Friday, September 6, 2019
Promote Good Practice in Handling Information Essay Example for Free
Promote Good Practice in Handling Information Essay 1. Identify legislation and codes of practice that relate to handling information in health and social care. 2. Summarise the main points of legal requirements and codes of practice for handling information in health and social care. I have found 4 legislations that support handling information in health and social care. 1.Data Protection Act 2.Freedom of Information Act 3.Care Standards 4.Human Rights Act. Article 8 states of the Human rights act states 1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This means that an individuals wish to protect his or her privacy must be balanced against the needs of the relevant public authority to obtain or use specified information. Outcome 2:- Be able to implement good practice in handling information. 1.Describe features of manual and electronic information storage systems that help maintain security. *Ensuraing cupboards that contain personal informatio are locked at all times. *Creating passwords on computers and locking them when inactive. *Only giving out minimal information over the telephone unless im absolutely sure that i am speaking to the next of kin or a GP. *Checking other professionals IDs on entering the building. *Ensuring each person signs in and out of the building so i know where they are are in the event of a fire. 2. Demonstrate practices that ensure seciruity when storing and accessing information. *Locking the file cupboard after use with a set of keys that only a senior members of staff and nurses have. This is good practice that ensures security. Also locking the drug trolleys through all rounds. 3. Maintain records that are up to date complete accurate and legible. *On all entries of paperwork weather it be in care plans, daily updates or food and fluid charts, it is vital that they must state a date, time and signature in black ink. All information must be clear, consice be truthful and to the point. Outcome 3 Be able to support others to handle information. *I can do this by reminding my collegues of how impotant it is to lock cupboards immediately after use which store personal records and inforamtion, each person has there own folder with theyre information in. Making sure all stickers off blister packs and medicines are destroyed before disposal is also just as important. 2. Informing new members of staff and demonstrating completion of paperwork such as food and fluid charts for example makes people aware of the importance and security for the residents. I always tell my colleagues to ask if they are unsure and i will do my best to help and if i cannot help i will find some who can help and also learn from it myself.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Small And Medium Enterprises And Larger Scale Businesses Commerce Essay
Small And Medium Enterprises And Larger Scale Businesses Commerce Essay For this assignment I have done a lot of researches on the small and medium enterprise and larger scale businesses and sole trader. The first question on this assignment is distinguish between small and medium enterprise and large scale businesses .Small and medium enterprise and larger scale businesses are precise and varies by their own factors. The U.S government defines the sizes of businesses, such as the number of employees and number of revenues. Furthermore, these enterprises are sized by employee size, features of small scale industries and characteristics are successful small scale and medium scale business. The next question is interview a sole trader, identify the difficulties that he/she is facing and give suggestion on how to overcome the difficulties. A sole-trader or sole-proprietorship is a business that is owned (and usually operated) by one person. It is the smallest form of business ownership and the easiest to start. For this question I learnt more about a sole-trader. A sole trader a simplest form of business structure. It is also easy and inexpensive to maintain. SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ARE PLAYING A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN OUR ECONOMY. DISTINGUISH BETWEEN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE AND LARGER SCALE BUSINESSES 2.0 Small and Medium Enterprises and Larger scale Businesses 2.1 Definition of Small and Medium Enterprises The Small Business Administration (SBA) of US defines a small business as one which is independently owned and operated for profit and is not dominant in its field (Hughes, 2011). However in Malaysia, there is no common definition of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Different agencies define SMEs based on their own criteria, usually benchmarking against annual sales turnover, and number of full-time employees or shareholders funds. In addition, present definitions focus mainly on SMEs in the manufacturing sector. The following definitions are issued by National SME Development Council of Malaysia: Primary Agriculture A small and medium enterprise in primary agriculture is an enterprise with full-time employees not exceeding 50 or annual sales turnover not exceeding RM5.0M. Manufacturing (including agro-based) A small and medium enterprise in manufacturing (including agro-based) is an enterprise with full employees not exceeding 150 or with annual sales turnover not exceeding RM25million. Services (including ICT) A small and medium enterprise in services is an enterprise with full-time employees of between 5 and 19 or with annual sales turnover of between RM200,000 and less than RM1.0million. The above definitions are then divided into smaller entities, micro, small and medium. The following table summarizes the approved SME definitions based on number of full-time employees: SECTOR / SIZE PRIMARY AGRICULTURE MANUFACTURING (including agro-based) SERVICES SECTOR (including ICT) MICRO Less than 5 employees Less than 5 employees Less than 5 employees SMALL 5 19 employees 5 50 employees 5 19 employees MEDIUM 20 50 employees 51 150 employees 20 50 employees Source: National SME Development Council of Malaysia The table below summarises the approved SME definitions based on annual sales turnover: SECTOR / SIZE PRIMARY AGRICULTURE MANUFACTURING (including agro-based) SERVICES SECTOR (including ICT) MICRO Less than RM200,000 Less than RM250,000 Less than RM200,000 SMALL RM200,000 RM1.0million RM250,000 RM10.0million RM1.0million RM5.0million MEDIUM RM1.0million RM5.0million RM10.0million RM25million RM1.0million RM5.0million Source: National SME Development Council of Malaysia Bank Negara Malaysia had conducted a number of case studies on successful SMEs in Malaysia to identify the key success factors of these SMEs. SMEs involved in the case study had been in operation for more than 10 years, and had been selected based on their financial performance and track record. The case studies demonstrated that although SMEs were from different industries, all the enterprises shared common critical success factors, namely: Sound management capability and integrity; sound business culture and entrepreneurial spirit; Prudent financial management; High quality products and services; Good programme for human resource development; Strong support from financial institutions in terms of lending and advisory services; and Strong marketing strategies, including good network with suppliers 2.2 Definition of Large scale Businesses Large scale can always be defined as a measurement (Hughes, 2011). Scale means a form of measurement and when it is referred to as large it means that you have a more than average amount on the measurement scale. Thus any industry that is large scale will mean that products are produced at a high volume. This in turn provides a higher capital. Large scale industry requires a huge amount of capital to be invested in the industry first. It will provide many jobs for employees in order to offer a high output. This type of industry is found in places such as the USA, Germany, Japan, Russia, and Australia. All of these countries are big money makers and have large operations producing a variety of products. This is different from a small scale industry that does not require as much capital or as many workers. Given these definitions, a large scale industry can be just about anything from construction to the auto trade. Wal-Mart for example is a company in a large scale industry as they offer plenty of jobs and products to the consumers of the world. Size will matter when it comes to industry. Small companies employ about 60% of the work force in the USA due to the 30 million existing companies. Unfortunately, these companies have a lower survival rate meaning that they usually run for five to ten years and then end. 2.3 Differences between a small and medium enterprise and large entities There are many differences between a small and medium enterprise and large entities, namely: speed of decision-making, attitude towards risk, allocation of resources, understanding of business models and management of business models, and differing definitions of innovation. Decision-Making Process Large enterprises, in view of the different bureaucratic levels, will often require longer time to make decisions. This can be very frustrating especially when a decision needs to made immediately. Delay in decision-making may hinder the progress of the company. In this way, SMEs are better-off as more often than not, decisions can be made at the point of urgency. This helps the SMEs top grow more rapidly compared to a large-scaled enterprise. Attitude Towards Risk Large-scale enterprises can afford to take a bigger risk in running the operations of their businesses. This is mainly due to the fact that their capital is larger and there is buffer to absorb any uncertainties. Large size firm, such as Sime Darby and Petronas can afford to invest in foreign countries and earn much more profits compared to other SMEs. However, SMEs need to be wary of the negative consequences should their investments does not bring back the desired returns which may affect their operations in totality. Allocation of Resources In small businesses, every ringgit counts. Resources can be scarce and are allotted based almost solely on whether they will boost the bottom line. This bottom line focus may not be so distinct in a larger corporation. With more abundant resources at least in comparison to smaller companies people in large enterprises may be relatively free spenders. Understanding of Business Models A large enterprise understands the business models in a wider perspective as compared to SMEs. Large enterprises have the resources to conduct in-house trainings or sent their employees (especially management executives) to overseas countries to attend training programme. Such programmes would provide a bigger horizon to its employees who are then able to strategies their activities towards achieving the companys goals and missions. This normally lacks in SMEs. Innovation Competition in the business environment is getting more violent with more and more business entering the market due to a more relax rules and regulations in setting up business entities. In order for a company to remain competitive and relevant in the industry, huge investments need to be made on the product or services. Consumers have the choice of choosing the goods in the market. Large enterprises have the capacity to investment in such innovations compared to SMEs. For example, recently Malaysian Airlines Systems (MAS) purchased new planes (A380 series) to remain relevant in the airline industries. SMEs will have limitation due its limited financial resources. 2.4 Conclusions Even though SMEs and large-scale enterprises have differing characteristics, both plays a pivotal role in Malaysias gross domestics products (GDP). Both institutions provides employment opportunity, contribution in the form of taxes, corporate social responsibility activities and many more. No business had emerged in large entity automatically. Every business needs to start up from a small and medium entity before moving to a larger enterprise. BIBLIOGRAPHY Danks, S. Business Studies (1st edition), 2009, DP Publications, London, UK Hughes, Pride Kapoor, Business Foundation (3rd edition), 2011, South-Western Cengace Learning, Australia Mubarak Ishak, Structure of Business (2nd edition), 2008, S.S.Mubarak Bros (Pte) Ltd, Singapore Susan H, Business Studies (3rd Edition), 2008), Longman Publication, Australia www.bnm.gov.my/sme assessed on 19/7/2012 www.sme.gov.my assessed on 19/7/2012 APPENDIX 1 Members of the National SME Development Council of Malaysia I. The Prime Minister (Chairman) II. Minister of International Trade and Industry III. Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs IV. Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development V. Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries VI. Minister of Human Resource VII. Minister of Finance II VIII. Minister of Energy, Water and Communications IX. Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities X. Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations XI. Minister of Tourism XII. Minister of Rural and Regional Development XIII. Minister of Education XIV. Minister of Higher Education XV. Minister of Housing and Local Government XVI. Minister in The Prime Ministers Department XVII. Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia APPENDIX 2 CLASSIFICATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ACROSS SECTORS I. Primary Agriculture: à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Agriculture, Hunting and Related Service Activities à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Forestry, Logging and Related Service Activities à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Fishing, Operation of Fish Hatcheries and Fish Farms; Service Activities Incidental to Fishing ii. Manufacturing (including Agro-Based): à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of food products and beverages à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of tobacco products à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of textiles à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of wearing apparel; Dressing and dyeing of fur à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Tanning and dressing of leather; Manufacture of luggage, handbags, saddlery, harness and footwear à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork, except furniture; Manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of paper and paper products à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Publishing, printing and reproduction of recorded media à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of rubber and plastic products à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of basic metals à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of office, accounting and computing machinery à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus n.e.c. à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of radio, television and communication equipment and apparatus à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of medical, precision and optical instruments, watches and clocks à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of other transport equipment à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Manufacture of furniture; Manufacturing n.e.c. à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Recycling iii. Manufacturing Related Services (based on 5-digit MSIC 2000 codes): à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 73101 Research experimental development services on physical sciences à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 73102 Research experimental development services on chemistry and biology à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 73103 Research experimental development services on engineering and technology à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 73104 Research experimental development services on agricultural sciences à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 73105 Research experimental development services on medical sciences and pharmacy à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 73109 Research experimental development services on other natural sciences à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 60212 Factory bus services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 60230 Freight transport by road à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 60300 Transport via pipelines à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 61102 Freight transportation by sea-going coastal water vessels à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 61202 Inland water freight transport services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 62109 Other scheduled air transport (e.g. helicopter services) n.e.c. à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 62209 Other non-scheduled air transport n.e.c. à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 63011 Stevedoring services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 63020 Storage and warehousing services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 63091 Activities of freight forwarding / forwarding agencies à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 63099 Activities of other transport agencies n.e.c. à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 74950 Packaging services on a fee or contract basis à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 74300 Advertising à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 74130 Market research and public opinion polling à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 74142 General management consultancy services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 74143 Public relations consultancy services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 74149 Other business consultancy and management consultancy services n.e.c. à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 92201 Printed news supply services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 92209 Other news agency services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 22190 Other publishing à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 71230 Rental of office machinery and equipment (including computers) à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 71302 Rental of furniture à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 90003 Industrial waste collection and disposal services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 37101 Recycling of tin à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 37109 Recycling of other metal waste and scrap à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 37201 Recycling of textile fiber à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 37202 Recycling of rubber à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 37209 Recycling of non-metal waste and scrap à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 74212 Engineering consultancy services à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 27310 Casting of iron steel à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 27320 Casting of non-ferrous metal à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 28910 Forging, pressing, stamping and roll-forming metal; powder