Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of DSM-IV TR Essay

DSM-IV TR, which stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition), Text Revision was published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2000 and serves as a guide book for many health professionals to diagnose a patient with a mental disorder. It also helps health professionals to determine what types of treatment could be carried out to help the patient. The latest DSM is widely used, especially in the USA and many European countries.1However, it may not be completely followed by health professionals as they know that there are some weaknesses of the latest version of DSM as well. This essay will discuss the strengths and the weaknesses of the latest DSM and new changes for the DSM-V, which is expected to be published in May, 2013. DSM’s strength would be that it standardizes psychiatric diagnostic categories and criteria2, making the diagnosis of a mental disorder relatively easier than it was in the past. It allows health professionals to diagnose a patient, use the DSM to give them possibly the best treatment and overall, help them to cure the patients if the disorder is curable. DSM also has statistical data such as the prevalence of a certain disease in different genders, age of onset of diseases, etc. This allows health professionals to have a very wide range of knowledge which may be very useful for diagnosis and treatments. Besides, the DSM allows a common language for discussing diagnosis. It provides clear criteria for certain disorders so that every clinician would come up with the same diagnosis. This makes sure that a person is not diagnosed with different types of disorders in different clinics.Thus, treating patients more efficiently. Compared to the older versions of the DSM, the latest DSM also has more subtypes and specifiers which increases the diagnostic specificity. As I mentioned before, this increases the chance of diagnosing a patient with the same disorder in different clinics, assuring that they are diagnosed with the correct disorder as misdiagnosing them could possibly lead to serious damage. For some disorders, such as bipolar disorder, there are severity indicators such as mild, moderate and severe as well. This helps clinician to decide the course of the treatment according to the severity of their disorder. This is one of the strength of DSM as using the same treatment for different severity of the same disorder will not be very appropriate or efficient. However, this severity indicator is absent in some disorders such as manic episodes which is one of the weaknesses of DSM-IV TR. These were some of the strengths of DSM-IV TR. However, we know that another edition of DSM, DSM-V is expected to be published soon. This is obviously because there are some, or many weaknesses in the current DSM with which people are not satisfied. One of the major weakness of the current DSM and probably all the older editions is â€Å"Cultural Bias†. DSMs are mainly published by anglo-Americans and most of the behaviour that is considered as â€Å"normal† in the DSM is actually what is considered normal by the anglo-Americans. That is, some of the behaviour that is considered as abnormal in the DSM might be considered as normal in other cultures. For example, in some cultures, people tend to put a lot of emphasis and values filial piety and due to that, they would behave in a way that might not be considered as normal by the anglo-Americans. Would that classify them as abnormal? What exactly is normal anyways? According to the DSM, it it, I believe, what is considered as normal by the anglo-Americans. This is one of the weaknesses of the DSM which is well-known and I think it is because of this reason that DSM might not be as popular in countries where the culture is much different compared to countries like the USA and many European countries. Another weakness would be that DSM promotes a mechanical approach to mental disorder assessment. The clinicians may focus excessively on the signs and symptoms of mental disorders and they might not put much emphasis on a more in-depth understanding of the clients/patients problems. This problem have improved but it is still a problem caused by the DSM. DSM-IV TR also does not consider patients subjective experience of a disorder. That is, the  approach is not a dimensional approach as there is no first-person report but rather, observations are usually carried out which may neglect the more somatic and psychological processes that underlie the symptoms (Flanagan, Davidson & Strauss, 2007).3 Also, DSM causes most clinicians to be primarily concerned with the signs and symptoms of a disorder rather than the underlying cause by giving a list of certain criteria for diagnosis. Another weakness and debate about the DSM is that it is an unscientific system and it is the opinion of a few powerful psychiatrists. This has raised a lot of questions and have caused people to question the validity and reliability of the diagnostic categories as well. The validity and reliability were especially questioned after the Rosenhan experiment in the 1970s in which it was concluded that the sane could not be distinguished from the insane in psychiatric hospitals. Thus, even though the reliability and validity has improved now when compared to the 1970s, it is still a weakness which I believe could not be entirely fixed. However, validity problems of the diagnostic criteria especially arise when children or adolescents are involved. For example, the DSM-IV TR criteria for bipolar and manic disorder were originally developed for adults but right now, after a few changes, it is used for children as well. This increases the chance of misdiagnosing children with bipolar disorder. This information is supported by the fact that in the last 10 years, there has been a 40%4 increase in the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It is believed that there is not a sharp increase in the number of children with bipolar disorder but rather that the clinicians have been applying the diagnostic criteria (which were originally developed for adults) much more aggressively to children.5This is one of the weakness of DSM-IV TR that needs to be improved in the future as the effects could be devastating. One of the weakness, which I believe is not very significant but still is a problem and which is actually questioned by people is the definition of the mental disorder. This was also mentioned in the lectures. According to DSM-IV TR, a mental disorder is â€Å"associated with present distress or disability or significant increased risk of death, pain, disability and important loss of freedom†. This raises the question.. what about those  individuals who engage in activities that threatens their lives but they actually enjoy it? Such as mountain climbers, scuba divers, etc. Obviously they are no considered as abnormal but according to the definition of the DSM, they are considered as having a mental disorder. But we know that this is not correct. Thus, there is a problem with the definition of the word ‘mental disorder’. There are many other weaknesses as well such as with Personality Disorder diagnosis. It is believed that the description of symptoms is very broad. This means that patients diagnosed with the same disorder could actually have very different clinical presentations. For personality disorders, DSM uses a categorical approach6. However, it would be better to use a dimensional approach so that the different types/ degree of disorder could be distinguished and thus, could be given different and more efficient treatments. Another major weakness of the Axis II personality disorder is that there is a very high degree of overlapping or co-occurence with each other. This is also a problem for Axis I mental disorders.7 There are many other weaknesses with specific disorders of DSM especially about the diagnosis criteria and some other issues such as whether ‘Paraphilias’ should be included or not. Most of the major ones has been discussed above. Now, the new changes for DSM-V will be discussed. There are many new changes for the DSM-V. I will mainly mention those that are related to the weaknesses mentioned above. However, the new changes are discussed, the 4 principles behind the current process for revising DSM should be discussed. (Obtained from APA DSM-V Development’s official website) 1) Clinical Utility- the manual should be useful to those who diagnose and treat patients with mental illnesses 2) Recommendations should be guided by evidence 3) DSM-V should maintain continuity with previous editions whenever possible 4) No priori restraints should be placed on the level of change permitted  between DSM-IV and DSM-V From these 4 principles, it becomes clearer to us why DSM-IV is being revised and what changes should be expected. One of the changes is that in order to better assess the severity of symptoms, a dimensional assessment will be included. For example, other factors such as sleep quality, mood, etc will be considered regardless of the diagnosis. This will help to reduce the problem of â€Å"mechanical approach† as mentioned before. They will also help to address symptoms that are not included within the diagnostic criteria for specific illnesses (e.g. the problem of insomnia for patients diagnosed with Schizophrenia). DSM-V might also include something that could solve the problem of how to handle patients with co-occuring disorders, which is a major weakness of DSM-IV TR. Besides that, DSM-V will also have improved diagnostic criteria that are not precise in DSM-IV TR. Also, a few words would be changed as well in the new DSM. For example, the word â€Å"Mental Retardation† would be changed to â€Å"Intellectual Disability†.   Another change that would also be included would somehow, indirectly address the problem of cultural bias. In the new DSM, careful consideration would be given to the gender, race and ethnicity. This, I believe could help to lessen the severity of the cultural problem as mentioned before. Besides that, another ‘proposal’ is that, the criteria should be more stringent for the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children. This also addresses one of the weakness mentioned earlier. This is a very important proposal as I believe it is not very humane to misdiagnose children with â€Å"Mental Disorders†. It could affect their life significantly. Another major changes is in the assessment and diagnosis of personality disorders. As mentioned before, a dimensional approach will be used rather than a categorical approach. This can help to determine the different severities of disorders and determine the ‘subtypes’ more accurately. Overall, it would make the diagnosis much more accurate and thus, more  efficient treatment could be used. These changes were mainly in response to the weaknesses mentioned above. Other changes include creating a new category called â€Å"Behavioural addiction†. This category is solely based on gambling. Internet addiction was also proposed. However, due to the lack of research in that field, it was rejected. This shows that they somehow followed principle 2 which emphasizes on the importance of evidence. Another category called the â€Å"Risk Syndromes† is also being considered. This will help clinicians identify earlier stage of mental disorders. The category of substance abuse and dependence will be removed and it would be replaced by a new category called â€Å"Addiction and Related Disorders†. This is done to help clinicians distinguish between similar types of disorders more easily and lower the chance of misdiagnosis (e.g. dependence is often confused with compulsive drug-seeking behaviour addiction). 8Another change is that the criteria for some eating disorde rs such as Anorexia Nervosa has been improved. Overall, the diagnostic criteria for many disorders has been improved and a dimensional approach is being used in DSM-V rather than the categorical approach used in the previous editions. All of these changes, together with many other minor ones, aim to improve the diagnosis process and thus, ensures that people are saved from misdiagnosis (which could lead to devastating effects) and so that they can receive better treatment which would increase their chances of being cured (if the disorder is curable). Bibliography Berman, J. (n.d.). Understanding the DSM-IV TR. Retrieved on 15th March, 2013, from http://www.ceuschool.com/librarydocs/SOC222.pdf Dombeck, M., Hoermann, S., Zupanick, E.C. (2011). Personality Disorders: Problems with current diagnostic system. MentalHelp. Retrieved on 14th March, 2013, from http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=569 Flanagan, E., Davidson, L. & Strauss, J. (2007). â€Å"Issues for DSM-V: Incorporating Patients’ Subjective Experiences.† Am. J. Psychiatry, 164(3), 391 – 392. Kleinplatz, P.J., Moser. C. (2005). DSM-IV-TR and the Paraphilias: An Argument for Removal. Retrieved on 14th March, 2013, from http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/MoserKleinplatz.htm Kronemyer, D. (2009). Phenomenological Psychology. Retrieved on 14th March, 2013, from http://phenomenologicalpsychology.com/2009/06/how-can-dsm-iv-be-improved-as-it-transitions-to-dsm-v/ American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC. Bipolar Disorder in Children. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 14th March, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_disorder_in_children Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 14th March, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders DSM-5. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 14th March, 13 from http://en.wikipe dia.org/wiki/DSM-5 DSM-5 development: Frequently Asked Questions. American Psychiatric Association.Retrieved on 14th March, 2013, from http://www.dsm5.org/pages/default.aspx Rosenhan Experiment. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 14th March, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experiment

