Intro to lit questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Intro to lit questions - Essay Example Each of the answers he suggests have different effects, suggesting that the individual might become these things – hollow and dry like a raisin, deeply bitter and resentful like the sore, constantly hounded by it as by a strong smell, weighted down by it as with a heavy load or incapable of functioning. There are numerous political and societal values found throughout many of Shakespeare’s plays that should be considered as one reads the plays. For example, the concept of women’s role in life during Shakespeare’s time must be considered in order to better understand the character Ophelia in Hamlet. Women in Victorian England were very restricted. Their realm was exclusively in the house and their actions were ruled by the important men in their lives, first their fathers and brothers, then their husbands and finally their sons if/when their husbands passed away. Living in the court as Ophelia did, she also had an equally strong duty to obey the wishes of the royal family. Understanding this role in life, it is easier to understand why she was driven mad by the actions of Hamlet. In attempting to be the ideal woman of Shakespeare’s era, she was given several equally weighty directives (presumably to encourage Hamlet to begin with, then to refute Hamlet, t hen to encourage him again) that required her to act in opposing ways at the same time that her emotions for Hamlet were thrown into a completely separate tailspin as he first seems to like her, then hates her, then likes her again. In Alice Walker’s short story â€Å"Everyday Use†, the main theme is cultural identity, but several other themes are present as well, such as mother/daughter relationships, sibling issues and urban vs. rural values. This makes the story more universal because there are numerous ways by which readers can relate to the story regardless of their personal backgrounds.

Why did the Cold War start Essay Example for Free

Why did the Cold War start Essay The event of Cold War was shocking and controversial event which is still being discussed today. It is necessary to examine the many reasons why it started and how. While the why of what happened is still being argued, the what is fairly clear. The beginning of the Cold War was a basis of deep ideological differences as well as a series of misunderstandings or actions taken during WWII. The two immense powers USA and the USSR were showing some extreme behavior against each other. The conflict of Communism vs. Capitalism soon became grew importance. The beginning of the Cold War is not easy to set up. Although Winston Churchills Iron Curtain Speech in 1946 may seem like the start of the war but it is considered not to be one. Even though being a hero of World War II, Winston Churchill, as the ex-Prime Minister of England, held no official political stand anymore. His speech was a great response to Russias actions of gathering satellite nations to defend itself from Western aggression. The speechs most known quote which summarizes the whole speech was, From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Unfortunately it could only be taken as a ones opinion rather than a nations viewpoint, yet he was the first person to stop pretending to be friends with Russia. The Truman Doctrine of 1947 is believed to be the start of the Cold War. It stated that America would help any non-communist nation to resist communist force. It was simply a promise and was not in any case responsible of dividing Europe into two. Where the Truman Doctrine was the decision, the Marshall Plan was the action which seemed to bring the two nations (USA and Russia) more towards the Cold War than ever. In the summer of 1947 American general named George Marshall decided that America should give out $17 billion for aiding Europe. He reckoned that Europe was so poor that it is in danger of falling into Communism. It was said that it was up to the countries to decide whether to accept the help or not. The USSR hated that plan and was enraged by USAs anti-communist move. Stalin used his power to strike back by forbidding Communist countries to ask for money. The countries led by Britain and France met in Paris, and did ask for economic  aid and were not fallen into the Communist trap. The Marshall Aid seems to be the only time in history in which the needed results were achieved simply by throwing money at it. In 1948, a year after the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, the cold war was starting to face its first serious crisis. It evolved out of disagreements over the treatment of Germany. It was agreed to divide Germany into four zones. Whereas Stalin being convinced that Germany owed them for the damage that was done, was draining its resources away to Russia. It developed a great contrast between the Western zones and the Russian zone. While the hostility had already started way before 1949All three events had qualities that may count to mark the beginning of the Cold War but none of them can be the definite start point. The closest to mark the start of the war may possibly be the Marshall Plan. It was the most obvious attack against Communism ever made after World War II. As a result, the Cold War was founded on mistrust and concrete hostile policies and actions originated by two superpowers not being able to negotiate their way through it peacefully.

Electrical Engineering :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Electrical Engineering My decision to pursue graduate study in the United States is underscored by my desire to be a part of the graduate program at your institution. Purdue University offers the flexibility needed for such a vast and rapidly changing field. The research facilities and the faculty at the university are par excellent. Communications is an industry that has changed our lives. In a very short period it has changed the way we have looked at things since centuries. It is one industry that is going to shape our future for centuries to come. Hence my desire to do masters in electrical engineering with communications as my major. My interest in electronics blossomed during my high school years. It was the time when technology had begun to make an impact on the lives of people in India. Hence engineering with electronics as my major was the first choice for my undergraduate studies. Right since the beginning of my undergraduate study electronics is a subject that has fascinated me with its power of applications. The subjects that I have studied include Linear Electronics, Digital Electronics. These laid the foundation for my courses in Electronic Communication & Communication Systems at a later stage. My undergraduate studies already focus on the communications aspect of electronics. A masters degree in electrical engineering with communications as major field is the next logical step. For the past four months I have been working as a project trainee at the Indian Institute for Advanced Electronics. I am working on the design and development of a "PC Controlled Digital Serial Data Generator". This short stint has given me invaluable practical experience. It has given me the confidence to pursue a masters degree and also kindled a desire to do research. During the course of my work at IIAE, I have come across several scientists. Most of them work in different areas of communications. Interactions with them have made me realize the vastness and the scope of communications. My discussions with them convinced me that specializing in communications will suit me very well. The subject of research which interests me very much is spread spectrum communication systems. Coding theory and combinations is another research subject which arouses my curiosity. The subject Communication Theory which I am studying at present introduces these topics in theory.

Dnp Practice Model

Week 6 The DNP Project Describe a needs or change related to a practice environment, include your rationale for why this situation warrants attention Explain how your participation in a specific professional organization could be beneficial as you attempt to affect positive change in your identified practice environment through your DNP project I believe a significant practice problem is that many nurses do not see the need to advance their education after obtaining an R. N.By continuing to have the triple level entry into practice we do not have the control of the practice development that other professional practices may have. The other professional practices have entry degree requirements that are reflective of the expectation that each requires. It is difficult to persuade a nurse to incur debt and expense to obtain a DNP when they believe as an RN, the benefits do not outweigh the work required. They don’t see how the investment of further education can change the future of nurses.Nurses may not want to give up the opportunity to work at the bedside and do not want the politics of management. The DNP offers the opportunity to maintain the clinical expertise and further education. The AACN recommendations that the entry as a NP by the DNP will assist with this, as many nurses do want to obtain the NP licensure and level of practice. Another attractive measure of the DNP is the ability of the clinical nurse to stay at the bedside of the patient.Many nurses are not attracted to administration or education and have resisted advanced practice unless its clinical in nature. I am particularly interested in nursing education and have experience as a clinical education instructor at the undergraduate level. The national organization that I would join must have a strong educational component and outreach to encourage nurses to obtain advanced education. McEwin, M. , & Wills, E. M. (2011). Theoretical basis for nursing. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Psychology and Multiple Choice

Psychologists who accept the model tend to seek universals and do not believe there are Individual differences in behavior. Multiple Choice 1 1. Pets Your Score: Your Answer : neuroscience Correct Answer : neuroscience The Choices Were: neuroscience cognitive humanistic behavioral Psychologists who believe in are most likely to attempt to understand diversity in ethnic background as an influence on behavior. Multiple Choice 1 1. Pets Your Answer : Individual differences Correct Answer : Individual differences individual differences free will determinism universal principles del tend to look for the uniqueness of every individual.Multiple Choice 1 1. Pets Your Answer : humanistic Correct Answer : humanistic psychodrama Although their interests are diverse, psychologists share a common Multiple Choice I I. Opts Your Answer : Interest In mental processes and behavior. Correct Answer : interest in mental processes and behavior. Interest in mental processes and behavior. Concern for apply ing their knowledge to social situations. Interest in the study of animal behavior. Respect for the ideas of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. The scientific study of s the primary focus of psychology.Multiple Choice I 1 . Opts Your Answer : behavior and mental processes Correct Answer : behavior and mental processes behavior and mental processes how people live and work paranormal experiences people with psychological disorders In explaining human behavior and mental processes, psychologists try to achieve all the following goals EXCEPT Multiple Choice | 1. Pets Your Answer : manipulation. Correct Answer : manipulation. Description. Prediction. Explanation. Manipulation. The primary difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist is that MultipleChoice | 1. Pets Your Answer : psychiatrists are physicians who specialize in psychological disorders. Correct Answer : psychiatrists are physicians who specialize in psychological disorders. The Choices Were: psychologists have more formal education than do psychiatrists. Psychiatrists are physicians who specialize in psychological disorders. Psychologists are more likely than psychiatrists to have a Used degree. Psychologists are unlikely to have education beyond the bachelor's degree. Currently, there are dominant perspectives in psychology.Multiple Choice I Correct Answer : five one five nine hearten A psychologist who adopts the perspective would be interested in how cells in the nervous system transmit information to each other. Multiple Choice | 1. Pets DRP. Reams is a psychologist who is working to develop a drug treatment for Parkinson disease. Knowing nothing else about DRP. Reams, with what perspective in psychology do you think she would closely identify? Multiple Choice | 1. Pets Your Answer : neuroscience Correct Answer : neuroscience neuroscience DRP. Anthony is a psychologist who researches the hereditary influences of schizophrenia.Knowing nothing else about DRP. Anthony, with what perspective in Your Answer : neuroscience Which psychological approach is most closely associated with Sigmund Freud? Multiple Choice 1 1. Pets Your Answer : psychodrama Correct Answer : psychodrama â€Å"Slips of the tongue† and dreams are seen by psychologists as revealing the unconscious mind's true beliefs or wishes. Multiple Choice 1 1. Pets Those who identify with the psychodrama perspective emphasize Multiple Choice Your Answer : unconscious rather than conscious causes of behavior. Correct Answer : unconscious rather than conscious causes of behavior.The Choices Were: unconscious rather than conscious causes of behavior. Observable behavior rather than mental processes. Mental processes of which the person is aware, rather than those that are hidden from awareness. Intentional rather than unintentional actions. Which perspective asserted that psychology should focus solely on observable behaviors that can be objectively measured? Multiple Choice | 1. Pets Your Answer : behavioral Correc t Answer : behavioral A main theme of the humanistic approach is that Your Answer : people have free will to make their own decisions.Correct Answer : people have free will to make their own decisions. The Choices Were: people have free will to make their own decisions. Behavior is genetically or environmentally determined. Unconscious conflicts dominate personality. Thoughts and emotions can be understood biologically. With their emphasis on human potential and free will, and figures in the humanistic perspective. Multiple Choice 1 1. Pets Your Answer : Carl Rogers; Abraham Moscow Correct Answer : Carl Rogers; Abraham Moscow Sigmund Freud; Carl Jung Carl Rogers; Abraham Moscow John Watson; B. F.

