“Pandemic or Panic” (2010) by Brian Molloy Analysis

In the article â€Å"Pandemic or Panic† (2010) by Brian Molloy and the article â€Å"Hindsight is easy† (2010) by Erica Grove, they both discuss the way WHO response to the outbreak of H1N1 influenza and they present different perspectives on how the money was spent on and how the resource was distributed. Molloy is neutral about the WHO’s response of H1N1 influenza outbreak, while Molloy is highly skeptical. First, Molloy argues that WHO send everyone into a panic about H1N1, but it is not the threat people imaged it to be.Grove, however, states that it is necessary for the WHO and the government to take  the threat of H1N1 seriously. Next, Molloy claims that British government spend a lot of money on vaccine which makes two major pharmaceutical companies earn billions from swine flu, and there is a conflict of interest between the government and drug manufactures. He believes that this money should be spent on a right situation like helping disable instead of treating flu. Grove also believes that there is a mismanagement of the distribution of vaccine. Discussion: Molloy claims that the WHO and the government spends massive expenditure on doses of vaccine, while the death rate  for H1N1 is far low than for ordinary influenza.He criticizes the reports of H1N1 cases are exaggerated which send people into a panic about H1N1. By contrast, Grove states that the WHO did not overreact to the crisis. Rather, she feels grateful that the authorities took the threat of a pandemic seriously. She also points out that everything is always better to overprepare than to underprepare. Molloy appears to have overlooked that the powerful of virus can be. In fact, there are a couple of factors like infectivity, severity and lethality which can all affect the strength of a virus.Transmission is also a key factor to determine how the virus spread and be identified. As Molloy mentions that the death rate for H1N1 is relatively low than for ordinary pandemi c, it does not mean that H1N1 is a weak influenza. Perhaps the low death rate is due to early trace the source, infected people are well isolated from the rest of the community in order to control the spread of H1N1, or synthesis of a new vaccine by scientists in a short period of time. These could be one of the reasons of why the death rate for H1N1 is low. In this sense, Molloy fail to notice that.

Armenian Language

anNadine Abo Laban 900113591 Gap paper 2 (Armenian Language) Introduction The guest speaker who graced us with her presence was Alyssah Depoya, who is of Armenian origin. According to Alyssah, all pure Armenians last names end with â€Å"yan† which acts as an indicator of whether the person is of pure Armenian origin. Armenia is a mountainous country located in the South Caucasus region in Eurasia. It is bordered by Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran (â€Å"Armenia†, n. d). Armenian people have a very rich and dense culture. It is one of the world’s oldest civilizations.Armenia was also the very first country to embrace Christianity as its religion. The Armenian culture has been shaped and influenced by many other countries due to the several invasions that their people had to endure. It has been conquered by the Persians, Greeks, Mongols, Byzantines, Ottomans, Arabs, Romans and Russians. The most brutal invasion was when the Ottoman Turks took over Armenia, ki lling its people and leaving them to starve to death. During the Ottoman take over between 600,000 and 1. 5 million Armenians were killed, leaving this massacre to be the very first genocide of the 20th century.Moreover, Turkey denies such a massacre having occurred and claims till this present day that death casualties were a minimum. Armenia houses a population of 3,140,000 citizens. However the total Armenian population is 5,924,320. They are wide spread over Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Palestine, Russia, united states and Syria (Lewis, 2013). Facts about the language According to my research from the Ethonologue and Wikipedia, there are 5,924,320 speakers of Armenian all over the world.The language belongs to the Indo-European language family and has several dialects. Most linguists identify the language as a separate branch under the indo European family. You can also call the Armenian language by Armjanski Yazyk, Ena, Ermeni Dili, Ermenice, Somkhuri. Before the creation of an Armenian alphabet, the Armenians used Greek and Aramaic characters. In 405 AD, the 36 characters of the Armenian alphabet were introduced. However, during the middle ages two more characters were introduced to the already existing alphabet so they can spell out borrowed foreign words.There are two different dialects of the Armenian languages used till this day. There is the Eastern classical Armenian, and the western, which is more commonly spoken by the people. The western dialect is mainly used outside of the republic of Armenia, whereas eastern is used both inside and outside the country. Report on the speaker’s presentation Fortunately, everything Alyssah informed us about coincided with my research. She was very entertaining and did not miss a detail about what we needed to know.

Financial Information for Business Decisions Essay - 1

Financial Information for Business Decisions - Essay Example Marks and Spencer’s well established business attracts a great deal of consumer base irrespective of demography. The company’s main business consists in selling fabric items and clothing for men, women and kids’. The company, by applying prudent marketing techniques, has been able to grab market share of around 11.0%2 by value and 11.2%3 by volume. Marks and Spencer has also been actively involved in the business of marketing and selling edible products which has earned the company immense revenue in the past few years. Through its unmatchable food quality, Marks and Spencer is now regarded as one of the finest when it comes to quality food products. Operating Performance of the Company Marks and Spencer has been actively involved in the marketing of fresh meals and canned food items. The company also earns a good portion of its revenue through selling some of the finest wines and other affordable grocery products as well. In the recent past the company has been able to renew its food range and now offers a diverse variety of products to its customers. This change in strategy has been of benefit to the company which has caused an increase of 1.8%4 in sales revenue from food business. During the financial year 2010, the company progressed by leaps and bounds. ... The table below compares the financial results of Marks and Spencer, for the last five financial years from 2010 till 2006. Particulars8 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 Group Revenue 9,537 9,062 9,022 8,588 7,797 Operating Profit - Continuing Operations 852 871 1,211 1,046 850 Profit from ordinary activities before taxation - continuing operations 703 706 1,129 937 746 Profit for the year 523 507 821 660 523 As can be observed from the above analysis, the financial outlook of the company has improved in the last five years. The group revenue has shown an inclining trend which pertains to the opening of new stores and outlets of the company. The company has expanded its operation both in and out of England over the past couple of years. Marks and Spencer is actively involved in overseas sales, and fluctuation in exchange rate has had a significant impact on the revenue of the company. The company was able to shrug off the recent global meltdown .The gross profit to sales ratio for the year e nded December 31, 2010 was 8.93%9 which has decreased by 0.67% during the current year. Despite the decrease in gross profit to sales ratio, the net profit of the company has increased by ?16.210 million. The primary reason behind the increase in the net profit is the fact that during the current financial year the company did not incur any cost during the current year on corporate restructuring. The increase in net profit is due to the fact that during the current year the company did not incur any exceptional cost which it had incurred during the year prior to that on strategic restructuring. If we analyze the financial year 2009, there has been a major decrease in the profit after tax. This

Fundatn Stage Currculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fundatn Stage Currculum - Essay Example wll further dscuss the ssues cncernng the Fundatn Stage n educatn whch are the ssues f prmary currculum where the chldren f 4-6 years ld are educated. The fundatn stage was ntrduced as a dstnct phase f educatn fr chldren aged 3-5 n September 2000. n preparatn, Currculum gudance fr the fundatn stage was dstrbuted n May 2000 t all schls wth nursery and receptn classes, and t early years settngs recevng nursery educatn grant fundng. Ths gudance sets ut sx areas f learnng whch frm the bass f the fundatn stage currculum. These areas are: The sx areas f learnng cverng chldren's physcal, ntellectual, emtnal and scal develpment were gruped nt 13 categres. They shwed gaps f 12 r 13 percentage pnts between grls and bys n the persnal, scal and emtnal develpment categres, and a 12-pnt dfference n ther wrtng ablty. Each area f learnng has a set f related early learnng gals. Currculum gudance fr the fundatn stage s ntended t help practtners plan t meet the dverse needs f all chldren s that mst wll acheve and sme, where apprprate, wll g beynd the early learnng gals by the end f the fundatn stage. The Educatn Act 2002 extended the Natnal Currculum t nclude the fundatn stage. The sx areas f learnng became statutry, and the Act als specfed that there shuld be early learnng gals fr each f the areas. A natnal cnsultatn n the cntent f the early learnng gals as set ut n Currculum gudance fr the fundatn stage was carred ut n autumn 2002. Fllwng ths cnsultatn the early learnng gals, and use f the Currculum gudance as a gude, became statutry n March 2002.The data, based n receptn class teachers' assessments f fur and fve-year-lds n 2003, was publshed at the end f June 2004 by the Department fr Educatn and Sklls. t shwed that grls were ahead f bys verall, n that grls were ether meetng r wrkng beynd the Early Learnng Gals, whle mre bys were wrkng twards the gals.The Act als establshed a sngle natnal assessment system fr the fundatn stage, replacng baselne assessment schemes. The Fundatn stage prfle was ntrduced nt schls and settngs n 2002-3. TheFundatn stage prflehas 13 summary scales c verng the sx areas f learnng, whch need t be cmpleted fr each chld recevng gvernment-funded educatn by the end f hs r her tme n the fundatn stage. Legslatn relatng t the currculum and assessment n the fundatn stage s set ut n the fllwng Statutry nstruments, bth f whch are avalable frm HMS: The Educatn (Natnal Currculum) (Fundatn Stage Early Learnng Gals) (England) rder 2003 (Statutry nstrument 2003 N.391) The Educatn (Natnal Currculum) (Fundatn Stage Prfle Assessment Arrangements) (England) rder 2003 (Statutry nstrument 2003 N.1327) The fundatn stage s the frst part f the Natnal Currculum, fcusng n the dstnct needs f chldren aged three t the end f the receptn year (age fve). The fundatn stage s delvered n a range f settngs ncludng pre-schl grups, early years centres, nursery and receptn classes. Early years settngs n recept f

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 136

Case Study Example Despite dominating the largest market share, the company has ensured that it continues to provide its customers with high quality services. Consistency of this company is detrimental to the competitors, i.e. Etisalat and Vodafone. This is because the companies have to invest heavily in advertising in order to increase their market base. Mobinil is selling quality services to the customers. The clients are buying the quality of the services being offered by the firm. Over time, the clients have become loyal to the services of the company. The core product purchased by the customers is convenience. The actual product includes airtime while augmented product includes effective customer services. The reasons for the success of Mobinil will continue to work as long as the company will manipulate them in order to meet the tastes and preferences of the target market. However, the entry of these multinational such as Etisalat and Vodafone will have a major impact on the company’s market share. This is because the companies have diversified their operation in different markets, an aspect that will enable them to offer customers with high quality products and services. In order to remain competitive, the managers need to turn to social media marketing. This will enable the company to cut the advertising budget. In addition, social media will enable the firm to conduct research on different aspects that affects the consumption behavior of the target market. In addition, the managers need to diversify its markets. This is through penetrating less competitive markets in Africa. This is to expand its revenue

