The Mexican Corridos Of 1910-1930 - 870 Words

The Mexican Corridos of 1910-1930 not only depict the lives of certain foreigners living in Mexico and in the United States during this time, but also illustrate what their experiences were like in such locations. While several individuals criticized the life in Mexico, and others criticized the life in the United States, the one thing that remained constant in almost all corridos was the fact that the criticism of Mexico was mainly aimed at the overall poverty of the country, while criticism of life in the United States focused mostly on the well-being and class of Americans themselves and not so much on the country’s financial status. While many corridos focused on the negative aspects of American society, most of them dealt with the harsh economic conditions that Mexico is a part of. For instance, in the second corrido titled â€Å"Advice to the Northerners† , the speaker praises life in the United States while criticizing life in Mexico by stating that â€Å"now y ou will be lunching and eating good ham, ‘cause here in our country [Mexico] you can’t even buy pants†. Additionally, he goes on to say that â€Å"things are like hell† in Mexico and that the only thing increasing in Mexico are â€Å"thieves by the bushel†. Finally, towards the end, he mentions that â€Å"here [Mexico] even if we work hard we are always naked†. Such comments are obviously against life in Mexico but, all comments focused on the harsh economic conditions of Mexico and NOT on the value and class of its MexicanShow MoreRelatedMexican Folk Songs Or Corridos1468 Words   |  6 PagesMexican folk songs or corridos have encounter great change over the years. Some of the changes of corridos can be credited to the different culture we live in now. Corridos in the past have been about the Mexican-American War, but most recently corridos began to be about life struggles such as immigration and the violent drug war. While the topics of co rridos have changed over the years, corridos keep a familiar format with focusing on key issues of oppression, daily life, and socially relevant eventsRead MoreThe Mexican Revolution1259 Words   |  6 PagesThe Mexican Revolution began November 20th, 1910. It is disputable that it extended up to two decades and seized more than 900,000 lives. This revolution, however, also ended dictatorship in Mexico and restored the rights of farm workers, or peons, and its citizens. Revolutions are often started because a large group of individuals want to see a change. These beings decided to be the change that they wanted to see and risked many things, including their lives. Francisco â€Å"Pancho† Villa and EmilianoRead MoreResearch Assignment : Mexican Americans1971 Words   |  8 Pages Research Assignment: Mexican Americans Andrea Mamich Patricia Chase, MSW, LCSW, EdD West Virginia University Mexican American’s hold a great deal of history with the United States. War and land purchases were major factors that lead Mexicans to the United States. Some current U.S. states were once part of Mexico, where many Mexicans inhabited. Around 1846 there was war between the U.S. and Mexico over the annexation of Texas. The U.S. was victorious over this war and becauseRead MoreIb History Paper 3 Guide5040 Words   |  21 PagesSabrina Shaw Hunter 2A IB History of the Americas HL 7 November 2012 Paper 3 Guide: Mexican Revolution Bullet Points: Defined and Summarized: 1. Causes of the Mexican Revolution: social, economic, and political; the role of the Porfiriato regime * Porfirio Dà ­az was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 to 1910. His regime is known as the Porfiriato regime. Dà ­az’s social ideologies and aims were to divide and rule, obtain absolute power Dà ­az’s methods were the Pan o Palo policy and the spoilRead MoreThe History of Dance9217 Words   |  37 Pagesfolk or national dances. chasse - A sliding step in which one foot chases and displaces the other. chat, pas de - Catlike leap in which one foot follows the other into the air, knees bent; the landing is in the fifth position. Chipanecas - A Mexican Folk dance from the province of Chiapas. Its popularity is due to the charming air plus the audience participation during the time the dancers request the audience to clap hands with them. It is in 3/4 time and based on Spanish patterns. Charleston

Unit 1 - D1 – Evaluate Interpersonal and Written...

D1 – Evaluate interpersonal and written communication techniques. Introduction The most important thing when presenting is your interpersonal skills. Throughout this project I believe my interpersonal skills were good but there were plenty of improvements I could have made, I have been really successful in developing my interpersonal skills, I believe that it should be important that every student has the opportunity to improve their presentational skills or communication skills because at some point they will need it. Unit 1 had tested my confidences and had me use a variety of interpersonal skills such as eye contact, movement, body language and my written techniques was also put to use and assessed in this unit. Evaluating my†¦show more content†¦Team work is the most respected attribute in an employee as I mentioned earlier in the evaluation, we were assessed on our team work. I worked with a classmate when creating the presentation. I created the slides while he did research on the topic and as our presentation was about computer components, my group member suggested that we borrow a motherboard from I.T support to support our presentation. All in all we managed to finish the presentation in less than a week, and we passed first time around, we were the first group to present in our class and I and my team member think we did pretty well. I chose to work with one person for our presentation because then it’s easier to communicate with one person and we could split the responsibility so it was easier to manage. What I have learnt from watching others present having watched my peers/classmates presentations I have basically picked up a few do’s and don’ts while presenting. Some groups made obvious mistakes and they had to re-do the presentation, at the end of the presentation we had to assess the group which presented and then point out places for improvement. For example a few groups kept making the same mistake by facing the board and just reading of the board while others just stood there not participating hiding while other members of their group presented, there was this one incident where one group copied and pasted a text which they were unable toShow MoreRelatedOperations Management23559 Words   |  95 PagesChapter 1-17 Operations Management Roberta Russell Bernard W. Taylor, III Organization of This Text: Part I – Operations Management Intro. to Operations and Supply Chain Management: Quality Management: Statistical Quality Control: Product Design: Service Design: Processes and Technology: Facilities: Human Resources: Project Management: Chapter 1 (Slide 5) Chapter 2 (Slide 67) Chapter 3 (Slide 120) Chapter 4 (Slide 186) Chapter 5 (Slide 231) Chapter 6 (Slide 276) Chapter 7 (Slide 321) ChapterRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesprior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, or you may fax your request to 201-236-3290. Many of the designations by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish th eir products areRead MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 PagesCONTENTS: CASE STUDIES CASE STUDY 1 Midsouth Chamber of Commerce (A): The Role of the Operating Manager in Information Systems CASE STUDY I-1 IMT Custom Machine Company, Inc.: Selection of an Information Technology Platform CASE STUDY I-2 VoIP2.biz, Inc.: Deciding on the Next Steps for a VoIP Supplier CASE STUDY I-3 The VoIP Adoption at Butler University CASE STUDY I-4 Supporting Mobile Health Clinics: The Children’s Health Fund of New York City CASE STUDY I-5 Read MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 PagesStrategic Marketing Management Dedication This book is dedicated to the authors’ wives – Gillian and Rosie – and to Ben Gilligan for their support while it was being written. Acknowledgements Our thanks go to Janice Nunn for all the effort that she put in to the preparation of the manuscript. Strategic Marketing Management Planning, implementation and control Third edition Richard M.S. Wilson Emeritus Professor of Business Administration The Business School Loughborough University Read MoreMerger and Acquisition: Current Issues115629 Words   |  463 Pagesmatter  © Greg N. Gregoriou and Karyn L. Neuhauser 2007 Individual chapters  © contributors 2007 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency

Competition in Sydney Airport Industry Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about theCompetition in Sydney Airport(Monopoly) Industry. Answer: Introduction To understand the competition, a brief discussion, at the theoretical degrees, numerous economic competition aspects amid secondary and primary airports are presented. The actual airports competition and potential efficiency results of competition on the basis of service quality along with pricing from having the secondary airport are further provided (Forsyth 2017). Assessing the roles of competitions as an alternative for monitoring price besides supplementary regulation reforms is also presented. The efficiencies of secondary airports contrasted to the primary ones as well as the potential pitfalls to airport entry as well as competition are provided as well (Forsyth 2017). The airline ratings for quality of service at Sydney airport can be illustrated below: Competition The concept of elasticity is useful in fathoming the drivers of demand for air travel. The elasticities gives the measurement for the demand responsiveness for air travel to alterations in certain variables like income or price. The figure below explains the aeronautical revenue per passenger as well as entire quality of service ratings. The price for business travel remains less sensitive to compared to leisure purposes. The demand or air travel is relatively sensitive to both income and price (Goetz 2017). The demand that a given airline faces hinges on macroeconomic variables and other factors more straight under its control. In the contemporary world, Airline Industry remains the foremost competitive and prominent industries. The industry generates enormous quantities of income and employment. The business travel is on the increase and airlines are presently investing further. The airlines have undergone huge-scale privatization as substantial component of airline used to be owned by