Children with Special Needs and How They Interact

As numerous people have stated before, â€Å"if you want to understand someone, take a walk in their shoes. â€Å" From this, one is not able to truly comprehend the feelings someone may have or how many difficulties a person endeavors on a day-to-day basis, unless they spend time with them. The topic that I helped research as a group for our senior project was how students with special needs cooperate with others like them, and then how they interact with people in society that do not have these needs. While researching this project, I kept one question in mind, what similarities and differences occur with these children when they are brought into these situations with new people. Through our mentor, we were able to interact with the special needs children at our school, one by observing from a distance, not to interfere with how they may regularly go about their school day, and then engaging in the tasks of assisting the students with whichever task they had at hand. Numerous children each year are born with disabilities that classify them with needing certain attention in various areas unlike children who do not have these needs. The statistics show that 1 out of every 5 children born will have some sort of impairment that requires the attention of a specialist in that disability. However, until one has been through the types of activities those children have been, it is quite difficult to learn how it is to have these disabilities, and how socializing with others that they are not familiar with can be altered from how one would normally act around others of the same needs. Most of these children are nervous or shy themselves away from regular students at the school, mostly because they either don’t want to try to make friends with them or that they are too afraid that they might be criticized for how they truly are. When our mentor, Mrs. Rang was interviewed, we asked her a series of questions to try to get a better understanding of how these children are, and what she thought of our idea for a possible senior project. Through this interview, we we’re able to find out numerous things about how things in the classroom work for these students. For instance, when asked how often and when the students interacted with students unlike them at the school, we were given the answer of that the interactions were very limited, these times came during physical education classes, bake sales, and fundraisers. Additionally, we also were informed on how well the children cooperate with each other in the classroom, and it was apparent that there was almost a family-like bond between the children. However, based on research, some children with disabilities have a fear of reaching out to socializing with others. These fears can come about from numerous sources, either through mostly experience or what can be seen or heard through the media. The most powerful source of getting news across the world is through the media, where within the chaos, numerous stories are said to be factual, when only the story is false, and people will only read it if it is intriguing to society. One of these stories includes how children with disabilities are being treated at a certain institute in Canton, Massachusetts, by using shock therapy. Whether or not these reports are true does not matter to the reporters, however if a child with special needs sees this story, it would result in them only wanting to surround themselves with other children that are like them due to the safety they may feel with them. Bullying is another form of socialization that may trigger the child’s abilities to break out of their shell and interact with others. With many children feeling like that they won’t be accepted due to their disabilities, their socialization skills deplete and children become more introverted. However, there are numerous websites and books that are help to assist one with their child’s needs in order for them to benefit from the factors of regular children. Certain aspects like greeting a new person everyday will allow them to not be intimidated by the children that are not like them. With proper guidance and support, these children with disabilities can be able to interact with other children unlike them in a comfortable environment. Furthermore, it has been seen in many instants where children with disabilities are able to interact with similar children with ease than to that of others. A variety of reasons can be held accountable for this explanation, such as how much time is spent with comparable children, and the emotions that are felt during these time periods. For example, during our interview, our mentor was able to inform us on how caring the children are for one another, which I feel takes into account where they spend the majority of their day in school together, and those students are the children that they interact with almost everyday. Additionally, many will say that the more time you spend with a person, the more you get to know them and care for them, which is proof with these children. Some however, may not want to branch out and socialize with other children, which even though I feel these students would benefit from the experience, people can not be pressured into something they are not comfortable doing. When doing this sort of project, there are certain risks and learning experiences that come with the opportunity we were presented with. In order to fully commit myself to this project, a certain level of commitment and connection had to be made with the task at hand. Before this project was assigned, I had volunteered time at the Nursing Home where there are numerous patients with disabilities that after listening to their stories, had numerous troubles growing up. It was evident that just like the children now, some wanted to socialize with others, while some rather stay locked up in their rooms all day in a groggy mood. As a result, it inspired me to find out why people with disabilities are sometimes stubborn to interact with others, while still establishing friendships with those who desired companionship in the home, especially those who made connections with others who had similar disabilities. Due to the level of this project, there were also numerous risks and successions that are related to the action of the assignment. After discussing that the group desired to work with the special needs children in Mrs. R & Mr. Dami’s class, we knew that we did not want the students to feel like they were just an assignment, where they would only be talked to for a month or two, and then once the class was over, the connection that was made would slowly disappear. If that was the case, no one would benefit from this project, I knew that we had to make sure that we got to know the students, how their personalities were, what their interests are, and other such aspects. The risk being taken was that when going into this project, we were not aware of how the students might feel with us being in their classroom. Being uncomfortable in a safe environment is one of the factors that we as a group wanted to make sure would not happen, however studying their behavior with others would allow us to benefit for the task at hand. Success would be able to be achieved, only if our interactions were carried out properly. From this, our success would be finding out the difference between the socialization that children with disabilities use when they are surrounded with different people. Moreover, failure would also be expected when we were spending time with the children because as Benjamin Disraeli once said, â€Å" All my successes have been built on my failures†. From this, we were not expecting perfection the first time we met the children, but hopefully, a bond would slowly start to form between us and eventually they would become more comfortable to talk to us when they ever saw in the hallways or during lunches. This is able to relate to civics, where from our education throughout the years in socializing with others, not bullying, and always making other feel welcome, we are able to take the lessons that we have already learned, and apply them to the task at hand and hopefully make new friends along the way. The experiences that I have had so far have been very beneficial to not only me, but my group as a whole. We were able to discover that some of the children with special needs wanted friends, but were too afraid to due to lack of socializing when they were younger. On another note, some children were able to talk to anyone that was willing to listen, while others unfortunately did not wish to make new friends than the ones that they already had currently in the classroom. Different personalities were able to shine through while we visited the students during different blocks, and friendships were able to begin being built. However, more information on why parents and others do not try to socialize their children with disabilities would be helpful when working on this project, however, the best is being made with the research we have. Throughout the experience however, it reminded me of being with the patients at the nursing home, as if those patients younger selves were able to interact with me now, and it was able to give my more insight into their everyday lives, even though I may not have been able to walk a mile in them. To end off though with these friendships and the positive effects they will hopefully have on these children, as Francis Bacon once stated, â€Å"This communicating of a man’s self to his friend works two contrary effects; for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth grief’s in half†. Where joy is able to be experienced by those who enjoy the companionship of a good friend, and the grief they may have suffered is no longer that big of a burden for them to handle.

Michelle Bachelet

Michelle Bachelet (Veronica Michelle Bachelet Jeria) is a current Executive President of the Republic of Chile, a Pacific coastal country in Southern America. Bachelet was nominated in 2004 as a left-centrist candidate for presidency and won the election runoff in January 2006 gaining 53.5% of the votes and becoming the first female President of the country. Moreover, she is the first Chilean female political personality of high importance who established her political career and managed to advance in politics using no help and connections of her husband or male protectionist.Bachelet was born on September 29, 1951, in Santiago, to a family of Chilean Air Force Brigade General Alberto Bachelet. Her childhood was one of constant traveling from one military camp to another, and her first interests included volleyball, theater and music. After finishing high school in 1970, she entered a medical college of the University of Chile with one of the best national enrollment test result. Fro m he own words, she decided to dedicate her life to medicine because it was â€Å"†¦a concrete way of helping people cope with pain..† and â€Å"..a way to contribute to improve health in Chile† (The Andean World, n.d.).In 1973, when Augusto Pinochet seized the reins of power, Alberto Bachelet was arrested and charged for treason. After several months of torture he died of a stroke. This tragedy was followed by arrest and deportation of Michelle and her mother, so they spent several years in Australia and East Germany, where Bachelet continued her education and worked in a communal clinic. In 1979 the Bachelets received permission to be back to Chile, where three years later Michelle received an M.D. and continued her social activities as a member of Chilean Socialist Party, promoting the ideals of democracy and social equality.Her political career started in the mid-1990s when she entered the ballot for the Head of Las Condes Administration. In 2000 Bachelet was appointed Minister of Health as a person with high competence in military medicine and a good experience of work in such organizations as the National AIDS Commission and the National Health Service. Her liberal reforms did not receive a lot of support from the Ministry officials. That is why Bachelet attempted a resignation which was, however, rejected by the President. Soon, she became a Minister of Defense, the only female in the continent to hold this administrative position.Her presidential campaign started in October 2004 and she had to face a former Senator and member of Chilean center-right party Sebastian Pinera as the main rival. In the first round Bachelet could not obtain the majority of the votes, receiving only 46%. Nevertheless, the runoff against Pinera proved to be more successful, and in March 2006 Michelle Bachelet entered the office as the first female President of Chile, bringing along many new politicians (including a lot of women) as the members of her Cabinet .The first year of her presidency was marked by a number of determined political steps, liberal democratic reformations and scandalous dismissals of some of her Ministers. In particular, she had to fight with very deep-rooted corruption which was spread throughout the country’s administration system. Besides, Bachelet’s recent decree allowing selling â€Å"morning after pill† over the counter to the girls over 14 evoked a wave of national criticism and disagreement. Currently, she is facing another problem: the necessity to improve Chilean transportation system according to the project called Transantiago.Nevertheless, she tries to keep her popularity high by organizing and participating in numerous governmental health care programs. In addition, Bachelet is a very active player in foreign politics and her major accomplishments are a number of treaties with developed Asian countries, establishing the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership. Her main persona l values are duty and responsibility. Last year Forbes ranked Michelle Bachelet as the 17th of the world’s 100 most successful women, and her reaction on this recognition of her efforts was the following: â€Å"This is not a ranking that motivates me. What motivates me is working for a better Chile,† (Chile General Government Secretariat, 2006).ReferencesMichelle Bachelet Jeria. (2006, March 17). Chile General Government Secretariat. Retrieved February 7, 2008 Unofficial Biography of Michelle Bachelet. (n.d.). The Andean World. Retrieved February 7, 2008, from .

UK/Asian Response to Sexually Explicit Advertising

Writing this thesis has been extremely difficult, demanding, and extremely time consuming, but it has also provided insight into exactly how much of an impact, good or otherwise, sexually implicit advertising has on a predominantly sheltered society.   There are unfortunately a limited number of empirical studies that have been completed on this subject, and perhaps through the offering of this thesis can more advanced and concurrent data be exhumed and learned from.I would like to thank my professors and supervisors at the University that have helped me along the way in ensuring that I was kept on track during the entire process, for they have been instrumental in helping me through the more difficult times and the â€Å"rough spots† that I endured from time to time.It is anticipated that this thesis will only be the beginning forage into an unknown and provocative world of advertising and provide additional material to carry on with future students.The world of advertising has the inevitable task of having to cater to all factions of societies in which companies seek to capture a share of the consumer market. Advertisers must tailor its attempts at delivering brand messages depending on the target audience, be it members of Western or Eastern cultural groups.The reaction to sex in advertising can be viewed in a positive or negative fashion, depending on the values and perceptions of those who view the ads. The entire process of ensuring fluidity with public perception is entirely up to the advertisers themselves, and what is acceptable in the West is not always the case in the East.More specifically, Western cultures tend to have a much higher tolerance of sexual imagery, while Eastern cultures tend to generally be more offended by ads that exploit sexuality to promote consumer products.The same ads may generate vastly different responses when viewed by members of the two divergent cultural groups. The dramatic difference in the response the ads gene rate is due to cultural beliefs, practices, and ideals that promote varying attitudes toward sex among those who live in Western societies and those who live in Eastern societies.As one of the more provocative global advertisers, Benetton continually looks to engage the public in their form of sexually-driven advertising in an attempt to gauge the reaction of the public.Although Benetton is only one of the major Western advertisers that is making inroads in the eastern hemisphere, they have an interesting task of marketing to more conservative sectors of society, mainly the Asian people. The Asian community has a long-standing embedded value system that may or may not ever catch up to the impressionable Western culture group.Due to the cultural differences that exist in Asian culture, Western-based advertisers have a formidable task in figuring out how to deliver brand messages in ways that are both effective and culturally acceptable. This poses a significant challenge to advertise rs, because they must thoroughly research the ideals and beliefs of those to whom they seek to direct their brand messages.When looking at advertisements with sexual undertones, Western culture views this type of â€Å"shock† advertising as generally accepted and it is not really given a second glance as it is viewed as an acceptable part of societal values. But, in the eastern hemisphere, this type of culture â€Å"shock† may be acceptable with the younger generation, albeit not as gregariously as with their western counterparts, but with the older generation of Asian and UK families, attitudes toward   this type of sexually explicit advertising are not perhaps as accommodating. UK/Asian Response to Sexually Explicit Advertising Writing this thesis has been extremely hard, demanding and extremely time consuming, but has also provided insight into exactly how much of an impact, good or otherwise, sexually implicit advertising has on a predominantly sheltered society.There is unfortunately a limited number of empirical studies that have been completed on this subject and perhaps through the offering of this thesis can more advanced and concurrent data be exhumed and learned from.I would like to thank my professors and supervisors at the University that have helped me along the way in ensuring that I was kept on track during the entire process and has been instrumental in helping me through the more difficult times and the â€Å"rough spots† that I endured from time to time.It is anticipated that this thesis will only be the beginning forage into an unknown and provocative world of advertising and provide additional material to carry-on with future students.ABSTRACTThe world of advertising has the inevit able task of having to cater to all factions of society, be it western or eastern cultural groups, and the reaction to sex in advertising can be viewed in a positive or negative fashion. The entire process of ensuring fluidity with public perception is entirely up to the advertisers themselves and what is acceptable in the west is not always the case in the east.One of the more provocative global advertisers, Benetton, continually looks to engage the public in their form of sexually-driven advertising in an attempt to gauge the reaction of the public.Although Benetton is only one of the major western advertisers that is making inroads in the eastern hemisphere, they have an interesting task of marketing to a societal sector, mainly the Asian people, that have a long-standing embedded value system that may or may not ever catch up to the impressionable western culture group.When looking at advertisement with sexual undertones, western culture views this type of â€Å"shock† ad vertising as generally accepted and not really given a second glance as it is viewed as an acceptable part of societal values; but, in the eastern hemisphere, this type of culture â€Å"shock† may be acceptable with the younger generation albeit not as gregariously as with their western counterparts; but, with the older generation of Asian and UK families this type of sexually explicit advertising is not perhaps as accommodating.REFERENCES Albers-Miller, N. D. (1996). â€Å"Designing cross-cultural advertising research: a closer look at paired comparisons.† International Marketing Review 13(5): 59-75.Albers-Miller, N. D. and B. D. Gelb (1996). â€Å"Business Advertising Appeals as a Mirror Of Cultural Dimensions: A Study of Eleven Countries.† Journal of Advertising 25(4): 57-70.Alden, D. L., W. D. Hoyer, et al. (1993). â€Å"Identifying Global and Culture-Specific Dimensions in Humor in Advertising: A Multinational Analysis.† Journal of Marketing 57(2): 6 4-75.Andrews, J. C. and S. Durvasula (1994). â€Å"Testing the Cross-National Applicability of U.S. and RussianAdvertising Beliefs and Attitude Measure.† Journal of Advertising 23(1): 71-83.Belk, R. W. and W. J. Bryce (1986). â€Å"Materialism and Individual Determinism in U.S. and JapaneseTelevision Advertising.† Advances in Consumer Research 13: 568-672.Belk, R. W., W. J. Bryce, et al. (1985). Advertising Themes and Cultural Values: A Comparison of U.S. and AsiaCentre for Adolescents and Family Studies. 2003. Sex in Advertising.   http://education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/v1i3/advertising.html

Goals and Approaches of health care operations management Essay

Goals and Approaches of health care operations management - Essay Example The scope, in healthcare, targets improved services and reduced costs. One of the purposes of operations management in health care is to improve services towards the core objective of promoting well being. The branch of management aims at coordinated processes and resources for optimal quality and quantity outputs. Coordination of personnel from different departments and promoting personnel’s technological skills, and identification and use of necessary technologies are examples of targets for operations management in the healthcare environment. The management also aims at improving patients movements into and within a care facility to eliminate time wastage. In addition, change is a necessity in any environment and often faces resistance despite potential benefits. Operations management aims at identifying and implementing necessary changes for improved services while at the same time ensuring personnel utility during such changes. Planning and coordination of internal and ex ternal activities to a healthcare setting are other objectives of operations management in the care sector (Langabeer, 2008). Mathematical models such as simulation and programming helps to determine targets for planning and actions (Denton, 2013). This week’s media segments on objectives of operations management in the health care set up informed me of the need for effective leadership in the management role. While operations management aims at analyzing the environment of a health care set up, developing frameworks for improvements and implementing proposed changes, challenges to adjusting to new technology and processes require leadership roles for ensuring that personnel support operations management decisions. Differentiated leadership potential for a contingency approach is the best because of diversity of personnel and dynamism of work environments. Such leadership styles as transformational leadership,

Mandatory Volunteerism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mandatory Volunteerism - Essay Example A current debate that is seemingly drawing a lot of focus revolves around whether community service ought to be made mandatory within the high schools in America. Many schools stipulate that to qualify for graduation, students are obliged to take part in community service for a predetermined period. The proponents of mandatory community service intimate that it develops leadership skills among students. It is a stepping-stone for future job positions that value leadership. On the counterargument side, opponents argue that community service should not be made a subject of force. Opponents hold that it is a bad idea for schools to bend the arms of students to volunteer. In spite of the fact that teaching students to offer voluntary services to the community is ideal, establishing a systemic requirement that compels them to do so is a grave mistake. They hold that volunteerism is an essential value to instill upon teenagers but it is the role of parents, not teachers, to pass the value on to the developing teenagers. Volunteering in the community ought not be a prerequisite for any achievement, in this case a quantifiable tenet for students to attain prior to submitting their forms. The counterargument intimates that true volunteerism ought to emerge from the will of an individual and the motivation they have to help others. Making it mandatory therefore functions to kill that drive. By making volunteering mandatory, school officials are in essence replicating the mandatory system ascribed to penitentiaries all over the country. Moreover, by implementing mandatory volunteerism, students carry the extra burden of an external criterion that is a prerequisite for graduation. A considerable number of students tend to concur with this paradigm as cited by a survey carried out by the council charged with the excellence of the

