Literary Analysis Essay

To write a good story, not only ideas take place. You need to use literary devices in order to provide a good story. The best mentor to look up is Sue Monk Kidd. She used a lot of literary devices in her story which is called The Secret Life of Bees. The three main literary devices which she used throughout her story are: epigraphs, character development and allusions. â€Å"Heat would make a person do strange things.†(112).Specially we see this when is described Lily’s hard life without the main person of her, without her mother. Since her mother died she is an orphan and her father doesn’t care for her even though she has her nanny that loves her. Not only she needs her mother to care for her or love her, but also she needs her in daily life to help her going through her childhood and teenage problems that every single person goes through. The most common literary device which you will see, while you read the book are epigraphs. This is shown in the beginning of every chapter, giving the readers many hints and some sort of warning of what might be happening in the story. This is an optional device which you choose to use. But it put epigraphs to give you clues on what she will talk next. This is one example: â€Å"A worker [bee] is just over a centimeter long and weighs only about sixty milligrams; nevertheless, she can fly with a load heavier than herself.† –The Honey Bee (257) The Secret Life of Bees. This foreshadows you that the main character who is Lily, a 14-year-old girl, is carried too much responsibility on her shoulders, about what she’s going through. Other device that develops ones story, being the most important device in my opinion, is the character development. It pictures the things that the character goes through and how they change throughout the story, most of the characters change a lot during the whole book .Character development explains every detail, until the final touch that that character goes through. We see the main character Lily develops so much through this story. In the beginning we see her as an innocent girl, which she does everything to find out more about her mother. Last but not least†¦allusions. Why is it important to put them in your story? Allusions as you know, is the reference of something that has happened in history,that everybody knows about. If you put them in your story, you make  your story real. You make the readers feel it, actually live it. Sue Monk Kidd uses allusions to help you understand what is going on in more details. That’s what you should do. Some of the allusions which are very important to be named is where the author put in THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT. This automatically touches your brain by telling you that this was in the 60’s and that the colored people where fighting to win their rights. Also adding, it brings you that feeling that you think you’re living in the story, being able to relate in anyone’s everyday life. Another allusion is the WAILING WALL which May writes on it every time somebody dies. In conclusion to this, Allusions help the story by allowing the audience to relate and apply these reasoning’s in their lives. Briefly explained, the three literary devices which would be good to include in stories are: epigraphs, character development and allusions. This brings your story to a point that the reader believes they are actually living the story, feeling every single detail of it. So, all in all, literary devices increase more use of detailed writing and allows people to understand what is going on.

