Entrepreneur Interview Paper (small business) Essay

Entrepreneur Interview Paper (small business) - Essay Example At one point in the interview, he defined an entrepreneur as â€Å"Someone who works ninety hours a week to avoid working forty hours a week for someone else†. It takes a lot of stamina and patience. â€Å"Entrepreneurs are not easily discouraged† (Schramm cited in Petrecca, 2010). The first and the foremost challenge an entrepreneur is exposed is of the management of cash. There has to be adequate cash flow particularly in the initial four to five years as they are very intensive in terms of cash flow. To achieve this, the entrepreneur must have stable and reliable sources of funds identified at the outset. Starting a new business is a risky process as on the entrepreneur’s part, as it requires him/her to be determined and consistent. Good business takes time to evolve. Still, not all businesses grow with time. It depends to a large extent upon the entrepreneur’s fortune. If circumstances are unfavorable, and the business does not yield the intended benef its, the entrepreneur’s time, money and often repute are at stake. However, if the business turns out to be successful, rewards included profitability, success and psychological satisfaction. Another factor that carries immense tendency to destroy the business is the influence of generations on it. Originally, the person from the first generation starts the business in a certain way following certain principles that become the secrets of the company’s success. The following generations tend to run the business in their own ways and often have inadequate knowledge or understanding of the fundamental principles that helped the first generation take the business to the level where it stands. While it is advisable for the future generations to gain proper schooling and education in business,... The paper tells that to start a new business and make it successful also requires the entrepreneur’s passion which fundamentally drives his/her motivation to chase the goals. However, for an entrepreneur to be successful, there are certain things that need to be taken serious care of. The entrepreneur must have done sufficient homework on such aspects of the business as demography, capital required, sources of capital and the insurances involved. Alongside, the entrepreneur needs to assess how much time he/she can reserve for his/her personal life apart from work. Outright and rational assessment enables the entrepreneur to make informed decisions along the way. Every business has an obligation towards the society. While a business is meant to be profitable for the entrepreneur, it needs to play a positive role in enhancing the economic strength of the country. Small businesses have a huge contribution in the national economy. Particularly, in the contemporary society, when th e notions of corporate social responsibility and green working are being much emphasized upon, entrepreneurs are expected not only to be more ethical in their works, but also make the world a better place to live in by producing useful services and products. The Saver Systems achieves this by providing people with high quality and cost effective solutions for their masonry chimneys.

Assess Whether Religious Experience Demonstrates the Existence of God Essay Example for Free

Assess Whether Religious Experience Demonstrates the Existence of God Essay

Increasing Healthcare Costs Becoming A Concern Economics Essay

Increasing Healthcare Costs Becoming A Concern Economics Essay Rising health care costs has become a concern for many nations, societies and even individuals. The ability to cope with this issue and its implications will be greatly looked into in this report. In order to understand how to tackle this challenge, there is a need to first understand the root causes, in other words, what causes health care costs to rise. After having looked at some of the common beliefs of rising health care costs, the report will then look at the strategies implemented to tackle this challenge. To do so, the report will make use of a few journal articles to critically discuss on the effectiveness of Singapores healthcare financing system and recommend measures that will help solve the issue better. Literature Review A very common and simple reason that people give for the increase in healthcare costs often fall on the fact of aging population and the increased vulnerability of the population to health issues, leading to more medical consultations, both inpatient and outpatient. This in turn, causing healthcare costs to rise. Another common reason that many people give for the increase in healthcare costs is inflation. Inflation causes the prices of goods and services to rise. When such happens, the costs of health care will rise because the salary of the workforce employed in the healthcare industry increases, the costs of medication increases and the costs of health insurance increases, for example. (Cockerham, 2010) The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development noted a significant increase of average ratio of health spending to GDP in its 31 member countries. The report also suggested that while technological advancement brought about improvement in diagnosis and treatment, this also contributed to the increasing of health spending (OECD Health Data 2010, 2010). In another report, rising health care costs was attributed to greater use of innovative medical technologies. However, the report suggested that rising health care costs could also be due to the market power of health care providers. In the report, however, it seemed to suggest that the extent of the increase in rising health care costs in developed countries like the United States in terms of the market power of health care providers are more significant than that in developing countries. (Annals of Internal Medicine, 2005) It is undeniable that no country is able to guarantee accessible healthcare for all. However, the situation in low-income countries is far more critical as some are even unable to ensure access to basic healthcare for its citizens. A few options proposed to tackle this issue include governments increasing their budget allocations on health expenditure, raising additional domestic funds for health or diversifying their funding sources (World Health Organization, 2011). Another interesting cause highlighted for the increase in rising health care costs could be due to our social behaviour in terms of financial prudence when a third party pays our medical bills. It is interesting to note that when our medical bills payment falls on the responsibilities of a third party (i.e. employer, insurance company or government) and we only pay a small and affordable percentage, we are more likely to seek medical consultation, diagnosis and treatment even for the slightest illness. A case study on Singapore health care financing system is done to discuss on how these considerations are managed and how it may be further improved. Case study: Singapore health care system financing According to one of the research studies, Singapores ageing population which is estimated to increase by 12% in 2030 to 19% of its population being made up of older Singaporeans aged 65 and above. This is of a concern in ensuring provision of affordable healthcare especially where responsibility of the healthcare bill often falls on the children of this segment of the society. Singapores health care system focuses on developing independence and interdependence of its people on the nation. In order not to create total reliance and dependence on the nation, Singapores health care system begins with building a healthy population through preventive healthcare programmes and promoting a healthy lifestyle (Ministry of Health, Singapore, 2007). Singapores health care system then ensures affordability of healthcare to its people through offering universal coverage and multiple layers of protection. In this strategy, this is done through (1) heavy government subsidies of up to 80% of the total bill in acute public hospital wards, which all Singaporeans can access, (2) , a compulsory individual medical savings account scheme which allows practically all Singaporeans to pay for their share of medical treatment without financial difficulty, (3) Medishield, a low cost catastrophic medical insurance scheme, which allows Singaporeans to effectively risk-pool the financial risks of major illnesses. Individual responsibility for ones healthcare needs is promoted through the features of deductibles and co-payment in Medishield. Eldershield, a severe disability insurance, is also available for subscription by Singaporeans to risk-pool against financial risks of suffering a severe disability. and (4) Medifund, which is a medical endowme nt fund set up by the Government to act as the ultimate safety net for needy Singaporeans who cannot afford to pay their medical bills despite heavy subsidies, Medisave and Medishield (Ministry of Health, Singapore, 2007). To promote competition and transparency so as to counter further unwarranted rise in healthcare costs, in 2004, the Ministry of Health began to publish hospital bill sizes  to show the variation in costs among our hospitals, with a view to push our hospitals on this effort to do more with less.   There have been some successes since then in spurring improvements, e.g. LASIK prices dropped by more than S$1,000 per eye and the competitive price wars continue to this day, at great benefit to consumers. The Ministry has also progressively published health outcomes on the website to encourage further improvements and help patients make more informed choices. Singapores success was further supported by its statistics on government spending in 2008, when Singapore spent about S$ 10.2 billion or 3.9% of GDP on healthcare. Out of this the Government expended S$2.7 billion or 1.0% of GDP on health services (Ministry of Health, Singapore, 2007). Discussion: Effectiveness of Singapores strategies in managing rising health care costs Singapores focus on the ideology that prevention is better than cure helps managing rising health care costs by encouraging its population to reduce the need of seeking medical attention and thus reducing substantially incurring of such expenditure. Its preventive healthcare programmes such as free or subsidized community health screening programmes and activities aimed at promoting active living and healthy lifestyle makes being healthy a simple way of life which is possible to achieve. Moreover, this ideology will continue to tackle the lasting problem of aging population and the increased vulnerability of the population to health issues, which is said to be a cause for rising health care costs. With stressors of a fast-paced meritocratic society such as stress at school at a very young age, stress of work upon working life and the stress of supporting and maintaining a family, this often causes one to become sick and have to turn to medical attention for relief. As such, Singapore would need to consider strategies on how to tackle such non-health issues that may lead to healthcare expenditure, in order to further assist its population to manage rising health care costs. Next, having discussed the preventive strategy taken by Singapore, the Medisave and Medifund benefits would be discussed. It is important to first understand that only Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents contributing to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) as well as his dependents (i.e. spouse, children, parents and grandparents) would be able to benefit from the Medisave. In addition to subsidizing healthcare expenditure, the Medisave can also be used to pay the premiums of MediShield, which covers up to 80% of a large medical bill at the class B2/C level or any appropriate integrated shield plans from approved private insurers (Ministry of Health, Singapore, 2007). This allows the individual and his dependents who are subscribed to the MediShield or the integrated shield plans to have the most, if not all, of the inpatient and outpatient healthcare expenses, including co-insurance and deductible to be taken care and omits the individuals stress of having the need to seek sufficient cash funding for such a purpose. This in turn, helps to minimise the social stressor of healthcare need. While this may prove to be helpful to its population, it is important to note that as the benefits is still fairly limited. Compared to its entire population being able to benefit from such initiatives, there is a burden created on the CPF-contributing individual to look after both his personal and dependents healthcare needs and expenditure, using the Medisave. Should the CPF-contributing individual be the sole breadwinner of the household, this would inevitably create further psychosocial stressor on him which may pose potentially cause health deterioration and create unwarranted expenditure on healthcare needs. Therefore, Singapore would need to relook into providing healthcare financial subsidies to its population who are do not contribute to the CPF, in order for its approach to manage rising healthcare costs to be effective and complete. On top of the Medisave, the Medifund scheme exists to help ensure needy Singapore citizens who are unable to pay for their medical bills, are still provided with the necessary medical care. In order to benefit from the Medifund, a list of basic requirements needs to be met, such as the patient and his family having difficulty affording the medical bill despite heavy government subsidies, MediShield and Medisave (Ministry of Health, Singapore, 2007). While the Medifund scheme shows the government great concern and active efforts to ensuring medical care is catered to the needy of its population, the initiative is still not wholesome and thus need to be relooked into, such as in a situation where a patient meets most of the criteria stated but comes from a broken family and has a family member who is able but refuse to pay for the patients medical bill, he may then be unable to benefit from the Medifund. In such an instance, further implications and repercussions to the patients psycho logical and physical health may worsen his existing medical condition. Not only will his medical bill continue to snowball, his physical health problems may continue to deteriorate as well. Indeed, Singapores strategies in managing rising health care costs through its present healthcare system seem comprehensive and complete. However, there are still some areas that Singapore would need to relook and focus on in order that the strategies would be effective for its population. With the known fact that change is the only constant, a review system would thus need to be in place to improve strategies implemented to manage rising health care costs effectively. A recommended approach for Singapore to review and implement more wholesome, comprehensive and effective strategies to managing rising health care costs may be that of implementing differential healthcare financing schemes that would assist the various socio-economic segments of its population. Secondly, as rising health care costs due to inflation has yet to be tackled by its current strategies, Singapore may need to review its employment assistance and salary compensation strategies to better assist its population in managing rising health care costs, such as ensuring its population who are unemployed to be able to seek employment or reemployment within a short time frame as well as ensuring that the salary compensation for each occupation or profession would be appropriately accorded based on skills, abilities, experience, performance as well as inflation. Conclusion The Singapore government should not micromanage the issue of rising healthcare costs by superficially managing direct influence on rising healthcare costs. The need to prepare its population to accept the change to an ageing population society is crucial in ensuring that every individual is responsible for the

