Sociology of Sport

Many in the community are not aware that the class of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. These attitudes can be seen in different ways such as the social atmosphere affecting sports, the ways in which we define sports, exempting the world of sports from the world of citizenship and deviance in sports.Through these ways we can see how such a class can enlighten a person on sports and the real world. In this course of the Sociology of Sport, we intend to identify and understand the place of sports. We also underline the world of sports and see how the social atmosphere affects sports and vice versa. With New York City being a predominantly urban area, people who grow up in New York City are almost automatically more into the sport of basketball. The social atmosphere affects the interests of the social world largely. Being that it is an urban area, there is limited space within the city.The space that is available is usually converted into basketball courts due to the limited space and concrete floors. There is not enough space for a large field with grass in New York City. But if you were to go out more east towards Long Island and the Suffolk counties, you will see that the social atmosphere begins to change due to society. Out in Long Island, grass and trees are seen more often than in New York City due to more open spaces for people and their homes. Larger fields and different kinds of fields are seen more often. Due to more open space, a greater interest in lacrosse, soccer, and football is very apparent.Sports such as lacrosse is played in Long Island and never seen within the city. Long Island high school mostly have a lacrosse team while the only city high school to have a lacrosse team is Benjamin Cardozo which happens to be located in Bayside, Queens, the border between Queens and the Long Island counties. Sports participation affects family dynamics as well. The biggest dynamic that the participation of sports affects is time. Through my own experience I was able to see how much the dynamic of time was affected within our family.During high school, I used to have soccer practice every day except for Fridays. I remember getting out of school and running to the train to be able to make soccer practice at 4PM out in Long Island. I would get home, change and wait in the car for my mother to get home from work. My mother didn’t even have the chance to eat anything as my younger brother had to be drooped off at his practice first which was in Bayside then head off to my practice in Long Island at Hofstra University. Practice would be three hours and then it would be another hour of driving to pick up my younger brother and get home.We would arrive home around 9PM and I would have to manage to get my school work done and eat dinner with the family around 10PM. I always thought a sport was a team competition in which both teams compete to meet a goal and therefore a winner is determined. But I learned throughout the course that there are many different kinds of sports such as the ones we saw in the past winter Olympics with sports such as curling, or figure skating that are not always within a group or falls under the team category. Sport is whatever we or society, define it to be. Any organized sport requires money, equipment and time.The rules in each sport differ. The rules change to meet the cultural needs of a society. Rules are arbitrary. For example, when playing a game of tennis there has to be an agreement between the two players or teams that hitting the ball over the net and maintaining the ball within the area of the tennis court is fair play. One player cannot smash the ball out of the court and into the pa rking lot and call it a win because he had the strongest hit, unless there was an agreement between the two. This is why there must be a set of rules agreed upon the two players because they can play the game of tennis differently.A more visible example of rules changing to meet the cultural needs of a society is one that we see in our everyday lives while watching professional baseball or MLB. The Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues which are the National league and the American League. The American League has a designated hitter while the National League does not allow designated hitters within their rules. Rules do not conflict when teams of their respected leagues play against each other but when a team from the National League has to play against a team from the American League, rules conflict. Teams must now play according to home field rules.That means if the American League team happens to be the home team, rules apply for the allowance of a designated hitter. Back in the schoolyard, basketball rules are arbitrary all the time. Rules are less strict in the schoolyard compared to rules in the NBA or in college basketball. Players also cut some slack on less talented players who may constantly commit â€Å"travels† or â€Å"double dribbles†. Sports don’t exist in a cultural vacuum but the world of sports is very much like the world of masculinity. During the course we watched a video of â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, which has to do with the study of gender representation in advertising.It reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With over 160 ads and TV commercials, as a viewer we see how women are portrayed and how the idea of masculinity is a never ending philosophy over the years. The images portray violence of women in society, such as a woman and a shadowy figure behind her. There are also ads of woman used as footstools, woman being murdered, and men as perpetrato rs of violence in community. The image of masculinity is deeply linked to violence. This social attitude is reflected into the world of sports with big muscular men and skinny women.The men always want to be the bigger and stronger man on the court whether it is on a basketball court and a player preferring to slam dunk over their opponent rather than a simple lay-up or on the football field and the players creating the most violent tackle of bringing their opponent to the ground and then taunting them. Even women in the WNBA are commercialized with makeup and sexualized in a way. People even say such a great tennis player as Serena Williams looks like a man or women weight lifters being men like or called â€Å"lesbians† for their â€Å"manly† features of having big muscles.Such players as Anna Kournikova who may have not won an important competition within their careers still manage to increase and gain more endorsements than a Serena Williams for their image of bein g attractive and feminine which appeal more to men and the public. Despite the many similarities that reflect from the â€Å"real world† to the world of sports, many of the realities that people would have to deal with in the â€Å"real world† they don’t have to go through in the world of sports. This raises the question of â€Å"what makes the world of sports exempt from the world of citizenship†?An example of this situation is of violence and deviance in sports. Recently during a women’s basketball game, one of the players turned and punched one of her opponents during game play. For this act of violence the player was suspended for two games and had to give an apology to the victim. If this same situation occurred in the â€Å"real world† in the street, that would be considered an assault crime and the aggressor would have gotten sued by the victim for physically hurting someone. Players in professional sports are perceived to perform dev iance when they are discovered to be using steroids for performance enhancing.But what deviance is there in using steroids for performance enhancing if some runners sleep in oxygen tanks the night before a competition? That would also be performance enhancing by receiving large masses of oxygen before a long race. If normal people do what athletes do to their bodies that would be self destructing themselves. Athletes at times force themselves to play on bad conditions and not only that but as I explained before, many professional athletes choose, knowingly, to take and consume steroids.Despite the proven effects, professional players still â€Å"break the rules† of sport and take such a substance to enhance their performances. Many of the social attitudes and atmospheres have proven to provide a great effect on people and the world of sports and the citizenship world. Many deviances and acts of violence show how much a difference the situation is handled in their environments . The realities and consequences of situations are different in the world of sports than to the world of citizenship. With this course I was able to learn how to relate attitudes and situations and analyze how linked both worlds are. Sociology of Sport Many in the community are not aware that the class of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. These attitudes can be seen in different ways such as the social atmosphere affecting sports, the ways in which we define sports, exempting the world of sports from the world of citizenship and deviance in sports.Through these ways we can see how such a class can enlighten a person on sports and the real world. In this course of the Sociology of Sport, we intend to identify and understand the place of sports. We also underline the world of sports and see how the social atmosphere affects sports and vice versa. With New York City being a predominantly urban area, people who grow up in New York City are almost automatically more into the sport of basketball. The social atmosphere affects the interests of the social world largely. Being that it is an urban area, there is limited space within the city.The space that is available is usually converted into basketball courts due to the limited space and concrete floors. There is not enough space for a large field with grass in New York City. But if you were to go out more east towards Long Island and the Suffolk counties, you will see that the social atmosphere begins to change due to society. Out in Long Island, grass and trees are seen more often than in New York City due to more open spaces for people and their homes. Larger fields and different kinds of fields are seen more often. Due to more open space, a greater interest in lacrosse, soccer, and football is very apparent.Sports such as lacrosse is played in Long Island and never seen within the city. Long Island high school mostly have a lacrosse team while the only city high school to have a lacrosse team is Benjamin Cardozo which happens to be located in Bayside, Queens, the border between Queens and the Long Island counties. Sports participation affects family dynamics as well. The biggest dynamic that the participation of sports affects is time. Through my own experience I was able to see how much the dynamic of time was affected within our family.During high school, I used to have soccer practice every day except for Fridays. I remember getting out of school and running to the train to be able to make soccer practice at 4PM out in Long Island. I would get home, change and wait in the car for my mother to get home from work. My mother didn’t even have the chance to eat anything as my younger brother had to be drooped off at his practice first which was in Bayside then head off to my practice in Long Island at Hofstra University. Practice would be three hours and then it would be another hour of driving to pick up my younger brother and get home.We would arrive home around 9PM and I would have to manage to get my school work done and eat dinner with the family around 10PM. I always thought a sport was a team competition in which both teams compete to meet a goal and therefore a winner is determined. But I learned throughout the course that there are many different kinds of sports such as the ones we saw in the past winter Olympics with sports such as curling, or figure skating that are not always within a group or falls under the team category. Sport is whatever we or society, define it to be. Any organized sport requires money, equipment and time.The rules in each sport differ. The rules change to meet the cultural needs of a society. Rules are arbitrary. For example, when playing a game of tennis there has to be an agreement between the two players or teams that hitting the ball over the net and maintaining the ball within the area of the tennis court is fair play. One player cannot smash the ball out of the court and into the pa rking lot and call it a win because he had the strongest hit, unless there was an agreement between the two. This is why there must be a set of rules agreed upon the two players because they can play the game of tennis differently.A more visible example of rules changing to meet the cultural needs of a society is one that we see in our everyday lives while watching professional baseball or MLB. The Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues which are the National league and the American League. The American League has a designated hitter while the National League does not allow designated hitters within their rules. Rules do not conflict when teams of their respected leagues play against each other but when a team from the National League has to play against a team from the American League, rules conflict. Teams must now play according to home field rules.That means if the American League team happens to be the home team, rules apply for the allowance of a designated hitter. Back in the schoolyard, basketball rules are arbitrary all the time. Rules are less strict in the schoolyard compared to rules in the NBA or in college basketball. Players also cut some slack on less talented players who may constantly commit â€Å"travels† or â€Å"double dribbles†. Sports don’t exist in a cultural vacuum but the world of sports is very much like the world of masculinity. During the course we watched a video of â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, which has to do with the study of gender representation in advertising.It reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With over 160 ads and TV commercials, as a viewer we see how women are portrayed and how the idea of masculinity is a never ending philosophy over the years. The images portray violence of women in society, such as a woman and a shadowy figure behind her. There are also ads of woman used as footstools, woman being murdered, and men as perpetrato rs of violence in community. The image of masculinity is deeply linked to violence. This social attitude is reflected into the world of sports with big muscular men and skinny women.The men always want to be the bigger and stronger man on the court whether it is on a basketball court and a player preferring to slam dunk over their opponent rather than a simple lay-up or on the football field and the players creating the most violent tackle of bringing their opponent to the ground and then taunting them. Even women in the WNBA are commercialized with makeup and sexualized in a way. People even say such a great tennis player as Serena Williams looks like a man or women weight lifters being men like or called â€Å"lesbians† for their â€Å"manly† features of having big muscles.Such players as Anna Kournikova who may have not won an important competition within their careers still manage to increase and gain more endorsements than a Serena Williams for their image of bein g attractive and feminine which appeal more to men and the public. Despite the many similarities that reflect from the â€Å"real world† to the world of sports, many of the realities that people would have to deal with in the â€Å"real world† they don’t have to go through in the world of sports. This raises the question of â€Å"what makes the world of sports exempt from the world of citizenship†?An example of this situation is of violence and deviance in sports. Recently during a women’s basketball game, one of the players turned and punched one of her opponents during game play. For this act of violence the player was suspended for two games and had to give an apology to the victim. If this same situation occurred in the â€Å"real world† in the street, that would be considered an assault crime and the aggressor would have gotten sued by the victim for physically hurting someone. Players in professional sports are perceived to perform dev iance when they are discovered to be using steroids for performance enhancing.But what deviance is there in using steroids for performance enhancing if some runners sleep in oxygen tanks the night before a competition? That would also be performance enhancing by receiving large masses of oxygen before a long race. If normal people do what athletes do to their bodies that would be self destructing themselves. Athletes at times force themselves to play on bad conditions and not only that but as I explained before, many professional athletes choose, knowingly, to take and consume steroids.Despite the proven effects, professional players still â€Å"break the rules† of sport and take such a substance to enhance their performances. Many of the social attitudes and atmospheres have proven to provide a great effect on people and the world of sports and the citizenship world. Many deviances and acts of violence show how much a difference the situation is handled in their environments . The realities and consequences of situations are different in the world of sports than to the world of citizenship. With this course I was able to learn how to relate attitudes and situations and analyze how linked both worlds are.