The Free Radical Theory

The free radical theory was firstly introduced in 1954 by Robert Gerschman and later was developed by Dr. Denham Harman from the University of Nebraska. The term â€Å"free radical† is used by the scientists to describe any molecule which is different from conventional molecules.Actually, free radicals posses a free electron and, therefore, they are able to react with other molecules in destructive and volatile ways. In contrast to free radicals, in conventional molecules the electrical charge is always balanced meaning that electrons are able to come in pairs and their electrical energies simply cancel their charges.In other words, conventional molecules have negative electrical charge because atoms which miss electrons are combined with atoms with excessive number of electrons, and, in the result, a stable molecule with paired electrons and neutral charge is created. (Theories of Aging 2004)In contrast to conventional molecules, free radicals always possess extra negative ch arge. The result is apparent: unbalanced electrical energy makes free radicals attach themselves to other molecules and steal â€Å"a matching electron to attain electrical equilibrium†.However, it is necessary to note that free radials are often claimed to be promiscuous meaning that they break happy marriages of combined electrons trying to steal happy partner for themselves. In such a way free electrons create free radicals which definitely lead to extensive damage of cells and human body. So, activity of free radicals within human body is negative as they cause aging process.If there were no free radicals, human bodies would be able to produce energy and to maintain immunity. Moreover, our bodies would manage to transmit nerve impulses and to synthesize hormones necessary for our muscles.Nevertheless, electricity of the body makes people perform these functions, but electricity is the result of unbalanced electron activity of free radicals within out body. (Theories of Ag ing 2004)Further, free radicals are known to damage the structure of human cell membrane by creating so-called metabolic waste products. One of such waste products is substance called lipofuscins. His effect is damaging as, for example, excessive amount of lipofuscins leads to emergence of aging spot or darkness of the skin in certain areas.Moreover, this substance reduces significantly abilities of cells to restore and to reproduce. The synthesis of DNA and RNA is disturbed as well the synthesis of protein. Next, lipofuscins lowers energy levels preventing in such a way human bodies from building muscles. (Theories of Aging 2004)Consequently, cellular enzymes are destroyed, but they are necessary for vital chemical processes without which the aging process starts. Free-radical damage starts from the birth and continues throughout out life till natural death.During childhood and adolescents free-radical processes are minor as they body still is provided with repair and replacement m echanism. Health young people have healthy organs and working order. However, when people become older free-radical processes begin to take their toll.Scientists say that â€Å"free-radical disruption of cell metabolism is part of what ages our cells; it may also create mutant cells leading ultimately to cancer and death†. (Theories of Aging 2004)Finally, free radicals damage collagen and elastin which are responsible for keeping our skin moist, elastic and flexible. Under influence of free radicals, human vital tissues are breaking and fraying. This process is noticeable in the face – folds of skin and deep wrinkles are the results of free-radical damage.Gerontologists argue that â€Å"another way of looking at free-radical changes is to think of its as oxidation, the process of adding oxygen to a substance. Another word for oxidation is rust and in a sense our aging process is analogous to the rusting away of a once-intact piece of metal†.(Theories of Aging 20 04) Oxygen forms are free radicals and while breathing we produce free radical which intensify the process of aging. Antioxidants are substances used to prevent harmful effects of oxidation and free radicals. We should pay attention to vitamins C, B and beta carotene to fight aging process.ReferencesTheories of Aging. (2004). Retrieved November 29, 2007, from http://www.prolongyouth.com/theories.html

Analysis of West Side Story

Western stories The story of the West was published in 1961 as a melodrama performance in New York. She has the same theme as Shake Spear, Romeo, Juliet. Because it is about two lovers and that relationship can not be accepted by others because of a background conflict. The artistic meaning of this movie can be seen everywhere in the movie. It seems unrealistic to pretend to pick up and mix during the fight, but all dances, songs, performances, and pretend fights are thorough and very good. To discuss the historical development of musicals, this report analyzes Leonard Bernstein 's musical West Side Story. That is how the screen version of 1961 adapts to the revival stage of 2009 Broadway to accommodate contemporary audiences and by using ideas and styles to influence the social and economic impact of the work Indicates whether to reflect their time. The confrontation between the two hostile groups, which is very important to the story, could be further interpreted as a conflict betw een the Catholic and the Jewish community, which was the first intention of Bernstein. But Bernstein grasped the idea that New York's current ethnic tension caused by immigrants in Puerto Rico will provide a stronger story, and he gave him a series of Latin American dance rhythms I will see the opportunity to use without a doubt. He said later ...: West Side Story is recording by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreography by Jerome Robbins. This is said to be an interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The story of West End and Romeo and Juliet have many similarities and differences in many respects. Work Romeo and Jurriette began in Verona in 1594. In contrast, the story of the Western Region was held in New York City in 1957. Most of the characters in the western district can be seen as modern versions of many characters in the Shakespearean plays. Romeo and Juliet. Tony can be regarded as Romeo, Maria as Juliet, Jet as Monta ge, Shark as Nurse, Leave as Mercurio, Bernardo as Tilbert, Dr. Flare Lawrence, Baltazar. Chino plays Paris, the police acts the prince, Anybodys and Baby John play Bemborio. The story of West End and many scenes of Romeo and Juliet are very similar. West Side Story: The West Side Story is an example between texts and talked about Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet contemporaneously. Tony (Romeo) and Maria (Juliet) are in love. But hostile groups whose families and their loyalty depend on are prohibited from their love. The story of West End creates a new original story using Romeo and Juliet's theme (such as the end of taboo love and tragedy).

Tragic Flaw in Sophocles' Oedipus the King Essay

Tragic Flaw in Sophocles' Oedipus the King - Essay Example That way the audience can experience a proper moral fear that badness always brings forth bad result. In the case of Sophocles’ â€Å"Oedipus the King†, the character that passes out as â€Å"tragic flaw† in the Oedipus is no doubt his pride and arrogance. In this paper we will be looking at the principle of â€Å"tragic flaw† as postulated by Aristotle in the context of Sophocles’ play â€Å"Oedipus the King†. The idea of tragic flaw that became synonymous to Greek tragedy was postulated by Aristotle, which might explain why this principle featured prominently in almost all his poetics. Tragic flaw basically describes a hero in a story making some fundamental mistakes that are mostly triggered by pride or hubris, which forms his main flaw in an otherwise perfect character, thereby marking his downfall. There is strong evidence to suggest that the development of the principle of tragic flaw was informed by the need to respond to the principle of tragedy which despite dominating Greek plays for so long was being challenged by the likes of Plato on moral grounds. In this regard, the principle of tragedy was attacked ostensibly for corrupting the audience by alluding to the futility of being virtuous. According to Plato, tragedy corrupts the audience by showing good and virtuous people perishing instead of emerging triumphant. It is, therefore, extremely disheartening to see them falling by the wayside primarily because of their virtues and goodness. It was in response to this challenge that Aristotle decided to add some flaw to an otherwise heroic character so as to explain his downfall on moral ground. By so doing Aristotle had offered a solution to the principle of tragedy as presented by Plato and other Greek writers and playwrights. In the play the Oedipus the King Oedipus commits a number of mistakes that can be blamed on his pride, which forms the tragic flaw in his character. One of such mistakes is his impatience with Creon after embarking in a journey to Apollo’s temple to plead with him to save the city of Thebes from the plague that has destroyed crops and livestock while rendering women sterile. After the arrival of Creon from Apollo’s temple we see Oedipus commanding Creon to tell him what Apollo has to say concerning the plague despite Creon’s protestation on spilling the information in front of his subjects. This offer from Creon to do it in private should have awaken Oedipus to the reality that whatever he was about to hear was not good to be spilt in the midst of his subjects. However, in total disregard of Creon’s advice he stood his ground and received the information in the presence of his subject, something that smirk of extreme pride. A careful analysis of the play will show a keen reader that this is a dangerous mistake that Oedipus has made because the answer that comes from Creon set the stage for his downfall. It is also important to note that ha d he agreed to receive the message from Apollo in private, things would not have gone out of hand as they eventually did. King Oedipus curiosity for truth is arguably the worst trait that contributes to his downfall in this play. If only he had decided to forget about where he came from and concentrated on resolving issues surrounding the plague, then

Foundation of lawwriter 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Foundation of lawwriter 1 - Essay Example s (1953) 1 QB 401, display of goods is a willingness to conduct business or commence negotiations thus is considered as an invitation to make an offer (Mulcahy 2008). Mulcahy (2008) points out that the law of contract requires a valid offer and acceptance. An offer is an expression of willingness to enter in to a contract with the intention of creating legal obligations upon acceptance. An offer has to be communicated since there can be no ‘meeting of the minds’ the offer is not communicated. In this case, Harry has made an offer of  £1,000. According to mirror image’ rule, the acceptance by Paul must be done according to the terms of the offer. The case of Day Morris Associates v. Voyce (2003) clarified that acceptance by either words or conduct of the other party gives rise to the inference that the offeree assents to the offeror’s terms thus a valid acceptance must be done according to the terms of the offer for a legally binding contract to be formed (Mulcahy 2008). In this case, Paul has not accepted the offer from Harry since he asserts that he will accept  £1,500 thus he has made a counter-offer that extingui shes the original offer by Harry. In this case, Harry is required to make a valid acceptance that mirrors the terms of the offer from Paul. According to the court of appeal in the case of Butler machine v. Ex-cell-o (1979) 1 WLR 401, the ‘last shot’ or last offer wins the ‘battle of forms’ in instances where one party makes an offer and the other makes a counter-offer (Stone and Quinn 2007). Generally, silence is not deemed an acceptance, and thus Harry requests for three days to think about the acceptance. Although Harry has requested for three days to think about the offer, Paul has not cancelled the offer. Accordingly, the power of acceptance does not terminate if it is qualified in form, but not in substance. Paul’s offer can only be terminated through acceptance, rejection, lapse of time, counter offer and revocation. According

Green Capitalism and Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Green Capitalism and Leadership - Research Paper Example Industrialism and capitalism only proved that skyscrapers enriched the few but have caused poverty to about 1.2 billion (Mindfully.org, 2011). Many nations are complaining poor access to potable water and urban communities are inhaling unhealthy air. Poverty have ill-motivated people to do and adopt measures beyond standards that caused calamities and disasters. World Watched documented about 120,000 people killed and unaccounted millions of people pushed in the margin of displacement, by war or by disasters (Mindfully.org, 2011). In Asia, Japan recently suffered the devastation caused by tsunami after a magnitude of earthquake hit them while India and Pakistan complained of hunger and poor access to resources after they experienced political marginalization and floodings respectively. The inability of some government to develop land use plan and to enforce population control forced people to live in flood-prone valleys and vulnerable sites of the hills sides (Mindfully.org, 2011; Wo rldWatch, 2011). World Watch also cited that climate change and consequential disasters incurred economic losses of $8.5 billion in Central America in 1998, an amount perceived commensurate to the combined gross national products of Honduras and Nicaragua (WorldWatch, 2011). There were however positive actions that motivated hundred of nations to partake ecological protection and measures for rehabilitation, reconstruction and rebuilding of affected communities. United Nations bodies have also started advocating for the use of renewable energies, organic farming, reforestration, vegetarianism as well as of green policy development (WorldWatch, 2011). It called all diverse nations to take part in healing nature and lessen the impact of global warming. This prospect challenge United... Green economy is an emerging environmental philosophy focused on climate change issues and about green career challenges. Green Economics, as a political framework, provides a holistic context of reality that human beings are part of nature and thus must recognize our difference, diversity, equity and inclusiveness as a community. It debunked the concept of anthropocentrism and liberal capitalism as a system. Its philosophy is founded on managing economy for nature and manage the environment. As a philosophical precept, it thoroughly evaluated the inconsistencies, deficiencies, conventions, and other normative thoughts amongst neo-classical economists. Green economy values ecological foundations and its relations with resources, work, wealth and money. It proposes a discourse that questions the conventional market viz-a-viz ecological sustainability, social justice, and peace. It establish an agenda by examining global political economy; regulating market and the state; and evaluate the transition to an alternative economy with special concern of ensuring habitable planet for the next generations. Profit, prices, market and competition are not regarded in the ecology philosophy. Its basic precept is to meet needs and not to increase powers of the capitalists in the market.

Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obesity - Essay Example Obesity is a serious illness that has been spreading fast. It can even strike people who are not predisposed to it, primarily because of the influence of the modern civilization - above all, the development of technologies that diminish the amount of physical movements for people and, of course, the spread of fast-food that is a source of extra calories and a reason for multiple maladies, of which obesity is the most common one. (Leake, J. and Porter, A., 2003) Bulimia is considered nowadays an addiction, and the most widespread addiction is the addiction to sugar. As a result, more than half citizens of the USA and Canada are overweight, and though doctors warn people how harmful it is for health, there is still a flow of commercials and advertisements propagating "eating non-stop" as the best way of life. Many doctors and dieticians believe that certain kinds of food can cause a stable addiction (chocolate, sugar, meat, and cheese) since they make our brain produce the substances that evoke the sensation of happiness: "foods which are high in fat and sugar can cause significant changes in brain biochemistry similar to those from drugs such as heroin and cocaine". (Leake, J.

Examine the Movements of their Employees at Work Essay

Examine the Movements of their Employees at Work - Essay Example It is this monitoring that has raised ethical issues causing detrimental effects to both employer and employee. Whereas employers justify their actions with the right to get value from their employees and resources, employees’ have objected with the reasoning that their personal privacy is being unlawfully breached. Background Employee monitoring can be defined as the act of surveillance and monitoring employees’ actions during stipulated working hours by use of employer equipment (Stanton & Stam, 2006). It entails the use of computers to record, evaluate and observe an employees’ use of computer, plus communications like web sites visited and emails sent or received besides telephone calls made. However, it is legal for employers to use computer programs to monitor employees (Duquenoy, Jones & Blundell, 2008). Employee surveillance has gained prominence as a prerequisite and in the same breath a contentious issue due to the complexity and prevalent use of techno logy at the work place. Employers are worried with employees’ proper behavior and conformity to work related regulations. Hence some critics believe employee monitoring is an inalienable responsibility. To others it is an invasion to privacy. Managers employ different ways of monitoring employees’ internet use, emails and their location to capitalize on employee productivity, uphold the integrity of the firm and to defend the interest of clientele and work mates (Duquenoy, Jones & Blundell, 2008). When managers start to probe into employees’ private life, mistrust and acrimony are built between employees’ and managers. Many workers have lost their employment and a lot more companies have had to face lawsuits filed against them because people believe that the use of internal company communications should remain confidential (Bassick, 2007). Managers and owners of private firms have had several reasons to scrutinize the activities of their employees. Some a re driven by the displeasure when employees misuse company money and waste time to carry out non-work related tasks. Others would want to confirm any suspicion of criminal, fraudulent or unwanted conduct by their employees; observe application of safety and health regulations; make certain to compliance of internal employment policies; verify the quality of work done; protect staff from harassment or unjust treatment in the office and so forth (Lane, 2003). Managers base their actions on the basis that they have a right to examine employee productivity and to guard against fraud and theft. This will ultimately lead to employee monitoring (Lane, 2003). Some of the areas prone to abuse in the work places include use of company resources like vehicles, technology adapted at workplace like electronic communication, and adherence to acceptable working hours. In this report, I will review employee monitoring on their use of electronic communication at the workplace, more so the ethical di lemma facing managers and employees. Hence the questions of how far should managers go to examine employee movements? With the arrival of advanced technological capabilities, many professional and personal tasks are becoming quicker and more convenient to carry out. For instance, email has been viewed as a convenient substitute to making telephone calls because it is perceived as private. In the real sense it is public because it leaves a record long after it has been deleted (Bassick, 2007). Thus a skilled person can easily retrieve it from a networked communication system.

Scrutinize the Qatar Architects Ethical and Professional Code of Assignment - 1

Scrutinize the Qatar Architects Ethical and Professional Code of Conduct, Analyze and structure its components in canons, ethical standards (ES) and rules, according to the AIA and RIBA codes - Assignment Example The second part analyses and relates the AIA codes and then the RIBA codes to that of Qatar Architects’ ethical standards and professional codes are essential since they work towards aligning themselves with the AIA’s Ethics Code on Human Rights: This is through prohibiting design of execution and spaces, torture, inhuman treatment, and degrading treatment of architects. All registered architects must try to promote excellence in architecture through their work and encourage others too. They must also carry out their duties to the best of their ability and to the satisfaction of clients and have proper regard for the interests of all consumers. The code of conduct expects architects to conduct themselves with integrity and honesty. This is in line with RIBA codes of integrity. This makes them to honor architecture as a unique profession. They must not act in manners that will make put their profession into dispute. They must therefore, work with fairness and integrity. The Qatari architects’ code of conduct explains that architects (registered), do not have interest in personal or financial in connection with businesses that may turn out to be inconsistent with obligations of professional conduct and standards. The code also calls for architects to rely on performance, ability, and experience as the basis of advancement in business, and shall not criticize maliciously how other architects work. Finally, it states that an architect shall be disqualified to serve as director or partner of any practice of architecture proffering service to the public when he becomes a bankrupt or his application is not discharged or has his application rejected by the registration board of architects. The first standard in architecture is about integrity and honesty, where architects are at all times expected to act with honesty and integrity and avoid situations or actions inconsistent with professional obligations. Secondly, they need

Nuclear Weapon Testing Essay Example for Free

Nuclear Weapon Testing Essay Nuclear Weapons testing have realized radiation into the environment. These tests have always been justified as necessary for national security. According to me, I disagree because if a nation allows nuclear weapons testing in its ground, then it should be ready for the aftermath repercussion, which is quite devastating. There is need to avoid using nuclear weapons for a nations security at the expense of its private citizens. Non-nuclear weapons can instead be used since they are less costs and just benefits. Risks of Nuclear Weapons According to Regina (2004), nuclear weapons testing pose environmental and international threats especially to the population surrounding the nuclear testing plant. The following highlights are the risks: †¢ The explosion of nuclear device spreads lethal radioactive materials like dynamite (dirty bomb) which contaminates the region and will remain in the ecosystem for years. This causes cancer risks through drinking of contaminated water. †¢ During nuclear weapon is testing, the major effects are either direct or indirect. Direct in the sense that it results to blast effects including production of flying debris and indirect in the sense that structures collapse especially when near a residential buildings or highly populated region. The population is then exposed to direct radiant energy and the thermal effect leading to permanent burns and traumatized population. A practical example is what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during Second World War. †¢ It has a permanent effect to the environment leading to increased cancer rates, organ damage, conjoined twins birth system and genetic modifications. †¢ Accidental launches due to false alarms can cause two counties to use the nuclear weapons accidentally leading to mass destruction and loss of life. †¢ The effects of nuclear testing can go as far as across its borders to neighboring countries. For example the on Aug. 2, 1987, the explosion at the Novaya Zemlya test site in the Russian Arctic produced radioactivity that was detected in Scandinavia (Glasstone, 2003). Benefits of non-nuclear weapons for national security Basically, using non-nuclear weapons in advantageous: †¢ The costs of nuclear weapons are very high as compared to non-nuclear weapons. Hence these resources could substantially be used for other developmental issues for the country. †¢ They do not pose environmental risks to the private citizens and state hence a healthy nation. †¢ Non-nuclear weapons reflects reduction of tension between two nations hence improves their relations especially between the state and private citizens. †¢ Nuclear weapons powers have qualitative constraints as compared to the quantitative cuts of their arsenals Measures like total ban should be formulated by global treaties against nuclear weapons that should: †¢ Pressurize countries to forgo the process nuclear launches. †¢ Build confidence and strengthen the growing conviction about the ineffectiveness of nuclear armaments for the security of nations. †¢ Improve safety and security through the international monitoring network in nuclear stations. Basing on the current global security realities countries should come up with well-formulated policy to ban the use of nuclear weapons especially to the countries that have high nuclear arsenals like USA, Russia Pakistan and India (Hurst, et al, 2005). In conclusion, nuclear weapons do not contribute to the security of a nation but are of self-aggression and destruction; therefore, they should be completely abolished to avoid their further imminent threat. REFERENCES Glasstone, S. The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, Revised Edition, New York: U. S. Atomic Energy Commission Press, 2003. Hurst, G. et al. Nuclear delivery systems deployments and developments; Making of U. S. Policy, New York: Rutledge, 2005. Regina, C. Security with Nuclear Weapons? London: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Scientific and Behaviourist School of Management

