Problems Facing American Economy

The US economy is the largest economy in the world, with one of the highest GDP per Capita. However, despite its position as the most powerful economy, it now faces many serious economic problems. Some of these are short term, but some of them reflect an underlying weakness.

National debt and Government Borrowing

Economics

Due to decades of government borrowing the US national debt is fast approaching ,000 billion, or more than 65% of GDP. The consequence of such high levels of national debt is to increase the cost of interest payments. It also limits the potential for future tax cuts and higher government spending. High levels of government borrowing can also lead to crowding out. Where government borrowing reduces private sector spending.

Problems Facing American Economy

Current Account deficit and External Debt

In the past 2 decades US economic growth has mostly been financed by high levels of consumer spending. This consumer spending has created an increase in imports that has not been met by a corresponding increase in exports. At its peak the US current account deficit reached 7% of GDP. This current account deficit was financed by foreigners buying US securities. It means that most of the US external debt is held by Chinese, Japanese and other investors. A current account deficit has contributed to the declining dollar and remains a constraint on economic growth

Housing Market

It is estimated US house prices have fallen by 10% in the past 12 months. Although there are many different ways to measure house price statistics, most people will agree that US house prices are falling. There is a combination of oversupply and falling demand due to uncertainty about the future of the housing market. Declining house prices can be a powerful disincentive for consumer spending. As house prices fall, consumers see their wealth decline leading to lower economic growth. It is feared that falling house prices could alone tip the economy into recession.

Low savings Ratio

The low savings ratio is linked to the current account deficit. It is a result of consumer led growth. It is also a result of increased personal borrowing levels. It is suggested that the economic growth has been based on an unsustainable footing. It means that the American consumer is susceptible to any rise in interest rates.

Rise in Commodity prices

Despite a slowdown in the US economy, we have seen a rise in cost push inflation. In particular rising prices of oil, wheat and soybeans have created problems for the US economy. It could lead to a situation of stagflation - rising prices and falling growth.

Updated: more in depth analysis of the problems facing the US economy.

Problems Facing American Economy

Richard Pettinger studied Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. He now works as an economics teacher in Oxford. He enjoys writing essays on Economic and he edits a blog on Economics - Economic Help. http://www.economicshelp.org/blog

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Public Administration Vs Private Administration

Most authors differentiate public administration and private administration by educational institutions (public schools vs. private schools). Although it's a good example to provide a comprehensive analysis between the two sectors, I found it not the quintessence for a comparative analysis. Historically, in our country, public schools have a much higher quality education than private schools, and studying economics and public administration, it is not just the nature of bureaucracies, nor the scope of public administration that the case today was reversed. While some authors identified over a dozen factors that differentiates public to private administration, Denhardt only speaks of the three fundamental differences between the two. In this paper, I would elaborate Denhardt's three points since, together with economist Boadway's Difference between Public and Private Sector, I found these as the most undisputable and concrete comparisons.

The most apparent difference between the two sectors is their organizing principles or goal. (Denhardt) While private administration has a definite mission, which is the pursuit of profit or stability or growth of revenues, public administration, on the other hand, has ambiguous purposes. Furthermore, the dilemma in ambiguity of purposes is exacerbated by too many unnecessary and inoperable agencies, with purposes that overlap and bloated bureaucracies. One might say that the goal of public administration is to enact public policies, but the overlapping and the main ambiguity of most of these policies, and the vagueness of the enactment of these policies make public administration's purpose to be more ambiguous. Nevertheless, the fact that public institutions are not profit driven, should not lead us to believe that public sector employees and managers are not concerned about financial matters. As is the case with private companies, public sector units and organizations fight for funding and influence.

Economics

Another factor that makes the public sector different from the private is decision making. (Denhradt) In public administration, the decision must be and should be pluralistic. The founding fathers intentionally created a democratic republic where all key decisions are made in politicized environment. This allows for maximum participation: open debate, multiple veto points - a decision making hierarchy where consensus must be achieved at each level, ideally, an informed decision. While private administration's decision-making is much more simple- it's monopolistic or close to monopolistic. This type of decision-making would avoid any conflicts in interest; hence, the goal is clearly defined.

Public Administration Vs Private Administration

The visibility of public administrators is another notable difference between public and private sector. While a manager in a private business may work in relative obscurity, the public manager must operate in the public eye. His or her actions are constantly subjected to public scrutiny. (Denhardt) The publicness of the work of the public manager doesn't end in merely carrying out public policy, the public manager has to respond to the demands of the public. Denhardt speaks of the "inevitable tension" between efficiency and responsiveness, the pressure to manage effectively and to be simultaneously responsive to public concerns. This pressure often leaves public organizations in a "no-win" situation, trying to serve a public that demands effective government but balks at paying for it (taxes). The public also demands accountability in government, an assurance that those who formulate, implement and administer public programs will act responsibly.

One quality that makes public sector different from private is in the form of unit analysis. (Boadway) Apart from publicly owned-companies, most public institutions are part of a larger chain of command and control where it is harder to draw a line between the different parts of the system- and where legal frameworks provide little help in this. For instance: public agencies- like research councils or directorates of health- interact closely with ministries as well as subordinate institution and "users". The innovation activities in these institutions are heavily influenced by decisions made above and below the chain of commands. The closest parallel to private sector will be large conglomerates or multinational companies. The complex system of organizations with various (and to some extent conflicting) tasks, is one of the reasons for the inefficiency of public administration. Although, some authors in public administration, such Woodrow Wilson in The Study of Public Administration, where he reiterated that the evolution of public administration together with its complex system and increasing number of bureaucracies is to complement the population growth, but a population with sufficient number of agencies to manage them and with high marginal productivity for each public employee, is better than a bloated bureaucracy with little or zero marginal productivity, and worse, unnecessary and redundant purpose.

Lastly, although political aspect is both apparent in public and private sector, political aspect is more important in the public than in the private sector. Policy decisions normally affect companies directly and indirectly, through laws, regulations and financial support. The public sector is at least formally controlled by elected politicians. The intimate link between this governance dimension and funding of current expenses of the activities implies a very strong link between ownership and control on the one hand and the growth strategies of the subsidiary organizations.

Public Administration Vs Private Administration

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Overview of Disaster Recovery Plan

Whenever accidents, disasters and natural events interrupt day-to-day business activities, one thing can be certain: corporations lose money. The amount of money often depends on how prepared businesses are for dealing with interruptions. An up-to-date, well-planned and well-practiced disaster recovery plan often makes the difference between quickly returning to business as usual and failing for months or even years from the devastating repercussions.

Any event that interrupts business due to the loss of operational ability required for normal operations qualifies as a disaster. A disaster recovery plan is a blueprint for recovering from these events. A DRP does not seek to duplicate a business rather, its intent is to increase the chances of survival and to minimize the effects of the loss.

Economics

Disaster recovery planning is a set of tasks that must be performed. In addition, it is filled with potential hurdles that even the best intentions, most intelligent people in the organization can overlook. Regardless of whether the plan is developed using internal talent, external experts can help. Disaster recovery planning is an essential process for companies.