2. What is the difference between an alliance problem and an alliance Essay

2. What is the difference between an alliance problem and an alliance symptom, and what does this difference mean in terms of managerial intervention - Essay Example Most of the time differencing between alliance problems and symptoms becomes a challenge for the organization. There is always a difference between these two. Problems are usually not visible on the front line and symptoms on the other hand are quite clear and are a constant reminder of an upcoming problem. In strategic alliances the organizations usually consider a symptom as a problem and instead of doing an in-depth analysis of that symptom they take initiatives to solve it. This false interpretation of problems and symptoms can lead towards greater hazards. An example of difference between alliance symptom and problem is: when an organization observes an unenthusiastic change in the behavior of its partner it should not immediately take initiatives to change this behavior instead it should try to find out the root cause of this change. This change in behavior can be a result of lack of trust among the partners, in-competitive behavior of one of the partners, difference in the atm osphere of the two organizations or a difference between work schedule and strategies of the two organizations. If the organization over-looks these core problems and misinterprets the symptom as a problem then it can endanger the alliance. This misinterpretation is the cause of failure of more than 66 percent of the alliances. Even though the above mentioned factor can be a hurdle in the success of an alliance but proper and effective senior management is the most important factor for overcoming these hazards. If the top management is committed to the success of the alliance then it should take proper steps in order to avoid these problems and their misinterpretation with the symptoms. The management should try to understand the philosophies of the management of their partner organization. If the attitudes and thinking of both the managements would be similar then most of the core problems would be avoided. Another important factor is effective

GAP Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

GAP Business Plan - Essay Example SMA_RT operates one step beyond security products designed to prevent access to intruders. Once the security is breached, an intruder can cause significant damage and huge financial loss in a very short period of time. The SMA_RT solution is to thwart the intruder before he has the opportunity to create havoc. Mainframe computers are no longer stand-alone entities. They are now connected to large networks that span the globe. Information technology (IT) security personnel must now concern themselves with enterprise-wide security throughout their entire network. Type80 Syslog is designed to centralize security event monitoring, bridging the gap between network and mainframe security products. With SMA_RT and Syslog, Type80 is dedicated in providing the highest quality IT security possible on the market. In order to ensure the competitive advantage in our market, we applied for patents for both products. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has completed 2 years of research and accepted all 28 elements of the application. The total fees for the application have been paid and the patent is expected to be issued within the next 30-45 days, making Type80 the sole legal software provider of mainframe Security Monitoring and Alerting in Real-Time (SMA_RT). GAP Funding In its effort of ensuring competitiveness, Type80 continues its thrust to innovate by adding new features to its current offerings and developing entirely new products which will further broaden its ability to monitor, identify, and report an intrusion that virtually touches any resource within the mainframe. In the implementation of Type 80's immediate growth plan, the company expects to incur an estimated $500,000 in total costs. This GAP funding will utilized in the development of a Screen Image Capture Feature (SICF) of the SMA_RT product. This feature will allow forensics investigators and law enforcement agencies to immediately view and capture illegal activities real-time. The data collected by the SCIF can be presented and used as evidence for legal prosecution. The development of SICF gateways is in response to the lack of commercial software with is used for legal purposes. Because of this, SICF also places Type80 an estimated five years ahead if its

Wealth distribution in the PRC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wealth distribution in the PRC - Essay Example This meant that there was no competition in the production process. Government ownership of land also led to inefficient production which led to waste of resources. The last one is the economic collapse of 1970s and 1980s which caused economic decline that previously acted as a way of distributing wealth. Unequal wealth distribution is the situation where the gap between the rich and the poor is reasonably large. The World Bank defines poverty as spending less than one dollar per day. This is a situation which is common with most people who are affected by unequal wealth distribution. In china, unequal wealth distribution has caused a number of negative factors in education, housing, transportation, employment, and human rights (Wang 43). Unequal wealth distribution means that the children of the poor parents cannot get a decent education. They thus turn to government school which are often crowded. In these schools, the government is not able to supply enough classes, teachers, and other infrastructure that are needed for a good learning environment. Public schools are also associated with adverse ratios all facilities which mean the children will not get the necessary skills needed to compete in the world. Therefore, the child will end up failing examinations and thus not proceed to the next level of education. At the end of the day, the child is left without education and thus end up poor as his or her parents. Lack of education will then drive the child to do other ill activities such as crime and drug abuse (Gollier 19). The poor are often said to be living in informal settlement in most countries of the world. This is because they cannot afford the necessary material to put up a decent house. They also have no land where they can practice farming and put a decent house. They thus migrate to the urban centres to search for informal jobs. In urban centres, a decent house is very expensive which the poor cannot afford (Zhong et al 25). They

Assignment Two Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Assignment Two - Essay Example icle on â€Å"The effect of unionization on the gender earnings gap in Canada† by Shamsuddin and University of New England (1996), women are not as organized as compared to men when it comes to joining unions. Gender variations in unions are a critical topic in Human Resource Economics because students in the management class get to understand the role that unions play in a state. The second question is on the topic of 21st century unionization rates by genders. Have the rates of men and women in Unions changed in the 21st century? Contrary to the number of women who joined unions in the 1990s, women in the 21st century are now joining unions at an increasing rate. Women in 1981 were at a rate of 31% as compared to men who were at a rate of 42% in terms of joining unions (Barry & Wilkinson, 2011). The 21st century unionization rates by genders serves as a fundamental topic in Human Resource Economic because students in a management class are in a better position to address gender differences among employees as future managers. Lastly, the other question is on unionization rates in Canada and United States. Is there enough evidence to show that the unionization rates in Canada are similar to those in the U.S? According to Barry and Wilkinson (2011), there is little research showing the possible causes of gender variations in Canada. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more research to fully understand the gender variations in unions which are in Canada (Shamsuddin & University of New England, 1996). The unionization rates in Canada and the U.S are important in Human Resource Economics because they allow management students to understand the factors that have an impact on different countries when it comes to managing unions or different employees as future

The thought of choosing a college Essay Example for Free

The thought of choosing a college Essay The future, begins, now! Why? Because now, the thought of choosing a college has entered the minds of students and now, students have to make a choice between some colleges. They are striving on choosing the perfect college that best fits them. The hardest part of choosing a college is making sure the students are alert to the differences between some options, which in this case are four-year college and community college. The decision between which college to attend is difficult for some students to decide, so some things they should consider are, the prices, the courses for the students decided major and lastly, the admission requirements. After taking notice of these 3 aspects, community college by far is the better college to attend. Community college is much less expensive than a four-year college because it doesn’t require travel expenses or home expenses like property taxes and mortgage interest. On average, it only requires a 15-30 minute drive to the college, which is delightful, considering the fact that students are usually closer to home and only paying for gas! According to RCBC, the cost for one year at college is approximately $2,000.00, but some other things that might have to be paid for are, general fees, technology fees, and enrollment fees. Some other fees that may have to pay for include a $25 application fee, $50 late registration fee and special course fees. Something to take notice of is the credit hours; a full-time undergraduate student must have over 12 or more credit hours per term. However many credit hours taken will determine how much the cost will be at all. So basically the things being paid for tuition, all the fees and however many credit hours that have been decided. Lastly, the costs will vary depending on whether the student is a resident, out of state student or an out of county student. Who wouldn’t want to go to a community college for less money and still get the same education as they would in a four-year college? For the students that don’t know what major fits them, then community college is the perfect college to attend for their first couple of years. When students are not certain about the major they want to study in than four-year college is not their best option for their first two years of college. If students are trying to find out what they\re most passionate in than community college is the way to go because community college gives students the chance to find out exactly what interests them (‘Choosing A College†1). Yes, it is true that community college doesn’t offer as much as a four-year college does, but students should consider how much it can actually help them. The professors at community colleges give all the students the education needed and going to a community college will also help them earn all the credits they will need for the future. By â€Å"the future† meaning that, if they want they can transfer from a community college to a four-ye ar college with having all the credits and required courses out of the way. Then for the rest of the years, the students will just focus on their decided major. But, they need to make sure the credits are transferable so that they will count it in the next college attended. In summary, going to community college for the first two years and getting all of the courses out of the way is without a doubt, the best intention for those undecided of their majors. For the students that are beginning to decide on the college they want to attend, they must meet the admission requirements. â€Å"In certain cases, some schools will offer admission to students with low college entrance scores† (â€Å"Choosing A College† 2). This means that many schools will allow the students who haven’t met the required admissions to attend but that \s only in some cases. RCBC requires a graduate that has received their high school diploma and those who had a â€Å"successful completion,† which is grades better than C’s. The undergraduate or graduate must succeed in all courses with a C or grades higher than a C average. â€Å"Achievements of an RCBC cumulative Gpa of 2.5 or greater at the time of admission† (RCBC 1).So, it is obvious that students must have a diploma and a GPA of 2.5 or greater to attend community college. All in all, in order to attend the college of the scholars choice, they must follow the admission re quirements so they are able to attend. Four-year colleges are incredibly expensive due to the prices of housing, food, and even everyday life things. Now that some students live in a dorm or an apartment they will have to buy extra for the food and all the crazy things college kids like to buy for their dorms. If they decide to go to a college in the state they live in then they’re considered a resident so, according to The College Of New Jersey, the tuitions and fees would roughly be.. $16,000.00, but that’s not all. The total cost for one year is relatively close to $29,000.00. If they’re not a resident than the tuition and fees would be close to $27,000.00, and for a whole year it is around $40,000.000. â€Å"State and local governments subsidize(financially support) public schools, allowing lower tuition costs† (â€Å"Choosing A College† 1). A few of the fees that are required to pay for would be, student Service fee, capital fee, Computing Access fee, Student Center fee and Student Activity fee. In all, going to a four-year college is clearly more expensive than going to a community college. For those that already know what they want to major in, then for them, four-year college is the better college to attend. Four-year colleges offer a wider range of majors to study and offers a bigger variety of degrees to receive. But, before they choose any college they must determine whether or not the college of their choice offers the programs needed for them to succeed in their major. â€Å"Two of the most important decisions faced by students contemplating postsecondary education is where to attend college and what major to choose â€Å"(Eric R. Eide, Michael J. Hilmer and Mark H. Showalter 1). Clearly, one of the biggest parts of attending any college is being able to choose the major that fits them now, in 5 years, 10 years, and so on. To conclude, this one big decision they make will dramatically change their future, and it will hopefully be for the best. â€Å"The key point is finding out what path will be most beneficial to you†(â€Å"Choosing A College† 2) . When attending to a four-year college student must acknowledge the fact that four-year colleges are definitely harder to get accepted into.â€Å"If the student\s SAT score is 900 and the school\s average is 1300, then the student should think twice about their college of choice† (â€Å"Choosing a College† 2). It is obvious that to get into a college you need the required school average in order to attend. The thing about enrolling in a four-year college is whether or not you enroll as a matriculated student or a non-matriculated student. A matriculated student is a student that registers to a certain school as a student and a non-matriculated student is a student that only goes to school for a short amount of time, so they only attend classes part-time and they can only register to take 12 or fewer credit hours. According to TCNJ, â€Å"Individuals applying for matriculation are expected to hold a bachelor\s degree for proof of equivalent preparation to a foreign colle ge or university† (â€Å"Graduate Studies† 2). This basically means that students who are applying to be a student at their college of choice should have their required degrees in order to go elsewhere. In all, the admission requirements to get into a four-year college can be very complicated depending on where the student decides to go and how the student enrolls themselves.

Microsoft Strategies in Marketing and Leadership

Microsoft Strategies in Marketing and Leadership Almost 27 years Microsoft operates through their windows and technologies in order to satisfied customer. They are provided a advance technology for all users such as for the company, personal users etc. other than that, in 1983, Microsoft has announced the development of windows which is a graphical user interface. At that time, they are creating the windows for IBM pc and the windows are compatible with the computers. However, the product line has changed from a graphical user interface to modern operating system. And now days, the windows corporation has focus on their five business divisions which is offers greatest potential to serve their customer. According to Microsoft.com (2010), the Microsoft corporation has motivated and inspired every day by how their customer use their software to find creative solutions to business problems, develop breakthroughs ideas, and stay connected to whats most important to the customer. The five business divisions that Microsoft focuses on are Windows and Windows live division, server and tools, online services division, Microsoft business division, and entertainment and devises division. With their five business division, they have different strategies to implement. First of all, from our research, Microsoft Corporation is using intensive strategies. Intensive strategies is require intensive efforts to improve a company more competitive position with existing product. In other words, intensive strategy is making the company to make more improvement in the existing product. In the intensive strategy, there have three strategies which are market penetration, market development and product development. However, from our research about Microsoft Corporation is using only two strategies from intensive strategies which is market penetration and product development. According to qfinance.com (2009), market penetration defined as the percentage of potential sales that company has made a measure of the percentage or potential percentage of the market that a product or company is able to capture, expressed in terms of total sales or turnover. Market penetration is often used to measure the level of success a new product or service has achieved. In other words, market penetration seeking an increased market share for present product or services in present market through. Microsoft Corporation is using this strategy because they want to increase their market share for present product. For an example, Microsoft Corporation is using or influence customer by using advertisement and promotion through online. When they are advertise the customer through online, they able to influence the customer to purchase the product, hence indirectly Microsoft Corporation are able to increased their market share. Other than that, according to Elorbany.R (2010), Micros oft Corporation redesigns MSN in order to Bing search market going up. They are hoping by redesign MSN, will help the company increase market share of online search and attracting people to MSN. This means that, Microsoft Corporation are using market penetration strategy to increase their maker share. Besides that, by using this strategy, Microsoft Corporation is able to make market share of competitors declining while the total of Microsoft Corporation industry sales increasing. By using this strategy, not just Microsoft Corporation able to increase market share but also increased their sales. Product development is seeking increased sales by improving present products or services or developing new ones. In other words, product development strategy is another strategy in intensive strategy that make the company make a new improvement in the existing product and make a new product in order to increased the sales of the company. Moreover, one of reason that Microsoft Corporation is using this strategy is, their mission and their value are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their potential. Other than that, Microsoft Corporation is also making a improvement on their existing product. For example, Microsoft office is one of product from Microsoft Corporation. This product is exist is to help people and the businesses easier to do their work. Microsoft Office exist since 1992 which is Microsoft office 4.x and Microsoft Corporation make a new improvement year by year and in 2010 Microsoft Corporation came out with new features in the Microsoft office and the software call Microsoft office 2007. Michael porters generic strategies Michael Porters Generic Strategies adapted from www.marketingteacher.com Michael Porters generic strategies is a strategy where the company can implement the strategy as taking actions by create a defendable position is an industry. In general, this strategy can be defensive and offensive towards their industry position. Other than that, the Michael porters generic strategy is an advantage over the competitors gained by offering the customer greater value, either by provided the lower prices of great features of the product and services. In this strategy, there have three strategies that the company can implement either implement three of it or one of it. The strategies are cost leadership strategies, differentiation strategies and focus strategies. According to case scenario, Microsoft Corporation is focusing on these two strategies which are cost of leadership and differentiation strategies. First of all, the cost of leadership is about of gaining the competitive advantage. Moreover, by increasing the profit and minimize the cost of production is also give an advantages to the company to earn more profit. Other than that, by increasing the market or the demand of the market is also give the corporation affects to earn more profit. Microsoft Corporation is a worldwide leader in software, services, and the solutions, that help people and business realize their potential. According to Microsoft.com (2010), there is about 108 country in the worldwide is subsidiaries the Microsoft Corporation product and it is also include Malaysia. Hence, the reasons why the Microsoft Corporation is using this cost of leadership strategies because Microsoft Corporation is a leader market of technology besides their competitor Apple.Inc. Microsoft Corporation is able to provide five divisions business to the customer through personal software to customer, software for business organizations, and entertainment for customer such as Xbox games. Other than that, the Microsoft Corporation is able to linkages with suppliers and distributors. Cost of leadership strategies are pursued in conjunction with differentiation strategies. Hence, cost of leadership is together with differentiation strategies. The differentiation strategies are also one of strategies that the Microsoft Corporation is implementing. The differentiation strategies are involves by making the product or services are different from the competitors and the product is also attractive from those of their competitors. Other than that, the products are offering by something new in the product, features, unique and valuable. According to Microsoft.com (2010), the Microsoft office has provided Microsoft hardware such as mouse, keyboard, cooling pad for laptop, mobile headset etc. This product is make Microsoft Corporation is different than other competitor beside provided operating software to the all distributors. In order to compete with the biggest competitors Apple.inc, Microsoft Corporation are also provided software for Mac such as Microsoft office Mac. This is one of strategy that Microsoft Corporation has using. With this strategy, Microsoft Corporation is able to make more profit and able to compete with other competitors in this industry. Merger and acquisitions According to entrepreneur.com (2010), merger defined as the combination of one or more corporations or other business entities into a single business entity. It is a joining of two or more companies to achieve greater efficiencies of scale and productivity. Besides that, according to entrepreneur.com (2010), acquisitions is define the company or large corporations who capable to purchase of one corporation by another through either the purchase of its shares or the purchase of its assets. Hence, merger and acquisitions are two commonly used ways to pursue the strategies. Microsoft Corporation is using merger and acquisitions strategies to get more competitive advantages for their own company. According to Rigby.B (2010), the company will encourage more technology mergers and acquisitions. From that, we able to see that Microsoft Corporations are implement these strategies to get more strength for their Corporations. Since 1994 Microsoft Corporation has an acquisitions every year, whi ch mean Microsoft Corporation purchase the smaller company to achieve massive growth literally overnight and increase the market share. According to Microsoft.com, almost every year Microsoft Corporation purchases the smaller company which is since 1994 until 2009. This is a good strategy for Microsoft Corporation in order to be a successful leader in technology advance. Other than that, by using this strategy Microsoft Corporation is able to provide more improvement on capacity utilization which is fully utilize capabilities and to make better use of an existing sales force. Conclusion As a conclusion, Microsoft Corporation is a leader in software and technology of computing. They are made a new improvement year by year in order to satisfy their customer. Besides that, Microsoft corporation is also involves with entertainment such as computing mobile, games (Xbox). This is means that, Microsoft Corporation have a variety loyal customer in the worldwide country. We can take an example in Malaysia. Most of computer, laptop is using windows one of product from Microsoft Corporation. Windows is able to provide new features, and it is a unique product to customer and the businesses. Other than that, government of Malaysia is also using windows product for their operating system. Moreover, one of the strategies that Microsoft Corporation implement is they are using mergers and acquisition with other company in order to increase the market share and in order to improve on their product and service to the customer. Furthermore, market penetration is giving a big impact to the company such as by improve the product, the Microsoft are able to increase the market share and the economic scale. Hence, strategy is important to every company, not just to Microsoft Corporation but to all the company that runs the business with their objective to maximize the profit and fulfill customers needs and wants. Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix Introduction Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) is a very useful tool in formulating strategies. It is an analytical tool which can generate useful information regarding the strategies that a company plans to implement. Strategic management of a company always uses Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) as a tool in strategic planning or strategic management process. In this process, there are three main stages which are strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation. Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) is always fits into the first stage which is the strategy formulation. In strategy formulation, there are three steps that will come into which are the input stages, the matching stages and the decision stages. All these stages are using different strategic management tools and Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) will be used at the decision stages which is the last stage of strategy formulation. This tool can determine the importance of each strategy and at the same time can decide among feasible alternative strategies. This is because the strategies will be weighted according to their external and internal factor. The best thing about Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) is that sets of strategies can be examined sequentially or simultaneously. This means that by using this tool, the company can save a lot of time and making fast decision yet accurate. Other than that, by using QSPM, it is less likely that key factors will be overlooked or weighted inappropriately. Key factors such as the opportunities and threats can be weighted properly and all the factors can be compared accordingly. In order to develop QSPM, intuitive judgment is required. Thus, it is important to know the overall condition of the industry and the company itself. A lot of researches have to be done in order to know the key factors of the business. There are six steps of developing Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). The six steps are: Make a list of the firms key external opportunities/threats and internal strengths/weaknesses in the left column of the QSPM. Assign weights to each key external and internal factor. Examine the Stage 2 matrices and identify alternative strategies that the organization should consider implementing. Determine the Attractiveness Scores (AS). Compute the total AS. Compute the sum Total AS. Six steps of developing Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). Future Strategies for Microsoft and Methodologies used to Evaluate Strategies Based on task one in the previous page, there are three strategies which we have suggested for Microsoft to implement. The strategies are intensive strategies, Michael Porters Generic Strategies and merger or acquisition strategies. In intensive strategy, there are three related strategies are market penetration, market development and product development. The definition of these strategies has been explained in the previous tasks. After we have done some research regarding Microsoft and information technology industry, we think that Microsoft should implement product development strategy for the future strategy of the company. This is because, they have lot opportunities in the market that they can capture. Other than product development strategy, Microsoft also has done market penetration strategy where this company increasing their market shares by implementing this strategy. Both these strategies will be evaluated in QSPM in order to know how important they are to be used in future. In Michael Porters Generic strategy, there are two types of strategies that Microsoft used. The strategies are cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy. These two strategies are interrelated where cost leadership strategies pursued in conjunction with differentiation. The important of these strategies also will be evaluated in the QSPM. In merger or acquisition strategy, Microsoft has been successfully merger several large company to be their own. One of them is Yahoo which according to Burrows (2009), ever since Microsoft made its $45 billion bid for Yahoo in early 2008, it was clear the software giant was serious about taking on arch-rival Google in the lucrative internet search business, and now, after years of talks with yahoo, it seems Microsoft has achieved its goal. This is a big achievement of Microsoft and they manage to expand their market share in information technology industry. We think that, this strategy is very good for Microsoft to implement in future in order for them to continue be the market leader of information technology industry. So, in order to choose one strategy that very important for Microsoft to implement, we will evaluate all the key factors of each strategy in Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). QSPM utilizes key internal and external information of the business. These factors are usually identified in the previous stage of the strategic planning process. External Factor Evaluation Matrix (EFEM) and Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFEM) are the example of tools used in the previous stage of the strategic planning. The above Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) has been development accordingly with appropriate weight and attractiveness score. Weights that have been used are representing the importance of the key factors to the implementation of the strategies. The more weight placed the more important the factor to the implementation of the strategies. On the other hand attractiveness score is a score to show the attractiveness of the factors. The score of 1 to 4 is placed which indicate the more score is place the more attractive the strategies to be implemented. Or in other words, attractiveness score of 1, 2, 3, or 4 is used to tell about each strategys attractiveness given the respective external or internal factor, where 4 is the best and 1 is the less attractive. For example, for product development under intensive strategy, attractiveness score of 4 is given to technological, competitive, management, finance, research and development and computer information systems. This means that these key factors are very attractive factors for the product development. The present of these factors will contribute to the successful of the product development strategy implementation. On the other hand the attractiveness score of 1 is given to the factor of political and production or operations. This means that political gives less impact on the successful of product development. For information industry, production or operation is less important because the industry is more to service types of business. Thus, production is less needed. This strategy has the third higher score which is 3.12. This means that this strategy also has its important to be implemented in future after the product development strategy. The score of 4 is given to the competitive, political, management and finance factors. In order to acquire a company, competitors will always have interest to compete with Microsoft. This is because merger strategy is able to expand the market share of a company. This means that buy acquire a company to be a part of Microsoft property, they will become stronger in the market and they will possess another competitive advantage. The same goes to political. Political is important because in order to merger the company, all procedure must be approved by the government. Management and finance are the most important factors in internal environment because they are responsible to negotiate and managing the activities in the process of merger. Other than that, finance and accounting department of Microsoft will calcul ate all the costs involve in acquire a particular company. According to nikkie.co (2009), industry analysts had praised Bill Gates for guiding his company on a path of growth that saw its revenue stream increasing by more than 50 percent per year in an extremely competitive, even cutthroat, market. In other words, Bill Gates has guiding his company on the right path of growth that saw its revenue stream increasing by more than 50 percent per year. Bill Gates has success to capitalize early and effectively on industry trends. Besides that, his compliance to take risks on such fledgling technologies as Microsofts CD-ROM based software packages. A fledgling technology has become an industry standard. Moreover, Bill Gates had organized the company structure which is all the company structure all in together on all phases of software products through business cycle from development to distribution. Furthermore, in 1995 Bill Gates has done and towards in internet area which is creates a search engine through internet. And Bill Gates was success to assess by the actuality that Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser. Through that, Microsofts Internet Explorer Web browser has become the industry leader in 2000. In addition, Bill Gates has success in initial a competitive Internet browser. While that, the desktop of database and office-suite has success. By Bill Gates creatures, it has proved that Bill Gates had formed a company quick enough to jump into a market that others were developing. And Bill Gates also able to take as a lead away from the competition. Furthermore, according to nikkie.com (2009), in 1998 Bill Gates has announced a new point in Microsofts development that would allow him to focus his energies on strategy and product development. In other words, in 1998, Bill Gates wants to concentrate on his strategy and product development in order to satisfy customer needs. While that, the company funnelled a large amounts of money into improving customer supports and feedback. Other than that, Bill Gates has planned that he want his company directs work in such areas as intellectual telephones and television, as well as the combination of such new computer input techniques such as speech, vision and handwriting using computers. Even though windows had previously gone through several upgrades. Theory Y assumptions that managements role is to build up the possible in employees and help them to release that potential towards common goals in the organization. Bill had a vision as a teenager that every business and household should have a computer to make their life easier and effective. The realization of Bill Gates vision has changed the computing world. Microsofts vision is empower people through great software anytime, anyplace, and on any device, (microsoftvision.com,) The leadership style of microsoft is the charismatic style which is a leadership style that usually come from the people that are born with it. This kind of leadership style can usually win the heart of the workers more efficiently because they are good at picking up the moods and concern of both individuals and larger audiences. This type of leadership is effective because when the leader at the top, its takes time to ground his own self and stay close to the operation. When the top management involves the business with employee, not only does he gain the knowledge but he furthers his employees to work double as hard for the company. Being in the trenches builds loyalty and of course real knowledge about how the operation is being run. The company CEO must understand cultural dynamics to formulate their strategies, to locate production facilities and suppliers worldwide, to design and market culturally appropriate and services as well as to manage cross-cultural interaction thorough out the organization. Therefore, based on the roles and responsibilities above, when implementing strategies such as mentioned before intensive product development the CEO is very important to become the agent of making the strategy work. Bill Gates and the late Loh Boon Siew is very articulate in conveying their vision to the company mentioned in the Theory X and Theory Y assumptions, and thus that is why the company is able to strive.

Education and Racial Inequality: Analysis of Crash

Education and Racial Inequality: Analysis of Crash EDUCATION AND RACIAL (IN)-EQUALITY Albert Einstein, a German-born theoretical physicist, once stated that â€Å"small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds.†[1] People tend to scrutinize the external world with their internal prejudice, observing people under their own presumptions about race; the majority of people tend to also think with their eyes, as claimed by Einstein above, and assume that a person’s insides correspond with how they look on the outside. One stops doing so when one has an experience that contradicts one’s presumptions and stereotypes. Prejudice leads to stereotypical attitudes and behaviors in people. However, when those stereotypes are disproved by experiences, individuals are forced to re-evaluate their prejudicial attitudes. Therefore, prejudicial attitudes can be overcome when people are forced to juxtapose a reality that disproves their stereotypical attitudes. Many examples of such instances are exhibited in the movie Crash, directe d by Paul Haggis. Prejudicial beliefs lead people to stereotype others based on their race. Vincent Parrillo defines cognitive level of prejudice as an â€Å"encompass[ment of] a person’s beliefs and perceptions of a group a threating or nonthreatening, inferior or equal, seclusive or intrusive, impulse gratifying, acquisitive, or possessing other positive or negative characteristics† (Parrillo 505). Stereotyping is a form of cognitive level of prejudice as it is acquired through experience and impressions. Hence, stereotypes are external expressions of inner prejudices. In Crash, Jean Cabot and her husband is seen walking down a street in a wealthy neighborhood at night. Jean Cabot visibly holds on to her husband’s arm tighter while passing Anthony and Peter, who are of African descent. This action, caused by Jean’s presumption that the two black males were gangsters, is a clear epitome of prejudice on the cognitive level, as explained by Parrillo. Jean holds these beliefs as result of exposure to the media, and lack thereof to real people of racial minorities. Her lack of exposure to minorities comes from her predominantly white and wealthy residence and background. Nevertheless, this presumption of hers against people of certain color is fueled when the two black males hijack her vehicle. Her bigotry—and her expression of prejudice—is further illustrated in the subsequent scene, wherein she vehemently opposes the locksmith changing her locks due to her perception that the locksmith, a Hispanic man, has â€Å"prison† tattoos. She groundlessly worries that the locksmith will â€Å"sell [their] keys to one of his gang banger friends the moment he is outside of [their] door† (Crash). It can be easily inferred from the scene that although the locksmith—who is uninvolved in the couple’s affairs—has done no wrong, Jean’s false notion of who he is dictates her attitudes and opinions towards the Hispan ic man. According to Parrillo, Jean is using the locksmith as a scapegoat, as her prejudice reaches a level of emotional, action orientated and self-justified level. She considers acting maliciously towards the Hispanic man appropriate due to her criticism of his race as a whole: an act of self-justification. ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­ In yet another scene, a clerk at a gun shop refuses service towards an old American citizen of Middle Eastern descent, as the clerk malevolently mocks the customer and lets it be known that he opposes anyone related to the Middle East, insinuating that Middle Easterners are terrorists who â€Å"fly 747† (Crash) and â€Å"incinerate† (Crash) civilians. Parrillo would describe this as an â€Å"action-orientated level of prejudice† (Parrillo 505). The clerk indisputably displays strong contempt against Middle Easterners, (or who he perceives to be Middle Easterners) stereotyping them to be harmful to the American society, and refusing to sell them ammunition. Unfortunately, due to this traumatic experience, Farhad develops a prejudice against fellow Americans of different descent, who he thinks are ought to â€Å"cheat† (Crash) him. Farhad’s newfound prejudice is depicted when he feels that the locksmith is cheating him by refusing to fix his door, despite having a valid reason to do so. In the case of Jean Cabot, we can see how one’s own prejudice can form stereotypes that direct one’s antagonistic behavior against an uninvolved third party. In the case of Farhad, we can see how an act of prejudice and hatred can reversely instigate a prejudice against the prejudicial party and any deemed associates, superfluously continuing the chain of intolerance. Racial stereotypes are oftentimes disproven by their victims, forcing the oppressor to reevaluate his or her own prejudgments. In the movie Crash, when Jean suffers an injury due to her fall, and her friend Carol is nowhere to be found, her housemaid Maria takes her to the emergency room. Maria, a Hispanic woman, shows great care and compassion towards Jean, disproving her stereotype. This leads Jean to abandon her earlier prejudices against different races. The movie further depicts the refutation stereotypes with the scene wherein Peter, a black male, is seen hitchhiking at nighttime. Officer Hanson, upon seeing Peter, offers him a ride in his personal vehicle. They converse awkwardly until Peter sees the St. Christopher statue on the car dashboard. Upon seeing the statue, Peter motions to show his own statue of St. Christopher to Officer Hanson. However, Officer Hanson’s prejudice makes him reason that a black male hitchhiking at this time of the night is up to no good. Hen ce, Hanson says, â€Å"Get your hands out of your pocket† (Crash). Peter does not catch his tone, and Hanson authoritatively orders Peter to â€Å"put [his] hands where [Hanson] can see them† (Crash). Consequently, Peter reaches for his St. Christopher statue while Officer Hanson reaches for his revolver and shoots Peter. Peter’s hand unfolds, showing the St. Christopher medal inside the palm. Hanson reacts with horror as he comes to realization that his stereotyping had been disproven and he had committed manslaughter without provocation. These scenes in the movie Crash show that the world must realize that there lies a soul, a heart and a human being under someone’s skin, no matter what color. When oppressors are forced to reevaluate their prejudices, as mentioned above, they are bound to make changes to their attitudes and behaviors. Jean’s prejudices against Hispanic people dissipates after the incident involving Maria’s care. Later, in the scene in which Maria brings tea to Jean, Jean suddenly embraces Maria, and does not let go. Jean shows affection by saying, â€Å"Do you want to hear something funny? You’re the best friend I’ve got† (Crash). Jean’s glistening eyes, and the melodious soundtrack playing in the background alludes to Jean’s redemption of her past wrongful ways. This sharply contrasts the earlier scene, in which Jean frowns, leers, and blatantly asks deriding and rhetorical questions such as â€Å"Is this clean or is this dirty?† (Crash) On killing Peter, Officer Hanson has a horrified expression on his face, as he sees Peter’s dead gaze. He pushes the body out of the car, gets out, and kneels slowly over the dead body in disbelief of what he has done. He realizes that Peter was not going to hold him hostage with a gun but instead was reaching for his St. Christopher statue. In both the cases, stereotypes were proven wrong and the holders of the stereotypes feel guilty once they were proven wrong. Before this incident, Hanson portrayed himself as an individual who did not believe in stereotypes; but after this incident, he finds out that his prejudice is more deeply rooted than his conscious egalitarian actions because of his socialization process. He is not alone put through this socialization process, all individuals with constant access to media are put through this process. Media holds a strong footings in dispersal of prejudice. The movie Crash, a form of media, also forces the audience to reevaluate their prejudices that they do not believe they possess, but subconsciously does. In the movie Crash, Anthony is assumed at first to be a heartless gangster who steals from the innocent for a quick buck. Nevertheless, in the scene wherein Anthony delivers his stolen vehicle to the owner of the chop shop, he refuses to sell the refugees found in the van to the owner of the chop shop, even though the sale of refugees would have brought him immense earnings. With this act, Anthony breaks down the barriers of his stereotype set upon him by the audience. Furthermore, he displays a random act of kindness by giving forty dollars to the refugees who were visibly in need. In the following scene, he sits in the van, introspects, and cannot refrain from smiling due to his altruism, which he had not previously exhibited in the slightest. The audience can infer from Anthony’s reaction that breaking one’s own neg ative stereotypes by acts of benevolence can have a heartwarming effect. The audience is made to feel like an oppressor for holding a stereotype against Anthony; when he disproves it, the audience is also made to reconsider their own stereotypes in reality. The movie brings the detriments of prejudice out into the open and makes one realize how it is a major societal illness. Through the movie Crash, the audience can learn that although prejudices exist and dominate the inner workings of society, it can also be shattered by positive interactions with the oppressors and the oppressed. Once they are broken, the once prejudiced party gets an opportunity to cleanse their minds of such presumptions, and see the world around them with a new light. Work Cited Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Perf. Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Phillippe, Jennifer Esposito, Christopher Brian Bridges, Michael Pena, Larenz Tate and Shaun Toub. Lionsgate, 2004. Film. Vincent N. Parrillo â€Å"Causes of Prejudice.† Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2013. 504-517. Print. 1 [1] â€Å"Quotations about Prejudice†, The Quote Garden: A Harvest of Quotations for Word Lovers. Web. 16 July. 2011

Analyse the importance of Winston and Julias relationship in the novel

Analyse the importance of Winston and Julia's relationship in the novel. How does it contrast with the oppressive regime around them? Question 1. Analyse the importance of Winston and Julia's relationship in the novel. How does it contrast with the oppressive regime around them? In the novel Winston Smith was a quiet man in his late thirties , something of and intellectual , who nurses a secret hatred of the party in the face of the party continual alteration of document when he meet Julia he finds an outlet both for his heretical opinions and for the love he yearns to share with another human being. The Character of Julia in the 1984 is a young woman of 26 year old. She is very jealous of her apparent which devotion to the party that Winston suspects that she is a member of the thought police. Julia seems to follow Winston that Winston was thinking that maybe Julia also has a secret rebel love with Winston. Julia's view of life is very different from Winston she is not an intellectual given to long ruminations on the absurdity of the party and its society but ...

Conservative Judaism: Inception, History and Way Of Life :: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The term â€Å"Conservative† had been attached to the moderates by the Reformers because the moderates had branded them as radicals. This name hardly describes the movement aptly. Conservative Judaism, is the American version of the principles of positive historical Judaism. The conservatives accept the findings of modern scholarship that Judaism is the product of a long period of growth and evolution. However, this process did not result in broken or inconsistent lines of development; quite the contrary, the major currents of Judaism run consistently through the extensive literature of the Jewish people, created in successive ages.† (Rudavsky 338) Conservative Judaism is one of the largest of the various sects of Judaism. Conservative Jews make up about 40-45% of those Jews who affiliate. Conservative Judaism accepts the idea that Jewish law is binding upon Jews. Conservative Jews have an obligation to obey all the teachings and commandments of Judaism., For example, Conservative Jews emphasize the laws of keeping the Sabbath and keeping kosher. Conservative Jews believe that Jewish law is capable of evolution as humans learn more about interpreting the Torah. Therefore, Conservative Jews have changed some of the earlier interpretations. Men and women worship together in Conservative synagogues, people may ride in a car on the Sabbath to attend services, and women can be ordained as rabbis. â€Å"Issac Leeser is generally regarded as the principal forerunner of Conservative Judaism in the United States. A native of Westphalia, Lesser acquired his religious and secular education before coming to American in 1824. He settled in Richmond, Virginia, where he was employed for several years in his uncle’s business. At the same time, he assisted the hazzan in the religious school of the local Sephardic congregation. During this period, he gained prominence by publishing numerous articles in defense of Jews and Judaism in American and foreign journals.†(Dimont 231) Some Jews who affiliate with the Conservative sect claim that their main reason for belonging is the fact that they don’t want to be Orthodox nor Reformed. â€Å"While some individuals describe themselves as Conservative because of their alienation from Orthodox practices, others define themselves from the opposite direction – they point out that they are not reform.† (Sklare 206) For the most part, Conservative Jews feel that if one were to be reformed they would not really be Jewish. The Reformed sect, unlike the conservative do not obey most of the Jewish laws and traditions.

Detailed CT

COST TABLES (CT): this is a cost management tool used to compare between different suppliers and their costs and an organization's production cost with that of an external organisation. (Yoshikaw, Innes and Mitchell, 1990) gave an analysis of the uses and diversity of CT. CT could be summarized or detailed. The detailed CT are done by advance Technology,' analysing' and comparing the' what if's'. The outcome of the analysis concludes a ‘make' or ‘buy' decision. This takes place within the VSC –(the powerhouse for decision making in the chain to enable it access cost of suppliers). COST SPLIT-UP – (CSU): This can also be referred to as cost analysis. Organizations making use of CSU build trust within themselves (the configurator and the partners). This model enables the supplier to make cost calculations based on the buyer's specification. The buyer gets insight into the breakdown of the cost at each stage of activity. In reference to (Bromwich, 1989), cost analysis is an essential component of SMA and IOMA. CSU is used more by organizations already implementing Porter's 1985 low cost strategy. STRATEGIC COSTING – (SC) AND VALUE CHAIN COSTING – (VCC): According to Shank and Govindarajan, (Guilding, Gravens and Tayles, 2000) is used to ascertain how strategically attractive an organization stands in the future. Strategic and market information are the main source of data to be analyzed. The use of Value Chain Costing is for the back- up activities – (design R&D, HRM) and core activities – (logistics, production, market and services) are attached a cost. STRATEGIC PRICING – (SP): Referencing (Guilding, Cravens and Tayles, 2000), the initiators of SP, determiners like opinions on competitors' prices and price elasticity, market growth economy of scale and experience are all appraised. This model is connected to markets and revenue. TARGET COST – (TC): according to (Ellram, 2002) in (Miguel, Martinez and Ramos, 2004), TC should include the production and procurement expenses incurred in a product or service. This cost can be broken down into cost of production, operating cost (marketing, sales R;D) and purchases cost. TC has three main points of focus: estimation of selling/service price based on the product attribute, calculation of TC based on targeted profit and establishing a previous TC. VALUE ANALYSIS – (VA): this has to do with the customer and customer value. This process describes the transformation of cost to revenue, reflecting what the customer is willing to pay for a value. According to (Ellram, 1996), organizations need not acquire cost for values a customer does not crave for. (CIMA, 1996, p.34) – An evaluation of determinants influencing the cost of a product with a mindset of creating valve at a minimum cost with focus on reliability and quality as features.

Management of Bipolar (Manic Depression)

Forgotten Kids are children that have disabilities that are barely visible. They have their arms and legs, can see and hear, run, play, etc. , but most have never been invited to a birthday party or to a sleep over. They are the last to be chosen to play and the first to be blamed. Their illnesses aren†t fatal, but a small part of their hearts and souls die with every rejection. Their behaviors seem odd or unpredictable to themselves as much as to society. They are misunderstood and overlooked, thus the name â€Å"Forgotten Kids. Maybe I can bring understanding by showing and providing insight into the life of a child struck with mental illness and hopefully people will realize that my child is just as special as the next. An estimated 7,000,000 children in Missouri that suffers from these â€Å"invisible disabilities. † Mental illness not only affects the life of the child but the whole community. I live with this fact every day because my son suffers from Bipolar, better known as Manic Depression. Bipolar children long to be free of the strange feelings of sadness or euphoria and the voices that torment them. They wish for a good nights sleep and hope for a day when they can put their words on paper. They dream of friends who don†t abandon them when their moods change; and look for a miracle in the eyes of doctors who don†t always believe that bipolar can happen to a child. Until society becomes more aware and accepting of these illnesses, our future children with these disabilities stand no chance. My son,was diagnosed at age nine after his third stay in a child†s psychiatric unit. He was admitted following a period of behaviors I could not understand nor control. I remember him being â€Å"different† (I now know he was Manic) as far back as three years old, leaving me with raging emotions of guilt, shame, loss and grief. By age nine, he had begun lying, stealing, destroying property, setting fires, and hurting himself (these are called rages. ) He had no friends at school, though he would say that wasn†t true. He was filled with an anger I could not comprehend. Most people who knew us said it was my fault as a parent that if I would just â€Å"control† him, he would be fine. Not only was my son stigmatized but so was I. Not until we located the right doctor and started the proper medications that he needed was he â€Å"fine. † Through the years as the medication began working its wonders a new child began to emerge. He laughs, he plays, but most of all he talks about what he feels. He would say that we cannot conceive his isolation, and the depth of it at times. He would apologize for the fact that he couldn†t offer me better understanding. I realized then that what he gives is so much more valuable. He gives me an opportunity to discover the depth of my character, my love, my commitment, my patience, my ability to cope, and the opportunity to explore my spirit more deeply than I ever imagined. I told him that because of him, I am driven to go further than I would have ever gone on my own, working harder, seeking answers to the many questions that seemed to have no answers. He describes a world that seems to pass him by. How he longs to run and play like other children. How sometimes it is a challenge just to crawl from his bed in the morning. Hearing this it becomes obvious how much â€Å"normal† people take for granted and how we forget how precious life is. We†re not burdened with the strifes and conflicts of a much more complicated life. I only wish he could enjoy the freedom of just being a child. He cries from the loneliness that tears his world apart wondering if he is bad or evil and why he isn†t like everyone else. I can†t answer, except to say there is a reason we just don†t understand it. His ability to live through the nightmare of his life is amazing. It†s not easy raising a child with a mental illness but what is even harder is not being accepted by your community because of ignorance and fear. To let a physical, neurological, biochemical or mental handicap stand in the way of these children†s future would be a major tragedy.

Merck & Co. Performance Appraisal System Essay

1) WHY? Brief Background on Merck & Co. Performance Appraisal System The past and existing performance appraisal of Merck & Co. was ineffective to identify and reward performance to a certain extent. Although the company was paying their employees around seven to eight percent more than the average compensation in other large companies, the performance appraisal system did not clearly identified outstanding performance, which caused inequity in rewarding performance and led to unhappiness among the employees, especially the high performers. Compared to the average performers, there was only marginal increase in salary for outstanding performers. Without proper recognition and rewards, the company was at risk of losing its high performers and keeping the worst performers. Core Problems and Its Causal Identification: High Degree of Criterion Deficiency and Criterion Contamination The core problems identified for inequity in performance appraisal was the high degree of Criterion Deficiency and Criterion Contamination in performance appraisal, forced distribution in performance rating and biasness in performance appraisal. There were 3 causal for the core problems. The 3 causal were namely: 1) the company’s absolute performance rating scale, 2) company’s salary determination under the old plan and 3) superiors’ biasness in appraisal. Recommendation Using Core Concepts to Solve the High Degree of Criterion Deficiency and Criterion Contamination The 3 proposed recommendation to address the 3 causal are namely: 1) identifying conceptual criteria through employees’ job analysis to eliminate criterion deficiency and contamination in performance appraisal, 2) employee comparison models (rank-order method) to identify outstanding performers under salary determination and 3) introducing an ongoing assessment to eliminate superior’s biasness. 2) WHAT? Causal 1: Performance Appraisal under the Old Plan (Criterion Deficiency & Criterion Contamination) The Absolute performance rating scale could only rate the individual’s performance independent of the performances of other employees. In my opinion, this individual’s performance rating scale was no longer relevant or sufficient in big company like Merck & Co in the present. From the case, it was noted that an employee was dissatisfied that the company’s performance was average and 83 percent of the employees  were actually exceeding job expectations. This had proven that the performance appraisal system was inaccurate in measuring the employee’s performance. For example, it might be due to the fact that the effectiveness of the company depends on an individual’s performance, that was interdependent on his subordinates, superior and even colleagues in a team context. Thus, an absolute performance rating scale would be ineffective in identifying and rewarding true performance as it had caused a criterion deficiency of excluding the team performance as one of the important criteria for performance appraisal. Causal 2: Salary Determination under the Old Plan (Forced Distribution for Performance Rating) In Merck & Co., the salaries of the employees were determined by a salary line formula comprises of the Hay points system. The employees would then get their actual salary based on their percentage for compa-ratio on the control point. On the surface, this system seems to be structured in rewarding based on merit, but in fact, it was not effective in rewarding outstanding performers. Firstly, an employee’s compa-ratio would always be capped at the maximum of 125 percent. In other words, an employee can only earn a maximum of 25 percent more of the normal 100 percent salary even he had performed exceptionally well in his job. Secondly, consisten t good performers were unable to maintain compa-ratio of 120 percent and above due to the annual revision on the control points. When the control points increased, the compa-ratio of an employee would dropped for most of the time, regarding his performance. Thirdly, an outstanding employee with high compa-ratio would get lower pay increase compared to an employee with average compa-ratio, given the same performance ratings. This salary determination system discouraged outstanding employees to continue to perform as the reward they get out of this system was capped and limited, and similar to what average employees would get for their effort. From the case, one of the employee had actually voiced out that it was demoralizing and demotivating as no matter how hard he work, he will still get the same rating as everyone else and the same 5 percent increase in salary. In addition, as reflected from the case, the vast majority of the employees received 3 or 4 while very few received 1,2 and 5. There was a forced distribution for performance rating. This system had caused criterion deficiency as the determination of the employees’ salary was not clearly assessed on their performance and thus,  making the outstanding performers to feel inequity. Causal 3: No fairness in the Performance Measures (Biasness) There was a significant amount of complaints from the employees on the performance appraisal system as there were no fairness in the performance measures. This was caused by the biasness of the appraiser. The contributory factors of biasness could be vanity, narcissism, laziness and frivolity (Michael, 2007). For vanity, the appraiser would want to give high ratings to his subordinate so as to make his people and department to look good and get good bonuses and other rewards. In the case, an employee who was an appraiser commented that he was unable to rate his people objectively as other directors were giving all their people a rating of 4, and it makes him hard to give his people a rating of less than 4. For narcissism, the appraiser would measure performance using his own point of view. An employee reflected that managers were afraid of giving experienced people a rating of less than 4 but willing to give new people a rating of 3. The managers’ point of view was that experienced employees would get a rating of 4 and above while new employees would get a rating of 3. In the case of laziness, the appraiser measures assumed performance without any thoughts and efforts. This cou ld be related to the case whereby the experienced employees would be rated higher than the newcomers as it was assumed by the appraiser that the experienced employees were better than the newcomers in term of performance. Lastly, for frivolity, the appraiser was not serious in the appraisal and would look for ways to blame others rather than shouldering the responsibility for improving performance. From the case, an employee who performed well was not given a rating of 5 by his supervisor, as his supervisor did not get a 5 for his performance appraisal. It might be due to the supervisor’s self-interest that made him reluctant to give a rating of 5 to his subordinate. These errors of appraisal had caused the performance measures to lose its values and resulted in criterion deficiency and contamination as the appraisers were not doing their appraisal properly. 3) How? Recommendation 1 to address Causal 1: Identify Conceptual Criteria through Employees’ Job Analysis Firstly, the company should use job analysis as the procedure to find the criteria and job performance scope for its employees in order to eliminate criterion deficiency and contamination and increase  criterion relevance. Job analysis would help to identify conceptual criteria such as observable job behaviors and characteristics of the job environment. Based on a relevant set of performance criteria, the management would then be able to measure and reward their employees’ performance effectively and would in turns, accurately reflects the effectiveness of the organization and eliminate cases whereby most of the employees exceeded job expectations when the company was only doing average in performance. Recommendation 2 to address Causal 2: Employee Comparison models (Rank-order method) as the Appraisal Method for Salary Determination Secondly, in order to improve on the way that the company determine the employees’ salary, the management can implement rank-order method as the performance rating for salary determination. In the company’s existing performance appraisal program, the management used forced distribution whereby the vast majority of the employees were given an average ratings and very few employees were given in the high and low ratings. This was reflected in the salary determination for the employees where there were no significant difference in the salary among the employees. It was ineffective to some extent in rewarding the outstanding performers as only a small proportion or percentage of the employees would get high ratings for their performance. Thus, it was recommended for the management to use the rank-order method so as to force the appraiser to p erform detailed analysis on the employees and rank them in order of their performance. Unlike forced distribution, the rank-order method can be motivating for the employees to perform as it objectively identify the worst and outstanding performers without the restriction of the quotas to meet in these two categories. When the salary determination system was paired up with Rank-order Appraisal method, according to the order of employees’ ranking, it can create a distinct gaps in terms of Hay points and Compa-Ratio between poor to average and high performers. Also, the employees in top rankings would get higher ratings in performance appraisal. Based on the salary line formula, rank-order performance rating method would significantly increase the salary gap between average and high performers contributed by the increase in the Hay Points, Compa-Ratio and performance ratings earned by the high performers. Recommendation 3 to address Causal 3: An Ongoing Assessment & Self-Assessment (360 Degrees Feedback) Thirdly, in addition of the  yearly formal performance appraisal, the company can introduce a weekly or monthly ongoing performance assessment and self-assessment to measure its employees’ performance effectively. The ongoing assessment must be objective, job-related and provide appeal process for employees who are not satisfied with the performance rating. With an ongoing assessments put in place, the management would minimize biasness by using and compare a variety of performance evaluations such as 360 degrees feedback that involve multiple appraisers and would also prevent the appraiser to appraise based on their own biasness without any substantial proof on the employees’ performance. The ongoing assessment would promote fairness in performance appraisal. Reference: Case Study 1) Merck & Co., Inc. (A) 2) The 7 Deadly Sins of Performance Measurement and How to Avoid Them

 Benefits of encouraging and rewarding positive behaviour Essay

When it comes to behaviour it can be easy to focus on what we need to stop children from doing. The problem with this approach is that it does not help children know what they should be doing. This means that nowadays there is much more emphasis on encouraging positive behaviour . A good starting point is to think about the positive behaviour or goals that you should be encouraging in children. This may be outlined in your settings policy or you may need to observe what other staff seem to encourage. If you are working in a setting that several ages of children notice the way in which there are different expectations according to the age of the children Why encouraging and rewarding positive behaviour works 1. It helps children to learn what they need to do 2. It creates calmer environment and stronger relationships 3. Children respond well 4. Children learn from adults Skills and techniques for positive behaviour 1. Rewards 2. Attention 3. Praise 4. Star charts 5. Being given responsibility 6. Treats 7. Stickers 8. Timing 9. Explanation 10. Public acknowledged Settings for children and young people Children centres children aged 0-5yrs Day care facilcity children ages 0-5yrs A home setting children aged 0-8yrs Extended care children and young people 4-16yrs Youth activity club young 11-16yrs A reception class ks1 in a primary school A crà ¨che for children up to the age up to 5yrs Attention seeking What a child does Many children show attention seeking behaviour at times . it can be a sign of insecurity or in some cases mean that children have become used to having a lot of adult attention How to deal with it It is often best to ignore attention seeking behaviour unless it is dangerous as by challenging it you may be teaching children that they can get attention this way Biting What a child does Many toddlers bite especially if they are in group care. Biting is often linked to frustration and can become a habit How to deal with it Act immediately Give the victim attention first Once a child has bitten, it is likely that another bite will follow Behaviour problems that should be referred Biting, aggression, change of behaviour ,self-harming, bullying It is unusual for most settings to try a few strategies’ first before referring to other professionals sometimes unwanted behaviour is a result of a medical condition or learning difficulty while others might be linked to emotional difficulty that the child has table 2 shows some of the pros who may support the child and their family. GP family doctor This is often the first part of call as the family doctor will able to refer to others. Health visitor A health visitor may visit the family at home and give some advice. Educational physcologist The educational physcologist will look at the children’s learning and behaviour. Child psychiatrist A child psychiatrist will help children who may have metal health issues. Family counsellor A family counsellor may help work with whole family and child. Play therapist Children who have had some trauma may see a play therapist so that they can work on what has happened.