East of Eden: The Discovery of Innocence

The Discovery of Innocence on the Western Frontier What happens in the West? What kind of change takes place when an individual crosses over the boundary separating what has been settled from what has yet to be † the frontier. Over the last few weeks I have continued to probe the idea of the West as a place that has yet to be defined. Many times, authors and people are not even sure where it starts as it is an invisible border that exists only in the minds of those who seek to cross it.Once across this ambiguous frontier, the traveler ncounters a place in which time seems to be suspended. As in the story of the Garden of Eden, paradise (or the West) represents a sphere in which God has held the hands of time, and the people and creatures live in a state of eternal sameness. The idea of ghost towns in the West embodies the notion of a place somehow being removed from the influence of time. Ghost towns exist as settlements that people forgot. However, unlike settlements in the Ea st where space is at a premium and any unused building would quickly be removed and replaced by something else, in theWest these places remain, like footprints on the moon where no erosion of time can disturb them. The same principle applies to people. The West has the effect of amnesia upon the minds of those who partake of it. In many ways, it resembles the lotus flowers from The Odyssey. In the epic, any persons who tasted of the lotus flowers immediately forgot about home and opted to stay where they could partake of the flowers. A similar effect can be found among the mountain men and explorers of the Rocky Mountains.Often times these men would become so intoxicated by the rugged eauty and isolation they found in the West that they would spend years in the mountains instead of the months they had planned on. These men became real life Rip Van Winkles, being suspended from time for so long they were not aware of major events such as presidential elections, new territories, or wa rs. Not only is the West edenic in the way that time operates, it is also closely tied

