Canada Culture Essay

1.0 Introduction Society is a shared context in a way that every individual’s activity relates and connects to it, including business. Culture is the comprised of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that differentiate each society. A society’s culture determines the systems that manage how organizations function in the society (Griffin and Pustay, 2010). Because of individuals possess their own activity and habits, they do things differently in a group. There are some characteristics of culture are essential for their significance to international business. First of all, culture reflects learned behavior that is conveyed from one member of a society to another. Certain elements of culture are conveyed intergenerationally, for instance a family, when parents educate their children table etiquette. Some elements are transmitted intragenerationally, like when seniors teach incoming freshmen about a school’s customs (Griffin and Pustay, 2010; Phatak et al., 2009). Next, the elements of culture are interrelated. For example, in Canada, different subcultures (different cultural group) include Anglophones and francophones (English-speaking and French-speaking people) (Deresky, 2011). Due to culture is learned behavior, the culture changes in response to external forces affect the society, in other words, it is adaptive. An example is after World War II, Germany was divided into free-market-oriented West Germany and communist guarded East Germany. Although they are having a common inheritance developed over centuries, this division created large cultural differences between Ossis (East Germans) and Wessis (West Germans). The differences resulted from adaptations of the East German culture to the principles of communist ideology concerning attitudes toward work, risk taking, and integrity of remuneration systems (Griffin and Pustay, 2010). Finally, culture is shared by associates of the society and in fact shapes the membership of the society. Persons who share a culture are members of a society, while those who do not are outside the confines of the society (Griffin and Pustay, 2010). Culture is inside everybody without their realization. We are different because of it. 2.0 Brief Introduction of Canada Location The country to be discussed in this assignment is Canada. Canada is located on the northern section of the North American continent which is the north of the United States mainland. Waters bordering the country consist of the North Atlantic Ocean to the east, the North Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Canada’s size is as great as that of the continent of Europe (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2011). With a total area of approximately 9,984,670 square kilometers according to CIA (2011), it is the largest country in the Western Hemisphere and the second-largest in the world, after Russia (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2011). In addition, Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories. The three territories are Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Territory (CIA, 2011; Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2011). These lands are all located in the northwestern, tundra regions of Canada, and each of them has a rather small population in comparison to the other provinces. Also, the territories are primarily settled by native tribes. These natives have obtained a certain level of self-government for each particular territory (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2011). Culture According to CIA, Canada has two official languages, namely English (58.8%) and French (21.6%). Thanks to the diversity of all origins Canadians which stand from British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, and mixed background 26%, Canada is a highly diverse culture. Besides, the major religions are Roman Catholic and Protestant (CIA, 2011). Due to its short history, Canadian culture is above all modern. This is particularly apparent in its authors, almost all of whom are still alive: Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Yann Martel (three recent Booker Prize winners), Marie-Claire Blais and Antonine Maillet are already popular in the US (Embassy of Canada in Washington, 2011). In recent decades, Canada has gained international recognition in the visual arts thanks to progressive artists. Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham, Edward Burtynsky, Ken Lum, Ian Wallace and Genevià ¨ve Cadieux introduced new uses for photography techniques, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller used new technologies in artistic formation (Embassy of Canada in Washington, 2011). Population The population of Canada in July 2011 was 34,030,589 as estimated by the CIA (2011), which made its population as number 37 among the 237 countries of the world. It was about 15.9% of the population was over 65 years of age, with 15.7% of the population under 15 years of age in 2011 and there were 98 males for every 100 females in the country in 2011 (CIA, 2011). According to CIA, the annual population growth rate for 2011 is 0.794%. It was estimated by CIA (2011) that 81% of the population lived in urban areas in 2009. Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, had a population of 1,170,000 in that year. The Toronto metropolitan area had an estimated population of 5,377,000; Montrà ©al, 3,750,000; Vancouver, 2,197,000; and Calgary, 1,160,000 (CIA, 2011). According to the Government of Yukon (2011), Yukon Territory has an expanding population over years of 34,667 as of 2010. It was originally occupied by the Athapaskan tribe, which still has six distinct groups of peoples residing in the territory (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2011). In April 2011, the Northwest Territories had a population of 43,505 (NWT Bureau of Statistics). There is about 28 percent of the population is descended from the Dene tribe, while other indigenous groups are the Inuvialuit and the Mà ©tis (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2011). Nunavut Bureau of Statistics (2011) shows that the Nunavut Territory had a population of 33,413 as of April 2011. It was separated from the Northwest Territories in 1999 and is now the largest political subdivision in the country, covering 18 percent of the total land area. Moreover, it is also the largest native land-claim settlement in the history of the country. About 84 percent of the residents claim ancestry from native tribes, and the largest of these Nunavut tribes is the Inuit of 83 percent, formerly known as the Eskimos which is a derogatory term meaning â€Å"eaters of raw meat†. Conversely, the remainder of the native population in Nunavut Territory is descended from the Dene and Mà ©tis tribes (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2011). Nationality According to CIA, the people of Canada is known as Canadian in singular form, and Canadians in the plural form, whereas the adjective of Canada is called Canadian. There are four steps to becoming a Canadian citizen. Firstly, determine if a person is eligible to become a citizen. Secondly, apply for citizenship. Next, take the citizenship test, if the person is between the ages of 18 and 54. Finally, attend a citizenship ceremony, if the person is 14 or older (CIC, 2011). Economy As Canada Site (2011) says, Canada is one of the world’s wealthiest nations, has the tenth largest economy in the world, and has one of the highest levels of economic freedom in the world. Besides that, Canada is also a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Group of Eight (G8). OECD is a platform in which governments work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems (OECD, 2011), while G8 is the group of eight highly industrialized nations including Canada, which hold a yearly meeting, the G8 Summit to foster consensus on global issues like economic growth and crisis management, global security, energy, and terrorism (Council on Foreign Relations, 2011). Since World War II, the remarkable growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed Canada from a largely rural economy into one primarily urban industrial. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the United States of America (US), Canada’s principal trading partner. Canada benefits a substantial trade surplus with the US, which absorbs about three-fourths of Canadian exports each year. Furthermore, Canada is the US’s largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, gas, uranium, and electric power. With great natural resources, skilled labor force, and modern capital plant, Canada’s economies enjoyed solid growth over years (CIA, 2011). The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country of purchasing power parity in 2010 was $1.33 trillion, which shows an increase after the economic recession from 2008 to 2009, with GDP of official exchange rate $1.574 trillion in 2010 (CIA, 2011). Together with the Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) for the year 2010 of $39,400, there was a surge since 2009. The services sector was the major part of composition of GDP which was 78% in 2010, with 20 % in industry, and 2% in agriculture. Canada also had an unemployment rate of 8% in 2010 which has a drop of 0.3% compared to 2009. However, the inflation rate also had a surge of 1.3% to 1.6% in 2010 (CIA, 2011). The agricultural products of Canada include wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits and more, whereas the industries products are stand from transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, fish products, petroleum and natural gas. The exports commodities are motor vehicles and parts, industrial machinery, aircraft, telecommunications equipment, chemicals, plastics, fertilizers; wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, natural gas, electricity, and aluminum with $406.8 billion in 2010. Imported goods are machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, crude oil, chemicals, electricity, durable consumer goods with $406.4 billion in 2010 (CIA, 2011). On 8 July 2011, the rate of 1.00 US dollar is 0.96 Canadian Dollar, which is the currency of Canada, at an exchange rate of 0.9627 using nominal rate (Bank of Canada, 2011). Politics Canada achieved independence on the first of July 1867 and recognized by UK per Statute of Westminster on 11 December 1931. The government of Canada stands of a parliamentary democracy, a federation, and a constitutional monarchy (CIA, 2011). Every territory has only one senator and one representative in the national parliament, fewer legislators than those representing the other provinces (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2011). Besides, the political leaders are consist of the Bloc Quebecois, Gilles Duceppe; Conservative Party of Canada, Stephen Harper; Green Party, Elizabeth May; Liberal Party, Robert Rae(interim); and New Democratic Party, Jack Layton. These political pressure groups are from the agricultural sector, automobile industry, business groups, chemical industry, commercial banks, communications sector, energy industry, environmentalists, public administration groups, steel industry, and trade unions (CIA, 2011). 3.0 Analysis of Geert Hofstede’s Dimensions Brief Nature of the Business The industry for this assignment is in the retailing sector. It is placed in Charlottetown, which is located in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. Its primary industry is in the fish and seafood markets, together with its alternate industry of dealing with wholesalers and distributors, and a full-service restaurant. It serves as a seafood market to sell live and cooked lobster; live mussels, clams, oysters, and quahaugs; shucked scallops, frozen snow crab sections, haddock, salmon and halibut fillets, lobster meat, and much more. Besides, the organization also dispatches lobster, mussels and oysters across Canada. Having the company set off with wonderful views of the heritage Hillsborough River and Charlottetown waterfront, it is a spot for people heading to the waterfront for a delicious seafood meal, or purchasing lobster, mussels, clams, oysters, crab or fresh fillets from the seafood marke t in the town. Introduction of Geert Hofstede’s Dimensions Culture is defined into several ways. They include Geert Hofstede’s Five Dimensions which would be discussed as the following. Social Orientation Social orientation or individualism versus collectivism dimension looked at the relationship between the person and his or her fellows. In societies where individualism was emphasized, the ties between individuals were loose and individual achievement and freedom were highly treasured. In collectivistic societies, the bonds between individuals were tight. Therefore, people born in collective societies, for example extended families, and everyone was supposed to take care of the interest of his or her group (Hill, 2007). Power Orientation One of the dimensions from Hofstede is the power orientation (Giffin and Pustay, 2010), or the power distance as Hill (2007) says. It is mainly dealt with the way a society treats the fact of unequal physical and intellectual capabilities in humans. High power orientation cultures were found in countries that permit inequalities grow eventually into inequalities of power and wealth, says Hofstede (Hill, 2007). According to Griffin and Pustay (2010), high power orientation denotes a power respect culture, where people in a culture tend to accept the power and authority of their superiors merely on the basis of the superiors’ positions in the hierarchy. These same people also are inclined to respect the superiors’ right to that power orientation. People at all levels in a firm accept the decisions and mandates of those above them because of the implied belief that higher-level positions carry the right to make decisions and issue commands (Giffin and Pus tay, 2010). On the contrary, low power distance cultures would try to minimize such inequalities they could (Hill, 2007). As Griffin and Pustay (2010) say, low power orientation suggests that a culture is in power tolerance. It has much less significance to an individual’s position in the hierarchy. They are more willing to question a decision or mandate from those higher levels or even reject it. They are willing to follow a leader when that leader is perceived to be correct or when it seems to be in their own self-interest to do so but not because of the leader’s intangible right to issue mandates. Uncertainty Orientation Another dimension is uncertainty orientation (Griffin and Pustay, 2010) or uncertainty avoidance according to Hill (2007). It assessed the degree of various cultures socialize their members into acknowledging indefinite situations and tolerating ambiguity. Correlates of low uncertainty orientation, or uncertainty avoidance according to Griffin and Pustay (2010) a culture set high priority on job security, career patterns, retirement benefits, and the like. They also took seriously for rules and regulations; the manager was expected to deliver clear instructions, and subordinates’ initiatives were closely controlled (Hill, 2007). Furthermore, Griffin and Pustay (2010) define low power orientation as ambiguity and change are seen as undesirable, and society will prevent it whenever possible. These people prefer a structured, routine, and even bureaucratic, way of performing tasks. On the other hand, high uncertainty orientation, or uncertainty acceptance according to Griffin and Pustay (2010) cultures were regarded as a greater readiness to take risks and less emotional resistance to change (Hill, 2007). According to Griffin and Pustay (2010), people in uncertainty acceptance are stimulated by change and thrive on new opportunities. Ambiguity is considered as a context within which an individual can grow, develop, and engrave out new opportunities. A sense of monotony, routineness, and overbearing structure are the certainty carried in this culture. Goal Orientation Goal orientation or masculinity versus feminity according to Hill (2007) is the approach in which people are motivated to work toward different types of goals. One extreme on the goal orientation range is aggressive goal behavior. People who display aggressive goal behavior or masculine cultures according to Hill (2007) tend to place a high premium on material possessions, money, and assertiveness. At the other extreme, passive goal behavior or feminine cultures according to Hill (2007) are people that place a higher value on social relationships, quality of life, and welfare for others. Moreover, cultures that value aggressive goal behavior also tend to define gender-based roles rather rigidly, whereas cultures that stress passive goal behavior do not. In cultures regarded as extremely aggressive goal behavior, men are expected to work and to focus their careers in conventionally male occupations; women are usually expected not to work outside the home and to focus on their families. If they do work outside the home, they are usually expected to be engaged in areas of traditionally work dominated by women (Griffin and Pustay, 2010). Time Orientation Hofstede’s fifth dimension, time orientation, is the extent to which members of a culture adopt a long-term against a short-term outlook on work, life, and other aspects of society. Some cultures, such as those of Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, have a longterm, future orientation that cherish dedication, hard work, perseverance, and moderation. Other cultures, including those of Pakistan and West Africa, have a tendency to focus on the past and present, stressing respect for traditions and fulfillment of social obligations (Griffin and Pustay, 2010). Assessment of Canada’s Culture Using Hofstede’s Dimensions In this part of the assignment, Canada’s culture is studied along Hofstede’s Dimensions. The ranking of Five Dimensions for Canada adapted from Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions (2009) is shown in Figure 1 below.