H.G. Wells :: English Literature

H.G. Wells Herbert George Wells was born in 1866 in Bromley, Kent. His career as an author was fostered by an unfortunate accident as a child. He broke his leg and spent the mandatory rest period reading every book which he could find. Wells was awarded a scholarship and furthered his education at the Normal School of Science in London. It was at the Normal School that Wells came under the wing of the famous biologist Thomas H. Huxley. Wells' "science fiction" (although he never called it such)was clearly influenced by his studies at the Normal School and his interest in biology. H.G. Wells gained fame with his first major fiction work: The Time Machine in 1895. Soon after the publication of this book, Wells followed with The Island of Dr. Moreau (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), and perhaps his most famous popular work: The War of the Worlds (1898). Over the years Wells became concerned with the fate of human society in a world where technology and scientific study were advancing at a rapid pace. For a period he was a member of The Fabian Society, a group of social philosophers in London. Wells's later works became less science fiction and more social critique. The accuracy of the "science" in Wells's work has often been called into question. It is rumored that Wells and the French novelist Jules Verne actually criticized each other's writing. Wells's claim was that "Verne couldn't write himself out of a paper sack" and Verne accused Wells of having "scientifically implausible ideas." The science may not be accurate, but the adventure and philosophy in those books makes Wells' early science fiction fun and fascinating to read. Herbert George Wells was born in 1866 in Bromly, a small town near London. He attended college and graduated with a degree in biology. His lower-middle-class background and his knowledge of science influenced his writings. He thought that science would make a better world. He also thought that that humans would destroy their own race by having a big atomic war and eventually kill each other off. Some of the books Wells wrote were The Time Machine, The Invisible Man The War of the Worlds and The Island of Doctor Moreau. He was very famous in his lifetime, and his books sold well. His book War of the Worlds was a radio drama, performed on Halloween night in 1938. Many people tuned in after they said "This is only a story", so they thought that Martian aliens were attacking Earth. So people grabbed their rifles and jumped in their cars and took off. H.G. Wells died in his sleep on

Suggest reasons why the memberships of trade blocs, such as the EU, has changed over time

Memberships of trade blocs changed over time because countries realized that there are a huge amount of benefits to joining a trade bloc union. Benefits such as Free trade within the bloc which means that they have free access to each other’s markets, members of the trade bloc are encouraged to specialize. This means that at the regional level there is a wider application on ability to carry out a particular economic activity e. g. making a specific product more efficiently than another activity.In addition countries have Market access and trade creation which is when countries have easier access to each other's markets meaning that trade between members is likely to increase. Trade creation exists when free trade enables high cost domestic producers to be replaced by low cost and also allow more efficient imports. Because low cost imports lead to lower priced imports, there is a ‘consumption effect', with increased demand resulting from lower prices.Also Producers from the member country can benefit from the application of scale economies, which will lead to lower costs and lower prices for consumers. Jobs may be created as a consequence of increased trade between member economies. There is increased protection. Firms inside the bloc are protected from cheaper imports from outside, such as the protection of the EU shoe industry from cheap imports from China and Vietnam. There are other long-term political and social benefits to trade blocs.The countries’ economies become more intertwined also the political reasons for close cooperation within the bloc increases. Countries understand that they have a stake in each other and make greater efforts to get along. In that same way, increased business contacts usually mean that people must learn the culture of their trading partners. Many must learn new languages and different business practices. In short, more people will come into contact with each other and will need to learn more about each oth er. This breeds increased understanding amongst people.Another reason for the change is as for consumers are that there is often a greater variety of goods and services available in free trade blocs. Products like beer, detergent, clothing, and machine tools are often produced in all the countries after the free trade agreement they are often stocked in many stores. Products like satellite hook ups for televisions, computers and telephones are usually made more available to developing countries. Internet service providers are now able to sell to larger markets and more consumers have opportunities to purchase or use these services.

Purpose of Business & Business Ethics

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. ? Mark Twain Purpose is one of the single most unremitting factor which leads to the success of an organization and wholesome and virtuous development of the individuals associated with It. Most of the greatest companies In the world have great purposes, discovered by their founding fathers which still remain at the core of their business models.While profitability, innovation, effectiveness, efficiency and differentiation are major stakeholders in creation of a successful business, the crux of It all according to me Is In the creation of a customer centric culture. Focusing on customer Impact rather than profits builds business confidence and drives Investments. We can term this as a noble magnanimous approach which acts as the nexus of the organization. Some people might confuse It with philanthropy but the noble aspect of this Is In nurturing drive that encourages employees to work with sedulous to solve problems and create a positive impact in the lives of their customers.When employees associate themselves with a culture of customer satisfaction, which is bigger than them, they get emotionally engaged and this leads to the creation of a truly differentiated organization. While businesses that focus on the numbers alone mostly end up producing average results, teams with customer contentment as the front and centre f the business know that their Job matters and thus produce exponential growth.A purpose with customer impact at its core leverages businesses and leaders in the face of changing business climates and provides a framework for decision making which gives them a competitive advantage. This eventually fosters the formation of an extremely housewarming culture where employees deliver strong business results and ironically end up winding more profits by focusing on something completely beyond profit.

Case Study Week 1 Example

Case Study Week 1 Example Case Study Week 1 – Article Example Managing for Operational Integrity Managing for Operational Integrity The scandal and the alleged rumors of Baidu.com, it can be seen that the company’s reputation and strong profit growth has suffered a certain degree of damage. Under the US Stock Market NASDAQ, Baidu.com’s (BIDU) share price has dropped from $308 to $110 in a few months of 2008.[1] 2. If the damage to reputation continues, this could lead to problems in the future. Measurement of risks can be done by two basic methods: firstly, the ranking model which uses publishes information to compare reputations. The other is one that uses internal client information as an aid for reputation owners. 3. Baidu.com can manage its reputation in many different ways, namely, avoidance, management, mitigation, or transferring risks. The last one doesn’t apply to risk which aren’t or can’t be insured. It will be a challenge they will have to overcome because strictly speaking, reputation itself canno t be managed, and often there is so dedicated individual responsible for ownership of damaged reputation or risk. 4. Because of these delays in recognizing the diseases mentioned, the companies who manufacture products which spread them greatly benefit, with low production costs, and thus acquire a high profit margin. The public on the other hand, who buys and uses said products suffer adversely. 5. There should be a national or country-to-country consensus to not monitor the news, as well as organizations set up for the regulation of international legislation and treaties to ensure a smooth flow of uncensored information to prevent the ‘culture of secrecy’6. a) One method is surprise checks and visits to the sites in other countries to ensure compliance with company policies. b) Such organizations exist. E.g. is the United Nations initiative to stop child labour. un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/c) They shouldn’t be held responsible, as the mela nin tinted ingredients were of Chinese Company and not theirs. d) Yes, it would be different, and more immediate. e) Nike discloses its responsibilities and practices because it has a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to do so, in particular the Kaksay Lawsuit. This is done by publishing a CSR report online. References[1] Pg. 40, Ch. 1, Managing for Operational Integrity

