Develop Systems Essay

Unit 501 – use and develop systems that promote communication Learning outcome 1. Be able to address the range of communication requirements in own role. 1.1 Review the range of groups and individuals whose communication needs must be addressed in own job role. Individuals who have communication problems need support to enable them to express themselves effectively. Therefore it is vitally important in a managerial or senior role to both be aware of the individuals preferred method of communication and also to support this method effectively. Communication is a basic human right highlighted in the human rights act 1998 where it states that all individuals have the right to ‘freedom of expression’ therefore it is each person’s right to communicate their needs and preferences using their chosen method. If an individual were unable to communicate effectively or were denied the support to do so then they would essentially be denied their freedom of expression and would be withholding a basic human need and right. In residential child care there are a number of groups of people which communication may present challenges. Although they are presented as groups for the purpose of this learning outcome, each person should be treated as an individual and their communication needs assessed and addressed accordingly. As communication is a reciprocal process around 80% of communication is non-verbal which includes facial expression, posture and eye contact as well as the spoken word. Read more:  Use and Develop Systems That Promote Communication Essay Autism Individuals with autism have communication disorders which can make it difficult to communicate and interact with their environment. For example echolalia, which is repeating words spoken to them without knowing or understanding them, using phrases out of context and misreading others non-verbal cues. Also, lack of eye contact and limited ability to initiate and sustain interactions due to a limited concentration span. Learning disabilities A vast percentage of individuals with a learning disability have some form of specific communication need and can be affected on a scale from mild to severe. Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) People who have EBD may not present with any noticeable communication difficulties per se but certain tones, volume or non-verbal actions may act as a barrier to communication and should be noted as a particular action could act as a trigger and potentially cause emotional distress. 1.2 Explain how to support effective communication within own job role In a managerial or senior role it is imperative to support and promote effective communication within the workplace both with the service users and the staff. This is established through firstly assessing the needs and then providing the appropriate support which would meet those needs and overcome any potential barriers to effective communication, thus promoting the individuals rights to freedom of expression. Before one can offer support an assessment would be made regarding their preference and choice and their baseline by observing the ways in which the individual communicates and the methods used. Everyone involved in the individuals care is made aware of the individual’s baseline and needs and preferences regarding communication and any changes are recognised during reviews and team meetings to ensure the individual’s needs are met. Key people involved with the individual may need to work using a joined up process to access information and support to ensure you get the best out of an individual’s communication abilities. These would include family, friends, therapists, school staff as well as the care and management staff. Effective communication improves the quality of life of people. It is essential that every effort is made to enhance communication, make time to listen and to understand empathically the individual’s perspective. To ensure this is adopted and promoted on an organisational level, adequate training and supervision must be undertaken. From an individual level, positive role modelling and an open culture are to be used to enable effective communication and minimise potential barriers. 1.3 Analyse the barriers and challenges to communication within own job role Communication is a fundamental relationship building skill in the workplace. If people don’t communicate well they limit their ability to connect on any meaningful level and therefore potentially cause conflict. Also with a senior or managerial role in the workplace people will have expectations of how they should communicate with others. The general social care council’s code of practice states that communications should be conducted in an appropriate, open, accurate and s traightforward way. By  communicating in this way others will have trust and confidence in you and your abilities. Workplace relationships become a lot stronger when people can clearly and effectively communicate what they need and allow others to do the same. There are many potential barriers to effective communication. Anything which blocks the meaning of a communication is a barrier and they are as follows: Language difference – this could be the choice of words used such as professional jargon or a report or explanation which is worded in a way in which the meaning is lost. Physical barriers – these are due to the physical environment such as noise level or distraction, inappropriate temperature, inappropriate lighting or also your positioning while communicating for example standing too close and invading personal space. Equally, positioned too far away would also act as a barrier. Psychological barriers – personal problems or issues can lead to a lack of concentration or engagement. Stereotyping – when on individual had a preconception about another individual, it makes it difficult for one to view the others communication without prejudice. 1.4 Implement a strategy to overcome communication barriers Regarding the young people I work with it was deemed appropriate to promote an effective communication platform for them to share their views and opinions on the running of the home, any changes they would like to make and to play an active role in planning the week ahead. This meeting agenda was a direct result of poor engagement from the young people and therefore not fully embracing their own personal preferences and choice in their lives. The new agenda format gives the young people the opportunity to have significant input via an informal platform as the formal approach was seen as a significant barrier to participation in the past. Also the opportunity to confidentially highlight concerns through their own personal agenda (placed in their draw each Monday morning) breaks down the physical barrier of having to raise it amongst their peers without feeling embarrassment or uncomfortable. While engaging in this meeting it is the responsibility of the staff to ensure the lighting is of an adequate level and the temperature is comfortable. More importantly it is their responsibility to ensure the young people have their say and open and honest communication is adopted and supported in an appropriate manor. 1.5 Use different means of communication  to meet different needs There are many different means of communication which may include one or more of the following: Verbal – communication is a two way process and it is important when communicating to listen as well as speak. In a senior or managerial role it is vitally important to adapt communications depending on who you are communicating with. For example you would communicate differently with a service user, a psychologist and a member of care staff. These would differ in the formality of the conversation and in the language or professional terminology used. Non – verbal – more than 90% of what we communicate is through non-verbal communication. This is demonstrated through our body language – our posture, how we stand, hand movements, facial expression and eye contact. Body language plays such an important role in communicating effectively as things like smiling and nodding seem like insignificant gestures but in reality they play such an important role in communicating by highlighting the interest in what is being said. Sign – this is commonly the use of sign and symbols. It requires training to effectively communicate with the intended audience. BSL is the use of signs and symbols as a communication aid to those with hearing loss. Makaton is used as an aid to support speech but not to replace it.

Oral and maxillofacial surgery

Dry. Distant Patella on a regular basis. He strives hard till he achieves what he has aimed for. His dedication towards work was seen in performance during four years of study and internship period at Carnival Dental hospital. His assistance in various oral and monomaniacal surgeries in Operation Theater was significant. His ward duties like postoperative care of patients who had undergone surgery were worth toting.His strong theoretical fundamentals help him in his practical work. This had impressed me and am confident about his surgical abilities. Articulate and sharp, his work was applauded by faculty, peers and juniors. His evolved communication skills were used very well in his internship. Here I saw a different side Of his – the compassionate, patient and gentle one. His desire to make a difference was apparent In his entire period under me. And t seemed like he would do more and then just pursue a career in dentistry given his inclination.I have guided him on oral and m onomaniacal surgery in fourth year. In addition to trying to do well in exams and tests his class participation was a testament to his interest in this field. I found that he had clear understanding of what was required in reading material and additionally he had inputs and information which was current. This was driven by his incessant desire to learn, explore and grow in areas that were to only a part of our curricular but from outside also.This was unique and a credit to his quest for knowledge. His decision to pursue dental degree in university is ideal given the requirement of dedicated and brilliant people we require in allied areas. He has my strongest recommendation for admission to graduate program at your university. Name: dry. Mishap ideas Designation: head of department, Department of oral and monomaniacal surgery.

Regulated Power Supply Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Regulated Power Supply - Coursework Example So what is a power supply? In the days before complicated ICs and complicated digital electronics, a simple power supply was composed of a transformer and a rectifier circuit. The transformer is where alternating current or AC voltage enters. AC voltage comes from the normal voltage from the electrical outlet at home. It carries with it alternating current and has to be transformed and rectified into direct current (DC) so that it can power up the electrical appliance. It has an input and an output. The output is the desired DC voltage for an electronic circuit which depends whether it is 6 volts or 12 volts or even higher. Since it is the heart and that it supplies the main lifeblood of an electronic system, it is easy to locate, and if one has become acquainted with it, easy to troubleshoot and repair. That is easy said than done, but in any electronic troubleshooting mastery of the block- and schematic diagrams and every detail of the circuitry will ensure a troubleshooting succes s. For electronic technicians and engineers, pinpointing the location of the power supply is as easy as troubleshooting itself. 1.1 Definition of terms 1.1.1 Transformer – A transformer is a devised used to transform voltages or current; the transformation is from higher voltage to smaller voltage (step-down transformer), or from smaller voltage to higher voltage (step-up voltage). Most electronic circuits in appliances and gadgets use step-down transformers. For example, if the power supply in our home is 220 volts or 110 volts, we are going to use a step down-transformer to transformer the higher voltage and current to 6 volts, 9 volts, or 12 volts, as the case maybe. 1.1.2 Alternating Current/Direct current (AC/DC) – The current that enters a transformer is known as alternating current (AC). This is a static current which do not respond to the needed direct current of an electronic circuit. Therefore, the AC current has to be transformed into a DC or direct current. The AC voltage/current comes from the utilities company that supplies our electrical needs at home. First, we have to compare the different types of current and be able to name the parts in it. As mentioned, there are two types of current – the alternating current and the direct current. The alternating current is not regulated – the sine waves are alternating, and this has to be rectified using a diode or diodes, with a capacitor and other filtering components, so that the circuit can produce an output of a DC current. After we have transformed the AC to DC, then we still have to regulate it to match the needed voltage and current that a particular electronic circuit needs. In our high-tech world nowadays, designs have eliminated the transformer and other analog circuits; instead, integrated (IC) circuits have replaced many of the components. 1.1.3 Rectifier Circuit A rectifier is a diode or a circuitry of diodes that transforms alternating current into direct curren t. In a simple rectifier circuit, a diode is coupled with a filter capacitor and load resister to complete the rectification process. This produces a half-wave and does not completely provide full rectification. 1.1.4 Regulator A regulator can be a transistor or an integrated circuit (IC). The purpose of a regulator is to provide a steady DC output. A well-regulated DC is needed in circuits to produce the needed output or purpose of that

Macroeconomics of China and it's GDP Research Paper

Macroeconomics of China and it's GDP - Research Paper Example The steady increase in prices facilitated by the economic bubble suggests that China has come to a critical point of discouraging inflation within the right time: the vibrant mechanism of the economic growth in China has passed through a great transformation (Lai, 2006). At the time the government of China opened up foreign trade, facilitated investment and implemented the free market reformation about four decades ago, China has since become among the world’s top performing economies. With the real annual gross domestic product growth that averages to nearly 10 percent through the year 2013 (Bachman, 2011). In the current years the economy of China has emerged as the main global economic and the trade power. In the world’s current competitive market China is the top merchandise trading economy, holder of foreign reserves and it also acts as the largest destination of the foreign direct investment. Fortunately, China is expected to be the worlds’ largest economy in the next one year. Most economists forecast that China will overtake the United States of America to become the top performing economy in the world in the next few years. However, the probability of China to maintain the rapid growth of economic situation is minimal in the long run because it depends on the government for the implementation of comprehensive economic reforms (Lai, 2006). This will quickly facilitate the transition of the economy of China to a free market economy and create a balanced distribution within the economy thus creating a consumer demand rather than exportation. The government of China is greatly attached to its economy and it has acknowledged for some renovations in order to deal with some challenges effectively and efficiently (Bachman, 2011). China is the second largest economy in the world that will soon overtake the United States. According to the outstanding

Art Apprecition IP Week Four Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art Apprecition IP Week Four - Essay Example This essay compares and contrasts three artworks from famous Baroque artists: Peter Paul Rubens’ â€Å"The Crucified Christ,† Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio’s â€Å"Flagellation of Christ,† and Rembrandt van Rijn’s â€Å"The Raising of the Cross.† These paintings are works of realism, where painters focused on using light, shadows, neutral colors, spatial composition, and vivid themes to depict dynamic spiritual actions in a religious event through somber dramatic effects. The artworks are similar in form because of the use of light, neutral colors, and shadows to interpret different aspects of the Crucifixion. Rembrandt painted images of mythology, religion and landscapes, using generally broad brushstrokes. He maximizes light, shadows, and spatial layout to portray his images and characters, enriching their emotions and personalities (Durham, 2004, p.115). â€Å"The Raising of the Cross† uses luminous light to focus on Christ†™s body. The whiteness of the light symbolizes his purity. The darkness around him conceals the people. Their shadows depict the heaviness of their sins, either as active or passive participants. The direction of the painting is slanting, and most of the lines slanting as well. The same slanting lines are seen in Caravaggio’s â€Å"Flagellation of Christ.† Caravaggio’s style of painting is known for his realism, intense chiaroscuro and the importance placed on co-extensive space. His portrayal of religious themes tends to be somber and dark, and his peers criticized his work for being too realistic, showing the grimmest of human features. In â€Å"Flagellation of Christ,† Christ’s body looks perfectly white, but the people who are crucifying him look like demons with their veined faces, arms, and legs. It seems that they are in extreme pain, when Jesus is the one being flagellated. They are concealed in dark shadows too, like in â€Å"The Raisin g of the Cross.† Aside from having the same light and shadow techniques, these paintings share the same neutral colors- white, black, and brown in different shades. â€Å"The Raising of the Cross† has some cool colors because of the color found in the dress of the white turbaned man and the man in blue beret. Rubens’ â€Å"The Crucified Christ† shows Christ in a vertical position, but his arms and legs are slanted too. Rubens is arguably one of the most central Flemish painters of the 17th century. His style defined the sensual and dynamic techniques of baroque painting. Rubens mixes bold brushwork, glowing colors, and play of light to depict vibrant energies (Spielvogel, 2012, p.480). In â€Å"The Crucified Christ,† the slanted lines connote human pain and misery. There are no people at the background, but the shadows of the clouds and faraway buildings are evident. Sunset presents itself in orange hues at the lower part of Christ’s body too . Like the other two paintings, the light is casted on Christ’s body in â€Å"The Crucified Christ.† His purity is highlighted against the darkness of the world. The luminous light highlights the humanity of Jesus and the pain on his face marks his human anguish. Aside from the same style used on light, color, and shadows, these three paintings maximize spatial layout for dramatic effects. In â€Å"The Crucified Christ,† Christ is put in the middle of swirling dark clouds. Beneath him are dark human structures. The main impact is that Christ is the

Keynesianism as Crisis Management Strategy Essay

Keynesianism as Crisis Management Strategy - Essay Example He went to India for work, after completing his graduation. He earned fellowship of King's college due to his work on dissertation. In the year 1908 he returned back to Cambridge from India by quiting his civil service job. After leaving the job Keynes joined the Treasury (Davidson, 2007). His first published book was "The Economic Consequences of the Peace" in which he abundantly criticized the wars and forecasted about the German revenge. That particular book became the best selling book of its time and made Keynes world famous (Davidson, 2007). Keynes known work was "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" which was published in the year 1936, in which he elaborated about the employment and the causes of underestimated or overestimated the interest rates and its impact on the economy, which eventually became the yardstick for the future economic thoughts. Due to his great work he was awarded as the 'Most Influential Economist' of Britain which motivated him to join the country's treasury again in 1942. He played a decisive role during the world war which always secures his name as a great economist (Samuelson, 2002). Keynes put forward the main causes of depression in order to tackle with the hazards and symptoms of the depression. Keynes introduced the theory of liquidity preference framework, which is known as "Keynesian Liquidity Preference Framework", which defines the people's intentions and desire to hold the money in cash or in redeemable assets. According to Keynes, income can be categorized into three broad terms which are defined in his liquidity preference framework. Cash to Cash Precautionary Speculative Keynes defines the concept of high money supply and high savings, and related his topic with the unemployment rate and increasing economy of the country. As per him, money must not be hoarded and it must be rolled over which eventually induces the investment graph of the country to rise (Begg, 1998). He intimated that no doubt that the high supply of money condenses the unemployment rate but on the contrary it will hike the inflation rate up to an optimal level, let say if every American becomes a millionaire after a number of printing of treasury in Federal Reserve Bank (FED), then there will be no servant or worker left to do biddings which urges the nation to hire people from outside the country on high salaries and wages which ultimately influences the inflation rate to rise. So, persistently sending the money can be the remedy to overcome these circumstances, which is known as the best cure of recession. Keynes said that if a "Liquidity Gap" occurs in the economy of the country then the country badly plunges. A liquidity gap occurs when the people of the country are reluctant to invest and willing to hoard the money rather than spending, which is mainly due to the consumers loss of confidence on the economy probably due to the stock market crash or the prevailing situation in the country. Hurricane and other natural disasters can be a cause which hampered between the consumer spending and savings. The concept of

Reversal of gender roles in Macbeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reversal of gender roles in Macbeth - Essay Example One can see that Lady Macbeth is feminine in outlook but masculine in character. Thesis statement: The gender role of Lady Macbeth is reversed because of her masculine character and conscious denial of femininity (special reference to the conceptions of gender in the early modern period and the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare). The gender role of Lady Macbeth in the play is totally against the traditional conceptions on femininity and motherhood. For instance, femininity is generally regarded as tender natured and motherly affection. In the play, Lady Macbeth does not possess the qualities of femininity. She totally denies her gender role as a woman. Besides, Shakespeare did give equal focus to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because he was aware of the fact that Macbeth does not possess masculine qualities. So, there must a powerful character (say, Lady Macbeth) to compensate the loss of masculinity in Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as an immoral character, without any moral consideration. She cunningly manipulates her husband to fulfill her selfish motive. She was aware of her husband’s strengths and weaknesses. But the element of ambitiousness was inherent in Macbeth; his wife ignited the same and corrupted him totally. Her ultimate aim was to become the queen of Scotland. So, she made use of her husband as an instrument/ medium to attain her aim. In addition, Macbeth’s masculine failure is exploited by his wife. Macbeth loved his wife so dearly but she made use of the same to influence him in a negative way. One can identify that the first half of the play is under Lady Macbeth’s control. So, Lady Macbeth’s gender role is totally against her femininity and she made use of the same to manipulate her husband and to fulfill her selfish motives. First of all, Lady Macbeth was ambitious like her husband. Her desire to be the queen of Scotland resulted in her ultimate doom. Lady Macbeth requests the spirits to unsex her because her

The meaning and influence to Amazon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The meaning and influence to Amazon - Essay Example The meaning of leadership at Amazon†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 4.1 Strengths of leadership styles at Amazon†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..7 4.2 Weakness of leadership styles at Amazon †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 5. Reflection of leadership and its strategies at Amazon†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.9 6. Organizational leadership and the effectiveness of the organization†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.10 7. Leadership style of Amazon company†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.......12 8. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦......14 9. Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦15 1. Executive summary Organizational success depends on effective leadership styles such as autocratic, lazier faire and democratic leadership, transformational leadership is the most effective in attaining organizational shared objectives. Leadership refers to the act of articulating a shared vision and influencing the efforts of the followers towards attainment of shared organizational goals. Leadership structures at Amazon Company can be identified by two specific concepts personal and the organizational. With respect to the two factors above, Amazon Company mainly concentrates on long-term benefits of the firm. Besides, the orga nizational leaders’ acts on behalf of the entire company not only within their areas of interests but are also expected to extend the assistance across the branches without limiting their operations around their roles. Amazon has skilled leaders who focus on achieving the long-term benefits despite the pressure from competitors like wall mart and other rival firms. Amazon, an online seller is very much pessimistic to the roles played by its leaders and this has led the organization to embrace the Kotters framework of confidentiality in management. The CEO Mr. Bezos had set the in initial leeway that organizational success is unsustainable without ethical code of conduct. Moreover, he articulated that leadership factor indicates a direct strategy to the success at Amazon Company due to leadership style that is very much particular to a significant effect on performance on both the employees and the organizational productivity. The type of leadership that is practiced at Amazon is termed as participative or democratic. Through this leadership style, all members of the organization are recognized as partisans to the decision making process, this helps in determining what is perceived to be right concerning the organizational development. 2. Introduction All forms of organizations recognize leadership as a vital aspect for their success. With respect to this, leadership therefore acts as a crucial link that instigates change amongst the members of the organization. Several articles have pointed out that leadership influences the efforts of followers in the organization by acting as an element that binds all the stakeholders towards the specific goals and objectives of the organization. Even though leadership styles may vary, all organizational leaders must poses some specific characteristics that aims in changing the entire organization with the main perspective of ensuring sustainable output development. For somebody to be branded as a good leader then, he must poses distinct roles that that can be used as

Buddhism in china, Korea and japan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Buddhism in china, Korea and japan - Assignment Example On persuasion by his student, Shariputra, Buddha agrees to teach the meaning of this Sutra. However, most of the followers leave after this, as they doubt the legacy of this Sutra. As revealed by Buddha, during his teachings of Lotus Sutra, the burning house is a huge mansion with many rooms. The children in this house are busy in their play, without noticing the dangerous creatures crawling on the floor. When the house is under fire, the father of these children urges them to come out and promises that a cart is waiting for them outside. The underlying message indicates that most of us are pursuing the material gains, without noticing the dangers that accompany them. The lotus floats, clean and dirt-less, above the surface of muddy pond. The teachings of Budda take the form of cart to take us away from the greed that we all are pursuing in this material world. Hoolboom, Mike â€Å"Burning House: Betrayal as Innovation† The goal of practice is compassion, Center of Gravity, 25 February 2012, Web 05 Nov 2013:

The Fugitive Light Essay Example for Free

The Fugitive Light Essay Fugitive Light by Mohamed Berrada is a narration of life of an old, aging painter named Al Ayshuni. Set in Tangier, the novel opens in the house of the said painter who was caught with artistic paralysis—not able to produce what he thinks into an artistic work. He could not paint or even sketch what were on his mind. In the middle of this paralysis, Al Ayshuni would be disturbed by the presence of another character: the divorced Fatima. A young, beautiful, and highly-spirited woman, Fatima would introduce herself to Al Ayshuni, admitting that she is an avid admirer of the artist and his works. Later in the story, Fatima will play a vital part to Al Ayshuni’s life. She will bring memories to the painter as the author will try to slowly reveal the woman’s character and her connection to Al Ayshuni’s past. It would then be revealed that Fatima is the daughter of Al Ayshuni’s past lover, Ghaylana. Not only through that case could Al Ayshuni find a connection to Fatima. Their relationship would deepen as the story progresses. The divorced young lady would eventually serve as the artist’s model for his works, muse for social gatherings, and finally, lover. Al Ayshuni would struggle between his feelings for Fatima and his unfinished business with her mother Ghaylana. Most importantly, he would try to turn back time just to find again the fugitive of his life his youth. Towards the end of the story, Al Ayshuni would finally proclaim his defeat not only in the aspect of love but in the aspect of life itself. Fatima returned to Menton, a town in the Italian border, with his new husband Matthias. The old artist has failed to regain his fugitive light that he once had. Berrada has described the artist’s feeling through using his paintings as a metaphor: Who among us does not run away from something? I return to my lines and colors: I run away from the words of these memoirs and renounce the illusion of recording through them the experiences I lived. I am content to repeat: Whats gone is gone, light and color remain for me as well as space, of which I dream through them. . . . Everything else is prattle and sermonizing blown by the winds. The Novel’s Characters Al Ayshuni, as the protagonist of the novel, has showed a variety of his character while the story progresses. Those progressions in his character, nevertheless, were evidently portrayed by Berrada. Al Ayshuni was an adopted child of a rich mentor who fostered his artistic talents by providing him his financial needs and bringing him up as man of wit and intellect. He chose to further his artistic craft instead of committing his life to Ghaylana, his first love When he met Ghaylana, though, he missed the opportunity of being with her as he chose to follow his dreams and go to Spain. Ghaylana, who is much younger than Al Ayshuni, was left heartbroken; her family has able to find her a husband. Fatima, on the one hand, was described by Berrada as â€Å"†¦friendly, her words flowed with spontaneity and affection† (Berrada 2). No wonder that Al Ayshuni easily got closed to and fell in love with her eventually. She, nevertheless, was beautiful as her mother. She has â€Å"†¦ honey-colored eyes shone with an equivocal look and her chestnut hair was cut short a la garconne. Her gown hung down her body, showing its graceful form at the lines of her bosom and waist. † Young and with intellectual maturity, Fatima has easily hooked the heart of the middle-aged artist whose life is haunted by the things he did in the past. The Novel’s Themes Two struggling set of themes can be clearly seen while analyzing the novel. First is the struggle between the ideas of the past and the present, and second, the struggle between the ideas of sexual and intellectual pleasures. Berrada has included in his novel the fight between the idea of the past and the idea of the present. The main character, Al Ayshuni, was portrayed as a man who was nostalgic of his past, desiring to regain his youth. He behaved this way since the start of his romantic relationship with Fatima. While he was living with the woman, he could not control himself to be so reminiscent. He kept thinking about the possibilities he should have encountered if ever she did not leave Fatima’s mother. Moreover, one question always bothers him: If he and Ghaylana ended up together, would he also become a father and raise his own children, probably the same ages as that of Fatima’s? Unable to change the things he did in the past, Al Ayshuni just content himself with his present life—lonely, miserable, and chained to his past life. However, he still acknowledged his mistakes and accepted his faith, saying that â€Å"running after the fugitive light is an act full of torment but it exudes pleasure and the enticements of mirage . . . It can never be compared to the sterile act of searching for words to capture shreds of stored feelings. † The second set of struggling themes that can be found in the story is the issue concerning pleasure, specifically the grapple between sexual pleasure and intellectual pleasure. In the novel, Al Ayshuni left Ghaylana to cater his urge for intellectual pleasure. When finally he has fed this urge, he loss Ghaylana who caters, on one hand, his sexual desires. It was very ironic that when Al Ayshuni gained the other one, he loss the other one. This set-up was challenged though when Fatima entered the scene. Fatima embodied both pleasures. She can cater Al Ayshuni’s sexual as well as intellectual needs. In the novel, Al Ayshuni had written in one of his papers, â€Å"During Fatima’s stay with me, I was perplexed about her; she had invaded my life as my sweetheart’s daughter, she acted with attractive maturity and sensitivity she gave me to taste various kinds of physical pleasure†¦then she refused to tell me about her life. † (Berrada 88). Mohamed Berrada: The Author Mohamed Berrada is a Moroccan writer of fiction. He also critiques works of literature and translates Arabic writings. An instructor of Arabic literature himself, Berrada is being acknowledged as one of Morocco’s finest and relevant modern writers. Berrada believes in a literary movement called attajrib, which translates to English as experimentation. In this kind of movement, the writers are experimenting new techniques in their craft. They give more emphasis on fragmented and individual thoughts, narration, images, and scenes. Underlying Issues The novel tries to tackle the issues of marital relationship, social class, and nationalism. On the first few pages of the novel, Berrada has included a dialogue between Al Ayshuni and Fatima concerning about marriage and divorce. They were watching the television about an investigative report on the situation of cohabitation of men and women in France. According to the report, the number of couples who are actually living together has reached over two million. When asked about her own opinion regarding the issue, Fatima answered that she is in favor of couples living together. For her, this arrangement could be better than marriage because the couples could find time to make sure of their feelings for each other. This stand of Fatima regarding marital relationship was seen through her actions in the story. She agreed living with Al Ayshuni in one roof until she was not sure of her feelings. Towards the end of the novel, she left Al Ayshuni for another man. The issue about marriage and divorce has been subjects of debate even long ago. The underlying themes that could also be connected to this issue are love and commitment. In the novel, Al Ayshuni did not marry Ghaylana because he is still not ready for commitment. It is very much different with Fatima’s case who opted to live with Al Ayshuni instead of marrying him. Both of them were not ready for commitment, although they were in love with each other. The issue of social class was also perceived in the story through the presentation of a clear demarcation between the rich and poor during the time when the novel took place. Al Ayshuni, for example, would never fully develop his talents if without the help of the wealthy man who adopted him. The novel evidently says that education is only for those who have the money and the power. Thus, only those who had the access to education will more or less succeed in life. In line with this, the author has also included the issue of nationalism in presenting his story. In one of the book’s passages, Al Ayshuni has observed the plurality of his place, saying that â€Å"†¦it has been a gift to all races and people. A city in common? A woman gone to perdition? Space that can’t bear constraints and boundaries? † The novel is trying to critique the idea of multinationalism and endorsing the importance of having one national identity. The author may unknowingly included in the novel his actual stand about the issue through the words from Al Ayshuni: â€Å"Isn’t all this plurality of fashions, histories, and languages of its residents what brings it close to the soul that always yearns for more than one costume and one mask, for more than one love and one body, for more than one language and one space? † (Berrada 148) Finally, Berrada’s Fugitive Light is a combination of talent and experience of the author. He was able to incorporate somehow his culture and points-of-views through the characters he created. Knowing that he himself is a literary artist, the character of Al Ayshuni is no less similar to his. It could be concluded that everything he presented about this specific character is a reflection of himself and his own stands and opinions towards the same issues that he presented in his novel. In reading the novel, I could not help to question some of the things around me that I am accustomed to believe and to do. For example, I now frequently think about the issues of marriage, divorce, and living in together. Conservative as it may seems, I still believe in the power of marriage. For me, it is not only a social act, but more of an internal practice. Here, you would be able to know and learn more about yourself. I would also like to agree with the author’s own stand about nationalism. For me, the problem now with nations is the blurring of their boundaries and limitations. In the world of globalization, it seems that everything is being globalized; everything serves for specific international purposes. There is nothing wrong with that, I must say. Maybe those kinds of changes are really inevitable. What I propose is that people of all races should still have a firm grasp of their own identity—own culture, own language, own space. It does not matter whether you belong to Third World Countries or First World Nations. The idea is that all of us should still cling to who and what we are. To end, Fugitive Light by Mohamed Berrada is a novel that truly depicts the problems within third world countries: class struggles, nationalism, and even gender roles and perceptions. I would definitely recommend this book for the very mere fact that it is honest. The story does not cater to a specific class only, or for selfish intentions of the less people. It is simply true. Works Cited Berrada, Mohamed. Fugitive Light. New York: Syracuse Un

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr German sociologist Max Weber (1968) made the first argument of charismatic leadership that a leader with charisma is able to convince people. He believed that the leadership of charismatic individuals with exceptional quality can size up the situation immediately and lead to a very profound influence on his subordinates. Moreover, charisma is an encouraging factor that leaders are available with the nature of interpersonal attraction, including personality, ability, experience and frustrations. Therefore, this essay is going to discuss the importance of charismatic leadership in two following aspects. The relationship between leaders and followers Jay (1998) noted that leaders charisma is a contagious indictor to help his follows. When a leader is considered to be very attractive, then their subordinates are more willing to take the leaders proposals to work. According to him, charismatic leadership often set an example for their employees in order to lead or influence them, which could disseminate the values and varied expectations according to their own action. Furthermore, Jean (2005) supported an example of how Reverend Martin Luther King Jr affected his followers can demonstrate the importance of charismatic leadership. On 1 December, 1955, Alabama in the United States, a black woman named Rosa Parker refused to obey an order form a bus driver who asked her to give her seat to a white passenger. Then the driver called the police, who arrested her for breaking the bus segregation laws. When the black community heard about that, they were engaged. Already some black people were collecting weapons to fight against whites. Th is matter raised Reverend Martin Luther King Jrs attention; he thought that violence was not the answer and the situation must be corrected. After that, King called a meeting at his church and appealed a mass movement to carry out bus boycott. While the boycott continued, the black leader encouraged his congregation to keep up their struggle and emphasized the need for non-violent action. Finally, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional. Martin Luther King had played a leading role in the victorious Montgomery bus boycott for civil right. His talent and morality were deeply attracted by the majority of black supports, which made him become a charismatic leader in democratic rights movement. However, Edwin (2008) opposed that charismatic leadership can be a curse so that a leader charisma not always brings the benefit to followers. In his opinion, abusing charismatic leadership may bring a danger or risk to the organization, because it can be not only used for destructive purposes, but also it might be utilized for private purposes, which would result in deception, manipulation and exploitation of others.Leaders want their followers to share the same beliefs and values, which are strong models to employees. If their advocated beliefs and values are not correct, charismatic leadership would take followers into a wrong way, which may cause a disastrous consequence. In Hans (2000) research, Hitler accepted the idea of Benito Mussolini, who was the founder of Fascist Nazism. There were a lot of followers because of his attractive leadership during the World War 2. But he advocated using coercive power of fascist Nazism and guide people toward an extreme misfortune. Perspective of charismatic leadership    Andrew (2009) deemed that charismatic leadership helps entrepreneurs to strengthen and improve their leadership effectiveness.The charisma of a leader on the facet of interpersonal skills can bring big advantages for many reasons. In the first place, employees tend to seek charismatic leaders who they believe. Secondly, people perhaps are always influenced by the personal charm on their leaders because they feel that it will enhance their self-confidence and self-esteem which can produce a pleasurable sensation. Finally, staff wished to work for glamorous leaders who may stimulate their enthusiasm. Another case of Martin Luther King is that his speech of I have a dream deeply motivated black people fighting for civil rights and freedom. On the contrary, Martin (2005) argued that the external environment and situation has undergone tremendous changes, adverse psychological characteristics and values, which have not been expressed before, may happen on charismatic leaders. In another word, their original psychological tendencies have been suppressed due to the growth and expansion of external and inherent constraints. Consequently,various emotions complacency would expand on charismatic leadership in an organization after succeed in hard works. In order to seek compensation after hard works, leaders might often seek some illegal and immoral businesses as a spiritual compensation so that they seize the wealth and pleasure in irregular ways. There are also some leaders losing initiative and enjoying material life after success.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, Tudor and Murray (2006) pointed out that the charismatic leadership also exist dark sides in the organizational management, such as mismanagement in the network of members relationships (especially the staff in grassroots level and managers in supervisory level). Sometimes, leadership transition does not follow the usual practice, which may reflect on a phenomenon that organizational members misunderstand the leaders intent. Besides, charismatic leadership may result in alienation between leaders and employees in an organization. Leaders charisma might be formed a strong leadership and management style so that there would be an opposition among in-group and outside-groups members of the organization, even though the organization is in a tantamount splitting situation. Meanwhile, momentum that may be ascribed in leader charisma did not produce agreement in organizational members who are accustomed working in the traditional slow pace. Consequently, it is a negative effect that they deal with their managers courteously but without sincerity. These actions will certainly have a negative impact on employee performance. Conclusion In short, the charismatic leadership could process a strong charisma in both positive and negative sides. Therefore, grasping the dialectical relationship of charismatic leadership can play a positive role even if there would be some negative effects. Charismatic leaders, who experienced in the formation of overall quality, will have a profound emotional impact on their follows. Subordinates even treat them as an epic hero or model figure so that charismatic leaders should have great power, self-confidence, power, beliefs and moral steadfastness. Furthermore, they are good at setting up ambitious objectives and being examples of their own to express their belief and values in an organization. Bibliography Weber, M. (1968) On charisma and institution building: selected papers, Chicago:University of Chicago Press Conger, J (1998) Charismatic leadership in organizations, USA: SAGE publications, p 20 Darby, J. (2005) Martin Luther King Jr, USA: Lerner Publications Company, pp 24-48 Hollander, E (2008) Inclusive Leadership: The Essential Leader-Follower Relationship, United States of America: Taylor Francis Group, p 88 Slomp, H (2000) European politics into the twenty-first century: integration and division, USA: Praeger Publishers, pp 9-10 Dubrin, A (2009) Leadership: Research Findings, Practice and Skills, 6th edition, USA: South-Western, pp 92 Wood, M (2005) The Fallacy of Misplaced Leadership, Journal of Management Studies [J], 42:6(2005), pp1102-1112 Rickards,T. and Clark, M (2006) Dilemmas of Leadership, United Kingdom: British Library, pp 88-90

Othellos Flaw in Shakespeares The Tragedy of Othello Essays -- Paper

Othello's Flaw in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello In Shakespeare?s play Othello, Othello himself is the tragic hero. He is an individual of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single person, but is rather the consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments, misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification revealed by the characters. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of great pride and courage. As the play continues, his character begins to deteriorate and become less noble. Throughout the play, Othello?s character changes from a flawless military leader, to a murderer. He has certain traits which make him seem naive and unsophisticated compared to many other people. Iago knows Othello is a proud man, Othello?s open and trusting nature in the beginning of the play lets Iago, whom is cunning, untrustworthy, selfish, and plotting, use him as a scapegoat. Othello, the Moor, as many call him, is a strong character. He is very proud and in control of every move throughout the play. The control is not only of power but also of the sense of his being, who he is, a great warrior. In Act I, Othello has a fight with Brabantio, who has come to kill him, but before anything could happen, Othello said: "Hold your hands, both of you of my inclining and the rest. Were it my cue to fight, I should have known it without a prompter" (I, ii, lines 97-100). The power shown here is quite surprising. The nature of Othello's character is of a dark man. Not only because he is black, but also because he... ...hat's a fable If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee? (V, II, Lines 333-334) He couldn't handle the anguish of knowing he had murdered in jealousy rather for justice. He carried out his sentence, by taking a knife and stabbing himself. He then said: "I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss" (V, ii, line 413-414). Othello was jealous. He thought his wife was cheating on him and he thought he was killing for justice. He said that he loved not wisely but too well. It was not very smart of him to believe another man about something he should know more about. This is why I think of Othello as a tragic hero in this play. His character was brought to light of a horrible situation by a deceitful devil named Iago. Bibliography: Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Alfred Harbab. Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1970.

Mike Roses Lives on the Boundary Essay -- Mike Rose Lives Boundary Es

Mike Rose's Lives on the Boundary Mike Rose’s Lives on the Boundary is an Educational Autobiography. The book begins at the beginning of his life and we follow him up into his adult years. The book focuses on the â€Å"struggles and achievements of America’s educationally underprepared† . The Alien   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to understand Mike Rose, and his book Lives on the Boundary, you must first understand where Mike is coming from and examine his past. Mike was born to a first generation immigrant family, originally from Italy. He spent his early childhood in the mid-west and then in his latter childhood, parents not knowing any better, in East Los Angeles. Mike’s father suffered from arteriosclerosis. Neither Mike’s mother nor his father had completed high school and no one in his family had ever attended college. This is the setting, background, and characters of Mike’s tale of â€Å"struggles and achievements of America’s educationally underprepared† . Through this book Mike constantly is emphasizing three main themes. First, the importance of an educational mentor; later in this treatise we will examine several of Mike’s mentors. Second, social injustices in the American education system; specifically the lack of funding and bureaucracy’s affect on the public educational system. Third and lastly, specific teaching methods that Mike has used to reach out to kids on the boundary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout Mike’s life, he had the fortunate experience of having some inspirational mentors. I have identified four of his numerous mentors as the most critical to his development, both educationally and personally. Achieving Abnormality The first of Mike’s mentors I would like to discuss came into his life just after his father passed away, beginning of his senior year. His name was Jack MacFarland. Jack, as described by Mike Rose is, †¦a beatnik who was born too late. His teeth were stained, he tucked his sorry tie between the third and forth buttons of his shirt, and his pants were chronically wrinkled. With a cultural background like Mike’s, survival in the American educational system is a difficult struggle at best. However, Jack helped fill in some of the critical cultural blanks. â€Å"He slowly and carefully built up our knowledge of Western intellectual history – with facts, with connections, with speculations† . And Jack served as more than simply a source of numb... ...t seems that every-other president and every-other governor refers to himself or herself as the education president or education governor, yet they fail to deliver the necessary funding to maintain a high level of education for all of his or her constituents’ children. Why is it that class and culture is the determining factor for who receives a quality education, this social injustice must be remedied. My Awakening Much like Mike, I have had some amazing academic mentors that were not afraid to get down in the trenches with me and ask what I was trying to say. I had Ms. Lewis my freshmen year of high school, she would sit down with me and rip apart my paper and rework it as necessary. During my senior year of high school, I had the privilege of taking a U.W. English class that was a seminar format where the instructor would frequently conference with us, and he gave me the tools to continue my education. However, something we all need to remember, especially at PLU, is to not be afraid to be a mentor to someone else. In life, we are all teachers. We tell one another our stories, and by doing that we are teaching them what it is like to look at the world through our lens.

Interview With a Human Resources Manger Essay -- Interview Essay

I have taken an interview of the Human Resources Manager Mr. John Smith of a respected University. I asked him to come for a coffee at Starbucks coffee shop. He did not refuse me and came at time. First, I shared my course content and whatever I knew about course and career. I started with explaining many things regarding human resource management, as he is the most competent Human Resources Manager in my eyes. I started by describing about what our College is teaching about Human Resource Management. A. Thesis Statement Reflection, research, and mentorship help to embrace truth for our benefit, which helps to become individuals that are more authentic. An effective leader knows his or her own strengths and weaknesses, passions and obligations, and is always learning better to manage his or her own emotions, faults, and challenges. II. Discussion With that interview, I have learnt a lot of leadership styles and motivational theories, which I studied in my University lectures from Mr. John. This paper is the reflection of what I learnt from him. A. Effective Leadership The leadership is a result of a combination of traits, with special emphasis on the personal qualities of the leader, which he should possess certain personality traits that would be special facilitators in leadership performance. This theory shows that leaders are born as such, there is no likelihood of 'making' them later with personal development techniques. The vision of leadership that leaders are born made, and not learn to be leaders is still considered but not popular among researchers (Avolio et al, 2013). 1. Traits The trait theory prevailed until the forties, passing these characteristics to be studied within a universalistic perspective.... ...ted Bedford, C., & Gehlert, K. M. (2013). Situational Supervision: Applying Situational Leadership to Clinical Supervision. The Clinical Supervisor, 32(1), 56-69. Peus, C., Braun, S., & Frey, D. (2013). Situation-based measurement of the full range of leadership model—Development and validation of a situational judgment test. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(5), 777-795. Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., & Li, N. (2013). The theory of purposeful work behavior: The role of personality, higher-order goals, and job characteristics. Academy of Management Review, 38(1), 132-153. Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. (Eds.). (2013). Transformational and Charismatic Leadership:: the Road Ahead. Emerald Group Publishing. Sternberg, R. J. (2013). Perspectives: Leadership Styles for Academic Administrators: What Works When?. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(5), 24-27.

La Guagua Aerea

â€Å"La Guagua Aerea† Many things in life are learned the hard way. We learn to overcome these obstacles and adapt to rapid change. The movie we saw in class is a perfect example of these points. It takes place in the 1970’s when tickets from Puerto Rico to New York where lowered down to $20 in order to promote immigrants to come to the U. S. This was found to be a big scam done by the U. S. to trick the Puerto Rican community to selling their properties. This movie takes place mainly on the plane on the way to La Guardia Airport.There were many interesting points I noticed in this film. One of my observations was how all these immigrants were traveling with the same dream. The American dream is this hope that all immigrants who come to the United States have of becoming successful. They believe that by coming to this country they will make a lot of money. For many it’s false hope and when they come here they realize how hard it is to actually make a living over here. Jobs aren’t opened everywhere especially not jobs that are willing to pay good.A good example of this is the taxi driver who was in the movie. He had previous experience of what life was like in New York. He went there once before with hopes of getting a good job and instead he realized that things were hard. That is why he became so angry when the stuck up Puerto Rican man tried to act like he was going to be so rich in New York. My personal opinion towards this movie is it’s definitely an eye opening visual of what really happens when immigrants come to the U. S.Their false thoughts and how we never let go of our culture no matter how far we are from home. I thought the movie was very funny at points especially when the people on board began eating their rice and beans. It was really hilarious how they kept looking at the pickle that came in the sandwich like it was from outer space. I understand how these people feel especially since I am an immigrant from Pe ru. It was very hard to adapt to this new world. Especially being so far away from family and what I grew up knowing.

Paradoxes of Culture and Globalization Essay

Have you ever told someone that you are not a â€Å"mind reader† and you need them to specifically state their needs or what they are wanting? Or the opposite situation where you were able to tell what a person was going to say even before they even said a word? These examples illustrate differences between low and high context communication styles. People have a dominate way they prefer to communicate and cultures define these styles. There are differences in the way high and low-context culture members behave and interact with each other. However, there are times and situations where an individual will flex their style based on the situation at hand. In the end, both styles can be an effective way to communicate in the proper situation or context. A low-context culture is one that is explicit in its communication, orally and in writing. These cultures tend to be dominant individualistic cultures such as white, Anglo-Saxon Americans and Germans. In these cultures there is a desire to be very clear about communicating what they mean to ensure that there is a common understanding with other parties. For example in a low context culture, successful project managers and the teams will be very clear with deadlines and deliverables, such as the 2 page summary report will be due on Tuesday at 1pm. A person that favors a low context culture will appreciate the clarity in goals and expectations. Societies that favor low context communication are also seen as monochronic. These people find comfort in doing one thing at a time, make time commitments, are accustomed to short-term relationships, and stick to plans. An example of a profession that tends to be low-context is engineering. There is a saying that many engineers can easily relate to: â€Å"A place for everything and everything in its place†. This saying implies a high need for organization. I have worked on assignments with several engineers that get easily frustrated when details of the project or product change mid-stream due to a shift in the marketplace or a customer request. The feedback that is given to me from a few of the engineers is that it is difficult to deliver a project on-time when things change. However, without the change, the project may not achieve its overall goal: to satisfy the customer’s need. This is a prime example of how low-context cultures prefer to be very specific. They favor very clear, specific, and fixed objectives. On the other hand, high context cultures communicate in an implicit manner where members understand the message without direct oral or written communication. Mexico and Japan are examples of high-context cultures. People in these cultures have a difficult time refusing a direct request or disagreeing with others in public. There is a heightened sense to not embarrass others or to be embarrassed in these cultures. These cultures also are more polychronic. People that are polychronic are flexible with time commitments, are easily distracted, tend to form deep and long relationships, and value relationships over deadlines. Working with high-context cultures can feel very difficult for low-context individuals that are not aware of the difference in styles. Based on my personal experience when dealing with a high-context cultures and individuals, I have had many challenges because I was not aware of the culture difference. The challenges developed because I was not aware that the group may have been avoiding difficult conversations. For example, I thought that I had agreement from others in a Mexican factory with clear deadlines and deliverables for a project. Only later to find out that they thought our agreement was more of a â€Å"target† or a guideline for them to work towards. Deadlines were often missed by weeks even with weekly meetings confirming deliverables and deadlines. Another example using a similar context that I have had is when asking a team member from China and Mexico a question such as â€Å"are we on-schedule or ahead of schedule† and getting a reply of â€Å"yes† because it’s difficult for them to reply with an answer they may feel with disappoint me if the project is behind schedule. This can prove to be detrimental to a project if it’s unclear the project is behind schedule. However, a great attribute of high-context teams is their willingness to be flexible. They can also leverage their strong relationships with others to get tasks accomplished effectively. Both high and low context cultures will change their style based on certain circumstances and situations. I have personally seen communication styles flexed in contract negotiations. Many contract negotiations that I have been involved in have a final written document that both parties can use to refer back to at later times to understand the original agreement. This document is very explicit in nature and has specifically defined terms and language. This is an example of a low-context form of communication that high context cultures use even if it may be more comfortable to go through the negotiations using more high-context communication and strategies such as talking through ideas and feeling the other party out using social environment situations. On the other hand, an example of low-context individuals using high context tactics may happen is when couples are dating. Very few emotions or expectations are communicated explicitly early on in the relationship but yet even low-context individuals can â€Å"read between the lines† about another person’s feelings or emotions during the courtship phase. Another example of high-context communication that can be used by low-context cultures is the use of silence. This can be a very powerful tactic to encourage others to say more than they might normally say to break the silence or if they are assuming you are waiting for more information before responding. Silence can be a negotiators’ best friend when used appropriately to gather more information from other side. The Japanese have been known to use silence or length of pauses to communicate messages such as disagreement or rejection of an offer. In summary, high and low context cultures can behave in very different, almost opposite, ways when communicating. However, each can and will use other others’ style in different situation. The key for effective communication is to understand the other’s contextual style and be ready to be flexible to change your style as needed. Both low and high-context styles can be used to communicate well and neither is better than the other.

Aol time warner

The merger between the AOL and Time Warner is most certainly a challenging undertaking. To mix a traditional culture existing at Time Warner as ‘old’ company with the flexibility of the ‘new’ AOL culture was both risky and promising.The merger promised Time Warner entrance into the new digital markets where it lacked expertise and created synergies to consider. As a leader in interactive services and owner of powerful Web brands, AOL could deliver performance in areas that promised the greatest growth in the years to come. At the same time, Time Warner with its large asset base created a climate in which AOL would have resources for the realization of the most ambitious projects and undertakings.The choices vary depending on the degree of freedom companies want to have in their operations. On the one hand, AOL and Time Warner could remain to function as two separate entities, undivided by controversies. In this case, the merged company would only engage in c ost-saving and some cross-marketing strategies to increase the profits of shareholders.On the contrary, the company can choose to undertake a massive cultural overhaul in order to blend the two parts closer together. This choice is extremely risky as the two cultures represent different poles of managerial culture.In my opinion, the first choice is the most rational as both companies would need time to understand what they are dealing with. Previously functioning as part of either AOL or Time Warner, the two executive teams have elaborated their own approaches and positions, and bringing those closer together would be difficult.Both companies would thus have more time to study each other’s business models and learn the best aspects of culture and business practices. The restructuring has to be carried out proportionately to the size of both companies, or, alternatively, inclusion of executives from each company on the board could be equal. In this way, the merger would respec t both cultures and give them time to adjust to each other. Â  

Wal-Mart’s Unfair Labor Practices in “Down and Out in Discount America

In â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America,† writer Liza Featherstone (2004) exposes the dirty tactics and unfair business practices that fuel Wal-Mart’s success as a giant retail company, and suggests effective strategies to defeat corporate crime. According to Featherstone, Wal-Mart is one company that literally profits and grows from the presence and worsening of poverty situations, as shown by the results of a study conducted by economist Andrew Franklin which revealed that â€Å"Wal-Mart operated primarily in poor and working-class communities.†Most of the retail company’s customers are â€Å"overwhelmingly female, and struggling to make ends meet. † Featherstone argues that Wal-Mart ensures that its market in the low income segment continually expands by â€Å"creating more bad jobs worldwide. † She also points out that Wal-Mart routinely employs illegal and unethical business practices to maintain its competitive edge over other compani es, including violating wage and labor laws that deprive workers of their living wage and health benefits.More importantly, this set-up â€Å"contribute to an economy in which, increasingly, workers can only afford to shop at Wal-Mart. † The biggest brunt falls on Wal-Mart’s overwhelmingly female workers. As a result, the company has been the subject of â€Å"the largest civil rights class-action suit in history† which â€Å"charges the company with systematically discriminating against women in pay and promotions.† The company has also been cleverly using public funds to subsidize its low wages by encouraging its workers to apply for welfare assistance. Despite the company’s glaring offenses, however, poor women continue to patronize Wal-Mart because it is all they can afford. Featherstone therefore contends that the success of a concerted action against the giant company lies in the ability of stakeholders such as labor unions to go beyond the co nsumer mentality, constructed by big business, in creating avenues of resistance.The author notes that â€Å"to effectively battle corporate criminals like Wal-Mart, the public must be engaged as citizens, not merely as shoppers,† in order to form a movement with enough social and political power to challenge Wal-Mart and to advance the interest of the poor and the working class. Arguably, Featherstone’s article is one of the most convincing and informative pieces there is that provides a balanced and level-headed discussion of an issue that is as inflammatory as â€Å"the â€Å"Wal-Martization† of American jobs.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Down and Out in Discount America† is clearly intended for a wide spectrum of audience. Featherstone assumes that her readers know Wal-mart but they do not know about its unfair practices and illegal activities. Through the clever use of rhetoric and data, the author delivers an essay that is both incisive and engaging. Featherstone u ses both academic data and well-placed personal narratives of the workers of Wal-Mart to build her case.In the process, she does not need to explicitly state that Wal-mart profits from injustice and deepening income divide, this is already substantiated by the real-life cases and hard statistics that speak about the way the company â€Å"profits not only on women's drudgery but also on their joy, creativity and genuine care for the customer† and conditions its consumers to be heavily dependent on the â€Å"relief† brought by Wal-Mart discounted prices. It is interesting to note that Featherstone incorporates contrary ideas into her piece—such as the welcoming attitude towards Wal-Mart held by poor women—to illuminate and strengthen her stance.Thus, Featherstone avoids taking the â€Å"boycott† stance that would have been too simplistic an answer to as big a problem as Wal-Mart. â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America† also does not have the d epressing tone that most articles dealing with serious social issues are often infected with; this is not to say that the article does not evoke an emotional response from the reader but that it presents an image of women workers, who, despite their desperation and sad circumstance, manage to lend their anecdotes to show the multi-dimensionality of the Wal-Mart experience. One therefore finds it hard not to take Featherstone’s side against Wal-mart.The writer undoubtedly presents a well-informed case that explores the Wal-Mart’s labor issues in both a personal and social angle, and attempts to convince the audience on the logic and soundness of why the poor should stop shopping at Wal-Mart (which Featherstone has already conceded is an exercise in futility) but on why there should be more stringent policies to safeguard the poor from unfair labor practices and why there should be adequate legal measures to punish corporate criminal activities that prey upon the despera tion of the poor and the working class.Featherstone is also right in pointing out the need for a political and social movement that would leverage the interest of the poor and the working class above corporate interests. This movement must be a powerful enough presence to generate political pressure on the government and on big businesses to fulfill their social obligations.Clearly, â€Å"Down and Out in Discount America† is a searing portrayal of what happens when citizens literally put their souls out for a â€Å"bargain† with big businesses, which has transformed them into mere consumers whose participation in political and social decision-making is limited to individualistic shopping and purchase decisions. Fortunately, writers like Featherstone are there to remind consumers that they are, first and foremost, citizens and workers with stakes not only in payday discount sales but in the future and direction of labor and living conditions in the community and the cou ntry.

Media Law Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media Law Assignment - Research Paper Example Bruce would minister to his father on the phone and his stepmother Edie would listen quietly. One morning Edie asked Bruce questions about Jesus and she agreed to receive Jesus. The complainant's allegation was that the newsletter had published the story online, and one of Edith's relatives had seen it. Edith Rapp claimed that Jews for Jesus falsely alleged that she had joined their organization. In the alternative, the complainant alleged that the organization had meant that she had come to believe in the philosophy, actions and tenet of Jews for Jesus. In her second amended complaint, Edith alleged among others, false light. The court at trial allowed Jews for Jesus to have the complaint dismissed, and several paragraphs to be struck from the complaint as the Fourth District court had said that the paragraphs were primarily polemical ' against Jews for Jesus. The trial court dismissed all the subsequent complaints by Edith Rapp. On appeal, the Fourth District addressed the issue of Rapp's dismissed claims. With regard to defamation, the court was of the view that the 'common mind' reading the newsletter would not find Edith an object of among others, ridicule. The court’s conclusion was communication would only be defamatory if the plaintiff was prejudiced in the eyes of "substantial and respectable minority of the community." The conclusion of the court was that the standard had not been applied. Nevertheless, the court affirmed the dismissal of his defamation claim on the basis of the community standard applicable. False light had its origin in the common law tort of invasion of privacy. William L. Prosser, a leading scholar in tort law expounded on the tort of invasion of privacy developed this area of law. Prosser's proposal was that invasion of privacy was made of four torts, which were distinct, and among them was false light. The Supreme Court found that elements of false light and defamation overlap. The Supreme Court argued that having the tes t of "highly offensive to a reasonable person" standard has the risk of preventing free speech because the conduct, which is prohibited, is not very clear. It was the court's opinion that the law of tort is meant to prevent as well as recompense wrongful conduct, then it should be clear in identifying the wrongful conduct. The court thus found the tort of false light could not pass that test. The area in which this taught differed with defamation was ambiguous and prone to a lot of subjectivity. The court found that having "highly offensive" information recognized even when a reasonable person would find it highly offensive involved a component of subjectivity. Based on the court's review of the law in Florida and other jurisdictions, it stated that it could not ignore the overlap between defamation and false light. Though the court acknowledged that in a majority of the states does recognize false light as a cause of action, what was striking was the fact that the review of this de cision revealed that no case, in which judgment was solely based on false light cause of action has ever been successful. In conclusion, the court declined to recognize false light as a suitable cause of action in the state of Florida and quashed the Fourth District's decision in reinstating Rapp's false light claim. 2. Intrusion Intrusion is based how a person from the media behaves. Intrusion thus depends less on

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Marketing - Essay Example We have athletic shoes for basketball, running and tennis, among others. There are athletic shoes that can also double as casual shoes and these are what we popularly call trainers and sneakers. Nike, Adidas and Reebok dominate the athletic shoe market and the competition is fierce because there is a large market for it. The young people/the college student culture is our target consumers due to their active and upwardly mobile lifestyle. The actual purchasing process of our target market could be categorized into two: traditional and online purchasing. Traditional purchasing process is when the consumer buys from a store while online purchasing is when the consumer orders the product using the internet. Online purchasing is the more interesting of the two. Today, the college-students subculture is popularly known as the MySpace generation. This tag is after a hugely popular social networking website called MySpace.com. It came to be synonymous to our target market because it represents how the web figures in young people’s lives especially socially and as a consumer. BusinessWeek reported that our market live online, buy online and play online. To penetrate the market and acquire a significant share of mind, we should tap the endorsement of popular icons among the college-students. It would not hurt if we follow the lead of Nike when they hired Michael Jordan to endorse their shoes. There was a quantified improvement on the Adidas sale when trendsetters like Claudia Schiffer and Madonna started sporting their products. (Wallace) The strategy of launching a comprehensive sponsorship of sporting events not just professional but on American collegiate level must also be seriously considered. There is nothing more effective than touching base with our market leaving us with the message that we are real and giving them opportunity to gauge our products’ strengths. Finally,

Introduction to Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Introduction to Decision Making - Essay Example Another problem that the review process encountered was the subjective nature of the review form. Categories should not use terms that are not defined. "Meets expectations" may hold different meanings for different managers. Rating scales of 1 to 5 may be interpreted differently by different people. If an employee is average do they receive a 2, 3, or 4 The rating scale needs to be based on more objective data and not subjective evaluation. The review system also needs to eliminate any political gain or loss for the management team. A manager should not be rewarded if his entire team exceeds expectations nor penalized for a poor evaluation. This can be solved by increasing the number of people beyond the immediate supervisor who has input into the review. These may be co-workers, other managers who are in contact with the employee, or peers. In the example of Milhouse being sold a part, he fell victim to the contrast frame. The salesman was able to compare the success of the company to a can of soda. Milhouse deduced that the success of the company was more important than a can of soda. In comparing the two choices, the part was not considered.

You As a Technology Leader Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

You As a Technology Leader - Article Example Thus, the application of technology in shaping and influencing teaching and learning outcome explores the opportunities and strengths that advocate for accountability and improved performance. Similarly, technology as a learning and teaching tool promote data-driven models, capacity building, and corporate social responsibility in education and school programs. The articles apply similar patterns subjectively in addressing technology themes, as well as the issues raised. For example, there are converging ideas and thoughts in nurturing and solving teaching and learning problems. According to Lindahl and Folkesson (2012) ICT’s ideas, integration of computers in preschool setting is used as ICT norm and a component of technology in creating a successful, competent and independent learning. Similarly, Ayres and Sansosti (2013) mobile technology ideas are applied in teaching and learning of exceptional students. Lindahl base his findings and conclusion in supporting mobile technology and integration of computers in schools to increase students learning outcomes. In this regard, technology application in schools in learning and teaching programs gains greater outstanding support in which a valid and reliable generalization can be obtained. The shared ideas and borrowing of concepts and theories from various sources to support the propose d arguments demonstrates an excellent coverage of research that illustrates accurate results. For example, when moderate/severe intellectual disability (MSID) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are managed by technological strategies, the students affected students becomes competent and independent. Thus, sharing of ideas and concepts of technology by different authors foster the quality and quantity of student’s learning that engage technology to a meaningful and independent learning outcome (Mutisya & Rotich, 2015). Although uniformity of writing patterns and thoughts is used throughout the articles, slight

How has globalization (or regionalisation) impacted public policy Essay

How has globalization (or regionalisation) impacted public policy formulation and implementation in Canada - Essay Example The positive side of globalisation is that it has provided opportunities for streamlining of public policies with the international standards. Technology has become an important tool for implementation of public policies as the government has an efficient platform to communicate and roll out their public policies. While Canada has come under spot for failing to face globalisatio head on, there is evidence that many changes have come up due to the new era. Therefore, it is clear that globalisation has had both negative and positive impacts in the development and implementation of public policies. One impact of globalisation is that it came about with social transformation within the country. The era of internationalisation saw many people move from one region to the other in search for a living or for economic reasons. The result was the formation of a diverse population that demanded new public policies to govern. The employment sector in Canada is one of the areas that experienced as people of different races, culture, religion and color filled the labor market raising a number of issues. The gender-wage gap in particular became a serious issue for Canada as result of globalisation. The gender wage gap in Canada has been a controversial issue since early 1980s when this difference was noted. Cornish and Faraday (2008) noted that women salary for equal position in Ontario is 29% below that of women indicating a wide salary gap across the gender boundaries. A close look at the wage gap trends indicates that there has only been slight improvement in the last 25 years despite the numerous efforts to close this gap. In 1987, before the emergence of wage gap activists, the wage gap was approximately 37% in Ontario. These trends indicate that the efforts to bring down the gap have been undermined and the gap remains wide. Cornish (2009) points out the wage gap has affected aboriginal women who have migrated to Ontario in search for a job. This trend in

Buyer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Buyer Behaviour - Essay Example of viewing web site catalogue 32 30 24 Ease of downloading to device 24 35 15 Speed of download 16 28 8 Picture quality of downloaded movie 24 56 32 Cost of downloading movie 21 48 24 Fishbein’s analysis enables us to understand consumer preferences and thereby predict consumer behavior by understanding their preferences (Solomon et al 2009). Based on the above analysis, it provided us a snapshot of how the players in the Downloadable Film Services are faring in terms of consumer’s behavior towards them. It showed that Blockbuster is leading in almost all areas making it the dominant player in the UK market. It also gives NetFlix a hint however on which area should it improve for it to successfully launch in the UK. Fishbein’s analysis however is being critiqued to be an inaccurate basis for a product or service success in the market. Market entry such as NetFlix’s entry in the UK market involves a myriad and interplay of various marketing components that relying solely on Fishbein’s model to determine a company’s success of entry in a particular market would be inadequate. b. From the above data and from your Fishbein analysis make recommendations as to how Netflix can make its launch into the UK market more successfully. It is obvious that NetFlix lags behind its competitors in most of preferred ( except in cost and picture where it placed second at 24 to Blockbuster’s 48). Inferring from Fishbein’s extended analysis, NetFlix has a lot of things to do if it intend to launch in UK successfully. First, it has to increase the number of titles it intend to rent out because it is perceived as lacking in this area. Second, it also needs to improve the interface of its website because end users find it complicated compared to its competitors based on the... It is obvious that NetFlix lags behind its competitors in most of preferred ( except in cost and picture where it placed second at 24 to Blockbuster’s 48). Inferring from Fishbein’s extended analysis, NetFlix has a lot of things to do if it intend to launch in UK successfully. First, it has to increase the number of titles it intend to rent out because it is perceived as lacking in this area. Second, it also needs to improve the interface of its website because end users find it complicated compared to its competitors based on the survey conducted. In addition to it, it has to improve the download speed of its server because it is perceived to be slow by its consumers. These factors and perceived weaknesses however are within the control of NetFlix of which it can readily addressed if it wanted to launch in the UK market successfully. 2. Porsche Blackberry phones a. Construct two Means End chains, one for the new Porsche Blackberry and another for the standard Blackberry. Means End Chain was originally a research that showed how people’s values affect other aspect of their lives. Means End Chain was later expanded in business to understand how products interact with consumers and how specific values relate to consumption behavior (_____). Means End is divided into three constructs which are attributes, benefits and values that ultimately form the Chain.

How are the principles that underlie the process of motivational Essay

How are the principles that underlie the process of motivational interviewing relate to social change and community development - Essay Example ient that the interviewer is attentive, empathetic and genuinely desires to be a facilitator of attitudinal and behavioural change to improve the socio-psychological adjustment of the client and improve their general lifestyle. Hence, the interviewer becomes, essentially, a positive change agent for the client (Miller, Yahne and Tonigan 2003). Individuals, within a social context, that have maladaptive or unhealthy behaviours detract from the development of a cohesive and well-functioning community. This is why enacting long-term behaviour change and improving socio-psychological adjustment is so critical, as deviant behaviours, anti-social attitude, or other negative behaviours can pose risk or danger to a broader community population. In an idealistic society, the goal is to ensure that all society members within a community have an attitude that promotes teamwork, alliance and partnership, though this is not a tangible reality in many societies throughout the world. This essay explores the processes of motivational interviewing and its potential benefits or contributions to achieving social change and developing positive communities with an emphasis on how MI is properly facilitated to achieve these desirable and encouraging advantages. The main premise of MI is to maintain a non-adversarial attitude with the client, be completely without confrontational stance and illustrate complete non-judgmental behaviours (Miller and Rollnick 2002). The premise of MI is to break-down the barriers which are driving client uncertainty and ambivalence that allow for continuation of unhealthy or maladapted behaviours. In motivational interviewing, the mentor serves as a resource for assisting the client in resolving the factors that drive ambivalence without being directly persuasive. The interviewer serves only as a director that facilitates discussion about what is revealed within the client’s inner world and provides therapeutic discourse to nurture the client’s

Pets Are Our Responsibilty Essay Example for Free

Pets Are Our Responsibilty Essay Many people think that pets are too much of a responsibility, as they require food, walked on a regular basis, trained properly and lots of love and care. Any pet that lives outside a cage has to be trained properly so that it does not soil the home. Without training dogs can be very destructive and even dangerous. Pets are also very expensive and their food, toys, and medical treatment cost a lot of money too. Some pets are not looked after properly by their owners and sometimes the owner even loses interest. There were 40,879 humane destruction’s of dogs last year, 32,769 of cats and 18,816 of others. These figures include 29,610 dogs and cats too sick to live. People are cruel to pets and hurt them in al sorts of ways. In 1985 the RSPCA had to destroy 137,632 dogs cats and other pets, many were healthy but just too much for the RSPCA to find homes for. Inspectors from the RSPCA were called out to investigate 64,678 complaints last year. These are just some of the bad points of having a pet.Others think of pets as trusted friends as they give us comfort and affection. Pets are tame animals kept for companionship or because they are attractive to look at. Pets are good fun and can teach children responsibilities in life. Pets in the UK are very popular below are the top ten pets in England and Wales. In 1980 there was 5.6million dogs in the UK, this number increased by 1.8million in 1989. There were 2million more cats in the UK in 1989 than in 1980. The number of Budgies also increased by 0.1million in 1989. The Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals more commonly known as the RSPCA looks after animals that have been treated badly. Last year the RSPCA homed 105,079 animals including dogs, cats and many other animals. If you don’t have a pet I would seriously consider buying one. Pets are very good company and almost any animal could be a pet. Unusual pets require special care and some knowledge and how they behave in the wild. Many pets need very little attention or space – there is room in the smallest home for a fish tank or a birdcage.

What constitutes an outstanding presentation instead of a mediocre one Essay Example for Free

What constitutes an outstanding presentation instead of a mediocre one Essay Presentations, are defined as the simplest collection of ideas that help persuade, inform or motivate people (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3). In the past, presentations were simply concerned with a monotonous display of bullet-point lists, to convey the speaker’s train of thoughts. Today, technology has encouraged a broad variety of presentation mediums: standalone presentations on the Web, loop presentations to show repeatedly at trade show booths, burning of CD’s of a presentation to distribute to a wide audience, adding of sound, animation, and even video to the slides (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3). The purpose of this paper is to outline what marks the difference between an outstanding, and a mediocre presentation, and to analyze the critical factors that go in the making of one. The term â€Å"outstanding† doesn’t really convey the right impression since the overall aim of effort applied in making a presentation, is to achieve some sort of desired result. For this, we shall use the term â€Å"winning† presentation for our remaining discussion. The desired result examples can be as follows (Stevenson, 2002, p. 3): 1) Outlining of timeline and deliverables of the product launch to the manufacturing team. 2) Teaching the sales force about the feature and benefit of the new product so that they can sell better. 3) To make a business case for the potential market for the new product to gain financing from investors. 4) To introduce new products to customers. So, what makes a presentation mediocre? Different communication experts have their own opinions drawn from personal experience. But, for the sake of all-inclusivity, we shall outline the most typical characteristics of mediocre presentations that not only fail to produce results, but are commonly labeled dull, dry and boring- no euphemism required for a situation where the audience is compelled to doze off because the presentation failed to capture their interest. ANR Communication Services at the University of California, have outlined Seven Deadly Sins of PowerPoint presentations (ANR, 2006): 1) Length: It is not necessary to utilize the whole time allotted, in fact the winning presentation should always aim at delivering a message as fast as possible. The common refrain is that some speakers tend to â€Å"warm-up† with a windy introduction that noone bothers to pay attention to. It is always advisable to hit bottom-line directly, and come â€Å"straight to the point†. 2) Bad visuals: Bad visuals come in several categories, but their general definition lies in a sheer ignorance of aesthetics. E. g. using elaborate graphics which have no connection to the subject matter, and were included just in order to cast an impression of technical know-how. Other examples are sandwiching too much information in very little space, and using illegible fonts against an atrocious background. Other sins are: 3) Not sticking to the main point: Too many speakers have a habit of digressing from the subject, and beating around the bush, an exercise that can be really testing on the audience’s patience, and defeat any chances of success with the presentation. 4) Too many numbers: Even technical presentations can do better without an overdose of figures and numbers. It is a common misconception for many people, that a bombardment of numeric data using charts and graphs would illustrate the monumental effort they put in, in order to create the presentation. Charts and graphs, and figures are meant to support some conclusion, but in no way should they be the only reason for the presentation to exist. 5) Technical failure: Too many presentations have been ruined due to glitches such as the Projector not working (that too after spending considerable time in making one presentation). It is always advisable to double-check before final show. 6) Not summarizing: If the presentation fails to summarize the key points discussed, the entire purpose is defeated because audience memory is short. The speaker needs to tell the audience what was the underlying conclusion for them having met. 7) Inadequate rehearsal: This goes with Point no. 1 and 6. Other useful ideas worth mentioning are David People’s recollections from interactions with IBM executives (People, 1992, p. 20): 1) Showing information, and then â€Å"apologizing† in advance – it conveys the impression that the speaker is not confident about the subject matter, and kills the very purpose of presentation. 2) Not explaining any reason why the subject has any value to the audience – such an act can convey a total disregard for audience time. In order to round up our discussion on mediocre presentations, it is important to mention common technical characteristics of such presentations (OneVision UK, 2004): 1) Slide transitions and sound effects; when unnecessary they can become a pain in the neck for they divert the focus of the audience from the central theme. 2) Standard Clip-Art which shows a clear lack of creativity on behalf of the presenter who could have done better by including more relevant graphics. 3) Presentation templates – unless there is no other alternative, these should be best avoided. 4) Reading the presentation – a speaker should have extempore communication skills, otherwise the presentation can be very boring. A winning presentation does not repeat the common fallacies mentioned for mediocre presentations as above. Also, a winning presentation has a persuasive style that impresses with its tone, content, representation and output (People, 1992, p. 45). To tell the difference between the two, Tom Sant from the American Management Association, reviews the scope and utility of a winning presentation, which should take into account the following considerations (Sant, 2004, p.12): 1) It is not a blind price quote. 2) It is not a bill of materials, project plan or scope of work. 3) It is not about the history of a product. The watchword, here is â€Å"influencing† of client (Sant, 2004, p. 17). Each time a presentation is made, the objective is in terms of thinking about the long-term influence that the presentation will have on the client, something that requires a lot of introspection on part of the presenter. Thus, presentations should be looked at as â€Å"tools and opportunities† (Sant, 2004, p. 17) rather than a summary judgment on a particular subject. Having clarified the differences between the two types of presentations, we shall look into the key ingredients of winning presentations. Structurally, a winning presentation comprises of two parts: the formal (one-way) episode followed by a question and answer session (two-way) (Gilchrist Davies, 1996, p. 3). As a bench rule, the presenter must allow at least 3 times the time allotted for one-way communication. This time is utilized for discussions, development of conceptual ideas, generating feedback, and general brainstorming. Also, a competent presenter is able to perform well in three areas of communication (Gilchrist Davies, 1996, p. 5): 1) Non-verbal i. e. body-language. 2) Verbal i. e. fluency of language and intonation. 3) Visual i. e. computer screens, slides and paper-based accompaniments. A competent presenter must have enough behavioral science knowledge so that he is able to control the crowd, in case a heated argument is generated. Contentwise, a winning presentation offers ample room for independent thinking, and allows plenty of flexibility in terms of omissions and adjustments. The objective is, that the presentation must â€Å"flow† in terms of ideas, an exercise that builds continuous credibility for the presenter (Sant, 2004, p. 29). Thomas Leech, at the American Management Association, has identified the following guidelines to delivering a winning presentation, which he calls â€Å"fundamental keys† (Leech, 2004, p. 11): 1) Prior preparation: According to several top-key executives, the biggest blunder a presenter makes when he declares that he didn’t prepare well. 2) Self-belief: It is important to convey â€Å"sincerity and honesty† through the effort made. 3) Knowing one’s purpose – the bottom-line. 4) Having a focused central theme: The audience came with a purpose. It is important to shell out the central theme at the very start of the presentation, so that people are able to develop connections. 5) Knowing your audience and tailoring the presentation according to their needs: A presentation has to be varied depending upon the possible expectations of audience. Also, age-groups have to be taken into account. Other fundamental keys are: 6) Early summarizing for time-pressed audience. 7) Reinforcement of central belief: The central theme should be backed up with substantial evidence, to make the presentation idea seem rock-solid. 8) Visual effects: It is important to ensure that visuals add, and not blur presentations. 9) Consider Murphy’s Law: This is what happens in real-life scenarios. According to Murphy’s First Law, if anything can go wrong, it will! So, it’s always advisable not to take chances with defective areas of presentation. 10) Making the delivery personal and passionate: A competent presenter is always able to connect with the audience. Instead of begging the question, he tries to convince the soundness of his ideas through passionate and compelling discussions, the most successful ingredient of winning presentations. That was presentation, but from a preparation point of view, a successful PowerPoint presentation must undergo a preliminary review, keeping following things in mind (Negrino, 2005, p. 9-107): 1) Writing the presentation: It is always advisable to start with an outline of the entire content, and using features like the Research Pane to make slides. 2) Gathering images and sound files: The graphics and animation part should be done, avoiding the loopholes mentioned in mediocre presentations. 3) Picking a design: It is important to pick a slide design, apply the layouts, and adjust text location for aesthetic appeal. Other attributes are: 4) Working with text: Editing slide text, formatting slide text (font, color, etc. ), aligning slide text (left, center, justified), changing line space (again it depends on aesthetic requirements.), using numbered (bulleted) lists, adding hyperlinks and text-boxes, 5) Illustrating the presentation: This involves adding images, clip art, using the drawing tools, adding relevant diagrams, charts, tables etc. 6) Making it move: This envisages adjustments in slide order, setting slide transitions, adding custom animation and summarize slide effects. 7) Preparation: The presentation should always be reviewed by a colleague, especially if it’s very important. It is useful to make printed notes for the speaker, and slides and handouts to the audience. Summary: On a final note, the weight of a good presentation, apart from key points mentioned in this paper, depend a lot on the individual presenter’s qualities, what are known as â€Å"gestures† (Arrendondo, 1991, p. 73). It is important to state that appropriate gestures and movements add meaning to a message, and mark the difference between a â€Å"winning† and a â€Å"mediocre† presentation. The gestures should convey a positive energy, and enthusiasm in the subject, and be manifested through the presenter’s self-belief.