Effects of Changing Times on Families Explained in The...

The Changing American Family by Cris Beam and The American Family Is No More by Allie Bidwell. Both of these articles are explaining how the traditional American family has changed and that there is no traditional American family anymore. These articles all explain how times have changed and families are growing more diverse and no longer follow the trends the once followed. While the article by Cris Beam was more based of statistics and how much things have changed, Allie Bidwells article still had the same bottom line main idea. Both authors’ views were essentially the same and made the same arguments. In The Changing American Family by Cris Beam he uses statistics to show how the changes have changed so drastically. These†¦show more content†¦In my life at the beginning you would be able to say my family had â€Å" The Traditional American Family† my mother and father were together raising two children, one boy and one girl, a dog in a nice house in the suburbs. But like most other families apparently, my parents divorced, my father remarried and my mom raised us. I live my life day-to-day not really thinking about the changes that are going on around me every day, before reading this article I would have never even thought twice about this actually being a thing. In a way there’s nothing you can not really do about something like this, nor is there a reason to do something about this. People are living the lives the way they want with the people they want, or don’t want. It definitely sparked something in me making me interested on why, why people are acting differently, what has changed making this so much different from 40 years ago. This whole situation has always made me, while dating and meeting people want someone I will be with my whole life. This â€Å"Traditional American Family† almost brainwashed you to think that’s how your family is supposed to be, but in all reality it’s not. The Traditional American Family, it can mean anything honestly. What it was perceived from back in the 60s to what it is today there may not be a norm but a tradition

Different Aspects of Women Free Essays

In Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, Stoker portrays many different aspects of women’s roles in the nineteenth century. Women had a strictly defined role within the era; there was no thought of equality, no thought that women could liberate themselves sexually. Stoker uses women in this novel to critique against women’s liberation. We will write a custom essay sample on Different Aspects of Women or any similar topic only for you Order Now Stoker’s portrayal of women makes the novel seem like a fantasy. Women are primarily objects of delicate beauty who occasionally need to be rescued from danger. In the novel Mina Murray is the embodiment of Victorian virtue in which she is loyal, earnest, innocent, and dependent of her husband. Stoker creates another character, Lucy Westenra who is completely opposite of Mina. Lucy is embodies the desire of women who want to liberate themselves. Only Mina shows any considerable strength or resourcefulness. Lucy is primarily two-dimensional victim, picture of perfection who is easy for Dracula to prey upon. Mina is not most noteworthy for her physical beauty like Lucy. Mina’s sexuality remains mysterious throughout the whole novel of Dracula. Even though she gets married, she never gives voice to anything resembling a sexual desire or impulse, which enables her to retain her purity. Stoker creates suspense about whether Mina will be lost like Lucy. Throughout the novel, Mina portrays what women are expected to do in the society. In the beginning of the novel, Lucy is much like Mina. She is a paragon of virtue and innocence, qualities that brings three suitors to her. Lucy differs from Mina in one aspect, she shows her sexuality. Lucy’s physical appearance captivates each of her suitors, and she displays comfort or playfulness about her desirability that Mina never feels. Stoker amplifies this faint whisper of Lucy’s insatiability to a monstrous volume when he describes the undead Lucy as a wonton creature of ravenous sexual appetite. With Stoker’s concern with female chastity and virtue, it is hard to imagine him granting his female characters the degree of sexual freedom. Lucy’s wounds suggest a virgin’s first sexual encounter. She escapes into the night and is penetrated in a way that makes her bleed. â€Å"As she looked, her eyes blazed with unholy light, and the face became wreathed with a voluptuous smile†¦She still advanced, however, and with a anguorous, voluptuous grace, said: ‘Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come! ’ There was something diabolically sweet in her tones— something of the tingling of glass when struck— which rang through the brains even of us who heard the words address ed to another† ( Stoker 227). This threat becomes reality as Lucy, now a blood and sex starved vampire, does her best to lure her fiance into eternal damnation. Lucy is the first to fall under Dracula’s spell because she displays comfort or playfulness about her desirability that Mina does not show. Stoker also describes her as the â€Å"loose† woman, she isn’t conservative as Mina and she loves all the attention from her suitors. Lucy also falls under Dracula’s spell because Dracula has this charm that attracts Lucy making her have strong desire for Dracula. Lucy shows that she has sex appeal and that she has desirability for men; and it made her an easy target for Dracula, knowing she will give in when he approaches her. How to cite Different Aspects of Women, Papers

