Automobile †Transport Essay

There are many different kind of transportation vehicles that changed people’s lives; including automobiles, bicycles, airplanes, and many more. I feel automobiles have affected the lives of Americans the most. They have made it possible for individuals to travel many miles a day. Before the automobile, people in cities had to take streetcars to get anywhere farther than they could walk. People who lived out of town had to get to work on trains. There are many different kind of transportation vehicles that changed people’s lives; including automobiles, bicycles, airplanes, and many more. I feel automobiles have affected the lives of Americans the most. They have made it possible for individuals to travel many miles a day. Before the automobile, people in cities had to take streetcars to get anywhere farther than they could walk. People who lived out of town had to get to work on trains. People who lived on farms or in small villages in the country would come into town maybe once a month in a horse-drawn wagon to do their shopping, but a horse couldn’t walk more than few miles. Automobiles provided greater mobility for people. They provided more choices to live. When choosing a job in the old days people tried to find homes that were closest to their work. Cars made it possible for people to move 20-30 miles or more from the city and drive in to work every day. Through my experiences getting to school from bus is a lot slower than cars. I can wake up a lot later if my dad drives me to school. Cars helped transportation become easier and faster. A person could be transported anywhere either by himself or with his family without stopping to rest to feed their horses. Families could sit in comfort while listening to music. However, cars have brought a negative effect on the world, like pollution from exhaust emissions. Cars also take up a lot of space including parking space and parking lots which replace many buildings. It is more dangerous to drive than to walk because of crashes. The ease of a drunken man driving a car is much more dangerous than a drunken man walking. Automobiles can be more dangerous but it provides a lot. Automobiles have had positive and negative effect on the world and changed many people’s lives. Traveling great distances is not much of a problem for people. It also bought time for many people; walking may take 30 minutes but by car it only takes five minutes. Without automobiles the world would be a whole different world. Roads wouldn’t be paved and traveling would be a great deal harder.

Ptlls Level 3 Assignment

Write a concise summary (approximately 1’200 words) to demonstrate your understanding of your role and responsibilities as a teacher in relation to: ? Your responsibilities and those of others who have an effect on your work. ? Legislation – how might it impact on your area and context of teaching. ? Equality, diversity and inclusion – in what ways can you integrate these principles into your teaching. ? Internal and external assessment requirements- what requirements do you need to follow in this area. Keeping records – what records do you need to keep and why. Recommended word count 1’200 words†¦.. Tip. (Highlight your text click tools select word count) Assignment 2 – ANSWER: Your responsibilities and those of others who have an effect on your work As a teacher it is your responsibility to ensure the learners achieve the intended learning outcomes which should give them a fair opportunity of passing the course assessment criteria.The teachers role would normally include the following:- †¢Identifying the learner needs, completing an initial learner assessment prior to the course will give a better understanding of learner knowledge / experience; †¢Knowing the availability of any specific resources to assist in the learning process; †¢Identifying learner outcomes and liaising with key stakeholders / employers to discuss desired outcomes and the planning of varied activities to aid the learning process; †¢Ensuring suitable ccommodation / facilities are available, to provide the desired learning setting; †¢Ensuring adequate lesson plans are available for the programmes being delivered, and that the lesson plans are followed or adapted to ensure all learning outcomes are met; †¢Provide learner support as deemed necessary to achieve the learning outcomes; †¢Ensuring that all learners are not only included in the learning process, but actively participate; †¢Assess learners achie vements throughout the programme, giving feedback in a positive manner; †¢Assess learners achievements at the end of the programme, and recording those achievements; †¢Internal verification of colleagues assessment decisions and reviewing assessment records; †¢Review and evaluate feedback from learners and other stakeholders, in order to improve future delivery techniques and programme resources; †¢Maintain adequate records of assessment for traceability and quality assurance requirements, particularly with external organisations, such as awarding bodies; †¢Recognize your own limitations and seek further advice from colleagues or others who may have relevant experience and knowledge; †¢Promoting values in keeping with equality, diversity and inclusion, and lead by example; †¢Be professional in your relationship with others, maintain integrity, be respectful, consider appropriate language and tone of voice; †¢Maintain compliance with set polici es and procedures from both your organisation and external bodiesThe above roles and responsibilities can be best summed up in the five stage teaching and learning cycle:- initial assessment, planning and preparation, teaching, assessment, evaluation. This five stage cycle is a continuous process which will ensure teachers can improve and evolve the learning programmes and outcomes. The teachers role and responsibilities will vary greatly from organisation to organisation, so it is important to find out what your organisation requires before the learning programmes begin. Legislation – how might it impact on your area and context of teaching Legislation affects each and every one of us, some to a lesser or greater degree than others.As a teacher, there are not only policies and procedures to follow, but legislative requirements which have to be met. These include the following:- †¢Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 – the cornerstone of all safety legislation, th is act sets out the general duties which employers have towards employees and members of the public, and employees have to themselves and each other; †¢Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 – main requirements are for employers to carry out risk assessment, and have access to competent safety advice; †¢Disability Discrimination Act 2005 – this legislation promotes civil rights for disabled people and protects them from discrimination.The Act requires public bodies to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people, and also gives rights to them in areas such as employment and education; †¢Data Protection Act 1998 – gives individuals the right to know what information is held about them, and those that processes personal information must comply with eight principles, which makes sure that personal information is fairly and lawfully processed; processed for limited purposes; adequate, relevant and not excessive; accurate and up to date; not kept for longer than is necessary; processed in line with your rights; secure; not transferred to other countries without adequate protection; †¢ Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 – protects the rights of the creators of literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, recordings and broadcasts.Copyrighted material can only be copied with the copyright owner’s permission, which includes books, music, photographs, drawings, diagrams, etc; †¢Sex Discrimination Act 175 – this Act makes it unlawful to treat a woman or a man less favourably in employment, training and related matters, education and the provision of goods, facilities and services on the grounds of their gender or marriage; †¢Race Relations Act 1976 – this Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins in employment, training and related matters, education and the provision of goods, facilities and services; †¢Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999 – these regulations cover employment and vocational training only; the regulations extend the Sex Discrimination Act (1995) to cover discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment (as defined by the Act as ‘a process undertaken under medical supervision, for the purposes of reassigning a person’s sex by changing physiological or other characteristics of sex and includes any part of such a process); †¢Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 – places public authorities under a general duty to promote race equality. They must aim to eliminate unlawful discrimination, promote equality of opportunity, promote good relations between people of different racial groups; †¢Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2000 – (referred to as Part 4 of the DDA 1995) this Act relates to education.Education establishments have legal responsibilities not to treat d isabled learners less favourably for a reason related to their disability and to provide reasonable adjustments for these students; †¢Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003 – these regulations make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of religion or belief held (or lack of religion or belief) in employment and vocational training, and also include protection against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment. Equality, diversity and inclusion – in what ways can you integrate these principles into your teaching All teachers have a duty to promote equality and inclusion within their learning programmes, and recognise the diverse needs of their learners. Equality is about treating everyone fairly and being given the same opportunities, although it is not about treating everyone the same, but as individuals and ensuring their individual needs are met.Diversity is about recognising individuals and their difference s, and as a teacher you should respect those differences, and cultural backgrounds of learners, colleagues and the community as a whole. Inclusion is about participation by all, ensuring everyone has an opportunity to participate within the learning process. Including group sessions within the learning programme could help to promote participation within the learning session, and break down any stigmas or perceived barriers. Internal and external assessment requirements- what requirements do you need to follow in this area As a teacher you should be fully aware of the requirements and procedures in relation to both internal assessment and external assessment.With any assessment process, this must be fully implemented to ensure compliance with our own internal assurance procedures, and where difficulties arise, this should be brought to the attention of your colleague or senior management to discuss the issues, and implement any necessary amendments or inclusions. In regard to extern al assessment, this is normally undertaken by an individual from outside the organisation, eg. quality assurance advisor from an Awarding Body. Failure to comply with the requirements could cause your organisation to have sanctions raised against it, thus preventing future learning programmes being delivered. Keeping records – what records do you need to keep and why With any learning programme, records should be kept to provide evidence of learning outcomes.It is the teachers responsibility to find out what records need to be kept, who needs access or copies, and where the records are to be stored or sent. Types of records which need to be kept will include:- initial assessment / enrolment forms; registration forms (so you know who should be attending); attendance registers (in case of emergency / fire, or to validate course attendance for grants, etc); session plans (for planning future programmes); results / grades achieved (for qualification or certification requirements) ; feedback forms / evaluations (to provide information for possible course improvement and quality assurance and auditing purposes).

