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Looking At The Term Omnidirectional Imaging Film Studies Essay Free Essays

string(111) we give a quickly concentrate on the stake-of-the-specialty of current imaging frameworks that look to achieve expansive FOV. ...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Amazon River Essays

Amazon River Essays Amazon River Essay Amazon River Essay Introduction: In our world there are lots of river in the world which have different importances, the Amazon River is the one. The Amazon River is the one of world highest levels of biodiversity. Running out to the South Africa there is the Amazon River and Amazon rainforest which are the 2nd largest river and the largest rainforest in the world. The Amazon River is also the largest drainage basin in the world. Because of its large dimensions, it also called  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The River Sea†. As one of the most extreme place on the earth this research will tell you about insight information and specific data of the Amazon River. 103 words Geographical location: The Amazon River is not the longest river in the world however, it pass through many countries in South America. Its tributaries flow through the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean 6, 437 kilometres from the Amazons headwaters in the top of Andes Mountains of Peru. The length of the Amazon had been argued about which place the true source of the Amazon is. Nowadays, the satellite technology was helped researchers to calculate the river’s dimensions more accurately. The Brazil’s  National Institute for Space Research selected to use the southern channel and estuary as begin of measurement. Their final measurement for the length of the Amazon from Apacheta Creek which is the place that they decided to be the source of the river to the mouth of Marajo Bay was about 6,992 km(this fact may prove that Amazon is the longest river in the world). The Amazon Basin is the largest drainage basin in the world. It covers approximately 40 percent of South America around 7,050,000 square kilometres. It found just next to the Pacific Ocean. The Amazon River and forest is forested areas that become flooded every rainy season. Every year the water level rises more than 9 metres, flooding the surrounding forests called as flooded forests. In an average  dry season, 110,000 square kilometres of land are water-covered, while in the  wet season, the flooded area of the Amazon Basin rises to 350,000 square kilometres. The volume of water it carries from the Amazon River to the Atlantic Ocean is enormous: up to 300,000 cubic metres per second in the rainy season, with an average of 209,000 cubic metres per second from 1973 to 1990. The end of the Amazon River is the Atlantic Ocean (at Marajo Bay) 285 words History: Due to the fact that the flood in Amazon area is not a big event because Amazon is the largest drainage area in the world which made Amazon forests a flooded area every rainy season this have an effect on transporting system. In the past centuries, transporting system mostly use a boat to travel from place to place. Then, new age of transportation in Amazon area is started from 6 September, 1850 the emperor, Pedro II when he sanctioned the law authorizing steam navigation on the Amazon. This opened commerce on Para and Manaus, Manaus and Tabatinga, Para and Cameta, the Madeira, Purus and Negro with the steamboats. On 31 July 1867 the government of Brazil, pressed by countries encircling the  upper Amazon  basin, to open the water route every nations. The  mercantile  development associated with  steamboat  navigation, coupled with the internationally driven demand for  natural rubber  (1880–1920), this brought Amazon local country benefits. The first direct foreign trade with Manaus was commenced around 1874 this local trade along the river bring the Amazon Steam Navigation Company had 38 vessels. By the turn of the 20th century, the principal exports of the Amazon Basin were  India-rubber,  cacao beans,  Brazil nuts  and a few other products of minor importance, such as  pelts  and  exotic  forest produce (resins, barks, woven  hammocks, prized bird  feathers, live animals, etc. and extracted goods (lumber, gold, etc. ). Then, the demand of rubber from the Allied forces in World War II increased. After the World War II the long-term development plans continued. Roads were cut through the forests, and in 1970, the work on the  Trans-Amazonian highway  network began. 274 words Impact of h uman Use: According to the fact that the Amazon River is the extreme place in the world about biodiversity, resourceful place and Largest river in the world etc. , this make people interest to live, to use it commercially and to travel. First we focus on living of people in Amazon areas. There are at least 100 uncontacted tribes or groups of people who inhabit the  rainforest. These people are harmed by natural disaster, disease and other load of obstacles. Live on the water is not only to find food, eat and sleep. The one that going to survive is the one who organised and prepared for everything such as food, shelter, drugs and place to use as toilet. When it was people living in Amazon the boating and shipping is start too. Fishing on Amazon River was happen for centuries but there is no control even now it still no rules over fishing activity. Boating is due to the transportation system especially water way. Boating are not only makes life under water panic but it also effect the chemical rate of water when the petroleum things drop out into water from the boat engine or crash of boat also make river become toxin. The shipping is also the aspect that we look for. It is related to boating because to shipping things on the river you need to transport on water way. It gets same problems as Boating but the last aspect is the main problemâ€Å"tourism†. The most attractive tour is Amazon cruise tour. It is going to offer an intimate tropical natural experience. The tourism help country gain money but lot of tourist is not a cooperative people for the natural protection rules. 