The Morality of Using College Essay Consultants

The Morality of Using College Essay Consultants I’m inspired today to address a sticky topic:   the moral issues around getting help with your personal statement/essays for college or MBA admissions. Let me start by saying that The Essay Experts college essay consultants and MBA admissions consultants do NOT write essays for college and business school applicants.   When I get calls requesting that service (and I do get those calls), I have no problem turning down the business. What Do We Do? What do we do at The Essay Expert?   We coach.   We explore ideas.   We help applicants see what is unique about them and their life experiences.   We draw connections.   We suggest directions to take, layers to add, and ways to best impress an admissions committee.   Sure, we also might suggest a few grammatical or organizational corrections.   But in the end, the essay is ALWAYS the client’s essay, NOT ours. Still, there are people who are troubled by the concept of what we do.   Here’s a comment I received after posting a request for a college essay coach: â€Å"†¦ I find this topic/profession very troublesome. Its a slippery slope from coaching a young person about choosing a topic and format and helping them focus to, in effect, writing it for them or do such extensive edits that its no longer the students PERSONAL essay. Yes, Im sure there are essay consultants that put on the brakes, and this one could be one of them, but a position description that is so blatant about the role (take a drab college application essay and turn it into gold!) †¦ gives me pause. Im not naive far from it but of all the pieces in the college application package subject to help, the essay should be the most sacrosanct.† The concerns expressed here are my concerns as well, and my promise is that The Essay Expert does not go down that slippery slope.   Yes, I promise to turn the drab into gold, but by asking key questions of the applicant – not by writing the essay. The NYT and The WSJ Chime In Not long after receiving the above comment, I also came across a New York Times article, Crafting an Application Essay That ‘Pops’, which related the results of a conference attended by nearly 5,000 admissions officers and counselors.   The group, which included professors, admissions officers, and other college administrators, offered nine pieces of practical advice for writing personal statements.   I was happy, and frankly relieved, to see â€Å"Have an editor. All panelists advised having a close, trusted editor and an objective, outside reader.† Soon after, an article came out in The Wall Street Journal with a similar message to M.B.A. applicants:   In Looking for an Edge:   MBA applicants are turning to pricey consultants to help them navigate the daunting admissions process , The WSJ reports that 20% of admitted students say they used an M.B.A. admissions advisor in the application process.   Furthermore, the article relates, â€Å"As the consulting industry has grown, some business schools have become more accepting of it.† In fact, the managing director of M.B.A. admissions and financial aid at Harvard Business School uses admissions consultants as a resource â€Å"to ‘get some field intelligence’ about how prospective students view the school and its admissions process.† The Difference We Make It is unquestionable that having a talented editor can give applicants an edge.   And not everyone has a family member, guidance counselor or close friend who can serve as an editor or consultant.   That’s where The Essay Expert comes in.   Indeed, what we offer that a friend or relative cannot, is an objective eye and the perspective of someone who has read dozens, if not hundreds, of essays.   We will make sure your essay does not sound like anyone else’s. It is especially difficult to find a reliable advisor for M.B.A. admissions, where very specialized knowledge of business schools and their admissions processes is key to choosing the right essay focus and application strategy. In fact, one of our recent clients had enrolled several business school graduate friends to review his essays, yet still required ten hours of our consultant’s time to retool just two of his essay sets. Lingering Questions I understand there is still an issue present.   What about people who don’t know someone who can help, and who also can’t afford to hire someone? I am concerned about that point myself, and do provide assistance to a limited number of clients for a reduced fee or some type of trade.   I don’t believe I have been contacted by anyone thus far whom I turned away solely due to lack of ability to pay. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this topic. Admissions officers seem to have accepted that many applicants use paid consultants to assist them with the admissions process. Does this fact allay any of the concerns you might have had? I believe The Essay Expert provides an extremely valuable service and that we do not cross the ethical line that would have students presenting an essay that is not theirs. And we do help students transform pedantic or blah essays into stories that capture the hearts and minds of the admissions committee.

American Identity essays

American Identity essays It is predicted that by the year 2050, Caucasian Americans will become a minority in the United States. Is this rapid increase of minorities creating an alarming situation deserving concern? In todays American society, we have become particularly apprehensive with the issue of diversity and but are commonly told to "celebrate" the heterogeneity of individuals this country has come to foster. Why is then so often innocent Americans are condemned or even penalized for such trivial differences such as speaking a language other than English, wearing a skin color other than Caucasian, or expressing homosexual orientation? Such discrimination can only have a harmful impact on American identity. Americans have always feared those who are "different" but have been taught to disguise their fears and attempt to treat everyone equally. However, after the recent events on September 11th, 2001, many Americans have wrongly fashioned unnecessary biases and preconceptions towards the unusual and t he unknown. This inexcusable ignorance is causing the destruction of our American Identity. Beginning in the late 1700's, America became known nationally for her support of religious freedom, seemingly endless job opportunities and an abundance of in-expensive land. As a result, immigrants from all over the globe penetrated these borders, forcing the nation to expand further and further west. People flocked from Ireland, Britain, Italy, Russia and numerous other European countries. By the 19th century, America was already a nation with a diverse population, all in search of a better life. However, even then immigrants were looked down upon and were only offered low paying jobs. In fact an age of nativism came into being, when the Americans wanted immigration of cease allowing America to contain only those who were "native" Americans. When the truth was, native Indian Americans were the only true natives. Immigratio...

