Democratic leadership Essay

Democratic leadership style is the advisable leadership style which encourages participation in decision-making and it can be persuasive or consultative. However, there is no ‘best’ leadership style because nothing can be absolute right and comprehensive. In this assignment, I will illustrate the successful case about GLANZ GROUP which adopted autocratic leadership style in the beginning of its foundation. Furthermore, I will also show the successful cases by adopting democratic leadership or combination the different leadership styles in their company in order to support to my opinion. The cases from the books and from internet will also be illustrated. Strong leadership, no matter how well intentioned and benevolent, can foster dependency and subvert democracy. Yet absence of any leadership will lead to confusion, drift, and tension. As many progressive activists have remarked, there can be a â€Å"tyranny of structurelessness† as well as of autocracy. The example of Mr. Qinde Leung Mr. Qinde leung, Chairman of the board of directors and CEO of GLANZ GROUP who built up his own factory using 300 thousand RMB in 1978: Guizhou Feather and Down Factory, the former one of GLANZ GROUP. Soon after, he quickly realized that it was more beneficial for these down stream enterprises which used their products for further dress business. He decides to do the same business without any techniques and any skillful persons at that time. It was a big risk so that a lot of employees were against this plan. But Mr. Leung insisted on his own schedule and finally he got complete success depending on his own experience and special views. It can’t be denied that at the developing stage of the company, facing the complicated situation and unbalanced quality of employees, Mr. Leung had to mange his company in autarchy. With the revolution of modern enterprises system in 1990, Mr. Leung became the CEO of GLANZ GROUP, his decision was un-challenged, but luckily, he has the special v iew and convincing personality and lead the GLANZ GROUP to today’s flourish. It has become an enterprise that owns about 740 acres and 20,000 staffs by  2003. Being one of the most outstanding groups of home appliance in China, GALANZ also won the fames of â€Å"Global Microwave Oven Manufacturing Center†, â€Å"Global Air-con Manufacturing Center†, â€Å"Global Small Appliance Manufacturing Center† and â€Å"Logistic Center†. In Oct 2003, GLANZ invests 2 billion RMB in purchasing about 495 acres of land in Huangpu Town, Zhongshan City to set up the largest air-con manufacturing base in the world. Its annual production capacity of air-con will increase to 12 million sets. (http://www.galanz.com.cn) Mr. Qinde leung, the benevolent-autocratic leader is described as powerful and prestigious but one who can be communicated with and is interested in his subordinates’ problems (Robert N. McMurry, â€Å"The Case for Benevolent Autocracy,† Harvard Business Review, Vol. 36 (January-February 1958), pp. 82-90). He structures the activities of his subordinates, makes policy decisions affecting them, and enforces discipline. He may encourage participation in planning, but in executing he is the â€Å"chief.† However, James Gibson, John Ivancevich, and James Donnelly, Jr., say even this style has been weakened by recent changes in attitudes within our society (James L. Gibson, John M. Ivancevich, and James H. Donnelly, Jr., Organizations: Structure, Processes, Behavior (Dallas: Business Publications, Inc., 1973), p. 298). This may particularly be true for younger generations as they express desires to shift away from any authoritative or paternalistic environment. Every organization will solve the problem of leadership in a different way. Some successful co-ops– especially smaller ones–are highly egalitarian. They have no formal leaders and few overt signs of leadership behavior. Other groups do well, at least for a generation, with a single central leader who encourages the members to participate. Many successful groups find middle ground. They reject dominating leaders and also escape the â€Å"tyranny of structurelessness.† The example of the OEOC (Ohio Employee Ownership Center) While attending the University of Texas and later getting his Ph.D. in  political science from Princeton University, John Logue studied abroad in Mexico, Denmark, and Germany. He was particularly interested in the worker-owned and democratically operated Mondragon cooperatives of the Basque region in Spain. With lots of plants under its control, the Mondragon Co-operative Corporation is the largest business corporation in its region, and the eighth largest in Spain. Several years later, Logue observed similar cooperatives and employee-owned enterprises in Quebec, Canada. Studying these models built his belief that democratically operated well to the company, just as democratic countries outperform autocratic ones. Logue, a professor of political science at Kent State, directs OEOC. Assisted by a small staff, he works to increase the number of employee-owned and run companies and to help their employees build personal assets. When a company considers shutting down an Ohio facility, for example, OEOC shows its owners and workers how employee ownership can save their livelihoods. Then, after plants make the transition to employee ownership, OEOC provides continue support to worker-owners through education, connections to consultants, and help organizing democratic structures for decision-making and communication. In all, OEOC provides 4,000 hours of leadership training per year. Since 1987, the group has helped 438 Ohio companies and plants, employing more than 83,000 people, explore the possibility of employee ownership. Of these, 64 have implemented partial or complete employee ownership plans. Logue has demonstrated that direct employee-ownership of companies promotes reinvestment, job creation, and asset-building for workers and their local economies. (http://dept.kent.edu/oeoc/index.htm) The Kohl’s Department Store Example Store manager, Audrey McCaskey, works with other employees and assistant managers of the store to come up with ways to improve their store’s performance. (http://www.kohlscorporation.com/AboutKohls/AboutKohls01.htm) As the leader, Audrey is a qualified manager who fits every characteristic of a good store manager. Her ways of doing things at times are fierce yet ethical, and with her team, she is determined to get the job done; proving  that leadership is an essential part of a manager’s position. When Audrey came to be General Manager of Kohl’s back in 1997, Kohl’s was excelling in sales and profit. Her energy and motivation (although sometimes a bit sarcastic) as well as her visions for the store, classify her as an excellent leader. However, I would also classify her as a transactional leader. Besides motivating employees, Audrey is hardworking and determined to get the job done. She runs her store efficiently and tries to keep it as a smooth operation. In fact, most managers used all the different styles on the job at some point or another. Many of these management styles are practiced within the management team of Kohl’s. Through these different styles, management is able to lead in a more effective manner. Firstly, coercive leaders – Management at Kohl’s demands that each and every employee gives their 100% effort during their jobs. Working as a member of the team, each employee is expected to do their share of the work. Secondly, authoritative leaders- Management encourage employees to work hard and continue the trend of growth, innovation, and profitability. Thirdly, affinitive leaders- Known for Team based operations, team leaders at Kohl’s create a harmonic work setting, making all employees feel comfortable with the store setting. Managers also try to develop and sustain working relationships with all employees. Fourthly, democratic leaders- Participation is practically inevitable while working at Kohl’s. Managers encourage participation through contests, and jean or tennis shoe days, which usually have positive results. Fifthly, pacesetting leaders- All employees are told what is expected of them and their performance. Therefore, employees work at achieving expectations and or goals through team work and self direction. Lastly, Coaching Leaders- Each new employee of Kohl’s is given extensive training within the first 3-6 weeks of employment. With this, managers hope to develop leadership skills among all employees. Every morning before opening of the store, Kohl’s manager or assistant managers have a brief meeting, discussing the stores’ current sales increases or decreases and upcoming sales. For this meeting, managers follow an outline that briefly goes over each priority for the day. The outline  goes over sales plans, goals, and actual, credit application goals, and actual, store news, top priorities for the day, and advertising. When sales are up, employees are encouraged to keep up the good work and often are awarded with a jean day. When awarded a jean day, employees are allowed to wear jeans to work. Managers will also advise employees having corporate visits. Corporate visits are that someone from the Kohl’s corporate center visits the store to make sure everything is in place and in order. During these visits, all associates are asked to maintain their departments especially well. Managers will also hold afternoon meetings for employees who work the afternoons a nd evenings. Another form of communication is the weekly K-Notes which come inserted in each weekly paycheck. In K-Notes, store managers briefly discuss store news such as upcoming events, corporate visits, new associates, etc. Each employee of Kohl’s receives an evaluation every 90 days from Audrey or an assistant store manager. During these evaluations the manager will go over with the employees their current job performance. The manager will point out all the positive things in the employees’ performance and the entire negative. Through this discussion, the employees are able to learn their strong points and what needs to be done to improve their overall work performance. When employees receive a good evaluation, their salary is increased. Obviously, Kohl’s has done very well in its approaches to team leading and teamwork overall. By practicing each of the individual styles of leadership, Kohl’s has been proved to be successful in its operations. In a word, the situational approach to leadership styles has been a valuable contribution. More realistic than previous theories, it shows that there is no â€Å"one best† style for all situations. Attempting to define and determine a proper leadership style is an extremely complex task for any leader. The evidence is becoming clearer that there is no single, all-purpose style of behavior that is effective in all managerial situations. Someday, experience and research may provide us with â€Å"the one best way.† Until then, each manager must be open-minded, informed, and adaptable. Reference [1] About the OEOC 2001 [Online, assessed 10 Mar. 2004] URL: http://dept.kent.edu/oeoc/AbouttheOEOC/AboutTheOEOC.htm [2] About Kohl’s 2003 [Online, assessed 8 Mar. 2004]. URL: http://www.kohlscorporation.com/AboutKohls/AboutKohls01.htm [3] Bill C. 2001 We Are All Leaders! Democratic Leadership Makes Us More Powerful [Online, assessed 6 Mar. 2004]. URL: http://www.geonewsletter.org/ed44cas.htm [4] James L. Gibson, John M. Ivancevich, and James H. Donnelly, Jr., Organizations: Structure, Processes, Behavior (Dallas: Business Publications, Inc., 1973), p. 298 [5] Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. 1995 The leadership challenge: How to keep getting extraordinary things done in organizations (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. [6] Robert N. McMurry, ‘The Case for Benevolent Autocracy’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 36 (January-February 1958), pp. 82-90 [7] Soaring Galanz 2002 [Online, assessed 10 Mar. 2004]. URL: http://www.galanz.com.cn [8] Yukl, G. A. 1998 Leadership in organizations (4th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Outline and Evaluate Factors Influencing Eye Witness Testimony Essay