Urbanisation Is Sea

SE1101E Group Essay Rural-Urban migration, or â€Å"urbanization†, has led to a better life for a majority of Southeast Asians. To what extent is this true? Discuss your answer using examples from at least three different Southeast Asian societies to illustrate your points. ____ Introduction For the longest time, Singaporeans lived in a relative urban oasis – coined, praised and awarded as the ‘Garden City’. Even so, in the last 2 years, Singaporeans have experienced the stress of continued urbanization, created primarily through migration.This stress has been manifested physically as inadequate infrastructure, socially as rising xenophobia and politically as rising discontentment, leading to the long-ruling People’s Action Party to face its worst electoral performance since independence in 1965. It is this backdrop that propelled our group to comparatively examine the urbanization experiences of three of Southeast Asia’s largest countries, an d evaluate the outcomes. Firstly and most importantly, it is important to delineate the two key terms – â€Å"rural-urban migration† and â€Å"urbanization†.While â€Å"rural-urban migration† is a subset of â€Å"urbanization†, urbanization as a process is far more encompassing, as Terry McGee has noted to include the expansion and encroachment of urban regions into formerly rural areas through land-use conversion practices. For the scope of this essay, we will limit our arguments to the process of â€Å"rural-urban migration†. The process of migration is simply defined by Zelinsky as â€Å"a permanent or semipermanent change of residence†.Petersen offers a sociological perspective, defining migration as â€Å"a spatial transfer from one social unit or neighbourhood to another†. Extending these, rural-urban migration can be broadly defined as the movement of people from rural home locations to urban locations, which results in socio-economic impacts for â€Å"both the origin and destination societies†. This includes circulatory migration, where rural migrants return to their home location after a period in the urban location, and permanent relocation from the rural location to the urban location.Further to this, to achieve a manageable scope of discussion, we have elected to focus on (domestic) rural-urban migration, where the rural and urban locations are located within the same country, as opposed to the processes of transnational (and regional) rural-urban migration. In this essay, we will argue that while the process of rural-urban migration has created a better life for some, it has not necessarily created a better life for the majority of Southeast Asians especially when evaluated on a holistic level. Specifically, we will use the case studies of Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to support our argument.These three countries were selected as their combined populations of over 400 millio n, consist a majority 65 per cent of Southeast Asia’s 620 million people, in addition to their relative comparative congruence within the extremely diverse Southeast Asian region. Secondly, this essay strives not to be an ideological critique of the processes of â€Å"rural-urban migration† and â€Å"urbanization† but rather, serve as a comparative exposition on the impacts of rural-urban migration in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines and provide an objective evaluation of whether this process has created a â€Å"better life† for the â€Å"majority of Southeast Asians†.Aptly congruent, Tjitoherijanto and Hasmi describe urbanization as an expression of â€Å"people’s desire for a better life† and â€Å"must be recognized as a natural modern process by which humans attempt to improve their welfare†. The central themes of what is â€Å"a better life†, has rural-urban migration created it and for whom, form the framewo rk of our discussion. Case Study: The Philippines In our first case study, we analyze the Philippines. The state of urbanization in the Philippines is comparatively the most advanced of the three case studies, with 33 highly urbanized cities and 4 surpassing the 1 illion-population mark. While the 2010 census depicts the state of urbanization in the Philippines, it does not describe the flow of domestic rural-urban migration. From 1970 to 1990, the percentage of the Philippine population identified as â€Å"urban† surged from 36% to 52%, which further increased to 59% by 2000. Not all of this growth can be attributed to rural-urban migration. In fact, 47. 2% is actually due to reclassification of formerly rural areas as urban and natural urbanite population growth.While explicit data is sparse, Hugo provides a basis to assume that the remaining and majority 52% of this urban growth, is likely due to rural-urban migration. In tandem with rising urbanization, cursory economic i ndicators also rose. GDP increased from USD 6. 6 billion in 1960 to USD 199. 5 billion by 2010. Even with considerable population growth, GDP per capita also grew during the same period, from USD 692 to USD 1,383. Nakanishi forwards that the rural sector conditions in the Philippines, where peasants do not own their land, are â€Å"insupportable† and conditions in the city, though not the best, are an improvement.Knight and Song, who compute the Philippine’s urban-to-rural income ratio to be 2. 26, give further credence to the possibility, that perhaps, rural-urban migration might create a better economical life for rural migrants, and for all Filipinos too. These quantitative indicators are, however, quickly problematized as overly simplistic. To begin, consider the Gini coefficient, which measures the inequality of income distribution. For the Philippines, this stood at 0. 46 in 2010; the income share held by the top 10% was 36% while the income share held by the bot tom 10% was only 2%.This significantly unequal distribution of income evidences that the benefits associated with economic growth has not reached and has not benefitted a vast majority of Filipinos. Also, counterintuitively, higher income levels in urban areas do not actually lead to economic improvement on all accounts, as the Harris-Todaro model establishes. Simply put, the wage differential between the urban and rural areas (2. 26 in the case of the Philippines) compels rural populations to igrate to urban areas despite urban unemployment which further, and continually, increases unemployment, as long as urban wage levels continue to exceed that of rural areas. This thesis holds true in the Philippines context, where even as unemployment rates rose from 5% in 1980 to 11% by 2000, rural-urban migration continued to rise. This self-perpetuating cycle is particularly significant as it confirms that rural-urban migration, far from leading to a better life, actually results in the opp osite. Rising unemployment creates further problems.One is the creation of urban slums, where the poorest rural migrants generally live. In fact, from 2000 to 2006, urban slums grew at a rate of 3. 5%, faster than the urban population growth rate of 2. 3%. This evidences that rural-urban migration (which generates the majority of urban population growth) creates negative socioeconomic ripple effects, which compound with time, noting that rural-urban migration began in the 1960s in the Philippines. In Manila alone today, 35% of the 12 million population live in slums.Urban slums, which are â€Å"characterized by poor sanitation, overcrowded and crude habitation, inadequate water supply, hazardous location and insecurity of tenure†, have been recognized to lead to widespread environmental degradation. Most prominently, the lack of proper sanitation and sewerage services in slums contaminate citywide and nationwide water supplies, creating over 38 million cases of life-threateni ng diarrhea in the Philippines every year. This is despite the percentage of urban population with access to sanitation in the Philippines increasing from 69% in 1990 to 79% in 2010.This contradiction recalls Ulrich Beck’s pithy quote â€Å"smog is democratic†; that environmental impacts (linked to rural-urban migration and its ensuing employment) created by a small segment of the population can degrade the quality of life for a significant majority, in a ripple-like effect. However, ripple effects can work both ways, and in a positive sense too. One common example is that of the increased literacy rate as a result of rural-urban migration. From 1980 to 2000, the literacy rate increased from 84% to 93%. The literature is clear; generally speaking, a higher literacy ate and education level are two of the most significant positive externalities of rural-urban migration. The causation link between rural-urban migration and literacy is primarily due to the higher accessibi lity of schools in urban regions, which allow rural migrants in urban centers to more readily access schooling. This causation is however, problematic in the Philippines, where there is no wide disparity in literacy rates between rural and urban areas that would support such a causation thesis. The primary school net attendance rate in rural areas was only marginally lower at 86%, compared to 89% in urban areas.Some theorists have hypothesized that a strong historical cultural emphasis on education in the Philippines is one reason for this comparative equality in literacy rates in both urban and rural areas. Regardless, the lack of causation between rural-urban migration and literacy rates in the Philippines, further evidences that rural-urban migration, has not led to a â€Å"better life† for a significant majority of Filipinos. The discussion thus far surfaces a most important facet of the discussion – that of policy responses to rural-urban migration.It is apparent that the impacts created by the process of rural-urban migration might not be as deterministic as Harris and Todaro implied (their simplifying assumptions have been widely critiqued). It is crucial to note that the impact of the rural-urban migration process, whether positive or negative, is molded through the lens of government policy responses. In the case of the Phillipines, the indicator of increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, was contradicted by a highly unequal distribution of income and rising unemployment.Policy intervention is thus required to equalize this. Also, the formations of slums are not a direct result of rural-urban migration but due to inept city planning and a lack of sufficient public housing, again demonstrating the collision between policy and process as fundamental to our discussion on the impacts of rural-urban migration. In sum, one last indicator, mentioned in passing at the beginning of this case study, of increased life expectancy, exempl ifies one of the themes stated at the outset – what constitutes a better life?Does increased life expectancy constitute a â€Å"better life†, or just a longer one? Based on the evidence presented, we are inclined to think it is the latter. While Philippines represent a country in a highly urbanized state, Thailand represents one on the other spectrum. As such, our next case study will examine the rural-urban migration pattern in Thailand. When we analyze the rural-urban migration of Thailand, we can roughly translate it to the rural-urban migration to Bangkok. This is due to Bangkok’s dominance and influence in the country’s political and economical landscape.The size distribution of cities in a country roughly abides to the â€Å"rank-size rule†: The second largest city is half the size of the first largest city and the third largest city is half the size of the second. In Thailand’s case however, the second largest city is a mere 6% the si ze of Bangkok. As such, it is not an overstatement to describe Thailand as a one-city state. Thus in this case study, we will examine the urban landscape with reference to Bangkok as a comparison. Thailand’s urbanization rate is at a low 38% , significantly lower than their peers such as Indonesia (53%) and Malaysia (71%) (percentage not accurate as of 2012.Need comparison and citation). This figure has stalled since 2007, only changing by 0. 8% between 2002 and 2009. This is because Bangkok has stopped growing. In fact, it has shrank by 1% between 2007 and 2009. As of late, Thailand’s urbanization trends began shifting away from Bangkok to the peripheral provinces such as Songkhla; Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani. As such, while the top 10 cities in the vicinity of Bangkok grew collectively by 17%, a 1% decrease in Bangkok has dropped that urbanization growth to a mere 0. 8%. These reflect how this single city is able to impact the country’s economy.As such we shall analyze the impact of urbanization by using Bangkok as our case study. The growth of Bangkok brings about social and economical progress, with economical taking priority. National income statistics from the NESDB have shown that though contributing a mere 15. 8 per cent of total population in 1988, Bangkok and its vicinity generated more than 50 per cent of the gross domestic product. Socially, the Bangkok and its neighboring region has enjoyed better health care (2. 12 hospital beds per residents, compared with 0. 38 per 1,000 residents in Sri Saket, the poorest province of Thailand. and higher access to water (About 12 percent compared with 1. 2 percent in North, 1. 4 percent in the South, and 0. 9 percent in the North-east. ) While the figures reflect an improvement in the quality of life, this may not translate into an improvement for the people. There exist an overlying assumption that there would be a trickle down effect to benefit the less well off. Dr. Puey, a famo us Thai economist observed otherwise. Thailand’s pursuit of economic growth has widened the rich-poor disparity where urbanized regions in Thailand have experienced economic benefits at the expense of villages.Furthermore, it is alleged that there has been a social tension within the rural community between the few who have benefitted and the majority who have not. Critics of these distributions of wealth have blamed the monopoly of capitalism from emerging corporations in finance and banking centered in Bangkok. On October 14, 1973, a student led uprising threw the exploitation of rural villagers in the spot light, highlighting the dissent over the rich-poor divide. Furthermore, Thailand has traded a social benefit for a social problem.As Bangkok swelled as the only go-to urban destination in the 1970s, Bangkok’s infrastructure failed to expand at the same pace as its growing population. Overpopulation and congestion were frequent social issues that the government had to address. The high influx also led to pollution, and by consequence, disease. As such, it may be argued that while the urban population enjoyed better health care services, there was also a higher propensity to get sick due to more frequent interactions and mass pollutions. As such, while the face value of urbanization reveals measurable benefits, the real value actually shows a decrease.This aforementioned issue indicates a situation where rural-urban migration works too well. Bangkok grew haphazardly without an official city plan until 1992, a growth necessitated by Economic interest. Accompanied by poor city planning is its poor infrastructure of roads, leading to massive traffic jams. BBC has ranked Bangkok as having one of the top ten worst traffic jams in the world. For residents in this urban landscape, such issues have become so commonplace that they have come to accept these problems as part of their everyday lives.The process of rural-urban migration, at least until 200 7, has played the role of an instigator that negatively impacted the lives of those living in the urban landscape. Hence, rural-urban migration has its pros and cons. However, while it is important to weigh the different opportunities offered due to rural urban migration, we should also consider how these citizens perceive these opportunities offered and whether they consider themselves better off. Here lies the paradox. Both rural and urban parties perceive themselves as beneficiaries to the rural urban migration.A collection of data from six rural villages in the Nong Muun Than and Phon Muang communes revealed that villagers overwhelmingly felt that they had came up on top compared to their urban counterparts. Villages were perceived to be better in terms of standard of living, the friendliness, the working conditions and the environment to raise children although they conceded that urban areas posed a better environment to specialize. On the contrary, urban areas felt that they b enefitted from better facilities, higher pay and wider job opportunities.As such, while visible problems exist in both rural and urban states, they remain predominantly contented. This approach, however, comes with its own associated problems. It fails to recognize social identity which compels participants to be more biased towards their own home society, and it also assumes all Thais are well-informed of the opportunities and problems offered in both societies. For example, villagers in a rural area may be contented with life, but they may still be unable to comprehend the benefits urban areas provide.Their contentment hence lies in their simplicity of thought rather than the effect of rural-urban migration. As such, we turn our attention to more obvious indicators while still taking account, albeit more cautiously, people’s perception of such benefits. Recognizing the growing rural-urban divide, the 9th developmental plan of Thailand explicitly tackles such rural-urban lin kages in the country. Longitudinal studies on migration patterns conducted by the Nang Rong Project and Kanchanburi Demographic Surveillance System (KDSS) were used to evaluate emerging problems faced by Thailand.It concluded that economical pull factors were the main cause of migration towards urban areas, although their search for financial stability came with a string attached. According to the DFG Bangkok Migrant Survey, (2010), 67 percent of migrants reported an improvement in living conditions since leaving rural areas while 60 percent of migrants reported stable income. However, 70 percent of migrants do not possess a written work contract and 80 percent of respondents have no insurance at all.Most of these migrants consist of family members forced to find work in urban areas due to rural poverty and hence migration was influenced not out of choice but rather that of necessity. As such, although they travel to urban regions in search of better prospects, their nature of trave l is necessitated for survival and their trip comes with little or no social safety net. Another issue they face is not simply acquiring employment, but rather quality employment. 70 percent of migrants earn less than 300 bahts (or $8) a day.While these still represents an increase in pay as compared to their rural counterparts, they also face a higher cost of living in an urban environment and therefor tend to spend more. Hence, most migrants aimed for quality employment, but only a mere 2 percent earn around 2. 3% fall in this category. To summarize, economical growth only represents the net value earned ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Terry Mc Gee – The Spatiality of Urbanization, The Policy Challenges of Mega-Urban and Desakota Regions of Southeast Asia- Published by Penerbit Lestari, Univeriti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan, 2009. 2 ]. The Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition Author(s): Wilbur Zelinsky Reviewed work(s): Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Apr. , 1971), pp. 219-249 Published by: American Geographical Society Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/213996 [ 3 ]. Migration and split households: a comparison of sole, couple, and family migrants in Beijing, China C Cindy Fan, Mingjie Sun, Environment and Planning A 2011, volume 43, pages 2164 ^ 2185 [ 4 ]. William Petersen: A General Typology of Migration, Amer. Sociol. Rev. , Vol. 23, 1958, pp. 246-266. [ 5 ]. Devasahayam makes a compelling study of these processes hrough the lens of remittances. Making Remittances Work in Southeast Asia By Theresa W. Devasahayam in http://www. iseas. edu. sg/documents/publication/ISEAS%20Perspective_09nov12. pdf [ 6 ]. https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_eas. html [ 8 ]. http://www. census. gov. ph/content/2010-census-population-and-housing-reveals-philippine-population-9234-million [ 9 ]. Flieg er, W. 1995. The Philippine population: 1980-90. Paper prepared for Conference on Population, Development and Environment, Program on Population, East- West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. A. [ 10 ]. http://www. nscb. gov. ph/pressreleases/2004/30Jan04_urban. asp [ 11 ]. The Book [ 12 ]. Hugo, G. (1999), Demographic Perspectives on Urban Development in Asia at the Turn of the Century, in: Brotchie, J. , Newton, P. , Hall, P. and Dickey, J. (eds. ), East West Perspective on 21st Century Urban Development, Alder- shot, UK: Ashgate. [ 13 ]. World Bank Statistics [ 14 ]. Nakanishi (1996), Comparative Study of Informal Labour Markets in the Urbanisation Process: The Philippines and Thailand, The Developing Economies, 34(4): 470-96. [ 15 ]. Knight, J. and Song, L. 2002, 2nd ed. ), The Rural-Urban Divide – Eco- nomic Disparities and Interactions in China, Oxford: Oxford University Press. [ 16 ]. World Bank [ 17 ]. World Bank [ 18 ]. Source Needed [ 19 ]. http://www. irinnews. org/Rep ort/89348/PHILIPPINES-Slum-populations-brace-for-storm-season [ 20 ]. according to Marife M. Ballesteros. [ 21 ]. World Bank [ 22 ]. http://www. epdc. org/sites/default/files/documents/Philippines_coreusaid. pdf [ 23 ]. SCB Insight 2010, Looking beyond Bangkok: The urban consumer and urbanization in thailand) by SBS Economic intelligence sector [ 24 ]. ttp://urbantimes. co/2012/08/the-outcomes-of-rapid-urbanization-in-thailand/ [ 25 ]. SCB Insight 2010, Looking beyond Bangkok: The urban consumer and urbanization in thailand) by SBS Economic intelligence sector [ 26 ]. http://www. scb. co. th/eic/doc/en/insight/SCB%20Insight%20Dec%202010%20Eng. pdf [ 27 ]. http://archive. unu. edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu11ee/uu11ee0z. htm [ 28 ]. http://archive. unu. edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu11ee/uu11ee0z. htm [ 29 ]. Economic Development and rural-urban Disparities in Thailand by Prasert Yamklinfung*, Southeast Asian Studies vol 25, no. , page 342 [ 30 ]. http://archive. unu. edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu 11ee/uu11ee0z. htm [ 31 ]. http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/magazine-19716687 [ 32 ]. Rural – Urban mobility in Thailand: A decision-making approach by Theodore D. Fuller, Paul Lightfoot and Peerasit Kamnuansilpa [ 33 ]. Rural – Urban mobility in Thailand: A decision-making approach by Theodore D. Fuller, Paul Lightfoot and Peerasit Kamnuansilpa [ 34 ]. http://econstor. eu/bitstream/10419/48316/1/4_amare. pdf (page 7) [ 35 ]. http://econstor. eu/bitstream/10419/48316/1/4_amare. pdf (Page 17)