metallurgy à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 28920 Treatment and coating of metals, general mechanical engineering on a fee or contract basis à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 28999 Manufacture of other fabricated metal products n.e.c. à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 29220 Manufacture of machine tools à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ 74220 Technical testing and analysis iv. Services: à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Electricity, Gas and Water Supply à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles, Motorcycles and Personal and Household Goods à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Hotels and Restaurants à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Transport, Storage and Communications à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Financial Intermediation à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Education à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Health and Social Work à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Other Community, Social and Personal Service Activities v. Mining and Quarrying: à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Mining of Coal and Lignite; Extraction of Peat à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Extraction of Crude Oil and Natural Gas; Service Activities Incidental to Crude Oil and Natural Gas Extraction Excluding Surveying à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Mining of Uranium and Thorium Ores à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Mining of Metal Ores à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Other Mining Quarrying vi. Construction: à ¢Ã‹â€ ’ Construction Interview a sole trader, identify the difficulties that he/she is facing and give suggestion on how to overcome the difficulties. 3.0 Sole-Trader A sole-trader or sole-proprietorship is a business that is owned (and usually operated) by one person (Hughes, 2011). It is the smallest form of business ownership and the easiest to start. Looking back at the history of business, some of the giant players in todays market, for example Walmart and Procter Gamble, started their operations as a small entity, i.e. sole-traders. This type of business organization is most commonly established in the construction, retailing, hairdressing, car-servicing and catering trades (Stimpson, 2008). 3.1 About a Sole Trader In order to fulfill the requirements of this assignment, I had interviewed Mr Raman, the proprietor of Raman Supermarket in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Mr Raman, 48, had started to venture into business in 2000. Initially, he was operating a sundry shop in front of his house at Jalan Loke Yew. However, as business grew, he decided to rent the current shoplot and expanded his business into a supermarket. He sells variety of groceries, which includes fish, vegetables, and other daily consumption goods.He is being assisted by his wife and two Indonesian workers to run the daily chores. His business operation is from 6.30 am to 11.00 pm. 3.2 Problems faced By a Sole-Trader The disadvantages of a sole-trader stem from the fact that these businesses are owned and often managed by one person (Hughes, 2011). Mr Raman had faced similar problems in running his business. Limited capital is the main issue faced by Mr Raman. Banks, suppliers, and other lenders are not willing to finance their business, mainly due to its business entity and low confidence on their repayment capabilities. Working capital is important for daily business operations. Non-granting of credit facilities by suppliers hampers the idea of Mr Raman in running his business in a larger scale. Tight cash flow leads to lower stocks and order-taking. Company is not able to earn a good discount rate from the suppliers. Continuity of the supermarket business or succession plan is another problem faced by Mr Raman. His three children are not interested in continuing his supermarket business. He is worried that the business will cease to exist should he give-up his business when he is old enough to retire. Unlimited liability is perhaps the biggest problems faced by Mr Raman. Due to the nature of the liability, Mr Raman faces the consequences of losing even his private properties should he fails in rejuvenating the business entity. This may lead to him being declared a bankrupt should his properties are insufficient to settle the debts. He can be sued either by the bankers or his suppliers. This is one of the worst disadvantages faced by sole-traders ,such as Mr Raman. Mr Raman also faces difficulties in getting workers for his daily operations. Locals are not willing to accept a low salary as compared to foreigners. However, foreigners have other social and cultural problems. Due to staff shortage, customer service is being compromised. Once he had a bad experience when one of his foreign workers ran off with RM800-00, being the days business proceeds. Currently, he is being assisted by his wife on a part-time basis. This makes it difficult for him to take leave or go for a long vacation as this will jeopardise his business proceeds and may also lead to losing his loyal customers. Mr Raman confessed that the last time his family went for a vacation was five years ago. Competition from bigger retailers is another major problem being faced by Mr Raman. The superstores are able to sell at a lower price due to their bulk purchase and higher discounts offered by the suppliers. Usage of credit / debit cards, which is not viable in Mr Ramans case, is another factor that leads the consumers to larger superstores, for example Jusco, MidValley and Giant, to name a few. Mr Raman is not able to offer similar service due to its limited and tight cash flow. 3.3 Suggestions on how to overcome the difficulties In order to solve Mr Ramans problems, I would therefore propose to him to convert his sole-tradership into a partnership. The US Uniform Partnership Act defines a partnership as a voluntary association of two or more persons to act as co-owners of the business for profit (Hughes, 2011). Regardless of the number of people involved, a partnership often represents a pooling of special managerial skills and talents. In order to mitigate the disadvantage of limited capital, Mr Raman can request his family members or friends to become his partner. This additional capital will assists Mr Raman to scale up his business activities for a better profit. Banks and suppliers will be willing to provide additional financing as they will be more comfortable and confident of Mr Ramans repayment capability. Each partner is responsible for the well-being of the business entity. The pride of managing the supermarket and solving the daily operational problems will enhance the partners motivation to work harder to reap more business proceeds. Customers can be better served and eventually through word of mouth on the excellent services rendered at Ramans Supermarket will help to boost his business. Currently, Mr Raman is the only one actively running the daily operations of his supermarket. Partners often have complementary skills Mr Raman could manipulate of his partners specialization to further enhance its services. Furthermore, should there be any problems or issues, the partners can discuss and arrive at a better decision synergy effect. The sharing of profits would also motivate the partners to work harder. Higher business turnover leads to higher profit-sharing among the partners. However, Mr Raman should document the methods of profit-sharing at the initial stage of the partnership deeds or agreements. At the same time, the liabilities are also shared by each of the partners and not by the sole-trader alone. Losses are borne by each of the partners based on their shares. The legal requirements of setting up a partnership are minimal as compared to corporate entities. As long as the business is registered legally, it is good to go. However, Mr Raman should create his own Partnership Deeds in order to avoid any problems in the future.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Strategies for Performance Improvement
Strategies for Performance Improvement In a simple way performance means doing something successfully mainly by using the available resources. Performance can be elusive concept. It deals with the outcomes, results, and accomplishments achieved by a person, group or Organisation. (William J. Rothwel, Carolyn K.Hohne Stephen B. King: 2007). In many cases people do define performance based on financial aspects of the business. Focusing only on financial matters does not tell us what should we do and how to do in order to be successful. Performance is the definition and progressive achievement of tangible, specific, measurable, worthwhile and personally meaningful goals. (Darryl D. Enos 2007). We get a clear point in this definition that organisation should have well defined, specific and measurable goals. This serves as the first requisite in assessing the organisations performance. Having vague and general goals without proper measurement, pose a problem in evaluating corporate performance and proposing techniques for imp roving the performance. Michael Milgate 2004 said that, by monitoring performance for each measure and taking appropriate remedial action, improve revenues, business growth, reduced expenses and compliance with sector regulations have resulted. 2.1 PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT There is a clear relationship between performance improvement and change management (discussed in Section 2.5 of this chapter). Many studies concluded that most organisations either fail or achieve very limited success in their efforts to improve performance. Success or failure in performance improvement efforts begins with the reasons why organisational decision makers decide to get involved in the first place. Darryl D.Enos 2007). Personally, I feel that there should be a motivation factor to stir up the process of improving performance. In addition to this Darryl Enos 2007 added that commitment and involvement of leadership is the most critical element for the performance efforts to be successful. Rephrasing Enos unless a leader is motivated by authentic interest and be committed in the process then efforts of performance improvement have little chance to work. Every organisation has problems. A good start is to admit the problem and find what is to be accomplished to solve the problem. Sometimes performance improvement starts with a targeted program for dealing with a problem that is limiting achievement of a worthwhile goal.'(Darryl Enos 2007). As a suggestion, before approaching any technique to boost performance or implementing the efforts, management should identify areas which need improvements. The problem of poor performance or constant/stagnant performance may be caused by the top management itself.( Refer Enrons Scandal 2001).Thus, the areas for performance improvement must be clearly identified and evaluated to avoid investing efforts in areas which are not critical to performance improvement. In trying to adopt efforts and strategies to achieve corporate performance, Organisations face challenges and end up failing. In one of their research Kaplan and Norton found that 9 out of 10 companies fail to implement their strategies. (Bob Paladino 2007). Paladino explains four barriers that contribute to Organisations failure to achieve expected results from their efforts and strategies put in process. There barriers are: Vision barrier (where research shows that only 5 % of companys employees fully understand their companys strategy); Management barrier (where 85 % of executive teams spend far less time discussing strategies and strategic issues than traditional operating results); Resource barrier (where most companies do not link their budgets to strategy): and the fourth barrier being People barrier (where research shows that only 25 % of managers have incentives linked to strategy). 2.2 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PMS1) Performance management system (PMS1) is not an end by itself, but its improvement enables an Organisation to perform better. Improving its efficiency ensures the data generated will tell where the Organisation is, how it is performing and where it is going. Effective management depends on the effective measurement of performance and results (Gobal. K. Kanji, 2002). Mohan Nair (2004) argued that Corporations sometimes measure too much of something and too little of others. Contributing to this it is even possible that Organisations unknowingly does not measure some of the business aspects. Moreover many organisations fail to link what they measure with corporate strategy. Nair added that many of these measurements are un-integrated and serve the wrong goals. Many corporations lack an overarching model for monitoring, measuring and managing the business. Balanced Scorecard offers a broad and overarching skin to the structural architecture of the business. (Nair 2004) Gobal K. Kanji (2002) explains the role of PMS1 and how an organisation may achieve business excellence by identifying areas to improve and how it can use its limited resources to reflect the improvement of the system. The design and implementation of a new PMS1 may in one way or another bring questions and tensions to employees. Kanji (2002) stated that, It is important to build a measurement system where measures are used as a management and motivational tool. I personally back this idea as will help in gaining management and employees support during designing and implementing the new system. In this regard, the PMS1 should be clear to employees explaining how each will contribute to the overall strategy. The efficient PMS1 also serves as the communication and rewarding tool. Furthermore, Kanji (2002) explains the past and present performance measurements and their implication on todays business era. Traditionally, performance measurement focuses on financial measures .. that do not match entirely with competencies skills companies require to face todays business environment. In insisting that financial measures of performance are under criticism in todays world, Paul Niven (2003) said that they lack predictive power, reinforce functional silos, may sacrifices long term thinking and are not relevant to many levels of the Organisation.. Kanji then supports the significant contribution by Kaplan Norton (1992) to overcome the shortcomings of traditional PMS1 that employs only financial measures. 2.3 THE BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC) Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton (2005) invented BSC in 1992 due to the fact that traditional accounting measures like Return on Investment and Earning per Share give misleading picture while in todays business environment continuous improvement and innovation is very important. The authors realised that many managers do not depend on single set of measures in isolation of the other. This implied the need of balanced presentation of both financial and non financial measure. Kaplan Norton complemented financial measures by operational measures calling it Balanced Scorecard (BSC). Kaplan and Norton define BSC as, a set of measures that gives top management a fast but comprehensive view of the business. The BSC includes financial measures that tell the results of actions already taken. And it complements the financial measures on customer satisfaction, internal processes, and Organisation innovation and improvement. These (including financial measures) are the four perspectives of BSC as mentioned by the authors. They suggested that for each of the perspective, managers should translate their visions and missions to strategic goals and objectives and these goals should be translated into specific measures. The word Balance in the Balanced Scorecard represents the balance between financial and non financial performance indicators; internal and external elements stakeholders of the Organisation; and lag lead indicators (Paul Niven 2003). Michael Milgate (2004) defines scorecard as a balanced management system in which shared vision and strategy are reference points for the management process; achieving this balance enables synergy and a practical fit with other frameworks. BSC serves as a powerful tool as it focuses on achieving breakthrough performance considering all measures without isolating non financial performance measures (Kanji 2002).Since its creation in 1992 by Drs. Norton Kaplan of Harvard Business School the Balanced Scorecard has been implemented by different business units in the Public as well as in the Private sectors-worldwide.( Michael E. Nagel- Vice President, BSC Collaborative) Henri .JF (2006) applied the BSC framework in his survey on how top management in a manufacturing company could use PMS to improve the strategic management and Organisational performance. Given its depth as a strategic management system, the BSC principle will continue to be widely adopted and further refined in user Organisation as experiences in its implementation emerge ( Michael A.Milgate 2004). This shows how widely BSC is used to improve the PMS if the Organisation chooses to adopt and implement it. Henri .JF (2006) poses a question that top managers should ask themselves; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"How can we improve our system? .However, the author suggested that the improvement of the PMS is a continuous process that involves changing measures to reflect the new ideas and insights brought to the Organisation through creativity and other development activities. BSC can be successfully implemented in any organisation where the management is committed and devote time to formulate strategy and ready to accept changes. BSC has been implemented many organisations including services business , military units, schools, government institutions and also for profit organisations ( Wikipedia). An important point to note here is that an organisation should design its own BSC as management is knowledgeable of its responsibilities organisations operations rather than adapting another Organisations BSC. David P. Tarantino (2003) complements the work of Kaplan and Norton. He defined BSC, as a performance management tool that is used to provide an integrate perspective of an organisation.He also pointed out the four perspectives of the BSc as, external (how customers views the Organisation; Internal (Look at where the organisation must succeed and improve); Growth learning (examine how organisation grows and learns) and Financial (study financial performance of the organisation).These perspectives depend and influence one another. Tarantino (2003) said, To concentrate on only one, such as financial performance fails to recognise the contribution and balance of the other three perspectives. Of interest from the author is the explanation on how to develop the BSC. The first step he suggested is for the organisation to decide which goals are to be measured that should be included in the four perspectives. Then the organisation should figure out the measures for each of the four BSC pers pectives and determine the weight of each for ultimate evaluation of overall performance. Harvard Management-Update (2000), No need to wait for a companywide initiative-the key principles of this strategic-management system can be put to work in your unit right away.The author of the article tries to convince management to apply BSC reporting system. He is of the views that even if companies take years and spend millions to implement the scorecard across their operations the effects can be dramatic when the system takes root. He said that managers today dont have to wait for a scorecard- inspired corporate transformation before learning- and implementing some of the methods centred ideas. He explained the four lessons from BSC that can be applied right away in virtually any business unit or department. Watch a variety of metrics Connect your metrics to strategy Develop a strategic budget Get everyone involved in tracking metrics The author still insists that BSC is a method that helps managers to develop a well -rounded strategy and then get everyone in the company involved in implementing it. Mohan Nair 2004, arguing in favour of BSC, the changes in the character of business assets has exaggerated the challenges faced by business. In the past company assets would be reflected in the balance Sheet but now 85% of the assets are intangibles.Having the same arguments as previous authors about the inefficiencies of the financial measures, Nair also added that those financial measures are applied only to tangibles, when the intangibles are what fuels the future. According to an online source, www.balancescorecard.org/BSCresources the benefits of BSC are: improve organisation alignment, improve communication, more emphasis on strategy and organisational results, linked strategy and operations, and integrated strategic planning and management. 2.3.1 BSC development Kaplan and Norton explained four steps which many organisations have used to develop their balanced scorecard. The process includes: Define the measurement architecture To a beginner, it is recommended to start with a business unit applying the metrics as designed in the BSC rather than to the corporate level. Specify strategic objectives This step includes deriving strategic objectives for each of the four perspective from corporate goals. Choose strategic measures The third step is to choose related measures for the strategic goals to evaluate the performance so as to achieve the strategic objectives. Develop the implementation plan After selecting measures for each of the perspective, remains implementation process.Target values are assigned to the measures. A link is then established from various metrics from the top to bottom of the BSC. The established scorecard is then incorporated in the organisations management system.. The online source www.balancescorecard.org/BSCresources also recommended nine steps to success develop and deploy BSC framework- In a sequential order these are; Organisation assessment, strategy development, strategic objectives, strategic mapping, performance measures and targets, strategic initiatives, automation, cascading the BSC throughout the organisation and last evaluation. Overall the BSC involves the following steps: Clarify the vision Communicate to middle manager and develop business unit scorecards Eliminate Non-strategic investments and launch corporate change programs Review business unit scorecard Refine the vision Communicate the BSC to the entire company and establish individual performance objectives Update long-range plan and budget Conduct monthly and quarterly reviews Conduct annual strategy review Link everyones performance to the BSC 2.3.2 BSC criticisms The use of the balanced scorecard system may not result to what managers expect. Some professionals spoke some problems that make the BSC under criticisms. It has been noted by professionals that the BSC concept does not guide how the approach can be deployed within an organisation. It is just been viewed as an approach that attracts managers to install and implement without a real sense on how it works, and what should be expected. (Stephen Smith 2006).From his article à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"problem with a balanced scorecard, Smith pointed out some of the key issues that can cause BSC initiatives to fail. These are: Poorly defined metrics These should be relevant ,clear and easily understood Lack of efficient data collection and reporting Smith is concerned with the investments made in collecting metrics data, whether consuming too much time and energy. He then suggests the importance of prioritising key performance indicators to get most relevant information. Lack of formal review structure This is necessary to accommodate any change in metric value. Reviewing is a cross functional activity. No press improvement methodology Many organisation lack basic and standard toolkits and approaches for tracking problems. It therefore consumes a lot of time an efforts to address a problem that is caused by the performance gap. Too much internal focus Smith ranks this as one of the major criticism of BSC. He suggests that Organisation should always start with an external focus through analysing organisations markets, shareholders, competitors, employees and other stakeholders. However Smith assured that all is well with the introduction and the concept of balanced scorecard. This means that the BSC approach is a useful tool and can bring desired results if management knows how to structure it and take the above points in considerations to avoid its initiatives from failing. It has also been learnt that BSC is being criticised by academic society on its practical nature, applicability and functionality. (Wikipedia).They also noted that some of the criticisms focus on technical flaws in the method and design of the original BSC proposed by Kaplan Norton. Supporting the main problem as seen by Smith 2006 other academicians have focused on the lack of citation support. Another criticism is that the BSC does not provide a bottom line score or a unified view with clear recommendations; it is simply a list of metrics. (Wikipedia). Regardless of these criticisms the studies done so far indicated that BSC is a useful tool in strategic performance management in an Organisation. An online source www.netmba.com added to the BSC pitfalls that during implementation managers should avoid the use of generic measures, which are being adopted by successful firms. Management should not take BSC as a guarantee of success in companys operations. It should think clearly the companys strategy and implement the scorecard for improving performance in operational level that derives improved financial performance. Kaplan and Norton said, Even an excellent set of BSC measures does not guarantee a winning strategy. The BSC can only translate a company strategy into specific measurable objectives. They also advised that by combining the four perspectives, the BSC helps managers understand implicitly many interrelationships. The four perspectives relate to each other and the effect on either of the perspective will impact the other. A well designed BSC should describe your strategy through objectives and measures you have chosen. These measures should link together in a chain of cause and effect relationships (Paul Niven 2003). Thus, it is suggested that all have equal importance and neither should be taken in isolation of others. 2.4 COMPARISON BSC AND OTHER PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES When we talk of performance improvement in an organisation apart from BSC, Six sigma and Total Quality Management (TQM) come under discussion. Both tools when applied properly work to achieve what management really expects. These tools are contrasted with BSC in the subsequent sections. 2.4.1 Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Vs Six Sigma It has been learnt that BSC and Six Sigma work independently from each other. BSC translates corporate strategy into actions that help to achieve the strategy. Six Sigma aims to solve the problem of poor performance by closely looking at the root cause of performance problem. In this case Six Sigma tries to minimise the errors and reduce other causes of defects in business processes. However, these frameworks are complementary and if used together they offer huge potential value. (Michael E. Nagel). BSC and Six Sigma when used together can deliver great and unexpected business performance (Alastair Horn 2006) . Nagel justifies his idea by clarifying that BSC and Six Sigma are complementary because the former provides the strategic context for targeted improvement initiatives and the latter is a business improvement approach that solve a myriad of performance issues. To make the difference more clearly, Nagel stated that, unlike Six Sigma, BSC is not a solution for closing specific st rategic performance shortfalls. He then concluded that BSC describes the strategy for creating value and aligns resources to ensure the strategy is successfully executed. Six Sigma executes the strategy by using data and process improvement tools. It has been learnt that both BSC and Six Sigma strive for good performance through fixing up the performance gaps. In a clear manner a corporation may choose to implement any of the frameworks but the use of both the approaches would result to high performance according to the way each of them works. Rephrasing Horn, Six Sigma focuses on the best processes that organisation may adopt to improve its performance of products and processes on a continuous basis. while BSC focuses on performance management that translates strategy into executions. In explaining how both BSC and Six Sigma can work together, Henry Killackey (2008) speaks his idea that it is a very common practice to label organisation performance matrix in the BSC with red ( poor performance), yellow ( mixed results),and green ( excellent). If the organisation implements Six Sigma approach then the red ratings alert Six Sigma practitioners the areas which need immediate attention so that they can figure out ways of reversing the poor situation. In simple words, we may say that BSC serves as a communication tool for Six Sigma professionals. It has been learnt that BSC prompts weak and bad performing areas for Six Sigma professionals to act upon. As previously explained, the ultimate aim of both BSC and Six Sigma is to improve the performance of the organisation. In this regard the organisation can simultaneously implement both the approaches. They both rely on accurate data from customers and external stakeholders. Moreover the output indicators in Six Sigma may be used as measures in the BSC framework where by both the BSC and Six Sigma professionals will concentrate on the same goals. (Henry Killackey 2008) However Paul Grizzell (2004) in his article admitted that many authors see Six Sigma as the most effective performance management control system ever. But he cautioned readers that it is important to first consider the assumptions that were used to generate the opinions. Grizzell put forward his opinion that all performance management tools (in his case, Six Sigma, lean, BSC, Baldrige) when used as an integrated approach to maximise performance will lead to breakthrough and not just incremental improvement. 2.4.2 Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Vs. Total Quality Management (TQM) It is argued that the best approach for an organisation between BSC and TQM depends on the organisation itself. When developing a business strategy an organisation must consider multiple factors including leadership, customers ,business processes, financial goals and the structure, culture and the size of the corporation.( Schwartz Jay 2005). Jay continues that TQM and BSC share a common theme of improving communication in an organisation. He also added another shared goal of the BSC and TQM as the reduction of costs and improvement of services of an organisation. Moreover both TQM and BSC need management support to ensure that all employees support the new initiatives. However BSC and TQM differ in other aspects. The difference between TQM and BSC is in the number of people involved in the process; TQM requires full participation, compared with limited involvement for the BSC'(Schwartz Jay 2005).With my little knowledge on the BSC, I think it also requires full participation. This is very important to prevent any possible resistance. Another difference named it major difference by Schwartz is that BSC places more emphasis on finance i.e. using traditional financial objects; TQM while not diminishing the importance of financial solvency, it focuses more on the systems of the organisation, the concept of empowering people and employees involvement. I also raise my concern to Schwartzs views on where the focus is in BSC .i.e. finance!!.Looking at the four perspectives of the BSC ( financial, customer, internal process and learning growth) it is clear that BSC involves both financial and non financial aspects. BSC was established to compliment the fin ancial measures, so it does not put much emphasis on financial matters only but includes also non financial measures. The BNET business dictionary defines BSC as a system that measures and manages an organisations progress towards strategic objectives. Introduced by Kaplan Norton (1992) ,the BSC incorporates not only financial indicators but also other perspectives . To conclude this Schwartz (2005) suggests that before managers decide whether TQM or BSC which fits the organisation they must ask themselves the following questions: What is the organisation structure?, What is the corporate structure? What is the size of the organisation?. He then recommends that for a large and bureaucratic organisation BSC fits best and TQM fits best with small service related organisation. However Schwartz didnt make it clear how to define a large organisation either in terms of capital, employees ,etc. I would rather say that whether using BSC or TQM the most important aspect to consider is whether the organisation is real committed and has a leader to initiate the change including involving all the employees. I would personally recommends the use of BSC as its structure is clear and helps the organisation to put the strategy into measurable goals. 2.5 MANAGEMENT CHANGE Management change involves the process of reducing the chances for resistance done by top management personnel and executives. In many organisations the tendency of management to resist changes, especially in adopting a new system keeps on growing day by day. Thus for the organisation to manage the changes there should be a systematic process, planned properly and which involves the shareholders and other key stakeholders. In this respect a change may be defined as any addition to an existing or modification to an old system or any deletion of an aspect of an old system. Some of the reasons for making changes could be solving problems, growth motives/purposes, improving performance, accommodating technology change, etc. In any organisation for a change to be successful, management should commit itself to make the change operational within a reasonable time. In many organisations this has not been the case as it has been relative difficult to implement changes especially adding a new thing to an existing system. It may be said that the systematic approach to implement changes reduces the negative impact of changes and the possible failure. The researcher will evaluate the performance of the Local Authorities Pensions Fund ( LAPF) using the metrics as structured in the proposed Balances Scorecard (Table 1) which is relevant to the Funds operations. Some metrics may be in use while others may not. In this case LAPF may wish to fully adopt the performance metrics as shown in the proposed BSC. Thus all issues relating to change management should be considered before trying to implement BSC approach to measure and improve the overall performance. This is the essence of analysing how change process may be done, possible challenges and change failure together with suggesting how to maximise chances for successful change process. Improving the performance is a continuous process, that necessitates new measures and approaches to be adopted. This also justifies why changes cannot be avoided by an organisation if it wants to occupy large market share, beat competition and improve the overall performance.( Henry J.F, 2006). Change management means to plan, initiate, realise, control and finally stabilise change process on both corporate and personnel level. In some situation change brings problems for instance disturbing system , staff programs and other development programs that are in progress. ( Oliver Recklies 2001).The author shows much concerns on those management and staff who have negative thoughts and perception on what is change and why change.. Management always fears to be questionable for failure while employees have fears of losing their jobs. Majority of employees tend to put forward resistance to change without considering that change facilitates improvements (Oliver Recklies 2001). The effects of change may be unclear to employees and thus fear something bad may happen that affects their tasks, responsibilities and worse enough even their lives. Management should consider possible aspects that may have negative impact on the change initiative so as to achieve the desired results. The su ccess of change projects depends on the Organisations ability to make all their employees participate in the change process in one way or the other. ( Oliver Recklies 2001). Lawler (1986), viewed from Rob Paton James Mc Calman (2008),said that overall change is not impossible but it is often difficult. The difficult is that most organisations view the concept of change as a highly programmed process which takes as its starting point the problem that needs to be rectified, breaks it down to constituent parts, analyses possible alternatives, select the preferred solution and applies this relentlessly- problem recognition, diagnosis and resolution Recklies (2001) made a significant contribution on how to minimise the negative effects of change to arrive at successful change process. He therefore divided the change process into seven stages it is relative better for management to understand in which stage they should expect what kind of problems. The stages are : shock and surprise, denial and refusal, rational understanding, emotional acceptance, exercising and learning, realisation and last being integration.( diagrammatically presented in figure 2.1) Shock surprise- This involves confrontation with unexpected situations Denial refusal-No need for change, i.e. Change is not necessary Rational understanding- people realised the need for change but unwilling to change own pattern of behaviour Emotional acceptance This is the most important stage characterised by slow pace. Management should succeed in creating willingness for change for the organisation to exploit its real potentials that lie in different aspects. Exercising learning This is the learning stage that will be influenced by peoples willingness. It is a trial for a new system and process. The stage is characterised by failure and success. This leads to the increased perceiveness of people own competence. Realisation This stage highly depends on stage 5 above, as people get more information through learning and allows mind to receive new challenges and experiences, The stage is characterised by flexibility and thus perceived competency increased. Integration At this stage people have acquired new skills and patterns of thinking The introduced change becomes familiar and a routing process. Figure 2.1 .Change process ( adapted from Oliver Recklies 2001) The seven stages simplify the implementation of the new process or change. Those who are responsible to accommodate the changes into the business should understand these stages so as to apply them systematically. John P. Kotter (1996) in his book Leading change explained clearly the most common mistakes done by organisations when adopting change and also he came up with their solutions. As Recklies 2001 (above) Kotter 1996 also explained eight stages for change process. Lets now examine the change mistakes done by management ( by Kotter ) and later we will explain the change stages and contrast them with Recklies change stages. Allowing too much complacency This is one of the biggest mistake as ranked by Kotter. The over confidence attitude of an executive wishing to process change may cause change failure. Having been successful in the past drives the executive to proceed with change plan without establishing and understanding the urgency of
My Best Friend’s Wedding :: Film Movies
My Best Friend’s Wedding My Best Friend’s Wedding is a romantic comedy with a guide to sabotaging your old beau’s nuptials. When she broke up with Michael (Dermot Mulroney), her boyfriend in college, Julianne made him her new best friend and security blanket. They made a pactâ€â€if they were still single at 28, they’d marry each other. Now they’re almost 28. And Michael, a sports writer, is in Chicago and wants Julianne to call him. She is touched and nervous. She has always really loved the guy but he’s not calling to propose. He’s calling to explain he’s engaged to be married in three days to a junior at the University of Chicago who is willing to drop out of college and sacrifice her own aspirations as an architect to support his career because she is devotedly in love with him. Julia Roberts makes you feel so guilty for rooting for her character, as she is a confident restaurant critic who panics after hearing friend and ex-flame Michael is getting hitched. Julianne’sâ€â€or how Michael considers her, Julesâ€â€strategy is simple: put on a happy face, pretend to go along and destroy from within. Kimmy (Cameron Diaz) knows she’s got a remarkable opponent, and her strategy is to befriend Jules. â€Å"You win. â€Å"He’s got you on a pedestal and me in his arms.†She asks Jules to be her maid of honor since all her female relatives are supposed sluts and mostly because she wants to keep her eye on Jules so she doesn’t get her grips on her man. Jules stoops to evil means worthy of a minor Batman villain: She fakes an engagement to George (her guy friend played by Rupert Everett), forges a brutal, sneaky, and really mean email from the bride’s rich daddy (who owns the White Sox and a cable television empire) to the editor of Michael’s sports magazine that could ruin Michael career, and forces her trusting and tuneless rival princess to perform in a karaoke barâ€â€ouch! You never thought that innocent and loving Julia Robert would not be the heroine of this movie or any movie. She is willing to fight dirty to steal another woman’s man. My Best Friend’s Wedding may be a flick for chicks, but it foils some of the common expectations of romantic comedies. It manages to keep alive the mystery of who will end up with whom. Things aren’t as clear-cut as they initially seem to be.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
College Admissions Essay: Community Leadership :: College Admissions Essays
Community Leadership I had no idea what to expect. The name "Leadership Camp" stuck out like a sore thumb and I was intrigued by something that attempted to deal with an aspect of my personality that people had always told me I possessed. Rob Geis, a close friend of the family, and one of the organizers of the camp, suggested that I join, and I'm very glad I did. I'm afraid that giving an adequate explanation of what Leadership Camp offers is virtually impossible because I believe that every one of the 26 students in my group took something different away from it. I really was, and am, tired of the typical "leader" characterization: executives, dictators, presidents of this-that-and-the-other, bosses, etc. I wanted to see if this group thought outside of the box in that way. I also wanted to calm my tendencies to "take over" things. My goals were to learn to communicate more democratically, to concentrate on being an effective leader without alienating anyone, to seem more like a friend than a dictator, and also to relax my edginess when I am faced with lots of responsibility. I am still a bit ambivalent on how to feel about Leadership Camp. Basically, every day we concentrated on a specific area of leadership and had a speaker come in to lecture. Each speaker brought his or her own style and it was quite interesting to see the more human, fun, enthusiastic sides of these teachers - aspects to which students in their classes may not be accustomed. For my Cummunity Leadership Project, I tossed around many ideas. I finally settled on something that grabbed my heart. I read about a Primate Rescue Center (PRC) in a nearby county. Immediately I phoned them and began volunteering, once a week for 3 hours each time. I was introduced to 11 chimpanzees (Cory, Ike, Pasna, Tina, Jenny, Rodney, Donald, Hazel, Victoria, and Zulu) and close to 40 monkeys including macaques, colobus, siamang gibbons, a baboon, and others. Becky Wagner and Rachel Weiss, the caretakes and workers there, told me that the Good Foods Co-op used to donate produce last year, but then somehow there was a breakdown in communication, and that had since ceased.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Communication Differences: Male vs. Female
If you are a woman have you ever wondered why a man did not understand the way you worded something or communicated something to him. Or if you are a man, did you ever wonder why a woman said what she did or did not understand why she didn’t â€Å"get†what you were saying or why she reacted a certain way to your words? The way men and women communicate with each other different because of many reasons.In this presentation, I will try my hardest to communicate to you, both men and women, what these differences are and hopefully fulfill you with a better understanding of why we communicate differently and how to break those barriers for your professional and personal lives. 1. The typical stereotypes. Explain that no way is better, just different. Social Conditioning. (Use personal examples) a. Men are more direct. i. Men tend to be more direct in communicating and look for a solution as quickly as possible b.Women are more emotional and tend to speak in dialogue. ii. Wo men tend to be more emotionally involved with communicating and feel that the whole picture and different solutions are important. 2. The differences in male and female communication in social settings c. How women build and maintain relationships iii. Women tend to focus on making connections 1. Secrets 2. Relating experiences 3. Discussing options 4. Find commonalities d. How men build and maintain relationships iv. Groups of friends tend to be larger . Do activities rather than conversing vi. More competitive 3. The differences of men and women communicating in a business setting/work environment e. How men communicate in business environment vii. Men want facts 5. Men usually ask fewer questions to stimulate conversation in their work relationships and often end conversations more abruptly than women. viii. Men take one task at a time 6. Men tend to like to focus on one task at a time ix. How men keep status at work 7.Tend to be more literal and use language to establish status 8. Tend to ask less questions to not show they don’t know something 9. Tend to not like to give or receive detailed feedback. Find it criticizing. f. How women communicate in a business/ work setting x. Women’s brains are always â€Å"on†10. There is more neural activity in the female brain at any given time than in the male brain. Enhances multitasking. xi. Women focus on friendship first 11. For example, female salespeople, they tend to build relationships when they sell.They don’t tend to go into a transaction focused on the final outcome but wanting to build rapport and learn more about the client first. xii. Women remember the little details 12. Females can generally remember more physical and relational details than men. Breaking this Barriers 1. Try to Understand the different styles when communicating with the opposite gender and keep them in mind 2. Actively listen- concentrate on the main points and focus on what is being communicated no matter which way these points are being communicated. 3. Interpret non-verbal clues.In conclusion, men and women’s brains are wired differently and the two genders tend to use two different sides of the brain which in turn leads to many differences in men and women. Communication, whether by a male or female, still has a focus, so find an end result sooner or later. Communication differences between males and females are also most likely due to social conditioning that stem from childhood. I truly feel that there is no right or wrong way to communicate, but understanding the way both genders do so is important for effective communication in business as well as in life. Related article: â€Å"Advice About Communicationâ€
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Reading Among Youth
CABRAL, ALYANNA ANGELINA M. Argumentative Essay Communication I (TFD2) October 16, 2012 Technology and Movies Help in Promoting Reading among the Youth of Today â€Å"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into t he other room and read a book. †(Groucho Marx). Upon reading this quotation from Marx, I felt that he is trying to make technology sound as the mortal nemesis of reading. If I were to choose between watching T. V. and reading a book, I would choose to watch T. V. right away.But if I put more thought into choosing, I would prefer reading a book. I just came to this realization that when I read a book, a novel for example, my mind is free to imagine. If I want to make myself the leading lady in the novel I am reading, and the leading man to be Zac Efron, I could do that. When we read novels, everything in the story is in our favor, but when it comes to the story itself, we cannot change anything. This capability of us to freely ima gine is not present when watching T. V. It is because when watching T. V. , images that we see directly sinks in into our minds.In a soap opera, if you see that the leading man is Jericho Rosales, can you easily replace the leading man with Zac Efron by just using your imagination ? You cannot since the image of Jericho Rosales is stuck in your mind. In a fight between television and reading, obviously, I am now in the side of reading. But it does not mean that I am against technology. People always say that technology took away reading from the youth. But is technology that of a big hindrance to reading? Has technology done nothing to somehow influence the youth into reading?If I compared the youth today from the youth before, I can say that the youth before is more into reading than the youth today. Before, when radio was the only device as the source of entertainment in every household, when only rich people had televisions in their homes, and when average children only peek from the windows of other houses to watch television, reading Filipino comics was the favourite past time of young people. The Pinoy superheroes and famous characters that we know today such as Panday, Darna, Zuma, Dyesebel, and Captain Barbel l came from these comics.These comics were very affordable that even a kid who only has a few coins in his/her pocket as allowance can buy it. When youngsters had finished their comics they rented it to other comic readers. They did not only enjoy reading but they also made profit from it. But those are not the only advantages that comics have on the youth be fore. The common story in Filipino comics before was about losers who became superheroes. These types of comics give young readers that shining hope that someday they will be as admirable as these superheroes.In the modern times, I can say that reading among the youth is indeed lessened but I do think that reading is not dead among us. Youngsters may be very attached with the technology but m any are still interested with reading novels, especially the teenagers. Novels like â€Å"A Walk to Remember†, â€Å"Harry Potter†, â€Å"Percy Jackson and the Olympians†, â€Å"The Hunger Games†and â€Å"The Vampire Diaries†are famous among teenagers. Reading these English novels is beneficial for young readers in terms of vocabulary. They learn new English words through context. Some modern novels also have disadvantages in terms of content.Some novels have contents that may be inappropriate for young readers. The erotic novel â€Å"50 Shades of Grey†and the epistolary novel â€Å"The Perks of Being a Wallflower†have parts that may be too sensual for teenagers. Some novels can also have contents expressing Cabral 2 brutality. The young adult novels like â€Å"The Hunger Games†and â€Å"The Vampire Diaries†have parts in it wherein the piercing of flesh and splashing of blood are explained in clear detail. But it is not only the English novels that are loved by teenagers. They also read books by Filipino writers. One great example of a famous Filipino writer among teenagers is Bob Ong.His works are famous for being humorous. I think that is why teenagers like his books. I have also read one of his books. The one I read was titled â€Å"Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin†. Indeed, the book was humorousâ€â€you can tell just by the title and cover of it , but behind that, it has content that criticizes the arts in the Philippines. It suggests that the quality of arts in the Philippines is poor in terms of the movies, songs, and artists that we produce. There were also parts of the book implying that Filipinos are dumb for being too shallow to buy these low-quality movies as suggested in the book.For me, having teenagers read these kinds of books is good for them. It is good for them in a way that at such young age, their eyes are opened to the real problems of our country. I think Bob Ong’ s main purpose is not to make a fool out of Filipinos. I think his purpose was to wake Filipinos up. He wants Filipinos to know their mistakes and the things around them that need correction. That is why I recommend these kinds of books to teenagers since we are the people of tomorrow and as people of tomorrow, it is good that we already know the things that we should fix in ourselves and in our surroundings for a better country.Comics have images in them while novels only have texts. Considering this, I would prefer reading novels than comics. It is because reading without seeing any graphical representation of what you are reading will let you freely imagine and form in your mind your own picture of what you are reading. Contrasting Filipino comics from novels, I would say that Cabral 3 one difference between them is the age group of their readers.Unlike reading today, teenagers before were not the only ones who enjoyed reading comics but children of very young ages were able to e njoy them also since Filipino comics before covered a wide variety of stories and were written in Filipino. Today, kids are not able to enjoy reading as much as teenagers do. It is because kids prefer seeing pictures rather than texts. That is why kids before were able to enjoy comics because it has images in it. Also, most of the children today watch cartoons as their past time. Because of technology, some of the youth of today lost their interest in reading.Aside from technology, another factor why some of the youth today are taken away from reading is that the prices of books today are not very appropriate for young people. Before, Filipino comics were more or less 5 pesos each if you will buy it firsthand. If you will rent it from somebody, it costs about 2 pesos each. Nowadays, teenagers have to save money for months in order to buy a novel. One novel today costs more or less 300 pesos. Because of this, not all young people have access to these kinds of books. Despite that fact , many teenagers, who are avid readers, still find means to gain access to the novels they like to read.They may try to borrow books from their friends. They may also download e -books from the internet â€â€and this is where the advantage of technology in reading comes in. Technology may have lessened reading in the modern times, but we cannot deny that it also helped young people to access any novel they like to read. Nowadays, teenagers have e book readers in their phones wherein they can read the ir downloaded e-books. If you do not have an e-book reader, you could just search for the pdf forms of the novels you like on the internet and then download it through different file sharing sites.These methods make reading more convenient and affordable for teenagers. Through downloading e -books and pdf files, they do not Cabral 4 have to spend money to be able to read novels. With just one click in their phones, t hey could read novels whenever and wherever since novels are stored in their phones. Aside from technology, another thing that made teenagers closer to reading is moviebased novels. Before, stories in Filipino comics that became very famous were made into movies. This trend before can also be observed today. As far as I know, this trend started with â€Å"Harry Potter†which is a series of fantasy novels.Every novel in this series was made into a movie and every movie turned into a success. The same goes for â€Å"Twilight†which is a series of vampire-themed fantasy romance novels. These kinds of movies are famous among teenagers nowadays. As to what I have observed, fans of a typical novel-based movie are divided into two: those who have read the novel before watching the movie and those who became fans upon watching the movie. Because of these kinds of movies, teenagers who are non-readers of novels suddenly become interested in reading.The fact that novel-based movies are often in series also helped in promoting reading among non- readers. Let us take the Twilight series as an example. When non-readers watch the movie â€Å"Twilight†, which is based from the first novel in the series, and they liked it, they w ill be enticed to read the book itself. They will continue to read up to the fourth book which is â€Å"Breaking Dawn†because they will be eager to know about the happenings in the succeeding novels in the series. So, it turns out that technology is not a nemesis of reading after all.Actually, it helps to promote reading by rendering the youth free access to their favourite novels via e-book. Despite that fact, we cannot deny that reading from a book is still better than reading from an e -book. Scrolling an e-book from your phone or tablet is nothing compared with flipping the crisp pages Cabral 5 of a book. What is important is that there are still many youth today who appreciate the greatness of reading a book. They do not only give importance to the knowledge they can get from reading , but they also appreciate the beauty of it and the fulfilment of reading wonderful stories. Cabral 6
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