Getting Emotional Essay Essay

There was a time that I had a conversation with a friend who is a foreigner and knew very little about the cultures in the United States. He was basically biased against the black race or the African-American races and spoke about them in a very discriminating manner. He believed that the black race in America is mostly composed of thugs and criminals who are dirty and cannot live the way most white Americans do. Although I didn’t exactly argue with him, I still did to change his beliefs and perceptions on the black race and fortunately, I succeeded. I first started out by telling him the harsh realities that most of the people from this race used to face and are still facing today such as discrimination at work, education, and employment among others. I also pointed out that there are a lot of stories published in major newspapers that show that discrimination against people from other races and cultures are still present today. I shared with him stories of an outstanding student from a public high school who was allegedly not given a scholarship simply because he is black. I also told him of certain cases wherein workers are not given the bonuses and benefits that are due to them because they belong to the black race. In short, I first tried to make him sympathize with the plight of the black race and I believe I was successful in doing so. Moreover, I also told him that since he is an Asian, he too, can also be discriminated against. More importantly, I emphasized to him that these black people are also human beings just like everybody else and therefore, they should be treated the same way white Americans are treated. After our conversation, my friend agreed me with and told me that he would be careful with his perceptions about the black race from now on. Based on my â€Å"persuasive† methods, it can be deduced that the most effective way to convince people or audiences to change their stand or views on a certain issue is to tell them real life stories that they can relate with. These true to life stories can represent the essence of one’s arguments and make one’s claims more credible.

Implementing Relationship Marketing: the Role of Internal and External Customer Orientation