Discuss individual differences in musical functioning with regard to social and biological influences.

Introduction Deutsch (2012) describes music as an art that entails thinking with sounds. Music is played all over the world in churches, homes, funerals and many other places. It is part of humanity introduced at birth with lullabies and continues throughout the course of life up to death with the funeral march (Hallam, Cross & Thaut, 2016). It is a language that resembles speech in many aspects and has no borders. Sense of sound and rhythm are essential elements of musical functioning (Gruszka, Matthews, & Szymura, 2010). Music is significantly influenced by culture in terms of content and style. As such it evokes the same emotions within members of the same culture. It has two main components (rhythm and pitch) that it uses to pass the intended message and one has to be able to understand the two in order to appreciate music (Jones, Fay & Popper, 2010). Human beings are born with ability to understand and appreciate music and that is why young children appreciate lullabies. However the music p otential and preferences vary from one person to the other. People have different musical preferences and this influences the amount of time and resources that they spend listening to music. This study investigates the individual differences in musical functioning with regard to social and biological influences. Individual differences in Musical Functioning Individual differences in musical functioning or musicality refer to the differences in the strength of music preference (Kern & Humpal, 2012). These differences are among the most intricate psychological issues in music. An individual may be fine without music while another one may need music so much so that he or she would use huge resources to attend music concerts. The source of such differences is a major concern to psychologists. According to Deutsch (2012), the strength of music preference is a function of the role that music plays in the life of an individual. People use music for different purposes like regulating their mood and emotions, promoting self-awareness, communicating, fostering social relations, distractions, and physiological arousal. Music plays an important role in the lives of many people across the world, and many people depend on music for different purposes. The availability of music on portable devices has increased the use of music with many people making it an ubiquitous companion (Theorell, 2014). Therefore music has a profound effect on the lives of many individuals as it influences their thinking, feelings, behaviour and perception. These factors influence the lives of individuals depending on the level of dependence on music and the specific type of music (Haas & Brandes, 2009). As such it is important to ascertain the factors that influence music preference. Individual differences in musical functioning belong to an area in psychology that still remains largely unexplored (McPherson, 2016). People like certain artists, tunes, and styles more than the others. The other individuals also have different musical preferences. This is what is termed as style/genre preferences under music preference. In addition to this, individual differences also exist in terms of the extent to which people listen to music. The extent to which people love and enjoy music differs from one individual to the other (Gruszka, Matthews & Szymura, 2010). The knowledge on why people form preferences on certain types of music still remain fragmented partly because music plays different roles in the lives of people (Theorell, 2014). This is what is termed as the strength of preference under musical preference. The major issue of concern to psychologists is the source of these individual differences in strength and genre/style. Strong music preference is an indication th at an individual spends a lot of time listening to music, going to concerts and buying music. The decision to invest time and money to listening to music is a sign that music is useful to the lives of these people. Individual differences in musical functioning are a multifaceted phenomenon that has continuously eluded psychologists, researchers and musicologists (McPherson, 2016). However, some factors that affect musical functioning have been identified and they include exposure, musical characteristics, genre and personality. The factors that affect musical preference can be grouped into two broad categories namely extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The intrinsic factors are inherent and they include melody, structure and timbre. The extrinsic factors on the other hand include social influence, personality and emotions. Social influence on Musical Functioning Social influence is one of the factors that influence the development of individual preferences in music. This starts at the adolescence stage and continues late into adulthood (Zelazo, 2013). Adolescents often have a strong desire to do the same things that their peers are doing in order to belong. They also tend to dislike the things that their peers dislike. As such they will tend to like the same music that their peers like (Theorell, 2014). They listen to music to create an impression, develop self-image and please their friends. According to McPherson (2016), the teenagers often desire to identify themselves with certain groups that they consider as being â€Å"cool† and distance themselves with those that they regard as being â€Å"old-fashioned†. Therefore they tend to develop musical preferences that are similar to members of their group and avoid those of the other groups that they regard as â€Å"not being cool†. This implies that musical preferences are partly created for the purpose of serving a function of group differentiation (Damon & Lerner, 2006). According to Juslin & Sloboda (2010), individuals often tend to like the music that was popular during the years that they reached maturity age. The music preference developed at this point is often a function of the songs that are popular among the friends. However, the events that occur in late adolescence and early adulthood often shape the music preference for the rest of adulthood. When individuals first leave home and start being independent, they are often influenced by their peer groups. They spend a lot of time with their peers and tend to like what their peers like and dislike what their peers dislike (Damon & Lerner, 2006). They will like the same songs as they go to concerts together and spend most of their free time doing the same things. For instance the people who fail to acquire higher education tend to like songs that depict a care free attitude to justify their condition. Therefore social perceptions significantly influence the type of music preferred by people. Acc ording to the social learning theory, people learn through observation (Lehmann, Sloboda, & Woody, 2007). When people are rewarded for certain behaviours like listening to a certain genre of music, others tend to learn from it and are likely to imitate the behaviour in order to reap the same benefits. People tend to use music socially as a way of reinforcing their self-image. For instance conservative people are more inclined to listen to music that is conventional. Furthermore, people use music to communicate to the world by expressing their ideal self-image. The preferences of society may increase or inhibit the spread of certain music genres thereby influencing their potential to be preferred by individuals (Feezell, 2008 and Gruszka, Matthews & Szymura, 2010). For instance when it was discovered that Mozart music positively affected spatial IQ , more people started listening to classical music. This exposure increase the preference for classical music as it was considered esse ntial for children (Hallam, Cross & Thaut, 2016). This indicates the power of society to influence music perception and preference. Therefore the influence of society is one of the most significant factors that influence individual music preferences. The type of music that people are exposed to from childhood is highly dependent on what the society considers popular and appropriate. For instance the mainstream media may prefer playing certain music over the others thereby influencing the preference of individuals. Biological influence on Musical Functioning Music Cognition A series of processes is often activated when listening to music; these processes include melody recognition, memory of the music, recognising the lyrics and emotional response (Lehmann, Sloboda, & Woody, 2007). These basic processes are often integrated by complex mechanisms in the brain where various neural circuits take part simultaneously and some in succession. Identifying the specific tasks involved in processing music and the various interactions requires theoretical models. According to the functional architecture model proposed by Peretz and Coltheart, perception of monophonic tunes is organised by two independent systems working simultaneously (Sloboda, 2004). The melodic system aids in processing melody whereas the temporal system processes tempo. The melodic system processes all information on melody and differentiates the two main components (i.e. note and intervals). All the perception mechanisms are required for processing melodic contour. Melodic processing is done in right superior temporal gyrus (Lehmann, Sloboda, & Woody, 2007). Both the melodic and temporal systems work in coordination with each other and as such a damaged brain may lose its ability to perceive music. Both the melodic and temporal systems relay information to musical lexicon to generate musical repertoire. Musical lexicon includes music repertoire and has a perceptual representation of all the things that an individual has be exposed to (Kern & Humpal, 2012). Furthermore, it also contains a memory that stores new music to aid in the recognition of melodies that are both familiar and non-familiar. As such if damage occurs to the musical lexicon, an individual becomes unable to perceive familiar melodies or even record new ones. Information from the musical lexicon is often relayed extemporaneously or immediately after stimulus reception to different areas depending on the required action (Haas & Brandes, 2009). Phonological lexicon is often activated to aid in the retrieval of lyrics, phonological and articulation prepares an