Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Project Management The Iron Triangle - 1620 Words

In 21st century’s enormously competitive business surrounding, project management has turned into a key concept to implement and comprehend projects attempted by every one of the organizations. Before being able to understand that the project management triangle or The Iron Triangle is, a definition of project management is necessary. According to Lewis, scheduling, arranging, and controlling of exercises that have been undertaken to meet project targets is defined as project management. The main objectives that need to be satisfied are cost, quality, and time, while parallel not losing control of the scope of the project at the optimum level. (1995, p. 2). According to Lamers, the genuine image for the project management task is the iron triangle which adjusts triangle’s judgment of the project will be achieved by the three corners speaks to the three essential perspectives scope, cost, and time. (2000, p. 327). This essay has been written to provide focused informatio n on project management triangle’s parameters cost, time, and scope. To gain success in a project and for its successful smooth completion in a timely manner requires standard scheduling tools and techniques to be applied and used in industries. In this essay, some standard project management tools and techniques such as Critical Path Method, Primavera Project Planner, and The Pentagon Model will be discussed. The iron triangle each parameter is very important to get the success of the project. This essayShow MoreRelatedProject Management : The Iron Triangle Of Cost, Time, And Quality907 Words   |  4 PagesHistorically, project success has been directly tied to the Iron Triangle of cost, time, and quality. While most of the articles reviewed for this study refer to these standards for success criteria, the overwhelming majority find that they are not enough to fully define what success is. Atkinson (1999) defined two types of errors in project management and places using the Iron Triangle as success criteria into the category of not doing something as well as it could be done. This comes from anRead MoreBeyond the ‘Iron Triangle’: Stakeholder Perception of Key Performance Indikator (Kpis) in Large-Scale Public Sector Development Projects941 Words   |  4 PagesBeyond the ‘iron triangle’: Stakeholder perception of key performance indikator (KPIs) in large-scale public sector development projects Objectives This research has objectives to investigate the perception of the key performance indicator (KPIs) in the context of large construction project in Thailand (Second Bangkok International Airport or Suvarna bhumi Airport). The research attempted to achieve the following objective: 1. The significance of key performance indicators in perspectiveRead MoreClassical And Classical Project Management1473 Words   |  6 PagesProject management changes continually with the increasing uncertainty and complexity in contemporary projects, which makes classical project management become fall out with the times. According to Atkinson (cites in Cicmil Hodgson, 2006) traditional project management uses time, cost and scope of plan as a major standard in a project, which is called iron triangle principal. Both Cullen Parker, (2015) and Ã…  pundak (2014) mention that although the classical still can be applied to all projectsRead MoreWhat Is Project Success From My Perspective?1287 Words   |  6 PagesHow to define project success from my perspective? In recent decades, a set of issues have been triggered by the fact concerning how to define project success. Some claim that the traditional views are still suitable to define project success, such as under budget, within schedule and acceptable quality. These traditional criteria are well-known as â€Å"Golden Triangle† or â€Å"Iron Triangle†, which has been used to assess project success over several decades. However, these criteria have been criticisedRead MoreKey Elements Of Project Success Essay1787 Words   |  8 PagesThis constraint constructs a triangle with geometric proportions illustrating the strong interpedently relationship between these factors. If there is requirement to shift any one of these factors then at least one of the other factors must also be manipulated. 3.0 Discussion of Triple Constraints Most scholars have accepted generally the triple constraints as key elements of project success. If one of these three constraints get reduces it will have an impact on the other one, balancing betweenRead MoreA Big Success For The People Of Australia And At The Same Time Essay1786 Words   |  8 Pagesnitially planned. But the project was a big success for the people of Australia and at the same time a big failure from the project management point of view. But nobody remember the missed objectives. On the other hand, the Millennium Dome in London was a project completed on timThis constraint constructs a triangle with geometric proportions illustrating the strong interpedently relationship between these factors. If there is requirement to shift any one of these factors then at least one of theRead MoreThe Importance Of A Project Manager With Gibbs Reflective Cycle ( Gibbs ) Essay1029 Words   |  5 PagesIn this report here I will try to highlight an event during my time as a Project Manager with my present organisation in 2013. I will be analysing the event in line with Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (GIBBS, 1988), as per the diagram below. Figure 1 Gibbs Reflective Cycle(GIBBS, 1988) 2. PD REFLECTION Background Before I undertook the job as a Project Manager at my present organisation, I had been working as a Mechanical Engineer in the Oil Energy sector for nearly six years. My current organisationRead MoreModel of Critical Success Factors and Success Criteria for Project and Project Management Success in a Developing Country2936 Words   |  12 Pagesgroups of success criteria (iron triangle, organizational benefits, information system benefits and stakeholder’s benefits) and five groups of CSFs (Factors related to project, leadership/manager, team members, project organization and environment) were used. Results demonstrate that every success criteria has at least one significant relationship with any group of CSF. We further developed a model in the light of the analysis to explain how project management and project success can be achieved usingRead Moreproject success: success factor and success criteria Essay2754 Words   |  12 PagesAN ESSAY ON PROJECT SUCCESS DEFINED BY SUCCESS FACTORS AND SUCCESS CRITERIA by M. Shaw Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm       Winston Churchill INTRODUCTION 1. Since the 1960s there have been an increasing number of Project Management scholars that have expressed concerns regarding the ways to manage the success or failure of a project. Crawford (2000) theorised that there are two major avenues of thought in this area being: how successRead MoreProject Management Methodology Is Optimal Continues1648 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Emerging evidence seems to indicate the debate over which project management methodology is optimal continues. Agile approaches which include Iterative and Adaptive models (i.e. Scrum) are at one end of the spectrum. Traditional approaches which includes Linear and Incremental models (i.e. Waterfall) at the other end. With a growing demand to deliver quality products in rapidly changing global market, project managers are required to be creative in their selected approach. Which methodology

Monday, December 23, 2019

Analysis Of Jamieson s The Double Bind And A Bitch

Jamieson (1995) Beyond the Double Bind, Double Bind Number Four: Femininity/Competence The sixth chapter in Jamieson’s (1995) book Beyond the Double Bind works strictly with the bind of femininity and competence. This is the bind where women have to balance a fine line between feminine and masculine without tipping the scale. If a candidate shows too much femininity, she risks losing brains, and authority. On the other hand, if a candidate is not feminine enough, she becomes too masculine, strong, shrew, and a bitch. According to Jamieson, gender stereotypes and gendered language are factors reinforcing the bind. The more women begin taking posts traditionally held by males, the more people view them as competent leaders. By taking leadership positions, women being to dismantling the standards of the femininity/competence bind. Many double binds exist for female candidates and the femininity/competence bind is more apparent in their representation in the news media. Erika Falk (2013) Clinton and the Playing-the-Gender-Card Metaphor in Campaign News. A recent study by Falk (2013), critically examines the discourse of the playing-the-gender-card metaphor in news coverage of Hillary Clinton from November 1- 8, 2007. The media’s use of the metaphor during this time follows the October Democratic debate, Clinton’s â€Å"Pile On† advertisement, and her speech at her alma mater Wellesley College. Seeking to examine the discourse in the mass media, Falk shows the power the

