Hp External Analysis Essay Example for Free

Hp External Analysis Essay Hewlett Packard External Environment Analysis Hewlett Packard External Environment Analysis In today’s constantly evolving business world, it is essential for organizations to fully master and incorporate strategic management theory into decision making processes. As the world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services, and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems (Hewlett Packard, 2010). HP is well positioned to outperform the market. The strength of HP’s portfolio is leaner cost structure and accelerating market momentum that gives the confidence to raise the full year outlook (Hurd, 2010)†. One of the most important aspects of Hewlett Packard’s strategy building is an analysis of the external business environment that they operate in. As pointed out in the text Strategic Management. Concepts and Cases Competitiveness and Globalization, â€Å"The firm’s understanding of the external environment is matched with knowledge about its internal environment to form its vision, to develop its mission, and to identify and implement actions that result in strategic competitiveness and above-average returns. (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2009) In this paper, there will be an analysis of Hewlett Packard’s external business environment and its impact on the firm’s strategic business continuity plan, including examination of the three components of the external environment, the general environment, the industry environment, and the competitor environment. External Environmental Analysis Before analyzing Hewlett Packard’s external influences, it is important to highlight the specific processes in an external environmental analysis. This analysis is performed so that firms can correctly identify potential opportunities and threats in their external environment, and involves continually scanning, monitoring, forecasting, and assessing segments of the general environment. Scanning is the process of studying each segment of the general environment to identify upcoming or ongoing changes that can impact the firm. Monitoring refers to observing the changes identified in the scanning process to determine if a particular trend can be singled out which would have significant consequences for the firm. Trend identification is an important aspect of monitoring, as well as recognizing the trend’s effect on the firm’s stakeholders. Forecasting takes the changes and trends that scanning and monitoring produced, and attempts to formulate useful predictions based on those changes and trends. One important factor in forecasting is identifying the time frame and rate of change for trends, so that the firm does not miss an opportunity or get caught off guard by a threat. The final step in external environmental analysis is assessing. The objective of assessing is to determine the timing and significance of the effects of environmental changes and trends on the strategic management of the firm. † (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2009) The prime focus of assessing is determining the impact of forecasted trends on strategic direction of the firm. Assessing decides if an opportunity or threat requires a change in plans, or the firm to take a new direction. General Environment The first component of the external environment is the general environment. â€Å"The general environment is composed of dimensions in the broader society that influence an industry and the firms within it. (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2009) These dimensions of broader society are further classified into six categories. The six categories of the general environment are demographic, economic, political and legal, socio-cultural, technological, and global. A large, global firm like Hewlett-Packard will find opportunities and threats in each aspect of the general environment. The demographic category of the general environment includes factors such as population size, age structure, ethnic mix, income distribution, and geographic distribution. Hewlett-Packard’s market position as the world’s largest technology company requires careful consideration of demographic factors. Hewlett-Packard’s strategic continuity is impacted by this factor because it must identify markets with the correct demographic to provide an opportunity to sell its computer products. Markets with an unfavorable income distribution or an older age structure may need to be avoided until more favorable conditions arise. The economic category of the general environment includes factors such as interest rates, gross domestic product, and business savings rates. Hewlett-Packard’s continuity strategy is impacted by economic factors in a similar fashion as it is impacted by demographics. Markets located in a strong economy represent opportunities for the firm. Additionally, developing economies may provide lower interest rates, or favorable business savings rates. Economies in decline can represent a threat to Hewlett-Packard, as expensive computer purchases may not be a consumer’s focus. The political and legal category of the general environment includes factors such as antitrust laws, taxation laws, and labor laws. Hewlett-Packard can face huge opportunities and threats with changes and trends in legislation. Hewlett-Packard produces a wide range of computer products, and if it is challenged by an antitrust law, it could face a very large threat. However, favorable changes in tax law can represent just as large an opportunity for the firm to save money. The socio-cultural category of the general environment includes factors such as workforce diversity, shifts in work and career preferences, and shifts in product and service preferences. Hewlett-Packard’s business continuity is very concerned with monitoring and planning for preference trends in the computer technology industry. Proper assessment and integration of a new product preference can represent an important opportunity, while missing this preference could end up a threat. The technological category of the general environment includes factors such as product innovations, new communications technologies, and government supported research and development expenditures. Obviously this category caries great significance for a computer based firm like Hewlett-Packard. Product innovations can represent an opportunity for strategic continuity if Hewlett-Packard can incorporate them, a threat to strategic continuity if they cannot. New communications technologies can be utilized to assist in streamlining operations, and represent an opportunity to lower long term costs. The final category of the general environment is global. The global category includes factors such as critical global markets, new industrialized countries, and cultural and institutional attributes. Hewlett-Packard is a global firm, and changes or trends in the global markets must be planned for to ensure strategic continuity.

