Coffee Speech Essay

General Purpose: Informal Specific Purpose: is on the topic of caffeine†¦ its beneficial effects AND its negative effects. Statement: also to inform coffee users about coffee. Introduction IOpen with impact: before you go to Starbucks store buy take and take a sip of your favorite coffee†¦ AWouldn’t you want to know a better about what you benefit and don’t out of your coffee? B I drink a lot of coffee, so I was wondering how that might affect my health CThis inspired me to do some research on the subject II Thesis: This knowledge better informs the user on what they are investing their money in. Connect: What you whant to know about caffeine is, A. Why do most humans use it. BWhat products have it CWhat are the advantages and disadvantages Preview: How many of you here consider yourself caffeine addicts? How much coffee do you drink in a day? One cup? Two cups? More? How about caffeinated sodas? Body I. Main point: Caffeine is pervasive in our society these days and every few months we hear about how a study has shown that it is bad for us or good for us. What are we to believe? A. Benefits B. Disadvantages C. Safe levels of caffeine consumption D. Effects on the body II. Main point: Today, I’d like to give you some of the facts about caffeine and its effects on your body. I may not cause you to change your coffee consumption, but at least you’ll be better informed about what you are putting into your body. III. (Transitional sentence: I’m going to talk about the beneficial effects of caffeine, the negative effects and discuss what are considered to be ‘safe’ levels of caffeine consumption Main point: Let’s start with the good news. Caffeine, which comes from the leaves, seeds and fruits of about 63 different plants, is well known as a stimulant. That’s why people drink it, right? A. Caffeine does help you wake up and feel more alert and it has been shown to increase attention spans. 1. This is a beneficial effect for people who are driving long distances and for people who are doing tedious work. 2. Calling this a health benefit may be stretching it, though staying awake while you are driving a car definitely contributes to your well-being! 3. Caffeine also contains antioxidants, which have been shown to have cancer prevention qualities 4. When consumed in small quantities – for example, when you have one cup of coffee or one soda – caffeine can increase your heart rate, cause you to urinate more (which can cause dehydration) and prompt your digestive system to produce more acid. B. When larger amounts of caffeine (over 600 mg per day) are ingested over long periods of time, they can cause sleep problems, depression and digestion issues, and headaches when not used. 1. Transition: According to a Medline article on the National Institutes of Health website, having caffeine in your diet is not of any benefit to your health, but by the same token moderate consumption is not considered harmful. 2. They say that having up to 3 eight ounce cups of coffee a day – or 250 mg of caffeine – is considered (quote) â€Å"average or moderate†. 10 cups of coffee a day is considered excessive. Also, remember that the amount of caffeine per cup can vary greatly depending on the type of beans that are used and the strength of the brew. Conclusion Summarize: As you can see, caffeine can have both positive and negative effects on our health and well-being. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that if you drink your coffee or sodas in moderation, you don’t have to worry too much. Close with impact: So, the next time you are wondering whether or not you should have that second cup of coffee to perk you up, relax. At least now you know what it will – and won’t – do for you! References before you go to Starbucks or any other coffee selling store or brands, buy and take and take a sip of your favorite coffee, Wouldn’t you want to know better about what you benefit and don’t out of your coffee? I drink a lot of coffee, so I was wondering how that might affect my health, this inspired me to do some research on the subject This knowledge better informs the user on what they are investing their money in, Why do most humans use it, what products have it, what are the advantages and disadvantages. How many of you here consider yourself caffeine addicts? How much coffee do you drink in a day? One cup? Two cups? More? How about caffeinated sodas? : Caffeine is pervasive in our society these days and every few months we hear about how a study has shown that it is bad for us or good for us. What are we to believe? But Today, I’d like to give you some of the facts about caffeine and its effects on your body. I may not cause you to change your coffee consumption, but at least you’ll be better informed about what you are putting into your body, I’m going to talk about the beneficial effects of caffeine, the negative effects and discuss what are considered to be ‘safe’ levels of caffeine consumption. Let’s start with the good news. Caffeine, which comes from the leaves, seeds and fruits of about 63 different plants, Caffeine does help you wake up and feel more alert and it has been shown to increase attention spans. It’s well known as a stimulant. That’s why people drink it, right? This is a beneficial effect for people who are driving long distances and for people who are doing tedious work, calling this a health benefit may be stretching it, though staying awake while you are driving a car definitely contributes to your well-being! Caffeine also contains antioxidants, which have been shown to have cancer prevention qualities, When consumed in small quantities – for example, when you have one cup of coffee or one soda – caffeine can increase your heart rate, cause you to urinate more which can cause dehydration but it can prompt your digestive system to produce more acid. When larger amounts of caffeine over 600 mg per day are ingested over long periods of time, they can cause sleep problems, depression and digestion issues, and headaches when it’s not used. According to a Medline article on the National Institutes of Health website, having caffeine in your diet is not of any benefit to your health, but by the same token moderate consumption is not considered harmful. They say that having up to 3 eight ounce cups of coffee a day or 250 mg of caffeine is considered â€Å"average or moderate† now 10 cups of coffee a day is considered excessive. Also, remember that the amount of caffeine per cup can vary greatly depending on the type of beans that are used and the strength of the brew. As you can see, caffeine can have both positive and negative effects on our health and well-being. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that if you drink your coffee or sodas in moderation, you don’t have to worry too much. So, the next time you are wondering whether or not you should have that second cup of coffee to perk you up, relax. At least now you know what it will – and won’t – do for you!

Extended Kalman Filter Model for Gps and Indoor Positioning System

Extended Kalman Filter Model for GPS and Indoor Positioning System Long Kam-Kim Department of Telecommunications Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering HCM City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Tuan Do-Hong Department of Telecommunications Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering HCM City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Abstract – Object positioning is an old subject. It’s being used more and more in many areas, especially in military, traffic, social security and civil services.The most popular positioning system in the world is Global Positioning System (GPS). However, GPS has limited degree of accuracy for low priority users. This paper proposes a solution for solving these limitations by using Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). Moreover, GPS is almost invalid in indoor environments. The paper also introduces an indoor positioning system model based on GPS ideology and EKF algorithm. Beca use of the similarity in ideology, it’s easier for handoff procedure between outdoor and indoor environments and brings back the spatial continuous in positioning.The simulation results show that with the EKF, the accuracy of positioning is improved significantly in both outdoor and indoor environments. Keywords- GPS, Kalman filter, RFID, RSSI, EKF, indoor positioning. I. INTRODUCTION II. EKF MODEL FOR GPS Generally, Kalman algorithm is a group of mathematical equations described an efficient recurrence method for state estimation of process that it is optimal in the sense that it minimizes the estimated error covariance, when some presumed conditions are met [2]. EKF is an extension of Kalman filter for non-linear systems.A. Global Positioning System (GPS) In order to positioning, it requested that user’s receivers get signals from at least 4 GPS satellites. Distances between user and satellites are determined by using pseudorange code. At the same time, satellites an d receiver transmit a same pseudorange code. Because of propagation delay, signal received from satellites have phases delay than signal of receiver. By compared their phase, the distances can calculate. This method is called Time of Arrival (TOA). [1] B. Problem ExpressionPositioning based on GPS is affected by many noise sources, such as propagated errors, satellite and receiver caused errors, other errors from Selective Availability, dilution of precision, interference etc [1]. Several techniques are used to improve the accuracy of positioning in GPS, for example, DGPS (Differential GPS), Smart Antenna, Kalman Filter etc. This paper focuses on Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) solution, in order to introduce one way to model GPS system and sources of error. Nowadays, positioning applications in indoor environment are being extended.Especially, it becomes necessary in tunnels, supper huge plants, very high buildings, etc. The paper introduces a kind of Indoor Positioning System based o n GPS’s ideology and using EKF algorithm to help this system improve the accuracy of positioning. Assume that GPS system is tracking a mobile object. It is a uniform speed motion in 3D space with attendance of random acceleration events. GPS receiver puts on object updates its position continuously. However, the location is affected by measurement noises and propagation noises.Therefore, the calculating position and the real position are different. In order to improve the accuracy of position, we use EKF to model system and noises so that it diminishes the effect of noises. C. Modeling of system Defining the sate vector of system as follow: ? RX ( n ) ? ? RY ( n ) ? ? ? ? RZ ( n ) ? X (n) = ? ? ? VX ( n ) ? ?VY ( n ) ? ? ? ?VZ ( n ) ? where RX(n),RY(n),RZ(n) are coordinates of user at nth sample, VX(n), VY(n), VZ(n)) are x, y, z – components of user’s velocity at nth sample.Following [3], the characteristic equations for system can be extended as RX(n+1) = RX(n) + VX(n)T + ax(n)T 2 RY(n+1) = RY(n) + VY(n)T + ay(n)T 2 RZ(n+1) = RZ(n) + VZ(n)T + az(n)T 2 VX(n+1) = VX(n) + ax(n)T VY(n+1) = VY(n) + ay(n)T VZ(n+1) = VZ(n) + az(n)T (1) (2) (3) (4) where VX(n), VY(n), VZ(n)) are x, y, z – components of user’s velocity at nth sample, bf = ? bu/? t, dPRi is called delta-pseudorange correlated with user and ith satellite. [4] In order to reducing effect of errors, the EKF is used to model state noise vectors and measurement noise vectors.After characteristic matrixes are calculated, EKF iteration loops are started. The EKF algorithm will calculate estimation of the state vector by minimizing the estimated error covariance (between estimated values and real values). D. Simulation results for outdoor-EKF GPS Data for simulation on Matlab7. 8. 0(R2009a) †¢ †¢ †¢ User’s initial velocity: (3,6,2) meters/second Sampling rate: 1000 samples/second Iteration steps: 500 Process noise vector: W = 5* NORMRND (0, 500, 3, 1) Pr ocess noise variance: Q = 50* eye (3) Measurement noise vector: V = 5 * NORMRND (0, 500, 2, 1) Measurement noise variance: R = 50 * eye (2) (5) (6) here ax(n), ay(n), az(n) represent acceleration events at nth sample ( it is referred to state noises or process noises). According to [4], User’s positions are determined base on distances between user and four satellites. PRi= +bu, i=1,2,3,4 (7) †¢ Fig. 1 shows the simulation results for Lagrange iteration and EKF iteration compared with the true position values. In geographic coordinates, PRi is the distance between the user and the ith satellite, (SXi,SYi,SZi) are coordinates of ith satellite, (RX,RY,RZ) are coordinates of the user; bu=c. t with t is receiver clock offset compared to GPS time and c is the speed of light.PRis are determined by GPS’s receiver. Coordinates of satellites are obtained by decoding satellite report, while (RX, RY, RZ) and bu are unknowns. With system of equations (7) above, the root [RX,R Y,RZ,bu,] can be calculated by using Lagrange iteration [4]. However, measurement values PRi are affected by noises (measurement noises). Therefore the root of system of equations is not accuracy. After differentiating equations (7), we obtain dPRi = (RX ? SXi)? RX + (RY ? SYi)? RY + (RZ ? SZi)? RZ (RX ? SXi)2 + (RY ? SYi)2 + (RZ ? SZi)2 + ? bu = (RX ? SXi). VRX +(RY ? SYi). VRY +(RZ ?SZi). VRZ +bf PRi ? bu Figure 1. Simulate tracking User’s trajectory in outdoor environment (8) In Fig. 1, red curve simulates user’s motion,Green curve simulates calculated trajectory of user receiver without EKF, blue curve simulates calculated trajectory of user receiver in EKF model. Based on GPS’s ideology, this paper introduces an indoor positioning model using EKF, called Indoor-EKF GPS. Indoor-EKF GPS is hoped that it makes over easier with GPS, in such a way, we just use a handle equipment to keep the continuous positioning while moving between indooroutdoor environments.I n Fig. 3, an arranged system of equipments in space can be recognized as pseudo-satellites. Indoor spaces are complicated environments for wave propagation. Distances between user and pseudo-satellites cannot be determined using TOA technique like in outdoor GPS. Here, TOA technique is replaced by RSS (Received Signal Strength) technique. This technique measures the path loss and calculates the distance between source and receiver. Figure 2. Errors in outdoor positioning. Red points: positioning errors without EKF. Green points: positioning errors in EKF model.Comments on simulation results: †¢ The maximum error is about 5 meters in case using EKF model, whereas 25 meters in case without EKF. Trajectory of user receiver in EKF model is closer to trajectory of user’s motion than trajectory of user receiver without EKF. The average estimation error of EKF is very small than without EKF case. However, several points in curve are under suddenly changing errors. Figure 3. Ind oor positioning system. †¢ According to IEEE 802. 11 recommended channel model, the relation between free space path loss and distance d in breakpoint radius is given by [5] LFS(d) = L0 + 10? 1lg(d), 0 < d ? BP (9) †¢ According to the result, it shows that the positioning errors are reduced significantly. III. A. INDOOR POSITIONING SYSTEM where ? 1 is called distance-power-gradient up to breakpoint distance dBP, Lo represents the path loss in decibels at one meter distance. The overall path los for any distance is modeled as [5] Indoor-EKF GPS Recent years, indoor environment has been extended so that indoor positioning demands are extended, too. Furthermore, it becomes necessary in tunnels, supper huge plants, very high buildings etc, and giving convenient for absent minder when household equipments are positioning.However, GPS is almost invalid in indoor environment. The reason is that GPS signal has low power. Even GPS signal can be received, the error positioning of GP S is not appropriate with Indoor applications. ?LFS (d ) +W, d ? dBP ? L(d ) = ? ? d ? ?LFS (dBP ) +10? 2 lg ? d ? +W, d > dBP ? BP ? ? (10) where ? 2 is distance-power-gradient over break-point distance dBP. It’s required at least four distances form user to pseudosatellites are determined for calculating the user’s coordinates. Fig. 4 shows calculation process for user position. Figure 6. The second model. Figure 4. User’s coordinates calculation.B. In the next section, the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology will be used to implement this system. There are two implementation models: The first model: (Fig. 5) The RFID active chips are pseudo-satellites, and readers will be used as GPS’s receivers. Modeling of system Definition of the sate vector and the characteristic equations for system are similar with outdoor case above. However, because of difference on distances calculating method, equation (7) and equation (8) are not used here. This equation below is replaced equation (7) LPi=L0 + 10? lg (di) , i=1? 4 (11) here di is distance between user and ith pseudo-satellite, LPi is value of path loss on distance di. W appears as representative of noises and interferences. Here, we assume that it is Gaussian distribution, ? is distance-power-gradient (we have not examined its change yet. Here, we assume that it is constant). After differentiating equations (11), we obtain dLPi = Figure 5. The first model. 10? ( RX ? SRXi ). VX + ( RY ? SRYi). VY + ( RZ ? SRZi). VZ . ln10 di 2 + ? Wi , i=1,2,3,4 (12) The RFID active chips will transmit these data to readers: †¢ †¢ †¢ The chip’s coordinates (in local coordinates) and its identification.The nominal value of transmitting power. The parameters in IEEE 802. 11 that supporting to correct distance measurements in each specific environment. where (SXi,SYi,SZi) are coordinates of ith pseudo-satellite, (RX,RY,RZ)are coordinates of the user, VX, VY, VZ are x, y, z – components of user’s velocity, dLPi means the variation of path loss on distance di . We imply that the values are taken at nth sample. C. Simulation results for indoor-EKF GPS Data for simulation on Matlab7. 8. 0(R2009a) The second model: (Fig. 8) The RFID active chips will be attached to users. Users will move in space that arranged with RFID readers.These readers will be connected to data fusion center. This center will determine user’s coordinates and send the result to user’s receiver by other channel link. †¢ †¢ †¢ User’s initial velocity: (1,2,1) meters/second Sampling rate: 1000 samples/second Iteration steps: 500 Process noise vector: W = 5* NORMRND (0, 120, 3, 1) Process noise variance: Q = 50* eye (3) †¢ Measurement noise vector: V = 5 * NORMRND (0, 0. 4, 2, 1) Measurement noise variance: R = eye (8) This simulation was repeated 100 times. †¢ The maximum error is about 0. 5 meters in case using EKF model, wh ereas 4. 5 meters in case without EKF.Trajectory of user receiver in EKF model is not closed to trajectory of user’s motion correlative with appreciably positioning error. However the error reduces very quickly by exponential curve. The average estimation error of EKF is very small than without EKF case. However, several points in curve are under suddenly changing errors. IV. CONCLUSION Fig. 7 shows the simulation results for Newton iteration and EKF iteration compared with the true position values. †¢ †¢ In positioning systems, the accuracy of positioning is very important. It must be appropriated with the positioning applications.The paper recommends one way to improve the accuracy of positioning using the EKF. The results of simulations show that the EKF reduce effect of noises on the accuracy of positioning significantly in both outdoor and indoor positioning systems. The Indoor-EKF GPS system is a suggestion model for the future indoor positioning. It is easy f or implementation and expansion, since RFID is very popular and cheap today. Moreover, the Indoor-EKF GPS system has the same structure with GPS system, wherefore the handle equipment can be designed to keep the continuous positioning while moving between indoor-outdoor environments.REFERENCES [1]. Ahmed EI-Rabbany, â€Å"Introduction to GPS†, Artech House, Inc, ISBN 1-58053-183-0, 2002, pp. 13-25,2741. [2]. Grey Welch and Gary Bishop, â€Å"An introduction to the Kalman filter†, Technical Report TR 95-041, 2001. [3]. Jorge Quijano, â€Å"Estimation of the position of a moving target using Extended Kalman Filter†,term paper for the class ECE 510 Statistical Signal Processing, winter 2006. [4]. James Bao-Yen TSui, â€Å"Fundamentals of Global Positioning System Receivers: A Software Approach†, John Wiley & Sons , Inc, ISBN 0-471-20054-9, 2000, pp. 9-15, 230-231. [5].Ahmad Hatami, â€Å"Application of Channel Modeling for Indoor Location Using TOA and RSSà ¢â‚¬ , PhD Thesis, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2006, pp. 14-19. Figure 8. Errors in indoor positioning. Figure 7. Simulate tracking User’s trajectory in indoor environment. In Fig. 7, red curve simulates user’s motion, green curve simulates calculated trajectory of user receiver without EKF, blue curve simulates calculated trajectory of user receiver in EKF model. Red points: positioning errors without EKF. Green points: positioning errors in EKF model. Comments on simulation results:

