Perspectives on play: learning for life Essay

This paper illustrates in detail how learning can be achieved through play. Depth research has been carried out on the correlation between play and its positive benefits on early childhood learning, growth and development. Through this research it has been established that there is a positive connection between creative language and play and the social development of a child. Play has emotional benefits on a child such as enjoyment, relaxation, and fun, love of life, tension reduction and self expression. Developmental benefits of play include cognitive development where imagination, creativity, problem solving, mastery of concepts and perspective taking improves. Socially the child grows which can be seen through co-operation, sharing, turn-taking, and conflict resolution and leadership skills development. The language of the kid also develops that is in terms of communication skills, vocabulary and narration (Brock 2009 p.6-7) In this issue to bring out the details pretty clear, sharp in-depth look at two chapters has been done, the first chapter being; Authoring books, plays and identities in writing workshops. Key practice: Approximated writing. The first chapter also involves the sub-topic; discourse of creative expression (Gordon 2009 p.23). The second chapter to look at is the: Toy as Identity texts, children as consumers and players. The first chapter mostly handles introduction to writing where kids are taken through a workshop where they mainly engage in writing. The climax of it is when the kid finally authors a book and has a chance to sit on the authors chair and read the book to the class and to be admired and questioned at the end of the writing workshop. The rationale behind choosing this chapter on developing writing is that written communication is a very key skill in life and everyone should have it as a priority developing the skill and becoming an expert in communicating really well thro ugh writing. It is thus a privilege and great pleasure learning how a kid or an individual at large develops this skill and also to reflect and see how probably people did begin at it or ought to begin (Gordon 2009 p.25) Approximated writing is the key arguments in this chapter which symbolizes or represents a range of ways in which children can deliberate within their inner self between their personally invented forms of language understanding and the culturally determined rules for language. Approximated writing is close to the real writing language which embraces errors, incorrect spellings. It is used by children to formulate meaningful messages through their use of their emerging mastery of the language. In the writing workshop the kids initiated their own writing projects and as they wrote they designed and illustrated images and prints for puppet plays, pages for kids-printed books, cards to relatives and friends, storyboards and journals. Graphophonic conventions such as using alphabetic symbols like â€Å"tuk† to represent the word took, putting bigger spaces between words, placing marks on words and organizing them in a pattern are very much use in this case. Authoring in the worksho p happened when the kids wrote, drew, told and dramatized the texts they had written down. Finally in regard to authoring the kids connected texts for the kids-produced books that they presented to the others through reading aloud from the author`s chair or even short plays that were acted for the class and videotaped (Marzollo 2011 p.39-40) A number of realizations came from these workshops or activity that was centered on kid’s literacy. The first one being that children are capable writers who are able to actively create and co-create meaning and such activities can be very instrumental in bringing out their literacy proficiency this is so because it is in such that they are challenged to explore all genres of written communication and also get a chance to freely air their ideas through their conversations and writings (Elkind, 2009; p.46). The idea of getting a chance to sit on the author`s chair, present the book to the class, to be questioned and admired at the end of the writing workshop motivated the kids to really come up with a well-illustrated book. Discourse of creative expression also happens in the conference where free expression of ideas and feelings in the workshop through routine or regular practices is done. The children are always encouraged to share their opinions with their peers and anything they feel the need to air during the workshop. This discourse of creative expression empowers autonomy in writing decisions during the workshop and clearly refers to the kids as a writer mostly because they have written their own creations (Guinagh 2009 p.32). The above situation is really different from a school situation which cannot really be called free expression because the kid is directed, monitored and controlled by the teacher on what to write about. The children also have the permission during the workshop to abandon the projects they were working on at their own discretion without permission from the teacher. In the case of a child also consulting with other children in the case of seeking their assistance and opinions also decides to change their projects and ignore the one they were doing or make revisions on it is still quite appropriate. The methodology used in this chapter or writing workshop to teach the children how to write is something really great and enjoyable both for them and their instructor. The different number of plays that are used to teach them how to write and encourage them to pursue understanding the genres of written communication are very appropriate for them both for their easier understanding and to make it really interesting to the children without boredom at all. Learning writing is presented in a very simplified way that makes the child to want to do it again and again. The above writing activity or workshop further proves the point that learning happens very effectively through play (Silberg 2009 p.23). In the second chapter close attention is paid to the chapter on Toy as Identity texts, children as consumers and players. First it is good to state that the rationale behind picking this chapter as the second one to look at to anyone it would mostly be out of curiosity to know and understand the following questions: The reason why kids and toys are almost inseparable? How comes that children want to spend as much as possible time with their toys, which is the language that really exist if any between toys and kids? Dolls in line with toys are texts designed specifically to enable the children to recognise with ease the manner in which it can be used in a play. They are associated with popular children animated films and also television programs which encourage children to play certain character roles and familiar scripts. These toys act as texts calling forth for â€Å"possible worlds† which brings about certain character roles, dialogue and stories (Silberg 2009 p.31) Dolls i n a way are used to communicate identity and expectations in and from the society, for example the text or identity of a â€Å"cool girl† is communicated through the doll`s features such as its hairstyle, clothing and makeup. Popular dolls communicate complex such as concerning taste, social status, culture, roles and position in society and taste. This complex message requires the reader in this case the children to coordinate these messages and understand them (Tizard 2010 p. 55) The methodology of using toys and dolls to communicate certain texts to the children and ensure that they learn something sounds quite funny. It is after pondering about this manner of using play to teach or facilitate learning to the very young ones that a person will come to the conclusion that it is one of the most amazing ways of learning through play which is really an awesome method. Kids are in a position to learn so much through toys and dolls without even their knowledge that they are learning and this knowledge sticks in their minds for the rest of their lives. As a wrap up this paper has made it clear through the above examples how learning is done through play. Therefore one would comfortably conclude that it is a matter of fact that children learn through play and exposure to plays enable them to develop their intellectual, social and emotional skills. Plays should thus be a part and parcel of a child`s life so that the child may grow and develop holistically failure to which the development of the child will be hindered (Wood 2013 p.5). More and more learning and play ought to be embraced and others developed so as to ease learning especially amongst children who are easily bored and has low concentration ability and retention capacity of what they learn. The importance and value of learning through play can therefore not be underestimated. References Brock, A. (2009). Perspectives on play: learning for life. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman. Elkind, D. (2009). The power of play: learning what comes naturally. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Lifelong ;. Gordon, I. J., Guinagh, B., & Jester, R. E. (2009). Child learning through child play; learning activities for two and three year olds. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Marzollo, J., & Lloyd, J. (2011). Learning through play ([1st ed.). New York: Harper & Row. Silberg, J. (2009). Learning games: exploring the senses through play. Beltsville, Md.: Gryphon House. Tizard, B., & Hughes, M. (2010). Young children learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Tizard, B., & Hughes, M. (2010). Young children learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Wood, E. (2013). Play, learning and the early childhood curriculum (3rd ed.). London: SAGE. Source document

International Maritime Organisation

Transportation of goods over the world can be done by four modes which are railway, road, air and sea. Sea transportation is the one of the oldest transportation mode for many centuries. The number of ships and types increased rapidly in the last two centuries. For instance, the number of passenger fleets was 106 in 1972 but it is reached to 226 in 1998 (Alderton, 2004). This growth leads sea traffic busy with various types of ships carrying million tons of cargoes and passengers. As a consequence of this, unexpected accidents started to come out with fatal casualties. Some safety regulations must be taken both onshore or offshore to state the responsibilities and safety measures for the marine industry. Regarding to this, countries needed to establish an organization to promote Marine safety. IMO is the first international maritime organization and was established in 1948 (IMO, 20/10/2005). It was first entered into force in 1958 and its aim is to ensure safety, to prevent human injury or loss of life and to avoid damage to the environment (IMO, 1992). This essay will explore the IMO conventions and the effectiveness of IMO to the marine industry. IMO is concerned with the three important points: safety, prevention and control. In order to be effective in these areas, rules and regulations must be applied within the conventions. IMO has adopted various conventions but most significant are; SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), ISM (International Safety Management), COLREG (Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea), MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships), STCW (International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers) and ILLC (International Convention on Load Lines). Adoptions of these conventions need to follow some procedures and long time to become valid. Six main bodies are involved within IMO to design, decide and offer the conventions and followed by a government acceptance to put into force. In addition to this, due to the rapid changes in shipping industry, conventions must be keeping updated to satisfy the conditi ons. SOLAS: the main objective of the SOLAS Convention is to specify minimum standards for the construction, equipment and operation of ships (SOLAS, 2001). It was adopted in 1974 and was entered into force in 1980. It was divided into 12 chapters, all requirements and certificates are controlled by the flag states. It is highly focused on * construction; stability, subdivision, fire protection and detection of vessels * life-saving appliances and arrangements; lifeboats and liferats * radiotelegraphy and radiotelephony * safety of navigation; radars, navigational aids, routeing of ships * safety management of ships operations which is ISM Code * Carriage of goods. ISM CODE It is known as the one of the most significant IMO invention which is a management system that controls work processes from the top level to lower, to stimulate safety organization both ashore and onboard. It is applied with quality management techniques to determine the responsibilities and principles of each action. System must provide safe working environment, to overcome against identified risks and continuous improvement of management and personal skills ashore and aboard (ISM, 2002). Figure 1.1 The safety management model (Bromby, 1995) As shown in Figure 1.1 management systems have some steps to be reviewed regularly in order to know that the system is working effectively. COLREG: It was adopted in 1972 and entered into force in 1977. COLREG determines vessels speed, risks and conducts of vessels operating in or near traffic separation schemes. The vessels which are navigating on the high seas or going to connect to the high seas must obey these rules. The other important areas of COLREG are; visibility of vessels, lights and shapes, sound and lights. STCW: It was adopted in 1977 and entered into force in 1984. Examination of the past accidents reports state that the majority of the accidents are caused by watchkeeping officers. This convention is concerned with the basic requirements on training, certification and watchkeeping. It is divided into six chapters which are; general provisions, navigational watch keeping, keeping an engineering watch, radio department, special requirements for tankers and proficiency in survival craft (IMO,20/10/2005). ILLC: It was adopted in 1966 and entered into force in 1968. Its aim is to reserve buoyancy, freeboard stability and avoid excess stress on the ship's hull (IMO, 20/10/2005). MARPOL: There was a tremendous increase in tanker production after Second World War II. These tankers were really complex to built and operate. According to this, some accidents occurred with thousands tons of oil split into water and damaged marine environment. MARPOL was established to prevent the marine pollution from oil splits, sewages, chemicals and other dangerous products. It introduces some measures, for instance; * Segregated ballast tanks are only used for ballast as cargo oil is prohibited to reduce cleaning problem, tank size limitation to limit potential oil outflow (Kristiansen, 2005). As mentioned before, all conventions aims are to reduce risks in marine industry. How the marine industry was before and how is it now? In order to find out the effectiveness of IMO conventions, comparison must be done between the past data and current data. The lost of ships are illustrated by Figure 1.2 between 1950 and 2000. Figure 1.2 Annual percentage of ships lost worldwide (Kristiansen, 2005). According to the Figure 1.2, it is clear that there is a sharp decrease in loss percentage that the ratio is reduced from 3% to 0.3% in fifty years. This is directly proportional to the growth in the number of safety regulations that have taken place between the years 1800 and 2000. Figure 1.3 will show the number of growth in safety regulations. Figure 1.3 Growth in safety regulations (Alderton, 2004) In addition to these improvements, there is a reasonable reduction of oil spill to the environment. According to the IMO, total oil spill in 2004 was 15000 tons comparison to the year 1975 was 2.13 million tons. On the other hand, Table 1.1 shows the annual casualties of world merchant fleet between the years 1993 and 2002. Table 1.1 (Alderton, 2004) Year 1993-1997 1998 1999 2000 2002 Total Casualties 107 85 73 99 97 Comparison to the 1950's, by the help of improvements, marine industry becomes safer but needs continuous improvement. Everybody who involves in this industry must always seek for zero defects. As shown in Table 1.1, although IMO has made great effort and reduced the rate of accidents in marine industry, casualties and pollution can still happen and remain constant. The reasons for these are; 1. Implementation of IMO Rules: In order to put the IMO rules into force effectively, all parties such as governments, shipping companies, flag states and port states have to make a reasonable effort. The mentioned parties have different responsibilities according to their positions while adapting and controlling these rules. These parties must have continuous collaboration and communication with each other but generally they can not. Lack of collaboration leads to misunderstandings and difficulties to put these rules into practice. 2. Continuous Revision of Rules and Regulations: The rules and regulations are updated periodically to keep up with the modern conditions. Although some rules have convenient level of safety, changed several times and become more complicated. The more complexity means the more problems. 3. The Gap Between Developed and Developing Countries: Developing countries have an important place in shipping industry. They own a reasonable percentage of world merchant fleet. Comparison to the developed countries, it is difficult to adapt the rules immediately because of their government procedures and financial situations. It is not just the IMO problem; it is one of the biggest problems in our world. Instead of offering temporary solutions such as loans; investments, guidance and assistance will be more effective. 4. Human Side: To manage marine safety, there must be an excellent co-operation between the people who are on board and ashore. Continuous improvement is needed for both management level and crew. Training and certification must be compulsory under the quality procedures. As mentioned before, ISM Code and STCW are established for this purpose but in the last hundred years, owners decided to flag out and wanted to work with low cost crew to get more profits. As a result of this, accidents appeared because of untalented crew. For this particular purpose, maritime training centres are highly important for safety. 5. Application Costs of Regulations: It is not easy to implement the rules and regulations because they need powerful financial situation. In addition to this, the average age of world vessel fleet is going old. Instead of investing money to these old vessels, owners prefer doing small improvements to the existing systems. Low cost high profit concept leads danger in this industry. At this point, new buildings come out and take an important part. Owners are now investing more money on technological improvements under construction phase with the societies control for safer life. Newly designed ships includes easily operated navigation techniques such as AIS, GPS and radars, stability calculations, tank cleaning systems, fire systems and etc. . In conclusion, mentioned conventions within IMO concept reached to a reasonable success in marine industry. On the other hand, continuous improvement by taking advantage of technology, collaboration and communication of involved parties are still needed to achieve zero accident targets and clean seas.

Mutli Agency Working

The aim of the essay is to show an understanding of the value of effective multi-agency working in supporting children and families. It is mentioned in the department of education (2012) that multi – agency working is a way of bringing together practioners from different professions to give additional support to children and family who need it. Because children and their family needs can be very different it is ensured that right professionals are involved in the service provided, which might involve people from social work, health, education, early years, youth work, police and youth justice etc.When providing support for the children and their families it is important that practioners have an ability to provide a child centred and a holistic approach to contribute to the best support possible. Holistic approach means considering the physical, emotional, social, psychological and spiritual development and as well looking at it in a wider context. (FdA Early Childhood Studies 2012a)Department of Education (2012) mentions Multi-agency working as a generic term and is organised differently in every place, For Example it can be a team of professionals working around particular needs of a child or family, based on an area or just an establishment. The services work together within a unit or with other services and also have regular meetings for improvement of services.Multi-agency working provides benefits for children, young people and families because they support in the most efficient way, needs of the children and families are addressed more appropriately because of better quality services.. For example it provides with early identification and intervention, and keeping in mind the holistic needs, it provides better support for parents. Helping children leads to improved achievement in education and better concentration in education.Worden (1996) states that in situations where a child has lost a parent can be a very hard time for the children, because p arents are the most important people in children’s life. This can affect them both physically and emotionally. Penny (2005) states the community based figures on parent’s report of their children, aged five to sixteen who have experienced bereavement of a parent or a sibling is 3.5 %. Parkes (1993) in Machin  (2009) implicates that sometimes loss takes place suddenly leaving no time for preparation.And the impact of loss always exists. Erikson (1980) mentioned in Machin (2009) says that the psychosocial developments occurring across the child’s life span has changes such as losses and gains. The losses cause emotional distress, give grief. It is clear that from his life span theory from birth to death, challenges contribute to personal and social development. To this developmental process relationships or people form an important part of the life span. Littlejohn (2013) refers to Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment (1960) who believed that when the primary ca rer or the important figure of the child is unavailable, they respond in detachment and also may affect their ability to form caring relationship in life.Bowlby states that the children go through three stages of separation response: children might show anxiety, Show hopelessness due to the grief and feel detached. Bowlby also mentions that children and adults go through four phases of grieving process. Stage a: Shock, Stage b: Searching, protesting and yearning, Stage c: Anger or depression and Stage d: Accepting and re- adjustment. Parke, Gauvain (2009) mentions that Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979) suggests that whatever happens in the microsystem that is an individual’s experience in one particular setting, which is the family, in the case of children experiencing loss when one of the parent dies, the experience is very direct and the other settings in the microsystem are home, school and church etc.The mesosystem is the connection and relationships between microsystems, e.g. h ome/school, and church/family. Thus Bronfenbrenner states that the environment & emotions of the family can have direct effect on the child. (FDA Early Childhood Studies 2012 b). Penny (2005) mentions that Wendy Stainton Roger’s three main ways of determining the best children bereavement services as a ‘needs discourse’, a ‘rights disclourse’ and a ‘quality of life disclourse’. In the ‘needs’ disclourse Worden (1996) cited in Penny (2005) gives two alternative approaches to provide the children’s bereavement service.One is to wait till the child is showing difficulties with bereavement, which means waiting for the child to show emotional/behavioural distress and then to intervene. Stokes (2004) cited in Penny (2005)argues that this type of intervention could result in some children missing out the service that could be helpful to them. The other method would be to measure the children at risk by using a screening  i nstrument. Stokes again argues that this may not accurately reflect the experience of the family. Thus ‘needs’ disclourse alone cannot be used for child’s bereavement service.The ‘rights’ disclourse is an approach where the children’s needs must be met. Children’s right in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989) says the children have the rights to be protected from abuse and exploitation, have services to promote their healthy development and participation in decision making .the problem with children’s rights is that it conflicts with needs, and hence require careful balancing. For example where the child’s right to be protected from what an adult considers as harmful for the children.The ‘quality of life’ discourse is about the best interest of the child, as it meets the ‘needs’ and the ‘rights’ discourse.in this approach the children’s welfare is taken into acco unt with the concerns, values, resources and families and community in which children are brought up. This holistic approach is to support resilience, which is to help children overcome whatever the life challenges they face. Every Child Matters (2003) aim to support the child to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, Make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being.In this it supports the services for bereaved children and families, which include early intervention and prevention, having support in transition and for the family. The Children’s trust brings together police, health and the voluntary sector, and the other agencies to be involved in community based bereavement services. For example The End of Life Care strategy makes provision for bereavement care, which helps children cope with the death of their close ones.Children who experience grief are support by services such as Hospice movement which support the dying and the children and the families of t hose who are experiencing loss. The Winston’s wish in Gloucestershire in 1992 gives a good support to children and families who have a hard time experiencing loss. These services help children through listening, doing activities, which help them talk about their lost loved ones and also form bond with the other family members. Penny (2005) mentions Rolls and Payne (2004) that identified objectives leading to interventions, which are followed by the children bereavement services and additional training, supervision are often offered.The interventions offered to children are to help make sense of what has happened and the how they feel; it helps provide a secure environment for exploring, help with expressing feelings, improve communication between family members and help bonding. It helps the children to manage their emotions and feelings, thus help create memories, reduce the feeling of isolated and help move forward in life and have hope for the future. There are two types o f service. Restricted and open access. Restricted service is mainly for group children who have experienced bereavement because of particular causes such as life threating illness.Open access service offer service and support to children and families whatever type and circumstances of death, the only restriction in that would be the age of the child and the area they live in. In this type of service when death is anticipated, information, guidance and support is given to the family and children before and afterwards. I the death is sudden or tragic, additional support is offered may be offered by hospital, police, victim support, social work team etc. If children show difficulties at a late stage, help can be offered through school counsellor, educational psychologist and in extreme situation can be referred to child and adolescent mental health services.Multi agency team thus improve children and their families’ quality of life and make sure the child bereavement service is available to all children and as professionals it is important to take into account different and changing situations. Professionals work in partnership with the children, their families, the school the child goes to and community the children are from to the best interest of the children.

