Comparing Person-based Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Abstract This paper presents a comparison of two therapeutic concepts, person-centred approach and cognitive behavioural therapy in terms of the role of counsellor and client. It specifically describes the role of the client and counsellor and then compares them accordingly. The paper will also discuss the strengths and limitations of the two approaches in order to differentiate them better. Introduction Both person-centred therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy provide support and help to patients by addressing individual matters. Both practices share the common therapeutic goal of welfare improvement. The necessity of an integrated approach to person-centred therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy has called for numerous researches to investigate the roles of the different parties (Moon, 2006). In the comparison of the two therapeutic concepts in terms of the role of counsellor and client, there is a clear difference that is well defined in the subsequent discussions. In person-centred, the patient is the expert on himself and finds his or her own way, while in CBT the counsellor is the expert and leads the patient (Branaman, 2001). The approaches also have strengths and limitations that are discusses comprehensively. Therapeutic relationship The role of the client and the counsellor In terms of the therapeutic relationship, it is critical to make sure that the result of the therapy is effective and desirable. In relation to these two approaches of counselling, the therapeutic relationships are different from each another. In each approach, the therapist and the client have different roles to play in the processes. Therapeutic relationship in the cognitive behavioural therapy resembles that between a student and his or her teacher (Burkitt, 2008). The role of the counsellor is to provide therapeutic instructions and recommendations to the client who listens and then does exactly as they are told by the therapist. In this kind of relationship, the therapist uses directive structures in directing clients on the changes in behaviour. In this instance, the therapist acts as the point of focus since they impact much on the client’s cognitive and behavioural changes (Branaman, 2001). However, for the purposes of desirable and effective outcomes, collaboration is emphasised in the process of the therapy. The therapist employs Socratic dialogue, which is essential in supporting clients in tenets like the identification of assumptions, values and norms that have affected the emotional and psychological functionality. It involves a disciplined questioning or probing that can be used in the pursuing of thought in various directions and for several purposes, which include exploration of complex ideas (Timulak, 2005). The therapist in this approach questions the client to find out the reality of things, to open up matters together with problems, to reveal presumptions and beliefs and to find out what they know and what they do not know, as well as following out rational meanings of thought and managing the discussion (Burkitt, 2008). The technique is important in the relationship between the client and the therapist because it is disciplined, methodical and normally focuses on critical principles, matters and problems. In addition to this, the client is encouraged by the therapist to chang e these assumptions and identify an unconventional concept for the present and future living (Timulak, 2005). The therapist, in this instance, assists in the promotion of the adoption of remedial learning skills. The client, in this kind of association is always presented with new insights in relation to the matters they are experiencing and thus chooses the most effective and efficient ways of acquiring change. The cognitive behavioural therapy employs the methods that are aimed at individual counselling. It employs the Socratic Method that comprises of numerous questions to be responded to by the client. Counsellors employ various techniques of behaviour, emotion and cognition; different techniques are tailored to fit individual clients (Wetherell et al 2001). Nevertheless, the client is also given chance to ask the therapist some questions. The approach utilises the aspect of homework or coursework that encourages the patients to practice the skills acquired. Therefore, cognitive behavioural therapy’s major technique is the ABC one, which employs the Socratic concept. On the other hand, the therapeutic relationship in the person-centred therapy is very different from the cognitive behavioural therapy. Here, the relationship between the therapist and the client is critical because the therapy focuses on the client as they turn to be the point of focus of the therapy. As a result of this, the therapist has to make sure that there is maintenance of respect, empathy and honesty towards the client (Timulak, 2005). Communication is also important in this approach particularly between the counsellor and the client. The relationship should be equal since it important in enabling change in the client. The client centred therapy approach utilises the attitudes of the therapist as the main technique. The therapist’s attitude towards the patient determines the result of the whole process. The approach makes use of the aspects of listening and hearing and clarification of feelings and ideas (Timulak, 2005). This approach does not employ the methods that encompass directive aspects. In this therapy, there is nothing like questioning or probing, which are commonly seen or done in the cognitive behavioural therapy. Strengths of cognitive behavioural therapy Of all the known psychological therapies, cognitive behavioural therapy is the most clinically researched and examined and is generally considered as one of the most effective means of dealing with anxiety (Wetherell et al 2001). The approach is affordable and the overall procedure of treatment can last for as few as six sessions of one hour each for minor cases of anxiety, though normally in the area of 10-20 sessions. It has more appeal or attraction in the sense that it is exclusively natural and different from medication, there are no harms or side effects. The therapy is most commonly provided as a face-to-face remedy between the counsellor and patient but there is more evidence to demonstrate that its principles can be used in several other frameworks (Denscombe, 2007). For instance, interactive computerized cognitive behavioural therapy is on the rise, however, it can be given in groups or in the self-help books. These alternatives are very appealing to people that find the pr acticalities or ideas of frequent meetings with a counsellor not suiting them. CBT is an approach that is highly structured and involves the patient and the counsellor collaborating on the objectives of treatment that are specific, quantifiable, time-limited, attainable and actual or real. The patient is motivated to break down the behaviours, feelings and thoughts that confine them in an undesirable cycle and they get to learn strategies and skills that can be used in the daily life for the purposes of helping them cope better (Burkitt, 2008). Weaknesses of cognitive behavioural therapy There are some problems with cognitive behavioural therapy that make it undesirable and unsuitable for some individuals. The concept might not be effective for individuals with mental health problems that are more complex or for those that have difficulties in learning. The major focus of the concept is usually about the patient and their capacity to change their behaviours. Some individuals feel like this is a focus that is too narrow, and disregards too many significant matters such as family, histories of self and extensive emotional issues (Moon, 2006). There is no scope within the concept for individual examination and exploration of emotions, or even of looking at the challenging issues from different angles or perspectives. For these matters to be dealt with in a proper manner, a patient would have to turn to another method, probably along the lines of the psychodynamic counselling. In order to fully gain from the cognitive behavioural therapy, the client has to make sure that they give a substantial level of commitment and dedication as well as participation. Those who argue against the therapy claim that since it only deals with the present issues, and focuses on issues that are very specific, it does not adequately address the probable causes of the mental health problems like a child who is not happy (Furedi, 2004). Sceptics of the concept claim that just by an individual being told that their perceptions of the world do not correctly reflect the reality by the concept’s counsellor are not enough to change the cognition of a patient. A criticism that is more salient for some patients might be that the counsellor initially may accomplish something of a specialist role, in the sense that they offer expertise or experience that is problem solving in the cognitive psychology (Palmer, 2001). Some individuals might also feel that the counsellor can be playing a leading role in their probing and somehow commanding in terms of their suggestions. Patients who are okay with self-examination, who readily employ the scientific approach for the exploration of their personal therapy and who put confidence in the basic theoretical method of cognitive therapy, might find the concept an important one (Gillon, 2007). However, patients that appear to be less easy or contented with any of these, or even whos e suffering is of a more common interpersonal nature, to an extent that it cannot be in a position of easily being framed as an interplay or interaction between behaviours, thoughts and emotions within a particular environment might find this kind of therapy useful to them and their conditions. Cognitive behavioural therapy has always proved to be helpful to the people that suffer from serious conditions, such as depression, uneasiness, fear or obsessive compulsive and panic (Denscombe, 2007). Strengths of person-centred therapy The concept of the approach is that the patient is the best professional or expert on themselves and has the best position of helping themselves. Its strengths include the fact that the patient is the one guiding the experience whereas the therapist reflects on what the patient is doing or saying and can paraphrase the ideas together with practices (Giddens, 2001). The therapist does not judge the patient as being right or wrong. The objective of the person-centred therapy is improving the trust of the patient in themselves and their self-confidence. It also helps them in becoming more able to live in the period, and letting go of the emotions that are unproductive and negative, such as guilt regarding the past events that are difficult to change (Branaman, 2001). Weaknesses of person-centred therapy The fact that the approach is client-led is one of its biggest weaknesses since it is up to the patient to be in a position of processing information and making rational decisions for their personal well-being. In case the client is not capable of doing this as required by the concept, the cornerstone of a therapist not making judgments about the information provided or processed by the client can turn out to be counterproductive to the patient’s welfare (Robb et al, 2004). The approach requires creation of an extended and honest relationship with a counsellor (Bolton, 2001). The advocates of this therapy would claim that the counsellor could work faster, if that is their wish. However, if they are less than one hundred per cent committed to working via their issues, the required duration of the treatment can seriously exceed or surpass the money and time of the patient. Still the counsellors would cite that unlike cognitive behavioural therapy, the major focus of the treatment or approach is about ‘being in the period’ and the concerns of today, instead of upon long-ago past excavation (Branaman, 2001). Conclusion In the discussions above, it is apparent that these two therapies have different approaches to treating patients of the same and different problems. Both of them focus on the conscious mind, the current issues and problems that the patients might have. Both of them have a positive perception of the nature of human beings and perceive the person as not essentially being an outcome of their past experiences, but recognise that they are capable of determining their individual futures. Both approaches try to improve the welfare of patients by way of a collaborative therapeutic relationship, which allows and enhances health adaptation techniques in patients that are having psychological pain and distress in their lives. The biggest differences in the two approaches include the fact that the relationship between clients and therapists differ. The role of the counsellor in cognitive behavioural therapy is to provide therapeutic instructions and recommendations to the client who listens and then exactly does as they are told, while in the person-centred therapy, the relationship between the therapist and the client is critical because it on the client as they turn to be the point of focus. References Bolton, G. (2001). Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development. London: Sage. Giddens, A. (2001). Sociology (4th Ed). Cambridge: Polity (Classic Text). Gillon, E. (2007). Person-Centred Counselling Psychology. London: Sage. Branaman, A. (2001). Self and Society. Oxford: Blackwell. Burkitt, I. (2008). Social Selves: Theories of Self and Society. London: Sage. Denscombe, M. (2007). The Good Research Guide. (3rd Ed). Maidenhead: Open University Press. Furedi, F. (2004). Therapy culture. London: Routledge. Moon, J. A. (2006). Learning Journals. London: Routledge. Palmer, S. (ed.) (2001). Multicultural Counselling: A Reader. London: Sage. Robb, M. et al (eds) (2004). Communication, Relationships and Care; A Reader. London: Routledge Timulak R. (2005). Research in Psychotherapy and Counselling. London: Sage. Wetherell, M., Taylor, T., Yates, S. J. ( eds) (2001). Discourse Theory and Practice: A Reader. London: Sage.