Is commercial surveilliance in the UK effectively monitored and Essay

Is commercial surveilliance in the UK effectively monitored and regulated by the Security Industry Authority - Essay Example he local private security industry including a long list of approving licences to companies such as security guards, vehicle immobilisers, the key holders, private investigators and the security consultants including the licensing of manned guarding which includes cash and valuables in transit, close protection, door supervision, public space Close Circuit Television (CCTV) systems, and security guard. (Security Industry Authority, 2007) According to Sir Digby Jones, the Director-General of the CBI, the â€Å"Security Industry Authority will bring us a better regulated and professional private security services throughout the country as it welcomes the introduction of a new standards in the security industry†. (SIA and CBI, 2005: 2) Based on a recent survey on 500 British companies in 2005, almost 25% never spend money on security devices and 49% did not bother to come up with a contingency plan in case of serious crimes or other related activities that may harm the normal functioning of the business. (Culver, 2005) CCTV Operators came into effect all over England and Wales. (SIA, 2007b) With the new Security Industry Authority vision1, it is possible to reduce the incidence of crime, promote peace and disorder, as well as eliminate the fear caused by criminal acts throughout the United Kingdom. For the purpose of the study, the researcher has stated the research proposal as â€Å"to determine whether the commercial surveillance in UK, particularly the licensing of the heavily promoted of CCTV installations, is really effectively being monitored and strictly regulated by the Security Industry Authority or not† by conducting an intensive up-to-date literature review. Based on the research proposal, the researcher will define a list of specific research questions that are directly or indirectly related to the research proposal. Aside from the literature review, the researcher aims to conduct a separate research proposal by using related survey questionnaires. These