government. The Airports have market power and very little can be done to reduce such a power. Airport Parking Profits 2015-2016 can be illustrated below: Airport Profit Margin (%) Profit ($) Sydney 73.1 97.8 Brisbane 66.1 58.8 Melbourne 59.0 79.9 Perth 55.6 35.4 There has been drastic rise in quantity of air service providers due to privatization. Both the Sydney Airport Corporation and Federal Government are being urged to put a stop to the row over the terms to build the 2nd airport amid fears hard negotiations might delay the critical project and creep up its visibility. The chief airports in different cities never compete extremely, with an exception of occasional hub traffic attraction. The main type of active competition among the airports is the competition between secondary and primary airports in Sydney for low-cost carrier traffic. The stable low-cost carriers growth has particularly impacted the airport competition (Hazledine 2017). This takes place by being a catalyst for developing low-cost airports. It further acts by compelling legacy airports such as the ones that serve full-service carriers predominantly to engage in competition on the basis of service and price offerings. Various legacy airports have subsequently lost the historical virtual monopolies thereby motivating corresponding management to construct facilities which shall be increasingly competitive with the low-cost types (Haines 2017). The competition between secondary and primary airports has negative and positive characteristics subject to the various structural and locational variables in the catchment of airport. The rivalry can culminate in better air traffic allocations to airports along with push inefficient airports to improve their performance, thereby leading to enhanced outcomes of price at such airports. Inefficiencies in traffic allocations in certain scenarios emerge from failure by price to reflect costs and where subsidies ensure that secondary airports prices remain artificially stayed low. The market share development of main airports, 2002-2010 is shown below: City Main airport(s) (and distance from city centre) Alternative airport(s) (and distance from city centre) Change main airports' market share 2002-2010 Belfast Belfast International (12km) George Best (5km) -3.2% Paris Charles de Gaulle (25km); Orly (13km) Beauvais-Tille (85km) -2.7% Oslo Gardermoen (35km) Moss, Rygge (60km); Sandefjord, Torp (118km) -8.1% Sydney Airport: performance and potential competition from a second airport Milan Linate (8km); Malpensa (40km) Bergamo (45km) -17.4% Stockholm Arlanda (37km); Bromma (7km) Skavsta (100km); Vasteras (110km) -22.4% The airports within identical catchment compete to appeal to inbound as well as outbound airline traffic on the bases of price and quality of services offerings and via the essential aeronautical services provisions. Airports that share overlying catchment regions provide a more convenient as well as competitive pricing as forms of competition for the outbound traffic (passengers and airlines). Airports which are increasingly approachable via public transport or roads and with extremely non-stop services permit travelers to bypass hubs thereby delivering greater quality in regards to time of travel. Further, airports that appeal to low-cost carriers achieve a sustained competitive advantage in the sense that such can provide lower prices for corresponding flights, catchment area expansions (along with demand) by appealing to passengers who are prices conscious. Inbound (or competition) could as well happen amid airports. It describes the possibility to attract passengers and supplementary users only via surrounding environment attractiveness (the hinterland) or via airport features itself. This takes place among the airports that have a huge inbound traffics share that are usually situated nearby destinations of tourists. The quality offered services determines the airports catchment area size, competition intensity and outbound or inbound demand level. For instance, a small-medium size airport providing domestic/regional flights shall never compete extensively with giant hub airports that offer long-haul global traffic since they provide diverse routes along with catering for diverse types of passengers. The bottom line is that whereas airports directly compete with each other based on service offering and price, the extent and nature of such a rivalry anchors various factors within catchment that determines passenger and airline demand at unique airport. The efficiency as well as pricing with competition in airport can be understood. Whereas it is a normal anticipation that escalated competition would remain beneficial economically, this is untrue in airport market and is reliant on diverse locational and structural features of corresponding airports. Nevertheless, it has been claimed that in case a secondary airport is established and derives traffic from a primary airport (that faces excess demand), its entry will probably culminate in extremely efficient flights allocation to airports within the region. This is probably the Sydney Airport case that has been predicted in the Joint Study to feature excess demand by the year 2035. In Sydney, competition will automatically limit monopoly power of Sydney Airport. This is unhidden where this Airport is subjected to rivalry from additional airports. Its aptitude to establish/set prices, non-airside or airside, is restrained by competitions strength. This is due to the fact 2nd airport entering the industry will be increasingly capable of offering lower-costs than primary airport since it will either be increasingly efficient or supple to the low-cost carriers requirements. The primary airports monopoly status could have implied that they previously evaded the costs minimization or failed to maintain price beyond efficient level; for those airports a scope to decrease entire aeronautical charges level to airlines. For airports lacking such capabilities of reducing prices in the short term, secondary airport rivalry could compel the primary ones to undertake cost review to reduce charges of aeronautical over the medium-longer run and appeal to carriers that are low-cost. It might be that rivalry from secondary airport prompts measures capable of enhancing efficiency at primary airport that had historically permitted costs to increase where it lacked competition (Kumar 2017). The introduction of a 2nd Sydney airport shall establish competition for the Kingsford Smith Airport, however, it remains questionable whether the benefits from adopting a duopoly shall be substantial. The foremost probably scenario will be that Sydney Airport Corporation Limited shall grab the 1st refusal right to construct and run the airport (Seedhouse 2017). Government Controls The airports are subjects to numerous kinds of price regulation as well as monitoring thereby curbing the market power. Effective regulatory regimes are required to bar the probable market power abuse by private monopolies. The chief kings of economic regulation is categorized a cost-oriented encompassing ROI regulation, alongside incentive-oriented regulation including price-cap (was effective in Sydney Airport along with Australian airport till 2002). Economic regulation could be effective in holding aeronautical along with non-aeronautical service charges at acceptable degrees alongside curbing corresponding market power. Conversely, economic regulation has such drawbacks as being ineffective due to imperfect info regulators collect relating to firms dynamic particularly around actual costs (Seedhouse 2017). A strong competition between airports is, therefore, the magic solution/substitute for economic regulation because even in cases where rivalry cannot propel price to marginal costs, airports shall remain increasingly efficient (Xiao et al. 2017). The gained efficiency will outstrip deadweight loss triggered by increased prices in absence of regulation. Substitute The substitutes to primary monopoly Sydney Airport are the cheaper secondary airports. The secondary airports cost are generally lower than primary ones and can effectively compete based on prices. This is where the low-cost carriers remain enticed to utilize secondary airports. Additional variables as congestion absence are essential in enticing traffic to 2nd airport thereby making operation costs of airline less; alongside reduced head-head competition with carriers that offer full service than at the primary airport. Nevertheless, the secondary airports strongest selling point is lower charges (Arblaster 2017). The average airline survey ratings can be as presented below: Conclusion The secondary airports will offer lower accessibility to low-cost carriers since it undertake to supply a service of lower quality. For instance, secondary airports have low-cost terminal whereas primary one has costly and high quality terminal (Adapa and Roy 2017). Where secondary airport terminal operations variable costs are lower, it will be efficient for low-cost carriers appeal to secondary airport, given that it is never prepared to pay for greater quality of service. Bibliography Adapa, S. and Roy, S.K., 2017. Case Study 6: Malaysian Airlines Versus AirAsia: Customer Satisfaction, Service Quality and Service Branding. In Services Marketing Cases in Emerging Markets (pp. 67-75). Springer International Publishing. Arblaster, M., 2017. Regulation in markets facing uncertainty: The case of Australia. Journal of Air Transport Management. Forsyth, P., 2017. Pre-financing airport investments, efficiency and distribution: Do airlines really lose?. Journal of Air Transport Management. Goetz, A.R., 2017. 15. Air transport: speed, global connectivity and timespace convergence. Handbook on Geographies of Technology, p.211. Haines, F., 2017. Regulation and risk. Regulatory Theory: Foundations and applications, p.181. Hazledine, T., 2017. Mixed pricing in monopoly and oligopoly: theory and implications for merger analysis. New Zealand Economic Papers, pp.1-14. Kumar, M., 2017. Law, Statistics, PublicPrivate Partnership and the Emergence of a New Subject. In Accumulation in Post-Colonial Capitalism (pp. 59-74). Springer Singapore. Robins, S.F., 2017. A Better Flight Path: How Ottawa can Cash In on Airports and Benefit Travellers. Seedhouse, E., 2017. Point-to-Point Transportation. In Spaceports Around the World, A Global Growth Industry (pp. 95-100). Springer International Publishing. Xiao, Y.B., Fu, X., Oum, T.H. and Yan, J., 2017. Modeling airport capacity choice with real options. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 100, pp.93-114.