Government Changes And Rules Of The Law Social Work Essays

Government Changes And Rules Of The Law Social Work Essays Government Changes And Rules Of The Law Social Work Essay Government Changes And Rules Of The Law Social Work Essay The 1989 Children Act counsel required Local Authorities to supply educational chances for looked after kids and support, and that this must be included in their attention program ( Goddard, 2000 ) . In 1994 the Department of Health and Department of Education to boot stressed the importance of co-operation between schools, societal services and Local Authorities. Yet, in 1995 these steps to advance instruction for looked after kids were found to hold made small difference ( Social services Inspectorate and the Office for Standards in Education, 1995 ) . In response the Government set specific marks for Local Authorities with regard to education alongside a demand to print counsel on the instruction as per that from the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Health, 2000. This ensured all local governments were working towards the same end and by the same guidelines. Equally good as presenting new guidelines for instructors, designated to back up looked after kids and each looked after kid was given a personal instruction program ( PEP ) . Another portion of the mark was to guarantee that no arrangement was given before an educational arrangement could be secured. The amended Children Act 2004 implemented new responsibilities advancing the educational accomplishment of looked after kids. The schools nevertheless are merely expected to take a proactive attack to the instruction of looked after kids and organizing with different sections there is merely an outlook. If the school believes it does non hold the reso urces to back up one looked after kid so it will non be rebuked because of it. : There have been a figure of debuts of legislative policies and counsel for illustration Bettering the educational accomplishment of looked after kids ( Department for kids, schools and households, 2009 ) this introduced new cardinal elements affecting the instruction of looked after kids presenting a practical school caput whom keeps path of every looked after kid to guarantee all have appropriate commissariats. Care affairs: clip for a alteration ( 2007 ) was introduced to better the results of looked after kids. This policy addresses the corporate parenting, wellness, instruction and societal work pattern and committee of looked after kids services to better arrangement pick and stableness. Similarly The Children go forthing attention Act ( 2000 ) was introduced to heighten proviso for attention departers, For illustration, giving Local Governments a responsibility to guarantee they continue to run into the looked after kid s demands until 21 old ages old, and apportion an adviser who would take duty for co-ordinating support. This thesis will see the grounds why there are still a relatively little figure and proportion of looked after kids with good educational results. By and large and more specifically why an even smaller comparative proportion of looked after kids enter third instruction. The thesis will besides see what societal workers can make to advance an instruction docket for looked after kids. Previous research has shown that looked after kids have low educational attainment ( Jackson, Ajayi and Quigley, 2005 and Jackson et Al, 2002 ) . 6 % of looked after kids go on to entree third instruction. Several important beginnings indicate a go oning deficiency of formal makings among kids in attention, with subsequent chances for come ining higher instruction less likely. Research has shown ( Berridge, 2006 ) a broad scope of grounds why looked after kids do non entree third instruction. These grounds vary from child experiences of maltreatment, the type of arrangement the kid has, attachment jobs and hapless services given to kids who are looked after. McLeod ( 2008 ) found that kids in local authorization attention need a positive and sustained relationship with their societal worker to advance their well being and underscore the importance of instruction and other facets of the looked after kid s life that may hold been antecedently ignored. As such, a societal workers functi on to work with a kid holistically to guarantee all their demands are met, has profound deductions for instruction. The grounds presented here suggests that the instruction of kids looked after by Local Authorities continues to be debatable. This reappraisal will besides oppugn if going a looked after kid is necessarily negative in footings of the kid s opportunities to entree third instruction is this was the instance so relatively looked after kids in other states should hold the same results. Presently the Governments precedence is to contract the spread between the educational accomplishments of looked after kids and that of their equals. In 2008 14 % of looked after kids achieved five A*-C classs at GCSE compared to 65.3 % of all other kids ( Department for Children, Schools and Families ( 2009 ) . New enterprises include public service understandings for illustration Public Service Agreement 11 purposes to contract the educational accomplishment spread between kids from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their equals. This understanding involves taking for the looked after kids to make 3 national marks. Including to take for 20 % of looked after kids get derive 5 GSCE s A*-C, for 55 % of looked after kids to make flat 4 of cardinal phase 2 in mathematics and 60 % to make cardinal phase 2 in English. Local governments must now back up looked after kids enrol in higher instruction and go on with it by allowing bursaries if they desire to go on their instruction . Universally the grounds presented above suggests that there is a general understanding amongst informed authors that looked after kids continue to hold poorer educational results than their equals. There are legion grounds postulated for this shortage, looked after kids face jobs that their equals do non. First, many have faced great upheaval and accordingly some may hold behavioral jobs compared to the general population impacting the relationship with other kids, instructors and hence impacting their work and relationships within school. Weyts ( 2004 ) high spots that looked after kids are expected to execute lower than their equals so may non be given the same encouragement as others. The major job facing looked after kids with regard to instruction nevertheless would look to be upheaval caused by alteration of arrangements ( OSullivan and Westerman, 2007 ) , which may show troubles in acquiring used to different schools, friends and instructors all set uping their instruction an d results. Yet with positive arrangement, and promoting carers so there is grounds that kids may achieve good educational results ( Jackson, 1998 ) . It may besides be the instance that the theoretical account of public assistance adopted at national degree, will besides impact upon single results for looked after kids, as is apparent from some international comparings ( Petrie, Boddy, Cameron, Wigfall and Simon, 2006 ) ) . This thesis will link the information from the research gathered to reply the research inquiry. Using a best grounds attack to synthesize the information to guarantee all facets of the research inquiry can be answered efficaciously. Methodology As referred to in my research proposal, this thesis will follow a systematic reappraisal attack ( pg.4 of research proposal ) . This type of reappraisal will supply a synthesis of research on this subject. A systematic reappraisal identifies all available literature on a specific subject whilst depicting a clear method. Bryman ( 2008 ) defines a systematic reappraisal as one which summarises briefly all the best grounds that address the research inquiry. An inclusion and exclusion standard is set to guarantee merely the best research is used in the reappraisal. The research documents will so be critiqued and a best grounds attack method for reviewing the documents will be used. Decisions will be drawn by uniting observations from the reappraisal with bing theories and theoretical accounts. A best grounds attack selects literature which has most relevancy to the research inquiry. The literature that gives the best reply to the research inquiry and has a good grounds base are the docum ents more likely to be most effectual in replying the research inquiry. This literature reappraisal was derived from hunts of the undermentioned databases via the Leicester University Library web site: Sage diaries online Intergentaconnect Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts ( ASSIA ) Oxford University Press E-Journals Social Care online Wiley online library Searchs were carried out on each database utilizing the undermentioned hunt footings: Looked after kids or kids in attention Educational results or educational attainment or educational accomplishment The hunt will be restricted to cover between 1980 and 2010. This bound was chosen as most research is between this epoch and to hold a wider inclusion bound would impact on the range of the thesis. The consequences will be filtered manually utilizing the undermentioned standards: The relativity to the topic of looked after kids and accessing third instruction Theoretical or empirical research Harvard referencing will besides be adopted The looked after kids population in the United Kingdom The term looked after was introduced in the Children Act, 1989. Looked after kids are those under the age of 18 who are capable to a attention order it besides includes kids who are accommodated voluntarily for over 24 hours. Presently there are about 60,900 kids who are looked after by local governments in England ( Department for kids, schools and households, DCSF ( 2009 ) . Of this population 57 % was male and 43 % female. The per centum of looked after kids increased when comparing the age of the looked after kid. The greater the age group of looked after kids the higher the per centum. There was a important addition from ages 5 to 9 to that of the age group of 10 to 15 increasing from 17 % to 41 % . From the age group 10 to 15 and 16 over the per centum of looked after kids decreases to 21 % ( See appendix 1 ) ( DCSF, 2009 ) . Statisticss from DSCF ( 2009 ) show that that chief class of demand of the looked after kid is because of maltreatment or disregard at 61 % , which has nt changed greatly over the past five old ages. Other grounds for being in attention are ; the kid holding a disablement, parental unwellness, the household is in hurt, disfunction in the household, socially unacceptable behaviors, low income and absent parenting. In 2009 most kids in attention were of white British beginning ( 74 % ) . 36,200 kids were looked after on a attention order in 2009. This is a lessening of 2 % from the old twelvemonth s figure of 36,900 and a lessening of 10 % from 2005 ( DCSF, 2009 ) . When kids are capable to a attention order parental duties are vested in the local authorization through the societal services section. A attention order is a tribunal order made under subdivision 31 of the 1989 Children Act which places a child compulsorily in the attention of a designated local authorization. The tribunal can merely do this order if they are satisfied that a kid is enduring or is likely to endure important injury. The local authorization assumes parental duty every bit good as the parents for the kid. Other grounds why kids may be looked after are if there is no responsible grownup available to look after the kid and if the kid is being adopted but is non yet lawfully adopted by the new lasting household. Harmonizing to the 1989 Children Act, all local governments have a statutory responsibility to advance instruction and to advance looked after kids s educational accomplishment. They should see all the determinations sing arrangement they make on behalf of the looked after kid to guarantee their instruction is non impinged upon. The local authorization must guarantee those kids looked after are offered everything that kids who are nt looked after receive, so they perform the function every bit parent every bit near as possible. Of those in attention, 73 % were kids looked after in surrogate arrangements, 10 % in unafraid units, kids s places A ; inns, 7 % with parents, 4 % placed for acceptance, and 5 % in other attention ( this included residential schools and other residential scenes ) ( DCSF, 2009 ) . Sing the types of arrangements the looked after kid has the instruction of the carers needs to be considered. All persons involved with arrangements and giving attention to looked after kids need to be given a degree of instruction so they are able to carry through the kid s demands and guarantee that educational results are to be achieved. Looked after kids belong to the kids in demand group within the UK. When kids and households require assist their appraisal of demand becomes the first mechanism. The province should so be involved in back uping the households fulfil their duties as parents. If the province decides that the kid s developmental demands are non being met so they should step in. If the kid has experienced important injury is there is a likeliness of sing important injury so the kid should be removed from the household to measure the state of affairs. The Children Act ( 2004 ) states that the kid s development is the footing of specifying demand. The chief dimensions involve societal, physical, rational, behavioral and educational. This had so been developed within the looking after kids dimensions and includes wellness, individuality, household and societal relationships, instruction, emotional and behavioral development, societal presentation and self attention accomplishments ( DOH, 1995 ) . To understand the definition of what demand is involves understanding the criterions that should be met. Bradshaw ( 1972 ) suggested that there are four dimensions to necessitate these include normative demands which most professionals define for populations, felt demands which include what people say they need, expressed demands including what people want by actions and comparative demands which are those demands established when comparing to another group. This apprehension of demands is needed to give the best responses as societal worke rs and other professionals to run into the demands. The underpinning theories which contribute to understanding the demands of a kid include Maslow s ( 1968 ) Hierarchy of Need which includes physiological, societal, security, narcissistic, and psychological dimensions. Bowlby s ( 1988 ) fond regard theory besides underpins the apprehension of demand. Attachment theory has become an of import portion of working with kids and pattern, it gives understanding of development and the impact that loss or injury can impact kids. Understanding each of these dimensions of a kid s life aid s in pattern when measuring the kid s demands and how to react. Looked after kids and instruction There have been a figure of enterprises ( SEU, 2003 ) introduced in the UK which highlight a go oning job with respect to low educational results for looked after kids and immature people in comparing to the general population. Basic jobs, such as a high rate of exclusion for looked after kids have been identified, and are now good known, but have proved hard to eliminate and go on to do relentless jobs for the looked after kids. These include the impact of frequently regular alterations of arrangement, the possibility that the outlooks of instructors or societal workers may be lower for looked after kids than would be typical for most parents aspirations for their ain kids. Many kids taken into attention have a history of household crisis and have experiences of injury whether through direct maltreatment or more general disfunction within the household. The impact of this frequently affects the looked after kid s ability to larn or come on through school without excess support ( REF ) . When kids enter the attention system it is about neer the program for them to stay looked after for a drawn-out period. Social workers are merely excessively cognizant of the possible negative effects of clip in attention ( REF ) and so the bulk of kids who come into attention return to household attention fleetly. For some kids nevertheless, normally those with the most complex jobs and intractable household state of affairss, being looked after can go long term. The impact of being looked after nevertheless will impact the kid s educational attainment no affair what age they are. The latest figures from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, published in 2009 show that while 66 % of looked after kids in twelvemonth 11 from old ages 2007 to 2008 passed at least one GCSE OR GNVQ 99 % of other kids achieved this degree. In 2007 to 2008 14 % of looked after kids passed at least 5 GCSEs or GNVQ s at classs of A* to C compared to 65 % of other kids. Primary school consequences are besides low. Cardinal Phase trials at age 7, 11 and 14 ( SEU, 2003 ] for illustration found that at Key Stage one 57 % of looked-after seven year-olds achieved at least flat 2 in reading in 2008, compared to 84 % of all kids. At Key Stage level two 46 % of 11 year-old kids looked after achieved degree 4 in English, compared with 81 % of all kids. In Key Stage three maths, 33 % of looked-after immature people achieved flat 5, compared to 77 % of all kids ( DCSF, 2009 ) . Looked after kids in the United Kingdom may accordingly be argued to be a vulnerable group who as a consequence of the inequality of the instruction system frequently face exclusion from society in a more general sense, frequently widening long after their period of clip looked after has come to a decision, and throughout their grownup lives. Hugh ( 2009 ) argues that looked after kids tend to be from less flush households, proposing correlativity between poorness and hapless educational results. Hugh ( op cit ) extends this statement to propose that societal exclusion will impact many countries of looked after kid s life, one major concern if holding hapless educational experience. The SEU ( 1998 ) found that those kids who miss big sums of schooling are more likely to be exploited. Harker, Ober, Lawrence, Berridge and Sinclair ( 2003 ) further suggested that looked after kids are over represented within the group of excluded kids, and that many have behavioral and particular educational demands likely to impact their advancement through instruction. Research by Daniels, Cole, Sellman, Sutton, Visser and Bedward ( 2003 ) found that lasting exclusion from school normally followed a history of behavioral jobs. This survey found that four out of five of the excluded immature people had received two or more fixed term exclusions prior to them being for good excluded. Research by the SEU ( 1998 ) found that kids in attention were 10 times more likely to be excluded from school than other kids but besides that this disagreement was widening. Quality Projects Research ( 2003 ) found that the bulk of excluded kids failed to subsequently complete their schooling or have any educational accomplishments. The SEU ( 2003 ) paper Better Education for Children in Care highlighted five large issues impacting the accomplishment of looked after kids. These included Instability, ( frequent alterations in arrangement frequently besides require a alteration of school ) . Too many kids in attention are fring big sums of clip out of school because of exclusions or as a consequence of holding no unafraid school topographic point. Relatively hapless place environments for looked after kids are besides identified as a factor that will impact educational attainment, likewise differences in encouragement and support at place by the carer affects the kid s results and these incompatibilities need to be addressed with, the concluding issue identified as the emotional, physical and mental wellness of the kid in attention. As a consequence it is of import for the school, societal worker and carer to understand that extra support may be needed for kids in attention, particularly if they are bullied or hav e experienced legion alterations of relationships and friendly relationship webs, declarative mood of a high potency for disrupted fond regards ( SEU, 2003 ) . Education undertakings was launched in 2003 by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills, its purpose was to better educational results for looked after kids. Concentrating on multi-agency working, Education undertakings recommended the debut of local authorization preparation for designated instructors within schools. It besides provided support to be used to develop new educational schemes across local governments. The Department for Education and Skills so published The Role of the School in Supporting the Education of Children in Public Care ( 2003 ) likewise urging specific enterprises with looked after kids affecting Personal Education Plans, Attendance and hooky and Transition planning and admittance to call but a few. The SEU ( 2003 ) highlighted the five debatable countries sing the educational results of looked after kids which have prevented alteration, or slowed it down ( Cocker and Allain, 2008 ) . These five countries included Capacity mentioning to the vacancy rates within the kids s societal attention work force, proposing limited penetration into the specific educational demands of looked after kids. Management and leading with respect to staff at senior degrees deficiency of clip and attendant committedness they can offer in this country taking to feelings of impotence to impact existent alteration. Limited resources, including for illustration incompatibilities between countries in the UK and which resources are available to looked after kids, impacting the support available to looked after kids. Similarly the attitudes of the societal workers and professionals who work with looked after kids were besides deemed to lend to low outlooks of the educational results of looked after kids. The concluding job highlighted was systems and construction within local governments impacting on inter bureau communicating and impacting the work between the bureaus, hence impacting their pattern with looked after kids ( SEU, 2003 ) ( Cocker and Allain, 2003 ) . The Every Child Matters ( 2004 ) green paper included five results critical for all kids, including good wellness, an chance to remain safe, achieve economic well being, enjoy and achieve and do positive parts towards society. Most late the white paper Care Matters, clip for a alteration ( Department for instruction and accomplishments, 2007 ) proposes that looked after kids should be given the highest precedence in school admittances. The paper for illustration requires Local Governments to guarantee looked after kids s arrangements were non changed within twelvemonth 10 and 11 of school, to forestall the break of their instruction. The paper highlighted once more the importance of a designated instructor to work with looked after kids to go statutory, whilst besides presenting the practical caput instructor within each authorization. Their duty is to track the advancement of the kids in the local authorization who are go toing school and those moved into a different local authorization. A designated instructor has duty for the looked after kids within a school. They are expected to recommend on behalf of the kids and immature people in attention and they should guarantee that each has a personal instruct ion program ( Department for Education and Skills, 2005 ) . The paper implemented more support for looked after kids sing absences and exclusion. The paper besides proposed the providing of a grant of ?500 yearly to be used for support for illustration one to one tutoring. Jackson and Martin ( 2002 ) pull attending to jobs that looked after kids face when seeking to happen a suited beginning of instruction, whether this is because they need to travel due of arrangement alterations or because of old exclusions from other schools. Most schools need to maintain a high degree within the conference tabular arraies in order to guarantee support is continued. With this is mind many are loath to take on looked after kids. Many schools stated that they did non understand what these kids faced and that they did non hold the resources to back up them ( Jackson et al, 2002 ) . Berridge ( 2006 ) has identified the spreads of informations when accessing statistics. The societal procedures behind organizing the statistics may non straightforward. Interpreting the footings within statistics may do farther jobs. Berridge, besides highlights force per unit areas from outside groups to acquire indexs of why looked after kids have low educational results. The statistics gathered sing looked after kids have restrictions. First 27 % of the looked after population who had been in attention for over 12 months have a particular educational demands statement, compared to 2.7 % of the overall population ( DCSF, 2009 ) clearly impacting the public presentation of a big group of looked after kids. Second the educational results of looked after kids who have been in attention more than 12 months are published, there is besides the overall consequences of looked after kids. These kids may merely be in attention for a short period because of household jobs. Berridge ( 2006 ) argues that if we are to utilize these statistics at that place needs to be a clip period given for societal workers and other professionals to be responsible for the looked after kid to turn their state of affairs about. Social services can non be responsible for giving the looked after kid a start in life if they have merely entered attention as an stripling and have bing e ducational troubles.

