Campaign Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Campaign Evaluation - Essay Example It incorporates specialized skills and expertise in the practice to incorporate and navigate through media relations and public relations without infringing on the practices of each continuum. Public relations relies on the critical and practical tools of media release, media conference and media kits. Further, these tools also combine with the management skills in advising bout the most preferable course of practice or action to follow. Thus, there is need to understand the role of media relations and public relations accordingly in facilitating the establishment of a successful campaign (Delahaye, 2011, p 18). A successful campaign meets the evaluation criteria that encompass the residual practices from media and public relations as facilitating continuums to the topic of campaign evaluation. Media has the potential to evolve the practice of public relations accordingly to reflect a global strategy that features interactive and symmetrical dialogue that is socially responsible. In modeling the two fields, various theoretical approaches are key to facilitate the processes of campaign strategy development and execution (Delahaye, 2011, p 23). Notably, the initial models that define public relations in this context entail the following. First, is the press agency, which constitutes the publicity of the campaign in the process. The fundamental element of publicity develops in the context of evaluating campaign since; publicity uses persuasion and manipulation in the pursuit to influence the audience towards behaving according to the organization objectives and desires (De Beer & Merrill, 2004, p 43). Thus, the audience in this sense relies on the ability of the media agency to develop strategic message that persuades and manipulates the audience accordingly to incline toward s the message of the press agency. Thus, public relations possessing this fundamental element, media relations

Management - Business Simulations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management - Business Simulations - Essay Example The month end bank balance of ?7687 is decent enough to start with and is sufficient to meet the immediate cash needs as compared to the level of business activity. The slightly higher fixed costs of ?826 are indicative of the initial spending in research and networking which is absolutely crucial at this stage to take the business into the future. This is a step in the right direction at this stage. There is a net loss of ?778 and at this stage it is quite expected as the sales effort starts showing results only after some time. Besides, from the Time spent breakup (Appendix 1.2), it seems that the sales effort is greater than the overall marketing effort at this stage, since building cash inflow is a priority at this stage. The idle time shows that here is pressure to build up business and this is translated into sales activity which is more action oriented than the marketing activity. The same trend continues in February and is depicted in March ’13 report. In March’ 13, the bank balance is more or less maintained, indicative of even cash inflows and outflows. However, the expenditure and time on the marketing and product research activities shows an increase. The customer research and competition research is complete and the product redesign based on the research has been completed y this time. The business breaks even in the month of March 13 which is shown in the April 13. The bank balance is maintained and the business shows strong growth signs. The sales are increasing and the bank balance is building up with increase in new orders. The production time is increasing and the idle time is decreasing. The business has made a small profit of ?45. However, this trend is reverted the very next month owing to higher overheads in terms of spending business website. The website though a cost, is the right decision at the right time for the business, since, an online presence with the traditional marketing as well as supply chain management methods was hugely complemented by the same. Since at this time, the number of sales enquiries from traditional marketing methods is too low to sustain the business (Appendix1.3). The sales effort and its effectiveness has been maintained and is evident from the fact that the product stock at the end of the month is zero for a considerable period of time that is from Jan’ 13 to Feb’14. This apart from sales effort is also indicative of good inventory planning. However, by month May 13, due to lack of orders, the production capacity was idle for the most part. The scenario seems to be a result of overemphasis on research and planning at the expense of sales effort in recent past. The management was advised to give some more focus to the core activity of selling. This showed some result in the very next month, when the orders from previous month exceeded an amount of ?2870 and this is where the business starts making profit on a sustainable basis. The production capacity is util ized to a great extent and the idle time minimized. The growth in profit continues and by August, the production targets are being met. The Marketing team was advised to work out the possibilities of a long term business opportunity. The effort showed results in the form of the first customer contract by August 13 (Appendix 1.4). By September

Kant and plato Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Kant and plato - Essay Example These perceptions, in turn, are not just consequences of an examination or analysis of judgments of experience into their inseparable parts. According to Kant, before â€Å"a judgment of perception can become a judgment of experience; it is requisite that the perception should be subsumed under some concept of the understanding.† (41) From this perspective, perceptions would supposedly lead us to make our judgments and that synthesis appears only in so far as the priori conceptions of the understanding enable us to go beyond the particular judgment of perception and to turn them into universal judgment of experience. To prove, according to Kant, the possibility of experience in the context of the a priori concept of understanding, one needs to represent what belongs to judgments in general and the various moments of the understanding in them. (42) Kant explained that understanding provided us with the categories that we could use in order to judge experience. He argued that this is particularly useful in judging ideas, such as the soul, God or freedom – things that are beyond experience. Understanding in his philosophy is not unlike judging, specifically when the act is done to unite representations in a consciousness. Again, the fundamental elements here are the intuition as well as Kant’s concept of the noumena or things in themselves, existing outside our intuitions such as Kant’s metaphysical knowledge which abstracts from all experience. â€Å"Experience,† wrote Kant, â€Å"consists of intuition, which belong to sensibility, and of judgments, which are solely the understanding’s business.† (43) This explanation is one of Kant’s depictions of interrelating and interdependent elements required in order to achieve knowledge. To clarify possible confusion, Kant summed his analogies in this way: â€Å"the business of the senses is to inuit; that of the understanding, to think.† (Kant

Blue Rhinos Business Strategy and Information Systems Essay

Blue Rhinos Business Strategy and Information Systems - Essay Example In fast-growing complex businesses, the uncertainties in employee productivity levels, customer satisfaction levels, operating costs, duplication of work, operations performance, actual revenues, ability to grow, forecasting & hypothecations, etc. increases beyond the comfort levels of the Management and Stake Holders. In light of these uncertainties, an organization may need to implement an effective, integrated & controlled Business Information System (BIS). However, such a system is not just a product which can be purchased, plugged and played. Management commitment and end-user buy-in are critical to implementing the BIS (The ERP Selection process survival guide, Relevant Business Systems Inc, 2005, p.3). In this case-study, Blue Rhino Management did take the wise decision to implement BIS and provide interfacing to employees, suppliers, and customers via an Intranet. The implementation actually became faster and more collaborative & effective because of Sarbanes-Oxley legislation that was implied on the organization. Blue Rhino is a national leader in their business that deals with Propane Cylinder Exchange Services. Their growth soared in a very short time due to aggressive spirit of the organization, macro management by the CEO (empowerment of staff) and a major strategic change in their business – exchanging cylinders rather than refilling cylinders. Employee empowerment works well for this kind of retail business analogous to the Wal-Mart business model (Malone, Thomas W. 1997, Sloan Management Review, Winter97, Vol.38, Issue 2, p.125-125, 1/2p).  

Vishnu-Mythology God Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Vishnu-Mythology God - Research Paper Example Vishnu is responsible for sustaining and maintaining the universe. Shiva is the destroyer who time and again annihilates the old order, so that new life can emerge. Vishnu is the most worshiped god amongst the Hindus, especially amongst the Vaishnavite sect of Hinduism. Even a cursory study of the Hindu philosophy and mythology reveals that it is not that the beliefs of Hindus were not based on logic and rationality evident in the ways of nature. However, to a great extent, like the Egyptians and the ancient Chinese, Hindus preferred to personify their essentials beliefs and faith in the guise of mythological characters, gods and demons. This approach served many purposes. It allowed the commoners to grasp the eternal tussle between the good and the bad in a more visually understandable way (Pattanik 21). Besides, considering the fact that in the times when the essential Hindu theology emerged, it was common to disseminate religious doctrines by word of mouth instead of writing them (Pattanik 21). So, the mythological characters and the stories and myths associated with them made it easier to spread religious beliefs from one person to other, from teacher to disciple and from one generation to other. Vishnu is one major god of the Hindu mythology that accrued the awe and reverence of Hindus, in measures which supersede any other god of Hindu mythology. Iconography Primarily speaking, Hindu religion since times immemorial has been a visual religion. Each and every god of the Hindu mythology is associated with a definite form, character, and the accompanying weapons and accoutrements, which besides being visually appealing connote a specific and deeper meaning (Dimmitt 44). The forms of most of the Hindu gods have not changed since times immemorial, a trend that depicts the timelessness and eternal appeal of this faith. Like many other gods, Vishnu also has a specific form and look, depicted in the ancient and contemporary iconography, and cherished and elaborate d on in the ancient texts. In the ancient icons and texts, Vishnu is presented as being blue colored. Simply speaking, the blue color of Vishnu depicts his all pervasiveness. The blue is the color of the sky. The ocean is also always blue. Also, both the sky and the ocean are endless and immense. Similarly, the blue color of Vishnu connotes that god is all pervasive and is present everywhere. Nothing could be hidden from the eyes of god. Also, Vishnu is a male god who is always shown as having four arms. These four arms of Vishnu again convey the all pervasiveness of god, but albeit in a more elaborate way. The front two arms of Vishnu convey his pervasiveness in the physical world. The two arms at the back of Vishnu uphold him as a master and lord of the spiritual world. Surprisingly, in this way the ancient Hindus it seems to have done away with the dichotomy between the physical and the spiritual existence, or in Western terms, between the mind and the matter. In most of the icon s, Vishnu is shown as wearing a crown that conveys his sovereignty over the entire universe. Also, the earrings in both the ears of Vishnu convey the organization of the universe in terms of opposites that are good and bad, wise and foolish, big and small, beautiful and ugly and so on. Interestingly, while on the one side goodness, wisdom and beauty are shown as the accessories of Vishnu, he is equally adorned by evil, pettiness and ugliness. This in a way conveys the Hindu philosophical belief that the Universe can survive

Capital Markets Midterm Questions and Solutions Essay Example for Free

Capital Markets Midterm Questions and Solutions Essay 2 percent for each question 1. Liquidity is the ease with which an asset can be exchanged for money 2. The concept of adverse selection helps to explain why the ï ¬ nancial system is heavily regulated 3. The Fed can inï ¬â€šuence the fed fund interest rate by selling T-bills, which ____reserves, thereby ____the federal fund rate. removes, raising 4. Standard Repos are very low risk loans 5. A 4-year bond pays an annual coupon of 3.5%. If the interest rate equals 2.75% per year, how much do you have to pay to buy the equivalent of a $1,000,000 bond face value? $10 0280 000 6. Unanticipated deï ¬â€šation implies a a decline in net worth, as price levels fall while debt burden remains unchanged. 7. What is the annualized discount rate on a Treasury bill that you purchase for $9,900 and that will mature in 91 days for $10,000? 3.96% 8. Moral hazard is a problem arising from only A and B of the above 9. A discount loan by the Fed to a bank causes a(n) ____ in reserves in the banking system and a(n) ____ in the monetary base. increase; increase 10. The standard deï ¬ nition of the shadow banking systemt includes money market funds, hedge funds, and pools of securitized assets Comprehensive Questions (30 percent) 6 percent for each question 1) The ï ¬ nancial system is important because it channels funds, reduces asymmetric information problems, provides an eï ¬Æ'cient payment system, and helps to manage risk. Explain the remaining functions that the ï ¬ nancial system performs. Besides these functions, the ï ¬ nancial system provides ways for invididuals to pool their resources. For instance, some investment projects generate a positive NPV, but require a large initial down payment. Dividing ownership into many individual shares provides an eï ¬Æ'cient way to pool individual resources in order to ï ¬ nance these investment projects. The ï ¬ nancial system also provides liquidity to market participants. This is important because corporations and individuals do not have the same time-horizon. Therefore, it would be very diï ¬Æ'cult for corporations to get long-term sources of funding without these liquidity services. Finally, the ï ¬ nancial system provides important information to ï ¬ nancial investors, corporate managers, and political leaders. This information is critical to improve the decision-making process. For instance, managers may use the information observed in the ï ¬ nancial system to compute the NPV of investment projects. 2) One of your friend tells you: The main function of the ï ¬ nancial system is to channel funds from lenders to borrowers. This function can be performed interchangeably by capital markets or ï ¬ nancial institutions. Do you agree? Why? It is true that both capital markets and ï ¬ nancial institutions are useful in channeling funds from lenders to borrowers. However, they diï ¬â‚¬er in a fundamental way. Contrary to capital markets, ï ¬ nancial institutions are extremely good at dealing with asymmetric information problems. This is due to the private nature of their activities. By avoiding free-riding, banks can bare the substantial costs of screening and monitoring borrowers. Therefore, corporations for which asymmetric information problems are substantial (e.g., small corporations), rely heavily on banks’ funding. If banks cut lending, as it was the case during the recent crisis, these companies do not have the option of receiving funding from capital makets, and must reduce their activities. Therefore, some of the functions performed by banks cannot be performed interchangeably by capital markets. 