The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock - 1647 Words

The lives of many people are often dictated by their mindset, the fixed disposition or emotional outlook of their current situation. Sitting at the bright end of the spectrum, there are optimist who see the best in everything; thus creating a positive outlook and the mindset to accomplish any goal. However, most people succumbed to a pessimistic point of view. It results in a fear of the unknown, and a sense of meaningless throughout their daily lives. Simple actions such as communication become frustrating tasks, causing many to avoid the situation to protect their emotional well being. This mindset can be seen in T.S. Eliot’s work The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The main character, Prufrock, plans to ask the woman he loves the†¦show more content†¦Eliot’s conservative nature caused him to dislike the cheerfulness and optimism of the nineteenth century, and preferred damnation rather than the ugly sight of modern civilization. The Eliot and Prufrock dà © doublement can be seen in the depiction of the setting. The streets are described as half deserted, containing cheap hotels and sawdust restaurants, with yellow smoke engulfing the entire city. The negative depictions of the setting show Eliot’s dislike of rising urbanism and Prufrock’s pessimistic views. Eliot uses this style of writing to explore and freely express his own mind. In Tradition and the Individual Talent, Eliot states that â€Å"private emotions might be intense or painful enough to make it seem necessary to escape from them,† where ‘escape from’ is interpreted as ‘express.’ (Smidt 91) Eliot had a strong desire to reveal his subconscious and private emotions, but â€Å"the full understanding was not meant for the general reader.† Through this creative technique Eliot is able to introduce a character, whose attributes are not as immediately recognizable as the poet, and utilizes this character as a mask or disguise to express some private emotion. In addition, Elisabeth Cardonne-Arlyck’s Mind Your Tongue: Autobiography and New French Lyric, the author creates the perspective to use the character Prufrock as a mobile mask that transforms into existential reality. By connecting Eliot’sShow MoreRelatedThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock970 Words   |  4 PagesNever in Love When reading the title of T.S Eliot’s â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† it is believed we are in store for a poem of romance and hope. A song that will inspire embrace and warmth of the heart, regretfully this is could not be further from the truth. This poem takes us into the depths of J. Alfred Prufrock, someone who holds faltering doubt and as a result may never come to understand real love. â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† takes us through Prufrock’s mindset and his self-doubtingRead MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock1072 Words   |  5 Pages We may never be given a second chance to do something daring ever again so we seize the day! However, people like in J. Alfred Prufrock make the attempt to do but it doesn’t work. â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,† written by T.S. Elliot, essentially is about a simple man that wishes to ask a question, although the question is never revealed, the reader is taken on journey the with the speaker, only to find that they have spent a lengthy amount of time of their lives without ever asking theRead MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay1928 Words   |  8 PagesHuman Voices Wake Us and We Drown’: Community in ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’,† James Haba contends that the repeated use of â€Å"you†, â€Å"we†, and â€Å"us† in T. S. Eliot’s â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† creates a personal ambience around the reader and Prufrock. Because of this, Haba argues that Eliot’s use of personal pronouns and references produces a sense of community and intimacy between the reader and Prufrock (53), even though Prufrock seemingly struggles with emotions of intimacy andRead MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock915 Words   |  4 PagesThe Love Song of Alfred Prufrock: Taking the Love out of Song A tragedy in a poem is usually characterized as an event that has a tragic or unhappy ending. They generally are used to teach morals or lessons. T.S. Eliot’s, â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†, is considered a tragedy because of the way Eliot uses four different writing styles: word choice, figurative language, images, and biblical allusions. Using these styles, Eliot acknowledges the tragic endeavor of single, reclusiveRead MoreThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock1729 Words   |  7 PagesThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The dramatic monologue â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock was written by Thomas Stearns Eliot and published in June of 1915. Eliot was born in St Louis, Missouri on September 26, 1888, where he grew up and lived until the age of eighteen. After high school, Eliot studied at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA and the Sorbonne in Paris, France. Eventually, Eliot ended up in England where he married his wife Vivien and spent the remainder of his lifeRead MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock1125 Words   |  5 Pagesmodernism. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, despite being one of T.S Eliot s earliest publications, still manages to remain one of the most famous. He uses this poem to not only draw out the psychological aspect of members of modern society, but also to draw out the aspect of the time that he lived in. The speaker of this poem is a modern man who feels alone, isolated, and incapable of making decisive actions for himself. Prufrock desires to sp eak to a woman about his love for her, but heRead MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock986 Words   |  4 PagesIn The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot and Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold the poets utilizes poetic devices to convey their respective themes. Through use of symbols and metaphors, the speaker in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock displays his fears of the changes brought with the younger generation, and isolation from the changing society. The speaker in Dover Beach, utilizes symbols, metaphors, and similes to state that the younger generation has less faith than the older, and societyRead MoreThe Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock1966 Words   |  8 Pagessymbolism to capture the readers attention in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The poem has a dramatic discourse. The percipience of lifes emptiness is the main theme of the poem. Eliot exhorts the spiritual decomposition by exploring a type of life in death. T. S. Eliot, who in the Clark Lectures notes, Real Irony is an expression of suffering(Lobb, 53), uses irony and symbolism throughout the poem to exemplify the suffering of J. Alfred Prufrock who believes he is filled with spiritual morbidityRead MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock1005 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,† published in 1915, was written by a man named T.S. Eliot. The speaker of the poem begins to describe an evening that appears to be somewhat romantic and a little mysterious. As the reader progresses into the poem, the mood soon fades and the reader starts to figure out that this evening is not what they pictured. â€Å"Acquainted with the Night† is a poem written by Robert Frost. The poem was first published in 1927. The speaker of the poem has a similar mood asRead MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay990 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† by T.S. Elliot is in part a satire. It was written in the form of a dram atic monologue delivered by the poem’s speaker, J. Alfred Prufrock. It begins with him asking an unknown â€Å"you† to accompany him on a walk. The two walk through town and stumbles upon women talking about Michelangelo at a social event. The women’s bare arms and long dresses show off their knowledge of art. Prufrock wishes to talk to the women and is attracted to them sexually but he is afraid

Why Is Literacy Important - 1964 Words

As an education support worker is important to clearly understand and grasp literacy, how vital literacy is in our lives to ensure children are not illiterate. So to understand literacy we must look at what is literacy. Literacy is not only the ability to read and write but rather a person’s ability to utilise and put the skills together. But before children can read and write, they need to learn about words, sounds, language, books and stories. In modern days literacy includes the ability to use language, numbers, images, computers and other means to understand, communicate and seek knowledge. The key to literacy is reading development, a skill that will allow the student to understand the words when spoken and understand the written†¦show more content†¦Sharlene Kalaitzoglou CHCEDS503A- Support the development of Literacy Skills P1 Encouraging literacy development- giving students opportunities to listen to and use language. Communication: Communicating is important for literacy development. Bonding and interacting with your child from infancy is the first form of communication that your child experiences. Your baby may communicate with you by smiling, facial expressions and cooing to your sounds which are both forms of verbal and nonverbal communication. These types of back-and-forth interactions are getting your child ready for talking and socialising. To encourage your child to build on communication you can; With your infant copy the baby sounds back to your child as this can help your infant understand how language is put together. Sing songs together- this introduces new words to the children while introducing music as a form of communication Talk about everyday things with the students- what they did on the weekend- encourage them to extend on the activities and express their feeling about the event. Assist students to break words down in segments. For e.g.: the word run- this can be broken down as r-u-n or ru-n or r-un. Another e.g.: running- this can be broken down to runn- ing. Reading: Reading is importance in a student’s

