Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Eating Healthily with a Busy Lifestyle

Comm 1100 – Pergrem Speech 1 – Informative Speech Assignment & Examples Hybrid-Online & Online COMM 1100 Spring 2012 Assignment Basics Speech: Present an extemporaneous informative speech to the class on a topic of your choosing in the format described. Time limits: 3-5 minutes Outline: â€Å"Write† your speech in the form of a detailed outline as discussed. Avoid using complete sentences; use bullet points. Do NOT write out your speech like an English paper.Notes: The outline you create will serve as your speech notes (you may bring these to the front of the room with you). You will need an extra copy for yourself. Visual Aid: A professional, college-level visual aid is required with your presentation. Bibliography/Copies of Sources: Include with your speech outline a printed, properly formatted Works Cited or References page. You may use either MLA or APA style. You must also include actual copies of your research sources (print the webpage, copy the magazine a rticle, etc. hat you use). Vocal Citations & Supporting Material: Include at least 3 vocal citations (â€Å"According to a December 2009 article in the New England Journal of medicine, obesity is the number one heath epidemic of the 21st century†) within your speech. Include at least 3 different types of supporting material (stats, examples, quotes, stories, etc. ) in your speech. Research Sources: Use at least 3 credible and scholarly (if possible) research sources (books, journals, magazines, websites, etc. ) when creating your speech.These are in addition to any personal experience you might have (you can’t count yourself as one of these sources). Turn in: At the time you give your speech, turn in the outline, bibliography and copies of sources with a copy of the â€Å"speech evaluation sheet† on the very top, your name and topic filled in. Staple these items together to make a â€Å"speech packet. † Make an extra copy of the outline to use as your spe ech notes. You may not present your speech without turning in your completed speech packet. Detailed Information What is an informative speech? An informative speech relays information to the audience.The primary goal is to increase the audience’s knowledge, understanding, or awareness of a topic. Informative speeches may: (A) Explain something (explain how to do something, how something is made, how something works, or how something occurs) Example: â€Å"How to Choose the Home Loan That’s Right for You† (B) Describe something (describe what a person, object or event is like) Example: â€Å"A Day in the Life of a Typical Third-Grade Teacher in Georgia† (C) Define something (define, elaborate or clarify a concept) Example: â€Å" What Freedom Means to Me,† or may cover any combination of these objectivesWhat are the objectives of the informative speech assignment (why are we doing this)? To provide an opportunity for practicing presentation skills, to promote the critical thinking skill of being able Comm 1100 – Pergrem to consider/reason from/understand a variety of perspectives oth er than one's own, to encourage informed global citizenship through the presentation process, to promote information competency/literacy. What are the time limits: 3-5 minutes Failure to meet these time guidelines (short or long) will result in a lower evaluation.Consider that you may be nervous so you may speak faster or slower than normal. You should practice and time your speech many times. When is this due? ? See the course syllabus for presentation dates. ? We will begin with volunteers and then I will go by the roll in order until everyone in the class has spoken. Speeches not completed by the time we move on to the next activity will not be heard and will be counted as missed. What do I turn in on speech day? At the time of your speech you will turn in: 1) A printed, stapled, detailed comprehensive/detailed outline of your peech. Fo llow the example provided at the end of this handout. Outlines that do not conform to appropriate outline standards and do not contain appropriate detail will be penalized. 2) A printed, stapled, detailed Works Cited or Reference page in correctly formatted APA or MLA style. Visit the Georgia Highlands Library site for more information/examples of how to cite sources correctly. 3) A Copy (printout or photo copy) of at least the first page of all research source materials used, including copies of webpages, magazine articles, portions of books, etc. ) A blank copy of the speech evaluation form from the course webpage, name and topic filled in. stapled All of these items must be together, evaluation sheet on the very top, with your name on them. If I do not receive all of these items stapled together with your name at them I will NOT li sten to your speech and those points will be lost. I know it sounds picky but please do not paperclip these items or put them in folders, please stapl e them beforehand. I will not have a stapler with me so you will need to staple them at home or bring your own stapler with you.Again, you may not present your speech without your speech packet. What are the research guidelines for this assignment? – Assignment must contain at least 3 credible and (if possible) scholarly research sources in addition to your own expertise (your own personal knowledge does NOT count as one of the 3 sources). – Wikipedia is not an appropriate source, though it can certainly be a starting point for gathering information. Neither is ask. com nor any of those types of websites. Remember, any time you cite statistics, stories, etc. n your speech you must tell us where the information came from (provide vocal citations – cite your sources). For example, â€Å"According to a 2008 study reported recently in National Geographic, forty-percent of the earth’s animals are considered endangered species. † You are required to have at least 3 vocal citations in your speech. What type of visual aid is required? This speech requires a professional looking college-level visual aid. What does that mean? It means a visual aid that one might find in a college class or the professional world.In other words, not a poster that looks as if a third-grader with crayons made it; not simply writing or drawing on the whiteboard; and not merely an object desperately thrown in at the last minute to meet the visual aid requirement. A good visual aid is well thought out/meaningful, large enough to be easily seen by every person in the room, clearly labeled, simple enough that the viewer can easily figure out the point, and is fully Comm 1100 – Pergrem incorporated into the speech – – NOT just tacked on at the end like â€Å"Oh and here's my visual aid.It's a picture of a dog. † What makes a good visual aid? An object can be a good visual aid. For example, I'm talking about par ts of a skateboard and I bring my board in as a model to show to the audience. A picture/chart/graph/drawing, etc. can be a good visual aid. Again, it should be large enough for everyone to see. How can you accomplish this? Enlarge it at Office Depot, Staples, etc. and put it on foam board (much better than poster board). Charts, graphs, etc. should be done on the computer and labels typed, not drawn by hand.Another option is to pass out a copy of our visual to everyone, for example, a National Guard recruitment brochure for everyone in the class to be passed out before you begin your speech. DO NOT PASS STUFF AROUND DURING YOUR SPEECH. This is very distracting for the audience and for you the speaker. And of course you can put graphics into a PowerPoint slideshow or other electronic medium and display them on the screen (you don't have to do a full-blown PowerPoint presentation to put the graphics up). This can be a very good way to get pictures, charts, etc. into a format that everyone can see.How do yo u do it? Create your stuff and then either email it to yourself or save it on a flash drive (do not save it in your student folder). I will have the projector and computer up at the front of the room. You will bring your flash drive up and plug in, or you will pull up your email on the computer and open your PowerPoint from there. NOTE: You cannot login under your name/password on the instructor computer at the front of the room. Therefore, you cannot access your visual aid if you store it in y our student â€Å"folder. † You can, however, access your student email. What about video clips as a visual aid?These are fine as long as they are 20 seconds or less. You must actually speak for three minutes. What if you have a Mac? You must get your Mac stuff into some type of format our windows based machines can read. It will not work to try and plug your Mac into our video system. How should I dress? I am not requiring that you wear dress clothes to present your speech. I am requi ring that you look reasonable and appropriate for a semi -formal classroom presentation: DO NOT wear a hat, DO NOT wear anything that distracts the audience, DO wear reasonabl e clothes that are neat and tidy.For example, your clothes should not look as though you were just mauled by wild animals, that you are auditioning for the adult entertainment industry, that you just finished plowing, that you are about to star in a musi c video, or that you are about to walk onto the playing field for a grudge match. What steps do I take to create a speech? 1. Analyze your audience and your interests, selecting an appropriate, worthwhile, and interesting topic on which you can find adequate research. 2. Develop and design your speech using adequate research material to meet the time limits. Decide upon your main points and sub-points.Be sure to include varied support devices (at least 3 different types) as discussed (stats, stories, examples, compare/contrast, etc). 3. Create your speech usin g a clearly organized structure: a. Use an introduction that includes an attention-getter, thesis, and preview. b. Organize a body that includes main points, supporting ideas, and varied support devices. c. Use transitions. d. Have a conclusion that reviews/summarizes the main points and lets the audience know the presentation is ending (provides closure). 4. Use at least vocal 3 citations as explained. Comm 1100 – Pergrem 5.Use appropriate, visible, professional (college-level), and useful visual aids. Practice using them beforehand. 6. Language/Nonverbal – Work on these elements: eye contact, appropriate gestures and posture, avoiding â€Å"uhs†, rate, volume, articulation, professional yet conversational tone, and appropriate language and grammar. Use correct pronunciation. No gum. Remember the â€Å"3 C’s† of speaking: Strive to appear confident, competent, and conversational. Be enthusiastic. 7. Delivery Style – This is an extemporaneou s speech! DO NOT READ YOUR SPEECH. Do not memorize your speech. You may have notes (your outline) while you present.Notes should be used as support, not as a crutch. Do not write out your speech in complete sentences (this makes you want to read). 8. Practice, practice, and practice. You should practice until you feel as though even if you lost your place you could find it in your notes and keep right on going. 9. Use proper speech etiquette: Turn off cell phones, do not use the computers, do not speak to others during speeches or be inattentive, and do not enter the classroom during a speech. 10. In this class we are here to improve our communication skills, not engage in moral, ethical or political debate over speech content.Disrespect for fellow speakers will not be tolerated. Just because you don’t happen to agree with a speech doesn’t mean it’s a bad speech. However, disrespect for the audience by a speaker will not be tolerated either. No profanity or inap propriate language should be used in speeches. 11. Remember, it is OK to have opinions but don't allow your personal views or emotions to dictate your speech. Find objective information. This is an informative speech. Do not let your feelings get in the way of good research. How will I be graded? A copy of the Speech Evaluation Sheet used for grading will be made available on the class website.I will return your grades via Vista (will take at least a week after presentation are completed). Automatic Point Loss on Speech Grade: ? Incorrect Works Cited or References page – 20 points This is pass/fail. Your works cited is either correct, in which case you lose no points, or incorrect, in which case you lose the entire 20 points. ? Failure to staple materials together – 5 points ? Failure to give your speech on the assigned date without prop er documentation – up to 20 points on your speech grade plus 20 additional points for each class day you do not give your spee ch. Failure to include an appropriate visual aid – 20 points ? Failure to turn in any part of the assignment or incorrectly submitting the assignment – 20 points for each missing item and for each item incorrectly submitted. For example, you only have two research sources instead of three – 20 points off the top of your grade. This is very important! ? You cannot present unless you have your speech packet As you can see, it is possible to lose a large number of points off the top for not following the instructions of the assignment. Follow instructions and keep the points! Comm 1100 – PergremExample Informative Speech Outline See textbook for additional examples, though it writes points out in complete sentences a bit too much â€Å"Eating Healthily With A Busy Lifestyle† Purpose: To inform the audience how to eat healthily on the run Introduction: I. How many of you want to be healthy? How many of you find it a challenge to eat well because you ar e always running somewhere such as from work to school or from school to another activity? Many of us find ourselves in that situation all too frequently and sometimes it just seems too difficult to overcome. (Get attention and establish audience relevance) II.However, with a little thought and planning you can still eat healthily even on the go. Today we will discuss ways you can incorporate healthy eating into your lifestyle. (Thesis) III. Packing a lunch, choosing restaurants wisely, and keeping nutritious snacks on hand are a just a few of the ways you can still manage to eat something wholesome while maintaining a hectic pace. (Preview of points) Transitions: Fully develop and smoothly move through attention-getter to thesis and preview, building upon each Body: I. Pack a lunch for healthy inexpensive choices A. Can choose healthier options than if eating out Statistic: from sources regarding fat and calorie content ; be sure to use vocal cite of source) 1. Turkey sandwich from home vs. turkey sandwich from Arby’s (nutrition breakdown) 2. Canned soup from home vs. a Big Mac B. Usually less expensive than eating out (Compare: Stats regarding cost of taking a lunch vs. cost of eating out) C. Many convenient options available (Examples: ) 1. Pre-cooked, pre-cut chicken, turkey, etc. 2. Fruit cups, apple sauce, etc. 3. Pre-cut veggies D. Can prepare the night before for convenience so easy to eat healthy (Story: how I pack each night to have something healthy to eat for breakfast in the car )Comm 1100 – Pergrem E. Microwaveable frozen healthy dinners are another option (Cite article from Good Housekeeping Magazine regarding the best new frozen dinners) (Examples: ) 1. 2. II. Lean Cuisine – nutrition content Healthy Choice – nutrition content Choose wisely if eating out A. Many restaurants (both fast-food and others) incorporating healthier choices into their menus (Examples: ) 1. Salads – McDonalds, Wendys, others 2. Baked o r grilled entrees 3. Low-carb options 4. Fruits and yogurts B. You can make choices that are healthier when eating out (Examples & Personal Stories: ) 1.Ask to hold the mayo and other fattening sauces 2. Choose broiled or grilled instead of fried 3. Leave off the French-fries and opt for a healthier side or none at all C. Some restaurants geared toward healthy eating (Examples: ) 1. Subway (Quote: regarding Subway’s commitment to healthy menu choices) 2. Sweet Tomatoes III. Keep healthy snacks easily accessible (in the car, etc. ) to stave off hunger (Examples: ) A. Fruit B. Low fat yogurt smoothies (also a good breakfast on the go) C. Whole grain cereal bars D. Water – lots of it E. Nuts Comm 1100 – Pergrem Conclusion: I.Today we have looked at various options for eating healthily on the go. We have learned how packing a lunch, choosing a restaurant and entree wisely, and keeping nutritious snacks on hand can all contribute to better eating habits even with a b usy lifestyle. (Summary of main points) II. The next time you think about heading to the drive-thru to order that burger and fries consider this: with just a little planning you can enjoy a meal that’s delicious AND healthy so that YOU don’t end up super -sized. (Provide closure) Comm 1100 – Pergrem Parts of a Speech Outline – Informative Speech (Use this as a guide when creating your outline)Topic/Name: Topic/Name of your speech Purpose: â€Å"To inform the audience . . . . . † (This is for your benefit so that you can craft a speech around your purpose. You do not read this section to the audience). Introduction: (Show relevance to the audience during this section) I. II. III. Attention-getter: story, actual or rhetorical question, quote, surprising fact or statistic, etc. Thesis statement: the main point or idea of your speech Preview of Main Points: Preview your upcoming main points Be sure to transition smoothly from attn-getter, to thesis & p review of main points, to the body (Main Point 1).Continue to use transitions to move smoothly from one point to the next and on to the conclusion. Body: I. Main Point 1 A. Supporting Ideas/Subtopic of Main Point 1 B. Supporting Ideas/Subtopic of Main Point 1 – These are backed up by Supporting Material: definition, statistics, example, illustration/story, testimony, compare/contrast. Use vocal citations when appropriate. Transition. II. Main Point 2 A. Supporting Ideas/Subtopic of Main Point 2 1. Additional supporting ideas 2. Additional supporting ideas B. Supporting Ideas/Subtopic of Main Point 2 1. Additional supporting ideas 2. Additional supporting ideas These are backed up by Supporting Material: definition, statistics, example, illustration/story, testimony, compare/contrast. Use vocal citations when appropriate. Transition. III. Main Point 3 A. Supporting Ideas/Subtopic of Main Point 3 B. Supporting Ideas/Subtopic of Main Point 3 – These are backed up by Suppo rting Material: definition, statistics, example, illustration/story, testimony, compare/contrast. Use vocal citations when appropriate. Conclusion: I. II. Summarize Main Points: Provide closure (closing statement, quote, story, etc. ): Comm 1100 – Pergrem Check List for Speech Day Printed comprehensive outline ? Printed works cited or bibliography page, correctly done ? Printed out actual copies of research sources (web pages, magazine articles, etc. ) ? Printed out the speech 1 evaluation sheet with name and topic completed ? Stapled all of the above together with evaluation sheet on top ? Visual aid (fully incorporated into speech) ? Practiced so that speech is within time limits and to the extent that I feel comfortable looking down and my outline and continuing should I lose my place. ? Practiced using a competent, conversational tone, not reading, and looking at audience