Nike in China

Executive Summary Overview Nike is the market leader in athletic shoes in the United States. The Oregon based company has always utilized offshore facilities in low-income countries to produce at minimal costs followed by importation into predominantly the US for sales. Nike is quick to divest from emerging markets as costs rise and has recently signed short term production contracts with a long term strategy of production in China. Unlike Nike’s previous global endeavors, the political and cultural atmosphere in China has made the collaboration more demanding. Opportunities As the South Korean standard of living continued to improve, expected wages grew forcing Nike to look elsewhere for low cost shoe production. Market research identified China and India as the best long term possibilities for the new production facilities based on finances. Due in part to a trusting relationship between Nike and the Chinese government based on the family lines of vice president David Chang, China was determined to be the optimal location to grow. The possibility of a joint venture giving Nike access to a possible billion customer market was another opportunity that could only be found in China. Issues in China Nike has spent the last four years building facilities, training staff, and developing relationships in China. Unlike other facilities in low GDP countries that had been utilized previously, the China collaboration has been less than successful. The current infrastructure combined with landlocked facilities made transportation logistics difficult. The Chinese government had certain expectations and standardization requirements that were misaligned with Nike’s incentives in terms of quality, pay, pricing, and employee motivation. The PRC government also created difficulties in import/export restrictions causing logistical problems with raw materials, specifically anything entering the country through South Korea, a major Nike supplier. While a foothold in China could eventually lead to an enormous new customer base, the current global strategy was ill suited to take advantage at the current time. Options * Shift strategies in China from global to multi-domestic to take advantage of the market. This option would require the formation of a joint venture with the Chinese government. Move factory locations to reduce transportation and logistics issues. * Pull out of China completely. Recommendations We believe the government regulations will make quality improvement and cost effectiveness highly unlikely in China. Furthermore, a multi-domestic strategy requiring a high investment rate would be required to take advantage of the Chinese population as a new customer market. With low expendable income and a forced jo int venture with the government necessary to sell Nike in China, we determined that selling in China is not currently an option. As such, the team recommends an urgent identification of new possible production environments with a concerted and eventual total divestiture in China. Questions a. How has Nike conceptualized the athletic shoe industry: global or multi-domestic? Justify your answer. What are the implications of this conceptualization? Nike instituted a global strategy, as opposed to a multi-domestic strategy, from the company’s onset to compete in the athletic shoe industry. Knight identified opportunities abroad to reduce costs in the upstream functions of the value chain. Through the coordination of overseas operations integrated with US downstream functions focused on local US markets, Nike’s utilization of a Porter-defined global strategy has brought the company to China. The Far East’s Role in the Value Chain Beginning with the first Japanese facilities, Nike factories located in the Far East, Europe, and South America have accounted for approximately 93% of shoe production with only minor assembly in the US. The identified regions within this concentrated configuration were almost exclusively production-only facilities without the R&D, sales and marketing, and other downsteam services required for a successful multi-domestic strategy. The countries had been targeted due to low costs with certain factories being divested over the years due to increasing wage rates and political uncertainty. Competition to reduce costs between different countries was key to identifying new opportunities and deciding on which factories would remain open as economic factors changed. While reducing costs was the main concern in global production, Nike could not accept a subsequent loss of quality. Previous experiences in Far Eastern plants had proven successful via quickly accepted technology transfer and ratios of grade-B shoes falling below 5% at rapid rates. Without the combination of high value and low cost, the strategic competitive advantage would be lost. Assumptions and Implications of a Global Strategy Nike moved to China based on their strategic history of standardizing the operations life cycle. Knight believed China would mirror other Far Eastern locales. Cost cutting assumptions included pay based on relative Chinese wages (as opposed to relative Nike production wages), employee incentives capabilities, minimal import/export barriers, and an infrastructure for facile distribution logistics. For each unforeseen difficulty encountered along these assumptions, Nike’s costs would increase and could drive margins down to a point where China would no longer be financially competitive. The Olympic team public relations venture attempted to further the relationship between Nike and the Chinese government, not to present a new product for the public. The millions spent were misaligned with a low cost model and were identified with past exploitations by the West. While the possibility of two billion feet was enticing, Nike was in China to produce, not sell, shoes. There was no plan to market, distribute, or sell in China. Accordingly, the idea of a joint venture should not be on the table under the current strategy. However, the PRC strongly pushed JVs and the lack of a true collaborative environment could be detrimental in an environment so heavily regulated. b. Speculate on the reasons for Nike wishing to enter China. Before the entry do you think these reasons were valid? Justify your answer. China’s Excellence in Manufacturing China is known for their excellence in manufacturing. Nike intended to exploit this excellence in order to drive down their supplier costs, while maintaining their customer’s willingness to pay constant which creates value for Nike’s customers and shareholders. Prior to entry and based on Nike’s due diligence, this was a valid reason. However, Nike either underestimated or did not entirely comprehend the challenges of conducting business is China. From the difficulty of sourcing local materials to the inconsistency in quality of the finished product, China was not the optimal manufacturing location for Nike. Rapid Growth of the Athletic Footwear Market in the 1970’s (& Bad Forecasting) Perhaps Nike did not do enough high quality market research to see that the growth was slowing in their market. Nike may have become complacent due to their dominance in the industry or Nike may have discounted the market trends in the athletic footwear industry that showed a decline in the rate of growth, when comparing the 1970’s to the 1980’s. The bottom line is that Nike did not accurately forecast and adjust their strategy to the athletic footwear industry trends and market conditions. Prior to entry and based on Nike’s due diligence, this was a valid reason. Nike chose to enter China, in part, to meet the demand of the growing market. However, perhaps they should have spent more time and resources on market research, which would have revealed that the growth rate was declining, and perhaps additional suppliers were not necessary to carry out their business plan after all and that a different international location might better meet their sourcing needs and goals. Rising Costs from Existing Suppliers One of the reasons Nike planned to enter China was due to the costs of conducting business in other countries (for example, South Korea and Taiwan) had been increasing. Nike thought that they could source product from China at a lower cost than their current offshore producers. Prior to entry and based on Nike’s due diligence, this was a valid rationale. Due to the multiple issues that Nike faced in China, the costs associated in producing a pair of shoes were actually higher in China than their other international producers. See Table A in the appendix for a landed cost comparison from the case. Two Billion Feet Although the case clearly specifies this is not a reason for entry into China, one of Chang’s motives may have been to sell directly to the Chinese. The size of the Chinese population is over three times the size of the United States. Even though the shoes produced in China were for the US, Chang may have considered producing a low cost shoe for the Chinese. Perhaps Nike’s long term strategy was to navigate the Chinese political system, develop a strong local production presence, and then ultimately sell low cost footwear directly to the Chinese market. This reason was not valid prior to their entry. Nike’s product was not produced for the Chinese, as the average Chinese consumer could not afford the product. b. How did the decision to enter China complement Nike's overall strategy? Nike’s decision to enter China was based on flawed information. Nike underestimated the inherent challenges (political bureaucracy, materials sourcing, shipping and transportation, quality control and the Chinese culture of non-motivation and non-commitment) they faced when conducting business in China. Nike also failed to accurately forecast the demand in the athletic footwear industry. The decision ultimately hurt Nike’s overall strategy, as their production costs rose, while the demand for their product was declining. Higher cost and declining demand both negatively affected Nike’s bottom line. c. Identify the entry and ownership strategies used by Nike in entering China. Do you think they were appropriate? Base your analysis on the entry and ownership strategies outlined by Robock and Simmonds, referenced above. Justify your answer. As costs started to rise in other Asian markets, Nike made the strategic decision to open new full-scale manufacturing facilities in China, with the goal to reduce production costs. Nike’s entry strategy into China created obstacles in achieving their long-term goals, which they should have foreseen. Below are a few factors that contributed to the obstacles. External Factors Nike underestimated the scope of the Chinese bureaucracy. Nike’s only choice was to hire a consultant to navigate the issue. This consultant increased Nike’s costs of doing business in China. Furthermore, Nike overestimated the size and future growth potential of their target market. Nike should have conducted additional due diligence and more thorough market research before deciding to move into China. In addition, Nike did not forecast the materials sourcing issue, which added to product costs. Internal Factors Nike failed to forecast/implement some key factors when deciding to enter China. Nike lacked the necessary internal operations to actively manage and solve production problems in real time. Also, Nike had great difficulties communicating the issue of quality control to the Chinese. Furthermore, the Chinese managers and workforce lacked motivation to perform their jobs to levels satisfactory to Nike. Ownership Nike chose to be wholly owned. Nike did not pursue the joint venture route, even though China tried to persuade Nike otherwise. Nike did, however, hire a consultant as a strategic partner to help them navigate the challenging bureaucracy. Given the political climate in China, perhaps Nike should have approached China with a joint venture agreement. Having China as a partner may have saved Nike time and resources when launching a new manufacturing platform. Or, perhaps Nike should have formed a strategic partnership with a local footwear manufacturer in order to bypass some of the issues with starting an entirely new facility and would have had some assistance in navigating the local market. d. Would you say Nike's entry into China was a success? Give reasons for your view, explaining why the entry was successful or a failure. At the time of case study, Nike’s entry into China was not a success. This evaluation is based on several reasons primarily due to the cultural clash between Nike and Chinese production. By 1984, Nike encountered a range of problems—from quality issues (only 80% of Chinese shoes were A-Grade), to inventory management (records kept on a guess method of expected usage), lack of flexibility from Chinese managers, motivational issues with management and workers, as well as complex and difficult government relations. Quality Issues in Product and Management When China’s reformist leader, Deng Xiaoping, opened China to foreign investment and global market opportunities, Nike seized the opportunity to buy a finished shoe product from the PRC as a long-term, low-cost supplier. However, despite China’s opening to the global market, it still existed as a socialist state with severe trust issues and obstructions to the free flow of information. These factors compounded to cause an array of production difficulties. Due to the Chinese factories still producing 20% B-grade shoes (significantly higher than both South Korea and Taiwan), Nike management not only wasted additional time arguing with Chinese managers on the quality problems (rather than actually improving the problem) but Nike also had to hire additional inspectors for each factory. While the money spent to hire these inspectors was relatively low, this illustrates the need for oversight and the lack of faith and trust in the Chinese managers to run the factories to Nike’s standards. Governmental Regulation Additionally, as a socialist state, Chinese workers lacked motivation to increase production (factories at a standstill by midday) and to adhere to production schedules since they would be paid the same regardless of output. Even attempts by Nike of monetary incentives only appeared to have an effect for approximately 60 days. Because of the central planning system, the Chinese managers were used to stable prices. Price negotiations proved extremely difficult as none of the actual participants in the negotiations (foreign trade bureau, factory directors, local production bureau leaders) had the authority to make price decisions—everything relayed to authorities in Beijing. Compared to Korea or Taiwan, negotiations were slow which was extremely detrimental in a global and ever-changing environment. The levels of bureaucracy in China were much higher than those encountered in South Korea or Taiwan. Although Nike tried to establish a positive relationship with China (through contributions to the country’s sports activities and hosting various Chinese officials visiting the U. S. ), meeting with the high-live leaders in China did not prove useful. The Chinese bureaucracy made making decisions difficult as it was never apparent who was in charge of what and Chinese officials did not show the same level of interest in establishing a relationship with Nike (leaders sometimes did not show up for appointments). Ultimately, all of the cultural difficulties resulted in extremely low production numbers (Nike originally targeted production growth to 1,000,000 pairs per month by mid-1980’s but annual production in 1984 was only 700,000 pairs), significantly lower than both South Korea and Taiwan. Although Nike had ultimately hoped for a 20% price advantage over Korea, they were still losing $1. 00 on each pair of PRC shoes while the quality was much lower on these shoes as well. e. Identify the options available to Nike regarding its operations in China. If you were Chang at the time of the case, what future course of action would you recommend in China? Options Some of the options available to Nike regarding its operations in China are to pull operations out of China completely or consider entering into a joint-venture agreement with China. As of 1984, Nike’s foray into China has not been a success due to a variety of reasons (listed above). If Nike were to pull operations out of China, they would risk losing all of the equipment investment as well as damaging the sensitive and already tenuous relations ith the government. Other countries would have to be evaluated as a low-cost source of production. Some possible countries could be Indonesia or shifting a greater percentage of production to Taiwan as their comparative changes in unit labor cost, although increasing, were significantly lower than Korea or Taiwan. However, if Nike did decide to stay in China and enter into a joint-venture agreement, this step would potentially be viewed as a sign of trust and evidence of commitment by China. Nike would also be allowed to sell its products in China—a significant market to consider with a population of 1 billion people. Nike would also have additional freedoms with regards to hiring and dismissing personnel. The costs of a joint-venture agreement though, were estimated at $500,000 per factory and worker salaries would be about 20% higher than local factories. Recommendations to Nike If we were Chang at the time of the case, the future course of action that we would recommend to Nike would be to pull out of China operations. Although the possibility of access to a market with 1 billion people seems counter to this decision, China’s great strides in opening to global markets indicates the likelihood that Nike will be able to access this consumer at some point without having to make the commitment of a joint-venture agreement. Additionally, while recognizing the sunk-costs bias, we feel that the potential costs to continue operations in China would result in Nike still losing money on each pair of shoe produced instead of cutting their losses and finding another profitable production avenue. Conclusions Nike saw China, as well as the many impoverished nations where previous production had occurred, as a part of the supply chain with a cost effective advantage. Korea and Taiwan had become increasingly expensive and China was a long term option. Unfortunately, Nike did not understand the political or cultural implications for utilizing China as part of a global strategy. The political environment and infrastructure in China created unforeseen difficulties for Nike in building an efficient production system. Government controlled wages reduced the influence of incentives for both work efficiency and quality. Strained relationships with the South Korean government made importation of materials slow and expensive. Transportation logistics and regional cultural differences made the government suggested sites for initial factory locations less than ideal. China’s two billion feet did not align with Nike’s global strategy. The Chinese public could not afford the high costs for the Nike brand and current ROI expectations could not be achieved. The Chinese government’s relationship approach to external companies would have much greater acceptance towards a mutually beneficial joint venture. Some saw Nike’s global strategy as exploitation. The financial impact of Nike’s strategy could not be delivered in China. The collaborative relationship desired by the Chinese government was misaligned with Nike’s needs. Together, it becomes apparent that the best option for Nike is to locate a better location for production urgently and completely divest in China.

Steel Erection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Steel Erection - Essay Example Effectively, major incidents are expected to cause over 35 fatalities and cause over 2,300 people to suffer workday injuries. By implementing a new set of guidelines it will be the case that new rules as devised between the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, industry leaders and unions will save the lives of over 30 people as well as provide savings of over $40 million (Which would presumably be a result of lost work hours and payouts to injured workers). In essence the adjustments to the current regulations will not only save lives but will also have a positive effect on the steel industry bottom line. In terms of the construction safety aspects of the OS&H topic it is the case that this safety standard is the first of its kind developed under the negotiated rule-making act of 1990. As such it was developed by all agents affected by the standard. In this sense the article highlighted that some key hazards are associated with workplace injuries and fatalities which are ho isting, landing and placing decking; column stability; double connections; landing and placing steel joints; and falls to lower levels.

