Shaping Identity Using Social Structure

INTRODUCTION Social structure and social interaction are integral in evaluating a person’s identity. Identities are the sets of meanings people hold for themselves that define â€Å"what it means† to be who they are as persons, as role occupants and as group members (PJB article) People are generally influenced by the norms and beliefs of society. A person’s identity is formed through a combination of factors derived from social structure (macrosociology) and social interaction (microsociology).The self influences society through the actions of individuals thereby creating groups, organizations, networks, and institutions (PJB a soiciological approach to self and identity). Reciprocally, society influences the self through its shared language and meanings that enable a person to take the role of the other, engage in social interaction, and reflect upon oneself as an object. (PJB, a sociological approach to self and identity). This essay explores how components of social structure can be more important in shaping an individual identity than social interaction.PARAGRAPH 1 (Definitions& Context) Social structure refers to the framework that surrounds us, consisting of the relationships of people and groups, which gives direction to and sets limits on behaviour. (Sociology, A Down to Earth Approach SDEA) K Plummer defines social structures as the patterns of predictable human actions that cluster around key problems in living and they vary in all societies. Social structure is all around us and is what helps to dictate our behaviour and keep our life in order.It sets the scene for an individual to behave and act appropriately in different settings at different times. Social structure is made up of culture, social class, social status, roles, groups and social institutions (SDEA). Social interaction is the way that people interact with one another (SDEA). According to K Plummer, human beings engage continually in social action and interaction wi th others – changing their own lives and others. We are never solitary individuals and always depend on others for a sense of who we are (K Plummer).A person’s action is influenced by the actions or awareness of others. Social interaction includes stereotypes, personal space, touching, eye contact, smiling, applied body language, dramaturgy, role performance, conflict and strain (SDEA). The difference between social structure and social interaction is that social structure provides a guide to everyday life and social interaction provides a meaning of sense (ref)? PARAGRAPH 2 Social status refers to a position that someone occupies (SDEA). Statuses can be prestigious or less prestigious and range from mother, daughter, spouse, lawyer to criminal.Most individuals are found to occupy several statuses simultaneously thus giving us the term ‘status set’(SDEA). For example, an individual can take on the status of mother, wife, employee and friend. Out of all the statuses we occupy, there is one significant status that tends to override all the other statuses one may occupy, this is termed as a ‘master status’ (SDEA). Status can be further divided into two types, ‘achieved status’ and ‘ascribed status’. To illustrate ‘achieved status’, Usain Bolt is best known for being the fastest man in the world.We see him as a 26 year old Jamaican track and field athlete, a son and brother, but ever since winning both 100 meter and 200 meter races in the London 2012 Olympics, his achievements has earned him that title. ‘Achieved status’ can be both positive and negative (SDEA). By contrast, factors that are involuntary and inherited such as race, sex, family social class, is known as ‘ascribed status’ (SDEA). These factors are usually beyond our control. As life brings change, so too do our statuses. It is constantly evolving according to changes and stages in life.Despite our state of affairs, it is our status that guides our behaviour. For instance, a colleague may turn up to work one day after facing some difficulties at home, however in a work environment, he would continue to work and behave in a professional manner regardless of his personal situations. In addition, individuals can also reinforce their identity by using status symbols in as part of their appearance. This can be in the form of a work uniform to signify an occupation, or in a fashion sense, the type of clothing worn is a silent statement of what sets you apart from others.PARAGRAPH 3 As Linton states, â€Å"a person holds a status, and performs a role†. Simply put, a status is a position and a role is a set of behaviours. With each status, follows a certain role for us to take part in. People tend to adapt to roles, moving through different roles in fluency as student, son, friend. Because people tend to have many different statuses and therefore, many different roles, conflic t occasionally occurs among the various roles. The concept of role conflict is â€Å"conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses† (ref).A good example of role conflict lies in the working mother; she must take on the responsibilities of mothering the children at home while taking on the responsibilities of working outside the home, away from the children, in order to earn an income (RR). This kind of conflict involves roles which arise from separate statuses, but the same sort of conflict can occur from the roles of a single status. Role strain, then, is â€Å"tension among the roles connected to a single status†. A teacher, for example, can be friendly with his or her students, but must remain objective in grading them.Roles help to keep our behaviour aligned to our particular status. Roles are an essential component of social structure because they lay out what is expected of people. Role performance is the way in which someone performs a role, showing a particular ‘style’ or ‘personality’ (SDEA). Role performance allows us our own unique individuality to show through. PARAGRAPH 4 â€Å"Knowledge is power, information is liberating, education is the premise of progress in every society in every family†. These famous words quoted by Kofi Annan refer to a few social institutions that are a part of social structure.Social instituitions consist of family, religion, education, economics, medicine, politics, law, science, military and mass media (SDEA). Each one functions separately but together they enable society to maintain order and create a sense of community. The mass media influences our attitudes toward social issues, the ways that we view other people and even our self-concept (SDEA). Information in the media can be extremely persuasive, it can easily alter our perception if we are not careful or have very little experience in the topic of interest. They not only provide information and recreat ion but also mould public opinion and attitudes.The information and knowledge which we accumulate through life from media is part of creating an identity for ourselves. To demonstrate, smoking advertisements have been around to promote awareness and advises us of serious health implications. However, today’s youth may view it differently and partake in it because of peer pressure. On the other hand, media can also bring nations together when there is an important event such as the Olympics, press conferences and so on (RR). The topic of religion is another social institution as it involves patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its basic needs (steven Burkan).Emile Durkheim (1915/1947) [1] observed long ago that every society has beliefs about things that are supernatural and awe-inspiring and beliefs about things that are more practical and down-to-earth (Durkheim, E. (1947). The elementary forms of religious life (J. Swain, Trans. ). Glencoe, IL: Free Pre ss. (Original work published 1915)). Religion teaches us to practise a way of life that is fulfilling for self and others, thus enabling individuals to become better people. This can also create a meaning of identity for some. The other social institutions such as education, politics, law and the military keeps society safe and in order.They inform us of rules and regulations so that society can function and maintain order. Each social institution establish the context which we live, shaping our behaviour and colouring our thoughts. (SDEA). Social institutions form the pillars of society, they are not only a set of rules, but markers for society to develop an identity that is aligned with culture. CONCLUSION Which is more important in shaping individual identity? Studies of social structure attempt to explain the significance of shaping one’s identity and in combination play a vital role in defining an individual.It is the content, which provides a way of making sense of who we are. This provides development to an identity which individuals are embedded in and therefore understood, communicated, and shared with others in culture. For example, individuals can define their identity upon meeting someone for the first time by describing what they do, where they are from or whether or not they are in a relationship. Social structure as we can see today can shape opinions, attitudes and thought which leads us to our behaviour and thus our identity.

IP Addresses Classes and Special Essay

Use IP Address Space In a computer network internet protocol is used for communication, to each device such as printers and computers a numerical label called an IP (Internet Protocol) Address is assigned. There are two functions of an IP Address a host or network interface identification, and also provides a location addressing. The basic elements of a network are the IP Address and Subnet Mask. There is also switching and routing which after you connect devices to switches and routers, data packets can be moved across the network. The Internet Protocol Version 4 (known as IPv4) is a protocol highly used even today, this IP Address consist of a 32-bit number in decimal or binary in four parts. In 1995 Internet Protocol Version 6 (known as IPv6) was created due to a high growth of the Internet, and the reduction of available IP addresses. IPv6 consist of a 128-bit number for addresses, in 1998 IPv6 was standardized as RFC 2460 and since the mid-2000’s has been used. Stored in text files and displayed as a readable notation IP Addresses are started as binary numbers, before their put out in readable form for individuals. Subnet short for Sub-network was not present in 1969 the classes of A – E did not exist yet. There were only 254 distinct networks with each network having a max of 16,777,214 IP addresses, because the first 8 bits for network part are standard reserved. Network Classes were developed in 1981. 16,777,214 IP addresses can be placed in 24 bits for host address, with this on the horizon developers found that they had to partition IP addresses. This partition had to be done in a way so we can have different sizes of a network. Different sizes of network bits eventually created different classes of networks, known today as Class A, Class B, and Class C. This solved the issue with the classes, but with little information given we still needed to identify what is the network class. In octets Class A (network bit 8 host bit 24) always between 0-127, Class B (network bit 16 host bit 16) between 128-191, Class C (network bit 24 host bit 8) between 192-224, Class D (network and host bit not defined) between 225-239, and Class E (network and host bit not defined) between 240-255. References: Decinteral.in.com Understanding IP Address and Subnet Mask Microsoft Tech.Net Wikipedia.com