Developing an internal and external customer orientation will facilitate the implementation of relationship marketing principles by businesses. Relationship marketing highlights the need for an external customer orientation, which in turn raises the need for customer-oriented employees. Employees will only be customer-oriented if an internal customer orientation is evident in the business. Four constructs pertaining to the internal customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province were identified.After checking for internal consistency, effect sizes were determined for these constructs analysing the practical significance of employees’ as opposed to management’s opinion on the underlying constructs. Similarly, four constructs referring to the external customer orientation of the same businesses were identified. The four identified constructs underpinning an external customer orientation were also checked for internal consistency and the practical significance of customers’ as opposed to management’s opinion on the underlying constructs was determined through effect sizes.It was found that the identified businesses lack both an internal and external customer orientation. Recommendations are made to improve internal customer orientation for the sake of an improved external customer orientation. An improved external customer orientation will facilitate implementation of relationship marketing principles in these businesses. INTRODUCTION According to Saren and Tzokas (1998:187) researchers in relationship marketing have come to realise that there is a need for detailed empirical evidence on how this approach could be implemented in order to promote a beneficial customer-business relationship.Morris, Brunegee and Page (1998:360) and Fornier (1998:343) argue that a lack of knowledge and consensus about relationship marketing and the activities involved in the implementation thereof has led to diffi culties in operationalising the construct. This study addresses this concern by arguing that a relationship marketing orientation is facilitated by management being sufficiently orientated to the needs and expectations of employees (internal customer orientation) as well as to those of customers (external customer orientation).The internal and external customer orientations of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province were investigated by means of effect size analyses. The goal and objectives of the study are subsequently explained, followed by a theoretical exposition on the interface between relationship marketing as well as internal and external customer orientation. A description of the research methodology is followed by the empirical results on internal and external customer orientation of the businesses that participated in the study.Conclusions are drawn from these empirical findings. Finally, managerial implications are discussed based on the concl usions. GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The goal of this study is to explore internal and external customer orientation as elements facilitating relationship marketing implementation by small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province. This goal will be achieved through the following objectives: to explore the interface between relationship marketing, and internal and external customer orientation; †¢ to report on empirical findings related to internal and external customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province; and †¢ to consider the managerial implications of the above empirical findings for managing these retailers. FOSTERING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION TO FACILITATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETINGSheth and Parvatiyar (1995:261) define relationship marketing as â€Å"an orientation that seeks to develop close interaction with selected customers, suppliers and competitors for va lue creation through co-operative and collaborative efforts†. This definition suggests that businesses should pursue profitable business relationships. Morgan and Hunt (1994:22) define relationship marketing as â€Å"all marketing activities directed towards establishing, developing and maintaining successful relational exchanges†. This definition sets out the ultimate goals of relationship marketing, but does not show what relationship marketing entails.Attempts have been made to address this limitation by emphasising the dimensions and activities of relationship marketing. These dimensions and activities include (Too, Souchon and Thirkell, 2001:290): †¢ customer retention; †¢ product benefits; †¢ quality improvement; †¢ customer service; †¢ customer commitment by the business; and †¢ frequent contact with the customer. The first four issues refer to the business’ customer orientation while the last two relate to customer relationsh ip management practices.Kotler and Armstrong (2001:9, 667-681) indicate that relationship marketing is the process of creating, maintaining and enhancing strong value-laden relationships with customers and other stakeholders. According to this definition, relationship marketing does not end with customers, but includes all stakeholders (i. e. employees, channel members, stockholders and others). Relationship marketing advocates the establishment of long-term and profitable relationships between (both internal and external) partners or stakeholders (Zikmund and d’Amico, 2001:8).These relationships are not naturally sustained and should therefore not be taken for granted (Day, 2000:25). Long-term and profitable relationships are only established when trust, commitment and service are inculcated in relationship partners (Buttle, 1996:8-9). Stakeholder relationships also have to transcend functional boundaries (Beth, Burt, Copacino, Gopal, Lee, Lynch and Morris, 2003:67-68). Rela tionship marketing advocates that an engineer should, for example, take time to see how he could best design the product to satisfy the customer’s needs.The same applies to the accounting department – it should develop credit and payment terms that will best suit the customer while it needs also realising a profit for the business (Ostroff and Smith, 1992:22-23). In this respect Day (2000:24-30) argues that the ability to create and maintain relationships depends, inter alia, on the integration of key internal processes in the business. The implementation of relationship marketing therefore depends on a well-developed internal (employee) and external customer orientation.Taher, Leigh and French (1996:218) argue that in order to be customer-oriented, marketers should provide exceptional performance in quality, delivery and cost competitiveness (i. e. customer orientation). The business should also understand how customers measure value and how these value expectations c an be met. To win orders, a business should exhibit an external customer orientation that manifests the relative strength of the business in relation to its competitors (Koufteros, Vonderembse and Doll, 2000:526).To attain lasting customer orientation careful attention should be given to detail, meeting promises and swift response to the requirements of customers – i. e. competitive capabilities. The same authors define competitive capabilities further as a business’ ability to meet customer expectations compared to its competitor’s ability to do the same. Day (2000:28) argues that a customer orientation should be â€Å"immediately evident† in the mindset of those who deal directly with the customer. Kennedy, Goolsby and Arnould (2003:77-79) found that the development of an external customer orientation will be facilitated by: leadership. Staff members must experience â€Å"an unbroken circuit of passionate, sincere, unified and committed leadership from top levels to local managers†; †¢ centrality of customer requirements and performance feedback. This will also assist in achieving the required inter-functional co-ordination and alignment; and †¢ collection and dissemination of external customer data. This data, however, only becomes conducive for customer orientation development when it is widely circulated in the business to become a shared organisation-wide platform from which decisions are made.Patterson and Smith (2001:438) also support this notion. It is stressed that customer orientation should be explicit, otherwise the business risks over-serving unprofitable accounts and wasting resources that might be allocated to profitable customer groups. In this respect Reinartz and Kumar (2002) distinguished between customer groups and suggested ways of managing each group for increased profitability. Relationship marketing raises the need for customer orientation, which in turn raises the need for customer-oriented employees.Bendapudi and Leone (2002:83) indicate that customers form relationships with employees who serve them, and that these relationships may be stronger than the customer’s relationship with the business represented by the employee. Employees will not be able to develop social relationships with customers if they were not recruited and trained with this in mind (Patterson and Smith, 2001:438). Without customer oriented employees it will be difficult to implement customer orientation because employees are the ones who have to make it happen.If customer-orientation is lacking, the implementation of relationship marketing will suffer. This is because dissatisfied customers will never develop good relationships with the business (Engel, Blackwell and Miniard, 1995:47). Attracting, developing and motivating employees as internal partners foster an internal customer orientation (Conway and Willcocks, 2000:81). Day (2000:28-29) recalls the efforts made by many businesses to m ake employee satisfaction and retention a top priority in recognition of the damage that high employee turnover and disgruntled employees can cause to customer relationships.Employee performance and attitude play an important role in service delivery to external customers. Employee satisfaction impacts on employee attitudes, which in turn influence employee performance and interaction with external customers. Employee interaction with external customers obviously plays a pivotal role in the ultimate success of the business (Lewis, 1989:41). Strauss (1995:62-77) distinguishes between internal customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. He argues that internal customer satisfaction entails employees’ satisfaction with the performance of internal suppliers (workflow satisfaction).Internal customer satisfaction should, however, not be confused with employee satisfaction – i. e. the satisfaction of employees with their working conditions. He argues further that interna l customer satisfaction reflects in external customer satisfaction. For purposes of this study the identified relationship between internal and external customer satisfaction is acknowledged, but the distinction between internal customer orientation and employee satisfaction is rejected. Employees in small- to medium-sized textile retailing businesses are not dependent on intricate internal workflow processes.As they derive their workflow inputs directly from management, a distinction between management inputs (relating to Strauss’ employee satisfaction concept) and workflow inputs will be vague. Strauss (1995:63) himself points out that if managers are prepared to take responsibility for quality and act as role models, they can expect commitment from their employees – which will eventually result in improved bottom-line results. Sasser (2003) explains the relationship between employee and customer satisfaction in terms of value the business creates for employees, who in turn will be able to create value for customers.If the value created for employees and customers exceeds costs, value is being created for investors. Internal customer orientation is the result of a conscious management decision about the â€Å"organizational setting† (Strauss, 1995:68). Concerning this organisational setting Malherbe and Pearse (2003:2-12) found significant positive relationships between job enrichment characteristics and job satisfaction, and eventually between job satisfaction and service quality in the South African retail industry.Chaston (1995:332-349) investigated possible actions to establish a stronger internal customer orientation in UK clearing banks, and concluded, inter alia, that management’s improved understanding of internal customer needs will be helpful in this regard. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Small- to medium-sized textile retailers from six selected towns and cities in the North-West Province were investigated to assess their interna l and external customer orientation. Retailers from Brits, Klerksdorp, Lichtenburg, Mafikeng, Potchefstroom and Rustenburg were sampled.These cities and towns were chosen on the basis of their geographical representation in the province. They also represent the largest centres of economic activity in the province. A sampling frame of 61 small- to medium-sized textile retailing businesses were constituted by using information obtained from the Potchefstroom City Council, the Bureau of Marketing Research and Braby’s databases. The sampling frame included independent tailoring businesses, textile, fabrics, and cloth retailing businesses (retailers, merchants or distributors).Forty-eight (N1=48) of the 61 business owners/managers were willing to participate in the study and were subsequently interviewed. One hundred and four (N2=104) employees, as found on the 48 premises, were also interviewed. Finally, two hundred and thirty (N3=230) customer responses were gathered using avail ability sampling for periods of two hours at each of the 48 business premises. Separate questionnaires, incorporating close-ended structured items, were developed for management, employees and customers as three separate groups of respondents. Owners/managers had to respond to 77 items.Thirty one (31) of these items pertaining to internal customer orientation were duplicated in the employees’ questionnaire, requiring respondents to respond to them from an employee’s perspective. Thirty-three (33) of the items on external customer orientation related to owners/managers were also put to customers, requiring them to evaluate it from their perspective. Respondents had to respond to the items according to a four-measure Likert scale where: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree and 4 = strongly agree. The responses were statistically processed with the help of SAS software (SAS Institute Inc. 1999). The reliability of constructs associated with internal and external customer orientation was tested by means of Cronbach’s Alpha values and average inter item correlations (Clark and Watson, 1995) as reported below. The practical significant difference between specifically defined constructs for employees and owners/managers (internal customer orientation) as well as for customers and owners/managers (external customer orientation) is indicated by using effect sizes. Effect sizes are calculated as availability sampling was used instead of random sampling.As explained above, the six cities and towns, the businesses who participated in the study, the interviewed employees and the interviewed customers of these businesses were not randomly selected. Statistical inference is therefore not relevant. This eliminates the use of t-tests and p-values as a technique to analyse statistically significant differences between means of responses from management and employees (or management and customers). Unlike t-tests, effect sizes are independent from s ample size, as a standardised difference based on the maximum standard deviation between compared groups is calculated (Steyn, 2000).The effect sizes (d-values) were calculated by using the following formula (Cohen, 1988:20-27): [pic] where: †¢ d = effect size; †¢ [pic] is the difference between means of two compared groups (e. g. management and employees or management and customers); and †¢ [pic] is the maximum standard deviation of the two compared groups. To calculate effect sizes, the maximum standard deviation is used instead of a mean standard deviation to allow for a more conservative approach to practical significance (Steyn, 2000). Cohen (1988:20-27) gives the following guidelines for interpreting effect sizes: †¢ d ? 