Response Paper: Don Quixote de la Mancha Essay

â€Å"Don Quixote de la Mancha† by Miguel de Cervantes is one of the most recognizable classics in the world of literature. It is a narrative that is being retold in almost every generation that had followed since its publication. Much the success of the story is really undeniable as it had even infused a term to the English language, the term â€Å"quixotic. † It is certainly one of the most unforgettable stories ever written. Here is a quote from the text that I would like to pose a response: â€Å"I shall never be so mad as to make myself a knight-errant for I see well enough that things are not how they used to be in those days, when they say those famous knights rule the world† (Cervantes 161) This line was spoken by the innkeeper in the first part XXXII The tone of this particular quote seems to a response to the main theme of the story. This main theme is Don Quixote’s idea desire to live a life of a knight. The quote implies that to follow an ideal or a dream would be a waste of time. This particular quote stands out because it is one of the few pessimistic statements in the very positive, or shall I say â€Å"quixotic† theme of the narrative. This is the kind of statements that would be uttered by those who forget how to dream. People that would say this kind of words are the type that brings the hopes of other people down. The context is just like when pessimists argued that man cannot go space. The kind of thinking that pessimists have is what makes life look miserable and dull. Fortunately, Miguel de Cervantes had introduced to us Don Quixote—some who would always remind us that it is just alright to dream and seek adventures in life. Work Cited Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quixote de la Mancha. Harvard University Press. 1842

Journalist and Pr Relationship

1. The question for the essay is â€Å"Journalism and Public Relations: Symbiosis or Parasitosis? † Journalists and Public Relations (PR) practitioners interact with each other everyday as part of the process of news production. Journalists communicate towards public relations practitioners with requests for information or material to help produce the stories they are writing. While public relations practitioners advise stories and deliver journalists with information they have created themselves in hope to be published in the newspaper.The relationship between journalists and public relations practitioners is, and has always been, complicated. The relationship between these two is one of mutually dependency if not symbiotic, but also ambivalent if not hostile. This ambiguous relationship has arisen due to the misconception of the outlook and the values of each profession. Shin and Cameron (2004) deem both parties bring conflict to the relationship through the nature of their roles and goals, and the values, attitudes and views they hold of each other (Callard, 2011).Journalist perception on public relations practitioners has a negative connotation to it, often troubled by the often about the levels of ‘information subsidy’ (Gandy, 1982) in the context of the way in which public relations material is able to shape the news by providing information that enables them to conform to there own agenda. Whereas public relations are concerned with the misunderstood perspective journalists have upon the role that public relations play. (Charron, 1989) Journalists are said to strive for objectivity, fairness, accuracy, and balance, and do not withhold information, hide or advocate for particular agendas, or act unethically (Belz, Talbot, & Starck, 1989). Public relations is regarded as more subjective, serving the interests of the client first and foremost’ (White & Hobsbawm, 2007) Although the tensions between the to industries may be strained , this is a relationship based on need n order for each other to succeed, whether each of them will admit it. . Even though they may have differences, both professions have the similar objectives created around there public. The main intention of journalism profession is to provide it public with accurate, reliable trustworthy information to the general public. Public relations objective is to influence a certain target public, intended to influence the opinion of this audience to promote an individual or organisation that the firm is looking after.The ‘adversarial relationship' between the two professions is commonly viewed as journalists being the gatekeepers who serve the public through offering them ‘a window to the world' (Singer, 1998) and public relations practitioners subsequent  the ‘press-agentry’ model (Grunig and Hunt 1984) where the purpose of the practitioner is to expand publicity for their particular organisation through controlled ‘i nformation dissemination'. But in an ever-competing world the tables have begun to turn, with journalist not being as pure as they make out to be.Journalists have a responsibility to an unspoken ethical code to produce stories of truth and reliability, as journalists are the source between the public and it knowledge of news information. Foxification as well as the news of the world scandal has tampered the perception of trust worthy journalism. Foxification was the misrepresentations of facts to the public by the fox network for the purpose of perpetuation their prejudiced conservative agenda and profit gain.Which was the same found with the news of the world scandal early last year, where unethical conduct in order to gain profit. So the foundation of apprehensive that journalism has on public relations becomes unjustified. The central elements to the functioning amongst journalist’s and public relations relationship is the subject of access to information. In an era where news is produced and consumed as fast as possible, the Internet has provided media with a new platform to serve its publics with the most up-to-date news. But evidently this no longer means that journalists have he day to write a story for the next day’s paper, journalist are looking at having to produce any where between 6-10 stories every time they enter the newsroom. 3. In March 2010 10 hard-copy news papers where analyised on Australia news and commentary website Crikey and the Independent journalism which concluded that nearly 55% of the stories discover were driven by some sort of public relations influence. The requirement of journalists doing more with less has insured the relationship between the two professions is securely bound together fostering a dependence on PR practitioners and their public relations materials.It is this demand placed upon each profession, which has manufactured what we now know as ‘churnalism’ the practice of journalists churning through press releases to manufacture news content as quick as possible the reader. Journalists are being asked to do more with less resources . . . forcing them to rely more and more on information from public relations practitioners . . . they are being forced increasingly into reactive, passive positions rather than pursuing their own investigations. (Gower, 2007, p. 2-3) Churnalism. om invites people to paste press releases on to the site and compare the copy with more than three million articles published by national newspaper websites, the BBC or Sky News since 2008. The site then offers a percentage score indicating how much of the release was copied and pasted by journalists. One of the founders of the Churnalism site Chris Atkins produced a fake press release about a â€Å"chastity garter† containing a micro-chip which would send a text message to the woman’s partner communicating of the partner was about to be unfaithful, to show how influential public relat ions press on the content of journalists stories.The story became the most read story on the Daily Mail’s website for that particular day. And was then repeated by many media outlets including that of a USA morning television show. This example just highlight the extent to how much journalist rely on the content that public relations practitioners have provided them with in order to produce stories. But this also placed an ethical responsibility upon public relations to produce press 4. releases, which are truthful as public relations practitioners rely on journalist to use these to promote their organisation.In the case of both public relations and journalism the related notions of trust and truth are central to their professional activities. The importance in creating a strong trustworthy relationship with journalist even more crucial to public relations practitioners as this is their main source of contact with their target publics. Public relations agencies aim to build a n ongoing relationships with journalists as the better relationships they can build, the more influence they can exert on the media.A journalist is more likely to pay attention to a press release that's timely, from a known source and targeted to the specific journalist's need. So it is a public relations practitioner job to make sure they know and understand the style and sought stories each journalist would report on, making it more likely for their press release to be picked up. Making it crucial to insure that the press releases are informative and truthful.Public Relations practitioners will offer journalists media kits, face-to-face meeting and invite them to private lunches and launches gaining an exclusive scoop to create a goodwill relationship between the two parties. But as public relations is the primary contact between organisations and the media, public relations people can control the access to information given to journalist, enabling them tremendous lead way in nego tiating with journalists. It’s a bit of you scratch my back I will scratch your back type on partnership. In today’s world, public relations and journalists go hand in hand.Journalists and public relations practitioners play distinct roles in their individual professions. On a whole public relations and journalism work together in order to achieve the same ultimate goal. Approaches may be different but both professions are mutually dependent upon one another and as well as one of symbiotic. In order to move forward with media coverage, both journalism and public relations need become accustom to the presents of each profession as by accepting what each party has to offer allows both industries to get ahead. Journalist and Pr Relationship 1. The question for the essay is â€Å"Journalism and Public Relations: Symbiosis or Parasitosis? † Journalists and Public Relations (PR) practitioners interact with each other everyday as part of the process of news production. Journalists communicate towards public relations practitioners with requests for information or material to help produce the stories they are writing. While public relations practitioners advise stories and deliver journalists with information they have created themselves in hope to be published in the newspaper.The relationship between journalists and public relations practitioners is, and has always been, complicated. The relationship between these two is one of mutually dependency if not symbiotic, but also ambivalent if not hostile. This ambiguous relationship has arisen due to the misconception of the outlook and the values of each profession. Shin and Cameron (2004) deem both parties bring conflict to the relationship through the nature of their roles and goals, and the values, attitudes and views they hold of each other (Callard, 2011).Journalist perception on public relations practitioners has a negative connotation to it, often troubled by the often about the levels of ‘information subsidy’ (Gandy, 1982) in the context of the way in which public relations material is able to shape the news by providing information that enables them to conform to there own agenda. Whereas public relations are concerned with the misunderstood perspective journalists have upon the role that public relations play. (Charron, 1989) Journalists are said to strive for objectivity, fairness, accuracy, and balance, and do not withhold information, hide or advocate for particular agendas, or act unethically (Belz, Talbot, & Starck, 1989). Public relations is regarded as more subjective, serving the interests of the client first and foremost’ (White & Hobsbawm, 2007) Although the tensions between the to industries may be strained , this is a relationship based on need n order for each other to succeed, whether each of them will admit it. . Even though they may have differences, both professions have the similar objectives created around there public. The main intention of journalism profession is to provide it public with accurate, reliable trustworthy information to the general public. Public relations objective is to influence a certain target public, intended to influence the opinion of this audience to promote an individual or organisation that the firm is looking after.The ‘adversarial relationship' between the two professions is commonly viewed as journalists being the gatekeepers who serve the public through offering them ‘a window to the world' (Singer, 1998) and public relations practitioners subsequent  the ‘press-agentry’ model (Grunig and Hunt 1984) where the purpose of the practitioner is to expand publicity for their particular organisation through controlled ‘i nformation dissemination'. But in an ever-competing world the tables have begun to turn, with journalist not being as pure as they make out to be.Journalists have a responsibility to an unspoken ethical code to produce stories of truth and reliability, as journalists are the source between the public and it knowledge of news information. Foxification as well as the news of the world scandal has tampered the perception of trust worthy journalism. Foxification was the misrepresentations of facts to the public by the fox network for the purpose of perpetuation their prejudiced conservative agenda and profit gain.Which was the same found with the news of the world scandal early last year, where unethical conduct in order to gain profit. So the foundation of apprehensive that journalism has on public relations becomes unjustified. The central elements to the functioning amongst journalist’s and public relations relationship is the subject of access to information. In an era where news is produced and consumed as fast as possible, the Internet has provided media with a new platform to serve its publics with the most up-to-date news. But evidently this no longer means that journalists have he day to write a story for the next day’s paper, journalist are looking at having to produce any where between 6-10 stories every time they enter the newsroom. 3. In March 2010 10 hard-copy news papers where analyised on Australia news and commentary website Crikey and the Independent journalism which concluded that nearly 55% of the stories discover were driven by some sort of public relations influence. The requirement of journalists doing more with less has insured the relationship between the two professions is securely bound together fostering a dependence on PR practitioners and their public relations materials.It is this demand placed upon each profession, which has manufactured what we now know as ‘churnalism’ the practice of journalists churning through press releases to manufacture news content as quick as possible the reader. Journalists are being asked to do more with less resources . . . forcing them to rely more and more on information from public relations practitioners . . . they are being forced increasingly into reactive, passive positions rather than pursuing their own investigations. (Gower, 2007, p. 2-3) Churnalism. om invites people to paste press releases on to the site and compare the copy with more than three million articles published by national newspaper websites, the BBC or Sky News since 2008. The site then offers a percentage score indicating how much of the release was copied and pasted by journalists. One of the founders of the Churnalism site Chris Atkins produced a fake press release about a â€Å"chastity garter† containing a micro-chip which would send a text message to the woman’s partner communicating of the partner was about to be unfaithful, to show how influential public relat ions press on the content of journalists stories.The story became the most read story on the Daily Mail’s website for that particular day. And was then repeated by many media outlets including that of a USA morning television show. This example just highlight the extent to how much journalist rely on the content that public relations practitioners have provided them with in order to produce stories. But this also placed an ethical responsibility upon public relations to produce press 4. releases, which are truthful as public relations practitioners rely on journalist to use these to promote their organisation.In the case of both public relations and journalism the related notions of trust and truth are central to their professional activities. The importance in creating a strong trustworthy relationship with journalist even more crucial to public relations practitioners as this is their main source of contact with their target publics. Public relations agencies aim to build a n ongoing relationships with journalists as the better relationships they can build, the more influence they can exert on the media.A journalist is more likely to pay attention to a press release that's timely, from a known source and targeted to the specific journalist's need. So it is a public relations practitioner job to make sure they know and understand the style and sought stories each journalist would report on, making it more likely for their press release to be picked up. Making it crucial to insure that the press releases are informative and truthful.Public Relations practitioners will offer journalists media kits, face-to-face meeting and invite them to private lunches and launches gaining an exclusive scoop to create a goodwill relationship between the two parties. But as public relations is the primary contact between organisations and the media, public relations people can control the access to information given to journalist, enabling them tremendous lead way in nego tiating with journalists. It’s a bit of you scratch my back I will scratch your back type on partnership. In today’s world, public relations and journalists go hand in hand.Journalists and public relations practitioners play distinct roles in their individual professions. On a whole public relations and journalism work together in order to achieve the same ultimate goal. Approaches may be different but both professions are mutually dependent upon one another and as well as one of symbiotic. In order to move forward with media coverage, both journalism and public relations need become accustom to the presents of each profession as by accepting what each party has to offer allows both industries to get ahead.

Child and young person development Essay

1.1 Describe the expected pattern of children and young people’s development from birth to 19yrs Physical Development Communication & Intellectual development Social, Emotional & Behavioural development 0-3 New babies have little control over their bodies, their movement depends on a series of reflexes as they get older they start to develop more gross monitor skills such as crawling, sitting, running, rolling. In their second year, children should have a better ability to control their movement. In a child’s 3rd year they would start to develop fine motor skills such as painting, scribbling and colouring. The child enjoys looking at and turning pages of books. At this age a child, should be able to use a cup and be able to feed themselves. A child at this stage will be listening, taking in language and speech from their surroundings. If a child is not given the appropriate attention they will find it hard to speak/communicate with other children. Speech will begin to grow with the child enjoying songs and games and words will start to increase rapidly, with words being pronounced wrong but not without a lack of trying. For example ‘I broked it’ instead of ‘I b roke it’. Children will have firms bonds with their parents/carers/guardians/key workers. They will experience emotional issues such as playing up for their parents, due to wanting to be independent and do things for themselves. 3-7 At this age, children will be improving the skills they have learned so far, they will have more confidence and more control over their fine motor skills such as cutting, writing and drawing. As children grow they continue to pick up phrases and expressions from the people around them and their surroundings. Their confidence will continue to blossom as they will now be able to talk and communicate in more ways with others around them. Children  will still look for praise from the older people and adults around them. At this age children start to engage more with their friends; ie playing with a ball, dressing up, playing with lego. They will learn disappointment such as not being picked for teams, and know how they should behave within the groups. They will learn to cooperate openly with others and how to respond to responsibility. 7-12 Children would start to have hobbies and interests such as sports, dance, drama. Children will continue to develop and improve many of their skills. Girls will start to show signs of early puberty from age 10-11yrs. Puberty in boys will usually start later. Speech for a child at this stage will be a lot clearer and understood. They will be fine tuning their written and reading skills which will help them to think about ideas and learning tools which will increase their confidence. Their knowledge and understanding will be used a lot more efficiently. Children will have developed different groups of friends and feel settled within those groups. Many different skills will have been developed and hobbies will be of great interest. Fine motor skills will be fully developed with more of an interest in their hobbies. For example playing an instrument, sewing and crafts. 12-19 The boys will be starting to go through puberty and many of the girls would be completing their puberty, having regular periods. As a result of the different stages at this age in puberty, boys and girls will vary in height, with girls they are taller and are growing stronger than boys. A wider understanding of their surroundings and clearer ideas of their favourite activities and subjects at school will be expected at this stage. They will be thinking about future careers as they prepare to leave school. Young people between this age experience a lot of change and can become very self conscious of their bodily changes. Independence will have grown but will still look for guidance from others. Strength, height and confidence will also have grown. 1.2 Describe with examples how different aspects of development can affect one another It is always important to remember that different aspects of development can affect another, for example if a child has a new sibling in their family they have to understand that their parent’s have to share their attention with both of the children not just one. The child may feel angry and alone which can lead to social, emotional and behavioural problems. If they feel they don’t get enough attention from their parents. This can then have an impact on their communication development, due to them playing up or misbehaving. If a child has an illness or disability which prevents them from walking this can affect their physical development as they don’t have full gross motor skill development, as well as affecting their social and intellectual development. They may spend a lot more time learning which will be a positive gain on their intellectual development, however they may wonder why they are not with their peers taking part in their daily activities, therefore their emotional, social and behavioural development will be affected as they may feel left out or different from the others. Outcome 2 2.1 Describe with examples the kinds of influences that affect children and young people’s development including: a) background b) health c)environment Children and young people come from a wide range of different backgrounds, all having an affect on development. For example a child/young person may be neglected and from a poorer family who don’t have the amenities to care properly for that child. The behaviour of a parent towards their child can affect how they deal with things emotionally and therefore can have an impact on a child’s development. If there are older siblings they my talk above the younger sibling or talk for them, having an affect on a child’s communication skills possibly making their speech slower. On a positive note an older sibling may help the younger sibling to develop their skills at a faster pace. For example if they read, write and just sit talking to their  older brother or sister it can help the, to develop much needed skills. If a child/young person suffers a bereavement of a family member or close friend, or has an illness or injury, these factors can also have an affect on a chi ld’s emotional and social development. My daughter Hope, was born with a complex heart and lung defect which led to her having major surgery at 4 months old, this has delayed her development in terms of speech, mobility and learning and she has missed school due to various hospital and clinic appointments. Hope has extra reading lessons as her eyesight has been affected by the health issues and therefore struggles to keep up to the same level as her peers. P.E lessons are sometimes a struggle as her physical ability is behind most of her classmates and she struggles to keep up. Hope’s hearing has also been affected as well as her growth, making it harder for her to complete normal day to day tasks with her friends. The environment a child learns in is an important aspect of their school life. If there are distraction such as a noisy road outside or some kind of issue in the classroom for example a disruptive child, this can affect a child’s development by taking their attention away from learning. A few day nurseries have found recently that bright, vibrant colours and pictures on walls, are more of a distraction to the children in their early years at nursery, and so no longer have anything on walls at all. They are now plain as to not draw attention from the children, distracting them from their day to day learning and play. 2.2 Describe with examples the importance of recognising and responding to concerns about children and young people’s development If a child has any issues it is extremely important that these issues are dealt with as soon as possible, as if they go unnoticed this may lead to further problems. For example my daughter Hope, never showed any signs of having a problem with her eyesight, until a routine check at school discovered she was very short sighted in one eye. It wasn’t until this was found that recent behaviours slotted into place, like Hope wouldn’t look to be interested in class, she would sit and look like she was in a daze, this was due to the fact she couldn’t see properly not that she wasn’t  interested. In Hope’s preschool year, her teacher was concerned Hope wasn’t progressing as well as the other children in her group, due to her being very quiet and reserved and looking disinterested in what was going on. Hope was referred to a learning development team who found nothing wrong, but it was important that her teacher made me aware of these issues incase there was an underlying issue. No matter how many times an issue is raised it is important to do so until the issue has been resolved, so not to cause any further stress to the child or young person. Hope for weeks, wasn’t herself at home or in school, she would be very unsettled, wet the bed, very quiet and wouldn’t join in in her class. After constant revisiting of these problems it was finally found that the anxieties Hope was having was due to her health issues. If these issues were not picked up Hope would be a lot worse now, thankfully they were and are being resolved. Outcome 3 3.1 Identify the transitions experienced by most children and young people Nursery – preschool Preschool – primary school Primary school – high school Change of classes Change of timetable Change of teacher/key worker Puberty 3.2 Identify transitions that only some children and young people may experience Move in house—possibly a local move or out of the area Move in school – due to the above or other personal issues Bereavement of a close friend or family member Illness or injury Parental separation or divorce Change of carer/guardian/new parent New sibling 3.3 Describe with examples how transitions may affect children and young people’s behaviour and development Transitions can affect children in a number of way, during this time it is important that the child or young person has positive relationships around them to help them feel secure. Some transitions can be difficult to deal with and can affect a child or young person’s behaviour in many different ways. For example a child who has just moved house and school can become very clingy, withdrawn, anxious and uninterested in their new surroundings. This can affect their development as they may not join in as much as they should in class, plus could ply up to their new teachers and have behavioural issues. If this kind of behaviour isn’t picked up early on and the child or young person isn’t given the support they need, the transitional period can become a very traumatic experience. On a positive note, a change in school may be what the child needs to take off and thrive in a new setting. It may be seen as an exciting time and a chance for the child to excel in their new surroundings. Any change in a child or young persons life can lead to a number of behvioural and developmental issues. Parental separation or a change in partner can lead to a withdrawn behviour, acting up to gain the attention of their parent. They may become aggressive at the remaining parent and blame themselves for the problems. This behaviour may carry on in school and lead to the child being excluded from the class or school depending on the severity of the situation. If a child or young person experiences illness or an injury, dependent on the severity p, they may need to take a lot of time off school for appointments, treatments, etc. Where some children/young people may see it as a great thing being away from school, for others it can be a very worrying, anxious time. Emotionally they may be down about being here, there and everywhere on different appointments, so it is important that they have a good support network around them to give them some kind of stability during this time. There are a lot of negative affects children and young people can experience  from certain situations, however sometimes positives can be taken from them. For example, as traumatic as it may be for a child to move in with a new parent and new siblings they can be a positive influence in terms of speech and social skills for the young

PARTY PLATFORMS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

PARTY PLATFORMS - Essay Example Democrats demand that the state meet all the funds required for education while Republicans are more inclined towards privatization of educational funding (2010 State Republican Party Platform, 12; Texas Democratic Party). Regarding giving education to all who are living in the United States, Democrats have a more flexible stand towards non-citizens (2010 State Republican Party Platform, 12; Texas Democratic Party). Democrats are for daytime juvenile curfew while Republicans are against it (2010 State Republican Party Platform, 14; Texas Democratic Party). Democrats also want the state to support community colleges, which Republicans disagree with, as they want the students and parents to fund community colleges (2010 State Republican Party Platform; Texas Democratic Party). b. Position II. On Immigration Democrats have a more lenient stand towards illegal immigrants than the Republicans (2010 State Republican Party Platform; Texas Democratic Party). Republicans declare that they are dead against â€Å"amnesty in any form leading to citizenship, or legal status for illegal immigrants† (2010 State Republican Party Platform, 20). But democrats want to have helpful legislation for legalization of illegal immigrants who want to stay (Texas Democratic Party).

Tate & Lyle Sugar to Be Fair-Trade Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 15

Tate & Lyle Sugar to Be Fair-Trade - Case Study Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that during the growth stages of a product, the product manufacturers should focus more on devising specific strategies for maintaining growth. During this stage; â€Å"more competitors will enter the market, companies increase the number of product offerings in order to differentiate themselves from competitors, the prices may begin to fall and the emphasis may shift from moderate to heavy advertising and promotion activities†(Planning: Middle Growth Stage, 2010). Tate & Lyle’s product Granulated white sugar is in the growth stage of its product life cycle and hence it may severe completion from the market as more and more competitors may enter the market for reaping the profit. It is difficult for Tate & Lyle to sell their product for a higher price even though the sales volume and public awareness may increase.  Tate & Lyle needs to elaborate on their distribution or logistics channels in order to reach more remote customer s during the growth stage of their product, Granulated white sugar. Moreover, the expenditure on promotional activities and advertising should be increased in order to tackle the efforts of competitors. Even though the sales of Granulated white sugar may increase during the growth stage, the expenditure for maintaining the growth phase would be more than any other stages of the entire life cycle of the product.

Divorce as One of the Main Social Problems of Every Country Research Paper

Divorce as One of the Main Social Problems of Every Country - Research Paper Example The divorce rate in Canada is %. Four in ten marriages are ending in divorce which is a rate much higher than the past decades (CBCNews). The main reason is the economic downturn and inflation in prices, which has led to stress among spouses. Both the spouses are expected to earn; otherwise, making both ends meet becomes difficult. Debt and poverty are also on its rise due to the economic recession. Men are working for longer hours. This makes them spend less time with families and partners. Education rate is increasing, as Employment and Social Development Canada (para.2) suggests: â€Å"In 2012, about 53.6% of Canadians aged 15 and over had trade certificates, college diplomas and university degrees. This was an increase of 20.9 percentage points since 1990.† Also, the average age at first marriage for men was 31.1 years in 2008, and for women, it was 29.1 years. The divorce rate is %. Kelsey states that infidelity is no more the primary reason for divorce in the UK, as grow ing apart or out of love is becoming the biggest reason why people separate. Other reasons include domestic abuse, incompatibility, getting bored, lack of communication, children, high expectations, mental health, low socio-economic status, and less money. The age of marriage is also lower. â€Å"The mean age at marriage in 2012 was 36.5 years for men and 34.0 years for women (Office for National Statistics). Education level is high, with 77% of adults aged 25-64 possessing the equivalent of a high-school degree (OECD). Divorce is on its rise in all the three countries listed above. It is recommended that couples seek marriage counselling before deciding for divorce.

Respond to post Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Respond to post - Article Example (Nomensa 2009) According to Capital Community College Foundation (2004), â€Å"a sentence fragment fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause. There are several reasons why a group of words may seem to act like a sentence but not have the wherewithal to make it as a complete thought: (1) it may locate something in time and place with a prepositional phrase or a series of such phrases, but its still lacking a proper subject-verb relationship within an independent clause; (2) it describes something, but there is no subject-verb relationship; (3) it may have most of the makings of a sentence but still be missing an important part of a verb string; and (4) it may even have a subject-verb relationship, but it has been subordinated to another idea by a dependent word and so cannot stand by itself. Regardless of the rationale, fragmented sentences have tendencies of creating confusion, miscommunication, and ineffective transmission of messages. Well spoken and written languages should follow the correct grammatical rules to avoid communication problems. Procrastination means deferring or delaying action till another day or time. There have been several studies identifying the causes of procrastination – from being perfectionist, to having negative feelings and anger at the time when one is supposed to undertake certain tasks. In this regard, when one has identified the exact cause for procrastination, the person would be able to move on and to take positive action in preventing it to happen. One of the recommended measures to address procrastination is to take small steps, to wit: â€Å"remind yourself to take small steps, as each small step makes up the bigger picture. It will also help you to plan out your work schedule, and make the work seem a lot more manageable and less threatening. Similarly, even for

Islamic exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Islamic exam - Essay Example His arguments were clear and simple, he stated that two major sources of sharia, the Quran and Sunnah did not demand or altogether reject the caliphate, secondly there was no ijma done by the scholars upon the necessity of keeping caliphate, thirdly, caliphate had only brought disasters in the Muslim world and there were no logical arguments to re-establish it. The book also criticized rulers who used the Islamic laws in order to form a political guideline and rules for the ruling authorities. Furthermore, the book stated that the role of Prophet Muhammad was solely as religious spiritual teacher and nothing near to as a political leader. These statements called on for huge debates and unrest between different groups of Islamic world. Al-Raziq has been declared as the father of secularism of the state and not only the society, in Islamic governance. Secularism separates a state from all religious linkages and allows people from different religions to be treated equally by law regardless of religion by the ruling authority or the majority of the country’s population. Al-Raziq never called keeping an Islamic government unlawful; he furthermore declared that Muslims altogether may agree to any form of government they want to keep as long it kept the common interest of the society they are ruling in their mind. This shows that altogether, al-Raziq had a very humanistic approach towards formation of government and supported democracy. Ruhollah Moosavi Khomeini was born in the early 1900’s and is famous for founding the first ever Islamic government called Islamic Republic or Iran. He was a politician and a revolutionary, the brains behind the Iranian Revolution that took place in 1979. After the Shah of Iran was overthrown, Khomeini became the sole ruler of the country and created a constitution solely on the bases of Islam and its

J.S. Bach's Cantata 91 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

J.S. Bach's Cantata 91 - Essay Example It will be shown how Bach used the different orchestration techniques to illustrate the differences of emotion and the development of the life of Jesus. There are the use of voices, instrumentation and the use of the words of the Cantata to bring this beautiful piece together. The words of the Cantata were taken from the writings of Martin Luther. In the 16th century, he based his liturgical melodies partly on melodies from the middle ages in the 14th century. It is not known who wrote some of the hymn. One must note that Germany was not a Catholic country. The leise or (hymn) "Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ" was used to replace psalm chorals before sermons at Christmas time.(www.bach-cantatas.com So it was an appropriate title for Bach to use. Bach uses three of the verses. "Jesus was born as a human being and became the Son of God. He is eternal as he is humble as he was born from flesh and blood. We should thank him eternally." He adds an additional 2 verses at the beginning and end (2,3,2). The cantata tells a story of Jesus birth thus the Christmas Cantata. There are 6 movements but 7 verses. Each movement is attached with the use of Kyrie Eleison as the last phrase. The orchestration is typical for his Cantatas - chorus, strings, 3 oboes, 1 bassoon, 3 trumpets, continuous and 1 oboe de cacia) The use of trumpets and oboes was to give contrast to the voices in color, texture and tonal variation. The beginning is a time of praise and joy with the birth of Jesus. In the Overture, there is an long instrumental introduction. The opening choral sings "Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ". The instrumentation introduction is intertwined with the choral. This differs from the heavy choruses of composers like Handel in the Messiah. The horns intertwine with the strings and the voices to show the joy of the birth and Mary and the angels. The choral sings a three note motif which is then used to unite the Cantata The first part as other verses end with the common use of Kyri e Eleison or in German Kirieleis (Our Lord). The 2 techniques are used to join the movements: the use of the Kyrie Eleison and the second point is the music technique of using a motif which is first introduced by the choral in the first verse and then used to join each of the verses. In line 4 and 5, it is used by the choral. The second movement is sung with a soprano recitative answered by a soprano choral (4 out of the 5 phrases) showing Jesus, the son of God is still in bodily form. The strings are used with the continuous only. Bach joins the last phrase with the word Kirieleis to be sung. Jesus has divine power. In the composition, accompanied recitative movement is used in and this is because we are able to get the emotions that are relayed and also the tonal variation are able to depict the support to the song and also the different voices that are used shows and proves that it is not dry but accompanied recitative. The three note theme is carried on by the strings. The third movement start to give form to the Cantata: instruments, recitative, instruments. The oboe introduction will trills and the bassoon are used as an accompaniment. The tenor comes as a solo but sings with the instruments. The constant movement of the instruments gives life. Jesus is maintaining life from Mary in the manger. The three note motif is repeated by the bass but the rhythm is jumpy. Is he the son of

Assignment 1 Behaviour in Organisations - Analysis of The Amazing Essay

Assignment 1 Behaviour in Organisations - Analysis of The Amazing World of Fun case study - Essay Example A specific problem with a new habitat zone head, Krista Katz, will be highlighted and her relationship with AWFs Maintenance Crew. Suggestions for realistic improvements to the management hierarchy in the park will also be discussed in this project. At "The Amazing World of Fun" theme park, most of the senior-level decision-making is carried out by Eric and George Pinter who act as the Vice Presidents of AWF. Eric Pinter is the Vice President of Wildlife and Conservation (W & C), with direct responsibility for directing the management of all W & C staff including Species Specialists and Animal Assistants. George Pinter is the Commercial Vice President and acts as director of five Habitat Zone Heads and deals with the Hospitality Crew, Maintenance Crew, and the Cast of AWF (who interact with the customers). Board member Amy Rockbridge, reporting to George, has management jurisdiction of the Maintenance Staff (part of Estates), a group made up primarily of skilled craftsmen who are responsible for the technical upkeep of the theme park. Among Eric Pinters responsibilities is ensuring the efficient operation of the Mammals, Birds, Marine, and Reptiles division of Wildlife and Conservation. Species specialists and senior animal scientists from the Wetland Zone report directly to the Zone Heads, but can call upon Eric for area conflicts needing senior-level advisement, since Wetland Wilderness is linked to W & C. The appointed Zone Head of Wetland Wilderness is Krista Katz, who reports directly to George Pinter. In July of 2000, problems began to erupt in the management structure of AWF in regards to the Zone Head of Wetland Wilderness, Krista Katz. Krista was appointed to her position by George, who had recently left Disneyland Paris to help make Wetland Wilderness a profitable business success. Kristas strategic goal was to improve the efficiency and operations of Wetland Wilderness and it

Pe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pe - Essay Example However there are a number of anonymous women of the oracle at Dephi who responsible for advising the Athenians to go and defend the wall of the Wood. Most women in the Greek society were greatly restricted but not as much as the women in other societies of that time. Their role in art was very much important since they represented the ideals of the Greek society and even some religious fervor. This gave rise to an art of great perfection that was highly demanded as a trade item. At that time religion had a lot of interdependence on the stories that were developed in the earlier society where women could prove to act more powerful and independently. The Greek developed a sense of an ideal so that the portrait of the depicted women could depend not only on the ordinary people but on the best that was available at that time. Most of the societies benefited economically from the spreading trade in art while the rest of the world reaped some little benefits from the view of the women that had a less restriction in the Greek society. According to the literature of stereotypes of Athens, women were highly valued for their virtues of not gossiping, taking the responsibility of household management, and most importantly for the production of legitimate children (Tomus, Hall and Geldart 11). The aristocratic woman was majorly secluded in the quarters that were set aside for the women and they were to be accompanied when they were in the public places. She could own a lot of property but they could not sell those property. Most of the Athenian women were subjects to their fathers and even after they were married, they could ask for their return. All women in Athens were not recognized as the citizens of Athens. Â   In Roman, women were legally subjects to the pater familias whether the dominant male in their household of birth or the household of their husbands (Sommerstein 37). They could own property and dispose-off the same property at their own wish and even

Evaluate Goals Essay Example for Free

Evaluate Goals Essay Goal 1 is in accordance with one of the â€Å"six conditions that are necessary and sufficient to achieve therapeutic changes on the part of the client which is counselor congruence or genuineness in the therapeutic relationship† (Crutchfield, et al, 2000). Goal 2 means developing bonds between analyst and client as what Adler had stated: â€Å"Adler’s encouragement skills included demonstrating concern for clients through active listening and empathy, and communicating respect for and confidence in clients† (Crutchfield, et al, 2000). Goal 3 pertains to keeping the therapeutic session simple without minding the time, in accordance to two of the six given conditions necessary for therapeutic changes in client which is: warmth or unconditional regard for the client, and the ability of counselor to empathize with the client. Goal 4 means that I will now concentrate on my fourth goal which is to develop empathy with the client by focusing on the client’s emotions. In psychotherapy, â€Å"empathy refers to â€Å"feeling into† the experience of another person† (Feller and Rocco Cotton, 2003). I believe this is an important step that will lead to the last of the six conditions stated by Adler, which is unconditional positive regard to the client (Crutchfield, et al, 2000). After reviewing my pre-practicum Residency packet, I came into conclusion that my goals have inspired me and will definitely serve as my driving force to enter Residency II.I believe that taking Residency II is what I needed in order to become an expert in my field of study. Bibliography Crutchfield, L. , Baltimore, H. , Felfell, M. Worth, S. (2000, March). Empathic Responding Skills across Counselor Education Training Tracks: A Comparison Study, Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education Development. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database. Feller, R. , Rocco Cotton, E. (2003). The Importance of Empathy in Therapeutic Alliance. EBSCO Publishing.

Gender Inequalities in Health Sociology

Gender Inequalities in Health Sociology This essay aims to understand why there are health inequalities between both genders and the social classes. This will be achieved by analysing the findings of sociological research, whilst discussing the main problems with how health inequalities are measured. The cultural and structural explanations on why health inequalities occur will also be evaluated. In 2009, The House of Commons Health Committee published a report, which found that even though peoples health was improving in all social groups, the gap between the health of the social classes had widened. The reason stated for this, was that the health of those in higher social classes was improving far quicker than the health of those in the lower social classes. The figures within in the report showed that if you are in a higher social group you are more likely to live longer than someone in the lower social classes. The report also stated that not only do poorer people die younger; they also suffer more years of ill health. Access to health care for the lower classes is also uneven and those who are poor, elderly and disabled are less likely to receive proper treatment than those who are young and able-bodied. A report done by the Learning Disabilities Observatory alleged that this was because the elderly and disabled were unable to access health care due to reduced mobility, being unable to communicate health problems to professionals and their carers failing to identify health problems. (Eric Emerson, 2010) The Health Committee report also illustrates the interrelations of gender inequalities and socioeconomic status. On a geographical level females who were born in the more affluent areas of London, such as Kensington and Chelsea had a significantly higher life expectancy (87.8 years) than females who were born in Glasgow (77.1 years), which has the lowest life expectancy figure in the UK. Subsequently, even though the life expectancy for males and females in social class l (professional) and social class V (unskilled manual) has improved compared to previous years, the disparity between them, is still widening. (House of Commons, Health Committee, 2009) A cultural explanation was also given for why mens life expectancy is more severely affected than womens life expectancy. It was suggested by the Mens Health Forum that men are more likely to take risks with their health due to them trying to cope with stress and conforming to role models in society. Men, compared to women also make poor use of primary care services such as pharmacies and GP surgeries. This is thought to be because men find it culturally unacceptable to discuss their health problems. Men are also more likely to die of health problems relating to their weight, as they are less able than women to identify when they are overweight, as weight is seen as a womens issue. (Memorandum by the mens health forum, 2008) However, even though the data found within the Health Committees report looks convincing the majority of the data is based on morbidity rates, which are not always reliable, as not everyone who gets ill may report their illness. Even human error and illness not being recorded accurately can mean that data based evidence of health inequalities can be unreliable. A previous report done in 2004 by Hilary Graham, featured evidence that suggested that if your parents were poor or in poverty then you were already predisposed to having poor health and having a higher mortality and morbidity rate. This was due to mothers who are poor not being able to afford nutritious food and not being able to access health care. This in turn can lead to babies being born with a lower birth weight, and poor cognitive and physical development. This can influence further problems in health as an adult and therefore, further inequalities in health than someone who was born to parents with a higher income. The findings of the report done by Graham also showed that those living with illness or an impairment were less likely to avoid economic hardships due to their persisting health difficulties and the discrimination they faced, meaning they were less likely to maintain long term employment. In turn, those who did belong to a higher socioeconomic group had a far bette r chance of staying in employment even when faced with ill health. It was also suggested within the report that socioeconomic position affects an individuals health indirectly by influencing intermediary factors such as their home and environment (e.g. poor living and working conditions) and psychosocial factors such as their stress levels and relationships within their family. (Graham, 2004) On analysing Grahams report, there are certain criticisms that can be made on the reliability of her findings. For instance, all the data that featured in her report is secondary; none of it is her own. Therefore, the validity and reliability of the findings featured in her report is only as good as the people she collected it from. However, the research she did use was up -to date and from credible resources. There are cultural and structural explanations that also help us understand why there are inequalities in health between the genders and social classes. In relations to gender inequalities in health the cultural/ behavioural explanation suggests that men are far more likely to suffer ill health and die younger than women due to role models in society and the need for them to feel masculine. Because of this, young men in particular are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol and take drugs. A higher consumption of alcohol and drug taking in particular is thought to be a prime reason why young men are more likely to commit suicide. Women, on the other hand have been socialised to pay greater attention to their health and body as it is seen as a way to define their femininity. However, more women suffer from eating disorders than men do. (Waugh,C. et al 2008) Many feminists believe that women no longer have control over the health care they receive, and any health care they are given is sui ted to doctors and hospital hours. They also argue that women are left to suffer at the hands of male doctors, who are more likely to diagnose female patients symptoms as that of a mental illness. (Browne, 2008) The structural/ materialistic explanation for inequalities in health has suggested that women are more likely to get ill because of their role in society as caregivers because they are more likely to suffer from stress and mental illness. Women who do part-time work are also more likely to suffer from ill health as they are less well paid and have fewer perks than women who are able to do full time work. Men on the other hand often do jobs that are dangerous, stressful and physically demanding (e.g. warehouse work, armed forces jobs etc.) The structural explanation also suggests that those who are in the lower social classes are more likely to suffer from ill health because they are less able to engage in healthy lifestyle choices due to lack of income. They are also more likely to do manual jobs and have less money to buy good quality foods. Lack of transport may make it harder to access medical care and stress of not having enough money can lead to further health problems, which ma y eventually lead to unemployment. Marxists claim capitalist society causes people to become ill as it aims to serve only the higher classes. Being unable to work is seen as the definition of sickness, whilst Doctors are seen as agents of social control with the power to sign people off work. Yet not working can equally make people ill by increasing the risk of ill health, depression and suicide. (Kirby,M. et al 1997) Both explanations are equally valid; however, the structural explanation looks at the wider picture of why people in lower classes or certain genders are more likely to suffer from high morbidity and mortality rates, as they cannot afford healthy lifestyles like the higher classes. The cultural explanation gives insight into why one gender more than the other seeks health care and why data for morbidity if higher for women than men yet mortality levels are higher than men than in women. (Martin Holborn, 2004) In conclusion, the findings in both the reports from the Health Committee and by Hilary Graham both show that the lower your social class, the higher your risk of suffering from poor health and lower life expectancy. Furthermore, the cultural explanation gives reason to why men are less likely to visit the doctor due to wanting to conform to masculine stereotypes, whereas women are encouraged to look after their health. Alternatively, the structural explanation gives greater insight into how your social class can affect your health by limiting your access to healthcare and the means to living a healthier lifestyle.

Drivers of Customer Loyalty and Firm Profitability Research

Drivers of Customer Loyalty and Firm Profitability Research Financial institutions perform a vital role in facilitating the aggregation and allocation of capital with the help of conveying individual savings in to loans to businesses, government and individuals. The role of banking division in the concentration and distribution of capital in Ghana can not be disputed. The recent credit crunch has left a deep impact over the performance of various banks all over the world. Thus, in order to survive in the long run, the institutions need to adopt competitive strategies. One and the most important of such strategies in the banking sector constitute customer loyalty to business which makes the banking businesses competent. In this paper, we will analyze the determinants of customer loyalty and their impact on the share market and firm profitability with the help of studying the customer relationship management (CRM) and contact management of Barclays Bank in Ghana. In the late seventies and early eighties, the state owned banks in Ghana dominated the formal banking system of the country as they had monopoly with respect to their spread and operations (Hinson and Hammond, 2006). However, the banking environment has now been evolved. According to Hinson and Hammond (2006; p.45), universal banking law has permitted all categories of banking to be performed under a single body for corporate banking which has greatly restructured the scopes of competency in various banking products in Ghana. Thus, the banking sector in Ghana has been brought in to the competitive arena which is based on the customers and products due to the reforms and deregulations. This infers that the management of the banks in Ghana should employ the strategies that provide customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer retention and thereby, increase firm profitability and market shares. 1.1 Service Quality Concept The European school of thought, vastly expressed by the work of Gronroos (1984), explains that the customers recognize service quality from two aspects which are: (1) the technical aspect of service and (2) the functional aspect of the service. Technical quality is determined by knowing if the customers expectations from the service are fulfilled or not. The functional quality is recognized through the customers perception about the service production and its delivery. According to Richard and Allaway (1993), both of these distinctions are correct and needed to define customers service quality analysis and loyalty behaviour. However, this concept does not consider the physical environment of the service. Thus, the American school of thought led by the work of Parasuraman et al., (1985, 1988) has been adopted in various studies which states that service quality is basically the difference between perception and expectation of the delivery of service. According to this model, service q uality has five dimensions on which customers judgement about perceived service quality is based. These dimensions are: Reliability: Performance assurance, accuracy and dependability of the service. Responsiveness: Will to help and provide prompt service to the customers. Assurance: Knowledge, courtesy and ability of the employees that ensures trust and confidence. Empathy: Care and special attention given to the customers. Tangibles: Outlook of the personnel, equipments and other physical facilities. These five dimensions will be measured through a scale called SERVQUAL comprising of 22 items. Service quality is operationalized according to the gap between perception and expectation (P-E). Thus, the SERVQUAL determines the gaps in the service delivery of a firm. SERVPERF is another service quality measure that has been developed by Cronin and Taylor (1992) considering that SERVQUAL was inadequate. According to them, performance and not perception minus expectation determines service quality by proving that expectations have almost no impact on the customers evaluation about service quality. Both of the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF conceptualizations have been incorporated in our research model for this study. Although, our research model includes P E, we measure service quality on the basis of perception only since expectation is insignificant (Cronin and Taylor 1992; Brady et al., 2002). However, the basics of Parasuraman et als., (1988) dimensions of service quality have been retaine d in our model. Moreover, the 22 items of these dimensions in our study are slightly modified according to relevancy. 7 point likert scale will be used to measure P. 1.2 Customer Loyalty Concept In our study, we have incorporated both attitudinal and behavioural concepts of customer loyalty. The following cues will be used to measure customer loyalty in the banking sector of Ghana. Word of Mouth: Recommendations made by the customers to their friends and family for using the services of the bank. Repeat Purchase: Repetition or consistency in making purchases by the customers for the banks products and services. Satisfaction: The level of pleasure or happiness of the customers with their banks services and products. 2. SERVICE QUALITY MODEL The Disconfirmation Paradigm (Parasuraman et al., 1985) allows service quality model to measure disparity between consumers perceptions and their expectations for the quality of service. Figure 1 given below represents the service quality model for the banking sector. This model illustrates that there are five gaps in delivering the quality service to the customers. These gaps are described below. Gap 1: This gap can be referred as Understanding as it depicts the difference between expectations of the customer and the management perceptions of the customers expectations. Gap2: This gap can be referred as Service Standards since it depicts the disparity between management perceptions of customer expectations and specifications of service quality. Gap 3: This gap can be referred as Service Performance as it illustrates the disparity between the service quality specifications and the actual service delivered to the customer. Gap 4: This gap can be referred as Communications since it shows the disparity between service delivery and external communication with the customer about the service. Gap 5: This gap can be referred as Service Quality as it depicts the disparity between customer expectation for the quality of the service and the customers perception about the performance of the firm. Gaps 1 till 4 impact the service delivery leading to Gap 5. Thus, these four gaps have a very strong influence over the gap 5. This study will focus on the potential discrepancies found in all the gaps. The managerial implications associated with these gaps must be assessed in order to formulate proper business strategies. These resultant strategies will then be properly implemented for closing the identified gaps found in the banking sector in Ghana and thereby, to improve service quality and profitability of concerned Bank. Word of Mouth Communication Personal Needs Past Experience Expected Service Perceived Service Gap 5 Service Delivery External Communications with Customers Gap 4 Translation of Perceptions in to Service Quality Specifications Management Perceptions of Costumer Expectations Gap 2 Gap 3 Gap 1 3. PROBLEM STATEMENT The gaps 1 to 4 impact the service delivery and are concerned with the management and service providers of the bank. Thus, the question arises, what variables or factors are responsible for creating these gaps or what is the lacking of the management that refrain them from delivering the quality service to the customers? As for Gap 5, the question arises which business strategies should be adopted to reduce the gaps and thereby, improve service quality and performance of the bank. 4. HYPOTHETICAL MODEL This paper is aimed towards finding loyalty drivers according to the viewpoint of the customers of the Ghanaian retail banking. This chapter of the paper will present a hypothetical model that will be used to determine the relationship among loyalty, loyalty drivers, banks profitability and market share. Figure 2 provided below represents the framework of our hypothetical model. The model presented in figure 2 below explains the service quality as perceived by the customer. This model has been premised on seminal model (SERVQUAL), Cronin and Taylor (1992; SERVPERF), Parasuraman et al., (1988) and Brady and Cronin (2001). The quality of service conceptualized by 2 pathways that are: (1) P-E representing the gap in between perception, P and expectation, E and (2) P that represents only perception as the conceptualization of expectation (E) is not important (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Thus, perception is what is actually measured. Hence, the questionnaire in the survey will consist of a single set to elicit answers concerning customers perception (Brady and Cronin, 2001) instead of two sets of questionnaires for measuring perception and expectation distinctively and for determining the difference between the two as was done by Parasuraman et al., (1988). The framework provided in this paper demonstrates the fact that fake loyalty may be found abundantly and inco mplete satisfaction will result in customer switching. The model below illustrates a gap which represents the disparity between the customers perception and expectation. Since the expectation of a customer does not influence the actual service delivered to him/her by the bank, thus, it holds an insignificant value. This infers that the actual service delivered will depend on the perceived service quality which in turn is also influenced by various service quality dimensions namely: tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Moreover, it is known that these dimensions influence both the customers service quality perceptions and the management designed service quality. Thus, the hypotheses and the hypothetical model are the same for all the gaps mentioned above. This research paper will investigate the disparity between the perceived service quality and the actual quality of service delivered to the customer by measuring the above mentioned service quality dimensions. Service quality dimensions Competitive Price Expectations (Expected Service) Perception  (Perceived Service Quality) Satisfaction Loyalty Actual service Experienced Tangible Reliability Responsiv-eness Assurance Empathy Banks Profitability Bank (image reputation) Market share Dissatisfied customers Switching customers 5. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 5.1 Purpose of the Research The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the hypothetical model and the related hypotheses. The analysis of the hypothetical model will lead to the formulation of appropriate business strategies that will overcome the potential disparity between perceived service quality and the actual quality of service delivered to the customer upon implementation. 5.2 Research Objectives 5.2.1 Primary Objective The objective of this paper is to investigate the drivers of customer loyalty and firm profitability with the help of collecting empirical evidence through interviewing the customers of various banks in Ghana and also, through assessing a case study of Barclays Bank Ghana. Due to the distinct cultural values of the Ghanaian Society, our study will focus on the extant literature. 5.2.2 Secondary Objectives Businesses conventionally implement aggressive marketing strategies in order to draw the attention of the new customers and thus, increase market share at the cost of competitors. According to the latest trends in competition, those businesses benefit the most that focus on retaining their customers while providing them the goods and services (Roberts, 2005). Customer retention with the help of enforcing quality in products, services, prices and accessing facilities of the bank among others play a critical role in customer satisfaction. Studies have shown that satisfied customers always return to their service providers and also, make their recommendations to friends and families which in turn increase both market share and profitability of the firm. In the banking sector of Ghana, it is generally hypothesized that high performance of the bank is associated with high customer retention. Thus, Bankers appraise customer loyalty as the key factor towards maintaining market share and increasing profitability of the bank. Due to the high customer chum, it is important to know that what drives customer loyalty. Ghauri and Grà ¶nhaug (2005; p. 14) state that assumptions and speculations should not be accepted or rejected unless these assumptions are critically studied to give logical and reliable reasoning for their acceptation or rejection. This study seeks to attain this aim that requires investigation of the drivers of customer loyalty serving as the core of design strategies that result in the increase of customer retention and bank performance by taking in to account the case study of Barclays Bank in Ghana. 6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES 6.1 Research questions In order to study the optimization of the enterprise contact management through a CRM enabled contact centre platform by taking in to consideration the case study of Barclays Bank in Ghana, the following question are being posed in this paper. What are the factors driving customer loyalty in Ghanas banking sector, in particular Barclays Bank Ghana? What are the factors that set back customer loyalty and retention in the banking sector in Ghana, particularly Barclays Bank Ghana? Does customer loyalty is achieved through customer satisfaction? Do reluctant customers approach other banks in order to get better and improved customer relations and services? 6.2 Hypotheses Our study will test the following hypotheses in this paper. H1- Service quality influences loyalty and satisfaction of the customer. H2- Tangibility, responsiveness, reliability, assurance and empathy are the five dimensions of service quality that vary to the extent to which they instigate customer loyalty and satisfaction. H3- Customer loyalty and satisfaction depend upon competitive pricing. H4- Perceived reputation and image of the bank stimulate customer loyalty. H5- Banks or enterprises profitability can be increased by customer loyalty and market share. H6- Reluctant customers approach other banks in order to get improved service quality from other banks. 7. BACKGROUND- BANKING IN GHANA Ghana has a well structured financial system that is built around the capital market, the Bank and the non Bank Financial Institutions. Banks are further divided in to the following classes on the basis of a licensed system: Universal Banking under Class I banking license. Universal and off-shore Banking under Class II banking license. Universal, off-shore Banking and ARB (Association of Rural and Community Banks) APEX Banking under the general banking license. (Bank of Ghana, Annual report, 2007). At present, the minimum amount of GHC 60 million is required to be possessed by the banks that are operating in Ghana as their stated capital (Bank of Ghana, Annual report, 2007). Ghana has 26 major banks operating under the Universal banking license and 126 rural and community banks that have been licensed for ARB Apex banking system. And also, 41 non Banking Financial Institutions which comprise of Discount Houses, Finance Companies, Mortgage Finance Companies, Savings Companies, Loans Companies and Leasing Companies. All of these NBFIs are supervised by the Bank of Ghana that is the central bank of Ghana. The activity based division of Commercial, Merchant and Development banking operating previously in Ghana have been replaced by this categorization. This was done in the wake of the initiative for the financial reforms that enabled universal banking in Ghana and thus, dissolved the operating limits hypothesized on the initial activity of incorporation. The goal was to transform t he conventional way of banking operation in order to welcome competitive trading in to the banking sector. Dr. Acquah, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana stated in his speech at the Fifth Banking Award Ceremony that universal banking was introduced in order to promote new banks, liberalize the options for the banking services, extend the branch network and increase competition for deposit at the level of retail (Acquah, 2009). Since the banks constitute 70 per cent of the financial sector, thus, they are the most common source for contributing to the economy (Bawumia, 2008). The head offices of all the banks in Ghana are situated in the national capital of the country while their several branches are located in major cities and town of Ghana that are owned by the government, Ghanaians, foreigners or the combination. Currently all the banks in Ghana possess Universal Banking License. Only 12 banks in Ghana are owned by its citizens. The table below shows the banks operating in Ghana with their branch networks, area of activity and proprietorship. Name of Bank Number of Branches Ownership Current Banking Licence Barclays Bank of Ghana Ltd 120 Non- Ghanaian Universal Merchant Bank (Ghana) Ltd 16 Ghanaian Universal Ecobank Ghana Limited 32 Non- Ghanaian Universal Ghana Commercial Bank Ltd 143 Ghanaian Universal National Investment Bank Ltd 24 Ghanaian Universal Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd 19 Non- Ghanaian Universal SG-SSB Bank Limited 36 Non- Ghanaian Universal The Trust Bank Limited 17 Ghanaian Universal Agricultural Development Bank Ltd 50 Ghanaian Universal Amalgamated Bank Limited 10 Non- Ghanaian Universal Prudential Bank Limited 10 Ghanaian Universal Fidelity Bank Limited 6 Ghanaian Universal Zenith Bank Limited 9 Non- Ghanaian Universal Stanbic Bank (Ghana) Limited 10 Non- Ghanaian Universal Unibank Ghana Limited 11 Ghanaian Universal Intercontinental Bank Limited 12 Non- Ghanaian Universal HFC Bank Ghana Limited 11 Ghanaian Universal First Atlantic Merchant Bank Ltd 4 Ghanaian Universal International Commercial Bank Ltd 12 Ghanaian Universal Guaranty Trust Bank Limited 5 Non- Ghanaian Universal CAL Bank Limited 10 Ghanaian Universal United Bank for Africa (Gh) Ltd 16 Non- Ghanaian Universal Bank of Baroda Ghana Ltd 1 Non- Ghanaian Universal BSIC 1 Non- Ghanaian Universal BPI Bank Limited 9 Non- Ghanaian Universal Table 1: Banks in Ghana (Source: Price Waterhouse Banking Industry Survey, 2008). 7.1 The era of post Banking Reform in Ghana Developments in the era of post Banking Reforms in Ghana can be concisely expressed as the transformation of the distressed and dysfunctional banking system with illiquidity and insolvency, credit rationing and interest rate controls in to a market based regime along with improving the bank supervision in order to ascertain that efficiency and profitability is increased (Acquah, 2006). The Economic Recovery Programmed (ERP) introduced the Financial Sector Adjustment Program, generally referred as FINSAP so that the banking sector can play a vital role in promoting the economic development. This program was executed in two in two phases. In the first phase, FINSAP 1, provisions were made for liberalizing the banking industry and restructuring the distressed banks in Ghana (Brownbridge et al., 1998). The restructuring part was very crucial since these banks were either extremely important for the economy or deeply associated with other economic activities such that their demolition may result in disastrous ramifications. The second phase, FINSAP 2 brought new dimensions in the financial industry reform program through privatizing state owned banks, technological advancements, human capital development and careful supervision and regulation by the central bank of Ghana. In addition to this, the second phase of FINSAP characterized cautious banking through revising the Banking Law of 1970 and through introducing the Banking Laws of 1989 and 2004 which enforced the requirement of minimum capital keeping in view the increased number of banks and branches. Due to FINSAP 2, the banking and the financial industry in Ghana experienced strong regulation and supervision along with the advancement in latest payments and settlement system. Above all was the Payment Systems Development Strategy by the central bank of Ghana that focused at the delivery of financial services that enhanced the financial intermediation with the help of the progress of electronic payment products that include ATM (Automated Teller Machine) services, e-money, transfer of funds at the point of sale, SMS (Short Message Service), internet and telephone banking. Recently, e-zwich was brought in to the market in order to build a common platform that assisted in connecting the different banking institutions through a biometric smart card (Acquah, 2009). All the banks responded positively to the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) in delivery of financial services which in turn improved the financial performance. This outlook over shadowed the competition and distinguished market share and profitability among the banks in Ghana. The new foreign and private banks launched latest technologies whereas the government banks have to cope up with the redundant man power and non-performing assets. The new banks encounter the challenges of market share, spread and size from the conventional banks. In order to overcome this challenge, the new banks employed the strategic option of swift implementation of the prescribed new products and the development of financial services administered by the Bank of Ghana so that the un-banked, banked and under banked customer classes of the population could be captured. 7.2 The Case Study of Barclays Bank, Ghana As shown in the table 2 provided above that Barclays Banks holds a leading position in the Ghanaian financial services market place in addition to an aggressive nationwide branch network. Thus, Barclays being the premier banking institution of Ghana is leveraging its distinct characteristics in order to compete effectively in the highly competitive and fast progressing banking and financial services industry of Ghana. In order to further differentiate itself from the rest in the competition, Barclays Bank is headed towards promoting its strategy of holding its market leadership position through developing its customer management functionality with the help of implementing a robust solution for customer relation management (CRM) with strongly emphasizing over its customer service operations. Barclays commenced this initiative for CRM in order to facilitate the customer facing the banks operations with the technology platform enhancing the banks operations and enabling the bank to compete effectively in addition to becoming a truly customer focused organization. Thus, Barclays is looking forward to working with a reputable organization in order to develop and upgrade its existing customer contact centre along with integrating it with CRM Dynamic Solution by Microsoft. Completely equipped, contact centre of Barclays Bank will eventually enable the customers to interact and deal with the bank via multiple channels such as voice, e-mail, fax, IVR, web, etc.) that fulfils various functionalities of sales, marketing and service at the time of their convenience either with a customer representative or through self service. It is highly vital for Barclays to enhance its processes facing customers in order to develop the business relationship in between its customers and employees for attaining its business goals. The implementation of such an advance and complex customer management project is to be based upon detailed and comprehensive planning, apt consulting and allocation of technical resources to ascertain that the desired goals are achieved with in a certain time period, being as cost effective as possible. Electronic services department of Barclays strongly believes that the goals of this initiative required being in line with the overall business strategies of Barclays Bank. It has been observed from similar engagements that spanning numerous industries is not adequate to ensure desired result. Barclays must recognize the important role that it has to play in the initial stages of the project. Complete commitment and dedication from Barclays is required through out the total time frame of the project in order to ascertain and realize the significance of enhancing its customer management functionality which will ultimately result in the growth in revenue and profitability. 7.2.1 Requirements for the Barclays Bank Ghana Barclays Bank Ghana is looking forward to improving its overall customer management operations through commencing a CRM strategy that is most likely to enhance the banks customer focus strategy. The first stage of this CRM initiative will emphasize over improving the customer service function of the bank through making new advancements in its current platform for the centre. This is achieved by employing latest tools that will improve the interaction of the customers with the bank either through the customer service representation or by means of self service. The first stage of CRM initiatives is most likely to improve the sales and marketing processes of the operation of the bank and set the stage for linking these processes with the customer service operations and allowing them to access the tools that will support in improving their performance, enhance their functions and recognize understand the customer as the Banks primary asset. The bank has recognized the following basic functions necessary for improving its existing contact centre platform. Outbound Calls and Multimedia Channels Automatic Distribution of Calls Caller Line Identification Complaint Management Interactive Voice Response Integration of CRM Computer Telephony Integration Call Recording Reports or Dashboard System Backup Barclays Bank has also recognized the following modules of Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform as the desirable milestones for the project. Marketing module Service Module Sales Module Workflow Module Analytical Module 7.2.2 Recommended Solution The recommended solution is divided in to the following three different components. CRM-Workshop for Business Process Mapping Implementation of Microsoft Dynamic CRM Up gradation of the platform of Contact Centre Technology 7.2.3 Business Process Mapping The aim of this exercise is to recognize the current business processes, future business processes and the gap between the two scenarios. It is formulated to overcome barriers between the business values and its technology. The outcome is strict accountability and a higher probability of customer satisfaction through its deployment. The exercise will determine the metric that need to be tracked down, managers and customers that will be held accountable for these measurements of the performance, required new processes, impact of processes and sub processes on data importing, solution configuration and integration with other technologies and systems used at the back end. The results of this exercise are given below: Detailed Process Map that consists of report on current state as validated by the stockholders. Detailed Process Map consisting of report on future state as validated by the stockholders. Gap Analytical Report Business Requirements Report After the above documents have been produced, the business users will eventually examine and validate the provided information. After approval, these documents will be used to support project execution. 7.2.4 Deployment of CRM System The desired outcome of the successful deployment of a CRM system is determined through the end users usage and willingness to use it daily in order to improve their personal productivity. In this regard, the adapted methodology gives a frame work for dealing with customer relationship management as a business strategy and also as a project for developing technical systems. The concept behind this process is that technology alone with out strategy does not produce business results. Thus, a proper strategy for CRM is required to be adopted side by side with the deployment of the technical system. The success of CRM lies in the implementation of the technology with the clear picture of the improvements in measurable business performance. 7.2.5 Strategy The strategic model used by the Barclays Bank Ghana constitutes of four components that must be understood in order to achieve real business advantage from any CRM based project. Figure 2 (Source: e.Services Africa Ltd. 2010). Performance Management The purpose of any CRM project in an organization is to improve or optimize its performance. However, it is complicated to precisely define: the areas and object to be improved, the extent of this improvement and the enhancement of this improvement measure through the CRM system. This objective is fulfilled by embedding key point indicators, business metrics in the form of understandable charts and graphs in to the user interface of the CRM system. This enables the user to use the system as a routine activity. User can easily find the changes made by them to the system in clear metrics on their dashboard. Users and the management must seriously operate the business in accordance to the embedded metrics on the dashboards. Management Commitment Commitment of the management serves as the basis for success of any CRM project. Senior managers must completely comprehend and be involved in adopting CRM as a strategy and they must also, actively take part in the implementation of CRM project. Existing processes need to be changed for improving performance of any business or system, thus, any CRM project could be referred to an effort for changing management and modifying behavior. Managers are supposed to support such changes. Irrespective of the technological functions, the managers must back the process changes along with communicating the fact that new procedures need to be adopted in order to achieve the desired goals of the business.

Nanotechnology Essay -- Cause Effect Papers

Nanotechnology Jeremy Rifkin wrote, in his article Biotech Century: Playing Ecological Roulette with Mother Natures Design, "Humans have been remaking the Earth for as long as we have had a history." Well the path of history humans have chosen to take also affects how we remake the Earth. In Neal Stephensons novel, The Diamond Age, one is shown how the technology of the time reshapes the political, economical and educational aspects of history. That technology is the manipulation of molecules into atomic-sized machines called nano-machines. Stephenson brilliantly shows how such a powerful and truly revolutionary technology like nanotechnology could change life, as we now know it, or they in the future know life. Nanotechnology, as nanotechnology exists in The Diamond Age, is well developed and highly used. Matter compilers use nanotechnology to make most mass-produced consumer products, and most matter compilers are powered by resource suppliers called Feeds. Those who control the Feeds control nan otechnology and have a great amount of political and economical power. These same individuals or groups of individuals called phyles usually represent those who hold most the wealth and political sway in the world. That power and wealth then causes the wealthy citizen or phyle to take for granted what they have so well. Such things include the best education, the nicest material possessions, inheritance, and even responsibility. However, what if that same technology that made the privileged, the privileged, was given to the masses, rich or poor, with the tools and talents to implement such technology? In a sense, making that same power that the upper class took for granted a great equalizer for society to play around with. This is w... ...would be excluded from nanotechnologys reach. Political power could be created and destroyed in a day; education would no longer be a problem in a sense of the uneducated being a problem; the world would no longer seem to get smaller because we could make the world bigger if need be- and if there was no more room to expand out, we could always expand up. The power of nanotechnology might seem like a blessing, but if nanotechnology were really as capable as Neal Stephenson made it, then I would be putting in for assignment relocation- probably to a more primitive planet Works Cited Rifkin, Jeremy. Biotech Century: Playing Ecological Roulette with Mother Natures Design, The Presence of Others. 3rd Edition. Eds. Lunsford, Andrea. Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. 2000. (244-254) Stephenson, Neal. The Diamond Age. New York: Bantam Books. 1995.

Great Expectations Essay -- Great Expectations Essays

In Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, the main character named Pip suffers through a conflict of confusing good and bad people. He repeatedly disregards the people that love and care for him and instead chooses to care for people who do not care for him. When making these choices, Pip senses that he is making the wrong decisions and therefore confuses good and bad and also confuses himself. After Pip first meets Estella, he begins to dislike everything he has ever known. He is uncomfortable feeling common in front of Estella and takes out his frustration on Joe, the one who brought him up to be common. â€Å"I determined to ask Joe why he had ever taught me to call those picture-cards, Jacks, which ought to be called knaves. I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too† (65). Here, Pip begins to look down on Joe even though Joe has only done the best that he could. Still, Joe continues to be kind to Pip even when Pip makes mistakes. He is not the only one that Pip hurts though. Biddy is another person Pip disrespects. At first Pip is too blinded by his love for Estella to notice that Biddy truly cares for him, and by the time he realizes it, it is too late. Pip confides all his secrets in Biddy and even tells her how unhappy he is with his common lifestyle. â€Å"’Biddy,’ said I, after binding her to se crecy, ‘I want to be a gentleman’† (127). Biddy tries to rationalize Pip’s thoughts so that he will see what is truly important, but he just cannot see past his desire for Estella. In this way, Pip is already ignoring Biddy and her great advice. When Pip receives his fortune from his secret benefactor, his disregard for the two people that love him the most becomes much worse. Before hi... ... of why his common life and being with Biddy is much better than the alternative, Estella. However, after all those reasons come to him, the remembrances of Satis House and Estella rush back to him and he is thrown into a conflict between the two. The worst part of Pip’s conflict comes from the fact that even Estella warns him of her cruelty. She tells him how she has no heart to love and will never care for him (229). Still, it is not until the end of the novel that Pip realizes all of his mistakes and his conflict is somewhat resolved. All in all, Pip messed up throughout the novel. He chose to ignore those that loved him and were good to him, viewing them as bad memories of his past, and instead sought after a heartless girl who could never love him. These inner and outer conflicts that Pip experiences from his decisions shape Charles Dickens’ classic novel.

Alfieri Tells the Audience ‘Justice Is Very Important Here’. How Does Arthur Miller Show the Importance of Justice in the Play? Essay

After Eddie hits Rodolfo the audience gets the feeling that he feels this is justice for Rodolfo leading Catherine away from the life Eddie wanted her to have. This is emphasised by Eddie’s use of the word ‘Danish’ to describe Rodolfo. By using this as a nickname Miller is trying to access the point that Eddie is trying to isolate Rodolfo from the Italian community and also their family. The true sense of justice in this scene however, comes from Marco who ‘raises the chair over his head’. This is a clear sense of warning implied by Marco, which is clearly registered by Eddie, ‘Eddies grin vanished. ’ This, to Marco, is a feeling of justice coming to Eddie for trying to make either him of his brother feel like they don’t belong. While also foreshadowing what will happen at the end of Act 2. Miller highlights justice as one of the most important things in Eddie’s life. However, he leads the audience to enquire whether Eddie’s desires are truly ‘just’. What Eddie wants is his honour and his name but also Catherine. ‘Marcos got my name. He also wants his respect back from Marco, which he has completely lost by the actions his inappropriate feelings for Catherine have caused him to take. In the structure of a Greek tragedy that Miller is trying to create Eddie plays the protagonist. It is his conflict between his good quality’s and the gradually rise of his bad ones that force the drama forwards with both Eddie an d Marcos need for justice. The importance of justice shown in the play comes to a drama filled end with Marco finally getting the justice he believes he deserves. The end of this play was foreshadowed when Marco stated, ‘all the law is not in a book. ’ By saying this Miller has implied to the audience that Marco believes it is his duty to bring Eddie’s life to an end, ‘in my country he would be dead by now. ’ He also brings in the claim felt by Marco of natural justice and how by disregarding the respect Marco feels for Rodolfo, ‘my brother, my blood,’ Eddie has lead himself in to the situation where he is nothing more than an ‘animal’ who deserves to die. In conclusion, throughout the play Miller implies the theme of justice as the most prominent and important theme of the play. It is one of the only things Marco and Eddie have in common, in the way that they both search for it and in the end it finished with Eddie dead and Marco being sent back to Italy. In the final scene Miller shows the audience that though you may gain the justice you sought out for like Marco, ‘Eddie falls to his knees before Marco,’ it may be the thing that leads to a characters downfall, in which it did with both Eddie and Marco at the end of this play.

Character of good research

Characteristics of Good head word Articles The following guidelines are taken from a series of editorial viewpoints In query Quarterly for Exercise In pastime authored by Dry. Maureen Weiss (1 993, 1994, 1995). You should consider these your bible for assessing articles you demonstrate and for writing rehunt proposals and eventu all in ally, manuscripts for publication. If you follow these guidelines you go forth become a better reader, writer, and referee of query 1. Introduction a. Is a metaphysical or conceptual rationale provided for the analyse? B. Is in that respect an adequate review and discussion of the pertinent empirical literature on the topic?Any key references omitted? C. Is at that place an explanation or justification for the filling of key variables in the bring? D. Is in that respect a logical progression and institution of ideas that lead to the purpose of the present ask? E. Do the hypotheses emanate logically from the surmise and research pres ented? F. Is It specified how the research question extends the current knowledge base In the research topic? 2. Method a. Is the consume expound thoroughly (age, gender, skill level, race, ethnicity) as well as the criteria for selection? B. Is the mark clearly stated and Is it appropriate to the search questions? be the germane(predicate) in strung-out and dependent variables clarified? C. be the measures described adequately (validity, reliability, item and scoring format)? D. Are the procedures described completely and clearly enough so that they could be replicated by others? E. Is a highway map provided for how the data are to be analyzed to address key study issues (e. G. , reliability of measures, each of the key research questions)? 3. Results a. Is the results section readable? B. Are subheadings befittingly used to enhance readability and the passage map? C.Are the appropriate statistics used to coiffe key study questions? D. Is all relevant Information associate d with a particular statistical procedure reported? E. Are the statistical findings Interpreted accurately? 4. Discussion a. Is the study purpose briefly recapped for the reader? B. Are the results summarized in relation to the study hypotheses (support, did non support)? C. Are the study results compared to pertinent studies mentioned in the introduction? D. Are theoretical implications provided? E. Are practical implications provided, if appropriate? F. Are prospective research directions outlined briefly? Is there a concluding paragraph that brings hitch to the article by ensuring that readers get the bring in message? 5. Other Issues a. Is the manuscript written clearly and understandably? B. Do all aspects of the manuscript conform to PAP modality?