Qualitative Data Collection

Qualitative Data Collection This qualitative research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of various academic activities and determine which of them should receive more attention. In this paper we need to work out strategies of data collection and sampling. At the moment Green Valley Community College has faced the necessity to implement changes into the curriculum due to the fact that many students feel dissatisfied with absence of technology use in the classroom and inappropriate educational methods.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Qualitative Data Collection specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is why it is crucial to assess the attitude of students, parents and teachers toward the curriculum. On the basis of these findings, the administration will be able to tailor the courses, offered to the learners. The key method which is going to be used is qualitative survey. This survey will include different types of questions. First, I intend to include contingency questions in this survey. For instance, one of them will look in the following way: â€Å"Do you feel satisfied with the quality of training, provided at Green Valley Community College? If no, tell which areas require improvement.† Furthermore, I would like to apply a five-point Likert scale item in order to measure students’ and teacher’s attitudes toward the curriculum. This question can take this form, †How do you feel about the curriculum in Green Valley Community College?†. The respondent will need to choose one of these options: Very Satisfied; Satisfied; Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; Dissatisfied; Very Dissatisfied. In this way, I will be better able to evaluate the perceptions and attitudes of the participants. The questions in this survey will prompt the learners and faculty to make recommendations about academic curriculum, the use of technologies, and educational methods. I do not plan to use Yes/No and force d-choice questions in this survey because they are not very suitable for measuring people’s perception and attitudes. Under the circumstances, a longitudinal survey study will be necessary, because it helps to understand how attitudes and perceptions change over a certain period of time (Lodico et al, 2010, p 202). In my opinion, this approach will let us see whether the new teaching methods and academic activities have managed to improve the quality of education in this college or not. At the point, I have yet to determine whether it will be a one-shot or longitudinal study.Advertising Looking for assessment on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The duration of this research will depend on the decision of the board of directors. A longitudinal study requires more time and funding, however, its findings are much more reliable. In turn, a one-shot study only measures current perceptions and attitudes, b ut it cannot track the change of people’s attitudes. This study will have three groups of subjects: 1) students; 2) faculty; 3) parents. I have yet to determine the exact number of participants; however, I would like to use the so-called snowball sampling, which means that the respondents, themselves, help a researcher to find new subjects (Gray et al, 2007, p 117). In other words, those students or faculty members, whom we have already interviewed, can refer us to their group-mates or colleagues. It has to be admitted that such approach to sampling is usually very time-consuming, because the number of participants may grow at a very fast pace (Babbie, 2008). Nonetheless, this strategy will enable me to better understand the needs of both learners and educators. According to my estimations, this research will involve at least thirty representatives of each group. It should be taken into consideration that in the course of this research, I will also need to study several locat ions within the college. As it has been noted before, it is necessary to evaluate the implementation of new technologies. In this case, I will need to pay special attention to computer labs, library and class rooms. The key task is to determine whether computers and software solutions, used in this college, are well-suited for the needs of the students and faculty. This analysis will allow the administration to see what kind of technologies is most needed. Perhaps, some computers and programs require updating and upgrading. The most convenient method of data collection is observation. There are several steps which I need to take in order to gain permission for the study. First of all I need to contact the board of directors. These people are the key decision-makers in Green Valley Community College. They will determine the amount of time and funding that would be available for the needs of this research. I will need to explain the potential benefits of this research for this educati onal institution. Moreover, I will need to contact the faculty members to make an appointment with them. It will also be necessary to contact both parents and students and explain to them the rationale for this study.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Qualitative Data Collection specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The findings of this research can be of great assistance to the administration of Green Valley Community College and other educational institutions, which have also encountered such a problem as students’ dissatisfaction. Still, the reliability and usefulness of this study will strongly depend on the research design, data collection procedures and accuracy of analysis. Reference List Babbie. E. (2008). The basics of social research. NY: Cengage Learning. Creswell, J.W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle Riv er, NJ: Pearson Education. Gray. P. Williamson J. Karp D. (2007). The Research imagination: an introduction to qualitative and quantitative methods. Cambridge University Press. Lodico, M. G., Spaulding, D. T., Voegtle, K. H. (2010). Methods in educational research: from theory to practice. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons, Inc.

261 Faulkner and Barn Burning Professor Ramos Blog

261 Faulkner and Barn Burning William Faulkner Quick Write This was a complex text. What is the most pressing question that you have about the reading Barn Burning? William Faulkner Barn Burning

How To Write A 3000 Word Essay In A Day, Tips For Students

How To Write A 3000 Word Essay In A Day, Tips For Students Is It Possible To Write 3000 Word Essay In A Day? On many occasions, students find themselves struggling to beat an approaching deadline and deliver their essays within the stipulated timeline. While many manage to deliver, few accomplish or achieve as per their strength dictates. Lateness comes about because of different reasons and the most probable ones include: Procrastination – postponing things is almost like a disease which infects many people and in most instances is the main hindrance when you are looking to write your perfect essay in less than 24 hours. This habit contributes to students losing a lot of marks and never living up to their high standards. While some students are simply lazy and thus prefer to do other things when they should be working on their assignments, others lack the time or are involved in other activities that take up most of their time. Whichever the situation, procrastination greatly contributes to students being late with assignments, especially those that involve essay writing. Having to choose between other deadlines – at any time in college, students find themselves with a lot of assignments but less time to deliver. In such situations, some seek the help of professional writers, and others make coffee their closest friend as they try to finish their essays on time. Whichever the option a student opts for, at a certain point, they will find themselves behind the schedule. Regardless of the reason why people find themselves behind the schedule, panicking as some of us resort to is never the answer. As a matter of fact, panicking while late leads to one delivering a substandard essay or job. Students need to learn to keep calm and focused on the task ahead if they are to beat short deadlines. A task such as writing a 3000-word essay is indeed quite huge, and while it is not advisable to leave it to the last minute, in case it happens, students need to understand that it is indeed possible to finish it in 24 hours. This article is not in any way encouraging students to leave their assignments to the last day, but only letting you know that if you ever find yourself in such a situation, it is indeed possible to finish such a task. Actions That Can Help a Student to Write 3000 Word Essay in a Day The question how to write a 3000-word essay in a day is quite common among students. However, finishing a 3000-word essay in 24 hours is indeed easy, but doing a good job while at it might present the biggest challenge to students. However, this article outlines some actions which, if embraced, can help you achieve both. Here are the actions to help you deliver a high quality 3000-word essay in 24 hours: 1. Plan Having a plan is a key to a good essay. Lecturers always ask students to plan and prepare a study timetable to help them manage their time well. However, few take them seriously and therefore end up being late for almost everything within the school curriculum. Planning helps you to factor in everything and allocate ample time for all of your assignments. In 24 hours, you can do a lot of things, and it begins with the kind of breakfast you take. A healthy breakfast is indeed essential in this case. You need to have the right brain food to help your mind to relax and to distress yourself. Heavy breakfasts are, therefore, discouraged and snacks like fresh veggie sticks, nuts, asparagus, coconut, come highly recommended. Other fruits such as berries, oatmeal, bananas, dried fruit, etc. are also recommended. You need food that will help to lower your stress levels and the above are some of the most preferred. 2. Select your place of work Distractions contribute to you spending a lot of time doing very little. The place you decide to select as your working station should be quiet and allow you to work with minimal distractions. Whether it is at home or the school or local library, quietness should be the first factor for you to consider and it is closely followed by the how comfortable the place is. Choosing a place that is uncomfortable will contribute to your tiring fast and losing focus easily. It is also essential to be organized and always have things like bottled water, enough research materials as well as some snacks. 3. Minimize distractions The Internet is currently the biggest distraction at least for most people. When faced with a tight deadline, however, it is important to avoid all distractions and focus solely on the task at hand. Students spend a lot of time on social networks, but if on a tight schedule, avoiding them or even temporary deactivation of the accounts might help you focus. 4. Set yourself short-term goals If left with 24 hours to complete an assignment, time management is indeed essential to finishing it. Setting short-term goals is indeed necessary, and before beginning the writing process, it will be important that you set yourself some achievable objectives. While most of us tend to leave out breaks, they are a necessary inclusion, and it is essential to include them. 5. Selecting the right topic or question and approach to the assignment If asked to select an essay topic or question from a number of topics or questions, pick the one you are familiar with. This will help you avoid researching a new topic or question later. Take time to decide on your approach. The approach chosen will help you tackle the essay fast. The next step involves preparing an outline and including the key points you wish to have in your paper. 6. Writing the introduction Writing the introduction is the most challenging bit of essay writing, at least to most people. However, when under pressure and with less than 24 hours to go, the focus should not be on writing a perfect introduction but on including the necessities within it. You should, therefore, introduce your argument first and then include a relevant thesis statement. 7. Research Research should be focused and only be tailored towards a specific point. When going through the different topics within the selected reference materials, it is prudent to only skip to the chapters that are relevant to the topic under review. Be sure to paraphrase all of your arguments to avoid plagiarism issues which could render your work and effort useless. Use of resources such as Google Books is also advisable because it will help to increase your essay’s credibility.

