Racial Segregation – Essay

Racial Segregation Introduction The great nation of America is one of the most racially diverse countries in the world today. Practically all races in America can trace their roots from different parts of the country. From the African-American to the Korean- Americans, and the Hispanic to the Irish people, all these represent the different faces of American people. However, the co-existence of these different races has not been smooth sailing.They have experienced racial discrimination, mostly from white Americans, who felt threatened by the increasing influx of the ‘foreigners’ in America. Following Ronald Takaki view in his book ‘A different mirror’, this essay tries to explain the nature of discrimination the slaves, Mexicans and the Irish experienced from the white American people. It captures events that happened before the civil war in relation to racial discrimination, and how the affected groups responded to such actions. Discussion The African Ameri can race was first introduced in America as servants.They were remarkably few in number and served the white masters who were the Anglo Americans â€Å"†¦rather, like most of the white laborers, they were probably indentured servants† (Tikaki, 2008). Later on as their numbers increased, most of them were transformed to slaves. It is not clear though how and when this transition took place Nonetheless, in the nineteenth century, there was uproar by the citizens over the abolishment of slavery. It is this uproar that resulted to future civil rights movements and affirmative action that has been associated by the African American people.They have been the biggest minority group in the United States and have been on the forefront in spearheading the civil rights movement, with African American leaders such as Martin Luther King Junior leading the pack. The Mexican immigrants were mostly dominated by the Chinacos, a group among the Hispanic people. Their population in America supersedes that of the African Americans by far, and has lived in the United States for a longer time too. Their immigration into America was catalyzed by the Mexican- American war of 1846.The subsequent conquer of part of Northern Mexico by the Americans implied that some Mexicans were locked out their native country and became foreigners in their own land. However, a sizable number of immigrants walked to El Norte in search of greener pastures in America. As usual, they were treated with hostility by Anglo Americans and resorted to doing blue collar jobs. Their settlement in El Norte, however, has enabled them to transform the culture to date due to the large number of Mexican settlers in that city. The Irish people arrived in large numbers than most immigrants in the states.Their immigration was fueled by neighboring England’s conquest of their territory, which occurred before the colonization of America. It is for this reason that they migrated to America in search of gr eener pastures. Their reception, however, was not so welcoming, despite their similar complexion to the Anglo Americans. This was many because their catholic belief was not welcome since most Americans came from protestant backgrounds. The Americans believed that the Irish were trying to spread their catholic practices to the Americans.As such, they were segregated and mainly did casual jobs like construction. It was only after passing the naturalization law that the Irish got some reprieve. Their near complexion to the Anglo Americans enabled them to get blue collar jobs to the disadvantage of African Americans and the Chinese. They took advantage of this opportunity to promote their ethnic background, and also to secure political power. Conclusion Racial discrimination by the Anglo Americans was spread across all races as described in the discussion above.The Anglo Americans were keen to protect their ethnicity and culture, and as such did not provide avenues for the other races t o prosper as they did. Instead, they strived hard to show their superiority over the other races. They believed that increased immigration of the other races would dilute their culture as seen by their resistance to the Irish community. However, pertinent to note is that these immigrants brought with them positive change to the American people. The African Americans, for instance, have made America be known for its commitment to the principle of liberty.This, as we have seen, was brought about by the civil movement during the cold war. The Hispanians also managed to introduce a new culture that continues to be accepted and has spread widely all over the nation. In conclusion, most immigrants moving into the United States during the nineteenth century faced racial discrimination at different levels as they strived to settle in a foreign land. Bibliography Takaki, Ronald T. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York: Back Bay Books/Little, Brown, and Co, 2008. Pr int Racial Segregation – Essay Racial Segregation Introduction The great nation of America is one of the most racially diverse countries in the world today. Practically all races in America can trace their roots from different parts of the country. From the African-American to the Korean- Americans, and the Hispanic to the Irish people, all these represent the different faces of American people. However, the co-existence of these different races has not been smooth sailing.They have experienced racial discrimination, mostly from white Americans, who felt threatened by the increasing influx of the ‘foreigners’ in America. Following Ronald Takaki view in his book ‘A different mirror’, this essay tries to explain the nature of discrimination the slaves, Mexicans and the Irish experienced from the white American people. It captures events that happened before the civil war in relation to racial discrimination, and how the affected groups responded to such actions. Discussion The African Ameri can race was first introduced in America as servants.They were remarkably few in number and served the white masters who were the Anglo Americans â€Å"†¦rather, like most of the white laborers, they were probably indentured servants† (Tikaki, 2008). Later on as their numbers increased, most of them were transformed to slaves. It is not clear though how and when this transition took place Nonetheless, in the nineteenth century, there was uproar by the citizens over the abolishment of slavery. It is this uproar that resulted to future civil rights movements and affirmative action that has been associated by the African American people.They have been the biggest minority group in the United States and have been on the forefront in spearheading the civil rights movement, with African American leaders such as Martin Luther King Junior leading the pack. The Mexican immigrants were mostly dominated by the Chinacos, a group among the Hispanic people. Their population in America supersedes that of the African Americans by far, and has lived in the United States for a longer time too. Their immigration into America was catalyzed by the Mexican- American war of 1846.The subsequent conquer of part of Northern Mexico by the Americans implied that some Mexicans were locked out their native country and became foreigners in their own land. However, a sizable number of immigrants walked to El Norte in search of greener pastures in America. As usual, they were treated with hostility by Anglo Americans and resorted to doing blue collar jobs. Their settlement in El Norte, however, has enabled them to transform the culture to date due to the large number of Mexican settlers in that city. The Irish people arrived in large numbers than most immigrants in the states.Their immigration was fueled by neighboring England’s conquest of their territory, which occurred before the colonization of America. It is for this reason that they migrated to America in search of gr eener pastures. Their reception, however, was not so welcoming, despite their similar complexion to the Anglo Americans. This was many because their catholic belief was not welcome since most Americans came from protestant backgrounds. The Americans believed that the Irish were trying to spread their catholic practices to the Americans.As such, they were segregated and mainly did casual jobs like construction. It was only after passing the naturalization law that the Irish got some reprieve. Their near complexion to the Anglo Americans enabled them to get blue collar jobs to the disadvantage of African Americans and the Chinese. They took advantage of this opportunity to promote their ethnic background, and also to secure political power. Conclusion Racial discrimination by the Anglo Americans was spread across all races as described in the discussion above.The Anglo Americans were keen to protect their ethnicity and culture, and as such did not provide avenues for the other races t o prosper as they did. Instead, they strived hard to show their superiority over the other races. They believed that increased immigration of the other races would dilute their culture as seen by their resistance to the Irish community. However, pertinent to note is that these immigrants brought with them positive change to the American people. The African Americans, for instance, have made America be known for its commitment to the principle of liberty.This, as we have seen, was brought about by the civil movement during the cold war. The Hispanians also managed to introduce a new culture that continues to be accepted and has spread widely all over the nation. In conclusion, most immigrants moving into the United States during the nineteenth century faced racial discrimination at different levels as they strived to settle in a foreign land. Bibliography Takaki, Ronald T. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York: Back Bay Books/Little, Brown, and Co, 2008. Pr int

Forensic Psychology

Forensic psychology is the use of science based on the mind and behavior relating to law and legal matters (Nordqvist, 2009 & â€Å"Forensic Psychology,† 2010). The word psychology comes from the Greek word psyche meaning â€Å"breathe, spirit, soul†, and the Greek word logia meaning the study of something. The use of psychology dates back to 44 B. C during the assassination of Julius Caesar (â€Å"History of Forensic Psychology,† n. d. ). In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt, originally from Germany, founded psychology as an actually independent experimental field of study.He set up the first aboratory that carried out psychological research exclusively at Leipzig University. Wundt is known today as the father of psychology (Nordqvist, 2009). Forensic psychology involves sentencing criminals, determines guilt or innocence, eyewitness accuracy, and assists in the profiling of criminals (Nordqvist, 2009). In forensic psychology criminal profiling or also known as psychological p rofiling is a key factor in the criminal investigation.The main purpose of criminal profiling is to provide the police with a psychological profile of the personality of the perpetrator that could then be used to direct the investigative search. It also involves investigating an offender's behavior, motives and background in an attempt to turtner guide an investigation. Research shows that offender's that repeatedly rape or kill are driven by a sensitive public fear for their actions and media attention, which could eventually lead to their arrest. Analyzing the criminal's habits and customs allows investigators to trace similarities between previous crimes.When these details of their lifestyle are made public, friends, neighbors and colleagues may recognize them (Psychological Profiling, 2005. ) In homicide case, for example, FBI agents gather personality report through questions about the murderer's behavior. During this investigation four main phases are put into play to profile a suspect such as antecedent, method and manner, body disposal, and post offensive behavior. The first is antecedent: what fantasy or plan, or both, did the murderer have in place before the act?What triggered the murderer to act some days and not others? The second is method and manner: What type of victim or victims did the murderer select? What was the method and manner of murder: shooting, stabbing, strangulation or something else? The third is body disposal: Did the murder and ody disposal take place all at one scene, or multiple scenes? The last is post offense behavior: Is the murderer trying to inject himself into the investigation by reacting to media reports or contacting investigators? (Winerman, 2010. Each step helps analyze the suspect and brings forth new information needed to crack the case. Investigators use this technique often in all types of cases usually the cases dealing with the murder of an individual or more. The first documented case using criminal profiling was in the year of 1940 in New York City. This profile dealt with a â€Å"The Mad Bomber†(or F. P. he initials he used to sign his mysterious, paranoid letters) named George Metesky responsible for a series of random bombing attacks across New York within 16 years. (Winerman, 2010. Due to the success of George Meteskys criminal profile, which profile in every detail was matched, he was found insane and committed to the Mattawan asylum for the criminally insane (Madden, 2010). In another case forensic psychology was used to help solve the murder of two year old James Bulger. In this case the suspects were the ones you least expected to even commit such a daring act. On February 12, 1993 little James Bulger was kidnapped rom a shopping store while with his mother by two ten year old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables.The two boys raped, beat, and tortured young James and left him to die. Detectives found him left on a railway line brutally beaten on both his face and head o n February 14. Robert and Jon were profiled as adults because both knew the difference between right and wrong. Both Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were charged on February 20, 1993 with abduction and murder although they were found guilty of the murder of Bulger on the 24 of November making them the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history.

Music is the speech of angels

Music is the speech of angels. Angels are the exemplifications of goodness, uprightness, and everything that bespeaks of morality and mortality. It is said that music is the child of prayer and the companion of religion. Among the Hindus and the Egyptians, music is interwoven with religion. I Aristotle, the great philosopher, saw in music not only enjoyment, relaxation, and recreation, but also release of tension and an incentive to a positive development of character. Likewise Plato, another Greek philosopher said, â€Å"Through music, rhythm and harmony find their ways into the inner-most soul of man which becomes part of his personality.† Music is the unifying element where man finds adequate expression and inner satisfaction for feelings. Dignity and love of work is manifested in songs about the boatman (barcarolle), sailor (chantey) , and the farmer (Japanese rice planting songs). Early history of man has a treasure of   songs evoking friendship (English), victory (Greeks), grief ( Russians), and festivities ( French ). The Belgians have songs for bathing, and the Vikings also had songs about rowing their boats. John Dewey said in Sobritchea’s â€Å" Famous People on Music†, As sculpture expresses the enduring, the stable , and the universal, so music expresses stir, agitation, movement, the particular, and contingencies of existence (47). Music helps establish emotional integrity. Fully aware   of his social and moral responsibilities, the teachers uses remedial measures to extricate the student from delinquent situations, safe from the thorny clutches of evil and vice and from crime—through new musical presentations such as music in the puppet and marionette shows. That music is a manna for emotional catharsis finds evidence in the continuing proliferation of music groups, vocal and instrumental, and in the various contests and festivals which allow the surfacing of talents of the people, young an old ( American Idol, Just for Variety et al ). It is now generally realized   that music; brought about in ways that have meaning to the child, contributes significantly to building the child’s personal identity, enriching his life by developing understanding and perception in his social environment through sound, color, emotion, thought and social relationships and expanding his ability to imagine, create, and appreciate with discriminating judgment. Human beings are lovers of music. Singing, according to Quema   Torrelavega in â€Å" The Myths in Music†Ã‚   was an ongoing even before the discovery of other countries such as the Americas (98). In Roman mythology, the spirits of the gods had to be appeased through songs. Prayers, lustrations and laughter were accompanied by songs. Music is a necessary ingredient in all ceremonies: weddings, delivery of the new baby, baptismal, etc. Music is the flavor of games, dances, worship, festivities, and other ceremonies expressing joy, humor, wonder, and sorrow. Again to include John Dewey as cited in David’s â€Å" Music’s Mystique†, said that music is also change. For Music is a discipline geared to the physical, social, and physiological developments of people, as well as to the socio-economic aspects that lead to the fulfillment of moral values. Motivated and inspired to music, the out- of- school youth is more   than willing to sing and strum his guitar, if only to give expressions of enjoyment and pride in his chosen are- music.   People young and old, have developed a natural and perennial longing for cultural evidence local and foreign, and a feeling for increased involvement and a high level of participation. They seize every opportunity to go out not only to promenade in the streets but also to share, as willing and intelligent music consumers, to free concerts, recitals, vocal or instrumental and other presentations at open parks, cultural centers, art auditoriums, theaters, and other entertainment venues. A powerful antidote to the multifarious problems of delinquency in this troubled world, music affords profitable changes in man’s societal surroundings (89) , according to Peaches Noveuelli   in her book †Ã‚   The Fancies and Guiles of Music†.   Cultural exchange in the performing arts have paved the groundwork for deepened social, and moral goodwill amongst people—Asian, European and the like. Music has effected the blending of culture of the east and west. Music serves as the liaison between the youth and his stand in the community, socially and morally. Singing native songs becomes a pleasurable campaign to propagandize the country’s vast reservoir of human talent. Music is a very important vehicle in the extension of man’s love of country. It is a strong medium that strengthens nationalism and solidarity. The reference book,   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Legacy of Euripedes† by Edward Romulis states that Hungarian music educators – Zoltan Kodaly, and Bela Bartok, introduced folksongs-the supreme expression of life, play, and work – as the core of their music curriculum (90). Frederick Chopin, the great Polish composer, known as the Poet of the Piano expressed the national sentiments of his people through his polonaises. Music has a deep respect for the beauty of nature. To achieve beauty, the composer utilizes a kinship of many elements: melody, harmony, rhythm and dynamics. Through music, man attempts to reduce phenomena into matters of order and definite form. With sound and silence as basic components, music is delivered into varied styles whether in the haunting and mystic music of the East or to the acculturated music of the West. Music is a testing ground and clearing house for talents. Shinichi Suzuki has spent more than three decades teaching violin to children. Music   is a mental discipline, after all, and oftentimes demands training, schooling, and guidance. Music performed as solo or in groups has been one of countries’ big â€Å"exports†Ã¢â‚¬â€be it choral or instrumental. The creative rock and pop singers, the gyrating combo players in their new age music, and other instrumental players are tangible evidences that they are substantial contributors to the country’s coffers. Music is really an impetus for progress and indispensable in the enhancement of the quality of man’s life. Music’s continuing attention for aesthetic pleasure is adequately shown in Chopin music, romantic violin concertos, or in the magnificent operas, sonatas, and symphonies of the elite society to whet the appetite of music lovers. The only bad effect that can be mentioned of music, is the effect of some forms of innovations in music, like rap and spoken word music, because they tend to increase the hyperactivity of the youth of today,[ sometimes, the young merely opt to have their earphones plugged into their ears, even during class hours, and they do not listen to their teacher’s lectures anymore ], but this is problem that can be handled easily, through discipline measures, like detention. But, this aside, one thing remains, that music knows no bounds. Sources: David, Lucianno.   Ã¢â‚¬Å" Music’s Mystique† Dell Publishing: Chicago, 2000. Noveuelli, Peaches †Ã‚   The Fancies and Guiles of Music†. 9th gate Presses: Italy, 2001. Romulis, Edward.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Legacy of Euripedes† Blaisdale Publishing: London, 1996. Sobritchea, Paulinho. â€Å"Famous People on Music†. Wagonhouses Books: London, 1999. Torrelavega, Quema.   â€Å"The Myths in Music† . Harper and Row: USA , 1997.   

Succession Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Succession Planning - Essay Example While aging of the staff is major contributor to the commencement of the issue, it is also true that a lack of skill levels in the staff also makes succession planning a major issue. This is particularly true in the case of public sector. Nearly 50% of the people employed by the US government is eligible to retire, says Douglas Braddock (1999). One in five senior executives of Fortune 500 companies will have to retire before the year end. All this mean that succession planning is becoming more meaningful to government offices as much as it is for private enterprises. He further says that man power requirement due to replacements (34.7 million) in organisations will far outstrip the requirements due to increase in business (20.3 million). While on one side there is a vacancy coming up, on the other side there is no talented and qualified people to hire from. According to Manpower (Jan 2006), nearly 44% of employers find difficulty in getting the right kind of person with the required skill level to fill the vacancy that is existing in the company. The succession planning is different from the replacement planning in the sense that while replacement planning will look for one single person and find a replacement for him from the market. Whereas in the case of succession planning, the company needs to consider who would take his position and who in turn would occupy once the succeeding person is promoted and so on. This would mean that the existing people have to be evaluated and kept ready for promotion and also the succession streak right to the end of the entire hierarchy where some one will be taken in from outside to fill the gap. Aims and Objectives To examine the potential elements involved in having a succession planning strategy and to present options and recommendations to the Management Board. The objective is to demonstrate the business benefits and added value to the organisation by producing an acceptable business case. Literary Review Workforce Life Cycle Management The Life Cycle of the workforce has to be completely taken care of including the retirement and succession thereof. Every employee should have an appropriate standby option in case he is to leave the employment. While this is normally looked at as a replacement plan for the individual, similar planning is needed for the succession too. The workforce life cycle would aim at a career planning for every person in the company followed by a succession plan. This would ensure that every key position in the company is filled whenever there is a need without any delay. Every position would require selection of the right person with adequate skill levels. After selecting the right person, an appropriate training program should be designed and provided in order to ensure that the person selected is trained for the position he is destined to take over. The person should also go through on the job observation and training enabling him to take on the assignment when it should occur. This would cr eate a hot standby for important key posts. On non-key positions, standby is maintained for a group of requirements. This would take care of any requirement that might arise among the equal positions. However, this may not be exactly the same position and might require some time to take over the assigned job. Succession planning is defined by Wendy Hirsh (2000) as

Marks & Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Marks & Spencer - Essay Example Britain hypermarket net Tesco is one of such leaders. This company sails one third of all foodstuffs in the country. At first glance Tesco and Marks & Spencer have similar sites intended for online shopping. But in fact there is a good deal of differences, which can be disclosed after some working with the necessary parts of these sites. Marks & Spencer sails more elegant staffs (like clothes, gifts or furniture), so it's aimed to another audience. But surely the same person can do shopping as in Tesco so in Marks & Spencer shops, but in Tesco - each day, while in Marks & Spencer once a week or rarely. Tesco set close cooperation with University College London. The scientists offered new methods of gathering, checking, collating, review, storage, access, retrieval and update of statistics information of retail sells. Fed every second by Tesco's 12 million Clubcard holders, the Crucible database could in theory generate about 12 billion pieces of data a year if each cardholder bought just 20 items a week. This information is analyzed very attentively. MIS helps managers to understand what goods are sold better together, to place them accordingly on the counters in supermarkets. Experts, who carry out such analysis for Tesco, insist that the company has one of the biggest customer databases in the world. National brand buildup took place thanks to Tesco owners and managers, who understood British customers wishes, whims and the mechanism of decision making. It became possible after using Management Information System (MIS). In fact company's managers pay much attention to analyzing the customers behavior: what, when and why do they buy and in what way is it possible to lead them to buy more. At first, hypermarket provides constant (season, holiday, single) discounts for that goods and stuffs, which customer buys oftener then others. At the end of a quarter each Clubcard holder gets voucher, equivalent to sum total, he spent in Tesco hypermarkets. Additionally they are rewarded with coupons, which allow discounts to that goods, the customers can enjoy (according to MIS results). Surely, this generated information is based on purchase data analysis. Management Information System (relevant module) defines the consumer goods basket, which can be potentially interested to a customer. During the quarter Tesco sells about 6 million letters with propositions of different discounts to loyal clients. Surely, Marks & Spencer hasn't such a model. But they needn't! Their target audience differs from Tesco's, so as their discount system. They also offers great discounts on their site and a customer can immediately watch it. Let's provide a comparative analysis between two these sites. Each side should contain company information. At Marks & Spencer website this information is represented rather widely: you can see as general information (company

Solve one world problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Solve one world problem - Essay Example There are two issues related to the problem that I would like to address. One is the neglect caused to an elderly member of the family on the basis of ageism and the diminishing ‘value’ of a human life based on materialistic concerns. The second issue is the general aversion people show towards a family member who is terminally ill, which leads to a situation where s/he is put in a hospice, at the care of others. Though it may be a good idea at times to entrust aged and terminally ill people to the care of those specialized in such care, I believe the involvement of family members in the whole procedure will improve the prospects of a person retaining a lot of positive energy even as s/he nears the last phase of life. My view on this is related to the immense value a human life has and the need to address the cruelty from others who give up on the life of someone simply because s/he is too old and sick. I believe that this universal issue can be solved only through proper sensitization. This has to start from the kindergarten, where kids should be taught the ways in which they should respect life. Along with the awareness that should necessarily be passed on with regard to the unnecessary evils of a World War and the impending disasters of Global Warming, each and every child should learn how to treat elderly people. They should be fully aware of the different phases of human life, and the inevitability of growing old and dying. They should know how to help elderly people keep their dignity through their suffering related to sickness, even as they are at the care of those who are trained to treat them. Apart from functional treatment, older people need and deserve a lot of love and care. I have witnessed many cases where a dying grandfather or grandmother craving for the attention of their family, while all they get is words of consolation from the home nurses. This is a very sad s ituation, and I

The economy of Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The economy of Saudi Arabia - Essay Example Saudi Arabia is promoting business privatization to facilitate economy diversification and national employment. Attempts at diversification center on energy production, telecommunications, natural gas breakthrough, and petrochemical divisions. In the country’s oil industry and service divisions, around 5.5 million employees are from foreign countries. Saudi government is principally centered on providing work for the big youth populace, which is deficient in education and technological expertise. Riyadh has maximized expenditures on job training and education, particularly with the opening of the King Abdallah University of Science and Technology, the country’s primary co-educational institution of higher education. To increase business ventures on foreign goods and services, Saudi Arabia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005. The government started launching "economic cities" throughout the country to encourage economic growth. In 2004-2008, the continuing increase in the world’s oil price earned Saudi Arabia sufficient financial reserves to cope with worldwide financial disaster. However, in 2009, its economic development was hampered due to strict global credit, declining oil prices, and the large-scale economic crisis. This impediment delayed several economic expansion plans. Saudi establishments sustained the banking division throughout the global crisis by directing asset investments into banks, decreasing rates, and openly confirming Saudi administrations security of bank deposits (â€Å"Middle East: Saudi Arabia†). Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of petroleum. The oil industry was discovered in the 1930s but was commercially produced after World War II. In 1951, the Arabian-American Oil Company (ARAMCO) was established, granting 50% net earnings to Saudi Arabia. Since the 1960s, petroleum brought huge revenues to the Saudi

OUTLINE THE METHODS USED IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND COMMENT ON THE Essay

OUTLINE THE METHODS USED IN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND COMMENT ON THE SUCCESS OF EACH - Essay Example This article speaks of various language learning methods and their success on implementation. This is one of the oldest methods known to have got developed by British applied linguistics in the late 1930s and 1960s. It does not have prominence in present day language learning methodology. The theory behind the language says that structural view of the language is the basis. It stresses more on the process and behaviorism. The basic principles are: In this way the language is learnt at a very slow pace. Learning the language on the basis of structure alone will almost take an academic year to master. But, once the language is learnt through patience learners are expected to get expertise in the written knowledge as well. This is one of the most popular methods of learning a language in 1950s and 1960s. It is still preferred by various Educational Institutes and language teaching centers. The theory for its foundation is again the structural view of the language. Getting expertise in the building blocks of the language and then laying emphasis on rules to join them to make a meaningful statement. The key points that elaborate on the theory are similar to those of situational language learning. In this method of learning, the language is learnt in its true accent. The procedures when properly implemented make the learners speak the language in its true jargon and apply the words at apt situations. This method of learning came into existence in 1960s as a replacement to the above two methods which have their theory based on the structural view of the language. The theory on which it is formatted is the functional view of the language. Principles that govern this method are: Learning is enjoyable and delivers good results once it is done through real communication. Learning is based on activities that clearly put in front the real essence of the language i.e. if a particular

Social Entreprenurism Case Study 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Entreprenurism Case Study 2 - Coursework Example For example, laws are passed to deter cases of unfair treatment to employees while numerous organizations examine the business operations of a company in relation to environmental preservation, use of non-hazardous raw materials, and what not. It is through the marriage of these two ‘formerly contradictory’ concepts that social entrepreneurship came to existence. As such, some of the key issues that social entrepreneurship confronts are as follows: (1) how important are social values in the formation of a company’s business strategy? and (2) how do these values guide the overall operations of a company—specifically, in the way it manages its external publics? These questions will be answered through a critical examination of the case assigned—Ibrahim Abouleish’s Sekem. In the end, this paper aims to reinforce its thesis that the proper integration of social values into the business operations of a social enterprise lies in the adoption of an ‘innovation strategy’. According to Leadbeater (2007),â€Å"a social enterprise offers a new way to do business that is animated by a social purpose† (p. 2). Unlike a normal business enterprise that measures its success through the attainment of its set objectives (whether sales growth, market expansion, operational efficiency, or brand building), a social enterprise assesses its success by the positive social impacts it has contributed to the society. As further commented by Leadbeater (2007), â€Å"many social enterprises, however, internalise their social mission as they make it central to the way they operate† (p. 3). In this regard, profit-maximization is regarded as a tool to further the enterprise’s social goals. Going back to the case study, it could be claimed that Sekem’s foundation was built around the goal of sustainable human development. Its values, therefore, are rooted on the goal of being able to contribute to the comprehensive development of the

Environmental Scanning Assignment 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Environmental Scanning 2 - Assignment Example ltiple times on CNN which covered the topic of whale cruelty and the poor habitats that the whales are subjected to that led to the decrease in daily share price (New York Times 2014). The investors in the progress of the company withdrew shares that caused the stock decline of 4.8% which also led to a disruption of its place in the global market (Gara 2014). The negative image of the company that surfaced in the media did hurt the reputation that it cherished before. Sea World known for its diverse animal life can face major stakeholder setbacks if the issue is not properly addressed on an open media forum. What can be done is to highlight the issue in a manner that gives out a glimmer of hope and improvement for the animals. The issue of providing proper habitats is vital and so addressing the audience as to the agenda to upgrade the whole park is one way to counter the negative image. Secondly, what can be done is that besides area expansion, a formal press release should be called and statements should be issued as to how â€Å"Black fish† does not depict any of the treatments that the animals are given at Sea World and that the park provides well established and maintained habitats to the animals residing there. Sticking to an agenda of â€Å"no animal cruelty† policy and ensuring that in the coming days positive image s are depicted can get the company’s reputation back on the pedestal it was before. The Associated Press. (2014, August 15). After Film, SeaWorld to Make Improvements. The New York Times. Retrieved

Albatross Anchors part 3 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Albatross Anchors part 3 - Case Study Example Being founded in 1976, Albatross Anchor operates as a family business in the USA. It was instigated by four people family members and currently performs with the manpower of 130 employees. The company has been engaged with the manufacturing and shipping of anchors in the wholesale market of the nation and other neighboring countries as well. Thus, the entire organizational process involves various phases which can be sorted as producing, storing or warehousing and shipping among others. With the intention of proposing the company to adopt changes, after taking certain beneficial strategic measures, the discussion henceforth will intend to address four challenges faced by Albatross in its current practices rendering recommendations to the identified issues. Furthermore, adhering to the changes recommended, the strategic selections will be justified along with a detailed plan of implementing those strategies and a timeline through Gantt chart. ... It is in this context that the company needs to witness challenges in terms of legal barriers limiting the maximum weight to be shipped at a time. Owing to this particular reason, where on one hand the company needs to incur extra cost burden of transportation costs in case of railroads; on the other hand, it had to witness hurdles in transporting through ocean routes as well where the products were entitled to be initially shipped through rail to the dock and then loaded on the ship, which incurred extra labor costs for shipping goods in the international market. Furthermore, due to the increasing complexities in the shipping procedure, the organization also had to face hurdles in managing the manpower effectively. Hence, it can be recommended that the company needs to reframe its administrative staff arrangement along with absorbing more manpower in its transportation process. Although engaging greater manpower shall prove to be a costly venture in the short-run, it shall prove as highly beneficial in the long-run to gain enhanced sustainability and profitability minimizing the confusions arising in the shipment process. Again, as the company produces both domestic and international products incurring different production costs, it should intend to re-consider its pricing strategies which would neither hamper the interests of the wholesale customers, nor would inhibit the profit margin of the company (Rivers, 2012). Challenge # 3: Quality Management In relation to quality management, the products which are produced by Albatross, i.e. bell anchors and snag hook anchors, follow distinct procedures or mechanisms and techniques. For instance, the bell anchors are

Drinks that Influenced History and Civilization Essay Example for Free

Drinks that Influenced History and Civilization Essay The author describes the origin of six drinks that greatly influenced history and civilization around the world: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. He explains how each drink was the defining drink during a historical period from antiquity to present day. The fluids are vital because each had a role of shaping the modern world. They have been used as currencies, in religious rites, as a political symbol, sources of philosophical and artistic inspiration. Some have served to highlight the power of the elite, and appease the downtrodden. They connected world cultures by impacting trade, economy, religion, and politics. Beer was discovered through different methods of cooking and storing cereal grains. When the ice age ended, lands such as the Fertile Crescent provided abundant cereal grains. Such grains provided a reliable source of food, and the ability to store cereal grains began to encourage people to stay in one place. This resulted in permanent settlements as societies transitioned from hunting and gathering to farming. Although the residents of such villages continued to hunt, skeletal evidence suggests that they subsisted mostly on plant-based diets. Beer was shared, and it was symbol of hospitality and friendship. To Neolithic drinkers, beer’s ability to intoxicate and ferment seemed magical, and it was concluded that it was a gift from the gods. Beer-drinking cultures tell stories and myths of how it was discovered. Mesopotamians and Egyptians saw beer as an ancient, god-given drink that supported their existence, formed part of their cultural and religious identity, and had great social importance. It was consumed by anyone regardless of status, age, or gender. Beer impacted the growth and diffusion of the earliest civilizations greatly. The emergence of complex societies, the need to keep written records, and the popularity of beer all followed from the surplus of grain. It was also used as a form of currency and payment. Beer also had a direct link to health. Mesopotamians and Egyptians used it medicinally. The Egyptians used bread and beer in funerals. Without the discovery of beer, the earliest civilizations of Southwest Asia and Egypt would not have been as prosperous.

Strategic Management At Emirates Airlines Marketing Essay

Strategic Management At Emirates Airlines Marketing Essay Abstract This conducted report discusses a strategic study about the global airline industry, particularly Emirates Airlines. The first part of the report provides a brief overview about Emirates Airlines Company followed by a situation analysis that includes the internal and external analysis. The last section will be concluded with the current situation along with suggesting major issues that Emirates Airlines should address. Table of Content 1 Abstract 2 Table of Content 3 2 Introduction 4 3 External Environment 5 3.1 Industry Analysis 5 3.1.1 Airline industry General Profile 5 3.1.2 Life Cycle 6 3.1.3 Porters 5 Forces 7 3.1.4 Key Competitors 9 3.1.5 Key Success Factors 10 3.1.6 PEST Analysis 11 3.1.7 Summary of External Environment 13 4 Internal Environment 14 4.1 SWOT analysis 14 4.2 Summary of Internal Environment 17 5 Conclusion and Recommendation 17 6 References 21 Introduction Emirates Airlines goals for the immediate future and long term are, to be the best in every venture it undertakes; to meet its customers expectations profitably, to contribute to the success of Dubai Inc., and to make the city the new global aviation hub for the 21st century. Emirates Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoom In 1985 Emirates Airlines was established by Dubai Government with just two aircrafts. Today Emirates has 83 aircrafts files to 78 destinations in 55 countries worldwide. It has a large number of cabin crews from 95 nationalities. It recently made an aircraft orders worth more than $ 26 billion for 45 Airbus A380, which makes the company the worlds largest purchaser of Airbuss super-jumbo. (About Emirates) Emirates Airlines recently becomes one of the fastest growing airlines and the fifth-most-profitable airline in the world. It has been growing by more than 20% a year since the last 17 years making a profit of $637 million in 2004-05. (BBC News) Emirates Airlines is committed to achieve its mission, namely offering consistently high-quality value-for-money service and to be the best airline on all of its routes. Accordingly, it is known as an innovative and customer-oriented provider of advanced services, such as offering personal entertainment system in all classes, 18 TV channels, 22 audio channels and online booking service which enables customers to book, search for flights and choose seats. (About Emirates) Because of that excellence, it gained over 280 international awards, such as the prestigious CAPA airline of the year award 2005 by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. (Internet travel news) External Environment Industry Analysis The aim of the industry analysis is to identify the external environment that affects the airline industry. The first part gives an idea about the airline industry profile. Airline industry General Profile Airline industry is one of the most competitive and growing industries in the world as it leads to economic growth, world trade, international investment and tourism. In the last decade, it has grown strongly by 7% per year for both business and leisure purposes. (Airline Industry) Airline industry is considered as one of the fastest expanding sectors of the world with growth rates 2.4 times above the GDP rates on average. It is also predicted to grow by an average of 5 % a year from 2000 to 2010 (IATA). Airline industry is affected by the economical growth, trade and political factors. As an example of the political factors, the 11th September attacks dropped the number of passengers, because people were afraid and tend to avoid studying and visiting countries that have been attacked by terrorism. As an economical factor, the increase in oil prices destroyed the profitability of the global airline industry, accordingly it losses around $6 billion in 2005 (IATA). Due to the unstable political and economical situation, many airlines companies started to modify their strategies and services to survive and succeed in the airline industry. For example, many companies invested heavily in the quality of services they provide by offering, e-booking system, new interactive entertainment systems, more comfortable seats, low cost carriers and many technological techniques. All of that was introduced to attract, return customers and gain a competitive advantage. As being in such a competitive market, many companies started setting agreements among each other to reduce costs and share resource which is called as alliance. Overall, the airline industry will recover as the number of passengers seems to be doubled by 2010 to exceed 2.3 billion due to the tourism, trade and economic development (IATA).Thus, Successful airlines will be those that continue reducing their costs and improving their services by differentiating from competitors to secure a strong position in the aviation market. Life Cycle The airline industry is in the maturity stage, therefore there is a strong competition in the market and the sales rate grows fast and then begins to stabilize gradually. As the competition is more aggressive in this stage, the advertising and sales promotion can be obvious. Moreover many competitors increased their research and development (RD) budgets to find best services to gain customers attention. (Product Life Cycle, 2005) Accordingly, many companies started to focus in differentiating their services and products from their competitors by increasing their customers brand loyalty. For instance many companies starts to concentrate on cutting the operating cost, thus in this stage the profit margin decreases and the least efficient companies leaves the market and only well-established companies are the ones that remain. Accordingly, many companies use offensive strategies rather than defensive strategies through modifying their market, product and marketing mix to survive and compete during this stage. (New product development) For example, Kuwait airways implements the strategy of modifying the marketing mix by launching a low cost carriers in order to increase its customer base and loyalty and increase sales, which is considered as a competitive advantage amongst its competitors (Kuwait Airways). Following section explains the porters 5 forces that impact airlines industry. Porters 5 Forces Threat of New Entrants The new entrants cause a threat to the existing company in any industry, because they might offer better services, products or costs. In the airline industry the threat is low as the level of entry barriers is high. There are many challenges that should be considered by the new entrants as follows: Capital Requirements. Huge budget is required for starting a new airline company to buy aircrafts and provide services to customers. Ex. Boeing costs around $ 2 billion. (Ashraf, Emirates Airline) Brand name Customer loyalty: Airlines companies have built an excellent position in the market which helps them to compete against the threats of new entrants. The experience curve of the existing companies is high according to their long experiences in the market, Ex. American Airlines. Generally, alliances between key airlines companies make the entry on the industry hard for any new airline company. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Suppliers can affect the industry through their abilities to raise prices or reduce the quality of purchased goods and services. The airline industry has few suppliers globally, namely Boeing and Airbus. Thus the power of the suppliers is high, because those limited suppliers have a control on the market due to the huge demand of their manufactured products. Bargaining Power of Buyers Buyers affect the industry through their abilities to reduce prices, bargain for higher quality or more services. The power of the buyers in this industry is strong as there are lots of passengers (1.8 billion yearly), the switching costs are low and passengers have many choices in the market (ITAT). The new technology of e-ticketing gives people the chance and flexibility to search for many airlines companies offering better or cheaper costs and services. Furthermore, it eases the operation of switching between different airlines companies. Therefore, many companies provide the air miles system to gain customers attention and to keep them as well. Threat of a Substitute Products or Services The threat of substitutes differs from the regional and international airlines. In the regional airlines it can be higher as people can drive their cars or use trains as a way to travel within the same region, but on the international level people use airplanes to move faster and more comfortable. In the Europe they are using trains to travel from country to another for example, its easy to travel by train from the UK to France by Eurostar train in just 1 hour 40 minutes (London to France). However, in many countries trains are not available ex UAE, accordingly such carries have a weak threaten in the airlines industry since they are not used for long distance journeys by many countries. Rivalry among existing firms In airlines industry, the rivalry is very high between the companies, as there is variety of airline companies that provides best aircrafts and services to passengers. For instance, many companies try to expand their market shares by offering best prices, best customer services and exclusive promotions as well as by being creative in their advertising campaigns. (Ex: Air Arabia is low cost airline). (Thompson Strickland, 1995) Key Competitors British Airways British Airways is ranked # 2 in Europe and one of the biggest in the world. They have 300 planes and 216 destinations in 94 countries. The key success factors of British Airways are: its a member of the largest alliance and it is known of its technology projects in offering unique services, such as touch screens service and being the first in implementing full flat beds. Qatar Airways Qatar Airways was established in 1994. It has 44 fleets linking 69 international destinations. Its services and events, gives the company special position amongst its competitors. The success of Qatar Airways comes from its aggressive growth plan that includes the construction and development of the new Doha international airport, which will include the worlds largest aircrafts hangers to be used for maintenance of Qatar Airways. Additionally, by 2009 Qatar Airways plans to get 36 aircrafts from Airbus, including two A380, for Qatar Airways. (Airline website, AmeInfo) Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines is one of the most respected travel brands founded in 1947. It has a fleet of 90 aircrafts and it flies to more than 60 cities in 30 countries. Many factors cause Singapore Airlines success, such as young and efficient fleets, educated staff, top ranked travel gateway and its low cost airlines known as Tiger Airways, plus its a member of star alliance airline networks. (Singapore Airlines Company Information) American Airlines American Airlines was founded in 1930 and is positioned as the largest airline in the world in terms of the total passengers transported of 80 million yearly. It has the highest number of aircrafts that reach up to 991 and serve 172 cities with five main hubs. Also it is first to launch the loyalty program frequent flyers. All of theses are considered as the key success of this airline. (American Airlines) Key Success Factors To maintain airlines companies success, various key factors should be implemented for this purpose: Differentiation Airline companies tend to differentiate by providing advanced services. For example, providing the aircraft with the latest technology, such as wide seats, e-ticketing (as mentioned in 5 porters section) will attract customers and distinguish the company among other companies. (ex: British Airways). Strong brand name Obtaining a strong brand name plus building a base of loyal customers are the carriers companies most concern. It guarantees that customers will stick with the strong brand name company and ignore any attractive offers form other competitors. Some airline companies utilize some techniques to have a retain customers, such as offering a flyer mile to win a free ticket if the points were completed. (ex: American Airline) Alliances Airline industry is moving toward establishing alliances between companies. This will let companies to share resources via linking their networks to build a wide base of customers, develop services and increase number of routes. Additionally, it results in sharing experience and decreasing the operation costs. Ex. British Airways is a member of largest airline alliance known as Oneworld. Relations with supplier Airline companies must build a strong relation with suppliers by setting long-term contracts with them. Such relations will benefit the airlines companies, because this will keep them in the safe side even if there was any change in the pricing strategy (ex. increasing costs) in the future as there is a contract between them. The PEST analysis is the best way that leads companies to change their strategies. PEST Analysis Political factors The airline industry is affected by political situations, namely wars and terrorism. For instance, terrorists activities in different areas globally, namely USA (11th Sep), UK, Lebanon and Qatar made the regions unattractive for tourists and business travelers and reduce the passengers traffic. The political instability affected businesses between airlines in Middle East and the world by facing a difficulty to join any international alliances with any of the airlines leaders such as American Airlines. (Growth phenomena, Nora Byman) Economical factors One of the factors behind any success airlines is having modern airports supported with latest technology to meet customers requirements. UAE for example plans to invest in developing its main airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The UAEs total investments on airport development over coming 20 years will exceed Dh 71 billion. The benefits of developing airports are: enhancing economy, reducing depends on oil revenues by moving into new sector (tourism), increasing tourists number and thereby driving profits to airline firms. Globally, alliance is considered as the main factor of many airlines companies success as it reduces the operation costs. Social factors Some of those factors are: increasing worlds population, tourists and number of educated people. For instance, the population is growing globally, in UAE the population in 2002 was 3,754,000 people and reached to 4,320,000 in 2004, this is because UAE is a multicultural country.As the number of expatriates is increasing, airlines firms profits will increase, because those expatriates need to travel to their homeland sometime. Additionally, many diseases influence the population in many courtiers, like Bird Flu, those killer diseases affect airline industry since they reduce populations level. (Economic Development) Technological factors The new technology affected airline industry negatively and positively. For example, the technology of teleconferencing reduced the need for face to face business meetings which affects on the number of business travelers and on the sales of business tickets. However, e-booking system makes the reservation easier and save many expenses such as reducing the printed tickets. (Current State) There is a growth in internet usage world wide. In the UAE, internet accounts are likely to grow from 251,000 in 2001 to exceed 600,000 accounts by 2006. Thus, local airlines industry should provide online services to get competitive advantage ex. Emirates Airline. (UAE to remain on top in Arab Internet market) Summary of External Environment The external environment shows airline industry is in its maturity stage with a slow rate of increase, which resulted in increasing the competitions level. Only three forces have a direct effect in this industry, namely bargaining power of suppliers and buyers and intensity of rivalry. The barriers for new entries are high which reduce the threats of any new entrants. Some factors, such as political, economy, social and technological affect the industry by either increasing or decreasing passengers traffics. Companies use several key factors to expand their successes to keep a good position and increase loyal customer base, like differentiating their services, making a strong band name and implementing latest technology and join alliances. Internal Environment SWOT analysis Strengths Member of the Arab alliance, known as Arab Air Carriers Organization promoting cooperation, safety standards among Arab airlines (Arab Air). First airline in Arab World that offers online booking service. Offering long-haul flights, like from US to Dubai. Offering self check-in service for customers at Dubai airport (Emirates expands). At Dubai Air Show 2005, Emirates made an aircraft order of 45 Airbus by 2012 making it the worlds largest purchaser of Airbuss super-jumbo. Providing employees with training, rewards and performance programs, thus reducing labor costs and increasing employees loyalty (People). An official sponsor of 2006 Fifa World Cup, which will increase its brand awareness. It has its own Frequent Flyer Program known as Skywards Miles that shared with Srilankan Airways. It has recently chosen Dexterra Mobile Platform to enable front-office mobile solutions that will enhance customer service interaction (Unisys). It offers training service to other airlines in Middle East which increase its profit. Weaknesses High Operation costs due to huge investment on buying aircrafts and implementing new technologies. Known of its high prices of tickets comparing to other airlines. Not a member of any global alliances (UAE). It doesnt have a hub in Abu Dhabi airport (capital of the UAE). Young airline that was established in 1985 3. Opportunities The income per capita is growing in UAE. Lots of investments will be made by the government of UAE for developing main airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. There is an overall growth in the population of the world and in UAE. World Travel Tourism Council forecasts that there will be an annual growth in the number of UAE tourists. There is an expected growth in internet users worldwide and in UAE. Aviation events such as Dubai Air Show promotes for Middle East airlines among other participates world wide airlines and show the growing of aviation industry in Middle East ( Walid). 4. Threats It is located in politically instable region and the terrorism activities have been increased in Middle East recently. Increase of aviation security costs and insurance which increase the operational costs of airlines. The increase of the fuel prices which rise the operational costs. The airline industry might face losses of around $ 3 billion if the oil prices did not reduce. (IATA) New entrants and the raise of low cost airlines. The e-ticking system can be abuse by the hackers or it might be crashed by viruses, this will damage the company database and will cost a lot of money. Passengers can be a threat to the company, as they have a strong power in the airline industry. The natural crises such as the earthquake and hurricane. As mentioned by Al-Arabia channel, Dubai is threatened by an earthquake (2005). This will affect the tourism in this region, which will reflected in the Emirates airline There is a possibility of rapid spread of new acute diseases such as SARS and Bird Flue that affect tourism and airlines. Summary of Internal Environment As external environments, companies should identify its internal factors, namely strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Recognizing that enables companies to improve, overcome weaknesses, handle opportunities as advantages and avoid threats. Emirates Airlines has many strengths, like differentiating from other airlines, as it responses to new technology, such as e-ticketing and self check-in services. An obvious weakness is the high prices of Emirates due to its huge investments in ordering aircrafts. Although it has opportunities (near investments in AD airport and increase of UAE income per capita in UAE.), many threats are concerning it, such as increase of oil prices, low cost airlines and the spread of killer diseases. Following section provides Emirates with the best solution in order to be competitive. Conclusion and Recommendation Is the airline industry an attractive industry? The airline industry is a huge market as there are 900 airlines companies internationally with total of nearly 22,000 aircrafts, nevertheless it has a low growth rates as it is in its mature stage of life cycle. (The economic social benefits of air transport). For any new entry the airline industry is considered to be unattractive, because the demand is low, the competition is strong and the operation costs are increasing. However, for Emirates Airlines it is attractive as its strategy and market position creates a good defense against its competitor. For example, it created a strong brand name and customer loyalty in the market by implementing the latest technologies in its services to be positioned as a pioneer in the airline field. It also achieves high profits yearly as it focuses proficiently to enhance its market position by differentiating in its strategies that would be used to attract customers such as flyer frequent program. Also, it has many chances to overcome with all the obstacles that might occur and affect the airline industry such as political or economical problems, etc. as it is a member in Emirates Group which enables sharing resources and reducing the companys expenses, thus leading the company to protect its position in the market. Overall, Emirates has a great market position plus its a profitable airline which is measured as a competitive advantage, since it has the opportunity to compete and expand its business to gain higher profits. What is Emirates competitive advantage? Emirates Airlines adopts differentiation generic strategy to gain a competitive advantage amongst its competitors by offering the highest quality services in order to be the best company in the market and differentiates from its competitors. For example, Emirates airlines was the first airline that offered TV screen for all aircrafts classes. Also it was the first company in the Middle East to serve the e-ticketing. In addition, it gained a competitive advantage by focusing in new segments in the market. For instance, it provides another airline companies such as Qatar Airways with training courses by using the most modern machines, called plane simulator to be the only company in the Middle East that offers such service. The aim of such changes is to be the leader in industry by increasing the brand name awareness regionally and internationally which will increase the demand and the profit as well. What major issues should Emirates Address? As the Airline industry is in the maturity stage, there is a strong competition between airline firms. Each firm should use offensive strategies besides doing analysis for internal and external factors that may affect its position. The research and analysis for Emirates airlines address following recommendations: The operational cost is increasing due to huge investments of Emirates on aircrafts and services and increase in fuel prices. Emirates should reduce the costs by making operational improvements, namely improving maintenance processes, maintaining high aircraft utilization and making effective flight scheduling. It could also be reduced by investing technology in distribution channels to reduce labor costs. For instance , it is recommended to install more self service kiosks in airports of the destinations of Emirates airline since it has already install ones in Dubai airport. In response to the threat of low cost airlines, Emirates shouldnt lower its fares after years of offering advanced services, instead it has to offer new low cost brand as a subsidiary of Emirates group serving economic travelers who are now customers of new low cost airlines, thus expanding the market share. Extending routes is recommended especially there is a growth in tourism UAE. There are main regions in the world that Emirates do not have routes in, namely Canada, It has to extend destinations worldwide (especially attractive areas). Joining a global alliance enables increasing its destinations, offering more fare options for customers helping to solve problems of new low cost airline. Investigating technology is recommended for improving customer service and Emirates has to sign contract with an e-business company that offers airlines technology solutions. E-CRM strategy is a new technology that Emirates should implement since internet users number is increasing. It allows managing long term relationships with customers (Jiang, 2003). Generally, Emirates should do analysis for internal and external factors and its competitors and develop new strategies to stay competitive in the maturity stage.

Leadership Styles in Professional Nursing

Leadership Styles in Professional Nursing The health sectors success relies mainly on the leadership of the nurses in command; this may be a nurse manager who is in control of a unit or a nurse executive who controls numerous units. To be able to successfully lead the others the nurses need to have the necessary leadership skills that will be employed to solve all the challenges (Mahoney, 2001). The effective leadership skills will be very useful in the decision making process in the health sector. The senior nurse therefore has the control over all the activities involved which means that he/she must do it diligently and professionally at all times. They need to be visionary and have appropriate strategies to success; in addition they should be dynamic, motivated, and have the desire to achieve greater heights (Mahoney, 2001). This paper analyses leadership styles in professional nursing and how they can be applied to make the health sector effective and efficient. It reviews professional nursing literature that identifies the major leadership skills and gives a clinical application example. Review of the Professional Nursing Literature In leadership, the leader must aim at transformation where the nurses are motivated to transform the industry through proper morals and hard work. There are various leadership styles that can be applied by leader nurses; these include democratic or autocratic leadership. In this regard the nurses who lead can apply such styles depending on the situation and experience of the nurses. According to Cook (2001) in the article The renaissance of clinical leadership there are various factors that influence the style of leadership to be applied. They include, the external environment; the experience of the nurse involved the internal environment, and the understanding. He identifies four styles that nurses can use in their leadership and make it effective. The styles are connected to nursing care approaches and include; transactional, transformational, connective and renaissance. In transformational leadership the leaders and subordinates are able to lift each other in their work to higher heights. This is mainly achieved through motivation and morality where they are both involved in whatever happens to one another (Cook, 2001). This is more like the democratic leadership where leaders seek the opinion of the subordinate nurses in the decisions they make. The nurses are able to carry out all their duties independently, without interference and to their understanding. They are however free to ask for assistance from others either the leaders or the colleagues in case they need any assistance. This means that the nurses are able to work efficiently and behave well due to the motivation, inspiration, individual consideration and intellectual stimulation (Cook, 2001). Transactional leadership on the other hand pursues an autocratic leadership style where the nurses are under obligation to perform in view of the fact that they are paid to do so. The subordinates must take strict orders from the leaders; which they must obey without questions or comments. The leaders are able to further their own agendas, goals and whatever they see as effective. They do not take in to considerations the view of the subordinates viewing them as just workers to follow the orders given. The leaders supervise the subordinates very closely and are mainly on duty to ensure that every nurse arrived to their duty and has performed all the duties as per the instructions. Thyer (2003) in the article Dare to be different: transformational leadership may hold the key to reducing the nursing shortage gives an account on the contribution of transformational leadership on the issue of nurse shortages that have been experience. On their part, health care has in many occasions been implemented under transactional leadership that has made nurses to quit and leave the industry (Thyer, 2003). This leaves a shortage in the profession as more continue to leave either for retirement or other well led careers. The nurses blame the system in the workplace which they say is dictatorial and does not bring fulfillment to their profession. Transformational leadership on the other hand when applied will bring motivation and morality in the sector and thus retains more nurses and attracts more others. The nurses become visionary, creative, independent, and engaged in the making of decisions both at the in-patient and out-patient level and this brings fulfillment and individual association with their work. They are able to attach themselves to their work and make it more enjoyable through contributing to the decisions made. The transformational leadership also allows equality in terms of gender, race, and age; whats more is that the nurses are able to contribute to the communication strategies that are needed in the health sector (Thyer, 2003). Transactional on the other hand will erode the spirit of team work, communication and togetherness in the sector. In view of these facts, transformational leadership becomes an inspirational mode to attract better terms of reference in the job market and create a notion that inspires even scholars to join in. Sellgren et al. (2006) in the article Leadership Styles in Nursing Management: Preferred and Perceived aimed to explore the leadership involved in nursing in regard to what managers and their subordinates view as important. It also aimed at exploring the opinions of the subordinates on their superiors performance in the work place. The study was based on the leaders styles and their fundamental roles they have to play in their workplace and the view the subordinates have of those roles (Sellgren, et al. 2006). It is also based on the way the subordinates accept and follow whatever the leaders say and the motivation they get from the leaders; and the way they follow the goals and objectives of the manager for the purpose of quality. Application of Clinical Example When leaders apply the styles they are positive that they will achieve their objectives and whichever style they apply they are guided by the experience and situation. When leading nurses who are managing experience nurses they tend to apply transformational leadership since they know the nurses know their work and dont need much supervision. In contrast when leading new registered nurses they may apply transactional leadership which will ensure they are supervised appropriately before they are acquitted with their duties (Mahoney, 2001). In situations where the leading nurses want to make decisions such as purchasing equipment then the transformational leader will seek for the opinion of the subordinates who will be able to give whatever they need to use and find comfortable and appropriate. The major need for effective and efficient leadership is the success of the health system which requires that the leaders are devoted, strategic, and charismatic (Cook, 2001). In every decision they make they have to ensure that they are not derailed from achieving the final objective. Conclusion Leaders have the opportunity to apply any style they deem fit in achieving their goals and objectives. In addition they have the chance to apply one or both styles or change the style if they see one is not effective. No matter the style they apply or management decisions they make they must be able to ensure growth and sustainability in the health sector, where patients must be positive about everything happening in the sector. Job satisfaction for the subordinates nurses and the entire society of nurses also depends on the leadership style therefore the leaders should evaluate the style they will apply critically before implementation.

The Minimum Wage Should Not Be Increased :: Argumentative Essay, Minimum Wage Essays

â€Å"An increase in the minimum wage will boost income for the poorest workers without the danger of creating more unemployment.†, stated President Obama in September 2014. Is this statement about an increase in minimum wage really true? There are two sides to the debate about minimum wage. The minimum wage is a major issue in the world of economics and politics. Political figures often prey on the public’s general ignorance of economics and promise to increase the minimum wage. Economists, on the other hand, view the long term effects and see the damage it can cause. David Card and Alan Kruegur, two economists at Princeton University conducted a study on New Jersey’s 18% minimum wage increase. They looked the impact on the New Jersey economy and compared the results to the state of Pennsylvania which did not make any change in the minimum wage during the period of the study.. David Card and Alan Kruegur measured the change in employment in New Jersey’s fast–food restaurants between February and December that year. Card and Kruegur found that the number of jobs grew in restaurants where pay had to rise, compared with those already paying more than minimum was and compared with restaurants in neighboring Pennsylvania, where the minimum did not change. The study also found no difference between high- and low- wage states. Most people would be delighted to here the above. They would receive more money and their standard of living would increase. But most people do not take into account the negative side effects of increasing the minimum wage. The survey taken by Card and Kruegur was done over the telephone. Fellow economists charge that the questions were vague and errors crept into the numbers. Another study was done using the businesses payrolls found that New Jersey fared far worse than Pennsylvania. Positive effects of the minimum wage can be the obvious; more money for people. They would have more money to spend , the economy would boom and everyone would be happy. Not so; in fact, this would only encourage inflation and increase prices. Money become lesser in value and producers would have no choice but to raise prices in order to make profit. Another negative aspect of raising the minimum wage is unemployment rising. Supply of workers would exceed the demand for workers.

Female Mutilation :: essays research papers

Female Genital Mutilation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Almost every person around the globe has a different viewpoint of different subjects. One such example is that of female genital mutilation, or otherwise noted as female circumcision. Many groups of people find female genital mutilation to be sacred while another group believes it to be terribly horrendous. Each year millions of women worldwide undergo a procedure often referred to as female circumcision; there are many reasons why a woman would choose to have this be done as well as many more women who go through this malicious process against their will.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Female genital mutilation is called by a variety of different names. A couple of them include female circumcision and female cutting. Female circumcision is used in reference to female circumcision being the male circumcision’s counterpart. However, this is undoubtedly not the case. Female cutting is the most simplistic name given; it only regards the procedure as â€Å"cutting.† Female genital mutilation came along some years later with the intention of drawing attention to the horrid nature of the procedure (Source   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several different types of female circumcision. Mainly the types vary by severity of degree to which they are performed. Type I includes the â€Å"removal of the clitoral hood with or without removal of part or all of the clitoris† (Source Type 1 Excision (removal) of the clitoral hood with or without removal of part or all of the clitoris. Type 2 Removal of the clitoris together with part or all of the labia minora. Type 3 (infibulation) Removal of part or all of the external genitalia (clitoris, labia minora, and labia majora) and stitching and/or narrowing of the vaginal opening leaving a small hole for urine and menstrual flow. Type 4 (unclassified) All other operations on the female genitalia, including: Pricking, piercing, stretching, or incision of the clitoris and/or labia; Cauterization by burning the clitoris and surrounding tissues; Incisions to the vaginal wall;

Marriages and Families Essay

Course Description Welcome to Marriage and the Family Online (SOCIO 210-IN1/IN2)!! As the course title suggests, we will explore key sociological concepts related to the social institution of marriage and the family. Individual success in this online course will come to those who are self-disciplined and work collaboratively to make the course a success. I look forward to working with all of you as we try to make sense of the world’s social forces and their impact on individual lives within marriages and the family. The College’s formal course description for SOCIO 101 states: â€Å"This course provides an understanding of sociological concepts, theories, and research methods in relation to marriage and family issues. It focuses on the ever-changing dynamics of relationships and the influence of contemporary society on family life. Special emphasis is placed on communication in relationships, dating and mate selection, love, parenting, balancing work and family, violence in relationships, and divorce† (Official Course Description, Prairie State College 2012-2014 Catalog). Course Objectives Students who complete SOCIO 210 will be able to: 1. Apply the major sociological perspectives to marriage and family issues. 2. Discuss the importance of communication, power, and gender in shaping relationships and family dynamics. 3. Explain the diversity of experiences for couples and families, with attention to issues of social class, race/ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and the life course. 4. Describe the impact of other social institutions—such as the economy, education, religion, and the legal system—on marriages and families. 5. Identify the key issues related to family violence, divorce, and successful marriages. 6. Discuss the trends involving single-parent families, remarriage, and blended families. 7. Demonstrate skills of public deliberation within context of on-line classroom discussions. 8. Demonstrate critical thinking skills through writing. 9. Articulate viewpoints on contemporary sociological issues affecting marriages and families. Classroom Policies Absence Policy: As stated in the Prairie State College Board policies: â€Å"Regular class attendance is an essential component of successful learning. Students are responsible for prompt attendance and participation in all class meetings of every course for which they are registered. Students have the responsibility to contact professors in case of unavoidable absence.† Attendance in this online course is linked to your consistent and meaningful participation in online discussions and timely completion of assignments and chapter quizzes. Late or Missed Work/Plagiarism: In order to receive full credit, all assignments must be completed and submitted by the due date. Partial credit may (or may not) be accepted for work submitted after the deadline. Plagiarism, or other forms of cheating, will not be tolerated and students in violation will fail the assignment and face possible failure of the course. Meeting deadlines is an essential element of this online course. Once a deadline passes, there is no longer access to the course assignment. For example, if a student fails to complete an attempt on a 45-point Chapter Quiz, then that student earns zero points for that assignment. Missing 45 points may have significant negative consequences on a final grade. Evaluation of Student Performance Online Chapter Quizzes (630 points) Our text includes 16 chapters. For each chapter, there is a Chapter Quiz. Each Chapter Quiz includes 15 multiple choice or true/false questions and each question is worth 3 points (45 points/quiz). For the first half of the course, which covers Chapters 1-8, I count the best 7 Chapter Quiz scores toward your final grade. The Chapter 8 Quiz is an opportunity to improve on an earlier quiz score on one of the previous seven quizzes. For the second half of the course, which covers Chapters 9-16, I also count the best 7 Chapter Quiz scores toward your final grade. The Chapter 16 Quiz is an opportunity to improve on an earlier quiz score for Ch. 9-15. In total, I count 14 quiz scores, each worth 45 points for a total of 630 points. Please note that there is a time limit of 15 minutes (with a 2-minute grace period) to complete each Chapter Quiz. The purpose of this is so that students do not rely on their textbooks for answering all of the questions. You may use your book, but you must read the chapter prior to taking the quiz so that you can move fairly quickly through the 15 questions and finish within the time limit. In fact, given the high value of these Chapter Quizzes—accounting for over 60% of the total points in the course—I strongly recommend that you read the chapter closely twice prior to taking the quiz. Points will be deducted for going past the 2-minute grace period (one point deduction for each minute over). I do allow two attempts, with the highest score counting toward a student’s final grade. I encourage reading the chapter a third time if you are disappointed with the outcome of your first attempt. Deadlines for Chapter Quizzes are typically on Sundays at 11:59 p.m. Examinations (200 points) There is a Mid-Term Examination covering Chapters 1-8 and there is a Final Examination covering Chapters 9-16. Each exam includes 40 questions, worth 2.5 points apiece. Each exam is valued at 100 points. There is a 45-minute time limit with a 5-minute grace period. For each minute taken beyond grace period, one point will be deducted from score. Online Class-based Discussions (170 points) For this part of the course, students participate in weeklong online conversations about the textbook material or about sociological assignments that are connected to the course material. The intent of these conversations is to encourage a close reading of our Henslin text and to reach a deeper understanding the sociological perspective on human behavior. Past students have really enjoyed hearing the thoughts and perspectives from their fellow classmates. There are several class-based Discussions throughout the course. The first one involves Student Introductions and takes place during Week 1 (worth 20 points). The next five Discussions are spread out over the course of the semester (Weeks 3, 5, 7, 11, and 13). Each of these Discussions is valued at 30 points and takes place across a 7-day period running from Monday-through-Sunday. The Discussion forum is split into two stages, with the first stage ending on Thursday (11:59 p.m.) and the second stage ending on Sunday (11:59 p.m.). First stage posts of 300 or more words are due on Thursday (worth 15 points), and at least three second stage posts of 50-75 words each (5 points each; 15 points total) are due on Sunday. Your first stage posts will respond to the writing prompt I post for each Discussion, typically a question or set of questions. Again, as with the completion of chapter quizzes, the key challenge is meeting the deadlines. I will do my best to post points earned for the Discussions on the Monday morning following the Sunday night deadline for second stage posts. There will be a make-up Discussion offered during Week 15 of the semester. Here is a breakdown of the components of the course and point value: Online Chapter Quizzes (14 at 45 points each)630 points Online Discussions (5 at 30 points plus 20 points for Intros)170 points Mid-term Examination (40 questions at 2.5 points each)100 points Final Examination (40 questions at 2.5 points each)100 points   When assigning Final Grades, I will use the following point ranges: A=900-1000 points B=800-899 points C=700-799 points D=580-699 points F=0-579 points Some Final Thoughts: One of the challenges of online learning involves the issue of communication. In a traditional face-to-face course, everyone meets on a weekly basis and those meetings are reminders of our course commitments. In the online environment, communication is different. I communicate frequently via email, with Email Updates almost every week and sometimes more than once a week. The D2L system links your PSC email accounts to the class so when I send an email to â€Å"all users† the information is sent to the PSC email accounts of the 40+ students enrolled in this course. This information is very important and your accessing it is essential. Please note that it is possible to have your PSC email forwarded to another email address—maybe even to your mobile phone—but I want to make clear that it is your responsibility to access the information I send to you. Whenever you have questions, contact me by email (cmulling@prairiestate.edu[->1]) or by phone (709-3625). Keep in mind that it is essential that you participate on a consistent basis throughout the course in order to be successful. Good luck, hold on to you hats, and enjoy what I hope will be a challenging and meaningful learning experience!

Virtual Child Essay

I was asked to create and answer questions about a virtual child. When I was told this was an assignment I thought â€Å"this should be easy†. Boy was I wrong! I found many things can affect the outcome of my child. If I am too strict or too easy, the child’s behavior will show this. Over time, this will also affect the child’s temperament. I have learned that some of my classmates’ virtual children are harder to get along with and require more discipline then others. I decided to just trust my instinct and answer the questions as if they were for a real child. In this report you will see how my answers affected my virtual daughter Alexis and, my experience throughout the duration of the assignment. 0-8 MONTHS 1. How does your baby's eating, sleeping and motor development compare to the typical developmental patterns? ~Alexis’s motor skills are typical for her age, crawling, sitting up, and standing up, but not walking yet. Her sleeping habits are normal for her age. Infants normally sleep sixteen-seventeen hours a day. For the first week or so Alexis wasn't very hungry and actually lost a little weight, she has now started eating and has gained back some of the weight she lost. . At 8 months of age was your child an â€Å"easy†, â€Å"slow-to-warm-up†, or â€Å"difficult† baby in terms of Thomas and Chess's classic temperamental categories? On what do you base this judgment? ~Alexis was an easy baby. She had a positive disposition and her body functions operated regularly. She is mostly positive and shows intens e interest in her surroundings. She smiles at familiar people and toys, and she is able to laugh at funny and is developing lots of cute little habits. 3. How is your child's attachment to you and your partner developing? What is happening at the 3-month and 8-month periods that might affect attachment security according to Bowlby and Ainsworth, and various research studies? ~Alexis is more attached to me than my partner. She is able to focus her eyes on me and she studies my face. When Alexis started daycare she would usually cried when I dropped her off but got over it quickly. Now she is use to it and doesn’t seem to have any problem with it. 8-18 MONTHS 1. Describe and give examples of changes in your child's exploratory or problem solving behavior from 8 through 18 months and categorize them according to Piagetian and information processing theories. Note that 8 months is included, so you'll need to use the time-line to look back at 8 months for examples. ~When Alexis was 8 months she was in substage 3 based on Piaget’s 6 substages. . I played a hiding game with Alexis, she could find the object when I hid it in the same spot but was unable to find it if I put it in a different place. Now Alexis is in the substage 4, based on Piaget’s 6 substages. I played a hiding game with Alexis again and she was able to find the object even after long delays and seemed to think this is was great game. 2. Analyze your baby's temperament in more detail at 18 months than you did at 8 months. How would you describe your baby in terms of the five aspects of temperament utilized by the Virtual Child program (activity, sociability, emotionality, aggressiveness vs. cooperativeness, and self-control)? Has Alexis's temperament been stable over the first 18 months? A blurb defining and providing examples of the five aspects of temperament is provided at 12 months, but you should seek out further explanations of temperament from your textbook. Explain how the concept of goodness of fit (also discussed in the blurb on infant temperament) applies to your interactions with your child. Alexis is very active and is a very social baby. She isn’t aggressive at all and she cooperates very well. I play with Alexis and introduce her to new things and she seems to enjoy it very much. 3. Were you surprised by anything in the developmental assessment at 19 months? That is, does your perception of your child's physical, cognitive, language and social development differ from that of the developmental examiner? Give specific examples. If you were not surprised, write instead about some aspects of your child's development that need the most work. I was very surprised that Alexis scored above average in all aspects of language development and she was above age-norms for building a block tower to model one made by the examiner and other skills such as copying shapes, coloring within the lines and solving picture puzzles. 2 YEARS OLD 1. Have there been any environmental events in your child's first 2 1/2 years that you think might have influenced his or her behavior? On what do you base your hypotheses? ~She is now in preschool and I think it has been difficult for her because she isn't use to the new caregiver and environment. Another instance is she was in an accident with her tricycle and she is now afraid to ride it. 2. How is your child progressing on typical toddler issues, such as learning household rules, learning to follow routines, listening to you, developing self-control and learning to get along with other children? ~She has been doing well with learning household rules and listing to me. Sometimes she looks guilty when she breaks something, or embarrassment when she has a potty accident. She gets along with other children good. 3. Analyze your own parenting philosophy and practices. What principles from social learning theory, Bowlby, Ainsworth, Piaget, Vygotsky, information processing theory, developmental neuroscience and other theories do you appear to have relied on in making your parenting choices or interpreting your child's behavior? Include three principles/theorists from the above list in your answer. ~My parenting practices and philosophy come from my experience as a child. I remember when I was young my parents didn’t really push me to succeed and learn new things. I want my child to explore and learn as much as she can. My parents were also lenient when it came to me getting in trouble which made me do worse things when I was older because I knew the consequences wouldn’t be so bad. That made me want to be a strict parent. 3 YEARS OLD 1. What activities and experiences you and your child have engaged in might be promoting healthy behavioral practices and an interest in physical activity? ~Alexis like to play hide and seek and likes to play sports for a short time. I think this will help her be more interested in sports when she gets older which, will make her an active child, reducing the chance of obesity. . Describe development of your child’s language and cognitive skills and discuss how these might be affecting his or her interactions with you ; your responses. ~Alexis’s language development is very good. She likes to tell people about things she has done, but she sometimes leaves out details. When I hear her telling stories I ask questions to help her to fill in a few detai ls. Alexis is also fascinated with her new baby sister Ashlynn and tells everyone about her. 3. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them? ~Alexis clings more to adults and only has a few friends in preschool. The only behavioral problem she has is acting up in public places and she is somewhat anxious and unsure of herself in social situations. I think these problems are occurring because she is constantly around adults. I’m going to invite a few friends over and have play dates to help her get use to children. 4 YEARS OLD 1. How would you characterize your parenting style? How have your specific parenting techniques changed since infancy? In what ways do you think your parenting style, or any other aspect of your parenting, has been influenced by your cultural background or other experiences? ~My parenting style is Authoritative. I set rules and boundaries and if they are not followed there are repercussions but, at the same time I am a loving parent and I am emotionally supportive. My parenting techniques have been about the same since Alexis was a baby. I don’t think my parenting skills have been influenced by my cultural background at all. My experiences might have influenced my parenting because I was treated horribly when I was a child so I know I don’t want my child treated like that. 2. Describe two specific examples of changes in your child's behavior at age 4 that seem to stem from growth in cognitive and language ability since the period of infancy (e. g. , improvements in symbolic thinking, reasoning, knowledge of the world, theory of mind). ~Alexis’s symbolic thinking and reasoning has grown a lot since infancy. She is above average in her problem solving skills and language abilities. She can solve problems with more than two steps and she can complete full sentences. 3. How would you characterize your child's personality? Would you say that your child is primarily overcontrolled, undercontrolled or resilient? Support your argument. ~Alexis is in the overcontrolled category. She is cooperative, and follows the rules, but she is very shy in social situations and anxious and clingy under pressure. For example, when she is in class and is asked to join a group for work she gets very unsure of herself and clings to the teacher. 6 YEARS OLD . How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them? ~Alexis is doing well in social situations she has made more friends and she isn’t as clingy towards adults as she was before. Alexis still acts up on occasion in public places but overall has been doing great. 2. Do you notice any improvements in cognitive and language skills since age 4? Give specific examples. Does your child have any special needs with regard to cognitive or language development at this point and what do you plan to do? ~Alexis’s cognitive and language skills are above average. Alexis’s memory is getting better. She beats me on memory games such as Concentration because she remembers where the cards are located. But when she tells people about things that happened to her, she leaves a lot of details out and sometimes gets the order wrong. I join in the retelling of the experience, prompting Alexis with questions, rather than just butting in and telling it myself. . Which aspects of your child's behavior and personality reflect continuities from earlier behavior (e. g. , at ages 3-4 years) and which seem to be novel for this age level? ~Alexis doesn’t act up in public places anymore like she used to. But she does like to cheat when we play games. Her personality is about the same a sweet girl who sometimes gets nervous and shy and looks to an adult to help her out. She has made more friends. Alexis has become a kind of quiet leader of her small group of friends in first grade. She is still a bit shy, but well-liked by the other kids YEARS OLD 1. How smart is your child, and in what areas? Think back to the blurb on multiple intelligences that appeared at age 6. Find specific evidence regarding your child's verbal, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence from your observations of your own child as well as the psychologist's report at age 8 years, 11 months. ~Alexis is very smart for her age. She is grate in solving problems, telling stories, and she is very talented in piano and singing. Alexis Demonstrates strength in her reading and writing. Alexis is able to hold her own in conversations with adults, and uses some surprisingly difficult words in her speech. She also is beginning to use this vocabulary in her writing for school. Areas of speaking and listening and in content knowledge of social studies and science, areas of mathematical problem solving, understanding of data and number concepts and, in the areas of spatial understanding and visual arts. 2. Describe some examples of your child's behavior or thinking that you think are due to typical American gender role socialization and explain why you think so. Several examples can be found at ages 6 and 8. How closely does your attitude toward gender roles correspond to typical American attitudes, and if there is a discrepancy, to what do you attribute this (e. g. , cultural background, attitudes of your own parents, etc. )? ~Alexis likes to follow me around and do what I do. Alexis enjoys playing sports with one of her friend’s brothers, and sometimes Alexis will also play sports with some of the boys on the block. Alexis is able to play with both boys and girls at school, but mostly plays with girls. I have taught Alexis that she can do whatever she want’s. Such as being a police women or a sports athlete. I grew up playing with cars and toy soldiers as well as Barbie dolls to me it doesn’t matter what gender you are. 3. How might your child's development have been different if s/he was raised by people with a different socioeconomic, ethnic or cultural background? Base your answer on specific evidence of SES/cultural differences from the textbook and class lectures. ~Different cultures have different views on how a child should be raised. For instance a child in a Chinese household would have to focus more on school and less on activities and would have much stricter rules. Or a female child in a Hispanic culture would focus more on home economics. 10 YEARS OLD 1. Describe your child's academic skills between ages 6 and 10 and assess how well these skills are developing. The 5th grade report card will be useful for this but you should also incorporate your own observations. What are you doing to help your child? ~Alexis demonstrates strength in all areas of reading, and in spelling and appropriate for grade level in writing. Alexis s also demonstrating strength in the areas of speaking and listening and in content knowledge of social studies and science, in the areas of mathematical problem solving, understanding of data, number concepts, graphical applications, and arithmetic computation, in the area of art as well as in area of music. She is very smart. I help her by introducing her to new things and encouraging her to write, work on music and her art work. 2. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them? ~Alexis is doing good in outside social situations. She is already adept at social networking. She adds photos to the family page every so often and sends messages to her friends. Alexis likes to go on weekends and hang out there with one or two friends. At home she sometimes fights with her sister Ashlynn. Sometimes Alexis gets upset in stressful situations inside or outside the classroom, and will withdraw from activities or become anxious or moody. She usually improves before the day is over. When she fights with her sister I put her in time out and tell her what she did wrong and why it is wrong. 3. Has your parenting changed since the preschool period and if so, why do you think it has changed and what effect might this have on your child? Refer to your textbook or lecture notes for evidence on typical changes in parenting that occur in middle childhood. ~I don’t think my parenting has changed at all. I’m still a strict but loving parent and I still help Alexis excel in her school and music and other activities that interest her. 12 YEARS OLD 1. Describe any physical or behavioral signs of incipient puberty. Alexis argues with me more, mostly about clothes bedtime and chores but otherwise we get along pretty well. I have to renegotiate household rules more then I use to with Alexis. And I have to make reasonable concessions, such as a later bedtime in exchange for more chores. Alexis has shown an interest in boys and likes to talk about hot actors or music ians. I’ve also noticed she’s been reading magazine articles about sex. Alexis thinks she’s too fat due to a growth spurt. She has taken to staring at herself in the mirror and refusing to wear certain clothes that she thinks make her look big. She seems to be more interested in hanging out with her friends than studying, and tries to get out of doing homework. Alexis has been getting teased for not wearing a bra because she is developing. 2. How would you characterize your child at this point in terms of the under-controlled, over-controlled or resilient categories? Have there been any changes since the preschool period and why might they have occurred? ~Alexis is now in the undercontrolled category she does not follow the rules, and has a tendency to become distracted and overly emotional, particularly when under stress. When she was in preschool she was undercontrolled. I believe these changes have occurred because she has hit puberty and has entered a sort of rebellious stage. 3. Using the 7th grade report card and your own observations, summarize your child's academic skills at this point. What specific activities might promote some of these skills? ~Alexis is still doing great in school making straight A’s. She needs to focus more on time management, working independently in the class room and finishing homework on time. Some activities to promote her good grades would be to encourage her to keep it up. 5 YEARS OLD 1. What activities and experiences at ages 12 and 14 has your teen been involved in that might promote healthy behavioral practices, physical fitness and skill in sports? ~Alexis tried out for the high school dance team and made it. Alexis practices routines and stretches at home quite often. She also played a little bit of Tennis one summer. She likes to do outdoorsy things lik going camping. I believe these things will help promote healthy behaviors. 2. Have there been any changes in your teen's behavior toward you or your partner? Why are these occurring and how are you responding? Alexis occasionally gets upset and becomes cranky or gives us the silent treatment when we have discussions about issues such as bedtime, chores, curfew, clothing choices, music choices, etc. , but otherwise we get along pretty well. When we have discussions and she gets like this I drop it and talk to her about it more once she has calmed down. 3. Do you see any examples of how cognitive and physical changes in early adolescence (ages 12-14) relate to your teen's social or emotional behavior? ~Now that she’s older she wants to hang out with friends more and she’s a lot more social. She was a little emotional about her body because of the changes puberty brought on. Along with puberty came a lot of emotional ups and downs. 16 YEARS OLD 1. Think about your teen's cognitive strengths and weaknesses and how they are reflected in his or her school grades and activities from 14-16 years of age. What careers or courses of study might be best suited to your teen's abilities and interests? ~Based off of Alexis’s grades and interest, I think she would be best suited for a career in science, art, or music. She has excelled in these three subjects and she enjoys them very much. The most practical career would most likely be in science. 2. How important have your teen's relationships with peers been to his/her social development, emotional well-being and school achievement from 14-16 years of age? ~It has been very important to her social development and wellbeing. It has helped her socially by getting her interested in things teens her age should be interested in and has made her emotional well-being much better. It hasn’t helped her school achievements much, she would rather hang out with her peers instead of doing homework or working on school things. 3. How has your teen adjusted at 14-16 years of age to typical adolescent issues such as risk-taking, drugs, alcohol, and sexual interests, and how have you responded to your teen? ~She has experimented with alcohol, I talked to her and grounded her. She has been dating a boy for a few months and says she’s in love so I talked to her about sex, birth control and condoms. 18 YEARS OLD 1. As the program ends, what pathways does your child appear to be on in terms of physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral development? To what extent could you have predicted these pathways based on what you knew of your child's earlier development? Describe some specific ways in which you think your parenting mattered for your child's development, based on evidence from the course regarding the contributions of parents to child development. ~I think Alexis will continue dancing and she is on a great path for education. She had magnificent grades and did great on her PSAT’s. I believe she will get into a great college and have a great career. She has good social skills and even though she is a little emotional I think she will make good friends in the future. Her moral development is good she knows what’s right and what’s wrong and I think she will act accordingly. I knew Alexis would be smart from the time she was little. She always wanted to learn and she always did great in her academics. My parenting skills helped her achive as much as she did because I always encouraged her to learn and do what made her happy but at the same time I was strict and made sure what she needed to get done was done. 2. Describe some specific ways in which your child developed that appeared to be influenced by factors outside your control, such as genes, random environmental events or the general influence of contemporary middle-class American culture. I think her shyness was probably a genetic factor. I also think that her school environment and the influence of other children her age made her the way she is. Our culture also influenced her with music and T. V. 3. Bonus Question: Are there any issues you had with your parents, your school work, your friends, or your romantic involvements in the last year of high school that continued to be issues for you in coll ege? Reflect on your own personality, interests and cognitive abilities at the time you graduated high school. How did these personality characteristics and abilities manifest themselves in subsequent years? How have they changed since your high school days, if at all? ~My last year of high school my foster mother passed away which really affected my school work which made college harder for me. I love music it’s my passion and I think when I left high school I focused more on it because I had more time to do so. When I first started my virtual child I figured it would be easy, and at first it was. After I created my user name and password I was prompted to answer a few questions to help determine my baby’s gender and inherited traits. A few minutes later my virtual daughter Alexis was born. I have to say that doing virtual child was by far a great experience. I was very eager to do this project because I believed it would show me what kind of mother I will be when I decide I’m ready for children in real life. A few weeks after Alexis was born she was somewhat lethargic, didn’t want to eat very much, and she hadn’t gained much weight. When I read this I was a little worried. I then read that I took her to a pediatrician and he said it was nothing serious. I thought it was a little strange as well so I looked it up. I learned that it is normal for newborn babies to stay around the same weight or even lose weight within the first few weeks, after that, babies generally start eating more and gaining weight. I also learned when a baby loses weight they can become lethargic from lack of energy due to not eating enough. A short time passed and Alexis was eating heartily and gaining weight back. While raising Alexis I learned a lot of things. Like that genetics play a key part in her temperament. For example, the questionnaire I answered at the beginning asked me about my sleeping habits, and I answered that I slept often and I was told that Alexis sleeps virtually all the time. At every stage, I learned something new about the stages of development. When Alexis was five weeks old I wanted Alexis to be curious about her environment so I gave Alexis a lot of audio stimulation, including talking to her, singing to her, and putting on music for her to listen to. At eighteen months Alexis was very interested in music, and often danced to the rhythm. Then when Alexis was five she impressed everyone who heard her with her singing ability and ability to play songs by ear on the portable keyboard. I think playing music for her when she was a baby influenced this. At three months, Alexis started to make sounds like she was trying to speak to me. So I would encourage her by talking back with her. One of the things I thought was cute about Alexis was that she would smile at familiar people and toys, and she was able to laugh at surprising or funny things like playing peek-a-boo. Alexis also preferred people over objects and smiled and interacted with nearly everyone. This made me feel good about how I was raising her. One part of the program said that my â€Å"mother† would come over and watch Alexis while I went out with my â€Å"husband† but I would call and check on her often. I think I would probably do that in real life. I think good mothers always worry about their children. When Alexis was fifteen months old, I noticed she would often study things in her environment and perform simple little experiments with them, almost like a little scientist. Right away I thought it was interesting. I found out later on when she was older that she enjoyed science very much. I thought to myself, wow, things that you do when you are young carry on in to your older years. This made me think about what I was interested in when I was younger. When I was about four I sang in church and now I’m twenty-two and I still love to sing and write lyrics. I had never thought about it before and I thought it was cool to compare it with my life. When Alexis was ten she got into social networking. I was kind of shocked to learn this. Even though I know computers and internet are very common these days, I wasn’t aware such young children were using social networks such as Facebook. When I was ten I didn’t even know what a computer was. Coming from my background and my raising I do not think I would let my child on a social network until they were at least fourteen. I just believe there are too many predators on the internet to let a ten year old join Facebook. A few times in the program Alexis told me that I was more supportive and approving of her than the average parent. She also said that I was stricter than most of the other children’s parents. Even though Alexis is a virtual child this comment made me feel really good. When I do have a child this is exactly the kind of parent I want to be. When I was growing up my parents were not very supportive of me at all and they were extremely strict. I do not want to be like that so knowing I was making the right choices brought me great joy. In Alexis’s teenage years she started becoming more isolated and emotional. She started spending a lot of time in her room and was very moody. She also became a lot less corporative. At first I thought it was because I did something wrong but, I started thinking about myself and other teenagers I know. From my own experience I figured out that that is just something that comes with puberty. Realizing that this was normal for teens, it helped me see that not everything was my foster parents fault when I was a teen, some of it was actually me. I believe this information will also help me when I have a teenager of my own. When Alexis was sixteen she got a part time job at a grocery store. This was an important thing for me. When I was fifteen I got my first job and it helped me become more independent. I was able to save money during the summer and buy my own school clothes and did not have to rely on my parents for much. It made the transition from living with parents to living on my own a lot easier. I think this will help Alexis strengthen her independence when she becomes an adult. Alexis was a straight A student all through school. This made me feel extremely proud of my virtual daughter. I believe that school is a very important part of having a successful life. When I was in school I strived to do my best so that I could go to college and have a great life. This experience with my virtual child was a very important one. To know my child was doing excellent in school told me I was doing something right in my parenting method. Some things that I found challenging in this assignment was the fact that there was not as much information as I thought there would be and what information was there was very spread out. I think it would have been easier if during the infant years they gave information for every month instead of every three months. Also some of the information given to was a kind of confusing and I did not agree with some of the answers to the questions because, in my mind, I could come up with so much more scenarios. My virtual child definitely challenged me and putt my mind to work. Some of the things that were easy for me during this project is the fact that at the end of each stage they gave a parent and child evaluation information. This helped me with my assignment it showed where I was at as a parent and what I needed to work on. My virtual child all in all was an excellent experience for me. To raise a child from birth to adulthood is very interesting. It helped me understand more about my human development class and I think it prepared me to be a wonderful parent in the future. My virtual child also helped me see where my all my parents were coming from when I lived in different homes and each of their own individual parenting methods. I also learned a lot from this experience about children. I know information that I probably wouldn’t have learned anywhere else. Mostly, I think my personality made this experience even better for me. The fact that I love children and projects made this fun for me which helped me get through the program.