Person Centered Care

If you would like to contribute to the art and science section contact: Gwen Clarke, art and science editor, Nursing Standard, The Heights, 59-65 Lowlands Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex HA1 3AW. email: gwen. [email  protected] co. uk Person-centred care: Principle of Nursing Practice D Manley K et al (2011) Person-centred care: Principle of Nursing Practice D. Nursing Standard. 25, 31, 35-37. Date of acceptance: February 7 2011. SummaryThis is the fifth article in a nine-part series describing the Principles of Nursing Practice developed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in collaboration with patient and service organisations, the Department of Health, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, nurses and other healthcare professionals. This article discusses Principle D, the provision of person-centred care. Authors Kim Manley, at the time of writing, lead, Quality, Standards and Innovation Unit, Learning & Development Institute, RCN, London; Val Hills, learning and development a dviser, RCN, Yorkshire and the Humber; and Sheila Marriot, regional director, RCN, East Midlands.Email: kim. [email  protected] ac. uk Keywords Nurse-patient relations, person-centred care, Principles of Nursing Practice These keywords are based on subject headings from the British Nursing Index. For author and research article guidelines visit the Nursing Standard home page at www. nursing-standard. co. uk. For related articles visit our online archive and search using the keywords.THE FOURTH Principle of Nursing Practice, Principle D, reads: ‘Nurses and nursing staff provide and promote care that puts people at the centre, involves patients, service users, their families and their carers in decisions, and helps them make informed choices about their treatment and care. ’ The provision of care that is experienced as right by the person receiving it is at the core of nursing practice. Principle D sets out to endorse and expand on this point, which is often summarised as providing person-centred care – a philosophy that centres care on the person and not only their healthcare needs.The King’s Fund uses the term NURSING STANDARD ‘the person in the patient’ to convey the same point (Goodrich and Cornwall 2008). There is a consensus that person-centred care equates with quality care (Innes et al 2006, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) 2009), although the service users involved in developing the Principles indicated that they wanted to receive person-centred, and safe and effective care. Such inter-related care is based on best evidence, which is blended with the needs of the individual within specific contexts.Healthcare teams, healthcare provider organisations and governments often articulate an intention to deliver person-centred care. However, achieving it is often challenging and difficult to sustain. Achieving person-centred care consistently requires specific knowledge, skills and ways of working, a shared philosophy th at is practised by the nursing team, an effective workplace culture and organisational support. While all members of the nursing team endeavour to provide person-centred care, some nurses have more transient contacts with patients and those important to them.Examples include staff working in operating departments, general practice or outpatients. The challenges in these situations include skill in developing rapid rapport and ensuring that communication systems respect the essence of the person and protect his or her safety in a way that maintains person-centred values and continuity of care. Person-centred care can be recognised by an active observer or the person experiencing care. The following might be experienced or observed: 4 A focus on getting to know the patient as a person, his or her values, beliefs and aspirations, health and social care needs and preferences. Enabling the patient to make decisions based on informed choices about what options and april 6 :: vol 25 no 31 :: 2011 35 art & science principles series: 5 assistance are available, therefore promoting his or her independence and autonomy. 4 Shared decision making between patients and healthcare teams, rather than control being exerted over the patient. Enabling choice of specific care and services to meet the patient’s health and social care needs and preferences. 4 Providing information that is tailored to each person to assist him or her in making decisions based on the best evidence available.Assisting patients to interpret technical information, evidence and complex concepts and helping them to understand their options and consequences of this, while accessing support from other health and social care experts. 4 Supporting the person to assert his or her choices. If the individual is unable to do this for him or herself, then the nursing team or an appointed formal advocate would present and pursue the person’s stated wishes. 4 Ongoing evaluation to ascertain that care an d services continue to be appropriate for each person. This involves encouraging, listening to and acting on feedback from patients and service users. Other attributes of the nursing team include being professionally competent and committed to work, and demonstrating clear values and beliefs (McCormack and McCance 2010). In addition, nurses should be able to use different processes in the development of person-centred care: working with patients’ values and beliefs, engaging patients and mental health service users, having a sympathetic presence, sharing decision making and accommodating patients’ physical needs (McCormack and McCance 2010). People from minority ethnic groups often experience barriers to person-centred care.There is a need to understand the way in which different minority groups within local populations access information and how different cultural understandings, languages and communication styles influence perceptions of personalised care (Innes et a l 2006). A shared philosophy For person-centred care to achieve its full potential, the approach needs to be practised by the entire nursing team. This requires a shared philosophy and ways of working that prioritise person-centred behaviour, not only with patients and those that are important to them, but also within the team.The wellbeing of staff and the way in which they are supported also needs to be person-centred as staff wellbeing positively affects the care environment for staff and patients. For a shared philosophy to be realised in practice, person-centred systems and an effective workplace culture need to be in place (Manley et al 2007, McCormack et al 2008). Such systems focus not only on structures and processes, but also on the behaviours necessary to provide person-centred care. An effective workplace culture has a common vision through which values are implemented in practice and experienced by patients, service users and staff.This culture demonstrates adaptability and responsiveness in service provision, is driven by the needs of users and has systems that sustain person-centred values. Clinical leadership is pivotal in promoting effective cultures. This is achieved through modelling person-centred values, developing and implementing systems that sustain these values, encouraging behavioural patterns that support giving and receiving feedback, implementing learning from systematic evaluations of person-centred care and involving patients in decision making (Manley et al 2007).To determine whether person-centred care is being delivered or how it can be improved, workplaces need to use measures or methods that enable systematic evaluation to take place. These should be embedded within patients’ electronic NURSING STANDARD Knowledge, skills and ways of working Each member of the nursing team is expected to provide person-centred care, although the required knowledge, skills and competences may come from the wider nursing and healthcare t eam. Principle A, through its focus on dignity, respect, compassion and human rights, is the essential basis for providing person-centred care (Jackson and Irwin 2011).However, other qualities, such as the ability to develop good relationships are required: ‘The relationship between the service user and front line worker is pivotal to the experience of good quality/person-centred care/ support’ (Innes et al 2006). Developing good relationships with patients and colleagues requires team members to be self-aware and have well-developed communication and interpersonal skills. These skills enable the nursing team to get to know the person as an individual and enable other interdisciplinary team members to recognise these insights through effective documentation and working relationships.Getting to know the patient is a requirement for nursing expertise, but is also dependent on the way that care is organised (Hardy et al 2009). 36 april 6 :: vol 25 no 31 :: 2011 records to reduce the burden of data collection and analysis. The Person-centred Nursing Framework (McCormack and McCance 2010) identifies a number of outcomes that may inform these measures, including satisfaction with care, involvement in care, feeling of wellbeing and creating a therapeutic environment. The RCN (2011) recognises that different measures may already be in place to support evaluation of person-centred care.It is encouraging teams and organisations to submit their measures to the RCN for endorsement. The measures should meet certain criteria, for example they should be evidence-based, take into account stakeholder and other perspectives, and be practicable. Endorsed measures can be shared with others through the RCN website. Organisational support Innes et al (2006) made the point that organisations have an important role to play in enabling person-centred care through the promotion of user-led services. This can be achieved through overcoming bureaucratic structures such as in creased management and budget-led services.It is important that management provides support to the front line nursing team in its day-to-day work and recognises the importance of nurse-patient relationships to this endeavour. This support may be, for example, through initiatives that release time to care through lean methodology (a quality improvement approach that focuses on making processes more efficient and reducing waste) (Wilson 2010), and practice development methodologies associated with person-centred cultures (McCormack et al 2008). access clinic; service-users are seen weekly for a brief intervention (10-15 minutes).Service-users appreciate this alternative to the usual one-hour appointment every two weeks and find the approach less threatening. The clinic is run by a nurse prescriber who is able to titrate medication against need or therapeutic benefit while delivering high quality psychosocial interventions in a brief intervention format. The clinic is supported by a se rvice user representative. This representative gives confidence to service-users who may be lacking belief in their ability to achieve lifelong abstinence and provides service users with an introduction to other community based self-help support networks.After service users have engaged with the service through the quick access clinic, they progress to an appropriate level of key working intervention to meet their more complex needs. This initiative illustrates a number of elements of Principle D, including the use of a formal advocate service, drawing on a service representative, who supports the patient in his or her choices as well as helping him or her to assert his or her wishes. The approach provides a flexible service whereby clinical interventions are provided by a nurse practitioner, and complex needs are assessed quickly.The service user and the nursing team work in partnership to decide when the patient is ready to embark on the next level of interventions required to mee t the patient’s complex needs. Conclusion Principle D emphasises the centrality of the patient to his or her care. It requires skill from each member of the nursing team. The potential contribution of each member to person-centred care will be enhanced if everyone in the team is using the same approach. Such an approach requires a workplace culture where person-centred values are realised, reviewed and reflected on in relation to the experiences of both patients and staff NSCase study A good example of patient-centred care is illustrated by an initiative from a specialist drug and alcohol service at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. The nursing team treats drug users for an initial 12 weeks in a quick References Goodrich J, Cornwall J (2008) Seeing The Person in The Patient: The Point of Care Review Paper. The King’s Fund, London. Hardy S, Titchen A, McCormack B, Manley K (Eds) (2009) Revealing Nursing Expertise Through Practitioner Inquiry. Wiley -Blackwell, Oxford. Innes A, Macpherson S, McCabe L (2006) Promoting Person-centred Care at the Front Line. Joseph Rowntree Foundation,York. Jackson A, Irwin W (2011) Dignity, humanity and equality: Principles of Nursing Practice A. Nursing Standard. 25, 28, 35-37. Manley K, Sanders K, Cardiff S, Davren M, Garbarino L (2007) Effective workplace culture: a concept analysis. Royal College of Nursing Workplace Resources for Practice Development. RCN, London, 6-10. McCormack B, Manley K, Walsh K (2008) Person-centred systems and processes. In Manley K, McCormack B, Wilson V (Eds) International Practice Development in Nursing and Healthcare. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 17-41. McCormack B, McCance T (2010) Person-centred Nursing: Theory and Practice.Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. Royal College of Nursing (2009) Measuring for Quality in Health and Social Care: An RCN Position Statement. http://tinyurl. com/ 6c6s3gd (Last accessed: March 16 2011. ) Royal College of Nursing (2011) Principles of Nursi ng Practice: Principles and Measures Consultation. Summary Report for Nurse Leaders. http://tinyurl. com/5wdsr56 (Last accessed: March 16 2011. ) Wilson G (2010) Implementation of Releasing Time to Care: the Productive Ward. Journal of Nursing Management. 17, 5, 647-654. NURSING STANDARD april 6 :: vol 25 no 31 :: 2011 37

Native American Music and Dance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Native American Music and Dance - Essay Example Powwows, being a cultural display, are meticulously formed depictions, performances, or articulations of Native American past and contemporary reality as they want to express it. Organizing the occasion-- establishing the rules and regulations, registering partakers, and putting in order the activities (Heth 1992)— gives order and furnishes significance to this community gathering. The pan-Indian or supra-tribal feature of the powwow has encouraged scholars, especially anthropologists, to ridicule its recognition among early Indian cultures because they are anxious that it may displace culture-oriented rituals or practices (Heth 1992). Others perceive it as the only Native American blueprint evident in the life of several regional or ethnic groups. The Waccamaw Sioux’s powwow rites (Ellis, Lassiter, & Dunham 2005, 294) present a possibility of taking into account how performance and ceremonies characterize their identity in present-day American culture. Powwows are a vi tal link between non-Indians and Native Americans, even though numerous conflicts and issues should be addressed so as to build and sustain this cultural connection. Powwows are a quite intricate kind of communication on multiple extents, from the individual to the collective to the political (Ellis & Lassiter 2005).... Some anthropologists, according to Koskoff (2005), also deal with the themes of intertribal support, pan-Indianism, and diverse identity. There is unfortunately insufficient literature on Native American powwows and there is no scholarship which deals with the entire intricacy of powwows and their function in Native America. Even though there are more and more scholarly works proclaiming powwows of Native America and taking into account occasions, and there are currently several accurate children’s literature dedicated to the images and sounds of the powwows and the participants, and there are a number of pictures which comprise the issues of the subject (Ellis & Lassiter 2005), there is still inadequate systematic and critical literature on the issue. As stated by Toelken (1991) in his work Ethnic Selection and Intensification in the Native American Powwow (as cited in Stern & Cicala 1991, 137): â€Å"Perhaps because their participants seem to be having fun instead of playin g to the white stereotype of Indian stoicism†¦ the contemporary intertribal powwow, an increasingly popular vernacular dance expression among Native Americans, has not been given much attention by scholars, even though it has become one of the most common articulations of ‘Indianness’ among Indians today.† Kiowa Song As the language of Kiowa keeps on weakening in its commonplace usage, a song is surfacing as a leading representation for expressing the identity and legacy of the Kiowa people. However, a song cannot be deprived of its storyline perspective; specifically, for numerous Kiowa singers, narrative is entirely important for interpreting songs (May & Hood 1983). Without a narrative, a song is only a cacophony of sound; nevertheless, with a narrative, sound

My Leaders Profile in early childhood Assignment

My Leaders Profile in early childhood - Assignment Example In this paper therefore, the profile of the Director and nominated Supervisor of Maryland Early Childhood Center based in Sydney, Patricia1 is presented. According to (Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Harris, and Hopkins, 2006), the directors of early childhood educational institutions have to be proficient in teaching strategies, group dynamics, conceptual skills in child development, adept in understanding and implementing issues to do with the correct moral purposes to adopt, and be goal oriented. The profile is therefore presented in a manner that seeks to examine the key characteristics, knowledge, skills, and personality of Patricia to critic how well they match with the proficiency guidelines for directors outlined by Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Harris, and Hopkins (2006). Section 3: My Leader’s Story Introduction Thornton (2005) has argued that early educational school directors should be able to budget their time in such a way that they make time for the parents of their charges so as to discuss the progress of the children. What this implies is that the leader of an early childhood institution must have a social structure principle that focuses not only on the children who are put in their care but also on other agencies such as the home and how such agencies can make their functional duties easier. Indeed, this is a characteristic that my leader has exhibited in her numerous years of experience as a director as she has a story built on the success she has seen as a result of collaborative leadership style with parents and other stakeholders. For instance as noted by Rodd (2005), he has already begun to foster strong networks with other Early Childhood agencies that are located within the community. Management Role The job title of the leader is Nominated Supervisor of a Centre-based child care service. She currently holds the position as a director. Some of the major job descriptions of the director, as specified under the Education and Care Service Nati onal Law and Education and Care Service National Regulations are given as listed below: She is expected to ensure the effective day to day administrative operation of the service and also to make sure that the Centre meets the Education and Care Services National Regulations at all times. What is more, she is required to comply with the National quality Framework and standards to maintain high quality care and education. To achieve this, it is expected that she will ensure compliance with the code of conduct at all times and be responsible for the care and education of each individual child attending the service. Her job description gives mandate over her staff as she is to ensure that adequate supervision and direction is provided for children by ensuring the prescribed educator to child ratios are met and each educator at the service meets the qualification requirements relevant to the educator’s role2. Several more of these job descriptions have been attached at the append ix 2. Generally, management roles can be defined from three major perspectives namely planning, organisation and monitoring, out of which McCrea, N. & Ehrich, L. (1999) have devised the POM model. Model of Management Process McCrea, N. & Ehrich, L. (1999) From the diagram presented above, it would be realised that all three

Online retailing business model company analysis Essay

Online retailing business model company analysis - Essay Example Lack of physical retail stores except their studios and warehouses enables them to devote their time and resources to the virtual operations. In this manner, they are able to maximize their revenue while cutting costs that involve setting up of retail shops. With the vision of inspiring and getting their inspiration from cool girls all over the world, Nasty Gal intends to provide their customers with truly unique items exclusive to their brand. Online retailing is a fast growing sector of the commerce world as a result of a fast growing consumer base. Increase in access to internet services has made it possible for most people to access the services of Nasty Gal. Customers can purchase clothes, shoes and accessories directly from the web page, which they receive through shipment to their location anywhere in the world from New York to Australia. Their â€Å"about us† page provides information about the history of its establishment as well as providing information about the founder and other team members behind its operations. It also provides information about their clothes, shoes and accessories, and gives instructions on how to search and make purchases (Nasty

Brief summery about Q-Media company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Brief summery about Q-Media company - Essay Example The aim is to connect brands with the consumers in a unique way. This is achieved using multi-channel set of services (Bayt, 2014). The company also enjoys a strong association with Qatar regulatory authorities. This can be seen through collaborative initiatives on the developmental agenda. For a period the company has been in existence, it has acted as a reliable partner to the state through development of Qatar. Moreover, the company has led to a remarkable improvement of outdoor media in terms of reach, diversity, and quality (Q.Media, 2014).This is reflected in the development of Qatar. Most of the transactions of the company occur between the states. As a result, the company can be said to involve to business to government (B2G). For example, the company enjoys a close working relationship with regulatory authorities in Qatar. Some of those the company is involved with the transaction includes Doha municipality and major transportation companies such as Mowasalat (Q.Media, 2014). The products offered by the company are in line with the needs of the state. Moreover, the companies work with the state in organizing events. For example, it was recently involved with the Qatar tourism authority to organize Qatar motor show (GL-Events, 2012). Q.media offers services to diverse people. It offers opportunities to anyone with advertising campaigns. However, the company enjoys valuable clients such as government organizations and authorities. Some of those includes NGOs, banks, corporate, airlines, and advertising agencies. The company has various divisions that offer services. The first one is q.media outdoor. This provides outdoor advertising in Doha and Qatar (Bayt, 2014). The other product is q.media Decaux. This is an initiative between q.media and JCDecaux (Bayt, 2014). It is a major advertising company world wide and acts as a global leader in outdoor adverting. The other is q.media events. The role is to

The Human Resources Department of NL&C Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Human Resources Department of NL&C - Essay Example Given the recent issues of NL&C's human resource management, all effort must be made to comply with federal and state law while clearly defining the company's expectations for each position. Clearly, "the law allows the employer to establish the basic job requirements and work standards-as long as those criteria do not discriminate based on the protected classifications found in federal and state employment discrimination laws." (Fick 19) The job descriptions and employee manual will protect NL&C from any litigious misunderstandings with future employees. Second, the company needs to quantify its diversity goals. Given the need for bi-lingual employees in the call center, clear diversity recruitment goals will assist the department in maintaining a workforce representative of the varied cultures we serve. Further, articulated diversity objectives will be evidence that management is aware of the need to reflect community populations, include represented minorities in its labor force, and is proactively addressing any deficiencies. We know from research that our website will be a good source for recruitment because when "...diverse candidates hear about a position, the first thing they do, says Susan Oxford, AIRS senior director of training, research and development, is check out the company's Web site to see if it's diversity friendly" (Bennett 2). Therefore, we will instruct our web designer to immediately place a "Job Openings" section on the site and include text regarding our diversity policy. Online Job Posting One of our most effective approaches to obtaining the best candidates for the 50 positions we are filling will be online sources. In addition to our corporate website, we can make the "online world [our] recruiting partner" by using college student career centers, state workforce development programs, non-cost online job banks, and other sources (Heathfield). Once our recruitment ad is approved, we will disseminate this information to as many online sources as possible. Local media advertising The most obvious primary source for recruitment will be a classified ad in the regional and local newspapers. This will provide NL&C with a locally-based response so that potential employees may be interviewed and trained as quickly as possible. In addition to these primary sources, we will be focusing on two additional and specialized recruitment tools. Specialized Sources (Bi-lingual) In-house referrals We will immediately poll our current roster of Hispanic and minority employees to solicit applications from their associates. We know that: Employee referrals top every recruiter's list as the best way to get good new employees, but referrals are underutilized in diversity recruiting, says John Sullivan, head of the human-resource program at San Francisco State University. "Seek out your diverse employees," he says, "and encourage them to recruit from their relatives, diverse colleagues at other firms, professional associations, religious groups and social

Comparing IFRS to GAAP Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Comparing IFRS to GAAP - Coursework Example This document will focus on specific differences and similarities between IFRS and GAAP as applicable in businesses across the globe. Although GAAP and IFRS are similar in their application and usually results to uniform results, there are slight variations arise where GAAP and IFRS offer options due to the nature of the business, company’s interpretation of principles, industry practices and details of transactions. The FASB and IASB have adopted criteria for fair measurement of financial instruments in order to reflect the fair value of business assets and liabilities. Fair value is used to refer to the current market value of the financial instruments. The boards have adopted two steps to ensure fair value measurements whereby businesses are supposed to record particular financial instruments to reflect their current market value. The approaches include â€Å"disclosure of the fair value information in the notes† and â€Å"fair value option† that allows companies to record particular financial instruments at fair value in the financial report. However, IFRS differ from US GAAP in some ways because IFRS examines specific loans and debtors to ensure the same is not impaired, and. In addition, GAAP and IFRS employ different criteria for recording a factoring transaction whereby, IFRS applies the combination of methods dealing with reward, risk and loss control whereas GAAP applies t he loss of control as the chief method. Also, GAAP takes into consideration the incomplete derecognition of receivables while IFRS does not allow incomplete derecognition of receivables (Kimmel, 2013). Depreciation refers to distribution or spread of costs of assets over its useful life according to IFRS (Shamrock, 2012). Depreciation reflects the value of assets over a given period and depicts the potential of that asset to generate income for the business. It portrays the diminishing utility of the asset in business. Depreciation of components is essential when making a major financial decision such as during mergers and acquisitions, when preparing the financial report at the end of the trading period and when disposing of or acquiring additional depreciable assets to reflect the current value of the assets (Shamrock, 2012).

Jury Bias Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Jury Bias - Essay Example However, there are states that permit a limited number of 6 people in juries when dealing with minor cases. It is also imperative to identify if there is a juror who harbors any individual interest either through bias or prejudice (Burns, 2006). Next is opening statements. This is whereby an outline of proof is presented by each side to the jury as trial proceeds. However, it is critical to note that opening statements are not the same as evidence but the expectations of the parties the evidence is supposed to prove. After that the trial moves to the presentation of testimony of witnesses or presentation of evidence. It is essential to observe here that the constitutional trial rights of each party are paramount under the guiding jurisdiction of the law. The first case to be presented is the prosecutions or plaintiffs. On that account, during the testimony of the witness, a direct examination is conducted by the side that summoned the witness. This is followed by cross examination by the side that did not call the witness. It I here where there is presentation of physical evidence such as weapons or documents among others for identification (Burnett, 2003). Next is the closing arguments whereby there is summary of the entire evidence by the sitting attorneys. Alternatively, the attorneys also attempt to make persuasion in favor of their client to the jury. It is during this step where the attorneys strongly invoke the constitutional trial rights of their clients and my open or close the arguments. Thereafter, instructions are presented to jury in order for the judges to make sound deliberations (Burns, 2006). In other words, during this phase there is reading of instructions on the law that governs the presented case. The last step entails deliberation whereby the case is considered in order to re ach a verdict. First, the jury elects a foreperson to oversee the discussions in order to be

Paper reaction of the book Money has no smell by Paul Stoller Essay - 1

Paper reaction of the book Money has no smell by Paul Stoller - Essay Example Furthermore, the process of Africanization pertains to the marginal spaces that society provides to minority immigrants. I agree with Stoller’s argument that globalization presents ironies in the production and representation of ethnic identity. Furthermore, this book makes me feel resentful at the materialist culture of Western capitalism and how it dilutes, rather than strengthen, African identities and cultures through emphasizing the overwhelmingly dominant role of economics in shaping everyday lives and aspirations. Globalization presents economic-political ironies. An interesting irony about globalization and business is that Stoller learns more about the bureaucratic political system of his nation from his interactions with Africans. African traders ask help from Stoller in filling out official business and resident forms and other documents needed to stay and work in New York. Stoller learns that he knows so little of his own political and economic infrastructures, and this is where the Africans, or the â€Å"others,† teach him about the complexity of New York and American economics. Moreover, the complexity of these structures defies logic at times. On the one hand, the African traders have simple economic thinking. They buy something and they sell it for a profit, and then they have to pay taxes. On the other hand, the political bureaucracy is not as simple and logical. Stoller helped Boubà © Mounkaila finish his numerous forms and applications for Manhattan. They already brought t hese documents to the INS office, but they were required to follow a much more impractical protocol that would result to delays in processing it: â€Å"Even though we were in the INS offices, they insisted that the forms be mailed to them† (Stoller 112). This anecdote shows that market economics is not as efficient as its proponents assert it is. In reality, the authorities create rules and regulations that hamper the efficiency

Males and Females in Peter Greenaways Films Essay Example for Free

Males and Females in Peter Greenaways Films Essay The following paper gives an overview of the movies of Peter Greenaway along with how he portrays women and men his films. The paper would be based on the roles of men and women in his three movies, drowning by numbers, the belly of an architect and the Draughtsman’s contract. One common aspect that would be discussed in his movies is that the men are usually thought of as victims and the women are presented as the true artistic creators. His Movies: Drowning by Numbers: In opposition to the background of the autumnal Suffolk seashore, three generations of women, each one given the name of Cissie Colpitts, assassinate their not good enough husbands by obscuring them in a bathtub, in the ocean, and in a swimming pool, correspondingly. In arrival for assurance for sexual favoritism, which the women at the end of the day refuse to give, the neighboring coroner, Henry Madgett (Hill), comes in agreement to endorse the casualties as unintentional, even though a minute but steadily-growing swarm of eyewitnesses and associations put stress on him to acquaint with the reality. His juvenile son, Smut, who is preoccupied with casualty and brings together animal and insect dead bodies, furthermore he considers his father must appear spotless. Factual to Madgetts and the movies fascination with games, he places up a tug-of-war from corner to corner of a waterway to come to a decision to the problem, where he and Smut connect to Cissie in opposition to their hecklers. Greenaway is an often-infuriating, one-of-a-kind filmmaker who repeatedly experiments the staying power of his spectators. A lot of experience it as not significant as the attempt to shape out his difficult to understand games, let unaccompanied their implication, exclusive of a quantity of kinky sex or run through to disappear the procedures. Drowning by Numbers provides up ample of this: a circumcision by clippers, a repeated repulsion for provisions and flesh, and various near-sickening views of decompose and pests. Still, as if paying no attention to the filmmakers mysterious propensities, the presentations are ironic, cynical, sardonic and over and over again blackly humorous, and each and every framework is crammed with detail and magnificence. Here was an unprincipled anecdote enlightened ethically, with a tough feminist implication—approximately all of the male characters breathe their last breath by means of the unconquerable Cissies scheme shimmering, as Greenaway himself has acknowledged that the superior do not obtain content and happiness, and the depraved are infrequently rebuked, and the above suspicion are for all time badly treated. Drowning by Numbers is typically concerning numbers and the means they are employed to systematize the games individuals take part in. Despite the fact that the greater part of the human relations of whichever significance is determined by unstructured requirements, we use up a large amount of our lives demanding to offer them shape. We look for examples and successions, and enjoyment in the psychosomatic language that comes into view to give explanation. We search for regulations and unavoidability, and identify relations as the competition in which people occupy themselves for the reason that these games have both, happiness and contention. Drowning by Numbers is crammed with games: those men engage in recreation with women, women with men, and jump rope, cricket, and some games out of Greenaways tremendous sleight of hand. For the most part continuous game is the one Greenaway plays with the spectator. The motion picture starts with a small woman hopping rope as she count from one to one hundred (Peter Greenaway, 100). The Bell of an Architect: In Belly of an Architect, Brian Dennehy plays the central character who considers the main beliefs of structural design will regulate the humankind. He struggles the backstabbing of dishonest classmates and environment’s attrition of both construction and body. Sooner than the film ends, he loses his architectural assignment and is lost to stomach cancer. The screen in Belly is beleaguered with scaffolding, drop fabrics, plaster, powder, and huge degeneration hallways and corridors seeping out with water and sludge, which Greenaway challenges to put together into well-designed symmetries much as his hero attempts to protect the architectural classicisms he stumbles on to be so comforting. Again, the ordering organization contained by the film surrounds it. An immature artiste is constricted to implement twelve illustrations of a sumptuous countryside residence in 17th century England. Drawn into an affectionate and passionate association with the two conniving ladies of the residence he outlines and fabricates illustrated indications of the assassination. He almost immediately discovers himself trapped in the rumble ferociousness of the over sophisticated spirits of the landed upper classes. As all the times, Peter Greenaway provides beautiful and stunning masterpieces that contemplate on the artists infatuation for order and the oppression of organizations—whether communal or artistic. This untimely Greenaway effort observes unfaithfulness and substantial weakening, all in the perspective of a demanding occupational existence. The cuckold is a renowned American designer, Stourley Kracklite, who goes to Rome to place on a demonstration in reminiscence of his male protagonist, the 18th century farsighted draftsman, Etiene Louis Boullee. Kracklite fails to remember the current to respect the ancient times, but at what cost? He pays no attention to his pregnant wife who searches for soothe in the arms of Kracklites opponent. He furthermore takes no notice of his physical condition and is influenced that his stomach’s throbbing are the consequences of his wifes efforts to exterminate him. The punishment for such fascination is the failure of his presentation— the extraordinarily obsession he gave up all other elements of his life to accomplish (Peter Greenaway, 105). The Belly of an Architect is a visual extravagance, approximately deference to the techniques and fashions of Romes structural designs, judged with skill, ability, proficiency and crammed with impenetrable and mysterious shades. The Draughtsman’s Contract: Greenaways foremost profit-making element, The Draughtsmans Contract, is the chronicle of a draughtsman who in 1694 is specially made by the woman of an enormous residence to do twelve depictions of her property. At the opening it gives the impression that hes to a certain extent in command of his lady and background, receiving them together down anywhere he desires them, till his meticulousness does him in. By painstakingly drafting the manor house and foundation, he unintentionally duplicates indications to an assassination. As expected, its perpetrators dont desire him in the region. The methodical little draughtsman fall’s a victim not to environment’s impulse but to mans ravenousness and violent behavior (Peter Greenaway, 45). The twelve drawings are at one time the evidences to the massacres and the arrangements of the motion picture. From then on, all noteworthy objects in the motion picture are revolving around the paintings that hold the clues and all the films action—the drawings and the assassinations—must be accomplished by the time movies reaches to its end. This is systematic Greenaway. Human games and their dependence on ritualistic traditions are both the area under discussion of the draughtsman’s contract and its form. As the characters get involve within the findings of the clues and murderer with each other, it brings in the the chaos of passion. Greenaway assembles his schemes and positions according to the murder and clues. The Draughtsmans Contract is thrice regarding commanding order on disorder, on mans unreasonable desires and natures predictable decompose: first, surrounded by the sequence of events; second in its structural association; and third, in the glance of the screen. Greenaway is an order-and-chaos fanatic (Amy Lawrence, 175). Conclusion: In all the movies of Peter Greenaway discussed above, one thing is very common, that the men are always shown as a powerless creature and the women are always dominating. All the films bring the women as murderers of men. In the majority of his films, Peter Greenaway has at least a suggestion of proposal that the most important rationale of women is to damage mens lives, typically with the aid of the men in query. More than any of his others, with the probable exclusion of the outstanding Drowning By Numbers, conveys a suggestion to the front, by using it as a primary message, rather than as an indication of the disentanglement of the plot. Unluckily, perhaps due to this approach, there are not a lot of subplots there, and therefore, the movie needs somewhat in difficulty, in contrast with some of his previous work. The Draughts men’s Contract came into view like a touching work of art with bright color and dazzling imagery. Though all are great movies, their schemes can be puzzling with the need of familiar dialogue and character progress. Greenaway movies are compactly and tightly weighed down with figure of speech and satisfied with metaphors, and are required to be moved towards accordingly, not with the similar state of mind that one would come close to a distinctive Hollywood motion picture, for an instance. Possibly furthermore supportive is a quotation from Greenaway himself: If you want to tell stories, be a writer, not a filmmaker.(IMDB, Pp1) References: Greenaway, Peter. 2001. The Draughtsmans Contract: The Draughtsmans Contract. Published by Distributed Art Pub, Pp 45 Greenaway, Peter. 1998. Drowning by Numbers. Published by Dis Voir, Pp 100 Greenaway, Peter. 1988. The Belly of an Architect. Published by Faber, Pp 105 Lawrence, Amy. 1997. The films of Peter Greenaway. Published by CUP Archive, Pp 175 The Internet Movie Database (IMDB), Biography for Peter Greenaway. (2008)Retrieved on 24th March ’09 from http://www. imdb. com/name/nm0000425/bio

Individual Reflective Account Of Leadership Development

Individual Reflective Account Of Leadership Development Title: A personal reflective narrative on how engaging with the leadership literature has affected my own conceptualisations of leadership. Introduction The theories of transformational leadership (Bass, 1985; Bass and Avolio, 1994) and charismatic leadership (Conger and Kanungo, 1987) represent popular approaches to the conceptualisation of leadership and have arguably evolved to be central to the field. However, a number of scholars have raised several issues with these approaches (Pawar, 2003; Yukl, 1999). and it is the intention here to highlight a number of concerns that relate to the challenge of teaching leadership. This addresses an area of neglect in the literature as there has been limited consideration of the teaching of leadership (Doh, 2003). The Meaning of Leadership Researchers interested in leadership have approached the development of an understanding of leadership from a variety of perspectives. Much of the leadership research conducted during the first half of twentieth century was focused on the identification of personal traits (attributes) that characterised those individuals who emerged as leaders. A review of the leadership literature reveals that there are multiple definitions that have been given to the leadership construct. Bass (1990) focuses on the concept of leadership. He suggests that there are several different approaches to the definition. While each of these perspectives and uses of the term is a legitimate use of the construct of leadership, each reflects a different conceptualization than that which traditionally has been employed. Bass points out that definitions can be used to serve a variety of purposes. Bass (1960) noted that the definition used in a particular study of leadership depends on the purposes of the study. Consistent with this, Yukl (1994:5) concluded that leadership research should be designed to provide information relevant to the entire range of definitions, so that over time it will be possible to compare the utility of different conceptualizations and arrive at some consensus on the matter. Bass (1990:19) further notes that researchers have developed definitions to serve the following different purposes: (1) to identify the object to be observed, (2) to identify a form of practice, (3) to satisfy a particular value orientation, (4) to avoid a particular orientation or implication for a practice, and (5) to provide a basis for the development of theory. The definitions indicate a progression of thought, although historically, many trends overlapped. The earlier definitions identified leadership as a focus of group process and movement, personality in action. The next type considered it as the art of inducing compliance. The more recent definitions conceive of leadership in terms of influence relationships, power differentials, persuasion, influence on goal achievement, role differentiation, reinforcement, initiation of structure, and perceived attributions of behaviour that are consistent with what the what the perceivers believe leadership to be. The truth is that leade rship may in fact involve all these things. Rethinking leadership Barker (1997) argues that the ambiguity surrounding what we understand as leadership is central to the struggle of teaching leadership. Rost (1991) indeed notes that the leadership literature although vast, is often contradictory, confusing and lacks cohesion. BrymanHYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb11HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb11s (1996) documentation of four chronological phases of leadership theory, is illustrative of changing conceptions of leadership: Trait theories (concerned with an identification of leaders traits). Behavioural theories (concerned with identification of behavioural styles of leaders). Contingency theories (concerned with a focus on fitting behavioural styles to situational factors). New theories of leadership (concerned with a focus on the articulation of a vision). Arguably, such new theories of leadership have over recent years evolved as central to our understanding of leadership with an emphasis on transformational leadership where a leader stimulates followers to change their motives, beliefs and values and capabilities so that the followers own interests and personal goals become congruent with the organisation (Bass, 1985). An important facet of this leadership is charisma, and indeed Conger and Kanungo (1987) have developed a leadership theory that specifically focuses on this dimension. Conger HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb17et al.HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb17 (2000, p. 748) suggest that charismatic leaders differ from other leaders by their ability to formulate and articulate an inspirational vision and by behaviours that they and their mission are extraordinary. In both models there is a common suggestion of a leader inspiring followers to a shared vision. This conceptualisation has arguably become widely accepted in the literature. However, some have questioned such mainstream thinking and invite a greater openness to the consideration of leadership than is presently found (Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2003). It is suggested here that a notion of a leader inspiring followers to a shared vision represents only one way to think about leadership and may not be of much assistance to those concerned with the teaching of leadership. It is in this respect that I intend to argue that this dominant conceptualisation represents a particular way of thinking about organisations and managerial work (of which leadership is one aspect), namely what may be described as systems-control thinking. Systems-control orthodoxy tends to promote a rather mechanistic view of organisations and managerial work seeing managing as an activity mainly concerned with designing and controlling work organisations as if they were big machine-like systems rationally devised to meet unambiguous organisational goals (Watson, 2005, p. 2). Such thinking derives from modernist and universalistic aspirations to maximise control over human circumstances with the manager being viewed as an expert who controls and motivates subordinates to behave in particular ways consistent with the organisations goals. Indeed, Barker (2001, p. 479) challenges the notion of new leadership theory, arguing that the work of Bass (1985, 1990) for example, clings to the idea that leadership is about leaders supervising subordinates, about subordinates working hard toward institutional objectives as the primary goal for leadership and about the leaders ability to persuade/inspire/motivate subordinates to release their own n eeds to work toward the interests of the leader or the institution that the leader represents. The extent then to which new theories provide an alternative perspective of leadership is thus questionable since along with previous conceptualisations, they continue to be framed by systems-control thinking. It is suggested that an alternative way to think about leadership is to adopt process-relational thinking. To adopt such thinking would be to recognise that: Managers like everyone else in organisational settings, are continually striving to make sense of numerous crosscutting and conflicting goals and purposes. Managers and non-managers alike constantly have to make and remake bargains, exert power, resist power, cope with conflicts of interest and negotiate understandings with others to make sure that the goods are produced or services provided to a level and quality that enables the organisation to remain in existence (Watson, 2005, pp. 2-3). The origins of such thinking may be seen to be associated with a dissatisfaction with mainstream systems-control thinking and in particular, the critique of Silverman (1970) which drew upon ideas from social action theory (Berger and Luckman, 1967), highlighting an understanding of organisations as social constructs produced and reproduced through their members activities and later being built upon to emphasise the notion of negotiated order (Day and Day, 1977). To view the organisation in process-relational terms thus involves a shift from seeing the organisation as a goal pursuing entity as suggested by a systems-control perspective to thinking about the organisation as ongoing patterns of meaning making and activity brought about as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ people in relationships to others and to their cultures (Watson, 2005, p. 6). Viewing the organisation through a process-relational lens thus accepts that only partial managerial control can ever be achieved given the ongoing and emerge nt nature of organisational activity and the centrality of people in relationships to others with their inevitable complexities and differing interests. However, it is important to note that the adoption of a process-relational perspective (or indeed a systems-control one) goes beyond a way of seeing the organising and managing of work, it also represents a way of talking and acting towards organising and managing. Thus a manager who adopts a process-relational framework is more likely to take into account broader and more-subtle aspects of work behaviour. Arguably, the central notion of leaders inspiring followers to a shared vision seen in new leadership theories becomes more problematic when thinking in process-relational terms. It is thus suggested here that thinking about leadership in process-relational terms may be more helpful to management educators as it does greater justice to the complex, messy realities of organisational life and as such provides greater assistance in helping managers to make sense of their management practice, and in particular, the part of their practice that is leadership. Systems-control vs process-relational framing of leadership It is suggested that theories of transformational and charismatic leadership are tied to a systems-control perspective of organisations. Below we raise a number of issues that emerge from the adoption of such a perspective. The issues raised here are by no means exhaustive but rather serve to illustrate some of the difficulties in framing leadership in a systems-control way and in particular ensuing tensions for the teaching of leadership draws on the work of Watson (2005) and summarises the issues discussed below, highlighting the central features of a systems-control leadership perspective contrasted with a process-relational one. We problematise a number of features of systems-control thinking in relation to leadership, namely the assumption of a unitary organisation; the emphasis placed upon the individual leader often portrayed in terms of superhero status and the subsequent neglect of others involved in leadership processes, and relatedly the separation and elevation of leaders hip from other organisational activities. We suggest that adopting a process-relational leadership perspective offers a more grounded and realistic conceptualisation which accepts the plurality of organisational life, focuses on leadership as an emergent process which includes the contributions of others and sees leadership as integral to the organising and managing of work. The unitary and fixed organisation Central to systems-control thinking is a notion of the pursuit of clear organisational goals, designed by the manager or leader who then motivates others to act in ways which will achieve these goals. It is suggested that this is problematic for a number of reasons. Such a way of thinking about leadership is based upon a unitary view of organisations that proposes all organisational members share the goals of the organisation and are thus motivated to act in ways that will ensure the realisation of such goals. Both transformational and charismatic leadership theories can be seen to uphold unitarist assumptions. Central to Basss theory is a notion of subordinates transcending their self interests for the goals of the organisation, with Bass and Avolio (1994, p. 3) for example suggesting that the (transformational) leader creates clearly communicated expectations that followers want to meet, and similarly Conger and Kanungo (1987) hypothesise that charismatic leadership will result in high internal cohesion, low internal conflict, high value congruence and high consensus. It is suggested that such assumptions are problematic since they downplay the multitude of conflicting goals, purposes and beliefs that organisational members hold in reality that seriously questions ideals of consensus and cohesion. Although Bass and Avolio (1994) acknowledge that followers hold a diverse set of views, needs and aspirations, they suggest that through the use of inspirational motivation the leader is able to align diverse followers around a vision. Thus there remains a belief that high consensus can be achieved and thus conflict, negotiation and politics that are inevitable in organisations tend to be marginalised. Notably, Barker (1997) reminds us of BurnsHYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb12HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739 volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb12s (1978) definition of leadership which emphasises leadership as a process which occurs within a context of competition and conflict. Interestingly, Basss theory of transformational leadership has built upon Burnss work and yet downplays this important dimension. It may be argued that assumptions of a unitary organisation may oversimplify the reality that is found in organisations. Similarly, systems-control thinking implies that the goals of the organisation are somehow fixed and once achieved the work of the leader is done. Again, this is seen to oversimplify the case. Conger and Kanungo, 1987, p. 46) exemplify a focus on achievement of fixed goals suggesting that one cannot lead when there is no future goal to pursue. This is seen to ignore the essentially emergent nature of organisational life in that organising and managing is in a constant state of becoming (Watson, 2002). The fluid and dynamic nature of organisations makes it difficult to envisage when there would be no future goal to pursue. Generally, given that models of transformational and charismatic leadership are framed by systems-control thinking means that they may be seen as less helpful in assisting managers to understand leadership as they do not do justice to the complex reality found in organisations. Recent leadership research and findings from our own work further suggest a number of issues with such theories that relate to this tendency to present an oversimplified and sometimes romanticised view of organisational life. The promotion of the superhero Consistent with systems-control thinking, theories of transformational and charismatic leadership present an individualistic conception of leadership, since there is a focus on the leader as a special person. Indeed, there is a focus on a gifted individual seemingly in possession of almost superhuman, magical powers that may be seen to spellbind followers to act in ways desired by the leader. Words such as extraordinary, unconventional and heroic typify a description of leader behaviours. Bass (1985, pp. 47-48) for example, highlights the extraordinariness of the transformational, charismatic leader suggesting that the unusual vision of charismatic leaders that makes it possible for them to see around corners stems from their greater freedom from internal conflict whereas the ordinary manager is a continuing victim of their self doubts and personal traumas. However, it is unclear from the literature what exactly it means to be extraordinary or unconventional and therefore limited hel p is offered to our practical attempts to teach leadership. Moreover, Alimo-Metcalfe HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb1et al.HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb1 (2002) argue that new theories of leadership create dangerous myths because they create a notion of leadership that is inaccessible to most ordinary mortals. Further, the idea that a leader must in some way be gifted shows a regression to notions of leadership as an innate ability and as such suggests little can be done by way of teaching leadership. Indeed, in my own auditing work, I found several managers who perceived leadership as an inspirational gift and therefore attempts to teach leadership were seen as limited: I dont think good leaders are people that you can, I think the term is a good leader is born, you cant turn somebody from being a poor leader into a good leader by putting them on some courses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ that sort of inspirational skill is something that that individual has and I dont think you can always train that into somebody (project manager). Whilst the notion of heroic leadership may hold weight for some there is a growing body of evidence that debunks this leadership myth. Numerous studies are now found which may be said to contribute to an emerging anti-heroic leadership perspective which suggests leaders are not larger than life individuals with special powers rather they are far more ordinary and reserved. The work of Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Metcalfe (2001) offers a very different conception of transformational leadership to that described earlier. Their work highlights the salience of what the leader does for the individual such as empowering, valuing, supporting and encouraging. This is contrasted with dominant ideas of the leader acting as a role model and inspiring the follower. Indeed, Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Metcalfe suggest that followership, so central to transformational and charismatic leadership theory is absent in their work. Comments made by managers during my own audit work were consistent with this view with managers talking of supporting and encouraging others rather than inspiring followers: Well those things leadership can be a reassurance, a firm decision, a supportive decision, giving people encouragement, being actually prepared to stick your head above the parapet where other people arent sometimes. Being decisive rather than indecisive. Not always leading from the front but just letting people know that you are supportive of what they are doing that they can rely on you if things go wrong (operations director). Taking away the notion of followership diminishes the importance of the heroic leader since there is a decreased need for an inspirational figure to model the way for followers. Instead Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Metcalfe (2001) argue that their work suggests a greater sense of proximity, openness, humility and vulnerability. Collins (2001) provides evidence that suggests that successful organisations do not have leaders who are charismatic, heroic figures but rather individuals who display personal humility and professional will. He found that successful leaders which he terms level five leaders, were shy unpretentious, awkward and modest but at the same time had an enormous amount of ambition not for themselves but the organisation. Similarly, Badaracco (2001) suggests the importance of quiet leadership. This is seen not to inspire or thrill, but to focus on small things, careful moves and measured efforts. He further suggests that quiet leaders have an understanding of the reality of their situations noting the limits of their powers and understanding that they are only one piece on the chessboard. This emerging work would seem to conceptualise leadership in perhaps more realistic ways focusing attention away from ideas of inspirational powers and instead a suggestion of an ordinary person working alon gside others. This is consistent with a process-relational framing of leadership since it is recognised that leaders are like everybody else and do not possess special powers thus moving attention away from ideas of special personality attributes. Thus there is hope for the majority of being able to contribute to leadership and a suggestion that there may be some role for the management teacher. The isolated leader and the neglect of group processes The focus on the heroic leader is problematic since it diverts attention from others involved in the leadership process and thus downplays the relational aspects of leadership. Whilst the contribution of followers is noted, there is a tendency to over emphasise the ability of the individual leader, this is perhaps exemplified when poor performance is automatically blamed on the actions of the leader (Khurana, 2002). Yukl (1999) proposes that instead of focusing on a single person who influences followers, many people can be viewed as contributors to the overall process of leadership in organisations. He suggests that this conception of leadership does not require an individual who is exceptional or who can perform all of the essential leadership functions, only a set of people who collectively perform them. Research undertaken by Heifetz and Laurie (2001) supports the notion of a more collaborative conception of leadership. They suggest that the leader is not somebody who has all the solutions at their disposal; rather they are somebody who asks questions. They suggest that one can lead with no more than a question in hand. Research carried out with directors of public health in the UK supports the notion of focusing on others in the leadership process (McAreavey HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb28et al.HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb28, 2001). The directors of public health interviewed in McAreavey HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb28et al.HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb28HYPERLINK http://0-www.emeraldinsight.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/journals.htm?issn=0143-7739volume=27issue=2articleid=1545747show=html#idb28s (2001) study suggested that effective leadership placed an emphasis on working with others a nd not guiding others. These shifts in focus are consistent with work by Barker (1997) and Rost (1991) who suggested that we should be focusing on group processes and think of collaborators and not followers and thus is in accordance with Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Metcalfes rejection of followership. Yukl (1999) has criticised transformational and charismatic leadership theories for a neglect of group processes and thus salient aspects of leadership are overlooked such as networking, building support for ideas and negotiation. Such arguments echo Hosking (1988) who proposed that it would be more helpful to focus on leadership as a process rather than leaders as persons which is clearly to frame leadership in process-relational terms. It is suggested here that viewing leadership as a collaborative process of interaction provides for a more grounded notion of leadership and thus potentially provides more helpful suggestions for teaching leadership. For example, a focus on helping leaders in their attempts to negotiate seems more achievable than helping leaders to inspire others. The separation of leadership and management Inherent to theories of transformational and charismatic leadership is a notion that leadership is a specialised and separate activity undertaken by heroic, isolated figures described above. This division of leadership is typical of orthodox management thinking which separates issues of managerial work tending to view these as identifiable and distinct (Watson, 2002). As Schruijer and Vansina (2002) argue such splitting obscures the complexity of life. Further, there is a tendency not only to see leadership as separate from management but also superior. In Basss theory for example, management is associated with transactional leadership which is seen to be a useful but inferior leadership approach, which is relatively simple and straightforward to achieve. Bass (1985, p. 26) argues that to be transactional is the easy way out; to be transformational is the more difficult path to pursue. Such a separation is upheld by numerous scholars such as Zaleznik (1992) who suggests that managers are concerned with humdrum activities and maintaining order whereas leaders are concerned with novel and exciting activities and stimulate change. Mangham and Pye (1991, p. 13) have criticised this separation arguing that: It results in nothing more than a vague feeling that managing is something rather mundane, looking after the nuts and bolts of the enterprise and leading is something special and precious undertaken by the really important people in the enterprise. They argue that leading is not a specialised and separate activity, but simply an aspect albeit a highly salient aspect, of managing. Others have similarly suggested that leadership and management may be more usefully seen as related roles rather than as separate activities undertaken by separate people (Nadler and Tushman, 1990; Yukl, 1999).

Access Control System Project Plan

Access Control System Project Plan Brian Jerozal   Project Scope Statement The project of installing an access control system in a dormitory is requirement which is coming from the Board of directors of college. Scope of the project is to develop a system which ensure the authorized access in to the dormitory and record all the activities which are taking place at the door of dormitory in order to identify the potential threat who is trying to get the unauthorized access in to the dormitory. For getting entry, user authentication will be requiring which will take place when register person will use his/her issued identification card against the electronic proximity reader. This project is big step form collage to ensure the security at the campus. Project goals is to implementing an access control system (ACS) in a dormitory by integrating an electronic proximity reader, application which will handle this device and will do verification of user form created database and the existing security camera who will monitor all the activities and will record them in order to ensure the secure access to the dormitory. Deliverable of this project will be the video footage of dormitory access activity and overall working system. The student or appropriate personnel will have three opportunities to open the entryway if the client neglects to open the entryway on the third endeavor then the alert will go off. The ACS will likewise be intended to permit the security chairman to make changed for the ACS operations. These progressions will be the camera positions setting the caution time and setting the time the quarters entryways will bolt. The gadget utilizes a reception apparatus curl to control the RFID tag implanted in the understudy ID c ard which peruses the actuate reaction from the card. The reaction is then separated and controlled into helpful information and deciphered by the security program. This procedure cautions the manager PC by means of serial line and hyper term. In the event that the card is perused and it is not in the code database a red LED flashes for three seconds. A dedicated team of 5 resources will be assigned for this project. Overall project cost including the hardware devices is $15,000. Total duration of project is 3 weeks. First team has to show an internal demo of this project and then final representation of project will be done in the presence of board members of college at the time of project delivery. Five Major Task with Subtasks Task 1 Installing the Electronic Proximity Reader Fixing the proximity reader at the door Doing all the required connection with the door locks In this tasks need is to implement physical reader at the door. Requirement is to do all the connection with the door also, so that door can be controller for lock and unlock process. Task 2 Development of Access control authorization application Development of the application which will do the verification in Java Intergradations of the Application with the proximity reader device Develop an application in java which will be able to fetch from database and will get the identification detail form reader and will match them. On successful match, it will send the information to control panel to unlock the door. Task 3 Creation of database Maintaining a database of all the members and their identification card Accessing Database with the Application Need is to create a data base of college which will have all the information about identification in the form of relation tables. Add functionality in the application to get the data from Database. Task 4 Application development for Handling Security Camera Application development for handling camera movement and to handling recording process Storing all the video to a shared location which requires secure access Add functionally to handle the camera and its movement forms the application whenever some user comes at door and uses reader to get entry. Store all the recorded video at particular location Task 5 Integration of Complete system with security camera system Implementing the interface between camera and application    Overall system testing after the integration for complete process Create interface between panels and integrate the entire component. Test manually complete functionally and video stored by security camera. Gantt Chart illustrating the project Tasks System diagram of Application References Benantar, M. (2006). Access control systems: security, identity management and trust models. doi: 10.1007/0-387-27716-1 Norman, T. L. (2011). Electronic access control. Retrieved January 26, 2017, from https://books.google.com/books?id=TmRRTfAPfdYCprintsec=frontcoversource=gbs_ge_summary_rcad=0#v=onepageqf=false Rosenblatt, H. J. (2014). Systems Analysis and Design, 10th Edition. [Strayer University Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://strayer.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337003186/

The Suppression of the Nineteenth-Century Catholics :: European History Essays

The Suppression of the Nineteenth-Century Catholics Missing Works Cited    During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, vicars were under direct authority from Rome, and controlled the Roman Catholic Church of England. It was not until the early nineteenth century, under Pope Pius IX, that the Church decided to split England into several smaller districts, each headed by a bishop. London papers began following the growth and leadership change of the Roman Church in England. One article in The Times stated that "Rome had mistaken the High Church renewal, the Oxford Movement, within the Church of England for a Romeward move" (qtd. in Bowen 148). Several bishops tried to explain to The Times and its readers that the new hierarchy was simply a matter of church government and had nothing to do with politics or national life in England. The Roman Catholic Church thought that it would be better for their congregations to have a local bishop they could rely on, rather than having nearly all of the control in Rome. As the Roman Catholic Church began its restructuring, Parliament passed a proviso that enabled them to control the public acts of Catholics. According to Bowen the proviso banned Roman Catholics from: performing rites in public, no officer of the law was allowed to wear his robe in public, no monk was able to wear his habit, no processions were allowed in the streets and no funerals were allowed to be conducted at grave sites. Every male member of the Catholic religious order was forced to register with the clerk of the peace, and no new members were allowed once the proviso passed. (19) The only Catholics left undisturbed by the new proviso were cloisters of nuns. Despite the new proviso, the number of Catholics began to grow. This increasing number is attributed to the immigrating Irish who were coming to England to escape over-population and the beginnings of a famine. The English were already anti-Irish, and they heightened their prejudice by attaching the anti-Catholic prejudice onto the immigrating Irish. The majority of the immigrating Irish were tenant farmers, who were unable to support and feed their families. This was caused by the decreasing size of farms and an increase in agriculture inefficiency (McCaffrey 16). The British landowners who controlled the barren property did nothing to help the starving Irish. The farmers felt dehumanized and demoralized, possessing neither the hope of progress nor the desire for improvement (McCaffrey 15).

Henry Ford :: Henry Ford Essays

When Henry Ford was born on June 30th, 1863, neither him nor anyone for that matter, knew what an important role he would take in the future of mankind. Ford saw his first car when he was 12. He and his father where riding into Detroit at the time. At that moment, he knew what he wanted to do with his life: he wanted to make a difference in the automobile industry. Through out his life, he achieved this in an extraordinary way. That is why he will always be remembered in everyone’s heart. Whenever you drive down the road in your car, you can thank all of it to Henry Ford. Through his life he accomplished extraordinary achievements such as going from a poor farm boy to a wealthy inventor who helped Thomas Edison. When he was a young man, he figured out how to use simple inventions, such as the light bulb. He then taught himself the design of a steamboat engine. His goal was to build a horse-less carriage. He had come up with several designs and in 1896, he produced his first ca r, the Model A. When Ford’s first car came out, he had been interviewed by a reporter and when asked about the history of the car, he had said â€Å"History is more or less bunk.† Ford worked in Thomas Edison’s factory for years and the left to become an apprentice for a car-producer in Detroit. While working there, he established how he was going to make the car. He looked through hundreds of books on bicycles and books on horse and buggies. Ford decided to use wheels from a bicycle, and the same steel framing. From the horse and buggy, he took the idea of the shape of the actual frame. He also made a handlebar that was in the same place as horse rider for a buggy. When Henry For opened his first automobile plant, not only did it bring much attention to the industry, but it also made people want to own a car so that they looked â€Å"cool†. People knew that this was going to be a successful industry so they wanted to work in it. Even though most people t hink that the first true car ever made by Henry Ford was the Model A; they are actually being deceived. Henry Ford’s first actual cars were made for racing. Only a year or so later did Ford start making Model A’s.