Overview of Disaster Recovery Plan

The basic tasks proceeding and maintaining recovery preparedness make good economical and business sense. In most cases with less effort than anticipated, disaster recovery planning can improve efficiency, reduce recurring issues and, through reduced downtimes and better managed processes, pay for itself.

Management must first understand the characteristics associated with a crisis. Any crisis has the following characteristics:
Surprise Insufficient Information Escalating Flow of Events Loss of Control Intense Scrutiny from Outside Siege Mentality Panic Short-term Focus.

One strategy used to put the crisis in the proper context is to establish an order of magnitude with respect to the crisis. Crises may be categorized into one of three levels:

Level I-Low Risk

No serious injuries, minimal physical damage, no disruption to critical business operations, minimal impact on routine business activities, minimal distress to employees.

Level II-Moderate Risk

Serious (life threatening) injuries, significant number of minor injuries, minor damage to property and facilities, minor or impending disruption on critical business operations, moderate impact to routine business activities, moderate employee distress.

Level III-High Risk

Major human casualties including death, major physical damage, significant impact on critical and routine business activities, media visibility, potential customer and shareholder impact.

As part of the disaster recovery plan, an established Escalation Procedure should be tied to each of these levels so that if the situation escalates to the next level procedures are already in place.

As part of a disaster recovery plan, crisis events are defined in a slightly different manner. The least serious event could be described as a "serious incident", which involves a minor loss of data, a roof leak that drenches several shelves of replaceable books in a library or a threat from a drunken employee.

The term "emergency" is used in the event of a single casualty, a moderate fire, or substantial vandalism that compromises the security of the site.

A "major emergency" classification covers serious damage at a single site and possibly several casualties.

A "disaster" is defined as an event that is beyond the powers of first responders to prevent or control, and that results in serious damage and prolonged service disruption at several sites and possibly a number of casualties. The term "disaster" means the interruption of business due to the loss or denial of the information assets required for normal operations. It refers to a loss or interruption of the company's data processing functions or to a loss of data itself. Loss of data could result from accidental or intentional erasure or destruction of the media on which data was recorded. This loss could be caused by a variety of man-made or natural phenomena.

Loss of data could also refer to a loss of integrity or reliability either in the dataset (or database) itself, or in the means by which data is transported, manipulated or presented for use. Corruption of programs and networks could interrupt the normal schedule for processing and reporting data, wreaking as much havoc within a company as would the loss of the data itself.

The above conception of disaster may suggest that only a major calamity - a terrorist bombing, an earthquake, or even a war - would qualify as a disaster. Most people might imagine in a smoking data centre rather than an accidental hard disk erasure at the small business office down the block. In either case, if the result is an unacceptable interruption of normal business operations, the event could be classified as a disaster. Disasters are relative and contextual.

Simply stated: A disaster is an occurrence that disrupts the functioning of the organization resulting in loss of data, loss of personnel, loss of business or loss of time:

Organization of the Disaster Recovery Plan

A written and tested disaster recovery program can determine whether or not your business fully resumes operations after a catastrophe. A sound program is actually a collection of specific action plans:
A disaster avoidance plan to reduce or limit risks. An emergency response plan to ensure quick response to incidents. A recovery plan to guide the firm in resuming vital business functions. A business continuation plan to fully restore all business activities to normal.

Disaster avoidanceis the cornerstone of any disaster recovery plan. The first step in creating an avoidance plan is to analyze the potential hazards/risks and how well you are protected against them. This step should be accomplished during a risk/business impact analysis. The next step is to develop procedures for protecting those vulnerable assets/processes that are identified.

Even the best avoidance plan cannot prevent every disaster. When a serious incident occurs, a company must have an emergency response plan. The focuses of this plan should be the personnel and tasks necessary to immediately mitigate damage to people and company assets. After ensuring the human safety for employees, visitors, and the public, the plan should also address public relations and advertising strategies to let your clients know that you are still in business and where they can reach you.

If the emergency escalates to the disaster level, a comprehensive disaster recovery plan must be ready to implement. This plan should contain two main sections that address the specific action plans for:
recoveringcritical business functions, and restoringthe business to pre-disaster conditions.

The scope of the disaster will also have an impact on the business' recovery. Regional disasters could affect others with whom you do business including clients, vendors or emergency personnel. The plan should consider the possibility of competing for resources. Developing a comprehensive disaster recovery program that incorporates the four action plans takes foresight and commitment. But if catastrophe strikes, an effective written disaster recovery plan will provide a smooth, speedy return to business instead of diminished customer confidence, loss of clients and ultimately, failure.

The objectives of a disaster recovery plan are four-fold:
To limit the extent of the damage and to prevent the escalation of a disaster To prevent personal injury to the company personnel as well as the general public To prevent physical damage to company property, and To minimize a disaster's economic impact on the business.

With properly organized plan documents, it should be able to look at the disaster recovery plan's table of contents for an overview of plan functions. The reason for this is simple: Most plans are compiled as sets of procedures that are developed to accommodate recovery strategies.

Body of the Disaster Recovery Plan

The complexity of a disaster recovery plan is directly related to the size of the organization. For very small firms the development of the coordination and recovery procedures may include all employees. For other larger companies, it may be necessary to assign functional business areas the full responsibility for developing and maintaining their section of the DRP. After all, it will be the recovery team for the functional business area that will be responsible for recovering the operation.

If each functional business area is responsible for developing its own disaster recovery plan, a central control area should also be established. This area should be responsible for coordinating the development effort, training the line planners, recruiting from within line operation and managing scarce resources.

As for the business resumption planners, each major area of the organization should make resources available, usually part-time resources (at least half time) familiar with the areas for which they would develop plans. Having planners from the areas for which they would develop plans is important in two ways. Much of the success in getting resumption plans developed in a timely fashion comes from the relationship that the planners have with the areas. Not only are the planners familiar with the areas, which gives them knowledge of the people and resources, but the areas are familiar with them. With this relationship already established, the development of the plans goes much more smoothly and quickly.

If the scope of the project is still quite large, the disaster recovery plan development efforts should initially focus on three critical areas:
The first is the development of an Incident Management Plan and the Incident Management Team. Then, recovery procedures should be addressed. And finally, an infrastructure within the organization should be created to support any disaster recovery effort, i.e., replacement staff, key supplies, etc.

General Issues to consider:

The Disaster Recovery Plan

Creating a business continuity plan is far from a trivial exercise.

Risk Analysis

Risk analysis is inextricably linked with disaster recovery. Assessment of the risks which may lead to disaster is essential in the determination of what controls are appropriate to the situation.

Disaster Recovery Audit

How do you ensure that your disaster recovery plan meets your actual needs? How do you know that it will all work? Do you audit it, and if so, how?

Equally fundamentally, do you know what your resource/service dependencies are and what their time criticalities are? What of your actual everyday contingency practices - do they measure up?

Overview of Disaster Recovery Plan

JP van Rensburg

"JP" has spent the past 16 years designing and developing software tools for the risk management environment with a special focus on pro-active management i.e. Risk Identification and Root-cause Analysis. Current JP provides an online entry-level business planning and risk management tool for start-up and small businesses. The tool, [http://www.Riskalyzor.com] is available via a minor subscription.

Since 2003, JP is well-known throughout South Africa as a risk lecturer and specialist workshop facilitator.

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e-Marketing Strategy: 7 Dimensions to Consider (the e-Marketing Mix)

What is e-Marketing?

e-Marketing is still quite a controversial subject to talk about, since no one succeeded to unify the various theories around it; however there is one thing upon which there is no doubt - that e-Marketing first appeared under the form of various techniques deployed by pioneer companies selling their products via the internet in the early 90's.

Economics

The frenzy around these new marketing techniques created by e-tailers and supported by the internet rapidly gave birth to a new dimension of what we knew as Marketing: the e-Marketing (electronic Marketing).

e-Marketing Strategy: 7 Dimensions to Consider (the e-Marketing Mix)

There are many definitions to what e-Marketing is, the simplest and shortest one being formulated by Mark Sceats: e-Marketing is Marketing that uses the internet as manifestation media. A working definition is that coming from a group of CISCO specialists: e-Marketing is the sum of all activities a business conducts through the internet with the purpose of finding, attracting, winning and retaining customers.

e-Marketing Strategy

The e-Marketing Strategy is normally based and built upon the principles that govern the traditional, offline Marketing - the well-known 4 P's (Product - Price - Promotion - Positioning) that form the classic Marketing mix. Add the extra 3 P's (People - Processes - Proof) and you got the whole extended Marketing mix.

Until here, there are no much aspects to differentiate e-Marketing from the traditional Marketing performed offline: the extended Marketing mix (4 + 3 P's) is built around the concept of "transactional" and its elements perform transactional functions defined by the exchange paradigm. What gives e-Marketing its uniqueness is a series of specific functions, relational functions, that can be synthesized in the 2P + 2C+ 3S formula: Personalization, Privacy, Customer Service, Community, Site, Security, Sales Promotion.

These 7 functions of the e-Marketing stay at the base of any e-Marketing strategy and they have a moderating character, unlike the classic Marketing mix that comprises situational functions only. Moderating functions of e-Marketing have the quality of moderate, operate upon all situational functions of the mix (the classic 4 P's) and upon each other.

1. Personalization

The fundamental concept of personalization as a part of the e-Marketing mix lies in the need of recognizing, identifying a certain customer in order to establish relations (establishing relations is a fundamental objective of Marketing). It is crucial to be able to identify our customers on individual level and gather all possible information about them, with the purpose of knowing our market and be able to develop customized, personalized products and services.

For example, a cookie strategically placed on the website visitor's computer can let us know vital information concerning the access speed available: in consequence, if we know the visitor is using a slow connection (eg. dial-up) we will offer a low-volume variation of our website, with reduced graphic content and no multimedia or flash applications. This will ease our customer's experience on our website and he will be prevented from leaving the website on the reason that it takes too long to load its pages.

Personalization can be applied to any component of the Marketing mix; therefore, it is a moderating function.

2. Privacy

Privacy is an element of the mix very much connected to the previous one - personalization. When we gather and store information about our customers and potential customers (therefore, when we perform the personalization part of the e-Marketing mix) a crucial issue arises: that of the way this information will be used, and by whom. A major task to do when implementing an e-Marketing strategy is that of creating and developing a policy upon access procedures to the collected information.

This is a duty and a must for any conscious marketer to consider all aspects of privacy, as long as data are collected and stored, data about individual persons.

Privacy is even more important when establishing the e-Marketing mix since there are many regulations and legal aspects to be considered regarding collection and usage of such information.

3. Customer Service

Customer service is one of the necessary and required activities among the support functions needed in transactional situations.

We will connect the apparition of the customer service processes to the inclusion of the "time" parameter in transactions. When switching from a situational perspective to a relational one, and e-Marketing is mostly based on a relational perspective, the marketer saw himself somehow forced into considering support and assistance on a non-temporal level, permanently, over time.

For these reasons, we should consider the Customer Service function (in its fullest and largest definition) as an essential one within the e-Marketing mix.

As we can easily figure out, the service (or assistance if you wish) can be performed upon any element from the classic 4 P's, hence its moderating character.

4. Community

We can all agree that e-Marketing is conditioned by the existence of this impressive network that the internet is. The merely existence of such a network implies that individuals as well as groups will eventually interact. A group of entities that interact for a common purpose is what we call a "community" and we will soon see why it is of absolute importance to participate, to be part of a community.

The Metcalf law (named after Robert Metcalf) states that the value of a network is given by the number of its components, more exactly the value of a network equals the square of the number of components. We can apply this simple law to communities, since they are a network: we will then conclude that the value of a community rises with the number of its members. This is the power of communities; this is why we have to be a part of it.

The customers / clients of a business can be seen as part of a community where they interact (either independent or influenced by the marketer) - therefore developing a community is a task to be performed by any business, even though it is not always seen as essential.

Interactions among members of such a community can address any of the other functions of e-Marketing, so it can be placed next to other moderating functions.

5. Site

We have seen and agreed that e-Marketing interactions take place on a digital media - the internet. But such interactions and relations also need a proper location, to be available at any moment and from any place - a digital location for digital interactions.

Such a location is what we call a "site", which is the most widespread name for it. It is now the time to mention that the "website" is merely a form of a "site" and should not be mistaken or seen as synonyms. The "site" can take other forms too, such as a Palm Pilot or any other handheld device, for example.

This special location, accessible through all sort of digital technologies is moderating all other functions of the e-Marketing - it is then a moderating function.

6. Security

The "security" function emerged as an essential function of e-Marketing once transactions began to be performed through internet channels.

What we need to keep in mind as marketers are the following two issues on security:

- security during transactions performed on our website, where we have to take all possible precautions that third parties will not be able to access any part of a developing transaction;

- security of data collected and stored, about our customers and visitors.

A honest marketer will have to consider these possible causes of further trouble and has to co-operate with the company's IT department in order to be able to formulate convincing (and true, honest!) messages towards the customers that their personal details are protected from unauthorized eyes.

7. Sales Promotion

At least but not last, we have to consider sales promotions when we build an e-Marketing strategy. Sales promotions are widely used in traditional Marketing as well, we all know this, and it is an excellent efficient strategy to achieve immediate sales goals in terms of volume.

This function counts on the marketer's ability to think creatively: a lot of work and inspiration is required in order to find new possibilities and new approaches for developing an efficient promotion plan.

On the other hand, the marketer needs to continuously keep up with the latest internet technologies and applications so that he can fully exploit them.

To conclude, we have seen that e-Marketing implies new dimensions to be considered aside of those inherited from the traditional Marketing. These dimensions revolve around the concept of relational functions and they are a must to be included in any e-Marketing strategy in order for it to be efficient and deliver results.

e-Marketing Strategy: 7 Dimensions to Consider (the e-Marketing Mix)

Otilia Otlacan is a young certified professional with expertise in e-Marketing and e-Business, currently working as independent consultant and e-publisher. She developed and teach her own online course in "Principles of e-Marketing" and is also a volunteer Economics teacher.

You can contact her via her personal website at BRAINmarketing.net [http://www.brainmarketing.net] or check out her latest developing Marketing resources project at TeaWithEdge.com

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How to Get Free Books on the Kindle

You've finally got your Kindle, but it's not very useful if there aren't any books on it yet. So how do you go about putting books on it? There are actually several ways to do this, and this guide will discuss some of them.

1. The Kindle Store

Economics

This is the easiest method, and it is also the method most promoted by Amazon. Basically, when you buy a book from the Kindle Store, it gets automatically downloaded to your Kindle within 60 seconds. There are actually two ways to buy from the Kindle Store. The first is from the Kindle itself. Just browse to the Kindle Store from the main menu, and you will have access to hundreds of thousands of titles. The best thing about the Kindle Store is that usually the first chapter of every book is free. The other option is to buy from the Kindle Store on your computer via Amazon's website. When you buy a book on your computer, it will also be instantly downloaded to your device.

How to Get Free Books on the Kindle

2. USB Transfer

If you have an eBook on your computer that you would like to read on your Kindle, you can easily transfer it using the included USB cable. It is important to realize that you need to make sure the eBook is in one of the approved file formats. The Kindle can handle txt, pdf, and mobi files pretty well.

3. Email Service

If you don't want to mess around with connecting the Kindle to your computer, you can email the eBook to Amazon. Amazon will then send the file directly to your Kindle. They will also automatically convert pdf and doc files into the Kindle format, although the converted file often has a few errors. The downside to this method is that Amazon charges a $.10 fee for every file you send to your Kindle in this manner. 10 cents may not seem like a lot, but it can add up if you do this often.

4. Kindle Browser

This is the method Amazon doesn't want you to know. It is actually possible to download thousands of books for free directly through the Kindle's built in Internet browser. There are a few websites which will let you do this, but one of the bet is http://www.gutenberg.org. This site has thousands of free books in a Kindle-friendly format which you can instantly download. If you like reading the classics, this is an excellent resource.

How to Get Free Books on the Kindle

Hopefully this guide has given you some ideas about how to get books on your Kindle. Unfortunately, the Kindle may soon be outdated with the release of the iPad. For a chance to get an iPad for free, check out [http://www.buyipadonline.com].

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Rules to Setting Business Goals and Objectives: Why and How to be SMART

We all know that nothing runs without a plan, and a plan cannot run without having its objectives set.

That applies to any kind of plan, whether we're talking business or personal finances, university degrees or NGO programs, website promotion or weight loss.

Economics

Setting objectives and milestones is of crucial importance for any planning activity and is the core of its success, or failure.
Knowing how to set objectives is not exactly rocket science in terms of complexity, but any strategist should know the basic rules of how to formulate and propose objectives. We will see in this article why objectives play such a major role within a company's planning and strategic activities, how they influence all business processes, and we will review some guidelines of setting objectives.

Rules to Setting Business Goals and Objectives: Why and How to be SMART

The Importance of Setting Objectives

One might wonder why we need to establish objectives in the first place, why not let the company or a specific activity just run smoothly into the future and see where it gets. That would be the case only if we really do not care whether the activity in discussion will be successful or not: but then, to use a popular saying, "if something deserves to be performed, then it deserves to be performed well". In other words, if we don't care for the results, we should not proceed with the action at all.

Setting objectives before taking any action is the only right thing to do, for several reasons:

- it gives a target to aim to, therefore all actions and efforts will be focused on attaining the objective instead of being inefficiently used;

- gives participants a sense of direction, a glimpse of where they're going to;

- motivates the leaders and their teams, since it is quite the custom of establishing some sort of reward once the team successfully completed a project;

- offers the support in evaluating the success of an action or project.

The 5 Rules of Setting Objectives: Be SMART!

I am sure most managers and leaders know what SMART stands for, well, at least when it comes of establishing objectives. However, I have seen some of them who cannot fully explain the five characteristics of a good-established objective - things are somehow blurry and confused in their minds. Since they can't explain in details what SMART objectives really are, it is highly doubtful that they will always be able to formulate such objectives.

It is still unclear from where the confusion comes: perhaps there are too many sources of information, each of them with a slightly different approach upon what a SMART objective really is; or perhaps most people only briefly "heard" about it and they never get to reach the substance behind the packaging.

Either way, let us try to uncover the meaning of the SMART acronym and see how we can formulate efficient objectives.
SMART illustrates the 5 characteristics of an efficient objective; it stands for Specific - Measurable - Attainable - Relevant - Timely.

1. Be SPECIFIC!

When it comes of business planning, "specific" illustrates a situation that is easily identified and understood. It is usually linked to some mathematical determinant that imprints a specific character to a given action: most common determinants are numbers, ratios and fractions, percentages, frequencies. In this case, being "specific" means being "precise".

Example: when you tell your team "I need this report in several copies", you did not provide the team with a specific instruction. It is unclear what the determinant "several" means: for some it can be three, for some can be a hundred. A much better instruction would sound like "I need this report in 5 copies" - your team will know exactly what you expect and will have less chances to fail in delivering the desired result.

2. Be MEASURABLE!

When we say that an objective, a goal, must be measurable, we mean there is a stringent need to have the possibility to measure, to track the action(s) associated with the given objective.

We must set up a distinct system or establish clear procedures of how the actions will be monitored, measured and recorded. If an objective and the actions pertaining to it cannot be quantified, it is most likely that the objective is wrongly formulated and we should reconsider it.

Example: "our business must grow" is an obscure, non-measurable objective. What exactly should we measure in order to find out if the objective was met? But if we change it to "our business must grow in sales volume with 20%", we've got one measurable objective: the measure being the percentage sales rise from present moment to the given moment in the future. We can calculate this very easy, based on the recorded sales figures.

3. Be ATTAINABLE!

Some use the term "achievable" instead of "attainable", which you will see it is merely a synonym and we should not get stuck in analyzing which one is correct. Both are.

It is understood that each leader will want his company / unit to give outstanding performances; this is the spirit of competition and such thinking is much needed. However, when setting objectives, one should deeply analyze first the factors determining the success or failure of these objectives. Think of your team, of your capacities, of motivation: are they sufficient in order for the objectives to be met? Do you have the means and capabilities to achieve them?

Think it through and be honest and realistic to yourself: are you really capable of attaining the goals you've set or are you most likely headed to disappointment? Always set objectives that have a fair chance to be met: of course, they don't need to be "easily" attained, you're entitled to set difficult ones as long as they're realistic and not futile.

Example: you own a newborn movers company and you set the objective of "becoming no. 1 movers within the state". The problem is you only have 3 trucks available, while all your competitors have 10 and up. Your goal is not attainable; try instead a more realistic one, such as "reaching the Top 5 fastest growing movers company in the state".

4. Be RELEVANT!

This notion is a little more difficult to be perceived in its full meaning; therefore we will start explaining it by using an example in the first place.

Imagine yourself going to the IT department and telling them they need to increase the profit to revenue ratio by 5%. They will probably look at you in astonishment and mumble something undistinguished about managers and the way they mess up with people's minds.

Can you tell what is wrong with the objective above? Of course! The IT department has no idea what you were talking about and there's nothing they can do about it - their job is to develop and maintain your computerized infrastructure, not to understand your economic speech. What you can do it setting an objective that the IT department can have an impact upon, and which will eventually lead to the increase you wanted in the first place. What about asking them to reduce expenditures for hardware and software by 10% monthly and be more cautious with the consumables within their department by not exceeding the allocated budget? They will surely understand what they need to do because the objective is relevant for their group.

Therefore, the quality of an objective to be "relevant" refers to setting appropriate objectives for a given individual or team: you need to think if they can truly do something about it or is it irrelevant for the job they perform.

5. Be TIMELY!

No much to discuss about this aspect, since it is probably the easiest to be understood and applied.

Any usable and performable objective must have a clear timeframe of when it should start and/or when it should end. Without having a timeframe specified, it is practically impossible to say if the objective is met or not.

For example, if you just say "we need to raise profit by 500000 units", you will never be able to tell if the objective was achieved or not, one can always say "well, we'll do it next year". Instead, if you say "we need to raise profit by 500000 units within 6 months from now", anyone can see in 6 months if the goal was attained or not. Without a clear, distinct timeframe, no objective is any good.

Rules to Setting Business Goals and Objectives: Why and How to be SMART

Otilia is a young certified professional with expertise in eMarketing and eBusiness, currently working as independent consultant and ePublisher. She developed and teach her own online course in "Principles of eMarketing" and is also a volunteer Economics teacher. You can contact her via her Marketing resources portal at TeaWithEdge.com

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Elements of Culture

Culture includes every part of life. The scope of the term culture to the anthropologist is illustrated by the elements included within the meaning of the term. They are:

1. Material Culture-Technology, Economics

Economics

Material Culture is divided into two parts, technology and economics. Technology includes the techniques used in the creation of material goods; it is the technical know-how possessed by the people of a society. For example, the vast majority of U.S. citizens understand the simple concepts involved in reading gauges, but in many countries of the world this seemingly simple concept is not part of their common culture and is, therefore, a major technical limitation.

Elements of Culture

Economics is the manner in which people employ their capabilities and the resulting benefits. Included in the subject of economics is the production of goods and services, their distribution, consumption, means of exchange, and the income derived from the creation of utilities.

Material culture affects the level of demand, the quality and types of products demanded, and their functional features, as well as the means of production of these goods and their distribution. The marketing implications of the material culture of a country are many. For example, electrical appliances sell in England and France but have few buyers in countries where less than 1 percent of the homes have electricity. Even with electrification, economic characteristics represented by the level and distribution of income may limit the desirability of products. Electric can openers and electric juicers are acceptable in the United States, but in less-affluent countries not only are they unattainable and probably unwanted, they would be a spectacular waste because disposable income could be spent more meaningfully on better houses, clothing or food.

2. Social Institutions- Social organizations, Education, Political Structures

Social Institutions include social organization, education, and political structures that are concerned with the ways in which people relate to one another, organize their activities to live in harmony with one another, teach acceptable behavior to succeeding generations, and govern themselves. The positions of men and women in society, the family, social classes, group behavior, age groups and how societies define decency and civility are interpreted differently within every culture. In cultures where the social organizations result in close-knit family units, for example, it is more effective to aim a promotion campaign at the family unit than at individual family members. Travel advertising in culturally divided Canada pictures a wife alone for the English audience but a man and wife together for the French segments of the population because the French are traditionally more closely bound by family ties.

Education, one of the most important social institutions, affects all aspects of the culture from economic development to consumer behavior. The literacy rate of a country is a potent force in economic development. Numerous studies indicate a direct link between the literacy rate of a country and its ability for rapid economic growth. According to the World Bank no country has been successful economically with less than 50 percent literacy, but when countries have invested in education the economic rewards have been substantial. Literacy has a profound affect on marketing.

It is much easier to communicate with a literate market than to one where the marketer has to depend on symbols and pictures to communicate. Each of the social institutions has an effect on marketing because each influences behavior, values and the overall patterns of life.

3. Humans and the universe-Belief systems

Within this category are religion (belief systems), superstitions, and their related power structures. The impact of religion on the value systems of a society and the effect of value systems on marketing must not be underestimated. Religion impacts people's habits, their outlook on life, the products they buy, the way they buy them, even the newspapers they read.

Acceptance of certain types of food, clothing, and behavior are frequently affected by religion, and such influence can extend to the acceptance or rejection of promotional messages as well. In some countries, focusing too much attention on bodily functions in advertisements would be judged immoral or improper and the products would be rejected. What might seem innocent and acceptable in one culture could be considered too personal or vulgar in another. Such was the case when Saudi Arabian customs officials impounded a shipment of French perfume because the bottle stopper was in the shape of a nude female. Religion is one of the most sensitive elements of a culture. When the marketer has little or no understanding of a religion, it is easy to offend, albeit unintentionally.

Superstition plays a much larger role in a society's belief system in some parts of the world than it does in the United States. What an American might consider as mere superstition can be a critical aspect of a belief system in another culture. For example, in parts of Asia, ghosts, fortune telling, palmistry, head-bump reading, phases of the moon, demons, and soothsayers are all integral parts of certain cultures. Astrologers are routinely called on in Thailand to determine the best location.

4. Aesthetics-Graphic and Plastic arts, Folklore, Music, Drama, and Dance

Closely interwoven with the effect of people and the universe on a culture are its aesthetics, that is, its arts, folklore, music, drama, and dance. Aesthetics are of particular interest to the marketer because of their role in interpreting the symbolic meanings of various methods of artistic expression, color, and standards of beauty in each culture. Customers everywhere respond to images, myths, and metaphors that help them define their personal and national identities and relationships within a context of culture and product benefits. The uniqueness of a culture can be spotted quickly in symbols having distinct meanings.

Without a culturally correct interpretation of a country's aesthetic values, a whole host of marketing problems can arise. Product styling must be aesthetically pleasing to be successful, as must advertisements and package designs. Insensitivity to aesthetic values can offend, create a negative impression, and, in general, render marketing efforts ineffective. Strong symbolic meanings may be overlooked if one is not familiar with a culture's aesthetic values. The Japanese, for example, revere the crane as being very lucky for it is said to live a thousand years, however, the use of the number four should be avoided completely because the word four, shi, is also the Japanese word for death.

5. Language

The importance of understanding the language of a country cannot be overestimated. The successful marketer must achieve expert communication, and this requires a thorough understanding of the language as well as the ability to speak it. Advertising copywriters should be concerned less with obvious differences between languages and more with the idiomatic meanings expressed. It is not sufficient to say you want to translate into Spanish, for instance, because, in Spanish-speaking Latin America the language vocabulary varies widely. Tambo, for example, means a roadside inn in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; in Argentina and Uruguay, it means a dairy farm; and in Chile, a tambo is a brothel. If that gives you a problem, consider communicating with the people of Papua, New Guinea. Some 750 languages, each distinct and mutually unintelligible, are spoken there.

Carelessly translated advertising statements not only lose their intended meaning but can suggest something very different, obscene, offensive, or just plain ridiculous. Language may be one of the most difficult cultural elements to master, but it is the most important to study in an effort to acquire some degree of empathy. Many believe that to appreciate the true meaning of a language it is necessary to live with the language for years. Whether or not this is the case, foreign marketers should never take it for granted that they are communicating effectively in another language. Until a marketer can master the vernacular, the aid of a national within the foreign country should be enlisted; even then, the problem of effective communications may still exist. One authority suggests that we look for a cultural translator, that is, a person who translates not only among languages but also among different ways of thinking and among different cultures.

Credit: Human Resource Management Articles

Elements of Culture

Abey Francis, a full time blogger engaged in the areas of management and technology. Author and Moderator of famous business management blog Management Articles and Business Case Studies

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Different Types of Unemployment

1. Frictional Unemployment:

· This is unemployment caused by people moving in between jobs, e.g. graduates or people changing jobs. There will always be some frictional unemployment.

Economics

· Also high benefits may encourage people to stay on benefits rather than get work this is sometimes known as "voluntary unemployment"

Different Types of Unemployment

2. Structural Unemployment

This occurs due to a mismatch of skills in the labour market it can be caused by:
a) Occupational immobility's. This refers to the difficulties in learning new skills applicable to a new industry, and technological change.

b) geographical Immobility's. This refers to the difficulty in moving regions to get a job.

c) Technological Change. If there is the developments of labour saving technology in some industries there will be a fall in demand for labour.

d) Structural change in the economy. The decline of the coal mines due to a lack of competitiveness meant that many coal miners were unemployed and they may find it more difficult to get jobs in new industries such as computers

3. Classical or Real Wage Unemployment:

This occurs when wages in a competitive labour market are pushed above the equilibrium. This is sometimes known as "disequilibrium" unemployment. Wages will also be sticky downwards. This could be caused by minimum wages, or trades unions

4. Demand Deficient or "Cyclical Unemployment"

This occurs when the economy is below full capacity. E.g. in a recession when AD falls there will be a fall in output, therefore firms will employ less workers because they are producing less goods.

5. Seasonal Unemployment

Unemployment tends to be higher during certain times of the year, either in summer or winter depending on the country. The UK government actually produce a seasonally adjusted unemployment figure to take this into account.

Different Types of Unemployment

More: Macro Economics Essays

Richard Pettinger studied Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. He now works as an economics teacher in Oxford. He enjoys writing essays on Economic and he edits a site - Economic Help and updates a blog on the UK economy http://www.economicshelp.org/blog

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Unleash the Power of Your Menstrual Cycle

On my 12th birthday, at 7:12 pm God gave me the second greatest gift that any girl could ever want. I got my period. My first greatest gift was my boobs and I had already had them; so I was pretty damn happy. I read the book, "Are You There God it's Me, Margaret," twice and identified with the main character's anguish over getting her period. To date, this is still one of my all time favorite books in the world. My mother told me that when my menstrual cycle started that would mean that I had blossomed into a woman capable of giving life and that I should never let a boy come near me. My father gave me a .00 increase in my weekly allowance the day my period started. "You are now a young lady and you need the extra money to buy special girlie things," my daddy said. Ever since my period entered into my life; I have always loved her and she has always been my best friend.

When I was fifteen, she did not come home for two months. I was hoping that she had not run away with a boy-- but unfortunately my instincts were right. After this incident I always tried to control her with synthetic hormones, fertility charts, sexual positions, and a variety of other barriers but she has always had a mind of her own. There were times that I really, really hated her too-- like right before a hot date; a trip to the amusement park, and surprising me while I was wearing my white jeans in my seventh grade home economics class; not to mention the funk that she would put me in alerting me that she was on her way home. Thirty years later I have learned that my menstrual cycle is not simply designed to notify me of whether or not I am ovulating or pregnant; my menstrual cycle holds within it the key to healthy balance in my biological, psychological, and spiritual well-being. As women we are biologically designed to be the emotional givers and nurturers of life. We cook, clean and take care of other people and if it was not for our periods we would never know when to sit down and allow someone else to nurture us and bring us a cup of tea.

Economics

Most theorists, scientist, and researchers believe that the primary purpose of the menstrual cycle is to create and prepare a woman's body for pregnancy. Due to groundbreaking new studies on the impact of hormonal changes on a the female brain and how this affects her behavior, I believe that the menstrual cycle is nature's alarm system that provides women with the emotional, psychological, and cognitive adaptive skills and clues that allow them to function and survive in a male dominated society. A woman's menstrual cycle is nature's psychological and biological navigational map that is designed to guide and instruct her on how to improve her life and maximize her full potential.

Unleash the Power of Your Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle's ebb and flow is not only connected to the waxing and waning of the moon, each week of the cycle is symbolic of the weather cycle of winter, spring, summer and fall as well. Each season of the weather has secrets, rituals and responsibilities that must be utilized to maintain a harmonious flow of nature that stabilizes the environment to maintain and perpetuate the cycle of life. If squirrels do not hide food in the late summer and throughout fall, their species would cease to exist. The same natural wisdom that tells birds when to migrate, bears when to hibernate, and flowers when to blossom is encoded in the menstrual cycle of each woman. Modern women have been conditioned to curse and hate their menstrual cycle as interference in their daily life as opposed to embracing its innate knowledge, wisdom and practical common sense.

A woman's mood, memory, and cognition are affected by her menstrual cycle. The first day of a woman's period is day one of her menstrual cycle. During the two weeks before a woman releases an egg (before ovulating) her moods are dominated by estrogen. Estrogen is an antidepressant hormone that promotes bonding in sexual and non-sexual relationships. Estrogen gives women their secondary sex characteristics, lubricates the vagina and helps it to maintain a thick lining, causes the lining of the uterus to thicken, increases connections in the hippocampus the part of the brain responsible for long term memory, and regulates the liver's production of cholesterol. Testosterone levels also rise within in the first half of the menstrual cycle. Testosterone is responsible for increased mental focus, better mood, increased spatial ability, more energy, muscle and bone growth, more risk-taking, increased orgasms and interest in sex. Testosterone increases your overall sense of well-being and self-esteem. Estrogen and testosterone reach a crescendo together during, spring the second week of the menstrual cycle. During winter and spring, the first two weeks of our menstrual cycle, our brains are more active, rational, focused, and we are better able to hear positive words.

After a woman ovulates her moods are dominated by progesterone which rises in the second half, third week of the menstrual cycle. A woman's sex drive decreases after ovulation. Progesterone neutralizes the effect of estrogen and testosterone. Progesterone causes breast tenderness, sleepiness, fuzzy thinking and increased hunger and thirst. Progesterone lowers anxiety, diminishes anger and is an overall mood stabilizer. After ovulation progesterone causes a woman's body temperature to rise just as the sun increases the heat during the summer. Progesterone is similar to valium; it has a sedative affect that creates a warm, fuzzy, environment to support a growing fetus. In the second half of your menstrual cycle, during late summer and fall, you are more likely to hear and talk about negative emotions. You are also more likely to hear negatively charged words, see yourself as fat, criticize yourself and others and be more intuitive.

Most women tend to be social beings interested in relationships and pleasing others. One of the primary purposes of a woman's menstrual cycle is nature's way of helping her to look inward and take notice of her own needs, desires, strengths, weakness and overall biological and psychological well-being. Do you know the perfect week during the month of your menstrual cycle to travel to unknown destinations, take an exam, end a relationship, clean the garage, be creative, get a pedicure, take a vacation or hang out with your girlfriends? Each week of the menstrual cycle is broken down into a season that correlates with its biological and psychological characteristics. Each season of the menstrual cycle will give suggestions that will help you utilize nature's energy force to maximize your full potential.

Winter 1st Week Release Reflect Week

Like winter, the uterus is barren and empty. The uterus relieves the pain of the past by physically drawing a woman's attention to her body, her emotions and her surroundings. Winter provides the opportunity for renewal.

The first day of your period begins the menstrual cycle. This is the best time of the month to go within and nurture your soul. This is the perfect time for painting, drawing, journaling, meditating, beading, knitting, crocheting, and reading. Be selfish with your time, energy and resources. Don't censure your tears, you need quiet time and space to renew your spirit and become whole again. Connect with yourself and ponder what things, projects or people that are working in your life. Release all things that are not good for you emotionally and psychologically, as natures is doing physically.

This is a good time to work on projects already in progress, and brainstorm new ideas. Watch what you say and how you communicate with others. Your words may be perceived as brutally, icy-cold, brisk, crisp and straight to the point like a freezing winter morning. Your words may be truthful and honest, but without estrogen and testosterone fully restored you lack the hormonal cushion to soften the cold blow of words and emotions that were held back during spring and summer. Spiritually, this time of release, urges you to say things that you would never say so that you can cleanse your psyche and maintain emotional and psychological balance in your life. This is the perfect season of your menstrual cycle to ponder whether or not you should break up with your boyfriend or divorce your husband. You should also ask yourself whether or not you are genuinely happy with your job, school or other endeavors in your life. Wisdom of winter is self-reflection without judgment.

A couple days into winter is a good time to have a heart to heart talk about what is ailing you, just remember to be cautious about how it comes out. What is good about this season of the month is that it connects you to the truth of your heart and soul. Don't be afraid of this truth let it guide you and blossom in spring. Take care not to say something that you may regret in the spring, after the ice melts.

Go to the movies, coffee shop, or book store drink a warm of cup of tea and relax. Aaaah!

Spring 2nd Week Sexy Power Week

Ruled by Estrogen which causes the lining of the uterus to grow and thicken, and promotes growth and development of all parts of the reproduction system and breasts.

In spring time the ground is moist from the melting snow and pouring rain falls. The flowers are blossoming, the grass begins to grow and birds and other creatures are singing mating calls. Mother Nature is extremely busy creating, procreating and dancing. Nature is wet, buoyant, and flourishing.

This is the best week of your menstrual cycle to clean your garage, do laundry, any activity that requires a lot of physical energy. Due to estrogen's affect on the hippocampus, the part of the brain that is responsible for long term memory, this is the perfect time of the month to take standardized tests, written exams, and go on job interviews. Your verbal ability is at sharpest; you will not be at a loss for words during this week. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Rationally, this could be the perfect week to break up with your boyfriend; hormonally this may not be the best week if you are simply attracted to your work colleague. Look at your assessment during the winter season to determine if you are speaking from your soul of libido.

Due to an increase in testosterone this improves your spatial ability. If you are traveling to an unknown destination, this is the best week of the month to go. Your brain is better able to read maps. Thanks to testosterone and estrogen this is your sexy, flirty season. If you are unhappy in your relationship, this is the week that you are more likely to cheat on your mate. If you are in a happy relationship, this is the week that you will feel more attracted to your mate and want to engage in sex. The mucus in your vagina is wet, stretchy and slippery. You body is creating the perfect environment to conceive new life physically, spiritually, and psychologically. The wisdom of spring is, "I can do anything, I am confident, beautiful and successful." This is your season of power.

This is the perfect time to shop for new clothes and shoes, try on new make-up, dye your hair, go on vacation with your mate; visit your in-laws (especially if you don't have a good relationship with them--you are emotionally stable and capable of overlooking negative comments and judgments). If you are going to host a party and you want to look and feel your absolute best plan it during the spring week of your menstrual cycle.

Late spring, early summer is when you are most fertile.

Summer 3rd Week Laid-back Relax Week

Just like the summer months your temperature rises. Progesterone makes the lining of the uterus stronger and spongy, just like the thick, lush, grass that covers the ground in summer. Summer is ruled by progesterone which causes breast tenderness, sleepiness, fuzzy thinking and increased hunger and thirst. Progesterone lowers anxiety, diminishes anger and is an overall mood stabilizer.

Summer is the week of your menstrual cycle when you are tired and sleepy no matter how much sleep you get during the night. If while driving home from work you can barely focus on the road or keep your eyes open, after 8 hours of sleep, it's just your summer season injecting your body with valium, nature's chill pill. Your body just wants to sleep, eat and drink. It's not your imagination that you are extra tired and sleepy, it's the summer heat sedating you, stealing all of your energy and ambition. Go to bed earlier than usual and eat breakfast in the morning. Drink plenty of water, herbal teas, and eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables.

This is the perfect week to get a pedicure and manicure, a body message, and relax on the beach. This is the best season of the month to take an all girl vacation for two primary reasons. Now that you have ovulated there is a decrease in your sex drive, therefore you are not looking at the romantic scene from the beach wishing your boyfriend was there to cuddle with you. Secondly, your sense of taste is heightened and you and your girlfriends can pig out at the buffet bar, when hormonally food could not taste any better. Summer is the perfect time to chill out with your girl friends, drink ice teas, ice cream sundaes and watch chick flicks in between naps. The wisdom of summer is to live in the moment and take time to enjoy life.

The challenge of this week is remaining focused, organized and energetic. Try to get your work clothes together the night before, cook meals for the week in advance and do not schedule any projects or events that require an extra expenditure of energy and time.

Fall 4th Week Wise Wacky Week

The ground is dry and covered with leaves this is an infertile season. Fall can be a beautiful season if your body is balanced in winter, spring and summer with a balance of exercise, nutrients, vitamins and rest. If you have been exercising and eating a well-balanced diet, fall is a breeze. It's like going outside and being prepared for snow, rain or heat all in the same day. You know in advance that the weather is unpredictable due to climatic changes and you are prepared for Mother Nature's myriad of possibilities.

The fourth week, of the menstrual cycle is when women experience premenstrual syndrome. Think of hormones as having many of the same capabilities as the sun. When the sun begins to withdraw in the fall, this causes unpredictable weather and it affects chlorophyll's ability to use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into a tree's food. This causes the leaves to change colors, die and eventually fall from the tree branches. Progesterone's laid-back effect withdraws 2-3 few days before your period, leaving your brain susceptible to stress. This is why you may cry easily, be argumentative, combative and feel depressed. This causes a hormonal imbalance that is responsible for many of the mood swings that some women experience before their periods. If you are crying over greeting cards, commercials, or someone not liking your new lipstick color, you are probably in the fall season.

Due to a decrease in hormones, your chemicals are imbalanced. This is not the best week to break up with your boyfriend, ask your husband for a divorce, kick your children out your home or try to put them up for adoption, or quit your job. Watch what you say because under stable hormonal weather conditions, you may have a totally different perspective or viewpoint. Your chemicals are imbalanced therefore you are more likely to be negative and critical of yourself and suffer from low self- esteem. Remember to tell yourself that your thoughts and negative self-talk are colored by the reduced sun light and changing weather conditions--these are not your true colors. You should not shop for clothes, new makeup or a new hairstyle during the fall season of your menstrual cycle because your estrogen levels are low and you are less likely to be analytical, rational and positive. In addition, you may have retained water and feel achy; this is not the best time to really see how beautiful you will look in a new sexy outfit.

Fall is a very special season because it is a reflection of your overall physical and psychological health. Fall brings you the spiritual lesson of being grounded and rooted in good health and sound mind; otherwise you will be susceptible to high winds blowing you in several directions like falling leaves. The most important lesson of this season is to postpone making any life changing major decisions until the sun returns.

The wisdom of fall brings two lessons: The first lesson is that you should pay close attention to what is missing or out of balance in your life. The second lesson is for women to learn to be patient and loving with them selves.

Herewith listed are some suggestions that will make fall a bearable season: Exercise, stretch, do yoga, or meditate daily. Take vitamin supplements, increase your intake of B6 found in bananas, soybeans, fish, bean, leafy green vegetables, raisins. Increase your intake of magnesium which is found in cashews, almonds, buckwheat. Boost your calcium intake found in milk products, tofu, okra and broccoli. Watch your diet by cutting back on caffeine, sugar, salt, sugar and white flour. Drink herbal teas and plenty of water.

When progesterone subsides this induces menstrual bleeding, a woman's body releases the uterine lining, thus turning fall into winter, the first week of the cycle.

Unleash the Power of Your Menstrual Cycle

Dr. Cassandra George Sturges MA, MA, is a mother of two teenagers, a full-time psychology instructor, advice columnists for Today's Black Woman Magazine, Seminar facilitator, author of "A Woman's Soul on Paper" ISBN: 0595171435; The Illusion of Beauty: Why Women Hate Themselves & Envy Other Women; Men Interviewed Tell: 101 Things Women do to Turn Men Off; Success & Beauty is an Attitude: A Woman's Guide to Academic and Life achievement. Dr. Sturges is the author and publisher of Authentik Beauty Magazine. Email: authentikbeauty@yahoo.com, visit my website at [http://www.authentikbeauty.net]

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Outsourcing: The Pros and Cons

If you own a computer or piece of electronic equipment, chances are you may one day have to make a call to a tech support or customer service department. And if the product in need of repair happens to be manufactured by one of the many companies that bases its IT or customer service support center in another country, your experience with the representative with whom you spoke likely plays a large part in your general opinion of the outsourcing debate.

Outsourcing, also called "offshoring" when referring to overseas workforces, is commonly referred to as the practice of transferring jobs to other countries in an effort to reduce company labor costs. As more people lose their jobs to outsourcing or become increasingly frustrated by having to overcome language barriers to communicate with service employees, the outsourcing trend is failing to meet with general approval in the United States. Reactions to a 2004 poll in King County, WA concerning the economical impact of outsourcing varied, but many respondents felt that long-term outsourcing will generally harm the American economy and workforce.

Economics

"...As a consumer, I feel cheated that a company wants my money but doesn't want to pay my neighbor or bucks an hour to take my calls," one respondent wrote. "'Globalization' is an international term for 'feeling free to get away with cheap labor.'"

Outsourcing: The Pros and Cons

Regardless of public opinion, however, the outsourcing of IT jobs, nay, jobs in general, does not seem to be going the way of the dodo just yet. The CIO 2006 Global Outsourcing Guide, released in July, cites the 2005 Duke University CIBER/Archstone Consulting study, saying that 73% of Fortune 2000 companies cite offshoring as an important part of their overall growth strategy. India is the number one destination for U.S. company outsourcing, and many companies name China as a front runner for future outsourcing possibilities, along with several Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Mexico.

As with most large-scale corporate practices, outsourcing has its benefits and its downfalls. Though outsourcing obviously has positive impacts to the economy and citizens of the countries to which the jobs go, it hs left many Americans disgruntled, jobless, and distrustful of corporations that practice it. A variety of arguments can be made for and against outsourcing :

Pros:

The technique is a money-saver for the corporations who employ it. Specifically, from a business perspective, outsourcing can potentially:Lower personnel costs Gain economies of scale Allow focus on the core competencies of the company Free up space in company buildings for other uses Increase speed of delivery for outsourced activities Increase quality of delivery for outsourced activities Free up management time Reduce cash outflow Increase employee productivity One theory on outsourcing states that outsourcing boosts the U.S. economy by stimulating trade and creating more jobs Outsourcing works both ways - many jobs in America are jobs that have been outsourced to America by foreign companies Some companies claim that bilingual workers in foreign-based call centers will benefit people who live in the U.S but who speak English as a second language

Cons:
Loss of jobs for Americans, especially those in customer service or technical fields Loss of direct control by the company over the management Quality problems, especially since, as stated by the CIO outsourcing guide, American workers outrank overseas workers in terms of the size and availability of the labor force, education level, relevant experience, language skills and turnover rates Slow response time, which can only lead to the frustration or anger of the customer Some customers have problems understanding the accents of overseas service agents Slow resolution times Many companies that outsource either lack internal process policies for specifying work or lack the the ability to effectively manage internal communication Due to a variety of factors, many overseas call centers are unable to produce desired results for the customer A reduction in product sales led by customers who are either frustrated with the company's service or who boycott companies that outsource The problems above usually lead to unhappy customers, employees, and unions

Although the benefits to the companies seem to outweigh the benefits to the American people, low labor costs will likely continue to be the driving factor behind offshoring, and current trends do not show a decrease in the practice. To ensure long-term financial success, companies must properly serve their customers, regardless of whether or not this entails outsourcing work. By focusing on striking a balance between saving money and providing the customer with quality products and services, a company has a better chance of sticking around in the market to serve the same loyal customers in the future.

Outsourcing: The Pros and Cons

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