Causes of the Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes of the Cold War - Essay Example It is not surprising that Walsh (2001) notes that most of the world’s major wars were fought during this time. In this essay, focus is placed on the Cold War as a 20th century that had several causative components including ideological, security, and personality. The various means by which ideology, security needs and personality caused the Cold War are analyzed with emphasis on how these causes brought about a state of satisfaction for the parties involved in the war. Ideological Causes of the Cold War In the totality of it, Walsh (2001) describes the Cold War as an ideological war between the United States and the USSR. This is because in his opinion, the most predominant factor that would bring about the war was ideological differences and mutual mistrust. Facts have it that the two major ideological philosophies that caused the war was capitalism against communism. Historians and government reviewers from who Walsh (2001) made reference to in his book have outlined that ca pitalism and communism are the two most contrasting political ideologies. Because of the differences, there was generally suspicion and mistrust between the two major parties identified as United States and USSR. This is because whereas capitalism gives credence to private ownership, communism gives emphasis to government controlled ownership of property. The need for the West, led by the United States to stop the possible spread of communism therefore had to take a unilateral decision backed by the application of brutal military forces to stop the situation. Security Needs and the Cold War In Stalin’s speech of 1941, Walsh (2001) identifies a sense of urgency that was surrounding security for the USSR. The preceding incident that will bring this situation about is three major wars that the USSR had suffered at the hands of other nations, predominantly from the West. Giving statistical antecedents to these warfare attacks, Walsh names the World War I, World War II and the Rus sian War as wars that exposed USSR to invasion, leading to the death of millions of Russians. In the estimation of Stalin, the best form to ensure security for state USSR was to ensure that there was less aggression on its Western border and that there were enough friendly allies with whom Russia would surround itself with. This led to the creation of the Iron Curtain, which was on the other hand considered to be a security threat in the eyes of the West, particularly United States. As a way of pulling down the Iron Curtain, more and more blood will be shed, and thus the Cold War. How Personality issues accounted for the Cold War Walsh (2001) notes that the Cult of Personality that was in place in North Korea, greatly accounting for the Korean War is attributable to the Cold War. This is generally because through the system of Personality Cult that was practiced predominately by North Korean leader Kim II Sung, national confrontation broke out between North and South Korea. As this confrontation degenerated into what would later become known as the Korean War, the United States took a firm stand to support South Korea in the Korean War. With the United Nations Security Council coming to back the defense that was thrown in South Korea, the United States would have a firmer ground to fuel the Korean War. Walsh (2001) however notes that the United States also had its personality

How Has Diasporic Media Culture Transformed Hegemonic British Cultures Research Paper

How Has Diasporic Media Culture Transformed Hegemonic British Cultures - Research Paper Example "Paul Gilroy's prolific writings on race, diaspora, and national identity can be traced to an intense critical engagement with "the canon" of British cultural studies." (Durham and Kellner 2006. p. 340). He wanted to have the development of the cultural studies on an ethnohistorical perspective and felt the importance of cultural perspectives in presenting "for the images of their racialised others as objects of knowledge, power, and cultural criticism" (Gilroy 1993. p. 5) Thus, Gilroy makes it clear that "Analysis of the political dimensions to the expressive culture of black communities in Britain must reckon with their position within international networks. It should begin where fragmented diaspora histories of racial subjectivity combine in unforeseen ways with the edifice of British society and create a complex relationship with has evolved through various stages linked in different ways to the pattern of capitalist development itself" (Gilroy 1991. p.157). The contribution of the media in the development of diasporic cultures in the UK cannot, at any stage, be neglected. The boundless dialogue between communities and cultures has been crucial in the development of community relation of the British with the ethnic diasporic communities and the meanings of uniqueness and ethnic individuality. "Diasporic media cultures develop as meditation becomes increasingly central to social and cultural life. Everyday culture has become media culture" (Silverstone 2005). The British culture is very much connected with the diasporic cultures and the contribution of the diasporic media is notable in this regard.  

Job satisfaction for MacDonald fast food restaurant Case Study

Job satisfaction for MacDonald fast food restaurant - Case Study Example Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, French fries, soft drinks, milkshakes and desserts are some of the items sold by McDonald's. Recently McDonald's has diversified its operations into many other areas. For example, â€Å"With the introduction of specialty coffee, McDonald's became more than just a fast food restaurant. Now you could come during the evenings and sit in the McCafe, sipping cappuccino while discussing the subtleties of 20th century French philosophy† (McDonald's: A History Of Innovation). â€Å"According to the National Restaurant Association, American sales of fast food totaled $163.5 billion in 2005. Total sales for McDonald's grew 5.6 percent in 2005, and the company now has 30,000 franchised stores in more than 120 countries†(Wilson).(See appendix for more details). In short, McDonald's is one of the rapidly growing organizations in the world. Even though recent recession hit many of the restaurant chains drastically, McDonald's escaped without any se rious injuries. At the same time, many people believe that the job satisfaction of the employees of McDonald's is not so good because of the demanding work culture. It should be noted that job satisfaction is an important entity for the workers of modern era. Any lapse in job satisfaction may result in increased turnover rate and the image of the organization could be spoiled. This paper conducts a SWOT analysis of McDonald's with respect to job satisfaction among employees. SWOT analysis Strengths A New York Times article chronicles the efforts of one McDonald's franchisee in Missouri who has outsourced his drive through order-taking to Colorado. According to the franchise owner, outsourced order taking allows him to handle 30 additional cars per hour. At the same time, the error rate in order taking was cut significantly as the ordering process has become more efficient and accurate (McDonald's: A History Of Innovation). Innovation is the major strength of McDonald's. The company never hesitated to incorporate modern business strategies and servicing techniques in its premises. It should be noted that outsourcing and offshoring are two of the most modern business strategies adopted by modern organizations to exploit the globalized business climate. As mentioned earlier, internationalization of offshoring of business helped McDonald's to establish business in more than 120 countries at present. it should be noted that the business in America is almost saturated for McDonald's at present since it has outlets in virtually every corner of America. It is impossible for McDonald's to expand further in America. Because of the above awareness, the company started internationalization of business, which brought dividends to them. Same way, out sourcing also helped the company immensely in increasing its revenue. Many people have the illusion that outsourcing may help only the manufacturing industry and it has nothing to do with the service industry. However, McDonald 's proved such belief wrong. It has outsourced the majority of the order taking jobs. It should not be forgotten that it is extremely difficult in America and other European countries to find enough labor to work in lower level positions. Manpower shortage is immense in these regions and hence companies forced to outsource their jobs as much as possible. Outsourcing of order taking and order processing helped McDonald's to improve its operating efficiency immensely. Previously, the