The term ‘eye witness testimony’ refers to an area of research into the accuracy of memory concerning significant events, it is legally considered to be a reliable account of events. However, research into eye witness testimony has found that it can be affected by many psychological factors such as, anxiety and stress, reconstructive memory, selective attention and leading questions. Anxiety and stress can be associated with many factors such as, violence and crime. Clifford and Scott (1978) found that participants who saw a film of a violent event remembered less of the information than a control group who saw a less stressful version. However, Yuile and Cutshall (1986) found that witnesses of a real event had accurate memories of what happened. The police interviewed witnesses and thirteen of them were interviewed five months later. Recall was found to be accurate, even after a long period of time. One weakness of this study was that the witnesses who experienced the highest levels of stress where actually present at the event, instead of watching second hand from a film, and this may have helped with the accuracy of their memory recall. Selective attention is when the witness is able to describe one detail, giving them less time to pay attention to other details. It can also be because the witness is more likely to focus on a detail with more emotional significance, such as a weapon. Loftus et al. (1987) showed participants a series of slides of a customer at a restaurant. In on version the customer was holding a gun, in the other the customer held a chequebook. Participants who had been shown the version with the gun present tended to focus on the gun itself and not much else. As a result they were less likely to identify the customer as appose to those who had seen the chequebook version. Bartlett (1932) showed that memory is not just a factual recording of what has occurred, but that we make â€Å"effort after meaning†. By this, Bartlett meant that we try to fit what we remember with what we really know and understand. As a result, we quite often change our memories so they become more sensible to us. He had participants play ‘Chinese Whispers’ and when asked to recall the detail of the story, each person seemed to tell it in their own individual way. With repeating telling, the passages became shorter, puzzling ideas were rationalised or forgotten altogether and details changed to become more familiar or conventional. For this research Bartlett concluded, â€Å"memory is not exact and is distorted by existing preconceptions. It seems, therefore, that each of us ‘reconstructs’ our memories to conform to our personal beliefs about the world. † This clearly indicates that our memories are anything but reliable records of events. They are individual recollections, which have been shaped and constructed according to our stereotypes, beliefs, expectations etc. Loftus and Palmer (1974) tested their hypothesis that the language used in eye witness testimony can alter and change memory. They aimed to show that leading questions could distort eye witness testimony accounts, as the account would become distorted by reminders provided in the question. To test this, they asked people to estimate the speed of motor vehicles using different forms of questions. Participants were shown slides of a car accident involving a number of cars and asked to describe what had happened as if they were eye witnesses. They were then asked specific questions, including the question â€Å"About how fast were the cars going when they (hit/smashed/collided/ bumped/contacted) each other? The estimated speed was affected by the verb used. The verb implied information about the speed, which affected the participants’ memory of the accident. Participants who were asked the â€Å"smashed† question thought the cars were going faster than those who were asked the â€Å"hit† question. When people were asked a week after viewing the film whether they saw any broken glass at the scene (there was none), people in the smashed group were more likely to say yes. Therefore, a leading question that encouraged them to remember the vehicles going faster also encouraged them to remember that they saw non-existent broken glass. This suggests that memory is easily distorted by questioning technique and information acquired after the event can merge with original memory causing inaccurate memory. The addition of false details to a memory of an event is referred to as confabulation. This has important implications for the questions used in police interviews of eye witnesses. In conclusion, eye witness testimony can be influenced by a number of factors, including, anxiety and stress, selective attention, reconstructive memory and leading questions. They all have a large effect on eye witness testimony and affected the results in many different ways.

Zimbabwe and Global Health Care Systems Assignment

Zimbabwe and Global Health Care Systems - Assignment Example From this research, it is clear that the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies that a functional health care system anywhere in the world is primary to the achievement of universal coverage of health care. Global Healthcare system refers to the various framework that countries anchor their health care. It covers three critical issues that include access to quality health care, a role of government policies in health care financing and national and global health care concerns. In the wake of 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Primary Health Care (PHC) package provided a bearing to the desired health care needs. According to United Nations Declaration 2012 Report, it identified that despite increased emphasis on universal health care access, many developing countries continue to have high mortality rates. During the study that informed the declaration, it was noted that 75 countries mainly from developing countries accounted for 95% of morbidity and mortality. Notab ly, maternal and neonatal mortality were at unprecedented levels. Zimbabwe was one of the nations in Africa that continue to face myriad health care challenges that led to high mortality rates. Campbell identifies that the recent analyses have drawn attention to the weakness of health care systems. Delivery of health care at community and in hospitals in any country is influenced how the country's health department organizes care framework. In response to health care system deficiencies, a number of countries have embarked on focusing on three important components of an ideal health care system.

Cloud Computing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Cloud Computing - Term Paper Example The potential vulnerabilities pre-set threats such as hacking and intrusion by malicious outsider and insider which in the case of the department of treasure and Defence have be recently evidenced by constant hacking and access of data. The possible impacts range from low medium to high which implies minimal damage and inconvenience toe to extreme injury to person and debilitations of the country’s economic military and health infrastructures which could have devastating consequences. The paper then recommend more rigorous encryption policies as well as better rating of staff and localization of cloud storage to limit physical access especially from abroad. There are various designations for information security in the United States under which different Assets of value in document and media content are filed so as to differentiate them based on the level of security relate information they contain. One common designation is the Sensitive But unclassified (SBU), this is a broad category that compromises of information with sub designations such as For official use only (FOUO) or Law enforcement Sensitive as and homeland security data among: In addition the SBU also covers IRS inflation such as enforcement procedures, individual Tax records others (U.S. Department Of Energy, 2007). Sensitive security information is a category of SBU information and it covers data gathered during security operation that specified government agencies believe should be kept secret since its revelation would result in possible communication and transportation crisis or even security. Another designation is the Controlled Unclassified information, which was proposed after 9/11 when the then president Bush decided that the state was keeping too much information a secret although it had been acquired through taxpayer money (Bush, 2001). The Classification was meant to replace SBU, FOUO and LES and serve as a means through which to

Operation Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Operation Management - Case Study Example In broad-spectrum, Operations Management endeavors to enhance the substance of value-infused ventures in a particular process. Essentially, the value-infusing resourceful ventures ought to be combined with market prospect for the best possible business performance. Traveling is in the contemporary world a major element or part of an institute's management. Based on this, major airlines constitute a vital importance in the achievements of enterprises or institutions around the globe. Enterprises are capable of widening their markets by journeying to various regions by means of airlines. The significance of airlines informs this essays' appraisal of British Airways public limited company in the present fiscal environment. It guides us to appraise their overall business plans and strategies in a bid to improve their management. This essay aspires to discuss the operations management of the British Airline and evaluates its efficiency in the Airline industry. British Airways is the biggest airline company in the United Kingdom. It has comparatively many flights across the Atlantic Ocean than any other airline and makes in excess of 550 trips to 130 or more countries internationally. British Airways is in p... British Airways has large and modern fleets in operation comprising Boeing 747-400, Boeing 777-200, Boeing 767-300, Boeing 757-200, Boeing 737-400 and the Airbus A391/ A320/ A321. It as well has CityFlyer fleet (RJ100) and OpenSkies Boeing 757-200. The British Airways offers various flight classes for the passengers. It offers the First class service, the Business class (club world and club Europe), The Premium economy class (World Traveler Plus) and the Economy class (World Traveler, Euro Traveler and UK Domestic). The airline operates assorted kinds of lounges for travelers using premium cabins and clients with class. The Concorde Room in The JFK New York Terminal 7 was revamped to similar standards as the one at Heathrow's Terminal 5A. The Galleries First lounges replaced the previous First Lounges. The Galleries Club lounges as well replaced the Terraces and Executive Club lounges. At the airports that British Airways does not run departure lounges, the airway provides "third party" lounges for first-class travelers. British Airways runs the British Airways World Cargo. The Subsidiary cargo handling facility has worldwide freight prospects that avails the British Airways World Cargo the opening to provide service to shipment destinations not accessible in the normal passenger routes. The Airline also offers flier programs for its customers, the Executive Club being its major programme. Affiliate passengers get full access to lounges and reservation lines. The other programme is the Premier programme that offers relatively more benefits to subscribed members, and the British Airways board signs up the members of this scheme. Problems British Airways is experiencing considerable fiscal meltdown. Its revenue nose-dived by a gigantic 20 percent. The high