Operation management tma worksheet

Second, Hazelwood has made investments in plant; they build a manufacture in London with 1 million productions of sandwiches per week but when they invest more by building Manton Wood they produce more by 3 million sandwiches. Also with new powerful machines, they could reduce the human resources costs because fewer tasks need to be done . Also the stock levels will be reduced so that this will be successful for the company.Third reasons lead Hazelwood Sandwiches to make investments in the product that customers are looking for quality, different types of Sandwich to compare it when they are abroad, So Hazelwood try to provide a high quality, healthy and delicious sandwiches in order to meet the customer demand. In addition providing different types of sandwiches to satisfy all types of tastes and modify old items or create new ones. Over all, there are many other reasons that lead Hazelwood to made capital investment . ln fact they are trying to gain competitive advantage to maximiz e the wealth of owners.They use different techniques to evaluate the investment opportunities, and then choose the best project. Moreover, Hazelwood maintain a brand name because of its sandwiches, Actually every company should investment in people, product and plant. Question 2 Hazelwood's investment decision techniques Investment decisions are important for the growth of the business because an investment includes financial resources for purchasing assets such building or equipment's which will bring economic benefit for the company. Those decisions are difficult and expensive to refuse once it has been ventured.Actually Hazelwood's uses various capital investment appraisal techniques to measure which project is more profitable. First method is Payback period which is the length of time that the investment takes to pay back the net cash inflows form the project. Projects will be selected according to the period the business sets and the shorter ones are preferred. The advantages o f this method that it's easy and quick to calculate or understood by users, avoiding risks and its good for the startup business to calculate the time needed to prepay the original investment.The disadvantages are that it onsiders about the time not the value of money, the relevant information such as the cash flows beyond the payback period are ignored and it doesn't consider maximizing the wealth of owners because it looks for the short project periods while longer beneficial project might be ignored. The second is Net Present Value includes all the money of an investment; It calculates the benefits from the investment against all the costs of this investment with allowance for the timing of them. The rule is to choose the project with the higher value and the positive ones not the negative ones.For its advantages, it considers about the objects of the business, maximizing the profits, it takes all the relevant cash flows in account and the timing of cash flow. For the disadvantag es, there are some risks for example a machine doesn't works, or that interests may lost in investment, also the problems of inflation which consider the loss in the purchasing power of money. The third is the Accounting Rate of Return which calculates the average operating profits over the average investment to earn those profits in the form of percentage.It's about achieving the target with higher ARR projects. The advantages that it represents a percentage and it consider the performance before it has performed. The disadvantages about using the accounting profits to measure the performance over the life of product, also different sizes of investments competing and using of average investment cause problems. Over all, those are the three investment decision techniques that Hazelwood uses in evaluation the investment opportunities.Each method ranks projects according to some compared features. With those techniques the most profitable project will be chosen. Question 3 Invest in p eople Investing in workforces is the lifeblood for any business, actually it's important to make investments in human resources because they are the main role of the business and attects it pertormance. Also well trained and experienced employees give advantage for the company because they are the workforce that a control the process in which the business operates.So the company should ensure that their employees are well trained, motivated and loyalty to their Jobs. Additionally maintain the satisfaction of the employee will raise the employee performance and focus to achieve the business objectives. Also this will improves their skills in doing the tasks. On one hand, Hazelwood provides flexible working environment: include the induction program which introduced the new employee to the organization and to its role, also programs that make the new employees feel they are a part of the team.Second, Family-friendly HR practices to understand the employee's circumstances such as the w orking hours for the mothers to look for their families and offers a paid time off for pregnant women's. Third, providing training and development opportunities which will enhance the commitment and improve the skills in doing the asks as fast as possible, also opportunities to take National Vocational Qualifications relevant to the food industry. Hazelwood try to provide facilities in the Job environment by providing gyms, hair dressers, shops, restaurants and cleaning services.In addition, the employee's expectations about the nature of work should be met. On the other hand, Hazelwood plain and monitor the performance of its employees to give them reward packages for their high performance. With those methods Hazelwood achieved to be the employee's brand that it's the choice of the employees because they know how to take care of their employees offer them good ay packages. As a result, Hazelwood decreases the labour turnover and reduces the levels of absenteeism also the costs of recruitment.Beside of Hazelwood there are other companies that invest in people in such as the National Bank of Kuwait; they believe that investing in people will benefit them in future. Actually 1800 Kuwaitis has been trained in 2012 and it will always provide training and developments opportunities to encourage their employees. Also ZAIN Company provides programs of training such as ongoing coaching, sending employees outside to complete their high education and induction. Last but not least T;D Team provides training and developments for the employees in order to improved their skills, performance and knowledge.Question 4 Workforce greatest assets For all businesses workforces are the role assets; In fact they are the people who achieve the company objectives. They should be looking after them starting from the managers, suppliers, employers, employee and all of them. Actually investing in people adds value to the organization especially for innovation companies such as Google be cause they rely on the experience of their human resources rather than nything else. The importance of workforces has different points of view. First the HRM function perspective which considers about managing people and carrying out their activities.It's responsible for ensuring that the people are in their right places with right skills by recruiting, selecting, developing and monitoring. HR believes that people performance affects the business performance so they provide training and development opportunities to maximize their performance. Also monitor the performance to ensure that they are on the right track and provides them with feedback. Moreover they provide reward systems to encourage them to achieve their targets and make sure that they are satisfied, motivated, appreciated and loyal to their Jobs.Moreover, this will build the organization's reputation as a social, ethical and responsible organization in order to gain a competitive advantage. Second the accounting functio n which considers about the financial accepts of the business. To achieve the HR function activities, the business should be able to afford the costs associated with those activities. Here the workforces are important because they guarantee bringing money to the business. But before going a step the business should think of the investment returns and risks.As if sending an employee to take English courses, how much of benefits this will bring in the future benefits. Moreover developing the skills of employees will raise the production levels as they have experience, finish the tasks on time and do it perfectly . So they will be able to develop or create new products or advanced technology. Also maintaining a positive reputation that will help them to raise money in the market and the financial advisors will advise the investors to invest in the business. Additionally, the company will gain a brand name which will decrease the costs of recruitment and advertising.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