Sunday, December 15, 2019

A Critique on Raphael Free Essays

A Critique on Raphael Raphael was a very unique and admirable artist; however, he had many affairs, Michelangelo also disliked Raphael and thought his art was absurd and many others came to see his influence as harmful. Raphael was engaged to Maria Beanie but never had the chance to marry. From the beginning he was never interested in this engagement and he found entertainment with his mistress, Margarita Lute. We will write a custom essay sample on A Critique on Raphael or any similar topic only for you Order Now During the time of his death he had written a will which left sufficient funds for the care of his mistress. He left his studio and trust to his friends. Despite his â€Å"engagement†, Raphael was a womanlier. He said that his mistress had to live with him because, â€Å"no sex, no frescoes†, if he didn’t get what he wanted then no one will get what they want. The cause of his death was unknown to many but some say that he died because of his courtship with Margarita Lute several days before his death and obtained a certain disease and was treated for another and later died of the wrong cure. Raphael became an icon of lust. He later started painting nude portraits, which lead to Michelangelo having a keen dislike towards Raphael. Raphael had looked up to Michelangelo for the longest time and has been inspired by him numerous times. He has also gotten ideas for new paintings from the inspiration of the great Leonardo Advance like, â€Å"The Young Lady with Unicorn†, this particular picture was inspired by Advancing, Mona Lisa. After his death Picasso had painted a series of pornographic paintings depicting Raphael and Margarita Lute making love with Michelangelo hiding underneath the bed. Repeal’s art will forever live on and will most definitely have a magnificently Jaw dropping story behind it. Being an icon of lust and Michelangelo having a severe hate towards him really helped him discover what he really truly wanted to paint. He merely told a story of his life through his art and his affairs, he says were with the love of his life. Not only will people remember him for his works of art such as â€Å"The School of Athens†, but they will also remember him as a man with a titillate passion for love. How to cite A Critique on Raphael, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Management Law for Cyber Consumer and Unfair- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theManagement Law for Cyber Consumer and Unfair Trading. Answer: Issue Herein, the issue can be seen in terms of determining the validity of Agreement. On understanding whether the contract is valid as signed by Susan. Rules It is important to understand the elements of a valid contract: Offer and Acceptance: First and foremost step in creating a contract is through an offer by one party and acceptance by another. It is important that such an offer and acceptance must be valid. Since, a contract primary relies on the criteria of the agreement, the foundation of agreement find its roots through offer and acceptance. Offer and acceptance together make an agreement. Mutual Consent of Parties: in order to establish a valid contract the parties must exhibit consensus on the same thing at the same time and in the same senses. There must be two parties for the formation of a contract that is a promisor and promisee. Intent to create legal obligation: An agreement should validly create a legal obligation. Other than the offer and acceptance, it is important that both parties have a legal intent to go to the court of law, in case if the other party doesnt meet up its promise (Knapp, Crystal and Prince, 2016). The intention must be to create a legal relationship with clear and certain terms. An agreement that does not create a legal relationship is said to be void. Meaning of agreement must be certain: the agreement should be certain or must be capable of being created certain. In the case where the terms of the agreement are uncertain, vague or confusing, it will lead to no binding for the parties. Every set of promises constitutes an agreement. The proposal, as well as acceptance, should be definite. The acceptance of the proposal must be communicated to the promisor in the mode as prescribed by the offerer. Applicability of rules In case of the first element, it is quite clear that Tom has made an offer to Susan and she accepted the offer through a valid written agreement. It is noticeable that the signature of both parties had been taken which makes it legally binding on them. Furthermore, the intentions were made clear by Tom during the contract to Susan and henceforth cannot be expressly declared void in any circumstance. Thus, Toms move to offer Susan only $100,000 to which they have made an agreement is valid. Conclusion In the case wherein, Tom makes an offer and Susan accepts the offer it turns out into a valid agreement, which is signed legally by mutual consent. Thus, as per the Contract law, Tom content to pay $100,000 is valid. Issue Whether or not Steve is legally bound to buy the car from Jason Rules An offer and invitation to offer are two different terms, which shouldnt be treated equally. While an offer is a proposal and an Invitation to offer (treat) is to invite someone to make a proposal. Invitation to offer requires being understood differently from offer as the offer will legally bind the person on acceptance and on other hand invitation to treat is merely an invitation and does not bind legally. In case of an offer, there is intent to enter into a contract making it considerably certain (Chen-Wishart, 2012). Besides, in case of an invitation to offer is an act, which further leads to an offer, this is made with an aim to induce or negotiate the terms. The main element which leads to binding legally is valid acceptance. Thus, for making a person binding it is necessary to ascertain the elements which should exist for the formation of valid acceptance: Acceptance must be communicated to the offeree. Conditions and terms of acceptance must be same as provided in the offer. Certainty should exist in agreement. There must be some initial discussions before the offer is formally accepted. Such preliminary discussionsare known invitations to treat. The other names given to such pre contractual discussions are requests for information or statements of intention. However, the invitation to treat is not compulsory to accept, it the parties to contract must not ignore it; since it may affect the offer in some or the other sense. For example, where an invitation to treat is made in response to an offer the terms of the invitation to treat must be expressly incorporated in different terms. Applicability of rule A contract is legally binding only in case voluntary agreement relating to same has been formed; in which one person makes an offer and other accepts the same. The current case states about an invitation to offer so made by Steve to Jason on the suitable modifications it wished for. Herein the offeror i.e., Steve does not make an offer, rather he invites Jason to make an offer. It only meant to do so for receiving offer and negotiations. While the offer is quite a specific term as it is meant to create legal relations and is an essential element for making a contract. On the other hand, Invitation to offer is a stimulus to instigate the people to make an offer. In the present case, no valid acceptance has been provided by Jason for making the specified modifications. Further, he was not informed by Steve that expenditure is being done to make a car in his accordance. Thus, all the elements of valid acceptance which is necessary for legally binding a person is missing in the present c ase. In the present case, the offer of invitation to treat is made without any negotiations by an action. The offer is supposed to be accepted on the terms of the invitation to treat. Conclusion Thus, in current case Steve is not legally bound to buy a car as offered by Jason as he had made only an invitation to offer and not an offer which makes it fundamentally not legally binding on Steve to make the purchase. Further, Jason expended the amount on his own anticipation for making the car in saleable condition. He neither asked Steve regarding the expenditure which was made for making the car as per his choice. Issue Herein, the issue is whether Harry has any defence to negligence act of Carl. Rule Battery tort law - As per the common law, the batteryis thetortof deliberately bringing about an offensive and un-consented harmful contact with a person or with something that is intimately associated with them. According to some practical examples, a physician may touch a person, under the defence of necessity, without the consent of the person for the purpose of rendering medical service to them in an emergency. Similarly, under the defence of consent, if a person has consented to participate in a contact sport expressly or impliedly, cannot claim for a contact permitted by the rules of that sport against other participants within the duration of play. As per the Civil liability act in case of any loss, there shall be five principles as mentioned in Perre v Apand Pty Limited (1999) shall be applicable: The duty of Care: this is evaluated on the basis of reasonable forcibility as stated in the famous case of the Donoghue v Stevenson neighbour principle wherein the pure economic loss requires the consideration of relationship nature in terms of proximity (Cornock, 2014). In accordance with the Australian law, duty of care are the legal obligations which are imposed on an individual who is required to observe the standard of reasonable care while performing any act that is capable of having a possible stake on others. This standard is the first element which is established for proceeding with an action in negligence. Breach of Duty: It is seen that the person in such circumstances could have undertaken precautions. A duty of care imposed by law must be displayed by the claimant that is breached by the defendant. In turn, an individual who has breached the duty is subjected to a liability. Indeterminacy of Liability: there is no indeterminacy of liability as the potential liability is not open-ended. The operation of law between two individuals, who are not in direct relationship with each other, imposes duty of care; eventually the individuals become related to each other in some of the other manner, as per the common case law. Causation: As per the common law it is important to acknowledge that the damage was reasonably foreseeable (Mackaay, 2013). The social contract must be considered for formalising the duty of care with implicit responsibilities to be conducted by the individuals towards others living in the society. It is not necessary that a duty of care has to be defined specifically by the applicable law, though it often arises through the common laws jurisprudence. Damage: as a result of an act or any omission the plaintiff had to suffer an injury. The High Court of Australia has different views from that of the British approach towards duty of care; the latter still recognizes the element of proximity. The law of Australia first determines whether or not the case in hand fits in a category where a duty of care has been found. If the case is out of the range of the established category, it must be foreseeable that the defendants action could harm the society as general. If the case is out of the range of the established category, it must be foreseeable that the defendants action could harm the society as general. It is then the Court applies a test of 'salient features' for determining that whether the defendant is owed a duty of care. Applicability of rule In this case, Harry as a duty of care could reasonably foresee the economic loss. Further, the probability of poor cooking judgement existed as Carl had no knowledge about sashimi. Later, the causation of health illness to Harry was caused due to the negligent conduct of Carl but nevertheless, defence of consent is applicable harry could have avoided the circumstance but he provided consent to the same. Conclusion Herein, this regard Harry could have escaped, as there was a probability of risk since Carl didnt know how to cook sashimi. Though Carl has proven negligence and led to the damage conducted against Harry. Yet, as per the volition fit injuria doctrine, Harry could perceive the reasonable assumption of risk and as such Carl as a defendant can claim its right. Issue Betty rights under Australian Consumer Law against the apple website Rule As per ACL section 56 and 57, all the usual consumer rights are applicable when one shops with an Australian online business (Coteanu, 2017). This section states that goods must be in accordance with the cited description either verbally or on packaging or labelling. Accordingly, it states that the online websites should present no misleading guidelines and compete fairly on the basis of quality and price. The products of Apple.Inc comes with guarantees that are not excluded under the Australian consumer law. The person is entitled, under the law to any replacement or reimbursement for a chief breakdown for any reasonably foreseeable loss. The company also stands liable to a person who is entitled to get the product repair or replaced if they fail to meet the standards of acceptable quality if it is not a major failure. An Apple Limited Warranty is also received by the person when they purchase the products of Apple hardware with which they can obtain additional benefits on the purch ase, like the optional Apple Care Protection Plan or Apple Care+. Applicability of rule Betty can use her rights to claims for the damages against the online website of Apple under APL, which serves misleading information as the website, have a good reputation and misleads by faulty specifications. Conclusion In the current case, Betty has the right to claim for her rights against the online website under ACL as the product so delivered is not as per the specifications so mentioned. References Beale, H., Tallon, D., Vogenauer, S., Rutgers, J. W., Fauvarque-Cosson, B. (2010).Cases, materials and text on contract law. Hart. Chen-Wishart, M. (2012).Contract law. Oxford University Press. Cornock, M. (2014). The duty of care.Orthopaedic Trauma Times, (24), 14-16. Coteanu, C. (2017).Cyber consumer law and unfair trading practices. Routledge. Knapp, C. L., Crystal, N. M., Prince, H. G. (2016).Problems in Contract Law: cases and materials. Wolters Kluwer Law Business. Mackaay, E. (2013).Law and economics for civil law systems. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Focus On The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report Social Work Essay Essay Example

Focus On The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report Social Work Essay Paper In his statement to the House of Commons when showing Lord Laming s Inquiry Report into the decease of Victoria Climbie , on 28 January 2003, the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn, said: It is an all excessively familiar call. In the past few decennaries at that place have been tonss of enquiries into atrocious instances of kid maltreatment and disregard. Each has called on us to larn the lesson of what went incorrect. Indeed, there is a singular consistence in both what went incorrect and what is advocated to set it right. Lord Laming s Report goes farther. It recognises that the hunt for a simple solution or a speedy hole will non make. It is non merely national criterions, or proper preparation, or equal resources, or local leading, or new constructions that are needed. We will write a custom essay sample on Focus On The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report Social Work Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Focus On The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report Social Work Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Focus On The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report Social Work Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer I will give an overview of the enquiry. I will besides give an overview of the subjects, deficiency of answerability right through the organisations to the most senior degree and staff non adequately trained in kid protection. I will analyze and review these subjects in relation to bureau policy, legal demands, research, practician cognition and the voice of the service user. Previous enquiries and at that place associate to this enquiry will be discussed along with have we learned any lessons from this. The failure to implement a legal, ethical and political model to inform current best pattern will be utilised. I will reflect on the deductions of grounds informed pattern and how this will inform future societal work pattern. This paragraph will supply a sum-up of the events taking to the decease of Victoria Climbie, and set up why there was a demand for the enquiry. From the study ( Lord Laming, 2003 ) we know that Victoria Climbie came to England with her grandaunt, Marie-Therese Kouao in April 1999. Within a twelvemonth, she was dead. On 25th February 2000, Victoria died of hyperthermy at St Mary s Hospital, Paddington. She was merely eight old ages old and had 128 separate hurts to her organic structure. On 12th January 2001, her great-aunt Kouao and her fellow, Carl Manning, were convicted of slaying. The degree of inhuman treatment experienced by Victoria was genuinely hideous, with day-to-day whippings utilizing several different implements. Her concluding yearss were exhausted life and kiping in an unwarmed bathroom in the center of winter, where she was bound manus and pes, lying in her ain piss and fecal matters in a bin bag in the bath. The secretary of State set up the independent statutory en quiry into her decease, under the Chairmanship of Lord Laming, in April 2001, to set up under subdivision 81 of the Children Act 89 the concerns with the maps of the local authorization societal services commissions and the manner they relate to kids. The enquiry wanted to analyze the manner in which local governments in regard of their societal services maps and place the services sought or required by, or in regard of Victoria, Marie-Therese and Carl. This subdivision will now take to analyze and review the cardinal subject I have identified that emerged from the enquiry study which is deficiency of answerability right through the organisations to the most senior degree and staff non adequately trained in kid protection. Lord Laming ( 2003 ) points out There were at least 12 cardinal occasions when the relevant services had chances to successfully step in to assist Victoria, but had failed to make so. Within the Report Lord laming ( 2003 ) states That non one of these intercessions would hold required great accomplishment or made heavy demands on staff, sometimes it needed nil more than a director making their occupation by inquiring pertinent inquiries or taking the problem to look in a instance file. He continues to provinces Lord Laming ( 2003 ) There can be no alibi for such sloppy and unprofessional public presentation. As Lord Laming ( 2003 ) commented Not one of the bureaus empowered by Parliament to protect kids in plac es such as Victoria s emerged from the Inquiry with much recognition, what happened to Victoria, and her ultimate decease, resulted from an inexcusable gross failure of the system. Lord Laming s ( 2003 ) expressed His astonishment that cipher in the bureaus had the presence of head to follow what are comparatively straightforward processs on how to react to a kid about whom there is concern of deliberate injury. The Inquiry Report ( Lord Laming, 2003 ) highlighted widespread deficiency of answerability through the administrations as the chief ground for the deficiency of protection afforded to Victoria. Who should be held responsible for these failures? As Webb ( 2002 ) provinces: Lord Laming was clear that it is non the hapless and sometimes inexperient front-line staff to whom he directs most unfavorable judgment, but to those in places of direction, including infirmary advisers, I think that the public presentation of people in leading places should be judged on how good services are delivered at the front door . Professor Nigel Parton ( 2003 ) points out that Too frequently in the Inquiry people justify their places around bureaucratic activities instead than around results for kids. Frankly, I would be the really last individual to state that good disposal is non indispensable to good pattern. Professor Nigel Parton ( 2003 ) continues to province that Good administration-and we did n on see a batch of it, I have to say-is a agency to an terminal. I can non conceive of in any other walk of life if a senior director was in charge of an administration and that administration was traveling down the pan-to put it crudely-in footings of gross revenues and public presentation that person would state My function is wholly strategic, do non keep me to account for what happens in the administration . Peoples who occupy senior places have to stand or fall by what service is delivered at the front door. The Inquiry Report Lord Laming ( 2003 ) highlighted the evident failure of those in senior places to understand, or accept, that they were responsible for the quality, efficiency and effectivity of local services. As Rustin ( 2010 ) states Lord Laming pointed to the yawning spread in the differing perceptual experiences of the administration held by front line staff and senior directors. Lord Laming was univocal that the failure was the mistake of directors whose occupatio n it should hold been to understand what was go oning at their front door. As the Report Lord Laming ( 2003 ) pointed out, some of those in the most senior places used the defense mechanism no 1 of all time told me to distance themselves from duty, and to reason that there was nil they could hold done. Rustin ( 2004 ) states this was non a position shared by Lord Laming. Rustin ( 2004 ) besides continues to province that Lord Laming went even further in grounds to us, stating us forcefully that, in his position, answerability of directors was paramount, and that the front line staff were by and large making their uttermost. In add-on to the cardinal jobs of a deficiency of answerability and managerial control, it was besides evident in the class of the Inquiry Lord Laming ( 2003 ) that other weaknesss existed in all facets of pattern. This subdivision will measure old enquiries and how they link to this enquiry and have any lessons been learned from them. As Rustin ( 2004 ) provi nces: As with many old enquiries into child protection failures, Maria Colwell ( 1973 ) , Jasmine Beckford ( 1984 ) , Tyra Henry ( 1984 ) and Kimberley Carlile ( 1986 ) it was clear that the quality of information exchange was frequently hapless, systems were rough and information failed to be passed between infirmaries in close propinquity to each other. As the Report commented Lord Laming ( 2003 ) Information systems that depend on the random passing of faux pass of paper have no topographic point in modern services . The grounds from another study, Maria Colwell, who had died in January of 1973 pointed to similar failings, which were found in Victoria s study these failings were, deficiency of answerability and staff non adequately trained ( Corby et al, 2001 ) . Inquiry studies are beginnings of grounds to inform societal work pattern and even though they have many failings within them as illustrated. Professor Nigel Parton ( 2004 ) points out that In many respects public enquiries have proved to be the cardinal vehicle through which alterations in policy and pattern have been brought about over the last 30 old ages in relation to child protection policy and pattern in this state. Professor Nigel Parton ( 2004 ) continues to indicate out that Rather than public enquiries being ignored, they have been cardinal to the manner kid protection operates. In this regard, they are every bit much a portion of the job as they are the solution. Have lessons been learned from the many public enquiries over the old 30 old ages. It was as if provinces Professor Nigel Parton ( 2004 ) The frontline professionals, and the cardinal administrations and bureaus who have duty for kids and households were rather incapable of larning the lessons and, crucially, seting these into pattern in such a manner that such awful calamities could be avoided. It is hoped by many, hence, that the study by Lord Laming, and the alterations brought about as a consequence, will intend that this will be the last study of its type. This subdivision will turn to the other subject I have highlighted equal preparation. The inquiry of equal preparation and supervising for staff working in all the relevant bureaus were besides an issue identified in the Inquiry. Professor Nigel Parton ( 2004 ) points out that In Haringey, for illustration, it was observed that the proviso of supervising may hold looked good on paper but in pattern it was deplorably unequal for many of the front line staff. Professor Nigel Barton ( 2004 ) besides points out that nowhere was this more apparent than in the fact that in the concluding hebdomads of Victoria s life a societal worker called several times at the level where she had been populating. There was no answer to her knocks and the societal worker assumed, rather wrongly, that Victoria and Kouao had moved off, and took no farther action. As the Laming Report ( Lord Laming, 2003 ) commented, It was wholly possible that at the clip Victoria was in fact lying merely a few paces off, in the prison of the bath, urgently trusting person might happen her and come to her deliverance before her life ebbed off . This subdivision will now look at the failure to implement the legal and political model within the inquiry study. Lord Laming within the study ( Lord Laming 2003 ) told us that he continued to believe that the Children Act 1989 was fundamentally sound statute law . His recommendations do non reason for a major new legislative model. However, Lord Laming ( 2003 ) states he did non believe that the Act was being implemented in the manner that had been envisaged for it, and, in his position, there was a oscitance spread at the present clip between the aspirations and outlooks of Parliament and the certainty of what is delivered at the front door . Rustin ( 2004 ) states In the absence of equal managerial answerability, front line workers were obliged to do important strategic determinations, for illustration about the usage of the Children Act, and between utilizing subdivisions 17 and 47 ( associating severally to a kid in demand, and a kid in demand of protection ) . The subdivi sions of the Act had been developed with the purpose of every bit pointed out by Rustin ( 2004 ) Of recognizing the different demands of kids . How the subdivisions were being applied on the land nevertheless as stated by Lord Laming ( 2003 ) is Quite different, far from using the subdivision of the Act that would outdo run into the demands of the peculiar kid and their fortunes, what they were really making was utilizing these subdivisions to curtail entree to services and to restrict the handiness of services to people . The Children Act, Lord Laming ( 2003 ) argued to us Should be about advancing the wellbeing of kids, non about seting labels around people s cervix . Lord Laming ( 2003 ) went on to propose that Front line workers were being forced into doing determinations that should decently hold rested with direction and policy determinations . This raised major inquiries about the function of public services and the basic rules that should underpin them, as ( Lord Laming 2003 ) stated We need to stand back and say that we need to detect the basic rule that the populace services are at that place to function the populace, non merely some of the populace and non merely some people who can acquire through eligibility standards, or who are sufficiently relentless . Therefore services must be more accessible and they must be more in melody with their local communities. If, as Lord Laming believes Kirton ( 2009, p.17 ) states The Victoria Climbie instance was non alone, but highlighted widespread and major lacks in the execution of the Children Act, this raises issues that Government should turn to. I believe that the Children Act 1989 remains basically sound statute law. However, there is concern as pointed out by Professor Nigel Parton ( 2004 ) That the commissariats of the Act which sought to guarantee an appropriate response to the differing demands of kids are being applied unsuitably, used as a agency of rationing entree to services, and have led to subdivision 17 instances being regarded as holding low precedence. The Laming Inquiry ( Lord Laming 2003 ) recommended that consideration should be given to uniting the Working Together counsel and the National Assessment Framework counsel into a individual papers, puting out clearly how the subdivisions of the Act should be applied, and giving clear way on action to be taken under subdivisions 17 and 47. Within this subdivision I will discourse the ethical model. It is of import to include the issues of societal category and gender, which were non apparent in the Victoria Climbie enquiry. However, it is issues around ethnicity and race that are more apparent. However, the diverseness referred to is improbably complex. This is illustrated at assorted points provinces Webb ( 2002 ) For illustration: At the clip Victoria s instance was handled in Brent, all the responsibility societal workers had received their preparation abroad and were on impermanent contracts. ( In Brent ) at least 50 per cent of societal workers clip was spent working on instances of unaccompanied bush leagues. As Webb ( 2002 ) provinces There was grounds that Haringey has one of the most diverse populations in the state, with 160 different linguistic communications spoken locally, a long tradition of travelers settling in the borough and a high proportion of asylum-seeking households ( 9 per centum of the entire population ) . Within the study Lord Laming ( 2003 ) points out that In relation to all the London boroughs involved there were high degrees of poorness and want, diverse cultural, cultural, lingual backgrounds, every bit good as the diverse backgrounds of the workers themselves. In many respects, it seems Victoria s state of affairs was non alone in these several boroughs. Webb ( 2002 ) indicated The impact of increased planetary mobility, more specifically the rapid addition in asylum-seeking households, together with the diverse backgrounds of the workers themselves progressively seems to characterize work in many metropolitan countries. This has a peculiar impact provinces Webb ( 2002 ) On the nature, stableness and coherence of local communities. It is deserving observing that, compared to the Maria Colwell instance, no referrals are noted in the Victoria Climbie instance from neighbors or other members of the community apart from the child minder Mrs Cameron. We are non merely speaking ab out diverseness here but unbelievable complexness. Kirton ( 2009 ) argues that Not merely does it present major lingual challenges but besides it poses major challenges for statutory sections in relation to the familial and cultural individualities of those with whom they work and to whom they have duty. Issues around racism are clearly of import here, nevertheless they can non be reduced to a simple black and white community and cultural divide. This subdivision will reflect on the deductions of evidence-informed pattern ( EIP ) and the utility of the enquiry to inform the development of future societal work pattern. Often, in hindsight, those who put people at hazard are blamed for the bad luck and injury they cause. ( Kirton, 2009 ) This is arguably the most signii ¬?cant professional context in which EIP has emerged. Harmonizing to Munro ( 1998 ) Social workers rely on obscure appraisals and anticipations, instead than sing what is more or less likely. In mundane life determinations have to be made on a limited grounds base and professional determinations are besides at best debatable . There are legion unexpected and complex results in societal work, many of which remainder on holding to do judgements under conditions of uncertainness. ( Kirton, 2009 ) The chief jobs associated with doing effectual determinations in societal work as stated by Kirton ( 2009 ) include: hazard and uncertainness, intangibles, long-run ded uctions, interdisciplinary input and the political relations of different vested involvements pooled determination devising and value judgements. Decision analysis has developed as a statistical technique to assist get the better of these sorts of jobs. Decision analysis is closely related to put on the line appraisal and actuarial patterns. Evidence-informed pattern and policy are self-explanatory. They involve the acceptance of evidence-based protocols and utilize local criterions for carry oning societal work pattern and developing organizationally specii ¬?c policies. ( Webb, 2002 ) It has been suggested that evidence-informed protocols feed straight into the practician context to supply guidelines for transporting out EIP. Basically evidence-informed pattern and policy in societal work will imply the explicit and wise usage of current best grounds in doing determinations about the societal attention of service users. This dei ¬?nition is widely used and derived from Sackett et Al. s Evidence-based Medicine ( 1996 ) . A matter-of-fact attack as stated by Sackett ( 1996 ) Has been adopted here, which regards the pattern of grounds as incorporating practician expertness with the best available external grounds from systematic but multiple research methods. The execution theoretical account outlined is the thought that the practice-based procedure begins with the grounds instead than the single or groups of clients. Clearly the application of evidence-informed pattern and policies will be governed by the economic range of societal work bureaus in footings of resources and the development of an evidence-informed substructure. ( Kirton, 2009 ) Sackett ( 1996 ) points out that At a local degree it will besides be dependent on incremental acquisition and accumulative professional development which are likely to be facilitated by the pattern research webs and evidence-based briei ¬?ngs discussed supra. In this essay I have analysed and critiqued two cardinal subjects from the enquiry, deficiency of answerability right through the organisations to the most senior degree and staff non, adequately trained in kid protection. I have besides analysed and critique these subjects in relation to bureau policy, legal demands, research, practician cognition and the voice of the service user. I have linked old enquiries and discussed have we learned any lessons from these enquiries. I identified the failure to implement a legal, ethical and political model to inform current best pattern will. I besides reflected on the deductions of grounds informed pattern and how this will inform future societal work pattern. A shutting quotation mark to complete from the Secretary of State, Alan Milburn ( 2003 ) It has felt as if Victoria has attended every measure of this enquiry, and it has been my good luck to hold had the aid of co-workers whose abilities have been matched by their committedness to the undertaking of making justness to Victoria s memory and her enduring spirit, and to making something positive from her agony and ultimate decease.

Monday, November 25, 2019

The eNotes Blog Writer Fight! Writer Fight! William F. Buckley, Jr. v. NormanMailer

Writer Fight! Writer Fight! William F. Buckley, Jr. v. NormanMailer Norman Mailer, that ever-so-macho author (The  Armies of the Night, The Naked and the Dead)  is almost as well-known for his physical fights as for his writing. He famously head-butted Gore Vidal in the green room before their mutual appearance on the Dick Cavett Show  in 1971.   Once on set, the altercation turned menacingly verbal, with Cavett getting in at least as many digs as Mailer: A less-famous incident of verbal sparring occurred between Mailer and  William F. Buckley, Jr. founder and long-time editor of the  National Review:   In this corner, in crisp, starched Brooks Brothers Boxers, the Venerable William F. Buckley, Jr! VS! In this corner! Wearing TIghtie Whities he picked up off the floor, Maulin Norman Mailer! William F. Buckley Jr. called Norman Mailer an egotist, â€Å"almost unique in his search for notoriety and absolutely unequalled in his co-existence with it.† Mailer called Buckley a â€Å"second-rate intellect incapable of entertaining two serious thoughts in a row.† In 1966 Buckley sent Mailer an autographed copy of  The Unmaking of a Mayor, the memoir of his unsuccessful run for mayor of New York City the previous year. Mailer turned to the index and looked up his own name. There he found, in Buckley’s handwriting, the words â€Å"Hi, Norman.†   (Source)

Friday, November 22, 2019

Are Trickle-Down Economics a Viable Theory in Today's Economy Research Paper

Are Trickle-Down Economics a Viable Theory in Today's Economy - Research Paper Example The people, in turn, will have more money to spend in the economy.†2 Therefore, are trickle-down economics a viable theory in today’s economy? The average person has no concept of why anyone would give huge tax breaks to the wealthy. This argument has been prevalent since the rich has taken advantage of economic freedoms to increase their profits. It seems only fair to the ordinary taxpayer that they should give back a larger share than those who are not wealthy. This theory is the basis for the progressive income tax within the United States. The government taxes the higher tax brackets when their income increases in excess. The trickle-down theory promotes that tax breaks for the higher income sectors will benefit all. The average income earner cannot begin to fathom the reasoning behind this. Looking at history and the principles of supply and demand, some economists would say that efforts should be made to increase the supply or production of goods and services. Othe rs would argue that a slow demand for goods and services is the problem, and efforts should be made to increase demand. The 19th century French economist Jean-Baptiste Say argued that economic growth will grow naturally if you boost production. This has become known as Say’s Law. ... Therefore, there has to be a demand that is not being satisfied. What they desire is either too expensive or not being made. Making products that are in great demand will, in turn, drive down the cost and create profits for the producer or seller. This process satisfies the need or demand and turns the wheels of the economy. In the 19th century this theory was a viable way to access the situation. Thomas Jefferson even stood by the theory. When the Great Depression began in the 1930s, some economists’ views began to change. The British economist, John Keynes, argued â€Å"that there are such things as overproduction and lack of demand, and the key is to increase demand rather than supply.†4 It was his understanding that consumer demand should be promoted instead of production, and this would create jobs and production through higher consumption. Keynes introduced many theories in order to stabilize the economy on a short-term or immediate basis. He introduced policies t o adjust interest rates, which adjusted available money. He also introduced policies that encouraged government spending and taxes, which would boost demand. A major part of these adjustments were to increase taxes on the rich and reduce taxes on the poor. It was his contention that the rich would invest their money producing more products and the lower income people would more than likely spend. Therefore, the oversupply of goods would be taken care of on its own, which was the source of the problem. Keynes’ philosophy of economics continued for at least three decades. By 1970 Say’s Law began to emerge again as a viable theory. Once again, trickle-down ideas were gathering support of some economists. If we think of trickle-down economics as a catalyst to boost production, it uses Say’s

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Investing in Human Capital Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Investing in Human Capital - Coursework Example Employees are seen as assets current and future value which can be improved through investing resources on them, especially knowledge. Organizations which upholds these practices always communicate to their employee on a regular basis.   The practice of employee’s security is the one that is surprising. The business world is rapidly changing and companies are embracing policies that not only affect the operations of the organization but also the employees. It is for this reason that employees need a guarantee that despite the internal changes that occur within a given organization will not affect them. If however they are affected negatively, then, the organization would be able to compensate them accordingly. Employee security takes place in many forms for instance, in manufacturing industries where employee are exposed to machines every day, there are risks involved. Some of them include the risk if being cut by machines, exposure to chemical compounds among other. The employer of such an organization must ensure that his employees have medical assurances and cover. This will motivate employees to keep working in spite of the unconducive working environment. This is because, in case of an accident, the company will be liable and they will not have to dig their pockets to cater for any medical expenditure. Employment status of an employee is also a security to them. During the time of economic booms, many companies employ a lot of people. On the other hand, during the recession, these organizations dismiss a lot of employees. This is discouraging and such organization ends up building bad image and this may lead to its collapse.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Sneak up dance song for native American Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sneak up dance song for native American - Essay Example The third version is the enactment of a warrior in battle, who searches for a wounded friend, finds him and brings him to safety. The sneak-up dance or scout dance is performed only by men. The accompanying songs support the theme of the dance and help to teach young boys how to surprise prey or an enemy. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the traditional Sneak-Up dance and songs that are unique to the Native Americans. The Sneak-Up Dance and Song The Europeans colonizing the North American continent forcefully dispersed native American groups from their original homelands to reservations or cities. This dispersal endangered many traditional rituals, dances and ceremonies of native Indians. Drumming and singing ensembles of native Americans include leader-chorus songs, unison chorus songs, and multipart songs. A singer must have a strong, wide-ranging voice and the ability to sing with others. Native American songs as well as a variety of musical instrument s including different types of rattles serve to complete the dances. However, the most important instrument is the drum for the majority of native Americans. â€Å"Every native culture has its own varied and distinctive ways of making music† (Birchfield 416). While native language carries the melody in some songs, other songs use vowel sounds such as ya, hey, hi, and lay.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Reflection on Nursing Teamwork

Reflection on Nursing Teamwork Implementing an effective teamwork skill is essential in nursing. I would be reflecting on the dynamics of my own personal experience on Enquiry Based-Learning, an important element in my programme of study. Nurses are everywhere, working with different professionals to achieve a common outcome that leads toward a patients wellbeing. For this reasons, my course, in a way focused on enquiry based learning to develop important skills to empower student nurses while in the healthcare sector. Throughout this essay, I would be referring to Gibbs (1998) reflective model to explore how the group worked as well as focusing on my own contribution. Description I undertook a group activity section as part of my learning development which is defined as Enquiry Based Learning. A group composed of 5 members to work together as part of a team on a specific task. My group is to work on a case study working together as a group to produce a piece of PowerPoint presentation to present our findings.   Grounded on my understanding, I have identified a group as collective consisting of one or two people with a common interest whereas a group dynamic is a team of people acting interdependently with excellent communication skills, different knowledge and interact with each other regardless of shared responsibilities (George, 1985).   To this end, I would think of my enquiry based-learning group as a task -focused group, as each individual had a delegated task to carryout.   My enquiry based group was selected casually to work together and to share responsibilities individually which means to be able to produce this piece, we would need to communic ate frequently with each other by building a significant relationship with the members of the group. Feelings Initially I felt confident to be in a smaller group as this gives me the opportunity to communicate in an easy way. however, I got frightened and felt anxious about having to be in a group with people I do know have any kind of a friendly approach with.   Also, I got frightened because, I perceived the group as a task purposed group only. Nevertheless, according to Casey, A. (2011) Communication is central to human interaction. Without it, people cannot relate to those around them, make their needs and concerns known or make sense of what is happening to them.   to this end, with a smile in my face, I took the initiative to introduce myself and ask the members of my enquiry based learning their names. Tuchman (1965) underlined the importance of team development through four stages. However, forming is the first stage members of a team or group go through before moving unto the next phase.   This is an introductory stage where the group become adapted to each other. During the f orming stage, the team members including myself have been very nice to each other but at the same time there are unseen possible conflicts. Firstly, in the forming stage, we got selected randomly as a group to work together to achieve an outcome to meet a deadline. However, we started to get to know each other, to socialise, by becoming acquainted with each other while talking through the task. We all contributed in splitting the task in semi topics to obtain an outcome easily. Additionally, as a task focused group, we talked about the task and started to delegate each member a task to undergo. At this point, everyones opinion was valued, we discussed and planned on how to carry out our research and how to present it. Furthermore, in norming stage, we assessed the task as a group and set out the ground rules, boundaries and standards through communication and interaction (Tuchman, 1965). I was able to communicate interactively with the members of my enquiry based learning group and to convey my ideas. I also decided on which part of the argument I was interested in developing research into.   Additionally, everyone con veyed their ideas along with suggestions made by other members.   Consequently as, the group dynamic begins to lose its structure, conflicts emerge.   Which leads to the storming stage as stated by Tuchman (1965).   In this stage, though, there has not be any disagreements we decided to meet outside university to work together, because this is mainly task focused group, we all participated in a positive way.   Consequently, leading to the performing stage where we were able to achieve our goal (Tuchman, 1965). Evaluation Positively, even though in the norming stage we started to work connectedly and the team performance is elevated thus not as high performing. we all contributed our ideas, discussed about possible meetings, place and the frequency. However, as a member, I was able to establish harmonious relationships with the rest of the group. I wanted the work to be done properly so I maintained a positive relationship throughout the section.   I explored my given topic independently, making sure to keep the interaction between the group going then we met on few occasions to put the work together and to practice on how to present the work.   However, I didnt like the formation of the group because, even though we were good and very task focused, we did not have a specific role to adhere to. Everyone was doing everything and this was very disorganised. There was a point where we kept sending the working to the group and the members making changes independently whereas, as a supportive and inter active team, we could have meet  Ã‚   and discuss around any changes. The reason for this is because, even though we are really interactive wen we see each other, this, however, is different when we send messages around concerning or regarding the presentation. Members do not pay attention to messages.  Ã‚   Consequently as, the group dynamic begins to lose its structure, the group therefore struggles and dysfunctions as a group. This stage negatively impact on the whole process through a realisation that, we did not really have a lasting group dynamic as members started to create small groups within the group unintentionally because of obvious preferences. They are more interested in getting their work done based on been the best. Personally, when this happened, people stop communicating, message and purpose become unclarified. So, people do things wrongly on their own terms. Relating to this, the group still functions as a group but there is no interaction or relationship based-communication. Referring to the Mindtools document (Belbins reflective cycle), when a team is acting at its best, you will usually find that all the members has clear responsibilities.   Belbin (1993) said, Team role is a tendency to behaviour, contribution and interrelation with others. It is a pattern of behaviour that characterizes one persons behaviour in a team process. It is thus, vital to classify the roles members possess to improve the teams effectiveness. Teams having a balance of personality types perform better than those with duplicated personalities (Belbin,1993). Belbin came up with the roles of individual team members which states that every member is unique and possesses unique behaviour which might affect the performance of the activity. He also used self-perception inventory questionnaire in his research in order to identify team roles and he found nine different roles with unique characteristics. These inclusive; Following Belbins (1981) individual role in the team, the role that best describes me in the team was Implementers as I am mainly in charge of getting things done by elaborating in a systematic and an organized way on the teams ideas and approaches into reasonable actions and plans. Also, I played the role of Completer-Finisher as I am always anxious about deadlines and want to make sure the work is completed and done before then.   On my personal point of view, I would say our group was acting very close to a team but there is still distance from a high performing team and If I had to change something about it next time, I would ask the lecturers to change the members. Analysis Conclusion In conclusion, reflecting on this account, in a group or teamwork, all members are important. As stated in Tuchmans (1965) reflective model it is important that individuals are delegated a task within in the group to focus on. However, firstly, there was no leadership, according the Kings Fund (2015) leadership is a tool to a successful and effective group task. For this reason, there was no formality of order in the group. Everyone was doing everything not sticking to the group dynamics. Secondly, though we were communicating and focusing on the task yet we were somehow disorganised and initial standards was not well observed.   Thirdly, our communication was a task-focused on not based on interrelations because, as soon as we depart from each other there is no more communication Bach (2015). If I have been given the opportunity next time, I would have recommended that the group delegate a leader to oversee the project only this way, would things be well organised and encourage mo re group meeting and to pay attention to messages thus giving a feedback and discussing it as a group. Action plan To encourage the participation and collaboration as a group, I will empower the group to elect a leader who can oversee managing affairs of the group. I would also encourage members to participate in providing feedbacks to any message that is communicate in other to understand what changes might occur. References: Bach, s. (2009) communication and interpersonal skills :Learning Matters LTD   available at http://sgh.org.sa/Portals/0/Articles/Communication%20and%20Interpersonal%20Skills%20for%20Nurses.pdf (19/02/17) Belbin, M. (1993) : Team roles: Mindtools available at mindtools.com/Belbin team roles Casey, A. (2011) Effective communication: Principle of Nursing Practice E: RCN :v 25 (32) available at https://www2.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/380795/Nursing_Standard_Principle_E_April11_563KB.pdf (accessed 19/02/17). George, N. (1985). Importance of teamwork at work. Availablie at http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-teamwork-work-11196.html Gibbs (1998): Reflective cycle : available at mindtools.com/gibbs reflective cycle Maggs, D. (2015) The Kings Fund: Leadership and Leadership Development: London available at https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/files/kf/field/field_publication_file/leadership-leadership-development-health-care-feb-2015.pdf (accessed 19/02/17).

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People Essay

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Born from the Niagara Movement, led by William E. B. DuBois, the NAACP has had a volatile birth and a lively history (Beifuss 17:E4). The impetus for the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People came in the summer of 1908. Severe race riots in Springfield, Illinois, prompted William English Walling to write articles questioning the treatment of the Negro. Reading the articles, Mary White Ovington and Dr. Henry Moskowitz were compelled to meet with Walling. Consequently, the three along with a group of black and white citizens had considered the present state of the Negro, disfranchised in the South and taxed while going unrepresented in the government, a national conference needed to be held to answer the "Negro Question" (Jenkins). It was then that the idea of NAACP was created. February 12, 1909, Lincoln's birthday, a conference to review the progress that the nation made since Emancipation Proclamation and to celebrate Lincoln's birthday took place; Thereupon, a statement, now known as "The Call", was released. This statement reiterated the treatment of the black race since 1865. Many notable figures in history signed "The Call" , e.g., Ida Wells Barnett, Jane Adams, W.E.B. DuBois and John Dewey. In a matter of two months, another conference was held. As a result of that conference, the NAA...

Monday, November 11, 2019

Coping Stressess in Problem-Focused Method

CLASS DISCUSSION It may seem that there’s nothing you can do about stress. But you always have more control than you might think. Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. For example, in dealing with an exam as a stressor, different people will have a range of different coping responses.Problem-focused strategy has three steps-taking control, information seeking and evaluating the pros and cons. Comparing with the emotional-focused strategy, as a manger, I would personally prefer using the problem-focused strategy in coping with stress, since it can high effectively removes the stressor, and deals with the root cause of the specific problem. This way, it will provide a long-term solution.In contrast, emotional-focused stragety means the reduction of negative emotional responses associated with stresses, for example embarrassment and anxiety, is less effective than using a problem-focused strategy. Reasons are emotional-focused strategy are more focused on emotions, rather than the actual root cause of the problem therefore it cannot provide long-term solution.As a manager, I would ensure my employees are using the problem-focused strategy in the following way-figure out what is the root cause of the problem, and try to motivate employees to change the relationship between themselves and stressor, for example, escaping from the stress or removing the stress; Secondly, I will make sure if my employees really understand the situation for example using the internet, and help them solving the problem, so that to avoid having the same problem in the future.Finally, I will let my employees to analyze and evaluate the pros and cons of the problem and figure out different options in dealing with the stressor.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Starbucks Delivering Customer Service

Lifetime Value For Unsatisfied, Satisfied And Highly Satisfied Customers The story of Starbucks transformation from a small independent coffee shop tucked away in a corner of Seattle’s Pike Place Market to a cultural phenomenon spanning the globe is legendary. A number of factors have been attributed to the success – one being a keen understanding of its patrons. There are multiple methods used to obtain customer information and the value derived therein. Customer lifetime value is one. Customers are assets, and their values grow and decline.Segmenting customers based on their lifetime value is a powerful way to target them because marketing mix activities can then aim at enhancing customer value. (Ho, 2006) Roughly translated, customer lifetime value is the projected profits that a customer will generate during their lifetime. We used the case data to segment Starbucks customers into three distinct categories of unsatisfied, satisfied and highly satisfied. Fortunately, the case provided some useful data to make our initial assumptions about the stream of expected revenues from each category.Exhibit 9 UnsatisfiedSatisfiedHighly Satisfied Number of Starbucks Visits/Month3. 904. 307. 20 Average Ticket Size/Visit$3. 88$4. 06$4. 42 Average Customer Life (Years)1. 104. 408. 30 The data allowed us to calculate the annual expected revenues by taking 12, the number of months in a year, times the product of each component given in Exhibit 9 for each category of customer. UnsatisfiedSatisfiedHighly Satisfied Expected Lifetime Future Revenue$ 199. 74$ 921. 78$ 3,169. 67To derive the CLV it is necessary to determine the profits. This requires taking costs against the expected future revenues. The expected costs are typically any amount incurred from attracting, selling and servicing customers. The best representative cost of servicing the customer from the given data was the gross margin from Starbucks financial statements. After all, this number reflects the true costs incurred in servicing each customer, while leaving out extraneous expenses such as depreciation and other corporate overhead that have little relation.FY 1998 FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002 Average Net Revenue1,308,700,0001,686,800,0002,177,600,0002,649,000,0003,288,900,0002,222,200,000 Gross Profit730,200,000939,200,0001,215,700,0001,536,200,0001,938,900,0001,272,040,000 Operating Profit109,200,000156,700,000212,300,000281,100,000310,000,000213,860,000 Net Income68,400,000101,700,00094,500,000181,200,000215,100,000132,180,000 Gross Profit Margin55. 80%55. 68%55. 83%57. 99%58. 95%56. 85% Operating Profit Margin8. 34%9. 29%9. 75%10. 61%9. 43%9. 48% Net Profit Margin5. 23%6. 03%4. 34%6. 84%6. 54%5. 0% The average of the five years of financial statement data was used for the margin to take against revenue. The figures below represent the CLV for each category using a discount rate of 12% to give the present value. A discount rate between 10% – 20% is typically used in these applications. Starbucks is a mature company at this stage of development and the cost of capital is likely to be toward the lower end of the spectrum. Unsatisfied Satisfied Highly Satisfied Expected Lifetime Future Revenue $ 199. 74 $ 921. 78 $ 3,169. 7 Gross Margin56. 85%56. 85%56. 85% Discount Rate 12% CLV Undiscounted $ 113. 55 $ 524. 03 $ 1,801. 94 CLV Discounted$105. 88 $405. 59 $1,137. 64 Finally, we calculated the annual CLV for each category to provide information for our upcoming problem facing Starbucks about investing in increasing staffing levels. The annual amounts were derived by annualizing the products of visits/month and average ticket size/visit. Unsatisfied Satisfied Highly Satisfied Number of Starbucks Visits/Month 3. 90 4. 0 7. 20 Average Ticket Size/Visit$3. 88 $4. 06 $4. 42 Customer Annual Value $ 103. 23 $ 119. 10 $ 217. 10 Traditional Customer Annual Value (textbook version)$209$241$440 For comparison, our group also decided to calculate the textbo ok version of CLV by taking the average retention rate of 75% derived from Exhibit 8 and inputting it into the formula used in the text. We used the same discount rate, 12%, and took that rate times the product of the number of Starbucks visits/month and average ticket size annualized.CLV = m * r/(1 + I – r) Exhibit 8 % of Starbucks’ customers who first started visiting Starbucks . . . In the past year27% 1–2 years ago 20% 2–5 years ago 30% 5 or more years ago 23% Average25% $40 Million Investment In Improving Its Customer Service Using the data provided from Exhibit 3 in the case in regards to sales data broken down for each company operated store in North America we derived the figures in the table below. DailyWeeklyMonthlyYearly Average Store Sales$2,194$15,400$66,733$800,800 Average ticket/visit$3. 85$3. 85$3. 85$3. 5 Average Customer Count5703,99017,338208,050 One assumption made was the investment in improving customer service would be restricted to North American stores (4,574) from our calculations regarding the forecasted cost of $40 million. As mentioned in the case, â€Å"the company had plans to open 525 company-operated and 225 licensed North American stores in 2003. † (MOON, 2006) Consequently, these were the figures used to determine the forecasted North American store growth in 2003 and the same growth projections were made for subsequent years.Additionally, using the customer count derived from the calculations in the previous table we projected the change in customer count by using the same retention rate of 75% calculated from Exhibit 8 to determine the amount of retained customers. This is also supported by the fact the Starbucks’ cannibalizes its existing store revenue by opening new stores in geographically clustered markets. But this is offset by the total incremental sales associated with new store concentration. That figure was then used to provide the new customers by taking (1 – 75% = 25%) the percentage times the retained customer count.Thereby, our total projected customers equaled the sum of the two and those amounts were continually projected forward. YearCustomers Retained/storeNew Customers/storeTotal Customers/storeNumber of Stores 2002208,0504,574 2003156,03839,009195,0475,324 2004146,28536,571182,8566,197 2005137,14234,286171,4287,213 2006128,57132,143160,7148,396 2007120,53530,134150,6699,772 2008113,00228,250141,25211,375 One final assumption, the growth rate in stores was halted in 2008 to reflect the effect of the recession.All of these amounts allowed the $40 million investment in customer service to be broken out per store over our projected period spanning years 2002 – 2008. Year2002200320042005200620072008 Customer retained/store156,038146,285137,142128,571120,535113,002 New customer/store39,00936,57134,28632,14330,13428,250 Total customer count /store208,050195,047182,856171,428160,714150,669141,252 Number of Stores4,5745,3246,1977,2138,3 969,77211,375 Improvement/Acquistion Cost per store$8,745$7,513$6,455$5,545$4,764$4,093$3,517As shown, the growth in stores allows for a considerable reduction in the per store cost over the projected period. The initial acquisition cost was made by simply dividing the initial $40 million cost by the number of stores in 2002. From the information provided on Page 11 Fig A – Customer Visit Frequency, we calculated the customer base for each satisfaction level. Added to this information was the data derived from the prior table to break out the forecasted revenue stream less the acquisition cost to arrive at the profits made from improving customer service. 002200320042005200620072008 Number of Customers208,050195,047182,856171,428160,714150,669141,252 Customers – Unsatisfied87,38181,92076,80072,00067,50063,28159,326 Customers – Satisfied76,97972,16767,65763,42859,46455,74852,263 Customers – Highly Satisfied43,69140,96038,40036,00033,75031,64129,663 Total R evenue per store$800,800$840,840$882,882$927,026$973,377$1,022,046$1,073,149 Acquistion/Improvement Cost for store-$7,513-$6,455-$5,545-$4,764-$4,093-$3,517 Total Revenue – AC$833,327$876,427$921,481$968,613$1,017,953$1,069,632To increase the profitability based on the CLV data, the maximum bang for the buck is gained by increasing the customer level from satisfied to highly satisfied. Making this switch, Starbucks not only will see an increase in average ticket size from $4. 06 to $4. 42, but the frequency is also increased from 4. 3 to 7. 2 visits per month. All gains yield an additional $98 in incremental gross profit per every customer moved up in satisfaction. Additionally, customer life increases from 4. 4 years to 8. 3 years.As shown in the table below, it makes more sense to pursue after switching satisfied customers to highly satisfied customers as the NPV is far greater than the alternative. Using the NPV from the table and improvement cost for each store we can cal culate the minimum number of customers that we need to switch in 2003 per store. The minimum number of customers to be switched in 2003 = Improvement cost / NPV of satisfied to highly satisfied. = $7,513/$497 = 16 customers/store = 16 * 5,324 stores = 85,184 total customersCustomer LTV/yearChange in revenue by moving up in customer satisfaction levelAvg Customer LifeNet Present Value Unsatisfied$103 Satisfied$119$164. 4 yrs$51. 86 Highly satisfied$217$988. 3 yrs$497. 31 As Starbucks expands and builds more stores, improvement cost per store that is needed is reduced. This, in turn, has a direct effect in reducing the number of customers it needs to switch up one level. Qualitative assessment of Starbucks’ challenges Expectancy-Value ModelKey Attributes (Exhibit 10)Customer Ranking (Exhibit 10)Weights (Exhibit 11)Customer ranking (Exhibit 11)Combined ProbabilityRanking of Importance Treated as a Valuable Customer0. 75free cups after certain number of visits0. 190. 14251 Friend ly Staff0. 73Friendlier, more attentive staff0. 190. 13872 Appropriate Prices0. 65Reduce Prices0. 110. 07153 Fast service0. 65Faster, more efficient service0. 10. 0654 Knowledgeable Staff0. 39More knowledgable staff0. 040. 01565 Selection of merchandise0. 5Better Quality/Variety of Products0. 090. 00456 There is a direct relationship between customer satisfaction and number of visits and revenue which eventually leads to higher profits, Starbucks’ should raise the customer satisfaction levels of its current customer base by making them visit stores more frequently. By using key customer attributes from Exhibit 10 and the consumer weights which was given in Exhibit 11, we can use the expectancy value model to see what are the perceived values to the customer.We can then rank the attributes that consumers would value the most. The expectancy value model shows that faster service is not the highest in perceived value to consumers. There are others that rank higher. Specifically, Starbucks should focus on treating the customer as a valued consumer by rewarding the consumer with free cups of certain coffees after so many purchases. This would surely build more loyalty to the their brand, especially among both the newer and older customers.Starbucks can achieve this by doing one or more of the following: †¢Prices and Promotions – Since Starbucks’ typical customer profile is evolving, the company should look in to running promotions such as discounted prices or a free drink after so many number of visits which could generate additional revenue and possibly increase the average ticket size and customer life for both unsatisfied and satisfied customer level as well as build loyalty among newer and older customers. Improve value to customers with friendly staff – Knowledgeable staff who offer attentive service by greeting and knowing regular customers as well a remembering their drinks would help to improve the value proposition for Star bucks’. This will also try to bridge the gap between Starbucks’ and various other independent specialty coffee shops. †¢Cleanliness – Starbucks’s should ensure that the store is clean at all times (i. e. , restrooms, countertops, trash cans, seating areas, etc. as store cleanliness was ranked as key attributes in creating customer satisfaction (Exhibit 10) †¢Convenience – next on the list is convenience. Starbucks’ could continue to offer customized drinks and further promote sales of its SVC cards to help customers pay for their concoction at their convenience. †¢Improve the customer snapshot measuring techniques to strike a balance in measuring customer satisfaction level. †¢Improve the quality and variety of the coffee Explore additional opportunities to earn peripheral revenues in selling pastries, sandwiches, lunch menus or even liquor. †¢Study in making store atmosphere more conducive to ethnically concentrated geographical locations. WORKS CITED Ho, T. -H. (2006). Incorporating Satisfaction into Customer Value Analysis: Optimal Investment in Lifetime Value. Marketing Science , 260-277. MOON, Y. (2006). Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service. Harvard Business Review .

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Participative Leadership Strengths and Weakness

Participative Leadership Strengths and Weakness Introduction Organizations often desire to achieve high performance. According to scholars in organizational behaviour, organizational leadership is one of the key determinants of organizational performance. Organizational leaders need to choose the right approach of leadership that can help steer the organization towards meeting its goals. There are different approaches of leadership.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Participative Leadership: Strengths and Weakness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Each approach or leadership has its strength and weaknesses; thus, organizational leaders have to be careful when choosing the leadership approach to adopt (Ballantyne, Berret Wells, 2011). This paper discusses participative leadership as one of the styles of leadership. The paper gives an overview of the approach, followed by the strengths and weakness of participative leadership. Overview According to Mumford (2010), par ticipative leadership, which is also known as democratic leadership, is one of the most desirable approaches of leadership in contemporary organizations. It entails the involvement of all organizational members in key decision making. The final decisions are approved after wider consultations have been made across the entire organization. The presumption of this kind of leadership is that each employee has a given piece of information that can aid the organization in meeting its objectives. Therefore, employees are consulted on most of the wider plans of the organization. Here, organizational managers are often seen as facilitators of the leadership process in the organization. They code the ideas of organizational members into key decisions in the organization. In this era where more people are enlightened, most organizations are borrowing the principles of this approach of management in order to make the best use of the diverse knowledge and skills of their employees. This is repl icated in the decisions of most organizations to form decision making groups, where all organizational members are given a chance to air their views on organizational decisions (Mumford, 2010). Strengths and weakness The participative approach of leadership has numerous strengths. First of all, participative leadership promotes a healthy working environment through making each member feel important and needed in the organization. This promotes self esteem of each member of the organization. It also raises the level of communication and cooperation in the organization.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More By allowing all members to participate in the decision making process, the quality of decisions reached are often of a higher quality. Lastly, the approach gives employees room to gain understanding of the complex processes and issues in the organization (Mumford, 2010) . This approach also has numerous weaknesses. Fist of all, the approach elongates the span of time that is taken to make decisions, thus it may not be favourable for responding to emergency situations. Secondly, the decisions reached may be too complex to implement. The rationale behind this is that the decisions are reached out of a wider consultation and input processes. Therefore, whereas the decisions may be of a high quality, they may as well be complex and hard to implement (Mumford, 2010). Matrix Participative leadership Key areas Strengths Weakness Goals Activities designed by all organizational members Time taken to make decisions is too long Behaviours Cohesiveness, high self esteem, and cooperation Desired outcomes Higher quality and inclusive decisions Complex decisions Organizational example An example of an organization that uses the participative approach of leadership is Microsoft Incorporated. Bill Gates, the president of the company, embraces partici pative leadership through empowerment of the subordinates who work on the innovative projects of the company. Employees at Microsoft are allowed to work in groups, where each employee gets a chance to come up with innovative ideas. One best way of participative leadership is providing employees with resources and allowing them to work on organizational projects (Nayab, 2011). Conclusion Organizational leadership, more so the approach of leadership is critical to the performance of an organization. The paper has explored the participative approach of leadership, where it has been noted that this is the most desired approach of leading contemporary organizations. The main strength of this approach is that it encourages the exploration of the skills of employees. Its main weakness is that it may take too long to make decisions. References Ballantyne, S., Berret, B., Wells, M. E. (2011). Planning in reverse: A viable approach to organizational leadership. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefiel d Education.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Participative Leadership: Strengths and Weakness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Mumford, M. D. (2010). Leadership 101. New York, NY: Springer Pub. Nayab, N. (2011). Five Reals of Successful Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/120498-five-real-world-examples-of-successful-leadership/

Monday, November 4, 2019

Insurance Need for Workers and Citizens within the Drilling Zone Term Paper

Insurance Need for Workers and Citizens within the Drilling Zone - Term Paper Example This paper illustrates that the Texas Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the death of oil workers increased by 3.2 percent for the period between 2008-2012, to a total of 545. The Houston Chronicle reported that Texas had the highest deaths at 216. The oil and natural gas industry in Texas faces challenges where insurance partners and energy companies will be forced to adapt for them to benefit from emerging opportunities, as well as the changing landscape. Recently, changing relationships, technological advances and global demand have turned natural gas and oil resources that were previously inaccessible into lucrative opportunities. However, it is evident that opportunities bring about risks that have to be prevented or accounted for by the companies. The companies exploiting these new opportunities increase the potential risks of incurring heavy losses. The subsequent strategic, reputational and financial consequences for the companies involved can be significant. As a result, natural gas and oil companies should focus on the price as well as the quality of their insurance cover. Insurance is an efficient tool for mitigating loss and transferring risk. There are various risks that Texas oil exploration industries face which should be covered with insurances. According to Amirbekyan & Stylianos, oil and natural gas fracking activities pose risks to human health. During the fracking process, approximately 600 chemicals are used to drill out natural gas including known carcinogens and toxicants such as radium, methanol, lead, uranium, mercury, formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid. Natural gas producers engage in activities that have a negative effect on the health of the people and drinking water. The extraction and production of natural gas contaminates water and releases poisonous gases into the atmosphere.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Presentation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Presentation - Research Paper Example Palestinians viewed themselves as dwelling in an occupied state, whereby invaders (Israelis) had placed them in military rule. In order to retaliate, Palestinians built a terrorist network for attacking innocent Israeli nationals. Israelis felt they had to go on controlling Palestinians with military force thereby protecting themselves against further terrorist attacks (Matthews 19). Additionally, Palestinians deem that they are not a free nation since Israeli soldiers obstruct them at every checkpoint between cities. Therefore, most Palestinians have to get approval from Israeli every day so as to go to their places of work, return home, attend the hospital, buy groceries, or call on their own families. According to Matthews, subsequent to a terrorist attack, sometimes soldiers decline to let Palestinians by the checkpoints to go to work or even other prominent places, something that infuriates Palestinians even more (26). Moreover, Israelis control most of the Palestinian water sup ply there giving Palestinians less admittance to water than they require. This makes Palestinians feel disgraced and manipulated by the Israelis. This raises the question as to whether the Israelis will retreat to 1967 borders and permit Palestinians total independence if Palestinians discontinue their terrorist strikes on Israelis. The answer is certainly not (Mattews 32). Despite most of Israelis having the willingness of having their military abscond the Palestinian territories, an influential minority suppose that all of the territory presently known as Palestinian is part of Israel. As a result, they do not want to negotiate or pull back; rather, they want to go on expanding Israeli settlements within Palestinian territories. On the other hand, Israelis deem Palestinian militants as terrorists who are incapable of compromising thereby gaining peace. In fact, Matthews asserts that Palestinian extremists got involved in terrorist

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Arab Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Arab Culture - Essay Example Along with religion even the culture travelled out wards from Arab lands. They left strong mark on almost all fields of human endeavour: architecture, literature, painting and even technology. Arab land is not only rich in oil, it is rich in iron ore, cobalt, lead, magnesium. What was the ancient culture of mankind Culture means a way of life and a way of thinking. Since primitive man was busy cultivating and managing livestock and hunting the first explored art forms were tool making: tools made with pebbles, Ubaid sherds and flints too have been recovered from archeological sites in Egypt and Arab nations. They were used to hunt, make dwellings, sculpting. Colours were made from tree extracts, flowers and vegetables and used for painting. Ancient Arabic literature is rich in lyric and poetry. The Quran, word of God, is one of the ancient written sacred book. Later Arabic literature has gifted the world with 1001 Arabian nights which is even now one of the best sold books world over. Story-telling was one of the major art form. All the three religions which branched out from the philosophy of One God brought discipline in the land: For if you didn't listen to command of God you are condemned. In the name of God magnificent monuments were built.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Demerits of Advertising Essay Example for Free

Demerits of Advertising Essay Advertising is a form of communication used to encourage or persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common. The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as websites and text messagesModern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Type Demerits1 Demerits of Advertising (Objections) Various objections against it may be listed as follows: 1. Economic Objections a) Advertising is not productive. It is true that it does not produce any tangible goods. It is said to involve wasteful expenditure. b) It forces people to desire and buy goods, which, in fact, are not within their means.  c) It increases the cost of goods. Advertising charges are included in the price, which the consumer has to pay. d) Advertising results in monopoly. The consumer becomes a slave to a particular brand. 2. Social Objections a) Most of the advertisements contain tall claims and the consumers do not enjoy the benefits advertisement in full. They are shortlived only. b) The press is influenced by the advertisers because they provide major revenue for the existence of newspapers. 3. Ethical Objections a) Advertising appeals make people to use such articles, which may affect their health. For example alcoholic drinks and cigarettes. b) People with less purchasing power cannot afford to buy articles even though advertisements create a strong need in them. Thus a section of society remains discontented. Whatever may be said against advertising, it is increasingly used almost in every branch of business to promote sales. It is not merely a means of sales promotion but today it has become a science equivalent to any other social science. Type Demerits 2 These are the disadvantages of advertising: Increases the cost: It increases the cost of goods. The cost of the advertisement is included in the price and is ultimately borne by the customers. Misleads the public: It misleads the public by giving false statements about the product. (It may be true in some cases but majority of advertisers know the value of honest statements.) Creates a dissatisfaction: It creates tastes and desires for some people whose income may not allow them to buy. Such people feel dissatisfied. Creates a monopoly: It increases monopolistic trend. Due to advertisement some manufacturers create monopoly in industry and thus reduce healthy competition. It becomes difficult for new firms to enter the field. Creates the confusion: It creates the possibility of wrong purchases. Being impressed by the advertisement, in some cases, a person is not able to purchase the commodity, which he actually wants to purchase. Encourages luxury: This encourages luxury. Mostly the commodities related to comforts and luxuries are advertised, for example, cigarettes, cosmetic goods and etc. due to advertisement of cigarettes several persons start smoking cigarettes, which becomes habit. Reduces cleanliness: It reduces cleanliness. Large number of posters and writings on the walls are used for advertisement. This makes the roads and the walls of the houses look dirty. Thus, it reduces the natural beauty. Causes wastage: It is a cause of wastage of natural resources. As a results of advertisement, style and fashion change quickly. It makes the goods out of fashion.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Lexis Treatment in Language Teaching

Lexis Treatment in Language Teaching Part 1. Examine the treatment of lexis in two course-books. How are the items introduced, practised and tested? Take into account the authors intentions and illustrate your account by close reference to one unit/chapter from each book â€Å"we need to see English language teaching as located in the domain of popular culture as much as in the domain of applied linguistics.† (Pennycock, 1998, p162 cited in Harmer, 2001, p94) For the purpose of this essay, lexis is defined simply as the words that make up a language. It includes all levels from morphemes to lexical phrases (Nattinger, 1988 cited in Harmer, 2001. It also includes the manner in which we ‘recast’ and reframe words with those that are similar, equivalent or alternative in order to fix, or negotiate (McCarthy, 1990), our understanding of the meaning. The two selected course texts, Cutting Edge (Cunningham Moor, 2004) and Matters (Bell, Gower Cunninham, 1998) both integrate elements of a lexical syllabus into their approach. In the following two sections – Module 8 of Cutting Edge and Unit 6 of Matters (see Appendix 1) – lexis is introduced and expanded through a number of methods. Whilst Cutting Edge expounds an engage- practise activate style (Harmer, 2001) of learning cycle (see Walmsley, 1979 cited in Els et al for a exploration of unit based teaching cycles), both combine a discovery learning style with more traditional grammatical constructs. For example, Unit 6 of Matters is entitled Are You Green?. The subject area is the natural world and the subheading is the environment. The language focus of the unit is: â€Å"†¦sentence structure, in particular defining relative clauses (sometimes known as identifying or restrictive clauses); clauses of purpose and clauses of result and  reason.† (Matters, Bell Gower, 1998, Unit 6) This unit introduces a range of vocabulary and contextualises both its language style and content initially through a magazine article. These are then expanded through an intentionally inflammatory ‘interview’. The exercises, although sometimes appearing initially divorced from the previous exercise, conform to a learning cycle approach. They relate to earlier learning as well as serving to re-enforce the meaning of the vocabulary and its contexts. The focus on relative clauses, as with lexical phrases, aims at acquiring a familiarity that enables the students to specific forms more naturally and correctly. In both texts, the material is introduced through oral presentation, discussion, reading and written work. Brainstorming serves t is similar to Greens (1993) word wall in that it provides the vocabulary and offers the opportunity for visual and oral re-enforcement. Cutting Edge has a Language Focus Section. This follows the same practise of building language familiarity through building ‘comparisons and talking about similarities’ (Cunningham Moor, 2004). Both use individual pictorial comparison followed by group discussion to re-enforce vocabulary and make connections to specific situations. As with Matters the same language is used in several formats – a listening and a reading activity. It is worth nothing that both texts recognise how age and culture affects the contexts of a lexicon. Matters warns that: ‘ In multinational classes, be careful: not all countries have the same level of sympathy for and awareness of environmental issues and scientific jargon’ (Bell Gower, 1998, Introduction). They acknowledge that, as Bowerman (1978) states, ‘Lexical rules are language – and culture – specific.’ (cited in Larsen-Freeman Long, 1991). However, both programs aim to move a student away from lexical over-generalisations (Backhouse, 1994) and increase depth of knowledge and breadth of vocabulary. Backhouse (1994) relates lexical development to intra and extra – lingual processes ie the â€Å"semantic relations which hold between lexical items in a given language.† (p.19) and the â€Å"paradigmatic relations† or the specific fields that define meaning within that context. Assessment of student understanding looks at how individuals develop vocabulary around a subject area through discussion, class response and exercises. In essence, it appears that both texts use a ‘field theory’ approach that allows for lexical compartmentalisation and a hyponomic (see McCarthy, 1990, p19) focus on developing associated meanings (Carter McCarthy, 1988). However, they do not limit themselves to associating specific vocabularly within specific fields. â€Å"Lexical phrases or ‘language chunks’ are like prefrabricated building units.† (Lewis, cited in Harmer, 2001, p.21) Part 2. How effective is the treatment of lexis in the two chosen units for a group of learners with whom you are familiar? What changes would you make in using these units with the learners you have identified? Class Profile This class consists of seventeen males and five females, all L1 Arabic speakers. They come from six countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. It is an intermediate level class. 30% are students, 40% are supervisory/managerial levels of employees in Government departments or from private businesses. 20% are self-employed private businessmen and the remaining 10% are homemakers. The age range is 20-58 years. They are currently about half way through a twenty week English course. Whilst the treatment of lexis in the two chosen units is efficient and effective, it does benefit from some individual tailoring towards the above class. For example with some of the students I would perhaps encourage a move towards a more self directed learning plan (Pemberton et al, 2001). Others need more scaffolding. I have also tried to cater for learning styles so that a variety of exercises are supported by a variety of materials and presented in more than one way. I have not simply repeated specifics, but changed the way they are communicated. Clearly, cognitive tools vary according to each individual and the situation so no assumptions should be made (see Papademetre Scarino, 2000 for an exploration of class and culture) based on ones own parameters. However, the attached are two lesson plans that I have adapted to suit this class. These are adapted to work on this classes particular understanding of certain collocations. Common patters are re-iterated: verb + noun (fly a kite) adjective + noun (a light snowfall) adverb + verb (to boldly go) adverb + adjective (totally different) adjective + preposition (similar to) noun + noun (a collocation dictionary) (adapted from http://www.eli.ubc.ca/teachers/lexicon.html) However, as Schmitt 2000) and Thornbury (1999) both stress, idioms, idiomatic phrases and expressions – especially those with different meanings are further developed. The aim is to provide the students with an all round lexical confidence supported by a good knowledge of vocabulary as well as lexical phrases. Where specific lexical approaches have been used, they are mentioned in the lesson plans and sequences. Class of 22. Level Intermediate 02 TITLE: ARE YOU GREEN? Adapted from Matters- Intermediate (Bell Gower, 1998) Unit 6 Date 31st January 2006 Lesson duration 60 minutes Resources: handouts, cassettes, audio-player, white-board, OHP and transparencies Course text books Lesson Aims: Reading skills: magazine article on the ‘ungreen’ Moore family Comprehension check. Vocabulary and pronounciation skills Develop familiarity with colloquial and informal spoken and written English. Develop language for use both in and out of classroom. Develop language around a major current topic – environmentalism – that is widely relevant Awareness of word fields Contribute to discussion Contribute to brainstorming sessions Work independently with confidence Work confidently with lexical variations eg the ‘schwa /?/ Familiarisation with colloquial English publications (newspaper, magazines, journal excerpts etc) Contact with everyday English Teacher modelling Raise student awareness eg of pronounciation and meaning changes through stress syllabuls. Phrasal words Language ‘chunking’. Awareness of expression and collocations, their usefulness and frequency Develop OHP transparencies or posters of mind maps and word fields Anticipated Problems problems with reading new vocabulary technical problems eg OHP, audio-player timetable fit have a ‘hit list’ of potential problem words and definitions ready elicit and drill (time allowing) problem words where possible encourage students to develop a ‘power word’ list (Cary, 2000) of their own. Have English/Arabic dictionaries ready but use to note and refer to later Stand-by handouts if OHP fails Stand-by audio player Ensure good time keeping 19.00 19.05 19.05 19.15 19.25 19.30 19.35 19.45 19.50 20.00 Introduction and warm up. Small talk, humour or anecdotes etc Elicit the word green and discuss culturally specific colour associations eg in the UK blue can mean sad, yellow cowardice, red danger and green innocence, jealousy or environmental issues. Discuss and support with modelling and writing on white board. Lexically this exploration of meanings associated with colour will help students understand language extension, engage through subject matter, encourage higher order thinking and build vocabulary necessary for the lesson. Pairwork. Set the theme: two environmental problems facing the world presently ie global warming, loss of wildlife and habitiat etc. Elicit words and write on board. Set students to work together on this. The connotations associated with environmental issues eg wildlife, habitat loss, global warming are real and relevant to most students. This exercise requires students to develop a lexical framework to support both facts and opinions and know which areas they wish to find more language to fill. Ask students if in their countries they have an equivalent of the Green/Environmental Party? Explain what the Greens are and stand for. Set a discussion of this again in pairs. This has the same lexical aim as the previous section. Display a picture or poster of the Green Party on the white board. In pairs of threes read Are these people criminals? When finished reading, complete the exercise matching the paragraph number with the figure or object on the right of the page (see appendix 1) Read through the answers with the students. Matters, p42/43. Set exercise 2 p.43. to do individually or in pairs. Lexical rationale – aim for students to use and apply new language. Go through answers a to e with the students, giving a verbal explanation of each and support on the white board. Ask students to work in pairs and make a list of verbs on handouts eg: save, recycle, buy, ban, use, prevent. Show the students how these can be used in collocations and phrasal words from the text. Lexical rationale – starting to extend vocabulary into actions associated with environmentalism and using a discursive exercise to encourage their recognition and usage. Handouts Set exercise 3, a practise in relative clauses, and give out handouts. Students read through the test and complete it. Go through the answers with students answering one by one. Lexical rationale – aims towards students developing referencing skills by looking up words either individually or in pairs. Listening and speaking skills: pronounciation focus on the schwa. Students listen to the recording and take notes. Go through the exercise marking the syllables and stress in word pronounciation. Go through the answers on the white board. Lexical rationale – as part 1 explored, pronounciation and stress hightens student awareness of how intonation affects meaning. Second tape recording. Listen to the second recording and go through the rubric with the students. Students give answers back around the class and then practice in pairs the sentences in exercise 2. Matters p.45. Lexical rationale – extension of pronounciation focus. Wordspot focus. A lexical exercise to recap, re-iterate and re-enforce. FINISH. Issue handouts of target text. Put a transparency of the â€Å"Something† word-field flow chart on the OHP. Divide the students into A’s and B’s. A reads the instructions on p.135 and B on p138. (answering each others questions.) Issue handouts f the word-field for homeword and ask students to add at 4-5 new phrases with ‘something’ in them. Follow up first thing next lesson. Develops autonomous lexical growth at students own rate of learning ie with no time pressure Class of 22. Level Intermediate 02 TITLE: Adapted from Cutting Edge – Intermediate (Cunningham Moor, 2004) Module 8 Date 04th February 2006 Lesson duration 60 minutes Resources: handouts, cassettes, audio-player, white-board, OHP and transparencies, Course text books Lesson Aims: To reinforce reading and listening skills To reinforce comprehension. Vocabulary and pronounciation skills Develop familiarity with colloquial and informal spoken and written English. Develop language for use both in and out of classroom. Awareness of word fields Contribute to discussion Contribute to brainstorming sessions Work independently with confidence Establish preparation for next class Reading and listening exercises Vocabulary building exercises Excerpts taken from Cutting Edge follow on from previous reading and listening exercises but focusing on how to use words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) in phrases and collocations used in everyday English Teacher modelling Phrasal words Language ‘chunking’. Awareness of expression and collocations, their usefulness and frequency Develop OHP transparencies or posters of mind maps and word fields Set grammar/language points, p44 (Matters), for home work reading (using scanning and familiarisation) in readiness for the next class Anticipated Problems Some problems with reading and pronounciation problems with reading new vocabulary technical problems eg OHP, audio-player timetable fit have a ‘hit list’ of potential problem words and definitions ready elicit and drill (time allowing) problem words where possible encourage students to develop a ‘power word’ list (Cary, 2000) of their own. Have English/Arabic dictionaries ready but use to note and refer to later Stand-by handouts if OHP fails Stand-by audio player Ensure good time keeping Rationale for lesson focus Students need to practice their reading, listening and speaking skills more. They need to further their informal vocabulary In the previouse lesson (Are you Green?) issues were featured and discussed at some length. This lesson aims to restore a balance and put into perspective the alternative view featuring some of the benefits of the modern world so it is not always perceived as a wholly negative experience as can be construed by ‘Green/Environmentalist’ action groups. This could be important to avoid confusion in some students minds. (The fact that alternative opinions exist regarding the controversy surrounding this subject across the world. Timing 19.00 19.05 19.10 19.15 19.20 19.25 19.30 19.40 19.55 20.00 Introduction and warm up. Go over points from previous lesson. Small talk, humour or anecdotes etc (if time permits!) Review homework exercises concerning phrases and collocations from ‘Something.’ Appoint one student to write the answers on to the chart of white board. Go around the class an dget their answers and their explanations from each student. Tell students to note down answers. Brief review of work then move on. Flip chart of ‘somethings’ word-filed attached to white board. Focus and elicit upon the words inventor and successful. Get associated words too – invent, invention, succeed from the students. Ask students to predict/guess what kind of advice/information will be found in the text from comparing pictures on the left to those on the right. Handouts. Issue reading excerpts ‘How to be a successful inventor.’ Tell students to scan through the reading in 2-3 minutes. Read text individually. (Cutting Edge Teaching notes and coursebook.) Check for understanding especially words and phrases like light bulb, to be patient, purpose, to understand the porential of something, a dot, a s screen, a button, a know. Lexical rationale – re-enforcement of vocabulary plus the added re-pronounciation of read words, explanation of phrases indicates a development allowing for lexical phrases as well and comparative meanings. Put the answers on the OHP and go through these one by one. Handouts and transparency. Group work. Set students to discuss this task in groups of four or five. Apoint one from each group and get their feedback in turns. Listening and vocabulary skills (Cutting Edge, p.81) Handouts. Pronounciation and pair work. Emphasise with the students beforehand that they only have to identify which machines are being discussed in the tape. Do one example for the students in A. Press tehbutton down then play cassette 1 stopping after each phrase is used to check answers. Discuss the answers to B in pairs. Pair work. Set task 3, p81. Give students a few moments to think it over, preferably ones their partner is unfamiliar with students can draw it to explain it to the, Use examples each student is familiar with personally. Go around the class helping and prompting as needed. Explain using examples what a compound noun is. Go through the two rules – noun + gerund and gerund/noun + asdjective on the whiteboard. Repeat a couple of examples showing where the stress is to be found in both words ie laptop computer. Etc Lexical rationale – as covered in part 1, stress is extremely important for realisation of language variability and meaning. In this case the lexicon is integrated with a grammatical function. Pair work and individual response help to focus students on the task in reinforce the lanaguage learning. Give the students a little time to work this out then play cassette 2. Listen and practise pronouncing the words before giving out the answers to the pronounciation task. Set home work task (reading to familiarise only) Cutting Edge p81 handout. FINISH read ahead of time p44, Unit 6, Matter’s Intermediate Unit 6. Go over again also the reading and pronounciation work taught in class today in preparations for the next lesson’s review of this. Check students again for clarification and understanding of these. References Backhouse, A.E. (1994) The Lexical Field of Taste: a semantic study of Japanese taste terms. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Bell, J., Gower, R. Cunningham, G. (1998) Intermediate Matters. Harlow, Essex: Longman. Carter, R., McCarthy, M. (1988) Vocabulary and Language Teaching. Harlow, Essex: Longman. Cary, S. (2000) Working with Second Language Learners: answers to teachers top ten questions. Portsmouth, USA: Heinemann Cunningham , S. Moor , P. (2005) Cutting Edge – Intermediate (14th Impression) Harlow, Essex: Pearson English Language Teaching, Longman. Green, J. (1993) The Word Wall: teaching vocabulary through immersion. Ontario, Canada: Pippin Publishing Ltd. Harmer, J. (2001). The Practise of English Language Teaching. Harlow, Essex: Longman Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S. (2003) Educational Psychology for learning and teaching. Southbank, Victoria: Thomson. Lewis, M. (1993) Implementing the Lexical Approach. UK: Language Teaching Publictions Larsen-Freeman. D., Long, M (1991) An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research. Harlow, Essex: Longman McCarthy, M. (1990). Vocabulary. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Papademetre, L. Scarino, A. (2000) Integrating Culture Learning in the Languages Classroom: a Multi-perspecitive Conceptual Journey for Teachers. Melbourne, Australia: Language Australia Pemberton, R., Toogood, S., Ho, S. Lam, J. (2001) Approaches to advising for self-directed language learning. In Learner Autonomy (Leni Dam, Editor) The AILA Review 15, pp. 16-26 Schmitt,N (2000) Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Thornbury, S (1999). How to Teach Vocabulary Harlow, UK: Longman Websites Parallel Processing. JamesL.McClelland TimothyT.Rogers. Accessed 7 February 2006. http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v4/n4/abs/nrn1076_fs.html;jsessionid=98854A4BE16819AEB3B2C4220B9A470D Lexicon http://www.eli.ubc.ca/teachers/lexicon.html accessed 9 February 2006