Effects of TV Violence on Children

Question: Describe about the Effects of TV Violence on Children. Answer: Introduction In todays generation, children watch more TV than ever. They just love being a couch- potato and given a chance can watch TV all day long! Children watch a typical of four hours of TV on a daily basis. Television, being a powerful source of influence on children, is projecting negative effects on children through its alarmingly rising violent content. Through this research work, a study would be done on its related causes and the effects on children and how it affects the behavioral pattern (Wosje et al., 2009). This study is quite relevant and important to the field of Business/ Management Studies as what children perceive and understand can impact their thought process and the way they explore, perform, and interact with parents and others, and can help in better learning. This also aids in a healthy physical and social development (Fusco, 2015). Exposure to certain types of information and violent shows can affect a childs capacity to be active bodily, relate with others and spend some time with his/her, family or peers. Nowadays there are many shows which do not distinguish between moral and immoral, right or wrong, what is appropriate and what is not. So generally, children pick up all the wrong clues and accept them to be legit. Nobody tells them about the consequences of these actions. When enquired about shows evaluated as informative/educational, it was reported by the children about learning socio-emotional things rather than information or reasoning things. It is evident that maxi mum music videos contain interpersonal violence, and adolescent children love watching these. We now know that children do have an extensive and role-modeling capacities. The fact that the child prefers to enact the violence rather than just be an observer, is of special concern to specialists. The ground of media violence is a new borderline where doctors can encourage health over community schooling and support (Fusco, 2015). Limitation It was difficult to conduct questionnaires face-to-face with working parents. The feelings of children who are the real subject of discussion have not been considered. The report has drawn conclusions only based upon the opinions of parents. Maybe interviewing the children who are TV fans can help researchers better understand what kind of influence violence shows have on children (Schaeffer and Presser, 2003). Recommendation Children have a very curious mind and they constantly need some form of entertainment to keep them busy and thinking actively. Parents play the biggest role in guiding their children. Through spending more and more quality time and interacting with children, parents can feed the curious minds of their offspring and prevent them from being negatively influenced by TV violence. References Brink, P. (2001). Violence on TV and Aggression in Children.Western Journal of Nursing Research, 23(1), pp.5-7. Fusco, R. (2015). Socioemotional Problems in Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: Mediating Effects of Attachment and Family Supports.Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Prez-Ugena, ., Menor-Sendra, J. and Salas-Martnez, . (2010). Violence in TV: Analysis of Childrens Programming.Comunicar: Media Education Research Journal, 18(35), pp.105-112. Schaeffer, N. and Presser, S. (2003). The Science of Asking Questions. Annual Review of Sociology, 29(1), pp.65-88. Wosje, K., Khoury, P., Claytor, R., Copeland, K., Kalkwarf, H. and Daniels, S. (2009). Adiposity and TV Viewing Are Related to Less Bone Accrual in Young Children.The Journal of Pediatrics, 154(1), pp.79-85.e2.

Cognitive Behavioral and an Existential / Humanistic Perspective

Introduction Cognitive approach entails seeking knowledge on a specific subject in order to gain understanding. The approach involves dispelling ignorance and embracing factual information on the subject of study. According to Edwards (1990) after an individual gains understanding on his subject he or she becomes enlightened. Most approaches to therapy incorporate the concept of cognitive transformation either explicitly or implicitly.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cognitive Behavioral and an Existential / Humanistic Perspective specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Cognitive approach is used to foster the way the clients or patients come up with new perspective of their problems. The humanistic approach in behavior therapy focuses mainly on the desire to comprehend conscious experience and the desire to understand one’s self. However, this theory is difficult to study since measuring the core elements of the theory such as self-actualization is hard (Cain and Seaman, 2002). Cognitive Behavioral Approach Cognitive- behavioral therapy operates on the assumption that people enjoy freedom, contentment and self-respect. However, these qualities are not inherent in a person but they arise from the external prevailing conditions of an individual. Therefore, from this we can derive that maladaptive behavior occurs due to irrational thinking or distortion in the manner of an individual perceives his or her environment. With this in mind, it is possible to analyze the study at hand. Sophie lives with her mum but she is unhappy they do not get along. Her unhappiness stems from the fact that she blames her mother for her father leaving. This presents the first instance of distorted perception of the surrounding. Moreover, her thoughts that her mother is the major cause of her father leaving are irrational. These irrational thought have led to maladaptive behaviors. Sophie shows a general sense of despair. Moreover, she has eating disorders and she is involved in extreme gym activities. Sophie is significantly underweight. Sophie’s case is a classic case of an individual whose character has been distorted by the external prevailing conditions. Her manner of thinking is distorted to conform to the feeling that she derives from the external environment. In cognitive behavioral therapy, the therapists try to conceptualize the general behaviors exhibited by the patient. From the general behaviors, the therapist can derive the distortion in character, symptoms, and disorders out of the norm. The norm character is the habitual character that a patient exhibits when he or she is free and contented with one’s life (Ivey et al., 2007).Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To discover the norm behavior of patient, therapists analyzes the patient’s general characteristic to uncover the underlying rules and values of a patient that makes them susceptible to depression anger or anxiety. In the case of Sophie, the therapist has to analyze her character to gain knowledge on what her normal character is and what rules and values distorts her character. From the explanation given from the case study, it is evident that the matter that distorts Sophie’s character is the fact that her father left and she blames her mother. The rules that and values that makes the predisposed to depression include wanting to be like everyone else, she wants her life to be perfect, and moreover, she wants the approval of others to feel complete/ gain self-confidence. Sophie feels that she is not like everyone else since her dad left. She feels that the world is judging her. Therefore, she has this inherent need to be perfect. She refuses to eat and overindulges in gym activities to satisfy her need to be perfect. From her behavior, it is clear that Sophie wants her fam ily to be completely again. Sophie’s cognitive schemata are aligned to beliefs rather than reality. In this case, it is important to recognize that Sophie has her own idiosyncratic values. Therapists are allowed to speculate on the conditions of the patient to a given extend. However, in order to administer treatment to Sophie, she must undertake a series of questioning session to determine her assumptions. In addition to this, Sophie’s automatic thoughts must be analyzed to come up with a comprehensive means of treat her condition. Automatic thoughts are those thoughts that an individual generates consciously and spontaneously. These thoughts are generally associated with negative effects to the individual. The thoughts can be categorized into according to their typical bias. For example assuming what someone else’s thoughts can be categorized as mind reading by therapists. In this situation, one creates a negative thought before the other person actually has t hought. For example, â€Å"that person is not going to like me† is an automatic thought.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cognitive Behavioral and an Existential / Humanistic Perspective specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The best way to describe an automatic thought is to view it as a bias that one expresses towards another. In Sophie’s case the automatic thought that has developed in her mind is that her mother is the one to blame for her father’s departure. Using cognitive theory it is possible to establish a relationship among a patient’s schema, automatic thought, and assumption. For example, Sophie feels that she is unloved. Therefore, she assumes that if she impresses people they might end up liking her. She goes ahead and gets involved in activities that she thinks will make people like her like gym workouts. The automatic thought in this case maybe that people would not like her because of her situation. Establishing a relation between the schema, automatic thought and assumption makes it easier to reach the core of a problem. It is one of the core methods employed to solve a problem psychological problem. Using cognitive approach to assist Sophie In order to assist Sophie using the cognitive approach all the elements that play part in building her character. The first step into assisting the patient would involve articulation of the patient’s personal opinion. After this step, therapists may use various methods to solve the situation at hand. As a therapist, the major task would be to make sure that the patient experiences all the possible experiments so that they can integrate into the system without denial or selection. Beck and Emery (1985) came up with basic cognitive-behavior therapy principles designed to support the process of exposing the patient to different experiments. There are three basic principles: guided discovery, collaborative emp iricism and Socratic questioning. Under collaborative empiricism, the patient and the therapists work together as a team. In this method the therapist does not take driving seat in the therapy sessions instead they facilitate the patients healing by making them aware of the reality through testing the testing the reality against the experience of the patient.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the case of Sophie, she can be exposed to several experiments in order to show her the difference between reality and her personal experience. Sophie can be exposed to other kids who have single parents to show her that she is not alone in the. As she interacts with the different people in similar or different conditions.Sophie will be able to differentiate her personal experience and that in the real world. Another way of assisting the patient would be through use of Socratic questioning. Therapist use Socratic questioning to sow a seed of doubt in the patient’s mind. This principle is designed to bring the patient’s attention to information of other experiences in a non-selective way. The therapists also have the task of confronting the patients with absurdities or cognitive avoidances. The use of this method on Sophie is also a possible means of helping the patient to face her problems. By a sowing a seed o doubt in the mind of the 17 year old it is possible to m ake her change her mind.. A good seed of doubt would be a question like: what if it is not your mother’s fault that your dad left? This question would set the seed of doubt in the mind of Sophie. She would start to ask herself other questions that will finally enable her reach the solutions to her problems. Cognitive therapy has always been equated with verbal and the process of logical thinking (Ivey et al., 2007). Cognitive therapy therefore understands the process of change in an individual behavior is a series of steps that moves the patient from one-step to another. Therapists therefore use various steps that would finally lead to the final step where the patient is cured. The first step in cognitive behavior therapy is allowing the patient to accept that he or she has a problem. This step is followed by a step designed to help the patient to identify his or her problems. This stage is recognized as the functional patient analysis. The importance of this step is to ensur e that the patient recognizes how the thoughts and feelings lead to maladaptive character. The steps in cognitive behavior present a trip to self-discovery that allows the patient to sieve the facts from the fiction/ assumption. The second stage of cognitive behavior therapy is aimed at analyzing the exhibited behaviors. A patient usually exhibits behaviors that contribute to the problem. In this stage, the patient is taught how to adopt new behaviors. It should however be noted that the processes involved in cognitive behavior therapy are gradual and change is not expected to be viewed immediately. Taking the procedure above it is easy to incorporate it into the case study in order assist Sophie. The first step would be to let he girl understand that she has a problem. However, in this case the step can be skipped since she initiated counseling on her own. Therefore, the next step would be the functional analysis. This stage would assist Sophie to understand her problems such as ea ting disorders and excessive gym workouts. The important fact about this step is that it will provide the Sophie with the opportunity to connect the feelings she has against her family set up and the behaviors she exhibits. After making this connection, the next step would be to analyze the behaviors that Sophie exhibits. Having known the reason for these behaviors, this step would involve taking a look at the behaviors individually and determining whether they are desirable or not. The therapist can do this by asking Socratic questions. A good example of a question in Sophie’s case would be: do you think you are being fair to your mum by laying all the blame of your dad leaving on her? These questions are usually designed to sow a seed of doubt and create a chain of reaction that would finally lead to the patient unraveling the truth. This process starts with a question but for it to come to fruition the patient must exorcise her demons. After finally confronting the problem , it becomes easier for the patient deal with the problem or let go of it. Humanistic perspective approach The humanistic approach in behavior therapy focuses mainly on the desire to comprehend conscious experience and the desire to understand one’s self. However, this theory is difficult to study since measuring the core elements of the theory such as self-actualization is hard (Cain and Seaman, 2002). The theory of existential-Humanistic perspective was created as a reaction against the cognitive behavior approach and psychoanalysis. Humanistic psychology focuses on the potential of each patient to grow and attain self-actualization. Therapists practicing using the humanistic approach assume that the humans are innately good and therefore a change in character occurs due to a change in their normal routine. Carl Rodgers coined the humanistic approach in the 20th century (Sammons, n.d.). He believed that people might fulfill their potential if they had a positive regard towa rds other people (Sammons, n.d.). Rodgers however realized that people do not see the positive regards of their fellow beings as unconditional. Rodgers laid this ground for humanistic therapy approach and the concept was advanced further by therapists. Currently therapists using the humanistic approach prefer using qualitative methods that Rodgers proposed. To be able to reach the patient the therapists use unstructured interviewing in order access the patients views ideas and opinions. In case the therapists use observation then the patient’s observations are the ones that are considered. The therapist on the other hand has to observe the patient in order to determine how he or she perceives his or her surroundings. The methods mentioned above can be used to analyze the case study. The therapist can use unstructured interviewing to determine the views and opinion that Sophie has regarding her surroundings. Opinions on why she blames her mother, why she thinks she has eating disorders and the reason she involves in excessive gym behavior should be considered in order to assist Sophie in dealing with her problems. A humanistic approach would assist Sophie to accept that her condition is normal and therefore she has to deal with it before she can actually attain her purpose in life. Therapists in who use the humanistic approach begin with the assumption that every individual has his or her own way of perceiving and understanding his surrounding and the world at large. The questions asked by therapists using the existential-humanistic approach are different from those that the cognitive behavior therapists use. Humanistic approach aims at understanding the subjectivity of the people (Cain and Seaman, 2002). In addition to this, they reject objective scientific approach. Endorsed in the humanistic approach is the idea that people operate on a free will and are capable of making their own decisions although the process may be unconscious. Humanistic approach also takes into account that people aim at self-actualization. Existential-Humanistic interpretation of behavior is centered on an individual (Cain and Seaman, 2002). Therapists using this approach try to find out if the patient is aware or conscious of his identity. Existential-humanistic approach concentrates on the unique characters that define every individual. It places emphasis on the individual choices, responsibility and personal freedom. It therefore considers each individual as the driver of his or her life. Using the concepts of existential- humanistic theory, it is possible to analyze the case study of Sophie. From a humanistic point of view Sophie aims at self-actualization is the reason behind her excessive gym workouts. The disorders in eating are due to the fact that there is a factor that prevents her from attaining her goal of actualization. The problems that Sophie faces in her life are limiting her freedom to progress and thus act a barrier to her ultimate goal. Humanistic approach proposes six basic dimensions of human condition. These dimensions include creating self-awareness, having conflicting thoughts between freedom and responsibility, creating a personal identity by establishing relations, a search for purpose of life, acceptance of anxiety as a norm in life and being aware of death. Using these dimensions therapist can understand the patient’s conditions. Usually he approach to understanding a patient begins with the assumption that we are usually exposed to a meaningless world and each of us has to find his or her own bearing. The process of finding direction involves undergoing through the six dimensions proposed earlier. The key elements in Existential-humanistic approach are acceptance and growth. Therefore, for a case like Sophie’s she must be made to accept her situation and move on with her life. The therapist has to ensure that he or she tries to address the underlying factors that affect the client. The huma nistic approach is dependent on the empathy of the therapist. Using the Existential- Humanistic Approach to assist Sophie In this method, the therapist would allow the patient to be subjective rather than objective. This approach would allow Sophie to make her judgment of her situation based on her personal feelings and impressions. Existential approach would have Sophie understand that she is free to choose between suffering and attaining happiness. The purpose of the humanistic perspective is to encourage Sophie to look into her life and choose between the various alternatives available. Using this approach entails making Sophie to passively accept the prevailing circumstances in her life and take control of her life. This would assist her in shaping her future experiences by exploring other options that would enable her to create a meaningful existence. Generally, the therapy major purpose is to invite the patient to acknowledge how they have allowed the influence from the surrou nding environment to control their life. In Sophie’s case, the therapist aim will be to show her that the fact that her father left does not mean she should be affected as well. Instead, she should consider this as an obstacle in her path to becoming fully independent. Appropriate Therapy for Sophie Both the methods are viable to address Sophie’s. However, the most suitable method to solve her problem would be the use of cognitive behavioral approach. The reason for choosing this method is that the method addresses the core problems that face Sophie. The cognitive method is highly objective and aims to address the problems that the client is facing. The cognitive behavior therapy is more instructive and shows the client the best method to use to reach her goal. Therefore, in cognitive therapy the patient learns self-counseling skills that can be used later. The therapy is also short term in that it does not last for a long time but serves the therapeutic purpose. The t herapy emphasizes on the idea of getting well rather than the idea of feeling better about self-actualization. On the other hand, the humanistic approach addresses the general idea of how Sophie would overcome her problems to attain self-actualizations (Neimeyer and Raskin, 2000). Humanistic approach lacks general objectivity. Therefore, the method is vague and is not supported by any scientific evidence. Moreover, humanistic approach employs the cognitive, psychodynamic, or behavioral approach to accomplish its goals. Majority of the existentialist therapists adopt the use of anxiety as the major cause of maladaptive behaviors and use this concept to administer therapy to the patient. The position of taken by the humanistic therapists about free will is incoherent. This is because they advance two conflicting theories at the same time. The humanistic approach insist that people have the ability to make a choice on their actions at the same time they explain how behavior is influenc ed by the treatment we experience at the hands of other people. These two ideas are highly conflicting leading to the incoherency in the approach. Conclusion Cognitive approach entails seeking knowledge on a specific subject in order to gain understanding. The approach involves dispelling ignorance and embracing factual information on the subject of study. Cognitive- behavioral therapy operates on the assumption that people enjoy freedom, contentment and self-respect. However, these qualities are not inherent in a person but they arise from the external prevailing conditions of an individual. In cognitive behavioral therapy, the therapists try to conceptualize the general behaviors exhibited by the patient. From the general behaviors, the therapist can derive the distortion in character, symptoms, and disorders out of the norm. The norm character is the habitual character that a patient exhibits when he or she is free and contented with one’s life. The humanistic approach in behavior therapy focuses mainly on the desire to comprehend conscious experience and the desire to understand one’s self. Therapists in who use the humanistic approach begin with the assumption that every individual has his or her own way of perceiving and understanding his surrounding and the world at large. Currently therapists using the humanistic approach prefer using qualitative methods that Rodgers proposed. To be able to reach the patient the therapists use unstructured interviewing in order access the patients views ideas and opinions. In case the therapists use observation then the patient’s observations are the ones that are considered. The key elements in Existential-humanistic approach are acceptance and growth. Therapists in who use the humanistic approach begin with the assumption that every individual has his or her own way of perceiving and understanding his surrounding and the world at large. These therapy methods have been use in various counseling se ssions. However, in the case study presented the use of cognitive behavioral approach is recommended since it addresses the problem of the subject comprehensively. Humanistic approach in this case is irrelevant since it does not address the problem instead it tries to make the patient deal with the problem. References Beck, T. and Emery, G. (1985). Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective. New York: Guilford. Cain, D. J. and Seaman, J. (2002). Humanistic Psychotherapies: Handbook of Research and Practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press Edwards, D. (1990). Phenomenological Approaches to Therapy: Complementary or Conflicting Paradigms. New York: Springer Publishing. Ivey, A., D’Andrea, M., Ivey B., and Simek-Morgan L. (2007). Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Multicultural Perspective. Saddle River: Pearson Neimeyer, R. A. and Raskin, J. R. (2000). Constructions of Disorder: Meaning Making Frameworks for Psychotherapy. Washingto n, DC:AmericanPsychological Association Press. Sammons, A. (n.d). The Humanistic Approach: the basics. Humanistic Psychology, Retrieved from www.psychlotron.org.uk This essay on Cognitive Behavioral and an Existential / Humanistic Perspective was written and submitted by user Puff Adder to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

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Need For Structural Transformation Through Ebusiness Business Essay There are various theories on the subject which enrich our modern days understanding of the subject and make us appreciate how and why organisations strategise their decisions. How does Coca Cola know that its strength lie in adding various lines of beverages such as energy drinks, sports drinks, health drinks when others are just making aerated drinks? Or how does Estee Lauder through its various marketing brands cater to different segments the original Estee Lauder for older women, Clinique for middle aged women, M.A.C. for youthful hipsters, Aveda to aromatherapy enthusiasts and Origins for eco conscious consumers. Michael Porters acclaimed Five Forces of Competitive Position model explains a simple perspective for evaluating and analysing the competitive strength and position of a corporation or business organisation. 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An organisation planning to enter the industry will contemplate various decisions such as the loyalty of customers to existing products, how soon the economies of scale can be achieved, do they have access to suppliers, and would they face government legislation, discouraging them or promote them in any manner to enter the industry. FedEx had a lot of first mover advantages. It was the first company to give the drivers hand held scanners for sending alerts to customers for each pick up and delivery. In 1994, it became the first big transport company to launch a website that included tracking and tracing capabilities, but by 2000 when DHL, TNT and UPS were fierce competitors., these advantages were lost as customers took all these facilities as granted and did not see any incremental value. Thus as more firms enter the market, the dynamics change and this calls for a continuous innovation stream and realignment of corporate strategy which has become the hallmark of FedEx over the years. By integrating its services and managing the supply-chain of its customers, it generated customer loyalty and increased the customer switching costs. Thus FedEx managed to effectively introduce the barriers to entry for competitors. Threats of substitute products or services The availability of products services outside the common product boundaries raises the likelihood of customers to switch to alternatives. Are there alternative products that clients can buy over your product that provides the same benefits at a lesser price? In the case of FedEx, this threat was low at the time it entered the market. There was no other way to make time sensitive documents reach overnight in a reliable fashion. Bargaining power of buyers The bargaining power of clients is also expressed as the market of outputs: the ability of customers to put the firm under pressure, which also governs the customers sensitivity to price changes. Strategic Planners at FedEx realised this from the beginning. The underlying philosophy at FedEx was that whenever businesses grow, there is always move of physical goods. This shows that the management team at FedEx took cognisance of customer sensitivity and their power. It always laid emphasis on speed and reliance in moving time sensitive documents. Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers are critical for the success of a firm. Raw materials are required to complete the finished product of the organisation. Suppliers have immense power. This power comes from: If they are the main supplier or one of the rare suppliers who supply that particular raw material. If it is relatively costlier for the company to move from one supplier to another (known also as switching cost) If there are no other substitutes for their product. FedEx made judicious decisions in selecting their technology partners. Whether it was tying up with COSMOS or making a deal with Netscape in 1999, it leveraged its IT partners to the fullest. Value chain is described by Dagmar Recklies in the following words: Value chain analysis described by Porter refers to the activities within and around a company, and links them to an analysis of the competitive strength of an organization. It thus assesses which value each particular activity brings to the organizations products or services. D.K. Likhi in the article Motives of Strategic Alliances formation: Value Chain perspective states the following:   Porter says that the capability to perform particular activities and to manage the linkages between these activities is a source of competitive advantage. In his well-known book Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining superior Performance (1985) Porter distinguishes between primary activities and support activities. Primary activities are straightforwardly linked with the creation or delivery of a product or service. They can be assembled into five main parts namely inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Each of these primary activities is joined to sustain activities which help to improve their competence or efficacy. There are four major areas of support activities: procurement, technology development (including RD), human resource management, and infrastructure (systems for planning, finance, quality, information management etc.).   The basic model of Porters Value Chain is presented here- Moreover, the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Margin denotes that organisations realise a profit margin that depends on their aptitude to handle the linkages between all activities in the value chain. In the case of FedEx Strategic Planners at FedEx have been able to leverage both its primary and secondary activities and ensured that they reap high margins. Its focus on Technology Development proved that even a secondary activity can become critical in defining success. FedExs success lay in its pro-activeness. It realised that mere express delivery will not take it far; in order to revolutionise the globe, it will have to focus on total logistics and supply chain solution. Core Competencies and Capabilities at FedEx A core competency is a unique factor that a business considers as being central to the way it, or its employees, works. It fulfills three key criteria: It provides consumer benefits It is not easy for competitors to imitate It can be leveraged widely too many products and markets. When we analyse the case, it becomes evident that FedEx had various core competencies and capabilities. Firstly, it is the underlining philosophy and the vision of the management at FedEx. Innovation and Pro-activeness is a culture in itself; either the organisation has it or it does not. When others in the industry were competing on prices, FedEx was thinking how to integrate seamlessly with its customers and provide value. It was thinking of emerging into a global logistics and supply chain company while others in the industry were complacent being express delivery firms. In 1974, FedEx opened a small warehouse for Parts Bank and thus embarked on the journey of logistic management. Fred Smith, Chairman of FedEx Corporation was a visionary; he realised that overnight delivery of time sensitive documents was a brilliant business idea. He mastered that speed and reliance were crucial in this business for clients. In the nascent years when other players were buying space on commercial airlines, FedEx acquired its own transportation fleet. Such a vision was instrumental in saving huge costs to the company in the latter years. Secondly, the use of breakthrough technology and internet acted as another core competence. In 1980s, FedEx became the first company to give its drivers hand held scanners that were used to send alerts to customers every time a packet was picked up or delivered. It became the first big transport company to have a website with tracking and tracing facilities in 1994. It had started putting customers catalogues on the website. Thus FedEx had started redefining sources and procurement strategies for its clients who were very happy with these value added services, they had in a way outsourced their entire supply chain management to FedEx. Thirdly, leveraging relationships as a strategy acted as yet another major competency for FedEx. It started using COSMOS tracking network in 1979 and provided tracing and tracking services with the advent of internet. In 1999, it made a deal with Netscape to offer a suite of delivery services at its netcenter portal. This meant automatic integration of Netscape FedEx by means of which FedEx gained an added access to 13 million members who were there on the portal. As we see FedEx leveraged both, backward integration with its IT Technology partners on one hand and forward integration with many of its clients like Dell Cisco on the other. Thus as of January 2000, FedEx became the worlds largest overnight package carrier with about 30 percent market share. Main Advantages Disadvantages of international trade to FedEx Corporation FedEx gained tremendously from International trade. Its tie up with Dell, Cisco, NatSemi and Netscape vouch for the fact that such backward and forward integrations would not have been possible if it had not ventured out of its home market. The management also exploited the use of internet and e-commerce to the best of its advantage. It started tying up with companies worldwide and managed its customers effectively. FedEx was able to service as an extended, fully outsourced logistics supply chain division of global companies. It introduced various e-Business Tools for faster connections with FedEx shipping and tracking applications. As early as in 1974, it started logistics operations with Parts Bank and built up a small warehouse at Memphis. Thus when others were just competing on prices and speed, FedEx was already way ahead with its first value added service way beyond transportation. However when one goes international, there are disadvantages as well. FedEx increased its scope of work and base, spreading itself too thin. Multiple brands worldwide became difficult to manage. Costs started multiplying as each sub business