Research Methods in Anthropology French Journal of Change Management

Questions: Identify the subject area the study relates to within business and management. Identify one theory with reference that relates to the topic of the research proposal. Methodology Outline the proposed research strategy and research methods to be used. What primary and secondary data would you like to collect and how would you like to collect it? Are there any ethical issues around the data collection and storage to consider? Project Plan Provide a table listing the tasks required to complete the portfolio and the timescales for each. List also any resources needed. Answers: Background of the research topic Leadership takes active participation in helping the employees for achieving a set of objectives. Leaders lead by examples and often build an element of positivity amongst the employees. While adapting to change, leaders have an important role to play for addressing the necessary information to the employees so that they do not lose their confidence (Dawson 2014). The research topic would entail the various roles played by the leaders for managing the employees towards successful intervention of change management in the organization. Research Aims The primary aim of the researcher is to evaluate the elusive of leadership for implementation change management in Opus Recruitment Solutions. Research Objectives To identify the impact of leadership for implementing change management in a small scale business To evaluate the importance of leadership for adapting the employees of Opus solutions in relation to change management To identify the challenges faced by the leaders for implementing change management in Opus Recruitment Solutions To propose suitable recommendations against the rising issues of Opus recruitment solutions in regards to change management Research Questions What is the impact of leadership while implementing change management in a small-scale business like Opus Recruitment Solutions? What is the role of the leaders for adapting the employees of Opus Recruitment Solutions towards change management? What are the challenges faced by the leaders, while implementing change management for Opus Recruitment Solutions? What are the proposed recommendations in contrast to the rising issues faced by the leaders of Opus Recruitment Solutions while implementing change management? Research Problems The major issue faced by the organization is the adaptability of the employees towards implementation of change management. The leaders were unable to convince the employees, as there was an element of fear amongst them for losing the job (Kvalnes 2014). However, the primary intention of the leaders was to enhance the organizational scenario by implementing the change. The employees were reluctant for adapting to changes and the overall scenario created a negative impact on the operations of the organization in the competitive market. Literature Review Concept of leadership and Change Management Leadership is the ability of a person for leading or guiding other individuals, team or an organization towards a change. On the other hand, change management refers to the process of changing the organizational practices for enhancing organizational profitability. Leadership Traits The leadership traits comprise of the key requirements that a leader should possess for attaining organizational success. The traits if of an effective leader are as follows: Emotional Stability Dominance Enthusiasm Conscientiousness Intuition Tough- mindedness Self-assurance Compulsiveness Culture Web Theory This theory emphasize that an organization should identify the organizational culture before implementing organizational strategies. After investigating the internal process of Opus Recruitment Solutions, it can be said that the company has adopted a transparent approach for communicating with the workforce (Welbourne 2014). Moreover, the company is dealing with a diversified workforce and depending on this organizational culture, the company has adopted transformational leadership approach. This leadership approach helps the organization in allowing the workforce in sharing their viewpoint regarding decision-making process. Transformational leadership Style Transformational leadership refers to the leadership trait, which allows a leader to build strong communication with the workforce. Moreover, transformational leaders allow the team members to take active participation in organizational decision-making process. Research Methodology Research Proposition The researcher implemented suitable strategies and techniques outlined in an proper methodology to attain the Objective oriented outcomes in an competent way. The researcher will implement the philosophy of positivism, Deductive approach, descriptive research design, surveys and interviews as the research strategy for successful progression of the study (Bernard 2011). The researcher collected primary and secondary sources of data for penetrating the research topic and enhance the quality of the study in a suitable way. The researcher will conduct the quantitative analysis by spreading survey questionnaires to 50 employees of Opus recruitment Solutions, UK. The qualitative analysis of the study will involve telephonic interviews of three managers in Opus recruitment solutions. The researcher will select probability sampling technique for quantitative analysis and non-probability sampling technique for qualitative analysis of the study. Sources of Data Primary data will collect specific information from the respondents of the survey. The researcher will be able to identify the issues underlying the topic while gathering factual data from the respondents of the research (Green 2011). The secondary data sources will comprise of information gathered from journals, magazines, articles and work of other researchers. The information may be manipulative in nature due to its commercial approach. Data Collection Methods The researcher will aim to enhance the standard of the topic by implementing quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Quantitative analysis will allow the researcher to conduct statistical analysis, thus helping the researcher to identify the research issues in a proactive way (Freshwater 2012). The qualitative analysis will enrich the content of the study through effective gathering of data from the managers of Opus Recruitment Solutions. Analytical procedure For successful understanding of the study, analytical procedure is regarded as one of the decisive aspects of Quantitative research, through which the researcher may classify, review and assess the key objectives in co-relation to the subject matter of the study. The researcher will make effective utilization of statistical analysis in the form of tables, pie charts, Mean, Median and Mode (Cao 2011). The content analysis approach will helpsthe researcher to upgrade the research quality by collecting realistic and needful data. Ethical Considerations Under any circumstances, the researcher will not implement the data for commercial purposes. The respondents will enjoy voluntary participation of data and under no one can exert external pressure on the researcher (Chan et al. 2011). The information and data of the respondents will not be disclosed and therefore, they will take pleasure in full privacy of their personal information. All the rules and regulations of the Data Protection act will be kept into consideration for successful intervention of the study. Research Timetable The time horizon of the research study states the amount of time required for conducting the overall study in a suitable way. Refer to appendix 1 Anticipated Findings of the research study The researcher would identify the researcher issues upon conduction of the statistical analysis. The researcher would mainly look forward to identify the issues faced by the employees for adapting to change and evaluate various ways approached by the leaders to handle crises Identification of the issues will allow the researcher to probe for suitable recommendations for successful adaption of change management in Opus Recruitment Solutions. Reference List Bernard, H. R. 2011 Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches 5th ed. Plymouth: Alta Mira Press. Burnes, B., 2014. Understanding Resistance to Change to Building on Coach and French Journal of Change Management, 15(2), pp.92-116 Cao, N., 2011. Thoughts on the methodology of nanosafety research CSB, 56(2), p.126 Chan, S., Zee, Y., Jayson, G. and Harris, J., 2011 'Risky' research and participants' interests: the ethics of phase 2C clinical trials Clinical Ethics, 6(2), pp.91-96 Dawson, P., 2014. Reflections: On Time, Temporality and Change in Organizations Journal of Change Management, 14(3), pp.285-308 Freshwater, D. 2012 Reading mixed methods research: contexts for criticism, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), pp. 134-46. Green, G., 2011. Experimental validation of the RI design evaluation methodology. J. of Design Research, 9(1), p.1 Jones, S., 2014 Distributed leadership: A critical analysis Leadership, 10(2), pp.129-141 Kvalnes, O., 2014. Leadership and moral neutralization Leadership, 10(4), pp.456-470 Welbourne, T., 2014.Change Management Needs a Change. Employment Relations Today, 41(2), pp.17-23

Problems in Education free essay sample

Our topic was problems with education and thinking about this was overwhelming because we came up with so many issues and could realistically talk about just a few so our journey consist of: funding issues and the importance of this is that the more money invested in schools produces better environments, better teachers, better courses, expanded teaching capabilities and students encouraged by this would exceed our expectations. Discrimination: with the change in funding we could eliminate the unequal standards of schools which would foster equal opportunities and hopefully come to alleviate poverty and a future with no need for discrimination. Benefits of arts: arts of variety expand imagination, open creativity, allow feeling, thinking and connecting with others, it fosters peace and appreciation of life and people. It could possibly be a bridge to a cure for hostility and negativity in schools. It has already proved to better skills and performance in academic studies. We will write a custom essay sample on Problems in Education or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page No child left behind: A absolutely good idea but the program itself has many problems, the idea that every child gets equal education is great, but the standards of teaching to a test stifles the learning possibilities and the variety of what is being taught. It hinders growth, imagination, creativity and delivers a very narrow scope of living skills or what we encounter in or contribute to society. Being well rounded means having a broad educational background, fully developed varied abilities and well balanced in range or variety of aspects, this cannot be possible when teaching to memorizing tests. Looking into or fixing any one of these individually would not give what is needed in our education system, in combination or simultaneously would be big step in working in the right direction. Ignorance is lack of knowledge, and if everyone is educated on an equal field we could safely say that ignorance would be wiped out. We may still have some that think and act unintelligently but there would be few, by widespread education we as a society could possibly not have some of the pressing problems that we face today. With diligence and encouragement we could make great strides and changes in our society that would benefit all. We could see less addiction, less need for government assistance, dwindling of prisons, families intact, more caring of other people, less crime, no shortage of needed jobs, much less discrimination, standards higher, better possibilities in government and our next generation making better choices with other societal issues. All because education becomes a priority and we will have fully developed, well balanced educated people with a varied range and variety of abilities to make our world better. We chose education because it is the best start for things to change, without education many may not see what needs to change or how to make the changes. Education as a priority is the jumping off point. Funding is a large problem in education. Though education is inarguably an extremely important asset, it is constantly getting the short end of the funding. Though funding varies from state to state, it is safe to assume that the more money that goes to our education, the better we will all do. By funding schools we invest in our future and American competitiveness. With better education more Americans will be able to find jobs to support themselves or their families; we will also solve many other economic problems. An obvious economic problem that would be decreased is the unemployment rate. With improved funding to education, less affluent children, or adults looking to go to college, could have better affordable schools to attend. An initial problem that comes to hand with low funding to schools is overcrowding. Schools that receive less funding tend to have a higher amount of students per classroom. This in turn, creates a less effective learning environment. This problem is prevalent among K-12 public schools across the country. With more students, teachers aren’t allowed the time to give each student the attention they may need. While some students can function in an environment like this, the average student will have issues learning in such an environment. â€Å"In 2008, 17 of the nations 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50%†. (11 Facts Bout Education and Poverty in America) This statistics are unfortunate, and can be improved through adequate funding. Because approximately half of all education spending is state-funded, state cutbacks force districts to raise revenue on their own, or trim resources like educational services and lay off teachers. The cuts have also hurt economic recovery, as  194,000 school jobs nationwide were lost between August 2010 and August 2011. (Zhao, Emmeline) In 2011 thirty-seven states cut their budgets towards education as much as 12. 9%. (Zhao, Emmeline) With education, cutting budgets entails many things that take away from the schools effectiveness. For example, laying off teachers, removing programs, or reusing old equipment and books. Perhaps more government funding could help aid this problem? Most of the United States money goes towards areas like Medicaid, Social Security, and defense, leaving only a small 2% sliver of the money going to education. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) Though it’s hard to say exactly what could be alleviated in order to provide education with more funding, there has to be some excess expenditure somewhere. An example would be in defense. Perhaps if there were less involvement in other countries, the government would have more funding available to up the quality of education in America? Why is it especially important America improve its education system? With the economy unstable, America’s middle class is dissolving. With the unemployment rate up, we need affordable education available to all ages. In this highly technological world, with increasingly complex jobs, education for less affluent individuals is a must. Without it our poverty rate will continue to rise, and America’s need for a highly educated workforce will not be met. In order for education to be made more readily available, legislatures must agree to provide more adequate funding to public colleges and universities, as well as student aid. We need governmental policies and programs that provide sufficient federal and state funding to public higher education institutions and increased financial aid to students, most importantly low- and moderate-income students. Funding must return to levels in which spending on higher education per student keeps pace with inflation. (Kallison, 41) The fear of massive college debts should not be a barrier between a person and their ability to attend college. A possible remedy could be pricing of college based on your income or that of your family. Or perhaps discounts on the basis of good grades? However, both of these would e hard to enact without proper funding to the college. Public education in the United States is a very valuable aspect. It is the education that is offered to our children to hopefully establish a better future. The public school system in America today is lacking in academic achievement. As demands for better education increase, the complete education that our chil dren truly receives is decreasing. From the lack of government support the students faces not only a type of stereotypical and racial inequalities, but also lack of support and funding for their school from the government especially those less affluent children. This can progress to negative attitudes toward themselves and students learn to fail due to low self-esteem. Ethnic discrimination in schools can be described as not giving a person an equal education based on their race. The term racial discrimination generates a distinction between one group of people with another. It differ depending on the social economic factors and culture that lead on the decision by students and teachers in choosing who is to succeed and who is to fail in the school performance. We find that this discrimination in schools has led to unfair disciplining system among other factors in schools. Though teachers claim that the policy and disciplinary practices in schools are balanced and objective, there are still main reason that lead to an increase in the number of students of color being sent out of school. The consequence of racial discrimination which teachers are assumed to be practicing to discipline on students depending on the gender, socio-economic factors and race causes inequalities in public schools. Due to the growing urban population, many suburban schools are growing hence increasing the racial differences. This has directed to a cultural adjustment through which teachers lacking knowledge with the belief systems, cultural values and perspectives of the students. Consequently, due to lack of the teacher’s knowledge, teachers are not able to understand the behavior of a particular students socio-economic factor. This experience creates differences among the members in the learning organization. Ethnic discrimination especially in public school is a growing concern. If we discriminate against our students we are ultimately creating a big problem because it adds to society’s social problems such as violence, drugs, early dropout and lower college attendance rates. Students of all ethnic backgrounds lose when they are not given the chance to learn from teachers of all races. We believe teachers also lose out when they are not given or taking the chance to learn how to teach to students of different races. We think that complete removal of ethnic discrimination in schools is a long way away. Some might not be aware of how much discrimination still exists in our schools today. Teachers are valuable part of a child’s education. They are the thrust that children need. Teachers in wealthier school has more of a successful outcome and will more than likely push students to their full potential. While the teacher who is just there for a job will just push the children to get out of high school, so the less affluent children are often held back later in life due to lack of decent education. In an affluent area, the schools are clean, well kept and look more like small college campuses. Any child attending this kind of school will continually want the finer things in life and will unlikely settle for less than the best. But in a less affluent neighborhood where schools are run down, vandalized, and are usually un-kept, a child will likely settle for less. We believe that the problem with school lies not in the idea of public education, but in the way public schools are managed and funded. If one walked into any public school, the odds are great that youll find demoralized teachers, overflowing classrooms, and possibly unsafe classroom. Additionally many students endure psychological or behavior problems that teachers are not adequately qualified to handle. Therefore, both teachers and students end up failing one another. In conclusion, there are many solutions to prevent the inadequacy of our public school, the discrimination and the lack of support from our government. You should always challenge discrimination at school. It is crucial that one can recognize anti-discrimination practice. All schools have a discriminatory policy. All teachers, faculty and teaching assistants should read and follow. It is not easy to alter the views of others, but discriminatory comments and actions must be challenged. But what the government and institutions and rest of the public can do is help minimize this issue. Our suggestions for resolving this issue are to push more accountability in everyone. Push for more responsibility on student performance and change how assessment will be measured and judged in public schools. Students should also be assessed not only through test scores but also through attendance, schoolwork, and participations. Parents should also play a big part of their children lives. Parents should also hold the schools responsible for the advancement of their student’s knowledge and skills. Accountability needs to apply to everyone, starting with the students and parents, the teachers and administrators. We have covered Government funding, discrimination racial and ethnic but discrimination presents itself in many forms, it is not always as apparent as race, ethnicity or gender and sometimes not expressed intentionally, by default older returning students and students with different learning abilities seem to get passed by without adequate response to their needs. With unemployment on the rise, people being laid off from jobs, others in recovery looking for a new start and the call to mothers with empty nest syndrome, going back to school and exploring new careers has become a new phase in our society, one that should be admired and encouraged. This movement to reeducate is a positive reinforcement of people wanting to be productive in society and also serves as example of how to respond to hard times. Our schools seem to have added programs (that are always threatened with budget cuts) to help welfare to work (fast track), veterans returning, second language students, students with disabilities and students with high performance but somehow the missing piece is students with