An Edible History Of Humanity Essays - Food And Drink, Agriculture

An Edible History Of Humanity Essays - Food And Drink, Agriculture An Edible History Of Humanity 57169051905000For this assignment, first read the excerpts from Tom Standage's An Edible History of Humanity, available on Blackboard. Based on your reading, respond to the following questions. Your responses must be typed, in Calibri or Times New Roman size 12, and be in full sentences. While there is no set length limit, each response should clearly state and explain the answers. This assignment will be graded as Skills Demonstration. Date Due:_________________________________________________ Please attach this sheet to the front of your responses when you submit your assignment! Rubric Formatting: follows directions for assignment, completed thoroughly 5% Responses: Questions answered thoroughly and with reflection/supporting detail as needed. Reflects understanding of the questions and the reading 90% Grammar: clear, fluent language with few/no spelling or grammatical errors 5% The Invention of Farming Food as Technologies What does Standage mean when he says farmed land is as much a technological landscape as a biological one? Does farming spread from one point outward around the world? Where and when does it develop? The Man-Made Nature of Maize Standage highlights several differences between teosinte and maize. Describe those differences and how they benefitted farmers. How did early farmers change a natural process of selection into deliberate cultivation of specific traits? Based on Standage's explanation, do you thing farmed corn is natural? Cereal Innovation Explain how "tough rachis," a mutation undesirable for plant survival, benefitted early humans, and how it became the dominant trait in about 200 years. Why was domestication "bad" for plants like rice and wheat? Use examples in your answer. Explain what Standage describes as a trade-off in human domestication of animals, giving examples. Refer to the map on page 12. Based on what you know about early humans, what do you think explains why maize was domesticated so much later than wheat or rice? Roots of Modernity An Agricultural Mystery State what Standage calls the "most complex, and most important question in human history." Standage argues that farming was not a liberation from the "anxious hand-to-mouth existence of the hunter-gatherer." Do you agree with this assertion? Explain your rationale. The Origins of Farming Explain and analyze at least 3 contributing factors that led to the shift towards farming. Why was it impossible for humans to revert to a nomadic lifestyle? Did Farmers Spread, Or Did Farming Spread? Define demic and cultural diffusion. Describe the archaeological evidence of demic diffusion. Describe the linguistic evidence of cultural diffusion. How did the Khoisan of southern Africa transition from hunting and gathering to domestication? Why does Standage believe farming was a hybrid of both mechanisms? Man, An Agricultural Animal "Is man exploiting maize for his own purposes, or is maize exploiting man?" What does Standage mean by this? How did the transition to agriculture impact the foods we eat today? Focus on the last paragraph of page 27. Do you agree with the position Standage takes on the invention of farming? Explain your rationale, including examples from the text.

World Risk Society Essay Example

World Risk Society Essay Example World Risk Society Essay World Risk Society Essay Furthermore they argue that the conditions leading to the emergence of a mathematical theory of probability were dependent on a combination of the Marxist theories concerning changes in the economic means of production as well as Mertons theory concerning the link between religion, the Protestant reformation, and scientific developments; and to relatively recent theories which link the emergence of modern science to a complex chain of scientific, technological, political, economic, religious, institutional and ideological changes (no date:522). Today, notions of risk and probability are complex and incorporate the concepts of risk analysis and management. Lupton illustrates Castels view that the obsession with the prevention of risk in modernity is built upon a grandiose technocratic rationalizing dream of absolute control of the accidental, understood as the irruption of the unpredictable (Castel cited in Lupton, 1999:7). She infers that modern representations of risk are in fact very similar to early forms although today we fear being the victim of a crime, falling prey to cancer, being in a car accident, losing our jobs, having our marriage break down or our children fail at school (1999:3) rather than pre-modern concerns of hunger, epidemic disease and war. For Covello and Mumpower, modern risk analysis has its twin roots in mathematical theories of probability and in scientific methods for identifying causal links between adverse health effects and different types of hazardous activities (no date:523). However, what makes it unique to modern day is its sophistication. They depict that most current ideas about societal risk management are rooted