Lengthy police interrogations are more likely to result in innocent Essay

Lengthy police interrogations are more likely to result in innocent defendants falsely confessing to crimes - Essay Example This paper seeks to discuss false confessions by defendants and the interrogation process. False confessions can be categorized into three main categories namely: voluntary false confessions, compliant false confession, and internalized false confession. Voluntary false confession is a result of the individual’s free will without interference by the police. In some cases, this is always done with the aim of diverting attention away from the real criminal. Compliant false confessions refer to false confessions that are given due to some pressure, mostly to avoid implied punishments or promised rewards. Internalized false confessions refer to those that individuals give voluntarily as a result of being made to believe that they committed the crime by use of certain interrogation techniques. There are some techniques that the police use during interrogation and interviews that might lead to acquisition of false confessions. The most common ones are deception and the Reid techniqu e. The Reid technique refers to a method of questioning individuals that involve trying to determine their credibility and to get confessions from them. Those who are in support for this technique argues that it can be very useful in the acquisition of confessions from suspects who are not willing to confess to a crime they committed. However, the use of this technique during police interrogation can lead to the acquisition of highly flawed information from crime suspects. The Reid technique of interrogation involves interrogators telling a suspect that they are sure that the suspect committed the crime. This technique of interrogation is always characterized by the interrogator’s monologue rather than the usual question and answer sessions. The main aim of this technique, therefore, is gradually getting a suspect to acknowledge that presumed truth about the allegations made against the suspect (Nbau, 2013). This assertion can lead to suspects making either compliant false co nfessions or internalized false confessions. Such situations can lead to cases where interrogation serves injustice instead of giving justice to both the suspect and the victim. Deception is a technique frequently applied and accepted in police interrogations. Deception techniques are always employed with the aim of getting evidence from suspects. There does not exist any regulation or law that forbids the police and investigators from making misleading statements, deceiving the suspects on the strength of their case, or lying that they have a witness who saw the suspect committing the crime (Lassiter, 2006). All these are always aimed at getting suspects to confess to a crime. It can be productive only if the suspect being interrogated is indeed guilty. Deception techniques used in police interrogations are widely different. The main aim of interrogating or interviewing a suspect is always to get factual information relating to a crime, or getting the suspect to confess to a crime they committed. The various deception techniques used during police interrogation include: distorting the meaning or denying Miranda rules that are always guaranteed to all suspects, distorting the seriousness of the implications of the crime, threats, promises about less jail sentence in the case of collaboration, and claims of the existence of a valid witness. All of these forms of deception are considered to be

The effects of a divorce on the cognitive and social development of Essay

The effects of a divorce on the cognitive and social development of adolescents - Essay Example Intact families may also be undergoing the same dysfunctional environment, as do the families to be divorced. A phenomenal rise in divorce rates in the developed countries during the 1960s and 1970s made nations tighten the divorce laws. Studies showed that children of divorced parents experienced more emotional and behavioral problems than children who live with both biological parents. It was a widely accepted perception that marital disruption makes adolescents more vulnerable to problems. This led to the formulation of a series of legal reforms and social policies to increase and enforce child support system. With the help of professional peer reviewed journals and online database, this paper will determine the effects of a divorce on the cognitive and social development of adolescents. Adolescents’ response to parental divorce has been focus of research for many sociologists and psychologists. These responses have significant effect on their behavioral patterns, social development, their moods, and anxieties. There is convincing evidence that children of divorce experience more psychological, social and academic difficulties than the peers from intact families. The old school of thought believed that parental divorce was an event which, affected children after the divorce had actually taken place. Recently, family researchers look at marital disruptions as a continuous process that occurs much before the marriage dissolves and may continue long after the divorce takes place (Sun, n.d.). Bogenschneider, Kaplan & Morgan (1993) quote from a review of 92 studies of divorce undertaken by Amato & Keith (1991) which involved 13000 children. According to the review, children of divorce experience lower levels of well-being than children from intact families across several domains. According to Researcher Sun at Ohio State

International Marketing Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

International Marketing Environment - Essay Example Surplus balance of payments can be maintained only when the total exports of goods and services exceed the total imports of goods and services. Exports bring foreign currency to a country and this in turn can be used for making payments to importers. Government in each and every nation support exporters by arranging extensive loans and subsidies whereas impose restrictions on importing such as tariffs, quotas and embargoes. Economic integration between nations encompasses certain measures that are designed to abolish discriminations between economic units belonging to different nations. There are mainly five levels of economic integration, Free trade area, Customs union, Common market, Economic union and politic union. In free trade area, countries belonging to a specific trade bloc have an arrangement of free trade or less-restricted trade between them. Custom union is more advanced arrangement than free trade since it not only eliminated restrictions but also adopts uniform commercial policy between its nations. In a common market, there is free flow of labor and capital. Economic union is more advanced to these as it achieves some degree of economic harmonization of national economic policies (Bento and Bento, 2009). Economic integration between countries defines the nature and degree of economic as well as social links between nations. For instance, free trade provides more flexible marketing opportunities for both the countries whereas custom union facilitates uniform economic policies between nations. When firms go global and market internationally, there are major concerns of economic and cultural aspects. Each different nation has its own culture, social setting, languages and therefore marketers need to consider the language, culture and social system that they wish to market their goods and services in. The marketer requires extensive marketing research about customers’ general and specific

Transfer admission essay for University of Pittsburgh

Transfer admission for University of Pittsburgh - Essay Example I have resided in Johnstown, Pennsylvania for the majority of my life. The small town charm and characteristics helped nurture me throughout the years. While the town’s features and residents have shaped my current lifestyle, I yearn to live among individuals from various cultures and backgrounds. These individuals are a pivotal part of Pittsburgh’s alluring framework. Since psychology is my desired major, being exposed to a motley of perspectives and behaviors is vital while performing research. Interaction with diversified groups will strengthen my psychological knowledge of human activity. Also, my peers at main campus are not only friends, but resources as well. Being part of a larger class means having more people to learn from. All in all, being a psychology student in Pittsburgh will allow me to evaluate the differing viewpoints of various individuals and will help me to discover ethical issues affecting society. The same will also be very intriguing as I have al ways wanted to involve myself in solving the ethical issues in the society and what better platform than the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to cultural diversity, the amount of educational opportunities at the University of Pittsburgh is unlimited. Seeing that psychology encompasses a vast domain, there are many aspects of which it is comprised. While the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown does offer the psychology major, I feel that the reputable main campus will offer more in terms of exploring subfields and research. While I have not yet decided upon which subfield strikes my interest, studying at the University of Pittsburgh will help direct me towards the proper subfield. Not only is the main campus renowned for its prestigious history, but the option for graduate studies are also imperative to my future. In addition to this, the University of Pittsburgh will also serve as an ideal platform for pursuing my further studies and I have always envisaged a

Frankfurt account Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Frankfurt account - Essay Example Human beings, however, can be said to possess second order desires with these desires, however, not being experienced by all people (Frankfurt 7). To my understanding, people who cannot use self-evaluation to validate their desire; therefore, deficient in second order desires, are referred to as wanton. According to Frankfurt, these second order desires are what distinguish a person from non-humans. Wantons or those without second order desires include small children, animals, and even adults who are not able to exhibit these desires. These non-persons are not bothered about will, and they do not have a care concerning where their life is going and how they could change it. In order to clarify the definition of a person, we can use the example of two child molesters. In this case, we can take the first child molester as having a first order desire to molest children given her affinity to do so, as well as having a second order desire that makes her desire to stop molesting children, although their urge may be uncontrollable. On the other hand, another child molester is in possession of desires in the first order that makes her molest children but is deficient in second order desires since she does not concern herself with what may happen if she is caught, which may lead to jail and embarrassment. For this child molester, who could care less concerning her will, her option of stopping the vile act and continuing the act are present in her mind, and none is more prevalent than the other is since she does not even attempt at evaluating her options. Therefore, she continues with what she does. Second order desires, to my understanding, then equate to a person being in possession of the will to carry out an action or not to carry out the action. If someone is not able to self-evaluate; therefore, not being in possession of desires of the second order, then they can be said to be deficient of will. In turn, they cannot claim to be persons according to Frankfurt, inst ead being considered as wantons (Frankfurt 6). While it is possible to understand where Frankfurt is headed with his argument, as well as where he is coming from, I disagree with the conclusion that a lack of will disqualifies someone from being considered a person. It is my belief that this someone still feels emotive, and exhibits feelings, even if they are vile characters like child molesters with no second thoughts about their actions and, therefore, to me at least, they are still persons. Early thought on the definition of a person held that, moral responsibility would be only applied to a person who commits a certain act if they had the chance to do something else. Throughout Frankfurt’s article, I found the inference to be that persons are not morally responsible for the acts they had committed when they had no chance to do something else. Frankfurt takes specific issues with this line of thought claiming, â€Å"our theoretical ability to do otherwise, he says, does n ot necessarily make it possible for us to do otherwise† (Frankfurt 10). The examples that Frankfurt assert to are important because they are suggestive of other ways that can be used to defend how determinism and moral responsibility can be compared, especially through the rejection of the argument’

Luxury brands growth in India Essay Example for Free

Luxury brands growth in India Essay Lack of quality luxury space, environment and dearth of high street or super premium malls is a prime reason for restricted presence of luxury brands in India, thus there is a dire need for modernized and dedicated luxury retail areas in protected vicinities such as airports, according to a recent ASSOCHAM-KPMG joint study. Setting up stores in high streets affects luxury retailers profitability due to sky-rocketing rental costs, moreover, high streets are very cluttered, crowded and are unsuitable due to the absence of exclusive ambience that luxury retail demands, according to a study on Challenges highlighted by luxury retailers in India, jointly conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and KPMG. The Indian luxury market grew at a healthy rate of 30% to reach $8. 5 billion in 2013 and is likely to continue growing at a healthy pace of about 20%, and reach $14 billion by 2016 owing to rising number of wealthy people, growing middle class, affluent young consumers and other related factors. Though, India currently enjoys just one-two per cent share in the global luxury market but it is the fifth most attractive market for international retailers. Fragmented and diversified consumer base in India is another significant challenge being faced by luxury retailers in India as high net worth individual ( HNI) consumers are not easy to reach, noted the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study. Luxury brands need to strategically design their growth plans to tap demand across three categories of HNIs, namely the inheritors (traditionally wealthy) who are habitual spenders; the professional elite who are discerning spenders; a large segment of business giants (entrepreneurs, owners of small and medium enterprises) who have the money but lack appreciation for fine luxury goods because of no prior exposure to such products, it added. There is a need for luxury brands to focus on expansion in the type and nature of products being offered and increasingly adopt innovative marketing plans to tap rapidly evolving consumer behavioral trends, said Mr D. S. Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasing findings of the study. Luxury retailers need to plan out of the box marketing strategies and come up with products that are tailor-made to suit the whims and fancies of varied Indian customers, said Rawat. Luxury is no longer a status symbol but is now a lifestyle and the global brands need to fast evolve and learn ways to adapt within the local environment so that they can get accustomed to nuances of the market by understanding the cultural identity of Indian consumers. Lack of policy support is another prominent challenge being faced by luxury brands in India, noted the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study. Despite strong demand momentum, Indian luxury market has not been viewed as policies and regulations friendly for the luxury retailers, the report said. Import duties (20-150 per cent) are relatively higher and this is considered as a key apprehension factor among the international players, who may resist them to frame aggressive growth plans for India, noted the study. Clauses such as 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in both single and multi-brand retail requires 30% of local sourcing, announced in the liberalized FDI policy in luxury retail in November 2013 could be difficult for the international luxury players to comply with. The duties are manifold ranging from customs duty, counter veiling duty (CVD), special additional tax, education cess adding to the overall cost, said Rawat. Besides, luxury retail is also affected by the system of maximum retail price as it applies to custom duties and to cascading after the custom taxes, thereby heavily penalizing foreign brands pushing their overall entrance costs by up to 40%. Lack of trained staff is another well-acknowledged challenge facing Indian luxury retail industry which requires greater discretion and knowledge on the part of a salesperson, further highlighted the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study. Shortage of skilled labour for the industry is a major cause of concern as it is difficult to make the local workforce understand the heritage and legacy of the brand along with the specific finishes involved in the manufacturing process, said Rawat. In the absence of these requisite skill sets, brands have no option but to manufacture in their country of origin; lack of skilled workers can also be attributed to the sales function where presentation and interpersonal skills form an integral element for the business. Growing prevalence of counterfeit luxury goods and a grey market are also hampering the growth of the industry, noted the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study. Most of these products belong to segments such as apparel, perfumes and accessories, which are usually lower ticket items and can be easily placed in grey channels. Luxury players in India continue to face supply side issues such as legal loopholes pertaining tointellectual property rights, inadequate means to monitor various emerging channels, and a growing number of online portals, among other factors, the study added. A collective, industry wide effort is likely to have a far-reaching impact in dealing with the issue as seen in other industries such as films and music. Awareness and collaboration also needs to be built with authorities, who have experienced major revenue losses   due to loss of taxes and duties, on how to deal with counterfeits, further suggested the study to counter the growing menace of counterfeit luxury products. Corrective measures need to be taken to banish the growth of grey luxury goods market in India which results in sizeable revenue losses for firms, said Rawat, and added that a strong legal structure combined with effective framework of intellectual property protection would help prevent dilution of brand image and reduced consumer trust. Measures in form of effective intellectual property enforcement, plugging loopholes in the legal and judicial structure and higher conviction rates can help curb the growth of fake luxury products, said Rawat. Information collected through secondary sources such as internet and local newspapers†¦

Employee Motivation Essay Example for Free

Employee Motivation Essay Simple acts such as eating are motivated by hunger. Educatio n is motivated by desire for knowledge. Motivators can be anything from reward to coercion. From the scientific viewpoint, by most accounts, motivation is defined as an inner state of need or desire. That state of desire creates a movement or activity towards satisfying that desire. In my never-ending quest to spread the word about turning ideas into action, I view inspiration as the state of mind that primes us to come up with great ideas, and motivation as the state of mind that spurs us to action. Concept of Motivation In order to understand the concept of motivation, we have to examine three terms : motive, motivating and motivation and their relationship Motive ?A motive is an inner state that energizes, activates, or moves and directs behavior towards goals.? Motivating ?Motivating is a term which implies that one person includes another, to engage in action by ensuring that a channel to satisfy the motive becomes available and accessible to the individ ual.? 2 Motivation Dubin has defined motivation as; ?Motivation is the complex force starting and keeping a person at work in an organization. Motivation is something that moves the person to action, and continues him in the course of action already initiated? According to McFarland; ?Motivation refers to the way in which urges, drives, aspirations, strivings, or needs direct, control, or explain the behavior of human being. .. Based on Motives: Motivation is based on individual‘s motives which are internal to the individual. These motives are in the form of feelings that the individual lacks something. In order to overcome this feeling, he tries to behave in a manner which helps in overcoming this feeling. 2. Affected by Motivating: Motivation is affected by way the individual is motivated. It can also activate the latent needs in the individual, that is, the needs that are the less strong and somewhat dormant, and harness them in a manner that would be functional for the organization. 3. Goal–directed Behavior: Motivation leads to goal-directed behavior. A goal-directed behavior is one which satisfies the cau se for which behavior takes place. 4. Related to Satisfaction: satisfaction refers to the contentment experiences of an individual which he derives out of need fulfillment. Thus satisfaction is a consequence of rewards and punishments associated with past experiences. 5. Complex Process: Motivation is a complex process; complexity emerges because of the nature of needs and the type of behavior that is attempted to satisfy those needs. 6. Person Motivated in Totality: A person is motivated in totality and not in part. Each individual in the organization is a self-contained unit and his needs are interrelated. These affect his behavior in different ways. 3 Motivation Motivation is a force that drives people to do things. Employees are normally motivated to achieve their needs, whatever they may include. Motivation is inside another persons head and heart. It may be intrinsic or extrinsic. This is what we call motivation. Employees of a company will be motivated if they associate certain incentives with an activity of work. Motivation is an important function which every manager performs by assigning the people to work for accomplishment of objectives of the organization . Issuance of well conceived instructions and orders does not mean that they will be followed . A manager has to make appropriate use of motivation to enthuse the employees to follow them. Effective motivation succeeds not only in having an order accepted but also in gaining a determination to see that it is executed efficiently and effectively. In order to motivate workers to work for the organizational goals, the managers must Determine the motives or needs of the workers and provide an environment in which Appropriate incentives are available for their satisfaction . If the management is successful in doing so; it will also be successful in increasing the willingness of the workers to work. This will increase efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. There will be better utilization of resources and workers abilities and capacities. Concept of motivation The word motivation has been derived from motive which means any idea, need or emotion that prompts a man in to action. Whatever may be the behavior of man, there is some stimulus behind it . Stimulus is dependent upon the motive of the person concerned. Motive can be known by studying his needs and desires. There is no universal theory that can explain the factors influencing motives which control mans behaviour at any particular point of ime. In general, the different motives operate at different times among different people and influence their behaviours. The process of motivation studies the motives of individuals which cause different type of behavior. 4 Need of motivation Management‘s basic job is the effective utilization of human resources for achie vements of organizational objectives. The personn el management is concerned with organizing human resources in such a way to get maximum output to the enterprise and to develop the talent of people at work to the fullest satisfaction. Motivation implies that one person, in organization context a manager, includes another, say an employee, to engage in action by ensuring that a channel to satisfy those needs and aspirations becomes available to the person. In addition to this, the strong needs in a direction that is satisfying to the latent needs in employees and Harness them in a manner that would be functional for the organization. Employee motivation is one of the major issues faced by every organization. It is the major task of every manager to motivate his subordinates or to create the ? ill to work‘ among the subordinates. It should also be remembered that a worker may be immensely capable of doing some work; nothing can be achieved if he is not willing to work. A manager has to make appropriate use of motivation to enthuse the employees to follow them. Significance of Motivation Motivation involves getting the members of the group to pull weight effectively, to give their loyalty to the group, to carry out properly the purpose of the organization. The following results may be expected if the employees are properly motivated. 1. The workforce will be better satisfied if the management provides them with Opportunities to fulfil their physiological and psychological needs. The workers will Cooperate voluntarily with the management and will contribute their maximum towards the goals of the enterprise. 2. Workers will tend to be as efficient as possible by improving upon their skills and Knowledge so that they are able to contribute to the progress of the organization. This will also result in increased productivity. 3. The rates of labor‘s turnover and absenteeism among the workers will be low. 4. There will be good human relations in the organization as friction among the workers themselves and between the workers and the management will decrease. 5. The number of complaints and grievances will come down. Accident will also be low. 5 6. There will be increase in the quantity and quality of products. Wastage and scrap will be less. Better quality of products will also increase the public image of the business. Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior; Intrinsic Extrinsic From a practical standpoint, we can dig into our motives in order to get better results, and move ourselves from point A to point B. For example, if you know what motivates you, you can use those motives to get yourself to do things that you wouldnt do otherwise. These same principles can be applied to motivating others as well. Motivational techniques, therefore, are useful to teachers, leaders, parents, employers, and really, almost anyone. The key is in understanding that you are not motivating someone else. Instead, you are simply providing a circumstance that triggers that person to be motivation. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Intrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation comes from rewards inherent to a task or activity itself the enjoyment of a puzzle or the love of playing. This form of motivation has been studied by social and educational psychologists since the early 1970s. Research has found that it is usually associated with high educational achievement and enjoyment by students. Intrinsic motivation has been explained by Fritz Heider attributional theory, Banduras work on self effeciency,and Ryan and Decis cognitive evaluation theory. Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they: Attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control (e. . the amount of effort they put in), Believe they can be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i. e. the results are not determined by luck), 6 Are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote- learning to achieve good grades. Extrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the performer. Money is the most obvious example , but coercion and threat of punishment are also common extrinsic motivations. While competing, the crowd may cheer on the performer, which may motivate him or her to do well. Trophies are also extrinsic incentives. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to over justification and a subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation. In one study demonstrating this effect, children who expected to be (and were) rewarded with a ribbon and a gold star for drawing pictures spent less time playing with the drawing materials in subsequent observations than children who were assigned to an unexpected reward condition and to children who received no extrinsic reward. Motivation starts with you! As you aspire to be more successful in life, your attitude towards yourself and others will play a huge role. Positive people learn how to handle lifes challenges differently and use these opportunities to grow. So can you! Self Motivation The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition (as measured by many intelligence test), yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Yale School of Management Professor Victor Vrooms expectancy theory provides an account of when people will decide whether to exert self control to pursue a particular goal. Drives and desires can be described as a deficiency or need that activates behavior that is aimed at a goal or an incentive. These are thought to originate within the individual and may not require external stimuli to encourage the behavior. Basic drives could be sparked by deficiencies such as hunger, which motivates a person to seek food; whereas more subtle drives might be the 7 esire for praise and approval, which motivates a person to behave in a manner pleasing to others. Motivation Process 1. Identification of need 2. Tension 3. Course of action 4. Result –Positive/Negative 5. Feed back TYPES OF NEEDS There are many needs which an individual may have and there are various ways in which these may be classified. The basic objective behind classification of needs into different categories is to find ou t similarity and dissimilarity in various needs so that incentives are grouped to satisfy the needs falling under one category or the other. Thus needs may be grouped into three categories. 1. Primary Needs: Primary needs are also known as psychological , biological , basic or unlearned needs . These needs are common to all human beings , though their intensity may differ . Some of the needs are food , sleep , air to breathe etc. These needs arise out of the basic physiology of life and are important for survival and preservation of species These needs are conditioned by social practice . 2. Secondary Needs: As contrast to the primary needs, secondary needs are not natural but are learned by the individual through his experience and interaction . Therefore, these are also called learned or derived needs. Emergence of these needs depends on learning . There may be different types of secondary needs like need of power, achievement, status, affiliation, etc. 8 3. General Needs: There are a number of needs which lie in the grey area between the primary and secondary classifications. In fact, there are certain such needs for competence, curiosity, manipulation, affection etc. Motivation and Behavior Motivation causes goal-directed behavior. Feeling of a need by an individual generates a feeling that he lacks something. This lack of something creates tension in the mind of individual. To overcome this state he engages himself in a behaviour to satisfy his needs. This is goaldirected behaviour.

Analysis of Open Source Content Management Systems

Analysis of Open Source Content Management Systems Chapter 1 Introduction Background Although most of us take information for granted, good information is easy to come by. Lets investigate the difference between data and information, the characteristics of good information and the process of transforming data into useful information. To make sound decisions managers need reliable, accurate data that can be transformed into information. Organisations use many methods to collect data , including survey ,interviews, documents reading and even brain-wave monitoring. Sophisticated voice activated technology is available that allows people to store data merely by speaking into a computer. Today it is widely recognized that information systems knowledge is essential for managers because most organisations need information systems to survive and prosper. Information systems can help companies to extend reach to faraway location, offer new product and services, reshape jobs and work flows, and perhaps profoundly change the way they conduct business. The past decade has seen a rigorous change in the way we understand and use Information Technology within a business context. Advancements in the field of research and development has led to technologies such as; distributed computing, content management, data mining and processing, all of which fulfil a range of business needs. The move from localised computing platforms to distributed web technologies has been caused by, among other factors, the take-up of commodity computer and network components based on faster hardware and sophisticated software. About The Project The objective of this report is to analyse and compare a specific category of open source content management systems, within the context of small to medium businesses; this specific category is about web portals. The project aims to create a comprehensive comparison which deals with the specific requirements of small to medium businesses only. Thus, providing a clear understanding of the current trends within the commercial sector and the open source community. This report involves a comparison between existing open source, web portal content management systems. The comparison is based on a set of business requirements which represent the needs of small to medium businesses, which aims to find an open source solution as an alternative to commercial solutions. Due to the nature of this subject, this report assumes that the reader has some understanding about Information Technology. Chapter 2 Content Management Content From A Business Perspective Computers where initially created to perform time-consuming or complex mathematical computations and in many ways replace human labour. Boiko (2001) describes the computer model as follows: â€Å"If you can reduce a problem to a series of simple mechanical operations on numbers and logical entities (entities that are either true of false), it is amenable to solution by a computer†. At their lowest level, computers process data. The data processed by computers at a low level is not immediately readable or understandable, because it is made to be understood by the computer only. This data is used to perform a set of operations as described above. The fact that computers are data-processing machines makes it hard to process content, which by definition is not just data. Technology has evolved over the years and computers are now required to perform computations on content while retaining their human meaning. Electronic Commerce ,Electronic Business, And Digital Relationship The changes we have just described represent new ways of conducting business electronically both inside and outside the farm that can ultimately result in the creation of digital firms. Increasingly, the internet is providing the underlying technology for these changes. The internet can link thousands of organisations into a single network creating the foundation for a vast digital marketplace. A digital market is an information system that links together many buyers and sellers to exchange information, products, services and payments. Through computers and networks, these systems function like electronic intermediaries, with lowered cost for typical marketplace transactions such as matching buyers and sellers establishing prices ordering goods and paying bills. Buyers sellers can complete purchase and sale transactions digitally regardless of their location. New Opportunities With Technology Although information systems are creating many exciting opportunities for both businesses and individuals, they are also a source of new problems, issues and challenges for managers. In this course we will learn about both the challenges and opportunities information systems pose and we will be able to use information technology to enrich our learning experience. New technologies open up far more possibilities for reproducing previously published work online than we can afford to pursue, so we have to pick and choose the most useful ones for you, our audience. The Journal would like to gather and benefit from all of the ideas, suggestions, and hard work that readers are willing to provide. Constructive technology assessment (CTA) differs from other technology assessment methods by emphasizing implementation and development of new technologies over a simple assessment of those technologies potential impact. CTA, which was developed in Denmark and the Netherlands, seeks to moderate the impact of potentially damaging technologies while taking full advantage of beneficial technologies. Nowadays, the development of integrated circuit (IC) industry and scientific researchers rely more and more on the nanofabrication technologies. Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has been included on the ITRS lithography roadmap for 32nm, 22nm and 16nm nodes. However, there are numerous other applications for NIL. This patterning technique shows great potential in fabrication of nanostructures at all. Metadata Encapsulation Of Content Processing such content will produce the required results for the human user. Those results will contain an abstract meaning that can only be interpreted by a human user. Defining data with information and making it into content is a process similar to the operations performed in every day situations. For example, searching for a book in a library or finding a movie in a video store. Both operations have the similarity of providing information about other information. A library, offers a computerised search engine that searches through categories of â€Å"author† and â€Å"title†, while the video store may search for â€Å"actor† and â€Å"year of release†. Therefore, a room full of books may be seen as a pile of data, while the same room with a categorised search engine may be seen as real content. The books become more than just data, because they have been given a description. The method of content description is called metadata. Metadata is data about data, which defines the human aspect of content. Metadata first appeared on the web when the immense amount of data over the internet became impossible to process or to even understand. Some of the leading technologies and standards on metadata are seen. Metadata technologies are themselves based on published internet standards. This method of creating a new standard based on another existing standard is very useful within businesses in order to make the exchange of content as smooth as possible. The leading standard technologies are eXtensible Markup Language (XML), which defines the Resource Description Framework (RDF) syntax as recommended by the W3C. Building on top of metadata and XML, are a number of advanced technologies and project. Concurrent Changes Management Project completion skew occurs once the team has grown into a substantial number of developers, at which point they are all working on different parts of the project, possibly in small groups. These small groups usually work on diverse activities separated from each other or sometimes in conjunction. As a result, each group will be developing, integrating and testing their work separately, before committing their work into the complete project. These groups will also be working under different schedules. This implies that a group may be starting its work while another is getting ready to commit theirs . Structure Of The Comparison Each business has its own set of requirements for a CMS solution, which depend on various parameters such as; the size of the business, field of operation, type of managed data and target customers. It is highly unlikely that a single product will have all the required functionality. As a result, this report tries to identify potential products which are scalable and expandable. Applications Data repository Deployment Integration Revision control User interface User management Workflow Applications are about general functionality which compliment the entire CMS solution. Availability of the development API allows developers to expand the existing functionality and add custom processes per business requirements. Marketing and advertising features allow the website to display banner advertising or offer opt-in permission marketing forms. Localisation and multi-language support for all documents and processes. Time-based event functions, like scheduling. Site-wide searching engine which allows transparent searches over different content. Finally, e-commerce functionality which allows the system to perform online transactions. Data repository is about flexibility in content storage. Information is an asset to every business, proper management of the data storage can be an advantage. A CMS solution may use multiple storage methods, including a Relational DataBase Management System (RDBMS) and Network File System (NFS) or other file system based storage. Apart from the storage medium, it is also important to use a standards compliant storage format such as XML. In particular, XML provides transformation services and content validation along with the split between content, format and business logic. Deployment can be one of the most important features from a business per-spective. Medium to large scale systems use multiple servers for fault tolerance and improved availability. A CMS products ability to scale through multiple servers gives the extra advantage for reliability. Replication is also an issue, the flow of updates that go from testing into production should be able to replicate reliably and with roll back support, as discussed in section Finally, multiple output formats can increase the target audience, for example; by providing mobile phone access via SMS or WAP. Integration deals with the every day management of the system. Metadata management via content classification systems which enable arbitrary data to become useful information assets for the business. Information can be used along with 3rd party web applications, such as log analysers and spam filters. Data conversion, allows users to publish or submit data in different format from the one used to publish their data, for example PDF to HTML conversion. Integration is also about compliance with the internet standards published by the W3C such as; HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0/1.1. Based on those standards are the requirements for compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 chapter 50 (HMSO 1995) which came into effect in the United Kingdom. This Act enforces new rules for websites to create content which is accessible by disabled people. Standards compliance means that a CMS product must be able to generate code that is compliant with the Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines. Revision control, as seen in section 2.3.1, is about management of changes, while keeping track of known milestones and working versions of the entire web site development and content. Revision control allows users to keep track of changes, while protecting them against overlapping changes by other users. Roll back functionality gives the user a chance to return to a known working copy of data, which also makes it easy to compare changes over time. User interface is not just about the client â€Å"visual† interface. The user interface is a collection of interface features which help the user or administrator to effectively manage the system. Interface tools enhance the control of processes, some of these tools are; HTML forms, WYSIWYG content editor and document linking. The user interface should provide the choice between high and low level editing, either edit the code directly, or provide a suitable interface which generates the required code. User management is about access and control of the system. The system should allow for 3rd party authentication, such as; SQL database, LDAP, NIS/YP, PAM. In addition, the interface should provide adequate user management control, for example; system-wide user modification. Workflow is a collaboration process for the development and maintenance of business assets which involve steps such as; varied information types, cross departmental staff and functions based on a submit/review/approve steps. As seen in section 2.3.4, workflow is important to clearly define processes which perform specific functions, with various dependencies between them. These functions automate routing of information, review and finally approve changes. Chapter 3 Open Source Software Free Software This report deals with certain types of free software; open source content management systems. Therefore, it is very important to define the term free software, because the concept itself is ambiguous. A wide range of software is distributed as â€Å"free† because it does not cost anything to download or use. However the source code is not made available or the software is distributed with a restrictive license. Binary or source code distributions could be copyrighted and covered by a license agreement, which could hold a range of few to extreme restrictions, like a disclaimer of reliability. â€Å"Free software† is a matter of liberty, not price. The Open Source Model The freedom to run the program, for any purpose. The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour. The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. Requirements of free software Restrictions on these ‘free software come with licenses which; prohibit its use or require a fee for commercial user, prohibit or limit redistribution, including redistributing modified versions. Some licenses also require redistribution of derived works to use the same license as the original product or even release the modified source code. A few licenses also discriminate against individuals or groups. The term free software is widely used in the Information Technology industry. However, its ambiguity hampers communication due to arguments over whether a particular piece of software is ‘free or not (OSI 2004). lists the rules which define the term â€Å"free software† as published by the FSF (2004). Banner Advertising Banner advertising is on a pay-per-view basis, according to the following rates: Home Page Other Pages Number of Views Cost ($US) Cost ($US) 4,000 $100 $50 10,000 $200 $100 25,000 $400 $200 75,000 $1000 $500 175,000 $2000 $1000 400,000 $4000 $2000 Either a large (46860 pixels) banner advertisement strategically placed at the top of every page on the site (or a selection of pages, at your choice), or a 120600 pixel â€Å"skyscraper† banner ad in the left hand column of every page on the site (or a selection of pages, at your choice). We can also arrange text only advertisements. A hotlink to your web site (or email address) when prospective buyers click on the ad Full on-line statistical information, by day and overall, on the number of ad exposures, and the click-through ratio for your ad We can customize a banner advertising program that targets those visitors that you wish to be exposed to by only displaying your advertisement on those selected pages on the site that best suits your product or service. We also have the capability to target ads by geographical location or by keywords. We can accept banner ads in most graphic formats, including rich media formats such as Flash. On all pages, (except where an exclusive advertising arrangement is in place, subject to negotiation) banner ads are placed on rotation with other banner advertisements. Current site statistics indicate that each visitor to the site visits approximately 5 pages per visit, so advertising is limited to a maximum of 5 advertisers on each page each with equal probability of exposure on the page. Newsletter Sponsorship/Advertising Advertising and Sponsorship opportunities our free monthly newsletter on topics of interest to Maintenance professionals around the globe. This newsletter is issued via plain text e-mail to an opt-in subscriber base numbering in the thousands, with a web version also published. Two advertising slots are currently permitted within each newsletter, and the advertisement consists of: Four lines of text in the e-mail version of the newsletter, and Four lines of text plus a banner advertisement in the web-based version of the newsletter The banner advertisement comes with full on-line, real-time statistical reporting, as for site banner advertisements (detailed above) Advertising rates depend on the number of subscribers to the newsletter. For more information on current rates, subscribers and the availability of space in future newsletters. Direct Mail To Our Opt-In Mailing List In addition to our opt-in subscriber base for the M-News newsletter, we have a further opt-in list of contacts who have expressed interest in receiving occasional e-mails containing information about maintenance-related products and services. We can issue an email to members of this list on your behalf promoting your products or services. Once again, advertising rates depend on the number of subscribers to the opt-in mailing list. For more information on current rates and the number of subscribers. General Terms And Conditions We will typically invoice you for your advertising program either shortly before completion of your advertising run, or quarterly. Payment terms are strictly 30 days on issue of invoice We can accept your payment either by check or by major credit card. We are based in Australia, and so payment in Australian dollars is preferred (and is required when paying by credit card). We will advise you of the exact Australian dollar equivalent before receiving payment from you. In general, we use the Currency Calculator /for making currency conversion calculations. Where we have concerns about your credit worthiness, we reserve the right to receive payment before commencing your advertising program. Free Redistribution â€Å"The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale† (OSI 2004). By ensuring free redistribution, open source software is not hampered by short-term gains which would affect real long-term sales from customised versions of the software or contracted support and maintenance. Thus, a supplier may generate copies of the software and sell them or give them away without paying anyone for that privilege. As a result, many open source software can be bought on CD or DVD by paying for the cost of the medium only, since the supplier is not adding any extra costs. â€Å"The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is THE OPEN SOURCE MODEL not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicised means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction costpreferably, downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed† (OSI 2004). To evolve and expand open source software, the source code must be available and in a modifiable state. The original or modified source code is then provided along with the software and any derived works, in order to ensure future repair or modifications. â€Å"The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software† (OSI 2004). Future software updates and maintenance of the distributed source code, as seen in section 3.2.2, has no real use if the modified software cannot be distributed. Therefore, the ability to simply modify the source code is not enough to support independent peer review and rapid evolutionary selection. Instead, it should be possible to redistribute the modified software along with the modified source code. Redistributed software can use the same license terms as the original software. Although this is not a requirement to do so but an option at the hands of the distributor. This requirement means; a license may not allow re-licensing or modification of its terms, or may allow re-licensing and sub-licensing of derived works. Chapter 4 Content Management Systems CMS Categories Content Management Systems (CMS) are not just a product or a technology. CMS is a generic term which defines a wide range of processes which underpin the â€Å"next-generation† of medium to large-scale websites (Browning Lowndes 2001). A content management process; creates, stores, modifies, retrieves and displays data, or content, as seen in chapter 2. The applications of CMS cannot be clearly defined. Even though a CMS is range of processes and managed software, the boundaries of the CMS space are blurred. The area covered by CMS overlaps with a wide range of traditional software systems, as seen in figure 4.1. As a result of this overlap of functionality, an intranet groupware system or virtual learning system can easily be implemented via the same CMS (Browning Lowndes 2001). CMS have no single interface or implementation, they are effectively designed on the requirements of each business. The implementations of CMS differ from web based to integrated server-side applications. Requirements Prerequisites Document management systems Knowledge management systems Enterprise application integration systems E-commerce solutions Web portals CMS categories implementations vary from PHP, Perl and Python. Integrated application server implementations use popular languages like Java 2 Enterprise Edition and C++. Figure 4.2 shows a visual interpretation of the structure of a typical CMS. This report does not deal with the application or use of CMS, for example; document management or virtual learning. Instead, this report takes a comparative approach to web portals only, based on their functionality from a business perspective. Web portals are websites which act as a main â€Å"point of entry† for users. They offer a range of services, for example; news section, search engine and web catalogue. Web portals are CMS solutions which offer content over the web, thus they may seem limited in functionality over traditional applications. To the contrary, due to the pervasive nature of the internet, the web has become the preferred method for content delivery (Browning Lowndes 2001). Requirements Prerequisites Although requirements on software packages vary between businesses, they still have certain common requirements. The objective of this report is to compare the widest possible selection of open source content management systems, which can be used by businesses. The most suitable CMS solutions Requirements Prerequisites Applications Deployment Workflow Versioning Integration Content User Management Data Repository Integration Authentication Services Syndication Management Link Interface User Data Repository Relational are selected based on a set of clearly defined requirements, all others have been rejected. Figure 4.3 lists these requirements. All the systems compared within this report are required to be licensed by an OSI-approved open source license, as defined in chapter 3. Open source software is widely recognised for its standards compliance, which is vital for businesses. For example, creating a website which uses proprietary data structures will hinder future expansion to new systems or technologies due to incompatibilities. Open source software are more likely to follow standards like the W3C Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) or XML specifications while ensuring they can interact with each other. Commercial software tend to be incompatible with each other in order to keep the customer hooked to a specific technology or supplier. Compatibility with the Apache HTTP server is vital. The Apache HTTP server is the most widely used web server on the internet. Netcraft (2004) reports that more than 67% of the websites on the internet are using Apache, with 4 million new hostnames growth in the first half of 2004. Chapter 5 Planning to implement MIS in the organisation: Information System An information system is a set of interrelated components that collect, process, store and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organisation. In addition to support decision making, coordination, and control, information system may also help managers and workers analyze problems and visualize complex subjects and create new products. Information systems contain information about significant people, place and things within the organisation or in the environment surrounding its. By information we mean data that have been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings. Data is contrast are streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organisation or physical environment before they have been organised and arranged into a form that people can understand and use. Theres more growth and innovation in computing and ICT than in any other area of business. The individuals and organisations best equipped to respond to the challenge of rapidly changing technologies are those with the vision to ensure that their skills and knowledge are kept current and set in a broad educational context. Computing and ICT professionals with a strong skill set are much in demand today, and enrolling on a postgraduate computing course with the OU will keep you at the forefront of this influential discipline. Our Postgraduate Computing and ICT courses provide you with the range of innovative, practice-based courses and qualifications that you need to develop your career. We offer several certificates, diplomas and masters degrees in computing and ICT, and you can choose to study topics such as software development and management, project management, computer forensics, information security, communication technologies and networks. You dont need to have a first degree to register for a course, but you do need either previous study to the equivalent of HND level in the UK, or practical experience, which will enable study at postgraduate level. Management Data Resources Implementing a database requires widespread organisation change in the role of information, the allocation of power at senior levels, the ownership and sharing of information, patterns of organisational agreement. A database management system challenges the existing power arrangements in an organisation and for that reason often generates political resistance. In a traditional file environment each department constructed files and programs to fulfill its specific needs. Now with a database files and programs must be built that take into account the full organisations interest in data. Moving database environment can be a costly long term process,. Electronic Business, Electronic Commerce Throughout this edition we emphasize the benefits of integrating information across the enterprise, creating an information technology infrastructure in which information can be flow seamlessly from one part of the organisation to another and from the organisation to its customers, suppliers, and business partners. The emerging digital firm require this level of information integration and companies increasingly depend on such an infrastructure today to remain efficient and competitive. Internet technology has emerged as the key enabling technology for this digital integration. Chapter 6 Conclusion The internet has been introduced major changes in the way companies conduct business. It has created a dramatic drop in the cost of developing, sending and storing information while making that information more widely available. Millions of people can exchange massive amounts of information directly, instantly, for free. These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it. Reference Linux (2004), The linux kernel archives. Last access: 20-4-2004. URL: http://www.kernel.org Maglio, P. Farrell, S. (2000), Liveinfo: Adapting web experience by customization and annotation, in ‘Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-based Systems. Michelinakis, D. (2003), SotonOne project, Masters thesis, University of Southampton, Department of Electronics and Computer Science. MozillaFoundation (2004), The mozilla browser. Last

Essay --

Over the course of this semester I learned a lot about myself as a writer. I was forced to change my thought process, view towards writing, and evaluate my own work over the semester. English 1010 was my first college writing course and it provided me with more freedom than I previously had in high school. During my senior year in high school especially I always felt limited and the topics we wrote about were not relevant. I really enjoyed being able to incorporate my voice in each essay and I believe I developed more of a personal style as time progressed. Lastly by completing this course I accomplished my goal which was to learn the tools needed to produce well written work and become a better writer. While completing each essay other students and I were given the opportunity to engage in peer review. This helped each student by giving other writers the chance to provide their perspective of how the context of the paper can be improved or if it needs additional details. Whether the comments were negative or positive it helps because it is unbiased and can ensures that by correctin...

Integrated Pest Management :: essays research papers

Integrated Pest Management Integrated pest management (IPM) is a recently developed technology for pest control that is aimed at achieving the desired control while reducing the use of pesticides. To accomplish this, various combinations of chemical, biological, and physical controls are employed. In the past, pesticides were all too often applied routinely whether needed or not. With IPM, pest populations as well as beneficial parasite and predator populations are monitored to determine whether the pests actually present a serious problem that needs to be treated. If properly and extensively employed, IPM might reduce pesticide use by as much as 50 percent, while at the same time improving pest control. If this goal were achieved, the environmental problems would be minimized, and significant benefits would result for farmers and society as a whole. IPM coordinates economically and environmentally acceptable methods of pest control with judicious and minimal use of toxic pesticides. IPM programs assess local conditions, including climate, crop characteristics, the biology of the pest species, and soil quality, to determine the best method of pest control. Tactics employed include better tillage to prevent soil erosion and introduction of beneficial insects that eat harmful species. Many pests that are attached to crop residues can be eliminated by plowing them underground. Simple paper or plastic barriers placed around fruit trees deter insects, which can also be attracted to light traps and destroyed. Weeds can be controlled by spreading grass, leaf, or black plastic mulch. Weeds also may be pulled or hoed from the soil. Many biological controls are also effective. Such insect pests as the European corn borer, and the Japanese beetle, have been controlled by introducing their predators and parasites. Wasps that prey on fruit-boring insect larvae are now being commercially bred and released in California orchards. The many hundreds of species of viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and nematodes that parasitize pest insects and weeds are now being investigated as selective control agents. Another area of biological control is breeding host plants to be pest resistant, making them less prone to attack by fungi and insects. The use of sex pheromones is an effective measure for luring and trapping insects. Pheromones have been synthesized for the Mediterranean fruit fly, the melon fly, and the Oriental