City of Alexandria, Virginia Budget Fiscal Year 2011 Essay -- Local Go

The City of Alexandria is recognized as one of the best places to live and do business on the east coast. In 2004, the Alexandria City Council adopted a Strategic Plan for 2004 thru 2015 with the vision of maintaining the city’s vibrant, diverse, historic, and unique neighborhoods. Their mission is to maintain financial stability, provide excellent services that are valued by the customers, and engage the entire community as it plans for the future (City of Alexandria, 2010). In fiscal year 2009, the City of Alexandria received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its annual budget. To receive this prestigious award, the city must meet program criteria as a policy document, as an operations guide, as a financial plan, and as a communications device (City of Alexandria, 2010). To maintain the city’s vision, the City of Alexandria continues to conform to program requirements through the city’s Strategic Plan. This paper will discuss in detail the c ity’s long term financial sustainability, by analyzing the city’s legislative guidance, budget outline and overview, revenue fund sources, employee reductions and the Capital Improvement Program overview. The budget does a good job of outlining its overall goals and changes from the previous year. The City of Alexandria’s budget is set by the legislative guidelines (City Charter) required for the City Council to follow. The City Council provides general provisions to the City Manger to prepare and submit the annual budget to the City Council. The City Manager’s responsibility is to submit a general budget, a capital budget, and an explanatory budget message in the form and with the contents provided by the Charter, and the responsibility of the City Council is to es... ...proved%20Budget%20in%20Brief.pdf Capital improvement program overview (2010, May 3). City of Alexandria Virginia. Retrieved December 9, 2010, from http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/FY2011ApprovedBudget-CIP%20Overview.pdf FY 2011 approved budget (2010, May 3). City of Alexandria Virginia. Retrieved December 7, 2010, from http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/FY2011ApprovedBudget-TotalDocument.pdf Legislative references (2010, May 3). City of Alexandria Virginia. Retrieved December 9, 2010, from http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/FY2011ApprovedBudget-LegislativeReferences.pdf Mikesell, J. (2011). Fiscal administration: Analysis and applications for the public sector (8th ed.). Boston Revenues overview (2010, May 3). City of Alexandria Virginia. Retrieved December 9, 2010, from http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/FY2011Approved-TotalRevenuesSection.pdf

Annual Report Summary

As a huge worldwide company. Coca-Cola uses colorful images, where youth with smiling face holding the company's product to show the positive energy it is sharing throughout the world to its investors, the descriptive and powerful wording in its paragraphs under each part of its report, where it provides detailed explanation about its performance in the preceding year to make its message more convincing and understandable for Investors, and lastly the company provides colorful graphic representation of its data to make it easier for an Impatient reader, who prefer to extract key message quickly.Coca-Cola Company illustrates its performance by the colorful and positive images to show the positive energy it is sharing throughout the world to its investors. The youth, with happy faces holding the company's products represent different nationalities showing that Coca-Cola performs worldwide and shares happiness throughout the world. As it stated on the second page of the report, the comp any's key strategy Is to be bonded with Its customers and share experiences related to their product and the images, the company uses, shows visual Image of Its strategy.The creativeness and positive mages are the best attention catcher, because most investors skim over the report and the colorful images would be a key tool to get attention of such investors. It also shows to investors how the company shares happiness with its customers. The images, where illustrated youth, shows that the company has a bright future. These all serves as a key to attract Investors, who always look for positives. However, the Images will not be enough for some investors and they may prefer to go over the report and in this case, the strong verbal techniques will come to play.Coca-Cola sees the descriptive and powerful wording in its paragraphs under each part of its report, where it provides detailed explanation about its performance in the preceding year, to make its message more convincing and under standable for investors. The company provides an information about its performance by using numerical data and simple, but powerful words. Its positive and friendly tone makes Its reader to think about the company positively and the evidences given In each part makes the information the company sharing reliable.The company chooses powerful words and always talks as â€Å"we†, which shows the strong connection between its people. The positive and detailed tone serves as driven tool for investors and most investors look for easy to read and convenient to use information. In addition, the most Investors work with numbers and they risk their money relying on those according to those numbers they can predict the future too. So, the numbers in addition to words serves as an evidence to compel the investors. The company achieves investors' satisfaction by this feature.Lastly, the company provides colorful graphic representation of its data to make it easy for impatient reader, who p refer to extract key messages quickly. In the â€Å"Operating Groups† section of the report, the many uses visual graphs and colorful maps with numbers to show important data about its operations. There is also the images of products with pie diagrams to present the selling performance of each product throughout the world. As a worldwide company, Coca-Cola gives detailed information by using data and graphs about its performance in 2012 in its international market.As we know, most investors do not want to read the report word by word. They prefer to understand and get needed information quickly, in one glance. The graphs, maps and diagrams, the company provides, serves as powerful tool on this. The investor can open needed section and see all data needed by observing graphs and diagrams. This strategy benefits Coca-Cola by catching the attention of impatient investors and drives their attention to the company. They can skim over the data and check the graphs and they will get the information they need in a quickest way.Coca-Cola uses colorful images, where youth with smiling face holding the company's product to show the positive energy it is sharing throughout the world to its investors, the descriptive and powerful wording in its paragraphs under each part of its report, where it provides detailed explanation about its performance in the preceding year to make its message more convincing and understandable for investors, and lastly the company provides colorful graphic representation of its data to make it easier for an impatient reader, who prefer to extract key message quickly.I think Coca-Cola uses the most significant and beneficial strategies to drive the investors' attention to the company. The colorful images, strong wording, and descriptive graphic representation of its performance in its Annual report for 2012 makes it interesting and entertaining for its reader.

Is the term ‘Green Logistics’ an oxymoron Essay

Is the term ‘Green Logistics’ an oxymoron? An oxymoron is a term in which contradictory words appear in conjunction with one another such as bitter sweet or a deafening silence. In an attempt to answer this question we must first define what the term ‘Green Logistics’ means. When the term is broken down into its composite parts ‘logistics’ is simply defined by Murphy and Wood (2011) as the part of the supply chain which plans, implements and controls both the forward and reverse flows of goods, services and information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in an efficient and effective manner. However, the term ‘green’ is much more equivocal when defined in a business sense. In 1996 McDonagh and Prothero proposed that there are several dimensions of ‘Green’ which not only cover ecological, sustainability and conservation issues but also political, corporate social responsibility, fair trade and equali ty matters. Since these topics are very broad it is hard to define ‘Green’ in a logistics sense. As a result of this uncertainty over the definition of ‘green’, it is helpful to look at the definition of ‘Green’ on a consumer product level. Ottman (2006, p.24), suggested that while all products inevitably have some effect on the environment, ‘Green’ products are those which aim to minimise this impact by conserving energy and resources and limiting pollution and waste. This definition builds on Reinhardt’s (1998, p.46) view that a ‘Green’ business â€Å"creates products that provide greater environmental benefits, or that impose smaller environmental costs, than similar products†. When we combine these definitions we can view ‘Green Logistics’ as the activities which facilitate the forward and reverse flows of goods, services and information through a supply chain in a way which is not only efficient and effective in achieving organisational goals but also aims to minimise the environmental impact and promote sustainability. When we define and consider ‘Green Logistics’ this way, I believe the term is not an oxymoron and when aligned with an appropriate higher level corporate strategy can actually a major competitive advantage for organisations who are able to achieve it. The body of this essay will provide practical examples of organisations who are successfully using the concepts of ‘Green  Logistics’ to not only minimise environmental impacts but also create and maintain a competitive advantage against competition. One concept which is becoming more prominent in ‘Green Logistic’ networks is the  practice of reverse logistics. Reverse logistics can be simply defined as goods flowing backwards through the supply chain from the consumer to the producers and suppliers. Tompkins (2010) provides multiple ‘Green’ benefits which arise from practicing reverse logistics such as increased sustainability throughout the supply chain and reduced waste product s, as well as producing an increased level of customer service through after-sales support. An example of reverse logistics in practice is the South Australian Government’s policy of paying 10 cents for every glass, plastic and tin container returned to collection depots. By doing this the Government is able to facilitate the recycling of materials which ultimately has a positive benefit on the environment. This provides a clear example of how logistics processes can be ‘Green’ by promoting greater environmental benefit than similar products existing in different logistics chains. An Australian Associated Press article revealed that in 2010, 80 percent or 49,800 tonnes of all containers are recycled in Australia which reveals both obvious environment and financial benefits arising from the practice of green logistics. Another common and relatively simple way for organisations to ‘Green’ their logistics processes while also reducing financial costs is to redesign their logistics chains with increased considerations for route optimisation and collaboration throughout the supply chain. Blanco and Cotrill (2013) make apparent one example of this through a case study of the agricultural cooperative Ocean Spray (based in New Jersey with a distribution centre in Florida) and competitor Tropicana who is based in Florida with a distribution centre in New Jersey. Tropicana’s third party logistics provider approached Ocean Spray and suggested that instead of Ocean Spray delivering to their distribution centre via road, they make use of Tropicana’s rail links between the two cities and utilise the empty train carriages returning from New Jersey to deliver to their distribution centre in Florida. This agreement allowed Ocean Spray to lower both their logistics  costs and environmen tal emissions and saved Tropicana the cost and emissions associated with returning empty rail carriages to Florida. Apart from the physical movement of goods, a firm’s logistics operations also incorporates warehousing strategies. The storage of goods may be overlooked when considering the environmental impacts of logistics chains. Figure 8.1 taken from McKinnon et al. (2013) shows the increasing usage of warehousing and its associated impacts. McKinnon et al. (2013) also proposed three ways in which firms can reduce the environmental impact of warehousing practices. Firstly firms should improve the energy efficiency of the lighting  and particularly heating methods used in warehouses (as shown in figure 8.4. McKinnon, 2013). Secondly, firms can harness green energy to generate energy from low carbon emitting or renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and biomass. Finally, and most importantly, firms should design sustainability into their warehouses, meaning that the buildings not only produce green energy more efficiently but also use less of it. If an organisation is successful in doing this it is able to not only fulfill the logistical goals of operating efficiently and effectively but also minimise impacts on the environment. While reverse logistics, route optimisation and energy efficient warehousing strategies are only a small example of ‘Green Logistic’ practices, which also include environmental packaging considerations, paperless order processing and improvements in vehicle energy efficiency, these practices may be ineffective in achieving ‘Green’ outcomes unless the corporate strategies of the organisation also align. Reinhardt (1998) suggests that for an organisation to establish environmentally friendly practices as a competitive advantage it must first consider whether this strategy is viable in the industry in which it operates. If a firm does consider environmental product differentiation an option it must then ensure customers are willing to pay for environmental quality, establish and convey the environmental benefits of its product and finally these benefits must be defendable against imitation competition. Only then can an organisation enjoy the benefits of a growing green trend in consumption (Peattie, 2010). If this is strategy alignment is adopted and maintained by an organisation, then ‘Green Logistic’ practices can provide substantial competitive advantages for the organisation while reducing impacts on the environment. Modern organisations can no longer afford to view ‘Green Logistics’ as an oxymoron and perhaps Henry Ford’s (1903) famous oxymoron â€Å"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business† may be more applicable. References: Blanco, E & Cotrill, K, 2013, ‘Delivering on the promise of green logistics’, MITSloan Management Review, December 2013. McDonagh, P & Prothero, A, 1996, Green management: A reader, The Dryden Press, London. McKinnon, A. Browne, M. Whiteing, A. 2012, Green logistics: Improving the environmental sustainability of logistics, Kogan Page, London. Murphy Jr PR & Wood, DF 2011, Contemporary Logistics: International Edition, 10th edn, Pearson, Boston. Ottman, J, 1997, Green marketing: Opportunity for innovation, TC / Contemporary Books, Lincolnwood. Peattie, K, ‘Green consumption: Behaviour and norms’, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Vol. 35, Issue 1, pp. 195-228. Reinhardt, F.L. 1998, â€Å"Environmental product differentiation: Implications for corporate strategy†, California management review, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 43-73. Tompkins, J, 2010, ‘Reverse logistics is not the reverse of logistics’, Material Handling and Logistics, November 2010. ‘Big jump in container recycling in SA’, AAP General News Wire, July 22, 2010.

Roots of Education

Have you ever thought of why such quotes becomes so special and popular? If one tries to notice, it can easily be seen that famous quotes are pithy that are capable of grabbing the interests of the readers. While writing a personal essay it is useful to link a thesis statement with a famous quote. Including one such quote that resembles your thesis sentence intrigues a writer to read the whole content. The other thing is, using quotes can make your thesis statement clear and adds value to it. A quote cannot be used as a thesis sentence instead; an individual should try to write meaningful concise sentences that can work as quotes. An original thesis statement leads towards many ideas that encompasses to other distinctive, but creative ideas. For example, here we are including the famous quote of Winston Churchill, who have said that â€Å"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm† Now, here we can see that it sets up an argument that is curt, but interesting, we can use following ideas that can work as a thesis statement and links with the quote too: -A failure can be overcome -Learn from your failure -Why everybody fails in a life time Now, these ideas can act as body paragraphs arguments, which can be followed up by thesis statement. It requires a brief sentence which can engage the sentences and can help making a quality thesis statement. One can easily find good quotes of the famous philosophers. It would help in developing a unique, interactive and informative thesis sentence writing to which a body can be easily constructed. A few are mentioned here that can be linked easily. â€Å"Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work† by Bette Davis â€Å"If you can find humour in anything, even poverty, you can survive it† by Bill Cosby

Clinical Supervision Reflection and Action Plan Essay

Clinical Supervision Reflection and Action Plan - Essay Example Other fields have also embraced the concept of clinical supervision with a variation of the same though under a different name altogether. This paper is going to focus on the various aspects of clinical supervision. It will begin with a brief background of the concept. A definition of the concept will be provided for purposes of understanding what clinical supervision is all about. It will then look at what happens in clinical supervision including the various stages involved. It will then provide a reflection of the good things that I encountered during clinical supervision before also looking at the bad things in clinical supervision. The paper will then look at some of the key issues in clinical supervision outlining their importance and how to improve on them in the future. This will then be followed by a discussion of some of the challenges that I faced and the mechanisms that I put in place to overcome them. The paper will conclude explaining why clinical supervision is important in nursing and the difference that it makes in the entire profession. Clinical supervision There has been a longstanding assumption in the medical field that nurses and midwives for that matter â€Å"learn on the Job† but in true sense there have been very few mechanisms that are put in place to ensure this aspect happens (Bryant, 2010, p. 36 ). Clinical supervision is an aspect that was introduced way back in the early 1990’s to describe a systematic structure for professional development for nurses and midwives. This concept was seen as a means of bringing together the aspect of reflection, development, individual responsibility and accountability within a framework that offers support and promotes safe practices (Gordon, 2000, p. 27). The overall intention of introducing this concept is to be able to promote safe practice and help in identifying the wilful bad practices that are exemplified nurses at the workplace and how these can be avoided in future operations (Bryant, 2010, p. 37 ). The NMC viewed the practices by nurses as individual responsibility an d therefore in 1993 they put forward a code that stated â€Å"As a professional you are personally accountable for actions and omissions in your practice and must always be able to justify your decisions.† This showed the aspect of individual responsibility and accountability (NMC, 2008). The council later on realized the importance of clinical supervision as being essential to accountable nursing practice and therefore endorsed its adoption in every branch of nursing. However the implementation of this aspect was essentially left to the practitioners in the individualized or local situations (Jeremy & Suresh, 2007, p. 412). The council still supports the aspect of clinical supervision but believes that it is better developed at local levels in line with the local needs of the population (Bryant, 2010, p. 39 ). Clinical supervision is therefore described as â€Å"regular protected time for facilitated, in-depth reflection on clinical practice aimed to enable the supervisee t o achieve, sustain and creatively develop a high quality of practice through the means of focused support and development.† (NCNM, 2008, p. 2) Brunero & Stein-Parbury (2008, p. 87) define clinical supervision as â€Å" a process of professional support and learning in which nurses are assisted in developing their practice through regular discussion time with experienced and knowledgeable colleagues.† It is evident from this that the principle of discussion is used in clinical supervision. Discussion or reflection is used to assist the nurse’s figure out what happened in a given situation and what

ASTRONAUTICS & SPACE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

ASTRONAUTICS & SPACE - Essay Example The purpose of ISS includes functions like investigating affect of weightlessness on biological species, including crew members, over a period. In addition it will also study crystal growth in space. (Oberg, 2005). NASA had originally scheduled participating in ISS program until 2015, but with loss of STS-107, President Bush declared that the shuttle would be retired by 2010, which meant no support service for ISS. Hence, its plans for last module launch, as well as, de-orbiting procedures are not yet clear.(Catchpole: The international Space Station) These rovers have greater mobility than 1997 pathfinders. While each rover can trek up-to 100 meters, across the red surface on one Martian day, it could carry sophisticated instruments that can help in discovery of water on Mars. The landing procedure for both rovers and pathfinders are almost identical. (Mars Exploration Rovers). However, the landed portion of rovers has different design that allows carrying all instruments with rover. Pathfinders carried instruments on Lander and a small sojourner rover. Rovers are able to take color and infra-red images with 360 degree visibility. Possibility of presence of water on Martian surface has been the major discovery of the Mars Exploration Rover mission.(Mars Rovers Most Amazing Discoveries) Catchpole John, â€Å"The international space station: building for the future†, book,: Retrieved on 8th Dec 2010 from:

Bussiness law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bussiness law - Assignment Example Most of the firms have their clearly defined S.O.Ps, legal sanctions and legal domains looking into the often occurring disputes. This paper looks into the broad lined disputes that often occur and the example of how two companies in U.A.E undertook the dispute and conflicts at hand. The paper also looks into the generic code of conduct that is implied towards the business sectors with regard to the legal disputes. The DIFC courts are in place and actively working towards the resolution of the problems in the business sector for quite a while now. They are one of the most authentic and established entity designed for the purpose of looking into the matters and resolving them according to the need and professional requirements (Gaeta, 2012, p 45). The DIFC courts incorporate English for the purpose of interaction and conversation exchange with one another. The multi nationals and the Western companies engaged in the business activities undertake such processes and take assistance of the DIFC courts in preference over the local courts whenever some dispute takes place. DIFC comes in combination and consonance with the Al-Tamimi group that specializes in the working of the finding the legal grounds towards the resolution of problems that may occur at different phases on the project and activities so undertaken (out-law, 2012). This was of the generic and broad line declaration of the methods by which the disputes can be resolved. Owing to the overall success and influence of the recognition and reconciliation entity, United Arab Emirates has engaged itself in the same mechanism and has taken the ownership and membership which allows it practicing the same principles in the spirit of the professional work. U.A.E government, realizing the importance of it signed it and became an official signatory of it towards 2005 and 2006 and later on made it a general practicing model towards the business activities and disputes resolution. In such scenarios the