Operational Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Operational Risk - Essay Example (Dictionary of Accounting, 1999). Most of the prior studies on operational risk have focused on estimating operational risk in a financial institution. Frachot et al. (2001) explored the Loss Distribution Approach (LDA) for computing the capital charge of a bank for operational risk where LDA refers to statistical/actuarial methods for modelling the loss distribution. In this framework, the capital charge is calculated using a Value-at-Risk measure. Frachot et al. (2001) show how to compute the aggregate loss distribution by compounding the loss severity distribution and the loss frequency distribution, how to compute the total Capital-at-Risk using copulas, how to control the upper tail of the loss severity distribution with order statistics. Fachot et al. (2001) also compare LDA with the Internal Measurement Approach (IMA) proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to calculate regulatory capital for operational risk. The results show that LDA and IMA are bottom - up internal measurement models which a re apparently different. (Frachot et al., 2001). As earlier mentioned, much of the Literature has focused on operational risk in financial institutions with a particular emphasis on the Basel II accord and the quantification of operational risks. Kuritzkes (2002) notes that the Basel II Accord definition of operational risk considers only a subset of operational risks. According to Kuritzkes (2002) the term "operational risk" commonly refers to all non-financial risks whereas the Basel II Accord definition considers only a subset of non-financial risks including those resulting from failure of "internal processes, people, or systems or from external events". Mainelli (2002) suggests that operational risk has many pseudo-standard sub-taxonomies, such as people (e.g. workforce disruption, fraud), process (e.g., documentation risk, settlement failure), systems (e.g. failure, security) and external risks (e.g., suppliers, disasters, infrastructure utilities failures). However, day-to-da y operational risk management involves decisions about opening times, cleaning standards, rodent controls in dealing rooms, secure electricity supply, security controls and other management decisions not suitable to real-time spreadsheet analysis. (Mainelli, 2002). Mainelli (2002) further suggests that there is a tension between the top-down imposition of a change and the bottom-up nature of these detailed decisions. If the purpose of risk-based capital allocation is to reflect differences across banks in business mix and risk profile, then operational risk measurement will need to be supported bottom-up within individual institutions. (Kuritzkes, 2002) Figure 1: Taxonomy of Operational Risk. Source: Kuritzkes (2002) As shown in figure 1 above risks can be divided into financial and non-financial risk components. The financial risk components include market risk, credit risks and ALM insurance and other risks whereas the nonfinancial risk component includes internal event risk, external event risk and business risk. As the figure indicates, the Basel II Accord only considers a subset (internal event risk and external event risk) as the nonfinancial risk. It fails to take into consideration a very important aspect of the risks - business risks.

Behavioral finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Behavioral finance - Assignment Example Modern financial economics are pegged on the assumption that financial practitioners act both meticulously and with rationale. However as evidenced and earlier stated, this is not always the case. These deviations from the norm are not rampant and inherent but follow a systematic chain of events. With this information in mind it is possible to incorporate these systematic human deviations into the standard model of financial markets (Rutledge 264). In so doing, two commonly overlooked mistakes come to the foreground: Financial practitioners tend to indulge in excessive trading with belief that the next trade will rake in more lucrative returns. This is irrational trading and is propelled by emotion rather than rational thinking. The human trait of being too overconfident or corky in this case is the key driving motivation behind this bias. Some financial practitioners are also in the habit of holding on to losing stocks while at the same selling their winning stocks. This again is in stigated by lack of confidence and the need to avoid both failure and regrets coupled with poor judgments. Behavioral finance contributes to asset pricing in two major dimensions. These dimensions are reached upon by use of agents which may in them are not completely rational. These are: I. Limits to arbitrage This argues that the damage caused by irrational traders in their irrational deviations may be difficult, if not impossible to be undone by the more rational trades. The traditional asset-pricing model does not factor in market frictions and greatly undermined trading frictions like transaction cost, bid spread, ask spread etc. These forces have a great impact on asset returns and therefore should not be ignored. The limits to arbitrage create a model where mispricing exist for the simple reason that risk adverse arbitragers are not concerned mainly with the riskless values of an asset, but about the price of assets in periods following these irrational traders. This model con siders the cost of arbitrage more so the volatility returns and states that the habit of mispricing will inevitably dominate markets especially in the cases of highly volatile stocks whereby arbitragers may avoid the risky volatile position. Finding mispricing is a tasking affair and may involve institutional laws that should regulate the type of trade to be done. For instance short selling which is essential to effective arbitrage including cost of borrowing, legal fees and liquidity risk is not allowed in mutual and pension funds. Therefore there should exist a cap on the limits to arbitrage. II. Psychology: This helps in creating a continuum of deviations spurning from full rationality to completely irrational. The known concept of asset pricing therefore is in a very vibrant flux whereby there is a slow paradigm shift from the completely irrational approach to a more accommodating broader outlook based on the psychology of investors. Risk and misevaluations are therefore the two main determinants of the security expected returns. This is roughly based on a concept by Savage (183) which is a decision making method with imminent or existing risks in consideration. This concept is known as the Subjective Expected Utility whereby it is widely

Nike-CEO Mark Parker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nike-CEO Mark Parker - Essay Example This led to resistance to change and the creation of a gap between the firm and the CEO. Parker inherited this problem because he had to gain their confidence to implement the changes he perceived worth. Parker has proved to be a strategist through his changes on the operations of the company. He shifted the brand away from the original products based and sub-brand structure to a structure that is customer driven. He divided the company into various categories such as women’s fitness, running and basketball. He also initiated an innovation process by creating an innovation group that would come up with different brands as a strategy to command large market share. Considering the concept of impact of environmental sustainability, Nike has â€Å"Nike Sustainable Business + Innovation† program. This program is used to power the companies brand, the employee efforts, and passions to ensure that changes that are brought in the brand are environmental friendly (Lussier, & Achua, 2013). This program ensures that any opportunity that the organization gets is utilized in a manner, which it creates a positive social and environmental impact in the world. This product has seen its customers accept its products in the market easily because of the additional cooperate social responsibility. Parker pursues the strategy of enhancing value to its customers by acknowledging that the customer is their main asset and thus all employees work to cater for the needs and wants of customers because they are their boss. In creating new opportunities, he has a partnered the company with key organizations such Steve Job and Apple. Apple Company has created an opportunity by allowing Nike + footwear to talk with the customer’s iPod as they are running or carrying out workout experience. This creates an opportunity for customers to long for Nike brands to get this service by Apple known as Nike Plus program (Lussier, & Achua,

