Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Globalization Questionnaire Essay

Globalization is a shift toward a more interdependent and integrated world economy (Hill, 2009). The globalization of markets and the globalization of production are several factors of globalization. Advances in transportation and telecommunications make it possible for businesses to reach other countries. National economies are merging and material culture looks the same no matter where an individual is in the world. Mercantilism, absolute advantage, comparative advantage, new trade theory, Heckscher-Ohlin, product life-cycle, and national competitive advantage are all international trade theories. Drivers of Globalization One driver of globalization is the declining trade and investment barriers. Many decades ago, strict barriers to international trade and direct foreign investment existed (Hill, 2009). The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established to help countries work together in an effort to cut tariffs on industrial services, goods, and agriculture. The other driver of globalization is technological change. Advances in information processing, transportation, and the Internet have evolved since World War II (Hill, 2009). The microprocessor is the single most important innovation in technology. Microprocessors encode, transmit, and decode information. The rapid expansion of the Internet has become the information backbone of the global economy (2009). The Internet makes it easy for buyers and sellers to conduct business without having to leave their home or office. Transportation technology has advanced with the development of containerization, superfreighters, and commercial jets. Commercial jets have reduced the time it takes to get from one place to another and containerization has lowered the cost of shipping goods around the world. * Effects of Globalization on Community  The values and norms of an individual’s culture are influenced by social structure, language, religion, and education. Class-conscious societies are characterized by low social mobility and a high degree of stratification while less class-conscious societies are characterized by a low degree of stratification and high social mobility. Language has spoken and unspoken dimensions and countries with more than one language have more than one culture. Formal education is a way individuals are socialized into the values and norms of a society through learned skills. Religion is a system of shared beliefs and rituals.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

History And Effects Of Pesticide Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay

Pesticides have been known to be for 1000s of old ages. Sulfur combustion was a method used in ancient Sumer every bit good as ancient Rome for killing insects ; the Romans were besides known to utilize salt to kill weed ( Wikipedia,2010 ) . In the 1400s, lead, quicksilver and arsenic were efficaciously used for this intent. Similarly, in 1600s, the job of emmets was tackled by the usage of a mixture of honey and arsenic. In the later of portion of the 1800s, US husbandmans used assorted arsenites every bit good as baccy derived functions to command plagues. The greatest enlargement in the pesticides was seen after World War II. Chemicals like DDT, aldrin, diedrin and 2,4 – Calciferol came into usage due to their low cost and high grade of efficaciousness ( Delaplane, 1996 ) . DDT took the bar as pass overing out major part of vectors responsible for typhus and malaria. Although being in being since the latter half of nineteenth century, its true potency was understood in 1939 . It was so successful that the discoverer Paul M & A ; uuml ; llen was awarded Nobel award in 1948 for his accomplishment. It was non until 1962 when the land interrupting book of Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, made a connexion between environment pollution, major wellness jeopardies and DDT. Carson ( 1962 ) argued that the chemicals like DDT are non merely toxic to the insects but to the birds and fish every bit good. It was proposed that this was because of a direct mechanism every bit good as an indirect mechanism.Pesticides use in US and EU:After a prohibition on DDT ‘s usage in the US, the enthusiasm was shifted to production of newer compounds which were safer and better than the conventional 1s and methods of harvest production that discouraged plagues. Integrated pest direction ( IPM ) was introduced like a multipronged scheme to concentrate on newer harvest production methods, increased growing of pest-specific marauders and timing of pesticide spray so that maximal h arm to the plagues could be incurred finally increasing the output ( Delaplane, 1996 ) . It is interesting to observe that the pesticide ingestion has increased dramatically over the last 50 old ages. As opposed to 2kg/ha in 2004, in 1961, it was merely 0.49kg/ha. In one estimation, France and US spray 35 % and 20 % of their entire surface country severally every twelvemonth ( Goodplanet.info, 2010 ) . In malice of holding really powerful newer agents, the figures keep on lifting. Europe represents about one tierce of the universe pesticide market portion standing at 30 billion dollars a twelvemonth. North America and Asia constitute a one-fourth each. US is the taking consumer of the pesticide industry with a figure of 2.5kg/ha. Europe consumes 3kg /ha, while India is at merely 0.5kg/ha. In a study by PAN Europe ( 2007 ) , it was stated that the pesticide ingestion was on the rise despite newer agents that act at a lower dosage. This shows that the pest control is still dependent o n the usage of these merchandises.Pesticides use in United kingdom:It has to be mentioned that in UK the pesticides ‘ usage is controlled by the ( CRD ) .The board of directors controls chemicals ‘ usage where listed under REACH statute law which consist a portion of Europe ‘s statute law where came in force in June of 2007and is responsible for the chemicals ‘ rating, enrollment, limitation and mandate such as guaranting that the companies produce and at the same clip conveyance chemicals under a responsible and safe manner. Furthermore it ensures that the people give a high attending for the protection of the environment by any possible chemical ‘s effects. The CRD is the chief responsible for pesticides ‘ usage limitation in UK.Pesticides and their application:The large inquiry is why they are used†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? ? Harmonizing to a study, about one tierce of the agribusiness production is destroyed with the brunt faced by developing states bec ause of plagues. This amounts to a humongous 300 billion dollar one-year losingss with an mean output loss runing from 30 to 40 % ( Plucknett and Kagbo, 2010 ) . So to be faced that job at that place has been appeared particularly the last decennaries a expand usage of pesticides in agricultural industry. Pesticides are used to disrupt onslaughts of snails, animate beings, bullets and snails while at the same clip for the protection of public wellness killing animate beings like mosquitoes, mice and rats. More than 1600 types of different pesticides are listed in the Compendium of Pesticide Common Names. These are classified harmonizing to their country of action such as Herbicides, Insecticides and Nematicides. Other major classs include Acaricides, Antimicrobials, Attractants, Avicides, Fungicide, Molluscicides, Predacides, and Rodenticides ( Wood, 2010 ) . The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard and Guidelines to Classification 2009, divides these chemical comp ounds into Class Ia compounds, which are highly unsafe, Class Ib as extremely unsafe, Class II as reasonably unsafe, Class III as somewhat unsafe and Class U as improbable to be acutely unsafe based on LD50 for the mice.Mode of pesticides ‘ action:An of import fact worth adverting is that since there are a immense assortment of merchandises available for different types of plagues, likewise there is besides a enormous variableness in the mechanism of action of these pesticides. One chemical may move at one or more critical cellular tract of the plague. Harmonizing to Hayes ‘ Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology ( 2010, pp. 106 – 117 ) , this can be explained for a class of a chemical. Insecticides, Nematicides and Acaricides act as Acetylcholine esterase inhibitors or agonists. Some of them besides block glutamate gated chloride channels and mitochondrial composites. A assortment of them are ryanodine receptor modulators. Pyrethrum derived functions such as pyrethrins and pyrethroids that act on Na channels are speedy in action. Rodenticides may either organize an acute toxin such as phosphine in the tummy of the gnawer or cause hypercalcaemia. Examples include zinc phosphide and bromethalin. Warfarin may exercise an anti-coagulant consequence, therefore the animate being to spontaneously shed blood boulder clay it dies. Herbicides mark works specific mechanisms. They act on photosystems thereby interrupting the respiration of the weed. They besides block amino acid and fatty acerb synthesis and can besides do cell membrane break. Molluscicides disrupt cellular respiration of snails and bullets. Phasmohabditis hermaphrodita ; a infective roundworm, is a biological molluscicide.Behaviour and destiny of pesticides:Pesticides, when applied are either adsorbed, may be transferred to some other location or degraded into non-active constituents depending on the type of pesticide. Adsorption is a procedure by which these chemicals straight bind to the dirt atoms. Transportation is the phenomenon by which these compounds are dispersed off from the application site. Harmonizing to Nebguide ( 1993 ) , soaking up, harvest remotion, leaching, spray impetus and run off. Micro-organisms and workss uptake these compounds by soaking up. Mechanisms like volatilization and run off are of import as they distribute the pesticides to other location to eliminate the plagues but this is non ever the instance as it is besides one of the grounds of environmental pollution. Similarly, spray impetus causes these chemicals to be dispersed to other location at the clip of application. Leaching is dependent on the water-solubility of the pesticide and can either be downwards, upwards or sideways. Degradation takes topographic point either by, microbic action, Sun visible radiation or photodegradation or by a chemical reaction ( Nebguide,1993 ) .Pesticides in surface and land Waterss:In a survey by McBride ( 1989 ) , it has been postulated that H2O â₠¬Ëœs taint hazard is determined by features of the pesticide used, the features of dirt and the H2O volume ; A chemical with high H2O solubility, low dirt surface assimilation, high continuity applied on a coarse and low organic affair dirt with shallow land H2O and frequent irrigations has a high hazard of polluting H2O beginning. In an article by PAN Europe ( 2010 ) , Belgium, France, Netherlands and UK have highest pesticide taint in lowland river countries ; the one-year cost in cleaning up the H2O resource is around 170 million euros in UK yearly with a portion of this load go throughing on to the consumer.Practical solutions for pesticide pollution:Several techniques can be used to minimise the pesticide pollution. Integrated pest direction ( IPM ) is an first-class manner to get down with. It involves a holistic attack of choosing immune works species, cultivation and reconnoitering to minimise the chemical use. There should be repeated cheques on the harvests to mensurate th e pest population before a pesticide onslaught could be ensued. Crop rotary motion methods should be employed to deter the harmful beings. Educational plans should be encouraged so that all the persons involved in the procedure know precisely what they are making. This can be done by strong media runs backed by pertinent statute law. Research into biological and other non-chemical pesticides should be sought for. Pesticide choice should be appropriate and after usage disposal harmonizing to recommended manner. Tanks and reservoirs should ne'er be filled with pesticides while being close to a H2O reservoir to avoid taint. Preferably, a H2O beginning should be covered to forestall pollution. Detailed conditions prognosis should be taken into history before spraying to minimise run off and spray impetus. The equipment used should be in tip top form so that there are no leaks and droplet size is appropriate.

