Importance of Social Responsibility Disclosure

Importance of Social Responsibility Disclosure 1.0 Introduction Though some of the country around the world is rich in resources, but there are still have a possibility that ran out of the resources. Beside that, there are also a large number of countries around the earth that lack of resources. Because of this, as a people living in this earth, we should protect the resources from exhaust. We should not be so selfish and should cherish the resources, so that other people could also enjoy use of the resource. As a big community, we should not think ourselves interest only, we should also think for others. Think that everyone can has a chance to use the resources and also how to value the resources so that others have a chance to use it. We can start doing social responsibility to ensure that the limited resources are not run to waste. As an opening of this introduction, we begin by defining social responsibility. Social responsibility can be defined as a theory from the perspective or ideological whereby a specific entity, being the person, organization, government, corporation, non-profit organization and etc., has a responsibility to make good decision and take sustainable action that will develop benefit of the society and enhance the welfare and interests of the public. In another meaning, we also can define social responsibility as whatever a specific entity done, the intention is to improve the welfare or the interest of the society. Although it is not mandatory for the entity to accomplish social responsibility, but the entity should also has some conscience. In addition to protect their own benefit, the entity should also concern the society’s welfare and interests. In the beginning of the introduction, we have defining the social responsibility. Now we will look on what is corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility is the social responsibility that implements by an organization. Corporate social responsibility is about how a company using their own knowledge intelligently to earn profit for the company beside that still can protect the interest of society. They are not only being concerned with their own benefit, but they also concern with the interest and welfare of the society. Corporate social responsibility also gives a picture of how a company supervises their business processes to generate an overall positive impact to public. The initiation of corporate social responsibility involves several issues that related to company’s concern behavior in its social atmosphere except the company’s economic sphere which the company traditionally associates with. To implement corporate social responsibility, the organization must take in mind of the society welfare in beside to fulfill its own benefit in doing the business. The organization should not be self-interested in consider that the interest of the organization is their main objective. They should not think that increase stock price and short-run profit is the most important thing to the company. Service the society also an important objective and it is as important as the profit of the company. The company also should concern with the society ethically other than earning profit and increase stock price. The company’s stakeholders are not only the shareholders and investors, but also include the employees, customers, government, communities, suppliers, and special-interest group. So the company should also concern other stakeholder’s interest and what they are desired for. Commonly, the company using their own policy as a built-in, self-legalize instrument which incorporate into their business model to monitor the business processes and activities, so that their business obedience to the law and regulation, ethical standard, and international norms. It also ensures that the company not only pays attention to their profit and stock price but also the interest and welfare of the society. Implement social responsibility not only bring benefit to the society, but also give benefit to the company. Because implement social responsibility can add value for the positive image of the company. Public listed companies in Malaysia nowadays are required by Bursa Malaysia to disclose their social responsibility in their annual report. They can built their own corporate social responsibility report or refer to Bursa Malaysia’s corporate social responsibility framework. The report is not mandatory to follow, it is just a reference. When operate in businesses, there are several main areas that firms should concern and responsible for. It is because the businesses will give some impact on these main areas. According to Vinsign website, there are six main areas of social responsibility, which is community and environment, the employees, governments, consumers, providers of finance and other organizations or groups. For example, the firm should concern about environmental issue, such as rainforests disappearing and they can take action by reducing using paper or do not waste any paper when doing businesses or help the government to plant more trees. For employees’ issues, they should treat every employee fairly and should concern about their safety during work, welfare, training and development. Corporate social responsibility disclosure discloses information on what the firms have done for the sake of the community. It also shows the disclosure of firms’ action on what they have been contribute to the welfare of the society and what they will do in the future for the welfare and interest of the society. Usually the disclosure is disclosed in a social responsibility report and publishes in company’s website or annual report of public listed companies. For public listed company in Malaysia, Bursa Malaysia has ruled them to disclose their social responsibility disclosure in their annual report. It is mandatory for them to disclose in annual report recently and most of them comply with the rule to create a good image to the society and government. Corporate social responsibility disclosure is very important to company’s stakeholder. The stakeholders of the company always take note to the disclosure because the disclosure shows what the company plan to do and have done for the welfare of the society. A recently report shows that most of the investors are invest in firms that have involve greatly in social responsibility. With actively involve in the activities of social responsibility, the company can increase their positive image emerge to the society. It can bring advantage to the companies with having increasing number of investors invest in the company and attract more supplier cooperates with them. Some companies disclose their social responsibility voluntarily. According to â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in Malaysia† written by several author, companies are disclosing their social information for various reasons. The reasons can be classified into three broad categories, which is pressure from the government and market, enhancing corporate image, and top management awareness. Companies also disclosing their social information because of they think that they should informing the public what they have done for the public and will done for the sake of the public. Before companies release the social responsibility disclosure in their report, they have to think about the question of how much information should they publish in the report, how much information are enough to the viewer of the report and which information are useful to the viewer of the report. It is very important for the companies to think about the questions because the interest groups are based on the information to make certain important decision making. Different groups of stakeholder look for different type of social responsibility information. For example, employees and future employees of a company are more concerned with human resource issues in the social responsibility report. The public and government are more concerned on philanthropic issues in the report. The quantities of the information are not regarded as important, qualities of the information disclosed by companies are more think greatly of to the stakeholders. In spite of quantities of the information disclosed, useless information disclose to stakeholder will not help them in certain decision making. According to â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in Malaysia† written by several author, companies in Malaysia are more concern in human resources issues. Useless or unclear social responsibility information will lead to some problems, such as damage companies’ image, penalties from government and dissatisfied of stakeholders. When this situation happens, the company may lose their intellectual capital and most of the investor decides not to invest in the company since the company cannot fulfill their expectation for the information from the report. Large firm in this research mainly refer to public companies listed in Bursa Malaysia. Bursa Malaysia has built a corporate social responsibility framework for the public company as reference which has mentioned earlier in this research. According to Bursa Malaysia website, it mainly focuses on four main areas, which is environment, community, marketplace, and workplace. Bursa Malaysia encourages public listed companies to involve in corporate social responsibility and disclose it in annual report. Why public listed company been encourages to involve in corporate social responsibility? According to Bursa Malaysia, they believe that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is key to sustainability. Bursa Malaysia say that â€Å"sustainability is a process and it is a business approach used to create long term value by seizing the opportunities and managing risks that emerge from the economic, environmental and social developments†. For example, by protecting the environment, it can help in conserve the natural scarce resources from being destroy or no need to confront with the situation of some resources become extinct. This can help the company to use the natural resources everlasting and the next generation also can enjoy it. Social responsibility involvement are very important to the public listed company and also others small and medium company in Malaysia. It is because social responsibility involvement can help increase competitive advantage of the company compare to others company in same sector. Involve in social responsibility activities can also improve the relationship between the company and the society. Other than become distinctive compare to other company and enhance the relationship with the society, social responsibility activities also can increase public image of the company, increase the stock price of the company, and can help to solve problems that the community faces. Involving in social responsibility activities bring a lot of advantages to company but still many companies are not willing to involve in social responsibility activities and disclose it. It is mainly because most of the companies think that social responsibility is not so important to them, profit of the company are their priority. Unfamiliar with what information to disclose are also one of the reason they rarely involve in social responsibility activities. Most of the companies are not sure which information is important to stakeholders although the company involves in social responsibility activities. 1.1 Problem Statement The problem in corporate social responsibility is that not every public listed company in Malaysia is sincere in voluntary involves in social responsibility. As a large company which listed on Bursa Malaysia, the company is required by Bursa Malaysia to disclose corporate social responsibility in their annual report in recently year. Some of the small company even didn’t implement social responsibility because of the company thinks it is not their obligation to implement it and for small firm, social responsibility disclosure are not mandatory. They are not aware of the advantages that the social responsibility brings to them and importance of the social responsibility information to the society. Some of the company didn’t disclose social responsibility because of they not sure what to disclose and how much information should disclose. Even though some companies have made the respective disclosure, the information they disclose may be irrelevant and as the result it is not useful to the stakeholders. 1.2 Objective The objective of this research is to find out the important of the social responsibility and social responsibility disclosure to different sector among public listed companies. This can understand through the involvement of the public listed company in the social responsibility and their key disclosure areas. The study aims to study how different of industries disclose their social responsibility activities and further to evaluate their awareness to the social responsibility. It also aims to study how willing are the public listed company disclose their social responsibility activities to the society without conceal anything from the society. The higher the willingness that company discloses their social responsibility information, the more the information that company will disclose. Not merely disclose what the company plan to do in the future, but also what the company have done that achieve from previous year social responsibility activities planning. Another objective is to find out the relationship between size of firm and the extent of corporate social responsibility practices. This study is to see whether it is the truth that the larger the firm is, the greater the involvement of the firm in the social responsibility. Whether it is only large firm will involve in social responsibility and disclose it out to the stakeholders or not. 1.3 Contribution The contribution of this research is to increase the number of companies and the willingness of companies to participate in social responsibility practices. From this research, the company will find out the importance of involvement in social responsibility activities and advantages that social responsibility activities bring to them. So that, the public listed company is more wiling to involve in social responsibility activities and disclose the information to its stakeholder. Beside that, the public also can see how corporate social responsibility will improve their living and enhance their welfare and interest. The community will more appreciate what the company has done for them and then will have more and more investor wiling to invest in the company. 1.4 Conclusion In conclusion, corporate social responsibility is about how you should as a corporation. Although, corporate social responsibility in nowadays is still not much concern by the public listed company, but in the future they will identify the importance of social responsibility. From this awareness, the company is more willing to involve in social responsibility activities and disclose the information to the society. From the advantage that the community receives from the social responsibility, they will become more concern with the issue of the social responsibility. Thus, the community acts as a watchdog to concentrate on what the public listed company plan to do and what they have done for the welfare of the society. The company views the community as an important stakeholder, so the company is more willing to improve the community’s living. Community can survive without business but business cannot exist without community. Chapter 2 Background of Study Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) was established on 1 March 1993 under the Securities Commission Act 1993, the Securities Commission is a self-funding statutory body with investigative and enforcement powers. It reports to the Minister of Finance and its accounts are tabled in Parliament annually. The SCs many regulatory functions include: Supervising exchanges, clearing houses and central depositories; Registering authority for prospectuses of corporations other than unlisted recreational clubs; Approving authority for corporate bond issues; Regulating all matters relating to securities and futures contracts; Regulating the take-over and mergers of companies Regulating all matters relating to unit trust schemes; Licensing and supervising all licensed persons; Encouraging self-regulation; and Ensuring proper conduct of market institutions and licensed persons. Underpinning all these functions is the SCs ultimate responsibility of protecting the investor. Apart from discharging its regulatory functions, the SC is also obliged by statute to encourage and promote the development of the securities and futures markets in Malaysia. Bursa Malaysia is an exchange holding company approved under Section 15 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, which is regulate by Securities Commission Malaysia. It operates a fully-integrated exchange, offering the complete range of exchange-related services including trading, clearing, settlement and depository services. Bursa Malaysia today is one of the largest bourses in Asia with just under 1,000 listed companies offering a wide range of investment choices to the world. Companies are either listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad Main Market or ACE Market. In assisting the development of the Malaysian capital market and enhancing global competitiveness, Bursa Malaysia is committed to maintaining an efficient, secure and active trading market for local and global investors. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a central management concern at Bursa Malaysia. For Bursa Malaysia, CSR means integrating open and transparent business practices into our business operations which are based on ethical values and respect for employees, communities and the environment. The way they do business is designed to deliver sustainable value to the society at large and to all stakeholders, including their shareholders. On 5 September 2006, Bursa Malaysia launched a CSR Framework as a guide for Public Listed Companiess in implementing and reporting on CSR. The Bursa Malaysia CSR Framework looks at four main focal areas for CSR practise – the Environment, the Workplace, the Community and the Marketplace, in no order of priority. With effect from 31 December 2007, all public listed companies are required to disclose their CSR activities or practices (and of their subsidiaries) and if there are none, a statement to that effect. Listing Requirements (Appendix 9c, Part A (29)). Listing Requirements (Appendix 9c, Part A (29)) is about description of the corporate social responsibility activities or practices undertaken by the listed issuer and its subsidiaries or if there are none, a statement to that effect. Failure to comply with any of these Requirements will amount to a breach in respect of which actions may be taken or penalties may be imposed or both. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Framework for Malaysian Public Listed Companies The Bursa Malaysia CSR Framework is in fact a framework, and not a template. This framework does not tell the whole story of CSR and neither does it have all answers. It is a bit like running shoes: One size does not fit all. The CSR Framework is basically a set of guidelines for Malaysian Public Listed Companies (PLCs) to help them in the practice of CSR. As the Prime Minister mentioned in the 2006 budget speech, from now on, all PLCs are required to disclose their CSR activities. Some PLCs may be doing corporate social responsibility even without realising it. The directive from the Prime Minister is really an opportunity for logical thinking about CSR. It is meant to encourage Malaysian PLCs to become more engaged in being socially responsible, and to make the way they approach the process of CSR, part of the way they normally work and think. According to Bursa Malaysia, CSR means it is not about how a firm spends money, but about how the firm makes money. CSR is defined as open and transparent business practices that are based on ethical values and respect for the community, employees, the environment, shareholders and other stakeholders. It is designed to deliver sustainable value to society at large. There is no universal approach to CSR. Companies are free to adopt what suits them. CSR is not about compliance or philanthropy or public relations. It often involves cultural transformation in a company as it integrates CSR concepts into its operations and decision making. Vitally, CSR involves communicating the company’s actions to its stakeholders and encouraging their feedback. The Bursa Malaysia CSR Framework looks at 4 main focal areas for CSR practice. They are: the Environment, the Workplace, the Community and the Marketplace, in no order of priority. The Environment When looking at the environment, CSR can focus on a variety of issues. Most of the people worry about energy, how to use it more efficiently and how to reduce the way its emissions damage the climate. Here in Malaysia, bio fuels have become a topical issue. There are other aspects as well. Companies live amongst some of the richest biodiversity in the world. Protecting the flora and fauna is essential. The Community Companies live within the community. They depend on the community in many ways and the community depends on them. Supporting employee involvement in community issues enriches the community and the company. Supporting education, such as adopting a school, is another possible activity. Companies can be creative in looking at how they can contribute to children, youth development and the under-privileged. The opportunities for company interaction with the community are vast. The Marketplace The Marketplace is where companies find important stakeholders – their shareholders, suppliers, and customers. Companies can interact responsibly with this group in a number of ways, such as supporting green products or engaging in only ethical procurement practices. Helping to develop suppliers and other vendors is another way of contributing. Raising the standards of Corporate Governance within the company so that it meets shareholder expectations is a further consideration. The Workplace Companies draw their employees from society and so everything they do with their staff needs to be socially responsible, whether they are dealing with basic human rights or gender issues. A quality work environment and health safety are obvious considerations, as is the way in which, if companies believe in CSR, they inculcate in their employees, the values which the company holds dear. Ideally, companies should consider all 4 CSR dimensions when crafting their own visions. But that does not mean a company must do everything. For some companies there will be focal areas or initiatives that do not apply. The important thing is that the company uses the framework to help it identify its choices and priorities. Individual CSR initiatives will depend on the nature of each company’s business, its inclinations, and its resources. However, sometimes a company will adopt initiatives that may even have indirect impacts. Like most PLCs, Bursa Malaysia is exploring the framework to see what suits companies best as an exchange. 3.0 Introduction There are some different points of view of the corporate social responsibility definition from several parties. Corporate social responsibility is defined as the duty of the organisation to respect individuals’ rights and promote human welfare in its operations (Manakkalathil and Rudolf, 1995; Oppewal et al., 2006). According to Carrol (2000a), businesses not only have the economic responsibility of being profitable and the legal responsibility to follow the laws or ground rules that guide their ability to achieve their economic requirements, but they also have ethical responsibilities that include a range of societal norms or standards. From this two definition, it can see that individuals’ rights and human welfare is more important than profit earning and organization is try to balance them, so that the interest of public did not deprive. Malaysian Government’s point of view by our Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Abdul Razak in a corporate social responsibility conference held in June 2003 at PWTC, Kuala Lumpur referred to corporate social responsibility as â€Å"a concept whereby corporation integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and their interactions with stakeholders on a voluntary basis†. It is a process of providing information which does not have purely financial implications designed to discharge social accountability. Companies should recognize their corporate social responsibilities not only to their shareholders but also to the society they operate in. This sustainability concept calls for a company to operate in a responsible manner that takes full account of their business impact on the environment, people and the community. Corporate social responsibility can also be defined as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 1999). In general, CSR embraces all organizational activities relating to the organization and society. These may include employees support (safety, job security, profit sharing, employee participation, treating employees fairly and equitably etc.), community support (activity involved in education, health and housing related supportive activities, philanthropic activities), product/services support (product/service quality, product safety, delivery, research and development etc.), and environmental support such as; sustaining the eco-friendly environment, producing environmentally friendly products, waste management, recycling etc. (Staples, 2004; and Sen a nd Bhattacharya, 2001). In the last decade Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an issue that has increasingly attracted attention from the business, political, and public spheres (Brammer, and Palevin, 2004). In emerging capital markets, such as Malaysia, this issue also tends to be a strategic issue for public listed companies. Malaysian firms incorporate CSR into their corporate governance agenda to become good corporate citizens in the Malaysian capital market. They also seek to increase the pool of enhancement in the recognition and profile of corporate domestic firms who can gain better recognition from the perspective of international and local investors. Furthermore, the push towards better CSR practices is also important to be consistent with the overall national agenda, particularly in achieving Vision 2020, meeting the objective of the National Integrity Plan and as a tool for generating greater economic and capital market growth (Corporate Governance, 2004). Tay Kay Luan (2005a), cited the Malaysian government’s stand on CSR issues is that all organisations in the country should take account of the economic, social and environmental impacts of their activities, and should be encouraged to act and address the key challenges which arise from these impacts on their core competencies. Moreover, the government is taking stand that the existing legal framework and regulations are sufficient to improve corporate behaviour. Gray et al. (1987) define social reporting as â€Å"†¦ †¦the process of communicating the social and environmental effects of organisations’ economic actions to particular interest groups within society and to society at large. As such, it involves extending the accountability of organizations (particularly companies), beyond the traditional role of providing a financial account to the owners of capital, in particular, shareholders. Such an extension is predicted upon the assumption that companies do have wider responsibilities than simply to make money for their shareholders†. Chan (2002), Godfrey et al. (2000), and Gray et al. (1996) describe corporate social disclosure as voluntary reporting of social and environmental information relating to an organisation’s interaction with its community, shareholders, physical and social environment to outsiders through corporate annual reports. Although the disclosure is based on corporate’s voluntary, but it as been motivated to disclose in recent year. According to Godfrey et al. (2006), corporate social responsibility is motivated by legal regulation, management accountability and shareholder activism. Voluntary corporate social disclosure gives information to the public regarding a company’s activities that relates to the community. Companies that operate in a developed world have moved to include sections on social issues within their annual reports. These sections give information on their responsibility towards reducing hazardous impacts on the environment, improving waste management, showing compliance with Environmental Quality Regulation 1989, better efforts to protecting their employees and other social issues affecting the public. The disclosures were towards an increasing trend. However the level of disclosures itself are still low. (Teoh Thong,1984; Foo Tan,1988;Ho,1990 and Shireenjit Zuaini 1 998). The Malaysian government’s incentive to further promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) among public listed companies (PLC) is very encouraging in Malaysia. The honorable Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia, in his keynote speech at the Corporate Social Responsibility Conference on 21 June 2004 had made it clear that CSR helps improve financial performance, enhance brand image and increases the ability to attract and retain the best workplace, contributing to the market value of the company. The growth of public awareness about CSR has put pressure on corporations, profession and governments to increase the amount of social information in corporate reports. More recently, in the 2007 budget speech, the Malaysian Former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has stressed the importance of corporate social responsibility reporting by requiring companies to disclose their CSR activities in the annual report. Corporate social reporting is one approach how companies published or disclosed their corporate social responsibility activities. One way to reduce the gaps between company and its stakeholders is by reporting the activities to the stakeholders or through additional disclosure. Teoh and Thong (1984) pointed out that the philosophy of the top management and legislation were the primary factors contributing to corporate social awareness in Malaysia. More recently, Malaysian executives and managers were found to have positive attitudes towards corporate social responsibility, although the extent of their involvement in corporate social responsibility is lower today than it was a decade ago (Abdul Rashid Ibrahim, 2002). Mohammad Jamil, Alwi, and Mohamed (2001) similarly found that CSR disclosure in Malaysia is generally low, especially with regards to fair business information. This also appears true for environmental information (ACCA, 2002). The level of CSR was again confirmed to be low in recent studies conducted by SRI (2003) and Ramasamy and Hung (2004). Since in Malaysia, corporate social responsibility is voluntary, the choice of social issues reveals the Government’s priority or the particular responsibility which companies have. Therefore by having corporate social responsibility, the company would have better reputation and this would increase its chances to secure contracts from the Government as it is seen as being socially responsible. Companies would be able to attract and retain good employees which would in turn benefit them financially in the long run. Corporate social responsibility may be able to strengthen stakeholder relations as reporting promotes corporate transparency and instills greater confidence and trust

Concept Analysis Patient Advocacy Nursing Essay

Concept Analysis Patient Advocacy Nursing Essay The purpose of this concept analysis is to identify, focus, and refine how patient advocacy is perceived by professional nurses in the nursing community. Â   This paper will follow the Walker and Advant (2011) method of concept analysis to identify the concept of patient advocacy from existing literature with the aim to analyze and provide clarity and direction for enhancement of advocacy in nursing. Â   Further, steps will include the process of identifying attributes of the concept, describing all model cases selected, identifying antecedents and consequences regarding the concept, and lastly, identifying examples of empirical referents of the concept (Walker Avant, 2011). Â   Â   Identification of Concept and Aim of Analysis Patients often have an inadequate knowledge of illness and medicine, yet they desire more control over their personal healthcare. Â   In many healthcare settings, patient care is unpredictable and patients right to self-determine and quality-of-life has a tendency to be ignored (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   Advocacy is understood as the act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending (Websters Online Dictionary, n.d.). Â   Moreover, the concept most often noted in literature as a component of nursing advocacy involves acting on behalf of patients, including nurses activities of speaking, fighting, and standing up for their patients (Hanks, 2007). Â   Nurses are in a unique position to support their patients interests in the re-establishment of health and well-being through patient advocacy. However, due to the limited number of quantitative empirical studies of patient advocacy in nursing, the definition of patient advocacy is not consistent, and many nurses have a limited view of what patient advocacy is and how to perform the challenging task of protecting and supporting patients rights. (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   The aim of this analysis is to clarify, define, and refine the concept of patient advocacy in order to expand understanding of this concept in nursing practice. Defining Attributes According to much of the literature, defining attributes of patient advocacy involves a series of specific actions by nurses to protect, represent, and safeguard the patients rights, best interests, and values within the healthcare system (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   As well, safeguarding patients autonomy, acting on behalf of patients, and defending social justice in the delivery of health care are all core attributes of patient-care advocacy (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   The title of patient supporter and patient representative is also used frequently in research literature to describe the role of the nurse advocate (Hank, 2007). Â   These attributes place patients at the center of the of the healthcare system, emphasizing patients legal rights and well-being, and nurses humanity, kindness, and fairness in the delivery of health care (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Cases of Patient Advocacy Cases of patient advocacy can be examples of several main factors that define and challenge the attributes that facilitate or hinder nurses as patient advocates. Â   A model case is defined as an example of the use of the concept that demonstrates all the defining attributes of the concept (Walker Avant, 2011, p. 163). Â   In addition to the model case exemplar, the attributes of patient advocacy will be defined and challenged through case examples of borderline, related, and contrary cases. Model Case An example of a model case for patient advocacy involves a Registered Nurse who has been working as the charge nurse of a busy Emergency Department for 15 years. Â   P.B. has just come on shift, when an air emergency vehicle lands on the helipad with a 22-year-old, male, trauma patient. Â   The paramedic reports that the patient was involved in a two vehicle head-on collision, the patient was ejected from the vehicle, and that there is a possibility of a spinal cord injury. Â   Immediately, the trauma team attends to any life-threatening injuries, while P.B. quietly and efficiently attends to the patients emotional and safety needs. Â   She quickly determines that the patient would like his mother contacted only, that he would like to know the extent of his injuries, and that he suffering a considerable amount of pain. Â   After the patients primary care is complete, P.B. explains spinal shock to the patient, allows the previously-contacted mother to enter the Emergency Department, and carefully reviews the plan-of-care with both the patient and the mother. Â   She then offers to contact further family as needed, and presents herself available for any further questions. Â   Further, after administering ordered pain medications, P.B. is very astute with timed, follow-up, assessments regarding effective pain control. Â   The above nurse demonstrates the core attributes necessary when a nurse is successful in the role as patient advocate. Â   The nurse acted as a patient protector from pain and fear, representing and safeguarding the patients rights and autonomy through contacting the appropriate family members, and addressing the patients pain with medication and personal reassessment of patients pain control. Â   As well, the nurse showed kindness, fairness, and humility with congruity of care by personally providing the patient and the patients family with compassion and education regarding the patients injury and treatment. Borderline Case An example of a borderline case regarding the role of a nurse as a patient-advocator would involve the same scenario, but slightly different reactions from the above charge nurse. Â   As the helicopter lands and the patients life-threatening injuries are attended to by the trauma team, P.B. offers to contact the family members of the patient. Â   The patient asks that only his mother be notified, that he is afraid, and that he is in tremendous pain. Â   P.B. quickly reassures the patient that she will contact his mother, that being afraid is natural, and that as soon as she is given the order, she will provide the patient pain medicine. Â   When the patients mother arrives in the Emergency Department, P.B. explains the nature of the patients injuries, assures the mother that her son is going to be fine, and then leaves the two alone to discuss their options for care. The above example represents a borderline case due to the mid-range of appropriate reactions by the nurse attending the needs of a patient. Â   The patients autonomy, privacy, and rights were safeguarded when the nurse contacted the appropriate family members. Â   However, the nurse did not demonstrate effective fairness when assuring the patient and the patients mother that everything would be fine with regard to the patients injuries. Â   Further, the nurse did not display kindness and compassion when leaving the patient and his mother alone without first determining that their educational and emotional needs were met. Related Case An example of a related case using the previous scenario involves a variance in the actions of the charge nurse. P.B has just begun her role as charge nurse on the night shift in the Emergency Department. Â   One of the trauma nurses has called in sick, and she is now required to provide care as a nurse on the trauma team as well as fulfill the role as charge nurse. Â   Shortly after her shift begins, a 24-year-old, male, trauma victim arrives via air transport, and P.B. realizes that she will have to be the primary nurse on this patients case. Â   The patient is quickly stabilized, but a spinal cord injury with possible paralysis is soon diagnosed by the trauma physician. Â   The patient is very frightened, in pain, and requests that P.B. phone his mother. Â   P.B. calmly assures the patient that she will contact his mother, administers ordered pain medication, and then assures the patient that she will return to check on him shortly. Â   However, due to P.B.s charge nurse status, she is needed in another trauma case and the 24-year-old trauma victim is replaced by another trauma nurse. This case appears to demonstrate the concept of patient advocacy. Â   However, when examined closely, the trauma patient may have felt that P.B. did not provide kindness, compassion, and congruity of care when failing to return to his bedside after stating that she would. Unknown to the patient, P.B.s responsibilities as a charge nurse kept her busy for the rest of the shift, and in fact, P.B. explained the transfer of nursing care to the patients mother. Â   However, the patients mother left the department while the patient was asleep, and no explanation was ever made to effectively relieve the patients feeling of desertion. Â   This exemplar may simply be a demonstration of a nurse who is very busy with patient care rather than the absence of patient advocacy. Contrary Case Using the scenario provided above, the contrary case example involves P.B. as she has just arrived to work as the Emergency Department charge nurse for the evening shift. Â   A trauma victim has been transported into the emergency bay, and he is suffering paralysis due to a spinal cord injury. Â   The victim is 24-year-old male, appears extremely frightened, and is in pain. Â   As the charge nurse, P.B. does not typically have individual patients assigned to her, and this is no exception. Â   However, the nurse assigned to the patient asks P.B. to contact the patients mother and to stay with the patient until his anxiety and pain have lessened. Â   P.B. calls the number provided on the patients chart, and asks the patients father to immediately come to the Emergency Department, relaying that he should contact the victims mother as well. Â   Following the phone call, P.B. stays with the patient for a short time, but does not provide any comfort measures; instead, P.B. frequently leaves the patients bedside, avoids speaking with patient, and denies any knowledge of his condition when asked for updates by the patient. The above nurse does not demonstrate the core attributes identified when a nurse is successful in the role of patient advocate. Â   The nurse fails to act as a patient protector from fear or to represent and safeguard the patients rights and autonomy through contacting the inappropriate family member. Â   Further, the nurse does not attempt to exude kindness, humanity, or supporter-of-patients needs by frequently leaving his bedside and failing to offer reassurance or education regarding the patients injuries. Â   This is clearly not the concept of a patient advocate role. Identification of Antecedents Antecedents are those incidents or events in place prior to the occurrence of the concept being researched (Walker Avant, 2011). Â   Antecedents of patient advocacy occur at all levels of the healthcare system, and appeal for nurses to advocate for patients. Â   Advocacy for patients stems from a need to protect a vulnerable population that loses power to represent or defend itself (Hank, 2007). Â   Vulnerable patients are the most frequently mentioned situation demanding nurses advocacy actions (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   Populations of vulnerable people include groups or individuals who cannot fully embody and defend their own rights, needs, welfares and wishes, are unable to make suitable choices, or unable to carry out their choices (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   Identification of Consequences The consequences of patient advocacy are a result of nurses patient advocacy and can be either positive or negative (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   Successful patient advocacy actions produce positive consequences through the protection of patients rights, needs, welfares, and wishes (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   The nursing profession may also have positive consequences as a result of patient advocacy through increases in professional fulfillment, self-confidence and self-respect through the preservation of personal integrity and moral principles (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   Negative consequences can occur when nurses advocate for patients and risks are reported as the advocator being insubordinate; many patient advocators suffer loss of reputation, support system, and self-esteem (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Identification of Examples of Empirical Referent Empirical referents are classes or categories of actual phenomena demonstrating the occurrence of the concept, and in many cases the defining attributes and empirical referents will be the same (Walker Avant, 2011). Â   The concept of patient advocacy, or specific patient advocacy action, is classified under the core attributes listed above, and the empirical referents of this concept analysis are the same. Â   The defining attributes include safeguarding, protecting, representing patients rights, best interests, and values within the healthcare system (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   Safeguarding patients autonomy, acting on behalf of patients, and defending social justice in the delivery of health care are also listed as defining attributes of patient advocacy (Bu Jezewski, 2006). Â   Patient supporter and patient representative are also included in this analysis to be attributes in the role of nurse patient-advocate (Hank, 2007). In conclusion, patient advocacy is an essential part of the professional nursing practice. If the need for advocacy is not appropriately acknowledged and applied, effective healthcare will not be received. Â   The concept analysis of this paper provided clarity, definition, and refinement of the concept of patient advocacy and promotes advocating of patients as a necessary step in the advancement intended for nurses professional practice.

All Quiet on the Western Front Essay -- English Literature

All Quiet on the Western Front The 19th century view of war expressed that it was the most honorable and glorious event that a man could participate in. This romantic viewpoint was quick to change after World War I. In addition, Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front further illustrated the ghastly nature of war. His descriptive writing portrays the graphic details of reality, leaving the readers of the 20th century in shock. Since Remarque was the first author of his time to reveal these lifelike affairs, his novel helped change their perspective of war, forcing them to not want any part of it. In his novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque utilizes the main character Paul to symbolize the people of the 20th century. Along with his peers, Paul is encouraged by adults to fight in the war, especially by his teacher, Kantorek. Paul knows nothing about war before he enlists and is quickly disgusted to realize his mistake. Remarque writes, â€Å"Naturally we couldn’t blame Kantorek for this. Where would the world be if one brought every man to book? There were thousands of Kantoreks, all of whom were convinced that they were acting for the best – in a way that cost them nothing† (12). Here, Kantorek symbolizes all the elders who pushed naà ¯ve teenagers to enlist because they felt that war was glorious and romantic. The adolescents that followed their directions had trust in them because of their authority. However, the ones who professed enlisting were not the ones who did the actual fighting – they did not witness the cruelness nor live the brutal, soldier life. Remarque continues, â€Å"The first bombardment showed us our mistake†¦We loved our country as much as they; we went courageously ... ...rred in the 19th and 20th centuries. Our modern technology has played a large part in changing our viewpoint of war. Movies have started to display the gruesomeness of war as well as video games allowing users to partake in war-like violence. Our current war is even being shown live on the news channels, demonstrating the violence. Therefore, the people of the 21st century have become desensitized to the realities of war. Thus, the readers of the 21st century have already been introduced to the issues that Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front communicates. Along with technology, the fact that the United States is so honest and open with war has allowed children to become familiarized with this subject at an early age. Consequently, the effect on Remarque’s readers in the 21st century is quite different from the effect on the 20th century readers.

Visions of Utopia in Bellamys Looking Backward Essay -- Looking Back

Visions of Utopia in Looking Backward  Ã‚   Edward Bellamy addressed many of the topics crucial to the development of a civilization in his book, Looking Backward. In the story he addresses several different features of years past utopias. Some being "universal harmony, distribution of occupation according to individual aptitudes, equality of reward, universal ease and comfort, reduction of hours of labor, suppression of idleness, of competition, of the struggle for life, and also for money" (De Laveleye). Many of these topics Bellamy addresses in a positive manner; while others he does not. In Bellamy's book, Looking Backward, a character named Julian West suffers from insomnia. Because of his condition, he is put into a soundproof chamber. He falls asleep and does not wake up for over one hundred years. His story is about the civilization that he discovers when he wakes up. America has developed into a socialistic country and is standing on the brink of utopia. Bellamy addresses inequality in his book, Looking Backward. In the old times; inequality was cured by making the greedy industrial. In this new utopia, there is no need for inequality because everyone has the same. "There shall be no individual production of property and no individual accumulation of it. It shall be produced by the state, and distributed by the state equally to all individuals, without any reference to their function in producing it, intellectually or physically" (Harris). This simply states that in Bellamy's utopia it makes no difference what your social standing is; everyone is given the same amount of supplies and money. Bellamy addresses the distribution of professions in Looking Backward. It is quite obvious to realize that the more pl... ...speak it from time to time. In this way, Bellamy tires to show that his utopia is non-discriminatory. Edward Bellamy addressed several very tough subjects in his book, Looking Backward. He did this by attempting to create an interesting story in which people could find his views on the future of America as an utopia. Although his attempt at literary fame failed; Bellamy did succeed in exposing possible solutions to many of the problems that still plague our country today: fair job placement, material possessions and poverty, unregulated capitalism, and discrimination. Bibliography Taylor, Walter Fuller. "Edward Bellamy", The Economic Novel. 1897 Bowman, Sylvia E. "Bellamy's Missing Chapter", The New England Quarterly. 1958 DeLaveleye, Emile. "Two New Utopia's", Contemporary Review. 1890 Harris, W.T. "Edward Bellamy's Vision", The Forum. 1889

Light Essays -- Literary Analysis, Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was said to be â€Å"the pioneer in the delineation of sprightly young-girl life, brim full of animal spirits, yet overflowing with a desire to be true and brave and helpful†(Delamar 150). As a classic, inspiring author, Alcott is best known for her novels concerning poverty, family struggles to overcome obstacles, and female independence. Alcott incorporated these ideas through her works in Eight Cousins and Little Women. Even though Rose in Louisa May Alcott’s Eight Cousins and the March sisters in Little Women are brought up in different types of socioeconomic environments, they share common traits and themes, such as moral lessons, feminist ideas, and coming of age. The character Rose in Eight Cousins and Laurie in Little Women are similar in terms of socioeconomic societies, unlike the March sisters in Little Women who struggle to support themselves during the Civil War. After becoming a recent orphan, Rose was put into the care of several unknown family members, wealthy Scottish descents from Boston, engaged in the China trade. As an heiress, she was expected by her six aunts to attend â€Å"a fashionable finishing school† (Alcott 43) and learn the proper etiquette of a young elite lady. Although Rose is only thirteen, she is treated like an adult who drinks coffee daily and dresses in womanly fashions such as corsets, high heels, veils, and bustles. These high expectations cause Rose a great deal of stress which leads to long-term illness. Unlike Rose, the March family struggles financially. At one point, the March’s were wealthy, until Mr. March lost his job and joined the war in order to provide for his family. This monetary loss caused a major set back to the family and negatively impacts the four daughters, ... ...en, she marries John Brooke, conforming to society’s expectation of women. While her aunts persuade her to marry into wealth, Meg independently makes the decision that love is more important than money, from experiences with high society. Through this experience, Meg becomes more independent and accepts herself as who she truly is and values what she has. Similarly, Amy succumbs to peer-pressure among her classmates. Trying to be like the other girls and popular, she goes against her morals and boldly endures the negative consequences of her action of encompassing pickled limes. Once quitting school, Amy discovers the power women have and becomes a feminist. She travels to Europe to accomplish her desire to be an artist, considered rare for women during the nineteenth century. Amy follows her dreams and becomes a more assertive and independent â€Å"little women†.

Full Disclosure

Full DisclosureFull disclosure is the reporting of any financial facts significant enough to influence the judgment of an informed reader. The Financial Accounting Board is responsible for establishing the rules and regulations in regards to a company providing full disclosure with their financial statements. The areas that are directly affected by the FASB include financial statements, notes to the financial statements and the supplementary information. Although these are the ones directly affected by the FASB, for a company to participate in full disclosure the company should also include other means of financial reporting and any other pertinent information. (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2012).Interim ReportingEach business can use a different method of financial reporting so it is important ethically to report anything and everything that the â€Å"informed reader† will need to make a fair assessment of the business. According to the AICPA’s Special Committee on Fin ancial Reporting businesses must provide more forward looking information, focus more on the factors that create longer term value and better align information that is reported externally with the information reported internally.For a business to be able to have up to date information it is important to have interim reports. Interim reporting will break down the length of time between the reporting which in turn will give a better forecast. As part of an interim report the following will be disclosed the sales or gross revenues, basic and diluted earnings per share, seasonal revenue, costs or expenses, significant changes in estimates or provisions for income taxes, disposal of an extraordinary item, contingent items, changes in accounting principles and significant changes in financial reporting. As important as interim reporting is a business does want to stay away from information overload, in which the informed reader  becomes inundated with information not necessary to unders tand the reports. (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2012).Notes to the Financial StatementsPart of full disclosure is the notes to the financial statements. These notes explain what has been presented in the financial statements. The notes should include the following major disclosures: inventory, property, plant equipment, creditor’s claims, equity holder’s claims, contingencies, commitments, fair values, deferred taxes, pensions, leases and any changes in accounting principles. It is also important to include the way the business reports their finances.Full disclosure includes the disclosing of any special transactions or events. These transactions should include any related party transactions which is when a company engages in a transaction in which one of the parties has the ability to significantly influence the policies of the other. It is necessary to report the economic portion of these transactions and not the legal portion. The economic portion should include the parties’ description of transactions for each of the periods that income statements are presented.This portion also includes the dollar amounts for which income statements are presents as well as the amounts due from or to the related parties as of the date each balance sheet is presented. The special events would include the subsequent events which take place at the time of the balance sheet but have not been included in the numbers as well as non-subsequent events which take place after the date of the balance sheet and still need to be considered. (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2012).Segmented InformationSegmented information is an important part of full disclosure with major companies. The GAAP requires that a company choose one method of segmentation. In the Manager approach there are specific operating segments. The three parts of an operating segment are information regarding the activities from which there are revenues and expenses, results that are regularly reviewed by the comptroller to assess performance and resources, and the information that is generated by the internal financial reporting  system.An enterprise must report general information about the operating segments, segment profit and loss and related information, segment assets, reconciliations, information about products, services and geographic areas, and major customers. (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2012).Final ReportsFull disclosure reporting should include the auditor’s unbiased report, the manager’s report, a financial forecast as well as a financial projection. The reason the auditor’s report should be included is to show that an unbiased opinion has gone over the financial reports and concludes that the company is above board. The manager’s report is important because it will show favorable or unfavorable conditions regarding the liquidity, capital resources and the results of operation. The financial forecast with the financial projection will give the informed reader a grasp of where the company is heading. (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2012).Full Disclosure IncreaseFull disclosure has increased in the last ten years due to the FASB’s new rules in the last ten years. The need for these rules have become transparent due to the recent businesses in the news who have chosen to do illegal financial reporting which has ended with many people losing their places of employment as well as all of their money. (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2012).ConclusionIn conclusion, full disclosure is important so a company has to answer for the reports they are filing. Full disclosure can protect the company as well as the public if done properly. The FASB has had an important part in the full disclosure laws. As long as there is not an information overload then the informed reader should be able to read a company’s reports and see where they have been, where they are, and where they are going.

Long Term vs. Short Term Focus in Communication Essay

There are pragmatic differences between sales promotion and advertising, which marketers must bear in mind when attempting to communicate with the customers. The same case will apply when marketers attempt to communicate with customer by defining the appropriate media and non-media communications that are aimed at driving customer interest, demand and sale upwards. Brand value does not always increase the sale of the product depending on the price of the product and affordability. Instead, brand value may be more instrumental in customer retention. In the short term, discounts have the potential of increasing product sales, but in the long term, the customers’ perception of the product may be negative or positive as they ponder over why there was a discount. Primary Differences between sales promotion and advertising There are fundamental differences between sales promotion and advertising. Advertising is the form of communication via the diversity of media with the goal of persuading and making people aware of products or services. Advertising is equally a service to the target and consumers to inform them with truthful contents that are ethically generated in order for it to be accepted by the public. Advertisements are clear, truthful, tasteful, precise, original, reputable and ethical communications to the public. (Guideline Marketing, 1998). Sales promotion is the application of incentives to elicit a positive reaction by the consumer. Sales promotion gives the consumer advantages of using the product or service on promotion. Sale promotions are characterised by sponsorship, free gifts and vouchers, public forum of information, exhibited, educative and consultative. Therefore the fundamental difference between and advertisement and sales promotion is the on their acceptability by the consumers. (Guideline Marketing, 1998). Some media and non-media marketing communication that are typically employed to increase customer interest, demand and sales The media marketing communication that are typically employed to increase customer interest demand and sales are digital media, print media, pod casting , narrow casting and broadcasting, posting mails, telephone marketing, among others. (Promotion and integrated marketing communications, 2007) Non media marketing communication that are typically employed to increase customer interest, demand and sales are price discounts, non-media advertising, special offers, sales coupons, product and services sampling, product and service price rebates, competitions and raffles, games, product and service premium offers and counter promotions. (Promotion and integrated marketing communications, 2007) Does brand value always increase with increasing sales of the product? Not always does value always increases with increasing sale of the product. Perhaps it may help in customer retention. But in some instances, it can increase sales because more sales are a sign that the customers are crediting the brand as well as their perceptions to the product. This has implications that more sales are solidifying the brand value as long as the product is being sold for the purpose of brand building. Brand values that have increased sales due to high sale imply that the brand value is attractive. When the sales increase, there are signs that the customers are satisfied and are bound to make references to other over the value of the brand. (Bacak, 2006). How discounts have the potential to affect short term sales and long term brand value. Under a good marketing management, discounts have the potential of positively affective the short term sales and long term brand value depending on the perceptions of the customers on the brand following the discount. The understanding discount strategy is that the sale force is not overwhelmingly profit motivated. Instead, the priority is to create value that customer perceive as satisfactory. Most business would create a discount to enable more consumers interact with the product or service. (Lin & Lin, 2007, p. 1-131). According to Aaker (1991), discounts will provide short term sales competitiveness while customer benefit from the value that will be enhanced in the long term. During the time that a brand is under discount sale force, the consumers are given a chance to identify the product or service with their needs. (Lin & Lin, 2007, p. 1-131). An example of products where price discounts positive short term sales increase and long term brand value is the cosmetics. In this case the higher the discount the higher the sales as long as the brand image is highly placed. Thus as soon as the discount is initiated, the short term sales shoot up and the consumers perception of the brand shift and this may be positive or negative. If negative, the consumer could be expecting even more price discounts in the long term. (Lin & Lin, 2007, p. 130). Conclusion: This marketing communication paper has come out with very important lessons. First, in order to be successful in marketing communication, it is important to understand the fundamental differences between sale promotion and advertising so that the choice of media and non media communication can be rewarding to the marketing plan. Second, the possibility of an increasing brand value to increase sale is hinged on other factors like affordability. Finally, product price discounts have a short term effect of increased sales but a mixed effect on the brand value in the long term. Reference Aaker, D. A. (1991).Managing Brand Equity:Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name, NY: The FreePress. Bacak, M. (2006, March 18). The Benefit of Branding: Increase Your Sales and Promote Your Product by Building a Solid Brand. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Benefit-of-Branding:-Increase-Your-Sales-and-Promote-Your-Product-by-Building-a-Solid-Brand&id=163889 Guideline Marketing, (1998). Guidelines for publicity, advertising, practice promotion and allied marketing activities. Retrieved on April 10th, 2009, available at http://www. capelawsoc. law. za/Files%20for%20New%20Website/Guidelines/Advertising%20E. doc Lin, N. & Lin B. , (2007, August). The effects of Brand Image and Products Knowledge on Purchase Intention Moderated by Price Discounts. Journal of International Management Studies. P. 1-131. Promotion and Integrated Marketing Communications, (2007). Marketing communications. Retrieved on April 10th, 2009, available at http://www2. cob. ilstu. edu/jsattaw/MKT%20230/Lectures/Lecture%209%20–%20Promotion%20and%20Integrated%20Marketing%20Communication. ppt