Private School Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Private School Education - Essay Example That would enable the government to support education without necessarily maintaining public institutions. The champions of this voucher system also say that the one-size-fits-all public school system is inappropriate as the model does not cater to the different needs of the students. Opponents of the voucher system, on the other hand, say that it is unfair to take public money meant for public schools and channel the same into the private school where the public has no oversight over how the funds would be used. There is also fear that the private school system may only help to further segment the population alongside religious, social class and other lines. It is entirely possible that the introduction of the voucher system in private schools would provide a magnet for students in public schools. Faced with a larger applicant's pool, private schools would then find it easier to reject applicants deemed undesirable. Unlike public schools, private schools are not obliged to take in one and all. Why the private school vouchers system issue so polarizing Part of the answer lies in the way it has been promoted. California was among the first states to flirt with private schools voucher way back in 1993. A proposal was brought into the legislature of the state that would have taken away as much as 10 per cent of public school funding, with a possibility of further increases on the card if more students moved from public to private schools (Rushefsky, 2002, p. 396). The issue is a political hot potato so much that George W. Bush stopped talking about it in the 2000 election primaries. Two powerful arguments already advanced are essential for a balanced view on the issue. And this article will chronicle the vouchers debate and will attempt to close the difference between the two sides through critically analyzing the pros and cons of the voucher system in private schools. Recurring discussions on the topics are decidedly one-sided. And once a path has been identified, for many an author on the topic, there is no turning back. Two critically acclaimed works on the topic include Rhetoric Versus Reality done by four RAND researchers; Gill, Tiampane, Brewer, Ross and Booker (2007). This book does a fairly good job examining the theoretical underpinnings of vouchers and charter schools and tables the empirical data on their efficacy. The book also looks at how several policy formulations such as the funding, eligibility criteria, academic standards and accountability, may affect the success of the program. Some issues which have yet to be addressed are raised, and although the book is not conclusive on those issues, it leaves room for a more robust consideration of the issues in the future. The other important work on the topic is The Education Gap by Howell and Peterson (2002). Compelling evidence is tabled that African Americans have greatly benefited from the voucher system. Overall, The Education Gap is illustrative on the practicability of the voucher program in private schools and emphatically so in poor urban environments. The point of convergence for both books is that the authors favour random field trials. The sheer volume of applications that are usually received reduces the voucher program into some form of the wager so that those who received the vouchers were merely lucky than needful. There are other studies/articles on the subject. Breaking These Chains is a book by Daniel McGrory, a former Whitehouse speechwriter that in an evangelical fashion roundly criticizes the public school system (1996).        

Resource worksheet Essay Example for Free

Resource worksheet Essay Student resources include a variety of helpful sites and tools that can be of assistance when completing assignments, connecting to other students, and searching for careers. Complete this table regarding student resources provided by the university. In the first column, identify where the resource can be found. In the second column, summarize each resource in at least one sentence. When you are finished with the matrix, answer the follow-up question in part B. Part A: Resources Scavenger Hunt Student resource Where found Summary of the resource Syllabus The syllabus is found up on the right hand corner of the 1-9 weeks colum. The syllabus is where I can find out what assignments are do, get instructions on how to do them and when they are due as well. Class Policies Class policies are found on the classroom homepage and in the course overview box. The policies basically break s down all of the classroom rules, from late assignment to participation points and consiqences. University Library This is found at the very top of the page with home,classroom, programs and more. The library is where I can find the center of writing excellence, writepiont, along with others and do any type of school research. University Academic Catalog This is found at the very top of the page under program in the my program section. The Academic catalog is where I can find the most current programs, along with all school policies. University Learning Goals Life Resource Center This is found on the home page under quick links. This basically where I can come for support, where I canget online or telephone counceling, life and career coaching as well as locate resources. Phoenix Career Services Is found at the very top of the page next to â€Å" phoenixconnect†, under Careers. This is where I can search the job market, do some career planning, build a resume and much more. Student Workshops This found on the homepage under quick links and is also located under the Library tab in the useful links box in the student resource guide. Here is where I can go to improve on my basic skills that are important for success at university of phoenix. PhoenixConnect This is found in the very top column on the page next to account, and careers. PhoenixConnect is a social network where I can share things about myself, learn things about others and connect with my peers. Technical Support phone number Technical support is found at the very bottom of the page under, â€Å"Report a problem†, in the the â€Å"Contact us’ category. This is where I can go to get help with any type of problems that im having with my computer, or on the site. They walk you through it step by step. Part B: Follow-Up Question Based on the resources in the table, what are the attendance, posting, and participation requirements for the university? Based on the resources in the tablethe attendance requirement is that you must post atleast one message on two separate days of the week to be in attendance for the week. For participation it varies depending on what program your in, and for me being in the associates program I would need to post two messgaes on 3 separate days of the week for me to get participation credit.

East Of Eden :: essays research papers

Growing up and change is a very important role in a person’s life. Everyday people do this, some for the better and others for the worse. In the movie East of Eden, Aaron is the son that changes for the worse. He becomes a drunk and leaves for a war he doesn’t believe in. As for Abra she takes on the role of support for Cal and his father, Adam. She is the glue for the bond that forms between them. But she soon realizes that the better she knows Cal, the more she starts to fall in love with him. Cal shows a remarkable turnaround from being the evil unloved son, to being the one that is there for his father while he is on his deathbed. All three of these characters show a form of change in growing up. We all have the ability to grow up, some just take advantage of this opportunity. The key is how you decide to grow up. Either for the better, like Cal, or the downside, like Aaron did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aaron is the only character who shows a reversal, going from the good son with sweet girlfriend to a drunken fool. It might have been for shadowed by the way he showed his love to Abra, it was a false love. He was with her because that is whom he was supposed to be with. It didn’t seem he had deep emotions for her. Then in the end she leaves him for Cal, who she has, fell in love with. Aaron also lived in a closed world, not open for new ideas. When he was told that his mom was dead, that is what he believed and never questioned it. So when he found out that she was alive and a whore, his whole perfect world came crashing down. Aaron goes out and drinks a lot of alcohol and smashes his head threw a train window. He couldn’t except the truth about his own family. Aaron’s life is almost tragic; he had everything going for him. Then, in a day’s time, he has lost it all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most significant characters is Abra. Abra starts out as this innocent unaware girlfriend of Aaron and winds up being one of the main ingredients in Cal and Adam’s coming together. She goes from saying that Cal “is the bad son'; and that “he scares me'; to being the one who falls in love with him.

Improving Classroom Behavior and Social Skills Essay

Improving classroom behavior and social skills is pertaining to an over-all impact on the child’s learning abilities. This strategy is particularly aimed when there are students who have disabilities. The teacher directly affects children’s appropriateness and inappropriateness and the classroom set up. It is a must to gauge the structure and reliability of daily activities and the rules of conduct set by teachers in assessing classroom variables. Proactive measures or guidelines have been established in sustaining an atmosphere of positive learning and appropriate behavior for children free or with disabilities. â€Å"Interventions delivered in a regular classroom have the greatest potential to enhance prosocial competencies by altering the classroom social system to support all students, including rejected and isolated students, students with disabilities, and low-performing students, all of whom are at risk for social difficulties† (Rathvon, 2008, p. 321). The Council for Exceptional Children has founded the eight behavioral management measures: Arrange classroom to meet social/emotional needs as well as instructional and organizational needs; adjust schedules to provide a balance between highly structured periods and more stimulating activities; establish a group behavior management plan that incorporates individual needs; Provide direct instruction, programmed learning, and precision teaching lessons; provide group-building opportunities that move students from an â€Å"I† to a â€Å"We† orientation; be aware of how individual needs affect group dynamics; attend to students’ physiological as well as psychological needs; much of the acting out behavior reflects a need for power or attention; and attempt to give as little emotional response as possible to inappropriate behavior (Council for Exceptional Children 2006-2007). The classroom, consists of twenty students, four of them have impairments, is organized but still conducive for playful learning. I have observed the following routines: drawing time, playtime with materials (e.g clay), reading time with teacher and a short recitation after that. These routines are very functional since they don’t only learn skills like creativity and imagination, they also get to mingle and interact with fellow students and unconsciously learn and brainstorm their thoughts and ideas. The four most challenging behaviors during my observation are inability to focus or display of inadequacy, petty fights between pupils, some inappropriate behaviors like noise, which is unavoidable at their age, and loitering around the classroom. The teacher has handled everything with grace. Yelling was never an alternative for her. Though her voice was not as soothing as it should be, she managed to pull out superiority in the softest possible way. She also gives rewards when pupils get satisfactory remarks and this is one of the best strategies at this stage of learning. Noise is one of the most challenging behaviors she had to face. Since children at this stage are very hard to control, judgment can never be made in accordance. But overall, her behavioral techniques and strategies are effective. The students had used the typical verbal and non verbal expressions most of us do. Nodding of head and hand gestures as non verbal communications and answering by yes or no and brief explanation during recitation as verbal. When the teacher says something that they totally agree on, students tend to nod their head repetitively and it goes as well by saying yes or no when the teacher asks them. As preschoolers, their thoughts are not yet firmly constructed. I would prioritize using a soothing tone of voice as a behavioral management technique. This is one of the most significant techniques the teacher overlooked. Reassurances or giving out positive comments is also an important way of appreciating the students’ works. However, criticisms should be given constructively and not degradingly. Well organization of classroom, like cleanliness and things properly placed on their shelves, should also be observed all the time for safety policies. Rewards and punishment is a very effective behavioral management. When a student gets a remark higher than the average, the teacher gives rewards, otherwise, punishment is given. But most of the times, punishment are just given in forms of assignments or projects. References Kelley, M. K., Noell, G., & Reitman, D. (2003). Practitioners Guide to empirically based   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   measures of school behaviour. 18, Rathvon, R. (Ed.) (2008). Effective School Interventions. Guilford Press. Council for Exceptional Children. 2006-2007.