The Tourism Industry in Hong Kong

Question: Write a research proposal about the relationship of the high expenditure customer satisfaction and retention in a Hong Kong travel agent. Answer: Background of the research The tourisms industry in Hongkong contributes hugely for the growth and development of the economy of the country. It has been calculated that the tourism industry has contributed 5 percent in the GDP of Hong Kong. Two Lac Seventy-one Thousand and Eight hundred people have been employed in the tourism sector and the industry has 7.2% share of the entire employment of the country (Hongkong Tourism: The Facts 2016). Though the industry has experienced certain amount of loss in the in the year 2015 and in the year 2016, yet it continues to be one of the highest revenue gaining sector of the country. With the increase in the tourism sector, the business of the travel agencies and the travel agents also rise accordingly. The Hongkong tourism commission takes necessary and important steps to develop the tourism industry in the country. The commission aims at the development of the new strategies and the policies that will help in the growth of the tourism sector in Hongkong (Wen and Hou 2015). The travel agents have to refer to the commissions for the issue of license when they are growing a new business in the country. The travel agents provide full-proof plan for the customers who plan for tour from Hongkong. The travel agencies at times prepare tour plan as per the demands of the customers (Firth 2012). However, some of the customers who aim for luxury tours approach the agencies that provide them full value for the money. Whereas, it can be seen that sometimes the customers make their own plan. The research will throw light on the rate of customer satisfaction (Spilsbury 2012). The researcher will also evaluate whether the travel agencies are able to satisfy the demands of the customers regarding the tour plans. Research objectives To study the trust factor among the high expenditure customers for the travel agencies To study whether the customers came back to the same travel agency that had earlier provided them with good products To study the relationship between the travel products and the product price with customer satisfaction Research questions Are the customers who aim at high expenditure in travelling trust the travel agencies? Do the customers came back to the same travel agents after being satisfied with a tour or they try other travel agencies? What is the relation between the travel products and the travel price with customer satisfaction? Research aim The main aim of the research is to study the growth of travel agencies in Hongkong and investigate the factors, which drive the customers to take help of the travel agents. In addition to this, the factors that will help in customer satisfaction will be studied that could help retaining more customers by the travel agents. Reasoned justification of the study The tourism industry is growing at a positive rate in Hongkong and simultaneously the competition among the travel agents is rising. In a situation when the competition is string, it is important to measure the customer satisfaction so that the company can take steps to retain the customers. The research will be helpful for the companies to get an idea about the taste and preference of the customers. The feedback will help the company to enhance their products qualities and improve the packages and hence will be helpful in retaining the customers. As the tourism industry in Hongkong is growing, hence the footfall of the international customers is also rising in the country. As the footfall of the customers who are opting for luxury packages is rising, hence it is important to get the feedback of the customers who have interest on the high-priced packages (Peis 2012). The research will evaluate the mentality of the high-end customers and will design the packages in such a manner so that they are able to attract the international as well as the national customers. The primary data will reveal the exact areas that need to be looked into by the company so that they are able to design better products in the future. Limitations of the Study The researcher mainly takes into consideration the customer satisfaction and customer retention after availing the travel packages. The study does not consider the growth of the customer due to the packages. It is true that the retaining the customers are an important part of the business but the companies should also think about the ways of growing the customers. The research does not throw any light on the ways that should be applied by the travel agencies to increase the number of customers for the company (Maxwell 2012). The primary data collection is being based on the customers who have availed the tour packages from one particular company. It might happen that other customers have different perspectives for other travel agencies from where they have availed packages from other companies (Tesch 2013). The researcher does not take the feedback of the customers who have availed the travel packages from other travel agencies. It is a huge setback for the research work. It would have been better if the researcher has taken into consideration other travel agencies to complete the research work (Silverman 2013). The researcher mainly based its research on the customers who opted for high-value products. The customers who have budget tours might have a tough time to decide whether to go for any travel agencies or to plan the tour themselves. When one hand, the high-end customers are important, on the other hand, customers with a tight budget are also important for the companies (Kitchin and Tate 2013). It is important to satisfy the customers with a low budget to make the travel agency famous in the competitive market (Cohen, Manion and Morrison 2013). However, the researcher does not taken to consideration the low budget customers and this can be considered as a limitation for the study. The researcher should have given equal importance to the customers who have a high budget as well as a low budget. Relevant Theme and discipline area The thematic travelling is growing at a steep rate in China. Some of the themes for travel are, driving tour, study tour, eco-tourism, overseas wedding, wellness and medical, sport, cruise and travel photography. Figure: Trade and Public: Interest on themes (Source: Itehk.com 2016) The graph suggests that the public visitors mainly consult the tour agent for travel photography. The demand for travel photography is the highest among all other types of tourisms. The second position is held by eco-tourism and driving tour is just 1% less than the eco-tourism. As the trade visitors are concerned, it does not vary much for the different types of tours. The least demand is for overseas wedding as far as the public visitors are concerned. Thus, the theme of mating for the tour agents will be based in the popularity of the tours. They will do the marketing is such a manner that will be based on travel photography. The theme of the research mainly deals with customer satisfaction and the ways of retaining the customers for the travel agency. The above graph will help the travel agents to decide the type of customers that they should concentrate on to enhance the business of the travel agency. The future researcher could carry out different research works based on the similar topics. The future researchers have the chance of taking into consideration customers who opt for budget tour plans. It is important to think about the customer satisfaction among the customers who have a limited budget while they opt for any tour plans. In addition to this, a research should be carried out to evaluate the ways of increasing the number of customers for a business. The researcher has only taken into consideration one travel agency and then carried out the research work to investigate the theme of customer satisfaction. However, it is important to get the perspectives of the customers who have availed the packages from other travel agencies so that the readers get a better idea of the theme of customer satisfaction and the travel agencies in Hongkong. Initial Theoretical Approach: In order to analyze the different ways of satisfying the customers and the way they can be retained in business there is a need to see the trend of the outbound tourism in the Hong Kong City and apply the theories of customer satisfaction so that more number of customers come to avail the services. Outbound Tourism in Hong Kong City: The Hong Kong city is unique for the outbound tourism market. The country not only has a unique type outbound market but it also avails a convenient platform to tap the growth of the outbound travel of Asian countries and China. The country Hong Kong has the fourth largest market for outbound tourism and is 14th in the world in terms of the tourism expenditure (Li, Song, Cao and Wu 2013). The main reason for a commendable performance in the outbound tourism is due to Hong Kong being a densely populated area and the lack of areas of recreation has made the citizens to invest more on the holidays outside the city Hong Kong (Liu and McKercher 2014). There is a huge spending capacity of the people of Hong Kong, which is reflected from the high GDP per capita. The GDP per capita is the third highest in Asia. The travelling is more convenient for the people of Hong Kong due to the excellent transportation infrastructure and convenient geographical position, which help them to travel abroad . Almost all the people speak English and hold the SAR passport that helps them to visit 40 countries, which would not require any type of visa (Itehk.com 2016). There is no control on the foreign exchange and people by the government of Hong Kong from the leaving the territory (Tsui et al. 2014). This has led to the rise in the pleasure and business travel by the residents of Hong Kong. The outbound departures of Hong Kong were mainly to the Macau, China and other Asian destinations. The international tour and business are dependent upon the city Hong Kong due to the travelling intensity by the people. The location of Hong Kong is unique in the sense that it takes almost five hours of flight journey from almost all the cities of Asia and takes less than two hours to drive from Southern China (Jin and Wang 2015). The affluent market of the consumer is easily accessed by Hong Kong, due to the closest proximity. The closer economic partnership agreement with that of China has provided the travel companies in Hong Kong to avail a preferential treatment in the country China (Luo et al.2015). The outbound travel is better facilitated through the excellent infrastructure. There are almost 1000 flights operating on a daily basis around the world inclusive of the mainland of China. There Asian travelers from the mainland they prefer to transit through Hong Kong City. Opportunities: The citizens of the Hong Kong city they tend to travel on the public holidays like the Christmas, Easter and Chinese New Year. There are approximately 10 to 14 days of leave in a year. The travelling mainly occurs during the summers and national holidays. United States is the favorite destination for travel during the summers. The time when there is maximum holidays avail