0. indicating no practically significant effect; †¢ d ? 0. 5 indicating a moderate effect that could be significant if more data had been collected; and †¢ d ? 0. 8 or larger indicating a practically significant effect. EMPIRICAL RESULTS Empirical results regarding both the internal and external customer orientations of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province are subsequently discussed. Empirical results: internal customer orientation Four constructs associated with internal customer orientation, as well as the items comprising these constructs, are reported in Table 1.The items comprising these constructs are also indicated. The four constructs exhibited Cronbach’s Alpha values all greater than 0. 6, indicating â€Å"good or adequate† reliability of the measurement scale (Clark and Watson, 1995:315). Average inter item correlations ([pic]) are also reported in Table 1. Clark and Watson (1995:316) indicate that the average inter item correlation should also be used as a measure of internal consistency. They recommend that the average inter item correlation should lie between 0. 15 – 0. 50.It is evident from Table 1 that the average inter item correlations fall within this range, indicating internal consistency of the constructs. TABLE 1 CRONBACH’S ALPHA AND AVERAGE INTER ITEM CORRELATIONS FOR INTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION |Construct |Cronbach’s Alpha |Average inter item | | | |correlation ([pic]) | |1. Management’s involvement with employees |0. 752 |0. 1 | |Applying management principles strictly | | | |Seeking people who can think of new strategies | | | |Culture of supporting staff | | | |Treating staff the same as external customers | | | |Creating an enabling culture for staff creativity | | | |Exercising staff chievement recognition and reward | | | |Following fair disciplinary action | | | |Development and training of staff | | | |Appreciation of staff contribution to business success | | | |Conducting formal performance appraisals | | | |Making staff a part of solutions | | | |Aggressively competing for talented staff | | | |2. Employee development through communication and participative management |0. 713 |0 . 4 | |Promoting staff learning | | | |Encouraging a learning culture | | | |Practising participative management | | | |Marketing the business’ vision to staff | | | |Creating messages to inspire staff action | | | |Understanding the reality staff experiences | | | |Consulting staff with regard to leadership style | | | |Maintaining a two-way channel of communication in the business | | | |3. Acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential |0. 659 |0. 5 | |Incorporating knowledgeable staff inputs into business decisions and activities | | | |Acknowledging that staff is the business’ primary asset | | | |Involving current staff in the process of appointing new staff | | | |Giving responsibility and accountability to staff for their respective performance | | | |areas | | | |Collaborating with staff to draw up strategies, plans and objectives | | | |Arranging for staff to visit customers | | | |4. Satisfaction of customer needs is realised through an integra ted effort by all |0. 623 |0. 5 | |involved in the business | | | |All departments working in collaboration with customer focus in mind | | | |Successfully satisfying customers’ needs and wants | | | To indicate the practically significant differences between employees’ and owners’/managers’ view on internal customer orientation, effect sizes were calculated on the respective constructs. These effect sizes are reported in Table 2. Practically significant effects on constructs 1, 2 and 3 are revealed. Construct 4 only revealed a small effect.TABLE 2 EFFECT SIZES FOR INTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Construct description |Business owners |Employees |Effect size | | |Mean |Standard deviation|Mean |Standard deviation| | |1. Management’s involvement with employees |3. 103 |0. 447 |2. 787 |0. 445 |0. 707 | |2. Employee development through communication and |3. 137 |0. 504 |2. 767 |0. 504 |0. 734 | |participative management | | | | | | |3. Acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential |3. 086 |0. 557 |2. 674 |0. 554 |0. 40 | |4. Satisfaction of customer needs is realised through an |3. 489 |0. 695 |3. 327 |0. 750 |0. 216 | |integrated effort by all involved in the business | | | | | | Empirical results: external customer orientation Four constructs relating to external customer orientation, as well as the items associated with these constructs, are reported in Table 3. The correspondent Cronbach’s Alpha values for the four constructs are all above 0. 6, indicating â€Å"good or adequate† reliability of the measurement scale (Clark and Watson, 1995:315).Average inter item correlations ([pic]) are once again reported in Table 3. These correlations fall within the range of 0. 15 – 0. 50 indicating internal consistency of the constructs (Clark and Watson, 1995:316). TABLE 3 CRONBACH’S ALPHA AND AVERAGE INTER ITEM CORRELATIONS FOR EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION |Construct |Cronbach’s Alpha |A verage inter item | | | |correlation ([pic]) | |Building customer relationships through the efforts of employees is important |0. 762 |0. 7 | |Attracting, maintaining and enhancing relationships with customers | | | |Establishing and maintaining profitable customer relationships | | | |Maintaining a mutually committed long-term oriented relationship with customers | | | |Moving customers from one level of the relationship to the next | | | |Extending priority treatment to regular customers over irregular ones | | | |Interacting with regular customers | | | |Forging long-term committed relationships with customers | | | |Employees developing business relationships with customers | | | |Fostering an intimate understanding between customers and staff | | | |The business’ offer to customers is geared towards satisfying customer needs |0. 665 |0. 6 | |Delivering an offer exactly as required | | | |Extending quality and durability as the business’ core offer | | | |Deliverin g superior offers not available from competitors | | | |Continue improving the total offer to customers | | | |Delivering a tailor-made offer to customers | | | |Viewing delivery of the offer from customers’ perspective | | | |Delivering customer satisfaction |0. 642 |0. 6 | |Offering high levels of customer service | | | |Managing and maintaining the delivery of customer satisfaction | | | |Successfully satisfying customers’ needs and wants | | | |Custom fitting service to customers’ particular requirements | | | |Delivering services to the satisfaction of customer desires | | | |Customer orientation of employees |0. 619 |0. 6 | |Instilling customer orientation among staff | | | |Formulating and realising a customer orientated mission statement | | | The effect sizes on the respective constructs for the practically significant difference between customers’ and owners’/managers’ view on external customer orientation are reported in Table 4. Practically significant effects are revealed on constructs 2 and 3, while construct 4 exhibit a moderate effect size. Construct 1 revealed a small effect size.TABLE 4 EFFECT SIZES FOR EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Construct description |Business owners |Employees |Effect size | | |Mean |Standard deviation|Mean |Standard deviation| | |1. Building customer relationships through the efforts of |3. 303 |0. 557 |3. 100 |0. 442 |0. 364 | |employees is important | | | | | | |2. The business’ offer to customers is geared towards |3. 408 |0. 423 |2. 928 |0. 465 |1. 32 | |satisfying customer needs | | | | | | |3. Delivering customer satisfaction |3. 528 |0. 445 |3. 202 |0. 399 |0. 733 | |4. Customer orientation of employees |3. 360 |0. 591 |2. 991 |0. 635 |0. 581 | CONCLUSIONS From the above empirical results the following conclusions regarding the internal and external customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers included in this study can be drawn. Internal custom er orientationFrom the effect sizes reported in Table 2 it is evident that management and employees differ significantly (practically significant effect sizes) on the following issues: †¢ management’s involvement with employees (construct 1). Management feels more involved with employees than employees experience it to be the case ([pic] > 0); †¢ employee development through communication and participative management (construct 2). Management is of the opinion that employee development takes place through communication and participative management, while employees do not experience the same ([pic] > 0) ; and †¢ acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential (construct 3).Management feels that employees expertise’ and potential is acknowledged, while employees do not feel the same ([pic]> 0). An small effect size was calculated for construct 4. Management and employees therefore agree that satisfying customer needs is realised throu gh an integrated effort by all involved in the business (construct 4, Table 2, [pic] and [pic] both > 3. 0, indicating agreement on the Likert-type scale). External customer orientation As far as external customer orientation, as reported in Table 4, is concerned, owners/managers and customers differ significantly (practically significant effect sizes) on: †¢ whether the businesses’ offer to customers is geared towards satisfying customer needs (construct 2).Management feels it to be the case, while customers differ significantly ([pic] > 0); and †¢ delivery of customer satisfaction (construct 3). Customers feel significantly less satisfied than management thought them to be ([pic] > 0). As far as customer orientation of employees is concerned, a moderate effect size was determined (Table 4, construct 4). Owners/managers are of the opinion that employees are customer-oriented ([pic] > 3. 0) while customers do not experience it to the same degree ([pic] & lt; 3. 0). Table 4 also indicates an insignificant effect size on construct 1. Management and customers therefore agree that it is important to build customer relationships through the efforts of employees (construct 1, [pic] and [pic] both > 3. 0). MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONSWhen considering the internal customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers participating in this study, it is evident that employees do not feel appreciated by management. Employees indicated that management is not involved with them and that their expertise and potential is subsequently ignored. They also do not feel empowered through communication or participative management initiatives (or rather the lack thereof) from management’s side. Management and employees agree on a basic principle of the marketing concept (Barnes, 2001:7), namely that customer satisfaction is dependent on an integrated effort of all involved in the business. From the above it is clear that a certain amount o f goodwill is evident among employees.Employees recognise the importance of an integrated effort of all involved in the business to satisfy customer needs. It is recommended that management of these businesses capitalise on this aptitude of employees. Communication with employees on matters relating to management of the business will encourage employee participation, paving the way for the implementation of participative management techniques. This will draw on the latent expertise and potential of employees and will ultimately contribute to employee development and a sense of management involvement. As indicated by the empirical results, small- to medium-sized textile retailers participating in this study lack a pronounced external customer orientation.Customers do not regard the businesses as being geared towards satisfying their needs. They are also of the opinion that employees of small- to medium-sized textile businesses are not sufficiently customer-oriented. By improving thei r internal customer orientation as suggested above, the external customer orientation of businesses may take a turn for the better. This may contribute to greater customer satisfaction as the interaction between customers and (more appreciated, and thus better satisfied and motivated) employees improve. After all: management and customers both agreed that the efforts of employees are important to build customer relationships.This is consistent with Sasser’s (2003) exposition that an improved internal customer orientation will contribute towards a better external customer orientation that will result in more satisfied customers.

HRM in Marks and Spencer Essay

Introduction and Background Marks and Spencer, established 1894 in Leeds,UK and as one of the most recognized brands in the UK and worldwide, had been hugely successful in terms of both profit and market share until the late 1990s. However, after that it suffered a reversal in its fortunes. Correspondingly, its organizational structure and culture also underwent certain transformation. The set of dramatic changes include changing top executive and their managerial philosophies. Now, it seems to be on the road to recovery after these radical changes. This article focuses on human resource management in M&S, analysis ranges from its traditional paternalism culture to new HRM practices. Paternalism & Unitarist Characteristics Under paternalism, employers and employees view the company as a family. It’s different from traditional manufacturing culture. The separation between the shop floor and management and feelings of ‘them and us’ are what might be expected within a traditional manufacturing culture, where the employment is full-time, long-term and relatively stable and the typical workplace is a large firm or store. The corporation is a stable sovereign organization with a clear division of labors and everyone abides by the social contract. Similarly, Unitarist deems the business organization as a team united by shared interests and values with senior management as the sole source of authority and focus of loyalty, conflict is seen as irrational and unnecessary. Historically, Marks and Spencer fits into an anatomy of paternalism with characteristic features of hereditary family ownership, personal relations between employer and worker, a sense of UK religious mission and a commitment to social welfare and public service. The ideal type paternalist workforce matches these, with family employment through large kinship networks and is embedded in a surrounding occupational community. Moreover, there was a feeling of camaraderie and close-knit family atmosphere within the stores and they employed staffs who are most suitable and can readily become part of this family. In addition, every M&S store is identical and the store managers followed central direction. The highly centralized authority also means that there exists little disagreement with policies sent down from the top. Also, there had never been a CEO of M&S who had not been a member of the founder’s family or a lifetime employee. The first exception is Vandervelde who had been appointed to the position of chairman at M&S in 2000 from outside the organization. Therefore, this kind of HRM is a typical form of paternalism, which totally breaks with trade unions and has highly centralized authority and represents the characteristic of unitarist as well. Organization’s success is depended not only on reducing costs but also on improving the performance of the workforce. The organization’s objective or their currently expect of their employees may be completely different from what they expected in the past due to the changing external environment such as new competitors or new technologies, internal strategy such as focusing on reducing costs and cutting the full-time sales assistants in store. Some of the external environment and the individual factors driving psychological contract research are illustrated in following figure. Old Contract (Greenbury) New Contract Change environment Stable, short-term focus Continuous change Culture Paternalism, time-served, exchange security for commitment Those who perform get rewarded and have contract developed Rewards Paid on level, position and status Paid on contributions or performance-based Promotion basis Expected, based on time served in store and competence Less opportunity, new criteria, for those who deserve it Personal development The organization’s responsibility Individual’s responsibility to improve employability Consequently, employee’s job descriptions might be broadened and their psychological contract will shift correspondingly. Evidence suggests that these changes represented a threat to the reciprocal nature of the psychological contract with consequences for both employees and employers. Meanwhile, the strength of the psychological contract is dependent on how fair the individual believes the organization is in fulfilling its perceived obligations that the organization treats them fairly, respects their efforts and rewards them justly, it’s based on mutual obligation. In addition to the summarized old contract characters, evidence also shows that Greenbury only used sales figures and visitors to stores as the basis to make judgments on how M&S was operating, whereas lost touch with what their employees’ opinions or wants. It makes employees feel their roles are unimportant; also it weakens their morale and motivation. ‘The Thrill of the Purchase’ article states this famous paternalistic culture of M&S. They offered cradle-to-grave benefits for employees but rigidly governed the way that managers operated. Moreover, every aspect of the company was rule-driven. Most of employees feel rule-bound and they are not encouraged to use their personal discretion as well. Nevertheless, they gradually realized their culture are fall-out-of-step and with the implementation of new HR strategic, M&S becomes open and receptive, moving from a culture of paternalism to a more sophisticated culture of choice. Matching employee behaviors and HRM activities to competitive strategies Michael Porter’s generic ‘low-cost’ or ‘differentiation’ strategy can be adopted in the Marks&Spencer case. Namely, each Porterian competitive strategy involves a unique set of responses from workers or ‘needed role behaviours’ and a particular HRM strategy that might generate and reinforce a unique pattern of behaviour (Schuler and Jackson, 2002). Therefore, any inconsistency in internal HRM practices will likely lead to ‘role conflict or ambiguity that can interfere with individual performance and organizational effectiveness’. In the Devanna et al. model, human resource management strategy and structure follow and feed upon one another and are influenced by environmental forces. This basic model constituted the bare bones of a theory on SHRM. (Linda Maund, 2001:73) Porter’s model comprised three components: 1. Low-cost leadership or cost reduction strategy Using this strategy, organization will gain competitive advantage by being the lowest cost producer. Managers are attempting to increase the organization’s market share by emphasizing low cost compared to that of its competitors, they try to emphasize that their goods or services are cheaper. It’s an aggressive and tightly cost-controlled strategy that emphasizes overhead minimization. Meanwhile, it pursuits the economies of scale and primarily focus on increasing productivity through reducing output cost per person and reducing wage levels by all means. This approach takes effect by means of mass-producing, mass-selling to save the costs, whereby gain the price superiority. Moreover, it keeps manufacturing process simple and repetitive in order to save the costs of raw materials, whereas basically there are no improvements or expansion of their products. Greenbury, the former chief executive of Marks and Spencer, had decided that to control costs by means of cutting full-time sales assistants in stores, at the same time, bring in full-time, part-time and Saturday staffs to work in stores. Further, their approach is also rely on and highly trust the quality of British suppliers and M&S play as a bulk buyer who even buy up all the stock of specific suppliers, whereby conducting mass-selling to earn profits. In addition, as the Channel 4 programme stated at 25th Feb,2001 that operations of the organization within M&S is focused on short-term strategy rather than long-term one and they were firmly placed in the ‘middle ground’, emphasize getting generalized view of the market instead of trying to target various segments market. The overall strategy is risk-aversive and traditional. Hence, they are adapting typical cost-reduction strategy, meanwhile, with somewhat emphasis on quality aspect. In general, cost reduction pursued through increasingly using of part-time employees, subcontractors, work simplification, measurement procedures, automation, work rule changes, job assignment flexibility. Therefore, according to this competitive strategy, the expected employees behaviors should be followed the key cost-reduction strategy characteristics illustrate as follow: Low-cost leadership strategy (Greenbury) Needed Employees Behaviors Human Resource Practices Relatively repetitive and predictable behaviors Relatively fixed and explicit job descriptions A rather short-term focus Narrowly designed jobs Primarily autonomous or individual activity Narrowly defined career path, unitarism Modest concern for quality Externally, reliable suppliers; internally, QC function High concern for quantity of output Lean production, JIT system, fully participation Primary concern for results Minimal levels of employee training and development Low risk-taking activity Short-term, result oriented performance appraisals Relatively high degree of comfort with stability Close monitoring of market pay level 2. Differentiation or quality enhancement strategy This strategic emphasizes on enhancing products or services quality and offering products or services that different from those of its competitors. There are numerous ways to implement this strategy, the most common ones are advertising, offering distinctive product or service features, providing exceptional service, or relying on new technology. The organization is trying to make a unique product or provide a unique service with high quality to attract target customers and earn profits. Due to the risk-aversive and traditional managerial methodologies, actually Greenbury laid less emphasis on quality enhancement or on delivering products with unique quality. Therefore, by April 1999, in order to overcome the difficulties M&S had been facing, Salsbury, the successor of Greenbury, had devised a large-scale promotional campaign to try to restore its images as an innovative retailer offering unique quality products. He started to segment the market and offer different category products to its target customers with strong emphasis on its unique quality. Also, by moving away from its original bureaucratic culture and hierarchical environment, modest amount of cooperation was formed to enhance products quality. At the end of March 2001, for the future development of M&S, Vandervelde, the new chief executive of M&S, started to focus on its core 300 domestic stores by cutting or withdrawing its stores worldwide, and started moving business closer to the customer and selling customized products within the UK. For customized products, quality is a key success factor. Therefore, obviously, at this stage, M&S strategy focuses mostly on differentiation character. The matching HRM practices of this competitive strategy for M&S are summarized as following table: Quality enhancement strategy (Salsbury and Vandervelde) Needed Employees Behaviors Human Resource Practices Relatively repetitive and predictable behaviors Relatively fixed and explicit job descriptions More long-term or intermediate focus Giving employees more discretion Modest amount of cooperative, interdependent behaviors Mix of individual and group criteria for performance appraisal High concern for quality Extensive and continuous training and development of employees, QC function, TQM practices Modest concern for quantity of output High level of employee participation High concern for process Training and development of employees, TQM practices Low risk-taking activity Relatively egalitarian treatment of employees Commitment to the goals of the organization Applying Balance scorecard 3. Focus or innovation strategy However, they also try to design a new range of clothes for M&S through hiring famous innovators and conducting in-depth research to understand customers’ shopping habits and their demographics. This strategy emphasizes some of the innovative character, whereby gain advantaged of its competitors. It’s different from the previous two strategies. Meanwhile, the organization concentrates on a specific geographical area, specific group of customers. Overall, for firms pursuing a competitive strategy of innovation, the employees are encouraging to offer suggestions for new and improved ways of doing their job or manufacturing products. Eventually, this strategy will result in feeling of enhanced personal control and morale, greater commitment to self and profession. In addtition, selecting highly skilled individuals or training employees could be costly once adopting this strategy. Focus or innovation strategy (Vandervelde) Needed Employees Behaviors Human Resource Practices High degree of creative behaviors Selecting highly skilled individuals Long-term focus Appraising performance for its long-run implication Relatively high level of cooperative, teamworking, knowledge sharing and interdependent behaviors Using minimal controls Moderate degree of concern for both quality and quantity TQM practices, making a greater investment in human resources Equal degree of concern for process and results Providing more resources for experimentation Greater degree of risk taking Allowing and even rewarding occasional failure Uncertainty, unpredictability and constant change Compensation, incentives, giving employees more discretion Comparatively speaking, Low-cost leadership is effective but difficult to do in a high-cost organization. Differentiation can be profitable if target customers are not particularly concerned with price but it’s costly to implement, such as research and development, advertising costs. Focus strategy can gain quick returns but takes time to identify area or group and the cost could be even higher since it focuses on innovative aspect of products. Analyze Matching model and other HRM strategies From the above comparison, we can see that effectiveness will increase by melding HR practices with competitive strategy. The advantages of this model are obviously and are summarized as following table: Component Advantages Disadvantages Low-cost leadership Effective Difficult to do in a high-cost organization Differentiation Can be profitable if target customers are not particularly concerned with price Costly to implement, e.g. research and development, advertising costs Focus Quick returns Takes time to identify area or group (Linda Maund, 2001:55 ‘Adantages and disadvantages of Porter’s competitive strategies’) However, besides the disadvantages illustrated above, the practice of this matching model could also be problematic since achieving the goal of ‘close fit’ of business and HRM strategy can contradict the core ‘soft’ HRM goals of commitment, flexibility and quality. Work organization as M&S may adopt a ‘soft’ version of HRM for managerial staffs, which is consistent with its current strategy, whereas simultaneously pursuing a ‘hard’ version of HRM for low-level worker, which might undermine the commitment of the latter. Hence, the matching model is essentially unitary and it tends to assume that workers are unproblematic and will comply with managements’ perception of the ‘needed role behaviors’. Meanwhile, we also cannot ignore the fact that workers and their unions, especially for M&S’s famous British working union, might influence strategic planning. In addition, ‘excessive fit’ can be disadvantageous to gaining competitive advantage since it can make a company inflexible and incapable of adapting quickly to the external environment. Recalled that when Greenbury insisted on its cost-reduction strategy and its quality criteria, the environment of the whole market has gradually changed. Competitors targeted at niche market and adopted differentiation strategy to attract and gain credibility among numerous consumers, whereas M&S still keep its traditional or risk-aversive way to do business. Recommendation Other HR strategies suggestions for M&S: At individual level, employees’ motivation can be stimulated through appropriate job design and rewards. Also, emphasizing employees’ participation or empowerment, and it could be reinforced through encouraging front-line staff to solve customer problems on the spot, without constant recourse to management approval. At organizational level: Development through changing the paternalism structure and corresponding traditional culture to a culture of the individual and of teams. The organization should focus on building its growth valued (such as brand revitalized by Vandervelde) and rewards excellence. Meanwhile, strategy-focused organizations like M&S can apply the balanced scorecard to align their employees to their strategy. This strategy can be implemented through communication and education, personal and team objectives, and incentive and reward systems. They should extensively use self-managed teams and decentralization. Also, paying attention to reducing status differentials and encouraging willingness to share information. Finally, when individuals understand how their pay is linked to achieving strategic objectives, and set personal objectives to met and help to achieve the strategic objectives, organization’s effectiveness will expect to be achieved. Â   References and Bibliographies: Linda,M.(2001) ‘An Introduction to Human Resource Management: theory and practice’, Hampshire, New York: Palgrave Publishers Ltd Schuler,R.S and Jackson,S.E (2002, 7th edn) ‘Managing Human Resources: A Partnership Perspective’: Journal of Personnel Review,31(1),114-121 Tyson,S. and York,A. (2000,4th edn) ‘Essentials of HRM’, Houston: Butterworth Heinemann Torrington,D. and Hall,L. (1998, 4th edn) ‘Human Resource Management’, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc Maund,L. (1999) ‘Understanding People and Organisations: An Introduction to Organisational Behaviour’, Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes Schuler,R.S and Jackson,S.E (2000) ‘Strategic Human Resource Management’, Journal:Personnel Review,29(6),816-821 James,A. and McGoldrick,A.E. (2001) ‘HRM service practices: flexibility, quality and employee strategy’, Journal: International Journal of Service Industry Management,7(3),46-62 Huang,T.C (2001) ‘The effects of linkage between business and human resource management strategies’, Journal:Personnel Review,30(2),132-151 Anne-marie,G and John,B and Peter,A (2000) Lost Narratives From Paternalism to Team-working in a lock manufacturing firm http://research.abs.aston.ac.uk/wpaper/0001.pdf (accessed 11 Jan,2004) Marks&Spence: An analysis of Business and HRM strategy (Online) http://www.hrm.strath.ac.uk/teaching/classes/41429/MarksandSpencerPresentation%5B1%5D.pdf (accessed 11 Jan,2004) John,B. (2000) Strategic Human Resource Management: Chapter Two http://www.palgrave.com/business/brattonandgold/docs/bgwebstudentnotes.pdf (accessed 11 Jan,2004) Annette,S. (2002) The psychological contract in a changing work environment http://www.ukwon.org/pdf/Hi-Res/PsychologicalContractTheme.pdf (accessed 11 Jan,2004)

Compare Jamestown to New England Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Compare Jamestown to New England - Essay Example Many figure the town as having no pride, no positive history and as a death-haunted town marked by misery. On the hand, New England had a more Nobel idea about the town. The empire was a town of prosperity both economically and in spiritual nourishing, with morals and values that severely contradicted the state of Jamestown. Therefore, to solve the social moral decay and miseries in Jamestown brought about by economic prosperity, and as a way to salvage the face of the church of Engalnd, there sprouted a separatist group that founded a new society, which gave rise to New England. The Spanish empire in America was desirable with successful institutions and good-looking models that had great influence on the English entry model in the new colony around Jamestown and the larger Massachusetts area. The British had three elements in their mission: to conquer and take the land of the American Indians, to search for gold, which bolstered trade, and protecting the native local â€Å"savages † from the brutality of the Spanish colonizers (Lin 380). The English had misconceptions about the Spanish model of colonization, which involved overthrowing the native leaders and installing Spanish governors while maintaining the Indian political system in place (Lin, 380). The approach resulted to immense wealth for the Spanish King. This created a misconception among English leaders who tried to emulate the same model in Jamestown. They mainly conquered large areas, just as the Spanish incorporated the Indians in the English society, using them for labor and to survive, which made the English extra rich from ample resources in the colonies (Lin 380). The British colony was therefore based in Jamestown, Chesapeake Bay region. However, the Spanish model did not succeed as expected as the British had misconceived ideas about the nature and political system of the Indian Americans. In 1603, King James 1 of England, jealous of the Spanish success in the new world, sought to est ablish his own colonies in sprawling areas of North America that were untapped. The king issued the Virginia Company a charter, empowering it to own in excess of six million acres of land in North America, and this was how the British established its colony, where the King hoped the empire would benefit England from its immense resources, and ensure the English poor masses had an ideal destination for employment. This led to mass relocation of the poor from Britain to Jamestown, to position them for employment in the new empire. However, new empire was riddled with all forms of evils, with the Virginia Company directors finding an easy way to reap and create immense riches. There were massive looting and corruption cases, besides severe ravaging disease epidemics among the newcomers in the new territory. The increasing farming practices in the new British colonies gave rise to slavery, towards feeding the yawning labor gap in new firms. Therefore, Massachusetts became the first regi on to legalize use of slaves in British farms. Within a few years upon entering into America, the British stripped the blacks off any human dignity and used them as slaves, resulting to immense suffering of the blacks. The farmers whipped slaves; the clergy drawn from the England Church preached that slavery was the will of God, while the scientists proved that the blacks were inferior type of human race, even when converted to Christianity (McBee 25). Corruption and the moral decay in the church displeased many who formed

In what ways does cinema verite differ from documentary film and what Essay

In what ways does cinema verite differ from documentary film and what methods do film makers create realism in documentaries - Essay Example Documentary can broadly be described as cinematic expression that reveals ‘fullness and completion, knowledge and truth’ (Nichols, 1994:1). They focus on actual evidence of the events, using real people rather than actors of fictional films who portray other characters. As such, they have minimal editing, reflecting the unvarnished truth. Cinema verite, on the other hand, is a French expression that means ‘truthful cinema’ that records events as they are occurring, often prodding real people to reveal new information in order to showcase new dimension of issue or events (Black, 2002). Hence, it can be defined as documentaries with wide scope of capturing truth. The editing of film makes it more dramatic and, therefore, has greater impact than normal documentary films that are stark in their thematic reality. Documentary films are also accompanied by narratives that highlight events and often inform the public of its relevance by relating it to the history of events. The viewer is, therefore, updated with information about the events and can draw conclusion of truth as he/he sees the documentary. Cinema verite has no narrator and, therefore, the viewer has the freedom to interpret the film as he/she sees. The spontaneity of real characters makes it interesting because they are designed to reveal new aspects of their personality or issues which are often not intended for public. Nanook of the North, made in 1922, is a prime example of cinema verite which documents ethnographic study of Inuits. It has used photographic technics vis-a-vis fade out transition and editing to streamline and emphasize the issue (Renoy, 1993). This is very interesting and pertinent fact of cinema Verite that distinguishes it from normal documentary films. Another very important difference is that textual representation of live events in documentary films are seen as truthful expression of reality. There is little ambiguity because footage of events is not edite d and voiceover is just to inform the audience about the issue which they see in the films. Cinema verite is proactive in its depiction of truth because while it captures the events as they occur, it actively provokes subjects in the event to provide new stance to the event. Mamber (1976) asserts that it is not just mutant offspring of documentary technique but tends to highlight the stance of the film maker. It tries to reveal new aspects of events rather than focusing on only one angle of the truth. Very often, the film maker uses editing techniques to showcase truth which could dramatize the events. Thus, it tends to expose paradoxical facets of the true events and makes them more intriguing and interesting. Facilitated by the technology advancements, the world of cinematic documentary has unfolded unprecedented way of unlocking truth and bringing them directly to the public. In the contemporary times, making documentary films has become very challenging because of the diversity of subjects and myriad formats of media tools can be easily exploited to divulge truth. Cinema verite of France, Direct Cinema of America and observatory films of the UK are all varying formats of documentary films that are based on true events. Popularly known as ‘voice’, the reconstructions and structuring tools used in documentary become the vital factor that shift the focus to spotlight and produce

Inclusive Education, Boy's under-achievement Essay

Inclusive Education, Boy's under-achievement - Essay Example With reference to the term ‘inclusion’, it has long been regarded as the most important responsibility within education and society to ensure that children with special needs are included rather than excluded. Special educational needs (SEN) is the term currently extensively used in education and care setting to refer to the special needs of children who need an extra support in their life. It has been realised as one of the morally wrong and socially discriminating issue to isolate children due to their physical or learning needs compared to the majority of other children and the most approving endeavour by a practitioner in the area is to embrace the move towards inclusion and to promote this practice. â€Å"The term ‘special educational needs’ was used as an all-encompassing term to describe any child who needed some extra support. Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty that calls for special educational provision to b e made for them.† (Tassoni and White, 4) Children with a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age or those with a disability which hiders them from using the educational facilities are included in this special category. There have been several attempts to correct the term with which the special needs of these students are referred and the concept of inclusive education is the result of the long plea to change the education system in order to allow all children to enjoy fair and equal access to education. While focusing on the children with special needs, the campaign for inclusive education extends to a wider range of children who have been traditionally discriminated against. "The concept of inclusive education signals a significant mind shift. Instead of expecting children to 'come up to standard' or otherwise be segregated, the emphasis is on schools and settings to adapt and be flexible enough to accommodate each and every child." (Tassoni and White, 10) This paper deals with underpinning conceptual frameworks of inclusive education distinguishing between competing models of inclusion. As the term 'inclusive education' has become so widely used and abused, it has almost lost its great meaning. It has long been a topic of debate and the label and the language used to refer to the concept have become serious concern today. "Its application to everything from school effectiveness to civil rights to political manifestos renders it vacuous and susceptible to those critiques which accuse it of masking inadequacies. For the cynics, inclusive education means abandoning labelling and special resourcing for individual needs in order to cut costs in the name of equality." (Corbett, 10) Inclusion is not a new concept as the ideals behind inclusive education have deeper roots in liberal and progressive thought. Whereas the earlier school system focused on the segregation of students with special need, the current system is inclusive in nature. Following the works of the child welfare pioneer Elizabeth Burgwin, there was significant shift in focus where educationalists insisted on an inclusive strategy rather than segregation. Most probably, this inclusive thought of the early years prospered and provided the philosophical and organisational foundation for the school system of the contemporary period. "An inclusive philosophy has ultimately risen again and prospered. It has been able to succeed because it chimes with the philosophy of a liberal political system and a pluralistic culture - one that celebrates diversity and promotes

Confinement Assignment Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Confinement Assignment - Personal Statement Example Since the deadline was fast approaching, I thought I should be brave enough to plunge into this adventure. And finally on 2nd of April, I combated my reluctance and fear. Since my family members were sick and tired of hearing my plans to start this project, they were relieved that finally I am doing it. My ten hours of confinement seemed a huge relief for them especially after they had to face the wrath of my desperation in the last couple of days. I began this project at 10 in the morning after my breakfast. I strongly felt the urge to have a quick shower, but stopped myself thinking that it would not be a good beginning to cheat in the first step itself. I switched off my cell and left it out of my room and strictly instructed others to not disturb me until half past two, when I will be out for lunch. I took lots of books and magazines to read. To be precise there were 12 of them. The number of magazines was more than books because I hardly get any time to read them. In fact, the only positive outcome that I could think of before this project began was that I would get plenty of magazines to read leisurely. Keeping this leisure in mind I had even bought latest editions of a couple of new magazines. The lure of reading them was the single most reason that was pushing me towards this project. Since I was not supposed to take a shower I changed into a very light and comfortable piece of clothe and applied a generous amount of deo spray to keep me as fresh as possible. I also spoke to my friends and informed them about my adventurous project so that they do not call me during the project time frame. I told them that I would inform them about my unique experience once the project is over. I feared that I would start feeling hungry before half past two. Hence I ate more than what I normally eat for breakfast. Needless to say I was feeling very heavy and sleepy when I entered my (confinement) room. How did I feel before the project I had initial inhibitions about this project. I felt that only a very strong person would be able to abide by all the instructions that have been given. We have taken different types of media for granted. The thought of spending time without these modern day habits was worrying me. On a lighter note, I have a habit of drinking lots of water so just going thrice to the bathroom within 10 hours was not looking a convincing idea at all. How did I feel after the project To be honest I was relieved that the project was over. I was also happy that I did a good amount of quality reading. I was longing for this kind of reading since a very long time. I think I have never concentrated on reading as much as I was able to concentrate during this project. I learnt a lesson of discipline. I learnt that if one controls oneself and tries to abide by a routine then a lot could be achieved in lesser time. I have a habit of switching on the TV or talking on the cell phone whenever I get bored. I have become so accustomed to these gadgets that the feeling of boredom strikes too frequently. Now, I think I would be able to get rid of this overindulgence of mine pretty fast. Without this experience I would not have realized how much precious time I am wasting. After this project I feel that I have become a wiser person. I have also

An eclectic slant towards a functional education Essay

An eclectic slant towards a functional education - Essay Example Viewed on a micro level, there seems to be nothing wrong with it; however, when it is seen on a much larger scale, many problems begin to surface out. Although it might be a sweeping generalization to claim that most high schools in the United States exist in order to prepare their students for higher education, it still remains a fact that the existing curricula in the Unites States are mainly geared towards making them smart â€Å"test takers.† According to sociologists, educators definitely have their own reasons for designing their respective programs of study; and undeniably, each state or even district has its own set of curricula. Nevertheless, it still cannot be categorically denied that most high schools in the United States exist in order to prepare their students for tertiary education. This can be clearly seen in the curricula of most public and private learning institutions wherein math, science, and humanities take up a large chunk of their learning time. What do es this tell us? Simple. They are being molded to the kind of citizens they expect them to be without thoroughly considering the existing needs and demands of the society. The bandwagon still wins. Medicine, law, business management, banking and finance, and other related courses still rank (and perhaps perceived) as the most desirable fields of endeavor. As a result, high school graduates dream of becoming one; and they cannot be blamed for aiming to become one due to the glamour, prestige and financial rewards that such professions provide. However, for the society to function well, it needs to have different kinds of people with different skills and discipline that can help towards the realization of its goal: dynamic growth and development.

The Clinical Impacts of Masturbation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Clinical Impacts of Masturbation - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the psychology and counseling practices are some of the fields which mostly have the privilege of getting first-hand victims of masturbation. People come crying and others confused because masturbation is presumed to be a taboo. It is a mental related problem. A first timer mostly suffers from self-guilt and shame. Despite science showing that masturbation can affect anybody, this habit is very common among young people who do not have sexual partners. As a peer counselor in a rural local church, the author has received countless victims of masturbation. On average, three out of every ten young people who visit the author’s office have a problem with masturbating. A young girl, bothered and full of tears on her chin, pops into his office. This question caught the girl unaware and she seemed to swim deep in her thoughts before finally asking whether masturbation is safe. The author has to tear apart in trying to understand the girl ’s problem; whether it safety related or whether it was on grounds of ethics and tradition. Nevertheless, the two had equal importance and that is why the girl was here to be helped. This is the situation many young people are finding themselves in. In our modern society, even discussing the topic is regarded a taboo. Despite the extensive scientific research on masturbation, people are suffering for lacking the knowledge on the topic. Parents do not share the information with the young and similarly the young lack the courage to ask. Masturbation has several faces. According to research, masturbation is healthy. Most of the ideologies which existed before were just myths that lacked scientific backup. Clinical tests show that regular normal masturbation is handy in curbing the increasing problem of prostate cancer. This cancer is common among men who are in their mid-40s. The reproductive system is cleaned during sexual intercourse. But for the case of young people, most of them are unmarried or do not have sexual partners hence masturbation becomes the only hope.

Potluck Essay Example for Free

Potluck Essay The meaning of Doublespeak in Lutz opinion The essay Doublespeak specifically dives into the significance of the idea. The author does not hold back, but early on defines the general meaning of Doublespeak. The authors introduction is the explanation of doublespeak in general context. He lets the reader know beforehand about many tangents in double speak. He mentions four types of doublespeak which are euphemism, Jargon, gobblygook, and complex language. From these sub groups of double speak, he further explains detail of such doublespeak and its effect to the public. In essence, the effect of the author is to nform the audience precisely about doublespeak in many angles. He does not take a strong stance on his argument, but he does let his audience know that double speak is an effective rhetoric to use in certain circumstances. The idea of euphemism is to sugar coat an instance. This can be used by simple diction or a whole statement. It is up to the writer to choose his/her method. Lutz leaves the choice to the audience, but provides certain examples to let the audience be informed with the affect of euphemism in a statement. In essence, he provides short and precise examples by omparing a straightforward statement with a doublespeak statement. He informs the reader that euphemism is a rhetoric that creates vagueness in a blunt statement. In my opinion, Lutz did a fine Job. The omission of any statements will leave the essay vague and blank, in a sense. Secondly, Lutz explains and defines Jargon to be a prestigious type language to impress and inform an audience. Many of the high class workers use this rhetoric in their professions to make a good impression. In essence, a Jargon can be used in a hospital, court, or any other professional environment. Lutz rovides the reader with positives and negatives regarding this rhetoric. He informs his reader to be well aware of using such rhetoric. The examples provided are precise and clear cut. In essence, he gets his point through. Adding on, gobblygook is a certain doublespeak that is similar to a Jargon, but way out of proportion with its complexity. Lutz lets the reader know to use this language in specific rhetorical situations. He informs the audience that gobblygook is a type of rhetoric that is used impress a bunch of ignorant audience, or to impress an educated group of audience hom will actually understand the meaning of such words. Besides that, it is not proper to use in personal conversations unless youre Einstein. Lutz efficiently explains this idea by providing examples to the audience. Furthermore, complex language is a type of rhetoric that is considered moderate compared to gobblygook. Its not out of proportion, but can stray away the audience if used too much. In oral arguments it is not functional. If used in papers, it can work, but if used too much, it can confuse the reader. Lutz explains the moderation of this rhetoric compared to Jargon and gobblygook. In essence, Lutz does a fine Job explaining the definitions of double speak in all angles. He gives the audience a general definition and provides general examples to prepare the audience for the lesson. He divides the four main definitions and gives sub examples for each definition. In addition he connects each definition back and forth providing the audience will clarification on his topic. He classifies his work in a general topic, then provides examples, and ultimately connects it to the overall meaning of doublespeak. In essence, he does an effective Job explaining the audience the general idea of doublespeak.

Facebook Strategic Management History Of Facebook Media Essay

Facebook Strategic Management History Of Facebook Media Essay History of Facebook Facebook as a social networking site is famous among all age groups and users across the globe. Tracing the history of facebook is really impressive to start with. In a short span of time facebook popularity have not only increased tremendously, but also user interface and registered user to the portal have increased manifold. This is where we can relate as to what facebook is all about. In other word that is to say its history and beginning. To begin with, facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in the early part of 2004. A graduate from Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg idea to launch the site was simple and effectively complemented the need to create a domain for people to get in touch, especially student who have passed out from Harvard to know each other better. That is where the name Facebook also came into the fore. (Roeder) What so-is significant to the history of face book is that the idea nourished by its founder Mark Zuckerberg was to foster a domain over the internet for in which Harvard student can get in touch and know each other. (Roeder) That is where the story and when we relate to facebook history began. To top it all, in a matter of months, the popularity of facebook among initial users in Harvard became so popular, which by the end of the year during its launch facebook also opened up to other colleges. (Roeder) However, the story did not end there. Within a span of one year, facebook has list of investor to the company, which includes PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Accel Partners and Greylock Partners (Roeder) The impressive record for facebook however was in 2007, when Microsoft Corporation made a move to invest in the company for US$ 246 million for a percentage share of interest that is calculated at 1.6% (Roeder) since then, there was no looking back for facebook. The developmental process that took roots also emphasizes to keep user need and their requirement as one basis of the portal and its purpose, which we feel is impressive enough, given the simple idea that is a worldwide rage today. What Facebook does best The social networking site, facebook significantly attends to the needs of its user across the globe to help bridge the gap of distance and to make the idea of social networking more valuable and meaningful in a sense than any other site and competitors. From our understanding of facebook as a social networking site, we are of the opinion that facebook dos best to ring in the idea of social networking more hip in a sense. Moreover, facebook idea as a social networking site also is relevant in a sense that it helps trace and make the idea of friends and their story worth a million miles. As we relate and interpret from facebook Blog (http://blog.facebook.com/) the idea as to what facebook does best, there are different an dinmpressive experience shared by users as to what facebook does best. Take for example the idea shared by Erick Tseng, a blogger, in which he commented that the notion of facebook networking is a really happening thing where life happens and sharing in that regard is made possible through facebook, especially in th backdrop of facebook mobile application that helps users to get connected and share details on the move. (Tseng, 2010) In addition to the above, many bloggers have their own experience to share, wherein in all instance there is a clear definition that facebook and its substantial value is to bring into fashion the idea of social networking that attends to the needs, requirement and most importantly the satisfaction of its users across the globe. Facebooks competitors There is no denying the fact that facebook is well ahead in the arena of social networking domains. Social networking portals such as Friendsters, MySpace Orkut, Hi5 can be looked as competitors. But it should be noted that facebook popularity among users also can be emphasized to the fact that MySpace and Friendsters and some of their features are tremendously being harnessed by facebook as a combined features, which we feel have drive users to facebook. (Anderson, 2010) However, the manner in which facebook gained its popularity and to register itself with million of users across the globe is really impressive and fabulous, which we feel and from our experience of using the portal is that facebook does best to understand its users and the social networking needs and trends of the time, which is why we feel competitors have a hard time to face such a competition, especially in the backdrop when developmental processes of facebook is gaining a solid ground. . Conclusion When we trace the history of facebook, we can drive home the idea that today the social networking portal founded by Mark Zuckerberg was and is nothing ordinary, but a trend that is fast catching up among users of different breed, age, and social groups. As far as social portal is concerned, there is everything and anything that can be connected with in facebook, which is one impressive factor f the portal. Together with it, the manner in which it attracted investment from Microsoft Corporations also give a clear exemplification of the facebook tremendous potentiality to reaps home the benefits of the internet and to facilitate a social networking portal that is huge in class, quality features and significantly meet its users and the their satisfaction in almost all aspects. We feel that the success of facebook can be emphasized to the management of the portal. Take for example the strength of facebook, wherein there is a clear representation that fan base, photos, wall post and all in between videos and posted items in the site (Jhaveri) is a huge hit among users. In addition, weakness of facebook also can be looked within the domains such as infrequent updates of fan page, group domains, search that is not visible in facebook search results, (Jhaveri) which also accordingly rings in the threat as far as facebook goes. Although facebook opportunities also take into account factors such as the fact that it gives the youth and its users to voice what matter to them and their thinking, the liberalization of the site in a logical sense. Together with it, blogs and campaign page also are exposed to users, and above all, the fact that facebook in all aspects engage group users, which work with other applications. (Jhaveri) Finally what we can conclude to facebook six marketing strategies we believe that facebook significantly identify its marketing strategy with its customers, market, philosophy, principles, technology, concern for employee and self concepts. Hence, in that capacity, marketing strategy f facebook thus can be emphasized to fact that factors such as online advertising, product promotion, it services, internet marketing, domain registrations, optimizing business through social networking, marketing initiative for users and business in context of SEO and SMM (Hale) altogether reflect the diversification, concentrations, vertical and horizontal integration as a format of growth strategy of the company.

Early Developments Of Narrative Cinema Film

Early Developments Of Narrative Cinema Film Using either two short films from films silent period (pre 1929), or one short film and an extract from a longer film (both of which should also be pre 1929) discuss what they can tell us about the early developments of narrative cinema. Early development of narrative cinema pre 1929 (silent films) Films have changed a great deal since the earliest productions in the silent era of around 1898 to around 1929, when the development of sound was conceived. Many advances in film have enhanced the viewing pleasure, from the almost alien productions created nearly a hundred years ago, for example Georges Melies Voyage to the Moon (1902), to the familiar films of our generation, such as James Camerons Avatar. This essay will discuss the changes made from a visual and aesthetic cinema to a structured narrative cinema. Also how films may have evolved in both plot and story, and also how the development of the narrative form changed, in some respects, films viewing purpose and audiences expectations. Analyzing why films which contain narratives and the ability to derive tension from their audience overtook the medium most popular at the time, the cinema of attractions, will help us to understand how films viewing changed. By comparing two very different silent films, Rescued by Rover (directed by Lewin Fitzhamon 1905) and Broken Blossoms (directed by D .W. Griffith 1919) one would expect to see a great many differences, not only technological (such as the length of the films, and editing advancements) but also such things as character development, and characters emotional drives along with the variety of devices which drive the narrative forward. Comparing the entirety of Rescued by Rover with just a short scene from Broken Blossoms will enable us to select the clear advances in narrative structure and understand their development from the simple action and consequence format to the in-depth emotional build up created by films made later during the silent film era. The early 1900s saw change and growth, in both the production of short films and the demand. Thomas Elsaesser discusses this notion in his book Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative suggesting that 1905 saw the production of many stable permanent theaters being set up as well as the film industry trying to knit developments together, such as the first full film reel and a number of film theaters allowing the exchange of films as a means of distribution. These and other developments, took place in order to try and produce a stable industry. The introduction of films containing narratives has played a significant role in the popularity and production of films. Short silent films shown just before and during the very early 1900s did not focus on the need to tell a story as much, maybe because the development of film only really began a decade before. However, on March 22, 1895, in Paris, France, the Socià ©tà © dEncouragement à   lIndustrie Nationale (National Society for the Promotion of Industry) gathered to watch a film depicting factory workers leaving for their dinner hour, which although may seem primitive to an audience of today, must have been an impressive show and indeed an exciting step forward from the kinetoscope. The film, screened and viewed in front of an audience, was an innovation created by brothers Louis Lumià ¨re (1864-1948) and Auguste Lumià ¨re (1862-1954). Loius Lumiere made many short films which included, LArroseur arrose, known in English as The Gardener and the Bad Boy, which unlike the pr evious films contained a comic narrative structure. Joel. W. Finler in his book Silent Cinema: before the coming of sound, states that although shot from a fixed camera position, the picture demonstrates a sophisticated use of the film frame, suggesting that the film had previous planning and each frame had been structured for both characters so that they would fit nicely, showing early attempts to add to the film aesthetically. Rescued by Rover was made in 1905. It was directed by Cecil Hepworth and Lewin Fizhamon and the Hepworth manufacturing company was the production company. The short film is about a baby who is kidnapped by an old woman, but luckily the family collie rescues the baby. The film is very easy to follow, containing a variety of simple shots all helping the viewer to follow the narrative. The first shot is of the baby and the dog sitting quietly together, then the mother is seen wheeling the baby up a path in her pram, a nasty old woman approaches the mother begging, but the mother walks on, ignoring the old woman. In the next shot the mother is distracted by another man talking to her. They both chat while sneakily the old woman steals her precious baby. This is a simple example of films early jump to the narrative structure. In narrative it is all the events, both explicitly presented and inferred that make the story, an example of this is provided in Rescued by Rover. Three shots are used to set up the plot,( the baby and dog together, the mother pushing the baby the baby is taken.) followed by another sixteen shots showing Rover tracking down the child, these sixteen shots are repeated twice more to show, (in reverse) the dog returning home and then again when rover takes the father with him, however a forth repeat of the sequence is not shown (the dog, the father and the baby returning home together) and instead a shot of the kidnapper returning to her room, followed by a shot of the reunited family is provided. The film assumes that the audience does not need to see the Father, baby and dog returning home, but that the audience is able to identify that this was happening while the shot of the beggar woman returning to her house was shown. The films ability to involve itself with the audience and coherently lay each relevant characters plight, initiates an emotional response, such as sympathy for the baby and sorrow for the mother when she loses her baby. Films like The Gardener and the Bad Boy and Rescued by Rover are clear examples of why the demand for narrative films grew. Bernard F Dick discusses narrative films advance in his book Anatomy of Film, Fifth edition, saying the narrative film came about when film makers discovered the medium could do more than just record whatever was in front of the camera. The next step was not only to capture it but to re-create it; to show what could or might be; in other words to tell a story. This suggests that films such as Rescued by Rover and The Gardener and the Bad Boy where successful experiments in the field of narrative cinema and led to much more in-depth narrative films. Broken Blossoms, the film directed by D W Griffith, stands proudly among the greats of the silent film era, and unlike Rescued by Rover, uses intertitles. Bernard. F.Dick, in Anatomy of Film, discusses this notion when commenting, Printed material that appeared on the screen periodically during the course of the movie, the intertitle was one of the ways in which the silent filmmaker supplemented the narrative or clarified the action; it is also a reminder of films early dependence on printed word. D.W.Griffith used intertitles for a variety of purposes, not just to reproduce dialogue and identify characters. One clear difference in the two films, Rescued by Rover and Broken Blossoms, is the ability to develop a much more in-depth relationship between the character and the viewer. Broken Blossoms, contains both a larger plot and story opening up to a wider range of audiences, because of its variety in characters (the poor lost girl with what seems like no hope, and the wandering Chinese man whose fame and respect are as nothing in a cruel foreign world.) Broken Blossoms also uses different advances in camera work: to better tell a story, such as the scene in which the poor girls ghastly father finds her sleeping in the Chinese mans bed, the scene cuts backwards and forwards from shots of the fathers face getting more and more angry, to the girl becoming more and more scared shot and the scene is edited correctly for convincing continuity, and the correct level of tension has been created. However D.W.Griffith has allowed for emotion to be displayed though characters actions as well, inste ad of only using Intertitles in the scene where the father discovers Lucy in the Chinese mans room, such as You! with a dirty chink! and Taint nothin wrong! Taint nothin wrong! I fell down in the doorway and it wasnt nothin wrong! Different shots are given to display the emotions of the father and Lucy, several close up shots of both Lucy and the father are provided. The tension is built up by the shots of their faces getting closer and closer until the audience is shown an extreme close up of their eyes, this serves to drive the plot and create emotional response from the viewers. From viewing early silent films and analyzing both Rescued by Rover and Broken Blossoms, one conclusion dominates above others: the progression narrative film has taken in film makers ability to tell a story, from a simple plot such as a dog saving a baby, to the elaborate plot of Broken Blossoms and its Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet-esc plot, filled with emotionally provoking moments. The development of a simple narrative working within a film has enabled us to make, and watch films with far more complex narratives. The simple narrative films of the past have paved the way for the future and the coming of sound and colour, bringing films to life with a vivid and beautifully developed mode of story telling.

Fear and Loathing on The Campaign Trail Essay -- essays research paper

Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail ’72 was a book about a writer for the Rolling Stone and his coverage of the presidential elections in 1972. These elections were between the incumbent Republican, President Richard Nixon and the Senator from South Dakota, George McGovern. The election of 1972 saw McGovern come out of the democratic National Convention over Senators Muskie and Humphrey but only to lose to the incumbent president Richard Nixon. Hunter S. Thompson writes about the Election of 1972 from December 1971, before any primaries, to December 1972 after Nixon has won the election. It is a truthful first person account of what happened during the presidential race that year with much personal, side talk about Thompson’s life, experiences, and his coverage four years ago about the 1968 election. Thompson writes this book in a unique style that he has made called Gonzo Journalism. This style of writing is a deeply personal style of writing and is very opinionated. He does not give the facts on the election straight but instead gives his opinions on the people involved. It is a very subjective point of view and shows Thompson’s very liberal perspective. He is a strong supporter and is an enthusiast of the democratic candidate McGovern and shows time and time again how much he despises Nixon. Along with a very opinionated, subjective narrative, Thompson talks a lot about drug use. His point of view is from t hat from the drug underculture. Thompson is a very big drug us...

The Transcontinental Railroad And Westward Expansion Essay example --

The Transcontinental Railroad and Westward Expansion Thesis: The transcontinental railroad greatly increased Westward expansion in the United States of America during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The history of the United States has been influenced by England in many ways. In the second half of the 1800's, the railroad, which was invented in England, had a major effect on Western expansion in the United States. "Railroads were born in England, a country with dense populations, short distances between cities, and large financial resources. In America there were different circumstances, a sparse population in a huge country, large stretches between cities, and only the smallest amounts of money." ("Railroad" 85) The first American railroads started in the 1830's from the Atlantic ports of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah (Douglas 23). Within twenty years, four rail lines had crossed the Alleghenies to reach their goal on `Western Waters' of the Great Lakes or the tributaries of the Mississippi. Meanwhile, other lines had started West of the Appalachian mountains, and by the mid-1850's Chicago, St. Louis, and Memphis were connected to the East. Still other lines were stretching Westward, beyond the Mississippi. An international route connected New England and Montreal and another one crossed Southern Ontario between Niagara, New York, and the Detroit River. During the 1850's, North and South routes were developed both East and West of the Alleghenies. It was not until after the Civil War, however, that a permanent railroad bridge was constructed across the Ohio River. After the Civil War, the pace of railroad building increased. The Pacific railroads, the Union Pacific building from Omaha, Nebraska, and the Central Pacific building from Sacramento, California, had started to build a transcontinental railroad during the war to help promote national unity. They were joined at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869, completing the first rail connection across the continent. Before the transcontinental railroad, the Eastern railroads had lines running only as far West as Omaha, Nebraska. The Western railroads had a few lines running North and South in California, far West of the wall of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In between these two networks was a huge gap of about seventeen hundred mi... ...ched by wagon, which would have discouraged many if not most of the settlers going to become farmers. Unlike the gold miners of the earlier years, the farmers did not dream of getting rich quickly. They wanted to be self-sufficient, and they felt that the land on the Prairie could help them do it. The railroad was an incredible catalyst in the population of the Mid-West and without it the area might still be sparsely populated. The transcontinental railroad proved it's worth and had a tremendous impact on westward expansion. "In less than thirty years after the Civil War, all across the `enormous gap' spanned by the railroad, the interior was being conquered and domesticated." (Cooke 240) Bibliography Cooke, Alistair. Alistair Cooke's America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977. Douglas, George H. All Aboard! The Railroad In American Life. New York: Paragon House, 1992. Horn, Huston. The Old West The Pioneers. New York: Time-Life Books, 1974. Merk, Frederick. History of the Westward Movement. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978. "Railroad." Compton's Encyclopedia. 1990 edition. "United States of America." The New Encyclop‘dia Britannica. 1990 edition.