different learning abilities and older returning students. This is important because instead of leaning on government assistance or becoming criminal to survive these students are trying to reeducate to be productive members of society and financially care for themselves and their families. Older students have expressed a feeling of wanting to inspire young people with their example. They are proof that monies should be put into continued and alternative education instead of more prisons or weapons. Arts education has been facing many challenges even though teachers, business leaders and a large number of Americans agree on its value to students. It seems that the when cuts are being made it is always the most needed programs that are cut. Studies have shown that arts in all forms help students grow intellectually, socially, emotionally and test scores improve. Arts have been highly motivating and seem to reduce tardiness and truancy at schools and foster critical thinking, creativity and problem solving as they become adults â€Å"which are necessary skills in the 21st century economy†. All research seems to show that arts advance academic excellence and are the desired courses which bring children to school. Research professor of education at New York University, Diane Ravitch about arts says â€Å"they expand student’s ability to think, feel and get connected to other students†. With all the studies and the majority of Americans agreeing that arts are needed how does it become such a challenge to provide? As a society we should be outraged, this kind of thoughtless blunder is what keeps us from reaching our full potential. Allowing things to slip by or finding something else more important at the time, we should be looking to the future our children are what we expect to make things better but our money goes in another direction. Education is the key to expanding our minds and gaining understanding, this is what will not allow us ignorance but open doors to better our lives everyone’s. These are a few options for change, first there needs to be an assessment of returning students and if they are over 30yrs of age give them different criteria for reaching their degrees or credentials. The college requirements are made for young students who are not sure of their course in life and it gives them well roundedness. Where older adults returning to school most know what they are back for and some of the side requirements take up precious time and their financial aid which are both very important to older students. There is no benefit to the rearrangement of life and possibilities or new beginnings to follow a new career if the requirements don’t allow you to get there in a timely fashion. Next would be to stop placing students who have different learning abilities into the category of disabled. Auditory teaching is but one form and as we know so many students learn differently, and are not offered the experience of the best teaching technique for their skills. Instead most are diagnosed with learning disability and stigmatized from then on, and not given the benefit of their different ability. There should be teachers with different strategies and effective learning styles and new spaces for particular abilities. This can be integrated into the curriculum and students can pick there form of learning and we would down size the amount of students with disabilities. Many students would rather do poorly than to be labeled with a disability, it never goes away and all that is seen is disability by students, teachers and employers. How cheated they must feel that we not recognize the possibilities and teach to their abilities. Last on the list is Art education I am still amazed that with all the positive views we still ave to find financial stability, education needs to be at the top of the list for money and programs. With education at the forefront of everything we could change so much; ignorance would be a word in the dictionary instead of how so many people live. Education could take the place of addictions, prison population, poverty which in turn would change so much discr imination. People who could feel good about themselves and support their families without struggle would give way to more peace and lower stress cut medical spending. If we could only see the benefits and strive to do better what a world we could live in. No Child Left Behind Act and schools teaching to the test is one way that the public school system is failing these generations of children. Teaching to the test eliminates teachers ability to teach children lifelong skills, has created a larger achievement gap between the affluent and the poor and minority, and has brought down education standers rather than bringing all children up to a higher stander. Teaching to the test reduces teacher creativity, innovative instruction, the use of varied teaching strategies for diverse students, and teacher and student motivation. This type of testing is forcing instruction to change from exploratory, lifelong learning to teaching to the test through memorization and repetition eliminating the opportunity for teachers to teach students life skills like creative thinking and problem solving. These are skills that follow children through their life, allowing them to; think through ideas, create their own opinions and work with others cooperatively. If we do not teach these important skills to the next generations we are selling them and our future short. We are creating a population that can memorize and recite but are not able to make and think through hard decisions with an understanding of their true outcomes. An example of this is when teacher was talking to an eighth grade history class about the Articles of Confederation. The students were able to give certain facts about one of the eight Features of the Articles of Confederation regarding No Chief Executive; but could not make the connection that they chose that Feature because the colonies just experienced an abusive rule by King George III. An eighth grade history teacher at Springveiw Middle School, Rocklin, CA) The No Child Left Behind Act penalizes the educationally disadvantage students it is supposed to help. It has created a new gap between well-off children and the poor and minorities. Funding for schools are based off the standardized test scores. The affluent schools already have the funds to maintain the privilege of studying a full and varied curriculum. While the re is growing evidence that the curriculum is narrowed for poor children and children of color. These are the children that are subjected to the most pretest pressures, the lack of variety in their curriculum, thus leading to a higher dropout rate, lower interest in furthering academics, and discouragement from teachers. This is creating a system that perpetuates the problem. â€Å"NCLB is just not working –at least not for inner-city schools. According to a recent report by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 30% of all American students do not graduate from high school. For the predominantly minority students living in large cities, the statistics are even worse. Only one half, 52%, of students in the nation’s fifty largest cities graduate from high school, and in four large metropolitan areas (Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, and Indianapolis), fewer than 35% of the students graduate. † (CUMBERLAND LAW REVIEW [Vol. 40:2] pg 397-398) Under the No Child Left Behind Act each state creates the standard the schools have to meet, this allows states to create low standard tests. Some states have established a lower proficiency standard, and some states declare most students proficient even when their performance is miles short of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) standard. By setting widely varying standards, states render the very notion of proficiency meaningless. †According to Thomas Toch, co-director of the research group, Education Sector, the increase in testing required under NCLB puts pressure on states to switch to multiple choice tests. Although the multiple choice tests generally require students to merely recall and restate facts, they can be scored at a fraction of the cost of tests that are hand written— those with essay questions. Forty-two percent of our nations children are now taking mandated math and reading tests that are entirely multiple choice. † (ENCOUNTER: Education for Meaning and Social Justice Pg. 34) There has been a lot of criticism of No Child Left Behind Act and standardized testing. One recent solution that is being brought up and trying to get implemented is The Common Core State Standards Initiative. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The standards were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts, to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare children for college and the workforce. Their idea is to take the standardize testing and add more analytical thought, creative thought and preparation of life skills. This is their new definition of the standards: that they are aligned with college and work expectations; that they are clear, understandable and consistent; include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills; build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards; are informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and are evidence-based. This will not solve all the problems but it is trying to take the already standardized testing and create a more well rounded baseline. In conclusion we have discussed the possibilities of solving the education problems, the benefits of making education a priority and the starting place for making strides in problem solving in our society. We have to start here with our education or we continue to breed ignorance and continue to become more stagnant and problems only get worse without solution. Government funding: Solutions are more money in every aspect because this is our priority, monies to make teaching a job worth its weight, monies to all schools, produce funding towards our future, allowing students to attend any and all choices of learning without financial worries. Racial Discrimination: Everyone speaks out about discriminatory practices, everyone should be more accountable and the more equal the playing field the better our chances. Other discrimination and arts: Assessment for older retuning students, and different requirements to fast track them to their goal. To teach to student’s abilities instead of labeling them as disabled, new effective learning styles and strategies, spaces for different learning and integrating the different teaching styles into the curriculum so students can sign up for appropriate classes. Arts education money-money-money. No child left behind: There have been specialists looking at how to revamp this initiative and that is all good but the real issue is to keep teaching open to the teachers and the students they teach. Our best effort would be to expect the best and keep education a priority so students become educated and well- rounded. Once more we chose education as the priority because everything will become clear with equality of education and higher standards for everyone. With this we will have fully developed well balanced educated people making choices about a future. [pic] Bibliography Web page: â€Å"11 Facts Bout Education and Poverty in America† Zhao, Emmeline Retrieved from: http://www. dosomething. org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-education-and-poverty-america# Web page: â€Å"K-12 Education Funding: Most States At Levels Lower Than Pre-Recession, Cut Spending This Year† Retrieved from: http://www. uffingtonpost. com/2011/10/07/k-12-education-funding-mo_n_1000396. html Web page: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, â€Å"Policy Basics: Where do our Federal Tax Dollars Go? † Retrieved from: http://www. cbpp. org/cms/index. cfm? fa=viewid=1258 Scholarly journal: Kallison Jr. , J. M. , Cohen, P. (2010). â€Å"A New Compact for Higher Education: Funding and Autonomy for Reform and Accountability. Innovative Higher Education† Scholarly journal: McReynolds, Kate – â€Å" The No Child Left Behind Act Raises Growing Concerns† Encounter; Summer2006, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p33-36, 4p Scholarly journal: Smyth, Theoni Soublis – † Who Is No Child Left Behind Leaving Behind? † Clearing House; Jan/Feb2008, Vol. 81 Issue 3, p133-137, 5p Scholarly journal: Altshuler, Sandra J. 1 [emailprotected] ewu – â€Å"No Hispanic Student Left Behind: The Consequences of High Stakes Testing† Schmautz, Tresa Children Schools; Jan2006, Vol. 28 Issue 1, p5-14, 10p Scholarly journal: JONES, CRYSTAL L. – â€Å"NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND FAILS THE REALITY TEST FOR INNER-CITY SCHOOLS: A VIEW FROM THE TRENCHES. Cumberland Law Review; 2009, Vol. 0 Issue 2, p397-461, 65p Scholarly journal: Hout, Michael Elliott, Stuart Frueh, Sara 5. â€Å"Do High-Stakes Tests Improve Learning? † Issues in Science Technology; Fall2012, Vol. 29 Issue 1, p33-38, 6p, 3 Color Photographs, 1 Chart Scholarly journal: Haretos, Chrisanti â€Å"THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001: IS THE DEFINITION OF ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS ADEQUATE? † Kennedy School Review; 2005, Vol. 6, p29-46, 18p Online Magazine: Baker, Beth – (2012) â€Å"Art Education† Retrieved from: CQ Researcher, volume 22 issue 1

Solar Energy Consultancy

Solar Energy Consultancy Introduction In the contemporary world, human beings have identified solar power as one of the most essential sources of electricity power. Therefore, they have harnessed the radiant heat, in addition to, light from the sun in a process that uses a wide scope of technologies, which are ever evolving.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Solar Energy Consultancy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to the findings of the research conducted by Schaper Volery (2007, p. 55), it is indicated that some of the technologies largely attributed with solar energy include solar thermal electricity, solar architecture as well as solar photovoltaic among other crucial technologies. Sometimes, many regions of the world experience urgent problems relating to power but considering the solar technologies, they can be of great help during such times. With the advent of solar technology, many solar energy consultancy groups have surf aced, not only in Australia but in the entire world, as well. Solar energy consultancy groups play a key role in the solar energy industry. One of the major contributions that the solar energy consultancy groups make includes conducting household inspection and thereby giving the clients a report indicating the solar options for their particular households, in addition to sites. This can indeed range full-fledged general solar installation that generates electricity to simple solar walk away lighting (Galbraith, 2001, p. 43). Thesis Statement Due to the rising demands for alternative energy in households and factories, there is a need to establish a consultancy business in the field of solar energy. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to formulate a solar energy business model based in Melbourne, Australia.Advertising Looking for report on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For the purpose of a comprehensive coverage of all the areas required for the establishment of a solar energy consulting business, several aspects will be considered. These will include; a clear and precise of a solar energy business concept, declaration as well as an explanation of the mission statement, industry as well as market analysis, identifying the management team, development of products and services, the financial considerations, timelines and finally assumptions. Discussion The concept solar energy consultancy business Energy Saving Efficient energy use is a commonly used term and it refers to the target of attempts aimed at mitigating the energy amount necessary to offer both goods as well as services. Renewable energy such as solar energy is attributed largely to the efficient use of energy. Timmons Spinelli (2007, p. 89) indeed supported this by indicating in his research findings that energy efficiency, in addition to, renewable energy is twin pillars of sustainable energy. Solar ener gy is largely used as an alternative due to its efficiency. Households and industries in Melbourne, Australia that use solar energy can be identified as using energy efficiently because, as compared to other non-renewable sources of energy, the use of costs as well as resources is greatly mitigated. Indeed, the only cost involved is during buying and installation, in addition to maintaining the installation, which is done rarely. With many households and industries in Melbourne adopting the efficient use of energy, there is a need to provide consultancy services, which include installation, servicing among other consultancy services.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Solar Energy Consultancy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For a person intending to become a consultant in the field of solar energy in Australia, it is herculean important, to start by seeking employment in a company that deals with solar products. The rationale for this is that the person will become knowledgeable in the field of solar energy and as such, it is the start point on route to become a solar energy consultant. Once a person establishes himself as a solar energy consultant in the Australian market, it is indicated in the findings of the research conducted by Grave Zacharakis (2008, p. 77) that, one should not become affiliated with any one company or even product. Further, Grave Zacharakis (2008, p. 79) asserts that, once a person becomes a solar energy industry consultant, he must be able to recommend, not only products but options, as well, across the field of solar energy. Vision Statement The objective of this solar energy consultancy is to provide a low level cost, environmentally friendly, in addition to, an innovative energy power to consumers within Melbourne and its environs through energy generating systems which are not only highly efficient, but cost effective, as well (Horngren, 2002, p. 24). Industry /M arket Analysis The solar energy industry’s background and its present status The consultancy business will be based on the Australian energy industry. To be more precise, the business competes in the non-renewable segment of the energy industry in Australia. In the last four years, the business has had average annual sales of $ 1,000,000. The last four years have been important for the business. As such, the business has experienced tremendous growth and this has been evidenced by the amount of sales made in the past four years. Generally, the sales have been increasing each year and this is a clear implication that the company is gaining ground. Based on the current growth experience, it is being forecasted that the trend will continue as long as the current practices are not only maintained but be continuously improved, as well.Advertising Looking for report on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The consultancy business, having been established six years ago, can be identified as in the rapid growth stage. This assertion is evident considering the last four years. Currently, the management of the business has embarked on development plans where is wants to invest further in renewable power generating program. However, several issues are currently facing the business. Foremost, the competent service men are less in number. However, the management has established a viable plan through which the most competent consultancy servicemen will be recruited to form part of the team. The solar energy consultancy business can be identified as currently being dominated by Melbourne’s open markets. Competitiveness The concentration of solar energy consultancy industry Industry concentration is a term used to define the measure of the number of organizations as well as the size of the organizations, which are considered predominant in the given industry. In a more precise way, indu stry concentration describes the nature of the competition within a particular industry. In the case of Australian solar energy consultancy industry, there are a number of key players. Among the big consultancy groups include Adopt a Light consultancy group, Glowing Light Consultants LTD as well as The Renewable Consultants Limited. Considering these consultancy firms, they rule a considerable market share. According to the conclusions of the research conducted by Knight and Thomas (2012, p. 23), it is indicated that Adopt a Light consultancy group commands a 20 percent market share while Glowing Light Consultants LTD commands a 15 percent market share. In a similar research conducted by Wade (2008, p. 177), it is indicated in the findings that The Renewable Consultants Limited has taken up a massive 22 percent of the market share in the solar energy consultancy industry. Generally, there are a significant number of solar energy consultancy firms. However, these firms are perceived as not posing a significant threat to this company. Clearly, the Renewable Consultants Limited is the dominant leader in the solar energy consultancy industry. However, the other two consultancy groups as well as our company pose as a threat to the proclaimed industry leader. Competition from other products Our products as well as services are competitive in nature. However, according to a recent research conducted by this consultancy group, it was found out that there are other consultancy groups within Melbourne that offer the same competitive services as well as products that we offer to the clients. Therefore, the management of this consultancy business quickly acted on the recommendations indicated in the research by establishing measures to differentiate the business’ products and services from competitive ones in the eyes of the solar energy clients (Inwood, 2007, p. 16). As such, the top management of this group embarked on the branding differentiation strategy. Barri ers to entry Generally, there are few requirements that a company must comply with before being granted entry into the consultancy industry in Australia. Further, one must provide sufficient proof to show that he has a considerable knowledge and experience with the solar energy products and services. This implies that the entry to the industry is relatively less complicated. This is the possible reason why there are various consultancy groups in the industry. The easiness to admission favors new entrants, who are considered to be prospective competitors, as they enters the solar energy market during the periods in which high profits are being achieved and therefore expanding the capacity to produce. This is a major drawback to the existing businesses as it leads to prices of the consultancy products as well as services to be driven down and similarly, the profitability level lowers down. However, the government realized that there is a condition of unhealthy competition and as such, it has established new regulations that will ensure that the entry to the industry is complicated (Shapiro, 2002, p. 54). This implies that the competitors will find it hard to enter into the industry and as such, the profit margin of this consultancy group will remain favorable. Some of the new requirements that the government has established include; Limited access to market This will greatly favor the group as it has products as well services that are not only well branded but well established, as well. If a new competitor is lucky enough to gain entry, it will have to spend a considerable amount of time money as well as efforts in an effort towards establishing a successful product as well as the service (Barber, 2011, p. 559). Limited access to technology The Australian government has sought to limit the patent technology, in addition to, other intellectual property and as such, it is a great boost to this company as new competition is not imminent. Supply chain concentration Industry rivalry The rivalry between the consultancy groups in the Australian industry, especially in Melbourne, is intense. This means that the company must be continually vigilant on the improved practices that the competitors are engaging in and therefore establish practices that are more viable in an effort towards vending competition off (Altman, 2008, p. 600) Market Trends In the recent past, the sensitivity of the price of solar energy consultancy products as well as services has changed in a significant way. Further, the demand for a variety as well as the level of emphasis on consultancy service, in addition to, support has changed. Another relevant change that has taken place in the near past is regional trends. This consultancy group sees these changes as vital since, through them, it is easy to establish new opportunities, in addition top, threats. Key Success Factors This consultancy group has access to essential resources, which are unique. In addition to this, the gro up has the capabilities of achieving economies of scale in the solar energy consultancy industry. The group also has an access to solar energy consultancy services and products’ distribution channel. Further, the group has experienced an excellent technological progress. The company sees these as key success factors and as such, they are essential, as they will assist the company in its efforts towards achieving the marketing objectives. However, the company is aware that these key success factors will change going into the future, especially as the consultancy products as well as the service progresses through their life cycle (Mills, 2008, p. 55). Distribution Channels Existing channels of distribution The consultancy group ensures that it contacts its clients in a direct manner. Trends and emerging Distribution channels The company has recently embarked on efforts aimed at discovering new distribution channels for its consultancy products as well as services in an effort t owards developing a competitive advantage, in addition to, enhancing its market share. Channel power structure The brands that the consultancy owns have little brand equity. This implies that the consultancy group has power over the manufacturers and therefore, the company has the ability to capture higher margins. The Consultancy’s management team Foremost, the company had adopted a hierarchical structure. A hierarchical organizational structure is essential as it helps the personnel understand where they fit in the organizational hierarchy as well as where they can move after they are moved from their positions. Analysts These are junior most employees in the company. Each analyst of the consultancy holds a bachelor’s degree from a university having majored in a field, which is business related. The company acknowledges this as the entry-level position and as such, the position offers the ability to further move up within the consultancy business after a specified pe riod. In this case, the company requires that for one to be promoted, he must have been an analyst in the same company for a period of two years. Consultants According to Engestrom (2005), consultants are key elements as they form the bulk of any consultancy business. The people in this position were either former analysts or they were admitted directly to this position having met the company’s requirements for this position, that is, holding a Maters in Business Administration. Partners This is where the top management team falls. Partners are the senior most members of any particular consultancy business. In this company, the partners act as consultants, in addition to, assuming a managerial role. The most important thing is that partners are part of the owners of the consultancy business and therefore, they have a share in the revenues of the business. Below is the full list as well as the roles of the partners. The chief Executive Officer The Chief Executive Officer has b een mandated with the responsibilities of helping the households as well as the industries that use solar energy to face the unique challenges emanating from the adoption of solar power as the source of energy. He ensures this by leading in solar energy’s planning retreats, facilitates meetings, in addition to, conducting surveys of both the employees as well as the customers. The chief executive officer is involved in a number of roundtable energy saving education sessions. In addition to this, he chairs and speaks at many seminars covering solar energy industry strategies to success as well as solar methodologies suitable for energy consultancy business (Ayres, 2004, p. 28). Further, the chief executive officer of this company develops and monitors the company’s marketing strategies for the solar energy clients. Director of finance The person occupying this position is required to optimize the cash flows. Further, he is required to streamline the financial processes of the company. In addition, he is responsible with productivity enhancement, introduction of improvements in the processes as well as implementing solutions through technology. Operations Manager This docket concerns several management aspects, which include operations and implementation, management of finance, management of products and services both strategic planning and positioning and technology development, in addition to, support. Human Resources Manager The person in this position will be responsible for the management of the employees of the company. However, he will be required to focus keenly on the management of benefits, relations as well as payrolls of the employees. He will oversee the human resource functions in this company (Brigham, 2004, p. 233). Information Technology Manager A person who is considered a pragmatic technologist holds this position and as such, he is responsible with the application of technology for the sake of the company’s value, in addi tion to advantage. Business development manager This position is responsible for the performance of the sales quota, development of new businesses, founding and building strong relationships with the company’s customers, as well as, the effective management of territories, time and working teams. Service manager This position is responsible with the maintenance of a special focus on the management of information. Service Development It is made clear by Vaughan (2007, p. 55) that successive product and service development does not necessarily have to do with products. Rather, it involves the establishment of the needs, which the customer may not even be aware of and thereby developing solutions in an effort towards meeting those needs. This consultancy group will mainly dwell on service offerings. As such, the company will provide a solar energy consultancy service to its clients. For precision, the company will offer advice to the solar energy clients regarding the efficient way to save energy. As such, saving energy is the hidden need that the solar energy clients are not aware. In order to provide the best consultancy solution to this need, the company will adopt the ideation session technique. As such, the company will embark on conducting internal ideation sessions, that is, with the company employees, as well as external sessions, that is with the potential customers, in order to explore what might be possible (Krishna, 2001, p. 13). Further, the ideation session will be effective in understanding the goals of the customers as well as the most effective way to meet these goals. In addition to this, the ideation sessions will be essential, as it will be used to establish the best practices that the consultancy can apply in both the short term as well as in the long term. Further service development strategies, the consultancy business will engage in intermediary services whereby it will sell energy services from big companies at discounted rates. Ho wever, in doing this, the top management team will ensure that there is no instance the company will become affiliated with any one company. Through this, the top management team will have acknowledged the rule of consultancy, which states that; to be a consultant, it is not recommended to become affiliated with any one company or product. Financial Considerations Initial start up costs Since the company has no operating premises of its own, renting is inevitable. A team will be assigned the duty of identifying a building to set up the consultancy business premises. As such, the identified place should be rational in terms of costs, in addition to, being at strategic points where it is easily accessible. The equipments needed for this consultancy business operation includes computers, furniture, stationeries, safes, printers and photocopiers, among other equipments. These equipments will be essential in supporting the consultancy activities. The general outlay to be provided in orde r to acquire these equipments is approximated to be sixteen million dollars. In order to come up with the prices that will be charged for the services rendered to the clients, the company will establish a team to conduct an intensive research on the prices that other similar businesses charge for their services. However, during an initial research done by the company, it was established that the charges depend on the complexity of the issue at hand. Generally, the solar energy consultancy services range from as low as a hundred dollars to as high as a thousand dollars. Other costs that the clients will incur apart from the consultancy service charges will include installation costs as well as maintenance costs. As a way to market the company towards reaching a competitive advantage, the top management team will identify activities, which will be offered for free and as such, they will be considered as after sales services. Such will include clean up of the installed system among oth er activities. These events will not be included in the financial reports of the companies after the end of a financial year. Profit margin The company is targeting a profit margin of one million dollars after all the deductions have been made, that is, after considering tax on returns and interests to shareholders, among other deductions. In order to realize this budget, the financial department will be required to come up with a focused budget showing how processes will be funded. In addition to this, the financial department will have to come up with a budget that clearly outlines the sources of cash flows. The group’s future planning Time Line The essence of developing a future planning time line is to help the consultancy business focus on the prize irrespective of the stage that the company is in currently. First year After the end of the first year, the business plan of this consultancy group that it intends to start with will be re-read. The rationale behind re-readin g it in after the first year is that updates will be made, and if there is a need, the goals or even schedules of the company will be revised. In addition to this, re-reading the business plan will ensure that the management of the company is re-acquainted with the goals that were made at the starting point, which the management lost touch with during the cumbersome startup days. Going into the second year, these goals will be fixed. Second through to the fifth year Both the processes as well as the procedures that the company will have developed during the first year will be formalized in this period. In this period, the basic goal will be getting adequate information from the people and putting it on paper. Further, the procedures for operations will be written down in a manual during this period and this will prove to be of great importance. It is being considered that it will assist in helping the management of the company to think through the elements associated with the critic al tasks of the consultancy business (Hirt, 2012, p, 71). It is advisable to have a system in the organization, which is not only rational but reputable, as well. Such a system is of great value as the business plan for the first phase of sustained growth. After entering the first growth phase, that is, in the third year the company will begin the process of hiring people in large numbers that it will have done before. This process of bringing new people will be fool proofed by the management team embarking on writing down job descriptions for each and every position, whether existing or newly established. Kerzner (2009, p. 19) states that a well documented and thought of job descriptions is essential, as they help in identifying and hiring the most suitable people for the right jobs. During this period, the top management will have to consider the face that this consultancy business will present to the customers. Messages, images, in addition to other viable marketing materials wil l be codified. As such, the processes used in sales and marketing will be standardized. When the company grows too large at some particular point such that it will not be possible to manage in the hands-on way it was initially done, it will be taken as a call to bring in a management team. As the company grows during this period, it will need bigger capital and the initial sources will not be appealing. Therefore, the company will turn to banks and other lending facilities. By this time, the company will have grown larger and as such, the issue of creditworthiness will not be a problem (Matt, 2009, p. 33). As the company progresses, there will be a need for documentations. Therefore, bookkeeping procedures will have to be adopted. Further, there will be generation of not only regular but accurate financial reports, as well. These will include cash flow projections, income statements, in addition to balance sheets. Fifth to tenth year The company will embark on more sophisticated bus iness operations such as mergers and acquisitions. Assumptions The main assumption is that the accumulated funds will favor an effective entry into the solar energy consultancy business. Further, it is postulated that the current growth pattern of the consultancy industry will remain the same especially at the time this business will be making an entry. References Altman, E. 2008, ‘Strategic Management’, American Journal of Management, Vol. 2 no. 3, 589–609. Ayres, F. 2004, ‘Key Success Factors: What Managers Need to Know’, Journal of Management, Vol. 3 no. 2, 27–29. Barber, B. 2011, ‘PESTEL Analysis’, Journal of Strategic Management, Vol. 66 no. 2, 531–563. Brigham, E. F. 2004, Fundamentals of Financial Management, Cengage Learning, Belmont. Engestrom, U. 2005, Consultancy Business Manifesto. Web. Galbraith, M. 2001, Guide to Consultancy Business Planning, Masters Thesis, Oxford Digital Thesis Program 2000. Oxford Digital Thesis Program. Grave, B. Zacharakis, A. 2008, Entrepreneurship, Wiley Sons, Hoboken NJ. Hirt, G. A. 2012, Corporate Management Foundations, McGraw-Hill Irwin, London, UK. Horngren, C 2002. Market Analysis, Prentice-Hall, London, UK. Inwood, M. 2007, Heidegger; A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Kerzner, H. 2009, ‘Business Management: A Systems Approach to Planning and scheduling†, Journal of Management, Vol. 9 no. 5, 11-20. Knight, J. Thomas., P 2012, Reaching the clients: Distribution and Promotion of a business operation, Intellect Books, Bristol, UK. Krishna, P. 2001, ‘Introduction to Industry Analysis and Valuation’ Journal of Strategic Management, Vol. 6 no. 2, 9-16. Matt, D. 2009, ‘Approaches to Strategic Management’, American Journal of Management, Vol. 6 no. 6, 30-36. Mills, J. 2008, ‘Future Planning for a company’, Journal of Management, Vol. 6 no. 8, 53–61. Print. Schaper, M. Volery, T. 2007, Entrepreneurship and Small Business, John Wiley and Sons, Milton QLD. Shapiro, A. C. 2002, Foundations of Multinational Management, Wiley, London, UK. Timmons, J. Spinelli, S. 2007, New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Boston, MA. Vaughan, D. 2007. The Challenger Launch Decision: Technology, Culture, and Management, Springer, London, UK. Wade, D. 2008, How to deal with competition, ProQuest, Michigan.

Team Building Interventions

Team Building Interventions There is a widespread impression, evident from popular research and casual empiricism, of the inability of scholars and organisations to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of team building in measuring changes in skills or attitudes. Often what the evaluation tools do is evaluate the team before and after team building event in anticipation of valuable outcomes.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Team Building Interventions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the methodology employed in team building evaluation has not been successful in gathering and assessing data that would serve conclusive. One major short coming of team building interventions is that is the research employed does not even attempt an evaluation. Across the social science, skill is a fundamental yet problematic concept and the inaccuracies of evaluation methods may be linked to the phenomena under investigation and the circumstanc es under which the data is collected that does not produce conclusive analysis. In this paper I will discuss three leadership styles using my past work experience. Then I will go through some aspects of teamwork. Finally, I will give a summary about myself as a leader and how personal characteristics influence leadership style. Key theories, concepts and empirical research carried out to evaluate team building interventions (TBIs) have proven frustrating leading us to examine what has been done to overcome this problem. To obtain conclusive, data was collected from 22 full time MBA students on a three day trip via open ended questionnaire to determine what’s happening both within team and individuals involved in team building event in order to determine the kinds of practices, support and resources used to ensure effective data collection. Each student for this case was given a responsibility to record their negative and positive events on a daily basis bearing changes in the mselves and their team members (Rushmer 1997, p.316). Since team building interventions used open ended questionnaires to collect data, I found it difficult to process and analyse large amount of data in limited time. Open ended questions for my case would be hard to record my exact feelings which would be measured to provide conclusive results.Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Due to the changing economic and social context of employee relations, there’s need to evaluate the effectiveness of team building Interventions (TBIs) in organizational development projects. Schools and organisations for this instance should recognise the inherent benefits associated with such evaluations such as their ability to justify direct and indirect costs of interventions to organisations and providing evidence to its validity to scholars to ascertain whether progra ms are truly operational and beneficial. However, in my analysis, the journal’s weakness is that the team building strategy used in measuring outcomes has not been able to adequately gather or assess data that would serve as conclusive. Plenty of evidence suggests that students who are more likely to integrate into groups were more likely to get through their course completion and to successfully gain their award. Evidently from my analysis, students grouped into teams are able manage through their academic years either due to the emotional support received from fellow students, the practical advice gained from drawing from each others skills, expertise and experiences, opportunity to clarify their ideas with each other or it could possibility be a combination of all these factors. Therefore, as the MBA students undertake their full time residential period, TBI takes place in their first week of the program to â€Å"build the teams† at the beginning of the course (Rush mer 1997, p.316). I therefore support the journal’s theory of group integration in team building activities since it provides reliable analysis to support the evidence. Participation Participants age group ranged from 22 to 37 with an average age of 25 combined with a great range of cultural background, a strategy that was not put into consideration in regard to how their participation would affect TBI. In this case, I stand against the team building theory since the spit groups in regard to gender were not considered as female participants of ages 35 were not likely to stay full time in the residents due to family ties hence making the data collected unreliable. The groups were further divided into three groups; teams, gender, nationality and age and stayed together during the TBI duration (Rushmer 1997, p.316).Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Team Building Interventions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Methodology Data collected from the 22-full time MBA students teams on a three day outward bound residential team building course was done through open ended questionnaire in order to allow participants to answer freely in their own words. This strategy was used in anticipation that extensive data will be collected on how each member perceived changes and developments during their trip rather than forcing themselves into YES and NO replies on pre-existing scales designed around the authors beliefs. The advantage of this journal article was that the method of data collection used by students to record raw information and report the findings on the sensitive issues to map the phenomena was reliable. On the other hand, the sorting through large amount of data served as a disadvantage since it would take considerable amount of time jeopardising the credibility of data collected (Rushmer 1997, p.316). Open ended questionnaires are disadvantaged to the sense that the answers produc ed were inadequate and missing valuable data that were to be measured against at the end of the project. Poor warded questions may prevent responses from answering individual questions, therefore increasing unit non response. The project supervisor should have opted for more explicit questions that would produce accurate answers to be used for School surveys as a self administered mode of data collection. Participant observation The author was actively involved in TBI exercise and task taking which enabled him obtain tacit knowledge and experience, team membership and team functioning which helped him extract qualitative data from questionnaire returns and assemble them into themes in reflection to what happened in TBI and to report the events as close as it was. The author classified important stages in the process of becoming a team as the following; Emergent themes The themes of â€Å"Speaking to† and â€Å"getting to know† were introduced at the beginning of projec t, a strategy that facilitated the process of getting to know each other. On a social level, â€Å"speaking to† enabled the relationship between the team members to develop although there is no strong indication that all team members got along successively.Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More One of the participant reported that, once team members were able to speak to each other, everyone was friendly and they felt relaxed and even made friends at the end of the process. The themes, â€Å"speaking to† and â€Å"getting to know† was identifies as the first step in facilitating the process of team building. Here, Maslow’s theory of motivation which stipulates that team members draw satisfaction from safety and belongingness of membership of the team was identified. Maslow’s theory of motivation that proposes the model of how happy, healthy and functioning people are, are only based on concrete observations of people rather than coming up with an ideal formular for basing their theory. The motivation theory explains where â€Å"self-actualising† personality comes from which reacts too much on reductionism. Though the theory has taken into consideration the existing healthy personalities, the observations are more detailed than the theory can predict and the data contradicts the theory to some extend (Rushmer 1997, p.316). The data collected in the group dynamic theory that stipulates that people sometimes join groups in order to gain comfort, security and friendship was also identified. Since the project was task oriented, participants in day three began to notice strength and weaknesses of team members and learned how to work with each other. In my opinion, when there is no â€Å"speaking to† and â€Å"getting to know† then there would be no way of knowing what different teams can or cannot do in terms of skills, expertise and experience. It is to this i conclude that socializing was more fruitful strategy in the task orientation since teams reported more communication and unity (Rushmer 1997, p.316: Hays 2004). Refusal of leaders Following the dynamics of group behaviour, the teams refused to provide group leaders at the beginning of the project but allowed it to happen naturally as the project went on. One of the team members become one of the spokesman, a role that made him feel commanding often perceived with linked to negative comments. Strong leadership is seen to destroy both unity and coherence of the team. An Egalitarian team? In the process of team building, I can see egalitarian team developing where leaders are allowed to guide and the team members are satisfied when everyone takes part. This theory may be misleading in the sense that leadership has often been perceived as a force that directs action, tasks, unifies group and suggests solutions but we can see that this activities were not solely directed at one person, but were directed by different team members depending on task t hand, therefore not bale to base our conclusive result on (Rushmer 1997, p.316). In relation to organisations, management should set realistic goals of their team members by making it clear of the expected outcomes making clear of the task to be carried out to prevent unnecessary de-motiva ting influences and unrealistic expectations which often cause disappointments. This is often experienced in organisation with complicated communication channels through policies and practices. Organisation should also reduce the formal appearance of hierarchy since employees often link them with negative comments. Leaders should fully participate in organization projects to allow acquisition of new skills (Rushmer 1997, p.316). The project strategy was also aimed at determining who would enact leadership behaviour for example in tasks requiring physical strength and for this case, it was the biggest member of them team that took the role. Likewise, when rock climbing, team members who had initially experienced similar exercise appeared to direct the others. It’s therefore concluded that a given task is determined by ones skills, expertise or experience. Leadership as evident from this project may seem to be influenced by expert’s power, rather that permanent role of a particular individual (Rushmer 1997, p.316). Benefit of the team Participation of team members forces them to try out new behaviours and acquire new skills, team members attest to that. One member attests to this by saying that the he tried out new things he wouldn’t without the team work. This brings me to conclusive evidence that teamwork modifies behaviour for the sake of the team, hence the theory of â€Å"team will†. This however supports the assertion that ‘team’ is a body that forces people to do things they would not have done on their own. Members reported to have gained self confidence which were often rewarding and made the team experience enjoyable. There was also a â€Å"feel good factor† that enhanced positive feelings and stimulated team spirit. One of the participants regarded his team to be the best because of the fun and motivation received. The ability to identify with the team helps build the feel good factor (Rushmer 1997, p.31 6). Since the participants were eager to undergo new experiences, learn new ideas and skills, Maslow’s theory calls for accurate perception of reality which is inconsistence to ordinary people’s ability to deny, repress or deform perceptions to fit their own prejudices. Here Maslow’s theory agrees with the experiences of participants’ intuitive levels and their conscious on rational levels. The general concept to this self-actualizer is that may be attracted to the unknown rather than being afraid of it. Achieving the task: Process, outcomes and motivation There is a strong indication of positive outcomes in complimentary with task orientation to teamwork as it motivates and heightens team’s efforts to achieve their tasks. Since everyone participated in the task, everyone celebrated its success hence the theory of â€Å"one for all, all for one† ethos of success. In task orientation process, the pathways travelled in order to achieve this ou tcome helped them recognise important process in accomplishment of these stages which determines the effective functioning of the team as the actual achievement of the outcome. The outcome helped the team recognise real organisation, planning, discussion and action to be the major component of their team building. In relation to task orientation, the task outcomes and task process did not give conclusive results on how the team operates. We also realised that demanding tasks gave rise to supportiveness, encouragement which stimulated relationship orientation behaviour since members desired to help each other to succeed. Task difficulty challenged members to rise up to cooperation and encouragement within the team. We therefore conclude that team work motivated people to work together and stay till the end of the project (Hays 2004; Rushmer 1997, p.316). De-motivation Team members also complained of cold and wet weather in which they were required to exercise and not all activities r equired them to work as a team. Therefore motivation as part of team building spirit departs from the theory that states that team work encourages full participation of members. Conclusion Since individuals were inclined to pre-set groups, team members were unable to mix and talk freely and therefore knowing each other’s skills and expertise was only limited to the preset groups. Structural and geographical arrangements were also a hindering factor to team operations. People should read the article because it encourages organisation to implement more challenging tasks as a strategy to pull all members participation towards task accomplishment. Challenging task as i have already mentioned help members gain positive side effects and increases participation thereby enabling development of new skills, increases confidence and motivation and built team spirit and co-operation. This should therefore be incorporated in work places by rewarding hard working employees by their skills, experience and length of service. People should also read the article because it teaches new learner on methods of data collection and different theories applied in team building activities List of References Hays, J. 2004, Building High-Performance Teams: A Practitioner’s Guide. Argos Press: Canberra Rushmer, R. 1997, ‘What happens to the team during teambuilding? Examining the change process that helps to build a team’, The Journal of Management Development, Vol. 16, pg. 316

Summary about a book Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary about a book - Essay Example They conclude that the only person who could be in the store is the old woman working for their parents (Ledwidge). Without Andy’s knowledge, Hank hires an experienced thief who happens to be his own co-worker. The thief is known as Bobby Lasorda. Bobby is very experienced in robbery. With just one loaded gun, he can rob the shop by himself. Hank needs to wait in the car. The brothers’ mother Nanette happens to be in the store herself in place of the original clerk. The robbery goes sour when Nannette pulls a gun on Bobby, leading to a shootout. Hank runs away from the scene after seeing Bobby die. Later Nanette dies in the hospital after her husband denies her life support. Charles is not satisfied with the help from the police. He therefore decides to investigate the case himself since he knows that Bobby had a partner thus he becomes obsessed with finding out who the other criminal was. Andy chastises Hank for his mistake while Hank himself finds himself fixing many problems. Hank removes evidence he had left in the rented car he had used for the robbery. Hank is later confronted by Bobby’s brother Dex who asks for financial compensation for Bobby’s death in order to provide for his widow (Ledwidge). Hank has a secret affair with Andy’s wife, Gina. Gina claims that Andy is not satisfying her. Gina reveals her feelings to Andy at the point of leaving him. When Andy hears of Dex blackmail, he decides to solve the situation with Hank by robbing Andy’s drug dealer. Once they get at the dealers house, they overpower him and rob him off his money. Hank is shocked at seeing Andy murder the dealer together with the client who happened to be present. The brothers go to pay Dex, but Andy kills him impulsively fearing that Dex might blackmail them further. When Hank opposes Andy’s decision to kill Chris, Andy decides to kill Hank. He reveals to him that he knows about his relationship with Gina. Before Andy pulls the trigger, he is shot

Marketing. Performance evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing. Performance evaluation - Essay Example It would not be correct, if we only hold the employee responsible or if we hold solely the employee responsible for this immorality. An employee involves himself in such act because there is not adequate check on him, which is the responsibility of the company. However, the primary fault is that of the person himself. It is the immorality of the individual that actually works on promoting such unethical practices at company time. Hence, the person responsible for the act is to be held responsible; however, the boost to these activities given by company environment is also to be considered. Discussion Question 2: Please discuss your views of performance expectations or performance appraisals and how they accurately or not evaluate your performance Do you feel the annual evaluation you have each year accurately reflects your performance on the job What are some ethical implications related to performance evaluations Performance evaluation is said to be a yardstick for measurement and decision of whether an employee has performed according to expectations or not and if yes, how good has been the performance. Performance evaluation techniques have a structured approach followed by discussion to have a conclusion of the employee's performance. An employee is allowed to present his case through self evaluation but the final judgment is that of the boss. The annual frequency of this tool is for ease and convenience. However, there are times when the employee has been a great performer throughout the year, and just when the evaluation time is near, due to some reason the performance has slipped. In such cases, performance evaluation results do not go in the favor of employee in spite of quality and hard work all the year round. This makes performance evaluation a subjective tool to a great extent. So, better frequency can remove this drawback rather than having an annual appraisal. Ethically, it is the employee's responsibility to do a realistic and correct self appraisal and even the boss is morally bound to give the deserved rating. But, in actual scenario, the case does not match ideal needs. The employee does try to inflate and show his performance and aims at maximum rating in spite of whatever the performance is. Exceptions are always there. Also, the boss tries to have personal bias while evaluating. Hence, the ethical sense of the tool gets lost. Summary: The course on critical thinking and ethics offers a pathway to integrate the views on ethics in the professional as well as personal life. It has an impact on the thought process and helps getting a realistic view of things around us and facilitates evaluation of professional and personal development in the light of ethical standings. It also enables to let us apply theoretical topics and discussions for decision making and for assessment of skill sets and talent. The above two discussion questions give a food for thought for the immorality and morality debate at work place. It helps in analysis of the actual scenario versus the expected scenario. The collaborative effort of the course with a structured approach and discussion based topics of real life stimulate the

Dropping Out of One’s Future Essay Example for Free

Dropping Out of One’s Future Essay We need another series of milk cartons: one that shows the faces of students who drop out of school. After all, isn’t a kid who has dropped out of school a bit like a kid who has been kidnapped? The circumstances have more in common than one might imagine: there is a moment that finally comes during which one’s life is inexorably altered, and if that moment comes and no one is around to help, the consequences are life-long and most likely devastating. Whether one is taken by force and tossed into a van or one is removed by a force from the basic educational system of society, the result is still a kid whose life will never be the same. There are as many reasons for a student’s dropping out of school as there are for a criminal’s behavior, but ultimately, the reason a kid drops out comes down to one of three things: a lack of support, a lack of success, or a lack of money (â€Å"Youth Who Drop Out†). Educational success or failure is often a result of a support system or lack thereof, and no race, gender, or socio-economic group is immune; however, there is a common factor when it comes to evaluating the reasons behind students’ dropping out: â€Å"No one at home, at school or in the community had established relationships with [those who dropped out], set high academic expectations [or] given them the tools to achieve them† (â€Å"Youth Who Drop Out,† Sacchetti). It appears that those who lack a reliable support system are unable to stick with the rigors of school—rigors that are complicated by the mere act of growing from child to adolescent to adult. Trying and failing is no fun for anyone, and the constant pressure on students to perform based not a personal scale but a fixed one can be overwhelming. â€Å"Recent research suggests that, even for students who have difficult home lives, dropping out has much to do with [both] how schools operate and the educational experiences students have within them (Jerald 3). The relationship between a student’s success and his willingness to continue seems profound, and while there is no doubt that school is supposed to be challenging, the challenge is too great for some. This is a cyclical event: the student who does not understand something on Monday does not wake up on Tuesday understanding it; however, Tuesday comes, and so does more information built upon the prior day’s lesson. Now, the student who was behind one lesson is behind two (Jerald 5). There is a reason most students have a favorite subject along with one or more that they hate, and the reason is generally success-based. Money is perhaps the greatest threat to the continuation of an education, but ironically, it is also the biggest burden over the long-haul. Consider the student who lives at home, pays no rent, is responsible for no bills, and who suddenly gets a job. Even a minimum wage salary creates a false sense of financial security for that individual, and there are plenty of high school students who find work that pays a better wage. Suddenly, the new wage-earner considers just how much more he’d make working full time instead of part time, and because he has not had to budget realistically, it seems clear that the time he sits in a classroom is time wasted as he could be earning more money. Education professor Russell Rumberger of UC Santa Barbara found that, â€Å"A dropout earns an average of $18,826 a year, far less than the $27,280 a high-school graduate makes [. . . and] dropouts pay less in taxes and are more at risk of going on welfare, experiencing health problems or getting into trouble† (qtd. in Sacchetti). Students who lack a support system and who are not successful in school can easily become enthralled by the potential to make an amount of money that seems substantial at the age of sixteen. These students are not likely to consider the dead end they face later when the earning potential they have acquired isn’t sufficient, and lacking a support system, they are certainly unlikely to receive alternate advice. No one blames a kidnapping victim for behavior that might have resulted in the accosting; however, society is quick to judge those who drop out without taking the time necessary to evaluate whether or not the drop out simply didn’t get what she needed in terms of the life education—a type of learning that can’t always be taught in school. Works Cited Jerald, Craig D. â€Å"Identifying Potential Dropouts: Key Lessons for Building an Early Warning Data System: A Dual Agenda of High Standards and High Graduation Rates.† Achieve, Inc. June 2006. Carnegie Corporation of New York. 30 Sept. 2006. http://www. achieve. org/files/dropouts. pdf. Sacchetti, Maria. â€Å"Why Do Students Drop Out of School? † The Orange County Register. 31 Oct. 2004. 29 Sept. 2006. http://www. ocregister. com/ocr/2004/10/31/sections/news/ news/article_294717. php. â€Å"Youth Who Drop Out. † Focus Adolescent Services. 2000. 29 Sept. 2006. http://www. focusas. com/Dropouts. html.