Ideas to Reduce Corruption

To reduce the level of corruption in our countries, we, as the next generation, must take the lead to make our desire of change public to each government. At the same time community leaders must be used to spread the idea of a progressive change. As my first step to do so, I will convince my sector leaders to increase education in people, youth and childhood, starting from just a few and going up in the whole country. After that, work with the example to other countries and make the change visible and desirable.Corruption is such a major problem in our societies. For bad luck we are daily inmerse in cases where we have to face corruption and of course we will do it depending on the circumstances. Sometimes I think that we already live with corruption as a normal standard of living, how sad! Therefore instead of falling into the trap we should in first place think about what we are doing and the repercussions that my acts are going to have in a long term.The first step is to think if there is correct way to do things, maybe it is difficult but our problem is that we feel comfortable and we forget that we can think outside the box. We should start letting our voices out, and let them be heard, and of course even if it sounds as a utopia, the change starts with us and how are we willing to face this new challenges. It? not going to be easy and we are not going to be able to change it in one day, but slowly, with a noble heart, with passion and desire, small actions can do gigantic things. Last but not least in my particular case, if someday I become what I’m wishing for; Ministry of Agriculture of Ecuador from that position at least I will be able to give back a little bit to my community and to the agricultural sector, and I will try my best to do things right for my country.To reduce corruption is not an easy thing, it requires a lot of effort, but the change should begin by getting people to acknowledge that corruption is not something distant, allusive only to politicians or people in power; sadly, corruption is enrooted in the culture of our countries at all levels; it is like cancer that spreads slowly killing ethical and moral values of citizens. I think the only way to stop the vicious circle of corruption is to raise the awareness among people that corruption must not be considered a common practice, corruption is a problem and the solution is in the hands of each and every one of us.It is in us the responsibility to say no to corruption, to build a better and fairer society. What I propose is to make a social awareness campaign which encourages people to say no to corruption, starting with simple things, like respecting the lines, not offering or receiving bribes, respecting the traffic police, acting with empathy, etc. ; the idea is that this small wins in the day to day activities of people set in an environment in which the vicious circle of corruption can be broken. This campaign should frame its message in civic pride a nd the desire for improvement, something like: â€Å"I am Latin American, and I say no to corruption†.This has to be visual; I can imagine employees putting an emblematic sign of the â€Å"I say no† campaign in front of their desks just to let know others they are not willing to make bad businesses, or policemen wearing I say no badges to let know drivers they won’t accept bribes and posters of â€Å"I say no† in court rooms. Of course this campaign should be based on real actions, such as the improvement of laws, severe penalties for corrupt public functionaries, education in schools and colleges of ethics, improvement of public services, among others.Even though such movement can be sponsored by the government, an ONG, the private sector or any group, the most important is that it must get the support of all constituencies and the message must really get to touch the mind and hearts of people to achieve the impossible, to be part of something special, a nd to create an â€Å"I say no† culture. The best way to change Latin America is to supply basic needs in the communities. Until the basic requirements of healthcare, nourishment and safety are met the more complex building blocks that would inoculate the communities from corruption cannot be achieved.To do this we need to raise the wealth and more importantly distribute it fairly. A simple solution is not available, little steps must be taken to improve governmental entities, private sector, education with example and action. Tactics like micro financing can develop the most vulnerable communities and igniting a culture of respect for those well off individuals who do affect those communities in a positive way. Whenever the benefits of taking the corrupt road outweigh the costs of taking it, the propensity of corruption among public institutions will be present in a significant way.Today in Latin America most our countries are left at the mercy of the only effective deterren t for corruption we are able to find: ethics. And as effective as they are, history has proved us that relying on them is not only naive but kind of irresponsible. So in order to get rid of this awful disease, more is needed to generate change. Going back to the first idea, individuals make their decisions considering the costs and benefits of a particular path. So in order to influence such decisions, incentives must be created to increase the benefits or increase the costs.Either way would prove to be an effective way of influencing behavior. Then what we could do is try to increase the costs of corrupt behavior. How can a society do so? By modifying their current institutions, in order to create a set of rules applicable to everyone, and creating enough will power to enforce this rules. People talk a lot of the role of culture in the corruption dilemma. Nevertheless institutions also help to shape culture. In order to change culture we first have to change our institutions.Which institutions to change, and how to change them, goes beyond the scope of the writer’s intention, but an opinion is clearly defined towards changing institutions as a way of eliminating corruption in our countries. First of all we need to act as we talk; we need to really step up and act upon our words on a positive way. Secondly we need to rely on education and values for our society. We need to start positively influencing our inner circle (Family and friends) and start working our way out (Work ad society). Corruption is something that must be change with time.You cannot change it in one week or month, even one year. The Key is culture and institutions and strong competitive market. In order to eliminate corruption you have to prepare the coming generation with new values, habits and thinking so you begin to create an environment of respect for the society.. The second thing is that it is necessary to guarantee and strong State that applies the law, but also an institution that develop new way to be more efficient and respond to a highly demand society.Finally, it is need to create incentive for people, if the people's needs are not fulfill are not totally fulfill, t is likely to fall in corruption; one way to avoid this is with real competitive market, and if there is a unfair situation, the State has to react. Assuring this three ideas it is more probably you can have a better society in the future generation. To reduce corruption in Central America we all have to do our part. If you get to deal with a corrupt person, always do the following two things; first don't comply with the corruption. Then speak up. Don't keep it to yourself. If you keep quiet, the corruption will never stop. Doing these two things, one person at a time, will make this a better region for everybody.

Shakespeares Tempest debating Civilized Man vs Natural Man

Shakespeares Tempest debating Civilized Man vs Natural Man Free Online Research Papers Shakespeare wrote many works in his life. One of his most famous works is the Tempest. In the Tempest there is a big debate on whether â€Å"civilized man† or the â€Å"natural man† was the superior one. At first people of the past thought of the natural man as being savage, brutal, and in his mind he was noble and had just as much control as the civilized man[Williams, p.171]. Later people thought the natural man as being uneffected by anything which earned him the term â€Å"noble savage†. He was also thought of as being corrupt and greatly effected by events[Williams, p.172]. Just as Montaigue says in his famous apologia for the natural man that it might be more barbaric to â€Å"mangle by tortures and torments a body full of lively sense under pretense of pietie and religion than to roast and eat him after he is dead†[Shakespeare, p.98]. Shakespeare does not take either side in the Tempest . The â€Å"natural man† is savage, intemperate, and brutal, incapable of higher reasoning and lacking the intelligence for nurture to â€Å"stick†[Barron, p.79]. While Shakespeare’s portrayal is not totally unsympathetic, Shakespeare is very far from being admirable and far from being a â€Å"noble savage†. However Shakespeare does show how Antonio’s conscious choice of evil even though he was suppose to have born of a â€Å"good womb† upbringing[Ching, p.147]. However Shakespeare does not show signs of corruption in the civilized world because that would suggest a side being taken to the argument. With all of this the debate between art and nature takes place. Art prefers to Prospero’s magic, which he uses to control nature. However while Prospero’s art can be said to imply the self-discipline, temperance, and virtue required to practice it, â€Å"Art† can also refer, in a wider sense, to the enlightened, refined intellect that can only be found with the advantages that civilization offers[Ching, p.165]. Because of this Antonio’s intelligence can be thought of as just as much form as Prospero’s which is more a form for self-interest, and to sense evil. Because of this art is thought of as more dangerous[Ching, p.166]. â€Å"So much more terrible is the sun of the nobleman who abrases below the natural†[Shakespeare, p.123], Antonio replies at the end of the piece of literature. Antonio is more evil then others such as Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo combined. Also not because of the way he grew up but because of his form of art h e must try to get Prospero good again as well[Barron, p.93]. Nature is shown in Caliban, even though he is to â€Å"indicate corruption and degeneracy in the civilized world†, and he is suppose to be a â€Å"virtuous shepherd of normal pastoral†, Caliban behaves in accordance with his instinctual urges[Ching, p.98]. But thankfully Caliban’s behavior is a lot less worrying then Antonio’s. He does not have any power or he will not when he is back in Milan. The same thing happens with Stephano and Trinculo, even though they are bound to â€Å"Nature†, there is not must intimidation by a butler and a jester. All three lack because they can so easily be controlled. Their â€Å"natural† tendencies are, moreover, less distressing than antonio’s taste for evil, since none had the advantages of birth and breeding[Ching, p.157]. Caliban, because of parenting alone is at a disadvantage because he born of an incubus and a witch. This is leading to Caliban not even being human[Ching, p.159]. They can be accused of a lot of things but being evil is certainly not one of them although you can not say the same thing about Antonio. This fact may perhaps partially account for Prospero’s acknowledgement of Caliban at the end of the play and his relatively cold treatment of Antonio, whom he forgives, but does not speak much to[Barron, p.99]. With all this, the Tempest presents â€Å"nature† as being far from the idealistic image created by Montaigne and those who thought similarly[Ching, p.203]. Although if you really look at art then you will see that it can be just as dangerous if misused. If art is used properly, however, it can control nature and curb its baser urges or at least prevent them from being carried out[Ching, p.204]. While the need for control over nature is shown , the ending suggests that art must come to terms with nature, as shown when at the end Caliban;s relationship with Prospero seems to be more stable and more reassuring than the resentment-filled extremely uneasy jailor-prisoner relationship shown earlier [Ching, p.204]. Besides from Shakespeare’s later life his early life is quite interesting also. He was the parish register of Holy Trinity Church, and was baptized there on April 26, 1564; his birthday is traditionally celebrated on April 23. His father, John Shakespeare, was a burgess of the borough, who in 1565 was chosen an alderman and in 1568 bailiff. At the age of eighteen Shakespeare married â€Å"Anne Hathaway of Stratford†. Anne died after seven years of marriage. There are records that show that William had a daughter named Susanna, and later had twins named Hamnet and Judith [Gwinn, p.265]. In William’s private life he bought properties in London and Stratford. In 1605 he bought one-fifth of the Stratford tithes. Shakespeare’s will, which was made on March 25, 1616 is a very long and detailed document. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 so there is some speculation that William was on his death bed at the time of the will being written. No name was in scribed on his gravestone in the channel of the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon. Instead thes lines were inscribed on it â€Å" Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear to dig the dust enclosed here. Blest be the man that spares these stones. And curst be he that moves my bones† [Gwinn, p.266]. Research Papers on Shakespeare's Tempest debating Civilized Man vs Natural ManComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenMind TravelWhere Wild and West MeetAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementThe Spring and Autumn

Dr. Holmes final farewell essays

Dr. Holmes final farewell essays Tomorrow I will be executed for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel and his three children Howard, Alice, and Nellie. Throughout my time in jail, I have continued with my innocence. However, I feel the victims families and the American public deserve to hear the truth. Following my death, I wish for you, Mr. King, to write an article in the Chicago Journal regarding the truth behind all the murders. I am not as concerned with persuading the publics opinion, but that the article is completely factual. Admittedly, my overzealous pursuit of maniacal death was the result of a curiosity I have in medical practice, and the addictive pleasure I received from murder. I spent a good deal of my childhood alone in my room reading Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe and inventing things. For example, I built a wind-powered mechanism that generated noise to scare birds from the fields at the farm. Another hobby I began to persuade was the dissecting of small animals in the woods outside my home. Oddly enough, the dissections I performed were the result of a cruel prank done to me when I was five years old. One day during school two older students dragged me into the doctors office to confront me with a human skeleton. Fortunately, instead of screaming, I merely gazed at the skeleton with cool appreciation. The wicked act proved a heroic method of treatment, thus resulted years afterwards in my adopting medicine as a profession. Prior to the construction of my hotel, I sketched out a laboratory in the basement equipped with a large kiln and a dissection table. Soon after I had visions to create the hotel into a personal play house with gas pipes leading to hidden chambers and vaults throughout the building. The hotel became somewhat a childhood dream come true. However, creating the hotel into a haunted house would bring back a familiar euphoric addiction. While in medical school, a fellow student and I devised an elaborate life in...

Workplace and Drug Abuse Essay

Workplace and Drug Abuse Essay Workplace and Drug Abuse Essay This is a free example essay on Workplace and Drug Abuse: Drug abuse has been an ongoing problem that has plagued America. The ramped use of illegal drugs impacts our society in many ways. Drug abuse attributes to increases in violent crime, poverty, domestic violence, HIV, school drop out rate, homelessness, teen pregnancy, and increasing health costs due to health related problems. Since the beginning of the 19th century America has had a problem with drug abuse. During this time, morphine, cocaine, and heroin, were commonly used like aspirin is today. By the time the twentieth century cam along our nation was dealing with its first problem of increasing drug use. The use of opium became ramped in the United States as well. Eventually the government began to recognize the problem and put laws in place to regulate drug use (Carroll, 2002). By the time of World War II was in existence, drug abuse had basically come to a halt, and was not an issue as it was previously. That all changed with the onset of the 1960s. Marijuana and psychedelics were popular in the 1960s and was more widely accepted. Because of this newly, wide spread use, the government began to create federal agencies to aggressively enforce the federal laws that were in existence. These laws were put in place to regulate illegal drug use. Soon after the 1970s were here and so was cocaine. During the 1970s cocaine use was considered the drug of choice, it also brought along with it a new surge of violent crimes and increased addiction. There are many different factors in our society that have contributed to the support of drug abuse and drug use. One such reason is the need to satisfy our want of mental stimulation audio/ visually. People are surrounded, by items meant to grasp, or stimulate their attention. In todays society we are often stimulated by audio and visual stimulants. For example, the vast variety of video games, computers, television, DVDs, and CDs, are all geared to satisfy our desire for audio/visual pleasure. With all these items and so many varieties to choose from, the American public soon becomes desensitized by the over stimulation to the senses. Many of our children are bombarded with this type of mental stimulation and they soon become bored. The only other alternative to generate excitement is the use of drugs. Still others are finding it necessary to seek some type of religious experience and therefore are motivated to become closer to a higher power. There has always been a desire to find the meaning of life or to gain a deeper understanding of oneself and purpose in life. Some people feel so strongly about this that they resort to chemical substances in order to comprehend the world of the supernatural. Chemical substances that are psychoactive are usually used to achieve the desired state of being. Still others resort to using methods of fasting or subjecting the body to a rigorous test of endurance. Alcoholism is another problem that ranks highly in our nation of substance abuse. Traditional treatment for alcohol abuse usually involves a twelve -step program at a licensed treatment center. The use of psychedelic drugs has been used as a form of treatment for alcoholism. Our society is filled with elements, which are motivating factors for alcohol abuse. People who are heavy drinkers or abusers of alcohol do usually due to some form of anxiety. â€Å" Views on the amount of alcohol consumed correlated positively with anxiety created by various cultural circumstances. Anxiety contributes to alcoholic addiction in America (Jennings, 2003).† A great number of individuals are motivated by the need to find relief from psychological problems or personal problems. Other reasons which motivate the use of drugs are mental disorders which may have to be treated with a narcotic to eleviate the symptoms of the disorder. Our culture through the various forms of the media has glamourized drug use. This image of acceptance contradict the anti-drug messages that the youth of this country are being exposed to, through school, and advertisement paid for by anti-drug organizations. Teenagers have shown an increase in drug usage base on a study done by various government agencies and anti-drug organizations.Even though most teenagers have been well informed of the health risks and dangers of drug abuse, many still make a personal choice to use them. A study was done by NIDA, (National Institute on Drug Abuse),released on July 31,2002, which found a correlation between teen drug use and health issues occurring in early adult years. The study concluded that young adults in their twenties who had used drugs in their teens developed more health problems than those who had not ever used drugs. The type of problems these young adults experienced were sinus infections, colds, and similar respiratory problems. In addition they also had problems focusing, remembering, learning disabilities, plus, headaches, dizziness, and problems with their site. The study included over 600 young people and was done over a period of 22 years. This study reaffirms and supports the facts, stating there are long-term health risks with drug abuse and drug use (NIDA, 2002). Other studies have been done that report a large number of the mentally ill, use drugs or alcohol. Combing mental illness and substance abuse makes it difficult to treat an individual for their mental problems. For the mental health community, the rise in substance abuse has created new challenges in the treatment of mental illness. One major complication that arises, is the difficulty in diagnosing a person’s mental condition. American young people are using chemical substances in great numbers. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (April 2003), published the national results of the Monitoring the Future, annual survey. The survey is a report of students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades and their current trends in drug use. The results indicated a decline in many illicit drugs, especially ecstasy. There was a significant decrease in smoking and drinking for all grades. Among 12th graders, an increase in tranquilizers and barbituates was reported. There is an ongoing emergence of new drugs in 2002, that are popular among teens. Included in this trend is an appearance of drugs coming back, that were popular in the 1960s, like LSD, for example. Most young people today are not familiar with the side effects and health risks of LSD. New drugs such as nitrite inhalants, PCP, Rohypnol, GHB, and ectasy are increasing in use. America will continue to struggle with the task of eliminating substance abuse. Studies conducted by the federal government and anti-drug organizations, will gauge the changes in current drug trends. It is apparent that research indicates a significant substance abuse epidemic within the young American community. According to the NIDA (April 2003), 53% of our youth have experiemented with illegal drugs by their 12 grade graduation. 57% of 12 graders have tried cigarettes, 27% currently smoke regularly. 78% of teens have tried alcohol, and 47% have done so by the 8th grade. Have there been decreases in drug use? Yes, there have been; along with the increase of new drugs. America has seen some positive trends with substance abuse, but how significant are these changes? Teenagers must constantly be made aware of the long term health risks of drug use.

Cellular respiration and fermentation Lab Report

Cellular respiration and fermentation - Lab Report Example The researcher states that studying fermentation and respiration as done in this experiment has implications for industry, as fermentation reactions, for one, impact the way we produce an important industrial product for instance, in this case, ethanol. The nature of the sugar matters too, as the use of particular kinds of sugars in ethanol production, to use the same example, affect a number of products that are produced in such reactions. In the first part, fermentation is measured using gas height as the proxy for carbon dioxide measure and the rate of reaction. In the second part, respiration is measured in terms of carbonic acid production. Â  The key materials used are the following: 10 percent sucrose solution; 10 percent glucose solution; peas; distilled water; phenol red; yeast stock; wax pencil; water bath; hot plate; test tubes of various sizes; beaker; test tube corks and holders; test tube rack. The idea behind the test tubes of varying sizes is to create a respirometer using two sizes of test tubes, for the experiment involving the yeasts. A practice session involves filling the smaller tube, measuring 15 x 125 mm with water, placing that inside a 20x150 mm test tube, and inverting to the point where the air bubble in the smaller test tube is as small as can be made from the process. In the actual experiment, three different test tubes are filled with two-thirds of either ten percent sucrose solution, ten percent glucose solution, or distilled water, and then topped off to the brim with yeast suspension. The inversion method practiced above is utilized to mix the solutions and form the respirometers. The respirometers are allowed to incubate for one hour, while placed in a water bath set at 37 degrees Celsius. The gas bubble heights are measured after the period of incubation. The idea is to be able to undertake a comparison of how the three sources of food in the test tube compare with regard to their suitability as food for yeast. This is the f irst part of the experiment (Experiment 7 n.d., pp. 59-61). In part two of the experiment, 10 peas that were either soaked, not soaked, and soaked and boiled were placed in each of three different test tubes, filled with water up to the two-thirds level, and covered with corks. After an hour and a half, two drops of phenol red were placed in each of the three test tubes containing the seeds, more when no color was visible or the color is too vague/thin. The results of the color observations were tabulated. (Experiment 7 n.d., pp. 59-61) Results The first part of the experiment measured the amount of respiration from the fermentation process, involving the yeast solution and the three food sources. Among the three food sources, the glucose solution had the highest change in the gas height at the end of the incubation period, with the gas height changing from the initial 1 mm to 6 mm. The sucrose solution had a lower gas height change, going from 1 mm initially to 4 mm at the end of the observation period. The test tube containing just distilled water showed no change in the gas height, indicating that no respiration took place. In the second part of the experiment, the setup containing the soaked beans had a yellow color, while the setup containing the beans that were both soaked and boiled remained red,

The Black Swan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Black Swan - Essay Example Based on the example given, it is clear that the Internet is one of the encouraging events that have occurred. Conversely, Bp Mexican Gulf oil spill could be termed as a discouraging unforeseen event. Question 2 Yes, it makes sense to allocate resources to prevent a black swan event. Based on what happened to BP, it could be seen that the company would have prevented the disaster by allocating reasonable financial resources for structural expansion. BP’s partner, Anadarko, points out that the company made a poor choice and unreasonable measures by allocating money to the firm but instead management of the company advanced personal issues leaving the company with structural issues. This made the company vulnerable to any disaster. Both BP’s partner Anadarko and American oil industry agreed that BP has been in the forefront to cut the cost of company instead of improving the company technically (Correa n.d). Question 3 Yes, it makes sense to devote resources to contain a black swan event in case it occurs, which this is clear from the Bp oil spill. The spill occurred after installation of pipes with the use of limited centralizers. From the manager’s email, it is clear that the financial allocation was insufficient. If the company had allocated more money for procurement of more centralizers, the oil spill disaster would not have occurred. In addition, the American oil industry and the Bp partner agree with allocation of more resources for risk management. The company tried to cut costs, which is clear from the unjustifiable number of centralizers. The number of centralizers installed was six instead of 21 recommended centralizers by the engineers (Marianne 2010). Furthermore, there is a need for more financial resources for structural strengthening to avoid future catastrophe, the case of Bp Oil Company, it would have averted black swan had it allocated $7 billion to $21 billion for safety measures like procurement of safer head pipes. Quest ion4 Yes, human error is different from a black swan event because it is a decision that individuals make and at the end, it causes a disaster. For example, Bp oil company management decided to use six centralizers instead of the recommended 21 centralizers. This is a human error because someone made an undesirable decision. Conversely, black swan events cannot be the same as a human error because it cannot be predicted using past information or scientific approach. Yes, human error can lead to Black Swan, considering the 2008 financial crisis, it would have been easily prevented if financial experts had taken into consideration the financial mistakes which were already visible in the year 2006 (Marianne 2010). The case of Bp Oil Company, whereby the disaster of oil spill occurred, it is clear that human error leads to black swan, oil spilling and causing huge environmental pollution and making the company to into financial crisis. As pointed out above the use of less number of cent ralizers against the recommended number is human error that leads to black swan. Question 5 As an executive of Bp, my consideration would be redundancies wells. With little amount of money available I will have to invest on the remaining well. The extra well will help incase another disaster occurs. Precautionary measures should also be put into consideration. For example, the company will have to install acoustic shutoff switches to prevent offshore oil spills. In addition, an insurance

My Working Experience in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

My Working Experience in Business - Essay Example I also provided ideas about advertising and furniture design. Running a business became art by itself for me. I felt more interested in learning to run a business that makes good money promoting art, than doing artistic work alone. While the work experience developed my interest in business, I believe that the Business and Economics program offered by the University of California would provide me the essential knowledge needed to pursue a business career to the next level. As a person who grew up as an aspirant of art, innovation and communication skills will be the two most significant personal attributes that I will bring to the University of California. I believe that my work experience as a sale representative where I was involved in renovating the product lines and the showroom, has demonstrated my ability to introduce and implement new ideas. On the other hand, my experience as an officer of the International Business Club at the Mountain Sac College also enabled me to develop the communication skill needed for a successful career in the business world. When I first started working for the furniture store as a trainee, I was in fact among a group of young people who were hired to bring new ideas to an aging business. At that time, my boss just inherited the store from his uncle. He was trying to revive the fortune of a furniture store whose products were big, well-crafted, durable, but not attractive to new and young customers. To better understand the need for young customers, my boss decided to hire a group of young people, including myself, to give him a new direction of improving his business. Since I did not have any sales or office experience, I was hired as an apprentice. My boss not only wanted me to learn about crafting skill but also made good use of my artistic background to help him refresh our furniture design philosophy.  Ã‚  