Person and Service Users Essay

Answer 1 As a trainer of many subjects, I must ensure that my own knowledge of the various legislation and regulatory requirements and codes of practice are current and up to date, which are often subject to change, in order that the information relayed to the candidates is correct. There are several key pieces of legislation that are paramount to the subjects I teach, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 determines that I have a duty of care to each candidate / assessors who attend any course I deliver. To comply with this a risk assessment of the training facilities is undertaken and reviewed upon every course run. In order to ensure the safety and welfare of the attendees a health and safety talk is conveyed making sure that all are aware of any potential hazards, fire evacuation procedures etc. Each attendee is made aware that they have a responsibility to ensure the safety of themselves and of those around them. Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) –This regulation dictates that lifting equipment used for lifting people is subject to a six monthly inspection by a competent person. Each hoist used to safely move people has a working emergency release to ensure that should the hoist fail the person is not stuck in mid air and is safely lowered to the floor within a short time. In order to ensure that candidates are physically able and have no medical issues a Health Declaration form is completed and signed by all attending the courses. Should any medical issues arise then a short talk to the candidate is conducted ascertaining there capabilities. Answer 2 I teach a variety of subjects and in a majority of the courses there is often mixed levels of knowledge and experience of the subject being taught. In order to achieve this information I introduce myself, explaining who I am and a brief description of my background and knowledge of the subject and then ask the class to introduce themselves and give a brief description of their experience if any of the subject. For those who have experience I explain that I value their input on the subject if they have any experiences on the area in which we are discussing. For the others who might be new to the subject I reassure that by the end of the course they will have a good working knowledge and confidence in the subject. Once in the classroom I would discuss the subject matter that I intend to teach and with this valuable assistance of PowerPoint’s start the course. Throughout the course I encourage class interaction, asking questions for the class to discuss and come up with the answer. Ensuring that all students are involved, encouraging an open discussion. As the majority of my client base is within the care industry the subjects I teach encourage equality and valuing diversity throughout as the main role of a carer is to promote independence of their service users and giving person centred care. Encouraging equality and valuing everyone’s opinion irrelevant of their background or culture, as we can learn from each other as we all have different life experiences. Answer 3 My role within lifelong learning is to make sure all candidates leave my courses learning at least one thing. And to deliver the course in a way that the feel valued and that their voice and opinion was heard. Answer 4 As a trainer I have found that one of the simplest ways to meet the needs of the learners to those I am teaching is by relating to real-life situations and circumstances that I have faced. If you bombard the clients with PowerPoint’s which are just full of facts that they are trying to memorise or record the information becomes more difficult to absorb and less likely to be retained. To promote additional learning a handout is produced, also in an easy to read manner for the learners to review to keep information fresh in their minds. I encourage all candidates to become better carers, by learning more about their service users illness or injury and how this affects their service users.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Internet Exercises Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Internet Exercises - Speech or Presentation Example By extreme we mean: far from what we would expect to observe if the null hypothesis is true. In other words, a small P-value indicates that observation of the test statistic would be unlikely if the null hypothesis is true. The lower the P-value, the more evidence there is in favor of rejecting the null hypothesis. The z-test for a mean is a statistical test for a population mean. The z-test can be used when the population is normal and ÏÆ' is known, or for any population when the sample size n is at least 30. The test statistic is the sample mean and the standardized test statistic is z. A chi-square test can be used to test if the variance (square of standard deviation) of a population is equal to a specified value. This test can be either a two-sided test or a one-sided test. The two-sided version tests against the alternative that the true variance is either less than or greater than the specified value. The one-sided version only tests in one direction. The choice of a two-sided or one-sided test is determined by the problem. For example, if we are testing a new process, we may only be concerned if its variability is greater than the variability of the current process. Sample Problem: A hospital administrator believes that the standard deviation of the number of people using outpatient surgery per day is greater than 8. A random sample 15 days is selected. The data are shown. At ÃŽ ± = 0.10, is there enough evidence to support the administrator’s claim? Assume the variable is normally distributed. Sample Problem: A researcher wanted to see if women varied more than men in weight.   Nine women and sixteen men were weighed.   The variance for the women was 525 and the variance for the men was 142.   What can be concluded at the 0.05 level of significance? Since we are testing to see if the variance for the women

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Integrated Enterprise System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Integrated Enterprise System - Essay Example There are various benefits that are associated with the implementation of ERP system by a business, which include improved network management, enhanced resource sharing, improved data accessibility and reduced infrastructural costs (Ray, 2011 p544). The implementation of ERP may take several models, which could be the workflow ERP implementation model that focuses majorly on the improvement of the channels through which information flows within an organization, or the partial ERP implementation model, which seeks to fix the areas of weakness in the information management system of a business, while retaining some of the traditional methods and approaches to information management, at the expense of overhauling the whole system (Glenn, 2008 p82). The successful implementation of the ERP system requires adherence to certain critical success factors, such as the top management commitment, selection of a competent project and technical team, as well as clear budgeting and goal setting. N evertheless, there are some factors that accounts for some companies tending to successfully implement ERP, while others experience failure. Such factors include the corporate culture of different organizations, inadequate training and the failure to plan properly and set realistic objectives by some organizations (Lam, 2007 p63). Table of Contents Clear budgeting and goal setting 6 Constituting a good team 6 Change management 7 Business process re-engineering 8 ERP implementation models 8 Workflow model 8 Partial implementation model 10 Why some companies tend to successfully implement ERP while others experience failure 11 Inadequate training 11 Corporate culture 12 Inadequate planning, budgeting and unrealistic expectations 12 The benefits of deploying ERP systems 13 Improved data accessibility 13 Saving on infrastructure costs 13 Resource sharing 14 Improved network management 14 Conclusion 14 Appendix 15 References 17 Introduction Information is the fundamental resource for any successful business, considering that it is through the access and use of the available information regarding the product, the customers’ needs, markets, the suppliers and the competitors, that a business is able to strategize its operations, so that the operations will suit into the existing business environment, and thus allow the business to thrive and overcome the challenges posed by the business environment, as well as the competitive forces. The modern business environment has become increasingly competitive, owing to the advancement in technologies, changing customer needs and preferences, stringent legal requirements controlling the business environment, as well as the improved modern infrastructure that allows for easier accessibility to products and services (Leon, 2008 p57). Therefore, the modern business strategies are focused on surviving in the face of stiff competition, through the application of information as the main business resource to meets the needs of the customers, while also fitting into the current business environment. This necessitates the need for a suitable information management system, which allows the business to operate smoothly internally, while also relating productively with the external business environment. It is this need that has seen the emergence and dominance of the

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Human Resource Management at McDonald's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Resource Management at McDonald's - Essay Example Much of the time, employees are motivated by their working environment and thus some of these employees rise to top positions with in the company. Fairhurst claims that about 80% of service crews advance to store managerial positions, serving the company for 10 years on the average ("HR challenges... I'm lovin' It, 2005"). It is a fact that McDonald's is one of the top fastfood chains in the world, serving 50 million people daily in their 30,000 restaurants spread in over 119 countries worldwide. McDonald's actually started small by a certain Czech-American entrepreneur from the town of Plzen named Raymond Albert Kroc. Kroc was originally a salesman who sold five-spindled milk shakers called "Multi-mixers". His interest in providing fastfood to people was aroused when he heard of a hamburger stand in California that operates 8 Multi-mixers at a time in 1954 ("Mc Donald's History, n.d.") Kroc then met the McDonald brothers Dick and Mac, to which he immediately proposed the concept of a chain of fastfood restaurants named after themselves. Through the Kroc and the McDonald's brother's collaboration, the first McDonald's restaurant opened in Des Plaines in Illinois ("Fascinating Mc Facts, 2005"). Kroc then propagated the McDonald's chain through franchising, in which he is considered as one of the proponents of the system. Currently, 73% of McDonald's restaurants are owned by about 5,400 independent franchisees all over the world. McDonald's is also considered as a pioneer of specific menus and systems that cater to their specific clients ("Mc Donald's Corporate Responsibility Report"). One good thing about the franchise system allows the franchisees to handle restaurant operations and the workforce under them if they are trained and guided well. At present, McDonald's has a 1.6 million strong workforce, with only 398,000 people hired directly by the company. While each restaurant is responsible for individual policies they may have on bringing in, compensating and rewarding their employees, franchisees or independent owners, are required to promote a general set of "people practices" espoused by the company. This is checked through regular assessment of restaurant operations and recommendations by corporate specialists on training and research ("Mc Donald's Corporate Responsibility Report 2004 (Supplement)") 60% of McDonald's employees (or "crew" as they are commonly called) is 16-21 years old. The average crew member handles such tasks as cleaning the floors, waiting tables, cooking etc., garnering free meals and other benefits while earning by the hour. For most of the crew, employment at McDonald's is their first step into the "real world" and although some may leave the company for another job some stay in the company at an average of 1.6 years ("Tootelian, n.d.") This employee loyalty is attributed to the company's excellent Human Resources training and policies which specifically targets the development of basic workplace skills and attitudes among its employees. As the crew gains experience, they are given opportunities to be assimilated into the company to handle leadership and management roles while some may move on to other companies. Company personalities such as Mc

Friday, July 26, 2019

Understanding Company Accounts and reports Essay

Understanding Company Accounts and reports - Essay Example By monitoring their usage of these essential metrics, organizations are able to reduce their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, they are able to identify and choose operational procedures which are environmental friendly. Cost saving is another essential benefit that accrue from the environmental accounting and reporting. Organizations are taking environmental accounting and reporting regulations very serious. For example in Europe, environmental accounting regulations have been put and organizations are required strictly to adhere to them to them. In Europe, a tradition has been established that requires the organizations to recognize not only an economic, but also the social role of their statutory information in which environmental accounting and reporting is part. The European Union Action Programmes on the Environment have done massive work by actively calling the enterprises to disclose details of environmental policy and activities as part of their annual accounting reports. They are also required to disclose details of their expenses on various environmental programmes both at national and international level. This body also demands the enterprise to make provisions for environmental risks and their future environmental expenses (Crowther 2000). Although the environmental accounting and reporting has not been made a statutory requirement in Europe, many members of European Union have adopted and follow it. Currently, there are many national environmental accounting regulators in Europe that are designed to address the issue of environmental accounting reporting. Spain and Denmark have been on the forefront of making these regulations. For example, the Danish Environmental Protection Act requires companies operating within Denmark to accompany their annual financial reports or statements with green reports. This green report

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Data Collection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data Collection - Assignment Example of the sources used by victimologists in USA include the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and the National Crime Victimization (NCVS). This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each of these resources and gives the similarities and differences of each. It also explains how official statistics can be used to indicate trends and how victimologists can utilize data from these sources. The UCR is a national data resource that compiles crimes from local police departments on an annual basis (Karmen, 2010). According to Crime and Criminal Justice (n.d.), the UCR program collects statistics for the following crime statistics: Data available from the UCR program is thoroughly examined before publishing. It compiles vast information of published tables, which are used to track crime trends across the states (Crime and Criminal Justice, n.d.). UCR carefully studies deviations that may result in errors since accuracy is critical component for any reporting. Preliminary reports for the previous year are released in spring, and the Crime in the United States, which is a more comprehensive report, is released in the fall (Crime and Criminal Justice, n.d.). This report has data on number of crimes, trends, arrested people, cleared crimes, homicides and offender characteristics including the relationships and used weapons. This report is, therefore, readily available with all the necessary statistics one would require. The UCR program provides data at different levels (Crime and Criminal Justice, n.d.). Many law enforcement agencies participate including the state, municipality, county, tribal and also universities and colleges. The UCR reports crimes that are only known to the police. This is because most victims of crime do not document their experiences with the law enforcement agencies that participate in this program. There is, therefore, underestimation of both the prevalence and incidence of crime. This program

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Customer Service Training Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Customer Service Training - Assignment Example he paper will identify ways through which deficiencies would be eliminated by justifying the use of needs assessment of the company’s given employee training program. Undoubtedly, training can play a vital role for the success of an organization. Organizations (associated with customer service specifically) hold various training sessions as it is one of the appropriate techniques to meet the goals and objectives and to attain efficient production. Training session for new employees helps them to settle in the fresh new environment and get used to with the company’s policies. Furthermore, these training sessions also helps the new employees regarding the better use of technology and IT (Handy, 2008). Since customer service is a very delicate and important aspect for any business, therefore, it should be noted that the new employees must learn ways through which they can perform better. Also, it can create a steadfast team of their own that has the tendency to overcome issues and fulfill the customer requirements under every circumstance (Marquardt, 2000). The best way to hold a training session for the new employees is through needs assessment technique. There is an avid need to identify the loopholes or the actual training needs that are required by the company, and should be prioritized. For example in the present case of training new employees, there is an obvious need to address them the basic rules and policies of the company regarding customer services and how it stands out in the market. Furthermore, there are numerous tasks and functions that cannot be done without proper training or guidance, for example, the use of technology / IT in the company, etc. This approach would result in paramount returns by investing time and training on the employees by correctly identifying the basic needs, issues in customer service, and other work related queries, while it also helps inappropriately appointing the right employee at the right place (Evenson,

History Discussion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

History Discussion - Research Paper Example Puritans and the Pilgrims were the initial settlers of New England. The economy was majorly based on lumbering, subsistence farming and manufacturing.Fishing, trade and fish building was also practiced. The pilgrims at around 1920 established a church that they wanted to be free from government interference and free from the Church of England. This ambition neccesited their movement to New England resulting to the establishment of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. The New Netherlands was the main trading partner of New England during this period. Moreover, the New England City was more prosperous and independent than Chesapeake colonies with major emphasis laid to slave labor because services were readily available due to influx of slavery. In addition, the economic base of mid colonies majorly depended on both wage and family labor. Both the male and the female slaves worked as domestics. Majority of the poor enslaved men were wagoners, artisans and carters (Jefferson 51-53). In conclusion, slavery was legalized in all thirteen American colonies prior to the American Revolution.However, slavery played different economic and social roles in each of the regions and this mainly depended on slavery management and the size of slaves enslaved. The most common factor among them all without doubt is that they all legalized slavery until the American Revolution changed

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Task 2-5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Task 2-5 - Assignment Example The availability of new and efficient technologies will facilitate the printing of the T-shirts at a relatively lower cost and consequently lead to provision of the T-shirts at a reason and affordable prices to the students. The digital printing of t-shirts with funny quotes and university logo will not only provide high profits to the university but will also boost promotion of the university thus reducing the cost of advertisements incurred in the normal promoting and advertisements (Mitchell, 2009) When students wear this T-shirts around, they will have the feeling of ownership of their university. This will attract other individuals who may be willing to join the university and thus increase the market share of the digital printed t-shirts though increased numbers of students in the university. Infrastructure; Identify the significant activities in executing the businesses value proposition that would be through creating an effective supply chain of t-shirts. Identify key resources of the venture to sustain the business this should the workforce and the finances. The university shall establish effective relationship with the students to continue buying the product. Offering; According to Alexander (2004), a business value proposition is the differentness from similar organizations in the industry. This provides added value in differing ways for example; product design, brand, price, cost reduction, accessibility, and convenience. The university will look it the factor to ensure client satisfaction. Cost Structure: This is most important monetary consequences while in operation, the university must adopt either cost driven or value driven cost structure. Based on the ability of students to consume the university must be able to produce products that are both of high quality while they are cost effective, this will ensure survival of the business. Visualize the capability

Monday, July 22, 2019

Online Behaviors And Impression Management Essay Example for Free

Online Behaviors And Impression Management Essay Introduction With the rapid development of technology, the Internet has become an effective mechanism for social networking. People can not deny the fact that a successful social networking is more possible to lead a successful life. A personal impression serves as an important role in establishing new networks and managing old ones. It was proved that people have more opportunities presenting themselves in the computer-coordinated communication settings than face-to-face environments. Therefore, regardless of generations, the ways how people interact with one another have been greatly changed by online social sites. The purpose of this study is to understand how people utilize online social sites to manage their personal impression and how they behave on social media; also, people utilize social media in order to gratify their social needs such as their friendship maintenance. The thesis of this paper is that social media influences personal behaviors as well as their impression management and it also has positive impacts on people friendships performance. Personal Behavior on Social Media Individual behaviors may be restrained because of their awareness that their behaviors might possibly be seen by other people, and the fact that people tempt to look more appealing in any social occasions is obvious (Jeong, 2011). Since social media is served as a platform which is opened to public, people tend to pay more attention to how they appear and behave online. An experiment from Denton (2012) indicates that participants within heterogeneous networks such as Facebook have more desire to shift their impressions to others. A heterogeneous network is a network which is established for people without same interests, religions or common interests; in other words, people are able to speak or act freely on those websites. This experiment explains further that people manage or even shift their image based on others views and attitudes. According to Cummings (2012), the setting of profiles provides an opportunity for ones’ social life; people put effort into presenting a better image which aims at influencing others within the network. Jeong (2012) also declares that the process in which individuals attempt to control their impression with others is called â€Å"impression management†. Impression management can be used interchangeably with the term â€Å"self-presentation†, and its goal is to elevate people’s public image by performing behaviors based on how others evaluate them. Jeong also states that impression management usually occurs together with social desirability. Social desirability is defined as an individual’s tendency to describe themselves and behave in a manner in which they believe they will be viewed favorably in a situation. Moreover, Jeong also points out three main characteristics of self-presentation in online media platforms. They are asynchronous, malleable and selective. Asynchronous means that people can edit and update self-presentational cues deliberately over time. Malleable means people can simply manipulate those cues. Denton (2012) explains further by stating that people behave differently in different situations or interact with different people with whom they have specific relationships. For example, a lazy and incompetent employee may spend his evening as a passionate and assiduous worker volunteer or he behaves as a hard-working worker only under supervision; in this case, employers might misunderstand that he is truly a diligent worker. Thirdly, selective means people can improve their impression by choosing specific cues. Jeong explains this term by giving an example that individuals are more likely to donate or show their supports for charity campaigns as long as they realize that their participation would be noticeable to other people. Besides, there are some companies tend to elevate their images by sponsoring nonprofit organizations. To conclude, in general, people tend to behave favorably and try to create a positive impression to others on social media. Impression Management on Social Media Social media has been a new and easy platform for people managing their impression. Sameer (2007) states that document preparation programs make it relatively easy to manipulate the appearance of profiles; also, programmability helps people keep track of contents to the audience, and browser application provide an easy way to distribute the original or modified profiles. Therefore, Krisanic (2008) concludes from her research that impression management has been commonly carried out by those who involved in social networking activities. Jeong (2011) also states that online media platforms are expected to provide people with a greater opportunity for impression management, and because of its â€Å"public display† which enables participants to articulate and make their social networks more manifest; furthermore, Ellison (2008) declares that this kind of â€Å"public display of connection† serves as important signal that helps people navigate their networked social world. Cummings (2012) supports his idea. He points out that social network sites provide people a channel to present themselves digitally, and also gives them another way to provide details about themselves and establish or maintain their relationships in their own social network. Also, profile owners are not the only ones who are able to provide information on their own pages. Most sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn allow those who are involved in the connection to create additional information, and the use of wall posts and the recommendation are the examples (Cummings, 2012). All in all, the main characteristics of social network sites include the capability to make connection between people and share personal information; on top of that, it offers an easy way for people to manage their personal impressions. Friendships Performance on Social Media The articulation of friendship connections is another facet of impression management; it might possibly be viewed from others as an identity marker to profile owners (boyd Ellison, 2008). Although boyd and Ellison argue that online audiences’ comments may dominate user behaviors, Vallor (2012) thinks that those interactions are part of the reciprocity which serves a prime function maintaining friendships. Reciprocity is an original biological stimulus that operates as the core of human sociology and is the mutual characteristic of different types of friendships (Vallor, 2012). Take Facebook as an example, reciprocity emerge with diverse forms; it begins with the friend requests and accepting invitations correspondingly, responding to friends’ status by pressing â€Å"like† button, sharing photos and videos online, comments on friends’ status, and â€Å"tag† friends on pictures or posts. Therefore, a study from Vallor (2012) shows that instead of di minishing people’s interactions in their real lives, online social sites actually extend chances for such interaction. Vallor (2012) also declares that social media can support friendships. Many social network sites allow additional information, and which encourage people to list hobbies, post photos, and interact with other individuals within the network (Cummings, 2012). Furthermore, social network sites help individuals to manage contacts beyond traditional software like outlook, and they also help incorporate visual information such as pictures of contacts (Cummings, 2012); hence, the online social media offers a precious function of recombining efficiently with friends in the past (Vallor, 2012). To conclude, it is true that these sites help participants perceiving more sense of social value and connection; also, social network sites help reinforce participant’s desire to maintain their friendships (Vallor, 2012). Conclusion As online social networking sites as a new media technology comes out in our society, individuals have more opportunity than ever before to present themselves in public by using them. These sites allow users to make self-presentation by creating their own profile pictures, personal information, photos, videos, and their activities. Impression management is related to social networking sites use because individuals tend to develop different self-presentation depending on the audiences online. From those studies we were discussed, people tend to behave favorable to their audiences. However, the authenticity of profile information comes into concern since everything that shows on people’s profiles may dominate their images to others; whether this fact leads to negative problem of social networking sites may still need to be further investigated and researched. From another aspect, we can conclude that social networking sites have a positive impact on friendship performance. Although some studies argue that the online social networking sites may damage the traditional meaning of friendship, it serves as a valuable tool maintaining the friendship in people real lives. All in all, social network sites if manage properly; they can of course offer very concrete benefits to people social networking lives. References boyd, D. Ellison, N. (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. (pp. 219-220). Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(2008) 210-230. Cummings, J. (2012). Virtual First Impression Matter: The effect of social networking sites on Impression formation in virtual teams. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses 2012 pg. n/a Ellison, A. S. W. (2012). Impression Formation in a Social Network Context. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses 2012 pg. n/a Jeong, H. J. (2011). The Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Campaigns on Consumer Responses to Brand in Social Media: Impression Management Perspectives. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses 2011 pg. n/a Krisanic, K. (2008). Motivation and Impression Management: Predictors of social networking site use and users behaviors. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses 2008 pg. n/a Sameer, B. (2008). First Impression formation in electronic profiles. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses 2008 pg. n/a Vallor, S. (2011). Flo urishing on Facebook: virtue friendship new social media. Springer Science and Business Media B.V. 2011

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Overview Of The Hotel Industry Tourism Essay