280 words Pollutants: The pollutant which found in the Amazon River is a producing of pig iron, petroleum environment problems and the most pollutant is gold rush from gold mining which using large amount of mercury to extract the gold were released into rivers and caused the fish, which are so important in the local diet, to become unsafe to eat. The research discovered the hair of people who live far from the mercury problem source as samples taken from adults contained an average mercury level of 15. 9 micrograms per gram (15. 9 parts per million). This amount of exposure is well below the threshold of 50 micrograms  per gram considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO). The  WHO  threshold is based on the lowest level at which scientists in previous studies have reported the first clinical signs of mercury poisoning in adults. In fact, the study revealed a direct relationship between declining coordination and increasing levels of methyl mercury in peoples hair that live next to the mercury problem source. The research had discovered that mercury can damage human health even at levels well below accepted international safety standards. The investigation into the cause of mercury contamination in the Amazon is one of many projects which explain about what is going on at Amazon river and what was it effect. This knowledge can then be used to develop policies toward the better management of ecosystems in order to improve Amazon River and human health. 242 words Impact of a proposed: The amount water in the Amazon River can use to run hydroelectric power plants effectively. The energy requirements of both the Carajas development and the city of Belem are met by the giant  Tucurui  hydroelectric plant on the Tocantins River, one of the largest  hydroelectric power  stations in the world. A more modest hydroelectric facility on a small river north of Manaus supplies that city with power. A growing sensitivity to the harmful consequences for both  our life  and the environment due to the construction of large dams has caused projects to be placed on hold. The principal  oil  developments within Amazonia have taken place in the Oriente regions of the Andean countries. Oil pipelines originate from districts in both Colombia (the upper Putumayo) and Ecuador (Agrio Lake), as well as north eastern Peru, and end at  export terminals on the Pacific coast. Within the Brazilian and Bolivian portions of the basin, developments have been of minimal consequence. To understand and solve problem of construction of dam and hydro-electric power project we need to know that human use water especially damming and agricultural has affected over 77 percent of the annual discharge of the large rivers in the northern third of the world. While offering some benefit to humans, these dams reduce the ability of rivers to transport water. Dams also block the passage of fish upstream to spawning grounds. So construction of dam and sluice is very important but the large one would affect the ecosystem too much so why don’t you build it in many part of the river and it will less affect the whole of the ecosystem. In the same way as dam construction problems, the bridge oil and gas is need for South America people. But the way to solve is to keep it safer than normal pipeline and check it frequently to make sure and safe a nature. 310 words Conclusion: Amazon is the largest river in the world in volume and in area of drainage asin its basin encompasses the world’s most extensive rainforest and is home to an extraordinary diversity. It was also generated the economics of nations. These facts make Amazon become important river but it can also bring dirtiness to the river. So, everyone especially local people, tourist and government agency need to realize that Amazon also need to be protect because the water protect us and give us opportunities to live better. I think that if everything is done as my recommendation the problem might be solved especially the dam construction problems. 106 words

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Process Centered Management Model in the Health Care Industry Setup Essay

Process Centered Management Model in the Health Care Industry Setup - Essay Example For him, the specialization of labor bannered by the Industrial Age, served as a reason of American business inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Individual tasks brought about by individual people or a group of people that form a department delimits their flexibility needed in optimizing the output of the whole company. Instead of focusing on the company's overall performance value on customer's viewpoint, they are more concerned on the productivity of a particular task of an individual person or a department. Though we can say that the tasks assigned to the department is performed productively, it does not still discredit the fact that many of the tasks done by each department in the traditional corporation are useless and/or hampered by the delay of the preceding unit in the production flow. These factors contribute to the inefficiency and unwanted costs that haunted even the largest of American corporations. Hammer blamed the lack of concern for processes or "how the units (tasks) fit together into a whole." With this in mind, he formulated the process-centered model, a management paradigm that revolves around business processes. Process centered management aims to divide a company by processes, not by function based departments.

Friday, November 1, 2019

Proplem statment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Proplem statment - Essay Example There is a lack of enthusiasm in the workplace and the result is a failure to meet expected outcomes. Another difficulty is the relationship between management or leaders and workers or followers. Within KFIC, as discussed earlier in the module on management change, the making of decisions is kept within the upper layers of management at CEO level and with the company chairman. Others in the company, supposedly in positions of leadership are prevented from making decisions in their own rights as they are not given sufficient information, and have neither the skills required or the authority within the workplace that would enable them to do so. The other members of the work teams are well aware of this situation and this makes for poor co-worker relationships. Information is restricted to an elite and the result is a lack of motivation on the part of both team leaders and others. The leaders are unable to act as leaders and the others feel that there is a lack of support. Only minimal instructions are passed down. The problem is a cultural one within the organization. The lack of information sharing is due to lack of trust and workers are aware of this. The company is concerned with finance and investment. This means that there is much private knowledge which must naturally be safeguarded. However unless leaders and workers have sufficient knowledge they are unlikely to be able to make required decisions and carry out tasks given to a satisfactory level. In 2001 Guthrie discussed how the most successful businesses do not rely only upon their obvious assets, but also depend upon more intangible things such as knowledge creation and information held. This is something that KFIC needs to take hold of. They need to understand the importance of knowledge creation and the process of passing on necessary information. There have been a number of studies on the topic of knowledge management i.e knowledge creation, sharing and transfer according to Mitchell

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Do you think the US is currently doing all that it should to reduce Essay

Do you think the US is currently doing all that it should to reduce global warming - Essay Example Voluntary measures, as it is obvious to think, won't be as effective as mandatory measures since many companies involved are worried about the short-term benifits that they are getting in the present system of traditional energy production and consumption. For example, the use of alternatives sources of energy like solar energy should be enforced as a mandatory measure to be implemented as soon as possible. According to Monga Bay (2006), the United States is acting unethically on global warming. A recent report from June 16, 2009, given by the US Global Change Research Program provides the next key findings about global warming: "The latest climate science tells us that the United States and the world must break its dependence on fossil fuels and transition rapidly to 100 percent clean, renewable energy if we hope to avoid the most catastrophic effects of global warming" (Environment California, 2008). These are the strong mandatory measures that the United States have to enforce in order to solve the global warming issue.

Monday, October 28, 2019

A Gllance At Information And Communication Technology Essay Example for Free

A Gllance At Information And Communication Technology Essay Information and communication technology (ICT) has become an important tool in all aspects of life. With the development of technology, the introduction of ICT as a tool has essentially brought tremendous revolution to the practices and procedures of nearly all forms of endeavor within business and governance during the past decades. Consequently, the importance of ICT project management cannot be overemphasized since it is the catalyst for successfully carrying out the ICT project. A critical research on the factors influencing the performance of ICT has been conducted as well as the introduction of different evaluation models or frameworks, which are used determine if an ICT project is successfully implemented. The last but not the least, a conclusion and a recommendation are given to prove that the potential values and benefits will be brought by elaborately analyzing those related factors before implementation and regularly evaluation on the ICT project. Table of content Introduction Recently, the role of Information and communication technology (ICT) has become more and more important in any forms of organizations and businesses. According to Daniels (2002) ICT has evolved to be one of the basic tool but pervasive among the public within such a short time. Besides, understanding the operational mechanism of ICT and mastering the fundamental skills and concepts of ICT are regarded as the basic knowledge that people now should equip with. However, it seems that many people have the wrong perceptions of what ICTs are; it’s commonly that ICTs generally be referred to ‘computers and computing related activities’ before the definition of ICT officially clarified by a United Nations report (1999). Also, according to UNESCO ICT could be understood in the way that which is the combination of ‘Informatics technology’ with other related technology, such as communication technology in particular. In other words, ICT is a more extended than information technology (IT), ICT not only emphasizes the technology itself, but also highlights the unified communications and the integration of telecommunications, computers; furthermore, by using these products such as the enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, users will be able to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. Now, we can find the radio broadcasts, audio conferencing, teleconferencing, email, interactive voice response system, audiocassettes and CD ROMs etc., are vari ous kinds of ICT products available, and those ICT products have been used for different purposes in our daily life, work environment, or common business practices. There are more and more people become aware of the benefits and efficiency brought by the ICT. With that in mind, people are starting paying more attentions on the ICT management issues, such as how to better manage ICT projects, what are those key factors determining the performance of ICT project, or how to adequately evaluate the performance of ICT project. Discussion Just as the other project management is, there are various success/failure factors related to the ICT project management. Here we discuss the roles of attitudes and the alignment between ICT and business, which are regarded as two of the most important key factors in ICT project management. A corresponding literature review is also preformed in order to better understand the background. The Roles of Attitudes Based on recent researches on the acceptance and use of ICT project, and related ICT design and development, ICT only brings values to the organization if it is accepted, applied and widely applied by those targeted users. From one of the research (Zhang, P. 2007), the author mentioned two different theories, which the inconformity between these two theories lays in the concepts behind and effects behavioral intention. The theories mentioned are Attitude toward ICT as an object (ATO) and Attitude toward using ICT as a behavior (ATB). By definition, ATO is â€Å"a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor† (Eagly et al. 1998) or, as a combination of evaluative judgments about an object (Crites et al. 1994), while ATB is defined as â€Å"an individual’s positive or negative feelings (evaluative affect) about performing the target behavior.† (Fishbein et al. 1975) And the conceptual confusions whether attitudes play important role in the context of ICT project acceptance and use has been clarified, and there is an interesting evidence showing that the roles of attitudes can change as the users’ use of the ICT increases. The Alignment between business and ICT The literature related to the information and communication technology (ICT) demonstrated that alignment between ICT and business will influence the business performance and effectiveness of the organization in a positive way. (Cumps, B., Viaene, S., Dedene, G., Vandenbulcke, J 2006) Furthermore, the alignment of business and ICT of an organization is one of the fundamental sustainable factors, which can also be an advantage for an organization. In that case, the organizations should consider establishing specific ICT management routines in order to obtain better alignment performance scores. Since the role of ICT cannot be underestimated, more and more people want to know whether the ICT really brings values, whether the ICT substantially improved the efficiency, or whether the ICT works as expected. Based on the research, there are several more comprehensive ICT management capability maturity framework developed, such as the ICT management capability maturity framework and ICT Per formance Reference Model. The differences between these two frameworks or models are the focus and the content. ICT management capability maturity framework The framework is a ‘spider diagram’, which includes seven indicators: ICT Applications, Business-ICT relationship, ICT strategy alignment, ICT user profile, ICT managerial paradigm, ICT governance and ICT organization. Before applying the ICT management capability maturity framework, the users should firstly define the critical processes of their ICT management for each indicator. For each indicator, there are specific process-orientated evaluation standards, and the users should make judgments for each standard to see whether it fits to the organization’s characters, needs, and specific industry. For each applied standard, there are different dimensionalities to assess the maturity of capability. The key function of this framework is to be used as an evaluating tool and a improvement roadmaps that can point out directions for the senior management on ICT and business management in strategies planning in order to sustainably improve, develop, and manage the ICT capability in support of optimized business value delivery. From this capability maturity framework, we can clearly see the ICT management capability maturity of an organization as well as its improvement footprint. At the same time, with the use of such framework, the organization can be evaluated on its overall ICT management capability, the comparison analysis between different organizations can be conducted, and even the industrial benchmark can als o be made to see the ranking of the organization in the certain industry. ICT Performance Reference Model ICT Performance Reference Model is a model using the reference model principles in the area of ICT management. For better understanding of the meaning of reference model, here the definition of the reference model that â€Å"Reference model contains relevant structures and relationships among the model elements (process structures, levels, document structures) and also the predefined knowledge (best practice examples) already included in these structures.† is used. ICT Performance Reference Model combines the strengths of mathematical and data modeling techniques for its structure and knowledge management principles for its content; namely, it represents the best practices and knowledge in the formalized model structure, and therefore allows easier knowledge replication. The framework of ICT Performance Reference Model includes ICT Management Process, ICT Performance management Methodologies, ICT Performance Measurement Processes, ICT Performance Measures and ICT Performance m anagement Tools and Applications. The performance of ICT project is then be evaluated through these dimensions. With the implication of ICT Performance Reference Model, it would be easier to address ICT management related issues including application functionality overlap, technology and knowledge heterogeneity, and constantly changing business pressures. Conclusion From the discussion part, we can see that there are different success/failure factors relate to the Information and Communication Technology project management. Each factor cannot be left out from consideration whenever applying an ICT project, namely, the importance of each factor cannot be overestimated, or there would possibly result in an unpleasant outcome. On the other hand, it is also necessary to have the ICT project to be reviewed, or assessed the related management capability maturity periodically. With the regular evaluation, the organization will have better understanding about the current state of the implementation of ICT project, the acceptance level of related personnel, the operation results compared to expected results, and the continuing alignment with organization’s strategies. Recommendations As we all know that the management of ICT in the enterprise has been increasing in importance and nowadays it is one of the critical success factors of any type of business. In order to ensure sustainable growing of an organization, the use of ICT cannot be avoidable. After the careful research, I recommend the organization should look into every success/failure factors corresponding with the ICT project before implementation, which will largely reduce the risk of carrying out a project and ending in nothing. At the same time, with careful elaboration on each success/failure factors, the organization will have better understanding of its status quo, its strengths and weakness, which can be a great headstone for the design and implementation of the ICT project. In addition to the prior-art research, the ongoing assessment is also important for an ICT project management. In that case, the organization should choose adequate evaluation model or framework with some customized changes in order to fit into the needs of the organization. By doing the regular inspection, the organization can notice the wrong behavior in time and make certain modifications accordingly. Without such safeguard monitor mechanism, it may be too late when the organization realizes the mistakes happening. References Becker, J., Knackstedt, R., Pà ¶ppelbuß, D. W. I. J. (2009). Developing maturity models for IT management. Business Information Systems Engineering, 1(3), 213-222. Cumps, B., Viaene, S., Dedene, G., Vandenbulcke, J. (2006, January). An empirical study on business/ICT alignment in European organisations. InSystem Sciences, 2006. HICSS06. Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on (Vol. 8, pp. 195a-195a). IEEE. Donnellan, B., Sheridan, C., Curry, E. (2011). A capability maturity framework for sustainable information and communication technology. IT professional, 13(1), 33-40. Novotnà ½, O. (2009). ICT performance reference model in the context of corporate performance management systems. IDIMT-2009 System and Humans–A complex Relationship. Linz: Trauner Verlag Universitat, 13-16. Silvius, A. G. (2009, April). Business and IT Alignment: What We Know and What We Dont Know. In Information Management and Engineering, 2009. ICIME09. International Conference on (pp. 558-563). IEEE. Zhang, P., Aikman, S. (2007). Attitudes in ICT acceptance and use. In Human-Computer Interaction. Interaction Design and Usability (pp. 1021-1030). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Hitler :: essays research papers

ADOLF HITLER'S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND FANATICISM People often claim that Adolf Hitler believed in Atheism, Humanism, or that his religion involved ancient Nordic pagan mythology . None of this is true though. Although one of Hitler's henchmen, Alfred Rosenberg , did undertake a campaign of Nordic mythological propaganda, Hitler and most of his men did not believe in it .Many American books, television documentaries, and Sunday sermons that preach of Hitler's "evil" have eliminated Hitler's god for their Christian audiences. One has only to read from his own writing to appreciate that his God equals the same God of the bible.Hitler held many beliefs which not only include God and Providence but also Fate, Social Darwinism, and politics . He spoke , unashamedly, about God, fanaticism, idealism, dogma, and the power of propaganda. Hitler always held strong faith in all his convictions . Hitler justified his fight for the German people and against Jews by using Godly and Biblic al reasoning. One of his most revealing statements makes this quite clear: " Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator:* by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.*"Although Hitler did not practice religion in a churchly sense, he certainly believed in the Bible's God. He was raised as a Catholic and went to a Catholic school. Hitler's anti-Semitism grew from his Christian education. Christian Germany in his time took for granted the belief that Jews held an inferior status to German Christians . Jewish hatred did not spring from Hitler, it came from the preaching of Catholic priests, and Protestant ministers throughout Germany for hundreds of years. The Protestant leader, Martin Luther, himself, held a livid hatred for Jewish religion. In his book,"On the Jews and their Lies," Luther set the standard for Jewish hatred in Protestant Germany up until World War II.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Benefits that are important to employees: A review of employee benefit programs Essay

When employees look for employment compensation is important. However, employee benefits programs can be the deciding factor when it comes down to decision making; accept or decline a job offer. Having a â€Å"good benefits package† is the most desired attributes in an employer and it attracts human talent (Conlin, 2008). Even the decision to stay with at an organization or to leave, the topic of employee benefits resurface. Human Resource Managers are tasked with the responsibility of administering the company’s benefit program. This includes keeping track of the benefits, giving the basic overview, managing enrollment period just to name a few which can be time consuming not to mention costly. Employers provide benefits to attract the best talent, to retain or incentivize employees for high performance, and because some benefits are required by the law (Bohlander & Snell, 2010). But employee benefits makes up a large part of administration cost in terms of payroll thu s creating an expense and major concern to the employer (SHRM, 2011). Employees want great benefits because of the security it provides by lowering their out of pocket expenses and preparing them for the unknown yet immediate future. A common theme, on both side of the spectrum for employer and employee is â€Å"expense† or â€Å"cost† and for that reason this research paper will evaluate what benefits are important to employees and what are employers doing about it; a review of employee benefit programs. Employee Benefits Program Available and HR There are many benefit programs available to the employee from the basics like healthcare, to benefits in form of employee service like prepaid law. However, a good and competitive benefit program aligns strategically with the goals and objective of the organization which may differ depending on  company. Additionally, the benefit program needs to cover the desires of the employee while meeting the demands of the law. Last, the benefit program must be managed properly to work and be cost effective. Human Resource intranet system (HRIS) allows the organizations to save money on administrative cost, empower the employee through self-service, relieves managers of time-consuming administrative work, and it’s an effective communication tools (Kumar &Pandya, 2012). Technology advances and globalization has made HRIS somewhat a standard in many but not all organizations. The word benefit has several meanings which many applies in terms of employee benefit program. Merriam-Webster defines benefits as an advantage; promoting well-being, it’s a financial help when sick, old or unemployment and as in health insurance as service or a right the employers provide in addition to wages or salary (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Organizations strategic plan for employee benefits considering today’s dynamic in the workforce, again may vary by industry. But some objectives that may be popular are improving employee work satisfaction, draw and influence employees, retain top-performing employees and maintain competitive edge (Bohlander & Snell, 2010). Benefit program offered by the employer should be decided by the employees needs while considering the organization’s objectives of meeting their goals thus fostering flexibility. Minimum Employee Benefits mandated by Law A required benefit implies that certain services must be done by law. There are two categories; mandated employer benefits and employer offered option compensation. Employee benefits that are required by law are social security, unemployment, workers’ compensation, and disability insurance (SBA.gov, 2012). These four benefits are forms of insurance therefore the employer can get group coverage for them at a premium. Social Security Insurance (SSI) permits the covered individual to have income security in event of loss earning such as retirement or disability (Socialsecurity.gov). Many of the millennials fear that by the time they retire there will be no social security; this adds to the importance of employees having good benefits (Conlin, 2008). If an employee is laid off, and paid into social security then the employee is eligible for up to 26 of unemployment benefits. Worker’s compensation is usually state mandated and can be private  or funding through the state i n case an employee is injured on the job (www.dol.gov, 2012). Disability insurance is only required in 5 states and Puerto Rico. Consolidated omnibus budget reconciliation act (COBRA), family and medical leave act (FMLA), and older workers benefit protection act (OWBPA) are acts in place by law under employee benefit. They are employer offered option compensation (www.dol.gov, 2012). Benefits Important to Employees and Cost Many of the benefits that are important to employees are optional such as healthcare, paid time off, retirement programs. Continuous rising cost of healthcare makes it the most important employee benefit to both employer and employee (Smerd, 2007). Annually, employers are spending $300 annually on health insurance for employees and their families with the numbers expected increase (Weatherly, 2004). Over the years health care cost increase due change in the law, Medicare, baby boomers causing a greater need for health, technological advances, elevated cost of malpractice insurance, prescription cost and misuse of health care services; just to name a few (Andrews,2004). The constant increase in cost and changes within healthcare legislation makes cost containment a priority in the HR department and the organization (SHRM, 2011). There are many cost containments companies are doing to lowering cost of healthcare such as reducing the benefits, including or increasing deduction and premi ums, adding copays, and coordination of benefits (Bohlander & Snell, 2010). In the last few years, health saving account (HSA), flexible saving account (FSA) are becoming more common and is a form of cost efficiently (Johnson, 2012). There is a growing interest in in HSA due to the low cost on CDHP plan with high deduction (Thomas, 2004). It’s important to note the 3 different medical delivery systems that aid in cost control and they are health maintenance organization (HMO), preferred provider organization (PPO) and consumer-driven health plan (CDHP). HMO’s regulators cost having the primary care physician (PCP) who coordinates the patients care within a close network and referrals are needed. PPO’s are a similarity however provides greater freedom and there is no referral need for specialist, nor do the patients have to choose a PCP. Consumer-driven health plan is newer than HMO’s and PPO’s and it pro’s and con’s. CDHP appears to work better with wellness programs and HAS because it a lifestyle  change in behavior to focus on health (Johnson, 2012). However it can hurt some that are medically vulnerable because CDHP have flexible accompanied with low premiums thus target low-income population who are usually the ones with chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease (Miller, 2011). 2014 is fast approaching which means health care reform is nearing its effective day and it will have an impact on employee benefits. Effects of the Affordable Care Act and Healthcare reform March 23, 2010 marks the affordable care act become law and on June 28, 2012 the supreme court decision rendered a final decision to uphold the health care law (Supremecourt.gov, 2012). There are 10 titles to the Affordable Care Act. The act gives individuals, families, and small business owners control over their health care, reduces premiums and provides tax relief to the middle class (Healthcare.gov, 2012). In terms of the medical and insurance industries, it caps out of pocket expenses, and requires preventive care to be covered without cost. The act allows those without insurance or those who can’t get insurance a change to be insured while keeping insurance companies transparent with its customers (Healthcare.gov, 2012). The effect of the affordable care act will start in 2014 therefore some organization are looking at how the health care reform will affect the upcoming benefit enrollment in 2013 (Spears, 2012). Cases on different business among many industries reveal th at healthcare reform may lead to reduce in cost, ensure healthcare benefits, restructure on existing employee benefits plan (Spears, 2012). The affordable care act changes may aid in lowering cost of healthcare overtime because it promotes preventive care and capping on the cost medical out-of-pocket ultimately allowing savings in several issues with in healthcare in general. For example, professional services cost for children health care in 2010 is a large portion of healthcare cost 40.3 % (Spears, 2012). The healthcare reform and affordable care act full impact is yet to come however it appears it will have some positive and negative affects depending on how one views it Paid Time off (PTO) Healthcare benefit has a direct effect on paid time off for example sick time. Paid time off is another important benefit to employees. It includes  paid vacation, holidays and sick time. A survey conducted in 2002 shows that 73% of employees was satisfied with the paid time off programs (Thomas, 2004). However, from the employer point of view, it’s delicate balance of cost and employee satisfaction because paid time off is an expense to the company. In effort to offset some of the cost, paid time off is being managed online through HRIS systems to save time and money. For example in 2006 it was reported by EBN quick poll that 59% of HR professional stated their company uses online tracking for paid time off such as absences (Shepherd, 2006). PTO is usually accrued with the employee seniority. But some industry trend setters are awarding PTO in lump sum and based on experience in the industry to attract human talent (Finch, 2011). Speaking of experience and seniority brings up the next employee benefits; life insurance and retirement programs. Employees work to support their families, care for love ones and themselves if ill, protect and secure their well-being and for these reasons retirement programs and life insurance is essential. Counting on just social security is not enough especially considering that millions of baby boomers are exiting the workforce and the cost of health cost. Therefore many employees utilize retirement benefits to supplement wages lost from no longer working. Baby Boomers were once the largest generation however millennials are expected to exceed baby boomers by 2016 (SHRM, 2011). Younger employees, known as millennials, are concerns that social security dead and gone well before retirement age is attained (Conlin, 2008). Employers and HR professional will have to be creative and think ahead to meet the objectives of the company. No one likes to talk about the unspeakable, death how ever employees think about love ones that maybe left behind therefore life insurance most be discussed. Life insurance is one of the oldest and most popular employee benefit (Bohlander & Snell, 2010). Life insurance is popular among employee benefits because some are unable to qualify or afford life insurance without the employer sponsoring it which many employers provide at no cost. Employers usually provide group term life insurance which has a nominal premium because of the amount of people insured. Implications for Managers Meeting employee needs and balancing cost while meeting the organization’s objectives and goals will always have some challenges. For HR managers to  overcome these challenges they should consider: Monitor and stay aware of trending topic in HR regarding employee benefits Evaluate current employee benefits annually to ensure its aligned with the business objectives and goals ïÆ' ¼Communicate regularly with employee on what benefits matter most as well as communicate changes early and frequent through the use of HRIS and other tools (Robbins, 2012) Use cost containment measures for offset the rising cost of health care such as CDHP with high deduction and HAS and promote healthier life choices/well-being programs Continue to keep the HR managers knowledgeable on changes in the law as it affects benefits Utilize technology such as HRIS and other online tools to lowering administrative cost Review pay structure frequently to use employee benefits as a device to negative pay and to stay competitive why attract and retain talent Employers and HR professional need to stride toward an equilibrium regarding employee benefit through flexibility and innovation both parties involve can have a successful outcome. 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