is during Spring Festival and during National Day Golden Week (Chen et al. 2015). The statistics on travelling on outbound travel from mainland China and Hong Kong would be accounted by Free Independent Travel. The people from China and Hong Kong when they travel to a new location they generally look for a packaged tour as this will help them to see multiple locations at a single point of time (Dai et al .2016). The tours availed are wine country tours, specialty tours like golfing , diving , skiing and horseback riding and shopping tours. Statistical Data on Hong Kong Outbound Tourism: The table helps in showing the expenditure of tourism and departures of the residents in Hong Kong (2012-2014): Table: Departures by the Hong Kong residents and Expenditures of tourism 2012-2014 (Source Export.gov 2016) Outbound Statistics of Hong Kong 2014: Table: Outbound Statistics of Hong Kong (Source Export.gov 2016) Model of Customer Satisfaction: The travel agents to retain the customers would be using the expectancy value theory. As per this theory, this helps in making own judgment about the products, benefits and the outcomes from using the product. The people they would be able to learn to perform the behavior, which would help in to get positive outcomes (Liu, Hong and Li 2013). The overall service quality will be dependent upon the sum of the service attributes. The theory helps in developing a direct link of the purchases made by the customer and satisfaction derived The SERVQUAL Model: The most popular theory of customer satisfaction is the SERVQUAL model. The SERVQUAL model is developed by Zeithaml for measuring the quality of the services in term of five dimensions. The model helps in describing the difference in the customer perception and customer expectation. The five quality dimensions are reliability, assurance, responsiveness , empathy and tangibles (Hsu and Song 2013). This model helps the customers to look into the business and perspective of the customers. Through the closing of the gaps, the information generated for the formulation of the strategies so that there is ensuring of customers expectation on consisted basis. The use of the model is limited to continuous improvement in the developing world when the performance of the business is not related to the innovation and service. The gap in the quality of the service involves when the perception of service is lesser than that of what is expected. The customer satisfaction can be best figured from the SERVQUAL model. The gap that is perceived is many like the expectation of the customer does not match with the travel agents decision, the travel agents they are lacking in finances to enhance the service at the desired level. The gap in the promise and the delivery is also identified through this model (Rong, Vu, Law and Li 2012). Type of data employed: The data in this research will be done based on the primary and the secondary research. The primary data will be collected through the distribution of the questionnaire to 150 customers of the travel agency in Hong Kong. The data will be collected with the random sampling technique. The random sampling technique will be used for conducting the research as this would be less time consuming and there would be less biasness in the results. The primary data will help the travel agent to understand the preferences of the customers whether they are able afford high expenditure on travelling or not. The secondary resources has also considered for the research. The secondary resources has been collected from the website journal, travel blogs, travel magazine and there are certain theories on customer satisfaction and retention strategies that have been analyzed which will be helpful in increasing the amount of customers who would be interested in travelling (Chan, Hsu, and Baum 2015). The se condary research is a convenient way of getting a detailed study on the travel and tourism aspects in the country Hong Kong. The researcher had to collect the secondary data by making payment for getting relevant data. The data collection is time consuming there are many data available and among which the relevant is figured out. Method of data collection The researcher will take into consideration the qualitative and the quantitative data. The secondary data will, act as the qualitative data while the feedback of the customers of will act as the quantitative data (Neuman and Robson 2012). The qualitative data will be in the form of descriptive data that will be available in the online sites (Miller, Birch, Mauthner and Jessop 2012). The researcher will evaluate the descriptive data. The quantitative data will be collected in the form of objective questions obtained from the customers The secondary data will be collected from the online sites where the information regarding the customer satisfactions and the growth of the travel agencies in Hongkong will be mentioned. The researcher will also study the papers that have been presented by the previous researchers (Sarantakos 2012). The previous papers will help the researcher to get an idea about the areas of the topic that have been done and the areas that are left unexplored by the previous researchers. In addition to this, the blog and the online interview of any of the eminent personalities will also act the secondary data. The questionnaires will be sent to the customers through the mail-ids. The customers who are already traveling with the company will be interviewed to get an idea about the customer satisfactions (Green, Camilli and Elmore 2012). The customers will be sorted by evaluating the travel histories. The customers who have either travelled in business class in the flights or have not opted for budget airfares will be taken into consideration. Moreover, the customers who have opted of the high-priced packages or have opted for five-star hotels in the past will be taken to consideration to study the customer satisfaction. Thus, the customers who are opting for high-priced products will be the main participants for the research work and the data will b collected from these population. Data Analysis: The data analysis is done on the information collected through the primary research. The information that is gathered from the primary data is represented in terms of the mathematical models, statistical calculations and pie charts. There will be use of the descriptive statistics for the analysis of the data. The descriptive data will involve using the statistical measures like the standard deviation, median, mean. The hypothesis of the research will be tested through the type I and Type II errors. SPSS software will help in performing the regression and correlation. Regression analysis helps is estimating the relationship among the variables and correlation will help in analyzing whether there is a positive or negative relationship among the variables (Ho, and McKercher 2014). The dependent variables are product, price, and knowledge and brand while the independent variable is customer satisfaction. A multivariate regression analysis will be done using the software. The correlation analysis which variable have a positive and which variable would be negative relationship (Arlt, 2013). The qualitative data that is collected from the different sources will be analyzed through the method of content analysis. There are three type methods under the qualitative methods under content analysis of which summative approach will be done. This would be involving comparison and counting of the content and the keywords. Direction for further research: The research paper can be used as a secondary form of data sources for the future research. There can be a research further on the ways through which the travel agencies they incorporate strategies for further development and increasing the sales of the products. There could be exploring of new areas of research changing in the style of the product or the way of promotion so that more detailed analysis can be made. References: Arlt, W.G., 2013. The second wave of Chinese outbound tourism.Tourism Planning Development,10(2), pp.126-133. Chan, A., Hsu, C.H. and Baum, T., 2015. The Impact of Tour Service Performance on Tourist Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions: A Study of Chinese Tourists in Hong Kong.Journal of Travel Tourism Marketing,32(1-2), pp.18-33. Chen, Y., Schuckert, M., Song, H. and Chon, K., 2015. Why Can Package Tours Hurt Tourists? Evidence from Chinas Tourism Demand in Hong Kong.Journal of Travel Research, p.0047287515612597. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K., 2013.Research methods in education. Routledge. Dai, B., Jiang, Y., Yang, L. and Ma, Y., 2016. China's outbound tourismStages, policies and choices.Tourism Management. Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P.R., 2012.Management research. Sage. Export.gov. (2016).Export.gov - Travel and Tourism. Green, J.L., Camilli, G. and Elmore, P.B., 2012.Handbook of complementary methods in education research. Routledge. Ho, G. and McKercher, B., 2014. A comparison of long-haul and short-haul business tourists of Hong Kong.Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research,19(3), pp.342-355. Hongkong Tourism: The Facts. (2016). 1st ed. Hsu, C.H. and Song, H., 2013. Destination image in travel magazines A textual and pictorial analysis of Hong Kong and Macau. Jin, X. and Wang, Y., 2015. Chinese Outbound Tourism Research A Review.Journal of Travel Research, p.0047287515608504. Kitchin, R. and Tate, N., 2013.Conducting research in human geography: theory, methodology and practice. Routledge. Li, G., Song, H., Cao, Z. and Wu, D.C., 2013. How competitive is Hong Kong against its competitors? An econometric study.Tourism Management,36, pp.247-256. Liu, A. and McKercher, B., 2014. The impact of visa liberalization on tourist behaviorsThe case of China outbound market visiting Hong Kong.Journal of Travel Research, p.0047287514564599. Liu, C.H., Hong, C.Y. and Li, J.F., 2013. An Industry-related Spillover Analysis of the impact of Chinese tourists on the Taiwanese economy.Tourism Management,36, pp.423-425. Luo, J.M., Lam, C.F., Qiu, H. and Fan, D.X., 2015. The Impact of Climate on Outbound Tourism in Hong Kong: Resident's Mode of Transport.Journal of Management and Sustainability,5(2), p.31. Maxwell, J.A., 2012.Qualitative research design: An interactive approach: An interactive approach. Sage. Miller, T., Birch, M., Mauthner, M. and Jessop, J. eds., 2012.Ethics in qualitative research. Sage. Neuman, W.L. and Robson, K., 2012. Basics of social research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Peis, J. (2012).Future trends in conference tourism. Saarbrucken: VDM, Muller. Rong, J., Vu, H.Q., Law, R. and Li, G., 2012. A behavioral analysis of web sharers and browsers in Hong Kong using targeted association rule mining.Tourism Management,33(4), pp.731-740. Sarantakos, S. 2012.Social research. Palgrave Macmillan. Silverman, D., 2013.Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. SAGE Publications Limited. Spilsbury, L. (2012).Travel and tourism. New York: Rosen Central. Tesch, R., 2013.Qualitative research: Analysis types and software. Routledge. Tsui, W.H.K., Balli, H.O., Gilbey, A. and Gow, H., 2014. Forecasting of Hong Kong airport's passenger throughput.Tourism Management,42, pp.62-76.