Scientific and Behaviourist School of Management Management in all business organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. It comprises of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling an organization for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources. Management has therefore defined as a process of getting things done with the aim of achieving goals effectively and efficiently. Management is a goal oriented process. Management increases the efficiency of the organisation and the development of society. Management is a continuous process with separate functions performed by all managers at all times. Management is a dynamic function and has to adapt itself to the changing environment. An organisation interacts with external and internal environments and needs to change itself and its goals accordingly. Management is responsi ble for setting and achieving objectives for the organisation. A few of its basic objectives are to survive, generate profits year on year, growth in terms of sales volume and product line while sustaining the social environment. Introduction of Scientific Management Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 1915, Philadelphia) was a trained engineer who advocated the concept of Industrial Efficiency. Taylor is known as the Father of Scientific Management and is regarded as one of the first most successful Management Consultants. He is most famous for his Time and Motion Study and the Piece Rate system that he introduced Scientific management is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows, with the objective of improving labour productivity. The core ideas of the theory were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s, and were first published in his monographs, Shop Management and The Principles of Scientific Management. Taylor believed that decisions based upon tradition and rules of thumb should be replaced by precise procedures developed after careful study of an individual at work. Its application is contingent on a high level of managerial control over employee work practices. Taylorism is a variation on the theme of efficiency it is a late-19th-and-early-20th-century instance of the larger recurring theme in human life of increasing efficiency, decreasing waste, and using empirical methods to decide what matters, rather than uncritically accepting pre-existing ideas of what matters. In management literature today, the greatest use of the concept of Taylorism is as a contrast to a new, improved way of doing business. In political and sociological terms, Taylorism can be seen as the division of labor pushed to its logical extreme, with a consequent de-skilling of the worker and dehumanisation of the workplace. The Principles of Scientific Management Taylors scientific management consisted of four principles: Replace rule of thumb work methods with methods based on a scientific study of the tasks. Taylor believed there was only one way to increase efficiency was through study and analysis. Scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the workman, whereas in the past the employee chose his own work and trained himself as best he could. Provide Detailed instruction and supervision of each worker in the performance of that workers discrete task Divide work equally between managers and workers, so that the managers apply scientific principles of management to planning the work and the workers actually perform the tasks Taylor decided the workers should get rest after time intervals to recover from time fatigue There should be complete harmony between the management and workers. Management should share the gains of the organisation with the workers. Techniques of Scientific Management 1. Standardisation and simplification of work Standardisation refers to the process of setting standards or benchmarks which must be adhered to during production. Simplification refers at eliminating superfluous varieties, sizes and dimensions. 2. Method Study Method study means to find out the best way of doing a job there are various methods of doing a job. To find out the best way and carry it out from procurement of raw materials till the final product is delivered. eg Ford Motors used this concept and was very successful. The objective was that to minimise the cost of production and maximise the quality and satisfaction of the customer. 3. Motion Study Motion study refers at eliminating unnecessary movements like lifting objects, sitting and changing positions which are undertaken while doing a typical job. 4. Time Study It determines the standard time-taken to perform a well-defined job. Time measuring devices are used for each element of task. The objective of time study is to determine the number of workers to be employed frame suitable incentive schemes and to determine the labour costs. 5. Fatigue Study A person is bound to feel tired physically and mentally if she/he does not rest while working. The rest intervals will help one to regain stamina and work with the same capacity. This will help the organisation to increase productivity. 6. Differential piece wage system Taylor was a strong a strong advocate of piece wage system. He wanted to differentiate between the efficient and the inefficient workers. He had standard time to complete a job. He also rewarded the efficient workers. Introduction to Behaviourist School of Management Elton Mayo (1880 1949, Australia) was the Director of the Department of Industrial Research at Harvard University. He is known as the founder of the Human Relations Movement. Mayos involvement in the most famous Hawthorne Studies led to an altogether different school of thought on management known as the Human Relations Movement. Organisational behaviour is concerned with: the study of behaviour of people within an organisational setting. Organisational behaviour started to be recognized in Harvard business school in 1962. The science of organisational behaviour has developed out of a growing commitment to the belief that people are the most important part of an organisation. Organisational behaviour consists of theories like motivation, leadership, groups and group formation, culture within organisation and change. Principles of Human Relations Management Motivation Motivation is one of the most traditional topics of organisational behaviour. Motivation is the process of stimulating people to action to desired goals. Motivation depends upon satisfying the needs of people. Motivation leads to a drive in the human beings. The organization must try to understand and respect the emotions, sense of recognition and satisfaction of non-monetary needs of the employees. Individuals are motivated by social needs and good on-the-job relationships and respond better to work-group pressure than to management control activities. Organizations are co-operative social systems. Satisfaction of psychological needs should be the primary concern of the management. Informal work groups can have a substantial effect on productivity. This has been proved by the Hawthorne experiment. Leadership Leadership indicates the ability of an individual to influence others. Leadership is not guaranteed from people with leadership titles and informal leaders can emerge at any level where, through being well liked or skilled they exert influence over others. The function of the leader is to co-operate among the employees and to work for the betterment of the organisation. Groups and group formation A group consists of two or more people to achieve common goals. There are two types of groups formal and informal groups. Formal groups are formed to achieve organisational goals and informal work groups emerge naturally in response to the common interests of organisational members. Group formation helps in deciding and dividing the work amongst each other. Group work is very efficient: the team encourages open ended, problem-solving meetings Comparisons between Scientific and Behaviourist School of Management The function of a manager under scientific management is to set a work criterion and to divide the work among the labourers and it was seen as a figure of high authority. While under human relations the leader is responsible to facilitate co-operation and co-ordination among employees and providing them with opportunities to excel as well as to help them in their personal growth and development. Taylorism was against the informal groups because they believed the employees worked as mechanical passive only for monetary rewards whereas the behaviourist school of management believed in informal groups as this facilitates communication and co-operation among employees which will help to achieve the organisational goals. Scientific management is only aimed at the organisational growth and very little attention is paid to the workers growth or performance. While in human relations it is aimed at organisational growth as well as individual growth of the worker. As per Taylor, the sole motivator for a worker was monetary incentive. Therefore, the worker under scientific management was an economic man. According to Mayo, satisfaction of social wants of the workers like communication and the sense of acceptance was the driving force of the organization. Therefore, the worker under the human relations movement was a social man. Scientific management treated the worker as a human machine and used the differential system for motivation. While, the human relations movement held that the satisfaction of the worker would enhance his productivity at the work place. Conclusion Both the schools of management thoughts were so different from each other in their approach they shared common grounds on one issue increasing productivity which is the ultimate goal of an organisation. Scientific management believed that planning should be separated from doing, Human resources believed in a far wider participation when it came to decision-making. Whereas, Reshef. Y says in his web publication that The Human Relations movement emphasized emotional aspects in human behaviour, yet still maintained the division of labour between those who planned and those who executed. While both mean the same, there is a slight difference in the two statements. Hence it can be concluded both aim towards the common goal. Hence it can be concluded both of them have different principles and policies their final is to achieve organisational goal through organisational excellence and increased efficiency. A good manager is one who applies a blend of both the management theories into pract ice. Thus scientific management and human relation management can be two wheels of the same cart and none is superior to the other.

Essay --

Longitudinal research was used in this study because it is a type of research method used to determine relationships between variables that are not correlated to several background variables. This allows researchers to conduct an observation on the same group of individuals over an extended period of time. The Minnesota Twin Family Study is a longitudinal study of twins. I believe this was chosen because it seeks to pinpoint the genetic and environmental impacts on the change of psychological traits over a period of time. Data collection was also used in this study. I believe this was chosen because the data was first collected at the beginning of the study and assembled throughout the extent of the study. The data collected by researchers indicate that the IQs of the adult monozygotic reared apart twins measured with various instruments in four independent studies link about 0.70, indicating that about 70% of the observed variation in IQ in this population can be ascribed to genetic variation. Researchers found that two-thirds of the observed variance of IQ can be drawn to genetic v...

Significance of Repetition in Our Town Essay -- Our Town Essays

Significance of Repetition in Our Town  Ã‚      Wilder was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1897 to Amos Parker Wilder and Isabella Wilder.   In 1906, Amos Wilder was appointed American Consul General, and his family moved with him to Hong Kong.   Thornton Wilder only lived in Hong Kong for 6 months, moved back to the United States with his mother, and then in 1911 rejoined his father in Shanghai for a year.   Wilder attended Oberlin College for two years, moved with his family to New Haven, Connecticut, and entered Yale University.   He wrote his first full-length play in 1920, which appeared in the Yale Literary Magazine.   After receiving his B.A. at Yale, he traveled and taught French.   In 1926, he received his M.A. in French Literature from Princeton.   Thornton Wilder effectively illustrates the importance of life’s repetition in Our Town through the cycle of life, George and Emily’s love, and the playing of â€Å"Blessed Be the Tie that Binds.†    Wilder’s show of the cycle of life in Our Town exemplifies the significance of life’s repetition.   In Act I, the beginning of life’s cycle is shown when Dr. Gibbs returns home from delivering twins.   In the act of   â€Å"Love and Marriage,† which follows three years later, the Stage Manager describes children growing up and learning to talk, and people who used to be athletic are finding that they cannot do what they used to do.   He goes on by saying that most young people found that they were ready to get married, and start their families.   So was true with George Gibbs and Emily Webb.   They moved on from being children and were now learning how to be adults.   In Act III, which is placed nine years afte... ...ral sing the song to show the gap between the dead and the living.   â€Å"Blessed Be the Tie that Binds† facilitates the understanding of the play and life.    Thornton Wilder effectively demonstrates the importance of life’s repetition in Our Town through the cycle of life, George and Emily’s love, and the playing of â€Å"Blessed Be the Tie that Binds.†Ã‚   The cycle of life is shown repeating from birth to life to death and back to birth again.   George and Emily’s love is repetitious and unending, even after the death of Emily, which demonstrates the importance of life.   As â€Å"Blessed Be the Tie that Binds† is recurrently heard throughout the play, it serves as a bridge through a void of time or place, which is important in understanding the play.   It is no wonder that Wilder achieved a Pulitzer Prize for his in-depth work of life.     

Computers and The Increase of Labor and Wage Inequality in The 1980’s :: History Technology Essays

Computers and The Increase of Labor and Wage Inequality in The 1980’s Although computer technology dates back to at least the 1940’s, microprocessors were first introduced on a wide scale in manufacturing in the 1970’s. It has been noted that mainframe computers started to be used in business in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Computers have seemed to grow more rapidly ever since the Apple II was born in 1977 and the IBM PC in 1981. PC (personal computers) spread rapidly in the 80’s and 90’s and have been upgrading ever since. It has been said that during this increase in popularity and use of computers the labor inequality and wage difference has been increasing as well. Throughout this paper we will discuss reasons why computers are to blame and why computers have had nothing to do with economic increase of skilled educated workers and a decrease in need for unskilled and uneducated workers. Increase in the growth rate of the demand of more skilled workers due to the pace of the technological work from 1970 to the present has been one of the arguments against computers causing inequality. From the 1970’s the pace of work has been faster, the work load has been greater because demand has gone up, and many jobs have become more difficult to learn. There are no longer mills where education and much knowledge was needed to get the job done. Work has gotten much more involved and complex. The employment of high school drop outs have fallen from 64.4% in 1940 to 9.8% in 1996, and the employment of college graduates have risen from 9.3% to 41.6%. Although computers have been around that whole time there is no way they caused a 54.6% decrease in the employment of high school drop outs. It has also been said that there has been an expansion slowdown from what the country was used to in the beginning half of this century from the 1970’s, so this has allowed companies to pay one educated worker rather than paying two of three uneducated workers that did the same job. Over the years unions have also began to disappear causing some of those unskilled workers how were once protected by contracts to a given union to become no longer demanded. Many of those unskilled workers who escaped being unneeded have noticed a dramatic pay decrease. Many people might think, â€Å"What are you talking about, in the 1940’s they were making like five to ten dollars a day.