What Factors Motivate Employees

What is the most important thing that can motivate employees With the rapid development of economic globalization, efficiency and quality determine the future of a firm. The fundamental factor, which determines the fortune of a firm, is employee, because if employees perform well and work efficiently, productivity will be considerably improved and large quantities of profits will be made. The increasing number of managers has realized the fact that employees are playing vital roles in development of a firm. Consequently, appropriate measures are being taken to enhance the motivation of employees.Some people believe that adequate salary is the most important thing that can motivate employees, while more people hold the different view that other factors such as equal statue, achievable goals and appreciation have more positive influences on enhancing motivation. An abundance of evidence illustrates that job satisfaction, instead of salary, is the most significant thing in motivating em ployees. This essay will discuss three factors that of vital importance on ensuring job satisfaction, including fulfillment of requirements, closed relationship between employees and managers as well as flexible working schedules.Different people have individual requirements, which lead to different goals of working. As soon as achieving individual working goals and requirements, employees will be satisfied with jobs, and then be motivated. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, individual requirements can be divided into five levels. These levels can be generally divided into two parts: material requirements and psychological requirements. The fulfillment of psychological needs has longstanding effects on employees than meeting material needs.Certainly, conducting proper mental compensation program is beneficial for satisfying employees’ increasing requirements in psychology. For, example, Tesco enable each worker to express suggestions on the working freely , through which not only working conditions will be improved but also employees will feel valued (The Times, 2010). In addition, opportunities of career training are necessary for achieving mental satisfaction. In order to adjust to the society which is full of challenges and competition, employees require adequate training to develop personal skills and then obtain a sense of achievement and advancement.Meanwhile, according to equity theory and expectancy theory, in order to reach the best consequence, the following two principles ought to be taken. One is that mental rewards are determined by individual performance and contributions. Employees who have high performance and tremendous contributions will earn more praise or working condition improvement than those who have poor performance and few contributions. The other principle is that rewards are achievable for the majority. Different employees differ from one another in working ability and potentiality.As a consequence, levels of goals with suitable ranks of mental compensation should be fit for individuals (Madura, 2008). Therefore, fulfillment of individual requirements can exert considerable effects on motivating employees. Some groups of people are fond of making friends. No matter which countries others come from, if they have the same interest to share with or the same topic to discuss with, they will feel close to each other. For these groups of people, relationship between managers and employees is the most important factor that affects motivation.Open-book management, in which employees are capable to play the leading role of the firm by participating in making decisions, is a successful practice of ‘relationship motivation theory ’. Before production decisions are eventually made, decision makers need to consider about almost all aspects of production, such as the cost of raw material, time arrangement, target customers and some possible problems in production process, because each decision is closely related to individual profits(Madura, 2008).Giving employees opportunities of comprehensive consideration will not only create more profits for firms, but also develop an equal relationship between managers and employees. If employees feel being paid attention to, they will be willing to spare no efforts to the firm. In addition to equality, intimated relationship is also necessary. Managers ought to care about employees’ emotional variations, which may result from family problems or mental health, and have more communication with employees, like having lunch together and offering some comfort by simple words.If employees believe that they are working with friends instead of leaders, motivation will be increased. Flexible working schedule has positive association with job motivation. According to Pink’s research, if employees complete tasks ahead of deadline and guarantee high quality, an abundance of free time will be spared for family and self-im provement (Pink, 2009). Furthermore, Hawthorne’s experiment on the relationship between break time and productivity demonstrates that regular break with appropriate length leads to sharp increase in productivity (Madura, 2008).The reason is that flexible schedule which provides employees with large amounts of free time to accompany children produce positive psychological reactions and these reactions contribute directly to motivation. Therefore, variable time arrangement is the top motivator. Some young employees claim that salary which covers daily expenses is the most critical factor that forces them to work for long time, meanwhile, the amounts of salary can directly reflect the consequence of hard working and devotion.However, these groups of people just take their own needs into account instead of considering about various requests of different people. Salary will just satisfy a small part of employees whose goals is making money. Salary, a fixed amount of money that bei ng paid monthly or annually (MacMillan, 2007, p. 1313), is called based pay, which can stimulate employees to some degrees. However, Herzberg’s job satisfaction study demonstrates that sufficient salary can just prevent employees from dissatisfaction, which means increasing salary is not the most efficient method to obtain high satisfaction (Madura, 2008).Personal total income consists of based pay and reward pay, and the initial motivator is the later, as it has vital impacts on employees’ psychological satisfaction with present jobs (Wiley, 1997). Despite the fact that salary is a useful motivator for some groups of employees, the majority of employees will not gain high satisfaction purely through increasing salary. In conclusion, salary is not of the top motivator in contemporary society, as the vital motivating factors are diversified in various social groups.The fulfillment of physiological and psychological requirements through appropriate equal and achievable c ompensation program, the maintenance of close relationship between managers and employees as well as flexible working schedule, which play critical role in enhance job satisfaction, exert more significant influence on motivating employees than simply increase of salary. If all of these motivational factors work together, a promising future will be exposed to both human beings and the society. Reference: Madura, J. (2008) Introduction to Business. 4th ed. Beijing: Post & Telecom Press.Macmillan English Dictionary (2007, p. 1313). Malaysia: Macmillan Publishers. Pink, D. (2009) Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation [online video] Available from: http://www. ted. com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation. html. (Accessed 25 April 2011). The Times 100 (2010) Motivation Theory in Practice at Tesco. Available from: http://www. thetimes100. co. uk/download-tesco-edition-15-full-case-study_132_396_1168 (Accessed 25 April 2011) Wiley, C. (1997) ‘What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys’, International Journal of Manpower, 18(3), pp. 263-280

Monday, July 29, 2019

The Passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Passage - Essay Example Today the  platoon  was to  mount  a celebratory parachute display in the Valley of Jezebel. He entered the washroom and, while he waited for a free mirror, brushed his teeth, and though, of pretty girls. In an hour and a half, the preparations would be  complete, and the  platoon  would be  airborne, on its way to its destination. Throngs of  excited  civilians would be waiting for them to  jump, and the girls would be there, too. The drop would take place just outside  Nof  Harish, the kibbutz that was Gideon’s home, where he  had been born  and brought up until the  day  he joined the army. The moment his feet touched the ground, the children of the kibbutz would close around him and  jump  all over him and  shout, â€Å"Gideon, look, here’s our Gideon!† The writer composed the  passage  by describing the  scene  and his thoughts of the main character. The  writer  gives us a  detailed  visual  pictureà ‚  of a boy and includes details of his movements from room to room. The writer describes the thoughts of the boy and what he anticipated.  Every sentence seemed as if the writer was a  true  witness of the actions of the boy, or thoughts of  anticipation  by the boy as seen through the eyes of a narrator.  It  is written  as if the narrator of a  play  was speaking. Without reading the  entire  story, I can conclude that the passage is most likely extracted from  heroic  tale. ... The writer decided to  add  details of the main characters surrounding his thoughts and his hopes. The writer decides to mislead the reader into thinking the boy would be successful as his thoughts are positive. For example, the writer wrote the following: â€Å"Would be complete and the platoon would be airborne, on its way to its destination.† The writer describes a soldier who is  happy  for this day. The writer includes details such as the venue of Independence Day, who will be there and how people will react. In this way, the writer describes the boy’s  character. Later in the story, we realized that this is not what occurred. Instead, the writer wants the reader to believe in the optimism from the main character at the end of this passage. The writer does not  describe  the  character  as a patriot for his country. He  is described  in a way that makes the reader presume that the  character  is doing things for fame and glory from his fam ily, the children of the kibbutz and women. This  character  (soldier) is thinking about his parents, children and women and not what he aspires than to be a hero. The writer conveys this by describing what the  character  is thinking and envisioning. Grammatical and  rhetorical  elements seen in this  passage  are personification. For instance, â€Å"eucalyptus trees and clustering notices commending tidiness and  discipline†.  In this sentence, the  writer  is setting a  scene  of a military base in a way that even the trees are  tidy  and disciplined just like soldiers.  The  writer  also describes everyone including the civilians. He does not just write â€Å"Civilians would be waiting,† instead, the writer writes,