Alternative Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Alternative Energy - Essay Example United States 1,650,020 5.61 (9) 2. China (mainland) 1,366,554 1.05 (92) 3. Russian Federation 415,951 2.89 (28) 4. India 366,301 0.34 (129) 5. Japan 343,117 2.69 (33) 6. Germany 220596 2.67 (36) 7. Canada 174,401 5.46 (10) 8. United Kingdom 160,179 2.67 (37) 9.  Republic of  Korea 127,007 2.64 (39) 10. Italy (including San Marino) 122,726 2.12 (50) 11. Mexico 119,473 1.14 (84) 12. South Africa 119,203 2.68 (34) 13. Iran 118,259 1.76 (63) 14. Indonesia 103,170 0.47 (121) 15. France (including Monaco) 101,927 1.64 (66) 16. Brazil 90,499 0.50 (118) 17. Spain 90,145 2.08 (52) 18. Ukraine 90,020 1.90 (56) 19. Australia 89,125 4.41 (13) 20. Saudi Arabia 84,116 3.71 (18) (Each Country’s Share of CO2 Emission) The developed countries are believed to contribute the biggest towards global Warming, it is very important to understand about the balance which the Earth needs to maintain, the consequences of disturbing the balance are going to be extreme. It is very important to take pr eventive measures to deal with the same; this especially applies to the twenty countries mentioned in the table. Weather Risks Posed by Global Warming Global warming is posing a very big threat to all the businesses across the globe. Global warming will trigger off a series of chain reactions. For instance, it will certainly give rise to the possibilities of volatile weather conditions and in that case all the major businesses will suffer and post annual losses instead of posting profits. The insurance market will be majorly impacted and in addition to this many other sectors will get adversely affected because of global warming. The question is that are the business... The research paper describes the issue of creating an alternative energy resources due to the increasing effects of global warming, air and water contamination and other factors harming the environment. The developed countries are believed to contribute the biggest towards global Warming, it is very important to understand about the balance which the Earth needs to maintain, the consequences of disturbing the balance are going to be extreme. It is very important to take preventive measures to deal with the same. Global warming is posing a very big threat to all the businesses across the globe. Global warming will trigger off a series of chain reactions. Several countries have experienced a rapid economic growth and as a result of which they are the ones who have consumed a lot of oil and will continue to do so. Some of the Asian countries have been consuming a lot of oil, and this consumption is only going to increase in the coming days. If the demand of oil increases and of the supp ly remains the same, the price of oil increases. The US is excessively dependent upon other countries for oil; this dependence can prove to be very costly for the US. There are other alternatives that can be considered, the best way to eliminate this dependence is to use solar energy. Solar energy is renewable and the best part is that it does not harm the atmosphere. The US government should make significant changes; all the automobile makers should make automobiles that would run on solar energy.

Describe and evaluate the accounts of depressive realism that can be Essay

Describe and evaluate the accounts of depressive realism that can be derived from associative and rule-based theories of learning and memory - Essay Example Associative theories of learning and memory maintain that a psychological process is involved in conditioning. Very much a behavioral account (similar to classical conditioning) and causal in nature, associative theories submit that people forge judgments based on their experience of the pairing of two stimuli and based on the strength of these associations. The delta rule can be used to explain this account of contingency and causality judgment. The cue precedes the second event, the outcome, in a consistent manner and if the outcome is consistently regular, associations are formed between cue and outcome so that the two become synthesized together. It is necessary, Price and Yates believe (1995), that the cue precedes the outcome for associative learning to be achieved, although others opine that, regardless of whether cue does or does not precede outcome, it is sufficient for participants to believe it as causal to the outcome for judgment to ensue. Models such as the expectancy-v alue model (Fishbein, 1963) and the association model (Bowers, 1986) are examples of associative accounts. The expectancy-value model argues that attitudes are a total sum of evaluative beliefs towards attitude objects, whilst Bower’s association model, although taking a cognitive stance, maintains that cognition and affect are linked through evaluative memory-based mental nodes that, via spreading activation, instigate perception. The stronger, or more intense the experience, the more instinctive and pronounced the bias. Rule-based theories on the other hand maintain that people arrive at contingency judgments by a sort of mental schema that encodes the events, categorizes them, and employs some mental logic to arrive at inferences and deductions. This it does by summing the frequency of events, and by employing a heuristic, referred to by Price and Yates (1995) as â€Å"blocking†, where perceivers

Government funding for education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Government funding for education - Essay Example Therefore, we come to the million dollar questions: How much is today’s government giving to the educational sector? How is the money distributed? Is it enough or more is needed? More importantly, why is government funding so important? First is the State Nursery School, which caters preschool students up to five years. These are usually attached to a primary school, run by the local education authority and are free (BBC, 2009). These centres are essential for high quality early learning and care for children. Realizing the importance, the government has announced extra funding for Nursery Schools in the form of free study hours. News headings flashed across the screens of all leading news channels around the globe in not so recent past: â€Å"Childrens Minister Beverley Hughes has pledged  £340m to extend the entitlement from 12.5 to 15 hours a week† (BBC, 2007). Second and Third Levels are occupied by Primary Schools and High Schools. They, too, are a part of public education. According to the Encyclopaedia Wikipedia, public education is defined as: â€Å"Education mandated for or offered to the children of the general public by the government, whether national, regional, or local, provided by an institution of civil government, and paid for, in whole or in part, by taxes. â€Å" These schools are funded by the Central Government through the local authority according to a range of formulae based on the number and range of each school’s pupils. This is commonly known as delegated funding. Lots has it been put into the development of education at this level. In June 2002, the minister of Education and Young People announced a 1.15 billion package of investment through fifteen public private partnership projects to build schools. In March of 2003, a further of 748 million was pledged to the above mentioned investment package (SEED, 20 04). Next comes the higher education-college and

Describe and evaluate the accounts of depressive realism that can be Essay

Describe and evaluate the accounts of depressive realism that can be derived from associative and rule-based theories of learning and memory - Essay Example Associative theories of learning and memory maintain that a psychological process is involved in conditioning. Very much a behavioral account (similar to classical conditioning) and causal in nature, associative theories submit that people forge judgments based on their experience of the pairing of two stimuli and based on the strength of these associations. The delta rule can be used to explain this account of contingency and causality judgment. The cue precedes the second event, the outcome, in a consistent manner and if the outcome is consistently regular, associations are formed between cue and outcome so that the two become synthesized together. It is necessary, Price and Yates believe (1995), that the cue precedes the outcome for associative learning to be achieved, although others opine that, regardless of whether cue does or does not precede outcome, it is sufficient for participants to believe it as causal to the outcome for judgment to ensue. Models such as the expectancy-v alue model (Fishbein, 1963) and the association model (Bowers, 1986) are examples of associative accounts. The expectancy-value model argues that attitudes are a total sum of evaluative beliefs towards attitude objects, whilst Bower’s association model, although taking a cognitive stance, maintains that cognition and affect are linked through evaluative memory-based mental nodes that, via spreading activation, instigate perception. The stronger, or more intense the experience, the more instinctive and pronounced the bias. Rule-based theories on the other hand maintain that people arrive at contingency judgments by a sort of mental schema that encodes the events, categorizes them, and employs some mental logic to arrive at inferences and deductions. This it does by summing the frequency of events, and by employing a heuristic, referred to by Price and Yates (1995) as â€Å"blocking†, where perceivers

Education and Inequalities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Education and Inequalities - Essay Example A review on researches and study done on education for special children will be presented. In the article written by Anastasia Vlachou (2008) she wants to show awareness on teachers to change their view regarding inclusion. Integration has been reported that requires change, creates discomfort and involves a considerable challenge to those whose careers, work and social relationships reinforce a segregated system. According to Vlachou (2008), "it would be nave to believe that integration policy will happen as part of a natural evolution in attitudes towards students with special needs.' Vlachou (2008) article will be discussed in the literature review together with the study done by several researchers. At the end of the paper the personnel view of the writer regarding the subject will be presented. The inequalities and issues will be summarized to support the writers claim in the conclusion. To fully understand what the topic is it is best to define the important terms used in the paper. Inclusion as defined in the Webster dictionary - to put in or consider as part of a group or category. McBrien and Brandt of Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development define inclusion based on the situation of the disable child in school. The practice of educating children in one classroom, including children with physical, mental, and developmental disabilities is important. Inclusion classes often require a special assistant to the classroom teacher. The 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) made inclusion a controversial topic by requiring a free and appropriate education with related services for each child in the least restrictive environment possible, and an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each qualifying child. In 1991, the bill was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the revision broadened the definit ion of disabilities and added related services. (Hummel,2008). Another definition of inclusion is defined in the website of teachernet.com. "One of the greatest challenges facing schools is the provision of appropriate learning opportunities for all pupils (www.teachernet.com). Within schools there are pupils with a range of abilities from different cultures, religions and social backgrounds. Some of these pupils experience barriers to learning as a result of their disability, heritage, gender, special educational need, ethnicity, social group, sexual orientation, race or culture. Research has proved that children from lower socio-economic backgrounds and / or specific ethnic and social groups are more likely to underachieve at school. This may lead to disaffection, low self-esteem, and marginalisation by others and, in some cases, formal exclusion from school. (www.teachernet.com). Some schools are more successful than others in meeting the needs of pupils from diverse backgrounds." Mason, H. (2003) of Birminghan, UK presented process of inclus ion in education: Increasing the participation of students with disabilities in, and reducing their exclusion from, curricula and communities of local schools; restructuring the cultures, policies and practices in schools so that they respond to the diversity of students' needs; accepting diversity as normal and as a rich source for all students; responding to the diverse needs of all students; accommodating both different styles and rates of