in four basic strategies or mechanisms of control: insurance, common law, government intervention and private sector self-regulation. Beck conveys how modern risks have acquired a fluidity in that they can be changed, magnified, dramatized or minimized within knowledge, and to that extent they are particularly open to social definition and construction (Beck cited in Adams, 1995:181). From the above exploration of events, set in chronological order, it is clear that the emergence of notions of risk and probability cannot be restricted to one particular form or any one period of time. The process was slow and spanned out over thousands of years before reaching the level of sophistication and complexity that we are familiar with today. This essay has attempted to show that the story of risk, in its crudest form, began as early as the human race itself, in the form of the ideology that all life is subject to the risk of death. With this as a starting point, a number of ancient societies, cultures, and individuals, each in very specific ways, propelled the development of risk and probability forward. It is also argued that it was a complex combination of changing cultural beliefs and mathematical experimentation and mastery that, together, allowed risk and probability theory to begin to mushroom during the later part of the Renaissance movement. Firstly, the ancient societies that settled in the Tigris-Euphrates valley were aware of the significance of risk in the context of their expanding appetite and capability for trade and travel. They were yet unaware however of any mathematical notions of probability and cultural belief led them instead to look to signs of the Gods to determine the future. Later, within the realm of ancient Greece, probability theory began to be developed subsequent to the Greeks love of gambling. At this stage however, the limitations of the Greek numbering systems seemed to hinder any further development. Probability theory was not yet being expressed quantitatively and any knowledge of probability theory still failed to be applied to notions of risk, which were still attributed to the supernatural and the will of the gods. This ideology only began to dissipate with the increasing popularity of Christianity which allowed people to feel as if they have some sense of control over their world. The subsequent collision of the Christians with an Arab group brought about the combination of the Christians faith in the future and the Arabs knowledge of the Hindu numbering system that had been developing parallel to that of the Greeks. This was a fundamental breakthrough. Yet it was not until the Renaissance, and the development of applied quantitative probability in risk through the form of business processes such as commercial bookkeeping, that risk and probability theory was able to flourish. Throughout history then it is clear to see that trade, travel and insurance have played a large part in the development of theories of risk and probability. Although their discovery cannot be traced to a particular form, it is the juncture at which mathematical ability, cultural belief and economic drive meet, during the Renaissance, that modern notions of risk and probability begin. Bibliography Adams, John (1995) Risk. London: UCL Press Limited Beck, Ulrich (1999) World Risk Society. Cambridge: Polity Press. Beck, Ulrich (1992) Risk Society cited in Adams, John (1995) Risk. London: UCL Press Limited Bernstein, Peter. L. (1998) Against the Gods: The remarkable story of risk. Chichester: Jon Wiley and Sons, Inc. Castel, R (1991) From Dangerousness to Risk cited in Lupton, Deborah (1999) Risk. London Routledge Covello, Vincent and Mumpower, Jeryl (no date) Risk Analysis and Risk Management: A Historical Perspective in Covello Menkes and Mumpower Risk Evaluation and Management. New York: Plenum Press

Collaborations in a Medical Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Collaborations in a Medical Team - Essay Example The patient is the principal figure in this procedure and there are various steps to be followed in the recovery of the patient which must be to the satisfaction of the patient’s needs (Gorske and Smith, 2009).This essay gives an account of the primary and the secondary care of patients with mental illness. It outlines the various roles of doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and the patient as members of the primary and secondary team and how various government trusts assist in the provision of health and social services for the treatment of a person with mental illness. This essay analyzes how collaborations in a medical team involving the treatment, and care of a person with mental illness is possible through relationship building and care planning. The paper outlines the practices and procedures of mental nursing in relation to service user partnerships. It analyzes the relationships that exist between mental patients, nurses and whether the mentioned relationshi p is a partnership. On most occasions the relationship between the medical teams involved and the patients is full of tension. Partnership is as a process where two or more individual, or bodies come together to jointly work for the benefit of one another.Heller et al, (1996), observe that the relationship between medical practioners and a patient is an example of a partnership (p.32). The aspect of user partnership means the provision of care services by the patient in collaboration with the medical staff, and the main aim is to achieve a common goal which is recovery of the patient. In a mental institution, user partnership takes an example of a collaboration of a nurse with a person with mental illness. It also involves the collaboration of the medical team in providing care services to the patient which can be primary or secondary care. Acheson (1999) observes that primary health care is the first contact of a mental patient with treatment of his/her condition since it brings ca re to the locality of the patient minimizing expenses involving hospital care (p.28). Primary care increases the recovery of the mental patient and reduces the chances of separating the patient from his family due to involuntary admission to mental hospitals. The care leads to better utilization of the available human resource facilities and reduction of stigma associated with terminal illness. Provision of primary health care in England is through public and private sector, and the following are the teams involved in the provision of such services. Doctors, health visitors, support staff, nurses/assistant practitioners, psychologists, counselors and social workers. The roles of these people are different but related. For instance the roles of the doctor is to diagnose the nature of the mental illness, however, he can’t perform this duty effectively without the assistance of a nurse. The role of the medical doctors is to perform diagnosis, while the duty of nurses and social workers is to make follow ups. From this analysis, doctors and nurses require each other’s services for effective care in the primary health care system. Psychologists and counselors play an important role in the care of a terminally ill person, and a counselor has a duty to build the confidence of the patient which is low due to stigma. These people cannot effectively utilize their services without the help of social workers and the support staff (Acheson, 1999). They assist a patient in understanding their mental condition and the help in offer. The patient is a member of the primary health team, and he has the responsibility of cooperating with the medical team for his/her recovery.

Questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Questionnaire - Essay Example The support from Medea’s boyfriend Jason will benefit Medea a lot as is evident from the table. The average monthly cash inflow has increased by a significant amount and now she has sufficient amount of ready cash. This allows Medea to finance her bicycle as the bicycle will cost her  £400 to 600 while the cash available with her now is far exceeding the expected cost of that bicycle. This alternative has a very positive impact on the financial position of Medea. Her yearly income increases by almost three times while the monthly cash flow improves a little less than 5 times. Through this support from her boyfriend, she is now able to finance her bicycle that was desperately needed by her in order to save her commuting costs. Comparing the above table for incomes with and without Jason (and Argo), we can see that the gross income increases by almost double of Medea’s individual income. Despite this significant increase in the income, all the expenses could increase only by smaller amounts except food expenses which show an increase of double the amount that was when Medea was alone. This relatively less increase in total expenses compared to the increase in the total gross income results in a considerable increase in the net income for the year. Similarly, the cash flows conditions also get better considerably and now Medea has monthly cash almost 5 times of what she had before support from her boyfriend Jason. Without Jason’s support it was not possible for her to finance her bicycle and save commuting cost but now she has 1640 Euros on average after paying for all her expenses which enables her to buy the desired bicycle even if costs her the highest expected price of 600 Euros. Now, when we assume that Polly chooses for option A and also that the interest rate remains constant throughout the period of mortgage; using the saving and borrowing calculator, we arrive at the following results: b) It is quite obvious that if the mortgage period and

Ethical judgements Essay Example for Free