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Tourism Policy and Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tourism Policy and Planning - Essay Example On exploiting these opportunities, the Tourism industries can indeed open doors for more variety in the offerings like the food chain, entertainment, shopping and heritage sites (The Tourist Offices Of Spain, 2013; City Of York Council, 2003). This gives immense scope to incline the differentiating factors like the culture, history, heritage, language, lifestyle and natural resources. Â  While bringing these differences to a compromise seems challenging, the lack of effort in the same might make the tourist bored very quickly. Eventually, the most serious threat these two destinations might face would be the loss of revenue worth billions and the depreciation of regional output figure / GVA that has seen a commendable growth of about 20% in the last decade (The Tourist Offices Of Spain, 2013; York Tourism Partnership, 2007). Â   2. ... Â  York and Seville are blessed with environmental assets which are indeed the strength for businesses. Exploring these unruffled regions creates new options for tourists and allows them to explore the best of them, rather than just the popular and most visited places. On the other side, the weakness of the two destinations is the lack of speedy communication option, together with the challenge of balancing standardization against customization and matching tourist’s luxury with value for money (Leeds City Council, 2012). 3. Having a competitive transport infrastructure increases the mobility of tourists and gives equal opportunities for all places to be explored in the same visit. One may easily reach York by car, bus, coach tour, train, ferry and boats (Visit York, 2013). For international tourists, the entries to UK is via major airports at Leeds, London, and Manchester with world class amenities which are well connected with other famous and frequently visited destination s of the world (City of York Council, 2003). However the local conveyance needs further detailing. To overcome the disadvantages like lack of geographical knowledge of the new place, emphasis on putting up detailed maps, precise sign boards, directions and distance for visitor’s reference should be made (Seville City Council, 2008). The key proposal of investment would be towards making the best travel experience, in terms of destination development and visitor management, which demands increase in public transportation facilities and roads to help tourists navigate throughout the city quickly and with ease. A smart investment plan would include joint

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Childless Couples Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Childless Couples - Research Paper Example This essay would further revolve around couples with and without children and would provide the advantages and disadvantages of not having children. Couples who do not have children believe that they are better off without them as they can be happier this way. The advantages of not having children revolve around the expenses and nature of the child as he is born in this world. Nurturing and taking care of a child requires a lot of effort and this is considered stressful by many of the couples. Parenting requires effort in looking forward to every need of the child which becomes difficult for some of the couples (Chapati 2009). A professor of psychology states that immediately after marriage the couples get quite happy but later onwards after the couples bear a child the level of contentment drops. But he also asserts that married people are happier than the unmarried people because of the closeness that is involved in the relationship. He states "Figures show that married people are in almost every way happier than unmarried people – whether they are single, divorced, cohabiting". According to the professor when a couple is expecting a child the level of happiness rises high enough but as soon as the child is born the level of happiness descends. ... The psychologists analyze as to how couples get unhappy in these instances of child bearing (Devlin 2008). Another study carried out in Britain lately by British attitudes shows that married couples without children were the most happiest of all in terms of relationships. The research was backed by the Economic and Social Research Council and it showed that older couples were more discontent with their marriage than their young counterparts. The research also found that the couples became unhappy when their child was in a pre-school age. However after the child grew up into adolescence the relationship was healthy enough to be controlled. This clearly shows that child bearing couples have to face many problems unlike their counterparts who do not have to face the problems associated with child bearing (Martin 2011). A study also found that not bearing a child is also associated with better diet in childless couples. The study also found that the couples who had children ate a less he althy diet than their counterparts. The study in the agricultural economics found that the childless couples tend to consume more fruits and healthy food than their counterparts. The amount of meat consumed by the childless couples was also right whereas the ones with child consumed more of the dairy products. A professor from the University of Reading stated that â€Å"For whatever reason, the social dynamic in a household with children makes the diet on average more unhealthy.† This clearly shows that the childless couples have an edge in terms of diet over their counterparts. This again is considered as an advantage for those who do not bear a child (Bakalar

Friday, July 26, 2019

Organisational behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organisational behaviour - Essay Example Generation Y comprises of people born between 1981 and 1994 with some others extending the period to 2002. They are depicted as ethnically diverse people who are optimistic, achievement oriented, confident, independent, and digitally savvy and dislike being micromanaged (Tapscott, 2009). Millennials are joining organisations in large numbers and may presently contribute to the largest percentage of employees in a company. As they join the workforce, new demands are emerging in order to meet their requirements, which seem to differ from those of the boomers and the Generation X employees. Therefore, companies are creating models based on evaluation of Generation Y’s values, characteristics, and aspirations, then applying them with some well-known theories to incorporate this generation into the workplace (Pepermans and Kerpel, 2008:907). Analysis of the Main Issues facing Management at Rising Entertainment Rising entertainment has a few problems when it comes to the management of Generation Y employees. Firstly, the Generation Y and Generation X employees seem to be in a dispute. The Generation Y wants the Generation X employees to immediately adopt the new ideas that they possess. Josh introduces the idea of marketing the new series on websites, blogs and You tube because he thinks that it would improve sales. Sara, on the hand, nods in agreement but quickly brushes off the idea making Josh feel insignificant. The Generation Y employee has great ideas, but forgets to make further plans like the fiscal capacity needed for implementation. Josh seems to possess a pool of new ideas but in his haste, overlooks planning and protocols, a characteristic associated with the Generation Y. Generation Y employees are creative and forward thinking as depicted in the case of Josh (Erickson, 2008). Generation Y employees are impartial towards protocol and traditional power structures that exist within an organisation. This leads to distrust between employees (Erickson, 2008). Josh meets the company’s C.E.O., Sam, and immediately talks about his marketing ideas and how they would increase sales. Sam tells Josh to give a presentation in a meeting scheduled on the following day. Josh is not even aware of the meeting for he is not scheduled to attend. He is not prepared either. Generation Y employees seem to disregard protocol as Josh did, thus conflicting with the other employees. They are in always in a hurry to get push their ideas and see most of them implemented, therefore, going to the extent of bypassing relevant authority. After finding out that Josh contacted Smithson, Sara gets angry because Josh did not follow the right channels (Erickson, 2009). Generation Y employees await daily feedback about their performance and continuous recognition for their contribution. They feel that they have valuable knowledge and should take credit for it (Erickson, 2008). After getting recognised, Generation Y employees want rewards, which are in this case, promotions and flexible calendars. The flexible calendar ensures that they have some free time off the job to enjoy life (Munro, 2009:7). Josh wanted his ideas taken seriously and implemented so that he could be rewarded. Josh can be seen yearning for some free time to enjoy Los Angeles nightlife. He thinks that he can get a senior position by

Thursday, July 25, 2019

An industry analysis of HMV company in the UK Essay

An industry analysis of HMV company in the UK - Essay Example Consumers have various products to choose from, either purchasing in blu-ray disc formats or on-line music downloads in MP3. Challenges of piracy and illegal downloading in the market have been playing a great role in the physical sale of music. Plans for dealing with piracy and illegal downloads would be to increase growth of live entertainment and ticketing, as stated on the HMV group website. As stated on Complete Music Update (2012) home page, HMV competitively shared the market for music entertainment with Amazon, with HMV having 19.9% and Amazon, 19.2%, though HMV’s percentage growth of its market share has faced considerable challenges from play.com, iTunes and supermarkets. Like any other company going through the various stages of growth which are market introduction, growth, maturity and saturation and decline, HMV has gone through different growth stages since its opening in 1921, which marked its market introduction stage. The company progressively grew, expanding its markets and consequently increasing sales, human resources and advertising, competition being minimal at the time (Reynolds et al., 2004). In the 1960s, HMV experienced tremendous growth. It expanded and doubled in size so that by 1976, HMV was the leading retailer in the UK, specializing in music and other entertainment products. Despite the completion which was slowly arising in the market at the time from the likes of Virgin Megastores and Our Price, HMV was more popular and somewhat unbeatable compared to its competitors. HMV purchased Waterstone’s book store chains in 1998 and joined it with Dillons. HMV saw its floatation in the London Stock Exchange in 2002, which was a significant indication of its maturity. However, it started trading poorly from 2003. Other competitors in the market arose, more so online music stores which competed with HMV for the same market share and saw its decline in the market share. This eventually led to low sales, low profits and closur e of some HMV outlets. HMV still bought some book store chains and music retailers, for example, Ottakar’s and Zawi. HMV’s performance in the market deteriorated progressively, some of its shares were up for sale so as to purchase other outlets, but its sales kept going down up to the selling of most of its outlets in London, including Waterstone’s chains. This marked HMV’s decline stage due to high costs of running, low sales and minimal profit margins. See the appended map of HMV Product Life Cycle. The main competitors of HMV, who offer a similar line of products, are Amazon.com, iTunes, supermarkets and Play.com, which have online music stores besides other online retail products. Amazon has a wide range of music and digital products and has been a stiff competitor of HMV, competing for the same market share but more so doing it online. iTunes by Apple Inc. also provides products along the same lines. HMV’s move to digitizing their music and vi deo clips has helped to catch up with the market trends and technology as its competitors in the market. Play.com deals in online retail of similar products as HMV and Amazon.com. With the tremendous innovation in technology and online trading, HMV’s competitors’ venture into online trading put them ahead of HMV which is embracing online trading. Supermarkets also offer competitive products though HMV provides a considerable wider product range than supermarkets, which would often