Crime Rate in Centervale Essay Example for Free

Crime Rate in Centervale Essay If one was to compare the crime in Centervale to that of Alaska or Alabama it would be clear that Centervale has the highest crime total. If one was to compare the crime rate it would be clear that Alabama has in fact the highest crime rate with Alaska and then Centervale sitting very close in numbers. Alabama has the highest population and Alaska has the lowest, but this would mean that Alabama would not be the safest place to live. In fact an individual would want to live in either Alaska or Centervale. Centervale has a lower aggravated assault rate than that of Alaska, but Alaska has a lower robbery rate that that of both Centervale and Alabama. When looking for a new place to locate its always a great decision to check out how a city, county, suburb, or state hold up against that of other similar places when it comes to crime. No one wants to live in a place where they are afraid to leave their homes. When looking at the actually numbers Centervale is the highest followed by Alabama and then Alaska, but if an individual was to look at the crime rate then it would appear that Alaska has the highest followed by Alabama and then Centervale, but both Alabama and Centervale are very close in rate percentage. Alaska has a problem with alcohol related crimes, whereas in other locations in the United States drugs and alcohol are secondary to the crime. Information Importance This kind of information is important due to the growing concern that most individuals and families have about the crime not only in their local neighborhoods, but also in places that they may be considering locating too. It’s also important to find out what programs are in place to keep the crime rate reduced. Each neighborhood has some sort of program in place to help keep children and adolescents occupied so they are less likely to go out and commit a crime, but crime doesn’t always involve children and adolescents. Crime can and is often committed by adults. Read more:  India Crime Rate Most communities have an early childhood development program in place. It’s been stated by Paul Leighton (2007), that children enrolled in this program have â€Å"half as many criminal arrests, less likelihood of going to jail, higher earnings and property wealth, and a greater commitment to family†. There are also drug treatment, recreation, gang- prevention, education, special curricula, job training, and the labor market (Leighton, 2007). When moving to a new community an individual can call around to find what programs have been put into place to reduce the crime rate and what else can be done to help reduce the crime. Parents with small children wish to make sure that they are bringing their children to a safe environment with programs set in place to help the children and adolescents occupied after school. Definitions of Crime Crime is defined as â€Å"the act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law† (Merriam-Webster, 2013). Alabama and Alaska differ when it comes to crime punishment. Alaska abolished its capital punishment in 1957, but has since then tried to reintroduce it to no avail. Alabama on the other hand does have capital punishment and certain crimes can lead to the death penalty. These crimes are capital murder charges, rape, robbery, and burglary. Alaska imprisons their convicted criminals for either short period of times to life. In both states children and adolescents are charged as juveniles unless found to have committed an adult crime such as murder (non-accidental), robbery that ends up with loss of life or assault or rape. Rape charges can be difficult to try depending on the age of the child or adolescents and how much understanding of the charges and their understanding of right and wrong. Charging children in an adult court can be difficult to do since their understanding and reasoning is far different and underdeveloped than that of an adult. Recommendations Recommendations to help reduce the crime rate would to beef up the police and special crime units to help get a grasp on the crime in the state. Have better programs put into place within the prisons/jails. This will give a positive opportunity and outlet for the prisoners so they will not wish to reoffend. Allow employers that wish to hire ex-convicts the opportunity to sit down with the convict prior to their release. This will give the individual something positive to look forward to and a better outlook on life. Have programs set up for ex-cons along with programs set up for those who may need a positive outlet. Ex-cons need the structure to help them adapt better to outside life than to be just â€Å"dumped† on the streets after their sentence with the hopes of not reoffending. Many individuals feel they have nothing â€Å"outside† so why even try. In many cases this is true, the individuals family and or friends have given up on them or they have a difficult time finding a job, so they do what they believe is the only thing left and this causes them to reoffend. Conclusion In conclusion crime is a scary thing for any family or individual, but with careful consideration and knowing the facts needed one can make the correct decision. Many criminals that are within the prison/jail system are those who have reoffended, but due to the unknown these individuals tend to end back up within the system. Families and friends of those ex-cons need to be there for the individual for emotional support. Those who don’t have the proper support feel alone and often believe they need to be back where they were. References Crime in the United States. U.S. Department of Justice (2009). Retrieved from http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/data/table_05.html What Every American Should Know About the Criminal Justice System. Leighton, Paul (2007). Stop Violence. Retrieved from http://stopviolence.com/cj-knowledge.htm Merriam-Webster. Crime (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crime

Arguments for and against prostitution legalization

Arguments for and against prostitution legalization The articles writer is Emily Bazelon who is a senior of Slate. Majority of the articles in which she wrote, were mostly controversial subjects, such as, the Hamdan v. Rumsfelf trial and post-abortion syndrome. She is a contributing writer who plays in many roles. Emily is the co-editor of the Jurisprudence blog, and edits Slates legal column. The Jurisprudence blog talks about womens issues. Emily Bazelon was a senior editor of Legal Affairs before she started joining Slate as well as a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. In the year 1993 and 1994, she worked as a reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area and also as a journalist in Israel. Moreover, she is also a Senior Research Scholar in Law and Truman Capote as well as a fellow for the Creative Writing and Law at Yale Law School. She examined the reasons why prostitution is illegal or why it should be legal in the article of Why is Prostitution. Emily was comment that the reasons of it are because of the deprived wom en in the industry and it would only help brothel frequenter who are the ones who exploit and demean these women. From the article of Why Is it prostitution illegal?, Emily Bazelon talks on the prostitution issue by giving argument. Argument on legalizing prostitution expands, leads to back-alley violence and fails to protect woman. It also causes greater demand for human trafficking victims. Martha Nussbaum argues on sale of bodily services and poor woman that work as bad conditions. Difference between a street worker controlled by a pimp and a high-end call girl who picks her own clients, and how to increase poor womens access to decent and safe work. Prostitution is inevitable but if its regulated then conditions will be better. Countries that prostitution is legal arent cesspools. In 1999, legal to sell but illegal to but sex and only johns and traffickers can be prosecuted. According to Womens Justice Center, Swedens way is a big success. Prostitution has been reduced in Stockholm and Finland. SANS, for sex workers and Allies Network in Sweden dislike the 199 law. It has more dangerous clie nts and unsafe sex. Industries want straight-out legalization but without systematic studies shown law has made sex work worse or riskier. Prostitution laws should not come down to working conditions, laws that would lead for sex workers. Due to a recent working paper (PDF) by economist Steven Levitt and sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh, apparently dont know that much about the specifics of the structure of the sex market. Levitt and Venkatesh found that women working on streets were making $27 a day and less than $20,000 a year from the data of Chicago police department. The Ricks of the trade were serious as an annual average of a dozen incidents of violence and 300 instances of unprotected sex. Surprisingly, high prevalence of police officers demanding sex from prostitutes in return for avoiding arrest. Its another argument against the bans on prostitution; presumably women would not be caught in this particular trap if they were not worried about going to jail in the first place. Prostitution means, the act or practice of engaging, and a career in which it is contempt by society even if it has been around for centuries. In ancient Greek, prostitution is not to be contempt because of the prostitutes dedication to the Gods or goodness of the priests. It began many centuries ago, as a way to service for the God. Today prostitution has become more and more open to the extent that some countries approve for the legalization of prostitution, countries such as, Bulgaria and the Netherlands industry. In my opinion, prostitution is an immoral transaction, even if it has been around for thousands of years. Legalization of prostitution is a problem on the countrys controversial topic. The article does not entirely agree because it has brought many negative effects, such as health, community policy issues and religious issues. As we all know, that the biggest impact caused by prostitution is none other than health problems. There are many impacts created by prostitution, whether to the society or other people, and it is physically harmful to sex workers. Those sex workers have a high probability will get sexually transmitted disease (STD), such as HIV/ AIDS, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Herpes, Human Papilloma virus , and Syphills. These STD are alarmingly high among women in the prostitution industry. According to Minneapolis/St. Paul, studies demonstrated that 31% of the women interviewed had experienced at least one episode of DID which is the accounts for most of the serious illness associated with STD infection.(Janice, 1994). Besides that, it does not only gravely impair to the sex workers, but it will also be passed to innocent people such as their couple partners. In some developing countries, it has been estimated that 70% of females have STD and infertility, most of which were caused by their husbands o r partners who were involved in prostitution (Jacobson, 1992). It shows that prostitution does not only affect sex workers and clients, but it also implicates to innocent people as well. Assuming that these diseases are uncontrollable and are continuously being spread out into community, the consequences will be disastrous. Hence, the rate of health in the community will be in the danger zone. Furthermore, prostitution also related to the crime problems in the community. Most prostitution industries connected to crime groups such as triad. Illegal prostitution does not bring any benefit to the society; instead, it will increase the rate of crime. Because prostitution is being induce, it leads to the production of criminal such as theft robbery, assault, murder, alcoholism, drug abuse, kidnapping, human trafficking and others. Some of the sex woman workers are victims of human trafficking which are manipulated by criminal groups. Many of them are living in a violent environment even life threatening ones as Emily Bazelon mentioned in the article. She mentioned that women who fear prosecution could not go to the police for help due to life threats. As the article mentioned, many of the works involve the sales of bodily services and that lots of the works involve bad working condition. I strongly believe that legalizing prostitution is a huge mistake because not only will it encourage the rate of crime to continuously rise but sooner or later it will become a rampant increase. For example, as Why Is Prostitution Illegal article mentioned, the government claimed that legalizing or tolerating prostitution would create a greater demand for human trafficking problem. More succinctly, legalizing prostitution industry will increase the demand of sex worker because of the shortage of voluntary sex workers, so they will kidnap girls and force them to be sex workers. Therefore, do not legalize prostitution is the best choice. In fact, professional ethics have always despised sex workers in the society because it is a violation of religious moral teachings. Prostitution represents a distortion of traditional cultural values and a corruption of humanity. For example, there have five percepts in Buddhism. One of the percepts is talking about prostitution. The third percept is to be refraining from sexual misconduct. Prostitution is a systematic violation of this rule, a problem Buddhists need to take more seriously. Among other things, a substantial improvement in the economic well-being of rural areas, as well as the enforcement of laws punishing profiling from the business of prostitution, is needed to reduce pressure on rural young women to resort to prostitution (Peter, 1999). From this, we know that a religionist or a superior man does not allow prostitution. Even in ancient China, the status of sex workers has no value and its level is lower compared to slaves. Despite some countries acceptance, the Mu slim religionist in Malaysia does not. Therefore, Malaysia has laws to those prostitution offenders. They will be given serious punishments if the laws are violated. It is stated in the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997. In section 21 of Act 559, it is demonstrates that any women who are involves in prostitution shall be arrest and offense on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to whipping not exceeding six strokes or to any combination thereof. This is one of the ways Muslim people go against prostitution, which is using strict laws. Therefore, the legalization of prostitution would be very likely to break with the harmonious relationship between governments and religionists. In conclusion I strongly believe that these three factors are why prostitution is should not be legalized. Prostitution is to increase the culture of corruption in a society, because it will gradually undermine the social morality and the destruction of human conscience. If peoples cultures are being corrupted continuously, we will no longer live in a peaceful and harmonious life. Thus, prostitution should not be legalized. Reference Page Parriott, Ruth. Health Experiences of Twin Cities Women Used in Prostitution: Survey Findings and Recommendations. Unpublished, May 1994. Available from Breaking Free, 1821 University Ave., Suite 312, South, St. Paul, Minnesota 55104. Retrieve from November 27, 2010 from http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/mhvhealt.htm. Jacobson, Jodi L. The Other Epidemic. World Watch. May-June 1992, pp. 10-11. Retrieve from November 27, 2010 from http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/J/Jackson/homoBuddhaJackson.html Emily Bazelon. Article of Why is Prostitution Should Illegal? Posted Monday, March 10, 2008 at Slate Magazine. Retrieve from November 27, 2010. From http://www.slate.com/id/2186243/ Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997. In section 21 of Act 559. Retrieve from November 27, 2010. From http://www.mylawyer.com.my/pdf/Syariah_Criminal_Offences_Federal_Territories_Act.pdf

Impact of Absenteeism on Quality of Care in Private Care Home :: Private Care Learning Disabilities Health

1.0 INTRODUCTION This paper first discusses the issue of Absenteeism in a Private Care Home which cares for five people with Learning Disabilities. Secondly, it looks at SSM, Cognitive Mapping and SODA I as appropriate methodologies for analysing the problem of Absenteeism why SODA I using Cognitive Mapping is best recommended. Thirdly, a Model is built using Individual Cognitive maps which are then merged to form a strategic map which is action oriented. Fourthly, limitations of the Model are discussed. Lastly, a Monitoring system is suggested which helps to monitor absenteeism trends and how it impacts on the Quality of Care Provided. Finally is the conclusion based on the findings. 2.0 ABSENTEEISM AT WORK Employees can be absent from work either due to Long-term sickness, short-term certified or uncertified sickness or unauthorised absence and lateness. Absenteeism will not include annual leave , maternity, compassionate or absence due to training or attending union meetings but where a worker fails to turn up at work as scheduled resulting in disruption of work schedule, added work load, increased payroll costs and poor quality service an d poor staff morale. High levels of absence are costly both to individual organisations and the economy as a whole. †¢ Company Background The home has 9 full-time Support Workers ( the manager, 4 seniors and 4 support workers) contracted 35hrs a week and 7 part-timers contracted 20 hrs per week who are mostly student giving a total of 455 hours whereas the expected care hours are (72hrs *7days) 504 hrs. The company has a pool of relief staff who can work in any home. Two seniors are on long term sickness due to injury at work hence a shortage of 70hrs a week. Until recently the home was allowed to use agency up to a maximum of 50 hrs per week and this has been scrapped from Dec 04 (kite Update 2004) and staff are encouraged to do overtime as the clients need regular staff that understand them and know their routines. More work loads leads to stressed staff whose morale will be affected and this in turn affects their performance and absenteeism will increase leading to inefficient Quality of Care provided. Every shift needs at least a staff who can give medication, a driver and both male and female staff due to cross –gender policy (Care Practice Manual 2004).When a key staff phones sick without notice this will disrupt activities of the day .

