Project closurecompleted projects vs. terminated projects Assignment

Project closurecompleted projects vs. terminated projects - Assignment Example Closing. The project work has been completed within schedule, budget and performance parameters identified during the planning phase and the project has met its end objectives. This is also unknown as Natural Closure. A project may end prematurely because either it has not met its end objectives or is expected to fail. Another reason for closing the project could be that it is no longer aligned with corporate strategy. Termination by Extinction. The project ends prematurely because it did not meet its end objectives or was expected to fail. Another special case is referred to as â€Å"termination by murder† where the project ends suddenly due to political or accidental reasons. Termination by Integration. This is the most common and most complex method of dealing with successful projects. In this case, the output and resources of the project are distributed among the existing units of the parent organization. Termination by Starvation. This is termination of the project through budget decrements. There may be several reasons from perspective of senior management, political implications to obsolescence of the project output that may cause reduction in project budget. Procedure for closing a terminated project is similar to that of closing a successful project as it follows the same administrative closure procedure and contract closure procedure. Archibald (2003) suggest checklists as a preferred tool for terminating the project. Kerzner and Thamhain (1986) advocated listing of activities for contract administration, marketing and finance management to review process for project closing. Below is a sample check list proposed by Meredith and Mantel (1995) for terminating a project. Project closure refers to completion of all the activities across the project. This involves the procedures for verifying and documenting the project deliverables. The

Duke Ellington Essay Example for Free

Duke Ellington Essay One of the greatest jazz bandleaders, arrangers, recording artist, and composers of all time is none other than Duke Ellington. Born on April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C., Ellington was destined for musical talent. His family was musically talented; both of his parents could play piano even though neither could read music. Ellington did not grow up in a poor family; and he had educational advantages that many black musicians in his time didn’t have. He received the nickname â€Å"Duke† from a fellow classmate, because of his elegant way of dressing and his regal behavior. While in school elementary school, he received piano lessons, and by the time he reached high school, he was already performing locally. He was also a fairly good painter and won a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. But his art career was overshadowed by his love for music. Music won his heart, so art wasn’t in the picture. At the age of 17, he wrote his first song, â€Å"The Soda Fountain Rag†, which was his debut. In 1919, Ellington’s son Mercer was born. With encouragement from Fats Waller, Duke moved to New York with his newly formed group, The Washingtonians. He later formed the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which by 1930 had grown to include 12 musicians. During these early years in New York, Ellington developed skills that he would carry throughout his entire career. He evolved from band member to leader and performed in a variety of clubs. His writing and arranging skills also evolved and became more defined. These new skills would be his unique compositional style. Some of Ellington’s new influences were stride piano players like Willie â€Å"The Lion† Smith and James P. Johnson and ragtime piano players. One of the best career moves made by Ellington was his booking at The Cotton Club in Harlem, New York. His band was established house performers there from 1927 to 1932. Ellington’s influence on the jazz community was definite from that point on. Radio broadcasts from the club made Ellington famous across America and also gave him the financial security to assemble a top notch band that he could write music specifically for. Musicians tended to stay with the band for long periods of time. For example, saxophone player Harry Carney would remain with Duke nonstop from 1927 to Ellingtons death in 1974. In 1928 clarinetist Barney Bigard left King Oliver and joined the band. Ellington and Bigard would later co-write one of the orchestras signature pieces Mood Indigo in 1930. In 1929 Bubber Miley, was fired from the band because of his alcoholism and replaced with Cootie Williams. Ellington also appeared in his first film Black and Tan later that year. The Duke Ellington Orchestra left the Cotton Club in 1931 (although he would return on an occasional basis throughout the rest of the Thirties) and toured the U.S. and Europe. During Duke Ellington’s tenure at the Cotton Club, he had gone from an aspiring New York bandleader to a leading figure in the world of jazz. He had become well known far beyond New York. Along with the Cotton Club reviews, he had made many records, radio broadcasts, special performances, and even film appearances. He officially had a national following, and he needed to create new music that would address both his national and international audiences. Ellington was set to accomplish new things in the world of jazz. Ellington’s band was ahead of their time style wise, and they could really swing. Ellingtons first great achievements came in the three-minute song form, and he later wrote music for all kinds of settings: the ballroom, the comedy stage, the nightclub, the movie house, the theater, the concert hall, and the cathedral. Ellington’s different music styles became more pronounced and recognizable.His first style was his jungle style, which included much growling on the instruments. This style was built around the raucous playing of Bubber Miley, Cootie Williams, and Tricky Sam Nanton. The song East St. Louis Toodle-Oo is a good example of this style of playing. The floor shows were elaborately designed around the music the band played. His next style was his mood style, is known for his exquisitely beautiful ballads played by saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Some of his most known mood style selections are â€Å"Solitude†, â€Å"Prelude to a Kiss†, and â€Å"Lotus B lossom†. Another style is his concerto style, in which he featured Cootie Williams, Jimmy Hamilton, and Barney Bigard. By the early 1940s, Ellington experimented with extended composition and his orchestra toured the US and Europe extensively. In 1943, Ellington inaugurated a series of annual concerts at Carnegie Hall with the premiere of Black, Brown, and Beige. He continued to expand the scope of his compositions and activities as a bandleader throughout his life. His foreign tours became increasingly frequent and successful; his travel experiences served as the inspiration for his many works about people, places and trains. He wrote nearly two thousand compositions before his death in 1974. His fourth style was his standard style, where he approached his arrangements in the same manner as the other big bands. He also had a dance style that kind of coincided with his jungle style. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the Ellington Orchestra was able to make the change from the Hot Jazz of the 1920s to the Swing music of the 1930s. The song It Dont Mean a Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing) even came to define the era. This ability to adapt and grow with the times kept the Ellington Orchestra a major force in Jazz up until Dukes death in the 1970s. Throughout the Forties and Fifties Ellingtons fame and influence continued to grow. The band continued to produce Jazz standards like Take the A Train, Perdido, The C Jam Blues and Satin Doll. In the 1960s Duke wrote several religious pieces, and composed The Far East Suite. He also collaborated with a very diverse group of musicians whose styles spanned the history of Jazz. He played in a trio with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, sat in with both the Louis Armstrong All-Stars and the John Coltrane Quartet, and he had a double big-band date with Count Basie. Duke Ellington influenced millions of people both around the world and at home. He gave American music its own sound for the first time. In his fifty year career, he played over 20,000 performances in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East as well as Asia. The extent of Ellingtons innovations helped to redefine the various forms in which he worked. Duke Ellington was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. He was later awarded several other prizes, along with 13 Grammys, the Pulitzer Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, and the Legion of Honor by France in 1973, the highest civilian honors in each country. Simply put, Ellington transcends boundaries and fills the world with a treasure trove of music that renews itself through every generation of fans and music-lovers. His legacy continues to live on and will endure for generations to come. His son Mercer Ellington took over his band after his death, and his grandson Paul Ellington is over the Ellington Estate now. The Ellington Fund helps to fund the Ellington School of Arts where students are inspired to achieve their highest musical capabilities. Duke Ellington is truly a classic indeed. CITED PAGE www.dukeellington.com\ellington www.pbs.org www.redhotjazz.com\duke.html www.schirmer.com The Biographical Dictionary of African Americans

Product Placement In Movies Media Essay

Product Placement In Movies Media Essay Many people who saw Home alone remember the scene in the beginning where the McAllister family sits around the table having dinner. Fuller, go easy on the Pepsi, Kevins aunt said to her son. But this phrase is much more than just a warning against drinking too much soda. These products are not appearing by accident. In a quest to cut the commercial clutter and declining television ratings, marketers have tried their hand at more subtle or intrusive ways of displaying their products in big-screen movies through what is known as product placement. Product placement, also called embedded marketing, is defined by the European Union as any form of audiovisual commercial communication consisting of the inclusion of or reference to a product, a service or the trade mark thereof so that is featured within a programme  [1]  . It is a form of advertising that is used in movies and TV shows where branded products are placed in a movie setting. It usually aims to be inconspicuous and be part of the scene so that the audience will see a product in the natural environment. Product placement practices also exist in music videos, radio programs, video games, plays, novels etc. Placing branded products in entertainment media like movies is not a new developed concept. There is no doubt that the consumer is more likely to accept product placement in movies compared to traditional advertisements. Product placement can add credibility to a movie. It is easier to identify with a story or with a movie character when they used products familiar to everyday life. Product placement is a substitute for the traditional TV advertising. It has been used since the invention of the small screen. Product placement or brand placement appeared first in motion pictures as early as the late 1940s and early 1950s. One example was in 1948 in the movie Mildred Pierce where an actor drank Jack Daniels whinsky. Since Reeses Pieces appeared in the movie E.T. The Extraterrestrial, over 20 years ago, product placement has developed and evolved significantly. After the film realesed, Hersey claimed a 65% increase in sales of Reeses Pieces candy. This success generate an intensified interest in product placement area which has led to the establishement of agencies that specialize in product placement. Some of the company that provides product placement servicies are: Creative Film Production, Creative Artist, Krown Enterteinment, Norm Marshall Associates, Robert Kovologgs Associated Film Promotions, Unique Product Placement, Creative Entertainment Servicies.  [ 2]  This agencies examine film scripts, search for appropriate settings in movies where their clients products can be placed and then make suggestions to the film makers. The product placement in a movie can be as simple as a product being used in one scene (e.g. when a character uses a particular brand of beer or soft drink), a brand being mentioned by a character in the story, or a logo visible in the background of a frame (e.g. when a brands logo is visible on a billboard or the side of a truck). At the other extreme, a product placement can be an integral part of the movie. In the movie Youve got mail, AOL Internet service was an essential part of the movie and was connected to the plot throughout the entire movie. The multifaceted nature of product placement makes it an interesting, complex, marketing practice. In any James Bond movies, the agent has always been drinking martini, driving luxuries cars, wearing the fanciest suits and the most expensive watches. James Bond movies are famous for being the ones with the biggest amount of product placement. They include mostly upmarket range products. CinemaScore To determine how much a marketer should pay a movie producer for a product placement, Ed Mintz developed a sistem called CinemaScore which is similar to the Nielsen ratings in television advertising. CinemaScore is the industry lider in measuring movie appeal among theatre audiences. For over 34 years, CinemaScore has been polling moviegoers at major movie releases on opening night to collect demographic information and calculate a distinctive CinemaScore grade. A movies overall CinemaScore can range from A+ to F. For example, using the CinemaScore formula, they calculated a $28,130 placement fee for the placement of Coke in Crocodile Dundee II based on projected $100,000 million revenues at the box office and recall data obtain from exit surveys. Types of product placement strategies Product placement strategies can be categorized by the mode of presentation (the senses activated by the stimulus) into three modes: visual only (VIS), audio only (AUD) and combined audio-visual (AV). The first mode (VIS) involves showing a product, logo, billboard or some other visual brand identifier without any relevant message or sounds on the audio track which draw attention to the product (e.g. Danny DeVito drinking Coors Light with the label clearly exposed to the audience in Twins). The second mode involves the mention of a brand name or a character conveying brand-related messages in audio form, without showing the product on the screen (e.g. Martin Sheen yelling to a waitress Get this kid a Molson Light in Wall Street). The third mode (AV) involves showing a brand and at the same time mentioning the brand name or conveying a brand-relevant message in audio form (e.g. the main character in Waynes World saying the choice of a new generation before taking a sip from a can of Pepsi). Placements in any of the three modes may be subtle or prominent. Prominent placements are those in which the product (or other band identifier) is made highly visible by virtue of size and/or position on the screen or its centrality to the action in the scene. Subtle placements are those in which the brand is not shown prominently (e.g. small in size, a background pop outside of the main field of visual focus, lost in an array of multiple products or objects, low time of exposure). Mode