Ethical judgements Essay Our entire life is a continuous process of gaining and retaining information, expanding our knowledge as individuals. Most people spend quite a bit of time in their childhood years in school learning, taking in knowledge that has been produced. As a species humans have produced a wealth of knowledge in a variety of ways. However there comes a time where you have to wonder what extent people would go to, to produce knowledge. Where is the line? When are we doing something ethically wrong? All of these questions bring up another question, do ethics get in the way of producing knowledge? The arts and natural sciences are two areas of knowledge that deal a lot with ethics. The arts are a very free area of knowledge in with people are allowed to express themselves, the natural sciences require a lot of experimentation. In my opinion, knowledge is very valuable, and the production of it should be a priority if the sacrifice is reasonable. The arts are a valuable source of knowledge, producers of art tend to try to convey a message through their artwork. Art comes in many different forms, ranging from visual arts to music and even literary arts. Throughout all forms most of art there are lessons embedded in the art piece, or at least messages conveyed through the art. Similarly, most art contains some form of censorship, artists are not allowed to touch on certain topics. Even if artists decide to make art that touches on controversial or different topics, their art is typically not accepted in society and does not receive any publicity. Again, this is the case with almost all art, however for the purpose of this essay I am going to focus on literary art. An example that is very prevalent in my mind is the ban of _The Book of Negroes_ by Lawrence Hill. A dutchman named Roy Groenberg wrote a letter to Lawrence Hill. In the letter he wrote that a group of people in the Netherlands were going to burn Hills book because in contained the word negro in the title (Hopper). _The Book of Negroes_ is an award winning book that is about the life of an 11 year-old girl who is kidnapped in a village near Segu in Africa, and sent to North Carolina to be a slave. The book continues to tell the reader about her life as a slave (Hill). _The Book of Negroes_ is widely considered as very moving and a book that conveys important messages (Hopper). Unfortunately, because of the title it was misconceived as a book that was critical of African-Americans. Groenberg was the only person to act on his feelings, however that does not mean he was the only person to see this book as negatively directed at African-Americans. _The Book of Negroes_ was likely misconceived by many more people just because of the inclusion of the word negro in the title. Unfortunately, society has made many ethical judgements about the word negro which are usually justified but in this case prevent people expanding their knowledge (Hopper). This one of many examples, in which an ethical judgement limited methods available in the production of knowledge. This brings up the question in my mind, why do people shy away from certain words? An attempt to find the answer lead me to the Theory of Knowledge diagram, more specifically the ways of knowing. One way of knowing that intrigues me is language, this seems to answer my question. Language is a very powerful way of knowing, as words can be very powerful. There are handful of words in the english language that are not spoken because of how powerful they are. It seems to me that because of this some words are not tolerated even if the context is appropriate. Which sort of explains why The Book of Negroes received some criticism. It almost makes the criticism understandable, and I can begin to justify Groenbergs actions. Like I said before, almost all art forms have artwork that is not socially  accepted, and up to this point Ive only discussed literary art. However in my personal life I have learned about art not being accepted, when it comes to hip-hop music. I regularly listen to hip-hop music and it is a very important part of my life. In the eighth grade for a social studies class I had the opportunity to play a song in class as part of a project. This for me was especially difficult because a lot of hip-hop music is not completely suitable for a eighth grade class setting. Even though I had found a couple of songs that were perfect for what I needed, but had a little too much profanity. I completely understand that there are some inappropriate elements to hip-hop music that are not the best thing for a class room environment. However, I believe by the eighth grade students have developed a level of maturity, and should be able to listen to hip-hop music. All that needed to happen was for my classmates to disregard any profanity and see the song for what it truly is. Similarly, people should have looked past the title The Book of Negroes and read the book to see it for its value. Ethical judgments are as prevalent in the arts as they are in the natural sciences. From stem cell research to animal testing, there are a plethora of examples for natural sciences. The arts are as much about entertainment as they are gaining knowledge, or maybe even more. On the other hand the natural sciences is almost entirely about gaining new knowledge and improving what is already known. In this age, developments in natural sciences are nearly only about human advancement. Whether is medically or discovering new things. I am going to mainly focus on how various countries, such as Argentina, the United States, Russia, Iran and France, tested their space equipment. From the mid 1940s all the way to 2013, the mentioned countries have sent monkeys