Week Two Supervision Homework

Satisfied employees, however, refers to a feeling when they have completed a job or something that feels that they have done their job well. Either side of the argument will somehow make money, promotion and/or will get benefits. They're closely related that job satisfaction can be a motivation and/or they do it for the money, promotion and/or benefits but their satisfaction will come naturally. 2. Briefly discuss several specific actions that supervisors can take to improve employee motivation. No matter how big or small the company, motivating the team is really important to business.When people lose their motivation can create less productive, less of an asset to the business. Either way, employees' motivation will affect the overall success in a company. Praising them when they're doing well is probably the most common and most effective as a motivation factor. Providing opportunities for growth such as adding responsibilities or challenges. 3. Explain why many managers frequentl y raise the following questions: â€Å"Why didn't you do what I told you to do? † Managers have higher position than the employees being managed.Therefore, they have the privilege to make decisions and to say something like â€Å"Why didn't you do what I told you to do? † They are more experience and probably have the education to uphold the position. Since they are more experience and probably been there longer than the employees, they have gotten use to the methods they have been using. Some just don't have the time to change the nature in workplace, why change something that is not broken. Or maybe because some managers has a superiority complex and thinks that the way he wants something done is the best way. 4.Discuss the following statement: Meanings are in people, not in words. This can be explained in a lot of ways but I believe that Meanings is a personal preference. Just like the bible, it can be interpreted differently from other religion and culture even tho ugh the words are exactly the same. Don't assume people know what you mean when you tell them something. The meaning is something that will depend on their own experiences, what was learnt by others. People is what gives words meaning.. Hopefully that made any sense but this is how I believe it can actually interpreted.

Horney’s theory Essay

1. Samara demonstrates Horney’s â€Å"moving towards† neurosis meaning she deals with anxiety by an excessive interest in being accepted, needed, and approved of. We first learn this in the first paragraph where it says, â€Å"she is sensitive to the needs of others.† She is constantly looking for a boy to accept her and does all that she can to make sure he is happy. An example of this would be when she cooks him big dinners and only goes to see movies he will like to. She get very bad anxiety when her boyfriends would hang out with other girls, which would lead her to become very possessive. 2. According to Horney’s theory, what leads Samara’s neurotic behavior is her tendency to take on a dependent role compared to others and her unlimited desire for love. â€Å"Moving towards† people see others as potential resources who can support them and help reduce their anxiety of being along so they seek love, approval, and someone to get close with in order to save them. 3. Samara’s self-image is not an accurate one. She does not have a very accurate idea of who she is. She is very insecure and relies on other people to help build her up therefore she is not able to realize her own potential and achieve self-realization. According to Horney’s theory, there is a discrepancy between Samara’s idealized self versus the real image of herself. Samara’s idealized self was created to overcome Samara’s feelings of inferiority and makes her try and possess all great qualities. This is the reason she is doing everything in her power to make her boyfriend at the time happy and doing all things for him. It is also the reason that Samara never thinks she is doing anything wrong. On the other hand, Samara’s real self is the reason behind all of her self-criticism and hate that is driving her towards always needing to be loved. Her ideal self is taking over her real self and is what is controlling her behavior and actions. 4. For Samara, there is a huge discrepancy between her organismic self and her perceived self. Samara’s organismic self is who she actually is, so she according to the reading Samara is someone is comes across as very insecure, demanding, lonely, and protective. She tries too hard to make her boyfriends happy. Her ideal self is the person she really thinks she is. Samara never  understands why boys don’t love her and why she isn’t married yet even though us as readers could tell right away what the issues were. Samara doesn’t understand her organismic self and that is what is causing Samara’s loneliness. 5. Another theory that could be useful in describing Samara is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which states that people possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards to unconscious desires. Samara is constantly looking to make herself happy and is relying on other things besides her own self to become happy. According to this theory Samara is stuck on the level of love and belonginess needs meaning she is seeking friendship, intimacy, affection and love. The reading says that Samara is rarely ever alone because once her and a boy break up she immediately goes on to another boy. 6. Carl Roger’s phenomenological theory is something that could change how Samara saw herself, her boyfriends, and how she acted towards her boyfriends. The concept of self-actualization refers to someone moving from a dependent person to an independent person and focuses on someone reducing their tension and their needs, which will help bring them more pleasures and satisfaction. Right now, Samara is also tense because she is worry about how to make another person happy hoping that their happiness will make sure they keep loving her. If Samara were to develop more confidence and trust she would be able to see all the good things she has going on and all of her strengths that will allow her to become a more independent person. Once she is able to do that she will be able to find someone else who will love her and they can have a much more healthy relationship than she has had in the past.

Nursing Care Plan and Specimens Essay

Quality is a broad term that encompasses various aspects of nursing care (Montolvo, 2007). The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators [NDNQI] is the only national nursing database that provides quarterly and annual reporting of structure, process, and outcome indicators to evaluate nursing care at the unit level (Montolvo, 2007). Nursing’s foundational principles and guidelines identify that as a profession, nursing has a responsibility to measure, evaluate, and improve practice (Montolvo, 2007). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ‘mislabeled specimen’ indicator for an inpatient rehab unit and devise an action plan based on best practices to decrease the incidence of mislabeled specimens. Analysis of the data According to Dock, (2005) accurate specimen identification is a challenge in all hospitals and medical facilities. Ensuring that specimens are correctly identified at the point of collection is essential for accurate diagnostic information (Dock, 2005). A mislabeled specimen can lead to devastating consequences for a patient (Dock, 2005). Specimen misidentification can be serious, resulting in misdiagnosis and mistreatment (Dock, 2005). For the second quarter of FY09, the rehab unit met their target of zero mislabeled specimens. The third quarter yielded two actual mislabeled specimens with a variance of two. The fourth quarter actual was one with a variance of one. The first quarter FY10 showed an actual of one and variance of one. For the FY09 the rehab had a total of four mislabeled specimens. This indicator was chosen because of the magnitude of this medical error. Nurses, administrators and laboratory personnel must collaborate and create ways to decrease the mislabeling of spec imens. Nursing plan Nursing interventions to decrease the number of mislabeled specimens and improve actual indicator scores are: 1) Ensuring proper identification of patient 2) The use of electronic technology and 3) Bedside labeling. Each of these interventions will positively impact patient outcomes and reduce errors. According to The Joint Commission [TJC], proper patient identification is best practice for decreasing mislabeled specimens (The Joint Commission as cited by Sims, 2010). National Patient Safety Goal [NPSG], 01.01.01 states that healthcare providers should use at least two identifiers to identify patients. For example, the patient’s full name and date of birth is used to properly identify a patient (The Joint Commission, 2014). According to Kim et al., (2013), developing a standardized specimen handling system has the potential to reduce errors. Figure 1. Steps to properly identifying a patient for specimen collection. Figure 1. Essential specimen handling steps. Blue items are physician-specific responsibilities; pink items are nursing staff-specific responsibilities. Adapted from â€Å"Standardized Patient Identification and Specimen Labeling: A Retrospective Analysis on Improving Patient Safety,† by Kim JK; Dotson B; Thomas S; Nelson KC; Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2013 Jan; 68 (1): 53-6. The strongest intervention to reduce labeling errors is the addition of barcode technology (Brown, Smith & Sherfy, 2011). The use of automated patient identification and specimen collection techniques can be an additional safety net for routines that are vulnerable to error, especially when coupled with strong systems designs (Brown et al., 2011). Brown et al (2011), found that the clinical applications of electronic and information technology support can assist in the identification, control, and reduction of error rates throughout the process. According to the World Health Organization [WHO] healthcare providers should encourage the labeling containers used for blood and other specimens in the presence of the patient (World Health Organization, 2007). This would suggest labeling specimens at the patient’s bedside or before leaving the room. Nurses should never label specimens before collection as this could lead to serious errors. Summary In summary, NDNQI indicators serve as a schoolmaster that holds nursing accountable to practice. An analysis of ‘mislabeled specimens’, found that an inpatient unit had a total of four incidents for FY09. While this does not seem like a great deal of errors, any one error could have detrimental consequences. The plan of action based on best practices is to properly identify the patient, using electronic technology, and labeling specimens at the bedside. References Brown, J.E., Smith, N., Sherfy, B.R., (2011). Decreasing mislabeled laboratory specimens using barcode technology and bedside printers. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, (26)1, 13-21. Retrieved from http://sfxhosted.exlibrisgroup.com/waldenu?genre=article&issn=10573631&title=Journal%20of%20Nursing%20Care%20Quality&volume=26&issue=1&date=201101 Dock, B. (2005). Improving the accuracy of specimen labeling. Clinical Laboratory Science, 18(4), 210-2. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204803914?accountid=14872 Kim J.K., Dotson B; Thomas S; Nelson KC; Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2013 Jan; 68 (1): 53-6. Retrieved from ent%20identification%20and%20specimen%20labeling%3A%20A%20retrospective%20analysis%20on%20improving%20patient%20safety.&spage=53&sid=EBSCO:rzh&pid= Montalvo, I. (2007). The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI). Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 12(3). Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=50&sid=909dc60d-9c0d-474c-a02e-2e8f9df097e1%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4104&bdata Sims, M. (2010). The Joint Commission clarifies key compliance issues. MLO: Medical Laboratory Observer, 42(4), 72. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=54&sid=909dc60d-9c0d-474c-a02e-2e8f9df097e1%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4104 The Joint Commission, (2014). National patient safety goals. Retrieved from http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/6/2014_HAP_NPSG_E.pdf World Health Organization. (2007). Patient safety solutions. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/patientsafety/solutions/patientsafety/PS-Solution2.pdf