Healthy People 2010 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healthy People 2010 - Essay Example The APN whose training is now in advanced theoretical concepts with added elements of practice and the use of the nursing framework is imminently qualified to assure this process takes place (Kohr, 1998). The APN is now a leader in developing nursing practice through provision of leadership and maintenance of a commitment to developing nursing practice, using her authority and power to influence clinical and policy decisions and providing clinical development. The goal that is chosen affects much of the communities need. In strengthening community prevention it is meant through education, community based programs and interventions and the reduction in violence and abusive behavior, all of which the APN is innately trained to handle through her collaborative and communicative style and abilities (Stanhope and Lancaster, 2008). She is also well able to handle these issues based on her strong clinical nursing background on which she has built the knowledge that she presently has. The values that have grounded the practice of an APN are advocacy, holism, nursing experience, integration or theory into practice and added medical functions in a nursing framework. Each of these parts of her practice that have come from grounded nursing theory are the strengths that will help guide her through the changes in practices and processes that will need to occur in the community to meet the new goal. The APN has at her disposal the deliberate, purposeful, and integrated use of expanded nursing knowledge which she has expanded from her original clinical ability. She uses knowledge , research, and that expertise in clinical practice to know what has to be done to advance the concept while at the same time she uses her collaborative skills to work with the rest of the team toward change (Ingersoll, 2000). The use of evidence based practice to help in the change of the processes that are needed to protect the public health falls within the new expertise of the APN. A strong and thorough understanding of evidence based practice coupled with the ability to understand and conduct good research is important in developing interventions to improve prevention. The development of an intervention is strongly research based and the development and evaluation of that prevention requires the understanding of statistical and data based information. During the change process necessary to institute much of the work that must be done for each of these interventions, another strong talent of the APN will be used and that is her leadership ability. This nurse will lead teams with confidence and collaboration. She will organize and move forward on initiatives that have only been discussed before. Healthcare will change very rapidly in the next few years, even more rapidly than ever before. The power and ability of the RN has been far underused in the past considering her education and expertise in clinical care but now the APN has placed herself in a position that provides her with enough power to make change (Kohr, 1998) Strengthening community prevention affects all parts of the community. When good prevention initiatives are put into place the community as a whole is served. The APN is an advocate of the community. In this position, she is able to advocate for those that need it the most, assuring that their need is part of the community policy that is

The Ancient View of Blacks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Ancient View of Blacks - Essay Example "The Greeks and Romans.in the first European accounts of the physical characteristics of certain African peoples, frequently used a color-term - Aithiops, Aethiops, Ethiopian- literally a burnt-faced person - as a designation for the blackest and most wooly-haired people known to them. But it is not generally known that Ethiopian carried no stigma of inferiority" (Bowser 1995 pg 3). If the way that dark skinned people were depicted in the artwork and writings of those times is 'no stigma of inferiority' then it would be reasonable to assume that these people were treated as equals, and dissimilar to the disdain with which some dark-skinned individuals, and their communities are treated in today's modern world. That slavery was a common practice during the Greek and Roman eras is readily accepted as fact by most experts. Evidence that slavery was common and accepted can be found in writings from many philosophers of that era including Aristotle. "Aristotle's doctrine of natural slavery was a refined version of such reputable, practical wisdom on slavery through it we are gaining access to something approaching the standard view of the supposedly rational Greek slave-holder on the nature and justification of slavery." (Cartledge 1993 pg 122). Because Aristotle was justifying the ancient Greek's use of slavery, we can assume that slavery was important enough to them that they felt they had to justify it. In modern terms, or scenarios, when mentioning slavery an immediate thought comes to mind concerning the Black race, probably because the last time there was prevalent slavery it was due to that race being enslaved. That was not necessarily true in ancient Greek and Rome, especially with the Greeks, because (some believe) that would mean that they were enslaving themselves or their relatives.Bernal says, "Plutarch admitted Greece's deep cultural debts to Egypt, he took it as axiomatic, for instance, that Greek religion came from Egypt." (Bernal 2001 pg 3). If, as Plutarch admitted, Greek religion came from Egypt, would that not mean that Egyptians also came and settled what was to become Greece It would seem likely, and if that held true, and again we refer back to Bernal and his assertion that Egyptians were from the Bla ck race, that would mean that the Greeks were descendants of Negroid descedants. At the very least experts believe that the Egyptians intermixed with the Kushites (who were black). "The history of Kushite-Egyptian contacts was in large part the story of Egypt's efforts to exploit the human and natural resources of Kush, and of Kush's response to the commercial and imperial ambitions of its northern neighbors" (Snowden 1983 pg 21). Snowden states that Pepynakht (a noble from Elephantine) reported that he had been commissioned to pacify the countries to the south (Kush) and that he did so. An inscription from Pepynakht's tomb informs us that "he had slain many leaders, and that he had returned with prisoners.how many.were Negroid is not known, but Negroeswere among captives taken in the southern campaigns of Pepy I and II." (Snowden 1983 pg

Week 2 Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week 2 Discussion Questions - Essay Example The teams are defined in order to support the business processes which are of significance as concerns to the relevance of the scope of the project that they are under. The resource pool structure is based on the construction of teams from similar kinds of resource. The elements that are different within these team structures are that two of them are people-centric while the last one depends heavily on the availability of resources. The project team structure is related with the project manager’s authority since he will then be able to have a better idea as to how things will be conducted within the domain that he is working under. The boundary of the project upon which the project manager has completed hold upon is indeed the project scope. It is a fact that there are some outputs of project scope as well, which are indeed the time and costs associated. Therefore project scope takes into consideration what will be included and what must remain excluded from the domains of the project. Scope changes with the passage of time. The components of the project scope include the justification for the project, the specification and description of the product that is sought, the project deliverables and indeed the objectives of the project. These components define the real essence of a project and hence the project scope is closely linked with it as well. The components will eventually define the basis of project scope which is important. 3. What does each of the letters in the SMART acronym stand for? In your own words, describe what each piece of the SMART acronym means? Why is the SMART acronym an important part of developing requirements for the project? SMART is an acronym used for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound activities within the project management domains. By specific, one means that the project objectives need to be significant, simple and stretching all at the same time. The

War And Peace Essay Example for Free

War And Peace Essay This paper will talk about war and will examine whether war is a natural condition and is inevitable or whether war is just an invention of mankind and can be avoided if so desired. The paper will also discuss the consequences of war and some of the factors which trigger and initiate confrontation. Margaret Meade defines war or warfare as a â€Å"recognized conflict between two groups as groups, in which each group puts an army (even if the army is only fifteen pygmies) into the field to fight and kill, if possible, some of the members of the army of the other group. † (Meade, Margaret) Man has been addicted to war for centuries. In ancient times, man did not even need a very strong reason to go to war. He was used to hunting tribes, killing men and women and looting villages. Strength was perceived to be equivalent to the number of lands one could conquer or the number of people one could kill. Men killed in cold blood and considered this way of living to be exciting and glorious. (James, William) This attitude has changed to a large extent in the modern world. One can’t just go out and kill. At least in principle man cannot kill or loot or damage another human being. According to William James, war is permissible â€Å"only when forced upon one, only when an enemys injustice leaves us no alternative. † Nevertheless, the senseless wars and destruction we see all around us today indicates that man’s thirst and fascination for war and bloodshed has not decreased but is simply manifested differently. In other words, â€Å"modern man inherits all the innate pugnacity and all the love of glory of its ancestors. No wonder man has engaged in so many senseless and irrational wars bringing pain and horror to hundreds and thousands of people. (James, William) Man has been a constant supporter of war. This is evident from the numerous conflicts prevalent all around the world. From World War I and II to the Korean War, Vietnam, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Columbia, West Bank and Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Algeria, Gulf, Turkey, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sarajevo and so on, thousands of people are engaged in combat all across the globe and millions are being killed and injured. If one only looks at the fatalities during the 1990s, one would see that there are nearly â€Å"2 million people dead in Afghanistan, 1. 5 million dead in Sudan, around 800,000 dead in Rwanda, half a million dead in Angola, quarter of a million dead in Bosnia, 200,000 dead in Guatemala; 150,000 dead in Liberia; a quarter of a million dead in Burundi and 75,000 dead in Algeria. † There are hundreds and thousands of people dying in conflicts between Israel and Palestine, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Columbia, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Ireland, Turkey and not to forget the Persian Gulf. According to statistics, nearly 62 million civilians have died in the wars of the twentieth century. This is nearly 20 million more than the number of military personnel that have been killed during the same time period. According to Will Durant, a historian, â€Å"there have been only twenty nine years in all of human history during which a war was not underway somewhere. † (Hedges, Chris). Since September 11, a new type of war has begun triggered by attacks on America when New York’s World Trade Center was destroyed by two passenger planes being flown into them. Pentagon was also attacked and it is believed that a similar attack had been planned for the White House but did not materialize. This started the War against Terrorism with the United States taking the Taliban head-on and attacking Afghanistan in search of Osama Bin Laden. A similar war was initiated against Iraq accused of carrying weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was removed as the head of the state, put on trial and executed for his various crimes against humanity. However, the war against terror appears to be never ending. Although many would agree with the cause of this war, the immense destruction and death that has been observed depicts the senselessness of taking on such a conflict. There are extremists at both ends – Islamic fundamentalists on one side and aggressive leaders on the other. There is no hope for any resolution if both parties refuse to listen to each other and refuse to make any efforts to attain peace. It becomes apparent from the never ending bloodshed in Afghanistan and Iraq that man is indeed thirsty for bloodshed otherwise there is simply no reason why such a battle would last this long. No one is winning and there seems to be no conclusion in sight. The theory that because man is a war animal and has been so for centuries is no excuse for the destruction of so many countries and the death of so many soldiers and innocent civilians. In fact there are many societies and people who have never undertaken any conflicts in their lives. These include the Eskimos and the Lepchas of Sikkim. None of these people understand the concept of warfare. Lepchas are gentle and un-quarrelsome people while Eskimos, though not mild, see no necessity of going to war for any reason whatsoever. It may be argued that Eskimos do not possess any land or any assets to have any reason to wage war. That may be true but the fact still remains that the theory than man is biologically designed to wage war appears to be untrue if one looks at certain groups of people that have survived for centuries without waging any war. Thus, war is actually an invention by mankind and even civilized or mild people may go to war if they are aware of this invention. However, those who do not know of war will simply not go to war because they are not yet aware of the invention. They may be violent or civilized; war will never be an option for them. According to Margaret Meade, â€Å"people who do not know of dueling will not fight duels, even though their wives are seduced and their daughters ravished; they may on occasion commit murder but they will not fight duels. Cultures which lack the idea of the vendetta will not meet every quarrel in this way. † (Meade, Margaret) Thus, war is not a necessity but an invention. War can be avoided if human beings see the absolute absurdity of the whole exercise. There is never any positive outcome of war. One party always ends up losing and there is no one to judge whether the side which emerges victorious is the one in the right. War is the worst possible activity mankind can engage in and human beings should collectively work towards outlining alternatives other than war to resolve conflicts. Works Cited James, Williams. The Moral Equivalent of War. From The Best American Essays of the Century, Joyce Carol Gates, ed. , and Robert Atwan, coed. 2000, 45-49, 52-55. Meade, Margaret. Warfare: An Invention—Not a Biological Necessity. Asia. 1940. Hedges, Chris. War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. Anchor, 2005.