A movement in American history Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A movement in American history - Term Paper Example Therefore, drawing on a variety of sources the paper will discuss the Anti-Vietnam War movement of the l960s. On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy became the 35th head of state of the United States of America. During that time, there were continuous revolutionary attempts to topple the American backed South Vietnamese government by the communist National Liberation Front (NLF). By December 31, 1960, there were already more 900 military personnel in Vietnam (Bowman 20). President Kennedy’s administration provided more help to South Vietnam, including American military advisers and soldiers. During that same year, the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was formed and it became a crucial force during the Anti-Vietnam War campaign in the 1960s. By 1962, the combat troops had doubled. American involvement increased further when the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave President Kennedy more power to increase military presence in Vietnam. In 1965, regular combat soldiers were deployed. Proponents of the Vietnam War argued that by turning the Vietnamese nation into a communist state it would imply that the anti-communists would be losing the Cold War. In other words, the involvement of America in the war was a way of preventing the communist takeover of South Vietnam. While South Vietnam was supported by the U.S and other anti-communist allies, North Vietnam was supported by China and the Soviet Union, as well as other communist allies. The NFL, a communist front in the South, fought in favor of the North Vietnam. Supporters of the war asserted that communism was a threat to free governments and America was protecting its national interests (Bowman 34-37). The protests against the Vietnamese War were very few at the beginning. However, as the Vietnamese War continued to gain intensity; public disenchantment also escalated. The Americans were growing tired of the increasing war casualties together with

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Service Operations Management - Assignment Essay

Service Operations Management - Assignment - Essay Example Therefore, my initial expectations are in relation to the speed of orders as well as the quality of service that correlates to the technology capability of the company. My visit to a McDonalds presented a familiarity of most fast food chains, such as, the vibrant colors and unique furniture design that is welcoming and intriguing (McDonalds.com, 2011). As usual, the crowd of people presented a somewhat noisy environment but still manageable that you could talk to the person you came in the fast food restaurant. At prior research study, the senior management team at McDonalds Corporation conducted focus groups on learning what customers prefer to receiving excellent service that is indicated by two main elements: clean environment and reduce noise output of the site. Therefore, the identification of prior expectations are timing of moving the lines through and a clean environment that allowed a feeling of being comfortable and relaxability. The proposed approach provides the sense of willingness to wanting to purchase a meal and stay at the restaurant to eat the meal. During the visit the noise radar was somewhat high but understandable due to the amount of crowds of people in line to present their orders. The noise was not unexpected; rather, the knowing was already there in the beginning to expect some disturbance. However, the expectation was for the effectiveness of managing the noise level to having a sense of control and manageability. The definition of service relates to the inputs of elements: Ranging from the experience + outcome = service (rending a customer’s perspective). The customer lines at the fast-food restaurant were long and at times not so coordinated with children abound but just moving at a pace - that gave the customer a chance to making a wise choice of selection. Therefore, the expectations were of a more defined method of a concern of the noise level for any increase of customers or decrease that will render a satisfactory experi ence to increasing brand identity (Haritz-Menne, 2004). Mainly, the initial expectations were in the management effective staff of employees to learn how to manage the incoming traffic during busy hours. This focus on training of employees to knowing how to operate the high-tech order taking terminal machine presents a mandatory element of mastery, in which, the issue of long lines can be decrease. The goal is to ensure a faster processing of customer’s orders. Further, the review of expecting customers to understanding the many different menu items presents both an opportunity for a business - that is on perfecting customer service or presenting failure in servicing the customer. The method chosen by McDonalds proved my initial expectations that at least a certain point of experience of a staff employee will present the many choices of payment methods to moving the crowd along (McDonalds.com, 2011). However, the delimina is in the failure to understanding of the so many choi ces of payment methods the creates a lock-up of the terminal computer at times - that it creates a rush feeling of figuring out what overrides are needed to clear out transactions. The once good feeling of arriving at the fast food restaurant can be washed away that fast when the comfortable state is removed with anxiety. For instance, the customer

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Criminal Scenarios Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Criminal Scenarios - Essay Example Mens rea refers to the intention of the person behind committing the crime. A person can only be held to be liable for committing a crime if there is an explicitly stated or inferred criminal intent to commit the crime. Mens rea is an essential element of homicide and has to be present for liability to be determined. In the present case, Clark’s intention was to hunt deer and he mistook Andrew and Blake for a pair of deer due to his lack of experience as a hunter. This is despite the fact that Andrew and Blake had taken all reasonable precautions to avoid being mistaken for animals by wearing orange jackets. However, his action, or actus reus, led to the death of both brothers. Apart from that, there were no preliminary inchoate crimes that can lead one to believe that Clark intended to shoot and kill Andrew and Blake. There is no scope for Clark to claim a justification defence that could prove that while he committed the crime of homicide it was justified under the circumstances. Clark can be held liable under the felony murder rule. According to this rule, a death that is caused unintentionally during the course of committing a felony is a first-degree murder. If the felony murder rule is applied to the situation of Clark, it needs to be determined whether Clark was committing a felony at the time when he shot Andrew and Blake.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Germany experienced a period of political Essay Example for Free

Germany experienced a period of political Essay Political calm, spd can’t compromise, Hindenburg causing problems, lack of cooperation between parties causing polarisation but no outright revolutions that happened during 1919-24, growing foreign relations lorcano/treaty of berlin Economic development, result of lorcano meant breathing space from reparations also dawes and young plan and rentenmark – dawes plan borrowed US money lead to increase in capital. Later though fulfilment still causing problems and unemployment pay is causing issues, increase in taxes Social progress, conservative right unhappy and manifests in literature and cinema expressing glory in WW1 contrasts with neue sachlichkiet modern Weimar culture, Bauhaus linking art and functionality. Highlighting social issues within Weimar Overall relative calm but lack of progress, economic development but in short term and social progress but not helping Weimar. The years 1924 to 1929 are often described as the ‘Golden years’ but it is debatable to what extent Germany actually experienced political calm, economic development and social progress during this time. Certainly there was not the turbulence of post-war Germany and the consequences of the crippling Versaille Treaty were not as harsh in this period but this does not mean it was a time of development and progress. It can be suggested that it was not a period ‘of political calm’, there was certainly a lot of tension between the various political parties that made up the many coalition governments in this period, the failure of so many governments alone suggests that there were serious political issues. The narrowing of the interests of each party meant that it was becoming increasingly difficult for effective coalition governments to be formed. The SPD were especially difficult in this time as they were against compromising with the ‘bourgeois parties’ as they felt a change in ideals would occur and proposed policies like the Heidelberg Programme which would see private ownership of industry be taken over by social owners. Obviously many parties from the left felt this but the SPD had the largest amount of seats in the Reichstag, over 150 at their peak in the 20’s, and therefore had the ability to put the government into a stalemate. The SPD’s inability to compromise makes the political stage even worse when Hindenburg is elected as president  in 1925. Hindenburg, being a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war and the general who won the battle of Tannenburg was already conservative and took as many steps as he could to reduce the power the SPD had. Hindenburg also believed the powers of the president should be unrestrained and even blocked a draft that would limit his ability to use Article 48. This incoduscive atmosphere meant that by the time the SPD were willing to cooperate with a coalition government, individual interests and polarisation of parties had developed and no one else was interested. Therefore this cannot be classed as a period of political calm due to the stagnant politica l system. However, it could be suggested that this tension is to be expected as people are still feeling the effects of the First World War and political calm could be defined by the lack of extreme political parties attempting to take over. When this era is compared to the years 1919 to 1924 it is by far a time of political calm as there were no outright attempts at revolution. The years before saw extreme right and left wing idealists try to take over and the fact that this was not attempted during the ‘golden years’ meant it was a time of relative political calm. This is not to mention the successes in Stresemann’s foreign policy, which put Germany back on track to becoming a serious European power once again. The admittance of Germany into the league of nations and the signing of various treaties, such as the Lorcano treaty, meant Germany were in a period of political calm; not experiencing the diplomatic humiliation of the years before. The various treaties signed by Stresemann also helped the economic development in this period. The Dawes gained significant investments from the US and the Young Plan reduced the reparations Germany would have to pay, and set a timescale for how long they would have to pay. This gave the country some ‘breathing space’ to repair and develop its own economy. The young plan, for example, reduced the amount they would have to pay by 1700 million marks than they would in conjunction with the Dawes plan. These plans, alongside the introduction of the rentenmark meant there was an increase in German capital in this period, which can certainly be classed as a period of economic development. Whilst there is definitely evidence of economic development in the mid-1920’s it did also experience financial issues. The increase in unemployment, 15% of the workforce were unemployed by 1929, put a heavy strain on the welfare system of Weimar Germany. The institution for paying unemployment benefits had to borrow money from the Government, 342 million reichsmarks, and the parties could not agree how to find this money. The SPD would increase taxes while the DVP would cut benefits. This can be seen as a backwards move in economic development, as the system did not address the problem of unemployment, but just found more money to pay it, with the decision of how to pay for the unemployment benefits was delayed until 1930. This can be seen as the government almost shooting themselves in the foot and making a short term fix for a long term problem. This short-sightedness can also be argued to be found in Stresemann’s policies, for borrowing money from the US. An international financial crisis would leave over-dependant-on-America Germany in a high amount of debt, which is what happened when the Wall Street Crash occurred. Therefore it can be said that these years were a period of economic development, but that there would be little long term effect on the country from these developments. Social progress is probably the only contention that can be absolutely agreed with, with very influential movements like the Bauhaus dominating this period of time, summed up as Neue Schlachkliet. This movement, saw a progression in modern views and an attempt to undermine the Weimar government by exposing the issues faced through literature, theatre and film. The need for educational and social reform was well documented and although this did not bode well for the Weimar government it definitely showed progress in attitudes of the general public. The conservative nature of many Germans could still be found and also classed as a social progress in the form of anti-democratic writings and films that promoted the glory of the First World war. The two social ideas both grew in this period, but neither celebrated the Weimar Government so whilst it was undoubtedly social progress it was not productive for the Weimar republic. There is definitely a case for political calm, economic development and social progress in the mid-1920’s but they were not necessarily the advances  that would warrant the term ‘golden years’. The political calm was only due to a lack of serious opposition to the government but still they could not successfully form an effective coalition government and whilst the economy did improve in this time the provisions made were short-sighted and the country was over-reliant on foreign investments. Whilst social progress was made in this era it is easy to see that the progress wasnot in the name of democracy and presented the Weimar government with future problems as popular ideology differed from what they promoted.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Capitalism, Modernism and Postmodernism

Capitalism, Modernism and Postmodernism Eagelton’s essay, Capitalism, Modernism and Postmodernism, was first published in the New Left Review in 1983 in which his post Marxist analysis of literature is exposed. He accounts for capitalism influence on art and its role. The capitalist and late capitalist areas have seen two new forms of literature appear: modern and postmodern. The modern, Eagleton explains, â€Å"In bracketing off the real social world, establish[es] a critical, negating distance between itself and the ruling social order†[1], while postmodern works accepts the fact that it is a commodity and thus conflicts between its material reality and its aesthetic structure. Capitalism has turned art into a commodity, and after analysing this claim, the characteristics of modern and postmodern genres will be analysed, so as to understand literature’s role. Eagleton explains how â€Å"High modernity [†¦] was born at a stroke with mass commodity culture.†[2] Capitalism, as defined by Marx is the bourgeois doctrine by which they are in possession of the modes of production and manufacture goods, sold for a profit. According to most Marxist thinkers, including Eagleton, art became one of the goods that the bourgeoisie wants to monopolise, produce and sell. Art has become a commodity, dissolved into social life. Eagleton denounces the effects of late capitalism on art: â€Å"if the artefact is a commodity, the commodity can always be an artefact. Art and life indeed interbreed†[3]. Eagleton points out that that the â€Å"performative principle†, which he redefines as the deliverance of goods, also applies to the capitalist conception of art. The use of â€Å"best seller† as criteria of advertisement for literature proves that literature has become a mass commodity good. Art and literature have been influenced by some characteristics of late capitalism, such as virtual reality based on mass consumerism. Our society focuses on commodities sold to and ideologically integrated by the consumer: â€Å"The commodity is less an image in the sense of a â€Å"reflection† than an image of itself, its entire material being devoted to its own self-presentation†[4]. Art has become centred on its own image, role and place within society, because it has somehow lost its utopian role of mirroring the world, as if capitalism has perverted its function: â€Å"If the unreality of the artistic image mirrors the unreality of its society as a whole, then it is to say that it mirrors nothing real and so does not really mirror at all.†[5] Modernism and postmodernism are genres that emerged in the capitalist and late capitalist stages. They seem to have a common point: to focus on their role and concentrate on self identity. Eagleton uses de Man’s deconstructivist theory to define modernism: â€Å"Literature defines and pre-empts its own cultural institutionalisation by textually introjecting it, hugging the very chains which bind it, discovering its own negative form of transcendence in its power of literally naming, and thus partially distancing, its own failure to engage in the real.†[6] Modernism attempts at representing the real, but cannot do so and raises a paradox: it â€Å"resists commodification†[7] but is nonetheless part of it, thus part of the social and cultural superstructure of society, which it denies. Denying being part of the capitalist mass commodity is the very core of modern failure to represent the real. Postmodernism appears as a more cynical genre. Some of its features are the blurring of boundaries, pastiche and grotesque. It does not attempt to represent the world, since it is virtual, and would thus fail to describe it. Postmodernism seems to be very different from modernism on the ground that: â€Å"If the work of art really is a commodity, it might as well admit it†[8] and â€Å"become aesthetically what it is economically†[9]. Eagleton also suggests that postmodersism aims at parodying the commodity production, without adding any meaning in it; if meaning was added in the pastiche, making it parody, it would serve to alienate the self from reality, and according to postmodern thought, there is no reality it can be alienated from. All these features aim at empting the social content of art. Eagleton assessed the features of literature genres characteristic of capitalist stages, in order to draw a critical and theoretical approach of literature. He seems to focus on its ideological role, which is, more than its representational value, its only role left. Modernism deconstructs the â€Å"unified subject of bourgeois humanism, draws upon key negative aspects of the actual experience of such subject in late bourgeois society, which often enough does not at all correspond to the official ideological version.†[10] Indeed, literature acts as an ideology denouncing ideology. Capitalist ideology professes that mass consumption finally fulfils libidinal desires, when in fact, as modernism exposes, takes us away from our self and reality, from the â€Å"unified subject†Ã¢â‚¬â€a harmonious society—that late bourgeoisie claims to have reached. Postmodernism, despite not embracing the reality of society, draws upon ideological inconsistencies of the bourgeois di scourse, thus rendering itself ideological. It shows the incapacity of complying with the capitalist ideology: â€Å"the subject of late capitalism is neither simply the self-regulating synthetic agent posited by classical humanist ideology, nor merely a decentred network of desire, but a contrary amalgam of the two.†[11] The impossibility for the self to comply with all its obligations—familial, consumering, working—in the late capitalist society is denounced by postmodernism. It seems that Eagleton places literature at the centre of ideology, as a resistance to bourgeois ideology. De man explains that â€Å"the bases for historical knowledge are not empirical facts but written texts, even if these texts masquerade in the guise of wars and revolution†[12]; literature is at the heart of our knowledge, ideologically built, and seems to remain so, decades after the end of ideology was proclaimed. BIBLIOGRAPHY Modern Criticism and Theory, a Reader. Ed. D. Lodge. Eagleton, â€Å"Capitalism, Modernism and Postmodernism†. Longman: London and New York, 1988. 1 Footnotes [1]Modern Criticism and Theory, a Reader. Ed. D. Lodge. Eagleton, â€Å"Capitalsim, Modernism and Postmodernism†. Longman: London and New York, 1988. p 392. [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid. p386-387. [4] Ibid. p.387. [5] Ibid. [6] Ibid. p.391. [7] Ibid. p.392. [8] Ibid. [9] Ibid. p.393. [10] Ibid. p.395. [11] Ibid. p.396. [12] Ibid. p.390.

Uptake of Family Planning Services among Students at MSU

Uptake of Family Planning Services among Students at MSU DETERMINANTS OF BEHAVIOUR STUDY INTO FACTORS RELATED TO UPTAKE OF FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS AT MSU CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Family planning is the action taken by individuals to prevent or delay pregnancy and is achieved through the use of contraceptive methods. Family planning services include confidential advice about methods of contraception, confidential advice about STIs, pregnancy tests, diaphragms, IUDs, insertion or removal of the contraceptive implants, condom distribution and education both to females and males. Some services have dual advantages (assist in child spacing and also in protection against STIs), example is condom. Background The world’s total fertility rate has dropped dramatically, from 5 children per woman in the early 1950s to 2.1 children per woman today, largely owing to more widespread use of modern contraceptives, especially in the developing world. (Creanga et al. 2011), this shows a tremendous success of the program over the years. Having seen that there is now high sexual activities in colleges, family planning was introduced in colleges with the aim of reducing unwanted pregnancies, and STIs occurrences. Also from a global perspective, use of modern contraception has risen slightly, from 54% in 1990 to 57% in 2012. From a regional perspective, the proportion of women aged 15–49 reporting use of a modern contraceptive method has risen minimally or plateaued between 2008 and 2012. In Africa it went from 23% to 24%, in Asia it has remained at 62%, and in Latin America and the Caribbean it rose slightly from 64% to 67%.(WHO) this showing appreciation of use of modern contraceptives. Family planning has been seen to assist in pregnancy-related health risks in women, reducing rates of unintended pregnancies, family planning also reduces the need for unsafe abortion, helping to prevent HIV/AIDS, empowering people and enhancing education, reducing adolescent pregnancies, slowing population growth (â€Å"WHO | Family planning,† n.d.). However under family planning there is modern family planning and natural family planning, both involves methods for achieving and avoiding pregnancy. NFP involves methods that are based on observation of the naturally occurring symptoms and signs of the unfertile and fertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle whilst modern FP does not involve observation of the fertile and infertile phases of the woman cycle but involves the use of drugs, devices and surgical procedures in an attempt to reduce pregnancy. Modern contraceptives involve methods like the pill, injectable, implants, IUDs, male and female sterilizations, condo ms, the diaphragm, spermicides whilst natural family planning methods involves methods like withdrawal( coitus interuptus) where a man withdraws his penis from his partners vagina, and ejaculates outside the vagina, (WHO) periodic abstinence, the billings method. NFP has been seen to have other advantages compared to modern FP in the sense that NFP does not have any side effects, it is inexpensive, it fosters mutual communication between the wife and the husband, boyfriend and girlfriend, it is environmentally friendly and it promotes marital chastity but however both they prevent pregnancy. Geographic setting MSU is a university in Zimbabwe found in the midlands province in a central town known as Gweru. Narrowing down to its precise location, it is 10Km south east of Gweru which is the provincial capital for midlands province. MSU was established in the year 2000 with a strategic goal of establishing a fully semesterised university with 10 faculties, 18000 students, 900 teaching and 400 support staff with the requisite service and infrastructure by the year 2015. The vision of the university is to be a unique, development oriented, pace setting and stakeholder driven university that produces innovative and enterprising graduates. MSU is currently found at the former Gweru teachers college (main campus) and off campus at the Batanai complex in Senga Township, Telone training centre and part of the Institute of manpower planning and development. MSU is a fully semesterised and modularized university which enrolls twice every year thus in March and August for four and five year program with third level being of work related learning in industries and other relevant work places. MSU has got an undergraduate school, post graduate school and a visiting school where those visiting students attend classes for a week per month and they complete their studies in 3 years. MSU is honesty, integrity, and hard work driven and has a passion for excellence which is tempered by self-discipline and care for others, it is also driven by sensitivity to gender equality and equity, needs of the disadvantaged, African culture and devotion to self-sufficiency and professionalism. adapted from university website: www.msu.ac.zw PROBLEM STATEMENT Despite the high numbers of condoms being distributed monthly at MSU, high numbers of STIs are still being reported at the school clinic. In 2011 a total of 286 were treated for STIs at the school, in 2012 a total of 790 students reported with an STI at the school clinic. In 2013 a total of 616 students reported with an STI at the school clinic. There is also presumed occurrences of unwanted pregnancies around the school. Table 1: statistics for the uptake of family planning services at the school in the year 2013 Table 2: statistics for the uptake of family planning services at the school in the year 2012 Table 3 2013 STIs statistics at the school from Jan Dec Table 4 2012 STIs statistics at the school from Jan Dec It will therefore be necessary to explore the factors that influence uptake of contraception or family planning services by students at MSU SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The findings of the study will help in identifying gaps/loopholes in service delivery and service uptake by students therefore contributing to the addressing of these loopholes. The findings of this study will help or is important in the following: Coming up with interventions to assist in the Prevention of teenage pregnancy Prevention of transmission of sexually transmitted infections Reveal the factors associated with the uptake of family planning services by MSU students Reveal the challenges faced by students trying to access family planning services Help come up with strategies/recommendations to curb or address the challenges CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Many studies have been done with the aim of finding the factors as to why people adopt to family planning services. Several studies have achieved this goal of identifying the factors that contributes to the uptake of family planning services, be it socio economic, cultural, behavioral, religious. Studies relating to behavioral factors affecting uptake of family planning services Below is a detailed review of the studies which highlighted factors which determine/influence uptake of family planning be it negatively or positively. In a study by Kibret, 2003 it was indicated that students had high knowledge of contraceptives and where to get them but level of usage of contraceptive was low. Reasons were lack of access to services, carelessness, unplanned sexual intercourse and pressure from sexual partner of which these factors reduce the uptake of FP and not only that a study by (Anochie and Ikpeme, 2003) indicated that students in the developing world exhibit little knowledge and little exposure to contraceptives implying that if students in the developing world have little exposure to contraceptives they might have the knowledge about the contraceptives but not comprehensively because if exposed to the contraceptives they might not be able to know how they are used, thus supporting the study by Kibret, 2003 but the study didn’t comment comprehensively as to why these students in the developing world exhibit little knowledge to contraceptive use. Another study by (Orji et al., 2005) highlighted the most commonly used contraceptives by undergraduates students and indicated that condoms were the most commonly used contraceptive. However the study did not give a complete description of why it is the commonly used compared to other contraceptives. (Lebese et al., 2013) then looked at a study on the factors influencing the uptake of contraception services by Vatsonga adolescents in rural communities of Vhembe district in Limpopo province, South Africa. The findings revealed that adolescents were aware of the availability of contraception services although they lacked comprehensive knowledge about contraception and contraceptives which lead to negative attitudes towards using the services, also cultural health beliefs and attitudes were also identified as barriers to the uptake and use of contraceptives. This study also supports the study by Kibret, 2003 and (Anochie and Ikpeme, 2003) that knowledge is there but there is no comprehensive knowledge and understanding of contraception. (Dangat and Njau, 2013) conducted a study on knowledge, attitude and practice on family planning services among adolescents in secondary schools and provided ample evidence for the reason against use of FP services amongst this group. Out of the 316 respondents interviewed, 171 (54,8%) mentioned the issue of FP causing infertility, some thus 101 (32,2%) said it reduces sexual pleasure, 91 (29%) said it’s a behavior that promotes promiscuity, 88 (28,3) mentioned the issue of causing diseases to the reproductive organs, 82 (26,8%) mentioned the issue of that the behavior shows a trend of multiple sexual partnership, 67 (21,5%) mentioned the issue of causing severe bleeding, some from the study thus 46 (14,6%) said it causes death, 151 (48,1%) from the study group said FP causes damage to the uterus. Generally this study tried to capture students view on the factors that reduces uptake of family planning in schools. The same study showed that a greater population of the school was being encouraged to take family planning services by their parents 187 (59,2%) and a smaller proportion was being encouraged by their religious leaders, further study should be done so as to try and explore the reason as to why religious leaders has a smaller proportion than parents. According to a study by (Kiragu and Zabin, 1995) of contraceptive use among high school students showed that certain beliefs reduce the uptake of FP services by students. The findings pointed misconceptions such as some amongst the students believe that a girl cannot be pregnant if the girl washes her genitals after sex thus 2,7% males ,1.4% females gave an incorrect response whilst 16,3% males, 26,3% females gave a I don’t know response to the question and also that a girl does not get pregnant if the girl jumps up and down after having sex 5,6% males , 2,6% females gave an incorrect response to the question whilst 28,1% males, 36,4% females gave a I don’t know response to the question, some students didn’t even know that using a condom could prevent STIs thus 11,2% males, 21,1% females gave an incorrect response whilst 16,8% males , 35,6% females gave an I don’t know response to the question. Another question was that a girl cannot get pregnant if she ha s sex standing up 8,8% males , 5,0% females gave an incorrect response to the question whilst 26,1% males , 39,2% females gave an I don’t know response to the question. Another issue was on the question that a girl can get pregnant even if she has sex only once 18,7% males, 11,2% females gave incorrect responses whilst 11,3% males , 14,5% females gave an I don’t know response to the question. This shows a trend of knowledge gaps at the school as far as FP and sexual reproductive health issues are concerned and this shows that knowledge is an important factor in the uptake of family planning services as knowledge can affect the uptake positively or negatively. Another study by (Getrude Namazzi, 2013) highlighted important factors on the theoretical framework that the researcher categorized as health related factors and client related factors which my study might borrow from the researchers study as they impose an effect to the uptake of family planning needless of the fact that the researcher applied them to women attending child health clinic when the researcher was conducting a study on missed opportunities for modern family planning services among women attending child health clinics. On client related factors was age, lack of knowledge on FP, fear of side effects on modern contraceptives. On health related factors was long waiting time, long distance to health facilities, limited funds for service delivery, stock outs of contraceptives and also inadequate motivation of health care workers. In a study conducted by(Seeri and Maheshwaran, n.d.) on the knowledge, attitude of rural college students regarding contraception, the study gave evidence that the students had positive attitude towards FP as among the 426 college students that participated, 50% of the students felt that family planning improves the following such as, 62,5% said it improves health of people, 54% said it improves quality of life, 51% said it solves social problems whilst 32% said it prevents occurances of unwanted pregnancy. Having a positive attitude towards FP can motivate college students to take up FP services thus boosting uptake in schools. However in the study there was under utilization of FP as the study noted that knowledge regarding various contraceptive methods was poor. This was also evidenced by looking, comparing the % awareness of each method with the % awareness of other studies. For instance in the study by(Renjhen et al., 2010), the % condom awareness was 85%, OCP was 40%, as compar ed with 70,9% condom awareness and 30,8% OCP awareness for this study. The study really gave ample evidence that contraceptive and sex education is needed to increase the uptake of FP among college students. Another study by (Relwani et al., 2012) on exploring the emergency contraceptives knowledge, attitude and practices of engineering college girls found out that knowledge of EC was low among the students therefore contributing to underutilization of the method. In the study a strong association between source of information and level of knowledge was noted. The study further support the study by(Seeri and Maheshwaran, n.d.) that to promote use there is need for education and it further explains the strategies for promoting use which the study recommended spreading of accurate information through medical sources which are reliable. The study by (Seeri and Maheshwaran, n.d.) and (Relwani et al., 2012) share something which is, the college students from both studies had positive attitudes but their knowledge was poor and mis informations were high. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The model that will be used to conduct or carryout the study is the PRECEDE PROCEED model but focusing on phase 4 which is the educational and organizational diagnosis. It has got three categories which the study will look at which are predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors. Predisposing factors are those antecedents to behavior that provides rationale for the behavior (uptake of family planning services) Enabling factors are the antecedents to behavior that enables motivation to be realized Reinforcing factors are factors subsequent to a behavior that provides the continuing reward or incentive for the behavior and contribute to its persistence or repetition. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS Uptake of family planning – in this study uptake of family planning means the use of family planning services for instance contraceptives by students at midlands state university in midlands province Student at MSU – in this study it is any person male or female who is taking lectures or learning at Midlands State University. Contraception – in this study means any method of birth control which prevents conception such as condoms, diaphragms On campus/ off campus – in this study on campus means at the campus, off campus means outside campus. Year 1.2, 2.1 and 2.2 – in this study 1.2 means students at MSU who are in their first year but in their second semester, 2.1 means those students in their second year but in their first semester, 2.2 then means students in their second year and second semester. Predisposing factors any characteristic of a person or a population that motivates behaviour prior to the occurrence of that behaviour, for example knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs, perceived needs and abilities (Green et al., 2005). Reinforcing factors – these are rewards and punishments following or anticipated as a result of behaviour. They serve to strengthen the motivation for behaviour. These include family, peers, Health Care Workers, the media and others (Green et al., 2005). Enabling factors characteristics of the environment that facilitate action and any skill or resource required to attain a specific behaviour. These include accessibility and availability of programmes, resources and services, skills, money and time, facilities (Green et al., 2005). PURPOSE OF THE STUDY To find out the factors associated to the uptake of family planning services among MSU students RESEARCH QUESTION What are the factors that are associated or factors that influence the uptake of family planning services among MSU? RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objectives of the study will be to: Broad Objective Identify the behavioral factors that influence the uptake of family planning services by students of MSU Specific Objectives Determine the predisposing factors related to uptake of family planning services by college students Determine the reinforcing factors associated to uptake of family planning services by college students Determine the enabling factors influencing the uptake of family planning services by college students

Saturday, July 20, 2019

the freedoms in liberalism :: essays research papers

Name and Contrast the Freedoms in Liberalism Liberal ideas arose from the breakdown of the feudal system that was commonplace in Europe, which saw the growth of the capitalist society currently in place. Liberalism was the aspiration of the rising middle classes, which had conflicting interests with the power of absolute monarchs and landed aristocracy. With this capitalist society, a serf now had the ‘freedom’ to think for themselves; to decide who to work for or where to live, what to buy and so forth. This type of freedom or liberty was a view of early or classical liberalism, where liberty was a natural right, an essential requirement for leading a truly human existence. Later liberals viewed liberty or freedom as a vehicle to only develop their skills and talents and fulfil their potential. Liberals do not accept individuals have an overall entitlement to freedom, where this freedom can be used to abuse others. John Stuart Mills introduces ‘self-regarding’ and ‘other-regarding’ freedoms where ‘self-regarding’ actions allow individuals to ‘do anything they want’. An ‘Other-regarding’ action restricts or damages the freedoms of others. The law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets can be seen as both ‘self-regarding’ and ‘other-regarding’ whereby the motorcyclists wants to exhibit there freedom by not wearing their helmet (self-regarding) but is restricted by the law of compulsory helmets (other-regarding). An individual may be sovereign over their body and mind, however they must respect the fact everyone enjoys an equal right to liberty. Isaiah Berlin showed a distinction between a ‘negative’ and a ‘positive’ theory of liberty. The classical or early liberals viewed freedom in the context of being left alone, being able to act however they pleased.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Catcher in the Rye :: essays research papers

The Struggling Boy The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is an enthralling and captivating novel about a boy and his struggle with life. The teenage boy ,Holden, is in turmoil with school, loneliness, and finding his place in the world. The author J.D. Salinger examines the many sides of behavior and moral dilemma of many characters throughout the novel. The author develops three distinct character types for Holden the confused and struggling teenage boy, Ackley, a peculiar boy without many friends, and Phoebe, a funny and kindhearted young girl. In the novel one distinctive type is the loner; the character type which Holden Caufield portrayed. Holden's loneliness and confusion puts him in a depression that he can't escape. Holden thinks to himself "It made you depressed, and every once in a while you got goose flesh. It didn't seem at all like Christmas was coming soon. It didn't seem like anything was coming."(pg.118) Another trait that was portrayed throughout the novel was peculiarity. The teenage boy Ackley who lives across the hall from Holden is very strange and has few friends. Ackley was very dirty, never brushed his teeth, and almost always stayed alone in his room. Holden says " His teeth were always mossy- looking, and he was dirty as hell, but he always had clean fingernails."(pg.22) Innocence and kindheartedness is displayed in the novel through Holden's young sister, Phoebe. Whenever Holden is depressed about being alone he thinks of memories with his younger sister Phoebe and feels completely better. Phoebe is always there for her brother to listen to his stories and complaints.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Allocation of Seats in a Theatre :: Papers

The aim of my project is to make the task of the allocation of seats in a theatre in a much more efficient manner than writing down on a piece of paper, which will allow calculations to be taken to show the overall costs against profit for the whole show. This will also allow the spreadsheet to also take into account the fixed costs of show, the projected profits from program sales, confectionery sales and other miscellaneous costs and profits from the show and quickly and efficiently calculate them. Background A ------------ Mr Brown, owner of Brown Theatres puts shows on fairly frequently, so he requires a simple solution, that is quick and easy to adapt to and simple to understand. The problems faced by him is that the current solution is to write down all the information by hand and use a calculator to work out costs, expenses and profit. He wants the solution to be able to do all this in and instant, and in a simple, understandable format. Mr Brown also believes that this new system will allow his company to expand, and become more profitable, he believes that this new, efficient way of calculating will allow him to accurately calculate everything he needs in a matter of seconds. Alternative strategies for solving the problem A/B -------------------------------------------------- Non-ICT solution The non-ICT solution would be similar to one Mr Brown uses at the moment, that being pen and paper. He could create a notebook in which there is a graph where the person fills in the appropriate box relevant to where the person is sitting and whether he/she is an adult or child. After this has been done, this must all be calculated to the price paid by the person, multiplied by the number of other people of the same type and seating position, then added to all the other seating arrangements and classes of people, and then subtracted from the cost of the show. This would probably only be useful to a small

Internet Library Research Essay

The library is one of the best places wherein students can gather information for their assignments and researches. Libraries contain thousands of books that vary in subjects such as mathematics, sciences, arts, languages, and literature. In addition, it also provides students with other types of resources including periodicals, maps, CD-ROMs, and even the Internet. To say, therefore, that libraries are important in a student’s life is an understatement. As such, schools should make sure that students have constant access to the libraries even while at home. The North Central University is one of the many schools in the country that offers online access to its library. Students are able to search for resources that they need to complete their works even while not at the campus. They can talk to a librarian if they wish to. They can refer to guides if they encounter difficulty in using the online library or if they are confused in the writing process and cannot finish their research. The best feature of the university’s website is the abundance of resources it can provide for its students because of the numerous databases that it can access. The login page of the university is simple in that it does not require the students to search the page just to be able to log in properly. The login page also has options for first time users who have no account yet, for students who have forgotten their passphrase, and for those who need to reset their passphrases. An option to remember the user is also available on the page. The login button will take the student to the main page of the university’s website, which is the Learner Portal. Here, the student will be able to view his or her messages, announcements, and important events through the calendar. The portal has links to several other features, which include the library, writing center, and university documents. Clicking on the link for the library will direct the student to the main page of the North Central University online library. There are several options available for students in this area. One can ask a librarian about the availability of certain books. Students can search multiple databases for scholarly references. There are also guides in which students can refer themselves to if they have a hard time writing their researches. To perform a search that will yield scholarly references, students must click the NCU databases link and select their choice of database from here. The databases include EBSCOhost, LexisNexis Academic, ProQuest, and Sage. The database chosen for this activity was ProQuest, and the topic that searched was â€Å"ethical leadership in the 21st century. † Before performing the search however, there was an instruction to select the option â€Å"Database selected† so that the students will have the opportunity to select only the databases that are relevant to the search. The pre-determined databases include Career and Technical Education, Dissertations and Theses, ProQuest Computing, ProQuest Education Journals, and Research Library. The results of the search yielded seven documents from which only three were relevant. Among these three, only two was able to give full access to the document. The subjects that these documents fell under include counseling, organization behavior, anthropology, business ethics, psychiatry, and information science. Of these, only two were relevant to the topic being searched. The chosen citation reviewed was the one with the latest date of publication entitled â€Å"The Ethical Grounding to 21st Century Public Leadership. † There was a little difficulty experienced while searching for the author link because the document was full-text PDF format, which does not contain any links to the author. This was resolved by clicking the option to view the abstract of the document where the author’s name was hyperlinked to his other works. This particular document had two authors. Clicking the link for the first author (Niel R. Vance) gave five documents and only one was related to the original document because it discussed applied ethics. The second author (Brett V. Trani) did not have any other work aside from this document. Because there were only three relevant documents related to the search terms, another search was performed. This time, the word â€Å"21st† was replaced with â€Å"twenty first. † This yielded five results, two of which were relevant. The ProQuest database is user oriented in that it provides a Help link for people to find ways to enhance their search process. At the beginning of the search, the Help option allows students to learn how to improve their search. Students will learn how to limit their searches or exclude other options to refine their search. This would lead to better results and would take the students less effort when searching for their resources. Another Help link is also available after a search is completed. This will teach students how to read and mark a document, cite the document properly, and filter or sort the results. The database can also suggest topics and publications that are related to the student’s keywords. Overall, ProQuest excels in trying to provide scholarly and useful resources for the students of North Central University. The results were very relevant and close to the terms that were used to search the database. There were many helpful hints throughout the website for students to use so that they can experience the best while searching. These tips were also significant because the students are able to apply them in their papers, which would mean that they would commit fewer errors in their works. There was also an option for students to email a specific article if they want to share what they have found in their search. The references that the document used can also be viewed by the student to see if there are relevant information that can be used for his or her work. The experience provided new insights in performing searches. Although it was relatively easy, students need to know some tricks to yield better results like changing some keywords or using the suggested topics that the database provides. There is no doubt that technology has a big impact on everyone’s lives nowadays. Educational institutions have to keep up with the changing of times to meet the needs of their students even if it means having to set up websites and online libraries, and acquiring huge databases for their students. Online libraries are important because this would provide students reliable sources for their papers. This is in contrast to Internet articles that are freely available on the World Wide Web but are sometimes misleading and are questionable in terms of the content and the authority of the person who wrote it. While not all that can be found on the Internet is unreliable, it is better for students to not take the risk, especially if it is their grades that are on the line. Only trusted information should be used when doing academic research papers unless otherwise indicated by professors and instructors. It is essential to mention that students need to learn how to distinguish reliable sources from those that cannot be trusted. They should learn how to distinguish if a website has the requirements for it to be considered reliable. References Bahaudin G Mujtaba, Carol Griffin, Cuneyt Oskal. (2004). Emerging Ethical Issues in Technology and Countermeasures for Management and Leadership Consideration in the Twenty First Century’s Competitive Environment of Global Interdependence. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 9(3), 34-55. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1178660741). Kanungo, Rabindra N. (1998). Leadership in organizations: looking ahead to the 21st century. Canadian Psychology, 39(1/2), 71. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ProQuest Psychology Journals database. (Document ID: 390882341). M. Fleckenstein, Mary Maury, S. M. Patrick Primeaux, Patricia Werhane. (2006). Ethical Leadership in 21st Century Corporate America. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(2-3), 145-146. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1113480671). Neil R Vance, Brett V Trani. (2008). THE ETHICAL GROUNDING TO 21st CENTURY PUBLIC LEADERSHIP. International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 11(3), 372-380. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1536919851). Rost, Joseph C. (1995). Leadership: A discussion about ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 5(1), 129. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 4596738). Vivienne Collinson. (2008). Leading by learning: new directions in the twenty-first century. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(4), 443-460. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1506286921).