift on unfamiliar systems. Sometimes, Ministers will have difficulty convincing people whose reactions are too radical and confrontational, apparently due to fixity of Christian’s symbolical systems or often due to peoples’ fear to change itself (Bayes, Sledge, Holbrook & Rylands, 2006). Often, reactions can trigger conflict situations and if not managed well, co uld escalate to a level that will negatively impact to the church itself. In such context, there is indeed a need to improve the capacity of ministers and pastors to lead effectively by espousing dialogues and discourses to effectively communicate developmental goals for pastoral and ministerial works; promote peacebuilding within and outside the church’s framework; uphold conflict management and

Designing an Evaluation Method Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Designing an Evaluation Method - Assignment Example To determine what practices are used by long term facility to prevent ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). To develop an educational module for nurses on ventilator bundle for prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) To review and update the existing ventilator bundle protocol for the prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia in long term care. To determine a long term approach that is sustainable for the prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) prevention in long term care The overall goal of my Practicum Project The overall goal of my practicum report is geared towards the prevention of pneumonia that is associated with ventilator (VAP) using the ventilator bundle in long term care. My practicum report seeks to determine the practices that are used by the facility in preventing ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). At the end of the practicum, I will be able to achieve all my mentioned objectives and goals. With my overall goal as the basis of my practi cum project, I will put my focus in identifying and determining mechanism that can be used by long term facilities to prevent ventilator associated pneumonia. ... The resulting outcome being solely as a result of the practicum report The effect created by the practicum The evidence that the practicum actually works Evidences of improved prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia Determination of success and the benchmarks of the elements of evidence The success of the practicum outcome will be determined using the set benchmarks of the practicum. The success of the practicum therefore will be ascertained when the practicum’s set objectives are met. The practicum project has an overall goal of that is geared towards the prevention of pneumonia that is associated with ventilator (VAP) using the ventilator bundle in long term care. When this is achieved, I will be confident to pronounce success of the practicum. In addition, other benchmarks of the elements of evidence may include: achievement of the set objectives within the specified length of time; the achievement of the intended impact of the practicum; improved general health and q uality of life among the patients with ventilator associated pneumonia; improved lifestyle and disease management; and retained attitude, behavior and knowledge of the patients with the condition (ventilator associated pneumonia). Application of evaluation methods and the needed resources During the practicum evaluation, I will use various methods of evaluation to ensure success is achieved. The methods of evaluation that I will apply include process evaluation, impact evaluation and outcome evaluation. This will ensure that the practicum is evaluated in terms of the quality of practice, needed resources, policies, and personnel; short term outcomes of the practicum; and long term outcomes respectively. The

Tom's Shoes Link to Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tom's Shoes Link to Society - Essay Example He was hurt by this condition and felt the need to do good and help those children he saw in the streets. He promised himself that he was to do anything possible to help these children hence Blake and his team decided to take a financial risk and started shoes manufacturing company. He decided that, for every pair of shoes purchased, a pair is donated to the needy child in the society (Schermerhorn 148). Furthermore, children not only in Argentina, but also across the world that many live under poverty life and cannot even afford even the basic needs. These children walk barefoot hence get infected by soil diseases, which go through their bare foot. Most children are likely to get sores, cuts and other injuries that later become serious wounds increasing the infections of diseases to their bodies. In order to avoid these shoes play an essential role in preventing children and even adults in poor rural areas from getting infected from these diseases. On the other hand, children from poor families do not go to school due to lack of shoes, which is part of school dress code. Meaning these children will not go to school to get the education that will help them better their future. Therefore, TOMS has promoted education since many children who never went to school because they lacked shoes now can go to school and there is a reduction in the high spread of soil diseases that infect the p oor in society. The company dispersed ten thousand pairs of shoes to needy children in Argentina in the year 2006. It has also distributed shoes to needy children in over 40 countries across the world among them Rwanda, USA, Argentina, South Africa, Rwanda, Haiti among many other developing countries. As a result, the organization has attracted many donors and has received grants and funds from them. This made the company expand its business and

Evaluate the role of the WHO in global health governance Essay

Evaluate the role of the WHO in global health governance - Essay Example This has resultantly called for the reassessment of the rules and institutions governing healthy policy and practice at various levels, including subnational level, national level, regional level and global level. This has been so due to a number of factors, which despite the fact that they are outsider the health sector brackets, they are progressively affecting health. Some of these factors include such as collective violence, trade and investment flows, conflict, criminal activity, communication technologies and environmental change (WHO 2010, p.1). This thus necessitates for the broadening of the agenda of public health to include the aforementioned global forces and at the same time see to it that human health is promoted and protected. It is however broadly believed that the international health governance system is not sufficiently meeting these needs and besides, this current system is characterised by a number of gaps and shortcomings. As a result of these perceived shortcom ings, the concept of global health governance has become a key interest area of debate in the field of international health. ... New health challenges, the likes of rising non-communicable chronic diseases and global warming have been looming on the horizon. This has greatly affected the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO) of availing leadership on worldwide health matter and moulding the health research agenda in a negative way. Having been founded in the aftermath of the World War II, WHO has been dedicated to making improvements in global health through its involvement in various public health initiatives, offering technical support and at times material aid geared towards helping in the fight against infectious and chronic diseases (WHO 1983, p.6). Role of the WHO Being the organisation of nation states aimed at promoting global health, WHO is an actor that focuses on the apprehension of social right in the health arena. Apart from being a core objective of the organisation, health for all is also an established principal wish of national and international health activities by all the world’ s nations. Undeniably, it is common knowledge that WHO’s primary function is to direct and coordinate matters concerning international health. Nevertheless, this intergovernmental organisation is obliged to see through the fulfilment of a considerably stout normative responsibility in the creation of health-related standards that strongly enhance cooperation (Burci & Vignes 2004, p.124). Among the key roles of the WHO was the creation of health-related legal instruments including such as agreements, regulations, conventions and recommendations which would permit it exercise rational and legal authority. Since it had been obliged with ensuring the improvement of the global health grants, this