and prominence are relevant to the ease with which a product can be incorporated into a movie, and therefore the cost to the marketer of reaching an audience in this way. Of the three modes, VIS is the most frequently used, but it runs the risk that viewers will not attend to or recall the products presence in the scene in the absence of audio reinforcement. AV overcome this problem, but it is the most expensive and difficult mode to accommodate. Similarly, subtle placement which can be incorporated into a scene as background and do not require a plausible basis for the overt integration of the product into the action are relatively less costly than prominent depictions. A worldwide trend in advertising, product placement, is a vehicle for everything from foodstuffs to electronics or automobiles. So, how does it work exactly? Its actually pretty simple. Basically, there are three ways product placement can occur: it simply happens it is arranged and a certain amount of the product serves as compensation it is arranged and there is financial compensation Sometimes product placement just happens. A set dresser, producer, director or even an actor might come across something he thinks will enhance the project. Usually, this has to do with boosting the level of credibility or realism of the story being told. One exemple can be found in the surprising use of a can of RAID- an ant killer made by the SC Johnson company- in an episode of the popular HBO series The Sopranos. According to an article in USA Today, Therese Van Ryne, a spokeswoman for the SC Johnson, said that the company was not approached about the use of their product. The most common type of deal is a simple exchange of the product for the placement. Let supposing that someone of the crew knows someone who works for Honest Tea. The movie people approach the Honest Tea folks with a proposal and the deal is made; in exchange of the airtime, the cast and crew are provided with an ample supply of Honest Tea drinks at work. Sometimes a gift of the product is not an appropriate form of compensation, so money powers the deal. Why do they use product placement? To achieve prominent audience exposure, visibility, attention and interest To increase brand awareness To increase consumer memory and recall of the brand/product To create instant recognition of the product/brand in the media vehicle and at the point of purchase To bring desired change in consumers attitudes or overall evaluation of the brand To bring a change in the audiences purchase behaviors Product placement can have a significant effect on message receptivity. The sponsor of product placements is likely to gain goodwill by associating itself with a popular program targeted to a specific audience. The more successful the program, the longer shelf life of the product placement. Nielsen Media Research has shown that product placement in television shows can raise brand awareness by 20%.  [3]  Product placements can have a significant effect on recall. For example, memory improves when visual/auditory modality and plot connection are congruent. Verbal and visual brand placements are better recall than placements having one or the other. To increase brand memory, brands should be prominently placed and be accompanied by an actor in films or television programs. Brand evaluations can become more positive when the placement is more editorial instead of commercial and when non-users of the brand are reached. Behavior and behavioral intentions are influenced best when the audience has positive evaluations of brand placement, when placements are presented in editorial formats, and when placements are repeated.  [4]   Conclusion Product placement is gaining more and more popularity and at the same time has turned into a huge, profitable business for both the broadcasting companies and the producers. In the past decade product placement has become a very sophisticated business. Today, every movie contains product placement. While in the James Bond-Movies 007 drinks Martini, Will Smith drives a Porsche 911 Turbo in Bad Boys. There could be mentioned thousands of examples like this I think product placement is an innovative way to advertise a product, Ray said. When you show the usefulness of your product by showing how it makes other peoples lives easier, youve created an advertisement that is invaluable. (Neuroscience major Andrew Ray) Douglas McKinley, an advertising professor at BYU, sees product placement as a necessary monetary help for a film industry. We have all come to accept product placement as a legitimate way to help fund the movie, McKinley said. (Product placement can be) good if the product is written into the script so that it looks like part of the landscape. The next time you watch a movie try to keep an eye out for products or brand-names you recognize. It is highly likely that you will see one of the major soft drink companies represented. Once you spotted something, see how many other scenes include that product. You will start to see a trend. How, you will wonder, can the actor hold the Coke just the right way every time so that the logo is perfectly visible?

Saturday Night and Rome,the Open City :: essays research papers

Italian neo realist cinema and British social realist cinema have some similarities in some ways. First of all we may say both of them breaks through dimensions for the individuals of their culture. They try to give tensions about the war. Both gives us a perspective to look at the cinema as a natural eye. The important thing is to able to look and see as Berger’s said. (John Berger _ Ways of Seeing) So I will try to give a brief story of two films from these fields. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Saturday night and Sunday morning †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rome Open City The most significant film of the 1960s British new wave in cinema, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was in many ways the most influential of the group, with its powerful anti-establishment stance, unblushing treatment of sex and working class protagonist: Arthur Seaton was something new in British cinema. While other films of the period have dated somewhat, most of Reisz’s ground-breaking film looks as fresh and powerful as ever, and it's valid to observe just how good Albert Finney was in the role of Seaton†¦ Set in the gray industrial town of Nottingham, Alan Sillitoe's novel SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING, with all of its black realism, is successfully adapted to the screen with a powerful performance by Albert Finney in his first starring role. Director Karel Reisz draws on his work in documentaries to give the film a sharp eye for the look and feel of northern England. Arthur Seaton (Albert Finney) is a young man trapped in a mindless factory job, intrinsically r ebelling, but without any focus to his anger. He spends his Saturday nights getting drunk and his Sunday mornings fishing. His affair with a married neighbor, Brenda (Rachel Roberts), seems to please him only for its risky illicitness. Their love scenes are controversial for the palpable expression of real sexual pleasure that Roberts shows in the role of an ordinary English housewife, and because of the fact that she receives, from a handsome younger man, the sexual fulfillment that her husband can not provide. Arthur's best friend Bert (Norman Rossington) shares Arthur's resentment but avoids his self destructive ways. Arthur gets into increasing trouble when he impregnates Brenda (Rachel Roberts), the neglected wife of Arthur's mild-mannered co-worker Jack (Bryan Pringle). Abortions were illegal at the time, although often hinted at in British films. In the story that follows, we see this insolent rebel bluster his way through some of the formative experiences of his young adulthood.

Barilla’s manufacturing Essay

Manufacturing: Barilla has 25 plants, including large flour mills, pasta plants, and fresh bread, as well as plants producing specialty products. Raw materials, in the manufacturing process, were transformed to packaged pasta on fully-automated 120 meter long production lines. The plants were specialized by the type of pasta they would produce, with the primary distinction based on the composition of the pasta, e.g. dry or fresh pasta, pasta with or without eggs and spinach. Also, even within the same family of pasta products, individual products were assigned to plants based on the size and shape of the pasta. The manufacturing process at Barilla was very precise, and required tight heat and humidity specifications in the pasta dry process, so as to keep the changeover cost low and quality high. Distribution: Barilla divided its products into â€Å"dry† and â€Å"fresh† product categories and maintained a different distribution system for the two categories. The dry products category includes dry pasta and longer shelf-life bakery products, whereas, the fresh products category includes fresh pasta products (with 21-day shelf life) and fresh bread (with one-day shelf life). Barilla had two central distribution centers (CDC) to which the products shipped from the plants. The fresh products were then purchased from these CDC’s by independent agents who then channeled the products through 70 regional warehouses located throughout Italy. From the CDC’s approximately 65% of the dry products went to the supermarkets, 70% of these (65% of dry products) went to super market chains, whereas, the remaining 30% went to independent super markets. The remaining 35% of dry products were distributed from the CDC’s to Barilla’s internally owned regional warehouses, which then distributed them to small  independent shops – Signora Maria Shops. Dry products destined for supermarket chains were distributed from the CDC to the chain’s own distribution organization, known as Grande Distribuzione (GD). While those destined for independent supermarkets were distributed from the CDC to a distributor known as Distribuzione Organizzata (DO), which acted as a centralized buying organization for a large number of independent supermarkets. The CDCs held a month’s inventory for dry products, and 3 days for fresh products. The GD, DO and the internally owned regional warehouses (for Signora Maria shops) held a two-week supply for Barilla’s dry products. The following figure (Figure 1) shows an illustration of Barilla’s distribution system for dry products: Figure 1: Barillas Distribution Network for Dry Products What is the problem faced by Barilla? What do you think are the factors causing this problem? Barilla’s pasta supply chain suffers from classic bullwhip-effect problem. It has been experiencing large amounts of variability in demand resulting in operational inefficiency and increased manufacturing, inventory, and distribution costs. The underlying factors of the fluctuating demand include Barilla’s sales strategy relying heavily on the use of promotions in the form of price, transportation and volume discounts; sales representatives being rewarded based on the amount of product sold to distributors, which led to sales representatives trying to push product to the distributors during promotions, decreasing the ability to accurately forecast sales; the distributors having full control over their orders leading to gaming behaviors; and the lack of a computer forecasting system at the distributor level. Describe the solution proposed by Brando Vitali. Why do you think this would help alleviate the problem? Brando Vitali suggested the implementation of a Just-In-Time Distribution  (JITD) strategy, which is essentially the Vendor Management Inventory (VMI) strategy. Barilla will be in charge of the channel between the CDCs and the distributor and decide on the timing and size of shipments to its distributors. Thus, unlike traditional supply chains in which distributors place orders and manufacturers try to satisfy these orders as much as possible, in JITD Barillas own logistics organization would specify the appropriate delivery quantities – those that will more effectively meet the end customer’s needs yet would also more evenly distribute the workload on Barilla’s manufacturing and logistics system. If implemented, Barilla can make better delivery decisions and improve its demand forecasts, be more effective in meeting end-customers needs, and more evenly distribute the workload on its manufacturing and logistics systems. Also, the inventory levels at CDCs will a lso be reduced. What conflicts or barriers internal to Barilla does the JITD program create? What causes these conflicts? How should Giorgio Maggiali deal with these internal conflicts? The main resistance internal to Barilla was from the sales and marketing functions, which Barilla, until now, has relied upon for its success. The sales representatives feared reduction in both their responsibilities and bonuses due to a flatted sales level. The marketing people also feared a reduction in responsibilities as trade promotions would be difficult to run with a JITD strategy. There were also concerns about inability to adjust shipments quickly to stock outs, lack of infrastructure to handle JITD, vague cost benefits, and increased competitor shelf space at distributors. I think Maggiali should demonstrate that JITD benefits not just Barilla, but also the distributors. He should run experiments at one or more distributor sites and prove his case. Also, Maggiali should encourage the marketing and sales people to look at the overall benefit to the supply chain. By getting the top management involved, by effectively advocating the benefits for the entire supply chain, and by removing the obstacles of sales incentives and reduced responsibility, Maggiali can effectively deal with this problem and get JITD implemented. How do you think a typical Barilla customer would respond to JITD? Why? How would you convince the customer that the JITD program was worth trying? If you are not able to sway the customer, what alternatives would you suggest to combat some of the difficulties that Barilla’s operating system faces? I think a typical Barilla customer, if explained to properly, should be able to comprehend the benefits associated with JITD for the entire supply chain. I would convince the customer by mentioning the benefits of the JITD in removing the bullwhip effect. I would point out the fact that they would actually be reducing their costs significantly because Barilla would be responsible for monitoring and replenishing their inventories when levels are low. Moreover, the reduced inventory levels would also save them the cost for both inventories and space. If however, I am not able to convince the customers, I will try other modes, in my capability, to effectively respond to the fluctuating demand. For this purposes, I would either reduce the varieties of products being offered which will reduce the need to have so many different inventories and SKU for both customers and Barilla. I could also try implementing the Just-In-Time (lean production) approach for Barillas manufacturing processes – processes which are internal and Barilla has full control over.

US Proposed Plan for Reducing Security Threat by Mexican Drug Cartels

US Proposed Plan for Reducing Security Threat by Mexican Drug Cartels Introduction Terrorism in the modern world has become a big threat to the security of the world and especially the US citizens which is the largest economy in the world. Mexico is a major loophole that can be used by these terrorists because of its border with the US which is very porous. There are several means through which terrorist activities are being carried out around the world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on US Proposed Plan for Reducing Security Threat by Mexican Drug Cartels specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the ways is Cyber warfare, which has been said to be causing a lot of tension in the US. For instance by stealing intellectual property or commercial espionage are carried out by use computers and information technology. However, the Mexican cartels have not been noted to extensively use cyber warfare to terrorize people. Nevertheless Cyber warfare is still a security risk to US as a nation. This is because there are increased incidences of cyber terror, cyber espionage, hacking and cybercrime in the modern world. The risk that the cyber crime presents is hard to assess therefore its very dreadful as a time bomb waiting to explode. There are more frightful security threats that are posed by Mexican drug cartels. For years now, Mexico has come to be associated with distribution of largest volumes of drugs to the US. This is done by groups of organized crime gangs called cartels. They usually dominate large regions where they base their main operations and they cause unlawfulness in these areas because of their crime activities. They mostly engage in violent activities, drug abuse, and even manipulation of political support. There are a number of cartels that operate in Mexico and their activities often spill into the US. The major cartels include Sinaloa Federation, Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas, Juarez cartel, Tijuana, and Beltran Leyva (Oscar, 2004, p. 67). Most of the conflicts being experienced across Mexico are attributed to the operations of these cartels. They basically cause such conflicts so that they can exploit the unstable conditions of lawlessness to do their businesses because in such a condition, they are able to transport and distribute their merchandise without police interference. They can evade police tracking and they control their own trafficking routes when there is no policing structure in place. Mexican drug cartels pose the greatest security threat to US because the two countries border each other and the even on instability in one of them, it’s likely to spills to the neighbor. Furthermore the border has been very porous with many drug cartels operations being done across these areas. The cartels are very dangerous and a reason to be scared because they accept firearms and other weapons in exchange of their drugs (Oscar, 2004, p. 67).Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your fi rst paper with 15% OFF Learn More The cartels train their recruits in rigorous military skills especially use of the weapons that they purchase both legitimate and those illegitimately acquired. Furthermore the cartels are able to attract the best talent and brains into their gangs because of the handsome salaries that they offer including other luxury goods like gold jewelry and cars. The drug cartel business is so lucrative that some military personnel even quit their jobs to join the cartels. From statistics, it’s been estimated that about 2.5% of the defense person have joined and continue to join these cartels. Besides the sale of the drugs like marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine, they also smuggle a great number of weapons into Mexico since for them to be able counter the police and their rivals, they require the best weapons and very sophisticated arms. given that the most heinous crimes take place in area controlled by the cartels, these or ganized gangs are able to smuggle weapons through to the US ranging from small arms to very large shipment of armory (Oscar 2004, p. 69). This means that since terrorists are looking to the slightest chance to smuggle their weapons to the US, they can work together with these drug barons to sneak deadly weapons to the US like nuclear war materials. By enhancing their relationships with prisons and the police, the cartels have increased their network in the US to a point where they can easily move or ship their products to distribute them to a very large area. South-western areas of the US are such risky areas that even the National Drug intelligence centre has revealed extensive business deals of gangs like Mara Salvatrutha and Latin King. Comprehensive Strategy for Fighting Background It’s now clear that the drug cartels in Mexico are causing serious mayhem in the country and the war between them and the government has gradually trickled into the US through the porous south- western border. The consequences of this have been that, there are increased murders in these regions sometime of innocent people and kidnapping of the US citizens. Among the notable incidences was the death of Robert N. Krentz who was just killed by a drug peddler while on his farm in Arizona. The US president was forced to 1,200 American National Guard troops to the areas to intensify security. This was a good indication that the US is yet to implement a proper plan of combating such crimes across its border with Mexico, though it was a good reaction for that incidence (United Nation, 2010, para. 3). The dreaded war between Mexican government and the drug cartels will remain to be a threat to the US security for a long time unless the US law makers take up an all-inclusive approach to deal with the violence. These means the US government should step up the effort to secure its borders, crackdown cartel operation in the vulnerable areas and also to assist Mexico in strengthening it s domestic capacity to fight the cartels, convict the gangs and imprison the drug cartel members (United Nation, 2010, para. 3).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on US Proposed Plan for Reducing Security Threat by Mexican Drug Cartels specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The escalating drug trade is extracting a terrible toll on the US citizens (Chu William, 2009, p. 104). It threatens their lives, the wellbeing of their families, their economy and even their supposedly inalienable freedoms. The illicit drug trade is also a serious threat to the entire National Security because the networks of the drug cartels have a very great potential of destabilizing and corrupting the government and weakening the public safety in the areas that are vulnerable in America. The illicit drug businesses give the cartels great amount of ill-obtained profits and despicable alliances that are built during their operations are used to facilita te terrorist activities and organized crime across the world (Chu William, 2009, p. 104). The US government needs to confront these threats by using combined strategies with Mexico. The combinations of the resources should include law enforcement investigation, diplomatic negotiations, economic sanctions, outlawing, developing proper institutions based on disrupting the drug cartel networks especially the markets, institution appropriate financial programs and investigations and establishing federal, local, and state enforcement cooperation (Chu William, 2009, p. 108). The government should intensify the existing law enforcement initiatives that include High Intensity Drug trafficking area (HIDTA), the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DEA among others. The government should work to improve its interagency coordination and technology enrichment. These undertakings will strengthen the US defense system on its border. Internationally, the government should strive to form alliances with other governments especially Mexico itself so that the processes of interdiction, law enforcement and international development agencies all seek to combat the drug cartels and cut down their profits across the world (Chu William, 2009, p. 109). Cooperation with Mexico is the main ploy for the effort to fight these drug cartels. This cooperation is likely to effectively disrupt the illicit supply of the drugs since its from the source that a great volume of drugs can be stopped before they are sold into circulation in smaller packages considering that the drug traffickers have established big and well organized cartels with adequately trained men, some being ex-soldiers and the type and number of weapons they can access because of the money from larger profits from the trade, the cartels pose a serious threat even to the police force (United Nation, 2010, para. 3). However to ensure that they are fought and buried, it’s only pertinent that the US and Mexico r each an agreement to work together. They should have a plan that is sensible, feasible and has measurable milestones for success or failure. This way the fight against organized crime especially arms smuggling, human trafficking, drug trafficking and possible terrorism will be dealt with at the simultaneously.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Comprehensive Plan The Mexican drug cartels apparently control very big areas across Mexico and their illicit activities are being felt across the world especially in the US. In 2009, about 9,000 people were killed in drug related raids. This year had the worst incidences since President Felipe Calderà ³ declared war on drugs trade. The current US government should be praised for its efforts in combat the cartel activities by continuing what president Bush had left in place. However the government now greatly blames the US drug use, arms law and the current policies that seem to be ineffective (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 15). The Mexican president declared war on the drug cartels after assuming office in 2006 so that he could contain the havoc that the cartels were causing across the country. That venture was not an easy one and up to now, over 23,000 people have died in drug related operations with over 4,000 of them dying this year, 2010. Calderon seems t o be very tough on his stand against the cartels and seemingly, the cartels are now branching out to other illegal businesses like kidnapping and extortion. Since the fights and drug trade basically take place along the US-Mexico border, the violence usually affects the US citizens who are faced with fear of kidnapping, armed gangs and brutal killings ineffective (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 15). As the two countries struggle to finish the cartels, the cartels on the other hand are struggling to find new survival means and they are shifting to other illegal businesses as mentioned earlier and also expanding their networks to the northern parts of US. It’s estimated that the currently, the Mexican drug cartels have connections with over 20,000 street gangs across the United States. These gangs occupy the major cities in west and northern America. Implementing the plan to fight cartels will be a joint venture between the US and Mexico so that the two nations can be sure that the situation is seriously contained. Basically Mexico is not a failed state yet. The government is still in control of its military and other machinery that the state requires to ensure the security of its citizens (United Nation, 2010, para. 4). This is what has allowed the US Agencies to work in collaboration with their Mexican counterparts regarding security operations over the recent past. This is portrayed as a very positive prospect for the future. The following steps are crucial for the plan to function effectively; Identifying and Understanding the Problem: the main problem with the Mexican drug cartels is the insecurity that they cause across the two countries and the possible social impact of drug abuse on the communities. From this cause, Mexico and the United States are required to venture into collaborative attack on the cartels. The attack should be based on the information available from reliable sources like the National Intelligence Estimates (NIE ) (US Department of Justice 2010, p. 45). The US intelligence community should be mandated to provide the information on the cartels especially the amount of threat posed, that is, if it can be quantified. The National Drug Intelligence Center will also offer deeper predictive analyses on the crimes. For this reason, therefore a baseline for the future can be drawn where security operations will be based. All the cooperation plans will be adequately informed (United Nation, 2010, para. 5). This means that the NIE will have to create standard classified information and even the unclassified information just to ensure that the public is adequately educated to be knowledgeable about the nature of the threat. Curbing the Supply of Weapons to Cartels: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) claims that the drug cartels in Mexico acquire thousands of deadly weapons every year from Arizona, Texas and California (Carpenter, 2009, p. 6). Out of the traceable weapons that have been recovered, 90 percent of them were bought in the United States (US Department of Justice 2010, p. 45). This therefore means that if the governments manage to stop this supply, they will have managed to cut off about 90% of the Mexican source of arms to the cartels. Though the gangs can still find some weapons elsewhere this is a step in the right direction. The US should struggle to close all the possible loopholes like ensuring that there are background checks when purchasing guns. It’s estimated that over 40% of the guns acquired by the cartels are usually from selling points that do not carry out background checks during the purchase. ‘Gun shows’ should be closed because they are possible loopholes and that would make the United States much insecure (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 15). A study by the Republican Pollster Frank Luntz indicated that a very big population of the US citizens (over 87%) supported background check of firea rms at their selling points. A second step would be to increase the amount of pressure to be enforced on the law breakers. The US government should give the ATF more resources for its works of investigating the arms dealers who could be linked to the weapons that are found in Mexico ineffective (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 17). It’s been found that merely one percent of the federally licensed arms sellers are responsible for selling 60% of the guns that are associated with drug related crimes (United Nation, 2010, para. 7). The ATF should then crackdown the small number of gun sellers who habitually break the law and demonstrate that there is zero tolerance to unlawful dealings in crime whether by mistake or knowingly sell the guns to Mexican gangs (Carpenter, 2009, p. 6). The US should also illegalize the smuggling of guns from the country and impose a very serious sentence for that crime. Whereas there are specific provisions of the Gun Control Act that state that smuggling weapons into the country is an illegal activity, smuggling weapons out is not clearly illustrated as an offense. This means the crime is generally punishable under general smuggling statute (Warner, 2010, p. 83). Therefore if a special statute provision is provided to append harsher repercussions for smuggling weapons or selling them knowingly to gang members and cartels that eventually end in Mexico would go a great length in limiting those illicit activities. The US Should Stem Cash Flow to the Cartels: it’s estimated that between 20 and 29 billion US dollars cash obtained from the US from the sale of drugs is smuggled back and almost half of it immediately gets into the informal economy of that country after evading detection by authorities (US Department of Justice 2010, p. 45). An operation that was conducted in 2009 by Operation Firewall in an attempt to curb flow of cash and laundering led to seizure of over 200 million US dollars and over 190 arre sts in the united states and other countries. This is just a tip of the iceberg, if this is compared to the amount of cash that is smuggled across the US-Mexico border, the Mexican law is ineffective (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 19). This is why there needs to be joint effort to block this cash flow. This would also be a good start and will still have to be expanded to address the root cause of the problem. The US financial intelligences capacity has to have the ability to understand all the financial flows in the areas that most affected or even interdict money and other laundering deals (Carpenter, 2009, p. 6). More resources should be provided to the Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit so that it can deal with numerous cases per year. When more monetary and training resources are devoted to the activity, the results are likely to be efficient (Warner, 2010, p. 83). A joint training program between the US and Mexico especially the US Financial Intellige nces, Treasury Department’s and the Mexican UIF will be able to guarantee effectiveness of the venture. The US policy makers should assess the remittances from the US either legal or illegal are the leading sources of revenue to Mexico where they create a weak economy. Restricting the Operation Capacity of the Cartels: the US government should struggle to create a border security surge, so that the border is transformed into a very secure zone free of cartel operations. Both president Calderon and President Obama have great visions for their countries especially survival in the 21st century and sealing their permeable border into a place of controlled movement (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 20). The idea of a 21st century border is a great one though it would take several years to eventually accomplish. This is expected to improve security, but in the meantime, there is need to cause great boundary security surge to bring order along the border. The main goa ls would be to increase the number of the national guards to be allocated specific responsibilities so that all possible gaps are covered as reviewed by agencies dealing with border information (Warner, 2010, p. 86). The operation will also seek to expand the resources of the homeland security and justice department so that they can afford the best technology when needed. And finally there should be increased sources for the state and local police forces in the states that border Mexico. Increased Intelligence: there need to have more collaborative ventures more than ever before, for US and Mexican law enforcement agencies. The existing collaboration has been seen to be improving since statistics show positive results in the â€Å"mirrored enforcement reports†. The US border patrol now works together with the federal police from Mexico especially on border patrols which are often done simultaneously now. Still more can be done for the purpose of security. The two countries ca n agree to use unmanned US drones to amass information in the drug cartel dominated areas (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 20). There is need of creating a new program that will be used to collect information by the aerial drones unarmed over US-Mexico border to cover other areas beside the current Texas border. The intelligence should then be shared with Mexican government for proper strategy formulation (Carpenter, 2009, p. 8). The two governments should also look at the possible joint especially forces established to make the raids on the cartel territories to flush out and arrests the leaders. It’s possible that arresting and extraditing the leaders to the governments for prosecution would lead to justice and also scuttle organized cartels. Mexico is already extraditing some criminals for the same reasons. However a more efficient ways of dealing with the deeply rooted cartel would be for the Mexican military to conduct the raid operations banked by the US (Warner, 2010, p. 88). The proficient aerial attacks and logistics of the US military are likely to meet greater goals. Help Improve Mexico’s Justice System: the Mexican justice system needs a lot of reforms for long terms achievements. The US should works hard to give support to Mexico so that it can strengthen its rule of law. Even though this could be costly for both the countries, the insecurity that currently exists is much worse. The judicial system in Mexico should put more pressure on the cartels to impede their operations (Warner, 2010, p. 89). However, the reform process will still be slow but it’s expected that the continuing efforts will have achieved these reforms by 2016. The Mexican judicial system needs more training on the monetary and financial systems for the combined effort to be effective (Carpenter, 2009, p. 9). The local and state police in Mexico also need serious training in addition to the reforms being initiated in the courts and other gover nmental institutions. The Mexican military is under thorough reforms under a program called the Meridia initiative (Carpenter, 2009, p. 13). The programs have to be expanded to meet more law enforcement agencies and the entire legal system to be professionalized. Crackdown the Markets in the US: considering that the drug cartels have over 2,500 connections in the US cities, the US citizens are threatened greatly. Severing these networks and cutting the links with the controlling cartel is not only necessary but also inevitable. This is the most essential step of disrupting and dismantling the dominant cartels (Carpenter, 2009, p. 13). The US justice department led the â€Å"Project Deliverance† which was an inter-agency (included over 300 agencies) boundary operation that was set to fight the cartels trafficking networks. The project put a lot of pressure on the distribution links in the US resulting in over 2,266 arrests and 154 million dollars were seized with 2.5 tons of c ocaine, 69 tons of marijuana among other drugs as well as over 500 vehicles. The project is a robust program that involves state securities and international agencies to disrupt cartel networks in America. Since this model was somehow a success, it can be used as a basis for disruption of cartel networks (Carpenter, 2009, p. 13). From it, new programs can be created to deal with drug cartel activities. Ultimate Operations The drug cartel problem and insecurity is a very big problem that entangles a lot to the US systems including illegal immigration, prisons, education and the law enforcement. Basically there are some factors that need to be resolved first before the ultimate operations can begin. First is the gang culture. Many Mexican do not value education considering that there are cheaper means of earning money besides going to school and developing a good career. Now the new problem is not even the Mexican but the America Mexican born in America or even illegal immigrants. Mos t of them have been found to have poor education (Smith, 2006, p. 56). For instance the education level of Mexican men who form larger percentage of illegal immigrants is very low at the bottom of the spectrum with least number of people with college degrees and most of them are high school dropouts. Even the US born Mexican youths always attach themselves to Mexico and still maintain their culture of carelessness. They are very arrogant and very aggressive committing very brutal crimes in some cases (Smith, 2006, p. 56). This problem begun as early as 1940s, as Mexicans started immigrating to US to better their lives and currently about 4% to 10% of the Mexican Youths subscribe to criminal gangs in America. The other cause of lawlessness is the inadequate reforms among law enforcement agencies in Mexico (Smith, 2006, p. 56). Basically the ability of Mexico to deal with drug cartels should be founded on the total overhaul of the judicial institutions and law enforcement agencies. In the past, the police basically preserved order and not crime resolution. They were therefore corrupt, inefficient, uneducated and dependent on crime as they even drove stole vehicles (Smith, 2006, p. 59). Corruption is one major obstacle in the fight against cartels. This is a very strong tool for the cartels because they have power to corrupt top law officers with large cash amounts, use violence and coercion and even cause serious mayhem in certain areas. The idea of money or bullet commonly phrased as â€Å"plata† (silver) or â€Å"plomo† (lead) has for so long been an effective tool for traffickers (Beith, 2010, p. 41). Government official were hence corrupt and totally engulfed in drug dealings. Political will is also been used as a weapon. President Calderon has been very aggressive in dealing with crime. For that reason, all politicians who supported him faced some threat. At times, some politicians have been killed in the past and the gangs have used them as r eference to scare other people like ‘Did you see what happened to so and so? The same could happen to you† †¦ this instills fear in people (Beith, 2010, p. 41). In 2009, Revolutionary party swept five governor positions out of the available six. This basically showed that there was a serious shift of political support from the President’s National Action party to the revolutionary party which is a little tolerant. He maybe loosing the popularity partly because of the fight he has set against these cartels (Beith, 2010, p. 46). There are three ultimate missions of the place to stop drug cartel threat to the US security. The three strategies only seek to expand cross-border bilateral cooperation based on the common enemy and shared dreams of dealing with insecurity (Carpenter, 2009, p. 13). Cooperation: the meeting between President Bush and Calderon led to a paradigm change from grudges to partnership between the two nations. This is where the Meridia initiati ve was born and it’s now a very large and comprehensive plan for fighting cartels. The program was set to run for three years and 1.4 billion dollars were spent on it (Wasler, 2010, p. 6). The basic objective was to strengthen Mexican institutions to enhance their capacities to hunt and deal with complex crime and trafficking gangs. The US has also provided its Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) personnel to help in recruitment and training of law enforcement officers in Mexico for the Mexican sensitive Investigative unit. This way, there will be great enhancement of intelligences across the countries’ departments. Another important dual venture is the Border Enforcement Security Task Forces (BEST); this is an operation task force that makes use of the intelligence obtained from the partnership to propel investigations and organize the members for intensify security on the borders (Wasler, 2010, p. 6). Containment: the objective of the US forces as they seek to ensu re security for its citizens has been to contain or stop smuggling of any kind ranging from illegal immigrants, human traffickers, illicit commodities, drugs and other unlawful activities through the borders in order to stop any problems that could be associated with these illegal dealings (Wasler, 2010, p. 7). First, the US established a special department for this purposes, the border patrol in 1924 and recently, the setting up of the Secure Fence Act in 2006. The US is now positive that it can manage to contain the drug cartels threats from Mexico to a considerable level. The border security has been modified over years through several revisions, from Southwest Border security to new 2009 law and seemingly more efficient institution called Homeland security headed by Janet Napolitano (Wasler, 2010, p. 8). The office of national drugs control policy (ONDCP) formed collaboration with DHS to fight narcotics smuggling across southwestern border. Blame America and not Mexico: itâ€⠄¢s quite evident that the US domestic drug abuse is the reason why there is production of drug in Mexico because this offers ready market. Some of its gun laws as identified earlier have big loopholes and the economy is also very open (Wasler, 2010, p. 9). Acceptance of co-responsibility yielded good results and now the cartels are feeling the pressure. Even the US former president Clinton noted that the American insatiable need for the drugs is what drives the trade. The inability to control firearms and other lethal weapon from being smuggled out of the country offers the gangs the weapons to counter government raids and other efforts to stop them (Wasler, 2010, p. 9). However, there is new readiness to contain drug cartels where several combined initiative are already in place and other laws are being prepared to make smuggling of weapons out of US illegal and also reevaluate other domestic policies that deal with drug trafficking from Mexico. Reference List Beith, M. (2010). â €Å"The Last Narco,† Grove Press, New York, pp. 40-55. Carpenter, T.G. (2009). â€Å"Troubled Neighbor: Mexicos Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States,† Policy Analysis, no. 631. Chu, V.S., William, J.K. (2009). â€Å"Gun Trafficking and the Southwest Border:† Congressional Research Service,† Library of Congress; Washington, DC. Oscar B. (2004). â€Å"New Traffickers Struggle for Control of Mexican Drug Trade,† Janes Intelligence Review. Smith, R.C (2006). â€Å"Mexican New York- Transnational Lives of New Immigrants,† University Of California Press; Berkeley, CA. U.S. Government Accountability Office, (2009). â€Å"Firearms Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Combat Arms Trafficking to Mexico Face Planning and Coordination Challenges,† GAO-09-709, pp. 14–16 Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09709.pdf United Nation. (2010). â€Å"Globalization of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment,† United Nation Publisher Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=r2QsBwNv8NMCpg=PA239dq=Zetas+and+Beltran+Leyva+conflicthl=enei=FXj2TNjQEc2r8AapoY3gBgsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=Zetas%20and%20Beltran%20Leyva%20conflictf=false United States Department of Justice. (2010). â€Å"National Drug Intelligence Center,† National Drug Threat Assessment 2010. Retrieved from  https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/prs/10ndta10.htm Warner, J. (2010). â€Å"U.S. Border Security: A Reference Handbook,† ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA. Wasler, R. (2010). â€Å"U.S. Strategy Against Mexican Drug Cartels: Flawed and Uncertain, Heritage Foundation,† Backgrounder, No. 2407.

Bad education, The Guardian - Emphasis

Bad education, The Guardian Bad education, The Guardian Recruiters say grammatical sloppiness is depressingly common among young job seekers but could you do any better? By Emma-Jayne Jones and Robert Ashton Rhythm really has your two hips moving. The car was stationary. Paper is stationery. Sound like gobbledygook? Some people feel that mnemonics like these to remember simple spelling rules can be the difference between getting a job and losing it. Around half of all CVs received by recruitment consultants, says the Recruitment and Employment Commission, contain spelling or grammatical errors, and these are most likely to be made by those aged between 21 and 25. In this age group, graduates are twice as likely to make mistakes as those who did not go on to university. The feedback we have received from recruiters is that there are worrying shortcomings in the written communication skills of this age group, says Tom Hadley, director of external affairs at the REC. You would expect that by the time students reach universities they would have good basic written skills, but the results show that this isnt the case. Formal written communication is, in part, being eroded by our text and email culture. These methods of communication are instantaneous, so no time is taken to proofread messages before they are sent. CV errors give the impression that university qualifications may not meet the standards demanded in everyday work, says Hadley. Having a degree is one thing but it is no substitute for basic skills. If people can get into university and graduate without needing them, it is a bad sign for the future. In the workplace, todays graduates are not alone in their literacy shortcomings. Anyone who went to school between the late 60s and the late 90s is part of a lost generation when it comes to any kind of formal education in grammar and punctuation. Both were missing from the UK school curriculum for more than 30 years. Writing sentences with different verb tenses, or no verb at all; using nouns and verbs that dont agree; leaving out apostrophes, or putting them in when they are not needed; punctuating quotes incorrectly; forgetting commas or using too many: all of these are common failings in peoples writing. Spelling tends to be less of a problem, thanks to spellcheckers. But how would the average office worker fare if those were taken away? There is no doubt that, both inside and outside the workplace, people are gaining a more acute awareness of language and are irritated by its misuse. Companies are responding by seeking out help with grammar and punctuation for employees at every level. Test your knowledge So how does your knowledge stack up in this new literacy-sensitive era? You may have received a copy of Lynne Trusss Eats, Shoots Leaves as a Christmas stocking filler, but have a look at the following extract from a change consultants report to management and see if you can spot the grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Management wants to introduce new measures to combat the noticable increase in sick leave. The average annual number of sick days has risen from five to 10 which is seen as a considerable embarassment to the new HR director. But I wonder if the responsibility should lay solely with her? And even if management does agree whos responsibility the problem is they also have a seperate and justified concern that any action taken should be carefully-considered. Meanwhile, although the employees are hoping for a decent pay rise its likely that their going to be disappointed. The CEOs arguement is that they got one last year and theres been no corresponding improvement in performance so hes not prepared to consider another rise. He said The pay rise has had the opposite affect. People have become more lethargic, since we started paying them more. However other board directors might feel that higher pay will accelarate performance, although it will take time. Whatever happens with regards to pay rises, the principle point here is that its time the Board announced its decision. The uncertainty is effecting staff morale, less people than expected are supporting company events, as theres a general feeling that the responsibility for making these events a success is not theirs. So how did you get on? Heres a breakdown of the errors. MISSPELLINGS noticable noticeable embarassment embarrassment seperate separate arguement argument accelarate accelerate GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION Paragraph one, second sentence: There should be a comma before which. Third sentence The responsibility should lie solely with her, not lay solely with her?. Lay is a transitive verb, so it must be followed by an object for example: She lays the table. The question mark is unnecessary here as it is not a direct question. Final sentence There should be a comma before even if and the one after problem is to denote that this clause is extra to the main idea. The first part says management does agree, whereas the second part says they also have a concern (strictly speaking, management is singular, but avoid mixing singular and plural). It should be whose, not whos. Whos is short for who is or who has; whose is about possession. Add another dash after and justified to show that this is an aside. Also, never use a hyphen after adverbs ending in -ly Paragraph two, first sentence A comma should follow pay rise to denote that this clause is extra to the main idea. Its likely, not its likely. Use an apostrophe only when its is short for it is or it has Theyre going to be, not their going to be, because the meaning is they are and is not possessive. Second sentence There should be an apostrophe for CEOs because it is possessive; and a comma between performance and so to denote a natural pause. Third sentence A comma or colon is needed to introduce the quote. Effect, not affect. A person can be affected by an incident, whereas an effect is the result of an incident. The comma between lethargic and since should not be used, as there is no natural pause here. A comma should come after the However, to give the reader the correct sense of the sentence. Paragraph three, first sentence Principal, not principle. A principle is a fundamental truth or a standard of personal conduct. Principal denotes something which is most important. Its decision, not its decision (see above). Second sentence Affecting not effecting (see above). Two separate sentences. Ideally, use a semicolon as the two sentences are very closely linked, but you could get away with a full stop. Fewer, not less. Fewer refers to a smaller number of something; less refers to a smaller quantity. For example: There was less milk in the bottle than before. Theres, not theres, as its an abbreviation for there is. Theirs, not theirs. The word theirs does not exist (other than in the headline on page nine of one tabloid newspaper last month: Hell family banned from all 900 homes apart from theirs).