Imperatives for Developing My Transformational Leadership Potential: Some Plans Essay

The word â€Å"leader† first appeared in the English language in the 1300s; it stems from the root â€Å"leden† meaning â€Å"to travel† or â€Å"show the way.†   The term â€Å"leadership†, however, followed only some five centuries later.   One can sift through many definitions of the term â€Å"leadership† and fail to find a single ‘common denominator’ that will unite all of them. This may be because there are so numerous, varying usages of the term in equally numerous and complicated situations.   However, for purposes of this paper, the following definitions used in many leadership studies were adopted: Leadership was broadly defined by Yukl (1989) as â€Å"influencing task objectives and strategies, influencing commitment and compliance in task behavior to achieve these objectives, influencing the culture of an organization.†Ã‚   In simpler terms, leaders influence the actions and behaviours of their followers to obtain a shared vision or aim.   According to Deming (1992), leadership must come from top management and leaders must possess profound knowledge. By profound knowledge, Deming meant that one must have knowledge of systems, variations (statistical thinking), theory, and psychology. Leadership is quite different from management; leaders grow from mastering their own conflict which arises during their developing years using internal strength to survive. On the other hand, managers tend to perceive issues as positive progressions of events which must be planned, organized, scheduled, and controlled.   In order to create the proper thinking perspective, leaders must aggressively investigate and act on the current market to create opportunities.   Effective leaders are those that are capable of assisting their organization/country manage change and steer it towards success. Past Work Experience I have had the opportunity to work with a local company; at peak work periods, I am tasked to manage a small team of 4 staff. Some of the responsibilities involved in this role are delegation of work; prioritizing tasks based on urgency and importance; reporting regularly to my superior for updates and new directives; and updating my superior at the end of the day for concerns and accomplishments. Moreover, it requires me to plan and manage my own time. Effective people skills are as critical as the management of tasks in a team leader’s role. It is necessary for me to create and manage smooth working relationships with line managers, colleagues, and team members. I am also expected to manage their performance by clearly explaining to them standards of work and behavior. An Assessment of My Leadership Style I personally want to develop a transformational leadership style that is more dynamic, innovative and accepting of change than that espoused by a management role. Tichy and Devanna (1986) assert that managers engage in very little change but manage what is present and leave things much as they found them when they depart. Transformational leadership, they declared, focuses on change, innovation, and entrepreneurship. They assumed that transformational leaders begin with a social fabric, disrupt that environment, and then recreate the social fabric to better reflect the overall business climate (Bass, 1990). They argue that there are four suggested personal characteristics of a transformational leader: (a) dominance, (b) self-confidence, (c) need for influence, and (d) conviction of moral righteousness. These are the traits that I have to focus on in undertaking my development plan. Transformational leaders are expected to deal with the paradox of predicting the unknown and sometimes the unknowable.   These leaders change and transform the organization according to a vision of a preferred status. Leaders then are change makers and transformers, guiding the organization to a new and more compelling vision, a demanding role expectation. Studies have been carried out in many different countries, and research in this area also shows that transformational leadership is closer to perceptions of ideal leadership than transactional leadership.   As Hartog et al (1999) note, being perceived as a leader is a prerequisite for being able to go beyond a formal role in influencing others.   They hold that leadership perceptions can be based on two alternative processes.   First, leadership can be inferred from outcomes of salient events, and attribution is crucial in these inference-based processes. For example, a successful business ‘turnaround’ is often quickly attributed to the high quality ‘leadership’ of top executives or the CEO.   Leadership can also be recognized based on the fit between an observed person’s characteristics with the perceivers’ implicit ideas of what ‘leaders’ are (Hartog et al., 1999). This again points to the fact that an effective manager is not only focused on delivering tasks, but on handling his people well. This is especially true among people in the organization who put high premium on a manager’s interpersonal skills. The first step I will consider in my developmental plan is to maintain my enthusiasm and motivation of my team towards their work. Concurrently, I will also aim to develop my leadership potential. I will concretely undertake this by developing a strong mentoring relationship with my superior. Empirical research from both educational and industrial settings suggests that students and employees both have increased probability of success if they have had a mentor. While mentors are effective for everyone, sometimes organizations implement mentoring programs to support particular parts of their populations, often newer employees. And while mentoring programs are always established with the best of intentions, their results are often mixed (Werner, 2004). To make the most of my work exposure, I hope to establish a strong mentoring relationship with my superior or with an expert in my field to develop my competence further. Coaching and mentoring is a very effective way of developing my leadership potential because it does not only develop me in terms of technical expertise, but it will also allow me to actually experience how these experts undergo the coaching and mentoring exercise. Skills Acquisition Skill acquisition acknowledges that proficiency and expertise are a function of the exposure to a variety of situations. These circumstances become experiences for the learner to elicit apt responses. Bandura (1977) emphasized that most learning transpires by observing and modeling behaviors. Information is then stored and coded cognitively and utilized as guide for action. He further noted that the development of a realistic learning setting incorporating environment, behavior, and thought promotes the acquisition of complex skills. Moreover, simulation can help in providing this realistic exposure for neophyte professionals (Bandura, 1977). Because I have gone past beyond being a novice, now is the perfect time for developing strategic leadership skills. I will also be able to add on to my networks by attending conferences related to my field to be able to build and establish peer contacts. I will also endeavor to build relationships with members and managers of other teams within the organization. The following soft competencies have been recommended areas for leadership development by the Development Dimensions International website (2005): master at managing through ambiguity; inspires confidence and belief in the future; have a passion for results; are marked by unwavering integrity; set others up for success; have strong rather than big egos; and have the courage to make big decisions. Mastery at managing through ambiguity. Build a culture that embraces change; constantly set clear goals and expectations; are able to manage across boundaries (and lead others to do the same); show connections between individual accountabilities, team goals, and organizational vision and strategies; sets out a clear course even though it may change frequently. Inspires confidence and belief in the future. Are able to articulate a vision depicting what they want their organization; exudes calm and projects optimism in the face of uncertainty; can engage and inspire employees in their work connecting their needs and values with those of the institution. Passion for results. Set clear accountabilities and high expectations for themselves and for others; hire, promote and reward high performers; keep themselves and their employees focused on the top two or three customer-driven priorities; take action on those who do not fit or who are consistently not performing; establish critical measures of success and make sure they are visible to others. Marked by unwavering integrity. Serve as a â€Å"moral compass† for others; keeps promises and commitments; â€Å"walks the talk†; gives straight, honest feedback; leads through values; acts promptly when their own or the integrity of their organization is compromised.    Set others up for success. Coaches others to succeed before they have the opportunity to fail; truly enjoys seeing people learn and grow; rewards and recognizes success; views failures as learning opportunities; shares (rather than hordes) talent for the good of the organization. Have strong rather than big egos. Humbly shares credit with others; never shoots the messenger – they encourage the sharing of bad news; are always asking â€Å"how can we do things better?†; blame themselves before pointing a finger at others; knows themselves and are guided by strong personal values; listens to understand; recognizes that they, more often than not, are not the ones with the right answers.    Have the courage to make big decisions. Addresses issues or problems quickly; takes actions that are right, even when they are unpopular – they act on conviction; stands by their decisions once they make them – even if circumstances cause them to change course later; takes a longer term view consistent with a future vision (www.ddiworld.com, 2005). Soft skills are as equally if not more important than technical skills, in the development of leadership potential. These competencies must also be integrated into my success competency profile and adequately addressed through formal classroom or on-the-job training. Naturally, to be able to identify which leadership areas I need to focus on, I need to use reflection. The main approach is to develop fully into a transformational leadership role. With transformational leadership, the followers feel trust, admiration, loyalty and respect towards the leader and they are motivated to do more then they originally expected to do. Leaders transform and motivate followers by: (1) making them more aware of the importance of task outcomes, and (2) inducing them to transcend their own self-interest for the sake of the organization or team and activating their higher order needs. In contrast, transactional leadership involves an exchange process that may result in follower compliance with leader requests but is not likely to generate enthusiasm and commitment to task objectives. Therefore, my staff need to feel that I can empathize with them, are able to give them feedback while maintaining their self-esteem, and also solicit their ideas on important issues. Transformational and transactional leadership are distinct but not mutually exclusive processes. Transformational leadership increases follower motivation and performance more than transactional leadership, but effective leaders use a combination of both types of leadership.   Such is the argument of   Gary Yukl (1989).   He defined transformational behavior as idealized influence, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation. Yukl theorized that transformational leadership probably involves internationalization because inspirational motivation includes the articulation of an appealing vision that relates task objectives to follower values and ideals, it therefore also involves personal identification.   Yukl (1989) described transformational leadership as a process of micro-level and macro-level influence. At the macro-level, transformational leaders must take charge of the social systems and reform the organization by creating an appropriate power situation. At the micro-level, transformational leaders must attend to the personalities in the organization to facilitate change at an interpersonal level. One other way of developing my leadership potential is by regularly reflecting on areas for improvement. In this area, the feedback of my superior would serve as critical input. There is now broad agreement on four key attributes, therefore, known as the four i’s of Transformational Leadership (Avolio et al., 1991; Bass & Avolio, 1994b). Inspirational leadership means ‘the arousal and heightening of motivation among followers that occurs primarily from charismatic leadership’ and individualized consideration is evident when subordinates are treated individually according to their needs. Intellectual stimulation refers to the leader’s influence on followers’ thinking and imagination (Bass, 1985, pp. 62,82 and 99). And, finally, idealized influence is the identification with and emulation of the leader’s mission and vision. Apart from focusing on my own leadership needs, I would also like to assist in the drafting of Career Management plans of the members of my team. I would also like to ensure that I continuously serve as a model and inspiration for them in terms of giving support, praise and encouragement to all team members. Moreover, I will work for the implementation of retention strategies among the team members I work with through career development,   flexible work, induction, partnership and staff involvement, and pay and rewards. Some Comments on the Transformational Leadership Framework / Theory In contrast with leader emergence which deals with the likelihood that a person will become a leader, leader performance involves the idea that excellent leaders possess certain characteristics that certain leaders do not. For example, an excellent leader might be intelligent, assertive, friendly, and independent, whereas a poor leader might be shy, aloof, and calm. Research on the relationship between personal characteristics and leader performance has concentrated on three areas: traits, needs and orientation. In relation