individual for singing, motor functions are responsible for producing music, and the multimodal associative memories are used for retrieving information that is not musical (Jones, Fay & Popper, 2010). The perceptual modules are linked to the memory processes and emotional pathways to aid in music recognition and emotional experience. Non emotional processing and emotional processing are independent and as such damage to one may not damage the other. Any impairment to these connections often leads to difficulties in being able to integrate musical processes. Influence of Biological Factors on Individual Differences According to Sloboda (2004). , music has rarely been studied from the biological perspective as it is mostly perceived as a function of culture. However, biological factors significantly influence musical preferences (Feezell, 2008). The ability of an individual to process and appreciate music is dependent on cognitive functions. Individual differences in self-perception and personality influence musical preference. Therefore people may opt to like music that will allow them to express themselves to the others on how they would like to be perceived. Moreover, individual differences influence the purpose for which people listen to music (Zelazo, 2013). One of the reasons why people listen to music is to regulate their emotions and help them cope with the daily challenges in life. The differences in musical preference and reasons for listening to music are indications that intelligence and personality partly influence how people use music. Personality and intelligence influence the typ e of music people listen to, how often they listen to it and the reasons for listening to music (Sloboda, 2004). For instance the intellectuals like those with high IQs are more inclined to like conventional/ reflective music and as such are likely to use it for their intellectual purposes rather than for emotional consumption (Juslin & Sloboda 2010). This is because of their higher cognitive ability. This is clearly noticeable in their preference for jazz or classical music not because they do not elicit emotions but because the complexity of the genre is more inclined to suit the interests of people seeking experiences that are intellectually stimulating. On the other end are extraverts who may rely on music to stimulate their activity level when carrying out monotonous tasks like doing dishes or jogging. This implies that the role music plays in the life of an individual is partly determined by the level of arousal (Lilienfeld, et al 2011). This is particularly evident for those with high or low level of arousal average. The interference caused by background music on cognitive processes is higher in introverts than extraverts (Rickard & McFerran, 2012). Damon & Lerner (2006), claim that the association between musical use and other traits remain largely unexplored although some relationship may be expected. For instance people who suffer from emotional instability and regularly experience negative emotions are more likely to use music to regulate their emotions. Cognitive research has established that these people listen to music more for the purpose of managing their emotions (Rickard & McFerran, 2012). Furthermore, they are more sensitive to the emotions elicited by music and as such find music essential for regulating their emotions. Conscientious people on the other hand react differently to music. Conscientious people are those that have traits which are inversely correlated to psychoticism and creativity (Lilienfeld, et al 2011). Conscientious people are less likely to use music for regulating their emotions as they are likely to use it for other purposes. Conclusion The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of biological and social factors on individual musical functioning. The findings show that individual musical preferences and use of music is influenced by both social and biological factors. The social factors mostly influence the type of music people prefer to listen to whereas the biological factors influence the reasons for listening to music. The major social factors that influence the choice of music that people listen to are peers and the society as they determine the kind of music that is played regularly. The biological factors on the other hand influence the purpose for which people listen to music. The purpose for which people listen to music is closely associated with the frequency of listening to music than the choice of music (Hallam, Cross & Thaut, 2016). Therefore biological factors are also responsible for the amount of time and resources people spend to listen to music. However, it is important to note that bot h the biological and social factors significantly contribute to the individual differences in musical functioning. References Damon, W. & Lerner, R. M., (2006). Handbook of child psychology. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. Deutsch, D. (2012). The psychology of music. London : Academic Press. Feezell, J. T. (2008). Stereotype: The influence of music preferences on political attitudes and behaviour. Santa Barbara, Calif.: University of California, Santa Barbara. Gruszka, A., Matthews, G., & Szymura, B. (2010). Handbook of individual differences in cognition: Attention, memory, and executive control. New York: Springer. Hallam, S., Cross, I., & Thaut, M. (2016). The Oxford handbook of music psychology. Oxford : Oxford University Press Haas, R., & Brandes, V. (2009). Music that works: Contributions of biology, neurophysiology, psychology, sociology, medicine and musicology. Wien: Springer. Jones, M. R., Fay, R. R., & Popper, A. N. (2010). Music perception. New York: Springer. Juslin, P. N., & Sloboda, J. A. (2010). Handbook of music and emotion: Theory, research, applications. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kern, P., & Humpal, M. E. (2012). Early childhood music therapy and autism spectrum disorders: Developing potential in young children and their families. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Lehmann, A. C., Sloboda, J. A., & Woody, R. H. (2007). Psychology for musicians: Understanding and acquiring the skills. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B. L. (2011). 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. McPherson, G. (2016). The child as musician: A handbook of musical development. Oxford : Oxford University Press Rickard, N. S., & McFerran, K. (2012). Lifelong engagement with music: Benefits for mental health and well-being. Hauppauge, N.Y: Nova Science. Sloboda, J. (2004). Exploring the musical mind: Cognition, emotion, ability, function. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Theorell, T. (2014). Psychological health effects of musical experiences: Theories, studies and reflections in music health science. London: Springer Zelazo, P. D. (2013). The Oxford handbook of developmental psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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Virtual Project Management - Research Paper Example Despite the fact that project network is growing prevalence, little is known about it and how it can form the many problems within the circle of project management. Therefore, the study gives an extensive literature review that includes definitions of project networks and analysis the body of knowledge of project network. Introduction There is a marked rise in the number of firms that are regarded as being project oriented. Consequently there has been an increase in recognition of the effect of successful projects concerning the gain loss status. Virtual project network is defined as a small number of people with skills that complement who are committed equally to a common goal, purpose and work approach that they are mutually accountable (Zenun et al., 2007). These teams are often formed to overcome temporal and geographical barriers (Cascio and Shurygailo, 2003). Project networks work across barriers of time and space by using computer driven technologies. It covers a wide range of actions and working that is supported by technology (Anderson et al., 2007).The members of the virtual team are located in many different locations. This trait has forced extensive use of array of forms of communication that use the computer unit to enable the members that are physically dispersed, to co ordinate their inputs and hard work (Peter and Maz.2007). Project networks are defined by Gassmann and Von zedtwitz (2003b) as a set of citizens and sub-teams who act together in the course of the tasks that are interdependent , common purpose and work across licks that are strengthened by communication, information and transport technologies like video conferencing, email, telephone. Another suggestion is that they are distributed networks whose members are spread physically and whose work is synchronized predominantly using communication technologies like email, telephone and video conferencing and electronic information (Hertel et el. 2005). The degree of geographical dispersion within a project network team can contrast widely from one associate being located in a special location than others to each member being in his own location. (Staples and Zhao. 2006) We can distinguish different forms of project networks depending on the numbers of persons taking part and the level of interaction between them. One of them is timeworks’ which is done partly or fully out side the company’s place of work with the help of telecommunication and information services. Parallel teams who work within a short time to come up with recommendation for improving a development, project teams: carry out projects for users for a specific period, management teams: work associatively daily with a purposeful division. The first feature of that can be a problem in project management is quality. From the project owners, quality can be a challenge. The client or owner representative spends most of their time on the stewarding of the managers. This means that they could not be focusing on quality nearly as much as they could be. Rezgui (2007) investigates how efficient virtual teams are and any other type of virtual association, in the building sector and investigates the factors that persuade their successful adoption. May and Canter(2007) in this study of virtual network in the European automotive business have revealed that communication and teamwork between

Immigration to America after the Civil War Essay

Immigration to America after the Civil War - Essay Example Immigrations to the United States after the Civil War had many economic benefits and a few negative implications to the country. Labor was at the center of focus after the abolition of the slave trade. An aberration from the trend seen in 1860, the number of workers compared to the total population rose from 33% to 40%, this represented growth by a factor of 2.7 between 1870 and 1920 (Walton & Rockoff 319). This prompted need for labor that ended up facilitating migration of people to the United States. The lives of the people who worked as slaves were fully transformed since there was no more forced labor. On the other hand, the large-scale farmers had a difficult moment adjusting to the new system of operations. This led to failure of some and rising of small-scale producers, who took advantage of the labor boycott by the slaves. The deficit created in terms of labor attracted foreigners who came to America in large numbers. In addition, the situation was aggravated by other extern al factors as the Irish Potato Famine in Ireland. The rise in population because of immigration acted as a catalyst to the rise of the rapid industrialization experienced between 1877 and 1900. The number of immigrants rose to more than seven million during the period. This was accompanied by a tremendous increase in population from 49 million in 1880 to 76 million in 1900 (White 1). The immigrants occupied most parts of America except the southern parts that were fully occupied by American farmers and industrialists. Many industries came up while those affected by the war restructured prompting the demand for additional labor. New production processes were initiated and research was intensified in order to facilitate industrial development. By 1900, many industries stood tall in provision of quality goods and services. This enhanced competition and trade (White 1). Increasing population facilitated a change in the demand and supply dynamics. The increased population provided a broa d market for goods and services, a factor that made it possible to increase the supply. In order, to take care of the supply needs individuals and corporate emerged with solutions to handle the increased supply. There was need for shelter that facilitated initiation of housing projects, need for food that boosted agriculture, the need for clothing facilitated the revamping of cotton farming and establishments of ginneries among other establishments. This demand created high production that facilitated trade within the country as well as opened new frontiers of business especially in Europe (White 1). The immigration rate was a blessing in disguise, since some of the immigrants helped reconnect America with their mother countries hence facilitating knowledge sharing and trading activities. Surplus production increased tremendously. Immigrations to the United States triggered economic changes that were politically motivated. It is worth noting that during the Civil War, there was a gr eat rift between the people of the southern parts of United States and the federal government under Abraham Lincoln. The people of south had an ideological difference with the leadership of the federal government since they wanted to retain slave trade (Digital History 2). Immigration facilitated an anti-democratic movement that was meant to put restriction on voting rights. The movement

Report on Marks and Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Report on Marks and Spencer - Essay Example The current liabilities includes trade payables and other payables, borrowings and other financial liabilities, partnership liability to the pension scheme, derivative financial instruments, provisions and current tax liabilities. The company had Interest bearing debts from external sources of ?2,760.9 million and loans from partners to fund the pension scheme of ?71.9 million. Both consist of a mix of a long term portion and a short term portion which is due within the next 12 months. The table below provides that information for interest bearing or fixed interest debt.. Interest Bearing Debts Period Partnership loans ? Other Interest Bearing Loans ? Total Current 0 482.9 482.9 Non-current 71.9 2,278.0 2349.9 Total 71.9 2,760.9 2832.8 Marks and Spencer’s Financial Structure The following ratios in the table below will assist in the assessment of Marks and Spencer. Ratio Formulae 2010 2009 Debt Management Debt ratio (Total liabilities/Total assets) x 100% (4,967.3/7,153.2)x100 % = 69.4% (5,157.5/7,258.1) x 100 = 71% Gearing Ratio Interest Bearing Debts (IBD)/Equity + IBD 2,832.8/5,018.7 = 56.4% 3,200.6/5,301.2 = 60.38% Interest Cover Profit Before Interest and Tax (PBIT)/Interest Expense 852/162.2 = 5 times 870.7/214.5 = 4 times Liquidity Ratio Current ratio Current assets/current liabilities 0.80 0.60 Acid Test Ratio Current assets - inventory)/current liabilities 0.47 0.37 Debt Management The debt management ratios indicate how the company’s management has managed the debts of the company. According to Brigham (2005) the extent to which debt financing, which is also referred to as financial leverage is used by a firm has three implications. Firstly, financing the business using debt will allow share holders to maintain control of the company without increasing their investment in it. Secondly, shareholders returns can be substantially increased if the company earns more on investments that are financed with borrowed funds. However, financial risk increases as debt increases. Thirdly, creditors depend on shareholders to provide a margin of safety. Therefore the more funds supplied by shareholders the more comfortable they are in doing business with the company. Additionally, the interest expense which relates to interest charged on borrowed funds is allowable as a deduction for tax purposes. Dividend is not so allowed and is a distribution after tax is deducted. The Debt Ratio The debt ratio is the ratio of total liabilities to total assets and provides information on how much of the funds are provided by sources other than equity. The company’s debt ratio is 69.4% for the year ended April 3, 2010. Although this is an improvement over the previous year’s figure of 71%,. the guideline indicates that a percentage over 50% percent does not augur well. Marks and Spencer’s debt ratio is unfavourable and indicate problems with its financial structure. However, a comparison with the average in the industry in w hich Marks and Spencer operates is important. The gearing ratio below will provide additional information. The Gearing Ratio The gearing ratio is the portion of interest bearing debts to equity and interest bearing debt. The gearing ratio of 56% suggests that the company has a significant amount of interest bearing debt in its capital structure. The normal threshold of 50% has been exceeded. However, whether the ratio is favourable or not depends on the industry. The ratio for the year ende

Finance and Accounting Briefing in Healthcare Essay

Finance and Accounting Briefing in Healthcare - Essay Example It is against this background that the institution wishes to steer clear of the raging political and social concerns amongst governors and senators (Holly, 2012). The ongoing jostling by governors to garner comparative advantages for given states nevertheless should be embraced because many Americans hold diverse political and economic inclinations in relation to federal spending. However, the strategy of the institutions of CMS and the statutory obligations must be observed and vindicated of all forms of bias and manipulation. It is incidental to the office of the director of the program to offer leadership and stewardship for the greatest good (Lorenz, 2013). The main obligation of the CMS is to secure effective cost management in the healthcare systems while also optimizing the outcomes per dollar budgetary allocation. In this regard, Affordable Care Act (ACA) is often deemed the harbinger of a legislative masterpiece. Medicaid matching grant is therefore meant to produce a greater impact on the healthcare systems than previously thought in terms of actual outcomes (Newhouse et al, 2013). Whereas the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) remains a useful policy instrument, the Directorate of the CMS must be cognizant of the fact that given states may deploy unscrupulous ways of influencing greater funding for their regions. In the foregoing debate in the Congress, for instance, many states perceived to be more worthy of greater funding have not really yielded optimal outcomes (United States Government Accountability Office GOA, 2011). Each administration has also produced varying results for the FMAP Floor change and thus politi cal influences are an unavoidable consideration. It should be noted that the proposed Medicaid intergovernmental grant structure will potentially have greater outcomes than the earlier versions of policy typologies.

Theories of Globalization in Communication Essay

Theories of Globalization in Communication - Essay Example Subsequently, the impact of the mass media and communication on the culture of people is also presented. The impact is surmised and given in the conclusion of the paper. A number of theories have come about linking the communication, specifically media, the culture and the society at large. While the media was thought to have cast an alter personality who would be forced to behave in a specific way. The altercast theory do have supporters and some of the behavioural traits generated go in line with this. A development of the altercast theory is the cultivation theory which says that the thought processes in the people who are watching the media can be cultivated over a period of time. Like a plant or stalagmites on the roofs of the cave, they are slowly and steadily built over a period of time. This also meant that the presence in the media is needed and continuously too. The domestication theory, on the other hand, looks at the entire society to be a network of households; a network that runs on cultural, social and technological creations. Miller (1988) defined the concept of domestication theory into four phases; from appropriation, objectificati on, incorporation and conversion starting from the creating a product to objections to its usage and then on to incorporating into the daily lives. Incorporation would also involve converting the technologies and products to suit the cultural style of the locale. This also includes the environment. The final stage is when the household converts itself in line with the trends that is happening in the society and tries to be in line with the outside world. While the gatekeeper theory, pushes forward the much observed, head of the family concept, where one of the members of the family, the mother or the wife wields more strength in deciding on what gets bought (Golding & Harris 1997). What kind of food and clothing is worn by the people is decided more by them rather than by the other members of the family. A person who wants to push need to ensure that the deciding person is the one addressed in their media ads. Gatekeeping concepts have been developed subsequently, so that many organisations even use gatekeeping in their organisational setup (Mattelart A 1998). Even these decisions by the gatekeepers are decided based on the mental models that they have in their mind. Most of the decisions made by the people depend on the mental pictures that they have of the product in their mind, according to Thussu (2000). He also stressed that reasoners build models of truth rather than models of false. Therefore, it is easier for people to make m istakes during such model building exercises. Modernisation theory came up in three waves. Modernisation invariably brings in the western culture under focus and its spread in the world. The first wave of the theory accepted the influence of modernisation with the western culture and technologies at its core. It dominated the entire world and was part of the globalisation agenda. During the second wave that happened in the 1970s and 1980s, the cultural impacts were more widespread. But at the same time, there were very few supporters of the western influence in the cultures of the world. Modernisation was noticed and continued to happen but there was opposition even among the western society, specifically the

Human resources are how a business recruits Essay Example for Free

Human resources are how a business recruits Essay Human resources are how a business recruits, retains and manages key features and functions of their employees. If businesses are to obtain their objectives, they must plan their human resources function so they have the right number of employees with the right kinds of qualifications and training to meet the needs of the business. Human resources use different approaches to all the different aspects of human resource planning and management. Human resource planning Businesses have to plan carefully to ensure that they have the right number of suitable employees for their needs. To do this they need a good understanding of the labour market in the areas where they operate. Human resource planning also involves looking at how labour is organised within the business. A range of factors when making decisions about staffing from the labour market includes; * Labour turnover * Sickness and accident rates * Age, Skills and Training * Succession In an ideal world businesses should plan ahead when it comes to human resources. A well-organised business will have forecasts and projections of its future staffing needs. These will then be matched to forecasts and projections about the local labour market, which means that the business can develop appropriate strategies for the recruitment, training and development of its staff. Recruitment and selection Recruitment and selection is a well-worn topic, which is treated fully in all major texts. There is always a tension between getting the right person for a job and how much resource in terms of time and money is devoted to recruitment. Businesses recruit staff for a variety of reasons. These can include: * The growth or reconstruction of the business * Changing job roles within a business * Filling vacancies created by resignation, retirement and dismissal * Internal promotion The recruitment process can be costly, in terms of resources devoted to the process and costs associated with recruiting poor performing staff. Therefore, it is important to select accurately people for interview. Businesses need to be very clear about the requirements of the job and about the kind of person they are looking for. This is done in several ways; * Preparing person specifications and job descriptions * Carefully planning how, when and where to advertise * Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of job applications, curriculum vitae and letters of application * Short-listing candidates Training and development Training and development are currently big issues for many businesses in most parts of the country, especially where there are low rates of unemployment. Moreover, more and more businesses are realising that if they fail to invest in training and development they will become uncompetitive. Training and development includes the following; * Induction training * Mentoring * Coaching * Apprenticeships * In-House training * External Training * Recognition of prior learning (RPL) and/or accreditation of prior learning (APL) and accreditation of prior experience and learning (APEL). Performance management Performance management refers to different strategies designed to get the best of a business work force. Different techniques are employed which attempt to relate performance with pay, or promotion or training. Such schemes are not always popular with workers. The following are methods that businesses use to manage the performance of their employees; * Performance reviews including appraisals * Self-evaluation * Peer evaluation * Target setting of individuals and groups. The labour Market Sainsburys constantly monitor the labour market to see any trends in each sector. They use local and national surveys to gather this information. Information gathered is them allocated to the departments that it would suit the best and what people are looking for. For example Sainsburys may be looking for trained bakers and fishmongers, as it is a rare profession. They may also look to see if anyone may reach this profession with a small amount of training, they may investigate if the opportunity cost of training them is viable. If Sainsburys needed a fishmonger and there was one available then they would have to pay them a decent amount of money to be able to acquire their services. This is because they are quite rare to find and may easily be coaxed into another job with money. They may also try to keep these professionals for a long time in one store so that the job in done with consistency. As sainsburys require a high standard they may send them to an off site training course to build up their knowledge of a certain area. Changing features in the market trends makes it hard for firms such as Sainsburys to find the staff they want for specific hi-skilled jobs. This may because there is an increase in professional and managerial work and a decrease in unskilled and semi-skilled work. Also people such as Bakers may have learnt new skills to enter different sections of the labour market. For example a Baker may have had enough of his job, taken an evening class in management, gained qualifications other than baking and joined a more managerial part of the team. Sainsburys need to look hard at the staff they acquire from agencies and applications and think hard about if it would be worth training them up for a specific job. They have to pick them up at exactly the right time. This means that they have to get them before they go elsewhere but have to be wary of them getting trained at great expense to sainsburys and then leaving for a job with better job satisfaction or better money. They have t get the balance just right unless it could prove costly. If Sainsburys employ new staff they may have to restructure the departments, this may prove popular with some staff but unpopular with others. Sainsburys have to think about management structures becoming flatter as a result of greater development of responsibilities and how hierarchies are being replaced by team working. Demographics show that the UK workforce is aging. This can be taken as a good aspect but also as a bad one. Some advantages of having an ageing workforce are that: * They know their job inside out and know how to deal with certain situations. * They have plenty of experience and may be able to offer light on problems which younger staff may have never encountered before. * It may be more reassuring to the customer to see an well experienced person doing the job rather then a young face straight out of school. Some disadvantages of having an ageing workforce are that: * As people get older they may be more susceptible to illness and take more time off. * With new computer equipment they may have to be sent on an expensive training course to learn new ways of working. * They may not be as motivated as younger staff as they are happy with their jobs and realise that they may not be doing it much longer. They may also not want to go for promotions, as they do not want to be bothered with the stress of the modern workplace. There is a steady decline in Primary and manufacturing sectors and an increase in service sector employment. This may work in sainsburys favour as they have positions for all sorts of people in all different sectors. There are a lot of people wanting to do the jobs where you do not need as much experience such as till manning and shelf stacking but they also have room for people with experience such as the butchers and bakers. As there is such a lot of people wanting to take on the less experience needed jobs the employees in these positions have to try and make a good impression and try hard as they know that there is always someone around the corner waiting for their job. This may boost Sainsburys productivity and customer relations. There are increasing numbers of women being qualified in previously mans work. More and more women are being trained as butchers and fishmongers. Women are now holding more high skilled positions now also, for example it would not be uncommon to ask to see the manager and a women to walk out and speak to you. This may seem strange to older generations who may still believe that it should be a mans job. The education and training system is undergoing a change. There has been a major expansion in further and higher education and the development of more flexible vocational training structures. This allows more part-time and mature students to gain higher qualifications. This may also allow them to train whilst working, improving there skills for an in-house vacancy. Part-time students make up a large proportion of Sainsburys workforce. This is because they can work flexible hours and are willing to learn. They may also not mind doing low skilled jobs as they need the money and know that they may not be doing that job forever as they are studying at a high level, having these people on their books may be an advantage to Sainsburys as if they are good they may placed in the running for higher positions. When they finish their higher education weather it be A-Levels or Degree they may give them a chance to move up the ladder. This may seem promising to the employee who already has friends there and knows the set up. They may also like it as it saves them the hassle of finding a completely new job. The sectors that are forecast to expand are those, which have grown since the early 1980s. The exception is construction, where employment is forecast to fall 4.2%. The largest absolute increase in employment is in public services. The majority of new jobs are to be in education and health, which is an area, which has seen significant growth since the early 1980s. Financial and Business services are expected to show the fastest percentage growth. Business services are expected to be the strongest performer in this sector with employment growth at 2.5% per year whilst a fall is forecast in financial services. Manufacturing is set to see further productivity gains, which may lead to falls in unemployment. Norwichs Economy * One third of all the jobs in Norfolk are within the Norwich city council area. This totals up to 94,000 people. * Half the jobs in Norfolk are within the greater Norwich area. Employment in Norwich has grown over the last 6 years, but more slowly than the UK as a whole. * Over 90% of Norwich companies employ less than 50 people but over half of the Norwich workforce are employed in the 66 largest companies and organisations such as Norwich Union and Mash. * More than 50,000 people travel into Norwich each day to work, from the surrounding area. * The average earnings of full-time employees in Norwich (Excluding overtime) are just over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10 per hour, which is below the national average of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½11.18 per hour. * Between 1995 and 2000 employment grew fastest in financial services, public sector and construction. * In the next few years most jobs are likely to be created within Norwich in business services, hotels and catering, retailing, banking and insurance and construction. There will be a long-term demand for construction skills creating sustainable jobs. * Tourism is growing fast and currently provides 5,600 jobs in Norwich Trends in employment 1997-2007(predictions) 1997 2007 Increasing involvement of Women Female share of total employment 46.5% 48.2% Female share of employees in employment 49.7% 51.7% More Working part-time Part-time share of employees in employment 29.1% 31.2% More self-employed Self employed share of total employment 13.0% 15.2% Supply and Demand graph for Wage Rates S WR1 WR = Wage Rate Sk = Skills WR D2 D Sk Sk1 As you can see as the demand for high skilled people goes up so does the wages they will be getting paid. Supply of Labour S2 S WR = Wage WR2 Rate L = Labour WR D L2 L If the supply of labour decreases then the wage rate will increase. Minimum Wage rate S WR2 WR1 D Q2 Q1 If a minimum wage is introduced which is higher than the wage rate the demand for labour falls Training and Development The aim of training a person is to permanently change their ability. Improving their knowledge, experience and skills does this. To start you off at Sainsburys you are given an induction. This tells you the basics of your job and allows you to do it. Induction programmes are designed to familiarise new recruits with the layout, security systems and about health and safety within the company. To inspire new recruits they may be introduced to key personnel. Sainsburys hold policy interviews, one review happens at 3 weeks, one at 7 weeks and then again at 11 weeks. Sainsburys holds in-house training and coaching in each branch. They also have a How well and I doing? handbook which they give to each employee. This can map out paths and set targets, different for each section on the company. The targets set are: * Measurable * Specific * Time-related * Agreed * Realistic These are set at 6-month periods. The workbooks, which are used for technical training, coach trainees on a specific part of their job. They help them understand what they have got to do and how they have got to do it. For example training for a checkout operator may be given on a dummy checkout and they on a real one serving customers but with supervision. Each store trains its own staff at their job; training centres are used for external training, which may be specific to a persons job such as health and safety or food hygiene. These parts of training may also involve passing an exam and gaining a qualification. The in store training organiser may not be qualified to teach this. External training may also occur when the trainee is learning a specialist subject. For example a fishmonger may be sent to a special training-centre especially for fishmongers. I believe that Sainsburys send their head fishmongers to a centre in London. Sainsburys also has a training room where training videos are shown to trainees. These may be in general subjects such as customer relations. This is very handy as videos can be shown to a trainee as many times as it takes and at very little cost. Also the audience can be selected and many trained at a time. Sainsburys also has a computer on which there are training programs, these give training and also provide a test, which they have to pass.

Approaches to Development Communication

Approaches to Development Communication Introduction Development Communication is based on one-way flow of information for the purpose of disseminating information and messages to induce change. Its main intentions can be divided into two different types of applications: (1) communication to inform and (2) communication to persuade. Development Communication uses method of investigation in which a problem is first identified and observations, experiments, or other relevant data are then used to construct or test hypotheses that solves it. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Diffusion of Innovation Approach This concept is given by Everette M Rogers. Mass communication is a two-step flow process. It develops favourable attitudes through the mass media and leads to the adaptation of inter-personal channels, especially opinion leaders. Modernization is taken as a process of diffusion, where individuals move from a traditional way of life to a different, more technically developed way of life. This approach is concerned with the process of diffusion and adoption of innovation in a more systematic and planned way. This diffusion model is a vertical or one-way perspective on communication, and that active involvement in the process of the communication itself will accelerate development. This approach is based on the need assessment of the target groups and helping people to fulfil their needs by adoption of innovation. Communication has to play the role of facilitator in disseminating innovations to the target groups. Development is basically acceptance of change and innovations –ideas, practice and technologies. Facilitating diffusion of innovations is an essential aspect of the development. All innovations need not be new to all people. An innovation refers to an idea perceived as new by an individual. Diffusion is a process by which an innovation spreads from its source of creation to the users or adopters. The essence of the diffusion process is the human interaction, in which one person communicates a new idea to another person. There are four elements in any analysis of the diffusion process: Innovation (any idea considered new by recipient) Communication (the individual to another through certain channels). Social system (among members of society) Time taken (from the stage of innovation to the stage of adoption). Stages in the adoption process: Five distinct stages have been identified by the scholars: Awareness stage – there is broad exposure of the innovation, but the individual does not have sufficient information. He is yet to get motivated either to seek further information or to act upon it or know how it functions (Knowledge). Interest stage – individual shows interest in the new idea, makes an effort to seek additional information. However, the person is still undecided about its application. Person forms a favourable/unfavourable attitude towards innovation (Persuasion). Evaluation stage – The individual mentally applies the innovation to one’s own situation, and then decides whether to try it or not. Person engages in activities that lead to a choice to accept / unaccept the innovation (Decision). Trial stage – individual uses the innovations on a pilot stage (limited scale) to decide about its utility and relevance to one’s own situation. Observation is that people will not adopt an innovation without trying (Implementation). Adoption stage – It is the process through which the individual arrives at the decision to adopt or reject the innovation from the time they first became aware of it. Individual decides to continue the use of innovation. Adoption implies sustained or continuous use (Confirmation). Information Sources and their Relevance at Various Stages of Adoption: While personal communication is face to face contact, whereas impersonal is mediated through mass communication channels – (mass media) Print, Radio, TV and film are most effective in providing various options and alternative choices. They are effective in drawing the attention of the individuals. Hence, the mass communication channels are found to be most important in the evaluation stage of the adoption sources. Inter-personal communication through extension workers, friends and family members can influence behaviour and facilitate transfer of ideas. The mass communication channels seldom effect decisions directly although they influence indirectly. Factors affecting the Rate of Adoption of Innovation: While some of the factors that stimulate and facilitate quick diffusion of innovation are transfer of technologies. Well informed opinion leaders communicate their approval/ disapproval of an innovation based on the innovators experiences to the rest of the social system. Majority respond by rapidly adopting it. The analysis suggests a small point—whether or not opinion leaders vouch for it but some others inhibit adoption: Compatibility- the degree to which an innovation was consistent with existing values and past experiences. Cultural incompatibility – certain social systems do not encourage adoption of innovations. Individuals in such a system are very slow and rigid in accepting new ideas, practices and technologies. The vegetarians show marked resistance in accepting non-vegetarian diet because of change in food habits. New crop varieties which give higher yields and better incomes, have been rejected on the ground of taste, fear of ill-health and unacceptability as food. Thus cultural incompatibility and mismatch with the existing social system are considered to be very strong inhibitors. Classification of adopters: It is based on the rate of adoption and the time lag between initial exposures to final adoption. Innovativeness is defined as the degree to which individual is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than other members of a system. The personal characteristics and interaction of these groups illuminates the diffusion effect. Diffusion researchers have classified adopters into five categories: Venturesome innovators: These are the most eager members of the society to try new ideas and adopt new practices. They are enterprising and willing to take risks. Usually they belong to the cosmopolite category. Early adopters – These are usually younger, had a higher social status, more favourable financial status, engaged in more specialized operations and were equipped with greater mental abilities. They used the data provided by the innovators in implementation and confirmation of the innovation to make their own adoption decision. If the opinion leaders observe that the innovation has been effective for the innovators, then they will encourage others to adopt. This group earns respect for its judicious well- informed decision making and hence this group is from where most opinion leaders reside. These belong to the local system; they follow the venturesome. These used more mass media. Early majority They become the reference groups for the subsequent late adopters, which constitute the early majority. Late majority – Much of the social system does not have the inclination or capability to acquire information of the most recent innovations. So they trust the opinion leaders, since adoption of opinion leader is a good indicator that innovation is going to be adopted by many also and other members will be encouraged to adopt. Laggards – The laggards are very slow in adoption. They are rigid, traditional, isolate in their social system, hard to be convinced, stick to the old methods and resist change. If they are traditional, they are suspicious of innovations and often interact with others who also have traditional values. If they are isolates, their lack of social interaction decreases their awareness of an innovation’s demonstrated benefits. It takes much longer than average for laggards to adopt innovations. Potential adopters, uncertain about innovation go through a stepwise social process. Well informed opinion leaders communicate their approval-disapproval of an innovation, based on the innovators experiences. Some respond by rapidly adopting. We can judge the importance of opinion leaders. Large subsection of the social system follows the trusted opinion leaders. Those who do not adopt lose status or economic viability. Adoption becomes necessity as implementation results in social, economic benefit and this contextual pressure motivates adoption. Conclusion Diffusion of innovation research established the importance of communication, new ideas and their practice is a crucial component of the modernization process. People change attitudes of those whom they talk to, work with, or interact with. People will adopt an innovation if they believe that it enhances their utility; it determines the extent of change in their normal functioning increases compatibility with habits and values, and has cost-benefit analysis. ________________________________________________________________________________ Localised Approach This approach advocates that information transmitted through media must be locally and functionally relevant to the audience is called localised approach. The development programmes must be local to meet the local needs which vary widely in different regions and sub-regions in a large country like India due to the diversity of climate, cultures and languages. Localised approach would enable communicators to design messages which will be relevant in terms of utility, timeliness, applicability, specificity, etc. The relationship between communication and development can be broadly divided into two types: Macro society level studies (by Wilbur Schramm, Daniel Lerner etc.) gave direct support to the view that a modern mass media system is an important requirement for development. Micro societal level studies argue that information of certain kind generates appetite for new things and new ways of doing things, which ultimately sets the process of development. Benefits of localised approach Localised approach would enable the communicators to design messages which will be relevant in terms of utility, timeliness, applicability, specificity etc. The approach would tailor message for local conditions. The approach can overcome infrastructural difficulties. Such an approach will allow greater involvement and participation of the audience in the communication process. As the needs of people vary widely in different regions and sub-regions. In a large developing country like India, there is diversity of cultures and languages Dos and Don’ts of localized approach: There should be proper need-assessment of the local population. The socio-economic condition of the local people should be kept in mind before designing the message. The geographical and political conditions of a local area bear a lot of significance for message designing and delivery. Preferences should be given to local media and local resource persons for the execution of communication tasks. Conclusion The localised media approach helps to plan messages specially designed for various local groups. This facilitates two way communications by allowing greater involvement and participation of the audience in the communication process. In case of any problem at the local level, the solution is found there and then. Naturally for particular specific situation the solution would also be specific. There cannot be a general approach. This localised approach generally yields a positive result. ________________________________________________________________________________ Magic Multiplier Mass Media is called the magic multiplier as it can multiply the messages and reach a number of people very fast and at one go. Its output does have great potential and modernizing effect. It is their content that is the key to use in development. Mass media are important in spreading awareness of new possibilities and practices, but at the stage where decisions are being made about whether to adopt or not to adopt; personal communication is far more likely to be influential. Therefore, the general conclusion of this line of thought is that mass communication is less likely than personal influence to have a direct effect on social behaviour Wilbur Schramm (1964), in his book ‘Mass Media and National Development’ which was produced for UNESCO became almost a blueprint (programme of action) for development communication. Schramm stated that content is the key to their use in development. Social change of great magnitude can be accomplished when people informed, persuaded, educated. Information must flow at all levels so that they can participate in the acts and decisions of nation building. He also argued that each person would have requirement of information of the work he would undertake, and there being millions of workers would require information of various types. The conventional channel of communication would never be able to meet this demand. Therefore, modern communication technologies would be of great use to meet this demand by multiplying the messages and reaching each and every worker simultaneously. Arguments for Magic Multiplier We need magic multiplier for the following reasons: For social change of great magnitude, people must be informed, educated, motivated and persuaded. Information must flow, not only to them but also from them, so that their needs can be known and they might participate in the acts and decisions of nation-building. As the required amount of information and learning is vast so the targeted population. Work should be organised and skills should be learnt at all levels of society for better utilization of the resources of society. The available channels of communication like inter-personal, group-communication, traditional media are incapable to undertake this task, as this will require a lot of time and resources. For a developing country, its difficult to gather a large pool of resources and wait for such a long time. Mass media with its magical reach can do this job in less time and resources. Analysis of magic multiplier The audit found that the mass media succeeded in reaching a vast majority of population in less time and resources. Mass media as a magic multiplier did a commendable job in spreading awareness but it could not give expected results in persuading and educating the targeted population. It was found that persuasion, motivation and education for/on something is best achieved by close interactions which is possible in inter-personal, group-communications etc. Conclusion Use of latest technologies is required to supply large amounts of information to large number of people at one time and in modern formats. A lot of feedback is required when one uses communication for development; it should never be one way traffic. The users should be able to give feedback to the implementers, as success/failure of the programme could be judged.

Types of Analysis for Strategic Planning

Types of Analysis for Strategic Planning Task 1 Internal Assessment Sometimes, it is something inside the organization that demands a major change. It can be technological change forcing new methods of carrying out its work, Cost efficiency/Performance, Assets condition/Productivity, Organizational culture and image, Organizational structure, Key staff, Operational efficiency, Operational capacity, Brand awareness, Market share and financial resources. External Assessment Sometimes the outside world forces such decisions on the organization. Such forces may include major shifts in the market, big changes in government policy, market competition, distribution methods, and the geography in which you will compete to get result Assumptions We can assume certain alternative that can be true in forming strategy and from which conclusion can be drawn, as the strategy is based on assumptions Priority issues We must address our priority issues. It can be cost of production, service level and delivery, organization and material effectiveness, customer service and friendliness, new product/service innovation and quality RESULT REQUIRED The second step to identify where do we want to be? We must set our mission and objective to reach our goals. Mission/ Vision It can be defined as what the company is to become over set period of time. To be effective the vision must be simple. It must be something that the people within the business can identify easily and it must have tangible impact on the business. Objectives Objectives are concrete goals that the organization seeks to reach, for example, an earnings growth target. The objectives should be challenging but achievable. They also should be measurable so that the company can monitor its progress and make corrections as needed. HOW The third step to find out how will we get there? We should make some strategy and proper programs to reach our goals. Strategic development process is dynamic and continuous. A change in one component can necessitate a change in the entire strategy. As such, the process must be repeated frequently in order to adapt the strategy to environmental changes. Throughout the process the firm may need to cycle back to a previous stage and make adjustments. IMPLEMENTATION The fourth step to define who must do what. Once a strategy is developed it is most important how to implement it and for effective implementation, it needs to be translated into more detailed policies that can be understood at the functional level of the organization. As strategy forms at corporate level, it should be translated into specific policies for functional areas such as marketing, R D, production, Human resources, Information Systems. REVIEWS The final step is to review once implemented, the results of the strategy need to be measured and evaluated, with changes made as required to keep the plan on track. Control systems should be developed and implemented to facilitate this monitoring. Standards of performance are set, the actual performance measured, and appropriate action taken to ensure success. Example: In my previous organization in Dubai, having two divisions, dealing in waterproofing and insulation materials and both were doing well. The management realized scope of further expansion into interior business. The Chairman has three sons. Two of them looking after two divisions and the third just returned from abroad after completing his studies. The company had enough resources, financial, premise etc. to start the new business. The chairman utilized all of the available resources efficiently and started a new interior business. Now I realized that they had followed above strategic planning process to be success and still they are doing well. Task 2 How does one involve stakeholders in the strategic planning process and give examples of what tools you might use to review strategic options. As an organization grows, it becomes more important that all those involved are clear about what the organization is looking to achieve and how it is planning to do it. Each organization should identify those with a legitimate interest in its work (stakeholders) and ensure that there is regular and effective communication with them about the organization. It is therefore worthwhile reviewing who the stakeholders are in the organization because they help to get job done more effectively. Stakeholders may vary according to the nature of the organization but most common can be explained in following diagram. Suppliers Government Customers Organization Bank / Financial Institution Employees Competitors How to engage stakeholders while developing strategy Personal Interviews It can provide quite detailed and rich data on individual behavior and attitudes. Data gathered with this process can help to develop strategy more effectively. Focus Groups Under this method people are selected and invited to meet together to discuss some aspect of a particular product or services which is helpful in making strategic decision. Advertising: It is a form of communication that helps to persuade potential customer to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service. If the strategy is to develop for a new product then view of prospective customer can be obtained by this means. Newspaper inserts: It enables advertiser to target their advertisement to specific geographic market. Mostly it covers local area and strategy planner can get the feedback from relevant stakeholders. Web/Online Surveys One of the most sophisticated and modern method to involve stakeholders in strategy planning process. It’s quick and more accurate and solves the distribution and result collection problems. Conferences: Company can arrange conferences where views can be exchange which will help the planner to form the strategy accordingly. Stakeholders are invited to discuss on a particular topic. Workshop / problem solving meetings: It is like a meeting emphasizing interactions and exchange of information among a usually small number of participants. Newsletters: A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication, generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. For example Company send newsletter to their employees to update their market position and any future development. Annual report: It is a complete report of an organization’s activities throughout the preceding year. It is normally sent to Shareholders and other interested stakeholders informing about the company’s activities and financial performance. It has been observed that individual stakeholders usually may have their own interests which they will ensure are protected and valued. It means that stakeholders can influence negatively or positively the performance of an organization. It is therefore important for an organization to determine which stakeholders can have a positive or negative impact on their organization so that the positive effects are promoted and the negative effects are managed so as to minimize damage. For example employees of an organization will be concerned about their job security and salaries and other benefits and while planning the strategy if they are not involved in planning process they may resist due to some risk, which they don’t want to take but if they are better educated they will help to achieve strategic goal. There are three important tools that can be used to review strategic options. †¢ Suitability †¢ Feasibility †¢ Acceptability Suitability: This is one of the important tools while developing a strategic plan. The planner must ensure that the strategy he is planning, will it be adjusted with the current environment and are we competent enough to face the challenges. Suitability is a decisive factor for assessing the extent to which a proposed strategy fits the situation identified in the strategic analysis, and how it would sustain or improve the competitive position of the organization. Some authors have referred to this as ‘consistency’. Suitability is therefore a useful tool for screening strategies. For example, if a strategy is likely to improve the organization’s competitive standing then we should find out, can we able to resolve the company’s liquidity problems, or decrease dependence on a particular supplier? Feasibility: Whether it can be implemented successfully. The organization must evaluate their resources and at the evaluation stage there are a number of fundamental questions which need to be asked when assessing feasibility. For example: Can the strategy be funded? Are we capable of performing to the required level (e.g., quality level, service level)? Can the necessary market position be achieved, and will the necessary marketing skills be available? Will the required skills at both managerial and operative level are available? Will the technology (both product and process) be available to compete effectively? Can the necessary materials and services be obtained? It is also important to consider all of these questions with respect to the timing of the required changes. Acceptability: Alongside suitability and feasibility, it is the third factor to review strategic options. This can be a difficult area, since acceptability is strongly related to peoples expectations, and therefore the issue of acceptable to whom? Following essential questions need to be asked when assessing Acceptability. Return What will be the effect on capital structure? Profitability analyses (return on capital employed, payback period, discounted cash flow, market valuation, etc.) Risk Will the function of any department, group or individual change significantly? Financial ratio projections; Sensitivity analysis; Decision matrices Stakeholder Expectations Will the organization’s relationship with outside stakeholders (e.g., suppliers, government, unions, and customers) need to change? Needs, power, interest, and predictability of stakeholders. Task 3 Prepare an example SWOT analysis of an organization you know or have studied listing the 4 key (SWOT) elements in a table. Explain how strategic planner will use the analysis in developing the strategy using some of the example elements you have listed. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors, which relates with resources. Opportunities and threats are external factors which relates with environment. SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment and is often used to highlight where a business or organization is and where it could be in the future. It is the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. The following SWOT analysis looks at PRIMARK which is an Irish clothing retailer. The SWOT analysis will give a clear picture of the business environment PRIMARK is operating in at the present time. Strengths: The strengths of a business or organization are positive elements, something they do well and are under their control. The following section will outline main strengths of PRIMARK. A strong brand is an essential strength of PRIMARK as it is recognized and respected. Competitive pricing is a vital element of their overall success, as this keeps them in line with their rivals, if not above them. The lucrative location. mostly on high street adds up PRIMARK strengths due to its accessibility Keeping costs lower than their competitors and keeping the cost advantages helps PRIMARK pass on some of the benefits to consumers. There distribution chain is one of their strengths and links to success. Supplier relationships are strong at PRIMARK, which strengthens their overall performance. Weaknesses: Weaknesses of an organization is things that need to be improved or perform better, which are under their control. Weaknesses are also things that place you behind competitors. This section will present main weaknesses of PRIMARK. They don’t have good advertising technique to tell customers about their business. There limited product line is a major weakness. PRIMARK does not functions wider international market, which has an effect on success, as they do not reach consumers in more `overseas markets. Due to lower price more customer visit in their store but they don’t have enough checkout counters to avoid long queue. Opportunities: Opportunities are external changes, trends or needs that could enhance the business or organization’s strategic position, or which could be of a benefit to them. This section will outline opportunities that PRIMARK is currently facing. Decrease in taxation is an opportunity for them to reduce prices or increase profits. New market opportunities are a way to push them forward. PRIMARK has the opportunity to enter a niche market, gain leading position and therefore boost financial performance. Expanding the product lines by PRIMARK could help them raise sales and increase their product portfolio. They can enjoy benefits from reduction in interest rates so that business costs would come down. Expanding into other markets could be a possibility for them. Threats: Threats are factors which may restrict, damage or put areas of the business or organization at risk. They are the factors which are outside of the companys control. Being aware of the threats and being able to prepare for them makes this section valuable when considering contingency plans and strategies. This section will outline main threats PRIMARK is currently facing. Consumer lifestyle changes could lead to less of a demand for its products. Changes in the way consumers shop and spend and other changing consumer patterns could be a threat to their performance. Being undercut by low-cost imports is a major threat for them. Slow growth and decline of the retail market is a threat to them. Increased competition from overseas is another threat to them as it could lead to lack of interest in their product. The actions of a competitor could be a major threat against PRIMARK, for instance, if they bring in new technology or increase their workforce to meet demand. Price wars between competitors, price cuts and so on could damage profits for them. A slow economy or financial slowdown could have a major impact on their business and profits. PRIMARK could be threatened by the growing power customers have to set the price of their products. Conclusion Given this analysis we come to realize that each organization has its own external and internal problems to handle. The process in which we enable to identify and analyze such problems is by using proper management method of analysis like SWOT. The SWOT analysis is useful in a difficult strategic situation. The strengths are analyzed to reach opportunities and to avoid threats. The search of weaknesses is of importance as it allows the manager to minimize them. It also explains what unique resources you have and what you can offer that makes you stand from the rest. Task 4 Explain the differences between balanced scorecard, scenario planning, cost benefit analysis and sensitivity analysis giving at least one example of where each technique would be most appropriately applied Balance Scorecard The balance scorecard is a performance management tool to measuring whether the smaller-scale operational activities of a company are aligned with its larger- scale objectives in terms of vision and strategy. By focusing not only on financial outcomes but also on the operational, marketing and developments inputs to these, the balance scorecard helps provide a more comprehensive view of a business, which in turn helps organization act in their best long-term interests. It was proposed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in 1996 In the balance scorecard we refer to the several different kinds of balance. For example -The balance between short and the long term. -The balance between four perspectives. The Balance scorecard approach generally has four perspectives: Finance: Return on Investment, Cash flow, Return on capital employed Financial results (quarterly/Yearly) Internal business processes: Process alignment (is the right process in the right department?) Learning and growth Is there the correct level of expertise for the job? Employee turnover Source Businessball.com Job satisfaction Training learning opportunity Customer: Delivery performance to customer Quality performance for customer Customer satisfaction rate Customer percentage of market Customer retention rate Scenario Planning Scenario planning is a method for learning about the future by understanding the nature and impact of the most uncertain and important driving forces affecting our world. It is a group process which encourages knowledge exchange and development of mutual deeper understanding of central issues important to the future of the business. It is a process of visualizing What future conditions or events are probable? What their consequences or effects would be like and how to respond to, or benefit from them. Four aspect should taken into consideration in scenario planning Future scientific capabilities Technological developments The role of business and government Social attitudes The transport for London is having scenario planning about future development like air conditioning in Tube. Cost benefits Analysis The process involves, weighting the total expected costs against the total expected benefits in order to choose the best or most profitable option. It is typically used by governments to evaluate the desirability of a given intervention. It is an analysis of the cost effectiveness of different alternatives in order to see whether the benefits are greater than costs. The costs and benefits of the impacts of an intervention are evaluated in terms of the public’s willingness to pay for them (benefits) or willingness to pay to avoid them (cost) inputs are typically measured in terms of opportunity costs the value in their best alternative use. The guiding principle is to list all parties affected by an intervention and place a monetary value of the effect it has on their welfare as it would be valued by them. Sensitivity Analysis It is a technique for determining the outcome of a decision if a key prediction turns out to be wrong. ‘The Study of how the uncertainty in the output of a model (numerical or otherwise) can be apportioned to different sources of uncertainty in the model input’ Suppose that the manager of an organization just completed a linear programming solution which will have a major impact on the company, such as determining how much to increase the overall production capacity and are about the present the results to the board of directors. How confident are you in the results? How much will the results change if your basic data (e.g. profit per item produced, or availability of a component) is slightly wrong? Will that have a minor impact on your results? Will it give a completely different outcome, or change the outcome only slightly? Bibliography: Primark.co.uk Thompson John L . Strategic Management . 4th Ed Team-based strategic planning By C. Davis Fogg 1994 http://www.netmba.com/strategy/process/ JOHNSON, G., and SCHOLES, K. (1997). Exploring Corporate Strategy, Fourth Edition, Prentice Hall, New York. [Chapter 8] Business dictionary.com Cases in public policy analysis by George M. Guess, Paul G. Farnham Wikipedia.org Practical Optimization: a gentle Introduction – John W. Chinneck, 2000 A Practical guide to using the Balanced scorecard By Nils-Gà ¶ran Olve, Anna Sjà ¶strand, Carl-Johan Petri Businessball.com http://www.well.com/~mb/scenario_planning/ dft.gov.uk Sensitivity analysis in practice by Andrea Saltelli, Stefano Tarantola, Francesca Campolongo