Economic Impact of Shale Gas and Tight Oil

Economic Impact of Shale Gas and Tight Oil Why the Economic Impact of Shale Gas and Tight Oil is rather limited The extraction of shale gas and tight oil from unconventional sources is currently subject to a fierce debate. The discussion about benefits and disadvantages stands at a decisive threshold for economic policies at a regional, national and international level. Europe remains divided on this issue while data from the US seems to be promising. The question on the macroeconomic impact of the shale gas boom remains, however, unclear. The author claims that the long-run economic benefits for the US and Europe are rather limited. To prove this, he will critically analyse the claims made by Daniel Yergin and Nick Butler as well as Muehlenbachs, Spiller Timmins article on the subject. The focus of the analysis at a glance Daniel Yergin claims in his article, that US shale gas and tight oil have already changed global energy markets and reduced both Europe’s competitiveness vis-à  -vis the US and China’s overall competitiveness. What is more, he claims that this â€Å"unconventional revolution† in energy will bring a shift in global politics. Although it is probable, that the US will developed to be gas exporting country in the coming years, studies show that they will have to rely significantly on crude oil imports in the future, and not only from Canada, as Yergin claims. Furthermore, there will not be a significant reduction on emissions due to the so called shale revolution. Other local externalities, such as the impact on groundwater, air pollution, and leakages have to be considered. Muehlenbachs, Spiller Timmins article even suggests considerable effects on the housing-market and property values. Furthermore, data of the US case shows that the reduction of the amount of coal-produced energy was triggered by the cyclical decrease in gas prices, which has now largely turned. Shale gas is insufficient on its own to drive out coal of the overall energy-mix in both the United States and Europe. Therefore, Nick Butler’s claim of self-sufficiency within a few years and Yergin’s statement about a shift in world politics have to be treated with caution. Yergin and Butler both come up with the argument, that lower gas prices will strengthen the economy. When looking at the impact of lower gas prices on productivity, two effects can be analysed: Firstly, an income effect due to the fact that gas can now be produced cheaper and thus, ceteris paribus, more income is available to buy other goods. Secondly, substitution effects that are resulting from shifting gas prices that can change the relative prices of goods in which gas is an input and consequently have knock-on effects for productivity in other sectors. Yet, it is not that simple. Analysing the issue out of a microeconomic perspective suggests that the effect on GDP of the two effects is likely to be trivially unimportant, affecting sectors representing only a minor part of the economy (1.2% in the US). Data of several studies suggests average income effects of about 0.575% from 2012 and 2040 for the US. It is important to stress that this is a long-term increase in the level of GDP, not the growth rate. Another key element of Yergin’s argumentation is the reduced dependency on oil imports mentioned above. Increased domestic production of oil and gas leads to a smaller amount of imports. Subsequently, this means that the producer surplus of oil is being transferred from foreign oil exporters to domestic oil producers. But again, this has consequences on the level of GDP in the long term and not on the growth rate. Studies show that, even when considering increases of the exchange rate and other crowding-out effects, there will not be a significant positive impact on manufacturing deficit after all. Similarly to the data shown earlier, the long-run GDP effects of reduced US oil imports are estimated to increase the level of GDP until 2040 of about 0.35%. The addition of these effects leads to a conversion of the long-run level of GDP of averagely 0.875%. Adding these effects to the uncertainty of fracking per se, especially in Europe, one can clearly see that there might not be that much of a revolution going on after all. Considering the argument that the â€Å"unconventional revolution† will create a fair amount of jobs, at least in the US, one has to consider that the American economy was not at that time and is not at full employment of labour and capital now. The estimated short-term stimulus effects due to increased investment, employment, and input spending in the sector are again rather low (0.13% of GDP and 0.48% of GDP). Regarding the change of the balance of competitiveness in the world economy and the claimed unanticipated advantage due to shale energy, one has to consider a few other things. There is no proof that the shale gas boom will lead to a reindustrialisation of the entire American manufacturing sector. Of course, US exports have risen sectors that use gas, but only to almost $24 billion in 2012 compared to a manufacturing trade deficit of roughly $780 billion. Additionally, declines