Video summary Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Video summary - Movie Review Example tions since cars will reduce hence creating more parking spaces and reduce the commotion: only those people who genuinely need to drive in New York will come with their cars. Firstly the implementation will lead to reduced air pollution, make pedestrian life better, save a lot of energy and probably slow down the global warming. Above all, it will improve how public realm of New York; how to use sign boards and create a favorable environment for everybody residing the city. Professor Shoup does not see the sense as to why New York is an expensive city and people pays high costs for residence while they park for free which should be the other way round. He compares New York with the city of Pasadena. Were after putting parking revenue, the city has become beautiful with money collected being used to clean the rods and pavements, pays for police services, lights the streets at night and generally unlacing the public wealth of the city. I think this is a quite brilliant idea and should be applied in all cities that are experiencing parking and traffic jams

Not defined,a proposal which combines IT and business together Research

Not defined,a which combines IT and business together - Research Proposal Example In addition, the IT technology remains dynamic and requires that organizational leaders remain focused and flexible to adopt emerging technologies. Research has shown that the main reason why most organizations have failed to realize their business goals is because they have failed to successfully implement IT in their supply operations. This qualitative analysis aims at investigating the impact of the IT in the organization supply chain management. The primary purpose of this project is to investigate the impact of information technology on the supply chain management. In the business environment, it is a priority for the business managers to streamline the supply chain to ensure that they realize optimum profits as per their set goals. The ability of organization to integrate information technology in their supply helps them improve the organizational performance. The specific objective of this paper is to assess the impact of IT in the supply chain management in terms of cost reduction and effectiveness. The findings of this research will help organizations to successfully integrate IT in their business operations and provide an opportunity for organizations to improve their supply chain management strategy. The cumulative impact of this in business is to minimize supply chain expenses, increase efficiency and hence optimize profits. Research shows that the reason why organizations have failed to achieve effectiveness in their supply chain management is because they have undermined the value of information technology in streamlining the supply chain. Schillewaert states that majority of the organization have failed to integrate information technology in their business operations because they fail to understand its value in improving the efficiency of the supply chain. In this view, this research will provide the value of Information technology to the supply chain managers and provide an

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Research Paper Example For instance, they offer prescription drugs for treating respiratory illness, HIV, hypertension and others. The parent company of Boehringer Ingelheim is C.H. Boehringer Sohn; in fact, they have affiliates such as Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation (Icon Group International, 2000). Nevertheless, this paper focuses on exploring compensation and benefit challenge faced by Boehringer Ingelheim Inc., and other recommendations for addressing this situation. Therefore, by achieving objectives in this research, the paper will make a substantial contribution to training literatures regarding compensation and benefit system. II. A Brief Historical View of the Organization Boehringer Ingelheim Company was established at Ingelheim am Rhein in 1885 by Albert Boehringer; In fact, during this period, this company had capacity to employ twenty-eight employees in Nieder-Ingelheim. Nevertheless, this company has grown over the years to become a multinational corporation, thereby supplying pharmaceu ticals to consumers from different countries around the world. Moreover, this company has a primary focus on various therapeutic areas such as respiratory, virological, metabolic, cardiovascular diseases, and other diseases that affect the central nervous system. In addition, the company has been actively involved in numerous research and development programs aimed at drugs and fine chemicals innovations. III. Assessment of Company’s Compensation and Benefit System Challenges In Boehringer Ingelheim Company, five years ago, their human resource system was decentralized. In this case, company’s human resource system was serving employees from different locations. Therefore, processes involved in offering human resource services to employees were disorganized because these human resource departments were managed by small groups of staff members. Besides, these groups were dedicated to oversee functions of human resource departments in Boehringer Ingelheim, and they could offer support to employees in this company, but they were not efficient. In fact, their inefficiency was caused by lack of required training and human resource tools, which were needed to improve their efficiency. Furthermore, this company experienced numerous errors within their compensation and benefit system, and inconsistency in the process of handling inquiries from their employees. Moreover, company management did not have a solution to these problems; in fact, they were undecided on whether to undertake strategies such as training or hiring more staff to solve these challenges (Icon Group International, 2000). The company management came up with an idea of seeking guidance from an expert in the field of human resource in order to facilitate positive transformation of company’s operations. In this case, the Watson Wyatt Company was chosen as partner experts due to their experience and in-depth knowledge in the field of h

Cyclical Economic Development in The Economic History Essay

Cyclical Economic Development in The Economic History - Essay Example This paper analyses the process of economic growth, which emerges from and as a consequence of cyclical development. In the 19th century, business cycles were not thought of as cycles at all but rather as spells of crises interrupting the smooth development of the economy. In later years, economists and non- economists alike began believing in the regularity of such crises, analyzing how they were spaced apart and associated with changing economic structures. Schumpeter (1939) suggested that the economic development proceeds cyclically rather than evenly because innovations are not evenly distributed through time, but appear, if at all, discontinuously in groups or swarms. Schumpeter identified the "four-phases" of a cycle. Starting from the mean, a boom is a rise which lasts until the peak is reached; a recession is the drop from the peak back to the mean; a depression is the slide from the mean down to the trough; a recovery is the rise from the trough back up to the mean. From the mean, we then move up into another boom and thus the beginning of another four-phase cycle. In a sense, any cycle of whatever duration can be described as going through these four phases - otherwise the fluctuations cannot be described as "cycles". Empirical evidence shows that throughout the 19th Century, the price level moved backward and forward heavily while output was much less subject to fluctuations. The following four Kondratiev waves (ranging between 48-60 years) have been identified - going through four phases of boom-recession- depression-recovery : (1) The Industrial Revolution (1787-1842), (2) The Bourgeois Kondratiev (1898-1950), (3) The Neo-Mercantilist Kondratiev (1898-1950): and (4) The Fourth Kondratiev (1950- 2010).

The Impact of Downsizing on Organizational Competitiveness & Assignment

The Impact of Downsizing on Organizational Competitiveness & Innovativeness - Assignment Example Such strategies will become their key success factors in the future. The competition is forcing organizations to change their forms and the fundamental practices of management which they follow (Bresnen and Fowler 1994). The competitive advantage durability depends on the value of the human resources working in the organization and the intellectual capital they imply to perform their work (Wilkinson 2005, Guthrie and Datta 2008). To have a strong competitive edge in the business market is extremely vital for the firm to succeed otherwise survival of organizations starts to become quite difficult with such extreme competition taking place vigorously. The impact of downsizing is playing a major role in causing a shift in the social, economic, and the competitive organizational structures (McKinley, Sanchez, and Schick 1995). It can be observed that downsizing can strongly impact the competitiveness of organizations. At times downsizing may cause the business to lose their valuable employees and during the downsizing phase, many of the employees that are being retained may become troubled over their sense of job security which in turn may affect their performance greatly. The main purpose of this research is to find out the impact of downsizing; in what ways are the strategies for competitiveness and innovation of an organization affected whence it decides to downsize. This will be achieved by investigating firms that have conducted downsizing. A deeper look will be taken at the aftermaths of downsizing which was faced by these organizations. 2. To find out whether innovative practices of organizations are successful when firms opt for the downsizing process; a basic question is how the innovation model of any firm changes due to downsizing.