Vietnam - Watergate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vietnam - Watergate - Essay Example US attacks in Cambodia were one of the fundamental causes of escalation of the Vietnam War. Likewise, the Gulf of Tonkin was another event that paved the way for greater involvement of the US in the Vietnam War. The event caused distrust between the people and the American government because the consequences of the attacks were contrary to what the government had conveyed to the public. While President Lyndon B. Johnson said that the US did not want to expand the war (Hickman), the Gulf of Tonkin actually produced the opposite effects. The media played a very important role in revealing the truth and the real awfulness of the war to the public. This particularly created distrust between the people and the government because the media was showing the opposite picture than what was being shown by the government. Walter Cronkite had made a good reputation as a reporter among the people since the World War II. In his reports about the Vietnam War, Cronkite concluded that after all the ki llings and genocides, the US did not win the war and the war ended in stalemate. â€Å"Cronkites editorial would later be regarded as a critical indice of public opinion of the Vietnam War† (â€Å"The Reporters†). One of the events of the Watergate War that led to the cynicism were the audio recordings of the US President Richard Nixon’s communications along with the recordings of the White House staff and various officials. They were known as the Nixon White House tapes. The recorders were switched off after the public got to hear the recordings. During the 1970s, a political scandal known as the Watergate scandal attracted a lot of public attention and became the cause of resignation of the US President Nixon. On 1 March 1974, numerous former aides of Nixon were indicted by a grand jury because of the conspiracy of impeding the Watergate investigation. â€Å"In 1973, a Senate

Leadership In Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership In Healthcare - Essay Example Leadership is a dynamic process (Cooper, 2003) and there are, great variations in the definition of leadership, however, it is widely agreed that for a leader it is imperative to have a vision through which they can inspire their followers (Donnelly, 2003). The followers must have trust in the vision and mission of the leader and the leader act as the role model for them. Earlier leadership was seen as the managerial task, however, now it is recognized currently that leaders can be identified from within their team for particular tasks and cannot essentially have a responsibility of identified official within the organization ‎ (Beech, 2002) ‎.  Leadership plays a vital role in the field of healthcare also. The senior nurses have a leader role within the national health services and the healthcare organizations like NHS would not be able to provide services to the people adequately if they don’t have people working as leaders at different positions like nurses an d healthcare administrator etc. ‎ (Fielder, 1967) ‎  I strongly believe that any person could act as the leader if he has the capabilities and skills to lead a group of people. There is no need of having any university degree to become a leader but the skills can help a person to lead a group of followers.  Transformational Leadership: Transformational leadership is combined with democratic styles of leadership. ‎This relates leaders and supporters connected in a general goal. It is a leadership approach based on embracing transformation and supporting development (Dale, and Philogene, 2002).‎ in this style of leadership, the leader provides a visionary explanation for motivating the team so that they could be empowered to achieve their job.  Democratic: Democratic leadership has some resemblances to what ‎implemented to be earlier defined a ‘charismatic’ style (Department of Health, 2005).  

Promoting health for child and young adult Case Study

Promoting health for child and young adult - Case Study Example The aim of this research is to assess the healthcare requirements and needs babies and in the context of providing a high quality of life for babies through nursing. In order to attain this end, the following ends will be explored: There are numerous debates about when policy covers babies. The right to the abortion of foetuses implies that the scope of the laws protecting children is somewhat restrained and limited by the rights of parents to decide whether to have babies or not (Ballatt & Campling, 2009). However, rights are granted to babies form the womb through the fact that healthcare facilities are required to take reasonable care to ensure that babies are separated from contagious diseases that could spread from mothers and behaviours like smoking that could adversely affect babies. The actual work and obligation towards giving these children care lies with healthcare providers and this include specialist care practice health nurses (SCPHN) who might have the obligation to provide care at the facility and follow up with visits afterwards (Dolan & Holt, 2012). These health visits and other activities by SCPHN will involve observing various rules and regulations and ensuring that care is taken in order to analyse the babies and provide their needs (Luker, Orr, & McHugh, 2012; Bridgemann, Keating, & Lind, 2013). The SCPHN is bound by the codes of the NMC which include providing care in good faith by respecting the needs of all people including the babies and their mothers in order to safeguard their health and safety. There are NICE practices which include maintaining certain specific standards in promoting the proper care of babies from birth through to the first five years through high quality, cost effective patient care as well as the use of treatment and prevention (National Institue for Health and Care Excellence, 2013). Also, the Healthy Child Programme of the UK government provides a range of guidance that prompts care amongst healthcare

Business security and globalization issues that Mexico face Research Paper

Business security and globalization issues that Mexico face - Research Paper Example Global issues†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Bribery and corruption†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Terrorist threat†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Organized crime†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Border threats†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 7 8 8 9 10 7 1.5 RECOMMENDED SECURITY ACTIONS Security and tracking system†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Foreign direct investment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Assistance from security agencies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Evacuation plan†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Competitive management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ State and local regulatory†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 8 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 13 9 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 Outline of Security issues and threats Mexico being one of the best business sites is facing many problems in relation to security issues. The security situation in Mexico is fluid and there exist conflicts among security forces. This led to increase in threats and risk in relation to the insecurity in the country. Some of the threats and preventive measures in relation to the security are discussed below: 1.1 Natural threats Mexico is suffering from just one natural threat which has affected the business economy i.e. global issues. Global issues Country have initially suffered a downturn in the business economy due to the global issues such as falling international... The intention of this study is Mexico as one the best business sites. It has provided many opportunities and growth to international businesses. It involves less cost of conducting a business as compared to other Asian countries. Though Mexico had promoted businesses in all aspects but it has negative aspects also, which are harming the working of business such as risk related to securities. Since 2007, more than 24000 people have been killed due to drug violence. Smuggling of drugs and goods is becoming quite common on borders which are increasing risk of trading companies that conduct operations on borders. Small businesses have also become security minded and they take precautions while travelling to Mexico, especially in border and capital regions. This shows that businesses are investing more on security in order to perform business in Mexico, which in result increases the cost and reduces profitability of the company. Mexico is a federal constitutional republic of North America and is bordered in the north of United States. It covers two million square kilometers i.e. 760,000 sq mi. on the basis of this area it is the fifth largest country in America. Researchers identified that its current population is around 112 million and is eleventh most populated country in the world. Spanish is the most popular language in Mexico. This country comprises of thirty one states and one federal district which is a capital city. Mexico is one of the best business locations as compared to 112 cities in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

Poor Communication within a Business Research Paper

Poor Communication within a Business - Research Paper Example Effects of poor communication to a business Ideally, for any business organization to succeed proper and effective communication becomes the backbone of this achievement. The effects of poor communication stream down from the organization’s top management organs to the least level of employees. The miscommunication may overflow to consumers in that the sales team may give minimized attention to the needs of their consumers hence delivering poor service to them. Essentially, the low morale of employees, in house miscommunication, non-content customers, and poor output or performance by staff becomes the product of poor communication. I. Low morale and motivation of employees Negative morale mothers animosity and harshness among staff members if their working environment is not fulfilling. In essence, the improper articulation of organizations goals and objectives to employees by the management translates to decreased morale. Sequentially, the general output by the employee’s decreases because of this inappropriate impact. Additionally, when team members do not have access to adequate information needed in the delegation of their tasks they lack motivation as they feel the need to work extra in order to fulfill their duties (Frater, 2003). Eventually, the working environment created is one characterized by bitter moods that end up spilling to the customer. In this regard, the top management needs to establish proper communication channels between them and their team players to ensure that their customers benefit from their services. A negative cycle may develop in the business, which may attract low sales and dismal performance by the business. Th e personnel become weak in the execution of tasks and implementation of the organization goals. Mainly, the whole idea of going in to a business undertaking is making a profit. Therefore, it will prove unworthy to continue venturing in a nonprofit able venture because of reasons that are preventable. In a counter approach, a business needs to ensure that the morale levels of its staff members are intact for the continued growth of a business. II. In house miscommunication and misinterpretation Subsequently, poor communication within a business setting has the ripple effect of compromising the in house

Marketing Myopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Marketing Myopia - Essay Example This article helps define a path that should be taken by marketers if they intend to avoid common and destructive mistakes. The management of a company may make several errors that are discussed in the paper. Sometimes, the company’s scope is incorrectly defined, and this creates a restriction for this company which hinders future growth. Furthermore, sometimes the unique selling proposition of the company’s product may become obsolete, and since management does not renew nor revive the proposition, the customers lose interest and soon forget about the product. Baseless assumptions and complacency are also two mistakes suggested by Levitt. A huge problem may arise if management focuses on supply-side policies and overlooks demand-side policies and conditions; if a strong and lasting bond with the consumer is not created, it is likely that the brand or product will not be successful. Another failure on the part of the company’s management is if they become so sing ularly focused on the future that they fail to acknowledge the circumstances they face in the present; with no proper strategy to deal with current issues, the company will not be left capable to deal with the future issues it was focusing on. In a nutshell, management’s main strategy should be one with a visionary approach and one which simultaneously focuses on the company’s customers as the most important asset of the company. This is the only asset which will function as the company’s life jacket during an economic or financial crisis. A second, most critical approach is how the business’s scope is defined; if too restricted and narrow, it will hinder and may even halt growth and progress. As a result of a thorough critical analysis of Levitt’s work, some strengths and weaknesses of his work come to light. Levitt’s article has garnered much praise and critical acclaim over the years. Researchers and scholars of marketing found his work e xceptionally valuable to their study and ground breaking in numerous aspects because the theories presented by Levitt are relevant and applicable across different industries, businesses and even across different times. Originally proposed and modeled on the business environment of the 1960s, theories and scenarios presented in â€Å"Marketing Myopia† are still as relevant and applicable today in the business environment of the 21st century, a half century later. This makes it valuable for researchers studying the business environment and also for students learning about marketing in the corporate world today. Not once do the scenarios, situations and examples presented seem obsolete or irrelevant in anyway. Furthermore, the example scenarios given by Levitt through the course of this essay are further explained through the use of easy to understand, practical examples that increase the validity of the case he is presenting while simultaneously making his point of view clearer by explanation and illustration in the mind of the reader. The policies proposed by Levitt can be applied to real life businesses these days such as supermarkets and oil companies. Supermarkets can use the strategy to create a demand for the products which are becoming obsolete. They can also use it to promote their brand by launching new schemes and thus increasing the

