Book report for Native American Religious Traditions by Suzanne J Essay

Book report for Native American Religious Traditions by Suzanne J. Crawford - Essay Example Due to their tradition, oral tradition is a way of passing down history, laws, and religion. For an example, the Lakota people tell Ehanni stories to explain creation, or how everything and the world was created. Ohunkakan stories give guidelines on good behavior. Ehanni Wicowoyake relates the stories of Lakota history. In Native American Religious Traditions, Crawford explains how the three tribes focused on for this book use oral tradition uniquely. An example would England and Russia both have literary history, but they way it is written or presented is different. Like with the oral tradition, the Lakota, Dine, and Coast Salish have diverse ceremonial practices. The Lakota has one of the most recognized ceremonial practices of the Sun Dance. The Sun Dance has been portrayed in different movies inaccurately as a ceremony an adolescent man is forced to dance around a pole with needles embedded in his body hooked by string to the pole. Crawford explains the Sun Dance better. The needles are actually bones, the strings are leather thongs, and the pole a tree that never touches the ground specially prepared for the event. After the pole is erected dancing begins at sunrise with the dancers looking at the sun. Anyone can dance with short breaks, but no food or water. This lasts four days. The self-sacrificers prepared during this time. Then male volunteers who wanted something like a cure for a sick relative, tribal purification, and so forth would be pierced in both sides by buffalo bones tied to leather straps. The goal is to get the bone from yo ur body by dancing around the pole. It is a purification ceremony. This and other ceremonies are explained in Crawford’s book. Finally, Crawford looks honestly at a shameful part of American history; the colonization of the Native Americans. All Native Americans encountering European settlers faced the civilization process of Christianity. The Europeans felt

Sales and Inventory System Thesis Sample Essay Example for Free

Sales and Inventory System Thesis Sample Essay Collaborate more Productivity and quality tools for everyone in the provider organization. Working with limited resources, healthcare providers today are challenged to meet ever-increasing demands. In order to meet this challenge, your organization needs to be as efficient as possible. This starts with giving your most important resource—your people—smart, timesaving tools that help them be more productive to increase quality and contain costs. That’s where Microsoft ® Office 2010 comes in. It’s not intended to replace your EMR or hospital information system; rather it bridges the gap between these and your other core systems to play a vital role in helping all your staff connect with information, people, and processes—when, where, and how needed. Microsoft Office 2010 Today everyone inside the healthcare provider organization is responsible in his or her own way for improving quality, safety, and reducing the cost of patient interactions inside the organization. Central to accomplishing these objectives is the ability to access information, collaborate in teams around that information, and analyze that information. Given the team-oriented nature of healthcare delivery today, you don’t want to keep people out of the loop; everyone needs access to the tools you use to analyze, share, and present data. Whatever the scenario: a clinician looking at her oncology service line and analyzing the effectiveness of specific treatments or a porter checking his e-mails to see if much needed supplies will arrive on time—it is important for everyone to have access to core productivity and information tools. In response to these healthcare provider requirements, Microsoft Office 2010 offers enhanced features to help healthcare professionals: †¢ Bring Ideas to Life—Simplify how physicians, administrative staff, and other clinicians understand, use, and present information. †¢ Work Better Together—Help enable care team collaboration for greater employee satisfaction and improved patient outcomes. †¢ Use Office Anywhere—Help enable staff to connect with information, people, and processes in all the different places that care is delivered. †¢ The Practical Productivity Platform—Give staff the ability to complete patient and administrative processes from within Office and give IT and the board the peace of mind that sensitive organizational and patient information is secure and protected. Microsoft Office 2010 provides flexibility of information delivery along with a rich user experience to support the role of everyone in your organization as a quality worker. Collaborate more Analytical capabilities help make informed decisions With access to analytical tools, clinicians, and administrators can make informed decisions and present results, analysis, and trends about service lines and key performance indicators that contribute to quality improvements. Administrators will be able to: †¢ Gain insights from complex or disparate data sets to help provide higher quality care and services. †¢ Help empower everyone in your organization to analyze trends and measure and monitor quality. †¢ Monitor and respond promptly to financial indicators and trends. †¢ Present information and educate care teams in more engaging ways. Equip Staff to Find Insights from Information Office 2010 gives your clinicians and administrators ways to draw insights from complex or disparate sets of data so they can turn information into knowledge they can apply. Medical and nursing staff can present and educate about quality initiatives, key performance indicators, patient safety initiatives, or condition management pathways. Department heads and executives can make on-the-spot quality comparisons and decisions from lists of data using improved conditional formatting in Excel ® to visualize data. And management can improve financial responsiveness in the budgeting process by enabling multiple users to collaborate on the same spreadsheet. Office 2010 makes it easier for staff to capture, search, and reuse different types of content. You can equip them to express ideas and educate in more compelling ways, such as with the use of multimedia for grand rounds or board presentations. Support Connected Care from Anywhere In every area of the healthcare system, organizations that develop and deliver healthcare products and services are challenged to deliver better and safer care to more patients—in less time and at a lower cost. Given the mobile nature of healthcare delivery today, the ability to use Office applications from wherever your staff’s work takes them is critical. For example, a nurse manager might be working from a dedicated PC, then later reviewing the same data from a nurse station in the medical ward or bedside in a patient room. With Microsoft Office 2010, she has the ability to access that data with the correct modality and consistent ease of use—no matter where she is—to make better knowledge-driven care decisions. Clinicians and administrators can take action on-the-go and around-the-clock by being always connected to information, communications, and processes. And Office 2010 helps ensure that work done while mobile is securely in sync across documents and devices with protection features in place to safeguard patient and organizational data. Collaborate more Improve Responsiveness and Productivity through Secure Collaboration Use the capabilities of Office 2010 to help caregiver and administrative teams easily share, review, discuss, and update information from different locations. This means simplifying how people work together on documents, such as discharge summaries, research papers, or staff communications. Care teams can improve their productivity and care management by simplifying meeting scheduling and project coordination of external team members with shared calendars. Everyone can make and see updates in real time from their PC, Web browser, or phone* to simplify versioning and coordination. And you can ensure that data shared in personal productivity and team collaboration is secured and only available to those intended. Office 2010 enables Web-based collaboration in Word, PowerPoint ®, and Excel ® Web apps, and OneNote ® notebooks so multiple people can edit documents simultaneously. And offline access to SharePoint ® servers means they can always get to the resources they need. Presence indicators Host on-premises with SharePoint Using co-authoring capabilities, staff can work on Word and PowerPoint documents simultaneously with other team members, allowing everyone to see who is working on which section of the document at any given time. Option to lock paragraphs Improved collaboration capabilities help care teams work better together Organization staff, such as human resources or administrative staff, can improve their responsiveness with co-authoring of policy documents or care plans—enabling multiple experts to collaborate to produce documents more efficiently: †¢ Web apps improve collaboration by providing access to documents from virtually anywhere and preserving the look and feel of a document. †¢ Staff can author and edit Word and PowerPoint documents simultaneously with other team members, giving everyone the ability to see who is working on which section of the document at any given time. †¢ Team members can use SharePoint offline, and then reconnect when collaborating. Collaborate more Deliver the Essentials—Security. Manageability. Performance. Provide clinicians and administrators with flexible, intuitive tools that are robust but easy to use and require little to no training. With Office 2010, you can allow IT to customize deployment to suit the individual roles, work styles, and modes of users in a way that is easy to manage. And Office 2010 supports a broader array of devices and allows access to information and tools from virtually anywhere while helping to ensure patient and organizational data is safeguarded and maintaining the security of your infrastructure. Helping you meet the needs of those you serve With Office 2010, Microsoft has innovated to introduce new capabilities—all based on customer feedback and volumes of usage data—that can result in transformational efficiency gains to help you better meet the needs of those you serve. *An appropriate device, Internet connection, and Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari browser are required. Some mobile functionality requires Microsoft ® Office Mobile 2010, which is not included in Office 2010 applications, suites, or Web apps. Office Mobile must be installed on the device to make edits with Web apps. There are some differences between the features of the Office Web apps, Office Mobile 2010, and the Office 2010 applications. For more information, contact your Microsoft Partner representative and visit: †¢ Office 2010 preview site: www.office2010forbusiness.com: – Download the Office 2010 beta. – Discover what’s new in Office 2010. – View application demo videos for a glimpse of new capabilities. †¢ â€Å"Backstageâ„ ¢Ã¢â‚¬  with Office 2010: www.office2010themovie.com: – Gain insights into the making of Office 2010. – Listen to interviews with the creators of Office 2010. Learn about the latest in transforming health: †¢ Microsoft in Health: www.microsoft.com/health. †¢ Health ICT Resource Center: http://www.microsoft.com/healthict. †¢ Microsoft for Healthcare Providers: http://www.microsoft.com/ industry/healthcare/providers/default.mspx. †¢ Health IT Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/wwhealthit/. †¢ Dr. Bill Crounse’s Health Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/healthblog.

Charlie Chaplin Essay -- Essays Papers

Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in Walworth, London on April 16, 1889. His parents, Charles and Hannah Chaplin were music hall performers in England, his father was quite well know in the profession. Charlie had one sibling, a brother named Sydney. At a very early age Charlie was told that someday he would be the most famous person in the world. Charlie first appeared onstage at the age of six as an unscheduled substitute for his mother. When his performance was over the audience was throwing money up onto the stage, they loved him, and he was on his way to being the most famous person in he world. Charlie had a very difficult childhood, by the time he had performed onstage for the first time his father had already left home permently. In June of 1896 C...

