Basic Ideas and Theories of Mass Communication Essay

In the first place, there were many well renowned scholars who contributed immensely towards the development of communication processes, society and their communication relationships, which are still relevant and heart touching. Thus, David K. Berlo developed the source-message-channel receiver (SMCR) theory in the 1960s. His theories emphasized the many factors that could affect how senders and receivers created, interpreted and reacted to a message. While Max Weber Explore his contribution to our understanding of social stratification, classes and status groups from category Sociology in relation to communication. According to him, â€Å"We cannot deny the existence of social structures or system by which people are categorized or ranked in a hierarchy. This people categorization is otherwise known as social stratification. It is a universal characteristic of society that persists over generations. It is a social structure by which social issues and organizational problems arise. In a society, groups of people share a similar social status, and this is known as social class†. ABSTRACT In this work (assignment), I bother most on the contributions, the basic ideas and established notions propounded by both theorists_ D K Berlo and that of Max Weber. And their biography. Q. 1 (a) THE CONTRIBUTION OF DAVID K. BERLO AND HIS BASIC IDEAS ESTABLISHED IN THE THEORIES OF MASS COMMUNICATION Foremost, for a proper focus on communications theory, the Oxford English Dictionary defines communication as â€Å"the imparting, conveying, or exchange of ideas, knowledge, information, etc. We can look up the origin of the word. Communication comes from the Latin communis, â€Å"common.† When we communicate, we are trying to establish a â€Å"commonness† with someone. That is, we are trying to share information, an idea or an attitude. Looking further, you can find this type of definition: â€Å"Communications is the mechanism through which human relations exist and develop.† This broad definition, found in a book written by a sociologist, takes in about everything â€Å"Communications theory then becomes the study and statement of the principles and methods by which information is conveyed. Among key communications theorists were Wilbur Schramm, David Berlo, and Marshall McLuhan. Basically, for a close examination, the major contribution in communication model that I will consider is the SMCR model, developed by David K. Berlo, a communications theorist and consultant. In his book The Process of Communication,6 Berlo points out the importance of the psychological view in his communications model. The four parts of Berlo’s SMCR model are — no surprises here — source, message, channel, receiver. The first part of this communication model is the source. All communication must come from some source. The source might be one person, a group of people, or a company, organization, or institution such as MU. Several things determine how a source will operate in the communication process. They include the source’s communication skills — abilities to think, write, draw, speak. They also include attitudes toward audience, the subject matter, yourself, or toward any other factor pertinent to the situation. Knowledge of the subject, the audience, the situation and other background also influences the way the source operates. So will social background, education, friends, salary, culture — all sometimes called the sociocultural context in which the source lives. Message has to do with the package to be sent by the source. The code or language must be chosen. In general, we think of code in terms of the natural languages — English, Spanish, German, Chinese and others. Sometimes we use other languages — music, art, gestures. In all cases, look at the code in terms of ease or difficulty for audience understanding. Within the message, select content and organize it to meet acceptable treatment for the given audience or specific channel. If the source makes a poor choice, the message will likely fail. Channel can be thought of as a sense — smelling, tasting, feeling, hearing, seeing. Sometimes it is preferable to think of the channel as the method over which the message will be transmitted: telegraph, newspaper, radio, letter, poster or other media. Kind and number of channels to use may depend largely on purpose. In general, the more you can use and the more you tailor your message to the people â€Å"receiving† each channel, the more effective your message. Receiver becomes the final link in the communication process. The receiver is the person or persons who make up the audience of your message. All of the factors that determine how a source will operate apply to the receiver. Think of communication skills in terms of how well a receiver can hear, read, or use his or her other senses. Attitudes relate to how a receiver thinks of the source, of himself or herself, of the message, and so on. The receiver may have more or less knowledge than the source. Sociocultural context could be different in many ways from that of the source, but social background, education, friends, salary, culture would still be involved. Each will affect the receiver’s understanding of the message. Messages sometimes fail to accomplish their purpose for many reasons. Frequently the source is unaware of receivers and how they view things. Certain channels may not be as effective under certain circumstances. Treatment of a message may not fit a certain channel. Or some receivers simply may not be aware of, interested in, or capable of using certain available messages. In short, Berlo: Several important ideas, notions and factors established must be considered relating to source, message, channel, and receiver. Q. 1. (b) TRACE THE BIOGRAPHY OF DAVID K. BERLO D. K. Berlo in history. This caption attempts to give an insight in to the biography of the eminent scholar whose communication ideologies, philosophy and notions cannot be overlooked in the field of mass communication_ journalism. Biographical information: In 1955, David K. Berlo, at the age of 29, received his doctorate degree in the study of communication from the University of Illinois. Berlo was a student of Wilbur Schramm, who sat on the doctoral committee. Schramm, whose theories of communication are well known, was responsible for the creation of the first communication program at the graduate level which was an entity separate from speech and mass communications. Dean Gordon Sabine, also sat on the committee, and the following day offered Berlo an assistant professorship position and the chair of the newly created Department of General Communication Arts, at his Michigan State University (MSU) (Rogers, 2001). In our trivial pursuit, it was discovered that, Berlo, being many years younger than his colleagues and some of his students, perceived himself to be in need of communicating an air of permanence and maturity, so that his position, and that of the newly formed department, would be taken seriously. To this end, he deliberately gained weight†¦up to 270 pounds of body mass, dressed in dark, fancy suits, and began to act the part of the chairperson of a more well-established department (Rogers, 2001). It must have worked, because he was able to successfully establish, at Michigan State, one of our country’s first undergraduate majors in communication. He functioned in the role of educator, author, and communication department chair at MSU for 14 years, from the department’s inception in 1957 through 1971. In 1960 he wrote the textbook which was implemented in his undergraduate classes, The Process of Communication. He taught an excellent doctoral level core course in research methods and statistics. He was a strong leader, excellent educator, and advocate for the field of communication study. He continued to research and develops his SMCR theory of communication and information. In it he stressed the importance of the perception of the source in the â€Å"eye† of the receiver and also the channel(s) by which the message is delivered. During his final 3 years at Michigan State, it is said, that he seemed to lose interest in his job. He became county chairperson of the Republican Party and was passed over for the position of Dean of the College of Communication Arts (Rogers, 2001). In 1971 he became President of Illinois State University, but resigned in 1973 when an investigation took place to uncover whether or not he had spent unauthorized funds for the completion of the presidential house (Plummer, 2005). He completed his career working as a corporate consultant in St. Petersburg, Florida. Q. 2. (a) GIVE SOME ESTABLISHED NOTIONS OF MAN AND SOCIETY PROPOUNDED BY MAX WEBER. Max Weber was one of the founding figures of sociology. His work is important to students of communication for several reasons, including his methodological and theoretical innovations as well as a diversity of useful concepts and examples for the analysis of social behaviour, economic organization and administration, authority, leadership, culture, society, and politics. Some of his greatest achievements, notions, ideologies, philosophy, and the experiences that guided his convictions he established, which also characterized his stand and position; thus, can be seen as highlighted in the following contributions outlined: * Max Weber’s work provides an example of historical and comparative social science that successfully negotiated between attention to theoretical concepts and empirical details. Rather than concluding an investigation with a generalization or theoretical claim—that all economic behaviour is rational, for example—Weber would use the concept of ra tional behaviour as a comparison point in conducting his research. * Weber’s work provides the origin of action theory as such. Weber defines action as meaningfully oriented behaviour, and takes it to be the fundamental unit of sociological investigation. This is crucially important for communication studies, for it defines a model of social science distinct from behaviourism. * How could Weber claim a scientific approach to motives and meanings, which cannot be directly observed? His resolution of this problem has been widely admired and imitated. On the one hand, he combined logic, empathy, and interpretation to construct ideal types for the analysis of historical cases. He constructed, for example, idealtype models of how the perfectly rational or perfectly traditional actor would make choices in ideal circumstances. These expectations would then be compared with what real people did in actual circumstances. When historical actors deviated from the ideal types, Weber did not take that as evidence of their cognitive shortcomings (their irra tionality, for example) but as clues to additional concepts he needed to develop for further analysis. * Working from the other direction, he interpreted historical records empathetically, striving to identify how the actors in a particular situation could have seen their action as a rational response to their circumstances. In this way, he was able to construct models of a range of types of rational action, opening up his theory to a greater range of human situations than either the behaviorists or the economists. Prayer, for example, as Weber pointed out, is rational behavior from the point of view of the faithful. * Weber’s work also provides many useful concepts and examples for communication studies, in addition to the wide-ranging importance of his action theory and his methodological innovations. * His analysis of economic organization and administration is the standard model of rational organization in the study of organizational communication. His studies of authority and leadership are important to students of mass communication, and of both organizational and political communication. * His studies in the sociology of religion explore the range of possibilities in the relation between ideas and social structures, a problem that continues to be at the heart of cultural studies. * His contrasts of rational and traditional and his analysis of modern bureaucracy are starting points for analysis of modern industrial-commercial culture and communication and the effect of the media on culture and politics. * Weber distinguished three ideal types of political leadership (alternatively referred to as three types of domination, legitimisation or authority): 1. Charismatic domination (familial and religious), 2. Traditional domination (patriarchs, patrimonialism, feudalism) and 3. Legal domination (modern law and state, bureaucracy). In his view, every historical relation between rulers and ruled contained such elements and they can be analysed on the basis of this tripartite distinction. He notes that the instability of charismatic authority forces it to â€Å"routinise† into a more structured form of authority. In a pure type of traditional rule, sufficient resistance to a ruler can lead to a â€Å"traditional revolution†. The move towards a rational-legal structure of authority, utilising a bureaucratic structure, is inevitable in the end. Thus this theory can be sometimes viewed as part of the social evolutionism theory. This ties to his broader concept of rationalisation by suggesting the inevitability of a move in this direction. * Bureaucratic administration means fundamentally domination through knowledge. * Weber described many ideal types of public administration and government in his masterpiece Economy and Society (1922). His critical study of the bureaucratisation of society became one of the most enduring parts of his work. It was Weber who began the studies of bureaucracy and whose works led to the popularisation of this term. Many aspects of modern public administration. Social stratification * Weber also formulated a three-component theory of stratification, with Social class, Social status and Political party as conceptually distinct elements. * Social class is based on economically determined relationship to the market (owner, renter, employee etc.). * Status class is based on non-economical qualities like honour, prestige and religion. * Party class refers to affiliations in the political domain. * All three dimensions have consequences for what Weber called â€Å"life chances† (opportunities to improve one’s life). This context consisted of the political problems engendered by the bourgeois status-group of the city, without which neither Judaism, nor Christianity, nor the developments of Hellenistic thinking are conceivable. According to Weber, * He argued that Judaism, early Christianity, theology, and later the political party and modern science, were only possible in the urban context that reached a full development the West alone. =>He also saw in the history of medieval European cities the rise of a unique form of â€Å"non-legitimate domination† that successfully challenged the existing forms of legitimate domination (traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal) that had prevailed until then in the Medieval world. This new domination according to him, was based on the great economic and military power wielded by the organised community of city-dwellers (â€Å"citizens†). Weber’s ideas â€Å"form the heart of what is commonly known as structuralism† (Littlejohn). Weber defines organization as follows: â€Å"An ‘organization’ is a system of continuous, purposive activity of a specified kind. A ‘corporate organization’ is an associative social relationship characterized by an administrative staff devoted to such continuous purposive activity† (Weber, Social and Economic Organizations, p. 151.). Weber’s notion of bureaucracy involves power, authority, and Legitimacy. Power â€Å"is the ability of a person in any social relation to Influence others and to overcome resistance. Power in this sense is fundamental to most social relationships† (Littlejohn). Q. 2. (b) GIVE THE BIOGRAPHY OF MAX WEBER MAX WEBER’S EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY BACKGROUND Weber was born in 1864, in Erfurt, Thuringia.[3] He was the eldest of the seven children of Max Weber Sr., a wealthy and prominent civil servant and member of the National Liberal Party, and his wife he was buckin’ Helene (Fallenstein), who partly descended from French Huguenot immigrants and held strong moral absolutist ideas.[3][9] Weber Sr.’s involvement in public life immersed his home in both politics and academia, as his salon welcomed many prominent scholars and public figures.[3] The young Weber and his brother Alfred, who also became a sociologist and economist, thrived in this intellectual atmosphere. Weber’s 1876 Christmas presents to his parents, when he was thirteen years old, were two historical essays entitled â€Å"About the course of German history, with special reference to the positions of the Emperor and the Pope,† and â€Å"About the Roman Imperial period from Constantine to the migration of nations.†[10] In class, bored and unimpressed with the teachers – who in turn resented what they perceived as a disrespectful attitude – he secretly read all forty volumes of Goethe.[11][12] Before entering the university, he would read many other classical works.[12] Over time, Weber would also be significantly affected by the marital tension between his father, â€Å"a man who enjoyed earthly pleasures,† and his mother, a devout Calvinist â€Å"who sought to lead an ascetic life.† Max Weber and his brothers, Alfred and Karl, in 1879 MAX WEBER’S EDUCATION At this juncture, Weber was in 1882, enrolled in the University of Heidelberg as a law student. After a year of military service he transferred to University of Berlin. After his first few years as a student, during which he spent much time â€Å"drinking beer and fencing,† Weber would increasingly take his mother’s side in family arguments and grew estranged from his father. Simultaneously with his studies, he worked as a junior barrister. In 1886 Weber passed the examination for Referenda, comparable to the bar association examination in the British and American legal systems. Throughout the late 1880s, Weber continued his study of law and history. He earned his law doctorate in 1889 by writing a dissertation on legal history entitled ‘Development of the Principle of Joint Liability and the Separate Fund in the Public Trading Company out of Household and Trade Communities in Italian Cities.’ This work was used as part of a longer work ‘On the History of Trading Companies in the Middle Ages, based on South-European Sources,’ published in the same year. Two years later, Weber completed his Habilitationsschrift, Roman Agrarian History and its Significance for Public and Private Law, working with August Meitzen. Having thus become a Privatdozent, Weber joined the University of Berlin’s faculty, lecturing and consulting for the government. References Reinhard Bendix and Guenther Roth Scholarship and Partisanship: Essays on Max Weber, University of California Press, 1971, p. 244. â€Å"Max Weber.† Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online. 20 April 2009. Britannica.com â€Å"Max Weber†. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 17 February 2010. Max Weber; Hans Heinrich Gerth; Bryan S. Turner (7 March 1991). From Max Weber: essays in sociology. Psychology Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-415-06056-1. Retrieved 22 March 2011. D K Berlo. The Process of Communication.

Wal-Mart Marketing Strategy

In the first class in Intensive in American Business, we discussed the reading assignment John D. Rockefeller and the Modern Corporation in Forbes. During the discussion, the professor mentioned Wal-Mart, a well-known retailer that owns large supply chain as The Standard Oil Company did to achieve its success. Being the largest retailer in the world, however, Wal-Mart may be relatively unfamiliar to students like me from Taiwan since it does not land here even though it planned to do so.In fact, it was actually my trip to China several years ago that makes my first reach with Wal-Mart. And after the class, I started to wonder, with the outstanding supply chain system, how and why could Wal-Mart stop its step developing in Taiwan? Does this fact mean that a nearly wonderful supply chain doesn’t mean everything in market? So, does this also show that maybe under certain circumstances, Rockefeller and his company cannot accomplish such success? Save Money. Live Better.Wal-Mart, t he largest retailer in the world, owns a huge supply chain as The Standard Oil Company did, which enables Wal-Mart to provide the cheapest products to its customers and makes its success. As The Standard Oil Company broaden its supply chain by from setting up barrel-making operation to controlling transportation problems including terminal warehouses and pipeline networks, Wal-Mart combines the supply chain from transporting and delivering to ordering and purchasing, which largely reduce the logistics costs and allow Wal-Mart to supply customers with the best price.To be more specific, for example, when linking up the suppliers, Wal-Mart provides them a system that can be directly entered by suppliers so as to realize the selling situation, predict the demanding amount of products, and decide the producing amount. In this supplying chain, Wal-Mart ought to make the whole supplying chain a very smooth, fluent, and steady one to save much money. Dedication to Charity However, like the resistances Rockefeller had encountered owing to the monopoly of the market, the protests against Wal-Mart are also occurring in not merely America but the world.For instance, a documentary named WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price points out several disadvantages brought by this huge retailer such as cheap labors without insurance and welfare, bad working environment and, what may causes the most attentions of other similar industries, the opportunities being taken away by Wal-Mart from local small-scale industries. Probably because of this, in my personal opinion, Wal-Mart dedicate to charities to make the public think that it do carry out corporate social responsibility and to increase the reputation so that they can eliminate, or at least decrease, the protest against it. Both Rockefeller and Wal-Mart actually fail to entirely assuage public resentful though. ) Wal-Mart in Taiwan So, the problem that attracts my attention most is that in my home country Taiwan, we have certain wholesalers like Costco and Carrefour and retailers like Wellcome and PXmart. Nevertheless, Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, has never landed here even though it had planned to develop from the southern part of Taiwan by merging. Why? To my personal viewpoint, there are two main reasons of this condition basing my observation and analysis.First, the market for no matter retailing or wholesaling in Taiwan has already saturated. Even Carrefour, the market share champion in wholesaling in Taiwan, is having difficulties in its expansion. Not to mention the earlier comer Costco who has dominated the market of import goods. When most people in Taiwan, like my family, intend to buy plentiful imported goods, they would most likely opt to purchase at Costco. If Wal-Mart, a similar store to Costco, enter the market in Taiwan now, people are certain to compare both of them.And it is likely that customers already have their loyalties and would tend to choose Costco, the store they are used to instead of Wal-Mart, the one that they are still unfamiliar with. Consequently, only when Wal-Mart supplies some exclusive businesses or comes out with other attractive strategies can it be competitive and able to compete with the wholesalers that are already in Taiwan now. In addition, because of the geographic reason in Taiwan, which is a comparably small island with crowded people, it seems that it is more suitable for small supermarkets to thrive here.For one thing, the cost of the estate here would be expensive since Wal-Mart is undoubtedly required to own a vast place for it to be built. What’s more, it is not that necessary for people in this crowded island to drive far away to buy groceries. Instead, they can simply walk to the supermarket around the street corner near their homes. For example, popular retailers, especially PXmart, claims to provide the cheapest price to their customers and that by the VIP system, customers can become VIPs for free and sav e every dollars in each of their purchase.Sometimes the prices are even lower than the ones in wholesale shops such as Costco. Moreover, they open like almost anytime and anywhere. That is to say, people in Taiwan do not actually have that much demand on the existence of such a large market place like Wal-Mart. Currently, Wal-Mart finally converts its concentration to the expansion of the relatively potential market in China. In sum, in my point of view, even though Wal-Mart owns a complete and beneficial supply chain system that operate well in the U. S. nd many part of the world, it is not an a-hundred-percent promise to guarantee that it will work no matter when and where. The conditions in the market, the consumption habits of customers, and the competitors of yours are significant considerations as well. In other words, it is always essential for businesses to evaluate the market circumstances before they invest their money in a new place. (WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price teaser trailer on YouTube: http://www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_embedded&v=hiSmlmXp-aU)

Characteristics of a Leader

There are certain characteristic found in some people. It is just that, they put them in a position where people looked up to as a leader. People often say ‘ He or she is a born leader’. Whether in fact a person is born a leader or develop skills and abilities to become a good leader is open for debate. There are some clear characteristics that are found in good leaders. These qualities can be developed and naturally is the part of their personality. Firstly, a good leader must have a positive attitude. This quality is a required not just for a leader but everybody. However, this is specially necessary for a leader. A leader needs to be positive and motivate his team, in times that are hard and times that are brutal. When times are tough and his team is absolutely down, when times are really frustrating, a leader is the who carries his team and his organization forward and that is what a leader needs to do look at the bright side of each and everything. Besides a good leader must be a good listener. This is because a good leader needs to listen to her followers. She needs to get feedback on a regular basis, open her eyes and ears and keep listening. Now a word of caution. Listening does not mean to blindly follow and accept everything that is said and shown. What goes hand in hand is listening. This also helps her followers to express theirs feeling or even to speak their rights. The quality which a leader should possess is intelligence and alertness. A leader has to use his brain every time and also has to remain  Ã‚   alert with   eyes and ears open otherwise he could easily be carried by any fraud or enemy. Many a times we see such situations around us, where a person in trouble or problem doesn’t hesitate in blaming and embarrassing even his closest friend to save himself, and also does not bother about his friends at all because the person has to get rid of his problems anyhow. So, he just thinks about himself and his life,   the life of other does not matter to him much. Some people have a misconception that only those people who are physically strong can become good leaders, but this is not the fact. A leader may not be physically strong but he needs to be mentally strong and firm in decisions. For example, Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation was the greatest leader but he was active and had a firm desire to serve the Nation. He had the power of organizing and uniting people and attracting people towards him by his speeches. This is the best quality of a leader which he had in him. We can also say that, a person who can satisfy the basic psychological needs of his followers can also be an effective leader. A leader must have average character . There are no perfect people, but for a leader to be considered good, they must have a character that is unquestioned within the organization. Leadership always draws criticism from someone, so a leader may not be able to get everyone to believe in him or her, but the people who know the leader best should trust the leader’s character. In a nutshell, a good leader must be faithful to his group members and activities. This in turn, will result in an atmosphere of assurance among the followers. Having faith in self abilities and the world around him , the leader gains inspiration and also inspires others in the process.

Organzational Development The Process of Leading Orginzational Change Essay

Organzational Development The Process of Leading Orginzational Change Case Study 3,4, & 5 - Essay Example Although, they both give individual feelings and perceptions, the first data will take a lot of time because the ideas are not organized in a simpler manner. Not much difference can be noticed from the two data. While meeting Nancy we will majorly focus on the demand that are not being attended to and that need adjustment. The purpose of individual assessment of the team was to mix each other a bit so as to enhance a good understanding of one another. During this assessment it would be possible to realize areas that should be improved and what deficiency is at the working place. In addition to this, it will also ensure that the workers are able to open up to each other. The interrelation will ease the team’s interaction which will enhance maximization of an individual’s output. The instrument that is used was purposely to ensure that the workers are aware of one another discrete working style. It is good to have knowledge of your working partners’ style so as to enhance a good working environment. The instrument was introduced as a way of analyzing individual style of work. Lori describes it as way of letting the workers have a good understanding amongst them, and not to mean that was what they really are. Every member of the team needs to know what style he/she prefers when part of the team. The explanation was done well, although, an improvement on the description should have been enhanced. This is because some employees would make decision without clear understanding of what really describes them. An example is when Cindy objects the word controlling as it has been used to describe someone who seeks attention and lead the rest. She finds the term so negative. Actually controlling does not fully describe someone who follows teams’ decisions. The idea of separating the workers according to the style that they think of themselves was a good idea. They are divided to help us identify what one thinks is the best style to

Analyse the ways in which sociologist point to the social nature of Essay

Analyse the ways in which sociologist point to the social nature of living with cancer as a teenager - Essay Example This is the moment that human beings use to plan for their future lives and school life. It is also the most vibrant stage in the human lifecycle because teenagers experience major changes in their bodies and they discover who they are i.e. their personality traits, likes and dislikes. Teenagers are also highly active and interactive thereby developing a large social network. However, this is not always the case with teenagers suffering from cancer. The diagnosis, treatment and management of cancer greatly interfere with the activities of this critical growth stage (Wawsczczyk 2005). According to sociologists this is the stage in life where teenagers learn to be independent from their parents and family members thereby focusing more on their future. However, this is not possible for teenagers suffering from cancer because they need utmost support, attention and care from their parents and family members for emotional, psychological and social support. Therefore, such teenagers are taken a step back from discovering their independence, potential, strengths and weaknesses (Kleinman1988). Also the school life, social life and employment are put on hold for an unknown period of time, which is in contrast to what should be happening in their lives. This is because they become isolated from their peers, adults and school; which is an important social setting for a child’s growth. Cancer treatment is too severe for them to concentrate in school work or find lenient jobs that are conducive to their state of health. It is also quite common for insurance companies to cancel insurance policies for such teenagers because they are not in school. Insurance companies demand that all children still living under the care of their parents should be attending school to enjoy the benefits of the life insurance policies taken by their parents (Wawsczczyk 2005). Various surveys and research conducted by sociologists

Description of Step-Wise Multiple Regression statistic test Essay

Description of Step-Wise Multiple Regression statistic test - Essay Example If it is not utilized properly, it may congregate on a wretched model while contributing a false sensation of security. This paper attempts to review in detail the step-wise regression model and its application through SPSS version 21. Definition and Detailed Description of 'Stepwise Regression' According to Investopedia, Step-wise regression is a step-by-step iterative establishment of a regression model that necessitates automatic excerption of independent variables. Stepwise regression can be accomplished either by testing single independent variable at one time and admitting it in the regression model if it is found to be statistically significant, or by admitting all possible independent variables within the model and eradicating those that are found to be statistically insignificant, or by a amalgamation of both methods (Investopedia US, A Division of ValueClick, Inc., 2012). Stepwise multiple regressions provide a way of selecting predictors of a specific dependent variable on the grounds of statistical criteria. Necessarily the statistical methodology determines amongst the various independent variables which one is the most suitable predictor, the more suitable predictor and so the process goes on. The emphasis is on exploring the most suitable predictors at every stage. ... There are various multiple regression variants. Stepwise regression is generally a good option although all variables can be entered simultaneously as a substitute. Similarly, all variables can be entered once and then the predictors are eliminated by and by if elimination does not bring about big changes in the entire prediction. Stepwise regression, in statistics entails regression models within which the selection of predictive variables is drawn out by an automatic process. Ordinarily, this assumes the configuration of a succession of F-tests, but other proficiencies are potential, such as adjusted R-square, t-tests, Akaike criterion, Mallows' Cp, Bayesian criterion or false discovery rate (Draper and Smith, 1981). Principal approaches The major approaches utilized in the step-wise regression model are forward selection, backward elimination and bi directional elimination. Forward selection involves commencing without any variable within the model, examining the inclusion of indi vidual variable utilizing a selected model equivalence criterion, including the variable if any present amongst the various predictors that enhances the model to the best, and iterating this process till none amends the model. Backward elimination involves commencing with all potential variables, examining the exclusion of every variable utilizing a selected model equivalence criterion, eliminating the variable if any present amongst the various independent variables that leads to improvement in the model upon elimination and iterating the process until no more improvement is possible. Bidirectional elimination is a combination of the forward selection and

Life Span Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Life Span Research - Essay Example At certain foreseeable occasions in the developmental process, new and different abilities emerge that have no obvious originations from earlier developmental periods. These developmental plateaus represent a qualitative transformation in maturity. To assist the study of development, developmental tasks are characteristically divided into four primary domains: physical, cognitive, social, and emotional. This discussion first defines these development domains then applies these definitions to those of pre-school and adolescent age. Physical development refers to the growth of the body structure including muscles, bones and organs as well as comprising all motor and sensory development. Motor activity is dependent on muscle strength and coordination. Motor actions such as standing, sitting, and running involve the large muscles whereas speech, vision and the use of hands and fingers engage the smaller muscles of the body. Sensory development includes the five senses, sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing. â€Å"The coordination and integration of perceptual input from these systems are controlled by the central nervous system† (Roditti, 2002, p. 11). Cognitive development describes activities such as thought, memory, reasoning, problem-solving and abstract thinking. The use of language necessitates symbolization and memory and is one of the most difficult of cognitive activities. The term language does not mean the spoken word, however. Speaking is a motor activity. Therefore, language and speech are operated by different areas of the brain. Comprehending and expressing language is a complex cognitive endeavor. Social development includes the child’s interactions with other people and involvement in social groups. The earliest social function is the attachment to mother leading to the â€Å"development of relationships with adults and peers, assumption of social roles, adoption of group values and norms, adoption of a moral system, and

Consumer Learning Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Consumer Learning - Coursework Example For launching a new food supplement product an advertisement is created to teach the customer about product usage. The advertisement also explains benefits and features of this product. The ad is designed in such a way that shows details about the capsule. It contains different vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins which are essential for maintaining good health. Each of these capsules provides original nutritional value to the consumers. These capsules are packed within a small plastic container. In the label of the container essential details of related to the capsule and its manufacturing company will be mentioned. It is a daily food supplement consume for having healthy and strong physical. This food supplement capsule has a balanced combination of 20 essential minerals, 15 vitamins which keeps a person mentally alert and physically active. It contain different anti oxidant like zinc, biotion and selenium which improves health and skin. It also has calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. The capsule includes carbonyl iron within its ingredients. The advertisement of this capsule has to be designed in such a way that it clearly depicts its targeted customers. This new product is mainly launched for both male and female above 18 years. It can be consumed without doctor’s prescription. The price of this capsule is slightly high. So it is mainly targeted to the customers of middle class and upper class people who are educate and understand the value of this type of products (Applegate, 2005). It is also targeted to the persons who are suffering from weakness, vitamin and mineral deficiency and other nutritional deficiencies. The ad of this capsule shows that its potential customers can be those persons who don’t get time to eat healthy food or can’t maintain proper diet chart. They can easily have this capsule for getting high nutritional value and saving lot of time. Advertisement of this food supplement capsule has to be developed and designed

Daycare Centers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Daycare Centers - Essay Example They have their own Curriculum Department â€Å"with over 150 years of experience† (Kids R Kids). The curriculum is divided into developmental levels. â€Å"The heart of our curriculum is love. Love, along with a deep understanding of the individual educational and emotional needs of each child, sets the Kids ‘R’ Kids Curriculum apart† (Kids R Kids). â€Å"Kindercares innovative and comprehensive Excel Education program is designed to ensure that children are responded to and supported in developing their full potential† (KinderCare). They boast an innovative mandarin emersion program. As with Kids R Kids the programming aims to be developmentally appropriate. They provide greater structure in their centres and tend to present an emphasis on educational achievement. Lil Texans Learning Centre has numerous centres. For diversity a Christian Centre with a curriculum reflective of those beliefs was selected. Differenceswith this centre and the other two is that Christian education is given as top priority and that play and music and dance are listed as part of the mini Texans program. All three centers boast of trained staff and encourage upskilling, but give no commitment of financially support in this. The methods and full extent of teacher training is not made public. Teacher forums note that ‘chains’ are businesses and that privately owned daycare Centres are generally more committed to children’s needs. Both centres come in at a 3/5 rating. Teacher, child ratios are advertised at Kids R Kids as 1:4 in the infant age group, 1:6in the 18months-2.3 age group and 1:8 in the 3-4year age group. They mention provision of specialist teachers for children with additional needs. KinderCare do not advertise their ratios. The Lil Texans Centre selected does not present staff qualifications or teacher child ratios. The highest rating 4/5 is given to Kids R Kids due to their commitment to special education supported children with† early

Describe people of the 7Ps in a report using your chosen company Essay Example for Free

Describe people of the 7Ps in a report using your chosen company Essay Introduction: For this assignment I am going to explain one of the 7Ps. In this case I am going to describe people for my chosen company, DELL. A board of directors of nine people runs the company. Michael Dell, the founder of the company, serves as chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Other board members include Don Carty, William Gray, Judy Lewent, Klaus Luft, Alex Mandl, Michael A. Miles, and Sam Nunn. Shareholders elect the nine board members at meetings, and those board members who do not get a majority of votes must submit a resignation to the board, which will subsequently choose whether or not to accept the resignation. The board of directors usually sets up five committees having oversight over specific matters. These committees include the Audit Committee, which handles accounting issues, including auditing and reporting; the Compensation Committee, which approves compensation for the CEO and other employees of the company; the Finance Committee, which handles financial matters such as proposed mergers and acquisitions; the Governance and Nominating Committee, which handles various corporate matters (including nomination of the board); and the Antitrust Compliance Committee, which attempts to prevent company practices from violating antitrust laws. The corporate structure and management of Dell extends beyond the board of directors. The Dell Global Executive Management Committee sets strategic directions. Dell has regional senior vice-presidents for countries other than the United States, including David Marmonti for EMEA and Stephen J. Felice for Asia/Japan. As of 2007[update], other officers included Martin Garvin (senior vice president for worldwide procurement) and Susan E. Sheskey (vice president and Chief Information Officer). Conclusion: DELL has got a huge inside organisation with a lot of employees and managers. Read Also:Â  What is a Descriptive Essay

Change Management Compulsion Or An Option British Airways Business Essay

Change Management Compulsion Or An Option British Airways Business Essay There is a famous saying stated by an unknown author The only thing that is constant is change (Berman, 2007). With the current changing customer requirements and external environment necessities, organisations which behave as closed systems and do not constantly change themselves to fit the market requirements and customer demands will fail in the long term (Harigopal, 2006). Organisational change is an ongoing process which brings the systems and procedures of the organisation in line with the factors prevailing in the external and internal environment of the organisation (Nemetz and Fry, 1998). As business management gurus argue, external forces of change require not only adaptive, flexible organisations and new management approaches but also competent managers able to adopt to changing times and to manage organisational change (Beckhard and Harris, 1987). It is essential to understand how organisations in the real world implement and deal with organisational change. One such organisation which has implemented various change methodologies in the past few years in response to the changing business environment is British Airways. British Airways is the UKs flag carrier and one of the largest airlines in the world. Like many large organisations, the airline has had to change its strategy, technology, structure and culture in order to achieve competitive advantage in todays rapidly changing global business world. 1.2 Aims Objectives of Research The main objective and strategic aim of this study is to explore the role and significance of Change Management in this era of globalization and changing market needs by taking the case study of British Airways in specific. Research Question- The primary research question of this research study is: To explore the extent to which change management is necessary for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage? Additionally, the secondary research question is to examine the change management initiatives previously taken by British Airways to attain competitive advantage and profitability. 1.3 Literature Review This chapter will highlight the various aspects of change management. It will use academic research to understand the concept of change management by looking at its definition and determining the various approaches of change management. It will then describe the framework for change and various change management initiatives taken by organisations. The various change models will also be listed and analysed and the organisational background of British Airways will be provided along with a SWOT analysis of the organisation. 1.4 Methodology This chapter will determine the methodology used to conduct this research and the reasons for various data collection methods chosen. It will also look into the philosophical aspects of the research study. 1.5 Research Findings and Discussion During this chapter the researcher has analysed the findings and compared these with the literature review and methodology to establish the extent to which change management is necessary for an organisation to sustain competitive advantage and the role and significance of Change Management initiatives taken by British Airways to attain profitability. 1.6 Conclusion The last chapter is the Recommendations and Conclusion chapter. This chapter will list the recommendations generated from the research study findings while also bringing to light the limitations of the research study. The references used and the research related appendices will then be presented at the end of the research study. CHAPTER 2 Literature Review This chapter will review the existing literature on change management. It is important to understand current research on the subject area, to enable the reader to understand the nature of the existing knowledge of the subject (Denscombe 1998, p.15). Specifically, this literature review will focus on the following issues; Firstly, it will determine the definition of change and list the various types from the typology of change. Secondly it will describe the framework for the change process, generic model of change and the various change management diagnostic models are discussed. Thirdly the importance of communication in Change Management is explained. Fourthly the SWOT analysis is also described along with the various change initiatives taken by organisations in the aviation industry. 2.1 Typology of Change Change in academics is defined as the substitution or succession of one thing in place of another. As per research studies conducted, it is identified that the patterns of change repeats and is recurring in every industry. These patterns of change constitute of incremental and radical changes. The increasing frequency of these patterns of change in various industries over the past couple of decades has necessitated for organisations to predict the pattern of changes in their external industry environment so that they are better equipped with the resources and capabilities required to embark upon change and maintain their competitive advantage. A typology of change was developed by Nadler and Tushman to outline the various abilities of organisations to predict the patterns of change in the external industry environment. They have divided the ability to predict changes into two types of proactive and reactive while listing the scope of change as being transformational or incremental in nature. The typology of change is created by Nadler and Tushman by developing a matrix of the type and scope of change. They have differentiated the change strategy among organisations into four types of fine tuning, adaptation, re-orientation and re-creation. These strategies have been described in the following paragraphs (Hayes, 2007 and Chaffey, 2006). The first two changes of fine tuning and adaptation in organisations which occur are incremental changes. Fine tuning is the change process where organisations are proactive and will try to fill in the inefficiencies and gaps internal to the company when compared to the changing external environments which act as reducing agents to the effective performance of the business processes of the organisation. Adaptation is a reactive change process where the organisations have to make changes to their internal processes after they have felt a threat in their competitive position due to the changes made in the organisation. These changes are limited and do not affect the core functions or business processes of the organisation but are targeted towards reducing or removing the threats from the external environment and competition in an effective manner (Cook, Macaulay Coldicott, 2004). The two changes although occur for a long duration, are only basic changes and do not impact the fundament al aspects in which the organisations operations work (Hayes, 2007). The change processes of re-orientation and re-creation are both transformational in nature since they impact the fundamental operations of change. They occur when the need for change is vital to survive (Poole Van de Ven, 2004). The re-orientation change process in organisations basically requires organisations to change or re-define their existing corporate or business strategy (Chaffey, 2006 and Hayes, 2007). This change is conducted for two reasons. The first is to pro-actively prepare the organisation for the future changing external environment or to change the external environment itself by innovation such that the core competency of the organisation is increased over its competitors (Hayes, 2007 Potter, 2004). In Re-orientation, since there is no external threat to the organisation and it is being pro-active, it is difficult for the employee workforce to understand the need for such a drastic radical change. This change process requires the management of the organisation to create a sense of urgency and a necessity for change among the organisational employees so that the change process can be enforced. Otherwise it is difficult for organisations to implement this change. The last type of change process is Re-creation. This is a forced change and is transformational in nature. This type of change is implemented by organisations when they feel they need to change their core operations in order to sustain in the changed external environment. In most scenarios, the success of these re-creation changes can determine the survival of the organisation. These changes however are high risk changes since the organisations do not plan these changes ahead and do not, in most scenarios, have the required time and resources for their successful implementation. The change impact is mostly lower than expected for many reasons such as low involvement and motivation among employees, inadequate readiness in management etc. This change if not tackled effectively can lead to employee resistance and de-motivations (Chaffey, 2006 and Hayes, 2007). 2.2 Framework of Change The framework of change as developed by Lewin (1951) constitutes of the same three steps in all change processes. These steps are unfreeze, change and refreeze. Unfreeze is where the organisation tries to create an urgency for change so that the employees and the management are ready for change. Change, as the name indicates, is the second stage where the change occurs. Freeze is the final stage where the change made is now ensured to become part of the organisation. As per the framework, every change process has a higher level of uncertainty leading to resistance among employees. However, certain techniques can be adopted in order to avoid this resistance. One of these techniques is to introduce additional steps such as identifying the future state prior to implementing the framework of change (Weick Quinn, 1999). There have been many new models which have evolved in the past few years which have tried to add more steps or make modifications to this model. One of them is the generi c model of change created by (Hayes and Hyde, 1998) however, the general concept and baseline in all these change models is still the same. The generic model of change signifies the change process to be continuous in nature. It states that the change results of one process act as the triggering factor for some new required changes. Change process begins by determining the internal inefficiencies and improper capabilities of the internal organisation and the external environment in the industry the organisation operates in and using this gathered information to develop the new organisations strategy. This new strategy will now automatically implement the new anticipated change in the organisation (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008). The ability to determine the correct strategy is the most crucial step in any change process since an incorrect change strategy can also be implemented successfully however it will not deliver the same benefits and fill in the required market inefficiencies as required and the overall change process can in turn be a failure (Buttrick, 2005). After looking at the above studies, the change process is modified as below. The initial aspect of the change process is now moved to identifying the resources required to implement the change process and the various techniques which can be used further to begin unfreezing the organisation. While this is being done, the organisations inefficiencies and gaps with the external environment are determined in order to develop the change strategy. This change strategy is designed that such that it achieves the anticipated future state of the organisation and reviewed to make any modification such that it is aligned towards realising the future state. The next step is to create a change plan before directly implementing the change. This change plan is implemented on a step by step basis and upon completion of each step, it is reviewed to determine if it is still aligned or the future state and rectify any identified deviations. Once this is completed and the future state is realised by the organisation, new techniques in order to merge this change with the organisations culture will be implemented. This is when the final stage of refreezing appears and the success or failure of the change process and the involved resources is determined. It is also used to collect feedback of the change process and reward the resources who had performed effectively towards achieving the future state (Jones, 2008). This generic model of change created by Hayes Hyde in 1998 and the change framework developed by Lewin in 1951 are both effective models which can used to implement change. However, both these models ignore one crucial aspect of change management which plays a vital role in the success of any change event, people management. Without effective people management, it is impossible to implement change in any organisation successfully. 2.3 Change Management Models There are various models which can be used to diagnose the success of a change event or the need for a change event. These models reduce the overall change process into a few key factors which need to be taken into consideration while implementing the change process in any organisation. They allow the management to determine the key aspects from both the process and the people perspective which need to be looked into. This in-turn increases the ability of change managers firstly to implement the change process successfully and secondly to evaluate its success and take necessary actions (Hayes, 2007). One of these models is the McKinsey 7S model. This model divides the change process diagnosis into seven elements which can be used to determine the existing internal environment status in a firm. These seven elements are strategy, structure, systems, staff, style, shared values and skills. The internal organisational efficiency of an organisation is determined successfully using this model and its results can be used to develop the internal strategy of the organisation (Saunders, 2007). This model can be used to develop change initiative programmes in organisations and develop a strategy which will achieve the overall internal fit in the firm however, it cannot be used to determine a fit between the internal capabilities of the organisation and the external environment in which it operates leading to a necessity for another model which takes this into consideration (Burke Litwin, 1992). The model which takes this into consideration is The Burke-Litwin causal model of organisational performance and change. This model is used for many purposes such as to identify the type of change implemented, whether it is incremental step-by-step change or a radical change or to determine the overall effect of using change management procedures in organisations while determining the performance of these management initiatives. This model constitutes of various elements which are crucial for a change process. The input element is the organisational performance and the output element is the individual and organisational performance. The other factors in the model are the through-put of the model. The models elements are further divided into two types of factors. The five factors of external environment, leadership, mission and strategy, organisational culture and the individual and organisational performance are the transformational factors while the remaining factors are the increme ntal factors. They are distinguished so based on the ability of the factors to influence the type of change. One of the successful applications of this model was to determine the success and performance on the change processes implemented in British Airways in the year 1983 (Burke Litwin, 1992). (Burke Litwin, 1992). This model will again be used in this study to determine the performance and effectiveness of the change management strategies used in British Airways in the past year. 2.4 Communication in Change Management: One of the key aspects of any change process in terms of people management is communication. If the communication is ineffective or missing, then the employee resistance to embrace the change only increases further. The communication strategies used by various organisations are different and this determines the amount of information shared by them with their employee workforce. Another factor which affects this amount of information shared with the employees is the managements personal views and understanding on the subject of change management and importance of communication. The Spray and Pray strategy used by management is where the information provided to employees is not considered or evaluated by the management to determine if it is actually relevant to them or not. This sort of communication can allow the vital and relevant information to be buried under irrelevant and not so vital information and reduce the overall necessary impact of communication on the employees. The manag ement which chooses to share the relevant information with their employees and also provides them with the various benefits of the change implemented to these employees use the communication strategy of Tell and Sell. In this scenario, the communication effectiveness is higher than the previous strategy and the amount of the information shared is lower. One of the most effective communication strategies which can be adopted by management in any change organisation is the Underscore and explore strategy where the information is provided to employee workforce in exact reference to the change situation and the various inputs provided by the management are considered at the same time. This ensures that the employees feel to be a part of the change being implemented and reduce their overall employee resistance. In the other two communication strategies of Identify and reply and withhold and uphold, the information shared with the employees is not adequate and the management withholds som e crucial elements of information which can increase the employee resistance to accept change. The below diagram represents the various communication strategies in accordance with the communication effectiveness and the amount of information shared by the management (Clampitt, DeKoch and Cashman, 2000). Figure-2 : Communication Strategy Continuum   (Clampitt, DeKoch and Cashman, 2000) 2.5 SWOT Analysis To determine the inner fit of an organisation with an external environment, one of the techniques which have proven successful on numerous occasions is the SWOT analysis. This SWOT analysis is divided into two segments, the internal factors segment which constitutes of the strengths and the weaknesses of the organisation and the external factors segment which constitutes of the opportunities and threats presented by the external environment in reference to the organisation. The role of strengths and opportunities is to determine the internal capabilities and inefficiencies of the business processes and the employee talent of the organisation. The role of opportunities and threats is to determine the external environment that the organisation is functioning in and find ways in which it can either support or act as a danger to the organisations functions. Once these are determined, it is then determined how the internal strengths of the organisation can be used to benefit from the exte rnal opportunities of the industry environment. The weaknesses are also looked into to determine if there is a possibility to change into a threat and how this movement can be avoided. The threats are looked at from the perspective of changing them into opportunities or reducing their possible impact on the organisation. The weaknesses are also worked upon in a similar way, to reduce their impacts and risks to the organisation or to remove them altogether by changing them into opportunities (Briggs, 2001). 2.6 Change Management in Organisations in the Aviation Industry: Some of the change initiatives which have been experienced by organisations in the Aviation industry are the privatisation of companies such as Qantas airlines. This happened at the same time as most industries in various nations were moving towards privatisation and de-regulation while moving away from the shadows of the public sector. The change process was rapid and radical in nature. Another change in the aviation industry which was not just restricted to one organisation was the agreement of global alliances among the various international and domestic airlines in the global market. This changed the structure and process of operations in the Aviation industry while also bringing in harmony the use of labour and the strategies adopted by management across various airlines in the industry (Fairbrother, 2002). Another change initiative which was related across airline companies was the use of part time and casual employees so that they can benefit from using them when required and paying them only for the number of hours employed. This has allowed them to reduce the overall labour costs however, in most airline companies; most of the part time employees did work overtime just as much as full time employees leading to no change in the overall labour costs (Dawson, 2003). The privatisation of the airlines is not just limited to Qantas airlines but has increased further to British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM etc (Delfmann, 2005). An additional change management initiative is the collaborative effects among most airline companies to ensure a reduction in the carbon footprint overall and thus support the climate change initiatives along with the various other industries and governments (Bishop Grayling, 2003). Steve this is the other introduction to the research study I written, but Im unsure if this is perhaps too current as it relates to the current global economic recession. Could you advise if it is maybe best to delete the information I have highlighted in bold and continue with the original introduction I have written on page 3. Introduction to the research study There is a famous saying stated by an unknown author The only think that is constant is change (Berman, 2007). With the current changing customer requirements and external environment necessities, organisations which behave as the closed systems that do not constantly change themselves to fit the market requirements and customer demands will fail in the longer terms (Harigopal, 2006). The punctuated paradigms irregularities frequency has increased over the past decade implying that the change in organisations is not as fast or as paced as the change in external environments which in-turn is increasing the gaps between the customer requirements and products/services provided by organisations (Hayes, 2007). This has made it crucial to study the significance of change management internally in organisations so that this building gap can be reduced and organisations can benefit from these constant changes through adapting their culture. The recent economic recession and credit crunch with a decreasing GDP rate across the United Kingdom in 2008-09 (Statistics, 2009) has forced organisations to find new ways to reduce costs for the products and services generated by them so that they can survive in this difficult climate. Organisations responses to these necessary changes being forced upon them is being tackled using various techniques such as economies of scale (Grant, 2005), internal re-structuring and creating new operational processes which will reduce their operational and maintenance costs. This in-turn has led to need for effective change management in such organisations so that the changes implemented are widely accepted by the workforce which in-turn ensures that success from the implemented change techniques are achieved (Cameron Green, 2008). One such organisation which has implemented various change methodologies in the past few years in response to the changing industry environment is British Airways. The organisation like many others has undergone some changes in their strategy, technology, structure and cultural aspects in order to survive in the changing environment and maintain the organisations core competency. British Airways will be used as a case study in this research study in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the research study. Many literatures focus on change management in organisations enforced due to various reasons and either at the beginning or at the end of the change management procedures being implemented. However, most of these researches have not taken into consideration the change management forced by external environments due to an economic recession especially since this scenario is not very common or recurring constantly. This research will contribute to the existing literature by using economic recession as one of the external factors leading to implementing changes in the airline industry. This research study will attempt to act as a guide to further researches who wish to identify the necessity for effective change management in the airline industry organisation especially when the external contributing factor is the economic recession. Sharon, This is a very well written first draft of your dissertation. I think there are some very good elements but there are also quite long passages where there are no references cited. I think if you do a little more reading and address these gaps then you will have the basis of a very good literature review. Steve

Accident Investigation :: Essays Papers

Accident Investigation Aircraft Investigation Each mishap has their own characteristics and there is no substitute for good old-fashioned common sense and initiative. Each wrecked aircraft has it’s own story to tell if properly investigated. However Air Force guidelines are quick to point out that investigators in their eagerness seek out the causes, often ignore safe investigation practices and common safety precautions. Air Force Investigators are maybe in even more difficult position due to the hazards that are unique to the military war fighting machines, I’ll discuss a few of these hazards briefly before I get into the steps of Air Force accident investigations. Munitions Extreme care must be given to the munitions that may have been on board the aircraft. Just because the ammunition appears to be damaged beyond being dangerous the slightest amount of static electricity from clothing may detonate munitions. Before starting an investigation of any kind, obtain the list of munitions aboard and have the explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) team remove or inert them. Again eagerness must be controlled and situational awareness must be exercised to be on the lookout for those munitions that may not have been recovered. Also, though tedious, the locations of all munitions need to be noted, as they will hold clues as well. The ejection seats can also present extreme dangers to untrained and careless investigator. Toxins Hydrazine. It’s a word that strikes fear in all that are familiar with it. New generation aircraft such as the F-16 use hydrazine for emergency power supplies. It looks like a clear oily substance that smells like ammonia. Some of the effects hydrazine can have on the human body include: liver damage, blindness, skin burns, and prolong exposure may be fatal. Only base bioenvironmental engineers are qualified enough to properly handle it. Materials Also somewhat unique but is gradually finding its way into the commercial side of aviation is the use of high composite materials along with exotic metals used in the effort to not only strengthen, but to lighten the overall weight of the airframe. The composites used with most frequency today are boron, graphite and Kevlar. Each of these materials has their own characteristics and must be handled with care. While in its finished form Kevlar is very stable, boron and graphite must be handled with extreme care to avoid breathing in dust created when the structures become damaged. Boron fibers can pierce through skin and stay imbedded indefinitely and cannot be removed easily causing severe infections.

AES Corp Essay -- essays research papers

Strategy AES distinguishes itself through developing new products and applications at a low cost. It is committed to social responsibility and empowering its employees through its four main principles which include integrity, fairness, social responsibility and fun. It is â€Å"different† from other corporations because AES is focused on retaining its core values and culture as the corporation expands in size. The company’s sources of sustainable competitive advantage include technical leadership through its innovative research and development team and its worldwide network of distributors and strategic partners. AES is committed to penetrating international markets, specifically in developing or emerging economies, and constantly improving on product development. The case states that AES believes their competitive advantage is a result of its â€Å"agility or speed and its ability to commit to corporate equity and to arrange complex financial transactions.† Structure AES is operating in a network structure. In this structure, employees form groups to solve problems and achieve common objectives. Employees may volunteer for task forces, without any formal credentials, because they are interested in a particular subject or want to set effective company policies. Although employees are not given a formal career path at AES, they are given latitude to move up the career ladder within the company to other positions. The organization has five hierarchical levels, consisting of a set of divisional/regional managers, and three additional levels that exist in the plant. The plant organization consists of three levels: the plant manager, the seven area superintendents, and the front line people. The two cofounders decided â€Å"to avoid creating bureaucratic organizations resembling the government† because of their bad experiences working for the government. As a result, the structure of AES is highly decentralized. This allows managers and employees to both take ownership of their roles and have input on the success of the company. It also allows individuals to develop leadership skills for potential promotions. This flat management structure encourages high employee involvement in all decision-making opportunities. Systems The case revealed that AES uses four measures of performance; shared values, plant operations, assets and sales backlog. Shared values is described as how f... ...n address how to review the manual and make changes if necessary. Finally, the members of the HR manual task force should be adequately compensated for the time and effort they put into the project in addition to their regular job duties. A monetary bonus or compensatory day off will be required to reward them for their hard work and diligence. The next step for AES is to establish a human resource information management (HRIM) system. A HRIM system will allow employees to access information contained in the HR manual through a company intranet. A HRIM system could also help AES employees track their training and development, look for courses to take, search for job openings or cross training opportunities throughout the company, and locate benefit information. As AES plants become more geographically dispersed, a HRIM system will help to communicate the company’s values and strategy to all employees. References: 1.Organizational Alignment: The 7-S Model, Harvard Business School, November 19, 1996 2.Human Resources At The AES Corporation: The Case Of The Missing Department, Graduate School of Business Stanford University, February 1997; Mgt 7640 Course pack 3. www.aes.com

Slaughter House-Five by Kurt Vonnegut :: essays research papers

Slaughter House-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Slaughter house-Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut is a post modern novel, attempting to undermine the reader's expectations. The novel does not have smooth transitions from one event to the next. The reason is, because the novel reflects modern man's life. Since the novel is not smooth it is confusing. This is just like modern man's life, confusing. Another literary device is, it is difficult to follow. When the novel is hard to read the reader cannot enjoy and understand the book. This is how modern society is too(difficult to follow). Another literary device is the novel's characters lack depth. The characters need more descriptive details. This reflects man by saying that man lacks depth and is not well rounded. The book undermines the novel's conventional approach. These are some reasons for the undermining of the reader's expectations. The novel does not have smooth transitions from one event to the next one. "Billy blinked in 1958, traveled in time to 1961." After a chapter, "Billy Pilgrim nestled like a spoon with the hobo on Christmas night, and he fell asleep, and he traveled in time to 1967. When Billy is in 1958, he is busy talking about World War Two. Then suddenly he travels through time to 1967 and he ends up being kidnaped by aliens from Tralfamadore. So when the story changes, the reader's mind has to adjust to the changes. The events just pop up all of a sudden. Modern man always has surprises in life that just pop up just like this novel. In life there is usually no smooth adjustments. It is abrupt and sudden. Billy Pilgrim(protagonist) travels through time in an awkward chronological order. In life people do not adapt to different situations without any problem. In this book, shifting from one situation to another is meant to be poor. The book is difficult to follow. It has many small stories in it. Pilgrim is in World War Two and then he ends up being with aliens from Tralfadamore. Some of these topics are hard to comprehend. This symbolizes modern life since it is difficult to comprehend the understandings of life. For example, Roland Weary is one of Billy's war companions. He kept beating the living daylights out of Billy. The novel mentions that Weary treat Pilgrim like this to discipline him, but he over does it. Is it, because Weary is a psychopath or has something

Policy Initiatives for Change and Innovation Essay

Contextualisation The education system in Ghana has undergone enormous changes in the last 50 years. Over this period it has gone from being highly regarded among African nations, through a period of collapse and more recently rejuvenation, supported by a donor-funded reform programme (FCUBE). Underlying these ups and downs and, more recently, the recognition of the need for change, are changes more fundamental still: different ways of knowledge and different ideas about the nature, purpose, and scope of school subjects and how to meet the needs of a diverse student population have come to the fore. These remain among the many challenges facing the education system in Ghana. The paper that follows reviews this ‘history’ and the process, and events, which shaped and informed it. It concludes by examining recent developments and what still remains to be achieved. Abstract: Using an historical perspective, the recent history of educational policy making in Ghana, as it relates to the provision of basic education, is examined. Three periods or phases are identified corresponding to the situation prior to Independence, the period between 1951 and 1986 and the reforms instituted in 1987 and the years that followed. Despite the willing cooperation of various donor agencies and the availability of resources, progress has been limited. The policy and contextual reasons for this comparative lack of progress are examined in turn. The paper concludes with what can be learnt from these attempts at reform and suggests that, whilst the issues involved are complex, greater attention needs to be focused on the training and support of teachers in their classroom role rather than focusing on the provision of resources. Helping teachers to understand the desired changes in their practice and the need to make pupils independent learners, coupled with reforms of teacher training and support, and the nature and quality of teacher continuing professional development, can all be seen as key ways in which further progress may be made. Introduction This paper aims to trace some of the major changes which have taken place in Ghana’s education system since the country gained Independence in 1957, ie, almost 50 years. Although Ghana’s education system had previously been regarded as one of the most highly developed, and effective, in West Africa (Foster, 1965), by the 1980s it was in near collapse (Scadding, 1989; Peil, 1995) and viewed as dysfunctional in relation to the goals and aspirations of the country. The academic standards of pupils, support for teachers, instructional materials, school buildings, classrooms and equipment had declined through lack of financing and management. In 1996 the Ghanaian government embarked on a major donor-funded reform programme called the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme which touched all levels of the education system and attempted to address the perennial problems of access, retention, curriculum relevance, teacher training, provision of physical structures, and financing. What follows examines basic education in Ghana by dividing its policy history and practise into three major phases; that of the preIndependence era, the period from 1951 to 1986 and the period from 1987 to 2003. Each of these is discussed in turn in the following sections. Stanislaus Kadingdi Basic education in the pre-Independence era This first phase in the development of basic education policy and practise in Ghana can be described as having been dominated by missionary activities in relation to literacy for trade and the teachings of the Bible. Formal education in Ghana dates back to the mercantile era preceding colonisation. European merchants and missionaries set up the first schools and Christian missionaries are said to have introduced western-style education into Ghana as early as 1765 (Antwi, 1991a; Graham, 1971). Many of these institutions, established by Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries, were located in the south of the country in what became the British Gold Coast Colony. The main aim of these early schools was to facilitate the training of the local inhabitants as interpreters for purposes of trade and as a conversion of Ghanaians to the Christian religion. Thus the curriculum had a narrow focus on basic literacy with the Bible and scripture as the main texts of schooling. Early attempts to improve the quality of primary education in Ghana (then known as the Gold Coast), by Sir Gordon Guggisberg in his role as Governor, took place in the period between 1919-1927. He emphasised a need for better teaching and improved management of schools but the shortage of teachers and inadequate funding meant that his plans for improving primary education were hardly achieved. Most schools in the rural areas were still based in unsuitable buildings, were poorly equipped and staffed or, in some cases, centred under trees! Major policy initiatives in basic education from 1951-1986 The second phase was characterised by instability in governance as a result of successive military takeovers. This political instability coupled with the rise in oil prices in the early 1970s resulted in economic decline in the country. It was a period of a harsh and repressive revolutionary zeal on the part of the military regime of 1981 and resulted in a significant number of trained and highly qualified teachers leaving the country (Nti, 1999). Education was therefore faced with political instability, ad hoc measures, and frequent changes in education policy. Teaching and learning in basic schools had deteriorated to the extent that the majority of school leavers were illiterate, and confidence in Ghana’s once enviable education system was shaken. In 1951 the first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, embarked on a massive expansion of the education system to speed the pace of educational development in the (then) Gold Coast. This was in response to popular demand for education and to the new Africa Government’s intention to organise a planned campaign to abolish illiteracy. This initiative was followed by further developments with Ghana’s Independence in 1957. In fact the next 35 years saw a wide range of developments and reform initiatives taking place in Ghana’s education system. Within this period three significant stages can be discerned. These were the Accelerated Development Plans (ADPs) for Education in 1951 and 1961, the findings of the Dzobo Committee of 1973 and the following, New Structure and Content of Education Plan in 1974. The intentions associated with the new military government of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) in 1981 led to further changes. The first of these is discussed in the next section. The Accelerated Development Plans (ADP) for Education of 1951 and 1961 The ADP, launched in 1951, gained legal backing through the introduction of the 1961 Education Act, which sought to provide free, universal and compulsory basic education (of 6 years duration) for all children from 6 years of age. The 1961 Education Act empowered Local Authority Councils to be in control of educational management whilst parents and guardians were expected to make some contribution to the running of schools in their areas. Primary education underwent a rapid and steady growth and the number of schools rose from 1,081 in 1951 to 3,372 in 1952. Enrolment doubled in a period of five years and Ghana was acclaimed as having the most developed education system in Africa (Foster, 1965; Ghana Human Development Report, 1998; Scadding, 1989). Realizing the importance of trained teachers for the expanded system, the 1961 Education Act opened new teacher training colleges, expanded those already in existence and made provision for the training of unqualified teachers in the field through various emergency and short-term in-service training programmes. Teachers’ numbers increased by 1,000 between 1951 and 1953, with the yearly output rising from 420 to 1,108 trained teachers from teacher training colleges. In 1961 the entire basic education system (primary and middle school education) was made free and compulsory, although uniforms and books were not free. However, even though school enrolments increased following the 1961 Education Act, the quality of teaching and learning appears to have remained the same. The changes that were effected to cope with the increased pupil enrolments had been insufficient to create a balance between the quantity and quality of the education provided. The most significant factor that affected the imbalance was an inability to provide schools with trained teachers. With the increase in the number of schools, more teachers were needed and so many ‘pupil teachers’ (ie, untrained teachers) had to be employed to teach, resulting in poor teaching and learning in schools during this period. Following this, the second significant source of policy development, mentioned earlier, arose through the Dzobo Committee of 1973 and The New Structure and Content of Education policy of 1974. The Dzobo Committee of 1973 and The New Structure and Content of Education of 1974 Prior to 1972 the education system had been criticized as being elitist in character built, as it was, on a selective system similar to the British grammar schools. In 1973 the in-coming military government carried out a review of the educational system, and formed the so-called Dzobo Committee to recommend appropriate measures to improve the situation (Dzobo, 1974). This led, in 1974, to the government putting into operation the first major, postIndependence, reform in pre-university education. This reform is generally referred to as ‘The New Structure and Content of Education’ (NSCE) and reduced the length of pre-tertiary education from 17 years to 13 years. The 6 years of primary education remained the same. The four years of junior school was reduced to three years. The five years of senior secondary school, lower stage was reduced to two years, and the period of senior secondary, upper level, remained the same (ie, it went from a pattern of 6-4-5-2 to one of 63-2-2). The aim was to make it possible for school leavers to leave at any point of exit from the system with skills that would enable them to be employable. The reform was expected to raise standards at the various levels so that educational standards would not be compromised as a result of the decrease in the number of years spent in pre-tertiary education. The thrust of the content of the reform programme was to vocationalise preuniversity education in Ghana and to make it more functional and oriented towards contextual demands and challenges. It also constituted a bold attempt to reduce educational expenditure. However, despite its laudable intentions, the NSCE did not have any sustainable impact on the general education system of the country. There were still unqualified teachers in the education system, inadequate resources to support teaching and learning in schools, and challenges for teachers within the context and content demands of the curriculum. This again led to intense unease among parents, employers, academics and some politicians. The significance of the Government’s White Paper on the Committee’s recommendations was the acceptance of 13-years duration of pre-university education for all. It endorsed the introduction of pre-technical and pre-vocational subjects in both primary and junior secondary curricula. The period also marked the establishment of the Ghana Education Service which brought together, for the first time, teachers, educational administrators and education sector workers into a new government agency, under the Ministry of Education, to implement th e new structure of education. The third significant policy development in basic education provision arose from the virtual collapse of the education system and a further military takeover in 1981. The virtual collapse of the Ghanaian Education System and the PNDC of 1981 December 1981 marked the takeover of yet another military government under the name of the ‘Provisional National Defence Council’ (PNDC). By 1983, Ghana’s education system had seriously deteriorated in quality; enrolment rates stagnated and the percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) allocated to education dropped from 6.4% in 1976 to a low of 1.7% in 1983. Government resources were no longer available to construct, complete or even maintain the existing education facilities and the down-turn in the economy resulted in the mass exodus of qualified teachers to other parts of the continent causing a significant fall in the ratio of trained to untrained teachers in the basic education sector. Abdallah (1986), then Secretary for Education, speaking on the state of the education system at the time, had this to say: ‘Over the past decade, there has been a sharp deterioration in the quali ty of education at all levels. There has been a virtual collapse of physical infrastructure in the provision of buildings, equipment, materials, teaching aids etc†¦ To solve these problems, the PNDC has decided to embark upon a comprehensive programme of educational reforms’ (p 1). Arising from the economic constraints that faced the country in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the bureaucratic bottlenecks and sheer lack of interest and commitment from administrators, the new programme never went beyond the experimental stage. There was stagnation and near demise of the experimental Junior Secondary School (JSS) system. By 1983 the education system was in major crisis through lack of educational materials, deterioration of school structures, low enrolment levels, high drop-out rates, poor educational administration and management, drastic reductions in Government’s educational financing and the lack of data and statistics on which to base any planning. The Military to the rescue – the 1987 education reforms Moving beyond the events just described, the third phase structuring this historical account embraces the period referred to here as ‘the military to the rescue’ phase and covers the period of major reform from which the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) reform of 1996 emerged. It was characterised by Ghana’s participation in, and endorsement of, international agreements such as Education for All, the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, the Beijing Declaration on Women’s Rights and the Lome Convention. This meant that the Government had to remain committed to her constitutional obligations as a guide to policy and was influenced by the bilateral and multilateral negotiations it had taken part in. Also significant in this period was the strong ambition of the government to reform the education system by leaving no stone unturned in restructuring the nation’s economic base to bring it into conformity with the financial credibility c riteria required by the World Bank. With this condition met, Ghana had the opportunity of negotiating for credits and grants to finance major education reform. Apart from the World Bank credits, several donor agencies came to the aid of Ghana in her reform implementation, a greater part of which was directed to basic education. In spite of the fact that Ghana had successive military governments from 1966, 1987 marked a new phase in government thinking. In 1987 The New Educational Reform Programme (NERP) was introduced with a focus on the total restructuring of the entire pre-tertiary education system and on improving access through the provision of infrastructure whilst making the curriculum more relevant to social and economic needs. According to a Ministry of Education Report (MOE, 1988), the NERP sought ‘†¦to salvage the educational system and make it more meaningful to the individual and the nation as a whole’. It is therefore worthy of mention that, even though similar to the NSCE reform, in terms of structure and content, there was a marked improvement on the latter with a revised curriculum which reflected radical c hanges at the basic education level. The launch of the World Bank supported programme for education infrastructure also led to the building of 3000 pavilions to support the school system. The goals of the 1987 NERP as summed up in the Sector Adjustment Policy Document of the World Bank (World Bank, 1986) included the following: (i) to expand access to education; (ii) to improve the quality of education; (iii) to make education more relevant in meeting the needs and aspirations of the individuals and the socio-economic conditions of the country; (iv) to re-structure pre-university education to 12 years (6-3-3); and (v) to ensure costeffectiveness and cost-recovery. A major thrust of the 1987 NERP reform was the diversification of the formal academic courses offered in pre-university institutions by the inclusion of practical courses. These changes were intended to correct the perceived elitist education that downgraded technical, vocational and agricultural education. This perception was captured in the address of Professor Dzobo, the Chair of the committee which had reviewed previous reforms, at a National Workshop on the 1987 Educational Reforms when he stated that: ‘In spite of the bold educational innovative measures of the 1920s and of the subsequent ones, Ghana’s formal education system remained Western and predominantly academic and elitist. As a result of the Accelerated Development Plan of Education in 1951, the pre-university educational system has become increasingly dysfunctional as it turns out a lot of school leavers who have no marketable skills, neither do they have the mind to go into self-employment ventures. These leavers could see no bright future for themselves and they come to constitute a veritable economic and social problem for our society to solve†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Dzobo, 1987 ).

Rich dad and poor dad Essay

BSTM III This story about Rich Dad, Poor Dad it inspires a lot of people who already read this book. It gives us motivation in life. We all know everyone has a purpose in life. Educational attainment is important to have a successful life in the future. Treasure your knowledge about the things you’ve learned. Make some experienced like working in a company and pay yourself and buy a reward for you. By sharing your knowledge to everyone that you talked to has a chance to have more ideas in what you do. Be dedicated about your work; it is important to get involved in some investment, business ventures to have a secure and comfortable life. Used your skills about how to hold your finances right. â€Å"Rich does not work for money† they’ve work for keeping safe and the willingness to learn something new. They classify the standard of living, the powers that influenced many people and the money that controls all the necessities in the world. In the ‘Rat Race’ game in the monopoly board it shows how the player needs information to invest in a good deal to win the game and how you spent your money wisely. He never exits because he keeps going around, always returning to the same place where he was before. Once we find ways to make more money working more to pay for our expenses, we find new ways to spend our money, which in turn gets us into more expenses. That is why we never find the exit from and will keep running in the rat race. Most of us got used to it because that is what almost everybody gets from life, but if you think about it for a while; we want to get out the rat race to be able to be financially independent and have a control of our lives. Many people trapped in a rat race because they do not know manage finances are important to value your money. Even if you are rich or poor you will think a good investment and keeping your money more useful and productive. The rich man has to manage their accounts, investments, properties or assets to secure their future and the next generation. While in the middle class society they work hard and they do it for their family to give them a comfortable life but in some instances they’ve work because of the money. Rich men have a more advantages in terms in finances they have consultant and the finances they manage well. Give your kids some advice on how they spent money and teach us how to be a more responsible about the money. The biologic dad was a teacher, worked for others during all his life and died poor. The â€Å"business† dad was an entrepreneur that invested his life in learning and building new businesses, and so he became rich. The poor man has an investment in education this is the good deals they do to be a better persons and learned experienced while they doing some stuff. Give your best shot and strive to life to achieve your goals. Have a positive outlook in life. Teach yourself to set yourself always be an employee of somebody that manages those concepts and takes advantage of that to run a business using the work force of other people. Learn communication skills to deal with other people. Make your own move about all the matters you’ve encountered in life. Perseverance has obtained in our individuals personality to push you around. Make things possible. Both dads’ are thinking how the money flows. Act, manage risk, and think big, think businesses don’t be afraid to take a risk. Be more knowledgeable about your surroundings and conduct a surveys or knowing your priorities in life. It advocates financial independence through investing, real state, owning a business. It highlights the attitudes in money. In their decision making was affected because they will be smart in making decisions if they go wrong to their decisions they will lose it forever. Learn to classify your assets and liabilities. Generate a cash flow in the circulation of the market. The two dads influence their children to be more responsible about the money. Money rules 1. Spend Less Than You Earn 2. Don’t Over-Think Your Investments 3. Stop Wasting Time 4. Eliminate (and Avoid) High-Interest Debt 5. Talk About Money (And Be Honest) 6. Stop Trying to Impress Other People 7. Watch Your Progress (But Make It Fun) 8. Take Care of Your Things 9. Do It Yourself 10. Plan Ahead Every Time You Spend 11. Find and Work Toward Your True Passions 12. Build Real Friendships and Relationships 13. Improve Yourself Every Chance You Get 14. Give Without Strings or Regrets In the rules of the money basically tackles about how the money flow and to planned and make your own move to improve your ideas and knowledge about the things you’ve taking care of. Makes plans, rules and your obligations to do and make it realistic and interesting. Think another strategies and techniques on how you will find a good opportunity in investing your money. Take suggestions came from your friends, relatives and other people. Researching or by attending a seminars will help you to learn a lot of new things and you will know the potentials of your money in the market. Control your money by having an accounts, cards, notes, bonds. Reading and understanding of financial statements is a must to understand how a business operates. Teach us the basic of business and finance concepts like cash flow, assets, liabilities, income and expenses. There are good points in life management. Do some ways to invent money and have an investment that nurture your future life. The objective is to learn how to handle your finances and seeking a good opportunities. It talks about a lot of financial tricks you can apply to make more money. It is the way of life to fulfill your dreams or goals that you want to achieve. Be ready to the challenges and the problems that you encountered. It develops your perspective in life and boosts your confidence to take a risk. Learn to discipline yourself and have a point of view. Get new ideas on how you can fix things eventually. You may work for others to gain experience, knowledge and insights about the businesses. The author of this book says about your financial responsibility. It talks about focusing and finding new ways are good sources of money. Many people do not learn to their lesson in life which continues now. The lives of many of us follow the same pattern. We get jobs working for others because we need money to pay for our expenses. Once we earn our own money, we are ready to buy more things. The pattern of money spending is evident. Once we get what we want, we need more money to keep our life style. The â€Å"Rich dad, Poor dad† book teaches us how to get out of this never ending cycle. It teaches a very basic, but also very important lesson about financial education that we should have learned in schools. Most of those lessons are actually advices that you should reflect upon and choose to follow or not depending on your circumstances of life. Once you learn these basic lessons you realize how you can get the financial independence that will allow you to have a more satisfying life, working only on the projects you want, instead of just wasting your life working for others in things that are not very fulfilling. It has an outstanding content that will nourish our mind and our souls. â€Å"Enjoy life to the fullest† it is a one chance that may happen to your life and never goes back anyway.