The Partnership Act 1890 and The Company law Assignment

The Partnership Act 1890 and The Company law - Assignment Example Price4. Another option is that where the court is of the opinion that there exists a just and equitable ground to dissolve the partnership pursuant to section 35(f) (Harrison v. Tennant)56 Thus the options that are available to Janine and Mary would be that of judicial dissolution or if there had been an express pre-condition within the partnership agreement that time should be given to the running of the business, this could be an effective reason which can be used under the provisions of an express and flagrant breach of the partnership agreement, whereby Lindsay can be expelled from the partnership. In respect of judicial dissolution it is important to mention he repercussion that flow from such an action as the goodwill would be sold and in addition there would be the requirement of return of capital of each of the partner and therefore Lindsay would have to be returned her share of the capital and an appropriate order in respect of the same would be made by the court so as to di rect the recovery of the same. Another reason which can be used as a basis to expel Lindsay is the fact that she has been involved in criminal conduct and therefore the partnership would be affected by her actions and therefore she has already failed to perform her duties effectively she could be expelled, however, there remains the possibility of such an act of expulsion being challenged by Lindsay in court and arguing the fact that her actions in no way affected the partnership and her reason for not giving proper time to the partnership were merely on the basis of the fact that she was not in the right phase of mind and her acts/omissions if she... This discussion talks that the only problem which lies in respect of this would be that the provision provides for the term ‘may’ which does not make it compulsory and therefore if Mary hires Terry without consultation that would be problematic. The problem in respect of this position would be that under section 5 of the Partnership Act 1890 a partner is considered to be an agent of the firm as well as other partners in respect of the purpose of the business of the partnership and so the acts of the partner who indulges into action in order to carry out the usual business of the kind which is carried on by the firm for which he is a member, would bind the firm, unless the partner does not have authority to do the act.Further, section 6 provides that if an act or instrument which relates to the business of the firm and is done/executed in the name of the firm with a person who is authorized even if he is a partner or not will bind the firm as well as the partners. By virt ue of the aforementioned section 5 and 6, it is clear that if Mary enters into a contract for hiring Terry whereby Terry does know that he is the partner and has the authority would create a binding contract which would be effective on both Lindsay and Janine. In addition by virtue of the instrument, if any, section 6 would come into play and would be binding upon Terry, the firm as well as the partners of the firm and thus such a contract would then have to be abided by and thus an action in respect of the same cannot be rectified.

The Plight of Workers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Plight of Workers - Assignment Example In the early years of twentieth century there was a massive inflow of immigrants in the United States of America. The poor immigrants were beckoned into America by the alleged abundant opportunities. Upon arrival they provided a reservoir of cheap labor to factories and other businesses. The dilapidated tenements were the abode of choice for many of them. The houses had no clean water or sewerage system. Life in these slums was unbearable.1 Chicago was strategically located with a cattle rearing hinterland. This gave rise to a mammoth meat packing sector which needed thousand of unskilled labor. It was a city of contrast with magnificent buildings owned by the factory owners and the slums housing the laborers. The working condition was akin to slavery and the meat packing process was unhealthy. Apart from the misery in the meat packing factories, the filth and toxics from the factories found their way into the local rivers. The entire macabre situation is captured through the life of an immigrant Lithuanian family. It narrates their struggles to adapt to a new life and a series of misfortune that befalls them in the process. Upon arrival the future looks bright with prospects of getting jobs in the slaughter house.2 The cheer magnitude of the deplorable conditions is not only evidenced by the dilapidated buildings housing the workers but the land upon which the houses are built. It is a waste land reclaimed by filling soil mining pits with garbage resulting to a perpetual stench. Jurgis however, views the idea as a brilliant innovation. This notion depicts a common believe of many immigrants who were buoyed by idea of being in the land of opportunities. Jurgis can not understand the negative altitude of his fellow workers in the slaughter house. But slowly he encounters episodes in his work place and outside which makes him realize all is not well. He realizes pregnant cows are slaughtered for meat against the law and Antana’s dubious job offer. Perhaps the single event that eventually leads to the break up of Jurgis’ family is the attempt to purchase a house. Apart from the difficulties in raising the required amount they discover the contract is fraudulent. The house is worth much less than indicated and there are hidden interest charges. The subsequent financial burden ignites a series of events that eventually shatters the family’s American dream that lured them into America in the first place. All members of the family including children are sent to work in order to keep the family financially afloat. Considering the financial burden the family is facing Ona is silent of her rape ordeal by her boss. Once Jurgis learns of the ordeal he fights Ona’s boss and he is subsequently jailed for thirty days. With the exit of Jurgis the main contributor to their house project, they are evicted. The family suffers anguish and frustration which results to the death of several of the family members. Dejected, Jurgis bec omes a drifter hopping from place to place is search of solace and work. Eventually he returns back to Chicago and embarks on criminal activities. The changed Jurgis intends to hit back to the society against which he is aggrieved. He engages in activities ranging from mugging to rigging of the election. However he fails to improve his fortune through this path until he accidentally stumbles upon a Socialist Party

Peer Review and credibility assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Peer Review and credibility assessment - Essay Example Generally, the paper is in perfect flow, while the writer sometimes disrupted the sequence. There is a need to utilize the similar writing style and font throughout the paper except main headings and subheading. The font as well as the writing style in the citation and paper is not the same that look informal. Spacing between the lines is not same in the whole paper. However, the format of the citation is correct and according to the APA writing standards. The introduction in the paper quite well introduces the paper and the content in the paper. The important factor of the introduction is the length of the introduction that makes it not only introducing the content but also discussing a bit of content. The writer quite well presented the facts in the introduction and clearly expressed the thesis statement that is â€Å"The value of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is best understood by examining its genesis and the events that prompted its creation, evaluating its mission to understand the department’s goals, and analyzing its effectiveness as measured by a variety of matrices.† The body of the paper is quite well distributed in paragraphs. Each point is well described in the writing; however, one paragraph has not adequate number of words that led to reduce the credibility of the point given in the paragraph. The points given in the paper have deep association with the thesis statement as each point tends to prove the statement. There is no unnecessary information given in the paper that is irrelevant to the topic. The content of the paper is well distributed in paragraphs. The title of the paper seems to be confusing and there is a need to write the notation of the words in the title of the paper. The writer employed his thought but supported then with proper citation. Books are considered as the most credible sources to be considered as a source for the writing. However, government sites and other renowned

Daily Reading Responses5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Daily Reading Responses5 - Essay Example Family values of these two backgrounds differ greatly. However, with this knowledge at hand, do social classes of gay individuals vary? A class difference is a major factor that contributes to African American lesbian relationship’s conflicts and break-ups (Hall & Greene 65). Women couples who are from the same social background are found to understand each other better, live with each other in peace and have healthy relationships as compared to those from different backgrounds as it is seen that behaviors of these two are completely different as they do not share same values and perspectives. These conflicts and break-ups however can be prevented if couples from different social backgrounds agree to bridge the existing gap between them by being open with each other, not comparing each other as to who is more superior than the other in terms of education and amount of income and making changes that will improve the

The Various Concepts of Factors for the Job Satisfaction Essay

The Various Concepts of Factors for the Job Satisfaction - Essay Example Comparing and contrasting the various concepts of factors that contribute to job satisfaction. In my view, the factors of appreciation, support, employee feedback, remuneration, relationship with the manager are all factors which are most essential for an employee to be completely satisfied with his or her job. If an employee is appreciated for his good work and efforts, such an employee will tend to work hard every time and face challenges and overcome them because that employee will know that he will be recognized for his/her efforts. The support that he gets from his seniors and his colleagues at his workplace boosts his courage to work through work problems. Moreover, if the management maintains a routine of reviewing the on job positives and negatives through the employees feedback such employees feel that they are being heard and protected. The salary that the employees are being paid is one major factor that can either completely motivate or demotivate the employees. Steps to improve employee morale and overall job satisfaction: the concept of morale includes both fragments of satisfaction and motivation. Morale is basically the motivation and determination that the employees tend to carry on their jobs with. Employee job satisfaction affects the morale and consequently, the determinants of job satisfaction give in to the forecast of morale within the worker. I would make sure that our company implies the factors of employee appreciation, support, employee feedback, employee remuneration, employee relationship with the manager.

Implementation Plan Essay Example for Free

Implementation Plan Essay Cut over strategy defines the strategies and decision for the system installation. Once a system has been developed and tested, it must be installed and placed into operation. Installing a system and making it operational is complex as there are many conflict constraints. Some of important issues when planning installation are to be considered like cost, customer relations, employee relations, logistical complexity, and overall exposure to risk (Silvia, 2000). Some of the most important issues to be considered when planning installation include incurring costs of operation both systems in parallel, detecting and correct the errors in the new system, potentially disrupting the company and its IS operation and training personnel and familiarizing customers with new products. Different approaches to installation represent different trade-offs. The most commonly used installation approaches are: 1. Direct installation; in a direct installation the new system is installed and quickly made operational and any overlapping system are then turned off. This is also called as immediate cut over. The primary advantage of direct installation is it simplicity; the primary disadvantage of this is its risk. Because legacy systems are not operated in parallel, there is no backup in the event that the new system fails. This installation is typically used under the new system is not replacing a legacy system or downtime of days or weeks can be tolerated. 2. Parallel installation: In this the new system is implemented and run in parallel with the new one but not completely implemented at a stance. The old system is kept in place and slowly replaced. The cost factors are high but efficiency is derived from it. 3. Phased installation: The system is installed and get into operation in a series of steps and phases. Each phase is well observed before and after implementation. The new system is not operating completely at this time but is replacing the old system in phases. It is time consuming but very effective in the long run. Our installation strategy for the equipment tracking system would be the phased approach. It marks the continuity of the present business and also taking into account the changes the new system is about to begin. The business requires to flow and cannot be halted for installation of the system; therefore phased installation is the most suitable. a. Training Guide The function of training is to teach the user of the system the process of data flow within the system and the various operational procedures for correct and timely implementation of the knowledge for better productiveness. All the required user of the system will be given training and to provide know-how of the system working procedure and the involved business process. The effective use of business function needs to be well understood for the correct utilization of the system for the required purpose (Laudon, 2003). They are also required for learning the technical issues which would come up in the process of handling the system. The disaster recovery plan is also required to be provided so that risk can be managed well and the user of the system will not have to halt the operations of the business in case of failure or exceptional situations. All the users of the system will be trained in the following manner namely Face to face, Group manner, Individual training, Video audio conference and many other methods. All the techniques will be used for successful training of personnel of equipment tracking system.

