Digital Image Creation for Interactive Media Assignment

Digital Image Creation for Interactive Media - Assignment Example color, gradients, layers, object, brushes, history, actions, size, resolution; layers, e.g. copying, saving, arranging; flattening; colour selection, e.g. foreground, background, color swatch, eyedropper Advanced tools: effects, e.g. layer effects, filters, channels; image adjustments, e.g. brightness and contrast, hue and saturation, color balance, gradients, transparency, invert; masks; paths, e.g. vector paths, converting text to paths; image slicing 2. To publish gave a name to City Guide Monthly type. The Publication Name is not the same as the Name of the Folio. The Folio Name was visible on web client of Folio producer and Name of publication then was visible on the viewer. 4. Selected the (the Link URL found in the menu, and put address in the field of URL previously used). The URL was http://www.bikeworks.org/. I then deselected the Shared Hyperlink Destination. Selected OK. (Ayoub) 5. In the panel of Folio Builder, clicked twice on the Layout of the Landscape to see the document of Enjoy_h.indd. I copied and pasted object of the hyperlink from the vertical file (‘Enjoy-v.indd’) file to the horizontal file (‘Enjoy_h.indd file’) (Ayoub). I then shifted this object to the log of â€Å"D.I.Y. Meet† . 1. In the horizontal file, selected the File > Place, browsed the CityGuide_Folio > Enjoy Article > Folder links, and clicked twice on the image â€Å"cycling_432x234.mpg† (Ayoub) and shifted this movie file in the right most corner. 2. On the panel of the Media (Window > Interactive > Media), select Chose Poster pop-up menu image. Clicked twice on the Folio of City Guide image â€Å"cyclist.jpg† so that Enjoy Article > Links folder† (Ayoub) In conclusion, the creation of this interactive media was a success as the result was what was expected. The various tools employed in graphics design were applied in the right manner to give the intended

Nationalisation of Royal Bank of Scotland

Nationalisation of Royal Bank of Scotland Purpose The purpose of this report is to discuss the change in Royal Bank of Scotland indicated by the companys nationalization in 2008. Shareholders lost the most part of the company in favour of the government and management of the bank had to be changed. The purpose will be fulfilled by analyzing the process of nationalization and its implications for RBS. Theoretical literature provides a lot of models of change management and strategic management. For example, Ansoff (1987) model suggests four quadrants of strategy. Companies can grow by penetrating the market and winning larger market share while competitors share will shrink. Firms can also develop their key products which are their strength and this will be a strategy for expansion. The third Ansoffs (1987) strategy would be to diversify the products and operations to achieve growth. Finally, the company can choose to pursue market development which is entering new geographical areas or new niches that will help generate higher revenue. The case of RBS represents this final model of market development. The banks pursued the new market of mortgage backed securities in the US through acquisition of ABN Amro. This strategy appeared to be unsuccessful and led the bank into a position where accounting losses reached tremendous value of over 30 billion pounds in 2008 and led to national ization of the bank by the UK government. Company Overview Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc is a banking corporation with its branch Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) that is spread around United Kingdom with almost 700 sub-branches, located in Scotland, England and Wales and is one of the largest banks in UK. It was founded in 1727 and is the first bank introducing overdraft availability to its clients. Since its foundation, RBS expanded greatly, with big number of acquisition deals, such as its acquisition of NatWest Group in 2000, First Active (Ireland), Charter One (USA) , Churchill Insurance (UK) and ABN Amro (Netherlands) in 2007 (House of Commons Treasury Committee, 2008). The Royal Bank of Scotland still uses a privilege of printing its own banknotes. Until 2009, it was one of the main shareholders of the Bank of China, but had to sell its shares after the global financial crisis impact. RSB is still in the list of worlds largest banks, being on 6th position in 2003, 10th in 2007 and 19th in 2008 (Financial Ranks Online, 2009). Financial performance of RBS was changing in the last years. In 2005 group operating profit rose by 16%, with total dividend for the year increase by 25%, with capital and earnings increase. During 2006, RBS showed great results and continuing growth, with increased dividends by 25% with total income growth by 10%. With unstable position in the market and in global financial system, RBS had some problems, but managers were working toward control of the situation, however growth of the operating profit decreased by 9%, earnings per share by 18% and return on equity 19.9%. The company faced big net losses of around 7.9 billion pounds. In the 2009 bank entered hard times with reorganization in management field and in structure. (RBS Annual Report, 2005-2009). Due to changing situation in the global economy, in 2008 Royal Bank of Scotland announced its greatest loss in the banks history with the amount of 692 million pounds that was connected to unhealthy loans and 71 billion pounds as a result of incorrect deal of acquiring ABN Amro (Bradley, 2009). Prior to the global financial crisis RBS have had great profit margins and was a respected brand with long history. And it is necessary to mention that the bank was at great position in terms of facing crisis, with little impact until the decision of getting ABN Amro, which brought various problems. In 2008-2009 UK citizens were under shock of the fact that one of the largest UK banking system representatives had incredible losses and unpredictable future. At this position RBS had one way to survive seek government support. However not all UK banks suffered from consequences of global financial crisis, which can be connected with accurate and carefully planned management strategy. RBS have got some capital of about 2 billion pounds from selling its share in Bank of China and after giving up part of Linea Directa, a Spanish insurance company for about 4.5 billion pounds. However, it did not help to make a radical change of the situation (Bradley, 2009). According to Hester, current Chief Executive of the RBS Group (2009), great losses of the Group had nothing to do with management of businesses as their performance was profitable. However problems appeared mainly in two divisions Global Banking Markets and Asia Retail Commercial Banking. Their profits were crushed by market and credit losses, within fast changes in the economic conditions. At the same time top managers of the Royal Bank of Scotland were facing risks of acquisition and had