Internal Competition A Curse for Team Performance

Table of Content Introduction1 Question 1: What are the dysfunctional characteristics of the FIS project? 1 Question 2: What type(s) of conflict did the team experience? Explain your answer. 3 Question 3: Is the poor team development process a consequence of dysfunctional characteristics? Explain your answer. 6 Question 4: What course concepts contributed to the team’s performance failure? Explain your answer. 8 Question 5: What should the new team leader do? 9 Bibliography12 Introduction – Internal competition – A curse for a team performance.As the title indicates this assignment describes in essence a prehistoric dilemma that dates back to the origins of the human being. The individual and his eternal struggle for a better life. How individual goals are achieved and the question weather to go alone or to be a part of a team? What is the best way forward?. This is a case about the ego. The backdrop is the Indian company called FIS, a business process outsourcin g unit specialized in consulting and financial advisory. It is working on a project for a US based client designing and creating training modules for ERP implementation.The FIS team performance management is largely grounded in a three level appraisal system that is obviously designed to increase the effectiveness of the team. The outcome is to ensure solid project completion and customer satisfaction. Needless to say that did not happen and the project becomes plagued by internal rivalry, poor leadership, poor coordination among other things that ultimately leads to a failure. Our mission is in short to explain in relevant terms why we think this happened and finally describe how it could be prevented to happen again.Working in a group and striving for a common goal can be challenging as this paper will demonstrate. We as a group did clearly experience many of the same concepts that characterize the FIS case when working on this assignment. However as this paper demonstrates, we dr ew on the recently gained organizational behavior (OB) knowledge and resolved it in peace and harmony. The context of the case is described in the following paragraph and organizational chart. Steven Fernandez is the Human Resources Manager who is shortly introduces in the beginning of the case.He is playing a minor role with regard to the team conflicts due to the fact that he is not within the team at the clients site. His subordinate is Pete Philly who is described as an easygoing project manager. As a team leader was Sai Rishi selected who is lower ranked than Philly but is the boss of the other four team members Nirmal Sara, Shri Shalini, Lia Aarthi as well as Abey Sidharth. The following sections will introduce into the numerous types of conflicts and their consequences. Question 1: What are the dysfunctional characteristics of the FIS project?In order to point out the main problem one can say that the team neither works efficiently nor effectively. The result is an inadequate group development process. In the following paragraphs we want to show a lot of examples in order to explain which dysfunctional characteristics of the FIS project cause the bad team performance and why these aspects lead to the failure of the project. The first thing to mention is the intra-group competitiveness. In our opinion the reason for this internal competition is the evaluation system.Employees’ promotion, wages and future prospects depend on the ratings and feedback from the project manager. There are three levels in an appraisal – (a) below expectations, (b) met expectations and (c) exceeded expectations. This over simplified grading system does not work because it only focuses on the individual performances of each team member regardless of the team performance as a whole. For a group project it should be more relevant to highlight the result or rather the success of the task and the customer satisfaction.Another issue in this case is that the evaluation s ystem is based on only three categories. Hence every team member tries to reach the highest category (exceeded expectations) in order for promotion and higher wages. This leads to that each individual team member tries to lower the performance of the other team members to highlight his or her own performance. All together it constricts team development and performance as well as project success. Achieving individual goals is seen as more important to some team members than the team goal – finishing the task reaching the best outcome as possible.Therefore it grows a information filtering between team members. Some team mates hesitate to share information and restrain their work results in order to have advantages against their colleagues. As an example Sara needs information from Sidharth, but he puts her off claiming it took him a long time to find this documents and Sara should spent the same time of searching on it. Otherwise he shares the information with one of his group mates. Finally some of the team members or rather small groups of the team stuck in a rivalry mindset.For this reason the team is not able to create a common vision or a feeling of corporate identity and to share common ideals. In general for every project a new team has to be set up. Team members have to get acquainted to each other. This can lead to bad team performance. In this case the problem is that if people have worked together and know each other well, they tend to form smaller groups within the groups which cause a kind of group thinking. As well as if the size of the team changes over time it is hard for new people to integrate into the existing group.For example those team mates who have worked together in previous projects, separate themselves from the team through being together without involving other members into their small group during the breaks. It is especially a problem in this case because after two month of already working on the project, several new members joint the team. To sum up one can say that there is a lack of group activities and finally very low cohesiveness between the team members. A further fundamental factor causing the bad performance of the team and the failure of the project is a lack of behavioral norms.Members of the group gossip about other team mates. It can be seen in the case that the team leader Rishi is talking to the project manager Philly and claims that Sara is not talented enough to prepare courses curriculums. Besides the gossiping there is also a way of bullying existing. For instance Philly accuses Sara in front of the whole team by stating that she misses deadlines although that actually is not true. In addition to that he corners Sara through advancing deadline dates. Relating to the lack in behavioral norms it is also important to bring up the differences in attitude of working.Philly seems very lax to answer emails, to take important phone calls and to take care of the needs of the team. This attitud e costs the team late hours in the office to meet the deadlines. As a consequence the team feels irritated which has a bad influence on the motivation and causes frustration. The main task or function of the project manager or at least of the team leader is representing a role model and avoiding the problems mentioned before. However they reinforce the trouble because of a huge lack of leadership. As outlined before the attitude of Philly`s work is not appropriate as well as his behavior to Sara.Regarding convenient communication and coordination Philly and Rishi fail. The poor coordination arises through a wrong composition of the team. The performance as individuals is high but the team performance is low due to the reasons that are explained above. Concerning to the case the proper execution of Philly’s and Rishis tasks is not ensured. Instead of focusing on his team leading topic Rishi always does Philly’s work. Philly relies on the results given by Rishi in place of checking the work and to pay attention to success of the whole project.One of the reasons for the low level of communication for example is that a few members are even reluctant to reveal the details about their own work and do not integrate new team members. All in all the lack of guidance, low cohesiveness and all the other dysfunctional characteristics lead to misunderstandings, suspicion and disagreements among the team. Question 2: What type(s) of conflict did the team experience? Explain your answer. Regarding to question one we now want to show the different types of conflicts that took place. At first we have to define what is meant when we talk about conflict. Conflict is an expressed struggle between at least two or more independent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scare resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals. † A conflict can have either positive or negative effects. Constructive conflicts are helpful to achieve goals; dysfunctio nal conflicts are likely more destructive due to emotions and differences between two parties. In the explanation below we focus on different types of dysfunctional conflicts and the reasons for these conflicts which we can find in the case study.The first important conflict arises from the organizational structure which causes a structural conflict. Those types of conflicts result from either structural or process characteristics of an organization. Further it can be divided into two different categories, vertical and horizontal. The latter one occurs between groups at the same organizational level. Vertical conflicts take place between employees on different hierarchical levels. The evaluation system in the case causes vertical conflicts on the one hand and horizontal conflicts on the other hand. The feedback system is not well rganized because there are only three appraisal categories that can be achieved. Only one of them is probably seen as a positive assessment by employees. R ishi’s promotion depends on Philly’s feedback to him and simultaneously he is concerned of the performance of Sara. Hence, he tries to lower down her performance to highlight his own work. That can be seen as a vertical structural problem as well as the matter of fact that he always show compliance to Philly or even do Philly’s tasks. The evaluation system also causes horizontal conflicts. The internal competition increases due to the lack of differentiation of appraisal categories.Employees might have only a low chance to get promotion or wage rises because they are probably not able to reach the only positive feedback. This is a reason for frustration and strategic behavior. Instead of working together for the team success some team members try to highlight individual performance through undermining the work of their colleagues. This structural horizontal conflict is also observable for the example of Sara. Her position is a junior developer, but actually she seems to have more experiences than other team members. This is probably one reason that other team members try to undermine her performance.This is especially illustrated in the fact that Sidharth and other colleagues reveal important information which will be explained in detail later on in this chapter. To sum up in this case there is a lack of explanation of feedback as well as unsuitable and not well differentiated appraisal categories. Due to those examples one could easily imagine that the most of all other types of conflicts are related to these aspects explained before in some way. A conflict of interest occurs because of incompatible needs or competition over resource constraints.This type can be subdivided into three different sources – substantive, procedural and psychological issues. Our case deals with time, physical resources and in the broader sense with money which are substantive aspects. The individual interest like promotion, pay hike and own reputation of Rishi are more important for him than the team success. Hence, he always humors Philly and does Philly’s work rather than using his time appropriately through focusing on his main duty leading the team to success and looking after the needs and tasks of the team members.This is also a kind of task conflict which is illustrated in the next step. Concerning the physical resources one can discover that people refuse to share resources and critical information. Not only that Sidharth refuses to share his documents with Sara but also some members of the team are even averse to reveal their working results, because they are afraid that other team members get the laurels for their work. A task conflict occurs over a disagreement about tasks or goals. Referring to the FIS project the employees expect appropriate work from project manager Philly.However Philly is very lax in managing his tasks. As expressed above he needs a lot of time to answer emails and is often refused to take si gnificant phone calls to the customers. Besides he is very careless checking the course material before it is submitted to clients. Nevertheless it can also be classified as a differing process goal when people have for example a disagreement about how to accomplish a task. Otherwise this topic is also interrelated to a conflict regarding different values which accrue when individuals or teams have an unequal understanding of values, worldviews or certain other aspects.As one can see from the example explained above the project manager and the team members seems to have diverse attitude concerning accomplishing their work. Sara and Shalini are very committed to the project whereas Philly seems to be not very much engaged. This causes long working hours and struggling to meet deadlines which lead to frustration and demotivation among the team. This matter of fact can be dangerous for the success of the project. An organization needs high motivated employees which are more likely prod uctive in doing their work faster and in higher quality.Besides the different values and attitudes to work there is another big disagreement about a process goal. This so-called process conflict takes place because the first draft of the results of the course material reaches the client. However this is not the correct procedure. Regarding the process description the first draft is only an overview or a sketch. It is not a final version and therefore it should not be handed over to the client. After reworking the first draft, the second draft should be send to the team leader, Rishi, for review.Afterwards the final draft has to be checked by project manager, Philly. When the final review is completed the the material is delivered to the training leader. First mistake is that Rishi send the first draft to Philly, even though he should have only submitted the second draft to Philly. The second huge failure is that Philly deliver the first draft to the client without checking the mater ial. In this aspect there is also a task as well as the value conflict included. As explained beforehand Philly always relies on Rishis working results and he has a lax attitude of work concerning fulfilling his tasks.Another reason that could have happened is poor communication because if the team members as well as the superiors would exchange data and talk to each other in an appropriate way they could avoid such mistakes. The result of the poor communication within the team is that there are many information conflicts. This type of disputes occurs when needed information is missing, misinterpreted or rather interpreted differently, not correct or when there are disagreements about the relevance of certain data. As a role model Philly should not take so much time to answer emails. Sidharth refuse to share an important document with Sara.As already mentioned as well a few members are even reluctant to reveal the details about their own work. These examples for informational confli cts are also reasons for debates, arguments due to confusion in the integration issue of their individual work results. At least it leads to misunderstandings, clashes and finally chaos. All these issues are drivers of several relationship conflicts. Interpersonal differences arise due to inconsistencies or controversies between people within teams. Referring to the FIS project there are many examples of interpersonal differences.One of the momentous issues are that a small group of team members knowing each other in advance are not willing to integrate new people into the team. That leads to formation of subgroups and finally to a lack of inclusion and cohesiveness. A second example is the dysfunctional characteristic that for some team members the individual success expressed in the appraisal rating is more important than project development, team success and customer satisfaction. For instance Rishi claims about Sara’s weak work to Philly, to emphasize his own work. Howeve r Sara’s commitment to the project is very high.Philly trusts and believes in Rishi’s opinion and statements, though he also begins to bully Sara. He passes the buck to Sara blaming her in front of the whole team she would always miss deadlines. Actually struggling to meet deadlines is caused through Philly’s lackadaisical attitude to work. However Sara first tries to avoid the conflict and concentrate on her job but she is inwardly frustrated and demotivated. Later she tries to talk to Rishi about Philly’s behavior expecting him to help her as a team leader. But he shows compliance to Philly and denies supporting her. Again this is a ack of leadership; he does not take care to needs of his team. All in all it seems to be clear that the organizational structure of the evaluation system is responsible for the most of the dysfunctional conflicts. Some of the team members are working more as individuals or in mini-groups within a team not realizing that this project requires integrating individual’s work to one big picture. Though all stuck in a rivalry mindset and the possible failure of the project is predictable. Question 3: Is the poor team development process a consequence of dysfunctional characteristics? Explain your answer.In the previous chapters was outlined that the project team had to face a lot of different conflicts. The sum of these conflicts led to the low team performance and a team development which cannot be seen as exemplary. The advent of this poor team development process can be seen in the selection of the several team members. Based on communication skills, experience, appraisal and fitting to the project requirements a global team is set up (out of Americans and Indians), regardless if the team members fit to each other or not. When people have to work in a group there are two possible forms possible: workgroups and teams.They differ in various aspects. Workgroups tend to follow individual goals and are focused on their individual tasks. The interdependence is low and social skills are rather not important. Whereas team members are following a common goal and are focused on their collective goal. Analyzing the project team of FIS Consulting services it seems to be rather a workgroup than a team. Team members differ in their individual working styles. Sara and Shri Shalini are very well performing employees with excellent appraisals. Their senior Philly had a different approach to get work done.For instance he refused important inquiries from clients also his long response time. This differing process goals, differing values as well as interpersonal differences are one cause for the dysfunctional conflict which supports the team development process in a negative way. Any process gain which can be derived out of the team work will be offset through these differences. In the end all the advantages which team work implicate (better performance for instance) have vanished. Another sourc e of dysfunctional conflict is the resource constraints. Specific team members refused sharing resources as well as crucial data.What also happened was the duration of information gathering. As mentioned above it takes several days to get an answer of Philly and Abey Sidharth required two days to obtain critical data. These kinds of action are not beneficial if a team has to complete a task. Instead of collaborating they undermine each others work. On one site this hinders an efficient goal attainment and on the other hand it offends other team members. If the work of one team member is questioned causelessly time and again the performance and enthusiasm of this person will decrease significantly. In the worst case this behavior will be acquired by other colleagues.This is especially fostered group formation. This means that within the whole group several smaller groups are formed. In the company FIS Project Services this happens a lot due to previous project work. If for instance a duo has worked together for a long time and then is integrated into an existing team consisting out of six people. The duo tends to stick together and is reluctant to integrate other team mates. This group forming is very well illustrated in the case. Certain subgroups have lunch together but not the team as a whole. The entire project lacks team building events, like going to movies or a common breakfast at the hotel.Furthermore it is essential for effective teams that they have or develop group cohesiveness which is very beneficial if the team targets a common goal. Group cohesiveness ensures that team members have the feeling that their character and their work is appreciated within the team. That increases the performance because the employee has an intrinsic motivation to push the project forward. People can count on each other and work hand-in-hand very efficient. For the FIS project team this example is unfortunately not the case. People cannot rely on others and they do not have the feeling that they are going into the same direction.The team is not cohesive, they rather push each other away. If a manager wants to develop a well-functioning team in our opinion a team contract is a requirement. In this contract all the rules and procedures are written down and are open to scrutiny for everyone. Most beneficial would be if the team contract is set up during the first meeting in which everyone can contribute to it. A further benefit is that the team contract prevents the omission error and therefore unethical behavior. Due to the fact that the FIS project team lacks such a contract it is no surprise that the problems and the conflicts escalates.If Rishi would have been a good leader he would set up a team contract. Furthermore the team leader Rishi lacks a lot of leadership capabilities. One of the most important tasks of a team leader is that he has to care for his team. Only when this task is properly performed the project goal (development of ERP trai ning materials) can be reached. But as described above he failed in his duties miserably. Instead of fostering team cohesiveness he started bullying his team mates, especially Sara. When other team members hampered each other he did nothing to end this destructive decision.He could have been a mediator and facilitate as a third party between the two opposite parties. But he made it even worse and fueled the disputes. Question 4: What course concepts contributed to the team’s performance failure? Explain your answer. As outlined in the previous chapters the project team faced a lot of conflicts which led to the low team performance and a team development. For a team to become successful they must share common goals and responsibilities for specific outcomes. The job of the team leader is to set these goals and establish behavioral norms within the team.As pointed out it was believed that the project team members of the FIS project possessed substantial individual technical exp ertise, but lacked the skill to perform together successfully, meaning that the team had all the potential to be efficiently as a team. Philly seemed to lack effort, approvals were delayed which led to frustration amongst the team members, the team was working long hours and struggled to meet deadlines. Philly failed at setting a common goal and responsibilities with specific outcomes and a direction and he did not have an enabling structure that facilitated teamwork.Philly also failed in managing the diversity, observable and unobservable similarities amongst the team. Diversity can cause misunderstanding, suspicion, and conflict in the workplace that can result in absenteeism, poor quality, low morale and loss of competitiveness as well as lowered workgroup cohesiveness. In simple terms this is exactly what happened in the case. As a result the team lacked cohesiveness, to the degree to which members are attracted to the team and to its members and how loyal team members are to th e team and to each other.This lack of cohesiveness reached its lowest point in absolute bullying. Nirmal Sara is a victim of workplace bullying by Rishi and Philly, manifested in repeated mistreatment, verbal abuse and humiliation. Teams typically progress through a series of developmental stages before performing effectively. The FIS team underwent an inadequate team development According to Tuckman’s model there are five-stages for a team to form successfully. Forming; in which members learn about each other and the team’s goals, purpose, and lifespan. Storming; team members begin establishing goals, work processes, and individual roles.Norming; the team becomes more cohesive and clarifies members’ roles and responsibilities, team goals, and team processes. Performing; the team is cohesive, productive, and makes progress toward its goals and at last adjourning; when the team disbands. Referring to the previous chapters the FIS consulting team only got through the first two stages, forming and got stuck in storming. As also explained beforehand the team began forming groups within the team and was reluctant to involve other members. The team was working as individuals in mini groups, which escalated into intra-group competitiveness, the groups compete against each other.From the start the team began focusing on achieving a high performance appraisal rating rather than working together as a team. Team members commonly formed their suggestions as in small groups separating themselves from other team members. The groups provided suggestions without consulting or briefing the rest of the team members prior to the meetings resulting in team members promoting their own agenda for the sake of a personal benefit. The team members did not seem to realize that that the project required integrating each individuals work into a cohesive whole as they were stuck in rivalry mindset.The team was assigned with designing different courses, training materi al and preparation tasks. Each of these tasks were performed by different team members and these components would later require alignment and integration to complete the final module. So it should be obvious that resource sharing was very important to the project. Different groups of the team started refusing to share resources and critical information with the rest of the team. This eventually led to misunderstandings and disagreements amongst team members.They did not succeed in developing cohesiveness to the degree to which members were loyal to the team and to each other. So the team never got to the point of performing due to intra-group competitiveness. Because members of the team lacked cohesiveness and were not committed to the team or its goals the team performance suffered as a result. These factors led to process loss as a consequence where the team performs worse than the individual members would have if they would have worked alone. This failure of the team development and therefore the FIS project ultimately led to a negative impact on the company’s image.Question 5: What should the new team leader do? It seems quite obvious that before the new team leader does anything, he must analyze in detail what really happened at the FIS project in North America. When he has established a clear picture of what went wrong he should form a plan to prevent it from happening again and aim to increase customer and employee satisfaction in the process. One of the most striking things when reading the case is the level of autonomy the off-shore team has. How bad things could get before they were identified and dealt with at the FIS HQ.So the first thing the new team leader (and the HR department at FIS) needs to establish is clarity and a strong quality protocol for each project. He needs to integrate a detailed project roadmap that has frequent internal reviews, process definition, milestones and performance accountability. This system has to be redundant , so if one link in the chain fails an alarm goes off and there is a B-plan to fall back on. For major milestones like a client demo a quality assurance manager has to approve that the product meets delivery qualifications and client expectations.We assume that in this analytical exercise the same core concepts as we have highlighted in answers one to four would surface. In short, how the evaluation system generated a destructive intra-group competiveness and low cohesiveness as a result. How the poor leadership and work ethics on both senior and mid level affected motivation and caused frustration in the ranks below. How the vertical and horizontal structural conflicts generated task, goal and process conflicts that combined with poor communications nearly drove this project to the ground.So the first thing would be to assess the pros and cons of the current evaluation system. The rather crude three level individual appraisal system does seem to foster internal competition and indi vidual goal orientation that in the end is not aligned with the company goals. Without the scoring details of the internal evaluation system the result; below, met or exceeded expectations seem a bit granular parameters given the complexity of the task and the size of the group.The second thing would improve it by preventing that a direct sabotage or conflicting interests like holding back information or resources could benefit individual appraisal. Then make a strong effort to align individual goals with the company ones through task performance and integrity. In addition the team leader needs to add more focus on the collective group effort and task completion as well as client and employee satisfaction. Thirdly he needs to make sure there is much higher cohesiveness in the group to generate better working morale, motivation, team spirit, performance and employee satisfaction.One of the things that affected the FIS project was that the group grew from a small workgroup to fully fl edged team with the relevant differences in their interdependence, accountability, decision making and leadership. Sadly the cohesiveness of the team diminished relative to the increased size of the group. As a group leader he needs to give those growing pains special attention and lead by example. He should instigate and structure various team building exercises and events to foster good group communications. This can be as simple as a group breakfast at the hotel or even just a walk in the park.And on the topic of communications, to prevent the omission and commission errors from the past the team leader needs to create a secure communication process where employees can report misconduct (either under name or anonymous) or and seek consultation or mediation at early stages of a potential conflict. This communication system needs to be able to feed up to a higher source at FIS consulting HQ in some instances, as one of the major source of problems and dysfunctional behavior were th e former team leaders Philly and Rishi.Lastly the new team leader should also form a doctrine with code of ethics and behavioral norms that reflect the FIS company values, vision and culture. This document should be presented to all employees at say a team offsite event, and be proactively introduced to all new employees so they understand how their actions, big or small have an important social impact. If those conditions mentioned above were met, we believe the offshore department at FIS would be capable of taking on and completing big and complex projects and pass with flying colors.But in essence the dilemma of the new leader is the same that every team leader is faced with. To motivate his team in physiological, behavioral, cognitive and social context to curb the individuals effort into a strong team effort and strive for a common goal. To quote Al Pacino in the movie â€Å"Any given Sunday†: â€Å"And, either we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. â⠂¬  ? Bibliography Phillips, J. M. , & Gully, S. M. (2011). Organizational Behavior. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning.