Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Bilingual Education For Deaf Children - 914 Words

English is an interesting language ,English is comprised of many different words from different languages all mashed up and mixed together. English is a very hard language to learn, especially if you can’t hear it. How easy would it be to confuse a â€Å"B† with a â€Å"P† they sound similar and when trying to lip read how can you tell the difference? I feel that young Deaf/hard of hearing students should be taught by a Deaf teacher or a child of a Deaf adult (C.O.D.A) teacher is important because ASL is the first step to learning English and becoming bilingual. According to the article Why Schools for Deaf Children Should Hire Deaf Teachers: A Preschool Issue By Courtney Shantie and Robert Hoffmeister, the authors state â€Å"This paper will focus on the theories and facts behind why bilingual education for Deaf children is the best option† (Shantie and Hoffmeister, 2003). I feel that the topic of if Deaf/hard of hearing students being taught by Deaf/C. O.D.A teachers is very important because it is the best way to help students succeed. The article talks about why Deaf students’ teachers should be a C.O.D.A or be Deaf. A C.O.D.A or child of a Deaf adult is someone who grew up with one or both parents being Deaf and is a hearing person. Deaf/hard of hearing students being taught by a Deaf/C.O.D.A teacher is important because when teaching Deaf students, a language model is needed. Without a language model who would the students have to look up to for help not only with ASL but withShow MoreRelatedPre Lingual Hearing Loss, Or Deafness1420 Words   |  6 Pageslingual hearing loss, or deafness — â€Å"that is, severe to profound hearing impairment that prevents infants and young children from acquiring normally the capacity for intelligible speech† — affects tens of thousands of Americans (Murray, 1997). Accordingly, for this population of infants who were born severely or profoundly deaf and young child ren who became severely or profoundly deaf prior to developing any sort of communication, it is imperative that the child’s appointed professionals and caregiversRead MoreThe Quality Of Language Input And Early Onset Effects On Linguistic And Sub Linguistic Mechanisms1398 Words   |  6 Pageslater sign language skills in deaf education program settings. In spoken languages, the quality and quantity of language input is predictive of a child’s later linguistic abilities (Cartmill et al., 2013). However, most deaf children entering education have hearing parents, creating a barrier to language development. Many deaf programs support bilingual philosophies in which the basis of English is also taught in order to facilitate communication between the deaf and non-deaf communities (Murphy-SwillerRead More Teachers Options Essay1716 Words   |  7 PagesTeachers Options There are many options open to teachers of deaf children in a variety of situations. In teaching deaf and hard of hearing children there is such a wide range of children, each with their own abilities. Each child also has a different family situation to take into account. Some children come from deaf families, some they are the only deaf family member, and some have no support from their families because they are deaf. There are also students that have family members that makeRead MoreCsd 269 Study Guide Week 6 Essay2836 Words   |  12 PagesStudy Guides for Deaf People and Journey Text Readings Week 6 People Chapter 5 1. What kinds of parent-child interactions lead to language learning in babies? pointing, eye gazing, smiles, vocalizations, and engagement in games, nursery rhymes, and songs, family stories, and picture books 2. What categories do children’s first words usually fall into? names of animals, foods, toys, actions adjectives and social words (please, thank you, no, yes) 3. How does a sight-wordRead MoreThe Creativity Of Bicultural Bilingual People2058 Words   |  9 Pagesbiculturalism are also bilingual. Which is very true to some extent but biculturalism and bilingualism are two different things. According to dictionary the word biculturalism is defined as â€Å"the presence of two different cultures in the same country and region†( dictionary), where as the word bilingualism is defind as â€Å"the ability to speak two languages fluently , the habitual use of two languages† (dictionary). This paper consists three different aspects of biculural bilingual people. Such as describingRead MoreDeaf : Deaf And Deaf886 Words   |  4 Pages(2010) defines Deaf Studies as â€Å"interdisciplinary approaches to the exploration of Deaf individuals, communities, and cultures as they have evolved within a larger context of power and ideology† (p. 210). In other words, Deaf Studies refer to a specific academic field that studies deaf individuals and their unique communities and culture and may include constructs from anthropology, linguistics, bilingual education, disability, audiology, etc. Within the context of Deaf Studies, deaf individuals areRead MoreBi-Bi: A Better Way to Educate the Deaf2307 Words   |  10 Pagesa mono-linguistic focus on the spoken and written forms of the majority (English here) language, approach to educating our deaf children. We adopted this methodology for teaching the deaf because of the Milan Conference held in 1880. This conference was an excuse for those in favor of oralism to gain the support they needed to outlaw the use of signed language in education. Their plot succeeded; the conference decided that signed language was inferior to spoken languages and was not capable ofRead MoreThe Importance Of Learning A Second Language Essay973 Words   |  4 PagesHello. Nin Hao. Hallo. Ðâ€"Ð ´Ã'€Ð °Ã ²Ã µÃ ¹Ã'‚Ð µ. The art of language is intricate and useful in many aspects of life. The Encyclopedia of Education states â€Å"†¦between 60-75% of the world is bilingual.