Equity & Expectancy Theory of Motivation Essay

Motivation Explain Adams equity theory Adams’ equity theory is a motivational model that attempts to explain the relationship between what an employee puts into their job (input), what they get out of it (output) and the fairness and justice exchanged between the two (Cosier & Dalton, 1983). Inputs include all factors that are perceived as necessary to obtain a return, such as effort, loyalty, hard work, commitment, skill, ability, flexibility, tolerance, determination, heart and soul, enthusiasm, trust in the employer and personal sacrifice. Whilst outputs include all factors that are seen as a return of the job such as financial rewards, perks, benefits, pension arrangements, recognition, reputation, praise, interest, responsibility, travel, training, development, sense of achievement and promotion (Cosier & Dalton, 1983). A fair and equitable balance of the two are based on the employees own perception, thoughts and beliefs and are formed through comparing the employees own situation with other employees in the market place along with opinions and comparisons from colleagues, friends and partners (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). Ultimate Software has been able to provide an equitable balance between the inputs and outputs of their employees through implementing some of the key principles of equity theory. For example they are providing a strong leadership role model through Scott Scherr-the CEO, they are being attentive to their employees’ perception of fairness and more importantly they are involving their employees in the decision making and policy process. In return this has promoted cooperation and team work within the company (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). More specifically Ultimate Software application of being attentive and involving their employees was demonstrated when their employee suggested that they offer paid adoption leave to their employee and they consequently implemented the benefit (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). This particular employee was about to adopt herself so she perceived that the output of â€Å"adoption leave† was a fair and equitable reward for her inputs of effort, loyalty, commitment, skill, ability and work (Cosier & Dalton, 1983). Thus by listening and implementing her suggestion Ultimate Software met her sense of fairness. In addition they al so conveyed to her a sense of  involvement with the decision and policy making process. Consequently the employee regarded Ultimate Software as a fair, observant and appreciative  employer. So much so that she has remained with the company for four years and has since used the â€Å"adoption leave† again. Conversely the company could have chosen not to listen to this particular employee’s suggestion. As a result Ultimate Software would not have implemented adoption leave and the employee would have felt that her inputs of effort, loyalty, commitment, skill, ability and work were out-weighed by her received outputs. This would have been even more apparent if another company in the industry offered such a leave for adopting children. Consequently the employee would have felt underappreciated and would have become demotivated. This would have resulted in the employee reducing their effort and application, and even seeking an alternative job, perhaps one where adoption leave was available (Cosier & Dalton, 1983). Another example of the principles of equity theory at work in Ultimate Software is the use of benefit schemes to motivate employees. These schemes endeavour to provide employees with working conditions and policies that give additional rewards above and beyond the basic requirements to meet the perceived outputs of different individuals (Katzell & Thompson, 1990). For example an employee who perceived education as a fair and equitable output to their inputs is able to benefit from the company’s annual tuition reimbursement. Whilst an employee who perceives providing health cover for themselves and their family as an equitable output for their input will acquire a sense of fairness and organisational justice through the use of Ultimate Software’s fully paid health premium scheme. These, along with the other schemes mentioned, cater for the differing perceptions, values and sensitivities amongst the company employees. This variation exists because what one employee sees as an adequate reward for their input may not even register with another employee (Blakely et al, 2005). We all have differing sensitivity and to achieve organisational justice and fairness between the inputs and outputs of individual employees the company needs to comprehend what makes their employees tick to enable them to perform their role (Wilson, 2005). Basically Ultimate Software has applied the principles of equity theory to motivate their employees. The company has provided outputs which meets their employees perception of fairness against what they input into the company (Katzell & Thompson, 1990). This balance between input and output has not  only been achieved individually but also with in the work place and the industry. Consequently Ultimate Software has raised the level of employee satisfaction and performance. Explain Vroom;s Expectancy Theory Vroom’s Expectancy Theory is another motivational model but slightly more complex in its application. The model uses the three variables expectancy, instrumentality and valance to explain how an employee is motivated to behave in ways that will produce a desired combination of expected outcomes (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). The first variable, expectancy is the belief that an ones effort will result in the attainment of desired performance goals and is based upon the employees past experiences, self-confidence and the perceived difficulty of the goal. The second variable, instrumentality is the belief that one will receive a reward if the performance expectation is met and is connected to the employees’ levels of trust in leadership, control over rewards and the company’s formalised policy. The final variable, valence is the value that one places on the rewards and is based upon an employee’s needs, goals, values and sources of motivation (Lee, 2007). It is Vroom’s belief that these three variables interact psychologically to create a motivational force that will cause employee to acts in ways that will bring pleasure and avoid pain (Pearson & Hui, 2001). An example of Ultimate Software using the principle of expectancy theory to motivate their employees is through the use of their education benefit. For this to be a motivational force the three variables of expectancy, instrumentality and valance must be perceived by the employee to be met (Pearson & Hui, 2001). That is to fulfil expectancy an employee will need to believe that their extra effort and time put into studying a degree, or similar educational course, will result in them completing the program. To fulfil instrumentality the employee must believe that  once completed they will be rewarded with either a higher pay and or a promotion within the company. And finally to fulfil the third variable valance, the employee will need to value that the pay rise and/or pr omotion are important enough to apply extra effort and time. Basically they will need to desire the outcome enough so that they will achieve it (Pearson &  Hui, 2001). Jose Chinea of Ultimate Software was able fulfil the three variables of expectancy, instrumentality and valence. Firstly Jose believed that the masters’ degree in management and information systems was achievable. Secondly he believed that the extra effort put into studying a master’s degree would lead to the reward of obtaining a promotion with Ultimate Software. And finally because he personally understood and valued education as an opportunity to grow he therefore believed that the efforts he put in, along with the rewards obtained from Ultimate Software, would be worth it. Conversely, if Jose was not able to fulfil any one of the three variables then there would be no motivational force for him to study and therefore use the educational benefit. This would happen only if he believed that he was unable to complete the master’s degree, the company was not offering a suitable reward and he perceived education and the rewards of education to be of no value. Conse quently, the internal attributes of the employee which incorporate their attitude and value systems are an extensive determinate of motivational force in the expectancy theory model (Pearson & Hui, 2001). Another example of Ultimate Software using the principles of expectancy theory is the CEO’s, Scott Scherr’s leadership role (Isaac et al, 2001). Scherr adopted the principles to equip himself with tools to influence the psychological process resident in his employees. He implemented rewards systems that are uncommon. These rewards include matching 30% of employee superannuation contributions and also stock options and both are applied in an appropriate fashion to pull or influence his employees. This strategy enhances the level of personal motivation of his employees as they wish to maximize their own self interests. For example an employee who wishes to boost their retirement savings would opt for the reward scheme of matching superannuation contributions. Whilst an employee who wishes to boost their immediate wealth, or even just considers investing to be of value, would opt for stock options. In applying a strong leadership style Scherr has created an environment within his company that inspires his employees to achieve a level of performance that meets the company expectations, and even perhaps exceed the employees own personal expectations. This has been achieved through Scherr consciously choosing a leadership strategy that pulls rather than pushes  (Isaac et al, 2001). The positive implications of using a motivational model such as expectancy theory include reduced employee turnover, improved morale and higher productivity (Pearson & Hui, 2001). For Ultimate Software this has resulted in the company obtaining the title of best medium company to work for in America.

Keynes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Keynes - Essay Example nce these conflicts usually come to an end †¦ It is only in the field of economics that the state of war seems to persist and remain permanent.† (Dillard, 1948) This observation by Knut Wicksell is perfectly applicable to the impact and interest Keynesian economics has generated in the last seventy years or so. The rest of this essay is an attempt to assess the impact made by the Keynesian school of thought in the context of international economy. John Maynard Keynes’ seminal work, the General Theory, has had a profound effect on the way macroeconomic thought had evolved ever since. It divided the fraternity of economists into two groups. On one side were those who believed that a capitalist market economy does not need governmental interference as it is intrinsically regulated by underlying price mechanisms. The other group questioned this supposed self-equilibrating economy’s ability to minimize unemployment rates. This was a widely debated topic during the 1950s and 1960s. Ironically, economists resorted to the neoclassical analysis for settling this argument. As it stands, some form of reconciliation seem to have been achieved between the two viewpoints, but not a convincing one. The economic mechanism behind unemployment rates is of interest to both politicians and businesses alike (Dillard, 1948). In this context, Keynes had made a significant contribution in deciphering and helping understand these key ec onomic processes that concern public representatives and common citizens. To quote, â€Å"The theoretical debate relating to the consistency of macroeconomic equilibrium with an excess supply of labour appeared to have been won by supporters of the invisible hand view, but as a practical matter it was accepted that the self-righting properties of the market were too weak and needed the helping hand of fiscal and monetary policies in order to achieve and maintain the primary stated objective of full employment. Keynesians of all persuasions

Stake holder Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Stake holder Research Paper - Essay Example The principle target of this examination paper is to guarantee that there is a solid reason revealed regarding why might a standard meeting feature have to be so prominent, and what reason made the meeting abruptly pulled in such measure of centering. As stated by the NBC report, this meeting itself raised an exceptionally intriguing and genuine point to be known as "Ought to understudies wear their school garbs in basic and auxiliary school?" Students should not wear uniforms at school, because they are too ordinary and boring, to force students wear uniforms in elementary and secondary school will strangle their personality and creativity. Reflecting on the question that was conveyed by NBC and its report shows that the meeting was examining around the contention of "Are school outfits helping or ruining." It began with to bringing up the actuality of in todays United States; almost one in five of people in general schools obliged their learner to wear their school garbs while they are in school. In addition, the meeting caught up by the verbal confrontation around two inverse purposes of perspectives towards the point spoke to by two instructive callings. The open deliberations from the feature was exceptionally powerful and bounteous of consistent considering, likewise, the dialect and inquiries that have connected are additionally sharp and loaded with euphoria. Notwithstanding, were those components the true reasons, which made the question so hot over the general population, were there any possible fascinating actualities and debate worth the discourse? As stated by the Butler, the vast extent of state funded schools, which upheld the strict clothing standard, respects the understudies in basic and optional school today. Regardless of the fact that the degree of schools obliged their people to wear, school regalia around private schools were exhibited a noteworthy climbing in the previous decades. Under this exploration, we find that the

Avoidance of Information Technology Project Failure Essay

Avoidance of Information Technology Project Failure - Essay Example Reasons for the project failures and their sufficient deeds for its avoidance are kept in focus while discussions and consultations with project managers and other resources like books and Internet. Â  Being an IT student, keeping only objectives in hand don’t completes my traits. Though it is the world of proofs and proving objectives with the presentations and documentation. Every deliverable clutches some fundamentals of this project. Deliverables until the end of the project will be as per defined: Â  This is the first deliverable that embraces the contents of Information Technology. What is Information Technology? When is it started? Since then how it is improved? What is the status of Information Technology nowadays? What kinds of projects and their importance in the real world? Etc. This document is a small thesis on Information Technology with a little introduction to the real topic. This deliverable accomplishes first three above-mentioned objectives of the project. Â  A sample of professionals is gathered to have a little talk on the topic. Few famous and well-known software houses are being listed. Moreover, to reach these software houses and contact the entire professionals, references are gathered. This list along with the professional names holds their contacts, their references, and a name of people they are referred by. Reason to make them our samples. This deliverable, strengths of our project research and help in the accomplishment of our forth above mentioned objective. Â  This deliverable is a complete document carrying related questions focusing the topic and finding what may be the reasons or strategies to avoid projects to be failed. This deliverable is submitted to get the approval from the supervisor for proceedings. The questionnaire holds both close-ended and open-ended questions related to their experience and professionalism. Â  

Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Evaluation - Essay Example It does not disappoint in terms of its usability and mobility. Once a user is on the homepage, everything is well illustrated to direct him or her to the next step. Grammarly.com places much emphasis as to why it is the world’s best grammar checker. It goes ahead to outline ten reasons why its users will love it. It also employs the inverted pyramid principle of relaying information. The site emphasizes on correcting grammatical errors as its main service, then continues to outline at the bottom that it is also a plagiarism checker. Such an organized layout ensures that the homepage captures the important information to convince its users as to why they should proceed to use it. The site achieves a convincing value-proposition from the layout and inverted pyramid structure of information. The site also recognizes the value of social media as a platform for online exposure. It is integrated with Twitter (38,000 followers), Facebook (3 million likes) and Google (1.7 million). The website covers all the aspects of a good web design. In addition, the homepage includes some of the users’ testimonials. New users would be convinced to use the services offered when they get to read the feedback of previous users. However, the website has some few negative aspects. Firstly, the homepage has lots of information that the users might not get to read all of it. Secondly, the website is too simple; that is, it has concentrated too much on the ‘Keep It Simple Stupid’ impression. It has limited its target group to students only, locking out the corporate

Investment management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Investment management - Case Study Example Institute of Financial Services (IFS): Regulatory body for accreditation of fund managers Chartered Institute for Bankers (CIB) Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC): accredits competence of brokers, sales staff, and managers of financial services firms U.K.-based NGOs and lobby groups, such as Friends of the Earth, WWF, etc. Descendants of customers and shareholders Activist shareholder groups Local media Competitors (Schroders plc) Stock Exchanges: New York and Toronto International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): EU-wide accounting standards International NGOs European Union (Brussels) and its Directorate in Finance Other national governments of countries where customers and shareholders live International media People and Communities affected by natural disasters Competitors (FMR, Merrill Lynch) The focus on these two stakeholders is evident from the opening statement of its CEO in the latest Interim Report (AVZ, 2006a, p.1): "AMVESCAP continues to make good progress in our efforts to become a premier global investment management organization for our clients and shareholders." This can be classified as its mission, whilst its vision is captured by the words that appear below its corporate logo: "Helping people worldwide build their financial security". Still under this first group but next to the two most important stakeholders are the employees whose classifications are clear-cut as to behavioural standards established by the company. The "External-National" stakeholders include those who do business with the company, such as suppliers and sub-contractors, public and private institutions that perform specific regulatory functions over AVZ, and all other groups that may have a direct or indirect influence over how...This means that we can divide AVZ stakeholders (Freeman, 1984) into three groups: "Internal", "External-National", and "External-International". The "Internal" stakeholders are those who work for or are employed by the company, from the lowest (say, a temp secretary) to the highest (Chairman and CEO). Included are the shareholders, or owners of shares of AVZ in the London, New York, and Toronto stock exchanges, and AVZ's customers. The focus on these two stakeholders is evident from the opening statement of its CEO in the latest Interim Report (AVZ, 2006a, p.1): "AMVESCAP continues to make good progress in our efforts to become a premier global investment management organization for our clients and shareholders." This can be classified as its mission, whilst its vision is captured by the words that appear below its corporate logo: "Helping people worldwide build their financial security". The "External-National" stakeholders include those who do business with the company, such as suppliers and sub-contractors, public and private institutions that perform specific regulatory functions over AVZ, and all other groups that may have a direct or indirect influence over how the company is run and managed (Williamson, 1996).