Analysis of novels and their films Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Analysis of novels and their films - Essay Example For example, Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, the 1984 film directed by MiloÃ… ¡ Forman and adapted from Shaffer’s stage play, differs greatly from the original version of the story and the character development in the play and the film differs to the highest degree. The story of the movie and the film based loosely on the lives of two composers who lived in Vienna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, has significant variations between the film version and the play. Similarly, the character development in the movie and the play fluctuates hugely mainly due to the adaptation technique, and Shaffer’s further revisions of his text. In a reflective analysis of the changes that the character of Salieri undergoes on his way from stage to screen, it becomes evident that the director of such a film version of a literary piece often brings about drastic changes by reason of the adaptation techniques of the film. Thus, the screen Salieri is Shaffer’s final and most ingenious version of this dark and tragic character, the Oscar-winning F. Murray Abraham superbly casts this character. it has been maintained that the character of Salieri remains the motivating force at the core of the action in the film, although Mozart’s personality has been considerably expanded. Significantly, the changes made in the film can be comprehended as the logical continuation of the changes that Shaffer had already made between the London and New York productions of his play. â€Å"The most important of those changes was the removal of Salieri’s servant Greybig who played the part of the masked figure in place of Salieri.† (The characters in the play and the film) As Shaffer recognized that the presence of Greybig meant more disadvantages than benefits, changes were made in the film version Salieri himself replaces this character as the agent of destruction in the film. Therefore, there are several marked alterations made by the film version of the play which

Marketing Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Principles - Essay Example They also tend to be the high volume, low cost items. The top FMCG companies are characterised by their ability to produce the items that are in highest demand by consumers and, at the same time, develop loyalty and trust towards their brands. Danone is an FMCG company with over 90,000 employees and operates in 125 countries World-wide. Danone’s brands include Evian ,Actimel, Volvic and Activia. Officialy created in 1990 as a branch of Danone Belgium, and hit UK with the yogurt drink Actimel in 1999. Worldwide Group Danone has two subsidiaries in the UK - Danone UK Ltd and Danone Waters UK & Ireland. Danone UK Ltd is the fresh dairy business behind Britain’s fastest growing yogurt brands, Activia and Shape, as well as Britain’s best-loved yogurt drink, Actimel and new luxury Greek-style yoghurt, Oykos and one more new range of super thick, super tasty strained yogurt with a hidden layer of fruit compote, Danio. Danone Waters UK & Ireland represents Evian, the worlds most popular mineral water. Its portfolio of bottled waters also include Volvic, Volvic Touch of Fruit and Badoit. Danone mission is â€Å"to bring health through food and beverages, to as many people in the UK as possible†. Danone funds nearly  £180 million in research and development each year. This essay about Danone UK Ltd., has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with explaining marketing process and marketing orientation to the newly developed product in organization. The second – is analysing the macro and micro environmental factors, examining the concept of segmentation and identifying the factors that will influence buyer behaviour and propose a new positioning strategy on newly developed product. The third, explaining how the new product was developed, evaluating a range of distribution methods, discussing and critically evaluating pricing methods,

Right to Education Essay Example for Free

Right to Education Essay On 12 April 2012, in its historical decision the Supreme Court (SC) of India threw its weight behind the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. The court upheld the constitutional validity of RTE Act that guarantees children free and compulsory education from the age of 6 to 14 years of age. The judgment makes it mandatory for the government, local authorities and private schools to reserve 25 percent of their seats for ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections’ of society. The decision has wiped away many apprehensions regarding the future of the Act. It has been welcomed by academicians, politicians, journalists and others. The Union minister for human resources development Mr. Kapil Sibal, articulated, â€Å"RTE can be a model for the world†. While there has been enthusiastic praise of the judgment, concerns related to quality, finance, ensuring of 25 percent reservation in private schools and change in classroom structure cannot be thrown into the winds. The amount put aside by Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is only Rs. 25,555 crores for 2012-13, which falls short of the recommended financial requirement of Rs 1. 82 lakh crore. From where will the rest of amount come? According to Kapil Sibal (2012) more than 90 percent of households will have to enroll their wards in government schools. Thus 90 percent of households’ wards will have poor access to education; if at all they are enrolled in schools, as the quality of education in government schools is a matter of serious concern. There is no clarity on how 25 percent reservation in private schools will be filled. There may be more than one private school in a neighborhood, so how will they decide who will go where? How will reservation in private schools be monitored? The 25 percent reservation in private schools will dramatically change the structure of classrooms in schools. Whether diversity of classroom will create democratic learning environment and enhance teaching learning process or will it put children from ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections’ in discomfited position? Concern of Quality Education One of the primary objectives of Right of Children Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 is improving quality education. The quality of elementary education, particularly in government schools, is a matter of serious concern. The quality of school education depends on various variables which includes physical infrastructure, method of teaching, learning environment, type of books, qualification of teachers, number of teachers, attendance of teachers and students and so on. There has been substantial progress in increasing enrollment with national average now at 98. 3 percent (2009-2010) according to official statistics. However, the attendance of pupils in class rooms has declined. In 2007, 73. 4 percent students enrolled for Standards I-IV/V were present in class, which has fallen to 70. 9 percent by 2011 (EPW, 2012). Fayaz Ahmad (2009) came with the findings that despite lack of staff in government schools, teachers remain absent on rotational bases. He adds that due to vacancies for teacher, absenteeism of teachers and poor infrastructure in government schools classrooms are multi-grade, i. e. one teacher attending to children from different grades in a single classroom. The attendance of teachers and students in schools is directly related with the quality of education. Furthermore, mere enrollment of children in school does not fulfill the aims of RTE. Amman Madan (2003) argues ‘the question of reform in Indian education has usually been conceived of in narrow ways – putting children in school and getting schools to function efficiently’. Despite high enrollments in schools 50 percent of children studying in the fifth grade lack the reading skills expected of children in the second grade (Annual Status of Education Report, ASER 2010). Ensuring 25 percent Reservation The RTE, Act, 2009 clause, 12 (1) (c) mandates for private schools to admit quarter of their class strength from weaker section and disadvantaged groups 1. The constitutional validity of this clause was challenged in the apex court of country. However on 12, April 2012, a bench of Chief Justice S . H. Kapadia, Justice K. S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar upheld the constitutional validity of the Act. In response to the Supreme Court order, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said, â€Å"I am very happy that the court has set all controversies at rest. One of the biggest controversies was on whether the 25 percent reservation applies to private schools or not†¦ that controversy has been set to rest. †2 Reacting to the 25 percent reservation Krishna Kumar (2012) penned down â€Å"most ambitious among its objectives is the social engineering it proposes by guaranteeing at least 25 percent share of enrolment in unaided fee-charging schools to children whose parents cannot afford the fee. † Both Krishna Kumar and Kapil Sibal did not give indepth critical insight to the provision. The questions like, what will be the mechanism of selection process of 25 percent children from ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections’. Some private schools are very reputed and provide very high quality of education and some are either at par with government schools or little ahead. There is a hierarchy of private schools which are stratified in quality education. Who will go where what will be the criteria for that? Furthermore Indian society is patriarchal in nature, boys are even served good food in comparison to girls how one can expect parents or guardians will send a girl child to these private schools, if at all they agree to send a girl child to school. The reservation benefits will go to a particular gender of society. This will further reinforce and reproduce gender bias and social inequality in society. Thus RTE itself creates a vacuum for â€Å"reproduction of culture†. Fayaz Ahmad (2009) underlines, parents prefer schooling for their girl child but prefer government schools for them in comparison to a male child. The important finding which has been revealed by Fayaz Ahmad (2009) is the enrollment shown in schools was higher than what actually it was. This was done to get mid-day meals for more and more children so that teachers can save some money to bear other hidden expenditures and avoid wrath of authorities for poor enrollment. Despite employment of Resource Persons and Zonal Resource Persons by Jammu and Kashmir government in the department of school education ,who are obliged to ensure smooth and normal functioning of schools, such kind of loopholes are observed, how can the government ensure that private schools will follow the provision of 25 percent reservation. Change in the Structure of Classroom and Beyond. The RTE Act directed all schools, including privately -run schools, to reserve 25 percent of their seats for students from socially and economically backward families. That means, quarter of students in classes will be from marginalized section of the society. This will change the structure of classes. Krishna Kumar (2012) maintains â€Å"a classroom reflecting life’s diversity will benefit children of all strata while enriching teaching experience. † He further adds â€Å"classroom life will now be experientially and linguistically richer. It will be easier to illustrate complex issues with examples drawn from children’s own lives. † He rightly articulates that class room will reflect diversity and will be experientially and linguistically richer. But his argument that classroom diversity will benefit children from weaker section of society is hypothetical and ambiguous. School education can’t be separated from its social context, those who teach and learn carry with them attitudes, beliefs, habits, customs, orientations which differ from class to class. The elite schools have their own culture which suits to children of upper class. The teaching-learning environment at these schools suits children of upper class while children from weaker section may find themselves alienated from the schools. Bernstein (1971) while examining the mode of communication of working and middle class argues that both have different mode of communication and most of the teachers in schools belong to middle class which gives edge to middle class children in learning. Bourdieu(1977) empirical research in France explores that performance of a child in school on his access to cultural capital. He maintains that children of upper classes are able to understand contents of knowledge better than their counterparts belonging to marginalized sections of society. The present experience of India with mixed or diversified classroom is not encouraging. The children from marginalized sections of society are discriminated in the classroom on the bases of gender, caste, and ethnicity. Despite Indian constitution strictly prohibits discrimination on the bases of caste and other social backgrounds and makes it a punishable act yet children from marginalized sections are discriminated in schools. How can discrimination of ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections be prevented? There are various theoretical and empirical studies which have come up with that children from lower classes are at a backfoot in schools in the learning process. They are more vulnerable when enrolled in elite schools. Conclusion Indian children now have a precious right to receive free and compulsory education from the ages of 6 to 14 years of age. The government will bear all the expenditures of schooling. The act has mandated for private schools to reserve quarter of classroom strength for deprived sections of society, which will change the structure of classrooms in elite schools to school who are not yet enrolled. However, there are many apprehensions with regard to achieving desired goals through RTE. By pressing for 25 percent reservation for the ‘weaker and disadvantaged sections’ of society, government has acknowledged poor quality in government schools where more than 90 percent of households in the country will have to enroll their children even if 25 percent reservation is implemented in true sense. This means that there will be further diversification of society in India. There are also concerns whether those enrolled in private schools will cope and adjust with education system and culture of elite schools. There are many other loop holes which are pressing and challenging in the way of RTE: quality education, funding, teacher skills and enhance of reservation policy are some major concerns. Despite the flaws in the way of RTE Act, it is important to simultaneously ensure proper implementation of the Act. —————————————- Footnotes 1. The Gazette of India, http://eoc. du. ac. in/RTE%20-%20notified. pdf 2. Dhananjay Mahapatra Himanshi Dhawan(2012) Times of India, RTE:Govt Subsidy to be based on KV expenditure, New Delhi, 13 April. References. Ahmad, Fayaz (2009) â€Å" A Sociological Study of Primary Education Among Girls: With Special Reference to Block Hajin of District Bandipora† Dissertation, Barkatullah University. Annual Status of Educational Report (2010): â€Å"Annual Status of Educational Report ( Rural) , assessed 21April 2012: http://www. pratham. org/aser08/ASER_2010_Report. pdf Bernstein, B (1973): â€Å"Class Codes and Control: Applied Studies towards a Sociology of Language†, London, Routledge Kegan Paul. Boourdieu,P (1977): â€Å" Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction†, In Karabel, J and A. H, Halsey, (ed), Power and Ideology in Education. OUP Economic and Political Weekly (2012): â€Å"The Right to learn: Two Years after the Right to Education Act, the government needs to focus on quality†,16 April, Vol XLVII No 16. Kumar, Krishna (2012): â€Å"Let a hundred children blossom: A classroom reflecting life’s diversity will benefit children of all strata while enriching teaching experience. †, The Hindu, Delhi,20 April 2012. Madan, Amman (2003): Education as Vision for Social Change, Economic and Political Weekly May 31, 2003 pp. 2135-2136 Sibal, Kapil (2012): â€Å"Admitting kids from weaker sections while not lowering quality of teaching will be difficult for pvt schools, but it can be done: RTE Can Be A Model For The World† The Times of India, New Delhi, 20 April. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, popularly known as the Right to Education (RTE) Act, came into being in India from April 1, 2010. The Act introduces a number of changes in education delivery through schools in India. Many of the changes are simply revolutionary, and if they are implemented properly will vastly improve the system of imparting education in the country. The Act is a landmark in the history of education related legislation in India. However, some of the provisions of the Act, although included with noble intentions, will have unintended consequences that might counter some of the advantages of the new system itself. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, as published in the Gazette of India [No. 39, Dated August 27, 2009] makes for interesting reading. I present below a critique of some of the salient provisions of the Act, and elucidate how these provisions also have unintended consequences that have not been addressed. Along the way, I also provide suggestions on what could be done better. Category 1: Decisions relating to screening and failing students (Section 16) No failing allowed: Section 16 of the RTE Act states that no child shall be failed in any class or expelled from school till he or she completes elementary education (defined as education imparted from Class 1 to Class 8). The Act also provides for special training for students who are deemed to be deficient and deserving of extra help. The Government reasons that failing a child is wrong, no matter the level of learning deficiency the child exhibits with respect to his or her peers. Any such deficiencies, the Government thinks, can be made up through special training provided by the school authorities under Section 4 of the Act. The intention of this rule is no doubt to support those children who are not able to attain the level of performance required to gain admission into the next class. Through this provision, the Government wants to reinforce that performance standards are relative, that failing a child is an unjust mortification for the child’s persona, and that a child younger than 14 is too young to be explicitly classified as deficient compared to his or her peers. While all these reasons hold good, a number of issues remain unaddressed: Skill development: While it is true that failing a child may well cause the child to intensely doubt his or her abilities, the Government fails to appreciate that failing a child also serves as a protective mechanism. Under the mechanism of failing, a child whose skills are clearly deficient with respect to his or her peers is held back in the same class and denied promotion. Failing therefore also acts as a protective mechanism, allowing a child to spend more time in the same class to make sure that he or she gains skills commensurate with his or her peers, and acts as a crucial aid in skill development. Under the new system, however, the child graduates to the next class regardless of performance or skill level in the previous one. The system then provides for special attention (through Section 4 of the Act) for such a child in the higher class to make up the deficiency in skills and ability. The critical question is – can a child who is unable to bear the workload of a junior class now deal with the workload of a senior class in addition to taking special classes? The embarrassment of failing, which under a system of failing a weak student is corrected at the first stage of inadequacy, now carries over into senior classes. This only accentuates the embarrassment that a child faces because of an increasingly steep learning curve which he or she finds ever more difficult to negotiate as compared to his or her peers. As a consequence, the child faces academic seclusion in the higher class. No feedback mechanism: Failing also acts as an important feedback mechanism, making the child and his parents and teachers aware that the child is deficient in critical skills. It also acts as feedback for teachers – if more students fail in a teacher’s class than those in other teachers’ classes, the teacher’s methods and effectiveness should be put under the scanner. However, under the new system, when every child is promoted to the next class irrespective of performance, both parents and teachers in general put in less of a marginal effort to ensure development of the child. The onus to support the child is passed from teachers and parents to schools (through Section 4 of the Act), and rarely, if ever, will teachers be held accountable for falling standards of teaching. Similarly, the incentive for children to learn is diminished, because the fear of failure and the repercussions of non-performance are removed. No doubt all consuming interest rather than fear should be the motive for sustained academic development of children but a system that ensures less accountability for all concerned (students, parents, and teachers) in no way creates a case for substituting ‘fear’ with interest. The stick has been removed, but where is the carrot? Postponing development does not work: One reason often put forward is that failing creates a frustration and lack of confidence in the child, causing them to drop out of school. However, a child that is deficient in skills will find it even harder to catch on in a senior class. The frustration and inclination to quit will therefore be even stronger. Ultimately, the child may be inclined to drop out of school in frustration with the system (experienced over a number of years) rather than with just a particular teacher or class. With the latter, there is still hope to bring the child back into the system. With the former, even that is gone. Inability to deal with failure: A child who does not learn the value of accountability, performance, and hard work in the initial stages of its schooling will be ill-equipped to meet these constants of life in later stages. The child will grow up not with resilience, but with a sense of entitlement, feeling that it is the duty of teachers to provide special training when he or she does not perform. When this sense of entitlement is suddenly removed after 14 years of age, the child may well feel deprived, unsupported, and unable to deal with performance expectations. Rewarding competence is the rule in all professions and vocations – why not embed it into the child at an early age? Category 2: Prohibition on physical punishment and ‘mental harassment’ (Section 17). Section 17(1) of the Act prohibits physical punishment or mental harassment of students. While a ban on physical punishment is laudable, the one on mental harassment is incompletely defined. What, after all, is ‘mental harassment’? It could be anything from a light admonition for not completing homework to vile abuses meant to strip the student of all self-respect. The Act sheds no further light. The problem then becomes one of establishing the commission of mental harassment itself. When rules are incompletely defined, they are subject to manipulation and misuse. Consider the plausible scenario when the rule on mental harassment is sought to be enacted. The clear and visible effect is that teachers will not be able to physically punish or mentally berate students. However, there are also some unseen effects. No clear escalation mechanism: One of the unseen effects is that in rural areas and impoverished regions, where acts of mental harassment are most often carried out, these acts are not even reported (except in severe cases). This is because the child risks arousing further displeasure of the teacher concerned, and is not assured of action in any case. Section 17(2) of the Act prescribes disciplinary action against any teacher violating the rule. However, in a set up where mental harassment is hard to establish, reporting mechanisms are poor, the social matrix favours teachers, and where administrators are already feeling a crunch of available teachers, strong action against the guilty is unlikely. If at all it is to be more effective, the provision needs to be given more teeth – establish a uniform reporting and escalation mechanism for teacher misconduct and ensure that whistleblowers are not at the receiving end of punitive measures. ‘Mental harassment’ not clearly defined: In an urban, metropolitan setting, again the loose definition of mental harassment becomes a problem. Here, students are more empowered, and find it easy to report any behaviour which would constitute ‘mental harassment’ in their opinion. In such schools, errant behaviour from students is encouraged because any admonishment, even if it is meant to serve as a correction, can be (mis)interpreted as mental harassment. This will reduce the effectiveness of teachers to administer suitable admonitory measures to this class of students. A solution for improvement, then, seems to be introduction of a uniform escalation and protection mechanism for students, along with clearly defining what mental harassment constitutes, allowing students and teachers to be aware of potential violations when they occur. Category 3: Only ‘recognized’ schools allowed to function (Section 18) Schools which do not have a certificate of recognition from the local authority or government shall no longer be allowed to function, under Section 18 of the Right to Education Act. If such a school is already functioning, the Act prescribes that it be shut down within 3 years if it fails to meet norms. If a new school is set up, it must conform to the norms for a school as laid out in the Schedule of the Act, or be shut down within three years. The norms themselves prescribe minimum teacher-student ratios for different classes, the existence of a permanent building, minimum number of working hours per teacher, and a functioning library, among other things. There is no doubt that a school which provides all of these will be superior in imparting education to an institution which provides only some of these. However, two main difficulties arise – it is erroneous to conclude that private, unrecognized schools offer a quality of education that is less than that offered by recognized schools, and banning private unrecognized schools further aggravates the problem of scarcity of formal education institutions. Unrecognized schools may be better than recognized ones: In a study conducted on private, unrecognized schools in the slums of East Delhi in 2004-05[1], James Tooley and Pauline Dixon from the University of Newcastle found that there were more unrecognized schools than government schools in the locality. In this research paper, the authors found, through unannounced visits, that a higher number of teachers were teaching in private unaided schools as compared to government schools. Further, they found that private unaided schools (including unrecognized ones) had superior or similar inputs than government schools. Most significantly, in this study, Tooley and Dixon found that children in unrecognized private schools scored 72% higher in Mathematics, 83% higher in Hindi, and 246% higher in English than students in government schools. Students in private unaided schools were found to be more satisfied with facilities being provided to them than their counterparts in government schools. Teachers in these schools reported a level of satisfaction similar to that reported by teachers in government schools. Importantly, even head teachers or principals were reported to maintain closer monitoring on teachers in private unaided schools (including unrecognized schools) than in government schools. Considering that monitoring and continuous evaluation of teachers is an important element of the strategy under the new Act, this last point gains even more significance. In another study conducted by Tooley and Dixon[2] in 918 schools within a locality in Hyderabad, 37 percent were found to be private unrecognized schools, compared to only 35 percent government run schools. Around 65 percent of school-going children in the area went to the private, unrecognized schools. It may be argued that this study was conducted only in particular areas, and that things might be different in other parts of the country. This notion is refuted by another study done by Karthik Muralidharan and Michael Kremer of rural private primary schools in India in 2003[3]. This study, as claimed by the authors, is a â€Å"nationally representative survey of rural private primary schools in India conducted in 2003†[4]. While conducting this research, the authors found that private schools are most common in areas with poor public school performance. In spite of paying lower teacher salaries, these schools have children with higher attendance rates and higher test scores. The teachers are 2 to 8 percentage points less likely to be absent as compared to public school teachers, and 6 to 9 percent more likely to be engaged in regular teaching activity. These research studies do present strong evidence for the view that private unrecognized schools are comparable, if not superior, to their government counterparts. The onus is on the government to prove conclusively that this is not so. Until this has been done, closing down the unrecognized schools, even with a 3 year grace period to confirm to standard regulations, might be hasty, unwarranted, and a step backward. Unrecognized schools solve the problem of outreach: Under Section 13(1), the Government has mandated that no school should collect any capitation fee for granting admission to a child. This move is welcome, and it will ensure that discretionary admissions are not the hegemony of the rich. However, having addressed the symptom, the Government has failed to address the underlying cause. Why do schools demand that capitation fees be paid for admission? The simple reason is that the number of children seeking admission is much higher than the number of seats available. The school therefore sees this as a convenient way of ensuring admission for those wards whose parents can contribute the most to the school financially. The presence of this phenomenon itself indicates the paucity of available education. The solution would be to either ensure that government schools or private recognized schools can ensure education for every child who seeks it. As this is a huge task and is not easily accomplished in at least the foreseeable future, private unrecognized schools must be a crucial part of the strategy for enabling outreach. Not only will this ensure a lesser burden on the government to set up new schools quickly, but it will also ensure that the overall vision of the Act – basic education for the widest base of children possible – is more convincingly achieved. We need to create more schools, not less. Private unrecognized schools are not the alternative to recognized institutions – they are the alternative to no education at all! By proposing to shut them down, the government decreases the outreach of education made possible by these institutions. An uncertain future for students: The RTE Act mandates that unrecognized institutions which fail to meet the set criteria will have to close down after a period of about 3 years. However, apart from mandating that the students in these schools will have a right to seek transfer to other schools within the area, the Act does not specify how and on what basis these students will be given admission in other schools. With recognized schools already straining under the burden of having to support free education for all students who approach them (till their capacity), the room for accommodating more students will be scarce. This itself will create uncertainty for students studying in these unrecognized institutions, and will also create a strain on recognized institutions to accommodate them later. The only alternative is for the state to open as many recognized schools (of approximately similar capacity) as the number of unrecognized schools that it closes down. A Times of India report[5] cites various studies that show that in Punjab, 86% of more than 3000 private schools are unrecognized and 3. 5 lakh children are enrolled in them. The report also says that in 1996, the Public Report on Basic Education in India (PROBE) survey of UP, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh found that 63% of private schools were not recognized. According to the report, Andhra Pradesh has 10,000 unrecognized schools, and Delhi has at least 1,500 catering to around 6 lakh children. The report also cites Prof Yash Aggarwal of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), who in 2000 had said that the number of unrecognized schools in the country was doubling every 5 years and the number of such schools was soon expected to be 1. 5 to 2 times that of government schools in the country. With 10 years already having passed since this assertion, one can assume that unrecognized schools form a large part of the educational backbone of India. To break this apart and yet keep the neck straight will be a difficult endeavour. Category 4: Prohibition of private tuition by teachers (Section 28) Section 28 of the RTE Act mandates that no teacher should engage himself or herself in private tuition activity. Through this provision, the Government is trying to address the problem of teachers not teaching properly in schools and then requiring students to attend private tuitions to actually learn the subject material. The intention again is worthy of appreciation – any provision that improves standards of teaching in the classroom and removes perverse incentives for teachers to earn money from their students through unethical means is welcome. A question of money: The primary reason why teachers underperform in the classroom and then require their students to attend private tuitions is the want of additional income, unfettered by a loose monitoring and punitive system. Banning teachers from taking private tuitions does not do away with the cause of the problem. With the RTE Act enforcing strict norms on the appointment of teachers, some aspirational educationists might well be forced to sit out. It is then possible for their collaborators inside the system to promote the seeking of private tuitions with these private teachers, with of course a money sharing arrangement being worked out between the two. While banning private tuitions by teachers themselves is a welcome step in this regard, this should also be reinforced with a ban on referring students for private tuitions. Monitoring this will not be an easy task, but then neither will be monitoring teachers to ensure they do not provide private tuitions. It is student reporting that must be the proof of misdemeanour in this case (with suitable verification and safeguards to ensure false reports are filtered out). Banning referral for private tuitions along with private tuitions by teachers themselves will make the legislation more complete. A question of performance: Even if private tuitions by teachers are successfully done away with, it still does not address the prevalence of teacher underperformance and absenteeism. One may argue that with an alternative source of revenue (private tuitions) now removed, teachers will be loath to take up government school jobs, as the effective income earned is lower. Some capable teachers who would otherwise have taught well in school, and also taken private tuitions, will therefore walk away from a government school teacher job, choosing to dedicate themselves completely to private tuitions. On the other hand, some less capable teachers, who were not teaching well in school but were supplementing their income through private tuitions, will elect to stay on. With the failing mechanism also removed, the performance evaluation of these teachers will become even more difficult. Underperformance, therefore, will stay, and teacher absenteeism will only increase (especially to pursue other income opportunities). Section 24 of the Act prescribes punitive measures to be undertaken in case absenteeism and non-performance of duties is observed. While it prescribes the minimum duties to be undertaken by each teacher, no specification is made of what constitutes high performance.

Unconditioned Response And Conditioned Response Physical Education Essay

Unconditioned Response And Conditioned Response Physical Education Essay According to Pavlov, specific terms begin to be used to describe conditioning such as unconditioned response and conditioned response. Based on Ivan Pavlovs experiment, the natural response to food for a dog is to salivate. This is called unconditioned response (UCR) to the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which in this case is the food. Then, a neutral stimulus (NS; bell) accompanies the process. By repeating this process, there will be a conditioned response (CR) of salivating with the mere sound of the bell. This way the clicking stimulus now has become conditioned stimulus (CS), which is able to draw a conditioned response. According to Martin and Pear (2005), there are several features that increase the effectiveness of classical conditioning. One of it is that there has to be multiple pairings only between the CS and the UCS in order to increase the effectives of the CS to provoke response from the CR (highest potency). Moreover, the CS and UCS have to be stimuli that are presente d in its maximum power so that the conditioning will be stronger. Morsella (2010) explains that classical conditioning can be found around us from the time we were born. She describes that the liking we have for food that looks artificial and does not have any odour such as lollipops and certain types of candies are due to the effects of classical conditioning. Another application of classical conditioning is to treat toddlers and adults with Enuresis, and managing phobia using systemic desensitization in psychotherapy. Apart from that, classical conditioning is also applicable in the advertising sector. The application of the principles of classical conditioning in the three sectors will be further discussed in this paper. One of the most pioneer contributions of classical conditioning in the medical setting is to treat children and adults who are suffering from enuresis. According to Gross and Dornbush (1983) one form of enuresis that is common among children who are between 5 and 14 years of age is nocturnal enuresis, affecting mostly boys than girls. They explained that nocturnal enuresis is the act of constant bed-wetting at night during sleep despite being potty trained. This behaviour is considered an enuresis if it occurs at least a few times in a month without identifiable physiological cause. It has been discussed that nocturnal enuresis causes many communal and psychological dilemmas as the children will not want to spend the night away from home due to fear of embarrassment. Lemelin and Lemelin (1989) describes the results of using many forms of treatment in dealing with nocturnal enuresis and have identified that enuresis alarm is the best treatment available. According to Schmitts explanation (as cited in Lemelin Lemelin, 1989) explained how enuresis alarm works and its association with the principles of classical conditioning. An enuresis alarm is attached to the front portion of the childs underwear making it convenient to be carried along even during travelling. When a few urine droplets fall on the device, the two electrodes get connected triggering the alarm. The sound created awakens the child, which automatically prompts the child to control the bladder and stop the process of urinating. Then, the child can go to the toilet to complete the urination process. The effectiveness of this treatment will only be seen with multiple trials similar to the case of Ivan Pavlovs dogs. Initial stages (several weeks), the child would only be awake once he or she has completely urinated. Several weeks after that, the child would wake up half way through the process of urinating due to the alarm, thus enabling the child to contract the bladder muscles to stop urination, and continue in the toilet. As a result of repeating this process, in the long run the child will wake up by the mere feeling of wanting to urinate rather than the sound produced by the alarm after urination. The condition improves in one month and complete cure is achieved within three to four months. However the child will have to put on the underwear with the enuresis alarm until dry nights are achieved consecutively for three weeks. 1st Step Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) Alarm (sound) Unconditioned Stimulus (UCR) Waking up 2nd Step UCS (multiple times) paired with Alarm (sound) Neutral Stimulus to Conditioned Stimulus (CS) Full bladder (need to urinate) Conditioned Response (CR) Waking up Many studies have found that the use of enuresis alarm has helped children suffering from any form of enuresis such as nocturnal enuresis and monosymtomatic nocturnal enuresis. Ozgur, Ozgur, Dogan and Orun (2009) has conducted a study on the effectiveness of enuresis alarm in helping 40 children ages 6 to 16 years old with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis to the extent of bed-wetting at least three times in a week. All the participants were told to use the alarm for 12 weeks. The parents and children were shown how the alarm reacts to urine. They only considered a persons treatment as being successful if they managed to keep their bed dry for 14 days continously. Meanwhile, a person is said to have relapsed if they wet their bed one night or more in a week. The results after the initial 12 weeks of using the alarm showed that 27 out of 40 patients kept their beds dry successfully. During the three-month follow-up of still using the alarm at bed-time, it was found that only 9 of the initial achievers stayed dry, while 18 of them relapsed. In the subsequent three- month follow-up, 7 of the 18 relapsed participants showed successful results. Finally after another three months, out of the 7 successful participants, 4 of them achieved dry nights. In total, 13 of them stayed dry and managed to get their enuresis treated. This system works in the same way as explained by Schmitts explanation (as cited in Lemelin Lemelin, 1989). The results of this study are considered to be good by Rocha, Costa and Silvares (2008). They explained that during a long-period of treatment using alarm, the familys level of motivation, socio-economic status and circumstances at home play a huge role in keeping things consistent given that the alarm has to be used daily without fail. Enuresis can be better managed without the reliance of medication as urinating is a normal bodily function that needs to be controlled everyday during sleep and as such the use of enuresis alarm is a better l ong term solution as it is carried out for long period of time. Eventually the child will learn to wake up from sleep the very moment the feeling of voiding appears, which is the normal response expected from the human physiological system. In addition to the study above, Berg, Forsythe and McGuire (1982) conducted a study on 54 children (35 boys and 9 girls) on how they responded with the pad and bell system for initially 4 weeks before extending their treatment for another five months. The pad and bell system works in the same way as the enuresis alarm where the alarm, which is the unconditioned stimulus provokes a response of waking up (unconditioned response). Over time, when full bladder (neutral stimulus) is paired with the bell sound produced by the pad and bell system, the full bladder becomes the conditioned stimulus for the conditioned response of waking up. They were also interested to study the effects of Maximum Functional Bladder Capacity (MBC) and the childs affective issues using the Rutter A (parent) Scale to determine the outcome of the treatment for enuresis. Before the pad and bell system was introduced to the children, they were wetting their beds at nights at an average of 20 times in 28 days. Howe ver, after the pad and bell approach, on average the children were found to only wet their beds approximately 11 times in four weeks. Their treatment approach in dealing with the childrens enuresis worked for 34 out of the 54 children, which could be considered as a 63% success rate. They also found that those children who had failed in responding to the treatment had higher scores on the Rutter A Scale indicating the level of the childrens emotional instability. Therefore it could be understood that the remaining 20 children who did not respond to the treatment may be affected emotionally, thus preventing them to respond like the other children who are suffering from nocturnal enuresis. Although it has been proven that enuresis alarm has been effective for many children, the fact that every child is undergoing difference circumstances must be taken into consideration, and therefore expecting a generalised response may not be accurate. Given the right approach and environment, every child will be able to respond positively towards the treatment for enuresis using the alarm system. The parenting style is also equally important, given the role of parents in waking up the child when the alarm starts in the beginning stages. In families that practise neglectful parenting, it is unlikely for the parents to take the initiative to wake up and alert the child. As such, these factors should also be considered to assess the effectiveness of the treatment of enuresis using the alarm system. The next area that widely uses the principles of classical conditioning is the advertising sector. Gorn (1982) conducted a study on 244 college students to understand the effects of external factors such as background music and setting to influence the marketability of a product. He explains that people tend to respond positively towards a product that is being advertised if the advertisement catches their attention and creates a pleasant feeling by way of eye-catching colours, lovely music and hilarity. Therefore, the features of the advertisement act as unconditioned stimulus, while, the product acts as a conditioned stimulus after observing them together multiple times to produce a good feeling (unconditioned and conditioned response). In his study he made sure that the information of the product is minimally exposed to the participants to ensure that the unconditioned features were the ones that captured the participants attention and not the information. In the experiment, there were four conditions created. The first condition involved the pairing of a piece of favoured music with a pen of light blue colour. The next condition was to match a piece of favoured music with a pen of beige colour. The third condition was to match a piece of unfavoured music with a pen of light blue colour and the forth condition was to match a piece of unfavoured music with a pen of beige colour. It was found that a majority of the participants (74%) chose the pen that was presented with their favoured music. He explained that the participants with the favoured piece of music selected the pen based on the good feeling it created. To further support the positive outcome of classical conditioning, Tsai (2012) conducted a study on 172 undergraduates to understand the effects of classical conditioning in using movie stars to promote a product. He also mentioned that using celebrities as part of an advertisement is a popular practice in the United States and Britain. Tsai used an actor named Ethan Ruan as the celebrity to leverage on his popularity to promote an orange juice brand called GARRA. No additional information was added to the advertisement. The celebrity acts as the unconditioned stimulus that naturally draws a positive response from people (unconditioned response). The celebrity is paired five times with the conditioned stimulus, which is the virtual brand to produce a positive response to the brand (conditioned response). When respondents opinion on GARRA was compared between those who were put through conditioning and without conditioning, the results showed that the conditioned group (Ethan Ruan) ha d higher or more positive attitude towards GARRA. The attraction that people have for the actor was able to be transferred to the product or brand that the actor was promoting. Hence, after repeated exposure to the same unconditioned stimulus, GARRA (conditioned stimulus) automatically drew a positive response from consumers. Tsai also found that the appearance of celebrities in advertisements leads to a higher value in promoting a particular brand regardless whether the celebrities have done other advertisements before. While, the research involving celebrity such as Ethan Ruan was successful in this Taiwan study, the same approach might not be workable in a multi racial country like Malaysia where a celebrity who is well known to the Indian community may be completely unknown to the other races in the country. Thus, celebrity endorsement may not have a generalised outcome across the Malaysian population. Another point to note is that celebrity endorsement without a good quality pr oduct will not result in repeated purchases. If people are not satisfied with the quality of a product, they will not buy it the second time even if Brad Pitt or Jonny Depp advertised it. The next big sector that uses the principles of classical conditioning is psychotherapy in the management of phobia. Wolpe (1958) developed a method of dealing with phobia using a behavioural approach. He explains that a person has to be conditioned to develop unnecessary fear on a particular stimulus such as cockroach, snake, heights or even social engagement. The classic experiment conducted by Watson and Rayner (1920) on a small boy known as Little Albert is a good example to explain the development of phobia. They found that loud noise produces fearful feelings. Thus, the loud noise acts as an unconditioned stimulus to provoke an unconditioned response of fear. They tested their finding by pairing a white rat (conditioned stimulus) with a loud noise that was created using a steel bar and a hammer behind Little Alberts head multiple times, which produced fear (conditioned response; making Albert cry and move away). After multiple times of doing the same thing to Albert, he eventua lly developed fear (phobia) at the mere sight of a white rat. Based on this principle, Wolpe derived the idea of counteracting the phobia with a contradicting stimulus such as relaxation, which is called counterconditioning. Counterconditioning can be explained using a classic study by Jones (1924) on a child named Peter. He was afraid of rabbits (conditioned stimulus). She placed a rabbit in the same room but at the distance from Peter during the time that Peter was eating some cookies (unconditioned stimulus) which made him feel good (unconditioned response). This process was conducted multiple times resulting in Peter overcoming his phobia for rabbits. At the end of the counterconditioning period, Peter was able to have a rabbit on his lap happily (conditioned response). Wolpe (1958) explained that the process of counterconditioning should be carried out in several stages and conducted at a slow pace and this process is known as systematic desensitization. He explained that a person is usually asked to make a list from the lowest to the highest fear causing stimuli. The process of desensitization starts from the lowest first before moving slowly to the higher level of fear. The stimulus that causes fear is put forward to the person together with relaxation to produce a good feeling either through imagination or in vivo. To provide research evidence on the effectiveness of systematic desensitization, McCroskey, Ralph and Barrick (1970) conducted a study on 24 university students taking the public speaking class who were found to have an elevated level of anxiety to give speeches. The participants were randomly assigned to 3 groups with five members each, an hour of systematic desensitization session, for twice in a week almost three and half weeks. In the first session, the underlying principles of systematic desensitization were explained and the participants were also taught deep muscular relaxation. In the next sessions, beginning from the lower level of anxiety present in the hierarchy, the participants watched a video recorded session of public speech presentations. At any point of time when the participants displayed anxiety, they were told to raise their right index finger as that will cue the trainer to instruct all the participants within that group to stop the imagination of giving speech a nd focus on the deep muscular relaxation before resuming the session. The deep muscular relaxation was the unconditioned stimulus, which was paired with the speech presentation (conditioned stimulus) to eventually produce a relaxed state (unconditioned to conditioned response). For successfully completely each stage of the speech anxiety hierarchy, the participants were required to complete the first presentation of 15 seconds and second presentation of 30 seconds free from any signs of anxiety before proceeding to the next one. At the end of each session, the trainers presented the previous completed level of the speech anxiety hierarchy so that the participants level of anxiety is kept at a minimum level. This is done until all the stages within the hierarchy are completed. The last session ends with the repetition of the highest speech anxiety stimuli for one minute. At the end of the complete session, the participants level of speech anxiety was measured using Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker (PRCS; Paul, 1966). According to the results, the groups that received systematic desensitization had a decreased level of anxiety by 54% while the control group only had a decreased level of 18%. Therefore, it can be concluded that the anxiety level for speech giving or any other phobia can be significantly reduced using the systematic desensitization method. This study is reliable given that the sessions were conducted continuously every week to ensure the effectiveness of the counterconditioning. However, the fact that it was done in a group could disrupt the flow of desensitizing an individual as each participant would have different level of phobia in terms of speech anxiety throughout each session. To further support the effectiveness of systematic desensitization in treating phobia or high level of anxiety, Johnson and Sechrest (1968) conducted a study on 41 psychology students. They used the Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Test to measure the level of test anxiety at pre and post systematic desensitization. Those who had high test anxiety and scored low ( This paper discussed the use of classical conditioning in three different sectors, which are treating enuresis, advertising products and managing phobia in psychotherapy sessions. In treating enuresis, the use of classical conditioning is an ideal method as it is non-invasive and the results have been found to have a high reliability and validity value. In the advertisement sector, classical conditioning has been proven to increase the marketability of the product. It is a common practice for businesses to use celebrities to advertise their products to increase the amount of sales. Meanwhile in the psychotherapy sector, systematic desensitization is one of the most prominent methods of dealing with phobia, as it helps to deal with difficult irrational fear which has affected people for a long period of time. In a nut shell, classical conditioning is effectively used in many other sectors apart from those discussed in this paper.

Does The Media Undermine Democracy In Malaysia Media Essay

Does The Media Undermine Democracy In Malaysia Media Essay Throughout the last decades, Malaysians have enjoyed regular elections and political stability. However, the stability slowly took a turn when the detention of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the subsequent sentence of 15 years for charges of corruption, abuse of power, and sexual misconduct made the public lose its faith in the integrity of the governments aims (Heufers, 2002) This the somehow added the growing number of detentions under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other repressive laws severely threaten political competition, participation, and civil and political liberties. The media in Malaysia comprising of the mainstream that is mainly owned and controlled by the government and the alternative media, a form of independent journalism. Many government leaders in the developing world would justify their control over the media in terms of jealously guarding and guiding its members towards the path of national development and to ensure that the media does not fall into the wrong hands (Mustafa, 2005) In other words, the government wants to take control of media so they can set the agenda in the minds of society. This already restricts a sense of openness in the mainstream media. Mustafa (2005) stated in an analysis on the coverage of Malaysias 2004 general elections by four mainstream newspapers (The Star, the New Straits Times (NST), Berita Harian and Utusan Melayu), the total number of news items that were positive towards BN among all four major newspapers were roughly 40% and above. The other part of the percentage went straight to new items that were negative towards the opposition. Only a slight number of news (4% and below) were negative new items towards BN. Mustafa (2005) also highlighted sample of headlines used by these newspapers that gave an idea of slant news reporting; Malaysians prefer Pak Lahs vision of Islam (NST, March 15 2004), Perlis merana jika pilih pembangang (Perlis suffers if opposition is voted) (Utusan Melayu, March 16 2004 ) This shows a high level of bias coverage within the highly influential mainstream newspapers during the 2004 general elections. Another research presented by Ramanathan (2008) consists of a two month content analysis on how the mainstream media presents their reports on the 2008 general elections. Choosing newspapers in four languages (English, Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Mandrin) and the new media; internet, online newspapers and SMS as well as monitoring commentaries by selected television channels such as RTM, CNN and Channel News Asia on a selective basis. According to research, the type of coverage done by five of the mainstream newspapers was sided towards pro-BN stories. 277 stories analysed from Utusan Malaysia has 155 pro-BN stories, 56 pro- opposition and 66 neutral. The Star had a total of 153 stories analysed, 100 were pro-BN and only 22 were pro-opposition. Nanyang Siang Pau had 118 stories, 74 of them pro-BN and 26 pro-opposition. For Tamil newspapers, a qualitative analysis was undertaken that led to conclusions of since Tamil Nesan was being majority owned by Datin Indrani Samy Velu, the newspaper printed many stories featuring Dato Samy Velu and prominent MIC politicians and there were hardly any coverage given to Indian candidates form opposition political parties. The mainstream media weakens the openness of presenting political news to society. If democracy is all about the peoples right to oppose, to provide critiques with the role of media to influence the people, they are not giving much of a decision or choice to begin with. Of course there are minimal parts where the government values and would take into consideration the opinions of the people. For example, the topic of teaching Maths and Science in English (PPSMI), society is free to give out comments and opinions on what they think about the topic. People are writing in to newspapers, taking part in massive forums to state their opinion and to fight for what they stand for and the government values the opinion of the people in this case. Why cannot this be the same with political issues? After all, it is the political opinion and stands made by the public that would contribute to the democracy of the country. Some may say that the alternative works as a perfect place for independent journalism; however it is still closely monitored by the authorities. Blogs and online publications are beginning to worry the Malaysian authorities enough to re-consider the existing policy of non-regulation of the Internet and to call for some controls over the content (Ramanathan, 2008) A clear example was when Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of alternative news Portal Malaysia Today was charged with publishing a seditious article on 25 May 2008 with the title, Lets send Altantuya murderers to hell. Raja was the first blogger to be charged under a sedition act where he claim trail but refused to post bail. Six months after detention under the ISA, Raja was released with no charges being filed against him. Accountability The tight gate-keeping and censorship practised by the government over the mainstream media influences the accountability of democracy. The government does not like reports that are too critical; therefore the responsibility to forming a democracy country is limited due to the restrain in reporting. During the general election in 2008, Ramanathan (2008) analyzed two-months prior to and after the elections, the mainstream media did coverages on upbeat stories about Barisan Nationals chances and dismissed the oppositions chances. Among them were: a two-page focus on Issues close to the heart featuring an in-depth interview with Abdullah, an article titled Guan Eng not a threat in Penang dismissed the chances of opposition leader Lim Guan Eng in capturing the state government in Penang and instead Lim won handsomely. With slanted reporting like this, the accountability of the government would be doubted by the public hence would give the public the opportunity to opt for something else which they did in the 2008 general election whereby BN suffered one of their worst lost because the public opted for an alternative media. This incident brought the alternative media to a different level when weblogs, text messages and copies of Internet-streamed videos became the most influential information sources for voters ahead that resulted in a surprise blow to the BN) party, which has ruled the country for more than 50 years. The media holds the representative responsible for taking care of the the people so what happens when these politicians lose in an election? How would they answer to accountability? The innocent death of Teo Beng Hock signifies a crisis of confidence in Malaysian democracy and accountability. Many critics, including those in the current government, argues that restrictions were put in place at a time when they were needed and that preventing public discussion of certain issues is not only counter-productive but it is also futile (Ramanathan, 2008) With the support towards the alternative media and the growing public sphere, the results from the 2008 election are bound to bring about greater freedom of expression. Though the responsibility of the democracy is in hand, there are some heartening post-election developments; The Home Affairs Ministry approved in April 2008 an application for a permit from the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to publish its party newspaper. With such actions, this would indeed encourage and strengthen the accountability of the peoples perception towards the countrys democracy. Conclusion The mainstream media needs to loosen its strings and start to bring greater media liberalisation to unclog the clouds of uncertainty and doubt in the minds of society. The alternative media is not enough. Society needs to hear the truth from the government. Only then can the country achieve great democracy.

Edgar Allan Poe and His Works Essay -- Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

Thesis: Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most influential, yet misunderstood writers in American Literature. I. His Early Life A. His Adoption B. His Education II. His Later Life A. Books Published B. Military Life III. The Conclusion of His Life A. His Marriage B. His Death IV. His Works V. What Others Thought Of Him Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, known as a poet and critic but most famous as the first master of the short story form, especially tales of the mysterious and macabre. Since his early death, the literary qualities of Poe's writings have been disputed, but his works have remained popular and he influenced many major American and European writers. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Poe was orphaned in his early childhood and was raised by John Allan, a successful businessman of Richmond, Virginia. Taken by the Allan family to England at the age of six, Poe was enrolled in a private school. Upon returning to the United States in 1820, he continued to study in private schools. He attended the University of Virginia for a year, but in 1827 his foster father, displeased by the young man's drinking and gambling, refused to pay his debts and forced Poe to work as a bookkeeper. (Anderson, 9-22). Poe quit this job, which infuriated John Allan. Poe then left and moved to Boston. There he published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems. After this, Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army and served a two-year term. Poe published his second book of poems, Al Araaf in 1829. Poe then reunited with Allan, who obtained him an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. After only a few months at the academy, Poe was dismissed for neglect of duty, and John Allan disowned him permanently (Anderson, 23-34). P... ...nius." (Regan, 1) While some loved him, others despised him; almost all recognized the value of his works. WORKS CITED Anderson, Madelyn Klein. Edgar Allan Poe: A Mystery. New York: Justin Books, Ltd., 1993 Buranelli, Vincent. Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1961 The Collected Poems and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: The Modern Library, 1992. Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1966. Fisher, Benjamin F. The Cambridge Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print. Kesterson, David B., ed. Critics on Poe. Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1973. Regan, Robert, ed. Poe. A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1967. Stoudt, Ashley, ed. "An Edgar Allan Poe Reader". State Street Press, 2000.

Knowledge in Stevensons The Beach of Falesa and Stokers Dracula Essay

Knowledge in Stevenson's The Beach of Falesa and Stoker's Dracula Several works of late 19th century British imperial literature contrast the role of information with the role of superstition in colonial encounters. Looking at Stevenson’s â€Å"The Beach of Falesa† and Stoker’s Dracula, we see that information plays an important role in both British and non-British characters’ abilities to dominate over their opponents. However, each of these works differs in its treatment of rational and irrational forms of knowledge. In â€Å"The Beach of Falesa,† the natives’ irrational belief in demons stands in contrast to the practical knowledge of the Europeans, which is shown as superior to knowledge based on superstition. The role of information in â€Å"The Beach of Falesa† also demonstrates that the high intellect of whites allows them to dominate over the native people whose land they colonize. Stoker’s Dracula counters this point by illustrating that both Europeans and their non-European oppo nents can use information as a tool for domination and conquest. While â€Å"The Beach of Falesa† portrays rational forms of knowledge as superior to beliefs in magic or folklore, Dracula shows the importance of utilizing multiple types of information in defeating the enemy. Comparing Dracula to Stevenson’s â€Å"The Beach of Falesa,† Stoker uses the theme of information to challenge the idea of a clear separation between Europeans and the â€Å"others† they encounter in imperial experience. In â€Å"The Beach of Falesa,† the protagonist Wiltshire asserts that the native Kanakas have a natural predisposition for superstitious beliefs. As he explores Case’s â€Å"devil’s bush,† Wiltshire tells the reader, â€Å"Any poor Kanaka brought up here in the dark, with the harp... ...defeat the enemy. By avoiding an overly simplistic connection between natives and magic and Europeans and science, Stoker forces the reader to consider a difficult question: if rationality and information does not distinguish the British from the â€Å"other,† then what does? While we may not be able to definitively characterize Stoker as a pro- or anti-imperialist based on the role he gives these types of information in Dracula, his novel shows how information can blur the distinction between Europeans and the â€Å"other.† Works Cited Bolt, Christine. â€Å"Race and the Victorians,† in British Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century, ed. C.C. Eldridge. St. Martin’s Press: 1984. Stevenson, Robert Louis. â€Å"The Beach of Falesa,† in Fictions of Empire, ed. John Kucich. Houghton Mifflin: 2003. Stoker, Bram. Dracula, ed. Glennis Byron. Broadview Press: 1998.

Meiji Japan, Colonialism and Beyond

The most influential aspects that would come out of Japan’s war with China, (the First Sino-Japanese War 1894-1895) and the war with Russia (Russo-Japanese War 1904 – 1905) did not occur during the wars themselves, but rather in the years following the conflicts. These wars were, essentially, the precursors to the Imperial Japan of World War Two infamy. The First Sino-Japanese War showed Japan that the reforms and modernizations of the Mieji Restoration were working as opposed to China’s Self Strengthening Movement that had been a domestic failure. â€Å"War was†¦declared on 1st August 1894, and although foreign observers had predicted an easy victory for the more massive Chinese forces, the Japanese had done a more successful job of modernizing, and they were better equipped and prepared. Japanese troops scored quick and overwhelming victories on both land and sea.†1   This war also established a relationship with western nations that resulted in tremendous improvements in Japan’s military. So profound were this improvements that Japan would later wage a successful war of for the â€Å"rights† to imperial interests against Russia that had a far superior military. In a way, Japan’s involvement in these wars did show the nation had developed similarities with Western nations beyond simply modernizing domestically in social and industrial terms. The foreign policy of Japan began to mimic the least desirable aspect of all of Western Europe’s foreign policy. This area of foreign policy was an emphasis on imperialism and colonization. The classical tradition of imperialism and colonization involved superior powered military incursions into other countries in order to conquer the nation, subjugate the people and strip the indigenous natural resources from the conquered nations. Winning the wars with China and Russia help set the stage for the coming of an Imperial Japan that would wage a massive war in the Pacific Seas during World War Two. By 1895 Japan was beginning to see the fruits of their labor as the defeat of China in several wars and the annexation of Taiwan brought Japan political recognition from many European countries.   Recognition from the European countries meant an escape from many of the treaties that had been forced upon Japan in the 1870’s, and an alliance with England in 1902.   Japan had finally won the respect of the developed world as a military power; however, they were still viewed as an inferior culture and were not afforded the same courtesies as predominantly Anglo-Saxon nations.2 With the war with China, Japan established a foothold as a colonizing empire as it would claim Korea as the prize for its expansion. With Russia, the victory was even more complex. In the part of the world where Japan resides, the bulk of the colonial incursions and wars were bought between eastern nations and western nations as well as eastern nations vs. other eastern nations. Japan’s victory against Russia marked the first time an eastern power defeated a western power in a war, the shockwaves of which reverberated throughout the world. Japan’s standing had greatly increased while Russia’s standing was greatly diminished. For Russia, the loss was yet another link in the chain of events that would lead to the Bolshevik Revolution and for Japan, the second link in the chain (a second victorious war) that would lead to Japan’s brutal World War Two imperialist fantasies was solidified. Imperial powers are amoral, but they are not suicidal. That is, it is rare that imperial expansions are undertaken against strong or powerful nations. Japan’s wins in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Japanese-Russian War were important in the sense that, for lack of a better explanation, saw Japan gain valuable experience in the art of waging war. Furthermore, they established to the world that they were a viable, major power. More importantly, internally, the wins provided feedback to the rulers that Japan’s military strategies worked and that their army and navy was indeed formidable. The seeds were planted with these victories that laid the foundation for even further expansions that would result in the World War Two’s War in the Pacific. Imperialist nations to not launch wars that they feel they are going to lose. In terms of colonizing, a loss would be self-defeating and a drain of the nation. A successful colonization incursion eventually pays for itself by way of the colonized nation providing wealth in terms of losing the rewards of its natural resources. The victories in the wars with China and Russia emboldened Japan to have faith enough in itself to join the Axis powers. The expansion of the military from its victories against China and Russia lead to an immorality that would yield biological war in China and forced starvation in the Philippines. The mere fact that Japan attacked a superpower the size of the United States speaks volumes for the confidence Japan had in its military prowess. On the surface, these two wars Japan was involved with were seemingly successful and expanded Japan’s colonial interests and ambitions, but ultimately, the wars proved disastrous as they were step towards Japan’s downfall World War Two only brought Japan defeat, humiliation and devastation via the Atomic Bomb. Works Cited Anon., â€Å"Imperial Japan†, available , Internet, accessed 05 November 2006. Russo-Japanese War Research Society, â€Å"Forerunners, The Sino-Japanese War†, available from http://www.russojapanesewar.com/phila-2.html, Internet, accessed 05 November 2006. National Clearinghouse for U.S.-Japan Studies, â€Å"Japan's Imperial Family†, available from http://www.indiana.edu/~japan/iguides/imperial.html, Internet, accessed 05 November 2006. 1 Russo-Japanese War Research Society, â€Å"Forerunners, The Sino-Japanese War†, available from   http://www.russojapanesewar.com/phila-2.html, Internet, accessed 05 November 2006. 2 Anon., â€Å"Imperial Japan†, available from http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jearnol2/ MeijiRestoration/imperial_japan.htm, Internet, accessed 05 November 2006.