The Quasi-market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Quasi-market - Essay Example On the supply side, there is competition between service suppliers; but, in contrast with pure markets, suppliers are not necessarily privately owned, nor are they necessarily required to make profits. On the demand side, consumer purchasing power resides not in cash but in a budget confined to the purchase of a specific service, and the service user does not exercise the final choice concerning purchasing decisions. Despite such artificiality, the quasi-market is a key concept in the quasi-business discourse. We're social work to think of itself as though it were a business, then having a market with which it had to deal was crucial to the installation of that thinking. The degree of shift involved is indicated in the powerful political legitimation function the quasi-market performed for the Conservative government. Market outcomes are neither fair nor unfair. They are either the result of the operation of impersonal market forces or they stem from the body responsible for gate kee ping access to the market in the case of social work, the local authority. As such, quasi-markets offered the possibility of central government holding at arm’s length the responsibility for the outcomes of its social welfare policy. The introduction of quasi-markets in social work, initially in the sphere of community care but later developing in a range of other services such as foster care and children’s homes, made a significant contribution to establishing the social work business, for a number of reasons. First, marketisation undermined the sense in which social services had represented a

Heuristics and Print Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Heuristics and Print Advertising - Essay Example This calls for the use of simpler methods to get satisfactory solutions. An example of this is the application of heuristics. Heuristics refers to experience-based techniques for discovery, learning and solving problems. Heuristics can also be described as simplifying strategies or rules of thumb that help people in their reasonable judgment and make guesses more quickly. Therefore, they are informal shortcuts or rules used to make daily judgments and get satisfactory solution since organizations cannot afford to spend large amounts of resources like energy, time and money on every single judgment or detail of life (Kahneman et al, 1982). Consumer behavior theories also give a good understanding of the behavioral trends among consumers and the factors that affect their decisions. Marketers combine information from these theories with heuristics so as to attain strategic marketing. The consumer behaviour theory gives a practical application of understanding the behaviour trends in con sumers and thus providing a way of strategizing to influence them. The theory explains the psychological, mental, emotional, non-utilitarian or subjective aspects of consumer behaviour in making buying decisions. ... It is also important to understand that there are consumers who are always after brands of high value hence they seek a lot of information on available brands before making any purchase (Engel et al 1995). Other consumers have habitual buying behaviour whereby they purchase products as a habit whereas others are variety seeking. Howard (1989) states that variety consumers always shop around to get a different brand of a product just to have variety. Variety seeking consumers are the best targets for advertisements since it brings the existence of the brand into their attention so that they can seek it. When they have got used to it, the manufacturers can make slight changes to re-advertise it as a new or improved product once again. Another consumer behaviour theory that explains the trends in consumer behaviour is the neoclassical consumer theory. This theory is a branch of microeconomics that deals with understanding consumer behaviours through the application of classical models o f economics. These models are based on the perception of consumers as people who are very rational in their decision making. In this respect it views them as people who always seek to maximize their satisfaction and benefits with purchases through informed and reasoned analysis of utility and value. When the neoclassical consumer theory is applied to consumer behaviour, it assumes that the utility or benefit of a product describes their behaviour over a life time. The utility maximizing rule states that for consumers to maximise satisfaction, they should allocate their finances so that the last amount of money spend on each product yields the same utility. The neoclassical theory factors in the issue of elasticity. If a product is highly elastic, its consumption will reduce if its price

Solid Mechanics Assignment Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Solid Mechanics Assignment - Lab Report Example After the model was imported to ALGOR FEA the log was checked to ensure that there were no import errors or missing geometry. Then a fixed boundary condition was applied to the internal surface of the larger cylinder after which a normal force of 500 N was applied to the internal surface of the smaller cylinder. The application of a fixed boundary condition to one area of the model meant that the model was constrained from moving within that axis of rotation or translation. The model could either rotate on the longitudinal axis of the constrained cylinder or it could translate in either three directions (x, y and z). Implementing a fixed boundary condition indicates that the model is unable to move in any direction at all. Generally a fixed boundary condition can be considered analogous to a welded piece that is unable to move but can bend or flex under applied force. Though this may not simulate the actual conditions one on one (where the crank actually rotates though it does not tr anslate at all), but it does provide a satisfactory numerical investigation model. Furthermore the application of a normal force to the other cylinder’s internal surface indicates the application of normal average force when the crank will be in use. This application of force assumes that the pin attached to the smaller cylinder of the crank will be able to transmit the applied force at the pedal completely and uniformly all across the surface of the cylinder and that this force will be normal to the provided surface. However practically this is not going to be possible as the pin will bear some kind of clearance to ensure free rotation and the clearance in turn will mean that the pin will contact the cylinder non-uniformly. Moreover the pin’s contact will produce a normal force at areas with complete contact while they will produce slightly skewed forces where the cylinder only partially contacts the subject surface. This method of applying a force to the model is non ideal yet the approximation is tolerable enough because what will take place inside the cylinder is similar. Any differences in force will not be very significant so using normal force’s application is a viable technique. The model was given a material of Steel 4130 which was present in the software’s library. After this the model was meshed using default settings. After meshing the model was simulated for calculating the developed stress and for the FOS (factor of safety) calculations. The results for the first run are shown below. The mesh was redefined for element size (which was lowered) although the mesh was still based on a 4 point Jacobian approach. The newly meshed model was then simulated in order to see the effects of a changed mesh size on the numerical investigation. The results from the re-meshed run are shown below. The results above clearly indicate that the stress distribution levels and the FOS distribution did not change at all indicating that the pr evious mesh control was providing a mesh independent solution. Therefore for the purpose of this analysis and optimisation the previous mesh controls were re-implemented as a mesh independent solution had been achieved. The results above clearly show that the lowest FOS is very high which indicates a rather overdesigned scenario. The current situation dictates that the FOS ought to be around 3:1 for a viable design. In order to achieve a more suitable FOS the design was optimised for a

Challenges of Work Placement Feasibility Case Study

Challenges of Work Placement Feasibility - Case Study Example In order to ensure that no major conflict arouses between the company and the architect consultant, the following techniques were applied: a. A clear description of the requirement as follows was provided to the Architect: i. The project should be of a 5-star hotel category. ii.Number of rooms required: 100 iii. The purpose and objective of the project is â€Å"Customer satisfaction†. Hence, all activities involved with the project had to be looked at from a â€Å"Customer† perspective. Should carry facilities of the minimum standard requirement of a hotel such as: a. Minimum 25 let able rooms b. Located suitably c. Public areas and rooms well appointed & centrally located d. Kitchen, Pantry & rooms well designed and equipped e. Bathrooms with shower facilities, 24 hours hot & cold water and with modern design and high quality fittings. f. Ladies and gents cloakrooms furnished with high standards g. Architecture feat and construction of building should have distinctive qualities of luxury. h. Quality of walls and garden of high standards i. Adequate parking space for vehicles. j. Well designed and equipped swimming pool with recycling facility k. B/rooms modern in design & fittings of high quality with hot/cold water - 24 hrs. l. Reception, cash and information counters m. Well appointed lobby area n. Minimum of one conference and banquet halls o. Lifts to be installed for building more than two floors. p. Rooms to be spacious and well furnished with curtains and upholstery q. Lighting arrangements in all areas r. Dual telephone line facilities in each room s. Provision for relayed music in each room t. Remote control televisions to be provided. u. Flooring to be of high quality in all areas v. Elegant bar with luxury w. Special restaurant for entertainment x. Restaurant with multi-cuisine v. A plan was defined with the following: i. The layout should provide maximum capacity within the available space. ii. Handling of material in the most economical manner. iii. Human effort, material and space to be optimally utilized, where wastage had to be avoided. iv. No delays/bottlenecks in the completion of the construction. v. Should have no requirement of making changes of installed machinery vi. Service areas such as... Several contractors subscribed. The above-obstructing parameters were checked and a contract was awarded to one architect consultant - Velmar Inc. who was responsible for end-to-end execution of the project with a group of construction companies, and who qualified with all above parameters. c. Further, a Facilities and Administration Manager was appointed by the company to follow-up on the activities of the architect consultant. This manager was qualified with Engineering background and quality controls, and security aspects. a. Ensure the luxury property is members of an elite group of hotels that exhibit an exceptionally high degree of service and hospitality, and where the property displays an original design, elegant room decor, exceptional dining, and meticulous grounds. ii. Having other consultants carrying out other activities would bring in competition, thus quality would be better, because one consultant may fear that the other is doing good in quality, hence want to ensure that they are better.

Locke and Rousseau on Social Contract Research Paper

Locke and Rousseau on Social Contract - Research Paper Example It is selfish in a way that they did not care for the welfare of other humans. Nevertheless, they were bounded by some natural laws that regulated their behavior. For instance, they were mindful of the rule that they should not hurt each other (Locke 192). They were ought to preserve the existence of humans on earth. Significantly, humans have deemed it necessary and convenient to make a social group (Locke 253). They have actually felt the importance of belongingness -- that is to become part of a human gathering. They have found it convenient to be able to utilize the skills of others to pursue an endeavor. In this sense, humans have learned to become social. They have considered the importance of others to their continued existence. As a consequence, relationships were formed. Forms of interactions have developed. Humans have known each other. They demonstrated ways to help others. In other words, mutual understanding has developed between them. This was the beginning of man to wo man interaction. As cited by Locke, "the first society was between man and wife" (253). This social inclination began the relation between parents and their children (Locke 253). Stated otherwise, the first social institution is the family. Locke specifically referred the family as a conjugal society (253). It is conjugal because the union of man and woman carries with it reciprocal benefits. Mutual assistance and support as well as communion of interests are examples of these benefits (Locke 253). These advantages may have driven humans to form a family. The family therefore is the first form of social group that humans have created. It is the original proof of society’s existence. In a family, humans could find security in all aspects. This finding as proposed by John Locke may have contributed to the present understanding of filial relationship. In another case, Locke included the topic on slavery. He emphasized the fact that slaves are not "part of civil society" (Locke 2 58). In this context, it can be claimed that to be part of civil society, a particular social group must have freedom. This freedom encompasses the right to own, use and enjoy a property. This could mean that an individual belonging to a civil society has the corresponding right to exercise his or her civil rights. To note, the right to own a property belongs to the larger scope of civil rights. As time goes by, humans have found it necessary to protect and preserve their life, liberty and estate (Locke 259). Locke actually considered the three as forms of property (Ashcraft 412). In such case, they formed a political society. In forming this society, the members of the civil society are to surrender some of their natural powers to "the hand of the community" in which they can ask for protection (Locke 260). This protection is made possible by the establishment of a political structure; hence, the creation of the government. This body politic would be the representative of the peopl e as a whole. For this body to be legalized, a majority consent from the community is needed (Laski 16). Locke actually preferred a commonwealth than absolute monarchy. He described the commonwealth as an independent community and not a democracy (Locke 301). For him, a commonwealth has three powers, legislative, executive and federative. These powers are ought to be separated according to Locke. At the end of his treatise, Locke

Ethics and Morals in Criminal Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethics and Morals in Criminal Justice - Essay Example ince their inception, these laws have inordinately targeted particular segments of our society, creating a perpetual underclass and left millions of people unable to escape from the criminal justice system. Not only is continuing these kinds of policies politically and economically unsustainable, these laws are ethically shameful. Legalizing and decriminalizing addictive substances, but controlling their distribution as the government does with many other goods, represents the moral and necessary solution to a problem that has persisted through a half of a century. However, inherent to the question of change-from comes the question of change-to; that is, if we are to repeal the War on Drugs and restrictive policies, what is the best solution moving forward? After looking at the kind of economic and normative imperatives we face from our drug policies, the kinds of solutions available in the aftermath of decriminalization shall be made apparent using case studies of other nations who have enjoyed success moving in this progressive direction. Although drug policies are well-intentioned, they do have harmful unintended social and moral consequences. For instance, looking at the economics of addiction, government regulation of addictive substances has large-scale and adverse consequences. The substitution and set-point effects of drugs harm a larger number in the preregulation population (Gifford Jr., 1999). Some authors have found a direct correlation between the Drug War and homicide rates in certain populations. These same studies conclude that empirical results indicate drug-control policy is far more expensive and less prohibitive than expenditures made by the criminal justice system. That is, decriminalization of controlled substances is the only financially stable option (Brumm & Cloninger, 1995). In addition to being a massive liability for the Federal government both militarily and with civilian law enforcement, the War on Drugs is the social costs on

Compare and Contract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Compare and Contract - Essay Example The methodology is an evolutional process is which the findings change and evolve throughout the study. In contrast using a quantitative research approach starts with a specific research objective and through the process of gathering statistical data confirms the initial objectives of the study. In quantitative research collection of statistical data is used to investigate and answer research questions (Christensen, et al, 2011, p. 29). Researchers using a quantitative research approach will interpret and format numerical data systematically to produce evidence to support the research objective(s). In using the template for analyzing research both the Zoo Research Study and the Event Path Research for Professionals were similar in that each contained the majority of the items suggested allowing for a thorough examination. The problems and/or objective of the study (ies) were identified and verifiable citations were presented throughout the reports. The studies identified the specific populations targeted, the data collecting methods used; the studies presented the hypothesis, findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research studies to broaden the knowledge base on the subjects studied. Even though the populations of the individual studies were different with the Zoo Study focused primarily on children in grades K-12, and the Event Path Research examined adults, both studies sought to understand cognition, how to increase critical thinking, and enhancing problem solving skills. In contrast the research methodologies and approaches were different. The study involving the impact of field trips to aquariums, zoos, and nature parks on children used a â€Å"mixed† research design in which qualitative and quantitative methods were combined. The use of interviews and observations along with statistical data helped researcher form conclusions and base

Communication an organisations Essay Example for Free

Communication an organisations Essay This assessment is to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of the topics taught in leading and motivating a team effectively module of the ILM Level 3 Course in Leadership and Management. The document will be split into two main sections, the first section will focus on how to communicate an organisations vision and strategy to the team as well as provide an analysis on its importance. The second section will look at the role motivation in the development of a team. Section 1: How to communicate an organisations vision and strategy to the team One of the definitions of the word team (in its verb form) is, come together to achieve a common goal (Oxford University Press, 2014). It is this common goal or purpose that turns a group of individuals into a team without a common purpose or goal to strive toward a team cannot function effectively. For example in a football team each player needs to know their place and role in the team, but also the strategy and vision for wider team, is the team an attacking team, a defensive team, do they attack via the wings etc. without knowing the common goal of the team the players will look to their own role and not know how to support the wider team and therefore are less likely to achieve their common goal. The same holds true within an organisation not just at an individual person level but at a departmental level, if teams do not know the wider vision or strategy of the organisation they can become siloed and retreat upon themselves and just focus on delivering the â€Å"day job† rather than support the organisation in a more holistic role. With the above in mind, it’s clear to see that for a team to perform it needs clarity in its purpose, and from a business point of view this should be given by the vision and strategy of the organisation. The vision tells us what the organisation wants to be, it doesn’t focus on the how that is the role of the strategy, the vision is a simple statement of what it wants to achieve. Below is an example vision statement from Amazon. Our vision is to be earths most customer-centric company where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online†¦ at the lowest possible prices. It’s a fairly short statement but allows staff and managers to know that the focus of Amazon is on three things †¢Being Customer Focused †¢Providing Online Services †¢Cost effectiveness (for Amazon and the customer) With the vision clearly stated it helps teams understand the direction in which the organisation wants to go, the next step is to explain how team fits in this vision and will help deliver it. Once the vision of an organisation is understood, it’s important about going about explaining how it will achieve this and this is referred to as the strategy. The strategy should be a series of plans that detail how elements of the vision will be achieved; for example Amazon’s vision could be split into two strategies; being customer centric and providing online services with cost effectiveness being a theme that runs across both strategies. These plans would then be broken down into more tactical detail such as action plans and SMART objectives to be carried out an operational level. For example a call centre team will have several objectives/KPI such as Calls answered in less than 5 seconds in a given month or First Time Call Resolution 95% (Year to Date), which without much explanation simply look like tools to ensure staff are doing their jobs when in fact they are SMART objectives that relate to the customer focused strategy of Amazon’s vision and how effec tively that strategy is working. It is the performance of these objectives that dictate future strategy, poor performance may result in a change of strategy (i.e. outsourcing) where as good performance could result in the current strategy being maintained or even expanded (i.e. expansion to provide alternative services) and as such it is vital that staff are informed not only of their objectives and targets but how and why they exist, and what their overall effect on the business is. As we can see the role the vision and strategy plays in the performance of a team or individual is huge but it can be a two edged sword if the vision and strategy are either poorly communicated, misunderstood or simply unknown. As such communication is key, to ensure that the common sense and purpose that the vision and strategy provides is embedded and understood. There are many methods of communication available within an organisation in aid of establishing a common purpose, but the first method is that the vision statement should be one that staff and customers can relate too and  understand, if the vision doesn’t make sense the job to communicate it to staff will be twice as hard. A good basis for ensuring good communication is using the seven principles of communication; to ensure the message is clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete and naturally courteous. Once the message has been developed, it’s a matter of choosing the medium in which it is delivered; there are various methods such as email, telephone, meetings, seminars, presentation, 1-2-1s, newsletters all of which to be effective must be used at the right time and place. As the vision is a supposed to provide a common purpose and understanding of what the company wants to be, it suggests that the best way to communicate this message is via more group/communal methods such as Team meetings, Away days or newsletters where the same message can be relayed to multiple staff at a time and avoids confusion or contamination of the key messages trying to be delivered, that can occur in mores personal communications such as 1-2-1 meetings. For example a team meeting where a contact centre manager for Amazon relays the vision of the company and how the team’s work fits in and helps deliver it to their 10 staff, is likely to be more effective than having 10 1-2-1 sessions in which they deliver they try to deliver the same message which is likely to alter between sessions due to personal relationships coming into play, more two way conversation disrupting the flow of the message, the recipient choosing to understand the message how they see it rather than how it was said and then finally the confusion that can occur when team members compare conversations. This is not to say that group communication is always the best method to use as it does also have its downsides such as; it’s less likely people will ask questions in team/group meetings and could result in misunderstandings/confusion, if the person delivering the message is not clear and does not understand the message being delivered it will have a negative impact on the recipients, they can become side tracked by issues that arise during the meeting and people forget the message being delivered. My own skills actually lend themselves to small groups or 1-2-1 sessions as I struggle to manage wider groups at times, especially when the meeting goes off topic or several conversations start within the meeting. However as I only manage two staff at the moment this hasn’t hampered my ability to communicate a common sense of purpose to my staff as I have my own concepts on what our role is in the  business, however as highlighted in our learner session in July we did struggle as a group to find the group’s vision and strategy, which in itself is a failing in that without knowing the true vision and strategy of the business how can I communicate that to my staff and could potentially be providing them with a purpose that is counter to the organisations own goals. In reflection this had led me to book in some time to read the new business plan, and in readiness I’ve booked a team meeting together with my staff to go over it and highlight were we as a team fit in it. I’ve also took some time recently to review our action plans and KPI’s on Covalent, which is a software we use to link action plans and KPI’s together to strategies to see how our objectiv es are linked to the wider organisation and through that hopefully provide better clarity and coherent information to my staff. Hopefully my management of meetings will improve through this course, as one of the modules in on managing meetings effectively. In conclusion I use to think my communication skills were quite good, however through this exercise I’ve noted that while my method of delivery and communication style may be good it doesn’t mean much if you don’t truly know the message you are trying to convey which until I’m up to speed on the business plan and our place in it I can’t say I know what that message should be without retreating into the â€Å"day job† which as mentioned at the beginning is a symptom of a team who doesn’t know the organisations vision or strategy. Section 2: Know how to motivate and develop the team Section 2.1: Describe the main motivational factors in a work context and how these may apply to different situations, teams and individuals. There are multiple models and theories for motivation such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Alderfers ERG theory, Acquired Needs Theory by McClellan and Two Factor Theory by Hezberg to name a few and while most can be used to explain motivational factors in a work context some such as Maslow’s and Alderfer’s theory require more adaption or to make it fit as such I’ll be using Hezberg’s Two factor theory to describe the main motivational factors in the work context. According to Herzberg, two kinds of factors affect motivation,  and they do it in different ways: Hygiene factors: These are factors that are taken for granted and can be seen as having no positive satisfaction by themselves, however if they were taken away would cause a dramatic down turn in morale and motivation. An example is a policy of free tea and coffee for staff by itself unlikely to motivate staff but if it was removed would have a negative impact. Motivator factors: These are factors whose presence motivates. Their absence does not cause any particular dissatisfaction, it just fails to motivate. An example would be recognition at work for a job well done, achieving a promotion. Looking at the above it would seem that simply applying the motivator factors would cause an increase in motivation and simply ensuring the hygiene factors stayed in place is the sure fire way to succeed in motivating your staff, however the below example shows how by applying one rule to an individual can affect the team as a whole. Person A is doing a good job and as such you wish to increase motivation by recognising their work, which you do by offering a promotion/raise or bonus, this however can impact on the rest of the team as Pay and Benefits also come under Hygiene factors and as such by rewarding one and not everyone in the team this can cause a demotivation or job dissatisfaction. Section 2.2: Explain the importance of a leader being able to motivate teams and individuals and gain their commitment to objectives. Section 2.3: Explain the role that the leader plays in supporting and developing the team and its members and give practical examples of when this will be necessary

Literature Review On Point Of Sales System

Literature Review On Point Of Sales System Switch is a brand name wholly owned by CG Computers Sdn Bhd. CG Computers Sdn Bhd was founded on 1995 by Mr. Li Chau Ging. The main business of the company is selling Apple Products under the brand name Switch, which focuses their business in retail store, education and enterprise market. Currently, there are five Switch outlets, Two of the stores are Apple Premium reseller, which have more demos of Apple products in the store for customers to test drive compare to Apple Authorized Reseller. As one of the leading Apple Premium Reseller in Malaysia, Switch also provide training course which is called CofeeMUG to teach customers on how to use or enjoy the product which they have purchased. CG Computers Sdn Bhd is also an Apple Authorized Gold Service Provider, which provide service and repair for Apple products, any Switch store is a Drop Point if the customer have problem with their Apple product which they purchase from any Apple Store around the world. The founder of CG Computers Sdn Bhd name his store Switch is because the company wants the more users to Switch to Mac, by delivering the best customer service to the customer and demonstrating The Beauty of a Mac. Switchs employees called themselves Switcher, which is trained to serve customer on the best they could. Every Switcher will be trained on product knowledge of Apple products on Apple Sales Training Online (ASTO) by Apple Inc. and will be certified as a Apple Product Professional and Apple Sales Professional. 1.2 Business Operation Switch operates the business every day. The business hour depend on which shopping complex the Switch store is located. The standards business hour in Switch is from 10.00 AM to 10:00 PM. On every store, Switchs employees will do stock counting every morning and night(when opening and closing the store). Stocks that the employees have to count are from iPods to System; this is to ensure that no stock is lost and amount in the inventory is tally. All branches in Switch will do the same thing. If there is a problem during the stock count, Switchs employees must report immediate to the Headquarters. After stock counting, Switchs employees turn on the all the demo units, the MacBooks, iPods, iPhone, iMacs and the Mac Pro. This is to ensure the moment that customer walks into the store. They could test drive the demo unit immediately, without waiting for the system to startup. Immediate after the all the systems are turned on, Switchs employees will clean up the store. They will sweep the floor, wipe the tables and demo units to make sure customers feel comfortable when trying it. While wiping and cleaning the units, Switchs employees will also check on the demo units to make sure it is functioning. This are the 3 task the every Switchs employee does in every outlets in the morning. It is a rule set by the company before they could start attending customer. After this 3 task is completed, they will start attend customer and do their daily sales. E-mail serves as the communication channel of the company, every employee will be given an employee ID and email address from the company. E-mails are sent everyday to each employee regarding updates, promotions, news, comments and suggestions. CG Computers is a very flat organization that it has no hierarchy between uppers and lowers, any comments or suggestion could be voice out to the management or other colleagues. E-mail is the most important thing in the company which is use on every branch to communicate. Another communication technology that is use by the company is Instant Messaging. The Company uses .mac and AIM on every Point of Sales machines for instant communications. Every Switch outlet and all the employees are connected using .mac or AIM. This is to ensure instant communication can be held if a branch need help, emergency, queries and stock request. Chapter 2: Literature review on Point of Sales System 2.1 What is Point of Sales Also known as the point of service or POS, the point of sale is the exact point in a transaction when goods or services are provided to the customer and payment is rendered for those products. While the specifics of a point of sale system will vary somewhat from one situation to another, the final outcome is always the same. (Malcolm Tatum, 2010) Point of sales (POS) software is a type of software that retail store use to calculate their sales and operate the cash drawer; it is a computerized cash drawer. Point of sales add up the sales total and calculate the change. When customer buy items from retail store, point of sales will minus or debit the amount of item sold in the inventory system. At minimum, POS should be able to handle sales and manage your inventory database. (Jane Harmon, 2010) Image above illustrates point of sales (image from: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=point+of+salei=49444,00.asp) Point of sales system is mostly found in supermarket. The point of sales system consists of the checkout counter, bar code scanner, and the cash register. Every time when an item is scanned, the system count the cost; till all the items selected by the customer are scanned, the system will calculate the total cost of all item that customer would like to purchase. Customer will then pay amount money, using either credit card or cash. If customer pays by cash, the point of sales system will allow the cashier to input the amount of money that customer pay and calculate the balance that should be returned to the customer. When the payment is done, Point of Sales system will generate a receipt and store a log in the server. The proposed system will be at least able to do the basic requirement of what a Point of Sales should have. 2.2 Features of Point of Sales System There were many features in Point of Sales System. The proposed system will highlight the existing and important features. One of them is easy to learn, By using a user friendly and easy to learn system, the company will save up cost. Switch do not need to send their employees for expensive training on how to use the point of sales. Switch will also save time to train a crew before they could start working. The second feature is easy to use. An easy to use Point of sales system should require the minimum keystroke and minimum skill during daily sales. This will ensure customers do not have to wait too long until a receipt is printed. A complicated Point of Sales system will cause customers to wait while paying and a long queue when the cashier takes too long time to key in the data into the Point of Sales. The third feature is automatic. Point of sales system should be able to apply automatic discounts or preferred price levels to special customers. This will help ease the speed up the cashiers job when there is a promotion going on. The fourth feature is rewarding. Point of sales system should be able to calculate the total sales by every individual staff to keep track their sales performance and commission. This will ensure staff could get their commission every month in their pay slip and it will motivate staffs to sell more items to earn more money. The fifth feature is accommodating; some hot selling items will be sold out very frequently. Customer may have to come back the next time until the stock arrive, but when it is a hot selling product, it may be sold out before customers could come again and purchase it. Point of sales system should be able to take sales order so that, when the new stock arrived, it will be reserved for customers. The sixth feature that I would like to highlight is receipt. This is the most important feature is point of sales. Every sales end up with a receipt before the sales is complete. Point of sales system must be able to print receipt for customers to proof that they have bought the items from a store and it will be used for items that have warranty. The date of purchase will be printed on the receipt. Chapter 3: Literature Review on Existing Point of Sales System 3.1 Existing Point of Sales System in the market. 3.1.1 Retail Man Point of Sales Retail Man Point of Sales can turn an ordinary personal computer into a Point of Sales System and inventory system just by attaching Point of Sales hardware into it, for example, bar code scanner, cash drawer, docket printer, touch screen and pole display into the computer. It features a very simple user interface with powerful security. This software includes Point of Sales, stock control, inventory and standard accounting functions. By using this software, you can turn your ordinary personal computer into a powerful point of sale terminal. Their official website is http://www.retailmanpos.com/ 3.1.2 POS MAID This software is compatible with any barcode scanner or any touch screen computer. POS Maid basically have all the tools a retail store need to run a business. With simple operation and feature set, business owners will be pleased by this tool. All the maths, including taxes was automatically added to ensure accuracy. This software allow a retail sotre to save customers information into database to run a business report with just a few clicks. This program even has feature to record the employee work hours and tally up their pay checks. Their official website is http://www.alexandriacomputers.com/retail-software.aspx 3.1.3 Free Deluxe Pos Point of Sale Software System 2.0 Win TRS Point of Sales us a completely free software suite for setting up a Windows DOS based point of sales system. This software is a full feature system with a client and inventory database. One of the great features is it allow users to create purchase order. It also support cash drawer and barcoding. This software can be used on a single PC with a standard printer and expand up to multiple PCs with dedicated printer if required. This is a complete stock management system that can work in a single PC system. 3.2 Existing Point of Sales in Switch The existing Point of Sales System used in Switch is FileMaker Pro. FileMaker Pro is a cross-platform relational database application from FileMaker Inc., formerly Claris, (a subsidiary of Apple). The main reason why FileMaker Pro was used is because the Point of Sales devices in Switch is a MacBook, Apple Macintosh computer, FileMaker Pro is fully compatible with Mac OS X on Macintosh Machines. FileMaker Pro is a database application that has been used since when the company was founded. Figure 1 Figure 1 is a snapshot of the sales interface, this interface is used to key in customers info, stock no (stock ID), amount, cash/ credit card and sales person name. When cashier filled up the required information, the receipt will be printed. If a product runs out of stock, this sales order interface will allow staff to take customers information, such as, name, address, and contact number. Staffs will have to key in the items that customer would like to order and deposit paid and issue a receipt as a proof that the customer have paid and order for the item. Figure 2 The existing system also allows the retail store to view the total cash and credit card sales. It is called the daily report of each branch. The main purpose of this is to ensure the cash and credit card amount is tally each night before closing the retail store. Figure 3 Chapter 4: Investigation of Problems 4.1 Overview This chapter is about to investigate existing problem in the Point of Sale currently used in Switch. The proposed system will solve the problem to ease the task of Switch employees. 4.2 Problem 1: Sales report The very main problem of FileMaker Pro (Point of Sales System) used by Switch is the sales report. When a receipt is being issues, the existing system cannot send a report to the Headquarters to inform them that a transaction is being made. To know the daily sales, Headquarters can only view it the next day because the report will have to be generated manually every night. It means the Headquarters cannot view the sales report in real time each time a transactions is being made. The proposed system will solve this problem on the server software in the headquarters by implementing a page for authorized person to view the transaction in real time and updated every seconds. By solving this problem, the company will benefit from monitoring each transaction in real time. If there is a mistake made on the sales receipt, price, promotion and etc. It can be monitored and noticed directly so that changes could be made immediately. Compare to existing system, mistake can only be identified on the next morning. Mistake could be identified if the report could successfully generate on the night. It there is an incident like staffs forgot to generate the report and the next day the report is lost or damages; this will cause the company loses a report of a whole day and it might take a week to trace back what items have sold, pricing etc. 4.3 Problem 2: Stock delete/ stock debit The second problem in the existing point of sales system is stock deduction/debit. Notice that in Chapter 1, under Switchs business operations, the author have mention about stock counting every morning. The report of the stocks only included, iPod, iPhone and Mac. Other accessories are not included in the stock count due to too large amount; but iPod, iPhone and Mac are expensive stock and still are in countable numbers, that the company is afraid of. Staffs might steal a MacBook home and the stock is lost and no one could realize it without the stock count. The problem of stock deduction is, every time a iPod, iPhone or Mac is sold, the local list of stock in the existing Point of Sales System require manual deletion. After all stock sold on the day are being deleted, this list will be a part of daily report to be send to the Headquarters. Staffs may have forgotten to delete the stock from the list and result an untallied amount during stock count at night. There is a possibility of deleting the wrong stock. The proposed system will solve this problem by implementing automatic stock deletion from the local and server stock list so that there is less possibilities of error made by humans. This will speed up the job of stock counting and report generating. By implementing this system, Switchs employees will have lesser task and stock amount are always correct.

Marxian Theory versus Weberian Theory Essay example -- Politics Politi

Marxian Theory versus Weberian Theory Karl Marx and Max Weber both offer valid approaches to social class in modern capitalist society, though there are very different from each other. The capitalist society is a type of society in which the private ownership of the ‘means of production’ is the dominant form of providing the things needed to survive. What distinguishes capitalism from other types of society is the emphasis on the rights of property and the individual owner’s right to employ capital, as she or he thinks fit. Karl Marx’s approach was, at first, the most convincing theory of social class. However the Neo-Marxists (the later generation Marxists) have developed the same ideas but in different ways. So today there is no single Marxian viewpoint. Marx believed that economic processes are of great importance in society, such as the harnessing of natural resources, producing goods, developing new technologies and establishing a division of labour in the workforce. These are important because in order for these things to happen, people in society have to come together. Therefore they enter into social class relationships. Social classes came about when society developed a more specialised division of labour and introduced private property. Marx argued that under capitalism there are two major classes: 1. The Bourgeoisie (capitalists) 2. The Proletariat (the workers) These two classes are defined by their relationships to productive resources, such as land, factories, machinery, raw materials etc. these are known as ‘means of production’. The Bourgeoisie is the owner of the ‘means of production’. Therefore they have a much higher and more powerful economic position in society. Workers can only live by... ...gist suggest that the main difference is that the Marxians view class relationships as grounded in exploitation and domination within means of production while Weberians see classes coming from positions in the market. Marxians believe that social class is based on the means of production, but Weberians think that power and status matter more. Marxians have 2 main classes and Weberians have a much more complicated class system. So, in conclusion the Marxians believe social class in modern society is based on ownership of means of production and the two-class model. Weberians think that social class in modern society depends on the positions in the market place, which has many more classes. Both Marxian and Weberian theories are very good and I think they are theoretically correct to a certain extent. However no one will know for sure who has the best theory.

Essay --

How to change the oil and filter on a 1993 VW Corrao VR6 The following instructions are recommended for changing the motor oil on a 1993 Corrado with a 6-cylinder VR6 motor type. Oil changes are necessary to ensure proper lubrication for the engine during use, usually ranging from every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Over time, the oil breaks down and may cause excess wear on internal parts. The oil filter should also be changed at this time, due to any particles the filter may have caught from the old oil. Depending on your level of mechanical ability and weather conditions, this process should take about an hour or less. Please read all instructions thoroughly before attempting any maintenance. New parts: 6 quarts of oil 1 filter Tools: Floor jack Container for old oil A 6mm Allen wrench for oil filter plug 36mm socket for oil filter housing 19mm socket for drain plug on pan Socket wrench (3/8† or 1/2† is fine) Torque wrench Steps: 1. Warm up the engine by driving around for a few minutes. This will warm up the oil and will decrease the amount of time the oil needs to drain. 2. Park the ...

What I have Learned about Myself Essay -- Law College Admissions Essay

I can remember sitting in class, feeling eyes burning through me, dodging inquisitive glances from all sides, and anxiously awaiting the bell to ring for lunchtime. As most people know, lunch is the most dreaded part of the first day at a new school. First day of school memories are still fairly vivid for me; my father was in the JAG corps in the Army and my family moved with biannual regularity. In fact, I even attended three different high schools. While this may seem highly undesirable to some, I learned an incredible amount about myself, the world, and other people through moving that I may never have learned otherwise. What I have learned about myself and the world will without a doubt contribute to my success in life and even law school, but what I have learned about other people is of greatest relevance to studying and practicing law. Â   Not wanting to sit in the cafeteria alone is a strong motivation for almost any child to try to adapt to his/her new environment as quickly as possible. It has been my experience that observation, i.e. listening and noticing d...

Mapping Compensation

Wall-Mart has a lot of these things in common with Microsoft, although Wall-Mart tries to soften the low at times by cushioning their employment strategy with a discount card or special privileges. Most of the employees at Wall-Mart start at around $8. 80 an hour, but that is just the base pay. If an employee does well within the company, over time, Wall-Mart will steadily increase the employee's paycheck, depending on his or her performance of their duties that year. That is where the performance-based pay that is similar to Microsoft's strategy comes into play. If an employee does well, he or she will get a raise.If not, then the raise will not happen. A lot of people who try to work at places like Wall-Mart expect instant gratification for their accomplishments, but they will not receive it. An employee must work hard to earn the raise given to him or her at their time of the year. In Figure 2. 8 in the text, Microsoft and AS are compared and contrasted in a compensation map. On M icrosoft's side, there seems to be a very low focus on work/life balance, and the same can be said for Wall-Mart. If an employee accepts a shift at Wall- Mart, he or she had better show up, or risk being fired.Wall-Mart is very strict in this area and does not accept a lot of excuses as far as frequent â€Å"family emergencies† or problems. From personal experience, if there is a death in the immediate family, Wall-Mart will ask for a copy of the death certificate as proof that the employee is not lying. This is a bit disturbing and could be considered offensive to some. Another mapping point from Figure 2. 8 is that Microsoft puts heavy emphasis on hierarchy. Wall-Mart and Microsoft share this part of their strategy. Wall-Mart believes that the basic employees receive Asia pay, while the managers and those on salary receive higher pay.However, there is a â€Å"price† to being on salary versus being an hourly employee. As an hourly employee, the shift is worked within the hours specified, and the job is done. There are no established hours for salaried managers at Wall-Mart. Some have even worked 80 hour weeks in the busy season just to try to keep up with customer satisfaction. One thing that does differ between the two compensation strategies is that Microsoft puts a medium importance to sharing group success, while Wall-Marts strategy is more about the individual.There are really no â€Å"groups† per SE within Wall- Mart's hierarchy, just groups of employees who perform the same job. There is no focus on group success, or group incentives. There are the occasional pep talks in which the managers try to get their employees motivated, but really, the employees would rather be working than sitting in a meeting. It seems that Microsoft values group success, but it also values the individual as well, offering incentives for jobs performed. These companies seem very different from the outside, but when an inside look is taken, there are more molarities than can be seen from the outside.

Alcohol abuse Essay

â€Å"National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. † Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 May 2014. â€Å"Alcohol Abuse and Addiction. † Alcohol and Tobacco: America’s Drugs of Choice. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Information Plus Reference Series. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 May 2014. â€Å"Drunkard Attacks Wife. † Family in Society: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 40-42. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 May 2014. Alcohol abuse is the habitual misuse of alcohol. As children move from adolescence to young adulthood, they encounter dramatic physical, emotional, and lifestyle changes. Developmental transitions, such as puberty and increasing independence, have been associated with alcohol use. Some, adolescence take a dark turn, especially when underage drinking is involved. â€Å"Everybody is doing it† so they do it too. They drink because they want to change something about their lives , however they increases the risk of academic failure, and can cause suicide and homicide. Research shows that annually about 4,700 people under age 21 die from injuries involving underage drinking. People take drugs mainly for the reasons to fit in , in school, at work, the community , etc. They also do it to escape from reality or relax . Or so they could feel good among their peers at school. Also, they sometimes are curious and ask themselves â€Å" How does it tastes ? † â€Å" How would it affect me? † â€Å" Is it as bad/ good as everyone tells me? † . But the real reason is peer pressure, because many teenagers feel pressured to drink around their friends. Some short-term effects of alcohol are slurred speech, drowsiness, vomiting, headaches, breathing difficulties, decreased perception and coordination , blackouts and anemia . You can get all of these short-term from simply drinking alcohol. But in the other hand ,the long-term effects are unintentional injuries such as car crashes, or drowning. Increased family problems, broken relationships. They often tend to have short temper because they have been drinking to much and don’t tolerate as much things as they used to. They can get alcohol poising for drinking way too much alcohol. High blood pressure , stroke, and other heart- related diseases are also long-term effects . But the ones that caught my eye the most are liver disease, cancer of the mouth and throat, nerve damage, and permanent damage to the brain. In my opinion those are the worst ones that could happen to you, if you drink too much alcohol. Alcohol is linked to 75,000 U. S deaths a year, and shortens the lives of these people by an average of 30 years. Excessive alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of preventable death in the united stated after tobacco use and poor eating and exercise habits. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , estimated that 34,833 died from cirrhosis of the liver, cancer and other diseases linked to drinking too much beer , wine and spirits. Another 40,933 died from car crashes and other mishaps caused by excessive alcohol use. Researchers considered any man who averaged more than two drinks per day or more than four drinks per occasion to be an excessive drinker. For woman it was more than one drink per day or more than three drinks per occasion. Men accounted for 72 percent of the excessive drinking deaths in 2001, and those 21 and younger made up six percent of the death toll. Light or moderate drinking can benefit a person’s health , but heavy drinking increases the risk of high blood pressure , heart disorders, certain cancers and liver disease. Excessive drinkers are also more likely to die in car accidents. The United States aims to cut the rate of alcohol-related driving fatalities to four deaths 1 / 2 per 100,000 people by 2010, a 32 percent drop from 1998. There are many myths of alcohol use including that it improves sexual performance, the fact is that although you may think that drinking makes you better in bed, psychologically alcohol reduces your performance. Another myth is that you can drink and still be under control. That is a lie , drinking impairs your judgment , which increases the likelihood that you will do something you’ll later regret such as having unprotected sex , being involved in date rape, damaging property, or being victimized by others. Furthermore, teenagers often say that drinking isn’t all that dangerous, that is a myth. Reality is that one in three eighteen to twenty four year olds admitted to emergency rooms for serious injuries are intoxicated. And alcohol is also associated with homicides, suicides, and drowning , as mentioned before. But, the most common myth is that beer doesn’t have as much alcohol as hard liquor. Actually , a twelve ounce bottle of beer has the same amount as alcohol as a standard shot of eighty proof liquor (either straight or in a mixed drink ) or five ounces of wine. If you believe you or a friend may be experiencing Alcohol and/or substance problems there is help , it can be challenging but it is treatable. You can contact you’re counselor or you can contact psychological services and they could help you , I suggest do some research on which one is best suitable for you, and which one you feel more comfortable with. I strongly suggest that if you know a person with substance problems , let them know of the alcohol addiction treatment. Alcohol addiction treatment utilizes programs that help individuals who cannot stop drinking on their own understand what causes their alcohol addiction. Once they are knowledgeable about the cause and have the tools to break the cycle of alcohol addiction, they can begin to cope with the normal stresses of life. Alcohol addiction treatment means stepping out of your addicted life and into a supportive , comfortable, environment where you can begin life of sobriety. The drug & alcohol addiction treatment program includes expert diagnosis , detoxification, intelligent use of anti-addiction medicines, various neuro and psychotherapies , twelve – step facilitation, family involvement , health and nutrition education, and continuing life care support. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Counseling Techniques

The choice of the counseling technique to be used in a counseling session differs from the preference of a counselor to counselor but there are certain factors that influence the choice of counseling technique, a counselor is likely to apply in a given counseling situation.However the following factors influence the choice of the technique; suitability for the counseling technique to the prevailing needs of the client, the effectiveness of the counseling technique which is determined by the recorded success rate of the past use of the counseling resource as well as the situation of the counseling which is an important factor that needs to be considered before moving to the counseling. Creative counseling technique involves the use of dialogue, behaviour change as well as communication, movement and the sense of touch.Under the creative approach, the counselors’ use writings, the sense of touch artwork and speech to cause improvement to a patient’s mental health and inca ses or organizations or groups of people, the creative approach is aimed at improving relationships between individuals such as members of a family (Jacobs, 1992). Creative technique in counseling is easy to understand and apply as it depends on the use of resources locally available which both the patient and the counsellor can relate with.Creative counseling technique allows further use of visual aids, sense of movement that leads people to connect with each other easily. Conclusion A creative counseling technique is an effective method in that it allows for the utilization of many approaches which combine to yield lots of benefits to those who receive the counseling. Creative counseling is also important in that it can be widely applied in different contexts such as family, individual and teams. Reference Jacobs, E. (1992): Creative Counselling Techniques:An illustrated guide. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Learning Through Play: Games and Crowdsourcing for Adult Education Essay

Games are a powerful to engage people with ideas and with each other. They are a way to learn new skills, and to interact with other people. This interaction can be with other people in the same room or with people online. Games are fun. This is obvious, but sometimes it can become forgotten about in the discussion. In research in 2011 by Bond University for the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association * pcs are in 98% of game households with 62% of game households using a pc for games. Game consoles are in 63% of game households, dedicated handheld consoles in 13%. Mobile phones are used to play games in 43% of game households, tablet computers in 13% * 43% of people aged 51 or over are garners * most garners play between half an hour and an hour at a time and most play every other day 59% play for up to an hour at one time and just 3% play for five or more hours in one sitting 57% of all gamers play either daily or every other day. * 83% of parents play video games. (1) Comparable statistics are not available for board, tabletop and card games. This is unfortunate as, from word of mouth, board games are very popular. The German, or European, style games have strong appeal for adults. Games in this category include Settlers of Catan (2) and Carcassone. (3) Board games can be used as part of an education program exploring games, game design, history, and strategy. They could also be used to introduce adults to games they did not play when they were growing up–and that is just the start of what is possible. Find the future New York Public Library received much coverage for its 2011 game Find the future (10) which ran as part of their centenary celebrations as a way for people to discover and explore the collection. The game was deliberately designed with an education focus. The first night of the game was run as an event for five hundred people. After this people could play this game at their own pace and in their own time, at the library. Changing thinking about games There is still reluctance, despite the overwhelming statistics, for many libraries to admit how many of the adults who use their collections and services probably play games. Earlier this year Heikki Holmas, the new Norwegian minister for international development, was given media coverage because of his public statements about his own playing of Dungeons and Dragons, and how skills are learned in games which have real world applications. This means that his tabletop games skills will help him in parliament. (11) Adam Grimm highlights some of the skills and attributes gained or developed by playing Dungeons and Dragons which include imagination, structure, performance and problem solving. (12) People like Heikki Holmas and Adam Grimm are using our libraries and we are rarely giving them a way to engage–or may be guilty of making judgments about them because of the games they play. The Central Arkansas Library System ran programming for adults teaching people about playing World of Warcraft. This may seem an unusual game to be part of a library education program. However, the aim of this education program was social inclusion, and it was thought that playing a game like World of Warcraft may be one way to assist in this locally. Library staff were pleased with the outcomes. (13,14) There are many opportunities in libraries using games for education Some of these can be done by showing how exciting games can be and by having people realise that the boardgames they may have played as children, or even have played with their children have developed and new possibilities target adult players. Playing Carcassonne could be used as part of an adult education program on medieval history, so people could be discussing the history they are reading, but also play a game constructing a medieval town and so apply the ideas they have learned from reading or hearing about the medieval world. Games can allow a different angle on creativity in education programming. Brian Mayer and Christopher Harris in their book Libraries got game: aligned learning through modern board games have written about this from a primary school aged perspective, but many of their ideas apply to learning through games at any age. (15) They also make the point strongly that a game has to really be a game. This sounds obvious, yet people forget this point surprisingly often. There is a lot of tools to help with boardgames. BoardGameGeek (16) is an invaluable online resource with detailed reviews about boardgames as well as walk throughs of the different games. Table Top with Wil Wheaton by Geek & Sundry (17) is an excellent video channel to learn how different table top games are played–so you can start thinking about their place in educational programming, and not simply programs about learning to play games. The Game Library for the School Library System of Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (18) has some useful resources for games targeting infants and primary aged children. Science games There are also ways to draw in the community through games. A game like Fold.it (19) a University of Washington initiative which is about folding proteins has resulted in scientific breakthroughs. (20) It was designed to trigger scientific discovery, but the game is also an experiment. Fold.it could be used as part of a series of science talks, with visiting or local scientists, at a library where the participants could join in with others who are contributing to scientific discoveries. Then people could be working in a collaborative space in the library, folding proteins together interacting with the other people also in the library space as well as others online in Fold.it. This could appeal to a wide range of ages, from students considering science careers, to adults wanting creative and puzzle solving options. It is a free, social, online game. EteRNA, (21) a collaboration between Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University has similar concepts. This is a game about RNA molecules, and again serious science is being done through playing games. (22) This would also make for interesting library programming. These games could be part of a series about science, but equally they could be part of a series about games to help more people understand the range of options available to people who play games exploring creative problem solving, and helping to do science at the same time. Both Fold.it and EteRNA would be useful inclusions with library based science programming, and could provide a useful tie in to your library collection, including databases. The Science Museum in London has a significant collection of online games about science, which could be used to help people learn more about specific ideas, as well as to explore ideas of game design and engagement. (23) Through all this science it is important to remember the ideas of Mayer and Harris, that first and foremost the games have to be fun. Zombie Climate Apocalypse (24) run by The Edge at the State Library of Queensland may seem an unusual inclusion for science games–however the game is about survival. The players have to problem solve a vast range of survival skills (including water purification) so science is really important. A game like Zombie Apocalypse taps into many library collections (books, dvds and databases with information about the idea of zombies and survival), and can help bring a new range of clients to the library. A game like this can also be used to bring in ideas from places like the USA Centre for Disease Control and its web pages about zombie preparedness (25) which they created as a different way for people to think about disaster preparedness. If you are ready to survive zombies you are probably ready for other natural disasters as well. Science is well suited to education programs involving games, using ideas for partnerships mentioned above. Unlike Orange County Library Service we are not all going to have Otronicon in our area. Otronicon explored the science, art, technology, careers and fun behind videogames, simulation and digital media. Each year, multiple industry partners join the Orlando Science Center to celebrate how digital media technologies impact the way we live, learn, work and play. (26) Orange County Library Service has also been highlighting games as part of its services, and as part of the education program. They have classes teaching game design, but also educating people about the employment possibilities presented by games. (27) We will all have scientists in our communities, no matter how small. It just requires some creative thinking to explore partnerships, and to consider who you might invite to your library as part of a science education program including games, collections and science databases. Games design for all ages This is an area of potential partnership with universities which teach game design (if they are local to your area) or with local games groups. It is a specialist area of education. Some public libraries and museums have been running programs on game design, mainly targeting children and teenagers. There is much underexplored potential for running this kind of education program for adults. It also might be about seeing if you can create a game to help people explore the history of their area so the education elements would be around research (so that the history of the area can be explored), and games design (to see if a meaningful game can be created for the community). This is a specialist area, needing specialist trainers. Be open to the formats you are considering, as the games do not need to be made on computers or even for computers. Board games are a very popular format, as are large scale games outdoors.

The life and times of rosie the riveter Movie Review

The life and times of rosie the riveter - Movie Review Example The documentary The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter is 60-minutes long and it mixes black and white newsreel footage. The director also incorporates color-filmed interviews of five women working in the defense plants during World War II including Wanita Allen, Gladys Belcher, Lyn Childs, Lola Weixel and Margaret Wright. Most importantly, the documentary offers these women’s views about the wartime propaganda relating to female defense workers of the period. The wartime experiences offered by these ‘Rosies’ clearly reflect the general mood of the women working in defense plants of the U.S. during World War II, because they belonged to different backgrounds such as Illinois, Arkansas farms, Brooklyn, and Detroit and they include three black women and two white. Therefore, The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter has been highly regarded for its life-like presentation as well as views of the condition of the women working in defense plants and this documentary fil m has been an important topic of discussion since its original release in 1980. Through the interviews with these ‘Rosies’, the audience become conscious about the unusual working conditions created by the high-pressured war production drive. The views of the women working in defense plants also help the viewers in recognizing various threats to women’s liberation during the period. â€Å"The film suggests that in the manipulation of public images of wartime women, the government, employers and media were pushing hard the traditional view of Woman as Housewife to suppress the runaway implications of women doing mens work so successfully, with the pride and camaraderie that wartime working conditions engendered.† (Davenport) As the documentary projects the women being interviewed in their present environment, the viewers get a convincing illustration of their condition during the World War II. In a

Why New York University Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Why New York University - Essay Example At New York University, more than 50% of full time undergraduates are offered some form of need-based funds and the average need-based grants or scholarship awards amount to $18,459. Fees payment is not devastating or strenuous in the University. Academics in NYU are highly valued with students motivated by high expectations. Professors are experts in their respectful fields and thus I am hopeful that my business skills will be polished (Northrop 89). Additionally, professors are available at all costs, be it office hours or via email. Most of them are pioneers in different specifications, making it beneficial for students in terms of providing letters of recommendations and for significant academic opportunities (Northrop 68). New York University dormitories are pricey but really cheap city apartment. It has Off-Campus Housing Staff that works excellently in helping students find apartments and roommates. Residing in the campus will help me choose friends that I am comfortable with. Computer services in this University are outstanding. However, the most effective way is having a laptop. Interestingly, printing in computer labs is free and unlimited, thus students get an easy time producing their

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Psychology - Essay Example This paper tries to unearth my experiences of working with a team as the team leader in the class room and the paper makes an individual reflection of how I could instil motivation among the team members owing to my understanding of the various psychological theories put forward by psychologists regarding organizational psychology and working in groups. For the last one week I have been working in team as the team leader to prepare a case study report. The team consisted of twenty members of my class room. Preparing the case study was a challenging group task as each of the group members had his own unique way of looking at the case study provided. Therefore, it was essential that the group members shared their views to the group in an open discussion and the best way of presenting the report was finalized. Keeping the motivation level among the team members high was of utmost importance. However, I could find at the initial stage that most of the other members lacked focus or motivation; this resulted in communication gap and lack of interest among the group members. Moreover, a paucity of enthusiasm and commitment was seen everywhere. What might be the reason behind their indifference? I tried to unveil the hidden cause of the gloom implementing my past study experience and knowledge in various behavioural theories, from my own p erceptions. The first intuition that struck my brain as every one usually thinks was that it was due to the lack of interest in study because I have seen many students those who consider these kinds of team works as time wastes and put little effort to contribute any thing of their own. But the further study informed me that many of the members were personally good at study and had been doing well with their individual assignments. The major problem I observed was that the team members knowingly or unknowingly were impassive to move as a team. Any how, I was damn sure that some sorts of motivation

Nigeria issue report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nigeria issue report - Research Paper Example existing there. The majority however, remains Muslims in the north and Christians in the south. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, Nigeria built its forts in the areas of economics through regional and international trade, and on agrarian bases. However, the major part of her trade was in slaves. In the 1700s, Nigeria was ridden with the slave trade. Slaves from there were taken to Britain for trade. â€Å"Between 1798 and 1847, 4,300,000 slaves were taken from West Africa of which, the English were chiefly responsible† (African Affairs). This trade slave gave Nigeria revenue which they badly needed then. However, it was the British who abolished cross-border trade in slaves in 1807 that this trade took a hit in Africa, and subsequently, in Nigeria. Nonetheless, slave trade was still an integral part of Nigerian economy, according to Heaton and Falola, in their book, ‘A History of Nigeria’. The Nigerian region was vastly dependent on this slave trade for their economic wealth and political stability, as the leaders used the trade of slaves to promote their campaigns† (Falola). After Great Britain’s fight against human trade, Nigeria shifted to trading products such as spices, palm oil, etc. However, slavery was not wiped out as soon as the 1807 act was passed. The British gained power over the Subcontinent through the East India Company. The same tactic was adopted in Nigeria, where the Royal Niger Company was under the command of the British Government. â€Å"While its existence was of a short period, it played a pivotal role in helping the British take control of Nigeria† (Falola). According to Heaton’s and Falola’s research, Nigeria became part of the British Empire in 1901. The British ruled over Nigeria with their motto the same as in all the other countries that were colonized by them; divide and conquer. Nigeria was ruled as two separate regions, Northern and Southern

A single gene disorder Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A single gene disorder - Research Paper Example It has a wide prevalence worldwide especially in Africa where the occurrence is in about 1 in 100 individuals (Genetics, 2000; Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man). Single-gene disorders generally arise due to mutations or changes in a single gene of the genome. Subsequent changes in the protein product of that gene give rise to a disorder. These disorders could be inherited due to an autosomal dominant or recessive gene or a X-linked inheritance. Every individual acquires two copies of a gene, one form each parents and in the dominant inheritance the disorder occurs if one copy of the gene is defective and in the recessive inheritance it exhibits only if both the copies of the gene are defective. In the case of X-linked disorder, the defective gene is present in the X chromosome and the disease manifest most commonly in males as they only have a single copy of the X chromosome (Human Genome Project Information, 2008). One such single-gene disorder is sickle cell disease which occurs due to a single point mutation in the gene coding for the hemoglobin protein. It has an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Hemoglobin, the most important pro tein of the red blood cell, is made up of four globin subunits, two ÃŽ ± and two ÃŽ ² subunits, which are coded by their respective genes. Every individual inherits two copies of a gene from each parent which are referred to as alleles. The normal allele for the ÃŽ ² globin subunit is referred to as allele A and the mutated allele as S. A normal individual possessing AA alleles will have a normal hemoglobin moiety, while individuals carrying one A and one S allele will produce both normal and abnormal hemoglobin molecules, as both the A and S allele are co-dominant, and are referred to as carriers of sickle cell trait who are generally healthy but may suffer from sickle cell symptoms under conditions of

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's Ethics Essay

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's Ethics - Essay Example A standard electronic device should be used to store all medical information of a person. The deadline for embracing the act was September 23, 2013. The health policy incorporates some ethical issues. These ethical issues include respect for the patient’s health information, confidentiality and honesty. HIPAA law has bought has established responsibilities for health care institutions. The HIPAA law has enhanced the confidentiality of the patients’ medical information. Confidentiality is the state of having something in a strict privacy or secrecy way. This helps to protect patient rights since only the required medical personnel’s can access the information. This is a component of providing quality medical health care. In a recent case, a patient suffering from paranoid schizophrenia got admitted to a mental hospital. The nurses at the hospital wanted to disclose the health information to the family. However, the patients’ physician refused since the patient had not allowed them to do so. The patients’ health rapidly improved, and within a week, he was ready for discharge. The patients’ health condition requires maximum respect. Respect is the condition of esteem. In the case of ongoing treatment, obtaining payments and for healthcare operations, one can share protected health information. Except for insurance reasons in order to receive payments written authorization should be presented any time one requires medical records. Under this condition HIPAA only allows access of minimum necessary information to perform job duties. This enhances respect for patients’ health information. In another case, a staff member in a medical practice disclosed HIV status of the patient. This happened mistakenly after the doctor’s office faxed medical records to the patients’ place of employment rather the new healthcare provider. He thereby disclosed PHI to several other individuals.

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Analysis - Essay Example Most Americans agree that fast food is unhealthy and has bad consequences but they still eat it daily because their lifestyle demands such practices. they do not recognize how much it affects them. The article starts with a good introduction that expresses its clear objectives and points of view way to reach the point and grasp grape the American Americans reader’s attention, which is â€Å"sport†, because Because most Americans love sports. The author’s technique is effective because of the inclusion of the subject on sport which and it could be the first thing to be noticed in the an article. After mentioning sport, the authors introduces the problem and explains it and separates it out in details, supporting and support each part of the problem with scientific researches. It is shown that researches can effectively perfectly warn the reader from the ill effects of cheap fast food. Moreover, Then it gives some examples to support the researches. Finally, the ar ticle provides solutions and encourages readers asking to take an action to solve the that issue wherein efforts are exerted either by form the government or from the people. Appealing to Logos, the article has a very convincing way to make the reader be easily drawn to agree with on the author side. It mentions how the problem of cheap fast food could make bad consequences. For example, water pollution is unacceptable an acceptable to people because it affects their health and could make them ill or at risk. It also mentions that food industries cause water pollution because of the practices in garbage disposals and cleaning. Therefore, the author argues that fast food industry is synonymous to water pollution and this makes the two conditions simply unacceptable. , and then it mentions food industry and how it turns to cause water pollution and that makes food industry has the same consequences of water pollution, what logically makes food industry an acceptable as much as water p ollution is. Furthermore, it mentions cancer which is probably one of the most dangerous dangerousness complaints of customers because as it is commonly known, cancer could cause deaths if not very expensive and long process of treatments. in the and for sure most people know the deadly effects of it, and then the The article also mentions hormones that are be injected to cattle and seeds in order to make them grow fast and meet the demands of fast food chains. However, the hormones have diverse effects on humans who partake of the treated animals and other food products. This practice is unacceptable as well because it is already a parallel to cancer. bulking up faster to make easy fast food, that Hormones have dicey consequences which transfer to fast food and that cause breast and prostate cancer, which make that fast food an acceptable and dangerous as cancer is. In addition, the article mentions how air pollution is caused during the process so that the author persuades readers not to support the fast food industry by buying their products. It also mentions how air pollution is another undesirable issue and persuades readers that how manures can pollute air with chemicals elements., which make manures that used to make cattle and seeds grow faster another dungarees issue and the same as air pollution.

How motivate the second language learner Essay Example for Free

How motivate the second language learner Essay The students are always motivated, and when we talk about motivation, it refer to student`s efforts to learn. Positively motivated students are more pleasant to learn, prepare more carefully for class, participate more actively and achieve more than negatively motivated students. Teachers should recognize that to improve motivation they will be dealing with cognitive, affective, social and perhaps even psychomotor variables. These recommendations are being offered as positive suggestion for improving student achievement motivation and also some thing which should not happen to participating students if high level of motivation is to be maintained. First, we should clarify for the student what is the goal of the course and what they have to do to achieve these goals. For reach this goal we should assist them. Give them feedback, and summarize important content of each class. We must have review sessions to help the student to recover what they learned. Use the example, that is, use a material which is related to what they know, in fact we should have a work which is creative and these activities should be purposeful. Give an exam and take them a test to motivate the student to have a better work. These are the cognitive works which we can do for motivate the students. In addition there is some affective variable which the teachers can done to motivate the students. They should avoid the practices which produce or continued anxity. A positive attitude toward the speakers, class and the teacher of the second language improve the motivation of language learner. Know the needs of students to achieve in some area. The teacher must be able to give reward for good work and punish for poor work if it is necessary. Use audio-visual aids whenever possible within reason. Plan for activities during the term. give them assignment to improve their proficiency. When applying a concepts use context which interesting the students Also there is some instruction to not be done in order to keep the student motivated. The student should not be made to suffer a lose of self-esteem and not be in a discomfort position like sit for a long time or cant hear what is said in the front of class. Or not asked them to take a test of what they don’t know or have an incomprehensible question. And should not be in inferior groups, or even ask them to be in a group of students who are superior learners. In conclusion to meet student needs, the teacher needs to make a commitment to themselves and to each student, to help that student grow. The purpose of teaching is growing the students knowledge which is be done by improving a motivation. If the teacher be aware of students need an the position of the class he/she can improve the level of the students` motivations and as a result their knowledge will be grow and language learning will happened as good as possible.