Company †BlackBerry mobiles Essay

BCG matrix is a portfolio planning model, which is used to determine position of the product in the product portfolio of the company. Under this model, company divides its business units into four categories on the basis of combinations of market growth and market share comparative to the leading opponent. This model helps the management to analyze the future growth of different business units. We can take the example of BlackBerry mobiles. It is the Canadian telecommunication and wireless equipment company best known to the general public as the developer of the BlackBerry brand of smart phones and tablets. At one point of time, BlackBerry mobiles were considered as best mobiles in the market. They use to give direct competition to the Nokia and apple mobile phones. In 2011, the market share of the BlackBerry mobiles was 14.3%. But, over the last few years, company market share has declined to 0.6%. In BCG Matrix, we can place the BlackBerry mobiles into question mark category. We have placed the BlackBerry mobiles into question mark category because the market of mobile is increasing with the rate of around 40% but the market share of the BlackBerry mobiles is deceasing every year. Apart from BlackBerry, all other major mobile phone companies such as Samsung, Apple, Huawei, and Lenovo are growing with good pace. Actually, unlike other companies, BlackBerry did not focused on innovation. It was the last major mobile manufacturing company, which introduced the smart phone. They do not able to match the expectations and needs of the people, due to which company lost its market share into the hands of other mobile manufacturing companies. References http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/matrix/bcg/ http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2665715 http://bgr.com/2014/02/12/blackberry-market-share-q4-2013/ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-28/blackberry-market-share-to-fall-to-0-3-in-2018-idc-says.html

Explain Why It Is Difficult to Talk Meaningfully About God Essay

Religious language is defined as the communication of ideas about God, faith, belief and practice. This definition makes it difficult to talk meaningfully about it as each of these words have concepts behind them and each and every individual interprets these differently, so religious language is different to everyday language, as it only denotes to an individual’s belief and faiths traditions. There are also many problems with religious language as a whole as it anthropomorphises God, by using terminology such as ‘Him’ ‘King’ and ‘Shepherd’ this is limiting and subjects God to have human qualities, which is against what The Bible wants to portray God as. Also another problem is that some think that religious language is cognitive, thus something must be known about God to talk meaningfully about it. Yet this creates the problem that religious statements are not about objective facts that can be proved true or false but are answers to questions that are unable to be validated, as they are based on objective facts that are open to cognition. These issues have led to religious believers to find ways in which they can talk about God in a meaningful way and the opposite as non-believers are searching for ways to render religious language meaningless. A group of philosophers called the logical positivists who as a group did not seek to understand how we gain knowledge of the external world, but how we use language to convey it. They believed that everything that can be verified is meaningful. Thus the verification principle was developed which stated that if it could be empirical tested by the five senses then it was meaningful, for example, a house is made of gingerbread, is meaningless as it can be proved false by taking stone samples from the house. Yet this causes a problem when talking about philosophical and religious aspects. The logical positivists thought it was pointless to talk about art, music, ethic and God as it could never be verified, so couldn’t be rendered true or false. Therefore it is meaningless as it is used to consider things beyond the human experience and this creates the ‘impossibility’ to understand to meaning of anything being said. A. J. Ayer; a logical positivist introduces two types of verification, strong and weak, to deal with the acceptation of scientific and historical propositions which are struggling to regard as meaningful or not. Strong verification is when there is absolute no doubt that a statement is true, as it is verified through sense, for example, ‘It is sunny today’. Yet weak verification occurs when some of the observations are not conclusively true or false, for example, ‘humans are made of atoms’ as this may be accepted by people who were at the time of the discovery, also future scientific statements are verified by the weak, as they will only be affirmed in the future not at present. The falsification principle created by Flew, stated that religious statements are meaningless as there nothing which can count against a religious believer, as they will not count or accept any of the evidence against their faith. Criticism ‘dies the death of a thousand qualifications’. For example Flew used the story of a father of a terminally ill child, prayed for God to make their child better, but the child died, the father qualifies this by saying it was God’s decision and maybe God’s love is ‘not merely human love’. Tillich believed that religious language was meaningful as it was conveyed through metaphors and symbols, however philosophers such as Paul Edwards thought that revelation could not be portrayed through the verification principle using empirical evidence therefore symbols don’t elude any factual knowledge, and are meaningless. Another critique of Tillich is that he stated that metaphors and symbols can be mistranslated and over time the original meaning may have been lost or forgotten therefore considering symbols meaningless as the meaning may have been changed from what was originally intended to represent. Also with the criticism that symbols can be interpreted in any way the individual wants to, this is demising the ultimate truth of reality it is trying to convey as it may point in a different direction as to which was also originally intended. Overall, the verification and the falsification principles argue that it is not possible to talk about God meaningful way as it is not possible to prove the existence of God of go verify any of the statements related to God.

Looking Back at My Childhood

â€Å"Looking back on a childhood filled with events and memories, I find it rather difficult to pick on that leaves me with the fabled â€Å"warm and fuzzy feelings. † As a first daughter of a workaholic man, I actually felt the little sadness of being a child. When my father got home from his work, it was always late In the evening and when I wake- up early in the morning, his still sleeping until my School Bus comes. It always happened. But when he's on vacation, he never falls to surprise me with a bunch of new toys and sweets. He even takes my Mommy and me too Park, Malls, Zoo, etc.When my little sister's come Into our life, It gets happier. There are times when I together with my sister went to the school together and my dad and mom would fetch us and went to the Ocean Adventure. There were lots of beautiful places that my family goes when vacation. I thought that our family Is perfect, and suddenly my childhood Is nearly my miserable nightmare, because when I was 6-8 years old, I saw everything that happens when my Mom and Dad were fighting and I don't know why. Then when I become 9 years old, I decided to come with my grandparents (which is y mother's side) here in Bucolic.My parent's let me to come. So I continue my studies while my mother is visiting me monthly. Then 1 day, when I'm turning 10 years old, my mother together with my little sisters went here in Bucolic. And that's the thing; I never realize that they left my Daddy in Manila. And time's goes by, my daddy was visiting us, and my little sisters continue they're studies with me. When I turn 1st year high school, that's the time when my dad and mom never see each other again and Dad stop visiting us, but all I know is that my Dad is only busy with his job.And suddenly, I heard a gossip about my Daddy, that he's having an affair with his Boss that has been he's last Girlfriend back in their high school days. And then my mommy told me that they're already separated. And I know everythi ng about my father's undoing's. That when I was still in my mother's womb, Dad is already having different affairs, for short my dad is a simple playboy. And when I already know everything, I changed. I changed a lot that Eve become hard headed, selfish, etc. I even have my very first failing grades. But times went by, everything is perfect again.I learn how to be responsible, appreciate little things, and to accept the fact that nothings perfect In life. And now, I already have a little brother and a half baby brother and baby sister. † Looking Back at My Childhood By Kristin-Moline my father got home from his work, it was always late in the evening and when I wake- happened. But when he's on vacation, he never fails to surprise me with a bunch of new toys and sweets. He even takes my Mommy and me to a Park, Malls, Zoo, etc. When my little sister's come into our life, it gets happier. There are times when I y family goes when vacation.I thought that our family is perfect, and suddenly my Childhood is nearly my miserable nightmare, because when I was 6-8 years old, I saw everything that happens when my Mom and Dad were fighting and I don't know why. Visiting us, and my little sisters continue they're studies with me. When I turn 1st year Dad stop visiting us, but all I know is that my Dad is only busy with his Job. And be responsible, appreciate little things, and to accept the fact that nothings perfect in life. And now, I already have a little brother and a half baby brother and baby

Critically evaluate McGregor’s Theroy X and Theory Y Essay

Critically evaluate McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. How far is it applicable to management and employee motivation in contemporary Chinese organizations? In the modern corporation environment, employees’ motivation plays a pivotal role, thus they should be recognised as a significant part of corporations’ financial assets. There are several distinct viewpoints of approaches to managerial strategies about motivating employees, one of which is McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. It proposes that providing an autonomous environment satisfying employees’ higher needs is more preferable than simply controlling them by rewards and punishment. This essay will firstly evaluate McGregor’s theory. Although influential value of this theory in organization history might be approved, there are two primary issues, invalidity and superficial recognition, which criticisms revolve around. Subsequently, this essay will discuss the extent of this theory’s application in Chinese organizations. Although McGregor’s theory may be employed in few corporations, this theory is generally not applicable in most contemporary Chinese organizations. Many theorists support that McGregor’s theory considers the field of management from a new angle, indicating a strong influential value. In contrast to the principles of conventional management mentioned as Theory X, the advocated Theory Y illuminated a cluster of new or redefined concepts such as self-fulfilling prophecy and responsibility. According to Carson (2005), some of those concepts had been interpreted before; however, McGregor’s theory combined those concepts emerging from separate theories. Based on these compiled conceptions, this theory takes higher-order needs into consideration, which innovatively introduces a profound work value that management should not only involve controlling and monitoring. Moreover, the inclination to responsibility of employees contributes to participative atmospheres in working environment. Lerner (2011) claims that McGregor’s theory can prepare employees’ skills to tackle complicated tasks due to their sense of responsibility, in parallel with improving the potential of an individual. Therefore, this theory, revealing an initial pattern of management strategy, dramatically influences the applied field of organization development. In spite of the influence and originality of McGregor’s theory, there is a primary drawback of the validity, which is regarding the assumption of human nature in this theory. This theory is primarily based on an analysis of  human nature. McGregor (2000) has pointed out that theory X management assumes that people generally are not responsible for work in contrast to theory Y assuming that people are invariably self-controlled. However, the theory X assumption is exaggeratedly negative while the theory Y assumption is overly optimistic. According to Bobic and Davis (2003), there is no evidence that systematically certifies the existence of individuals’ extreme attitudes towards work. Similarly, Francesco and Gold (2005) argued that human nature is not viewed purely positive or negative in all the cultures, drawing on Hofstede’s theory. Furthermore, different employees may have somewhat different characteristics; however, McGregor blended those sophisticated human natures into two simplistic models to introduce a quite deficient theory. Therefore, the theory seems to be invalid due to this relatively unrealistic and inadequate analysis. In addition to the invalid assumption of McGregor’s theory, there is another drawback concerning superficial recognition of autonomous environment and authority which are primary principles of Theory Y and Theory X respectively. McGregor (2000) state that autonomous environment can be acquired by opportunities for self-actualization. Nonetheless, Head (2011) has argued that incentives involving self-actualization are barely effective. Likewise, Bobic and Davis (2003) state that self-actualization is not a pragmatic motivational factor due to the rare opportunity provided by corporations in reality. Although some approaches such as job enrichment can be implemented, managers may not be totally competent to direct this management, which reveals that McGregor’s theory may overestimate the effectiveness of autonomous environment. Conversely, the model of authority representing Theory X may be a more frequently adopted management tool, which is the contrary to what is portrayed in the theory. Head (2011) pointed out authority rather than bureaucracy may offer legitimate power and guarantee development of corporations towards certain direction. In fact, offering appropriate guidance to subordinates and essentially avoiding overly vigorous control stand a significant position in most companies. Consequently, McGregor’s proposal that autonomous environment should be concentrated on while authority is obsolete may require reconsideration because of the superficial recognition. Motivational strategies have been considered as an essential concentration for corporations. With respect to the application of  McGregor’s theory in China, minimal successful instances may be seen in some extremely large conglomerates. Those conglomerates such as Shanghai’s corporations hire numerous workers, contributing to competition and pressure; therefore, employees in these organizations may emphasize higher-order needs because of this particular work circumstance, in accordance with the assumption of McGregor’s theory. Chan and Wyatt (2007) demonstrate that employees in Shanghai’s corporations can be significantly motivated by the satisfaction of self-esteem that is also emphasized in McGregor’s theory. Hence, it seems that this theory can reflect its feasibility in few large Chinese organizations. However, generally, McGregor’s theory reflects low practicability in most contemporary Chinese corporations. According to Alas (2005), most Chinese respondents are more likely to be encouraged by lower needs satisfaction such as incomes, whereas the dominant principle of McGregor’s theory is strategies satisfying higher needs. Therefore, Chinese employees’ concentration on lower needs makes it difficult for them to be motivated by McGregor’s theory. Moreover, Dessler (2006) argued that employee empowerment, one of the principles of McGregor’s theory, is excluded from Chinese corporations. Furthermore, McGregor’s theory is incompatible with the comparatively ingrained Confucian value system in Chinese culture. According to Geren (2011), an abandoned principle in the theory is obedience for authority which is the essence of Confucian value system. Chinese employees largely cultivated in the atmosphere of Confucian value may be uncomfortable with the management of McGregor’s theory. Emphasis on lower needs and the cultural of Confucian value system are both opposite to McGregor’s theory. Therefore, this theory is not applicable in most contemporary Chinese organizations. As a whole, McGregor’s theory may animate original spirit of motivation management; nevertheless, its invalidity is directly resulted from inadequate and unrealistic assumption of human nature. Additionally, excessively focusing on autonomous environment and ignoring efficiency of authority may indicate the superficial recognition in this theory. These two drawbacks can account for ineffective arrangement. As motivation management develops globally, in China, in spite of efficient application in few conglomerates, McGregor’s theory is not compatible with most Chinese organizations because general Chinese condition is the obstacle to successfully adopting this theory. There is no universal theory; hence, in order to improve the effectiveness of management, organizations should utilize distinct management principles flexibly in specific working circumstance. Word account: 1079 Reference List Alas, R. (2008) Attitudes and values in Chinese manufacturing companies: a comparison with Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong companies. Chinese Management Studies. Vol. 2(1), pp.32-51 (PDF available) Bobic, M.P. & Davis, W.E. (2003) A Kind Word for Theory X: Or Why So Many Newfangled Management Techniques Quickly Fail. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Vol. 13(3), pp.239-264 (PDF available) Carson, C.M. (2005) A historical view of Douglas McGregor’s Theory Y. Management Decision. Vol. 43(3), pp.450-460 (PDF available) Chan, K.W. & Wyatt, T.A. (2007) Quality of Work Life: A Study of Employees in Shanghai, China. Asia Pacific Business Review. Vol. 13(4), pp.501-517 (PDF available) Dessler, G. (2006) Expanding into China? What foreign employers should know about human resource management in China today. SAM Advanced Management Journal. Vol.71(4), pp.11-24 (PDF available) Francesco, A.M. & Gold, B.A. (2005) International Organizational Behavior. 2nd ed. NJ, USA: Pearson Education (PDF available of relevant chapter) Geren, B. (2011) Motivation: Chinese theoretical Perspectives. Journal of Behavioural Studies in Business. Vol.3, pp.1-10 (PDF available) Head, T.C. (2011) Douglas McGregor’s legacy: lessons learned, lessons lost. Journal of Management History. Vol. 17(2), pp.202-216 (PDF available) Lerner, A. (2011) McGregor’s legacy: thoughts on what he left, what transpired, and what remains to pursue. Journal of Management History. Vol. 17(2), pp.217 – 237 (PDF available) McGregor, D. (2000) The Human Side of Enterprise. Reflections: The Society for Organizational Learning Journal. Vol. 2(1), pp.6-15. (PDF available)

