Women and Full-Time Employment

Phoenix Material Issue Analysis After reading the selected critical issue, use the following questions to analyze the issue. The word count for individual questions may vary but your responses should total 1,200- to 1,400-words for the entire worksheet. .1 What are some of the strengths associated with the Pro side of the Issue? What are some of the weaknesses? During the Pro side of the issue of women opting out, one of the strong points of the argument was that women were choosing to opt out of working once hey began having families.Although we live in a time where men and women both are the bread winners on the homes, the women are still the ones who feel as If they have to stop working and stay at home all of the time to take care of the children. If the husband is the one making all the money for the household, the wife will decide to â€Å"choose† to quit their jobs because they feel as if thing are being taken care of on the financial front and they are needed at home t o take care of the children. A weak point Is that If a woman wants to make the choice to continue working, they should array a man who is considerably younger or considerably older than they are.An older man is said to have been working longer and will have the financial means necessary to keep up with a household. Women who do have kids will be able to choose to quit their Job because there is no need for extra wages to be coming In. If they decide to keep working they can then choose a part time job where they can be at home with the kids during the day while the father is at work, and work during the night while the kids are at home sleeping and under the care of the father.What are some of the strengths associated with the Con side of the issue? What are some of the weaknesses? In the debate on the Con side, a strength of the argument made Is that women are not opting out, they do not have choices or options. They are torn between being a nurturing mother, or having a strong car eer. In a lot of these career paths, the debate is to whether or not they are family friendly, or very flexible. The women feel the need to be at home taking care of the child and making money to support the family.One of the weak points to this side of the argument Is that a woman may not have the desire to be with the child at the earlier stages of the child's life. For some women, that desire or the nature to be with the child comes at a later time, when they feel the child is beginning to really develop. Also, a point was made that there is a case of absent husbands, which Just means that the woman who shares the Job burden with the husband never gets to spend quality time with him.Whenever she is home with the child, he is at work and when she is going to work, then he is Just coming in from his Job. The only solution that loud possibly be made in order to spend time together is to get a schedule where the parents are both working at the same times and maybe hire a babysitter o r a nanny to lad In caring for the child while the parents are away at work. This way, both of the parents are free to work and will still have time when they come home to wind 1 OFF . 3 Based on the statements presented in this critical issue, which author do you agree with?Provide supporting evidence. I am a little on the fence as to which side to agree with because while I feel that women do choose to stop working or angered to part time working when their children are born, I still think that it is possible that a lot of women do not get to work in a career where they can have both a family and a good strong career. In a lot of today's careers, a person needs to be flexible and needs to be able to give their Job 100 percent which Just cannot be done if there is a family that needs a parent.In some situations, a man will stay home while the woman goes to work, and there is gender equality, but a lot of the time this is not to be the case. Although women had to fight to have the c hoice to work, there re a lot of men who still think the woman's â€Å"place† is at home taking care of the kids and doing the housework. Some men may tell the women that it is their choice to work, but it really is not much of a choice when there are no other options as far as taking care of the children.I agree that not a lot of Jobs offer flexible schedules for those who have families, and when a person has to adjust their schedules frequently, people may see it as giving them favors. The first argument stated that we are going back in time instead of progressing, which I do not really agree with, so I agree more tit the second statement that was presented. Today is no longer Just a â€Å"man's world†, and women are wanting to be standing as equal. .4 Explore two other roles that can be acquired during early and middle adulthood, such as through parenthood, romantic relationships, and career.How have these roles changed through the past generations? One of the roles that has changed in the past generations is the one of being a caregiver. Seeing how more women are making it in the career fields, there are some men out there who are taking care of the home while the woman goes off to work and takes care of finances. It was said to be the woman's role to stay home and take care of the home as well as the children, but times have certainly changed. In some cases, both parents are working while the children either have babysitters, or they go into a day care facility.Getting and staying married is another role that has changed through the years. In the past, even though the couple are no longer happy, they would stay married. In this case, it is no longer the same once the couple are not hashing out their differences. They are quick to leave once there is no more emotion left to try to patch things up in the relationship. 5 What psychological adjustments are made during early and middle adulthood to adapt to aging and changes in life style? How do es this affect development?For a woman, there are different psychological adjustments when it comes to adapting to age and changes in one person's lifestyle. A woman will have to go through many bodily changes that they may not be ready for, especially if someone has not explained to them what to expect and what is going to happen. Men go through their own bodily changes, but the psychology of it all for boys and girls are different. As need to do something â€Å"meaningful† or even sometimes a bit reckless. Not all people go through the same stages, and sometimes people will go through these stages at different times in their lives.When people are growing up, they have to mentally prepare themselves for what they will be going through. Instead of being afraid and running away from the change, a person needs to prepare and welcome the change because it will be the beginning of a new period in their lives as they continue to grow and develop. While there are some things that a person will go through as they are developing, there will be things that a person goes through that can occur at any period of time.

What is the crisis in the British family a crisis about? How is the crisis gendered?

The term ‘family' officially evokes the image of a heterosexual, nuclear institution where each member is related to the other by marriage/law or blood, and the state, religion, media and other important institutions in our society encourage this image. However, lived realities are often very different and in recent years this form of the family, which is assumed to be normal and the norm, has been displaced by various other family forms which are labeled as deviant and which are assumed to be the root of current social problems. Hence has risen a ‘crisis' in the British family. This crisis has been highlighted by the various social institutions mentioned above which encourage the heterosexual nuclear family form. Quoting Wright and Jagger, according to them ‘the turn of the century is marked by a growing crisis in the family, a crisis that may prove terminal unless decisive action is taken', and the crisis has been pointed out as the collapse of marriage and the ‘family'. This crisis however is not new and a similar was said to have risen at the end of the 19th century. Like now, the crisis then too had been a rise in social problems and women had been identified as the cause. Single mothers, working mothers, woman opposing the dominant ideology of ‘womanhood' were and are labeled as the cause of the ‘crisis'! As Gittins say, ‘Ideals of family relationships have become enshrined in our legal, social, religious and economic systems, which in turn reinforce the ideology and penalise or ostracise those who transgress it. ‘[Gittins 1992] The crisis in the family can thus be seen as nothing more than a gap between the ideological construction of the family and the diverse realities of family life. [Gittins,1993] The different alternate family forms that have come up and become increasingly common in the last few decades such as the single parent (specially single mother) family, extended families, communes, homosexual families are seen as social threats. This is because they resist the patriarchal ideology that is prevalent in the nuclear family form where the male is all-powerful. Resistance to this form of the family has seen the rise of the gendering of the family crisis with the blame falling on the women. This crisis as mentioned above is not something new and was seen before in the 1890's when the results of it were deemed to be the evils of those times – namely illegitimate children, women not having children, prostitution, homosexuality etc. The family – which by the way was the white, middle class, heterosexist family – was seen to be the buffer against these social evils. In these families the sexual divisions of labor played an important part in the claiming of moral superiority. The industrial Revolution which preceded this period can this be seen as the time when the seeds of change were sown, because even though at this time the ‘domestic ideology' of the middle class was established, working class women became increasingly involved in paid employment working away from home – and hence rose the first crisis. Indeed, the cause of the crisis at this time was seen to be the ‘bad' mother – invariably a working class woman in paid labor. With World War II however, women had to take up jobs and it allowed them more freedom. Gradually the 20th century saw changes in attitudes and legislation – though it did take a very long time. The most important legislative changes were perhaps the right of divorce for women and the decriminalization of gay relationships. These factors were important in the rise in the alternate family forms. The argument that the heterosexual family is the ‘norm' can however no longer be held valid. There is a vast discrepancy between the actual family forms and the ‘cereal-packet family' considered the ideal! In 1961 over half of all households consisted of a married couple with dependent children and in 1992 this proportion had dropped to 24%. In 2001 19% all households consisted of an adult couple and dependent children – the couple not necessarily married. Marriage certainly has become less popular in the last 2 decades. Cohabitation, teen pregnancies, the number of children outside marriage has seen a marked increase. Homosexuality also has become much more widely accepted in society and many homosexual couples live with their children – adopted or from previous relationships. Divorce rates have also shot up dramatically with 1 in every 3 marriages ending in a divorce. These changes have been constructed into a national crisis by the state and the media. The statistics have been used to create moral panic among the people. In Britain, the government whether the New Right or the New Left have supported the ‘traditional family'. In the debates and policies of the New Right or the New Left, there is seen to be a particular connection between deviant family forms and social ills and there can be seen a particular vision of the individual, family and state responsibility. Policy units, the think tanks like the Social Affairs and the Economic Affairs units and the newspapers rather than the academic press stress are the agencies that stress more on the importance of the ‘traditional family values'. [Jagger and Wright, 1999] The lobbyists on behalf of the ‘ normal' family say that government policies and feminist ideologies threaten it. Government policies however far from threatening the nuclear family form strongly support it. In fact the Conservatives called themselves the party of the ‘family' and deviant family forms such as homosexual relationships and cohabitation were actively discouraged. The 1988 Local Government Act stated that it was an offence for local government employees or institutions to promote the acceptability of homosexuality as a family relationship. The Conservatives also shifted away from state provision and the emphasis lay on the family as a source of provision and rhetoric as well as legislation supported this. The moral panic shifted from the unemployed male scrounger to the female lone parent on benefit. The benefits given to single parents were cut down and the Child Support Act was introduced. Refamilisation – by which fathers were tried to be reinserted into the family by being made responsible for his child after separation made life very difficult for those people who had been divorced. This rhetoric of traditional family values however helped the state to back out of much of its fiscal responsibilities! The Labour Governments emphasis has also been on the family. Legislation based on the ‘families role in society' has been passed. As Frazer says, there is ‘an insistent emphasis on ‘the family' as the relevant and significant institution' together with ‘the insistence that rights must be correlated with duties, obligations and responsibilities'. It does seem from the government's emphasis on the family that the terrain of family offers the illusion of a cheap and feasible political program. Other than this emphasizing on family also obscures the failure of the politicians in other spheres such as economics or likewise. The media also plays an important role in this invocation of ‘the family' – the ‘cereal-packet family' being a noteworthy propaganda and the stress on the current ‘crisis'! Religion is another important social institution that encourages the nuclear family maintaining it to be moral and healthier that the other family forms. It has been seen that in all these cases of addressing this crisis by the state, the media or any other institution the focus has been on women as the cause of the crisis and consequently social problems. The single mother is seen as the source of current social evils like poverty, children's indiscipline, crime and juvenile delinquency. Fatherless families are seen to be more of a problem with no one to impose authority and discipline! The discourse of lone/single motherhood as a social threat as it helps to resist close scrutiny of the content of hegemonic masculinity and fatherhood. [Lister, 1996] and conceals the fear that if men lose their relevance to the family life they also lose control over women and children. The traditional nuclear family, which is patriarchal, enforces this ideology through the strict gendered division of labor and other family forms without these gender divisions are not seen as desirable or normal. The traditional family is seen as one in which the male is the breadwinner and the woman is the homemaker – looking after the house and the children. This was in fact the Victorian middle class ideology. Though today women are no longer thought of as not going into paid work, it is still considered that her primary duty lies in looking after the home – thus she has a double burden of her job and housework. Men however have no such responsibilities and the symmetrical family that Young and Willmott talk about in which housework is shared equally between men and women instead of men thinking that they are doing a favour by helping, will take a long time to come if it ever does come at all! These family relationships – the inequality of women in their relationships with men ( in either marriage or cohabitation) is linked to wider social and economic factors and is infact sanctioned by the power of the state. Thus gendered division of labor is a part of the ‘normal' family ideals. The crisis in the family means that this gender division no longer works within a majority of the families anymore. This is the feminist explanation for the rise of a ‘crisis' in the family by the media and the state. The patriarchy that is based on the exploitation of women's unpaid labor at home constructs alternate family forms as a ‘crisis' and blames women as the cause of social problems, advocating the return to the ‘normal, heterosexual, nuclear family' for a better and healthier society!

Ceylon Tea Services Plc Marketing Essay

Ceylon Tea Services Plc Marketing Essay Introduction Ceylon Tea Services PLC which is a subsidiary of MJF group, is engaged in the manufacture, export and marketing of tea bags and packets under the brand name Dilmah. The company exports its products to the UK, the US, Canada,Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The company primarily operates in Sri Lanka, where it isheadquartered in Peliyagoda which is 7.5 km from Colombo. Merrill J. Fernando the founder of Dilmah set out in the 1950s to offer tea drinkers the finest tea on earth. Whilst doing so, he desired to make a genuinely ethical brand. It took nearly four decades for Merrill to fulfill his mission, but in 1988 he launched his family tea – Dilmah – the first producer owned tea brand in the world, handpicked, perfected and packed at source and shipped within days to tea drinkers around the world. Key Milestones Table 1 – Company milestone Year Key Milestone 1930 Merrill J Fernando, Founder of Dilmah is born in Pallansena, a tiny village in S outh Western Ceylon 1950 Merrill begins his journey in tea, as a trainee Tea Taster in London 1981 The incorporation of Ceylon Tea Services, the company which markets Dilmah tea 1988 Launch of Dilmah Tea in Sydney Australia 2000 Dilmah launches in Sri Lanka 2001 Dilmah launches in United Kingdom 2005 Medinge honors Dilmah as a Top Brand with a Conscience 2006 Dilmah acquires ISO 22000 : 2005 status 2007 Dilmah receives accolades at the Best Corporate Citizen Awards 2009 Dilmah Conservation unveils first Elephant Information Centre in Sri Lanka Source: Dilmah website Dilmah operates both in B2B and B2C markets by producing tea, tea bags and packets. Its product range varies from different flavored tea as depicted in Table 2. Products and features Table 2 – Product Categories Product Categories Product Names Dilmah Tea Premium Singal Origin Tea The Original Gourmet Teas Exotic Fun Tea Other Products Asian Spice Tea Ceylon Green Tea Watte Single Estate Tea Green Tea Fruit Infusi ons Trax Pack Box Pack Almond Toffee Creamity Wafer Rolls Korento Cookies Fruit Cookies Good Choice Cookies Chocopie Cheese Ball Cracker Fruit Drop Candie Wafer Sticks Darling Jelly Source: Marketing Memo June 2010 Salient features of Dilmah tea brand includes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Safe to use & consume à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Non-toxic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rich in aroma and taste à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ No side effects à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Free from artificial ingredients à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Secure Packaging Company Performance The company recorded revenues of Rs. 4,957.1 million (US$43.2 million) in the fiscal year ended March 2010. Its net profit was Rs.1,203.5 million (US$10.5 million) which is 25% in fiscal year 2010. Ceylon Tea Services PLC has a issued share capital of Rs.200 million (US$ 2M). Year over year, Ceylon Tea Services PLC has been able to grow their bottom line from 487.1M to 1.2B primarily through revenue growth (4.4B to 4.9B). For while the costs associated with cost of goods, SGA and income tax a ll increased as a percentage of sales, the growth in top line revenues contributed enough to still see net income improve. Figure 1 – Company Performance Source : Ceylon Teas PLC Audited Accounts Industry and Market As Dilmah operates in over 95 countries, competing in a global market place they fight for market share with both global and local players in each country. Therefore, the market share differs based on the country in which the organization cater. The MJF Group which is the parent company of Ceylon Teas PLC, caters to over 95 countries which include Australia, New Zealand, CIS, Eastern Europe -Poland, Baltics.

Lyon and U.S Traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lyon and U.S Traditions - Essay Example From then on the idea of "festival of lights was born". The people of Lyon up to this day continue to celebrate this visually spectacular tradition. Currently the festival takes place in four events whereby light installation illuminates the city of Lyon attracting thousands of visitors as tourists. Apart from celebration, the festival also provides an opportunity for communication forum with other cities in France and also around the world concerning the issue of light in town and city dwelling is discussed. Lots of tourists visit Lyon every year to watch the event. Lyon is rich in culture and traditions that attract a lot of people allover the world.(Robert 2009) The winter festival of lights in U.S. involves the lighting of a 5 kilometer road stretch adjacent to Niagara falls with over three million sparkling lights turning the falls into a wonder winterland.This festival attracts visitors from across Ontario, North America, Canada and beyond. The event began in 1983 as a result of collective consultation and participation of Canada and Niagara parks commission with other business organizations to create the festival. The winter festival made and agreement in 1992 with the Canadian Inc to come up with Disney enchantment displays located at the base of Murray hill in Queen Victoria Park. The festival has been highly recognized than any other display.

An observation report of a faculty member Essay

An observation report of a faculty member - Essay Example Let me start off the relating of my observations by first describing the kind of class that I was assigned to observe. While I was hoping to be assigned to a highly exciting and eye-opening class, I was instead assigned to an ESL class for college graduates who had very little English writing skills. The students in this English 100 class were all college school students who, due to one reason or another, managed to graduate from high school with very poor English writing skills. Gaining acceptance into college may have meant that they had the chance to get a better future by completing all the levels of their education, the problem of their English writing readiness became quite evident when they enrolled int heir regular English classes. Due to the serious nature of their problem in expressing themselves in English, these students were advised to enroll in remedial English writing classes. The aim of this type of class, is to improve their English writing abilities to the extent th at the student will be able to clearly and legibly express his thoughts and emotions through his writing. The professor in this class was a female in her late thirties who felt that the best way to help her students learn how to write in English was to ask them to engage themselves in a writing activity that they could relate to. Which is why she asked the class to write their personal memoirs. Since her students came from highly diverse backgrounds, their English writing skills seemed to copy the kind of background they were exposed to when they tried to express themselves through writing. However, the teacher, who used the â€Å"Daniel Stiepleman Cluster† in her class, managed to divide her time equally among the students and in the process, managed to help them improve their writing abilities in the process. She did this by clustering her class in groups that came from similiar backgrounds. This way the students shared a set of low writing skill problems that she could hel p them address by group rather than individually. In doing so, she allowed the class members to become teaching aides in a way because they found themselves in the unique position of helping one another improve their writing ability through consultation with one another. By asking the students to write their own memoirs, the professor actually encouraged the students to express themselves by discussing a topic that they are highly familiar with and therefore, gave them the confidence to take a chance upon which they could express themselves in English as best as they could. Since this was a basic English writing class, I observed that most of the students had apprehensions about how they should write about themselves and how they might be judged for their written grammatical mistakes. This was a point of nervousness for the students that the professor was able to diffuse by encouraging them to write regardless of their mistakes, which she would help them correct later on. It was her belief that unless they took a chance upon expressing themselves, they would never be able to do so. Part of her encouragement and genius in teaching came from the way that she effectively utilized the clustering technique in teaching the

Research for Health Project Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

For Health Project - Research Paper Example The proposal aims at correcting the situation by suggesting various alternatives towards ensuring early HIV infection diagnosis among the Africans in UK. There is a need to access the various barriers that hinder. The research paper will also contain some research questions that the researcher will use in the field to come up with concrete findings in the study. The methodological chapter reviews some of the research techniques and designs that the researcher will use in addressing the qualitative and quantitative studies in developing the research. The section also gives the prelude on how data will be collected in the field as well as the sampling procedures that will be used in obtaining the desired population for the study. A detailed technique of raw data analysis and presentation is also indicated in the chapter. A literature search refers to an explicit and systematic approach to identifying, retrieving and managing bibliography of independent studies. The independent sources are obtained from published from sources, and the search aims at synthesizing conclusions, singling out future areas of research as well as locating information on particular topics. Today, a lot of technological advances are seen in the field of medicine as well as nursing. For instance, there are epidemics and new cases of diagnosis of some diseases worldwide. The current trends in the late diagnosis of HIV infection among the black Africans is a matter of concern in UK (Health Protection Agency, 2007). The issue poses a great concern to the government of UK to find out the primary cause of the late HIV infection diagnosis. Late HIV infection diagnosis among Africans in UK is a serious problem in the region. The problem of late HIV infection defines a situation where the CD4 cells count way below the minimum level of 350 cells/mm3 (Fenton, 2007, p.14). The late diagnosis hinders early access to

The Mexican Revolution and the Middle Class Research Paper

The Mexican Revolution and the Middle Class - Research Paper Example The Mexican revolution remains one of the most important revolutions that took place in Latin America. It is marked with political celebrations in Mexico, and this is because it is an important political event. The most important players during this revolution were the middle class. The middle class played a great role in ensuring that the revolutionaries won the war, against President Diaz. These people provided money and soldiers for purposes of advancing the agenda of the revolutionaries. The army was under General Carranza, and it engaged the government in urban centers. The middle-class army also provided support to the armies of General Pancho Villa in the North, and General Zapata in the South.This support was essential in breaking the various sieges that the government army had laid against these two Generals. By concentrating in urban areas, the government’s army was also limited on how it could advance its troops for purposes of quelling the rebellion in the rural ar eas of Mexico. Furthermore, after the rebellion, it is the Middle Class who took over power and began initiating a sequence of policies aimed at changing promoting good governance in Mexico. Immediately after the end of this revolution, President Obregon took over the leadership of Mexico and introduced a series of changes aimed at making Mexico a democratic state.People who argue against the recognition of these revolutions denote that they are bloody and violent, and hence they lead to the loss of lives.

Market failure Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Market failure - Research Paper Example Experts opine that there are multiple reasons that have worked behind the extinction of the cod. The most noteworthy reason that worked to this outcome is that the market could not allocate the resource efficiently and the federal government did not have any comprehensive policy for developing the fishing industry in a sustainable manner. This made the fishing zones vulnerable to over fishing and it led to over exploitation of the resource. This creates a negative externality since the ecological balance is lost due to depletion of the natural resources beyond normal replenishing capability of nature. Once faced with the depleting fish reserve, the Government of Canada took reconstructive steps to allow the population of the extinct species to grow and launched a process of strict monitoring of fishing activities in the zone. Background By the first decade of the 16th century, the news spread like fire that the fishing ports along the northern coast of Europe were a rich reserve of d ifferent species of marine fish (Emery). By the beginning of the 1990s, the cod fisheries were exploited ravenously. The once-plentiful stock of cod along with several other species had dwindled and reached the brink of becoming extinction. After the stories of cod fisheries spread, foreign fishermen started to catch cod from this zone. They made use of efficient technology highly efficient technology that helped fishermen to locate the position of fishes and harvest exceptionally large amounts of the fish, particularly cod. Stronger vessels, such as technologically advanced trawlers allowed big fishing fleets to visit this zone and from distant places and work on these shores for several months at a stretch. Fishing became an important economic activity and it was left to the market for demand to be supplied with adequate quantities. Hence this led to maximization of the individual private fishermen’s profit objective. This led to catching of fish following the commercial ob jectives of increasing production efficiency. Overestimation of the magnitude of stock of cod fish in these fisheries by the government officials in the countries of Europe and by some international bodies allowed the harvesting of fish, which crossed the limit of sustainable harvest (â€Å"Cod Moratorium†). Quotas were assigned sometimes by these organizations, but, these conformed to the economic requirements of these countries and did not comply with the ecological requirements. The outcome of this phenomenon was a situation of overexploitation of the northern cod. In 1991, the catch rate reduced significantly and also the concentration of large fish reduced (Emery). This led to reduction of fishing activity in the region. The total allowable catch was reduced by the Canadian government in 1991. A two-year moratorium was put on the harvest of northern cod in July in the same year. One year later, in July 1992, the Canadian government shut down the industry for an infinite period of time. Issue: Market failure in Canadian fisheries Economic incentives for overfishing The tragedy of commons A classic example of the tragedy of commons is the case of depleting northern cod stock. High sea fisheries in the pacific are a common resource and do not have any specific owner. Therefore these resources are exploited with the profit motive of the

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.  

Competency Statement Essay Example for Free

Competency Statement Essay There are many significant attributes of children’s lives including, physical and intellectual competence. Although children learn at a different pace than one another, once they start to age their physical and intellectual skills increase. No child is considered â€Å"smarter† because he or she might be more advance in one area than another child. Every learning skill that children are grasping on a daily basis has room for improvement. IIaI chose ice skating as creativity for one of the nine learning experiences. Not only is ice skating a fun activity but it also helps with physical development of the child. Ice skating increases lower body strength by working the muscles in the legs. When learning how to ice skate you are actually teaching how to balance yourself. In this day age, children aren’t as physically active as before in previous generations and by doing an ice skating activity it could lead a child to a lifelong sport. IIbAnother one of my nine learning experiences I chose for my resource collection is language and literacy. The goal is to pronounce 3 letter â€Å"at† words such as cat, bat, hat using flash cards, letter pronunciation CD Rom, and bingo board and chips. This activity helps with cognitive development by knowing the sound awareness of the letters and reasoning on what letter you would pronounce first, second, and third. IIcMaking beaded bracelets with colored beads and string is a fine motor skill which teaches hand and eye coordination. I decided to make colorful bracelets with elbow macaroni noodles because not only is it a fine motor skill but it is creative as well. Using noodles instead of beads teaches my students that there are alternatives when you don’t have the original material. My students get creative by painting the noodles different colors and decorating them with glitter and rhinestones. You could also use other noodles to give your bracelets a different shape or size. Ziti, penne, rotelle, and rigatoni are other styles of noodles that could be used to make your own personal pasta jewelry. I give my children options because it helps to express their creative side and how they view their imagination. IIdProper communication is important when it comes to language development. You have to use more than one communication strategy to promote language development. Some of the ways I teach to help language development children from baby to adolescent can learn from. I always talk clearly and not too fast, I think that is the one thing you should always do when trying to develop better language skills. If you talk to your students with scrambled words then they won’t be able to comprehend on what’s being said. I also read books and point to the pictures with my children asking â€Å"what do they see† or â€Å"what is happening† in the book so I can not only see if their paying attention, but to see if how they are pronouncing pictures shown on the page. Music CD’s also helps with language development. I sing songs with my students, getting them to use as many words as possible mastering one word at a time. There is one bilingual child in my classroom and English is his second language. Since English is his second language make sure that I talk to him clearly and use flash cards with pictures. I also spark up conversations with him about his interests and home life so there is a sufficient amount of the English language being used to help the growth of his language development.

Giotto Di Bondones Style and Technique

Giotto Di Bondones Style and Technique Briefly outline the characteristics of Giotto’s style and analyse the impact of his works on fourteenth-century Italian Art Giotto was a Florentine painter and architect who was recognized as an artistic genius and protagonist during the Italian Renaissance. For artist Giorgio Vasari the great biographer of Italian Renaissance artists the new art had its birth with Giotto[1]. Giotto lived and worked at a time when society was exploring and testing the boundaries of medieval traditions and institutions. This is reflected in his religious subjects where the earthly, full-blooded energy for which he was so famous was to spark the beginnings of artistic naturalism and humanism. For Vasari, Giotto’s work represents a period when painting woke from its long subjection to the Greeks. As Hale says: the stiffness of the Byzantine style gave way to something like grace, figures began to cast shadows and to be foreshortened, their drapery revealed movement and their faces reflected feeling, fear, hope, anger or love. [2] These characteristics are reflected in one of Giotto’s earliest works, Madonna and Child, where the child, although now lost, is affectionately clasping the Madonna’s hand, with its other hand outstretched to her face. The Madonna’s eyes meet those of the viewer with an elongated stare. Both of these qualities reflect Giotto’s desire to express human sentiment and his interest in the communication of feeling. Giotto also experiments with form so that the straight alignment of the Madonna’s features are juxtaposed against the shape of her gown which flows down and away from her face. Giotto is famous for his frescoes at Assisi where he perpetuated a new use of space and colour. For example, The Doctors of the Church sets portraits within areas framed by extravagantly decorative geometric, figurative, and floral motifs.[3] In The Scenes from the Life of St. Francis the strong portrayal of animals, plants, flowers, pottery and rocks are integrated into the human scenarios so that the two become integral to one another. In St. Francis Giving his Mantle to a Poor Knight the red of the knight’s robe is seen on the back of the mule and in the buildings and landscapes of the background. This is suggestive of Giotto’s desire to unify different elements of his paintings a theme which was to continue into the trends of the fourteenth century. Indeed in his frescoes at Padua (1302-5) where he painted the lives of Christ and the Virgin in the private chapel of Enrico Scrovegni, Padua’s richest citizen, his fusion between figures and space and his concep tion of them as a ‘single coherent unit’[4] is taken to a new extreme. A section of The Last Judgement shows Enrico Scrovegni offering a model of the chapel to Mary, who stands beside a saint and an angel. The gift symbolises Enrico seeking penitence for his father’s sin of usury.[5] This arrangement reflects man’s communication with God, and in turn the unification of the material and the spiritual. In The Last Judgement, where Christ sits surrounded by an aura, Giotto places figures at the centre of their world representing mankind’s place at the centre of history and his unique individuality, which was to become a fundamental of the humanist vision during the fourteenth century. Fourteenth century Italian art was intrinsically linked to the political developments occurring during the time. Giotto was certainly one of the first to assert a style based on observations of nature rather than the upholding of medieval traditions, and during a time when city states were becoming more independent, and democracies were governed by guilds associations of merchants, bankers, artisans, and other professionals[6] this form of artistic freedom was welcomed by those who had democratic or political influence. Giotto’s decorating of the family chapels of the wealthiest citizens of Florence and Padua suggests that art was seen as an ultimate aesthetic representation of virtue and power. In S. Croce Giotto painted the life of St. Francis in the Bardi chapel and those of the two St. Johns in the Peruzzi chapel. The Bardi and Peruzzi were the two greatest banker families of Florence and court bankers of the kings of England and Naples, to the latter of whom Giotto was court painter between 1328-32.[7] These were important developments for fourteenth century art as at Peruzzi Giotto incorporates portrait heads, presumably of the Peruzzi family. As Antal phrases it: ‘it was the wealthiest citizens of Florence who were the first to be represented, outside a fresco or religious painting, in almost wholly independent portraits, though still for the time being inside the same frame.’[8] Later artwork was to completely separate portraits from religious paintings so that the individual could be represented as independent of, but still connected to, the spiritual realm. Fourteenth-century frescoes reveal that individualism was greatly esteemed in the Italian city-republics, and a developing trend for freedom of expression can be seen in Giotto’s pupils and successors such as Taddeo Gaddi. The lives of Christ, the Virgin and the Saints were the subjects of many important paintings and sculptures commissioned at the time. However, although these subjects continue those used by Giotto, his style began to be adapted by his pupils. His idea of a painting as a single unified whole was taken further by incorporating a greater diversity of individual elements within that whole. As Antal explains it: The painters abandoned Giottos centripetal emphasis in order to obtain a fuller narrative; the number of figures is greater, they are individualised and more vehement in their movements, more passionate or more charming; sometimes landscape predominates, and the architecture is richer and more Gothic.[9] However, Giotto’s work was still to prove pivotal to the changes occurring during the fourteenth century. By mid-century, Italy saw a surge of artistic output which integrated new ideals into earlier modes of representation. Over time, figures became more naturalistic, and the linear and angular quality of clothing on figures became softened. As mentioned above, Giotto’s volumetric figures of Madonna and of Christ express these qualities nearly a century earlier. These works were to influence major fourteenth century artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael. As seen in Madonna and Child Giotto experimented with the form of the figure and created a shadow effect, adding three dimensionality to the painting. This solution to creating the illusion of solidity to his figures was developed by the later artists who are famous for their exquisite eye for detail. With Giotto, the two dimensional world of thirteenth-century Italian painting was transformed into an analogue for the real world.[10] It was the simplicity of his style and his mastery of illusion which captivated the audiences of his time. As Bernard Berenson puts it: With the simplest means, with almost rudimentary light and shade, and functional line, he contrives to render, out of all the possible outlines, out of all the possible variations of light and shade that a given figure may have, only those that we must isolate for special attention when we are actually realizing it.[11] Giotto was to lay the foundations of a radical artistic movement in fourteenth century Italy. Later artists developed the simplicity of his use of line, form and three-dimensionality. His bold use of colour and composition was to precipitate a wealth of changes in the styles and tastes of fourteenth century Italian art, and his contributions to the history of aesthetics are perhaps some of the most comprehensive in history. Bibliography Antal, F., 1947, Florentine Painting and Its Social Background; the Bourgeois Republic before Cosimo De Medicis Advent to Power: XIV and Early XV Centuries. London: K. Paul Bennett, A., 1999, Giotto. London: Dorling Kindersley Berenson, B., 1953, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance. Phaidon: New York Hale, J.R., 1954, England and the Italian Renaissance: The Growth of Interest in Its History and Art. London: Faber and Faber Osmond, S.F., 1998, The Renaissance Mind Mirrored in Art. World and I, Vol. 13 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/iptg/hd_iptg.htm. Further Reading Henderson, J., and Verdon, T., (eds), 1990, Christianity and the Renaissance: Image and Religious Imagination in the Quattrocento. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press Martindale, A., 1969, The Complete Paintings of Giotto. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson. Murray, L., and Murray, P., 1963, The Art of the Renaissance. New York: Praeger Footnotes [1] Osmond, S.F., 1998, The Renaissance Mind Mirrored in Art. World and I, Vol. 13. p.1. [2] Hale, J.R., 1954, England and the Italian Renaissance: The Growth of Interest in Its History and Art. London: Faber and Faber, p.60. [3] Bennett, A., 1999, Giotto. London: Dorling Kindersley, p.25. [4] Ibid, p.66. [5] Ibid, p.71. [6] Osmond, S.F., 1998, The Renaissance Mind Mirrored in Art. World and I, Vol. 13. [7] Antal, F., 1947, Florentine Painting and Its Social Background; the Bourgeois Republic before Cosimo De Medicis Advent to Power: XIV and Early XV Centuries. London: K. Paul, p.159. [8] Ibid, p.159. [9] Ibid, p.174. [10] http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/iptg/hd_iptg.htm. [11] Berenson, B., 1953, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance. Phaidon: New York, p.44.

Mothers Smoke Less around Their Children after Counseling :: Essays Papers

Mothers Smoke Less around Their Children after Counseling In Melbourne F. Hovell’s article: â€Å"Effect of Counseling Mothers on their Children’s Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Randomized Controlled Trial,† the author persuades the reader effectively through showing evidence about the dangers of second hand smoke. He also introduces the effectiveness that counseling has on mothers who smoke in front of their children. The article presents a study of the effectiveness of counseling for smoking mothers, and shows the decline of children's exposure to smoke in their environment. The article states many valid points, and backs the evidence with statistics to insure that the reader is persuaded by the article’s points. The article begins by introducing the problem of second hand smoke to children, and has a delayed thesis which states his main point about the effectiveness of therapy. The author then explains the methods and who participates. Many statements backed up with evidence co ntinue throughout the article. The article also shares individual stories of mothers who have gone through this type of therapy and how it has helped them. Hovell’s article was believable because it included statistics as well as success stories. His research is also believable because he displays it with credibility and logic, and he appeals to the reader’s values. There are numerous reasons as to why smoking should be banned around small children, specifically in the United States. Hovell addresses these reasons with statistics. The World Health Organization estimated that half of the world’s children are in danger due to second hand tobacco smoke (1). In the United States, 43% or about 15 million children live in homes polluted with tobacco (1). This is a higher percentage compared to other countries across the globe. Many of these children will suffer from asthma, repertory tract infections, otitis media, and sudden infant death syndrome (for fetuses whose mother’s smoke) because of their exposure. The article states that counseling tends to decrease children’s exposure and mother’s smoking while increasing the number of quitters (1). The study done for this article involved recruiting of certain mothers and families who would undergo the counseling process.

Networking :: essays research papers

1. Which versions of NetWare support TCP/IP services such as Web site hosting? c. 4.x and 5.0 2. Which version of NetWare contains many services coded in the Java programming language? d. 5.0 3. How many processors can a NetWare 5.0 server support? c. 32 4. What is the minimum amount of RAM required for a NetWare 5.0 server? d. 64 MB 5. Why might you want to install more than the minimum RAM required by NetWare 5.x? The more RAM, the better the performance of the server. 6. Where can you go to find out about known bugs in NetWare? b. www.support.novell.com 7. How might NLMs provide better stability on your NetWare server? a. They can be loaded and unloaded without taking down the server. 8. Which version of NetWare supports the use of virtual memory? d. 5.x 9. What stands at the very top of the NDS tree? a.root a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10. If you decide to change the name of your NDS tree after you’ve installed NetWare, you can rename it through a server console command. True or False? 11. What is the name of the graphical server manager utility in NetWare 5.x? d. NetMon 12. Which DOS command loads the NetWare operating system kernel? d. SERVER.EXE 13. Which of the following file systems does NetWare not support? b. NTFS 14. What is the name of the volume created automatically when you install NetWare 5.x? d. SYS 15. File compression is enabled by default during a NetWare 5.x installation.True or False? 16. Which server resource does block suballocation conserve? c. hard disk space 17. What is the purpose of a container object in an NDS tree? a. to logically subdivide objects in the tree 18. A user is an example of what kind of NDS object? c. leaf 19. If a user’s login ID is â€Å"james† and the user belongs to the â€Å"marketing† organizational unit, which is in turn part of the â€Å"Corporate† organizational unit within the â€Å"ABC† Organization, what is this user’s context? c. O_ABC_OU_marketing_OU_corporate_U_james 20. Which utility allows you to manage NDS objects? c. NWAdmin 22. After right-clicking an object within NWAdmin, which option should you choose to modify that object’s properties? a. Details 23. In a typeful context notation, how is a user object’s container designated? d. O 24. Why might you want to create an administrator-equivalent ID that isn’t called â€Å"Admin†? b. for security purposes 25. After a simple NetWare 5.x installation, what rights does the default group called PUBLIC have to the NDS tree? b. Browse, Modify, Erase 26. In NWAdmin, you can grant users rights to save files in a directory.

Shiloh Essay -- essays research papers

The Second Battle of Shiloh   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The switch to college life can definitely change people. In high school, one makes friends that will hopefully last a lifetime. Then comes senior year, and after all the college admissions letters have been received, one must face the realization that his/her best friends will not be by their side 24 hours a day / 7 days a week any longer. Still ecstatic by what this new life, college, holds for them, students enter into their chosen institute of higher learning. Do you remember that first break, or long weekend, that brings everyone back to the place where they grew up? Its a chance to look back and catch up on old times, even though you’ve only been separated for a month or two. Whether coming home from UGA, Tech, or even some out-of-state college, that drive home gives one time to reflect. Will my friends who I graduated with be the same friends who I know and love? Like I said, college alters people, and the first time you see old friends, you might realize that your best friends are not who they once were. Although painful, this is a process that is natural. Friends change, and friends move on with their lives, regardless of your presence. On a larger scale, this is the dilemma brought to the readers attention by Bobbie Ann Mason, author of â€Å"Shiloh†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Mason’s â€Å"Shiloh†, Leroy and Norma Jean Moffitt are a married couple living in Paducah, Kentucky. Leroy has spent the past 15 years driving a tractor-trailer across the country. Four months ago, Leroy was involved in a highway accident that required steel pins to be placed in his hip. He returned home to rest and rehabilitate his leg. He is confined to his house, something that he hasn’t seen for an extended period since he’s been on the road. Like a college student, this is Leroy’s long weekend. Leroy comes home to his wife, Norma Jean, hoping that she will be the same person he left many years before. Unfortunately for Leroy, Norma Jean has moved on with her life, much like friends who move on after high school graduation. Leroy would like for things to be the way they were, but Norma Jean has chosen a different course in her life that doesn’t involve Leroy. She works at the Rexall Drug Store, loves to play music, and is taking classes in composition at Paducah Community College. Bobbie A... ...se. Leroy knows that something has to be done to save his marriage. Mabel, Leroy’s mother-in-law, suggests they take a trip to Shiloh, a Civil War battleground. This is ready-made symbolism. A battling couple takes a trip to a famous battleground. Looking for a place to picnic, they sit down next to a cemetery for Union Soldiers, which symbolizes the death of their life together as husband and wife. She tells Leroy that she is leaving him and when she walks toward the bluff overlooking the Tennessee River, Leroy tries to follow. His good leg, however is asleep, and his bad leg still hurts him. This symbolizes that he will never catch her. She has her own life and he is stuck in the same place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, I have personally experienced the loss of a friend after we both embarked on different paths. Although we were the best of friends in high school, when the time came on that long weekend to hang out, we didn’t even pick up the phone to see what the other was doing. Although its natural to move in different directions, it still hurts to no longer have that friend in your life any longer, just like it hurts Leroy not to have Norma Jean

Of Mice and Men: An Unexpected Connection

Lennie and Curley’s wife come across as very different characters. They differ greatly in appearance, mentality, and personality. Despite their differences, though, Lennie and Curley’s wife are surprisingly similar in the way they both constantly need to create physical connections. As a result, they are able to relate to each other, and when they are finally alone together they address each other’s needs, which leads to a tragic end. Lennie and Curley’s wife are extremely different people, both externally and internally. Lennie is â€Å"a huge man, shapeless of face, †¦with wide, sloping shoulders,† (2) while Curley’s wife is a very â€Å"purty† (28) woman with â€Å"full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes† (31). Lennie has animalistic qualities and moves clumsily: â€Å"†¦he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws† (2). Contrastingly, Curley’s wife is more graceful and moves very quietly, which is depicted when Candy says, â€Å"Jesus Christ, Curley’s wife can move quiet† (82) after she had entered the stable on the way to Crooks’ bunk without anyone hearing her. Lennie suffers from an unknown mental illness – the other characters think he’s â€Å"nuts† (74)— and as a result, he acts callow, imitating the behavior of certain animals: He drank from the pool â€Å"with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse,† (3) and he â€Å"dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in little splashes† (3). Lennie is â€Å"a nice fella† (40) who is very innocent, illustrated by how he interacts with the girl in the red dress in Weed: â€Å"†¦he reaches out to feel this red dress, †¦he jus’ wanted to touch that dress† (42). He is also very tractable; â€Å"†¦he’d do any damn thing† (40) that George told him. In contrast, Curley’s wife is mentally sharper and very observant; she notices all â€Å"them bruises† (80) on Lennie’s face, which resulted from his fight with Curley, and realizes that he was the one who hurt Curley’s hand, not a machine. Curley’s wife is also very assertive, manipulative, and flirtatious. A clever lady, she knows how to get what she wants. The superiority of Curley’s wife’s qualities to those of Lennie later contributes to their tragic end. Both Lennie and Curley’s wife have to constantly create physical connections in their lives, but each for a different reason. Lennie has an obsession with petting soft things, which he reveals to Curley’s wife: â€Å"I like to pet nice things with my fingers, sof’ things† (90). His obsession, which he has had since he was a child – his Aunt Clara used to give him a piece of velvet to touch — is depicted throughout the book. In the beginning of the book, Lennie finds a dead mouse and when asked why he keeps it, he answers, â€Å"I could pet it with my thumb wile we walked along,† (6) expressing his desire to pet things, dead or alive. He wants to pet things so badly that after George throws the mouse off into the distance to get rid of it, Lennie goes and retrieves it again. In Weed, when Lennie saw the girl in the red dress who he had never even met before, he reached out to touch it, just to feel the dress. George describes Lennie’s obsession concerning Slim’s pups: â€Å"He’ll want to sleep right out in the barn with ‘em. We’ll have trouble keepin’ him from getting right in the box with them pups† (38). Lennie â€Å"wants to pet them pups all the time† (42). Furthermore, his dream to tend â€Å"furry† (16) rabbits results from his obsession. Lennie has a longing to pet every soft thing he encounters in the book and each time he fulfills his craving something unfortunate happens, foreshadowing the book’s final events. He doesn’t know his own strength and can’t control his obsession. Similarly, Curley’s wife has a constant need to physically feel loved. She is someone who needs a lot of love and attention (her dream was to be an actress), which her husband will never give her. As a result, she tries to interact with any guy she can; in Crooks’ room when talking to Candy, Crooks, and Lennie, she admits, â€Å"†¦what am I doin? Standin’ here talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs†¦an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else† (78). Slim comments on her behavior: â€Å"She ain’t concealin’ nothing†¦ She got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody†¦ Seems like she can’t keep away from guys† (51). Although many of the ranchers view her as a â€Å"tart,† (28) I believe that Curley’s wife is a genuinely lonely person. She expresses her loneliness to Lennie: â€Å"I get lonely†¦ You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley† (87). Ironically, Lennie and Curley’s wife, who have nearly opposite qualities, can cater to each other’s need by responding to each other’s obsessions. Purposely kept apart by the author through various characters for most of the book, when Lennie and Curley’s wife are alone together for the first time, the already existent chemistry between them is ostensible, and the extent of their needs is so great that neither can resist acting upon them. Leading up to this final scene, Lennie’s attraction to Curley’s wife is unequivocal. When he first sees her, his eyes â€Å"[move] down over her body,† (31) and when she talks Lennie watches her with fascination. Furthermore when George speaks negatively about Curley’s wife, Lennie â€Å"defensively† says, â€Å"She’s purty† and then later repeats, â€Å"Gosh, she was purty† after which he smiles â€Å"admiringly† (32). Curley’s wife knows how to relate to Lennie and speak to him on his level. After Candy tells her that Curley’s hand was caught in a machine, she, knowing what really happened, speaks flirtatiously to Lennie: â€Å"O. K. , Machine. I’ll talk to you later. I like machines† (80). In the final scene, Curley’s wife indicates to Lennie that she understands his obsession; when Lennie reveals that he likes to pet things, she responds â€Å"Well, who don’t?†¦ Ever’body likes that. I like to feel silk an’ velvet. Do you like to feel velvet? † (90). Lennie and Curley’s wife open up to each other, and as a result the reader learns the most about these characters from this scene; Lennie explains his obsession, while Curley’s wife explains her loneliness and need to feel loved. The reciprocal connection between them is so strong that Lennie disobeys George’s orders, risking his dream of tending the rabbits, and succumbs to the temptation of Curley’s wife. Her loneliness is so great that Curley’s wife, aware of the consequences, â€Å"[takes] Lennie’s hand and [puts] it on her head† (90). Lennie’s obsession overpowers him, and he continuously strokes Curley’s wife’s hair harder and harder, making her scream in pain. Afraid that George â€Å"ain’t gonna let [him] tend no rabbits,† (91) when Curley’s wife doesn’t stop screaming, Lennie shakes her while covering her mouth and accidentally kills her. Lennie’s actions illustrate his lack of self-restraint, and he is therefore viewed as a threat to society. As a result, Lennie’s killing of Curley’s wife leads to the killing of Lennie. The characters that seem the least alike in Of Mice and Men, Lennie and Curley’s wife, ironically, share a common need that enables them to have one of the strongest connections in the book, both physically and emotionally. Knowing that they have the ability to satisfy each other’s needs, Lennie and Curley’s wife are in a very vulnerable situation that is full of temptation. Lennie can’t control his obsession and accidentally kills Curley’s wife, while trying to preserve his dream to tend rabbits that is based on his obsession. The physical connections that once gave them pleasure and happiness in life lead to each of their deaths.

Self-Awareness Through Dis-Closure, Feedback and Reflection.

Throughout this assignment I shall discuss how I have developed my self-awareness through dis-closure, feedback and reflection. â€Å"Being self-aware enables us to identify our strengths and also those areas that can be developed† (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p47), self-awareness is continually being developed through the reflection of our life experiences.Reflection of my life experiences has given me the opportunity to become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses through being honest and the use of disclosure firstly to myself and then to others. The Gibbs Reflective Cycle 1998 is a useful model for reflecting on a life experience to gain further self-awareness through evaluation and analysis to finally having an action plan identifying what would be done differently in the future. The more knowledge we have about ourselves, the easier it becomes to relate to others† (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p47), the self-concept (Murphy 1947, Argyle 1969, Burns 1980) enables us to learn more of our self through self-image, self-esteem and the self-ideal, by reflecting on each of these three parts in regard of myself I have determined that I see myself as being confident with a high self-esteem which I find makes me a friendly and approachable person however I have also realised that I have to listen more to receive feedback. When we try to see and feel the world from another person’s perspective, we are trying to be empathic. If we are successful, we will not just be able to understand the persons thoughts but also feel something of what they feel† (G Firth, R Berry, C Irvine 2010 p148) within my past career path of working with people with learning disabilities with an inability to communicate it has enabled me to develop my empathy and consideration for others, which is not to be confused with sympathy but is more of a connection towards somebody else’s feelings.By developing my connection to other people’s feelings who are unabl e to communicate verbally it has enabled me to develop non verbal cues as described in Egan’s model 1998, such as adopting an open posture with a relaxed and unhurried appearance and the importance of eye contact, however within my new career role now working with people of which most can communicate verbally I need to stay aware that the use of non-verbal cues and the tone of the voice used is still of upmost importance. Self-disclosure, a process by which we let ourselves be known to others† (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p48) the Johari window can be applied to increase self-awareness and focuses on the theory that being more self-aware is of great assistance in developing as an individual, within the framework of the Johari window the subject of self-disclosure is of great importance.The Johari window is composed of four parts, the open self, blind self, hidden self and the unknown self, through the use of disclosure, by sharing information from your hidden self to other s the open self increases in size and in return for disclosing information feedback is received from others, giving insight into your blind self therefore increasing your self-awareness. Appropriate disclosure avoids the two extremes and means that it is fitting, suitable, the right amount at the right time† (Egan 1990 p45), it is important to ensure the correct amount of disclosure is made so that the relationship is not put at risk. Through disclosing too little information it does not allow for the reduction of uncertainty and also doesn’t allow for the build up of trust in a relationship, yet on the other hand if too much is disclosed to soon it may cause a feeling of pressure to recipertate. Self-disclosure between the nurse and patient occurs as part of the developing therapeutic relationship, where both must determine jointly what, when, where and how if at all they will disclose themselves† (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p 49) I have come to realise that no two relationships are the same and progress at different time scales depending on the individual and can also be determined by several variables such as age, status, gender or personality. Ultimately the use of disclosure in a therapeutic relationship is to gain trust and encourage reciprocity. Students may consciously chose to give little personal information to patients whom they perceive as ‘risky’ and likely to abuse the self-disclosure† (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p55) within my current workplace it is policy not to disclose personal information to the people we provide care for which can hinder the progression of a therapeutic relationship, however as I am unable to disclose my hidden self in reflection this has made me more aware of that the use of non verbal communication and the tone of my voice towards the people I provide support for helps to build trust, although on the other hand on reflection of feedback I have received it is apparent that if I have not c ommunicated effectively due to personal issues it can affect the way others feel and reduce the trust within the relationship. â€Å"Conveniently others are constantly giving you the very feedback you need to increase self-awareness† (J A Devito 2004 p33) to receive and further develop from the feedback received we have to be active and effective listeners. Related article: Secondary Reflection ExampleListening is a skill that can be thought of as effortless and undemanding however many people fail to listen to each other actively and are often either non or partial listening, whilst doing this we may pick up on partial bits of feedback but are not receiving the entirety. On refection the skill of listening is something I need to further develop as I can often find myself not actively listening to a person I am communicating with which is hindering the development of my self-awareness. In conclusion the growth of self-awareness is continually progressing over time and is never complete â€Å"becoming self-aware is an on going process that is never complete.Therefore, self-evaluation needs to be undertaken at regular intervals† (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p 50), evaluation of ourselves through reflection and the feedback we receive from others is a task which should be completed frequently to enable us to recognise both our positive and negative areas and ultimately becoming more self-aware giving us the means to manage the demands of both work and personal lives. References Egan G 1990, You and Me-The skills of communicating and relating to others. Brooks/Cole, California Essential of Human Communication (Joseph A Deviot) Fifth Edition 2004 Patterns of self-disclosure among mental health nursing students, R Ashmore & D Banks 2000, Nurse education today (2001) 21,48,57 Harcourt Understanding Intensive Interaction (G Firth, R Berry, C Irvine) 2010 Jessica Kingsley

Studying in united kingdom

Executive SummaryAnalyzing in United Kingdom is relatively more outstanding than any other states it provides a alone survey methodological analysis which enhances coincident development of an person with ample of chances in itself and internationally. This paper focuses on overall scenario of the environment of surveies and other issues such as scholarships, wellness safety, insurance, substructure and guidance. This paper elaborates the reason of the overall scenario and the argues through political, environment, societal and engineering ( PEST ) analysis, follows suggestions and recommendations.Footings of MentionToday, Education is non a mere making. It brings with it an chance to step outside the boundaries of the four walls of a schoolroom. George Savile, Marquis of Halifax justly opined, â€Å" Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught. † Education as per my sentiment should be such that brings new people of different civilizations. It provides one an option to develop amidst assorted civilizations, ideas, perceptual experiences and experiences. I work in my company as a manager, my company is an instruction consultancy, As the manager of my consultancy AEC – Abroad Education Advisers, it is my wish that our squad accomplish a common aim with our assorted university spouses in doing a undertaking that depicts a genuinely unfastened and wide-ranging industry of thoughts, penetrations and position about the various kingdom of instruction overseas for pupils. Our consultancy ‘s chief end and aim is to acquire closer to the pupils in India, the chances of assorted demanding classs and survey plans which are being offered in the prime instruction Institutes foreign. It is our top precedence and responsibility that our pupils do non merely acquire what they desire but besides we try presenting the best option for their calling. We provide reding service to those of our pupils who look for a professional counsel for their hereafter and we guide the pupils as per their involvement in a peculiar sector or industry, We provide full aid and work in coordination with our all pupils ‘ ability, comfort and their future aspirations every bit good as whenever we choose a university for our pupils we have our chief purpose that our pupils are good satisfied with their instruction and have a better platform for get downing of their callings. Even to the universities to whom we send our pupils, we have a full religion in the universities abilities to do our pupils radiance and emerge as fore-runners at that place. It is therefore our chief aim to supply first-class services in order to convey contentment to everybody we work with. Our organisation has completed 9 old ages of excellence in our field and during the term of office we have developed our trade name image for the quality of service that we provide and have developed religion among our clients household and nearby for the abroad instruction services. AEC Education Consultants is one of the fastest lifting globally educational advisers dedicated to supplying the Indian pupils with all indispensable information refering to the acquisition chances in UK. As from the recent old ages UK has been a topographic point where there is a perfect blend of assorted traditions, civilization, international exposure every bit good as planetary competition which makes a pupil non merely makes his instruction complete in a perfect environment but besides enhances a pupil ‘s character which helps them in their long tally calling as good, pupils after holding a twelvemonth or more than in the state are good versed with international environment but besides due to such mixture of assorted international pupils, they even inherit the manner to believe otherwise and introduce some new thoughts in their respective filed. We are authorised Partner of the British High Commission advancing instruction in the U.K. We have our several subdivisions in In dia and are supplying the best guidance and aid to steer to take and prosecute a pupil ‘s dream calling. We at AEC assist our pupils with scholarships and loan every bit good. We help them in obtaining an instruction loan from nationalized Bankss.Our comprehensive services include:Career Counselling– We help our pupils to happen and take a peculiar class which will accommodate their involvement and background. Comprehensive information on the International instruction system and life style.University Selection– In this measure we help our pupils to take the best suitable University for their class. After procedure application for all the Universities in U.K, and so we can propose you which one is suited in your field.Application Producer-The following measure is to concern the selected universities. We guide our pupils in make fulling the Universities signifier ; aid in readying of Recommendation missive, Statement of intent. We send our recommendation missive wi th your university application signifier to the University emphasizes the strengths of the pupil and why she/he should be license. The admittance decision maker considers this missive in their judgement devising. We keep maintain the touch with the universities to guaranting the pupil a fleet response.Fiscal Support– We besides offer our aid in apply for bank loan and other scholarships.Visa Assistance-We help our pupils in using visa and other legal process. We prepare their visa file. We can assist our pupils in set uping all needed papers for visa application. We besides verify all the documents in our file and submit it harmonizing to the high commission/embassy demands.Accommodation & A ; Airport Pick Up– We besides manage and book the adjustment in the abroad state. We will besides form the airdrome pick up service for our pupils. Our pupil ‘s safety is our first responsibility.Travel Agreements-We will besides help our pupils in travel agreement, foreign c urrency, all type insurance policy, opening a bank history in abroad state, cellular phone services in abroad state and other services every bit good.From the recent old ages, as UK has become progressively a topographic point where instruction is one of the best throughout the universe. Our clients are pupil who are interested in survey in aboard.UK universities and colleges holding 1000 classs at assorted degrees of instruction. Most of the pupil who late completed intermediate class and graduation grade prefer to travel on board for their farther surveies. The Student these yearss prefer UK grade because it take merely three old ages and postgraduate maestro ‘s class merely one twelvemonth compared with four twelvemonth in most other states.Assorted TYPE OF QUALIFICATIONS IN UNITED KINGDOM:Assorted makings offered by UK Universities and CollegesFirst Degree ( Bachelors Degree ) .Sandwich Courses: Where the assignments is accompanied by the practical work.HND ( Higher National Diploma )Vocational Courses.Postgraduate.Research ( Doctorate. )There are many inquiries work stoppage in pupil head sing aboard surveies. The most of information required by our client is related to instruction sector. There is following of inquiryWhy survey in UK?The UK is fleet emerging as one of most demanded survey topographic point for pupil in this universe.Which university should i choose in abroad?It depends on survey ba ckground and the fiscal position besides should act upon your pick of the university or college.AEC squad will be assisting you with choosing best class and university for you.How long does the admittance procedure take?Actually, it depends on the university to university and college to college. But most of the instances it takes 5 to 8 hebdomads barely.Is there any entryway test?There is no entryway trial for any class as such. However ; you need to hit in IELTS or TOEFL with minimal set is 6.5.How much does it be to analyze in aboard?It depends on the universities, college and state. If student pursue a Master class in UK University it cost around & A ; lb ; 6000 to & A ; lb ; 9000 lbs.What is sort of inn service is available?They are assorted option are available foremost, the universities provide on campus adjustment. In university adjustment consist of individual and dual room and you can hold self catered installation where you need to fix your ain nutrient. But most of clip p upil hire flats or house outside which is inexpensive and best for them.Can I pay my tuition fee by episodes?Yes you pay your tuition fee in instalment base and few universities besides offer pupils to give immense price reduction on if they pay whole tuition fee in.What is the handiness of work in the UK?Every pupil is permit to work 20 hours per hebdomad.Overview of the state of affairsThere are unexpected job will be arise with our client and us. In instance when we send the all papers of pupil to the universities for the enrollment but it will be refuse by the universities due the incompletion or incorrect certification. The UK universities want know the fiscal position of pupil for the life purpose many of the pupil face this job to agreement of hard currency on their history it ‘s a really large issue for us and our client. There is an English test, TOFEL and IELTS which behavior for the pupil who want take admittance in UK there minimal set mark is 6.5 but unluckily pup il achieved that mark, so it ‘s really bad for both us. Most of the pupils are non cognizant of foreign state about their living criterion, civilization, usage and transit, so it ‘s possible for pupil they faced trouble over at that place. Some pupil faced job with due to proficient issue like Swift transportation ( Online money transportation ) the fee is transfer at that clip to the university, so this procedure the slow down the other activity like apply for the visa, it ‘s non possible for pupils to use for the visa without acquiring unconditioned missive from the universities. If the non fall in his categories from twenty-four hours first it really hard for screen up the old talk. The first clip when we met our client we put a applier signifier which consist of many thing related to his/her past and go outing instruction background if they non make full the signifier right so its large job for us in farther manufacturer due to the invalid information we ca n't make the right thing.PEST Analysis:The PEST Analysis is stand for â€Å" Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis. † Sellers find many chances by placing tendencies ( way or sequences of events that have some impulse and lastingness ) and megatrends ( major societal, economic, political, and technological alterations that have long permanent influence ) . Within the fleetly altering cosmopolitan images, sellers must analyze six environmental forces, demographic, economical, social-culture, natural, technological, political -legal. In demographic environment sellers must be cognizant of population feature ; the age mix of population and literacy and instruction phases. In the Economic field, sellers need to see on income allocation and degree of nest eggs, debt and recognition handiness. In societal cultural pitch sellers must be cognizant of influence of faith, linguistic communications and imposts that shape the values and attitudes of consumer penchant, wonts and behavior. Whereas in accepted atmosphere sellers require being sensitive of populace ‘s interested concerns sing the state of affairs. Many sellers are at present bridal sustains ability and Green Marketing Programme that offer enhanced ecological consequences. In technological sphere seller should take history of accelerate velocity of technological alteration, chance for betterment ; verify R and D budgets, and the improved governmental parametric quantity brought approximately by technological alteration. In the political authorized atmosphere, sellers must work within the many Torahs modulating large concern patterns and within assorted particular involvements group. Before bring forthing a good plague analysis it is of primary importance to foremost encephalon storm the relevant factors that applies to the administration or to its concern environment. Second demand is to place the information that applies to these factors. And thirdly to pull decision from their information it is nevertheless necessary non merely to depict factors, but to believe through what they mean and how do they impact the concern. PEST analysis is merely to a strategic starting point and has its ain restrictions stressing the demand to prove the decision and happening against the world. POLITICAL: – It includes legal and regulative actions employment jurisprudence, consumer protection, and environmental protection, inter state relationship attitudes, like political tendencies, governmental leading, revenue enhancements and governmental construction. Business Legislation: Harmonizing to the World Bank any company can set up in 13 yearss compared to the others states. Tax SYSTEM: – The top corporate rate is 20 eight per centum that accounts smallest in the G7 and less than of the U.K. ‘s pillar rivals. There is fall down in corporate revenue enhancement over 50 % in earlier 1980 ‘s, it reflecting down autumn in industry sector. The highest per centum of personal revenue enhancement goes up to 40 % which is lowest in the Europe. EMPLOYMENT LAWS: Harmonizing to the World Bank the Denmark is in the first place and the UK is come to the 2nd best place. GOVERNMENT POLICIES: – The UK is least corrupt state by transparence international. It has better ranking in comparison to France, U.S.A, Germany and Japan. The figure one metropolis for concern from 19 old ages still keeping the place and commanding in 2008 by the European proctors and they find London is one of the biggest economic of import sector in the universe. ECONIMICAL ENVIRONMENT: – The family properties to the in-between income and above classs constitute the majority of devouring category, has been progressively steadily over the old ages. The urban consumers have to incur has a great cost of populating while the rural population has higher disposable income. It includes following points: – Productiveness: – Swiftly lifting historically the U.K. have lesser production than its core rival but this is changing and the U.K. has congested the infinite with several states and conquer others. Economy RATE / DEBT: -United Kingdom successful achieved the end in 2008 to unify the 501 new investings and besides expand the bing investing, which is highest than Europe. TRANSPORT LINKS: – The U.K. offer Earth category transportation links, HEATHRO ‘ s new terminal 5 is now unfastened publically and working efficaciously, farther growing is designed for international airdrome at STANSTED and London metropolis. For sea containers terminal at Felixstowe and London Gateway and for train system with venture in London. Cross train and train cargo route and rail web has improved. CREDIT AVAILABILITY: – More foreign companies set up their European central office set up at that place in the U.K. than someplace. OLYMPIC OPPERTUNITIES: – The Olympic Games in 2012 is held in London. The procuring phase is started in 2007, contracts are offered for large company of all sizes and the full estimated fiscal program will run in industry. SOCIAL CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT: – It comprise of assorted elements which are as follows: – SOCIAL MOBILITY: – The U.K. has mostly broad scope of broadband sharein comparison to the G7 states and set up a strongest I.C.T. substructure in the globally. Consumerism: -In London the top degree fiscal service Centre are present and which is top in Europe besides. Degree OF EDUCATION: – In the latest research by TIMES Higher Education in UK show the UK have Six top degree universities in Europe. U.K. research produce 16 research documents per U.S. one million dollar of research budget ( compared with 9.2 documents in the U.S. and 3.6 in Japan ) . LIFE STYLE CHANGE: – In U.K the populating criterion of people is high they are good educate and diversion because authorities introduce good policy for UK citizen ‘s. They have pay low personal revenue enhancement, authorities is besides provide fund fittingness and its free to all.UK hold a rich cultural heritage and wealth of leisure installations. POWER DISTRIBUTION INDEX: – Distribution of power is really complicated in some topographic points. Racial favoritism is more and some societies are unequal to some extent. Individuality: – Basically GEERT HOFSTEDE has mentioned cultural dimensions in which individuality is fundamentally self dependant and Bolshevism means populating with uncle, aunt, natives etc. TECNOLOGY: – In engineering the is maintain the 2nd place after U.S.A.In UK there are many immense industry and many advanced company set up his works. There are following points: – PACE OF CHANGE: – As new inventions are at that place in engineering which is really quickly adopted by the metropolis which helps them to make work more efficaciously. Internet: -For pupils it is indispensable to hold a cognition about cyberspace specially individuals who have migrated from one state to another because everything is computerised in this planetary epoch. VERIFYING R and D BUDGET: – With the usage of new M.I.S. system it has changed the face of working form. Everything is calculated and E.R.P. besides helps in happening new ways to research better chances and happen possible clients for their administration. INCREASED REGULATION OF CHANGE: – As new engineering comes which helps to make concern in different mode like C.R.M. package etc. ENVIROMENTAL TECHNOLOGY: -The United Kingdom has one of the most sparkling and globally esteemed renewable energy and environment engineering country in the universe. The UK authorities targeted to cut down the degree of CO2 emanation by 60 % by 2050 offer a healthy support for continued trade in the UK. Nanotechnology: -The UK has celebrated and good repudiated in universe for his nanotechnology, there 1500 research scientists which are concentrating on the development of nanotechnology. Recently UK authorities invest & A ; lb ; 90 million lb for six twelvemonth plan to R & A ; D section of nanotechnology.Overview of UKHarmonizing to my point of position quality of UK which should necessitate to believe when pupil make up one's minding to analyze work or unrecorded:Culture-Every civilization is good and bad portion in position every different individual and there is different type of exclusions to theses stereotype.Diversity-There is wide scope of mix civilizations in United Kingdom. The most of the foreign communities in London.Tolerance-British populace are by and large broad to aliens, and esteem the autonomy to hold different sentiment and attitude.Freedom-The citizen of UK are really free minded and they can show their feeling and idea to the aliens and regard freedom of life.H umour-They have great sense of temper, it ‘s really hard.Creativity-In UK single thoughts are encouraged. British citizen are often non as comfy with working as bunch.Modesty-British citizen are rather retiring.Language-The United Kingdom is the topographic point where the English linguistic communication born. In UK the many people are utilizing English as their first linguistic communication and other state except the US ( If you see the most English talkers in all these state such as- , UK: 60 million, Ireland/New Zealand/South Africa: 3 million ) , US: 230 million, Australia: 15 million, Canada: 20 million, .The British accent really celebrated in universe and people like it and it ‘s easy to understand.Travel-In traveling in UK is easy, you can in railroad station any many mall the aid Centre is available. There are many flights from the London across all over the universe. There are assorted conveyance but they are non efficient. But can holding no job with them.UK is a rather little state, so it ‘s non hard take a long trip to beach or passing holiday to assorted topographic point in UK.Among several states in which are close to UK of Europe continental. If student come in aboard and making survey otherwise work in the UK, they have opportunity see and understand the assorted civilizations of Portugal, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia Belgium, France.Healthiness. Most of the pupil comes for survey in UK if their class is more than 6 month. They get the benefit of free wellness intervention if you cause by any disease. Just demand to register with NHS that all.Work-International national pupil are allow to work half-time because they have limitation of 20 hr in a hebdomad. In UK the cost of life ( ex-food and adjustment ) is high,Solutions and recommendationsAn instruction in India is more theoretical base instead than practical base. Hence clients should see this option.Surveies in abroad are application base instead than theory base. Appli cation base surveies includes apply the theoretical linguistic communication in to instance surveies, assignments based on recent planetary tendencies.International exposure enables a pupil to hold knowledge about different tradition and civilization and lets a pupil know about different types of people around the universe this enhances their communicating accomplishments and do their manner of believing a small flexible.Bing a Doctorate, Masters or a alumnus from Uk universities is more valuable and acceptable throughout the universe. This means there are ample of chances for a pupil who has passed from UK.After surveies from United Kingdom a pupil non merely gets a grade which is internationally accepted but besides a pupil attains personality training, a good communicating accomplishments, and extremely analytical abilities.There are a batch of scholarships for pupils who are meriting, these scholarships can change from a & A ; lb ; 1,500- & A ; lb ; 2,500 and even some universit ies give inn adjustment for full 1 twelvemonth or even throughout the continuance of class.Prognosiss and resultsThe economic system is coming out of recession and UK is a fast growth state which will potentially advance the chances of concern and services.Graduating or get the hanging from UK enhances international exposure which aid in acquiring the coveted appellations.After analysing PEST analysis we can state future chances are really broad in U.K because in all the field conditions instruction, concern it has its name, celebrity and huge chances to work on like we studied it takes 13 yearss if you want to put a little concern here.Reference Section and Bibliographyhypertext transfer protocol: //www.aasco.com.pk/australia.phphypertext transfer protocol: //www.aecoverseas.comhypertext transfer protocol: //www.intstudy.comhypertext transfer protocol: //www.geert-hofstede.com/hypertext transfer protocol: //www.guardian.co.ukhypertext transfer protocol: //www.flightglobal.com

Management proposal

Abstract The present paper is based on a case study of Top Travel. Inconsistent manager practices in selecting travel clerks and trainees are described. Furthermore, the paper includes a section in which a relevant strategy to improve the selection process is recommended. A job description for the position of a HR manager is included. Finally, the paper focuses on a person specification for this management position. Introduction This paper is based on a case study of Top Travel, with focus on inconsistent practices in the selection of travel clerks and trainees. It has been reported that store managers have made mistakes while recruiting potential employees. Therefore, a specific strategy is outlined to improve the selection process. Other aspects discussed in the paper include a job description for the position of a HR manager and a person specification for this position. Inconsistent Success in Selecting Travel Clerks and Trainees One of the likely reasons why Top Travel’s store managers are not consistently successful in selecting suitable travel clerks and trainees is that managers failed to give candidates prior notice and areas to research and focus on. As a result, store managers were unsuccessful in focusing on important aspects, such as accurate determination of candidates’ skills and information on corporate culture and the job position (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). Another reason for the inconsistent success in selecting travel clerks and trainees refers to the lack of formal interview training of store managers. The organisation has not emphasised strategic planning into improving the interviewing process. There was not a sufficient plan of interviewing that had been created in advance. In addition, store managers failed to assess culture fit of candidates within the company (Patterson et al., 2011). The inconsistency of employee selection at Top Travel could be also explained with the fa ct that managers extensively focused on job skills and experience rather than evaluation of candidates’ personality. The ability to differentiate critical job skills was not consistently present during the employee selection process at Top Travel. A Strategy for Improving the Selection Process Based on the issues that have been identified, it is important to recommend a strategy for improving the selection process, for both travel clerks and trainees. Giving candidates prior notice and areas to research is essential because it enables store managers with an opportunity to focus on relevant aspects of the selection process (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). One of the most important issues is to determine candidates’ fit within Top Travel’s culture. Managers should provide an adequate description of the company, including background information, tendencies and trends pertaining to its corporate culture as well as expectations of the job position (Patterson et al., 2011). The organisation should consider the use of competent and qualified interviewers who understand the specificity and structure of the interviewing process. Interviewers should meet in advance and prepare a relevant plan to follow during the interview. It is recommended to assign different responsibilities to different professionals (Brewster et al., 2011). For instance, one person would be responsible for specific types of questions asked during the interview, while another person would be in charge of assessing of candidates’ credentials. Even though store managers at Top Travel have declared their accurate instinct at spotting the right people, there should be emphasis on the evaluation of applicants’ personality. The company needs diverse individuals with diverse personalities to deal with the evolving needs of travel customers (Patterson et al., 2011). Managers should also focus on differentiating one candidate from another. The consistent use of testing and discussi on is a relevant part of the strategy to differentiate the critical job skills that managers expect to see in candidates. Finally, it is important to take the time in creating a small candidate pool with several individuals who meet the needs of Top Travel (Brewster et al., 2011). It may be necessary to reopen the search for employees in case the right people with adequate skills and experience are not settled. Job Description for HR Manager The position of a HR manager requires that the manager should develop policy and regularly participate in the adequate coordination of human resources processes in the organisation. Important responsibilities of a HR manager include employment issues, compensation, maintaining labour relations, benefits, providing employee training opportunities and services (Bareham, 2012). One of the essential duties of a HR manager is to analyse salary trends in the company as well as determine competitive compensation plans. This professional is directly responsible for the creation of suitable policy within the organisation, with focus on ensuring equal employment opportunities and employee benefits (Cushway, 2008). Different policies, regulations and reporting mechanisms should be maintained properly in order to ensure adequate compliance with standards in the field. In addition, a HR manager is expected to evaluate industry trends that could help the organisation grow in the future (Patterson et al., 2011). Furthermore, a HR manager screens and recruits employees when there is a need to fill vacant positions in the organisation (Cushway, 2008). New employee orientation is adequately planned by the manager in an attempt to ensure positive attitude towards the company’s culture and goals. A HR manager should complete reports and recommend procedures that could lead to the decrease or elimination of absenteeism and turnover in the organisation (Bareham, 2012). This professional is also responsible for contracting with outside suppliers to provide appropriate employee services and relocation services. A Person Specification for the HR Position The HR position includes key competencies, such as degree or equivalent, evidence of professional development, extensive contribution to organisational change, experience in delivering reliable HR practices, and experience in developing HR policies (Brewster et al., 2011). Having a professional qualification in the field along with evidence of professional development is a necessary component of screening candidates’ education and training capacity. Focus on organisational change is important considering the fast pace in which modern organisations develop (Bareham, 2012). In addition, a HR manager should demonstrate an extensive experience in the HR field, which would serve as a strong basis for developing successful practices in the organisation. Conclusion The paper discussed inconsistencies in the employee selection process at Top Travel. Store managers demonstrated practices that did not lead to the selection of the right people. Therefore, the paper included important sections on recommending a strategy to improve the selection process along with details on a job description for the position of a HR manager and a person specification for this position. References Bareham, S. (2012). HR in a Nutshell: Making Good Managers Great! Birmingham: Summa Publishing. Brewster, C., Sparrow, P., Vernon, G. and Houldsworth, E. (2011). International Human Resource Management. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Cushway, B. (2008). The Handbook of Model Job Descriptions. New York: Kogan Page. Mathis, R. L. and Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human Resource Management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R. and Switzler, A. (2011). Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. New York: McGraw-Hill.