BMW Human Resources Policy

BMW Human Resources Policy Organisations, Analysis and Policy REPORT To: Senior Management From: Group Accountant Date: 2nd May 2005 Subject: BMW Organisational Analysis andHuman Resources Policies This report will provide a detailed analysis of BMWscurrent corporate appraisal analysis. This will help to identify the companyscurrent strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This will help thecompanies decision makers understand where the organisation is now. The reportwill also critically evaluate BMWs human resources policy as a key area of theorganisation. We will highlight how BMW has strategically responded to thedrivers for change in terms of its structure, conduct and performance. Finally,offer recommendations for the future development and improvements in humanresource management, and how those will impact on its organisational structure,conduct and performance. Company Background The BMW Group is the only manufacturer of automobiles andmotorcycles worldwide that concentrates entirely on premium standards andoutstanding quality for all its brands and across all relevant segments. With the brands BMW, MINI andRolls-Royce Motor Cars, the BMW Group has been focussing on selected premiumsegments in the international automobile market since the year 2000. In thesucceeding years, the launch of the BMW 1 Series meant an expansion of themodel range in the premium segment of the lower middle class and the BMW 6Series did likewise in the segment of the large CoupÃÆ'Â ©s and Convertibles. TheMINI marque was launched and production began in the Oxford plant in 2001. In2003, the BMW Group assumed marque responsibility for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.At the same time, the Worldwide Head Office and Manufacturing Plant inGoodwood, GB, was built. ( AnInternal and corporate analysis in terms of strength, weaknesses, opportunitiesand threats (SWOT) will assist in gaining an understanding of where BMW iscurrently in terms of strengths and where improvement is required within thebusiness and what outside environmental threats it may face as well as what newopportunities are available to the company in the short and medium term. Figure 1:BMW SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS Diverse ranges of Products BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Strong Cash Flow Position Increase turnover and trading profits Strong Balance Sheet Worlds leading Premium Quality Automobile Manufacturer Brand Awareness Human resources Capabilities to turn resources into advantages OPPORTUNITIES New Products Market shift to globalisation Innovation Alliances Customers demand change to more comfortable and relevantly cheap cars Diversification New Technologies in Automobiles WEAKNESSES Perception of High Prices Customer disinterest Environmental issues: Pollutions Buyer sophistication and knowledge Substitute products or technologies THREATS New existing competition Volatility in Price of Fuel New legislations Consequences of the oil crisis September 11th Economic recession Market shift to globalisation Takeover bids Far-East Automobile companies expansion Extremely high competition for customers and resources The Five Forces Model Figure2: Five Forces Model ACCA Paper 3.5 (2001) Threats from Potential entrants Suppliers Bargaining power Competitive Rivalry Buyers Bargaining power Threats from Substitutes Porterexplains that there are five forces inherent in a market, which will jointlydetermine the intensity of competition and profitability of BMW and theautomobile industry. The first is the threat posed by new entrants, the highcapital expenditure and confidence of customers represent significant barriersto entry and the market is also sensitive to reputation. However, the emergentof low cost manufactures do pose a significant threat (as illustrated by figure2). There is an opportunity in the low price/ low economy (fast) sector. MaybeHyundai or Daewoo could consider introducing a low cost sport saloon. The second is the threats from substitutes, as thereare many make and model of other premium branded cars, hence, Jaguar, MercedesBenz, Audi etc. The third force is the threats from the bargaining power ofbuyers, is this strong for both BMW and the entire automobile industry with alarge number of alternative suppliers, hence, the aggressive pricing strategy.This results in a very str ong competitive rivalry in the industry. This isintensified as a result of little or no differentiation in the basic productoffered. Finally the threats from the suppliers bargaining power, this isfairly low in the automobile industry, due to dual sourcing strategies, using arange of alternative sources of supply for parts. The five forces analysis gives an improved understandingof the degree of competition within the business environment. The analysisshows that the automotive industry is highly competitive, with buyerspossessing and exerting a very powerful influence to the large number ofsubstitute brands available to them. BMW Human Resources Policy In response to a changing business environment BMW isbeing more business and service focus. In the past decade the organisation hasbecome much more proactive, dealing with new concepts to become more serviceand customer focus oriented. The structure of the organisation has beenredefined to deal with the new ways of operating. Organisational structuredefines important relationship within the business for achieving businessobjectives. At the same time it helps to define the new business culture withinBMW. Culture exists with the minds and hearts of BMWs employees andcontributes to business strategies of the organisation. Therefore, BMWs humanresources policies are critical in the organisations structure, conduct andperformance. Competitive pressures on BMW and national economies haveincreased markedly in recent decades. Therefore, organisations are constantlychanging, as powerful entities have arisen at the international level, theEuropean Union being a good example and multinational corporations increasinglydominate particular sectors such as cars. New competitions are emerging andforcing older companies to adopt or reform to survive. Different structuresaffect the way in which human resources are managed. BMW like all otherbusinesses require the same basic human resources activities like recruitment,development and training, appraisal and reward systems, and control andfeedback mechanisms. Organisational structures are influenced by culture.Employees have strong feelings towards the organisations they work for. Germanfirms have inherently a flat, less rigid structures. The McKinsey 7 S modelis often used to identify all the areas that make up an organisation.Structure, Style, Staff are three such areas. BMW has an equal opportunities none sexual discriminatingculture within its organisation. BMW actively supports young female executivesand gives females insight into the field of technology. BMW also offersextensive training for all level of staffs; BMW Groups Trainee PromotionProgramme (TPP) provides the perfect combination of theoretical studies andpractical work. BMW Group trainees receive many benefits in addition to theirpay, other social payments such as holiday and Christmas bonuses, meal andtravelling expenses subsidies, health programme and PC training. BMW claims that it does not see its staff as a cost factorbut as an essential performance factor. Also the employees are referred to asassociates rather that works. BMW in its human resources policy states thatany policy that is not oriented towards its associates will lead to negativecost effects in the long-run. As a future-oriented company, we seek to pursue anexemplary, creative and associate-oriented human resources policy, makingsignificant contributions to business success through our human resourcesactivities. The human resources policy of the BMW Group is an integral featureof our overall corporate policy in both strategic and operative decisions. (Corporate appraisal (or SWOT analysis) consists of the internal appraisal ofthe organisations strength and weaknesses and an external appraisal of theopportunities and threats open to organisations in competition within industry.