to transformational leadership framework, I do agree that the leader must possess certain characteristics to transform the organization. But this is not all – there must also be ample consideration of other factors such as subordinates’ ability and organizational climate. Traits. The idea that certain traits are associated with effective leadership is appealing, but in 1964, a review by Heslin and Dunphy indicated that only two traits – intelligence and interpersonal adjustment – have consistently been related to leadership performance. More recently, it has been proposed that good leaders need to possess only one stable trait – adaptability or self-monitoring (Cohen & Bradford, 1990). Thus, good leaders will constantly change their behaviors to meet the demands of the situation or person with whom they are dealing. Support from this theory comes from a study by Caldwell & O’Reilly (1982), who found that field representatives who dealt with many different types of people were more effective if they were high self-monitors. Similar results were found with Zaccaro, Foti & Kenny (1991). The concept of self-monitoring focuses on what leaders do as opposed to what they are. For example, a high self-monitoring leader may possess the trait of shyness and not truly want to communicate with other people. He know, however, that talking to others is an important part of his job, so he says hello to his employees when he arrives at work, and at least once a day stops and talks to each employee. Thus, the leader has the trait of shyness but adapts his outward behavior to appear to be outgoing and confident. An interesting extension of the trait theory of leader performance suggests that certain traits are necessary requirements for leadership excellence but that they do not guarantee it (Simonton, 1979). Instead, leadership excellence is a function of the right person being in the right place at the right time. The fact that one person with certain traits becomes an excellent leader while another with the same trait flounders may be no more than the result of timing and chance. Needs. A personal characteristic that has received some support to a leader’s need for power, need for achievement, and need for affiliation. Research by McClelland and Burnham (1976) and McClelland and Boyatzis (1982) have demonstrated that high-performance managers have a leadership motive pattern, which is a high need for power and a low need for affiliation. The need is not for personal power but for organizational power. This pattern of needs is thought to be important because it implies that an effective leader should be more concerned with results than with being liked. Leaders who need to be liked by their subordinates will have a tough time making decisions. A decision to make an employee work overtime, for example, may be necessary for the organization’s survival, but it will probably be unpopular with employees. Leaders with high affiliation needs may decide that being liked is more important than being successful, causing conflict with their decision. Needs for power, achievement and affiliation can be measured through various psychological tests. The most commonly used is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). The TAT is a projective test in which a person is shown a series of pictures and is asked to tell a story about what is happening in each picture. The stories are then analyzed by a trained psychologist who identifies the needs themes that are contained in the stories. Obviously, this technique is time consuming and requires a great deal of training. Task vs. person orientation. Over the last 45 years, three major schools of thought – Ohio State studies (Fleishman, Harris & Burtt, 1955), Theory X (McGregor, 1960) and managerial grid (Blake & Mouton, 1984) – have postulated that differences in leader performance can be attributed to differences in the extent to which leaders are task versus person oriented. Person-oriented leaders (country club leaders, theory Y leaders, leaders in high consideration) act in a warm and supportive manner and show concern for their subordinates. Person-oriented leaders believe that employees are intrinsically motivated, seek responsibility, are self-controlled, and do not necessarily dislike work, Because of these assumptions, person-oriented leaders consult their subordinates before making decisions, praise their work, ask about their families, look over their shoulders, and use a more â€Å"hands-off† approach to leadership. Under pressure, person-oriented leaders tend to become socially withdrawn (Bond, 1995). Task –oriented leaders (task-centered leaders, theory X leaders, leaders high in initiating structure) define and structure their own roles and those of their subordinates to attain the group’s formal goals. Task-oriented leaders see their employees as lazy, extrinsically motivated, wanting security, undisciplined, and shirking responsibility. Because of these assumptions, task-oriented leaders tend to manage or lead by giving directives, setting goals, and making decisions without consulting their subordinates. Under pressure, task-oriented leaders tend to produce humor (e.g. tell jokes and stories) whereas person-oriented leaders tend to appreciate humor (e.g. listen to others’ jokes) (Philbrick, 1989). I feel that the best leader who may undertake transformation in the organization ought to be both person and task-oriented. In effect, in being a transformational leader, I should put premium on both person and task orientations, exhibiting each one with equal strength or emphasis. Interaction between the Leader and the Situation Apart from just focusing on the leader, I feel it is equally important for him to consider the complexities of his situation so that he may have a better grasp of how it is to transform the organization. In line with this, I should also be able to focus not only on developing myself but also consider the characteristics of the situation which I find myself in. One of the more recent research on this area is the situational theory of Geier, Downey and Johnson (1980) who believed that the leader has one of six behavioral styles, namely, informational, magnetic, position, affiliation, coercive or tactical. Each type is only effective in a particular situation, or in what researchers call an organizational climate. These researchers further say that based on the organizational climate, a leader with an informational style is best fit in ac climate of ignorance; those with magnetic style in a climate of despair; those with a position style in a climate of instability; affiliation style in a climate of anxiety; coercive style in a climate of crisis; tactical style in a climate of disorganization. This suggests that as a transformational leader, I should be able to adjust myself on the basis of my assessment of my organization’s climate. Relationship with Subordinates One other facet of transformational leadership which I intend to integrate into my personal development plan is my relationship with subordinates. This is consistent with the vertical dyad linkage theory. Vertical dyad linkage (VDL) theory was developed by Dansereau, Graen, and Haga (1974) and is a unique situational theory that makes good intuitive sense. Some situational theories concentrate on interactions between leaders and situations and between leaders and employees with differing levels of ability. VDL theory, however, concentrates on the interactions between leaders and subordinates. These interactions are called leader-member exchanges (LMXs). The theory takes its name from the relationship between two people (a dyad), the position of the leader above the subordinate (vertical), and their interrelated behavior (linkage). VDL theory states that leaders develop different roles with different subordinates and thus act differently with different subordinates. Dansereau et al (1974) believe that subordinates fall in one of two groups, the in-group or the outgroup. In-group subordinates are those who have developed trusting, friendly relationships with the leader. As a result, the leader deals with in-group members by allowing them to participate in decisions and by rarely disciplining them. Thus, in-group membership is thought to increase performance. Out-group subordinates are treated differently from those in the in-group and are more likely to be given direct orders and to have less say about how affairs are conducted. In general, research on VDL theory has been supportive (Grestner & Day, 1997). There are, however, relationships between leaders and subordinates that probably can be categorized into types other than in-group and out-group. In relation to transformational leadership, I should increase my self-awareness in treating my subordinates such that there is no rigid classification of whether they are members of the in-group or the out-group. Under the transformational leadership framework, all subordinates are encouraged to participate in decision making. As such, I should try my best to gather input from all of my staff to be able to come up with the most optimal solution to a problem or an issue. Subordinate Ability Apart from self-development, the transformational leader must also be wary of his subordinates’ abilities in carrying out his plan for change or transformation. According to House’s (1971) path goal theory, a leader can adopt one of four behavioral leadership styles to handle each situation: instrumental, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented. The instrumental style calls for planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of employees. The supportive style leader shows concern for employees, the participative style leader shares information with employees and lets them participate in decision making, and the leader who uses the achievement oriented style sets challenging goals and rewards increases in performance. Each style will only work in certain situations and depends on subordinates’ abilities and the extent to which the task is structured. In general, the higher the level of subordinate ability, the less directive the leader should be. Likewise, the more structured the situation, the more directive the leader should be (Schriesheim & DeNisi, 1981). In conclusion, I feel that the transformational leadership framework is wanting of some considerations. Apart from just focusing on the leader himself, the plan should include a grave consideration of other important factors, such as his subordinates’ ability and the organizational climate in which the leader operates. My transformational leadership development plan, in summary, will equip me with the necessary technical and leadership competencies towards effectively taking on a management role, whilst seriously considering my subordinates’ abilities and the culture of the company I am working for. Ultimately, this will reflect in being able to lead and motivate a team – who in themselves are competent, goal-driven and are able to contribute to the organization’s bottomline. References Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavior change. Psych Rev . 1977;84:191–215. Bass, B. (1990). Bass & Stogdill’s handbook of leadership: theory, research and managerial   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   applications. New York: The Free Press. Blake, R. R., & Mouton, J. S. (1984). The managerial grid III. Houston: Gulf. Bond, G. E. (1995). Leadership behavior: How personality, stress, and gender affect leader behavior. University of Washington. Caldwell, D. F., & O’Reilly, C. A. (1982). Boundary spanning and individual performance: The impact of self-monitoring. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 124-127. Cohen, A R., & Bradford, D. L. (1990). Influence without authority. New York: John Wiley. Dansereau, F., Graen, G., & Haga, W. J. (1975). A vertical dyad linkage approach to leadership within the formal organization. Unpublished report, State University of New York, Buffalo. Deming, W. E. , (1992) Leadership, Four Day Seminar – Charlotte, NC, October 27 – 30. Development Dimensions International. (2005). DDI’s leadership beliefs. Retrieved on December 17, 2006 from www.ddiworld.com. Fleishman, E. A., Harris, E. F., & Burtt, H. E. (1955). Leadership and supervision in industry. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. Geier, J. G., Downey, D. E., & Johnson, J. B. (1980). Climate impact profile. Minneapolis, MN: Performax Systems International. Gerstner, C. R, & Day, D. V. (1997). Meta-analytic review of leader-member exchange theory: Correlates and construct issues. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(6), 827-844. Hartog, D. N., House, R.. J., Hanges, P. J., et al. (1999). Culture specific and cross-culturally generalizable implicit leadership theories: Are attributes of charismatic/ transformational leadership universally endorsed? Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 219-256. House, R. J. (1971). A path-goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 9, 321-332. McClelland, D. & Boyatzis, R. E. (1982). Leadership motive pattern and long-term success in management. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 737-743. McClelland, D. & Burnham, D. H. (1976). Power is the great motivator. Harvard Business Review, 54(2), 102-104. McGregor, D. (1960). The human side of enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill. Philbrick, K. D. (1989). The use of humor and effective leadership styles. University of Florida. Schriesheim, C. A., & DeNisi, A. S. (1981). Task dimensions as moderators of the effects of instrumental leadership: A two-sample replicated test of path-goal leadership theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66, 589-597. Tichy, Noel and M.A. Devanna (1986). The Transformational Leader, John Wiley and Sons. Werner, W. (2004). The importance of mentoring. Law Practice Today. Retrieved on December 17, 2006 from http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/mgt07041.html Yukl, G. (1989). Managerial leadership: A review of theory and research. Journal of Management, 15(2), 251 – 289. Zaccaro, S. J., Foti, R. J., & Kenny, D. A (1991). Self-monitoring and trait-based variance in leadership: An investigation of leader flexibility across multiple group situations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(2), 308-315.