Leadership Traits - Donald Trump Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership Traits - Donald Trump - Assignment Example In 1981, he bought the Trump Plaza in New York City and in 1982, bought a weekend estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 1983, the construction of Trump Tower was completed and USFL New Jersey Generals was acquired. In 1984, Trump opened Harrah’s at Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City. Trump bought Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida in 1985. In 1987 came the New York Times best seller â€Å"Trump: The Art of the Deal.† The later years continued with more and more acquisition, and the group’s entry into the TV (Wooten, 2008, pp.106-110). Leadership Traits American scholar Warren Bennis has identified four basic ingredients in every great leader. The first basic quality is guiding vision or management of attention. The leader must have a clear idea of what he or she wants to achieve. He must show courage to face the tough reality. The second quality is communicating the vision. The leader is there to communicate his passions to his people and it will bring hope and inspiration. Passion generally appears as enthusiasm. Again, people should not buy into every exciting idea; there should be a great deal of quality. The next thing is integrity which is the combination of self-knowledge, candor, and maturity. Leader must know his strengths and weaknesses, and must have clear idea about what he wants to do and the reason behind that. These three ingredients combine with a fourth ingredient – management of self. There should be mix of â€Å"curiosity and daring† with integrity. Leaders should be open to new ideas, willing to take risks, and try new things (Bennis, 2009, pp. 204-05, Bennis, 2010, p. 20). Now one may look at Trump’s leadership style in the light of Bennis’ four ingredients. Vision In Trump on Entrepreneurship, Trump says, â€Å"Entrepreneurship...History is full of famous leaders with extraordinary lives. From George Washington to John F. Kennedy, from Bill Gates to Donald Trump, the list is much diver sified. Here, this paper will focus on the life and leadership traits of Donald Trump, the â€Å"Real Estate Tycoon† in the light of Bennis’ competency criteria. Early History Donald Trump was born in Queens, New York on 14th June, 1946. He was the part of a demographic change which would later be known as â€Å"Baby Boom†. His father, Fred Trump, was a contractor in the housing market and operated in the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs. Fred was a highly successful businessman and was one of the richest persons in Queens (Payment, 2007, pp.1-5). Young Trump had his own way of doing things. He had a forceful personality from his childhood. In his 2nd grade, he punched the music teacher on his face. Trump was of the view that the teacher didn’t understand what he was saying. For this misbehavior, he was almost expelled from the school. In his book ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal’, he admits this fact by saying that it was not a proud moment. At 13, Donald was sent to New York Military Academy to improve upon his behavior (Payment, 2007, pp. 6-10 & 12). Donald Trump graduated in 1968 from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School of Finance) with a degree in economics. Trump got the passion for construction business from his father. His father knew almost all the processes of construction business. So, after completing his graduation, he continued with his life-long passion of constructing buildings (Wooten, 2008, pp. 20-23).

(Government) Towns and Township Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

(Government) Towns and Township - Essay Example rchase Information for South Carolina, Motor Fuel online Filing System, Check Out eSales, Electronic Payment System and South Carolina Withholding Reconciliation Tax Return. The collective performance of these departments makes South Carolina Department of Revenue a successful organization (Welcome to the South Carolina Department of Revenue, n.d). South Carolina Business One Stop is an online business portal that aids businessmen through the state. South Carolina Business One Stop offers businessmen a portal between the businesses and the government. This online web portal allows people to apply and pay for licenses online, registrations, permits and other official filings. A few of the services the organization provides is to establish business entity with secretary of state, registration for corporate taxes, submit filings to inform secretary of state about changes, apply for renewal of alcohol beverage license and applying for renewal of department of consumer affairs (SCBOS, n.d.). South Carolina Department of Revenue is responsible for collection of Use Tax. Use Tax is the tax which is imposed on purchase of items made outside of South Carolina. The USE TAX is paid to South Carolina Department of Revenue. The items on which USE TAX is applicable are items purchased on mail order, catalogs, and shopping networks and on any items bought on the internet. Online items which are bought include books, electronic, clothing and jewelry (All About Use Tax, n.d). South Carolina Department of Revenue has an electronic sales taxing system which has been made to make taxpayers a fast, free, electronic and secure way to submit taxes and revenues. This online electrical system gives people an option to make payments online without the need to leave your homes (What is the Sales and Use Tax System, n.d). Another online forum working to collect tax is â€Å"South Carolina Department of Revenue Electronic Withholding System† is made specifically to provide the individuals

Business Formal analytical report Research Paper

Business Formal analytical report - Research Paper Example In addition, the report has proposed a plan that will be followed to carry out the research plus the schedules on how the research will be carried out. I hope you find this report helpful in regards to lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at green park hotel. If you have any questions or comments regarding my recommendation feel free to contact me at (814) 862-7480. I hope you are going to approve this report to enable me and my teams research this problem concerning Green Park Hotel which will bring back its glorious image. Green Park Hotel, in the past, used to run its services smoothly and there were no major problems within the business. Currently, Green Park faces a big problem of high employee turnover and many complaints from customers concerning service quality. Customers for the entity used to leave good comments at the end of most services they received from the hotel. However, things have changed in the recent past with the most notable transformation being high employee turnover. In fact, the hotel replaces employees almost on a weekly basis. Moreover, the hotel has lost a huge stake in its market capitalization. Competitors are drowning a huge part of the once large market. Customers have hurled several complaints at our employees, and some have even gone ahead to publicize how some of our services have deteriorated. The report has defined the problem at hand, which is lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at Green Park Hotel. Thereafter various alternative solutions have been given, then there is an argument for the solution which satisfies the criteria best and finally a conclusion and recommendation follow respectively. I am writing to seek your approval to come up with a report for lowering employee turnover and improving customer service at Green Park hotel after an intensive research. On completion of the research, the operational management team for the hotel will receive the

(Government) Towns and Township Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

(Government) Towns and Township - Essay Example rchase Information for South Carolina, Motor Fuel online Filing System, Check Out eSales, Electronic Payment System and South Carolina Withholding Reconciliation Tax Return. The collective performance of these departments makes South Carolina Department of Revenue a successful organization (Welcome to the South Carolina Department of Revenue, n.d). South Carolina Business One Stop is an online business portal that aids businessmen through the state. South Carolina Business One Stop offers businessmen a portal between the businesses and the government. This online web portal allows people to apply and pay for licenses online, registrations, permits and other official filings. A few of the services the organization provides is to establish business entity with secretary of state, registration for corporate taxes, submit filings to inform secretary of state about changes, apply for renewal of alcohol beverage license and applying for renewal of department of consumer affairs (SCBOS, n.d.). South Carolina Department of Revenue is responsible for collection of Use Tax. Use Tax is the tax which is imposed on purchase of items made outside of South Carolina. The USE TAX is paid to South Carolina Department of Revenue. The items on which USE TAX is applicable are items purchased on mail order, catalogs, and shopping networks and on any items bought on the internet. Online items which are bought include books, electronic, clothing and jewelry (All About Use Tax, n.d). South Carolina Department of Revenue has an electronic sales taxing system which has been made to make taxpayers a fast, free, electronic and secure way to submit taxes and revenues. This online electrical system gives people an option to make payments online without the need to leave your homes (What is the Sales and Use Tax System, n.d). Another online forum working to collect tax is â€Å"South Carolina Department of Revenue Electronic Withholding System† is made specifically to provide the individuals

Behavioral Issues in Special Education (self-injurous behavior) Essay

Behavioral Issues in Special Education (self-injurous behavior) - Essay Example Many of these children that are given special education are very disturbed and prone to inflicting harm against themselves. According to Fox, C & Hawton, K, self-injury does not really mean that the person wants to commit suicide but rather, a person who cuts or inflicts intentional harm upon himself or herself is hoping to relieve some of tension or emotional pain1 or just simply to manifest his or her frustrations over something. In the case of children with disabilities, their inability to communicate to others can be very frustrating. In most cases, these children express their frustrations by inflicting self-harm and to get the attention that they need. The failure on the part of the adult present to recognize the silent please of the child with disability can make the situation even worst. The child may continue to inflict upon herself or herself until such time when he or she gets what he or she needs. Schoeder, Mulich and Rojahn classified the Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) into two namely, the social and the non-social act. The social SIB often takes place in the social setting and was directly self-injurious such as head banging, self-biting, self-scratching, gouging, pinching and hair pulling [Weiss, 129-143]. Social SIB can happen frequently and may be associated with other forms of behaviour problems. On the other hand, the Non-Social SIB happens less frequently but may tend to inflict more harm u pon the child. Non-social SIB can be manifested through stuffing orifices, mouthing, sucking, rumination, ingestion of faeces, excessive fluid intake and ingestion of air [Weiss, 129-143]. In extreme instances, the injuries inflicted by the child upon himself or herself are so serious that it requires hospitalisation for a few days. Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in children with learning disabilities and autism is one

Traditional Jews Essay Example for Free

Traditional Jews Essay Religion is a vast and distinct area of study. Many different cultures and groups have different practices, and within those cultures there are many sub-groups that are different than the majority. The Haredim are a Jewish sect that is basically a sub-group of traditional Jews that demonstrate many differences from the majority. Haredim have a different approach to death and the actual funeral procession of loved ones. Many other cultures will honor their dead by having a eulogy or some other type of ceremony. The Haredim like to invoke a different sense of devotion to passing ancestors. For instance, it is acceptable, among Haredim, for the Sephardi to sing the songs of his father and grandfather, to utilize the prayer rhythm of his youth. 1 This is essentially singing prayer songs to the father, if passed, and the grandfather, if passed during a funeral procession. These songs are supposed to honor the dead and at the same time elevate the dead to a type of saint-like status. After the deceased have had songs sung, it is time for a type of ceremony called the â€Å"Communion of Saints. † Here the Haredim invoke the â€Å"Communion of Saints† upon hearing of the death of an elder and attempt to have the Saints bless the body spiritually. The blessing is done to elevate his familiar saints and holy men, entering [his relative] in the pantheon of the believer, even to add a modest twist or two of traditional clothing to the standard garb. 1 The Haredim are known for their revering of elders upon death and their attempt at ascending those elders into a higher spiritual space. This is firmly established, according to their faith, by invoking the elder and finally invoking the â€Å"Communion of Saints† to assist in the transfer to the spirit world. Another aspect of death in Haredim society is the actual burial. The Haredim employ the hevra kaddisha, the Communal Fraternal Burial Society in Israel, is responsible for the reverential disposal of the dead in accordance with Jewish law for all Jewish citizens. 2 Once the arrangements are established by the hevra kaddisha, the burial must take place. A problem arises in the burial because it must occur as soon as possible. As the Jewish text suggests, The dead must be buried as soon as possible, as much out of respect for their corporeal integrity as out of concern that they should not pollute their environment. Texts devoted to establishing and commenting on the impurity of human remains are abundant, and the laws relating to this subject are very strict: people and utensils that have been in contact with a cadaver might become impure, as does the place where they have lain, thus being in the presence of a dead body can cause ritual uncleanness. 3 It is clear that the Haredim employed different rituals from other groups, but also maintained a bastion of traditional beliefs that secular Jews also follow. Haredim are a very distinct culture as compared to other sects of Judaism. One of the more shocking revelations about their culture is they actually do not support the established state of Israel. One of the first evidences of this non-support is how the Haredim view the chief rabbis in Israel. They do not recognize the Chief Rabbinate and have their own Rabbinic authorities. 4 This presents a problem in the Israeli Jewish community in particular. The Israelis are attempting to create a united front against other groups that oppose them in the region. Because of the lack of support, and since there is no doctrinal significance to the office of Chief Rabbi, voices are raised from time to time to abolish the whole institution of two Chief Rabbis, irreverently called by Israelis the Heavenly Twins. 5 Another way they reject the Israeli state is they look upon Israel as too secular. All the Haredim have in common a â€Å"total dedication to the Torah in its traditional form and believe that the secular world is best kept at arms length. 6 They have a stark rejection of Israel and do not actually need a Jewish state. They are fine the way they are and reject the secularism of the Jewish faith in general. The politicians in Israel have no impressed the Haredim throughout the years. They believe they are without structure and without promise for any group of people. One example is from the 1981 campaign [where] the two parties [created] satirical television commercials, which featured well-known Israeli comedians. Such commercials, according to the Haredim, were an expression of spiritual emptiness. 7 The Haredim stand firm behind their beliefs even against their own government. A final examination of the Haredim reveals some peculiar traits as compared to other cultures. One of the ways they are different from other Jewish sects is their devotion to a culture long gone. For instance, they continued to be known by the Yiddish names of their rebes towns — Satmar, Belz, Ger — places that existed no more. 8 Another distinct difference is in the attire that the Haredim men usually wear. One eyewitness recounted, the men wore the clothing of eighteenth-century Hasidim. 7 One of the remarkable characteristics of the religion is the offspring that are produced within the families. Some of the families have many children as compared to other groups. It actually makes sense why this occurs because, they produced large families — six, eight, even ten children — to begin to try to make up for the millions of murdered Jews. 9 The Haredim do portray some peculiar traits that may seem strange to other religions, but actually they are effectively helping their way of life live on in the future. The Haredim are a fascinating group of people with a very different religious perspective. They live their life true to their moral codes and should be respected as any other religion. Works Cited Cromer, Gerald. The Voice of Jacob and the Hands of Esau: Verbal and Physical Violence in Israeli Politics, 1977–1984. Jews and Violence: Images, Ideologies, Realities. Ed. Peter Y. Medding. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 149-164. Jacobs, Louis. The Jewish Religion: A Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Sobel, Zvi. A Small Place in Galilee: Religion and Social Conflict in an Israeli Village. New York: Holmes Meier, 1993.

Leadership is about Forging Relationships

Leadership is about Forging Relationships â€Å"In a nut shell, I believe leadership is about forging relationships and perpetuating communication centered on and around a common vision, goals, and values.† Leaders set vision, strategies, goals, and values in order to guide for desired action and behavior. Leaders are characterized by certain traits which distinguish leaders from non-leaders includes Drive, desire to lead, honesty, cognitive ability, self-confidence and knowledge. Leaders are defined by their personal core values and they lead with their hearts.   In the winter of 1987, I was born in a farmer’s family and I grew up in a joint family of fourteen. Teamwork was not a choice, it was a necessity! I believe my greatest leadership asset is that I am socially resourceful. I can communicate effectively and am comfortable one-on-one or with a large group. I truly believe that learning from the experiences of others is an incredibly valuable resource. Learning about others is also a valuable tool. Exhibiting sincere interest in people empowers a leader with knowledge, perspective and insights they may not have considered. In addition, others are likely to increase their receptiveness to anything you have to say or hope to accomplish when they sense your genuine interest in their point of view. Genuine people who are true to themselves and to what they believe in turned into an authentic leader. They are more concern about serving others than they are about their own success or recognition. My journey into leadership is full of peaks and valleys. Leadership has not always been an easy road for me, but has provided me with several challenges. One of my first experiences was in high school and has continued throughout my professional career. My first experience in leadership was my being elected to represent my high school-Birla school, Mumbai for a state level event named India culture quest. We were team of 22 including dancers, singers, gymnastics, science innovation project team, and team to handle brainstorming and quizzes. I remember being so nervous not knowing how to lead or communicate effectively with my fellow students. It was my primary role that to engage and coordinate my fellow student and also represent our school as of the example for discipline and talent on a state level. I knew I could handle this challenge if I organized the team and prepared the charter. My charter was including everyone’s details about their strength and weaknesses. I organi zed all of them into their respective small groups based on their role in an event and asked each team to choose one leader among them. I distributed my responsibilities among these leaders and kept the track of quality of the performance. I also organized special event and outings to encourage my fellow students to engage them. This to me was my first experience in leadership and it helped me in college where I was pushed to organize and managed the annual cultural event named – ‘Odessy’. I felt challenged, but I knew by extending an outline of my high-school leadership. I agreed to commit that my leadership style improved a lot during those days. It became more authentic. Authentic leaders need to sustain high levels of motivation. Keeping that in mind I started my work by delivering motivational speech to my team and asked them to give best of what they have. I outlined my leadership style in such a way that my team mates should feel comfortable to speak up an d share their views. My contributions allowed others to have a better understanding of the overall planning and execution of the Annual Culture Event. This also helped me overcome challenges and differences by expressing myself among different personalities, ethnicities, and cultures. I learned that leadership has multiple dimensions. Articulating the vision and managing the task are not only the responsibilities of a leader. It’s more than that. It’s to influence others by your core values, your unique characteristics and your authentic and positive approach. You will be most effective as a leader when you find opportunities that highly motivate you and utilize your greatest capabilities. One without the other is insufficient. To find them you must understand your deepest motivations and be honest with yourself about your capabilities. Being motivated by something you are not good at will not enable you to succeed as a leader, nor will pursue leadership roles that do not motivate you. But when you find the role that meshes your motivations with your capabilities, you will discover the sweet spot that maximizes your effectiveness as a leader. I also learned one more lesson that accept both success and failure. My every step, whether it is a mistake or success strategy, will always give me an uncountable experience. I have to learn through that experience. Never afraid of failures because each mistake teaches us the important lessons to succeed. I also developed my listening ability during the whole event. I gained the experience of discovering capabilities which I did not know I had. Another example of leadership includes my managerial experience at my company. The greatest challenge I faced was building a product team at my company. On November 7, 2012 Vice president of my company, Mr. Mahesh Patil, sent me an email and asked me to join him in the cabin. Mr. Patil just returned from a meeting with board of directors. He reported that the company facing challenges to beat the high market competition and we will lose thousands of customers if we are not able to improve our product’s features. As a recently promoted product manager, I was asked to lead the project. I never had experience of leading a huge team of 17 people before. In past, I was working as an associate product manager for the same product and hence I was pretty sure about functionality and technical constraints about the product. I decided to take the opportunity and to challenge myself to enhance my leadership graph. When I entered into my current position, I knew I had to make changes in t he methodologies and product development process. The previous product manager had short of vision and neither organized research work, and process documents. The company relied solely on him, which caused inconsistency in products quality and customers dissatisfaction. I led and supervised 17 employees, coordinated the work of forty two people, and two months later implemented a solution. In order to start with I formed four distinguished teams and re-defined responsibilities and tasks. During the initial discussion with Mr. Mahesh Patil and 5 senior managers, I suggested the methodology for solving the problem. I presented the feasibility of the proposed solution and an initial estimate of the costs, and operational implications. I convinced them that how the new methodology will give us an edge over our competitors and innovative marketing strategy will help us to regain the brand name. However, I felt I have not yet consider all the real time risk factors and it may turn into operationally premature solution due to lack of ability in handling the risk. I asked for more days to conduct trials. I knew that the financial consequences of failure would be tremendous and hence I was very much stressed by this project. Leaders do not succeed on their own. Every leader defined by the members of his team. Strong-support team provides affirmation, advice, perspective, calls for corrections when needed, and, above all, team bonding. I knew that I want to lead a team where I should create comfort and open environment so that during the hard days and low points, as a whole team we should not lose our boost to achieve the target. I knew that it is easy to divert by the expectations of others but as a leader my role is to grounded my team mates with their core values and help them to stay on track. In our first team meeting, I shared my strength and weakness and asked others to join me by expressing their thoughts. Three of seventeen Team members were not open with one other about their mistakes and weaknesses. Such things make it difficult to build a foundation for trust. Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments. Again I felt challenged. Whether you are a leader or a team member, you can never take trust for granted. It was a big challenge for me to build a trust and create extremely harmonious and independent environment that embrace my personal values and principles. I took the opportunity and passed Quote of Trust and Accountability a.k.a. QTA based on our discussion. Our Quote of Trust and Accountability (QTA) stated as – ‘Trust lies at the heart of a functioning, cohesive team. Without it, teamwork is all but impossible. Unfortunately, the word trust is used—and misused—so often that it has lost some of its impact and begins to sound like motherhood. That is why it is important to be very specific about what is meant by trust. For me trust and accountability is what I perceive and conceptualize my core values and I am responsible to develop authenticity, integrity, knowledge, authority, respect for others, and trust’. We all agreed to Quote of Trust. Next day I gathered my staff and I presented the issues, emphasized the significance of the business opportunity, and defined a timetable. I also asked my marketing team to evaluate the magnitude of the problem in other markets. I set the vision of our team and also specified the norms of team. I distributed the task among four teams and created guidelines of communication and execution. It was two-way communication session where I asked my teammates to share their views, expert knowledge and level of confidence. It was a great session we had. I learned that being with your team-mates face-to-face; inquiring about their work, their families, their personal lives, and their careers; and being open and vulnerable with them creates an intimacy with people. As we moved forward in the project, I able to developed the series of positive interactions, suggestions, and problem solving methodologies. Initially, few members of my team were hesitating to open up due to language barrier. I organ ized Saturday late afternoon party at my home. I invited all to join and made them to participate in the musical chair game. I had also organized activity exercises’ for my team. We had great fun. The enjoyment ended with musical evening where everyone was singing and all were connected to the music. I was listening to the music with closed eyes but I was experiencing the engagement and strong bonding as a team with open heart. I succeed to diminish the language barrier. Whenever I feel stressed or down, I close my eyes and recollect those memories of empowerment. The breeze of empowerment boosts me to stand again.

It’s a Hard Knock Life for Them Essay -- Literary Analysis

In both Katherine Porter’s â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall† and Eudora Welty’s â€Å"Why I Live in the P.O.†, the main characters deal with family members they frankly do not like. Due to both of their being jilted by men, they are full of resentment and anger causing these women to leave their families on bad terms. Porter and Welty are presenting through the character’s flashbacks and memories that we should pick our battles wisely when it comes to our families because one day they will be gone and, some of us might miss our deceased loved ones, like Granny from â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall†, or be filled with a hatred towards them, like Sister from â€Å"Why I Live in the P.O.†. Porter and Welty both provide flashbacks and memories in their stories to help the reader see what Granny and Sister’s lives were like before everything fell apart with their families. Porter’s â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall† is packed of the flashbacks and memories of Granny’s past relationships with the only people she loves even though are all dead. She reminisced about her youthful days when she was strong, independent, and with John, the man who stood her up at the altar and died when Granny was young. She still loves him and wants to see him, but â€Å"John would be looking for a young woman with the peaked Spanish comb in her hair and the painted fan,† (Porter 81) she believed he would not recognize her. Granny also lost one of her daughters, Hapsy along with her newborn who also died. When Granny brought those memories to the surface a fog of darkness, clouds reality and she gets lost and recalls that, â€Å"there was the day, the d ay, but a whirl of dark smoke rose and covered it, crept up and over into the bright field where everything was planted so c... ...to be pertinacious like Sister. The flashbacks allow the reader to go back with the characters and see what we missed out on, example; Granny’s happier days, when she had her man and she was strong and young, or Sister’s happier days when she also had her man and was treated respectably by certain members of her family. Furthermore, I believe the point both authors proposed was this, â€Å"Choose battles wisely and forgive or, forever suffer continuous loss.† Works Cited Porter, Katherine. â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.† Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 79-86. Print. Welty, Eudora. â€Å"Why I Live at the P.O.† Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 42-50. Print.