Analysis of Africas Economy

Analysis of Africas Economy Several economists around the world are wondering whether the majority of Africans are benefiting from investment and profits originating from the continent. African leaders have been in the media claiming that Africa is experiencing one of the highest economic growth rates in the recent past. However, a growing gap between the rich and the poor, increase in cost of living and cost of consumer goods has disproportionate effects on working people as well as the poor. Countries such as Nigeria and Ghana that have reported to be undergoing economic growth are experiencing internal crisis linked to a rising cost of living and need to increase government expenditure on infrastructural development (Ndulu 5). Despite the fact that Nigeria was named as the largest economy in Africa, its women, youth, farmers and workers are increasing their demand for access to quality life, resources and wealth. Furthermore, several alarming reports indicate that the economic growths in various parts of Africa are more complicated than the leaders’ indicate. As result, a research was conducted to unearth the issues behind the economic problems, how African governments and leaders can address them (Ndulu 37). The major problem investigated is the interconnection between economy, social and political leadership with the current economic situation across Africa. It was crucial to analyze case studies and literature reviews containing information on African Economy. They analyzed relevant trade publications, annual economic reports, newspapers, magazines and on-line databases. Because of the time factors, the researchers relied mostly on web for data because it is faster and economical. Volunteers from public and private sectors, African economists, workers, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development Bank provided necessary literature through the publications. The large pool of participants allowed the researchers to obtain wide range of data that was then crosschecked against other data to ascertain its validity. It was necessary to analyze data from various African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. Nigeria was preferred because it is the economic powerhouse of Africa while Ghana is on the right path to democracy in Africa. Kenya seems to growing both democratically and economically while Democratic Republic of Congo was considered because it has vast natural resources. It was also necessary to compared the economies of such countries, analyze the various natural resources found in those countries, evaluate various sources of income. Finally, analysis of the relationship between democracy and economic growth, natural resources and economic growth and the relationship between economic growth and living standards of individuals was crucial (Ndulu 179). The research process indicates that African economy is likely to grow up to 4.7% during this year and accelerate to 5% in 2015. However, the growth in economy does not translate to infrastructure development, job creation, improved standards of living as well as reduction of high poverty level as well reducing inequality in Africa (African Development Bank 1). West African countries like Nigeria and Ghana continue to experience highest levels of economic levels ranging between 6.7% 7% and are likely to increase further by 2015. The economic growth is due to investment in minerals and oil, democratic governments and good leadership. East Africa is equally experiencing economic growth that has increased up to 6% from last year (Economic Commission for Africa 39). Kenya’s economy has grown due to increased consumer spending; Tanzanians economy has grown due to higher consumption and investment in natural gas. Lastly, Uganda economy is being enhanced by development in telecommuni cations, transport, construction as well as construction of burgeoning oil industry. In the southern region of the continent, the growth is likely to go up from 3.6% to 4.2% due to increased investments and rising mineral mining in South Africa. Economic growth in Africa will be weakest in North Africa due to political instability in the regions and fleeing of investors (Ndulu 193). The research notes that Africa economy is driven by exports, mineral exploitation and commodity production, but the rate is not yet optimal. This is because job creation is weak and the growth has not addressed poverty issues, poor living standards and rising inequality(Westenholz-Bless Achola 97).. The informal sector is still very large yet opportunities remain limited for those seeking employment. This is evident by high rates of youth unemployment as well as wide gender disparities in employment and earnings. Furthermore, increased pressure on labor markets due to increase in population pressure means no any sufficient impact can be felt by the majority citizens. The researchers established that weak job creation is brought about by overreliance on agriculture and mining as source of employment. Overreliance on farming leaves various countries susceptible to weather-related shocks. In addition to this, civil wars continue to pose a huge threat to economic activities in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Somalia (Ndulu 200). Though Nigeria is believed to be the economic powerhouse of Africa, the country has serious unresolved problems linked to distribution of wealth and living conditions of the majority Nigerians. According to the graph below, most Nigerians are unsatisfied with their government because the rates of poverty and unemployment are highest in Nigeria compared to other African countries despite the fact that it is the economic power house of Africa (see figure 01). Furthermore, the rate of employment seems to be increasing yearly. Unequal distribution of resources in the country has led to an internal conflict in northern part of the country. The conflict was associated with the majority northerners, who are poor, led to stagnated economic growth in the region. There has been other instances of bombing and abduction of schoolchildren in Nigeria as way of protesting against unequal distribution of resources and declining job opportunities. This has compelled most youths to engage in criminal activities to obtain money to cater for their expenses. Source: University of Twente. Nigeria Energy Study Report, Enabling Urban Poor Livelihood Policy Making: Understanding the Role of Energy Services. May 2014, Figure 01. Africans must rise up and determine their own destiny without any fear. From the results of the findings, there is a clear relationship between a peaceful democratic country and economic growth. Countries like Ghana and South Africa have experienced economic development due to peaceful elections and responsible leaders who encourage investors to invest in the countries. Rwanda that was on brink of self-destruction due to civil war in 1994 is now experiencing high rates of economic growth due to good leadership. This is a clear indication that security of a country is directly related to economic growth. Security ensures everyone gets an opportunity to go to work, students go to school and other economic activities take place. In addition to this, it gives the country a humble time of producing quality goods to sell abroad. As result, the country obtains revenue from the economic activities that lead to economic growth (Hughes, Mills Street, 01). Africans must also avoid overreliance on minerals and farming as the main source of livelihood. Countries like Uganda and Kenya have created job opportunities in sectors like road construction, trade activities, and telecommunication sector and transportation industry. The situation shows various job opportunities that can be created outside the traditional ones. In order to avoid uncertainties that come with climatic changes, Africans should utilize their rivers and lakes to create irrigation schemes. They should borrow irrigation technology from Israel that is a desert country yet it produces more food than it can consume. Lastly, Africans should observe family planning methods. The report indicated that most parents give birth to more children than they can take care of. This increases pressure on the limited resources in the continent (Hughes, Mills Street 1). Works Cited African Development Bank. Nigeria Economic Outlook. 2014. Web. 15 May 2014. Economic Commission for Africa. Economic Report on Africa 2008: Africa and the Monterrey Consensus: Tracking Performance and Progress: Overview. Addis Ababa: Economic Commission for Africa, 2008. Print Hughes, Ian. Mills, Greg. Street, Michael. â€Å"The solution to Africas woes lies with Africans, not the west.† The Observer mag. 10 March 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. Ndulu, B J.The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa, 1960-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print. University of Twente. Nigeria Energy Study Report 2005, Enabling Urban Poor Livelihood Policy Making: Understanding the Role of Energy Services. 2005. Web. 12 May 2014. Westenholz-Bless, Claire. Paul P. W. Achola.Fundamentals of Social Research Methods: An African Perspective. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta Legal and Academic Publishers, 2007. Print.

The Late Bronze Age :: essays research papers

Trade and Phoenician Development in the Late Bronze Age   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Little is known about the Phoenician way of life other than the fact that they were a society founded on trade with other, larger nations. These people made use of their natural resources to establish trade with such nations as Egypt and Assyria. The geographical locations of the Phoenician city-states were also advantageous to their role as a trading state. Located on the east coast of the Mediterranean, where Israel lies today, the Phoenicians were able to trade with virtually all of the Mediterranean nations. Little else is known about their actual culture, other than what is written about them in other nation’s texts. In a text from the seventh century, the rules of trade are established, and appear to have been independent of any local rulers, traders acted on their own accord. Phoenicia became one of the greatest trading states in all of history, due to the fact that they possessed a large amount of valuable materials, a good location for trade, and a n unsurpassed knowledge of the sea. It is through these advantages that Phoenicia was able to become such an influential state.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Phoenicia was located in what is now present-day Israel, a very valuable plot of land even today. This was an undeniable resource for the Phoenicians, and without it there success as a trading nation would have been severely deterred. Being located on the Mediterranean, the Phoenicians had equal access to both Egypt and Assyria, the two most influential nations in the region. In the text, it is clearly stated that should a trader be stranded in another nation they should be returned to their home, but their ‘booty’ is free for the taking (Kuhrt, 407). This fact made trade easier, due to the idea that fear of capture was greatly reduced by the trade rules. Clearly, if Phoenicia had not been located where it was, their influence on trade would have been dramatically decreased. By making use of their location the Phoenicians capitalized on trade, and their wealth of resources contributed greatly to their role.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Phoenicia was rich in natural resources such as timber and metal. â€Å"Because of the demands made on them . . . the coastal cities appear to have concentrated their energy and resources on the production of luxury commodities such as ivory inlaid furniture for royal consumption† (Kuhrt, 407). This fact produced a wealth of skilled craftsmen, who are still famous today for their creations.

Locked out of Culture Essay -- Education, Tradicional and Mainstream E

When growing up in a traditional civilization and continuing education in a mainstream environment, one can notice the work of two opposing ways of life. If one could study a traditional identity closely, one may sometimes see a mainstream identity in most of that organization’s people. Usually, a culture is any group of individuals that share the same beliefs, philosophies, and customs; identity can be defined as the image and viewpoints that others see when they look at someone. When looking into someone’s traditional organization, one can easily see two opposing identities. Similarly, Robert Bellah explains the formation of identity in his essay â€Å"Community, Commitment, and Individuality† which shows how identity comes about. Traditional society places a moral authority over its subjects, while the mainstream society does not. Such power can be seen in the Old Chinese customs inside of Maxine Hong Kingston’s essay. Her essay â€Å"No Name Womanâ₠¬  discusses a story of a Chinese mother abusing her own power to teach her daughter a lesson in morality. Some people within a group are responsible for giving power and identity; power is the ability to have more influence inside a culture at the expense of someone else. In addition, Dean Barnlund argues that because both groups want to increase their own well being, their opposing identities must clash with one another. He talks about cultural behaviors in â€Å"Communication in a Global Village.† All of these authors provide key wisdom into such things as culture, identity, and power. Customs can sometimes become a problem. One discovers that it is mandatory that one must reexamine his own identity. Until then, many problems may surface when transitioning between two contradictory cultures. In o... ...d onto the responsibility of two separate viewpoints and values systems. The statements in this essay could or could not be true. Different meanings for culture, identity, and power, may exist out in the real world. The connections made in this essay may not be true to everyone because all of us have different definitions for these key terms. Such evidence in this essay leads to a conclusion of foreseeing becoming trapped between two different styles of beliefs. We saw that, two different beliefs comes from the groups that one has associated. When compared against other people these beliefs and experiences can be held responsible, cultural problems arise. These problems make someone’s switch between organizational climates harder for an individual. Based on all of this evidence, anyone can conclude that they have become locked out of both organizational climates. Locked out of Culture Essay -- Education, Tradicional and Mainstream E When growing up in a traditional civilization and continuing education in a mainstream environment, one can notice the work of two opposing ways of life. If one could study a traditional identity closely, one may sometimes see a mainstream identity in most of that organization’s people. Usually, a culture is any group of individuals that share the same beliefs, philosophies, and customs; identity can be defined as the image and viewpoints that others see when they look at someone. When looking into someone’s traditional organization, one can easily see two opposing identities. Similarly, Robert Bellah explains the formation of identity in his essay â€Å"Community, Commitment, and Individuality† which shows how identity comes about. Traditional society places a moral authority over its subjects, while the mainstream society does not. Such power can be seen in the Old Chinese customs inside of Maxine Hong Kingston’s essay. Her essay â€Å"No Name Womanâ₠¬  discusses a story of a Chinese mother abusing her own power to teach her daughter a lesson in morality. Some people within a group are responsible for giving power and identity; power is the ability to have more influence inside a culture at the expense of someone else. In addition, Dean Barnlund argues that because both groups want to increase their own well being, their opposing identities must clash with one another. He talks about cultural behaviors in â€Å"Communication in a Global Village.† All of these authors provide key wisdom into such things as culture, identity, and power. Customs can sometimes become a problem. One discovers that it is mandatory that one must reexamine his own identity. Until then, many problems may surface when transitioning between two contradictory cultures. In o... ...d onto the responsibility of two separate viewpoints and values systems. The statements in this essay could or could not be true. Different meanings for culture, identity, and power, may exist out in the real world. The connections made in this essay may not be true to everyone because all of us have different definitions for these key terms. Such evidence in this essay leads to a conclusion of foreseeing becoming trapped between two different styles of beliefs. We saw that, two different beliefs comes from the groups that one has associated. When compared against other people these beliefs and experiences can be held responsible, cultural problems arise. These problems make someone’s switch between organizational climates harder for an individual. Based on all of this evidence, anyone can conclude that they have become locked out of both organizational climates.

