Policy Framework Development

Introduction In this essay, I will discuss the welfare state since World War II and how it has impacted society in England and Wales. In addition, I will discuss the importance of social policy, how it was developed and the four most frequently used approaches. The ideas behind these approaches will be explained and some examples of such policies in different fields will be provided. Overall, evidence will be provided on how social policy became educational discipline in its own right. The origins of the National Health Service One of the most drastic social policies put into action in England and Wales has been the implementation of free medical treatment for all, through the National Health Service. According to Alcock (2008), illness was very common and health care expensive before the National Health Service (NHS) came into existence in 1948. Poor housing, overcrowding, poor sanitation, malnutrition and lack of education were common, enabling the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. Life expectancy was considerably lower, at a mere 60 years. During the 19th century, health care was provided through the workhouse, or municipal and voluntary hospitals. The rich were often treated in their own homes or in a private practice. A lady Almoner was responsible for carrying out a means test, which determined who got medical treatment, she was also responsible for approaching charities for funding. (Alcock, 2008) The ideology behind the development of the NHS was to put an end to ignorance, squalor , disease and poverty, by ensuring health care was available to all. This included free treatments for all, a family benefit scheme and full employment. Although some saw it as a politically risky move, Prime Minister Churchill gave his full backing for the NHS in 1943, thus starting the reform towards free health care. As Bochel reports: â€Å"During 1944, White Paper proposing a national health service, and the election of a Labour Government in 1945 made the establishment of a NHS almost certain. The necessary legislation was passed in the 1946 National Health Service Act.† (Bochel, 2009, p. 332). Finally, the NHS became a reality on July 5th 1948. It was an enormous achievement but due to the significant investment in time, money and resources, it was not met without opposition- this was a time when there were food and fuel shortages, as well as a dollar economic crisis. However, the general public wanted the new service to succeed, and as such Britain became the first country in Western Europe to offer free medical service, funded through the general taxation system. According to Bevan: â€Å"It was based on three core principles which include; it meets the needs of everyone, to be free at the point of delivery and it to be based on clinical needs, not ability to pay.† (National Health Service History, 2012). These core principles have remained the same since the creation of the NHS (Bochel, 2009,p. 332). However, free health care as provided by the NHS proved to be very expensive, with the drug bill increasing from ?13 million to ?41 million within the first two years of its creation. Additionally, as medicine progressed as a science, new technologies and methods increased the cost of the NHS from ?200 million to ?300 million. The provision of free health care for all led to excess demand, adding pressure to the already limited medical resources. The Government was reluctant to cover the excess cost, as it needed to invest in other sectors, such as education. As a result, charges for certain services, such as spectacles and dentures, as well as for prescriptions were implemented (Alcock2008). Neo-liberal ideology and the NHS In 1979, when the NHS had been in place for several decades, a Neo Liberal Government was elected, with little sympathy for the state provision of welfare and the high level of expenditure associated with it (Bochel, 2009, p. 332). Neo-liberal ideology supports the reorganization of the financial and organizational aspects of healthcare services worldwide, based on the argument that the then-existing health systems had failed. According to the recommendation report in 1983, four major problems of health systems globally were: i) misallocation of resources; ii) inequity of accessing care; iii) inefficiency; and iv) exploding costs. It was claimed that government hospitals and clinics were often inefficient, suffering from highly centralised decision-making, wide fluctuations in allocations, and poor motivation of workers (Alcock, 2008). Quality of care was also low, patient waiting times were long and medical consultations were short, misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment were comm on. Also, the public sector had suffered from serious shortages of medical drugs and equipment, and the purchasing of brand-name pharmaceuticals instead of generic drugs was one of the main reasons for wasting the money spent on health (Navarro, 2007). Private providers were more technically efficient and offer a service that was perceived to be of higher quality. Neo-liberal policies Examples of policies implemented by the Neo-Liberal Government were those based on cost-effectiveness. Cost-effectiveness was presented as the main tool for choosing among possible health interventions for specific health problems. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were used to measure the burden of disease and thus allowing comparisons between specific health problems. Greater reliance on the private sector to deliver clinical services was encouraged, with the expectation that it would raise efficiency. It was suggested that Governments should privatise the healthcare services, by selling the public goods and services, buying the services from the private sector, and supporting the private sector with subsidies. In order to increase efficiency, unnecessary legal and administrative barriers faced by private doctors and pharmacies would need to be removed. Neoliberal policies in healthcare were heavily criticised as they reportedly misdiagnosed the problems and its treatment, lea ding to a situation worse than it was before the policies were implemented. Shrinking from welfare state to minimum liberal state, retreating from most of the public services and letting the area to irrationality of market dynamics is making pharmaceutical, medical technology, insurance, and law companies the lead actors. It has been claimed that a system providing services according ability-to-pay rather than healthcare need, ensures decreased availability and accessibility to services† (Danis et al., 2008; Janes et al., 2006; Unger et al, 2008). New Labour and the NHS In 1997, the New Labour Government was elected, with a main focus to make a significant improvement on peoples’ health. This was expected to be done by rebuilding the health services within the NHS through â€Å"decentralizing of power and decision-making to local health trusts†. Decentralising was important in order to achieve increased responsiveness to local health needs by widening patient choice, and promoting organizational efficiency. The underlying premise was that decentralization would shorten the bureaucratic hierarchical structure and allow flexibility for local trust managers and health professionals- thus improving organizational performance from the ‘bottom-up’ (Crinson, 2009 :p 139). In 1997 the Government put forward its plans in the White Paper: â€Å"The New NHS: Modern, Dependable† (Blakemore 2003:p 172). The objective was to reduce bureaucratic control from the centre and restore autonomy to health professionals within the NHS. A t the same time, the Government was determined to limit public expenditure by looking at what was already put in place by the previous government. One of the new Labour objectives was to reduce the number of people on the treatment waiting list by offering patients greater choice of provider at the point of inpatient referral. This was put in place from January 2006 onwards, where patients have been offered a choice of at least four hospitals when referred for treatment by their general practitioner. In addition, a new inpatient booking system was put in place, where patients themselves could book their place and time of treatment (Adam, 2006). In 1998, health inequality targets were included in the public service agreements with local government and cross-department machinery was created to follow up a ‘Programme of Actions’, which had the general aim to reduce inequality in terms of life expectancy at birth, and to reduce the infant mortality rate by 10 per cent by 20 10 (Glennerster, 2007 : p 253). Examples of health care policies implemented by New Labour are: Maximum waiting times for in-patient treatment: six months by 2005 and three months by 2008; Patients able to see a primary care practitioner within twenty-four hours and a GP within forty- eight hours; Maximum waiting time of four-hours in emergency rooms; Plans to improve cancer treatment and health inequalities. In addition, in order to improve efficiency, two bodies were set up to give advice and push for more consistent and effective clinical standards in determining the cost of new drugs and procedures. This was the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) (Glennerster,2007 : p 250). However, as argued by Peckham and colleagues (year?), the decentralization of the NHS had mixed results. They note that the process of decentralization was not clear and that there were contradictions, reflecting a simultaneous process of centralization and decentralization, in which local perf ormance indicators were centrally-set. If achieved, this resulted in increased financial and managerial autonomy. However, there was some supportive evidence that decentralization had improved patients’ health outcome, as well as improved efficiency in coordination and communication processes (Crinson, 2009 : p 140). The Government at the time met its target for treatment waiting lists by 2000- the number of people on the waiting list had fallen by 150,000. However, one main criticism came from the doctors, nurses and other health professionals where they were the ones dealing with prioritizing patients based on medical need, whilst having to explain to other anxious and angry patients why their treatment is delayed (Crinson, 2009). Coalition Government and the NHS In 2010, the newly established Coalition Government published the NHS White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS policy’, prepared by the Department of Health. This policy included important changes compared to those proposed by the previous Government, and reflected the aims of the Coalition’s five year plan. Some of the proposed changes include: i) responsibility for commissioning of NHS services shifted to GPs, as the Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities were dissolved, and ii) Foundation Trust status granted to all hospitals, ensuring increased autonomy and decision-making power. These reforms were part of the Coalition’s broader goal to give more power to local communities and empower GPs. By way of estimation, it is expected that this cost to about 45% for the NHS management. Strengthening of the NHS Foundation Trusts in order for these Trusts to provide financial regulation for all NHS services was another objective of the reform. An independent NHS board was set up, with the aim to lead and oversee specialised care and GP commissioning respectively. The objectives behind the Coalition Government’s plans was to increase health spending in real terms for each year of Parliament, with full awareness that this would impact the spending in other areas. The Coalition Government still maintained Beverage idea that all health care should be free and available to everybody at the point of delivery, instead of based on the ability to pay. It was expected that this approach would improve standards, support professional responsibility, deliver better value for money and as such create a healthier nation. Although the Prime Minister rectified it in his speech, the Government failed to provide a clear account of the shortcomings of the NHS and its challenges. The preparation of the White Paper, which was to pass the coalition committee’s examination, saw more compromises. The elimination of PCTs was not foretold but the conservatives would make PCTs remain as the statutory commissioning authority responsible for public health despite their commitment to devolving real budgets to GPs. It was rumoured that the Liberal Democrats policy of elected representatives to PCTs appear weak. The compromise was to give greater responsibility for public health to local authorities and eliminate PCTs. This resulted in the formation of the GP commissioning consortia and the Health and Wellbeing Boards. Despite concerns raised by stakeholders, the proposals saw just a few changes. Maybe we can call it a missed chance in retrospect. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be argued that without the NHS coming to force when it did at such a dire time after the Second World War, the already high mortality rates would have continued to rise. The NHS was vital in changing peoples’ lives in England and Wales and around the world. The system was designed meet everyone needs, regardless of financial abilities and without discrimination. Many changes have taken place since the birth of the NHS in 1948. Four different Governments adapted the NHS with their policies and legislation. However, throughout its evolution, the NHS still provides healthcare free of charge, as was intended from its conception. References Alcock, (2008). Social Policy in Britain. 3rd ed.Basingstoke: Palgrace Macmillan Alexion Pharma (2010). Politics and Policy [Online] www. [email protected] Available From: http://www.pnh-alliance.org.uk/politics-and-policy/the-department-of-health-publishes-equity-and-excellence-liberating-the-nhs. [Accessed on: 06 Nov. 12] Blakemore, K (2003). Social Policy an introduction. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Open University Press. Blakemore, K, Griggs, E. (2003). Social Policy an introduction. 3nd ed.England: Open University Press. Bochel, H., Bochel, C., Page, R., Sykes, R. (2009). Social Policy Themes, Issues and Debates. 2nd ed. England: Pearson Education Limited. Crinson, I. (2009) Health Policy a critical perspective. London: Sage Publication Ltd. Glennerster, H. (2007). British Social Policy. 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Danis, M.Z., Karatas, K., Sahin, M.C. (2008). Reflections of neoliberal policies on healthcare field and social work practices. World Applied Sciences Journal, 5(2), 224-235. Ezeonu, I. (2008). Crimes of globalization: health care, HIV and the poverty of neoliberalism in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Social Inquiry, 1(2), 113-134. Hospital Stories from Hell: National Health Videos (1998) [DVD] London: Channel 4. Recorded off –air 19/03/1998 Macara, S. ( 1998). Nursing Studies. BBC News: True to its principles [Online]. Available from: NHS Choices. Moonie N. (2003). Health and Social Care. Series ed. Oxford: Heine Educational Publisher. Navarro, V. (2007). Neoliberalism as a class ideology; or, the political causes of the growth of inequalities. Int J Health Serv, 37(1), 47-62. NHS. ( 2012). Nursing Studies. About the NHS: NHS core principles [Online]. Available from: NHS Choices. Oliver, Adam. â€Å"Further progress towards reducing waiting times†. Health Policy Monitor, April 2006. Available at http://www.hpm.org/survey/uk/a7/1 . [Accessed on: 14 Nov. 12] Pennies from Bevan: National Health Videos (1998) [DVD] London: Chanel 4. Recorded off –air 14/06/1998 Rivett, G (2012). Nursing Studies, National Health Service History. [Online]. Available from: http://www. NHS history.net [Accessed 06 March 2012). Socialist Health (2010). Coalition Health Policy 2010 [Online] http://www.sochealth.co.uk. Available From: http://www.sochealth.co.uk/campaigns/health-and-social-care-bill-2012/coalition-health-policy-2010/. [Accessed on: 06 Nov.12] Viveash, B, Senior, M. (1998). Health and Illness. London: Macmillan Press.

Game Changer

Game-changer essay EDD8102–Foundations of Leadership and Management II Introduction Establishing a disciplined, repeatable, and scalable innovation process, creating organizational and funding mechanisms that support innovation, and demonstrating the kind of leadership necessary for profitable top-line growth as well as cost reduction is essential for sustainability. Whether in the business arena or the world of education, life as an organization depends on the people that are served by the organization.Teachers need to be providing each individual student with opportunities for relevant and rigorous academic growth based on their abilities–this is why the student is boss. A students needs, abilities, and prior knowledge will dictate to a dedicated teacher how and what they need to teach. Administrators are there to ensure teachers have the resources they need, but also to pacify unsatisfied or belligerent parents. The P & G principle of â€Å"Customer is Boss† G one are the days of selling by yelling and distraction over attraction. The challenge of today’s organization is to be connecting and be connected with emotion.It’s not enough to embrace or touch – that’s a one way street. An organization has to cross the center line now and go deep. One will have to live with consumers. At P&G, â€Å"Making the consumer the boss is a promise to identify with her, to respect and serve her, and to take her needs and wants seriously. † (Charan, R. , & Lafley, A. G. 2008) At P&G they are not just conducting â€Å"bubble in the circle that best reflects how you feel† surveys. The folks at Proctor and Gamble are stepping outside of their lives and comfort zone to experience the reality of their consumer.Often times, this means going to a different part town or of the world and going into a lower socioeconomic class to discover the consumers wants and needs. Advertising is a small part of schematic—making t he product appealing to the consumer is important, but P&G is moving beyond that to create new products especially for the needs of the consumer. This concept of molding to the needs of the consumer, is what effective teaching with differentiating strategies is all about. â€Å"Customer is Boss† in an educational settingTeachers have a professional responsibility to identify their learners' needs and develop appropriate pedagogical responses. Pedagogical responsibilities require teachers to have the necessary professional knowledge and skills, and teachers are also accountable to their students. That accountability is inherent in the teacher/student relationship. Some teachers are, no doubt, unskilled and uninformed. Some may abuse their power; however, that is not because they have students and not clients. Calling students â€Å"clients† will not change in any way the relationship they have with their teachers.Teachers have power. How they wield it has nothing to do with the label attached to all those faces in front of them. Teachers must insist on learner-centeredness. The educational organization must insist on qualified and effective instructors using current methods and materials. Regular monitoring of learner progress and regular feedback to learners on their progress is essential to growth and serving the student. The public school as an organization takes learners the community, and does not make decisions on the basis of their ability to pay. Nor can they â€Å"cream† and select only the best students.Challenges and risks If the â€Å"Consumer is the Boss† is really an organization’s mantra, how can they be challenged to think ahead? Breakthrough innovation would not happen. Customers, and students, are thinking about â€Å"now†Ã¢â‚¬â€œthe problems they are experiencing on a day to day basis. Indeed that is important for companies and teachers to think about, however the â€Å"Change the World† opport unity of breakthrough innovation stems from idealizing customers and envisioning problems and better solutions. Place the customer center stage, but stretch your imagination about making them stars.The â€Å"school grade† method of accountability has led to increasing commercialization of the educational undertaking which is also reflected in the culture at large. Allowing parents to remove a student from their designated school because of a low school grade and enroll them into another was supposed to be a way to motivate teachers and administrators into doing a â€Å"better† job. Instead, this competitive component has added a level of paperwork, stress, and mandatory extracurricular for instructors handed down by stressed out administrators that do know how to solve the problem.In most contexts, the learners lack power, because of age or socioeconomic status. In state or private educational institutions, parents pay the state (through taxation) or the private school , which then pays the teachers – making it difficult to connect learners with the pay check. The state system in particular creates the illusion of free education – which takes even the parents out of the financial-transaction picture. Because of this, teachers may feel that they are answerable only to the school or the educational system, and in some cases they may even feel free to pursue their own personal version of ‘education'.In the same contexts, teachers have the power to award grades, write reports and pass/fail students. The view of learners as clients radically re-adjusts the balance of power. For those who have had freelance experience and have taught professionals, either one-to-one or in-company, this view is self-evident. For those with school-type experience, the shift in balance may come as a shock. The potential risk arises, just as some teachers have abused their power, so will some learner-clients.But this doesn't change the fact that teachers provide a paid service, which makes the recipients of this service, and their ‘sponsors', clients. The way to go about it is for some sort of contract to be drawn, so that both sides can assume their responsibilities and exercise their rights. Opportunities and rewards At P&G, employees take the opportunity to live with the consumer. From an educational point of view, knowing your customer intimately is essential to classroom success and can assist a teacher with creating an appropriate, holistic academic plan for each student.Effective teachers scaffold students reading and writing (Tompkins, 2010) comes from the idea there are different support levels that teachers offer to students. This support is based on the individual student’s zone of proximal development. In interactive writing, the teacher helps groups of students compose and write text together. With guidance from the teacher, individual students take turns writing, as classmates offer ideas and suggestions. Students practice writing strategies and skills modeled by the teacher, including letter formation, phonemic awareness and phonics, and concepts about print.One reward of creating a differentiated academic plan based on student need is watching their growth and success rates accelerate as they can handle more challenging content without getting frustrated. Another reward of having intimate knowledge of a student’s life is knowing how to help them. Is there violence at home? Is the student responsible for taking care of younger siblings? Is English the primary language spoken at home? Does the student have access to homework/study help?Also, there is a difference in the teacher that is a parent who has lived through homework on the same night at the kids’ ballet or baseball practice than the teacher who is single and wondering why Wednesday night’s homework was not done and the student is sleepy at school on Thursday. Letting the student’s abilities and p rior knowledge guide how and what you teach them, will reduce a lot of frustration for both the student and teacher. Giving a student work that is too challenging or beyond them will create tension and feelings incompetency. Keeping a student appropriately engaged and challenged will allow them the most success.Conclusion Self-Assessment I am the first teacher that students meet when they are ushered into the public school system. I personally feel that it is my job to catch the lower students and close the achievement gap before it becomes an overwhelming problem in later years. Purpose and Rationale As a new teacher, I would like to take this opportunity to research different teaching methods and techniques and the impact on my students. This is a great time to conduct such research because I will have a fresh batch of students waiting for me to excite and inspire them.I will collect data such as a beginning assessment and monitor progress, keeping a log of how students respond to different interventions. Part of the process will be to research what interventions are available to me. References Charan, R. , & Lafley, A. G. (2008). The customer is boss. Tn The Game-changer: How you can drive revenue and profit growth with innovation (pp. 33-68). New York, NY: Crown Books. ISBN: 9780307381736. Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Career sales force Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Career sales force - Essay Example Disadvantages The individual agent has to pay his/her own business expenses as they are working temporary for that concerned organization and they are actually hired by some other organization. Possibility of data leakage as more than one organization is being catered. They could be working for more than one company, which mean distribution of resources. Some agents may have favorites, which may affect the work. Independent sales force is expensive as they are working on a project basis. 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of commission-only compensation versus salary-only compensation The advantage of using commission only compensation is that the company does not have to pay the general employee benefits or fringe benefit but has to pay certain percent on the sale of each product and the disadvantage is that their initial cost is too high as rest of the overhead costs are not covered by the organization. The advantage of using salary only compensation is that they are not highly paid but get all the employee benefits and are paid a fixed amount of monthly salary. The disadvantage is that the company has to pay all the business expenses. 3. What problems do you see with JPF's sales force strategy and structure decisions For career sales force it takes too long to hire and train, and bringing them up to the necessary productivity levels and one of every seven or eight recruits actually succeeds in the insurance business. Independent agents were too costly. There were also some IMOs that were "recruiting only", that is, they recruited agents but did not provide any of the administrative support for the agents. Need for more SVP's to maintain the targets. One SVP is catering all the products and all types of customers at the... The levels of career sales forces succeeding in insurance business was low. This information was derived from the scenario given. The reason for less success rates was that the career sales force may have skills to do the tasks but not an expert at it. The advantage of using commission only compensation is that the company does not have to pay the general employee benefits or fringe benefit but has to pay certain percent on the sale of each product and the disadvantage is that their initial cost is too high as rest of the overhead costs are not covered by the organization. The advantage of using salary only compensation is that they are not highly paid but get all the employee benefits and are paid a fixed amount of monthly salary. The disadvantage is that the company has to pay all the business expenses. For career sales force it takes too long to hire and train, and bringing them up to the necessary productivity levels and one of every seven or eight recruits actually succeeds in the insurance business. Jefferson Pilot Corporation has been using territorial sales force as their means of expanding rapidly.

Music and social consciousness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Music and social consciousness - Essay Example ntain a balance, these conflicting traditional achievements and the negotiation between the dual pull of past historical significance and present political meaning several new voices from outside the United States has entered in the past and even today one can see their attribute in the contested public sphere, trying to do new justice to African-American expressive culture. They address themselves to the conflict-ridden discursive traditions in the push and pull of ascription and achievement. Individually, these new studies cover much new ground, but when placed in conversation with each other and with past debates, they help us in mapping the territory in which black music acquires its political place and its cultural meaning. Among his impressive achievements of six solo rap albums, over 30 singles, significant roles in six movies and a body of poems anthologized, is his Hit song â€Å"Changes†. Tupac was clearly a performer with multi-dimensional abilities whose contributions to his art deserved to be the best for studying from a variety of disciplinary perceptions. â€Å"The music, sounds, and lyrics from some of Hip Hop’s most talented writers and performers have resulted in what has undeniably become the one cultural institution that urban youth rely on for representation, honesty keeping it real and leadership.† (Walter Edwards) Tupac Shakur’s song â€Å"Changes† presents a reflection of the today’s darker music influence on a life which is suffering in the rough battleground of urban poverty, coupled with the social and political ideas of Black Americans. However his main emphasis is upon the central behaviors which is focused on Blacks, including its rich vernacular language, its hooligan subculture and the crime, violence and nihilism which result from poverty and social neglect. All he has talked about in his song â€Å"Changes† is the humiliating attitude of Americans towards blacks. He focused on two main things, â€Å"Poverty† and â€Å"the fate of

City Demographics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

City Demographics - Essay Example As the essay highlights crime is a social problem in Chicago and several sociological issues affect and fuel the rate of crime in the city. As such, it is important to understand that crime is a normal form of behavior in any environment, but several factors fuel the rate of crime in a specific area. From a sociological perspective, crime encompasses the violations that occur on the prerequisites of the wellbeing and welfare of any human. Any violation of human rights is a crime. In analysis of Chicago, several violations of the rights of humans, have led to numerous murder cases in the city. This paper declares that there is a lot of poverty in Chicago, a main cause for the high prevalence of crime in the city. There are various impoverished districts in Chicago where the minority in the country resides, with an example of the South Side district of Englewood. As such, there is an increasing rise of population in the city who want an improved lifestyle and social resources for their daily upkeep. There is also the rise of the culture of the young people wanting more in life and faster success, a fact that they enable through engaging in crime. There also exists the problem of guns in the city where there has been a problem to control the ownership of guns around the city. As such, there has been a focus on reducing crime in the city from every department, and especially with the increased murder of children and women. This is a social problem caused by the prevailing low educational standards in the area.

In todays conditions, the survival of magazines, individually and Essay

In todays conditions, the survival of magazines, individually and collectively, is not dependent on the quality of their journalism. Discuss - Essay Example The real problem is quality journalism, but the media business itself. For instance, under discussion is whether the World Wide Web can help major, independent journalistic organisations. The Internet—the greatest medium ever created for information dissemination and news transmission—already provides a plethora of quality journalism and constantly will, from small-scale magazine organisations to the online expansions of large-scale newspapers and networks (Cook 2008). However, can new magazine businesses—organisations which are formed external to and in competition with the giants of the old media—survive through quality journalism alone? Can and will the prospective counterparts of today’s major magazine companies penetrate the current media barrier, emerging as strong national magazine brands above the debris and dissonance of the current magazine industry? In a study examining the disparity between professional magazine editors and journalism educators, Dickson and Brandon discovered that there were considerable disparities between the educators and editors in their belief of what comprises the survival of magazines today, specifically what media-related skills or advantages are vital (Lepre & Bleske 2005). The researchers discovered that educators ranked theoretical knowledge in mass media and society, communication theory, and media history, and professionally focused skills in media management, media ethics, and media law, higher than professional magazine editors did (ibid, p. 190). Technical skills in language arts were ranked the highest by professional magazine editors. The group of journalism educators was the only one which ranked another category, skills in journalism, as being the most contributing factor to the survival of magazine businesses (Lepre & Bleske 2005). Generally, the findings of this study demonstrated that even though there were considerable disparities between the groups of

Evaluating Cost Variances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Evaluating Cost Variances - Essay Example an ideal plan difference for incomes will be examined to figure out if it was the aftereffect of higher than arranged offering costs, more noteworthy amounts, or an excellent blend of things sold. In addition, a good plan fluctuation for costs will be dissected to distinguish the reason for the lower costs. An unfavorable fluctuation is experienced when an association is contrasting its genuine results with a financial plan or standard. The difference can apply to either incomes or costs, and is characterized as adverse income fluctuation. At the point when the measure of actual income is short of what the standard or planned sum. In this manner, genuine incomes of $400,000 versus a funding of $450,000 equivalents an unfavorable income change of $50,000. Unfavorable cost fluctuation. At the point when the measure of genuine cost is more prominent than the standard or planned sum. In this manner, actual costs of $250,000 versus a funding of $200,000 equivalents an unfavorable cost change of $50,000. Overall, the plan of an unfavorable difference is to highlight a potential problem, which is then remedied. Honestly, the idea does not work that well. The issue is that there is just an adverse fluctuation in connection to a standard or planned amount and that benchmark sum may be unthinkable or in any event exceptionally hard to achieve. On the off chance that an unfavorable difference surpasses the base, then it is accounted for to supervisors, who then make a move to rectify whatever the underlying issue may be. At the point when the real cost is brought about is more than the standard expense, there is fluctuation is known adverse or antagonistic change. Unfavorable fluctuation alludes to deviation to the loss of

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

Compare - Essay Example His paintings contain diligence, tenderness, expressions of the figures, the beauty of draperies and so on. He style Raffaello learned from Pietro when he was young was slight, dry and defective in design, and not being able to throw it off, he found it difficult to learn the beauty of nudes, and the method of difficult foreshortening of the cartoon of Michelangolo Buonattoty for the Hall of the Council at Florence. But with great effort, he managed to get rid of the Pietro’s style and reached Michelangolo’s which was full of difficulties. When Raffaello began to improve his style, he did not do it the way it should be done, but the way he saw his previous master Pietro do it, with natural grace. He compared the muscles of a dead men with those of the living. Later he realized how soft and fleshy parts should be made, the swelling, lowering and raising a part of the whole body, how the bones are composed, nerves and veins, and he became a master in all the parts, as any great painter should. However, in this area, he could not get close to the perfection of Michelangolo, and he realized that he does not necessary have to paint the nude figures, but that painting has a large field that he can fill out with good invention and order which deserves a great and skilled artist. He realized that he could enrich his works with variety of perspective, landscapes, a delicate and light treatment of the draperies, sometimes causing the figure to get lost in the darkness, and on the other hand, sometimes also to come into the clear light, making the figures more alive and realistic, making beautiful heads of women, children and old people endowing them with, for them, suitable movement. He also thought about how important is the flight of horses in the battle, as well as the courage of the soldiers, the knowledge of many kinds of animals, but most of all, the method of making men look more life-like when drawing portraits putting them into a relation with othe r things such as shoes, helmets, hair, beards, trees, caves, rain, clouds, night time, bright sun, fine weather, all kinds of hair styles, and all the other things that are the necessities of today’s painting. Realizing that he cannot be better than Michelangolo in some aspects, he did not imitate him, but tried hard to become the best in some other aspects, and in that way surpass Michelangolo. Having made this resolution and admitting that Fra Bartolommeo of S. Marso had a god painting method, solid design and coloring that is pleasant, although sometimes using shadows in a manner that is too free to obtain greater grief, Raffaello borrowed from him what he thought that would be useful for his own art. So he used a medium style in design and coloring and combined them with some of the best things of other masters. Furthermore, he formed one single style out of many that he borrowed from other painters, and that style was always considered as his own and even highly estimate d by other artists. Raffaello learned the Florentine method of a composition in depth with pyramidal figure masses, and also, he made use of Leonardo’s chiasoscuro(strong contrast between light and dark). Moreover, he was influenced by his sfumato (use of fine, soft shading istead of line to delineate forms and features). He went beyond Leonardo in creating new figure types whose gentle faces reveal typically human sentiments that are raised to

The Developing Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

The Developing Business - Essay Example Many organizations refer to sustainability as corporate social responsibility (CSR). Thus, CSR will be used in the essay to refer to social and environmental sustainability. The terms, sustainability and corporate social responsibility refer to the practical contributions that businesses can make to sustainability. Many companies in recent times have incorporated social and environmental sustainability in their financial statements. (Gray, 2006, p.81) said that reporting social sustainability is crucial because the sustainability apprehensions of individuals, communities and governments facilitate shaping the world in which organizations operate.Sustainability reporting at the enterprise level also intends to represent an organization’ssocial, environmental and economic performance. Social sustainability reporting is aimed at reflecting the external costs and benefits of an organization that are not otherwise identified. Conventionally, ‘labour hires capital’ with the prominence on individual, environmental and social profit. On the contrary, capital hires labour with the superseding prominence on making a ‘profit’ over and beyond any advantage either to the industry itself or the employees (Epstein and Buhovac, 2014, pg. 29). These two differences provide a major contrast to how the accountant views of business operation. Another difference that arises is that of the conflicts created by professional values and managerial logic. Accountants view the firm in professional term, meaning any notion that does not involve accounting principles is rendered irrelevant. The CSR function, on the other hand, is based on managerial logic whereby the businesses engross in broad activities so long as profits are recognized from the business endeavours. Theoretical work on CSR accounting has created different theories as to the motivation of firms to report or release information on their CSR actions, many of

Change Management from Essentialist, Constructionist, and Essay

Change Management from Essentialist, Constructionist, and Participative Perspectives - Essay Example The essay discusses that social constructionists as a mechanism for examining the lives of individuals vary from the essentialists’ perception. According to the essentialists’ view, someone is perceived as â€Å"is lazy† whereas the same would be perceived as â€Å"being lazy† by the constructionist view. This implies that the essentialists refer to individuals as having a personality that is fixed, while the social constructionist, on the other hand, would suggest that an individual would change his or her personality depending on the circumstance or condition one finds him/herself in. The social constructionist perspective teaches people that the way in which they perceive the world ought to be unbiased. Presently, most individuals’ view about the world is based on the grounds of their previous experiences and knowledge. In fact, what exists within the world is only what individuals perceive to be in existence. Words by themselves only imply that anything means nothing on its own until people attach a discourse to it. The social (relational) constructionist perspective is a practical-theoretical range of understandings, which informs research, consulting and writing activities of different scholars and writers. A big number of consultants, researchers, as well as therapists perceive themselves as taking some form of social constructionist view although the concept of â€Å"social constructionism† has a variety of meanings. However, all constructionists share a deep emphasis on language with communication contrasting with more emphasis being upon language as presented. Besides, communication is perceived as constructed processes or products; in centering communal or individual construction processes; as well as in the importance given to the knower’s participation fact in those processes. Assumptions: The social constructivism and social constructionist perspectives are sociological knowledge theories, which con sider the way in which objects of consciousness or social phenomena develop in the social contexts. Social construct or construction is a practice or concept, which is a particular group’s construct. When something is said to be socially constructed, the focus is on its reliance on the group’s social selves’ contingent variables instead of any intrinsic quality it possesses within itself. Reality, learning, and knowledge are the key underlying assumptions upon which social constructionists perspective is typically based on. Strengths: The social constructionist view perceives all things as being social constructions; all things are metaphysical. This does not imply that the perspective views the external world as having unreal beings in a non-reality. On the contrary, it proposes that real and unreal notions are social constructs by themselves making the query of whether there exist anything real subject of social convention.  

Cultural Practices that Influence Academic Performance Essay Example for Free

Cultural Practices that Influence Academic Performance Essay It is a basic or general rule and knowledge that the learning process and patterns differ for every student or learner. The concept of individual differences supports this idea as it builds on the theory that the structure or dimensions of the various faculties of individuals differ for each child, such as the physical, emotional, psychological, and cognitive faculties. From this point of view, we draw out the conclusion that individual differences must also mean that the pedagogical process should be designed to address them in order to facilitate learning in different kinds of situations. In other cases, not only are the various faculties considered, but also environmental factors such as social faculties, and more importantly, the cultural background from which an individual belongs to. With this in mind, the remainder of this text will look into the comparison and contrast of cultural factors that influence academic performance, particularly on a specific learning group – the Limited English Proficient or LEP students and the Fluent English Speakers or FES population. The primary difference between LEP and FES learners is the rate of standard of English language proficiency, either in listening, reading, writing and speaking. The implication of this particular inconsistency of English language proficiency when we talk about the learning situation is that learning becomes imbalanced or varied due to the different learning needs and demands of the aforementioned learning groups. Moreover, this also means that the teaching-learning process will cease to become effective if it lends itself to the traditional means of learning. For instance, since LEP learners lack the knowledge, skills, and competencies of displaying their proficiency on the English language, the curriculum as well as other learning aspects or situations are modified in order to make them less difficult and easier for the learners to understand at their own pace. On the other hand, the FES population has advanced and more developed proficiency in the English language. Therefore, the learning situation should be made challenging in order to increase or further learning and take it to the next level. The Interaction Model presented by Dr. Fred Tempes and Lilia Stapleton in their case study about bilingual education suggest that the academic performance of students when it comes to English language proficiency is dependent on the community background, the knowledge, skills, and competencies by the learner, the instructional method or techniques implemented, and the educational background. The condition of a learner’s community background constitutes the socio-economic status of families within the community and the academic performance of schools or academic institutions that provide learning opportunities for LEP students. These factors have something to do with the chance or capability of families to pay for bilingual educational programs for their children and the academic institution to provide effective and comprehensive bilingual educational programs. Another factor includes the primary language that families use at home and the kind of culture that exists within it. For instance, families that use Spanish as their primary language at home will expect their children to have difficulties in learning the English language in school. Moreover, a family that readily accepts the necessity to learn the English language would be more open to being involved, contributive, and supportive to the English learning process. (Tempes Stapleton, 1986) The student input factors that influence academic performance of LEP students include the obtained rate in English language proficiency, the academic performance rated and quantified for the English courses, and student mobility. In addition, the educational background that affects student academic performance for LEP students has something to do with the design, structure, learning objectives, and quality of educational programs implemented by academic institutions covering the institutional learning goals and objectives, the educational philosophies, the curriculum, the syllabus, instructional methods, strategies, techniques, and materials, and such. (Tempes Stapleton, 1986) On the other hand, the cultural factors that influence academic performance of the FES population differ from that of the LEP students. Culture, particularly language, is less likely to influence academic performance of the FES population since learning becomes easier and less challenging due to their increased proficiency of the English language which is the primary medium of instruction in academic institutions. For instance, instructions or directions are clearly understood leaving enough time for them to accomplish learning goals and objectives for English courses. However, academic institutions need to focus on the educational background or the ability of the academic institution to provide the highest standard of education for the FES population in order to increase the input of the students in terms of their academic performance and development of their English language skills and competencies. This particular difference is the primary reason why teachers express their difficulty in adjusting to the varying needs and demands of LEP students and the FES population. On the contrary, this particular situation is the reason why the government and academic institutions are continually raising the quality of education and educational programs since there is a pressing need to develop and implement bilingual education to address diverse needs of the student population. (Howard Loeb, 1998) The cultural factors that influence the academic performance of LEP students and the FES population has impacted how the government and academic institutions regard and acknowledge the importance of multicultural educational programs or curricula. Aside from the obvious need of LEP students to obtain an efficient, appropriate, and comprehensive language education, the rate of academic performance of the FES population when compared to that of the LEP students helped in establishing multicultural educational programs and curricula to address specific learning needs for both population. One example would be the No Child Left Behind or NCLB Act implemented by the U. S. government in 2001. Taking the context of the NCLB and applying it to the educational situation of American Indians in the country (Beaulieu, Sparks Alonzo, 2005), various discussions were conducted in order to reconcile the need to implement NCLB but at the same time preserve the culture of American Indians through culturally-sensitive educational programs (Campbell, 2000). While effective programs for FES students rely on the continuity of traditional education programs that does not incorporate special courses or directives for the learning of English as a second language, educational programs for LEP or ESL students incorporate the accomplishment of educational standards and guidelines for the learning of the English language while at the same time implementing the traditional programs for FES students which not only focuses on English courses but other subjects, courses, or programs as well. Therefore, the educational programs and curricula for LEP or ESL students are more specialized and particular to the learning of the English language in traditional educational settings, including the need to become integrated to society through the learning process and learn traditional concepts inclusive of regular educational programs, making it more challenging and difficult as compared to those provided for the FES population. (Thomas Collier, 1997) Aside from the implementation of multicultural curriculum as means to develop and improve education for LEP and ESL students, the knowledge, skills, and competencies of teachers in teaching the English language to second language learners should also be evaluated and assessed. TESOL discussed the need not only to improve multicultural curricula, but also to develop teaching capabilities and competencies through teacher education. This will be done by raising standards and guidelines in accrediting teacher education programs. (TESOL Task Force ESL Program Review Specialist, 2008) Considering teacher competencies is one way of addressing the needs of LEP and ESL students and acknowledging the fact that academic performance is not the concern of the students, their parents, and the community alone. One of the main contributors to the academic performance of LEP and ESL students also include the â€Å"teacher factor. † TESOL’s contribution to raising the standards of teacher education to improve the quality of multicultural educational programs has paved way to the rising quality of multicultural educational programs for the benefit of the LEP and ESL students. References Beaulieu, D. , Sparks, L. Alonzo, M. (2005). No Child Left Behind in Indian Country. NIEA Preliminary Report: National Indian Education Association. Campbell. (2000). Amending the Native American Languages Act to Provide for the Support of Native American Language Survival Schools, and for Other Purposes. The Committee on Indian Affairs, 106th Congress: The United States Senate. Howard, E. R. Loeb, M. I. (1998). In Their Own Words: Two-Way Immersion Teachers Talk About Their Professional Experiences. Center For Applied Linguistics: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. TESOL Task Force ESL Program Review Specialist. (2008). Standards for the Accreditation of Initial Programs in P-12 ESL Teacher Education. TESOL. Tempes, F. Stapleton, L. (1986). Case Studies in Bilingual Education. Federal Grant #G008303723 Thomas, W. P. Collier, V. (1997). School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students. Center for the Study of Language and Education. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.

Charismatic Leadership And Transformational Leaderships Management Essay

Charismatic Leadership And Transformational Leaderships Management Essay It is the capacity of a person to inspire or attract, negotiate, charm or persuade people or other individual.. Whenever a person has a high charismatic skill level they tend to be given more attention, respected and listened to. A person who has a virtuous charisma they are helpful in leading, selling, teaching and speaking. For an example, Bill Clinton is a man with a very wonderful and strong charisma. Charisma is an acquired trait. Acquired means that a person improves themselves based on looking how another better person actions or efforts. Looking at another person with a higher charismatic level, people tend to follow them to have a greater charisma and to succeed. For a person to be an effective leader its not important that they have a very good charismatic level. As long as the person has a good idea and a high innovation level they can be an effective leader. To be an effective leader one should have a good communication skill. With this skill they can manage, lead and supervise people under them. The leader has to speak and discuss with their team in order to improve the management level. Other than that, an effective leader should have a consistency in the behavior. The leader has to treat every person fairly no matter in what position they are. Everyone will have to be treated as the same without looking at any condition. Lastly an effective leader has to have a good planning and good idea as well. They have to have an aim regarding their project or management. When they have a good idea they can manage and at the same time innovate more new projects. Is charismatic leadership the same with transformational leadership? Are both leadership concepts similar or different from each other? How does transformational leadership differ from transactional leadership? Provide evidence to your answers. (15 marks) Comparison between charismatic leadership and transformational leadership. CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP Leaders inspire and charms the followers in order for them to follow People tend to follow someone or leaders who inspired them. Leaders use charm and grace to achieve target and accomplish their goals. Leaders use passion and vision in order to achieve the target and goal. Leaders will not use power or authority on the followers Leaders use power on their followers to achieve target or their goal Charismatic leadership has a short live. Transformational leadership has a long lasting live because it will be taken over by the followers. In charismatic leadership, followers are not appreciated nor given any reward for their contribution In the transformation leadership, followers are given reward and they are appreciated as well for their contribution. Charismatic leaders are those who are highly motivated and have a high self-confidence. Their actions inspire other people and this encourages them to follow them. They bring interest in their supporters and this makes them to follow the leaders. Transformational leaders brings out interest and curiosity of the followers to get a bigger view on some perspective and situation, they bring into existence of the vision of the organization and motivates the followers in order to increase their interest to bring advantage in their group. In charismatic leadership, when the leader leaves the organization or group, the followers who were inspired by them will not be able to complete the target and the vision of their leader. In transformational leadership after the leader leaves the followers will take over and accomplish the target and the vision of the leader. This will be carried on through generation without any problem. In charismatic leadership, the vision of the leaders is not accomplished by the followers but instead the followers will only give the leaders support and motivation to reach their goal. By getting the supports from the followers, the leader will get more confidence to carry on their ideas on achieving their goals. The example of leaders who used this technique is Mother Theresa and Bill Clinton. In transformational leadership, the leaders will motivate the followers to achieve their goal through the way they prefer. Power is used by the leaders in order to reach the goal and target of the group. The example of a leader who follows this technique is Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart. From this we can conclude that Charismatic Leadership differs from Transformational Leadership. Comparison between Transformational and Transactional leadership Transformational Leadership Transactional Leadership The leaders induce emotions on their followers so that they will be motivated and leads them to act more than what is given. Leaders are conscious of the connection between reward and effort Leaders take initiative to widen the interest in the followers The leaders are responsible to deal with current issues The followers are giving a chance to learn and solve problems Leaders motivated the followers by giving them rewards when their performances are satisfying Transactional leadership is a leadership where the employees have to agree to whatever idea which is given by the leader when the job is accepted. This leadership talks about the exchanges between a leader and employee. For an example, the organization will give reward to the employee for their hard work in meeting the goal of the company. Other than that, the employee is also given the rights to punish their workers if their work doesnt meet their expectation. Transformational leadership is a leadership where the leaders inspire their employees with a big vision of the future. The leaders inspire and give motivation to the employees to go beyond exchanges as well as rewards. The leaders in this leadership will have to increase the motivation and the confidence level in the employee so that they value the importance of their companys goal and target. Vision is created through transformational leadership and it inspired the employees to think beyond the expectations. In transactional leadership, the employees are asked to focus more on motivation on job performance. Therefore, transactional leadership involves with the exchange of rewards for the work, whereas transformational leadership involves attitudes in developing the employees to finish the task. With reference to relevant academic publications, discuss what strong culture means and whether it leads to higher level of business performance. What types of organizational culture identified by academic authors are considered to impede business progress? Strong culture is an organization in which the values are shared around in wide span. In order for a team to achieve their goal, they need a good leadership team with a good leader. The leaders are not the only person who has to be good in the team but the partners have to take responsibility to work together in the team. Therefore a strong culture is needed to provide confidence and motivation so that the service given will be the best. Strong culture means that it unifies everybody to work together to achieve the same goal. The negative point here is that everybody will have the same way of thinking and the same behavior. All the employees will have the same idea and innovation which in return this slows down the progress of the company. When there is not enough of ideas and new innovation, this can slow down the development of the management and thus performance of business well. Organizational culture shows the personal remark of certain organization. It shows the communication between employees and management in a working place. The way the members of an organization thinks and acts is affected by organizational culture. Organizational culture involves with the weakness and strength, life experiences and education as well. William Ouchis 1981, Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge. Ouchi published Theory Z in 1981 where it explains about the key functions of the organizational effectiveness. In this theory, he talks about the art of the Japanese management as well as explaining how it adapts to the American way of management. The way managers and employees view the company, job and the working style can be changed through the theory of Ouchi. The companies should practice the theory explained by William Ouchi so that the performance of the company can be improved. It has been shown that the company which follows this theory has an improved management level in productivity. For an example, companies such as Procter and Gamble are successful companies from US which practices theory Z similar to Japanese companies. Terrance Deal and Allan Kennedys Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life . This book explains about the key function for a business to succeed. The most important keys that the companies have to pay attention on are the companys culture values, rituals and rites and the influencer of their success. For all the level of management, both Deal and Kennedy attached some guidelines which help the staff to recover their own corporate culture and to use the power to influence business as well. Mats Alvesson, Understanding Organizational Culture Culture is always brought up within the management and organization. This book explain on the alternative perspective available, the definiton and how the leadership can be expanded and changed in the management. Alvesson helps the students to understand the field of organizational culture, drawing upon the range of relevant literature within Organization Studies. Thomas Peters and Robert Watermans In Search of Excellence. In search of excellence a book wrote by thomas peters and robert waterman they talk about 8 themes which is a bias for action active decision making .close to the cutomer ,autonomy and entrepreneurship,productivity through people,hands-on,value-driven,stick to the kniting,simple form lean stuff and simultaneous loose tight properties.this book simplify this eight basic principles wich helps companies to improve the management level.

Strategy Formulation in the Retail Industry

Strategy Formulation in the Retail Industry Marks Spencer and Next Johnson and Scholes (2006) define strategy as, ‘Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations Corporate strategic management helps us to understand: Direction: Where business is heading in the long run. Markets; Scope: In which market business should compete and what activities are involved. Advantage: How business can do better than competitors in these markets. Resources: To compete in the market what resources are required. Environment: What are the factors which will affect the business. Stakeholders: What are the expectations of stakeholders. THE THREE LOGICAL ELEMENTS OF THE STRATEGY FORMULATION PROCESS: The three essential elements of the strategy process Strategic Intent is the driver of the strategy process. Without an underlying intent, strategy lacks an overall sense of direction and there is no reason to choose one direction rather than another. Strategic intent provides the answer to the question ‘Where do we want to go? The fundamental role of Strategic Assessment is to provide relevant knowledge about the strategic context. It has to assess both the outside world and the relative capabilities of our own enterprise. The role of strategic assessment is to anchor future strategies in reality. Strategic assessment must address the ‘Where are we now? Strategic Choice is fundamental to the strategy process because it is the link to action. It must address the question ‘Which options will we choose for getting where we want to be from where we are? If strategy is to be anything more than an intellectual relaxation then actions must result from the strategy process. The strategy formulation process: three inter-locking aspects. (Macmillan and Tampoe, 2000: 64-65) â€Å"Corporate success derives from a competitive advantage which is based on distinctive capabilities, which is most often derived from the unique character of a firms relationships with its suppliers, customers, or employees, and which is precisely identified and applied to relevant markets.† (Macmillan and Tampoe, 2000: 22, 86, 87) In order to develop competitive advantage, the decision-maker should understand in detail the enterprises skills and resources, and after that manage in a way that the business delivers superior customer value to target segments at a cost that leads to profit. (Wilson and Gilligan, 2005: 405-406) Introduction We have selected Marks and Spencer, and Next as our case study. Both are UK based fashion retail companies having almost same product line. We shall review both companys current position and future potential development according to their strategic management concepts and techniques. By comparing the statistics of two organizations we will evaluate their enterprise skills, objectives and competences that associated with their principals and formulation of individual organizational strategy. Our findings and research shall include companys resources that required addressing short term and long terming strategic challenges in pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage. Assignment focus will implement the concept and theory they have followed such as Porters Five Forces Model, PEST analysis, School of Business strategy, etc. We will undertake a comprehensive review of their past corporate strategies as well as the present economic situation and crisis of global economy. The Marks and Spencer (MS) is one of the most famous retailers in UK. It started in 1884 by Michael Marks in partnership with Tom Spencer in Leeds. Company offers various ranges of products that include stylish and high quality clothing, womens wear and lingerie, means wear, kids wear, home wear, groceries, freshly produce prepared meals etc. They have around 2,000 suppliers globally, about 75,000 employees and have 750 stores round the world. Next is also UK based retailer. It was founded in 1864 by J Hepworth Son as gentlemans Tailors in Leeds. In 1981 company develop a womens wear group of shops by the name of Next. Next has wide range of collection around the world that offers high quality products in clothing that include executive shirts and suits, stylish home products and accessories, children and teenage fashion, footwear and etc. Next has more than 500 stores in the UK and Eire. They have more than 170 franchise stores overseas. Next has following five strategic businesses NEXT Retail operates the high street shops; NEXT Directory is the mail order division; NEXT Overseas operates international retail outlets; Venturaruns the financial services division and Other activities include telecommunication software services and property management Mission Statement: Mission statement is written statement which tells the core purpose of existence of business. Mission statement show the descriptive form of vision Marks Spencer Vision To be the standard against which others are measured Mission To make aspirational quality accessible to all and Values Quality value, service, innovation and trust. NEXT We atNEXT PLChave a task to build,with the main focus of giving all of our customerswhat they deserve The Best. Individuality, long experience, courage in development, and open-mindedness are our tools. The idiom â€Å"The Customer Is The King!!!† is, in our company, not simply a kind of marketing strategy -it isTradition. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: Competitive analysis is done to evaluate the competitive position of the company with in an industry. There are many tools for competitive analysis but the important ones are ;Porters five forces model, PEST Analysis, Group mapping, Pricing and quantity dynamics, SWOT analysis and etc. Porter Model Porter says that there are five forces affecting a business and the company has to survive amongst all these force Bargainig power of Supplier Due to big brand names and diversified portfolio both brands are not influenced by supplier. So bargaining power of supplier is low for both brands. This factor works more when product line of business is less and there are few suppliers in the market. There is no such situation for Marks Spencer and Next. Bargaining power of buyer Because of much competition in clothing market there are many sellers and limited buyers so buyers have more options that is way bargaining power of buyer is high the nature of product and nature of buyer both Marks Spencer and Next can not get under influence. This factor affects more in B2B system. Threat of Substitute product There are may not be the exact substitute of product in case of both Marks Spencer and Next. Because there cannot be any substitute of clothing. Threat of new entrant Marks Spencer and Next both have brand loyal customers. So none of them has the threat of new entrant. Industry Rivalry Industry rivalry influences business relatively more when overall industry volume is small. When there are number of players in industry with huge investments and especially with brand name rivalry turns in shape of innovation. Being well established groups and having good financial health both MS and Next dont have such fear. PEST Analysis PEST stands for ‘Political, Economic, Social and Technological. It illustrates a framework of macro environmental factors. It explains how easy or difficult it is to make profit in a certain market. So Political condition of untied kingdom is stable and favourable for the business. So far as economic and social factors are concerned both are good. When we look at technological factor it also very much in favour of doing business in UK. So PEST for both companies is same since both are in UK. SWOT Analysis: SWOT Analysis shows business strength,weaknesses,opportunities and threats. INTERNAL ANALYSIS: Internal analysis is an internal evaluation of the business. It tells us the footing of the business that where it stands and what is the actual worth of the business. There are many tools for checking internal health of the company. For example BCG Matrix, 7s Model and accounting data of the company. Now we look at internal analysis of both companies. BCG Matrix: Boston consultant group matrix evaluates the strategic business units of the company with relative market share and market growth. If we evaluate different SBUs of MS and Next it will be like this. The portfolio of MSs products in terms of BCG matrix is good in clothing having star position and in food MS has occupied the position of question mark relative market shares is low with low industry growth and in financial services industry growth is high but MSs market share is low and will require substantial capital investment to turn them into ‘stars. either ‘dogs (cash in balance) or question marks (cash user). In case of Next they too have good sales in clothing sector occupying star position then comes its homeware at question mark position, electrical SBU comes at cash cow while its other product line like flowers and wines comes at dog level. McKinsey 7S Framework: In strategic management McKinsey7S framework is considered as one of the major landmarks. In a wide variety of situations this 7S model can be used where it is necessary. The 7 Ss are Structure, strategy, system, skills, style, staff and shared values. Both NEXT and MS are fully exercising the 7s model and coordinating at all levels to generate maximum output. Structure of both companies are will defined since both are very old player in this industry so they have learnt a lot from their experience curve and now have developed an outstanding structure. In the initial phase both companies got experience through hit and trial method and now have developed good strategies and system. Both companies have got excellent skills and are full getting benefit of these skills. Both companies are well known figures in clothing industry and have gained professional and productive staff. Both companies have shared values which are widely spread in its all 7s and are reflected by their strategic moves. Accounting Data Analysis: Accounting data analysis shows the growth trends of the company which is very helpful in taking strategic decisions. Following figures just shows the trend of both companies that either company is getting positive response or if there is any downward trend is seen then its reason is traced out so that right strategic move should be taken in future. M S is the leading clothing retailer with market share11.2% Market share of food sector is 3.9% of total UK market. Market share fell down as compared with previous year from 11.2% to 10.7%this was because of effect of recession QUARTER 3 2009/10 INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT Group sales +2.6% UK sales* +2.3%: General Merchandise +3.2% (Clothing +4.0%; Home -0.7%); Food +1.3% UK like for like sales* +0.8%: General Merchandise +1.2%; Food +0.4% Online sales +32% International sales +6.0% Next Progress in the first half has been better than expected and the business has proved itself resilient in the face of a weak consumer environment.Sales and operating margins were ahead of last year in both Retail and Directory.Financial highlights are as follows: Group revenues increase to  £1,512m Group operating profit increases to  £199m Earnings per share rise to 68.2p Cash inflow of  £114m Net debt reduced to  £514m, ample debt facilities of  £1bn Interim dividend increased by 1p to 19p Ansoffs Matrix : We can use Ansoffs product/market matrix to identify directions for Marks and Spencer and Next strategic development. This matrix offers directions for strategic option available to MS and Next in terms of products and market coverage, taking into account its strategic capability and also expectation of stakeholders. We can see from the Ansoffs Matrix that Marks and Spencers lunch of Financial services products will have involved a diversification strategy. As MS did not already sells financial products, so new market and new product. Both capability and market consideration has driven MS into development of new markets and products. Similarly Next has also entered into other businesses which is to be done to diversify the product portfolio. MS and Next Generic strategies: There are three main generic strategies available to all companies including, either become the lowest-cost retailer or differentiate products and services in such a way that it is valued by customers to the extent that they will pay a premium price. By applying these strengths in either a broad or narrow scope, three generic strategies result: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The case of MSs core products (food and clothing), it implements a focus generic strategy as it concentrates on a narrow segment (a particular buyer group (executives), market segment (high-end), product feature (freshness) and within that chosen segment MS attempts to achieve differentiation from Tescos Asda, BHS, Top Shop etc. The premise is that the needs of the group can be better serviced by focusing entirely on it. Next has also adopted the product differentiation strategy by offer products of higher quality and charging premium price. Thus Next is offering high end products by catering the upper middle social class of the society. GLOBAL STRATEGIC DECISION MODEL When companies enter into international market so they have to take global strategic move in order to gain sustainable competitive advantage. For global strategic decision there are different models. Ghoshal Model: Ghoshal put forward a theory for three types of enterprise in international markets ; Multinational, Global and International. He discussed the strategic competency and structure in Multinational,Global and International Enterprise. Diamond Model: Another model for global strategic decision making was defined by Michael Porters which is known as diamond model. He said that first firms in nations gain competetive advantage in local industry and then compete in international market. He also said that endowment factors of nation help firm to flourish. In his model he also discussed that in order to develop a competitive environment with in an industry there should be rivalry so that firms take more strategic decisions and learn to compete. Marks Spencer can move and set up their outlay in developing countries to where efficient workers and supportive utilities are available to gain advantage of factor condition and also act as supporting wall, have to move in those market where large and potential customer size (like as China, India where they currently operating) to gain demand condition by avoiding ethnocentrism with adoptive firm strategy. They have to practice One-To-All marketing in developing countries to become cost leader in those countries and One-To-One marketing where to perform as quality is matter. NEXT plc obviously to move in developing countries to ensure low cost of production (mainly labor cost), and in large potential market like as in China, India etc. with adoptive marketing strategy but with the think of cost leadership which will create or add value. They have to FDI in global market place other than franchising. M S CURRENT STRATEGY (in recession) Short term Priorities Cost Saving initiatives In global economic downtown and changing in customer needs the company taken major steps to cut down the costs and responding customer needs very quickly. Quality, Value, Service, Innovation and Trust is the prime strategy of MS keeping in mind the firm analysed its position in the last few years and to tackle global challenges the firm draw a new plan is called â€Å"PLAN A† to get in to success. This plan includes cutting down the cost of production, reducing staff, closing down less operative branches and reducing dividends to its shareholders to invest in new business, widening its business activity in the international market, improving performance in food and to retain the leading position in General Merchandising. To improve business performance MS invested in pricing. Delivering the best quality at unbeatable value the MS introduced new promotions in General Merchandising and in Food sector. For example Dress for Less One day Christmas Spectaculars Wise Buys Dine in for Two for  £10 Major Steps in the recession period (Cost Management:) In 2009 the MS closed its 26 less operative branches mostly simply food stores, to cut down the cost. Secondly reduced its Head Office Roles and increased the level of pay for eligible to get pension which is major cost to the company. Changing in Logistics system i.e. merging GM and Food together, Introducing mechanisation in warehouse and Streamlining the international distribution system to reduce cost. The main Objectives Increasing the pace of change and operational execution in the business To become multi-channel retailer focusing customer channels Investing in international business particularly in India, China and Eastern Europe Reinvigorating the brand to customers to highlight ethical and sustainability objectives Future plans: Improving UK Core business Introducing MS Direct Sales (Online) Expanding international business (the revenue in this market is proportionately higher than the UK market) Strengthening UK business Portfolio(modernising and expanding existing system) Integrating Plan A across the business (become carbon neutral CO2 emissions tonnes, Send no operational waste sent to landfill tonnes, Improve energy efficiency in Stores Company Perspectives: (NEXT) Nexts mission is to be the natural choice retailer in the UK for fashion aware men women who expect style, distinction quality from their clothing. Next have a task to build with the main focus of giving all to its customers what they deserve the best. Individuality, long experience, courage in development, and open-mindedness are the tools. The idiom â€Å"the customer is the king† to the company and not simply a kind of making strategy it is tradition. Current Strategy (2009) Concentrate on the design, quality and value of product together with excellent customer service and delivery. The company believe this will serve well through the current recessionary period and it will keep in well place when recovery begins. Controlling cost Controlling stock Continue to invest in the brand Operational cost savings Next found two ways to do the business during recession period. 1). Making the best of current position by providing customers with what they expect. 2) Exciting brand name, beautiful design with great quality in clothing and home ware. 3) Engineering product ranges to lower price points by reducing expense in design and quality. During recession next decided not to devaluate its product for the aspect of pricing nor quality and design of their product ranges, and keep maintaining market position and the company believes that this will provide strong foundation when economic conditions change. To improve the business performance the NEXT introduced pilot data warehouse recording system with its 300 stores to control inventory. REFERENCES: Brews, P. J. and Hunt, M. R. (1999) ‘Learning to Plan and Planning to Learn: Resolving the Planning School/Learning School Debate, Strategic Management Journal, 20/10. Baker, M. (2000), â€Å"Marketing Strategy and Management† 3rdedition, Macmillan Business, London Ghauri, P. and Cateora, P. (2005) International Marketing (2nd edition). McGraw-Hill Education (UK) ltd. Kay, J. (1993) The Foundation of Corporate Success (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Macmillan, H. and Tampoe, M. (2000) Strategic Management (1st edition). Oxford University Press., New York. Mintzberg et al. (1998) Strategy Safari (1st edition). FT Prentice Hall. Wilson, R. M. S. and Gilligan, C. (2005) Strategic Marketing Management, Planning, Implementation and Control (3rd edition). Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Robert D.galliers and Dorothy E.Leidner,2003, Strategic Information management, (3rd ed) (P 113-121, 446, 451-3) Michael E. Whitman and Herbert J. Mattord, Management of Information Security (P 505-507) Wilson and Gilligan, (1998), â€Å"Strategic Marketing Management†, 2ndedition, Butterwoth Heinemann, Oxford Baker, M. (2000), â€Å"Marketing Strategy and Management† 3rdedition, Macmillan Business, London Next Articles â€Å"Next Trading Update,† inUK Retail Report,May 2000. â€Å"Next Homes in on Bigger Stores,† inIn-Store Marketing,October 2001. Internet http://www.next.co.uk/shopping/homeware#LID=01_02_08 http://www.marksandspencer.com/

Leaders and Managers Essay -- Business Leading Managing Essays

Leaders and Managers A former advertising campaign for a beer company established the slogan, "Tastes great, less filling." The light beer was not only tasty, but it also didn’t fill you up, combining two good qualities into one product. Like the beer, you also need to demonstrate multiple abilities. To be successful in today’s industry, a combination of both leadership and management skills is required. Just like the beer that claimed to be both tasty and less filling, you need to be able to be both a leader and a manager in your organization. That sounds easy, but there is one problem; leadership and management are two separate skills. To understand the difference, we first need to define leadership and management. Leadership is changing for better results; it is challenging the status quo and looking at the long term. Management, on the other hand, is consistency for better results; it is maintaining the status quo and focusing on short-term results. Management is about completing a project on time and on budget. Leadership and management, therefore, seem to contradict each other. Leading Take a moment to name some leaders. You may think of people like Winston Churchill, George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Vince Lombardi, and Mother Theresa. Or, maybe the names of your bosses, teachers, or family members come to mind. But, would you think of your own name? Probably not. Usually, when we think of leaders, we consider larger-than-life historical figures, or important people who shaped our own lives, and we don’t include ourselves. Give yourself some credit. You may not be leading large armies or nations, but you are leading your organization, project, or crew. The members of these categories need the same leadership that the followers of Eisenhower needed. You can be a leader too. The real question is, how well do you lead? Take a look at the things leaders do with their time. Ultimately, the things those leaders do often revolve around "soft skills and solutions." These intangible things do not come naturally to many people in the construction industry. The critical few things that leaders do are set priorities, align people, and motivate and inspire them. These are skills that can be learned and taught. Setting priorities Priorities establish what is important. There are a number of ways an organization can... ...leader articulates the intended direction, plans must be put in place to provide concrete ways to move in that direction. Once people have been hired into an organization, the structure of which was defined by a manager, a leader must align those people with a vision. Finally, the leader must motivate and inspire people to overcome the challenges that management processes of controlling and measuring have uncovered. Mandate for the future The business person of the new millenium must be better than the business person of the 20th century. The competitive environment has changed. The harsh reality is that customers and clients are more demanding, there is no labor waiting on the bench, and margins are thin. However, the person who can balance the seemingly contradictory skills of management and leadership is poised to step into positions of increased responsibility and impact and capitalize on these new market conditions. These same people and their organizations will then reap the rewards of being market leaders. These rewards are numerous, but better margins through a highly motivated workforce are a good start. The ultimate rewards are for you, the leader, to determine.

Root Canal Essay -- Health, Edodontics

The Endodontics procedures of a Therapy Root Canal Dreyonna Carroll Anthem Institute The endodontics procedures of rotary canal therapy or root canal is a procedure that is performed by a specialized general dentist, and or a endodontist. The patient develops consistent ,severe pain, discoloration, or sensitivity from food and even to touch in , or around a certain area of a tooth, and is diagnosed by a specialist to receive rotary therapy. This is if the tooth can be saved, meaning it is not to harsh of damage or decay in the root, it will then be prepared. If it can not be saved the tooth is looked at , but it will be determined to extract the tooth. The procedure takes place in the root of a infected tooth which needs special attention. The procedure can be considered as a surgical procedure, but it only consist of three visits if that, and could be completed or carried out in one day by one specialist. The endodontics procedures of therapy root canal according to (Ingle, 2009, p. 61). Root canal treatment consists of three visits; examinations, preparations and obturation. Though this was not always the case ,dentist years ago would extend treatment time for longer than what was needed. (Ingle, 2009. para.1). The root canal is found at the very bottom of the tooth near the nerve. When a patient is in need of an rotary canal treatment it is due to significant causes. Root canals are used to protect the tooth form any further decay or damage , untreated cavities are the main causes for need of root canals. Poor dental hygiene is the main cause of cavities. Cavities depending on how bad the pulp decay inside the tooth ... ...your body it will not react badly against you. (Chetan, 2008. para. 1). A permanent aesthetic cement filling is sealed over the top of the tooth which can have a crown as a placement for a definite protection of the tooth. Conversely, the Endodontics procedures of a therapy root canal , or rotary canal can be treated within a day or two depending on how severe the tooth or teeth are in need of treatment. In all this procedure is very important and should be taken into consideration if someone has a tooth issue with consistent pain or sensitivity to touch, brushing, and or eating. In other words, dental hygiene should be looked at in a positive matter and teeth should be brushed, flossed, and seen by a dentist on a regularly basis. If this goes ignored, unnoticed, or untreated it can lead up to permanent tooth extraction or the total removal of ones tooth.

Analysis of The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt :: The Goal Business Management Essays

Analysis of The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt The Goal is a book that focuses on the theory of constraints in order to improve production. Eliyahu Goldratt brings us a pleasant story that shows the important strategies that any manager or CEO should follow to be successfully productive, and capable of reaching their goals. The book easily explains and demonstrates many attainable ways for any human being to learn how to manage their industrial relations, business processes, and also, their personal lives. Many people believe that in order to succeed in a business that is having difficulties, it is important to focus on a particular area in order to be better productive in each of them, and be able to reach the goal. Instead, Goldratt and Jonah demonstrates that is important to focus on the company as a whole, but at the same time, it shows that it is incorrectly to only focus in an specific manufacturing department, or one plant, or a department within the plant, because people should not be concerned in local optimums. The Goal is a book that has an immense support on improvement, which will undoubtedly encourage the Total Quality Management terminology when trying to built up and improve their productivity. However, the Theory of Constraints also plays a very important role in this book, because it guide us to not only focus on the improvements of the business as a whole, but also to focus intensively on the constrains, â€Å" Herbies†, or bottlenecks. In order for a company to push its improvement and create a balanced plant, it is necessary to increase the throughput, while reducing inventory an operating expense. But, what is most important is to identify the bottlenecks to be able to focus on them. After focusing and solving the constraints, everything else is going to be less powerful but important at the same time. Any company is unable to manufacture a 100%. Therefore, people should really focus on the constraints, in a way that it will prevent a failure that will damage the entire system. Bottlenecks are the key in every plant, because it will determine the activity that will create a profit and maximize the business output.

European Cars Are Better Than Japanese Essay

The design is specialized to cater to the specific needs of a consumer. Every country in the world manufactures its own cars, whether it is Japan, America or Europe. European cars are vastly superior to Japanese cars when examining performance, design and safety. The key feature that makes European cars better than all other cars is performance. Performance of a care is judge by how well the, brakes, suspension, traction, transmission and engine work. When European car manufacturers talks about performance they are referring to power generated by the car. European cars manufacturers combine all the aspects of performance to create an extraordinarily spectacular engine, which has maximum horse power and torque. Some European cars engines are hand-built, which helps delivers performance at a perfect level. Power from the engine has to be delivered to the wheels; transmission plays a vital role in delivering the power and speed from the engine to wheels. Car manufacturers in Europe develop a transmission system which is particularly adept at applying output so that it can be delivered quickly, smoothly and efficiently when called upon. European car manufacturers are especially renowned for their designs, because their designs allow precision in handling, efficiency in engine performance and good brakes. An efficient power output of the engine leads to an increased maximum speed limit that the car can reach. To maximize the speed that a car can reach the external shape of the body of a car is designed with special care as well. When European car manufacturers talk about speed, they keep in mind the aerodynamics of the car. Designers ensure that the car has a streamlined body shape, which reduces air resistance experienced by a car while it is in motion. In addition, aerodynamics designing provides for the external appearance of the car to look elegant, fashionable, artistic and sensational. European cars are made out of high-strength steel body panels make the safer when an impact takes place. They are manufactured with 7 different air bags inside the care to avoid the impact and causing the driver and passenger to be much safer. If a car can reach high speeds in a short span of time then it needs good brakes. European engineers ensure safety and handling does not become an issue for the driver and the passenger by providing an anti-lock braking system. This system prevents the car from skidding and allows the driver with greater control over the car because due to the anti-braking system the wheels of the car are only gradually reduced in speed. Rather than bringing the wheels of the car to an abrupt halt, the brakes of the car provide with better independent suspension for each wheel, which can help withstand shocks and bumps. European cars are superior in performance design and safety. Japanese cars lack behind in performance when compared to European cars. They have weaker and lighter engines, which only reduce the manufacturing cost, but result in giving a poor performance. Japanese car engines are manufactured on low budget. The lack in use of technology during the production makes the cars less reliable, because the finished engine does not produce much power. Less power means less torque and horsepower. Production companies in Japan manufacture engines using heavy equipment and machinery. This allows them to produce cars in a greater quantity, but there is no guarantee for quality . Japanese engineers focus on building lighter engines which gives more gas millage. Japanese cars are designed using weaker body structures making the car lighter. They use to steel alloy to manufacture the exterior of the less expensive material. Exterior of the car is brittle enough to not to withstand an impact, hence making less safe. Japanese cars are not safest car in the world. To avoid the cost to manufacture the car, they use disk brakes which have a higher risk of worning out faster than anti-lock brakes. They use one suspension for two pair of wheel, which causes to feel the smallest shock and bump while ridding the car. Japanese car don’t use that much technology to make their car safe enough. European cars are superior to Japanese cars. They are better in performance, design and safety. European cars are comfortable, luxurious and high end cars. Japanese cars are ordinary and standard cars. Japanese cars are cheaper that European, but buying an expensive car gives you a lot of option to enjoy the ride of the car. , and produce products with a superior passenger cabin but employ lower standards outside of the cabin. Disk brakes, Alloy Wheels, and Brake Override Systems have been standard on most mid-size domestic cars for years, yet are still optional or non-existent on many major Japanese mid-size cars being sold today. Anti-lock braking system (ABS) is an automobile safety system that allows the wheels on a motor vehicle to maintain tractive contact with the road surface according to driver inputs while braking preventing the wheels from locking up (ceasing rotation) and avoiding uncontrolled skidding. It is an automated system that uses the principles of threshold braking and cadence braking which were practised by skilful drivers with previous generation braking systems. It does this at a much faster rate and with better control than a driver could manage. With 72% of its body panels made from high-strength steel, theody structure is even more rigid than its renowned predecessors. The advanced front crumple zone has been refined with approximately 17,000 computer-simulated collisions and 150 crash tests. An innovative front bulkhead and deformation zones that act on four independent levels to help divert the energy of a frontal impact under, over and around the passenger cabin.