Obesity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Obesity - Research Paper Example Although alcohol and smoking are not very common in children, some children have these behaviors. Alcoholism and smoking have proven to be a cause of obesity. The environment in which the minor is brought up in can lead to obesity. Advertisements influence the kind of things that children are attracted to. In the food market, there is a lot of advertisement for fast food. This leads to children taking more junk food, and thus they become obese. Lifestyles have also changed. Parents offer their children little healthy food. In the current world, many parents will prefer buying drinks and snacks for their children rather than preparing healthy meals. There is little walking as people move in vehicles. Such characteristics of the modern lifestyles lead to children being obese. Disability is a factor that can lead to obesity, but it is commonly overlooked. Certain mental disabilities such as schizophrenia can cause eating disorders. Moreover, disabled people have little exercise due to the nature of their bodies. Therefore, there is an imbalance between the energy taken in and the energy released by the disabled people. This imbalance leads to obesity The amount of energy that a child takes in the form of food can lead to obesity. Parents give their children high energy foods in large quantities. The body does not require the excess energy, and all the excess energy is stored in the form of fats. The accruement of fats in the body leads to obesity. The amount of energy expenditure has a close relation to obesity. If a kid takes in a lot of energy and does not involve their body with physical exercise, the child is likely to obese. The current western lifestyle contributes a lot to causing obesity. Most children spend their leisure time playing computer games rather than real games. Little time for physical exercise leads to build up of calories, and thus the child becomes

Alcan Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alcan Case Study - Essay Example In this era of computerization, IT is playing a key role in the management and reporting of exceptions so that pertinent issues could be highlighted and addressed before assuming alarming proportions. In the present case, Robert Ouelette the new CIO has three main concerns: (1) how to co-ordinate the IT functions across different countries and continents; (2) converting the IT governance function into a centralized one; and (3) monitoring the cost of IT, controlling wasteful expenditure and overseeing the usefulness of output produced by the IT function in the enterprise. The Accenture IT Governance Model Weill and Ross in their book ‘IT Governance’ define the term as â€Å"specifying the decision rights and accountability framework to encourage desirable behavior in the use of IT.† (Weill & Ross, 2004, 7 ). Some IT professionals and laymen at large seem to confuse the IT governance model with the way that IT is implemented and managed in an organization. We need to establish at the outset that IT governance does not give us the means to manage the IT department- rather it is the model through which the business manages its use of IT. Accenture has developed an IT governance model framework in which they classify industries based on (1) the pace of technology changes that they face and (2) their basis for competitive advantage, this being either product differentiation or cost. Accordingly they have identified four business classifications: (A) Efficient Predictable Operators (B) Information Integrators (3) Responsive Solution Providers and (4) New Capability Enablers. Which Quadrant Does Alcan Fall In & Why In the above stated framework, Accenture define an efficient predictable operator as one whose industry experiences a slow rate of change and competes on the basis of its operational efficiency. This is a common picture of the aluminum and allied industry where there is vertical integration among the top firms in order to take advantage of lower production costs based on volumes produced of various outputs, and very high production capacities are used to break-even point. Secondly, with the high costs of running electrolytic processes, there is a dire need for constant and reliable sources of cheaply available power. Alcan has managed to set up factories, refineries and mines at various places along the globe so that the cost of production is minimized or can be controlled to some extent, while supply of various outputs such as cans, sheets, ingots etc. is maintained. Now that the industry has overcome the lean period of the worldwide recession of the 1990s and the Russian oversupply shock that sent the price careening in a downward spiral, the price of aluminum per ounce has been increasing steadily and stands at $2,520 per tonne in 2007. I would put Alcan in the quadrant reserved for an Efficient Predictable Operator. Weill & Ross Model of IT Governance Weill and Ross have identified three questions that must be answered in order to achieve effective IT governance (Weill & Ross, 2004, 10). These are as follows: (1) What are the decisions that need to be made in order to ensure effective management and use of IT? (2) Who will need to make these decisions? (3) How will these decisions be made and monitored? In the course of their