Overview Of The Hotel Industry Tourism Essay The hotel industry is any types or forms of business relating to the provision of accommodation in lodging, food and drinks and various types of other services that are interconnected and which are intended for public service, both of which use the lodging facilities or who simply use the services or the production of certain of the hotel. Hotels offer enormous range of guests services such as banqueting, conference and fitness, sport and facilities, beauty spas, bars, sophisticated restaurant, casinos, night clubs and casinos. The Hotel sector consists of more than 15% of all the people who worked in the hospitality sector. Hotels falls into a number of different categories which includes the glamorous five-star resort international luxury chains, trendy boutiques, country house, conference, leisure or guest houses. Many are owner run which offer personalised service to guests. This very dynamic sector offers good quality accommodation, great variety of food and beverage, together with other services for all types of customers. With offering every kind of accommodation catering for every type of taste, the hotel sector is undeniably constantly growing and evolving, while refining its offering, improving its experience and creating new products to serve and satisfy customer on a local and global level. The hotel sector is always striving to offer excellent customer service throughout its operations. History of the Hotel Industry The history of the hospitality industry dates all the way back to the Colonial Period in the late 1700s. The hotel industry has been the subject of important development and growth over the years as it has faced World Wars, The Depression and various social changes. However, the hotel industry as seen today takes form in the early 1950s and 60s, leading the way for growth in to the dynamic industry. This had led to more and more people traveling not only for business but also for leisure reasons, leading to the development which can be seen nowadays. The idea of renting an accommodation to visitors appeared since ancient times, and the modern concept of a hotel as we know derives from 1794, when the  City Hotel opened in New York City; the City Hotel was claimed to be the first building designed exclusively to  hotel operations. The City hotel back then possessed 73 rooms and offered different types of service. Similar operations soon appeared in such nearby cities as Baltimore, Boston in 1809 and Philadelphia.   The  industrial revolution, which started in the 1760s, facilitated the construction of hotels everywhere, in mainland Europe, in England and in America. The advent of new ways of transportations, hotels and resorts outside of major cities were built in the countryside and began promoting their scenery and other attractions. The concept of the vacation was developed and available to more and more of the population. In the 1920s, hotel building entered a boom phase and many famous hotels were opened, From there a surge of hotels flooded American and the rest of the world with prominent names such as Radisson, Marriot, Hilton and more others. Organisations representing hotels worldwide The growth and expansion of the Tourism industry all over the world have been beyond expectation, whereby this have generated billions for recipient countries, hence making the tourism industry one of the most successful sector in international trade in services, while being for some economies their major exports. However, the hotel industry is a very dynamic sector which often faced economically difficult times reason why there has been the creation of several world organisations to monitor progress, promote and developed sustainable tourism in the hotel industry. The following are some of the world leading organisations representing the tourism and travel, and hotel industry throughout the world: i) World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) The (UNWTO) is one of the United Nations agencies, which is accountable for the advancement of responsible and sustainable tourism. Being the Word leading organization in the tourism sector, UNWTO promotes tourism as a mean for economic growth, development and environmental sustainability and offers the monitoring and assistance to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide. The UNWTO also encourages the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, to maximize tourisms socio-economic contribution, and is committed to promoting tourism as a tool in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aims is towards poverty alleviation and encouraging sustainable development. Moreover, the UNWTO plays also major roles in creating market knowledge, promotes competitive and sustainable tourism policies and instruments, fosters tourism education and training ii) International Hotel Restaurant Association (IHRA) The  IHRA is an international trade association representing the interests of the  hotel  and  restaurant industries. IHRA members are national hotel and restaurant associations throughout the world, and international and national hotel and restaurant chains representing some 50 brands. Officially recognized by the  United Nations, IHRA monitors international agencies on behalf of the industry, estimated to comprise 300,000 hotels and 8 million restaurants, employs 60 million people and contributes 950 billion USD annually to the global economy. iii) HSMAI Hospitality Sales Marketing Association International The Hospitality Sales Marketing Association International is the largest international association of travel sales and marketing professionals. The association have over 4,000 members from different travel and tourism organisations including hotels, resorts, airlines, cruise lines, car rental agencies, and others in 31 countries worldwide, with the purpose of improving sales and marketing, education and management skills in the hospitality organisations worldwide. iv) The  World Travel Tourism Council  (WTTC) The World Travel Tourism Council is the global authority on the economic and social contribution of Travel Tourism. It promotes sustainable growth for the industry, working with governments and international institutions to create jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity. It is the only body representing the private sector in all parts of the Travel Tourism industry worldwide. The WTTC activities attempt to settle the Travel Tourism industrys private and public sector affairs in order to bring forward sustainable change. Growth of Hotel Industry Worldwide . The rise in levels of  income  and standard of living  but also coupled with an increase in  leisure time has been especially beneficial to the tourism industry. The advent of  technological progress particularly through higher capacity cruise ships and aircrafts,  computerized reservation systems, better road transport facilities have played key roles in the global growth of hotel industry. Moreover, enhanced productivity have been favourable to the industry by helping to cut costs and making travel and tourism products more affordable without ignoring the fact that travel and tourism is now more  safe and secure  despite the terrorist attack which threatens the industry. As competition in the industry increases worldwide, the customers have reap great benefits in terms of   lower prices  coupled from a wider choice  as the organizations have to  differentiate their products  from the crowd to appeal to specific market segments but also strive to enhance the quality of their services.   More and more innovative approaches to marketing and promotion and creation  of new products are pulling the demand to the destinations. The  governments as a facilitator, fund provider and legislator  have also had played its part on the development of the industry.   New consumer needs and attitudes  have also fuelled the growth of specific segments for instance ecotourism is booming. One other factor but not the least is the increased  level of economic activity  which has led to an increase in business travel and also the growing trend of international mobility. Despite global economic challenges, hotel developments continue to progress, with new rooms injected into global supply by both independent hotels and group. Statistics According to the UN World Tourism Organisation, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide was at only 25 million in 1950 is now set to reach 1 billion in 2012 and 1.8 billion by 2020 In an update of forecasts made at the beginning of the year, the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts growth for the Travel Tourism globally of 2.7%, only slightly downgraded from the 2.8% that was expected for the industry at the beginning of the year. The main reasons for the adverse trends are that WTTC expects world GDP growth to be 2.3% in 2012; down 0.2% from the beginning of the year. The trend for Travel Tourism figures has been positive for the beginning of 2012 and has surpassed expectations from the start of the year. International tourist arrivals have grown 4.9% in the year from January to June, airline passenger traffic is up 6.8%, and hotel occupancy rates are up in many markets. In 2011 Travel Tourism accounted for 255 million jobs globally generating 9 per cent of world GDP while generating billions for host economies; explaining why the sector is a key driver for investment and economic growth. According to statistics from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), in 2008 an estimated 924 million international tourist arrivals, an increase of 1.76% compared to 2007. According to statistics from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), in 2008 international tourist arrivals amounted to 917 million visitors, representing an increase of 1.76% compared to 2007. In 2009, international tourist arrivals fell to 882 million, representing a worldwide decline of 4.4% over 2008. The worldwide destinations recorded a total of 600 million arrivals, International tourist arrivals in the whole world fell by 7% between January and August 2009, but the rate of decline has eased in recent months. These results and recent economic data, confirms UNWTOs initial forecast a 5% decrease in international tourist arrivals during the year 2009. Specifically, the global tourism in 2011 grew by 4.4 per cent, reaching $980 million international tourist arrivals. And the forecast for 2012 has just started, UNWTO expects grow that a somewhat lower rate, but allows to reach 1,000 million international tourists.

To What Extent Can Psychology Be Considered a Science?