Equal Opportunities policy in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Equal Opportunities policy in UK - Essay Example The policy covers all aspects of employment, from vacancy advertising, selection recruitment and training to conditions of service and reasons for termination of employment. In order to ensure the effective operation of the policy the company/ organisation/firm/practice/etc maintains records of employees' and applicants' racial origins, gender and disability. The company's/organisation's/firm's/practice/etc long term aim is that the composition of our workforce should reflect that of the community. Timetabled targets will be set for groups in the community that are identified as being underrepresented in the workforce. Where necessary, special steps, as permitted by the relevant Acts of Parliament, will be taken to help disadvantaged and/or underrepresented groups to compete for jobs on a genuine basis of equality. The company's/ organisation's/firm's/practice/etc Equal Opportunity Employment Policy (EOEP), and the measures to implement it, have been devised on the basis of advice from the relevant bodies as well as in consultation with appropriate union and/or employee representatives. The director of personnel/managing director/senior partner/etc, is responsible for the effective operation of the company's/ org... The director of personnel/managing director/senior partner/etc, is responsible for the effective operation of the company's/ organisation's/firm's/practice/etc EOEP. A copy of the EOEP is available from the personnel department/managing director/senior partner/etc (2005). Marshall stated that "The equal opportunities culture in mid-1990's has been one that has tended to have a narrow focus, and to fuse social justice issues with performance standards and improvement, with a greater emphasis on the latter." According to Chmiel the UK legislation does not extend to gay or lesbian workers and it provides only a framework to be adhered to thus the companies may adhere to and comply to the legislation loosely. "The basic premise of equal opportunities is that talent and ability are spread equally through all groups, including men and women, all able bodied and disabled people, and all ethnic groupings." As per the survey conducted by Honey, Meager and Williams in 1993 only one out of 20 organisations approached the legal quota of disabled employees. Discrimination was reported by 22 percent gay and lesbians when applying for jobs, 24 percent in promotions and about 50 percent due to their sexuality (1999). Chmiel further stated that women recruited and promoted under the programme Opportunity 2000 carried a 'Stigma of Incompetence', experienced lower self confidence and backlash from other members in the organisation (1999). Survey results published by Cara Aitchison stated that it was difficult to identify discrimination in recruitment, selection and promotion situations since many reasons could be effectively used as smoke screens, but discrimination occurs in day to day life such as indifferent attitudes

Industry Analysis of the Cosmetic Industry Essay

Industry Analysis of the Cosmetic Industry - Essay Example Charles Revson with his brother and the chemist Charles Luchman formed Revlon in the year of 1932. An "L" was added by Luchman in the Revson to name it REVLON. Quality supplies at reasonable prices soon made Revlon a world leader. Under recognized brands such as Revlon, ColorStay, New Complexion, Revlon Age Defying, Almay, Ultima II and Flex Charlie. and Skin lights, made Revlon known worldwide. Revlon sold its goods in approximately 175 countries. A wide range of skin care and sun care products; Ultima II, Vitamin C Absolutes and Eterna 27, were also offered by Revlon. Currently, the main players in the cosmetics game are; Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Mac Cosmetics, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Avon, Clinique, L'Oreal, Bobbi Brown cosmetics, Victoria Jackson cosmetics everybody's getting into the scenario with their own lines and inventions but controlled by the price factor. The cosmetic industry is vast and creates plentiful jobs because of its cosmopolitan nature. The market is a multi-billion dollar industry and united States own the largest personal product market in the world accounting for 26% of global sales. The main frame of this industry relies on production value, labor production, number of employees, personnel costs and the number of enterprises. Cosmetic science is not only about formulation of a product but also takes an account of intelligent and innovative marketing decisions and cost constraints. It is lucky for the manufacturers to hold the top manufacturers position. Revlon also ruled the industry for a long time but was not lucky enough. Reconsideration, re-evaluation and innovation is the key to success and survival in cosmetic industry. In 1930' Revlon began selling its product through drug and departmental stores. During 50s, the usage of innovative ways of advertisement to gave a boost to publicity and sales. It used television sponsorship and radio ads. The advertisement sector was always supported by Revlon and generated a lot of business. This sector is one of the biggest revenue generator in United States. Advertising campaign "The Most Unforgettable Women in the World wear Revlon" of late 1980s and 1990s became very popular. Advertising the product in an effective manner is the name of the game which Revson introduced and now the industry cannot do without it. During severe financial crises even, Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer were two top models signed up by Revlon. Again in 90s, in spite of loss, the company launched an expensive marketing campaign featuring Halle Berry and Julianne Moore, to boost sales. Revlon has never compromised on advertising a product in an effective manner. Anticipation of new trends brings business to this industry and the foundation of Revlon was based on it. Revlon started with a single product, nail enamel which was never available before. In only six years of new innovations, high-quality marketing strategies, sales, packaging with an effective operating system made Revlon listed in

Provinces of the Philippines and Kara David Essay Example for Free

Provinces of the Philippines and Kara David Essay Ang Huling Prinsesa† (The Last Princess) is a documentary from Kara David shown in I-Witness back in 2004. It is a challenging feat for anyone who wants to see and explore a mysterious tradition preserved for decades among some of the mountains isolated communities. I-Witness travels to the Tapaz Mountain, considered the farthest in Capiz, located in the central Philippines island of Panay. Reporter Kara David reaches the community of Rizal Sur, a village that looks just like any other isolated community, where the people living in traditional huts and survive on whatever nature provides them. In the midst of this community, she meets one of the last remaining binukots, 73-year-old Lola (grandmother). This old woman lives in an old hut, just like everybody else in the community. However, she has stayed inside a room in the house ever since she was five years old, living in isolation as the family chosen binukot. Since being chosen the binukot of her tribe, the old woman has worn a veil so that no one can see her face. She is lifted onto a hammock every day so her feet never touch the ground. She is bathed, combed and served only the best food like an ancient princess. Her work is to learn the traditional dances and memorize the tribe’s hours-long epics. Only the binukots learn the epics, which are taught to them orally. Thus, they are also the only ones who may pass the long stories of their ancestors to the next generation. Personal insight Stories of princess were part of our childhood memories. We dream of becoming one during those times. But in Tumandok tribe in Tapaz, Capiz, Philippines, there were women, who were treated like a princess. They are known to be the binukot.

Motherhood and the Politics of Native Americans :: Culture Cultural Sociology Essays

Motherhood and the Politics of Native Americans Community, rituals, magical beliefs and practices are very important things to Native American people. Native American people live by these rituals and beliefs, they live around their community; their community isn’t just that, but their family as well. Parents don’t just raise their children but the whole community has a hand in raising all of the children. Family is a very important part of Native American people’s lives, they keep traditions going with their families, parents raise their children the same way that they were raised by their parents. â€Å"Reclaiming Culture and the Land: Motherhood and the Politics of Sustaining Community† is about a mother who is a Native American activist who has two children, she wants them to be raised and go to school in an Indian community. â€Å"I put my children in that school because I wanted them to be in the Indian community.† She explains that she is not sure if her children know what she is doing is common, but they know that what she is doing is right. â€Å"My children do have the sense that what I do is not necessarily common. Recently my daughter started asking me if I’m famous.† She has fought for her children to have a good life, full of community, ritual, and an understanding of who they are and where they come from. â€Å"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema† explains that magical beliefs and practices is a big part of being Native American. They feel that they must practice their rituals daily to get a sense of belonging in the community. Nacirema Indians have a shrine which they keep charms and magical potions. They believe without them, no member can live. They perform rituals with these potions to make the ill healthy again, once the potion has been used it is put in the shrine box to be kept; normally these boxes are full or overflowing with potions. There are so many that the Narcirema Indians normally don’t know what all of them are and what they do, so they don’t use them again. One of the most common rituals performed is the mouth-rite; this includes inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with magical powders, and then moving the bundle around in the mouth in a highly formalized series of gestures.

Real-Life Problem Faced by the Body Shop

1. 0 INTRODUCTION This report is to address the real-life problem faced by The Body Shop and how the problem can be solved based on the functions of management. According to the information provided by The Body Shop website, The Body Shop has successfully created an image of being a caring company that is in helping to protect the third world workers and indigenous peoples. But behind the cuddly image lies the reality The Body Shop's operations, the Body Shop does not help the dilemma of the workers and indigenous peoples as well as put them on a pedestal in order to exploit people's idealism.Evidence from â€Å"What’s wrong with the Body Shop† (1988) stated that The Body Shop claims to be helping some third world workers and indigenous peoples through so-called ‘Trade Not Aid' or ‘Community Trade' projects. In fact, these are largely a marketing strategy as less than 1% of sales go to ‘Community Trade' producers, and it has been shown that some of the se products have been sourced from mainstream commercial markets. This is the existing problem faced by The Body Shop. Instead, if the problem of exploiting indigenous peoples cannot be solved, this leads to some impact on the specified environment especially customers and pressure group.Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter (2006) have stated that organisations exist to assemble the needs of customers. Customer is the one who absorbs the organisation’s output. Consequently, customers will start to increase the awareness need to think seriously about the products they use and to consume less. Customers will boycott the Body Shop until the problem is settled. The evidence is seen that customers had started to declare their feeling through the internet. For an example, they posted bad command on â€Å"The Consumer Trap† (Dawson, 2007). For the pressure groups, they do a lot of activities or campaign to against The Body Shop.For example, The London Greenpeace Group has sta rted to create awareness to the customers to consume less The Body Shop’s products as well as to command the workers organise together to fight for their rights (â€Å"What’s wrong with,† 1988); The Body Shop has been ordered by a Brazilian court to pay more than US$ 431,000 (? 218,000) to settle labor claims against it by three former employees of its â€Å"Fair Trade† project in the Amazon Rainforest (Tolup, 2006); The Body Shop was included in the list of the Daishowa Boycott List (Lubicon Lake Indian Nation, 1995).We can imagine that if by exploiting the indigenous problem still cannot be solved, this may cause a bad image to the Body Shop’s organisation. As a result, a goal to â€Å"reduce exploiting third world workers and indigenous peoples by 85% compared with last few year figures by the 2010† must be put in place. In order to accomplish the goal, the functions of management are proposed in the discussion of this report. 2. 0 DISCUS SION There are 4 functions identified with management (Fayol, as cited in Robbins et al. , 2006).This report will only discuss 2 function and they are planning and controlling. This is because planning is the primary management function (Jayasheree Pakhare, 2007) to distinguish from (Robbins et al. , 2006). Without planning the management of The Body Shop would not know how to be organised. Moreover, planning is the ongoing process of developing the business’ mission and objectives and determining how they will be accomplished (Higgins, 1994). Planning can provide direction to the management of The Body Shop in how they can do in reducing this problem.Meanwhile, control is the final link to management functions and function of monitoring work to check progress against goal and taking corrective action when required (Bennis, 2003). After the plans are established, The Body Shop’s management needs control to see whether their goal or plans were on target and what future actions to take. So, the Body Shop must start their steps by creating plans which are effective and powerful in reducing this event as well as in monitoring activities to make sure that the plans are accurate. 2. 1 PlanningIn reduce exploiting workers and indigenous peoples’ problem it is proposed that The Body Shop use operational plans. This is because operational plans are short term (Robbins et al. , 2006). This is link because the goal is set to be achievable by 2010. Robbins et al. (2006) stated that there can be difficult for the manager to established plans for a long period. Evidence stated that this problem had overcome a lot of boycott from customers and pressure groups. Let imagine that if the problem cannot be reduce within the following 2 years how enormous are the unpleasant loss need to bear by The Body Shop.Moreover, operational plans are specific (Robbins et al. , 2006). This meant that specific plans are clearly defined and leave no room for interpretation or there is no ambiguity with misunderstandings. The specific plans are suggested because the exploitation problem is sensitive and must have particular guidelines to go after. The management of Body Shop cannot use flexible or general guidelines to reduce the events. This may overcome more problems and increase more boycott from pressure groups and customers.Allen (1998) stated that operational plans are standing. Standing plans are ongoing plans that provide guidance for the problems performed repeatedly and include some policies, rules and procedures that must be follow include policies, procedures, method, and rules. The Body Shop must establish a lot of policies or rules to guide their factories managers or supervisor to reduce the exploitation. With the ongoing policies or rules, The Body Shop can prevent the increasable of exploitation as well as can reduce it by 2010.The management of Body Shop can identify of how the goal is to be achieved by below operational plans: (i) Cr eating a team This team is required to visit the Body Shop’s factories in different countries to make sure there they do not have problems related to exploitation as well as examine the managers’ behaviour in controlling the workers. When the exploiting problem occurs, the team has to do research to find out the reasons. (ii) Establishing a policy to set minimum and fair wages The Body Shop’s organisation must set a minimum wages policy to guide their factories’ managers.The wages can be set more than the wages set by the government and must be fair for the workers. This can ensure the workers will not de dissatisfied with their salary in order to increase their performance. (iii) Putting in place an agreement between the indigenous peoples and organisation An agreement must be signed between the indigenous peoples and the Body Shop organisation to safeguard both parties’ interests. For example, a rule can identify that the ongoing ‘Trade Not Aid' or ‘Community Trade' projects must indicate 10%-20% of sales go to ‘Community Trade' producers.This is because the Body Shop had already claimed to help them so the Body Shop has kept its promise. (iv) Setting a standard application procedure A procedure how the managers select the workers or indigenous peoples to work must be set by the Body Shop organisation. The decision making by the factories’ managers must follow this standard application procedure. If the workers fulfill all the application procedures, the managers cannot abuse the application. (v) Organising social responsibilities The Body Shop can organise scholarship programmes for the indigenous or workers’ children.In addition, some facilities can be established to provide convenience for workers. For example, providing transportation set up a health clinic or a comminuting hall. Therefore, this kind of social responsibilities can prevent the pressure group and customers continue to boyco tt the Body Shop. (vi) Introducing a code of ethics The code of ethics provides guidance on everything from the simplest of questions to the most difficult ones on complex ethical dilemma. So a code which can guide the manager on how to prevent the exploiting problems can be included.For example, guide the managers to built trust between the workers and indigenous peoples, to define the problem accurately and what is the intention in making decisions. 2. 2 Controlling In this exploiting workers and indigenous peoples’ problem, the Body Shop is recommend to use the control process. This is because this process is useful and Robbins et al. (2006) stated that the control process including measuring actual performance, comparing actual performance against a standard and taking managerial action to correct the deviation.With this process, the Body Shop requires to measuring its actual performance. The Body Shop advise to measure the actual performance by collecting personal observ ation, statistical, oral, and written reports which is indicated by Allen (1988). After the measurement, the Body Shop can do comparing to determine the degree of variation between actual performance and performance standard with are the goal and the plans suggested above. If the variation is exceeding the acceptable variance, immediate and basic corrective action must be taken by the Body Shop to correct this variance.However, Allen (1988) stated that immediate corrective action is more efficient while basic corrective action is more effective. Thus, the Body Shop must take actions depend on how effective or efficient they target the actions to be. In order to reduce the exploitation, the Body Shop also proposes to use bureaucratic control. This is because bureaucratic controls emphasizes organisational authority and relies on administrative rules, policies and procedures (Robbins et al. , 2006). In the part of planning, there are a lot of plans are that identified with policy, agr eement and procedure.Consequently, The Body Shop must link them together to make sense. However, according to Robbins et al. (2006), managers need suitable tools for monitoring and measuring organisational performance. The tools for controlling organisational performance are called feedforward control, concurrent control and feedback control. 2. 2. 1 Feedforward Control Feedforward controls allow managers to prevent problems rather than having to correct the problems (Robbins et al. , 2006). The management of The Body Shop must sort out some actions which can prevent the problems occur. Feedforward control is the most desirable type of control.This is because this control can avoid led to waste or damages. The actions that the Body Shop can take in feedforward control are: (i) Establish some incentives to the workers or indigenous peoples whose performance is up to the task. For example, provide 15months wages per year, health care policies, and transportation. (ii) Provide some tra ining or guidance to the factories’ managers to ensure them has appropriate behavior in controlling the workers. 2. 2. 2 Concurrent Control Concurrent control is the control that takes place while a work activity is in progress (Allen, 2006).In this moment, the management of The Body Shop can monitoring their factories managers and corrects the problem before they become too costly. The actions that the Body Shop can take in concurrent control are: (i) Organising a direct supervision. For example, if there have some mistakes in abuse the workers’ wages or terrible managers’ behavior, the created team must directly correct them. (ii) Monitoring the managers. When the problem occurs, the Body Shop should organise a seminar to brief the managers in monitoring any problems that should be corrected.This can prevent more expenses need to bear before the misleading problems become more complex. 2. 2. 3 Feedback Control In feedback control, the control takes place after the activities are done (Robbins et al. , 2006). Feedback control is the most popular control. This is because feedback control can provide information on how effective their planning efforts were as well as enhance workers motivation. The actions that the Body Shop can take in feedback control are: (i) After the goal is achieved, the created team necessity does surprise visits to their outlet or factories in different countries.In this visits, the Body Shop will receive some useful or meaningful information to formulating new plans. (ii) Organise some survey for the workers. The survey maybe about the behavior of the managers. Through these kinds of visits and survey, the Body Shop organisation can understand whether the managers still follow the policy, agreement or procedure or not. 3. 0 CONCLUSION To reduce the exploiting workers and indigenous peoples’ problem, the Body Shop must indicated planning and controlling. The evidence stated that planning and controlling are t he most important and useful ways to reduce the problem.In planning, the operational plans which are short term, specific and standing are suggested. However, in controlling, the process of control and bureaucratic control is more appropriate in achieve the goal. Moreover, the tools for controlling organisational performance called feedforward control, concurrent control and feedback control also are suggested for the Body Shop organisation. 4. 0 RECOMMENDATION Therefore, there are 5 recommendations for the Body Shop organisation: (i) Creating a team (ii) Establishing a policy to set minimum and fair wages iii) Putting in place an agreement between the indigenous peoples and organisation (iv) Provide incentives to workers and indigenous peoples (v) Organising direct supervision References Allen, G. (1998). Planning Process. Management modern. Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://ollie. dcccd. edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/2planning/plng_process/plng_process. htm Bennis, W. (2003). On B ecoming a Leader. Trump Mediaeval: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc Carroll, S. J. & Gillen, D. J. (1987). Are the Classical Management Functions Useful in Describing Managerial Work? Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 38-51. Dawson, M. (2007).Behind the Green Veil: Notes from Stan Cox. The Consumer Trap. Retrieved April 23, 2008 from www. consumertrap. com Higgins, J. (1994). The Management Challenge, Macmillan: Author. Jayashree Pakhare, (2007). Management Concepts- The Four Functions of Management. Business & Finance. Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://www. buzzle. com/articles/management-concepts-the-four-functions-of-management. html Lubicon Lake Indian Nation. (1995). Daishowa Boycott List Update. Retrieved April 15, 2008 from http://www. nisto. com/cree/lubicon/1995/19950909. html Robbins, S. , Bergman, R. , Stagg, I. , & Coulter, M. (2006).Foundation of Management. Australia: Pearson Education. The London Greenpeace Group. (1988). What's Wrong With The Body Shop? – A Criticis m Of ‘Green' Consumerism. McLibel Support Campaign. Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http://www. mcspotlight. org/beyond/companies/bs_ref. html Tolup, A. (2006). Brazilian and British courts order Body Shop to pay Brazilian Project's former workers. Retrieved April 15, 2008 from http://www. brazzilmag. com/content/view/7629/53/ Support Community Trade: What's happening in the US. (2007). Our Values. Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http: http://www. thebodyshop. com/bodyshop/values/support_community_trade. jsp Real-Life Problem Faced by the Body Shop 1. 0 INTRODUCTION This report is to address the real-life problem faced by The Body Shop and how the problem can be solved based on the functions of management. According to the information provided by The Body Shop website, The Body Shop has successfully created an image of being a caring company that is in helping to protect the third world workers and indigenous peoples. But behind the cuddly image lies the reality The Body Shop's operations, the Body Shop does not help the dilemma of the workers and indigenous peoples as well as put them on a pedestal in order to exploit people's idealism.Evidence from â€Å"What’s wrong with the Body Shop† (1988) stated that The Body Shop claims to be helping some third world workers and indigenous peoples through so-called ‘Trade Not Aid' or ‘Community Trade' projects. In fact, these are largely a marketing strategy as less than 1% of sales go to ‘Community Trade' producers, and it has been shown that some of the se products have been sourced from mainstream commercial markets. This is the existing problem faced by The Body Shop. Instead, if the problem of exploiting indigenous peoples cannot be solved, this leads to some impact on the specified environment especially customers and pressure group.Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter (2006) have stated that organisations exist to assemble the needs of customers. Customer is the one who absorbs the organisation’s output. Consequently, customers will start to increase the awareness need to think seriously about the products they use and to consume less. Customers will boycott the Body Shop until the problem is settled. The evidence is seen that customers had started to declare their feeling through the internet. For an example, they posted bad command on â€Å"The Consumer Trap† (Dawson, 2007). For the pressure groups, they do a lot of activities or campaign to against The Body Shop.For example, The London Greenpeace Group has sta rted to create awareness to the customers to consume less The Body Shop’s products as well as to command the workers organise together to fight for their rights (â€Å"What’s wrong with,† 1988); The Body Shop has been ordered by a Brazilian court to pay more than US$ 431,000 (? 218,000) to settle labor claims against it by three former employees of its â€Å"Fair Trade† project in the Amazon Rainforest (Tolup, 2006); The Body Shop was included in the list of the Daishowa Boycott List (Lubicon Lake Indian Nation, 1995).We can imagine that if by exploiting the indigenous problem still cannot be solved, this may cause a bad image to the Body Shop’s organisation. As a result, a goal to â€Å"reduce exploiting third world workers and indigenous peoples by 85% compared with last few year figures by the 2010† must be put in place. In order to accomplish the goal, the functions of management are proposed in the discussion of this report. 2. 0 DISCUS SION There are 4 functions identified with management (Fayol, as cited in Robbins et al. , 2006).This report will only discuss 2 function and they are planning and controlling. This is because planning is the primary management function (Jayasheree Pakhare, 2007) to distinguish from (Robbins et al. , 2006). Without planning the management of The Body Shop would not know how to be organised. Moreover, planning is the ongoing process of developing the business’ mission and objectives and determining how they will be accomplished (Higgins, 1994). Planning can provide direction to the management of The Body Shop in how they can do in reducing this problem.Meanwhile, control is the final link to management functions and function of monitoring work to check progress against goal and taking corrective action when required (Bennis, 2003). After the plans are established, The Body Shop’s management needs control to see whether their goal or plans were on target and what future actions to take. So, the Body Shop must start their steps by creating plans which are effective and powerful in reducing this event as well as in monitoring activities to make sure that the plans are accurate. 2. 1 PlanningIn reduce exploiting workers and indigenous peoples’ problem it is proposed that The Body Shop use operational plans. This is because operational plans are short term (Robbins et al. , 2006). This is link because the goal is set to be achievable by 2010. Robbins et al. (2006) stated that there can be difficult for the manager to established plans for a long period. Evidence stated that this problem had overcome a lot of boycott from customers and pressure groups. Let imagine that if the problem cannot be reduce within the following 2 years how enormous are the unpleasant loss need to bear by The Body Shop.Moreover, operational plans are specific (Robbins et al. , 2006). This meant that specific plans are clearly defined and leave no room for interpretation or there is no ambiguity with misunderstandings. The specific plans are suggested because the exploitation problem is sensitive and must have particular guidelines to go after. The management of Body Shop cannot use flexible or general guidelines to reduce the events. This may overcome more problems and increase more boycott from pressure groups and customers.Allen (1998) stated that operational plans are standing. Standing plans are ongoing plans that provide guidance for the problems performed repeatedly and include some policies, rules and procedures that must be follow include policies, procedures, method, and rules. The Body Shop must establish a lot of policies or rules to guide their factories managers or supervisor to reduce the exploitation. With the ongoing policies or rules, The Body Shop can prevent the increasable of exploitation as well as can reduce it by 2010.The management of Body Shop can identify of how the goal is to be achieved by below operational plans: (i) Cr eating a team This team is required to visit the Body Shop’s factories in different countries to make sure there they do not have problems related to exploitation as well as examine the managers’ behaviour in controlling the workers. When the exploiting problem occurs, the team has to do research to find out the reasons. (ii) Establishing a policy to set minimum and fair wages The Body Shop’s organisation must set a minimum wages policy to guide their factories’ managers.The wages can be set more than the wages set by the government and must be fair for the workers. This can ensure the workers will not de dissatisfied with their salary in order to increase their performance. (iii) Putting in place an agreement between the indigenous peoples and organisation An agreement must be signed between the indigenous peoples and the Body Shop organisation to safeguard both parties’ interests. For example, a rule can identify that the ongoing ‘Trade Not Aid' or ‘Community Trade' projects must indicate 10%-20% of sales go to ‘Community Trade' producers.This is because the Body Shop had already claimed to help them so the Body Shop has kept its promise. (iv) Setting a standard application procedure A procedure how the managers select the workers or indigenous peoples to work must be set by the Body Shop organisation. The decision making by the factories’ managers must follow this standard application procedure. If the workers fulfill all the application procedures, the managers cannot abuse the application. (v) Organising social responsibilities The Body Shop can organise scholarship programmes for the indigenous or workers’ children.In addition, some facilities can be established to provide convenience for workers. For example, providing transportation set up a health clinic or a comminuting hall. Therefore, this kind of social responsibilities can prevent the pressure group and customers continue to boyco tt the Body Shop. (vi) Introducing a code of ethics The code of ethics provides guidance on everything from the simplest of questions to the most difficult ones on complex ethical dilemma. So a code which can guide the manager on how to prevent the exploiting problems can be included.For example, guide the managers to built trust between the workers and indigenous peoples, to define the problem accurately and what is the intention in making decisions. 2. 2 Controlling In this exploiting workers and indigenous peoples’ problem, the Body Shop is recommend to use the control process. This is because this process is useful and Robbins et al. (2006) stated that the control process including measuring actual performance, comparing actual performance against a standard and taking managerial action to correct the deviation.With this process, the Body Shop requires to measuring its actual performance. The Body Shop advise to measure the actual performance by collecting personal observ ation, statistical, oral, and written reports which is indicated by Allen (1988). After the measurement, the Body Shop can do comparing to determine the degree of variation between actual performance and performance standard with are the goal and the plans suggested above. If the variation is exceeding the acceptable variance, immediate and basic corrective action must be taken by the Body Shop to correct this variance.However, Allen (1988) stated that immediate corrective action is more efficient while basic corrective action is more effective. Thus, the Body Shop must take actions depend on how effective or efficient they target the actions to be. In order to reduce the exploitation, the Body Shop also proposes to use bureaucratic control. This is because bureaucratic controls emphasizes organisational authority and relies on administrative rules, policies and procedures (Robbins et al. , 2006). In the part of planning, there are a lot of plans are that identified with policy, agr eement and procedure.Consequently, The Body Shop must link them together to make sense. However, according to Robbins et al. (2006), managers need suitable tools for monitoring and measuring organisational performance. The tools for controlling organisational performance are called feedforward control, concurrent control and feedback control. 2. 2. 1 Feedforward Control Feedforward controls allow managers to prevent problems rather than having to correct the problems (Robbins et al. , 2006). The management of The Body Shop must sort out some actions which can prevent the problems occur. Feedforward control is the most desirable type of control.This is because this control can avoid led to waste or damages. The actions that the Body Shop can take in feedforward control are: (i) Establish some incentives to the workers or indigenous peoples whose performance is up to the task. For example, provide 15months wages per year, health care policies, and transportation. (ii) Provide some tra ining or guidance to the factories’ managers to ensure them has appropriate behavior in controlling the workers. 2. 2. 2 Concurrent Control Concurrent control is the control that takes place while a work activity is in progress (Allen, 2006).In this moment, the management of The Body Shop can monitoring their factories managers and corrects the problem before they become too costly. The actions that the Body Shop can take in concurrent control are: (i) Organising a direct supervision. For example, if there have some mistakes in abuse the workers’ wages or terrible managers’ behavior, the created team must directly correct them. (ii) Monitoring the managers. When the problem occurs, the Body Shop should organise a seminar to brief the managers in monitoring any problems that should be corrected.This can prevent more expenses need to bear before the misleading problems become more complex. 2. 2. 3 Feedback Control In feedback control, the control takes place after the activities are done (Robbins et al. , 2006). Feedback control is the most popular control. This is because feedback control can provide information on how effective their planning efforts were as well as enhance workers motivation. The actions that the Body Shop can take in feedback control are: (i) After the goal is achieved, the created team necessity does surprise visits to their outlet or factories in different countries.In this visits, the Body Shop will receive some useful or meaningful information to formulating new plans. (ii) Organise some survey for the workers. The survey maybe about the behavior of the managers. Through these kinds of visits and survey, the Body Shop organisation can understand whether the managers still follow the policy, agreement or procedure or not. 3. 0 CONCLUSION To reduce the exploiting workers and indigenous peoples’ problem, the Body Shop must indicated planning and controlling. The evidence stated that planning and controlling are t he most important and useful ways to reduce the problem.In planning, the operational plans which are short term, specific and standing are suggested. However, in controlling, the process of control and bureaucratic control is more appropriate in achieve the goal. Moreover, the tools for controlling organisational performance called feedforward control, concurrent control and feedback control also are suggested for the Body Shop organisation. 4. 0 RECOMMENDATION Therefore, there are 5 recommendations for the Body Shop organisation: (i) Creating a team (ii) Establishing a policy to set minimum and fair wages iii) Putting in place an agreement between the indigenous peoples and organisation (iv) Provide incentives to workers and indigenous peoples (v) Organising direct supervision References Allen, G. (1998). Planning Process. Management modern. Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://ollie. dcccd. edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/2planning/plng_process/plng_process. htm Bennis, W. (2003). On B ecoming a Leader. Trump Mediaeval: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc Carroll, S. J. & Gillen, D. J. (1987). Are the Classical Management Functions Useful in Describing Managerial Work? Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 38-51. Dawson, M. (2007).Behind the Green Veil: Notes from Stan Cox. The Consumer Trap. Retrieved April 23, 2008 from www. consumertrap. com Higgins, J. (1994). The Management Challenge, Macmillan: Author. Jayashree Pakhare, (2007). Management Concepts- The Four Functions of Management. Business & Finance. Retrieved April 26, 2008 from http://www. buzzle. com/articles/management-concepts-the-four-functions-of-management. html Lubicon Lake Indian Nation. (1995). Daishowa Boycott List Update. Retrieved April 15, 2008 from http://www. nisto. com/cree/lubicon/1995/19950909. html Robbins, S. , Bergman, R. , Stagg, I. , & Coulter, M. (2006).Foundation of Management. Australia: Pearson Education. The London Greenpeace Group. (1988). What's Wrong With The Body Shop? – A Criticis m Of ‘Green' Consumerism. McLibel Support Campaign. Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http://www. mcspotlight. org/beyond/companies/bs_ref. html Tolup, A. (2006). Brazilian and British courts order Body Shop to pay Brazilian Project's former workers. Retrieved April 15, 2008 from http://www. brazzilmag. com/content/view/7629/53/ Support Community Trade: What's happening in the US. (2007). Our Values. Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http: http://www. thebodyshop. com/bodyshop/values/support_community_trade. jsp

A Critique of 205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth

A Critique of â€Å"205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth† by Thomas Friedman Foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, Thomas Friedman, is a man who wants to try to change the world by trying to convince people to go green. But, he is convinced that going green is not as easy as everyone makes it sound. His article â€Å"205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth,† first published in 2007, presents several arguments attempting to convince people that while going green is difficult, it is possible.The author first discusses how we, as Americans, are not as green as we seem to be at first glance. He notes that we seem to only follow the â€Å"easy way to go green† and do not do nearly as much as we could for our planet. Furthermore he states that there are no â€Å"easy† ways to go green and that this word should never even be associated with the topic. Friedman points out that executives of large fuel companies are the only people who talk truthfully about the situ ation and that they take a guilty pleasure in knowing there is nothing we can really do about it.From what the CEO of electric company Chevron, David O’Reilly says, it could take decades for any change to occur, and at that time there will be even more people than what we are trying to meet the energy demands for now. Robert Socolow and Stephen Pacala, two professors at Princeton, are attempting to design scalable solutions to fix these problems. These two developed a pie chart, in which if eight of fifteen parts were completed, we would be on the right track for reducing our carbon emissions.Unfortunately, completing just one piece of the pie may be impossible with the way things seem to be going. Another individual, Nate Lewis a chemist at California Institute of Technology, claims that if we started trying to fix this problem right now, we would have to make as much clean energy as the energy we are currently consuming. With all of this being said even taking the first ste p towards a green revolution seems nearly impossible. Friedman starts his argument on this subject in a rather sarcastic way.He states â€Å"Who knew saving the Earth could be so easy–and in just under a minute† (290). While this does convey his opinion well, there are better ways of getting your point across. Overall though, the effectiveness of his entire argument is pretty well put together. He uses the phrase â€Å"green revolution† to describe this situation, and in using this term, he raises a good point. He goes on to say â€Å"A green revolution? Have you ever seen a revolution where no one got hurt? † (291). This is a very good way to put what he is trying to get across and what he is saying here is very true.To put it in simpler terms, he is saying that sacrifices will have to be made in order for any changes to take effect. Friedman also does a great job of laying out and breaking down what a systemic green strategy would look like into three e asy parts that make things seem so simple. The author gets this information not from what the books he read say but rather what he says is â€Å"left unsaid by these books† (293) Friedman then starts citing other author’s works to help his own ideas seem more plausible and convincing; beginning with Maniates.Freidman uses this author’s work to help support his own by showing that he agrees with Freidman’s idea that there are no easy was to go green and as soon as we realize this, the better (293). Freidman then goes on to compare how he explained the scale of the problem, in terms of weighing yourself (293), to Socolow and Pacala’s scale. The way that those two illustrate the scale of the problem definitely helps Friedman get his point across. He finishes by comparing his options to hard facts, Lewis’ calculations.Freidman says â€Å"his approach is useful in conveying the challenge† (297). It is indeed helpful, but it can at some poi nts be confusing when he goes deep into the calculations and statistics. Friedman has a natural writing style and he conveys what he is trying to say to the reader in a great way. His ideas about going green are inventive and, for the most part, are easy to comprehend. He is correct in what he says and his opinions are very agreeable. Going green is not easy and Friedman makes this very clear.Even though he does come straight out and say this, he backs himself up by providing multiple solutions to the situation. After considering what the author has to say, and looking at all the input that he provides on the situation, we can definitely agree with Thomas Friedman that going green is difficult but possible. Works Cited Friedman, Thomas L. â€Å"205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth. † Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 289-99. Print.

School Uniforms Essay

School Uniforms Essay School Uniforms Essay Should School Uniforms be in Public Schools? There has been a debate about children wearing uniforms in public schools. I am a parent of a child that wears a uniform to school. Picking out her clothes is so simple that she does it herself. My youngest daughter attends Sheffield Elementary School here in Lynchburg. She has no problem picking out her favorite jumper, white top, and favorite pair of shoes to start her day. All in all, there is not any fuss about â€Å"what to wear† in the mornings while she is getting ready. With that being said, I think it is a great thing that her school has a uniform policy. I think that all of our schools here in Lynchburg should take on this type of policy. I realize how easy it is getting my daughter ready for school verses my son. He has a slight dress code but nothing like the elementary school. My son goes to Heritage High School. They have a dress code versus a uniform policy. A dress code is a more laid back policy. It typically doesn’t require specific colors to wear. A uniform policy denotes exactly what a student is to wear to school at all times. Sheffield Elementary School has a uniform policy. They are to wear black, blue or kaki bottoms; shorts or pants for boys; shorts, pants, jumpers, skirts, skorts or capris for girls. As far as tops go; red, white, or blue polo’s and/or button up oxford style shirts are to be worn by both male and female students. Neither the shirts nor bottoms are allowed to have any visual logos on them unless they represent the school they are attending (Uniform Policy, LCS). In 2009, there was a school district in the Pocono Mountains, PA where the school superintendent made the decision to have a strict dress code that emulates a uniform. It improved the school tremendously. In fact within the first year of the new dress code program, the school had 1,000 less disciplinary referrals than the previous year (Bouselli). If our own schools would adopt an expanded policy similar to this one, I am sure there will be a decrease of the intolerable behavior in the schools within our community. By wearing uniforms there will be a decrease in bullying, minimize the evidence of gang involvement and reduce the violence that occurs by students being beat up over designer clothing (Fleming). Another huge point is for safety reasons (Fleming). In my own personal experience, when being part of a school field trip, students having the same color tops and bottoms on are great ways to find your group if you are ever separated. Students are more likely to have school spirit as well. This is also a great way to equalize each student (Fleming). Allentown, PA school districts will be enforcing a school uniform policy starting in the 2013/2014 school year (Esack). The assistant principal of Dieruff High School said that the majority of the freshman and sophomores that he questioned told him that they would prefer to have uniforms (Esack). When you have parents, students and faculty wanting to have a policy like this in place, then there will be a better balance to help improve the schools and its students. In the past, I had thought that having a uniform was ridiculous. I didn’t like the extra money I had to spend but, I have realized how wonderful it is. Like I stated earlier, picking out clothes for school is so simple, when you have a uniform there are no questions about what to wear. I can purchase some uniforms at a cheaper price but not one student knows where they came from. I have also come to realize that my daughter seems to make better grades while in this setting. My oldest daughter went to Sheffield and now attends Dunbar Middle School. She still makes good grades but, they were much better when she went to Sheffield. A study from a 1998 thesis at Ohio

14 Free Apps That Will Make You Incredibly Productive

14 Free Apps That Will Make You Incredibly Productive Doug Aamoth, writing for FastCompany, has done the hard work of sorting through the dozens of apps that promise to make your life easier to uncover the ones that actually can  make your life easier! Here’s our roundup of the top 14 apps to have at your fingertips to maximize productivity and minimize chaos! Emails and CommunicationsBoomerangThis easy-to-integrate app is essentially a snooze button for your email. You can dismiss an email from your inbox and set a time for it to return later, write a draft response at 1 am and schedule it to send right as you walk into the office, or set reminders to reply at a more reasonable hour. The free version gives you 10 email interactions a month.Burner  and MailDropThis one is so neat- it generates disposable phone numbers (or email accounts) that you can use whenever you need to make a number publicly available (without leaving your own precious digits visible for mass consumption. MailDrop is a no-frills temporary email address that disappears after 24 inactive hours; it’s great for Craigslist or promotional blasts.CordChances are if you have the Apple iOS, you’ve accidentally mashed that little microphone button and sent an audio snippet from the inside of your pocket. Cord helps you do that on purpose and with a group- you can send 12-second voice messages back and forth with ease.Group MeCreate and disband on-the-go private chat rooms when you need to chat with a group of people at once (and then make them stop flooding your text inbox with emoji conversations).VoxerThis converts your phone into a walkie-talkie without the strenuous button pushing or limited 30-foot radius for maintaining a connection. You can also leave voice messages in case they miss your rendezvous.Scheduling and MeetingsMeekanThis group scheduling app identifies available meeting times with just a list of participant emails, accommodates multiple time zones, and coordinates with existing calendars.PreziMany of my stud ents used Prezi instead of Powerpoint this summer- it made me feel old. Retain your youth and relevancy by learning how to use this cloud-based presentation tool! It lets you stream to remote attendees and post public presentations.ToolsCCleanerFor six months I had a defunct wireless client pop up whenever I booted up my Mac asking permission to run itself; I couldn’t seem to figure out where to uninstall it! CCleaner to the rescue! It will speed up your computer by deleting the flotsam and jetsam left behind in upgrades, file transfers, and browsing.CanvasI am a sucker for an easily customizable form app. From invoices to other frequently used workplace templates, Canvas lets you make and share them easily.PostfityIf your business or your personal brand relies heavily on social media (which†¦ it should), an app like Postfity may help you manage the myriad channels of posts and content you want to space out evenly. It has a scheduling tool and a linking functionality so you can share the same thing everywhere, or diversify your media presence.(PSA: don’t have Twitter and Instagram post verbatim to your Facebook. Schedule slightly different content for each feed. Your family, friends, and colleagues will appreciate it).OnavoMaybe you’re constantly going back and forth with how much data you think you’ll use versus how much you actually use. Onavo can help! It will not only help track usage, but will also compress files accordingly to save your data mileage for the cat gifs that really count.SyncSpaceWho doesn’t love a virtual whiteboard? It never gets old! It has everything but the marker fumes, lets you and your team collaborate on a shared visual document, then emails the changes around later.BreatherImagine AirBnb and ZipCar had a baby that let you hold meetings in it. Breather identifies available workspaces around cities like New York, San Francisco, Boston, Montreal, and Ottowa; your phone will unlock your insta-off ice for a half hour at a time so you can meet with clients, charge your phone, or just put your feet up before dashing off to the next appointment.BRB scheduling a Breather to present my latest Prezi- everybody check their Voxer messages!

Humanitarian Intervention In A Military Capacity Essay - 1

Humanitarian Intervention In A Military Capacity - Essay Example But once genocide has been defined, the question still remains of who should be able to intervene and under what circumstances. For the purposes of the international community, monitoring standards should be imposed when and where a more powerful nation or coalition of nations intends to intervene up for humanitarian purposes in a region where genocide is a possibility. Whatever pretext the invader claims as a moral justification for the military action should be evaluated by an international body, and codified. If the justification for an invasion is to ensure that threaten civilian populations receive access to food aid, then monitors should ensure that the invaders hold true to this stated intent. No modern democracy in the current political climate would openly claim that their intent is to rule over another nation for the sake of Empire, and if an invading nation, in fact, denies this purpose, then an international body should monitor the extent of their military involvement for the purpose of documenting legitimate benchmarks towards the restoration of sovereignty within the occupied nation after the physical crisis has abated. Sanctions or withdrawal of support in addition to international condemnation should follow if prearranged benchmarks are not met. This strategy should prove a reasonable standard with respect to the military actions of democratic societies, but different discussions would become necessary in the event of military adventurism by governments not limited by popular votes.

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

Management - Essay Example After that, everybody choose what part of the project that he or she wanted to do. By the second week, the group established a schedule that suited the whole team. The main purpose of this was to meet and discuss further plans in order to meet the course requirements. Also, the structure of the group was balanced, where every person reported to all the other members. This gave the group the advantage of knowing and being up-to-date on what their colleagues were working on. Another advantage that the group had was no task or process conflicts in choosing the film or working on our meeting schedule. The all-channeled structure made it easy for us to communicate with each other. The group also set their goals and expected outcomes from this experience, and then laid down the plan of how to meet them. Our goals for the team were very straightforward when we began our project. Unexpectedly, we had established some SMART goals for the team prior to knowing the full definition. Our specific goal was a time-bound goal. We decided that everyone would do his or her task and submit it by a specific time. The influence style most frequently used in our group was the collaborative approach. We worked together to include everyone in the decision making process and left no group member in the dark. There was never a set position of power because we all worked together in delegating all of our tasks. This influence style was highly effective because it allowed our group to work as a team and not as singular entities. By agreeing on all of our tasks together, we were able to form a strong unbiased opinion. This allowed us to efficiently set goals and maintain a strong work ethic. Through using this process, there were little to no conflicts. The only minor conflict that arose was when we could not find a set date that would allow our schedules to work together; however, we communicated effectively through emails and got together when