limited time to make decisions. Global financial crisis had its impact in different countries, affecting economies and markets especially in terms of exchange rates. Here, decrease in sterling exchange rate had an influence on further performance of the bank and changing market position intensified the situation (Hester, 2009). In spite of the fact that financial situation became critical for many banks, RBS was still having serious and stable business. Top management was taking steps to recover from crisis consequences, in order to return capital and provide stable ground for future operation such steps included applying to government support. The strategic plan for recovery was supposed to be finished in 2009, meanwhile the focus is on long-term customer franchises, quality and profitability. Royal Bank of Scotland can be an example of the fact that in terms of global financial crisis even big and powerful organisations can face danger. It is the biggest UK company that suffered from the global economic crash. Today it is still far from recovery, having bad loans and loss before tax in the beginning of 2009 was around 44 million pounds. From the forecasts, 2009 and 2010 will still be challenging for the RBS with main focus on debt returns. Now, after current management revision, directors of RBS are more confident of future recovery and success (The Telegraph, May 2009). New Chief Executive supports the position that management must stay calm and take steps for a slow but effective recovery, rather than fast and wasting strategies in order to save more that to spend (Murchie, 2009). However, human resource management of the bank is not so confident and planning to shorten around 9000 jobs, which is about 20%. It is believed that this action will help to decrease costs of around 3 billion dollars (Global Crisis News, 2009). Moreover, RBS represented the worst results in the market, being at the bottom of banking sector in September 2009 (Frei, 2009). Aspects of Nationalisation According to Encyclopedia Britannica, nationalisation is â€Å"alteration or assumption of control or ownership of private property by the state† (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2009) with several variations in the types and motives. Nationalisation usually appears through assets or shares taken over, and this can help the company to continue its business but under control of the government. If the company is nationalised by government it can continue to produce and operate, getting some revenue and have some returns on shares. Usually this process is followed by structural reorganisation, including traditional administrative strategy and style of control (Backhaus and Wagner, 2004). As a fact, nationalisation can come in the form of expropriation, if the previous owners do not get compensation for the business and in the form of rescue tool or governmental support. Not every company can get such support; it is usually a privilege of the companies and corporations that have national importance and heritage. There is a number of examples in the UK history of nationalisation, which helped to reorganise the structure of the company as well as to get financial support (Floud and McCloskey, 1994). It is believed that nationalisation started in the UK in 1908 after the establishment of Port of London Authority with the necessity of production control (Beardshaw and Ross, 2001). Some researches mention negative effects of nationalisation, pointing that it can damage economy and banking sector. One of the problems is decreasing competitiveness, especially in banking sector (Lee, 2007). Also, financial institutions and government avoid participating in management as it can lead to further recalls of nationalisation. And when the company fails to use management as an appropriate tool, the chance of mistake gets bigger with a cause of future nationalisation (Cuthbert and Dobbins, 1980). Mainly, nationalisation has political or economic aspects and motives. When government has power to control specific corporations and their production as well as financial position, it can use the company as an instrument to correct economy. In addition, government can provide more accurate and efficient capital and assets diversification. If the company is fully nationalised, government becomes the owner of the business and has to deal with its problems and debts. Nationalisation is connected to economy, here in order to have more attractive economy, government trying to stabilise financial system through bad assets escape. There are still debates around the necessity of nationalisation and its problems. On the other hand, there is a view that this process must have temporary term, and government acts more as guardian of the company or bank for the hard period. However, one must consider that the process of nationalisation must be done correctly and carefully, with revision of all advantages and disadvantages (Richardson, 2009). Looking at the advantages of the nationalisation first comes its ability to save the company or in our case the bank from heavy and senseless assets, which were collected over the time and are representing thread of bankruptcy. This will include separation such assets from the business allowing operating more efficiently. Unnecessary assets then can be put for sale or managed by another organisation and the bank, free from problematic sectors can continues to operate. In addition, nationalization can help to restructure top management, getting rid of dilettantish approach of operating the business (Richardson, 2009). RBS is also supporting this fact and according to Montia (2009), is now selling some of its asset management business with managed capital of 30 billion pounds. In addition, it is possible that RBS will have to sell more of its business and even at the very low price that is now at the market. It is also a part of the Chief Executives recovery plan for the RBS to separa te troubled divisions from working ones with further selling of non-core parts of the business (Bradley, 2009). Without considering the advantage of nationalisation, government can continue to give money support to the banks that are big and important for the economy, but this can create the situation, where nothing will be changed and achieved. Government support can give a privilege of a competitive advantage, for example, Northern Rock could cut its prices in mortgages and insurance and attract new customers. Among disadvantages of nationalisation is management problem. In reality it is very difficult to find right and appropriate human capital for each bank in order to manage them properly. Still there will be a chance of risks regarding new borrowings, credits and market position. And these risks are now to be taken by the owner. Again the problem of unnecessary assets appears and banks need to get rid of then, basically on very low prices. In this situation market will have clear advantages of nationalisation, while banks will suffer. In addition, nationalisation