The Role of Human Capital in the New Global Economy Essay

The Role of Human Capital in the New Global Economy - Essay Example It is seen that human capital plays a major role in the labour market developments in nations. This emphasizes on the role of labour market institutions across the world. The idea is to remove the possibilities of skill shortage or skill crisis which forms one of the most critical components of a productive economy (Davis & Reeve, â€Å"Human capital and the global economy†). The role of human capital in the new global economy It is seen that with the growth of the population towards their age of retirement, nations tend to face a shortage of labour. The economy faces a labour shortage crisis which fails to meet the desired level of skill requirement of the society and economy on the whole. Thus it is crucial that nations maintain a certain amount of skill within the economy which meets its output and productivity requirement. In other words nations need to maintain a balance in their labour markets (Turner, â€Å"Executive Summary†). Technological advancement has also played a significant role in the increasing competitiveness of nations. Moreover it forms a primary component behind the competitiveness and competitive advantage of nations in the international market. This has called for a labour force which is highly competent in the field of information technology in order to sustain and survive in the global markets. Nations suffering from less advancement in technology and communications has suffered skill shortage and labour efficiency which is the reason why they have lost their competitive position in the market among global competitors (Turner, â€Å"Executive Summary†). With globalization, the prevalence of trade and commerce has also increased substantially. Global economies’ reliance on international trade has increased substantially over the years. In order to survive in the global competition and improve performance nations’ businesses need to create wealth and the colleges and universities in the nations need to keep producing high skilled and educated personnel who would be responsible for driving that economic development. Skilled and educated labour force forms a major component of a nation’s ability to compete in the international market. Globalization has come with a lot of challenges for nations. While a number of them have been able to adapt themselves to the global reality in terms of their operations, a number of them have failed to develop their human resources policies, practices, services and structures which support globalization. The major human resource challenges that organizations are confronted with are the creation of a global mind set in the human capital or even maintaining the local practices and cultures and also communication of a single corporate culture across the entire organization. Organizations are required to formulate their human resource functions in accordance to its strategic business objectives. The human resource functions are to be aligned with t he long term strategies of the companies operating within their own territories or across borders (Rioux, Bernthal & Wellins, â€Å"The Global Picture†). Among the other important HR functions in organizations is the creation of a centralized relationship across the globe. There also needs to be the prevalence of a standardized development, assessment and compensation

Costs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Costs - Essay Example As mentioned in the definition, the organization can increase its factors of production to achieve higher production levels and the state of technology is the only constraint. So it means that all inputs are variable. Hence, in the long run when the inputs are increased, the output may: To inputs the average total cost of producing that output will fall. The firm's costs will rise less than the output of goods. This is called as the economies of scale as represented in the following diagram: The long run curve represented above includes short run periods as the firm expands. The LRATC curve is a track of all the SRATC curves as the firm grows. Initially, the short run average costs are at the lowest in SRAC1. As the firm expands, its average costs fall to the bottom of the U shaped curve and then begins to climb because of the diminishing returns. The firm then moves its production to the next level and the cost move to the next short run situation shown as SRAC2. In the long run the average cost is represented by the black line tangenting all the short run average cost curves. The whole LRATC is composed of infinite number of single points from SRAC curves. The LRATC curve is the boundary between unit cost levels that are attainable by the firm and unit cost levels that are unattainable. ... When the long run until costs are falling as the outputs increases, the firm is experiencing increasing returns to scale and thus less long run average costs. If the firm is experiencing average returns to scale then the average long run costs are same and if the firm is experiencing diminishing returns to scale then the long run average costs are increasing. Long run marginal cost Marginal cost is defined as the cost associated with producing one extra unit assuming that the extra unit produced will cause increase in production capacity. The long run marginal cost curve resembles the short run marginal cost curve as it is also U shaped. The U shape of the LRMC can be attributed to increasing and decreasing marginal returns. The calculation of cost and revenue of one extra unit is very crucial in the long run as it is essential to make the capacity increase decision. If the last unit produced gives more revenue than the cost to produce that unit, the firm should expand it s capacity. Marginal cost will increase as the firm expands due to the Law of diminishing returns. The firm should keep expanding as long as the MR > MC. "The term LRMC is used to signify the cost effect of a change which involves some alteration in the amount or timing of future investment. SRMC, on the other hand takes capacity as given, so relates only to changes in operating costs." (Turve y,11). The SRMC rises due to the capacity constraints and then fall after there is a significant increase ion the capacity expansion. Hence, in the long run the marginal cost curve is U shaped. The following diagram shows the increase and decreases of the marginal costs before and after expansion. Kinked demand curve In a non collusive

Summary Of John Heads The Brutal Business of Boxing Essay

Summary Of John Heads The Brutal Business of Boxing - Essay Example of how Ali managed to cover this actual reality into a mirage of entertainment and amusement – ‘ He really did â€Å"float like a butterfly and sting like a bee†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and ‘His matches seemed more like ballet than boxing’. What Head wants to illustrate through these example is that, people loved enjoyed Ali’s fights so much and were so amused by his athletism that they forgot that it was a FIGHT and the opponent is getting hurt or even injured seriously. In paragraph six , Head says that this business is unforgiving so much so that Ali’ whose reflexes were so fast that they seemed acts of wizardry is now suffering from the after effects of what he endured during his fights in the ring. Although he won and humiliated his opponents but in the end he also is at a stage where The Great and Strong Mohammad Ali has gone weak and whose roars were famous is now only restricted to silent hesitant whispers. From the mighty Head diverts the atten tion towards the defeated Jimmy Garcia who lost his life in this dirty business at the feeble age of 23. In paragraph seven he says that he got pummeled to death so that the audience could get worth of what they paid for. ‘What sets boxing apart is that its one sport in which one scores by injuring other opponent’ Head says while replying to boxing fans who say it is only as dangerous other sports out there. In the end he clearly calls out for banning this sport as its fatal and barbaric while your fighting and even when you quit it. Boxing should be banned as its results for the contenders are horrific. Though during the match only the looser suffers but in the long run every boxer suffers from the after effect of the hits he endured which a normal human body is not designed to resist. It is barbarism in the cover of

Racism in the Counselling Relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Racism in the Counselling Relationship - Essay Example The essay "Racism in the Counselling Relationship" discusses the racism in regarding the intercultural counseling. The race is a 19th-century pseudo-scientific construction that has been discredited since the human species could not be genetically thus compartmentalized. Though racism is not the same as ethnocentrism. Recognition - that monocultural model of counseling and therapy that prevailed until the mid-20th century to deal with problems presented by today’s racial and ethnic diversity in most nation states was inadequate - led to rethinking in favor of a multicultural approach. Hitherto, counselors and therapists had been trained in the psychodynamic, person-centred, and cognitive behavior therapy models, to name but a salient few. Sue and Sue were the first to propose a theory of multicultural counseling and therapy. The hitherto ’invisible other’ became aggressively visible with the Black Civil Rights Movement and compelled counselors to explore the impa ct of cultural identity and diversity in the counseling relationship. The aim of counseling was no longer to encourage and enforce ‘assimilation’ of the ’other’ into the dominant culture but to empathize and explore the assumptive world of the client from whatever background he/she came from. Integration, rather than assimilation, where individuals belonging to a minority culture could preserve their cultural identity began to be valued. It was soon evident that counselors could no longer ignore their own cultural background.

Marketing concept of British Gas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing concept of British Gas - Essay Example nsive sales team for the company to increase the sales by cover larger areas geographically These philosophies were used extensively in the past but with time the trends of the industry have evolved. The consumers have become conscious of what they buy and are in constant search for the products which cater their needs in the most appropriate manner (Reibstein, Day, & Wind, 2009). Marketing concept is a theory to support the customer oriented philosophy. It aims to cater the customers in the most effective and efficient manner as compared to the competitors. This method of attracting customers and increasing sales aims at increasing the profitability of the customers in the long-run rather than in the short-run (Reibstein, Day, & Wind, 2009; Vargo, & Lusch, 2004). The marketing concept has evolved with the passage of time. The relevance of the concept has increased in the 21st century because of the increasing number of competitors. Entities have to ensure that the products which the y are offering to the customers must deliver more value to them then the value that was delivered when they used a competitor product. The marketers are of the view that maximizing the quality of the product and is increasing the product offering is not sufficient to gain popularity with the customers. The competitors can also somehow manage to offer the same offerings, so in the 21st century the sellers require ensuring that they acquire a competitive edge on the product of the competitor and offer something beyond to exactly cater the requirements of the customers. This practice will attract the customers towards the product (Reibstein, Day, & Wind, 2009; Drucker, 2007). INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH GAS British Gas Group is a global business which deals with diversified tasks related to...Amongst the utility providers British Gas is a lot more diversified. This is because the company adapts to the change in environment. It has distinctive capability to sustain the commercial agility. T he management of the company sticks to the vision that is set by the decision making of the company. The operations of the group are significantly stable because the group has a set direction and it also has the resources which are required for sustaining the company. CONCLUSION Application of the Marketing concept in the 21st century emphasizes on the importance of satisfying the customer needs to ensure that the marketing process is effective. The competition between the competitors is increasing in the industry. This requires for the companies to strive for excellence and acquiring cost advantage that will benefit the company in accomplishing its goals. The traditional concept of marketing comprised of targeting on improving the quality of products which spoke for themselves and improved the productivity of the company. British Gas is a company which operates as a utility provider in more the 20 countries. The group is showing renowned for its excellent services and this is a major contributor to the edge which it has acquired. It is renowned to offer the services precisely tom cater the needs of the customers which shows the application of Marketing concept by the company.

Health History assessment interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health History assessment interview - Essay Example The next step in the medical assessment is to go through initial physical exams such as electrocardiogram, thyroid function test, blood glucose, blood lipids profile, liver function tests, electrolytes, creatinine, urea and full blood count. The patient, KB is a 67 year old male, who is married with two kids. He lives in his retirement apartment. He is originally a Nigerian but has been residing in the United States for the last thirty years. Both his kids are married and both KB and his wife are retired. After the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare provision for senior citizens became a lot easier. Since KB is a resident of the United States and has been residing for more than thirty years, he is eligible to all the benefits provided by the Act. While previously, citizens like KB would put off their doctor appointments and treatments since they could not afford it, but now things have become quite different, and the American hospitals receive patients like KB and tend to them easily. Moreover, the presence of Medicare also ensures the health insurance for patients like KB who are elderly and have been facing very few health insurance options in the past. KB follows a cultural background of the Yoruba origination. Yoruba culture is one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. In Yoruba medical care, their origins include getting rid of symptoms, then identifying and working at the removal of the cause of illness, and then lastly maintenance of the body to restore the holistic balance. Normal tradition of Yoruba medical care believes in general traditional medicine. These medical care traditions cover simple ailments such as psychiatry, dermatology, chest-care, midwifery, pediatric, orthopedics, circumcision and internal medicine. More complex diseases were treated by mystic medicine, while the third type of medicine, i.e. the esoteric medication is more abstract which makes use of incantation, magic, herbs, amulets

Invention of the Internet Essay Example for Free

Invention of the Internet Essay Technology has also been a part of our daily lives. The implementation of technology influences the values of a society by changing expectations and realities. New inventions of technology are usually created to simplify life somehow. One of the greatest inventions in the last hundred years is the internet. The ever expanding internet has revolutionized the way Americans live their lives. The internet has a major impact on society and our culture. The internet has completely broken down the borders that our ancestors had. With the internet, everything that we could possibly want is at the click of a button. People can instantly instant message and video chat will people half way across the world. People now work from home, shop from home, do everything they possible want from home. But if people do not have access to the internet they cannot compete is this new global market place of unending ideas. In the beginning, when the internet first came into play America’s were startled and amazed by the possibilities of communication that the World Wide Web brought. He web is mainly a way that brings people together to communicate. The web is a layer of system upon system (Bowell). The Web is a continual ongoing process. It has never stopped replicating itself or processing since the first day it began. However, even though there many different systems on the web, no website is subject to special rules. The internet has become a sensation all over the world and more people use the internet than in other time in history. The internet has been a huge economic boom to our country. We now live in a global market. With the help of the internet, businesses can reach customers worldwide. Many businesses now have websites where customers do not even have to visit the store to buy their products and these companies want your business. The internet has a huge selection of items to purchase online. More people use the web to shop than ever before in history (bowell). Online shopping is the process whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time over the internet. (wiki re) A majority of consumers choose online shopping for a faster and more efficient shopping experience. For customers, shopping online can mean less time traveling and lower cost. Many stores offer special sales and discounts to customers who order online. Also, traveling to the store means that customers can only go during business hours whereby ordering online is more convenient for their schedules. Conveniently, many stores online are available 24 hours a day. Online retailers have seen tremendous jumps in their online earning potential (bowell). Of course there is also disadvantages to online buying. One big disadvantage is the customers concern of how unease it would be to return the item. The customer is not absolutely positive that the item they are buying will satisfy and meet their expectations. Sometimes, returning an item can become a hassle and have to wait long periods of time to actually get the item in hand. Since the customer cannot see the merchandise they wish to purchase customers are at higher risk of fraud buy ordering online. Of course, a major concern of consumers is identity fraud. There have been many cases where hackers break into a web site and can steal a customers personal information. One unexpected disadvantage that comes with online shopping is the amount of trash that consumers produce. The more items that people purchase online, the more boxes and packaging they have to throw away. This past Christmas, New York show a 20 percent increase in paper recyclables with a parallel increase of 25 percent of online sales. The biggest buzz about the internet is social networking. One of the main uses of the internet is for relationships. The internet has revolutionized the way that people communicate with our friends and the world. People used to write letters and sent them off then waited even weeks to get a reply. Now a days, people communicating instantly through instant messaging, video chat, face book and e-mails. We can communicate instantly with people all the way across the world. Social networking sites have people set up their own personalizes profile that is just about them. (These sites help fill in the gap) These sites help everyone stay more in touch with their friends and family. Social networking seems to make the world smaller by bringing everyone together. It helps us realized the way other people live and the cultures that they have (elliot). The social networking that is in place now more closely mimics face-to-face conversation than e-mail. We are no longer restricted to rely on people in our neighborhood, church, or workplace to provide the interaction we desire (Hoover all). Social networking services expand the pool of people we have the opportunity to meet to near limitless possibilities (Hoover all). A very new popular fad that has become normal to Americans is online dating. More and more people these days are finding their partners online through dating websites.

Communication Skills Reflection: Patient Interaction

Communication Skills Reflection: Patient Interaction This essay will examine the interaction between myself and the mother of a child who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (Mrs X). Before examining the interaction in specific detail I would like to consider some of the more general elements that are relevant to the topic of communication between healthcare professionals and their patients. There are many definitions of communication and Wilkinson offers one definition which describes a complex process of both sending and receiving messages in different formats (both verbal, non verbal or more commonly a mixture of both elements). This interchange typically allows for an exchange of information, feelings, needs and preferences. Typically the two protagonists in a communication exchange will encode and decode messages in a cyclic pattern. Each making an analysis and response to the preceding gambit. (Wilkinson SA et al. 1999) Bugge enlarges on this definition by putting it in a context of professional nursing and suggesting that â€Å"its purpose is generally manifold but will include the means of establishing a nurse-patient relationship, to be a tool for expressing concerns or interest in the patient’s circumstances, to elicit information relevant to the patient’s condition and to provide healthcare information.† (Bugge E et al. 2006) It is an essential part of the whole process of successful communication that both parties achieve a shared understanding of meaning. This is validated by the process of feedback interpretation which indicates if the actual meaning of the message was interpreted as it was originally intended. (Coiera E et al. 1998) In this essay I should note that communication can be considered on many different levels. In this instance we are specifically considering the mechanisms of information exchange between a healthcare professional and a client which, in the broadest sense will ultimately determine many of the parameters of treatment (and also possibly patient compliance) (Stewart M 1995). Although we are specifically considering one interaction here, this does not mean that the other elements of communication are ignored. Hogard (E et al. 2001) writes extensively on the importance of communication between healthcare professionals which can cause huge problems in terms of patient management if they are anything less than optimal. I would hope that any information that I would be able to glean from a patient could be communicated to the rest of a multidisciplinary healthcare team efficiently so that appropriate management decisions could be made. If we consider an overview of a typical communicative interchange it can generally be categorised by both type and level. In the specific context of nursing, the various levels could be considered as â€Å"Social† which is considered to be safe and non-contentious, â€Å"Structuredâ€Å", which is typically utilised for situations of teaching and patient interviews and â€Å"Therapeutic† which has the characteristic of being specifically patient focussed, purposeful and generally time limited. (DAngelica M et al. 1998) Heinmann-Knoch (et al. 2005) considers the process in greater detail. If this initial interaction is successful it can develop further characteristics such as the nurse comes to regard the patient as a unique individual and begins to understand their motivations, and the patient develops a trust in the nurse. It is within this communication context that the nurse is generally able to try to provide care and, more importantly in some instances, help patient identify, resolve, or adapt to health problems We will also briefly consider the elements of both verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication requires, by definition, the conscious use of the spoken or written word. The nature, grammar and syntax and context of the words chosen are important in that they can reflect the patient’s mental age, their education, their culture and in some cases their mental state and feelings of the moment. In a clinical context inferences can be made from the way the words are delivered such as their choice, their tone or pace of delivery. The characteristics most favourable for efficient and effective communication are that the words should be â€Å"simple, brief, clear, well timed, relevant, adaptable, credible†. (Philipp R et al. 2005) Non-verbal communication by contrast, relies on the interpretation of facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language. This can be an extremely subtle means of communication and can give credence (or otherwise) to the spoken word. In the nursing context, non-verbal communication can be manipulated to the nurse’s advantage to help to elicit information that may otherwise not have been forthcoming. It has been estimated that non-verbal communication accounts for up to 85% of information transfer between communicating adults. In the professional nursing context it requires both systematic observation and careful assessment and interpretation to derive the full meaning of what the patient wishes to convey. Most importantly, the nurse should be aware of incongruity between the verbal message and the non-verbal cues. The patient who smiles while describing a terrible pain is one such example. (Musselman C et al. 1999) Specific examples If we now consider elements of communication from the transcript. Clearly there is no evidence of non-verbal communication on the transcript but I was very conscious of the mother’s initial reticence in her opening exchanges with me. She initially sat in a â€Å"closed† position and largely avoided eye contact. As the conversation unfolded she clearly became more relaxed and trusting. She adopted a more â€Å"open† and relaxed posture and started to express herself with appropriate hand gestures. (Hulsman R L et al. 1999) I particularly recall the jabbing gestures she made to emphasise a point relating to giving injections. I have to observe that the environment that was used for the interview was very contrived and I believe that this may have had an influence on both myself and the client. I think that, in a real situation I would be able to allow the conversation to be far more fluid and relaxed. I can analyse some of the techniques used to elicit or reinforce information During the interview I purposely made a point of asking open questions to try to draw out the client’s response So it sounds as if, it has obviously upset you..? It sounds as if you were almost blamed yourself for it as well..? Generally its quite a healthy family as well..? >From the terminology you’re using there is sounds as if you know what you’re talking about, you sound quite confident..? Mrs X. was clearly at ease after a while and even when closed questions were asked she would answer them Yes or No and then go onto both expand what had been said and volunteer other information. I had varying degrees of success in eliciting the information that I was after. Trying to establish whether it would be difficult to get the patient to comply with his diet I touched on the subject of diets and Mrs X clearly has a major psychological difficulty in coming to terms with her own diet. I allowed her to express her views about her obesity before trying to bring the conversation back on track. After Mrs X’s outburst about her â€Å"serious morbid obesity† I made three attempts to both empathise and sympathise with her feelings in order to gain her trust by asking supportive and non-contentious questions before returning to the point relating to injections with the question â€Å"So how did you feel with the injections, because obviously for me that was quite a scary experience, seeing someone so young giving an injection to themselves..?† Phrasing the question in this way appears to show considerable empathy for Mrs X’s situation and allows her then to offer her opinion. (Richards T 1999) There were several instances where I needed to summarise what was said in order to be sure that I had understood the thrust of Mrs X’s comments Easy to understand, em, there was no panic mongering in them and things like that. If I’d have looked on the websites, I might have found some information I didn’t want to see at this stage. So I was advised not to look and I didn’t. So would you be a bit. . So if you read something that was sort of like false information or mis-information that scared you a little bit, is that what you’re trying to say? It probably would have scared me because it’s my child, but I wouldn’t have been into histrionics about it, I would have been probably saying well that†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. problems. Paraphrasing was a useful technique to ensure that I had understood what was being said. Yes, and you know, instead of buying biscuits and things for the biscuit tin in the house, I’ll be buying fruit, huge varieties of fruit, and that’ll be their options now. So you say you’re going more toward the healthy lifestyle and keeping, would you,? Direct questioning helped to elicit specific answers Prodigy websites? Off the websites, yes, they were very good because they were no nonsense. Do you mean they were easy to understand? Easy to understand, em, there was no panic mongering in them and things like that. If I’d have looked on the websites, I might have found some information I didn’t want to see at this stage. So I was advised not to look and I didn’t On occasions it was useful to reflect on the implications of Mrs X’s answers and to try to elicit further information from her So it sounds as if, it has obviously upset you..? Does that it sounds as if you were almost blamed yourself for it as well..? Empathising is a useful technique particularly when dealing with difficult issues such as the problems with diets. (Stewart M . 1995) Especially being teenagers, its all.. They eat chocolate, they eat crisps and all things that are bad for them and if they’re restricted in what they can eat it makes them want it more in a way. I know if I couldn’t have chocolate or sweets.. On reflection I believe that I made a reasonable attempt in the circumstances to get as much information from Mrs X as I could. By the end of the interview Mrs X was getting tired and losing concentration so I believe that it was correct to terminate the interview at this time. (Wilkinson S et al. 1999) I am aware that I frequently asked incomplete questions or stopped in the middle of a sentence. This may be an indication that I was not in control of the situation This whole exercise has been a useful analytical and learning experience for me. I believe that I shall have gained a great deal of experience from the episode and will use that to further inform my practice in the future. References Bugge E and I. J Higgins on (2006) Palliative care and the need for education Do we know what makes a difference? A limited systematic review. Health Education Journal, June 1, 2006 ; 65 (2) : 101 125. Coiera E and Vanessa Tombs (1998) Communication behaviours in a hospital setting: an observational study. BMJ, Feb 1998 ; 316 : 673 676. DAngelica M, Kathy Hirsch, Howard Ross, Steven Passik, and Murray F. Brennan (1998) Surgeon-Patient Communication in the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer. Arch Surg, Sep 1998 ; 133 : 962 966. Heinmann-Knoch, Korte, Heusinger, Klunder Knoch (2005) Training of communication skills in stationary long care homesthe evaluation of a model project to develop communication skills and transfer it into practice. Z Gerontol Geriatr. 2005 Feb ; 38 (1) : 40-6. Hogard E and Roger Ellis (2006) Evaluation and Communication: Using a Communication Audit to Evaluate Organizational Communication. Eval Rev, Apr 2006 ; 30 : 171 187. Hulsman R L, Ros W J G, Winnubst J A M, et al. (1999) Teaching clinically experienced clinicians communication skills: a review of evaluation studies. Med Educ 1999 ; 33 : 655 – 68 Musselman C and C Tane Akamatsu (1999) Interpersonal communication skills of deaf adolescents and their relationship to communication history. J. Deaf Stud. Deaf Educ., Winter 1999 ; 4 : 305 320. Philipp R and P. Dodwell (2005) Improved communication between doctors and with managers would benefit professional integrity and reduce the occupational medicine workload. Occup. Med., Jan 2005 ; 55 : 40 47. Richards T. (1999) Chasms in communication. BMJ 1999 ; 301 : 1407 – 8 Stewart M . (1995) Effective physician-patient communication and health outcomes: a review. CMAJ 1995 ; 152 : 1423 – 33. Wilkinson S, Bailey, J. Aldridge, and A. Roberts (1999) longitudinal evaluation of a communication skills programme. Palliative Medicine, June 1, 1999 ; 13 (4) : 341 348. Appendix Self in blue italics Mrs X in black print How has xxxx diabetes since coming into hospital? Well it’s come as a terrible shock obviously, that he’s got diabetes, because he’s a healthy boy. It’s still a shock. I think the staff have tried to help us over it as much as they can. Do you feel as if they’ve given you enough information about diabetes..? I think we’ve been inundated with information, I think that it was good that one particular member of staff dealt with us mainly, and they listened very closely to what we had to say. We’ve had a lot of conflicting information but ultimately it all meant the same thing which caused a little bit of confusion. And did you feel as if that that was a bit of overkill? Or a bit too much information too soon? Probably, but between the bits of information that we run off the PC, off the.. Prodigy websites? Off the websites, yes, they were very good because they were no nonsense. Do you mean they were easy to understand? Easy to understand, em, there was no panic mongering in them and things like that. If I’d have looked on the websites, I might have found some information I didn’t want to see at this stage. So I was advised not to look and I didn’t. So would you be a bit. . So if you read something that was sort of like false information or mis-information that scared you a little bit, is that what you’re trying to say? It probably would have scared me because it’s my child, but I wouldn’t have been into histrionics about it, I would have been probably saying well that†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. problems. Yes I had a little bit of knowledge about diabetes before this happened, but sometimes a little bit of knowledge is a more dangerous thing. Is that because of the work that you’re doing? Yes, and you know, what Ive actually learned now †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. had diabetes, so. And do you think †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ how it’s going to change your lifestyle? Definitely going to change the lifestyle. Having a big family its going to mean that.. How many people in the house sorry? In the house there’s 6. Cooking Sunday dinner yesterday, there were 11 of us for Sunday dinner yesterday.. That’s a lot of people.. Yes, and you know, instead of buying biscuits and things for the biscuit tin in the house, I’ll be buying fruit, huge varieties of fruit, and that’ll be their options now. So you say you’re going more toward the healthy lifestyle and keeping, would you, Yes, yes Would you all the bad things, would you keep them out of the house or will you still buy them in for.. I won’t be buying them because my children will need to make their own decisions about that. I don’t have small children who are going to feel deprived if they don’t have a chocolate biscuit. They’re old enough to make a conscious decision, â€Å"okay Mum’s given us that, but I fancy this so I’m going to go and buy it.† They’ve got their own resources so they can go and do it themselves. And they’re quite happy about that are they? Yes, and they’re happy, apart from one, about the healthier way of cooking things if you like and em, wasn’t a terribly bad diet in the first place. Have they all agreed to sort of, give their responses to diabetes or are they sort of laid back about it? They seem quite laid back.. They are very laid back. They’ve even, I mean it sounds absolutely terrible but they’ve even been cracking jokes about it. Three of my children have got asthma and I mean he was joking â€Å"well mine’s worse than yours† and .. So they’re all quite light hearted about it and taking it in their stride. Yes. Matthew, my eldest boy, was, because he’s a Nurse I think, he was absolutely devastated but he is better about it now. But in the first instance he was absolutely gutted. I mean xxxx he was gutted obviously.. Well this is it, he seems quite calm about it from what Ive seen and a very relaxed family in general. Yes. I mean if we were any more laid back we’d need †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. on a night to keep us going because we don’t really let things bother us. So it sounds as if, it has obviously upset you..? Yes, very much. I kicked right off. I didn’t kick off in front of him, but when I got home I kicked right off to everybody and anybody that would listen. I even had texts from friends that didn’t even know, and I was ranting to them Does that it sounds as if you were almost blamed yourself for it as well..? I did wonder, you know, initially I wondered if it was because they’ve always been allowed to have sweets. Ive never made sweets into a reward or a treat, you know, they’ve always been an everyday matter of fact, because I didn’t want them to grow with my problems, obesity problems, because they weren’t allowed sweets. I didn’t ever want them to ever think sweets were something really special. Because they’re not, they’re just another thing that, they’re a foodstuff, and they’re a bad source of.. Especially being teenagers, its all.. They eat chocolate, they eat crisps and all things that are bad for them and if they’re restricted in what they can eat it makes them want it more in a way. I know if I couldn’t have chocolate or sweets.. Well that’s just my life experience you know, being denied things and then leaving home at 16 and eating all of that stuff and becoming at one point seriously morbidly obese I don’t want that for my children. Obviously they might have a predisposition to do that. I don’t want that to happen so, let’s not make sweets and biscuits em, a reward or a treat so they never have been. So then I wondered if possibly they’d had too much. None of them are overweight, none of them are fat, none of them have got bad teeth and cavities and things. None of them has ever had a filling. Generally its quite a healthy family as well.. He hasn’t seen a doctor for 7 years. So it must be a complete shock for you that this has suddenly happened.. and changed everything that has been happening in your home. So how has the rest of the family been coping, have they been..? Very supportive, except for one.. Ah, except for one, is that the elder one or the younger one? He’s 18 just turned, and he’s got an appalling diet, all I can do is advise him. I can put his meals in front of him and if he chooses not to eat them and go and buy rubbish then, all I can do is advise him. So how did you feel with the injections, because obviously for me that was quite a scary experience, seeing someone so young giving an injection to themselves.. I knew he could do it. Of all of this, that’s the bit that doesn’t faze him. Does it faze you at all? It doesn’t faze me. Em, when I was asked to give him an injection here, and staff knew I could do it †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦said you might not be able to do it because he’s your son.. But its not like that is it? If he goes into a hypo and he needs me to inject him, I’m not going to start you know, â€Å"oh my god! his life depends on it, get him injected, how†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..† From the terminology you’re using there is sounds as if you know what you’re talking about, you sound quite confident. Yes. I am. I mean†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.but, at the end of the day its your child and you’re not going to, going to, you wouldn’t hesitate, just get on with it, you just do it. And do you feel that that’s the attitude that you’re whole family’s going to have as well? Yes. They’re all, you know, when he’s doing his bloods they’re all there watching, hovering over him, when he’s sticking a needle in they’re â€Å"ooh, where are you going to stick it now?† you know. Nobody’s squeamish, nobody’s terribly fazed by it, I think they’re all pretty pleased because it’s not them that’s got diabetes. But at the end of the day †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.but be supportive, can’t ask any more really. Yes. Can you see yourself coming in regularly to see all the diabetes nurses? Even if he’s in complete control of his diabetes will you still come in and visit just to make sure everything’s alright? Yes, as long as he wants me to come with him, then I will come with him. I mean, when he turns 18 if he wants me to come to the diabetes clinic with him then I’ll come with him. Is he independent anyway? Very. Fiercely independent. Still like, on the phone its still like Mum †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ So when you go away today do you think you’ll feel as if you’re going to have everything that you need for the next, lets say two weeks, or week, to be happy with.. Yes I still need to ask about when I should make an appointment for †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. him to see his GP. I still need to ask little questions.. When he turns 18 is the insulin free, or does he have to pay for it like everybody else, with the prescription charges Yes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. aren’t they? Its quite expensive as well isn’t it? Well asthmatics don’t get their inhalers free, they have to pay.. When you think about it you’ve got your insulin, your sticks you†¦. It’s the keytones as well, they haven’t been completely explained to us. They’re in the leaving pack anyway which†¦ I mean I understand what the keytones are, but†¦ What are they? Because I don’t fully understand, I know they’re a by-product .. Keytones are a waste product that your kidneys filter out of the blood and pass out in the urine. Obviously they’re in your blood for your kidneys to pull them out, filter them out, but if his blood sugars are high and remain high you should test his urine for keytones. There are sticks to test his urine. If there are a lot of keytones in his urine then he should probably do a test on his blood which is just another stick that goes in Have you got them? No. Then you would phone the ward. But we know we can phone the ward anytime. So you feel reassured at having that point of contact that you can phone up anytime†¦? Absolutely, yes. There’s still going to be stuff that comes up and â€Å"what can you do about that?† There’s going to be stuff that comes up all the time. I’m sure you’re going to have peaks and troughs a little bit where you’re unsure what’s happening and if you’re concerned he’s not controlling his diabetes properly, we’re only a phone call away. Yes. And if its not being controlled I don’t think it would be anything he’s doing deliberately wrong.. You said earlier, he knew about what his level was. I think at one point yyyy asked him â€Å"what level do you think you’re at†.. Yes, he was very close. Mm, very close And that was only on day two or three, day three maybe He’s had a couple of lows on his blood pressure as well which I think he’s realised because he’s felt the effect that it’s had on him He knew yesterday afternoon that he was low because he said look at me and he showed me and there was just ever such a slight tremor in his hands. Did that concern you or reassure you? It reassured me because he knew and I said, he said I need to test my blood and I said why and he said because I think its low and he said look and he showed me. For him it was low, it’s the lowest it’s been. Well that’s fantastic I wasn’t worried because I knew that all he had to do was have the glucose or eat something or both and em, when he goes back to school I know that he’s †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ You take home glucose tablets as well don’t you? I think you can buy them from the shops now.. Yes. You can just at the supermarket so they’re easy to carry about. Very nice sweets as well. Anyway I think that’s about enough so thank you for your time. I hope it helps. I’m sure it will. ############################################################### 17.04.07 word count 2,112 PDG

Analysing Personal Development as a Strategic Manager

Analysing Personal Development as a Strategic Manager Management and leadership skills are needed in every industry and every walk of life. Therefore it is essential for new managers to learn the leadership skills as well as manager skills to perform effectively and efficiently. In this assignment, I investigate what leadership skills required by a manager. My chosen business is Tesco, which is UK biggest retailer and I have been able to investigate these issues by referring to related books and some internet resources. The focus of this assignment is to find which leadership skills required are by Tesco from their manager and how Tesco developed these skills in their managers. The results of this study show that if managers have good leadership skills then managers are ready to lead their team and organisations toward their goals. Introduction Management is a group of individuals taking decisions about how a business is run and also perform some duties like problem solving, decision making, planning, meeting, team management, delegation, and personal development. Despite similarities in the general activities of management, the job roles of individual managers differ widely and the work of manager is varied and fragmented according to business needs and depends on their abilities. The word management evokes power. A negative impact can be caused by having one person superior to every one else, such as a president would take the decision to go to war, even though nobody would be happy with that idea. Now we can see there are different approaches to solve the problems adopt by the managers and the leaders. However the aim of all these approaches is to turn negative thinking into positive. Management is the process of getting work done effectively and efficiently with and through other people and choose the best way which is in the best interest of the organisation and for the team. 21st century management is not business management. It is particularly important for the growth sector of a developed society and Management is the specific and distinguishing organ of any and all organisations. (Drucker, 1999) What is Manager? In any organisation, an individual who is in charge of a certain group of people, tasks or a certain department is called manager. A manager often has a group of people who take orders and give the report to him or her. As an example, a restaurant will have a manager who helps the customers and supervises the hosts as well. Managers designate according to the nature of the department within the company and they can be line managers, store managers or area managers depending upon the functionality of the department. Early in the history of management manager was defined as someone who is responsible for the work of other peoples. (Drucker, 1999) According to Mullins, a manager should be strategically aware and appreciate the origins and nature of change. They should developed themselves and be competent to deal effectively with the problems which represent opportunities and threats to the environment, the organisations culture and values, and the resources of the organisation (Mullins , 1999). Kanter states that Managers also have to be specialists in ambiguity with the ability to cope with conflicting and unclear requirements. (Kanter, 1984) Roles/Duties of Mangers within the Organisation Managers carry out their work on a daily basis and perform different roles/duties according to the situations. A single word to describe all these features would be chaos. (Peters, 1988) Managers have the both duties to manage themselves as well as their subordinates. So here under some of roles/duties of the managers which they perform everyday. Getting things done. Set the daily targets. Planning ahead. Maintaining momentum and making thinks happen. Reacting to demands and request. Communication and decision making. Dealing with customers and staff. Deal with different situations as they arise. Follow the health and safety procedure. Styles of Management and Required Skills We see above the different roles/duties of managers and now we will see various management styles and how managers are functioning in these styles. There are usually five different styles in which a manager may apply leadership attributes to operate effectively at strategic level and keep the team running in businesses. Which are as follows? Democratic Autocratic Paternalistic Laissez-faire Consultative Democratic In this style, manager invites employees to take part in the process of decision-making therefore everything is agreed by the majority. The communication is in both directions from subordinates to leaders and vice-versa. This style can be very useful when crucial decision need to be made which need more attention than others. For example, when a new ICT system needs to be put in place and the upper management of the business is computer-illiterate. In democratic style decision making process is slow but the quality of work improves and makes the best decision for the business. Autocratic An Autocratic or strict manager makes all the decisions, keeping the information and decision making among the senior management. Managers set objectives and tasks for the team and they exactly do as they are told to do. The communication in this style is mainly from leader to the subordinate. According to the critics, this style of management decreases the motivation in the employees. The main advantage of this style is that business looks well managed and the decisions will all be similar but the disadvantage is that subordinates may become highly dependent upon the leaders and supervision may needed all the time. Paternalistic Paternalistic style is good for the welfare and motivation of employees. However managers make the decisions in the best interest of the employees rather than the business. The leader explains most decisions to the employees and ensures that their social and leisure needs are always met. Communication is again downwards but this style is highly advantageous because in this staff looks happier and give their best for the business and the disadvantage is Employees may feel valued but frustrated because there is little scope for decision making. Laissez-faire In a Laissez-faire style, the manager role is secondary and the subordinates are free to make decisions and manage their own areas of the business. The communication move in this style is horizontal, meaning that it is equal in both directions, however very little communication occurs in comparison with other styles. This style is only successful if the team is professional and expert in their areas otherwise may lead to chaos without the involvement of the management. Regular communication and feedback is required for this style of work. Consultative There are two Consultative leadership styles; the first involves the leader sharing the problems with the relevant team members individually getting their ideas and suggestions without bringing them together as a group. Then the leader makes the decision that may or may not reflect the team member influence. The second style is similar but in this leader gets the suggestions from the group of team members and on the basis of these suggestions comes to the decision. (www.thetimes100.co.uk) What is Leadership? Leadership requires a person not to lead a different set of people in an organisation but influence and motivate them. Therefore, the term dictates a person to be followed and respected by others and for these followers to find a way through leadership to express their selves with more exuberance (Heifetz, 1994). Leadership definition according to Northouse is that leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. (Northouse, 2006) It is concerned that how leaders put their influence on followers. The basic of leadership is influence and without put any affect leadership does not exist. The Distinction between Management and Leadership Managers have to be leaders but leaders are often, but not always managers. But the distinction can be made between the process of management and leadership. What is the difference between management and leadership? It is a question that has been asked more than once and also answered in different ways. This is the same as saying that they are working for two different purposes. The easy way to understand the difference is that leadership make the new directions and the manager executes the existing directions as efficiently as possible. The other difference between managers and leaders is that leaders motivate the people who work or follow them and on the other hand managers have subordinates and they work for them but not follow them. Managers normally set the task for their team members and the team do what they are told to do so. But the manager work is not just the monitoring of everyday operations but its also includes handle the complex situations and take decision according t o these situations. Unfortunately, management is mistakenly seen as task-oriented, controlling and insensitive to peoples needs. By contrast, leaders are portrayed as emotionally engaging, visionary and inspiring. An inspiring leader induces us to change direction while an inspiring manager motivates us to work harder to get a tough job done on time. (Armstrong, 2008) What Leadership Skills are required by Manager to Perform Effectively? To manage effectively, an individual requires many skills and various personal qualities for successful completion of their objectives. The quality and the skills together make the management style of the individual and the style directly affect the final outcome of the task completion. As a manager, there are a lot of leadership skills that need to be required by a manager to effectively operate at strategic level. According to the Pedler et al (1986) these are the following leadership skills or attributes that should be possessed by a successful manager and broadly these are: Interpersonal skills Delegation Analytical Problem solver Communication ability Decision making Innovative Influential Providing direction Facilitating change The above mentioned leadership skills is very essential for any manager to perform effectively and successful companies are built by good managers and expert leaders and managers skills play a vital role for the success of the company and most successful companies have the best managers at the business whether they be traditional or internet based companies. Now I would like to discuss some important manager skills which are required by Tesco Company as an example and how their managers use their skills to make the Tesco top retailer in the United Kingdom. History Tesco is a UK-owned supermarket company with revenue of  £47 billion (about  £33 billion in the UK) Tesco is the largest British retailer and is also the worlds third largest grocery retailer with outlets across Europe, USA and Asia. In 1919 Jack Cohen founded Tesco when he began to sell surplus groceries from a stall in the East End of London.The company has recently opened stores in all over the world and this is the part of the plan to expand and grow their business all over the world. (Talking Tesco, 2009) What Leadership Skills Tesco Mangers required? A good combination of Tesco management has seen that their company rises above its competitors and dominate the UK market. Tesco management has good criteria about appointing their manager. They have a good system to develop their skills and continuous development plan are other components in the success of Tesco strategic management. So given below are some of the leadership skills which a Tesco manager is required to perform effectively and efficiently. Interpersonal Skills Good interpersonal skills are essential for any organization managers. For example in Tesco stores all the team members has easy access to their managers and can easily speak what they feel or if they have any problem. Delegation Delegation is another important leadership skill which a manager should have to work effectively. Delegation should be applied using the SMART principles. Where SAMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time. In Tesco stores managers is pass out all the information they have to their team members and all of them knows what they expect from them. Analytical Tesco is progressing so fast because their managers analyse the key issue in the market properly and act according to them. For example keep an eye on the prices of their competitors and change them accordingly and in this way you dont lose your customer. Problem Solver Tesco management gives advanced training to their managers to handle the difficult situations and find the best solutions which are according to the legislation and regulations of the company. Communication Ability This skill involves the ability to transmit messages, thoughts, and information and so on by talking, writing etc. Good communication is required within the workplace so that employer and its employees can maintain good working relationship. For example in Tesco when any internal vacancy available then manager have to communicate to the staff first by advertising, by oral communication or through monthly staff meeting. Managing Team This skill shows how manager make plan to manage their teams according to the need of the business and this activity in Tesco consists of designing Rota for each employee and make sure that overtimes and covering for someone who is not available are taken in consideration. Decision making Managers should have the ability to make decisions like leaders and this skill is the one which creates the difference between the effective management and standard management. In Tesco stores mostly decision made by managers and its good for the business because manager work closely with their team and customers and know better than the others who just sitting in the office. Innovative Innovation is very important for the growth of the business and Tesco manager are well aware of these. They try new ideas in the business like the idea of self checkout machines which is very beneficial and through these you can easily increase your sales and customer waiting time is reduced as well. Managing Change In order to become a market leader Tesco managers make sure that they are aware of the changes happening in the market. For example changes in consumer taste, trends and keep an eye on their competitors for counter-act. Achieving Results Managers should have the skill of goal achiever and finish the daily operational task within the given time and this way they can check performance of their team. Performance Focus Tesco manager check their staff performance on monthly or some time on quarterly basis and review their performance and give them a training to improve their effectiveness. Customer Focus In retail business mostly too much focus on customer care and for this they adopt different way to get the customer review about their services or about their products. Providing Direction Tesco have the objective to maximize their profit and for that they give their manager special training that how their manager move their team in right direction which is achieve this target and everybody of their team know what they expect from them. Risk Assessment Managers should be able to do risk assessment on their work place. Manager can calculate the risk by the help of these five steps: Firstly identify the hazards and work out how people could be harmed. Think you might be harmed and how? Evaluate the risks and decide on which precautions you adopt. Record your findings and make a plan to implement them and share with your staff. Review your risk assessment and update if necessary. You can calculate risk assessment by this simple formula Risk = Severity x Likelihood and can record the assessment by help of 3 x 3 matrix (see in appendix 1, page 20) With the help of this chart you can record your risk and make plan for health and safety. (Rowlings, 2010) To conclude, Tesco managers are well equipped with leadership skills which described above and they are very successful in their jobs role and Tesco become the leader of the UK market. Without the presence of these skills managers could be failing and will not be as effective as others, and the business will eventually fail if there is no action taken to develop these skills. After this the next step is personal gap analysis and personal development plan of the manager and its show the clear picture of where they are stand and what steps they need to take to get the desired outcomes. Personal Gap Analysis Gap analysis helps individuals and businesses to achieve their objectives and improve their performance. It is a simple but very effective tool to find the ways between actual and the desired goals or objectives. Successful organisations use this tool for the development of their employees and to identify the area of improvement. Gap analysis begins by asking you two simple questions: (Rowlings, 2010) Where are you now? Where do you want to be? By answering these questions you can easily make personal development plan and the action plan to achieve desired outcome or goal. Personal Development Plan Personal skills development plan is very necessary for any manager to perform effectively. By the audit of your personal skills development plan you can easily know your areas of strength and the areas where you need more training. On the basis of these outcomes you can make your action plan for the future. So as an example I will analyse Tesco store manager Paul Holloway. He is managing the Tesco store at Wolverton for last 8 months and has worked for the company last 23 years in various roles across the country and here is his personal skills audit and personal development plan. Personal Skills Audit and Personal Development Plan Of Paul Holloway Wolverton Tesco Store Manager SKILLS DESCRIPITON Score 1-5 (5 highest ) Communication and literacy skills I am good in communication with my team and team members easily follow me what I want to say. I also have good relation with the customer and its possible by the communication skill 4 Group interpersonal skills ( working with others) I have plenty of experience of working as part of a team and very efficient member of a group. I always try to make positive impact on others and decision which I make depend on the consultation with team and get everybody suggestion to make final decision. I am quite good to welcome to new people and easily adjust with them. 4 Organizational personal skills independent learning and working I am self motivated person and I can plan and schedule the work as I choose. Although I do my best which is best interest of the organization and my team. 3 Research problem solving skills I take problems as a challenges Rather than major obstacles. I discuss with my team and choose the best process to solve the problem and make the plan that ensures that we will not face it in the future. 3 ICT skills I am confident to use the latest technology equipment and good in handling machinery. I use the internet for research and also make contact with my colleagues and top management. 4 Enterprise management skills I try to manage the strategic direction of the whole store and try to keep it on track by making daily basis action plan and review these regularly. 3 Action Plan for Personal Development Plan Outcomes Of Paul Holloway Wolverton Tesco Store Manager ACTION RESOURCES WHEN Promote equality and diversity in my workplace Join the local community centre or some learning organizations to find out more about equality and diversity. Within 3 months Promote the use of technology in my business Promote myself and team members to get training about the new technology. Within 3 months Lead change within my organization Take leadership training course or attend the seminars about change and they implement with in the organization. Within 6 months Develop a strategic plan Try to do more e-learning about the business plan and get the skills required to put plan in the business. Within 2 months Put the business plan into action Implement the business plan and monitor at regular intervals. Within 6 months Having carried out this personal skills audit, we are able to identify the areas where he is strong and where he needs more training and development to operate effectively in these departments. So he can easily make his action plan for the personal development plan outcomes. By these assessments leaders know where they stand and take the best route to achieve their goals. It is also the first step towards their personal and professional development process required to become a strategic leader. Conclusion According to the findings leadership skills of Tesco management is playing a vital role in their success. Tesco is a successful UK organisation and over the past five years their market shares is increased and setup some new retail units as well. This has been achieved by their good management department skills that are playing a major part in their success. Leading is just as important to Tesco as other functions of the management, because Tesco spent too much on their managers training to develop their leadership skills. In other words leading can be directly linked to corporate image in the sense that whatever employees or their managers do is perceived by customers and the local community as their organisational culture. Therefore, if employees are very helpful towards customers it will lead to delight customers and delight customers leads to success of the organisation. Tesco managers have good interpersonal and communicational skills which will create a friendly environment whe re employees will feel free and happy to work and also raise the performance of Tesco and help the company to achieve their objectives. Management of Tesco are doing their best to make their company at the highest position. I have noticed that the role of a manager is very complex and broad. The manager has to try to bring harmony and peace while working in the organisation. Mostly people make a common mistake about the manger is that they must be loud, and a great drinker or a great something social to draw people to them. This is wrong, if you look in any company structure, you will find quiet modest people who manage teams with great personal success. If you are modest and all you need is to talk clearly to the people. The great managers are the ones who accept challenges and who are ready to lead their teams towards a personal vision. According to research, currently in the UK business market only one in five managers is professionally qualified and strong demand for managers who got the leadership skills is growing within the businesses. It is very important for individuals who are in position of great responsibility to be able to play both roles. The person who cannot manage will destroy an organisation just as well as the one who dont know how to lead. But the people who have both skills are on the path to success.

symbolaw Symbols and Symbolism - Birds as a Symbol in The Awakening Es

Birds as the Symbol of Bondage and Freedom in The Awakening Birds that are enclosed in cages indicate solitude and bondage; those that roam in the open air above the seas represent freedom and happiness. The captivity or freedom of these animals is the symbolism that Chopin uses to illustrate the captivity Edna experiences from society and the freedom she desires.   Through this vivid bird imagery in her novel The Awakening, Chopin elucidates the struggle and freedom Edna encounters. From the beginning of the novel, the author supplies bird imagery to represent captivity and solitude. The "green and yellow parrot, which h[angs] in a cage outside the door [of Madame Lebrun's home], ke[eps] repeating over and over: 'Allez vous-en,' [come in]" (43).   The pleas of the parrot parallel with those of Edna, a desire for communication. She longs for a companion to whom she can pour her heart and soul into, without being reminded of the restrictions and cares of Victorian society; a relationship that she did not have with her husband, but with Robert. Though E... symbolaw Symbols and Symbolism - Birds as a Symbol in The Awakening Es Birds as the Symbol of Bondage and Freedom in The Awakening Birds that are enclosed in cages indicate solitude and bondage; those that roam in the open air above the seas represent freedom and happiness. The captivity or freedom of these animals is the symbolism that Chopin uses to illustrate the captivity Edna experiences from society and the freedom she desires.   Through this vivid bird imagery in her novel The Awakening, Chopin elucidates the struggle and freedom Edna encounters. From the beginning of the novel, the author supplies bird imagery to represent captivity and solitude. The "green and yellow parrot, which h[angs] in a cage outside the door [of Madame Lebrun's home], ke[eps] repeating over and over: 'Allez vous-en,' [come in]" (43).   The pleas of the parrot parallel with those of Edna, a desire for communication. She longs for a companion to whom she can pour her heart and soul into, without being reminded of the restrictions and cares of Victorian society; a relationship that she did not have with her husband, but with Robert. Though E...