† When it comes to bilingual education most countries require students to learn their home language and English. The United States only requires two years of foreign language to graduate. This is due to the English language being considered as the universal language. Schools should require students to learn a secondRead More Deaf Culture Essay1564 Words   |  7 PagesDeaf Culture In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people. (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Kellers world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for real communicationRead MoreDeaf Culture1589 Words   |  7 PagesDeaf Culture In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people. (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Kellers world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for real communication

Monday, December 23, 2019

The Development and Applications of Critical Incident...

Debriefing after stressful incidences is a practice that has been practiced for many years. Psychological debriefing was used during World War I to reduce psychological distress and boost moral in solders. (Wei, Szumilas, Kutcher, 2010) This style of debriefing is still used today to help decrease the chances of soldiers developing PTSD, due to traumatic events that they may experience during their deployment times. Pender and Prichard (2009) described the historical use of stress debriefing primarily for emergency responders after they had been exposed to graphic calls or experienced the loss of a coworker. This is an important role of stress debriefing, and has emerged from these emergency responders only to also assisting both primary and secondary responders. Pack (2012) describes the benefits of CISD and how its overall design of being multicomponent makes it beneficial in the use with emergency service workers. CISD arose from this need of debriefing for emergency respon ders after a traumatic incident. Jeffery Michell, a firefighter, developed CIDS in 1983, since than it has been thought of as the â€Å"best practice† when working with emergency respondents to assist them in processing stress related to traumatic events. (D’Andrea, Abney, Swinney, Ganyon, 2004) CISD has emerged from assisting front line emergency response personnel cope with traumatic events, or loss that they experienced first hand, to helping those who experience the trauma second hand, or forShow MoreRelatedThe Performance Of A Dysfunctional Team912 Words   |  4 Pagesthe surgeon and junior, that she may need to take over. This allowed the junior nurse to be prepared for such an incident, and feel reassured that she does have support, which helped increase her performance (Appendix One, Post 2). Therefore, teamwork and communication is vital in enhancing and maintaining patient safety and providing optimum care. Training and debriefing are also critical non-t echnical skills, which aid in achieving optimum patient care. Surgery is an unpredictable practice withRead MoreStress And Its Effects On The Mind, Body, And Environment8594 Words   |  35 PagesStress can be defined in a number of ways and is experienced differently by each individual. Stress is natural, a physiological response involving a complex interaction between the mind, body, and environment. Stress is not fundamentally negative, people need a certain amount in their everyday lives to maintain function. An optimal level of stress stimulates an individual to stay alert and perform at a desired level. Ideally, stress enables us to take action by stimulating our sympathetic nervousRead MoreIdentify Prevent and Report Workplace Emergencies11906 Words   |  48 PagesIdentify, prevent and report potential workplace emergency situations UNIT NAME Identify, prevent and report potential workplace emergency situations PUAWER001A This unit covers the competency required to identify and prevent the development of workplace emergency situations, or to minimise their consequences, and to report if emergency protection systems, emergency control equipment and evacuation systems are compromised. For this unit the term workplace is defined as the area encompassedRead More Preventing Workplace Violence Essay4918 Words   |  20 Pagesservice field people come into those offices or stores because they need help or a particular service. When various â€Å"stress factors are combined, a person may commit, or threaten to commit, violence. Unless these emotional, angry, or frustrated individuals are handled properly, they may harm you, themselves, or other customers. Sometimes even coworkers—perhaps under a great deal of stress because of problems at work or home—may become threatening or violent†¦ Many experts believ e that there is no sureRead MoreThe Difference between Performance Management and Performance Appraisal24271 Words   |  98 Pages10 Briefly discuss the differences between evaluative performance reviews and developmental performance reviews 8.11 Define the following terms: Performance management Performance appraisal Motivation Traits Behaviors Results Critical incidents method Management by Objectives (MBO) method Narrative method or form Graphic rating scale form Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) form Ranking method 360 ° evaluation Bias Stereotyping Electronic Performance MonitoringRead MoreSSD2 Module 3 Notes22142 Words   |  89 Pagesï » ¿MODUEL 3 TRAINING AND LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROCESS The Army provides combatant commanders with trained and ready units, leaders, and individuals. Army expeditionary forces are prepared to conduct unified land operations in support of unified action. The Army accomplishes this by conducting tough, realistic, standards-based, performance-oriented training, which is based on eleven principles of training and seven principles of leader development. As a leader you must understand these principles. UnderstandingRead MoreHrm Duties and Responsibilities2992 Words   |  12 PagesRECRUITMENT PROFILE Profile: Human Resources Major Duties and Responsibilities 1. Responsible for the interpretation and application of the Staff Rules, regulations and procedures ensuring uniform application in accordance with guidelines from Headquarters. 2. Provides advice to staff members on specific entitlements, taking action locally as appropriate, or submitting recommendations for exceptions to DHRM; 3. Ascertains human resource requirements for the office ensuring the timely advertisementRead MoreWhy I Am A Professor Essay4077 Words   |  17 Pagesthe unexpected, unpredictable, and sometimes unsuccessful episodes in my academic career that have inspired my current pursuit of research and my goal to become a professor. As the daughter of two professors, I have always had an appreciation for critical thinking and the scientific method. One of my earliest experiences in scientific research was inspired by a television documentary on ants. Learning that ants communicate through chemical scents emitted onto the ground, I immediately ran outsideRead More Nfpa 100630569 Words   |  123 Pages11, 2007, with an effective date of December 31, 2007, and supersedes all previous editions. This edition of NFPA 1006 was approved as an American National Standard on December 31, 2007. Origin and Development of NFPA 1006 In 1994, the NFPA Standards Council, after receipt of a request for the development of a standard for the professional qualifications of rescue technicians, approved the establishment of a technical committee on Rescue Technician Professional Qualifications under the ProfessionalRead MoreNfpa 100630576 Words   |  123 Pages11, 2007, with an effective date of December 31, 2007, and supersedes all previous editions. This edition of NFPA 1006 was approved as an American National Standard on December 31, 2007. Origin and Development of NFPA 1006 In 1994, the NFPA Standards Council, after receipt of a request for the development of a standard for the professional qualifications of rescue technicians, approved the establishment of a technical committee on Rescue Technician Professional Qualifications under the Professional

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Home Depot Analysis Free Essays

string(21) " end of fiscal 2009\." Home Depot – 2010 Financial Report For fiscal year ended January  30, 2011 (â€Å"fiscal 2010†), Home Depot reported Net Earnings of $3. 3  billion and Diluted Earnings per Share of $2. 01 compared to Net Earnings of $2. We will write a custom essay sample on Home Depot Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now 7  billion and Diluted Earnings per Share of $1. 57 for fiscal year ended January  31, 2010 (â€Å"fiscal 2009†). The results for fiscal 2010 included a $51 million pretax charge related to the extension of our guarantee of a senior secured loan of HD Supply, Inc. (the â€Å"HD Supply Guarantee Extension†). The results for fiscal 2009 reflected the impact of several strategic actions initiated in fiscal 2008. These strategic actions resulted in store rationalization charges related to the closing of 15 underperforming U. S. stores and the removal of approximately 50 stores from their new store pipeline, business rationalization charges related to the exit of our EXPO, THD Design Center, Yard birds and HD Bath businesses (the â€Å"Exited Businesses†) and charges related to the restructuring of support functions (collectively, the â€Å"Rationalization Charges†). These actions resulted in pretax Rationalization Charges of $146 million for fiscal 2009. The results for fiscal 2009 also included a pretax charge of $163 million to write-down our investment in HD Supply, Inc. Additionally, fiscal 2009 included earnings of $41 million from discontinued operations, net of tax, for the settlement of working capital matters arising from the sale of HD Supply. Home Depot reported Earnings from Continuing Operations of $3. 3  billion and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations of $2. 01 for fiscal 2010 compared to Earnings from Continuing Operations of $2. 6  billion and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations of $1. 5 for fiscal 2009. Excluding the HD Supply Guarantee Extension charge from their fiscal 2010 results, and the Rationalization Charges and the write-down of their investment in HD Supply from their fiscal 2009 results, Earnings from Continuing Operations were $3. 4 billion and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations were $2. 03 for fiscal 2010 compared to Earnings from Continuing Oper ations of $2. 8 billion and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations of $1. 66 for fiscal 2009. Net Sales increased 2. 8% to $68. 0  billion for fiscal 2010 from $66.   billion for fiscal 2009. Home Depot’s comparable store sales increased 2. 9% in fiscal 2010, driven by a 2. 4% increase in their comparable store customer transactions and a 0. 5% increase in their comparable store average ticket to $51. 93. Comparable store sales for their U. S. stores increased 2. 5% in fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2010, Home Depot focused on the following four key initiatives: Customer Service: Home Depot’s focus on customer service is anchored on the principles of taking care of their associates, putting customers first and simplifying the business. The roll out of their Customers FIRST training to all store associates and support staff in fiscal 2009 has brought simplification and focus across the business, and they repeated and refreshed the Customers FIRST training during fiscal 2010. The Customers FIRST program is part of their ongoing commitment to improve customer service levels in their stores, and they continued to see the benefit of this training in improved customer service ratings for fiscal 2010 compared to fiscal 2009. Also in fiscal 2010, Home Depot completed the deployment of their FIRST Phone, a new hand held device that provides multiple functions such as inventory management, product location and mobile checkout. The core purpose of this new device is to reduce tasking time for their store associates to allow them more time to focus on customer service. Home Depot ended fiscal 2010 with more than half of their store payroll allocated to customer facing activities rather than tasking activities. They have a customer facing store payroll target of 60%, and they believe they will achieve that by 2013. Product Authority: Our focus on product authority is facilitated by our merchandising transformation and portfolio strategy, including innovation, assortment and value. In fiscal 2010, we made significant progress on our merchandising tools in the U. S. that helped us manage markdown and clearance activity and better control inventory. Our inventory turnover ratio was 4. 13 times at the end of fiscal 2010 compared to 4. 06 times at the end of fiscal 2009. You read "Home Depot Analysis" in category "Papers" Additionally, we continued to form strategic alliances and relationships with selected suppliers to bring a number of proprietary and xclusive brands across a wide range of departments. Productivity and Efficiency: Home Depot’s approach to driving productivity and efficiency starts with disciplined capital allocation focused on building best-in-class competitive advantages in information technology and supply chain, as well as building shareholder value through higher return s on invested capital and total value returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. At the end of fiscal 2010, they completed the roll out of their Rapid Deployment Centers (â€Å"RDCs†) and now have 19 RDCs that serve 100% of their U. S. stores. Also during fiscal 2010, they repurchased 80. 9  million shares for $2. 6 billion, and on February  22, 2011 Home depot announced a six percent increase in their quarterly cash dividend to 25 cents per share. Interconnected Retail: Home Depot’s focus on interconnected retail is based on the view that providing a seamless shopping experience across multiple channels will be a critical enabler for future success. Their multiple channel focus is allowing them to greatly expand their assortment of merchandise, and they are making the investment to build these capabilities, including the roll out of â€Å"buy on-line, pick-up in store† next year. Home depot is committed to having a best-in-class website, and during fiscal 2010 their site was named as a Most Improved Website for customer satisfaction by Foresee, a leading customer satisfaction analytics firm. Home Depot opened eight new stores in fiscal 2010, including one relocation, and closed three stores, bringing our total store count at the end of fiscal 2010 to 2,248. As of the end of fiscal 2010, a total of 272 of these stores, or 12. 1%, were located in Canada, Mexico and China compared to 268 stores, or 11. 9%, at the end of fiscal 2009. Home Depot generated approximately $4.   billion of cash flow from operations in fiscal 2010. They used this cash flow along with cash on hand to fund $2. 6 billion of share repurchases, pay $1. 6  billion of dividends and fund $1. 1 billion in capital expenditures. At the end of fiscal 2010, Home Depot’s long-term debt-to-equity ratio was 46. 1% compared to 44. 7% at the end of fiscal 2009. Their return on invested capita l for continuing operations (computed on net operating profit after tax for the trailing twelve months and the average of beginning and ending long-term debt and equity) was 12. 8% for fiscal 2010 compared to 10. % for fiscal 2009. This increase reflects the impact of the Rationalization Charges which they included in their operating profit for fiscal 2009. Excluding the Rationalization Charges, their return on invested capital for continuing operations was 12. 7% for fiscal 2010 compared to 11. 1% for fiscal 2009. Week 2 Activity Ratios of Home Depot vs. Lowe’s One key to profitability is how well a company manages and utilizes its assets. Some ratios are design to evaluate a company’s effectectiveness in managing assets. Of particular interest is the activity, or turnover ratios, of certain assets. The greater the number of times an asset turns over, the higher the ratio the fewer assets are required to maintain a given level of activity (revenue). Given that a company incurs costs to finance its assets with debt (paying interest) or equity (paying dividends), high turnovers are usually attractive. |Receivable Turnover | |Year |2009 |2010 |2011 | |Home Depot |68. |63. 9 |53. 9 | |Lowe’s |0. 0 |0. 0 |0. 0 | Receivable Turnover ratio is calculated by dividing a period’s net credit sales by the average net accounts receivables. The receivables turnover ratio provides an indication of a company’s efficiency in collecting receivables. The ratio shows the number of times during a period that the averages accounts receivable balance is collected. The higher the ratio, the shorter the average time between credit sales and cash collection. As we can see above, Lowe’s has zero receivables, which can be translated to no credit sales. |Inventory Turnover | |Year |2009 |2010 |2011 | |Home Depot |4. 21 |4.. 19 |4. 34 | |Lowe’s |4. 0 |3. 72 |3. 63 | Inventory Turnover is an important measure for a merchandising company. The ratio shows the number of times the average inventory balance is sold during reporting period. It indicates how quickly inventory is sold. The more frequently a business is able to sell, or turn over, its inventory, the lower its investment in inventory must be for a given level of sales. The ratio is computed by dividing the period’s costs of goods sold by the average inventory balance. The denominator, average inventory, is determined by adding beginning and ending inventory and dividing by two. A relatively high ratio, as in the case of Home Depot compare to Lowe’s, usually is desirable. A high ratio indicates comparative strength, perhaps caused by a company’s superior sales force or maybe a successful advertising campaign. However, it might also be caused by a relatively low inventory level, which could mean either very efficient inventory measurement or stock outs or lost sales in the future. Comparing the two industries, we can conclude than Home Depot turns over their inventory a bit faster than Lowe’s. Asset Turnover | |Year |2009 |2010 |2011 | |Home Depot |1. 73 |1. 62 |1. 73 | |Lowe’s |1. 48 |1. 43 |1. 41 | Asset Turnover is a broad measure of asset efficiency. The ratio is computed by dividing a company’s net sales or revenue by the average total assets available for use during a period. The denominator, average assets, is determined by adding beginning and ending total assets and dividing by two. The asset turnover ratio provides an indication of how efficiency a company utilizes all of its assets to generate revenue. Also, it shows how many sales dollars are generated for every dollar invested in the company’s assets. Lowe’s had relatively lower asset turnover than Home Depot because their recent investment in PPE has not yet reached their potentials. Home Depot is a financially sound company and performs well when compared to its competitors. Based on current business conditions and the potential growth opportunity facing Home Depot, we feel that the bottom line will continue to grow at a healthy rate above the competition in the near future. We believe that the relatively low levels of debt, slightly wider margins, and lower costs make Home Depot an attractive investment for the long run. Shares of Home Depot are currently trading at $33. 92 to what we believe is gaining momentum in the market. This increase is possibly derived from the market’s belief that better than predicted growth will be seen from expansion into foreign markets, specifically China. Week 4 Home Depot – Accounting Policies The retail industry, in general, presents a very competitive market with high price competition and low product differentiation. Although almost any retailer, from supermarkets to superstores, can offer home improvement items at a competitive price, the home improvement industry currently provides a great opportunity for differentiation in regards to the types of services home improvement retailers offer. To successfully maximize sales and increase revenues in the home improvement industry, retailers such as Home Depot must successfully combine product variety, quality and price and specialized services. As discussed earlier, Home Depot has adopted a business strategy based on these key factors. Consequently, as we look at Home Depot’s overall financial results, it is necessary to focus on key accounting policies adopted by the company to measure critical factors and risks. In the â€Å"Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition† of The Home Depot, Inc 2011 Annual Report (www. omedepot. com), management identified three major areas as areas of critical accounting policy and discussed the adoption of four different accounting pronouncements. In addition to the four recently adopted accounting pronouncements identified in the management’s discussion, The Home Depot identified four other major accounting policy change s in it’s â€Å"Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements†. Specifically, The Home Depot adopted four different accounting pronouncements in regards to service revenue recognition, vendor allowances, goodwill amortization and stock based compensation. The three critical accounting policies, as identified by The Home Depot management refer to the treatment of merchandise inventories, self insurance and revenue recognition. Merchandise Inventory policy is specifically addressed by The Home Depot management in â€Å"Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition† and is assessed in two different ways. Approximately 93% of total inventory is valued at the lower of cost or market utilizing FIFO under the retail inventory method with the other 7% valued under the cost method. The Notes section of the Financial Statements accounts for the two different methods. According to the Notes, the 7% of inventory valued under the cost method was due to inventory policy of certain subsidiaries and distribution centers. In addition, The Home Depot, Inc. takes a physical inventory count on a regular basis at each store to verify that inventory amounts in the merchandise inventory section of the Consolidated Financial Statements are accurate. Lastly, in regards to merchandise inventory, the company does account for possible inventory shrinkage or swell based on historical results and industry trends. Self Insurance accounting policy for Home Depot addresses it’s treatment of â€Å"losses related to general liability, product liability, workers’ compensation and medical claims†. The total liability is estimated on the total cost incurred as of the specific balance sheet date and is not discounted. The estimate is based on â€Å"historical data and actuarial estimates†. The company also explains in it’s Management Discussion that they ensure estimates of liability are as accurate as possible by having both management and third-party actuaries review the estimates on a quarterly basis. Revenue Recognition is the third critical accounting policy identified by The Home Depot management. Revenue recognition at the Home Depot follows the industry norm of recognizing revenue when the customer takes possession of the merchandise or, if a customer makes payment prior to take ownership of the merchandise, Home Depot records the sale as Deferred Revenue on the balance sheet until the sale is finalized when the customer takes possession of the paid merchandise. Additionally, because The Home Depot also provides a variety of services through their installation and home maintenance programs, they also recognize service revenue at the time when the service is completed and also record any customer pre-paid service revenue as Deferred Revenue on the balance sheet. Week 5 Internet The internet has completely changed the way companies communicate and market to their prospects. Home improvement businesses in the U. S report that the ways they have traditionally generated leads (i. . yellows pages, direct mail, print media, tv and radio) aren’t working like they use to. In fact, 85% of all products and service inquiries now start online and 97% of U. S internet users gather shopping information online and of those more than half characterize their behavior as ‘Shop Online, Purchase Offline. ’ The convenience of online shopping and the ability to make price comparisons on the internet has completely changed retail trends in the p ast decades. Even though most people tend to shop for building materials by visiting physical locations, still Home Depot cannot ignore e-commerce because people increasing buy items of nearly any kind online. Home depot being the largest home improvement retailer is expanding in the online channel aggressively and targeting it as a major growth opportunity. Home depot made it’s biggest e-commerce investment over the last two years since it started internet sales in 2001. According to research, 45% 0f the 9. million consumers who visited Home Depot’s website on average in any given week said their next step was a trip to a Home Depot store, which translates to about 225 customers a day per location. However, e-commerce for the home improvement industry is an underleveraged opportunity. A lot of people think of home Depot as a place you go on a Saturday, or when you do window treatment or carpeting. As such, they can do a better job online for things like branded power tools and repl enishable items and also offer delivering services for those items. Home Depot’s operating cost will decrease if customers interacted through the use of the internet due to the folllowing: †¢ Online customers are used to doing their own shopping without any salesperson assistance; therefore the cost of the salesperson would be eliminated as such. †¢ The range of products that can be offered through the website can be far greater than what one could find at Home Depot’s location, thereby giving customers a clear reason to prefer the internet. These are all advantages that Home Depot can benefit from as a result of the internet. As with the advantages, there are also disadvantages (issues) that Home Depot needs to put into consideration and work diligently to address them. The foremost of these issues are lack of site maintenance and lack of integration between the e-commerce site and the corporate back-office systems. As such, Home Depot must work through these issues in detail in order to arrive at the true cost-benefit for an e-commerce. How to cite Home Depot Analysis, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Corporate Responsibility and Management

Question: Discuss about the Corporate Responsibility and Management. Answer: Introduction: In the present business environment, maintenance of ethics has emerged as one of the most significant factors. Utilization of proper corporate social responsibility and ethics can actually help organizations to develop strong reputation that eventually will create positive impact on the on the businesses. British Petroleum (BP) is regarded as one of the largest integrated energy organizations. The organization includes activities like exploring, refining, producing, distributing and marketing oil and gas products in the world market. BP also has focuses on the renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. BP produced almost 4 million natural oil and crude oil every day. The company has it presence in more than 100 countries (www.bp.com, 2016). In the essay, the focus will be on the issues of oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has created huge amount of impact on the maintenance of ethics in the operational process of the British Petroleum. In 2010, BP has experienced an explosion in the drilling platform in the Gulf Mexico area. This has caused the biggest oil spill catastrophe in the history of the oil and gas industry. The essay will focus on all the major ethical factors that the incident has induced BP to consider for the effective operational process. Main Body: As per the article by Brennan (2013) BP oil spill explosion has caused death of the 11 working employee and 17 employee has suffered serious injury. Furthermore, around 150 thousand barrels of crude oil are wasted in the sea on a daily basis for the period of 5 months. As a result, the wasted oil has covered around 68 thousand square miles. Investigation has identified many problems in the explosion rig that has made major contribution to the accident. It has been identified that BP has continued the installation process of the drilling rig with utilization of cheaper design that has increased the amount of risk in the operational process (Michel et al., 2013). Thus, it raises questions over the appropriateness of the operational process of the British Petroleum. In the present business context, environmental protection has come up as one of the prime factors for maintaining ethics in the businesses. However, the disaster has created major impact on the environment of Mexico. Particularly, tourism and seafood industry has been affected heavily by this disaster. The oil spill scandal of BP has killed fish. Therefore, it increases the prices of seafood in the Mexican market (Ritchie et al., 2013). The oil spill scandal has also increases the job insecurity of the workers. As a result, oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has raised questions over the ethical behavior of the organization. It has been identified that BPs cost saving strategy has made huge amount of contribution in the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf Mexico. However, the incident has created ethical dilemma for the BP between meeting criteria of the safety in terms of providing huge number of facilities at the platform rig and the saving costs by taking unnecessary risks in the operational process (Kleinnijenhuis et al., 2013). Since, utilization of cost effective strategy can actually enhance the profit level of the organization. On the other hand, it increases the health safety issues for the workers, environmental issue and legal issues that BP has to face in order to utilize its operational process in an appropriate manner. Thus, corporate social responsibility and ethical behavior of the organization will have to be utilized in such a way so that it can able to cover both the factors in an effective manner. However, catastrophe in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has highlighted that BP has un able to include all the factors in their CSR responsibility effectively (Bond, 2013). As a result, BP has able to get the opportunity of implementing risky technique for performing the operational process. As per the Utilitariantheory, organizational actions should be based on the moral rules. It defines whether an action is morally relevant or not. Thus, it highlighted the fact that BP has to put more focus on the environmental and health safety factor (Issacharoff Rave, 2013). Thus, it actually affected the CSR maintenance of the organization. The Utilitariantheory also mentioned that organizations have to sacrifice some of their profit in order to gain larger future benefits. However, oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlighted that BP is not focusing too much on their ethical behavior of providing proper working atmosphere for the employees. On the other hand, individualistic business theory highlighted the fact that every organization only has to focus on making profit. In fact, the theory highlighted that organizations have to do whatever it takes in order to enhance the profit level as long as it is in the legal boundaries. In this oil spill case, it has been identified that me chanical failure at the rig has caused the accident. Therefore, it highlighted that BP has not done any illegal for the utilization of the operational process (Barrage, Chyn Hastings, 2014). For that reason, individualistic business theory induces BP to maintain its present cost effective operational procedure. As per the Kantian theory, organizations have to respect people, make rational decision and make decision based on the goodwill. The above disaster highlighted the fact that BP has to focus on these factors in order to operate properly. Therefore, it does create question mark on the ethical maintenance procedure of the organization. Thus, it is important for BP to include moral aspect in the business processes so that it can able to maintain its CSR responsibility in appropriate way. For instance, BP has to focus on the emission reduction program so that it can create positive impact on the environment as well. The demand for natural oil product is increasing every day (Horowitz, 2014). As a result, it is polluting the environment in a huge way. Thus, BPs CSR maintenance will have to focus on the emission of greenhouse gases so that its oil exploration process cannot able to impact too much on the environmental condition. CSR responsibility of BP can initiate support policies that will focus on the efficiency of the production process so that it requires less energy. BP also has to participate on the international debates, which focuses on the climate change. This will help the organization to improve the knowledge about different factors so that the organization can able to maintain ethics in a proper way. BP a lso has to understand the fact that stakeholders are becoming more concern about the toxic emissions (Boopathy, Shields Nunna, 2012). Therefore, BPs ethical behavior has to ensure that all the rigs have the required amount of capability so that it can able to deal with the mechanical failure in a much more effective way. BP also has to invest more on the health and safety process of the workers in order to reduce the possibility of life risk at the workplace. For instance, BP has to focus on the construction standards of the drilling rigs. Since, a well-prepared structure will reduce the probability of such kind of oil spill catastrophe. Conclusion: The above discussion highlighted that ethics play crucial role in the operational process of the organizations. The oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has also induces BP to make several changes on the operational processes so that it can reduce the possibility of such kind of disaster and also maintain the moral aspects of the business. BP has to focus on the maintenance of meeting all the criteria, as it will help the organization to develop a strong image in the world market. References: Barrage, L., Chyn, E., Hastings, J. (2014).Advertising, reputation, and environmental stewardship: Evidence from the bp oil spill(No. w19838). National Bureau of Economic Research. Bond, D. (2013). Governing disaster: the political life of the environment during the BP oil spill.Cultural anthropology,28(4), 694-715. Boopathy, R., Shields, S., Nunna, S. (2012). Biodegradation of crude oil from the BP oil spill in the marsh sediments of southeast Louisiana, USA.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology,167(6), 1560-1568. Brennan, L. C. (2013).Gulf Oil Spill. ABDO Publishing Company. Horowitz, A. (2014). The BP oil spill and the end of empire, Louisiana.Southern Cultures,20(3), 6-23. Issacharoff, S., Rave, D. T. (2013). The BP Oil Spill Settlement and the Paradox of Public Litigation. Kleinnijenhuis, J., Schultz, F., Utz, S., Oegema, D. (2013). The mediating role of the news in the BP oil spill crisis 2010: How US news is influenced by public relations and in turn influences public awareness, foreign news, and the share price.Communication Research, 0093650213510940. Michel, J., Owens, E. H., Zengel, S., Graham, A., Nixon, Z., Allard, T., ... Rutherford, N. (2013). Extent and degree of shoreline oiling: Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, USA.PloS one,8(6), e65087. Ritchie, B. W., Crotts, J. C., Zehrer, A., Volsky, G. T. (2013). Understanding the effects of a tourism crisis: the impact of the BP oil spill on regional lodging demand.Journal of Travel Research, 0047287513482775. www.bp.com (2016). 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