Housing Services Delivery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Housing Services Delivery - Essay Example The change of social housing organizations was hastened by a number of political, economical, and social factors. The first group of political accelerators comprises of governmental policies and regulations aimed at the increase of private housing in the UK. In the post-WWII period the housing policy of the UK government was focused on rebuilding, and providing new homes for the population. However, three reasons were hindering rebuilding processes: first, the government could only spend on housing what the country could afford; second, governmental investments in housing policy required better targeting on the neediest classes of population; and third, the efficient use of public spending were ought to be achieved through drawing in private funding (Collier and Luther, 2002). Thatcher's conservative policy on housing included two main phases: the extension of home ownership and the privatisation of rented housing. Through the increase of private housing among the population the gove rnment was able to focus on social groups, which could not afford to buy a house. Tax incentives, efficiency agenda, and right to buy policy was the next step to increase home ownership among the population: "The rights of council tenants and, later some housing association tenants, to buy their homes under the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire policies has enabled significant numbers of people (over 2 million) become owner occupiers" (Shelter, 2005). Nevertheless it had a negative impact on the supply of affordable housing for rent in many UK regions, "where the provision of new affordable homes has failed to keep pace with the numbers being lost through sales" (Shelter, 2005). The new problem has arisen: in 2002 Britain saw the lowest number of new houses built(measured in starts) since the end of World War II (Cameron, 2003). The housing supply was short, but moreover it mismatched the demand in the cities and regions. Thus, along with the stimulation of private housing governmental policies have created several obstacles on the development of UK housing marke t. Economic Factors Economical factors that lead to the shift from the welfare to contractual resource management in the housing industry identified in the literature are connected to further development of globalization. The success of Western economy, and the spread of the US way of life has entailed the rapid development of private sector in housing. It also has another effect. World Trade Organisation not only reduces barriers to international trade, but also increases the commercial exploitation of public services, including social housing. Pollock and Price (2000) indicate that market-orientated policies including privatisation of public service infrastructure through public-private partnerships is a part of a larger trend of privatization, and redefining of public goods as private responsibilities. The hopes of WTO are concerned with the commercial exploitation of public funding streams, and promoting the commercial interests of transnational corporations. Promotion of privatisation leads to the increase of competition among housing organisations as transatlantic players enter the housing market of the UK (Pollock and Price, 2000). On the one side it allows government to reduce funding to minimal, allowing private owners

Evaluate the proposition that the research findings from the use of Essay

Evaluate the proposition that the research findings from the use of animal models has led to new approaches to reduce the effects of ageing in wound healing - Essay Example This might help to identify the targets for novel and effective drug therapy. Normal wound healing is innate host immune response for tissue regeneration and repair involving coagulation, inflammation, epithelialization, formation of granulation tissue and tissue remodeling (Ashcroft et al. 2002). In response to injury stages of wound healing are depicted in figure 1 (Gosain and DiPietro 2004). The number of polypeptide growth factors and cytokines like epidermal growth factor (EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (ÃŽ ²-FGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) A & B isoforms, the transforming growth factor (TGF-ÃŽ ²), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in wound healing process. It is demonstrated that delayed wound healing in both elderly animal and human individuals is due to decreased inflammatory and proliferative responses, delayed angiogenesis, delayed remodeling and slower reepithelialization (Strigini and Ryan, 1996). Morphology of skin changes with aging process. It involves flattening of the dermo-epidermal junction, disorganized microcirculation, decrease in number of cells as well as dermal cell constituents like fibroblasts, mast cells, macrophages. Also, the morphology, properties and quantity of dermal extracellular matrix content such as collagen, elastin, glucosaminoglycans changes with aging. These variations lead to delayed cellular proliferation, migration, modified binding of growth factor to matrix, alteration in adhesion molecule synthesis and changes in molecular signaling (Ashcroft et al. 2002). These changes affect functional cell response to all the stimuli. The age-related changes in the individual phases of healing are summarize d in Table 1 (Goain and DiPietro 2004). The animal models which are used to study the impact of aging on wound healing are not suitably characterized. Therefore the reported evidences itself are contradictory (Ashcroft et al., 1995). Only well

Stages in Consumer Decision Making Process Essay Example for Free

Stages in Consumer Decision Making Process Essay An individual who purchases products and services from the market for his/her own personal consumption is called as consumer.To understand the complete process of consumer decision making, let us first go through the following example:Tim went to a nearby retail store to buy a laptop for himself. The store manager showed him all the latest models and after few rounds of negotiations, Tim immediately selected one for himself.In the above example Tim is the consumer and the laptop is the product which Tim wanted to purchase for his end-use. Why do you think Tim went to the nearby store to purchase a new laptop ?The answer is very simple. Tim needed a laptop. In other words it was actually Tim’s need to buy a laptop which took him to the store.The Need to buy a laptop can be due to any of the following reasons: * His old laptop was giving him problems. * He wanted a new laptop to check his personal mails at home. * He wanted to gift a new laptop to his wife. * He needed a new laptop to start his own business. Look more:Â  the consumer buying process begins when essay The store manager showed Tim all the samples available with him and explained him the features and specifications of each model. This is called information. Tim before buying the laptop checked few other options as well. The information can come from various other sources such as newspaper, websites, magazines, advertisements, billboards etc. This explains the consumer buying decision process. 1. Step 1 Need is the most important factor which leads to buying of products and services. Need infact is the catalyst which triggers the buying decision of individuals. An individual who buys cold drink or a bottle of mineral water identifies his/her need as thirst. However in such cases steps such as information search and evaluation of alternatives are generally missing. These two steps are important when an individual purchases expensive products/services such as laptop, cars, mobile phones and so on. 2. Step 2 When an individual recognizes his need for a particular product/service he tries to gather as much information as he can. An individual can acquire information through any of the following sources: * Personal Sources He might discuss his need with his friends, family members, co workers and other acquaintances. * Commercial sources Advertisements, sales people (in Tim’s case it was the store manager), Packaging of a particular product in many cases prompt individuals to buy the same, Displays (Props, Mannequins etc) * Public sources Newspaper, Radio, Magazine * Experiential sources Individual’s own experience, prior handling of a particular product (Tim would definitely purchase a Dell laptop again if he had already used one) 3. Step 3 The next step is to evaluate the various alternatives available in the market. An individual after gathering relevant information tries to choose the best option available as per his need, taste and pocket. 4. Step 4 After going through all the above stages, customer finally purchases the product. 5. Step 5 The purchase of the product is followed by post purchase evaluation. Post purchase evaluation refers to a customer’s analysis whether the product was useful to him or not, whether the product fulfilled his need or not?

How Close The Schlieffen Plan Came To Success

How Close The Schlieffen Plan Came To Success The  Schlieffen Plan was a strategic plan produced by the  German General Staff in the early 20th century. The plan was designed to deal with the threat of encirclement, as Germany had France  to the west and  Russia  to the east. The plan was put into action during the opening of The  First World War  in which Germany had to fight on both a  Western Front  and an  Eastern Front. The plan was designed to take advantage of the difference in time that it would take each of the three countries to mobilise for war. The thinking behind the plan was for Germany to avoid a  two front war  by focusing their armies in the west, quickly defeating the French forces as they had done in the franco-prussian war and then to move its armies using its internal rail network to the east, to deal with the Russian forces before they had time to mobilize fully. The Schlieffen Plan was created by Count  Alfred von Schlieffen  and modified by  Helmuth von Moltke the Younger   after Schlieffens retirement (1). The plan was actually used by Moltke, and, in its modified form, was executed to near victory in the first months of the First World War. However several factors, including the modifications to the original plan; a French counterattack on the outskirts of  Paris  (the  Battle of the Marne); and surprisingly speedy Russian offensives, prevented the plan from reaching its conclusion, thus ending the German offensive, and resulting in prolonged  trench warfare. After the  Franco-Prussian War  of 1870, the province of  Alsace-Lorraine, which had been French and contained a mixed population of French and Germans, had become part of the  German Empire. France was clearly eager to regain its lost territory. However because of  Bismarcks alliances, (2) France was unable to threaten Germany, once  Kaiser Wilhelm II  took the throne in 1888 he began to let the alliances slip and German leaders began to fear encirclement. The first element of the plan involved Germany quickly deploying its forces as well as ignoring the neutrality of  Luxembourg, Belgium  and the Netherlands. The strategic element of the plan was the powerful German right wing moving southwest through Belgium and Northern France, letting the last man on the right, brush the Channel with his sleeve,  in the words of Schlieffen (2), while maintaining only a defensive posture on the central and left wings, in  Lorraine, the  Vosges, and the  Moselle. As previously mentioned, Russian mobilization was thought to take around six weeks, this time was largely due to Russias poor rail network. Therefore after France was defeated within the scheduled forty two days, German high command  would transfer the bulk of the German army to the  Eastern Front. The plan initially deployed 91% of the German troops to France and only 9% to Russia. The goal was to overwhelm France in six weeks, (the time it took for Russia to mobilize its army), and turn back to the Eastern Front before Russia was fully prepared for war. Kaiser Wilhelm II is quoted as having said Paris for lunch, dinner at St. Petersburg.