into space (Gray). Before leaders were confident enough to send humans into space, they sent monkeys into space to see how their equipment fared. As expected, most of these monkeys died horrible deaths in flight with no way of knowing what is happening or any way to help themselves (Gray). The most notable instances were the first few monkeys in space. In 1948 NASA sent a  rhesus monkey named Albert 39 miles into the air in a rocket. Albert died of suffocation mid flight, however NASA sent another monkey in the air named Albert II. Albert II survived the flight but died due to a parachute malfunction (Gray). When I discussed the Book of Negroes I reached a conclusion that gaining knowledge is more important than ethical issues. However, when discussing NASA monkeys it is much harder to decide. This is because lives are at stake, although they are not human lives it is still hard to think about something dying for space research. Majority of people agree that sending monkeys into space is wrong. How is it that NASA can design equipment to go into space, but can not create a machine that can detect air pressure and oxygen levels. Again, understanding this point of view is much easier but the theory of knowledge diagram came to my mind again. In the ways of knowing there is emotion, and that is likely the main way of knowing affecting people when they imagine monkeys dying for space research. It is easy to create an emotional bond with an animal as cute as a monkey, and most people can agree monkeys are cute. When reacting on emotions people reach rash conclusions. Which I think can be applied here, I am curious what the reaction would be if NASA tested with uglier or at least less cute animals. What if NASA sent warthogs into space? This is a situation when I personally hate to play devils advocate, however if I was an astronaut in the 1940s I would certainly not go into a space rocket. I have absolutely nothing against monkeys, but if I were forced to make a decision between a monkey dying and a human dying I would choose the monkey, without hesitation. In conclusion, knowledge is very valuable and has been something humans have cherished through the ages. The production of knowledge has been vital to the advancement of the human race. Under most circumstances in the arts and natural sciences, the production of knowledge does not require a major sacrifice, just a small loss or temporary discomfort. There are times in which it is not worth the sacrifice to learn something. However the vast majority of circumstances provide a reasonable loss for the production of  knowledge. Overall, I believe knowledge and the production of knowledge is extremely valuable and should be a priority when it comes to he arts and natural sciences. Works Cited Gray, Tara. A Brief History of Animals In Space. NASA. NASA HQ, 02 Aug 2004. Web. 16 Sep 2013. Hill, Lawrence. The Book of Negroes. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: HarperCollins, 2007. Print. Hopper, Tristin. Dutchman threatens to burn The Book of Negroes. National Post. National Post, 10 Jun 2011. Web. 16 Sep 2013. .

Free Julius Caesar Essays: The Role of the Mob :: Julius Caesar Essays

The Role of the Mob in Julius Caesar The most important characters of the play Julius Caesar are clearly the citizens of Rome. The citizens have an important effect on both the audience and the characters in the play because of their unlimited desire to passionately express their emotions. Throughout the play these emotions are communicated through various events. The first event is the celebration of the feast of the Lupercal. It was the citizens’ positive reaction to Caesar during his triumphant return after his victory over the sons of Pompey that fueled the fear of caesar’s becoming king. The citizens’ opposition to Pompey’s allies caused great disturbances in the streets because a short while before, Pompey was their hero. Now Caesar, victorious, is the hero of the hour. Their response also influenced the idea that Caesar was becoming too ambitious. Thus, the citizens of Rome had a role in the fate of Julius Caesar. A later example occurs during the funeral oration by Mark Antony. Brutus logically gives his reasons that necessitated Caesar’s death. He informs them that he acted out of love of Rome and his desire to prevent tyrants from controlling her. The citizens embrace his words with cheers and understanding. However, their mood alters when Antony offers his interpretation of the situation. He passionately described the deeds Caesar performed in behalf of the citizens of Rome, which clearly contradict the opinion of the conspirators that Caesar was too ambitious. Antony carefully uses irony in referring to Cassius and Brutus as honorable men; the strategy wins over the citizens and they listen with growing anger to his words. He leads the citizens to the body and begins to show the brutal results of the murder while simultaneously influencing them to believe that the conspirators are murderers and traitors. Ultimately, Antony reads Caesar’s will, which leaves his parks, private estates, and newly planted gardens to the citizens of Rome.

Outsourcing and Company

What is Outsourcing? Outsourcing  is the  contracting  out of an internal  business process  to a third party organization. The practice of contracting a business process out to a third party rather than staffing it internally is common in the modern economy. The term â€Å"outsourcing† became popular in the  United States  near the turn of the 21st century. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another but not always. The definition of outsourcing includes both foreign and domestic contracting,  and sometimes includes  offshoring, which means relocating a business function to another country.Financial savings from lower international labor rates is a big motivation for outsourcing/offshoring. The opposite of outsourcing is called  insourcing, which entails bringing processes handled by third party firms in-house, and is sometimes accomplished via  vertical integration. However, a business can provide a contract service to another business without necessarily insourcing that business process. Advantages of Outsourcing : Outsourcing creates opportunities for a company to focus on lowering costs and improving the efficient allocation of resources within a company.Outsourcing allows a company to redirect its attention to its own competencies and hire outside resources to handle other tasks. For example, Jobs in the mid-west can often consist of phone tech support. However since it is even cheaper to pay people in India then support this community with jobs, it will send its jobs to India, another country which is an example of outsourcing. So outsourcing allows a firm to reduce costs and concentrate its resources on the things It does best while gaining access to expertise it may not have.Companies outsource primarily to cut costs. But today, it is not only about cutting cost but also about reaping the advantages of strategic outsourcing such as accessing skilled expertise, saving time, cutti ng cost, concentrating on networking, business growth and core competencies ,reducing overhead, flexible staffing, and increasing efficiency, reducing turnaround time and eventually generating more profit. 1. Accessing Skilled Expertise : One of the primary advantages of outsourcing is to get access to skilled expertise.This skill set may not be a core competency of a company’s business, but to allow on focusing on the core mission in providing a high quality product and service to its customer what makes sense is handing over the task to people who can perform it better. Moreover, as a double whammy, a company not only spends less on employee trainings and saves precious man-hours but cuts costs as well. 2. Saving time : When running a business, companies soon discover which skills they possess are strong, weak and non-existent.Rather than using their time and money to learn several new skills, they can simply outsource to someone who is already proficient. Perhaps they have other things in life besides business to focus on. Companies may want to spend the extra time outsourcing because it gives companies to learn a new skill such as public speaking, a new language, accounting, or some other subject. 3. Cutting Costs and Saving BIG! : Maintaining an infrastructure can be an extra burden for some businesses, which outsourcing can remove.Outsourcing business requirements to a trusted vendor can help companies to save on the capital expenditure, time, and extra efforts of their personnel. Additionally, companies are no longer committed to invest on employee training, or purchasing expensive software, or investing in latest technologies. All these help the companies to get higher returns in the longer run. For example, A small doctor's office that wants to accept a variety of insurance plans. One part-time person could not keep up with all the different providers and rules. Outsource to a firm specializing in medical billing. . Concentrating on Business Gr owth, Networking and Core Competencies : Workload increases with additional non-core functions and the quality of any company’s core activities suffers as the business grows. Outsourcing in such scenario to a third party plays an important role by allowing company’s key resources to focus on primary business tasks. Because of saving time and energy with outsourcing, companies can focus on growing their business. They can meet with important clients, attend seminars, find potential partners and network as well as tend to the management of the business.Companies can outsource their weakest areas to those who are already strong in them. 5. Reducing overhead : Overhead costs of performing a particular back-office function are extremely high. Paying wages to full-time employees can severely eat into your profits. It’s common for new start-ups to maximize savings by outsourcing to developing countries. People there, who are highly skilled, often work for only a few do llars per hour. It may seem low , but it’s often good money for them. Lower overheads from not having full-time employees may give the company competitive edge and mean the difference between success and failure. . Increasing in-house efficiency : After companies allocate tasks to their outsourcing partner, they share the workload of the companies’ employees. This allows the companies to develop their internal task force and use them more efficiently. 7. Staffing Flexibility : Outsourcing certain independent tasks, allows any company’s business to maintain a financial flexibility when there is an uncertainty in demand. The company can scale up or down comfortably. At a much lower cost, outsourcing provides additional benefit of running business in full throttle even during off season and holiday months.Example: An accounting department that is short-handed during tax season and auditing periods. Outsourcing these functions can provide the additional resources fo r a fixed period of time at a consistent cost. 8. Continuity & Risk Management : Periods of high employee turnover will add uncertainty and inconsistency to the operations. Outsourcing will provided a level of continuity to the company while reducing the risk that a substandard level of operation would bring to the company. Example: The human resource manager is on an extended medical leave and the two administrative assistants leave for new jobs in a very short period of time.Outsourcing the human resource function would reduce the risk and allow the company to keep operating. 9. Giving A Company’s Business A Competitive Edge : The ultimate benefit of outsourcing is that it helps the companies gain a competitive edge in the market. Through strategic outsourcing to an outsourcing partner, the companies are not only providing their customers with best-of breed services, but increasing their productivity while managing their in-house resources intelligently. Outsourcing can hel p them surpass competitors who have not yet realized the benefits of outsourcing. 10.Seeing An Overall Increase In The Company’s Business : Outsourcing shows an increase in company’s productivity, customer loyalty, level of quality, business value, profits, and much more. How will the changing face of education impact the supply chain? As you evaluate your choices and decisions in  outsourcing  different components of your operations, you will need to consider the advantages of outsourcing. When done for the right reasons, outsourcing will actually help your company grow and save money. There are other advantages of outsourcing that go beyond money. Here are the top seven advantages of outsourcing. . Focus On Core Activities In rapid growth periods, the back-office operations of a company will expand also. This expansion may start to consume resources (human and financial) at the expense of the core activities that have made your company successful. Outsourcing tho se activities will allow refocusing on those business activities that are important without sacrificing quality or service in the back-office. Example: A company lands a large contract that will significantly increase the volume of purchasing in a very short period of time; Outsource purchasing. 2. Cost And Efficiency SavingsBack-office functions that are complicated in nature, but the size of your company is preventing you from performing it at a consistent and reasonable cost, is another advantage of outsourcing. Example: A small doctor's office that wants to accept a variety of insurance plans. One part-time person could not keep up with all the different providers and rules. Outsource to a firm specializing in medical billing. 3. Reduced Overhead Overhead costs of performing a particular back-office function are extremely high. Consider outsourcing those functions which can be moved easily.Example: Growth has resulted in an increased need for office space. The current location i s very expensive and there is no room to expand. Outsource some simple operations in order to reduce the need for office space. For example, outbound telemarketing or data entry. 4. Operational Control Operations whose costs are running out of control must be considered for outsourcing. Departments that may have evolved over time into uncontrolled and poorly managed areas are prime motivators for outsourcing. In addition, an outsourcing company can bring better management skills to your company than what would otherwise be available.Example: An information technology department that has too many projects, not enough people and a budget that far exceeds their contribution to the organization. A contracted outsourcing agreement will force management to prioritize their requests and bring control back to that area. 5. Staffing Flexibility Outsourcing will allow operations that have seasonal or cyclical demands to bring in additional resources when you need them and release them when yo u're done. Example: An accounting department that is short-handed during tax season and auditing periods.Outsourcing these functions can provide the additional resources for a fixed period of time at a consistent cost. 6. Continuity & Risk Management Periods of high employee turnover will add uncertainty and inconsistency to the operations. Outsourcing will provided a level of continuity to the company while reducing the risk that a substandard level of operation would bring to the company. Example: The human resource manager is on an extended medical leave and the two administrative assistants leave for new jobs in a very short period of time. Outsourcing the human resource function would reduce the risk and allow the company to keep operating. . Develop Internal Staff A large project needs to be undertaken that requires skills that your staff does not possess. On-site outsourcing of the project will bring people with the skills you need into your company. Your people can work alon gside of them to acquire the new skill set. Example: A company needs to embark on a replacement/upgrade project on a variety of custom built equipment. Your engineers do not have the skills required to design new and upgraded equipment. Outsourcing this project and requiring the outsourced engineers to work on-site will allow your engineers to acquire a new skill set.