Power Politics And Change In Social Work Social Work Essay

Power Politics And Change In Social Work Social Work Essay Following a referral to childrens social care, the local authority has a statutory obligation to consider whether there are concerns about impairment to the childs health and development or the child is suffering harm which justifies an initial assessment to establish whether this child is a child in need (HM Government 2010: 5.34). Regardless of the length and breath of the case itself, assessments have to be completed within set statutory timescales. An initial assessment has to be completed within 10 working days and core assessments within 35 working days. This essay proposes that removing current distinction between initial and core assessment and the associated fixed statutory timescales for their completion will improve the quality of assessment reports completed by childrens social workers. A development of a single assessment form to replace initial and core assessment form would give social workers additional time to reflect and review historical information collated and collaborate with other agencies before completing the assessment thus improving practice. Although it is acknowledged that there may be challenges in implementing this proposal, this essay pre-empts that this change would give social workers greater opportunities to complete direct work with children and incorporate their views and feelings into the assessment (Munro and Lushey 2012). In the view of the above proposal, the essay explores the influence of the wider national and European policy agenda on the change proposed and explores some of the potential challenges from social work context which may impact on the implementation of the proposed changes. Finally, drawing on Change Theory, I critically discuss how my proposal could be implemented, meeting the challenges previously identified. But first, initial and core assessments are defined. An initial assessment is a brief assessment completed on each child referred to the local authority within a maximum of 10 working days of the referral date. Where necessary, it determines whether the child is in need; whether there is reasonable reason to suspect that the child is suffering or likely to suffer from significant harm; whether the child requires any services and if so what types; finally, a recommendation is made whether a more detailed core assessment should be undertaken (HM Government 2010: 5.36). The meaning of need is explored under section 17 of the Children Act 1989. A child is said to be in need if: [He] is unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or [his] health and development will be significantly impaired without the provision of servicesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[or he] is disabled, (HM Government 1989). Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on local authorities to make enquires when there is a reasonable cause to believe that a child who is found or lives in their municipality is suffering, or likely to suffer from significant harm. A completion of the core assessment is the means in which a section 47 enquiry is initiated and should be completed within 35 working days. In these circumstances, the aim of the local authority is to determine what form of intervention is required to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child (Ibid; Brown et al. 2012). A core assessment refers to an in-depth assessment which addresses key aspects of a childs needs. This assessment may be completed at different junctures depending on the childs needs; an existing child protection concern is not a requirement (Brown et al 2012). According to Department for Education (2011) 40% of core assessments bare no relation to section 47 enquiries. Harm under section 31(9) of the Children Act 1989 is defined as ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development; development means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development; health means physical or mental health; and ill-treatment includes sexual abuse and forms of ill-treatment which are not physical (HM Government 1989). Completion of both an initial and core assessment has to be undertaken in accordance with Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families (DOH 2000) and information regarding childrens needs should be obtained within the three general domains of that form the assessment triangle: the childs developmental needs; the parents and/or caregivers ability to respond to those needs; and wider family and environmental factors (HM Government 2010: 5.36, 5.62; Turney et al. 2011). Current statutory guidance on the completion of initial and core assessments are criticised for the following reasons: Firstly, imposition of a rigid timescale means that there is little time for social workers to meaningfully engage with children. This drive to meet performance targets may thus be at the expense of the quality of assessments, engagement with children and families and multi-agency collaboration with professionals (Hawkes 2005; Holland 2010; Munro and Lushey 2012). Secondly, current statutory assessment timescales are unrealistic especially the 10 working days set for the completion of initial assessment. It does not take into account that there might be some difficulties in engaging with certain families and assessments may as a result be form-led rather than needs led (Horwarth 2002). Turney et al. (2011) argued that the pressure to meet statutory timeframes set for initial and core assessment may lead to the developments of short cuts which may provide latent conditions for error and in turn increase the risk factors posed to vulnerable children. An assessment which is child-centred contains thorough, concise and accurate information; includes chronological information about family and wider history and makes good use of information from a wide net of sources is considered a good assessment (Turney et al 2011). A good assessment is crucial in improving outcomes for children as it can contribute to maintaining the welfare of children by preventing delays in the provision of support and services. Despite the Assessment Frameworks copious guidance in completing good assessment, (DOH 2000) research evidence continues to highlight on-going concerns of social workers assessment analysis (Dalzell and Sawyer 2007). Holland (2010) contends that strict imposition of tight timescales combined with high caseloads does not allow for in-depth analysis through critical reflection of available evidence. The need for the proposed change Replacing child in need initial and core assessment timescales with a single assessment form and removing fixed statutory timescales for the completion of initial and core assessment will improve quality of childrens social workers practice and increase the scope for practitioners to exercise their professional judgement. Although the single assessment forms will still retain the structure of Framework of the Assessment of Children in Needs and their Families (DOH 2000), it is hoped that this development will allow social workers to exercise their professional judgement about what information to record. Research studies and enquiries into child deaths and analysis of serious case reviews consistently report that the quality of social workers assessment reports have at times fallen short of the expected standard particularly in the following areas: failure to engage with the child, differential thresholds, inadequacies in information gathering, shortcomings in critical analysis, and shortfalls in inter-professional working (Turney et al. 2011). Whilst it is acknowledged that the implementation of a single assessment form may not necessarily eradicate some of the shortcomings of the current assessment forms highlighted above, it is hoped that removing timescales for completing assessment will improve quality of completed reports by creating an environment where workers are under less stress to extract all information during the first visit to the family and thus more attention can be paid on what is happening for the child. Moreover, reducing prescription concerning timescales would enable social workers to arrange to meet with children and families at a convenient time for the family rather than at short notice to meet statutory timescales. For cases whereby parents are reluctant to engage in services or cases where there are linguistic or cultural barriers to overcome, flexibility in timescales can be used as a mechanism to improve practice (Munro and Lushey 2011). Collaborative working relationship between social care services and families is essential in promoting the welfare of the child (DOH 2010). Having sufficient time to work at the childs pace is therefore crucial to improving practice. Moreover, assessments may take longer if family members have special needs which have to be met so that they can meaningfully contribute to assessment (Holland 2010). Whilst there is a need for assessments not to lose focus and direction, assessments need to be completed jointly by both social worker and the family within a context which takes into account issues of power, inequality and discrimination. Lack of flexibility within assessment is almost inevitably going to come at the cost of key principles such as partnership and empowerment. Hawkes (2005) suggests that there is just as much evidence about the impact of partnership and empowerment upon the outcomes of children as there is for the need to prevent delay and drift in assessment which may be c aused by flexibility measures of assessments. Influence of wider national and European policy agenda The need for a thorough assessment of children and families where there are child protection concerns is a key focus of many national policies in the UK. The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families (DOH 2000) for example acknowledges that improving assessment process is a critical aspect in improving social work practice with service users and ensuring multi-agency working. Although the framework offers guidance to social workers on how to meet the needs of children through a comprehensive process of assessment leading to action, its imposition of rigid timescales to complete assessments challenges some of the principles of the Children Act 1989. The guidance fails to take into account that the time it may take longer to engage with some families who may be initially hostile towards intervention. Moreover, due to lack of time to engage fully with children, social workers may be unable to ascertain and incorporate the childs feelings into assessment (Calder 2003). Similarly, the importance of timely and clear assessment was highlighted in Lord Laming report into the death of eight year old Victoria Climbie (DOH 2003). Lord Lamings enquiry led to the implementation of Children Act 2004 which emphasised the need for improve outcomes for all children. For children who come into attention of social services, these outcomes could be explored further in assessments. These outcomes are: being healthy, staying safe, making a positive contribution; and achieving economic wellbeing (HM Government 2004). As well as national policies, international legislations including the European Convention on Human Rights Act (1998) and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) influenced the proposed change as enshrined within these legislations is the need to protect child and their interests (ECHR 1998:Article1, 2; UNCRC 1989: Article 2, 3, 12) and advocating for a single assessment form is a means of ensuring childrens voices remain the central focus of assessments. Potential challenges from the wider social work context which could impact on the implementation of the proposed changes Although this essay has highlighted some of the potential benefits of having a single assessment form and removing fixed statutory timescales, some potential challenges which could impact on the implementation of the proposed changes are critically discussed here. First, increased flexibility concerning timescales does not necessarily mean that the potential benefits discussed previously will be realised because a key aspect in realising these benefits largely depends on the skill and capacity of individual social worker and wider organisational contexts in which they are working. Although the aim of a flexible timescale was proposed in this essay to enhance social workers understanding of childrens needs, should the proposal be implemented, some social workers may use it as an excuse to postpone complex decisions (Turney et al. 2011). Secondly, in the absence of timescales social workers may spend longer time completing assessments. Whilst it is acknowledged that the more information gathered, the longer it may take to analyse, however, in the absence of additional staffing, the extra time social workers are seemingly spending on direct work with children and families may place greater demands on the team. This in turn may lead to the following: longer working hours to compensate for the additional time spent on assessments; prioritising child protection cases which may result in delay and drift in cases, which based on the presenting issues appear less serious; or changes to the threshold for intervention (Broadhurst et al. 2010; Holmes et al. 2010). The effect of such challenges may therefore inhibit workers ability to conduct additional visits, engage in more direct work with families and therefore undermining the intended aim of the single assessment proposal (Monro and Lushey 2012). Change Theory Change is inevitable; it can be threatening, disruptive and difficult to manage as it involves adapting to new settings, working practices or personal circumstances (Hayes 2010). Although one of the core values of a social worker is to advocate for change on behalf of their service users (Dolgoff et al. 2008) as a profession, it has been quite resistant to change (Munson 2012). Whilst there is no standard formula in managing change, there is a body of useful theories which that can help analyse how to manage the challenges of change in order to improve on practice and ensure better outcomes for service users. Here, I draw on Kurt Lewins(1951) theory of change and discuss how developing a single assessment form to replace current initial and core assessment forms can be implemented meeting some of the challenges previously identified. Lewin (1951) argued that implementing change involves managing competing forces and actively facilitating the driving forces to achieve the desired change while seeking to reduce or eliminate restraining forces (Russell and Russell 2006). In the first step of his three step change model, Lewin contends that to implement change, change leaders will need to unfreeze the status quo. Individuals who will be affected by the change must be led to recognise why the change is necessary (Griffin and Moorhead 2011). Next, the change itself is implemented. Finally, refreezing involves reinforcing and supporting the change so it becomes a part of the system. Using Lewins model, the first step (unfreezing) implementing my proposed change would involve convincing Michael Gove, current Secretary of State for Education to grant local authorities dispensation of Working together to Safeguard children guidance because of its capability to improve social work practice with children and families. After this unfreezing is accomplished, a pilot scheme conducted with several local authorities analysing the likely impact of implementing my proposed change on practice will be introduced. If the results of the pilot scheme are positive, the scheme will be rolled out nationally (implementation). Following implementation, regular training, robust supervision and support systems will be introduced to support social workers in writing assessments (refreezing) in order to meet challenges previously identified. As influential as Lewins model of change is, some critics have argued that the model is too rigid and assumes change occurs in static steps. It is argued that Lewins theory lacks the flexibility required to fit with the chaotic process of change (Longo 2011). In relation to my proposed change, Lewins theory fails to.. Similarly, Williams et al. (2002) argue that whilst Lewins model of change is useful in conceptualising how to bring about change, it fails to explore how what causes individuals to accept or resist change. Similarly to Lewin (1951), Beckhard and Harris (1987) change model provide a useful analogy of what motivates individuals to change. They argue that for change to happen, the forces of change must outweigh the perceived costs of change (in terms of emotions, energy financial costs etc). Beckhard and Harris suggest that to successfully implement change, individuals need to be convinced that the present is problematic; individuals need to perceive desirable vision of the future and that there is a means of achieving it (Williams et al. 2002). Although this model is valuable to understanding how to manage planned change, similarly to Lewins (1951) theory, Beckhard and Harris (1987) also assume that that there is a logical, linear process to achieving change. Burke (2002) argues that in practice, planned change occurs in a spiral fashion rather in a linear line as suggested by both Lewin and Beckhard and Harris. According to Deutsch et al. (2006) there are many unintended and unanticipat ed consequences which may affect and be affected by planned, change efforts and neither of the change theories discussed above explore this in depth. Whilst a change in current policy of how initial and core assessment are being completed may appear irrational, a recommendation for such change was recently proposed by Eileen Munro in The Munro Review of Child Protection (Munro 2011). The Secretary of State for Education granted eight local authorities (Hackney, Knowsley, Cumbria, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth and Islington) between March and September 2011 permission to carry out flexible assessment practices. Although a vast majority of social workers and managers were in favour of the single frame assessment form and findings from the pilot study reported that flexibility of assessment timescales improved practice and quality of assessments (Munro and Lushey 2012), this proposal has yet to be implemented nationally. This recommendation is good example of some of the challenges implementing change. As simply put by Chaudry et al. (1994) a good idea that is very difficult to implement is, after all not that good an idea. In conclusion, this essay has highlighted some of the potential benefits of developing a single assessment form which replaces current initial and core assessments and the associated fixed timescales for their completion when completing assessments children. Whilst this essay acknowledges that implementation of the proposal does not necessarily guarantee improvement in the quality of assessments produced by social workers or the amount of direct work completed with children and families, it is felt this flexibility in timescale will enhance social work practice with children (Munro 2011). Importance of supporting social workers via training and adequate supervision was also acknowledged in ensuring completed assessments are of good standard. As well has exploring the influence of national and European policy agenda on the proposed change, the essay also critically analysed how the proposal could be implemented drawing on Lewins (1991) model of change.