Health economics, assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health economics, - Assignment Example This impacts negatively on the poor who have no access to Medicaid or any form of health insurance. 3. a) Indemnity health plans have higher premiums than HMOs due to two reasons: demographics and health status. Indemnity plans have more older enrollees compared to HMOs. Secondly, older people suffering from a terminal illness are more likely to join indemnity than HMO (Altman et al, 2003). Alterman et al (2003) show this by analyzing the data collected from the two health plans. b) The weaknesses of this argument include the assumptions that HMOs negotiate for lower premiums and that they discourage sick people from enrolling with them. It is also taken for granted that HMOs offer lower intensity of treatment. 5. a) Ellis and McGuire make various recommendations on predictability and predictiveness. They state that the problem of rationing could be eliminated by identifying the problematic areas that inhibit complementarity of improving the quality of care. They suggest that payment systems should be designed for plans that attempt to neutralize incentives to ration some services more tightly than others (Ellis & MacGuire, 2007). 6. a) Mortality may decrease during recession because people lead healthier lifestyles during hard economic times than when there is abundance. During recession, unhealthy lifestyles such as excessive smoking and drinking and consumption of junk food go down due to lack of sufficient finances among people. Consequently, mortality rates reduce. c) This is because they have huge macroeconomic effects for groups of people such as heavy smokers and the physically inactive. There are numerous indirect changes, such as changes in sleep that accompany economic fluctuations. Therefore, economic downturns affect much more than just the macroeconomic status of individuals and the country. e) Getting Congress to lobby for the provision of affordable healthcare to all. It would enable people who cannot afford

Personal Sales Letter Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sales Letter - Personal Statement Example The offer will also not incur any training costs and will also minimize the work of your staff. Most of the setup will be done by our company to assure the lower costs of setup. Even if you are not using Jonas or any club system, even then the overall subscription fee will be lower. Fifty percent of your calls will be attended by a technician immediately. The offer will benefit both sides as we want to earn as well as to keep your business going. My experience with your club tells that the management makes the overall work hectic and it also costs a lot to you. The management also frustrates the staff as well. IBS has already replaced other management softwares in about 1400 other clubs among which is the popular medinah country club. IBS is famous for its best support and training. So you also don’t have to worry about training your staff. In addition to that, the software is very easy to understand and it will be running among your staff as they are already familiar with com puterized management before. I am also familiar with the skills that your staff possesses and they will easily cope up with this new environment. To answer any of your queries, I will call you in a few days but please do call me any time if you want to ask anything. Looking forward for your positive response. Regards, Gyda.

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analysis - Essay Example People who work in this type of industry are often linked with issues that deal with deception and public manipulation. The release of information is so quick that it tends to become viral affecting people of all ages. Whatever medium that may be whether it is radio, television or print, finding a market is not at all hard since people are always intrigued with what is happening around the world. Media Companies Media Companies earn money basically through the widespread of information. Almost in every household there is a presence of mass media through its mediums like the television, newspapers, magazines, computers or even cellular phones. Clearly this shows the attachment of the following mediums to the people’s everyday lives. The thing that is common between the media companies and other types of businesses is that they spend money to create or buy products that will eventually let them earn profit. Many people will gain benefit from it including those who are seeking jo bs and hoping to work in media companies. A lot of risks are present when a media company releases something new to the public. There is for example rejection, people’s lack of interests to the advertised product or services, the spreading of the wrong information that may lead to law suits or the issues that might be thrown by the competitors to try to damage the leading companies’ reputation. A lot of controversies are thrown to the media industry, despite of this it continues to prosper. This is certainly because of its main asset which is information. There may be some negative issues but that does not mean that all media companies are up for no good and are just eager to earn. Some companies are committed to give what is due to the public. Top Media Companies in the US and Canada The following are among the top media companies in the United States and Canada, offering products and services such as pay television channels, online and print publications, websites, a dvertisements, and radio programs through its radio stations. There is no question why after all the struggles they have undergone through the years, these companies are now tougher to face new challenges that may come their way. American Media, Inc. American Media Inc. (AMI) is a leading magazine and tabloid newspaper publisher in the US with its Chairman and CEO David Pecker. It reaches up to 54 million of America’s men and woman a month having an over-all circulation of 6.8 million and about 10 million visitors on its online publication with a hundred views per month (â€Å"About Us†). The topics covered by their publications are those that the Americans are obsessed with, mostly on gossips and good health. It also offers sales and marketing services that enable them to have an even distribution of their periodicals on different supermarkets in areas of the US and Canada (â€Å"American Media Inc. Company Profile†). Last November 17, 2010 the company filed fo r Chapter 11 Bankruptcy which according to the United States Court is allowable only to corporations and partnerships who at time of debt, cannot actually pay the creditor due to the small amount of assets that the company owns (â€Å"Reorganization Under the Bankruptcy Code†

Racism as defined by mass media Essay Example for Free

Racism as defined by mass media Essay Oscar H. Gandy Jr. defines racism as, the process of exercising power or seeking to exercise power with regard to people defined by identifying them as a member of a particular race.1 Racism and race stem from the identity one puts onto certain groups of individuals based on their colour. The identity that one forms is acquired from a number of places including parents, religion, school, government and, on todays youth, mainly mass media such as television and music. In this essay one will focus on the influence that mass media has on our identity position of race. It is obvious that all forms of print and electronic media, from news media to books, films, television, radio, and all other forms of media collectively represent our image of ourselves. 2 The focus for the purpose of this essay will be on news media, television and music, being the most influential forms of media, while focusing on the youth of today, being the easiest to influence. News media has great power in influencing how people identify themselves by how they are represented on the. The stereotypes that television has shown, are viewed by many young individuals of colour, and are portraying how their race is viewed upon among society. Music has the greatest influence on young African-Americans, which view their idols as those shown in music videos. Mass media in a collective form, although may represent individuals of colour, influence the viewers of colour, how they should distinguish themselves.3 Mass media reflects what we think we are and influences what we think we should be. Beginning with the news from a nation wide news station to a local newspaper or news program. News media has the ability to stereotype and categorize people of colour, by using words such as minority. Never are minorities not called minorities even when they take up one third of Canadas population. Along with categorizing people of colour with the use of minority, they include words like crime, poverty and others that stereotype people of colour.4 This is viewed by young non-whites, which make them believe that this how things are and how they should be. The media now have the capability to alter our perceptions of ourselves, and change the way we live our lives. Young African-Americans, who view the news and see how their race is being represented, may possibly alter their perceptions of their lives and view themselves as criminals, when the news relates their race to criminal acts. The rarity of recognition a person of colour receives in the scholastic proceedings, is viewed among the youth of today. Of course there must be someone, somewhere of colour, writing or saying something that should be listened to, or producing art that should be seen, heard, approached with intellectual seriousness.5 This failure to recognize individuals of colour will influence youth not to pursue intellectual readings and to learn educational subjects, which are not represented by their race. In Postmodern Blackness by Bell Hooks, its states, This discourse created the idea of the primitive and promoted the notion of an authentic experience, seeing as natural those expressions of black life, which conformed to a pre-existing pattern or stereotype.6 In the news when we see a person of colour committing a crime of some sort, we look at it as being a normal act and this how things are in our society. Whites and non-whites alike look upon the news and make assumptions about how they should act, what their values should be, and how they live their daily lives. The youth of today will be the first generation to come of age in a North America where racial minorities are the numeric majority. The future of diversity will depend upon a childs perception on the position of racial identities. The youth of all races will have to expand their conception of race and race relations in ways their parents never knew. Is it important for children to see people of their own race on television? Children of colour are most likely to think so. Caucasian and African-American children can say they see characters of their race on television while Latino and Asian children are much less likely to see their race represented.7 It is the way they are represented which will affect the influence television will have on children. While some television stations do show diversification in their programming such as OMNI, they are not providing a realistic viewpoint. When a Caucasian character on television is poor, lazy and unintelligent, the show is considered to be comical, such as The Simpsons or Married with Children, and not taken as realistic. Whereas, when they are successful, rich and intellectual, the show is considered to be dramatic and viewed as being realistic. African-American characters are rarely presented as being poor, lazy and unintelligent, but always rich and successful, such as The Cosby Show and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and are always meant to be comical, but never taken seriously or realistically. Shows like these influence African-American children that their race is not taken seriously and are viewed as being humorous. This would affect a young African-Americans thinking is a sense that he is suppose to be a comedian. Many television shows give minority actors, minority roles. Taxi drives in most sitcoms are always non-white, grocery store workers and gas station attendants are always non-white, in shows such as Seinfeld. Although these sitcoms are not suppose to be taken realistic, young individuals of all races are more likely to associate positive characteristics with Caucasian characters and negative characteristics with minority characters. Sitcoms and other television shows have the ability to alter these perceptions, but continue to stereotype minorities. Still focusing upon the children of today, because they have great faith in the medias power and its potential to influence them. Media can teach children that people of their race are important.8 If television had shows, which evenly distributed the role of characters to all races featuring equality and diversification, they can accomplish sending a message of the importance of all races. Children look to the media for role models and imitate their favourite character. From the way they dress, talk, style their hair to following the messages sent by their characters. From the haircuts of the women on Friends to the baggy fashions of the hip-hop scene, the influence of media on todays children can be seen everywhere. Beyond superficial messages about style and appearance, children are getting more formative messages from the media. The characters they admire and the news stories they watch send both subtle and explicit signals about their values, their families and their race.9 This shows the importance of the messages being sent out by mass media and the importance of different characters and the characteristics they portray. Many African-American children will look to African-American characters for idols and will portray them. In The New Cultural Politics of Difference, Cornel West states, The widespread modern European denial of the intelligence, ability, beauty, and character of people of colour puts a tremendous burden on critics and artists of colour to prove themselves in light of norms and models set by White elites whose own heritage devalued and dehumanized them. In short, in the court of criticism and art or any matters regarding the life of the mind people of colour are guilty (i.e., not expected to meet standards of intellectual achievement) until proven innocent (i.e., acceptable to us).10 The image that people of colour are guilty until proven innocent illustrates to young individuals of all colours that because of this, people of colour are not as intellectual as Caucasians. In Postmodern Blackness, Bell Hooks states, It is no accident that rap has usurped the primary position of rhythm and blues music among young black folks as the most desired sound or that it began as a form of testimony for the underclass. It has enabled underclass black youth to develop a critical voice as a group of young black men told me, a common literacy. Rap projects a critical voice, explaining, demanding, urging.11 To all young African-Americans, this message is saying that their only voice, their only outlet, is through entertainment in the way of music. They are not enough African-American writers to allow them to consider an outlet that is scholarly. They feel they have to portray the image that is being sent to them through rappers and musicians alike to dress, talk, walk and act the way these rappers say they do, in drinking, smoking and heading for drugs. Young African-American men that watch rap videos, sports, movies and may see many men of their race in this forms of media, but the image they represent is that if you cannot make it as a rapper, actor or athlete, youll never become wealthy and successful. Rarely are there images on news media about wealthy African-American businessmen unless its criminal; rarely are business shows on television shown where black businessmen are the portrayal of the show. They may be a rarity, but should not be and ought to be discussed in business matters. Looking at music for influences, from Stanford, Kathleen OToole puts in best, Music alters and intensifies their moods, furnishes much of their slang, dominates their conversations and provides the ambiance at their social gatherings. Music styles define the crowds and cliques they run in. Music personalities provide models for how they act and dress.12 This states that music alters our perception of ourselves and what we should be and how we should act. Our identity is affected and changed according to music videos. Rap videos show African-American singers as doing drinking, smoking, having naked women around them and treating them inappropriately and this is how African-American youth thinks they should act, instead musicians need to send an suitable message out to the youth of today. Also, other races will feel that this is how African-Americans act and will treat them accordingly. Many African-American rappers have lyrics, which are against authority and this influences others alike to perceive the same thoughts. Everyone of every race has an identity theyd like to call their own. But this identity is usually not their own and influenced by many sources, especially mass media. From music to television to news media, the influence these have on the children of today is immense. Music, television and news media, collectively with other mass medium, have the ability to alter ones perceptions of oneself and the characteristics of others. Race has always been a touchy subject because of its sensitivity and although I am a person of colour, I may have made some stereotypical comments of both whites and non-whites, but I did so only with the intent of making my point. Mass media reflects what we think we are and influences what we think we should be. Bibliography Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. Im Looking for Me: Childrens Perception of Race and Class in the Media. Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/fammatrs/fm0210e.html (20 Nov. 2003). Gandy, Jr., Oscar H. On Race and the Political Economy of Communication. Art Survival: An Internet Review. Issue 2, Volume 1.http://www.artandsurvival.com/issue2-vol1/dialogue/dialogue_contents.htm (23 Nov. 2003). Hall, Stuart. Cultural Identity and Diaspora. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory. Patrick William Laura Chrisman, eds., Pp. 392-403, (c) Columbia University, 1994. Hooks, Bell. Postmodern Blackness. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, Pp. 23-31, (c) Between the Lines, 1990. Lauder, Matthew. News Media Perpetuation of Racism in a Democratic Society. Cancon: Articles. http://www.canadiancontent.ca/articles/071502mediaracism.html (21 Nov. 2003). OToole, Kathleen. Rock Roll: Does it Influence Teens Behavior? Stanford Report [Online]. 1997. http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/report/news/november12/ teenmusic.html (20 Nov. 2003). Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Children and Race in the Media. Racism: The Public Face. Beyond the News. http://www.thirdway.com/BTN/racism/public/children.asp (21 Nov. 2003). West, Cornel. The New Cultural Politics of Difference. The Cultural Reader. 2nded. Simon during, ed., Pp. 256-267, (c) Routledge, 1999. 1 Gandy, Jr., Oscar H. On Race and the Political Economy of Communication. Art Survival: An Internet Review. Issue 2, Volume 1.http://www.artandsurvival.com/issue2-vol1/dialogue/dialogue_contents.htm (23 Nov. 2003). 2 Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Children and Race in the Media. Racism: The Public Face. Beyond the News. http://www.thirdway.com/BTN/racism/public/children.asp (21 Nov. 2003). 3 Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. Im Looking for Me: Childrens Perception of Race and Class in the Media. Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/fammatrs/fm0210e.html (20 Nov. 2003). 4 Lauder, Matthew. News Media Perpetuation of Racism in a Democratic Society. Cancon: Articles. http://www.canadiancontent.ca/articles/071502mediaracism.html (21 Nov. 2003). 5 Hooks, Bell. Postmodern Blackness. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, Pp. 24, (c) Between the Lines, 1990. 6 Ibid. 26. 7 Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. Im Looking for Me: Childrens Perception of Race and Class in the Media. Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/fammatrs/fm0210e.html (20 Nov. 2003). 8 Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. 9 Ibid 10 West, Cornel. The New Cultural Politics of Difference. The Cultural Reader. 2nded. Simon during, ed., Pp. 256-267, (c) Routledge, 1999. 11 Hooks, Bell. 27. 12 OToole, Kathleen. Rock Roll: Does it Influence Teens Behavior? Stanford Report [Online]. 1997. http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/report/news/november12/ teenmusic.html (20 Nov. 2003).

The Singapore An Aging Population Economics Essay

The Singapore An Aging Population Economics Essay Ageing is the accumulation of physical, physiological and social changes in a person over time. It is a phenomenon that every individual is bound to experience. Therefore, it is only natural for one to hope to live in a society that respects, supports and caters to various needs of the elderly. Today, governments around the world are facing the tough challenge of providing adequate healthcare and housing for the elderly. Due to the possible ineffective allocation of funds or the lack of concern for its elderly citizens by the government, there is a possibility that a large proportion of the aged are neglected and are left scrounging for basic necessities while struggling with myriad health issues associated with age. Singapore currently has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. However, it also has an extremely low birth rate and an appallingly high rate of ageing. Approximately 10% of the population of 5 million is aged over 65. This figure will increase to about 25% by the year 2020. With such shocking statistics, many questions come to mind. A young man may worry about how he will find the means to support his elderly parents as well as his own family.   A woman close to retirement may be concerned about her future and wonder whether she would have to perform menial jobs to make ends meet. It is the duty of any government to give priority to the needs and demands of its citizens and take steps to address them. Thus, Singapores Government has to formulate policies that address the possible problems of an aging population and take preventive measures to counter the same. Stakeholders Involved Before attempting to solve the problems of Singapores aging population, it is critical to identify the stakeholders involved. By studying the effects of an ageing population on these stakeholders, the potentially negative effects of this issue can be mitigated, and future problems can be anticipated. Especially with the ever-changing social demographics and economic conditions, the inter-connectedness of the pressure which an aging population would exert on our country as a whole should not be underestimated, especially during the phase when identified secondary social stakeholders transit to primary social stakeholders. Primary stakeholders include: 1) Senior citizens Senior citizens are the very group of people to experience the most impact as their well-being is at stake. General concerns for these group of stakeholders include: Would the future generations be able to support the increasing proportion of senior citizens? Are infrastructure and public services elderly-friendly? Will the Singapore Government introduce more schemes and policies aimed at improving the situation? 2) Working Singaporeans As an ageing population increases demand for healthcare and other services, the financial pressure on Singaporeans rises too as the taxes they contribute to support these services increases. This decreases the income they bring home and directly affects their spending power. 3) Singapore Government With a shrinking workforce, a drop in the economic growth rate is inevitable. The government is responsible for the introduction of suitable policies to contain the situation. Besides, the government has to ensure that Singaporeans adopt an optimistic view on the matter and create nation-wide awareness on the impacts of an ageing population. Secondary stakeholders include: 1) Future generations Currently, the implications of an ageing population have yet to fully present themselves and the Singapore Government is absorbing most of the effects at current situation. However, if statistical studies prove right and the proportion of senior citizens to working Singaporeans increases, the effects would be more severe and Singaporeans would have to share the burden of supporting the ageing population in later years. Therefore, our future generations will also face the same negative effects of the ageing population that current Singaporeans face. 2) Businesses As Singapores population is growing older, there will be a relatively fewer number of people in the working sector. Businesses and organisations will be affected by the lack of young and skilled workers. As a result, additional funds may have to be spent on trainings to help the older workers master new skills. Furthermore, due to higher taxes burden on households,   purchasing power of individuals will decrease significantly. This will eventually affect the growth of businesses. The secondary stakeholders neither directly affected nor involved in the problem. Future generations have yet to be affected by the problem of ageing. When the situation worsens in future, our descendants will have to support their elders and will also be affected by higher taxes. They will subsequently become primary stakeholders. As we can see, large sections of the society are affected by this issue and will continue to be affected by the continuous increase of ageing population. Hence, immediate steps have to be taken in order to minimize the damages caused by this issue. Figure 1 (insert) The Implications Of An Aging Population Singapore has one of the highest proportions of elderly citizens in the world, and second only to Japan in South East Asia. (Suan Ee Ong, 2010). http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/sif2012.pdf 1. Society The Declining Standards of an Individuals Health Research suggests that as individuals age, they are increasingly prone to numerous health risks. The risk of malnutrition heightens with age with 3 in 10 elderly at high risk. (http://www.asicluster3.com/blog_self/index.php?page=viewentryid=133)   As a person ages, problems like diabetes or parkinsons sets in, along with dietary restrictions. One can also expect an overall deteriorating quality of physical health. For instance, psychomotor skills deteriorate, resulting in stifled physical independence.   Osteoporosis, a disease in which causes the bones to become less dense affects large numbers of our elderly. Additionally, mental health starts deteriorating with the onset of illnesses like dementia and depression. As one ages, quality of health will undoubtedly follows a downward trend. Coupled with an increasing number of citizens aged 65 and above. this leads to a decrease in the standard of health over a period of time. This would in turn give rise to new industries and businesses revolving around health care, with niche specialisations in care for the aged. It is important for the society   to provide services that target the aged. Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that not all of   the aged will be in need of health care services if society helped them lead an active lifestyle. Therefore, the population growth forecasted in future years, urban economic countries will lack the appeal to attract immigrants. (Kresl, Peter Karl Letri, Daniele (2010)) Being a small country with low birth rate, Singapore may face some challenges in attracting foreign talent to our city in future. Therefore, our society may face difficulties in employing a sufficiently skilled workforce to maximise output. Effects On Future Generations As the population ages, there will be an increasing demand for goods and services in the healthcare sector. A governments duty is to serve its people, and society as a whole would expect basic health care services to be provided. Consequently, there will be   increased pressure on the government to provide for health care. Monetary costs would be incurred and would be passed on to society in the form of increased taxes. With the dismal birth rates we see today (1.22 births per woman in 2011, down from 1.83 in 1990), tax burdens on future generations (who will then become primary social stakeholders) will only increase as time goes by. (Department of Statistics Singapore. (2012)) There is an inverse relationship between the dependency ratio (percentage of the population who are too old or too young to work) and birth rate of a country. Naturally, an increasing dependency ratio can be attributed   to a declining birth rate.   If the birth rate continues to stagnate or drop, the dependency ratio would only increase at a faster rate in the future. This translates into a heavier burden on the working population to maintain economic growth and to provide for dependent citizens. The Reverence of The Silver Generation to Society It is evident that the elderly exert a major influence on our social fabric. They carry with them the cultures, traditions and values that make our country what it is today. The hard work and time that they put in to raise educated, motivated and refined citizens of this generation is the reason why our country has reached this level of success. As the saying goes, with time comes wisdom. Therefore, the silver generation is much revered, and as per asian cultures, due respect and care should be given to them. As the elderly before us have served the country by contributing to it in various aspects, Singapores government should have a sense of filial piety to them. Since the government is a primary social stakeholder involved in the issue of an ageing population, it has introduced many government initiatives to solve arising problems. Summing Up To handle the implications of an aging population, we should seek to improve elderly standards of living and encourage them to contribute to society even at an age past retirement. The government should also take up initiatives to help senior citizens fit in and continue to be part of the workforce even at a ripe old age. 2. Businesses Due to the rapid growth of an ageing population, there are certain issues that may arise. Productivity Issues In Organisations A large proportion of senior citizens in a population indicates a decline in size of a productive workforce.   According to the UNs latest biennial population forecast, the median age for all countries will rise from 29 to 38 years by 2050. (SOURCE) We may safely assume that the dependency ratio will increase dramatically over the next few decades. Organizations looking to expand productivity would be reluctant to hire older workers. Those following a profit maximising model opine that it would be more cost efficient to hire younger workers due to their higher productivity. Additionally, during periods of recession, more often than not, older workers are among the top few in the retrenchment list. However, this contrasts   the fact that older workers bring with them a plethora of experience and wisdom, which can only be gained over time.   Despite cost inefficiency, it is unfair to be against the notion of hiring of older workers. Singapores government foresaw these issues and implemented new legislations to curb age discrimination at the workplace. As of 1 Jan 2012, under the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA), the statutory retirement age was set at 62, and companies have to offer re-employment contracts to workers up to the age of 65. http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/employment-rights-conditions/retirement/Pages/retirement.aspx With these new initiatives, it can be seen that the government is indirectly engaging all business organisations through legislation. These businesses, which were once secondary social stakeholders, are now evolving into primary social stakeholders in this issue of an aging population. Increase In Demand For Health Care   Elderly-Specific Facilities Many countries, including Singapore, have been working towards providing better care, not just in clinics and hospitals, but also within the community and at home. To enhance accessibility for the elderly, the government has taken up many initiatives and projects to improve   living conditions for the elderly. For example, the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme implemented by Singapore government introduced slip-resistant bathrooms and even installed grab bars within flats. Other projects include life upgradation, building   of   barrier-free features such as ramps and the levelling of steps . In order to provide a more accessible healthcare services, the Singapore government has given more emphasis on home and community-based services, which include the expansion of social rehabilitative care places . More subsidies have also been introduced to support the poor and those from middle-income families.    The growing ageing   population has resulted in the growing demand for facilities and the expansion of subsidies which is putting great pressure on government. Government spending on health care is estimated to increase even further in the future   as more money is required to support new initiatives and expansion of the existing initiatives. There is also a need to hire more health professionals, for which more resources and funds are required. As a result, the allocation of the budget towards healthcare is expected to rise as related spending would increase to about twice by 2030. http://www.asiaone.com/Business/News/My+Money/Story/A1Story20080627-73309.html 3. Government Government policies not only have a positive impact on the lives of the elderly, but may also have a negative impact on businesses. Business owners may feel restricted by such employment policies and may decide to move out of Singapore. They may also stop supporting the government in the elections . The government relies heavily on taxes from small and large businesses for its sources of revenue. If these businesses were to change location or move out of Singapore due to restrictive policies, revenues would fall. A drop in revenue would mean that the government has less to spend on other facilities for its people. Furthermore, relocation of businesses would result in widespread loss of local jobs. The result is a higher dependency ratio, higher unemployment rate, less revenue for the government and the slowing down of the economy. Thus, the government should ensure that any policy related to ageing does not anger or upset the sentiments of various businesses and should keep in mind what is at stake. Summing Up Let us consider the repercussive chain of effects of aging population. Firstly the number of people in the workforce would drop, with a corresponding increase in the dependency ratio. This translates into a drop in output /productivity of individual businesses and the economy as a whole. As Singapores GDP is very dependant on both our import/export sectors and consumerism this could cause Singapores economy to go into a slowdown. One might argue that there would be an increase in the growth due to the consumption of more healthcare. However the drops in productivity would be greater than the increase in consumption of healthcare. Eventually, there will be an increased burden on the current workforce to maintain economic growth. Finally, if nothing is done, a vicious cycle commences, and future generations would find it increasingly difficult to provide for the previous generations and support the economy. (Picture Singapores indicator of ageing) Actions Taken By Singapores Government Singapores government recognises that the increase in the ageing population will lead to several consequences that will affect all sections of society, as well as the economy of the country. Hence, in order to support the older population, the government has put in place various policies and introduced new   schemes. In 2004, the government set up the Committee on Aging Issues. This committee comprised of   private and government representatives who came together to discuss issues related to ageing.   The recommendations for solutions related to these issues were presented in a report and were passed for implementation. They aimed at enhancing employability, improving healthcare facilities, promoting active lifestyles and financial independence. The government also aims at establishing concrete facts about our population and conducts frequent surveys to gauge the physical and mental health of seniors. It also identifies areas to improve the wellbeing of its citizens. (Reference: http://app1.mcys.gov.sg/Portals/0/Topic/Issues/EDGD/Brief%20on%20Ageing%20Population%20(Public).pdf) 1. Housing As seen from Figure 1 (Singapore: Indicators of Ageing), the proportion of Singaporeans aged 65 and above will significantly rise in the coming years. Hence, there is a need for the government to introduce schemes that provide adequate housing that caters to the needs of elderly such as their health, mobility and security, which is of utmost importance. Some schemes that the government introduced were the Multi-Generation Flats in 1987 and Granny Flats in 1991. However, they were not very well received. A more successful initiative was the implementation of Project LIFE ( Lift Improvement and Facilities Enhancement for Elderly). (Reference: http://asiaforum.tsaofoundation.org/pdfDownloads/Day1/D1_plenary/plenarySession_1/Housing%20developments%20for%20ageing%20population%20in%20Spore%20-%20yap%20chin%20beng.pdf) This proposal aims at creating lifts in Housing Development Board (HDB) flats so that every floor is serviced, for the convenience of the elderly and the handicapped. The government expects complete adoption of this plan in all HDB flats by 2014. In addition, integrated studio apartments were also incorporated into each housing block and came with spaces for social and communal gatherings. In the year 2011, the government introduced the idea of barrier-free housing environments which involved the building of handicap ramps and pathways to facilitate easy movement of wheelchairs. Therefore, continuous modification of housing landscapes aims at meeting the needs of citizens and to provide a comfortable shelter for each and every senior citizen. 2. Transport Public transport has also seen improvements and is somewhat more elder-friendly. In 2006, MRT stations were modified and made barrier free. Today, approximately forty percent of our buses are wheelchair accessible. 3. Encouraging re-employment Due to the negative impacts of ageing population on the workforce productivity, the government has seen the importance to tackle on this problem so as to sustain economic growth. Hence, the 2005 appointment of a Tripartite Committee (government, employers and trade union) on Employability of Older Workers by the Minister for Manpower addressed the issue by implementing several measures (Thang, L. (2011)). One of the measures is the the enactment of Retirement and Re-Employment Act (RRA) which was put into effect on 1 Jan 2012. The Tripartite Committee formed the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup to help employers carry out this initiative. In October 2007, the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup formed by the Tripartite Committee was to assist companies in the implementation of the re-employment measures. In order to further encourage the implementation of re-employment schemes for older workers, companies were given financial support of up to $400,000 for policies that were placed in line with the re-employment legislation. Workforce Development Agency also subsidized the re-training programmes that were put in place by employers. in addition, Continuing Education and Training (CET) master plan was launched in 2008 by the Ministry of Manpower to provide trainings for employees so that they will be equipped with skills that keep up with the pace of the fast-growing industries. While the government attempts to encourage re-employment of older workers, they have to ensure that younger employees and employers are willing to accept them. This is because older workers are generally perceived as unproductive and inflexible. Hence, measures have been put in place foster an age-friendly working environment. This is done by introducing national awards to acknowledge companies with the most progressive and unbiased practices. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) has also put in place many guidelines to advocate on fairness and to discourage discrimination of the old-aged employees. (Thang, L. (2011)) Hence, by encouraging the older employees to continue working, and   by changing mindsets to accept older workers, Singapores workforce and output can be maintained at the current level of integrity. The Tripartite Implementation Workgroup was a relative success as by February 2009, 706 unionized companies have committed to re employment while 4650 workers over age 62 were re-employed by the end of 2008. (Thang, L. (2011)) 4. Ensuring financial stability for the aged Due to the decreasing fertility rate in Singapore, there will be a heavier financial burden on the future generations, and it is possible that the older generation may not be financially independent. The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme was introduced in 2007 to ensure that Singaporeans will have sufficient savings for their retirement. This scheme encourages the older workers who are earning low-paying salary to continue working so that they can accumulate more CPF savings.   In order to supplement higher take-home pay and reduced CPF rates, the Government began to give elderly workers part of the WIS in cash so that they can afford for their basic needs. (Reference:http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Gen-Info/Workfare.html) Furthermore, due to the increase in life expectancy, the government plans to increase the Minimum Sum Draw-Down age from 62 to 65 by the year 2018. There were also plans to introduce a longevity insurance scheme. This will ensure that CPF members can be assured of a basic income as long as they live. (Reference:http://app1.mcys.gov.sg/Portals/0/Summary/pressroom/03-2008.pdf) 5. Healthcare In face of the current trend that can be observed in Singapore, it is essential that healthcare services are improved to cater to the needs of the older population. Thus, the Ministry of Health introduced a Chronic Disease Management Programme which empowered physicians to adopt a holistic approach in the treatment of diseases. Furthermore, the ElderShield Scheme for the disabled was enhanced in 2007 to help increase affordability of medical services by paying $400 per month for up to 6 years. There was a 60% improvement from the previous scheme.    http://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/costs_and_financing/schemes_subsidies/ElderShield.html In addition, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) are also conducting   a review of eldercare services aimed at bettering facilities such as daycare centres, rehabilitation centres and home help services . The concept of active ageing was developed by the European Commission in 2002. It brings forward the idea of higher retirement age and longer period of activity in the workforce. It has been proven that leading an active and directional life improves the overall well-being of an individual and helps keep illnesses and diseases at bay. Active ageing was introduced by the Singapore government in order to ensure self sufficiency of citizens after retirement. It established the Council for Third Age(C3A) in May 2007 to promote active ageing and fund community-based events related to active ageing. In addition, due to the increase in degenerative diseases that require expensive treatment, the concept of active ageing is gaining more importance. It is said that the cost of treatment for the older generation will cost two to three times more than that needed for the younger population. (Reference: http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20071031-33327.html) What Does the Future Hold? Our population is ageing at a rate faster than in countries such as Australia, South Korea, UK and the USA. (ref first article in dropbox) . The number of citizens aged 65 and above will show a sevenfold increase by the year 2050. So what does this mean for our future? Firstly, our country will be more prone to external invasion. Presence of an ageing population is an indicator that our defense is weakening. We will have fewer young people to fill the ranks of the army, and fewer physically fit citizens to defend us in times of need. Our future and survival will be threatened. Secondly, economic growth will slow down. Singapore will no longer be seen as a hub of young, talented and competitive individuals by global MNCs. They may no longer want to invest and set up their offices here. Furthermore, with fewer individuals to pay income taxes, the government will have less money to spend on healthcare, infrastructure,etc. As a result, taxes will increase, leaving people less to spend on themselves and their family. The demand for healthcare services will rise, but will not be sufficiently subsidised by a government which does not have enough resources. Singapore is at the brink of entering a vicious cycle . If immediate short-term and long-term measures are not taken, we are bound to find ourselves moving backwards and reaching a rate of growth similar to what we had many decades ago. Our recommendations 1. Enhancing senior citizens value in the organization through empowerment In line with the re-employment policies the government has in place, we suggest that organizations create appointments and titles specially aimed at empowering senior citizens. They should ensure that   these creations are aligned with the capabilities of these senior citizens. Likewise, existing positions should   be modified according to their capabilities. The purpose of this   is to enhance their value and well-being in the workplace where they are often regarded as liabilities more than assets. With such initiatives, senior citizens will be able to perform better, with more flexibility and recognition within the organization. This also widens the operating structure of organizations, allowing for more variety of specialization. At the same time, organizations could tap into their experience and expertise, especially for crisis management and advisory roles. Even within the Singapore Cabinet, forefather Lee Kuan Yew is still actively involved in local politics at the age of 89 and the titles Minister Mentor and Senior Minister were specially created to continuously empower him. 2. Continuous active promotion of healthy aging from small communities Presently, Senior Citizens Executive Committees (SCECs) under the Peoples Association (PA), the largest senior citizens network in Singapore, organizes a wide variety of activities and courses aimed at enhancing senior citizens life experiences. They are usually conducted at a national level, and seldom reach out to the smaller communities. The government could engage Resident Committees (RCs) and Community Centres (CCs) in neighbourhoods to aid in promoting healthy aging. Subsidised or sponsored activities could be one alternative to attract senior citizens to actively exercise healthy aging. Constant awareness can be achieved through newsletters and pamphlets mailed to letterboxes. 3. Strengthening family ties It is important for our society to realise the value and importance of senior citizens. They should not be viewed as burdens; instead they should be seen as extraordinary citizens who brought us as well as our country to the position we are in today. Hence, it is expected that we, the younger generation, give them the deserved care and respect without any ulterior motive in mind. We feel that the indoctrination of these strong values should begin at a young age.   Special programmes should be introduced into schools in order to promote togetherness within the family. Children should be educated about the importance of elders in society and should be taught to always show them respect and kindness. The media can also play a role an important in this process by occasionally publishing articles that portray the elderly in a good light.