Nigerian Judiciary and the defence of the common man Essay Example

Nigerian Judiciary and the defence of the common man Essay In line with the doctrine of separation of powers, which is a cardinal feature of a democratic system, the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the independence of the Judiciary. The doctrine of seperation of power was introduced by French political philosopher, Baron de Montesquieu in order to protect the people from dictatorship or authoritarianism. Under this arrangement, three branches of goverment were formed: the executive, legislature and judiciary. The legislature is responsible for making laws, the executive implements while the judiciary interpretes the laws. It was Madisons system of Checks and Balances that would keep the three in check. No one branch would be able to exploit its power without the scrutiny of one of the other branches. Montesquieu did specify that the independence of the judiciary has to be real, and not apparent merely. The judiciary was generally seen as the most important of powers, independent and unchecked, and also considered the least dangerous. That the judiciary all over the world is regarded as the last hope of the common man needs not be over-emphasised. This is why stakeholders in the justice sector often refer to it as a strong fortress, standing sure and strong, providing succour and shelter for the defenceless and vulnerable of the society; a safe haven where the oppressed, the injured, the dismayed, the upstanding, the expectant, indeed the whole society, looks up to for succour, protection and justice. But in Nigeria today, many see this statement, not only as literary expression, but as a cliche that is fast becoming a mirage to the common man because of the multitude of problems plaguing this hallowed instituton. We will write a custom essay sample on Nigerian Judiciary and the defence of the common man specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Nigerian Judiciary and the defence of the common man specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Nigerian Judiciary and the defence of the common man specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer A well functional judiciary is a central element of the civil society. It is the sole adjudicator over the political, social and economic spheres. But despite the encomiums the Nigerian judiciary has received in recent time, the justice sector has practically collapsed under the weight of abject neglect by past administrations. The sector is slow in dispensing justice. Laws are archaic and antiquated, court infrastructures are obsolete and the prisons are over-crowded resulting in the collapsed of civil and criminal justice system. The Nigerian judiciary has come a long way since its establishment during the colonial era. The Nigerian legal system has had a lot of influence from English law on its growth. According to Obilade (1979), English law has a tremendous influence on the Nigerian legal system, and English law forms a substantial part of Nigerian law. Both the suspended 1979 constitution and the never implemented 1989 constitutions, as well as the new constitution promulgated on May 29, 1999 provide for an independent judiciary. In practice, the judiciary is subject to executive and legislative branch pressure, influence by political leaders at both the state and federal levels, and suffers from corruption and inefficiency. Under the 1999 constitution, the regular court system comprises federal and state trial courts, state appeals courts, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Supreme Court, and Shariah (Islamic) and customary (traditional) courts of appeal for each state and for the federal capital territory of Abuja. Courts of the first instance include magistrate or district courts, customary or traditional courts, Shariah courts, and for some specified cases, the state high courts. In principle, customary and Shariah courts have jurisdiction only if both plaintiff and defendant agree, but fear of legal costs, delays, and distance to alternative venues encourage many litigants to choose these courts. Trials in the regular court system are public and generally respect constitutionally protected individual rights, including a presumption of innocence, the right to be present, to confront witnesses, to present evidence, and to be represented by legal counsel. However, low compensation for judges, understaffing, poor equipment, bribery, special settlements, and a host of developmental factors decrease the reliability and impartiality of the courts. The Nigerian judiciary has indeed come a long way and has evolved over the years from the 1st republic through the various military interventions to the present 5th republic. The judiciary has not been immune to the turbulent and capricious changes in leadership. Nigerias chequerd political and social evolution has indeed taken its toll on this indispensable institution of Government. Our prolonged romance with military regimes has unarguably wrecked the greatest havoc on the judiciary. The military regimes, notorious for their trademark of arbitrariness, authoritarianism and contempt for the rule of law did not regard the judiciary as an arm of government. Instead, these corrupt and unconscionable military regimes with intimidation and inducements manipulated the judiciary and effectively debased this institution. The decay of the Nigerian judiciary can therefore be traced to the military era. The soldiers always suspend the constitution when they come to power and enact decrees that guide their actions. Intimidation, extra judicial killings and assasination of dissenters which is usually the hallmark of military government all contributed to the castration and destruction of the judiciary. The massive corruption that takes place under military regime also lures some unscrupulous and rapacious judicial officers who make themselves stooges in the hands of the evil men in power just for a share of the filthy lucre. So, the military rule has had a particularly corrosive effect on the judiciary. As Justice Agboola recently put it: The aberration of military regimes dealt a dangerous blow to law because military regimes engendered lawlessness. You cannot have law when sombody is above the law. Law must be supreme. Nigeria, as a country has not lived up to the expectations of her founders in terms of overall development in different aspects of life. Nigeria is still bedevilled by various problems which has successfully impeded our adancement as a nation. Corruption is generally regarded as the bane of this country. Corrution at the different levels of government in different institutions has curtailed development in all critical sectors. Basic amenities like steady electricity, water and good roads are still beyond the reach of the citizenry. Free and fair elections have eluded us and power is still in the hands of a few privileged elite class who continue to manipulate the electoral process to install their stooges to continue the cycle of self enrichment and political aggrandizement. Corruption is indeed endemic in Nigeria; it is a way of life and in this situation, one would be stretching optimism to its greatest boundaries to expect the judiciary to be above board. With the pervasve and chronic corruption in this country and its evil offsprings: opportunism, nepotism, incompetence and mediocrity, no institution of government is wholly functional and efficient. Corrution has infiltrated all institutions and parastatals and even our learned judges are not immune. In a corrupt system like ours, meritocracy and competence are substituted with mediocrity and incompetence. A corrupt system throws up unscrupulous and incompetent individuals who are bereft of selflessness and patriotism. These individuals are greeedy and selfish, and are susceptible to financial inducements and gratifications. In such an unfortunate scenario, justice becomes a product which is sold to the highest bidders. The comon man, who do not have the finacial muscle to buy judicial favors or manipulate the process is left with the short end of the stick. In such an ill-concieved system, there certainly can be no justice for the commin man. The return of Nigeria to democatic rule was heralded by great joy and overflowing optimism. The Nigerian masses were full of hope that the years of suffering, poverty and injustice were over. The newly sworn in administration made mouth watering promises. We were told that our decaying infrastrucures will be revamped, that the educational and health system will be refurbished and upgraded, that there will be masive industrialization which will create jobs for the swarm of unemployed youths. The new government also promised to address the numerous human rights abuses of the autocratic military regimes and to respect the rule of law. Nigerians gullibly swallowed all the lofty promises and with high hopes, prepared themselves for the ride to the promised land. Alas, the implementation of the sweet promises proved not to only be an ardous task, but an impossible one. The first indication that the status quo was not about to change in the judicial system was the failure of the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa panel which was set up to investigate and resolve cases of human rights abuse during the military era. Victims attended the hearings and passionately presented their cases. But the various individuals, especially the ex military rulers indicted, snubbed the panel and refused to answer the summons. The government did nothing to make these people respect the panel which really undermined the credibility of the panel. Obviously, the hands of the government was tied because some of the indicted individuals bankrolled the campaign of the sitting president. At the end of the hearings, the renowned Justice Oputa and his colleagues made recommendations to the government which it contemptuously ignored and failed to implement till this day. Another case that comes to mind is that of the Apo 6 victims. These were 5 young men and a lady who were brutally murdered in cold blood on 7th june,2005 on the orders of a ruthless senior poice officer, Assistant commissioner of police Ibrahim Danjuma. At the time, the case generated much controversy and outrage. The police officers tried to lie by labelling the innocent victims armed robbers. These accusations were unanimously rejected by people who knew these young men as honest men engaged in legitimate business. Owing to the furore generated by the massacre, the federal government under former president Olusegun Obasanjo set up a judicial panel of inquiry which investigated the circumstances leading to the death of the victims. The panel rejected the police accusations and indicted the policemen for the gruesome murder of the innocent citizens. The federal government apologized to the families of the victims and gave them monetary compensation. The case was then transferred to court for the prosecution of the indicted police officers. One would expect that given the international attention attracted by the case and the intense media scrutiny, that the federal government would spare no efforts to ensure a expeditious and sound trial. Unfortunately, that was not the case, a year and two months after this welter of incontrovertible evidence was gathered, two of the accused, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Danjuma and Police Constable Emmanuel Acheneje were granted bail by Justice Isaq Bello of Abuja High Court. That was on Wednesday, August 2, 2006. The two were admitted to bail on medical ground. While Danjuma was said to be suffering from diabetes, ulcer and heart problem, Acheneje was said to have contracted the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and in the Justices opinion, granting Bello bail would enable him seek adequate medical treatment while that of Acheneje was predicated on the excuse that he could afflict other inmates with other ailments, which come with HIV/AIDS. And you would have thought that if for any reason whatsoever, such a man standing trial for so dreadful a crime was to be granted bail, the conditions would be so stringent, particularly bearing in mind that Danjuma had made several attempts in the past to escape from detention and also the fact that one of the principal suspects, Othman Abdulsalam, the DPO of Garki Police Station at the time the crime was committed escaped from the police detention facility and is still on the run. The case narrated above is just one of numerous cases in which average citizens are denied justice and the privileged are allowed to commit crimes with impunity. I am sure that there are cases that are far worse than this, but this one happened to come to limelight. The situation in Nigeria today is that the ordinary man has lost hope in the Nigerian judicial system. The problems are numerous and apart from corrruption, which is clearly at the root of all problems in this country, the system is run by unpatriotic and mediocre people. Approximately seventy percent of the inmates in all the prisons in this country are awaiting trial. The judicial process is so tardy and sluggish in this country that some people serve out the term of their alleged crimes before the completion of their trials. The case is even worse for poor people who may not be able to afford legal representation. The Nigerian prison system is a mess and the conditions in most of them are worse than that in Hitlers concentration camps. The police have no respect for the rule of law and ordinary citizens are sometimes treated like animals. Sometimes, people arrested for various crimes are held in police detention for extensive periods of time without reference to the stipulations of the law book for the maximum period people can be detained without trial. The police force being one of the most corrupt institutions in this country also exploits the masses blatantly by charging outrageous fees for bail and demanding financial inducements from the weak and desperate. Most analysts and stakeholders have concluded that unnecessary and frequent delays experienced in judicial proceedings have great adverse effects on the administration of justice in Nigeria. This situation is brought about by the congestion of cases in the courts as well as unnecessary adjournments sought by counsels in both civil and criminal proceedings. Recently, eminent jurist, Justice Chukwufudi Oputa, (JSC) identified delay and huge expense as twin weaknesses of Nigerias justice system. Justice Oputa said: The administration of the justice in our courts suffers from two major constraints, namely delay and expense. If it takes seven to ten years to decide a case, prospective litigants may decided not to go to court at all. But the one thing that frightens prospective litigants from the court is the inordinate expense which has to be incurred with the result that a very large proportion of our countrymen are as it were, priced out of our legal system. The present administration of President Umaru go slow Yaradua which made lofty promises of respecting the rule of law has failed to live up to expectations. There has been no reforms designed nor implemented in this institution and the status quo has been maintained. The rich are still sheltered from justice and there are still cases of judicial witch hunt. This is evidenced by the shabby handling by the EFCC of the prosecution of the corrupt ex-governors like James Ibori. The Federal government if anything has gone out of its way to protect these corrupt politicians fro the hands of justice. We all watched with shame as the Attorney general succesfully frustrated the prosecution of Ibori and his accomplices by the United kingdom. such a macabre dance can only make credible nations to scoff at the governments anti-corruption battle and further distance themselves from this cursed land. It is well known that there are two sets of rules in this country,one for the poor and another for the rich and privileged. The only area in our judicial system where we have recorded marginal success is in the election petition tribunals although it can be argued that this does not directly apply to the common man, because in most cases,the litigators are affluent members of the society. Nevertheless, this piece cannot be complete without mentioning the landmark judgements that has come out of the election tribunals in recent times. The success of Gov peter Obi at the electoral tribunals and his subsequent reinstatement by the supreme court is worthy of mention. Also, the victory of Adams Oshiomole was also remarkable given the fact that he was clearly elected on a popular mandate. Some other noteworthy judgements were bastardized by the sleazy and stinking INEC, Nigerians corrupt electoral body notorious for being an appendage of the ruling peoples democratic party. This is evidenced by the cases in Kogi,Enugu and most recently, Ekiti where the gubernatorial elections were upturned only for the shameless electoral umpire to reenact the same electoral sham. Lately, Nigeria once again made mockery of itself in the international community following the mayhem that occured in some northern states during the crash of the radical islamic sect, Boko harem with security agencies. The leader of the sect was captured and killed in police custody igniting widespread international condemnation. It is indeed, very unfortunate and distressing that in the year 2009, when less endowed countries are making progress and undergoing widespread advancement, Nigeria is still indulging in extrajudicial killing. No matter the magnitude of the crime committed, every individual is entitled to fair hearing. All accused remain innocent until convicted by a legitimate court of law. This is a basic knowlege and for the police force to disregard that shows that we still have a very long wy to go as a country. In conclusion, the fate of the common man in the hands of the Nigerian judiciary is bleak and forlorn. Infact, there is no justice for the common man in our present judicial system. The judicial system needs to be completely overhauled for it to function in line with international standards. Of course, reforming the judicial system cannot be effective without overhauling the police force which is in an even worse shape. We have to purge this country of corruption for us to make any tangible progress in this regard. We need responsible, honest and committed leadership and only a credible electoral process can produce that. Only a responsible and selfless government can implement people-oriented reforms which will impact on the various institutions in this country including the judiciary so that they can function in line with the prevailing standards in developed countries. Till then, the fate of the common man in this country remains in Gods hands.