To What Extent Can Psychology Be Considered a Science? Examine to what extent Psychology can be considered a Science Rebecca Harris Introduction The question can: ‘Psychology be considered a Science?’ It is important to understand what a Science is in relation to Psychology. Psychology is deemed as the scientific study of behaviour. Science is ‘a branch of knowledge conducted on objective principles involving the systematised observation of an experiment with phenomena.’ So can Psychology be a Science? Throughout this essay, deeper understanding of Psychological Methods and the aims of Science and how these link, will be looked at and investigated further. There are four basic principles of Science; truth, objectivity, realism and rationality. For psychology to be perceived as a science certain scientific methodology would be needed, these are: objective observation, evidence to back up an argument, an investigation to test the hypothesis, an induction which draws conclusions from facts or examples, repetition, critical analysis and verification and testing of the study. Empiricism, a scientific approach founded by philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), turned into a scientific method of enquiry that used both observation and experiments to gather facts and evidence that may have been needed. Scientific enquiry can be based upon two phrases: 1. Too do with theory and the foundation of hypotheses. 2. Empirical method, thus being experiments and observations. The main method of scientific enquiry would be the use of experiments. Using examinations make research more scientific. Important key features for an experiment are control over variables, in this case they would either be: Independent, dependent and extraneous. This particular approach would be a strength towards Psychology as a Science as cause and effect can be established due to the control over the experiments. A form of Empiricism is Logical Positivism. This theory suggests that sensory experience is our main and only source of information about the world we live in. There are two main claims for this theory: Knowledge Empiricism- The theory that the knowledge of the world is gained through evidence from our sensory experiences. The theory states that the meaning of a statement is determined by verifiability. Verification must be through observation. This is an advantage of Psychology as a Science as behaviour is looked at through observation and so therefore this means that verification can happen. Rationalism compared to Empiricism is that senses cannot be completely relied upon to provide knowledge needed. Knowledge can be gained by inductive reasoning, as long as it’s applied correctly. Rationalists look at the world we live in and see deeper meaning behind everything they see, implying that the world is not real. Empiricists see the world we’re living in as the true world and that everything we see does not have a deeper meaning. Idealism and realism are two philosophical terms that deal with our minds relationship with the world in which we live. Idealism: knowledge that the mind interprets what we see. The knowledge that constructs the mind and does not necessarily correspond to the on goings of the outside world. What we see is not really real. Realism: the idea that knowledge reveals the reality of the outside world. Thus meaning that, it is what it is, you see what you see. This is a disadvantage for Psychology as a Science as it can’t be proven or disproven that whether the world we live in is real or not. Locke took on the nature-nurture debate, the first part to the theory of behaviourism and came up with the idea that the human mind is a ‘tabula rasa’ meaning ‘blank slate’. In 1913 Watson gained the support that Wundt had lost and formed behaviourism. Wundt concentrated on introspection, however, Watson believed that this couldn’t be proved or disproved so decided to concentrate on the study of behavior. Behaviourism as a theory of Psychology was finally created. The overall meaning of behaviourism is to study the idea of the relationship between people’s environment and their behaviour, without application to hypothetical events happening within one’s head. The use of behaviour today can be seen as Scientific, helping mentally ill patients with behaviour modification and therapy to treat mental disorders. Modern behaviour now looks at mental processes like; imagery and attention, considered to be proper subject matter for scientific in vestigation. Positivism a form of behaviourism that uses experimental methods, as well as quantitative data. Conclusions are not derived from a subjective approach. The conscious can’t be objectively observed. It rejects emotions, feelings and mental processes and qualitative data is not used, so evidence that is collected is limited. Therefore not Scientific and disagrees with psychology as a Science. Social Constructionist: a social situation which we face, our behavior dependent upon the social situation so it’s not scientific. If people behave in a certain way then this leads to personality bias. Rather than looking at the behaviour in a social setting, research should be on the relative social construction. This looks at social cognition: what we think other people are thinking. This is a disadvantage to why psychology is a science as it’s difficult to apply research as the focus would be on subjective constructions. Critical Realism looks at experience, culture and history when conducting observations and theories. It applies scientific practice to multiple methods of data collection. We are aware of a situation and act critical about what we’re doing. It gives us ideas on how to research and it uses multiple approaches, so the comparison of results can take place. This is an advantage to why Psychology is a Science due to the multiple research methods used rigorously: including experimental method. A hypothetico-deductive method is a technique which involves observation of a participant. In order for the hypotheses to be classified scientific the researcher must generate a testable and realistic hypothesis, it must be falsifiable by recognized scientific methods. It can never be confirmed fully. Some predictions must be made, these are to be proved or disproved. The predictions must be directly testable for the hypothetico-deductive method to be valid. Trying to test the hypothesis that God exists would be difficult because there is no way to scientifically evaluate it. This is an advantage of why psychology is a science as observation, the gathering and collecting of data is used. Kuhn 1922-1996 was a historian and had a great impact on revolutionary psychology in the field of paradigms. The idea was to unite all thoughts and opinions on the subject. With the success of this came Psychologies biggest and most feared alienation: the inability for a universal paradigm. This is the greatest criticism to Psychologies claim to be Scientific. Kuhn himself gave psychology a name: Pseudo-Science. The fact that a universal paradigm can’t be formed means that this is a disadvantage towards Psychology as a Science, as all scientific methods should have paradigms. Popper 1902-1994 a philosopher with strong opinions towards whether Psychology is a Science. He believed that for a theory to be scientific it doesn’t have to be true. Facts can show theories to be wrong. He had two major concerns, the first was defending and maintaining the idea that Science does progress. This concern was built in the positivist account that facts can and do verify theories. Popper believed that this part of the society was being put at risk due to ‘pseudo-scientific’ theories that were not open to rejection, thus in particular: Freud and his idea of Psychoanalysis. Poppers view of falsification was a disadvantage of why Psychology is a Science as Freud and psychoanalysis led to the argument that psychological theories are not falsifiable. According to Kuhn; the lack of ecological validity is a disadvantage to why Psychology has a lack of acknowledgement within scientific communities. If a study was based on Behaviourism, a key theory of Psychology, then there are some key ideologies that the investigation should have: generalization, reinforcement and behaviour shaping. This in turn explains vast behaviours from language acquisition through too moral development. In Science, conclusions always remain true, however, in Psychology, this is not the case. When a piece of research is conducted in an artificial environment, the participants are aware of the study and may act and behave differently. This being demand characteristics, it affects the overall result, as there are no form of applications to everyday life. It can also be argued that; it’s low on the idea of application to real life due to the participants behaviour i.e. demand characteristics. This was showed in Piaget study of Conservation. In 1974 McGarrigle and Donaldson challenged Piaget. The children within the Piaget study were not in a natural setting and behaved socially correct and responded to demand characteristics. If a study is low in ecological validity then it isn’t really measuring how people behave in everyday life. The main problem for this is how to study characteristics of people who are aware of what they are doing. This is a disadvantage to Psychology being a science as participants are aware of the study and the unnatural setting. In conclusion to the question: Is Psychology a Science? There is no easy answer. Some of the approaches and studies do meet the guidelines that are required for Psychology to be a Science, however, others don’t. Psychology has merely progressed as a discipline as it models itself on the natural sciences. Although there are enough disadvantages and advantages to say whether Psychology is a Science, it will be an ongoing debate to which no-one will know the answer, you simply have an opinion that’s neither right nor wrong. REFERENCES Gross, R. (2010). Psychology The Science of Mind and Behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hatchett . McLeod, S. (2008). Psychology as a Science. Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/science-psychology.html. [Last Accessed 07/10/2014]. Bainbridge, A. Bradshaw, P. Latham, S. Lintern, F. (2008). OCR Psychology. 1st ed. Essex: Heinemann. Carlson, R. N. (1993). Psychology The Science of Behaviour. 4th ed. MA, USA: Allyn Bacon. Brysbaert, M. Rastle, K. (2012). Historical and conceptual issues in psychology. 2nd ed. London: Pearson . The Science Council. (2009). What is Science? Available at: http://www.sciencecouncil.org/definition. [Last Accessed 21/10/2014]. Group decision making: Communication theories Group decision making: Communication theories Functional Perspective On Group Decision Making Introduction Purpose The purpose of this report is introducing a theory and corresponding theorists of communication. Whereas also in this report I will be writing about the theorists, their theory and how I believe it relates to todays world. One other purpose of writing this report is to report what I think about how the theory could be useful in the Information Technology. Scope The extent of my research was the usage of the Library and internet surfing. Hours and hours were spent in the library searching for information on my topic and there was hardly any book with information on my theory but had information of related topics to my theory. So as on the internet the information given Limitations While preparing this report there were some limitations in the preparation of this report which includes the amount of time given to write this report because there was other assignments that I had to spend time on as well which was due a few days before this report is to be handed in. The limited time that I am able to access the computer here in school as I house Im living in do not have any computers. Other than that there was a lack of information got from the sources of information that I have searched on such as books from the library and books and articles from the internet and library databases. There was a lack of information available. Research Methods The few methods that I have used to obtain information were books from the library. This included my textbook. My textbook was the only book in the library that had information about my theory and some other books that I have read through had information that was related to my theory. I also obtained information from the internet although it provided some information on my theory but not so much or not enough. Lastly is I have contact with some of the ex-whitireia students who took IT, I contacted each one I know asking if they had come across my theory and if they could their knowledge of my theory with me. Structure Of The Report This report has six main parts and each part was organised according to the normal layout of a report. Besides the cover page this report started with an abstract which spots out the key ideas of what the whole report is going to be about, lead by the table of content which shows the number of pages for each content. Starting with the introduction which has six sub-headings, following is the findings or the main body of the report which has seven parts and following up is always the conclusion which has two parts and lastly the glossary of terms and references / bibliography. Literature Review Groups make high-quality decisions when members fulfil four requisite functions: (1) problem analysis, (2) goal setting, (3) identification of alternatives, and (4) evaluation of positive and negative consequences. Most group communication disrupts progress toward accomplishing these functional tasks, but counteractive communication can bring people back to rational inquiry. Randy, H., Dennis, G. (2009). Functional perspective on group decision making. Group and Public communication – Group decision making. Chp. 17, 7th Ed The purpose of this investigation was to demonstrate that group decision-making performance is contingent on the effective or ineffective satisfaction of important decisional functions. The investigation involved three related studies. In the first study, an attempt was made to confirm the existence of systematic relationships between the quality of group decisions and the satisfaction of four functional requirements. The results supported the existence of significant positive relationships between group decision-making performance and the satisfaction of these decisional functions. In the second study, an attempt was made to establish the independent main effects of each of those four functions. Using a three-dimensional interaction coding scheme, it was found that variations in group decision quality can be independently accounted for by the quality of interaction in regards to three functions—problem analysis, evaluation of positive qualities, and evaluation of negative qua lities. In the third study, an attempt was made to demonstrate that the quality of group decisions can be traced to the effective or ineffective satisfaction of decisional functions. The results provide conclusive evidence (at least at the level of primary reasoning), that the quality of a groups decision is a direct result of the groups ability (or inability) to perform important decisional functions. Taken as a whole, the studies thus offer continued support for the functional perspective Randy, H. (1998). Group Communication and Decision-Making Performance A Continued Test of the Functional Perspective. Human Communication Research, Vol. 14, p487 – 515, No. 4 Two Articles From The Library Databases The article focuses on a study, which evaluated the comparative effectiveness of several methods for decisions making of task groups. Despite the widespread use of task groups and the dissatisfaction that many experience in seemingly endless rounds of task-group meetings, relatively little effort has been made within social work to examine the functioning of task groups empirically. And although there have been some efforts to improve social workers skills in leading task groups, it has been suggested that the study of task groups has been largely abandoned by social work. When examining the efficacy of task groups, it is important to recognize that groups have many different functions in social service agencies. Among their most important functions are helping staff members feel involved in the work of the agency or organization, sharing information, developing new and creative ideas, monitoring programs, solving problems and making decisions. Although many of these functions overla p, a group that has accomplished one function quite well may not be effective at accomplishing another function. Toseland, RonaldW., Rivas, Robert F., Chapman D. (1984). An evaluation of decision making methods task groups. EBSCO host – Social work, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p339-346, 8p Title: Teachers beliefs about shared decision making and work alienation Relationships between teachers perceptions concerning their status in decision making and feelings of work alienation were investigated. A two part questionnaire was administered to 311 teachers from kindergarten through grade 12 in urban and suburban schools. One part asked about current and ideal levels of influence in 12 decisional areas. The second part consisted of a four-item alienation scale. Significant positive zeroder correlations were found between alienation and deprivation in technical and managerial domains for urban teachers, and with deprivation in managerial decision making for suburban teachers. Significant negative zero-order correlations were found for both groups of teachers. Partial correlations of alienation and deprivation in decision making were not significant. Partial correlations of alienation with perceived influence in technical decision making were significant for both groups. Partials with managerial influence were significant for urban teachers. Benson, N., Malone, P. (1987), Teachers beliefs about shared decision making and work alienation. EBSCO host – Education, Vol. 107 Issue 3, p244, 8p, 6 charts Friends Background Of My Theorists The knowledge and interest in small group communication and decision making effectiveness, of two Communication professors Randy Hirokawa and Dennis Gouran was combined to create this theory. Dennis S. Gouran Gouran is a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Labor Studies and Employment Relations and Graduate Officer and his research areas is small group decision. During his life of education he received his B.S., Illinois State University, 1963, M.S., Illinois State University, 1965, Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1968 He is specialized in small group communication with particular emphasis in decision-making. His research has included theoretical, experimental, and critical studies of small group interaction. The focus of Gourans research interest is the ways in which communication functions in the service of task requirements in problem-solving and decisions-making groups. Randy Y. Hirokawa Hirokawa received his B.A from the University of Hawaii at Moana, and his M.A and Ph.D from the University of Washington. He was inducted into the University Of Washington Department Of Hall of Fame. He is known for his expertise in area of small group communication and decision-making effectiveness. Hirokawas scholarship has contributed to the development of a theory called the â€Å"Functional perspective.† Outline Of My Theory Situation Of How The Theory Came About This theory came about as a four departmental search committees appointed to select final candidates for positions in rhetoric, theatre, journalism and broadcast producing. The whole department each group to come up with top-notch candidates and reliable with a discipline that values sensible and reasonable communication or discussion, it was likely supposed that they would make their high quality decisions after systematic and reasoned discussion. Given was the mix of communication interests, academic knowledge and professional prejudices that committee members bought to the table were not their final choices likely to be made on political rather than rational grounds. But even if they were objective, it was a fear that their free-for-all debate over candidates would so cloud their judgement that they would end up making second-rate choices. Theorists Point Of Views Of The Situation And Their Contribution To Building The Theory Hirokawa and Gouran believe that these negative and gloomy views are not necessary. They assume that group members caring about the issue are; reasonably intelligent, face a challenging task that calls for more facts and has new ideas, or a clear thinking. They are also persuaded that group communication has positive effect on the final decision. Hirokawa Randy speaks of the quality solutions and developed the core principles of the theory during his graduate studies, today his research tests refines this theory. Gouran Dennis refers to decisions that are appropriate and he has laid ground work for the theory with his early writing on the group decision making. Four Functions For Effective Decision Making By observing group decision making Hirokawa and Gouran see that there are task requirements and conditions that group members needs to accomplished to reach high-quality solutions and they refer to these conditions as â€Å"requisite functions of effective decision making.† Along with other pioneers research Hirokawa and Gouran drew an analogy between small groups and biological systems and saw thats just the same conditions that an organism must go through for survival in an ever changing environment as group members must go through functions or have conditions during group decision makings for success in the choice they make. So then four functions were then created for effective decision making as followed. Analysis Of The Problem It is very important for group members to be realistic when looking at the current conditions of any situation that is facing a problem and if there is any misunderstanding of the situation be likely to be complex when each member makes their final decision. The situation here is that the search committee are facing difficulties in selecting candidates which is a problem. They could barely make up their mind. In such cases the group members needs to examine or investigate what the problem really is, then find ways to work out this problem. Analysing of the problem could also have steps to follow or some conditions that must be required. For example from the theory in one of the departments searches for a rhetorician, a theatre director etc presented no obvious difficulties, in this case a job description was drafted and advertised throughout the company and through relationship management , searched for parties whom may be interested. Goal Setting Decision making needs to be clear and concise, therefore there must be some form of criteria for a proposed solution. Hirokawa and Gouran mention that failure to comply with criteria will drive the decision to be governed by politics rather than reason. An example portrayed by the two authors is the recruiting of faculty – criteria were: Doctorate Teaching Experience (Minimum 5 Years) Scholar Publisher And to narrow the search, candidates must be able to engage / build rapport with students and who is able to pursue knowledge from a liberal arts point of view. In having criterias during decision making, this gives the group a short list of candidates and more confidence in their decision. Identifications Of Alternatives To minimise risk in making a decision, Hirokawa and Gouran stressed the significance of having alternative solutions, so that the group can always resort to plan B or plan C. In the case of finding a candidate for a Broadcast production role, the criteria was industry experience, hold a doctorate / masters, radio and broadcast experience. The search for the candidate was limited as not many had an advanced degree no-one had a background in video production. After many brainstorming sessions, this was given to a search committee to do more thorough research for the perfect candidate. As a result of continuous emails and networking – the search committee generated relevant alternatives and discovered two candidates whom they will chose one to fulfil the role. Evaluation Of Positive And Negative Characteristics The next step in decision making is weighing the alternatives. It is very important to look at the pro and cons of each option against the criteria given. The authors mention that decision making often muddles up, and in need of at least one member to remind each other of the positive and negative features of one option. Prioritizing These Functions In order to make decisions one must prioritize the four main functions for effective decision making. Hirokawa and Gouran mentioned that all four functions need to be accomplished to maximise the probability of a high quality decision. They also mention that as long as members use all four functions, what ever the order they like, they will come to a successful decision making. However, groups that resolve particularly difficult situation often take a similar route to come to their final solution. The Role Of Communication In Fulfilling The Functions Communication is the key factor for quality group decision making. Verbal discussion within a group makes it possible to disseminate information, identify errors and also to influence each other. Hirokawa believes that communication plays a vital role in shaping high quality decisions. They also believe that communication through discussion can also make the group wander in different directions and at the same time pull them back onto the directed path. The authors outline three types of communication in decision making groups: 1) Promotive –When the group moves along the same path and calling upon the four main decision functions. 2) Disruptive – Discussions that divert the group members away from the four main decision functions. 3) Counteractive- The interaction that the group use to get each other back on track. The three types of communication above are then aligned with the four functions to create the â€Å"Function-Oriented Interaction Coding System: (FOICS) Checklist. This register is used to analyse communication within a group by matching each column and each row like the diagram below: From The Tiny Pond To The Big Ocean The above metaphor is Hirokawas way of portraying the review of his functional perspective in decision making , the risks that take place within his laboratory during his research and whether it was strong enough to withstand the multiple opposing forces from the ‘real world and other researchers. Hirokawa concludes this metaphor by saying that there are times when following the prescriptions of decision making does not always lead to a decision that works. He then challenges researchers not to look at the outcome but look at what functional conditions work and what does not work. Practical Advice For Amateurs And Professionals The authors give us advice on how to use functional prospective to come up with better decision making. They suggest the following: For groups to use their own opinions. For groups to not have a close minded attitude. Groups to take proactive measures and reflective thinking. The authors acknowledge their intellectual their philosopher) John Dewey. Dewey advocated a six step process of â€Å"reflective thinking† (equivalent to Hirokawa and Gourans four requisite function) to the approach of treating a patient. His steps were as follows: 1) Recognise the illness 2) Diagnose the cause of the illness 3) Establish options for cure 4) Consider possible remedies 5) Test which solution will work 6) Implement the best solution Deweys process above is very similar to Hirokawa and Gourans four requisite functions in decision making. Both of these lists recommend that group members discuss ways that promotes problem analysis, goal setting, finding alternatives and the evaluation of these options. Applications Of The Theory This theory can be applied to everyday situations, whether its at work, home, IT industry or anywhere of any situation where group members take part. Every time group member gather to make decision on some issues they will always be facing problem. Because each group member has different opinions of each situation or there would only be two or three members agreeing on the same situation. So therefore Hirokawa and Gouran have developed four functions to follow for effective group decision making. Not only that these two theorists has also written the roles to fulfilling these functions. This theory can be applied to the IT Industry because there is a situation that needs to be discussed as a group for whats good to be used in the IT industries. Evaluation Of The Theory From the chapter three of Griffin (Weighing the Words) I have applied the appropriate evaluative standards to your theory which is Scientific Standard 2: Prediction of Future Events. This standard states a good objective theory predicts what will happen and it is only possible when we are dealing with our five senses. Applying this to my theory is that each of these group members sees the situation and they hear what is being talked about in the group discussion to whether to agree or disagree is based on how they feel about the situation and think of the situation. This is to prevent problems that may happen in the future because it isnt prevented same problem will occur in the future. Conclusion Summary Of My Points Of Information Hirokawa and Gouran saw the situation and thought of ways to maintain it. They saw that just the same way that an organism must go through for survival in an ever changing environment is just the same way that group members must go through functions or have conditions during group decision makings for success in the choice they make. They then developed the four functions which are; Analysis of the problem, goal setting, identification of alternatives and evaluation of Positive and Negative characteristics. They also state the importance or prioritizing these functions and its roles to fulfilling these functions. They also stated a metaphor â€Å" From tiny pond to the big ocean†. A Critique Of My Theory (Weight Of Argument For And Against) This theory accounts for group decision-making performance in terms of the role that group communication plays in facilitating or impeding the groups efforts to perform cognitive and interpersonal decision-making functions. This theory has been identified as one of the three most influential theories of small group communication. The functional perspective that has been described in this theory illustrates the wisdom of the joint interaction. As the Hebrew proverb suggests, â€Å"Without counsel plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed.† Decision making can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Every decision making process produces a final the output can be an action or an opinion of choice The next step in decision making is weighing the alternatives. It is very important to look at the pro and cons of each option against the criteria given. The authors mention that decision making often muddles up, and in need of at least one member to remind each other of the positive and negative features of one option. Glossary Of Terms Perspective Position: a way of regarding situations or topics or the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer Functional Designed for or capable of a particular function or use Evaluation Act of ascertaining or fixing the value Requisite Necessity: anything indispensable or needed Promotive Interaction that moves the group along the goal path by calling attention to one of the four requisite Disruptive Interaction that diverts, retards, or frustrates group members ability to achieve the four task functions Counteractive Interaction that members use to get the group back on track Amateurs An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without formal training or pay Decision Making Can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Group decision Is decision making in groups consisting of multiple members/entities. The challenge of group decision is deciding what action a group should take. There are various systems designed to solve this problem References / Bibliography â€Å"A Critical Summary of Research on the Role of Argument in Decision-Making Groups.† In Argument and Social Practice: Proceedings of the Fourth SCA/AFA Conference on Argumentation. J. Robert Cox, Malcolm O. Sillars, and Gregg B. Walker (Eds.). Annandale, Virginia: Speech Communication Association, 1985. 14 pp. (Revised and reprinted in Readings in Argumentation. William L. Benoit, Dale Hample, and Pamela J. Benoit (Eds.). San Francisco: Foris, 1992. 17 pp.) Benson, N., Malone, P. (1987), Teachers beliefs about shared decision making and work alientation. EBSCO host – Education, Vol. 107 Issue 3, p244, 8p, 6 charts Griffin, E. (2009). A first look at communication theory. (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill Randy, H., Dennis, G. (2009). Functional perspective on group decision making. (7th ed.). Group and Public communication – Group decision making. Chp. 17 Randy, H. (1998). Group Communication and Decision-Making Performance A Continued Test of the Functional Perspective. Human Communication Research, Vol. 14, p487 – 515, No. 4 â€Å"The Role of Communication in Decision-Making Groups: A Functional Perspective.† In Communications in Transition. Mary S. Mander (Ed.). New York: Praeger, 1983. 21 pp. With Randy Y. Hirokawa. (First Author) Toseland, RonaldW., Rivas, Robert F., Chapman D. (1984). An evaluation of decision making methods task groups. EBSCO host – Social work, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p339-346, 8p Internet Sources Benson, N., Malone, P., Teachers beliefs about shared decision making and work alientation. Retrieved on July 28, 2009 , from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1hid=108sid=c11c7b30-a902-46f1-96a5-9d484e1b62b8%40sessionmgr110bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5hAN=5271089 Toseland, RonaldW., Rivas, Robert F., Chapman D. ,An evaluation of decision making methods task groups. Retrieved on August 1, 2009, From http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1hid=12sid=cc76eb43-f251-4f74-870f-20d856b51553%40sessionmgr4bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5hAN=4708464 Randy, H., Dennis, G. (2009). Functional perspective on group decision making. Group and Public communication, Retrieved on July 19, 2009, from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119457900/abstract?CRETRY=1SRETRY=0 Randy, H. (1998). Group Communication and Decision-Making Performance A Continued Test of the Functional Perspective, Retrieved on July 10, 2009, from http://www.afirstlook.com/main.cfm/theory_resources/Functional_Perspective_on_Group_Decision_Making

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Physics of Magnets :: physics science magnet

Magnets are one of the fundamental items in physics. This page is designed in order to provide a general overview of magnets and their uses as well as an in depth look into certain aspects of magnetism. We all know certain situations where magnets are used, hanging things on a refrigerator for example. But other applications are much more useful in our society. They are used in all kinds of speakers, and in many computer parts including hard drives and floppy drives ( for recording and reading purposes). Perhaps a more common use that goes unnoticed is the magnetic strip on credit and debit cards. These have a certain magnetic makeup, that is why you are to keep them away from other magnets. Magnets are also used in many motors, in such items like a dishwasher, DVD and VHS players, and a pager or cell phone vibrator. Magnets are all dipoles, that is they all have both a north and a south pole. No known magnetic monopoles exist. Looking at magnets from a basic point of view, opposites attract and similars repel. Magnetic field lines always move from the north pole to the south pole, we will discuss this later. Some of the major contributors to magnets are men like Hans Christian Oersted, James Clark Maxwell, William Scoresby, Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry. Hans Christian Oersted experiment with a wire carrying a current and a compass led to much of what we know about Magnetic Fields. James Clark Maxwell discovered relationships between electricity and magnetism many of which are used in the Electromagnetic Theory. More information on the relationship between magnets and electricity can be found here. William Scoresby used the Earth's magnetic fields to produce powerful magnets. Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry are reported to have simultaneously discovered electromagnetic induction, which is the effect whereby the relative motion of a magnet and an electric coil produced a current. There are three types of magnets. Permanent, temporary, and electromagnets. Permanent magnets are the most common ones. Once they are magnetized they stay so (although they can lose much of their magnetic force). They can be metals found in nature. Temporary magnets hold the properties of a magnet while in a magnetic field, but lost these properties once the field goes away. An example of this would be a paper clip that is charged and can act like a magnet for a short while. Electromagnets are wires wrapped around a metal center(usually iron).

Friday, July 19, 2019

Comparing Seamus Heaney Poems Follower, Mid-term Break, and Digging Ess

In this essay I will be comparing three Seamus Heaney poems we looked at in class these are called, â€Å"Follower†, â€Å"Mid-term Break† and, â€Å"Digging†. There are differences as well as similarities, the similarities include: they are all poems about and set in Seamus’ childhood memories In addition, all the poems more or less use some of the same poetic devices and techniques like: onomatopoeia and some of the same characters appear in all three poems such as like: Seamus (himself obviously) and his father. The differences include the fact, â€Å"Mid-term break† which is more emotional in my personal opinion. And is about a completely different situation then, â€Å"Follower† and, â€Å"Digging†, which are set on the farm Seamus lives on and is about him watching his father while he works on the farm and how Seamus feels about him. While the overall situation in, â€Å"Mid-term break,† is that Seamus’ four-year-old brother has died. He is taken out of the Collage, â€Å"Sickbay† or first aid room where he is waiting to be taken to his little brothers funeral by his next door neighbours they are picking him up for two possible reasons: A) There is no mention of Seamus’ family having a car. B) Even if Seamus’ family had a car the farther would not be fit to drive because Seamus sees his dad on the Porch crying because of his lost of a son if he was to drive he would be thinking about his son instead of the road ahead and behind him and might end up being buried with his son and the last thing the family needs is another death but more accurately it is the last thing the wife needs because she would have lost not just her four year old son but also her husband as well, leaving her with only Seamus and herself. The first Seamus Heaney poem I... ...hing is different and that includes pieces of literacy work any type of literacy work, from letters to novels any two or three types of literacy work are not the same even if they are all poems or all letters they are all different (unless you copy it word for word) a there are accidental similarities and similarities that have been created on purpose. In conclusion, I have found many things. Like the different topics need different structures and rhyming schemes to enforce their point. I noticed also that different techniques and devices he used help me visualise in my mind what he describes in his poems and how he saw things in his life. Comparing his work has helped me understand other poems too. Personally, I found Seamus Heaney’s poems interesting as they gave a child’s perspective of his life and the events coinciding with it. Not many poems do this.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Learning theories Essay

