EXAM PREPARATION (MARKETING RESEARCH) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

EXAM PREPARATION (MARKETING RESEARCH) - Essay Example Another example of categorical data is the use of geography and demographic data to predict behaviour of the consumer. In demography and geography survey, the consumers respond to their state of residence or the city, or the country of origin (Texas, California, and Chicago). However, the study should limit the states or the cities from where it operates from or have subsidiaries. To assess the specific geographic market segmentation, business composition, growth patterns, and the demand difference among the zones or areas of operation, one should also use categorical data. These data can be collected using three criteria. The common approach is the use of open-ended questionnaire that would require coding after data collection (respond allowed to write their thought). Another example involves the use of lists of items in a form to enable the respondent select the options. The categorical data allows the use of multiple response questions (respondent selects). The questions must be c oded to make the selection and subsequent analysis easy. The reason for assigning numbers to labels facilitates data analysis. Analysis is possible through the assessment of modal frequencies and percentages. The nominal data are not suitable for studies that seek to establish the comparison and to rank between products in different geographical and demographic zones. Besides, one cannot use these data in studies that require averages and comparison. Studies seeking to establish ranking or ordering of products and other business variables use ordinal data. In simple terms, the ordinal data determines natural order hence referred to as the rating scale. One can rate (excellent, good, fair, unsatisfactory, and poor) services or products. Such data is useful when one seeks to leverage on the respondent willingness to rank or make their preferred list of items through their selection strategies. Unlike categorical data, which

Challenges and Gaps Essay Example for Free

Challenges and Gaps Essay At the core of any discussion on the themes of globalization is education. The graduates or products of the institutions of learning, whether public or private, become responsible in carrying out research and development (R D) in the world systems – information and communication, science and technology, environment, economy, politics, intercultural understanding and cooperation. As such, academic institutions at all levels are responsible primarily in education that teaches the skills, knowledge, and technology of the current century. However, the characteristics of global education are quite varied although the basic elements are common to educators. Globalization, at the same time is a promise of interrelationships; it is also foreshadowing possible threats and risks. The challenges are many and costly depending on its relevance and on the priority needs of the country. Gaps within the different countries vary – some wider as it is between the developed countries and the developing ones; others are narrower among countries of the same categories. Nonetheless, one thing is certain in the uncertainties of the future of globalization. Global education as an inevitable consequence of globalization will have its micro and macro level characteristics, it is promising as well as threatening, its challenges are posed to the institutions of learning, and considerable gaps will continue to exist among nations. Global education has been defined in various ways but the commonalities and character are more or less explicit. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) in their 1991 Yearbook defined it as (Philosophy and Definition n. d. ): Global education involves learning about those problems and issues which cut across national boundaries and about the interconnectedness of systems – cultural, ecological, economic, political, and technological. Global education also involves learning to understand and appreciate our neighbors who have different cultural backgrounds from ours; to see the world through the eyes and minds of others; and to realize that other people of the world need and want much the same things. J. Michael Adams, during his stint as president of Fairleigh Dickinson University (2004) gave his insight on what global education is and he said: It is an education that ensures that students will be able to succeed in a world marked by interdependence, diversity and rapid change†¦one that provides knowledge and understanding of cultures, languages, geography and global perspectives. Most importantly, global education is one that enables students to understand their roles in a global community and teaches them how their actions can affect citizens throughout the world†¦that it demonstrates how events around the world can affect students in their own lives and therefore cannot be ignored. Scripps College (Strategy Two: Globalization n. d. ) looks at globalization as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon entailing both opportunities and risks for all the inhabitants of our planet, and it will provide its students with the conceptual tools, adaptive skills, and experiences necessary for fulfilling lives in an interconnected world characterized by rapid transformation and uncertainty. From these open-minded definitions, we are brought to a close of what global education can mean. It is dynamic because it is a process and it is not coming to a halt. It is about the interrelatedness, interconnectedness, and interdependence/cooperation of the people and nations of the world as one belonging to the global community/village that is constantly influenced by the rapid changes brought about by science and technology and man’s exploitation of the earth’s resources. It is altogether addressing the concerns of each and every nation such as poverty. It is a striving to understand each other’s differences, live in peace in diversity, while taking the subjective view of things from other cultures’ perceptions. It is educating the students and the young in general in the competitive skills to become aware of citizenship both at the local and at the world level and to be able to acquire the necessary tools as a survival kit. Globalization, while it poses opportunities and promises, are not bereft of the risks and dangers that simultaneously comes along with the numerous uncertainties brought about by it. Through the interrelatedness among nations, peoples, economies, and cultures, ideas and innovations are swiftly shared. Education is shared through various forms of exchanges around the globe. However, on the other hand, the risks of globalization cannot be underestimated. J. Michael Adams (2004) shares his opinion on the mutual dependencies of nations yet apprehensive that the useful outcomes of globalization are not mutually shared. Furthermore, borderlessness, which is a characteristic of globalization, can cause the increase of threats to mankind like ruin to the environment, the speedy spreading of contagious diseases, and violence in terrorism. To cite an example is the nagging problem where to dump and how to manage the devastating unimaginable volumes of garbage all over the continents and more so in the long run. In the case of pandemic diseases such as the current AH1N1 or commonly called the â€Å"swine flu† went â€Å"global† in no time at all because of the profusion of travels. Moreover, terrorism in different degrees occurs in many parts of the world. Globalization is in itself a challenge to every citizen of the world. Illiteracy has no place in globalization; it is in fact opposed to globalization. Science and technology, the cyberspace, and the information generation do not make meaning to the unschooled and neither do they benefit from it. Then, it is not just the unschooled that will be misplaced but including those students who will not strive, through their competent teachers and schools, to acquire the necessary skills to cope or adapt or survive in the borderless society. This brings us to the burden of responsibilities of the learning institutions charged with the (global) education of the young. Because of the uncertainties in globalization, the latter creates challenges that must be intellectually addressed by the academic community. For one, countries have been categorized as Developed Countries and Developing or Underdeveloped, First World and Third World. The discussion in Philosophy and Definition (n. d. ) is a very good starting point. First, the concept of global education is an initiative proposed from the end of the United States and the other developed countries in the Euro-West. As such it comes almost naturally to them as a matter of a natural course of action in the â€Å"shrinking of the world† as a global village. Different institutions have a range of approaches to global education. Take the case of the University of California Approaching the 21st Century (n. d. ) as it addresses a range of issues with appropriate and corresponding initiatives. The issues, specifically referring to inculcate to the undergraduate students address cultural diversity, skills needed in the continuing sophistication of technology, research, collaborations, and the finance to distribute for sharing the knowledge. These issues are pointing to some of the perceived aims of globalization – to learn to accept and live in coexistence in harmony with a wide variety of people of different cultures and races; to learn the lifelong skills to competitively make a living in this technologically-driven era; to further encourage research to dynamically cope with changes and development; that any effort geared at globalization is every citizen’s look out not just in the community but in the community of nations; and whatever knowledge gained must be shared. The case of Scripps College â€Å"Strategies and Initiatives† (n. d. ) is similarly facing the challenges by preparing its (all women) students for tomorrow’s globalization. Accordingly, it aims to understand the complexities of globalization and to be approached across the disciplines by considering such things as broadening the curriculum in a particular discipline while incorporating the issues of globalization. Scripps emphasizes of women issues and their active participation in all spheres of the society. To adapt to the rapid changes taking place, giant companies like Cisco, Intel and Microsoft (January 2009) make a resounding call for the private sectors to join hands with the public institutions because even governments are facing reduction in resources. Collaborating, the three companies spearhead the assessment research and development by assessing globally the outcomes of the skills of the students to enable them to join or qualify in the future workforce. From the same source, it is gathered that â€Å"In the global economy, it is the world’s best performing education systems, not simply improvement by national standards that have become the yardstick for educational success. † As countries take steps in approaching global education, gaps are created in the process. Third World countries, when it comes to the issue of global education, they are in a quandary between their domestic concerns as stipulated in their respective philosophies of education and quite the comparison, what is called for in global education. There is no doubt that the developing countries understand the concepts of global education and its accompanying elements. However, Third World countries in spite of their awareness of the existence of the movements in many countries, they are preoccupied with their priorities taking into consideration their own relevant needs at the domestic level such as nation-building. Necessarily, they log behind the First World. Secondly, finances to address globalization are an important matter that Third World countries are not able to cope with competitively. For instance, the report of the Research Universities UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge (2006) presents statistics that explains financial constraints responsible for the considerable gaps. Developed countries on average spend 2. 5 percent of the gross domestic product on R D. While India allocates 1. 2 percent; Brazil, 0. 91 percent; China, 0. 69 percent, most developing nations devote less than 0. 5 percent of GDP to research and development. The figures, quite representative of the Third World, imply many things to global education in the context of developing nations. While developed countries excel in R D, developing countries lag too far behind. How to close these gaps is an effort to address such as the position advanced earlier by Cisco, Intel and Microsoft (2009). Much coping has to be undertaken by the developing countries while simultaneously addressing their own domestic priorities. Thirdly, Tony Wagner in his â€Å"The Global Achievement Gap† (2008) observes (supported by statistics) that â€Å"even our best schools don’t teach the new survival skills our children need†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and that â€Å"generally school educators do not have a sense of urgency of change because they are being busy attempting to increase the number of standardized tests and lose vision for the change. † Under what he believes is the present unfortunate scenario in the educational system, he has proposed what he calls the seven survival strategies to close the gaps or remove the â€Å"educational obstacles. † Addressing the achievement gap he is referring to, Wagner cited samples of schools that teach hands-on and project-based learnings where students â€Å"think, plan, organize, and work in a team† while teachers act as classroom facilitators and coaches only. More than ever, the present time attests to the common saying that the only thing constant in this world is change. Every forthcoming change is almost uncertain. The educational system, entrusted with the knowledge and skills acquisition of the young must be keen to the clues of the changes in the environment from which the philosophies of education are culled. A very important component thus, of the learning system in addition to critical and analytical thinking, is problem-solving. Equipped with problem-solving tools along with the basics of education, the future citizenry are well prepared for any changes and uncertainties. Underlying all these efforts is a sure move towards the ideal in globalization that is, peaceful and positively developing the world without compromising nature while carefully addressing terrorism on the other through active intercultural understanding. The challenges of the uncertain future must be the shared responsibility of the public and private sector because every citizen’s being will be affected by the changes brought about by globalization. Gaps must not widen through the concerted effort of the haves and the have-nots. As globalization must go on beyond anyone or any nation’s control, every individual has a stake in it. Globalization is a promise of a better world although the risks may be dangerous to mankind if not averted; the challenges are high and costly but the world can make it work through cooperation; gaps can be narrowed through generous sharing. Works Cited Adams, J. Michael. â€Å"What is Global Education? † Farleigh Dickinson University President’s Update. 7 October 2004. 21 June 2009. http://www. fdu. edu/newpubs/presupdates/041007. html â€Å"Cisco, Intel and Microsoft Lead Collaboration to Improve Global Education Assessments. † Learning and Technology World Forum. 12-14 January 2009. 21 June 2009. http://www. latwf. org/latest_news-3. html â€Å"Philosophy and Definition. † Issues in Global Education – Global Education: A Worldwide Movement, Newsletter of the American Forum for Global Education. n. d. 21 June 2009. http://www. globaled. org/issues/150/c. html Scripps College: Globalization. Strategies and Initiatives, Strategy Two: Globalization. 21 June 2009 http://www. scrippscollege. edu/about/strategic-plan/globalization. php â€Å"The University of California Approaching the 21st Century† n. d. 21 June 2009. http://www. ucop. edu/ucophome/pres/WhitePaper/21stwp. html â€Å"UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge: Universities as Centers of Research and Knowledge Creation: An Endangered Species † United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies Research Universities in the 21st Century: Global Challenges and Local Implications. 29 November to 1 December 2006. 21 June 2009. http://www. ias. unu. edu/sub_page. aspx? catID=35ddIID=181 Wagner, Tony. â€Å"The Global Achievement Gap. † Education Review. Rev. Brenda L. H. Marina and Hsiu-Lien Lu. 21 June 2009. 5 April 2009. http://www. asu. edu/reviews/rev788. htm Frost, Robert. North of Boston. 1915. Project Bartleby. Ed. Steven van Leeuwen. 1999. 29 October 1999 http://www. bartleby. com/118/index. html.

Global Problems Essay -- Science Nature Philosophy Papers

Global Problems The present global political situation is serious and desperately invites public awareness and concern. Global problems cannot be solved locally; they must be studied locally with an eye towards a mass-movement that would raise awareness of the severity of the problems as well as the absence of viable solutions. A comprehensive view should evolve through critical discussions regarding both problems and possible solutions. The movement must seek to create minimal scientific literacy (that is, attention to factual reports plus a critical attitude toward them). The movement must be educational and democratic; it must encourage individual autonomy. It must freely confess ignorance and slowly develop ideas in a combination of broad propaganda and proper research. Philosophy can contribute by developing a comprehensive view of the situation. Academic research should attend to practical problems. Ideally, the movement will offer grassroots education that will enable graduates to compel appr opriate institutions to enact legislation directed toward the alleviation of global problems. We are living now in a permanent, major global political crisis. The problems of global politics are serious and sorely need sane solutions. Thus far no possible reasonable solution for them has been offered. No one has any clue as to any solution. It is better to discuss the problem-situation in general than to wait for someone to come up with a possible solution. How, then, can we contribute towards a relieving the current major global political crisis? This paper makes two rather obvious presupposition. First, survival is always on the top of any political agenda. Second, there is a grave danger to human survival today. This danger wi... ...may stand behind some future solutions to severe current problems. These problems present a tremendous intellectual and practical challenge to us all. The challenge is not new. After all, to meet this challenge a number of new departments have already been instituted in many universities in many countries. These departments are devoted mainly to ecology and to new global political affairs. It is the putting of all this together without exaggerating its force and while stressing the great need that may give the movement its push towards a grass-roots democratic-scientific movement. Bibliography Agassi, J., 1985. Technology: Philosophical and Social Aspects. Dordrecht: Kluwer - 1990. "Global Responsibility", J. Applied Phil., 7, 217-221. Popper, Karl R., 1945. The Open Society and Its Enemies. -, 1961. Conjectures and Refutations, Chapters 4, 17 and 19.

Faulkner’s Relationship with his Daughter as Displayed in the Film, William Faulkner: a Life on Pap :: Movie Film Essays

Faulkner’s Relationship with his Daughter as Displayed in the Film, William Faulkner: a Life on Paper In William Faulkner, a Life on Paper, Faulkner seemed to be more a father to the literary works he produced than he was to his true daughter (or to the niece/ward who appeared in the film). His daughter Jill Faulkner Summers spoke of him in much the same manner as did the other people interviewed in the film. From the residents of Oxford, Mississippi to Lauren Bacall, everyone seemed to have some interesting or entertaining anecdote to relate about Faulkner and his eccentric ways. His daughter and niece were no different. His niece relates a tale about Faulkner making up a family ghost; his daughter laughs about his drinking and recites the poem that signaled that a binge was coming. She quotes him as telling her â€Å"No one remembers Shakespeare’s child† when she criticizes his drinking, signaling a less than ideal relationship. All in all, although she perhaps provides more details about her father’s life, she really has no more to say about him than any other Oxford resident. Faulkner’s children, or daughters, were his literary masterpieces (and those not-so-masterpieces). People, even his family, did not seem to understand him, and he did not seem to care. He once said, â€Å"I can invent much more interesting people than God can.† Apparently, he believed this. Even though he always had several dependents, his emotional nurturing went into his writing not into his literal family. Jill states that he never willingly hurt or offended anyone but that he did not care about people and was not interested in ordinary people. His attention was devoted to his writing and the extraordinary people he invented in his fiction rather than the daughter he â€Å"invented† in his real life. The film seems to set this up as well. As much (possibly more) time is spent discussing the literature he produced as is spent discussing his family. Passages from his works are quoted at length, tying the imaginary to Faulkner’s reality. Even when simply discussing the plot of a work, a direct connection between the work and Faulkner’s life is implied. For instance, when the film focuses on As I Lay Dying, the narrator states that Addie’s wish to be buried with her â€Å"people† is a literal rejection of her husband and children. This immediately follows the narration about Estelle’s attempted suicide, linking this imaginary family with Faulkner’s real family.

Examine Family Diversity and the Life Course

Examining Family Diversity and the Life Course Many years ago, Parsons studied families from different type and decided that through structural differentiation, the multifunctional extended family became the nuclear family, and made a point of focusing on this type of family. Marxism also made this mistake, as well as feminism. What these approaches didn’t take into account was that there are many other types of family out there, which is even truer in contempary society. This essay will attempt to asses the extent of this diversity, and the explanations of it.The first approach I will talk about is the new right. They are a very controversial collective with very right wing ideas. Charles Murray believes that family diversity is a bad thing, and that lone parent families are detrimental to society. 90% of families are patriarchal. He argues that this causes delinquency in young boys, as they have no male role model to aspire to, so they look to the streets to find one instead . This process creates and underclass who are dependant on the welfare state. However, there are people that would disagree.Feminists argue that there is very little evidence that matriarchal lone-parent families cause delinquency, and that actually they are a positive thing because they encourage and portray the growing independence of woman. Another issue the new right have with diversity is that family diversity encourages a dependency culture. They are ague that any type of family that is unstable such as reconstituted families, lone-parent families and cohabiting families present a risk of dependency on the welfare state.This is extremely detrimental to society as the welfare state is a ‘perverse incentive’; it takes money from those who work hard, gives money to those who do nothing, and allows fathers to avoid their duty as breadwinners. The neo-conventional family, a term coined by Chester, takes a slightly different look at diversity. Whereas he agrees that the re has certainly been an increase in diversity, he does see this increase as large, or as a bad thing. The nuclear family is still the dominant family type, considering is still account for 56% of families. Most marriages continue till death, ohabitation is just a step before marriage, and births outside marriage have indeed increased, but most of them are jointly registered. He also points out that we can’t presume that all families considered diverse are permanent, and rather we go through a life cycle of families. We live in a nuclear family whilst young, cohabit before marriage, live in a nuclear family after marriage, then live alone after divorce, with many other steps in-between. Another point he makes, and defines the term neo-conventional with is that many families now have dual earners, where both spouses work.There are some issues with this though. The new right would argue that whereas the nuclear family still accounts for the majority of families, that number is declining and may slip into a minority in coming years. Feminists would say that whereas many families are indeed dual earners now, Chester ignores the emotional and domestic labour that women do. The rapports also have their view on diversity. They disagree with Chester in that diversity is actually very widespread, and also very important unlike the New Right’s perspective.They attempt to define diversity by splitting it into 5 different groups: Organisation diversity which focus on how roles are distributed among the family; some families have joint conjugal roles, whereas some have one wage earner and one domestic labourer. Cultural diversity takes into account ethnic, religious and cultural differences. For example, some the majority of white British households are nuclear, whereas most afro-Caribbean families are single parent. Social class diversity implies that income can affect your family.Middle class families are more likely to interact with their children than wor king class families. Life-stage diversity. Where we are at in our life course will affect diversity. University students are likely to live in a family at all, whereas those who are in their 30s are more likely to be in a nuclear family. The final factor is generational diversity, which means that generations will affect diversity. Younger generations are more likely to cohabit than older ones. All of the above approaches are modernist perspective. They look at diversity through one lens and attempt to apply a structure to it.An argument against all of the above approaches is post-modernism. This approach believes that we make our own choices about family life and relationships, and that it is wrong to assume that that there is a best family type for society. It tried to look at the family from the perspective of the individual, and relies more on meaning that statistics. Post-modernists would argue that the new right ignore the benefits of diversity, and say that the nuclear family is the best for society, when we need to look at the needs of the individual instead.They would say that Chester ignores the extant of diversity and focus too much on trying to reinforce the nuclear family’s presence. Finally, they would agree with the rappoports that diversity is a good thing, but reprimand them for trying to structure diversity, when it needs to be looked at from each individual’s perspective. Giddens, a post-modernist, argues that contraception had allowed marriage to be more about meaning and love rather that purely about reproduction, and that feminism has led to better job opportunities and education.He says that both of these points have led to greater choice and equality in society. The new right would agree that contraception is a good thing as it has potentially lowered that number of lone-parent families, but would argue that the freedom it brings has undermined the stability of family. Giddens would agree with this, but that this risk is w orthwhile if it meets the individuals need, and leads to a purer family. Beck, another post-modernist, builds on the idea of risk in the family. The greater choice we now have has moved us away from tradition in two ways.We now have greater gender equality due to feminism, and a greater individuality because of an increased self interest. The new right would disagree with beck as well, and argue that this increased self interest means that we may put out interests ahead of those who need them more such as children, which can undermine their future. Stacey complied some case studied she carried out on a number of Californian women, and found that there may be another type of family that other sociologists hadn’t noticed yet. Many of these women rejected tradition family values, divorced their husband, and then remarried.This new family is based on the connection between the woman, and the wife of the woman’s ex-husband. They had formed a financial and domestic partnersh ip. Stacey calls this the divorce-extended family. Chester may argue that whereas this may well be going on, than this isn’t a type of family at all and that it’s rather just two nuclear families that have some contact, which would support his view of the nuclear family’s stability. Points from both modernist arguments and post-modernists can be taken into account. It is becoming increasingly apparent that diversity is growing.Whereas the new right believe this is a bad thing, they fail to realise that diversity is actually better in some cases where empty-shell marriages where children are used as scapegoats for their parent’s anger. On the other hand they may have a point, because divorce rate in decreasing, and people are getting married for love more than anything now so the nuclear family seems to be an increasingly stable environment. This occurrence of this stable environment is decreasing though, meaning that Chester’s point may not be as v alid as he thinks, and this decrease means that family diversity is increasing which supports the postmodernist view.

Dramatic Monologue Essays

Dramatic Monologue Essays Dramatic Monologue Paper Dramatic Monologue Paper Essay Topic: The Book Thief When was younger, I had no worries in life. I didnt have to worry about whether my mother was alive or not, where my father was or if the Nazis found out we were hiding a Jewish in our basement. I use to play with my brother, hoping that things would stay this way. But no, it didnt. Now my life has been torn apart in many ways. Have lost the closest friend in my life; Max. Why did this happen to me? What have I done to deserve this? I feel guilty for not warning Max. But still, whatever happened, happened and you ant change the past. This the only thing I have left of him. A book. Not just any book. A book that he gave to me on a birthday. A book that I will remember forever and always. Since he left, I am still trying to cope. I feel empty, like had lost a part of me. Everything feels so wrong without him. I felt the same emptiness back when I lost my brother. He was the only brother had, the only person that could understand me. Just imagine losing your own brother, how would you feel?

Free Essays on A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

â€Å"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings† uses magical realism to convey Garcia Marquez’s ideas about Catholic religion. There are two main elements of magical realism in the story: the winged old man and the girl who changed into a spider. In this short story, Garcia Marquez shows that he thinks that Catholicism in his country is becoming more like a sideshow. The treatment of the old man by the local people shows this very well: â€Å"But when they went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence†¦ †¦as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal.† (Page 324) Later in the text, the Pelayo family uses the old man to line their pockets, putting him on as a circus freak for people to view. Garcia Marquez must feel that the Catholic Church is using tithes they receive for their own fulfillment. The Pelayo family then uses the money to build themselves a mansion, and this statement shows that Garcia Marquez thinks that the grandiose cathedrals are too extravagant. The most obvious use of magical realism is the old man with wings, Garcia Marquez is using this man to represent religion; more specifically, angels. This old man’s name is never given, and his use of an incomprehensible language only adds to the mystery. Despite being an old and frail-looking man, he shows a few instances of power. The first is the enormous patience that he has to withstand all the abuse; angel or not, we would expect the man to rebel in some form. The second instance of power is his sudden awakening of violence when the people touch him with a hot iron rod. This does not contradict the previous statement since the violence is of pain and not anger: â€Å"The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his side with an iron for branding steers†¦ He awoke with a start, ranting in his hermetic ... Free Essays on A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings Free Essays on A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings â€Å"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings† uses magical realism to convey Garcia Marquez’s ideas about Catholic religion. There are two main elements of magical realism in the story: the winged old man and the girl who changed into a spider. In this short story, Garcia Marquez shows that he thinks that Catholicism in his country is becoming more like a sideshow. The treatment of the old man by the local people shows this very well: â€Å"But when they went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence†¦ †¦as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal.† (Page 324) Later in the text, the Pelayo family uses the old man to line their pockets, putting him on as a circus freak for people to view. Garcia Marquez must feel that the Catholic Church is using tithes they receive for their own fulfillment. The Pelayo family then uses the money to build themselves a mansion, and this statement shows that Garcia Marquez thinks that the grandiose cathedrals are too extravagant. The most obvious use of magical realism is the old man with wings, Garcia Marquez is using this man to represent religion; more specifically, angels. This old man’s name is never given, and his use of an incomprehensible language only adds to the mystery. Despite being an old and frail-looking man, he shows a few instances of power. The first is the enormous patience that he has to withstand all the abuse; angel or not, we would expect the man to rebel in some form. The second instance of power is his sudden awakening of violence when the people touch him with a hot iron rod. This does not contradict the previous statement since the violence is of pain and not anger: â€Å"The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his side with an iron for branding steers†¦ He awoke with a start, ranting in his hermetic ...

Antibellum DBQ essay essays

Antibellum DBQ essay essays During the Antebellum years the United States of America was changing, separate political parties formed and education was stressed. Social, religious, and political reforms during these years helped shape society into what it is today. People focused on the reformation of many different things, women's rights, slavery, schooling, the criminal justice system and poverty. During the Antebellum reforms Americans were still very religious as a people which lead to the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a response to the growing liberalism. The Second Great Awakening resulted in many new denominations of Christianity. Methodists and Baptists, two of the new denominations, used democracy to settle church affairs, these changes lead to more reformations. According to Francis Grund, the inspiration of American reforms was directly linked with religion. He stated, "Religion has been the basis of the most important American settlements...The Americans look upon their religion as a promoter of civil and political liberty" ( Doc 3) Religion had a major effect on reformations in America. Theodore Parker had views on religion and war. "War is an utter violation of Christianity.... If war be right, then Christianity is wrong, false, a lie. Every man who understands Christianity knows that war is wrong." (Doc 5) Theodore Parker was a Massachuse tts minister and was a leading abolitionist. Political figures had many influences on reformation as well. Andrew Jackson had faith in the common man and believed in human perfection. Jackson said "I believe man can be elevated; man can become more and more endowed with divinity; and as he does he becomes more God-like in his character and capable of governing himself. Let us go on elevating our people, perfecting our institutions, until democracy shall reach such a point of perfect that we can acclaim with truth that the voice of the people is the voice of God" (Doc 1). He thought tha...

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

History - Essay Example ew Deal therefore was focused on improving the living standards of the rural people in American society by rightful and fair distribution of its land and other natural resources and new agricultural policies. A) American Women: American women served in the Second World War in all the departments like the Army, Navy, Air force and even the Coast Guard. They were indispensable and strived hard to tide over the massive attacks that caused so much of deaths and casualties. More than 200 army nurses lost their lives in World War II. World War II was the first time that allowed African American women to enroll. These women selflessly strived hard while working in some of the most inhuman of conditions. They cooked, cleaned, attended emergencies, did truck driving and administrative work. They worked on par with the men and are proud to have served their country so well. During and even after World War II, the American economy suffered miserably. After the blasting of Pearl Harbor where there was much destruction and loss of both life and property, the country’s industrial and civilian resources were harnessed by the Federal Government, to compensate the heavy losses incurred and therefore the economy suffered badly. The Truman doctrine was introduced by Harry S. Truman which suggested that aid would be provided by the United States to both Turkey and Greece for Military as well as other Political reasons. One of the political reasons was to ward of a communist threat. The Marshall Plan followed the Truman doctrine and served to bring about an economic restoration of Western Europe by implementing the NATO in 1949 (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Truman understood that if Turkey and Greece were not given this timely aid, then they would naturally fall to Communism which would have adverse effects on the country. On the 4th of April 1949, a treaty was signed called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was a military alliance with its headquarters in

The Economic Consequences of ISIS in Middle East Research Paper

The Economic Consequences of ISIS in Middle East - Research Paper Example Isis has therefore led to a vast economic effect, mostly negative, in the Middle East. The worst affected country economically by the invasion of Isis was the northern part of Iraq. It is followed by the other countries such as Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. The economy of the Middle East greatly relies on oil that in Iraq. Other economic activities include tourism in Egypt, transport and real estate in Kuwait (Mc Carthy 2002, pg.59). All of these states have been affected economically by the Isis. Each has a different but almost similar story in relation to the labour force and fixed capital that they relied on for their economic growth. Lebanon, for instance, has a GDP per capita of about 16000 US dollars. Needless to say, the government needed to rebuild national infrastructure after the Lebanese Civil War and this has been detrimental in its economic growth. The Lebanese government had to become largely indebted to several states and this country is still largely underdeveloped. The war in the Middle East has affected directly the labor force. Loss of lives has led to a significant decrease in the size and skills of the workforce. As mentioned earlier, labor is an essential ingredient in the theory of production. Labor includes physical and mental work that. Its reward is money. The element of pleasure derived in undertaking a certain task also factors in but it has to be characterized by payment for it to be considered as labor. Any work that is done by a person to earn some income is therefore considered economic.

Stand up meetings in agile software development Dissertation

Stand up meetings in agile software development - Dissertation Example It involves adapting to changes continuously and delivering of software product (Strode et al., 2009). Agile software process is iterative and incremental with high communication level and customer involvement (Schwaber and Beedle, 2002). In an early paper that defined agile software methodology, it stated that the â€Å"... methodology involves modification and improving requirements through collaboration with cross functional teams to encourage organisation teams in the process of developing the software† Schwaber and Beedle, 2002). The proposition of Takeuchi and Nonaka (1986) concerning Agile Software Development involved encouraging the proximity of team members and verbal communication to create a robust quality framework. The proposition of Takeuchi and Nonaka in promoting Agile software development were based on: 1. Flexibility: A system where different software development processes can be modified to meet the new changes in the software development process. 2. Unity of Purpose: All the parties in the software development process had to be committed to a single vision and mission. And they had to get updates on a regular basis. 3. Coordination: All the different units had to work with each other to attain results at every point in the software development process. These are the main components and elements of Agile Software Development. ... Constant communication and constant interaction is a central feature of Agile Software Development approaches and systems (Fowler, 2012). Schwaber and Beedle (2002) argue that in order to maintain unity of purpose and enhance the holistic nature of the software development process requires the exchange of information and constant interaction between the team members Daily stand-up meetings are a major practice organisations used by agile teams to facilitate the regular exchange of information (Schwaber and Beedle, 2002). Stand-up meetings are daily meetings that are held to provide status updates to team members in Agile Software Development projects (Fowler, 2012). This involves quick updates and a summary of activities that were conducted in the previous day (Fowler, 2012). They are conducted on a daily basis and they last for between 5 and 15 minutes (Fowler, 2012). In agile software development, these stand up meetings are carried out to enable participants in the software develo pment process share views and information on: 1. What was accomplished the previous day. 2. What will be accomplished in the current day. 3. The obstacles faced and how the obstacles will affect the day's work (Fowler, 2012). It is a daily routine that is held at a specific time and same place. Stand-up meetings are therefore an essential part of agile software development and promote constant interaction and the holistic development of software (Stray et.al 2012). Although stand-up meetings are a commonly used practice in Agile Software development, it is not quite clear what their benefits and drawbacks are. Should teams accept the practice without knowing its actual importance and the limits of its effectiveness? This is a question that leads to the next stage of

Strategic Management and Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Management and Governance - Essay Example According to research, the inclusion of sustainable considerations in the process of formulation usually forms the basis of sustainable competitive advantage for most of the firms. In this relation, it is apparent that it is essential to have a sustainability focus during the formulation of strategy. Subsequently, it is important to critically analyze how this process has helped firms to achieve complete sustainable competitive advantage. Besides, this paper will also evaluate the relevance of the sustainable considerations during the formulation of strategy when an economic recession period is being experienced. In strategy formulation, sustainable consideration refers to environmental, social and economic considerations use din strategy formulation. Therefore, there is a great importance that lies in the ability to consolidate various factors that play a certain role in the organization of effective processes and activities within any organization or firm. In the current environment, there are various environmental, social and economic terms that have been developed to refer to the concept of sustainable development. This is in relation to the organization. The most common ones are corporate social responsibility, sustainability and corporate citizenry. The aspect of sustainability is based on one of the simplest principles. It entails the need to put everything that is required for survival and wellbeing independent on the natural environment in either a direct or indirect way. In this sense, with sustainability, human beings and nature are able to create and sustain an environment that produces product harmony. In turn, this environment can permit the fulfillment of the economic and social requirements among other needs of the present and future generations. Sustainability is a crucial element in the process of corporate management where environmental, financial and social performance in the effort to achieve competitive

Business management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Business management - Essay Example The University of California (2008), states that bio-Analytical measurement offers measurement solutions for research and quality control applications to academic and government organisations. Electronic Measurement provides solutions, products and services to the leading customers in the communication and electronic industries. Their wide range of expertise enables them to provide quality services and products to their customers. The company has gained insight from this comprehensive and unique perspective and they are dedicated to helping their customers to make advancement in achieving business results. The main purpose of the business management system in the organisation is to maintain all the operations and groups. These include the Chemical analysis Group (LSG), Electronic Measurement Group (EMG) and Chemical Analysis Group (CAG). They also ensure that the products and services meet the regulatory requirements and customer expectations (The University of California, 2008). The business management system provides a framework whereby business operations and groups can make decisions appropriate to their organisations geographic and customer needs while ensuring that appropriate minimum standards are met. The company’s infrastructure is centrally managed and functions as internal service suppliers to the groups. The scope of the company involves development, procurement, manufacturing, distribution, sales and marketing of their products and services worldwide. Throughout business research, scholars have established that a relationship exists between organisational culture and performance. Organisational cultures are the values which determine how the entity operates according to Mullins (2010). Businesses in the past believed that organisational culture was too hard to manage and were not keen on its importance. Today, they acknowledge that it can be used for competitive

Strategic Management and Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Management and Governance - Essay Example According to research, the inclusion of sustainable considerations in the process of formulation usually forms the basis of sustainable competitive advantage for most of the firms. In this relation, it is apparent that it is essential to have a sustainability focus during the formulation of strategy. Subsequently, it is important to critically analyze how this process has helped firms to achieve complete sustainable competitive advantage. Besides, this paper will also evaluate the relevance of the sustainable considerations during the formulation of strategy when an economic recession period is being experienced. In strategy formulation, sustainable consideration refers to environmental, social and economic considerations use din strategy formulation. Therefore, there is a great importance that lies in the ability to consolidate various factors that play a certain role in the organization of effective processes and activities within any organization or firm. In the current environment, there are various environmental, social and economic terms that have been developed to refer to the concept of sustainable development. This is in relation to the organization. The most common ones are corporate social responsibility, sustainability and corporate citizenry. The aspect of sustainability is based on one of the simplest principles. It entails the need to put everything that is required for survival and wellbeing independent on the natural environment in either a direct or indirect way. In this sense, with sustainability, human beings and nature are able to create and sustain an environment that produces product harmony. In turn, this environment can permit the fulfillment of the economic and social requirements among other needs of the present and future generations. Sustainability is a crucial element in the process of corporate management where environmental, financial and social performance in the effort to achieve competitive

Judgement and decision making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Judgement and decision making - Essay Example This tool is also essential, non-egocentric social propriety; thus, Madoff should use this tool to win investors’ trust on their $50 billion. Notably, Bernie Madoff might have capitalized on this tool to influence that belief and trust of investors that he could manage the $50 billion economically and profitably (Kramer, 1998). On this note, Madoff should use the Cialdini’s principle that includes the mode of dress, education, physical characteristics (age, posture), and level of education and experience in handling the entire investment persuasions. Additionally, Madoff could have removed the self-interest from the investment (Connolly, Hammond, and Arkes, 1999). The principle of removal of self-interest from the persuasion often increases the perception of other interested parties in the discussion. However, there are chances that Madoff can fail to convince the investors to entrust him with $50 billion. This might happen if he lacks the expertise or rather the miss-entitlement to allocate incentives. Notably, the decision can only be taken in the self-interest of Madoff but not that of the business (Connolly, Hammond, and Arkes, 1999). In such a case, some of the investors may suspect his own judgment in the persuasion deal and fail to follow his authority’s instructions. Therefore, if Madoff remain faithful and persuades the investors at the interest of the business, there are high chances that the investors may entrust him with their $50 billion worth of investment. In addition, Madoff should apply the liking or the affect as a persuasion mechanism to note that the things that make people feel valued are things that are equally beneficial to those people. The approach also has a strong motivating power, love, anger, pride, and attraction among others. Well articulation of this principle shall overwhelm reason that eventually become extraordinarily difficult to change

The Changing Global Economy Essay Example for Free

The Changing Global Economy Essay The argument for globalisation is an argument for International trade. Classical liberal economists have always argued for the free movement of all factors of production. Adam Smith had declared that nations have absolute advantaged that they leverage to provide cheaper and more efficient production processes. David Ricardo argues in his theory of Comparative advantages that countries must utilize their relatively more abundant factors of production more intensively to produce higher levels of output. All this results in higher output and therefore the world stands to gain through increased trade. Factor mobility leads to stabilization of prices that result from goods and services moving from one place to another where the factor is scarce and fetches higher returns. Those who are against globalisation and trade base their debates on the infant industry argument which believes that small domestic players get adversely affected when large foreign firms compete. The other argument they make is that that imports cause shifts of production where firms locate to foreign lands and cause unemployment. It is also believed that globalisation leads to the dumping of poor quality or toxic goods across the border. Reliance on imports leads to dependence, and exports cause injury to locally available resources that get diverted to foreign markets. Globalisation is also seen as a phenomenon where the free flow of money and currency makes domestic economies extremely vulnerable to volatile foreign investments. This could lead countries to balance of payment difficulties and cause events such as the East Asian crisis in the mid nineties. What results is a situation where any minor turbulence in large economies like the US causes severe stress to developing and under developed economies. 2. Huntington and the clash of civilizations Huntington’s famous hypothesis states that in the modern world, the clash of ideologies will convert into a clash of cultures. He argues that the new world order will see greater examples of conflict between various cultures of the world. His thesis is seen as a justification of the US war against Islamic nations and its aggression against countries like China. These clashes would come from a conflict that emanates whenever differing cultural paradigms come into contact with each other and compete for global resources. The end of the cold war, according to Huntington, is the end of conflict based on ideology, where the capitalist and the communist bloc were engaged in war. This conflict ended with the collapse of the USSR and the coming down of the Berlin Wall. Today, the emerging economies of the world are growing fast and eroding the huge share in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the world that is now held by the western countries. These new and emerging economies are home to most of the cultures of the world that are all opposed to the dominant western thought. This opposition would give rise to global conflict. This is the conflict that Huntingdon terms as the Clash of civilizations that emerges in a world that is globalising at a fast pace. This globalisation is bringing together people from various cultures and this would manifest in a battle for domination. This then would cause conflicts among cultures. Huntington’s hypothesis has been debated endlessly and there are as many voices supporting the argument as there are that characterise Huntington’s theory as mischievous. 3. Institutional arrangements For a free economy, there are certain pre conditions that must be met. These are the protection of property rights, honoring of contracts, law and order and a competitive environment. These pre conditions are met when these are institutionalized. These institutions then enable markets in any state and cause efficiency in market transactions and therefore result in growth. Some of these institutions are put in place by the government by way of regulatory bodies and police forces. Some of these institutions are created simultaneously by a society as it evolves. Markets function best when free and perfect information is available to all players. Competition in an economy comes out of the lack of barriers to entry and exit from the market. Laws and policies that enable such an environment are all referred to as institutional arrangements. In most markets there is asymmetry of information and a differentiated access to factors of production. Such a situation prevents an economy from operating at full potential. Those states that ensure the existence of such institutions are the ones where economic growth takes place to its full extent. Weak institutional arrangements favor some players in a market and adversely affect the rest. Market based solutions to such problems are usually the most sustainable and efficient mechanisms. This gives rise to poor governance structures and cause imperfection. It is not always the state that brings about these institutions. Sometimes institutional arrangements evolve and take firm roots in markets. Such informal institutional arrangements provide players with an eco system that enables innovation and growth. 4. Shifts in the world economy The two factors that clearly set apart the last 25 years of economic growth in the world are the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fast paced changes in technology. Both these events have lead to a globalised world where trade has more than quadrupled. Technological changes, especially the strides made in communication technology and transportation have enabled the world to shrink and become a global village. Transactions are now possible at lightning speeds, at the click of a mouse, between two entities situated in different corners of the globe. What has also been seen is the spurt in trade in services, and such was not the case with the world earlier where all trade was for goods. Free trade has improved the chances of poor countries to enter new business internationally, and allow their firms to buy and sell various commodities and services. Domestic rules and standards become significant and issues such as restrictions on imports, exports, tariffs and duties become significant. (Ohmae, 1999). In all this the new entity that has emerged is that of the Multi National Corporation. MNCs today typically operate in several countries, where the source of raw material is one nation; production takes place in a second country, assembly and packaging in a third and sales in a fourth. This has enabled firms to grow in size and shape and allow economies of scale to reduce costs of production and therefore prices. Most nations in the last 25 years have made currencies convertible and have ensured that internationally agreeable norms and polices are put in place. A large credit for this goes to the World Trade Organisation that has put in place a multi lateral agreement that allows for free trade between members. The MNC has leveraged these changes to emerge as a significant player in world economics. References: 1. Clarke, G.and S. Wallsten, (2004), â€Å"Has the Internet Increased Trade? : Evidence from Industrial and Developing Countries†, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3215. 2. Edwards, S. (1989a), Openness, Trade Liberalization and Economic Performance in Developing Countries, Working Paper No. 2908, NBER, Cambridge Mass. 3. North, D. (1990), â€Å"Institutions Institutional Change and Economic Performance† Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 4. Ohmae, K. (1999) ‘The Borderless World: Power and Strategy in the Interlinked Economy’. New York: Harper Business.

Health Promotion Among Retirees

Health Promotion Among Retirees The purpose of this report is to investigate the general area of life after employment for the older person. The main focus of the report is on preparation for retirement for the older person as well as the specific services that are available to older people such as lifelong learning, education and leisure. INTRODUCTION As little as 10 years ago if you asked a 25 year old if they have a plan for retirement they would probably respond with â€Å"no, retirement is for old people – I’m only 25†. The reality is that we should be planning for retirement from the first day we start work. With Ireland’s increasing strength in the workforce and our impending numbers of people retiring within the next 30 years it has become a national standard to introduce schemes for people to plan their retirement. In the past people who never even thought of retirement until the year it was upon them have had very negative effects. In order to soften the blow from being active workers with a routine, a purpose, personal connections and a strong sense of self-worth trying to fall into the category of a permanent holiday seems great at first but as time passes by the holiday feeling ends and the empty useless feeling sets in. This in turn leads to numerous personal problems such as, financial, so cial, and physical and health. (Businessworld.ie, 2015), (ncaop.ie,2014), (cso.ie,2014). In the past carers predominantly come in contact with retirees who are no longer working as they have either retired due to ill health or have retired – unprepared and unable to psychologically cope with the situation – and have failed in some way to care for themselves. To this end the carer’s role is to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team including family members of the retiree to assist them with their activities of daily living in their home or in a care home setting. Carers of people in their home have found that they have become a major support in more ways than one – guiding clients through various options in order to alleviate depression – such as information on joining groups for retired people to organising their will. Carers are now able to support and promote a more positive attitude to retirement with the help of organisations – such as The Pensions Authority, Active Retirement Ireland, Citizens Information and the Retireme nt Planning Council and Age Action Ireland to name but a few. Irish people can now be completely prepared for retirement from the day they start work. These organisations have opened a whole new world of opportunities for retired people giving them access to copious amounts of information that will service their needs such as Age Action Ireland who will meet individuals and groups who wish to continue their education through the Lifelong Learning Programme in Colleges and Universities and the local Active Retirement Groups who hold regular meetings for members so they can socially interact and support each other through various activities which include sporting activities, outings, foreign travel and educational courses and interaction programmes which are run in conjunction with local youth groups and schools. These organisations have helped to remove the age old stigma attached to retirement and converted it to be now seen as life experienced people helping future generations; whi ch in turn allows young people to be mentored by retirees and they generally no longer see them as old – removing the age barrier. (ncaop.ie,2014), The Health Service Executive provides many supports for older people such as Primary Care, Social Workers and Home Care. Other non-governmental bodies also provide health promotion for older people ie, local leisure centres, G.A.A, ICA, Macra Na Feirme and Charity and Voluntary bodies. The Primary Care team provide many services for older people from health screening to occupational therapy and chiropody both in a client’s home and at local health care centres. Older people are encouraged – by family members, carers and medical staff to attend the centres as they not only provide basic healthcare facilities and counselling but also a point of support and encouragement for those who may be fearful of seeking further medical attention or may not realise that they need assistance with their activities of daily living. There are also many therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behaviour therapy which has proven to help alleviate depression and anxiety in older people which in turn enables retirees to better cope with their current situation. Pre-retirement courses are also an excellent way for people to be prepared for their retirement through their courses people have all the necessary available tools and information to retire with very little stress and have connections made with groups and associations that can enhance their quality of life after employment. (Beck and Beck, 2011) The change in the make-up of the Irish population has had an immense impact on our views of retirement and how older adults are treated. Various other cultures hold their elders in the highest regard and are rewarded for a lifetime of work – their families take over caring for them and they continue their retirement in comfort knowing that all their needs are completely taken care of. It is the influence of cultures such as these that Ireland has now began to adapt its views towards retirement and older adults enabling people to have a more positive feeling towards retirement rather than fear of loneliness and desperation. (Aranda and Knight, 1997) Some people retire before the national age for retirement of 65 not only due to illness but because they may feel they are financially stable enough to give up work – or reduce their hours of work through a phased retirement scheme with their current employer. These people still want to be active members of their family and community and as such families should be encouraged to help them with their decisions and help to keep them from becoming depressed through allowing them to help with their lives – ie child-minding, arranging family outings and holidays, giving advice to them on financial and other dilemmas – this will help to keep a retirees sense of self worth which will prevent illness and depression. For people who have retired as they are over the age limit – families can help support them in their new lives, visiting them often, encouraging them to join groups and associations and if they are not able to travel to the group meetings or outings etc , organise travel for them ensuring they are able to attend the meetings etc. If they are a member of an association, families should attend any shows or activities that they are involved in and express an interest in what they are doing. Younger family members should also be encouraged to accompany them on outings and also help them with chores around the house and do odd jobs for them. This helps with feelings of depression and loneliness as older adults will chat away to younger people telling them stories and advising them on various aspects of their lives. CONCLUSION Before starting this assignment I did not consider that I will be retiring one day and did not realise the effects it can have on my life both psychologically and physically. Through the course of my research I have found that many people who have not been prepared for retirement have a lower mortality rate that people who have a fully operational retirement plan. I am going to make sure I am fully prepared for retirement and during my interviews with members of the various local groups around Mountmellick and Portlaoise I have a good understanding of the groups I would like to join and currently become active in with. There is a wide variety of information available to people who wish to prepare for retirement and who are currently retired and I now feel as a carer I will be able to help my clients with their needs and have a good understanding of the processes involved in post-employment life to be able to support them with their needs and wishes. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.apa.org/pi/aging/resources/guides/psychotherapy.aspx http://www.irishtraining.ie/general/preparing_for_your_retirement.html http://www.ncaop.ie/publications/research/reports/94_AFS_Conf_Procs.pdf http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/content/37/3/342.short http://www.thehealthwell.info/node/10467?source=relatedblockcontent=resourcemember=416catalogue=nonecollection=nonetokens_complete=true http://www.laois.ie/YourCouncil/Publications/CommunityampEnterprise/FileDownload,1877,en.pdf http://www.ncaop.ie/publications/research/reports/67_OP_Prefs_Emp_Ret.pdf http://www.ageandopportunity.ie/ https://books.google.ie/books?id=RdmZAgAAQBAJpg=PA31lpg=PA31dq=care+of+the+confused+client+assignmentsource=blots=i_PM5i6OxWsig=uHvkwWPwpJgfTXCQmJuwuul10Zwhl=ensa=Xei=ubOiVPC9JvGt7Abi84CQDwved=0CDIQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepageq=care of the confused client assignmentf=false http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/content/37/3/342.full.pdf http://www.annalsoflongtermcare.com/article/4786 http://consultgerirn.org/topics/ethnogeriatrics_and_cultural_competence_for_nursing_practice/want_to_know_more http://www.adultmeducation.com/socialandeconomicfactors_4.html http://www.activeirl.ie/ http://www.hse.ie REFERENCES BOOKS Beck, J. and Beck, J. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy. New York: Guilford Press. EBOOK/PDF Healthcare.uiowa.edu, (2015). 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: http://www.healthcare.uiowa.edu/icmh/evidence/documents/EBPOlderAdults.pdf [Accessed 4 Jan. 2015]. NCAOP.IE, (2015). 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: http://www.ncaop.ie/publications/research/reports/94_AFS_Conf_Procs.pdf [Accessed 4 Jan. 2015]. JOURNAL ARTICLES Aranda, M. and Knight, B. (1997). The Influence of Ethnicity and Culture on the Caregiver Stress and Coping Process: A Sociocultural Review and Analysis. The Gerontologist, 37(3), pp.342-354. WEBSITES Currentpsychiatry.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.currentpsychiatry.com/home/article/how-to-adapt-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-for-older-adults/99ca3dc03cddedc62b20b672dcc4e56c.html [Accessed 4 Jan. 2015]. The Pensions Board, (2015). Welcome to the Pensions Authority. [online] Available at: http://www.pensionsauthority.ie/en/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2015]. Rpc.ie, (2015). Retirement Planning Council of Ireland – Why Plan. [online] Available at: http://www.rpc.ie/why-plan/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2015]. FETAC Level 5 Healthcare Support 5M4339 Page 1 of 10Sabrina Delaney

Napster Essays -- essays research papers

Napster: The Debate Over Copyright Infringement In early 1999, Shawn Fanning, a Northeastern University freshman, created Napster software. That summer he made it available for free through his Napster.com website. Napster is a peer-to-peer technology, which makes it possible for users to freely share their music files through the internet with other users all over the world. Specifically, this is how Napster works: 1.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A user sends a request for a song. 2.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napster checks its database of music to see if the song is on the PC hard-drive of another Napster user whose computer is turned on (Note: No music is stored on Napster servers). 3.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napster finds the song. 4.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napster sends the song in MP3 format to the user who requested On December 6, 1999 the record industry sued Napster in Federal District Court for copyright infringements, and petitioned that court to shut down Napster. On July 26, 2000 the judge issued a temporary injunction to shut down Napster, and the next day Napster appealed the ruling before the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The following day the Appeals Court granted Napster temporary reprieve against injunction so they could further review the injunction request. On October 2, 2000 the opposing parties presented their supporting arguments before the Court. The case was finally resolved on February 12, 2001 when a ruling by the District Court of Appeals upheld the original ruling that Napster was aware its users were swapping copyrighted materials. Subsequently, Napster was ordered to stop allowing its millions of users to swap copyrighted material without a fee. There are several ethical issues involved in this case. First is the theft of the copyrighted music produced by artists who have not given Napster the right to transmit their music. Secondly, is the right of Napster to provide a legitimate service to consumers, and how that right has been attacked by artists in the recording industry. There are, indeed, two sides to this story. The stakeholders involved in this case are the artists, the recording industry as a whole, retailers, and consumers. All of these stakeholders are affected equally in this matter. The artists, recording industry, and music retailers face substantial loss of income if c... ...g they need to do, considering the investment in the company. Perhaps the optimal solution for Napster’s dilemma is the possibility of a cable TV type payment. Users pay a certain monthly fee for all the downloaded music they wanted. They could chat with their favorite artists, get first claim on concert tickets, and browse possible downloads by genre. The new system would pay the artists their royalties and sell millions of older titles that at present are sitting in vaults because no stores will give them shelf space. This option has the advantages of cooperation between the music industry and Napster. Napster users will have the same type of service as they do now, with extras so they won’t have to turn to no-fee options (Gnutella and Freenet). Music companies will be able to use the Internet for sales of all their merchandise. If music companies can package a better experience people will pay for it. In a recent survey of college students more than two thirds of the respondents would be willing to pay for a $20 dollar monthly fee of a similar service. The only foreseeable disadvantage of this solution is the plausibility of the record companies cooperating in such an effort.

The Right To A Free Trial :: essays research papers

The Right To A Free Trial   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most important freedoms in the American judicial system is the right to a jury trial. This allows a minimum of six Americans, chosen from a list of registered voters, to determine a person's guilt or innocence through deliberations. They have the power to express the conscious of society as well as interpret and judge the laws themselves. If they feel that a law is unconstitutional, evil, or even unfair they can void it for the circumstance by declaring the defendant not-guilty. The power of the jury is enormous and through time has become more equitable by decreasing the limitations to become a juror including race and sex. Part of the reasoning behind the right to a jury trial is to limit government power. Although judges should be fair and just, total power is too strong, and could be used to aid some people while harming others. As someone once said, â€Å"Power corrupts sometimes, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.† Many people thought anarchy would form through the use of a jury system, but no such thing has occurred. It has produced a feeling of involvement in the judicial system and government itself. Throughout this essay, a comparison of a real jury, a simulated jury, and Hollywood's perception of a jury will be discussed. The television special, Inside the Jury Room, showed a videotaping of a real life jury as seen in a small criminal courtroom. The case was Wisconsin v. Leroy Reed, a criminal trial for the possession of a firearm by an ex-convict. The simulated jury concerned an ex-military man who shot two police officers, killing one and seriously injuring another. The police had broken into his house because there was probable cause to believe he had drugs. The man shot the officers because he thought they were robbing his house. The Hollywood version, titled 12 Angry Men, revolved around a teenage boy who was accused of murdering his father and could possibly lose his life if found guilty. The topics of jury selection and appearance, the jurors understanding of their significance, and the deliberation and verdict will be examined for the three juries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The actual jury itself, has much bearing on how a verdict will result. Are the members compassionate? Rigid? Black? White? Rich? or Poor? All of these factors can influence a jury; this is why lawyers are so critical when making their decisions. In the past, juries only admitted white males, as in 12 Angry Men. Discrimination against blacks has always existed; and until the fifteenth amendment was passed, and the Grandfather Clause, White Primaries, and

An overview of marketing Essay

1. Are the corporate objectives clearly stated and do they lead logically to the marketing objectives? According to Boyd Jr and Levy (1966), corporate objective is the practical goal established by an organization. Mostly the organization uses it to target their achievement and success. Furthermore, Ramaganapathy (2010) defines that marketing objectives are the goals and targets in order to complete through the company’s marketing activities. In addition, it can be referred to the company’s mission and vision which can be achieved reasonably. So, marketing objectives can be subsidiary of corporate objective. Hewlett-Packard Company provides hardware, software and services to customer. They set many corporate objectives such as increasing customer loyalty by serving the highest quality and value, achieve profit to create value to shareholders, to be the leader in the market by produce innovative products and services to satisfy the customer, and responsibility to the emp loyees by promote and reward depend on performance and create work environment (www8.hp.com, 2014). So, HP is clearly stated their corporate objectives and most of them also lead logically to marketing objectives to make their products and services satisfy by the customers’ needs and wants. 2. Does the organization follow the marketing concept? The selling concept or production concept? According to Burnett (2008), the marketing concept is the idea that an organization attempts to satisfy the customer in order to achieve sales and profit at the end. Furthermore he explains that the idea of marketing concept is to consider the needs and requirements to the target customers and improve itself to satisfy consumers effectively in order to be over the competitors. Therefore, the marketing concept is all about matching the company’s competency and the needs and wants of consumers. So, HP follows the marketing concept. They focus more on customers. HP tries to create their products related to customers and giving name to each product in order to create brand family (An Ehow Contributor, 2014). Also, its corporate objective shows that HP try to develop and delivery the new products and services with the highest quality and value to satisfy their customers to create custo mer loyalty. HP also differentiates itself by arrange its value proposition and message to customer’s needs and wants. According to Turcotte (2012), HP also does many researches from its most important IT customers to study their wants and needs. So, HP wants to  understand their consumers the most to create value to its customers and satisfy them and persuade them to be loyalty. 3. What is the core marketing strategy for achieving its objectives? Is it a sound strategy? HP now mainly focuses on serving the high quality products and services at the reasonable price to customers. They have the variety of IT products and services including software, hardware, IT infrastructure, and IT services. For each product, they create the variety of models to be the choices for every target customers. With the wide range of products at the different prices can satisfy their customers’ needs. The main focus aims to provide the reasonable price with the quality merchandise. So, their customers may feel that their products are valuable in term of price and quality. Website and commercial advertising are the way that HP uses to communicate their promotions and special offers such as limited time 0% financing to their customers. Also for the distribution channel, customers can find HP products from anywhere they can find other electronics. Customers also can purchase th eir products directly from their friendly website which also can research and compare their products and offer shipping services through various countries. The 4ps show that HP use customer based to create the strategies. References An Ehow Contributor (2014). Hewlett-Packard Marketing Strategies | eHow. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/way_5348861_hewlettpackard-marketing-strategies.html [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014]. Boyd Jr, H. W. & Levy, S. J. (1966). What kind of corporate objectives?. The Journal Of Marketing, pp. 53–58. Burnett, J. (2008). Core Concepts of Marketing. [e-book] Global Text. Available through: http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Core-Concepts-of-Marketing.pdf [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014]. Ramaganapathy, S. (2010). What’s the marketing objective – Lead Generation or Brand Awareness? | Lead Views – a B2B Lead Generation Blog. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.leadformix.com/blog/2010/04/what’s-the-marketing-objective-lead-generation-or-brand-awareness/ [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014]. Turcotte, A. (2012). How Social Media Brought the Humanity into HP Technology Services Marketing | IT Services Marketing Association. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.itsma.com/ezine/social-media-brought-humanity-into-hp-technology-services-marketing/ [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014]. Www8.hp.com. (2014). HP CORPORATE OBJECTIVES AND SHARED VALUES | HP ® Official Site. [online] Retrieved from: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/about-hp/corporate-objectives.html [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014].

My Advices to Upcoming High School Students Essay

If I was able to go back to my high school year, some advice that I would give to upcoming students is: join many academic activities, join lots of club to stay connect to the school, do your homework assignments and turn in the assignments on time. I am sure that if you follow at least two or three of these suggestions, you will love going to school and also have a motive to go to school every day and do your homework. When you do your assignments on time, you will receive good grades and good honors, too. Firstly, when you are able to join at least one or two academic activities after school, you have so much fun and you get to meet more and more people. The activities also help you lose weight and the best benefit is competing with others. For instance, when my sister was in the swimming team her freshman, sophomore and junior year, she was barely home. She was always busy with her swimming team and having fun swimming against other schools. After every swimming competition, she will always come home with a smile on her face and we always thought her school had won, but really they didn’t win. She told me she didn’t care about winning; the most she cared about was being able to have fun, enjoy herself, and know what her capability is. For that, I would recommend students to take after school activities and be able to learn what their body is capable of doing instead of being shy like me and not do anything except coming home and just do my everyday routine. Secondly, joining after school clubs are awesome too. You are able to connect with students and also many teachers. This is a really great opportunity to do when student’s first entering a new school because you get to know other students faster and also different teacher’s in your school. They can also write you recommendations for college too. The better the teacher knows about you, the more they can write and elaborate to the colleges about you in the recommendations. Some students join clubs to help out after school activities like sports, parent conferences, school dances, and many more. This way you are able to be known in school for being a very great and helpful student and make many friends since everybody will know you by all the support you have given. Lastly, doing your homework is the number one priority in school and in college because without doing your homework, you are not able to do after school activities and play any sports. You have to be able to do the homework and turn the homework in on time to receive full credit for a good grade. Putting all your effort into the homework may seem like it is not worth it, but afterwards, you see how far you have gone and what things you have learned thanks to all the homework and all the teachers pushing deadlines and being so strict about homework. Always do your homework no matter how hard it is because the homework is doable; you just have to put all your time and effort into it to get it done the way the teacher wants it. Heeding these tips, you are able to gain many assets and help that you will be very proud of yourself and it will always help you down the future of life. You will always need recommendations for colleges and jobs and you will be able to get that easily because of all the after school activities. You will be able to go to attend more education and do all your assignments and turn them on time because you have already been down that route already. You will also learn how to stay fit because you were able to stay fit during high school with all the academic activities and learning how to motivate yourself without anyone motivating you.

The big idea...read the requirement i send you carefully Essay

The big idea...read the requirement i send you carefully - Essay Example Housing in city is an important issue that affects millions of people in the modern times. The rentals are skyrocketing mainly due to imbalances in demand and supply for housing. Ideas relating to the best utilization of resources and efficiency in human resources management for improved organizational performance call for innovative mindset in organizing, controlling and directing the workforce. Aghazadeh, S. (2003, p. 201) stated â€Å"Human resource management must change as the business environment in which it operates changes.†Ã‚  Competitive edge in business operations leads to sustainable growth and development. A strategy that takes care of transportation and housing problems of the employees can be considered as the best idea from the view point of corporate social responsibility also. This paper seeks to highlight the benefits that could be attributed to this idea from the perspective of human resources management, profitability and sustainability of the organization and corporate social responsibility. ... Technological developments in the field of information and communication technology could be properly leveraged in this idea to mitigate the hardships arising out of transportation and housing in cities to the people as well as society at large due to pollution. Digital convergence of technologies created synergy in business operations resulting in an array of opportunities. Even Alvin Toffler in his ‘Future Shock’ could neither predict the use of mobile phones by a common man nor its impact on the business and society. Digital convergence has provided an excellent platform for the big idea in relation to human resources management in business organizations. According to the Society for Human Resources Management (2008, p. 17) â€Å"Organizations that formally offer telecommuting from a satellite location or telecommuting from other locations deem this flexible work arrangement to be very successful.† Human resources management Matiza, L. (2013, P.2) stated  "Human Resources Management is basically a way of managing humans at their workplace in search of performance and rating it well in order to also remunerate them well.† Managing humans at their workplace signifies that the people work for the company assembles in a firm’s place of work at a particular time for performance of their duties. Human Resources Management involves rating of their performance as well. The firm should remunerate the employees based on their performance. Kayode, O. (2012, p. 1) stated â€Å"Now, more than ever, organizations need to place greater emphasis on attracting human capital rather than financial capital... effective human resource management is the best

Presentation & Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Presentation & Paper - Essay Example For instance, if the society as a whole or by extension had a problem where the agriculture sector or sphere was affected negatively by whatever cause, it was the duty and role of the University to interceded and do research on the same to see to it that the anomaly was corrected. It is important to note ad record that Cyrus NuttLemuel as the President of the Indiana University, did oversee and period of transition where the new courses and programs at the inaugural stage and manner were introduced to the University. As far as his personal accolades and information is concerned, it is safe to assert that the Cyrus NuttLemuel Moss was a distinguished academicians whose accomplishments and achievements in the University helm was a correlations and reflection on the ability of the president. To begin with, he was the president of the Indiana University from the period of 1860-1875. In the year 1931, as a young man, he earned a bachelor’s of Arts degree from the Allegheny College, which was later accorded full accreditation to earn a charter and earned a charter to become a University. Later on he grew in stature and on the academic ladder and walk to become a professor of languages at the current DePauw University which was formerly known as the Asbury (Andreatta 59). This happened prior to his appointment to lead and serve the Indiana University as the President, thus he taught in the same university in the stated capacity. In the year between 1849 and 1850, he served as the President and visiting professor at the Fort Wayne Female College (Andreatta 53). At this level, it is safe to note and assert the fact that Cyrus NuttLemuel Moss held several prior positions as college heads and presidents before he was appointed as the President of the Indiana University. During this period and point in time, he grew in stature an

Cooperation between Canada and China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cooperation between Canada and China - Essay Example After the completion of the railway, the majority of Chinese left Canada after the passing of The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885. The act was followed by other acts that were focused on increasing the fees that were levied on the Chinese residents found in Canada. The period between 1923 -1947 was referred to as exclusion era. This was the time during which China was restricted from visiting or residing in Canada (Canadian Census of population 46). However, after 1947, the two countries were engaged in business activities and economic development that resulted in a remarkable economic growth of the two countries. This paper seeks to discuss how globalization influences the patterns of development in Canadian and Chinese history. Since the 1940s, Canada and China have been involved in a number of partnerships that have been growing tremendously resulting in strong economic ties between the two countries. For example, leaders from the two countries have been meeting regularly to discu ss the rich oil fields in the two countries since oil has made both countries to have a stronger relationship. When the energy ministry is not conducting its mandate well, both countries have to raise the issue and make sure that the issue is finally settled. China and Canada have been signing agreements concerning energy distributions and this provides for the exchange of experience in economic matters. One of the agreements that they signed was that Canada had to supply carbon captures and storage projects since China didn’t have the technological know-how about carbon. This agreement gave china confidence and groundwork for further industrial cooperation between the two countries. Influence of globalization on the developments in Canadian and Chinese history China and Canada are two developed countries that have a significant impact on the global economy. The two countries have been involved in trading activities since 1945. Based on the tremendous economic growth of China in the last 50 years, the majority of countries have taken the initiative to form economic ties with China and Canada. Through recognizing its growth potential, the Canadian government has taken the initiative to widen its relationship with China. Precisely, the aim of the Canadian government is to ensure that China’s growth in economy benefits Canada. This is done by making China the most preferred destination for residents of Canada. Due to high influence and emergence of China as a major player in economic sector for the last two decades it has made more countries worldwide to seek the attention from China, and strong economic ties have been established so that they can trade with China and that why Canada was no exception but rather to carry on with trade (China Index of Economic Freedom 33).

Descartes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Descartes - Essay Example The wax has been used for the purposes of making comparisons and discussing the human mind. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the mind is quite complex and it is difficult to describe its nature using simple terms. The paper is therefore an analysis of the human mind in relation to the comparison with the wax as outlined in the article. According to the article, wax has different properties that can be used for different purpose. When wax is not burnt, it takes a different shape and it also has a different smell. However, when it is burnt, it changes colour and it also turns into liquid. The wax is therefore capable of innumerable changes when it is burnt. All the scent is also lost and it takes a complexity new form and shape. However, it is difficult to imagine that was may end up turning this way by just looking at it. According to the article, the mind is prone to a lot of errors and hence the difficulties in terms of describing its nature just like the wax (Ariew & Cress, 17). A false assumption may be made when analyzing the nature of the mind just like the wax. The discussion also indicates that some of the complex issues such as the human mind cannot be described through touch alone. It also requires a lot of understanding. The use of the wax and the many forms that it takes under different condition can be compared to the nature of the human mind. It is important to note that the human mind can also change depending on the condition. However, the changes in the human mind are in terms of its intellectual nature as compared to the physical changes that occurs when the wax is heated. The aspect of common sense has also been highlighted in the article. This is through the example of how it changes when it undergoes heating. According to the article, common sense may be misleading when it comes to the issues of the wax. When one sees the wax in its external form, common

Leadership in Organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership in Organisation - Essay Example There is a growing presence of women in almost all aspects of employment, and particularly in top management positions, in recent years. The contribution of women, in executive level in organizational success over the years, is unprecedented, thus indicating their strong leadership skills and professionalism at the workplace. There is also a change in their social expectations, and their advocacy by various groups, to ensure equal opportunities at the workplace has further ensured honing of such skills. It is on account of these reasons, that the performance of women managers and leaders, that the case for a strong ethical leadership, irrespective of the gender, has gained momentum. Furthermore, the rise in complexity and composition of the global markets has expanded the scope of businesses as never before, thus leading to more pressure on the top level management to perform and excel in their respective fields. Such external factors have led to retention and promotion of skilled wo men in managerial positions, across all levels in the organizational hierarchy. Such an increase in female corporate leaders in recent times can be attributed to the changing dynamics of the industry, as well as the change in conventional definitions and practices of the concept of leadership in general. Contrary to the conventional definition of the concept, leadership in the post-industrialized era refers to the ability of individuals to motivate, empower and engage the employees and subordinates, and team members as well as empathize with them. (Hammer & Champy, 1994; Senge, 1994). Research suggests that there is still a vast difference between the leadership and management styles followed by male and female leaders. It is on account of this reason that the proverbial ‘glass ceiling’ still exists in terms of appointment of women in top management positions particularly in fields such as finance and technology. According to Schein (2001) the ‘think manager, think male’ approach to appointing individuals in top leadership positions, ex ists in various countries across the globe, despite the change in socio-cultural environment, and the advancement of policies advocating equal opportunities to women. It has also been observed that in the developed

A Study Of The Predictive Effect Of Pre-Service Teacher Essay Example for Free

A Study Of The Predictive Effect Of Pre-Service Teacher Essay ABSTRACT: This paper aims to examine the relationship between the personal knowledge management (PKM) competency of pre-service teachers and their instructional design skills. Supporting the sustainable development of teachers as professionals in the knowledge society is a critical issue in teacher education. This study attempts to identify an empirical model and a curriculum framework for nurturing pre-service teachers’ PKM competency. Dorsey (2000) PKM skills were adopted for constructing the theoretical framework and the survey instrument. A quasi-experimental research design was used to collect data from pre-service teachers from Hong Kong’s largest teacher education institution. A structural equation model was applied to explore the predictive power of PKM competency on their instructional design. Results show that a four-factor PKM competency model, which consists of retrieving, analyzing, organizing and collaborative skills, was identified as a predictor of instructional design. Use of PKM tools, e-learning activities and collaborative action research for developing pre-service teacher PKM competency are recommended to teaching education institute. Keywords: Personal knowledge management, Pre-service teacher, Teacher education Introduction Rapid advances in technology and communications have greatly accelerated the emergence of information. The increases in the amounts and formats of information available do not automatically make learners more informed or knowledgeable, if a learner cannot manage and meld the accumulation of  information through their daily experience and study to construct knowledge in a systematic fashion. This competency is referred by most literatures (Frand Hixon, 1999; Dorsey, 2000; Wright, 2005) as personal knowledge management (PKM) competency. Developing learners with PKM competency is not simply a lifelong education issue, it is also an important teacher education issue in terms of sustaining a competitive human capital in the knowledge economy. Teacher development is viewed as an ongoing lifelong learning process as teachers strive to learn how to teach learner to learn how to learn (Cochran-Smith Lytle, 1999). The recent education reforms in Hong Kong (Education Commission, 2000) addressed this lifelong education issue by proposing a learning to learn slogan in the policy document. The policy suggests that teachers should develop student learning competence for acquiring knowledge through various methods. To develop students with knowledge acquisition skills, teachers should also be equipped with the competency for knowledge acquisition. However, since publication of the policy paper entitled Information Technology for Learning in a New Era Five-year Strategy that launched IT in education in Hong Kong (EMB, 1998), the Education Bureau has not addressed this issue in any teacher professional development policy documents. Recent calls for consultation on e-learning from the Education Bureau likewise generated additional demand for developing teacher information literacy capable of supporting student learning (EMB, 2004). If the government and teacher education institutions really want to develop competent teachers for the knowledge society, they may consider injecting the elements of personal knowledge management (PKM) into the teacher education curriculum for developing pre-service teachers’ teaching competency. However, little studies on teacher education were attempted to examine the effect of PKM on teacher learning and discussed the possibilities of injecting the element of PKM model into teacher education curriculum. This study aims to construct an empirical model for examining the predictive effect of pre-service teachers’ PKM competency on their instructional design skills and to discuss a personal knowledge management curriculum framework for teacher education institutions. Literature Review A review of the literature related to knowledge management suggests that the development of personal knowledge management (PKM) could be a means of enhancing pre-service teacher professional competency in managing personal knowledge for coping with the acceleration of emerging information. Frand Hixon (1999) define PKM as a conceptual framework to organize and integrate important information such that it becomes part of an individual’s personal knowledge base. Dorsey (2000) emphasizes the importance of injecting PKM into an educational framework for undergraduate education in order to bridge the gap between general education and other subject disciplines. PKM could serve as a framework for integrating general education and majors and as an approach to technology integration initiatives throughout the curriculum. PKM provides learners with both a common language and a common understanding of the intellectual and practical processes necessary for the acquisition of information and its subsequent transformation into knowledge. The significance of exploring PKM may contribute to human cognitive capabilities (Sheridan, 2008). Scholars tend to conceptualize PKM as a set of information skills (Frand Hixon, 1999; Avery et al, 2001), though there is no standard definition or model for PKM. After Frand Hixon (1999) outlined five PKM techniques as searching, classifying, storing distributing, evaluating and integrating skills, Dorsey and colleagues (Avery et al, 2001) broadened the Frand Hixon PKM framework well beyond its formulation. Central to PKM, as clarified by Dorsey, are seven information skills which when exercised together are integral to effective knowledge work. These seven PKM skills are retrieving, evaluating, organizing, analyzing, presenting and securing information and collaboration for creating knowledge. Recently, Pettenati and Cigognini (2009) grouped PKM skills under three intertwined macro-competence categories: creation, organization and sharing. PKM can also be conceptualized as an intertwined macro-competency. Wright (2005) proposes a PKM model that links distinctive types of problem-solving  activities with specific cognitive andmetacognitive, information, social and learning competencies. As a learning competency, PKM enables learners to apply a set of learning skills that are essential to lifelong learning for information processing, knowledge application and decision-making. As a cognitive and metacognitve competency, it enables learners to apply complex thinking skills to solve problems. It is knowledge concerning the learner’s own cognitive processes or anything related to them (Flavell, 1976, p232). As an information competency, it enables learners to link technology tools with a set of information skills, thus providing an intentionality that moves the focus from the technology more directly to the information. As a social competency, its underlying principles include enabling learners to understand others’ ideas, develop and follow through on shared practices, build win-win relationships, and resolve conflicts. PKM integrates human cognitive and metacognitive competency (Sheridan, 2008), social competency (Wright, 2005; Pettenati Cigognini, 2009) and informational competency (Tsui, 2002). Wright (2007) has developed a PKM Planning Guide for developing knowledge worker PKM competency. The guide is based on his research findings that the four interrelated competencies are activated in order to plan PKM training. The training process encourages participants to reflect on their knowledge activities and focus on areas for improvement. If learners know how to control this process, they can internalize information into personal knowledge, creating a foundation for effective learning. Utilizing PKM for acquiring knowledge refers to a collection of information management processes that an individual learner needs to carry out in order to gather, classify, store, search, and retrieve information in his daily activities (Tsui, 2002; Grundspenkis, 2007). In teacher education, knowledge acquisition focuses on the process how teacher apply PKM to support their day-to-day teaching and learning activities: instructional design. Instructional design is closely related to PKM which is also one of the major learning tasks for pre-service teachers. Instructional design is a process that involves determining the current status and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating instructional  and learning strategies to facilitate teaching and learning. There are a wide range of instructional design models, many of them based on the ADDIE model (Seels Glasgow, 1998; Molenda, M., 2003; Strickland, A.W. 2006) which includes the following phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. This acronym stands for the 5 phases contained in the model. Knowledge acquisition for instructional design is conceptualized as identifying learner entry skills, formulating instructional objectives, test and design specifications, creating instructional or training materials, making recommendations and preparing a project report for lesson implementation. As instructional design is one of the key components of teacher professional competence, and helps to implement a new curriculum in the information age of the 21st century, exploring the predictive relationships of PKM competency on knowledge acquisition for instructional design becomes key to the development of teacher education. Research Methodology It appears that PKM competency can expand individuals’ knowledge and enhance their learning competency (Davenport, 1997, p146 ; Frand Hixon, 1999). It provides learners with a targeted, reflective and adaptable cognitive framework for inquiry and problem solving. In this study, knowledge acquisition will be conceptualized as the knowledge required for carrying out instructional design. This study attempts to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the empirical factor structure of PKM competency for pre-service teachers? 2. Is there any relationship between the PKM competency of pre-service teachers and their knowledge acquisition for instructional design? This study adopted Dorsey (2000) PKM skills to conceptualize PKM as a competency for acquiring knowledge (see figure 1). A quasi-experimental research design was used in this study to determine the relationship between PKM skills and knowledge acquisition for instructional design. The exogenous variables were pre-service teachers perceptions of their PKM skills. The endogenous variable is knowledge acquisition for instructional design. A  self-response quantitative questionnaire was devised to collect data from the pre-service teachers of Hong Kong’s largest teacher education institution. Figure 1: Theoretical Framework Of The Study The operationalized definitions of Dorsey (2000) PKM skills are as follows: 1. Retrieving skill is the ability of learners to retrieve information from relational databases, electronic library databases, websites, threaded discussion groups, recorded chats, and moderated andunmoderated lists. 2. Evaluating skill is the ability to make judgments on both the quality and relevance of information to be retrieved, organized, and analyzed. 3. Organizing skill is the ability to make the information one’s own by applying ordering and connecting principles that relate new information to old information. 4. Collaborating skill is the ability  to understand others’ ideas, develop and follow through on shared practices, build win-win relationships, and resolve conflicts between these underlying principles. 5. Analyzing skill is the ability to extract meaning from data and convert information into knowledge. 6. Presenting skill is the ability to familiarize with the work of communications specialists, graphic designers, and editors. 7. Securing skill is the ability to develop and implement practices that help to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and actual existence of information. This study adopted ADDIE instructional design model to conceptualize instructional design as a multiple competencies that involves analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of a lesson (Molenda, 2003; Strickland, 2006). The acronym ADDIE stands for the 5 phases contained in the model. Pre-service teachers’ learning on instructional design is conceptualized by the knowledge and experiences they come across in the 5 phases of ADDIE model including analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. The learning outcomes include know how to analyse learner characteristics and task to be learned and identify learner entry skills; to design learning objectives and choose an instructional approach; to develop instructional or training materials; implement the lesson and deliver the instructional materials; and to evaluate the lesson plan and recommend the materials achieved the desired goals. The teaching experience that they had gained include determining the current state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some instructional and learning strategies to facilitate teaching and learning. Instructional design is operationalized to the knowledge for: identifying learner entry skills; formulating instructional obJectives, test and designs specifications; creating instructional or training materials; and making recommendations and preparing a project report for lesson implementation (Seels Glasgow, 1998; Molenda, M., 2003; Strickland, A.W. 2006). The questionnaire was based on a number of scales constructed to measure the variables of PKM skills and instructional design. In order to develop valid items for these scales, the researcher conducted a content analysis on the PKM literature of Dorsey (2000), Skyrme (1999). Hyams (2000), and on the instruction design literature of Seels Glasgow (1998), Molenda, M. (2003); and Strickland, A.W. (2006). The questionnaire consists of two sections. Section 1 was used to measure the effectiveness of knowledge acquisition for instructional design based on 4 items. Section 2 contains 21 items designed to measure the teachers’ perceptions of their seven PKM skills. Likert 6 point scales were used in both sections to measure the variables. Likert scales are commonly used in attitudinal research. The Likert scale assumes that the difference between answering agree strongly, and agree is the same as between answering agree and neither agree nor disagree (Likert 1932, quoted in Gay, 1992 ). The data was collected directly from target subjects using the questionnaire. 225 pre-service teachers responded to the survey. Data was collected directly from them by means of the questionnaire. The subjects in the study were pre-service teachers from Hong Kong’s largest teacher education institution. Random sampling was used to collect data from the population. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out on variables using principal factor axis analysis to confirm the constructed validity of the tools (see table 1). The study is interested in a theoretical solution uncontaminated by unique and error variability and is designed with a framework on the basis of underlying constructs that are expected to produce sources on the observed variables. Principal axis factor (PAF) analysis, which aims to reveal the underlying factors that produce the correlation or correlations among a set of indicators with the assumption of an implicit underlying factor model, was applied separately to the items from the learning processes and learning outcomes. Promax rotation, a method of oblique rotation which assumes that the resulting factors are correlated with one other, was applied to extract the factors. An eigenvalue greater than one was used to determine the appropriate number of factors for the factor solutions. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was then applied to  examine the factor structures and the paths among the variables, using Lisrel 8.3 (Joreskog Sorbom, 1999). SEM is a collection of statistical techniques that allows the examination of a set of relationships between exogenous variables and endogenous variables. Findings The results of exploratory factor analysis, presented in Table 1, clearly suggest a four- factor structure for exogenous variables that are both empirically feasible and theoretically acceptable. An eigenvaluegreater than one was used to determine the appropriate number of factors for the factor analysis solution. Items were extracted with factor loadings greater than 0.6 across and within factors. The numbers of factor solutions extracted from a Promax rotation theoretically afforded the most meaningful interpretation. The process used to identify and label the factors that emerged was based on examining the derivation of the highest loading items on each of the factors. The reliability coefficients of the scales ranged from 0.792-0.821, which was judged adequate for this study. The results of descriptive statistics show that the scale means of all the variables are higher than 4.27 within the 6 point-scale, reflecting the participants’ tendency to slightly agree with all the items. The reliability coefficient (Alphas) of the scale for instructional design is 0.854, its scale mean is 4.33 (sd = 0.691).