Attentional Interference in Relation to the Stroop Effect :: essays research papers

Interference and facilitation are two important aspects of automatic processes. Interference refers to the range to which one process encumbers performance of another, whereas facilitation indicates the extent to which one process assists performance of another. Through practice and maturation, reading progresses from a controlled process to one that is automatic, lessening the demands on attentional resources. Stroop reported one of the first studies, which provided support for this, in 1935. He combined the word object/property dimensions in the same stimulus to create one of the most researched phenomena in cognitive psychology: The Stroop effect (MacLeod, 1991). He found that it was faster to read words than it was to name the corresponding object or their properties, including their color. Due to its key in understanding attention, the study that lead to many other related investigations, originated by examining interference in reading automaticity. Stroop furthered his research by creating tasks involving color naming and reading. He first compared the time it took to read color names printed in incongruent ink colors to a base line reading of color words. For the second part of his study, Stroop compared the time it took to name the ink color when congruent with the color word (e.g., blue printed in blue ink) to the time it took to name the ink color. By comparing the response times in the interference conditions to the control conditions he found that it took people longer to respond to the color of the ink when printed in a color incongruent to the color word (Stroop, 1995). The words interfere with naming the color; yet, the color does not interfere with reading the word. The nature of the Stroop effect results as a consequence of automaticity. People have difficulty ignoring the meaning of a word because, through practice, reading has become an automatic process. The two main explanations accounting for the Stroop effect in the past have been cognitive attentional processes involved in learning, controlled and automatic. As previously mentioned, when a process is automatic (for example reading), it is not only faster; it also does not rely on other cognitive resources. Controlled processes, for example color naming, are slow and demand more attentional resources. The theory is that an automatic process cannot successfully suppressed without causing interference of a controlled process. The second explanation, relative speed of processing, argues that the two processes involved in color naming and word reading are accomplished in parallel, but that word reading is carried out faster, assuming that the faster process will then interfere with the slower ones such as color naming (Dunbar and McLeod, 1984 as cited in Mel, 1997)

Engaging Strategy Essay

Introduction This paper will focus on constructing a strategy to engage and build rapport with a particular client on the provided vignette. The task is to navigate through obstacles that may arise that are unique to his characteristics including lack of information and limited research. To overcome these barriers of building rapport, the clinician must identify the client’s strengths and struggles as well as research scholarly literature on the client’s characteristics that are significantly different than the clinician’s to engage with and benefit the client’s session. Major Obstacles The major obstacles engaging with this particular client is the apparent lack of research on approaching a gay client with cultural competency, especially individuals who are intersected with other minority groups, in this case being Jewish as well as an older adult. According to Eubank-Carter, Curckell, and Goldfried (2005), as of 2003, only 54% of LGB-related articles have been based on empirical research and even less research addressing LGB people of color at a mere 12%. The lack of research on the client’s identity as a gay male poses as an obstacle as the clinician is a straight female, forming a barrier into building rapport on the basis of showing empathy and being relatable. According to Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, Strom-Gottfried, and Larsen (2013), building rapport with a client enables clients to gain trust in the helpful intent and goodwill of the social worker†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and further emphasizes, â€Å"cultural factors and language  differences compound potenti al barriers to rapport even further (pg. 47). The multiple cultural differences between the clinician and client acts as a barrier to building rapport as well as connecting the client with connection to resources to fulfill his request. Adding to the lack of research on the client’s sexual orientation, he also identifies as a Jewish American, which may be a sensitive topic in building rapport, because it is unknown if he identifies ethnically, religiously, both or none. According to Faulkner &Hecht (2010), for Jewish-American LGBTQ individuals, a significant issue that has been identified relates to the disclosure of their intersectional identity being a â€Å"twin threats of negative attitudes toward LGBTQ individuals and anti-Semitism† in which negative stigma towards LGBTQ identity was reinforced in Judaism, leaving those identifying as gay to conceal their sexual orientation and emphasizing their Jewish identity to avoid threats (Introduction section, pg. 830). This poses the delicate question of where the clie nt has a support system, as upon first impression, it will appear blurred. Finally regarding the supervisor’s concern of the client being in an Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) relationship with his partner, the lack of research on same-sex couples, specifically males, issues that may become an obstacle include the clinician subconsciously viewing the issue through a heterocentric lens. Not only is research lacking on LGBTQ in general, especially with IPV, there is lack of training on how to approach cliental for clinicians who were brought up in a heterocentric majority society. This is not surprising as out of a study of 108 clinical and counseling graduate students, the majority stated they felt unprepared to work with LGBTQ clients (Eubank-Carter et al 2005, pg. 2) (check citation). Although resources are available for LGBTQ clients to be self sufficient, because of these issues mentioned above, they are limited. Countertransference With this client, I struggled with countertransference in terms of past experience and projective identification. This is not my first encounter with an older, gay client applying for low-income housing and the past client sadly faced discrimination by those running and living in the facilities. I am also aware although 22 states have passed laws prohibiting  discrimination against sexual orientation in private or public housing, those who hold authority in these areas can refuse services to LGBTQ clients without legal reasoning (Hillman 2014, pg. 272). The past client faced this situation and this knowledge could affect my ability to not give an attitude that Joseph will automatically face the same result, thus affecting my ability to develop a proper relationship as clinician and client. Although this is a secondary concern to suspicion of IPV that takes priority, it is still relevant as it maybe revisited later, thus creating another obstacle to building rapport. Scholarly Liter ature Eubanks-Carter, Burckell & Goldfried’s article (2005) worked as a general guidebook for the clinician. It emphasized, â€Å"Our LGB clients are not only gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women; they are members of families, professions, and communities. Our goal is to affirm not only their sexual orientation, but their entire identity† (Eubanks-Carter et al, 2005, pg. 9). This was a reminder to learn to be culturally competent towards the client for more than just his sexual orientation, but as a whole with his other intersectional identities. Hillmans’ article (2014) covered the perspective of working with the client through the lens that he is gay and an older adult in his 70s. One important concept is point out that he grew up in an era where homosexuality in American was highly discriminated. According to Hillman (2014), the 1950s were a time when President Eisenhower issued 1953’s Executive Order #10450 ordering â€Å"homosexuals to be fired from government jobs† and McCarthy in 1954 included homosexuals in the group of â€Å"subversive elements†, (Historical and Cohort Effects, pg. 270). The client may still have negative feelings regarding homophobia from the past, thus it is imperative for the clinician to remain vigilant of her attitude and countertransference. Seelau & Seelau’s article (2005) gave insight as to why the client, if involved in an IPV relationship, maybe reluctant to report. According to research, â€Å"police are reportedly less likely to intervene in domestic violence cases that involve gay or lesbian couples, perhaps due to sexual prejudice (i.e., homophobia) or gender role-stereotypes that women cannot be  abusers and men cannot be abused (Seelau et al, 2005, pg. 364). It is important for the clinician to keep note of this fact as the client may have distrust for law enforcement, thus keeping the abuse a secret.

