Wednesday, October 30, 2019

HRM functions shape employee behaviour Research Paper

HRM functions shape employee behaviour - Research Paper Example EEO and Affirmative Action The federal government has been making efforts for freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex, age, color, religion, nationality and disability through its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) mission. Affirmative action plans are deemed moral and social obligations to amend wrongs done in the past while also eliminating the present effect of past discrimination. Computer technology is increasingly being used to eliminate or reduce discriminatory practices. The same technology increases discrimination against the disabled. In certain organizations only computer-based employment selection tools are used but the visually impaired are at a disadvantage if applications are accepted only through computer systems. It is hence absolutely essential that applicants with such disabilities are provided with alternate solution and methods to submit applications. Companies claim to have policies in place which encourages them to contact the HR department in case they have been wronged but when the application procedure itself has flaws, the question of contacting the HR department does not arise. The visually impaired may have talent that goes untapped. Coates Field Service, Inc has a provision that the contractor is obliged to read out the notice to the visually disabled. To some extent this sounds as an affirmative action because the hiring agent would be having applications from the disabled. However, in such cases, the responsibility is passed on to the hiring agent and the organization absolves itself of accountability against discrimination. It really is difficult to ascertain the efficacy of such a method as it depends upon the selfish interests of the agent now instead of the organization. If the organization is not supportive, retention of disabled staff becomes a critical issue. Planning, recruitment and selection It has become esse ntial to keep abreast of changes in the labor market so that recruitment efforts are not wasted or misaligned. Planning entails assessing the future needs, aligning training with requirements, avoiding redundancies, developing a flexible workforce, and controlling staff costs. However, organizations engage in both internal and external recruitment. As far as internal recruitment is concerned, it saves costs but it also stifles creativity (Gros & Sonntag, n.d.). The same resources are shifted from one department to another. Moreover, conflicts among the employees can be expected as promotions are denied based on seniority if they are found to be lacking in skills. Now in this case the employee may be lacking in skills possibly because adequate training has not been provided, perhaps due to discrimination. Work-life balance and flexibility are essential to get the best out of the employees. Organizations that offer such benefits are preferred;

Monday, October 28, 2019

Han china and imperial rome Essay Example for Free

Han china and imperial rome Essay Rome was very successful because of its superior military authority. That is the main influential factor that cemented Roman power for nearly a thousand years. They had several advantages rapid development of the latest technology and vast numbers of infantry along with a stable senate system and much wealth to fuel their ambitions. It had sewers to control waste, aqueducts for plumbing and paved roads for transport which many other nations simply did not have. Rome had a large assortment of choices when it came to battle. Their army usually consisted of Hastati, Principes or Legionary Cohort in the later years marvelous soldiers and very useful ones to say the least. Having said this, they had access to exceptional horses as well and it was this mixture of troops that was a deciding factor in conflicts. Rome used its sheer force of numbers to overwhelm most enemies and surround them or cave in on their flanks causing a route very quickly. Mind you, tactics were used, but not effectively. The Romans took advantage of technological progressions and were only to happy to inflict deadly harm upon their foes with ballistae, catapults, onagers and numerous other siege equipment. The land they conquered poured much profit into the treasury which was distributed to the armed forces. This was able to give them the latest weapons, brand new armour, plenty of supplies and good morale. You can also look at the sheer amount of land they claimed through war the empire covered Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, parts of the Middle-East, Egypt, and the Africa coastline. Finally, the Romans brought the ideology of Christianity to the people in Europe influencing the events that were to proceed in the future greatly, something that has changed the world today. They will be looked upon in 1000 years (during the Middle Ages) with their beliefs, attitudes, values, lifestyle and ingenuity being emulated.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Coco Mademoiselle Perfume Commercial Essay -- Marketing, Post Femi

The ideal post-modern woman is a collage of charm, grace, beauty, strength and independence. This ideal is what Keira Knightley epitomizes in the Coco Mademoiselle perfume commercial. A far cry from the original feminist movement which was entrenched in politics this post-feminism created a realm where woman sought all the riches of the feminist movement but shunned the feminist title (Goldman 1992, 130). Keira is presented as a beautiful independent woman, who is free from the hold of men and sexually liberated. However, through close examination, it is clear that her independence is in relation to her power over the men in the commercial. Further, this power is simply power over the man whom she wishes to seduce. The commercial begins with Keira slipping into her loft in the early morning, wearing only a men’s white dress shirt and black hat. She looks past the camera, never making eye-contact. Keira is presented as the super-woman which Goldman (1992) describes as â€Å"sublimely self-confident and secure, poised, effortlessly beautiful, [moving] with a style and grace called ‘presence’... independent and successful; liberated, yet feminine and romantic; modern, yet traditional at the same time† (107-108). By looking past the camera Keira becomes the subject of envy. This envy can only be achieved by distance, we look to her but she does not look back at us, her demeanour signifies confidence, which we watch but do not have a connection to (Goldman 1992, 118). Throughout the ad, Keira exudes a confidence in a playful yet mature way. This confidence, however, rises from her relation to men. At the beginning of the commercial she is dressed in a way that implies she has just left her lover’s room. So the ‘presence’ which she hold... ...desire for control leads to a fetishization of the female body. This fetishization in turn lends itself to the consumption of commodities (Goldman 1992, 113), as the perfect femme fatal is impossible to achieve outside of a James Bond movie. This all for control over men, which ironically shows that if so much emphasis is placed on control of men, are woman really in control? The feminist movement was aimed at gaining equality between sexes, yet we have raped this movement of all its political meanings. Women have objectified themselves in order to gain power over men, while pursuing freedom from the objectification of men. This Chanel commercial clearly demonstrates how woman objectify themselves in order to show a form of control over men. This need for control actually shows women’s failure to justify their position in society separate of its relation to men.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Invisible Man Essay: Invisible Man and the Pre-Made Identity

Invisible Man and the Pre-Made Identity    Society forms definitions, or stereotypes, of people according to the color of their skin, their economic status, or where they live. Stereotypes define how society believes these people should act and how they should be treated. These stereotypes are, in effect, a pre-made identity. There are three options an individual must face when presented with this pre-made identity. The individual can accept this identity as his/her own. This would maximize the individuals acceptance into society, but at a considerable price. The individual would lose power, become exploitable, suppress and consequently lose his/her own "true identity," and then would become one of many faces in the crowd. The "true identity" would be stifled and strangled under the one imposed by society. Anger, frustration , and confusion would occupy the mind of the individual. The individual could reject this identity outright and could circumvent the accumulation of this anger and confusion, but not without consequences. This person may be branded a heretic and be rejected by society. They would lose their agency and legitimacy in the society and would lose any hopes of bringing about any change. The third option entails living a lie. On the surface the individual would embrace society's identity, bu t keep their true self hidden within. This option would allow the person to retain their agency in the society and their individuality. However, like the other two options, there exists a downside. The person would constantly have to put on the mask a particular community wants him/her to wear in order to conform to that community's ideals. It then becomes almost impossible for anyone to get to know the real person, hid... ...come invisible.      Works Cited and Consulted Bellow, Saul. "Man Underground" Review of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Commentary. June 1952. 1st December 2001 Available: http://www.english.upeen.edu/~afilreis /50s/bellow-on-ellison.html Ellison, Ralph. Going to the Territory. New York: Random House, 1986. Fabre, Michel. "In Ralph Ellison's Precious Words." Unpublished Manuscript. 1996. 30 November. <http://www.igc.org/dissent/archive/ Ellison/early.html Howe, Irving. "Review of: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man" Pub. The Nation. 10 May 1952. 30 November 1999. <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/howe-on-ellison.html. O'Meally, Robert. The Craft of Ralph Ellison. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980. O'Meally, Robert, ed. New Essays on Invisible Man. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Multicultural counselling issues

Gender plays role in racial discrimination because males and females of a different ethnicity are treated in different ways.   In particular instance, females of a specific ethnic group experience at least two forms of discrimination based of her race, gender, religious belief, age and social status.   The term racism is strongly associated with hatred and prejudice of an individual’s identity including any aspects of his identity and sexual orientation hence females experience a different manner of discrimination. International groups such as the United Nations have regarded racial and gender discrimination as two independent issues resulting in females continuing to suffer from numerous types of injustices.   It is thus essential that the gender component of racial discrimination be well understood in order to draw actions towards racial discrimination that are helpful to both males and females. There are several instances when the issues of gender and racial discrimination interconnect (Crenshaw KW, 2000).   The interplay of these two concepts may take different modes and arise in different circumstances.   One situation involves gender-based violence.   In this situation, females are more likely to experience more cases of violence because discrimination that is influenced by gender depicts females as the most defenseless elements of society. Inclusion of the concept of racial discrimination thus generates violence on females, making them twice at risk of violence.   These kinds of circumstances tend to be more difficult because certain women from remote areas may be hesitant in reporting any violent incidents that they have experienced because they are concerned that no action will be performed with regards to their report or that their statement will be received with indifference or hostility. Another situation wherein gender is interconnected with racial discrimination can be observed among impoverished women.   It has been estimated that approximately 1.3 billion individuals who are living in extreme need are women (UNDP, 2000).   Such condition is strongly related to their inability to receive any form of education as well as training courses hence rendering them under-qualified for most of the available employment. Simultaneously, the trends of globalization and alteration in governmental laws have resulted in more problems for women because gender inequalities were exposed.   One example can be observed among governments that do not provide unemployment insurance of single mothers or female heads of households. The merged effect of gender and racial discrimination may also hinder the retrieval of women to economic resources, including loans, credit and real estate property and can also affect the treatment they receive when they request for social services from the government.   Such hardship thus endangers women to poverty and financial hardship. Gender is also intertwined with the issue of racial discrimination in terms of education.   It has been discovered that the global literacy rate for women is significantly lower than that among men.   The discrepancy in literacy rate between men and women is even greater in developing countries.   More than half of out-of-school children are girls and that among illiterate adults, two-thirds are comprised by women.   These gender-based illiteracy reports show that females have less access to educational resources which in turn results in a lower rate of participation in training programs. Such decrease in education restrains females in their full understanding and awareness of their legal rights, including the right to be employed and to own real estate properties.   The access of females to education through attendance in school is also affected by circumstances of early pregnancy, childrearing and domestic family responsibilities.   The lack or insufficiency of knowledge on reproductive health among women due to poor access to educational resources further hampers the living conditions of women.   It is well-known that education is strongly correlated with employment options and financial stability, hence women are at a disadvantage with regards to availing such opportunities. 2.   Due to the increasing diverse population in our society, it is imperative for mental health practitioners to increase their cultural awareness and cultural competence in the process of psychotherapy.   A culturally competent therapist is one who has moved from ignorance to being educated with his/her own cultural heritage and to respecting differences.   In addition, he/she is cognizant of how his/her values and biases affect minority clients. A culturally competent therapist must acquire specific knowledge related to the history of cultural standards and lifestyles about the minority group with which he/she is working.   It is also important to have a thorough knowledge of socio-political factors and how they affect these marginalized groups in relation to the majority culture.   In addition, a culturally competent therapist should understand value assumptions (abnormality and normality) that are fundamental in the major schools of therapy and how they may influence the values of the culturally different. Some major models may limit the abilities of the culturally different client due to the generic characteristics of therapy including language issues; culture bound values and class-bound values. At the skills level, a culturally competent therapist should be able to tap into a wide variety of verbal and nonverbal responses. The focus should be to practice with a multitude of response modalities rather than relying on narrow set of skills in therapy. The application of psychology is largely a product of individualistic cultures and may be questionable when applied to collectivist cultures.   Individualistic and collectivist cultures are exact opposites on a continuum of how people interact with others and the collectivist values may often clash with the individualistic values inherent in the counseling and psychotherapy process. The psychoanalytic approach emphasizes achieving insight through the discovery of unconscious thoughts, feelings and motivations, which is similar to other ethnic cultural concepts such as striving for self-development through the process of introspection.   Although insight-oriented approach is appealing to most clients of different ethncities, they practice the process of self-examination privately and not revealed to others.   Hence, clinicians should attend to the possible uneasiness of the client while exploring the most intimate thoughts and feelings in their inner world. For example, most Asian clients anticipate quick symptom relief when they actually do seek mental health services.   Rather than mere reliance of free association, the clinician could instill structure in the therapy session by asking questions and giving directions to the client.  Ã‚   This would not only maximize the effectiveness of therapy outcome but also meet the client’s expectations in treatment.   One way of addressing of this problem is for the clinician to educate the client at the onset therapy the nature and rationale of psychoanalytic approach to ease the client into the process. Some of the more commonly complaints made by Asian clients is their impatience in the process of psychoanalytic therapy with the clinician’s pace in addressing the client’s symptoms; focus of the past rather than the present and lack of structure in the session.  Ã‚   Exploration of the client’s life events that are relevant to them such as migration experiences would inadvertently elicit important information such as past memories of childhood and or parental influences.   Clinicians should be aware of other culture’s worldviews and values and the similarities and differences that exist with the host culture. These values and beliefs are inherent in tales, fables and myths in a culture.   For example, hierarchical transference is common in Asian cultures where the client brings the Asian values of filial piety (children’s obligation to care for elderly parents) and respect to authority.   In addition, authority figures are idealized as benevolent in Asian cultures hence the client experiences a positive relationship with the therapist similar to that of a parent and child, in which the client will obey and respect the therapist.   Clinicians can work through this transference by offering a positive interpretation of this type of hierarchical transference as well as respecting the client’s cultural values. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The refusal to work with a homosexual client is an ethical violation because counseling should be provided to any individual regardless of culture, gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity.  Ã‚   The Rehabilitation Act Amendment of 1992 discretely describes that actions of inequitable treatment of minorities or members of an ethnic group or gender have been observed in majority of rehabilitation operations.   Research has indicated that cultural diversity is a common factor that a counselor has to deal with during his routine operations and that positive results have increased when personal information with regards to the patient are disclosed to the counselor prior to treatment or consultation. Disclosure provides ample time for the counselor to prepare himself for the encounter with the patient, together with the patient’s background, including sexual orientation, religious belief, cultural background and ethnicity.   The refusal of a counselor to work with a homosexual client thus is an ethical violation because the counselor restricts himself from providing his services to any individual who requests his service.   Every individual should have an equal opportunity to request and receive services from a counselor and any other healthcare practitioner, regards of the details of his background. For my future counseling practice, I will also employ the self-disclosure strategy in order to accommodate the multicultural setting of my practice.   I think the if I start to self-disclose my information to the client before counseling, the client will feel more relaxed and comfortable to interact with me during counseling sessions because my client will feel that he is not alone in terms of self-disclosure choices. References Crenshaw KW (2000):   Gender-related aspects of race discrimination, background paper for Expert Meeting on Gender and Racial Discrimination, 21-24 Novem-ber 2000, Zagreb, Croatia (EM/GRD/ 2000/WP.1). United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2000): Poverty Report 2000: Overcoming Human Poverty.         

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Treatment of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice essays

The Treatment of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice essays The treatment of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice has long been a controversial issue. In the context of the play, Shylock hates Antonio and seeks his revenge in an unusual and even garish way by demanding a pound of flesh. Any villain would be seen as extremely villainous for that sort of behavior, but the villainy of Shylock has been tied to the idea that the play is saying his villainy derives from his being Jewish. In fact, such a view ignores the comic nature of the play itself and also the way Shakespeare gives Shylock real motivations for his actions and treats him more as a human being than would be likely if this were an anti-Semitic stance. First, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice has a number of reasons for hating Antonio and for seeking revenge on him and those Shylock sees as like him. Shylock is a Jew, and he believes he is shunned and hated by Christians. This alone differentiates his treatment in the play from an anti-Semitic rant, for Shakespeare recognizes that society does often demonize the Jew and that such a judgment is unfair, so much so as to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. He further discovers that his daughter, Jessica, has eloped with Lorenzo and intends to convert to Christianity herself. These events come on the heels of all the other reasons he detests Antoniobecause Antonio lends money and does not charge interest, because Antonio has denigrated him in the past, and because Antonio is a Christian. Tubal is his friend and brings him news that Antonio's ship has disappeared. He also has been asked to find out about Jessica but at this point has learned nothing new. Shylock speaks of everything in terms of money, and this includes his daughter: "A diamond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort!" (III.i.77). The news that his daughter has not been found is coupled here with news that Antonio's ship has been lost, linking his anger over his daughter with the man he will try to ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

How to Identify Northern White Cedar

How to Identify Northern White Cedar Northern white-cedar  is a slow growing native North American boreal tree with the scientific name Thuja occidentalis.  Arborvitae  is another name for the tree in its cultivated and commercially grown from which is  planted in yards and landscapes throughout the United States. This nursery-derived version of the white-cedar is prized for the unique flat and filigree sprays made up of tiny, scaly leaves.   Northern white-cedar  has also been called eastern white cedar and swamp-cedar. The name arborvitae meaning tree of life was given the tree and was the first North American tree to be transplanted and cultivated in Europe.   Ethnobotanical history suggests that 16th-century French explorer Jacques Cartier learned from  Native Americans how to use the trees foliage to treat scurvy. Scurvy was an insidious  disease that ravaged humans that had no ready source of  ascorbic acid or vitamin  C. A decoction of the exported trees sap was sold in Europe as a curative medicine. A record tree in Michigans Leelanau County measures 18 feet in circumference and  113 feet  (34 meters)   in height.   Where the Northern White Cedar Lives You will find that the main range of northern white-cedar extends through the southern part of the eastern half of Canada and down to an adjacent northern part of the United States. Looking at its U.S. Forest Service range map, you will see specifically that it extends west from the Gulf of St. Lawrence through central Ontario to southeastern Manitoba. Eastern white cedars southern U.S range extends through central Minnesota and Wisconsin to a narrow fringe around the southern tip of Lake Michigan and east through southern Michigan, southern New York, central Vermont and New Hampshire, and Maine.   Northern white-cedar prefers a humid climate and where the annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 46 inches.  Although it does not develop well on extremely wet or extremely dry sites, the cedar will do well on cool, moist, nutrient-rich sites and particularly on organic soils near streams or boreal swamps. The principal commercial uses of northern white-cedar are for rustic fencing and posts because of the woods resistance to rot. Other important wood products made from the species includes cabin logs, lumber, poles, and shingles. The wood fiber is also used as paper pulp and particleboard. Identification of the Northern White Cedar The leaf (if you can call it a leaf) is actually evergreen and scale-like off main shoot sprays. They are  1/4 inch long with long points. Lateral shoots are flattened, 1/8 inch long with short points. The  species is monoecious meaning that the tree has both male and female reproductive parts. Female parts are green with 4 to 6 scales and male parts are green tipped with brown scales. The fruit is a  cone, only 1/2 inch long, oblong and protrude upright on the branches. Cone scales are leathery, red-brown and rounded, with a small spine on the tip. New growth on each twig is green and scale-like and occurring in very flattened foliar sprays.The bark is fibrous, red-brown, weathering to gray. You will often see diamond-shaped bark patterns and the trees form is a  small to medium-sized tree shaped like an arrowhead or a pyramid. The Commercial Arborvitae Varieties Probably the most commonly planted Arborvitae planted in the North American landscape is the Emerald Green variety. It has great winter color and is one of the most popular hedge plants within its range and is also extensively used outside its range in the Pacific Northwest. Many arborvitae varieties can be planted as a very reliable, small to medium ornamental in American yards outside the natural range of  Thuja  occidentalis.  You  can  see more than 100 cultivated varieties used extensively in dooryards, in hedgerows, in borders and as a single large striking specimen in a large landscape. You will also see this tree along driveways, building foundations, subdivision entrances, cemeteries, and parks. White-Cedar has many cultivars, many of which are shrubs. Popular cultivars include: ‘Booth Globe’  Ã¢â‚¬ËœCompacta’‘Douglasi Pyramidalis’‘Emerald Green’ - good winter color‘Ericoides’‘Fastigiata’‘Hetz Junior’‘Hetz Midget’ - slow growing dwarf‘Hovey’‘Little Champion’ - globe shaped‘Lutea’ - yellow foliage‘Nigra’ - dark green foliage in winter, pyramidal‘Pyramidalis’ - narrow pyramidal form  Ã¢â‚¬ËœRosenthalli’‘Techny’‘Umbraculifera’ - flat-topped‘Wareana’‘Woodwardii’

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Meet Us #IRL At Content Marketing World This September 5-8, 2017! - CoSchedule Blog

Meet Us #IRL At Content Marketing World This September 5-8, 2017! Blog Will you be in Cleveland, Ohio, for Content Marketing World this September? Me, too. You read that right- will be at Content Marketing World this  September 4-8, 2017. So come meet us at our booth! And  you can even grab some super actionable education from our CEO and Co-Founder, Garrett Moon, who is leading a session at Content Marketing World. Its gonna be fun. And we wanna share that fun with you. So stay in the loop if youre going to be there, and get on this special email list right now.  Well use this list to keep you informed of  what were up to at Content Marketing World and in Cleveland. (function () { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.type = 'text/javascript'; e.async = true; e.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https' : 'http') + '://btn.createsend1.com/js/sb.min.js?v=3'; e.className = 'createsend-script'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(e, s); })(); If youre gonna be at Content Marketing World this fall its time for you to make a couple plans. Let me help you do just that. Attend Garretts Session = Going Beyond Content Marketing: Turning Traffic Into Leads You’re consistently hammering out content†¦ but no one’s buying. Content into a demand generation engine is a riddle every marketer has to solve. So how do you optimize your content to attract the right audience that will convert into the perfect customers for your business? The silver bullet exists. Attend Garretts session  to learn the secrets to turning traffic into leads and quadruple your content’s results through agile, startup-driven frameworks. Register to attend Garretts  session now on the official Content Marketing World website. Add this to your calendar now: Date: September 7, 2017 Time: 11:05-11:50 a.m. Location: Hope Ballroom A-C (Hilton Level 3) ^^I wouldnt miss Garretts session if I were you. ;) Connect  With Us At  The Booth At Content Marketing World Are you a marketing nerd? Have you considered using to organize all of your marketing projects in one place? Are you a current customer? If you answered, Yes, Nathan! to any of those questions, have I got a deal for you! Visit the booth to visit  with a bunch of team members. Youll get: Answers to your  nerdiest marketing questions. More information on and how you can get your marketing team extremely organized. Some cool swag like stickers, autographed books from our pal, Jay Baer, and a whole lot more. Ill be there, too. So Im looking forward to meeting all of you IRL! Heres where were going to be: ^^^ So you should be there, too. :D Add Two Things To Your Must-Do List At Content Marketing World Alright: Youve got two things to do: Register to attend Garretts session on turning your traffic into leads. Youll also want to add this to your calendar. (Im pretty big on scheduling, if you havent noticed.) ;) Make a note to meet us at the booth on September 5, 6,  7, or 8 to ask your marketing questions and learn how will help you organize everything. One last thing: Subscribe to this special email list so we can keep in touch with you! This list is only for the goings-on at Content Marketing World, so subscribe NOW: (function () { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.type = 'text/javascript'; e.async = true; e.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https' : 'http') + '://btn.createsend1.com/js/sb.min.js?v=3'; e.className = 'createsend-script'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(e, s); })(); Were excited to meet you!

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Develop an online strategy to create advertising to improve business Essay

Develop an online strategy to create advertising to improve business - Essay Example With the colossal development of technology, e-commerce has now become one of the important business tools for small and large business houses across the globe. E-commerce is not just used as the technology for promoting sales, but is also used as a tool for engaging customers and remaining in touch with them (Gao, 2013). Furthermore, e-commerce is one of the cheapest forms of business transaction. Along with that it has mass reach (Goel, 2007). One of the biggest advantages of e-commerce technology is that it has no time limitations and companies can use this technology to carry out business operation across the whole day. The labor cost and delivery time also get reduced to a great extent thereby reducing the overall cost of operation (Alsmadi, Alhami & Alsmadi, 2009). Studies have shown that e-commerce market is growing at a robust rate (Ecommerce-land, 2004). When it started the market value of e-commerce business was considerably less, but according to latest reports, the global e-commerce market has reached $1 trillion reflecting a growth of 21.1% market share. Forecasters have predicted that this year the market will grow further and will touch $1.298 trillion worldwide reflecting a growth of 18.3% (Emarketer, 2013). ... With a staggering 384 million internet users, e-commerce provides companies with the opportunity to expand business and increase the overall revenue. Therefore it can be affirmed that recommending Mary and Joe Johnson to implement e-commerce technology for their business operation is fully justified. The next sections of the study will throw light on the certain aspects of e-commerce and its associated concepts. Importance and Features of a Website The growth and development of technology have influenced a number of firms across the world to implement new systems for enhancing their overall productivity. The emergence of internet has taken the use of technology for business to the next level. Eminent scholars and industry experts have stated that internet has actually changed the way of business transaction is carried out. Furthermore, it has also played pivotal roles in the improving business communication and the flow of information across the organization hierarchy (Jagoda, 2010). A company considering e-commerce implementation for business transaction should also encompass a website, which is the platform over which business deals will be carried out. A website is defined as a collection of different ‘web pages’ under a single domain name. Websites are powerful and cost effective marketing tools as well. In addition, a company having its own website increases the chances of getting recognized and remains visible in the marketplace. Some of the key features of a website are as follows: - 1. Provide Information: - The most important feature of a website is that it provides information to the users about the subject of concern. It not only offer the users with

Friday, October 18, 2019

Condiment snack holder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Condiment snack holder - Essay Example A tab connected with the cup is attached to the sidewall of the food container. There is preferably a slit in the sidewall of the food server, and in the preferred embodiment there are preferably two slits in the sidewall, through which the tab on the condiment holder extends. In the preferred embodiment the condiment holder comprises a frame having an opening for receiving the cup, and the tab extends obliquely from the frame so that the cup is supported in a generally horizontal orientation. The holder is preferably made from a generally teardrop shaped blank, having a bulbous section with an opening therein forming the frame, and a tapering section forming the tab. The sections are separated by a score line along which the blank can be folded so that the tab extends obliquely from the frame section. The present invention provides in combination, a food container and a condiment container. The food container includes a front panel, a back panel attached to the front panel by at least one side panel and a bottom panel for defining an enclosure there between. A cut-out portion is provided in the at least one side panel and is attached to the front panel and to the back panel and extends into the enclosure. The condiment container includes a top end, a bottom end, and side walls sized for placement against a side panel of the food container. A clip structure is positioned at the top end for attaching and suspending the condiment container to the at least one side panel of the food container. The cut-out portion is sized and positioned for securing the condiment container near the bottom end in co-action with the clip structure. Inventors: Szczerbinski, Jeff P.; Application Number: 928111 Filing Date: 2001-08-10 Publication Date: 2002-05-14 International Classes: B65D 021/02 Field of Search: 229/400,902,904,906 220/23.4,23.83,482 206/541 Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONField of the Invention: The present invention relates generally to food and condiment containers. More specifically, the present invention is primarily intended as a combination of a stackable and nest able paperboard container with a cut-out portion and a clip-on condiment container sized for insertion through the cut-out portion in co-action with the clip-on attachment to the paperboard container. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a food and condiment container combination. According to the present invention a combination is provided and comprises a food container, a condiment container, and a clip structure. The food container includes a front panel, a back panel attached to the f

Submit short report that assembles the teams final results for Essay

Submit short report that assembles the teams final results for tackling a problem or creating a solution to the project - Essay Example It is affordable to all patients and readily available as the system is flexible, can move from one place to another. Congestion in hospitals by patients with fatal chronical diseases need to be at lower levels by administering health programs via PHM systems. It helps hospitals deliver a variety of health services to a greater population resulting in improvement in health conditions. A nation with improvement in health sectors obtains tremendous benefits like it readily consist of healthy individuals to provide labor. Improves country’s productivity reduces death rates to significant levels and provides the country with the chance of having innovation and creativity as well. The PHM project requires electronically intensive equipments making use of decision support systems. This reduces the manual work fatigue to medical staff if they are to perform the work, therefore; there is a reduction in workload of the medical staff. However, the system contains errors that would result in wrong medical description or diagnosis to the patients. The problems are in two classifications the system error and human errors. The system errors include the syntax and logical anomalies, which may be due to system malfunction. The errors can be because of overloading the systems or as well as unexpected errors, which would require repetition of the ongoing process to get the correct results. The human errors serve as the main setback towards achieving the set objectives of the program. The set objectives being, provision of sufficient medical attention to patients with chronic diseases. It is unfortunate and ironic that human beings have the audacity to be the factor that the project fails to be 100% successful. The significant human errors includes Although patients include false information in order to get medical treatment, it is unfortunate as there would be wrong results that can cause serious problems for both the p[patient and

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Overview of Accounting Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Overview of Accounting Analysis - Assignment Example 52). Hence, admission of SEC and FASB standards will help in reducing corporate managers from providing unrealistic information and transaction within and outside the firm. Therefore, elimination of FASB standards and SEC will only increase the chances of corporate managers to provide unrealistic information about the firms; hence, I disagree with Bill’s idea. 2- Many firms recognize revenues at the point of shipment. This provides an incentive to accelerate revenues by shipping goods at the end of the quarter. Consider two companies, one of which ships its product evenly throughout the quarter, and the second of which ships all its products in the last two weeks of the quarter. Each company’s customers pay thirty days after receiving shipment. Using accounting ratios, how can you distinguish these companies? It should be noted that these two companies have no difference in their income statements; hence, they are all considered to have the same expense and revenue amounts. Nonetheless, they have different balance sheets. However, assuming that all other factors are the same, the company with even sales of products will have higher cash and receivable balance accounts at the end of the quarter compared to company that ships all its products within the last two weeks. Nonetheless, below accounting ratios will be appropriate in differentiating the two companies (Palepu and Healy Pg. 167): This will increase the estimated depreciable life of assets. In this case, the corporate managers may decide to increase the depreciable estimated life of the assets especially when they realize that their assets are likely to last in the market than was predicted initially. It may lead to a decrease in uncollectible allowances with the gross receivable percentages. The changes in the customer focus to the firm may make the managers to reduce

Contract law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contract law - Essay Example Lastly, an advice will be given to the aggrieved parties, in this case Backstreet Boyos and Basil’s Bistro, based on the available legal redress mechanisms. Analysis of whether Lord Melbray v the Backstreet Boyos and Basil’s Bistro was a legally binding agreement The separate agreements, between Lord Melbray and the Backstreet Boyos for entertainment appearance on one hand, and that with the Basil’s Bistro for provision of lunches on the other hand, can be classified as legal contracts. This is because; a contract refers to an agreement that is entered by two individuals or parties voluntarily, with an objective to create a legal obligation for the performance of the agreement1. Lord Melbray approached the Backstreet Boyos and Basil’s Bistro for provision of their respective services during the wedding of his daughter, and the two parties willingly and voluntarily agreed to provide their services. Therefore, the first fundamental requirement for a legally binding agreement was met, since mutual consent acted as the basis of all the parties entering into the contract in question. A case in point is the case Balfour v Balfour 2 KB 571[1919]1, the husband, Mr. Balfour promised to be sending his wife $30 every month after the started living apart, but later rescinded the decision and asked that they separate. The wife sued for the continuous payment of the promised monthly payment, but the court held that since it was a voluntary move by the husband, in a domestic issue, the continued payment was unenforceable, since there was not any intention to make a legally binding agreement1. This step is followed by the evaluation of whether the necessary elements of a legally binding contract were present in the agreement made. For a contract to be considered legally binding; there requires being two basic elements, namely offer, acceptance, and consideration2. The provisions of the law of contract requires that the parties involved must agree on the contractual terms, through a meeting of the minds, without any party giving a diversionary view regarding the contractual terms, which would amount to a counter offer2. A case in example is the Smith v Hughes LR 6 QB 597 [1871], where the ruling held that should the conduct of an individual be that he is acting in a way that a reasonable will would believe that he was assenting to the terms proposed by the other party, then, the man would be bound as though he had intended to fulfill the agreement2. In the case Lord Melbray v the Backstreet Boyos and Basil’s Bistro, the parties involved agreed on the terms of the service, where Lord Melbray was to pay both the Backstreet Boyos and Basil’s Bistro for provision of their respective services, while the parties agreed to these terms, without varying the terms of the agreement. In this case, Lord Melbray made an offer, while the Backstreet Boyos and Basil’s Bistro accepted the offer as given. Consideration is yet another necessary element for an agreement to qualify as a legally binding agreement3. A consideration refers to something of value that the party making a promise, the promissor, should give to the promisee, in

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Overview of Accounting Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Overview of Accounting Analysis - Assignment Example 52). Hence, admission of SEC and FASB standards will help in reducing corporate managers from providing unrealistic information and transaction within and outside the firm. Therefore, elimination of FASB standards and SEC will only increase the chances of corporate managers to provide unrealistic information about the firms; hence, I disagree with Bill’s idea. 2- Many firms recognize revenues at the point of shipment. This provides an incentive to accelerate revenues by shipping goods at the end of the quarter. Consider two companies, one of which ships its product evenly throughout the quarter, and the second of which ships all its products in the last two weeks of the quarter. Each company’s customers pay thirty days after receiving shipment. Using accounting ratios, how can you distinguish these companies? It should be noted that these two companies have no difference in their income statements; hence, they are all considered to have the same expense and revenue amounts. Nonetheless, they have different balance sheets. However, assuming that all other factors are the same, the company with even sales of products will have higher cash and receivable balance accounts at the end of the quarter compared to company that ships all its products within the last two weeks. Nonetheless, below accounting ratios will be appropriate in differentiating the two companies (Palepu and Healy Pg. 167): This will increase the estimated depreciable life of assets. In this case, the corporate managers may decide to increase the depreciable estimated life of the assets especially when they realize that their assets are likely to last in the market than was predicted initially. It may lead to a decrease in uncollectible allowances with the gross receivable percentages. The changes in the customer focus to the firm may make the managers to reduce

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Micro-Finance in Bangladesh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Micro-Finance in Bangladesh - Essay Example Project governance consists of a number of activities such as those related to corporate decision making and organizational structures. Â  Bangladesh is classified as a Least Developed Country by the United Nations Organization. With a population of roughly 125 million, i.e. more than twice the population of Britain, it’s lacking in almost every conceivable resource for human consumption. The Grameen Bank has initiated a housing loan scheme among others for the poorer segments of Bangladeshis so that they would borrow even if they are unable to show collateral. Those pavement dwellers and squatters on government properties have partially benefited from this scheme. They are the first group of external stakeholders, while those contractors are also considered as external stakeholders of the project. However, employees and managers on sites are regarded as internal stakeholders (Cadle and Yeates, 2007). The government of Bangladesh and the international community such as INGOs, the World Bank, the UNICEF and the IMF are also involved in these projects as providers of auxiliary services such as safe drinking wat er, schools, hospitals and so on. The following stakeholder map illustrates how various stakeholders of a similar project would be brought under a single map for the analysis of links within and without the project. While the physical dimension of the project might be limited to its primary housing project, its real impact would be felt far beyond the far corners of the country itself. Â  While this sheet does not provide a detailed management structure for every stakeholder group involved in the project, it adequately illustrates how each relevant stakeholder group is managed through the project governance process (Carroll, 2006). Stakeholders might have different levels of interest in a project depending on the level of impact on them.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay Example for Free

The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay Arthur Miller wrote a play called The Crucible in the early 50s. Even though the text in the play tells the story of some of The Salem Witch Trials, there is evidence which shows that Miller clearly connects his own communist trial by McCarthy to the outrageous trials of the witches. Due to this disgraceful act towards him from the powers within society, Miller decided to write a play to show his own perspective of 1950s society to the people of America. The setting of Act 3 can be interpreted as an attack on the severity of the authorities in Salem and 1950s America. Firstly, at the beginning of Act Three, the stage direction says two high windows. This stage direction is really used just for directors to have a good impression of what the stage should look like from Millers point of view. However, if you examine the whole stage directions carefully, it says that besides the sunlight, the whole room is dark and that the trials are being held in that room. This symbolises that the authorities of Salem are unjust because they believe that what they is doing is holy and just; but they are secretly hiding away from God. The darkness symbolised by the dark room and the light given off by the window, shows that God is present and that they cannot hide from him. The windows being high suggests that God and justice are very hard to reach. This shows that for authority in society to truly reach the holy and just state of existence that they desire, they still have a long way to go. This relates to Millers experience because he was trying to say that America in 1950s was just as corrupt as the witch trials in 1692, therefore saying that since 1692 until 1950 society hasnt moved on to be more fair or more just. Millers attack suggests that there is still a long way to go until society can be truly called fair. Secondly, the way Miller has set out some of the characters such as their language or their tone of voice is also an attack on society. I think this is due to the impressions given off by the characters that most people would usually interpret them as being good people, but Miller shows that they are not. One example is Judge Hathorne. On page sixty-seven he asks Martha how she knows that she is not a witch , this shows that he is trying to trick her in saying the things he wants her to. This shows us that for Hathorne to get what he wants he has to stoop down to a level of trickery, which is very low for a person of his status. This symbolises the fact that the authority are being hypocritical because they do what they are trying to rid society from doing sinful deeds. This point connects with the McCarthy trials of Miller because Judge McCarthy also had to stoop so low, by using threats. Miller had the choice of either naming names or get ruined. Thirdly, I believe that the way some of the people dress also shows how Miller attacks society. This is because Miller wanted us to know how power can corrupt us so he indicated all the sinful people by the clothes they wore and also their clothes showed us how much power they had. One example is again Judge Hathorne. I say this because in the courtroom Hathorne acts as he please due to his awareness that nobody in the court could overthrow him. Miller uses this to try and show the audience how power can cause people to act and abuse it, and even more so if it is supported by everyone in society agreeing with everything Hathorne had to say. Thus showing us that power can be used inefficiently if given to the wrong people. This is a link to Arthur Millers personal experience in the McCarthy trial because he believed that Judge McCarthy let his power get in the way of fairness and justice. The people of America supported McCarthy just like the people of Salem. In the play Miller exposes societys role in helping to condemn people by showing Parris supporting Hathorne. Miller shows that this fed Hathornes ego even more, and therefore Miller seemed to believe that McCarthy was an incompetent person because he abused his power just like Judge Hathorne. This is an attack on society because Miller is saying that society should be even more careful about giving so much power to someone who didnt deserve it. Also he encourages society to consider what they were doing before giving support to someone unworthy and boosting their ego. This courtroom scene presents innocent characters risking their lives in order to tell the truth seems to be an attack on the injustice of Salem as well as of 1950s America. We know this because there is much evidence in this scene to back the point up. One piece of evidence is the statement made by Hale on page seventy-eight where he says there is a prestigious fear in the court. This shows that Hale can see that some injustice is going on and is scared of it. Then when Hale tells Danforth that he is afraid, Danforth replies that there is a prestigious guilt instead and threatens him by asking him if he is afraid to be questioned. Later on Hathornes feeling of intimidation grows so that he becomes angry. This shows injustice and is linked back to my point at the beginning of the paragraph, because all Hale was doing was telling him what he thought was the truth. Danforth seemed like he was being pressurised so he had to use his power to intimidate and threaten Hale so that he could feel safe. This could be associated with Millers own experience because when authority in society in America in the 1950s felt threatened they had to use their influence and power to threaten and intimidate people. Just like when Miller was threatened and risked being ruined just for believing in something. Even though Miller could probably not harm anybody by himself, this is just like the threat Reverend Hale risked of being hanged just for exposing the fact that the court was an unjust one.

Monday, October 14, 2019

The Impacts Of Globalisation on Theatre

The Impacts Of Globalisation on Theatre Globalisation refers to the increasing interaction and integration of people socially, economically, and culturally through increasing interconnectedness, in which, theatres are also affected by. Performances originally in English are now performed in multiple languages, allowing other cultures around the world to experience watching similar theatrical performances. Singapore, a globalised community, consists of much cultural variety. Due to the immersed cultural diversity, Singapore would like to expand their theatrical performances, appealing to a broader audience of different cultures and eventually become the Broadway of the East. It is the contention of this essay to analyse the impacts of globalisation on theatres via the examination of McTheatres, modernism, interculturalism, and the impact of Western theatre culture on Singapores theatre culture in accordance to theatre design. In the McTheatre franchise, the workers have little or no control over their conditions of work; all the creative decisions were taken years ago and are locked down. The choreography is fixed, and the movements are largely determined by the automated sets and standardized lighting designs, which means that any deviation from the pattern risks injury or singing in darkness (Rebellato 2009: 44). The concept of McTheatre productions are methods of global imperialism. The pro side to this can be explained when the concept was founded by Cameron Mackintosh during the 1970s when he began working in a British theatre. After experiencing a shabby imitation of a metropolitan original, Mackintosh wanted audiences anywhere in the world to have the same high-quality experience instead of a cheap reproduction. However, because of standardization, the virtues of theatre are depreciated, such as the liveliness, immediacy, and the uniqueness of each performance. In a show such as The Lion King, the costumes are the stars, and the actors merely their operators. When we think of the mega musicals, we often think of the brand images: the big eyes orphan, a cats eye, a combined Japanese pictograph/helicopter. The star performers are never part of the brand image, because in McTheatre even the biggest star is replaceable (Rebellato 2009: 45). Cities such as Toronto, Las Vegas, Basle, and Denve r hold theatres that have been built specifically for these mega musicals. However, they are not built well acoustically, considering all mega musicals are miked performances. Thus once that particular mega musical performance has moved on, the theatre is limited to performances requiring well built acoustics. Musical franchises are successful to a certain extent, but they are limited to an English speaking audience. Musicals such as The Lion King and Tarzan however, even though they are global musical theatre hits, are performed in multiple languages in order to appeal to a larger range of audience members. Cats have been translated into 10 different languages such as Japanese, German, and French and The Lion King will be making its first Spanish debut in Madrid on October 21st of 2011 (Cats the Musical 2011; Gans 2011). Aside from mega musicals, past theatrical performances such as Shakespearean plays are currently performed around the world. Variations of Shakespeares plays are also created to appeal towards the audience of the 21st century, for example, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) is an interactive and humorous parody of Shakespeares plays where improvisation plays a huge roll. Hence, every performance is never the same and is unique. While older theatre acts are adapting to a more modern perspective, new performances are created to relate towards the 21st century audience. The theatre might be thought to contribute to the globalization of politics through plays that critically represent the workings of globalization (Rebellato 2009: 9). The musical Avenue Q, is ranked 21st of longest running shows in Broadway history with 2,534 performances (Avenue Q 2009). The musical, ironically portrayed as an adult version of Sesame Street, isnt a globalized musical because it has been performed around the world, but also because the musical itself is about globalization. Considering its relevance towards the 21st century audience, it is able to connect with the majority of the world population. The puppets in the musical goes through stereotypical problems and activities people go through every day, such as, the relation towards internet within their song the internet is for porn, pokes fun at how the modern day population m akes use of the internet, though not many may admit or embrace the new mentality. Culture and globalisation goes hand in hand with each other, and theatres are no exception from the interculturalism. Defined by nationalists of the Canadian province of Quebec, interculturalism is the philosophy of exchanges between cultural groups within a society. Theatres in particular have been able to share multiple cultures with the world for centuries. This alone is a huge part on globalisation because different parts of the world are able to experience different cultures through the form of theatrical performances, whether it would be through dance, acting, and music. I consider theatre to refer to all cultural forms in which performers and active or passive participant-audiences coexist in the same space for a set time (Knowles 2010: 3). During the Nara period, the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans exchanged performance traditions with each other, hence the bukagu court dance and gugaku, the Buddhist processional dance play, was eventually integrated with the Japanese culture. Western cultures did not intermix with the Asian cultures until American and European invasions in the late 19th century. Ric Knowles makes this point in his book Theatre Interculturalism: Beginning at the turn of the twentieth century and lasting almost a hundred years, the shingeki (new drama) movement saw a turn in Japan to Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov, Stanislavski, and the performance styles of western naturalism and spoken drama. In the first decade of the twentieth century, in the wake of Chinas defeat in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-5, a similar movement developed in China, largely through the conscious efforts of Li Xishuang and Tokyos Spring Willow society, and visits to the society by Chinese students who produced the first huaju (spoken drama) (Knowles 2010: 8-9). Much like the plays from Shakespeare, as mentioned before, it has come to a point where we have the ability to share knowledge easily around the world, and theatrical performances are also able to be shared with equal amount of ease. One of the most well known types of performances known to globalise are circuses. It is in their nature to be mobile and move from place to place entertaining audiences. This leads to globalization through culture, the interconnection of world cultures, perhaps even the development of a world culture' (Rebellato 2010: 5). The most world renowned circus to this day would be Cirque du Soleil. Originally named Les Échassiers, it was founded by two former street performers in 1984 in Baie-Saint-Paul. It is now a Canadian entertainment company based in Montrà ©al, Quebec, self-described as a dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment (Cirque du Soleil 2010). Cirque du Soleil has a wide variety of performances, all of which are an integration of circus styles from around the world with its own theme and storyline. They attract audiences through continuous live music, which allows the performance to be cross cultural because one doesnt have to understand the language in order to enjoy the performance, hence it appeals to everyone and they are able to expand to different cultures around the world. Cirque du Soleil does not only travel around the world, but they have also left permanent set ups in different parts of the world. Las Vegas, United States, has the most Cirque du Soleil performances in one area. Performances such as KÀ, LOVE, Mystà ¨re, O, Viva ELVIS, and Zumanity are performed to many new audiences because its in an area of visiting tourists from all around the world. ZED Cirque du Soleil is stationed in a theatre build specifically for this performance at Disney Resort in Tokyo, Japan, with seven million people watching this spectacular performance every year. Cirque du Soleil has been able to create and show many different performances, but it couldnt have been done without more than 600 of their performers. (Cirque du Soleil Inc. 2009) Hence, the interconnectedness of culture is shared amongst performers and audience alike all around the world. Though most of the casts of Cirque du Soleil are trained for this specialized art, there are also performers who were past Olympic participants from all around the world. Zoltan Supola, a gold medal gymnast who competed in the Olympic three times, retired in the year 2000 after the Sydney Games. He landed a job with Cirque du Soleil and became a part of the gravity-defying troupe of performers, which now incorporates a total of 17 former Olympians. Another example is gymnast, Paul Bowler, who performs in Mystà ¨re at the Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas after failing to make it with the British Olympic team in 1996 (Martinez 2011). Performances themselves arent the only ones affected by globalisation, but the people who work within those performances as well. It is without a doubt that Cirque du Soleil is one of the most globalised theatrical performances to have spread from North America all the way to Asia. Singapore is known to be a global community with multiple cultures integrated in one city, and because of this, different kinds of theatrical acts dedicated to the different cultures and all cultures are continuously performed. Singapore is a perfect example of interculturalism in general and for theatres. With the amount of international theatrical performances arriving every few months and with the amount of audiences watching these performances, it is clear that Singapore has embraced the idea of interculturalism within their theatres. This is a country in which Western and Asian performances are accepted together and appeal to a large portion of the public, hence Singapores wish to be a global pin point, the Broadway of the East so to speak. As Kenneth Lyen states: Yes, Singapore can indeed be the Broadway of the East. We have several unique attributes. Firstly, there is a wealth of stories waiting to be told in the genre of musical theatre. We also have a fascinating variety of Asian music, with different rhythms and different instruments. Our talent pool is immense, and largely untapped. We have not reached the stage where musical theatre prohibitively expensive to stage (Lyen 2010). Aside from Singapore bringing in theatrical performances from other parts of the world, Singapore themselves are trying to globalise their own local theatre productions. It is obvious how much Western performances have influenced the local productions. By trying to maintain a unique theme to Singapore, the structure is very much of the western style. A good example of this is the musical, Forbidden City. Its Singapores most successful musical first commissioned for the opening of the Esplanade, now in its third run, greeted with interest by American investors whod like to adapt it for Broadway (Yi-Sheng 2010). By exploring the fusion of Western and Eastern styles, there is a possibility for Singaporean theatrical productions to become worldwide and achieve globalisation with their own culture and local acts. Theatre of the 21st century is affected by social standing and social status of the community, hence the design of theatres affect the peoples want and reason to attend a performance based on prestige. Theatre of Ancient Greece was an open air, semi-circular layout with only the use of a skene and costumes for visual distinction between characters and scenery (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008). It was a place for the gathering of people to enjoy a performance by being taken to another dimension. The use of lighting was available only through natural lighting; hence performances were casually held during the daytime. The globalised theatre design of the 21st century however, is incorporated on the theatre experience influenced by the modern American stage design through the use of lighting, props, and moveable stage parts. With the discovery of lighting, theatres became enclosed and performances became a nightly event, which is gives off a more formal experience. Now it i s a place not only for people to gather and enjoy a performance, but also a place of prestige. Theatres in general have become a social marker. The concept of an exposed theatre within the new proposed design of the Victoria Theatre situated in Singapore is aimed to attract audiences through the act of interaction or communication with the general public and raise awareness of theatrical performances to help Singapore reach its goal of being the Broadway of the East. The use of an open-air theatre and an enclosed theatre together is to create two different experiences much like the casual experience of Ancient Greece and the more formal experience of the 21st century. With todays technology and interconnectedness, theatres has become a huge part of globalisation through the sharing of performances and performers around the world not only through the use of McTheatres, but also through the creation of fused cultural performances in order to reach out to a broader audience. Through Western influence, the design of theatres has created a social status through the theatre experience. Singapore, being a social marker and huge globalised community, has attracted theatrical performances from around the world in order to share the multiple cultures with its local audience, to become the next Broadway of the East, and to create their own theatrical performances as well, such as Forbidden City.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Carol Ann Duffys Little Red-Cap and Delilah Essay -- Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy's "Little Red-Cap† and â€Å"Delilah" â€Å"During the 1980s, a unique type and style of women-led peace protest strategies emerged that relied on the powerful language, and particularly the powerful imagery of women as a group engaged in an extended protest against nuclear weapons† (LaWare 18). Carol Ann Duffy’s book, The World’s Wife, was first published in Great Britain in 1999, and two of its dramatic monologues similarly rely on the powerful language and imagery of women engaged in a protest against historically patriarchal narratives and male violence. â€Å"While some peace encampments [in the 1980s] included men and women, many were women only, including one of the first and longest lasting peace encampments, the Women’s Peace Camp at Greenham Common in Newbury, England, which evolved into and ignited a women’s peace movement† (LaWare 18). â€Å"[T]housands of women from Britain and the world†¦ later visited and lived at the camp during its almost twenty years of existence, until the last group of women left in 2000[,]† and while it’s not clear whether Duffy visited the camp, the camp’s strategies of resistance are embedded in two of her poems (LaWare 19). The speakers of â€Å"Little Red-Cap† and â€Å"Delilah† employ the camp’s strategies of physically embracing a symbol of male violence, subsequently defacing the symbol through an act of creative nonviolence, and finally transforming the symbol’s patriarchal sphere into a space filled with peace and feminine imagery. First, the speakers of Duffy’s two poems resemble the protestors at Greenham Common who physically embraced a symbol of male violence: [T]he Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp gained both national and international attention in D... ...orld’s Wife. New York: Faber, 1999. 28-29. ---. â€Å"Little Red-Cap.† The World’s Wife. New York: Faber, 1999. 3-4. Holy Bible, New International Version. Zondervan, gen. ed. International Bible Society, 1984. BibleGateway.com. Gospel Communications International. 14 May 2005 search=judges%2016&version1=31>. LaWare, Margaret L. â€Å"Circling the Missiles and Staining Them Red: Feminist Rhetorical Invention and Strategies of Resistance at the Women’s Peace Camp at Greenham Common.† NWSA Journal 16.3 (2004): 18-41. Little Red Riding-Hood Picture Book. London: George Routledge and Sons, circa 1870. The Little Red Riding Hood Project. Ed. Michael N. Salda. Dec. 1995. The de Grummond Children’s Literature Research Collection, University of Southern Mississippi. 14 May 2005

Friday, October 11, 2019

Personal Narrative- Lost Wallet :: Personal Narrative

Personal Narrative- Lost Wallet A wallet, or purse for some, is a precious item in which most people carry things more essential than money towards everyday life. If some people were to lose that portable safe, they may be offset for the rest of that day. The person without that wallet could be cranky or depressed for a while. Maybe something of great sentimental value was in that wallet. This person could stay hold these feelings for a long time, until they find their belongings by which case they are filled with joy. I, personally, keep anything I may have interest in knowing where it is, in my wallet. I am very good about always having my wallet and never losing it...until recently. In my wallet, I store dire personal items such as my lisence and some pictures. Among other things, I have my money, like everybody else, and certificates for stores. This summer, I went to the Keys with my family. I drove down there with my wallet and took it everywhere with me, like I would any other time. Well, when someone doesn't have pockets, then it is hard to keep their wallet right next to them at all times. I was carrying my wallet out from the hotel, along with my keys, and set both on top of the car. When I figured out that I needed the keys in order to get in the car and turn it on, I took them off the top of the roof, leaving my wallet behind. I sat in the car, car door open, waiting for my dad to make it to the car so we could all go to a diving area. Once he made it to the car, without thinking, I closed the door and started the car. I had been driving about half a mile before I realized that my wallet was no longer on my body. Immediately, I pulled the car over, and the next hour or so was spent looking for my wallet. All I could think about was what I would lose if I didn't find my wallet. The week before was my birthday, and I was given $60 to Best Buy and $50 to Auto Zone. Aside from that I had $3 in cash. While walking up and down the road that my wallet flew off on, my sister found my two Best Buy cards.

Capital Budgeting Mini Case Essay

There are many different methods business owners use to efficiently analyze business investment. One of these effective methods is the calculation of the net present value or NPV. The second most effective method would be the calculations of the internal rate of return or IRR. There are also other useful methods as well, for example, the payback rule and the profitability index. Many business owners use the above procedures to help them in their decision making of acquiring other businesses. â€Å"NVP is important to a project because if the cost of the investment is going to be, or is more than the revenue from that project, then it may be more cost effective to shut down the project all together rather than lose more money. If multiple projects are available, then it is wise to first calculate the NPV for each project, choose those that have a positive NPV, and reject the ones that have zero or negative NPVs. Moreover, the IRR method can be used, and generally, they should provide the same ranking of the projects because the projects with high NPV also tend to have high IRR (Hestwood, Lial, Hornsby, & McGinnis 2010)†. â€Å"There are many reasons the IRR is imperative to a company. If the rate of return is insufficient, it means additional cash is out flowing from the company than is inflowing into the company. This could lead to negative working capital. The IRR is imperative for a company to understand, so if necessary, they can afford to finance more activity or if necessary, they then can invest additional money (Hestwood, Lial, Hornsby, & McGinnis 2010)†. The formula used to calculate the PV is future value times (1/((1+i^n)) = present value. This calculation is useful in investment analysis to assess if an investment with a promised set amount of return in the future will give a net gain in the present value or will only appear to be increasing but containing the same or even less amount when time value of money is considered. For example, FV=$100, with an interest of 7.7% compounded annually and a period of 38 years. Using the formula and substituting the values into it, the equation is obtained: PV = 100 * [1/ (1+0.077)38] = 5.97 dollars The formula indicates the present value of $100 in 38 years from now given that the interest rate is 7.7% compounded annually is 5.97 dollars. Thus, it also means if an investment promises a return of 100 dollars after 38 years,  the interest rate is assumed to be fixed at 7.7%. Considering the effects of time and the value of money, the investor will have a net gain if the required initial investment is lower than 5.97 dollars, a breakeven point when the investment is 5.97 dollars and a loss if the required investment is higher than 5.97 dollars. In our capital budgeting case scenario, we will recommend acquiring Corporation B because it has higher NPV of $40,251.47 as compared to the Corporation A’s NPV of $20,979.20. In addition, Corporation B has higher IRR of 17% as compared to the Corporation A of 13%. There are many factors business owners should consider when acquiring other businesses. We believe financial forecasting should be used before the final acquisition decision is made. Financial forecasting is a very useful and an objective decision-making tool regarding the funding requirements of the organization in the future. By using forecasting, this helps the managers or owners plan properly and prioritize between multiple objectives of the firm such as growth, international expansion, cost cutting, research and development, and so on. It also helps to decrease potential failure by knowing and understanding the financial risks. Financial forecasting is therefore used for predicting realistically how the firm will perform financially in the future. A company uses three basic steps to forecast and project their financial needs correctly. Projecting a specific planning period’s revenue of sale and a company’s expenses are the first steps. During the first step it is important to use a method such as percent of sales, because this method will forecast financial variable of the company. Then we need to evaluate the stages of investment in both current assets and fixed assets to support the estimated sales. Throughout this stage, it is important to calculate the approximate sustainable growth rate. This rate will be the maximum rate in which sales may grow if the present financial ratio maintained without issuing new equity. The financial manager also needs to establish how the funds will be used in buying inventory, equipment, building, etc. that is capital expenditures. The step after investing in the current and fixed assets is to discover the financing  needs of a company during a specific period. Cash budget will play a significant role in this step because it provides and lays out a detailed plan of cash disbursements, cash receipts, and net changes. Moreover, it will identify new needs for any financing. In this capital budgeting case scenario, one must look at Corporation A’s data, Corporation with a discounted payback period of 4.6 months. This would recover its entire cash outflow by the end of the 5th year. Its cumulative cash inflow of up to the 4th year is -31,688 which is in negative. At the end of the 5th year it is at +20,979 thus, 31688/52668 = .6. Hence, discounted payback period will be 4.6 months. Corporation B has a discounted payback period of 4.24 months. Its cumulative cash inflow of up to the 4th year is -12964, which is in the negative. At the end if the 5th year it is +40251 thus, 12964/53215 = 24 hence, discounted payback period will be 4.24 months. With that being said, the best choice would be acquiring Corporation B because the payback period is shorter than of Corporation A. Not to mention Corporation B has a higher IRR of 17% compared to Corporation A which has an IRR of 13%. In addition, Corporation B has a higher profitability index of 1.16 compared to that of Corporation A, at 1.08. References Hestwood, D., Lial, M., Hornsby, J., & McGinnis, T. (2010). Quantitative reasoning for business. (custom e-text) Boston, MA: Pearson/Addison-Wesley. Sevilla, A., & Somers, K. (2007). Quantitative reasoning: Tools for today’s informed citizen (1st ed). Emeryville, CA: Key College Publishing.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Communication in Social Work Practice Essay

1 Social Work Theory & Practice. The Importance of Communication Skills in Social Work Practice. Introduction. Social work is a professional activity. Implicit in its practice are ethical principles, which prescribe the professional responsibility of the social worker. The primary objective of the code of ethics is to make implicit principles explicit for the protection of clients. (BASW, 1976). According to Thompson (2000) Social work involves working with some of the most disadvantaged sections of the community and with people who, for a variety of reasons, are experiencing major problems and distress, often with unmet needs and other difficulties that may at times seem intractable. Lishman (1994) purports a broader definition of Social Work, which involves entering into the lives of people who are in distress, conflict or 2 trouble. To do this requires not only technical competence but also qualities of integrity, genuineness and self-awareness. The Central Council for Education and Training in Social work (United Kingdom) has also set out core skills and characteristics for Social work outlined as follows; The importance of being able to communicate and engage, To be able to promote and enable, To achieve success in planning and accessing information, Intervening appropriately and providing services when necessary, Working competently with other organisations, Developing overall professional competence. So not only do social works need to adhere to ethics and values, they must also look inside themselves as people and seek out the skills necessary to work with various client groups and organisations. As mentioned, communication skills are vitally important, along with listening and analytical skills. Look more:  social process theories essay But it is also very important that the social worker be aware of him/herself, of 3 handing feelings or emotions that may arise through this line of work. Reflection is an important aspect, as well as creativity, sensitivity and humility. A major step forward in contemporary practice was the development of a Code of Ethics (1995), which further defined social work as: „ The primary focus of social work is working with individuals, families, and groups within their social context. Through the training, knowledge and skills which support a high standard of professionalism, the social work task is to facilitate and enable clients to identify options and make decisions for themselves so that they may develop strategies to effect improvement in the quality of their lives. Social work also focuses on issues of social policy, social administration and social justice and the betterment of society as a whole‟ (IASW, 1995: 1). Effective social work requires a multitude of interconnecting knowledge and skills backed up by the values, which underpin 4 good social work practice. To be able to provide a good service the social worker needs to be able to refer to, or call upon a wide body of knowledge. This knowledge base is quite extensive and detailed, as Thompson (2000,p73) points out, â€Å"practitioners are not realistically expected to know all of this knowledge base.† However a certain level of knowledge is essential, for example knowledge of the basics, things such as relevant legislation, theories and techniques involved in a particular case. Knowledge of society and the social processes and institutions is also crucial to the role of a social worker, as these are the very fabric of the profession. No amount of knowledge, on its own, at least, can be effective without the possession of skills to act upon it. Thompson (2000,p82) defines a skill as â€Å"the ability to carry out a particular activity effectively and consistently over a period of time.† The skills with which a social worker is armed must be used in conjunction with the knowledge base to reflect the values, principles, and beliefs associated with the profession. There is a wide range of skills involved in high quality social work from basic communication skills to analytical, presentational, and management skills. Because of the often-sensitive nature of 5 situations social workers can find themselves in, the ability to be patient and understanding is important. Working with children and families is one of the largest areas covered by social work. Insofar as a social worker may be dealing with an individual client, that client’s place in the family can be of critical importance to any assessment. When working with families it is important not to try to mirror one’s ideas of how a family functions. The challenge for the social worker when working with a family is not to generalise but to try to understand â€Å"how does this family work?† Coulshed et al (1998,p171). When dealing with a family it is very important to remain impartial, to take the time to listen to everyone’s point of view. This approach is more likely to â€Å"encourage discussion and sharing in which the worker is free to engage and disengage when the need arises,† Coulshed et al (1998,p175). Another area which social workers are involved is with groups. This is somewhat different to the family situation. It also shares things in common with community work. The role of a social worker as a facilitator or leader of a group has many levels. At different stages the worker has to be â€Å"central, pivotal, peripheral, 6 and central once again,† Coulshed et al (1998,p198). The various stages of group development and the content of the stages outlined by Tuchman and Jensen, in Coulshed et al (1998,p198) names these stages as â€Å"forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.† The role and tasks of the social worker are to help get group members involved and to encourage the development of a group bond. In the process of doing this s/he must be alert to isolated members, dominant members and conflict within the group, to develop positively the dynamics of the group and achieve a desired outcome, while meeting the needs of all the group members impartially and without bias. Community social work requires the social worker to develop a more flexible approach requiring such skills as recognising and validating skills and interventions. Traditional social work skills may need to be adapted to fit into the community context. Network building can also be a part of the process for a social worker, for example, to bring a group of people together who have similar concerns but are not in a position to facilitate this formation themselves. 7 In each of the above scenarios, the social worker must adapt to the different settings and the number of individuals that may be present and therefore use the most effective form of communication and tools necessary to communicate at different levels, whether that involves one person, several people or a large group. Effective Communication. Effective communication is an essential component of traditional social work activities e.g. providing basic care, giving advice, making assessments, counselling, writing reports and acting as client’s advocates. It is equally necessary for social workers to have effective communication skills if they are to promote self-help and empowerment. Verbal communication is what we say and includes questioning, reflection, focusing, summarising, challenging and confrontation. Verbal communication involves the use of language. The skills involved in engaging, listening, negotiating and challenging are equally relevant to communication in work groups and multi-disciplinary teams. Any commitment to the empowerment of social work clients is meaningless if their 8 views are neither sought nor taken into account. Silverman (1969) emphasises the importance of a non-judgemental approach. There are three main areas of knowledge and experience were valued by clients are outlined by Rees and Wallace (1982), cited in Lishman (1994) Client’s valued workers who had enough experience of life to listen non-judgementally to what they had to say, Client’s valued workers who had enough life experience to understand client’s problems from their own experience, Clients appreciated specialised knowledge and training. Kinds of Communication. Symbolic communication. Symbolic communication involves behaviour, actions or communications, which represent or denote something else. As social workers we need to be aware of the potential meaning of 9 our representation, actions and aspects of our working environment. For example, punctuality, dress and layout of the consultation room are all important aspects of symbolic communication. Proximity needs to be considered in relation to orientation. Sommer and Cook (1968) explored different seating positions and found evidence which suggested that sitting alongside a person implies cooperation, opposite a person competition and at right angles to each other equality of status. Thus sitting behind a des, directly opposite a client, has distancing and power implications but also may be confrontational. Although, There are no fixed rules about posture; being too relaxed may convey power and inattentiveness, being too rigid, tension, anxiety and authority. As social workers we need to be aware of such subliminal reinforcement and to use it discriminatingly. Non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication outlined by Sutton (1979) suggests that while spoken communication is concerned mainly with 10 information giving, non-verbal communication is the ‘music behind the words’ conveying feelings or attitudes. Understanding people or social perception is concerned with the way in which people form impressions of others and make inferences about the causes of their behaviour to enable them to predict and control their own social reality, understanding the causes and motives behind behaviour is Nonverbal Communication or NVB. Nonverbal communication NVB is the way in which people communicate intentionally or unintentionally without the use of words. Expressions, gestures, posture, touch, personal space, eye contact and tone of voice are used to express emotions, convey attitudes, regulate and control speech and communicate personal characteristics. NVB are examined in two ways: Information processing – how do people interpret nonverbal cues? What kinds of inferences do we make about people’s intentions based on these cues, Impression management. Michael Argyle (1988) suggested that NVB is important for: Expressing emotion, Conveying attitudes, 11 Communicating one’s personality traits, Facilitating verbal communications. Patterson (1983) suggests that NVB serve a number of particular functions in social interactions including: Expressing intimacy, Regulating the course of interactions, Exercising social control and dominance. Druckman (1982) outlined five principal uses to which NVB is usually put: To communicate pre-articulated feelings, feelings that cannot be put into words, To provide cues to information processing enabling us to guess at what another person is thinking or feeling, To serve as emphases in persuasive appeals to enhance our success at persuading others, To facilitate deception, To convey subtle messages. 12 The characteristics of NVB were outlined by Dittman (1984). There are users and sources of NVB, nonverbal behaviours are sent by encoders and received by decoders through a variety of different channels. Channels of nonverbal communication include facial expression, eye contact, gestures, touch, paralanguage or nonverbal elements of speech and spatial behaviour. A number of channels are used simultaneously to send a particular emotional message. Behaviours sent are intentionally controlled while behaviours may be received with different levels of awareness. Some messages are received in full awareness and as intended by the sender, whereas other messages are deliberately kept out of full awareness and may distort the intention of the sender. A number of different categories of NVB exist according to Ekman and Friesen (1969): – Emblems – these are movements that are communicative substitutes for words i.e. Handshaking. – Illustrators – these are movements that accompany speech and accent i.e. rapping a table. – Regulators – these are movements that maintain or signal a change in the speaker/ listener roles i.e. Head nods. 13 – Affect displays – these are facial expressions that are used to convey emotions – Adapters – these are self and object manipulations, which relate to an individual emotional, need or state. Mehrabian (1972) suggested that NVB’s were important for indicating a person’s social orientation. Social orientation can be summarised in terms of dimensions; each dimension reveals some aspect of a person’s intention and motivation for interacting. According to Cook (1968) NVB are used to gain fuller descriptions of individuals when little information is available which we use to fill in the missing information about people, and guide our behaviour while interacting. One further way of determining what people think and feel is to try to provide explanations for why they behave in particular ways to reveal the motives and intentions behind their actions. This process is referred to as ‘Casual Attribution’ and is concerned with understanding the reasons behind the behaviour of others. NVB are intended to provide us with clues to how a person feels, enabling us to predict and control our interactions with them. When information is missing implicit personality theories are used to fill in the gaps in our knowledge about a person. 14 Verbal communication. Language consists of symbols that convey meaning, rules for combining those symbols that can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages. People use spoken sound and written words to represent objects, actions, events and ideas, and can be combined in an infinite variety of ways to generate an endless array of novel messages. Written reports and records. According to Lishman (1994) skilled are learned in action, with practise and feedback, written reports and concise record keeping enable the aforementioned to happen. Hargie (1986) acknowledges criticism that social work records and reports are often ‘lengthy, rambling and anecdotal’ and suggests ‘written reports should be clear, concise and concentrate’ on the important features of the case. O’Hagan (1986) calls recording ‘a crucial learning tool’. He argues that after a crisis, detailed scrutiny is 15 essential. Such recoding facilitates learning and self-awareness by a review of the behaviour, feelings, and interactions of all participants including the worker. Doel and Lawson (1986) found that once workers had developed ‘an interactive recording style, using interview time to record the work, the quantity of written material was reduced because it becomes more focused. The South Eastern Health Board (1988) suggest that record keeping and good recording techniques are of vital importance in maintaining good housekeeping practice, facilitating accountability and maintaining the utmost confidentiality. Under the Freedom of Information Act 1997 asserts that the client can request to access to view/ copy their records at a later date. Therefore it is vitally important that all written records be update and regularly reviewed. However there are exemptions to the above, which are also included in the FOI Act provisions. According to the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health visiting (1993) the purpose of written records is to: To provide an accurate, current, comprehensive and concise information on the client from the initial assessment onwards, 16 including a record of any factors (physical, psychological or social) that appear to affect the client, To facilitate continuity, To provide a record of any problems that may arise and the response taken, To provide evidence of continuing assessments, To record the chronology of events and the reasons for any decisions may, To provide a baseline record against which improvement can be judged, To improve communication between all members of the healthcare team. Lishman (1994) suggests that statements made by the client during interview and subsequent assessments should include the client’s statements. There is also a legal obligation by social workers to maintain written records, the onus being on good practice by practitioners. The role of communication. 17 Communication is a crucial aspect of organising; each and every interaction between the people who constitute the organisation is communication. Communication will be more likely to be good if it has been worked at constantly and not only in emergencies. McKenna (1991) suggests that communication is not simply a matter of sending messages to and from between individuals and groups. It involves being aware of and understanding the experience of other people. This means knowing about the work they do and their perception of their situation. According to McKenna (1991) good horizontal communication between managers and vertical communication between managers and their work force are essential if role and job conflicts is to be avoided. It therefore appears that while managers at top and line management levels sees themselves as doing a good job in communicating with their immediate subordinates, those subordinates do not feel this is the case. Effective communication must be two-way. It must run from top to bottom and bottom to top – vertical communication, and it must flow to and from between people at the same level within the organisation – horizontal communication. The so-called ordinary members control much of what happens to horizontal 18 communication. This is communication between people on the same hierarchical level in an organisation and involves communication between colleague such has team leaders, or team members. Dutfield and Eling (1990) note that effective communication between people involves skills in: Eliciting information, Presenting information, Managing the emotional content of the encounters. Skills in eliciting information: Questions are the most obvious way of eliciting information in any situation but they may be formulated in a number of ways: Open questions – give the other person an opportunity to put forward their point of view without constraints, Closed questions are more focused and usually allow a simple yes or no type answers, Specific questions – focus on facts. The second step in effective presentation of information involves checking that the information has been received and understood, 19 an opportunity is given to ask questions, having a discussion, feedback and asking questions. Dutfield and Eling suggest that managing the emotional reactions of people in formal or informal interviews and at meetings. Emotions enter in when the person gets personally involved. This means that the core part of our self-concept appears to be under attack. We react defensively. Emotional reactions are themselves information and as such they take up part of our information processing capacity. For these reasons the skilful handling of the emotional content of communication is important in order to ensure that conflict and ill will does not result through misunderstandings. The main skills in managing the emotional content of face-to-face meetings are; Preparing well in advance for interviews, Being aware of one’s opinions and prejudices, Clarifying the nature of the problem in behavioural terms – this involves separating fact from opinion, Setting up a suitable place and sufficient time for the interview, 20 Using skills in eliciting information to get the other person’s views, Acknowledge the other person’s emotional investment in the situation, Stay task focused, Decide a plan of action for the future with the person once the emotional content has been dealt with, Follow up the meeting with a memo summarising the agreement reached, Arrange a follow up meeting to review the situation. Managing negotiation by Rackham and Carlisle (1978): Because people perceive situations differently their realities differ, the need to negotiate is a constant part of social life. The approaches to negotiation are as follows: Distributive bargaining – a win/lose position. Underlying this approach is the idea that resources are finite and that each side tries to maximise the gains for itself leaving the other side to settle for less. Win/lose strategies may give short-term gains but are usually less effective in the long term; 21 parties involved in the negotiation are usually involved in a long-term relationship with each other. Integrative bargaining – win/win approaches aims to solve problems in such a way that both sides gain something that they want. Win/win approaches to negotiating are recommended when the parties concerned will have to live and work together over the long term. Lose/lose bargaining – in this situation conflict between the parties is likely to be personalised, parties would rather paralyse or destroy the organisation rather than reach an agreement. Approaches to negotiation make the following assumptions about human psychology: People are rational decision-makers at all times, People have unlimited information processing capacity which allows them to take into account all possible alternatives and all possible outcomes, People possess and understand all relevant information. Thus it is an important part of the process of negotiating successfully to: 22 Supply all relevant information, Ensure that its implications are clear to all concerned, Give time for the information to be considered, Be open to a reconsideration of the information in the light of other points of view, Be willing to raise disagreements in a constructive and non-combatitive manner. Rackham and Carlisle (1978) defined the skilled negotiator as a person who as the ability to achieve an outcome with which participants were satisfied. Skilled negotiators: Use their social networks to get their message through to the other side through different people, Repeat their main theme so that it becomes clear and people can consider its implications, Label their actions themselves so that they cannot be mislabelled by others, Test their understanding of what others are saying to them by summarizing and restating the content back to the other side, 23 Show that they are attending and listening to the other side by asking questions about their proposals, Do not disagree outright but probe the implications, Avoid making a proposal at a time when it will be rejected, When a proposal is on the table from the other side, it should be examined and allowed to wind down before an alternative is put forward, Know that a counter proposal has the best chance of being accepted as a way out of a problem acknowledged by both sides, Don’t waste time, Never personalize difficulties in the process, Are not afraid to disagree, but avoid provocation when doing so. Building and maintaining client-worker relationship. In order for it to be possible to engage with a client, the worker needs to show warmth, empathy, active listening and a non- 24 judgemental approach. Lishman (1994) outlines other core conditions or characteristics found necessary to build and maintain a client-worker relationship. Genuineness is one of the core conditions or characteristics found to be necessary for a counsellor or therapist to help clients effectively – Truax and Carkhuff (1957). They define genuineness as involving the worker in ‘direct personal encounter with the client, meeting him/ her on a person-to –person basis. Warmth/ non-possessive warmth also termed unconditional positive regard is another attribute found by Rogers and the client-centred school 1957 to be a core condition for helping. Warmth is linked with acceptance and conveys respect. It involves the worker accepting the clients experience as part of that person, and can be thought of as a physical way of showing caring and understanding, and is mainly expressed non-verbally. Mehrabian (1972) uses the term to describe a group on non-verbal behaviours conveying, warmth, affiliation and liking. Mehrabian includes physical proximity, leaning and turning towards the client, sitting in a relaxed position, maintaining eye contact and smiling. 25 Acceptance and a non-judgemental approach. Lishman (1994) sees acceptance as a preparedness to try to understand a client’s subjective world, without conveying rejection or disapproval. Encouragement and approval – in the social learning theory terms, conveying approval is giving positive reinforcement, defined by Sutton (1979) as encouraging the repetition of good behaviour. Positive reinforcements include tangible rewards, such as thanks, praise or appreciation. At the same time traditional social work values proposed by Biestek (1965) of acceptance and non-judgemental attitudes, have been interpreted to mean not only that workers should refrain from conveying their disapproval to clients, but also their approval. Empathy – is another core condition or characteristic found to be necessary for a counsellor or therapist to help their clients effectively Truax and Carkhuff (1957). Empathic responses can help a client to make sense of what may feel a jumble of thoughts and feelings. The client may be reassured that there is some meaning in what as felt incoherent and irrational. Empathic responses can help to validate and confirm client’s perceptions, which previously 26 have been ignored, disqualified or disconfirmed. While this cannot heal or solve the past hurt it may reduce its power in the present by helping the client to recognise the hurt and live with it, and perhaps ‘lay it to rest’ and move on. Responsiveness and sensitivity – according to Mehrabian (1972) responsiveness can be conveyed non-verbally and verbally. He found that it was communicated non-verbally by movement; head nods, leg and foot movements, by facial expressions; through pleasantness and changes in expression. Conclusion. The final requirement according to Lishman (1994) for effective communication is the worker’s self-awareness. Communication, verbal, non-verbal or symbolic, is about our use of self. In order to communicate effectively we have to be aware of what we are doing, why we are doing it, how we are presenting ourselves to our clients and, on the basis of this self-knowledge or awareness, what changes in our communication are needed if we are to be more effective. Skilled and effective communication is not a static state. 27 It will always involve change and development and consolidation, learning from our past behaviour and from our mistakes. Writers such as Sheldon (1977) and Fischer (1978) argue that social workers should concern themselves with the evaluation of the effectiveness of their intervention. They stress the importance of, thinking about the ends of work, not just the means of goals and outcomes; setting specific goals to avoid a double agenda, diffusion of goals, inactivity and lack of change, and failure to offer what the client wanted; developing and definiting intervention skills for problem-solving and change. The skills involved in attending and listening, engaging and relating, giving and getting information, negotiating agreements or contracts and helping people to make changes in their attitudes, beliefs or behaviour are relevant to social work in all contexts. Each context will influence the way in which communication occurs, both enhancing and encouraging the use of some skills and constraining or limiting the use of others. Lishman (1994) also suggests that attending – being punctual is an indication to our clients of attentiveness. Listening and an 28 empathic response are important components in enabling the client to feel that such emotions can be accepted, expressed and lived with and do not have to be hidden or feared. Such acceptance may be the staring-point for a client to learn to live with and manage previously disabling emotions. Social workers have to begin from a value base, which entails basic respect for all human beings. Social work as to start from humanistic principles or values about the worth and dignity of each individual. Bibliography. Argyle, M. 1988 Bodily Communication (2nd ed) London: Methuen. Biestek, F.P. 1965 The Casework Relationship, London, Unwin University Books. Coulshed, V. & Orme, J. (1998) Social Work (An Introduction) 3thed. Macmillan. 29 Cook, M. 1968 Studies of Orientation and Proximity, Oxford, Institute of Experimental Psychology. Doel, M. and Lawson, B. 1986 ‘Open Records: The Clients Right to Partnership’ , British Journal of Social Work, vol.16. Pp. 407. Dittman, L. 1984 The infants we care for. Washington: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Druckman, D. 1982 Non Verbal Communication Survey, Theory and Research. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. Ekman, P. & Friesan, W.V. 1968 ‘Non-verbal Communication in Psychological Research’, in J.M. Schlien Research in Psychotherapy Washington: American Psychological Research. Fisher, J. 1978 Effective Casework: An Electric Approach, New York. McGraw-Hill. 30 Hargie, O. 1986 A Handbook of Communication Skil ls, London and Sydney, Croom Helm. Lishman, J. 1994 Communication in Social Work Macmillan Press: London. Patterson, M. 1983 Non Verbal Behaviour. New York: Springer. Mehrebian, A. 1972 Non-Verbal Communication, Alberta, Aldine. Mc Kenna, E.F. 1991 Managerial Leadership – emergent trends: University of East London. O’Hagan, K. 1986 Crisis Intervention in Social Services, Basingstoke, Macmillan. Silverman, P.R. 1969 ‘The Client Who Drops Out: A Study of Spoiled Helping Relationships’, Brandais University PHD Thesis. 31 Sheldon, B. 1977 ‘Do You Know Where You Are Going?’ , Community Care, 8th June 1977. Sommer, R. 1965 ‘Further Studies of Small Group Ecology’, Sociometry, vol.28, pp. 337. South Eastern Health Board, September 22nd 1998, Record keeping in the freedom of information environment. Sutton, C. 1979 Psychology for Social Workers and Counsellors, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, Library of Social Work. Thompson, N. (2000) Understanding Social Work. Palgrave. Traux, C.B. and Carkhuff, R.R. 1957 ‘Towards Effective Counselling and Psychotherapy’, Journal of Counselling Psychology, vol.28. Rackham, N. & Carlisle, J. 1978 The Effective Negotiator – Part 1. The behaviour of successful negotiators. Journal of European Industrial Training, 2. 32 United Kingdom Central council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, 1993 Standards for Records and Record Keeping, London UKCC. Wallace, A. and Rees, S. 1988 ‘The Priority of Client Evaluations’, in Lishman 1988. http://iasw.eire.org/ethics.htm http://www.arcaf.net/social_work_proceedings/ 33 Retrieved from â€Å"http://www.socialwork.ie/socialwork/wiki/index.php/Communication_in_Social_Work_Practice_-_Essay† Personal tools