Strategic Alternatives and Inplementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Alternatives and Inplementation - Essay Example One of the most important advantages that the firm will be able to derive from this strategic step would be to focus on its core competencies. By outsourcing tasks such as the installation of meters as well as monitoring functions, it will be able to direct its energies in effectively forecasting the demand and upgrade its capacity to fulfill the future demands that may arise due to increases in population. However, the formation of strategic alliances may result into the dilution of control of the organization over certain of its functions and it may be forced to continue its strategic alliances in order to continue to enjoy such services. What is also significant to note that the firm may not develop its internal competencies to cope with such type of problems. Process Re-engineering is another important strategic alternative that the organization needs to perform in order to control different activities and their overall impact on the performance of the firm. It seems that the different tasks that are performed within the organization are relatively inefficient and does not lead to the achievement of the overall strategic objectives of the organization. Since the organization faces certain constraints such as non-availability of the indigenous workforce as well as lack of effective HR policies and procedures, therefore, a process- re-engineering will be an effective method to radically modify the existing systems and procedures. Process Re-engineering will allow the organization to revamp its various systems and procedures and redesign the same according to its existing capabilities and resources. It is also significant to understand that the implementation of this strategic alternative shall take place in a phased manner with the introduction of the change management process at the organizational level. Achieving the full-time commitment of the top management of the firm is another important step that needs to be completed before the formal initiation of the process. Further, the firm must also identify the different processes that need to be modified in order to achieve the overall increase in the efficiency of the organization. The identification of the processes, however, needs to be done on an enterprise-wide level with more focus on re-engineering the core activities of the firm. The design phase shall include the re-designing of the activities according to the best practices.

Educational Policies in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Educational Policies in Britain - Essay Example Copyright Higher Education Statistics Agency Ltd. 2005 From HESA, accessed 2006-04-26 Data for figure 6.5 Students' expenditure by type, 2002/03 England & Wales Percentages Living costs 68 Housing costs 19 Participation costs 14 Source: Student Income and Expenditure Survey, South Bank University 1997 1998 1999 2000 Current expenditure /98 /99 /00 /01 Universities .. .. .. .. Other Higher, Further and adult education .. .. .. .. Higher Education Funding Council 5,693 4,726 5,166 5,813 Further Education Funding Council 3,718 5,064 5,216 5,167 2001 Continuing Education 1,960 .. .. .. /02 Other education expenditure 1,355 4,611 4,278 3,861 .. .. .. 5,813 5,628 5,167 6,810 .. .. 3,861 3,989 From HESA, accessed 2006-04-26 The government expenditure on education in terms of higher education funding has remained stable since 1997 receiving up to 5628millions in 2001-2002. Comparatively further education funding council received funding of 6810 million and other education expenditure of the government was at 3,989 million (HESA, 2006). Percentage of students opting for loans seems to have risen considerably and the data show that students seeking funding have risen from 41% in 1992-93 to 64% in 1997-1998. The table below shows the percentage of students who depend on funding for external or state sources, loans or grants 1992-93 41 1993-94 47 1994-95 55 1995-96 59 1996-97 62 1997-98 64 From HESA, accessed 2006-04-26 The tables that we have considered could be analyzed comparatively for government expenditure against student requirements. As we see from the statistical data on student... The government expenditure on education in terms of higher education funding has remained stable since 1997 receiving up to 5628millions in 2001-2002. Comparatively further education funding council received funding of 6810 million and other education expenditure of the government was at 3,989 million (HESA, 2006). Percentage of students opting for loans seems to have risen considerably and the data show that students seeking funding have risen from 41% in 1992-93 to 64% in 1997-1998. The table below shows the percentage of students who depend on funding for external or state sources, loans or grants The tables that we have considered could be analyzed comparatively for government expenditure against student requirements. As we see from the statistical data on student expenditure, student borrowing, financial requirements and expenditure have gone up considerably since 1992-93 when borrowing for instance was only at 41% compared with 1997-98 with at least 64% of students depending on external funding. The chart on student expenditure shows living costs and education costs at 68% of total expenditure for students.

Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Lab Report Example Like any other laboratory experiments, reference is made to physical background of measurement tools and CAD version. Each tool requires an apt application to realize the most appropriate experimental results. In this section, vernier calipers and micrometer screw gauge were used to measure various dimensions of the Duplo block provided. In each case, these tools were aptly applied as described in the material attached to the laboratory manual. The Duplo block used in this experiment had a mixture of rectangular and circular shapes with internal and external diameters. With reference to manuals provided, the use of vernier calipers to determine internal and external dimensions of the various shapes on the Duplo block was studied. This is inclusive of evasion of any zero errors that might have occurred. Outer dimensions of circular, square and rectangular shapes on this block were determined by placing it between the lower jaws of the vernier calipers (Benedettelli, 2014). For inner dimensions, upper jaws clip inner surface of shapes measured and are screwed until they firmly hold. Measurements of depth are carried out using the movable head adjustable by the screw clamp whose shape and specifications differ for various vernier calipers. Once an object is in position, readings are made off systematically by determining initial significant figures by reading off values just to the left of vernier zero mark, along the main scale. The reading at which markings in vernier scale coincides with a division on main scale forms decimal readings. Thus, measurements on a vernier scale are usually expressed to two decimal place (Benedettelli, 2014). Relative to micrometers, measurements by vernier calipers are less precise. The use of ratchet knob, vernier scale and main scale of a micrometer was demonstrated as described in laboratory manuals. This instrument applies in

Crossdressing and Tranvestism Essay Example for Free

Crossdressing and Tranvestism Essay This critique is based on the video â€Å"Hide and Seek† by Group 29. It is about cross dressing. Cross-dressing represents the act of wearing clothing commonly associated with the opposite sex, including various forms: (1) underwear only, (2) clothes but no makeup or wig, (3) clothes, makeup and wigs, and (4) trying to â€Å"pass† as a woman. There are different terms to address the people who cross-dress, such as cross dresser (CD), transvestite (TV), Drag Queens (normally gay and exaggerated) and female impersonators (actors who play women). However, it is important to note that cross dressing is not identical or relevant to transgender, gender identity and willingness to become the opposite sex. The transvestites only want to dress like the other gender for some time. Statistics have revealed that about 3% to 5% of the populations are transvestites, while the majority of them are heterosexual. According to medical research, the underlying factors of becoming a transvestite are due to family background, the surrounding environment and social learning. Most of the cross-dressers face difficulties such as fears to be discovered by family, friends and partners. However, this is because the society is generally against cross dressers and often described them as insane or having mental problems. For example, in Hong Kong, the society is unfriendly towards cross dressing and the general public does discriminate against the transvestites. Analysis The content of this video is analyzed in four aspects as follows:- Title Titled as â€Å"Hide and Seek†, the video portrays the fear of a male cross dresser to be discovered by his girlfriend. The authors would like â€Å"to show the cross dressers are hiding themselves away but at the same time seeking the identification. † From the video, the message that the cross dressers hope to hide their habit is clearly shown. When the Katherine returns home and opens the door, Joe is very frightened that his cross dressing behaviour is revealed by Katherine. However, the second statement â€Å"at the same time seeking the identification† cannot be directly or passively interpreted from the video, since Joe only exclaims his love towards Katherine when his cross dressing is about to reveal from the sub-title â€Å"There is another girl. But he still loves you. † This statement does not prove that he is seeking for identification, approval or tolerance from Katherine. There is also a lack of any scene to show that Joe, being a transvestite, is searching for identification and recognition from other people. Moreover, if the tile â€Å"Hide and Seek† was not stated and explained by the authors, the audience would not identify the specified meaning of the title. It otherwise gives the impression to audience that the title relates to the hide and seeks between Joe and Katherine when Joe is cross dressing and Katherine is returning home. Plot In the video, the first part shows the actions of a man, Joe and his girlfriend, Katherine at the same time. Joe is dressing on as a woman in the washroom. First, he puts on make-up: Applying mascara and putting on red lip gross. Second, he wears on a shocking pink flower dress, black leggings and bra. Then he caresses his breast in front of the mirror. At the same time, Katherine is going back home, entering the entrance, getting into the lift and opening the doors with keys. When Joe realizes Katherine is coming back with the sounds of keys, he quickly washes his face to remove the make-up, takes off his bra and leggings, and finally uses a cotton pad with make-up remover to remove his eye shadow, eye line and mascara. At the same instant, Katherine is searching for him. Then, Joe walks to Katherine. Katherine is suspicious that â€Å"Why there is smell of fragrance? † and â€Å"Was there another girl? † Joe’s eyes are enlarged to show his fear and speechlessness. â€Å"There is another girl. † â€Å"But he still loves you. † Here, it would like to bring out that Joe does not have any extramarital relations. The â€Å"another girl† means Joe himself. Even though he has the cross dressing behaviour, he still loves Katherine. Character There are two characters in this video: Joe and Katherine. First of all, Joe is a transvestite. I think that his acting is realistic to justify the role of his character. He has acquired mastery of wearing on all the female attire and make-up. After dressing up as a female, his smile and stroke of hands on the breast in front of the mirror can effectively bring the message that he really feels satisfied with it and enjoys transvestism. Moreover, when Katherine is puzzled with the fragrance form Joe, the facial expressions from Joe is vivid to show his fear to reveal he is actually having transvestism at home. Regrettably, there is one shot which looks rather strange. After wearing on the black stockings, he twists his legs and moves his toes. Though the authors describe that scene as â€Å"cross dresser looked at his leg† and they describe it as using the cross dresser’s point of view, and â€Å"it can make the audience understand the mindset of the cross dresser: happy and pleased with his feminine look†, that shot gives an impression to me that Joe was having leg fatigue at that moment so that he moves his legs and toes to relieve the pain. Also, the shot is not basically taken in the cross dresser’s point of view. It is a shot from vertical direction. So, that show does not make me understand the mindset of Joe. To better improve the above scene, the video camera should be put at the angle from Joe’s eyes. And his facial expressions when he is happy and pleased with the feminine look should be filmed. Furthermore, the facial expression of Katherine is not quite realistic and cannot make the audience to understand what she feels. In the shot Katherine has got back home, she searches for Joe elsewhere. Finally when she finds out Joe, she should be feeling suspicious and puzzled why there is a scent of fragrance, according to the wordings â€Å"Why there is smell of fragrance? † However, the facial expression of Katherine gives an impression to me that she is drowsy or just wakes up. Her countenance makes the audience confused about what is going on in the video. With the following wordings â€Å"Was there another girl? † the audience can eventually get the message that Katherine is suspicious with Joe to have another partner. Props In the video clip, plenty of female props are employed to show the symbols of cross dressing. For example, mascara, red lip gross, face powder, cosmetic brushes, black stockings, bra are used. These are the representative symbols of a female. Generally male would not use these things. And the myriads of cosmetic kits in the washroom are adequate to show that Joe wants to dress up to be an attractive and pretty woman. In fact, I feel that the props used in the video are strongly relevant to the theme. They are constructive to bring out the message that Joe is cross dressing and the elements of cross dressing are clearly identified. After watching this video, one can understand what transvestism is and how the transvestite dress in the opposite. In my opinion, to further elaborate the image of a transvestite, except the clothing and make-up, Joe can also wear wigs and high heels to make him more feminine. Music Concerning the music part, there is merits and demerits in the video clip. To begin with, when Joe is putting on mascara and lip gross, the music is quite relaxing and cheerful. However, the music becomes wary and suspicious when he is putting on other cosmetics in the washroom. It is a bit inconsistent that the background music for similar instance of make up is so contrasting. In my opinion, the wary music should start when the camera shot moves to the lobby of the building, which implies that Katherine is coming back. In this way, it can let the audience knows that some dangerous instance is about to begin. On the other hand, the speed of the music in the later part is effective to show that sequence of the video. The music becomes increasingly faster when the climax is reached. The speed is useful to show that Joe is so fear to be discovered by his partner of cross dressing because to many people, cross dressing is something abnormal and should be corrected. Interpretation According to the description from the authors, the aims of video are to let â€Å"people who are too busy and have no time to figure out what cross-dressing is could immediately understand the feeling of cross-dresser and understand they are not monster or insane. Their acts are only pleasure-seeking. † And they believe that the video is â€Å"the most effective way to bring a sense of reality to the readers: how the cross -dresser feel when he is cross-dressing; his deep fear of being discovered and the confrontation faced by the couple. † I think that the video clip is effective to bring out the aforementioned aim of the presentation. In particular, the background music and the facial expression from Joe are realistic and let the audience understand the feelings of the cross dressers. However, normal audience without knowledge to transvestism could not understand the nature of it and disregard the transvestites as insane, since there is only one statement â€Å"But he still loves you. † to show that transvestites would not change their love towards lovers. Meanwhile, there lacks any information or implication to prove that the transvestites are indeed normal as ordinary people. So, this video is not useful to educate to eradicate biases towards the transvestites once communicated to the public. It only broadens the knowledge of acts by cross dressers and their inner feelings to audience. In my view, the video should include information to educate the public to accept the transvestites and feel comfortable and easy to live with them. For instance, we can portray a scene that a cross dressers is having cross dressing and his wife lives with him happily and does not mind it. I think that there should be other scenes to portray the daily life of transvestites, and thus the audience can get an implication that the cross dressers are normal as well. Transvestism is only their habit and it would not harm other parties. This is because I feel that the society is full of discrimination towards the transvestites. They are usually related to abnormal or insane behaviour, mental problems or crimes like rape, indecorum. There should be strong and forceful publications to assure the general public that the transvestites are not insane as they may prescribe. In a nutshell, the message from the video can be partially communicated, and it can only be communicated to audience who already has basic knowledge of transvestism. Otherwise, the audience may still think the cross dressers are insane after getting known to their act. The choice of taking videos to show the implied message of the authors is quite suitable. The way and steps of cross dressing can be clearly identified and shown to audience. It makes the audience understand what the meaning of cross dressing is. Also, audience can understand the feelings of cross dresser after reading this video that they usually perform it secretly and do not want their family, partner and friends to know it. With the help of the additional wordings, the audience can further consolidate the idea of this video. So I think that the aims of authors to use video: â€Å"A good video could be eye-catching and effectively delivered a thought-provoking idea in the readers’ mind. † is justified. A man cross dressing to act as a female is quite an innovative idea and the wordings shown at the end of the video can help the audience to understand the transvestites still love their partners even though they have this habit. Conclusion The video produced by Group 29 â€Å"Hide and Seek† can effectively communicate to the audience how the transvestites do in cross dressing and their fear to be revealed by partners. However, this video is not sufficient to educate the readers to accept transvestism such that transvestites are ordinary people like everyone. Reference Chow, L. S. Hide and Seek by Lai Shan Chow. Retrieved December 13th, 2008, from CITE Mahara: http://mahara-broadening. cite. hku. hk/view/view. php? id=76

