Mangement on personal planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mangement on personal planning - Essay Example (Caldwell) The first key step in scheduling your finances is to have a prearranged budget that consist of savings, expenses, and investments. Needing a static budget will help you stick to your strategy to make certain future achievement. After a twosome of months it would be very relaxed to tell if your financial plan needs to be reformed to fit with your individual circumstances. A periodic budget not only assistances to set up lasting financial objectives, it also can make your immediate budget subjects disappear. Knowing precisely where your money is going every month can retain you out of dues, and can help you figure out where you might have future budgetary concerns. Your financial plan can also assist you to come up with an instantaneous reserves plan if you have a hefty pending expenditure, such as college for your kids or a new home. Exploration is imperative when it comes to conception your financial plan, particularly when it comes to financing money for your upcoming and your fami ly. The best part of individual financial arrangement is that your future will be more protected. You will no longer have to concern about needing money for out of the blue expenses such as emergency hospital visits or a car accidents. Setting a little extra money away in your budget can deal you harmony of mind that you under no circumstances had when living wages to wages. Personal economic planning pointers to the eventual goal: a comfy retirement. At long last, this is the most significant motive to blueprint for your future. With an unbalanced economy, and social sanctuary reimbursements in the balance, having sufficient money to contentedly continue after retirement is indispensable. No one recognizes what the years to derive will take along, so make sure your own life in control can be a huge progressive. Having a well alleged financial plan can countenance to be safe and sound now and confident for the

Theoretical Positions of Jung, Adler, and Freud Essay Example for Free

Theoretical Positions of Jung, Adler, and Freud Essay Recently, there has been a debate on the subject of a statutory minimum wage. Different parties have different point of views about it. The unionists believe setting a higher amount can help to reduce the continuously increased wealth gap in Hong Kong, but the businessmen worry that it will increase the operating costs of their businesses. I will discuss the pros and cons of a statutory minimum wage in the following paragraphs. For the advantages, firstly, a minimum wage can force employers to offer reasonable salaries to their employees and give them guidelines on how rational salaries should be set. This can help to protect employees from being exploited. Secondly, the problem of income inequality can be addressed by increasing low-income groups’ salaries so that it can help to promote social justice and greatly improve social harmony and stability. Moreover, the policy can encourage the unemployed citizens to rejoin the work force and thus reduce the burden on the government. Although there are many advantages of setting a minimum wage, there are some drawbacks too. The unemployment rate may rise after implementing the minimum wage law. Due to the increase of operating costs or production costs, some employers may lay off their staff. And it may discourage employees to improve their working attitude and skills as their wages are protected under the statutory minimum wage system, working incentive may thus become low. When we talk about the level of a statutory minimum wage, we have a lot to concerned about, for example, the economic situation, GDP etc. I think the living standard is very high in Hong Kong at present, so the level of a statutory minimum wage should be high enough to meet a family’s daily expenses. At the same time, we should also consider the financial burden on the employers. If not, laying off staff or even closing down the businesses may be the result. The government, therefore, should consider all these issues, think twice and make a wise decision. From http://www. tkp. edu. hk/newsletter/archives/2610 News Point Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung ( ) explained how the members of the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission ( ) came to be agreed on the initial statutory minimum wage rate. According to him, they considered four main criteria: 1. it should not be too low; 2. it would not cause low-paid jobs to disappear in large numbers; 3. it would not inhibit economic development; 4. it would not significantly damage Hong Kongs competitive advantages. To protect labour rights, Hong Kong may need not only minimum wage legislation but also standard working hours legislation ( ). The Legislative Council has adopted a motion to call for the enactment of such a law. To encourage underprivileged citizens and low-income employees living in remote districts to find work or stay in employment, the government launched in 2007 a pilot transport support scheme (). Under the scheme, eligible citizens have been provided with time-limited transport allowances. The Labour Department ( ) is responsible for protecting other labour rights enshrined in various pieces of labour legislation (such as the Employment Ordinance ( )). Minimum wage a issue for people to decide: Hong Kong chief Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Donald Tsang on Friday continued to defend his decision not to legislate on the controversial minimum- wage issue in his latest Policy Address. Speaking on RTHK Friday, two days after presenting his Policy Address, Tsang said he did not want to see the issue dealt with in court as some legislators have said they would press ahead with plans to seek a judicial review after the government decided not to legislate for a minimum wage at the moment. It is a matter for the people to decide, not the courts, Tsang told a call-in radio show Friday morning. I think we should try to solve this matter amicably, in the community. Fundamentally it is not even the legislature and the government. It is a matter for the people, he added, in response to what he called a very strong union and labor voice on minimum wage. In Hong Kong, the arguments on minimum wage between the labor and the employers have lasted for many years but without consensus. The labor has always pressed ahead to legislate on minimum wage among the security and cleaners sectors in particular as soon as possible. But employers said in order to compete in a globalized economy, it is a remaining advantage for Hong Kong not to force employers to accept the deal via legislation. If this matter were pushed through the Legislative Council at the moment, Tsang said, it would be a very, very bloody fight there would be serious arguments over this, the community would be torn apart. In his policy address, Tsang proposed to launch a Wage Protection Movement for workers in the security and cleaning sectors. He promised to legislate on the minimum-wages issues two years later if the movement fails and employers are not paying market rates. ‘Hong Kong lawmakers debate minimum wage CNN 14 Jul 10 Hong Kong lawmakers resumed debate Wednesday on a bill that may result in the regions first statutory minimum wage. The Minimum Wage Bill is a controversial piece of legislation that lawmakers hope will protect the most vulnerable workers in Hong Kong, one of the few places in the world without any sort of minimum wage law. The debate is set to take two to three days. A recent government survey showed that around half a million workers in Hong Kong earn less than $4 an hour. These include low-skilled workers from the catering, retail, and cleaning industries. According to Man Hon Poon, a policy researcher at the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Union, the lack of legal protection for workers has led to serious exploitation. Workers in restaurants have to work for 12 hours or even 14 hours a day to earn a living, he said. They cannot even go to the cinema. Legislator Tommy Cheung, however, claims that the government should not interfere with the free market economy, which he says has served Hong Kong well in the past. A minimum wage could deter investors and lead to increased unemployment, said Cheung, who represents the catering industry. There is one fear within the industry, that they would have to close down, he said. When you see a closure, everyone loses out. The government first proposed the current bill in 2008 following a failed attempt at a voluntary minimum wage. Labor unions, however, have been lobbying for a minimum wage since 1998, following the Asian financial crisis. The rate of the minimum wage has also been under great debate. Trade unions have been demanding a minimum wage of $4 while employer groups have been asking for $3 per hour. If the bill passes this week, the rate of the minimum wage will be set by the Minimum Wage Commission, a consortium of trade union members, employers and scholars, in the coming months. Once the chief executive approves the rate, employers will have six months to implement the law. The Hong Kong government estimates that the earliest the minimum wage law may take effect is May 2011. http://edition. cnn. com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/china. hong. kong. minimum. wage/index. html? hpt=T2fbid=cFYYtTV0ap3 The Minimum Wage: An Unfair Advantage for Employers October 1989 †¢ Volume: 39 †¢ Issue: 10 †¢ Print This Post †¢ 1 comment Professor Boudreaux teaches economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Suppose you want to help the sellers of a specific product. One thing you might want to do is try to ensure that a buyers’ market for that good or service isn’t created. A buyers’ market is an economic situation that favors buyers over sellers. For example, everyone hopes that the real-estate market in his hometown will be a sellers’ market when the time comes to sell his house. No one wants to have to sell a house when real estate is in a buyers’ market. Nevertheless, people who advocate mini- mum-wage legislation to improve the lot of unskilled workers in effect support government creation of a buyers’ market as a way to help sellers of unskilled labor. Freely Moving Prices: The Great Equalizer Economics and common sense teach us that, other things being equal, as the price of a product rises, more units will be offered for sale but fewer units will be demanded by consumers. If a price is too low, there will be an excess demand for the good or service in question, and buyers will compete for the limited quantities available by offering higher prices to sellers. If a price is too high, there will be an excess supply, and sellers (who cannot sell all that they wish at the high price) will compete for customers by offering lower prices. So long as there are no government-imposed restrictions on prices, prices will tend to adjust in each market so that the quantities demanded will be equal to the quantities supplied. It is important to realize that prices change only when there are bargaining inequalities between buyers and sellers. Prices rise only when the amount demanded by buyers is greater than the amount supplied by sellers; prices fall only when the amount demanded by buyers is less than the amount supplied by sellers. Put another way, prices rise only when there is a sellers’ market, and prices fall only when there is a buyers’ market. The rise or fall of prices, however, eliminates the inequality of supply and demand and, thus, eliminates the conditions that people describe as sellers’ markets and buyers’ markets. Freedom of price adjustments ensures equality of bargaining power among buyers and sellers. Freely moving prices are the great equalizer. Employers compete for human labor services, like most things of value in a society based on private property in a market in which sellers and buyers engage in voluntary exchanges. Wage rates (in combination with other forms of compensation) are determined in the labor market. If this market isn’t hampered by government, wages will constantly adjust so employers and employees enjoy equal bargaining power. Of course, unskilled workers aren’t as productive as workers with greater skills, and so wage rates for skilled labor tend to be higher than wages for unskilled labor. It is a myth, however, that highly skilled workers enjoy greater bargaining power with employers than do workers with fewer skills. If wage rates are free to adjust to their market-clearing levels, unskilled workers will enjoy as much bargaining power as the most highly skilled workers, because freely moving wage rates adjust so that the amount of each type of labor demanded will tend to equal the amount supplied. Employers can have no bar gaining advantage over even the most unskilled workers if wage rates are free to move to the levels at which the amount of labor services demanded is equal to the amount supplied by workers. Freely moving wage rates are the great equalizer of bargaining positions among employers and employees. The Minimum Wage: The Great Unequalizer Minimum-wage legislation prohibits wages from falling low enough to equate the number of people seeking jobs with the number of jobs being offered. As a result, the supply of unskilled labor permanently exceeds the demand for’ unskilled labor at the government-mandated minimum wage. Minimum-wage legislation thus creates a buyers’ market for unskilled labor. And as in all buyers’ markets, buyers (employers) have an unequal bargaining advantage over sellers (unskilled workers). Consider, for example, a grocer. Suppose he decides that a clean parking lot will attract more customers, and that this will increase his sales by $10 per day. Of course, the grocer will pay no more than $10 a day to have his parking lot cleaned. He then investigates how best to get this done. Suppose there are two options available to him. One way is to hire a fairly skilled worker who can clean the parking lot in one hour, while the second way is to hire two unskilled workers who, working together, will get the job done in the same time. Other things being equal, the grocer will make his decision based upon the relative cost of skilled versus unskilled labor. Let’s assume the skilled worker will charge $6 an hour, while each of the unskilled workers will charge $2. 50 an hour. In a free labor market, the grocer will hire the two unskilled workers be-cause, in total, it costs him $5 per hour for the unskilled workers whereas it would cost $6 for the one skilled worker. But what will the grocer do if a minimum wage of $4 per hour is imposed? To hire the two unskilled workers will now cost him a total of $8 an hour. The skilled worker now becomes the better bargain at $6 an hour. Minimum-wage legislation strips unskilled workers of their one bargaining chip: the willingness to work at a lower wage than that charged by workers with more skills. The result is unemployment of the unskilled workers. Consider another effect of the minimum wage. Because there are more people who want jobs at the minimum wage rate than there are jobs to go around, employers have little incentive to treat unskilled workers with respect. If an employer mistreats an unskilled worker, the employer need not be concerned if the worker quits. After all, there are plenty of unemployed unskilled workers who can be hired to fill positions vacated by workers who quit. In addition, the permanent buyers’ market created by the minimum wage encourages employers to discriminate in their hiring and firing decisions on the basis of sex, race, religion, and so on. Suppose an employer has two minimum-wage jobs available, but there are ten unskilled workers who apply for the jobs. Bemuse the workers are prohibited from competing with each other on the basis of wage rates, other factors must determine which of the workers will be hired. If the employer dislikes blacks, and if there are at least two non-black workers who have applied for employment, no black workers will be hired. With a surplus of unskilled workers, there is no economic incentive to stop this bigoted employer from indulging his prejudices. Conclusion Minimum-wage legislation creates an excess supply of unskilled labor and gives the buyers of unskilled labor an unfair bargaining advantage over the sellers of unskilled labor. It is a fantasy to believe that the welfare of unskilled workers can be improved by such legislation. Unskilled workers shouldn’t be restricted to a permanent buyers’ market. Hong Kong Sets Minimum Wage At HK$28 Per Hour The citys new minimum wage finally has been released. The HK$28/hour base is roughly the cost of two cartons of milk, a fast food meal or four premium beers. Secretary for Labor and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the new wage, set to come into effect May 1 if it passes the legislature, represented an average wage increase of 16. 9 percent affecting some 314,600 employees. The cost will be roughly HK$3. 3 billion. Tabled for discussion at the Legislative Council Wednesday, the new wage was a milestone in the protection of the rights of low-income workers and a hard-won achievement given the controversy amid the citys laissez faire system, Chief Executive Donald Tsang said. To offset the impact on the labor market, the Labor Department will improve employment services for the young, middle-aged and those with disabilities, he added. By the Minimum Wage Commissions estimates, the new minimum wage amounts to 48 percent of Hong Kongs median hourly wage during the second quarter of 2009. More than half (61. 4 percent) of the more than 314,000 workers expected to benefit from the new minimum wage are women. A quarter of those who will benefit are over the age of 65 and 18 percent work in a part-time capacity, Cheung said. On a sector basis, 35. 5 percent of workers are from security and cleaning companies while 19 percent work in restaurants and 16 percent in retail. Cheung said the impact on employment will be relatively mild, especially when viewed against the improving economic and labor market conditions. Shying away from commenting on concerns that employers would start cutting back on employee benefits to offset increases in costs due to the new wage, Cheung urged employers to communicate closely with their employees, particularly to have frank discussions [and to] work together. Unionist lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan said he was disappointed with the rate saying it will be based on figures two years old before its implementation, adding HK$28 an hour was not enough to provide for a family. He favored the HK$33 an hour rate supported by employee groups. Commission chairwoman Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah said the commission does not think a HK$33 hourly rate was sustainable. She noted, half the burden would eat into company profits while the number of companies falling into the red would go up by 60 percent. She added those companies employed 120,000 workers. Catering lawmaker Tommy Cheung Yu-yan said the new wage would be difficult for smaller operators to bear, calling for government relief such as the waiver of licenses fees for one year and subsidies (RTTNews) Hong Kong will implement its first minimum wage rate, set at HK$28 per hour, from next year, the Secretary for Labor and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said Wednesday. The initial statutory minimum wage rate at 3. 61 per hour in U.S dollar terms will come into force on May 1, 2011. The rate was higher than that demanded by business, and less than the HK$33 favored by trade unions. Cheung said that the statutory minimum wage, which is totally new to Hong Kong, is intended to protect grassroots workers and ensure that the pay that they get is commensurate with the hours worked. Regarding the wage rate, Chief Executive Donald Tsang said that it has been a subject of controversy and it is also a milestone in our protection of the rights of low-income workers. The minimum wage ordinance notice 2010 will be published in the Gazette on November 12 and tabled at the Legislative Council on November 17. About 314,600 or 11. 3% of Hong Kongs employees will be effected by the change, with 61. 4% being women staff, 25. 3% employees aged 55 and above, and 18. 8% part-time workers, the governments information service department said. In July, Hong Kongs Legislative Council passed the Minimum Wage Bill without stipulating the actual wage and thereafter formed a committee to set the minimum rate.

Person-centred Care Essay

Person-centred Care Essay Introduction: Reflective essay on person centred care Modern day Healthcare has increasingly embraced concepts of client-centred practice and empowerment. However, Taylor (2003) posits that existing literature on the subject does not give clear and unambiguous descriptions of the ways by which nurses can empower clients. Nonetheless, nursing practice is inclusive of people from very different backgrounds. In my ward for example, a high proportion of the nurses did not get their initial qualifications and experience in the UK, and my mentor too did not start of as a nurse from the UK. As a result of this, in the absence of well defined guidance for patient empowerment as a practice concept (by regulatory authorities), nurses and other healthcare practitioners will always encounter difficulties in the performance of their duties in recognition of patient empowerment as a concept. The way patient care is manifest in hospitals has evolved over time and now centres around collaborative working with different teams coming together to ensure that client care and outcomes are improved (Hansson et al 2008), (Hewison and Stanton 2003). Working in this way requires that the patient is an inclusive and active partner in his care planning and care delivery. This new way of working has also been emphasised by the government introducing the agenda for patient-centred care and patient empowerment. The Department of Health stipulates that the NHS needs to empower patients more and give them control over their healthcare (DoH 2008) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) also requires that patients are always consulted before any procedure is carried out on them (WHO website). The whole concept of empowering patients may not be new to healthcare practitioners because some healthcare practitioners are known to have spoken about making efforts to carry the clients along in the process of their care delivery (Stewart et al. 2002), but Paterson (2001) claims that some healthcare professionals have also been known to use subtle and covert ways to avoid fully implementing the patient empowerment requirement even at the risk of going against regulation to empower patients. Empowerment has been (in essence) practitioner defined to suit the practitioners. As an example, at the MDT meetings I attended, the patients views were not adequately promoted, and considering the requirements of the patient empowerment agenda, the patient is supposed be in charge of his healthcare. I raised this with my mentor and the ward manager, and recommended that the patient be consulted before, and updated after every meeting that has to do with his care delivery. Acknowledging client empowerment as a way forward and in emphasising the need for this modern way of working, the Prime Minister in a key message in January 2008 said that patients are to be treated as active partners in their care. Brown et al (2006) consider that for care to be client-centred, care delivery must be focused on the client and empower and engage the client to his/her full potential as a partner in his/her care delivery. Whereas the client-centred concept requires that what is best for the patient is done, patient empowerment requires providing clients with adequate information and the knowledge required to make informed decisions and take control of their lives (Kielhofner 2002). The issue of patient empowerment raises an issue about empowering intellectually disabled persons who cannot make suc h decisions on their own. If an adult with intellectual disability does not have complete ability to communicate, their choices can be diminished which in turn can make it particularly difficult to ensure that their opinions are heard (Cameron and Murphy 2002); and even in instances where a nurse is designated the health facilitator for the client, there is no guidance as to how much decision making can be undertaken on his behalf (Martin and Carey 2009). These further complicate issues in nursing management for a qualified nurse and will call on good managerial skills. Modern healthcare practice environment is a highly regulated one with stringent requirements of the healthcare practitioners. The continued drive for improvement in both healthcare delivery service and the patients experience and quality of life (DoH 2005) have led to the promotion of improved integration between healthcare disciplines and agencies, and regulatory requirements to promote the concept of patient empowe rment (DoH 2008), (Corsello and Tinkelman 2008), (Glasby and Parker 2008). Empowerment is a natural phenomenon and is essential to humans. Patient empowerment may be resisted by nurses because of existing nurse-patient relationships (Nyatanga and Dann 2002) and so a deliberate cultural shift needs to be pursued to inculcate nurses with the shift in paradigm. To achieve, the nurse will need additional training, and the clients ought to be carried along in drawing up treatment plans. The more the client is involved in the treatment planning, the more the client appreciates his/her part in the patient empowerment agenda, and the more the satisfaction with the care delivery service. I have used simple courtesies like saying thank you to the client, and realised it brightens their day very much and also makes them much happier and willing to discuss their feelings and opinions with me. The convergence of management and nursing has evolved over the past few decades and management is often cited as the reason for failings, and also as the likely solution (Pollitt 1993) to many of the problems in the NHS. Management was first f ormally defined by Henry Fayol (1949) as the composite function of planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding and controlling activities or events. More recent definitions in management theory look at management from the perspective of empowerment, total quality management, organizational culture etc. (Hewison and Stanton 2003). Leadership and management skills in nursing overlap to a very large extent but whereas leadership skills are needed in the more personal aspects like mentoring and motivation, management skills are needed to meet organizational targets and the management of available resources. Summary With the problems associated with recruitment and retention of nurses in the health sector, and the attendant high turnover of nurses came an additional expectation of nurse-managers to help reverse the trend (even though several of the pioneering nurse-managers had not had formal managerial training) (Contino 2004). Contino (2004) described the managerial skills required of a good nurse manager to include change management, communicating plans, managing the flow of information, managing nursing ROTAs and managing finances (income and expenses). Courtney et al (2002) rate financial management knowledge as one of the top requirements for a nurse manager in order to understand financial forecasts, financial plans, financial ratios and financial performance ratios. A nurse manager needs to be very conversant with current practices and concepts. A good understanding of service improvement and knowledge (and use) of the available developmental resources for nurse improvement like the Lead ership at Point of Care programme (Janes and Mullan 2007) are essential for successful nurse-management. Carney (2009) reported that clients were more likely to be dissatisfied whenever they felt the nurse leader was incompetent. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requires that the nurse is conversant with and aware of current developments in practice by way of continued professional development after qualifying as a trained nurse. To manage a team well, a nurse will need very good communication skills in addition to the authority to take decisions within the boundaries of his/her responsibility (Cross and Prusak 2002), (Carroll 2005) as and when necessary. A nurse manager should be a good team-player and able to multi-task (Jaynelle and Stichler 2006) and possess very good communication skills that go beyond language and/or grammar, to listening, being assertive and ensuring that the nurses decisions are enforced especially when the nurse speaks on behalf of a client (or helps to amplify the clients voice) (Harris 2003). The nurse manager should ensure that adequate communication links are established between the client and the MDT so that client views are always considered. The nurse manager should patiently try to clearly understand the patient (Lynden 2006) so as to be able to ensure clients views are accommodated in clients care delivery. In situations of acute ailments, clients can present with intellectual disability or a moderated ability to communicate verbally which can make it difficult to understand their opinions or wishes (Cameron and Murphy 2002) for their care process. To be a leader, todays nurse will need to be able to command the respect of other team members. To achieve acceptability nurse managers need to be people with high integrity and people management/motivation skills and be able to work in a collaborative setting (Carroll 2005). Integrity in this perspective is synonymous with honesty (Kouzes and Posner 2002) and several studies have highlighted the importance of honesty fo r nurse management or leadership because people (clients and nurses alike) will want to assure themselves that their leader is worthy of their trust (Kouzes and Posner 2003). During my placements in an adult care unit of a major hospital, from observation and interaction with patients and healthcare staff, my attention was drawn to a plight of some of the patients in my care: I realised that some of the patients were not being allowed to determine the course of their treatment as required by the patient empowerment agenda (DoH 2008) and this was more especial in patients with acute ailments. There was a lack of full management implementation of the Patient empowerment agenda, with particular emphasis on the relevance given to the patients choice (or voice) in the patients care delivery. The quality of care delivery is assessed by its ability to improve patient care through the collaborative team work of healthcare professionals and how patient-focused the care delivery is. For the purposes of this work, I shall refer to a renal patient in my care during my placement as Mr. B (not real name). All references to him or a hospital do not identify either. When Mr. B was †¦ and was refusing to be compliant, I approached him and had a talk with him. I discovered that his lack of compliance was in protest of the fact that he was not aware he was being put on †¦ reinforcing the position of Corsello and Tinkelman (2008) that clients will respond better to care that encourages their participation and is considerate of their specific needs. To ensure that this did not happ en again, I brought the patients complaint to the attention of my mentor and ensured that the multi-disciplinary team was made aware by adequately documenting my findings and observations. I regularly sought advice and guidance from my mentor because mentoring and role-modeling are active ways of knowledge transfer in large organizations (Carney 2009) and improves the care delivery service. Service improvement remains a core requirement for the Knowledge and Skills Framework for a registered nurse (DoH 2004) and requires an all-party embracing culture of seeking continuous improvement (Janes and Mullan 2007) where honest and periodic performance appraisals are evident. Service improvement in the NHS has been an issue of high importance and has necessitated the establishment of groups that are charged with charting out improvements within the NHS like the NHS Improvement (NHS Improvement Programme 2008). Practicing nurses are encouraged to keep abreast with developments from such groups. A new service improvement concept of patient-safety is gaining popularity in healthcare although regulatory definition is not yet specific (Feng et al 2008). Flin and Yule (2003) claim patients can be injured through the actions of healthcare staff, and Feng et al (2008) insist that a blame and shame culture inhibits learning from mistakes and can exacerbate incidences of mistakes. To this end (in the UK) an Expert group was established that recommended that the culture around error reporting shifted towards finding the cause of the error rather than the culprit (DoH 2000). Nurses are often under pressure from shortage of nursing staff, and a change in the nursing environment can improve patient safety and outcomes (Lin and Liang 2007). During my placements, I observed that Mr. B was often in bed for prolonged periods between nursing visits. I appraised the risk of the situation and ranked his needs by priority. He looked like he was beginning to get sore from immobility, so I delegated his need for exercise to the physiotherapist in the MDT, and having assessed the competency level of the HCA on the ward, I delegated the tasks of keeping Mr. Bs environment clean and regularly turning him to air his back to the HCA. The HCA had been previously supervised for this task and had been assessed as competent to perform it satisfactorily. Conclusion To achieve the required improvements which accompany patient empowerment that the NHS strives for, there must be a change from the current culture where the nurse sees the client as a patient (Nyatanga and Dann 2002) towards seeing clients as part and parcel of the decision making in their care delivery. Quality will be improved when patient empowerment/voice in patient care is active, client engagement is on a regular basis, and nurses are more patient in hearing patients out and in attending to patient calls. Patient safety issues including the security of the patient, proper risk assessment, maintaining cleanliness of his environment and regular visits should be the norm

The Mechanisms and Effects of Frost Heave Essay -- Soil Soils Agricult

The Mechanisms and Effects of Frost Heave ABSTRACT Frost heave is the increase in volume experienced by soils when they freeze. Water moves to the upper horizons from below; when it freezes it forms segregated ice lenses which push apart the soil around them as they grow, causing the observed volume increase. Frost heave has a number of effects upon the soil and upon structures supported by the soil which make it an important process to understand. INTRODUCTION During the freezing of some soils, nearly pure ice forms in segregated lenses parallel to soil isotherms (Hillel, 1980). The formation of these lenses causes frost heave, a phenomenon in which the surface of the soil is "heaved" vertically by as much as several tens of centimeters. The overall volume of the soil also increases greatly, and heave pressures of many atmospheres can build up (Mitchell, 1993). Frost heave often causes substantial soil disruption (cryoturbation) as well as damage to roads, fence posts, foundations, plants, and other structures within and on top of the soil. In this paper I will examine the mechanisms and effects of frost heave. MECHANISMS Early studies of frost heave hypothesized that the observed volume growth in the soil was entirely due to the increase in volume that occurs when soil water changes to ice. Experiments by Taber in the 1960's, however, demonstrated that frost heave occurred even in soils saturated in benzene and nitrobenzene, liquids that contract when they freeze (Hillel, 1980). This finding led to a search for the new mechanism, the particulars of which are still being resolved. Mitchell (1993) specifies three necessary conditions for ice segregation and frost heave to occur: 1. A frost susceptibl... ...in the soils of this region might be explained through frost heaving. Works Cited: Anderson, Suzanne Prestrud, 1988, The upfreezing process: Experiments with a single clast: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 100, p. 609-621. Clark, M.J. (Ed.), 1988, Advances in Periglacial Geomorphology: Chichester, John Wiley & Sons, 481 p. Dash, J.G., 1989, Thermonuclear Pressure in Surface Melting: Motivation for Frost Heave: Science, v. 246, p. 1591-1593. Durbin, Steve, Personal Communication on 10/12/96. Hillel, Daniel, 1980, Applications in Soil Physics: New York, Academic Press, Inc., 385 p. Mitchell, James K., 1993, Fundamentals of Soil Behavior: New York, John Wiley & Sons, 543 p. Smith, M.W., 1985, Observations of soil freezing and frost heave at Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada: Canadian Journal of Earth Science, v. 223, p. 283-290.

Approaches to Management and Organizational Behaviour

205KM Management and Organizational Behaviour Report 1 Title: Approaches to Management and Organizational Behaviour: Pizza Hut and McDonald’s (Fill in the Name of Company A) (Fill in the Name of Company B) Student Name: HSU Ka Syn Syrus Student ID: 51878875 Tutorial Group: 2 Table of Contents Page Num 1. Objectives| 9| 2. Business Background| 9| 3. Organization Structure and Design3. 1 Organization Structure of Company A3. 2 Organization Structure of Company B3. 3 Compare the Similarities and Differences of Organization Structure between Company A & B| 10101214| 4.Approaches to Management & Organizational Behaviour| 15| 4. 1 Motivation| 15| 4. 2 Leadership| 16| 4. 3 Human Resource Management| 18| 4. 4 Culture & Diversity| 20| 4. 5 Information Technology| 22| 4. 6 Communication| 22| 5. Conclusion| 23| 6. References| 24| 1. Objective The purpose of this report is to find out the differences in the organization structures and approaches in management and organizational behaviour of two local restaurants, Pizza Hut Hong Kong and McDonalds Hong Kong.Besides, the report is to find out the information of the restaurants through identifying and analyzing the following: motivation, leadership, human resource management, culture and diversity, information technology, communication. 2. Business Background Business background of Pizza Hut: Pizza Hut, Inc. is an American  restaurant  chain and international  franchise  that offers different styles of  pizza along with  side dishes. Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of  Yum! Brands, Inc. , the world's largest restaurant company.According to the corporate website, there are more than 11,600 store locations in 94 other countries and territories around the world. About their history, the legacy of Pizza Hut began in 1958, when two college students from Wichita, Kansas, were approached by a family friend with the idea of opening a pizza parlor. Although the concept was relatively new to many Americans at that time, the two brothers quickly saw the potential of this new enterprise. After borrowing $600 from their mother, they purchased some second-hand equipment and rented a small building on a busy intersection in their hometown.The result of their entrepreneurial efforts was the first Pizza Hut restaurant and the foundation for what would become the largest and most successful pizza restaurant chain in the world. Hong Kong Pizza Hut provides dine-in, takeout and delivery service. At present, there are over 80 stores in Hong Kong and Macau. In recent years, McDonald’s has invaded the delivery food service market, so Pizza Hut’s market share has also been thinned. This is Pizza Hut Hong Kong was facing the challenge. Business background of About McDonalds:McDonalds Corporation is the world's largest chain of  hamburger  fast food restaurants, serving in 119 countries and more than 30,000 restaurants. From a neighborhood restaurant established in Des Plaines, Illinois in 1955 t o today, more than 30,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries worldwide, McDonald's is the largest quick service restaurant organization in the world. McDonald's recognized that to be successful, it would have to be flexible and adapt to societal changes. In 1975, McDonald's opened its first drive-thruTM window in Sierra Vista, Arizona to accommodate a more mobile society.The company realized there was a need for a fast, quality morning meal and in 1973, the Egg McMuffinTM  was introduced. In Hong Kong, there are over 200 McDonald's restaurants, and more than 10,000 McDonald's staff. In few years, Hong Kong McDonald launched delivery service, officially invaded the delivery food service market. Although McDonald Hong Kong had a lot of charity work, moreover they established of the Ronald McDonald Houses, McDonald prominence has also made it a frequent topic of public debates about  obesity, corporate ethics and  consumer  responsibility. 3 Organization Structure and Desig n 4. Organization Structure of Pizza Hut Figure1. Hierarchy Division of Pizza Hut: Supervisor: A  supervisor is a team leader in a position of trust  in business. He / She always are an assistant to Manager. They have possession of part of the manager power, such as the allocation of the daily workflow, and void order of power. Restaurant General Manager: Restaurant General Manager is responsible for all problem of the restaurant. Not just manage all employees, but also they need to manage restaurant facilitates and service quality etc. In addition, they need to set daily sales target to fulfill organization goal.Operations Manager: They responsible for ensure that business needs to use as few resources as possible to meet customer requirements efficiently and effectively. Moreover, they need to establish operation policy to all operations department staff, included all restaurants manager. Chief executive officer: is the highest-ranking  corporate officer  (executive) or  administrator  in charge of total  management  of an  organization. An individual appointed as a CEO of a  corporation,  company,  organization, or  agency  typically reports to the  board of directors. At present, Hong Kong Pizza Hut chief executive officer is Henry Yip.Figure2. Functional Division of Pizza Hut: Finance department: Finance department is often simply defined as money management or the management of the fund. The major objectives of corporate finance are maximizing shareholder value. Marketing department: Commercial marketing  of individuals or organizations,  including  commercial enterprises,  governments and institutions  to  promote their  products or services sold  to other companies or  organizations,  in turn, resell  their practice,  and  use them as  components  in their  products or services, or use them to  support  their actions. . 2 Organization Structure of McDonald Figure3. Hierarchy Division of USA Headquarter McDonalds: Figure4. Hierarchy Division of Hong Kong McDonalds: Trainer: Trainer in McDonalds not the same in supervisor, they are same in senior staff to be an assistant to support Supervisor. Team Leader: Team Leader in McDonalds is the same in supervisor. Crew: Crew in McDonalds response for differences work in restaurant, it included Kitchen, cleaning, cashier, customer service representative and first line quality control. Figure5. Area division: Figure6.Functional Division of McDonalds: Human Resources Management Department: Human Resource Management is  an organization  of  employees  or  the management of human resources. This  attractive,  is  responsible for staffs election, training, appraisal,  rewards,  and  is also responsible for  organizational leadership and  culture,  and to ensure that  employment and  labor law. Held  in the employee's  wishes and  legally authorized  collective bargaining agreement, human re sources  usually  also  will serve as  the company's principal  liaison  with staff representativesPurchasing Department: Purchasing refers to the business or organization to attempt to obtain good or services, in order to achieve business goals. Although there are several organizations trying to set standards in the purchasing process, the difference between the processes organizations. 4. 3 Compare the Similarities and Differences of Organization Structure between Pizza Hut and McDonald’s Similarities of Organization Structure between Pizza Hut and McDonalds: Pizza Hut and McDonalds are the same using the Functional Division and Hierarchy Division.The relationship between the function is the position of the specialist, and other areas. In general, specialist will have the authority to adhere to the line manager, to achieve any of their instructions. In many large and global companies are always using Functional and hierarchy division to descript their company st ructure. In addition, these structures can make employee clear their job opportunities. Similarities of Organization Structure between Pizza Hut and McDonalds: Although the two companies are well-known company in the world, But in Hong Kong’s business size are different.Pizza Hut owned by Yum! Brands, Inc, but the business in Hong Kong is operated Franchise by Jardine Matheson. Region on district administration is relatively simple, because of only china regional business. On the other hand, Hong Kong McDonalds is not operated franchise of the way. Hong Kong McDonalds business was monitored by the management of the Asia (Figure5. ). Asia McDonalds Managed by the U. S Headquarters of non-Franchise operating worldwide business. So the difference of these companies is Hong Kong McDonalds was implemented area division models for global company structure. 4Approaches to Management ; Organizational Behavior 5. 4 Motivation Motivation is the degree to which an individual wants and c hooses to engage in certain specific behavior. People’s behavior is determined by what motivates them. Their performance is a product of both ability level and motivation. Therefore, the two companies are using the extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation methods motivate employees. In the past, McDonalds had to hire employees with too low salaries, so that McDonalds scolded by social. On the contrary, Pizza Hut’s hourly rate is high within the food service industry.Since Hong Kong Government has implemented a minimum wage, McDonalds has also begun to focus on the welfare of the employees. Pizza Hut was using two motivation methods: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation to motivate employees. For the extrinsic motivation, Pizza Hut’s crew salary increased to HK$ 28 from HK$ 21 (After the implement of minimum wage). Moreover, Pizza Hut’s salaries included restaurant Tips, Tips depend on customers given to restaurant and divide by the total number of empl oyees of the restaurant. Not just salary, but also Pizza Hut given bonus to all full time employees per year.And then, Pizza Hut established the outstanding staff award to motivate employee. About the award recommended by the restaurant manager, the winner will have HK$ 300 bonus. In addition, according to Hong Kong’s legal, Pizza Hut also provided Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) to employee. Lastly, Pizza Hut provided differences fringe benefits for employees, included Medical benefit, insurance discount, and 20% off staff discount. Staff discount not just included pizza hut, but also is included all related Jardine Matheson subsidiary companies, for example: Maxim's Caterers Limited and Wellcome.For the intrinsic motivation, Pizza Hut will be timing implementation of the job rotation method to training staff. Employees not just learn their basic work, but also they have the opportunities to learn cashier or kitchen. Finally, staff can study the distribution of work managemen t to support supervisor. Give rise to sense of challenge, receiving appreciation and positive recognition. Moreover, the employee begin to work, supervisor will report the company’s new information to staff, and the daily sales targets.In addition supervisor will be highly praised the staff for good performance at the briefing. McDonalds was the same using two motivation methods: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation to motivate employees. For the extrinsic motivation, McDonalds’s crew salary increased to HK$ 28 from HK$ 19 (After the implement of minimum wage). Moreover, the salaries included Profit sharing and restaurant cash incentive, like pizza hut tips bonus. And then, McDonalds established the outstanding staff award to motivate employee too. In addition, according to Hong Kong’s legal, McDonalds provided MPF to employee.Lastly, McDonalds provided differences fringe benefits for employees, included Group Term Life, Group Medical Insurance, Group D ental Plan, Education Sponsorship Program, and Professional Management Training both locally. About fringe benefits, McDonalds better than Pizza Hut. For the intrinsic motivation, McDonalds was the same in pizza hut intrinsic. In Fact, all of the food service industry company is using these methods to rise to sense of challenge, receiving appreciation and positive recognition etc. 5. 5 Leadership Hierarchy Division of Pizza Hut:Hierarchy Division of McDonalds: 5. 6 Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization’s most valued assets – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objective of the business. The Human Resources Management Process: For the McDonalds in people philosophy, they have a specific people vision â€Å"To be the best employer in each community around the World. † Being the best means â€Å"opportunities, traini ng and development; satisfaction, rewards and recognition†.Moreover, McDonalds make a promise to their employee. To all their present and future employees, McDonalds’d like you to know that there are committed. â€Å"We value you, your growth and your contributions. On the other hand, McDonalds have in place 5 people principles to reflect McDonald’s values and commitment to their people. It includes: (1) Respect and recognition (2) Values and Leadership behaviors (3) competitive pay and benefits (4) Learning, development and personal growth (5) Resources to get the job done. About the human resources management, McDonalds focus on every employee more than Pizza Hut.Recruitment: Pizza Hut and McDonalds are using these methods to attracting applicants. Internet-based Advertisement / Print-ad in Magazines or newspaper / Employee Referrals / Applicant Initiated / Job Fairs / Employment Agencies Selection: The process of screening job applicants to ensure that the mo st appropriate candidates are hired Pizza Hut and McDonalds are use differences types of selection Devices. Pizza Hut: Application form -> interview (restaurant manager) -> Reference checks McDonalds: Application form nd Questionnaire -> interview (restaurant manager) -> Reference checks Orientation: New employee orientation effectively integrates the new employee into your organization and assists with retention, motivation, job satisfaction, and quickly enabling each individual to become contributing members of the work team. Pizza Hut and McDonalds: Introduction (Rules, Policy, Organizational Structure and Company information) and a tour of the workplace Training: A basic operation in the work of the manager is to develop people and to direct, encourage and train employee.Those companies are using these methods to improve the availability, quality and skills of staff. Pizza Hut and McDonalds are using e-Leaning of job description, establish Lesson for differences hierarchy level, such as crew need to study customer service standard, how to handling complain; senior need to study how to contribute work to another colleague; Manager need to study manage in restaurant etc. Performance management: Approach to developing the capabilities of employees Pizza Hut and McDonalds in addition will be kept by the supervisor to practice role play training to subordinate.Moreover, the two companies will also hire external Mystery consumer companies to measure restaurant can achieve the setting of customer service standards, developed training plan or to enhance the training program based on test scores. Another will be conducted annually upward appraisal, Managers are appraised by their staff. 5. 7 Culture & Diversity Organizational Culture between Pizza Hut and McDonalds: Organizational culture  is the collective behaviour of people that are part of an organization, it is also formed by the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, and symbols, it includes beliefs and abits.Strong culture can create a stronger employee commitment to the organization. As the result, every organization must have their differences organizational culture. For the Pizza Hut, the mission statement is â€Å"With Customer Mania corporate culture, we ensure every dining occasion is a delightful experience. We promise† and the vision are to be the Leading Casual Dining Restaurant in Hong Kong and Macau – bringing our customers enjoyable yet affordable European cuisine by capitalizing on our brand equity and to be the No. 1 Pizza Delivery Provider offering world class pizza delicacies always hot and on time.Slogan of Pizza Hut: â€Å"With Customer Mania corporate culture, we ensure every dining occasion is a delightful experience. † In order to fulfill its mission, Pizza Hut has develop some unique, policies, principles, rules, processes and procedures, the sum total of which from the Pizza Hut culture: (1) Open door Policy: Manage rs doors are open to employees at all levels, because the manager dose not just do all about manage restaurant. During the peak hours, manager will work with general staff together. Therefore, manager can easier to listen to the voice from the employee. 2) Role culture – Bureaucratic control: roles and job description is most essential than the individual and position is the main source of power, control by procedures and rules, coordinated by a few senior managers.On the Pizza Hut, everything always have their standard for staff to fulfill, such as food quality standard, dress and grooming standard etc. If their staff cannot meet the standard, they will blame by the manager. (3) Ethical Culture: Pizza Hut has a very powerful and positive influence on employee behavior, focus on means as well as outcomes. 4) Customer Responsive Culture: Since Pizza Hut is very focus on increase customer satisfaction. They hiring the type of employees, for example ones with a more interest are helpful and friendly personality to serving customer. Having great listen skills to have ability to listen to and understand messages sent by the customer. Providing role clarity to employees to reduce ambiguity and conflict and increase job satisfaction. Having conscientious, caring employees willing to take initiative even outside their normal job duties For the McDonalds, the mission and values statement is to be our customers' favorite place and way to eat.Our worldwide operations are aligned around a global strategy called the Plan to Win, which center on an exceptional customer experience – People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion. We are committed to continuously improving our operations and enhancing our customers' experience. In order to fulfill its mission, Pizza Hut has develop some unique, policies, principles, rules, processes and procedures, the sum total of which from the McDonalds culture: (1) Customer Responsive Culture: McDonalds same with Pizza Hut, th ey are focus on increase customer satisfaction.They hiring the type of employees, for example ones with a more interest are helpful and friendly personality to serving customer. Having great listen skills to have ability to listen to and understand messages sent by the customer. Providing role clarity to employees to reduce ambiguity and conflict and increase job satisfaction. Having conscientious, caring employees willing to take initiative even outside their normal job duties (2) Workplace spirituality: Recognize that their employees have an inner life, moisturize and nourish meaningful work, a place within the community.Since McDonalds focus on charity work, such as established Donald McDonald house Charities to offering a supportive environment, parents are able to care for their sick children during an incredibly stressful time. In addition, McDonalds often motivate employee to participate more about charity work. (3) People Orientation: Degree to which management decisions tak e into account the effects on people in the organization. Organizational Diversity between Pizza Hut and McDonalds: Managing diversity accepts that the workforce consists of a diverse population of people.The diversity consists of visible and non-visible differences which will include sex, age, background, race, disability personality and work style. It is founded on the premise that harnessing these differences will create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued, where their talents are being fully utilized, and in which organizational goals are met. According to the Hong Kong legal’s on eliminating age discrimination in employment, employers have the prime responsibility for encouraging equal employment opportunities and for eliminating discrimination in the workplace, so Pizza Hut and McDonalds are also comply with the law.Employees are Pizza Hut and McDonald’s greatest asset. But two companies have their own organizational diversity. For the pizza hut, there are more than 4,000 people, since pizza hut focus on customer satisfaction and customer service quality than McDonalds, so that Pizza Hut dose not employs any persons with intellectual disabilities in secretly. Contrary, McDonalds hire people not because of the people physical abilities and quality. For example, McDonalds staff Wong Man Yu awarded â€Å"Outstanding Disabled Employees Awards† by the Labour Department in 2006.It reflect McDonalds support their employees have any physical problem. 5. 8 Information Technology Information Technology is the use of computers and software to manage information. In some companies, this is referred to as Management Information Services (or MIS) or simply as Information Services (or IS). The information technology department of a large company would be responsible for storing information, protecting information, processing the information, transmitting the information as necessary, and later retrieving information as necessar y.Nowadays, many organizations are using information technology to increase work efficiency and effectiveness. Since information technology can increase business performance, better decision making based on information and greater accessibility to coworkers. So that, Pizza Hut and McDonalds are use many information technology to support their business: (1) Information Systems: accounting information system to record or calculate all about sales, salaries etc†¦ inventory system to monitor store inventory and though internet to purchase daily restaurants needs.Point of sales systems. Office automation systems, transaction processing systems, distribution systems, etc. (2) Electronic Commerce System: this part is very important in business, they’re use to selling, delivering, servicing and paying for products and services using internet. For the payment, Pizza Hut using credit card reader and Visa Pay wave; McDonalds using octopus and Visa pay wave. (3) Networked Computer s ystem: Linking individual computers to create an organizational network for communication and information sharing.They are using e-mail, instant messaging, Voice-mail to dealing with online delivery business, Fax machines to receive order confirm from food supplier. Electronic Data Exchange (EDI). Teleconferencing. Videoconferencing. 5. 9 Communication Communication between managers and employees provides the information necessary to get work done effectively and efficiently in organizations. Communication major functions are Control, Motivation, Emotional Expression and Information. Communication is very important part of business. Pizza Hut and McDonalds use interpersonal methods.For example: Face-to-face, Telephone, Group meetings, Formal presentation, Memos, Traditional Mail, Fax machines, Audio-and videotapes, Daily briefing, Hotline, E-mail, Voice mail and Teleconference to communicate with employee. Face to face, telephone and Memos are basic tools to connect employee and man agement. But about the organization contact restaurant, they are use daily briefing, E-mail to update information about organization. 5 Conclusion Through identifying and analyzing the following: motivation, leadership, human resource management, culture and diversity, information technology, communication. I found that:For the organization structure, the difference of these companies is Hong Kong McDonalds was implemented area division models for global company structure. On the other hand, Pizza Hut just implemented hierarchy and functional Division. For the approaches to management & Organizational behaviour, about the motivation, McDonald’s hourly salaries have been low for long. Yet, ever since Hong Kong Government has implemented the minimum wage, the corporate has no choice but to increase salaries of the workers. On the contrary, the average hourly wages of Pizza Hut workers are relatively higher than McDonalds.About the Leadership, Human Resources Management, Informa tion technology and communication, Since Pizza Hut and McDonalds are the same industry in food service restaurant, which means their organizational behaviour always the same. But about the diversity, McDonalds is better than Pizza Hut, it is because McDonalds hire people not because of the people physical abilities and quality. If Pizza Hut and McDonalds can solve above problem, they can improve their business more.

Definition and Examples of Plain English

Definition and Examples of Plain English Plain English is  clear and direct speech or writing in English. Also called plain language. The opposite of plain English goes by various names: bureaucratese, doublespeak, gibberish, gobbledygook, skotison. In the U.S., the Plain Writing Act of 2010 took effect in October 2011 (see below). According to the governments Plain Language Action and Information Network, the law requires federal agencies to write all new publications, forms, and publicly distributed documents in a â€Å"clear, concise, well-organized† manner that follows the best practices of plain language writing. Based in England, the Plain English Campaign is a professional editing company and pressure group committed to eliminating gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information. Examples and Observations Plain English, it turns out, is the product of craft: an understanding of the readers needs, the translation of alienating jargon, establishing an easy pace that readers can follow. Clarity of expression comes most of all from a clear understanding of the topic or theme you are writing about. No writer can clarify for the reader what is not clear to the writer in the first place.(Roy Peter Clark, Help! for Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces. Little, Brown and Company, 2011) Plain English (or plain language, as its often called) refers to: The writing and setting out of essential information in a way that gives a cooperative, motivated person a good chance of understanding it at first reading, and in the same sense that the writer meant it to be understood. This means pitching the language at a level that suits the readers and using good structure and layout to help them navigate. It doesnt mean always using simple words at the expense of the most accurate or writing whole documents in kindergarten language . . ..Plain English embraces honesty as well as clarity. Essential information should not lie or tell half-truths, especially as its providers are often socially or financially dominant.(Martin Cutts, Oxford Guide to Plain English, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2009) Plain Writing Act (2011) The federal government is rolling out a new official language of sorts: plain English. . . .[President Barack] Obama signed the Plain Writing Act last fall after decades of effort by a cadre of passionate grammarians in the civil service to jettison the jargon. . . .It takes full effect in October, when federal agencies must start writing plainly in all new or substantially revised documents produced for the public. The government will still be allowed to write nonsensically to itself. . . .By July, each agency must have a senior official overseeing plain writing, a section of its website devoted to the effort and employee training under way. . . .It is important to emphasize that agencies should communicate with the public in a way that is clear, simple, meaningful and jargon-free, says Cass Sunstein, a White House information and regulation administrator who gave guidance to federal agencies in April on how to put the law into place.(Calvin Woodward [Associated Press], Feds Must St op Writing Gibberish Under New Law. CBS News, May 20, 2011) Plain Writing As for plain English writing,  think of it as having three parts: - Style. By style, I mean how to write clear, readable sentences. My advice is simple: write more the way you talk. This may sound simple, but its a powerful metaphor that can revolutionize your writing.- Organization. I suggest starting with your main point almost all the time. That doesnt mean it has to be your first sentence (though it can be)just that it should come early and be easy to find.- Layout. This is the appearance of the page and your words on it. Headings, bullets, and other techniques of white space help your reader seevisuallythe underlying structure of your writing. . . . Plain English is not limited to expressing only simple ideas: it works for all kinds of writingfrom an internal memo to a complicated technical report. It can handle any level of complexity. (Edward P. Bailey, Plain English at Work: A Guide to Writing and Speaking. Oxford University Press, 1996) Criticism of Plain English As well as the arguments in favour (e.g. Kimble, 1994/5), Plain English also has its critics. Robyn Penman argues that we need to consider the context when we write and we cannot rely on a universal principle of plain or simple English. There is some evidence that Plain English revisions do not always work: Penman quotes research including an Australian study which compared versions of a tax form and found that the revised version was virtually as demanding for the taxpayer as the old form (1993), p. 128).We agree with Penmans main pointthat we need to design appropriate documentsbut we still think that all business writers should consider the recommendations coming from Plain English sources. Unless you have clear contrary evidence, they are the safest bet, especially if you have a general or mixed audience. (Peter Hartley and Clive G. Bruckmann, Business Communication. Routledge, 2002)