European Court of Justice on the Free Movement of Workers Essay

European Court of Justice on the Free Movement of Workers - Essay Example e territory of Member States for this purpose; (c) to stay in a Member State for the purpose of employment in accordance with the provisions governing the employment of nationals of that State laid down by law, regulation or administrative action; (d) to remain in the territory of a Member State after having been employed in that State, subject to conditions which shall be embodied in implementing regulations to be drawn up by the Commission. 4. The provisions of this article shall not apply to employment in the public service. The freedom of movement for workers is one of the four essential economic freedoms guaranteed under the treaty; namely, free movement of goods, services, labour and capital. This right has both the ‘horizontal effect’ and the ‘vertical direct effect’. This effectively means that a private citizen cannot only move against state or governmental agencies, but also seek redressal for infringement by private and non-governmental persons. ( Case C-415/93)4. Historical Background In 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community, (ECSC) contained the first provision with respect to some basic measures aimed at facilitating the free movement of workers within the EU. This provision required the member states to remove any and all nationality-based restrictions for the citizens with respect to employment within the coal and steel industry. However, this provision also stipulated that only qualified workers within the coal and steel sectors were accorded this privilege and not any other skilled workforce. The most monumental development as far the free movement of workers is concerned happened in the year 1957 with the creation of the European Economic Community.5 Art. 39 of the EC Treaty empowered workers within the EC to accept any offers of... The paper tells that in 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community, (ECSC) contained the first provision with respect to some basic measures aimed at facilitating the free movement of workers within the EU. This provision required the member states to remove any and all nationality-based restrictions for the citizens with respect to employment within the coal and steel industry. However, this provision also stipulated that only qualified workers within the coal and steel sectors were accorded this privilege and not any other skilled workforce. The most monumental development as far the free movement of workers is concerned happened in the year 1957 with the creation of the European Economic Community. Art. 39 of the EC Treaty empowered workers within the EC to accept any offers of employment made by any other member state. As a natural corollary, it also empowered such persons to move freely within the EC Community as well as reside and remain within such state for the purposes of e mployment. However, it is also pertinent to note that these rights were accorded with certain reasonable limitations which were duly justified on the grounds of public policy, public security, public health and the like. The right was also not applicable in the case of employment in public service. While it is evident that these restrictions are not merely based on purely economic considerations, and also take into account certain sociological elements, the fine print with respect to the restriction is actually contained in the two implicit limitations which have been concealed within the justified ground of public policy.

HRs Role in Mergers and Acquisition Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HRs Role in Mergers and Acquisition - Article Example The corporate culture aspect involves litigation risks such as employee contracts, the collective bargaining agreements, failure to consider the target company’s employee management issues, and the organizational leadership structure. The change capacity risks include the employees’ rigidity and perspective regarding the behavioural change. Other risks include failure to analyze the insurance policies of the target company, the current claim threats against the enterprise, matters in arbitration, pending litigation, and terms of previous settlements (Lee & Carpenter, 2012). The roles of the HR in the major phases of a merger or acquisition vary depending on the nature of the process involved. However, there are essential functions that all HR departments need to consider limiting the possibilities of litigation. During the due diligence phase, the HR has to establish a rigorous target decision criteria and create value in the process. The HR has to interact with the tar get company’s employees and find out as much information regarding their operations and organizational cultures. The HR analyzes the company’s policies and terms of engagement with the various stakeholders to ensure that all aspects are outlined and solutions implemented accordingly. The data collected should be carefully protected with the standards detailed in the company’s privacy policy, and the department must also ensure that the process is confidential with no retaliation possibilities (Protiviti, 2014).