in the real exchange rate in the last years and the consequences of the recession have clearly increased exports and reduced imports. The assumption that the â€Å"unconventional revolution† will lead to a revitalisation of US economy is therefore rather delicate. Furthermore, the net benefits of low-priced gas are likely to be limited to certain manufacturing sectors only, especially the chemicals, metals, and paper sectors according to IMF working papers. In conclusion, the analysis shows that one needs to carefully differentiate between the (positive) effects of the shale gas boom as a technical innovation and it being a revolution per se. As shown above, the long-term benefits in the areas of production and manufacturing competitiveness are relatively small. Additionally, shale gas and tight oil will not replace coal-based energy nor substitute a considerable amount of oil imports in both the US and Europe in the next decades. Therefore, promoting energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies as well as clear energy policies will be even more important than before, especially for the European countries. References Articles analysed: Butler, N. (2014, March 30). After shale gas, now for tight oil. Retrieved from Financial Times: http://blogs.ft.com/nick-butler/2014/03/30/after-shale-gas-now-for-tight-oil/ Muehlenbachs, L., Spiller, B., Timmins, C. (2014, February 9). The housing-market impacts of shale-gas development. Retrieved from VoxEU: Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists: http://www.voxeu.org/article/shale-gas-and-housing-market Yergin, D. (2014, January 8). The Global Impact of US Shale. Retrieved from Project Syndicate: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/daniel-yergin-traces-the-effects-of-america-s-shale-energy-revolution-on-the-balance-of-global-economic-and-political-power Other sources: Celasun, O., Di Bella, G., Mahedy, T., Papageorgiou , C. (2014). The US Manufacturing Recovery: Uptick or Renaissance. IMF Working Paper. Gruenspecht, H. (2013). Annual Energy Outlook (Early Release): with projections to 2040: presentation on behalf of US Energy Information Administration for Center on Global Energy Policy. New York: Columbia University. US Energy Information Administration. (2014, April 16). Annual Energy Outlook 2014. Retrieved from US Energy Information Administration: http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/aeo/tablebrowser/

Causality among Financial Liberalization, Poverty and Income Inequality

Kappel, V (2009) explored the impact of financial liberalization on poverty and income inequality by using panel and cross country data of developed and developing countries. By applying OLS and 2SLS significant negative relationship is found between financial development and income inequality. In developed countries weak evidence was found for financial development to decrease income inequality whereas in developing countries financial liberalization was found to increase income inequality. Pradhan (2010) examines the causal relationship among economic growth, financial development and poverty reduction in India during the period of 1951 to 2008. The empirical analysis deploys cointegration and dynamic Granger’s causality. Long run equilibrium relationship is found to be present among financial development, economic growth and poverty reduction .The Granger’s causality test shows that there is unidirectional causality from poverty reduction to economic growth, economic growth to financial development, and financial development to poverty reduction and economic growth to poverty reduction. It also shows the presence of no causality between financial development and economic growth, and poverty reduction and financial development. The research study recommends that economic growth is of prime importance to stimulate financial development and both could play a pivotal role in reducing poverty. Jeanneney and Kpodar (2006) examine how financial development is useful in reducing by poverty on one hand by McKinnon conduit effect and on the other by promoting economic growth. The study is conducted on a panel of developing countries during the period of 1966 to 2000 first by employing OLS and then by Dynamic panel Generalized Met... .... The bank of Albania (2009) inspects the causative association between financial development and economic growth for the Albanian economy using the Granger causality test for five different proxies for financial development. For the non-stationary and non-cointegrated series, the VAR model has been constructed and later, the above test has been applied. For non-stationary series but with a cointegrating relationship, the Granger-causality test has been applied after the construction of the vector error correction model (VECM). The empirical findings of the study show that there is a positive relation between all indicators measuring the financial development and economic growth in the long term. While in the short term, this relation is quite vague since different indicators provide different results. The data used in this paper belong to the period 1996-2007.

Compensation Act 2006 Essay -- Negligence

Negligence as a tort is defined as a breach of a legal duty to take care which results in damage to the claimant. It has been established that in order to raise liability and succeed in negligence claim, the claimant must show that the defendant owes him a duty of care, that this duty has been breached, and that he suffered damage or loss which is within the scope of the duty. However, the question of whether a breach of a duty of care has occurred, involves two elements: how much care is required to be taken (in other words; the standard of care) and whether that care has been taken. It is worth mentioning that the standard of care in negligence is objective , as held in Nettleship v Watson , in which the conduct of the defendant was examined. The situation, however, was not that clear. Under Caparo test , the courts will take into account in determining duty of care; foreseeability of harm, proximity, and whether imposing a duty would be fair, just, and reasonable. Relatively, it can be said that s.1 of the Compensation Acts 2006, revolves around similar principles of those mentioned in Caparo test. In fact, the courts are invited under section 1 (but not obliged) to take into account the impact of decisions they make on standard of care. Furthermore, in deciding whether the defendant have taken necessary steps to meet the standard of care, the courts are invited to examine whether those steps would prevent desirable activities from taking place, and discourage people from undertaking functions in connection with the activity. The question arises here, however, on whether Judges had such discretion before the Act while deciding on standard of care. The answer lies in the explanatory notes of the Act, which declare... ...ckman [1990] 2 AC Miller v. Jackson [1977] QB 966, CA Robinson v Post Office [1974] 1 WLR 1176 Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Miller Steamship Co Pty, The Wagon Mound (No 2 ) [1967] 1 AC 617 Nettleship v Weston [1971] 2 QB McHale v Watson [1966] CLR 199 Bolton v. Stone [1951] AC 850, HL Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 Website End compensation culture – Blair accessed 7th January 2011 Compensation culture accessed 7th January 2011 (Claire Mckenney), ‘Questioning the claims culture’ (2004) accessed 7th January 2011 Compensation Act 2006 Explanatory Notes accessed 7th January 2011

Energy crises of Pakistan

The unabated spate of load shedding throughout Pakistan has made life difficult to live in this sizzling summer. The unending energy crisis with power outages for more than 15 hours on daily basis has also dealt a severe blow to the national economy. Resultantly, business units and factories are getting shut down and layoffs of the workers are reported to be running in hundreds of thousands with grave implications for already burgeoning unemployment and poverty. According to a careful estimate, the difference between demand and supply is above five thousand megawatts, which is likely to increase as the weather gets even hotter in the months of June and July. The monster of load shedding first raised its head in 2007 and the national power scene has been becoming uglier with every passing year. There have been minor fluctuations and readjustments between demand and supply due to weather and water factors but the crisis on the whole has remained consistent in its lethality and ugliness. The criticality of situation warranted urgent policy response at the highest level but the same was not forthcoming, thanks to red-tapism and perennial malaise afflicting our decision-making processes. The questions arise in the background of severity of the crisis: has Pakistan in reality been deprived of treasure of energy? Do we have no alternative system to produce electricity in the country? Can we establish energy market, the biggest in the region through collaboration with neighbouring India and other countries? These are the questions whose answers should be in the affirmative, which should not be less than a glad tiding for the people hit hard by crises of different nature. Resort to empty promises, a favourite pastime of the government, would not help. It is about time that the government made practical strategies to resolve the energy crisis on the war footing basis without any further delay. Geographically Pakistan is located in a region where neighbouring country, India, is emerging as an economic giant. Despite massive use of energy to meet the growing demands of economic development, there is no load shedding in India. Among other countries of the region, Bangladesh is the only country whose local reservoirs of power are more than that of Pakistan. Economically speaking, India is ahead of Pakistan and Bangladesh but in terms of being self-sufficient in power, even Bangladesh is far ahead of Pakistan. Islamabad stands at number three in the field of power generation. Despite this power generation potential, the country suffers from the worst bouts of power crisis courtesy internal and external factors. If Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other countries of the region launch power generation initiatives jointly, they cannot only strengthen their diplomatic and economic ties but also earn precious foreign exchange by exporting the surplus electricity. These countries are home to vast natural sources of energy. All countries of South Asia can launch a joint project of power grid. Nepal and Bhutan are two countries blessed with maximum of natural gas, which is used more than electricity. On the other hand, there are issues in regard to planning of natural resources and installation of power lines to ensure flow of electricity in these countries of the region. Despite this, when we look at the natural resources in these countries, it becomes certain that only these countries forming the energy bloc would stand to benefit in the future energy scenario. However, they would have to take steps to attract the attention of international investors. If these countries succeed to formulate a joint strategy, it would not only help them overcome their energy crunch, but also establish a trade bloc in South Asia. A brief detail of some of the models is given here below to become self-sufficient in the power sector: According to an analysis undertaken in the countries of South Asia, it has become known that if they formulate long-term policy of natural resources, they can save electricity from 6% to 13%. South African countries had undertaken this experiment first of all by which the countries of the region were able to save up to 100 billion dollars. If the South Asian countries take a leaf from the book of their African counterparts, there is no reason why they do not become self-sufficient in energy resources. Implementation of this model would also promote the intra-regional trade besides offering solution to the power crisis. Pakistan should be a strong proponent of this model given its huge energy deficit and demand. A long-term policy will need to be worked out spanning over 10 to 12 years. The broad contours of policy would include power agreements, long-term policy, and cooperation in the field of engineering, etc. The government of Pakistan has already formulated a ten-year plan but it is not in sync with the ground realities. There is a difference between resources and planning. By acting upon this model named s South Asian Power Pool, Pakistan, India and other regional countries can become success stories in the conservation and self-sufficiency of natural resources. The major benefits accruing from this model are the way out of present power crisis and enhancement of regional trade through striking of preferential trade agreements. Import of hydropower from India, Bhutan and Nepal can provide us with a big push to go ahead with this plan. Last but not the least, the South Asian countries can ink a regional agreement known as South Asian Regional Energy Trade (SARET) based on revolutionary steps to enhance energy trade in the region. However, in order to ease out the situation, urgent measures need to be taken. This includes the equal distribution of load shedding throughout Pakistan without any exception. The issues of non-payment to IPPs and circular debt need to be sorted out as a matter of priority to generate electricity according to full installed capacity. The matter of import of electricity from Iran should be dealt with on priority basis besides working out workable strategy to cut down line losses, which are the major source of wastage of electricity in the country. To conclude, it can be said that energy crunch is both regional and global issue and regional efforts need to be made to overcome this deficit. Time is long past when issues of urgent nature were kept pending due to political expediency. Pakistan, a country hit hard by power crisis, needs to reach out to Iran, Turkey and other central Asian countries for import of electricity on urgent basis to ease things out. Time to act is now.

Legal framework for social work in United Kingdom Essay

Legal framework for social work in United Kingdom Introduction            Social work is defined as a professional and academic discipline that will seek to have improvement on the individuals, groups’ and communities’ quality of life and their well-being through having policies, conducting researches, organizing communities and teaching for the good of the people affected by social limitations that may include poverty, mental and physical sickness, social injustice including violation of human rights. International (Federation of Social Workers 2000). These groups may include school dropouts, the elderly in the society, juvenile offenders, drug and alcohol abusers and the homeless            Social workers will work in different settings within a set of framework of legislation and practices. The setting may include a school situation, the service users’ home, a hospital or a public sector premise Social work values            Social work is argued to be value based. Since it is a profession on, social work ethics (values) thus refer to a set of guidelines that have to govern the way professionals treat the people they interact with and the sort of actions that are regarded as right or wrong. They offer a vision and discernment (Bernstein 1970)            Social work in the United Kingdom occurs in four spheres. The first sphere is majorly a concept relates to the moral philosophy that creates the ethical arguments on social work. The second sphere is based on the legislation that has created an environment for practice of social work with reference to the social work cases. The third sphere is the political ideas and concepts and their influence in shaping and sculpturing the social work models, social work methods and practices. The last sphere presents the historical part of the beginning of social work as a profession and its struggle for professional identity. These spheres are extended, mid range and restricted definitions of social work ethics and values (Bernard et al 2008, p. 6)            This paper will focus on the second sphere in reference to the United Kingdom. Social work and law            Social work as a profession has to follow certain laws and regulations which govern the profession. The legal framework involves the statute laws and case laws and tries to explain the relationship that links them. Moreover, it details legislation of the government under acts of parliament, the international laws, policy guidance, and the local government circulars that articulate the purpose and guidance principles of legislation. Health and Care professional Council code of practice            As a social worker, it is paramount to be aware of the legal obligations required of them to create a healthy and safe working conditions. The General Social Care Council code of practice imposes more duties for employers of social workers. The code states that (Brayne & Carr 2002, P. 49) The social worker shall protect and promote interests of the service users The social worker will strive to establish, maintain trust and confidence of the service users The social worker will promote independence of the service users while giving them protection from possible harm The social worker shall respect the rights of the service users while ensuring that their behavior will not harm other people and themselves The social worker shall uphold the public trust and confidence in the social care services The social worker shall be accountable for quality in their work and taking responsibility for maintenance and improvement of their knowledge Acts of parliament The Carew standard Act 2000            This Act has a significant role in the social care work as it did extend the registration regime for the social care in England and that of Wales for provision of the children’s services, the Act requires the following: Registration of children homes Registration of family centre’s Registration of the independent fostering agencies Registration of the voluntary adoption agencies Registration of support agencies            To be a permanent registered member one has to meet a set of regulations tailored to each individual service. In coming up to a decision whether the regulatory requirement shave been fulfilled, the registering authority must have a regard to minimum National standards. England’s registration authority is Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED). The Social workers and the social care services cannot function without having satisfied the above requirements. As a social worker or a social care service provider, there is a need to have knowledge to avoid prosecution by Law The health and social care Act 2012            This bill was agreed upon by both houses and obtained the Royal Assent on the 27th of March to become an act of parliament. The bill created an independent National Health Service Board to promote choices made by the patients in regard to their health issues and reduced the administration tool of the National Health Service. A National Health Service Board was also created to allocate resources and provide guidance on commissioning of social care services. Powers of the government’s ability to commission services on behalf of patients were increased. The function of the Care Quality Commission was strengthened and Section 209 of this Act amended. The powers of the new law under Section 60 of the 199 Act gave her majesty the power by order in the council to regulate social workers and social care practitioners of England. This placed the role of social workers and the role of social health care providers directly under her majesty (Britain 2012, p. 9). This A ct placed a lot of Significance on Social Care services being provided in the United Kingdom. A consideration on the adult social care was emphasized. For example, allowing the transfer of public health to the local authorities through local health and the well being boards. Various new bodies have emerged such as the Local health watches which have a function of checking on health and the social care standards. Children’s Act 2004.            In England, the law protects the right of children. Section 11 and 12 of this Act places a statutory duty on all agencies to co-operate and promote the welfare of the children. The government guidance for social workers and other professionals that interact with children is that: the social worker has a duty of keeping the children safe. There should be constant feedback to the children social care local authority on suggestions and assessment and lastly every person who has a role should not think that he/she has the absolute right to the child’s needs. Professionals sometimes fail to report the abuse and neglect cases do not face penalties for crime however; they might be subjected to professional discipline Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012            The bill got a Royal Assent on 8th of March. The bill aimed to give strength to the social enterprise businesses sectors and make relevant the concept of social value and its importance in the placing and providing of public services. With this bill a National Social enterprise strategy was created to encourage the engagement in social enterprises. The local government act 2000 section 4 was then required to have a sustainable community strategy proposal that promote the engagement of social enterprise in their areas. The Local Authority Social Services Act 1970            This Act brought together the different fields of social work into a single Social service department in every local authority. With this establishment, an emphasis was laid on a co-ordinated and comprehensive system of approach to the social care, the support of families and identifying the need for people to seek aid. The formulated departments then became responsible for domestic aid, residential accommodation and recreational services. Care council of Wales            All social workers should be registered. It is one of the bodies mandated to register and regulates the activities of the social workers and all other social care in Wales. The care council is set up under the Care Standards Act 2000. It includes the codes of professional practice, conduct rules, and a well established guideline on the complainant’s procedure. Some other features accessed include consultation services, annual reports, the newsletters and the e-bulletins. Registration of workers ensures that there is as constant data of available social workers and social health care workers in a given state or region. It is easy to verify a genuine worker and avoids imposters who might be out on criminal activities Care and Social Services of the inspectorate of Wales            This is a body mandated to regulating and inspecting the establishment of agencies that offer social care services in Wales region. It carries out duties on behalf of the ministers of Wales. It has been given power under Act 2003 of the Social and Health care to look into the handling of social services by the local authorities. On their website, one is able to raise a query on social workers conduct for necessary action. Rights and freedoms of Social workers and limitations Guide to information sharing            Social work is a professional duty. When dealing with children, England places emphasis on effective information sharing between the local agencies and the social workers on identification and assessment of service provisions. These are defined in â€Å"Working together to safeguard children (PDF). Under this guidance, paragraph 1.24 states clearly that fears that arise on sharing personal information should not hinder promotion of a child’s welfare and safety. All social workers and social care provider thus are required to have an efficient information discernment process to avoid a scenario of neglect in believe that another individual will do the task. Limitations to this guide            These provisions however do have limitations. In Wales’s guidance on information sharing is found in chapter 14 of Safeguarding children working together under the Children Act 2004 (PDF). In these guidance paragraph 14.5 overlaps the guidance for professionals in England. It states that â€Å"The safety and welfare of a child or young person must be put into consideration first when making decisions about sharing information about them† and that must be superseding public interest in revealing the information. The guidance then further goes on to give the way forward in sharing on information. Paragraph 14.6 states that â€Å"the best way of ensuring that information sharing is properly handled is to work within carefully worked out information-sharing protocols between agencies and professionals involved, and taking legal advice in each case where necessary. Guide to Loss and damage            Social workers have been mandated with a legal duty of caring and service providers. In essence these role places the employers with responsibility of paying up damages their employees suffer while in line of duty. In the event those being taken care of suffer adverse damage as a result of social work interference, then they are entitled to sue the social work company for negligence. These may be as a result of physical damage, emotional or psychological damage. While this is the case, the law prohibits the suing of social workers when performing certain statutory functions like safeguarding children. Employers need to understand the times which their employees may be liable to protection under the law and when not. Legislation on discrimination on Personal privacy            In line of duty, social workers provide aid services. In order for them to carry out these functions effectively, it is paramount for them to have knowledge of the raft of legislation that protects individuals for discrimination basing on their gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, disability or ethnicity. These are domestic laws of the United Kingdom and are complemented by European Convention on human right which protects the citizens of the United Kingdom against unjustified state interference with their life. It is always possible for government and social work agencies getting into people’s life when they are not willing. In this event then the public can resort to the human rights protection of privacy and autonomy. Social workers and social work agencies need to have knowledge of the rights and privileges granted to the masses under the European convention for both parties to avoid violating them while at the same time helping individuals who hav e had their rights contravened The Human rights            Human rights are legal obligations that are to be adhered to universally. Human rights are defined as â€Å"the universal right to standard living that is adequate for healthy and well being of individuals and their families.†(Roosevelt 2000, p.5). These are also embodied by global social work perspective by stating that â€Å"The struggle for dignity and fundamental freedoms, which allows for the full development of human potentials, boils down to two words: human rights.†(IFSW 1996).The presence of this law, social work in the United Kingdom is bound to human rights which are considered sensitive to human race and collective citizenship. The social work must then be conceptualized and sensitized to the culture in which the services are offered. Thus a social worker in England should be able to accept the culture and laws of a state or region in which he/she is working in. Conclusion            Social work and social care has a pivotal role in service delivery to the society. This view cannot go unnoticed. The values, ethics of social work such as respect for humanity, equality and service to all have played a major role in helping the less privileged in the United Kingdom. The beneficiaries have included the mentally ill, the old, women and children. The United Kingdom having realized the vital role of social care came up with various laws not only to check but to guide the professionals in their field of work. These laws have been defined in various Acts of parliament, Scholarly publications and various codes of ethics and conduct of the Social work profession. Social workers and social care workers interact with different people on daily basis. In order for a harmonious and efficient system of operation to uphold, these laws and various publications have played a major role. However the legal stipulations have also had a negative side of the story bein g felt where they have had to hamper the operations of social workers and social care practitioners. Technological advancements and constant reviews of challenges that have risen in the working environment of this profession I believe can act as a catalyst to new ideas to command this noble profession to greater heights in the United Kingdom References BRITAIN, G. (2012). Health and social care act 2012: chapter 7. [S.l.], Tso. BRAYNE, H., & CARR, H. (2012). Law for social workers. Oxford, Oxford University Press. BRITAIN, G. (2012). Health and social care act 2012: chapter 7. [S.l.], Tso. BARNARD, A., HORNER, N., & WILD, J. (2008). The value base of social work and social care. Maidenhead, England, Open University Press. ROOSEVELT, E. (2000). Universal declaration of human rights in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Arabic. Bedford, Mass, Applewood Books. HEALY, L. M. (2008). International social work: professional action in an interdependent world. Oxford, Oxford University Press. REAMER, F. G. (2006). Social work values and ethics. New York, Columbia University Press. BERNSTEIN, P. (1997). American work values: their origin and development. New York, State Univ. of New York Press. BANKS, S. (2012). Ethics and values in social work. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. (2004). Children Act 2004: Explanatory notes. [S.l.], Stationery Office. Source document

The Precepts of Ptah Hotep

Precepts of Ptah Hotep Even though The Precepts of Ptah Hotep is one of the oldest documents in the world, the precepts are still relevant to social customs today. To be more specific, the 19th precept is one that I agree with and believe is beneficial to everybody. It states: â€Å"Be not of an irritable temper as regards that which happens at your side; grumble not over your own affairs. † I believe this precept is beneficial because it focuses on being positive and not on being negative, and it shows respect to yourself and to others.Precept number 19 tells us not to focus on the things that go wrong with our lives and not to complain. It's saying to let things go and to not dwell in the past. This precept ties into the whole reason for social codes. Social codes, like The Precept of Ptah Hotep, are meant to be followed; and as Collin said, if for some reason one is broken by a person, that person should be able to fix it, to make up for the wrong they have done by not grum bling about it, but instead working to fix it. This precept is very much like the well known saying â€Å"Hakuna matata† used in the popularDisney movie, The Lion King. The saying means no worries and is used in the movie to tell a character not to dwell in the past and be sad about things that he cannot change, but instead to be happy about the present. If you do dwell in the past and grumble about bad things that have happened to you, people will not want to be around you because of your negativity. It is disrespectful to only talk about the bad things that you have experienced when you are around other people. If you can never let things go, you will not be fun to hang out with and will end up alone. ink this precept is very beneficial to everybody because it relates to how you treat others and yourself, which I think is a very important thing to understand how to do respectfully. It is important to me because it is something I believe I can do better at. For example, if I have a soccer game and we lose, I usually try not to dwell on the fact that we lost, although sometimes I can't help it. There isn't really any point in getting myself or my team down that we lost because it won't help anyone do better in the next game. It would be a very disrespectful thing to bring not Just myself, but others own into the dumps.The smart thing to do would be to congratulate my team for trying, and to Just focus on getting better. I believe that the 19th precept from The Precepts of Ptah Hotep is one of the most important. It not only stresses respect for the individual and the majority, but also on being positive. I think that everybody can improve on letting things go and instead of complaining, trying to improve things. People can benefit by following precept 19 by being more fun to be around and making yourself and others happier. The Precepts of Ptah Hotep By ccbb43