College Is It Worth It

? College – Is it Worth it? Right now in our society university education is no longer an option or privilege, but rather a necessity. We are practically raised and conditioned to believe that one needs higher education in order to succeed in life. There is a saying that says â€Å"if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. † But as technology is constantly advancing and computers are running almost anything, is a college education really necessary? There are people who have never set foot in a college and are doing better than people who have their master's degree. There are views from both sides that contain a valid argument. The main reason why people go to college is not because they want to but because they have to. Most 11th and 12th graders are pressured by their parents to go to college because it is â€Å"the right thing to do. â€Å"† In the essay that Caroline Bird wrote â€Å"College is a Waste of Time and Money†, she states that students go to college because † . . . Mother wanted them to go, or some other reason entirely irrelevant to the course of studies for which college is supposedly organized. The student may have different ideas about what he or she wants to do in life, but because they think that their parents know what is best for them, they probably end up doing something they do not want to do, resulting in being miserable and resentful. Let's face it, going to college is socially prestigious. Most people go to college only for the title of being called a college student. For some young people, it is a graceful way to get away from home and become independent without losing the financial support of their parents. They do not want to be looked down upon so they do what would look â€Å"best in the eyes of society†. It is practically beat into our heads that in order to be a respectable citizen of society, you should have some sort of university education. Being a college student is perhaps a more respectable role than being, for example, a clerk or a garbage man because of the negative connotations such jobs receive. Going to college and getting a degree does not necessarily guarantee that an individual is going to get a job right after graduation. It is hard out there for recent graduates to find a good job since there is so much competition due to the insanely increasing numbers of our population and a wildrace for the lions share in every field. Even if they do get a job, it is usually not in what they got their degree for. Many college students would feel that college is a waste of money because they do not learn what they want to. Instead they have to take classes that have close to nothing to do with their major but are only taking these classes in order to fulfill a general educational requirement. Upon graduation, some feel that they are at a disadvantage because more time could have been spent on learning more within their field of study and less on irrelevant materials. Now for the pros of having a professional college education. The major reason of going to college is, of course, to get a good job. College prepares us with academic knowledge in order to succeed in the future. According to Ernest Boyner higher education is essential for preparation for one's future. He states that: In spatial terms, teaching and learning may begin in a classroom, but course work also spills over into the life of the campus and the community. Students engage in experimential learning and co-curricular activities that take abstract ideas and anchor them in real-life problems. As the competition to get a decent job is increasing, it is close to impossible to obtain a high paying job without at least a bachelor's degree. Many jobs that only used to want their workers to have a high school diploma now require some college education due to their extremely complicated nature. Another way college is worth the money, however, is because it is one of the few institutions that often contains people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds. Such a situation allows one to develop their social and communicative skills because they are exposed to unfamiliar cultures. This is necessary for the fact that a person does not want to come across as ignorant towards a certain culture. This only, however, comes in handy when you are being educated abroad. College is like a stepping stone to becoming a responsible adult because for the first time most people are practically on their own (that would definitely include me). It is completely different from high school in that not only that school has to be dealt with, but you have to juggle your personal time and financial state as well. They go away to college and face circumstances that they would most likely come across when they finally do go on their own. Bills have to be paid, time has to be managed efficiently, and deadlines have to be met, just like in the â€Å"real world. † College is not only about getting a good job ‘but about acquiring knowledge and broadening one's horizon. A lot of courses that are at school are not needed for a certain major but are just there for interested people who want to learn more about a certain subject. Bowen explains this by breaking it down into three aspects: †¦ the specific goals for the education function are derived. This function†¦ is intended to help students develop as persons in three respects: cognitive learning, by expanding their knowledge and intellectual powers; affective development, by enhancing their moral, religious, and emotional interests and sensibilities; and practical competence, by improving their performance in citizenship, work, family life, consumer choice, health, and other practical affairs. It is sometimes just as good to be an intelligent person and know about a lot of things instead of being someone who makes a lot of money. My admission into an arts college after a lifetime of struggle of being an a-grade science student, had led me to seriously consider the complexity of this topic and what i have learned is that college definitely has its pros and cons. But I think that college is what you make of it. It can be the best time of your life, but only if you want it to. You can take the pessimistic view about it and think that college is a waste of money, or it can be looked at as a challenging and exciting new frontier that basically will set the precedent for the rest of your life. No matter what i learn in this environment that has been setup on an organised platform to produce strong and self assured individuls that will help make this deteriorating world a better place to live in ,even if we do'nt do it conciously, what I know for sure is that the education I recieve in this college will always be of invaluable worth once i step out in the ruthless fish-eat-fish world.

Foreign and Local Literature Essay

This particular chapter presents the review of Foreign and Local Literature and Studies relevant to the present study. Related Literature Foreign Literature According to the book entitled â€Å"Call Center 100 Success Secrets† in December 6, 2007 authored by Gerard Blokdijk. The 100 Success Secrets is not about the ins and outs of the call center. Instead, it answers the top 100 questions that we are asked and those we come across in forums, our consultancy and education programs. It tells you exactly how to deal with those questions, with tips that have never before been offered in print. This book is also not about a call centers best practice and standards details. Instead it introduces everything you want to know to be successful with and in a call center. Well this book gives emphasis about the topics. The Difference Between an Advanced Call Center and A Large Call Center What Does an Appointment Setter Call Center Part Time Employee Do? Taking a Closer Look at Customer Service Offices in Call Centers The Voice of your Product or Service Get the information you need through A Data Entry Call Center Call Center Jobs Taking Chances on a Call Center Career Conquering Challenges of Call Center/Customer Service Managers Manage the Telemarketing of Products through Call Center The Qualities of an Effective Call Center Financial Services Representative Qualities of a Call Center Representative Call Center here at your Service Call Center Supervisor Manager for High Tech Companies in Austin, Texas The Need to Train a Call Center Agent Tips on How to Provide Excellent Customer Service towards an Exciting Call Center Career Call Center: An Answer To All Your Queries Standard Requirements for A Call Center Agent Applicant What is the Nature of the Job of Call Center Agents? How the Call Center Airline Industry Works The Life of A Call Center Analyst The Call Center and its Customer Service Why Choose Call Center Careers? The Call Center Conference Call Center Consultants: A Hassle Free Solution To Manage Call Center Call Center Consulting For Your Company Call Center And Customer Service: One And The Same Customer Service And Call  Center Jobs: The responsibilities Of Order Desk Supervisors That Can Lead You To Great Opportunities The Many Career Options Open To An Experienced Call Center Customer Service Rep Call Center Customer Service: Supervisor and Manager Positions The Responsibilities Of Call Center Director How Call Center Employment Keeps BPO Companies Grounded in Reality Why You Need A Call Center Furniture Call Center Jobs: How To Find One? What You Need To Know About Call Center Management The Different Types of Call Center Management Jobs The Main Responsibilities Of Call Center Managers The Operation in a Call Center Call Center Operations Manager The Operators in a Call Center Call Center Or Customer Service: What It Can Do To Your Company The Facts About Call Center Outsourcing Call Center Pricing Is Affordable The On-the-Job Duties of A Call Center Rep Call Center Representative: Frontline In Customer Service Why Call Center Sales Training is Important for New Hires The Services In a Call Center Call Center Software: A Great Tool For Call Center Management Offshore Outsourcing the Call Center Solution for Western Companies Why Call Center Solutions Are Important to Everyone Your Challenge: Being A Supervisor In A Call Center Why You Need Call Center Support The Qualities of a Call Center Vice President How to Prepare for Call Center Work at Home The Many Advantages of Establishing a Call Center Work from Home Call Center Career: Clerical, Typing And Word Processing Skills A Must! Client Services, Call Center And Customer Service: A Great Solution To Meet Consumer Needs When Is A Collection Call Center Customer Service Representative Necessary? The difference of our thesis with this book is our thesis mainly focus on the questions to be answer such Why the undergraduate people was able to get a job while the fresh graduate was havin g a problem? Why Call Centers always get sick easily, headache, fever, stress and etc? How to adapt this kind of environment? Why lot of people are resigning after a couple of the months? , also the result of our study will be serving as a guide of other people who would like to enter this kind of industry. According to the article entitled â€Å"Making the Right Calls† in March 09, 2006 authored by Tom Rieger . If a representative meets all the quality requirements but does not help the customers , the representative and the company is considered fail. Providing great customer service in a call  center is challenging. The action never stops, and managers are inundated with data. Everything a call center employee or team does is measured and monitored, from call quality to handle time to schedule adherence to unit cost. Reports are constantly sent out, and feedback sessions are frequent. Ultimately, success in a call center comes down to how well each customer service representative engages each customer. Despite continuous reporting, feedback, and monitoring, and regardless of the reams of data, many call centers struggle to improve their levels of performance, and organizational barriers often prevent improvement. By conducting a series of formal audits in nine different call centers in four different industries, Tom Rieger had identified four barriers that can substantially undermine local efforts to improve employee and customer engagement in call centers. Those are the following , No time to coach , No time to learn , Confusing the process with the result , Poor alignment and communication with other departments . Well this journal mainly focus with the barriers that can substantially undermine local efforts to improve employee and customer engagement in call centers such as team leaders have limited time to invest in their teams, such as coaching CSRs on how to create customer engagement or working to improve employee engagement. And training is useless if centers don’t give CSRs time to apply their new learning on the job. Most call centers, though, don’t allocate any time to help CSRs stay informed about changes; even when centers make time, they don’t help managers or CSRs sort to the highest priority changes. Yet CSRs are held accountable for implementing these changes, even though they often get in trouble for logging off the phones or checking e-mail to find out about them. The most important part of a customer service representative’s job is providing good customer service. But few centers enable customers to rate their experience; fewer still track the customer experience at the individual CSR level. More often, a CSR’s customer service performance is subjectively determined by someone other than his customers, using a checklist of phrases and behaviors that may not have anything to do with providing good customer service. Ultimately, â€Å"what you grade† determines â€Å"what you get.† If a CSR meets all his quality requirements but does not help the customer, the CSR and the company have failed. Too often, call center managers’ goals are unrelated to the goals of  the internal groups they support; similarly, the internal groups’ goals can be unrelated to what happens in the call center or to the customers who call. As a result, promises made at one customer touchpoint may not be fulfilled at another. It also gives emphasis that few companies use their customer service centers to channel customer opinions back to the organization. Instead, too many companies use their call centers to push multiple and often conflicting initiatives at their customers. In our thesis focus on why the undergraduates was able to get a job while the fresh graduate was having a problem? Why Call Centers always get sick easily, headache, fever, stress and etc? How to adapt with this kind of environment? Why lot of people are resigning after a couple of the months? , also th e result of our study will be serving as a guide of other people who would like to enter this kind of industry.

Ensuring the Business Aspects are Successful

As with any concern partnership between an U.S. corporation and a Latin American corporation, universities that spouse to offer academic plans must see the fiscal and operational facets of such partnerships. This paper deals with international partnerships between universities as research labs for coaction between concerns. The elements that make for a successful articulation venture go beyond the academic issues of content and how that content is delivered to pupils. This paper deals with the concern and inter-university relationships in developing and implementing articulation or collaborative grade plans between universities. It does non cover with traditional exchange plans or double grade plans where one of the universities is the dominant establishment at which the pupils really earn the grade. ; instead the coaction here deals with the joint development and offering of course of study by the establishments as equal spouses that leads to the awarding of a joint or collaborative grade. Regis University, founded in 1877, is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the United States. The university enrolls more than 16,000 pupils who study at its Denver, Colorado campus, seven other regional campuses and on-line via distance acquisition. The University has developed relationships with the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, the National University of Ireland in Galway, Ireland, and ITESO in Guadalajara, Mexico every bit good as other relationships with schools in other parts of the universe. This paper concentrates on the relationships with the Ulster, Galway and ITESO for intents of the research theoretical account. The University of Ulster is the major university in Northern Ireland and is portion of the higher educational system in the United Kingdom. Ulster is similar to Regis University in that both have multiple campus that serve diverse populations and both have extended on-line educational plans. The National University of Ireland in Galway is involved in extended educational partnerships throughout Europe and in Asia every bit good as supplying extended go oning instruction grade plans for working grownups within the state. ITESO, located in Guadalajara, Mexico, is a Jesuit university as is Regis University. ITESO offers a important figure of academic and go oning professional development plans for working grownups and via its distance instruction scheduling. ITESO participates in an extended web of schools throughout North and Latin America every bit good as in Europe and Asia. Literature The educational literature has a great trade of research refering the traditional pupil exchange plans between international universities every bit good as survey abroad, and double grade plans, yet there is small about the development and operation of jointly developed and operated degree plans. The double grade plans in the literature be given to be coactions where one of the universities offers the grade ( typically the U.S. spouse ) and the other school provides pupils. In many instances these double grade plans allow the pupils of either school to reassign a specific figure of classs into the other grade and to take classs at each school. But the pupils are normally considered degree seeking at the dominant spouse in the relationship. What needs to be looked at is how we develop and guarantee that both the U.S. school and the school in the other state is a full and equal spouse in the coaction. One such partnership that seems to signal such a alteration is the joint partnership between the British Council and the state of Brazil. In an article depicting this partnership Canto and Hannah ( 2001 ) stated that â€Å" ( vitamin E ) quality in the proviso of financess has a practical and symbolic significance aˆÂ ¦ , meaning that this is a coaction that sets out to replace traditional north-south relationships of giver and receiver with echt academic partnerships † ( P. 27. ) What the writers were seeking to state and what seems to be needed in developing such international coactions is that there is a demand for common regard and engagement where both organisations bring similar or complementary accomplishments and resources to the tabular array as opposed to the traditional theoretical account which typic ally has the U.S. or European university supplying the existent educational chances at the U.S. school with the bulk of the pupils coming from the other state. What their paper efforts to make is analyze the relationship between the U.S. school and the Latin American school in a different visible radiation. Canto and Hannah ( 2001 ) paraphrased Altbach ( 1981 ) in which Altbach commented on the quandary 3rd universe universities so had in deriving acknowledgment even though academic public presentation and research in the 3rd universe had improved greatly over the old ages since World War II. It seems that the perceptual experience was that the establishments in the U.S. and Europe have the monopoly on cognition and the 3rd universe is in demand of that cognition. Such attitudes continue and have limited cooperation and coaction. Canto and Hannah believe that since the late 1970 ‘s schools in the U.S. and Europe have entered into horizontal partnerships that include three elements: â€Å" ( a ) the being of old cognition of the other spouse to set up realistic outlooks † which came from Samoilovich ‘s work in the 1990 â⠂¬Ëœs, â€Å" ( B ) the echt sharing of each other ‘s experiences † which they got from work done by Balan in the 1990 ‘s, and â€Å" ( degree Celsius ) the application of each other ‘s cognition instead than a one-way transportation † of cognition from the dominant school, which came from work done by Bor and Shute in the 1990 ‘s. ( 2001, P. 32. ) Some issues identified by Canto and Hannah ( 2001 ) include: holding a clear apprehension of each spouse ‘s strengths and failings, holding a great trade of trust in each other, low degrees of struggle an equal partnership where both spouses are respected for what each brings to the relationship, acknowledging that linguistic communication can be a barrier, and holding regard for each school ‘s cultural differences. Canto and Hannah ( 2001 ) besides looked at three links that need to be considered. These are linguistics, sociology, and engineering. Each of these demands to be considered when developing a partnership where both schools play an equal function in developing the academic course of study and be aftering the concern theoretical account for operations. This was re-enforced by Shaw ( 2006 ) who speaks to the importance of understanding political environments in each state every bit good as within each establishment involved in the partnership. He farther commented that the â€Å" ( s ) tability of a joint venture refers to the length of service of the relationship, and it is dependent, in portion, upon the combination and communicating between theaˆÂ ¦partners † ( P. 439. ) Shaw ( 2006 ) besides identified barriers that must be considered in developing partnerships in the academic sphere. These tend to back up what Canto and Hannah ( 2001 ) noted in their research. Shaw spoke to fiscal support, division of work and control, struggle, cultural differences, and environmental factors ( P. 442. ) An interesting fact is that international joint ventures have declined in figure over the past decennary ( Popper, 2002 ) and while Popper is talking by and large about transnational companies, she notes that much of the diminution is because the spouses have different involvements. Popper ‘s remarks tend to back up the treatment above refering issues to be alert about when developing coactions between U.S. or European universities and their opposite numbers in Latin America. Chowdhury and Chowdhury ( 2002 ) remark that it is of import to develop â€Å" synergism among the spouse houses ( P. 52. ) They further speak to the symmetric houses holding an inducement for organizing the partnership in the demand to increase demand ( p. 57. ) If this is translated into an educational partnership, so the end may good be to increase demand for higher instruction in one or both states – or at least the demand for an instruction from the spouse schools. Finally Nadler and Nadler ( 1990 ) speak to the demand to see the homo resource demands in joint ventures. They commented that â€Å" the fluctuation in cultural norms from state to state should be recognized and understood † ( p. 71 ) when sing human resource issues. Each spouse may hold different accomplishments and cognition to impart to the coaction and this needs to be understood and planned for. Nadler and Nadler farther noted that both spouses in a joint venture must understand that each spouse may miss some human resources capacity and that may necessitate to be developed. Lessons Learned from Regis University and its Spouses Relationship Building The literature clearly noted that one of the keys to success with international collaborative ventures is the development of relationships ( Canto & A ; Hannah, 2001, Shaw, 2006, Popper, 2002, Chowdhury and Chowdhury, 2002, and Nadler & A ; Nadler, 1990. ) Based on an analysis of the international coactions between Regis University, Denver, Colorado and the three international spouses introduced before, relationship edifice likely is foremost in those elements that ensured success and when non to the full developed, resulted in failure. Prior to get downing to develop any academic plans with ITESO in Guadalajara and the National University of Ireland in Galway ( NUIG ) both schools spent considerable clip acquiring to cognize each other. In the instance of NUIG the partnership began with senior functionaries at both schools meeting through a 3rd party and so merely researching possible chances over a twosome of old ages. The same occurred with ITESO. Representatives of both schools foremost met through a conference sponsored by AJCU and AUSCAL in Guadalajara and so about a twelvemonth subsequently at an IAJBS educational conference. That led to farther contacts and visits. During these meetings and societal contacts, both parties got to cognize the people and their civilizations, and developed a trusting relationship. In the first instance, these contacts led to the formation of a joint Irish Studies plan online between NUIG and Regis University. The plan was designed to be little in order to develop a working relat ionship and has continued. Later that plan led to the development and execution of an on-line alumnus grade in package technology. The relationship at ITESO resulted in execution of a joint MBA grade where pupils from both schools can gain an extra grade from each by taking nucleus classs at the place establishment and so a series of classs at the other. This relationship is now leting ITESO and Regis University to look at traveling into a jointly offered grade for the remainder of Latin America. An illustration of a plan that likely failed because the relationship was non adequately developed before seeking to implement a plan was the joint MS grade in International Management between Regis University and the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Here the determination to travel forward was made really rapidly by the top decision makers in each school. No clip was allowed for the module of each university to acquire to cognize each other and work together before planning. This resulted in miscommunications about course of study, policies, civilization in each state and the schools themselves, every bit good as other administrative issues. When the Numberss of pupils did non happen in the beginning, it was easy to merely end the understanding. Relationship edifice in any concern venture is critical to the success of the venture. In higher instruction it may be even more of import since the success of the joint venture or coaction depends on people wholly. The strength of the Regis-NUIG relationship is a personal 1 between a twosome of persons at each establishment that has led to other personal relationships between module and staff at each school. While there is a common linguistic communication, there are still differences in civilization and model. ITESO is a Jesuit university as is Regis University so there was an bing bond, yet it was the development of the personal relationships between module and staff at both schools that ensured a successful partnership. Fiscal Issues Fiscal issues can be a deal-breaker if non handled suitably in any joint venture, but possibly even more so when working across international boundary lines. The development of a strong trusting relationship will assist both spouses work through struggles that may originate refering who contributes what fiscal and physical resources and how disbursals are accounted for. The relationship with ITESO was assisted by a grant from the First Data/Western Union foundation that provided monies to make some conferences in Mexico for civil sector workers and organisations with ITESO and others taking a leading function in Mexico. The grant besides provided dollars to get down be aftering a certification ( sheepskin ) plan in the civil sector country and for conveying some module from ITESO to Regis during the summer intensives the University holds each twelvemonth. From this get downing the concern and direction modules began speaking about the joint MBA construct which subsequently developed into the current offering between the two schools. There are a figure of ways to develop the concern program that can impact the fiscal resources needed for the successful execution of the collaborative attempt. One theoretical account is to merely hold each school wage for its ain costs and so split the grosss generated. This avoids the job of finding methods for apportioning disbursals. Each establishment decides what budgetary disbursals should be included in the undertaking. It may besides avoid the job of costs at one location being more or less than the other. One disadvantage may be that the theoretical account relies on each to equitably back up the operational disbursals. If the coaction is online there likely needs to be some expression for the on-line production and hosting of the classs. Sharing the grosss besides has advantages and disadvantages. It does presume that there is some equity in the Numberss of pupils recruited by each spouse ; otherwise, it is possible one school is lending more than the other. A 2nd theoretical account is to still hold each school budget its ain disbursals, but have each school keep the grosss it generates through its ain recruiting attempts. This theoretical account might include each school counterbalancing the other when a pupil takes a class ( s ) from the other school. Or each school merely keeps the gross it generates. The advantage to this theoretical account is that it is clear and each school is individually at hazard. The disadvantage is that presuming costs are equal in most instances, one school may bring forth more gross than the other one and therefore the partnership might be uneven. A 3rd theoretical account is to develop a individual agreed upon budget and so apportion costs based on what services and resources are provided by each establishment. It follows that grosss would besides be allocated on a similar expression. This theoretical account ensures that each school is accountable to the whole since each has a interest in the result. Like the old theoretical account the challenge will be to maintain some kind of para in the relationship. Costss for such coactions include: selling and recruiting disbursals, production costs for online development, module and staff costs, aggregations disbursals and other administrative operating expense, and start-up disbursals. Depending on the size of the coaction these can be rather dearly-won to each organisation. Each of these will be dealt with in assorted subdivisions of the paper to follow. Another component of fundss to believe about is the international pecuniary exchange rate and how that is calculated. Historically, the exchange has been based on the U.S. dollar, but in the current economic environment the fluctuation in exchange rates takes on an importance that may non hold been at that place in the yesteryear. If the two schools portion grosss, it can be debatable finding at what point the exchange rate is fixed. Along with the exchange rate is the inquiry of whose currency payments are made in. Each spouse may be bear downing tuition in its ain currency which makes it hard to find if the charges to pupils are tantamount. Such dialogues have had important impacts on the coactions between Regis University and its spouses. The coaction with NUIG requires each spouse to budget its ain disbursals, nevertheless, there is a expression for points such as selling disbursals and some overhead that vary between states. In Europe it is common to non bear down pupils for required texts and to utilize other beginnings, while in the U.S. pupils typically pay for their ain books and more frequently than non text editions are required. How do the spouses determine an just manner of covering with these differences? Both Regis and NUIG agreed on a expression for dividing the grosss earned from pupil tuitions ; of class, during the first few old ages at that place have ever been minor dialogues as to how that works at the terminal of the twelvemonth when the transportation of monies occurs. With the coaction with ITESO, the current undertaking has each school responsible for its ain disbursals including selling and enli sting. Each school besides charges its ain tuition for all classs in the plan and so each spouse compensates the other for those classs taken at the spouse school by its pupils. However, ITESO and Regis University came to an understanding on what the tuition would be for this plan. Compensation for pupils taking classs at the other spouse is in that school ‘s currency. For the Ulster venture, the allotment was more complicated and included negociating all disbursals and costs every bit good as the tuition rate. Each school shared in the budget based on a negotiated expression. This proved to be slightly dissentious. If either establishment is come ining the understanding with the purpose of functioning 1000s of pupils and doing important net incomes they will probably be disappointed. While larning from one another and come ining markets that might hold been out of range are surely worthwhile and come-at-able ends, doing more than a modest net income is non. The financials developed prior to come ining the understanding between Regis University and Ulster promised tremendous net income. The failure of this net income to happen was one more nail in the casket of that venture. One lesson learned was that maintaining it every bit simple as possible is in the best involvement of both spouses. While the ITESO coaction merely late the purpose has been that this theoretical account will ensue in a better direction procedure for disbursals. Merchandise Development Here we speak in footings of course of study development every bit good as production of online classs. It is likely that occupants in each state or part of the universe will hold different demands and desires when it comes to the course of study, how that course of study is offered, and what is expected in the manner of work. The modules at both schools need to come to understanding on what the course of study will include in order to outdo service diverse pupil organic structures. The modules of ITESO and Regis University spent considerable clip working together on placing the acquisition results for a collaborative MBA and what classs might be appropriate and the sum of clip it might take to finish the grades. In the instance of this partnership it was decided that each school would go on to offer classs that already exist. In add-on it was determined that each university ‘s pupils needed to finish the nucleus at the place school and so take five classs from the other school which would transcripted at both. ITESO teaches its classs in Spanish and Regis teaches its classs in English. For the NUIG coaction, each school became responsible for developing half of the course of study, so dialogues centered on what type of classs and content ought to be included and which school is responsible for which courses. This procedure took considerable clip and communications between the modules at each school. For most of the classs each school was able to accommodate its ain class work for the coaction. Regis University and the University of Ulster besides developed a theoretical account where each school developed half of the course of study ; nevertheless, it was decided to get down from abrasion. The construct included both modules working together on the content. This created important jobs in coming to understanding and probably besides contributed to the eventual expiration of the understanding. Production includes finding who and how classs will be written and produced for on-line presentation. It is imperative that the classs be offered on one platform so the understanding needs to specify which school hosts the plan and how the modules of the two schools participate with the development squad. Selling Determining the mark market is a important facet of the coaction. The other inquiry that must be asked and answered is who is responsible for making the selling and enlisting. In the instance of the Ulster coaction, the negotiated understanding stated that while both schools would make selling, Regis University would be responsible for most of the attempt. Ulster would host the classs on its WebCT platform. This proved to be a job since the Regis selling squad had no experience selling a plan in another state and had to play catch up. With both ITESO and NUIG each school markets to its ain market, which seems to be a better attack. This besides means that each school identifies who the mark market will be. In the instance of the Ulster coaction it was Regis University ‘s function to place the European market which proved to be much more hard than idea. Consideration must be given to making marketing surveies in the states to be involved. Such surveies need to include who are the possible pupils, their companies, whether the companies assist in paying the tuition, and what the tuition scope will be. If the coaction will include offering the degree plan beyond the two states, what are the planetary considerations. Agreement is needed between the spouses on what is to be marketed. Here once more cultural differences and regional differences play a portion. What may work in the U.S. is non needfully what will work in Latin America. One inquiry to inquire is whether the possible pupil population is ready and willing to take part in the plan. One premise is that a combined U.S./Latin American or U.S./European grade is something that will be sought after if offered. And if so are pupils willing to make so via the cyberspace. It appears that leting each spouse to make its ain selling is the best option for a figure of grounds. These include cognition of the local civilization and peoples, cognition of the types of selling that work best, and costs included. For illustration in the North American market making internet gross revenues may be a better attack while in Europe direct gross revenues may work better. Technology Technology is non merely the platform and class direction system to be used in offering the coaction. It besides includes cognizing what engineering the possible market has entree to, the set breadth in the states and sub-regions of states, costs of entree to the cyberspace, and even clip zone issues that affect use. Latin America has long used orbiter transmittal and wireless transmittal for certificate/diploma plans since these engineerings have been available. Switch overing to the cyberspace to convey educational plans is a new manner of making this, and the possible pupils need to hold entree to the engineering. And they need to desire to make so. One of the lessons obtained from the Ulster coaction was that the selling survey showed that pupils in northern Europe had ready entree to the cyberspace and to the engineering to entree it. At the same clip the farther South in Europe one went the less likely it was that possible pupils would entree the cyberspace either because of no involvement or because there was non ready entree. A inquiry for the partnership with ITESO is that one time it expands beyond the regional country served by ITESO, will possible pupils have the engineering and entree to take part. In some instances this may necessitate a committedness from the individual ‘s employer to supply entree through the corporate web. Legal and Governmental One frequently does non believe about or see the legal and governmental issues that can be involved in international coactions. This is a important facet of concern partnerships since international trade is governed by many regulations and ordinances. In most academic exchange plans there are few limitations even for double grades when merely one spouse really offers the grade. However, for the types of partnerships addressed by this paper, there are many considerations. First are accreditation issues. For Regis University, the Higher Learning Commission ( HLC ) of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges ( NCA ) must at least reappraisal such coactions prior to their execution. For the spouses there may be a demand to hold the instruction ministry for the state review the undertaking and O.K. it. Such blessings are required if the grades are to be jointly awarded and the course of study is being shared by both schools. Issues include transcripting of credits and the grades, module makings, academic quality and appraisal, and many other concerns. There may be specific governmental limitations or regulations that must be met in each state. These may be academic constituents or things like pupil funding issues, travel limitations, visa demands if pupils travel between states, pecuniary policies, and contract regulations and ordinances. An interesting obstruction discovered after the partnership was ready to get down in Ireland was the find that Irish Constitution requires any grade offered by NUIG to be entirely awarded by the National University of Ireland. That created jobs since NUIG and Regis had planned on presenting a joint grade for the alumnus grade in package technology. The solution was to hold the pupils decide which state he/she wanted the grade from after which the pupil completed the finishing touch for that university. Besides the grade being awarded from either NUIG or Regis University, the schools jointly give the pupils a parchment that describes the joint venture and that the grade is recorded at each school. The University of Ulster did non hold such jobs since it is located in Northern Ireland which is portion of the United Kingdom. Ulster was authorized to find its ain grade awarding regulations and so it was all right to present a joint grade. However, Ulster believed there were other regulat ions that affected how the plan could be structured. In both instances outside judges needed to be involved at the terminal of each twelvemonth to reexamine pupil advancement and base on balls on whether the pupils met academic criterions. This was something new for Regis University. The stiff regulations in Northern Ireland likely besides contributed to the struggle that finally resulted in the plan being terminated. ITESO must run into the academic regulations in consequence in Mexico ; nevertheless, because of ITESO ‘s position with the instruction ministry, it is authorized to develop a coaction that includes jointly presenting grades. In add-on the Mexican higher instruction system operates in a mode more similar to the United States theoretical account. Another regulative issue involves standards used by the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business ( AACSB ) which frequently requires that both spouses be AACSB accredited. This lone affects concern and direction plans, but since that is the country where most of these ventures will happen the regulation is important. If pupils must go to the other location, in-migration regulations apply. This could be an obstruction for some. Faculty certificates and makings are besides something to see. The accreditation organic structures will interested how each spouse evaluates and assesses the certificates of the module involved. Regis University and its spouses have chosen to follow standards that province that each school accepts the credentialing procedure of the other school. Language Language is an of import factor. Even when the coaction is between an U.S. school and a European one ( including Ireland and the UK ) there are communicating jobs since idioms may be well different and difficult to understand. The issue of linguistic communication is even more of import when the partnership is between an U.S. university and one in Latin America. One inquiry to reply is whether all or some or none of the module demand to be bilingual to take part in the plan? This seems to hold been resolved with the Regis/ITESO coaction. Since the classs taught by ITESO are in Spanish and the 1s taught by Regis are taught in English, it was decided that being bi-lingual is non necessary. It is necessary of the pupils, nevertheless. Clarity is besides something to see in joint ventures. Given cultural and linguistic communication differences it is really of import to often corroborate that all parties are speaking about the same things. Even when there is a common linguistic communication, such as American English and British or Irish English, false blood relations ( i.e. disciplinas and Disciplines ; cursos and coursesaˆÂ ¦ etc. ) further complicate the affair. Frequent rewording and reappraisal aid to get the better of such jobs. As Canto and Hannah ( 2001 ) noted, linguistic communication can be an obstruction and must be considered. Language besides impacts how each spouse approaches selling. Leadership Issues Effective leading is a must in any coaction. The senior leadership/management at both spouses must be actively supportive of the venture. This includes a committedness for both administrative and fiscal support every bit good as supplying ample resources for module. Without such committedness it will be much more hard to implement and keep the coaction. However, such committedness can besides be a negative if each spouse does non affect the in-between direction leaders and module early on. One illustration of where leading ended up being a major job was the coaction between Regis University and the University of Ulster. The understanding to travel forward was made by the Vice Chancellor of Ulster and the petition to take part came from him without much work done to develop the relationship with the Faculty of Business and Management at Ulster. There was opposition to this new venture, particularly since the module believed they were already successful and were non certain they wanted to make this undertaking. Both schools besides appointed module leads who did non pass on good with each other which all excessively frequently met struggle and dissensions. On the other manus, the senior leading at both ITESO and NUIG were supportive from the beginning, but they knew that it was of import to construct the relationship foremost. In both instances the presidents or other senior leaders encouraged coaction and allowed for the relationship to develop. Faculty were besides empowered. This reduced the likeliness there would be opposition and struggle. Any clip there are alterations in leading and/or structural alterations to an establishment it may do it more hard for a fledgeling understanding to travel frontward. Any relationship such as those described in this paper is bound to ab initio be dependent in portion on the personal relationships established between the representatives of the establishments instead than between the establishments themselves. Merely with clip will be relationships become institutional instead than personal and even so it is incumbent on both establishments to proactively work to guarantee the on-going verve of the relationship. Leader support is critical to such enterprises since resources need to be committed and there is a likely demand to use fund long before any plan is really launched. Academic Outcomes Obviously academic quality is cardinal to any coaction. Students in such ventures want to be assured that the grade will be respected and will open doors. One ground pupils will desire to matriculate in such joint coactions is to acquire a place in an international organisation, whether that is in computing machine scientific discipline or concern. This takes on-going and uninterrupted work and coaction between the modules, appraisal of larning results, and guaranting quality experiences for pupils. Part of this includes working with the spouse. For illustration, in the coaction with NUIG, both schools committed to utilizing the outside reviewer theoretical account to yearly measure and measure pupil achievements. Training and go oning instruction for module is critical in such partnerships. Faculty from different states must work collaboratively. To make this these must be commitment to academic quality every bit good as quality and readily available pupil service and advising. Concluding Notes There are first-class grounds to look at organizing international coactions to offer joint grade plans. Such coaction ensures international Bridgess between states and civilizations. In a changing universe environment it may be even more of import that pupils and module, particularly at the alumnus degree, experience international civilizations and instruction. Much of what must be practiced externally in order to do such coactions work is no unlike that which should be in topographic point internally. Transparency, regard for one another, financial duty, realistic outlooks, quality control and a shared desire to function pupils and learn from one another surely will do such coactions more likely to win. It is besides of import to acknowledge that they may non all win and that larning from those that do n't is merely more likely to do subsequent attempts, with the same or different spouses, more rewarding. Jesuit instruction attempts have reached out to the universe since shortly after Ignatius of Loyola brought together his little set of comrades. Ignatian humanitarianism and spiritualty tell us that it is of import to get down with a individual ‘s experiences and so to construct on them, to convey understanding among all peoples. International coactions to offer joint grade plans bring these Jesuit values together across boundary lines and across oceans.

Attention Deficit Disorder Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Attention Deficit Disorder - Research Paper Example It is a disorder of hyperactivity and lack of attention as the name indicates. This inattentiveness leads to a cascade of symptoms which makes life very difficult for the patients and they find it difficult to cope with the surroundings (National Institutes of Mental Health 2008; Klass 2010). Attention Deficit Disorder tends to show varying signs and symptoms which may be scaled according to the severity. It tends to affect both boys and girls but the symptoms of increased activity and impulsiveness are seen in boys whereas lack of attention is seen more in girls. Inattentiveness leads to lack of concentration in particular situations as well as inability of focusing capabilities. This also results in lack of the ability to fulfill activities that require attention and focus. The symptoms of increased activeness are restlessness and increased habits of moving around. Impulsiveness is presented in the form of lack of patience and the expression of emotions irrespective of what the oth ers might feel about it (National Institutes of Mental Health 2008; Klass 2010). Radiological studies have highlighted the fact that the frontal lobe of the brain is affected by this disorder and it does not function at an optimal level in the patients suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder.

Recycling & Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Recycling & Nature - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that  recycling helps us to conserve the natural resources for future generation. Most of the natural resources are non-renewable in nature. For example, fossil fuel is a non-renewable energy source. If we reduce our fossil fuel energy consumption, we can conserve some energy for future generation. Recycling will help us in reducing our energy consumption.This study highlights that one of the major villains which cause environmental problems is plastic materials. The influence of plastic materials in our daily life is growing day by day. However, the major drawback of plastic materials is the fact that these materials will never undergo biodegradation. In other words, most of the plastic materials have the ability to resist the natural degradation process. Under such circumstances, it is unwise to produce more and more plastic materials. However, we can limit the plastic production with the help of recycling of the existing or used up plastic materials.à ‚  The importance of recycling is not only beneficial for the earth but also for businesses as they secure better relations with the consumers over the matter of saving the environment. In most of the industrial units, recycling process is undertaken not only as a method to increase profit, but also as an option to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. Big companies are the biggest producers of industrial waste and they have the moral and legal responsibility to recycle it without causing many damages to the living things.  

Marketing Planing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing Planing - Essay Example The objective of the company is to offer the employees a congenial atmosphere to work and customers a wide range of drinks which can satisfy their needs. Some of the main objectives of the company are to lay emphasis on the needs of the customers and develop innovative products. Presently, the company offers 3500 products in more than 200 countries (Coca Cola, 2013a). The company tries innovative methods to develop core products which can suit the taste buds of the customers and provide satisfaction (Coca Cola, 2013b). Presently, the company manufactures carbonated beverages in various flavours, juices, bottled water and sports drink (Coca Cola, 2013h). Marketing Planning Changes & Assessing Capability Marketing Planning is a method to develop plans which can identify and satisfy customer needs and wants. The main elements of market planning are to conduct a market research to understand the customer requirements. Understanding customer requirements is essential to develop products a s per customer preference and specifications. After 70 years of success in developing cola drinks only in singular flavour the company decided to manufacture drinks in varied flavours to diversify their risk and yield profits from varied products. This was one of major breakthrough market planning initiatives by the company to manufacture beverages for a diversified customer base. The company started selling juices under the brand Minute Maid to portray itself as a healthy beverage manufacturer. The company also increased its availability in remote countries like Cambodia, Paraguay, Macau, Turkey and Montserrat. The first television advertisement for Coke appeared in the year 1970 which related the brands with friendliness and good times. In the year 1980 during the tenure of the chairman Mr. Roberto C. Goizueta the company started focusing more on manufacturing healthy beverages which would suit the taste bud of the consumers. During the 1980’s the company started manufactur ing sugar free and low sugar content drinks under the brand names â€Å"Diet Coke†. This decision was made to strengthen the brand image of the company. Mr. Roberto C. Goizueta also introduced a drink with a relatively new flavour under a new formula which was popularly termed as â€Å"New Coke†. However, coke started manufacturing drinks under the original formula to regain the customer and critic’s confidence. During the 1990’s the company started formulating a different strategy by associating itself with sports. The company associated itself with leading sports which were popular among the common masses. The company became one of the sponsors of FIFA, Rugby, and National Basketball Association etc to connect with a larger audience. The advertising and various other marketing strategies had a profound impact on the company’s earnings. Traditionally the company served 9 drinks per day compared to 1.7 billion servings per day presently (Coca Cola, 2013e). Thus, we can observe that the company had adapted to the changing marketing environment and had changed the marketing strateg

Primary Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Primary Nursing - Essay Example In the past, it would be workable to have health experts, for example, doctors admit patients to health institutions as a favor to the families of the patient (Manthey, 2002). In addition, it would be less complicated to find people with little or no nursing qualification leading the nursing field in a health institution. Ever since 1960, this situation has dramatically revolutionized since that period. The level of education is augmenting, the workforce is increasing in diversity, and the nursing profession is rising progressively. During the 1960 period, influential nurses, for example, Marie Manthey comprehended that the care nurses offered in health institutions needed to be concentrate on family and patient centered model instead of focusing on a task oriented approach (Boltz, 2011). Moreover, Marie Manthey also proposed that this model required being the foremost strategy for providing nursing care because it supported relationship establishment with families and patients that could promote better and extra specialized care strategies in addition to favorable care results (Manthey, 2002). This paper will look at Primary nursing today in comparison to 1960. The paper will evaluate literature regarding this subject, its influence to nursing leadership, and a number of recommendations. The advancement toward primary nursing a strategy of health care service delivery was initiated in the 60s and has been progressing since that period. In addition, this advancement has been recapped in a number of documents created during this time. The concept of primary nursing was largely urged on by a deficiency of medical practitioners. The foremost documented training for nurse professionals was established by a nurse, Loretta Ford, and a physician, Henry Silver, in 1965, with an aim of rectifying the ineffective distribution of heath resources, stabilizing health care costs, and enhancing the number of health care givers. Also, there was a degree of mystification about the different abilities and titles of nurses as the profession was established (Weber & Kelley, 2009). This has continued as the responsibilities and authority of the nursing practitioners have changed over time. In the 1960’s, there was a personal connection between patients and nurses that many old practitioners miss in the present nursing practice. Literature Review Friedberg, Hussey, and Schneider analyzed the hints of explaining primary care in their assessment of the proof with regard to its effectiveness (Friedberg, Hussey, & Schneider, 2010). They concentrated on a number of general explanations of primary care. In the foremost explanation, primary care was explained as a specialty and those offering it, for example, family physician, general internists, general pediatricians, and other generalists, were specialists (Friedberg, Hussey, & Schneider, 2010). A second explanation specified a number of health care activities; care coordination care for a large number of pr oviders, first-contact care for new health issues, long-term person-centered care, and comprehensive care for a big number of health problems, all given at a standard source of care (Friedberg, Hussey, & Schneider, 2010). The third explanation described primary care with regard to the course of the health system. The authors

Persuade your employer that you deserve a raise OR Persuade a family Essay

Persuade your employer that you deserve a raise OR Persuade a family member that the world today is a better than it was 50 years ago - Essay Example Not all people considered going to school a basic life requirement. Only a few people who were enlightened went to schools to gain knowledge. Let us look at our grand parents and some uncles and aunts for example. There is none we can talk of as an educated person, those who afforded to go to school got minor education and surrendered in the long run. The schools were also not developed such that they only had limited resources therefore offered little knowledge. People relied on the indigenous knowledge which though was effective to some extend, could not be applied to solving all of the issues the society faced. The society was so backward such that new advancements tools were only owned by the educated in the society, simply because they were the only ones who could operate them. Poverty for example, which is highly associated with lack of education, was part of the society whereby, to most people poverty was a norm. People only relied on the products of nature. Compare this scenario to the contemporary society where going to school is like a norm. Every individual in the present society is expected to have basic education. Some countries have even gone to the extent of providing free basic education to ensure every individual gets a chance of going to school. Laws have also been formulated to ensure people get educated. The modern schools also have resources that ensure students get quality education. Look at the current advancements whereby each day comes with its own technological advancement. Today things that were rare such as media tools are a thing of the past. You only choose to be poor since I believe every individual has his own ability to make money. For instance, according to the World Development report, knowledge is intangible, light and weightless. With this knowledge still, some people still living in poverty. This therefore means that knowledge is able to counter poverty,

Clinical Link Learning Activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Clinical Link Learning Activities - Essay Example The department of health stresses the importance of assessments that covers social, environmental, psychological, cultural, spiritual, financial and physical (Department of Health, 2008). The assessment is geared towards giving priority and preference to patient needs. Effective record sharing and maintenance minimize duplication and repetition. It is necessary that all life care practitioners and support groups to acquire the necessary expertise and experience in order to contribute in enhancing quality care. Evaluating the process of preparing cancer patients in their journey Diagnosis of cancer and Treatment plan agreed The cancer patient should undergo this assessment since cancer illness is progressive and incurable but can be managed to ensure the patient leaves a quality life. The planned active treatment and assessment occurs at a key point at around the time of diagnosis. This is after several test detected cancer in its early stages. The planned treatment scheduled periodic clinic session with the patient for active treatment and assessment. The team of consultants included a Doctor and a clinical Nurse Specialist who are charged with responsibility to treat and assess the patient. The competence and experience of the team is important in ensuring quality assessment and treatment (Department of Health, 2009). ... The plan included an initial assessment by a Clinical Nurse Specialist but also provided for engagement of a Surgical Ward Sister. The professional assessors have the requisite knowledge and competence to conduct the assessment (McMullan, 2003 pp.285). The plan had not provided for self-assessment was not provided in the plan but I thing it can play an important part in identifying patient’s preferences (Robert, 1982 pp. 81). The assessor describes the process and details of assessment to the patient and seeks consent since the process should be between patient and professional. Consent seeking is important not only for purposes of preference but also on the bases of clinical ethics (Greene, 2005 pp. 61). The plan provided for several assessment contents namely: Background information and assessment preferences It is recorded from the patient care record and captures details such as name, date of birth, gender, religion, occupation, dependants, allergies, diet, hospital consul tant and next of kin. The preferences include date of last evaluation with copies, know the needs identified and actions taken. This is laudable since it will ensure continuation and avoid duplication. Information on key points, date, assessor name and site of assessment are also planned for inclusion. Address consent for assessment and presence of carer or family member. These last two are very important since the former address the notion of patient need while the later include participation of the next important person beside the life care professional (Cassileth, 1980 pp. 834). Physical well being The session entails description of the problems that include cause, intensity, duration and rate of change. The effects of the

Major problems and issues of an organization analyzed through a case Essay

Major problems and issues of an organization analyzed through a case study - Essay Example The two thus form a good case study through which the major problems that face organizations can be studied. An in-depth analysis of the companies will be undertaken through a brief background on the two in the movie rental market followed by diagnosis of their situations. A competitive and performance analysis will then be undertaken with recommendations on the way forward being generated. Netflix was started in 1997 by Reed Hastings and 10 years later had already taken over market leadership in movie rental services. Figures such as $1.2 billion in revenues, 100,000 movies in their catalogue and 7 million subscribers are quite enviable in the market. The main source of their dominance has been pioneering online movie renting through subscriptions (Thompson, Strickland and Gamble). Blockbuster on the other hand enjoyed early market domination since its inception in 1985 by David Cook (Blockbuster.com 2009). Its main source of advantage was availing movies at a much cheaper rental rates through negotiating deals with the major film studios thus reducing its rates to even just a tenth of competitors’. Blockbuster’s competitive advantage was nullified by Netflix’s focus on internet adoption. The two firms are still competing in a highly competitive market as stated by Netflix Inc. (6). Diagnosis of Netflix’s and Blockbuster’s Competitive Situations. Netflix is at the moment the market leader but is facing cutthroat competition from a resurgent Blockbuster which re-strategized and started slicing Netflix’s market share to an extent that forced the later to reduce its subscription fees leading to drop in its stock prices from panic. Other competition is also being felt from other albeit smaller rivals such as Redbox. Netflix (6) is also in recognition that the movie rental market is subject to drastic and rapid changes since

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 90

Marketing - Essay Example The last thing the speaker highlighted is logistics, which will determine how the product reaches the consumer. Customers would prefer a product that is always at their disposal, and transport plays a significant role in ensuring that consumers have the product when they need them. The video by Komisar explains how the companies deal with the failures as this is what determines their survival. Komisar also explains that innovation is about taking the risk of what has not been done before so as to satisfy the ever-changing customer needs. Company’s which take risks, so as to satisfy customers’ have to be more keen on the customer’s ever changing products in the in the market. The video by Fiorina explains that leadership and skills comprise of three things, ability, character and collaboration. Ability is about the entrepreneurs’ skills and experiences that make them successful in their ventures. Fiorina explains how more skilled and experienced entrepreneurs will succeed in the business sphere. The most successful companies will always rely on more experienced and skilled personnel. The speaker also explains how the character of an entrepreneur is vital in running the business to make it successful. Good character will attract business in the company in a very short period hence promoting the good reputation of the companies’ name. Fiorina explains collaboration as partnering of two entrepreneurs’ or companies with the intent of producing one or two commodities that will suit customers’ needs. The biggest take away from the videos is the aspect of taking risk in order to be successful as an entrepreneur. According to the Komisar, in the video titled â€Å" Biggest Success are often Bred from Failures† entrepreneurs should be more innovative and ready to take risks to satisfy their customers’ needs. I saw this is a big lesson and a challenge in my future endeavors in regards to any venture I may

Organisational Structure Essay Example for Free

Organisational Structure Essay All organisations are designed to suit their objectives, role, and mission. Internal structure of an organisation is the way in which interrelated groups of an organisation are arranged in a particular fashion for effective communication and best possible coordination (Wikipedia, 2006). Organisational structure plays an important role in day-to-day functions of an organization. The organisational structure of an organization will dictate the delegation of authority, work specialization, and employee reporting framework. An efficient structure will facilitate decision making. A good organisational structure removes uncertainties and helps in planning for future expansion as well (Business Bureau-uk, 2002). A company would adopt a suitable combination of structure and control systems that are most effective for pursuing sustainable competitive advantage. In addition to coordinating strategy implementation, the role of structure and control is to motivate and provide incentives for superior performance. There are numerous internal and external factors affecting the way organizations structure themselves. This essay will scrutinize organisational structures of small and medium sized organizations in different countries. An evaluation of the factors affecting these structures has also been carried out coupled with an analysis of the response from these organizations to varying challenges. Organisational Structures Three major components of organisational structure identified by most theorists include complexity, formalisation, and centralisation (Robbins, 1987). Complexity is basically the degree of differentiation that exists within an organization. Horizontal differentiation considers the degree of separation between units of the same level and vertical differentiation refers to the depth of the organizational hierarchy. A well-known way of horizontal differentiation is the multidivisional (M-form) structure (Chandler, 1962). This structural form is used by firms to carry out most diverse economic activities. Other forms of horizontal differentiation are the functional structure in which people and tasks are grouped together on the basis of their common expertise and experience. Then there are the geographic structures, which use regional basis for organizing activities, and the product division structure which has a focus on products or product groups. The second component of organisational structure is the formalisation. The formalisation refers to the degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized. If a job is highly formalized, there are explicit job descriptions, lots of organizational rules, and clearly defined procedures. The formal organization however does not imply that the organisational structure will become inflexible. The informal organization on the other hand is any joint activity without conscious joint purpose, even though contributing to joint results (Barnard, 1964). The third component of organisational structure is the centralisation. It is defined by most theorists as the degree to which decision making is concentrated at a single point in the organization. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Different Countries SMEs are generally defined as having fewer than 250 employees and less than 50 million euros in annual turnover (Cardais, 2005). SMEs play a major role in developed economies. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in 2000, 99. 8 per cent of enterprises in 19 countries in Western Europe were SMEs (Kuwayama, 2002). In the United States, small businesses employ more than half of the labor force. The SMEs constitute 96% of the total establishments and represented 69% of total employment in the US (APEC, 2006). SMEs are inherently adaptive to changing market and supply environments. SMEs help in deepening managerial and entrepreneurial skills, and are considered very attractive because of their diversity and competition in the supply of products and services. In United States, SMEs generate half of the national total sales. Most of these corporations develop market-like relationships between the different parts of their organisation. This is reflected in the greater use of the multidivisional structure form. In United States, companies are split into profit centres in pursuance of their market strategies. There is however heavy reliance on formal procedures and standardisation of organisational roles which makes American companies to coordinate a large diversity of economic activities. In Europe, 20 million small and medium sized enterprises comprise major chunk of the European economy. The SMEs in Eurpoe are providing around 65 million jobs. SMEs have greater opportunities to continuously evlove their structures keeping in view their diversified role and constantly changing competitive environments. Organisational Structure of SMEs is very dynamic in Europe. In Germany specially, SMEs are more centralized than US companies and planning and control is more integrated (Europa, 2006). The German SMEs are characterised by a strong linkage between enterprise and owner. This close relationship strongly influences the internal structure and market strategies of the enterprises (Hauser, 2000, pp. 1-2). Factors Reshaping Organisations There are many internal and external forces that can affect an organization. Internally an organization creates its own internal structure, mission, and fiscal policies. These internal forces are designed to meet the external challenges like competitors, the economy, and the demands of the customers. All these factors are having unified impact on organizations in United States and in Europe. Customer demands are influencing organizational structures directly in the same manner that supply can affect demand and vice versa. Another area influencing organizational designs is the constantly changing requirements of the human resources. Surveys conducted in United States have revealed changing workforce behaviour. Changing drives for motivating workers, and getting the best out of them affects the way a company needs to organise its resources. SMEs in developed economies are influenced by e-business to a great extent, allowing them to trade worldwide from a single website. Organisations in Europe and United States are deeply effected by the environment. The advancement of technology is forcing the companies to reengineer their processes. The general environment is dictating change in socio-cultural outlook of companies. With regard to the task environment, major forces playing their part in reshaping organisations include competitors, customers, suppliers, regulators, and strategic allies. High performance and customer satisfaction are directly related to structural design of a company. To compete effectively, the company must avoid becoming operated by a top-down approach. In an era of rapid change and high technology, companies are required to shift centralized management controls. The environment is dictating to focus on streamlining operations, and empowering workers with the knowledge, skills and resources to do their jobs. Analysis of Response to Changing Requirements Change is always viewed differently by the management and the employees. Top level management perceives change as an opportunity to strengthen the business and to advance in their career. The employees however do not welcome the change. They consider change as disruptive and intrusive. They may worry about their ability to meet new job demands. They may think that their job security is threatened, or they may simply dislike ambiguity. Some managers may also feel threatened by the change since it may be against their self-interests. Managers so affected may fight the change as well. But the change is inevitable. The only thing constant in this world is the change. Organizations in Europe and United States are changing and actively adapting to their environments. Organisations in United States are structuring to small business units to tackle complex, and highly uncertain environments in the face of huge competition. Organizations whose structures are not fitted to the environment can not perform well and eventually fail (Borgatti, 1996). The changes are being made to the tools, resources, and the physical or organizational settings of the company. Organisations in Europe and United States are redesigning their structures to meet new challenges. Customers, owners, suppliers, regulators, local communities, and other employees are changing their needs constantly which are compelling the SMEs to adopt a flexible and dynamic structure. The Impact of uncertainty avoidance dimension is forcing towards flexibility of jobs definition and task interchangeability which is quite visible in US and European companies nowadays (Hofstede, 1980). Conclusion The last decade of 20th century witnessed developments occurring within a frame work of rapidly expanding social and economic interdependence on a global scale. Organizations have evolved through periods of incremental or evolutionary change. The major work changes happening today are changes in organizational strategy, organizational structure and design, technology and human resources. In contrast to the classical scholars, most theorists today believe that there is no one best way to organize. What is important is that there be a fit between the organizations structure, its size, its technology, and the requirements of the environment including the competitors. References http://www.actetsme.org/usa/usa98.htm http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/orgtheory.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_structure

Examining media representation of mental disorders

Examining media representation of mental disorders In the following assignment we will discuss the way of media representation of mental disorder. Additionally, a brief description of the film Me, Myself Irene will take place in order to understand how the media misrepresent mental disorder. Furthermore, we will try show the real relationship between violence and mental disorder and thus, how accurate are media portrayals of this mental health problem. Ultimately, we will explain the impact of negative media representation on the mentally ill people and on the public. Mass media representation of mental disorder is negative and describes mentally ill people as monsters. Medias sovereign depictions of mental health problems appear to emphasize violence, dangerousness and criminality as long as Poor, unbalanced press coverage of mental health issues fuels stigma and reduces the quality of life for sufferers, says a leading charity (www.news.bbc.co.uk). This inappropriate representation causes severe stigma, moral panic, ostracism, as well as discrimination and victimization of these individuals. Me, Myself Irene, is a comedy film directed from the Farrelly brothers and was released in U.K on September 22, 2000. The plot of the movie is about one mentally ill man Charlie Baileygates who is passive and generally peaceful. He has split personality and thus his alter ego (Hank) is aggressive, foul-mouthed and violent. Charlie has been diagnosed with delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage, and whenever Charlie does not take his medication, Hunk takes his place causing several problems because of his turbulent mental state. His behaviour becomes obscene as he defecates on a neighbours lawn and suckles from a strangers breast. This uncontrolled rage makes Hank to make fun of one man with albinism who explains that he killed his entire family but was released early just to make room for psychos. Both Charlie (good) and Hank (evil) try to protect Irene from a gang of corrupt cops who want her dead. Menacing Hank insults and punches nearly everyone he encounters and Irene apologises all the time for Hanks behaviour, explaining that he is a schizo. The film raised many dilemmas about its inappropriate presentation of mental health problems and lot of people argues that the film makes fun of mentally ill people and perpetuates ugly stigmas about mental illness. Me, Myself Irene is a perfect example of what the media represents about the relationship between violence and mental disorder, and as Thornicroft (2006) claims, schizophrenia is often linked to violence in films and media. This can be seen in my case example, when Hank assaults a group of people and also when starts to drown a young girl who has insulted him. The media today has become more powerful agent than it was in the past. Many support that the function of media is vital within societies as they have been acclaimed as agents of the democratic institutions and guardians of citizens rights (McQuail, 2003). Others believe that the media just represent extremity and exaggeration to earn publicity, and as Bennett (1999) claims News is the policy of hallucinations. However, it is a fact that people collect most of the information from the TV, newspapers and radio and as Thornicroft supports the majority of people gather what they know about mental illnesses either from personal experience and contact with people with such conditions, or from the mass media (Thornicroft, 2007). Media portrayals are most of the time inaccurate and sensationalized, depicting mentally ill people as different, dangerous, unpredictable and violent. According to that and what we see from the film My, Myself Irene, Hank unpredictably assaults whoever is in front of him, making strange movements and behaving abnormally (especially during the personality change from good Charlie to villain Hank). Such representations make people to misunderstand mental disorder, and this misrepresentation appears to play an active part in shaping and sustaining what mental illness means in our culture. As probably already shown, I am not a totally unbiased observer of what is happening these days. I have a point of view, based on what I have read so far (research) and on personal experience (once, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with a mentally ill friend) and what is going to be presented in this assignment convey this point of view. I strongly believe that mass media portrayals of mental disorder are in the overwhelming majority inaccurate, inappropriate, unfavourable and harmful to mentally ill people. You only have to read a newspaper, switch on the TV or go to the cinema to spot such demeaning attitudes which can affect significant undesirable consequences. Such consequences will be discussed later in another chapter. Mass media treat mental disorder as an object of ridicule, using psychiatric terminology inaccurately, and to overuse slang disrespectful terms for mental illness. For example, consider the use of Charlies diagnosis with delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage. I am not an expert thus; I have had to do a research on that, just to find that, once again, misrepresentation took place and media used mental disorder as a source of humor. Britains two largest mental health charities, Mind and National Schizophrenia Fellowship, have joined with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and claim that people affected by schizophrenia dont switch from gentle to mental, as the billboard advertisements say, but are more often withdrawn. In fact, split personality is a totally different condition; it is a dissociative disorder rather than a psychotic illness. Furthermore, they argue that the behaviour portrayed in the film, has nothing whatever to do with schizophrenia (www.findart icles.com). I am a member of mass media consumer myself. I am continually entertained by the television programmes, movies and newspapers which I eagerly consume. However, this will not stop me from looking carefully and critically the media misrepresentation of mental health problems. Comedy portrayals tend to depict mental illnesses as primarily involving little more than specific oddities that the individuals manifest repetitively. This notion of mental disorder as a humorous oddity is conveyed in our movie and movies, whatever their titles, continuously find ways to present mental illnesses as laughable and ridiculous. The fact that our film has a funny plot which involve violence, mental health, beautiful girls and bad guys hunting good guys, succeeds to attract viewers attention and interest (Charlie, Hank and Irene produce fun during the film for example when Charlie is trying to make Hank go away etc). Media images are emotionally arousing, they do not only provide information, but they manipulate emotions in deliberate, skillful and effective way. Thus, I believe that it is very important to understand that movies which are not about mental illnesses, (our movie is categorized as comedy) they make viewers to merely absorb what they see, and therefore reinforce their biases and already inaccurate views, without being particularly aware that they are learning about mental illness. According to that, and as one film critic commended, Comedies may be mindless, but that does not mean it is not affecting minds (Wahl, 2003). Societys lack of knowledge, negative attitude and discriminatory behaviour is one of the central paradoxes because we live in a world in which up to half of all adults will be diagnosed with mental disorder in their lifetime. Furthermore, up to three-quarters of adult population know someone directly who has mental disorder, and yet we all act as if nobody knows anything (Thornicroft, 2006). Thus, I cannot understand why people who still feel threatened by it, allow stigma to thrive. Mental disorder misrepresentation by the media also poses significant limitations in the initiatives to normalize mental health services within the community and therefore reduce harmful stigma. According to that, many mentally ill people face prejudice and severe discrimination when happens to live next to healthy people Just because I have a mental health problem, I am now shunned, my life made even more difficult to live. Maria is a woman whose only crime is to live in an area in which a hostel for people with mental health problems is planned (Thornicroft-Shunned-2006). Publics perception of mental illness is one of fear and paranoia, bordering on mass media as they often use words such as nutter, psycho and schizo. This can be seen in the film Me, Myself Irene, when Irene used to apology for Hanks behaviour, saying that he is a schizo. These words are derogatory which should not be used. In relation to this, I have the obligation to express my opinion that a civilization should be judged by how it behaves towards mentally ill. Likewise, I believe that the well-being of a social system depends on the prosperity of the teams within this social system. Thus, any discrimination and stigma makes social system dysfunctional as a whole. Equally important to be mentioned is that during the movie, I have realized that misrepresentation of mental disorder not only took place on Charlie/Hank but there was a pervasive and persistent pattern to degrade mental disorder through Whiteys portrayal that according to the plot, have killed his entire family. As mentioned before, everyday people are learning, from everyday sources, concerning mental illnesses and it appears unfortunate that the majority of those people learn about mental illness from what they see and hear in the mass media. However, even if I believe that the mass media are not wholly to blame for negative perceptions, but every time programmes, articles or film portrays a stereotype, they fail to clear up a misunderstanding about mental disorder and thus, this helps to perpetuate the myths. In the following extract taken from the book Media madness: public images of mental illness (Wahl, 2003), there is an interesting, clear illustration of how the fearful mass media with the bold headlines tend to misrepresent mental disorder. The case is about a 30 year old woman who entered an elementary school in Winnetka, Illinois in May 1988 and shot a number of children. ..Times May 30, 1988, headline introducing the story of this tragic incident was One Lunatic, Three Guns. The event was truly tragic, and it is likely that mental illness was a contributing factor in the womans actions. Referring to the mentally ill person involved as a lunatic, however, was both unnecessary (Newsweeks article on the same incident was titled simply I Have Hurt Some Children: Nightmare in Winnetka) and inconsistent with standards applied to other groups. If the Winnetka school killing had been committed by someone in a wheelchair, it is unlikely that the Times headline would have read One Cripple, Three Guns. If the incident had involved a black woman, the headline would not have proclaimed One Nigger, Three Guns. There seems not to be the same hesitancy about using similarly disrespectful terms in referring to people with mental illnesses (www.time.com). Hence, it is obvious that the mass media tend to misrepresent mental illness with disrespectful patterns, fueling public fear and letting stigma to thrive. Stigma, in ancient Greece was bodily sign for those who were different. Stigmata were cut and burnt onto these different people (most of the time slaves) bodies to mark them as different from the rest population (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk). Nowadays, mentally ill people are no longer physically mutilated, but still depreciation and hostile attitudes towards them can be just as hurtful to them. Individuals with mental health problems are stereotyped and stigmatized through the media as mad and violent, and thus this stigma causes serious obstacles in their life. Shame, blame and secrecy are taking place as they are the black sheep of the family. Mentally ill people experience severe stigma, discrimination, social exclusion and thus, isolation. Media represents mentally disordered as individuals dangerous to the public, strange and unpredictable like Hank (after all, who would want to live next to somebody who parks a car inside a shop and fights a cow?). But, the relationship between violence and mental disorder is not what the mass media simply represents. It is a complex matter that needs further consideration and critical thinking. Thus, in the following paragraphs we will try to understand what the real relationship is. Having said that the representation of a phenomenon by the media reflect the frame in which a phenomenon is socially placed, it is considered essential at this point to mention that it is much more likely for people to become victimized from healthy offenders than becoming a victim from a mentally disordered individual. The depiction of the mentally ill individual as violent, unanticipated, dangerous and potential criminal appears to be extremely popular in the medias interest. Furthermore, in the connection between mental illness and violence, schizophrenia possesses a prominent place, mainly because of its complexity. According to this, researches in Great Britain shows that the frame of violence outclasses against other approaches in proportion 4:1 and the individuals with mental illness almost always are presented with negative way, as violent, murderers or rapists, or, in the better case, as objects of sneer (Wahl, 2003). Additionally, and as empirical evidence show us, actually, the percentage of crimes of violence that has been committed by individuals with mental disturbance does not abstain perceptibly from what is attributed to the general population (Eronen et al., 1996), and the majority of acts of violence that are committed by mental patients are located in cases of incomplete therapeutic confrontation or even parallel use of substances (Swanson, 1997). However, this study, and most of the studies conducted until recently, have focused on the rates of violence among people with mental disorder, based on those who were hospitalized (inpatients) or on rates of mentally ill which were arrested, convicted or incarcerated for violent crimes. For example, one national survey showed that the lifetime risk of schizophrenia was 5% among people convicted for homicide, a prevalence that is much higher than any published rate of schizophrenia in the general population (suggesting the relationship between schizophrenia and homicide). (http://content.nejm.org). These studies, however, have many limitations as they only refer to individuals who were arrested, hospitalized or incarcerated which are by definition more likely to be violent or very ill and thus are not accurate representative of mentally ill in the general population. However, according to a study conducted by NIMH Epidemiology Catchment Area it was found that mentally ill patients suffering from serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression were two to three times as likely as healthy people to be assaultive. At this point it is very important to mention that not all mental illnesses are linked to violence. For example, anxiety disorders do not increase the risk of violence. However, although the overwhelming majority of mentally ill with major depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do not produce criminal behaviour, the presence of such disorders is significantly linked to an increased risk of violence. Furthermore, this study which had representative sample of 17.803 subjects, showed that people with no mental health problems who abuse alcohol and drugs are seven times as likely to report a violent behaviour as those without substance abuse whereas, mentally ill with substance abuse compounds the increased risk of violence (alcohol and substance abuse far outweigh mental disorder in contributing violence) (http://content.nejm.org). I am aware of the fact that the link between violence and mental disorder is not that strong. It is a controversial subject and hence, I believe that whether or not, mentally ill are more likely than others to engage in violent behaviour, the subject is not an idle and needs further consideration. Thus, the public should not losing sight that most people who are violent are not mentally ill, and most people who are mentally ill are not violent. A look at the broader picture is essential, thus even though the media represents dramatic statistics in order to underscore their cases, mass media consumers should know that serious mental illness is quite rare and actually contributes little to the overall rate of violence in the general population. Furthermore, it is crucial for us to understand that, most of people who are violent do not suffer from mental illnesses. More specifically, mentally ill are more likely to be the victims, rather than the perpetrators of violence current research shows that people with major mental illness are 2.5 times more likely to be the victims of violence than other members of society (http://www.cmha.ca). Moreover, a 1996 Health Canada review of scientific articles found that the strongest predictor of violence and criminal behaviour is not major to mental illness, but past history of violence and criminality (http://www.cmha.ca). To conclude, and as mentioned before, mental disorder plays no part in the majority of violent crimes committed in our society. However, mentally ill people who live in a stressful, unpredictable environment with little family or community support may be at risk high risk of becoming violent (in relation to our case, Charlie/Hank was away from his family and chased across the country by corrupt cops). However, mental disorder misrepresentation by the media continues and it is not hard to understand why. Pamela Kalbfleisch claims, that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦nothing sells like an insane, unpredictable, undetected, glory killer on the loose who has caused a great deal of pain and anguish to the friends and relatives of the victim (Wahl, 2003). To the question why are people with mental disorder depicted consistently from the media in such inaccurate and inappropriate way (dangerous, different) the answer would be for profit. There is no question that mass media selection of what to present to the public is based on financial factors). Mass media operate for profit and wants to fulfill the publics thirst and excitement for violence related to mental disorder, and thus should present what the public will buy. Hence, it was considered essential for the films trailer to show Charlie explaining that he suffers from delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage so that, attract viewers attention. Nevertheless, mental disorder produces profits (the film grossed $83 million in the USA according to The Guardian, July 28, 2000), (http://pb.rcpsych.org). Phenomena that are dramatic and puzzling have always been attractive to the public. Thus, what is more buy-able than a funny and unpredicted character acting like mad. Mental illness is therefore, transformed into madness, and madness related to fun is even more fascinating. Media representation of serious mental disorder, challenge publics appetite for arousal and excitement as stories about violent crime linked to mental illness provide titillation. However, the most important thing during the movie is that there was an inappropriate and inaccurate depiction that whenever a mentally ill individual does not take the medication becomes villain (Hank wanted to fight a 10-year-old boy, he vanished a cow, almost drowned a young girl). Thus, this misrepresentation contains an explicit message that the public needs vigilant protection from mental patients. Consequently, when viewers see such misrepresentation of mental disorder taking place, they become fearful that those different people are highly likely to cause physical harm to other people. In other words, this pervasive portray of mentally ill as violent and extremely dangerous, will only lead media consumers to a general belief that mentally ill individuals will attack and therefore harm their community. Such belief will, in turn, create moral panic, and fear in the presence of mentally ill. After all, and as previously expressed, who would feel safe next to somebody who parks a car inside a shop? According to this, and as many believe that homelessness is closely related to mental disorder, moral panic lead to a random attack on a homeless man with schizophrenia in Toronto June 4, 2000 Fillmore was attacked as he lay sleeping in a bus shelter last June: he was stabbed and bled to death (http://pb.rcpsych.org). Just imagine that once patients leave psychiatric hospitals and therefore eager for support and acceptance, are instead treated with suspicion and fear. This misrepresentation will fuel panic and increase the prejudice and fear, and will make people to cross the street or exit buses or move away when they happen to be next of mentally ill. Moreover, it is highly likely that people who are persuaded by the media to ignore and fear of mentally ill, to become mentally ill. This, in turn, will lead them to self-loathing as they now know that they have become violent, dangerous, and different and so forth. Moreover, mentally ill are bombarded with unfavourable information about them and therefore perceived as threat (self-stigma) and thus, these attitudes towards them have devastating effect on their relationships, employment, housing and social functioning. The discrimination and stigma, excludes them from any social activity and the issue of employment as well (http://bjp.rcpsych.org). According to this, I believe that the most important step to recovery is to work, because of employment offers a social network, route out of poverty. To conclude, I would like to mention that it is very sad when viewers (including myself) see the way films and mass media in general, portray people with mental disorder as if there is not anyone who is positive. But I guess, non aggressive mentally ill do not sell. It is also very inappropriate the fact that the mass media misrepresent mentally ill people and portray them as monsters who want to harm us. Additionally, I have concluded that the mass media inaccurately present the relationship between mental disorder and violence. Furthermore, I found that the mass media fuel public fear by generalizing all mental illnesses and stereotyping its patients. I also found that the impact of stigma and the discrimination against mentally ill is both common and severe. Ultimately, I suggest that all the incorrect beliefs of previous generations should not be passing on to new. The stigmatizing and discriminating attitudes towards mentally ill people have been going on for a long time and it is time to stop as I am a believer that the way our society behaves the mentally ill, is not only an issue of mental health care but human rights issue. According to this, I would like to conclude with the following words written by a relative of one mentally ill patient. For me stigma means fear, resulting in a lack of confidence. Stigma is loss, resulting in unresolved mourning issues. Stigma is not having access to resources Stigma is being invisible or being reviled, resulting in conflict. Stigma is lowered family esteem and intense shame, resulting in decreased self-worth. Stigma is secrecy Stigma is anger, resulting in distance. Most importantly, stigma is hopelessness, resulting in helplessness. (http://apt.rcpsych.org). .