AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF PEST FACTORS OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT TO STRATEGIC PLANNING

 

            PEST stands for Political Factors, Economic Factors, Socio-cultural Factors and Technological Factors. These are very important factors that are needed to be considered in an organization. In fact, analyzing the external environment using these factors should be continuous in order to make sure all the aspects of planning are the in right direction.

            The process is called PEST analysis. PEST analysis is a critical analysis of the external factors of the organization that is essential to strategic planning.

Political factors include policies that affect and regulate the business, and the views of the government on marketing ethics. Economic Factors include the latest interest rates. This also involves long-term prospects for the economy’s Gross Domestic Product per capita and the levels of inflation rate. Socio-cultural factors consist of language, religion and gender that might influence the business. Technological, is of course, the effectiveness of technology when used.

            This study is interested in analyzing how these factors can affect a certain business. This study would like to explore more on the importance and the effectiveness of PEST analysis to a company by research through printed materials and online articles regarding the topic. This study will also conduct interviews and observations of selected companies that regularly apply PEST analysis in their marketing plans.

            This study aims to present the ways to conduct PEST analysis and its significance to strategic planning.

            This study will be beneficial to businesspersons in general.

           

Reflection Term Paper on Accounting Information Technology

Reflection Term Paper on Accounting Information Technology

Introduction

In the corporate world, accounting is considered as the crucial part of internal operations that makes an emphasis in this kind of profession. Accounting became an important part of the operation because of the financial and operating information and allows the executives or the business leaders to make a sound decision toward their steps in making the business successful. Most people, in this generation, are affected by the computer-based systems. Therefore, the involvement of the technology in any profession created different perceptions. In accounting, the computation of the resources and information such as the business problems are assumed to be more effective on the business’s focus on the business community.

What is Accounting Information Technology?

Basically, the accounting is considered as the language of business which deals with producing, communicating, and interpreting the business’s information about is performance, operation, and the status of its finances. The accounting finds its place in different field and created a great impact and usefulness in the marketing, entrepreneurship, and information technology. The accounting information technology is another service that the accounting can offer. An accountant who has an expertise in the use of the IT tools, such as advanced computer systems, can make a great difference in the traditional accounting. It is ideal in the era where the growth of information technology is enormously strong. In the view of the corporate world, the information technology can open job opportunities and implementation of the advanced systems that are appropriate in the company’s specialized needs. Therefore, the accountants that are skilled in using the software are highly valued ( 2007). However, there are contradicting issues about the relationship of the accounting information technologies in the business settings.

Pros

With the assistance of the information technology in the accounting profession, he financial and nonfinancial information can be culled from the past up to present performance or condition of the business because it can store the data based on the year and therefore, provide the assurance of the intelligence in the financial context of the business. Through the help of the information technology, the knowledge or financial information has more assurance of the accuracy, assess the risk, or measure the performance in definite time and can be shared, passed, or delivered into many different people in the corporation. Also, there is an open opportunity is the small and mid-size public accounting firms when they applied the idea of the accounting information technology in their system. They can use the different benefits it may bring to their business’s expansion and become more competitive against the companies that are still trapped in the traditional accounting services ( 2007). Through the benefits it can offer, there will be a new emergence in the industry to take the process be part of their internal procedure and can craft a positive image in the mind of the accounting students to incorporate their learning with the information technology.

Cons

While there are many advantages in the utilization of the information in accounting profession, the company’s information technology cannot hide the additional resources and expenses in dealing with the problems that may arise in the incompatibilities of their own version of software. There are intricate procedures included such as the coding process which can accommodate the burden of the errors upon the interpretation. Through the attestation of the companies, they observed that there is a great impact of the high costs incurred in the completion of the software and they are often comes in different forms that are based on the need for accurate auditing, or reduction of the timeliness in releasing or producing the data needed by the corporate. Through the high costs or value of the software, the people may not add much importance of value in the process of it (2004).

Analysis and Conclusion

It is appropriate to office personnel such as the finance manager to have an accounting background but in many cases, the business leaders have a little knowledge regarding on the IT issues. In this case, the possibility of the application of the information technology in the accounting profession is very slim. And many companies place the responsibility of investment and IT strategy in the hands of an expert. As the business starts to performs, the business leaders will realize the different risk involved in IT projects if they are not managed properly and project failures are the most common end of their innovation. These risks and negative possibilities are the things that every company is trying to avoid. But in understanding the internal control and underlying systems between the accounting profession and the information technology services, all of the doubts will be banish (2006).

There are possibilities to avoid the fraud in the business setting through the monitoring process that can adopt in the idea of IT in accounting. The strengths and weaknesses of the information system are based on the analysis and design of the solutions that is suitable to the corporate business problems. The only thing that is very vital in the process is the skills and knowledge of the person, so that he or she can manage the overall accounting information technology in the business settings.

Issues in early intervention (earlychildhood )

Several children such as those with disabilities are growing up in changing world characterized by dramatic shifts in what all children are expected to know and be able to do. Higher and tougher standards of learning for students are focusing on narrow view of learning. Consequently, students have less time and opportunity to play than did children of previous generations as few would disagree that the primary goal of education is student learning and that educators, families, policymakers bear the responsibility of making learning accessible to all children. Decades of research has documented that activities related to play has crucial role in optimal growth, learning, and development of children from infancy through adolescence. The need is being challenged, so children's right to play must be defended by adults, especially educators and parents to advocate strongly in support of play for children with disability.

 (2003) indicated that the “field of early intervention/early childhood special education has emerged as a primary service for infants and preschool children with disabilities and their families as such systems for providing early intervention for infants and toddlers exist in every state, state Departments of Education are responsible for special education for preschool children” (). In early intervention, unified theory of practice has emerged and draws from a range of psychological and educational theories and strong, evidence-based set of practices that service providers and caregivers use to promote the development and well-being of infants and young children with disabilities and their families underlies this theory of practice (2003).