Comparison Of Civilian And Military Police Criminology Essay

Comparison Of Civilian And Military Police Criminology Essay In the society we live in today it would be hard to imagine the world without police. The police give our societies the structure they need to function properly and continue to grow. There have been many forms of police throughout time dating back to the ancient world in China. The first known or documented style of governments using police took place in China thousands of years ago. Before police existed it was impossible for societies to grow and function properly. Ancient world governments had no way of ruling the people without some type of law enforcement agency to keep the people in order. Thomas Hobbes, who was a philosopher back in the sixteen hundreds, had a belief that all people were born evil (Williams, 2006). He felt that when humans were born they were greedy and selfish. Although this belief has been argued and disputed for centuries the basis of his belief makes you wonder. Humans are considered animals, we belong to the animal kingdom and although show many different and improved traits than most, we are in fact animals. Now, knowing that and seeing how other animals act in the wild without organization and enforcement it makes you understand where he was coming from. It is not that we are evil; it is just that we are born without the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong and need to be taught at very young ages the difference between the two. Along with knowing the difference between what is right and what is wrong; what also helps us understand and differentiate between good and bad is punishment. Without the reinforcement and threat of punishment it would be difficult to remain good in societys eyes. The police provide societies with the threat of punishment for violating the laws set by the government. They also have the ability to enforce laws and protect the general public from harm. In the ancient world the governments were finding it hard to rule large amounts of people without having some style of enforcement over them. In Ancient Greece, police were used mainly for crowd control which could often cause situations to escalate out of hand. Another thing unique about the ancient times is that normally the civilian populous was responsible for policing themselves. In small communities and societies the population could operate with little or no police, relying mainly on the citizens policing themselves. However, when dealing with large societies that cover vast amounts of land this method would result in nothing but disaster. As times went on police began taking on more tasks within society. Over hundreds of years of trial and error the policing system made it way to the United States. At the time the United States was a newly settled and uprising country which needed some type of enforcement to keep it on the right track. The original United States system of pol icing was adopted from the British form. This form of policing laid the framework for the next two hundred years for our country to improve our police structure and organization. The police organizational structure is broken down in seven elements. According to Mintzberg, an organizational structure can be defined simply the sum total of ways in which an organization divides its labor into distinct tasks and then achieves coordination among them (Mintzberg, 1979). When looking at the big picture of a police department there is an overall goal that needs to be accomplished. This goal is divided into a mission statement of what the departments overall goal is. From that overall mission statement the department can determine what needs to be done to accomplish it. After determining the subtasks to be accomplished the department can divide its labor force amongst the tasks to meet the requirement. Now once the plans have been set the department can work towards reaching its goals together. The seven specific elements of law enforcement organizational structure include: functional differentiation, occupational differentiation, spatial differentiation, vertical dif ferentiation, centralization, formalization and administrative intensity. According to Peak the first four elements are methods of dividing labor. The first element is functional differentiation which is having multiple functions within to deal with different issues. Having functional differentiation within a police structure to properly distribute their officers amongst areas where they are needed. It also allows for officers to focus on just what is important to the overall goals by not having to be experts in all areas. The second element is occupational differentiation which is overall how a police structure divides its job titles throughout to the employees. Through proper occupational differentiation a police organization will not have to rely on specifically trained personnel to accomplish other tasks. In most civilian departments there are sergeants responsible for their shifts workers (Dempsey Forst, 2010). The military works almost the same way with senior non commissioned officers being in charge for their respective shift of days or nights. Th e third element is spatial differentiation which would be how widely spread an organization is. Spatial the word refers to occupying space which applies to this element when dealing with physically spreading the organization. Spatial differentiation is not as required in small organizations but in large organizations it is required. When dealing with large areas with many personnel and vast areas of jurisdiction spatial differentiation allows organizations to spread out to meet mission requirements throughout the whole area more efficiently. The fourth element that deals with dividing labor throughout the organization is vertical differentiation. Vertical differentiation deals with chains of command within police organizations. One role that all police officers must perform is leadership. Police officers are taught early in training academies about proper use of the chain of command. When dealing with large organizations the chain of command can become fairly large. It is important for personnel to known their specific chain of command and how to properly use it. Proper use of the chain on command can allow issues to be resolved at the lowest level possible to allow higher tier personnel in chain of command to deal with more important issues (Dantzker, 1999). Going outside the chain of command can cause many problems to moral and overall status of an organization and should be avoided at all times if possible. The fifth element of police structure takes on a different approach to organization. Instead of dealing with dividing labor, centralization is how much control in the decision making process the personnel has. In many smaller police departments the higher tier leadership has say in majority of decision making. Some larger departments allow their personnel to have autonomy to make decisions on their own, and are considered less centralized. Formalization is the sixth element of police structure and is the extent laws and guidelines are enforced on employees. There are many laws that can limit how effective the police departments are, using formalization the amount of laws enforced on a department can be increased and allow them to become more efficient. The last element is administrative intensity which is how proportionate personnel are spaced between the admin and operational sides of a department. Organizations with high levels of administrative intensity are often thought of as be ing more bureaucratic (Peak, 2010). In a bureaucratic organization laws and regulations come from leadership within the department and often become very top heavy. Once a department has its seven elements of organization and structure we can look at the basic police organizational structure. The Chief of Police is at the top of the structure and chain of command. Police Chiefs are not elected like Sheriffs but municipal employees who serve the city. The Chief has many duties and responsibilities such as setting the departments mission and keeping it achievable. They must oversee all operations and keep improving and developing its departments personnel and equipment. Below the Chief the basic structure divides into two branches, the first being the Operations side and the other being Services. Within the Operations branch you will find patrol officers, investigations and youth activities sub divisions. Operations also deals with training personnel to effective achieve the mission set by the Chief. The Services branch of a department deals with staff services such as budget management, fiscal year planning, manning and personnel issues. Although both branches are equally important quiet often more emphasis is placed on the operations branch due to it being more in the publics eye than the services support branch. The civilian basic organizational structure is very similar to the militarys basic police organization. Within the civilian organization below the Chief are Captains, Lieutenants, and Sergeants much like the military model where each rank has their own duties and responsibilities (Dantzker, 1999). I will now take a look at the comparison of civilian police and military police organizational structures and how the seven elements apply. In the typical military police structure there is the equivalent of the police chief. In the military they are referred to as Chief, Security Forces (CSF). Their job is to provide leadership and direction to all personnel within the organization. They set the mission of the unit and ensure it is achievable just like the police chief. Beneath the CSF there are three main branches, unlike the civilian structure of two. The first branch is operations which deal with investigations, confinement, installation security and patrols. Within the operations branch many more sub divisions can be created much like the civilian structure to deal with mission specific issues and specialties like canine teams and special reaction teams. The second branch is administrative which deals with information security, staff services and reports and analysis. The third branch in the military structure is resources and training. This branch was included in the civilian police branch of operations. Within this branch supplies, equipment, deployments and training are covered. The military structure works with normally more personnel and divides its labor among more groups to allow them to focus on single objectives rather than multiple tasks which falls under the occupational differentiation element of organization. The military utilizes vertical differentiation through having a clearly defined chain of command. Although it seems sometimes like you have almost too many people above you in the chain it is built that way for a reason. The military focuses greatly on proper use of the chain of command to deal with issues at the lowest level possible with having to involve the higher tier with resolvable issues. Military structures are not as spatially differentiated as civilian departments due to the lack of physical occupation. Most military bases are limited and space and jurisdiction is limited to base perimeter. Some military bases like those in Korea have off base patrols in coordination with local government but their jurisdiction is limited. Vertical differentiation is very broad in the military structure allowing for members to remain focused on their specialty but also allows for them to move around within the structures when they have mastered one area. It can be presumed that the military structure was based on the civilian police structure but has been slightly modified to better accomplish the mission. Many military personnel who worked police duties normally have later in their careers made the switch to civilian police departments. I will now talk about how the basics of structure can assist and hinder them as they make the switch. The military police structure and training can serve as a great basis for members to make an easier transition to the civilian police departments. Many military members join and volunteer to become security police with the goal of someday returning home and working for their local police departments. With this goal in the back of their mind they can focus on learning the basics of police duties and get a feel for how working in a civilian department would be. The military police structure is based on the civilian equivalent, therefore very similar in many ways. Working under one overall boss, either the Chief of Police or Chief, Security Forces allows officers to learn how one persons objective and mission goals can be accomplished by many personnel working together. Military police perform as law enforcement to military members who do not obey laws and often include a criminal investigations division much like the civilian departments (Green, 2000). All military branches have a form of military police. The US Army and Marines have Military Police, the US Air Force has Security Forces and the US Navy has Masters at Arms. All the above listed allow for their respective branch to have enforcement of laws and regulations on their installations. The military training for their police is very similar to the civilian equivalent. Basic training such as self-defense, weapon employment, hand-cuffing, personnel searches and dealing with the public are almost identical to that of civilian police academy training. The basic principles and training provided to military police can greatly assist them if they decide to become civilian police but there are also areas where it may hinder them. Military personnel are more strictly limited to what laws they can enforce. Military personnel are very rarely allowed to enforce laws on civilians. Based on Title 18, United States Code, when civilian personnel commit crimes on military installations military police are allowed to detain the suspect but not arrest them. Rules like these in my eyes can help and hurt their police officer abilities. I can see these rules if followed as a show of restraint which is an important characteristic for a law enforcement agent. The ability to not abuse their authority could help younger patrol officers learn when to use their position and when not to. Rules and limits on who military police can and cannot apprehend could harm them if they transition to civilian police duties by them not having enough experience in dealing with civilians. Anyone who has served in the military can normally look at a group of people and pick out the military members from the civilians. There are distinct traits a nd characteristics that can help identify who is in the military. The same traits and characteristics apply to personnel being detained or apprehended. Military members are more likely to comply with military police as civilian suspects are more likely to be resistant to comply with military police. Military members often do not normally deal with high stress situations as much as civilian police do. The military police organizations have created subdivisions to deal with serious crimes and situations such as Air Force Office of Special Investigation, Investigations, and Special Reaction Teams. With that being the case, normally military police have very limited experience with high stress situations. This could diffidently hinder them when making the switch to a civilian police career field. In todays military more and more duties formerly performed by military members and being passed over to civilians. The first duty to be passed off was working the gate or entry control point. L ittle by little just about every base has passed these duties off to civilians. A minor task like working the gate gave young military police experience with dealing with the public and traffic control. More recently the military has begun to pass off duties like on base patrols to civilian contractors. This giving away of duties again can hinder military police. Patrolling the base was maybe the most similar duty performed by civilian police departments. Now that this job has been eliminated from the militaries duties it can again diffidently hinder the military polices experience when dealing with the public, maintaining order, enforcing laws and attention to duty. In my eyes, former military police can make very good civilian police officers. They have the ability to be trained, they have basic understanding of the organization and structure due to them being very similar. They have basic understanding of duties and responsibilities and although limited in experience, most police careers you learn more through job experience than training.