Primary research consists of the collection of original primary data. It is often undertaken after the researcher has gained some insight into the issue by reviewing secondary research or by analyzing previously collected primary data. It can be accomplished through various methods, including questionnaires and telephone interviews in market research, or experiments and direct observations in the physical sciences, amongst others. Secondary Research: Secondary research (also known as desk research) involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research rather than primary research, where data is collected from, for example, research subjects or experiments. The term is widely used in medical research and in market research. The principal methodology in medical secondary research is the systematic review, commonly using meta-analytic statistical techniques, although other methods of synthesis, like realist reviews and meta-narrative[2] reviews, have been developed in recent years. Such secondary research uses the primary research of others typically in the form of research publications and reports. In a market research context, secondary research is taken to include the re-use by a second party of any data collected by a first party or parties. In archaeology and landscape history, desk research is contrasted with fieldwork. Primary Research Vs Secondary Research One of the major differences between the two is that primary research is conducted with the help of primary sources available where as secondary research is conducted on the basis of some data collected from someone who had got it from the sources. Primary research is expensive to conduct since it involves primary sources. But secondary research is not much expensive as primary. Another major difference between the two is that primary research is much more time consuming as compared to secondary research. As a matter of fact the results found by the primary research are usually to have better quality than those from the conduct of the secondary research. Primary research is also usually detailed and elaborated since it is supposed to be both qualitative as well as quantitative. On the other hand data pertaining to secondary research is usually not much detailed and elaborated since it involves indirect uses. Primary research is done with a lot of hard work and dedication. On the hand secondary research is usually presented with a number of data and records. These are usually taken from books, periodicals published by governmental organizations, statistical data, annual reports and case study ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOUR. Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structures have on behavior within an organization for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organization’s effectiveness. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication, and management; and it complements the academic studies of organizational theory (which is focused on organizational and intra-organizational topics) and human resource studies (which is more applied and business-oriented). It may also be referred to as organizational studies or organizational science. The field has its roots in industrial and organizational psychology. 1 Organizational studies encompass the study of organizations from multiple viewpoints, methods, and levels of analysis. For instance, one textbook divides these multiple viewpoints into three perspectives: modern, symbolic, and postmodern. Another traditional distinction, present especially in  American academia, is between the study of â€Å"micro† organizational behaviour — which refers to individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting — and â€Å"macro† strategic management and organizational theory which studies whole organizations and industries, how they adapt, and the strategies, structures and contingencies that guide them. To this distinction, some scholars have added an interest in â€Å"meso† scale structures – power, culture, and the networks of individuals and i. e. ronit units in organizations — and â€Å"field† level analysis which study how whole populations of organizations interact. Whenever people interact in organizations, many factors come into play. Modern organizational studies attempt to understand and model these factors. Like all modernist social sciences, organizational studies seek to control, predict, and explain. There is some controversy over the ethics of controlling workers’ behavior, as well as the manner in which workers are treated (see Taylor’s scientific management approach compared to the human relations movement of the 1940s). As such, organizational behaviour or OB (and its cousin, Industrial psychology) have at times been accused of being the scientific tool of the powerful. Those accusations notwithstanding, OB can play a major role in organizational development, enhancing organizational performance, as well as individual and group performance/satisfaction/commitment. One of the main goals of organizational theorists is, according to Simms (1994), â€Å"to revitalize organizational theory and develop a better conceptualization of organizational life. † An organizational theorist should carefully consider levels assumptions being made in theory, and is concerned to help managers and administrators. 1. INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING. The process of learning has great value for enriching human life in all spheres of life. All activities and behaviors that make personal, social and economic life peaceful and pleasurable are learned. Learning definitely affects human behaviour in organizations. There is little organizational behaviour that is not either directly or indirectly affected by learning. For example, a worker’s skill, a manager’s attitude, a supervisor’s motivation and a secretary’s mode of dress are all learned. Our ability to learn is also important to organizations preoccupied with controlled  performance. Employees have to know what they are to do, how they are to do it, how well they are expected to do it, and the consequences of achieving good or poor levels of performance. Thus, learning theories have influenced a range of organizational practices concerning: 1. The induction of new recruits 2. The design and delivery of job training 3. The design of payment systems- 4. How supervisors evaluate and provide feedback on employee performance 5. The design of forms of learning organization The concept of the learning organization became popular during the 1990s. The learning organization is a configuration of structures and policies which encourage individual learning, with individual and organizational benefits. The organization itself can also be regarded as an entity which is capable of learning independently of its members. Knowledge has thus become a more important asset for many organizations than materials and products. 1. 1 WHAT IS LEARNING Learning covers virtually all behaviors and is concerned with the acquisition of knowledge, attitudes and values, emotional responses (such as happiness and fear), and motor skills (such as operating a computer keyboard or riding a bicycle). We can learn incorrect facts or pick up bad habits in the same way that we learn correct facts and acquire good habits. It refers to a spectrum of changes that occur as a result of one’s experience. Learning may be defined as â€Å"any relatively permanent change in behaviour or behavioral potential produced by experience†. It may be noted here that some behavioral changes take place due to the use of drugs, alcohol, or fatigue. Such changes are temporary. They are not considered learning. Therefore, changes are due to practice and experience, and relatively permanent, alone are illustrative of learning. In the definition given above, it is clear that the process of learning has certain distinctive characteristics. These are: First, learning always involves some kind of experience. These experiences may be derived from inside the body or they may be sensory, arising outside. The task of inferring whether or not learning has taken place may be an obvious one, but observable behaviour may not always reveal learning. It is important to distinguish between two types of learning. Procedural learning or ‘knowing how’, concerns your ability to carry out particular skilled actions such as riding a horse. Declarative learning or `knowing that’, concerns your store of factual knowledge such as an understanding of the history of our use of the horse. Second, the behavioral changes that take place due to learning are relatively permanent. Behaviour can be changed temporarily by many other factors and in ways which we would not like to call learning. These other factors include growing up or maturation (in children), aging (in adults), drugs, alcohol and fatigue. For example, you must have noticed that whenever one takes a sedative or drug or alcohol, one’s behaviour changes. Each one of these drugs affect physiological functions leading to certain changes in behaviour. Such changes are temporary in nature and disappear as the effect of drugs wears out. Third, learning cannot be observed directly. We can only observe a person’s behaviour and draw the inference from it that learning has taken place. A distinction has to be made between learning and performance. Performance is evaluated by some quantitative and some qualitative measures of output. For example, the number of calls a sales representative makes to customers or the quality of a manager’s chairing of a committee meeting. But, learning acts as a constraint on the outcome. Normally, we cannot perform any better than we have learned, though there are occasions when the right motivational disposition and a supportive environment help to raise the level of performance. Researchers have found that increased motivation may improve our performance up to a point but, beyond this, increased motivation may cause a lowering of the level of performance. 2. PRECONDITIONS FOR LEARNING Two preconditions for learning will increase the success of those who are to participate in such programs: employee readiness and motivation. The condition known as employee readiness refers to both maturational and experiential factors in the employee’s background. Prospective employees should be screened to determine that they have the background knowledge or the skills necessary for learning what will be presented to them. Recognition of individual differences in readiness is as important in an organization as it is in any other learning situation. It is often desirable to group individuals according to their capacity to learn, as determined by scores from tests, or to provide a different or extended type of instruction for those who need it. The other precondition for learning is that the employee be properly motivated. That is, for optimum learning the employee must recognize the need for acquiring new information or for having new skills; and a desire to learn as learning progresses must be maintained. While people at work are motivated by certain common needs, they differ from one another in the relative importance of these needs at any given time. For example, new recruits often have an intense desire for advancement, and have established specific goals for career progression. Objectives that are clearly defined will produce increased motivation in the learning process when instructional objectives are related to individual needs. 3. SOME PREREQUISITES FOR LEARNING After employees have been placed in the learning situation, their readiness and motivation should be assessed further. In addition, facilitators should understand the basic learning issues discussed below. 3. 1 MEANINGFUL MATERIALS In accordance with adult learning theories, the material to be learned should be organized in as meaningful a manner as possible. It should be arranged so that each successive experience builds upon preceding ones so that the employee is able to integrate the experiences into a useable pattern of knowledge and skills. The material should have face validity. 3. 2 REINFORCEMENT Anything which strengthens the employee’s response is called reinforcement. It may be in the form of approval from the instructor or facilitator or the feeling of accomplishment that follows the performance; or it may simply be confirmation by a software program that the employee’s response was correct. It is generally most effective if it occurs immediately after a task has been performed. Behaviour modification, or a technique that operates on the principle that behaviour that is rewarded positively (reinforced) will be exhibited more frequently in the future, whereas behaviour that is penalized or unrewarded will decrease in frequency, is often used for such purposes 3. 3 TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE Unless what is learned in the development activity is applicable to what is required on the job, the effort will have been of little value. The ultimate effectiveness of learning, therefore, is to be found in the answer to the question: ‘To what extent does what is learned transfer to the job? ’ Helpful approaches include ensuring that conditions in the development program conform as closely as possible to those on the job, and coaching employees on the principles for applying to the job the behaviors which they have learned. Furthermore, once formal instruction has been completed, the supervisor must ensure that the work environment supports, reinforces and rewards the employee for applying the new skills or knowledge. 3. 4 KNOWLEDGE OF PROGRESS As an employee’s development progresses, motivation may be maintained and even increased by providing knowledge of progress. Progress, as determined by tests and other records, may be plotted on a chart, commonly referred to as a learning curve. Exhibit 8. 9 is an example of a learning curve that is common in the acquisition of many job skills. 4. PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING A. Distributed Learning: Another factor that determines the effectiveness of learning is the amount of time given to practice in one session. Should training or development be undertaken in five two-hour periods or in 10 one-hour periods? It has been found in most cases that spacing out the activities will result in more rapid learning and more permanent retention. This is the principle of distributed learning. Since the most efficient distribution will vary according to the type and complexity of the task to be learned, it is desirable to make reference to the rapidly growing body of research in this area when an answer is required for a specific learning situation. B. Whole v. Part Learning: Most jobs and tasks can be broken down into parts that lend themselves to further analysis. The analysis of the most effective manner for completing each part then provides a basis for giving specific instruction. Airline flight attendant jobs, for example, involve a combination of mechanistic (specific tasks that follow a prescribed routine), and organic (tasks that involve decision-making and individualized responses) duties, which are best learnt separately, and then combined to form the whole job responsibility. Thus, the prescribed takeoff and landing announcements, and formal safety procedures, are supplemented with separate learning activities about how to deal with difficult passengers or how to cope with food supply problems. In evaluating whole versus part learning, it is necessary to consider the nature of the task to be learned. If the task can be broken down successfully for part learning, it should probably be taught as a unit. C. Practice and Repetition: It is those things we do daily that become a part of our repertoire of skills. Employees need frequent opportunities to practice their job tasks in the manner in which they will ultimately be expected to perform them. The individual who is being taught to operate a machine should have an opportunity to practice on it. Similarly, the supervisor who is being taught how to train should have supervised practice in training D. Multiple Sense Learning: It has long been acknowledged that the use of multiple senses increases learning. Smith and Delahaye state that about 80 per cent of what a person perceives is obtained visually, 11 per cent by hearing and 9 per cent by the other senses combined. It follows that in order to maximize learning, multiple senses of the employees, particularly sight and hearing, should be engaged. Visual aids are therefore emphasized as being important to the learning and development activities. 5. THEORIES OF LEARNING OR APPROCHES TO LEARNING 1. BEHAVIORLIST APPROACH Behaviorism, as a learning theory, can be traced back to Aristotle, whose essay â€Å"Memory† focused on association being made between events such as lightning and thunder. Other philosophers that followed Aristotle’s thoughts are Hobbs (1650), Hume (1740), Brown (1820), Bain (1855) and Ebbinghause (1885) (Black, 1995). Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike and Skinner later developed the theory in more detail. Watson is the theorist credited with coining the term â€Å"behaviorism†. The school of adult learning theory that adopted these principles has become known as the school of behaviorism, which saw learning as a straightforward process of response to stimuli. The provision of a reward or reinforcement is believed to strengthen the response and therefore result in changes in behavior – the test, according to this school of thought, is as to whether learning had occurred. Spillane (2002) states, â€Å"the behaviorist perspective, associated with B. F. Skinner, holds that the mind at work cannot be observed, tested, or understood; thus, behaviorists are concerned with actions (behavior) as the sites of knowing, teaching, and learning†. The hypothesis behind behaviorlist learning theories is that all learning occurs when behavior is influenced and changed by external factors. Behavioralism disregards any notion that there may be an internal component to man’s learning. Grippin and Peters (1984) emphasize in regard to an individual’s subjugation to external stimulus as a determinant of response (i. e. , behavior). Contiguity is understood as the timing of events that is necessary to bring about behavioral change, while reinforcement refers to the probability that repeated positive or negative events will produce an anticipated change in behavior. 1. (A) Classical Conditioning (Pavlov) Classical conditioning is a reflexive or automatic type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. Originators and Key Contributors: First described by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian physiologist, in 1903, and studied in infants by John B. Watson (1878-1958). Several types of learning exist. The most basic form is associative learning, i. e. , making a new association between events in the environment. There are two forms of associative learning: classical conditioning (made famous by Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with dogs) and operant conditioning. Pavlov’s Dogs In the early twentieth century, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov did Nobel prize-winning work on digestion. While studying the role of saliva in dogs’ digestive processes, he stumbled upon a phenomenon he labeled â€Å"psychic reflexes. † While an accidental discovery, he had the foresight to see the importance of it. Pavlov’s dogs, restrained in an experimental chamber, were presented with meat powder and they had their saliva collected via a surgically implanted tube in their saliva glands. Over time, he noticed that his dogs who begin salivation before the meat powder was even presented, whether it was by the presence of the handler or merely by a clicking noise produced by the device that distributed the meat powder. Fascinated by this finding, Pavlov paired the meat powder with various stimuli such as the ringing of a bell. After the meat powder and bell (auditory stimulus) were presented together several times, the bell was used alone. Pavlov’s dogs, as predicted, responded by salivating to the sound of the bell (without the food). The bell began as a neutral stimulus (i. e. the bell itself did not produce the dogs’ salivation). However, by pairing the bell with the stimulus that did produce the salivation response, the bell was able to acquire the ability to trigger the salivation response. Pavlov therefore demonstrated how stimulus-response bonds (which some consider as the basic building blocks of learning) are formed. He dedicated much of the rest of his career further exploring this finding. In technical terms, the meat powder is considered an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the dog’s salivation is the unconditioned response (UCR). The bell is a neutral stimulus until the dog learns to associate the bell with food. Then the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) which produces the conditioned response (CR) of salivation after repeated pairings between the bell and food. John B. Watson: Early Classical Conditioning with Humans John B. Watson further extended Pavlov’s work and applied it to human beings. In 1921, Watson studied Albert, an 11 month old infant child. The goal of the study was to condition Albert to become afraid of a white rat by pairing the white rat with a very loud, jarring noise (UCS). At first, Albert showed no sign of fear when he was presented with rats, but once the rat was repeatedly paired with the loud noise (UCS), Albert developed a fear of rats. It could be said that the loud noise (UCS) induced fear (UCR). The implications of Watson’s experiment suggested that classical conditioning could cause some phobias in humans. 1. (B) GOMS Model (Card, Moran, Newell) The GOMS Model is a human information processing model that predicts what skilled users will do in seemingly unpredictable situations. Originators and proponents: Card, Moran and Newell in 1983; Bonnie John et al. This model is the general term for a family of human information processing techniques that attempt to model and predict user behavior. Typically used by software designers, a person’s behavior is analyzed in terms of four components: Goals – something that the person wants to accomplish. Can be high level to low level. Operators – basic perceptual, cognitive, or motor actions used to accomplish goals, or actions that the software allows user to make. Methods – procedures (sequences) of sub-goals and operators that can accomplish a goal Selection rules – personal rules users follow in deciding what method to use in a circumstance 1. (C) Operant Conditioning (Skinner) A behaviorist theory based on the fundamental idea that behaviors that are reinforced will tend to continue, while behaviors that are punished will eventually end. Originators and Key Contributors: B. F. Skinner, built upon Ivan Pavlov’s theories of classical conditioning. Operant conditioning can be described as a process that attempts to modify behavior through the use of positive and negative reinforcement. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence. Example 1: Parents rewarding a child’s excellent grades with candy or some other prize. Example 2: A schoolteacher awards points to those students who are the most calm and well-behaved. Students eventually realize that when they voluntarily become quieter and better behaved, that they earn more points. Example 3: A form of reinforcement (such as food) is given to an animal every time the animal (for example, a hungry lion) presses a lever. The term â€Å"operant conditioning† originated by the behaviorist B. F. Skinner, who believed that one should focus on the external, observable causes of behavior (rather than try to unpack the internal thoughts and motivations) Reinforcement comes in two forms: positive and negative. Positive and negative reinforces Positive reinforces are favorable events or outcomes that are given to the individual after the desired behavior. This may come in the form of praise, rewards, etc. Negative reinforces typically are characterized by the removal of an undesired or unpleasant outcome after the desired behavior. A response is strengthened as something considered negative is removed. The goal in both of these cases of reinforcement is for the behavior to increase. Positive and negative punishment Punishment, in contrast, is when the increase of something undesirable attempts to cause a decrease in the behavior that follows. Positive punishment is when unfavorable events or outcomes are given in order to weaken the response that follows. Negative punishment is characterized by when a favorable event or outcome is removed after a undesired behavior occurs. The goal in both of these cases of punishment is for a behavior to decrease. What is the difference between operant conditioning and classical conditioning? In operant conditioning, a voluntary response is then followed by a reinforcing stimulus. In this way, the voluntary response (e. g. studying for an exam) is more likely to be done by the individual. In contrast, classical conditioning is when a stimulus automatically triggers an involuntary response. 1. (D) Socialist Learning Theory (Bandura). Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation. Originator: Albert Bandura People learn through observing others’ behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors. â€Å"Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. † (Bandura). Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. Necessary conditions for effective modeling: 1. Attention — various factors increase or decrease the amount of attention paid. Includes distinctiveness, affective valence, prevalence, complexity, functional value. One’s characteristics (e. g. sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement) affect attention. 2. Retention — remembering what you paid attention to. Includes symbolic coding, mental images, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal 3. Reproduction — reproducing the image. Including physical capabilities, and self-observation of reproduction. 4. Motivation — having a good reason to imitate. Includes motives such asA past (i. e. traditional behaviorism), promised (imagined incentives) and vicarious (seeing and recalling the reinforced model) Bandura believed in â€Å"reciprocal determinism†, that is, the world and a person’s behavior cause each other, while behaviorism essentially states that one’s environment causes one’s behavior, Bandura,who was studying adolescent aggression, found this too simplistic, and so in addition he suggested that behavior causes environment as well. Later, Bandura soon considered personality as an interaction between three components: the environment, behavior, and one’s psychological processes (one’s ability to entertain images in minds and language). 2. CONSTURCTIVIST Constructivism is a synthesis of multiple theories diffused into one form. It is the assimilation of both behaviorialist and cognitive ideals. The â€Å"constructivist stance maintains that learning is a process of constructing meaning; it is how people make sense of their experience†. This is a combination effect of using a person’s cognitive abilities and insight to understand their environment. This coincides especially well with current adult learning theory. This concept is easily translated into a self-directed learning style, where the individual has the ability to take in all the information and the environment of a problem and learn. Constructivism as a paradigm or worldview posits that learning is an active, constructive process. The learner is an information constructor. People actively construct or create their own subjective representations of objective reality. New information is linked to prior knowledge, thus mental representations are subjective. Originators and important contributors: Vygotsky, Piaget, Dewey, Vico, Rorty, Bruner Constructivism A reaction to didactic approaches such as behaviorism and programmed instruction, constructivism states that learning is an active, contextualized process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment. Learners continuously test these hypotheses through social negotiation. Each person has a different interpretation and construction of knowledge process. The learner is not a blank slate (tabula rasa) but brings past experiences and cultural factors to a situation. Vygotsky’s theory is one of the foundations of constructivism. It asserts three major themes: Major themes: 1. Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. In contrast to Jean Piaget’s understanding of child development (in which development necessarily precedes learning), Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development. He states: â€Å"Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (inter-psychological) and then inside the child (intra-psychological). † 2. The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). The MKO refers to anyone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept. The MKO is normally thought of as being a teacher, coach, or older adult, but the MKO could also be peers, a younger person, or even computers. 3. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD is the distance between a student’s ability to perform a task under adult guidance and/or with peer collaboration and the student’s ability solving the problem independently. According to Vygotsky, learning occurred in this zone. Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the sociocultural context in which they act and interact in shared experiences (Crawford, 1996). According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate their social environments. Initially children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalization of these tools led to higher thinking skills. 3. COGNITIVISM The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the â€Å"black box† of the mind should be opened and understood. The learner is viewed as an information processor (like a computer). Originators and important contributors: Merrill -Component Display Theory (CDT), Reigeluth (Elaboration Theory), Gagne, Briggs, Wager, Bruner (moving toward cognitive constructivism), Schank (scripts), Scandura (structural learning) The cognitivist revolution replaced behaviorism in 1960s as the dominant paradigm. Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities – opening the â€Å"black box† of the human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn. Mental processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving need to be explored. Knowledge can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions. Learning is defined as change in a learner’s schemata. A response to behaviorism, people are not â€Å"programmed animals† that merely respond to environmental stimuli; people are rational beings that require active participation in order to learn, and whose actions are a consequence of thinking. Changes in behavior are observed, but only as an indication of what is occurring in the learner’s head. Cognitivism uses the metaphor of the mind as computer: information comes in, is being processed, and leads to certain outcomes. 3. 1 GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Gestalt psychology or gestaltism (German: Gestalt – â€Å"essence or shape of an entity’s complete form†) is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies.