My analysis of Duffys Rapture Essay Example

My analysis of Duffys Rapture Paper Carol Ann Duffys Rapture is a collection of poems, which express different views of love. Each of the poems have different meanings and are carefully constructed by the poet. She uses different themes in her poetry such as tea and grief, to illustrate Carol Ann Duffys point that many objects can be linked with love. Art is one of many poems from Carol Ann Duffys Rapture. In the poem, a person is speaking to their lover. The tone throughout the poem is depressing. It contains no positive thoughts on the topic of love and relationships. The person reminisces the love she/he had for her/his lover. The poem comes to a climax towards the end, this signifies the end of their relationship. The poem is set out as three stanzas containing four lines and a forth stanza, which is in fact a rhyming couplet. It is in sonnet form as it has fourteen lines, this is common for Shakespeare. Shakespeare also wrote romantic poetry so this reinforces the fact that this poem is a traditional poet focusing on the topic of love. The rhyming couplet at the end gives it a more light-hearted feel and sounds rather dramatic and cynical. We will write a custom essay sample on My analysis of Duffys Rapture specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on My analysis of Duffys Rapture specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on My analysis of Duffys Rapture specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Each of the verses has the same pattern. She uses enjambment throughout the stanzas. This creates movement and excitement, as the metre is irregular. Duffy uses an informal tone to introduce the poem. This is evident in her first phrase only art now. The word only in the phrase suggests art was once more significant, but is now not important so is a contradictory phrase. Art would normally be worth money and would have a high cultural value but to say only art now suggests that art is a negative thing. The phrase also introduces the main theme of the poem, Duffy uses extends the metaphor: our bodies, brushstroke, pigment, motif. It is implied that the physical aspect of their relationship was a significant part to it. Brushstroke and pigment being the essentials in a painting and motifs are the repeated ideas key to the meaning of the work of art, this relating to their relationship. Carol Ann Duffy describes the lovers story as a figment and suspension of disbelief. This indicates that the relationship seems unreal and non-existent, similar to that of a work of literature. This could also imply that their relationship was fragile and it could be suggested that the relationship was always doomed. The phrase suspension of disbelief was thought of by the poet and philosopher, Samuel Taylor Coleridge to illustrate the use of non-realistic elements in literature. The thrum of their blood is referred to as percussion, literally this suggests a thumping heartbeat. But as the word percussion has connotations of drama and passion, the poet could also be referring to a great work of art. On the other hand, it could refer to the relationships and the collisions within it. Duffy begins to refer to something as minor. Through using the word minor, Duffy may be referring to the minor key in music, which sounds sad, although on the other hand, she may be referring to minor as unimportant. Duffy has previously made reference to percussion and great artwork, this helps to exaggerate the reduction, as it gradually builds up. Alternatively, great artwork and percussion are negative images to the poet and could be referred to as unimportant. Carol Ann Duffy uses alliteration when describing their kiss. She describes it as chiselled, chilling marble. The phrase suggests denial as it would be impossible for marble to kiss, as marble is cold, it suggests its unfriendly, artificial and harsh; it can also be linked to the topic of art through marble sculptures. This again, reinforces the negativity of art in this poem. The poet states that their promises are locked into soundless stone. Once again, the word locked has negative connotations of imprisonment. There is also another example of alliteration; soundless stone, which has a soft and lyrical feel to it. This has a big impact on the tone of the poem, as it sounds less harsh than the rest of the poem. The poet goes on to say Or fizzled into poems. Fizzling is literally to make a hissing sound and could suggest something dying out weakly. This is most likely to be referring to the relationship. Duffy echoes Shakespeares idea of the timelessness of his poetry, which allows it to stand as a fitting monument to his love; she adopts the idea of art being a fit analogy for the actual experience and emotion of love. This also echoes the arguments she has made previously against language, elsewhere, the art here stands as a poor substitute for the thing itself, the imagined beauty the relationship was thought to hold before it died. She goes on to describe their voice as dried flowers. The dried flowers are a faint imitation of their former selves, possessing only a fraction of the beauty of their living alternatives, so her voice could also be seen to be a pale substitute for the emotions and feelings they wanted to discuss. In context, the phrase dried flowers also shows the loss or death of their own relationship. In the third stanza, the tone becomes more dramatic; the poet suggests there is no choice for love. She also puts across her point that without love, life is empty and desolate. This is evident when the poet says huge theatres for the echoes we left. This could indicate a sense of solitude. Towards the end of the poem, Carol Ann Duffy uses a rhyming couplet. This is to signify the end lines of the poem. She also changes to second and third person using words such as your and my. This could indicate the separation of the two people towards the end. Whereas throughout the poem, she uses first person. The fact that she uses first person throughout the poem indicates how close the two people used to be. From the evidence stated, it is clear that in the poem Art Duffy views love and relationships in a negative way. In each of her poems, although she compares love to a particular subject, for example, art, she highlights negative similarities linking with aspects of art.

Book Review †The Goal †Principles of Management(300 Level Course)

Book Review – The Goal – Principles of Management(300 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers The Goal is an intense and challenging management concepts book to read. It challenges the established management principles and structure. The author introduces us to the normal ways of doing things which in this case did not work and then show us how to solve the issue at hand using unconventional methods of managing and problem solving. The main character in the book is an ambitious plant manager who is inexperienced and seems to be a cookie cutter MBA type. The manager did not have a clear way of controlling and managing the plant environment to be more efficient and to produce products that will meet the plants demand schedule. The manager lacked a sense of direction as to where the plants goals are and what needs to be done to achieve those goals. The plant is going through a tough time with revenues falling and getting cut by competition. Revenues have been falling for the last 3 quarters and Japanese producers make the same products cheaper and at a more efficient rate such that they are able to deliver the goods earlier and thus stealing business. At the same time the company is closing down plants that are underperforming without looking into what the underperformance is caused by or what could be done to overcome the loss of revenues from these underperforming plants. The other plant managers are not given clear goals and an incentive to improve their numbers. All that the top executives are communicating to their subordinates is â€Å"Fear† (you don’t perform or produce a Net profit, we close your plant). This environment of fear is not helping the situation just making it worse. To make matters even worse the main subject in the book (Mr. Rogo) is having marital difficulties. Mr. Rogo has to balance his work and life at home with 2 children and a wife who does not seem to understand how demanding the husbands work is and how much he is trying to balance both work and life at home. Both the division manager and Rogo’s wife seem to have unrealistic expectations. The headquarter executives also un-relentlessly interrupt things at the plants whenever they feel like it. From marketing to other managers, Rogo has to deal with these interruptions constantly and his work is affected by them. The plant is behind production schedule and some of the clients are starting to complain about their orders. Even though the plant is operating in full capacity according to Rogo, it is unable to meet its orders and there is a backlog of orders piling up. Marketing and Sales are getting frustrated with the plant and they seem to keep on calling to get things expedited. The installation of robots in the plant was supposed to solve efficiency issues but it did the opposite. Robots are a good tool if they are implemented with a clear and concise plan in hand. Implementing robots without any kind of a plan will eventually backfire since robots tend to put some of your usual productions methods out of sync. According to Rogo the robots were supposed to increase plant efficiency and improve overall productivity. This did not happen. To add insult to injury Rogo had to ponder what his â€Å"Goal† was as an organization. Being that he is the plant manager he has to clearly define his goal and turn things around for the plant to become more efficient and increase both output and profits. Rogo was in luck that he met his old Physics professor and the professor who is now a consultant advised Rogo to clearly define his goal and get 3 measurements that will help him achieve that goal. Rogo is able to identify the 3 measurements as Return on Investment (ROI), Net Profits and Cash Flow. These three measurements are supposed to help the plant achieve its ultimate goal of making money. Other three measurements are throughput, inventory and Operational Expense. Rogo embarked on a soul searching journey to understand the three goals and find a better way to apply them to the current situation at the plant. He asked the right questions and talked to key individuals at his plant in order to find out what was going wrong with current operation procedures and if measurements are kept to ensure that they achieve profitability. To achieve all of this Rogo has to maintain a balanced plant. Thus the number of inventory shall not be more than the number of orders. Also he needs to have better performing robots to increase efficiency. After taking a camping trip with his son, Rogo observed how the whole scout trip was behaving when they were hiking in the forest. The group’s dynamics changed a lot when during the walk. The whole group depended on one individual who did not perform to par or had the groups objectives in mind. By making the individual understand and helping him change his performance the whole group was able to function seamlessly without a hitch and reach their goal. Returning home to find his wife gone after the trip with his son also had a major impact on Rogo and also added more issues that he needs to handle. Rogo embarked on a quest to find the bottlenecks that are keeping his plant from performing and meeting its obligations. He found out that there are few systems or machinery in the plant that were supposed to improve efficiency but they did not and ended up creating bottlenecks and statistical abnormalities. Quality control was also not performing to part thus causing some of the products to be turned back due sub standards. Inventory is piling up and the only way to start creating a stable environment was to offload some of the processes to other plants in the area that could do the job for them. Offloading helped the plant create a stable environment and make sure some of the old orders are shipped before they start afresh and optimize the production line to their specific needs. Another measure that they took was to control the release of inventory and raw materials. By doing this the plant was not overwhelmed with raw materials sitting on the plant floor waiting to be processed. By releasing smaller batches of raw materials they could observe the whole process out and fine tune it with ease and at the same time control bottlenecks. The plants improved efficiencies brought in new clients and business and they had a jump in Net Profits and orders. Rogo did quite an amazing presentation to his auditors and managers at their end of quarter meeting he did not manage to convince everyone that the method he was using to measure productivity and run the plant efficiently will work better than the cost accounting method. In the end Rogo managed to get a promotion to turn the whole division around and increase overall efficiency. He embarked on finding methods to apply his ideas to the whole division and at the same time overcome the resistance of the other plant managers. The book exhibits the challenges faced by managers today trying to manage a division or company without knowing the ultimate goal of what they are doing. Managers are leading blindly and do not know what is going on until there is a crisis at hand and a solution needs to be formulated. By identifying the goal earlier on, managers are able to fine tune the environment to produce at maximum capacity and without glitches and at the same time have a high efficiency. 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Three Men in a Boat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Three Men in a Boat - Essay Example I crawled out a decrepit wreck.† This situation happens when one tries to assimilate the knowledge on a subject on which one is not competent of assimilating! The contents of this book, written about a century ago are prophetic as for the thinking of majority of the humankind and the medical fraternity (especially the western medical system.) Even for small ailments people visit the doctors and the doctors create a grim situation on small health issues to extract as many dollars from the patients, as is possible! The overall merit of the book is-- the serious issues are commented in a humorous style. It contains lots of practical philosophical advice, told in a subtle manner. The three men in the boat are George, Harris and the narrator, who are great hypochondriacs—they are convinced that they are suffering from every type of diseases, even though there is nothing wrong with their physical equipment as such. Even in the so-called grim situation of their lives, their-sel f assessment about the state of health evokes ironic laughter. Jerome writes, â€Å"I sat and pondered. I thought what an interesting case I must be from a medical point of view, what an acquisition I should be to a class! Students would have no need to â€Å"walk the hospitals,† if they had me. I was a hospital in myself.

Corporate Finance-Mergers and acquisitions Essay

Corporate Finance-Mergers and acquisitions - Essay Example Generally, mergers are brought about in a consensual and cordial environment where the target company helps the purchaser in a 'due diligence' process to ensure that the deal is beneficial to both parties. But acquisitions are sometimes "hostile", in that the acquiring company purchases in the open market a majority of outstanding shares of the target company against the wishes of the target company's board of directors. 'Mergers and acquisitions should be value creating for the shareholders of both the 'offeror' and the 'offeree' companies'. Value creation is also necessary for further growth. Creating value implies earning a return on invested capital in excess of the cost of capital over time; or earning a strictly positive profit, that is where revenue minus all expenses is greater than zero. Value creators do not have to worry about a capital shortage. They are either flush with internal funds to meet their investment needs, or can attract the needed capital from the markets, which are always in search of profitable investment opportunities. And such companies will also create over time a cadre of managers who have higher standards and better capabilities than the competition. Many companiCurrent state of M&A Many companies have had recourse to M&A as a sure path to fast growth. Operational synergy and economies of scale are the strengths of M&A propelling growth. But the failure of many M&A in the 1990s has actually reduced shareholder value instead of increasing it and as a consequence, both management and investors are now taking a closer look at what makes a merger or acquisition a success or a failure. (K@W, 2003). But there have been some exceptions and one exception has been the recent acquisition of Arcelor by Mittal. The Acquisition of Arcelor by Mittal The rise of Mittal Steel has been a story of growth and expansion through acquisitions, beginning with that of the Iron and Steel Company of Trinidad and Tobago in 1989 and culminating in 2006 in the acquisition of Arcelor, Europe's largest steel producer. Mittal has grown by buying struggling steel plants around the world and knitting them into the world's biggest steel company. It has a strong presence in North America and Europe, but in Asia its operation is confined to Kazakhstan. It is the world's largest and most global steel company, with shipments of 49.2 million tons and revenues of over $28.1 billion in 2005, owning steel-making facilities in 16 countries and employing over 224,000 people. The shares of the company are listed on the New York and Amsterdam stock exchanges. The company produces a broad range of products for the flat and long products markets and has among its customers well known names in the automotive, engineering and appliance sectors. (http://www.mittals teel.com/company/Profile.htm) Mittal Steel announced its intention to acquire Arcelor on 27 January 2006, for a total of 24 billion euros. Arcelor had been created in 2002 by the merger of Aceralia, Arbed and Usinor, with an intention of mobilizing their technical, industrial, and commercial synergies in a joint

Capturing and Delivering Value Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Capturing and Delivering Value - Term Paper Example The aim of the paper present the analysis of lean construction principle to management of a design, taking into account the various design views. The design views include the conversion design, flow design, and value generation design. The discussion revolves the empirical data collected from the two case studies that were conducted in Brazil. Both case studies involve developing model to manage the design process for a building company. The fundamental causes for dismal performance of building design process have been researched by various authors (Salkind, 2010). The design management main problems include poor communication, inadequate documentation, deficient input information, erratic decision making, inadequate coordination between disciplines, and unbalanced resource allocation. Additionally, the process of design normally lacks the adequate control and planning, to reduce the impact of uncertainty and complexity, to make sure that the available information for completing the design activities are efficient and sufficient, and to minimize the inconsistencies with the documents of constructions (Welch, 2011). Some of the researchers came up with a conceptual benchmark that manages the design process in three different perspectives; design for converting the input to output, design for flowing information and materials, and design for generating value for the clients. Considering the various framework, the a de sign project was conducted in Brazil. The aim of the research was to develop a protocol that manages the design process in a building and construction industry (Salkind, 2010). The paper therefore, discusses implementation of the lean construction principle for designing a design project, bearing in mind the three design views. The analysis revolves around the two case studies, where the principle reflection on the principle was conducted. The design process protocol has been generated through the case studies, conducted in four building

Genting Group PEST Analysis

Genting Group PEST Analysis Genting Group is a subsidiary and affiliates operating under the Genting name and is recognize as one of the Asias leading and best manage multinationals company. There are currently 5 public companies and 3 jurisdictions in the group which is also operate under the name of Genting with a combined market capitalization of over RM131 Billion (US$41 billion) as at 30 November 2010 (Genting Group, 2010). The 5 public companies in the Genting Group which is including Genting Berhad, Genting Malaysia Berhad, Genting Plantations Berhad, Genting Singapore PLC, which is also the subsidiary company and Genting Hong Kong Limited is an affiliates company (Genting Group, 2010). These public companies and their subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in different businesses, including leisure hospitality, power generation, oil palm plantation, property development, biotechnology and oil gas. In this group, they have over 58,000 employees, 4,500 hectares of prime resort land and about 133,000 hectares of plantation land. Gentings well-known consumer brands in the leisure hospitality sector such as Resorts World, Maxims, Crockfords, Awana, Star Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line (Genting Group, 2010). Genting Berhad is an investment holding and management company of Genting Group. The founder of the Genting Group Tan Sri (Dr.) Lim Goh Tong by the late in 1965, when he start the opening development works of constructing a 20 kilometre private access road, across rough mountainous terrains from the foothills to the top of Mount Ulu Kali which is located at 2,000 metres above sea level (Genting Group, 2010). On 30 July 1968 the company was set under the Companies Act 1965 in Malaysia under the original name of Genting Highlands Hotel Sdn Bhd to operate a hotel and casino, and to develop an integrated tourist complex in Genting Highlands. Gentings company registration number is 7916-A and the company changed its name to Genting Highlands Hotel Berhad and its switch into a public company on 24 July 1970. It believed its current name of Genting Berhad on 9 June 1978 (Genting Group, 2010). Genting Berhad 39.5% is owned by Kien Huat Realty Sdn Bhd, a private company controlled by the late Tan Sri (Dr.) Lim Goh Tongs family. Genting Malaysia Berhad also known as Genting Malaysia which is a private limited company on 7 May 1980 in Malaysia by shares under the name of Resorts World Sdn. Bhd. and the company was under the Companies Act of 1965 in Malaysia. The registration of the company is 58019-U and on 14 July 1989 the company changed its name to Resorts World Bhd and also change into a public company (Genting Berhad, 2010). On 30 August 1989, Genting Berhad and Genting Malaysia start a restructuring work, which resulted in Genting Malaysias control from Genting Berhad its whole gaming, hotel and resort operations including of goodwill and other related assets. Since 22 December 1989 Genting Malaysias shares have been listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia (Genting Berhad, 2010). Genting Malaysia is mostly running in the hospitality and leisure business and the activities include theme parks, gaming, hotels, seaside resorts and entertainment. The most important place is Resorts World Genting which is included family leisure and entertainment resort at the peak of Genting Highlands successfully attracted 19.5 million visitors in 2009 (Genting Berhad, 2010). Known as Resorts World Genting, the resort include six hotels with 10 thousand rooms, over sixty fun rides, hundred seventy restaurant dining and some shopping outlets. Besides that there is also mega shows theatre, business convention facilities and endless entertainment in the resort (Genting Berhad, 2010). The six hotels at Resorts World Genting are Maxims Genting, Highlands Hotel, Theme Park Hotel, Resort Hotel, Awana Genting Highlands, Golf Country Resort and First World Hotel which is the worlds largest hotel with 6,118 rooms as acknowledged by the Guinness World Records and Ripleys Believe It or Not. Resorts World Genting was voted the Worlds Leading Casino Resort in the year of 2005, and 2007 to   2009 and Asias Leading Casino Resort from 2005 to 2009 by World Travel Awards (Genting Berhad, 2010). Apart from the Genting highland resort, Genting Malaysia also owns and operates two beautiful seaside properties name Awana Kijal Golf, Beach Spa Resort in Terengganu and Awana Porto Malai in Langkawi (Genting Berhad, 2010). The macro environment analysis of the company What is the PEST about? It is very important that an organization considers its environment before beginning the marketing process. In fact, environmental analysis should be continuous and feed all aspects of planning. In the macro environment PEST is mean that the P stand for Political factors, E stand for Economic factors, S stand for sociocultural factors, and T stand for technological factors (MarketingTeacher, 2010). The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. Economic factors which are the marketers need to consider the state of a trading economy in the short and long-terms. This is especially true when planning for international marketing. Sociocultural factors are mean that the social and cultural influences on business vary from country to country. It is very important that such factors are considered. A technological factor is vital for competitive advantage, and is a major driver of g lobalization (MarketingTeacher, 2010). PEST analysis of Genting Malaysia. (P)olitical: In Malaysia, gambling legalization still faces cultural, religious and political opposition. However, politicians as policy-makers obviously support the conduct of Casino de Genting. On the other hand, other political issues that may be ignored that the casino is owned and operated by a powerful and influential group with high political connections. The money generated in such casino could be used in accessing political parties and contributing to campaign efforts or other political-related activities  (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010). Because the Malaysian government experienced difficulties in stamping out horse-race betting as well as numbers games after independence was attained in 1957, the government officials set regulate gaming and privatising state-run lotteries and also taxing the trade. However, ethnic Malays are barred by law from casinos lone casino, the Casino de Genting which located 35 miles outside of Kuala Lumpur. Their ethnic Chinese countrymen, nevertheless, are free to mingle with the foreigners at the tables and slot machines. An idea to tap foreigners for gambling revenues, Malaysia becomes a home base for companies that operate only in other countries aside from the domestically operated Casino de Genting (Genting Group, 2010). (E)conomic: In spite of prohibiting Muslims and local citizens from playing, Casino de Genting is prosperous, and is expected to continue to do so. The casino has provided a major number of jobs as well as revenue for the government. The economic power of the country lies in the fact that Casino de Genting is a part of an important tourist destination. Casino de Genting is under the service industry which also provides profitability to other industries and sectors in Malaysia such as hospitality, transportation, retail and food and beverage. Casinos are also important venue where the interplay of goods and services takes place as well as the transfer of ownership, making it a productive sector (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010). The continued support of the government to promote tourism in Malaysia proved to be significant in the success of Casino de Genting. The Visit Malaysia 2007 tourism programme was deemed successful, not to mention the lower currency rate in the country. Malaysian tourism strategy could highlight the superb gambling experience Casino de Genting could offer in their future tourism programmes. Major Asian cities with wealthier populations and foreign nationals access would be also an opportunity for Casino de Genting to exploit. As the only way forward, the growing consumer demand and market outlooks are forecasted to continually grow in scale and scope (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010). (S)ocial: Social problems associated with casinos make governments hesitant in pushing gambling efforts. Even so, there are governments which chose to lessen the negative social impact by means of restricting the access of some or all locals or by building casinos in remote areas. The social problems that casinos cultivate include surging of mafia gangs, money-laundering, prostitution and other drug-related crime, and these social dilemmas are regarded to produce high social costs. Casino de Genting is not an exemption, like any other casinos in Asia and all over the world, casinos are perceived to be breeding grounds of high profile crimes and organised crimes (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010). Besides that, there is a various training and conferences and team-building events were held in 2009, including GENMs 21st Senior Managers Conference at Sentosa Resort Spa in Singapore with the theme Branding and Leadership in a New Competitive Environment and GENMs 16th Human Resources Conference 2009 themed Championing HR Fundamentals held at Awana Genting Highlands. Team building workshops, annual family day events, Employees Appreciation Night and Genting Employees Carnival were also held by the business divisions of the Group to foster team spirit amongst executives and staff (Genting Group, 2010). (T)echnological: Casino de Genting combines the appeal of fast paced technology and the cyberworld. This slot machine haven is equipped with a wide selection of state-of-the-art electronic table games and cashless gaming systems for its machines, with neo-coloured lights and rich graphics, which aims at providing the customers with the ultimate gaming experience. Casino de Genting also makes use of eSourcing through Group Centralised Procurement (GCP). As such, requests for quotations/ proposal/ information will be conducted online and only online registered suppliers will be invited to undergo the selection process. Further, the casino also invests in SAS software to better understand the customers and extract from the informations gathered the most suitable strategies in dealing with them (Resorts World, 2010).   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   2: The international consideration In the year of 1993, Genting expanded its leisure and hospitality businesses into cruise line operations by establishing Star Cruises Limited. Star Cruises was listed in the Singapore Stock Exchange in April 1998 and in the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in November 2000. In 1998, Genting Malaysia undertook an equity investment in Genting Hong Kong Ltd (formerly known as Star Cruises Limited), the leading cruise operator in the Asia Pacific. Genting Malaysia currently owns about 18.4% of Genting Hong Kong Ltd (ICMR, 2004). After all a while, Genting Singapore PLC (Genting Singapore) is a leading integrated resorts development specialist with over 20 years of international gaming expertise and global experience in developing, operating and marketing internationally acclaimed casinos and integrated resorts in different parts of the world, including Australia, the Americas, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United Kingdom (Genting Singapore PLC, 2010). It is a subsidiary of Genting Berhad and was incorporated in 1984 to invest in leisure and gaming-related businesses outside Malaysia. Genting Group is a collective name for Genting Berhad and its subsidiaries and associates. Genting Group is one of Asias leading and best managed multinationals. The Group is renowned for its strong management leadership, financial prudence and sound investment discipline (Genting Singapore PLC, 2010). Genting Singapore is listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (Singapore Exchange). Genting Singapore has an experienced management team that is focused on and committed to growing its business globally. The Group is the largest casino operator in the UK and is developing a world-class integrated family resort in Singapore. Genting Singapore is continuously reviewing new opportunities in the gaming, leisure and hospitality businesses (Genting Singapore PLC, 2010). On 15 October 2010, Genting Malaysia completed its proposed achievement of casino businesses in the United Kingdom, Genting UK from Genting Singapore PLC. Genting UK is the largest casino operator in the UK and a leading innovator in the provision of high quality, customer focused gaming. Genting UK operates 5 casinos in London under renown brands including Crockfords, Maxims Casino Club, The Colony Club, The Palm Beach and London Mint; and a further 41 casinos located within the UK provinces under 3 key brands, namely Circus, Maxims and Mint. These casinos offer visitors a memorable experience with its various slots and table games in addition to restaurants, bars and other entertainments (Genting UK, 2010). On 13 September 2010, Genting New York LLC an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Genting Malaysia was selected as the developer and operator of a video lottery facility at the Aqueduct Racetrack in the City of New York, United States of America. The facility, set upon an area of 413,000 square feet will be known as Resorts World New York. Features of the facility includes approximately 4,500 video lottery terminals, 7,000 car parking lots, a 450-seat 2-storey fast food promenade, 2 high-end restaurants with 200-person capacity, a sports bar restaurant and lounge. Phase 1 is expected to contain approximately 1,600 VLTs to be completed by late spring 2011 and be fully operational by the end of 2011 (Lovett, 2010). 3: The growth of business Ansoffs product market matrix is a well known marketing tool was first published in the Harvard business review 1957 in an article called strategies for diversification. It is used by marketers who have objectives for growth. Ansoffs matrix offers strategic choice to achieve the objectives. There are four categories for selection which is Market Penetration, Market Development, Product Development and Diversification (MarketingTeacher, 2010). In the Genting Berhad, the corporation is targeting the new market in New York City, United States. So the company is using the market development section because Genting Berhad is selling the Casino and Hotel Product, so with the existing product range in the new market. This means that the product remains the same but it is marketed to the new audience (MarketingTeacher, 2010). Organization introduces their new products to the new market such as new countries in order to gain more customers and profit (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2009). In this New York gambling project, Genting Berhad spends $1.3 Billion according to its proposal submitted to state authorities. Genting New York will pay a licensing fee of $380 million, above the minimum $300 million required by the state. Genting New York intends to spend up to another $350 million to develop the facility, which upon full completion will span 413,000 square feet and contain more than 4,500 video lottery terminals, or electronic slot machines (Low, 2010). Dubbed Resorts World New York, the proposed three-storey facility will also contain several restaurants, water features, an outdoor terrace connected to the Aqueduct racetrack which will be able to accommodate up to 10,000 people and a 2,200-bay car park. Genting New York said it aims to complete the entire development of Resorts World New York within 12 months from the date it obtains formal approval from the state to proceed. As part of a wider development plan, Genting New York is also proposing to build three hotels of differing standards, shopping, recreation, spa and other resort facilities at a total cost of $650 million, and the whole project would take 1.3 Billion (Low, 2010). 4: New venture The Porters 5 Forces tool is a simple but powerful tool for understanding where power lies in a business situation. This is useful, because it helps corporation understand both the strength of the current competitive position, and the strength of a position corporation considering moving into. With a clear understanding of where power lies, corporation can take fair advantage of a situation of strength, improve a situation of weakness, and avoid taking wrong steps. This makes it an important part of corporation planning toolkit. Conventionally, the tool is used to identify whether new products, services or businesses have the potential to be profitable. However it can be very illuminating when used to understand the balance of power in other situations too (MindTool, 2010). The Five Forces Analysis assumes that there are five important forces that determine competitive power in a business situation. These are Supplier Power, Buyer Power, Competitive Rivalry, Threat of Substitution, and Threat of New Entry (MindTool, 2010). Threats of New Entrants Apart from the existing regional competitors, there are no major domestic competitors for Casino de Genting. There are rumours of potential new entrant of Genting Berhad will go into Macau (Ang, 2009). Malaysian analysts had said that the investments could pave the way for Genting to acquire a stake in MGM or to take over the US casino operators investment in MGM Grand Macau (Reuters, 2009). Substitute Products Domestically, there are no substitute products and services being offered by Casino de Genting. However, if we are going to look at the regional schema, China would be the greatest rival. There are at least four major gaming establishments in China as spread in Beijing, Hong Kong and notably, Macau (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010) In terms of differentiation, Casino de Genting is strategically located complementary to other tourist destinations such as resort and hotels and theme park. Casino de Genting has a distinctive competency of the mixture of Monte Carlo and Las Vegas gaming environment and experience (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010)    Bargaining Powers of Supplier Casino de Genting has a more advantageous position that its supplier. This is because the Genting Group has the sole autonomy on the gaming products and services, and that suppliers could be easily changes once the group becomes unsatisfied of a certain product or service. Gaming products and services that Casino de Genting considers are audio or visual, electrical and signage, chips and cards and game equipments as well as gaming development, cash handling and facility design and construction (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010).    Bargaining Power of Buyers Based on the responses, the bargaining power of buyer is definitely weak due to the monopoly in Genting Highlands Resort. As a world-class gaming entertainment area, Casino de Genting has standards suitable for international clientele. If the group desires to monopolised the prices of the products and services, it will have the freedom to do so, which leave the buyers at a disadvantaged position (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010).    Competitive Rivalry As already mentioned, Casino de Genting has no domestic rival to date, only regional rivals. The strong leadership position of Casino de Genting, however, would not be easy to defeat (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010). Conclusion The overall appeal and demand of the gaming hospitality experience depends not on a single element. However, the casino brand design must put at the core a distinct defining factor for example the customers, it is also not enough that a casino collates extreme responses because strategic business decisions would not be met if feedbacks are either too good or too bad. Important to have for every casino is an ongoing talk to real casino customers in order to put real meaning to the figures in reports. The best customers also are perceived to be the most honest customers in the pool. They will say what they want, what they need and what is lacking about the brand and how it could be improved (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010). Genting Group and the Casino de Genting must always bear in mind that customer is now a priority. All the decisions, whether top down or bottom line, shall put the interests of the customers. Several casino properties until now operate in line with the built it and they will come concept. But such stance is now an old mindset. What came to be as important as the corporate image or brand is the maximisation of the role of the customers in optimising the casino operation and the gambling industry as a whole. Competitive advantage is not enough but Casino de Genting must always strive for sustainable competitive advantage. It is recommended that Casino de Genting shall invest more on customer research and in those managers who will advocate customer knowledge management. Nevertheless, Casino de Genting must consider separately internal and external customers. There must be a 360-degree view of the customer by which the modern service standards must be based (ThinkingMadeEasy, 2010).

Personality Characteristics Of A Terrorist :: essays research papers fc

More and more in the world today, circumstances have brought about changes in how members have used radical protesting. One way used to protest a situation is through terrorism, and the people who exercise violence in the pursuit of what they hold to be just causes are alternately known as terrorists. This movement, although viewed as barbaric, requires a person to view the needs and goals of a particular cause to be greater than that of the well being of others. There are certain characteristic traits that can be found in the majority of terrorism, which can identify a profile of a terrorist’s mind. A terrorist is not just an insane person, but also possibly a person that has been forced either by personal decision or by situations beyond control to choose an â€Å"insane† method to achieve an unachievable goal. The fundamental beginning of a terrorist organization is the adoption of a cause that, in most cases, entails the liberation of a group of people. This group may base their claims on history (real or hastily concocted), on a common heritage, on a language shared by the members of the group and, most important, on hate and contempt directed at an enemy (Reich 10-11). The Middle East is plagued with many different Zionists that all have a â€Å"historical claim† to Jerusalem, also known as the city of Zion. The Hizballah organization is one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the Middle East. This organization has achieved power from the heroic view of jihad (holy war), the state funding received from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the organizations â€Å"natural born right† to Israel, especially Jerusalme, due to the belief that the Jews are nothing but land-squatters. The Hizballah have used the hatred and contempt that the Muslims have for the Jews occupying t he city of Zion to gain support for the liberation of Lebanon. This brings about the first personality characteristic of an oppressed person or people. There is a high frequency among terrorist of psychological damage during childhood (Reich 27). While not all terrorists come from battered homes, there is a great number that come from fragmented families where one or both of the parents were not present. Another personality characteristic of a terrorist is dedication. A terrorist cannot be a casual or part-time mercenary, willing to operate only when the acts of violence suit the convenience of a cause.

Counsello

Kenya Association of Professional Counsellors School of Counselling Studies MA IN COUNSELLING STUDIES Please fill in all details and attach to every assignment you complete. Student’s Name:Dorcas Adoyo Mwinda Date of Submission: 30th October 2009 Assignment: (please tick appropriate box)1 2 Module 1‘Exploration in Counselling’ Module 2: ‘Understanding in Counselling’ Module 3: ‘Integration in Counselling’ Module 4: PracticumVideo Evaluation Module 5 ‘Research Methods’ Module 6 ‘Dissertation’ Title of Assignment: The Appropriateness of Person centered Approach in Sub-Saharan Africa Comments: (please tick appropriate box) First Internal Examiner Second External ExaminerSecond Internal Examiner External Examiner Recommended Result:Percentage:Level (MA/PG Dip) Name of Examiner:Elias Gikundi Signed:Date: TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLEPage No. Introduction2 What is person centred Approach3 View of Human nature3 Congruence5 Unconditional Positive Regard6 Empathic Understanding6 Concepts exposed in person- centred Approach7 Values exposed in person centred approach9 Effectiveness of Person Centred Approach in Sub-Saharan Africa11 Conclusion13 References14 INTRODUCTION Counselling has been perceived as an advice in many sub- Saharan African countries and also the fact that there are many counselling approaches which are used; it has even become more confusing for people to understand. But due to different experiences we face in African countries like tribal clashes, culture differences, Poverty, political instability, racism, unemployment, HIV/AIDS and many others counselling was introduced from the western culture to provide healing to the affected and infected people, and thus person centred approach was adopted because it helps deal with individual feelings, which would help the readjust back to the surrounding both literally and psychologically. Person centred approach is one among the other counselling approaches used in sessions which I am sure that it is not well known in sub Saharan African. In this paper, I am going to going to discuss on the relevance of person centred approach in sub- Saharan African and also examining in Kenyan concept. In summing up I shall give my conclusion on what I think or feel about the topic am writing about. WHAT IS PERSON CENTRED APPROACH? Person centred approach championed by Carl Rogers in the 1930s and 1940s. This approach assist clients to listen to their feelings and inner voices and in doing so clients can learn to do better in their own, (Nelson, 2001). Since we are aware what it is all about then the question is ‘how does it view human beings†? VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE Rogers (1961) says that person centred approach view human beings as having the ability to steer the course of their lives, if offered in a relationship the core conditions. Rogers (1967) also states that to be self which one is truly is, is more than an attainable goal of person centred therapy, but a key aspect in the process of becoming a fully functioning person. I do agree with Rogers because, this therapy does not allow a client to talk about others but brings the client to self and dealing with what is affect him or her now. In person centred approach human nature is seen as basically social so that human beings are by nature protective, caring, compassionate and understanding towards each other, (Mearns et al. 1988). He argues that the dependence of human infants and interdepence of adults’ points in the same direction as does the inmate capacity to infer imaginatively the experience of others. According to Bozarth et al. (1986) person centred approach has the belief that all human beings have within them the innate capacity to grow towards their own unique fulfilment (or to move towards self actualisation). I personally feel that despite all cultural impact on us, environmental factors and values that are being imposed on us, we still have the drive towards self actualisation and also discover within ourselves the capacity of growth, and therefore whatever we do, we are the people who knows what is right and wrong for us but not others. Rogers (1951) emphasises that an accurate concept of self is crucial for healthy development, he stated that a long with a realistic self concept goes a realist perception of reality and situation in which the individual finds himself or herself in. ( Kirschenbaum et al, 1989). My contention is that the aim of life as it is called by Rogers â€Å" to be that self which one is truly is† has been on philosophical minds for centuries and to date individuals are still wrestling with the very concept of being true to self. Corey (2001) underscores the same when he says that person centred therapy puts emphasis on concepts of freedom, choice, values, personal responsibility, autonomy, purpose and meaning. Despite this approach emphasizing on individual development, in some sub Saharan African countries (Kenya being one of them) personal development is seen as selfish and importance is cultural value of the common good to individuals. If we are to be more explicit about our culture, which is what we propose, it is important for the therapist to be visible in terms of their value system or â€Å"African view† beliefs and standing in the community. This allows therapists to be clear in and about their relationship with clients and offers the client the safety that the therapist is not a detached remote or mystical figure but an accountable member of the community. Person centred approach is perhaps the only theory to take predominately a good animal view of human nature. For Rogers the actual tendency in humans is positive and it only become negative to the extent that it is blocked and frustrated by environmental factors. While going through the view of human nature by person centred theory I realised that there are core conditions which are necessary in this approach which acts as guidance in counselling session. Like wise Green (2002) suggests that the presence of core conditions in the therapeutic relationship can set in train a directional process towards being more true to one self. So what are these core conditions? Congruence Rogers (1961, pg 61) defined therapist congruence as: by this we mean that the feelings the therapist is experiencing are available to him, available to his awareness and he is able to live these feelings a, be them and able to communicate them if appropriate . awareness involves the therapist awareness of their own culture and themselves in relation to it and indeed to the world. Congruence enables a therapist to come to terms with their position in society and the predicaments of life in relation to culture. It is useful in a session because it brings about trust in a helping relationship. I have come to realise that being trustworthy does not demand that I be rigidly consistent but be dependably real (Rogers 1990a, pg 19). from my experience in counselling I have come to realise that congruence is imperative in a session because it makes it easier for a client to trust you. In Kenya there are forty two tribes with different culture, but still it will not hinder the therapist to be congruent because a client only needs trust and genuineness which makes them feel that they are I the right place and also they can get honest response from a counsellor. Mearns et al. (1988) says that in the person centred approaches, congruence dissolves the mysteriousness of the counsellor , and as with other core conditions it has its roots and equivalence in other cultural traditions as wisdom, mindfulness, active surrender ( Purton, 1994). Unconditional positive regard. Rogers describe this condition variously as unconditional acceptance, prizing, non- possessive, love and warmth. He adds that developmentally as humans, we have a need for unconditional positive regard and to have an internal self guard, (Rogers, 1959). Unconditional positive regard is important because it directly sabotages such conditions of worth; the counsellor values her client irrespective of the client conforming to conditions. I feel it is important for therapist to be clear about their own culture, both their culture of origin and their present culture and to be aware of the positive message about their culture especially if the therapist themselves had problems in growing and developing within their own culture. Villas- Rose Bowen (1984) says that in developing perspectives on unconditional positive regard, then we need to consider regard for self, others and culture itself. Empathic understanding Empathic understandings Rogers mostly referred to it is to sense the clients private world as if it were your own, but without ever losing the â€Å"as if† quality, (Rogers, 1957). In my opinion, the â€Å"as if† condition as Rogers proposes it, in his 1959 definition of empathy must in the first place be understood as the stressing of the necessity of being continuously aware that the experience and feeling that the therapist is trying to live into, do originate in the client and not in the therapist. (Vanderschot,1990 p. 290). personally think that empathy is the ability to stand very close to someone else to appreciate what it is like to be that other person in that other person in that other persons world. This never feels easy because it involves stepping out of your own frame works and trying to appreciate what it is to view ones culture through their eyes rather than your own. Concepts exposed in person centred approach. According to D†™ardenne et al. (1989) effective person centred counsellors are people who demonstrate the essential qualities of genuineness, non-possessiveness, warmth and empathy with the clients. Counsellors treat their clients with non-judgemental respect and hope to introduce practical ways in which this can be achieved across any cultural divide. I do find it rather easy and flowing when all those qualities mentioned above are applied in session and you find that it even makes a client to feel free to share his experience without any fear. Person centred is a means of meshing the symbolised (or symbolising) incongruence of the client with the congruence of the therapist. It is not appropriate process for people who are merely wishing to have education experience. Mearns et al. 2000). With different problems facing many sub- Saharan countries, people feel that they do need education to help them curb their problems, but unlike other counselling approaches as psychodynamic and gestalt which provides education, person centred approach tends to differ. I do agree with Mearns because people do not only need education which they feel will enable them get out of the problems they are facing but person centred emphasis is on working with the person to help him deal with the problem. Rogers, 1959) adds that person centred therapy simply does not work with clients who are experiencing incongruence in their living and wanting to change that incongruence. Person centred approach requires a level of acceptance which enable therapists to sustain themselves when clients attack them. I feel that this is highly vital because due to many problems that affect people in sub- Saharan Africa which in most cases have badly damaged their experience in life, they tend to relieve their anger and stresses, and even feeling to counsellors. The therapist should provide support to the affected clients and therefore the level of acceptance needs to be sufficiently robust to withstand the pain of relating to those who prove to be aggressive, demeaning or even contemptuous and hostile ( Mearns et al. 2000). According to Thorne (19910 person centred approaches start from the assumption that every living organism is driven by an â€Å"actualising tendency† an instinctive reflecting the desire to grow, develop and enhance one capacities to the fullest ( actualisation ). Mearns and Thorne (2000) states that this process of self actualisation is fraught with complexity and anxiety because the organismic self as essentially trustworthy and a unified whole of experiencing conflict within the developing self concept of the individual which distorts or denies experiences into awareness as it is heavily dependent on positive regard fro others. And as Thorne (1991) argues that gradually we learn to see ourselves as others ignoring our own inner experiencing. I personally feel that one cannot get to self actualisation without struggle and taking example of my country Kenya, many people do live below the poverty line and are ready to do anything just to be able to cater his basic needs and therefore instead of focussing in how to get out of the situation, he seeks refuge from others and even try to copy their lifestyle putting at the back of his mind what he is and hence ignoring our inner experience and views ourselves as others. Covey (1989) argues that in African society, we may have gained an incredible degree of outward success but inwardly individuals have divorced themselves from the roots and valuing process in serving the structure of capitalist society. Therefore this approach enables a person to work with the deeper need to actualise rather than depending on others. Rogers was fundamentally an optimist about human potential, arguing that ideally the actualising tendency refers to self actualisation where aspects of self and concepts are synonymous or congruent, ( Mearns and Thorne, 2000), this ideal human conditions is embroiled in the fully functioning persons who as Rogers ( 1959) state: â€Å"†¦ is open to experience , able to live existentially, is trusting in his or her own organism, experience feelings freely, acts independently, is active and lives an enriched life, he is in the process of being and becoming himself†¦. (p 192) Values exposed through person centred approach. The person centred point of view places high value on the experience of the individual human beings and or the importance of his or her subjective reality. It also challenges each person to accept responsibility of his or her own life, (Mearns et al. 1988). Rogers (1961) argues that the basic value in person centred approach is the conviction that personal e xperience is the highest authority. With all the problems and hardships being experienced in sub- Saharan Africa like the tribal clashes, sexual abuse, drought and hunger, poor governance, lack of medical expertise and medicines and many others which leads to introjections of other people’s value in order to gain positive regard. Problems later arise when they view these introjected values as their own. One goal of person centred approach is to reverse this pattern and help the client to select his or her own value (Thorne et al. 998). The coming into consciousness of the African Personality highlighted how African cultural values differed from those that were imposed upon them (Len-Holdstock, 2000). Person centred approach places the therapist in a paradoxical position, in that the therapist will never seek to guide the client to a particular value or gaol but to guide the client towards contact with his or her inner organismic self away from external value. In other word the therapist is actively trying to facilitate the client’s movement from the outer world of the conditions of worth into the inner world of the organismic valuing process. (Van Kalmthout, 1995). The concept of self is also exposed as a value in person centred approach because according to Rogers (1951) an acute concept of self is crucial for healthy development. In addition, Covey, (1989) states that modern society is characterised by pervasive wars, genocide, exploitation and general disenchantment, hence individuals are in battle with an inner craving for growth and development. Markus and Kitayama (1991) argues that psychological merit of attending to the self, appreciation of others difference from others and importance of asserting to self. I do agree with theme in sense that person centred approach brings out the need of self awareness which Rowen (1983) says is a state of consciousness where we are genuinely open to listen on all the levels, thus enabling one to become independent from others and discover and be able to express one’s unique attributes. Sub- Saharan countries people have suffered so much because of lack of awareness. In regard to the post election violence in Kenya two years ago, many got affected because they were not aware of repercussions of the violence to them and that they are used as a tool by our politicians, whom imposed their values on them hence acting on others values forgetting about their own values. Collier ( 1977 argues that Rogers boast of the essential equality of human beings claiming that every individual has the same forward moving humanity and capacity for happiness when one is true to one self. Effectiveness of person centred approach in sub-Saharan Africa Person centred approach mainly focuses on the well being of a person, mainly focussing on his personal feelings and being able to provide core conditions for a helping which in very vital because it encourages independence of a person, which African culture puts so much value in ones social connectedness. The growth of people in the African perspective as Owusun-Bempah and Howitt (2000) put it, is not individual, but it also involves the whole society and the wider aspects of such a society. The two add that the aim of the development of the self is the achievement of a truly social self through, the harmonious relations and the interdependence with others. Person centred approach do emphasise the autonomy of a client which in sub-Saharan Africa have sense of normal development where the individual becomes conscious of his own being, his duties, his privileges and responsible towards himself and toward others. An example is the case of human genocide that happened in Rwanda some years go, where their were ethical clashes between two tribes, but after the incident the citizens later realised that what they were doing was not actual right but out of other people orders hence when truth and reconciliation commissioner was formed they had to be made aware of their actions and also made to take responsibility of their actions as well. Am mazed by the effectiveness of this approach because it actual makes one come into reality of life and be able to see things in a different angle and all these he comes up with them without any education or being told what to do. This approach has enabled change, especially in the urban areas, however this is not to say that African traditional philosophy have been shelved. In essence, change as Shorter (1998) says may be radical but if seldom total. Clearly what we experience in Africa is general and specifically in Kenya is radical transformations but with con tinuities. Conclusion In many ways. I have realised that person centred philosophical roots are useful in sub- Saharan Africa because it echoes and has echoes in many cultural and religious traditions. The concepts, language, practice attitudes of person centred approach are familiar in many ways. The other important things are, i have come to appreciate the effectivessness of the core conditions which are necessary and sufficient in our cultural context. References Bozarth, J. and Temaner Brodley B. (1986). The core conditions and Theory of the person centred. Chicago; Praegers. Corey, G. (2001). Theory and Practice of counselling and Psychotherapy ( 6th Edn). Australia; Brooks/ Cole. Covey, S. R. (1989). The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. London: WsBook- well. D’ardenne,P. and Mahtani,A. (1989) Transcultural Counselling in Action (2nd edt) (ed) Windy,D, Counselling in Action. London:Sage. Kirschenbaum, H. and Henderson, V. L. (1989). the Carl Rogers’s reader. London; British Library Press. Len Holdstock, T. (2000). Re-examining psychology: Critical Perspective and African Insight. London; Routledge. Markus, H. R. and Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion and Motivation psychological view. Mearns, D. and Thorne, B. (1988). Person centred Counselling in Action (2nd Edn). London; Sage Mearns, D. and Thorne, B. (2000). Person- centred therapy today. London; Sage Rogers, C. R. (1951). Client –centred Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications and Theory. Boston; Houghton Mifflin. Rogers, C. R. (1967). The condition of change from a client view point. Cited in Buenson and R. Carkhuff (Ed) Sources of gain in counselling and psychotherapy. Newyork; Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Rogers,C. R. 1959). A theory of Therapy, Personality and Interpersonal Relationship as Developed in the client Centred Framework. In S. Koch (Ed) Psychology: A study of science. Newyork; McGraw-Hill Rogers. (1961). On becoming A Person. Boston; Houghton Mifflin. Rowan, J. (1983). The Reality Game: A Gide to Humanistic Counselling and Psychotherapy (2nd Edn). London; Routledge and Kegan Paul plc. Thorne, B . (1991). Person- Centred Counselling: therapeutic and Spiritual dimensions. London; Whurr. Thorne, B. (2000). Carl Rogers. London; Sage. Thorne, B. and Lambers, E. (1998). Person centred therapy. London; Sage Van Kalmthout, M. (1995). The Religious Dimensions of Rogers Work. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol 12, Part 3. Rogers, C. R. (1990a). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. In H. Kirschenbaum and V. L. Henderson (eds). The Carl Rogers Readers. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press. Purton, C. (1994). The deep structure of the Core conditions: A Buddhist Perspective. Austria; Gmunden. Green, C. D. (2002). Signifant Aspects of Client- Centred Therapy. http//psychalysis. york. ca/Rogers/Therapy. html (accessed 18/02/02). Villas-Rose Bowen, M. 1984). Spirituality and Person Centerd Approach: Interconnectedness in the Universe and Psychotherapy. Mexico; Universal liberoamerican. Vanaerschot, G. (1990). The Process of Empathy: Holding and letting go. In Lietaer, G Rombauts, J. And Van Balen, R. (Eds)Clients- Centerd and Experiental Pstchotherapy in the nineties. Belgium; Leuven University Press. Owusu- Bempah, K and Howitt, D. (2000). Psychology beyond Western Perspectives. Leicester; BPS books ( The British Psychological Society). Shorter, A. (1998). African Culture: An overview. Nairobi; Paulines Publications Africa.

Distance Learning and Online Education Essay

Distance Learning and Online Education Essay Distance Learning and Online Education Essay Distance Learning and Online Education Essay Is Distance Learning as Effective as Traditional Classroom Learning? The given essay speaks of the advantages of distance learning and compares it to the traditional classroom learning. There are the advantages of distance learning both for students, teachers and educational establishments. However, the paper also speaks of the disadvantages of distance learning. The paper summarizes all negative and positive sides of distance learning. Moreover, the essay represents the arguments for and against it. The data used while writing the paper gives the answer to the question whether distance learning is as effective as a traditional one or not. A noticeable leap in the development of communicative means allows developing new types of education, including distance learning more actively. It will create the conditions for the achievement of the educational results adequate to new requirements of labor market by students (irrespective of the place of their accommodation or the social status of their families). At present, the need for the use of the Internet resources and technologies does not raise any doubts. A practical experience visually and convincingly showed that the application of the Internet in education and management could lead to the substantial increase of its availability and quality. Being a fast developing form of interactive learning, distance learning has a lot of advantages if compared to the traditional classroom learning and should be considered as a decent alternative to it. In their article â€Å"Distance education of classroom instruction for continuing education: who retains more knowledge?† Connie Schardt and her colleges state that distance learning has appeared as an alternative for the provision of the opportunities to receive education for working health professionals. There were a lot of advantages of distance learning such as a flexible schedule, absence of travel expenses and a constant access to Internet. Distance learning gives a lot of possibilities for students as well as for tutors. For the students learning on the distant bases, there is no difference in the form of education as innovative teaching strategies are aimed at the easy modification of the learning behavior of students, not losing their learning skills of traditional learning (Schardt 2002). Despite the fact that training is carried out not in classes, in many respects distance learning is similar to the traditional one. First of all, students have access to tutors and receive feedback from them. Video conferences and e-mail are the assisting tools in it. Secondly, students have an access to the same educational resources; the programs of training very seldom differ and access to libraries is also free. Thirdly, students are full members of communities of graduates who render assistance in job search (Allen Seaman 2010). Efficiency of the distance learning is defined by the combination of five key factors allowing students to keep more information, to increase awareness, to achieve the best results of work and to increase the coefficient of profitability of the invested capital. These factors include interactivity, memorability, flexibility in use, tutorship and accessibility. The introduction of interactivity into the process of distance learning makes a student to achieve the maximum result. Memorability provides a better understanding of the studied material for distance learners. Flexibility presupposes the possibility to teach distance students with different level of background knowledge as well as with different capabilities. Assistance or tutorship helps distance learners to minimize the number of questions and problems connected with the studying of material. Accessibility allows students to study any time suitable for them anywhere they want. The whole learning material is available online (Hassendurg 2009). There is an ambiguous attitude to distance learning. Despite its increasing popularity, distance learning is treated with caution and mistrust. In comparison with traditional classroom learning, distance learning has much more ample opportunities, and, therefore, it can be treated not only as distance learning, but also as a public one. Earlier studies of distance learning concluded that these technologies were not significantly different from regular classroom learning in terms of effectiveness. Policymakers reasoned that if online instruction is no worse than traditional instruction in terms of student outcomes, then online education initiatives could be justified on the basis of cost efficiency or need to provide access to learners in settings where face-to-face instruction is not feasible (U.S. Department of Education 2010). There are the following advantages of this type of education. The geographical independence is the main advantage of distance learning. Everybody has the possibility to receive education in any part of the world, having access to the World Wide Web. Moreover, distance education is cheaper than traditional education â€Å"in university†. It is an undoubted plus, in particular in the period of economic instability. Moreover, students can save on accommodation and transportation. Besides, distance learning is also beneficial for stakeholders, as they save on renting classrooms. The reasonable time management is another characteristic feature of distance learning as it is an opportunity to study and work. In case a student does not work, it is a good opportunity to find work and to acquire experience up to graduation. The systematic control over a student’s activity is another advantage. At distance learning each student has own network teacher (tutor) and the communication process is conducted via the website of a distance school, e-mail, phone or fax. Moreover, the access to information prepared systemically in time is constantly open. Each student is registered, has own login, password and personal electronic mail, used by tutors for sending learning materials. Despite the widely spread opinion that distance learning is much easier than usual one, the monitoring and controlling function of such a type of education is much stricter than at traditional education. Tutor is not only a specialist in his sphere of knowledge, possessing the methodological skills of teaching, but also a psychologist. Tutor can support a child, persuading him to go the chosen way and to achieve success. Students trained by a distance-learning program, are certified two times a year each semester. The grade is put by the tutor according to the results of the educational activity and transfers the documentation of the student to the appropriate department of educational institutions (Hassendurg 2009). Distance learning takes into consideration the individual abilities of students. Moreover, there is a fast feedback from a tutor. Distance learning students have opportunity to dose communication with a training material and a tutor, asking him the questions when required. A high motivation and the developed informative abilities of students are peculiar to distant learning as only in this case they can study in an interactive mode. Distance learning has more individual character than traditional one, as a student can develop own learning schedule. A student chooses the educational rate himself, repeating the separate lessons several times or skipping separate units. Besides, the assessment system is objective and does not depend on a tutor in distance learning system. It is impossible to grade by taking into consideration the personal qualities of a student (Allen Seaman 2010). A large k-125 of experimental and quasi-experimental studies met the established inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis, and provided effect sizes, clearly demonstrating that in 70 percent of the cases, students taking courses by distance education outperformed their student counterparts in the traditionally instructed courses (Shachar Neumann 2010). The distance learning system opens broad possibilities for teachers and tutors. In a distance learning the role of a teacher changes and his opportunities extend. This form of education allows teachers not to waste time for the routine of educational process. Thus, a teacher decides himself what exactly should be considered as a routine, whether it is a check of knowledge or reading the same course. The distance learning systems allow automating practically everything, except the identity of a teacher. Moreover, teachers do not need to leave their houses both for attending lessons and for the preparation of the learning materials. It gives the opportunity for a wider range of teachers, like women-teachers, having small children and for old teachers, having health problems. Besides, a flexible schedule opens for all teachers of distance learning ample opportunities for combining jobs as obligatory presence hours can be reduced to a minimum. However, distance learning demands additiona l efforts for the development of its technologies from teachers. Despite all the above-mentioned advantages of distance learning, the skeptical attitude towards it still remains. Is the distance learning as effective as traditional one? Will distance-learning students have the same employment opportunities with the students, following the traditional learning system? Among the disadvantages of distance learning it is possible to enumerate the following points: The absence of the legislative base and standards and a lack of the reliable juridical status; The absence of internal communication between students and tutors; this psychological factor can negatively influence a training material; The necessity of the student’s ability to self-education and high motivation to study; these conditions are vital for a successful distance learning; A continuous requirement to the Internet access and shortage of the electronic resources; Shortage of experts, specializing on distance learning; A lack of visual communication and control. (Ni 2010). The attitude of society to distance learning system is an important factor that should be taken into consideration by the distance-learning applicant. Not all directors or HR managers are ready to perceive the specialist after distance learning university as an equal to the colleagues educated by the traditional learning system. The audience of the students trained by the distance learning programs is not limited to a territorial framework, but at employment the graduates who plan to live and work in geographical proximity to the distance learning establishment have more chances. However, popular distance learning universities all over the world give equal opportunities for all graduates, irrespective of the form of learning they chose. At present, the distance-learning model is in the process of its formation and promotion. It has just acquired the technological base, allowing competing with the traditional learning model. The critics of the distance-learning model point the fact that the admission requirements for the distance learning programs are much lower, than those for the traditional learning model. It is unambiguously possible to make a conclusion that distance learning is admitted all over the world as an alternative way of professional development and improvement of the earlier received education. According to the results of the research conducted by the US Department of Education (2009), the students trained according to the programs of distance learning show the best results and competence, if compared to their â€Å"colleagues† at universities and colleges (U.S. Department of Education 2009). Summing up, it is possible to say that distance learning is a good alternative to the traditional education in the conditions of an economic crisis, and also for professional development. The differences between traditional and distance learning are considerable, and they can become the cause of failures in successful mastering of the skills, obtained during the distance learning. Despite it, the knowledge received during the educational process both in distance and traditional ways of learning are equally valuable and demanded in the professional practice. Only individual qualities and life situations compose the determining factor for this or that form of education. Moreover, information technologies open big opportunities for the educational system. Distance learning leads to more democratic relations of a student and a teacher, releases a lot of time, assumes an individual approach and gives opportunities to come back to the passed material. The most important fact is that a new source of information Internet resource appears and brings a lot of perspectives for distance learning.

Italian Mafia History essays

Italian Mafia History essays The Mafia started early in the 9th century. This was the period in which the Arab forces occupied Sicily. Sicilians needed a place to escape to. The word Mafia means refuge in Arab language. The Normans invaded a Sicily in the 11th century. Once again they were forced to work for these invaders as slaves. The only way to escape this was to hide in the hills of the island. When Sicily was invaded the refuges were pursued just as every time that they had been invaded before. These people in the hills formed groups to fight against these enemies. This group wanted to create ancestry and heritage. These beliefs were developed and used in the basic structure if the organization. Atop of all stood the dons, or chiefs, who were the bosses of the Mafia groups in each village. They report to the don of dons, who live in the Capital. The capital of Sicily was Palermo. They were inducted into the Mafia through an oath which to this day says: A vow never to reveal any Mafia secrets or members under the threat of torture or death. Always help out fellow Mafia members. Avenge attacks on members of the family, because every sheep is part of our flock. Stay away from police and other government disciplinarians. In the 19th century the Mafia grew into a large criminal society. Creating the Mafias own forms of authority. The Mafia began to extort many people by handing out Black Hand notes, which been around since the 1700s. They hand out black notes to people requesting money in return for protection. The only people that these victims needed protection against were the same criminals who handed them these notes. Victims had to give the money up or else their families would be victims of violence, kidnapping, bombings, and murder. In 1876 Don Raffaele Pazzolo ran for political office to infect the Sicilian government with the Mafia. By having voters vote under gunpoint he reached his goal. He used his power to ge...

Hamel and Prahalad's Concept of Core Competence Essay

Hamel and Prahalad's Concept of Core Competence - Essay Example Formerly, the diversification of the corporation would simply direct its business units towards particular end product markets and order them to become leading outlets of the business, but with the ever changing market boundaries, the targets proved to be to elusive with their sustained ‘capture’ limited. Only a few companies have been able to adapt to the ever changing dynamics and thus have been able to capture the existing markets through their inventing of new markets, their quick entry into new emerging markets and, more dramatically, in their shift in patterns on the selection of customers in the already established markets. Therefore, the critical task that various corporate management face, is the creation of an organization that is capable of infusing their different products and services with efficient and effective functional ability or improving their profiles with the creation of product and services that their customers need but have not yet envisioned (Gra nt, 2005, 182). Such a task is difficult since it ultimately requires the radical restructuring the management of these companies. This in essence means that the top management of various corporations or companies must accept and assume their role and responsibility in the decline of their companies’ competitiveness. The theory and practice of the ‘Western’ type of management is blamed on the creation of a ‘dragging effect’ on the forward movement of companies. It is thus imperative that the principles of management be changed /reformed (Grant, 2005, 182). Core competency can be described as ‘a specific factor that, through the business’ point of view, is centrally responsible for the way the business and by extension its employees perform their duties. Through its utilization, it can fulfill the following aspects: - it cannot be imitated easily by business competitors, it can be used to put leverage on a wide range of products and marke ts and its core importance is that it must contribute to the benefits experienced by the consumers. Therefore, it can take a myriad of forms including customer services, technical/subject matter knowledge and effective and efficient management of the business. It may include product enhancement, good marketing skills, efficient Human Resource Management among others (Nitschke, 2011, 23). They enable better coordination of the diverse production skills through the integration of different technologies, good communication, good interpersonal skills and an involved and deeply committed work attitude. Consequently, a core competence is achieved through the application of a specific and unique set of skills and or production techniques that will, in the end, deliver the expected value to the customer. This in turn, enables the discovery and exploitation of newer varieties of markets. As illustrated by Professor Prahalad and Hamel, core competencies usually lead to the creation or the cor e products of a business and in themselves can add many more products for their end users. These core competencies are enhanced through continued improvements by the companies over a period of time. This build up of the core competencies

Failing Schools and Students in the US Research Paper

Failing Schools and Students in the US - Research Paper Example No Accountability of Individual Schools 3. Lack of Qualified Staff in Schools C. Is the Argument out of the School’s Hands? 1. Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act Conclusion Work Cited Introduction Today it is of crucial importance that education should be given utmost attention, as it is considered a guaranteed insurance into ones future. However, it is usual that children are failing consistently in many parts of the world especially USA. A student who is disinterested in the education will generally miss college lectures and would perform extremely poor in assessments tests. In worst cases, students would stop attending their schools or colleges and would thereby sit at home without concern for their education, career and life. It is important that causes of inability to perform well at school should be figured out before they can be pin down to improve performances in general and long term successes in whole. Does the issue lie with the students and/or the parents? Lac k of Parenting Today many of the children fail because of lack of parenting guidance or parents lacking such skills. Children today need their parent's guidance so they could help them make positive options instead of just trying to control them or choose for them what they are not interested in. If parents act as children’s guide they are letting them not rely on their inner guidance. If parents guide their children through the process of decision making they are letting them look in to the situations from all of its sides. This even helps them build a sort of self esteem that is they would start trusting them and believing in ability to make good choices. According to Mr. PubMed, the usual cause of lack of parenting skills is their low socio-economic status. Parents which are living below poverty lines have no such access to parenting skills. Teen parents simply have a hard time forming such parenting skills. In middle families this is mainly due to lack of emotional and fi nancial support and lack of awareness. In richer families this is mainly because parents simply lack time. Moreover, the younger parents were the ones who were more immature and less capable of giving the sacrifices sometimes that are required of parents. Furthermore, the parents that have abuse are more likely to make bad parenting choices. Students Hungry or Lack of Sleep August 2007 – One of the study by James F. Pagel who was the MD of University of Colorado school of Medicine has given reports that students could have insufficient sleep that could thereby have adverse effects next day not on adults performance but also on students performance. Hunger and sleep are two of the vital needs of a healthy society. Adolescents who have experience sleep disturbances are the ones more likely to receive bad grades. Based on a 238 questionnaires that were completed by the middle or high school students, the survey proved that those who have gained lower GPA were the ones who had mo st sleepless nights and such issues that include restless, a hard time waking up in the morning, when trying to fall asleep, difficulty concentrating during the day, snoring every night, aching legs, and falling asleep in class. James Pagel had said: Some of the previously conducted studies had proved that students who had irregular sleep patterns, inadequate sleep or otherwise poor sleep quality didn’t perform well in school in comparison to students who