Individual Project Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Barclays Bank - Case Study Example The banks wanted to combine all their existing networks and take full advantage of their loose competitors in order for them to be able to compete effectively with the joint stock banks. This merger brought together seventy one partners and since then has been known as Barclays Bank. Over the years Barclays has expanded and has over fifty countries in Europe, Africa, North and South America. (Michael Collins 117) Barclays bank is an international service provider that deals with personal banking, credit cards, wealth and investment management and corporate and investment banking. The main activities in the bank are to lend, move, invest and protect money. Its operations are generally divided into two that is the retail and business banking which has four units; Africa retail and business banking, Barclaycard, U.K retail and business banking and the final one is Europe retail and business banking. These operations dictate the core business structure in the organization and determine t he services they offer. They cannot offer services that are beyond its business scope. The highest structure in the Barclays group is the group chairman and the chief executive. The group also has an executive committee and a board of directors. Each branch at the nation level has its’ managers and other officials who ensure the smooth running of the bank. All the group’s operations including its overseas offices, subsidiaries and associates are all subject to a set of rules and regulations which have to be adhered to at all levels. All the cooperates practices have been provided for in one document and the aim of this principles is to provide the highest standards of products and services to its stakeholders..The board is charged with the responsibility of creating as well as building a shareholder value through the management of the business. It has to ensure that is the body that ensures a balance between the promotion of the goals whether long or short term. It is the work of the chairman to ensure that all the board members receive information in a proper and clear way so as to ensure that the directors are able to give sound judgments or opinions that will ensure the growth of the organization. It is also important to note that the directors are not allowed to put themselves in a position where he or she may have conflicts of interests. The directors have the obligation to act in good faith so as to promote the success of the company. While acting on behalf of the company the shareholder is expected to look at the likely consequences of any decision to the company in the long run, they are also expected to consider the interests of all the stakeholders and the need to maintain the reputation that the bank has. The organization does engage with a wide range of stakeholders who are spread all across their divisions and their main of these transactions is to ensure that they discover the key concerns and respond to each of their stakeholders n eed. The stakeholders of the organization include its employees, shareholders, suppliers, government and its regulations, charities and the non-governmental organizations. The organization has come up with a citizenship strategy which focuses on three areas that will improve their services and products to all those who

Q 4 week 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Q 4 week 4 - Essay Example All the departmental heads should be encouraged to share their views and ideas and effectively communicate the same to the top level management. Also, the employees should be encouraged to generate and share their ideas, views and concerns and facilitate the sharing of such information through establish effective channels of communication. These strategies should be well suited to combat disaster recovery management in case of drastic deviance from the targeted goals and ensure adequate measures to enable business continuity. The sharing of information and ideas facilitates greater and smoother functioning of the organization as a whole, and faster achievement of its goals and aims, thus the top level management should be entrusted with the authority to design and develop appropriate information sharing communication channels across all departments of the organization. The process of converting an organizational strategy into actionable and achievable goals involves rigorous implementation of project management methodologies and application of critical strategic measures developed at the organizational levels to prevent any deviances from the stated goals / objectives. Leadership plays a significant role in the process as well, as it is the leadership qualities and the sheer grit and determination of the leader, his faith in his visions and the ability to execute his dreams into realizable and achievable goals that ensures timely and successful fulfillment of the common organizational goals. Various significant concepts and tools applied in the simulation that could be used for development of a strategic plan include, assessing the internal and external factors critical for organizational success, developing of appropriate long term organizational objectives and strategies to achieve the same, conducting SWOT analysis, Matched Pair Analysis etc to analyze the

Westover electrical Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Analyse Marcelo Brodskys Work Buena Memoria From the Perspective of Essay

Analyse Marcelo Brodskys Work Buena Memoria From the Perspective of Memory Work - Essay Example This essay stresses that general Jorge Videla seized power in another coup. Marcelo Brodsky, an Argentine who was both a human rights activist, and an artist, and who was residing in Argentina by this time, went into exile in Barcelona. It is while there that he took keen interest and learnt photography. He returned to Argentina in 1984, after the fall of the dictatorial leadership. The memories of the atrocities meted on his people were still fresh in him. In 1996, Brodsky thought of creating a memory bridge between his own memories and the future generations This paper makes a conclusion that the analysis of the importance of Marcelo Brodsky’s work from the memory perspective. It has been demonstrated beyond doubts that an individual memory can be presented artistically, and be carried forth to generations. This can be shared with other people who may not have been there when the events occurred, but can create a lasting impression, and at the same time communicate the past to them. This in turn brings in transition, and builds a memory bridge from the living memory to the post memory, which benefits generations. It also emphasizes the fact that for a community to effectively handle its present and future predicaments, it must have a special place for the historic events, which would help them make sound judgements. These historical events are the button that must be handed over in an effective manner to other generations.

Psychodrama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Education Improvements Essay Example for Free

Education Improvements Essay With a vast array of educational sources available online or by using technology which is involved with multimedia, it is only inevitable that a great deal of teaching will be used this way. Advantages may include improved efficiency, interested learning and a sense of enjoyment for younger learners. Traditional classroom based teaching will need to work together with the advances of computer based learning to fulfil and expand the learners knowledge. Bibliography www. computerweekly. com www. mit. com www. nhs. com www. bbc. co. uk. As technology has evolved rapidly in and around our environment, public services are now steadily introducing multimedia and other forms of computer based applications. The Territorial Army (TA) and the National Health Service (NHS) are two that have evolved dramatically within the last ten years in relation to technology. The TA has several high-tech intelligence and weaponry applications and the NHS has such vital modern equipment all implementing some form of multimedia. With this it should only make sense that multimedia be included in another very important sector, Education. Within the last five years multimedia and education have bonded well to produce some very informative information. This has become readily available for children as young as two up to adults participating in education via adult learning schemes. The most significant and straightforward way to view these types of information is from the World Wide Web (WWW). The similarity between primary and university study is that they need to be online indefinitely. Although they need internet access it must not be a limited package. The connection they apply must be quick and effective otherwise users will establish a lackadaisical attitude towards the idea. Inside the last twelve months there has been a surge in primary and secondary schools in particular enquiring about wireless connections. Many schools are looking at this form of connection due to its low cost and flexibility. Laptops can be transferred from one classroom to another, rather than having a fixed station. An example of multimedia used within education is a project aimed towards disaffected children to encourage them back into learning. Interactive mathematics, composing digital music and building virtual 3D art exhibitions are some of the applications which are used and created. The main idea behind the project is to establish a stable bond between pupil and teacher with the use of I. T. Other outcomes which are hopefully achieved is the better retention of the technology they are using (both pupil and teacher). If the time for this technology is used wisely and productively with the school environment it could play and integral part in the pupils advances post education, however if the pupil is not receptive to new forms of teaching then the answer must lie elsewhere. Ian Peacock chairman of Hackney Councils Education Committee said We need to ensure that the childrens use of computers in the classroom provides some of the buzz they get from playing media-intensive games in their leisure time. (ComputerWeekly, 2001). As education and multimedia within the ages of two to sixteen is of great importance, the education of the older age group should also be considered vital for those willing to expand their skills and acquire the relevant knowledge. This next form of learning via means of multimedia shows how far the technology has developed to cater for this age group. MIT Open Courseware is designed to: ?Provide free, searchable, access to MITs course materials for educators, students, and self-learners around the world. ?Extend the reach and impact of MIT OCW and the open courseware concept. There is a wide variety of courses to opt for, from history to nuclear engineering. The site is aimed at self-learners who can log on anywhere in the world and start accessing information on their chosen subject. Lecture notes and assignments are all included just as if they were studying in University. This form of studying is very familiar at present with more than 2000 courses available on the internet reported by 1996. That number has grown progressively and there are courses available today to suit the majority of users whatever their subject. These online courses prove to be significant to those who maybe cannot afford fees towards university or who reside to far from any teaching institute. We live in a very rural area. Access to quality educational materials is a 225-mile drive to the nearest library of any significance. (Self Learner MIT, 2005).

Branding Universities Essay Example for Free

Branding Universities Essay The end of the 1990s witnessed the corporatization of public universities in Malaysia resulting in the publication of corporate literature in these universities and the type of writing Fairclough (1993) refers to as the marketization of academic discourse. Marketization is necessary in public universities due to stiff competition in attracting students among the public universities as well as from the increasing number of private universities. This article reports how Malaysian universities re-brand themselves using the results of an investigation on corporate brochures from these universities. The investigation employs a structural analysis and a textual analysis. Although informative in nature, these corporate brochures exhibit the use of promotional elements in the texts as seen in the contents and the language use. The communicative functions of university brochures are viewed to be more promotional than informative. ABSTRACT KEY WORDS: brochures, corporate culture, genre analysis, re-branding, universities Introduction Academic institutions, particularly public universities, used to be regarded as the pinnacle of learning. Most of these universities were reputed for providing the best tertiary education and the mere mention of their names lit up the faces of those who had the privilege of learning from these fountains of knowledge and those who aspired to be associated with them. There was a time when admission was ‘by invitation only’, otherwise young men and women were seen struggling to gain admission into these prestigious institutions. These public universities acquired a promotional value (Wernick, 1991) without having to promote or market themselves. In advertising terms, these universities did not go through the process of branding. Branding is a fundamental strategic process of effectively marketing a product or service which includes creating a brand name and identity, designing Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 58 Discourse Communication 2(1) the packaging and promoting the product or service (Randall, 1997). Although Randall (1997) argues that ‘brands (and therefore branding) are so fundamentally important to the survival and success of many firms’ (p.2), this was not the case in public universities in the past. This is significantly due to the fact that these academic institutions were claimed to be free from other influences as evidenced by Cardinal Newman’s view of universities cited by Wernick (1991) as: . . . the high protecting power of all knowledge and science, of fact and principle, of inquiry and discovery, of experiment and speculation; it maps out the territory of the intellect, and sees that . . . there is neither encroachment nor surrender from any side . . . (Cardinal Newman, 1847, cited in Wernick, 1991:151) That was the traditional image of public universities, independent of political or societal influence and this image was not built by advertising or branding. As centres of academe, public universities were known for their quality education based on the results of their graduates and their performance in the careers they embarked on upon graduation. As years passed, more aspiring young people would apply for admission in certain universities due to their reputation. This reputation in turn became the  image of the universities which automatically created the promotional value (Wernick, 1991) of these universities, mentioned earlier as the pinnacle of learning. Each university was identified by its name or logo and no further promotional strategies were required. By providing quality education, these universities successfully built ‘a distinct brand personality’ (Randall, 1997: 67) for themselves as the success of branding is justified when people are reminded of a particular brand just by looking at the logo or hearing its brand name. The traditional role of public universities was to manage society (Jarvis, 2001) by producing scholars in the various fields of study so that they can go out to make the world a better place to live or join the academia to continue producing scholars. However, towards the end of the 20th century, the role of universities started changing from serving the state in managing society to serving the industry and commerce in ensuring that people are employable (Jarvis, 2001). This is partly due to the demands of the contemporary knowledge-based society (Veitch, 1999) where consumers have become more knowledgeable and have started demanding for better education and improved quality of life. Changes started taking place in public universities in the West as early as the 1980s where the governments were forced to abolish academic tenure and decrease funding for these universities. This was when many traditional universities started transforming into corporate universities (Jarvis, 2001) where they have to assume a more corporate form and function more like a corporation. From being the centre of academe, universities have become business-like entities (Connell and Galasinski, 1998). In Malaysia, a number of public universities have recently been corporatized, a move taken by the Malaysian government in its effort to inculcate better and more efficient management of these institutions. As corporate culture (Treadwell and Treadwell, 2000) is a new culture in all these universities, most of them Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 Osman: Re-branding academic institutions with corporate advertising have set up corporate communications departments (Hajibah Osman, 2005) to handle corporate matters. Among the functions of these departments are managing corporate information and publication and projecting a positive image of the universities which are part of corporate advertising. Corporate advertising Business corporations use corporate advertising to enhance the image of the whole organization, or of the general brand in order to influence social values or to establish a connection between the corporation/brand and an already established positive value and in this era of identity, a lot of emphasis has been put on the importance of brand and corporate identities (Richards et al. , 2000). Unlike business organizations, universities are non-profit institutions. Public universities are viewed to use corporate advertising to enhance the strong foundation and to highlight the quality of these institutions of higher education. While it is common for business corporations to publish informative or promotional literature from time to time to inform the public about new developments in the organization (monthly or yearly reports) or to introduce new products or services (product launch leaflets), the use of promotional literature in academic institutions is a recent development. Malaysian public universities have started producing informative literature in the form of university brochures and special booklets in conjunction with certain celebrations in the universities as well as promotional literature in the form of leaflets providing brief information on academic programmes offered by the universities or introducing new programmes (Hajibah Osman, 2005). By employing new strategies to market their traditional image, from the advertising perspective, these universities are re-branding their products and services. Re-branding is the process of marketing an existing product or service of one brand with a different identity involving radical changes to the brand name, logo, image, marketing strategy and advertising themes (Wikipedia, 2006). In the advertising industry, re-branding is often referred to as re-positioning, that is, re-positioning a product or service in order to improve sales. Although there was no actual initial branding taking place in universities, being non-profit making institutions, the term ‘re-branding’ is used in this article to illustrate the change in the image of these universities particularly since the late 20th century. Significantly, this change has been effected without compromising the traditional characteristics and values of these institutions as the pinnacle of higher learning. The process of re-branding is aimed at improving the image of the universities by focusing on the facilities and highlighting the quality of the academic programmes. This article attempts to investigate the process of re-branding in public universities in Malaysia by conducting a genre analysis on university brochures, one type of print materials published by the institutions that represent corporate advertising. Analysing genres can lead to a ‘thick description’ (Bhatia, 1993) Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 59 60 Discourse Communication 2(1) of the texts contained in these genres, explaining why certain texts have been constructed the way they are. The specific objective of this article is to identify and discuss the strategies used in the re-branding process based on the structural organization of university brochures and the communicative functions of this type of brochure. Previous investigations of advertising genres mostly focused on straightsell advertisements of products or services. Bruthiaux (2000), for instance, investigated how advertisers make use of a limited space available to them to create successful advertising copies by examining the syntactic features in an undisclosed number of display and classified advertisements. His results show that the degree of syntactic elaboration ‘varies substantially even when content of equal simplicity/complexity or familiarity to readers is being presented. This variation appears to correlate with perceptions of status on the parts of both writers and readers’ (p. 298) and the persuasive elements lie in the vacuous displays of linguistic sophistication designed to create a largely artificial sense of exclusiveness among status-conscious readers (p. 369). Investigations have also been conducted on the language of advertising in Asia, for instance, Tej Bhatia’s (2000) investigation of language of advertising in Rural India and Henry and Roseberry’s (1998) investigation of the linguistic features in tourist information brochures from Brunei. Thus far, there have been very few linguistic analyses conducted on the genre of corporate advertising. Therefore, the genre selected for analysis in this article is brochure, specifically corporate brochure from academic institutions. A brochure is a printed document of six or more pages, used to introduce an organization, published only once and distributed to special publics for a single purpose (Newsom and Carrell, 2001). The discourse community of Public Relations (PR) specifies five characteristics of brochures, three of which are related to the present article: always having a singular message statement; having a purpose – to persuade or to inform and educate; and attracting and holding the attention of the audience. Brochure genre makes an interesting study because, first, this genre is viewed as a ‘blurred genre’ (a term borrowed from Scollon et al. , 1999) in that the term ‘brochure’ has been used to refer to other forms of publications including booklet, flyer, leaflet and pamphlet (Newsom and Carrell, 2001). Second, a brochure is a genre of persuasive discourse shaping the thoughts, feelings and lives of the public (Dyer, 1993) placing it under the field of advertising. However, according to Newsom and Carrell (2001), brochures are produced by PR practitioners rather than advertising practitioners. This is probably due to the fact that PR, among other things, incorporates looking after the reputation of an organization ‘with the aim of earning understanding and support, and influencing opinion and behaviour’ (Beard, 2001: 7). The question of ownership arises placing brochures in an even more ‘blurred’ state as the communicative functions of brochures have been set by the discourse community to which the genre belongs. In the context of this article, brochures are categorized as a corporate genre (basically PR) involving the principles of corporate writing (Treadwell Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 Osman: Re-branding academic institutions with corporate advertising and Treadwell, 2000). Brochures are readily available, particularly in print version, and are easily accessible electronically. Finally, brochure genre needs to be investigated because brochure format is one of the most frequently used information formats in advertising and PR but is ironically the least written-about (Bivins and Ryan, 1991). Corporate genre in academic institutions This article establishes that any publications from universities, particularly those produced by the Corporate or Public Relations Office, are referred to as corporate genre. Corporate brochures are usually categorized as informative brochures (Richards et al. , 2000) providing all the necessary information about the organizations they represent. There are certain corporate elements present to qualify them as corporate brochures, but mostly these brochures are informative. However, an analysis of corporate brochures from multinational corporations by Askehave and Swales (2001) prove that these brochures also function to promote the organization. This is evident in the presence of promotional elements selected as syntactic choices in these brochures. Corporate brochures also function to establish long-lasting trading relationships which are in fact paramount in today’s industrial market. Hajibah Osman (2005) also notes that corporate brochures from academic institutions are promotional in nature with the use of promotional strategies apart from corporate and informative strategies. Another corporate genre in academic institutions, the university prospectus, started changing in form in the 1990s (Fairclough, 1993) where apart from providing information on the core business of the university, that is, the academic programmes, the prospectus has also included information on other aspects of the universities. Based on a critical discourse analysis of prospectuses from a number of British universities, Fairclough notes that these universities started promoting their programmes because they have come increasingly under (mostly government’s) pressure to operate like other types of businesses competing to sell their products to consumers. The university prospectus has become a ‘genre of consumer advertising colonising professional and public service orders of discourse on a massive scale, generating many new hybrid partly promotional genres’ (Fairclough, 1993: 139). Academic institutions in Malaysia have also published promotional leaflets (Hajibah Osman, 2005) to advertise their academic programmes and these are circulated to potential students particularly before a new academic year begins. These leaflets are no longer the plain, boring information sheets but colourful and interesting ones. This article concurs with Askehave and Swales (2001) that corporate brochures function as promotional brochures more than projecting the corporate image and providing information. Thus, the investigation in this article attempts to identify and discuss the strategies that realize the promotional functions in this type of brochure as part of the re-branding process in public universities. Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 61 62 Discourse Communication 2(1) Methodology In 2005, there were 11 public universities in Malaysia (currently, there are 20). Brochures were obtained from the 11 universities and were initially analysed to identify the possible structural organization. Based on the organization, the communicative functions of these brochures were determined. The 11 public universities included in this investigation are: International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM/UIA); Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM); Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM); Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS); Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS); Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM); Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI); Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM); Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM); Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM); University of Malaya (UM). A textual analysis was conducted to examine the strategies used in the rebranding process. The strategies in the context of this article are tactical choices (Bhatia, 1993) which are cognitive processes ‘exploited by the writer to make writing more effective keeping in mind any special reader requirements, considerations arising from the use of medium or constraints imposed by organizational and other factors’ (p. 20). The strategies used by universities in re-branding the institutions are discussed within the framework of the sociolinguistic theory which considers writing as ‘part of the overall activities of a group and organization’ (Gunnarsson, 1997: 140) and in relation to the corporate culture (Hagberg and Heifetz, 2000) practised by the universities. As a genre is a typical form of utterances, it should be studied in its social contexts of use (Berkenkotter and Huckin, 1993). Sociolinguistics does not only describe linguistic variation and the social context in which such a variation occurs, but also shows how linguistic differentiation reflects social structure (Coupland, 2001). The sociolinguistic perspective in this article considers the existence of factors underpinning the construction of university brochures and the concept of promotional culture (Wernick, 1991). Re-branding academic institutions It has been established that university brochures form part of the corporate advertising strategies in Malaysian universities which in turn are part of the rebranding process in these traditional institutions. The structural organization in these brochures consists of 10 sections identified as moves (Table 1). Some of the moves are exemplified with extracts from the university brochures in Figure 1 (see Appendix). In identifying the moves, the term ‘service’ is used to refer to the educational services and the support services offered by the universities. All the brochures from the 11 universities include Moves I, C, L, D, J and S, indicating that these six moves are obligatory. Ninety-one percent of the brochures include Moves A, T and E, while 81 percent include Move V, making them optional moves. The 10 moves have been used to realize three communicative functions of the university brochures which are: †¢ To inform the public about the academic programmes offered in the university and the facilities and other services available to support the academic programmes; Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 Osman: Re-branding academic institutions with corporate advertising †¢ †¢ To portray a corporate image of the university; and To promote the university as an academic institution based on the quality and the variety of academic programmes offered as well as the facilities available. These communicative functions of university brochures correspond with the general functions of brochures (Newsom and Carrell, 2001) set by the discourse community of PR. Re-branding strategies The 10 sections in university brochures have been identified as moves and these moves are realized with the use of strategies, and for the purpose of discussion in this article, re-branding strategies. The article discusses how the strategies contribute to the re-branding process and what their communicative functions are. NAME AND LOGO The first move in university brochures is called identifying the service which presents the name and the logo of the university. Although the brochures are in English language, the names of the universities are in Malay, the national language of Malaysia except two universities, International Islamic University Malaysia and University of Malaya. The names of the public universities were officially changed to Malay when the national language was made the medium of instruction in the mid-1970s. In the case of IIUM, however, the acronym by which it is commonly referred to by Malaysians is the Malay version, UIA. Similarly, University of Malaya is now popularly known as Universiti Malaya (UM). Interestingly, alumni up to the early 1980s still refer to this oldest university in the country as MU (Malaya University). TA B L E 1. Structural organization of university brochures Section Move identification Name of the university University slogan or motto Vision/Mission statement Profile or background of the university Location and size of the university Academic programmes offered at the university Facilities available to support the academic programmes Entry requirements, fees charged and duration of the programmes Career opportunities and recognition received by the university Contact addresses and telephone numbers Identifying the service (I) Attracting reader attention (A) Targeting the market (T) Establishing credentials (C) Locating the service (L) Describing the service (D) Justifying the service (J) Indicating the value of service (V) Endorsing the value of service (E) Soliciting response (S) Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 63 64 Discourse Communication 2(1) In the past, universities were identified by their crests but now these crests have been generally referred to as logos. Although it cannot be ascertained when the change exactly took place, this is the first re-branding strategy. However, this is not an obvious re-branding element because some of the established traditional universities in the world still use the term crest, for example, Oxford University (http://www. ox. ac. uk/web/crest.shtml). As far as Malaysian universities are concerned, both terms are similar and a recent survey of the university websites shows that most of the public universities in Malaysia refer to the crest as the logo while two universities (UKM and USM) refer to them as emblems. Most of the websites also provide the rationale for the design of the logo (e. g. UiTM, UPM). Whether used as crest, logo or emblem, interestingly, there are two common shapes observed: the shape of a shield (six universities) and a round shape (five universities) (Figure 2, see Appendix). The shape of USM’s emblem differs significantly from other logos in that it resembles a state emblem. This qualifies for the use of the term ‘emblem’ (a heraldic device or symbolic object as a distinctive badge of a nation, organization or family – Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus, 2001) by the university. Although the current shape of UPSI’s logo is round, it once had the shape of a shield (Figure 3, see Appendix). Compared with the logos of established universities which include traditional designs representing the academe, the current logos of Malaysian public universities include elements of modern designs. In fact, some of these logos have gone through some kind of ‘evolution’ as in the case of UiTM, UPM and UPSI. UPM ‘evolved’ from a training school to a college to a university focusing on agriculture. Later, the university started including more disciplines and the name was changed from Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Malaysia University of Agriculture) to Universiti Putra Malaysia (Putra University of Malaysia) in 1997, taking after the name of the first prime minister at the same time keeping the same acronym. UPSI and UiTM underwent almost similar ‘evolution’; from a centre to a college to an institute and finally to a university. Throughout the ‘evolution’, the logos have also gone through many changes where the concept incorporated in the logos mainly represents the focus of the university. While UPSI’s logo changed in shape but not in concept, UiTM’s and UPM’s logos underwent a total facelift (Figure 3, see Appendix). This is probably due to the fact that UPSI’s focus of training teachers remains throughout. MOTTO AND SLOGAN A motto is a short sentence or phrase that expresses a rule for sensible behaviour, especially a way of behaving in a particular situation (Collins Cobuild Dictionary, 2001). Most of the university logos have the motto inscribed on them as the motto represents the culture or the way of life in the university. Once again, all the mottos of the public universities are in Malay. The more established universities still retain this culture inscribed in the logo as seen in UM’s motto (translated as) ‘Knowledge, the Source of Development’, UPSI’s ‘Knowledge, the Beacon of Pure Character’, UTM’s ‘By the Name of God for Mankind’ and UUM’s ‘Scholarship, Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 Osman: Re-branding academic institutions with corporate advertising Virtue, Service’. UPSI keeps the same motto inscribed on the logo throughout its ‘evolution’ but UiTM left out its motto of 39 years from its new logo. The newly established universities (UMS and UNIMAS) do not have a motto inscribed in their logos. While a motto is a traditional feature of a public university, having a slogan is a new phenomenon. A slogan is a distinctive catchphrase that serves as a motto for a promotion campaign (Wells et al., 2003) used to sum up a theme for the benefit of the product or the service in order to deliver a message in a few words which are easily remembered. There are two types of slogans (Russell and Lane, 1990): hard-sell slogans are strongly competitive, epitomizing the special significant features of the product or service being advertised. Institutional slogans establish a prestigious image for companies which they need in order to enhance their products or services. Slogans in university brochures fall under the category of institutional slogans. Again, it cannot be ascertained when universities started creating slogans but there is a strong probability that they started at the same time when Malaysian public universities were undergoing corporatization in the late 20th century. Slogans started appearing on brochures and prospectuses of these public universities. The use of slogans has been viewed as a significant re-branding strategy as slogans represent the most promotional element in advertising. The purpose of having a slogan is to attract the reader’s attention and to let it linger on the reader’s mind. According to Russell and Lane (1990), the memorability of slogans can be enhanced by making use of literary techniques. These techniques consist of certain types of words including: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Boldness – use of strong powerful words, and startling or unexpected phrases; Parallelism – use of a repeated structure of a sentence or phrase; Rhyme, rhythm, alliteration – use of repeated sounds; Aptness – use of appropriate, direct words (Russell and Lane, 1990). Slogans in university brochures have been created based on good advertising principles as they have been observed to make use of the literary techniques, for example: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ boldness: Garden of Knowledge and Virtue (IIUM) parallelism: The National University with an International Reach (UKM) aptness: Your Inspiration parallelism: Contemporary and Forward Looking (UNIMAS) boldness: Towards a World-Class University (UPM) boldness: Towards Excellence and Supremacy (UPSI) Boldness is exemplified with words such as ‘virtue’, ‘world-class’ and ‘supremacy’ where the universities are bold enough to associate themselves with such high stature. Traditionally, public universities are centres of academe which do not portray an image of flaunting. Slogans using parallelism aim for jingle-like sounds so that readers can remember them easily while aptness acts like punchlines, strong and effective to be easily remembered. The bottom line is that a slogan is an Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 65 66 Discourse Communication 2(1) advertising concept and a marketing tool. The fact that public universities as nonprofit making academic institutions use slogans place them in a different light. They are currently functioning more like business entities. MISSION STATEMENT This move is identified as targeting the market based on the communicative functions of the mission statements. A mission statement provides information about what type of organization it is and what it does (Falsey, 1989) at the same time highlighting the positive factors in the organization. Stating the mission of the university is viewed as one of the two crucial strategies (the other being using slogans) in re-branding academic institutions as this move never appeared in academic genres before. This move has placed public universities in the same league as other successful corporations. Mission statements of public universities in Malaysia are observed to provide information as to what and how they can contribute to the public in terms of tertiary education as highlighted (underlined) in the following examples: (10) To become a distinguished university, aspiring to promote academic excellence in higher education and professional training necessary for the country’s socio-economic development (UiTM). (11) To be a premier university seeking excellence in the advancement of knowledge to meet the aspirations of the nation (UM) (12) To become an exemplary university of internationally acknowledged stature and as a scholarly institution of preference and choice for students and academics through the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and scholarship (UNIMAS) (13) To lead in the development of creative human resource and technology in line with the aspirations of the nation (UTM). The words ‘distinguished’, ‘premier’, and ‘exemplary’ are used to emphasize the quality of the universities. Other words like ‘excellence’, ‘advancement’ and ‘stature’ as well as ‘to lead’ are all bold words of promise by the universities. PROFILE OF THE UNIVERSITY This section is identified as the move to establish the credentials of the university as it provides information on the background and/or the current status of the university. The background information includes the date of establishment and the reason for the establishment while information on the current status of the university usually includes the achievements of the university in terms of academic programmes and physical development as well as the quality of the programmes offered. This move is supposed to be informational but there are a number of instances where the brochures provide the information on the current status of the university using ‘promotional’ words and phrases. For example: (14) UNIMAS is an ISO-certified university . . . Its undergraduate programmes have been designed to suit the needs of society and industry. Downloaded from http://dcm. sagepub. com by Heemal Kasseean on October 9, 2009 Osman: Re-branding academic institutions with corporate advertising An ISO certification for an organization confirms the quality of that organization and it is now a common practice among public universities to obtain such certification to convince the public about the quality of the university, particularly the academic programmes on offer. Universities with ISO certification usually highlight it in their brochures as a strategy to promote the institutions. Other instances of promotional words can be observed in the following examples: (15) The university is the catalyst for regional growth in the northern region of Peninsula Malaysia (UUM) (16) From these humble beginnings, UM grew hand-in-hand with the young nation to become the nucleus for producing graduates of the highest quality and calibre. The word ‘catalyst’ denotes the importance of the university in the regional growth of the northern region of the country, without which there would not have been much growth in that region, thus promoting the significance of the university. Similarly, the word ‘nucleus’ conveys the significance of UM to the developing nation. Another instance is when a university states the commitment of the university to the public or the nation. UPM boldly states its commitment to become a worldclass university to convince the public to come and enrol in this university. (17) Named Universiti Putra Malaysia in honour of the pioneering Prime Minister of Malaysia, . . . has adopted this pioneering spirit and is committed to become the world class Univers.