The Personality of Luxury Fashion Brands Essay

Charles and Keith is a multinational company that is fashion industry dealing with brand from Singapore. It offers both men’s and women’s fashion collections. Their products include ties, shoes, belts, wallets, sunglasses among others. The company is owned by Charles Wong and his brother Keith Wong. It was founded in 1996 in a place called Amara Shopping Centre in Singapore. The purpose of this report is to highlight the progress made by Charles and Keith since the day it was founded and its future plans. The report includes analysis of the company, their customers’ profile and the products offered. A comprehensive analysis has been carried out on customers demand using SWOT analysis method. It has revealed strengths such as strong brand name, uniqueness and affordability of the product, weaknesses, and opportunities available to Charles and Keith such as online market and threats. Further, porter’s five forces have also been carried out. Other analysis carried out include STEEPLED and VIRO. It will also provide background information about the company. Subsequently, the report will mention business strategies of Charles and Keith, its financial planning as well as its management considerations. At the end, the report contains conclusion and recommendations made after carrying out the analysis. The future of the Charles and Keith looks bright. This is because our estimates highlights that new market will emerge in China whose economy has grown with over 10% in the last five years and Russia. Expenditure on fashion in the word is also expected to increase in the next one year Charles and Keith is a fashionable brand that deals with women’s bags, belts, shoes and sunglasses. It was started in1996 by two brothers; Keith Wong and Charles Wong. The fist store was opened in Amara Shopping centre in Singapore. Charles and Keith is a multinational chain that has more than one hundred and seventy outlets all over the world. The company boast of getting awards like The Enterprise Award for Singapore Business Award in 2008 and Excellent Service Award in 2002. At a tender age, the two brothers acquired the skills of running business from helping their parents in their shoe store in a place called Ang Mo Kio. Charles opened a shoe store in Amara at the age of twenty two and two years later his brother Keith joined him in 1998. Keith was in charge of designing shoes while brother dealt with sales. To enable them deal with competition, they started buying their stock from China instead of Singapore. They proceeded to open twelve more outlets in major suburban malls and shopping centres in Singapore. It was not until 2000, that they began opening outlets overseas. Product of Charles and Keith appealed to both local and international customers due to their low prices and uniqueness because they have an in house design. Charles and Keith became a brand for selling women’s and men’s collection in 2007. Their products increased to include bags, ties, wallets, sunglasses and belts for both men and women. Charles and Keith aims to increase their stores from current 170 to 500 in the next five years. In order to cater for changing taste and preferences of customers, they formed a team of seventy designers. These designers are led by Keith and they come up with new designs and trends every month. Charles and Keith have established themselves as the most preferred brand in fashion industry. Industry  Business Description                  Charles and Keith is in fashion industry. In 2010, the industry was worth over $ 2, 560 trillions. In US alone, over $ 20 billion are spent on fashion every year and it generates revenue of $ 250 billion annually. Men wear is expected to exceed $ 402 billion in 2015 while women wear is expected to exceed $ 621 billion by the same year. Fashion industry continues to grow and new market continues t emerge. An example is China. The economy of China grew by more than 10% in the last five years; this has led to Chinese citizen become interested in luxury goods as symbol of status. This presents a wide market for companies like Charles and Keith. Charles and Keith produce fashion accessories and footwear. It serves a retain market sector and its three brand names are Charles and Keith, Charles and Keith signature label and Pedro Group Pte Ltd. Two of its products are not sold through wholesale or distribution. Franchisees are used to sell Charles and Keith and Charles and Keith signature label as sales operators all over the world where they have outlets. Their products are stilettos, exotic pumps, fashionable bags, sunglasses, heels and wallets. The organization of the company is democratic and they have a culture of taking the opinion of all stakeholders on board whenever they make decision. The future plans of Charles and Keith is to expand networks and increase the number of outlets from the current 170 to 500 in five years time. Conclusion                  From the analysis above, it is clear that the company has a strong name. This gives the company the strength to charge very high prices because their clients put additional value on brand name. The statement â€Å"Charles and Keith† has a very positive effect on the success of the company. SWOT analysis shows that Charles and Keith reap high profits because of having cost advantage. It is observed from the analysis that Charles and Keith has strong management. This helps it unleash its potential and utilize it strength while at the same time eliminating weaknesses. The product of Charles and Keith are unique and as such they are easily distinguished from their competitors. This makes it possible for the company to charge high prices because their products are differentiated. It is also observed that Charles and Keith lack a scale. This causes the company to have high cost per unit of output. This ends up having a long lasting impact on the company which reduces the value of the company. Lack of scale makes the company have low profit than it should. Five porter’s forces have revealed that the suppliers are less powerful because the company requires a large number of inputs from different suppliers. It is further discovered that their customers are very powerful they decide the future of the company. Though their products are cherished by many people, the customers’ switching cost is very low which increases their power. Further, Charles and Keith are not threatened by new entrants into the industry because they have unique products and their customers are loyal to them. Charles and Keith has a good business strategy that helps them penetrate the highly competitive industry. Their strategy involves marching ideal employees to the right job. This gives them an opportunity to realize full potential and to be innovative. It makes them to be highly organized. Their human resources management is competent and hires people from different backgrounds, skills set, ideas and nationality. This makes them have strong job responsibility and serve their customers better. They also have a strong combination of design and affordability. This means that even in the period of recession the company will continue making huge sales. It has helped the company a great deal by employing multiple strategies in carrying out business. They signed regional distributors and gave franchises licenses. They also signed manufacturing firms. It has young and passionate employees in the teams. Their creativity, passion and their learning spirits make the brand strong. The companies motivating factor is said to be new business goals that bring change. The company has social responsibility which encourages their staff to have ethical behaviors. The company is backed by DBS, a large bank in Singapore, which give gives the finances to expand their operations. They have an effective finance teams that give them advice on how to carry out their operations in most productive and profitable ways. The management of Charles and Keith has been seen to be democratic. They take views of everyone whenever they are making decisions. When they are developing business, they identify new segments and markets and come up with good strategies to enter while positioning and strengthening their brand. Recommendations                  Charles and Keith should take full advantage of online markets. They can expand and increase their business at very little expenses. This would bring a positive impact on the company in the long run. It would increase their value and give them a competitive edge over their competitors because online market is defendable easily. The company should continue to support innovation because taste and preferences of their customers keep on changing at a faster rate than the rate at which they bring new products in the market. Innovation and new product would increase their customer base and at the same time increase their business. This brings short term as well as long run positive impact into the company. With only 170 outlets in the world, Charles and Keith are missing out on large market in the world. They should increase their operations in the international market. This will not only increase revenue but also give them a competitive advantage. This is because once they enter a certain international market before their competitors. They will dominate it and build customer loyalty. They can also use revenue generated in some of their outlets overseas to drive out competitors elsewhere where competition is stiff. They should also consider transferring their factories to areas where cost of production is low. This can be in terms of cheap labor or cheap raw materials. This will increase their profits and be able to lower prices in order to fight competition. Since they only deal with franchises and distributors, they should form partnerships with other companies. This will create synergy which benefits them. This would also make them enjoy other benefits that they could not have achieved on their own. The company is facing stiff completion in the industry. I therefore recommend they start acquiring their competitors especially the ones that are in deep financial crises. They can also deal with competition by merging with other companies. Through this Charles and Keith will make huge profits because they will change from being price taker to price setter. Introduction of scales will make the company. The management of Charles and Keith has failed in addressing the issues of availability of threats. This makes the company unable to increase prices because customers will switch to their close substitutes. This is a real threat that if not addressed could bring short term and long term negative effects. This threat can be overcome through aggressive marketing strategies, differentiating products and building strong customer loyalty. Charles and Keith should have a scale that measures the cost per unit of output. This will enable them to increase the volume of production while at the same time reducing cost. Introducing scale means that the company will start realizing short term positive impacts through value addition otherwise the company will continue operating without maximizing on their resources ad making low profit. The company should increase their advertisement campaign and capitalize on their brand name as we have seen through the above analysis that it is their major strength. Currently the company has three brand names,, it should come up with other brands to tap on other unexploited sectors. This will help them diversify their operations and increase revenue. They should also put their strength in getting new customers since current customers are loyal to their product. References Carrara, G. (2009). Exhibition Review: 4 Linesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ A Fashion Exhibition + Installationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ Diverse Takes On Fashion. Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, 13(3), 379-386. GonzÃÆ' ¡lez, A. M. (2010). On fashion and fashion discourses. Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty, 1(1), 65-85. Kim, J. E., Kim, H. S., Choi, H. S., & Lee, K. M. (2013). Fashion Market Analysis and Consumer Research for Expansion of Korean Wave Fashion into the Singapore Market. Fashion & Textile Research Journal, 15(5), 797-807. Melchior, M. R. (2010). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Doingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Danish Fashion: On National Identity and Design Practices of a Small Danish Fashion Company. Fashion Practice The Journal of Design Creative Process & the Fashion Industr, 2(1), 13-40. Wu, J. (2009). Internationalizing and Industrializing Fashion: Shanghai International Fashion Culture Festival (SIFCF) Review. Fashion Practice The Journal of Design Creative Process & the Fashion Industr, 1(2), 259-266. CHARLES & KEITH Online Store. (n.d.). CHARLES & KEITH Online Store. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.charleskeith.com/SGStore/CK/home Charles & Keith | Flats | Covered – Ballerina – For Sale Philippines- 13230033. (n.d.). Charles & Keith | Flats | Covered – Ballerina – For Sale Philippines- 13230033. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/13230033/Charles+%26+Keith+%7C+Flats+%7C+Covered+-+Ballerina Heine, K. (2010). The Personality of Luxury Fashion Brands. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing , 1(3), 154-163. Ross, J., & Harradine, R. (2011). Fashion value brands: the relationship between identity and image. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 15(3), 306-325. Surchi, M. (2011). The temporary store: a new marketing tool for fashion brands. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 15(2), 257-270. Source document

Broken Homes and Developmental Psychology

A paper which explores the effect broken homes have on the emotional, physiological and behavioral development of the children involved. An in-depth study on how children from broken homes are affected emotionally, physiologically and from a behavioral point of view. The paper explores issues such as children with single-parent homes vs. two-parent homes, the benefits of friends and extended families, single parent attitudes towards children, effects on academic education and emotional behavior, socioeconomic effects, step-parents and single fathers. Today, single fathers seem to be more familiar with these roles in home management and childcare than mothers.Furthermore, the tie and connection between single fathers and children as well single mothers and children have now become new focal points for self-direction. Both single parents have set the criteria for organization of more traditional spheres of work and social life such that now single fathers develop close relationships with their children and have a greater appreciation of responsibility in being the primary parent. However, the fact remains that no mater how good mother or a father can be as a single parent, the negative and adverse effects of childrens development proofed through various studies concludes that theres a price to be paid for removing one of the traditional pairs, and the old-fashioned concept and belief that to have a mother and a father is still a pretty good idea.

The connection between Obama speech, human right, and right of the Essay

The connection between Obama speech, human right, and right of the child - Essay Example and Islamic countries. The speech made by Obama is interlaced with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This paper will examine the three points, which the president, President Obama, and many other pundits had also discussed before, in relation to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights mandate and the Rights of the Child resolution. These three points will be depicted in each paragraph, with highlights linking the former to the mainstream of Human Rights and the Rights of the Child mandated by the state. The last paragraph will denote the conclusive delineation of the researcher regarding these three narrow issues. The First Connection is Violence, Murder, and the War. In President Obama’s speech, he mentions the violent actions done by Islamic activists to other civilians as a form of a human rights violation. He cited the 9/11 event as an example of violence shown by Islamic activists to people, which had left a lo t of lifeless Americans; the living, fearful, and distressed (â€Å"Remarks by the President† 1). President Obama also highlighted in his speech the killings of children, as a result of wars, initiated by Islamic political activists like Al Qaeda. He recalled the time wherein many innocent children were killed during the 9/11 event as a result of a group’s hunger for revenge and power. Not only that they killed other races, but they also killed their own kind, as well (â€Å"Remarks by the President† 4). Furthermore, the latter, as part of President Obama’s speech, is an example wherein violation to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights takes place. It states that every person has â€Å"the right to live and to feel secured† (â€Å"Universal Declaration† 2). Since their sense of security is endangered, and their right to live a peaceful life is assaulted, a human right violation will take place. This scenario is also a violation of Artic le 19 paragraph 1 found in the Rights of a Child promulgation wherein it states that a child should be protected from physical violence and injuries (â€Å"Convention† 5). It is the duty of the State Parties, involved in the convention, to make sure that children are protected from violence and other forms of danger that affect their safety and well being as a person (5). The Second Connection is Education. The second connection, which can be can be found in President Obama’s speech, is the common desire of the people in the U.S. to achieve a good education (â€Å"Remarks by the President† 3). The right to have an education is in conformance with Article 26 in which education is a right for everyone to possess. With this mandate, education must be accessible and free for all people regardless of what race and status they have in life. Education should be a molding instrument to shape the personality and dignity of a person. It should also promote peace among nat ions through presenting a curriculum that brings understanding to the culture of other nations (â€Å"Universal Declaration† 6). This aspiration can also be found in the Rights of a Child Article 28, which states that education must be free and available to children (â€Å"Convention† 8). Just like what is mandated under Human Rights, elementary education must be provided to all children regardless of life status. Furthermore, it is the aim of the State Parties to eradicate illiteracy to all nations (8). With this on hand, the state

Journal #2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Journal #2 - Assignment Example It is a symbol of family unity, a bond uniting me and my grandmother, and consequently my great grandfather. It is a golden necklace whose value indicates that it was a treasure that has to be passed-on the family line, an indication that the family relationship is valued and treasured. The leather wallet given to me by my uncle during my 12th birthday remains another valued artifact for me. The wallet has my names inscribed on it, and it is made up of pure leather. My uncle ordered it as a birthday gift for me when I was turning 12 years old, and it has remained the favorite of all my possessions, more so because it has my name on it. The significance of this artifact is that it gives me my identity, my name. Whenever I have the wallet with me, I feel that I have something that identifies with me, with my name. It signifies that presents and gifts can make a real impact on the life of an individual. The photograph of me, my sister and our friends at the train station when we were young, is another artifact that I value. The photograph was taken when we were young, during our migration journey to our new home. It was taken when my sister was crying at the train station, when we were waiting to board a train, because she did not like the idea of moving from our previous residence to our new home. She was sad, since she was leaving all her friends behind, and we were trying to console her. The significance of this artifact is that it reminds me of our childhood, when were so close with my sister. It brings back the beautiful memories of our life in our previous residence, where we lived closely with our neighbors since the residences were not spacious, and all families integrated as though they were one big family. It is an artifact signifying social integration that is rarely possible these days. My friend gave me a painting when I was graduating from high school, which has always reminded me of our friendship. Many

Fluoride Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fluoride - Essay Example Since calcium bonds correspondingly robustly with the fluoride ion, the fluoride ions are much less available than in the synthetically created fluoride. The synthetic composites are more noxious since they are more soluble in water and the fluoride dislocates from the composite (Davidson, 2003). The maximum quantity of fluoride is suggested to around 1 ppm (parts per million). For instance, at 1ppm an individual would drink 1 mg of fluoride in 1 liter of water. However, the differences take local situations, which affect the quantity of water one drinks, into account. Nevertheless, fluoride can be taken in several means or sources. Processed foods and beverages manufactures in fluoridated areas contain high amounts. Vegetation consumes concentrating more in their exterior parts with leafy vegetations containing the most. Pesticides sprayed on plants also contain fluoride. Tea has 160-660 ppm optimizing at 1 mg per 6 cups. A lot of activities which take raw materials from the earthâ €™s core and focus them to high temperatures release fluorides,. Fluorine composites are associated with the creation of aluminum, uranium, bricks, cement, and steel, amid others. The aluminum industry produces the highly toxic by-product fluo-spar from aluminum slag. In the nuclear industry, hydrogen fluoride and elemental fluorine are utilized in uranium production. For a lot of these industries fluorides present the largest disposal challenge. Steel and aluminum industries emitting fluoride air pollution have been castigated for devastating plants and laming cattle, oxidization of steel bridges and cause of death smogs. In Dona, Pennsylvania, 1948 a fluoride rich fog from the city’s zinc mill murdered 20 people (Masters & Coplan, 1999). Phosphate fertilizer plants have also caused fluoride damage to animal and vegetation life in their locality. The appliance of phosphate fertilizers t soil severely rises fluorides in the soil which amount to consumption by plants we la ter eat and infectivity of drinking water through run off. Research studies project that the people of Aichi in Japan were taking up as much as 11 mg of fluoride a day from meals they were consuming. What these illustrations suggest is that we are already exposed to high amounts of fluoride. By fluoridating our water, we still raise the baggage, dislocating fluoride further through the environment where it gathers and established its way back into our meal products. Fluoride toothpaste alone were toting up 116 00o pounds of fluoride to the environment in the 70s. The occurrence of fluoride in high fronts and its connected challenges of drinking water existing in many parts of the world has been well documented. Fluoride present in drinking water is acknowledged for both its merits and harmful impacts on health. Many decisive solutions to these problems have thus far been given. Fluoride from water can be removed in numerous means. It can be removed either by an adsorption process of by a coagulation, precipitation process. The mode appropriate for an offered circumstance required to bee shrewdly chosen with regard to numerous factors (Urbansky & Schock, 2000). According to Urbansky & Schock (2000), water is one of the primary elements fundamental for maintenance of all types of life and is accessible in adequacy in nature occupying just about three fourths of the surface of the

The Development of Marketing over the Last Century Research Paper

The Development of Marketing over the Last Century - Research Paper Example This marketing concept became applicable from the 1900s to the 1950s. Therefore, the current marketing concepts involving branding, communication, and intensive ads that characterize the modern business environment are merely a rebirth of the concepts used by marketers at the start of the 20th century up to the 1950s (Belz, 2006). At the turn of 1960, a new marketing concept known as marketing orientation emerged. This concept became common from 1960 onwards. This marketing concept emerged because of market saturation that triggered intense competition. Marketing also became a strategic thinking process for managers. Today marketing as a discipline has become an outward looking discipline where strategies and actions depend on the external environment of a company. As such, any change in the external environment affects the marketing strategy adopted by a company (Belz, 2006). The world has also experienced radical changes in technological, economic, and socio-cultural environments s ince the beginning of the 20th century. These changes have created new marketing opportunities and challenges. Globalization has transformed marketing concepts by bringing regional and global societies and economies together. Some of the opportunities that globalization has brought include increased number of market opportunities. For instance, globalization has made it possible for companies to set up businesses in other countries easily. In addition, globalization has transformed marketing by making it easier for companies to penetrate some markets with more ease than ever before. Further, it has provided companies with the opportunity to develop and implement cost-effective international marketing strategies (Johnson, 2007). Despite the benefits that globalization has brought in the... The Development of Marketing over the Last Century This discourse attempts to explore the developments of marketing throughout history and the implications of the developments to marketing organizations. The history of marketing dates back to early 1900 although some marketing practices can be traced back to 1700 B.C according to Dix et al. (2005). Segmentation, marketing developments, promotion, and branding are some of the marketing activities practiced today that have a long history. The origin of these marketing activities dates back to as early as the pre-colonial era. Dix et al. (2005) notes that the marketing concepts of relationship orientation and ‘domesticated markets’ began during the agricultural era. As such, the current popularity of relationship marketing is merely a rebirth of the marketing practices of the pre-industrial period when consumers and producers interacted directly with each other and built structural and emotional bonds in their economic market behaviors. History shows that marketing was init ially based on production orientation. This was the marketing concept that was applicable during the industrial revolution. According to this marketing concept, the focus of marketing was based on efficient production and distribution. Marketing has undergone many changes over the years. It has become apparent that as new technologies emerge, consumer behaviors also changes. As a result, marketing managers must be able to respond to the changes appropriately for the companies they manage to survive, otherwise they will be faced out.

Ethical Conduct in Scientific Research Assignment

Ethical Conduct in Scientific Research - Assignment Example In real sense, they were not being given penicillin which was the standard treatment for syphilis. The scientists who carried out the study as Tuskegee continued to examine the subjects and withheld information relating to penicillin from the patients. In addition, the scientists did not allow the participants to access syphilis treatments that were available to the other people in Tuskegee (Reverby, 2009). This resulted to suffering, pain, and even death for the participants. The revelation of the study made the federal government to have a closer look to studies involving human subjects and initiated changes to prevent ethical breaches that happened at Tuskegee. The resultant reforms in clinical research include, firstly, the researcher should notify partakers that their anonymity. This means that they will be informed that their responses will not be discussed with anyone else. Consequently, the privacy and confidentiality of the participants is maintained. Secondly, informed consent. The respondents need to be informed of the aim and nature of the study. Consent is about if a participant decides to participate in the study or not (Shrader-Frechette, 2011). The consent can be obtained directly or indirectly through third-party consent. Informed consent entails capacity which is the person’s capability to acquire as well as retain knowledge, information is where the participant accesses information regarding the study, and voluntariness involves the person willingly participating in the study. They also have the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Finally, harm protection. The researcher needs to ensure that none of the par ticipants is exposed to unwarranted psychological and physical harm (Adil & Shamoo, 2009). In the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the scientists were engaged in unethical practice since they knowingly failed to inform the participants that penicillin was an effective cure for the

Stakeholders of the software industry Research Paper

Stakeholders of the software industry - Research Paper Example Conspicuously, information on the quality of software products is the most sought by consumers. It is imperative that developers of software products disseminate this information not only in a timely manner but also ensure that the information publicized is accurate and detailed (Myers, 1999). To obtain this information about a product’s quality, design, requirements, and implementation, it is important that developers of software products carry out different tests at the various phases of their production line. Such testing processes not only give information on the quality of a product but also enable an independent and unprejudiced view of a product not only by its developers but also by its users (Myers, 1999). In addition, the developer of software product may have the opportunity to appreciate and understand the risks of the design, development, and execution software (Myers, 1999). Contrary to common belief among laymen, software testing extends beyond tests done to asc ertain whether a product can be executed or applied and testing to identify or discover bugs; it encompasses all the processes by which software is validated and verified. In addition, software testing seeks to establish whether a product has adhered to the design and development requirements and can be effectively executed with similar features. What is more, software testing seeks to establish whether the needs of all stakeholders have been achieved in a product (Willison, 2004). One fundamental facet of software testing is that it can be done at any stage of the development and implementation of software, depending on the type of testing advised or adopted. This paper explores the notion that software testing is used to show that software functions properly. More precisely, the paper discusses the use of software testing to prevent and/or eliminate faults associated with requirements, design, analysis, and implementation. Software Testing for Prevention of Faults Recent times hav e realized an increase in the popularity of software testing in the software development industry. Software testing in the software industry entails not only the activities in the development cycle of software but also beyond. The importance of software testing is best highlighted by the fact that quite many users have experiences of software not working as expected. Evidently, faulty software has quite huge impacts on organisations. Among the consequences of software that do not work include financial losses, time losses, damage to business reputation, injury or death for safety-critical systems (Willison, 2004). The first way by which faulty software may result in financial loss is due to non-compliance to legal requirements. Regrettably, the testing phase of software development is never accorded the seriousness it deserves from software developers and managers. This situation exists despite the fact that testing is the only way to ascertain whether an application is likely to fu nction properly after it is deployed to the market. Due to its importance in ensuring a product is correct, there are several recommended approaches to and reasons for software testing (Willison, 2004). Although it gets a little attention, software testing remains a rather integral and important phase of any project on software development. That is, it is only via software testing that a developer may ascertain whether a software project or product is poised to succeed in the market or is doomed (Willison, 2004). It is important that software developers must have an approach that focuses on functional testing, characterized by the verification of whether software

Urban Studies and Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Urban Studies and Planning - Essay Example All these careers are exciting and personally fulfilling in the sense that they are well paying, challenging, and they give one an opportunity to grow. The urge of using my skills to establish a community where people can live and start families makes a career as an urban planner to be my first priority. I understand that a college degree in addition to extensive training is a requirement for a successful entry into this field of work. To qualify as an urban planner, one needs to take classes on environmental studies so as to understand the interactions between people and the natural environment as well as the dynamics of the environment. Moreover, a person needs to take classes on economics so as to comprehend how the markets operate, particularly, what makes a successful regional economy and business. Additionally, one needs to take classes in art and design so as to prepare oneself to think creatively about visual appearances. The prospect of getting employed as an urban planner is also high. First, there are many institutions, both public and private that hire urban planners. With a degree in urban planning together with the required experience, I can be hired by local/regional governments, private planning firms, and private property owners to facilitate the planning of commercial and communal developments, as well as transportation systems and public facilities (Bayer, Frank, & Valerius, 2009). Secondly, urba n planning is a growing field of employment. As Bayer, Frank & Valerius (2009) put it, the roles of urban planners remain in high demand, and is expected to grow significantly by 2014. For example, the U.S News and Urban Report rated urban and regional planner among the best careers in 2009 (U.S News, 2009). Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 15% growth in planning jobs between 2006 and 2016. The salary and benefits of regional and urban planners is very attractive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the median yearly pay for urban and regional planners was $63,040 in May 2010 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). Based on the fact that the planning industry has experienced growth in the past years, the prospect of career development is also looking good. This growth is stimulated by environmental concerns and population growth being experienced. Other than becoming an urban planner, I would prefer to become an architect. Since my childhood, I have alwa ys been fascinated with the science and art of building and construction. The prospect of becoming a renowned architect is exciting and interesting because this career path will enable me to design an entire built environment- from how a building associates with its surrounding environment, to construction or architectural details that entails its interior and designing and making furniture to be used inside it. Looking at this career path from a different perspective, I established that architecture is poetic in the manner that it presents itself. It is complex in the questions and issues it gives rise to. Contrary to popular belief that architecture is static, I have established that architecture is detailed and analytical. These qualities make this career path not only attractive, but also fulfilling. A career in architecture is interesting and exciting due to its longevity nature. As compared to most professions, architects can practice their

Guilt and Punishment Essay Example for Free

Guilt and Punishment Essay Creon’s actions and judgment in the play Antigone were questionable, but I don’t think he deserved the punishment he received at the conclusion of the play. My philosophy of life probably influenced my decision because I believe that everyone deserves a second chance. Creon was arrogant and did not listen to anyone’s advice, including Tiresias, a prophet who has never told him a lie. However, in the end he realized what had happened and accepted his fate. Creon was just recently appointed king so I guess he was trying to set a good example by sentencing Antigone to death. He didn’t’ want the people to think he was a person who made exceptions to their own ruling. A part of me did not want to forgive Creon, because what he did was rotten. He turned against his own family. I could never send a family member to jail or even worse, death. Creon’s punishment was quite harsh. All of the people close to him died. His son and daughter died and that was when he realized what kind of mistake he had made. He went against the morals of the people, ignored advice from his family members as well as a prophet who has never been wrong. His obstinate decision led him towards his downfall. In the end Creon knew that it was his fault that every one around him died. It was too late to regret now, so he accepted his punishment. I don’t think that the punishment was suitable because it was too extreme. Image if everyone in your family died because you made a poor decision. No one is perfect, that is why they put erasers on top of your pencils. I believe everyone should deserve a second chance, even if that someone is Creon.

Time Definition Essay Example for Free

Time Definition Essay The thought Dont leave until tomorrow what you can today holds very important in this fast pacing world where time is a very important factor and I fully agree with the statement. The main reason for me to believe in this statement is a small but very significant word time. Time is a very precious gift bestowed to us by God and it must be used at the best of our ability. Man tends to get torpor at times, which makes him to keep work and other assignments pending. This increases his load of work and would require him more time to complete the task pended. There is another reason that I would like to lay stress on. Let me take a very common example to explain the point. A small hole in a cloth piece should be stitched when noticed in the earlier stage before it becomes a bigger hole when there will be a greater difficulty to thread up the damage. In a lineA stitch in time saves nine . One should never keep work pending and must be completed as early as possible. This would avoid a greater stress that would be taken to complete a pending assignment. Thus, one should never put off till tomorrow what can be done here and now. Besides time and load of work, there is another small factor that makes me agree to the thought-provoking adage. By post-poning things and keeping them to be done on the eleventh hour would make a person tensed. It would make a person feel more anguish and remorse about the pending task. He would not feel comfortable until and unless the task is completed. At times, when work especially an important task assigned is put off till tomorrow keeps getting postponed and never does the tomorrow come. He tends to put off his work and eventually may forget to complete what is assigned. Such carelessness costs a lot and can make a person get fired by an employer or even lose a job. So, why take such a chance. It is better to do work promptly or earlier for the better. Hence I conclude by the statement to never put off till tomorrow what can be done here and now.

The Theory Underpinning One Intervention With A Dually Diagnosed Client Nursing Essay

The Theory Underpinning One Intervention With A Dually Diagnosed Client Nursing Essay Dual diagnosis has been described as one of the most significant problems facing the health services (Phillips et al 2010). The term was first used in America in the 1980s and in its most basic elements describes someone who has a combination of a mental illness and substance misuse problem. Dually diagnosed patients are often frequent users of emergency services and of in-patient care (Bartels et al 1993). There is also a much higher rate of offending and imprisonment amongst this group (Yesavage and Zarcone 1983 cited in Menezes et al (1996). Yesvage and Zarcone cited in Menezes (1996) believe that alcohol and drug misuse interact with the symptoms of psychotic illness to produce a more severe acute illness. Due to the complication of treatment approach recovery is often slower than a psychotic episode uncomplicated by substance abuse. This places a great burden on resources and staff (Drake et al 1993), which is corroborated by the London survey (Menezes et al 1996) discovering on average that this group of patients spends almost twice as much time in hospital than those without a substance misuse problem. Clients with the most severe psychiatric disorders tend to have the highest rates of co-occurring substance use disorders (Drake 2007). It has been well documented that the co-existence of severe mental health and substance misuse problems are common (Regier et al 1990; Krausz et al 1996; Menezes et al 1996 cited in Graham 2003). Prevalence figures vary across studies however the latest study by Weldon and Ritchie (2010) estimate the lifetime prevalence rate of substance abuse amongst persons with severe mental illness at 50%, which is 4.6 times higher than that of the general population (Blanchard et al 2000). One of the challenges of mental health providers is how best to meet the needs of this group of clients (Graham 2003). The most recent government guidance is one of integrated treatment whereby the treatment for drug and alcohol problems are provided primarily within mental health services, integrating this with the treatment of mental health problems (DoH 2002). This is to be provided by one team and involves a flexible combination of treatments targeting the specific needs of those diagnosed with co-morbid severe mental illness and substance misuse (Horsfall 2009). Researchers and clinicians have developed a number of interventions that combine, or integrate mental health and substance abuse interventions (Drake et al 2007). An example of one element of integrated treatment is Cognitive- Behavioural Integrated Treatment (Graham and Carnwath 2004). C-bit incorporates an integrated approach with personalised formulation to deliver improved treatment outcomes to dual diagnosis patients. The focus of this essay will be on the use of C-bit (Graham and Carnwath 2004) and its application with a client who has been has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and alcohol problems. For the purpose of this essay and confidentiality his name has been changed to David. C-bit can be split into 4 distinct phases, Engagement and Building motivation, Negotiating some behaviour change, Early relapse prevention Relapse management. The essay will concentrate on negotiating behavioural change and what this entails. The author will then compare its effectiveness with an alternative approach. An introduction to C-Bit Hermine Graham (2004) describes C-bit as a psychological multi-purpose tool designed specifically for people with both a mental illness and a problematic substance misuse. It was developed from CBT which had a strong evidence base for mental health (Grant et al 2004) and substance use problems (Conrod and Stewart 2005). The evidence base of CBIT in dual diagnosis remains poor as studies have tended to focus on engagement and building motivation as appose to the maintenance of change that CBIT encompasses (Callaghan and Jones 2010). However early studies would suggest that the skilful use of analysis, disputing cognitions and homework assignments improve the skills required to promote abstinence including self-efficacy in finding, establishing and maintaining appropriate support networks (Rassool 2002). CBIT follows the cognitive model and treatment approach (Graham 1998, 2003). A clients beliefs about substance misuse are often linked to their own experience of mental health problems. David would often say in therapy that the side effects of his anti-psychotic medication made him feel over sedated and this had a knock on effect in social situations. He found that alcohol improved this and allowed him to integrate better in social situations. By continuing to use alcohol it was maintaining a negative maintenance cycle. Graham (2004) identifies three key aims of CBIT with dual diagnosis patients. The first concentrates on client and therapist identifying and challenging unrealistic beliefs about substance misuse and substituting them with alternatives that aim to break negative maintenance cycles. The second facilitates an understanding of the link between substance misuse and mental health problems and thirdly CBIT aims to give the client the ability to self-manage substance misuse and recognise the early signs of relapse. Although there are 4 distinct steps in treatment approach the flexibility of the treatment means a client does not need to progress through them all. The harm reduction philosophy that underpins the intervention (Heather et al 1993) puts more emphasis on a client setting more realistic goals and achieving these. Although flexibility is a key asset of CBIT it would be wrong to assume there was no structure to therapy sessions. In later sessions especially, before commencing a sess ion client and therapist must set an agenda to discuss which ensures key areas are discussed (Graham 2004). In practice, teams trained in the use of CBIT tend to use the general principle of the approach rather than the distinct components or techniques (Graham et al 2006). The author believes this shows the flexibility of the therapy and therapists and clients find what proves useful to them . Graham et al (2006) also discovered that when trained members of the team used various assets of CBIT, engagement increased, alcohol intake was reduced and a reduction in alcohol-related beliefs. The study however noticed similar findings when the client had been seen by teams that had not yet received CBIT training suggesting that CBIT alone was not responsible for the change in behaviour and belief. However, qualitative information recorded from the teams staff suggested that treatment integration increased over the course of the study, and that CBIT was a useful tool for integrating planning substance misuse treatment. Qualitative information from the team managers suggested that CBIT training i mproved the ability of teams to address substance use by themselves, rather than avoiding substance issues referring clients to specialists. Achievable Goal setting Following treatment phase one the client will be able to identify some of the negative effects of substance misuse. David could recognise the negative effect that alcohol use had on his ability to find any form of employment and how he had no real supportive social network besides drinking companions. Graham (2004) highlights that in treatment phase two it is probably too early for a client to consider complete abstinence. David was beginning to make links with the amount he drank and the negative effects he was having. Due to this he negotiated with the therapist that he would reduce his alcohol input by stopping all spirits but remaining on his strong lager. This follows the harm reduction philosophy that there are several levels in which change can occur that would reduce the negative impact it causes to the client. David identified his long-term goal as eventually getting some form of employment. Following treatment phase one David was able to see the impact excessive impact alco hol was having on his ability to make appointments on time (if at all), and how this would have a negative effect on any chance of employment. Graham (2004) suggests that for a client to get to this long-term goal a series of short term harm reducing steps need to be identified by the client in therapy that will in-turn have a positive impact upon his life. David had already agreed to stop drinking spirits but further steps included reducing contact with fellow drinkers, attending all appointments on time, getting his body back into a work routine. These steps would move David closer to the eventual long term goal and give him the belief that this was achievable. The therapist found that the use of the recovery star was a useful tool with aiding the client identify and plan how to achieve these goals. The recovery star helps both client and therapist measure change and visually see progress made. At times when David struggled to achieve goals it provided an opportunity for discussio n on how to change the approach. David found the tool useful in between sessions where he could refer back to past successes to give him the confidence to continue. On reflective sessions what proved important for David was to identify and discuss possible obstacles that he may experience in trying to achieve his goals and to recognise that if things do not go as planned it should not be automatically assumed to be a failure. Simmons and Griffith (2009) believe that there is never a failure but an opportunity to learn and do things differently. Behavioural Experiments By treatment phase two of CBIT the client will have identified an unhelpful thought, the nature of which will be maintaining a negative maintenance cycle. David had begun to plan harm reduction goals to reduce the negative aspects of his substance misuse however there was clearly some situations he was avoiding, and some underlying maladaptive thoughts there were perpetuating his problems. To address this the therapist and David discussed and designed a Behavioural Experiment. Beck (1995) believes that BEs strengthen an intellectual belief by helping the client test out alternative beliefs and thoughts in practice in order to gain evidence to discover the validity of a belief . Beck (1979) believed through altering behaviour a cognitive change occurs. BEs are significant as a means of explicitly targeting belief change through experience and as such offer prime opportunities for sustained therapeutic change (Padesky 2004). David held the belief that if he did not drink alcohol he wou ld appear boring and no-one would have any time for him. For this reason when David was going to be in the company of anyone he would drink excessively, therefore getting intoxicated became a safety behaviour. By allowing a client to see what will happen if they drop safety behaviour and then testing out what actually happens in that situation proves to be a powerful challenge to unhelpful assumptions (Whitfield and Davidson 2007). Sloan and Telch (2002) support this view adding that experiments target safety behaviours result in significantly greater changes than exposure alone. Safety behaviour may seem helpful and protective to a client but can lead to maintenance cycles of maladaptive processes perpetuating the initial belief. If a threat is not disconfirmed the maladaptive cognition continues (Salkovskis 1991, Sloan and Telch 2000, Clark 1989, Salkovski et al 1998). The notion of experimentation, derived from scientific principles, can be applied to the patients experience of t he therapeutic process and it is this active experience which can be so meaningful; the validity of a new cognition being generally more memorable when followed through from conceptualisation to active experience (Westbrook 2007). Once the evidence contradicts the initial belief it allows the client and therapist to explore the validity of new more adaptive beliefs (Westbrook et al 2007). David and the therapist designed an experiment in which he would limit his alcohol approach and would then engage in general conversation in his local pub. Initial experiments gave David the confidence to build on further experiment supporting the work of Bennett-levy (2004) who believe early experiments increase confidence and independence BEs can be active, where the patient takes the lead role in either real or simulated situations to test the validity of thoughts, or observational, where data is gathered. Lewin and Kolb propose a learning cycle in which it suggests that for learning and retenti on to be enhanced the client must build upon knowledge and understanding gained through the experiment which in turn forms a foundation for the next step of the experiment. (Lewin 1946; Kolb 1984). The five key aspects of this learning cycle, Experience, Observation, Reflection, Planning and then further experiment underpins BE work. Establishing supportive social networks In the field of substance misuse social factors are seen as important in the onset, aetiology and maintenance of substance misuse (Graham 2004). David recognised that as his alcohol intake increased the friends he associated with were also using alcohol regularly. This supports the work of Drake (2004) who identified that clients with both severe mental health problems and substance misuse problems would have social networks of solely fellow substance users. David felt increasingly isolated from anyone outside of this network as his behaviour would draw attention towards himself. Trumbetta et al (1999) suggest that for anyone to make changes in substance misuse they need to reduce contact with such peers. Healthier networks need to be formed which provide positive support where there is excessive substance misuse is not the norm (Drake 1993a). David identified his sister as someone who was willing to and who he would like as a supportive person away from mental health services. In cr isis David could contact his sister who could give him some level of support. Graham (2004) emphasises the importance of working closely with family members as they often know very little about dual diagnosis problems. David was only close with his sister. The rest of his family had isolated him due to his substance misuse. Ideally psycho-education information is often given in the group setting as family members may benefit from the experience and support of fellow members (Graham 2004). Davids sister became a key figure in Davids recovery and was encouraged to attend sessions on psycoeducation so she could best understand the problems associated with dual diagnosis clients and how best she could support David. Limitations of its use Prochaska and DiClemente (1992) recognised certain barriers to treatment for dual diagnosis patients in regards to therapeutic engagement, treatment continuance and goal setting. In the case of CBIT it makes assumptions of a certain level of coping skills and ability to facilitate cognitive change. Symptoms of schizophrenia can inhibit a clients impetus to change behaviour (Horsfall et al 2009). Negative symptoms which have a negative effect on motivation and energy affects individuals internal drive to initiate the complex behavioural routines needed for abstinence (Ballack and DiClemente 1999). An integrated treatment approach incorporating CBIT does not make dramatic changes in the short term, it is a long term therapy. Evidence based studies are always plagued by attrition rates as clients relapse or do not return to the study. This may suggest that CBIT may suffer from the same poor treatment compliance/attendance. For clients who complete a full programme of treatment 10-20 per cent achieves a stable remission of their substance use problems per year (Graham 2004). This seems a low figure for the intensive input required on the part of the therapist and client. Bellack and Gearon (1998) believe the therapist must become tolerant of this client group dropping in and out of therapy and abstaining then relapsing. Davids attendance was at times sporadic but the therapist never criticised him for this but used it as a platform for discussing problems experienced through the week. Drake et al (2001) suggests the importance of assertive outreach teams in retaining clients within programmes. Hellerstein et al (1995) cited in Philips et al (2010) highlight that without this input dropout rates may be high, especially amongst those identified as having difficulties participating in treatment. Alternative approaches The evidence base for dual diagnosis is still in its infancy. Those studies completed have limited generalisation due to methodological issues such as heterogeneous samples, equivocal descriptions of treatment components and high attrition rates (Weldon and Richie 2010). Horsfall et al (2009) recognises that due to a lack of longitudinal studies long term outcomes have yet to be determined. It also proves difficult to compare C-Bit with alternative interventions as C-Bit is not used in a vacuum it is often used in conjunction with other therapies such as pharmaceuticals of motivational interviewing. Kemp et al (2007) found a significant improvement in substance use in dual diagnosis patients when CBT and MI principle were combined. For the purpose of this essay the author will briefly look at one main alternative approach to dual diagnosis, that of motivational interviewing. Motivational interviewing Treasure (2004) describes MI as a patient centred counselling approach that facilitates the patient in resolve and explore ambivalence about behaviour change. The theory of MI centres on the cycle of change and its six components, precontemplation, contemplation, decision, action, maintenance of change and relapse. Miller and Rollnick (1994) describes motivation as something that one does as appose to something that one has. Empathy is vital in the therapeutic relationship and the use of MI. If the client believes the therapist has no appreciation of their experience they are likely to dis-engage or not fully commit to therapy. Rassool (2002) believes active listening also has an important role in MI. Reflecting back to the client their thoughts, fears, hopes and doubts give a feeling of genuineness, trust and empathy. In MI it is important not to offer advice , give judgement or attempt to question. The reason for behavioural change should be acknowledged and stated by the client. M I proves an effective therapy in dual diagnosis if delivered effectively. The therapist needs to avoid confrontation as this will lead to client denial, the role of the therapist as expert proves counter-productive and structured answer formats will inhibit the client in recognising the effects of their substance misuse. Motivational styles that guide a client in discovering alternative ways of thinking about their problems results in positive change (Miller and Rollnick 1991). By combining elements of style and technique MI has proven successful in dual diagnosis patients and has a developing evidence base. It proves difficult to contrast MI with CBIT as both complement each other so well and have similar approaches. Both are based on a collaborative relationship with clients, both incorporate a non-judgemental approach and both are approaches are built on empathy, warmth, trust and positive regard (Rogers, 1991). Both approaches also incorporate socratic questioning techniques encouraging the client to discover alternative meanings of their experience (Padesky and Greenberger 1995). One of the key differences is when it is best to use either technique. Those following a transtheoretical model of change may use MI when the client remains undecided about change in the precontemplation and contemplation stage whereas CBIT can be adopted when the client is more committed to change (Treasure 2004). This would support the work of Drake et al (2001) who after studying the work of a number of researchers believe that to enhance attendance and utilisation of treatment motivation interventions a re important. Conclusion The research on the impact of CBIT as a therapeutic intervention is still in its infancy. Some anecdotal evidence would suggest it provides the skills necessary to promote abstinence (Rassool 2002). Qualitative information gained from Grahams (2006) study suggests CBIT proved a useful tool for integrating and planning substance misuse. Due to the complex nature of dual diagnosis it seems unlikely that a single intervention will have the desired effect of meeting all the clients needs. Kemp (2007) supports this finding an improvement in substance misuse when MI and CBIT were combined. Due to this there has been a shift towards the integration of interventions delivered by mainstream mental health services (DOH 2002, 2006;Rassool 2002; Ziedonis et al. 2005). Some of the strongest treatment effects have come from combining a number of approaches (Barrowclough et al 2001; Bellacket et al. 2006).

Adrienne Rich Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Poetry of Adrienne Rich Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland in the year of 1929. Rich grew up in a household as she describes it as † †¦white, middle-class, full of books, and with a father who encouraged her to write† (Daniel). Her father Arnold Rich was a doctor and a pathology professor and her mother, Helen Jones Rich , was a pianist and a composer. â€Å"Adrienne Rich recalls her growing-up years clearly dominated by the intellectual presence and demands of the male in the family, her father, while correctly marked by the submerged tensions arising from the conflicts between the religious and cultural heritage of the father's Jewish background and her mother's Southern Protestantism† (Pope). In the year of 1951, Rich graduated from Radcliffe University. During this year, Adrienne Rich also won the Yale Younger Poets Prize for her first book, A Change of World. In 1953, Adrienne Rich married Alfred Conrad who was a Harvard economist; during the next five years Rich had three sons. Deborah Pope says that Rich’s journal entries, from these years, state that this was an â€Å"emotionally and artistically difficult period† (Pope). Rich’s poems were mainly influenced by Robert Frost, Yeates, Stevens, and Auden. She became a major influence, through her essays and poetry, in many areas of modern-day women's movements, she had become one of the most provoking voices on the politics of sexuality, race, power, and women‘s culture. Adrienne Rich is a southern Jew who grew up during the forties. Rich lived in a gentle neighborhood and was never taught about her Jewish heritage. She eventually had to deal with conflicts between the religious and cultural heritage of her father’s Jewish background and her mother’s southern Protestantism (Pope). Rich’s father didn’t show any signs of ethnicity in any way. He did this to fit into a society that was against Jewish people. In many of her works, Adrienne Rich talks about being oppressed. In her poem, â€Å"1948: Jews,† Adrienne Rich refers to her college years. At Radcliffe University, she was to stay away from Jews. No matter how much she wanted, she could not unite with them as a group because socially it was less acceptable. She had to avoid her own ethnicity to survive in the American culture. â€Å"A Vision,† is another poem Rich wrote that discusses the issue of... ...s full of sound and fury (Barclay). She has fused politics and poetry and also revitalized the lost American institution of political poetry. Adrienne Rich depicts herself in her early 1980's poem "Sources," "she is a woman with a mission, not to win prizes/but to change the laws of history" (Rothschild). Works Cited â€Å"Adrienne Rich.† Barclay Agency 2004. 31 Oct 2004 . â€Å"Adrienne Rich.† Bedford/St. Martin’s 1999. 27 Oct 2004 . American Literature Web Resources. May 1999. Millikin University. 2 Nov 2004 . Daniel, Meagan. â€Å"Adrienne Rich: To Make the Work Her Life, and Her Life the Work.† Empowerment4Women. 28 Dec 2004 . LITWEB. W.W. Norton & Company. 28 Dec 2004 . Pope, Deborah. â€Å"Rich’s Life and Career.† Modern American Poetry. (2000) 27 Oct 2004 . Pettit, Rhonda. â€Å"Bibliography of Adrienne Rich.† Encyclopedia of American Poetry 2001. Compiled and hyperlinked by Gunnan Bengtsson. AmericanPoems.com. 30 Dec 2004 . â€Å"Rich, Adrienne.† Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature. Ed. 1, 1991, Vol. 1 P909. Tennessee Electronic Library. 29 Oct 2004 . Rothschild, Matthew. â€Å"Rich 1994 Interview from the Progressive.† Modern American Poetry. (2000) 27 Oct 2004 .

Free Henry IV Essays: The Character of Falstaff :: Henry IV Henry V Essays

The Character of Falstaff in Henry IV The character of Falstaff, in Shakespeare’s play Henry IV Part One, serves as an emblem of frivolity and carelessness within a world filled with social and political significance. Falstaff scorns the world of politics and moral decisions in favor of existing from moment to moment. Though he dislikes this "other world", Falstaff realizes he must sometimes come in contact with it. Falstaff’s famous speech in lines 127-139 of Act V shows us how he regards the Prince’s world of honor and duty. Through this speech, Falstaff places himself firmly out of any moral world concerned with justice or honor, instead living for no other reason than life itself. Falstaff’s speech comes after the King and Prince Hal decide to war against the army of Hotspur. Though they wait on word from Worcester, the probability of conflict seems high. Falstaff knows that when the battle comes, he is going to be in the middle of it. Shortly before his speech on the nature of honor, Falstaff shows fear that he might be hurt. In lines 121-2 Falstaff asks Hal to protect him if he should fall during battle. The Prince’s rejection of the request shows his scorn for Falstaff’s desire to passively preserve only his own life. Throughout the last half of the play, as the Prince drifts away from Falstaff, Falstaff’s role in the action of the play as a whole diminishes. The importance placed upon the idea of honor allows Hal to assume his rightful position beside the King, while Falstaff dims into the background. Falstaff’s idea of honor is directly linked to his sense of time itself. In the opening lines of his speech, Falstaff says,"‘Tis not due yet: I would be loath to pay him before his day." (L. 127-8) In this example, God is being related by Falstaff to someone who has set a schedule determining the time and place of everyone’s death. For Falstaff, one’s role in life is not to stray from the path created by that higher Power. The notion of honor, as he later describes in this speech, is a belief through which one can transgress that natural order. He says,"Yea, but how if honor prick me off when I come on?" (L. 130) In order for one to gain honor, one must risk one’s life. This type of gambling is not for Falstaff, as he decides that his own life is more important than,"A word.

ATA Airlines :: essays research papers

On October 23, 2004 ATA Airlines filed for bankruptcy. The Indianapolis-based carrier also said it has agreed to sell its hub at Chicago’s Midway Airport to AirTran, one of its major competitors, for $87.5 million dollars. Like other airlines operating in bankruptcy, AirTran said it will maintain its full flight schedule and honor its frequent-flier commitments. The tenth-largest U.S. airline by traffic, ATA joins United, US Airways and Hawaiian Airlines in bankruptcy. ATA is the first major low-coﴱᄃst airline to seek bankruptcy protection. It has long been having difficulties by its costly leases, estimated to be about $100 million dollars per year over prevailing market rates. ATA will turn over its slots at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington Reagan National Airport to AirTran and will fly fifteen of its aircraft on AirTran behalf for six months. ATA has not arranged financing during bankruptcy but Chairman J. George Mikelsone said the AirTran deal would provide immediate cash infusion while he lines up financing elsewhere. ATA lost $90 million dollars in the first half of this year on revenue of $778 million dollars.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ATA Airlines is trying everything they can to have their company. But they are going to have to wait it out. Some of their opinions is to reorganize, return to profitability, settle their debts, and be released from bankruptcy; or they could go out of business and have their assets auctioned off under court supervision to pay as many of their remaining debts as possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They say that the bankruptcy could probably go on for many months, perhaps for years. Some airlines, such as Continental Airlines and American West, have reorganized under bankruptcy protection, and are still operating. Several others in the USA, and more in other parts of the world, have gone out of business, sometimes after being in and out of bankruptcy repeatedly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people had questions about if they bought tickets for an airline and then they went bankrupt what should they do? They need to wait and see. You can’t get retroactive insurance. Also be prepared for schedule changes, flight cancellations, or other disruptions of your plans, before or during your trip, possibly with little or no warning. Another thing is if you have electronic tickets, consider going to the airline’s ticket counter at an airport, or one of its city ticket offices, and paying to get your ticket converted to paper tickets.