How market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses Essay

3.1 Explain how market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses There are different kinds of markets in different economies/sectors/goods. Accordingly, there are different kinds of output and pricing decisions which take place. Usually, output and pricing decisions are interdependent except for the case of perfectly competitive markets. In perfectly competitive markets, a single firm is so small compared to the market that it cannot affect the prices. In that case, it must take the price as given, and then decide the quantity to be supplied. Price in this market is equal to the marginal cost of production. In monopoly, however, things are different. The monopolist can change the prices, as it is the sole provider of the good and thus has the market power. But here also, if the price increases quantity demanded decreases. Therefore, the monopolist must take under consideration both the positive and negative effects of increase in prices. In another market oligopoly, pricing is a bit more complicated and it depends upon the strategic interaction am ong the firms. Market structure is the number of buyers and sellers in a market. There is different market structures such as Perfect Competition, Monopoly and Oligopoly and are discussed below: A place where different sellers of the same product then the firm’s price purpose and the output decision depends upon the demand for their products. In a competitive market buyers actually decide the price and firm take the output decisions as compare to the demand for the product because every firm tries to offer lower prices to their customer to increase their market share is known as Perfect competition. A scenario/market structure where a sole provider then price determination and output decision lies by the firm because in a monopolistic market the firm is the price maker and they can charge whatever price they want and customer have to pay because customers will not have the choice to buy somewhere else with a lower price, In Pakistan we can find such an example with WAPDA. This is known as a monopoly. Market structure where several sellers of the same products then the sellers have a bit of command over the price due to the ongoing rate for their products. For example they all charge the same price and then it depends upon the customers from whom to buy. Sellers may charge the same price but there will be difference in the way they advertise their products  and attract customers to purchase their products,; known as Oligopoly. 3.2 Illustrate the way in which market forces shape organizational responses using a range of examples Forces that determine the price level in the economy. Market forces can be a number of elements such as demand, supply, internal stakeholders, customers and suppliers. Two things can happen with the demand and the organizations are bound to give. If the demand for product increases the organization’s response for the increased demand will be they will hire more workers and will produce with full capacity. If the demand for the product decrease there will be decrease in cash inflow of organization due to which their costs will exceed than their profit. Organization response for such situation will be that they will cut jobs of their employees to cut their costs. Same as the demand two things can also happen with supply of the products. When there is increase in supply of products the demand will decrease while if there is a decrease in supply of the products the demand will increase. Employee is also the factor that can change the behavior of the organization. If government announces mini wage the organization must accept it and must pay their workers with a minimum wage. If do not pay it to their workers, their employees will leave their jobs and will work for other organizations. Every organization aim is to satisfy their customers with their products. If any organization producing fashion product but they do have continuous interaction with their customers as fashion changes after every specific time period the organization will lose their customers because they won’t be able to fulfill customer requirements and won’t be able to satisfy their customers with their products. An organization is dependent to its supplier and without supplies the production process is unable to run. If supplier increases price for the raw materials it will automatically increase the cost of production of an organization. 3.3 Judge how the business and cultural environments shape the behavior of a selected organization Political decisions also have an impact on business activities such as health and education for workers and the infrastructure of the economy. Nokia transferred one of its manufacturing facilities to India, it is important that Nokia have to follow all the rules in regulations set in India. The rules and regulations by India for Nokia may include that Nokia must be aware of the minimum wage, working hours per week and health and safety for workers etc. All the new  law and regulations by the government affect Nokia’s operations. Economic factors may include the economic situations as a whole. These factors include interest rate, exchange rate, inflation and economic development etc. Nokia’s Economic situation in Finland went to recession period once which decreased the level of income and resulted in decrease in demand for Nokia’s product. Due to an increase in costs Nokia cut jobs and unemployed some of their employees. Nokia must be aware of all such economic situations to be ready to handle them well. Social is about the society. Social factors may include change in taste, change in level of income, change in fashion etc. All the above factors affect the demand for the product; normally it happens with Luxury and fashion products. Nokia operates in all over the world with their products and consider the culture of every place they operate, now a day people want to have good looking and smart up to date pho nes, Nokia tries to be aware of every social trends in the society and come up with the demanded products by their customers. Technical; this refers to a change and development in the way of production, as new technology improved the quality of products, increase in productivity etc. Legal; the new laws applied on businesses by the government. Government passes different new laws after every specific time period which increases cost of the businesses. Such laws may include age discrimination, increase in minimum wage etc. For example, Apple operates where it is very difficult to have a product different from its competitors. Environmental factors include a change in weather, climate. Environmental changes affect businesses such as farming and tourism. Environmental factors are the external factors which firms have to consider due to a global change in the economy. Nokia must be friendly with their customers to operate in appropriate manner as they water proof cell phones, phones with a plastic body which can be unbreakable etc. Environmental Culture is the attitude, behavior and the knowledge in a society i s called the cultural environment. Cultural environment can be of two types: Internal Culture – Any attitude, behavior, action or policy developed among people in the company is called the internal culture of the company. Apples internal culture is that there is a team work system among employees and every employee has the freedom to give in input of their ideas for the success of the company. External Culture – company’s own mission and needs of the customers that the company  can quickly respond is called the external culture. Nokia’s external culture is that they give customers service to their customer as their first aim is the customer satisfaction and to achieve such satisfaction they always try to come up with high quality of products. Nokia always have an interaction with their potential customer to gain new ideas from them. Nokia always conduct their business in ethical, legal and socially responsible fashion.

Human Values and Ethics in the Workplace

Human Values and Ethics in the Workplace Improving Leadership and Performance in the Water Education, Supply and Sanitation Sectors RESOURCE PAPER Teaching Managers Human Values â€Å"Human Values and Ethics in the Workplace† is a capacity-building initiative developed in a collaborative effort between the Global Dharma Center (GDC) and UN-HABITAT, within the framework of the Human Values Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (HVWSHE) Initiative of the Water for African/Asian Cities Programmes. The purpose of the capacity-building is to improve leadership and performance in every aspect of the water education and water supply and sanitation sectors, and to help bring about a new ethic in water use and management.  © 2005 UN-HABITAT and Global Dharma Center For more information: www. globaldharma. org/hvew. htm 2 Teaching Managers Human Values by B. Gustavsson, School of Business, Stockholm University, Sweden; A. N. Tripathi, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, India; G. P. Rao, Department of Management Studies, Madurai Kamaraj University, India. Abstract The authors are convinced of the necessity in a human dimension in managerial decisionmaking. The problem is to define values in a human context. We have suggested a framework for understanding the origins and scope of human values. We trace values to theistic, humanistic and empirical origins, and connect these to individual, sociological and ecological levels of application. We have illustrated our framework with a case study of a systematic approach to teach human values to managers in India. While this approach is mainly using a theistic approach, we recommend that other approaches to values can be included in courses teaching human values to managers. Human values are necessary in today's management. Business is no longer confined to a national state but is really borderless. Hence business from the international viewpoint, cannot be regulated by governments unless international agreements can be reached. In this â€Å"lawless land† the responsibility of the executive is greater than ever. Which values does s/he promote in her/his actions and decisions? Which responsibility does s/he take? Only towards the bottom line or also towards the growth of mankind? On a national level we find similar concerns with ethics and values in management. Being a generator and facilitator of human material wealth, does her/his responsibility towards human values end there? We do believe that the manager of today has a wider responsibility than that. We believe that it is in the interest of the managers themselves to have a heightened awareness of the values of humankind and also to promote them. I. Human values: what are they? Like most basic areas of human knowledge and experience, the concept of human values defies definitions. Yet it can be instinctively felt, cognitively grasped, discussed as a shareable experience, and thus made a valid area of enquiry. This enquiry is a major under-current of the wisdom literature of all the ancient civilisations and of the later day philosophers, scholars and great leaders of social and political movements. The profusion of ideas, divergent approaches and intermixing of several strands of thought make the effort of conceptualising human values a daunting task for modern scholarship. However, for a clearer understanding of the scope, significance and interrelationship of these ideas it is necessary to have a conceptual framework for classifying them. In the following paragraphs we make a humble attempt at this difficult academic endeavour. Classical literature does not make a distinction between values and human values. Perhaps there was no need for it then. Philosophical ideas on value enquiry were directed towards finding the nature, meaning and purpose of human existence. In the present century search for a theory of values has become a separate branch of modern philosophy and has been called axiology. Although the different realms of this value enquiry cover all areas of human concern like ethics, religion, art, science, social science, law etc. , no separate or special significance is attached to the term human values. One main approach to this classical value enquiry we would like to call the ideal-normative approach. In the Western tradition it is represented by Plato's formulation of the absolute values of Truth, Goodness and Beauty. They are conceived as having independent existence of their own and are 3 used as ideal norms for value judgement at the relative level of human existence. In the Indian tradition absolute values are related to the absolute reality whose nature is described as Sat,Chit and Anand. Attainment of a state of eternal bliss by the realisation of identity of the individual self with the universal Self of this absolute reality is the highest and ultimate object of human striving. Closely related to this absolutist perception is the theistic view which may be called a sub-group of the idealistic-normative approach. It is based on a metaphysical belief system which accepts the reality of a divine cosmic order and faith in the authority of a creator God who is also the upholder of all values. The basis of all ethical, social and other human values is sought in the enduring truths, either revealed or obtained through super conscious insights of sages, contained in the sacred religious literature. Although differing in their belief systems, rituals and customs, the great world religions have a large area of agreement on the basic moral values, conceptions of personal virtues and social group behaviour based on humanistic values of love, brotherhood, caring and sharing. Many leaders of the Indian renaissance, e. g. Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, were inspired by the absolutist-theistic value system and used it as the basis for their efforts towards the spiritual, social and political rejuvenation of the Indian society. In recent times the term ‘human values' has been used for this theistic approach to value system (Chakraborty, 1995a,b; Swami Ranganathanand, 1991). This is perhaps because of the need to highlight the universal humanistic aspects of this value approach, as against the merely speculative, mystical, or life-denying ascetic aspects. In the modern interpretation of theistic value approach the authors have shown its relevance and significance to the managers and other professionals. Another reason for the use of adjective ‘human' before these values may be to distinguish this value approach from the modern, so-called scientific, approach to human phenomena and associated values. Interpreted in its narrow sense this scientific approach robs man of the dignity of his divine association, his spiritual nature and reduces him to a biological organism of a random collection of atoms. It denies any meaning and purpose to life and rejects all considerations of faith, belief, feeling and intuitive religious perceptions. This mechanistic, deterministic interpretation makes man merely a malleable automaton, to be ‘programmed' to meet the demands of the existing socio-technological order, through manipulation of his lower order needs and desires. In the second sub-group of the idealistic-normative approach to human values we would like to place all the different strands of humanistic thoughts, ranging from love and compassion of Buddha to the radical humanism of Marx. Included in this sub-group are the ideas of humanists having varying degrees of theistic, non-theistic and atheistic leanings but attaching prime importance to man and to human values. As Fromm (1981, p. 148) points out â€Å"There is a remarkable kinship in the ideas of the Buddha, Eckhart, Marx, and Schweitzer: their radical demand for giving up the having orientation; their insistence on complete independence; their metaphysical skepticism; their godless religiosity, and their demand for social activity in the spirit of care and human solidarity† (emphasis added). These humanist ideas and movements developed as protests against oppressive constraints on human spirit of freedom, creativity and dignity, imposed by religious dogmas or by dehumanising social or technological orders at their day. They developed a new ethics of man based on interconnectedness of humankind, love and respect for life, the joy of sharing and caring, and the faith in man to shape his own destiny. They find deep reflections in the literary traditions of both the East and the West over the last few centuries (Bharati, 1990), and gave rise to different kinds of social and political theories, like liberalism and socialism, for the betterment of humankind, particularly of the oppressed and the exploited. In recent times it has led to the declaration of Universal Human Rights by the United Nations. The term human values has generally been understood in this context of humanistic thoughts. The second main approach to human values we would like to call the empirical-purposive approach adopted by modern psychologists and other social scientists like Rokeach (1973), Schwartz (1994) 4 and Mukherjee (1965). It views the of values as a distinct component of the total human personality, which guide or affect attitude and behaviour of the individual and social groups. In Schwartz's view values are â€Å"responses to three universal requirements with which all individuals and societies must cope: needs of individual biological organisms, requisites of coordinated social interaction and requirements for smooth functioning and survival of groups† (Schwartz, 1994, p. 21). This approach is non-normative and is not based on any religious, philosophical system of ideas or world view, nor on any social-political ideology. Identification of values, their classification, and search for interrelationships between them is based on empirical methods of observation, attitude surveys, statistical validation techniques etc. Conceptualisation of human values based on the findings of empirical research is fast becoming a distinct area of social science research. These empirical studies and researches on human values are not merely idealistic or intellectual exercises. They are purposive in the sense that the knowledge gained by them is sought to be utilised for practical purposes in diverse areas like, management science (leadership and team building, human resource development etc. , socio-political policy decisions (welfare programmes, race relations, positive action programmes for minorities, population control programmes, environmental policy etc. ). Hence the use of the term purposive in the descriptive title 'empirical-purposive' for this approach to human values. Another way of classifying the different approaches to human values could be in terms of the level of aggregation they focus their attention on. These levels may be called the individual, the sociological and the ecological. The first level focuses on the individual human being, taken as an independent entity. Some illustrative value terms referring to this level are survival values, character, personal virtues, aesthetic appreciation, human rights, salvation, self-realization, etc. At the second level individual values are subordinated to the sociological values. It is concerned with operation of values at the collective level of human society and includes values associated with family and other social institutions and professions; caring nd sharing, sense of social responsibility, social and economic justice, sarvodaya, values of humanity and human interconnectedness, etc. Similarly the ecological level subordinates the first two and consists of values from the standpoint of human beings as a part of the total ecological system. In the reports commissioned by the Club of Rome there is a concern for developing a â€Å"new world consciousness†¦ , a new ethic in the use of material resources, a new attitude towards nature, based on harmony rather than on conquest †¦ sense of identification with future generations† (Mesaroric, M. D. and Pestel, E. , 1974, p. 148) to avoid global catastrophe caused by unrestrained economic growth. â€Å"For the first time a demand is being made for an ethical change, not as a consequence of ethical belief but as the rational consequence of economic analysis† (Fromm, 1988, p. 149). Human values perceptions from this perspective focus on the inter-dependency of human beings and nature and include expressive terms like respect for and harmony with nature, concept of Mother Earth, sustainability, conservation etc. We thus arrive at a two-dimensional matrix for the classification of human values concepts. One dimension of this matrix consists of the different approaches and the other of the three levels of aggregation, shown as the horizontal and the vertical columns of the table below. Approach Level Individual Sociological Ecological Table 1: Two-dimensional classification framework of human values IDEAL-NORMATIVE Theistic Humanistic x x x EMPIRICALPURPOSIVE x x x 5 It needs to be emphasised that the categories in this proposed classification scheme are far from being exclusive. In fact they very much overlap. For example many of the humanistic approaches have theistic foundations and many items of the empirical approach are reformulations of the idealistic approach. What is being implied in the classification is the identification of the main emphasis or main focus of the approach. The entries in the matrix indicate what we consider to be the main level(s) of aggregation which a particular approach focuses on. In our view the theistic approach focuses mainly on the individual level in its quest for making a â€Å"good† man, whereas the humanistic approach is concerned with both the â€Å"good† man and the â€Å"good† society. This is not to deny the sociological and ecological concerns of the theistic approach; however we feel that these concerns are secondary to that for the individual. On the other hand the different empirical approaches together cover all the three, individual, social and ecological levels. The progression in the above matrix, both in the vertical and the horizontal directions, has a chronological order. The earliest human value perceptions were related to the individual level. The growing complexities and tensions of the human societies enlarged the scope to include the sociological considerations as its second focus. And the disastrous impact of the rapid technological developments, coupled with the population explosion, of the present century has made ecological concern as the third focus. Once again this chronological flow has no exclusivity. The philosophical speculations and beliefs of the earliest civilisations, including the aboriginal civilisations in existence today, have remarkable sensitivity and insights about the nature and man's relation to it. However it is only in the recent times that the theme has acquired an urgency to prompt development of a concerted approach to human values in relation to ecology. Similarly many of the later day humanistic values have been traced to the earliest Upanishadic idealistic-theistic views on life and its value (Devaraj, 1988). Yet there is a general chronological flow from the absolutist, theistic view of human values to the humanist view and finally to the present day empirical view. II. Can human values be taught? The question of interest to us is if human values can be taught to modern managers in any systematic way and, if so, to what effectiveness. S. K. Chakraborty, Management Centre for Human Values, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, has since 1983 been giving workshops on the theme â€Å"Human Values† on an in-house basis in many companies and as open workshops for managers from different companies and academics, mainly from India, but also from abroad. The impetus for this development is said to have come from managers at various management development programmes given at Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, asking for Indian insights that could be valuable for organizations and management. The objective of the workshops is to enhance in course participants the sensitivity to and sustenance of the value-system, which Chakraborty has distilled from what he calls â€Å"the Indian ethos†, based on studies of Buddhist, Vedantic and Yogic literature together with Indian epics and Pauranic literature. It is claimed that Indian values are found in the deep-structure of the Indian psyche, as reflected in these sources. The basic idea is purification of the mind, partly through a mind-stilling technique, and partly through practice of nourishing noble thoughts (e. g. compassion, friendliness, humbleness), and rejecting wicked ones (e. . greed, jealousy, arrogance). Such practice will reveal the â€Å"divine†, or â€Å"higher self†, within the individual and s/he will be able to perceive the same in others. The goal is that in a management setting these practices will have repercussions on business life, more specifically in respect of the individual, improve d cooperation, non-attachment to the selfish rewards of the work, increased creativity, service to the customer, improved quality, creating an ethico-moral soundness, cultivating self-discipline and self-restraint, and enhancing generosity (Chakraborty, 1991, pp. 9-20). 6 The content of the workshops varies according to the duration. There are three modules, the first one lasting three days and the next two lasting two days each. Each module elaborates on different principles. Module I, also called the â€Å"foundational module†, develops the basic concepts and practices. It is argued that managerial effectiveness is dependent on a sound values system, undergirding the superstructure of skills, which in turn emanates from a pure mind. The factors influencing a pure mind are discussed in terms of higher and lower self, disidentification and reidentification with the latter and the former respectively, the guna, karma, samskaras, nishkam karma and other theories. The first steps of the mind-stilling technique relating to these principles are given at this stage. Module II focuses on leadership and teamwork and elaborates on a number of principles from the Vedantic and Buddhist literature connected to the theme. Additional steps in the mind-stilling techinque are also introduced. Module III covers the topics stress, counselling and communication. The main issue here is to identify with one's innermost self, which is ananda, as the basic remedy for stress-generating influences. A few more steps are included in the mind-stilling process in this module. These modules can be taken separately or jointly. In the annual workshop at the Management Centre for Human Values all three modules are offered integrally. The workshops are promoted directly and indirectly: directly through mailing of pamphlets to selected companies, and indirectly through the network of previous course participants on the workshops. Initiatives to the in-house workshops can come from top management, HRD (personell) department, open workshop participants who want to bring in the workshop to the company, persons who have come in contact with Chakraborty's ideas, etc. The participation in the workshops are mostly on a voluntary basis, whereas there could be occasions when managers have been asked by the CEO or someone high up to attend the workshops. Following our categorization of human values above, these workshops would fall into the â€Å"idealnormative† approach, with theistic leanings. The source of the values taught at the workshops are derived from the sacred texts of Indian wisdom literature, and the values are claimed to have an eternal and universal character to a great extent. It is normative in the sense that the values are something people ought to have from the ideal perspective, not accepting certain values, or disvalues, just because people are having them. The basic foundation of values is taken to be divine, implying a theistic approach, whereas the humanistic elements are found in caring values, concern for others, love and compassion. The level of focus is mainly on the individual in terms of personal virtues. It is stated that in order to change the environment we must start with ourselves. Thus, more aggregated human levels (organizational, political, societal, ecological, global) are not neglected, but the starting point is the individual. III. Participant responses The participants are asked to submit on the last day of the workshop plans of action which they would like to implement in the six months to follow. We have such plans of actions from a total of 208 participants who attended seven in-house workshops and one Annual International Workshop, held between August 1995 and February 1996, as per the following particulars: 7 Serial No. 1 2 Workshop Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) Tata Engineering and Locomotive Limited (TELCO I) Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP) Ordnance Factory Ambajhari (OFAJ) Tata Engineering and Locomotive Limited (TELCO II) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Indian Farmers and Fertilisers Company Limited ( IFFCO ) TOTAL No of participants 22 32 4 5 23 17 23 6 7 17 32 166 42 208 8 Annual International Workshop ( IIMC ) GRAND TOTAL Table 2: Workshops examined TISCO and TELCO belong to the well established and highly reputed Tata Group of Companies in India, while the others are leading public sector undertakings / government organisations. Managers belonging to senior and middle management cadre normally participate in these in-house workshops. The rank during the workshop s can vary; some are pure peer-groups and at some there can be a superior-subordinate relationship during the same workshop. The annual international workshop, on the other hand, attracts top and senior practitioners, owner-managers, academia, consultants, and government officials from India and abroad. The respondents whose plans of action would be analysed thus represent a cross section of highly educated,motivated and successful persons in their chosen spheres of activity. The responses/ data which constitute their plans of action, however, have certain built in limitations : 1. We can only make inferences from the immediate time at the end of the workshop; 2. We can only study the managers' responses to, and expectations of human values, not how they are reflected in their behaviour; 3. We do not know whether there has occured any changes in the managers' attitudes towards human values, as we don't have data from them prior to the workshop; 4. We do not know how honest their attitudes are due to perceived group pressure from peers, super/subordinates, from the course leader, desire to give a good (or bad) impression or other possible factors. 5. The answers are given spontaneously without forewarning and therefore may not be well thought out ideas. 8 The analysis of the plans of action meant to understand the intentions of the participants, and make inferences from their statements the extent to which these workshops have influenced human values in managers. The intended actions are analysed with reference to (a) the contents of the workshop, and (b) the purpose of, and the direction in, which they want to make use of the contents, inputs, knowledge and skills they have learnt from the workshops. A) Content Analysis A content analysis of the responses shows that the most frequent item figuring in almost all of the course participants' plan of action is the resolve to practice the mind-stilling and breathing exercises taught in the course as an essential experiential practice for Chitta-Shuddhi and for communion with the higher Self. Its enthusiastic reception may have also been prompted by the urgent need for maintaining a calm mind in the tension ridden life of practicing managers. The next most common resolve relates to the practice of a cluster of values and value-principles emphasised in the course. It includes, (i) cultivation of values related to higher self and suppression of disvalues associated with lower self, (ii) practice of nishkam karma (self-less action) in work-life as well as personal life, (iii) practice of giving model of life based on the concept of five fold debts (deva rin, rishi rin, pitririn, nri rin, and bhuta rin) (iv) cultivation of satwaguna over rajoguna, and (v) introspection to examine, and to rearrange one's career goals, life styles, attitudes and value systems in the light of the above noted paradigm of higher values. Some responses indicate a desire to propagate and share the ideas learnt in the course with members of the family as well as members of the work-group. A smaller number of responses show the desire to learn more about these ideas by reading the sacred wisdom literature of India, like Gita, Upanishhads, writings of Vivekanand, etc. One can conclude from this content analysis that the value concepts of Indian psycho-spiritual tradition have been well received. They have had a positive impact on the participants as indicated by their resolve to internalise them and to use them as a basis for self-development. B) Purpose/Direction Analysis A perusal of the plans of action indicated that the purpose of the participants was to apply the knowledge gained by them for development of the self, members of his/her workgroup, viz, superiors, colleagues, and subordinates, and of his/her family members and friends. They also wanted to transmit or communicate the knowledge they gained to the members of their workgroup, family and friends. The purpose thus was three-fold (development of self, workgroup members, and of family and friends): and, the direction two-fold (toward workgroup members, and toward his/her family and friends). Juxtaposing the purpose and direction, a table is prepared containing relevent particulars and percentage analysis. 9 WORKSHOP NO. OF PRTICIPANTS WITH MAJOR FOCUS ON SELF DEVEL. OTHERS TOTAL NO. OF PLANS OF ACTION FOCUSING ON SELF OTHER PERSONS DEVEL. IN OUTSIDE ORG. 5 85 (75%) 89 (96%) 92 (80%) 29 (66%) 61 (90%) 37 (54%) 147 (96%) 540 (82%) 215 (87%) 755 (84%) 6 14 (12%) 3 (3%) 18 (16%) 11 (25%) 4 (6%) 25 (37%) 4 (2. 5%) 79 (12%) 21 (9%) 100 (11%) 7 15 (13%) 1 (1%) 5 (4%) 4 (9%) 3 (4%) 6 (9%) 2 (1. 5%) 36 (6%) 11 (4%) 47 (5%) TOTAL PLAN TO COMMUNICATE KNOWLEDGE TO OTHERS WITHIN ORGAN. 15 (52%) 2 (67%) 11 (48%) 7 (29%) 1 (100%) 15 (88%) 5 (63%) 56 (53%) 5 (38%) 61 (52%) OUTSIDE ORG. 10 14 (48%) 1 (33%) 12 (52%) 17 (71%) nil 2 (12%) 3 (37%) 49 (47%) 8 (62%) 57 (48%) TOTAL 1 1. TISCO (N=22) 2. TELCO (N=32) 3. BS P (N=23) 4. OFAJ (N=17) 5. TELCO (N=23) 6. HAL (N=17) 7. IFFCO (N=32) TOTAL 8. MCHV (N=42) GRAND TOTAL 2 11 (50%) 28 (87%) 11 (48%) 4 (24%) 18 (78%) 4 (24%) 31 (97%) 107 (65%) 37 (88%) 144 (69%) 3 11 (50%) 4 (13%) 12 (52%) 13 (76%) 5 (22%) 13 (76%) 1 (3%) 59 (35%) 5 (12%) 64 (31%) 4 22 32 23 17 23 17 32 166 42 208 8 114 93 115 44 68 68 153 655 247 902 11 29 3 23 24 1 17 8 105 13 118 Table 3: Analysis of plans of action from course participants on workshops for human values As stated, two values (percentages) have been calculated, viz. number of participants with 50% or more plans aimed at self-development; and, number of plans aiming at self-development as a percentage of total number. of plans. For example, in the first workshop included in the table (TISCO, N=22), 50% of participants had their plans aimed at self-development (column 2), while 75% of the total number of plans discernible from the statement of the participants of the workshop were meant for self-development (column 5). The most forceful and consistent finding from above relates to the self in terms of both the number of participants focussing on themselves, and also the number of plans made for their own development. In all, 69% of participants had 50% or more of their plans aimed at self-development (column 2) and 84% of the plans of actions envisaged related to self -development (column. 5) such as those discussed under the content analysis. The first three workshops in the first category, viz. the percentage of participants with focus on self, are IFFCO (97%), IIMC (88%) and TELCO-I (87%). TELCO-II, IFFCO, and TELCO-I workshops occupy the top three positions with 96, 96 and 90 percentages respectively in the second category, viz. the percentage of plans aimed at self-development. The remaining three workshops have corresponding percentages as follows: BSP (48% of participants, and 80% of plans being selforiented), OFAJ (24 and 66), and HAL (24 and 54). Even in the case of OFAJ and HAL workshops which have lowest percentage of participants with 24 each, also have more than 50 percent plans each (66 and 54%) aimed at self-development. It thus appears that self-orientation in terms of the percentages of participants and of plans of action cuts across, and permeates, all the eight workshops covered. The other finding deserving attention relates to the desire of the participants to use their knowledge gained through the workshops for the development of their workgroup members, i. e. superiors, 10 colleagues and subordinates of the participants. On the whole, 31% of participants had their plans primarily aimed at the deveopment of their workgroup members (column 3). Eleven percent of the plans of action were aimed at such development (column 6). However, the public sector organizations, OFAJ, HAL and BSP, show significantly higher interest in their workgroup members. This can bee seen in both the number of participants with major focus in their plans on others (76, 76 and 52 % respectively, column 3), and in the number of plans of action focusing on others persons in the organization (37, 25 and 16 %, column 6). The inferences are that the public sector managers perceive -as compared to their counterparts in private sector – higher need for training of others and lower need for themselves. This difference may be indicative of a different organizational behaviour and social thinking in these organizations with respect to individual and group focus. It may indicate that the managers in the governmental organizations consider themselves less needy in development than their subordinates (â€Å"I'm OK but you're not†). Or it may indicate a sincere concern of the managers in the governmental sector for their fellowmen. Such difference in organizational behaviour could stem from factors connected to the difference in ownership influencing the organizational culture. However, the responses in our data are too inconclusive for us to make any definite conclusion on this point. IV. Our conclusions Chakraborty's innovative approach to value education for practising managers is impressive. He has culled out selected psycho-spiritual values from the traditional wisdom literature of India, suitably reinterpreted them and woven them together to form a coherent theory of human values. This theory is then utilised to explain the problems and tensions of both personal and work life of modern professionals and to indicate the way for a better quality of life. That this approach finds deep resonance in the hearts and minds of Indian managers is evident from our observations of the course participants' enthusiastic, and at times deeply moving, articulations at the conclusion of the workshops. At the beginning of section II we raised the question whether human values can be taught and with what degree of effectiveness. Judging from the course participants responses, Chakraborty's approach seems to have met with mostly deep appreciation. Such response undoubtably provides a fertile soil for reexamining and developing one's human values. To that extent it is evident that the workshops have been effective in influencing the human values of the course participants. However, it is difficult to reach any conclusion as to what extent the course objectives have been interiorised by the course participants and the general learning effects of the workshops in the daily lives of the participants. What are the effects in the managers' work and family lives, and do their decisions reflect an increased awareness of human values? Neither can we draw any conclusions about the duration of the effects, i. e. whether it will last for a day or week and then vanish, or if the effects are stable and enduring. It is also evident from the responses and the stated objectives of the course that the main focus is on the self; self-awareness, self-analysis and self-development. It is consistent with the view that the individual is the cornerstone of all changes and transformations at the organizational as well as the societal levels. While the necessity of this self-development as a precondition for the value transformation in society may not be in doubt, the emphasis on it may convey the message that it is also sufficient for all the value problems of today's living. At the organizational level the difficulty may be posed in terms of two distinct, though related, categories of intra-personal and inter-personal values. The latter are of vital significance to managers' organizational role of a team leader, a change agent or a member of a work group. A heightened sensitivity to personal virtues, which is very effective t the intra-personal level, in itself may not be sufficient for values needed for effectiveness at the inter-personal level. Additional emphasis on humanistic values like human warmth, friendliness, acceptance of the other person as s/he is, trust, 11 empathy etc. , may help bring about a better value balance. As indicated in our study, the emphasis on the inter- and intra-personal levels, as also th e extent to which other approaches to human values should be emphasized, may have to be adjusted depending on the type of organization that is approached. The manager significantly affects, and is affected by, the value culture of the society, through the mediating agency of organizations and other social institutions. Proper appreciation of this value dynamics requires understanding, and interiorisation, of the operation of human values at the societal and ecological levels of our categorization. It is not clear as to what extent values at these levels can be developed and nourished through the present structure and approach of the human value workshops. An evaluation of the impact of the workshops, including long-term effects and effects on different levels of human values, may help clarify the position and lead to suggestions for expansions and alterations in the course contents as well as the methodology of the workshops. References Bharati, D. (1990). Mnav Mulya Aur Shitya (in Hindi; transl. : â€Å"Human Values and Literature†) Delhi, Bhartiya Jnanpith. Chakraborty, S. K. (1991). Management by Values. Delhi: Oxford University Books. Chakraborty, S. K. (1995a). Human Values for Managers. Delhi: Wheeler Publishing Co. Chakraborty, S. K. (1995b). Ethics in Management. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Devaraj, N. K. (1988). Humanism in Indian Thought. Delhi: Indus Publishing Co. Fromm, E. (1981). To Have or To Be. New York: Bantam Books. Mesaroric, M. D. and Pestel, E. (1974). Mankind at the Turning Point. New York: E. P. Dutton, quoted from Fromm, 1988, p. 148. Mukherjee, R. (1965). The Social Structure of Values. Delhi: S. Chand. Rokeach, M. (1973). The Nature of Human Values. New York: Free Press. Schwartz, S. H. (1994). â€Å"Are there universal aspects in the structure and conduct of human values? † Journal of Social Issues, 50, no. 4, 19-45. Swami Ranganathanand (1991). Human Values in Management. Delhi: Bharati Vidya Bhavan. Notes 1. The authors are grateful to professor S. K. Chakraborty, convenor of the Management Center for Human Values, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India, for his collaboration, support and comments on this paper.  © Gustavsson, Tripathi & Rao 1996. No part of this work may be reprinted in any form, physical, electronic, or otherwise, without written consent from the author. About the authors B. Gustavsson graduated (civ. ek. ) 1975 from School of Business, Stockholm University, Sweden, and received his Ph. D. (Ekon. r. ) there in 1992. He is presently working as assistant professor at School of Business, Stockholm University. His latest project is a study on values transition in Indian management. A. N. Tripathi is a professor of electrical engineering at the Intstitute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, India. He obtained his B. Sc engg (electrical) from Banaras Hindu University in 1 960, M. Tech (control systems) from Indian Institute of Technology, Karaghpur in 1965, and Ph. D. from University of Wales in 1971. He is presently working on a project called â€Å"Human Values in the Engineering Profession†. G. P. Rao is senior professor and head of the Department of Management Studies, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, India. He has an M. A. in economics and postgraduate Diploma in Management 12 (PGDM) from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC). He has recently finalized a project called â€Å"Human Values in Industrial Organizations: A Feminine Perspective†. . 13 United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) P. O. Box 30030, Nairobi, KENYA www. unhabitat. org www. unwac. org Tel: +254-20-623060 Fax: +254-20-623588 Global Dharma Center (GDC) Dallas, Texas 75240 USA www. globaldharma. org Tel/Fax: +1-646-514-8260 14