On the Sidewalk Bleeding by Evan Hunter

On the Sidewalk Bleeding Critical Essay Marianne Lavery The story â€Å"On the sidewalk bleeding† by Evan Hunter deals with the issue of identity through the central character Andy, a young gang member who struggles with his identity as his death draws near. A young boy called Andy who left a nightclub to go and get cigarettes. He started walking through the alley when suddenly he got stabbed. As he got stabbed he heard a voice saying â€Å"That’s for you Royal! Andy had always been proud to be a Royal because the Royals and the guardians were two of the biggest and he was a Royal. Now as he lay dying on the sidewalk with the rain surrounding him, he thought of being a Royal but now all he wanted to be was Andy. It is evident that Andy had felt very proud to be a member of the Royals: â€Å"The Royals and the Guardians, two of the biggest. He was a Royal there had been meaning to the title†. I think Andy was too involved in the Royals to understand that it was o nly a gang name and his life was ending at sixteen because of it. Andy decided to join the gang in the first place because it made him powerful, it made him feel like he was somebody. The extent of his pride was shown when it said: â€Å"Even in his pain, there had been some sort of pride in knowing he was a Royal! † This tells the reader that he didn’t regret ever becoming a Royal. A young person like Andy would join a gang so that they would feel safe from other gangs. Additionally, if they were in a gang they would feel important to be a member of that gang as it would give them a sense of belonging. After Andy was stabbed and he realized that he was going to die, he began to resent his identity as a Royal and just wanted to be known as Andy. â€Å"I’m Andy; he screamed wordlessly, I’m Andy†. As Andy lay there dying, alone in the dark he wanted to shout out â€Å"Hey, I’m alive! Hey look at me! I’m alive! Don’t you know I’m alive? Don’t you know I exist? † Andy was so frustrated and confused. â€Å"He felt very weak and tired†. As every second went by, Andy got increasingly weaker. Andy’s identity as a Royal not only got him stabbed it also prevented people from helping him as they walked past. An example of this was when Angela and Freddie came along and they saw him on the pavement hurt. They were going to hep him but as soon as they realised that he was a Royal, they quickly changed their minds. They said â€Å"if we get a cop, the Guardians will find out who. † I thought this was very cowardly and selfish of them to leave him there, dying just because they were scared. Andy knew he was at deaths door but he didn’t want them to find him and say â€Å"oh he’s a Royal! † So with great difficulty and determination, he rolled over onto his back. He felt the pain tearing at his stomach when he moved. He lay struggling with the shiny, wet jacket. Pain ripped fire across his body whenever he moved. He squirmed and fought and twisted until one arm was free and then the other. Taking this purple jacket off with the lettering on the back that read â€Å"THE ROYALS† was very important to Andy because this jacket had ended his life at only sixteen years old. The final part of this story was very sad because Andy died. Andy’s girlfriend found him first, but when he did not answer her, she ran until she found a cop. The first thing the cop said when he looked at Andy’s dead body was, â€Å"A Royal, huh? † So Andy didn’t even get his final wish, which was to be remembered as just Andy. By reading this story it has made me think about my own identity and I have realized how important it is to keep out of trouble. As I most definitely do not want to be in the same situation as Andy was.

Discuss the Following “Infection Prevention is Every Healthcare Professional’s Responsibility” Essay

This essay is to discuss the statement: ‘Infection prevention is every healthcare professional’s responsibility’. In order to identify the healthcare professional’s responsibility the author will be drawing from three different sources including documents from the Department of Health, the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s code of conduct and the Royal College of Nursing. After this, the essay will talk about two different practises that healthcare professionals can use to break the chain of infection. These will include the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the importance of hand washing and the impact these practises have on infection prevention. The essay will then focus on how such high standards of infection prevention can cause psychosocial repercussions on the patient and how visitors can have a compromising effect on healthcare professional’s efforts to break the chain of infection. The Department of Health (DoH), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) all provide documents and guidelines for the public to read about the role of the healthcare professional. They are all put in place to safeguard the public, the workers, and to help professionals deliver the highest quality service to the service users. It is possible to relate a lot of these documents and guidelines to infection prevention. These services have made it clear that infection prevention is every healthcare professional’s responsibility through their policies and guidelines. In the NMC’s Code of Conduct at the chapter on keeping knowledge and skills up to date, number thirty-eight of the code states ‘you must have the knowledge and skills for safe and effective practise when working without direct supervision’ (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2008). This is important because if the healthcare professional’s knowledge and skills were not up to date then they would not understand common illnesses, causes or the most effective way to prevent them. This would therefore put the service users at risk and the healthcare professional could be held accountable. The RCN promotes good practise by setting eight main principles for professionals to take guidance from. Principle C states, ‘Nurses and nursing staff manage risk, are vigilant about risk, and help to keep everyone safe in places they receive healthcare’ (Royal College of Nursing, 2010). This is an important element of safe and effective care and provides an  understanding for the public and workers that infection is a risk that all health care professionals must be vigilant about and it is the workers as well as the public’s responsibility to make their best efforts to control it. The Department of Health creates legislation and policy which the healthcare system have to abide by. One policy document that was published by the DoH is the ‘Prevention and Control of Infection in Care Homes’ (Department of Health, 2013). It is targeted at healt hcare settings such as care trusts, and is about ‘best practise guidance’. The policy document includes information such as the chain of infection, hand washing techniques as well as asepsis and aseptic technique guidelines. The DoH has created this document to improve infection prevention by giving more responsibility to healthcare professionals and urging them to use these precautionary measures. ‘The RCN considers infection prevention and control to be a core element of quality, patient safety and governance systems and as such it is one of the RCN’s key areas of activity. Infection prevention and control is the clinical application of microbiology in practice’ (Royal College of Nursing, 2013). The chain of infection model displays the transmission of infection from one patient to another. The model has six components which if broken from the chain will prevent the infection from spreading. These components include; a causative micro-organism, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry and susceptible host. As infection prevention is every healthcare professionals responsibility, healthcare professionals should work together to break the links in the chain of infection. A common component to break is the ‘reservoir’ link. Through employee health, environmental sanitation and disinfection. Another way to break the chain o f infection is to follow standard precautions by using personal protective equipment where necessary. Personal protective equipment (PPE) are special garments or equipment used by healthcare workers and service users to help protect against infections. It includes protective clothing, gloves, respirators and more. All these are essential in the discontinuation of the chain of infection. By law, employers have to supply healthcare workers with PPE and if not worn by the workers they may be held accountable. The different type of PPE used and when to use it will be stated in the service  users care plan as some service users are more high risk than others. It is therefore the healthcare workers responsibility to use personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent the spread of infection. It is a well-known fact that hand washing significantly reduces the spread of pathogens within healthcare settings and decreases mortality rates. The Department of Health and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) regularly encourage professionals to follow guidelines they set. ‘Unhygienic practises, such as healthcare professionals not washing hands between treating patients, can spread infections’ (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2005). Studies show that regular hand washing is a fundamental procedure in the prevention of common infections such as Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). ‘If you make nurses wash their hands you can control 80% of [MRSA]’ Mark Enright, senior research fellow in microbiology at Bath University’ (Eaton, 2005). Furthermore, according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), ‘hand washing is the single most important procedure for preventing the spread of infection’ (Walker-Barrs, 2000). The APIC has produced a clear guide to hand washing that all healthcare professionals should follow. Workers in the health industry come into contact with bodily secretions often infected with pathogens and therefore hand washing is advised to be carried out before and after seeing a patient (even if personal protective equipment is used). The APIC guide to hand washing also advises on the different types of soap to use. Signs in patient’s rooms should be placed to encourage visitors, staff and patients to wash hands regularly. It is the healthcare professional’s responsibility to place and emphasis on the importance of hand washing to prevent infection. Common healthcare associated infections (HAI’s) can all be reduced by putting appropriate infection prevention measures in place. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus Aureus or MRSA is a well-known common infectious pathogen commonly found in healthcare settings. It attacks people with compromised immune systems therefore hospital wards are high risk settings. This puts an emphasis on how important it is to follow appropriate infection prevention methods. However, studies have undergone to find out if single room or  cohort isolation can reduce the spread of MRSA in intensive care units. The results were unexpected showing that isolating patients with MRSA doesn’t affect the chances of infection and has negative outcomes that are discussed later. ‘Moving MRSA-positive patients into single rooms or cohorted bays does not reduce cross-infection. Because transfer and isolation of critically ill patients in single rooms carries potential risks, our findings suggest that re-evaluation of isolation policies is required in intensive-care units where MRSA is endemic, and that more effective means of preventing spread of MRSA in such settings need to be found’ (Cepeda, 2005). Infection prevention in health care settings is important, however, it can have negative effects on the patient. Single room isolation is for people with serious infectious diseases and is often necessary as contact with other people can boost the chain of infection. However, there are various psychosocial implications for the client. ‘Health-care workers are half as likely to enter the rooms of patients in contact isolation’ (Kirklanda, 1999). Barriers used to protect the spread of infection like PPE can have a negative effect on the patient. For example, wearing gloves prohibits physical contact between the healthcare worker and the patient. This could give the patient a feeling that they are ‘infected’ or ‘dirty’. Furthermore, service users that get put into protective isolation may experience feelings of depression and loneliness as it reduces their contact with friends and family. These pointers require us to think about the way we go about infection prevention, for example, it would be essential to wear PPE when dealing with a patients bodily fluids however depending the type of illness they have, it may not be necessary to wear gloves when carrying out actions such as holding a patients hand. Isolation is costly, labour intensive and inconvenient for the patient and the healthcare employees. Additionally isolation is more likely to lead to patient neglect and error. A study investigating patient’s put into isolation for infection control was carried out. It found that: ‘compared with controls, patients isolated for infection control precautions experience more preventable adverse events, express greater dissatisfaction with their treatment, and have less documented care’ (Stelfox, 2003). Furthermore, Wilkins et al (1988) focused on ‘discovering whether isolation may induce mental illness†. He found that isolation  increases feelings of boredom, loneliness and insecurity. Ward, D. (2004) looked at ‘reducing the psychological effects of isolation’ and went on to find that after ‘the questionnaires were completed by 21 patients, nine participants identified negative emotions associated with isolation’ (Ward, 2004). Therefore, infection prevention is every healthcare professional’s responsibility, however, st udies have proof that some forms of infection prevention that are used today are harmful both socially and mentally. Moreover, healthcare professional’s efforts are undermined when visitors contaminate the healthcare setting with pathogens from outside. ‘The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that, nearly 2 million patients each year acquire an infection that is linked to a hospital visit. Of those, about 90,000 result in death’ (Davis, 2006). Despite hand gels, wash basins and personal protective equipment being provided as well as signs to encourage usage, visitors still do not understand the risk they are taking upon the service users when they do not acknowledge the importance of these measures. Visitors act as the ‘mode of transition’ within the chain of infection and influence the spread. As we cannot stop the public from visiting their friends and loved ones, it is the healthcare staff’s responsibility to encourage visitors to use appropriate precautions when entering and leaving the healthcare environment. The healthcare st aff may feel that there is no point in making infection prevention their responsibility if their efforts are simply disregarded and undermined by the public. To stop the spread of pathogens, visitors should be encouraged to wash their hands as often as possible, stay at home if they are unwell and ensure their immunisations are up to date. Additionally, limiting visitors will decrease the chance of the spread of infection. An article titled ‘Limit Visitors to Help Cut Hospital Infections’ states that ‘Chris Beasley said â€Å"visitors increase the risk of hospital-acquired infections† (HAIs) and that she is thinking of ways to reduce the number of non- patients in hospitals’. The article then goes on to suggest ‘patients undergoing elective surgery could have to identify their key visitors’’ (Harrison, 2005). The ‘key visitors’ idea proposed by England’s chief nursing officer provides a means to cutting the spr ead of infection by visitors. Consequently legislation putting this idea into place would support their  role of healthcare professional making infection prevention their responsibility. Through the course of this essay it has been proven that infection prevention is every healthcare professional’s responsibility and is backed up by policies, legislation and guidance from the Department of Health, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Royal College of Nursing. They have published guidance on hand washing and the use of personal protective equipment but most importantly they have set a foundation for good healthcare practise to safeguard the public. In the NMC code of conduct, numbers thirty-eight to forty-one are focuses on keeping knowledge and skills up to date. Good knowledge and skills are essential in the awareness of common illnesses such as MRSA and without them the healthcare professional is not making infection prevention their responsibility. Even though it has been proven that high levels of infection prevention can cause negative effects to the service healthcare professionals provide, there are actions we can implement to conquer them, for exa mple only using personal protective equipment when necessary as well as using single room isolation as a last resort. References Cepeda, A. (Jan 2005). Isolation of patients in single rooms or cohorts to reduce spread of MRSA in intensive-care units: prospective two centre study. The Lancet. 365 (9456), p295-296. Davis, S. (2006). Breaking the Chain – Eight Strategies for Reducing Risk of Hospital Acquired Infection. Environmental Sciences. 19 (12), p43-45. Department of Health and Health Protection Agency (2013). Prevention and Control of Infection in Care Homes. London: Department of Health and Health Protection Agency. P1-16. Eaton, L. (April 2005). Hand washing is more important than cleaner wards in controlling MRSA. Available: http://www.bmj.com/content/330/7497/922.3. Last accessed 18th October 2013. Harrison, S. (2005). Limit visitors to help cut hospital infections. Nursing Standard. 19 (41), p6. Kirklanda, K. (1999). Adverse effects of contact isolation. The Lancet. 354 (9185), p1177-1178. Nusing and Midwifery Council (2008). The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses an d midwives. London: NMC. p6. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. (July 2005). Infection Control in Healthcare Settings. Postnote. 247, p2. Royal College of Nursing. (2010). The Principles of Nursing Practise. Available: http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/practice/principles/the_principles. Last accessed 2nd November 2013. Royal College of Nursing. (2013). Infection Prevention and Control. Available: http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/practice/infection_control. Last accessed 20th October 2013. Stelfox, H. (2003). Safety of Patients Isolated for Infection Control. The Journal of the American Medical Association. 290 (14), p1. Walker-Barrs, A. (July 2000). Hand washing: Breaking the Chain of Infection. Available: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/articles/2000/07/handwashing-breaking-the-chain-of-infection.aspx. Last accessed 18th October 2013. Ward, D. (2004). Infection control: reducing the psychological effects of isolation. Available: http://www.internurse.com/cgi-bin/go.pl/library/article.cgi?uid =5527;article=BJN_9_3_162_170;format=html. Last accessed 2nd November 2013.

Huckleberry & Finn

Is or isn’t Huck Finn racist? Does reading Huck Finn help or harm race relations? I believe Huck Finn isn’t racist but shows some race relations. Throughout the entire novel Huck repeatedly says the word,† nigger† but intentionally we cannot blame Huck, because that’s the way Huck was raised. In chapter 8 on page 41, Huck and Jim seem to grow a bond, a bond that society wouldn’t accept, when Huck later finds out that Jim ran away and were wondering in the woods they seem to develop a close friendship. Huck could have told someone that Jim ran away but instead Huck accepted Jim and took part in an adventure along with Jim. In chapter 15, Huck and Jim talked about how close they are to a free state. Later in the novel we realize that Jim talks to Huck in a way that blacks aren’t supposed to, but Jim doesn’t see Huck like other white men and women, Jim looks at Huck like a friend. In chapter 16 on page 88, Huck starts to show some hesitation towards setting Jim free, Huck knows that setting a black person free wasn’t the right thing to do. In chapter 40, Huck and Tom found a way to help Jim escaped from being enslaved. This is a clear indication that Huck shows no form of racism towards Jim or anyone else, but the reason why he say the things he say and acts the way he act is just simply how Huck was raised. Huckleberry & Finn Is or isn’t Huck Finn racist? Does reading Huck Finn help or harm race relations? I believe Huck Finn isn’t racist but shows some race relations. Throughout the entire novel Huck repeatedly says the word,† nigger† but intentionally we cannot blame Huck, because that’s the way Huck was raised. In chapter 8 on page 41, Huck and Jim seem to grow a bond, a bond that society wouldn’t accept, when Huck later finds out that Jim ran away and were wondering in the woods they seem to develop a close friendship. Huck could have told someone that Jim ran away but instead Huck accepted Jim and took part in an adventure along with Jim. In chapter 15, Huck and Jim talked about how close they are to a free state. Later in the novel we realize that Jim talks to Huck in a way that blacks aren’t supposed to, but Jim doesn’t see Huck like other white men and women, Jim looks at Huck like a friend. In chapter 16 on page 88, Huck starts to show some hesitation towards setting Jim free, Huck knows that setting a black person free wasn’t the right thing to do. In chapter 40, Huck and Tom found a way to help Jim escaped from being enslaved. This is a clear indication that Huck shows no form of racism towards Jim or anyone else, but the reason why he say the things he say and acts the way he act is just simply how Huck was raised.

Criminology....Ethnographic Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Criminology....Ethnographic Paper - Essay Example On the other hand however, media theories such as imperialism suggest that such imposition of the dominant society – the English – may not be welcome among the minority populations and there may be an emerging and ever urgent need among the less dominant population to cling to their cultural values in an effort to avoid a complete displacement of their cultural roots, norms and practices. For young British Asians, the struggle to shape and develop identity within a dominant white society is a challenging one. For young second generation Asians, the struggle to reconcile the cultural values and beliefs of their parents with the values of the society they live in and interact with is a Herculean task. This study examines whether the media in particular plays its role in shaping British Asian identity and whether the content of TV programs aid these young ethnic group to assimilate better into British society. The research question: Does the media influence the development of identity among young British Asians? Waters views globalization as a â€Å"social process† in which the limitations imposed by geography are receding (Waters, 1995: 3). According to the world theory of globalization, the world is a system that is comprised of â€Å"multiple cultural systems† (Wallerstein 1974: 390). According to Waters, these social exchanges of symbols, tastes and values are such that â€Å"material exchanges localize; political exchanges internationalize; and symbolic exchanges globalize.† (Waters 1995: 9). Therefore Waters sees a social transformation taking place. Critics of globalization argue that it leads to a homogenization or hybridization of cultures, so that the rich diversity of local culture and traditions may be irretrievably lost. (Nederveen Pieterse 1995; Robertson 1995). The imposition of one dominant culture upon another as a part of the globalization process is the cultural imperialism theory that emerged in the 1960’s - in

Economic Impact of the U.S. Fast Food Industry on the Global Economy Research Paper

Economic Impact of the U.S. Fast Food Industry on the Global Economy - Research Paper Example Fast foods contain a lot of fats and oils, which when accumulated in the body lead to related diseases like Obesity and diabetes. A research conducted by Currie Janet et al. of the National Bureau of Economic Research (Currie, 2009), on the effects of fast food restaurants on obesity and weight gain show that, the establishment of fast food restaurants has a diverse effect on the rise in obesity cases in the U.S. The research focused on 3 million children to compare school children who are 0.1 mile away from a location of a fast food restaurant, and others who are at 0.25 miles. The researchers put the children under observation for a period to compare on the rate of obesity cases. The researchers also conducted research on 3 million pregnant mothers observed to gauge their weight gain over a period (Currie, 2009). It showed that the growth in weight gain among pregnant mothers increased according to the distance form the fast food restaurant that is the weight gain was more to mothe rs who were near the restaurants as compared to those a bit far (Currie, 2009). The obesity rates observed were almost the same to the school children. The research shows that the availability of fast food restaurants affects the rate of obesity because of the low price on the foods which leads to high consumption. The varying distance between the school children bring almost the same effect on obesity because, the children who are a bit far from the restaurants are constraint to budget hence consume less compared to those near (Currie, 2009). The availability of the fast food restaurants has adverse effects on the health sector in U. S. as the state has to intervene on prevention. This affects the economy of the country as the government increases taxes to cater for... This paper stresses that the high growth in economic standards over the world calls for any possible means of easing life. The fast food industry has developed due to the ease of production of its products and its cheap price. The commitments that people have do not allow them to spend much of their time because they want to beat some deadlines. They do not have time to examine how healthy the food they eat is, and its consequences. The fast food industries started in the U. S according to Schlosser, but after the gradual growth, spread to other countries where they have too established a number of branches, for example, the McDonald’s. This report makes a conclusion that the effects these companies have on the economy of U. S occur in the other countries which have started these industries. Most contents of these foods are unhealthy, and have highly contributed to the rise in obesity and overweight problems which relate other diseases like diabetes which are expensive to treat. Treatment of these diseases becomes a burden to the economy of the world. Diseases like these affect the labor input of a country and this acts as a drawback to the economy. Although the establishment of fast food industries affected the economy of the world through the health sector, it has also positively affected the global economy through the provision of labor to employees, which is a boost to the tax department.

Recruitment Strategy and Job Offer Process Paper Research

Recruitment Strategy and Job Offer Process - Research Paper Example This paper will even provide insight regarding the best strategy of recruitment that organizations can use in order to attract the most desired applicants associated with their industry and, lastly, the paper will provide insight regarding how organizations proceed to offer a job to a selected applicant. Diverse Recruitment Strategies The term recruitment is used to refer to the process of attracting pool of desired applicants in order to fulfill the current vacant positions in a particular organization and even to maintain a pool of applicants for future vacancies. An organization has various recruitment strategies to choose from; organizations can opt between open as well as targeted recruitment strategies. Open recruitment strategies are used by organizations when they are looking to fill in quite a few numbers of different positions and even when these positions require different kinds of employees from various backgrounds. For example, a school looking to hire teachers, sports s taff and supervisors for the school may use open recruitment strategy as the positions that need to be filled require people with different KSAs (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities). Open recruitment strategies are even used by organizations when they are hiring employees for entry level positions and when specific individuals with specific KSAs are not desired. While hiring for entry level and trainee level positions, employees are less judged on their KSAs and decisions of hiring are mostly made on the basis of their communication skills and basic computing skills. For example, when a business is looking to fill management trainee positions in the organization, they use open recruitment strategy in order to attract individuals from different disciplines including marketing, human resources, accounting, etc. They do so because those individuals who are selected for these positions are provided exposure of all departments before they are finally selected in one of the departments. Anot her recruitment strategy used by organizations is targeted recruitment strategy. This strategy is utilized by organizations when they have specific requirements to meet for a particular vacant position (Hurd, Barcelona, & Meldrum 2008, p.243). These requirements include individuals having specific skills, educational background and level of experience. This strategy is even implemented when organizations adopt positive actions. A positive action refers to a company’s strategy of targeting specific people from a specific group which is regarded as a minority. For instance, while conducting recruitment activity for an electrical engineer, a company will post add for the position while attracting applicants who have expertise in technical equipment, who have knowledge of application and operation of different equipments of science and technology. Selecting Recruitment Strategy While deciding about which recruitment strategy to deploy, an organization has to take into considerati on the requirements of the vacant position(s) that need to be filled. If an organization is conducting recruitment while trying to attract employees with specific KSAs, they should opt for targeted recruitment strategy. Organizations have become quite selective while deploying recruitment strategies due to the negative economic circumstances. For example, a business is dealing in accountancy and a firm that provides auditing services may look

TQM in Higher Education Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

TQM in Higher Education - Literature review Example front, changes need to be made to ensure great campus, positive staff attitude, great spiritual environment, less bureaucracy and an enriching student life. According to Gary A. Berg 2008, a large amount of research on Total Quality Management has been focused on for private organizations. However, TQM has been widely used in student service and education fields. Lozier and Teeter (1993) were among the first researchers to focus on application of TQM to higher education. These researchers stress on stakeholder satisfaction as the most significant aspect of TQM in higher education. Juran defined quality as fitness for use and Crossby as conformance to requirements. However, Deming’s definition of is to follow quality as surpassing customer needs and expectations is the one that applies the most to higher education. One of the approaches to quality in higher education is to follow ISO 9000 in educational setup. According to this approach, the staff can be trained to control the behavior of the students (who are customers) rather than their ideas. A combination of responsive systems, implementation framework and staff empowerment would enable successful implementation of ISO 9000 in higher education system. However, some researchers have suggested a change in the education process by eliminating non-productive activities and hence improve the quality of higher education. According to H.J. De Jager & F.J. Nieuwenhuis 2005, there are three important features of TQM in educations according to a specific TQM model. These are leadership, scientific methods & tools and problem solving through teamwork. These three features are integrated to form a great organizational climate, a healthy training & education environment and provision of meaningful data. Customer service acts... This paper approves that the Australian universities brought improvements in their efficiency and accountability while realizing the benefits of economies of scale. These universities were provided additional funds by the government to enable quality assurance practices. However, most of the universities were self-accrediting and lacked external control. Australian Universities Quality Agency was formed to address this limitation. The author also gives example of the Swedish experience in implementing quality in higher education. Here the processes in the universities were decentralized and an improvement led model was followed. The funds were provided to institutions based on their performance and the quality models were customized as per the needs of each institution. This essay makes a conclusion that the quality initiatives in Canadian Universities remain limited to performance indication. This was also introduced with growing pressure from local magazines and government. Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada came up with performance indicators but they were not well accepted by the universities or the public. Most of the universities prefer to use their own list of performance indicators. Therefore, there has been an avoidance of public participation in quality assurance by Canadian universities.

Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Risk Management - Essay Example Previously, the safety culture at BP had presented a cause for concern with the Texas City Refinery explosion and other events presenting an adverse image. Toney Hayward, the former CEO of BP, had tried to enhance safety at BP when he took office at a time when BP faced three criminal investigations. However, it would appear that the managerial decision-making processes at BP remained flawed as managers continued to take risks in efforts directed towards trying to manage costs and delays while neglecting safety. Although it is likely that a blowout preventer with a flawed design contributed to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, the managerial emphasis on costs and delays caused BP subcontractors to become negligent. BP managers refused Halliburton recommendations to use twenty-one centralisers and proceeded to cement the well using only six centralisers. Halliburton used cement that did not pass its own laboratory tests to cement the well and this contributed to the flow of hydrocarb ons into the well. Transocean crew did not take adequate notice of the kick in the well that pointed to a loss of well control and proceeded to release gases from the well on to the rig through the mud gas separator instead of diverting the gas away from the rig. In addition, inadequate maintenance of the blowout preventer was to contribute to events. Because bonuses presented to BP project managers depended on completing projects close to budgeted costs and schedule, the wrong emphasis had persisted. It is likely that independent verification of managerial decision-making emphasising safety from a command that is distinct from the project management command at BP under a Chief Safety Officer reporting directly to the CEO at BP will help present the correct emphasis. BP did have a safety director at the time of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, but it will appear that this safety director lacked powers, a separate chain of command and a capacity for working effectively to give effe ct to his mandate. The new CEO at BP has promised to create a safety division at BP with sweeping powers. BP project managers should now receive bonuses that emphasise correctness of their managerial decision-making for a project instead of receiving rewards for trying to complete a job within budget and schedule while taking risks with safety. In addition, it will make sense for BP to try to contribute towards helping to improve the design and reliability of superior technology for offshore operations, including subsea blowout preventers. Contents Introduction 1 What Went Wrong? An Analysis of BP’s Approach to Risk Management that Influenced the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster 3 A Reasoned Discussion about How BP Should Progress in the Future with Regard to Risk Management 15 Conclusion 19 Bibliography / References 22 List of Figures Figure 1: Typical Subsea Blowout Preventer Stack 7 Figure 2: Deepwater Drilling with Subsea Blowout Preventer 8 (This page intentionally left bla nk) Introduction The word â€Å"risk† refers to the possibility of loss, injury or harm, and it is unfortunately true that it is not possible to assign absolute certainty to the occurrence of any one event because there will always be some level of uncertainty associated with the outcome of events (Bonham, 2008, Pp. 183 –

Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Statistics - Essay Example each patient who has lost weight has also experienced a decline in triglyceride level therefore there can be a relationship between weight and triglyceride level. The straight line regression model should be used with utmost caution when predicting future values. The linear regression model assumes that the data points are scattered around a straight line but unfortunately there are certain cases in which data points may be scattered around a curve and they can be fitted by the straight line model. This can be a ghastly mistake and it can have profound consequences. For the above scenario, if we predict the change in triglyceride level of a patient with a loss of 10 kg in weight than this can be a case of extrapolation. By extrapolation it means that one can not use the regression equation to make predictions for x-values that are outside the range of the x-values in the sample data. Since the x-values in the sample data are limited to (-9.6 kg) therefore it is not viable to make a prediction for (-10

Auditing- report of the real good food Assignment

Auditing- report of the real good food - Assignment Example Real Good Food PLC is a heavily diversified company that manufactures and distributes a variety of products like sugar, baking ingredients, dairy products, jam and sweet bakery products (Real Good Food PLC 2015). As it stands, the company owns the largest sugar distribution network in the United Kingdom. Real Good Food plc participates in various market sectors such as the wholesale, retail, manufacturing, food service and export. The company’s production and distribution activities are operated under six business divisions (Napier Brown, Real Good Food Europe, Renshaw, Garrett Ingredients, R&W Scott and Hayden Bakery) that supplies products to a greater part of the Eurozone (Annual Report: Real Good Food PLC 2014, pp. 1-3). The consumption of sugar worldwide has increased by more than 20% in the last ten years translating to an increase from around 140 million tonnes to 170 million tonnes currently consumed on an annual basis. The Eurozone consumption statistics show consumption rate of 16.5 million tonnes. The increase in sugar consumption rate presents a growth opportunity for Real Good Food PLC. However, it is feared that some major political factors may create a favourable situation for the exploitation of the opportunity. The whole world is getting sensitized to the health effects of sugar. Most nations, specifically in the west, seek to implement trade policies and health regulations that will set the standard of sugar contents in the manufactured products (Annual Report: Real Good Food PLC 2014, pp. 10). In addition, the production is affected by adverse weather conditions that have seen the global sugar production rate reduce. The prices of sugar are on the rise due to the reduction in the supply but increased demand. The economic performance, as measured by the market capitalization, of the sugar producing companies has declined due to the decrease in the stock prices. Fortunately, the

Workplace Bullying Essay Example for Free

Workplace Bullying Essay Bullying is a worldwide epidemic that has plagued our society system for decades. We often hear that most of bully cases take place in schools but the gospel truth is bully also happens in the workplace. The workplace that should be a safe environment that allows employees to be productive has been disrupted by bully as he creates a hostile work environment for all employees and drives everyone up the wall. In fact bullying in the workplace is one of the most significant challenge face by companies nowadays. Workplace bullying may refer to the tendency of individuals or groups to use persistent aggressive behaviour against co-workers. Workplace bullying comes in a wide variety of different forms such as physical force, verbal, sexual, mental or emotional depending on circumstance. The bullys behaviour also impose a big threat on the companys productivity. Bullying at workplace occurs because of the negative traits of the bully and the solution to overcome it are the person who is being bullied should stand for himself and the actions taken by the top management in order to solve bully. Firstly, bullying at workplace occurs because of the negative traits possess by the bully. This is because the bully perpetrator is jealous of his victim’s performance at the workplace, so he takes out his frustration and jealousy on his victim. One of the reasons is because he does not want his victim to surpass his performance as he perceives this as a threat that will put his position at stake. Instead of working in a healthy competition, the bully makes his victim feels inferior by saying inappropriate words to the victim which will lead the victim to have low self-esteem. According to King (n. d.), jealous of the victim’s achievement at work is the reason of why bullies pick their victim. Kane (n. d.), also supported this in her article by saying that employees who perform well and are loved by the employers are often being targeted by the bullies. This is simply because the bully does not wants his victim to get all the highlights and attention. Besides that, the bully bullies because he wants to hide his inadequacy in doing his work. He fears that if other workers figure out about his incompetency, they will look down on him. In order to cover his blemish, he does not own up to his mistakes and blame others or making other workers flaws look terrible just because he does not want to ruin his credibility, he overloads his victim with the works that he is incapable of doing and get the credit for it.  According to Oliver (2013), being called in front of the public to own up to their behaviour is the bully’s biggest fear as hiding inadequacy is the intention of bullying. Therefore, the factors that lead to bully are mainly because the bully is jealous and want s to hide his inadequacy in doing his work. Hence, the step that can be taken in order to overcome workplace bullying is the victim should stand up for himself. A victim of bully should have enough courage to go and confront the bully. Confronting the bully may seem like the hardest thing to do but everyone is aware that a bully is only brave when he knows that nobody will rise against him. A victim should not be a pushover and let the bully feels like he is in a comfort zone. In fact, the victim should let the bully knows what he has been keeping inside his heart by telling the bully how the bully’s behaviour impacted his work and he wants the bully to stop. According to McCoy (n. d.), the bully should be confronted, being explained the effects of his bullying has on the victim and being ask to stop. Through confrontation, it remarks the strong characteristics and firm decisions of the victim. So, the bully will know that he can no longer underestimate his victim. The next logical step that can be taken by the victim is by bringing this case to the top management. If confrontation does not seem to solve the problem, then it is time to get help from the top management to deal with the bully. The victim can start by documenting things like dates, time, and details of the incident and take note if another employee witnessed the incident before lodging a report to HR department because eye witnessed will make the evidence stronger. According to Rush (n. d.), incidents that make the victim feels agitate should be documented by creating a log of incidents that included day and time, nature of incidents and any person involved and any witnessed to what has occurred. The victim of bully should not just keep quiet and hopes for the bully perpetrator to stop because he will not stop. Not until a proper action is taken on him. â€Å"The victim of bully should voice out and get evidence to show that he or she is being bullied. Bullying issue should be reported to the company’s human resources management to be solved† (Halim, 2013 as cited in Tan, 2013). Thus, the victim should be brave to confront the bully and bring this case to the top management in order to avoid  himself from being bullied. Another solution to the problem is the actions taken by the top management. It has become the employers responsibility to ensure the safety of the workers at the workplace. Employer should monitor things that occur around the workplace especially regarding or the employees’ behaviour. By doing so, employer will be able to identify which of the employees that always cause problems at the workplace. If the rumours of bully start to circulate the workplace, employer should already starts an investigation to find the causes and the culprit. Employer must react quickly to resolve this bully issue if it is proven to be true. A competent employer does not just wait for the complaints files to arrive at his desk because he acknowledges that this bully thing can adversely affect the company’s name and it is not good for business. â€Å"Bullying in the workplace† (n. d.) states that safety of both mentally and physically of the workers must be ensured by the employer and employer must react sensibly in relation to such matter. Apart from that, the top management should make sure all the employees follow the rules of the workplace. Rules are created to be obeyed and without rules, people are nothing but savages. Hence, to make everyone at the workplace abide to the rules, it is important to strengthen the law of the workplace. In order to strengthen the law, the top management can conduct a meeting with all the employees and emphasize on the rules and regulations of the workplace. So, the employees will be clearer on the do’s and don’ts at the workplace. It is also important to let the employees know their rights especially for the bully victim. So, the employees will know how they are protected at work and where to get help when problems arise. Halim (2013, as cited in Tan, 2013) states that induction programme should be conducted to introduce the company’s rules and regulations, working culture, benefits and right for the workers. Besides that, the top management should also have a record on the disciplines performance of each of the employees and any employees performance who is not up to par will be having a disciplinary action taken on them. According to Heatherfield (n. d.), to protect the company’s and employees’ interest, written disciplinary action must be taken after counselling and coaching from manager give no improvement in returns. This is simply to bring awareness to the employee about the mistake he has  committed so that he will not repeat the same mistake again. Therefore, the employer need to take care of the safety of the employees and ensuring them to follow the rules to resolve bullies. In conclusion, negative traits of the bully himself and hiding incompetency in doing work are the two main reasons of why bullying occurs at workplace. Besides that, confronting the bully and bringing the bully case to the top management are the steps that can be taken by the person who is being bullied while top management should guarantee the safety of their employees at the workplace as well as ensuring all the employees to follow the rules of the workplace. Bully is not something that can be left without any proper action being taken to prevent it because it does not only create discomfort and embarrassment but it can also harm the health of the victim. Hence, for the convenience of the employees and employer, workplace bullying must be curbed before it becomes worse and affects the development of the organization. The basic essence of working is tolerance as well as understanding among the colleagues and the employer. If both parties cooperates, then this bully issue will defini tely be resolved. REFERENCES Bullying in the workplace. (n. d.). Retrieved July 19, 2014, from http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Workplace_Health/Bullying_at ­_Work/ Kane, S. (n. d.). Who is workplace bullys target. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from http://legalcareers.about.com./od/careertrends/a/Who-Is-A-Workplace-Bullys- Target.htm King, M. (n. d.). Why do people bully me in the workplace?. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from http://woman.thenest.com/people-bully-workplace-9097.html McCoy, W. (n. d.). Termination for bullying in the workplace. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://woman.thenest.com/termination-bullying-workplace-12070.html Olivier, S. (2013). Bullying in the workplace. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.communicate.co.za/_blog/communicate_blog/post/bullying-in-the-workplace/ Rush, M. (n. d.). How to protect yourself from a workplace bully. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://woman.thenest.com/protect-yourself-workplace-bully-8056.html Tan, K. (2013, October 22). Bullying in the workplace. The Star Online. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Features/2013/10/22/Bullying-in-the-workplace/

Education policy Essay Example for Free

Education policy Essay Education the basic need Object of Education: Importance of Education: Background of Pakistan’s Educational System Educational System in Pakistan: Key Performance Indicators for Education Systems PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN 1. Medium of Education: 2. Disparity of System at Provincial Level: 3. Gender Discrimination: 4. Lack of Technical Education:: 5. Low allocation of funds: 6. Inefficient Teachers: 7. Poverty: 8. Corruption: 9. Social imbalance: 10. Mismanagement of System: 11. Infrastructure Problems: 12. Private school system: 13. Lack of educational policies: 14. Increase in population: 15. Lack of attention of the authorities: 16. Lack of uniform educational system: 17. Medium of Instruction: 18. Education as a business: 19. Delay in renewal of policies and syllabus 20. Political Interference: SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: 1. English should be medium of Instruction: 2. Talented and qualified Staff 3. Fulfill the lack of teachers 4. Primary education should be made compulsory: 5. Increase in teachers incentives 6. Translation of foreign research to local language 7. Check on distinctive education:- 8. Scholarships and financial support to students: 9. Special Financial packages: 10. Betterment of education policies and teachers workshop: 11. Infused Technical Education: 12. Promotion of primary education: Conclusion Essay Education the basic need Education is the light of the life. Education proves to one of the most important factors for the development of human civilization. Education enhances human status and leads everyone to propriety. it is a continuous and lifelong process. It attributes most important, precious and permanent property of an individual. Education provides manpower, strengthens national unity and uplifts public awareness. It invites positive and constructive change in life. It makes our life really prosperous and meaningful. Everyone wants to be well educated. Life can be successful by the help of appropriate education. Educated person can only judge what is correct and what is wrong And takes the appropriate and right decision but uneducated person fails to do so. Object of Education: Robert Maynard Hutchins describes it as â€Å"The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. † We should give our youth the way to educate themselves. Edward Everett said that â€Å"Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army. † Importance of Education: We all know the importance of education. It is the most important aspect of any nation’s survival today. Education builds the nations; it determines the future of a nation. ISLAM also tells us about Education and its importance. The real essence of Education according to ISLAM is â€Å"to know ALLAH† but I think in our country we truly lost. Neither our schools nor our madrassa’s (Islamic Education Centres) are truly educating our youth in this regard. In schools, we are just preparing them for â€Å"Money†. We aren’t educating them we are just preparing â€Å"Money Machines†. We are only increasing the burden of the books for our children and just enrolling them in a reputed, big school for what, just for social status On the other hand in our madrassas we are preparing people who finds very difficult to adjust in the modern society. Sometimes it seems that they are from another planet. A madrassa student can’t compete even in our country then the World is so far from him. He finds very difficult to even speak to a school boy. It is crystal clear that Islamic Education is necessary for Muslims but it is also a fact that without modern education no one can compete in this world. There are many examples of Muslim Scholars who not only study the Holy Quraan but also mastered the other subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy and many more, with the help of Holy Quraan. I think with the current education system we are narrowing the way for our children instead of widening it. There is no doubt that our children are very talented, both in schools and in madrassas, we just need to give them proper ways to groom, give them the space to become Quaid-E-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Alberoni, Abnalhasam, or Einstein, Newton, Thomas Edison. The education system we are running with is not working anymore. We have to find a way to bridge this gap between school and madrassa. Background of Pakistan’s Educational System Numerous international assessments could explore that Pakistan is lagging behind many countries in achieving the Education for All goal (EFA). We were the signatory to the treaty under Dakar Framework where it was decided by all the developing countries that they will be trying to achieve the target of EFI in the meeting held in Senegal in 2000. UNESCO rates in Pakistan are at a lower EFA development Index (EDI) because of low; enrolment at primary school, adult literacy, gender equity and equality, equalities in education and quality of education. The adult literacy in Pakistan, in spite of concerted efforts, fail to go beyond the border line of 50 percent. The women literacy is much more belittling as thirty three percent of the adult women cannot even read. The more embracing would be that we would not be catching the target to achieve the adult literacy by 2015. Progress towards the achievement of the targets is exceptionally slow, while gender parity goal is at risk of not being achieved by 2015. Moreover, more than 6 million children are out of school. Educational System in Pakistan: Education system in Pakistan is really having a bad configuration at the moment. There is no doubt in accepting the fact that education stands the backbone for the development of nations. Looking at the history of nations, we may safely reach the conclusion that the advanced nations of the world could reach the zenith of prestige and power taking support from education. The allocations for education are too meager, and in spite of allocation, the amount is not spent for what it was meant for as the corruption is found in all the tiers of education and also because of the same delivery from the government institutions that is much below the desired and aspired levels. Private education in Pakistan is far reaching for the poor and the turnover of this quality education does not serve the country the way they are supposed to. Planning for education does not go in congruence with the needs and implement remains ever ignored, so by this way the system is getting more spoiled rather than flourishing. Our universities have failed to produce the planners, developers, implementers, and decision makers. Rather the turnover is a mismatch with the ground realities, the half backed persons we are producing are of no use to us. The students we come across are degree seekers rather than the knowledge. The increase in number of colleges and universities does not mean that we are going by the standards rather these are worsening, a simple evidence of which is that no Pakistani university could find a space among the top 1000 universities of the world. The socio-economic scenario is directly attached with the status of Education in the country. The developed world managed to scale up their education in line with the needs and market requirements. Despite the recent achievements, a lot more is needed to be done as the country still faces numerous challenges which cause deterrence. We are under obligation to raise the education of our population to the level of our South Asian neighbors, to combat our own social and economic wants to the satisfactory level. The very scale of Pakistan’s education sector more than 150,000 public education institutions serving over 21 million students and a huge private sector that serves another 12 million – presents formidable challenges. Education is found to be the cheapest and tangible defense mechanism for a nation on the social, political, and economic fronts. But the down trodden condition of education in Pakistan bears an ample testimony of the fact that it is unable to defend its own sector. Over the span of 64 years, the nation has been given the 23 policies and action plans but we could not start the march towards success and are waiting for a savior who could take the system out of turmoil. There were ample spending in the government of Pervaiz Musharraf on education and due to which, we could see the visible positive educational change in Pakistani society. Currently the economic situation in Pakistan is under severe stress and education sector has received the highest impact in Pakistan. The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan has led to the fact in the following words, â€Å"The state of Pakistan shall remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within minimum possible period. † In Human development Report, Pakistan is placed at 136th position because its 49. 9% population comes under the definition of education. The dropout rate is alarmingly high at the primary level; consequently, it is revealed by the Data Center of UNESCO, that 33. 8% females and 47. 18% in males could pass through the most initial level of education. We may be conclusive about the ground reality that people in the 6th largest country of the world have no access to the basic education even. Key Performance Indicators for Education Systems The frequently used indicators for assessing education and its systems are adult literacy rates, male and female enrollment at different levels of education, participation rate in the different areas of the country; the dropout rates, the amount of resources allocated to education as a proportion of the GDP and some measures of the quality of education being pursued. At the moment, the workability of these indicators rests on the footing of authenticated and recent data so that the planning details may be worked out with confidence. Irony of fate, the indicators, their footings and the quality of data all want more authenticity, but unfortunately, Pakistans record lacks objectivity and rationality on all counts. PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN 1. Medium of Education: The system of education in Pakistan is operative in match with the local needs and ground realities. It is almost a decisive factor that the education in the mother tongue surrenders more dividends but we have the system more segregated and diversified just contrary to our requirements. A good example of it is that we fail to decide about the Medium of education over the span of 64 years. Different mediums are operational in both, public and private sector. This creates a sort of disparity among people, dividing them into two segments. 21. Disparity of System at Provincial Level:: The Regions of Pakistan in the name of provinces are not at par as regards the infrastructure, availability of staff, their training, content mastery allocation of resources and their utilization. This develops a disparity not only in the system but in the turnover too. There is a need to revisit the schools in Baluchistan (The Largest Province of Pakistan by area) because these are not that much groomed as that of Punjab (The Largest Province of Pakistan by Population). In FATA, the literacy rate is deplorable constituting 29. 5% in males and 3% in females. The conditions are to be made more congenial about teaching and learning in all parts of the country without any discretion. 22. Gender Discrimination:: We should have know how of the population comprising females, unfortunately their education is not attended to the way it was deemed fit. The gender discrimination is a cause that is contributing towards the low participation rate of girls at the basic level of education. The male and female participation ratio is projected at the primary school in the shape of ratio of boys girls as 10:4 respectively. In the decade passed, government invited private sector to shoulder the responsibility of education of the youth. The intent was also to provide the education at the doorstep to the children especially the female students. The private sector took up the challenge and there was an increase in the growth of private schools but this step didn’t cause the increase in the students or the quality. The masses could not be attracted because of precious education. It created clear cut tiers of society and created a gap among those with the haves and have not’s. 23. Lack of Technical Education:: There is a craze for the white collar jobs for the same pupils. Select the general rut of education, though they have the least tilt or the capacity to cope with the demands. China, Japan and Germany have the ruts for those who have a taste for and do not achieve the excellence in the general rut of education. We have kept the opportunities open for all to participate in general education at all levels especially the university level. We could not attract the general masses towards technical education making them to earn of their own act as the entrepreneurs and make their living without being the burden on the government. Education system is needed to be revamped making a space for the science, IT, management, and pupil with the excellence to go to the higher education pursuing the education of their own choice. Lesser emphasis on technical education means the lesser manpower for industry and hence the lesser finance generation. 24. Low allocation of funds:: The allocation of funds for education is very low as it never went beyond 1. 5 to 2. 0 percent of the total GDP. Even this amount was not utilized and had to be surrendered back to the government because of want of expertise and the knowledge of codal formalities and in time release of funds. There is a need to increase it around 7% of the total GDP keeping in view the allocations by the neighboring countries, there is also a need to rationalize the share at the different levels not ignoring any. 25. Inefficient Teachers:: Government fails to attract the potential candidates for teaching with the zeal vigor and excellent carrier. Teaching is rated as the lowest among the jobs for the youth, because of lesser incentives, slow promotions and lesser fringe benefits. The teachers in government schools are not well groomed and equipped with knowledge and training. People who do not get job in any other sector, they try their luck in educational system. There is a need to reorganize pre-service and in-service trainings making them matched with the requirements rather to keep them ideal, unique and novel. 26. Poverty:: Poverty is growing over the years. The average class is vanishing like anything. It happens to be a curse for the nation that exists without having the average income group. The escalation of poverty has restricted the parents to send their children to tasks for child labor or at least to public or private schools. In these schools, the drop out is very high because schools are not the attractive places, the curriculum is dry and the teaching does not match the live situations. Poor parents are constrained to send their children to madressahs where the education is totally free. 27. Corruption:: Corruption causes the educational policies, plans and projects to fail because of being the major contributing factor. There is no accountability and transparency in the system, the salaries are low, the incentives are too less to be accounted and even those are uneven. An estimated Rs. 2,594 million out of a total of Rs. 7,016 million provided for improvement of school facilities such as buildings, electricity, drinkable water, etc had gone unaccounted during the fiscal periods 2001-06 (UNESCO Bano, 2007). Similarly, more than 70% literacy centers in Punjab remained inoperative or exist only on paper (ADBP, 2007). The chances of ghost schools should be evaded by involving the community in the processes of inspection and monitoring. 28. Social imbalance:: The students from the elite class follow the O and A levels curriculum instead of Pakistans routine orthodox and stagnant curriculum. They have little or no awareness of their religion and culture whereas those passing out from Urdu medium schools are usually destined to work in clerical and lower level positions. Religious madrassas churn out yet another class that is usually unaware of the world outside their own perception. 29. Mismanagement of System:: Teachers’ absenteeism, poor professional training, sub-standard materials and obsolete teaching methods act as the major contributive factors towards the low enrolment in schools. Burki (2005), opines that most of the public schools are either mismanaged or poorly managed. They are found imparting education of second-rate quality through substandard textbooks and curricula that do not cater the needs of the 21st century. The education should be based on learning outcomes through suggesting multiple books rather than following a single book as an obligation. 30. Infrastructure Problems:: The dropout rate of those lucky enough to be enrolled goes beyond 45% as has been divulged by the several reports. Most of the public sector educational institutions stay in a status of poor condition lacking even basic facilities, resultantly shaking the presupposed standards of education. There are four areas that snivel for pressing concentration which are curriculum, textbooks, examinations, and teacher training (Hoodbhoy, 2001). The textbooks need be made more facilitating, student and learning friendly. 31. Private school system:: Private Schools in Pakistan enroll more students than in other countries of the region. They least bother about the capacity and facilities available, they rather over burden the teaching staff. The rapid mushroom growth of private schools and academies of teaching reflect the peoples lack of trust in the public sector schools coupled with a deficiency of sufficient educational institutions to cater to the needs of the fast growing population. However, there are certain private schools which are slightly better than the public ones. In the elite schools where the quality education is offered, heavy fees is charged that continues to be a problem. These private sectors schools are meant only for a special sector of the population and are out of the reach of general masses. The private sector schools should be brought under the control of rules making these somewhat accessible for the common population. 32. Lack of educational policies:: The National Education Policy (1998-2010) was developed prior to Dakar. It has a clear cut vision and direction to support the education department. Since the 2001, the Ministry of Education has developed a number of policy documents including that of National Education policy (2009) but the endeavors remain focused on paper work more rather than the operationalization, though the involvement of NGOs and international development agencies is very much there. The simple reason is that the plans are vicious and not the ground reality based. The policies should be environment friendly. . 33. Increase in population:: Literacy in Pakistan has risen from 45 to 54 percent within the span of 2002 to 2006, simultaneously primary enrollment rates have also increased from 42 to 52 percent. The population explosion could not enable to catch the targets. In spite of the increase in the certain parameters, the participation rate in Pakistan remains the lowest in South Asia. Alongside it, there are marked male-female, inter-regional and rural-urban disparities: Only 22 percent of girls, compared to 47 percent boys, complete primary schooling. Female literacy in rural Baluchistan is only 32 percent compared to high urban male literacy rates (and 80 percent among the urban male in Sindh) 34. Lack of attention of the authorities:: Most of the criticisms leveled against the education procedures and practices may be rationalized through improving governance and accountability. It would be tangible and workable if we could go for considering the merit, enabling capacity building, increasing investments in education as an industry and finally giving the heir and fire powers to the administrative heads. The private sector and the banks should finance the educational milieu with confidence, as at the moment, we are spending 2. 3 percent of GDP which is the lowest in South Asia. 35. Lack of uniform educational system:: There is a crying need for quality which calls for homogeneity among the procedural formalities like the observance of the curriculum. Had it been uniform the working for it, further extension becomes easier and getting the intellect skimmed out of masses becomes possible. Currently, the poor are deprived of education in the elite institutions which are causing the development of a special class. This class doesn’t work for the nation; they work elsewhere but are fed through the national resources. 36. Medium of Instruction:: We took a long period in deciding that what our medium of instruction would be, till now we don’t have a clear picture before us. It is good to have the National language as the medium of communication provided; we have a rich treasure of knowledge. In our case, we do not fail to develop Urdu to cope with the intellectual needs nor do we translate the treasure of knowledge available for our national use. 37. Education as a business:: Education has been pursued by some of the people as an industry but because of being illiterates, they fail to cope up with the stipulated standards. The leader with vision spoils the mission as well as the projects undertaken. Their only intent is money making that has caused the decay in the standards, induction of sub-standard staff, and depriving the deserving to grow. They don’t want to catch with the move of success but they try to be good entrepreneurs. 38. Delay in renewal of policies and syllabus/Political Interference:: There is a need to continuously update the curriculum because if it goes stale, it does not equip the beneficiaries with the saleable skills and expertise. At the first place, the problems cited have arisen due to lack of commitment and inefficient management on the part of state. The policies lack long term vision and its implementation strategies are being affected by undue political interference. In addition to it, the measures taken are not evidence based and geared by the vested interests of the authorities. Whatever strategies have been applied failed to promote the rational and critical thinking skills amongst the students. At the second place, we find lack of resource commitment and realistic implementation alongside poor allocated resource utilization. As relevant statistics are not available, implementation of the education policy has not been successfully executed. At the third place, we come across weak budgetary planning because of staggered data and least coordination among the data maintaining units (USAID, 2006). The coordination, match with the assessment, project design and implementation are not to the desired level within the government and with the donor agencies. The harmonization is missing too between the federal and provincial governments which cause drastic problems in the policy implementation. The policy formulating, planning and implementing bodies work in isolation as the water tight compartments. The governments consultation is very much restricted and does not go beyond its specific quarters. It should have to be extended to non-state sectors to initiate and mobilize the action. Teachers does not normally form the part of policy making process, hence the process of sharing and consultation remains missing. It leads to implementation of educational policies without consultation, thus the efforts go in vain (UNESCO, 2007). Over the span of time, what we have learnt is to go for dialogue, and keeping the private and public sector on board. The matter of access to education and challenges to quality remain at stake as being unresolved despite much policy deliberation. Recently, Minister of Education announced a new Education policy for that next 10 years ignoring the fact that the previous educational policy span still persists that was from 1998 to 2010. The policy has projected new plans and promises to the nation pointing to the fact that all the public schools will be raised to the level of private schools within the shortest period of time. In the absence of a plan of action, the suggested plan of action would not work. The schools have been put under obligation to use the national curriculum and encourage the students of 5th and 8th class to take board exams. This has disturbed the students of private sector also. It is urged that the Universities should be the research centre’s and must not be allowed to act as the examining bodies for graduate or post-graduate examinations. Allocations are supposed to be made to the aspired levels as UNO suggests a country to allocate at least four percent of its GDP towards education but here in Pakistan we are just allocating less than two percents of GDP. Even that is not fully utilized because of procedural formalities. Suggested Solutions for Educational System: 13. English should be medium of Instruction: English language should be the medium of instruction from beginning to the higher levels of learning. National language should be a supporting language for communication facilitation and every day business. Efforts should be made to enhance the knowledge treasure in the national language through translation of the research based information. 14. Talented and qualified Staff Hiring should be made from amongst the highly qualified and the teachers should be paid not according to the level of education but the qualification of the staff. 15. Fulfill the lack of teachers: Efforts should be made to bring down the student-teacher ratio to 15:1 in lieu of current 40:1. Consequently, the number of teachers will have to be enhanced, leading to the rise in number of teachers and enabling the competent persons to be inducted to the system of education. 16. Primary education should be made compulsory: Primary education should be made compulsory and free (it is already free of cost but not compulsory). It should also be made appealing, impressive, interesting and utilitarian to attract the general masses. 17. Increase in teachers incentives Teachers should be offered more financial benefits by increasing their pays. 18. Translation of foreign research to local language University professors should be encouraged to conduct and share the research to the concerned stakeholders. They should also be asked to translate the foreign research into local languages for sharing it with the lower formations of education enabling them to implement/take benefit out of it. 19. Check on distinctive education:- Government should strictly check all private educational institutions for keeping a balance of standards and level of practices. 20. Scholarships and financial support to students: Students should be offered more scholarships and government should support the intelligent and outstanding students to prosper, develop and serve their local community rather than migrating to the big cities. 21. Special Financial packages: The dilemma here in Pakistan is that students are genius but they use their intelligence in negative way, hence, contributing nothing towards the development of country. Another problem with Pakistan is brain drain. Capable and outstanding professionals prefer foreign jobs instead of serving in their own country. This is due to the low financial benefits and indifferent attitude of government towards them. Recently Government should provide them facilities and special financial packages to encourage them to stay in their own country. 22. Betterment of education policies and teachers workshop: In the view of importance of education, the Government should take solid steps towards implementation instead of projecting policies. In this regard, the allocations should be made easy and timely from provinces to districts and then to educational institutes. Workshops must be arranged for teachers as a continuous feature for learning. 23. Infused Technical Education: Technical education should be infused into the regular system stream. The education board of Punjab has projected a plan to give tech- education to the children of industrial workers. 24. Promotion of primary education: Promotion of the primary education should be made possible by consulting teachers, professors and educationists while devising any plan, syllabus or policy for it. There should be a balance in reliance on public and private for enabling education to reach the general masses in its true shape. Students’ outlook is to be broadened by taking them out of the books into the practical realities. Education is the only cure of disability of the state and for bringing revolution through evolution and by eradicating the social evils through education. Conclusion Education serves as the backbone for the development of nations. The countries with the effective impressive need oriented, saleable and effective system of education comes out to be the leaders of the world, both socially and economically. It is only education which can turn a burden of population into productive human resource. Pakistans current state demands that the allocations for education be doubled to meet the challenges of EFI, gender disparity and provision of teachers in the work places earlier than 2018 as per stipulated qualifications. Millennium Development Goals are yet to be realized latest by 2015. The natural calamities, political turbulence, provincialisms, and political motivations make the best planned, fail. The allocations towards the sector of education could not be enhanced because of the earlier. We have to revisit our priorities to keep the country on the track of progress.

Assessing The Strengths And Limitations Of Crimes Criminology Essay

Assessing The Strengths And Limitations Of Crimes Criminology Essay Gender, socially desirable responding and the fear of crime: (1) I will be assessing the strengths and limitations of using social surveys to investigate fear of crime. One form of social surveys is questionnaires. It includes a list of written questions. The strengths of these are that the researcher is able to contact a large number of people quickly and efficiently. Another strength of questionnaires is that they explore certain areas more then other methods i.e. crime. The questionnaire can be anonymous which means people can answer them privately. This increases the chances of people answering questions honestly because they will not be intimidated by the presence of a researcher. When questionnaires are used to investigate the fear if crime, it is found that men are more likely to actually become victims of crime. Although women are reported to have a higher level of fear then men are. A limitation of questionnaires is that they include closed questions, which the researcher cannot examine complex issues and go into detail. Issues maybe such as hegemonic definitions of masculinity when men are being questioned about their fear of crime, they tend to hold back. Whereas, women are free to express and can sometimes exaggerate. Another type of social survey is structured interviews. The strengths are that the researcher can explore in depth a particular topic and find out the how the respondent feels towards the topic. For example; crime victimisation and fears of crime. Because women have a higher level of fear then men they tend to stay indoors rather then go out. According to Cohen society is the subject of such periods of moral panic. In his book Folk devils and moral panics: the creation of mods and rockers. A moral panic is a societal response to beliefs about the treats from moral deviants. Cohen used this term as a form of collective behaviour i.e. when a person or a group of people are performing a deviant act which is seen as a threat to society. This is then portrayed by the media and included in newspapers. This moral panic can have an impact on how people view crime in society and begin to feel a fear towards it. Looking at both types of social surveys that I have mentioned, I have found out that structured interviews are more useful when it comes to investigating fears of crime then questionnaires. This is because structured interviews are much more powerful, they provide a reliable response and is more valid then questionnaires. Patterns of crime: (a) Two advantages of using official statistics to measure crime is that, one it gives a general picture of trends in crime. Politicians and the mass media often point to increases or decreases in official figures as a measure of the governments success in tackling crime. Each party places their own interpretation of what the statistics could mean. However, official statistics does show a fear of crime rising. Researchers Pantazis and Gordon (1999) found out the poor are most likely to fear crime. They did a study on household surveys, found out those with the lowest were most likely to fear crime and those with the highest incomes were actually likely, to become victims of crime. Another advantage is that they are readily available. They are accessible for the police and everyone and are cheap to gather information from. (b) I will examining the view that deviance can best be explained by reference to an individuals social background. I will be using material from these areas education and families and households. Charles Murray (1990) a New Right sociologist argues that deviance can be found in those who are from underclass backgrounds. In both British and American society which have a distinct culture and value system. However, Miller (1962) thought crime and delinquency came from the working class cultural values. He said that the lower working class culture was what encouraged lawbreaking behaviour. According to him values passed from each generation encourages working class men to break the law. Delinquency was then formed from this culture. Because of working class deviant behaviour, they did not achieve well in education and so looked at other ways of gaining some form of success. The working class suffer from status frustration, which means that they find it hard to gain success and so turn t o illegitimate ways. Where in this case, they turn to crime eventually. Family can also influence a persons ability to turn to crime. The type of family that you are born into or live in can determine whether you turn to crime or not. Mostly working class people from single-parent families, where they are a lack of male role models, turn to deviant behaviour such as gang violence. Also laws broken in the family can lead to family breakdown and so lead to anomie. However, Functionists Durkheim explained that a little amount of crime is good and necessary in society. This is because crime has a function in society, it allows for social change to occur. Crime can move from functional to dysfunctional when down to the level of crime is either too high or too low. (c) I will be assessing the view that interactionist explanations of crime and deviance fail to consider the reality of crime as measured in official statistics. Firstly, I will be explaining the interactionists explanation of crime and deviance. Interactionist theory became significant in the study of crime and deviance in the 1960s. They are mostly concerned with the meaning people attach to events or people and so study the societal reaction to deviant behaviour. Unlike positivists, their theory assumes that criminals and deviants are somehow different from non-criminals and non-deviants. They dont look at causal factors in the background or social characteristics of individuals and groups, but look at the process of social interaction in which some actions, individuals and groups were labelled as deviant yet others were not. Interactionists are different to other sociological approaches; they are concerned more about the internal factors. People are social actors, they have the ability to do more than simply react to external social pressures. Unlike positivists approaches, they dont see people as largely passive in the way their behaviour is a response to social forces. Interactionists place on the approach the idea that people attach meanings to behaviour. They want to find out why some groups and some behaviour are more likely than others to have the meaning crime or deviance attached to them. Labelling is one of the most basic aspects of human understanding. Howard Becker (1963) gave the best view on labelling theory. He believed that there is no such thing as a deviant act, it is behaviour that other people label others. Informal labelling happens all the time i.e. in school. But formal labelling can only be applied someone by the authority. However, master labels i.e. being called a criminal can take on a huge effect, once applied it is difficult to live down. From some master labels, some people can be stigmatised and rejected from society. This can lead to crime and can take on a self-fulfilling prophecy approach. Edwin Lemmert distinguished primary from secondary deviance. Primary deviance meaning deviant acts before they are being labelled. I.e. teenagers who commit some acts that leads to being called a delinquent. Secondary deviance is produced by the reaction to an act and public labelling. It is far more important than primary deviance because, it is the effect on a persons self-image of the reaction of society. Lemmert did a study on stuttering amongst a group of Native Americans who didnt have the ability to speak publicly. A person who stuttered a little would attract attention from others, which would then make the problem worse. A primary deviance which is lead to a secondary deviance from the reactions of people in society. To help assess this view I will be using Jock Youngs research study. Young did a study on hippies they were viewed negatively by the police because of their unusual lifestyle which was seen as deviant to them. They were involved in little criminal activity and minor use of marijuana. But once they were caught hard by the police, marijuana began to be much more important and was used frequently. This was caused from greater deviance from the police which put pressure on the hippies to become more deviant then at they were at the beginning. Another research study from Stan Cohen on mods and rockers. Official statistics are a form of secondary data. They are published by the Home Office and give information on the numbers of different types of crimes committed and the social background of offenders. Official statistics are publishes annually. The advantages of official statistics are that they are already available to access as well being cheap. Positivists find it of great use as it helps to explain patterns of criminal behaviour. The official statistics is a large sample, all recorded crimes in the UK are included. Because these statistics are produced every year it now follows a long history, so sociologists find it very useful to compare data over a period of time. However, criticisms from official statistics are mainly from Interactionists. They argue that these statistics are socially constructed. Although they are interested in finding out how this happens, they dont see how the statistics can be seen as real. Also crime statistics are produced by those in social control such as the police and can include those who might or might not be labelled as deviant. Cicourel criticises official statistics by saying that the working class youths who are arrested by the police were likely to be labelled as delinquents. This is because they fitted the polices idea of a typical delinquent while the middle class were able to negotiate. Working class youth are overly represented in official statistics and so could be the result of the process of negotiation happening through interaction through the police.

I Stand Here Ironing: Character Analysis of Emily Essay -- Tillie Olse

The short story â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† (1961) by Tillie Olsen is a touching narration of a mother trying to understand and at the same time justifying her daughter’s conduct. Frye interprets the story as a â€Å"meditation of a mother reconstructing her daughter’s past in an attempt to express present behavior† (Frye 287). An unnamed person has brought attention and concern to her mother expressing, â€Å"‘She’s a youngster who needs help and whom I’m deeply interested in helping’† (Olsen 290). Emily is a nineteen-year-old complex girl who is atypical, both physically and in personality. Emily’s upbringing is plagued with difficulties. She is the first-born of a young mother and the eldest of five brothers and sisters. As a baby, she is constantly left at the care of others while her mother had to work after her father abandons them. Additionally, she is often sick, triggering a series of events that have emotionally affected her life. She definitely experiences a â€Å"stressful growth† (Frye 288). As a little girl, Emily clearly indicates to be unlike most children her age. For starters, various illnesses tremendously affect Emily’s physique which makes her look different compared to other little girls. Even her mother expresses â€Å"All the baby loveliness gone† (Olsen 291), after had gotten chicken pox. Another consequence derived from being constantly sick is that she looks fragile, â€Å"Skeleton thin† (Olsen 292). Unfortunately, she is full aware of not fulfilling the stereotype of a girl her age and she does not like it, Olsen’s narrator clearly states: She fretted about her appearance, thin and dark and foreign-looking at a time when every little girl was supposed to look or thought she should look a chubby blonde replica of Shirl... ... affect her future. Certainly, Emily is remarkably different in many ways due to a â€Å"troubled, lonely childhood† (Frye 288). She has a series of features that makes her unique. In terms of physical appearance, she is thin and dark looking because of health problems. As for personality she is insecure however behaves well and she does not show her emotions. Perhaps her complexity gives the idea or the impression that she needs help and people perceive her as a troubled girl. Works Cited Frye, Joanne S. "'I STAND HERE IRONING': MOTHERHOOD AS EXPERIENCE AND METAPHOR." Studies in Short Fiction 18.3 (1981): 287. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. Olsen, Tillie. â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing.† Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mendell. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Compact Seventh Edition. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011. 290-296. Print.

Langston Hughes Salvation Essay example -- Langston Hughes Religion E

Langston Hughes' Salvation In most people's lives, there comes a point in time where their perception changes abruptly; a single moment in their life when they come to a sudden realization. In Langston Hughes' 'Salvation', contrary to all expectations, a young Hughes is not saved by Jesus, but is saved from his own innocence. 'Salvation' is the story of a young boy who has an experience of revelation. While attending a church revival, he comes to the sudden realization that Jesus will not physically come save him. In the first three sentences of the essay, the speaker adopts a very childlike style. He makes use of simple words and keeps the sentences short, similar in style to that of an early aged teenager. But since the text is written in the past tense and the narrator mentions that he was 'going on thirteen' (181), we know the speaker is now older. After reading a little further, we find that the style becomes more complex, with a more select choice of words and longer sentences. The contrast between simple and complex styles is present all through the rest of the essay, and creates a more personal atmosphere. Another particularity of 'Salvation' is the fact that the story recounts Langston Hughes' own personal experiences as a young boy. This high degree of intimacy allows Hughes to supply the reader with some very concrete details and vivid descriptions. The beauty in Hughes? personal insights lies in their power to reach our senses. We can clearly picture th...

The Mobot Project: Longwood :: essays research papers

The MOBOT Project: Longwood In modern engineering, a systematic approach is used in the design, operation, and construction of an object to reach a desired goal. The first step of the process employs what is commonly known as the scientific method. The next step involves forming an interdisciplinary team of specialists from not only the various engineering disciplines, but from other fields whose knowledge may be useful or even necessary to completing the project. This step doesn't apply to our project, due the confined nature of the class. Finally, considerations must be taken into account to ensure that the project is efficient as well as cost effective.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The goal of the MOBOT Project was to design and build a programmable robot. The robot had to complete a series of four movements in four given directions over a distance of at least 6 inches. Power and weight restrictions were applied to ensure the safety of the students and, more importantly, the teacher. As the goals of the project were made clearer, our group began discussing possible ideas for the design. There were some disagreements about whether we should take the electromechanical route or the purely electrical one. And after some deep thought, we all agreed that the mechanical way would be the simplest to build and the most merciful on our pocketbooks. Even though we were coming up with some good ideas, each design seemed to contain some major problems. One of the reoccurring problems dealt with the synchronization of the driver motor and the steering system. Finally the team came up with a design that allowed the drive and steering controls to be independent of one another, but still allowing each one to be linked in time. This design has now become what is known as LONGWOOD.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Longwood is divided into two main parts: 1)motion system and 2)logic board. As the engineer, I was responsible for motion design. Therefore, that will be the focus for the remainder of this section.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main components of the motion system consist of a platform, three wheels, a wheel frame, two motors, and two contact switches. Two of the wheels were connected to a motor and attached at the front end of the platform. These wheels were only allowed to move simultaneously in either a forward or reverse direction. The third wheel was hooked up to the wheel frame and free to rotate approximately 45 degrees in either direction. Figure 1.1 shows an illustration of how the wheel frame works. The wheel frame and third wheel were then attached to the platform completing the basic assembly.

Cultural Site Paper: Starbucks Essay

Starbucks began as a coffee importing and roasting company in 1971. Since 1987, the company has expanded at an astonishing rate. America was ready for the third place provided by Starbucks. In 1987, Starbucks opened its first store outside of the State of Washington. Over the next eight years, the company spread throughout North America before opening its first overseas location in Japan. The company continues to open new stores at an impressive rate. 1,500 new stores have been planned for 2006. Starbucks has also grown through licensing relationships and by offering bottled drinks and bags of coffee for sale in grocery stores. (Corporate Website) It has zoomed up as one of the best companies globally. It shall also examine some of the visual representations of the place so that an overall impression is generated. It shall delve into the purpose of the kinds of representations it chooses to represent the group and analyze how this culturally represents the community where it is situated. The Workplace Visual images are natural means to enhance learning. Things become clear as vision plays a vital role in communication, since more than 60 percent of communication consists of nonverbal, visual cues. This paper will tackle Starbucks and look into the site’s â€Å"sense of place† and the effect this ambience has on the people who visit the place. Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees and sells them along with fresh, rich-brewed, Italian-style espresso beverages, a variety of pastries and confections, and coffee-related accessories and equipment, through its company operated retail stores. In addition to sales through its company-operated retail stores, it sells primarily whole bean coffees through a specialty sales group, a direct response business, supermarkets, and online at Starbucks.com. I.   Visual materials At Starbucks, there are certain objects which act as symbols or representations that have come to be generally accepted as standing for or representing something more than what it is there for (Vander, Zanden 1993). Usually this is an idea or something abstract. In Starbucks’ case, it is the smell of coffee that fills the air with the coffee smell that stimulates people to buy more, relax and savor the classy atmosphere. The coffee beans, brochures and CD purchased from the store are also objects that represent the outlet to everyone. People can get coffee mug with their personalized pictures on it. The displayed objects are powerful code or shorthand for representing and dealing with aspects of the corporate world (Hewitt, 1994). The significance of symbols as socializing mechanisms lies in the attitudes they conjure up and the accompanying behavior they stimulate. The space of the outlet is comfortably arranged with several sofa and chairs arranged to accommodate groups of people coming in the place. There is a sense of harmony in the layout and arrangement, which relaxes customers. According to anthropology professor Leslie White (1960), â€Å"All culture (civilization) depends upon the symbol. Much as we would like to think so, energy, pride, loyalty and a passion for work are not created by an organizational structure, a leader, a product, or a work process. They are all created by people who work together every day in organizations. These members of the workforce have dreams, hopes, and expectations. II.   Site’s sense of place Starbucks is one place where almost all the senses are stimulated. Foremost here is the sense of smell. All this smelling goes on at an almost subconscious level. Humans are least attentive to the olfactory sense. Yet it is our most ancient sense and is most closely linked to our memory and emotions. The maintenance and development of this quality experience requires a strong organizational commitment. The 1990s saw Starbucks expand its talent pool on the most influential senior levels, with key additions contributing greatly to the evolution of the company’s business lines. Howard Schultz began assembling an experienced team of professionals to drive Starbucks’ growth. The pursuit of first-class quality drove Starbucks back up the coffee supply chain when it encountered stiff competition. Coffee, though second only to petroleum in volume of global trading, was highly fragmented. It was estimated that a full one-third of the world’s coffee farms were three acres or less in size. This typically resulted in a consolidation process which handed off coffee from farmer to collector, collector to miller, miller to exporter or broker, and finally to importer. In the past, the importer and brokers then sold coffee to the large mass-market coffee roasters and producers. III. Connection to cultural context Starbucks defines their social responsibility as â€Å"conducting our business in ways that produce social, environmental, and economic benefits to the communities in which we operate. In the end, it means being responsible to our stakeholders.† (Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Report). There is growing recognition of the need for corporate accountability. Consumers are demanding more than â€Å"product† from their favorite brands. Employees are choosing to work for companies with strong values. Shareholders are more inclined to invest in businesses with outstanding corporate reputations. Quite simply, being socially responsible is not only the right thing to do, it can distinguish a company from its industry peers.† (Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Report). Starbucks is the place where groups gather for the expression of their values and attitudes. This cultural site, therefore, serves as a meeting place for those who just want to express themselves and their individuality, without any disturbances. The chairs are arranged closed to each other but everyone is there to mind his own business. Usually Starbucks is built near a commercial area but there are now outlets near exclusive villages and neighborhoods. In a big commercial area, relationships are more fragmented and it is unlikely that one would just by chance see a friend at a restaurant, simply because there are so many restaurants available to eat at in a large town. Thus, establishing a new one in the neighborhood encourages interaction with different types of groups. While employees clearly come first in the Starbucks culture, the customer is a close second. Starbucks’ fourth guiding principle is to â€Å"Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all the time.† â€Å"We recognized early on that the equity of the Starbucks brand was going to be the retail experience that the customers had in our stores,† says Schultz, the company’s CEO. Indeed, Starbucks has come a long way from its very beginnings. It has been able to identify the things it does so well – from the simplest service procedure to the massive, company wide operation. It has proven time and again that the business strengths will be small isolated islands of effectiveness. The key, as Starbucks has unlocked, is finding these strengths and using them as foundation cornerstones that support the entire reinvention strategy it does almost naturally.