Mumbai-the City of Dreams Essay

Mumbai – the city of dreams, the city of broken dreams. Millions go unnoticed like sand castles washed away at the beach, millions are attracted by the skyscrapers of Elphinstone, and millions are immortalized like the Elephanta-s. From Haji Ali to Siddhivinayak, from local trains to the Vada Pav, from the boulders of Bandstand to the sands of Juhu, from Mangeshkar to Tendulkar, from the Khans to the Bachchans, it is ‘Aamchi Mumbai’ all the way. From the trawlers’ struggle for fresh catch to the country’s top CEO-s’ meetings, India’s business capital doesn’t seem to sleep. With fruit juice at Rs. 5 a glass outside railway stations, to Rs. 200 a cappuccino at the Trident, life in Mumbai sails smooth with all its diversity. The night remains young from DJ jamming sessions to ek chaalis ki last local. Almost a hundred Bollywood movies have had as their opening scene a long shot of Victoria Terminus, introducing Mumbai as sapno ki na gari. Arvind Swami’s lovelorn ‘Tu Hi Re’ on old fort reminds us of Bombay, whereas Ranbir Kapur’s ‘Wake up Sid’ sketches Mumbai on a realistic canvas. Dreams come true here, dreams shatter here, but life doesn’t go off the tracks. The locals move on, carrying few lakh dreaming hearts every day. The Churchgate slow local arrives on platform 3 of Lower Parel station at 11am with about a dozen hanging on each footboard; the ladies compartments have decked up corporate women in formals and topknots to Marathi fisherwomen rushing to the markets to sell their fresh catch. In fact, Mumbai traffic compels few office goers to park their cars at stations and take the reliable local to office everyday! ‘Bombay to Goa’ to ‘Saathiya’, the local train has repeatedly come on the silver screen. Even the Oscar winning Indian movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ had one of its popular songs shot at the famous Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus platform. Over the decades, it has turned out to be Mumbai’s lifeline. The tracks take a three hour daily break from 1:40am to 4:45am, CST to Khopoli, Churchgate to Dahanu. There are three main lines — the Western, Central and the Harbour line. Life in Mumbai revolves around local trains; the truth about which was felt when the Motormen strike on May 3rd, 2010 had left Mumbai chaotic and overturned. Another thing that raises tourist’s eyebrows is the ‘on-track’ vendors and their items. The ladies on their way buy household items to earrings to kurti-s. There is trial option also; anyone can try a kurti before choosing to buy! Another familiar face in the 9:01am Ambernath-Lower Parel II class ladies compartment is a lady who sells home-made sweets. She has an amazing style of calling out the names of the sweets, a shrill loud voice coming unexpectedly out of her frail structure, and women indeed go berserk buying her delicacies. It is perhaps correctly said, â€Å"You will find answers to all the mysteries of the world, except one— What does a woman want?† The engine siren pierces through the silence of the night, the bogies rattle on the tracks, the signals go red and green, the pebbles on the fishplates turn and overturn, and the Mumbai locals go on and on.

Improved writing Essay

Probable Solutions: Reassign executives and match with the members Others to provide assistance whenever necessary Retrench one of the employees since two of eight executives have full-time administrative assistants anyway and only six are actually being serviced Benefits: To the employees †¢ Manageable and productive work To the company †¢ Cost savings To the supervisor †¢ Productivity improvement †¢ Less stressful †¢ Deadlines more likely to be met Draft My office provides secretarial support for the eight members of the executive team. Currently, their assignment is as follows: †¢ Jack Snieder is assigned to Ralph Cajun and Jessica Hilo †¢ Rachel King is assigned to Melanie Razor and David Thomson †¢ Bonnie Disselkoen is assigned to Samuel Daily and Frank Daily †¢ Molly Smakowski is assigned to Larry Miller and Victor Potack However, I have noticed that Jack and Rachel frequently have nothing to do, while Bonnie and Molly usually require overtime hours at least twice a month. Upon delving further, I learned that Melanie Razor and Jessica Hilo share a full-time administrative assistant who completes most of their secretarial work. On the other hand, Samuel and Frank Daily have no administrative assistant while Larry Miller’s assistant works only 15 hours a week. From this alone, we can already see a disparity in work assignments causing two of my team members to be overworked while the other two are underworked. For the former two, this could lead to stress and fatigue while for the latter two, work for them might lose its value since they have settled into boredom and lack of challenge. Moreover, the company is unnecessarily paying overtime costs. The best solution that I can see to this problem is to reassign the executives to a different member of the team. This way, the work load would be better distributed among the team members. There are no indications that the pairings of executives have anything to do with any common requirements. It may be that they were merely randomly assigned without making a careful study of the workload each executive would be giving. While present assignments can be maintained and just require the other members to assist when the other is loaded with work, this is not as good a solution because the sense of ownership will not be there. They will not have the proper motivation to turn out a good work when they will not get full credit. Another idea is retrenching one of the employees since two of eight executives have full-time administrative assistants anyway and only six are actually being serviced. This is not possible since not only would it lower morale even further, we are still unsure how much work load is given by the other six executives. If such a solution proves to be effective, this will impact a lot of factors. We will be seeing an increase in individual productivity. Each member of the team will get a boost in their morale for doing manageable work that is equally distributed. Work will be better organized and the capability of each team member will be fully tapped. This will also mean savings to the company since overtime costs will be lessened or even totally eliminated. This would affect the Supervisor’s work as well since the personnel will now be self-sufficient and self-motivated, she will have more time to focus on other administrative work. There will be less stress and deadlines are more likely to be met. MEMORANDUM To : Liz Jakowski From : My Name. Date : 02 February 2008 Subject : Productivity Improvement Currently, my office provides secretarial support for the eight members of the executive team. Their assignment is as follows: †¢ Jack Snieder is assigned to Ralph Cajun and Jessica Hilo †¢ Rachel King is assigned to Melanie Razor and David Thomson †¢ Bonnie Disselkoen is assigned to Samuel Daily and Frank Daily †¢ Molly Smakowski is assigned to Larry Miller and Victor Potack However, I have noticed that Jack and Rachel frequently have nothing to do, while Bonnie and Molly usually require overtime hours at least twice a month. Upon delving further, I learned that Melanie Razor and Jessica Hilo share a full-time administrative assistant who completes most of their secretarial work. Thus, this frees up a lot of Jack and Rachel’s time. On the other hand, Samuel and Frank Daily have no administrative assistant and are fully dependent on Bonnie while Larry Miller’s assistant works only 15 hours a week which also does not give Molly that much free time. It is apparent that there is a disparity in work assignments and work loads causing two of my team members to be overworked while the other two are under worked. This unevenness in work distribution could lead to stress and fatigue for the former two. For the latter two, there is the possibility that work for them might lose its value since they are slowly settling into a state of lethargy due to lack of a challenge. Such disparity also costs the company a lot of money in overtime costs which has to be paid to Bonnie and Molly if they are to meet the deadline imposed by the executives. I have worked my way up from a mere clerk and, until three moths ago, into an office manager. I have actual experience and exposure to what each of my staff are experiencing now. This work imbalance is certain to be taking a toll on their morale and motivation. I am, therefore, confident to recommend that we reassign the executives to a different secretarial support. This way, the work load would be better distributed among the team members. There are no indications that the pairings of executives have anything to do with any common requirements, that they cannot be separated and reassigned. It may be that they were merely randomly assigned without making a careful study of the workload each executive would be giving. Hence, I foresee that there should be no problems with regard to the executive’s preference as there may be none. It has been considered to retain present assignments and just require the other members to assist when the others seem to be loaded with work. This is not an efficient solution because of several reasons such as the sense of ownership will not be there. They will not have the proper motivation to turn out a good work when they will not get full credit. It is also a burden administratively since the supervisor would constantly have to go around and assess the work load of each individual at that particular moment. Retrenching a member of the team was also considered since there are two executives who had full-time administrative assistants anyway. This, however, cannot and will not be endorsed as this would lower morale even further and there’s the danger of losing the trust and cooperation of the team, which at this time of management changes, is an important factor. Moreover, we are still not entirely sure of the workload of the six other executives and to cut head now may be too premature. Hence, reassignment would be the best option and the proposal is as follows: †¢ Jack is assigned Ralph Cajun and Larry Miller †¢ Rachel is assigned Samuel Daily and Melanie Razor †¢ Bonnie is assigned Frank Daily and Jessica Hilo †¢ Molly is assigned David Thomson and Victor Potack This reassignment aims to address disproportionate work distribution. It is anticipated that with the work load relatively evenly distributed, we will be seeing an increase in individual productivity. Each member of the team will get a boost in their morale for doing work that is manageable. The tasks can be better organized and the capability of each team member can be explored, fully tapped and optimized. For the company, this would translate into savings on overtime costs. This would impact the Supervisor’s work, as well, such that close monitoring would no longer be as necessary as before since the staff will be self-sufficient and self-motivated. This will allow for more time to focus on other managerial and administrative work. There will be less stress as deadlines are more likely to be met. I hope that my proposal will be met with your favorable consideration.

Advantages and disadvantages of the literal rule Essay

The advantages of the literal rule is that it respects the sovereignty of parliament and prevents unelected judges from making law. Viscount Simmonds argued that it was not open to judges to fill in gaps, as Lord Denning wanted, or otherwise alter statutes. If a gap was enclosed then ‘theremedy lies in an Amending Act’ The literal rule also encourages certainty and because there is less room for interpretation, there is likely to be less litigiation. People know where they stand because the wording will not change. This also makes the law predictable. And lawyers are able to advise their clients on the likely outcome. Another advantage is that its leads to quicker decisions because the answer/outcome can be found just by using a dictionary this means it takes less time to find out the outcome of a case. A disadvantage of the literal rul would be it can lead to absurd decisions that clearly was not wanted by parliament when the Act was made an example would be Berriman v London railway co – when the wife of a railway maintence worker couldn’t claim for compensation for his death, who died because he didn’t have a lookout when he should have, this was because her husband was only maintaining and not ‘replacing’ or ‘relaying’ the tracks. Parliament would have intend for the wife to claim. But due to the literal rule she could not. Its not always possible to word or pharse an Act to cover every situations e.g. its against the law to steal but the literal rule means it didn’t cover stealing your own property. Therefore some circumstances that parilment intended wont be covered. Another disadvantage would be that the literal rule assumes that the parilmenty draftsmen would always do their jobs perfectly every single time, ovbiously this isnt possible as in human nature mistakes are made. For example the law commission in the 1969 report said â€Å"you cannot put emphasis on the literal meaning of words, is to assume an unattainable perfection in draftsmanship†

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION - Essay Example Nonetheless, due to the clash of trading principles, it is often difficult to come up with an equitable decision which is favoured by the parties. In view of that, business-minded individuals (merchants) have led the call for an international tribunal who will decide on conflicting claims pertaining to international commercial dealings. Thus, the phrase â€Å"international commercial arbitration† has been formulated and put into issue. International commercial tribunals have been created—settling disputes by integrating the different principles in trade and commerce—mostly applying the â€Å"lex mercatoria† (law of merchants). In this sense, it can be stated that â€Å"the lex mercatoria is indeed a live subject: more so today than at almost any time over the last generation† (Fortier, 2001). â€Å"Disputes are inevitable occurrences† in international relations especially in commercial transactions—failure or refusal to pay in accordance with the stipulations provided in a contract is one of the main causes of conflict (Lew, et al., 2003). To settle the differences of the contracting parties, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms are made available. Arbitration is actually one of the non-judicial methods of settling commercial disputes which has been exhaustively applied by some states and entities. In fact, some of the countries in the world have included arbitration as part of their law on civil procedure like Germany and France. Arbitration is a procedure by which conflicting claims of two or more individuals or entities with regard to their shared rights and obligations is heard and resolved by an arbitrator—the agreement reached by the parties has a binding effect (Halsburys Laws of England, as cited in Lew, et al., 2003, p. 3). As such , it has four fundamental features which include the following: an alternative to judicial proceeding, a private way of resolving disputes, parties can select and control the process, and final resolution of

Evolution of Health Care Information Systems Paper Essay

Evolution of Health Care Information Systems Paper - Essay Example An information system may simply be defined as an arrangement of people, technology, processes and data that interact to gather, process, store, transfer and provide output in form of useful information that supports the organization. The HCIS (Health Care Information System) traditionally was developed to primarily manage financial and administrative data with an aim of supporting management functions as well as general operations of the organization that deals in healthcare services (Tan, 2005). Administrative applications of HCIS include admission, transfer and discharge registration, scheduling, accounts receivable and patient billing, utilization management, payroll, staff scheduling, material management, general ledger and accounts payable administration (Tan, 2005). The clinical information system on the other hand contains clinical/ health related information that is related to diagnosing, monitoring and treating patients. Clinical applications generally consist of the ancillary information system and other systems which include nursing documentation, medication administration, tele-health and telemedicine, electronic medical record and provider order entry. Changes witnessed in healthcare systems have become real, more as a result of advancements in information systems, medical technology and healthcare delivery, and management practices (Tan, 2005). Up to the early 1980s, HIS (Healthcare Information Systems) were more oriented towards information â€Å"supply† for purposes of conducting business. Attention however shifted over time to a system that is more â€Å"demand† oriented; information and its importance. This led to the gradual replacement of pencils, calculators, paper and cards, mechanical punches and people for performing vital tasks (Dudeck, Blobel, Lordieck & Bà ¼rkle, 1997). The typical office in the healthcare facility then was characterized by cumbersome and labor intensive work methods. These methods and systems were later

Music - Rock and Roll Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Music - Rock and Roll - Essay Example This principle helps them to look and differentiate between ordinary and underground music. Modern Garage movement tries to show people how they are engrossed in their own doings and how individuals can reform themselves within the normal capitalist. The movement tries to prevent the idea of capitalist manipulation over individuals. This idea was mostly practiced by the traditional and underground music (Abbey, 2006, Pg 50). Garage movement has addressed the importance of people practicing uniqueness and avoiding indulges in normal actions. The movement has come up with a way to teach individuals on ways to become engrossed in the normal actions of the society. This is because of how the group has provided a longing of music for times and periods. The engrossment to mainstream society activities has given people an option to how people should become biased to capitalist involvement of individuals. When Garage rock was starting its movement, they received unexpected responses from peo ple at the market places. This is a normal encounter to any emerging music movement because it has not yet established itself properly. The movement found this uncertainty to be helpful to them since they were able to show people the difference between ordinary music and the way to perform real music. The movement enjoyed the mixing of the music people longed for and the changing of the past with severity and sarcasm of the current America. Modern Garage movement started with the aim of supporting an American society and still has the goal of addressing the importance of uniqueness. The first Garage group that was successful incorporated both characteristics of the past, and connected them in the modern background. This was a challenge for the underground music because they thought that Garage style was not going to be successful. This was not hard-core or confrontation music, but it brought actual rock music. The underground music became the concern with those involved with Garage music, but they also offered a chance for new music to come up. Modern Garage shows interest to go back to periods when revolt was taken lightly (Fox & Chings, 2008, Pg 44). This is demonstrated by how they play their music and the attitude presented in the performance. Modern Garage music is related to self-longing version within people’s culture. These versions started from Britain and the backgrounds of the 1960 Greek culture. It is also noted that Hollywood films have demonstrated these versions of rebellion, which are acceptable in the societal customs. Some participants claim that these actions are intrusive, and can result to violent actions while others suggests that the music is a set of music that force people to the principles of music standards. There are people who are fond of the mainstreaming music while others have a negative feeling about the music and they are interested in the underground music (Fox & Ching, 2008, Pg 57). There are certain times that indivi duals are given an opportunity to come up with modern Garage music within certain periods of longing rebellion. The periods that are demonstrated are those that show times in which revolt were realized in the societies and made people be shocked because of certain happenings. The current world has denied people a chance to revolt. This is the reason as to why people get involved into Garage rock so that they can demonstrate some rebellion as they are

Summary of The Tempest Drama by Shakespeare Essay

Summary of The Tempest Drama by Shakespeare - Essay Example The concept of unveiling the play’s events in a long continuous order dents the play. A good player needs to spell out chronological ideas but these ideas should not run as a prolonged course during the presentation (Baker 145- 150). It is advisable to initiate breaks in the play. An effective component of developing breaks in the play is using songs. The writer should have composed a simple song and made it run throughout the drama. The song should appear before the introduction of key scenes. This not only breaks the monotony in the play but also prepares the viewers for the introduction of a novel idea. Songs are also effective in emphasizing the theme of the play or in recruiting the audience to participate in the play. Audience involvement makes the play be livelier. Another effective approach is dramatizing the play and using other live performance accompaniments. This involves employing approaches such us beating of the drum or other percussion appliances in intervals. Moreover, the play may amalgamate the performance with some melodies from the background. A critical application of these apparatus can improve the live performance. Additionally, the choice of language and tone can radically develop the performance. This means the presentation of different concepts or ideas using varying tones become necessary. Some moods or themes may need to be presented using a low tone while others may demand a high tone. Similarly, some statements need to be cool while others set to depict harshness. Tonal variations sway the audience’s mood making them identify with the play’s mood. Furthermore, the practice improves audience’s attentiveness hence an effective aspect of avoiding boredom. This makes the play interesting and lively. The use of gestures is also a key component of a good play. This critical constituent entirely depends on the actors used in the play. Gestures involve the use of body idioms in speaking the desired information. This entails facial expressions and movement of body parts. Of great consideration is the correct use of these gestures because if used incorrectly, they influence negatively on the quality and usefulness of the plays. Specific expressions and movements are suitable for a particular scenario or theme. In some degrees, this should include the use of appropriate outfits and make-ups. This becomes necessary since the appearance of the performer influences audience’s attitude. It is of worth noting that, gestures outweigh verbal language in communicating certain messages. Gestures naturalize message delivery hence making the play lively (Baker, 120). Importantly, there are some stylistic devices which if effectively utilized can improve the play. Firstly, humorous characters can appear in some scenes presenting the definite message. Humorous characters may involve culprits of ignorance, the misinformed group or chauvinists. These actors simply clash with basic societal ideologie s because of their compromised state. Their condition lands them into awkward and sometimes shameful encounters, which make them perplexed.

4 short questions Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

4 short questions - Movie Review Example The play was a major success because of the great measure of its development and the subsequent production offered by the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. As a result the play was made into a film based on the audience reaction (Letts, 12). The poet T.S. Eliot is quoted and referenced in the play due to the fact that the main concept put across is that of life. Letts uses quotes from one of his poems ‘The Hollow men’ which is a poem that talks more about broken souls. The reason for this is because the play focuses on a dysfunctional family that is in a crisis and is broken. The theme of broken souls based on the poem is followed throughout the play as the drama unfolds. ‘Life is very Long’, this is a quote that is referenced by Beverly when she expounds about life and poetry to Johnna (Lett, 14). Based on the interview conducted on Letts, I do not agree with the blogger’s statement. This is because most of the people in Oklahoma are of the Native American background and thus for Letts to include this character there was strong thematic resonance involved. There was also need to connect with most of the audience that were within that background. Johnna character purpose was to be that of a carer to the family and thus her roles were aimed at providing care and support service especially to Violet who was an addict of prescriptions medicine. Her presence does not affect me as a reader as her character represents a real life situation in Oklahoma (Letts, 16). The character that I identified with is that of Barbara, the eldest daughter. This is due to the fact that she portrayed the role of being a devoted daughter despite the crisis that was in the family and the fact that her mother was an addict. For instance, during a family dinner in act two she stood up in front of everyone and declared that she was going to run things from then henceforth. This scene shows that she