Principles of Assessment Essay Example for Free

Principles of Assessment Essay Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole. According to the Academic Exchange Quarterly: Studies of a theoretical or empirical nature (including case studies, portfolio studies, exploratory, or experimental work) addressing the assessment of learner aptitude and preparation, motivation and learning styles, learning outcomes in achievement and satisfaction in different educational contexts are all welcome, as are studies addressing issues of measurable standards and benchmarks. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Educational_assessment Some of the key concepts of assessment are as follows: * Accountability * Achievement * Assessment Strategies. * Initial, Formative or Summative types Accountability means that I am answerable to my learners and my organisation to ensure that I am performing my role as an assessor correctly. I always let my learners know when they are going to be assessed and how they will meet the criteria. Achievement- I will look at what the learner has achieved while they have been doing the course and compare this with the standards to ensure they have been fully met. Assessment Strategy- I follow my organisations assessment strategy for the subject I am assessing to ensure I am carrying out my role correctly. The assessment strategy I follow for NVQ2 in Cleaning is: * UPK questions * Observations * Progress Review * Supplementary questions * Exit Interview. The qualifications and experience I require are A1 V1 and experience in the cleaning industry. Formal Assessment * Ongoing during a course * It enables progress to be regularly monitored and reviewed * The student can see what they need to develop further before a final assessment * A student can identify gaps in their learning * It shows a student how much they have learnt so far which encourages and motivates them Methods of Formal Assessment. * Tracking Sheet * Observations * Tutorials * Midway Review * Oral Questions Summative Assessment * Usually taken at the end of the course * Usually leads to a pass/fail situation * Tests whether performance criteria have been met Methods of Summative Assessment * Exit Interview * Portfolio Completion * Demonstration * Summative Testing * Evaluation Form â€Å"Summative assessment takes place at the end of a course or topic and is used mainly for certification purposes. It is used to see if a student has learned the material and is capable of going on to further study. † Formative assessment is most suitable where the results are to be used internally for example: Teachers to ensure learning has taken place and for improving methods of instruction and for students to have an idea of their success etc whilst summative assessment can be set by the teacher or by an awarding body/examination body. When making a summative decision I confirm to my learners that they have met the criteria. They may receive a certificate as with NVQ2 or progress further with their training. Summative assessment takes place at the end of a course or topic and is used mainly for certification purposes. Formative assessment, on the other hand, takes place during the course and is useful in telling the student how the learning is proceeding. Reece Walker 2007p323. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSESS Formative Assessment Formative Assessment Role Play Make learners uncomfortable Physical demonstration of ability Embarrassed Not Realistic Summative Assessment Summative Assessment Demonstration Make learners feel uncomfortable Authentic Realistic Valid The assessment practice starts with initial assessment before the course starts. It may happen at pre- entry, entry or induction stage. The initial assessment will inform you about the learner’s prior knowledge, skills, qualifications, learning styles and any support learner may need. When you have found out the current level of ability you can then set goals, plan future learning and assessment. There are different types of initial assessment: Enrolment Form- shows what qualifications the learner has if they have special needs. Interview when you interview the learner you will be able to ask many questions. Skills Scan the skills scan will tell you if the learner is in employment what there job requires and if they will need additional training. Diagnostic Tests will inform you if the learner has difficulty in reading or writing. You may be able to tell if a person has dyslexia as they will have blurred vision, suffer from headaches when reading and they find it easier to read large print. To help them with reading you can print on to coloured paper or have a coloured overlay. 10% of the British population are dyslexic, 4% severely. Dyslexia is identified as a disability as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. Some of the famous people who suffer from dyslexia are: Albert Einstein Tom Cruise Henry Winkler. Vince Vaughn (British dyslexia Association www. bdadyslexia. org. uk, (11/07/11 I have taught learners who have learning difficulties including deaf people, people who have difficulty in reading and writing and understanding. ILP It states on the ILP what qualifications a learner has, the results of diagnostic tests and if they require additional support, what units they are doing, midway review and exit interview. Learning styles is recognising individuality in your class it is the way in which learners begin to concentrate on and process and retain new and difficult information. There are different types of learning styles: David Kolb’s Converger, Diverger, Assimilator, Accommodator Honey and Mumford’s Having an Experience, Reviewing Experience, Concluding from Experience Planning next steps Fleming Vak/Varks Visual, Auditory, read/write, Kinaesthetic. Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia En. wikipedia. org/wiki/learning styles 11/07/011 Learning style is the way that you absorb information 1 We decode 2 How you store information 3 Recall information Learning style is how we receive and recall information. We can absorb information through our senses, hearing, seeing and doing. In my role I use all of the styles of Fleming. In further education if there is no initial assessment this will disadvantage the learners as they may be placed on the wrong program or course, which will lead to lack of interest and little motivation if any, they may not get additional support and the teacher will have no baseline to assess their progress. Peer and Self Assessment Self or Peer Assessment is a process whereby students or their peers grade assignments or tests based on a teacher’s benchmarks. [1] The practise is employed to save teachers time and improve students understanding of course materials as well as improve their metacognitive skills. Rubrics are often used in conjunction with Self- and Peer-Assessment. [2] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Self-_and_Peer-Assessment 12/07/11 Peer assessment is when the learners or colleagues assess another learners or colleagues progress. It is used to develop learner’s ability to work as a group and to be critical of others work as well as receiving review and comment. Self assessment is when you assess your own progress. Both methods encourage the learners to make decisions on what they have learnt so far and to reflect on future development. The learners need to know the criteria fully. Advantages Disadvantages Peer Assessment Peer Assessment Can reduce the amount of teacher assessment. All peers need to be involved So planning needs to take place As who gives feedback and to Whom. Learners may accept comments from peers Appropriate conditions and More willingly than from the assessor environment are needed Promotes learner and peer involvement some peers may be anxious, Nervous or have lack of confidence To give feedback. Self Assessment Self Assessment Encourages learners to check Difficult to be objective when Their own progress making a decision Encourages reflection Learners need to fully understand Promotes learner involvement the assessment criteria. And personal responsibilities some learners may lack Confidence in their ability to make Decisions about their own progress What research tells us? * Giving feedback on learning errors and getting the learner to correct them and identify strategies to improve future work is directly linked to significant improvement in achievement rates. (Professor John Hattie, 2002) Assessment should involve both teacher and learners in checking and reflection. Feedback is very important not only to learners but to the teachers from the feedback teachers can decide whether they have to change anything. Feedback and Questioning Feedback is information we give our learners to let them know what they have achieved to date and how they can develop further all learners need to know how they are progressing and what they have achieved. Feedback can be both formative and summative. Formative is ongoing and includes praise and encouragement. Summative is at the end has the learner achieved to specific criteria. Feedback should be a two-way process allowing discussion and questions. Most people need encouragement to tell them how well they have done or how well they are doing when you give feedback you should give praise first then how they can improve then end on a positive note to give them motivation. This is known as the praise sandwich. http://www. google. co. uk/search? q=feedback+sandwichhl=enprmd=ivnsbsource=lnmstbm=ischei=vXQcTsrxHNKwhQepndXdBwsa=Xoi=m 12/07/11 The advantages of giving feedback are: Confirms achievement, success or otherwise Creates opportunities for explaining and discussion Highlights progress rather than failure. Helps improve confidence and motivation Identifies further learning opportunities or any action required. Feedback should be given as soon as possible after the assessment while the information is still fresh. Questioning can be used formally and informally as part of the feedback to ensure the learner understands what has been said. My response should question appropriate questioning skills so the feedback is effective to the learner. Questioning skills include: * Using open questions (usually beginning with who, what, when, where, why and how). * Using closed questions (only requiring a yes or no answer). * Clarifying (for example can you go over that again? ). * Probing (for example why was that? ) * Prompting (for example what about†¦? ) Feedback should were possible be positive negative feedback presents learners with difficult and unachievable targets or naming and making learners embarrassed in the classroom. You should never criticise always praise and if the teacher makes a mistake he/she should be honest and apologise. Record Keeping Accurate records that are taken through out a course enable the teacher and learner to continually assess the effectiveness of the teacher/learner relationship. Records indicate whether pupils are learning what they are being taught and their progression with the course, records can tell you which learners may need a little more help, and whether a teacher needs to refine any aspects of their teaching. Maintaining attendance records can give an idea of where learners may fall behind through their learning. Being able to identify learners attendance can indicate problems which may benefit from referral to other professional bodies, or a learner may be unhappy with the teaching style or the course they have chosen. As well as a register a tracking sheet of all learners names, forming columns starting with a date, the assessment and a column for a pass or refer, in cleaning you are competent or not yet competent. These tracking sheets are recorded and form part of the learner’s portfolio along with any practical tasks and also a guide for the learners to follow through their course. When learners begin their course its good for them to have their own individual learning plan as a teacher its good to have our own individual teaching plan. A session plan should relate to the scheme of work, it helps to record your aims and objectives, assessment activities and self evaluation. It can also help to assess your learners. As a teacher my responsibility is to teach and guide and assess my learners. Records can be used as a guide for learners focusing on their learning strengths and weaknesses, where they do well or could do better. There are organisational records and external records. Organisational records: * Enrolment form * ILP * Learners record of achievement * Peer group feedback * Tutor feedback * Incident report * Observation records. * Contact Logs The types of records I use are: * Enrolment form * ILP * Learners record of achievement * Observation records * Contact Logs â€Å"You need to keep records of how your learners are progressing. If you mark a test or observe a task, how can you prove your learner has achieved something if they lose their work†? (Gravells 2008p88) JOIN NOW FOR FREE RATIONALE METHODOLOGY Wishing to gain a broad balance to my teaching experience, I started working as an assessor at Swan Training Group. The following assignment will cover the following areas: Negotiating with learners Inclusive learning. Integrating Functional skills Communication I have researched all of the above and this written assignment will be a short overview of the main areas using examples from both research and personal experience. Negotiating with learners is a form of communication where cooperation is established so that the learner and tutor agree on the learner’s goals; negotiation is the process of two individuals or groups reaching a joint agreement. When you have got all the information via initial assessment at the start of the course it is important to agree on goals and actions based on the information. The learner should be encouraged through negotiation to take control and responsibility for their own learning by contributing in discussions and decisions about their learning and how this will develop. Also in initial assessment you can include tests for literacy and numeracy to see what level learner is at and if they will require additional help. In my specialist area I integrate functional skills as the learners need to use literacy and numeracy to read labels and dilute chemicals, complete upk questions, order supplies, complete holiday sheets. Inclusive learning is described as recognising, accommodating and meeting the learner’s needs of all of the students and supporting them in the learning environment. All learners are allowed to take part in their chosen subject and should be placed in the best possible environment regardless of their gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation and age. Communication is very important and we not only communicate by speaking we communicate through our eyes, gestures and body language. There are also many barriers to communication such as: Family Commitments Lack of Resources Lack of Support. Peer Pressure Emotional Disability and many more. To overcome these barriers you must be honest with the learners if you do not know something you should tell them you will find out, be positive and enthusiastic, communicate effectively and give constructive and positive feedback. I am learner centred as I pay attention to what the learner is learning, how they are learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning. I like to teach this way so all of the learners can participate and differences between learners are accommodated so that all in the group have the best possible chance of learning.

Resistance As A Positive Tool

Resistance As A Positive Tool 1.1 Introduction Organizational change is an inevitable challenge for organizations which exist in this competitive world and ever changing environment. Therefore, it is important for all organizations (public or private) to effectively manage change. In the issue of change management, the resistance to change is acknowledged as being a basic block to change, and a major reason that change does not succeed or get implemented (Mabin, Forgeson and Green, 2001). Any change, no matter how obvious beneficial to workers and the organization, will be met with and often be sabotaged by resistance. In reality, many people concur that resistance is the last thing management wants during change process. In many instances, resistance has caused dramatic chaos and uncertainties which may bring the change into a disaster or worse collapsing the whole organization. That resistance to change is negatively related to change outcome seems to be definitely confirmed. However, the almost generally accepted axiom that people resist change has recently come under challenge (Jansen, 2000). Though, many theorists are now trying to respond to those resistances more objectively, many still believe resistant are everything but helpful. In developing countries, resistance to change is inevitable phenomena, as long as it is acknowledged there is need for change i.e. reforms and restructuring the sectors and institutions, Local government reform of 2000, Public sector reform 2001 due to that this research is interested in seeing how the governments and institutions in Tanzania can be assisted to change their view concern with resistance from negative perspective to positive one. And how Malaysia as the one among developing countries passed through different stages of development since their independence can be used as a model and learning centre of the researcher in her research. 1.2 Statement of the problem Although it is a very frequently repeated discourse that change is unavoidable and organizations must change, the failures or low rate of success in change programs discloses the necessity of additional work on the subject of change management. According to statistics reported by leading corporate reengineering practitioners, success rate of change management, in Fortune 1000 companies are quite below 50% (Strebel, 1996). One may list various causes for failures in change initiative but in many studies, resistance has been one of the most salient elements of those unsuccessful attempts. Resistance to change is the most complex and intractable problems that face an organization today, in many developing countries ( Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria) this phenomenon became widely practice in different forms such as reduction of outputs, absenteeism, transfers requests, chronics quarrels, hostility and even strikes which made managers and administrators in organizations to view resistance as an obstacle to successful implementation of organizational change and even governmental projects and program . It has been observed that immediately after independence many developing countries particular Tanzania started reforms and restructuring their government by adopting different concept such as development administration with the objectives of strengthen their economic, increase administrative capability and eradicate social and economical problems. It is almost 45 years now since independence but changes have slowly taken place and most of the reforms are well good in papers but implementation of the reforms Local government reform of Zanzibar which is the part of Tanzania is still in papers are very slow due to the resistance to change from employees. 1.3 Research Objectives To find out positive role of resistance as being part of change process. To assess to what extent employees accepting resistance to change as a productive aspect and rewarding point to the change itself. To examine how managers will gain utility from resistance to change of their employees. To help managers to find techniques that will encourages them to utilize resistance to change rather than overcome it. 1.4 Research questions Parallel to the diversity of arguments existed in the literature, researcher preferred to approach resistance by taking its both negative and positive aspects into consideration. In doing so, researcher want to emphasize the constructive aspect of resistance which managers, employees and organizations in general can benefit during change processes. Under the light of this general purpose, guiding questions of the research are constructed as follows; What is the positive role of resistance to the change process? How far employees can recognize resistance as productive aspects to the change itself? How managers will gain utility from resistance to change? What role does resistance play to the organizational performance? What will be the techniques that will encourage the managers to utilize resistance rather than overcome it? 1.5 Significance The purpose of this study is to understand the role of resistance in the process of change management. The study will provide deeper understanding of key factors in implementing change programs. By referring to resistance, the researcher does not see resistance as a barrier that needs to be eliminated; instead, she aim to understand the concept of resistance in a wider scope and to identify crucial issues that can influence process of change in a positive way. In that way the study can be influential in terms of minimizing failures or dissatisfactions in change programs. By studying the research objectives and research questions, the researcher hopes to bring a new perspective about resistant behaviors of employees during the change process. Understanding, describing and analyzing roots and symptoms of resistance can enable us to construct a framework to implement change programs more successfully. Emphasis on resistance also brings the opportunity to use it as a constructive tool from this perspective research believe that by highlighting the importance of these activities, this research will be able to portray a comprehensive picture explaining the impact of leaders/managers in resistance management. Apart from above purposes the study will be capable of contributing to community by presenting logical arguments and providing new spaces for further research. Additionally, considering the implications of the research, it would also be a valuable source for government and institutions to locate different problems related to resistance and to take appr opriate actions to handle them. 1.6 Methodology and Data Collection The ability to prefer a convenient method to research on a social reality possesses great importance in terms of determining the adequacy and reliability of result. For this reason, the methodology which research will employ in this proposal has been chosen carefully to meet the requirements of an advanced study which is capable of achieving the study goal in conducting this research. In this section, the study will explain general features of the methodology that researcher will use in answering the necessary question of the study. Selecting the methodology to study a social reality is wrought by the nature of problem that has been under question. Considering the various elements inherited in the concept of resistance and its complexity, research found it much more convenient to employ qualitative design rather than quantitative. Therefore, researcher will initially intend to reach first hand empirical data through investigating the issue on the field by conducting interview, distributing questionnaires and observation for the collections of data. The researcher will review the secondary sources such as books, journals, websites, and documents to collect data that will substantially provide the necessary information. Qualitative methodology is a very broad discipline and basically refers to the research processes in which findings are obtained through non numerical or statistical techniques (Strauss Corbin, 1990). Its purpose is to reach an in-depth understanding about social realities and patterns create them. Three basic elements were identified in the qualitative methodology (Strauss Corbin, 1990, p.161) First data will be obtained through interviews, observations, analysis of documents and materials, second is procedures which are employed by the researcher to evaluate collected data and third is the final reports, in written form or verbal, which states the findings and implications of a study. Parallel to the essential aim of qualitative approach, in terms of understanding why and how of social realities, conducting a qualitative research usually necessitates small but focused samples to search deeply a given social phenomenon. Having considered the nature of our research question and the available of information in the literature, the research has decided to use grounded approach in developing final theory for the management of resistance. 1.7 Literature Review Even though the concept of resistance to change is not a new one, no consensus about its content and the ways it is experienced has existed among the scholars who have studied it. The concept of resistance to change from the perspectives of some influential scholars in this field by starting to define the concept of resistance, describe factors contributing to resistance, managing resistance and different perspectives of resistance to change. According to Zander (1950), resistance is a behavior which is intended to protect an individual from the effects of real or imagined change (cited in Dent Goldberg, 1999, p. 34). On the other hand, Ansoff (1988, p. 207) defines it as a multifaceted phenomenon, which introduces unanticipated delays, costs and instabilities into the process of a strategic change. However, Piderit (2000) has classified the existing definitions in the literature by considering three main dimensions. Firstly she looks at descriptions which see resistance as a behavior, similar to definitions made by Zander (1950). It is imperative to say that different authors have different definitions of resistances. But no matter how they organized their words, they commonly linked resistances with negative employee attitudes or with counter-productive behaviors (Waddell Sohal, 1998). Resistance is caused by a number of factors. For example, individual factors, such as narrow-minded self-interest, fear of uncertainty, lack of confidence, habit and personality and organizational factors such as, lack of shared value and vision, lack of coordination and cooperation, and different assessments and goals (Daft Noe, 2001; Mabin, Forgeson, Green, 2001). For different reasons, employee would use either overt ways or covert ways to resist change (Recardo, 1995). Overt ways of resisting include sabotage, vocal opposition and agitating others. And covert ways includes reducing output, withholding information, asking for more data or studies and appointing task forces and committees. Employees can also resist the change either aware or unaware, which refer to the motivation of sensitive (OConnor, 1993). When the resistances are unaware, employees usually do not realize that their behavior undermines the change. As a result, such unawareness resistances are more difficult to deal with. In Koopmans (1991) words, employees will resist any change at all cost. At the level of organization, resistance to change will not only block the implementation of organizational change plan, but also cause financial loss. Finally, organization cannot survive in this changing environment. At the level of individual, resistance can cause great stress and bad feeling (OConnor, 1993). As a result, resistance is understood as the enemy of change, the opponent which causes a change effort to be drawn out by factional dissent and in-fighting (Waddell Sobal, 1998). Resistance has also been regarded as one of the causes of the conflicts that are undesirable and detrimental to organizational health (Waddell Sobal, 1998). Even though some scholars did not oppose the positive aspect of resistance, they consist to argue and claimed that resistance in general is a roadblock that must be removed (e.g. Umiker, 1997). Under this perspective of change, a successful change is defined as a change that is met with little resistance (Mabin, Forgeson, Green, 2001). Resistance is viewed to be problematic, which should be managed and overcome to ensure the success of change. And the inability of employers and managers to cope with employee resistance can destroy organizations and careers (Umiker, 1997). Maurer (1996) pointed out that people with negative perspective of resistance usually employee win-lose thinking and assume that their way is the right way. Their mind is blocked by such assumptions and they believe resistors must be persuaded or forced to go along. So the way managers often used is to resist the resistance by using power, applying force of reason, ignoring the resistance or making deals with resistors. The results of resisting the resistances are disappointing. Such approach is unable to eliminate the resistance but causes more problems. Finally, the chance of the failure of organizational change effort can be increased. When the word resistance is mentioned, one tends to ascribe negative connotations to it. This is a misconcepti on. (Hultman, 1979, p. 54). Resistance is a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that is caused by a variety of factors, and people do not resist change per se, rather they resist the uncertainties and potential outcomes that change can cause (Waddell Sohal, 1998). However, some scholars started to considerd that resistances also have a number of advantages and suggested treating resistance as a useful tool in an organizational change effort. When resistances are managed carefully, these advantages can be utilized to support the change. (Mabin, Forgeson, Green, 2001; Maurer, 1996; Waddell Sohal, 1998). In order to justify this claimed, Waddell and Sohal (1998) listed several advantages of resistance that can be utilized. (1) They believe that resistance could be seen as feedbacks to the change and points out the fallacy. (2) Resistance can also be a force to balance the pressure from external and internal environments against the need for constancy and stability and influences the organization to greater stability. (3) An influx of energy is another contribution of resistance because individual could gain sufficient motivation when they feel dissatisfaction with status quo or future states. (4) Resistance encourages or forces the search for a lternative methods and outcomes, which keeps the organization changing. Therefore, in general, it important to argue that resistance can be useful in learning how to develop a more successful change process if it is considered as a source of information (Pardo del Val Fuentes, 2003). These advantages overturn the traditional definition of successful change and urge a re-evaluating the classical understanding of resistance. Notwithstanding what kind of attitudes these authors hold toward the resistance, most of them took a modernist perspective (Ford, Ford, McNamara, 2001; Gergen Thatchenkery, 1996). Scholars with modernist perspective believe that individual rationality is the major source of human conducts. If we want to gain dominion over the future well-being of the organization, we need to unlock the secrets of individual rationality (Gergen Thatchenkery, 1996, pp.142). Within this perspective, there is only a concrete organizational reality, an objective world, capable of empirical study (Eastman Bailey, 1994, cited in Gergen Thatchenkery, 1996). And the responsibility of the organization scientist is to isolate variables, standardize measures, and assess causal relations with the organizational sphere (Gergen Thatchenkery, 1996, pp.187). Assumption of empirical knowledge cause most scholars believe that every person attached with the organization share the same objective and homogeneous reality, and assumption of rational agency drives the scholars to the research direction of seeking the sources of resistance accurately and finding the appropriate strategies to deal with that source (Ford, Ford, McNamara, 2001). Traditionally, one can argue that researchers study the resistance based on the assumption that individuals treat the change as a threat. But studies done by Hoag, Ritschard, and Cooper (2002) have shown that staffs often see the need for change and are concerned to just do it. They conducted interviews with some employees in a public institutions and found similar phenomena. However, the intended change of that public organization still proved ineffective. This study suggests that due to different realities in the eyes of different employees the probability of resistance can be higher. 1.8 Chapters and sections of the research The research expected to have five chapters and different subsections as follows: Chapter One: Introduction of research Introduction of the problem Statement of the problem Research objectives Research questions Significance of the study Chapter two: Literature Review Definition of resistance to change Factors contributing to resistance to change Managing resistance to change Previous research on resistance to change Positive approach of resistance Discussion of literature review Chapter Three: Methodology and Data Collection Research design Area of the study Population and sample Sample techniques Data collections instruments ( interview, questionnaires and observation) Data analysis techniques Chapter Four Conceptual frame work Chapter Five: data analysis, findings and interpretation Data analysis Data finding and presentation Discussion of data Chapter Six: Conclusion and Recommendation Conclusion Recommendation Bibliography Appendix 1.9 Proposed schedule of activities Activity Date Duration Initial data collection and preparation of research proposal 21st November 2010 27 March 2011 16 weeks Presentation proposal and defense 10TH APRIL 2011-15TH MAY 2011 5 weeks Submission of chapter one and amendments 5th June 2011- 26th June 2011 4 weeks Data collection and initial fieldwork in Zanzibar 10th July 2011-9th October 2011 13 weeks Submission of chapter two and amendments 30TH November2011- 15 January 2012 7 weeks Submission of chapter three and amendments 5th February 2012- 25th March 2012 7weeks Interview an field work in Malaysia 8TH April 2012- 6TH May 2012 4 weeks Interview and field work in Zanzibar 27TH May 12TH August 2012 12 weeks Data computation and analysis 2nd September 30th September 5 weeks Submission of chapter four and amendments 21october 2012- 9th December 2012 8 weeks Submission of chapter five and amendment Submission of chapter six and amendments 30th December 2012-17 February 2013 10 March 2013- 5TH May 2013 8weeks 8weeks Formatting and proof reading and final editing 26th May 2013- 21 July 2013 8weeks Submission of thesis 4th August 1 day

Charlemagne :: essays research papers

Charlemagne Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, became the undisputed ruler of Western Europe, â€Å"By the sword and the cross.† (Compton’s 346) As Western Europe was deteriorating Charlemagne was crowned the privilege of being joint king of the Franks in 768 A.D. People of Western Europe, excluding the church followers, had all but forgotten the great gifts of education and arts that they had possessed at one time. Charlemagne solidly defeated barbarians and kings in identical fashion during his reign. Using the re-establishment of education and order, Charlemagne was able to save many political rights and restore culture in Western Europe. Early Life Charlemagne was born in 742 A.D., to a very famous and well-known family. Charlemagne’s grandfather was Charles Martel, the man who was responsible for the defeat of the Saracens. Charlemagne was also the eldest son of Bertrade (also known as Bertha Greatfoot) and Pepin the Short, the first to become king of the Franks. With the almost full extinction of schools in the 8th century, many historians say that Charlemagne received very little education, but did learn the art of reading from Bertrade. The one thing that kept Charlemagne motivated throughout his entire life was his deep devotion to the church. Charlemagne was a tall young man with light blond hair, and was described by his secretary as, â€Å"face laughing and merry. . . his appearance was always stately and dignified.† (World book 452) Charlemagne had great wit, but was stern at times. He had simple and moderate tastes; he enjoyed hunting, riding and swimming. Charlemagne had a large wardrobe with many Frankish dresses, linen shirts and breeches, silk-fringed tunics, hoses wrapped with bands, and for the winter he had coats made of otter or marten skins. Charlemagne asked his people to improve their lifestyles, but he divorced two of his four fives without any given cause. Charlemagne’s Reign In 768 A.D., Charlemagne at the age of 26, along with his brother Carloman inherited the kingdom of Franks. However, in 771 A.D. Carloman died, making Charlemagne the sole ruler of the kingdom. At this time the northern part of Europe was out of order and unruly. In the south, the Roman Catholic Church was asserting itself alongside the Lombard kingdom in Italy. While in Charlemagne’s own kingdom, the people were becoming and acting as barbarians and neglecting education and faith. But Charlemagne was determined to make his kingdom as strong as possible.

St. Stanislas Kostka :: essays research papers

St. Stanislas Kostka Born at Rostkovo near Prasnysz, Poland, about October 28, 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, October 28, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it occurred. His father, John Kostka, was a senator of the Kingdom of Poland and Lord of Zakroczym; his mother was Margaret de Drobniy Kryska, the sister and niece of the Dukes Palatine of Masovia and the aunt of the celebrated Chancellor of Poland, Felix Kryski. The marriage was blessed with seven children, of whom Stanislas was the second. His older brother Paul survived him long enough to be present at the celebration of the beatification of Stanislas in 1605. The thought of joining the Society of Jesus had already entered the mind of the saintly young man. It was six months, however, before he ventured to speak of this to the superiors of the Society. At Vienna they hesitated to receive him, fearing the tempest that would probably be raised by his father against the Society, which had just quieted a storm that had broken out on account of other admissions to the Company. Stanislas quickly grasped the situation and formed the plan of applying to the general of the Society at Rome. The distance was five hundred leagues, which had to be made on foot, without equipment, or guide, or any other resources but the precarious charity that might be received on the road. The prospective dangers and humiliations of such a journey, however, did not alarm his courage. On the morning of the day on which he was to carry out his project he called his servant to him early and told him to notify his brother Paul and his tutor in the course of the morning that he would not be back that day to dinner. Then he started, taking the first opportunity to exchange the dress of gentleman for that of a mendicant, which was the only way to escape the curiosity of those he might meet. By nightfall Paul and the tutor comprehended that Stanislas had turned from them as he had threatened. They were seized with a fierce anger, and as the day was ended the fugitive had gained twenty-four hours over them. They started to follow him, but were not able to overtake him; either their exhausted horses refused to go farther, or a wheel of their carriage would break, or, as the tutor frankly declared, they had mistaken the route, having left the city by a St. Stanislas Kostka :: essays research papers St. Stanislas Kostka Born at Rostkovo near Prasnysz, Poland, about October 28, 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, October 28, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it occurred. His father, John Kostka, was a senator of the Kingdom of Poland and Lord of Zakroczym; his mother was Margaret de Drobniy Kryska, the sister and niece of the Dukes Palatine of Masovia and the aunt of the celebrated Chancellor of Poland, Felix Kryski. The marriage was blessed with seven children, of whom Stanislas was the second. His older brother Paul survived him long enough to be present at the celebration of the beatification of Stanislas in 1605. The thought of joining the Society of Jesus had already entered the mind of the saintly young man. It was six months, however, before he ventured to speak of this to the superiors of the Society. At Vienna they hesitated to receive him, fearing the tempest that would probably be raised by his father against the Society, which had just quieted a storm that had broken out on account of other admissions to the Company. Stanislas quickly grasped the situation and formed the plan of applying to the general of the Society at Rome. The distance was five hundred leagues, which had to be made on foot, without equipment, or guide, or any other resources but the precarious charity that might be received on the road. The prospective dangers and humiliations of such a journey, however, did not alarm his courage. On the morning of the day on which he was to carry out his project he called his servant to him early and told him to notify his brother Paul and his tutor in the course of the morning that he would not be back that day to dinner. Then he started, taking the first opportunity to exchange the dress of gentleman for that of a mendicant, which was the only way to escape the curiosity of those he might meet. By nightfall Paul and the tutor comprehended that Stanislas had turned from them as he had threatened. They were seized with a fierce anger, and as the day was ended the fugitive had gained twenty-four hours over them. They started to follow him, but were not able to overtake him; either their exhausted horses refused to go farther, or a wheel of their carriage would break, or, as the tutor frankly declared, they had mistaken the route, having left the city by a

Power and Influence in the Workplace Essay

This case study is based upon the conceptual article by Glenys M. Drew titled; ‘Enabling or Real power and influence in leadership’, in which â€Å"aims to provoke thought about power and influence in leadership.† Simply stated, power is our desire to have influence upon others, placing us within a particular social status. According to Lewicki, Barry, and Saunders (2010, p. 199), â€Å"people have power when they have the ability to bring about outcomes they desire or the ability to get things done the way they want them to be done.† Influence is â€Å"the actual strategies and messages that individuals deploy to bring about desired attitudinal or behavioral change,† (Lewicki et al 2010, p. 220). In most relationships there is power imbalances, including an organization structured to flow in a top-down direction. This is known as formal power and influence such as between a boss and his or her subordinate. â€Å"The power imbalance in these relationships stems from the asymmetry in dependence between the parties, which contributes to an asymmetry in influence between the parties,† (Emerson, 1962, p. 37). Problems Specified in the Case â€Å"What constitutes real power and influence in leadership† is addressed and whether â€Å"coercive tactics of wielding power over others† is even necessary. It is contended that the opposite is true in that â€Å"demonstrating real power and influence in leadership† holds back â€Å"usurping power to work with and  enable others to achieve worthwhile ends,† (Drew, 2010, p. 1). Possible solutions presented by the Authors The author explores three suggested solutions of enabling or real power and influence in leadership, each solution is accompanied by an element of paradox. The first suggests that â€Å"enabling or real power and influence does not usurp but serves.† The second is that an instinctual impulse of self-interest is diverted into a more socially acceptable interest for others and the intended goal. The third is that it fosters true engagement in leadership while positioning for growth for the self and others, (Drew, 2010). SWOT Analysis _Strengths_ In diverse coalitions, power and influence can be used to build a consensus. Real power is the ‘power to empower’. _Weaknesses_ In diverse coalitions, power without influence can bring about negative results. â€Å"Usurping power† and self-interest â€Å"tends to stultify and deny useful result,† (p. 7). _Opportunities_ Opportunities exist for leaders to use power to influence guided thinking, not so much to solve problems for people but to engage people in solving problems. _Threats_ Nothing is more important to building vital trust the prevalent state of leadership than that of credibility. A leader can lose credibility when power is misused and when strong professional will and humility are not found to be so effectual. Author’s recommended solution I agree with the author’s recommended solution that â€Å"genuine power and influence reverses the power paradigm, where the leader focuses primarily on the vision ahead more than (demonstrably) on self and partners with and enables others to reach shared goals,† (Drew, 2010, p. 2). Paradoxically, by enabling and empowering others with altruistic use of power and influence is a sign of â€Å"strength, rigor, and potentially rich outcomes† while wielding power just because one can, or for selfish reasons may on the surface seem â€Å"powerful† but could be displayed as weakness, stultification, and acquiring compromised outcomes. The paradox that â€Å"the only power is no power† assists an argument that may be inferred that â€Å"self aggrandizing power, in its bid to grab power, ultimately reduces the self, while resisting the exercise of usurping power expands the self and increases one’s potential for productive influence and authority,† (Drew, 2010, p. 3). â€Å"Self-interest for the interests of the goal† are sublimated by real power and influence within the â€Å"paradoxical proposition that genuine power results from giving rather than taking,† (Drew, 2010, p. 5). Real power and influence displays strength, not weakness within the paradox proposed is that real power and influence â€Å"eschews ‘soft’, uncritical approaches in favor of rigor, building a ‘culture of discipline’,† (Drew, 2010, p. 8). References Emerson, R. M. (1962). â€Å"Power-Dependence Relations,† American Sociological Review 27, 31-40. Drew, G. M. (2010). Enabling or â€Å"real† power and influence in leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 4(1), 47-58. doi:10.1002/jls.20154. Lewicki, R.J., Barry, B., & Saunders, D.M. (2010). Negotiation (6th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Theories Actually Seen in Practice in Ojt

Assessment of the OJT/Practicum Program A. New knowledge, attitudes, and skills acquired I learned the flows and transaction in the Government process. Though, most of the work involves papers in procedural ways. The receiving and releasing of memorandum is very essential in a way that affects the flow of the work and it should be submitted on or before deadline, so as the require data. As I was expose to this environment, it not much different with the projects at schools, terms papers that have deadline and of course you must know what you have on those papers because you might be question for it. B. Theories actually seen in practice In Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the community and client service exists in theory, but in practice there are few officials who work in it. They have philanthropy theory and giving good intensions for the good but some of it lacks of practice because of its manpower. Though, they have a good goal towards it. C. Feedback that can be given to the company or institution The mission and vision of the company is great, it really reflect the needs of the Filipino citizen especially to the youth. It offers vocational courses that can help the youth to find work or build up their own business. In that way, it will lessen the population of unemployed individuals. But as I observe, the processing of its transaction and others are sometimes delayed due to many unfinished transaction. The workers are minimal, and the works are exceeding its normal worker. It leads to unbalanced ratio of work, they lack of manpower. If only they have much worker or officials that only work to specific job at a time, they can render its service with utmost confidentiality and transactions will be process on time. And also with their worker, some of the workers don’t do immediately their work, they will just wait until the deadline is near. And when it is almost the deadline, that’s the time they will tend to the work, sometimes lead to many erasure and errors of data they put on their reports. The result, some of the transaction will be delayed because the worker will be invalid at the moment. D. Benefits gained The things or knowledge that I gained from working in Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is that the government work is not that easy. It has many structure and procedures that must be followed before it is done or implemented. It will go under observation and studies before it is approved from the head of the agency. That’s why, it will takes months or even years before it is practice, some of us citizen’s complain why it’s not implemented directly, or done immediately. The cash flows, the money that are allotted to its specific project. It must liquidate thoroughly, because they will question it, even a single cent that is missing to data. They are very careful with it, especially when the heads of the agency will conduct unnoticed visit to conduct inspection for the cash flows report they have. E. Problems encountered They are various problems that I encounter within the first month I work in, but most of them are repeated actions; error in logging the receiving letters and releasing, error in checking the database in the enrollment and terminal report against the database, error in answering the telephone and mistakes in putting some data in the records room. But I overcome these problems, because it’s just the same old routine every day, so I easily adjust and remember my errors.

Comparing coverage in two different Newspapers Essay

The incident covered in the two articles I have studied was a train fire in the Austrian ski resort of Kaprun on Saturday 11th November 2000. The first article I looked at was in the tabloid paper the Sunday Express. The second article I looked at was in the broadsheet paper the Observer. The two articles were very similar but had some differences. Both the articles emphasised that British people were among those that had died. The Sunday Express said â€Å"Britons among 170 victims† and The Observer said â€Å"Britons among 170 dead† The Observer also stated that children died â€Å"Children among victims†. Although both articles covered the same subject and seemed to emphasise the greatness of the tragedy, they had different approaches, The Sunday Express’ article was sensationalist and over emotive â€Å"†¦ inferno as it tore through carriages† The Observers article was a calmer and more concise report â€Å"†¦ and, within a few minutes, almost everyone on board was dead. † The articles both contained similar factual information. In the Article in the Sunday Express, facts were intertwined with opinions and emotive language. â€Å"†¦ engulfing tourists in temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Centigrade. † The Observer had some emotive language but seemed to keep the facts separate â€Å"†¦ which reached temperatures of more than 1,000 C† The only discrepancy between the two articles was over the initial cause of the fire. The Sunday Express interviewed a cable car technical expert Klaus Einsenkolb. â€Å"He said†¦ that either a short circuit in the batteries or the possibility that someone had started it with a naked flame was more likely,† This was their only reference to the cause of the fire. The Observer had many different statements about the cause of the fire. â€Å"Yesterday’s fire is believed to have started†¦after one of the cables that pull the train up the mountain snapped, apparently starting the blaze† They also had a statement from the local company Gletscherbahn Kaprun who owned the train. â€Å"†Due to a fire in the tunnel there was a shorting in the electrical circuit, consequently causing the train†¦ to catch fire. â€Å"† They also interviewed Klaus Einsenkolb, but stated nothing about his opinions of what caused the fire as in The Sunday Express. Both articles used similar language, but The Sunday Express used more emotive variations of language to put across the same point. The Sunday Express said â€Å"†¦ the harrowing task today of identifying 170 young skiers burned alive† The Observer stuck to the facts, however, some sensationalist language was used. â€Å"†¦ 170 people were killed yesterday when a fire†¦ engulfed an Austrian funicular train† The Sunday Express sensationalised the incident by using words like â€Å"inferno† and â€Å"disaster† repeatedly throughout their report. This created a mood in the article, expressing how terrible this tragedy was. Despite The Observer being a broadsheet paper, their article also used this type of language, such as â€Å"inferno† and â€Å"tragedy†. I think this also was used to create the mood. The underlying feeling in The Observers report was that this incident could have been prevented or its consequences reduced, had their been adequate safety measures and better maintenance. â€Å"†¦ Manfred Muller, security director for the railway, admitted that there had been no emergency fire fighting equipment in the tunnel, or on the train† The journalist’s use of â€Å"admitted† in this sentence supports his views that safety precautions were inadequate. After reading this article the reader was left with the impression it was just a terrible accident. â€Å"Yesterdays disaster was the second tragedy to hit Kitzsteinhorn this year. † â€Å"†¦ announced a criminal investigation into the tragedy. † No blame seemed to be pointed at anyone in this article. The Sunday Express’ article contained many interviews and comments from people involved with the incident. Most of the people interviewed were officials linked with the accident, like Norbert Karlsboeck, the town mayor of Kaprun, and Franz Schausberger the Salzburg governor. â€Å"Mr Karlsboeck said: â€Å"I did not realise the full extent of the catastrophe†Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Salzburg governor Franz Schausberger said: â€Å"I have declared a day of mourning. We can presume that everyone still on board the train is dead. â€Å"† They were commenting on their feelings about the incident. Klaus Eisenkolb, a cable car technician who worked on the planning of the line was also interviewed and spoke of what he thought about the occurrence of this incident and what could have possibly caused it. One witness and one survivor were also quoted. The Observer had fewer people interviewed, but had interviews with relatives and witnesses. They also had a statement from the company who owned the train, Gletscherbahn Kaprun, who commented on their feelings about this incident. â€Å"In a statement, the company said: ‘We and the whole town of Kaprun are in mourning. ‘† An unidentified man whose son had gone skiing that day, and a deacon were also interviewed. This gave the article a more personal feel, as the reader felt that they could relate to the people who’s lives had been affected by this and so understand the tragedy better. The layout of these reports was very different. Article I had a large bold headline on the front cover saying â€Å"INFERNO† in capital letters, to draw people’s attention. There was also a large illustration of one of the survivors with a caption. There was then a double page spread. On the first side of the double spread was a pull quote in large bold letters â€Å"There’s no hope left, the fumes were just terrible† next to another illustration of a survivor with a caption. This would also get peoples attention; the reader may look at the pictures and then want to read on. Under the title was a diagram of the mountainside with text pointing out where the events took place. This was quite easy to understand and gave the basic information. Inside that diagram was another diagram showing where Kaprun was in context to Austria and then to the rest of Europe. The text was in columns around these illustrations. The double page was split into three blocks of text, an individual report started on the second page written by Greg Swift, a continuance of the first article by David Dillon, and then an additional report: â€Å"Rising tide of Alpine tragedies†. The Observer had a medium sized headline â€Å"Inferno in the Alps† in bold letters. Underneath was a large illustration of a survivor (the same as in article 1) with a caption. The article was started with two large bullet points, which would grab the reader’s attention. There was then a tiny diagram of where in Austria the incident took place, and where it was in relation to Europe. The article was again written in columns. It then too went to a double page. The headline on this double page â€Å"A couple of breaths and they were lost† was also a pull quote, keeping the readers attention. There was a block of pictures with quotes in the top centre of the pages showing the rescue team, survivors and their families, and the train. This was really effective. The block of pictures would really attract the reader’s attention, urging them to read the article. There was a large diagram showing a picture of the mountainside and where the tunnel was, and then a diagram of the actual train, showing in steps what happened and when. This diagram was very clear, showing exactly what happened in an easily understandable way. The double page was again split into sections of text. There was the main report by Denis Staunton, and then two smaller reports. One was by Jason Burke telling how former British Olympic skier Martin Bell feared that some of his friends could have been on the train. This linked the incident back to this country and how it affected people here. The other was by Anthony Browne, talking of worries over how many recent tragic accidents have occurred in the Alps. I think that the article that explained what happened and suggested the full horror of this incident more effectively was the article from The Observer. I felt that the way in which it was written managed to create a balance between putting across the facts but still expressing the horror of the tragedy. I think because the facts were not clouded with opinions, they were easier to understand. I thought that the double page spread was particularly effective. The pictures were clearer and attracted the reader’s attention. The diagram on the double page was very clear and easy to understand. It showed exactly what happened in stages, with information about the mountain and the tunnel. I also thought that the headline â€Å"Inferno in the Alps† on the front page was really effective. It gave enough information for you to know what had happened but was short enough for the reader to read at a glance. I felt that The Sunday Express’ article was more difficult to understand as there were fewer facts and the writing was very opinionated. Also because there were fewer interviews with people who were directly affected by the incident, such as survivors, and relatives of victims, it wasn’t as easy to relate to that article. There was less text in general, as much of the space was taken up by large illustrations and headlines. Although the articles seemed to be similar they had differences which although may not be drastically apparent I felt they made a big difference to the effectiveness and success of the articles.

A Leadership Journey

A LEADERSHIP JOURNEY. Created by SHARATH KUMAR Abstract The paper records the evolution of the author’s thinking on leadership through the course of his work involvement. Leadership is viewed as a dynamic process which consists formal and informal roles. The process is introduced as an individual recognizes opportunities and urged to answer back to evolving patterns and pledge action to enable positive change. The dynamics between formal and informal leadership structures and leadership as a state of mind are conferred.The following paper shows a reflection on my personal journey and growing understanding of leadership based on my work experience. As I look back in time, I identify that most of my current interest in leadership and complexity has evolved. This paper archives the development of my view about leadership. Stages in the Journey Over my career I have experienced various milestones that have shaped and inclined my perspectives on leadership. Vitally I have witnessed my role as a leader as one who pronounces and puts into action a vision that inspires others to join in to an extent at least.Along the way, the instability of resistance to that vision that has been the extreme influence on restricting my focus and ideology about leadership, as I’ve fought to overcome obstacles. Now I leadership as a dynamical distributed process among performers. I believe I have inculcated an informal methodology similar to grounded theory, as I take in information on the area concerned, formulate a theory and then test and modify that theory actively. There have been crowning events that have shaped my perspectives about leadership.I evoke the poignant enthusiasm of joining the company. I had been employed as Assistant Chief Information Officer multinational company. My position in the company in my opinion was a dream job – aiding in devising a long-term strategy for the growth of the business unit from a process and technology perspective. I ins tantly noted operational issues and developed suggestions to address them. Although, my dream was shattered as I soon I was made to realize my position and the inclination of the management team to clinch new ideas were not necessary. Organization as OrganismMy first day at work struck by the oppression of meetings absorbed so much time there was no time left to do work. Employees were exasperated because they had no access to their managers for direction. Projects were not being completed in a time due to the perspective experts needed on them were unavailable due to other bookings. Organizational beliefs about alliance needed key employees that were patrons to a project indulge in discussion and decision making. Still, decision making was a tremendously slow process as it lacked clarity as to who had the decision making authority.A group would discuss the issue because one key person was not present (being double booked in another meeting) hence, the decisions were not finalized. Line of meetings being unresolved was common. Although I was brought into a company as a change agent tasked to bring strategic change to the business unit, I realized that it was not truly the case. Interest in change was driven by the instantaneous short term demands of particular clients, executives. At this point I managed to gather a team responsible for coordinating technology linked projects.After extensive talks with my head, the team that reported to me was handed over to someone else, and I was to report to this new head as an independent contributor. This change was an extremely difficult period for me, yet important in shaping my views of leadership. This was a period where deep reflection on my sense of identity, my values, and sense of personal integrity was brought out. I interpreted this change as the system. I will speak more about what I learnt of the change in a later section. A new major acquisition had just been signed and the focus had shifted from long-term st rategy to short term integration.After six months in the position, I moved out of the business unit to work with a larger parent company. My favorite definition of leadership relics Sun Tzu in the Art of War: â€Å"The way [of leadership] means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger† (Sun Tzu, 2005, p. 43). The definition recognizes the collaborative dynamic that leader and follower share– both share the benefits and risks in its pursuit. Moreover, Senge’s work presented me to systems thinking and understanding the unified wholeness of organizations.This view was reinforced by my study of Neurolinguistic Programming and Neuro-Semantics, understanding human communications and the way in which we learn to construct our mental maps of the area. I saw conscious decisions to be freeing and challenging at the same time. This commitment was a challenging as I began to explore the process of leadership outside the hierarchical power structure that could command action by positional authority. Now as an independent contributor I found myself able to lead freely in a variety of ways, highlighting the need of influence in the contexts that I was called for.I mentally stepped back from the situation and took a look at the business, it’s internal and external stakeholders. I would foresee the recede and flow of people as they enthused about their work, the processes of numerous departments that enabled this organism to be effective. I also realized that minor issues evolved into major problems. I witnessed that an aspect of leadership is to distinguish this ebb and drift of the organization and identify the systemic pain points – soon enough so that adequate time is available to resolve the pain points.Often key issues remain intact solely because the situations have not reached the pain point to seize adequate attention. Partly it appeared to be an issue of prioritization; partly a problem of prevailing beliefs within the culture that impacts what employees attend to. A fundamental belief I have about leadership is that the leader is one who recognizes a potential future and asserts in motion actions that move those involved. Disequilibrium Disequilibrium is a vital situation in the dynamics of an organization, point at which the possibility for self-excelling construction of novel approaches to specific challenges to occur.The pressures associated with disequilibrium is the point when pain thresholds reach a important point that gives an organization to be receptive to emerging possibilities. Although, there are differences in the role that leadership plays in such situations. I was one of the senior employees called to speak to the other employees after the declaration that the company was to be closed. After weeks of discussions of the positive doles of the merger, one hundred and fifty people were told of losing their jobs (a third of them, the very day! I bid everyone to come together, acknowledged that there had been a death in the family and we knew where we all stood. Also, I was able to distribute a booklet to each employee on tackling with consequences of a merger. I had prepared these booklets without awareness of what the outcome of the merger would be. After discussions with the employees post meeting, I got validation for the value of the confab in bringing about a collective sense of acceptance to the veracity we faced. They also agreed that the booklet carried a tangible sense of being cared for in the development.There is a paradoxical dynamic to disequilibrium states. A disequilibrium state can although have the inverse effect occasioning in a resistance to transformation. In my understanding, the test of leadership is the capacity to anticipate and influence change afore the state of disequilibrium becomes serious. My sense of obscurity assisted as a motivator to securing the â€Å"me rger transition† booklets prior to the settlement of the merger (It was intuited that the result may not be as favorable as had formerly been voiced by management).As organizations operate as complex adaptive systems, the dynamics leading to disequilibrium usually exist as symptoms which could be observed and responded before the problem becomes serious. In this context, the process of (proactive) leadership shows self-regulating effect in the organization by permitting the process of self-transcending structure. Leadership as a Process Concluded by my experiences I see leadership as an ongoing process that befalls in human organizations through the interplay of formal and informal relationships. Leadership as a process is personified by actors who respond to a situation.Therefore, the manager should be able to carry more complex thinking to issues that a subordinate may encounter, and bring value to understanding the work. Similarly, the subordinate is responsible for sharing visions about the work with his/her manager who can pass on the developments and insights further up the hierarchy. Whatever skills I may have in endorsing leadership may be totaled by ineffective structure in the system. In fact, I point the lack of an obligatory organizational structure as one if not the major inhibitions to organizational ineffectiveness within my work environment.Leadership as a State of Mind To finish, I have come to see leadership as a state of mind. This lures originally from the work of Robert Quinn (2004), which recommends that there are certain states that act as attractors for the performer to take action that can be viewed as leadership in a particular setting. The Fundamental State of Leadership (FSL) generates the internal context that motivates the performer to respond and is replicated in interrelated attitudes, which Quinn gaps with opposing attitudes reflecting the â€Å"normal state. The FSL serves two functions: mainly by creating an attractor that boosts active behavior that aids the greater betterment of the organization. Second it gives way for the performer to be more aware of his/her perceptions and arrays of behavior. In the year of my tenure with my employer, I was aware of the requirement for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to be able to serve the organization and needs of its customers efficiently. My suggestions met substantial confrontation with management as an earlier attempt to put in a CRM system had been unsuccessful.I was determined in expressing this requisite – to the point that my manager expressed that if I brought the matter up again I would be left out from management meetings. And then came the day when he wanted a current clients list and found out that our current systems could not yield an accurate list. All of a sudden putting in a new system became a primacy- months after the actual recommendation. In an akin manner, as I transitioned to a role in the parent company, I p iloted a research, which headed me to an awareness of the important of e-business and germaneness for the growth of the company.I became a fervent advocate of e-business and presented several proposals to senior executives. But, my recommendations were not incorporated, mainly because senior executives did not trust that it was a feasible tool within the industry. Atypically, a few months later there is renewed concern in expanding e-business for the company. These situations reinforced for me a primary norm that the process of leadership is introduced as an actor who recognizes a specific need and makes an effort to take action, even in times of obstacles.This shows an alignment with the core defiance described in the FSL. I end with a case study where I intentionally experienced the FSL in exercising leadership. I took part in a voluntary cross-functional team looking to enhance employee work experience. With gas prices on the hike, there was a strong curiosity in developing a str ategy for telecommuting. Numerous solutions were suggested and were instantly shot down by the representative from IT as either being too expensive, too time consuming for the IT staffs, or too risky from a company’s security.I do not terminate the importance and connotation of formal leadership structures, rather I am noting that leadership fundamentally functions as an internal response to attractors that allow self-transcending construction as an answer to a perceived reality. Inside the organizations, the interplay of actors captivating action to lead in formal or informal capabilities is dynamic and complex and outside the scope of this discussion. Note that this portrayal is not intended to reflect deleteriously on the behavior of the IT representative.As an entity caught in the webs of loftier meaning – synchronization of the myriad of service appeals from multiple functional departments with partial resources in staff and dollars can impart a mindset that by a specific technology that had not been discussed. Despite obvious resistance from IT to propose a solution, I decide on doing my own research and found that a technology that had been conversed seemed to offer a sensible compromise on low cost, minimal IT backing, and strong enterprise security. I went back to the board with a bid to pursue this option.This was not a job that was part of my normal work assignment, and also I could have drop the idea. Yet the internal states that fixated on serving the greater good, and sighting the opportunity that this solution could deliver served as an attractor to endure through the resistance and eventually lead to a successful outcome. Had I opted to stay within my comfort zone, the new process and organizational dynamics would not have been developed. I’ve gratified on a number of aspects of the leadership process, which I have garnered through my work experience.In summary, I have emanated to see leadership as a dynamic process that en sues in human organizations as actors identify emerging possibilities and elect to take action. The inclination to do so is sturdily related to the actor’s internal states, and engagement of the Fundamental State of Leadership. Lastly, the efficiency of the actor may be wedged by the actor’s sphere of influence and by the actors’ formal or informal eminence and authority to act, and organizational willingness to embrace the transformation. I aspire to further develop these understandings as I linger my graduate studies.REFERENCES Goldstein, J. A. (2007). A New Model of Emergence and its Leadership Implications. In Complex Systems Leadership Theory, Exploring Organizational Complexity (Vol. 1). Mansfield, MA: ISCE Publishing. Jaques, E. (1989). Requisite Organization: A Total System for Effective Managerial Organization and Managerial Leadership for the 21st Century : Amended (2nd ed. , p. 288). Baltimore: Cason Hall & Co Pub. McGhee, G. , Marland, G. R. , & Atki nson, J. (2007). Grounded theory research: literature reviewing and reflexivity. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 60(3), 334-342. doi: 10. 1111/j. 365- 2648. 2007. 04436. Senge, P. M. , Kleiner, A. , Roberts, C. , Ross, R. , & Smith, B. (1994). The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (1st ed. , p. 608). New York: Doubleday Business. Senge, P. M. , Kleiner, A. , Roberts, C. , Roth, G. , Ross, R. , & Smith, B. (1999). The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations (1st ed. , p. 224). New York: Doubleday Business. Tzu, S. (2005). Trans. Cleary, T. The Art of War (p. 224). Boston: Shambhala. Quinn, R. E. (2004). Building the Bridge As You Walk On It: A Guide for Leading Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.