Belbin s Team Role Model Applications Essay

University of the Basque Country; University of Hull; Highfield House Consultancy abstract This paper brings together research into and using the team role model developed by Belbin (1981, 1993a) in an attempt to provide an exhaustive assessment of construct validity in light of the conflicting evidence so far produced. Role theory is used to contextualize the origins of the model. The psychometric properties of the Team Role Self-Perception Inventory used to assess a person’s likely behaviour in a team are examined along with 43 empirical studies that have tested theoretical associations between team roles and other cognitive or behavioural traits. While the evidence is mixed, we conclude that, on balance, the model and its accompanying Inventory have adequate convergent validity. However, strong associations between some team roles are observed, indicating weak discriminant validity among some scales in the Inventory. Through its coverage of important areas of teamworking, the paper contributes to the practitioner and research communities by providing fresh insights into aspects of teamworking and by suggesting new research agendas. INTRODUCTION Effective teamworking has become a basic concern for most organizations. While many factors influence a team’s performance, considerable attention has been given to the influence of team member diversity in terms of roles played in a team. The team role model made popular by Meredith Belbin in relation to management teams (Belbin, 1981, 1993a) and available commercially through Belbin Associates (1988) is widely used in practice and has featured extensively in research on teams at work. The model is used by many organizations including FTSE-100 companies, multinational agencies, government bodies and consultants and has been translated into 16 languages. This paper therefore reviews the published research and assesses to what extent the model is supported by the available evidence. Through its coverage of important areas of teamworking (conflict management, personality traits, team performance, control and power) the paper contributes to the practitioner and research communities by providing fresh insights into aspects of teamworking and by suggesting new research agendas. We first consider the theoretical context for the team role model. Second, all substantive studies that provide psychometric evidence, relationships to personality factors and evidence for predictive validity are summarized, evaluated and contrasted. Finally, we discuss the validity of the model and consider the wider implications of our findings. ROLE THEORIES Prior to the development of Belbin’s team role model (1981, 1993a) other role  theories had been put forward (Benne and Sheats, 1948; Graen, 1976; Graen and Scandura, 1987; Holland, 1985) although the model’s links to these and other role classifications (e.g. Davis et al., 1992; Margerison and McCann, 1990; Parker, 1990; Spencer and Pruss, 1992; Woodcock, 1989) are unclear. While a comprehensive theoretical examination of the many alternative role theories and models is beyond the scope of this paper, it is important to establish a theoretical context for the team role model. The role concept can be viewed from two different perspectives. From an anthropological-sociological perspective it can be defined as a combination of values, attitudes and behaviour assigned to an individual who occupies a social position (a location in a social network) associated with a specific social status (the functions assigned to that person). From this perspective, a role can be defined as the behaviour that a person displays in relation to his/her social position and social status (Linton, 1945). Secondly, from a psychosocial perspective, a role can be defined as the behaviour expected from an individual occupying a specific position (Biddle, 1979) such that the cognition and expected behaviour associated with the position are fundamentally important to success in the role (Katz and Kahn, 1978). This psychosocial perspective is adopted for the purposes of this review. Since Lewin created the Research Centre for Group Dynamics in 1944, two types of groups have been studied: groups created to solve problems and groups preoccupied with individual development. This duality has brought about a distinction between so-called ‘task roles’ and ‘socio-emotional roles’. In this light, Bales and Slater (1955) studied laboratory groups and concluded that there were significant differences between individuals concerned with solving tasks and individuals concerned with the social and emotional needs of group members. People concerned with solving tasks were called ‘task leaders’ whereas those concerned with emotional needs were called ‘maintenance or socio-emotional leaders’. Similarly, Benne and Sheats (1948) proposed a role behaviour classification describing 12 task roles and seven maintenance roles. Task-centred roles were concerned with the coordination of group problem solving activities, whereas   maintenance roles were concerned with promoting group-centred behaviour. Both role types were thought necessary for a team to perform well. These theoretical antecedents formed the pillars of the development of the team role model (Belbin, 1981) as its general framework and the names of some team roles connect to these and other theories (Fisher et al., 2001a). Among theoretical models explaining how roles are acquired, a two-part classification can be made (Ilgen and Hollenbeck, 1991). First, there are ‘role taking’ models that consider individuals as passive acceptors of the roles assigned to them by others (Graen, 1976). An example is the ‘role episode model’ (Katz and Kahn, 1978) where the role is defined by an interaction process between two people; the person performing the role (the focal person) and another who holds a set of beliefs that constitute the role (the role sender). The role sender communicates a set of beliefs and the focal person assumes them. The second classification of role models sees subjects actively participating in the definition and development of their role. These models assume that individuals are much more active and motivated to possess roles that they can perform successfully. They are called ‘role making’ models because the focal person actively attempts to influence the role sender as they try to build a role that will be acceptable to both of them. Graen and Scandura (1987) proposed the ‘theory of dyadic organizing’ which integrated and extended Graen’s first proposal (1976). This theory describes how members of a team coordinate their activities to accomplish tasks that are not prescribed in their positions but fundamental for the effective functioning of the team. When a job role involves very predictable tasks, assigning individuals to roles is relatively easy. However, as work becomes more complex then so do the abilities required by individuals. The question is no longer about the abilities and knowledge a person should have for a specific job but is about predicting how a person will behave in the work unit where the work will be  performed. In this sense, Holland (1985) proposed one of the first models that accounted for this individual context adjustment, suggesting that individuals and job environments can be classified into six different types: ‘realistic’, ‘conventional’, ‘entrepreneur’, ‘social’, ‘artistic’ and ‘intellectual’. Each type is associated with specific activities and abilities possessed by individuals. A set of adjectives characterizes each type. For example, the intellectual type is described as analytical, cautious, critical, inquisitive, independent, pessimistic and reserved. For individuals to be successful and satisfied in a job, their personal abilities, interests and personality traits should adjust with the requirements, rewards and interpersonal relations offered by the job consistent with individual job adjustment theory. Holland (1985) proposed that an individual may display attributes of more than one type and also that there are compatible and incompatible types; for example, ‘intellectual’ and ‘artistic’ types are more compatible than ‘artistic’ and ‘conventional’ types. Belbin’s team role model can be linked to these role theories and role classifications. We now turn to review the literature on the team role model, drawing upon studies using the Team Role Self Perception Inventory (TRSPI) through which it is operationalized. We also review team role assessment using personality questionnaires and empirical studies that have explored the theoretical network of team role constructs in an attempt to better understand how individual team role preference is related to the behavioural definition of team roles as well as to other areas of teamwork behaviour. As with most role theories, Belbin’s model is not preoccupied with the roles (behavioural patterns) per se but with the ways in which the roles develop, change and interact with other patterns of behaviour over time. The model  was proposed after a nine-year study of team building and team effectiveness with management teams taking part in an executive management exercise (Lawrence, 1974). Prior to participating in the exercise, individuals completed Cattell’s 16PF personality questionnaire and Watson Glaser’s Critical Thinking Appraisal. For each management team an observer recorded group processes based upon Bales’ (1950) interactive process analysis and reported their observations. Successful and less successful teams were analysed in terms of their members’ personalities and in terms of their critical thinking abilities. Analyses were then crossreferenced with observers’ reports and, as a result, eight team roles were proposed. The initial categorization of team roles was therefore based on assessments of team members’ personalities, critical thinking abilities and a behavioural checklist. The only empirical evidence of the early analysis showed a positive correlation between performance predictions based on team role composition and actual performance across 22 teams (Belbin et al., 1976, p. 26). The eight role model was introduced (Belbin, 1981) and a team role was defined as a pattern of behaviour characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another in order to facilitate the progress of the team as a whole. Names and descriptive adjectives for each of the eight team roles were also included. In 1993 some team roles were renamed and a ninth role added. Descriptions of each role are given in Appendix 1. In this model a role is defined by six factors: personality, mental ability, current values and motivation, field constraints, experience, and role learning. However, Belbin did not show how much of the variance in a team role is explained by each factor. In keeping with others (Benne and Sheats, 1948; Torrington et al., 1985), Belbin defends the idea that high performing teams need to have a balanced representation of all team roles. The team role balance hypothesis assumes that if all team roles are present in a team then it will perform better than other teams without the balance. Belbin also considers that the team role concept (a preference to behave in a particular way with other team members while performing tasks) should be distinguished from the concept of functional role which refers to the technical skills and operational knowledge relevant to the job. Consequently, several people may  have the same functional role but vary greatly in their natural team role(s). Belbin also stresses the link between the stages of a team’s development and the need for different team roles to dominate at different stages. Six different stages of development are proposed: (1) identifying needs; (2) finding ideas; (3) formulating plans; (4) making ideas; (5) establishing team organization; and (6) following through. In the early stages team roles like Shaper and Co-ordinator will be most needed, whereas in the later stages Completer-Finishers and Implementers make higher contributions. Operationalizing the Model The team role model is ideally operationalized through a self-perception inventory and through observers’ assessments to give a rounded assessment of a person’s team role. The   original Team Role Self Perception Inventory (TRSPI-8R) was hand-scored such that respondents computed their own profile. This version was later modified to embody the nine role model (TRSPI-9R) and for this version respondents’ profiles are generated by the Interplace computer package. Since it was never intended that the TRSPI should be the only input to exploring a person’s team role, an Observer Assessment Sheet (OAS) was also designed to be used by work colleagues who could make an informed judgement based on their knowledge of the person. The OAS should be used alongside the TRSPI although in many situations only the inventory is used. Details of the scoring procedures for these instruments are given in Appendix 2. The second way of assessing team roles is derived from personality questionnaires; equations to derive team roles have been developed in conjunction with personality questionnaire publishers. In particular, Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF; Cattell et al., 1970) and the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ; Saville et al.,  1992) have been used (see Dulewicz, 1995). Reviewing the Evidence This review draws upon 43 substantive studies of the team role model using the TRSPI, OAS and personality inventories. A table showing the purpose of each study, its aims, instruments and sample used along with the key findings is available from the first author. Psychometric evidence. Eight studies have analysed the psychometric properties of the TRSPI and two have reported results from the OAS. Initial evaluations were critical (Furnham et al., 1993a, 1993b; Broucek and Randell, 1996) and one study arrived at mixed conclusions (Beck et al., 1999). Recent studies have been more supportive of the TRSPI’s reliability and structure (Swailes and McIntyre-Bhatty, 2002, 2003). Since the first criticism of the TRSPI (Furnham et al., 1993a), other researchers have raised concerns about the statistical properties of the original inventories as well as their theoretical basis (Broucek and Randell, 1996). An important issue affecting psychometric evaluation of the TRSPI stems from its i psative nature which is outlined in Appendix 2. Evidence for the TRSPI. Furnham et al. (1993a) reported low reliability values for three different versions of the TRSPI. Correlations between team roles were different for a normatively scored (Likert scale) version (M = 0.36) and the original ipsative version (M = -0.29). Factor structures were also different for normative values (two well-defined task and socioemotional factors) and for ipsative scoring (four bipolar factors). Both Senior (1998) and Beck et al. (1999), in their respective exploratory factor analyses, also reported an underlying four factor structure for the ipsative version of the TRSPI. However, the ipsative design of the TRSPI was deliberate and any comparison of forms should recognize that transforming the ipsative structure of the instrument may alter its nature. (See Belbin (1993b) for a rebuke of the normative version.) In the ipsative form the average interscale correlation will be negative (Meade, 2004) whereas in a normative form scales are allowed to correlate freely. In this context, Furnham et al. (1993a) raised concerns about the theoretical basis of the inventory and a lack of evidence for its psychometric properties, noting that the test was ‘neither theoretically nor empirically derived as Belbin developed his team role typology based on observatory and inductive,   rather than theoretically deductive means’ (p. 247) with a limited sample of 78 managers. Similarly, Broucek and Randell (1996) raised concerns about the internal consistency and discriminant validity of the TRSPI and the OAS. They also noted that both tests could not be considered as parallel forms of the same construct. The average correlation between team roles was 0.27 for ipsative scoring and 0.42 for normative scoring; higher correlations were expected from the self-reported data collected by both tests. Similarly, Senior and Swailes (1998) also reported that both TRSPI and OAS did not show high convergent validity as only five team roles showed significant correlations with an average of 0.27. Broucek and Randell (1996) also reported that different correlations were found between the normative and ipsative versions of the TRSPI and the NEO-PI-(R) personality scale although 8 out of 19 predictions for the ipsative version and 14 out of 19 for the normative version were correctly hypothesized. Different correlation values were taken as ‘dramatic evidence of the type of distortion which use of an ipsative instrument produces’ (p. 401). Similarly, Fisher et al. (1996) looked at the correspondence between the TRSPI and 16PF and found low correlation values on the validity diagonal. Broucek and Randell also tested the discriminant validity of the OAS against the NEO-PI (R) Big Five personality factors, although Fisher et al. (2001a, pp. 125–6) noted that such analysis was dependent on the orthogonality of the personality factors and, as far as the factors have been found to be oblique (Costa and McCrae, 1992), any conclusion regarding the discriminant validity of the OAS should be taken cautiously.

Dear Stella

Dear Stella, I hope this letter finds you well. I am sorry about leaving so abruptly, but I was called away on urgent work. I have been sent to Crythin Gifford by Mr. Bentley to attend the funeral of Mrs. Alice Drablow, I also need to sort though all of her legal documents. Mrs. Drablow lived in a strange little house called Eel Marsh House. To get out to the house you must cross the Nine Lives Causeway, it is only accessible during low tide, otherwise it is covered by water, and impassable. The house is very strange, all on it's own on a small island separated from the rest of the main land. At first I thought it to be quite beautiful but it has a scary if not dark side to it. Even Mrs. Drablow was a bit strange, she lives alone and no one from the village will speak of her. When I arrived Mr. Daily, the local landowner, took me to the Gifford Arms where I have been staying. I went to the funeral of Mrs. Drablow, on the way there I saw some school children and they had strange white pasty faces. When I arrived I noticed that there were very few people there. There was a woman in black clothes with a pasty white face, which I saw on the way back to the village and again on Eel Marsh Island. After the funeral of I went to Eel Marsh house, to start work. Mr. Keckwick took me across the causeway on a horse and trap. When we arrived at Eel Marsh House Keckwick left me and said he would return at five to collect me. I looked around the island; there is an old graveyard with some ruins of a small abbey. The names on the gravestones were all undecipherable because they were covered with various fungi's. While looking around the graveyard I saw the mysterious Woman in Black, a cold feeling came over me like nothing I had ever felt before, but before I could approach her she ducked away under a headstone and disappeared. I don't think you should worry about me I'm fine and I'm not worried about her. She was probably a figment of my imagination; the marsh mist was quite dense. After that went in to the house and I started work opening all the windows, to get some light. I searched thought the rooms to see what was in side the house. It has an old musty smell, all the furniture is old, and made of strong wood. It was about four, so I decided I would walk back to Crythin Gifford, Keckwick wouldn't be back until five and the exercise would be good for me. As I started to walk along the causeway I noticed that it was getting darker and darker and the mist was drawing in, the sea mist was thick and salty. The further I got from the house the better I felt, but soon I couldn't see it any more because of the mist. I thought about turning back but I would soon meet Keckwick and he could take me the rest of the way. The mist was soon playing tricks on my sight and hearing, I could hear a pony and trap coming a long the road to the causeway, and it went silent. I then heard noises of screaming like someone was drowning, I thought this was my imagination, I didn't know how far it was to the other side of the causeway and the water was rising fast so I decided to turn back and head for the house. When I got back I was very worried and I was shaking. I sat down in one of the old musty chairs and had a drink, I must have fallen asleep because when I awoke someone was knocking on the door, when I opened it I saw Keckwick and the pony and trap. They were normal, still alive; it must have been my imagination about him drowning. He apologized for not coming to pick me up but he was unable to because of the sea mist, I was unlucky. I hope that everything in London is fine. There is no need for you to come down to Crythin Gifford, because I should be returning soon, I will go back to Eel Marsh House today and stay for a couple of days to finish all the work and send anything important back to Mr. Bentley. Hope to see you very soon. Yours Lovingly, Arthur

Creative And Critical Thinking Among Students Education Essay

â€Å" 7,987 directly As in SPM † screamed the headlines of major newspapers when the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia consequences were announced on the 10th of March 2010. The arrested development with academic accomplishments among Malaysians knew no bounds. Every twelvemonth, exhilaration and joy, anxiousness and letdown, pervade among pupils, parents and instructors when the Ministry of Education and Malaysian Examination Board releases the consequences of public scrutinies, be it UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM. The compulsion with academic accomplishment is dominating all other facets of a holistic instruction system in Malaysia. The Malayan Education Philosophy clearly states that the function of the school course of study is to guarantee the holistic development of the single mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally by leaving general cognition and accomplishments ; cultivating, transfusing and furthering healthy attitudes and recognized moral values. The course of study aims to convey forth the Malayan citizen who is a balanced and all-around person, trained, adept, and cherishes the national aspiration for integrity. Why all the ballyhoo with pupils ‘ academic accomplishments? Harmonizing to Professor Dr. Ray Wilks, Head of the School of Psychology, International Medical University, there is no grounds to demo a positive correlativity between academic accomplishment in scrutiny and acquisition. Learning should non be about go throughing scrutinies. â€Å" We should alternatively make more wonder in kids ‘s acquisition to foster creativeness and innovativeness, † says Professor Dr. Ray Wilks. Indeed, the instruction systems in Malaysia purposes to model persons to go better Malaysians with the right attitudes, and to fit them with the cognition and accomplishments necessary in the 21st century to do Malaysia a developed state by the twelvemonth 2020. To run into the challenges of the 20 first-century and Vision 2020, learning and learning patterns and school direction are invariably reviewed to develop persons who are technologically literate and can lend to a originative and advanced work force. This transmutation will imply altering the school civilization, from one that is preponderantly memory-based to one that stimulates believing, creativeness, and innovativeness. Yet the importance placed on academic accomplishment has earnestly impacted on the ability and efficiency of the Malayan instruction system in developing holistic persons that are able to manage the challenges of life after formal schooling. In fact many a times, newspapers highlighted employers ailments that school departers and even university ‘s alumnuss have jobs discoursing and pass oning efficaciously, allow entirely to believe critically and creatively. In add-on the deficiency of critical and originative thought abilities among Malaysians school departers and university alumnuss has been pinpointed by the Minister of Human Resource, Datuk Dr. S Subramaniam, as one of the chief jobs lending to their low marketability in the occupation market. The deficiency of believing accomplishments among the present and future work force of the state will halter the state ‘s attempts toward accomplishing a developed state position by 2020. What are critical and originative thought? Critical thought is a type of believing that converges on a individual idea or entity. One must form, analyse or measure information, which might besides be broken into parts and taught explicitly. A cognitive procedure complimentary to, but different than critical thought, is originative thought. This believing diverges from a individual idea or entity. One must bring forth, synthesise, happen options, adapt, replacement, or elaborate. Critical and originative thought are the edifice blocks that will do certain our pupils will hold the required thought accomplishments to win in life and at work and guarantee the attainment of Vision 2020. Detractors of attempts to stress critical and originative thought in the course of study have point to the possibility of poorer academic accomplishments as a effect. However, research has shown that when pupils develop their thought accomplishments by looking beyond the obvious, doing originative connexions, developing schemes, doing determinations, be aftering in front and reflecting, they besides improved their academic public presentation. Therefore, stressing critical and originative thought will augment academic accomplishment. How to promote critical and originative thought? One manner is to cut down the accent on the usage summational appraisals such as UPSR, PMR and SPM. Summational appraisals are used for categorising pupils and emphasize the usage of written scrutinies. The UPSR and PMR summational appraisal have deviated from its original intent of naming larning jobs with the purpose of fixing remedial actions to better pupils larning. They are now used to stream kids into categories. In psychological footings, it is bad to label kids. It is positive support for smart kids, as defined by our appraisal system, but non for the kids who do non make good. The tools used in our public scrutinies are picking up all the rote scholars. Professor Dr Ray Wilks says, â€Å" From a psychological point of position, to label a kid of 12 is a sort of life sentence. † He further provinces that experiments have shown that if we tell instructors that a kid is of certain achievement degree, they will learn to th at point. The instructors will non raise their instruction to the following degree for that kid. Alternatively we should promote more formative appraisal in the acquisition environments. Formative appraisal besides called uninterrupted appraisal is a more dependable manner to look at the acquisition procedure. School-based uninterrupted appraisal looks at broader instruction accomplishments, such as communicating, critical and originative thought, and teamwork, instead than merely textbook accomplishments. These accomplishments are assessed by instructors through activities like arguments, play, analyzing issues and undertaking work. Formative appraisals besides provide diagnostic information to enable instructors to help pupils with larning troubles. Furthermore, when there are less public scrutinies, kids can hold more clip to research other involvements such as music and humanistic disciplines that would assist instil creativeness in them. â€Å" I ‘ve ever wanted my kids to larn to play the piano, but they are ever tired after schools and tuition, † says one parent. With less scrutiny, instructors will besides hold more clip to form field trips and jaunts, which will let pupils to be in contact with nature and detect new larning chances for critical and originative thought that may non be present in the schoolroom. Given appropriate chances, kids can prosecute in sophisticated cognitive procedures. Research suggests that either excessively much or excessively small construction can forestall development of critical and originative thought and in the procedure kids are non equipped with active and strategic attacks to larning undertakings. Therefore, appropriate instructional attacks could consequences in pupils heightening their critical and originative thought accomplishments. Three attacks are normally used in the instruction of believing accomplishments: stand-alone attack, submergence attack and embedded attack. Stand-alone attack consists of learning believing accomplishments separate from capable affair content. In this instance a general set of thought accomplishments are identified and taught as a separate class or capable. Students are taught how to reassign the accomplishments to assorted topics and state of affairss. However, believing accomplishments taught in isolation tend to consequences in pupils holding jobs reassigning believing accomplishments to academic or existent universe jobs. The submergence attack does non affect learning believing accomplishments. Rather it allows good thought to develop of course as a consequence of pupils being to the full engaged or immersed in content-related activities which calls for higher degrees of thought. Students are provided with perennial patterns in complex cognitive activities with the premise that they will finally develop the necessary cognitive accomplishments to successfully prosecute in high-ranking thought. However, research has shown that merely plunging pupils in thought activities is non an effectual instructional attack. The embedded attack involves learning believing accomplishments within a subject-matter context. Thinking accomplishments are taught in scientific discipline, societal surveies, linguistic communication, humanistic disciplines, and some other topics. Students than use these accomplishments straight to the peculiar topic being studied. This allows pupils to utilize the accomplishments in a meaningful context and helps them larn the capable affair more profoundly. An embedded attack is an effectual manner to learn believing accomplishments. Rather than an extra topic, believing accomplishments are used to heighten whatever course of study presently being taught. Training instructors in specific instructional attacks means that schools must put in instructors ‘ professional development. Instructional attacks that help instructors incorporate a â€Å" acquisition to believe † constituent into their course of study empower pupils to take duty for bettering their thought and acquisition. Although cognitive development is merely one portion of a kid ‘s overall development, it is indispensable that instructors respond to the community demand for and the kid ‘s right to cognitive competency. Teacher developing suppliers need to go cognizant of the benefits of certain instructional attacks on pupil public presentation and integrated preparation in such attacks in their classs. Therefore, in decision, Malaysia needs to guarantee that its future coevals does non merely execute good academically but should possess the ability to believe critically and creatively. All Malaysians should back up the integrating of critical and originative thought in its educational course of study. It should non merely simply be stated in printed paperss. Affirmative actions should be put in topographic point to guarantee that the instruction and acquisition of critical and originative thought is actualized in the schoolroom context. Lest, Vision 2020 remains a dream and Malaysia will bumble in its ability to accomplish the New Economic Model towards accomplishing 1Malaysia, â€Å" Peoples First, Performance Now † . ( 1497 words )

Block 2 Task 3 Deconstructing What We See (750 words maximum excluding Essay

Block 2 Task 3 Deconstructing What We See (750 words maximum excluding any references) - Essay Example Different people can interpret the underlying meaning of the given information in a different way. It has been observed that different things in this world speak different facts according to belief, religion, and culture and different other factors influencing the general thinking of a person. The facts can change according to our perceptions and understandings. As a result, it can be said that there is no such thing as a boot fact and all the evidences are required to be interpreted according to the values and beliefs of a person. It can also be said that it is the fundamental aspect of the research to be aware of relationship between facts and figures in order to devise meaningful interpretations. Part 2: Education and English Culture: English education has a rich culture which is focused on sheer knowledge and practice of the work. Education has remained an integral part of British life. They have established a huge number of schools, educational institutions, colleges and univers ities for making the part of their world a better place as well as a civilized society. In English culture, education has divided the people into classes but with the recent changes, education has lost its power in defining the social classes within the English society. The emergence of private primary and secondary schools have greatly emphasized in yielding a high number of school-going children within the country. This new trend came into being in early 1990s. Education also opened a new gateway for the people who were willing to educate themselves in postsecondary trainings (Machin, and Vignoles, 2005). A clear shift was evident in the schooling behaviour of parents and children. It was estimated that by mid 1990s more than 30 percent of the children between the ages of eighteen and twenty were enrolled in universities (Gearon, 2002). Higher universities such as Oxford and Cambridge started accepting students from a strong socio-economic background. But, with the passage of time , students received unlimited opportunities from different universities with the same high standard education at affordable fee structure (Samuel, 1994). Contribution of Wolverhampton University in the Field of Education in West Midlands: The University of Wolverhampton holds a sound reputation for providing its students and staff with excellence in education and state-of-the art learning atmosphere. The university has a total of ten schools offering different programs and majors to both the local and international students. There are a total of 340 undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The university aims to become one of the best in providing excellent education within England. It is among one of the best universities that has the highest number of undergraduates in West midlands as well as the pioneer in offering higher education to general public in UK. On an account, the university has strength of 23000 students while offering 1000 seats to international students every year ( Source: Guardian News). Analysis of the first Photo: The first photo of Wolverhampton University represents culture, values and tradition of ancient English society. The building represents the dominance of English rulers within the country along with the efforts they put in giving the best education of that era to their students. The building also represents the goals of English rulers on how to educate the general public so that they can appear as a part of productive civilized English society.

Social Changes And Changes In Technology Since 1900 Essay

Social Changes And Changes In Technology Since 1900 - Essay Example Development of new transport forms during the early years of the twentieth century led to a significant change of social life. By 1900, horseless carriages had been introduced to the streets of popular cities (Crossley, Lees, & Servos, 2012, p, 15). These carriages were powered either by steam or by electrical power. By 1920s, automobiles were developed, and were common in the United States of America. They became common in Germany by 1960s, and in Japan; they became common in the 1970s (Crossley, Lees, & Servos, 2012, p, 15). This led to the rise of the world’s largest corporations, which supplied livelihoods to numerous workers. People had to spend significant potions of their time working in order to earn. Also, automobiles catalysed social change because they afforded the owners new mobility, new sites for courtship and new leisure pursuits (Crossley, Lees, & Servos, 2012, p, 15). As a result of transport and industrialisation, European settlers settled in third world countries, influencing the culture of the natives significantly. Therefore, the natives adopted the European culture and science, in the name modernisation of society. Scientific evolution led to departure from the old and traditional ways to new ways of life such as photography, radio and music. For instance, European faith was introduced to various parts of the world, where the Europeans had migrated to. It is the advancement in technology that led to development of transport, which enabled the Europeans to travel to various parts of the world. As they settled in these areas, they introduced their culture, forcing the natives to abandon their traditional social ways and adopt the new settlers’ culture. ... International trade resulted due to further development of various forms of transport. In turn, international trade, led to an increase in growth among countries and change in lifestyles. It also contributed to poverty and the rise of slums in key cities. As people were engaged in trading, they became concerned on how they would attain more wealth through trade. As a result, they departed from their former ways of social life, which required that those who were fortunate would help the needy. In their bid to attain success in trade, rich traders suppressed the poor, and as a result, the poor built slums within the major cities that had prospered due to trade. Urbanisation greatly influenced social change during the early years of the twentieth century. For instance, native whites contributed to a larger share of the urban working class that had migrated to the cities from depressed rural areas (Rabinowitz, 1994). In urban areas, people changed their ways of life. Most of them broke a way from rules and norms of traditionally expected behaviour, as they underwent social change. Urbanisation was the causal agent of rapid social change, poor urban living condition because of congestion and breakdown from social norms and increase of crime during the twentieth century (Martel, 2011, p, 13. Urbanisation, which was experienced in the twentieth century, in high rates, led to the emergence of new social issues such as child labour. People had to change their lifestyles and adapt to the new systems, where employment of minors and children was a common trend. Industrial and economic changes led to changes in modes of thought, which led to the development of new

Organizational Culture In The Toyota Company Case Study

Organizational Culture In The Toyota Company - Case Study Example When Toyota built plants in the west, they attempted to copy Toyota’s production system details without studying the difference between how workers in the East felt about their work compared to their Western counterparts. This difference can be referred to as employee engagement. Western employers have begun to realize the huge value to be realized from engaging their workforce. However, apart from running surveys aimed at discovering how engaged their employees are, not many are aware of how to synthesize engagement. When Toyota’s cars were recalled, those recalled had been made in the West. The recalls did not happen to vehicles manufactured in the East since the employees could have spotted them due to their engagement. Employees in the West might have noticed the faults, but due to their disengagement, did not report it. Negative reports regarding Toyota came to such functions as customer satisfaction, risk analysis, and government. The corporate culture at Toyota needs increased evaluation instead of making assumptions that their culture is aligned to that of the West. Their corporate culture bred leaders whose most pressing concern was saving face, which led to the postponement of making the recalls. These problems have proved to be problematic for Toyota because they do not dismiss a worker because of temporary absence resulting from illness or injury. Additionally, the scope of this provision granting increased protection to officials of the unions, as well as members, should see an increase due to the initial adverse action cases brought before the appellate court. If, as claimed by the unions, those dismissed happen to be union representatives, then Toyota is in for a rough ride. Toyota has been swamped by this culture clash because of the lack of communication and consultation. Traditionally, Toyota has prided itself on its communicative skills with its workforce and its exemplary teamwork.

(Book Proposal) Neurotheology in Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

(Book Proposal) Neurotheology in Review - Essay Example Its primary objectives are to establish comprehensive, interdisciplinary approaches to understand beliefs and to explain, interpret and predict the influences of beliefs to thought, feeling, behavior and experience. The purpose of this volume is to provide scope and definition to the new discipline of Neurotheology. Current scholarship in Neurotheology offers perspectives from Darwinian evolution and neuroscience (studies in frontal, parietal lobes and temporal lobe epilepsy), neuropsychology, genetics, cognitive science, cellular biology, chemistry, physics, mindfulness, electromagnetic field effects, and varying perspectives from psychology like conditioning, attachment and learning theories. Other perspectives on science and beliefs are developing from neuroeconomics, neuropolitics, and neuroethics while other fields of science need greater inclusion like astronomy, ecology, engineering, geology, linguistics and mathematics. Neurotheology acknowledges the complexity and diversity of human beliefs by providing a broad conceptual framework to encompass beliefs whether mystical or religious, economic or environmental, political or social, or some other. Each dimension of beliefs affords critical, creative study of the science(s), beliefs and/or belief systems involved. Both the science and beliefs intersect through a four-fold methodology that provides the basis to unpack the complexity of their relationship and intimate the relationship’s influence to human thought, feeling, behavior and experience. The proposed book â€Å"Neurotheology† attempts to summarize the complexities of this science to provide a general understanding of what neurotheology is and investigate some of the diversity of disciplines to which it is applicable. The book is primarily intended for college students but will serve also as an introductory text for anyone interested in learning more about

The African American Male and the Prison Industrial Complex Assignment

The African American Male and the Prison Industrial Complex - Assignment Example This essay declares that regardless of the political affiliation of a given politician, one of the very last things that he/she wants is to appear weak on crime to the electorate. Accordingly, politicians are perpetually pushing for stiffer and more draconian sentencing for even non-violent first time offenses. This self-perpetuating cycle of greater and greater numbers of incarcerated person, stricter laws, as well as corporate interests in the ever expansive and privatized role of correctional institutions in the United States bears witness to the failed policies of the War on Drugs and the War on Crime which date back to the early 1970’s. As the report highlights interestingly enough, most Americans are unaware that the actual crime rate of the United States has actually been diminishing for over 20 years now. This is striking information when compared with the following: â€Å"Today’s 2 million prisoners (not counting the 5 million who are under supervision of the criminal justice system) represent a prison and jail system ten times larger than that which existed in the United States a mere twenty-nine years ago. War on crime is not rooted in rising crime rates but is rather the result of the rise in public’s concern over crime, which has been wrought not by the criminals in the real world but by the images of the criminals who now break into our living rooms nightly through the window of the television.

Criticize of Marketing Myopia article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Criticize of Marketing Myopia article - Essay Example He argued that there is no such thing as a growth industry, what is there is growth opportunities that one should take advantage of to enhance their welfare. Levitt also gives people a better understanding of misconceptions like the belief that growth is guaranteed by an expanding population. Instead, the commodities released should target a certain gender or age. He also shows that mass production does not always yield as expected due to imbalances in the scale of production. Mass production results to low cost per unit as the output increases. In production, one should focus on the quality of produce rather than the marketing. Good quality output markets itself as compared to poor quality ones that have to be pushed into the market. Since most enterprises needs lie on maximizing profits than it is more appropriate to focus on the company’s needs rather than customers’ needs. A brilliant marketer creates products that suit the consumer and are affordable. Good quality products in the market gain popularity faster when compared to poor quality ones by competitors. This gives the market true illusion of what your products are like. Theodore Levitt gives companies a clue on how to maintain efficiency with its rising popularity. An increase in output quantity tends to reduce unit cost, and if not monitored it pulls down the business. Through maintaining efficiency, companies are likely to enjoy larger profits and experience growth. He discards the belief that no competitive substitutes of outstanding products exists in the market. This is an entirely irrational belief. Every product in the market have their substitutes, it is only that you have not done the research on more products in the market. He mentions that, we should not focus on short-term benefits. The long run benefits, which most of the firms are not ready to wait. With changing times, people tend to change on preferences and tastes and therefore this prepares the business firms for these changes in the future. The short focus is what the author refers to as myopia. He gives examples of the railroad and oil industries that can be taken over by other close competitors. He adds that there is no guarantee on product obsolesce and gives an example of petroleum products which were used since time immemorial up to date but has never been exhausted. Technology improvement cause this and the discovery where other sources of energy have been resolved to hence the decline on use of petroleum products. The most salient thing on Levitt’s article is on maintaining the business in the market for the longest time and enjoying maximum profits. Business firms should set long-term goals to help them serve their customer needs in a more appropriate and reliable manner. This helps the products get established and therefore with time It dominates the markets. However, what Levitt has missed out is that he only talks of myopia back then not putting into consideration the present t imes whereby myopia has taken a different turn. There exists new forms of myopia especially where entrepreneurs’ get single minded instead of venturing into different fields in the market. Maybe accommodating other stakeholders in the market would help enhance venturing into the diverse existing opportunities. Another problem comes in when the firm misinterprets the true definition of a customer and satisfying their needs. With the changing times consumer

ITM 301 Mod 2 CBT - Principles of Information Systems in Business and Essay

ITM 301 Mod 2 CBT - Principles of Information Systems in Business and Organizations - Essay Example the help desk solve the problems of the customers to the maximum, the following are some of the essentials in setting up of a customer service department: 1. Define the objective. According to Ruby Bayan2, the organization has to first decide what is objective of creating a helpdesk. Are you planning to give expert advice or are you planning to handle the maximum number of customers or is your objective to have a personal touch. When the objective is clear then, it is easy to set our priorities in organizing the other resources. 2. Understand the customer: When it comes to understanding the customer, an in-depth analysis is required about the profile of the customer. The customers’ type of business, volume of business, the type of technology adopted, the kind of problems faced by the customers frequently and what is the procedure adopted to solve customer problems. When an understanding of the customers’’ technologies and help desk management, we can choose the kind of service we have to offer. So we can get an idea about the kind of software to be used to achieve our objectives. 3. Select the technology: There is always a debate whether to buy software or to build customized software for your organization. The diagram below shows the factors that have to be considered before making a decision by the management. According to Hoffman3, the decision to develop a customized software should depend on the competitive edge it can create. When a software is very essential to create an edge over the competition and if it defines the basic purpose of the organization, the cost of development of the software is justified. On the other hand if the organization can use an off the shelf software the company should buy the software to reduce the operational costs and thereby can pass on the cost benefit to its customers. The author suggests that the organization can buy a software and adjust its operations according to the software implemented which will require less

PROJECT ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

PROJECT ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS - Essay Example This is must to have a clear mission and strategic plan, as well as annual objectives. These are the blueprints that validate and guide the ideas emerging from the process of change. Detailed and outward-looking research into the organisation and role in it, as well as larger economic, demographic, political and social trends, are also important. To bring about change via project management must be as thorough as a new business start up. Learning serves as a basis for a competitive project management. It is to make company capable of utilising and encouraging the development of knowledge and skills of all employees across all functional levels. The company must integrate the knowledge into each member of project management team, and "encourage and reinforce all modes of learning, and align all of this learning with the companys strategic business directions." (Smith, 2005) The changes in the contemporary knowledge are in the background of many of the emerging challenges in project management, human resource and employee relationship in organisations. The practices of project management in global firms have their own value and status to gain knowledge for their success. The speed and quality in addressing the needs of learning is deciding the winners of tomorrow. Hence, success of a project is now depending on the ways its project management team practices, gain and responds towards available knowledge. However to be effective player in this new environment organisations have to be more flexible dynamic and to create an efficient project environment. They need to master a wide variety of skills, and the strategy of success should move around the interdependent layers of organisational capabilities which will reinforce each other across all the businesses, functions and markets. The secrecy behind such success of a project implies in developing the people who can act from

William Faulkners Essay Example for Free

William Faulkners Essay William’s Faulkner’s â€Å"Barn Burning† will confirm the prevalence of moral order over any other order, so that where conflict exists between truth and blood, truth prevails. Although it could be invoked that blood is thicker than water , it is also counter argued that water is wider than blood . There is therefore no substitute for choosing what is right under all circumstances. Discussion of â€Å"Barn Burning† will illustrate in reality the truth of the proposition as it tries to persuade that there is in fact basis to believe and adhere to such proven universality of truth. One argument to support the thesis of this paper is the fact the moral duty occupies higher ground than duty to parents. Doing what is right may result to disobeying parents as long the person exercising the responsibility knows what is right. Such is the case in point in the Faulker’s Barn Burning which is a story of an adolescent boy named Sartoris Snopes (or Sarty as hereinafter called) who is made to appear in court, hoping he will not have to testify in the arson case against his father (Mr. Snopes). Sarty knew that his father Mr. Snopes was absolutely guilty of arson but whoever judge will handle the case now was not an easy thing for Sarty to handle and could still be considered by Sarty as his enemy since the very person to be convicted and was facing the risk of punishment is his very father. Must not Sarty as a son still have to maintain some loyalty given the relationship being by blood? Has that point of testifying against one’s father come Sarty? Has he has not yet separated himself from his father? What must he do? Answering these challenging questions require going deeper what really happened in the story. Before proceeding to some of details of the story, it is best to express for the meantime the argument for upholding the prevalence of moral duty over loyalty to one’s father. It may thus be argued that that fulfillment of moral duty would lead eventually to independence of a person. Independence is the price for making difficult choices for which Sarty is also subject in the story. After laying the arguments to support the thesis there is still need to define some terms as used in the thesis for purpose of clarity. What are the separate meanings of duty to parents, moral duty and independence? Duty to parents is the obligation to obey parents with due all due consideration and respect by reason of the natural relationship. Moral duty is the capacity to choose what is right over what is wrong under all circumstances. Independence as defined connotes freedom from coercion in making difficult choices and a declaration by a person’s individual responsibility for his or her decision. After the definitions, the arguments may now be supported with important parts of the story. Since the first argument is the fact the moral duty occupies higher ground than duty to parents, it may be asked: What is right thing that must be done by Sarty and that may result to disobeying his parents? The obvious answer is the decision to tell the court the truth in making his testimony but such testimony could pin down his father, whom he knows to be guilty. An independent observer may readily see the internal conflict of loyalty to parents and love of truth in the case of Sarty. Indeed it would be straightforward to say that Sarty whether he likes or must make a choice between right and wrong in the end. He cannot leave a decision hanging between the peace’ and â€Å"dignity represented by the de Spains with the meanness and unhappiness of the Snopes family. But one may have to understand that it is more than that. Basing on the story’s beginning, when Sarty was prepared to testify that his father was innocent of burning down that barn, he would have done it because it is his job is to stick to his father. One may however see that at the end of the story, Sarty cautioned Major de Spain (the owner) about his father’s intention to burn down the latter’s stunning plantation. Sarty did this though with his knowledge that this will bring his (Snope’s) family down once and for all, and that this could cause never be able to go home again. This is a difficult decision to make for a boy. How in the world could he made the right one? To do this, Sarty must realize that he was not his father, and the path he wanted to travel in the world was not the same as his father’s. In making a choice, perhaps there is need to go back what led his father to commit arson as subject of trial for which Sarty was being made to testify. The story would readily tell then the nature or predisposition of Sarty’ father to burn everything. Sarty Snope’s family are wandering farmers, hence there is basis in the story to say that they move around even more often than is normal because of his father’s practice (that has become a habit) of burning something down every time to express his anger. Perhaps with his personal evaluation, Sarty understood that there was something profoundly psychological wrong about his father, but it would seem that he disregarded his father’s danger. What a bad luck may the incident has meant for Sarty since upon their family’s arrival at the beautiful plantation of Major de Spain, Sarty had the feeling that the de Spains are safe but as event turned out in the story, Sarty did not know that his father could just as easily bring down a big plantation when his father gets angry. In support of the argument that fulfillment of moral duty would lead eventually to independence of a person, it may be stated that what is natural will come to pass. Moral duty which this paper defined as the capacity to choose what is right over what is wrong under all circumstances has its roots in the natural law and violating the same could have grave consequences like the feeling of guilty conscience. Fulfillment of the moral duty has its rewards too to the person as it could mean freedom from guilty conscience and freedom to make more moral decisions that could sustain long term happiness and independence. In may be asked: Must loyalty bow at the altar moral duty? When must loyalty come to an end? It may be observed that an important part of the story is about loyalty but there is an inner conflict in which the character of the story must face that is his ability to be loyal to his blood origin. And so in Faulkner’s â€Å"Barn Burning†, Sarty spent the majority of the story under a great emotional confusion. What could really cause a young man to tell his father: â€Å"Father please stop as what you are doing is wrong. † It was therefore the demand for loyalty to his father brought about by the relationship that has caused him mixed emotions as to what is the right or wrong in dealing with his father’s tendency to barn burnings. There is basis to notice Sarty’s father’s paranoid thinking and silent threats that may be giving Sarty the inner battle between what’s morally right and family loyalty. In the story, there is that ever-present pull that was causing his guilt feelings. Hence, in one instance he was seen defending his father’s actions and this happened shortly after he was angry with his father for putting the family in such terrible conditions. As in every suffering that must come to an end, he had to be under the true test of loyalty which came at the end of the story when it became clear that his father will be burning the landlord’s barn down after the incident a certain incident within his knowledge. Sarty was angry but the guilt never stopped. If viewed in psychology, it may observed that anger and guilt could really happen together at the same time for Sarty and one would ask: â€Å"Which emotion has the greater chance of being expressed or realized into actions? † First it must also be asked â€Å"What would have made Sarty to feel guilty to the situation? † It may argued that a short period of time did occur in story when Sarty is actually an partner in crime to his father’s actions which he may freely done although with hesitation by running to the to place he was ordered to go and getting the oil to be used by his father in setting the fire. Sarty did show loyalty to his father by obedience. Indeed, loyalty could be blind if it closes its eyes to the truth. Indeed blood is thicker than water but water is wider than blood as oceans contain all the water but blood stays only in living animals. Sarty, in his search for true identity, must now make a choice and he must choose fulfillment of moral duty over his duty to parents. Thus throughout Faulkner’s story Sarty was seeking his true identity. There was confusion caused by his father’s actions that had push him to question who he was. His feeling was temporary while his moral duty to tell the truth of his father’s actions was universal. Although it was his duty to be loyal to his blood and hate the men who were enemies of his father hates, there was a higher standard of which he must also respond. Thus in the storey it could be deciphered that after Sarty was struck by his father for almost telling the Justice of the Peace the truth about the fire and he was found expressing his confusion. He needed therefore to search for what was his true identity to find the solution to that confusion, What may have caused confusion was the fact that he was being struck by his father without any explanation. He was most of the time treated as young man. Sarty may be presumed not to have taught maturity by his father. His having to obey his father to get the oil to be used for burning was an imposition into his mind. It could only be Sarty’s own way of developing where he could assert himself that he ought to become a mature person in order to have courage to face the consequences of his decision. As Sarty was a young man he could have been experiencing and asking the inevitable question of identity and knowing but not knowing enough. His feeling of the pressure to be what his father wanted him to be, although in his heart he knew that his father was wrong was something that must be resolved. In weighing things, he tried to find justification about his father’s behavior in order to be what he thought he should be by telling himself that his father was once a soldier, who deserves respect and honor him and this attempt included trying to convince himself that his father was done with his criminal behaviors. But an instance happened where the landlord demanded twenty bushels of corn as payment for damages that his father had ruined and the book how Sarty thought about the matter: â€Å" Maybe this is the end of it. Maybe even that twenty bushels that seems hard to have to pay for just a rug will be a cheap price for him to stop forever and always from being what he used to be†¦maybe he won’t collect the twenty bushels † His nature as person may have afforded Sarty’ capacity to mature. Attaining maturity is a natural phenomenon in one’s life as one grows with age. For Sarty, it may be argued that he did in fact survive his childhood and was able to look back on it sensibly. From being a child he felt his father could not help but be what he was; but nature has its own way and by the time that adulthood came to Sarty, he was aware of the truth of his father’s criminal behavior and which Faulkner has written: â€Å"†¦the element of fire spoke to some deep mainspring of his father’s being, as the element of steel or of powder spoke to other men, as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity, else breath were not worth the breathing, and hence to be regarded with respect and used with discretion† . This knowledge of what is wrong is a natural feeling and the mind appreciates without really thinking is predispose to avoid a rule. Interviewing a friend about whether he exerts effort of knowing what is right, the response was: â€Å"It is one’s nature to avoid the wrong. † There is time for everything. Everything that has started must come to an end. The dilemma that Sarty was suffering must come to an end. Sarty has now to make a decision. He is to make a choice between what is right or wrong. The moment to decide to practice a Sarty’ maturity did came the night of the final barn burning when Sarty made the decision on a subliminal level to warn the landlord of his father’s actions. It was also at that same night that night his father got killed and Sarty realized that he was set free; it was therefore decision that he has done the right thing. His running to the flaming barn, he felt he was running through his childhood. With his screams, he suddenly became calm and clear headed to signal his freedom. It may be concluded the life may be a series of trade offs or great exchanges of what is important to individual person’s life. There are issue of values which may not be seen but felt and asserted by their universalities. Independence is one of this values and its pursuit requires a moral agent to do what is right under the circumstance. Independence has however a price to pay and may extend to individual’s love ones. Such was the story beautifully portrayed by â€Å"Burning Barn†. Works Cited: Faulkner, The Faulkner Reader: Selections from the Works of William Faulkner, Random House, 1954 Flexner and Flexner, ‘Wise Words and Wives Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New, Avon Books, New York, 1993 Hoffman, W. Blood is Thicker Than Water, Alien Perspective 2002 Personal interview with a friend conducted on what one feel about a given wrong in making a choice.

Research Philosophy Is A Belief Management Essay

Research Philosophy Is A Belief Management Essay The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the research philosophy, approach, strategy that is relevant to this business research. In addition, data collection method that is conducted to address the research problems as provided in chapter 2 is also included. The research methodology will be based on the research onion as introduced by Saunders et al. (2009) Figure 3.1. Selecting the appropriate methodology is essential for the effectiveness of any research (Buckley, 2006). The right choice of the approach will help to make a more informed decision about the research design and strategy that will be consistent with the research topic (Easterby-Smith et al., 1993). In this section, a questionnaire is to be designed to support data collection and further analysis on the research hypotheses. Besides, ethical issues of this research are also included in the end of this chapter. 3.2 Research philosophy Research philosophy is a belief about the way in which data about a phenomenon should be collected and analyzed (Levin, 1988). It is significant with particular reference to research methodology because: (i) it can help the researcher to refine and specify the research methods to be used in a study, that is, to clarify the overall research strategy to be used, (ii) knowledge of research philosophy will enable and assist the researcher to evaluate different methodologies and methods and avoid inappropriate use and unnecessary work by identifying the limitations of particular approaches at an early stage and (iii) it may help the researcher to be creative and innovative in either selection or adaptation of methods (Easterby-Smith et al., 1993). Figure 3.1 Research onion Source: Saunders et al. (2009) According to Saunders et al. (2009), there are four research philosophies in management research including positivism, realism, interpretivism and pragmatism. The choice of research philosophy will therefore influence the development of the research. And although each research philosophy has its strengths and weaknesses (Neville, 2005), the author chooses philosophy of positivism for this study because of the following reasons. The philosophy of positivism research is considered a source of knowledge closely associated with the physical and natural sciences (Alavi and Carlson, 1992). The special features of positivism are seen to be a philosophical ideology and movement, and it has a certain influence in human perception (Birger, 2005). By positing a reality in separation of subject and object, the positivist paradigm provides an objective reality against which researchers can compare their claims and ascertain truth (Popper, 1972). Positivism is largely concerned with the testing, confirmation and falsification, and predictive ability of generalizable theories about an objective, readily apprehended reality (Chua, 1986; Orlikowski and Baroudi, 1991). The objective of positivism is to provide a valid logical foundation for empirical research, and simultaneously restrict the scope of human rationality in scientific study to discovery the efficient means with its aim to achieve the end goal Friedman (1953). 3.3 Research approach In their 2009 work, Saunders et al. referred to the two broad methods of reasoning as the deductive and inductive approaches. Deductive reasoning works from the more general to the more specific, meaning that it starts with a theory, and then hypotheses are developed and a research strategy is designed to test the hypotheses. Meanwhile, inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories, meaning that theories are developed as a result of data collection (Saunders et al., 2009). In this study, the author chooses deduction research approach due to the following reasons: It involves the development of a theory that is subjected to a rigorous test (Saunders et al., 2009). It is the dominant research approach in the natural sciences, where laws present the basis of explanation, allow the anticipation of phenomena, predict their occurrence and therefore permit them to be controlled (Collis and Hussey, 2003). Deductive reasoning is more narrow in nature and is concerned with testing or confirming hypotheses (Babbie, 2001) and therefore, more suitable with the context of this study. 3.4 Research strategy Saunders et al. (2009) stated that research strategy is important as it will help to answer particular research questions and meet research objectives, and that the choice of research strategy will be guided by the research questions and objectives, the extent of existing knowledge, the limit of time and other resources available. The strategies as indicated in the research onion (Saunders et al., 2009) are: experiment, survey, case study, action research, grounded theory, ethnography and archival research. In this study, the author thinks that case study strategy is most suitable and consistent with the research objectives, for the following reasons: It is a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence (Robson, 2002). It provides a better understanding and content theorization of the processes and context in which the practices of management control take place (Morris and Wood, 1991; Adams et al., 2006; Berry et al., 2009 cited in Simoes and Rodrigues, 2008). It can be a very worthwhile way of exploring and challenging existing theories and provide a source of new research questions (Saunders et al., 2009). It has considerable ability to generate answers to the questions Why, What and How (Saunders et al., 2009) that are raised in this study. According to Yin (1994), the case study methodology is the most suitable approach to answer the questions Why? and How? In this case, the questions we want to answer are: Why has the BSC been introduced as a performance measurement tool? and How is the BSC model evaluated via employees feedback? How is the relationship between those measures? The advantage of this approach lies in the possibility of achieving triangulation (Denzin, 1978) which is given by the possibility of using many data sources. 3.5 Research Method As indicated in the research onion by Saunders et al. (2009), mono method, multi-method or mixed methods can be used as the system of collecting data for research projects. In multi-method, quantitative and qualitative researches are used widely in business and management research to differentiate both data collection techniques and data analysis procedures (Saunders et al., 2009). Qualitative research method focuses on discovering and understanding the experiences, perspectives, and thoughts of participants-that is, qualitative research explores meaning, purpose, or reality (Hiatt, 1986). It is usually described as allowing a detailed exploration of a topic of interest in which information is collected by a researcher through case studies, ethnographic work, interviews, and so on (Harwell, 2011). Meanwhile, quantitative research method attempts to maximize objectivity, replicability, and generalizibility of findings, and is typically interested in prediction. Its key features are th e use of instruments such as tests or surveys to collect data, and reliance on probability theory to test statistical hypotheses that correspond to research questions of interest (Harwell, 2011). In supporting this studys objectives, the author chooses to use both qualitative and quantitative researches. It is hoped that the combination of these two methods will strongly support the development of this study in terms of data collection and analysis. Specifically, qualitative approach will be applied in this study via closed questions in questionnaires to obtain information with its aim to explain how the factors impacting BSC in current context of HSBC. Besides, data of research allows researchers to access and recognize population attitudes, perceptions, and ideas about particular social questions with a small sample, as well as practical knowledge (Swidorski, 1980). Accordingly, questionnaire surveys play an important role in helping researchers understand the principles of questionnaire design to explain results in an optimal and meaningful way (Slattery et al., 2011). 3.6 Methods of collecting data 3.6.1 Data source Data are facts, figures and other relevant materials, past and present, serving as bases for study and analysis (Dekeba, 2012). Therefore, data collection is an important aspect of any type of research study. Data gathered by different methods may provide different windows onto social world (Gilbert, 2008). On the other hand, inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately lead to invalid results (Afroze, 2010). Basically, data collection includes primary data and secondary data. Primary data is the data which is collected for the first time (Hair et al., 2011). Researchers discussed that the major advantage of primary data is that the information is specific, relevant, up-to-date and that they answer specific research questions that secondary data cannot. However, cost and time consuming are its main disadvantages (Onkvisit Shaw, 2008). Secondary data is the data which is not originally collected but rather obtained from published or unpublished sources (Jha Shah, 2009). Its advantage is that it can be quickly and cheaply obtained, however the most important limitation is that it may not be accurate and updated, therefore not meeting specific research needs (Saunders et al., 2009). In particular, both primary data and secondary data are used in the research with the purpose of providing an objective and multifaceted view on the topic. Secondary data retrieved from e-books, e-journals from the Universitys e-library, websites and HSBCs available internal sources and the banks internal and restricted reports on strategy, structure and procedures as inputs for chapter 1 and 2 and for designing questionnaires. Primary data is to be collected from a survey using questionnaires amongst HSBCs staff within the scope of this research. 3.6.2 Data collection method As mentioned by Saunders et al. (2009), three ways of primary data collection include Observation, Interview and Questionnaires. Observation involves the systematic observation, recording, description, analysis and interpretation of peoples behavior (Hodges Videto, 2011). The main advantage is that it allow researcher to witness behaviors, skills, record and reflect those in their research. However, it is possible that the researcher makes incorrect observations and interpretations (Kerlinger, 1988). Interview is defined by Kahn and Cannel (1965) as a purposeful discussion between two or more people. Interviews help researchers gather valid and reliable data that are relevant to their research questions and objectives but it is a costly method in term of time and money. The interviewer is also needed to be equipped with skills so that they do not interfere or mislead the interviewees with their questions (Saunders et al., 2009). Questionnaire is one of the most widely used data collection techniques widely in business and management research for descriptive or explanatory (Saunders et al., 2009). The term questionnaire is defined as a formalized set of questions with the purpose of obtaining information from respondents (Malhotra et al., 1996). According to Ackroyd and Hughes (1981), questionnaire has some limitations such as: (i) respondents can misinterpret the questions and therefore give incorrect answers, (ii) limited information can be retrieved due to formatted questions, (iii) low chance for the collector to come back and ask for clarification from respondents and (iv) respondents may not be willing to answer if they are not required. However, according to Afroze (2010), there are various factors influencing the choice of a data collection method, including research questions, resources available, scope of work, timeline, and so on. Further to this study, the author decides to choose collecting data using questionnaires rather than observation and interview approaches when considering all these factors and referring to the following advantages (Ackroyd and Hughes, 1981). Large number of responses can be collected from a large number of people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way The results of the questionnaires can be quickly and easily quantified by the researcher or through the use of a software package It can be analyzed more scientifically and objectively than other forms of research When data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast other research and may be used to measure change Positivists believe that quantitative data can be used to create new theories and/or test existing hypotheses Figure 3.2: Types of questionnaire Source: Saunders et al. (2009) As indicated by Saunders et al. (2009), there are two kinds of questionnaires including self-administered and interviewer-administered questionnaires. In this research, self-administered, delivery and collection questionnaire is used, due to the following rationales. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ It is more cost effective to administer than face-to-face interviews, convenient to respondents as they can complete it at a time and place that is convenient for them, reducing the possibility of interviewer bias, and is perceived to be less intrusive than telephone or face-to-face surveys and hence, respondents will more readily respond truthfully to sensitive questions (Eiselen et al., 2005). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The responses are gathered in a standardized way, so questionnaires are more objective than interviews, and information can be collected from a large portion of a group (Milne, 1999). It facilitates generalization but on the downside, could lead to false conclusions (Deem et al, 2010). According to OLeary (2004), a well-designed questionnaire should meet the research objectives. It should give accurate and relevant information to the research questions and be clearly organized and presented in a way that ensures respondents fully understand the questions and provide accurate, unbiased and complete information. Accordingly, the author was trying hard on building a questionnaire that works in practice and meets the research objectives as elaborated in Chapter 1. In this research, the questionnaire is divided into six sections of 28 questions as described in Figure 3.3 below. They are designed to collect information regarding employees comments and feedback during the implementation process of BSC in HSBC. Figure 3.3: Allocation of questions and research content Section Description Question Section 1 Balanced Scorecard weighting Q1-4 Section 2 Setting objectives Q5-14 Section 3 Financial Q15-18 Section 4 Customer Q19-21 Section 5 Internal processing Q22-24 Section 6 Learning and growth Q25-28 It is a combination of a 5-point Likert rating scale (Likert, 1932) (1=strongly disagree; 2=disagree; 3=neutral; 4=agree; 5=strongly agree) and open-ended statements Please explainà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ to collect both quantitative and qualitative information. In other words, questionnaires include both quantitative and qualitative questions with which participants can choose one of the five ratings and explain their choice. This ensures respondents have the option to add their own views and feelings (Fisher, 2007) and, on the other hand, providing more information and facts to the author in doing research. It may take 10-15 minutes to complete a self-administered questionnaire. In general, the research is more about what employee experience is with the BSC than about getting a correct answer (Waal et al., 2009). In addition, it is necessary to have a questionnaire cover letter written in order to shortly explain to the respondents of the questionnaire what the survey is all about and what is the purpose of asking the questions (Kiernan, 2005). Considering the nature of this research, it is also essential to let people know that their participation is voluntary and that their data are anonymous and confidential. In this survey, 28 questions are designed in an attempt to get answers to 7 hypotheses as mentioned in Chapter 2, following are the general descriptions: Q1 is to classify sales and non-sales position of participants at HSBC. Q2 is to classify the seniority of the participants at HSBC. Q3 4 are to explore the proportion of the four perspectives of HSBC BSC. Q5 is about the effectiveness of BSC at HSBC. Q6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 19 are to explore positive effects of BSC at HSBC, in which Q6 is about strategy translation, Q8 about strategy link, Q9 about employee understanding, Q10 about tracking record, Q11 about clear communication, Q13 about feedback encouragement, Q14 about employee satisfaction, Q15 about long and short term link, Q16 19 about a clear focus on achieving targets. Q7, 8, 9 11 are more focused on employee understanding Q17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 are about potential relationships between four perspectives, in which Q17 18 are about relationships between financial and customer value and learning and growth, Q20 21 about relationship between learning and growth and customer, Q22 23 about relationship between customer and internal processing and Q24 about relationship between learning and internal processing. Q25, 26, 27 28 are more focused on learning and growth to figure out if it is the weakest point in HSBC BSC. All these questions are written in details in the Appendix 1 under a full questionnaire. 3.6.3 Sampling method Sample is a part of a population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole (Webster, 1985). It is a process of selecting respondents form larger part for the purpose of a study. Sampling owns a lot of advantages. It saves time, costs and efforts, making data collection become more manageable as fewer people are involved, and the results will be available more quickly. And to ensure a sample is representative, it is suggested to obtain as high a response rate as possible. According to Saunders et al. (2009), sampling techniques help to reduce the amount of data needed to collect by considering only data from a sub-group rather than all possible cases or elements. Two types of sampling techniques are probability sampling and non-probability sampling. In probability sampling, sample units are selected randomly, whereas in non-probability sampling, they are selected based on the researchers judgment, convenience, or other non-random process (Blattberg et al., 2008). The choice of which technique is used in this research is made in favor of non-probability sampling. Due to the scope of work and the limitation of time, the survey is conducted amongst Premier Center staff only. Only 40 people are included in the survey, they are at different positions (teller, counter officer, service assistant, service manager, relationship officer, sales manager) and different levels of seniority (senior, junior, new joiner). And in this case, it is not necessary to launch a pilot test as recommended by Peterson (2000). There are two primary reasons. First, they are every day dealing with issues related to BSC systems, from setting objectives at the beginning to rating performance every mid-year or year-end. Their daily work and performance is directly subject to all measures of the BSC. Hence, a lot of opinions and feedback can be collected as a source of data collection. Second, they are all working in Premier Center that is the same workplace with the author, then the nature of working environment and the point of view can be quite identical and easier to approach. Moreover, response rate can be high and they are more willing to support the author in doing questionnaires with frank answers. It is believed by many observers that higher response rate will assure more accurate survey results (Rea and Parker 1997). 3.7 Framework of data analysis Figure 3.4 below provide a summary and connection between research objectives as mentioned in chapter 1 and related literature in chapter 2 and equivalent hypotheses as provided in regards to questions designed in chapter 3 to collect data and information for further analysis. Figure 3.4: Summary of chapter 1, 2 and 3 and relevance Objective O Literature Hypothesis H Question Q O1: To understand BSC as a performance measurement tool Performance Measurement and BSC H1: BSC and its perspectives act as an effective performance measurement tool Q5 O2: To identify positive and negative effects of BSC in HSBC Vietnam Positive and negative effects of BSC (9P3N: 9 positive 3 negative points) H2: There are relatively positive impacts of BSC in HSBC H4: There are relatively negative impacts of BSC in HSBC Q6-8-9-10-11-13-14-16-19 Q12 O3: To measure if HSBC BSC model is different compared to an ideal model What is an ideal model? (Norton, 2000) H6: The execution of BSC in a specific organization in practice is different with an ideal BSC Q3-4 O4: To evaluate the relationship between employee understanding of the organizations objectives with a well-performing organization What is a well performing organization? (Steward, 1999) H3: There is a positive relationship between a well performing organization and its employees understanding of its objectives Q7-8-9-11 O5: To analyze the causal relationships between 4 perspectives of BSC Relationship between four perspectives H7: There is a causal relationship between 4 perspectives of BSC in HSBC Q17-18-20-21-22-23-24 O6: To identify the weakest one of the four perspectives. H5: Of the four perspectives of HSBCs BSC, learning and growth is the weakest point. Q25-26-27-28 Due to the nature of this study and the limited timeframe, the author only uses simple formulas in excel 2007 to consolidate figures and analyze data. Analysis is based on quantitative and qualitative information collected from the survey as well as from the authors individual understanding of the subject. 3.8 Ethical issues Since people are the subject of research, it is very difficult to avoid falling into ethical issues (Monette et al., 2005). Therefore, approval has to be obtained from management to conduct this survey at Premier Centers, and a brief explanation of the purpose of the questionnaire is necessarily included in cover letter in order to have an appropriate approach and outlook from participants. In addition, the research topic is about Balanced Scorecard, which is in fact a relatively sensitive issue in terms of human resource management. It covers all employees and managers at all levels as well as issues concerning employees benefits, corporate governance, empowerment, motivation and retention policy and so on. As such, particular attention must be paid to the approach of gathering information from subjects in banking area which are considered to be sensitive, especially in HSBC where privacy and confidentiality is part of its code of conduct and execution. Being aware that disclosure of the banks information to third parties can put the bank at risk and result in operational and reputation loss, there are several points that need high commitment as follow. First, participation in this survey is entirely voluntary and the rights of respondents as human beings should be respected at all times (Cohen, Manion Morrison 2004). Second, for privacy concerns, no actual names of participants are to be revealed. Information provided by them remains confidential and will be reported in summary format only. Third, the content and results of this study are required to be kept private and confidential between the author and the professor only. As some restricted and highly restricted information has been used in this study, particularly highly sensitive and confidential performance data has been obtained, public access and reference are not allowed for any purposes. 3.9 Chapter summary This chapter on methodology enables the author to gain a rich understanding of the context of the research and the processes being enacted, therefore answering the why, what and how questions (Saunders et al., 2006). This section also provides a connection between itself with the research objectives in chapter 1, literature and hypotheses in chapter 2 by presenting research method and data collection via a list of questions to be worked on. Further in the next chapter, results and analysis on collected data will be discussed in details.

Time Dispersion Parameters

Time Dispersion Parameters When a signal is transmitted, this signal can suffer a distortion caused by reflections and scattered propagation paths in the radio channel, and these phenomenons cause that an identical signal arrives at different times at its destination. These different times are due that to the signal arrives via multiple paths and in different incident angles. The time difference between the arrival moment of the first multipath component and the last one is called delay spread. In order to compare different multipath channels and to develop some general design guidelines for wireless systems, some parameters are used to quantify the multipath channel. Some of these multipath parameters are the mean excess delay, rms delay spread, and maximum excess delay, and can be determined from a power delay profile. However, the mean excess delay and the rms delay spread are frequently used to quantify the time dispersive properties of wide band multipath channels. Mean Excess Delay The Mean Excess Delay is the first moment of the power delay profile (PDP) and is defined by RMS Delay Spread The root-mean-square (RMS) delay spread is probably the most important single measure for the delay time extent of a multipath radio channel. This parameter calculates the standard deviation value of the delay of reflections, weighted proportional to the energy in the reflected waves. This parameter can be considered like the square root of the second central moment of the power delay profile and is defined by We must take into consideration that these delay are measured relative to the first detectable signal arriving at the receiver at = 0, and their equations do not rely on the absolute power level of P(),but only the relative amplitudes of the multipath components within P(). Maximum Excess Delay (X dB) The maximum excess delay (X dB) of the power delay profile is defined as the time delay value after which the multipath energy falls to X dB below the maximum multipath energy (not necesarily belonging to the first arriving component). It is also called excess delay spread, but in all cases must be specified with a threshold that relates the multipath noise floor to the maximum received multipath component. The values of these time dispersion parameters also depend on the noise threshold used to process P(), and if this noise is set too low, then the noise will be processed as multipath and thus causing the parameters to be higher. Environment Coherence Bandwidth Coherence bandwidth is a statistical measure of the range of frequencies over which the channel can be considered flat. If we define Coherence Bandwidth (BC) as the range of frequencies over which the frequency correlation is above 0.9, then If we define Coherence Bandwidth as the range of frequencies over which the frequency correlation is above 0.5, then The coherence bandwidth of the channel gives a good indication about the frequency variations of the channel in relation to the bandwidth of the transmitted signal. We can have two different cases, depending on this bandwidth. If a signal with a bandwidth larger than Bc is transmitted through the channel, it will be subject to frequency selective distortion. The channel will be, in this case, referred to as a frequency selective fading channel. However, if the signal transmitted has a bandwidth considerably less than Bc, it will experience amplitude attenuation only with no distortion since the channel characteristics will be the same all over the spectrum of the signal. In this case the channel is referred to as a frequency non-selective (flat) fading channel.

Comparrison Donnie Darko, 2001: A Space Odyssey Essay -- essays resear

Donnie Darko and 2001: A Space Odyssey has central meanings that focus on science and religion. Richard Kelly's, Donnie Darko, introduces the protagonist as a teenage boy who is given the chance to live for twenty-eight more days after the mysterious jet engine crash that was intended to kill him. Donnie is plagued by visions of a giant sized evil-looking rabbit named Frank. Frank orders Donnie to commit acts of violence, warns of the impending end of the world, and is his guide throughout the movie. Donnie is portrayed as a Christ-like figure that will ultimately travel back in time not only to redeem his actions, but the actions of those he has affected. When Donnie dies he becomes a martyr and saves the world, like Christ. Stanley Kubrick's, 2001: A Space Odyssey portrays human evolution while being guided by a higher intelligence. Although this higher intelligence is anonymous throughout the movie, it has placed mysterious stone structures known as "monoliths" on the moon, Saturn, and Earth. These monoliths have purposively been around for over 4,000 years and are a symbol of evolution. At each new level of human achievement, the monolith is present. The scene in A Space Odyssey, where astronaut David Bowman lands on the enigmatic monolith, focuses on an evolutionary theme, whereas the montage scene in Donnie Darko shows the reverse of time followed by Donnie laughing in bed awaiting death, thus unraveling an underlying Christian theme in which Donnie is Christ-like for sacrificing himself to save the world. The sequence that portrays the central meaning in Donnie Darko is disclosed in the montage, consisting of scenes throughout the movie being shown in reverse. During the montage the jet engine from Mrs. Darko’s plane is seen crashing through the sky. Normally an engine would crash into the ground, but it travels through a surreal portal, which is a sign of divine intervention. It is now known that the engine's destination is towards Donnie's bedroom, as indicated in the beginning and ending of the film. The ensuing shots are taken from scenes that occurred earlier in the movie, filmed in reverse, indicating that Donnie is traveling back into time. As the montage progresses, Donnie reads the letter that he has written to Roberta Sparrow. He says, "I can breathe a sigh of relief... ...plaining how humans have accomplished and triumphed over the physical domain, a feat that can not be attained by animals. These elements attribute to the belief that humans have reached yet a higher level of evolution. Donnie Darko and 2001: A Space Odyssey has two contrasting central meanings. Darko has a religious central meaning in which Donnie is Christ-like whereas A Space Odyssey is focused towards science and evolution. Both scenes have unique ways of portraying this central meaning. Donnie Darko uses a montage scene in which time is reversed and Donnie learns to accept his imminent death. A Space Odyssey uses a scene that takes place in a futuristic setting and the main character transforms from a physical being to a spiritual space baby. Works Cited 2001 A Space Odyssey. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Perf. Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, and William Sylvester. February 3, 2004. DVD. Warner Studios, 1968. Donnie Darko. Dir. Richard Kelly. Perf. Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Drew Barrymore, and James Duval. September 7, 2004. Videocassette. Fox Home Entertainment, 2001.

Abortion - Can You Hear the Babies Screaming? :: abortion argumentative persuasive argument

Abortion - Can You Hear the Babies Screaming?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On January   22, 1973,   the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion. When the it ruled that abortion was legal, the court not only gave women the right to choose but also gave the unborn   babies   a right to die. Since that day, millions upon millions of unborn children have been ripped apart, burned with saline solutions, and sucked from their mothers' wombs. With every abortion that occurs another inaudible scream from the unborn child   is silenced and the rights of that child   are   taken away .      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If someone where to be asked if murder was wrong, the general answer would be yes. When that same person is asked if abortion is murder,   the answer may be yes, but most likely   the answer is no. Why do most people think that murder is wrong, but do not agree that abortion is murder?   The reason for this contradiction is that   most people believe that the unborn infant is not a human, but an organ or part of the woman's body, which would make the act of aborting the child just the same as removing an appendix. This problem of when life begins stems from the inconsistencies which come from the case of Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court interrupted   that by the ninth   and fourteenth amendments that a woman has the right to an abortion. The court that day, however, did not rule when a life begins for a human.   If society is to assume that a fetus is a human the second it   leaves the uterus, then what is the unborn baby three minutes from birth , a monkey. When an unborn baby is aborted, society must realize that an organ was not taken out, but a living human being.   This would make abortion wrong because according to law, no one has the right to take away anther's life.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With many   people considering   the cases of unwanted pregnancy due to rape or incest to be acceptable, they must   realize that the child is not the crime.   Society's reason behind this is, why should the woman suffer from the pain and remembrance that the pregnancy brings.   Even though cases of abortion