Management Is Doing Things Right; Leadership Is Doing The Right Things Essay

Management Is Doing Things Right; Leadership Is Doing The Right Things - Essay Example His distinction between management and leadership has been a popular topic for debate for several years now.Leadership acts as a tool in settling on the best course of action to take- what are the things that should be done to reach our targets? But according to Drucker’s philosophy, leadership is strong and successful when the leader thinks through questions like ‘Of those things that would make a difference, which are right for me? By ‘doing the right things’, he meant that effective leadership is considering the company’s mission, describing it and openly establishing it. It is a leader’s job to set clear goals for the company and define the standards needed to be maintained while achieving the goals. Being aware that he is not in control of the universe, he has to make compromises. This, however, he does once he has thought of the right and the desirable. Drucker defines leadership as mundane, unromantic and boring. Its essence lies in perf ormance. Effective leaders keep on checking their performance against the achievement of their goals. This practice helps them to analyse their choices and decide on what is important and needs immediate attention. It also assists them in identifying their strengths and recognizing their weaknesses. Regarding this, Drucker says: ‘I have seen a great many people who are exceedingly good at execution, but exceedingly poor at picking the important things. They are magnificent at getting the unimportant things done. They have an impressive record of achievement on trivial matters.’ Setting the right kind of goals plays a significant role in developing a successful leader. It is of extreme importance to set realistic achievable goals which fit in with the overall mission, keeping in mind the external constraints such as political, economical, and financial and internal constraints such as the current resources available and the interpersonal issues. In accordance with this s tatement of his, lies the aspect of responsibility within leadership. Rank and privilege is not the core to leadership. It is, in fact, the sense of responsibility that the leader feels and exhibits that represents strong and reliable leadership. Hence, a successful leader is one who takes initiative to tackle a task and uses the given resources optimally to derive maximum benefit. Drucker claims America’s chief of army staff in World War II, General George Marshall, became a productive leader through responsibility and diligence. Such kinds of leaders do not fear the self-determined subordinates. Instead, they encourage their juniors, assisting them to reach their potential and accomplish all that they are capable of. Being ambitious for a leader is far smaller a risk than being mediocre. An effective leader is also aware of the consequence that organizations face in case of the leader’s impeachment. In regard to this, Drucker rightly says: ‘An effective leader knows that the ultimate task of leadership is to create human energies and human vision’ Drucker at one point stresses over the effectiveness that every leader is expected to possess. Be it in a government agency, a hospital, a business, a labour union, a university or army, a leader seems to bear high intelligence and imagination only seconds it. Yet he lacks the vital link between his effectiveness and his intelligence, imagination or knowledge. However, many leaders come in contact with the dangerous near successes traps which usually revolve around the mindset

Servant Evangelism Report Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Servant Evangelism Report - Personal Statement Example   The opportunity to assist the victims developed when I heard of the catastrophe that hit the Hurricane victims in some parts of the United States. The catastrophe left many people homeless and hopeless in life. I was able to share the gospel and my testimonies of life tribulation with the hurricane victims. Most of the victims were of the opinion that, God works in various ways, in relation to my testimonies. According to James 2:14-20, there is certainly no act of goodness when a Christian fails to assist an individual physically. Most of the victims ended up accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Consequently, faith without works is as impeachable as dead. The hurricane victims lost a lot, and all they needed was some form of comfort in someone to talk to about their loss.   Physical Assistance   I managed to raise some money and bought a few blankets, clothes and some food that I donated to the victims. I felt the need to express faith in action by comforting the mourners. However, the mourners felt that someone still cared for them even after the worst experience. I explained to them that God worked in the same way, despite what they are going through God is still with them, and is using the experience as a test their faith. I encouraged them never to lose faith in Him and that this was their chance to give their lives to Christ. Most of them were for the idea of accepting Christ as their personal savior, and I consider my evangelism a success.

Homosexuality in ancient cultures Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Homosexuality in ancient cultures - Case Study Example Duels and accounts of epic gladiatorial contests craft a large proportion of the modern day perception of this epoch. The exercise of these macho tendencies seems immediately at odds with Homosexual practice, and it is indeed intriguing to question the prevalence and attitudes' toward Homosexuality in said societies. Before continuing, it should be noted that it is simply impossible to assess, with respect to the question, each "culture" simultaneously: differences between Spartan, Roman and Greek societies would not allow for a detailed, thorough study if categorised together. Instead this essay will attempt to deal with each separately, before bringing its findings together in a broad conclusion. While it may appear a simplistic approach to adopt it is, quite simply, the best manner in which to approach the question. Spartan society was in many ways driven by military ambition. Textbooks refer to the Spartans in such terms as: "an armed camp," "brutal," "culturally stagnant," "economically stagnant," "politically stagnant"[1]. From the age of six, Spartan boys were taken from their mothers to train to be a soldier. It was common throughout this transitory period for the youths to engage in homosexual relations with older men, in fact it was regarded as an important part of their education. Indeed, the Spartan military actively pursued the placing of Homosexual lovers together in combat: while in Thebes, the general Epaminondas commanded a regiment composed of 150 pairs of lovers. This 'Band of Lovers' became a formidable fighting force, with lover defending lover until death. 1: Whitby, 63. Few members of Spartan society frowned upon this practice. Conversely, once the youth reached full adulthood opinions toward this practice shifted greatly. This was mainly because it placed one of the participants in a position of submission: which Spartans regarded as being completely unacceptable for a man holding full citizenship. The best ancient source on Sparta, Xenophon, refutes the already suggestion about widespread pederasty. [2] There is no Spartan/Laconian art that depicts explicitly homosexual motifs-as there is from Athens. The notion that Spartan men tended to wed relatively young, by Greek standards anyway, insinuates that they simply had much less time for the pederasty that characterized the coming to manhood in the rest of Greece. The state considered men who did not wed a public disgrace, and a citizen who did not marry and procreate was not afforded the luxuries that a Father would be. Sparta was known for the extent to which women were so well integrated into society: this goes against the very essence of a homosexually prevalent society. Based on the evidence, it is clear that Homosexuality-in the form of pederasty-- was at the very least, tolerated by the Spartans. Rather than full Homosexual affairs between grown men, much more common were "grooming" relationships between Adults and adolescents, seen as an intrinsic aspect of military training and development. Such as the ancient world is, many accounts become skewed or simply "lost in translation", and thus the account of Xenophon should not be regarded as providing a definite answer. Pederasty or the practice thereof, was undoubtedly a facet of Spartan life. The Historical accounts of Epaminondas at Thebes support this,

Certain unknown wire Essay Example for Free

Certain unknown wire Essay To find out how resistivity changes as the length of wire is changed, and to find out the resistivity of a certain unknown wire. Equipment   Power Pack Ammeter Voltmeter   Crocodile clips   Wire   Metre rule Thermometer Method 1. Measure the diameter of wire using a micrometer, taking measurements in 3 different places along wire and take an average. 2. Take a piece of wire which is 100cm long, and attach t a metre rule. 3. Connect up wire to a power Pac, ammeter and voltmeter using crocodile clips and wires, to produce a circuit. 4. Vary the length of wire used in circuit by moving croc clips along the wire at 10cm intervals. 5. Record in a table the voltage and current for each of the 10cm intervals. 6. Find the resistance of wire for each recorded length, using the formula R= V/I 7. Repeat the whole method 3 times and find the average resistance of each length of wire. 8. Measure the temperature of the room with the thermometer and note this down. 9. Use the average diameter to calculate the cross-sectional area using A= ? (d/2)2 10. Plot resistance (y-axis) against length (x-axis). Draw in the line of best fit. 11. y=mx+c R= (? /A i length) + 0 Use gradient ? /A to calculate resistivity (? ). Safety. Safety was one of my top priorities. I was cautious when measuring the voltage of the wire incase it became very hot. The voltage was not increased to above 2V as this would probably burn my hands or the metre rule, due to the heating effect of wire. Preliminary test It was necessary to carry out a preliminary test in order to familiarise with using the equipment, and also to help realise mistakes, so that they wouldnt affect the real experiment. The experiment was set up as said so in my method. Preliminary Results Length of wire (m) Average resistance (? ). My results show me that as the length of the wire increases so does its resistance. In my actual experiment I will get 3 sets of results and calculate average in order to obtain precise readings. I found that I should use a low voltage in order to keep the heat generated as low as possible. Using a very high voltage could have burnt the wire or the lab unit. During the experiment the wire heats up, this causes more collisions between the electrons and the atoms as the atoms are moving into the path of the electrons. This increase in collisions means that there will be an increase in resistance. So to eliminate this extra resistance I will have to turn the power pack off after a while to let the wire cool down. I would also need to ensure that the crocodile clips were placed in the exact positions on wire e. g. 10, 20 cm etc. this would ensure reliable and more exact results. All these will have to be taken into account and will help me to minimize errors when calculating the resistivity of my unknown piece of wire. Prediction I predict that as the length of the wire increases, so too will its resistance. If the length of the wire is increased then the resistance will also increase as the electrons will have a longer distance to travel and so more collisions will occur. Due to this the length increase should be proportional to the resistance increase. So if the length is doubled the resistance should also double. This is because if the length is doubled the number of atoms will also double resulting in twice the number of collisions slowing the electrons down and increasing the resistance. My graph should show that the length is proportional to the resistance. Resistance means the property of anything to constrict the flow of electrons (a current). The electrons that carry the energy within the metal wire collide with obstacles (atoms) inside the wire and change direction. (The atoms in the wire are obstacles to the electrons. ) This is known as scattering. This causes electrical resistance. Therefore, I can predict that the electrons will collide with the atoms, when the atoms have more energy, more often. The graph that I am expecting should look something like: Theory We define the resistance of a material as resistivity. 2 factors affect the resistance of a conductor are its length and its cross-sectional area. Resistance ? Length (Doubling length doubles resistance) Resistance ? 1 Area (Doubling the cross-sectional are halves the resistance) Resistivity can be measured using ? = AR L And R= ? L A Where: R = resistance P= Resistivity constant L= Length A=Area To find ? I am going t plot a graph of R against L. The gradient of the graph will allow me to calculate ?. The equation of the straight line is y= mx + c As the line will go through the origin c =o Therefore y= mx The Resistance will be the y-axis and Length will be the x-axis. Therefore:- R= mi L As R= ? L The gradient of this is ? /A (excluding R and L) A So.. m=? /A ?= mA The area will be found by measuring the wires diameter and using the formula A=? (d/2)2 Section B- Results L (cm) VThe diameter of the wire was found using a micrometer. 1/mm 2/mm 3/mm Average/mm 0. 19 0. 19 0. 19 0. 19 Minimising Errors To minimise errors the following precautions were taken:   Method completed 3 times so that averages could be calculated. All results taken at same time so that temperature changes do not affect resistance Micrometer used to measure diameter of wire, as it can measure small distances accurately Meter ruler used to measure wires length accurately. Power pack was turned off to cool inbetween readings so that the wire did not get hot and thus affect the reliability of my results at each value.   I also tried to minimise human error in the experiment, such as putting the crocodile clips on the exact lengths and recording the readings on the ammeter and voltmeter accurately. Section C- Analysis Calculation The cross sectional area of the wire is calculated using: A= ? (d/2)2. So my value for resitivity of the wire according to my results is 39 i 10-8 My prediction was correct because I got a straight line on my graph and this shows that the length is proportional to the resistance and as the length of wire increases so does its resistance. I believe my experiment was good because Section D- Conclusion Analysis of errors Error in the area of the wire 1/mm 2/mm 3/mm Average/mm Range/mm 0. Possible sources of error Systematic errors   There may be inaccuracies in the measuring equipment. Its possible that the micrometer may have been damaged and may not have read the thickness of the wire accurately.   There may have been an error in measuring the location of the crocodile clips, and this may have lead to inaccurate results.   The voltmeter takes a small amount of current from the wire Random errors The temperature of the wire and the room may have lead to increased or decreased resistances.   Thickness of the wire would not be constant, this would lead to different resistance values in different parts of the wire. Unknown material of wire   The power supply may not have been constant. Improvements   Errors in meters- use 3 different meters to check current, and voltage values   Location of crocodile clips- use pointers instead of clips to get accurate measurements Some current flows through the voltmeter- I could have used an oscilloscope as it has a very high resistance so current will not go through voltmeter.

Battle Of Thermopylae Was Fought History Essay

Battle Of Thermopylae Was Fought History Essay The main source that described the battle of Thermopylae is the book VII of Herodotus. He was a Greek historian, and in his book he generally favors the Greeks. But he also writes about the greatness of the Persian Empire. There are also some doubts in the story told by Herodotus. For example, in one part Herodotus states that 2.6 million people were the total Persian armies in the battle. But modern scholars reject this claim and they state that the figures given are unrealistic and it is as the result of miscalculations or exaggerations that sources put to favor the victor side. King Xeroxes was so frustrated because his father, Darius who attacked the Greeks in 490 BC, shamelessly defeated in the battle of Marathon. After the battle Darius wanted to reinforce and attack the Greeks again, but the rebellion in Egypt got his attentions off the Greeks and before he could deal with the Egyptian, he died in 486 BC. Xeroxes then crushed the Egyptian and turned his attention to the Greeks. He started his long term plan, which lasted for couple of years, to be prepared for the war. At that time even the Greeks knew that the battle is inevitable. Xeroxes decided that Hellespont, which is a narrow strait, connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, is the way that he could get to Greece. So he ordered that Hellespont should be bridged by ships so his army could cross to Europe. By early 480 the massive army of Persia was ready to invade Europe, and the preparation was complete. The Persian army crossed Hellespont on two bridges which were made of ships. Athenians were aware of the Persian threat and they were preparing for the war with Persians in the middle of 480 BC. It was at 482 when Themistocles, who was an Athenian politician and general, suggested that the best way to defend against the Persian is by building triremes, which were an ancient vessel and a type of galley. But the Athenians did not have enough workers to defend against the enormous army of Persia so they asked the other Greek states for help. A congress met in the late autumn of 481 BC, and an alliance was formed between the Greek states. The congress was very important and remarkable because some of the states were in war at that time, so the alliance helps the union between the Greeks. The congress met again in the spring of 480, and this time they decided to block Xeroxes advance to Europe. The congress sends the army containing 10,000 hoplites, which were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed as spearmen and fought in phalanx formation, to The Vale of Tempe, which is a gorge in northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Olympus to the north and Ossa to the south. However the planed did not work and the army retreated because Alexander I of Macedon warned them that the Persian army is overwhelming and they could bypass them easily. The Persian army was marching through Greece with the help of Greek spy in august of 480 BC. They were in luck because by the law Spartan army were forbidden to have military activity because of a festival called Carneia. It was also the Olympic Games season and it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to any war. Under this circumstances king Leonidas took 300 men and around 1,000 Phoceans, which were the support troops, with the orders of the Ephors, leaders of ancient Sparta, and shared power with the Spartan kings to launch an expedition and gather as many Greek soldier as possible and await the arrival of the main Spartan army. Herodotus told a legend that Leonidas consulted Oracle at Delphi, the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, before and the oracle told Leonidas that he is going to certain death, so Leonidas only took 300 men with a living son. By the time Leonidas arrived at Thermopylae, he had more than 7,000 men contingents from various cities. He chose to defend the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae called the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“middle gateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  because there was a defensive wall constructed by Phocians in there. He was afraid that mountain track nearby Thermopylae could be used to outflank the pass, so he put around 1,000 men on the heights. Finally, the Persian army led by the god-king Xeroxes approached Thermopylae. The total number is unknown and Herodotus number is unrealistic. Modern scholars estimate the total number of Persian army had been around 70,000 to 300,000. At first Xeroxes wanted to negotiate with Leonidas, so he sent an emissary to him. Leonidas refused the offer of Persians to resettle in another area and in a famous response he said: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“come and take themà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . After that the war became inevitable and after four days, which Xeroxes thought the Greeks were going to disperse, he sent his troops to kill Leonidas and crush his army. At the first day of the battle, Xeroxes ordered five thousand archers to attack the Greeks with their arrows, but the bronze shield of the Greeks deflected the arrows and eventually no one got hurt. After Xeroxes realized that the archers could not to any damage to Leonidas army, he ordered Medes and Cissians, which were around 10,000 soldiers to attack and bring prisoners before him. They Spartans and other Greeks crushed them with an easy victory. Xerxes then shocked by the result sent his best troops, the Immortals. They defeated horribly and had no more success than the other group. The reason Spartans could defeat the Persian army so easily is the tactical advantage at Thermopylae. One of the reasons was that Persians were too many on numbers and the battlefield was too tight, and the only weapons that they had were daggers and short spears for hand to hand combat. Persians were not fighting the way they had been trained and they were not equipped for such close fighting so the Greek army wiped them out easily. Another reason could be that Greeks were fighting for their lands, and defending their homes and their family so they had more intangible edge. On the other hand, half of the Persian army was slaves and to make them fight the Greeks the commanders lashed them with whips. On the second day of the battle, Xeroxes again sent some troops to attack the Greeks. After Greeks drew them off with light injuries, Xeroxes stopped and withdrew to his camp without any plan. However, everything changed at the end of the second day. His name was Ephialtes, which coming to mean nightmare in the Greek language, and he was a Trachinian traitor. Greed and rewards made him to betray the Greek army and informed Xeroxes of the mountain path around Thermopylae. After that a Persian army under command of a general named Hydarnes attacked the pass. The 1,000 Phocians guarding the pass were surprised by the Persian attack and they retreat to higher grounds to regroup after a brief resistance. However the Persian army advanced through the pass and did not chase them. On the third and final day of the battle,

Analysing Gap Model On Burger King Commerce Essay

Analysing Gap Model On Burger King Commerce Essay The purpose of this assignment is to partially fulfil the requirements for MBA program and address the tasks as stipulated by the assignment brief for unit 19- quality and system Management. It shows understanding and application of key concepts of quality management in relation to its process, models and techniques by applying on Burger King. The assignment produced in a form of a business report. The report first outlines the using of theories, tools and techniques such as: gap analysis, time lines, and expectations on. This report devotes to various quality management theories and their application on Burger King. The contents of this assignment have been prepared after through research carried out by the author of the report on different organization using the guidelines and solutions offered by reputed authors on the subject of quality and system management. The report concludes on the issue of analysing gap model on Burger King to constantly evaluate its current marketing situation by using options available in line with theoretical framework. A full list of reference used is provided in the end of the report. 1.2 Research methodology: Two paradigms related with research methodology that are positivism and interpretive. Positivism is an epistemological position that advocates the applications of the methods of the natural sciences to the study of the social reality and beyond. But the term stretches beyond these principles, though the constituent elements vary between authors. However, positivism is also taken to entail some principles such as: only phenomena and hence knowledge confirmed by the senses can genuinely be warranted as knowledge. The purpose of theory is to generate hypothesis that can be tested and that will thereby allow explanation of laws to be assessed. In Positivism, knowledge is arrived at through the gathering of facts that provides the basis for laws. Positivism includes observation and experiments. It normally dominates business studies and does not require thorough justification. In positivism, experimental studies investigate relationship between variables where independent variable is mani pulated to observe the effect of dependent variable. Experimental studies confounding variable to obscure the effect of another variable. . Interpretive focuses on interpretation and understanding of text in the context of underlying historical or social forces. It makes a relationship which exists between direct description of experience and underlying dynamics or structures. This report is a descriptive one where interpretive methodology is used. Because by using this methodology the author is trying to describe social world and analyze the culture and behaviour of people from his own point of view. This report was basically contained on qualitative data by taking different employees interview, using computers and studying books related with topics. The report was administered by collecting secondary data. Task 2: 2.1 Research analysis and result: Company description: Company: Burger king Address: City: London Post code: E-mail: Fax: Mission statement of Burger King Companys vision is to be the worlds best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile. Burger king will meet customer expectations of: Highest quality Leading technology Competitive pricing Individual and company accountability Best-in-class service and support Flexible customization capability Superior corporate citizenship Financial stability About company: The name of my company is Burger king. It was founded by 2001 for the purpose of meeting customer expectations. Basically, the company serves hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. With related to obesity condition in western nations and in the face of criticism over the healthiness of its products, the company has change its menu to include such healthier alternatives as salads, wraps and fruit. The companys business model is slightly unsimilar from that of most other fast-food chains. In addition to ordinary franchise fees and marketing fees, which are calculated as a percentage of sales? Customer expectation from: The company has a aim to continually build its brand by listening to its customers. It also determines the various stages in the marketing process. Customer expects consistent quality from the company. Its product is not high-quality because it is assumed a premium product, but because it consistently meets customer expectations. If a customer expects a quick, tasty meal in 3 minutes for about 5 bucks, then they know thats exactly what theyll get at Burger King. For the purposes of playing out the analogy, in Burger king: Value is served by meeting or exceeding a customers expectations for a price they are willing to pay. Quality is providing value consistently over time. But the customers of are not the same. Different customer expects different things from. Such as: Customer type Service Parents with two children to give the Children a treat they visits s Children They considered it as a funny place. A business customers Quick service and great taste. Teenagers Affordable saver menu. 2.2 Data Management: PEST Analysis: Product and marketing strategy: Burger king considered three elements in marketing strategy to be the worlds best quick service restaurant: People (being the best employer), Customers (providing them excellence) and System Growth (for owners/operators, suppliers and company. Burger King is bringing new products, usually for a limited period of time. Because management find that consumers like different things and different taste as well as a continuation of good products such as big Macs and Cheeseburgers. Also, they are well aware that if has too many products running at the same time then the speed of customer service will deteriorate. Alongside, doesnt give emphasis on healthier products in response to growing concerns about obesity. Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the extent to which fulfils customers demands. According to 2001 consumer survey which is conducted by Sandelman Associates, was ranked as last out of 60 chains for taste. Statistics that explain cleanliness are not available and therefore the achievement of this objective is difficult to examine. Customer service quality is impossible to assess but it is renowned for being quick. So, there we can find a gap between product variety and customer demands. Ethical stance: The company thinks that their ethical stance is a way of considering, caring, and responding to issues within society, illustrating that they are a socially responsive organisation. Their main aim is to utilise and leverage every opportunity to develop the level of awareness and depth of understanding of various social responsibility issues, policies and practices so that they can increase their roles to society Burger King helps to many charities to achieve and show their commitment to being a good neighbour and partner within society. Despite of this, Youngster sue for Burger king for failing to warn that fast food can lead to obesity), heart disease, and diabetes, which customers are not warned about. This action stress on Burger king goal of doing what is right. Burger king apply strategy to overcome this problem is to serve nutritional information about every product it sells, while also putting fruit, salads, and pasta meals onto its menu. This is helping Burger king to transform into its junk food image. Although nutritional information is now accessible, more customers need to be made aware that this information is available. Environmental policies: Burger king is now wholly give emphasis to sustainable environmental practices believing in considering for the future generation and not misusing the facilities of today. Burger kings cleanliness is not available and therefore the achievement of this objective is difficult to examine. Wastage is another considerable factor where many companies fail in terms of utilising the available. Burger king is comprehensively environmentally friendly and does reach most of the stated aims and objectives. The goal in terms of encouraging environmental values and practices needs to be addressed more spontaneously to employees and managers similarly as opposed to the specialised Burger king Environmental Management System so that all employees of this organisation can give concentration on its environmental roles. Using this correctly could help the company to develop on environmental friendliness. Also, there needs to be a way of quantifying all necessary environmental data in order to ensure th at all employees are accepting an environmental responsibility resource. Financial performance: Return on capital of Burger kings stands at 9%, 23% less than Diageos and 11% less than that of the Yum Brands. Return on shareholders funds of its stands at 21%, 14% less than Diageos and 836% less than that of the Yum Brands. The reason the Stock Holders equity is so low because the fact that YUM has accumulated deficit and loss of income. The main comparison between Burger king and Diageo, its closest rival, is that their Sales per employee and profits per employee are significantly less at - £233,405 and - £45,791 respectively. This is largely due to them having six times more employees. Burger king hopes to close these gaps by a heightened focus on restaurant level execution and marketing. It can be argued that a reduction in significant item costs and an improvement in worldwide economic conditions will both also help to close the gaps. In fact, Burger kings success will be depend on continuation of their product consistency, better location choices and improved retail business model execution, particularly with regard to the training of employees. Service blue printing: They can links on: physical evidence, customer responses, service contact actions, support processes. Burger king can apply some processes for developing the standards: Identify the existing or desired encounter sequence. Translate expectation into behaviours or actions. Select behaviours or actions for standardization. Set as soft or hard standards. Develop feedback mechanism. Set target levels. Track performance against standards. Feedback to employees. Update target levels. Seven marketing mix of Burger king Product: When offering menu items, the important thing is to remember to customers is that they have a choice. They have a huge number of options of spending their money and places to spend it. However, Burger kings places considerable importance on developing a menu which customers want. Market research establishes exactly what this is. However, customers demands change time to time. What is fashionable and attractive today may be discarded tomorrow. Marketing continuously monitors customers preferences. For meeting these changes, Burger king should introduced new products and phased out old ones, and will continue to do so. Therefore, Care is not only taken to affect adversely the sales of one choice by introducing a new choice, which will cannibalise sales from the old one (trade off). Burger kings knows that items on its menu will vary in popularity. Their capacity is to generate profits will vary at different points in their life cycle. Action of marketing undertaken and the resources invested will be different depending on the stage a product as reached. For example, a new product launch will typically relate to television and other advertising support. In any time a company will have a products portfolio, where each in a different stage of its cycle. Some of Burger kings options are growing in popularity while arguably the Big Mac is at the maturity stage. Price: Value of customers perception is an important factors of the price charged. What a product is worth customers draw the picture of product on their mind. A product is a physical item and it has psychological connotations for the customer. There are some difficulties of using products low price as a marketing tool is that the customer may feel that a low price is symptom of compromised quality. It is very much important when deciding on the price to be fully aware of the brand and its integrity. Promotions: It includes marketing communication such as advertising which is conducted on TV, radio, in cinema, online, using poster sites and in the press. Other promotional sectors are sales promotions, point of sale display, merchandising, direct mail, telemarketing, exhibitions, seminars, loyalty schemes, door drops, demonstrations, etc. Marketing communications skill is to develop a campaign which applies several of these methods in a way that provides the most effective results. Place: The most important element of the marketing mix i.e. price is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. Price gives emphasis on the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer. People: Burger kings employees have a standard uniform and McDonalds specially focuses on friendly and prompt and effective service to its customers from their employees. Process: Burger kings food manufacturing process is completely transparent where the whole process is visible to the customers. Physical evidence: Burger king s concentrates on clean and hygienic interiors of is outlets and at the same time the interiors are attractive and the fast food joint maintains a proper etiquette at its joints. The marketing strategy is in place various responsibilities are given to different individuals so that the plan can be implemented. Systems can be put in place to obtain marketing feedback which measure success against short-term targets. Burger kings has to ensure that this is done within the confines of a tightly controlled, finite marketing budget. 2.3 Resource and support: SWOT analysis of Burger King: Strength: Detailed market research and the brand to create the right marketing mix. Weaknesses: They have to keep innovating on their service because they are already existed in market during long time. Opportunities: By serving in a quickly and friendly way, number of customer can be increased. Threat: Number of competitors is increased which change customer styles and their taste and demand. Porters generic strategies: At the heart of the Porters generic strategies is the assumption that the organization will seek to dominate a segment of the market, seeing off all competitors by the excellence with which they serve those segments. Porter recommends gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. Porters generic strategies are best represented by a triangle which is shown in the following figure: Porters Generic Strategies Target Scope Advantage Low Cost Product Uniqueness Broad (Industry Wide) Cost Leadership Strategy Differentiation Strategy Narrow (Market Segment) Focus Strategy (low cost) Focus Source: Quick MBA Differentiation: This implies that the organization purses a strategy where it offers a product or service which is uniquely different from those of its competitors. It also must be known at least as a segment of the market, valued above the offer of others. Cost leadership: This is a strategy where the organization enables itself to provide the product or service at a cost less than any other competitive organization. Focus: Actually this is the combination of the differentiation and cost leadership strategy and Burger king follow the focusing strategy. Their strategies are: Aggressively restructuring to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix. Accelerating the development of new products that their customer want and value. Evaluating to a new level of performance. Strong marketing abilities. Product standards. Long tradition in the industry Products making skills Low cost distribution system Intense supervision of labour. Combination of these above policies directed Ford Company to focus on their target product or services at a given market. . Financial statement: Trading account of Burger king for the year ended 31.12.2010  £  £ Sales revenue 8, 30,000 Less: cost of sales Opening stock 1, 55,000 Purchases 4, 30,000 __________ 5, 85,000 Less: closing stock 1, 68, 000 4, 17,000 __________ Gross profit 4, 13,000 The profit and loss account of Windsor gifts Ltd. For the year ended 31.12.1996  £  £ Gross profit 4,13,000 Less: expenses Wages and salaries 1, 45,000 Rent and rates 50,000 Heating and lighting 25,000 Telephone and postage 12,000 Advertising 15,000 Insurance 23,000 Other miscellaneous 35,000 _________ 3, 05,000  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­________ Profit before tax 1, 08000 Less: corporation tax 32,000 __________ Profit after tax 76,000 The profit and loss account of Windsor gifts Ltd. For the year ended 31.12.1996  £  £ Sales revenue 8,30,000 Less: cost of sales 4,17,000  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­________ Gross profit 4,13,000 Less: expenses 3,05,000 ________ Profit before tax 1,08,000 Less: corporation tax 32,000 ________ Profit after tax 76,000 Dividends paid 46,000 ________ Retained profit 30,000 Burger king Ltd. Balance sheet as at 31, December 1996  £000  £000  £000 Fixed assets: Premises 350 Fixtures and fitting 80 Vehicles 75 ______ 505 Current assets: Stock 168 Debtors 120 Cash at bank 45 _________ 333 Less: current liabilities: Trade creditors 140 Taxation owed 32 Dividends owed 46  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­ ________ 218 Working capital 115 Net asset employed _______ 620 Financed by: Shareholders funds Ordinary share capital (300,000 shares at  £1) 300 Reserves 100 Retained profit 30 Less: corporation tax _______ 430 Long term liabilities: Bank loan 190 Capital employed ____ 620 Task 3: 3.1 Conclusion: To survive in such a competitive market place, any company must continue to build a strong relationship between quality standards and customer expectations. And the authority should also concentrate on customer demand. The report comprises of different tasks which outline the application of different methods and techniques such as Porters generic strategy on Burger king and in last part it shows the SWOT analysis and seven marketing mix of Burger king. In task 1, it can be concluded that, Burger king must continue to create strong customer service strategies and give concentration on quality standards and customer expectations. In task 2, the report shows that Burger king should give concentration to increasing the market share in compare to yum brands and Diageo. In task 2, the report gives conclusion of downsizing business system of Burger king. Burger king should attract customer with a credible value proposition and to constantly engage them in ways to that endeavour them to the company. An extensive situational review is required to address these issues and be kept up-to-date with the market developments as well as assess risks to plan business accordingly. 3.2 Recommendations: Though there are many difficulties of Burger king in their service operation and quality standards, that and customers of this organizations can face it, but the author can recommend some solution of it. Such as: in task 1, the author find that Burger king can make their service different, improve total quality in service management, identify gap of their service and can give concentration on customer expectations and try to retain their customer.. In task 2, Burger king can provide training to improve its employees efficiencies but they should more concentrate on customer expectations and standards of quality. In the end of the report, Burger king aim can be utilising and leverage every opportunity to develop the level of awareness and depth of understanding of various social responsibility issues, policies and practices so that they can increase their roles to society but the author recommends that they should give emphasis on their variety of products because more competitor and m ore imitators are entered into the market. Not only this, Burger king apply strategy to overcome the problem of youngster sue, is to serve nutritional information about every product it sells, while also putting fruit, salads, and pasta meals onto its menu. This is helping Burger king to transform into its junk food image. Although nutritional information is now accessible, more customers need to be made aware that this information is available. Burger kings success will be depend on continuation of their product consistency, better location choices and improved retail business model execution, particularly with regard to the training of employees. Marketing continuously monitors customers preferences. For meeting these changes, Burger king should introduced new products and phased out old ones, and will continue to do so. Limitations of the report: The study is not free from some practical limitations. Following limitations have faced during the study and the time of working and data collection: The author could not collect all the necessary data due to the workload of the employees. Some desired information could not be collected due to confidentiality of the organizations. Due to lack of practical experience, some errors might be occurred during the study. Therefore, maximum efforts have given to avoid mistakes. The time frame of the report was very limited. The report was done within three months.

Essay --

Doing the same work without stopping for even a minute, can make a representative feel demotivated and exhausted. Weariness can hamper one's profit which can then take a toll on his generally execution and his prospects for an advancement. Captivated representatives voluntarily contribute additional time, exertion and activity to help business triumph. They feel a feeling of reason to their part, and bring excitement, enthusiasm and vitality to the work they do. And also being more roused, submitted and unwavering, captivated laborers are regularly higher entertainers and handle better comes about for both the client and the organization. For representative engagement activities to be great, they must be custom-made to the extraordinary requirements and inspirations of every person. An organization's workers are one of its most profitable possessions, and overseeing them might be a standout amongst the most paramount yet testing assignments needed of a little entrepreneur. Making employment fulfillment starts by first giving a positive nature's domain. Fran Tarkenton says, t...

Hypnosis :: essays research papers

Hypnosis The British Medical Association and the American Medical Association has called it "a temporary condition of altered attention in the subject that may be induced by another person," (Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia) but there is still much about hypnosis that is not understood. Because it resembles normal sleep, it was studied and was found that the brain waves of hypnotized people are more similar to the patterns of deep relaxation than anything else. Rather than a psychic or mystical idea, hypnosis is now looked upon as a form of highly focused concentration in which outside influences are ignored. The most known feature of the hypnotic trance is that hypnotized person becomes easily influenced by the suggestions others-usually the hypnotist. They retain their abilities to act and are able to walk, talk, speak, and respond to questions; but their perceptions can be altered or distorted by external suggestions. At the command of the hypnotist, subjects may lose all feeling in a place on the body, and any kind of pain will not cause them any pain. The heartbeat can be slowed or quickened, and a rise in temperature and perspiration can be created. They can be commanded to experience visual or auditory hallucinations or live the past as if it were the present. Also, recently a scientist discovered that the way the subject's mind experiences time can be altered so that hours or even weeks can pass in second, from the subjects point of view. Subjects may forget part or all of the hypnotic experience or recall things that they had forgotten. The hypnotist may also make "posthypnotic suggestions" that are instructions to the subject to respond to a something after awakening. For example, the hypnotist might suggest that, after the subject wakes up he will have an urge to remove his left shoe, and the more the subject resists, the greater the urge to remove it will be, and once it is removed the urge leaves. These suggestions are sometimes used by specialists to repress or suggest away symptoms in a patient such as anxiety, itching, or headaches. Hypnosis is produced essentially by creating a deep relaxation and focused concentration in the subject. They then become mostly unresponsive to ordinary forms of stimulation, and although they are sometimes told to sleep, they are also told to listen and be ready to respond to commands made by the hypnotist. The word sleep is used in hypnosis not to induce actual sleep, but in practice it is understood that sleep is simply the hypnotic trance. The prefix hypno- is named after the Greek god Hypno which means "sleep.

Korea: MacArthurs war with Truman :: essays research papers

Korea: MacArthur’s war with Truman 1946-1952 The movie starts out with a pretty good background on the whole Korean War. It tells of how after WW II, Korea, at that time was ruled as a colony of Japan, was split along the 38th parallel. With the Russians controlling North Korea, and the U.S. backing South Korea. Both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. chose leaders from the countries to be more of a governor than a president for the two nations. MacArthur, though in many ways was a failed general in that he lost many troops and strategic strong holds, was still a very popular â€Å"hero† from WW II. Although it depends on who you talk to. My great-grand father was U.S.S. Colorado and everyone in the Pacific during the was thought MacArthur was a horrible leader, and commander. MacArthur tended to make his own choices on U.S. foreign policy. MacArthur wanted to take troops all the way up to the Yule River on the border of Korea and China. Truman hated MacArthur for this, absolutely hated him. Truman felt that MacArthur’s daring had unduly escalated the war. China was now involved, and Truman feared Russia was to follow. Even though at that time Russia was considered a friend, Truman knew it was only one major conflict away from another world war. MacArthur wanted to bring in Chinese nationalist from Thailand into the war and attack Mainland China. MacArthur even went as far as to fly to Thailand and meet with na tionalist leaders to discuss doing so. MacArthur even suggested using up to 20 atomic bombs on strategic Chinese locations. He did not want his soldiers to die for a stalemate, he wanted total victory. Both Truman, and the U.S. Joint Chief’s of Staff (a collection of high ranking officers from all of the armed forces) disapproved of MacArthur’s actions, but were reluctant to do anything about it because of his tremendous popularity. In Tokyo, MacArthur met with diplomats from Spain and Portugal, and made it clear he wanted war with China. The diplomats related this to their home governments in telegrams that were intercepted by the NSA (National Security Agency). This was reported to Truman and he knew that MacArthur needed to be fired. The problem was that Truman could not report that the US had been listening in on other countries secret communications. So Truman was forced to wait until there was another reason to let MacArthur go, one that could be published and not embarrass the US.