is very challenging to the government. It must find labor force and money to finance the process. Future performance of the company also depends on who will be in charge could be government itself or another managing company (Richardson, 2009). In order to avoid afterward problems, other options and decisions must be revised before the final decision of nationalisation. The company must stay efficient and respond to the market and global changes in time. Management must stay open and react quickly in order to avoid critical point. Change Process: Nationalisation of RBS In the beginning it is important to discuss global economic situation which caused problems in RBS and necessity of taking radical directions, including nationalisation. UK banking sector was under pressure of economic crisis 2006-2009 and is still recovering. It all started from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and reached the rest of the world at the beginning of 2007 with increasing debts. Most of all crisis hit banking sector, central banks and international banks worldwide. As a result the Bank of England had to decrease interest rates, and all banks were under risk of failure (Rayner, 2008). Current crisis was named the worst for the last 75 years with negative effects on many types of businesses and customers expectations (Altman, 2009). During this time period management was facing great challenges, especially risk management. In addition, it is obvious from current crisis practice that risk management can help to win the race and using various models and strategies matters (Varma, 2009). Spreading from United Stated over Europe and UK crisis attacked banking sector. UKs economy is connected to the US through trade and loans and borrowings. As a result of the continuing bankruptcy of banks, some tried to avoid it through help request from government. The first bank that was fully nationalised in UK is Northern Rock, followed by the Lloyds Banking Group with partial control from the government. Some researchers put nationalisation under meaning of rescue, and as a fact not all banks or companies were getting such rescuing package from the UK government. In the case of Northern Rock, decision was made according to the point that this bank is special and its failure can cause growing instability in the UK banking sector (Tomasic, 2008). This also can be true about the Royal Bank of Scotland as it is bank with great history, representing Scottish nation as part of Britain, with its own printed banknotes and heritage. In spite of the fact that many banks across the world were put into critical situation, having choices of selling just assets or banks itself, not many were rescued (Woods, Humphrey, Dowd, Liu, 2009). In the report of the House of Commons Treasury Committee (April, 2008) it is discussed that in October 2008 RBS introduced new plan of rescue with capital amount of 20 billion pounds, however, shareholders were getting unattractive returns and government had to rescue RBS through acquisition of major part of its shares. At that time point nationalisation was inevitable in relation to future life of the RBS. Looking at the managerial problems that caused such consequences it can be pointed that RBSs top management along with its prior Chief Executive, Sir Fred Goodwin was taking over optimistic decisions as well as misunderstanding of the critical situation. Wrong decisions were made due to fast process of the economic worsening in UK and globally. According to Hester, RBS was suffering from great downturn due to prior decisions. In addition wrong risk management strategies that were adopted at that time made even worse, in particular control issues. It seems that RBS had a great balance sheet for a long time period and was not prepared for immediate change. In 2007, RBS made a crucial decision of taking over ABN Amro bank, in cooperation with Fortis and Santander banks, this resulted in RBSs independence of private organization. Acquisition of the ABN Amro was a wrong step to take in the thread of economic crisis which made RBS unable to finish its strategic plan. Newly formed group was defenseless in the worsening situation of market changes (House of Commons Treasury Committee, 2008). The step of huge expenditure, acquiring ABN Amro in wrong time, could have been avoided by managers of RBS. Even more, loss of around 72 billion Euros intensified critical situation. Managerial decisions of this acquisition were made without disclose of credit and asset problems in ABN Amro prior to the deal. In addition, this decision was influenced by shareholders, here 94.5% of them agreed on acquisition and it may appear that they pressed top management to finish the deal. However, RBS directors and top managers agreed about the deal with unanimity. Consequence of this deal is big loss in 2008 of around 30 billion pounds instead of assumed profit. The change associated with acquisition of ABN Amro was a representation of Ansoffs (1987) market development strategy. RBS attempted to expand into the US market geographically and in addition the company attempted to profit from dealing with US mortgage backed securities. However, the failure of the strategy caused the banks to suffer losses and request the help from the government which acquired the shares of the business. The process of nationalisation of the RBS began with basic rescue program. In October 2008, RBS started new strategic program in order to increase capital. One of the solutions was to offer ordinary shares at a price of 65.5 pence per share. The offer consisted shares for 15 billion pounds. HM Treasury has got around 12% for 5 billion pounds and later on around 57.9% of shares were acquired by the Government. Decisions that were made by RBS and Government were directed to the achievement of more stable bank position and additional resources for strength and further capital enlargement. Government and the bank deny that there was a strategy of total nationalisation and when financial position of RBS will be stable, it will again be under private ownership (Webster, 2008). It can be argued that this nationalization is an example of emergent change rather than planned strategy (Whittington, 1993). Emergency was caused by the high dependency of the bank on the inflow of cash for sustaining its operations. Whittington (1993) proposed four basic approaches to strategy. These can be classified as classical, systematic, evolutionary and processual. Classical approach suggests that the companys strategy would be to maximize profit. Evolutionary approach suggests that the environment will select the strongest businesses. The systematic approach suggests that social environment will determine business strategy. The change in RBS is processual because it implies that the company consists of different stakeholders who have their own interests and ambitions. The goal of the management is to satisfy the interest of each stakeholder. If RBS was not nationalized and this changed was not made, the society, employees and even shareholders would suffer negative effects. However, it can be argued that the nationalization might have hurt shareholders even more because the value of their equity has gone down as the share price plummeted. PEST Analysis of RBS The change in the organization connected with the process of nationalization can be reflected in the PEST analysis of the company: Political Factors The Ownership of the bank is changed in favour of the UK government; Bail out was done out of the UK government budget; Support of the government will have positive effects on financial matters; Governments support will cause managers to act in the interests of the government rather than shareholders. Economic Factors Interest rates declined; so demand for lending can rise; Financial Crisis in the UK and the world may further deteriorate performance of the banks and additional capital may be required from the government. Social Factors The change in the bank is also connected with restructuring of the company and lay offs; Rising unemployment is a negative consequence of business failures such as RBS. Technological Factors Technologies are constantly improving and this facilitates the banking business of RBS because some costs are being reduced and the work is being optimised; However, since the ownership of the company changed from shareholders to the government, management will be rather interested in meeting the objectives of the government rather than optimising the work with new technologies. Conclusion Royal Bank of Scotland is now almost entirely owned by British government around 70%. Today, RBS is among first banks to enter new program named asset protection plan. In 2009 RBS had suffered of worst loss of about 24.1 billion pounds and adopted plan of survival. Some analysts point that as the RBS is not fully nationalised it can still face the risks and fail to satisfy investors expectations. As resent investors rate increased with great returns there is number of requests to have RBS fully nationalised (Werdigier, 2009). It is hard to judge whether RBS could have avoid nationalisation in the situation when it is hard to turn back and see other choices. However, there were some managerial mistakes that could have been avoided. Poor change management was not ready to face difficulties and get over them. Besides the acquisition of the ABN Amro that was already discussed, there was another managerial mistake of continuing dividend increase after the change in earnings that were decreasing. Trying to attract new investors with high dividends and please current shareholders, management put the business under risk of failure. After the ABN Amro deal, this, along with unhealthy assets that were not sold in time had lead RBS to the final step of nationalisation. Being attractive for investors and shareholders for a short time period RBS created consequences where investors of the company became most affected by nationalisation. Prior to the crisis RBS was a profitable company with attractive position. Later on there was a decrease of the UK shares market and dramatic drop in RBS share prices. Overall at the point that RBS entered in 2008, nationalisation seems to be the last chance of survival. It can give some extra time to make new strategic plan and to recover from the financial instability. There is still a chance for RBS in the future to become profitable, independent and private company. References Altman, R.C. (2009) The Great Crash, 2008 , Foreign Affairs, January/February [Online]. Available at http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/63714/roger-c-altman/the-great-crash-2008# [Accessed 27 October 2009]. Ansoff, I. (1987) Strategic Management, New York: Wiley Backhaus, J.G., Wagner, R.E. (2004) Handbook of public finance, Birkhà ¤user, pp. 554. Beardshaw, J., Ross, A. (2001) Economics: a students guide, Pearson Education, pp.740. Bradley, J. (2009) ‘RBS tipped for  £1.5bn Profit a Year After Crash, The Scotsman, July 19, [Online]. Available at http://business.scotsman.com/business/RBS-tipped-for-15bn-profit.5473605.jp [Accessed 29 October 2009]. Cuthbert, N., Dobbins, R. (1980) ‘Managerial Participation by Pension Funds and Other Financial Institutions, Managerial Finance, Vol.6, 3: 43-48. Encyclopedia Britannica (2009) ‘Nationalization, [Online]. Available at http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/405796/nationalization [Accessed 28 October 2009]. Financial Ranks (2008) ‘Worlds Largest Banks 2008 Update, [Online]. Available at http://financialranks.com/?p=69 [Accessed 27 October 2009]. Floud, R., McCloskey, D.N. (1994) The Economic History of Britain since 1700 3 volume set, Cambridge University Press, UK, pp.400. Frei, E. (2009) ‘RBS leads 100, London banking sector lower, Finance Markets, September 21, [Online]. Available at http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2009/09/21/rbs-leads-100-london-banking-sector-lower/ [Accessed 29 October 2009]. Global Crisis News (2009) ‘Royal Bank of Scotland to cut 9000 Jobs, April 7, [Online]. Available at http://www.globalcrisisnews.com/europe/royal-bank-of-scotland-to-cut-9000-jobs/id=775/ [Accessed 29 October 2009]. Hester, S. (2009) ‘Group Chief Executives Review, RBS Annual Report and Accounts 2008, [Online]. Available at http://www.rbs.com/microsites/gra2008/gce_review/index.html [Accessed 27 October 2009]. House of Commons Treasury Committee (2008) ‘Banking Crisis: Dealing With the Failure of the UK Banks, 7th report of session 2008-2009, April 21, [Online]. Available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmtreasy/416/416.pdf [Accessed 27 October 2009]. Lee, Kam-Hon (2007) ‘Chinese Banking in Asias Market Economies, Marketing Panoramic Review, Vol. 2: 24-26. Montia, G. (2009) ‘RBS to sell asset management business, September 28, [Online]. Available at http://www.bankingtimes.co.uk/28092009-rbs-to-sell-asset-management-business/ [Accessed 29 October 2009]. Murchie, K. (2009) ‘RBS boss fears ‘lost decade, Finance Markets, September 13, [Online]. Available http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2009/09/13/rbs-boss-fears-%e2%80%98lost-decade%e2%80%99/ [Accessed 29 October 2009]. Rayner, G. (2008) Financial crisis: Stock markets across world fall amid emergency bank rescues, The Telegraph, 08 October, [Online]. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3160869/Financial-crisis-Stock-markets-across-world-fall-amid-emergency-bank-rescues.html [Accessed 27 October 2009]. RBS Annual Report and Accounts (2005) [Online]. Available at http://www.shareholder.com/visitors/dynamicdoc/document.cfm?CompanyID=RBSdocumentID=1108PIN=209446200resizeThree=noScale=100Keyword=type%20keyword%20herePage=6 [Accessed 27 October 2009]. RBS Annual Report and Accounts (2006) [Online]. Available at http://www.rbs.com/microsites/gra2006/default.asp [Accessed 27 October 2009]. RBS Annual Report and Accounts (2007) [Online]. Available at http://www.rbs.com/microsites/gra2007/index.asp [Accessed 27 October 2009]. RBS Annual Report and Accounts (2008) [Online]. Available at http://www.rbs.com/microsites/gra2008/index.html [Accessed 27 October 2009]. Richardson, M. (2009) ‘The Case For and Against Bank Nationalization, VOX, [Online]. Available at http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3143 [Accessed 28 October 2009]. The Telegraph (2009) ‘RBS expects bad loans to mount in 2009, May 8, [Online]. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/5294644/RBS-expects-bad-loans-to-mount-in-2009.html [Accessed 29 October 2009]. Tomasic, R. (2008) ‘The Rescue of Northern Rock: Nationalization in the Shadow of Insolvency, Corporate Rescue and Insolvency, Vol. 1, 4: 109-111. Varma, J.R. (2009) ‘Risk Management Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis for Derivative Changes, Indian Institute of Management working paper, February, pp. 2-26. Webster, P. (2008) ‘Royal Bank of Scotland under State Control, The Times, October, 13, [Online]. Available at http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4932250.ece [Accessed 29 October 2009]. Werdigier, J.(2009) ‘Record Loss at Royal Bank of Scotland, The New York Times, February 26, [Online]. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/business/worldbusiness/27rbos.html?_r=1 [Accessed 27 October 2009]. Woods, M., Humphrey, C., Dowd, K., Liu, Y. (2009) ‘Crunch Time For Bank Audits? Questions of Practice and the Scope for Dialogue, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 24, 2: 114-134.

Computers in the Construction Industry :: Expository Essays

Computers in the Construction Industry Computers have greatly changed the construction industry. Since the beginning of time there has been some type of construction. The caveman had weapons and tools. As of late man builds homes, skyscrapers, and various other buildings. Super-structures are very large-scale projects; that without the use of computers would be very arduous tasks. It would take many draftsmen many months to complete all of the drawings necessary to build a skyscraper. The advent of the computer has greatly improved the way the construction occurs today. Computer Aided Drafting and design programs facilitate the way buildings are designed. Auto Cad allows a draftsmen to produce drawings in a quick and efficient. Computers allow draftsmen to draw and make changes without picking up a pencil or eraser. Floor plans, plot plans, schematics, and detail plans are all drawn easier through the use of computer aided drafting programs, such as Auto Cad and IDEAS. Communication is the most important part of construction. There wouldn’t be projects to complete if there was not communication between the contractor and client. Means of communication vary greatly. Communication is achieved through electronic mail, mobile phones, and pagers. Mobile phones are perhaps the most important part of communication. Mobile phones allow contact between construction crews, owners, clients, and suppliers. Communication between builder (boss) and foreman is critical to ensure that deadlines, and specific tasks are being met. Communication is an essential ingredient in the construction business. There are few tools that have been affected by computers, possibly only the production of the tool. But there are a small number of tools that are irreplaceable that utilize computers. Laser levels or transits take the conjectures out of grading, straightening a wall, setting up batter boards, or leveling a line to start siding. Calculators are and invaluable tool for even the most experienced carpenter. Calculators make simple math even easier. Calculators such as the Construction Master VI alleviate some of the nuisance associated with building stairs, squaring up walls, and estimating amounts of material. Cost estimation is another essential part of the construction profession. Spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel are useful for cost estimation. Instead of figuring every single cost factor for every single project, you can do it once, and then input values for further projects.

Challenges in Nursing: Increased Childhood Obesity Essay

Modern nurses encounter many difficulties while fulfilling their role as a patient advocate, educator, and partner. One major task nurses are confronted with is the growing epidemic of childhood obesity as younger patients are being treated for serious conditions usually associated with adult patients. According to the American Nurses Association article, Fighting Childhood Obesity, â€Å"approximately 13 million obese children in the United States, and the rate of childhood obesity has [increased] from 14.8% in 2003 to 16.4% in 2007† (Jones, 2010, p.1). These numbers are alarming to healthcare providers such as nurses as this issue has grown from a common disease to an epidemic. Childhood obesity is a challenge for nurses due to cultural, socio-economical, and physiological barriers; however, overcoming these matters will take expert initiative from nurses as they educate parents and children of the importance of healthy living. Cultural Barriers When breaking down the barriers of childhood obesity, one significant factor is culture. Many cultures have different views on the determining factors of obesity. Penn and Kerr (2014) explain, â€Å"†¦ [childhood] obesity is a consequence of dietary neglect, with parental choices causing detriment to a child’s health and well-being† (p.20). Parents have a major impact on their child’s daily activities and overall routines thru unhealthy customs such as poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles. As a result, these practices are superimposed on the child observing these type of behaviors. Many parents instigate behavioral factors in obese children by making their children eat everything on their plate. Children grow up with this learned behavior of eating unhealthy meal proportions, and it trends continuously through generations. Likewise, children who do not see their parents  actively engaged in physical activity tend to develop the same fitness practice . As parents acknowledge the risk factors for childhood obesity and become better role models, childhood obesity will become obsolete. Socio-economic Barriers Economic deprivation may pose significant problems on many different levels in a society where many families are living from one pay check to the next. The cost of healthy food is considerably higher than the cost of fast food, convenient meals, and school lunch. Fast food chains often offer dollar menus with foods that are high in fats, sodium, and MSGs. Grocery stores in low income areas have a poor selection of fresh produce and organic food, yet the same grocery stores are abundantly stocked with boxed and frozen meals full of preservatives. Federally funded school lunch programs are not sufficiently financed to provide a nutritional variety to children. Berkowitz and Borchard (2009) state, â€Å"†¦foods which children are routinely exposed shape preferences and consumption† (p. 3). This suggests that children will eat the foods that are available to them. Eating fruits and vegetables is a solution in decreasing caloric intake of fatty food thereby reducing obesity re lated issues. Physiological Barriers Physiological barriers associated with childhood obesity encompass aspects that inhibit a child’s bodily function and psychosocial wellbeing. Today many children prefer to participate in â€Å"†¦sedentary activities such as watching television/playing video games†¦Ã¢â‚¬  instead of going outside to play on the playground (Rabbitt and Coyne, 1995, p.731). Inactivity leads to weight gain and decreased vitality by slowing down the child’s metabolism. Weight gain reflects a child’s physical appearance, which is an element that influences a child’s self-concept. The way a person view themselves and how others view them are established throughout adulthood. A sedentary lifestyle as a child affects relationships with peers by causing bullying, social isolation, and low self-esteem. It is also a precursor to other illnesses that may last throughout life. Increased physical activity aids in overcoming the obstacles related to childhood obesity. Effects on Nursing and Nursing Interventions Childhood obesity has an effect on nursing by the increased number of medically treated children with serious conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and asthma thus creating a vast spectrum of challenges related to this epidemic. Nurses may enlighten parents in a non threatening way by identifying defining characteristics of childhood obesity. Information can be provided to bring awareness through sharing comprehensible literature and clear health related statistics. School nurses can actively advocate for healthier lunch options to be made available in schools and help children and parents understand healthy proportions by putting together nutritious selections. Nurses may promote exercise routines that children and their family can actively participate in by implementing strategies that are cohesive to the interests of the children. These interventions will reverse childhood obesity by incorporating a collaborative effort among nurses, parents, and children. Conclusion The rising epidemic of childhood obesity is an area of concern in American healthcare. Nurses experience direct effects of childhood obesity as children are being treated in school clinics, primary care offices, emergency rooms, and other healthcare facilities. Nurses face many challenges while educating patients on the importance of lifestyle changes that influence a healthier way of life. Cultural, socio-economical, and physiological barriers are challenges that must be considered in the process to overcome childhood obesity. The nursing role transitions from an educator to a patient advocate and finally a partner along with other stake holders such as parents, schools, communities, food and beverage companies, as well as government officials in the initiative to create an equal opportunity for all children to live a healthy life. This opportunity may be created through educating the public on the factors of obesity, maintaining access to affordable healthy foods, encouraging healt hier eating habits at home and school, and developing a child friendly exercise regimen. Since the fight against childhood obesity is a great concern, more work must be done in the effort to resolve this issue. References Berkowitz, B., Borchard, M. (2009). Advocating for the prevention of childhood obesity: A call to action for nursing. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(1), 1-9. Jones, Trinna. (2010). Fighting childhood obesity: Taking a stand to control an epidemic one child at a time. ANA Issue Brief, 42(4), 1-3. Penn, S., & Kerr, J. (2014). Childhood obesity: the challenges for nurses. Nursing Children & Young People, 26(2), 16-21. doi:10.7748/ncyp2014.03.26.2.16.e398 Rabbitt, A., & Coyne, I. (2012). Childhood obesity: nurses’ role in addressing the epidemic. British Journal of Nursing, 21(12), 731-735.

Begining stages that lead to war of 1812

During the beginning stages of the War of 1812, Britain was fully engaged in fighting Napoleon in Europe and desperately tried to avoid a confrontation with the United States. However, Britain did little to stop it. While Britain was pre-occupied fighting Napoleon, America saw an opportunity to expand their territory and attempt to conquer British North America.Due to the poor organization of the U. S. forces and lack of military strategy, America failed to accomplish their main objective to take control of the northern territory of British North America.The other objective of the United States was to preserve the rights of neutrals and maintain the freedom of the seas and continue its trades with whom they desired. It is debatable who won the war; from a military stand point the British won the key battles however, the war ended in a stalemate with no gain for either side. In order to examine this thesis clearly, the paper approach shall be to look at the American grievances against British, offensive strategy of America, Britain defensive strategy and the failure of America to conquer Canada.Failure by America to conquer Canada is not really one of the stages in the beginning of the war, but rather to demonstrate the degree of gain and reason for that degree of gain. Beginning stages that lead to the War of 1812 There were various diplomatic policies approach was employed to regain a peaceful and harmonious coexistence between America and British. This was done through the use of various bills and Acts that would ensure peaceful coexistence between America and British. For instance, the Embargo Act of 1807, the Nonintercourse Act of March 1809, and the passed Macon's Bill No.2 ; all this legislation were a clear indication of America’s commitment for use of diplomacy to resolve policy crises with Great Britain. However, due to the ongoing British war with napoleon , Great Britain over step on the American rights and national pride that saw war as the o nly option to have British change its harmful policies that hampers various US progress and development. Many Americans viewed the war as a continuation of revolution, but from sociopolitical perspective scholars; the move was necessary to protect and strengthen the new found independence from England’s aggression .Sadly, two days after war declaration orders by the congress, the England parliament had already revisited those policies that added grievances to US by repealing the orders in council and sent a message to America. Unfortunately, the message reached when it was too late a midst initial war battles in Detroit by Gen. Hull that accounted to British delay to prevent the war. It is in this line of thought that this paper shall examine the core causes for war to be initiated and the results that leave a large quantity of debate to who won the war.America’s grievances’ against England The Americans had many built up anger and pain against Britain during th e initial steps that marked the beginning of the war. These grievances were however fueled up with economic and political reasons behind the scenes to play an active drive role into steps to ignite the battle. For instance many scholars of political science like Buel, Richard (2006), states that criticism directed to President James Madison greatly played a contributory role to start of the war.During the time, President James Madison was criticized for his failure to stand up against Britain injustices to U. S. Therefore, faced with daunting task of election in late 1812, James Madison had only two options to either negotiate with Britain or go to war to increase his popularity and prove his capabilities for leading this great nation. As a result, when diplomatic approach failed, Madison asked the congress to vote on war. Fortunately, 19 to 13 rotes in senate and 79 to 49 rotes in the house of representative; was a go ahead command on war on Great Britain on 18th June, 1812.Despite political reason on war declaration on Great Britain, the United States of America was fed up with British impressments . Great Britain reverted to a policy of boarding Americans ship to retrieve the former sailors of Britain who had deserted the Royal Navy to look for a better pay and life to United States of America. As a result of this hunt for sailors, British seized 11,000 sailors by mid 1805. The need for the impressments was on the basis of expanded Royal Navy to 175 of the line together with other 425 ships that required more professional sailors about 140,000.These sailors could not be found with land of Great Britain, therefore, they opted to press and retrieve the Royal Navy veterans and other experienced sailors from merchant shipping and privateers . In reacting to that, the United States of America felt that the Royal Navy deserters were justified to be citizens of US; of course owing to their benefits. To worsen the matter, Britons failed to honor this fundamental ri ght of the US, instead provoked law openly. They refused to recognize the naturalized US citizenship, and considered all US citizens born in Britain territory to be liable for impressments.The situation was made worse when Britain impressed Americans. Worst of all was when the British frigates were stationed on the America harbors; in fact in America’s territorial waters conducting their searches, it could not be tolerated even by a dead patriotic American . This resultant act injured the American National pride. The trade inhibition and hampering as a result of Britain blockade of the Napoleonic Europe was a major concern to US trade that could not be swept under carpet.The Britain in attempt to Block commodities to reach into the hands of French, they seized estimated 400 Americans ship that adversely affected the trade of America. The American society felt that by seizing of their merchant ships by the great Britain in their attempt to block US trade with France Empire dur ing their war; they did not only breach the international law, but also they failed to recognize Americans neutral rights in regard to the ongoing war between the Britain and France.Black, Jeremy (2006), adds that, Great Britain practiced blockade since it perceived a possible threat by the doubling rate of US state merchant marine and fear of losing the 80 percent cotton import and 50 percent overall of the US exports to other European nations. Therefore Britain felt threatened to loose commercially and growing mercantile of the US. And by these actions and policies, America felt that the Great Britain breached Neutral Nation’s Right to trade with their own chosen trade partner. The conflict built up and pressure for war increased.The British’s practice of arming the native enemies of Americans; Indians of western fueled the conflict, since they were increasingly hostile strengthened by British support . As a consequence, it was difficult for Americans to defeat the n ative enemies due to their support from Britain. Therefore to make the Great Britain change its prices, war was necessary to cause tangible pain to Britain, in order for America to gain. Other scholars usually add that desire for expansion was drive for war and conquer on Canada .However this argument is not clear and lacks empirical evidence from various supportive perspectives and position. However the outstanding issue is the fact that Great Britain leadership failed to stop the war. In the sense that, despite massive protest and demonstrations by the Americans craving for â€Å"free trade sand sailor’s rights†, the Britons could not read these building up pressure for freedom and respect for Americans rights. Instead, they intensified from high seas crime to American shows, extending it inland to arming of the Indians.This action and deafness of the Britain officials, justify the American â€Å"war hawks† statement that Great Britain crimes were not only con fined to the high seas, but also injurious to national pride of the United States of America . Therefore, war was inevitable in an attempt to reclaim this past glory. The follow up events saw war declaration on British on 18th June 1812 when Great Britain was concentrating on Europe Napoleonic war . This led to the invasion of Canada. American goal to maintain offensive strategiesAfter the war declaration on British passed by smallest margin recorded on war vote in US congress, it consequently lead to US invasion of Canada. Despite the invasion and desire to conquer Canada, the war strategy employed was offensive . This is in the light that British Royal Navy was powerful in the worlds at that present time, and no way could inexperienced and untrained fighters would outwit them. Secondly the US focus was to conquer Canada basing on land battles for lower and Upper Canada that most of its inhabitants were post war immigrants or exile from US.Natives were not for interest of the US, j ustifying their hostility to the US unions. The third aspect was the focus by US on building ships that would fight the British in great lakes. In all of these thee aspects upon US invasion of Canada, there is no single strategy that focus on the organization of the fight due to lack of professionalism in the US militia. Instead, all these tree focus point were directed on breaking the power of native enemies and conquering the British North America, while failing to take into account the power of the British military component would help them to organize their army to fight well.Furthermore, the Royal Navy was too powerful for American navy which was in a better shape anyway due to ingredient of experienced and competent sailors. Therefore, the battle in Atlantic did not materialize to see the light of the day. In return, the American marine campaign and efforts were diverted to disrupting merchant trade in sea. Fortunately, this campaign yielded many victories to the US, but it wa s of no impact to barricade Great Britain trade and provide away through to their controlling the Great Lake . British goal to maintain a defensive strategyThe British military power that was present in Canada was well trained to defend the interests of the Great Britain. But the outstanding challenge was the large numbers of the American army that outnumbered them. Empirically, statistics reveals that British regular troops present in Canada at the beginning of the war were in 6,034 soldiers, against 13,000 American soldiers which were increased to 35,000 men with authorization by the congress. Lieutenant General Sir. George Prevost was the commander in chief of the Northern America for England was instructed to employ defensive strategy of the war against Americans.Since, it was clear that war with America was of no preference to Napoleonic war . In addition to number deficiency to justify British engage in defensive strategy, British armies were all committed to the fighting Napo leon and peninsular as it was a priority to British than Northern America. While the Royal Navy was involved in the Europe sea blockade, the options were to protect the marine communication between Canada and Britain to facilitate supplies and weaken the American battle strengths by blockading American ports to disrupt trade and divert the attentions of war.As a result, American East Coast was under blockade leaving only a section of New England since they were against the war and declined to offer help to reinforce America in the war. These temporary measures were necessary to guarantee reinforcement to the small British army in the Canada. The measure of blockading the America ports produced negative tangible impact to the US , since the exports dropped sharply, coastal trade became dangerous, ships were stack on the ports without business, port towns affected and agriculturalists of West and the South felt the pitch.It is a point of worthy to mention that Canada’s defensiv e strategies were directed towards strategic and core areas to sustainability of British control in Canada, unlike the US forces that were scattered. Most important and key areas were; Montreal vital for facilitating supply to Upper Canada with resources; Quebec City enabled and linked provisions from England up the St. Lawrence River to the areas of the west; and upper Canada.Despite successful defensive strategy in conjunction with the port blockade, geographical limitation to the British soldiers . America failed to conquer Canada Despite presence of indicators of necessity of using war against Great Britain, America was never prepared for war . President Madison undervalued the military task force needed to seize Canada, whereby at the start he sent regular army of about 13,000 men who were severely defeated. As a consequence, the American congress authorized an additional army to expand the military power to 35, 000 men.The dark side of these increased numbers was that, they we re unprofessional volunteers, who were poorly paid with low motivation to fight outside their home state. This resulted to inefficiency in the military needed to conquer Canada. Defective military strategies were evident as Americans scattered their forces in multi-pronged attacks that bore no fruits. In sum total, the Americans inadequate preparation in naval, military and financial domains generated incompetent troops without proper financial for the war.The United States of America experienced difficulties in financing its war; since New England withdrew its support for funds and military units, worse of that was the fact America had disbanded its national bank. The only help for funds could have been from private bankers from the Northeast, but northeast private bankers were greatly opposed to the war and could not offer a helping hand for the war . The organization of the military base received a blow due to uncooperative and quarrelsome commanders who were struggling for power and control over military forces.While militia called to reinforce the army it defined itself as a defensive force for war of obstruction rather than conquest. Evidently, all early attempts to invade Canada did not bore any fruits due to those shortcomings on US military and state failure. For instance, General Hull’s attempted attack geared to conquer Canada from Detroit four days after war declaration, backed off due to fear of the native militias. As a result, the Canadian commanding officer Gen. Brock capitalized on this fear to fully advantage. And lead to significant losses in the military battles.By April 1814 after napoleon surrender, Britain transferred its military mighty to reinforce Canada in a major landing operation. The initial operations were made in Chesapeake Bay and Maine which were a success. This totally paralyzed American efforts to conquer Canada. This ignited further military actions for against America in Maryland, Washington, D. C. , Bladensburg and the burning of white house in the year 25th of august in 1814. But, British move to attack and capture Baltimore was put off by now better shaped American armies. Conclusion` The paper has discussed exclusively the early stages and causes the Americans to engage in a military way to regain its control over their land and sovereignty. In attempt bring out the argument the paper has looked at the America’s grievances’ against great Britain, American goal to maintain offensive strategies, British goal to maintain a defensive strategy and main attributes why America failed to conquer Canada and never gained what it went to war for, apart from victory by General Andrew Jackson in the battle of New Orleans over British army.It was necessarily important that Americans were never defeated by the Britons. While on the other hand, the Britons were not defeated by Americans in their quest to conquer Canada. In other words, neither of the side lost or gained apart from slight tak eover by the America of Carleton Island to be part of New York. The resultant situation of Ghent peace treaty signed on 24th December, 1814, brought back the respect and honor to the American society to maintain its status quo.While at the same time, facilitating policy changes by the British in favor of America. Additionally, the US learned not to rely too heavily on a militia, but rather have an effective, competent and a more organized army. Although Americans tried to battle with their enemy, they had more than enough reasons to fear the British, whereas Canadians had sufficient evidence to fear the Americans. Bibliography Black, Jeremy. America as a Military Power 1775-1865: Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002Black, Jeremy. Britain as a Military Power: London, UK: Routledge, 1998. Buel, Richard. America on the Brink; How the Political Struggle over the War of 1812 Almost Destroyed the Young Republic: Gordonsville: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Langguth, A. J. Union 1812; New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Stuart, Reginald. United States Expansionism and British North America 1775-1871. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.