Argument Essay Does Religion cause wars Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Argument Does Religion cause wars - Essay Example Religion makes significant contributions to the causes of some wars in the modern era. Witness the disputes around Jerusalem, Israels illegal occupation of Palestine and its status as a religious state, a rogue state and an aggressor state. Also, Huntingtons clash of civilizations theory places religion at the core of his warring civilizations. Jerusalem was the objective of the First Crusade, almost one millennium later it remains a focal point of religious warfare. For Jews, Jerusalem is where the Messiah will appear and the site of the original Temple of Solomon. It is also a significant site to Muslims: â€Å"Jerusalem has had a very important spiritual meaning for Muslims, not only being the first Qibla but also the mystical experience of the prophets ascendance to heaven.† (â€Å"Jerusalem in Islam†) For Christians it is where the Messiah was crucified, buried and rose again from the dead. The importance to Christianity is so great that there have been disputes within Christianity (intra-religious fighting) as to who has the privilege and responsibility of maintaining the Christian holy sites in the city. In 2008 the BBC reported, â€Å"Fighting erupted between Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Christs crucifixion.† (â€Å"Monks brawl at religious shrine†, 2008) Violence in and around Jerusalem, and attempts by various religions to claim Jerusalem as theirs, can be attributed to religion. In a broader sense the state of Israel and the warfare that has characterized its sixty years of existence are also attributable to religious roots. Israelis often insist that their differences with their neighboring states is not religious. They insist the friction is between a democratic state (Israel) and non-democratic states (Syria, Jordan and Egypt). However, it is clearly a religious issue that transcends Jerusalem. In December 2010 CNN reported â€Å"In August, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual

Using Teams in Production and Operations Management Essay Example for Free

Using Teams in Production and Operations Management Essay 1. Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Forensic accounting is science of examining the organizations, people and money and their relationship. In other terms, applying specialized knowledge and investigative skills to collect, analyze, and evaluate a financial situation, then communicate those findings in a courtroom, boardroom, or other venue. Forensic accountants are experienced auditors, accountants and investigators of legal and financial documents that are hired to look into possible suspicions of fraudulent activity within a company; or are hired by a company who may just want to prevent fraudulent activities from occurring. They also provide services in areas such as accounting, antitrust, damages, analysis, valuation, and general consulting. Forensic accountants have also been used in divorces, bankruptcy, insurance claims, personal injury claims, fraudulent claims, construction, royalty audits, and tracking terrorism by investigating financial records. Many forensic accountants work closely with law enforcement personnel and lawyers during investigations and often appear as expert witnesses during trials. (Forensic Accountant, 2009). We can say that the forensic accountant is an independent witness and does not advocate for his or her client. Massive accounting scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and many others, as well as the collapse of one of the â€Å"Big Five† accounting firms have increased the  public’s awareness of fraud and fraudulent financial reporting. This increased awareness of fraud, along with recent financial catastrophes including the collapse of investment banks and major turmoil on Wall Street has made the need for forensic accountants even greater in recent months (Solnik, 2008). In the globalizing economy, every organization needs tranquilizing effects of a consultant to refrain execiveness in business life. It is obligatory to benefit from forensic accountant and audit service from opening to closing period of a company. In that case, the characteristics and traits of experts that provide forensic accounting and audit service have importance. Forensic accountants have to evaluate, analyze, translate, summarize and communicate technical financial information in a clear manner that is supported by facts. They should have an understanding of legal practices. Also, they should possess the skills to recognize substantial evidence beyond just surface evidence when working with a situation According to survey conducted by DavisFarrellSuzanne 60% or more of the forensic accountant ranked being analytical, detailed-oriented and ethical as essential traits and characteristics. All respondent groups agreed that being analytical was the most essential characteristic for the forensic accountant to possess. This finding suggests that, from a marketplace perspective, whether you are a traditional accountant or a forensic accountant, there are at least three traits and characteristics that are shared by and essential to both professions (2009). Today ´s cases are so implicated that they require to be approached analytically and systematically. Complementing the analytical characteristic is the â€Å"inquisitive† characteristic and the â€Å"persistent† characteristic. These highly ranked traits suggest the need for the forensic accountant to seek out all relevant information for an engagement, as well as be able to process it and solve the problem at hand (DavisFarrellSuzanne, 2009). Forensic accounting requires an inquisitive mind, tenacity and attention to detail, excellent  communication skills both written and oral, and an ability to deal with a large amount of documentary evidence whilst working to a tight deadline, knowledge of relevant law and experience of court procedures. 2. Describe the role of a forensic accountant within a courtroom environment. The term â€Å"forensic accounting† refers to financial fraud investigation which includes the analysis of accounting records to prove or disprove financial fraud and serving as an expert witness in court to prove or disprove the same. Thus, basically, the forensic accounting is the use of accounting for legal purposes. A forensic accountant is involved in the investigating and analyzing financial evidence, development computerized application to assist in the analysis and presentation of financial evidence communicating their finding in the firm of reports exhibits and collection of document and assisting in legal proceedings, including testifying in court as all expert witness and preparing visual aids to support trial evidence. The job of a forensic accountant including in a courtroom environment often includes: †¢ Assessing losses and potential damage awards †¢ Applying tax law knowledge †¢ Applying knowledge of financial accounting practices †¢ Research †¢ Report writing †¢ Providing courtroom testimony †¢ Conducting and assisting in external investigations †¢ Working closely with law enforcement officers and agencies †¢ Working independently †¢ Auditing internal and external financial documents †¢ Conducting and assisting with internal investigations (Owojori, A.A, T. O. Asaolu, pg.184, 2009). In conclusion, it can be said that mostly providing courtroom testimony and expert witness are the main roles of a forensic accountant within a courtroom environment. 3. Analyze the legal responsibility a forensic accountant has while providing service to a business. As an independent expert, there is no duty of loyalty to either you or your client. The forensic accountant may advocate only for his opinion or position and nothing else. (Forensic Accounting Overview, 2011). He uses his accounting, auditing and investigative skills to assist in legal matters. And his duties involve investigating and analyzing financial evidence, producing reports and testifying in court as an expert witness. Legal responsibilities a forensic accountant while providing service to a business are; †¢ Whistle blowing: Whistle blowing is reporting of frauds or suspected frauds. As an accountant employed to fit into the position of forensic personnel, it is the duty of forensic accountants to always look for signs of fraud and blow whistle to help uncover the fraud. †¢ Fraud detection, deterrence and prevention: Forensic accountants apply internal control techniques, auditing and information systems. The institution of reasonably sound internal control is the surest way to detect, deter and prevent frauds and financial crimes. Therefore, forensic accountants should endeavor to set up internal control system and monitor it to ensure proper implementation. †¢ Support for investigation: This duty can be cooperating with a lawyer or consulting a company. 4. Research two (2) cases where forensics accountants have provided vital evidence in a case. Summarize the cases and the importance of the forensic accountants’ role during each case. Case 1: Fraud has been a threat in business since business began. Enron scandal was one of the big threats that business world encountered. It can be said that the Enron scandal helped the birth of the modern forensic accounting. In the Enron case the abilities of forensic accountants were tested, and is still used today as a learning example to forensic accounting students across the nation. As a result of Enron, hundreds of other companies underwent similar audits. Not only did it help to expose other companies with similar fraudulent accounting practices, it created a series of systems for yearly audits to ensure the safety of stockholders. As such it also widened the field for accountants who specialize in forensic accounting. Forensic accounting also protects the public interests and financial security by guarding against dramatic stock drops, such as what was seen in the Enron scandal. It also increases public confidence in the stock market, and encourages people to invest in the markets with a greater sense of security. Though forensic accounting acts as a prevention of tax fraud within businesses such as Enron, its not necessarily the solution. The solution is vigilant record keeping and ethics training within businesses. There will always be employees of companies with less than perfect ethical and moral values. However, if those around them are trained in ethical behavior, and the company has plans in place to protect themselves against fraud, forensic accounting will not be necessary. Enron case had a wake-up call effect to track the fraud and contributed to developing forensic accounting acts. Case-2: In 1997, Sunbeam, a company that manufactures small tools. Sunbeam sold huge amounts of its products to other companies at a discount, but kept the items in warehouses. On paper, the company appeared to have had high sales; however, Sunbeams warehouses were full of unsold product. This practice was uncovered by a financial analyst at investment firm Paine Webber, who downgraded the value of Sunbeams stock (How Forensic Accounting Works, 2012) Bill and hold that Sunbeam used isnt illegal, but Sunbeams shareholders felt deceived and filed lawsuits. Sunbeams accounting firm, Arthur Andersen performed an audit and reported that Sunbeams books were accurate and in accordance with federal guidelines. However, the board was unsatisfied and hired Deloitte Touche to review Arthur Andersens audit. This follow-up uncovered proof that the numbers had been manipulated. The Securities and Exchange Commission investigated Sunbeam, and its CEO, Alfred Dunlap, was fired and forced to pay millions of dollars to settle investment lawsuits. He paid $500,000 in fines and was banned from serving as an officer in a public company.