The Yom Kippur War Essay -- Israel

Israeli preparation for war with Syria was less extensive than the Egyptian preparations, because the border was smaller (Approximately 80 miles vs. 40 miles) in comparison to the Egyptian-Israeli border. (See Figure 2. Israel - Syria Border). Israel built fortified Jewish settlements in the Golan. Anticipating Syriawould attack with armor, Israel made obstacles, tank traps, and minefields. Reinforced bunkers and tank placements were created. The battlefield plan was laid out with interlocking fields of fire to halt any Syrian advance. Israel had made peace with Jordan so there was no perceived need to fortify the Israel-Jordan border. Egyptian troop and installation preparations during the War of Attrition were in direct contrast to Israel’s Bar-Lev Line. Egypt did not anticipate a large scale attack across the Suez Canal so there was no need for the equivalent of a Bar-Lev Line on the west side of the Suez Canal. They did have mobile forces of armor, artillery, and infantry that harassed the Israelis with probes and artillery barrages. Egypt also practiced surge and retreat of troops along the Suez Canal. These surges were purposefully done to lull Israel into complacency and safety. Disinformation was practiced and journalists often found Arab documents detailing the shortcomings in Arab unity and military readiness. Egypt’s president Anwar Sadat contributed as well. Several times he had threatened military action against Israel and the deadlines passed with no repercussions. All the while, Sadat and his counterpart in Syria, President Hafez al Asad, were committed to military action. Egypt took a ction to address two specific Israeli advantages from the Six Day War, Israeli air superiority and Israeli tank operations. Egypt ... ...y the tactical advantage from 6-8 October and would attack the Golan Heights on three fronts, a northern from, a middle front, and a southern front. One division allocated for each front and a Ranger Battalion to take an Israeli command and control outpost in the high north. An intense barrage of Syrian artillery prepared the assault. Unfortunately for the Syrians, the terrain of the Golan Heights provided limited avenues of approach so Israel had well planned defensive positions. 37 Three divisions proceeded to advance in their corridor encountering stiff resistance from the undermanned, but well prepared defensive Israeli positions. Syrian armor had difficulty negotiating preplaced minefields, tank traps, and obstacles and it was â€Å"target practice†38 for the Israeli defenders and the Syrians suffered heavy losses. Syria still had strength in numbers on its side.

Managing High Growth Brand-Starbucks

Submitted To Mahbub Hossain Course: brand and product management American International University – Bangladesh (AIUB) Submitted By Khan Samara Salsabeel #07-09162-2 . | | Mr. Mahbub Hossain Course Instructor Brand and Product Management, sec-A Subject: STARBUCKS CORPORATION: Managing high growth brand. Dear Sir, We are grateful to you for giving us the chance to work on this case study.We would also like to express gratitude to you for your gracious cooperation and valuable guidance for preparing the report. Sincerely, Khan Samara Salsabeel (07-09162-2) Sadia Rezwana (07-09013-2) Kazi Masum (08-09933-1) Mohammad Abdul Kader (08-11783-2) In 1971, Seattle entrepreneurs Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl first opened Starbucks in Pike Place Market. At that time, Country’s major coffee brands were engaged in price war, therefore they were forced to use cheaper beans in their blends to reduce costs.As a result there was a decline in coffee consumption. To harness t he potential of the gourmet coffee trend in the Seattle area, the founders of Starbucks experimented with the new concept of a store dedicated to selling only the finest coffee beans and coffee brewing machines. This emphasis on quality whole-bean coffee retail was fairly unique. Starbucks placed quality as its top priority. The Starbucks management dedicated a great deal of their time and financial resources to establishing strong relationships with coffee growers from around the world.In 1982, Howard Schultz, current CEO of Starbucks recognized that the conservative business plans of early Starbucks management hindered the company from reaching other potential coffee lovers. Hence he transformed Starbucks from a coffee retailer into a cafe business. He had a vision of expanding the scope and reach of the Starbucks brand. In addition to selling only ‘best of class’ coffee, Starbucks worked to fill its stores with only the highest quality of everything, from coffee maki ng equipment to the fixtures and furnishings to the music and artwork.Each Starbucks store is carefully designed to enhance the quality of everything the customer see, touch, hear, smell or taste. The stores are designed in such a manner that it gives a warm, inviting environment essential for giving Starbucks a pleasurable coffee centered experience. The keys for success for Starbucks in building the brand are: 1. Starbucks was the first to introduce Coffee house with premium coffee to American market. 2. Consistent premium coffee. 3. It placed quality as its top priority. 4. Starbucks established strong relationships with coffee growers from around the world. . Formation of dynamic management team with highly innovative and creative employees. 6. Profitable partnerships and joint ventures with some of the nation’s strongest corporations such as Host Marriott, United Airlines, Pepsi Co, Dryers and others. Brand values of Starbucks: 1. Top priority is the quality of its produ cts 2. Premium coffee experience 3. value simplicity over technology 4. Investing in innovation 5. Employees as partners and viewed as the most important assets of the corporation. The sources of equity of Starbucks are Brand awareness and brand image.Brand awareness and image are collectively known as brand knowledge. Brand awareness has been established through word-of mouth, partnership and selective and fruitful location of Starbucks outlets. Brand image is established through: 1. premium coffee beans 2. brewing techniques 3. store designs, artwork and music 4. Consistently good customer service 5. Classy, romantic atmosphere with consistent store design that meets five senses. Pivotal to Starbucks high growth strategy was the carefully planned expansion of its specialty coffee stores to new markets throughout North America and eventually worldwide.Hence geographical market expansion, joint ventures and partnerships are some of the strategies the corporation followed to grow the brand. However these strategies had both merits and demerits for Starbucks which have been discussed later in the report. There are several things which are needed for a corporation to become a world class global brand which are also discussed in the report. For Starbucks to become a world class global brand, it must overcome some major hurdles. In addition to hurdles, Starbucks has many challenges which they need to meet in terms of American market. All these are discussed in detail in the report. SI |DESCRIPTION |PAGE | |01 |Objective Of The Report |07 | |02 |Methodology of The Report |08 | |03 |Limitation Of The Report |09 | |04 |Starbucks Corporation At A Glance |11 | |05 |Success Keys For Starbucks In Building Brand |12-13 | |06 |Starbucks’ Brand Values |14 | |07 |Sources Of Equity For Starbucks |15 | |08 |Evaluation Of Starbucks’ Growth Strategy |16-18 | |09 |Starbucks’ Challenges In Becoming A World Class Brand. 19 | |10 |Recommendation |20 | |11 |Conclusion |21 | |12 |Reference/Bibliography |22 | 1. It reflects a brief description of the corporation. 2. To know the following: †¢ Success keys for Starbucks †¢ Starbucks’ brand values †¢ Starbucks’ sources of equity †¢ Starbucks’ growth strategies †¢ Starbucks’ hurdles and challenges in becoming a world-class brand. We have collected almost all data from the case study. Moreover, we have collected data from Annual Report published by the corporation. Reference books, study materials and the internet were also of great aid for the preparation of the report.The first and foremost limitation was the time constraints. Gathering information on various aspects of the corporation was quite difficult. This is the reason we could not go to the in depth analysis within the limited time frame. In less than a decade, Starbucks was transformed from a fledgling whole bean coffee retail chain into a globally recognized brand. In 2002, Sta rbucks was comprised of more than 5400 stores located throughout North America, Latin America, the Pacific Rim, Europe and the Middle East. Growth of the corporation’s coffee retail business continued at a steady pace of one store opening a day on average, and annual revenue for 2001 topped $2. 7 billion.Moreover, joint ventures with some of the nation’s strongest corporations including Pepsi, Kraft, Dryer’s and Capitol Records, allowed Starbucks to launch a lucrative consumer product division to complement its cafe business. Licensing partnerships with other companies such as United Airlines, ITT Sheraton and Host Marriott further added to the growth of the Starbucks brand. Indeed, Starbucks rose to become one of the most impressive high growth brands in the 1990s. Despite this remarkable growth, some questioned whether Starbucks began to lose focus as the company strove to constantly reinvent itself. Critics wondered if perhaps the brand grew too quickly rapid ly to remain focused on its core values and business objectives.In less than a decade Starbucks was transformed from a fledgling whole bean coffee retail chain into a globally recognized brand. By 2002 Starbucks was comprised of more that 5400 stores located throughout North America, Latin America the Pacific Rim, Europe and the Middle East. There were some success keys which accelerated the growth of the company, some of which are given below: 1. The company had a strong and dynamic management team. The creative and highly innovative team monitored the problems of the customer and the employees. They also found out effective solutions to the problems the company encountered at different stages of its operation.In other words, the key to the company’s success and widespread appeal among loyal customers had always been the employees, whose knowledge and dedication attracted customers to continue returning to the store. 2. joint ventures with some of the nation’s stronge st corporations including Pepsi, Kraft, Dryer’s and Capitol Records, allowed Starbucks to launch a lucrative consumer product division to complement its cafe business . 3. Licensing partnerships with some other companies such as united airlines ITT Sheraton and host Marriott further added to the growth of the brand. 4. Use of improved and new technology was another key to the success of the brand. This made it easier for the company to maintain the quality of the products.Innovations such as the FlavorLock bags prevented harmful air and moisture from seeping into the coffee thereby preserving the quality and saving the company from much more significant costs. 5. Starbucks was the first to introduce Coffee house with premium coffee to American market. 6. It placed quality as its top priority. To distinguish their coffee from the bland and tasteless store brands, Starbucks only purchased Arabica beans from a carefully selected network of suppliers across the globe, from places like Sumatra, Kenya, Ethiopia and Costa Rica. Arabica beans were selected because the bean’s chemistry is such that it can withstand high roasting temperatures, resulting in richer flavor. 7. Starbucks established strong relationships with coffee growers from around the world.Starbucks sought vendors who sold products that would protect and even enhance the arabica’s flavor. This required the formation of partnerships across the globe with coffee brewing equipment suppliers who provided products that captured the essence of the coffee brewing tradition. The brand values of the company are given below: 1. The company placed quality at its top priority they emphasized on quality and never compromised with it. The Starbucks founders realized that if they wanted to enhance Seattle’s appreciation for fine coffee, they had to provide the best ingredients and brewing equipment to ensure that customers had the most enjoyable coffee experiences possible. 2.Employees are viewed as the most important assets and partners of the corporation. They were adequately educated and trained to provide the best customer service. The knowledge and dedication of the employees attracted customers to continue returning to the stores. The employees played a vital role. This is because word-of-mouth publicity can only be achieved if the company continues to recruit and retain talented individuals who can lead the company to new markets and communicate Starbucks’ strong values to the communities who knew little about the brand. 3. Another brand value for Starbucks was investing in innovation. It made easier for the company to maintain the quality of the products.Innovations such as the Flavor Lock bags prevented harmful air and moisture from seeping into the coffee thereby preserving the quality and saving the company from much more significant costs. The source of equity for Starbucks is Brand knowledge. Brand knowledge is the key to create brand equity becau se it creates differential effect that drives brand equity. Brand knowledge has two components: †¢ Brand awareness †¢ Brand image – Brand image is the impression in the consumers’ mind of a brand’s total personality. Brand awareness is again consists of: †¢ Brand recognition – relates to consumers ability to confirm prior exposure to the brand when given the brand as a cue. †¢ Brand recall – Relates to consumers’ ability to retrieve the brand from memory when given the product category.Brand awareness for the company has been established through word-of mouth, new channels partnerships and selective and fruitful location for Starbucks outlets. Brand image is established through: †¢ premium coffee beans †¢ brewing techniques †¢ store designs, artwork and music †¢ Consistently good customer service †¢ Classy, romantic atmosphere with consistent store design that meets five senses. Starbuck’s growth strategy mainly comprised of Geographical Market Expansion, Diversification and Partnerships. Pivotal to Starbuck’s high-growth strategy was the carefully planned expansion of its specialty coffee stores to new markets throughout North America and eventually worldwide.The first phase of the Starbucks expansion strategy focused on securing a major foothold in the Pacific Northwest while experimenting in other key markets that were farther away, but had a high potential for rapid growth in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Washington, D. C. Successful expansion throughout Florida, Hawaii and Tokyo showed that fine coffee could be a hit in warmer climates as well as in the cold cities. The Starbucks management team agreed of the company’s massive expansion program by owning the operation by itself instead of pursuing franchising. This was a smart move because franchising runs the risk of a possibility of ruining the brand’s ima ge to some extent. Other disadvantages of franchising are: †¢ Franchisees are self-employed there may be problems in ensuring that they all adhere to the operational methods that are designed to achieve uniformity.Failure by an individual franchisee will reflect badly on the whole franchise operation. †¢ The franchisee may have different objectives from those of the franchisor. In the long run, they may begin to resent the control exercised by the franchisor. This may cause problems in terms of ‘policing the franchisee’ Diversification means developing new products for new markets. Some of the reasons why it is advantageous for companies like Starbucks are: †¢ Diversification promises to be especially profitable †¢ To avoid dependence on a single product †¢ To strengthen existing products by synergy †¢ To compete on all points with a rival firm †¢ To take advantage of byproducts.Although diversification strategy is risky, the company r uns the risk of neglecting the existing products and introduces new products to new markets which are a desperate move. Starbucks diversified with new products namely †¢ Frappuccino, a popular bottled cold coffee beverage using extracts from Starbucks famous Arabica beans. Frappuccino put the Starbucks brand into supermarkets for the first time. †¢ In November 1999, Starbucks launched Barista Aroma thermal coffeemaker which was positioned as a ‘durable, convenient and consistent way to brew coffee. †¢ Two new lines of proprietary products were launched in 1999: chocolates and hot cider. †¢ Starbucks also introduced a line of coffee blends, called Milder Dimensions that aimed at capturing demand for lighter roasted coffees. Starbucks purchased Tazo Tea, an Oregon tea retailer, indicated a potential new trend for Starbucks to acquire companies as a means extending product lines. With Tazo Tea, Starbucks hoped to attract new customers who were looking alternat ives to coffee. With Starbuck’s geographical market expansion proceeding at a phenomenal rate and with much success, many companies across the country began to approach Starbucks with partnership proposals. But selecting the wrong partner company or the wrong product to introduce with a partner could have devastating consequences for the brand. As a result, Starbucks entered into partnerships with companies who maintained the same commitments to quality such as Kraft, Dryer’s, Pepsi, Host Marriott, and United Airlines.These partnership arrangements provided the company with a number of benefits given below: †¢ Increased brand awareness †¢ Broader range of potential customers †¢ Exposing to new customers helped the company to cultivate stronger brand image †¢ Partnership is a way so that consumers regard Starbucks as a world class brand. †¢ Partnership resulted in innovative product development. †¢ The Dryer’s joint venture with Star bucks led to the creation of six popular Starbucks coffee ice cream flavors that are marketed under the Starbucks name but produced and distributed by Dryer’s. Sales of these ice creams surpassed others such as Haagen-Dazs and increased to 54% in the year becoming the market leader. By partnering with Kraft, the second largest packaged-foods company in North America, Starbucks was able to benefit from Kraft’s extensive distribution network. The Kraft partnership also left the door open for Starbucks to explore the possibility of marketing food products with the help of Kraft’s distribution and marketing expertise. Despite of the above benefits the partnerships were providing to Starbucks, they also had problems: †¢ There was a risk that the partner companies will not maintain the same quality, customer service and commitments because Starbucks was allowing an outside source to brew its coffee. †¢ Staffs and bartenders may not be well trained and may no t provide adequate information to customers regarding Starbucks. In case, bad tasting coffee was being served to thousands of customers, then the brand would develop a negative connotation. For the above problems, Starbucks were able to solve these problems so that Starbucks’ brand image would be harmed in the partnerships. The partnering companies were quick to remedy coffee quality problems by working with Starbucks to install more effective filtering devices in aircraft brewing equipment, and to better educate staffs of the partnering companies on how to protect on how to protect the quality of the coffee. Therefore, since Starbucks could overcome the problems, partnerships have proved to be beneficial.To make Starbucks a world-class global brand the followings are needed: †¢ Production and distribution (saving costs and coffee quality). †¢ Marketing costs ( packaging and promotion ) †¢ Power and scope ( credibility, acceptance, social status, high quality, etc ) †¢ Consistency in brand image. †¢ Sustainability of core competences †¢ Uniformity ( controlling and coordination ) The hurdles which Starbucks must overcome are given below: †¢ Consumer needs and wants in different cultures. People in different countries may have different coffee drinking behavior and coffee consumption. †¢ Consumer response of marketing mix (attitudes and opinions). †¢ Legal environment (different labor policies between countries). Administrative procedures. In terms of American market, Starbuck’s biggest challenges are: †¢ Biggest threat : Dunkin’ Donuts †¢ Increasing of direct competitors †¢ Aggressive global marketing strategies †¢ Focus on overseas growth and brand development Despite Starbuck’s remarkable growth, it began to lose focus as the company stove to constantly reinvent itself. The brand was growing too rapidly to remain focused on its core values and business objectives. St arbucks developed non related or other products, such as in November 1999 it launched Barista Aroma Thermal coffeemaker which was positioned as a durable, convenient and consistent way to brew coffee.In case of this coffeemaker the problems were, it was blocking the sightline and the traditional coffee taste was being lost. Hence in this case it can be recommended for semi-automated coffee machines and designing of proper layout for the coffee machines so that the machines do not block the sightlines. It also launched non related products such as custom made CDs and other entertainment products. Although these have the advantages of increased brand awareness, improved brand image and enhanced parent brand, these products have the demerits of losing brand identity, core values and the company may end up with frustrated and confused customers.So it can be recommended to pull out unrelated diversification and focus on being number one in the coffee business. Starbucks’ meteoric rise from a tiny local retailer to an international coffee powerhouse as one of the great success stories in American business in the last decade. The fact that Starbucks’ garnered such media and investor attention in the midst of the Information Age without an ounce of ‘tech’ in its product made this growth all the more remarkable. Incredibly, Starbucks achieved its market leader position largely without aid from advertising campaigns. Instead, the company built the brand by relying on the quality of their products and services to induce free word-of-mouth ‘advertising’ from customer to customer.As Starbucks’ continued to push for new product innovations and business opportunities as a way to differentiate itself from its competitors, the company ran the risk of straying too far from its original focus of spreading its passion for fine coffee. The ballooning size of the corporation suggested that the quality of Starbucks’ products and services, and the strength of the company’s relationships with its most valued people, would need to be closely monitored. A larger, global Starbucks’ had to find the right balance in pursuing product- driven, people- driven, value- driven and sales- driven objectives. www. starbucks. com www. hoovers. com www. businessweek. com Strategic Brand Management, Keller, 2006 Best Practice Cases in Branding written by K. L. Keller ———————– STARBUCKS |BRAND & PRODUCT MANAGEMENT | Acknowledgement Executive Summary Table of Contents Objective of the Report Methodology of the Report Limitation of the report Starbucks at a glance STARBUCKSSuccess keys for Starbucks’ in brand building Brand values of Starbucks’ SRAR Sources of Equity Growth Strategies Starbucks- A Global Brand Recommendation Conclusion STARBUCKS | |STARBUCKS | [pic] References STARBUCKSssS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBU CKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS STARBUCKS ———————– Brand & Product Management

Smoking companies should be sued. (a negative speech Grade 9 essays

Smoking companies should be sued. (a negative speech Grade 9 essays Good evening chairperson ladies and gentlemen, Before I Begin the negative teams argument. I would like to address some of the misleading statements made by the affirmative team. The Negative team agrees/disagrees with the definition made by the affirmative team We disagree with the definition laid out by the affirmative team; we would like to redefine the following words. Cigarette, company, sued. Cigarette: A slender roll of cut tobacco enclosed in paper and meant to be smoked Company: An association of persons for carrying on a commercial or industrial enterprise Sued: to seek justice or right from (a person) by legal process Our theme for this evenings debate is if people choose to partake in any activity or habit, which is obviously risky, they should not have the right to sue. Individuals should be held liable for the choices they make. The negative team believes that our theme is an apt one because it is not the responsibility of the cigarette companies but the choices made by the individuals. Our split for tonight is economic and social views, which leads me to my first point. On average a packet of cigarettes cost $10.00, and $6.50 of that is tax, which goes to the government. Last year Australia sold Thirty five million packets of cigarettes, That means that Two hundred and twenty seven million five hundred thousand dollars is injected in to the Australian economy this money not only pays for the health system but also our public schools and our infrastructure. If smoking companies are sued it may lead to chapter eleven bankruptcy, this would mean that all of the money that would be injected to the Australian economy would now be non-existent. The consequences would be that taxes across the board would be raised by an additional 5%, to make up for the loss. This years budget was announced last night and there was a major surplus even with a drought a war and an epidemic this was said ...

Mecca - Holy Pilgrimage Site for Muslims

Mecca - Holy Pilgrimage Site for Muslims The Islamic religions holiest city of Mecca (also known as Mekka or Makkah) is located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Its importance as a holy city for Muslims harks back to it being the birthplace of the founder of Islam, Mohammed. The prophet Mohammed was born in Mecca, located approximated 50 miles from the Red Sea port city of Jidda, in the year 571 CE. Mohammed fled to Medina, now also a holy city, in the year 622 (ten years prior to his death). Muslims face Mecca during their daily prayers and one of the key tenets of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a Muslims life (known as Hajj). Approximately two million Muslims arrive in Mecca during the last month of the Islamic calendar for the Hajj. This influx of visitors requires a great deal of logistical planning by the Saudi government. Hotels and other services in the city are stretched to the limit during the pilgrimage. The holiest site within this holy city is the Great Mosque. Within the Great Mosque sits the Black Stone, a large black monolith that is central to worship during the Hajj. In the Mecca area are several additional sites where Muslims worship. Saudi Arabia is closed to tourists and Mecca itself is off limits to all non-Muslims. Roadblocks are stationed along roads leading to the city. The most celebrated incident of a non-Muslim visiting Mecca was the visit by the British explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton (who translated the 100 stories of the Arabian Knights and discovered the Kama Sutra) in 1853. Burton disguised himself as an Afghani Muslim to visit and write Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Mecca. Mecca sits in a valley surrounded by low hills; its population is approximately 1.3 million. Although Mecca is definitely the religious capital of Saudi Arabia, remember that the Saudi political capital is Riyadh.

Calculating Reading Level With the Flesch-Kincaid Scale

Calculating Reading Level With the Flesch-Kincaid Scale Are you writing at an appropriate grade level? There are several scales and calculations used to determine the readability or grade level of a piece of writing. One of the most common scales is the Flesch-Kincaid scale. You can determine the Flesch-Kincaid reading grade level of a paper you’ve written easily in Microsoft Word. There is a tool for this that you access from your menu bar. You can either calculate an entire paper, or you can highlight a section and then calculate. Steps Go to TOOLS and select OPTIONS and SPELLING GRAMMARSelect the box CHECK GRAMMAR WITH SPELLINGSelect the box SHOW READABILITY STATISTICS and select OKAYTo generate the readability statistic now, select SPELLING AND GRAMMAR from the toolbar at the top of the page. The tool will go through its recommended changes and provide readability statistics at the end You can use a formula to calculate the Flesch-Kincaid reading level on your own. This is a good tool to determine whether a book is going to challenge you Calculating Readability of Your Writing Select a few paragraphs to use as your baseCalculate the average number of words per sentence. Multiply the result by 0.39Calculate the average number of syllables in words (count and divide) Multiply the result by 11.8Add the two results togetherSubtract 15.59 The result will be a number that equates to a grade level. For example, a 6.5 is a sixth-grade reading level result.

Katherine Philips and her Works Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Katherine Philips and her Works - Essay Example Philips detached herself from Presbyterian traditions and admired the king and his church policy. Katherine’s mother married a Welshman called Hector Philips after the death of his father John Fowler. When Katherine was sixteen years old, she married James Philips a Welsh parliamentarian in 1647. James Philips was said to be fifty-four years old. However, there was little conflict between Katherine and her husband on political issues in that Katherine was a royalist and James was a supporter of Oliver Cromwell. This division is recorded in her poetry works. Katherine spent most of her time in London through her husband continued to reside in Wales. Her husband encouraged her literary creativity. Katherine had two children a daughter a son. Katherine founded the society of friends, which originated from the cult in Neoplatonic love imported by Henrietta Maria in 1630 where members acquired pseudonyms from French romances of cavalier dramas. Katherine Philips borrowed these ideas and dramatized it in her society of friendship. The society of friendship existed between 1651 and 166. This society helped Katherine to establish a standard in literary skills for generations as she managed to establish herself as a model for female writers after her death. She was regarded as the apostle of female friendship and this attached great respect to her name. Katherine Philip’s home became the center of the group. Actually, she wrote one hundred and sixteen poems, completed five verse translations, and translated two plays by Pierre Corneille from the French between 1606 and 1684. Her plays were produced in public theaters in both London and Dublin becoming the first female dramatists to have her works produced in public. Phillips did not receive any payment for her work, unlike Alpha Behn who is the first woman to write for the English stage as a professional. Anne Owen was the most important female member of the circle of friendship. She was known as Lucasia in  Philips’s poems.

Female Genital Mutilation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Female Genital Mutilation - Research Paper Example The present research has identified that F. G. M is a procedure that has no health benefits on girls or woman, causes severe psychological and physiological problems and it is mostly practiced in Africa as a nonreligious, cultural ritual. Some scholars such as Elizabeth Bransfield in her case studies involving Female Genital Mutilation in Gender, Anthropology, and Religion argues that it is a religious ritual and cultural issue, while it is overlooked that the ritual has no medical reasons because the female body is adversely harmed. Psychologically, the victim of F.G.M suffers a lot of pain during the procedure which is done mostly in unhygienic conditions and without anesthetic. The removal of the clitoris to is painful due to its having a lot of nerve endings. Injury to the genital area could also scar the victim for life considering that the procedure is undertaken mostly unprofessionally, in poor lighting and at times in the bush. The thrashing, fearful and screaming victim coul d also aggravate the injuries due to the being done by personnel who are not trained in handling medical cases. Lack of medical facilities could also result in dire consequences including death in case of complications. Infection due to unhygienic procedures is a common feature due to the use of unhygienic tools, dirty herbs or untested traditional medicines. Death or very major medical complications conditions could result due to the many underlying conditions under which F.G.M is done. When the procedure involves infibulation, which involves the bidding of the legs for some time, urine and faces are retained in the wound and the damp conditions in the wound could develop into a very septic wound.

Qualities of a great leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Qualities of a great leader - Essay Example The enthusiastic personality has proven to be a very effective motivator. They are optimistic and endeavor to boost the moral of others by giving them recognition. Leaders â€Å"who are skilled in understanding interpersonal relations and psychological needs will inspire their whole team by motivating each person through supportive insight, respect, and recognition† (Hart, 1997, p. 48). However, this personality type is over-emotional, has a tough time concentrating on a task and lacks proficient time management ability. They are not assertive, tend to not be judgmental and craves acceptance. The dominant personality craves authority over others and is concerned with obtaining instantaneous results. They pride themselves on making quick decisions and readily accept challenges. This personality is not comfortable being under someone else’s control and prefers to be in charge of multiple activities. They usually have innovative ideas, can problem solve on their own and are sure in their decisions. Unfortunately, these decisions can be hurried and not fully thought out. If those of this personality type are able to modify their shortcomings by exercising greater caution, considering other people’s feelings and becoming more detailed oriented, they are normally some of the most effective leaders (Squier, 2007). A conscientiousness personality performs their duties meticulously while focusing on accuracy and quality. This person is detail oriented and methodically weighs the merits of every situation and is diplomatic when interacting with others. Unlike the domineering but similar to the steady personality, this type performs better when the implementation requirements expectations are plainly spelled out. These people exude a business-like, reserved personality and are likely to question authority figures because they must

Investigate data representations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Investigate data representations - Essay Example The above scheme can work fine as long as there are â€Å"unsigned† numbers. A strategy had to be evolved to represent â€Å"signed† numbers with consistent representation of negative as well as positive numbers. Several representation systems exist to represent signed numbers like the sign-and-magnitude, one’s complement, two’s complement, etc. Sign-and-magnitude and one’s complement both use the most significant bit to represent the sign of the number with 0 for positive and 1 for negative sign. An anomaly arises in the representation of the number zero itself. Since the most significant bit denotes the sign, a zero can be both â€Å"negative†, as in 10000000, as well as â€Å"positive†, as in 00000000. This ambiguity has led modern computer systems design to adopt the two’s complement which does not have this ambiguity. Two’s complement represents positive numbers by converting simply from decimal to binary. So, a decimal 4 in 4-bit representation would become 0100. Zero is uniquely represented by 0000. Negative numbers are first complemented and then a 1 is added to the result. A generic formula would be 2N-A+1 where N is the number of bits used and A is the number to be converted. See example of converting decimal -3 to two’s complement below: Arithmetic functions can be purely addition based and no subtraction remains necessary. Subtraction can be performed by adding the two’s complement representations. The resulting number is the two’s representation of final result. The range of uniquely representable numbers in N-bit systems are -2N-1 to +-2N-1-1 (Dandamudi 886). Floating point numbers are represented differently. They are divided into three parts, the sign bits for exponent and mantissa, the exponent and the mantissa. For example, if 205.347 is to be represented, it is first brought to a â€Å"normal form† of 2.05347 x 102 where 205347 is the mantissa and the power of 2 is the

Case Study to Promote Critical Reasoning Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

To Promote Critical Reasoning - Case Study Example The sources of conflict that are developing in this facility are (1) differences in goals (each group or person has a goal or purpose within which the donated funds are suggested to be earmarked); (2) resource interdependence (the units compete with each other for other own share of the resources, specifically, of the donated funds); (3) task ambiguity (there is a lack of clarity as to how the money or donated funds must be used according to a pre-defined guideline or policy); (4) differences in power and status; as well as backgrounds and traits (each group has different perceptions on the relative value of their contributions to the achievement of the hospice center’s goals) (Martires & Fule, 2004). 2. What kind of leadership actions are needed to prevent the escalation of this conflict? The use of authority or leadership through recognition of the highest authorized decision-maker within the hospice center is needed to impose a solution to resolve or suppress the conflict. The highest authority in the hospice center would depend on which role was designated at the organizational structure. For a non-profit hospice, the decision-makers are usually members of the Board of Directors where an executive committee would be headed by the President (AAHPM, n.d.). In this case, the highest authorities seem to be in the professional capacities of the Administrator and the Finance Officer – with no clear distinctions of who should be in charge to decide on matters of the funds (could be the Finance Officer, if explicitly identified within the hospice’s policies and procedures). As it is, I agree with the Finance Officer to initially put the money in the bank for future needed endeavors. Spending the funds must be subject to the plans of the hospice given their urgency and importance to the achievement of the hospice’s mission and vision. 5. Try role playing a negotiation among the administrator, the financial officer, the chaplin, a representative of

Investigate data representations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Investigate data representations - Essay Example The above scheme can work fine as long as there are â€Å"unsigned† numbers. A strategy had to be evolved to represent â€Å"signed† numbers with consistent representation of negative as well as positive numbers. Several representation systems exist to represent signed numbers like the sign-and-magnitude, one’s complement, two’s complement, etc. Sign-and-magnitude and one’s complement both use the most significant bit to represent the sign of the number with 0 for positive and 1 for negative sign. An anomaly arises in the representation of the number zero itself. Since the most significant bit denotes the sign, a zero can be both â€Å"negative†, as in 10000000, as well as â€Å"positive†, as in 00000000. This ambiguity has led modern computer systems design to adopt the two’s complement which does not have this ambiguity. Two’s complement represents positive numbers by converting simply from decimal to binary. So, a decimal 4 in 4-bit representation would become 0100. Zero is uniquely represented by 0000. Negative numbers are first complemented and then a 1 is added to the result. A generic formula would be 2N-A+1 where N is the number of bits used and A is the number to be converted. See example of converting decimal -3 to two’s complement below: Arithmetic functions can be purely addition based and no subtraction remains necessary. Subtraction can be performed by adding the two’s complement representations. The resulting number is the two’s representation of final result. The range of uniquely representable numbers in N-bit systems are -2N-1 to +-2N-1-1 (Dandamudi 886). Floating point numbers are represented differently. They are divided into three parts, the sign bits for exponent and mantissa, the exponent and the mantissa. For example, if 205.347 is to be represented, it is first brought to a â€Å"normal form† of 2.05347 x 102 where 205347 is the mantissa and the power of 2 is the

With rreference to recent case law discuss the impact of the human Essay

With rreference to recent case law discuss the impact of the human rights act 1998 on the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy - Essay Example The UK Constitution is rightly deemed an unconventional, uncodified constitution that is a pragmatic product of experience and experiment. Central to the UK Constitution is the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy which endows the UK Parliament an overweening supremacy above all other governmental institutions including the executive and the judiciary. As defined by Albert Dicey, it is a doctrine wherein the Parliament has â€Å"the right to make or unmake any law whatever and further, that no person or body is recognised by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament.†3 Parliament is not bound by its predecessor. In other words, it confers upon the Parliament the title â€Å"Supreme Lawmaker† by which the notion of judicial review does not apply. Thus, no court is allowed to question the validity of an Act of Parliament. Moreover, the Parliament’s legislative competence is rendered unlimited and by ordinary Act of Parliament it is empowered to alter any aspect of the existing Constitution. This doctrine had been questioned but was upheld in the Madzimbamuto case with finality, holding that if Parliament chose to enact a law that is improper or immoral, â€Å"the court will not hold the Act of Parliament invalid†.4 This doctrine had also been lambasted by such judges as Lord Chief Justice Woolf on the ground that it causes the British courts to become a weakened judiciary, stripped of the power of judicial review and the power to interpret civil rights implications while the Parliament is free to enact any legislation that it desires.5 It is a reality though, that the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy was threatened and suffered an erosion when UK decided to become a member of the European Union in 1972 and had to accede to European laws and the principle of the supremacy of European union law. The case Costa v ENEL

A manager and a leader Essay Example for Free

A manager and a leader Essay The difference between a manager and a leader is that the former ensures control and rationality, her/his focus is on day to day problem solving, best means in achieving results for staff to continue to contribute to the organisation (Zaleznik,1992) . While a leader uses power to influence actions and people, focusing more on outcomes and impact, where this action has inherited risks such as the risk of losing self- control in the need for power (Zaleznik,1992). While leaders and managers have common traits such as sound communication skills, work ethics, integrity, key technical competencies, etc, yet there are some differences. These differences can be summarised as follows: Risk taking: Manager are regulators of affairs in an organisation, getting rewards from collective achievements . Therefore, to be a good manager, it requires persistence, patience, intelligence, analytical skills, and goodwill. Leaders think out of a box and work with high risk initiatives. While managers, unlike leaders, tend to solve problems in a more conservative way and tend to tolerate mundane and practical work (Zaeznik,1992). Leaders on the other hand are risk takers. Relationships: Manager work with people to implement initiatives, solve problems, by focusing staff on policies and procedures and not on content (Zaleznik,1992). They are engrossed in how to make decisions, but not what are the rights decisions to make. While leaders attract strong feelings of identity and difference. Their human relationship might seem turbulent, intensifying motivation and often resulting in unanticipated results (Zaleznik, 1992). Sense of self-worth: managers’ sense of self-worth is secured by ensuring and strengthening existing institutions. While leaders feel separate from their institutions, their perception of identity is different (Zaleznik, 1992). They may work in an organisation and never have a sense of belonging, always seeking opportunities for change. Vision versus objectives and goals: Managers take the short view, focus on objectives, targets, implementation and monitoring and evaluation while leaders take the long view, focusing more on a clear vision, a clear sense of purpose, and a passion to pursue that vision while aligning the organisation its vision (Allio, 2012). Manager Leader Ensures control and follows day to day work implementation of an action plan (day to day work) Sets a vision A problem solver Uses power to lead and influence action Not a risk taker Willing to take risks (balance between change and stability) Follows rules and regulations High levels of creativity, always thinks out of a box Implementer Leads, inspires and motivates Strong sense of belonging to organisation May and may not have a sense of belonging to organisation Works in a comfort zone Always embracing change management, seeking new opportunities. In health care, the Minister of Health in the State of Palestine is a leader, while the director generals, directors of various departments are managers. The former is the person who sets out the vision for the ministry, partnering with other stakeholders (UN organisations, private sector, and others) for instance in advancing the public health sector. This resulted in a reduction in infant and under five child mortality rates over the past five years. While director generals and directors are consumed with implementing the inputs needed to achieve the overall vision set out by the Minister. Thank you. References: Allio, R.J., (2012), ‘Leaders and leadership – many theories, but what advice is reliable?.’ Strategy and Leadership. [Online], 41, (1), pp. 4-14. Available online from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/10878571311290016 (Accessed on: 19 January 2015). Zaleznik, A., (1992), Managers and leaders: Are they different?’ Harvard Business Review. [Online], 70 (2), pp 126-135. Available from: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3sid=ef29e84c-a001-4d56-9f66-b5f4a202c402%40sessionmgr4001hid=4202 (Accessed

An Analysis Of Personal Leadership Skills Nursing Essay

An Analysis Of Personal Leadership Skills Nursing Essay For this essay I have audited my leadership skills using theoretical models and referred to specific situations and experiences. This encompasses personal, academic and professional reflections and explores opportunities for my career paths and personal development with an Action Plan for the future. This has required critical evaluation of my own development needs in light of my own aspirations, establishing an understanding of my transferrable skills and how these can be enhanced. For this I have considered situations in which my leadership traits, styles and skills have been utilised to help create successful outcomes. Background My career path has involved working closely with and taking an interest in people, both clients and colleagues alike. In developing my management skills, I am continually pursuing further ways of improving the effectiveness of these interactions which is immensely rewarding for me. On leaving school, my first employment was within the travel industry. From the outset, I sought to improve skills and enjoyed the challenge of meeting the needs of customers, budgetary targets, training of staff, problem solving, through to the opening and management of a travel agency branch several years later. Apart from the GCSE qualifications gained at school, any further academic or professional learning has been gained whilst in employment. The skills and achievements in my personal life are equally transferrable to my work life. For example, as Chairman of a genealogical society for several years and public speaking engagements both serve as reminders that I have organisational, research and presentation abilities which I can and should be utilising and developing along my career path. I am a prison officer and, three years ago, I learnt that my establishment was funding a Foundation Degree in Offender Management. My initial reaction was one of excitement as I had, for several years, considered some form of Higher Education by way of personal and professional development, but had never explored the options. It was a source of immense satisfaction to pass the course and achieve Distinction grade. My learning journey, experiences and personal developments, undertaken in the last three years, would take more than the word count of this essay allows, yet there are key points to reflect on in order to analyse my own leadership skills and continue their development. Theoretical Models and Personal Experience of Reflection in my Professional Development: From my earliest days in retail employment, then Care Work and on to prison officer, I have been fascinated by people and behaviour. Working alongside others, as well as empowering and training gives me great personal and professional satisfaction. Using reflective models such as Gibbs (1998), shown in Appendix III, I came to realise that how I interpret situations influences my interactions with others. As I will illustrate, this relates directly to my personality style and how I manage people and situations. Linked to this is the importance I place on how I am viewed by others and naturally seek collaborative and open relationships. Many of these values are found in Carnegie (1938), listed in Appendix I. The Study Skills Self-Assessment which I completed on 23 October 2007 (Appendix II) highlighted three main employability skills I need to develop as: Improving own learning and performance Application of number (data collection and interpretation) Information and technology proficiency Alongside these, to develop, are my personal attributes of Self confidence Flexibility and adaptability Judgement In this assessment I also reflected on my own specific weaknesses which include being too self-critical and not praising my own achievements enough which can affect my ability to be objective about my performance. I have a strong underpinning need to defend others and leap to their rescue which I have come to see as a hindrance to my own development and of those I seek to help. This is a particularly important area for me to address as future management roles will require me to allow others to take their own personal responsibility and only offer guidance as appropriate. This rescuer style is schema-related and I have considered schema theory and how this applies to me. Beck, (1967:233), described a schema as ..a cognitive structure for screening, coding, and evaluating the stimuli that impinge  on the organism. In short, schemas are the filters or core beliefs we have about ourselves or the world around us which influence how we interpret different situations in our lives. The nature of the work I do in offender rehabilitation requires me to undertake regular de-briefing, supervision, yearly health reviews and bi-monthly counselling. This, together with schema theory and other therapy models I use with prisoners, which I have also applied to myself, means I spend a lot of time being introspective and sharing reflections with colleagues. This helps define practical steps for a successful future but also enables me to gain wider perspectives in understanding, leading and managing others with a range of resources and situational analysis capabilities. Whereas, in the past and even recently, I have questioned the decision making processes of management, this has reshaped into a desire to gain a holistic overview of the work environment. Understanding the way we think and manage ourselves and others has been an important facet of my learning over the last three years. Straker (2008) who expands on the work of Gardner (2006) was helpful in appreciating that how we interact with people, at all levels, and is crucial for self development. Overcoming objections to understanding others, for fear that this might disprove our own theories about ourselves and the world are key hurdles of which I must continually be mindful. Negative experiences in this have resulted in an unhealthy view of the workplace but, as I said earlier, the benefits of a more engaging view have proved beneficial in my work and personal well being. As well as using Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1998), Kolb (1984) also helped me to evaluate experiences and test hypotheses but I did not find it took me to the point of action whereas Gibbs sets out the plan for ongoing development which is crucial for me so as not to remain procrastinating. Moon (2004) has been a useful resource on reflective practice, reminding me that reflection is not just important in itself, but must also lead to positive change, In observing what gets in the way, rather than being stuck in analysis, to move beyond and set goals for positive development has been essential learning for me and has been a surprising benefit which I had not expected several years ago. Leadership Employability Skills I recently completed an Employability Skills self assessment exercise which we first undertook in the first semester of the Foundation Degree. On doing this, I compared the results from the two. It was encouraging that one of my main developments appears to have been in problem solving and I consider my Higher Education studies over the last three years as contributing to my deeper analysing abilities. In light of earlier descriptions of my learning journey and reflective logs, it is gratifying to see that I have come a long way in, not only overcoming my own obstacles to learning, but making measured and significant achievement which then enables me to guide others in their roles. Among the key learning experiences for me, alongside the above, are a recognition of the roles of others, networking and effective communication. My career path has involved working closely with and taking an interest in people, both clients and colleagues alike. This was particularly apparent when I recently updated my Curriculum Vitae (Appendix IV), which was last compiled almost fifteen years ago. In developing my management skills throughout my degree studies, I have discovered further ways of improving the effectiveness of these interactions which is immensely rewarding for me. Through networking with management and departments for resources on researching prison policy, security and management skills, I am now feeling positive and motivated to succeed in career development. Not only is this important from a practical, self-development perspective, but also the fulfilling sense of achievement this will bring. Until recently, I was Supervisor of the Core Sex Offender Treatment Programme which was an important role in developing my leadership skills, promoting staff well-being as well as guiding staffs professional development. Another important aspect of this was to remain flexible yet consistent in balancing these needs whilst focussing on the goals of the establishment Business Plan and Key Performance Target (KPT) priorities. This mirrors Handy (1987) who argues for such flexibility in his Trust Control Theory. I find myself taking the opportunity to develop the skills of others very seriously and is personally rewarding and empowering. The values I attribute to this mirror those of Kandola and Fullerton (1994) in their Mosaic Vision which I have included in Appendix V. In Transactional Analysis Theory (Bern, 1961), every individuals personality is made up of three parts Parent, Adult and Child. An assessment of my own revealed a predominantly Nurturing Parent relationship style which is immensely rewarding personally, but can prove emotionally draining and is not without its practical problems. However, developing assertiveness skills in establishing my own identity and skills base has the benefit of overcoming any negative rumination and keeps lines of communication open. An example of achieving this was in challenging my line manager over my yearly performance review where I was rated Achieved and not Exceeded which I felt was deserved. I could have overlooked this and ruminated unhelpfully, believing him to be responsible for not recognising my achievements, but chose instead to manage my manager and argued my case. I found the www.h2training.com website interesting which had useful strategies for reminding me how to maintain my own degree of self-determination. Quoting from this site: Its unreasonable to expect your manager to be entirely responsible for accelerating your career: ultimately, its your own responsibility. Remember that an expectation is also resentment waiting to happen, and it is very difficult to hide resentment. http://h2training.com/managing_manager_tips.html [accessed November 2010] Suffice to say, my performance record was amended accordingly. I recently had to step down from Sex Offender Treatment work which I found difficult to accept. I, therefore, reappraised my personal development and used reflective skills (Kolb, 1984 and Beck 1967) to help evaluate the experiences and to understand how I was interpreting them. By doing this, I was able to negotiate a role within the drugs support team after originally being offered an office based assessment position which I would have found unfulfilling. Indeed, on reflection, assertiveness and negotiation are two core management attributes which are now part of my skills set. Drawing together the range of experience and interests I have enjoyed over successive years keeps me, first and foremost, actively engaged in working for and alongside others. My role as a drugs support worker requires the key skills I possess with the realisation and expectation that they can be further developed with a particular emphasis on evaluating the management requirements of this work. This is encouraging and, in this period of change, I have come to realise the importance of job satisfaction as a key motivator for me. An important element of my professional life is to uphold personal and corporate values of decency and ethical practice including cultural diversity. I was pleased to be able to highlight these values in my Diversity Foundation Degree project from January 2009 where I made recommendations for valuing the diversity of staff and prisoners and improving ethical practice in Programmes Awareness training at Full Sutton. This was well received by the treatment management team resulting in the training being strengthened in this area. On sharing the findings of my Transactional Analysis with a work colleague, my nurturing parent style was acknowledged and confirmed through my perceived empathic nature. In looking at my management style, it is important that I maintain a balance between this and being careful not to go into White Knight schema-driven mode, where I need to defend others at all costs. Developing a style which cares for others yet enables them to function on their own merits allows me to function better as a genuinely caring person in my work and as a leader. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory (1943), reminds me that my own needs count as well as those of other people. In other words, putting other people first all the time is detrimental to my own well-being and valuing myself is, in itself, a key assertiveness skill. I continually remind myself of the announcements on aircraft during safety briefings where, in the event of oxygen masks being deployed, you are instructed to put your own on first before aiding anyone else. If you dont, you might pass out beforehand and then no one is saved. Critically evaluating My Leadership and Management Style Some years ago, a colleague of mine who has since retired, told me his thoughts on a particular Senior Manager. He used a phrase which, though meant in a derogatory sense, I have never forgotten. He said ..as a leader of men, I would only follow him out of curiosity. This colleague had spent many distinguished years in the Armed Services as a Regimental Sergeant Major and had been in the Prison Service for around 15 years. He had, therefore, some considerable experience of different management and leadership styles. Using established theory I continually analyse my own strengths and weaknesses in areas of leadership and management. Fayol (1916) highlighted five commons elements of management which are essential to the role. These include the ability to look to the future, to be organised and co-ordinate the organisational objectives, leading (though he defined it as commanding which is unhelpfully autocratic) and, finally, to control the above elements using all means at his or her disposal. Whilst this was written at the beginning of the last century, the basic tenets of management Fayol lists are still valid though ones own personality also engenders an effective workforce which can achieve results. The latter is personally important as I seek to have followers rather than delegates and makes me, as a manager, more of a leader. I recently completed the Myers Briggs Personality Type Questionnaire. Having done this a couple of years ago, I decided to redo this using an internet-based assessment resource (www.teamtechnology.co.uk) [accessed 15 September 2010], which produced a comprehensive 200 page report. Summary in Appendix VI The results proved very interesting and formed a cohesive assessment which affirmed the beliefs about my personality and leadership attributes gained over the last few years. This was confirmed through the initial questionnaire together with a separate subtest which had similar outcomes and, interestingly, the results were very similar to my previous assessment two years previously. Essentially, I have a strong focus on values, feelings, compassion and important beliefs where current experiences hold great learning importance. Team values are high and my role in ensuring the well-being of those with whom I work is important to me. There are, however, elements of this personality type which I am aware can be problematic if not managed appropriately. I do have a tendency to avoid conflict yet can be stubborn where my own values come into conflict with corporate ideals in which I run the risk of failing in objectivity. These are negative traits which I have been consciously working on over the last few years and serve to remind me that, whilst having a default style, this does not preclude effective working on these to the benefit of all concerned. Interestingly, the top two best matches of jobs for me based on enjoyment are actor and musician; for match came out as counsellor and customer care and a combination of match and enjoyment came out as counsellor and actor. All of these I have both experience and interest in and the traits from these have indeed shaped my leadership style. The Humanist approach described by McGregor (1964) looked at how individual attitudes can affect behaviour. He purported that there are 2 types of leader (using an X and Y continuum ranging from a negative to positive view of subordinates respectively). The latter, he showed, have a greater chance of effective performance from the workforce through a nurturing approach which I can identify with. A reflective log from December 2009 is included in Appendix VII. Again, as with most models, there is a typical style for each individual manager but even the most open and supportive one can revert on occasions to X-typical strategies and responses. This can be somewhat confusing and lacking in continuity for the workforce and, potentially unsettling as I will illustrate later in this essay. The model is similar to Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1958) who use the continuum from Authoritarian Task Orientation to Democratic Relationship Orientation where I operate towards the latter and Goleman (2000) on which I identify with the Affiliative (people come first) stage. Operational leaders, as covered by Maxwell (2002) have great value to an organisation in providing stability, devising systems and solving problems with positive engagement. However, because of their focus on detail they can overlook the bigger picture, sometimes lack motivation and are not effective in dealing with conflict. Very often, paraphrasing Maxwell here, operational leaders are not very good at getting their hands dirty but readily raise the flag at the moment of achievement. Thankfully, whilst viewing myself as an operational leader, I do like to share in tasks as well as delegate. John Adair (2002) in his range of leadership treatises, (which, incidently, build on the previous models of Maslow (1943), Herzberg (1964) and Fayol (1916) highlights three key management responsibilities under his banner of Action Centred leadership. Achieving the task Managing the team or group Managing individuals Whilst advocating a shared responsibility between the individual and external factors, it does not, however, take stock of the individual in the leadership role which I view as crucial. A similar but more complex model I have become interested in, is known as Crew Resource Management (CRM) which was originally devised by NASA to explore the human factors in civil aviation accidents in the 1970s. Several industries have adopted and adapted their own models accordingly and my interest will culminate in a dissertation for my Degree on the benefits of adopting a CRM approach to Prison Service critical incidents. Tasks or people? Workforce or Team ? It is clear that leadership is different to management though a good leader will have good management skills. In considering whether I impose myself as leader to focus on task or allow the team to flourish utilising their own skills, I completed the T-P leadership questionnaire (Appendix VIII). This scored exactly midway between the two, highlighting my awareness and flexibility to respond to both important aspects. How we respond to a leader gives some indication of our own skills and that of the one in the supervisory role. As one who aims to lead by inspiration, I am more inclined to follow Kolbs (1984) model of learning and encourage people to adapt concrete way of doing things to update their skills base and find more effective ways of working (feeling, watching, thinking, doing). An autocratic leader would be less inclined to allow such flexibility and attempt to ensure compliance from those who might be more inclined to kick and scream in and against the process. An effective leader should also take individual learning styles into account as no one method fits all. Honey and Mumfords Learning Style Inventory (1982), highlights the differences that exist, as I have found even within small teams, yet we all work together and effectively, notwithstanding that everyones experience of being under the same leadership will be different. One of the most important sources of reflection in considering my own style of leadership, plus a reinforcement of my own beliefs and values, is represented in the Style Theory of Leadership developed by Blake and Mouton (1964). This, essentially, follows on from McGregors X-Y theory and is more relevant to those predominantly on the Y axis and where a level of trust in management structure exists in the workplace. However, Blake and Mouton explored the benefits of those that put tasks before people and vice versa. Ultimately they considered whether concern for people or concern for production was more important for leaders. As with other models, the day to day style of individuals in leadership roles can vary but everyone has their own default mode. Where productivity appears more important than the maintenance and well-being of the staff, I can find myself at odds with the management and perceived ethos of the establishment at which I work. With the Blake Mouton model, I was relieved to have my default leadership style confirmed as Team Leader. This is indicative of high concern for both people and production where emphasis is placed on a spirit of teamwork and mutual co-operation. This also engenders a safe environment in which commitment from all sides is more readily forthcoming. However, in completing a recent practical assessment for a promotion board I failed to attain the required grade. I knew this as soon as the assessment was over, though I had to wait two months for the official result. In fact, I knew during the assessment, I was reacting totally contrary to my normal sense of priorities when faced with a constant stream of problems to solve. I found myself focussing primarily on the tasks and not enough on the personnel. For example, when faced with a member of staff who was emotionally upset at a domestic issue, I asked if he was okay to continue to get his landing unlocked and would look to help him with his problem later. Afterwards I learnt that the assessors were looking for Utopian responses in all scenarios assuming all needs could be immediately provided so I could have put staff welfare first, getting his role covered immediately so he could then get home to sort his issues. However, I reverted to my current work role where the pressure to meet deadlines sometimes overrides well-being. As this was completely at odds with how I believed I would normally have reacted, I was left feeling ill at ease and questioned why I persisted in this way when I am naturally Y (using McGregors model, 1960) and more team focused than task orientated (Blake Mouton, 1964). Whilst I may not fully understand why, at least it is a recognised trait à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..theory X managers (or indeed theory Y managers displaying theory X are primarily results oriented Internet source http://www.businessballs.com/mcgregor.htm [October 2010] On reflection, I am convinced that the culture and environment of the higher management structure (which demands and focuses on results and targets) filters down and, no matter how much one tries to resist or even kick against it, it permeates ones own work practice after a while. The climate in which I work consistently places emphasis on the meeting of Key Performance Targets (KPTs) and now, the Service Level Agreement (SLA). In meeting these as well as ever increasing budgetary constraints, every facet of work culture is placed under the microscope and, wherever possible, cut, yet the targets must be met regardless. However, no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves or expectations laid at our office door, it is how we respond that is important and the acceptance of our personal responsibility to be channelled into effective working. An important element of relationships, at all levels including personal and business, is trust. Where one perceives this to be eroded or not present due to conflict in aims or values, it can have a destructive affect on effective co-working. As can be seen above, this is something I am struggling with in the corporate ethos where I am constantly second-guessing the motives behind management decision-making. However, to be an effective manager, I am mindful of maintaining a healthy approach to embracing the mission of the workplace even though I may not fully understand or have access to the full rationale behind the decision making processes from Higher Management. As a leader, I have to convey to those I wish to work effectively under me, that this mission is achievable and in the common interest despite my own such uncertainties. Maintaining personal integrity and establishing trust are essential in my personal, professional and leadership identity. Straker (2008:208) talks of transaction cost and trust boundaries. Essentially he argues that trust, if allowed to erode or not fostered within an organisation can impact on delivery and there has to be a cost on both sides to re-establish this. As he says .. the overall cost can be minimised with up-front investment in, and subsequent maintenance of, trust. If one does not have that sense of belonging within the trust group then there is something wrong with the work relationship and part of effective management and leadership performance is to be pro-active in fostering trust and encouraging people to enter the trust boundary. It begs the question, therefore, who and under what conditions will we follow? Should we be expected to lead and expect blind faith? What criteria and principles should be presented in order for others to set out on the journey with us ? Handy (1987) suggests that in order for an outcome to remain constant, the Trust-Control balance might need to shift between leader and subordinates and I can see merits in this as relationships, as well as work pressures, are fluid in nature. There are three established styles of leadership: autocratic, paternalistic and democratic. History records successful leaders who have exhibited all of the above. Each style can work and produce results but demands a flexibility on the part of the workforce to fit in with the style and it is that response which can be acknowledged and worked with or not as the case may be, As for my own style, confirmed as a nurturing parental approach, this has immense benefits for myself and for those who work under me as they feel supported and, more importantly in my opinion, affirmed in their roles with their own skills base recognised and developed. As with any style there are costs and, as I am finding, where my own sense of values conflicts with the demands laid upon me, this can have a detrimental effect to my own sense of purpose within the organisation. It is important, therefore, that structures and lines of communication are open which allow for that expression of view. However, this, in itself, is not without the potential cost. As I found when raising my head above the parapet on several occasions, to express concern and personal frustration with the direction expected by senior managers, it can blot ones copybook. Again, it is important for me to consider how much of this is down to my own personal perception and how able I am to see my subordinates perspective and, crucially, the aims and focus of the establishment delivery objectives. Conclusion In terms of future roles, I am best placed to consider managerial positions. The Foundation Degree and BA(Hons) are regarded as valuable qualifications both for their content relevant to the Criminal Justice System and Leadership and Management but also symbolising the desire and commitment I have and have shown for continued self development (Appendix IX). In the final analysis, the human dynamic is the most beneficial resource in the workplace but it is also the most fickle and, at times, fragile. To lead is a privilege and to follow is an opportunity. I can only strive to make myself worthy of the trust placed in me to, not only get the job done, but to enable others to be the very best they can be and, in the process, ensure I am followed out of respect and not coercion or, indeed, curiosity. Appendices: I. Excerpt from Carnegie (1938) II. Study Skills Self Assessment III. Gibbs (1998) Reflective Cycle IV. Curriculum Vitae V. Kandola and Fullerton (1994) Mosaic Vision VI. Myers Briggs Personality Type Questionnaire VII. Reflective Log on McGregor X,Y Theory VIII. T-P Leadership Questionnaire IX. Professional Development Plan Appendix I Excerpts from How To Win Friends and Influence People Carnegie (1938) Fundamental Techniques in Handling People Dont criticize, condemn, or complain. Give honest and sincere appreciation. Arouse in the other person an eager want. Six Ways to Make People Like You Become genuinely interested in other people. Smile. Remember that a mans Name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. Talk in the terms of the other mans interest. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking Avoid arguments. Show respect for the other persons opinions. Never tell someone they are wrong. If youre wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically. Begin in a friendly way. Start with questions the other person will answer yes to. Let the other person do the talking. Let the other person feel the idea is his/hers. Try honestly to see things from the other persons point of view. Sympathize with the other person. Appeal to noble motives. Dramatize your ideas. Throw down a challenge. Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment Begin with praise and honest appreciation. Call attention to other peoples mistakes indirectly. Talk about your own mistakes first. Ask questions instead of directly giving orders. Let the other person save face. Praise every improvement. Give them a fine reputation to live up to. Encourage them by making their faults seem easy to correct. Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest. Appendix II. Study Skills Self Assessment Appendix III. Gibbs (1998) Reflective Cycle Appendix IV. Curriculum Vitae Appendix V My Personal and Professional Values Related to The Mosaic Vision (Kandola and Fullerton, 1994) Mission and values (I tend to have a rescuer style in

Internet: The Newest Mass Medium Essay -- Essays Papers

Internet: The Newest Mass Medium In order to analyze the Internet as a mass medium, we first have to look at the original intentions of the Internet. Originally the Internet was utilized strictly by the government and educational institutions. Its primary purposes were research and education, although it soon became a form of entertainment for a portion of the population through games, chat, and email. The idea of using the Internet for entertainment and commercial use was outrageous to the current users of the technology, and when listservs began posting advertisements, they did not respond well. These users wanted to keep the focus of this particular media very narrow and two-dimensional, so to speak. However, commercialization of the Internet allowed for exponential growth in for-profit and subsidized sites, which generated a greater demand for a larger user base. Profitability became an issue as soon as the Internet became commercial. In the 1990s, the Internet wielded a significant impact on people and businesses of all types, and there were many organizations and individuals that grew concerned of this impact and new issues arose. From a business aspect, telecommunications companies began to worry that the Internet would take away their customers because people were now able to place phone calls online with no long distance charges. From an individual, or general population aspect, people were concerned with the social implications of the Internet, and the negative impact that certain content could have on individuals or groups, such as children being exposed to pornographic content. There is also the growing concern of security and privacy, because not only can personal information be used for illegal purposes, it can be used without someone’s knowledge, for marketing purposes, which some people find to be an infringement of their privacy. The Internet is a breeding ground for freedom of expression and freedom of speech, which is why certain countries such as China and Germany, have done everything in their power to restrict the content made available to citizens. However, because of the Constitution, American government is finding it rather difficult to set up a ‘gatekeeping’ system, which will restrict content available within the United States. To allow the government to do this would completely defeat the purpose of such ... ...of thought was easily manipulated by the corporate/government cooperative that ran (and still runs) traditional ‘old’ media in the United States. The versatility and multidirectional communication makes the Internet one of the most exciting mediums because content can be very diversified and users are not only able to receive messages, but they are able to respond as well. The Internet is an interactive medium with potential to expand even farther than it already has. The Internet defies the controlled, one-way broadcast model of information distribution and empowers the user with the capability to talk back to the sender. References Beacham, F. (1998, December). Dark Alleys of the Internet Frank Beacham’s Questioning Technology [Online], 20 paragraphs. Available: http:// ****CHECK**** Grant, A., & Meadows, J. (2000). Communication Technology Update (7th ed.). Massachusetts: Butterworth-Heinemann. Public Agenda (2000). Internet Speech and Privacy. Public Agenda [Online], 10 paragraphs. Available: http://www.publicagenda.org/ Schmesier, L. (1996, March 1). Why bring gender online? CMC Magazine [Online], 7 paragraphs. Available: http://www.cmcmagazine.com

Gene Therapy Essay -- Biology Medical Biomedical Genetics

Gene Therapy: The New Vaccine ABSTRACT This research paper details what gene therapy is and what it is (and potentially will be) used for. It also describes the gene therapy techniques and delivery methods that have been clinically tested and/or verified by scientists and the ideas that stimulate activity in the field in the race to perfect gene therapy methods and their application, as well as telling about the beginnings of its clinical testing and where this budding technology is headed. Finally, it discusses one last question: Is gene therapy the vaccination of the future? RESEARCH Gene therapy is a biotechnological technique that has recently made significant leaps of progress in the world of scientific research. The theories behind its use have created many new goals and ideas in scientists’ minds, and there is much opportunity for discovery in the field. There are two types of genetic technology that are currently being researched for application in clinical testing and for the cure of certain genetic diseases in humans: somatic cell gene therapy, and germ-line therapy. Somatic cell gene therapy is a development that could potentially eliminate a hereditary disease’s effects in a patient through the injection of genetic material that would fill in for a nonfunctional gene, alter an abnormal one in the patient’s chromosomes, or exchange the defective gene for a new, fully-functioning one (www.ornl.org). Germ-line therapy would be used similarly in embryos’ germ cells, but would have the additional effect of the faulty gene’s permanent eradication so that it could not be passed on to future descendants. There are also multiple types of somatic cell gene therapy. In vivo gene therapy, the most common in clinical testin... ...entists will make many revolutionary discoveries. With this new technology being researched, there’s no telling when the technology will be perfected. Who knows? Someday soon, gene therapy could even be something as commonplace as vaccination. Bibliography: 6 Friedmann, The Development of Human Gene Therapy http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BA/Gene_Therapy_Overview.html http://asgt.org/news_releases/basics.html http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2000/500_gene.html http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/gene (G.T. for Cancer) http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/346/16/1185 (Ex Vivo for X-SCID) http://asgt.org/news_releases/06022005a.html http://genome.gov/13014325 Reilly, Abraham Lincoln’s DNA and Other Adventures in Genetics Turksen, Adult Stem Cells 7

Care Support Essay

Effective reflection on relationships that develop in care work Mary is an 82 year old female resident who came to live in our nursing home five years ago she has a mild cognitive impairment and is totally independent she wears an incontinence pad and requires minimum assistance. Mary loves to sing and listen to music especially Irish traditional music and popular ballads. She remains in close contact with her two daughters who visit regularly. Mary is a very private person and likes to spend time alone in her room. She is a very jolly lady who loves to laugh and enjoys life. As a care assistant I had assisted Mary with her continence needs by making her aware of where to find continence pads in the bathrooms around the home and making sure they were always available in her bedroom this protects her privacy, dignity and independence as I know it would cause her embarrassment to have to ask for them. We got on really well because we both have a love of Irish music and I spent a lot of time talking with her about music, her family and her reasons for coming to live with us in the nursing home. I also developed a trusting relationship with her daughters as Mary would often include me in conversation when they visited. I had noticed a change in Mary where she was spending a lot of time in the bathroom and she seemed agitated when in the day room I approached her and asked if she wanted to go for a walk outside as we have done on several occasions. She agreed and we set off. ecause of the trusting relationship we had built over time I felt comfortable asking her if she was ok and she replied â€Å"yes love shure ya have ta have a laugh† I deviated a little with some talk about the gardens we were passing and I approached the subject again by saying if there was anything wrong you can tell me, and if I can help you I will, you only have to ask, she replied with â€Å"I don’t want to be a bother to anyone† I told her I noticed she was going to the bathroom a lot, there was silence for what seemed forever then she told me â€Å"I have a stinging pains down below† I knew straight away it was thrush as I had observed from her care plan she was prone to thrush. I asked her permission to talk to the nurse and explained it would require medical treatment and she agreed. Asking her permission protected her confidentially, when we returned to the home I approached the nurse and told her of the situation she acted immediately, knowing Mary was prone to thrush she kept a supply of ointment to treat her, I went back to Mary and asked her to come with me very discretely so as not to draw the attention of other residents or visitors this protected her privacy, dignity and confidentially . I escorted her to the nurses’ station and the nurse took over. Within a few hours Mary was back to her normal jolly self singing in the corner. The positive outcome for Mary during this incident happened because of the relationship we had built over time and getting to know her, being able to observe a change in her behaviour. The situation was handled with just me and the nurse on duty no other members of staff were involved this protects Mary’s privacy and dignity. Clear identification of interpersonal issues that can arise in care work The interpersonal issues in this situation were between Mary myself and the nurse and no other staff, resident or visitors were aware of Mary’s situation this protected Mary’s privacy, dignity confidentially and respect. Interpersonal issues between me and other healthcare staff occurred through informing them of what had happened and how the situation was handled. What was observed during this incident was that building relationships with residents allow us to be more effective as care assistants. The types of communication used during this incident were mainly verbal, communicating with Mary in a very discrete and respectful manner put her at ease, and communicating with other healthcare staff to inform them of the incident and how best to handle it should it happen again. The outcome for Mary was she got the treatment she needed in a timely manner, it highlighted to senior healthcare staff the importance of the care assistant in relationship building and observation, reporting our findings to the nurse to get the best healthcare for the resident. Effective reflection on own interpersonal skills as a care worker Interpersonal skills used in this incident were respect and confidentially taking Mary out for a walk and chatting allowed me to discover what was bothering her by doing this it did not draw the attention of any other resident to her situation. Informing the nurse and other relevant healthcare staff will allow them to handle any other similar situation in a discrete manner thus protecting her privacy, dignity confidentially and independence. Comprehensive observation of the process of developing personal effectiveness as a healthcare assistant In this situation I was able to help Mary because I noticed a change in her behaviour, I believe in order to give person centred care you must know your residents, individualised care is an on-going process, building a trusting relationship with knowledge of life history, likes/dislikes, religious and cultural influences are vital in the implementation of individualised care. Knowledge gained in class helped raise awareness of how important it is to protect residents dignity, respect, confidentially and independence. We learnt about the art of reflection, looking at an incident, what happened? How we handled it and how can we improve to achieve a positive outcome for the person involved. Knowledge gained in class has helped me gain skills in awareness. observing how residents behave and being aware of changes are important tools for personal effectiveness, reflection is also a vital tool for personal effectiveness looking back at a situation and analysing what happened and how it was dealt with is very effective it allows us question ourselves and ask how can we have handled the incident better and put a plan into action to bring a positive outcome for the resident involved. Personal skills helped significantly in this situation, skills such as building relationships, empathy, observation and the ability to communicate effectively with residents and other healthcare staff helped me bring about a positive outcome for Mary. As a carer there are many skills that can be developed such as communication, the ability to communicate with all healthcare staff regardless of their discipline is important, and knowledge gained through dialog with residents and their relative’s is invaluable, knowing a little about residents will allow us to care more effectively completing level 5 in healthcare support has been invaluable although we care for people every day, having knowledge and the theory behind it is important and will make for better care. Detailed evidence of expertise in a range of interpersonal care work skills I don’t know if I have â€Å"expertise† in any care work skills but I think I am good at what I do, knowledge is a wonderful thing and as our knowledge increases we become confident, and self-confidence is a great tool to have in care work, having the confidence to talk to other healthcare staff in a professional manner enables us to gain the best possible care for our residents, what I gained from this situation was respect for fellow healthcare staff who listened to what I said and acted on the information. I don’t know if I could put an action plan in place for this scenario but what I can say is that it is vital that all healthcare assistants observe all residents and become familiar with their daily routine this gives us the opportunity to note any changes and report these findings to relevant staff. Some of the skills used to deal with this situation were gained through life experience, being a father of 4 I have brought with me patience, understanding, and empathy to name but a few but the course has given me the ability to analyse my thinking to look at how I have worked today and how can I improve tomorrow. Conclusion All healthcare staff from consultants to healthcare assistants must give the best possible care to patents/residents, we are privileged in our role in healthcare and everything we do must be in the best interest of the patent/resident. Being a part of that team and being respected for the role we play is very important. Nurses are put under increasing pressure with medication rounds, paperwork, supervision etc. they can’t be everywhere or know what is happening with every resident so we as healthcare assistants become the eyes and ears of the facility, observing changes and reporting in a timely manner to gain a positive outcome for the resident involved. Being heard as part of the team will make for a more effective workplace.