Free Essays on Vocational Education

Since the early 1990's vocational education and training in schools has become progressively established and now accounts for a significant number of Year 11 and 12 students. While most of the effort has been in developing programs that fit within the curriculum and assessment framework provided by State Boards of Study and Accrediting Agencies, a new direction has been fostered by the policy initiative of the Commonwealth under the New Apprenticeships banner. At the heart of this is the notion of accredited, part-time, paid training being undertaken during the final years of senior schooling. This has generated both skepticism and approval, has in some ways re-ignited the debate over general versus vocational education, and might inexorably be changing the face of post-compulsory education. The rationale for extending traineeships and apprenticeships into senior schooling revolves around improving the access of young people to training and employment. Against a national decline in the uptake of apprenticeships and traineeships for 15-19 year olds to 55% in 1996 (see MacDonald 1998, p 29), and a significant decline in employment opportunities for the same cohort, the New Apprenticeships policy initiative seeks to both expand the number of places and to increase the range of industries offering training. By making the system less complex, it is expected that New Apprenticeships will be better understood and hence be more likely to be used by industry. By making entry-level training available as part of senior schooling, it is anticipated that training and employment opportunities will be increased, school-based learning will be more attuned to industry needs and industry will better understand the potential benefits of working with them. Despite extensive marketing of New Apprenticeships the uptake, in terms of numbers of current senior secondary students engaged in school-based or part-time programs is comparatively low. It is estimat... Free Essays on Vocational Education Free Essays on Vocational Education Since the early 1990's vocational education and training in schools has become progressively established and now accounts for a significant number of Year 11 and 12 students. While most of the effort has been in developing programs that fit within the curriculum and assessment framework provided by State Boards of Study and Accrediting Agencies, a new direction has been fostered by the policy initiative of the Commonwealth under the New Apprenticeships banner. At the heart of this is the notion of accredited, part-time, paid training being undertaken during the final years of senior schooling. This has generated both skepticism and approval, has in some ways re-ignited the debate over general versus vocational education, and might inexorably be changing the face of post-compulsory education. The rationale for extending traineeships and apprenticeships into senior schooling revolves around improving the access of young people to training and employment. Against a national decline in the uptake of apprenticeships and traineeships for 15-19 year olds to 55% in 1996 (see MacDonald 1998, p 29), and a significant decline in employment opportunities for the same cohort, the New Apprenticeships policy initiative seeks to both expand the number of places and to increase the range of industries offering training. By making the system less complex, it is expected that New Apprenticeships will be better understood and hence be more likely to be used by industry. By making entry-level training available as part of senior schooling, it is anticipated that training and employment opportunities will be increased, school-based learning will be more attuned to industry needs and industry will better understand the potential benefits of working with them. Despite extensive marketing of New Apprenticeships the uptake, in terms of numbers of current senior secondary students engaged in school-based or part-time programs is comparatively low. It is estimat...

Jury-rigged vs. Jerry-rigged

Jury-rigged vs. Jerry-rigged Jury-rigged vs. Jerry-rigged Jury-rigged vs. Jerry-rigged By Maeve Maddox A reader asks to know the difference between jury-rigged and jerry-rigged. Of the two, the older term is jury-rigged, a nautical term dating from the days of sail. Because they were often damaged in storms, sailing ships carried a spare mast called the jury-mast. Apart from scholarly speculation, the etymology of jury in this context is unknown. The jury-mast was like a spare tire, to be used only in an emergency and replaced by the real thing as soon as possible. The adjective jury-rigged came to be applied to anything intended to be of temporary use. Here are some examples of the term in current usage: Andrew Gill, had coolly waited for the weather to calm down after his vessel lost its mast and communications equipment in rough weather, and then jury-rigged a sail to get him to his destination.- SailWorld, 2012 Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to  jury-rig  the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to  Earth  on April 17.- Princeton University site. A second expression that is earlier than jerry-rigged is jerry-built. As with the jury in jury-rigged, the origin of the jerry in jerry-built remains a mystery. First (1881) came the term jerry-builder: It is unfortunately too often the habit of builders- or rather jerry builders- to use the worst possible description of bricks. A jerry-builder was a contractor who put up shoddy houses for a quick sale. The first citation for the adjective jerry-built to describe shoddily built houses is dated 1869. Here are two recent examples of the use of jerry-built: In their need for access to varied sources of employment and cheap housing, immigrants were restricted to decaying or jerry-built housing.- The American Landscape, Stephen F. Mills, Routledge, 2013   Central to nearly all the semi-abstract paintings in â€Å"With a Tug and a Hold† are what appear to be architectural structures, or fragments of the built environment: a jerry-built wood shack here, a bit of metal scaffolding there.- The Washington Post, 2012. â€Å"Jerry-rigged† conflates â€Å"jury-rigged† with â€Å"jerry-built.† In American usage, jerry-rigged refers to something devised or repaired with materials at hand. Here are some examples: Our presentation was jerry-rigged because we hadn’t been able to get the software to work correctly in time.- The Accidental Millionaire, Gary Fong, BenBella Books, 2009. With the Afghan army also lagging in explosives experts, its members often resort to jerry-rigged tactics to locate and defuse IEDs, officials say.- The Washington Post, 2014 It was the very definition of jerry-rigged: She’d cut some slits in the back of a gel skin phone cover that would serve as credit card slots, taped a piece of cardboard on as a makeshift cover, and added a string to form a wristlet.- Huffington Post, 2014 Frustratingly, in this case, my attempt to use my iPad as a jerry-rigged solution has actually  created  problems I didn’t have before.  - MIT Technology Review, 2012. Although not in either the OED or Merriam-Webster, the verb to Macgyver is used with a similar meaning by some speakers: to Macgyver: to invent useful devices from ordinary materials. A device or mechanical solution created by Macgyvering is a Macgyverism. The words derive from the name of Angus MacGyver, a television character noted for his ability to resolve dangerous problems by non-violent means. Instead of a gun, this hero carries duct tape and a Swiss Army knife. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Slang Terms for Money35 Genres and Other Varieties of Fiction30 Words for Small Amounts

Financial Report and Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Report and Analysis - Research Paper Example In 2012, it was ranked as the 2nd largest firm in terms of number of employees around which are around 435,000 globally, the 4th biggest firm in terms of market capitalization, the 9th most profitable company and the 19th in the list of highest revenue generating business. It has 12 laboratories and the company has on its credit record for creating the most patents for the consecutive 20 years. Overall industry sales are increasing globally since 2013. In the current year 2013-2014 sales are expected to increase by 6.5% and in the next year growth are expected to reach 7.5%. The expected growth rate is higher than the growth rate in the last two years that are 5.5% in 2012 and 0.4% in 2011. The impact of these expectations will definitely have positive impacts on the company in terms of growth in sales revenue and high profits as well as healthy cash flows (Stephen, 2013). There is a continuous decline in the sales revenue since last two years. It has gone down by 2% in 2012 and 4.55% in 2013. This decline is in contrast with the industry expectations mentioned above. The chairman of the company in her report to shareholders mentioned the reason for the decline that there in an adverse movement in the currency exchanges because it is operating in more than 170 countries around the world. Especially, there is a sharp decline of 4.2% in the revenue from Global Technology Services and 1olost 19% decline in revenue from Systems and Technology (IBM, 2013). In total, the net profit has declined by $121 millions in 2013 representing fall of 0.73%, but there is a continuous improvement in the net profit ratio since 2011. It has increased from 12.48% to 15.89% in 2012 and 16.52% in 2013. This year to year improvement is due to the effective controls over administrative expense for instance in total they decreased by $51 millions in 2013 as compared to last year, whereas, cost of sales is reasonably consistent as indicated by consistency in the gross profit

Answer the question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 27

Answer the question - Essay Example This can be achieved through integrating technology with other courses in the curriculum or enabling them to apply technological concepts in their day to day living. When we refer to reforms in the curriculum, this should be one of the most important which is necessitated by the changing trends and innovation. The use of modern technology in education is a motivating factor to the students because they can relate to their daily usage of such applications and also promotes performance, efficiency and accuracy in learning. As a result of these reforms there is excellence movements and academic performance of student in school such as increase in number of teachers graduating, establishing minimal competency standards for both teachers and students and trying teacher accountability to standardize test scores. In my opinion, this was a very creative way of engaging the students to use applications in their assignment. This was a great way for a teacher to incorporate technology into the classroom. Not only did they assimilate technology into the assignments, but they also used technology that students are familiar with and enjoy using. I think incor porating technology and other things students use in the modern society will help them feel more involved and engaged in life and motivate them to do

Bizumic’s work Essay Example for Free

Bizumic’s work Essay Mladen Bizumic was born in Yugoslavia and is considered as a promising multi-disciplinary mix media artist. Receiving art education from the University of Auckland, he has had a number of successful exhibits in Australia, the most recent of which with the Sue Crockford Gallery in Auckland (â€Å"Mladen Bizumic†, 2009). In his 2007 exhibit in the Physics Room Gallery, Bizumic presents cinematic hybrids from the Jean-Luc Godard’s 1967 film Weekened in conjunction with The Rolling Stones’ song Under My Thumb. The juxtaposition of the two works provided insights on the conceptualization of progressive society and how the changing social standards can impact the relationship of an individual with tohers and the space of their context or existence. In the his show for the Sue Crockfrod Gallery, Bizumic’s work shows greater incorporation of space which can be challenging viewers to experience the artist’s work as an element of the said space. However, this is not to imply that the artist has limited traditional visual or aesthetic appeal, in fact the Bizumic’s work can be an effective transition towards more modern art styles. His work are studies in the relationships of â€Å"subjectivity and representation, physical locations and psychological states, notions of memory and the experience of displacement† (â€Å"Mladen Bizumic†, 2007, para 1). There is a realization of the power of media and technology in Bizumic’s work and how it has become as a medium of expression. Viewing Bizumic’s work, viewers are being engaged and are challenged to make realization about regarding unconscious elements of human production and imagination. More than anything else, what is most appealing as well as promising about Bizumic’s work is that though it is distinctly forward, it does not rely on shock and awe to establish it modernistic identity but really positive represents a good example of what the new crop of artists has to offer. References Mladen Bizumic (2007). Gallery Exhibits 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2010 from http://www. physicsroom. org. nz/gallery/2007/bizumic/ Mladen Bizumic (2009). Artnews. Org. Retrieved January 15, 2010 from http://artnews. org/artist. php? i=4668 Mladen Bizumic (2009). Sue Crockford Gallery. Retrieved January 15, 2010 from http://www. suecrockford. com/artists/biography. asp? aid=29