had its own accounting, sales and marketing costs. While the likes of UPS had the advantage of promoting just one brand UPS to sell the company and its many service offerings, FedEx was trying to promote five different sub-companies with completely unrelated names business logos under the FDX banner with separate sales and customer service teams. However a re-alignment and re-branding strategy was timely planned and international trades advantages far out weighed its disadvantages and costs. Section II Classical Evolutionary School of Thought the case of FedEx Strategy Theory is such a vast, multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary academic field with competing schools of thought with each one taking a different view as to what strategy is aiming to achieve that it becomes almost impossible to compare any two schools. Let us look at some of the schools of thought in the domain of strategy and see the relevance of the same in the case of FedEx. The classical view of strategy is supported on the military parlance, in which the world is a fixed hierarchy with a solitary general who makes decisions. The concept has a long history in the military and if we see etymologically, strategy literally means what the generals do. However problem exists when some theorists take this too literally and try to replicate this in the business domain as it is. The military model is supported by an intellectual inheritance from economics. Many economists placed this singular figure right at the heart of their ideation of strategy as an highly structured game of move and counter-move, bluff and counter-bluff, between competing yet interdependent businesses. This view of individuals in association with Smiths view that each individual is continual wielding himself to find out the most profitable employment of whatever capital he can command, creates a stereotype of the manager who is focused on maximising return on investment. Classical strategy places immense assurance in the readiness and capacity of managers to adopt profit maximising strategies through rational long-term planning. Such cases are a rarity as businesses do not comprise of ideal economic man. managers not only fall short to set output at the theoretically profit-maximising level where marginal costs precisely equal marginal revenue, but most managers have no clue what their marginal costs and marginal revenue curves are! Economists attuned to this business stupidity by letting the markets do the thinking. With this view of the world, markets not managers opt the prevailing strategies within a particular environment. For those strategists who stick to the evolutionary view of competition, survivors may emerge to be those who have adapted themselves to the environment. Competition is the mainly useful form of weeding out inefficiency or lack of adaptation, hence simple access into markets is the way to ensure healthy industries. Application of the Schools in the case of FedEx In the case of FedEx, we see an amalgamation of both the schools happening. When the firm has a first mover advantage, at times it is possible to relate its thinking, and actions with the Classical School Of Thought. From 1973 onwards, Fred Smith, Chairman of the group steered the company through breakthrough technical advances and innovative practices. It is similar to the Classical Ideology of maximising profits and shaping the industry, so to speak. It was Freds vision that enabled the organization to transform itself from an express delivery company to a global logistics supply chain company. He took the right decisions at the right time most of which were instrumental in making it the market leader at that time and even some thirty years later! Noteworthy are the following actions As early as 1974, FedEx realised the importance of value added services and the transformation into a logistics company. It tied up with Parts Bank and built up a small warehouse at Memphis to provide storage facility. Smith insisted of acquiring his own transportation fleet while others were booking space on public carriers. FedEx was the first company to introduce hand held scanners for drivers; this facilitated sending alerts to clients for pick up and delivery. In 1994, it was the first transport company to have a website with tracking and tracing facilities. In 1999, FedEx tied up with Netscape and thus gained access to millions of customers who were already on Netscape portal. It tied up with Dell, Cisco NatSemi and almost acted as their logistics and supply chain management. The above are some of the examples to prove that from 1973 to 1999, there were a number of incidents which make us feel that management at FedEx acted in a Classical fashion and tried to maximize its profits and returns on investments as much as possible. However when we look at the Re-branding strategy that was undertaken by the management in January 2000, it shows us the application of Evolutionary School of Thought strategy. Towards 2000, UPS, TNT and DHL were strongly competing with FedEx. FedEx had five subsidiary companies each with separate sales, marketing and customer service staff. Each unit had its own accounting practices. They were targeting different segments and were working independently. But this strategy resulted in a lot of duplicity of resources and wastage of time efforts. The subsidiaries were not even to leverage any synergies, not even the legacy of the FedEx brand. This is when the management at FedEx looked around and learnt from market and the competition. It undertook a major re-branding and re-alignment of resource strategy. All subsidiaries had FedEx branding thus denoting that it came from the same brand. They leveraged the consolidated pool of sales, marketing, accounting and customer service operations. It became a one-stop-shop for all sized of customers, whether it was business-to-business, home delivery, ground or heavy steel plates. Typically this is true in any industry and a new firm that enters the market at an early stage. The firm can operate in a classical manner, calling the shots. This is possible because of several reasons low threat of competitors, virtually no substitutes, low bargaining power of customers and high switching costs. This is typical in the case of FedEx as well. But the dynamics change, when other firms enter and the market becomes mature. In that scenario, it is not the firm but the market that decides. This scene can be seen in other industries as well. When Coca cola started operations, it was the king in the aerated segment, charging a price that it deemed fit and the customers were more than willing to pay the same, but years later when competition got ripe, such advantages disappear. There is a tendency to compete on prices, value added services because of which the market decides the viable price. To Coca Cola, the threat was not only from Pepsi and other soft drink beverages but even from other health drinks and water! This is when the entire product mix was realigned and Coca Cola introduced sports drinks, health drinks, tea coffee. Hence it is not a question of preference. It is which school is applicable as pet the time and maturity level of the industry. More often than not, we see that most of the times in a mature set up it is the Evolutionary School of Thought which is more relevant as market forces determine the pace and the direction in which change is required. Businesses which realize this well in time and pick up timely cues and act upon them thrive, while others wither with time. Section III Processual School of Thought, Staceys Four Loops and Strategy Implications A processual view of an organization suggests that organizations are a cocktail of individuals, each of who brings their own personalities, personal agendas and cognitive biases to the organization. Thus, strategy is a continuing process of adjustment evolvement because rational economic man is only a state of utopia and people are only boundedly rational. Most Processual scholars argue that because of these constraints, strategy is nothing else but the continuous adjusting of routines to awkward messages and cues from the environment which gradually force themselves on the managers attention. Strategy is not only planned and executed action, but it is also a means to make meaning of the chaos of the world. Staceys Integrated Model of Decision making and Control The Staceys Matrix is a critical tool that helps one navigates when faced with complexity in the field of strategy. This tool helps in adopting the right management action defines the strategy that one should focus at when faced in a complex environment with varying degree of certainty and agreement amongst the group in the organisation. Let us understand the axis first 1. Closeness to Certainty: Concerns or decisions are close to certainty when cause and effect linkages can be evaluated. This is mostly the case when a very similar issue or decision has been made in the past sometime. One can then assess and relate from past experience to predict the outcome of an action with a good degree of certainty. 2. Far from Certainty: The opposite of the above, is the extreme end of the certainty continuum. They are decisions that are far from certainty. These scenarios are often unique or at least new to the decision makers. The cause and effect connections are not clear. Extrapolating from past experience is surely not a good method to predict outcomes in the far from certainty range. 3. Agreement: The vertical axis measures the degree of agreement about an issue or decision within the group, team or organisation. As you would presume, the management or leadership function changes depending on the level of agreement surrounding an issue. Four Loops: Rational Loop Rational Decision Making is possible when there is closeness to certainty and closeness to agreement. In such cases, the group has a consensus on views, options and decisions; also high certainty permits references from the past. There is less risk involved so it is fairly easy to take a rational decision. As per the Processual School of Thought, such cases are a rarity in real time. Even if there is absolute clarity or certainty about an issue, to find absolute agreement in team is seldom possible. This is because each individual comes with his own objectives and interests. Political Loop Overt Covert Some themes have a great chance of certainty about how outcomes are created but high levels of disagreement about which results are desirable. Neither plans nor shared objectives are probably to work in this context. Instead, politics become more significant. Coalition building, negotiation, and compromise are used to make the organisations agenda and direction. Some misgivings have a high level of agreement but not much conviction as to the cause and effect linkages to create the sought after results. In these cases, monitoring against a set plan will not work. A sound sense of shared mission or vision may substitute for a plan in these cases. Comparisons are made not against plans but against the purpose and vision for the organisation. In this region, the objective is to head towards an agreed upon future state even though the specific paths cannot be prearranged. Culture Cognition As per the Cultural School of Thought, strategy formation is a collective process of social interaction, based on the beliefs and understandings shared by the team members of an organisation. Stacey defines culture as a set of assumptions people simply accept without question as they interact with each other. Thus strategy is based on perceptions and is deliberate if not fully conscious. This goes well with Processual School as well, because it assumes that people come with different perceptions and learn through a tacit process of acculturation. To conclude the above discussion, we can contemplate that strategies are often evolving, their coherence accruing through action and perceived in retrospect, while successive small steps finally merge into a pattern.

Cloning in our World :: science

Cloning in our World One of the latest advancements in technology is that of cloning. Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. In general, cloning is used in three contexts. First is using specialized DNA technology to produce multiple, exact copies of a single gene or other segment of DNA. This process is called cloning DNA. A second type of cloning exploits the natural process of cell division to make many copies of an entire cell. A third type of cloning produces complete, genetically identical animals such as the famous Scottish sheep, Dolly. The majority of people in America believe that cloning is unethical due to some moral issues. Others are afraid that cloning could me misused by governments and corporations creating clones to serve as slaves or soldiers to fight endless wars. I think that fear is the main argument against human cloning due to the fact that this is a newer branch in science and people are not very educated with the core concept of cloning. I believe that cloning is acceptable only if it is for the right reasons. My opinion is cloning should be allowed due to the countless possibilities we could gain in the health care field and human well being. For years, researchers have been working on finding a way to cure genetic diseases and save lives by cloning genes and organs. I think that these medical advancements are very beneficial for human kind in general. I totally disagree with people who say that God made some of us different and we should not try to change them. It is like saying that people who g ot sick after they were born should not seek medical help because God wanted them to get sick and they should just lie down and die. I say that if it is for the better of that person and if it is going to help them lead a normal life then let them do it. Even though I think that cloning genes and organs for medical purposes is acceptable, I think that cloning of humans is wrong. One of the biggest reasons why I am against human cloning is the health issue. I also think that it would be wrong if the government cloned people just to make them perfect and superior or to take control over the humanity as they did in the book Brave New World. Cloning in our World :: science Cloning in our World One of the latest advancements in technology is that of cloning. Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. In general, cloning is used in three contexts. First is using specialized DNA technology to produce multiple, exact copies of a single gene or other segment of DNA. This process is called cloning DNA. A second type of cloning exploits the natural process of cell division to make many copies of an entire cell. A third type of cloning produces complete, genetically identical animals such as the famous Scottish sheep, Dolly. The majority of people in America believe that cloning is unethical due to some moral issues. Others are afraid that cloning could me misused by governments and corporations creating clones to serve as slaves or soldiers to fight endless wars. I think that fear is the main argument against human cloning due to the fact that this is a newer branch in science and people are not very educated with the core concept of cloning. I believe that cloning is acceptable only if it is for the right reasons. My opinion is cloning should be allowed due to the countless possibilities we could gain in the health care field and human well being. For years, researchers have been working on finding a way to cure genetic diseases and save lives by cloning genes and organs. I think that these medical advancements are very beneficial for human kind in general. I totally disagree with people who say that God made some of us different and we should not try to change them. It is like saying that people who g ot sick after they were born should not seek medical help because God wanted them to get sick and they should just lie down and die. I say that if it is for the better of that person and if it is going to help them lead a normal life then let them do it. Even though I think that cloning genes and organs for medical purposes is acceptable, I think that cloning of humans is wrong. One of the biggest reasons why I am against human cloning is the health issue. I also think that it would be wrong if the government cloned people just to make them perfect and superior or to take control over the humanity as they did in the book Brave New World.

Curriculum-based Pedagogy

Every educator across levels has their own understanding and views about curriculum and pedagogy and these may be based from personal and theoretical knowledge and from their own experiences both as a student and educator. An educator in the conduct of his or her profession in actual practice would be guided by his or her perspective on what curriculum is and should be. Curriculum studies and development had become abstract and highly theoretical and curriculum inquiry is a difficult and perplexing area of study which many educators are not comfortable with.However, the beauty of curriculum inquiry is that it enables educators to come to terms with their own beliefs and interpretation of curriculum. The exercise can be quite painful and revealing to educators as it makes them realize their biases and preconceived notion on what education should be and how lacking or adequate their approaches and philosophies are. It is in this context that I begin the process of self-reflection on my own beliefs and perspective on curriculum-based pedagogy and the theories and personalities that have influenced me as an educator.I do not intend to justify my beliefs or educational philosophies but rather I attempt to expound on what I think are effective practices and curriculum theories that I have embraced in my profession as an educator. I know that theories are not infallible and some may generate more questions and criticisms than answers but I do believe that it is still a good practice to anchor one’s beliefs in a certain theory or perspective as it provides a guide and substance to what I do as educator.In this paper, I try to make sense of my own realities and how it has affected my work and my personal life. There are two kinds of educators, those who follow curriculums strictly and those who adopt curriculums to their own realities and learning environment (Eisner, 1998). I would like to think that I belong to the latter. I had always thought of curriculum as a guide, as a framework and as an evaluative tool in how I conduct my teaching. I do not adhere to a specific curriculum nor do I force curriculum to a learning environment if it is not suited.I have nothing against those who use curriculum religiously because I have seen it to be effective in some schools however, in a diverse learning environment, one has to adopt and adjust the curriculum to meet the needs of all learners. I still see this approach as curriculum-based because I follow the instructional models that the curriculum provides; the changes I make are still based on the given curricula and basically teach the same thing and arrive at the same learning goals but in a slightly more appropriate way for my set of learners.I may not always interpret and apply the lessons and approaches provided for by the curriculum accurately, but I always see to it that every lesson is a learning experience for my students. There are different reasons for adhering to a curriculum approach, one can be an implementer, a developer or a maker and the choice would be dictated by one’s personal experience and perspective.I view education as a complete process that mirrors life and teaches students the skills and knowledge that they need to live this life. On the other hand, I also acknowledge the great impact of learner characteristics to the effectiveness of education, thus, curriculum-based pedagogy should not be viewed as a narrow and constricting approach to instruction but as a democratic and deliberate artistry that will lead to a more practical and appropriate learning process (Feden & Vogel, 2003).I know of some educators who had adhered to the curriculum they had been trained to use and apply for the longest time, they were experts in that certain curriculum and have produced learning and knowledge for their students to absorb and assimilate, but they had refused to learn anything else. I don’t blame them, comfort and familiarity is a much safer terr ain than change and innovation. At a certain point in my profession, I had also gravitated towards curriculum fidelity wherein I did everything by the book and relied on what curriculum experts deemed as true and correct and most effective.However, when one immerses oneself in the filed and puts the curriculum to practice, it is a different story. There were instances when I was left hanging and felt inadequate about my teaching even when I did everything that was asked by the curriculum, I thought I was not being a good teacher, I took me some time to realize that the curriculum I was using was not meeting the needs of my students.The curriculum was not at fault, nor was my teaching the problem, the problem was that I restricted my creativity and artistry in interpreting the guides given by the curriculum; I was not confident in my own abilities but relied on what was prescribed and suggested. The obsession with following curriculum guides, lessons and content led me to become a cu rriculum transmitter. I was focusing on what was in the book, in the unit lessons and had very few attempts at augmenting the lessons through additional research or innovative strategies.The lessons I was teaching was only based on the prescribed textbook and I followed it unit by unit even though I noticed that some units were not relevant or applicable and that some units were not in the right order of presentation. I thought I was being a good teacher by following closely what was demanded of me based on the curriculum. My principal and supervisor approved of my teaching and the system that I followed, it was in those times when curriculum was the be all and end all of pedagogy.Why would it not be, when it was assumed that the prescribed curriculum was the best and that the teaching strategies and unit lessons covered all the things that students are expected to learn? Moreover, the curriculum was designed by curriculum experts who were knowledgeable about student learning and ef fective instruction. As I gained experience as a teacher, I begun to notice things, that sometimes the content covered in the curriculum was not developmentally appropriate because students were not absorbing it, that sometimes the lessons were too long for something that was easy and sometimes it was too short for a difficult concept.It was at this point that I became more aware of my students needs and how the prescribed curriculum was not really bringing out the desired learning from the students. I started slowly, at first I felt guilty about skipping some units but then I found out that the amount of learning students gained was not affected by the skipped units.I also tried little by little to introduce new information from other books or materials and made use of different strategies in presenting the lessons and student became more interested, in the past I was labeled as a boring teacher, but when I made the changes, I became a little popular and students started greeting m e in the hallways. But I did get in trouble for those changes, my principal was alarmed at why my previously quiet classes were becoming noisy, and why were my lesson plans not in accordance with the content in the book.I was told to revert to my old teaching strategies and to continue using the prescribed textbook only. And as I was an obedient teacher then, I did as I was told, however the seed was planted. I was wondering whether other schools followed the curriculum closely and whether there was some other way of teaching the same content. This is when I decided to find answers to my questions and I pursued higher education to augment my knowledge and understanding of educational practices and curriculum. I guess I have gone back to school full of idealism and the hope of finding the answers to my questions.When I went back to school I was eager to prove my supervisors wrong and that I was correct. It was only when I had started reading the course materials and the papers given to us in class did I realize that curriculum-based pedagogy is more than an approach, more than a theoretical concept. At first I had difficulty reconciling the fact that there are a number of curriculums that different schools adhered to and that effectiveness is often measured in terms of student outcomes and achievement of learning goals. At best the course was an eye opener, but sadly after two courses I decided to go back to teaching full time.I thought that I could better apply my curriculum perspective in real classrooms and students than simply learning it in class. I decided to become a curriculum developer in the sense that I would try to adjust and modify the curriculum I was working with. I guess I was too adamant for my own good, because I found myself half-baked, wondering whether the strategies I was using was correct or not and not knowing how to derive feedback from my colleagues or my students on the quality of my teaching. I found myself using one strategy after a nother that often left my students confused instead of gaining understanding.I begun to read about curriculum theorists and I was enlightened by their conceptions of what curriculum should be and how it is applied in actual teaching. However, some were too theoretical for me, it was too abstract and complex that naturally I gravitated towards the theories that were more practical, more realistic and more applicable to my present reality as a teacher. But I knew that whatever practical understanding I have of those curriculum theories, I was sorely lacking in the theoretical aspect and could not distinguish one from the other.Thus, I knew I had to go back to school, this time with a more open mind and a desire to learn. In the next part of the paper, I will outline the different perspectives of the curriculum theorists and educational figures that have impacted my own professional life as an educator and how they contributed to my own conception of deliberate artistry. John Dewey and the Social Curriculum John Dewey is one of the pioneers of curriculum development and in his pedagogic creed he outlined the nature of education and what its subject content should be (Dewey,1897).I read Dewey’s creed as part of our course readings and I readily found his perspective to appeal to my own sense of educational focus. Dewey argued that children develop through social interaction and the social environment that the child is situated in. Thus, to him education should reflect the social life of the child, he pointed out that schooling should be a life itself and not as a preparation for future life (Dewey,1897). I think what Dewey was arguing was for educators to make their lessons and instructions mirror reality and actual life relationships and processes instead of some abstractions.It is very easy for us to teach mathematical concepts and relationships in algebra and trigonometry without placing those relationships in actual experiences or realities. In this cas e, the teacher should be able to make the connections between algebraic relationships to objects and concepts that are real to the student. Who would have ever thought that mathematical concepts could be used to predict the number of baseball homeruns? Math becomes more real to the student when it is explained in terms of baseball, a sport that most students play or know about and are very real to them.Dewey also said that there are two aspects of education, psychological and social, wherein the intellect and development of the child’s psychological processes serves as the starting point for which education and learning should be based (Dewey,1897). Dewey recognized that the child in the course of his or her development has the capacity to make sense of his or her social interactions and will learn from it. The sociological aspect of education is to place into context the psychological attributes of the child and to ascribe meaning to his or her capacities in relation to his or her social reality.It is important for both the psychological and sociological aspect of education to be aligned as it would benefit the child and lead to optimum learning. For example, providing psychological stimulation without social meaning will result to superficial learning while focusing on the sociological without considering the psychological would result to developmentally inappropriate content and instruction. In this respect, Dewey advocated that education for it to be effective; it should be cognizant of both the intellect and development of the child and the social environment of the child.It makes perfect sense to me that Dewey strived to communicate such practice because we now know that learning and instruction must be synchronized and aligned for effective learning to occur, but he was ahead of his time. At present, the curriculum standards of most states dictate that at a certain grade level and age, a child must be able to master and learn a set of skills and information that are appropriate for their age. However, what is problematic about these so called standards is that it does not take into account the variation of human development; some children develop faster while others appear to lag behind.On the other hand, children who do not perform at par with the given standards are labeled slow learners or have learning disability which strip them from their self-confidence and diminishes their self-worth. In an age where we know more about cognitive development than ever before, we fail at incorporating that knowledge to the social institution that is responsible for educating our children and our future. Dewey was correct when he said that education should be focus on the total development of the child or student in relation to his or her social activities.But this is easier said than done, when accountability issues and achievement scores dominate the educational system, it is very difficult to honor Dewey’s recommendations. De wey postulated a curriculum that would allow for the social development of the child, for schools to become social institutions and for educational content to become the social life of the child (Dewey,1897). In this way, the child becomes more in touch with his or her nature and the social context in which he or she engages in a daily basis and which constitutes his or her life. This would imply that lessons taught should be through the experiences of the child.For example, a kindergarten teacher who wishes to introduce her students to counting and numbers would be more effective if she uses blocks, balls or candies that children are familiar with and have come across it through their social interaction. On the other hand, it would not make sense to teach a historical event to students without connecting it to their present realities. For example, if I teach children about some ancient civilization and not connect it to the present realities in our society and culture, then I would have failed to impart to them information that had mattered and that would have shaped their own learning.In terms of curriculum content, Dewey had said that every lesson, concept and skill should be taught in the view of the social activities of the child. He had identified a number of subject matters that should be taught to children and this includes the arts, literature, language, culture and science as it encompasses the essence of human life. However, he cautioned on the mere teaching of science as an objective subject as it limits the experience of students in terms of how social lie is shaped by scientific developments.Dewey also stressed the importance of literature and language studies as the expression and cultivation of life experiences (Dewey,1897). It is important to study literature as it provides children with an unrestrictive medium of self expression as well as an understanding of the social realities of the past and the present. Language should not be taught only as a series of sounds, phonetics words or even grammar but as a form of communicating and the medium wherein knowledge is transmitted, ideas are shared and emotions are expressed.The problem with being too curriculum oriented is that we tend to rely on what is prescribed and live out our own creativity. Language instruction should first focus on the expression of experiences, the learning of grammar rules, tenses and subject-verb-agreement would then follow because the student has found that language is an effective agent of expressing ideas and experiences. In the classroom, this would mean that importance should be placed on developing students’ language skills such as speaking and then motivating them to become more effective communicators through the learning of correct grammar and pronunciation.