 (1994) studied on “theoretical and practical conceptualizations in the field of early childhood special education are limited in their attention to the sociocultural context in which development occurs as there argues for paradigmatic shift away from the individualistic models of development and learning to social constructivist model that stems from views of learning and development first articulated by and since expanded upon by and others” (). Thus, some shift is supportive of the current press for more inclusive classroom practices through an emphasis on the sociocultural context, the role of social activity including instruction in learning, and the contributions of learners to their own development. Principles for inclusive early childhood practice are explicated based on the concepts of classrooms as communities, learning as socially mediated, curriculum as contextually relevant and problem based, assessment as authentic and personally meaningful (1994).

Some educators have advocated the use of the Developmentally Appropriate Practice approach in preschool programs for young children with special needs as there review rationale and basic premise of Developmentally Appropriate Practice approach and early childhood special education as highlight areas in which developmentally appropriate practice guidelines overlap those of early childhood special education. The point out of insufficiencies of these guidelines for planning, carrying out, and evaluating early childhood special education programs. The offering of suggestions for standards that should guide evaluation of programs that serve young children with disabilities.

‘Several results from early intervention evaluation studies are described in relationship to their impact on parent-child interaction as measured by the Maternal Behavior Rating Scale. Intervention studies included the Infant Health and Development Program, the Longitudinal Studies of the Effects and Costs of Alternative Types of Early Intervention, the Play and Learning Strategies Program, and the Family Centered Outcome study. There indicated that intervention effects on child development were unlikely to occur unless mothers modified their style of interacting with their children. Although indicated that mothers of children who participated in intervention modified several different parameters of interactional style, only their level of responsiveness was positively associated with their children's developmental outcomes upon relationship to child-focused and relationship-focused models of early intervention’ (1998).

 (1995) noted that, “integration or inclusion of children with disabilities into public school and community based educational and child care programs is imperative to the range of personnel working in early intervention/early childhood special education. Thus, taking position that personnel embrace inclusion at the conceptual level but ignore or discount its implications at the applied or child level. The need for discussion of the policies and practices of inclusion as they may potentially affect individual children and families serves as basis for offering series of recommendations for fostering successful inclusion”.

 (2000) have asserted, “inclusion of children with disabilities in programs with their typically developing peers is one of many changes that has occurred in the field of early childhood special education over the last 20 years. Inclusion was initially viewed as placement issue, but it has become clear that for inclusion to be successful, children should not just be placed in an inclusive setting but should be involved with their peers in ongoing classroom activities and routines. They also should have opportunities for learning new skills within the context of those activities and routines. The ample need for instructional approaches that promote children's learning in the context of activities and routines with their peers such as those classroom based interventions as they relate to promoting inclusion, addresses related challenges, suggests appropriate strategies”.

The essence of describing process of curriculum adaptation as being used by teachers in an inclusive elementary school in order enhance the degree to which young children with mild to profound disabilities were instructionally integrated in primary grade classrooms. The underlying assumptions of the process are describe, core components of the process. Case study is to be in utilization as for instance, “there had been three students with mild to profound disabilities to demonstrate how the process can be applied in content area subjects to optimize the instructional inclusion of students, while not sacrificing the individualized nature of instruction” (1994). Furthermore, ‘development of inclusive programs for children with disabilities requires early childhood special educators and early childhood educators to collaborate in an effort to develop and implement effective programs that meet the needs of these children’. Also, developmentally appropriate practice have describe guidelines that early educators have determined to be appropriate practice in early childhood programs (1994).  The importance of play on child's development cannot be understated. The ‘play gives children opportunities to understand the world, interact with others, express and control emotions, develop symbolic capabilities, attempt novel or challenging tasks, solve problems, and practice skills. Play may contribute to the development of posture, movement, self-sufficiency. There also appears to be a positive relationships between the frequency and complexity of  children's play and IQ, problem-solving, creativity, language and literacy, social competence describe development of play-based curriculum for children with disabilities’ (1999).  ‘The distinction between general early childhood education and special education on the issue of the essential characteristics of play, developmental appropriateness, and an emphasis on teacher directiveness, external contingencies, and correct products may help explain the relatively small body of work focused on teaching preschool children with developmental concerns how to appropriately engage in play with toys. Appropriately designed intervention is not only compatible with the concept of play, many children require intervention to support their continued development. Exploring research in which object-related play skills of preschool children with developmental concerns are enhanced through intervention strategies and that guidelines for teaching toy play will be presented and strategies to promote generalisation and maintenance is needed accordingly’ (1999 ). The play-based environment as rather than the teacher-directed activities more typical of special education is natural instructional context for young children with severe disabilities. Utilization of best practices in the fields of early childhood education, early childhood special education, and education of students with severe disabilities will be recommended. There may be in terms of importance of developmental considerations in selecting instructional objectives, usefulness of directly teaching play activities to children with developmental disabilities.

 

 

 

 

Managing the information explosion

Managing the information explosion

 

 

Today, one can access voluminous worldwide public information using standard handheld computer and ubiquitous network resources. Thus, anonymous data and available information, one can often draw damaging inferences about sensitive information. However, one cannot seriously propose that information with any links to sensitive information be suppressed. Society is experiencing unprecedented growth in number and variety of data collections as computer technology, network connectivity and disk storage space becomes increasingly affordable. Data holders operating autonomously and with limited knowledge are left with the difficulty of releasing information that does not compromise privacy, confidentiality or national interests. The survival of database depends on the data holder's ability to produce anonymous data because not releasing such information at all may obstruct the goals for which the data were collected, failing to provide proper protection within release may create circumstances that harm public or others. It is becoming increasingly difficult to produce anonymous and declassified information in today's globally networked society. Most data holders do not even realize the jeopardy at which they place national security information when they erroneously rely on security practices of the past as technology has eroded previous protections leaving the information vulnerable.

 

 

 

Research may imply examination as presented within desirable data collection in order to measure patterns of information growth as there shows that it is information distribution and not information production that has experienced explosive growth any timeframe as the process of management, management of information as an essential element of managerial practice, the need for research to address from perspective of manager. Information has always been the element in the performance of business and the effectiveness of management, and information technology can now transform the use of information to give managers substantial benefits in business planning and decision making. It is considered that information must be integrated into an organization’s overall management and planning system rather than being controlled by specialist IT professionals and that the manager has to be responsible for: people, their motivation and training; business systems, culture and environment and organization’s data resource. The ways in which business information processes can be analyzed and modeled are reviewed and it is explained that information models can enable better understanding of the organization by showing it in new and sometimes enlightening way. Some of the many complex issues associated with managing the change process and achieving successful implementation of the technologies will need to be in consideration.

 

 

 

 

The growth of technology has spawned still growing number of journals representing new technical methods as the journals may serve more to carry advertising than to convey new information of value for concept or reference, existence implies that needed information can account towards ‘information explosion’. The sense of information explosion may come simply from growth of basic medical science and its generation of new concepts, the new concepts and the associated new facts have called for new terms. Thus, new science generates new vocabularies. When these new terms begin to appear in journals that have heretofore dealt only with familiar concepts people may feel that they are being presented with too much new information for them to process for its possible usefulness. Recent research has focused on building better tools to help people manage their information (1996;2002). The proposed tools attempt to provide a more natural way of both organizing and accessing personal information. The need to present qualitative study examining what people did when working with their email, their file system, and the World Wide Web, to understand participants’ behavior, wanted to understand what people do with electronic information and to focus in particular on the situations in which people report exerting effort in locating information. For example, one participant might know she could find the phone number of a restaurant in particular email from colleague. In many of these cases, people were able to associate their information target with particular source.

 

People seemed to prefer to solve their need by using form of local navigation to find that source, similar to the Micronesian islanders’ situated navigation in  (1987). Discuss related observation studies that focus on how people interact with information, examine search strategy and discuss the implications of results on information management tools. Previous observational studies have focused on users’ interaction with various different subsets of personal information, such as email, files and the Web. Whittaker and Hirshberg (2001) investigated personal paper archives to understand the value of paper over digital documents. Researchers found that in addition to using email as communication tool, people also used it to keep track of upcoming appointments and often used their Inboxes as to do lists ( 2000; 2000). The present and future problems of buying, storing, accessing, and using information needed for research work will not be solved by individual institutions, resources are limited and competition for them is unremitting and that few people in individual institution other than librarian have grasp on the size of the problems.

 

Research proposal on The effects of dual abstinence and comprehensive sexual education programs on the pregnancy rates of rural adolescent African-American females.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The effects of dual abstinence and comprehensive sexual education programs on the pregnancy rates of rural adolescent African-American females.

                                                                             
 

Introduction   

 

High pregnancy rates for African-American females have continued to be a problem in rural Georgia despite school taught government approved abstinence only sexual education.  Study) has shown that black females either do not understand abstinence the way it is taught or they make up their own definition of abstinence.  Study) shows that abstinence only programs are not as effective as once believed.  It is important that other avenues be considered to teach African-American females, especially rural females, sexual education that they can understand and identify with in order to control teen pregnancy rates.

 

Statement of the Problem

The problem of the research was to investigate  the effectiveness of a multidimensional approach to sexual education on the pregnancy rates of rural African-American adolescents.

 

Purpose of the Study

Adolescent African-American pregnancy rates have continued to be a problem in rural Georgia.  This study is focused on the effectiveness of a multidimensional approach to sexual education in order to decrease these ever climbing pregnancy rates.  There has been a lack of research on multidimensional sexual education programs on rural African-American females.  It is believed that the data from this study may help influence the gaining popularity of non abstinence-only programs in the United States.  If pregnancy rates can be decreased among rural black adolescent females these types of multidimensional sexual education programs may be considered by the government for implementation in other areas of the United States where high teen pregnancy rates are prevalent. 
 

Significance of the Study

Adolescent African-American females would benefit greatly by a multidimensional sexual education program.  This program of study would clearly help the girls gain knowledge about abstinence as well as sex education.  According to a study by Kristin Haglund (2003) on sexually abstinent  African-American females all of the girls in her study “agreed that abstinence involved refraining from having sex,  particularly vaginal intercourse.”  Unfortunately they did not agree on what other sexual behaviors counted as having sex therefore had to be avoided to maintain abstinence.   Therefore more knowledge needs to be imparted to the girls in order for them to make more informed life choices.   According to Somers and Eaves (2002), “earlier sex education does not contribute to earlier risk behavior.”  Therefore, an additional comprehensive sexual education could contribute greatly to the girls knowledge of the healthy aspects of human sexuality such as intimacy and love, developmental issues, and birth control measures including abstinence.  The Carrerra Model has proven that a multidimensional approach to teen pregnancy prevention can work (Carrerra,1995).  This study in particular will validate Carrerra’s findings and help close the gaps that the educational community my still entertain about the effectiveness of any program other than an abstinence only curriculum. 

 

Delimitations

1.  Twenty African American Females ages 11-15 years old.

2.  All participants will reside in rural Hancock County, Georgia.

3.  Participants will be chosen with the help of the school system meeting at-risk indicators: female, lower-income family, lack of involvement in school, lack of performance in school, and number of previous pregnancies.

4.  All of the participants will have a negative pregnancy history.

5.  Multidimensional sexual education program will be utilized.  See Fig. 1

6.  The study will last for a period of seven years and will be ongoing throughout each year.

 

Limitations

1.  The sample of rural African-American females may not be representative of other rural areas.

2.  Program administrators may not follow the guidelines of the programs

3.  Data may not be able to be generalized to other rural populations

4.  Unexpected intercourse such as rape or incest.

5.  Travel to areas of education.

6.  Lack of interest in program by parents.

 

Assumptions

1.  The maturational and environmental influences are unique to each child.

2.  The information provided  will increase the girls knowledge of abstinence.

3.   Risky sexual behavior will be decreased.  

4.  Self-esteem and self-expression will be increased.

5.  Test instruments will be reliable.

6.  Pregnancy rates will be decreased.          

7.  The multidimensional sexual education model, as modified for the community, was

      appropriate for the target population and was a valid and reliable curriculum.

8.  The subjects and their parents understood the long term purpose of the study.

9.  The participants were a representative sample of rural Georgia adolescent African-American females.

10.  The program administrators were sufficiently trained and capable of utilizing the recommended programs and procedures.

 

Hypothesis

1.  African-American teen pregnancy rates will decrease

2. Participants knowledge of sexual education will increase

3.  Participants knowledge of birth control will increase

4.  Participants will be able to utilize decision making techniques

5.  Participants will know all the methods of birth control 

 
 

Literature Review

For the past 20 years, the U.S. government has been funding abstinence-only programs to be taught in the public school systems.  Abstinence only curriculums usually promote communication, decision-making, assertiveness, goal setting, and abstinence as a way of preventing pregnancy and STD’s.  According to SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, these programs leave out valuable information on reproductive health, sexuality issues, and other forms of pregnancy and STD prevention.  The government mandates that any school that receives federal money for abstinence only programs must also include teachings that emphasize that,  “sexual activity outside of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.”  Nothing is to be mentioned about the positive effects of love and intimacy between two people.
 

Abstinence only programs are good programs because they do teach knowledge and valuable life skills.  In a study of the Sex Can Wait abstinence program the results showed an increase in knowledge for elementary, middle, and high school, although not as much as expected (Denny, Young, Rausch, Spear, 2002).  However,  when it comes to pregnancy prevention abstinence only programs are not always effective.  In a study on abstinence education for rural youth by Barnett & Hurst (2003), they found that the Life’s Walk abstinence program that they were studying was not entirely effective. Attitudes toward teen sexual activity did not change as a result of the program.  Nor did attitudes change as a result of the Sex Can Wait program.  Denny et al states, “the finding that the curriculum did not produce more positive attitudes at the elementary school and middle school level is puzzling”.  Barnett & Hurst (2003) also reported that sexual behavior of the participants actually increased.   To substantiate these findings the British Medical Journal reported a meta-analyses of 26 trials of pregnancy prevention programs that showed pregnancies actually increased in partners of male participants (DiCenso, Guyatt, Griffith, 2002) .   

Part of the problem with abstinence only programs may be the lack of a clear definition for abstinence.  There is not even a clear common definition between nationally recognized abstinence programs.  Haglund (2003) reports in her study “Sexually Abstinent African American Adolescent Females’ Descriptions of Abstinence” that     

Each state that gets Federal money for abstinence programs are allowed to define abstinence themselves.  Some states included the federal description that abstinence meant refraining from sexual activity but sexual activity was not defined.  Others defined abstinence as refraining from vaginal heterosexual intercourse, from all types of sexual activity with a significant risk for transmission of a sexually transmitted infection (STI), or from any expression of sexual feeling (as cited in Sonfield and Gold, 2001).

So, not only are the proponents for abstinence unsure about the definition so are the students.

 

 Haglund also reports that the girls in her study was widely confused as to the definition of abstinence.  When participants were asked how a variety of sexual behaviors fit into their definition of abstinence,  kissing and holding hands were unanimously considered abstinent.  But touching a partner on the genitals including breasts, clothed or partially unclothed, was also considered abstinent because no intercourse had occurred.  Oral-genital contact was considered a sex act by participants but most girls believed that if genital to genital intercourse was avoided then they were still abstinent.  If anal intercourse occurred the person was no longer considered abstinent but one could still be considered “technically” abstinent.  Participants in Haglund’s study believed that vaginal penetration was the only “real way” that people had sex.   “Thus, incomplete descriptions of abstinence might cause some young people to unknowingly put themselves at risk by engaging in other forms of genital sexual activities” (Haglund, 2003).

 Parents are the last ones that want their children to engage in potentially risky sexual behavior.  Parents would much rather their children be educated than be ignorant or misinformed about all of the topics that sexual education would cover.  A survey by SIECUS and Advocates for Youth suggest that most Americans support sex education in schools that includes information on abstinence and contraception.  In a SIECUS and Advocates for Youth 1999 nationwide poll of adults on their attitudes about sex education in the U.S., 93% of those polled supported comprehensive sex education and believed young people, “should be given information to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancies and STDs”(as cited in Starkman and Rajani, 2002).  Reported in the same survey, most Americans believed abstinence should be a topic, even though they rejected abstinence-only education.  Eighty-six percent of respondents believed that “young people need information about sexuality so they will have healthy and happy intimate relationships as adults”.   A Kaiser Family Foundation report, released in September 2000,

found that most parents want their children to receive information on a variety of subjects, including contraception and condom use, sexually transmitted disease, sexual orientation, safer-sex practices, abortion, communications and coping skills, and the emotional aspects of relationships (as cited in Starkman and Rajani, 2002).

As part of the study parents given the choice to remove their children from a comprehensive sex education program, only 1% to 5% of parents would remove their child.

Teachers in the United States play an important role in teens sexual education.  Today’s teachers are not completely in favor of leaving sex education to parents (Bowden, Lanning, Pippin, Tanner, 2003).  Teachers generally feel that they can have a positive influence over the direction of their student’s lives and most teachers feel empowered to teach the material, hold conversation, respond to individual student questions and engage in other influential methods of teaching and learning (Bowden et al, 2003).  The main problem that teachers are faced with is that much of their influence is diminished by student’s peers.   In several studies peer “education” has had a negative effect on teens (Haglund, 2003, Forrest, Strange, and Oakley, 2002, Weekes, 2002).   Haglund reports that the African-American teens, in her study, main source for sexual information was peers.  Their “beliefs about sex and abstinence were based on what they had heard others say.”    
 

This bit of information is particularly valuable for the purposes of this study because African-American adolescent females are not only being influenced by their peers but by Black popular culture portraying stereotypes in film and music (Weeks 2002).  In Weeks study she found that black females were being oversexualized by popular media and by young black boys.  Stephens and Phillips writes, “The eroticizing of African American women as wild, sexually promiscuous, and amoral continues to be normalized by descriptors that are widely circulated, accepted, and used to frame ideas about this population” ( as cited in Hooks, 1992).   There are very few black female role models on television, print, and music outlets.  Especially role models that present the pure and chaste image above an overtly sexual image (Stephens and Phillips).   The black females in Weeks study were having a hard time presenting themselves as respectable but also living up to the oversexualized ideal that they felt that should portray externally. All of this confusion over who their sexual selves should be, pure and chaste or the Diva, Gold Digger, Freak that is being portrayed in popular Hip Hop culture, has left African-Americans questioning their own body image and how they fit into society.  In a study titled, “Body Image and African American Females’ Sexual Health”, the authors report that one of the most significant finding of their study was that women with

 negative body image evaluations, through their associations with unhealthy sexual attitudes, beliefs, ad behaviors, could enhance the risk of unintended pregnancy, STI, and HIV infection.  Moreover, women having greater dissatisfaction with their body image were significantly less likely to negotiate condom, as they feared that this practice would result in abandonment by their partners. [This] fear of abandonment and adolescents’ perceived limited control in the relationship may reduce the likelihood of negotiating safer sex or using condoms , and the consequence, they may feel more concerned about acquiring HIV.         

We may already be seeing today the consequences of the negative effects of body image on young African-American females.  Studies suggest that some 12 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases are reported each year, with about 25% of new cases found among teens (Carter, Franklin, Heath, 2000).  In Georgia alone, the 1999 Georgia County Guide gives staggering numbers for STI’s reported.  Reports were: 1,054 cases of AIDS, 2,008 cases of Syphilis, 22,041 cases of Gonorrhea, and 31,516 cases of Chlamydia.  There were 14,208 live births to unwed teen mothers.  Thirty percent of all unwed teen births were by African-American females.    

The facts clearly show that abstinence only programs are not working for African-American females.  It is believed that this comprehensive sexual education program will show measurable meaningful data to reduce teen pregnancy.  Mainly because this program will include components that other research has concluded could be most beneficial.  It could be most promising by learning from the studies already performed and implementing as part of the curriculum such areas as: clear and concise definitions of abstinence, emphasis on the benefits of abstinence while teaching contraception and disease prevention methods, comprising differential racialised experiences and definitions of sexuality that embrace how young black females experience their sexual selves, and body image screening to determine levels of dissatisfaction.      It is the hope of this study that these components along with the other components of a comprehensive sexual education curricula that we can be a successful model for future educators and African-American teenage pregnancy prevention                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

Ideas and Deletions

Mix signals = pregnancy ( quote below) ( haglund – abstinence is the best was to prevent infections and pregnancy ( Landry et al)

 

Teachers and parents want sex ed---- teachers probs with sex ed– the study

Black Females and body issues

Earlier sex education

Barnett & Hurst These same students when asked the best way to prevent pregnancy reported: abstinence (37%), birth control pills (30%, and condoms (27%). 
 

The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the Western, industrialized world. Approximately 9% of females ages 15 to 19 years become pregnant each year.  According to the 2003 Kids Count data book 37% of Georgia female adolescents between the ages of 15 and 17 had a baby in the year 2000.  According to the Georgia County Guide on vital statistics 30.8% of live births to unwed teenage mothers were to African-American females.   Although all of these statistics are alarming  Kids Counts shows that there is a 27% decrease in teen birth rates in Georgia  from 1990 to 2000. The facts still remain that even though these numbers are decreasing they are still alarmingly high and something needs to be done to prevent teen pregnancy.

A lot of the responsibility for pregnancy prevention has fallen on the heads of school educators.  But a majority of the teachers are limited by what they can teach youth inside of the school setting.  This is because for the past 20 years, the U.S. government has ben funding abstinence-only programs to be taught in the public school systems.  Programs funded by the government must teach, among other things, that “sexual activity outside of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.”   It is almost like the government wants to use scare tactics like beware of the boogie man to prevent minors from engaging in sexual activity.

                                                            

 

Chapter 3

Methods And Procedure

This chapter will discuss the method of research to be used, the respondents of the study, the sampling technique, the instrument to be used, the validation of the instrument, the administration of the of the instrument and the statistical treatment of the data that will be gathered.

Method of Research to be Used

This study will use the descriptive approach.  This descriptive type of research will utilize interview, observation and questionnaires in the study.  To illustrate the descriptive type of research, the researcher will be guided by Cresqell (1993) when he stated: “Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition.  The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of a particular phenomena.

Although early researchers conceptualized body image as being unidimensional, it is now considered to be, and is measured as, a multidimensional construct. Examples of dimensions are: perception, attitude, cognition, behavior, affect, fear of fatness, body distortion, body dissatisfaction, cognitive-behavioral investment, evaluation, preference for thinness, and restrictive eating (Cash, 1994; Cash & Henry, 1995; Gleaves, Williamson, Eberenz, Sebastian, & Barker, 1995). The way in which body image is conceptualized is not just of theoretical interest, but has implications for the way in which disturbances in body image are treated.

Empirical investigation is needed to determine the extent to which these models of body image accurately reflect the grouping of items. The aim of this research is to define body image more clearly and obtain data on the nature of the dimensions of body image. In doing so, it will be possible to develop a clearer idea of the actual dimensions of body image among African-American teenagers. Moreover, positive attitude towards body image may significantly reduce pregnancy rates among African-American teenagers. This construct is aimed to examine and propose to incorporate a multi-dimensional sex education and dual abstinence in African-American schools in rural Georgia. Past conceptualizations of body image have generally incorporated at least one of the following four dimensions: perception, cognition, affect, and behavior. These four dimensions have the appealing features of being simple, functional, and clearly testable, and are the starting point for this paper.

The present study is an examination of a multi-dimensional approach to sex education by exploring a model of body image that incorporated perceptual, affective, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions. Thus, the aim of the study was not to construct a measure of body image, but to determine the validity of conceptualizing body image as comprising four dimensions: perception, affect, cognition, and behavior.

            The primary source of data will come from a researcher-made survey questionnaire which will be given to the respondents.  The respondents of this study will be randomly selected African-American teenagers in Georgia. 

            The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from social science, sex education and health journals, theses and related studies on sex education.

For this research design, the researcher will gather data, collate published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from social science journals, distribute sampling questionnaires; arrange interviews; and make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material.  Afterwards, the researcher will summarize all the information, make a conclusion based on the null hypotheses posited and provide insightful recommendations on the dealing with sex education and dual abstinence among African-American in Georgia.

Instrument to be Used

A questionnaire consisting of 28 questions ranging from perception, affect, cognition, and behavior and statements concerning body image was administered to the respondents. These dimensions were clearly defined at the beginning of the questionnaire and on each of the subsequent pages. The definitions used to classify items were: Perceptual items: The way individuals view their body in relation to its actual form; Affective items: Feelings individuals have about their body; Cognitive items: Thoughts individuals have about their body; Behavioral items: Behaviors that are aimed at changing the body shape of individuals.

The items contained in the questionnaire was derived from Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ) with some revisions from Banfield and Mccabe (2002) consisting of 28 statements. The scales and subscales chosen were selected because of their good reported psychometric properties, claimed relevance to the four body image dimensions, and best representation of the instruments available. An attempt was made to obtain a range of different measures for each construct. Since these measures contain different numbers of items, a different number of items were included in the final measure for each construct. However, this would not be expected to influence the final factor structure. These items will be randomly ordered in the questionnaire by assigning randomly generated numbers.

Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ). The BAQ (Ben-Tovim & Walker, 1991) was developed to assess a broad range of attitudes which women have about their bodies. This study used the Feeling Fat Subscale which consists of 12 items, with an example being, "I have a slim waist." Items are rated on a five-point Likert scale from (1) strongly agree, to (5) strongly disagree.

Procedure

After receiving ethics approval, questionnaires will be distributed to participants. The questionnaire shall take approximately thirty minutes to complete and the participants can complete it on their own time. All items will be categorized (perception, affect, cognition or behavior) according to the dimension the respondent believed the item was evaluating. Responses will be anonymous and confidential. Participants were instructed to return the questionnaire in a stamped self-addressed envelope. All respondents who will agree to participate in the study shall return the questionnaires.

Respondents of the Study The general population for this study will be composed of African-American teenagers aged 13-18 residing in Georgia numbering to sixty (60).

Validation of the Instrument

The Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire has been validated several time in the literature. Thus, it has already established itself to be a reliable questionnaire. However, in order to prove that it applies to the African-American adolescents in Georgia, the researcher will initially submit a survey questionnaire and after approval, the survey will be given to ten African-American teenagers.  After the survey questionnaire will be answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument.  The researcher will again examine the content of the survey questionnaire to find out the reliability of the instrument.  The researchers will exclude irrelevant questions and will change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms.

Administration of the Instrument

The revised instrument will then be administered to the respondents of the study which will be chosen through a combination of cluster and random sampling.  The researcher will exclude the ten respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument.  The researcher will also tally, score and tabulate all the relevant data in the survey questionnaire.

 

References

Banfield, S. and Mccabe, M. (2002) An evaluation of the construct of body image. Adolescence, Vol. 37.

 

Ben-Tovim, D. I., & Walker, K. M. (1991). The development of the Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ), a new measure of women's attitudes towards their own bodies. Psychological Medicine, 21, 775-784.

 

Cash, T. F. (1994). Body image attitudes: Evaluation, investment and affect. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78, 1168-1170.

 

Cash, T. E., & Henry, P. E. (1995). Women's body images: The results of a national survey in the U.S.A. Sex Roles, 33, 19-28.

 

Gleaves, D. H., Williamson, D. A., Eberenz, K. P., Sebastian, S. B., & Barker, S. E. (1995). Clarifying body-image disturbance: Analysis of a multidimensional model using structural modeling. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64, 478-493.

(Temporary, more to be added) Reference List

1.  Introduction of sex education into Nigerian schools: the parents', teachers' and students' perspectives. By: Orji, E.O.; Esimai, O.A. . Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology , Mar2003, Vol. 23 Issue 2, p185, 4p; 2.  Get Your Freak on: how black girls sexualise identity. By: Weekes, Debbie . Sex Education , Nov2002, Vol. 2 Issue 3, p251 , 12p ; ( AN 7558641 ) 3. TEACHERS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS ABSTINENCE-ONLY SEX EDUCATION CURRICULA. By:  Bowden, Rodney G.; Lanning, Beth A.; Pippin, Grover "Rusty"; Tanner, John F. . Education , Summer2003, Vol. 123 Issue 4, p780, 9p ; ( AN 10187531 ) 4.  Is earlier sex education harmful? An analysis of the timing of school-based sex education and adolescent sexual behaviours. By: Somers, Cheryl L.; Eaves, Matt W. . Research in Education , May2002 Issue 67, p23, 10p, 2 charts ; ( AN 6772968 ) 5.  Sexing the Subject: teachers, pedagogies and sex education. By: Kehily, Mary Jane . Sex Education , Nov2002, Vol. 2 Issue 3, p215 , 17p ; ( AN 7558643 )   6.  Interventions to reduce unintended pregnancies among adolescents: systematic review of randomised controlled trials. By: DiCenso, Alba; Guyatt, Gordon; Willan, A; Griffith, L . BMJ: British Medical Journal , 6/15/2002, Vol. 324 Issue 7351, p1426, 5p, 5 graphs ; ( AN 6863526 ) 7.  Sexually abstinent African American adolescent females’ descriptions of abstinence. By: Haglund, Kristin. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Third Qurarter2003,35(3), p 231-236

 

 

Target Corporation: Objectives and Strategy

Target Corporation: Objectives and Strategy

 

Long term objectives

1. To gain competitive advantage over its competitors by committing to growth and delivering superior return to their shareholders.

2. To cater employee development through excellent human resource development.

 

Rationale

It has been known to the company that Target Company has the highest quality products among its competitors however the company has the difficulty in the competing with its competitors in price. A competitive advantage is important for the company to gain more customers and to be able to grow and gain superiors returns.

 

According to  (1985), "competitive advantage grows fundamentally out of the value a firm is able to create for its buyers that exceeds the firm's cost of creating it.” Value is what buyers are willing to pay, and superior value stems from offering lower prices than competitors for equivalent benefits or providing unique benefits that more than offset a higher price.” To generate such advantage, a resource must be rare, valuable, inimitable, non-tradable, and non-substitutable, as well as firm-specific (, 1986, 1991;  & , 1989; , 1991). According to  (1991), a firm's unique resource is treated as being inherently related to performance. The unique, inimitable, and immobile resource is valuable precisely in the sense that it generates economic rent.

 

In addition, with the nature of business of Target Corporation, it is important that the company commit on employee development. A company operates with the help of the employees and they are as important with other resources of the company. Without them the business would be incapacitated.

 

The human capital is consists of the education, experiences, and skills at a given point in time ( & , 1999) that help in the tasks of getting one's work done. According to  (1995), employee development increase productivity through increasing employees' skills and motivation.

 

 

Short term objectives

1. Increase earning per share by 10% by the end of 1 year.

2. To reduce cost by 20% by the end of two years.

 

Rationale

Congruent to its long term objectives of delivering superior returns the Target Corporation has continually target to increase earning per share every year. The company knows that they deliver excellent quality of products however the company needs to lower its cost in order for them to stay on the competition. When cost is lower, the company would have the chance to lower its price. With a lower price with a high quality product the company would surely gain more customers over time and would increase its returns.

 

Grand strategy

From the objectives stated above, it is suggest that the Target Corporation follow two strategies. Target Corporation should commit on human resource development and on cost leadership to gain competitive advantage.

 

Human Resource Development

Human resource development (HRD) plays a vital function by maximizing employee expertise to achieve the main objectives of an organization. Human resource development (HRD) has served the needs of organizations to provide employees with up-to-date expertise.  According to  and  (1994), human resource development models and processes is a way to kept pace with the increasingly sophisticated information and production technologies that continue to diffuse throughout most of the industries. As a factor integral to business success, employee expertise itself has been expanded through effective programs of employee development. Expertise is defined as the optimal level at which a person is able and/or expected to perform within a specialized realm of human activity (, 1994).

 

The HRD function has long been relied upon to support a broad range of business objectives that require competent employees. Business objectives themselves are almost as diverse in nature as the wide range of organizations that articulate them. Enhancing employee expertise through HRD increases the likelihood that business objectives will be achieved ( and , 1995; , 1994).

Once competitive advantage is attained and begins to attract the attention of other key players in the marketplace, an organization's premier market position can quickly erode unless the organization finds ways to sustain its present advantage or generate new ones. Organizations in market leadership positions realize sooner or later that human resources are ultimately the only business resource with the creativity and adaptive power to sustain and renew an organization's success despite changing market conditions (, 1993). The development of employee expertise provides a potentially inexhaustible source of ideas for further innovation and increased productivity because the most basic output of the highly competent employee-knowledge - is not used up in the process of producing it (, 1989). Developing employee expertise at all levels of the organization and using knowledge as a catalyst for growth and competitive advantage represents a major frontier in organizational performance that is only now beginning to be fully appreciated (, , , , and , 1994; , , and , 1995). By continuously developing employee expertise in key domains of product and market expertise, competitive advantage is achieved and maintained.

 

With the nature of the business of Target Corporation, it is important to have the most skilled and experts employees. Target Corporation should provide trainings to their employees to enhance skills of its employees to better promote its productivity and quality service and products.

 

 

Cost Leadership Strategy

Target Corporation is known for its quality products however the company is weak in managing its costs. To this, the company should commit on managing its cost to gain the lowest costs over its competitors and to gain competitive advantage. It is highly conceivable that the firm with the lowest cost in a market may not enjoy better performance than a rival which happens to have overwhelming advantage in access to distribution.

Cost Leadership creates excess returns by providing a basic, or commodity level, product at the lowest cost of production. Firms following this strategy accept cheaper components, use standard production processes, and seek high market share in order to reduce unit costs (. 1983). Many customers will accept lower quality for a substantially lower price, and the firm which can optimize its production efficiencies can generate larger margins in a price taking business.

According to  (1985), a firm with a cost leader strategy should be expected to seek an economic level of quality where the total cost of added quality and of lost customers is minimized. However, Target Corporation needed not to compromise its quality to reduce cost as according to . (1983) quality and cost leadership do act together to provide high levels of performance for certain firms. The customer can be offered both a better product and a better price.

 (2000) suggested some of the required skills and capabilities to successfully implement a low-cost strategy. This includes capital access and the willingness to invest it in a low-cost leadership strategy; products redesigned for a low-cost manufacturing environment; expertise in process engineering; and supervisors and a labor force committed to the low-cost leader strategy. Other drivers that enhance the benefits of a low-cost-leadership strategy include economies of scale and learning, better process technology, improved product design, cost-effective process redesign, lower input costs, and optimum capacity utilization (, 2000).

 

CURRENT FINANCIAL RECORDS

Table 1. Financials Statements of Target Corporation (In millions of USD)

Income Statement

Quarterly
(Feb '07)

Annual
(2007)

Annual
(2006)

Total Revenue

19,710.00

59,490.00

52,620.00

Gross Profit

6,166.00

19,384.00

16,917.00

Operating Income

1,809.00

4,497.00

3,860.00

Net Income

1,119.00

2,787.00

2,408.00

Balance Sheet

 

 

 

Total Current Assets

14,706.00

14,706.00

14,405.00

Total Assets

37,349.00

37,349.00

34,995.00

Total Current Liabilities

11,117.00

11,117.00

9,588.00

Total Liabilities

21,716.00

21,716.00

20,790.00

Total Equity

15,633.00

15,633.00

14,205.00

Cash Flow

 

 

 

Net Income/Starting Line

1,119.00

2,787.00

2,408.00

Cash from Operating

3,150.00

4,862.00

4,451.00

Cash from Investing

-1,387.00

-4,693.00

-4,149.00

Cash from Financing

-1,401.00

-1,004.00

-899.00

Net Change in Cash

362.00

-835.00

-597.00

Source:

 

 

 

References

 

Gang Violence Leads to Juvenile Delinquency

Gang Violence Leads to Juvenile Delinquency

 

            One of the most relevant social issues in every society, most especially in the United States society is the issue on gang violence and juvenile delinquency. It has been reported that although progress has been made in past decades, the plight of youths in the contemporary American society is still one of the country’s most ominous dilemmas, conspicuously different from the decadence that their predecessors faced a century ago. In today’s society, American youths experience violence, both as victims and doers, at alarming rates (2004). One would be curious to ask the benefits or advantages of being a member of a gang, which inflict damages to themselves, their families, their peers, and the society. In this sense, this essay aims to express the statement that juveniles adhere to gang violence in order to gain recognition.

            Many authorities wonder what attracts young people to these criminal organizations. Conditions in inner cities and some suburbs may be one factor. Many gang members have surfaced from neighborhoods plagued with overcrowding and unemployment, filled with high school dropouts and dysfunctional families, and lacking recreation and productive distraction. Unfortunately, gangs may offer young people some necessities that their families cannot. The gang and its members become truly a surrogate family. Leaders are quite skilled in drawing in new members by promising money or drugs to, by intimidating, or by acknowledging vulnerable and impressionable teenagers. In the end, a gang produces loyal gang members, having not long-term aspirations, and do not consider the consequences of their gang-related behavior ( 2000). Several reasons may be attributed to juveniles joining gangs. However, one of the primary reasons of young people why they join gangs and commit violence is to gain recognition in the community. Some gang members are the children of gang members themselves and are following in their parents’ footsteps (2000). In this sense, gang members commit different forms of violence, as being influenced by the violence being committed also by their parents. A child or young individual become who they are depending on the rearing patterns of his or her parents, and the environment from he or she is exposed to. If they perceive that violence enable their parents to gain recognition from the community, then chances are, their perception of recognition and prestige from the community would also be through violent acts.

In addition, more often than not, gang recruits and gang members often have poor self-images, low self-esteem, and no adult to provide counseling and support (2000). In this regard, because of low self-esteem and self-images, a new recruit would be persuaded to join gangs easily, in the perception that gangs would be able to help them find their identity in the community. In relation to this, many young individuals join gangs in order to reward one’s masculinity, as means with which to solve the gender problem of accountability (1993). If a young man is able to join a gang and be able to do the activities the rest of the members do, then he would be able to be recognized as a “real man”, capable of inflicting harm and becoming powerful and superior in the community. A young recruit would be driven to perform violent acts in order to prove his masculinity in the gang, and in order to prove to them that he also deserves to belong to the group. In this regard, the process of initiation, which often involves stealing, drugs, rape, killing, and other forms of violent acts, would entitle the gang member recognition if he or she is able to perform such acts, and such recognition may either be in the form of money, position in the group, or rewards. Furthermore, gang members often gain recognition from other gang members and from a society that fears them, thus, making them obtain attention and respect ( 2000). In terms of participating in a gang encounter, one can gain honor by acting bravely, thus, establishing character for oneself and possibly robbing it from an opponent. The praise for heart and bravery from other gang members provide another high in the aftermath of a gang encounter, most especially after inflicting damage or resorting to violence (1994). In addition, committing violence by gang members result from being threatened from being dominated by other gangs. Because of this, they commit violence in their aim to protect their territory or to protect their peers. If a particular member is able to exhibit an extraordinary strategy to protect their territory, such as through killing or damaging their enemy, then recognition would be provided. In this sense, the recognition that one gets from other members of the gang involves one’s ability to become violent towards the gang’s opponents. From this, it can be perceived that gang members commit violence due to their aim to become recognized in a group, in order to uplift their self-esteem and self-image personally and in the community. If this perception would not be changed by the community and their family, then juvenile and gang violence would continue to increase and be regarded as one of the most alarming issues in the society.