Make a Wish Foundation Essay

Specific Purpose: To inform the audience about what the Make-A-Wish foundation does for children with life-altering conditions. Thesis Statement: The Make-A-Wish Foundation’s mission reflects the life-changing impact that a Make-A-Wish experience has on children, families, and entire communities. Introduction . I. Attention-getter: â€Å"A wish granted has a deep, life-affirming impact on the wish child and family, creating the hope, strength and joy so greatly needed. What makes each wish even more remarkable is the power to enrich so many others’ lives – from friends, volunteers and donors to sponsors and even entire communities.† –David Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. (Make-A-Wish, 2006) . II.Establishment of Ethos: I joined the sorority Chi-Omega this August. Chi-Omega has many great things to offer one being the opportunity to work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I will work with children with life altering diseases and watch them get their wishes granted. . III. Preview (each main point): First†¦ I will discuss what Make-A-Wish Foundation is all about Next†¦ I will talk about the steps included in granting a wish Finally†¦ I would like to share what Chi-Omega does for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Transition: I will begin by telling you about the Make-A-Wish Foundation and telling a few stories of wishes. Body: I. Main Idea 1: Make-A-Wish Foundation has evolved into an organization that grants a child’s wish in the United States and its territories every 40 minutes. (Make-A-Wish, 2006) 1. Point: Since 1980 Make-A-Wish has enriched the lives of children with life threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. (Make-A-Wish, 2006) `. a.Sub-point: The Foundation was founded after a little Boy named Chris Greicius realized his wish in life was to become a police officer. Little did he know his wish would be the inspiration for the largest wish-granting organization in the World. (Make-A-Wish, 2006) `. b. Sub-point: Since then, the organization has  blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon, reaching more than 193,000 children around the world. (Make-A-Wish, 2006) 0. 2. Point: The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes like going to Disney World, being a police officer for a day, shopping sprees, etc. (Make-A-Wish, 2006) 0 a. Sub-point: 17 year old Susana Romero has had extreme kidney problems since she was born and is severely hearing impaired. She was given the chance to make a wish. Since her condition caused her to be in her room most of the time she chose to have her room redone into something for a teen queen. She stated, â€Å"Now it looks beautiful—better than beautiful.† (Edwards) * â€Å"Because of her medical condition, Susana has to spend a lot of time indoors and it is very important for her room to be one of her favorite places.† Stated Mark Pilon president of the local Make-A-Wish Foundation. (Edwards) b. Sub-point: 11-year-old Karina Valverde has received two heart transplants, her first one when she was 11 months old and her second at age 9. She found out she was able to make a wish after seven months in the hospital. â€Å"Karina’s wish is quite unusual.† Friyana Shah, a volunteer, said. She asked to visit the State of Liberty in New York. The trip touched her and her entire family. (Perez, 2010) Transition: Since I told you about what The Make-A-Wish Foundation and a few wish stories I would like to explain the steps in granting a wish. . II.Main Idea 2: The Make-A-Wish website explains four simple steps to granting a wish. Each and every step builds on the next to create amazing experiences that please the kids and their family. 0. 1. Point: The first step in granting a wish is the referral step. `. a.Sub-point: The organization relies on referrals from medical professionals, parents and the children themselves. b. Sub-point: Children between the ages of two and a half and eighteen who have not received a wish from another wish-granting organization may be eligible for a wish. 2. Point: The second step is Medical Eligibility. a. Sub-Point: Make a wish determines a child’s medical eligibility with the help of the treating physician. b. Sub-Point: The child must be diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition that has placed the child’s life in jeopardy. 3. Point: Step number three is finding the true wish. a. Sub-Point: Make A Wish finds one of their enthusiastic wish teams to learn all about the child’s one very important wish. b. Sub-Point: These passionate  volunteers connect with the children and help explore their imaginations for the experience that will inspire them. 4. Point: The Fourth most important step is creating joy. a. Sub-Point: The wish-granters create an unforgettable experience driven by the child’s creativity. They make it an incredible experience that will enrich not just the lives of the children and their families, but often an entire community. (Make-A-Wish, 2006) Transition: The four steps of wish granting cannot be completed without the help of volunteers such as Chi-Omega. III. Main Idea 3: One of Chi-Omegas six purposes is their philanthropy, The Make-A-Wish Foundation. Since the start of their alliance they have made a difference in a huge number of children’s lives through volunteering time, talents, and raising money. 1. Sub-Point: Chi-Omegas have organized and sponsored very successful events through volunteering and fundraising. With both they have raised financial support and public awareness. 2. Sub-Point: The Chi-Omega chapter at the University of Arkansas became a Gold Level Sponsor with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 3. Sub-Point: Since 2001 Chi-Omegas at the U of A have raised over $3.8 million and completed over 238,000 volunteer hours. (Make-A-Wish, 2006) Transition: Now that I have told you about Chi-Omega and what I can do to help out with this great organization I will conclude my speech. Conclusion: I.Summary: This wonderful organization touches the hearts of everyone involved through fundraisers and volunteering. . II.Review (each main point): During my speech I discussed what The Make-A-Wish Foundation is all about, the steps in granting a wish, and what Chi-Omega does for the organization. . III.Creative Concluding Thought: Now that I have informed you about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, I hope you can take this in consideration to volunteer and help change children’s lives with life-threatening conditions. References Brooke Edwards. (17 July). A ROOM OF HER OWN: Wish comes true for Apple Valley teen with surprise bedroom makeover 17-year-old has kidney problems. McClatchy – Tribune Business News, Retrieved September 13, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Complete. (Document ID: 2082473241). Make-A-Wish Foundation of America (2006). Retrieved September, 2010 Perez, C. (2010, August 26). A Dream Come True: Foundation makes girl’s New York trip possible. Dodge City Daily Global.

Health and Social Communication Skills

Group Interaction. Basic Details/Work Context. It is important to be able to communicate effectively in a health and social context, in order to transmit the appropriate care values appropriate to people’s specific needs. Just like my one to one interaction, I had to demonstrate my communication skills. I undertook an interaction with a group of young children that were at a primary school. But before undertaking this interaction I had to do some research on group interactions in order for me to do this interaction correctly. Walsh et all [2000] explains a group as â€Å"Groups are collections of people who come together because they have a common purpose or goal and who gradually develop a shared sense of belonging, or group identity† There are four groups in total which people can be classified when communicating together; two of these were identified by Burnard [1992]. The first one he identifies is Primary groups, these involved face to face contact and members will get to know each other. While as Secondary groups are more widely distributed these may include membership of a club such as Trade Unions. The other two groups are Task Orientated Group and Socially Orientated Groups. The Task Orientated Groups are groups that achieve a common goal/objective, a group like this may be a doctor meeting to discuss a patient’s care, and these groups tend to happen cause of a purpose or a point. The last group is the Socially Orientated Groups, these are the friendship groups, and they will share personal reasons and views with each other. As I did my group interaction within a Primary School, I was able to sit one side of the classroom with my group, which was an advantage as the children and I was still in a classroom, an environment where teaching and learning is done. I undertook the role of a teacher’s assistant and had a teacher’s assistant observing me which filled out my ‘Group Observation Sheet’. They were able to comment and feed back to me what I was doing correctly and what I could improve on. I was able to evaluate and take in their comments as they work with groups of children every day. My group interaction consisted of myself, a teacher’s assistant and five children aged from 4-5. I decided to read a story to them relating to a subject they were currently studying and during and after the story I asked questions. Asking questions allowed the children to make them feel more involved, I asked questions such as ‘What do you think is going to happen next? ’ and ‘Do you think that’s a good or bad thing they had done and why? This abled those to express what they thought were going to happen next in the story and compare their ideas with other children. Communication Skills [A01, A02 and A04] Groups can develop over a period of time, and different kinds of groups come together in different ways. A friendship group goes through mutual attraction while as working groups form by a leader. These groups formations can take time, some may be longer or shorter compared to others, but each group will gradually go through four stages of development which is suggested by Tuckman. Tuckman suggests that groups go through four basic shapes in order to become effective. The first stage is Forming, this is when a group comes together and will find out about each other and a leader may emerge. Following onto the second stage is Storming, this is when conflict occurs as group members will argue over purpose, the group members will disagree with the leader. The purpose will become clearer as the arguments are won and lost. The third stage is Norming this is when the group identify develops with a strong set of shared values and norms, their group identity begin to develop. The group becomes Cohesive, this is when all group members begin to work together for the good of the whole. Groups can be affected by the communication strategies that individuals use while being in a group which split into positive and negative. Bales [1970] identifies these types of communication behaviour used by group members. Bales identifies the following types as positive: * Proposing, are communications that offer new ideas and are constructive. * Building is the communications that develop the ideas of others. Supporting, communications that support or agree with the comments of others in the group, this is it good for cohesion. * Summarising involves summing up the contributions and discussions of the group. * Information seeking is when you seek new ideas or information from other group members. * And the last positive communication behaviour is Information giving, these are communications that contribute the ideas and information. Bales also identifies there are also neg ative types that occur when communication with a group. These are: * Disagreeing, this is ommunicating a difference which could be done in a positive or negative way. * Defensive, this is where group members with defend their idea when under attack. * Attacking, communications that challenge other group members, * Blocking, this is when obstacles are placed in the way of others. * And the last negative communication behaviour is Exclusive, this is the opposite to Inclusive, their aim is to block out specific group members. As I was able to do my group interaction within a Primary School they had a colour scheme which represents their level and how they are progressing. Within these ‘colour groups’ there are a group of 4-6 children where they are all working at a similar level. I took one of these groups for my interaction. The children all knew each other well and were able to communicate together in a sensible manner. When doing my interaction I was able to see that ‘Tuckmans’ four stages of group formation had already taken place. I think this particular group was at Tuckmans suggested stage of Storming. There seemed to be conflict between the children as they argued over where they were all sitting and some did challenge others ideas. There also seemed to be a leader of the group that decided on everything and wanted to be the centre of attention. Although once the children had calmed down I think the children had formed into the Norming stage. The group of children was able to identify similar ideas towards the story most of the time. Most of the children agreed on what were right and wrong in the story and all had similar ideas on what the ending of the story will be. The suggested leader of the group was quieter when settled when starting the task we had to complete together. Within the Norming stage Tuckman also suggested that the group becomes cohesive, when a group becomes cohesive, all group members begin to work together for the good of the whole. This was clearly shown within in the group interaction, when little tasks were asked to be completed throughout the story. Little tasks included things such as role-playing the previous chapter of the book and drawing on A3 paper to show to the rest of class when they join back together. There can be a number of factors that can influence the effectiveness of communication; some can enhance it while others can weaken it. The type of communication and the skills that are used within the communication can vary. Communication will differ between within a hospital and a pharmacy; the health care user will also affect the different types of communication you will use. There are four types of communication that can be used within the health care’s sector although I am looking at Non-Verbal Communication and Verbal Communication. Promoting effective communication should contain a balance of power in care workers and client relationships. Listening to others is essential when promoting effective communication. During my group interaction with young children I used the following skills: Non-Verbal Communication. Non-Verbal Communication is as important as Verbal Communication, According to Gahagan [1984], he believes that â€Å"Non-verbal communication is communication though any means other than language† This includes, body posture, gaze, proximity and touch, personal appearance and use of space and props and also gesture and facial expressions. Other research on Non-Verbal communication is that Argyle [1967] suggests that non-verbal communication functions in 3 ways. The first function is that non-verbal communication communicates inter-personal attitudes and emotions are a key part of interaction, this includes facial expression. Another function is that it supports verbal communication, e. g. listening is a key part of interaction and non-verbal communication establishes evidence that it is happening. The last function is that non-verbal communication replaces speech, e. g. sign language. Eye Contact. Eye contact can send a particular message to a health care user. We often get eye contact messages mixed up, an example of this would be. Long broken eye contact, this can show two very different messages, one of them being attraction or unfriendly staring. Eye contact can also show that you’re listening to what the other person is saying and that you are generally interested in what they have to say. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I was able to demonstrate this skill of eye contact correctly by viewing everyone equally and not just focusing on one particular child. I didn’t use long direct eye contact as this would have made the children feel uncomfortable. Eye contact is a great way to show Bales inclusiveness, I was able to correctly show this, by looking at everyone in the group; I was able to involve everyone in the group by bringing them together and asked for their opinions and views on what’s going to happen next in the story. I extremely focused on children that were more isolated and quiet and often shy, although I ensured that I used eye contact at a comfortable gaze comfortable eye as to much direct eye contact can make an individual feel uncomfortable, anxious and even nervous with the children. I also ensured that all my attention was spread out to everyone; I just encouraged the shy children to bring out their opinion. Contexts of the Skill. Comparing the skill of eye contact and the use of it when communicating with younger children is much easier when using the skill for Therapy groups with the clients being Alcohol Anonymous. With children my group was at a smallish number and they all seemed generally interested except for some of the disruptions. When talking and running a therapy group for Alcohol Anonymous the leader of the group will need to focus on all the group members which tends to be a much larger group. I would need to use eye contact in an appropriate way; it can help to show reassurance and interest which is essential when talking to people in an Alcohol Anonymous. The eye contact will need to be comfortable and not to overpowering when talking to the group, as people within the group will be finding this situation very sensitive and you don’t want to offend them by overpowering eye contact. Body Language. Body language can refer to many various things, such as eye contact, facial expressions and posture. An individual’s posture refers to how an individual sits or stands; this is one way how messages and emotions can be transmitted to the receiving person. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill During the interaction I ensured my body posture was open so it could be transmitted onto the group of children. With my body posture being positive and open it allowed the chance of all the children to know that I was relaxed and open to talk and teach. This would be a positive effect on the children’s self-concept on the whole, with my body posture giving of the impression I want to listen to what the children have to say, would of made their self-esteem positive, the way they value themselves would be higher as well. I think my open posture also transmitted that I was confident in what I was going to do with the children, read them a story and various tasks. My body posture remained open throughout the whole of the interaction, during reading the story and helping them with their tasks. Having an open body posture is also a way of letting of positive energy and made the children feel good as I wanted to take all the time to teach and talk to them, especially as I was new visitor in the class. Contexts of the Skill As body posture is an important skill to transmit the right feelings and expressions across to the receiving person, a health care professional needs to be able to transmit the right expressions correctly. In a dentist context, I would need to be able to transmit a happy comfortable body posture to my patient. A dentist can be a scary uncomfortable place for many individuals, so a positive posture is needed to almost comfort their patient. I would demonstrate this skill by welcoming the patient gently and using hand gestures to guide them to the seat. I wouldn’t be standing upright as this would suggest I’m tense or serious, but my posture would be open which a sign of relaxation and comfort is. The patient would able to recognise and read my body posture, which would be able to keep them calm and the feeling of being able to trust me would also appear. The patient should be able to feel in safe arms with me being the dentist. Facial Expressions. Facial expressions can also be used to show and express what an individual may be thinking or feeling and can replace verbal communication. During my interaction with the children I ensured I made my facial expressions match what I was actually saying, as this was going to avoid confusion with the children. As most of the interaction was reading a story to the children and stopping at parts of the story to discuss what had happened and what was going to happen next. I was able to show excitement during the story by using my mouth to smile and my eyes were large as this is seen as a sign of interest and excitement. Although I doubt the children would notice about the eyes as they haven’t been exposed to pick up the signs of eye contact. Along with my facial expressions I also used hand gestures; this also helped explain what was saying to the children. Strengths and Weakness of the Skill. Being able to perform the skill of facial expression was one of the easiest skills to perform to the children. I was able to correctly use facial expression to match what I was saying verbally. Examples of this is when a sad part of the story came up and I was told to discuss what had happened and how the child would feel if they were in that position. I was able to show the sadness by facial expressions by making my mouth frown almost like and showed emotion through my eyes. The use of gestures was also used by suggesting what it could feel like with my hands. I was able to use the ‘OK’ hand gesture to a child sitting at the back of the group, as they asked to go to the toilet. When I first replied the children did not hear me, but when I repeated the answer again and did the ‘OK’ hand gesture, the child understood what I was saying. Contexts of the Skill Hand gestures and facial expression would be extremely important if you are communicating with a child who has learning difficulties. In a context of a Nursery the child may have difficulties understanding verbal language. The use of facial expressions would be extremely useful to the child as they would be able to pick up key signs such as smiling would mean something positive is being said and would be able to digest that easily. I would also use hand gestures would also be useful as I would use my hand to suggest where the toilet is, or where a particular item is. Hand gestures can also be used to do sign language to help the child. Verbal Communication. Asking Questions. The workers in the health and social care sector need the ability to help people discuss and talk about their feelings, thoughts and concerns. Burnard’s theory refers to this as drawing out. He suggests there are four main components to this process. These include, Open questions, reflection, understanding the checks and Empathy building statements, which I have previously explained in my one to one interaction. There are two different types of questions that can be used in communication, closed and open questions. I used more of the open questions, as this allowed the children to think and discuss their ideas of the story with their peers and myself. There are also Prompts and Probes which can be used within asking questions. I used both types, but used Probes much more then Prompts. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I think I was able to perform the skill of opening questions correctly and precisely each time, open questions are great to keep the conversation flowing. The children were able to say their views and listen to what the other children had to say, the children argued on certain points which in general turned out to be a healthy debate about the story we was currently reading together. I used many probes during my interaction; Probes are a very short question that usually follows on from an answer that the other individual has given. I used Probes as they are used to dig deeper into the child’s answer. Which is great when discussing, it abled me to probe into what a child had and then for them to reply with a more detailed answer and often allowed them to explain their answer in a more detailed context. A weakness of this skill of asking questions is that I didn’t use as many Prompts as I should of, prompts are short questions or words which you can offer to person in order to prompt them to answer. There were a couple of shy children who might of distanced their selves from the group when discussing the story, even though they are shy they might of felt excluded as I didn’t try to involve them as much as I should of. This would have affected their self-concept negatively; their self-image and self-esteem could have been affected by this. I should have used more Prompts in order for the shy children to join in with the group discussion 100%, using such words as ‘and what does that mean to you? ’ ‘what do you think is going to happen next? ’ could of provoked more responses out of the shy children which would of made them feel more part the group and feel way more involved. Contexts of the Skill The way you ask questions can vary on what the context of the situation is, the way you ask questions to a young child will be far easier then asking an adult. The questions will be far more complex when speaking to adults comparing it to young children. With each client a health care professional must be able to adapt asking the appropriate questions to their client user. In the context of a doctor asking their patient what is wrong with them, i will need to ask the essential questions to find the diagnosis. A doctor uses questions daily when interacting with their patient; I would use a persistent use of probes and prompts to get the information out of the patient. This allows me to get the correct symptoms out of the patient and for them to prescribe a prescription if needed. There are some cases where a patient is embarrassed or shy when visiting them. If this was to happen I would approach the situation delicately, I would slowly ask questions but allowing the patient to think of their answer and wait for them to reply. I may begin the conversation with an open question such as ‘Hello, what can I do for you today’ and the patient will then explain their symptoms or illness. I would then prompt the patient to answer questions relating to the illness I think they have. I wouldn’t s use too many prompt questions, as this will be pressuring the patient into answering and will make them feel highly un-comfortable. A doctor needs to enrol the role of a professional in which the patient feels they can trust them. Tone ,Pace and Volume of Voice. During my group interaction I had to adjust my tone, pace and volume to fits with the children’s acquirements and needs. I had to speak directly to all the children, so I made sure I projected my voice so that every child could hear what I was saying and wouldn’t be left out. I ensured i kept my sentences short as they were young children. My sentences remained quite simple and not as complex to if I was speaking to an adult. I also used traightforward language and vocab due to the children’s young age. I made sure I used straightforward language and vocab so they could actually understand what I was talking about, wouldn’t want to use over complicated words and for the children to get confused about what is being said. I also maintained comfortable eye contact with all the children when they were speaking; this showed that I w as listening and generally interested in what he was going to say. I was able to speed up my pace of voice, which showed excitement when reading the story which was able to transmit onto the children. Speeding up will invariably makes the tone of voice more urgent and compelling. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I was able to demonstrate my tone, pace and volume effectively during my group interaction with the children. I was able to adjust my voice with the children. I ensured I had a positive tone of voice as they made the children want to communicate back with me. This was because my tone of voice was soft and inviting which convinced the children I wanted to talk to them and listen to what they had to say. As the children are quite young, I did speak a bit slower than usual so the children could digest and understand what I was saying. I made sure I wasn’t patronising to the children with my slow voice, but ensured they felt comfortable to talk to me. I think I was promoted the children’s self-concept during the interaction, by congratulating them when they said a good answer or point. I really allowed the children to talk and express their opinions thoughtfully. As I was a new visitor to the class, I needed the children to trust me and feel comfortable to talk to me as they were unsure of whom I was. My tone of voice had to invite the children in and make them want to talk to me about the story they were currently studying. My volume of voice stayed stable during the whole conversation, it was a comfortable relaxed volume of voice. The observer of the interaction said ‘my tone, pace and volume ‘were at a correct level when speaking to a group of children’ My observer who is also a teacher’s assistant followed on to say that ‘ I was well spoken and had a voice that edged the children to speak to me perfectly fine. After my observer commented on my tone, pace and volume they then followed onto to say that ‘Although she did sometimes use to over complicated words which the children couldn’t understand and enquired about’. As this all comes under the vocab I used, I should have researched more into what words the children would know and what they wouldn’t. I could have overcome this weakness by speaking to the teacher or even the teacher assistant that works with the group of children every school day what kind of reading level they were all at. This would of abled me to research on the amount of knowledge the children would have. A good thing I could have done was asked the teacher or teacher assistant what words they have recently learnt and ensured I used them in my interaction. Contexts of the Skill Adjusting your tone, pace and volume of your voice varies on what service user you are talking to. If I was a nurse working with an elderly person in a care home, I would have to adjust my voice to ensure the individual could hear me properly and for them to communicate back with me. It is typical to stereotype that all elderly people are death and need hearing aids, although there hearing does deterates over time, we can’t assume they are deaf. As this would hurt their self-esteem. I would be very sensitive towards the matter, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions that all people struggle with their hearing when speaking to them. I would address them I would with any other people, as they would reduce them feeling patronised. I would adapt their volume of voice to suit the service user. I would not shout at the individual as this may make them feel intimidated, although I may speak a tad louder so they could hear them. As older peoples hearing does deteriorate over time, they may have difficulties in what I was talking about so they may ask to repeat what I was saying. I would not get angry towards them for not being able to understand me, as this would make the individual to feel little and worthless. I would simply repeat what i said over and over again until they understood properly. For all of this to be possible for the elderly person to communicate back with me. I would ensure to make myself seen clearly and would face the care user, so this allows my mouth to be visible to the elderly person. I would then continue to speak clearly and slowly. I would also have to reduce the background noise, so this wouldn’t interfere with the conversation. I could also make the communication easier for the elderly person by using non-verbal signals where it’s appropriate. Care Values and Transmission [AO1, AO2 and AO4] Maintaining Confidentiality. During my group interaction I was able to demonstrate the care value of Confidentiality precisely. I was able to do this by not mentioning any specific names in this coursework; I always refer to the ‘children’ or the ‘child’. This shows that I was protecting the children’s identity and keeping them protected. Also on the observation sheet that I made sure my observer didn’t comment on any specific children that were in the group I was interacting with. I was also able to demonstrate the skill of confidentiality by saying to the children before the interaction had started what I was going to do through the interaction and ensured that no names would be use when writing about it in my coursework. I also got the children to sign a sheet which explained what was going to happen and that their identity would be kept safe and anonymous. (This sheet is attached to the coursework) The teacher also went through what was going to happen with the children to guarantee they knew what was happening, I also asked if any of the children had any questions before the interaction took place which I would be happily to answer. Contexts of the Care Value. Every Health and Social Care Sector needs to be able to stick and demonstrate the Care Value of Confidentiality with every client they are presented with. Confidentiality can be easily shown in an Alcohol Anonymous group. As a group leader I would ensure and stress that all members are safe to talk about their previous experiences and thoughts, and must allow the members to feel comfortable with the group knowing that they are all together as one. I could show confidentiality at the beginning of the session by saying ‘Whatever is said today stays within the walls of this room and doesn’t travel out of it’. This should make all the group members feel safe and ready to share their experiences. Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice. Anti-Discriminatory practice involves challenging unfair discrimination and counteracting any effects that it has already had on an individual. Discrimination can be done in many ways such as: age, sex, disability and even homophobia. It is important to keep within this care value as I was working with a group of children and within this group I had many children who shared different cultures and beliefs. I was able to treat every child equally and didn’t favor or disfavor and particular child. I ensured that every child felt included, secure and valued. I was able to show this Anti-Discriminatory practice by allowing the children to form a circle, also known as ‘circle time’ to discuss ideas about the cultures within the story. The children are more likely to feel comfortable about exploring issues if they feel that what they say and do is cared about. Circle times allowed children to help listen to each other, talk about other cultures they knew and religion. Contexts of the Care Value. My context is going to be within a primary school with children, I will explain how Anti-discriminatory practice takes place within schools, as I wasn’t able to show this as much as I wanted to during my interaction. Children need to hear songs and stories from a range of cultures, Music and dance offer opportunities for expression regardless of language; however, there is a need for sensitivity around dancing in some cultural groups. Music and dancing allows the children to feel as if they were in that particular culture and for them to express themselves, which would be making their self-image and self-esteem positive. The way the children see theirs selves and value themselves will be much higher than before. Dressing up clothes can also represent the styles of different communities, allowing children to take on roles and develop imaginative play skills. The school can also have a large selection of books that introduce different cultures which can be introduced to the children and for them to become aware of them and well educated. The book corner should also involve traditional stories from around the world. Strengths and Weakness of the Care Value. I think I was able to demonstrate the care value correctly, as I kept everyone equal and didn’t favour any of the children. Although there were children who had different culture backgrounds and shared different beliefs compared to other children but I wasn’t able to investigate and promote Anti-Discriminatory Practice within the rest of the children. If I was undertaking a activity with the children talking about religion and cultures I would have been able to promote the differences and make the children more aware that there are many different cultures and religions in the world. Promoting Effective Communication. During my group interaction, I showed the way how projected the sound of my voice when speaking to the whole of the group. As my group were young children, I had to adjust the vocabulary I used; this was due to their age. I couldn’t use over complicated vocabulary as the children wouldn’t of understood and would then be confused. I was able to promote an Effective Communication with all the children during the story and smaller group activities. I was encouraged to use ‘Circle Time’ as this would influence the children to talk and discuss their ideas. To encourage the children to discuss their ideas I used a range of prompts and probes to get information out of the children. This encouraged the children to really express his thoughts and feelings towards the book. I asked every child in turn, what their thoughts were and ensured them that there was no wrong answer. I praised each child when they told the rest of the group their thoughts, praising the child made the children’s self-esteem more positive. The way they value themselves would increase as I praised them for their good work and made them feel good about their self. When asking these questions I allowed enough time for the children to think of a response, and when they replied I ensured I listened to their reply and commented back. All these things show that I was able to Promote Effective Communication with all the children, due to them having happy facial expressions and smiling throughout the whole interaction. Contexts of the Care Value. In the situation of a support group for giving up smoking with the NHS sector, the leader/host of the group would need to show Effective communication throughout the whole group towards everyone. I would have to show support and encourage group members to quit together. I would also show praise towards people that have achieved a goal or a target. A simple thing like praising the individual will affect their self-concept on a whole. Their self-image will be positive and their image will also look more appealing to their selves. I could have given up smoking 10 years ago and knows what the struggles are when trying to give up. This means that I would be able to sympathise with all the group members as I have been through the whole situation herself. When sympathising with a member, I would ensure I speak directly to the individual and ask them to express their feelings as best they can. The best ways to show sympathy is to listen attentively while the other person talks. Asking questions can also make individuals feel more comfortable in the group and will also make them feel welcomed and part as a group, as a leader, a target is to include everyone in the conversation. Finding out information about the individuals can do great good both for the individual and me. The individual may feel like something has been lifted of their chest, by explaining their situation, thoughts and feelings. I would also ensure that I listen thoughtfully when the individual is replying and would use head gestures and ‘replying with yes’ gives the individual that they are being listened to. Promotion of Equality And Diversity. This care value was easy to transmit in the group interaction, when talking about the story I made sure the children was in ‘Circle Time’ so we could discuss the children’s ideas and thoughts. Following on Circle Time I asked the children to get into smaller groups (pairs) for some activities and then asked them to go alone to complete the given task. I went round and gave attention to every child equally and didn’t leave anyone out. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Care Value. I gave attention to each child when discussing what they thought was going to happen next in the story. I asked every child in my group to ensure no one felt left out. I spent roughly the same amount of time on each child when discussing with them about the story, I was giving out my divided attention equally to everyone. During the activities we had to complete, the children were put into smaller groups or by their selves for some activities. In their solo activities I went round and gave them my divided attention, I asked what they were doing and encouraged them to do their best. I did this with every child so again they didn’t felt left out but felt involved just like other group members. I also ensured that I kept an eye on what the other group was doing with their teacher; we were both doing the exact same activity and had a routine/plan to stick to. When the teacher moved onto the next section I also did the same. All the children in class 1 had the same amount of time to complete the tasks; no one had any extra time as this would be making a child seem more important than the others. Contexts of the Care Value. In the situation of working within A&E, it is constantly busy throughout the day and workers need to be able to deal with the rush of patients needing emergency medical attention. A nurse or doctor needs to be able to give every patient the same quality of care and support, they must all treat every individual the same. Every patient that comes to the A&E is unique and nurses and doctors need to recognise their individual differences. For example, they need to address how serious the injury is and if they need to be prior due to the fatal accident and if addressed quickly and lead to serve consequences for the patient. All different service users will use A&E and the workers need to figure out what care to give them, different service users need different care, such as elderly care will be different compared to young children. If a young child came in with a serve injury such as cracking their head open due to something landing on their head, and their head is full of blood and is not stopping, and another service user came in A&E with a ‘sore wrist’ which comes out to be just a sprained wrist. The nurses will put the child first as without immediate attention the child will bleed to death while as the client with a ‘sore wrist’ is not a major injury, although the nurses will give the appropriate care to the client but will put the child first as its more serious. Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice In my interaction it was essential and so important not to discriminate against of the children because of their age, sex, race or religion. Within my small group I had a child who suffered from a learning disability they was diagnosed with dyslexia. This made certain school work activities hard for him to complete and took him longer to do so compared to the other children. I didn’t discriminate against their learning disabilities and treated him equally like I did with any of the other children. I influenced the children to voice their opinion and thoughts and share them with the other children. When discussing thoughts in ‘Circle Time’ I influenced and persuaded the children to talk about what they really thought. There was children in the group who had different religious beliefs and culture compared to me and the other children, which meant they had different opinions to certain subjects. I welcomed any new ideas and thoughts from the children and listened to them with an open mind and didn’t reject their opinions. I praised the children when they voiced their opinion and told them what I thought about their opinion in a positive way which influenced their self-esteem, the way individuals think about their selves positive. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Care Value. I don’t think I was able to transmit their Care Value as much as I wanted to; this was because the teacher told and advised me to do a range of particular ideas so I couldn’t really demonstrate what I would do to promote Anti-Discriminatory Practice. If I was given the chance to transmit this Care Value I would of asked to be in a religious studies (RE) lesson, this would mean that I could explain many different religions and cultures. I may tell the children all the ifferent religions we have in our country, after doing so I would then further on to explain some of the religious beliefs they have and similar ones we share. I would get a group discussion going with the children so they could express their own thoughts and would answer any questions about different religions beliefs if children asked. After telling them loads of information about the religions, I could get the children to do a task in small groups, this would c onsist the children being given a particular religion and them to draw/write on an A3 bit of paper about the religion. Then the groups of children would have to explain what they had written/drawn on the A3 sheet to the rest of the class, every group would do this in turn. Work Related Issues/Problems [A03] Encouragement of Independence and Choice. During my interaction I allowed the freedom of choice to all of the children when interacting with them. Even though I was instructed by the teacher to do certain actives I did allowed the children to choose what small group they wanted to work with. I noticed that the children worked with the people who they were sitting next to, and they seemed quite happy to all be working together. This may suggest that they were working with their friends, and by doing this they produced great group work by working as a team. I supported the children’s opinion when expressing in ‘Circle Time’, I often praised the children when they spoke their thoughts and feelings. This would have made every child’s self-esteem value much higher than usual. The way the children values themselves should be positive due to my positive comments I made throughout the interaction. I also allowed the choice and independence of the children going to the toilet by themselves. Adjusted Vocabulary I was able to present myself in a happy positive way when being introduced to the group of children. I tried to use a range of sentences to gain the children’s attention due to my self being a new visitor to the class and the children had never met me before so they seemed to be very anxious of me. so Bob wouldn’t get to confused, this was done so that he could digest the conversation we was having. I also allowed enough time for Bob to think what I had previously said; I didn’t hesitate when he asked me to re-peat what I had said. Even though I tried to use simple vocab, my observer did comment on the ‘use of over complicated words’ which of made Bob struggle. I should have done more research on the language and vocab disability children can understand, to overcome this barrier I could of seeked permission from his mother to look through his school books and completed home work so I could get an idea on what language and vocab Bob uses himself. Interferences/Disturbances. Ensuring the environment is comfortable and not to over powerful is an important factor to effective communication. It is important to make the perfect environment for the interaction to take place. My interaction was completed in a room where my group of children felt comfortable, relaxed and defiantly not anxious of where they were. This was because my room was the classroom the children are used to. This is where they come five days a week to learn and be in school. This made the children easier to settle down as they were in their normal environment. If I had asked the teacher to be placed in a separate room, separated from the rest of the children, it could of made the children feel un-easy and uncomfortable and this could of cause problems such as the children playing up and not setterling down. It could of made me interaction very difficult and negative which would then be picked up by the children. Although I did ensure the place where my interaction took place was in view of the rest of the children and teacher, but was at the other end of the class. This made sure there wasn’t too much background noise, as this would have affected my communication with the children. Being to close to the rest of the class could have intruded on the conversation I was having with the group, this again would cause distraction and make the group hard to settle down and be quiet. This also might have made it hard for the children to pay focus to me, if they could overhear the teachers voice and other children discussing. The lighting was not to bring nor to dark, as this can effect non-verbal communication. This was already done due to being in a school environment. Too much darkness reduces the ability to read non-verbal messages, It can affect people with degrading eye sight or with people who have bad eye sight but use glasses; poor light would of enable the children to see my face clearly. Therefore making it difficult for them to communicate and understand properly what I was saying. Positively Establishing a Friendly Relationship. I effectively promoted a friendly relationship with the whole class. Although it was a struggle at the beginning, this was because I was a new face to the class. The children had never met me and I had never met them either. It took time for the children to pay attention to me; I had to start the interaction by introducing myself and asking the children’s names. The children were still a bit weary of me at that time, so I started a conversation by saying ‘I use to go to this school’ this opened up a lot of conversation between me and the group of children. By saying a true statement like that it abled the children to trust me and feel comfortable with my presence. I also relaxed and wasn’t so tense, which the children could of picked up on. I treated all the children in a sensible manner and treated them all equally. I didn’t pick or favourite any child. By allowing a positive friendly relationship to form I ensured my body posture and facial expressions were transmitting positive ideas to establish this relationship to the group of children. I made sure I smiled when I was listening to the childrens ideas and also nodded which transmitted to the children that I was generally happy to speak to them and listen to all what they had to say. Comparison [AO4] During the one to one interaction with ‘Bob’ I could easily communicate and get them to pay attention to me without struggling to much, but in the group interaction with the small group of school children was much harder to ensure that every child was paying attention to me. I was dealing with a group of children instead of just one person. Although it was only a small group of children, I had never interacted with them before, so this made the children unaware of me and did take a while to settle and actually listen to me. Even after the children were comfortable with my presence it was hard to give them all my focus and attention, as I had to share it out equally between a group of them. There were some children who craved for more attention from me then the other children, so if I was giving them attention by answering questions. I would be giving my divided attention onto just one child instead of the group. Even though some children weren’t afraid to ask more questions, there was still one child who was highly shy and hardly asked or answered questions when I directed it at them. So that particular child wasn’t getting the same divided attention as the other children. This could have had an effect on the child’s self-concept. Also my one to one interaction was with a child who had a learning disability, Bob easily got upset when he couldn’t accomplish tasks that were set. Bob found school life more complicated and frustrating then other school children. Even though Bob had a learning disability, I was able to go through some of his school books and talk to his mother before the interaction so I could gather up an idea what it was like for Bob himself. Also just being a one to one interaction, I was able to communicate with Bob and get him to open up to me about what specific things he found hard and how these things had an effect on the way he felt. I was able to get Bob to confide in me and tell me how he really felt, while playing one of his favourite games. We were in a familiar environment which made myself and Bob feel comfortable and not out of place. While as the group interaction I felt highly uncomfortable at first as I was in an environment which I wasn’t comfortable with and I think the children could see this. Which made the interaction difficult at first, I had to get the children to know me first before they started answering questions and asking questions about the book we were reading together. Even though Bob had a learning disability and this did make me think more carefully about what I was going to say and what I shouldn’t say, I found this interaction easier to complete, as I was only dealing with one individual. While as the group interaction I was dealing with a group of children and had more responsibility then the one to one, I had to ensure I didn’t offend any of the children so I had to watch what I said. Although the children were roughly the same age, the one to one interaction with Bob was much easier to complete then the group interaction. Also when dealing with a group of different individuals, they all have different views and thoughts compared to each other, they all have different perspective views into their religion and their beliefs. I had to take this into account as I didn’t want to offend anyone in what I was saying. This made things more complicated as some of the children had different religious beliefs then the other children and me. So I ensured that I didn’t say anything insulting or anything which may seem insulting to a particular child and single them out. With the one to one interaction I only had to talk to one person, and Bobs religious beliefs were the same as mine, so I knew what to say and not what to say. Conclusion [AO4] During this assignment comparing the two interactions it made me think how different communication techniques are used when interacting one to one or to a group. You also use different techniques and skills when communicating with different client groups and different ages. It is important to ensure Health and Social care professions are able to transmit care values to their users and clients. It is important for these care values to be in place as these care values such as Maintaining Confidentiality, Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice and Promoting Effective Communication protect and help the individuals that use the services. If these services didn’t provide these care values such as Maintaining Confidentiality, patients at a Doctors surgery’s personal details would be on show and no long anonymous. People would be able to ask for other people’s personal information without people questioning it. Service users use this care value, to keep their details anonymous and to protect themselves. In the one to one interaction I was in Bobs family home, this made things easier for myself and Bob. Bob was comfortable when talking to me as he was in a friendly well known environment which made him feel comfortable when speaking to me. I think if the interaction took place in a different environment which was not known to Bob, then possibly Bob wouldn’t have been so open with me and wouldn’t of told me how he was really feeling when discussing what he thought about school and his school work. Bob could of possibly not trusted me like he did during our interaction, if you’re in a comfortable environment you’re going to feel comfortable enough to talk to anyone as you feel safe in your own family home. Knowing that Bob felt comfortable it also made me relax a little bit more, which is why me and Bob got along so well! Even though I think both my interactions went well, there are still improvements to be made to make the interactions more successful if I was to do them again. Both my interactions could have been better, but if I was to re-do the one to one interaction I would of done some internet research and textbook research on Bobs learning disability so it would make the interaction possibly more easier. Doing that extra research could reveal doing specific tasks in which Bob would be better at, for example. ‘Bob might find visual tasks easier then memory ones’ These interactions have made me realised how important communication is in a Health Care Profession, without good communication the workers and service users relationship would be very poor. Essential communication is needed to sort out problems and ask for advice and even book appointments in a doctor’s surgery or dentist. I will be able to use all my skills that I have learnt during the interaction in future situations. I can use the communication skills when communicating with my family, my work colleagues and even teachers. These interactions have taught me how we use eye contact, facial expressions, and hand gestures along with verbal communication to transmit excellent communication to other individuals. This can be extremely useful when working in a health/care and even retail environment, as all these services should provide excellent customer service, and using the above skills can help these services please service users, in which means they will be willing to come back.