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

Strategic management - Essay Example It is ranked among the top 100 ethical and sustainable companies globally (L’Oreal, 2011). The company has about 23 global brands in around 130 companies with 66, 600 employees. The brands annual sales turn up to be more than 50 million Euros. Some of the consumer products of L’Oreal are L’Oreal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, soft sheen Carson to name a few. The brand has its presence felt globally and has been well accepted by the people. 2. Company background L’Oreal is the largest cosmetic company across the world and was established in 1909 by Eugene Schueller, who was a French chemist. By the year 2003, the company had entered 130 countries through 290 subsidiaries and agents. The main heart of L’Oreal strategy is the dermatologist and cosmetic department. The L’Oreal group had thus marketed about 500 brands and provides services for all sectors of business such as body care, skin care, fragrances, hair colour and other products. L ’Oreal owns various brands such as Garnier, Armani, Maybelline, and others. According o L’Oreal innovation and diversification were the critical success factors for the brand and invested highly on research and development but recovered the investment made by launching the products globally. L’Oreal markets its product under its name and also other family brand names. L’Oreal strategy was to drop down technology over the time from high end outlets and markets to the mass population. The brand Plenitude was the market leader in France but in US it was not that promising but with its innovation and diversification strategy the company was able to overcome it (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2007, p. 158-159). 3. Competitive advantage Focusing on fundamentals of strategy does not always lead to formulation...Base on the analysis from various tools it can be concluded that L’Oreal in order to remain competitive in the market place has adopted various strate gy and with needs and demands have also altered the strategies from time to time. L’Oreal has primarily adopted the premium price differentiation strategy in order to stay ahead but as stated above the company also make use of the cost leadership strategy. L’Oreal is the most popular and well known cosmetic brad and in order to maintain its position the company invest heavily in its R&D to innovate and create new products to suit the demands and need of its target market. With the female segment the many has also targeted the male segment and as per reports huge opportunity tends to exists as the male have started to take care about grooming themselves.

Answer the followng questons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Answer the followng questons - Essay Example itudes, and different, sometimes even clashing, conceptualizations (2).† To analyze real life data, I would initially seek to identify the points that contrast with my own ideas and opinions of the subject. Once I had identified the main points of the real life data, I would write out, in depth, the differences between those main points and my own original beliefs. 2. If 1st language acquisition is so straightforward, why is learning a 2nd language so difficult? What are the main barriers of second language learners? (In Cyprus what are the barriers for the Greek/Cypriot in learning the Turkish language and for the Turkish/Cypriot in learning the Greek language? (500 words) Bilingualism has come to be understood as being fluent at the native level of two languages. When learning about the acquisition of a second language, we may read, â€Å"Most SLA researchers see bilingualism as being the end result of learning a language, not the process itself, and see the term as referring to native-like fluency, which second language learners rarely achieve (â€Å"Wikipedia†).† The matter of learning a second language, not to mention a third or a fourth, is exceedingly difficult for several reasons. Among these are that with our native language, we are surrounded daily by examples of that which we are learning. Also, as we age, it becomes more and more difficult for us to hear the differences in languages that makes them more understandable. As stated in Science Daily, â€Å"It is an accepted fact that the younger the child, the easier it is for them to learn a second language (â€Å"Science News†).† In learning our primary language, we are surrounded by examples and experiences which reinforce our understanding of that language. We hear the words spoken every day, read signs in our traveling, and develop automatic cognitive recognition when we see an object. For example, when we see an eight-sided red sign with four white letters on it, we learn to recognize

Art image Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Art image - Essay Example The addition of text into the image will improve accessibility and understanding (Nadaner 26)The product targets female as such its advert should have the females because it is gender specific. The image relates perfectly with the concept of marginalization by indicating the segregation and perception existing in the society. The failure to address the issue of feminism and gender roles is reflected in the image through the figures used in advertising. The level of creativity depicted in the image is high with the focus being on the figures and the text (Zolberg and Cherbo 66). The message is passed across accurately and creates a sense of belonging to the users of the product. It creates the desire to associate with the image. Images are inspired through concept broadcast and accessibility (Hooks 17). The change in the image ensured accessibility of the information passed across and the understanding of the focus of the artist. In conclusion, the image captures the three main concepts of belonging, marginalization and

Ancient Science and Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ancient Science and Medicine - Essay Example Hippocrates was born in 460 B.C. He is also known as the father of spine surgery. His heritage of knowledge and methodology has extended to almost all branches of modern medicine. He stressed his medical practice on observation and the study of human body and thus Hippocrates made the new changes in medical science by accepting the rational notions. Before that the base of medical science was religious beliefs. But he began the very sophisticated and rational method of observing the human body for diagnosing the diseases. Hippocrates and his school followed the holistic concept combining scientific thought with drug therapy, diet schedules and physical and mental exercise. Hippocrates and other Greek doctors used to believe that a doctor should be kept separate from the work done by a priest. Thus Apart from prayers and worship of God for curing the diseases he focused on the change in diet, the useful and advantageous drugs. Maintaining the balance in the body is the key for good he alth according to Hippocrates. Hippocrates treatise called â€Å"On Medicines† is the major work in history of the ancient Greek thoughts. It is a key document to study the medicine in early period and so this treatise has influenced many historians of philosophy as it contains the relevance to the 3rd century B.C. Hippocrates always believed that while treating the diseases it is essential to consider the whole human body and not just a series of parts. He was the first physician who accurately described the diseases. He also described the symptoms of pneumonia and epilepsy in children and stressed upon the natural remedial process like rest, good balanced and proper diet, fresh air and hygiene. He also explained that the seriousness of injury depends upon the individual differences. Some individuals are strong enough to cope with the diseases while some are weak. Hippocrates was the first physician who attacked on the traditional

Answer the followng questons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Answer the followng questons - Essay Example itudes, and different, sometimes even clashing, conceptualizations (2).† To analyze real life data, I would initially seek to identify the points that contrast with my own ideas and opinions of the subject. Once I had identified the main points of the real life data, I would write out, in depth, the differences between those main points and my own original beliefs. 2. If 1st language acquisition is so straightforward, why is learning a 2nd language so difficult? What are the main barriers of second language learners? (In Cyprus what are the barriers for the Greek/Cypriot in learning the Turkish language and for the Turkish/Cypriot in learning the Greek language? (500 words) Bilingualism has come to be understood as being fluent at the native level of two languages. When learning about the acquisition of a second language, we may read, â€Å"Most SLA researchers see bilingualism as being the end result of learning a language, not the process itself, and see the term as referring to native-like fluency, which second language learners rarely achieve (â€Å"Wikipedia†).† The matter of learning a second language, not to mention a third or a fourth, is exceedingly difficult for several reasons. Among these are that with our native language, we are surrounded daily by examples of that which we are learning. Also, as we age, it becomes more and more difficult for us to hear the differences in languages that makes them more understandable. As stated in Science Daily, â€Å"It is an accepted fact that the younger the child, the easier it is for them to learn a second language (â€Å"Science News†).† In learning our primary language, we are surrounded by examples and experiences which reinforce our understanding of that language. We hear the words spoken every day, read signs in our traveling, and develop automatic cognitive recognition when we see an object. For example, when we see an eight-sided red sign with four white letters on it, we learn to recognize

Ancient Science and Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ancient Science and Medicine - Essay Example Hippocrates was born in 460 B.C. He is also known as the father of spine surgery. His heritage of knowledge and methodology has extended to almost all branches of modern medicine. He stressed his medical practice on observation and the study of human body and thus Hippocrates made the new changes in medical science by accepting the rational notions. Before that the base of medical science was religious beliefs. But he began the very sophisticated and rational method of observing the human body for diagnosing the diseases. Hippocrates and his school followed the holistic concept combining scientific thought with drug therapy, diet schedules and physical and mental exercise. Hippocrates and other Greek doctors used to believe that a doctor should be kept separate from the work done by a priest. Thus Apart from prayers and worship of God for curing the diseases he focused on the change in diet, the useful and advantageous drugs. Maintaining the balance in the body is the key for good he alth according to Hippocrates. Hippocrates treatise called â€Å"On Medicines† is the major work in history of the ancient Greek thoughts. It is a key document to study the medicine in early period and so this treatise has influenced many historians of philosophy as it contains the relevance to the 3rd century B.C. Hippocrates always believed that while treating the diseases it is essential to consider the whole human body and not just a series of parts. He was the first physician who accurately described the diseases. He also described the symptoms of pneumonia and epilepsy in children and stressed upon the natural remedial process like rest, good balanced and proper diet, fresh air and hygiene. He also explained that the seriousness of injury depends upon the individual differences. Some individuals are strong enough to cope with the diseases while some are weak. Hippocrates was the first physician who attacked on the traditional

South Street Seaport Essay Example for Free

South Street Seaport Essay 1. Coffee Beans are crushed into small pieces, water is added to it and the mixture is heated over a flame. What do you think would happen to the coffee beans as it interacts with the water? Explain your prediction I think the heating of the water and coffee beans would cause the water to turn a light brown color because this process is most likely removing some kind of excess substance from the surface of the coffee beans. This happens because of the rising temperature o the mixture being heated over a flame. 2. What would happen to the water if instead of coffee beans, strips o seaweed were used? Explain your prediction. I think that instead of the liquid turning a light brown color, it would turn to a light green or light yellow color because the heating is removing a different substance off of the surface of the seaweed than it is from the surface of the coffee beans. 3. Define the following terms: Decant to draw off (a liquid) without disturbing the sediment or the lower liquid layers Filtrate fluid that has passed through a filter Extract the part of a complex organic material that is soluble in ether and consists chiefly of fats and fatty acids Precipitate a substance separated from a solution or suspension by chemical or physical change usually as an insoluble amorphous or crystalline solid Tincture a solution of a medicinal substance in an alcoholic solvent Observations : Equipment : Dried Seaweed in  ½ pieces (Laminara Kelp)Bunsen Burner 150 ml beakerMedium Ring for Ringstand Weight scaleMatches Distilled waterWire gauze 50 ml cylinderEvaporating dish FunnelFilter Paper RingstandWash Bottle Glass stirring rodTincture of Iodine Mineral OilSilver Nitrate Iodine CrystalsSmall Test tubes The first thing we had to do was fill a 150 ml beaker with 6 grams of dried seaweed, which we had to approximate on a weight scale. The amount of seaweed we used approximated 6.02 grams. Then, we included some distilled water and stirred the mixture with a stirring rod until the water turned a dirty yellow color. We then poured out only the water from the beaker and refilled it with distilled water. Then, we had to set up the Bunsen burner to a smaller flame to heat the mixture gently. While heating, the water in the mixture turned a dark green. We heated the mixture for approximately 5 minutes. Then, we had to filtrate the mixture. We placed a piece of filter paper onto the inside of the funnel, having it stick to the side by squirting some water from the wash bottle. We set this up over an evaporating dish, in which the filtrate is supposed to fall into. Our filtrate came out to be 3ml, and the color was a pale yellow-green. We put this into a 50 ml beaker and placed three pieces of iodine crystals in. We crushed these crystals in with the mixture with a stirring rod. Then, it was time to test the results. In three test tubes, we poured in one third of our home-made mixture in each test tube. In another three test tubes, we poured in the standard Tincture of Iodine, which contains iodine, iodide ion, and triiodide ion. To test for iodine, we placed 20 drops of mineral oil in one of the test tubes of standard tincture and we also placed 20 drops into our homemade tincture. If there is in fact iodine, the mixture should change into a pink or purple color. To test for iodide ion, we placed 20 drops of 0.1 silver nitrate into the standard tincture and 20 drops of 0.1 silver nitrate into our homemade tincture. If there is in fact iodide ion, the mixture should become a very foggy pale yellow color. The test for triiodide was a visual inspection. In minutes, if the mixture will turn into a brown color, then triiodide exists in the mixture. Tabulated Results : Test for .. Standard Tincture of Iodine Homemade Tincture Iodine Positive Positive Iodide ion Positive Positive Triiodide Positive Poisitive Focus Questions 1. How can I make a pharmaceutical product from seaweed? We can produce a pharmaceutical product from seaweed by creating a mixture with seaweed in water, heating the extract from the mixture of seaweed and water, then finally extracting the product from the water. 2. Can a single substance be isolated from a mixture (i.e. seaweed)? What is that substance? Yes, by the process o extraction, filtration, and evaporation. The substance is tincture of iodide, used to clean and infect wounds. Confidence Report I am confident that the data collected in this lab is â€Å"good data†. This was quite a simple lab with not many steps and no complex material samples and few containers required. Because this lab was not very complex, that means there is a very low possibility of mistakes. It also means there is a very low possibility of outside elements affecting the equipment. Samples: We believe that the samples provided by the laboratory such as the seaweed, iodine, silver nitrate, and mineral oil were clean and untouched. We observed the characteristics of the mixture we prepared and observed through testing and concurred that nothing indicated that bad samples were provided. Our testing samples also provided us proper chemical interactions. Measurements: All measurements were made certain by everyone in the group. This helped to ensure accuracy. Observations: Since we also tested control substances along with testing our mixture, we were able to observe what the proper results should look like. Therefore, there should be no mistakes from the observations from testing our homemade mixture. After reviewing  at the possible potential areas for error, I am confident that we had good data and produced good results.