(7) However the German offensive was not successful and we can identify seven major reasons that the Schlieffen Plan failed these are: The effectiveness of the  British Expeditionary Force: The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was small compared to the vast armies being mobilised by France and German the total number of Tommys was only 75,000 at the beginning of the war. The French amassed millions of troops, and their aim was to use this number to push the German invasion back quickly and retake  Alsace. To this end, the French commander-in-chief  Joseph Joffre  deployed the small but highly professional BEF on the left flank, where it was thought that there would be no combat. However because of the spped at which the German forces advanced through Belgium, the British were nearly routed several times (3), but they managed to hold-up the Germans long enough for French and British reinforcements to arrive. While the BEF was forced to draw back throughout the month of August, it provided enough resistance against the  German First Army  under  Alexander von Kluck  to help encourage the German general to break off the Plan. Instead, von Kluck turned south- east towards  Compià ¨gne, showing his flank to the Garrison of Paris under  Gallieni, making possible the Miracle of the Marne. (5) The speed of Russian mobilization: The Russians moved faster than anyone expected, taking ground in  Eastern Germany  far quicker than the Germans had thought possible. While the initial Russian invasion was little more than harassment, had the Germans not moved forces to check them they would have come dangerously close to  Berlin. To prevent this Germans moved more troops from the western front to the east. This However was unnecessary and counterproductive as while the forces moved away from the Western Front were still being transported the  German forces in the east won the victory at Tannenberg in early September 1914, while at the same time battles on the Western front were going badly for Germany.(6) The French railway system: Because the Germans had been held up by the British and Belgians, the French had more time to organise and transport troops from the border to Alsace-Lorraine. The Germans had not accounted for how quickly the French would be able to do this, This resulted in the Germans encountering a very differently organised French deployment than the one they were expecting The French moved most of their troops by train, although there are reports of the French using taxis and marching large numbers of troops to get them into position in time. All of this meant that by the time the Germans got into France, the French were there waiting for them. Logistical shortcomings: van Creveld says that (7) Schlieffen does not appear to have devoted much attention to logistics when he evolved his great Plan. He well understood the difficulties likely to be encountered, but made no systematic effort to solve them. Had he done so, he might well have reached the conclusion that the operation was impracticable. Moltke did much to improve the logistic side of the plan. Under his direction, the problem was seriously studied for the first time and officers trained in the techniques of warfare Moltke did indeed make a number of alternations to the plan. From a simply logistical perspective, some of these changes were for the better, but most were detrimental to the cohesiveness of the plan was a complete stratagy. Creveld concludes that, overall, the logistical shortcomings of the plan did not contribute to the German defeat on the Marne.However had the  battle  gone in Germanys favour there is every reason to believe that the advance would have petered out. The prime factors would have b een the inability of the railheads to keep up with the advance, the lack of fodder, and sheer exhaustion. In this sense, but no other, it is true to say that the Schlieffen Plan was logistically impracticable. In van Crevelds view(7) the layout of the plan was did not have the necessary standard of thoroughness and detailed planning that was thought to be the hallmark of the German General Staff, but by  an ostrich-like refusal on Schlieffens part to face even those problems which, after forty years of peace, could be foreseen.  Although Moltke did improve the logistical elements of the plan to take into account modern communications technology., it was not the execution of carefully laid plans which allowed the German advance to enjoy the successes that it did, but  furious improvisation (7) That the German Army performed as well as it did when the orders they were receiving were so contradictory and unclear is testament as to what a formidable military force they really were. Moltkes changes to the plan: Chief of the General Staff Helmuth von Moltke altered several elements of the Schlieffen Plan, firstly he reinforced the east with 180,000 men from the right-wing armies to defend against Russia this watered down the invasion force in favour of a more secure eastern border. Moltke was also opposed to the idea of invading the neutral Netherlands in order to provide his armies with a route through to France. The result of this was that his forces were held up in Belgium and this resulted in the breakdown of the whole schedule that the plan was meant to follow. Moltke also moved more troops from his right wing to his left as he was worried that Allied troops could threaten Germany. In the original plan Schlieffen wanted to provide the opportunity for invading armies to threaten Germany before they were enveloped, as this would provide a political victory as well as a military one. This shift of man power became a problem, because the German left flank was now pushing the French back rat her than luring them away from Paris. This meant that the French forces were much closer to the action than was intended and they were condensed rather than spread out. Moltke also sent 80,000 troops to the east to defend against the Russian invasion. In the end Moltke had shifted 250,000 men away from the right wing invasion force watering the assault down to such a point that he had no choice but to abandon the Schlieffen Plan. The French were beaten back by the strongly reinforced left German armies of close to  Sarrebourg; the French forces pulled back and took up defensive positions in the hills near the city of Nancy(5). Instead of avoiding them and enveloping the French armies and Paris as the plan dictated. German high command chose to assault their heavily defended positions around Nancy. This offensive was a total failure. Belgian resistance: Even though the forces defending Belgium were only ten percent of the size of the invading German army, they still managed to hold the German forces up for almost a month, the Belgians quickly lost their forts and military strongholds but they continued to fight in an almost guerrilla style, constantly threatening German supply lines in the North. Also the fact the Germany had invaded Belgium turned European public opinion against them. German underestimation of the British-Belgian alliance: Britain and Belgium were in an alliance because of the  London Treaty that was signed in 1839.(3) Germany did not believe that Britain would keep to the treaty and defend Belgium. The British did keep to their word and surprised Germany by entering the war. This meant that Germany would have to contend with the royal navy and the highly effective BEF in the war. What actually happened was the opposite of what the plan intended (1) because Russia fell before France. The Russian army was defeated with very little cost to the Germans and Russia was forced out of the war before the western front was resolved. Meanwhile the Western front had huge amounts of manpower poured into it feeding the war of attrition that was taking place. The stalemate began to break in the summer of 1918 when Italy finally managed to defeat  Austria-Hungary, and forced them to withdraw from the war. This meant that Germanys southern flank was exposed. The defeat and withdrawal of  Bulgaria  also made Germany venerable to an Allied advance up the  Danube. In 1917 the United States entered the war and brought with it a substantial amount of troops, this meant that Germanys final push in 1918 was defeated and the allies were able to push the Germans out of France and into Belgium and then back towards the German border. Once it became clear that western front was lost, Germany requested terms and the First World War came to a close. There is no denying that the plan came close to success but with so many factors weighted against it and the poor decisions made German high command in regards to the plans execution. the Schlieffen Plan was never going to win the war for Germany. Moltkes fear of Russia proved unfounded and his changes in deployment unnecessary. If these changes had not been made then the plan may have enjoyed more successes as it was the Germans did not have the man power to build on their initial gains and therefore had to retreat. The plan itself however has merit and I think that its fair to say if the execution of the plan had not been watered down so much by Moltke and Schlieffens original plan was stuck to then France may well have fallen and the thin line that separated defeat from victory would have been crossed by the Germans.

Port-a-Blast :: Personal Narrative Writing

Port-a-Blast I had been waiting in the cold, empty interrogation room for hours anticipating the dreaded arrival of the detective. It had to be one of the longest nights of my life waiting in anticipation to find out the consequences I was about to face. I had numerous thoughts running through my mind about how I was going to get out of this predicament. I was the last of four, Kevin, Chris, Brian, and I, to be interviewed. To my relief, I did not have to talk my way out of the crime I had committed, which seemed to have occurred days earlier. It was about ten o’clock on a brisk and lonely night in November of 2001 when we parked my car about 800 meters away from our target, the notorious port-a-potty, which was located on the west side of the park. My car was the only car in the parking lot, which turned out to be our biggest mistake of the night. We sat in the car for about ten minutes with thoughts racing through our heads of the getaway route we were going to take. We talked about what we would do if we got split up on the run back and where we would meet. We also made sure we emptied our pockets of cell phones, wallets, and anything else that we might drop, which could connect us to the scene. The walk through the park to the port-a-potty seemed to be one of the longest walks of my life. The anticipation and excitement was like that of a kid opening presents on Christmas Eve. We were not exactly sure what was going to happen when we would place the sparkler bomb in the port-a-potty, but we had a good idea and could not wait to find out. When we finally reached the port-a-potty, we were constantly on the lookout for passers-by. We ended up waiting about thirty minutes for the coast to clear. We did not want to take any chances, because we knew of the considerable distance we had to run. Kevin would be the one to light the sparkler bomb, while Chris, Brian, and I were on the lookout. We made sure we had our running shoes tied up tight one last time. As Kevin stepped into the port-a-potty, we waited about ten feet behind in a row of trees impatiently anticipating the lighting of the sparkler bomb.

The Effects of Losing Rainforest :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the article satellite images reflect that the Amazon rainforest is diminishing at an enormous rate. About 10,000 square miles of this beautiful forest is being lost to pastures for grazing, soybean plantations, and illegal logging. Since the year before there has been a forty percent increase in the deforestation of the Amazon forest. The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest. They expect this horrible trend to only become worse. Some conclude that if the forest is not protected that it will be wiped out in only eighty years!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The destruction of our earth’s rainforest is very depressing. Last semester I took Ecol 1000 and this class deals with all of the horrible things humans do to our planet. I didn’t realize that the rainforests were being destroyed at such a dramatic pace. People use a technique called â€Å"slash and burn† which enables them to clear plots in order for cattle or for other agricultural purposes. The rainforest provides a habitat for a wide array of species. This is not fair for people to go in and take over there homes. The destruction of the rainforests has intense adverse affects on lots of differing things. Rainforest not only house a great number of species of insects and trees but it also holds cures for diseases. The destruction of the rainforest has not really been proven how it will affect us because there is so much information to be gathered. We do not know all of the consequences that we will endure once all of the trees are gone and all of the wild life has been destroyed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is scary to think about the consequences we may suffer. Once all of these magnificent forests are gone the green house gas levels will increase and we also don’t know all of the harmful effects that this may cause. We need to do everything possible to develop a way to better manage the destruction of our rainforest before it is to late!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As our population grows every year, we lose very valuable resources. People are continuously reducing the biodiversity of our planet. The loss of biodiversity with our tropical rainforests, oceans, and lakes are very harmful and unpredictable.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rainforest are so rich with various species that it is highly doubtful that we will ever encounter them all. Rainforest are being destroyed by developing nations in order for homes, agriculture, and other various reasons.

Sex Discrimination at Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart stores, the world’s biggest retailer, owns more than 4,000 stores, including 1,475discount stores 1750 Wal-Mart Supercenter combination discount and grocery stores and 540 Sam’s Club Warehouse stores. With close to two million employees worldwide, Wal-Mart is the biggest employment provider in the world. In this paper I am going to discuss; 1. What financial impact could the lawsuit potentially have on Wal-Mart? 2. What are the major moral complaints of the females suing Wal-Mart? Are these moral complaints are justified? Why? . What, if anything, should Wal-Mart do to correct these discrepancies? Should the company institute an â€Å"affirmative action† promotion program for female employees? If so, what should this program look like? 4. Do women deserve to win their lawsuit? Though Wal-Mart suffered lots of lawsuits which included child-labor, illegal immigrant workers, failure to pay over time charges the recent and major law suit they are facing now is the discrimination against female employees in promotions, pay, management training and job assignments.It was, therefore, a noteworthy event in June 2004 when a federal judge expanded a lawsuit filed by six California women to a class action. The case has now mushroomed to cover 1. 6 million women Wal-Mart workers, employed nationwide since 1988, making it, by far, the largest class action in U. S. history. What financial impact do you think lawsuit could potentially have on Wal-Mart? We all know, Wal-Mart is the biggest or largest retail store in the world. Naturally, their earning and employees are also more compared to other corporate.The lawsuit against the company was not the company needed when they were facing other legal issues such as the child labor and employment of illegal immigrants. The lawsuit was filed by six women who say women were treated lower than the male even if they acquired equal posts, qualification and experience. The news already reached every househo ld, street and public place thus bringing the name of the company down. This could have a huge impact on the company’s earnings and here we are not saying in terms of hundreds or thousands of dollars we mean millions and billions of dollars. Some of the impact could occur in the following forms: ?The six women who filed the case against Wal-Mart are not only asking the company pay for the unfair deed but also asking them to pay back and compensate for all 1. 6 female employees against whom Wal-Mart discriminated. This would cost the company a fortune because these 1. 6 female workers were entitled to promotions, salary increment, trainings and other such things. To compensate or reimburse that much amount for that much workers would surely have a huge and major impact on the company’s financial position. ?The other way how this lawsuit could affect the company’s financial position would be through the transaction or sales.Since major part of the shoppers constit utes women, after hearing what Wal-Mart has done and how women are treated at Wal-Mart they would certainly feel insecure and ripped off. They would turn their backs and look for a better place to shop. This would lead to a fall in sales and increase in competition. ?Other thing is the reputation and goodwill of the company. The lawsuit already has brought the name of the company down and on top of that if the company fails to win the case, then the company would suffer a huge fall of share in the market.They would even have to close most of the stores and start all over again which would be impossible looking at the current market situation and all the competition worldwide. ?And not to forget the turnover of workers or employees. Reaching this news of discrimination I personally believe that most of the women employees will quit their job, even those who did not experience the situation. So interviewing, selecting or recruiting those new employees would cost Wal-Mart another milli on. Moreover, those new employees would have no experience and would commit lots of errors.Training them would again add to the cost. What are the major moral complaints of the females suing Wal-Mart? Do you believe these moral complaints are justified? Why? The major moral complaints of females suing Wal-Mart in the case basically cover the discrimination against female employees. To point out what constitutes those complaints: ? Difference in the promotion scheme between male and female employees ? The lower payment of wages and salaries to female employees even they were at same level with male employees ? Unequal distribution of management training among the male and female employees ?Male allotted a better job assignment compared to women even they were equally qualified, ranked and experienced. Yes, I believe these complaints are justifiable because we can see from every point that women were not treated fairly and equally. It wasn’t that women lacked in anything or tha t they were unwilling to work, it was because they were woman. We can very well compete with men and in some cases may even prove better than them but it is act like this what is pulling the power of women down. The six women who sued Wal-Mart didn’t sue for nothing; they had physical proof and evidences of the discrimination laid upon them.Some of the evidences were found in the employees’ records where by Richard Drogin, a statistical expert found out that employees atWal-Mart were divided into two main groups, hourly employees who occupied the lower levels and salaried managers who occupied the higher levels. Compensation increases from one level tithe next. In 2001, salaried managers made about $50,000 a year while hourly employees made$18,000. Drogin found out that not only 65% of hourly employees were women but also 33% of salaried managers constituted women.So at both the point women earned less than man. When we also look upon the experience level, an average w oman was far more experienced than an average man because women worked or stuck there for longer than men. Women despite having other responsibilities like raising a kid or managing the home, they dedicate more where they work that is why they have less turnover rates. So this adds up to another reason why the lawsuit was appropriate or justifiable. It is strange but true; the performance rating of an average woman was much higher than of an average man.Drogin found out that be it in a cashier’s place, a manager’s place or a sales associate’s place women performed better than men. However women were paid about 5% to15% times less than men and on top of that fewer women got promoted to the next rank that too in a very long time whereas a man would get promoted within the speculated time or even less into the next post. Wal-Mart was fined $188,000 by the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission for violating California state law when it refused to reinsta te a woman after she completed her maternity leave.In addition, Wal-Mart also offers a pitifully small amount of paid sick time for working women, and requires employees to be available for shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, making it extremely difficult for working mothers to schedule child care or take time off to care for a sick child. So the main point here is that at any angle or point we can see women were not treated fair and left to suffer. If women do not come together and fight for their rights when they have the opportunity then women will always remain a victim.Then there is no use shouting at the store or ourselves that we deserve more or we have earned it, it would be too late then. Besides the moral complaints by the female workers at Wal-Mart there were major issues involving the employees which were not noted earlier, some of the issues were: ? Wal-Mart pays low wages and appears to aggressively seek to keep wages down. On average, Wal-Mart workers earn an estima ted $8. 00/hour with a 32 hour work week. This equals $256 a week or $13,312 a year. The Federal poverty level for a family of threes $14,630. In contrast, union grocery workers earn on average 30% more. Charges have been made that older workers are laid off to bring in younger and cheaper employees. Some 40 lawsuits accuse Wal-Mart of a failure to pay overtime. ?It pulls wages and benefits down in other grocery stores. It lowers area standards. In some cases, it forces the closure of better paying firms. Business Week estimates for every Wal-Mart supercenter that opens, two other supermarkets will close. ?It pressures suppliers to make products more cheaply, putting pressure on wages, causing jobs to be moved overseas. Last year, it imported 12 billion in goods from China, 10% of US imports from that nation. Wal-Mart doesn’t produce new technology or innovations that improve the quality of life. It takes business from existing firms by offering the same merchandise cheaper. That’s all it does. So I believe it is not only justifiable but also rightful to file the lawsuit against such treatments. On top of that the evidences and statics are on the women’s side so therefore the lawsuit is 100% justifiable. What, if anything, do you think Wal-Mart should do to correct these discrepancies? Should the company institute an â€Å"affirmative action† promotion program for female employees?If so, what should this program be like? The problem was caused by the company, Wal-Mart so definitely they have to find a solution and try to correct their mistakes. They have already started working on the problem. Some of the initiatives they have taken are: ? They had posted â€Å"anti-discrimination† posters all over ? Women were allotted more responsibilities and representation in areas they were evaluated ? Women could enter salaried management jobs without having to relocate their homes. But since such initiatives were not firmly implemented some of them were forgone with the passage of time.Some of initiatives Wal-Mart could think of or adopt are: 1) Work Discrimination I am talking about the actual work or labor work. Women at Wal-Mart seem to be working at par with men but still they are not paid at par. To compensate for the women’s losses they could reduce their work time or they could allocate women to areas where minimum energy is required. For example they could work at displaying of items, as a cashier, and such places where not much of hard labor is required. 2) Facility such as Day Care Wal-Mart is one of the biggest retail all over the world and they have lots of property they own.If they established some Day care center for their employees especially the female employees then those employees who have kids can drop their kids in those center and work care free in the store. The center could be near the store and they could also charge some amount as charge but this could not only benefit the workers but also the company for could avoid unnecessary absenteeism. An association called the Women’s Association can be formed in every retail store so that female employees can come together to discuss their issues and forward suggestions and feedback.Such programs do not have to disturb their normal work time, it could be conducted once in every month or whenever major issues arise. 4) Equal Respect At Wal-Mart’s women were mostly looked down and not given the respect they deserve. Adwoman may be somebody’s mother, wife or sister. Men at Wal-Mart fail to see that and they criticized women of their looks, their past, future and their purpose in life. So therefore women should be given respect and treated equally. Yes definitely the company should institute an â€Å"affirmative action† in order to promote program for the female employees.From my point of view, since the company is based in the United States they should associate their program with the Statue o f Liberty. That statue denotes the power of women and it signifies the right to freedom for all the U. S citizens. The title or the main theme of such program could be â€Å"Liberty for Women† . Whereby they could stress the freedom to speak, advance and employment especially for the female workers. They could relate women to some famous figure such as the Mother Teresa or simply their own mom. On this particular day they could give all the female employees a one day holiday and let them embrace themselves.The company should however grant monetary compensation for this day. This way women employee could proudly say they work at Wal-Mart and dedicate completely to their work and avoid complaining. Some of the points they could keep in mind while pursuing such program could be as follows: ? The right and responsibilities of women ?The importance of women ?The success of women till now ?The potential and ability of women ?The sacrifices women make in every aspect of life Referen ces Wal-Mart Class Action Gender Discrimination Case Holds,(2012), Myron Curry, retrieved from http://www. usiness-marketing. com/store/article-walmart. html Are Women Discriminated Against at Wal-Mart? , (2012), Dan Ackman, retrieved from http://www. forbes. com/2004/06/23/cx_da_0623topnews. html Wal-Mart, pay your fair share,(2006), Randy Joseph, retrieved from http://www. seattlepi. com/local/opinion/article/Wal-Mart-pay-your-fair-share-1194522. php Female Wal-Mart Employees File New Bias Case, (2011), Andrew Martin, retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2011/10/28/business/women-file-new-class-action-bias-case-against-wal-mart. html? _r=0