3) What is Quantitative Easing and how does it diï ¬â‚¬er from the standard tool used by the Fed to expand the monetary base? What was the stated purpose of Quantitative Easing? Quantitative Easing refers to the central bank’s policy of buying long-term securities, speciï ¬ cally mortgage-backed securities and 10—year Treasury bonds. This is diï ¬â‚¬erent from the standard approach used by the Fed. Traditionally, the Fed expands the monetary base by implementing an open-market purchase of T-bills. The stated purpose of Quantitative Easing was to decrease the yield of these long-term securities. From the viewpoint of borrowers, this decrease would help them get lower reï ¬ nancing conditions, thus easing pressure in these markets. From the viewpoint of lenders, this decrease in yield may render these securities less attractive. Therefore, lenders may be willing to start buying risky assets again, thus improving economic conditions. 4) One student argues: If more customers want to borrow funds at the prevailing interest rate, a ï ¬ nancial institution can easily increase its proï ¬ ts by raising interest rates on its loan. Is this statement true, false, uncertain? Explain your answer. The situation faced by the bank is the following: it has limited resources and sees a lot of clients willing to borrow money, creating excess demand. The statement above is uncertain. A priori, we might believe that if the bank increases the interest rate, it is able to eliminate this excess demand and generate additional proï ¬ ts (there would be an increase in both the proï ¬ t per loan and the quantity of loans). However, this reasoning assumes that the credit quality of the borrowers stays constant. This may not be true because raising the interest rate also increases adverse selection. To illustrate, consider the used-car market. If buyers observe an increase in the number of people interested in selling their cars, they may want to oï ¬â‚¬er a lower price. But a lower price gives incentive to the sellers of good cars to leave the market, leaving only sellers of lemons. As a result, the average quality of the cars purchased by buyers will decrease. A large part of the excess demand observed by the bank is driven by poor credit ï ¬ rms. After increasing the interest rate, the bank observes that these ï ¬ rms still agree to borrow, i.e., their poor credit quality should be charged an even higher interest rate. On the contrary, this higer interest rate may discourage good ï ¬ rms from borrowing from this bank because the loan becomes too expensive. As a result, the relative importance of bad ï ¬ rms over good ones increases, leading to a decrease in the average ï ¬ rm quality. This decrease in quality may lead to higher default rates and to a decrease in the bank’s proï ¬ t. 5) What is meant by a ï ¬â€šight to safety/liquidity? When does it occur? How can it trigger these negative spirals on the value of the banks’ balance sheet? A ï ¬â€šight to safety/liquidity commonly describes the behaviour of investors when they attempt to sell the risky/illiquid assets they hold in their portfolio and move towards safe/liquid assets. This ï ¬â€šight typically occurs in times of crisis when the investors’ willingness to take risks decreases signiï ¬ cantly. Since banks mostly hold risky and illiquid assets, these ï ¬â€šights to safety have a strong impact on their asset value. As their capital gets curtailed, their risk proï ¬ le increases, making investors and depositors more worried about the potential losses they may incur. Because these lenders give money on a short-term basis, they can quickly go to the bank and ask for their money back. Then, banks have to scramble for liquidity and sell their risky/illiquid assets. When many banks try to sell simultaneously, the price of these assets will go further down. For instance, suppose that in normal times, the bank would have to sell 15% of its assets to reimburse lenders. As many institutions sell simultaneously, the bank has to sell more than 15%. Observing these additional losses, investors and depositors may want to further reduce the amount they are willing to lend, aggravating the liquidity issues face by banks. Overall, these eï ¬â‚¬ects reinforce each other, creating a spiraling eï ¬â‚¬ect. Understanding Interest Rates (30 percent) 15 percent for question 1, 10 for question 2, and 5 for question 3 1) In February 2010, a column in the Wall Street Journal warns: Be wary of long-term bonds The risk of higher expected inï ¬â€šation is in due course. Longer-term bonds are the most at risk. Using the supply and demand analysis studied in class, plot a graph that clearly explains the eï ¬â‚¬ect of an increase in expected inï ¬â€šation on the bond price. Why are longer-term bonds more at risk? Explain whether your analysis would be diï ¬â‚¬erent if you were to examine the impact on the price of TIPS. Since the coupon rate paid by US government bonds is ï ¬ xed in nominal terms, news of higher expected inï ¬â€šation leads to a decrease in the real rate of return oï ¬â‚¬ered by these bonds. As a result, the demand curve moves to the left as investors want to invest their money in securities with better return prospects. In addition, the supply curve moves to the right as corporations can borrow at lower costs in real terms. Because of these two shifts, we observe a large excess supply of bonds at the initial interest level. This excess supply will lead to a decrease in the bond price and a increase in the interest rate until the new equilibrium is reached. This eï ¬â‚¬ect, called the Fisher eï ¬â‚¬ect, is shown in the graph below: The eï ¬â‚¬ect is likely to be stronger for long-term bonds because investors are stuck with ï ¬ xed nominal payments for a long-time period. As a result, the only way to be compensated for higher inï ¬â€šation during many years is to buy the bond at a suï ¬Æ'ciently low price today. Intuitively, we can capture this price sensitivity using duration, as we know that the duration of a long-term bond is above that of a short-term bond. The analysis would be completely diï ¬â‚¬erent for TIPS because their coupon payments adjust for changes in inï ¬â€šation. As a result, any news of future inï ¬â€šation simply means that the future coupon payments in nominal terms will be higher. As a result, the price is not sensitive to changes in expected inï ¬â€šation. 2) In the Financial Times in February 2011, Professor Siegel from the Wharton School talks about the decline in the real yield of TIPS: Recently, the yields on these bonds have collapsed to levels that would have been uninimaginable just a few years ago. Last October, the real yield on the US 10-year TIPS plunged to 36 basis points. Professor Siegel argues that an important factor driving this result is the increase in inï ¬â€šation risk. Why do US investors currently perceive that inï ¬â€šation risk is higher than usual? Explain why this increase in inï ¬â€šation risk can lead to (i) an increase in the demand for TIPS relative to bonds; and (ii) a decrease in the TIPS interest rate. There are two sources of concerns regarding future inï ¬â€šation. First, the central bank has greatly expanded its monetary base during the recent ï ¬ nancial crisis—at the end of 2009, its value was close to $2 trillion. For the moment, banks are not aggressively lending, implying that the growth rate of the monetary base is somewhat disconnected from that of the money supply. But failure from the Fed to reduce the monetary base as lending activity resumes may lead to higher inï ¬â€šation. Second, the ï ¬ scal position of the US government has deteriorated substantially over the past few years, leading to a downgrade of the credit rating attached to its bonds. If the future growth rate in the economy is not suï ¬Æ'ciently high and if the US government is not able to reduce deï ¬ cits, it may have no option but inï ¬â€šate the debt away. This will of course lead to higher inï ¬â€šation. Overall, these two issues create important uncertainty about the future path of inï ¬â€šation. Contrary to bonds, TIPS are protected against inï ¬â€šation. If there is higher inï ¬â€šation risk, bonds become riskier relative to TIPS. Using our supply and demand framework, the demand for bonds moves to the left, while the demand for TIPS moves to the right. At the initial price, there is an excess demand for TIPS, driving the TIPS price up and its interest rate down, consistent with Professor Siegel’s arguments. 3) Professor Siegel also argues that: As economic growth recovers and real rates rise, the price of TIPS will fall. Can you ï ¬ nd a simple explanation of this statement based on our supply and demand framework? Economic growth means that the business cycle is in an expanding phase. In this case, we can rely on the relation between business cycle expansions and the interest rate seen in class. First, the demand curve for bonds move to the right because of the wealth eï ¬â‚¬ect, as people have more money to invest in the capital market (bonds, stocks,). On the supply side, business cycle expansions are related to an increase in the ï ¬ rms’ expected proï ¬ tability. As a result, the supply curve moves to the right. Based on empirical evidence, the move of the supply curve tends to be more important than the one observed for the demand. At the initial level of interest rate, there is an excess supply, leading to an decrease in bond price, and an increase in the interest rate. This is consistent with the yield reaction discussed by Professor Siegel. Bond Market (20 percent) 5 percent for each question Consider the following bonds: Annual interest rate Maturity Annual coupon Price Duration Bond X 5% 8 years 3% 87.1 7.2 Bond Y 8% 3 years 3% 87.1 ? 1) One of your friends tells you: the fact that the price of these two bonds is the same is not consistent with theory. Without making any computation, explain whether you agree with your friend. Your friend is not right. These two bonds are both quoted below par value, because their respective yield to maturity is lower than the coupon rate. If these two bonds had the same maturity, the price of bond Y should be lower than the price of bond X because investors require a higher interest rate to hold bond Y. However, the maturity of bond Y is lower. Although the annual diï ¬â‚¬erential between the interest rate and the coupon rate is higher for bond Y, this diï ¬â‚¬erential has to be given during 3 years only. For bond X, the annual diï ¬â‚¬erential between the interest rate and the coupon rate is lower, but it has to be given during 8 years. In our case, these two eï ¬â‚¬ects (diï ¬â‚¬erent ratings and diï ¬â‚¬erent maturities) oï ¬â‚¬set each other and the two prices are exactly the same. The information shown in the table is therefore perfectly consistent with theory. 2) Compute the duration of bond Y and compare it with that of bond X. Is the diï ¬â‚¬erence consistent with theory?

A history of social policy changes

A history of social policy changes With reference to changes in government policy and ideologies of welfare, debate the significance of the shift from Victorian Pauper to 21st century service user and its impact on social work practice and values. This assignment has used a timeline of government changes and policies as a background to debate the shift from Victorian pauper to the 21st century service user. The divide between poor and rich has always been an issue that all governments have tried to diminish using different policies and laws. However there is still that divide that seems to be increasing. Has much changed since the Poor Law was implemented? Are individuals given more choice and rights now? Will there always be stigma attached and social exclusion that comes from using these words, do they still have the same meaning? This assignment will attempt to answer these questions using references to policy and ideologies of welfare. The definition of a Pauper according to the Collins dictionary is someone who is extremely poor or historically eligible for public charity. The definition of a service user is someone who uses or receives health or social care services. (General social care council) According to Sen, 1999 the term service user was introduced because of gained strength of powerless people during the 1980s. This term indicates an acknowledgement of the government and public, understanding that service users have a positive role. They still have capabilities and can realise their potential, they are not just individuals who are entitled to help via the services we offer. Although this term was produced by the individuals who use the services it still highlights that they work with professionals and that the power still resides with them. (Adams, Dominelli and Payne, 2009) The National network of service users: Shaping our lives believe that the term service user is positive, its an individual who uses the services, they confer power creating a stronger voice and having a greater ability to shape services. (Levin 2004) The changes in policy from Pauper to service user have been vast. British social policys foundation is from the Poor Laws, the first one passed in 1598 the last 1948. The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 provided a compulsory poor rate and helped set the poor onto work. However as the Parish was the basic area of administration laws were enforced differently in that area, meaning the operation of the Poor Law was inconsistent between areas, the beginning of the postcode lottery. The Poor Law amendment act of 1834 modified the existing system that was in place, it was implemented at a higher stage not just at Parish level ,Poor Law unions were introduced the development of the workhouses was encouraged, one workhouse in each union to give poor relief. This act stated that no able bodied person was to receive any other help other than in the workhouse. This laws primary problem was to make life inside as bad as outside of the workhouse, this was difficult as some would have had to be starved to meet what they met outside. There was a stigma attached though and it was that reputation that stopped everyone from using a workhouse, they produced jail style segregation men and women and even families had to be separated. As the government thought this was the best way to help the neediest families they saw no problems with this Act. In fact the neediest families still werent using the help and going into a workhouse because they didnt want to be separated. Not unlike families today that still dont ask for help because of the stigma or because they dont know or understand the system implemented to help them as much as possible. It was in 1869 that The Charitable Organisation Society was formed to make charities more effective, they understood that charitable assistance was needed but believed that their aim was to reach all families, they were also unsure of how the money from charities had previously been spent. They set out financial help introducing local committees, these then raised funds and distributed to families in need. Also very similar to many charities today, there are still many families who dont ask for help because of religion, language, pride or just werent told. (Family action) COS found that it wasnt just financial help that people needed, so they started to offer emotional and practical help too. When they had many families needing help they knew there volunteers would need training, this became the pioneer in the profession of social work, something that our foundations are based on today. The main foundation of COS was to change policy to help the people suffering the effects of poverty, something that social workers do now, the general council of social workers are still working to help those suffering the most and work towards giving help to those who have unable to find help elsewhere and give social work support as well as signpost to other services that may help them further. From this time more acts were introduced including the Public health act of 1872. During this time poverty was never really defined they understood what brought it about like unemployment or illness, if they had defined poverty it may have helped introduced different acts to prevent it. In the 1900s poverty was ever increasing, the settlement movement started its idea was to establish settlement houses in poor areas with the idea that the middle class would volunteer to live with them, sharing their knowledge and help alleviate the poverty of their poor neighbours. From this movement many initiatives emerged and helped to improve conditions of all poor areas of society and help all individuals. This movement focused on the causes of poverty providing a number of services including education and health services. This settlement movement is another foundation of social work practice today, no we dont live with the individuals in need, but the whole reason of social work is to use our education and knowledge to alleviate the problems they have and help them emotionally, practically and financially, which is just what these volunteers did. Although some argued that this was normative because some wanted the divide between the poor and higher classes. (Laybourn, 1995) Al though this movement was important the more powerful COS submerged as the controversial nature of social work, there was individuals that were not eligible for help these were still at the workhouse, and most of these individuals were women who bore children out of wedlock. Although the settlement movement was also necessary in society in focusing on poverty, it focused on a more structured analyses of poverty and its impact on human behaviour by practising interventions at a community level, which is needed now to help small communities help each other as well as individually. The nature of social work practice then focused on individuals and a significant element of this time is the elimination of hearing clients voices and the incomparable knowledge of the professionals working with them. Only now is the service users voice being recognised again. (Adams et al, 2009) The Poor Law was the basis of the development of services for the 20th century, including the national insurance act, these new services were introduced to avoid having to rely on the Poor Laws. (Alcock, 2003) The government laid the basis of the future social services, the major concern was that all areas should be given the same services, these new services were provided away from The Poor Law to evade the association. Even though these new ideologies were introduced to provide services to all individuals there was still a stigma attached, even now there is still a stigma attached to the term service user, although governments have changed their policies to use different terms some still have the same meaning. A major report produced regarding the welfare of individuals was the Beveridge report. This report focused on how Britain could be rebuilt after the war. In 1945 labour was elected and promised to introduce a welfare state. The welfare state involved introducing new services these included family allowances, the national health services and housing acts to name a few. The welfare state was produced to encourage the provision of services for the public not as a response to poverty. (Laybourn, 1995) this is where a major criticism lies within debates regarding the welfare state within current governments. In the 1950s the provision of welfare state services became problematic, government interventions at the time didnt help and caused further problems so the Conservative government took over and cut the help given to the poor and sick. This then made the distribution of income more imbalanced and although attempted to make the poor more hardworking and self sufficient it didnt work. One report that impacted policy and practice during the 1960s was the Seabohm report 1968, this report re-introduced poverty. This paper was tasked to review the organisation and responsibilities of the local authority personal social services in England and to consider what changes are desirable to secure an effective family service. (Seebohm, 1968, pg11.) Prior to this report social work was spread across various local authorities and different government sections, because of this the report found that there was inadequacies in the quality of provision and access was very difficult. The report recommended a new local authority department providing a community based and family orientated service, which will be available for all When this recommendation was brought into action new social services department were formed. Seebohm did foresee problems which were highlighted in the report, it stated that having separate departments for children and adults would make it difficult to treat the familys needs as a whole. Another important Report was the Barclay Report, 1982 that looked into the role of a social worker, in its opening line it states that too much is expected of social workers. It found that it was a profession that was confused about its role and because of intense media scrutiny was struggling with its work load. It found that there was an ongoing need for social workers to fulfil many functions including promoting community networks, working with other services and acting on clients behalf and to act as resources for all individual who need help. The report did criticise social work departments for taking a reactive stance towards social problems, dealing with those needs which are forced upon their attention but failing to develop overall plans which link the voluntary, volunteer, statutory and private services in an area into a coherent plan (p.38) which is still a problem today. Although these reports have all highlighted how good social work is and how much its needed there are so many problems involved in the profession. Firstly because every government have changed the way the work as soon as they get used to it, it changes again, yes the changes could be for the better but are these just changes for changes sake? The labour government have imposed new policies and directives for social work but after 8 years there are still problems within social work some which could be easily acted upon. We will only know if these new policies and new social work task force works over time. As its been highlighted earlier in this assignment there is still an implication involved in being a service user just as there was being a pauper. Whilst researching the different acts and welfare ideologies that have been introduced throughout the timeline Ive used Ive realised that there are more similarities than comparisons between a services user and pauper. They still have problems accessing help and there are many families who still dont ask for help because of the stigma. However new approaches have introduced service user involvement by defining what help they want and defining the quality of help they receive. A recent report by Beresford, Shamash, Forrest and Turner, 2007 research service users vision for adult service they found that the process of accessing social care was frequently negative for service users, the assessments were very dependent on the quality of the staff carrying it out, which shouldnt be happening all social workers should work to one high standard it shouldnt be a lottery of if you get a good one or not. Access to communicating with the social worker was low and that many of the service users questioned had gaps in their services making them feel insecure. A major problem through history has been a struggle to get good support for these individuals. Whilst researching this topic I realised that service users know what they want and can easily highlight the problems at the minute one report found while welfare bureaucracy has been condemned by governments for a long while service users still identify problems. One individual said that we shouldnt have to fill out forms to be made to feel like beggars, not unlike The Poor Law and paupers opinions. There is still social exclusion, the poor will stay poor because they have just enough to get by so they wont stop, think and revolt. But do social workers maintain this, because they help them just enough, finding the quickest thing they can do to help them not necessarily the best way in the long run. New Labour has had so much time to make improvements and rectify social exclusion but child poverty is getting worst. How much have rights helped service users, many reports have found that they feel more responsible and confident about the help they are receiving when they have been more involved in the decision processes. Although some still feel like they are hidden away from society and when they have more experience of their disability they need to be acknowledged. The report by Beresford et al, 2007 also found that service users would like a watchdog with service users and professionals and they should be the judges of quality. One dilemma that social workers face is working towards anti discriminatory practice, equality should be the core of provisions of service, and it needs to take into account religion and backgrounds. Yes some progress has been made involving diversity for example the race equality act, still lots of progress needs to be made. There are many barriers when considering the major historical events that brought about social work and the values it has now. We see that welfare state is a necessary condition of social work flourishing and to defend it or is it temporary in which internationally social work will then erupt from something else. One barrier when understanding which major events affected what social work is today is our understanding of the history of social work, the history isnt concrete it changes daily. Most of the history of social work comes from COS as its origin and its methods are still used today. However Laybourn, 1997 has found other methods that were used that have yet to be examined this may have been because COS was used in London and this would have an effect on the history, power will always influence history. To conclude social work has changed significantly and is still very important and we will progress to help all individuals, we need a larger voice though to talk about the problems we face as a profession to ensure that service users and pauper have fewer similarities. I believe that service users have shifted from paupers as they have much more freedom and rights now, yes there are still similarities which need to be focused on to improve our system and we could probably be a better service if problems hadnt occurred along the way to affect how we work, we also need to refuse to let policies be imposed on us when they dont improve on what were already doing. Rights are now benefiting service users but we need to ensure it stays like this. Whilst working towards anti discriminatory practice and equality for all we need to ensure our values are the same that we contribute to a fairer society by reducing disadvantage and exclusion and promoting fair access to resources. Many policies a nd acts have been the bedrock of what social work is today and without them social work would be very different.