Management and Leadership Essay -- Manager Business Leading Essays Lea

Management and Leadership Within the organizational structure of most businesses you will likely find management and leadership coexisting. Commonly, the words are often substituted for one another. However, each word has a distinctly different definition. A manager does not necessarily make a good manager. Management is defined as those individuals in an organization that have the authority and the responsibility to manage the organization through the control of production processes and ensuring that they operate efficiently and effectively. Leadership is defined as the skills and ability to set future goals in accordance with the organizational goals and to communicate those goals to other employees in such a way that they voluntarily and harmoniously work together to accomplish those goals for the benefit of the organization. In this paper, I will differentiate between management and leadership. Any organization needs to be managed, even a one-person company has to be managed. A manager has four key responsibilities: 1) planning, 2) organizing, 3) leading, and 4) controlling. Management can also be defined as the function that determines how the organization?s human, financial, physical, informational, and technical resources are arranged and coordinated to perform tasks towards achievement of strategic goals. Leadership implies that the manager has fundamental knowledge about critical processes. A leader is focused on ensuring the creation of strategies, systems, and methods for achieving excellence and building knowledge and capabilities. Leaders are focused more on creating an enthusiastic work environment for all of a company?s employees. In other words leadership is to help people do a better job through coaching, facilitating, and by creating environments that support the aim of the organization. Leadership is the ability of a manager to train employees, remove institutional roadblocks, and empower employees. (Stern and Kren, 2002). The common thread in differentiating between management and leadership seems to be that management is more involved with monitoring the details of the daily operations and leadership is about invoking the changes necessary to continuously move towards an organization?s vision. I have also found that in all of the success stories read, the common points are that the leaders took a different approach into the... ... successful. I attribute the main reason to the fact that they are in control of the reward along with the recognition. In summary, management is about control through a series of control mechanisms and although leadership is one of the four principles of management, leadership is a combination of personal traits and skills that directly affects the opinions and attitudes of people, leading to changes in behavior. A person can be an effective manager but that does not necessarily make that person an effective leader. Leadership is about insight towards the future and helping individual employees and groups of employees to accept uncertainty, because they have confidence that the leader will provide solutions to any problems that may arise. References Stern, Kenneth and Kren, Lawrence (2004, December 9). Machine design. Know and grow. Retrieved January 17, 2005, from University of Phoenix Online, ProQuest Database Website: http://web22.epnet.com/externalframe. asp?tb=1&_ug=sid+553EA1C5%2D2133%2D4C4D%2D976B%2D01F560CA7714%40sessionmgr4+dbs+aph%2Cf5h%2Cbuh%2Cawh%2Cufh+cp+1+6C31&_us=hs+False+or+Date+ss+SO+sm+KS+sl+%2D1+dstb+KS+ri+KAAACBSC00041487+ED56&_uso=tg%5B0+%2D+db Management and Leadership Essay -- Manager Business Leading Essays Lea Management and Leadership Within the organizational structure of most businesses you will likely find management and leadership coexisting. Commonly, the words are often substituted for one another. However, each word has a distinctly different definition. A manager does not necessarily make a good manager. Management is defined as those individuals in an organization that have the authority and the responsibility to manage the organization through the control of production processes and ensuring that they operate efficiently and effectively. Leadership is defined as the skills and ability to set future goals in accordance with the organizational goals and to communicate those goals to other employees in such a way that they voluntarily and harmoniously work together to accomplish those goals for the benefit of the organization. In this paper, I will differentiate between management and leadership. Any organization needs to be managed, even a one-person company has to be managed. A manager has four key responsibilities: 1) planning, 2) organizing, 3) leading, and 4) controlling. Management can also be defined as the function that determines how the organization?s human, financial, physical, informational, and technical resources are arranged and coordinated to perform tasks towards achievement of strategic goals. Leadership implies that the manager has fundamental knowledge about critical processes. A leader is focused on ensuring the creation of strategies, systems, and methods for achieving excellence and building knowledge and capabilities. Leaders are focused more on creating an enthusiastic work environment for all of a company?s employees. In other words leadership is to help people do a better job through coaching, facilitating, and by creating environments that support the aim of the organization. Leadership is the ability of a manager to train employees, remove institutional roadblocks, and empower employees. (Stern and Kren, 2002). The common thread in differentiating between management and leadership seems to be that management is more involved with monitoring the details of the daily operations and leadership is about invoking the changes necessary to continuously move towards an organization?s vision. I have also found that in all of the success stories read, the common points are that the leaders took a different approach into the... ... successful. I attribute the main reason to the fact that they are in control of the reward along with the recognition. In summary, management is about control through a series of control mechanisms and although leadership is one of the four principles of management, leadership is a combination of personal traits and skills that directly affects the opinions and attitudes of people, leading to changes in behavior. A person can be an effective manager but that does not necessarily make that person an effective leader. Leadership is about insight towards the future and helping individual employees and groups of employees to accept uncertainty, because they have confidence that the leader will provide solutions to any problems that may arise. References Stern, Kenneth and Kren, Lawrence (2004, December 9). Machine design. Know and grow. Retrieved January 17, 2005, from University of Phoenix Online, ProQuest Database Website: http://web22.epnet.com/externalframe. asp?tb=1&_ug=sid+553EA1C5%2D2133%2D4C4D%2D976B%2D01F560CA7714%40sessionmgr4+dbs+aph%2Cf5h%2Cbuh%2Cawh%2Cufh+cp+1+6C31&_us=hs+False+or+Date+ss+SO+sm+KS+sl+%2D1+dstb+KS+ri+KAAACBSC00041487+ED56&_uso=tg%5B0+%2D+db

Effectiveness Of Leadership At Mcdonalds Management Essay Essay

I had the opportunity of working at a McDonald’s chain of restaurants after completion of my undergraduate studies. I was able to observe the role played by members of a team, their team work and leadership of the Manager of the restaurant. I would like to analyse the leadership styles practiced, evaluate the effectiveness of leadership at McDonald’s restaurant and make recommendations indicating how leadership and team work can go hand in hand to improve the performance of the organisation. The first McDonald’s opened its doors to customers in the UK in 1974. Currently, over 2. 5 million people in the UK place their trust in McDonald, expecting that the multinational would provide them with food of a high standard, quick service and value for money. Models and theories that will be discussed in the later portions of this essay are Adair’s Leadership Model and Maslow’s theory of hierarchy which will be applied to McDonald’s. Leadership styles such as autocratic, democratic and persuasive are also discussed to find out which of the three is the ideal model for McDonald’s. A team is a collection of individuals who are interdependent in their tasks, who share responsibility for outcomes, who see themselves and who are seen by others as an intact social entity embedded in one or more larger social systems (for example, business unit or the corporation), and who manage their relationships across organisational boundaries (Susan Cohen and Diane Bailey, 1997). A team is defined as a small number of people, with a set of performance goals, who have a commitment to a common purpose and an approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (Katzenbach & Smith 1993). There are several factors that influence the success of a team. Team members must have the required skills and attitudes and must create an ambience in which everyone can work with devotion. There should be transparency within the team which is possible if there is effective system of communication between all members. All members of the team must have set responsibilities and must be aware of what is expected from them. In this way all members of the team will be accountable. All members must have harmonising skills and must coordinate among themselves to eliminate any uncertainties or reservations. Members of a team must genuinely appreciate the efforts of fellow members. An effective leader is one who does the right things. Leaders can effectively develop and lead teams if they have the ability to create and communicate a vision what the organization should be. They should have the ability to communicate with and gain the support of all team members. They should have the perseverance to head in the desired direction under bad conditions and create the suitable culture to obtain the needed results. Levine, R. (2000) is of the opinion that leaders need to focus on moving people and organisations forward by increasing the competency of staff and the co-operation of teams in order to improve the organisation. Leadership is related to motivation, interpersonal behaviour and the process of communication. Leadership is important in attempting to reduce employee dissatisfaction (Crow M. 995). The responsibilities of the Restaurant Manager or the team leader at McDonald’s are to set targets, plan budgets, maintain and control stock, recruit, train and motivate a team, create and drive marketing campaigns and build and foster customer relations. Leaders ate McDonald’s restaurants do not lay down any fixed rules on how quickly individuals of a team can progress. Opportunities are given to team members to become managers if they perform well. For this to happen, the crew member must contribute to the success of the team. The management style adopted by team leaders at McDonald’s is to create outlets which are fun places to work. This is called â€Å"team-building†. Leaders at McDonald’s foster accountability and understand the social responsibility culture and incorporate these activities into their businesses. In fact the team leaders have all the characteristics that were used by Stogdill (1950) to define leadership. The characteristic include: traits, behaviour, influence, interaction patterns, role relationships and occupation of an administrative position; articulating visions (e. g.  Bill Gates), embodying values and creating environment for the things that can be accomplished; entities that perform one or more acts of leading; the ability to affect human behaviour so as to accomplish a mission and Influencing a group of people to move towards its goal setting or goal achievement. (Stogdill, 1950) The McDonalds Model is that of Adair’s Model which is called action-centred leadership. This is a constructive model according to which the leader inspires others by their own enthusiasm, commitment and the ability to communicate enthusiasm to people (Adair, 1993). Teams were developed by team leaders so that a common task could be accomplished. Adair (1993) identifies three different approaches to leadership which can be called leadership functions (1) accomplishing the task, (2) maintaining the team and (3) meeting the individual needs of the team members. Adair believes that leaders are not born but emerge from situations. The leader who emerges can adopt any ‘style of leadership’ that warrants the situation. According to Adair a leader is one who has certain innate characteristics which are required to perform his/her role. A leader according to him must have personality and character. Adair quotes Harold Macmillian, â€Å"that a man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of man that nobody trusts†. His leader must have integrity, a wholeness and a moral sense. According to Adair, the three functions of meeting the demands of the task, maintaining the team and meeting the needs of individual team members must be kept in balance and none of them should be neglected. The team leader areas of responsibility must include qualities and competencies such as (a) to behave with the highest level of authenticity and integrity by building a trusting relationship with all team members; (b) to be committed fully to the development of the team; (c) to be open and communicate, but must practice good listening skills; (d) be willing to share perceptions, assumptions and views openly with team members; and (e) to allow team members to work independently but in a self-organised manner. Team leaders must take time required to do the work and support team’s efforts and also reflect on its actions. They must maintain and practice accountability and at the same time have a good working relationship with the team members. They should always be ready to monitor and evaluate how the team functions. They should clearly state the purpose of work without being ambiguous or complex. They must try to experiment and share experiences without blame. They should also provide coaching and mentoring support to the team (Barry Stevenson, 2004). The organizational structure of McDonald’s Corporation is centralised but that of its retail outlets is different. In McDonald’s outlets the employees work as a team to ensure that customers’ requirements are taken care of in a short period of time. Besides the manager the rest are all attendants who take orders and deliver as fast as they can. There is division of labour among members of the organisation, and the co-ordination of their activities are directed towards the goals and objectives of the organisation. Structure is the pattern of relationships among positions in the organisation and among members of the organisation. Structure makes possible the application of the process of management and creates a framework of order and command through which the activities of the organisation can be planned, organised, directed and controlled. Structure defines tasks and responsibilities, work roles and relationships, and channels of communication (Mullins and Laurie. J, 2008). At McDonald’s the span of control of the manager is narrow. The span of control refers to the number of subordinates working under the supervisor. So if there are five subordinates working under the supervisor or manager, the span of control is five. If the span of control is narrow there are certain advantages (Jenkins and Tessa, 2000). One of the merits is that there is tight control over subordinates and the manager is able to closely supervise the daily operations resulting in better co-ordination. Managers have time to think and plan and they are not burdened with too many problems. A narrow span of control reduces delegation and managers are able to do more work. On the contrary, a flat organisation implies a wide span of control. Theorists are of the opinion that tall organisation structures are inefficient, despite the advantage of a narrow span of control (Robbins, Stephen P, 2007). One can learn to use leadership approaches to develop high-performing teams and individuals at McDonalds. Team leaders were aware of the importance of team building and used suitable tools and techniques to help teams reach their full potential. McDonalds Crew Members are responsible for customer service, food preparation and cleanliness and hygiene. Crew members will be asked to work in any of these areas depending on the individual’s preferences. I worked as a Customer Service Crew member and my job entailed taking orders and delivering meals to customers at the counter. I learnt to be courteous and polite as I was responsible for maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction. The responsibility of the Food Preparation Crew Members was to prepare and cook McDonald’s menu. The teams are self managed and all team or crew member works with team spirit. There is a sense of respect for each other. However it can be said that most crew members do not understand the organisation strategy as they do not have access to this information. The communication between crew members is informal which enables every individual to maintain good harmony within retail outlets. The crew members at McDonald’s are committed because their needs are met by the team leadership. The leadership has developed an ideal and committed team which can be easily motivated. A committed and motivated team is always successful. Larson and LaFasto (1989) studied to understand the characteristics of successful teams and found that all the highly effective teams always had the characteristics such as a clear, elevating goal, a result-driven structure, competent team members, unified commitment, a collaborative climate, standards of excellence external support and recognition as well as principled leadership (Larson and LaFasto, 1989). From this finding it is evident that effective teamwork has a strong relationship with motivation. According to Maslow’s theory the hierarchy of human needs are classified into five levels. This theory advocates that the higher level needs of an individual will become motivating factors only when the lower level ones are satisfied. The five levels starting from the lowest hierarchy to the highest level, are: Physiological – At McDonald’s the motivating factors of the crew members are salary, over time, daily lunch/meal and transportation facilities. Safety – The next important factor is safety which includes elements such as job security, medical insurance and sick leave. Social – There is very good interaction among crew members and customers. This has resulted in excellent teamwork. Self-esteem – Crew members are motivated as the team leader/manager has full confidence in their abilities. They have reputation because of the McDonald’s brand equity. They are recognised and appreciated by fellow colleagues, subordinates, and supervisors. Self-actualization – The crew member reach their full potential when all his needs are taken care off (Maslow, 1987). The disadvantage that I observed was that subordinates are unable to make any decision. They have to always obey and listen to the orders of the manager. However the crew members (team members) had flexible schedules. There were team members from various parts of the world working together. They had different backgrounds and different interests and all worked together to make an ideal work force. In fact there was diversity. I would like to now give a detailed account of my observations on leadership styles and its impact on teamwork in McDonald’s restaurants. The leadership style practised in McDonald’s restaurants is autocratic and therefore crew members are not involved in any decision making. It is also a fact that suggestions from crew members are not welcomed as most of them are new. Crew members are young and work in these restaurants during summer vacations and therefore cannot offer ideas to the leader. Crew members are young and therefore motivated if they are paid wages on time and given extra benefits such as lunch and transportation. This motivates the crew to work in spite of the autocratic leadership. Autocratic style of leadership doesn’t fulfil the self esteem requirements reflected in Maslow’s hierarchy. However at McDonald’s crew members get self respect and also respect each other. McDonald’s will not adopt another style of leadership as the management fears that a persuasive or democratic style will not deliver the goods, viz. , delivering quality food on time to its customers. I would like to compare persuasive and democratic styles of leadership with that of autocratic leadership before arriving at a conclusion: which one of the three styles will ideally suit McDonald’s and at the same time have an impact on team work. Persuasion is one of the requisites of all leaders by which act they can move people toward a new situation. Persuasion does not include rational arguments. A leader can use persuasion as a tactic to gain the support of diverse groups of people using basic human emotions. It is normal that persuasive strategies may provoke team members and some of them may oppose ideas or suggestions. The democratic leadership style or participative style encourages employees to be a part of the decision making allowing more participation of teams in the decision making process.

Bauhaus History of Design Essay

The Bauhaus was the first model of the modern art school. The Bauhaus curriculum combined theoretic education and practical training in the educational workshops. It drew inspiration from the ideals of the revolutionary art movements and design experiments of the early 20th century. A woodcut (shown right) depicted the idealized vision of Walter Gropius, a â€Å"cathedral† of design. Bauhaus 1919-33 The Bauhaus began with an utopian definition: â€Å"The building of the future† was to combine all the arts in ideal unity. In order to reach this goal, the founder, Walter Gropius, saw the necessity to develop new teaching methods and was convinced that the base for any art was to be found in handcraft: â€Å"the school will gradually turn into a workshop†. artists and craftsmen directed classes and production together at the Bauhaus in Weimar. This was intended to remove any distinction between fine arts and applied arts. Of course, the educational and social claim to a new configuration of life and its environment could not always be achieved. And the Bauhaus was not alone with this goal, but the name became a near synonym for this trend. The Bauhaus occupies a place of its own in the history of 20th century culture, architecture, design, art and new media. One of the first schools of design, it brought together a number of the most outstanding contemporary architects and artists and was not only an innovative training centre but also a place of production and a focus of international debate. At a time when industrial society was in the grip of a crisis, the Bauhaus stood almost alone in asking how the modernisation process could be mastered by means of design. Founded in Weimar in 1919, the Bauhaus rallied masters and students who sought to reverse the split between art and production by returning to the crafts as the foundation of all artistic activity and developing exemplary designs for objects and spaces that were to form part of a more human future society. Following intense internal debate, in 1923 the Bauhaus turned its ttention to industry under its founder and first director Walter Gropius (1883–1969). The major exhibition which opened in 1923, reflecting the revised principle of art and technology as a new unity, showcased the full spectrum of Bauhaus work and prototypes. The Haus Am Horn provided a glimpse of a residential building of the future. In 1924 funding for the Bauhaus was cut so drastically at the instigation of conservative forces that it had to seek a new home. The Bauhaus moved to Dessau at a time of rising economic fortunes, becoming the municipally funded School of Design. Almost all masters moved with it. Former students became junior masters in charge of the workshops. Famous works of art and architecture and influential designs were produced in Dessau in the years from 1926 to 1932. Walter Gropius resigned as director on 1st April 1928 under the pressure of constant struggles for the Bauhaus survival, He was succeeded by the Swiss architect Hannes Meyer (1889–1954) whose work sought to shape a harmonious society. Cost-cutting industrial mass production was to make products affordable for the masses. Despite his successes, Hannes Meyer’s Marxist convictions became a problem for the city council amidst the political turbulence of Germany in 1929, and the following year he was removed from his post. Under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) the Bauhaus developed from 1930 into a technical school of architecture with subsidiary art and workshop departments. After the Nazis became the biggest party in Dessau at the elections, the Bauhaus was forced to move in September 1932. It moved to Berlin but only lasted for a short time longer. The Bauhaus dissolved itself under pressure from the Nazis in 1933. Architecture â€Å"The building is the ultimate goal of all fine art,† the Bauhaus manifesto proclaimed back in 1919. Architecture training at the Bauhaus in Weimar was initially the prerogative of Walter Gropius private architectural practice and for a short time courses were run by his partner Adolf Meyer and in association with the â€Å"Baugewerkschule† (building trades school) in Weimar. The Bauhaus workshops were involved in these efforts through Gropius’s office. This collaboration produced the Haus Am Horn in 1923. Some new methods based on specific types and standardisation were employed not only to produce new architecture but to anticipate a new lifestyle through this architecture. In 1927 Walter Gropius offered Hannes Meyer a position in charge of architecture classes. That year Hannes Meyer began to put together a curriculum which included all relevant subjects such as planning, design, draftsmanship, construction, town planning. Architecture for Walter Gropius and Hannes Meyer alike mainly denoted the â€Å"design of life’s processes†. Hannes Meyer went far beyond Gropius’s â€Å"study of essentials†, which focused too much on the object for his taste, turning his teaching programme into one where the concrete conditions in society and the factors determining architecture and its use formed the starting point for all planning and design. The habits of the future residents of an estate or a house were studied in scientific detail. From 1930 to 1933 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe carried on with much of what had been started under his predecessors. At the same time Mies van der Rohe streamlined the curriculum to produce something like a system of courses which left almost no room for utopian experiments. The majority of the new student intake at the Bauhaus had already completed a course of studies, and the Bauhaus became a â€Å"postgraduate school†. Mies van der Rohe’s teaching focused on the design of specific buildings whose appearance owed nothing to Gropius’s â€Å"study of essentials† or to the collective satisfaction of â€Å"the people’s needs†, but which were to be â€Å"the spatial implementation of intellectual decisions† (Mies van der Rohe) in an aesthetically consummate fashion.

Matisses Painting - Purple Robe and Anemones essays

Matisses Painting - Purple Robe and Anemones essays Henri Matisses painting Purple Robe and Anemones, from 1937, hangs in the Baltimore Museum of Art. This painting depicts his model Lydia Delectorskaya in a purple robe with a vase of anemones in the foreground. Matisse did not intend to capture his subject realistically. Instead, the painting explodes with color, rhythm, space, and line and dares to manipulate reality. In Purple Robe and Anemones, Matisse manipulates line to create harmony throughout the painting. The black serpentine lines on the vase echo the serpentine shape of the robe on the model as well as the white lines on the back wall. The patterns he creates with lines on the table that holds the vase echoes the pattern on the models skirt. Lines here are used to describe different degrees of form, giving the vase a 3 dimensional form, but flattening other objects such as the model herself. The bold lines define the objects yet give the model a flat form with no variation in line. All the lines are very clear, and not blurred giving a static feel to the painting. They do not vary greatly to create an illusion of depth; rather they have a boldness one would not expect. Matisses use of line imbues a sense of calmness to the work. In addition to Matisses use of lines to create visual echos, Matisse uses vivid color to create contrast as well as areas of abstract color. Bright bursts of color explode out of the flowers, vibrant reds, purples, and white petals splash in the center, which are repeated throughout the painting. The reds from the lines in the wall visually connect diagonally to the red flowers then to the red patterned couch behind the model. This echo is repeated with the purple from the robe to the purple flowers, as well as with the teal color of the table, and the skirt of the model. To intensify his colors further, Matisse places complementary colors next to each other, Matisse intensifies the purple robe, by painting the yellow stri...

An Examination of the Team Development Stages in the Movie 12 Angry Men

An Examination of the Team Development Stages in the Movie 12 Angry Men 12 Angry Men: Team Development Stages Team development is a crucial aspect of any group setting and consists of six stages: stage one – forming, stage two – storming, stage three – norming, stage four – performing, and stage five – adjourning (or deforming). In the movie 12 Angry Men, the 12 jury members go through these stages at various points of the deliberation; this paper will serve to explore how and when the jury went through the stages of team development. Forming The movie starts out with our group already been formed, as they were selected to be part of the jury; they really begin the team development process at the beginning of the deliberation, as the jury members all sit down and define what their goals and obligations are, saying that if the defendant is found guilty, they must send him to the electric chair. The forming stage continues as jury members start falling into their respective roles; the members find out that juror 3 and juror 10 are alpha type males, that juror 8 takes his civic duty seriously, but has some biased views (he is just a youth, how could he commit such a crime?), and general introductions from members of the group. Storming The storming stage follows the forming stage, and starts after the jury’s first round of guilty/not guilty voting; the storming stage is set off by juror 8’s not guilty vote, which is the first and only difference among the group at the time. The storming stage is furthered by the jury member’s perception of civic duty, and ignited to another level when juror 8 is attempting to make a case, while some of his fellow jury members are playing games and goofing off. In the storming stage the alpha males of the group try to insert and enforce their brand of â€Å"leadership† through verbal force and intimidation, such as Juror 3 cutting off other jurors during the initial deliberation, telling the group that they are going to skip the set speaking rotation. This struggle of power, juror 3’s intimidation technique versus juror 8’s logical argument technique, continues throughout the story. Norming The norming stage starts when juror 8 starts making his arguments for a not guilty verdict, while persuading others to his side; it is also the stage that lasts the longest throughout the deliberation and takes place in non-connected stages. Once there are a few jurors on the not guilty side of the verdict, open discussion becomes much freer flowing and direct; the jury members start having an actual debate about the facts of the case and whether they could be debated. The discussion, and norming stage, really takes off when juror 8 slams the similar knife into the table; before this the discussion was fairly closed off, with most of the other jury members saying that there was no way the kid was not guilty. Performing The performing stage gradually takes over from the norming stage as more solid arguments are made in favor of the defendant being not guilty. Juror by juror realizes that they may have indeed been so close to sending a potentially innocent person to jail, and feel further obligated to explore the facts in order to render a fair verdict. Jury members put together their individual experiences and knowledge in order to help each other come to a not guilty verdict, such as Juror 8 trying to recreate the witness who had to walk to his door with a limp, or questioning Juror 4 about his week in order to establish that memory can be fuzzy. The final sense of civic obligation come when Juror 9 notices Juror 4 rubbing his nose, making the final argument about one of the witnesses not using her glasses regularly. Adjourning The adjourning stage is the stage where the team evaluates its processes and performance, disbanding on either a temporary or permanent basis; the jury members do not disband on a temporary process, and any breaks are portrayed as short breathers, therefore the focus will be on the disbanding of the jury upon rendering a not guilty verdict. The movie does not go into too much detail about the aftermath of the team’s decision, but the audience could tell through the interactions of Juror 8 with Jurors 3 and 9 that the process took place in the manner it should have, and that the team was happy with their process and performance.

Evaluating Models of Executive-Legislative Relations Term Paper

Evaluating Models of Executive-Legislative Relations - Term Paper Example The reason for this is because, the structure of a democracy, has an influence on the democracy’s effectiveness and performance. The effectiveness of these three democratic systems can as well be evaluated using different criteria. This paper evaluates the democratic systems of the presidential democracy, majoritarian parliamentary democracy, and consensual parliamentary democracy, using the criteria of accountability, representativeness, and effectiveness. Accountability is an important aspect in a democratic system, as it acts as a cornerstone in good government. This term might lack a definite definition because of its vast applications. However, in a democratic system, accountability presents itself, when there is a relationship, and an individual or organization is answerable to the other for their actions and decisions. This way, one party is subject to the oversight and direction of the other. Therefore, answerability and enforcement is core of accountability. In a demo cratic system therefore, the government is answerable to the citizens. ... Representativeness in a democratic system is whereby a few individuals are selected from the majority, mainly through elections, to represent the majority in government. These therefore, have to listen to the concerns of the public and represent them in government. Additionally, the elected few have to listen to the opinions and views of the public and other political actors, and present these in government, for action to be taken, where necessary. Therefore, in representativeness, the elected minority are the voice of the public. Effectiveness in a democratic system involves the level of performance of the system. In an effective democratic system, the government performs its responsibilities appropriately. This ensures that the citizens are comfortable, with basic needs, employment, and secure in all ways. Effectiveness of the government is also reflected in its policies, if they are successful or not, the nature of rights of people, freedom, and liberties of the citizens. An effec tive government therefore, registers positive performance in all these aspects. The aspect of representativeness is best utilized by parliamentary democracies, specifically the majoritarian parliamentary democracy. Gallager, Laver and Mair note that most European countries are characterized by the parliamentary democracies, except a few (47). The reason why the majoritarian parliamentary democracies are in a better position to represent the public appropriately is because; the majority people in the constituencies elect their members of parliament, who will represent them in the parliament. Therefore, the parliamentarian serves as the voice of the people of their constituency. This way, it is easier for the wishes of the majority people