Why Do So Many Expatriates Fail on Foreign Assignments?

Why Do So Many Expatriates Fail on Foreign Assignments? EXERCUTIVE SUMMARY This literature review reviews why many expatriates fail on foreign duties. This literature established understanding of the concept of expatriate failure, and discusses the main causes of expatriates failure. Despite increased participation in international markets, poor productivity and failure rates of expatriates remain very high. There are some major factors contributing to failure rates, these include but not limited to expatriates inability to adjust to foreign duties, inability to adjust to the new culture, the expatriates cannot adapt to new physical and culture surroundings. Expatriates spouse cannot adjust to new environments, language and family problems. Organizations must be diligent in their management of foreign base assignment. In addition to selecting the right person for the job, expatriates must also be properly prepared for life and work within the new culture through cross-cultural training. Also, expatriates should be provided with ongoing support while oversea s; and the organization must make it easy to repatriate employees to the firm once his or her overseas assignment is completed. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on expatriates failure and the causes and how to reduce expatriates failure and ways to improve expatriates productivity. An expatriate refers to anyone living or working outside their home country (Kreitner, Kinicki and Buelens 2002) .According to (Mendenhall) the term expatriate failure means ending the international assignment before the contract expires. Most of the articles used simply define expatriate failure as the premature end to the assignment, either with or without listing reasons. This is also the definition adopted by the two most important articles, in terms of citations by other authors (Harzing, 1995)] in the literature about expatriate failure rates: Tung (1981) and Mendenhall and Oddou(1985). In establishing understanding of the term expatriate failure, these consist of premature end to an international assignment and premature end caused by a reason(Black). Some authors do question the validity of this definition, even if they are not offering alternatives. An understanding of expatriate failure as underperformance, or similar, during the assignment is also unfolding, and some contributions include repatriate turnover (expatriate leaving the company shortly after repatriation) and repatriation problems. However, what has been missing in some of the journals used so far is a critical, systematic and integrated approach to these various definitions. According to Webb and Wright, there are many benefits to the individuals on foreign assignment, including an international business experience and may have a number of constructive outcomes in their future career, including skill acquisition, personal development, and long-term career advancement (Black et al., 1992). However, such an experience is not without difficulties. On the opposing side , many expatriation problems have been reported as inadequate preparation by the expatriates to take up foreign post .In addition to the often-cited family and social tensions linked with expatriate assignments (Black et al., 1992; Shaffer et al., 1999). It is well accepted that the Career implications of global assignments are often frustrating. A lack of respect for acquired skills, loss of status, and reverse culture shock on return are recurring problems in many companies (Daily et al., 2000; Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001; Stahl et al., 2002). The following section identifies and discuses t he factors that caused the expatriates employees or managers to fail on foreign duties. Discusses implications on the foreign worker and the company on global duties. Presents the reasons why the expatriate assignment is not always a success. Suggests a methodology for choosing an employee for overseas work and discusses such aspects as personality, competences, cross-cultural management and family issues. Suggests ways in which companies could improve the outcome of assignments for all concerned. THE LITERATURE The articles used in this literature review is a mixture of academic literature and surveys of global firms and managers by some experts .Most of the articles used are peer reviewed and some are not . Not all the articles refer to the whole why do so many expatriates fail on foreign assignment. Some of the articles studied the expatriate experience: implications for career Success. By Webb A. and Wright C .Another looked at getting the Job Done over There: Improving Expatriate Productivity by Bird A and Dunbar R. The third studied think piece: Expatriate failure: time to abandon the concept? By Anne-Wil Harzing and Claus Christensen. The fourth is titled expatriates psychological withdrawal from international assignments: Work, nonwork and Family influences by Margaret A Shaffer and David A Harrison and the fifth is titled The paradox of adjustment :UK and Swedish expatriates in Sweden and in the UK by Chris Brewster. The bibliography lists the sources read and consulted for this pap er. FACTORS CAUSED EXPATRAITES EARLY WITHDRAWAL OR FAILURE ON FOREIGN ASSIGNMENT. Cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates is an exclusive aspect of international assignments. Expatriates adjustment means living and working in a foreign culture environment . Adjustment to the new culture and copping with that culture is an integral part of expatriates success or failure. The level of comfort a person enjoys in his or her environment determines how far he can go in his foreign assignment (Black, Mendenhall, Oddou, 1991). When expatriates are not well prepared for the new environment on foreign land, there are tremendous consequences on the performance of the expatriates. It can cause an early withdrawal or total failure of expatriates. Work adjustment is clearly job-related, cultural adjustment is primarily nonwork-related, and interaction adjustment overlaps the work and nonwork environments.(Black). Several antecedents of these adjustment dimensions have been explained, but little has been done by the some writers to formally or clearly connect cross-cultural ad justment to expatriates early return decisions. Black and Stephens (1989) and Gregersen and Black (1990) found strong relationships between intent to stay and various dimensions of expatriate adjustment. Job satisfaction, however, was not a part of these analyses. Family context factors, expatriates spouses and family members have huge influence on the success or failure of the foreign worker. Two of the articles included nonwork-related factors in their models of turnover, but there is no agreement about how or where these factors have an impact on the process. Some suggest that nonwork factors influence turnover indirectly others depict nonwork factors as moderators of the job attitude intent to leave relationship (Steers Mowday, 1991) or as direct determinants of turnover (Price Mueller, 1986). Despite these theoretical considerations, only a few practical studies of organizational withdrawal have included family variables beyond marital status or number of children (e.g., Blegen, Mueller, Price, 1988). Findings have been generally weak or inconclusive. Survey conducted for MNC ( multinational cooperation )in USA findings indicate that the primary cause of early termination of expatriate assignment is the failure of the spouse to adjust. While an expatriate may have work to consume both attention and time, spouses (the vast majority of whom are women) find themselves in new surroundings in which they do not know how to accomplish even the most basic daily tasks. A simple thing such as shopping for groceries can require great effort, both physical and mental. Many Americans are used to doing grocery shopping on a weekly basis. They drive their cars to supermarkets where they use shopping carts, buy lots of food, load it in their cars and drive home, where they store it in plentiful cupboard and refrigerator space. In Japan, houses are smaller, storage space less plentiful, supermarkets tiny, and parking lots almost nonexistent, some of basic needs make the foreign worker family unable to cope with life in their environment and subsequent withdraw or underperform to expectations of the organisation, the research .conclude. Another factor is skills needed to carry foreign duties; this refers to the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities to do the work. One of the most distinctive features of an expatriate assignment is the requirement of different skills. Unlike work usually done by support staff in home country, expatriates usually lack such support in doing the work on foreign country. Some task previously delegated to subordinates frequently must be carried out by the managers themselves. One expatriate, the head of the Japanese branch of a major U.S. air-conditioner manufacturer, ran a literally one-man operation. Relying extensively on temporary workers for clerical support, he represented the company in dealings with government officials, involvement in industry associations, and negotiations with major clients. He also supervised the delivery of goods to Japanese customers, as well as managed the companys market expansion activities in Japan. His widely varied responsibi lities called for an equally wide set of skills and talents. Most of the expatriates lack these skills and those that have the skills are too burden and lack motivation as there are no proper support staff to help with the work load. They end up withdrawing or underperform in their job . Lack of feedback is another factor contributing of expatriates failure; this refers to the degree to which carrying out work activities results in obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of performance. Sources of feedback for expatriates are less abundant and not regular compare to home country staff regularly receive feedback from management. Being overseas means having less access to informal networks that provide stateside staff with feedback outside the normal organization. Formal performance appraisals tend to occur less frequently and are more often conducted by people who have had less contact with the expatriate manager than is true for domestic managers. Feedback through Performance outcomes is also difficult. Financial statements of a foreign subsidiary are subject to manipulation by headquarter strategists in pursuit of corporate objectives. Moreover, exchange-rate fluctuations can further reduce the usefulness of financial statements as a source of feedback. IMPLICATIONS ON EXPATRAITES AND THE ORGANISATIONS There are number of implications to the expatriates and their organisations when an expatriates overseas assignment is a failure. A related question here is the way in which premature returns (i.e., failure in an expatriate assignment) might affect an employees career path. In a study by Riusala and Suutari (2000), some respondents had considered returning home early (i.e., not seeing their assignment through to its completion). However, most of these expatriates were wary of doing so because they believed that failure to complete the overseas assignment would adversely influence their career prospects back home. In fact, 31% of the respondents who contemplated an early return believed such a move would very negatively affect their career, and 45% believe it will negatively affect their career. Organisation need to offer some practical support, in order that they can be more productive ..Without these supports ,their performance will be low and turnover very low and the organisation profit margin will fall. It is imperative that organizations are opened to the nature of the future assignment in order that the expatriates to make an informed decision about whether becoming an expatriate will ultimately help or hinder their standing within the organization. In terms of intra-organizational career success, it may not always make sense to agree to be sent overseas. At the same time, organizations need to be honest about the link between expatriate assignments and career success within their own organizations. Moreover, if organizations can find ways to reward former international assignees, it should not only assist them in attracting future expatriates, but also enable them to retain those who have already completed an overseas assignment. REASONS WHY EXPATRIATES ASSIGNMENT IS NOT ALWAYS A SUCESS Every year tens of thousands of businesspeople venture abroad on international assignments. Some stay for a few days, others a few weeks or months, and still others stay for a few years. All seek to achieve some task or mission of significance to the organizations they represent. Many fail to achieve the level expected of them from their organisations. Estimates of the number of international assignments ending in failure range from 25 to 50 percent. Moreover, estimates of failed assignments do not include instances in which the assignment was completed, but at a minimally acceptable level of performance. It has been estimated that an additional 30 to 50 percent of American expatriates stay in their international assignments, but are regarded as either marginally effective or ineffective by their organization. The expatriates to succeed on foreign duties, managers need to live within the foreign business arena for several years in order to gain the necessary experience. Unfortunately, overseas assignments are often ill-planned and disorganized, leading to poor job performance and or job displacement. The costs of failed expatriate assignments are high, therefore, both financially for the organization and from an individual career perspective. Expatriate failures are a human resource waste, as most of these employees would have had good work records prior to their overseas assignment. Failures can also be a heavy blow to the expatriates self-esteem and personality .A research conducted for MCN as many as 40 per cent of all expatriate assignments fail owing to poor performance, or the inability of the expatriate to adjust to the foreign environment. In addition, it is estimated that as many as 50 per cent of those who do not return prematurely will function at a low level of effectiveness. L ess than one third of expatriate failures are considered to be job related. Primary reasons for failure include factors relating to family situations that disrupt the adaptation of the employee and the expatriates lack of interpersonal skills. The number one and two factors blamed for these failures is the inability of the spouse and the inability of the employee to adjust to an unfamiliar foreign culture. METHODOLOGY FOR CHOOSING EXPATRIATES FOR FOREIGN ASSIGNMENT IN ORDER TO REDUCE FAILURE RATES The recent increase in global trade calls for relocation of international managers to take on jobs in foreign countries. The candidate for the post has to be chosen carefully so as to minimise failure. One of the articles believed that, there is the need to choose a person who has some cross-cultural experience. Expatriates who are unfamiliar with the cultural realities of the host country are often not only unhappy living abroad but also are a liability to the organization. International assignments and problems of adjustment to a foreign culture can present various problems including diminished work performance. Other problems include substance abuse, work holism, psychological and infidelity problems, which can undermine the ability of an individual who previously exhibited consistent career performance and a successful family and social life. Being an expatriate is a rigorous experience that requires the manager simultaneously to learn new business concepts, to supervise subordinates from a different culture, to deal with family relocation issues and to adjust personally to a new culture. Often, the employee with the best work record at home is the wrong person to send overseas. The skills and attitudes required in the home office may be completely unsuitable in the foreign environment Personal characteristics are of the utmost importance when selecting the right candidate .In addition, during their domestic work experience, employees should have demonstrated the ability to adapt easily and quickly both to expected and unexpected changes. In an international assignment, differences in cultures can overwhelm an individual who is unable to adapt to new rules and new ways of conducting business. Stress also plays a major role in international assignments, especially in the initial months when the expatriate must learn to deal with a novel culture; where the usual manner of dealing with life situations is no longer effective. Employees who have proven stress management abilities and are able to work effectively when under stress make good candidates for expatriate assignments. WAYS COMPANIES COULD IMPROVE FOREIGN ASSIGNMENT FOR ALL CONCERNED There are number of ways in which organisations can do to improve foreign assignment for all concerned. To lower the incidence of failure and raise productivity among expatriates, individuals and organizations can take a number of steps. Before moving overseas, prospective expatriates begin to make certain adjustments. They try to determine the ways in which their work and personal life will change, they try to prepare for those changes and, when possible, they make adjustments before arriving in the host country. Determining what and how to adjust is based both on an individuals past experiences and on perceptions of where gaps exist in his or her abilities, skills, and knowledge. For example, a manager who perceives an overseas assignment as imposing high demands on technical skills will be inclined to spend more pre departure time improving those skills .It is very important to studying the local language before arriving to the foreign country . Organisations must constantly keep in touch with the expatriates and offer any kind of support needed by the foreign worker; in this case they know the company is behind them. Expatriates should be rewarded for success and repatriation made easy for their return when the assignment is completed. CONCLUSION The components required to create proficient international managers as agreed by three of the writers include language training, cross-cultural and business orientation and training, family consultations and cross-cultural training, mentoring programmes and a career management approach to expatriation and repatriation. Effective programmes will address human resources before, during and after the foreign assignment. When the above components are lacking the expatriates are bound to fail on foreign duties. Expatriates report that they receive significant personal and self-development benefits from foreign assignments. They gain a broader, global perspective on the firms operations. Their communication skills are enhanced because of their exposure to different cultures. The more complex the environment, the more it enhances their planning and motivation techniques, thus, confidence increases. These types of development can have positive career and organizational implications. Thus, managers must establish ways to better manage this significant Resource (the expatriates) in order to maximize the wealth of knowledge and experience gained from international assignments. Word count 2,950

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder which can afflict a person throughout his lifetime: "The individual who suffers from OCD becomes trapped in a pattern of repetitive thoughts and behaviors that are senseless and distressing but extremely difficult to overcome" (http:www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/ocd.htm). Obsessions and compulsions are the two main components of this disorder. The former are often highly negative such as an ever-present fear of germs. Compulsions such as repeated handwashings are rituals designed to lessen anxiety produced by obsessions. Depending on the severity, OCD can have an adverse affect on every realm of a person's life. The outlook is optimistic, however, because research has shown that even people suffering from severe OCD may benefit from medication, behavioral therapy, or a combination of the two. Researchers have gained much insight into the cause of the disorder by comparing OCD brains with "normal" brains. There is continued debate about whether OCD is caused by neurobiological factors, environmental influences, or both. There is at least evidence to show that the brains of OCD sufferers differ from "normal" brains in systematic ways: "Recent preliminary studies of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging showed that the subjects with OCD had significantly less white matter than did normal control subjects, suggesting a widely distributed brain abnormality in OCD" (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/ocd.htm). The white matter, which lies beneath the cerebral cortex, contains axons which connect neurons in the cerebral cortex to neurons in other parts of the brain. Lowered white matter content seems to suggest that there is less intracranial communication in the brains of OCD patients. Another study showed that "persons having OCD often exhibit abnormal rates of metabolic activity [in direct correlation with the severity of the disorder] in the frontal lobe and the basal ganglia [more specifically in the orbital cortex] of the brain" (http://www.mhsource.com/hy/naf-ocd.html). It has been suggested that the orbital cortex is responsible for stimulating a "worry circuit" consisting of the "caudate nucleus, a part of the basal ganglia that helps in switching gears from one thought to another; the cingulate gyrus, which wrenches the gut with dread, and the thalamus, which processes the body's sensory inputs" (http://www.schizophrenia.com/ami/diagnosi s/ocd.html). It is hypothesized that in OCD, these 3 respective brain areas become linked in action. Susan Swedo and her colleagues at NIMH have hypothesized that because OCD behaviors have been connected with antibodies attacking the basal ganglia, repeated strep throat infections in childhood may lead the formation of the fused "worry circuit.

Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka 1954 :: essays research papers

Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka 1954 Oliver Brown and 12 other plaintiffs (names undisclosed) brought suit against the Board of Education with the help of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). During this time in history segregation existed in some facets of our educational system. In the state of Kansas, to be more precise Topeka, segregation was dominant among elementary schools. A group consisting of Oliver Brown and 12 other parents (20 children involved) wanted equal educational rights and do away with segregation among the school system. Each person was to look for enrollment dates at the â€Å"white† schools in their neighborhood and take their children to be admitted. The all white school refused to enroll them because of their race. The families then reported to the NAACP, who they have recruited to help in this legal matter. The Board of Education was in direct violation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which â€Å"guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law†, giving cause to file a class action suit. Oliver Brown was designated as the leader of the group because during this time men were dominant in society, having more power than women. On February 28, 1951, the NAACP filed their case against The Board of Education, naming it Oliver L. Brown et. al. Vs. The Board of Education of Topeka (KS). The District court ruled against Brown, resulting in an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. When this case made it to the Supreme Court, it was combined with other â€Å"like† cases from Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. These combined cases became known as Oliver L. Brown, et. at. Vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, et. al. On May 17, 1954 at 12:52 p.m. the United States Supreme Court decided unanimously that The Board of Education acted unconstitutionally and that they violated the 14th Amendment by separated children if for no other reason than for their race. In the end, not only did the African Americans receive a victory in this aspect of the civil rights movement; they also received the memory of this victory in the form of a historical site.

Organization management Essay

Contents Click to go to section: The organizational problem. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. The constraints I needed to work within. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. The workshop design. How I used the change puzzle kit. The end result Top Drag Me Contents Click to go to section: The organizational problem. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. The constraints I needed to work within. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. The workshop design. How I used the change puzzle kit. The end result The organizational problem. I was called into a hospital by their HR manager. The hospital needed to improve 1 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ morale amongst its nurses. But as I spoke to different stakeholders, the issue became more complex. The HR managers told me that morale amongst nurses was at an all time low. At the same time the hospital was trying to change its culture to become more patient and profit centric. It started off as a morale problem. But as I spoke to different stakeholders, it becam e more complex. The matron of the hospital was concerned about the poor relationships between the nurses, their unit managers and the doctors. The unit managers were upset by the way that doctors by-passed them and shouted at their nurses. The nurses and their managers blamed arrogant doctors for the poor morale in the hospital. The CEO was concerned that the doctors, who he saw as clients and partners of the hospital, were not happy with the service they were getting. The doctors, chose to locate their independent practices at the hospital, but had the freedom to take their business to another hospital, anytime they wanted. Losing specialists to competing hospitals would affect his hospital’s brand and offering – as well as its profitability. He was also tired of being the only leader in the organization, and wished that the managers would begin to take responsibility and act like leaders. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The CEO, matron and HR manager all agreed that they wanted a one-day workshop for all internal managers in the hospital. They wanted the workshop objective to be: â€Å"To help the managers to develop a common focus regarding what they would need to do as a united team, over the next 18 months. † The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. I knew that I had to provide far more than what they’d asked for in their workshop objective. And far more than even the problems they had briefed me on. In choosing my design for the workshop, I needed a tool that would: Build trust. Allow the managers to vent their frustrations in a way that allowed every manager to be heard. But not in a way that would degenerate into a negative gripe session about the doctors. Get the managers to see all the problems facing the hospital – not only their own problems. Get the managers out of the habit of blaming doctors or the hospital for problems that they could resolve themselves. Get them to take responsibility and begin acting as leaders. Get them to stop seeing themselves and their nurses as being victims of the arrogance of doctors, and to start seeing the doctors as important customers of the hospital. Support the move to a patient centered and profit oriented culture. Help them to identify the most important issues that they as a leadership team need to deal with. Help the managers to develop a common focus for the future. One that not only solved their frustrations, but one that would make them excited 2 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ about their future in the hospital. Help the managers to identify the core changes they would need to make to achieve the future they wanted. Help them identify projects that would help them to implement those changes. To do all of this in a way that would build a leadership team. One in which team members take responsibility and support one another. The constraints I needed to work within. The hospital could only afford the time for a one-day workshop. There would be 32 people in the group. In this workshop, the process would be as important as the content. Therefore the way in which the group developed their own solutions, was as important as the solutions they developed. We needed a process that would encourage participation, buy-in, ownership, build the managers confidence and energize them. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. 1. The main tool I used was The Change Puzzle Kit I had one kit for each group of 8 delegates. Each kit consists of: Two laminated charts. (A1 size). The first chart is called The Organisation Of Today. The second chart is called The Ideal Organisation Of The Future. The design on each chart is of the organization as a puzzle comprising 20 organizational development pieces. The organizational development tool I chose for this complex OD intervention was â€Å"The Change Puzzle Kit. † A set of water soluble pens which allows the delegates to write directly onto the laminated charts. The charts can be wiped clean and used again. A box of clue cards to help the groups think about the 20 organizational elements from an Organizational Development and systems thinking perspective, as they complete their charts. 2. The secondary tool I used was a single activity from The Powerful Facilitation cards. These workshop activity cards are designed like recipes. They provide detailed workshop activities to achieve specific workshop goals. I chose a card that helped a group to create a vision in a way that created fun and positive energy. The workshop design. I chose The Change Puzzle Kit because it allows a group to do the complex systems thinking they needed to do to solve their own problems, in a very practical and very participative way. This is the process I followed. To ensure that everyone could participate, I divided the larger group into 3 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ 4 groups of 8 delegates per group. These groups were mixed to provide as much variety as possible. We mixed the groups so we had different functions (HR, marketing, administration & nursing), and people of different ages and races working together in each group. Each group had their own change puzzle kit to work with. I used this diagram to explain the process we would be following which was: We would take a ‘systems thinking’ photograph of the hospital as it was today – with all its frustrations and all its strengths. To do this we would use The Organisation of Today charts and cards. We would do a right brained exercise to look at what the hospital would be like 3 years into the future, if it was delighting its patients, was profitable, and a place where the managers would be proud to work. We would translate that right brain ‘vision of the future’ back into left brained, systems thinking. We would look at the elements that would need to be in place for that vision to work. To do this we would use ‘The Ideal Organisation Of The Future charts and cards. We would then compare what came out of our two charts. From this, we would choose a few core changes. Changes that would help us to solve the most important of today’s problems, and move us towards the future we wanted. We would then create some projects to make achieve these changes. How I used the change puzzle kit. Step 1. Provide an overview of the change puzzle The attention span of most groups for listening to a presentation is less than half an hour. So, to keep the group’s attention, I provided a very quick overview of the charts and clue cards they would be using. Step 2. The groups analyze their organization as it exists today – using ‘The Organisation of Today’ charts and cards. 2. 1 Instructions: Each group was given the chart â€Å"The Organisation Of Today† plus the 20 clue cards about the current organization. They were also given a set of water soluble pens. They were asked to write on their chart how they saw their hospital today in terms of each puzzle piece or OD element. They could use the clue cards to help them. Each person was encouraged to write how he/she viewed the situation independently of their group as the group didn’t need to achieve a consensus. I also explained that some people see things in a positive light, others in a negative light and others prefer to put down facts. All of these views were equally valuable. 2. 2 Activity: Each group spent about an hour recording their answers. Then instead of having formal feedback, each group simply read what the other groups had written on 4 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ their charts. This was to prevent a very tedious feedback process – and potential conflict. 2. 3 What came out: The three groups were surprised that they had similar responses. For example: They felt their roles were not clear enough. They were too ‘rank obsessed. ‘ They felt doctors had too much status and that they needed to be empowered more. There was too much gossip. People operated in cliques. No one was taking responsibility. They felt they needed to acknowledge one another more. They wanted to create a culture where people ‘don’t feel intimidated when someone shares skills. ‘ But most of all, they were surprised by how much negativity came out. ‘Surely there are some good things too? ‘ One person asked. 2. 4 Why this happened: Their common responses were due to two design factors – the mixing of the groups, and the systems thinking behind the design of the chart they used. Negative responses are common amongst groups when they analyze their current situation. Groups are more positive when they create their own future. Step 3. Groups develop a vision of the future. I used a creative activity from the Create fun and energy section of the Powerful Facilitation cards. I needed to turn around the group’s energy from negative and powerless, to positive and creative. I also needed the groups to develop a vision of their future, which was far more creative than simply that of solving their frustrations of today. As they developed their right brain picture of the future hospital, the groups became energized. Alive. Full of fun. They began laughing. They worked well as a team. They started coming up with brilliant ideas of how they could add value to the doctors, and earn their respect. They created slogans for themselves showing how they would care – for their patients, their doctors and one another. This was the turning point of the workshop. Step 4. Groups complete The Ideal Organisation of the Future charts. 4. 1 Instructions and activity I remixed the groups – so that each of the four visions were now represented by members within each new group. I then asked the groups to complete the Ideal Organisation of the Future charts. In doing so, I asked them to think about what would need to be in place for them to be able to live their visions. I encouraged them to be creative. This is because I wanted them to come up with more than simply the opposite of the problems they’d identified in their The Organization Of Today charts. I wanted them to capture all the wonderful ideas they’d had in their right brain vision, onto the ‘Ideal organisation of the future charts. ‘ I suggested they also look at the future clue cards to generate even more creative ideas. 4. 2. What came out What came out of this activity were wonderful positive ideas that not only solved the problems they’d identified in their organization of today charts, but started achieving all the objectives I’d hoped for when designing the workshop. For example, in order to clarify roles, they though of having a monthly picture board, entitled ‘meet the team’. They decided to have a day where they would 5 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ change roles with one another. They decided to have a programme where as managers, they would ‘go back to the floor’ for a day, to better understand some of the issues that both nurses and doctors faced. They would visit the receptionists of doctors to find out all the doctors preferences. Then they would educate one another and their nurses on how to provide great service to each doctor. They decided that one thing that would demonstrate patient centered care, was to think of ways for caring for families of patients who came from out of town. They created slogans for themselves that demonstrated customer care. They decided to lead their teams by getting each unit to develop their own vision linked to the hospital vision. The team became quite excited about what was possible. 4. 3 Why this happened. The groups’ energy had already turned during the previous exercise. Building on this, we know that groups are always more positive when they are allowed to be creative, and when they focus on the future. The â€Å"Ideal Organisation of the Future† charts are designed in a way that combines creative thinking and a future vision. Also, by analyzing all the OD elements that would be in place to support their vision, the group could see that achieving their vision was possible and practical. This made them feel hopeful about their future. Step 5. The groups choose core changes. The group was blown away by all their wonderful ideas. But there were too many to implement all at once. They needed to apply the 80/20 principle. Once again I remixed the groups. I asked them to choose 2 changes that would: Solve the biggest problems identified in â€Å"The Organization of Today charts† Help them move towards their most exciting ideas in â€Å"The Ideal Organization Of The Future† charts. I asked them to record these changes in a ‘From’ and ‘To’ table. The ‘From’ would be drawn from â€Å"The Organization Of Today† charts. The ‘To’ would come from â€Å"The Ideal Organization Of The Future† charts. † The four groups were surprised that they all came out with the same core changes. This happened because of the design of The Change Puzzle Kits which gets everyone to use systems thinking, and because we kept mixing the groups. They immediately started volunteering for projects around the core changes. The end result I then got the groups to list what they’d achieved as a leadership team during the day, and what they wanted to do after the workshop. What came out was how amazed they were at what they’d been able to achieve in one day. They left the session excited and motivated. You may also like: Case studies: A strategy implementation case study This describes a two-day workshop. 6 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ to help an executive and management team to develop a comprehensive plan to implement their strategy. Member tools: Poor morale in the workplace – a diagnostic tool Based on a complex decision tree, this powerful coaching tool provides a quick way to diagnose your particular morale problem. It provides over forty possible solutions and helps you choose the best solution for your particular problem. How to rebuild morale after an organizational restructure. 4 OD interventions to rebuild trust, focus, morale and commitment after an organizational restructure. A CEO’s guide to implementing strategy What to do after you’ve developed a strategic plan. How to use your vision to lead an executive team. The 12 steps for aligning your organization to your strategy and getting them to implement it. Develop an innovation system that results in a cultural change. How to develop an innovation culture in your organization. Articles: Team leader skills – Managing Morale Managing morale is a key leadership skill because it determines whether or not a team has the energy, confidence and commitment to perform at their best. Inspiration at work How to inspire and motivate your team at work. Practical EQ and SQ tips for leaders. Restructuring Organizations: Leadership problems after an organizational restructure. Typical problems experienced by leaders after a restructuring exercise. The role of a change agent during an organizational restructure. The role a change agent can play during a restructure. When to do strategic planning. Strategic planning as an OD intervention. Participative tools to use in OD interventions The Change Puzzle KitA powerful tool for any OD intervention that requires group participation, systems thinking or a diagnosis of a problem. Powerful Facilitation CardsA set of OD activities to choose from to use in your OD intervention workshop. Winning the Game of Change A powerful planning tool for developing an OD strategy for your organization, or for helping your executive team to plan to implement their strategy. Contains 20 cards covering the major OD interventions. 7 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM.