Narcissism and Generation Essay

My generation, also known as Generation Y, is defined as a technology based generation. We have grown up surrounded with all sorts of technologies that make our lives easier. In some ways this has been beneficial to us. It has enabled us to get information about something at the touch of a button or keep us from getting sick. In other ways it has caused us to grow up lazy and wanting to do the least amount of work as possible. Many adults believe that Generation Y feels entitled to certain privileges and that most luxuries are necessities. According to Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before, â€Å"Teens feel entitled and are coddled, disrespectful, narcissistic and impatient†. I agree with this because many people my age are very self-centered. see more:does technology make us lazy The main thing that defines Generation Y is our technology based upbringing. We have grown up with televisions , microwaves, dishwashers, and other gadgets that entertain us or make our lives easier. We are so consumed with technology that issues such as â€Å"nomophbia† or â€Å"no mobile-phone phobia,† (Vicky Kung, CNN) and other psychological problems have recently been discovered when Generation Y was separated from technology. As one of the examples of excess attachment to technology, researcher, Michael Carr-Gregg, stated that â€Å"Many of my clients go to bed with their mobile phones while sleeping just like how one will have the teddy bear in the old days.† This just goes to show how attached Generation Y is to technology. There are two main characteristics that Generation Y have: they are feelings of entitlement and the belief that luxuries are necessities. We believe that having a television, hair dryer, coffee maker and other such amenities are necessities when staying in a hotel, while our parents consider them luxuries. This is because we have never been without these utilities and have grown up in homes that use them every day. The other characteristic that Generation Y has is that we feel entitlement to certain privileges due to the fact that technology has made life easier for us and we haven’t had to work as hard for the things that we want compared to our parents. Generation Y thinks that because we know more about the current day and age (basically technology) that we should be entitled to greater or equal benefits to that of our superiors. As far as â€Å"fitting into the mold† I believe that in certain aspects I do fit into Generation Y and in others I do not. I fit into Generation Y when it comes to technology and being â€Å"tech savvy†. I understand how many computers and other such technological appliances work because I have grown up around them. I don’t â€Å"fit the mold† when it comes to the psychological issues of technology such as nomophobia. I have never been super attached to a phone or other technology based appliance. One thing that has helped me not become so attached is that I don’t have internet on my phone. This helps because I interact more with people and I don’t have the temptation to check my Facebook all the time. I don’t fit the mold with the feelings of entitlement because my parents have taught me to respect my elders and that just because I may know a little bit more about technology than they do doesn’t mean that they aren’t smart or that their advice is worthless. Other characteristics that I do fit the mold in are thinking that luxuries are necessities. Growing up, I always had a dishwasher, microwave, computer, television and other necessities that my parents consider the comfortable luxuries of life. In conclusion Generation Y is a technology based generation because that is what we have grown up with and evolved with. Generation Y has also grown up thinking that luxuries are necessities because we have never been without them. Many of us also have feelings of entitlement because technology has made life easier for us and we haven’t had to work as hard as our parents did growing up. I believe that I personally fit the mold in some areas and don’t in others because of the generation and technology age that I have grown up in and the way that I was raised. Works Cited ————————————————- Armour, Stephanie. â€Å"Generation Y: They’ve arrived at work with a new attitude.† USA Today. USA Today, 06 November 2005. Web. 17 Sep 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2005-11-06-gen-y_x.htm>. ————————————————- ————————————————- Chang, Katherine. â€Å"What Defines Our Generation?.† Inside Beat. Inside Beat, 29 September 2010. Web. 17 Sep 2012. <http://www.inside-beat.com/film/what-defines-our-generation-1.2349047>. ————————————————- ————————————————- Kung, Vicky. â€Å"Rise of ‘nomophobia’: More people fear loss of mobile contact.† CNN. CNN, 07 March 2012. Web. 17 Sep 2012. <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/06/tech/mobile/nomophobia-mobile-addiction/?hpt=hp_c3>. ————————————————- ————————————————- Twenge, Jean. Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -and More Miserable Than Ever Before. New York City: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2006. 279. Web.

The Korean War started in the aftermath of World War II

The Korean War started in the aftermath of World War II.   When the Great War that ended all wars resulted in the defeat of Japan, a new power arose in the Pan Asian area, the specter of USSR.   Stalin’s tight rein on the country and its quick and vicious rise to superpower status caused Americans to fear that the Soviet Empire would attempt to spread communism throughout the world.   Eastern Europe had already been engulfed and President Truman was weary of the possibility of the rest of Asia falling into the grasp of communism. Therefore in Korea, America made a stand for democracy (Ridgeway, 15).   The United States called this policy â€Å"containment†, to contain the spread of communism because it attempts to encroach on America’s philosophy of democracy (Ridgeway, 15).   The very policy of containment arose out of fear from Secretary of State Kissinger that the Soviet Union’s eventual plan is to dominate the politics of the Pan Asian Alliance and eventually threaten the rest of Europe. The Korean War rose out of these circumstances as a battle against communism (Ridgeway, 15).   Northern Korea threatened Southern Korea through a series of hostile attacks, and after the South Korean Army with help from the US decimated the Northern Alliance, China’s quick intercession quickly changed the tides of war.   Korea was not an isolated two nation battle; rather it represented a political ideological struggle between westernization and communism (Ridgeway, 15).   Ã‚  China wanted to exert its presence following its own communist revolution as chose Korea as the testing grounds for its new army operations.   When Korea was finally split in half after indecisive battles, its role in history was forever termed as the â€Å"Forgotten War†. Vietnam occurred under similar circumstances.   The Soviet Union’s powers were at its peak during this time, having proved that they were now a nuclear power; this is the first time that these two nations met indirectly (Moise, 130).   Vietnam became the first major war in the post nuclear weapons era and it was motivated by the continuance of the theory of containment. Although large amounts of troop activity was already taking place during the John F. Kennedy era, President Johnson’s term saw the escalation of troops and combat within the region.   The North Koreans were constantly supplied via underground shipments from the Soviet Union and China, thus the war did not seem like it would end (Moise, 130).   The conclusive withdraw of US troops during Nixon’s presidency represented the first major victory and breakthrough for the communists in Asia.   As a result, the specter of the Cold War continued to loom over the world. The Iraqi war placed the United States in a unique position.   Since September 11th, the war on terrorism is very much different from the war on communism in that there are no tangible enemies.   Following unsuccessful attacks on terrorism in Afghanistan, the target of Iraq represented President Bush’s strategy of First strike defense, or preemptive strike (Roberts, 23)   This theory contends that as Iraq has an obvious hatred of the United States and has shown in that past to have harbored and still harbors weapons of mass destruction. Destroying it before it could target the United States either through direct attack or through helping terrorist cells (Roberts, 23),. This philosophy is very much motivated by a number of policies, among them was the previous attack on Iraq in Operation Desert Storm which severely weakened Saddam Hussein’s military power in the region.   However, since there was no eminent threat to the United States, there was no international consortium as large as the ones during Korea and Vietnam (Roberts, 23). Therefore, the war on Iraq is viewed by many in the international community as illegitimate and unsanctioned.   As such the political pressures from around the world are very much negative.   Even in victory, the Iraqi war now seems to have bear consequences that has harmed the United State’s position in the world political circle.   The current negotiations with the United Nations to aid in the Iraqi effort has met with resistance as the world community repeatedly contends they will not help George Bush clean up the scene of his crime.   The political undercurrents of this war may turn negative much like the results of the Vietnam resolution (Roberts, 23). Ridgway, Matthew B. He Korean War. Boston: Da Capo Press, 1988. Moise, Edwin E. Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War. North Carolina: UNC Press , 1996. Roberts, Paul. The End Of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World. Seattle: Mariner Books, 2005.

Humanities Today Paper Essay

Humanities are branches of knowledge that investigate human beings, their culture, and their self-expression. Distinguished from the physical and biological sciences and, sometimes, from the social sciences, the humanities include the study of languages and literatures, the arts, history, and philosophy. The modern conception of the humanities has roots in the classical Greek paideia, a course in general education dating from the fifth century BC that prepared young men for citizenship. Humanities also draw on Cicero’s humanitas, a program of training for orators set forth in 55 BC. The Renaissance humanists contrasted studia humanitatis (studies of humanity) with studies of the divine; by the 19th century the distinction was instead drawn between the humanities and the sciences (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2006). The humanities are a group of academic subjects united by a commitment to studying aspects of the human condition and a qualitative approach that generally prevents a single paradigm from coming to define any discipline. The humanities are usually distinguished from the social sciences and the natural sciences and include subjects such as the classics, languages, literature, music, philosophy, the performing arts, religion and the visual arts. Other subjects at times included as humanities in some parts of the world include archaeology, area studies, communications, cultural studies and history, although these are often regarded as social sciences elsewhere (Wikipedia, 2006). Humanity in general is the experience of being human. The experience can be visual, audible or by touch. The philosophy of being human is also the aim within the general perception of humanity, thus separating the commonality understanding humanity from the personal experience of being human. The difference between the visualization of humanity and the practical application of humanity is the understanding of the critical observation of what humanity should be versus what humanity is. The larger interpretation deals with the different disciplines of science, medical and even in psychology. I do not believe that anyone can understand that the present situation globally has anything to do with humanity. For example, I do not believe that killing and raping like in Darfur or in other areas like Iraq or Iran has anything or needs much explanation if that is also humanity and if it is not, what is it? ArtThe art of painting has been said that the painter’s soul speaks within the creation of the painting. For example, Leonardo DaVinci’s painting of Mona Lisa is not proven that Mona Lisa really smiled, yet in the eyes of the soul of Leonardo DaVinci he saw this smile which leads to the conclusion that humanity has a soul which one cannot assume in contrast to an animal. In the style of surrealism, one can make the statement that the soul is talking in a language that only the painter can understand. To finish this topic of art and humanity, it is possible to say that the soul in humanity has many different faces that is only understood by the creator. The harmony or the dis-harmony to be attracted to one or the other like Ruben’s painting versus Picasso’s abstracts indicates that the resonance of the viewer is enchanted or dismayed, thus this only shows the uniqueness of the soul. MusicMusic from the viewpoint of one’s understanding of humanity is the rhythm of life. One would find oneself during the day humming this or that tune. One may not know why but one would be expressing the humming as joy. Theoritically one could ask the question, is music also the expression of the soul and if the answer is yes then why does the symphony entice some people but not all? So often one is confronted with the social expression that many people are gathered to be stimulated by the melody rather than the words. Case and point, when men have get togethers they are singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall which has nothing to do with the harmony or the expression of the soul and yet they are happy. Then the men start to come up with all kinds of variations of the song. If music is the expression of humanity or if humanity is the expression of music, then joy is the same. An opera for someone that likes opera, can be very moving in emotions. An overture can also be very moving. There are many people that like overtures and a cello concert and there are many people that like Christina Aguilera, Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash. One can see as diverse the music, so diverse is humanity’s perception of it. ArchitectureThe visualization of an architect to create a structure is based upon the landscape and the scenery that can entice the architect to think and then create. It would be interesting to understand a child that creates the architecture in the clouds and tells his or her mother to look at the castle in the sky versus an architect that see’s the scenery and skillfully builds the castle. That would be the different findings. Throughout history, one has seen different styles of architecture like Roman and Gothic. Roman architecture is round and gothic is more triangular. Looking at Baroque, we see straight lines. All those different architectural styles are the expression of humanity and humanity’s evolution. PhilosophyPhilosophy in one’s opinion is the most intriguing part of humanity. To ask a question and to not have an answer or not wanting an answer, that is philosophy. Philosophy is the purest of the interpretation of humanities which means that humanities in action is at it’s best. The progression of thinking. What does it mean when Socrates says, I know that I don’t know or Shakepeare in Hamlet who says to be or not to be. With other words, philosophy represents the capabilities of humanities. LiteratureHumanity and literature go hand-in-hand with the evolution of humans and the different societies. Ancient texts like the Bible and other writings represent the history of humankind as written words where more and more use for communication. As the Bible seems to be the representation of the history of a particular group of people like the Jews, other groups like in the Mesopotamian history became less and less a real representation of history by geographic means. Literature became more poetic. For example the Mesopotamian epic story of Gilgamesh. Throughout the evolution of humankind, technology has changed the socio-economic structure which means from hieroglyphs communicated in clay or stone tablets to the skillfull calligraphy in monasteries and the triumph of the printing press by Gutenberg. Today literature is different because reading a book in the time of internet is almost a sacrilege. In not reading books in the way that it was done in the past, society has almost no time to read complete sentences because literature has also fallen in a trap that unfortunately takes away the thinking which is the hallmark of humanity. Humanity is comprised of many different cultures. Each culture has their own set of rules for humanity. The uniqueness of literature is lost in the complexity of it’s many interpretations. Humanities are about being human. The idea is to draw connections between all the various creative movements and influences that exist in a culture at any given moment, as well as how these movements and influences have influenced what has come later and what we are experiencing now. ReferencesEncyclopedia Britannica Online (2006). Humanities. Retrieved November 2, 2006 fromhttp://www. britannica. com/ebc/article-9367537Fiero, G. (2006). The Humanistic Tradition: The European Renaissance. The Reformationand Global Encounter. Boston, Massachusetts: McGraw-Hill. Robinson, J. (2003). What is Humanities? Retrieved on November 5, 2006 fromhttp://fp. uni. edu/robinsoj/Humanities/WHAT%20IS%20HUMANITIES. htmWikipedia the free encyclopedia (n. d. ). Humanities. Retrieved November 1, 2006, fromhttp://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Humanities.

An old dog can learn new tricks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

An old dog can learn new tricks - Essay Example Stress management is a skill that every student and professional must master in order to compete in the contemporary increasingly dynamic and competitive environment. Signs of stress include depression, anxiety, anger, and nervousness. Exercise as well as work-life balance is an effective way of managing stress. In addition, good management of time also helps relieve the stress. The contemporary age is the age of information literacy. To excel in the present age, the importance of gaining information literacy cannot be overemphasized. I try to read newspapers, magazines, and engage in intellectual discussions to gain more and more information. I not only gain information, but also critically analyze it so as to ensure that I am not gaining biased, faulty, misleading, or erroneous information. Concluding, numerous aspects of this course have helped me excel as a student and gain skills of professionalism. Amongst the most important aspects, goal setting with S.M.A.R.T. goals, stress management, and information literacy are three. I shall always benefit from these aspects in my

Characteristics of Language in Latino Community Essay

Characteristics of Language in Latino Community - Essay Example Latinos in the US are an example of a language community. Their main language is Spanish, but most of them adapted to English after they migrating to the US. Other than language, Latinos also share the same beliefs and cultural practices. The term Latino refers a section of the United States that originated from Latin America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Latinos trace their history back in 1500 when Spaniards migrated to the US and settled in Texas, Florida and Mexico. Factors that contributed to their migration from Caribbean and Latin America in to the US included expansion of territory by the US, neoliberal economic policies in US, wars and military interventions, and forced cheap labour, among others.Moreover, the history of the Latinos has been overlooked and even forgotten in current discussions and debates over immigration, but it started developing in the late 1980s when more case studies were conducted in New York, Chicago, Texas, Los Angeles and other major cities. H owever, despite the fact that Latinos settled in the US and even adopted their culture, their proximity to the border, constant migration and close ties to their homeland helps them to replenish their culture (Stuart and Hirschberg 443).â€Å"Machismo† is a term that plays an important role among the Latino/Hispanic groups. They use it as a flattering word, which means courage to fight, honour and dignity, protecting ones name, keeping one’s word, respect for others, love for one’s family and affection for children....They use it as a flattering word, which means courage to fight, honour and dignity, protecting ones name, keeping one’s word, respect for others, love for one’s family and affection for children. It can also be used in order to influence a person’s behaviour and to distinguish between sexes. Other examples of word used by Latinos include Corazon which means heart in English, respecto-respect, dignidad-dignity, afecto-warmth and demonstratives, and sensibilidad-sensitivity. The Latinos are said to avoid competition or activities that set them apart from their own group. They claim that standing out among one’s peers places a person in great jeopardy; thus, it should be avoided as much as possible. Latinos say that European Americans are not trustworthy; hence, they teach their children to treat them with a lot of hostility and fear. For this reason, Latinos children do not believe that European Americans professionals want the best for them. Moreover, Stuart and Hirschberg (445), claim that Latinos children are not good at expressing themselves verbally; thus, they are not able to express their emotions to their friends, adults and authority figures. Properties of the Latino language community Since the Latinos started migrating into the US, their population has increased dramatically. Stuart and Hirschberg (448) claim that Latinos were estimated to reach 40 million and become the largest minority g roup in the US by 2010. The most affected states where Latinos have dominated are; New York, California, Texas and Florida. They are now transforming the Unite States into Latino dominated region due their increasing population. Also, they have significantly influenced culture, politics and economy of many states in the US.

Mathematics classes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mathematics classes - Essay Example Teachers, who study mathematics for the foreign speaking students, should be aware of the fact, that the knowledge they try to give, must be combined with clear explanation and patience. Various strategies exist for those who have to teach mathematics to the students in combination with the language problems. Thus, it would be interesting to observe the two different strategies, which two teachers have in this relation. The use of various strategies for teaching children mathematics is essential; it often appears at present that the knowledge and idea of mathematics are wrong between people, and thus the role of the teacher is to make the mathematical knowledge full, sufficient and clear. The strategies to use in teaching mathematics directly depend on the knowledge teachers have themselves, and the studies conducted in this connection, proved that the way the teachers were teaching their pupils mathematics, their structural and instructional decisions were directly dependent on the knowledge in mathematics they had themselves. In relation to foreign speaking students, it is even more important to have a closer look at the use of not only mathematics' teaching strategies, but also the use of LEP and ESOL. 'The current debate concerning what students should learn in mathematics seems to set proponents of teaching computational skills against the advocates of fostering conceptual understanding and re flects the wide range of beliefs about what aspects of mathematics are important to know'. (Liping, 1999) For example, Mrs L was teaching mathematics with a special accent on the multidigit multiplication. One of her strategies was to create the series of lectures (lessons), and the group which she taught was absolutely heterogeneous in relation to the level of skills and knowledge. She paid special attention to the children with exceptionalities, as there were two pupils who were able to perform this computation without any difficult and displayed exceptional abilities towards computation. These children, attending lessons together with the rest of the group, also acquired special tasks separately from the other pupils. The creation of this strategy has been caused by her deep knowledge of the structures in multidigit computation, as well as the wide range of combinations and the special approach towards problem-solving. She was able not only to teach students the necessary skills, but to teach them the general knowledge of problem-solving, giving them the basis for the further develop ment. Mrs B was able to create her own strategy of teaching children mathematics through the special accent on the negative numbers understanding. Making the foreign-speaking pupils understand negative numbers is a challenge, and she was successful in creating her own strategy. Her aim was not only to develop the knowledge of negative numbers, but to make her pupils successful mathematical thinkers. She was able to understand the ways of representing the key mathematical ideas to her pupils, through clear language and descriptive meanings. Her associations of negative numbers with magic peanuts and a frog on the number line, gave her own ideas for connecting negative numbers with the association of money and the similar building model. The choice of the models themselves was complex,

Cross Cultural Issues in International Business Essay

Cross Cultural Issues in International Business - Essay Example The parent company is Roll-Royce cars, but it produces both cars and motorcycle. Initially the company engaged in the manufacture of fast cars such as the formula one sports car and later engaged in the production of fancy cars. The production and demand for the BMW cars has been increasing over the last decade as a result of the increasing demand on the fancy cars as a result of the changes in the consumer market. The expansion of the company to Brazil and other country has been affected by the financial crisis witnessed in the 2008, which affected the sales of fancy cars due to decline in revenues and personal wealth. The 2008 was a notable year for the company due to the success achieved in Formula One competition thus, improving the brand visibility (Ferrell and Hartline, 2010). The company targets the high end market associated with quality, style and performance of the product. Internationalization and cultural practices influence the operation of business essentially making th em vital in the process of business expansion and acquisition. Different countries have a different approach to issues in business and marketing. The culture of the countries differs significantly especially when interested in venturing into countries in the Latin America. The historical and socio-cultural difference must be factored in during the process, to facilitate the faster understanding of the negotiation, thus, making it possible for a win -win solution. The key to successful communication between different cultures is knowledge. The understanding of the problems affecting cross cultural communication and working towards overcoming the problems will ensure the successful business acquisition and management. BMW Corporate culture BMW culture is based on the principles of offering quality product targeting the high end market segment. The BMW corporate culture involves the use of various approaches in the various approaches in the market. The increase in product range facilit ates customer preference and increase brand affinity and affiliations. The company’s corporate structure entails production and performance efficiency while also increasing the quality of the cars produced by the company. The culture encourages customer satisfaction and improved market performance of the cars. The production of high end vehicles facilitates brand loyalty while also encouraging the development of success and understanding of the target market. The production process improvement and welfare of the employees are values included in the corporate culture of BMW. BMW internal environment Product quality One of the company’s core values is quality and is vividly reflected in the products presented by the company in the market. Product quality has led to quality advantages to the company (Beverly and Thomson, 2011). The company has not experienced model recalls as compared to other companies. For example, Toyota has been forced to recall some of the product mo dels due to failure in breaking and acceleration. Such recalls create consumer confidence related problem thereby affecting the sales of the product. The majority of the company’s products have exhibited satisfactory performance in the market leading to the increased consumer confidence. Excellent buying experience The opening of several subsidiaries in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai and other countries has been a plus for the company. The expansion has increased product visibility, as well as provide over 300 state-of-the-art show rooms with trained customer care and sales executive leading to an improved buying experience for the customers (Bowdin, 2010, p. 89). The association of the company with the higher social class led to the development of

Answer the questions Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer the questions - Movie Review Example In Waking Life, the movie is about an individual who has founds numerous avenues through the dreams of individuals. The principal actor easily walks through the dreams of people to assess their thoughts. The movie tries to seek to find out answers where other individuals are not seeking for answers. An interesting film that has entertaining animated characters that spend time discussing theories and ideas. The main actor is concerned with determining the difference between dreams. The subconscious mind is a powerful tool in the head of many individuals. Most people believe that the mind is the place where most different things happen. It is in the mind that most individuals experience intuitions. In addition to, it is in the mind that people exist beyond their physical bodies. Cobb has a strong connection with his dreams and his subconscious mind. The dreams in the movie inception indicate the alertness of the most of the actors in the movie. The subconscious mind of Cobb comes from his subconscious mind. The brain is a powerful tool that can interpret information. The information the brain uses it gets to make sense of various sources. Thieves in the movie are aware of the actions of that are happening. In the movie Inception, there is some reality shown by the thieves. 2. Dream architecture and dream logic are profoundly exhibited in the two movies. Dream architecture helps the mind to create myths in the mind of humans. The fallacies are well incorporated into the movies, and they motivate the viewers to want to see more (Som.org). The producers use the fallacies to create a mental picture to the audiences. The use of dream architecture to constructs images in the mind of the viewers. In the world, there are places that are the producer uses illusion to create messages in the mind of the viewers. The brain processes information for the mind to interpret. This factor enables the production of inception and waking life. The

The departed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The departed - Essay Example Well, the three characters involve in unethical behavior patterns driven by factors such as legal moralism, codes of conduct, universal responsibility, egoism, free will, and determinism. The discussion focuses on such factors in the two protagonists (police agent and the undercover police agent), reasons for corruption in the criminal justice system, how to use critical thinking in enforcing the law, and the necessity to differentiate between morality and ethics. Scorsese uses glowing money shots relating them to the key characters, to create an outstanding theme, and categorize these characters. The major theme in the story relates to the character's attitude towards money, which molds the behavior for each character (Sickels, 2011). In addition, he retains the viewer’s attention through matching on the scene and implementing blurry backgrounds. The shots taken with the story, the angle by which the producer took, and the glowing film background pointing the major characters , Billy Costigan and Colin Sullivan, whom the story revolves around, all assist in enhancing the storyline. More so, the story is all about the two double police agents, Colin and Billy, assigned to infiltrate the enemy camp of the other, which creates captivating actions. It is right to state that the story is classical regardless the fact that it is recent production. The plot is full of linear chronology, with limited or no flashbacks, because each action and plot precedes continuously in a forward motion (Sickels, 2011). Complete closure is evident at the ending of the story: the police kills all the â€Å"bad† agents without leaving a single of them. Consequently, Billy receives a respectful burial, memorable speech and several gunshots. Nevertheless, it is easy to categorize the characters into stereotypes. The three main characters featuring in the movie function symbolically in terms of the Superego, Ego and Id, while taking note that the ego behavior structure itself is self-permeable and fluid. Francis Costello, the key antagonist pretends to be the mafia â€Å"boss.† He acts in all unethical behaviors starting from trading illegal and illicit properties while at the same time teaching unethical behavior of the mafia members (Schoeffmann, et al., 2011). For instance, a statement in the story states his teaching to a young boy from the neighboring village, â€Å"You have to take what you want in life.† Costello is a perfect example of pure Id because he enacts his urges and primal drives without much remorse, reflection or restraint (Sickels, 2011). At the beginning of the story, it is evident of him stating â€Å"I never wanted to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.† The audience soon grabs the idea of the naughty guys and the good guys, as well as, the crooked cop after watching the movie (Monaco, 2010). The objectives of the key character come out clearly in the movie: Colin has t he desire of getting successful and rich; he desires to stay as close as possible to the authority seat, which is evident in the way he fascinates with the â€Å"State House.† For instance, the story shows an incidence when he gazes at the seat for some time, after the greatest football game (Wernblad, 2010).. Consequently, a colleague,

SCIENTIST SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CLONE PEOPLE Research Paper

SCIENTIST SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CLONE PEOPLE - Research Paper Example By looking at the potential of human cloning, certain aspects of human society such as the ones determining how human cloning affect scientific research by drastically increasing scientific knowledge of genetics. Heimbach asserts that cloning presents many challenges affecting the subjects such as the potential physical dangers and the profound ethical dilemmas that should be avoided (633). The prospect of cloning humans is highly controversial as many scientists and lawmakers view the act as immoral. There are risks and technical challenges and other laws that make it illegal thus denying the chance of human cloning becoming a reality. People opposing cloning of humans argue that cloning animals may be to humans advantage because it would boost human research however, what is good for animals may not actually be good for humans. Interestingly, animals do not even have an idea or sense of how much we appreciate their sacrifices hence making arguments against cloning to be similar since the initiation of the topic (Surfcrs Web). The people against human cloning assert that the act will destabilize human condition by disrupting faith in the sanctity of life and the superior position humans hol d over other species and therefore any little insult may degrade the human ego. Many clones die during gestation or soon after birth because of placental malfunction is a major cause of death or the surviving ones plagued with serious physiological and generic problems. Such kind of conditions such as the large offspring syndrome and severe respiratory and brain malformations are common among animals leaving a question whether clones can develop and age normally when it comes to humans. Heimbach argues that scientific and technical issues regarding human cloning should therefore be clarified before undertaking the act to avoid eminent failures such as stillbirths and the birth of deformed babies (655). Some of the ethical issues concerning cloning is the use of

Case study analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis - Case Study Example In the e-learning project, strong team work made it to attain its objective making the Australian Customs Service to provide excellent services. Being a body that is responsible for provision of security and integrity of Australia borders, Australian Customs Service noted the need to develop a system that would ensure effective collaboration among the 4,900 employees (David, 2006).The e-learning project was undertaken after the Customs evaluation and came to a conclusion that it will achieve the expected outcomes. One of the notable strengths of the project is that it enjoys the support of the large number of employees. In this way, it would not face resistance during implementation. Additionally, Australian Customs Service applied new technology that is positively viewed as a major solution that faces security personnel. The project also underwent extensive analysis before being implemented, implying that minimal resources were lost resulting to a higher rate of return on investment. The strong working relationship between the project managers and the working group is another strength that made the e-learning project to achieve its objectives. Based on the need by the Customs to provide a project that is effective, the process of planning e-learning took a lot of time. The costs that the Customs underwent in terms time and financial resources could have been possible reduced by outsourcing the project. Due to the modern technology that the e-learning project is adopting, the Customs have an opportunity of conducting training programs easily. On their part, people working in Australian Customs Service will get a chance of enhancing their skills thus becoming more productive. The e-learning project can also be adopted by other security agents that work in collaboration with Australian Customs Service. In this way, the Customs work will not only

Leadership Imperatives in the Arab-American University Essay Example for Free

Leadership Imperatives in the Arab-American University Essay Leadership in a school of higher and advanced learning such as the Arab-American University requires collaborative and confrontational challenges with a number of issues, typical but not limited to that of any educational institution. Such issues as cultural diversity, inclusivity, intellectual activities such as research and instruction, social involvements such as community extension services, students affairs, finance, marketing, strategic business models, organizational theories, profitability and shareholder value, political and social congruencies and differences, among others, often create deep chasms to and between the various school sectors that are ironically bound by a common purpose – quality education. This is made more demanding when Arab and American views are integrated in a single community. What unique leadership and management model therefore would apply under such a sensitive configuration? What risk management intervention would constantly prevail? What residual risks or synergy, if any, would be evident? Leadership and management in an educational institution are perhaps among the most formal, sensitive and confrontational roles a professional can assume. Business organizations established for profit are far easier managed and led as there is that environment and mandate of compliance required of every employee based on employment contracts and agreements. This compliance system gives the manager the elbow room to adopt an organizational approach under a theory x or y scenario. Admittedly, discipline under an entrepreneurial undertaking is demanded primarily to meet shareholder value targets and for survival secondarily. Universities are considered more complex than most organizational systems as they demand the most professional processes than any other institution. Schools are assumed to be the fount and cradle of learning, hence a strong exemplary modeling of instructors and administrators are always the subject of intensive scrutiny among other sectors. Would this university therefore require a business-like management style or an organization leadership mix that is as fluid as the socio-cultural and political dimensions? . In an age where socio-cultural and political diversities are characterized with the widest spectra and extremes, the establishment of an Arab-American intellectual Mecca can be expected to require the most intense professional and socio-cultural leadership anywhere. This study would be interested in identifying areas of collaboration while addressing confrontational issues and risks along the process. Similarly, the relevance of this study along multicultural settings in complex and diverse forms and in highly professional environment would transcend, even revolutionize all assumptions, hypothesis and even all forms of propositions about multicultural biases. Brief history of the Arab-American University The Arab-American University (AAU) was established in 1973 as non-sectarian, non-profit and non-government institution of higher learning. Its primary purpose is to address the educational needs of Arab-Americans starting from preschool to basic, secondary, higher education, to graduate and post-graduate levels. Among its goals and objectives include providing full scholarships to families of indigent but intellectually capable members of the Arab-American community in a specific area with a relatively high density of Arab-American families. While the university accepts Muslim students, it also caters to students from other religious and cultural denominations and groups.. The university is primarily a combination of a business college strongly oriented towards information technology and engineering courses, both technical and baccalaureate degrees. The university is composed of seven schools: the Schools of Business Management, Hospitality Management, Accountancy, Nursing and Midwifery, Medicine, Arts, Political and the Social Sciences, Polytechnic Institute composed of the Departments of Architecture, Computer Science, Electronic Communications Engineering, Civil and Mechanical Engineering and Fine Arts, its flagship programs includes Accountancy where it ranks among the top 50 business schools in the United States, Electronics Communications Engineering, Nursing, Hospitality Management and Mechanical Engineering. All seven schools are verticalized with their respective graduate schools. As of the year 2008, the university boasted a population of 30,000 highly selected students and scholars from 25 states and 15 countries mostly from the Middle East and Asian countries. Its student population increases by an average of 15 per cent and expected to hit 50,000 by 2012. Presently, it maintains two campuses – the Chicago and Urbana Campuses, each with its own charter and separate sets of faculty. All courses are offered in both campuses. For the last three years, AAU has garnered a number of academic awards, including twelve top researches awards in Accountancy, Computer Sciences, Nursing, Electronic Communications Engineering Awards. As of December 31, 2008, the school started to become consistent in its passing rate for the Accountancy, Nursing and Engineering courses all averaging about 80 per cent against the national norm of 40 per cent. For nursing, AAU has started to register a 100 per cent passing rate in the Nursing Board Examinations. All colleges and schools in the university are headed by a Dean of the College and are assisted by a Vice Dean with a pool of Academic Chairs for each of the courses or majors within the college. A Faculty secretary is the administrative officer of each college or school and must be a holder of a doctor’s degree in any of the courses in the college where he or she is assigned. The faculty secretary is the point person of every college but maintains a built-in six units of academic load in addition to his full-time administrative work. The university boasts of complete state of the art facilities for all of its laboratory classes including its basic education department. Its library is one of the most complete, up-to-date libraries in the world with the most comprehensive collection of traditional and electronic materials. During the last five years, the university has been the recipient of awards for excellence in community involvement and extension services. Its research center laboratory enjoys an endowment fund from where it trains and maintains its pool of researchers from the ranks of the faculty. Leadership Efficiency and Effectiveness and the primary key concepts adopted in the university Just like any school of advanced learning, the university is a complex organization that adheres to the mission, vision, goals and objectives it has demanded from itself and its academic and non-academic employees the highest standards of professionalism, responsiveness, community involvement, strong, visible and dynamic research-orientations and the disciplinary but compassionate relationship maintained with the students of all levels. To be effective and efficient, the university periodically asserted its need to formalize and communicate its strategic, tactical and operational plan in the same other successful organizations do. (Robbins, 2003). Looking ahead and beyond the current situations in the industry, (in this case the education sector) brings uncertainties and risks into the open and allows the organization a clear means of managing, confronting and even avoiding those uncertainties and risks. (Shaw,2003). The university makes sure that it conducts its strategic planning session annually before the onset of the succeeding year in time for translating the strategic level into the tactical component as well as operationalizing the tactical level. (Anthony Govindarajan, 2001). Similarly, AAU never fails to conduct an evaluation and assessment of its preset plans as means of determining where it is and what constraining and enabling factors it is experiencing. (Atkinson et al, 2003). This evaluation additionally renders the university an effective means of addressing change (Koller as cited by Robbins, 2003). These planning and change management processes articulates AAUs assertion of leadership under inherent socio-cultural complexities through clear visioning and communication initiatives to all its stakeholders that for many years, have been encouraged to actively participate in the planning sessions. This has greatly contributed to the overwhelming atmosphere of professionalism in the university. The senior administrators of AAU may not have formal training on complexity management, but their organizational leadership styles enable the attainment of an enviable cohesiveness as a team with a common purpose of being; that of addressing ignorance and mediocrity where they are needed. AAU’s uniqueness stems from its capability to harness its management with the leadership character to instill regulatory and policy compliance without having to assert authority and power in between (House cited by Robbins, 2003). It is surprising that even under intense pressure to compete and manage the scarce resources provided endowment; the AAU is able to integrate the sensitive and complex balance scorecard approach in its strategic decision making. (Kaplan Norton, 2004). The university attributes this success factor on its priority for choosing its leaders under the trait theory that focuses on the personal qualities along charisma, exemplary modeling, attitude, enthusiasm and even personal traits common to both cultures as courage and determination. (Robbins,2003). Despite rigorous studies on identifying leadership traits for its management, supervisory and staff positions, the university correlates traits such as drive and ambition, integrity which includes honesty and sincerity, competence along knowledge and skills and even sense of sacrifice. (Robbins,2003). The university however, continues to experience a dearth of this type of managers with the leadership dimension due to the expansion and establishment of similar institutions outside of the United States. Thus, aware of this constraint, AAU emphasizes its executive and management development training programs to prepare the transition of its key people towards the great demand for exemplary modeling (DelaTorre, 2006); that is, managers and leaders who took initiatives to address the personal needs of the employees as means of making them more productive in the process. (Robbins, 2003). The university seldom experiences the risks of the groupthink factor (Shafritz Ott on Janis,1992) as it respects the need for all decision makers to be extremely knowledgeable and skilled in the decision making processes. Being a part of its strategic objectives, the annual development programs encourage AAU employees to be continuously motivated, through the behavioral theory approach, effectively deciding as a team in addressing organizational objectives. This motivational drive expands the employees horizons and capabilities towards job satisfaction and sustainable learning and growth of its human capital (Kaplan Norton, 2003). As a result, AAU has achieved in just 25 years what other universities tried to accomplish in a century and under the most challenging multicultural scenarios. On one hand, the leadership and management mix being adopted in the university guarantees and assure empowerment of units and people towards autonomy and self-regulation. This is granted after intensive training on decision making and university processes that includes appreciation and utilization of marketing researches and theories in support of policy formulation and implementation. The immense authorities and power given especially to the respective heads of offices, primarily the Deans of Colleges and Schools, are always tempered with management control systems to guide all decisions towards achievement of goals every inch of the way. The resultant good governance, control and transparency outcomes of this empowerment initiatives unburdens the senior management with operational concerns, thus allowing this level a clear focus on the strategic direction of the university and strengthening its social and political influence through good governance and risk management processes (Shaw,2003) On the other hand, the administrative efficiency has been excellently adopted through specialization and responsibility accounting that enables units to address issues at every level strengthening the span of control while focusing tasks towards a specific class of clients, concerns and even the university campus designated purposely for the educational services. (Shafrits Ott on Simon, 1992). The leadership styles and practices exercised by the AAU stakeholder group are creating new levels of efficiency and effectiveness in the hierarchy and creating precedents as well as new theories to emerge in the realm of university value-based (Koller, 1994) management and organizational leadership. These new learning and growth perspectives have revolutionized the balanced scorecard (Horngren et al, 2000) and stakeholder principles (DelaTorre, 2006) with an exemplary mix of leadership innovations. Despite the control risks that mix might be spawned by the staff turnovers experienced during the last few years, the university has maintained a loyalty index of more than ten years among its people. This is a sustainability plus factor in human resource management of the school. Other key principles and concepts adopted In the area of instruction, research and extension services for example, excellence in the classroom is primarily driven by a strongly motivated select members of the faculty pool whose training and development focus is based on aligning the needs of the teachers with the needs of the university. This congruency theory in objectives (DelaTorre, 2006) allows for mutual and beneficial relationship between faculty providers and students. The intervention theory (Shafrits Ott on Argyris, 1992) in organizations demands a strong psychotherapy approach (Rogers Roethlisberger, 2000) to communications. The theory presupposes the presence of a special relationship between people to enable openness and transparency among constituents. Teachers display this practice in terms of open and complementary student advising and counseling sessions not only as part of the intervention process but a critical part of the formation process in education. Students need and demand attention in the form of interventions especially in difficult and complex scenarios they find themselves in the process of earning a degree. Thus this psychotherapy theory helps in providing a strong motivational environment in the classroom opens avenues for students to be creative and enthusiastic about their career plans. Secondarily, this special attention given to student clientele becomes a strong promotional and marketing tool for the university in attracting students even from those school already established. The need for any intensive advertising and marketing efforts to project the identity of the schools are addressed by the students themselves who become informal marketing and testimonial proofs of quality education. This has expanded the market of the university even to those non-Arab-Americans who appreciate the philosophy that the school articulates and manifests through its graduates. Managing and leading a university in the current socio-economic environment becomes problematic even under the various principles of organization (Shafritz and Ott on Cohen and March, 1992). These anarchic ambiguities of purpose, power, experience and success can render even the most competent university president to fail in some circumstances in due time. Thus the management and organizational leadership mix is both critical and mandatory. This allows the president to grab the appropriate management and leadership tool at a given situation and scenario and exert and even allow certain precedent-setting decisions to effect changes with the least minimum resistance or optimum cooperation. Thus, inability along this line runs the risk of getting confused with his leadership character or manager authority or some hybrid in between. For AAU, the consultation process with the constituents and stakeholders becomes the medium by which decision critical to every office head’s functions are articulated. This explores the best idea possible while addressing and dissipating potential resistance to any innovations and measures not easily understood or appreciated.

Every Child Matters Policy: Analysis

Every Child Matters Policy: Analysis Describe and discuss a specific area of policy, with particular regards to the social problems within which it was concerned, its ideological origin, its aims, its nature and its effects. For most parents, their children are loved and cherished. But sadly enough, some children are not so fortunate. Some childrens lives are dreadfully different. Instead of warmth and security of normal family life, these childrens lives are filled with risk, fear and danger. Victoria Climbie was one of these children. At the hands of those entrusted with her care, she suffered appallingly and eventually died. In this essay, the author will be discussing this issue further and why it was seen as the underlying social problem. Every child maters is a new labour government policy that was published alongside a detailed response to lord lamings report into the death of Victoria Climbie. For the purpose of this essay, The author will be looking at the Lamings report and identify the key findings of what went wrong which was the main driver for change. I will then look at what the government has done following the recommendations presented in the Laming Report. This essay will be describing the context of the Every Child Matters policy. In order to effectively do this, the author will be looking at the aim of the policy. I will also be assessing the influence of political ideology utilising theoretical framework. Finally I will be discussing the issue pertaining to the nature and implematation of Every Child Matters how the policy was implemented, and the effect of the policy. The welfare of children in the United Kingdom is one of the most important items for the government in terms of social policy. (Ellison Pierson, 1998). Every Child Matters was produced by the new labour government, Some of the influences of ideologies for change are; new labour governments focus on inequalities, parental fury and the response from lord lamings report. According to Heywood (1998), â€Å"ideology is a more or less coherent set of ideas that provides the basis for some kind of organised political action. All ideologies offer an account of the existing order (usually in the form of a word view), provide the model of a desired future (a vision of the good society) and outline how political change can and should be brought about.† The Liberal ideology stands for the freedom of the individual to pursue happiness and well being at whatever costs necessary, which is also known as individualism. Broadly speaking, it emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Modern liberalism has its roots in the Age of Enlightenment. Liberalism today is located at the centre left and centre right of the ideological spectrum. Liberalism is the belief that we are free to make our own mistakes, decide our own lifestyle, choose our own way of living, pursue our own thoughts and philosophies, provided we dont infringe on other peoples freedom. Every Child Matters policy fits with the labour ideologies because it aims to give every child the chance to fulfill their potential thereby promoting equality and opportunity among children and young people. The Labour government opposed monarchism, inherited privilege and believes in everyone having equality in opportunity. These ideas emerged from the revolutionary and Enlightenment periods, where uprisings against authoritarian religious states were evolving. John Locke and John Stuart Mill were two prominent thinkers that originally legitimized these notions prior to their widespread appeal and success. It did not take long, however, for these values to flourish, especially among individuals of societies emerging from an era of distinct oppression National Service Framework (NSF) is the key conduit for the philosophies of the Every Child Matter green paper. Victoria Climbie died in February 2000, at the hands of those entrusted with her care; she suffered appallingly and eventually died. Her case was a shocking example from a list of children terribly mistreated and abused. Her carers were later convicted of murder. This was one of the cases of child abuse which have exposed the weaknesses of the UKs social services departments, and communications failures between the agencies involved. According to Blair as cited in Every Child Matters Summary(2003 p5), â€Å"The fact that a child like Victoria Climbie can still suffer almost unimaginable cruelty to the point of eventually losing her young life. More can and must be done†. The most disturbing reality about the case of Victoria Climbià © was that her death could have been prevented, she was known to several agencies empowered by Parliament to protect children. This led to the conclusion that her suffering and death was due to gross failure of the system. In April 2001 Lord Lamming was appointed head of the inquiry, along with four other professionals. It was found that her death was preventable on twelve separate occasions. Lamming found that services were not cooperating with each other and had difficulties due to staffing levels and resources. â€Å"The death of Victoria Climbie exposed shameful failing to protect the most vulnerable children. Social services, the police and the NHS failed as Lord Lamings report into Victorias death made clear, to do the basic things well to protect her† (Every Child Matters 2003 p3). The Laming report concluded that the child protection system failed as a result of a lamentable lack of basic good practice by frontline staff and, most significantly, senior managers failing to take responsibility for the failings of organisation. (Laming 2003). The inquiry was responded to by a range of measures to inform and improve childrens care. In 2003, Every Child Matters was published alongside a detailed response to Lord Lamings report into the death of Victoria Climbie. The policy aims to ensure that every child has the chance to fulfil their potential by reducing levels of educational failure, ill health, substance misuse, teenage pregnancy, neglect and abuse, anti-social behaviour and crime among children and young people. According to Lord laming, Victoria Climbe came into contact with several agencies, none of which acted on the warning signs. No one built up the full picture of her interactions with different services. The Every Child Matter green paper sets out the long term vision for earlier intervention and effective protection by focusing on improving information sharing between agencies, The Every child matters policy was built on existing plans to strengthen preventative services by focusing on four key themes. Firstly, to increase focus on supporting families and carers, the most critical influence of childrens lives, The policy aim to improve parenting and family support through universal services such as schools, health and social services, also through targeted and specialist support to parent of children requiring additional support. Another key theme is the early intervention and effective protection; this is to ensure children receive services at the first onset on problems and to prevent any children from slipping thorough the net. This is done by improving information sharing between agencies, integrating professionals through multi- disciplinary teams responsible for identifying children at risk and also ensuring effective child protection procedures are kept in place. The third key theme was addressing the underlying problems identified in the report into the death of Victoria Climbià ©; weak accountability and poor integration. According to Every Child Matters summary pg9, â€Å"Radical reforms is needed to break down organisational boundaries†. The governments aim is that there should be one person in charge locally and nationally with the responsibility for improving childrens lives. The fourth theme is the workforce reform, this is to ensure that people working with children are valued, rewarded and trained. It aims is to make working with children an attractive, high status career and to develop a more skilled and flexible workforce, including a common core of training for those who work solely with children and families and those who have wider roles to develop a more consistent approach to childrens and families needs. â€Å"One very clear message emerges from the evidence we have received: there is almost universal support for the basic aims of Every Child Matters. We agree with witnesses—and therefore think it fitting to state at the outset—that the Government deserves substantial praise for embarking on such an ambitious and comprehensive programme of reform† (The United Kingdom Parliament, 2005). Overall, the policy has been mostly welcomed by those working with children. Many dedicated staff work flat out to improve the lives and health of children. One of the intended consequences of the policy is the development of the framework for social work training. The two-year Diploma has now been replaced with a three-year degree. The degree was introduced to encompass greater practical experience and to improve the skills base and competence of newly qualified social workers. According to the Chief Executive of the General Social Care Council (GSCC), Lynne Berry, â€Å"good quality service starts with good quality training. The GSCC are working with universities to ensure that tomorrows social workers are clear about the standards they are expected to meet, inspire public confidence in social care and are able to work successfully with colleagues from other professions. The new degree will ensure that newly qualified social workers have all the skills they need to begin successfu l careers† (GSCC, 2003). According to Campbell (2007), A spokesman from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which is responsible for child welfare, said: In response to the Victoria Climbie inquiry, we have substantially strengthened the framework of law, guidance and supporting systems to help keep children safe, and that work is continuing. Tragically we know some children still suffer abuse and neglect. Despite the universal support for the basic aims of Every Child Matters, there are still children that slip through the net. The horrific list of children killed by their parents or relatives includes ten months old Neo Craig aged who lay dead for several hours before emergency crews were called to Rush Green Gardens in Romford, Essex, in December 2006. James Craig, 26, and Sharma Dookhooah, 25, were each jailed for five years after admitting causing or allowing the death of their 10-month-old son Neo. The Old Bailey trial heard that there had been a series of failings by police, doctors and social workers who knew about the boys derelict home life but did not intervene, despite a number of warnings†. In May 2007, one -month- old Luigi Askew was beaten to death by his violent father. Social workers and police were accused of disastrous failures after he was left at the mercy of his violent father Duncan Mills, who was convicted of murder at Ipswich crown court. Slack and Doughty (2008) reported that, â€Å"one child a week is a victim of murder or manslaughter, in a single year, the number of under-tens killed went up 30 per cent form 38 to 49, according to latest government figure†. The figure from the year to 2006- 2007, the latest available, emerged as the mother of Victoria Climbie, who was murdered in 2000, said she was shocked that lessons from the case have still not been learned. According to the report, â€Å"Apparent or disguised cooperation from parents often prevented or delayed understanding of the severity of harm to the child and cases drifted†. Social workers were often conned by parents thereby, children went unseen and unheard. According to the Palmer (2007), â€Å"the overall poverty levels in 2005/06 were the same as they were in 2002/03. Child poverty in 2005/06 was still 500,000 higher than the target set for 2004/05†. In conclusion, Victoria Climbies death was seen as a ‘wake up call for practitioners and professionals who are supposed to be safeguarding and protecting childrens welfare. Every Child Matters constituted the Governments policy response to the findings and recommendations of Lord Lamings Inquiry. Reference: Campbell, D. (2007) Health Correspondent, Doctors ‘failing to spot child abuse. The Observer, Nov 11, p.18. Ellison, N. Pierson, C. (1998) British Social Policy. Macmillan: London Every Child Matters Summary (2003) Department Of Health, London, The Stationary Office Ltd General Social Care Council (25/09/03), First students start new social work degree [online] Available at: start+new+social+work+degree.htm> [Accessed: 10/05/08] Laming, H (2003), Victoria Climbià © Inquiry, London: Stationery Office Heywood, A. (1998) Political Ideologies an Introduction, 2nd edition, London: The Macmillan Press Ltd. Palmer, G, MacInnes, T. and Kenway, P. (2007) monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2007. Joseph Rowntree foundation: York Department of Health, Department for Education and Skills, and Home Office (2003) Keeping Children safe. The Governments Response to the Victoria Climbià © Inquiry Report and Joint Chief Inspectors Report Safeguarding Children [online] Available at: http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/_files/684162953674A15196BB5221973959E3.pdf [Accessed 21 May 2008] Slack, J. and Doughty, S. (2008) one child under 10 every week becomes the victim of a killer. Daily Mail, May 29, p.19. The United Kingdom Parliament. (2005), House of Commons, Education and Skills Ninth Report [online] Available from: .Accessed: [29 May 2008]

Example Answers to Questions on Ethical Behaviour

Example Answers to Questions on Ethical Behaviour My view is that, ethical behavior will pay off in long run. Even though it might take few years down the track for the company to pay off. Ethical behavior is basically an individuals view of what is right or what is wrong. Ethical behavior is used inside and outside of the business environment. We also make ethical decision in our daily life. All human beings are behaving ethically from their own point of view, which also might differ from culture to culture or business environment. In our daily lifestyle, ethical behavior has passed on in every culture generation by generation, which seems it pays off. Ethical behaviors in a workplace are based on the combination factor depending on their ideas. The ideas of work environment ethics is related to how people who work for and who run the business applies their perception of right and wrong in a way they conduct the business . It is good for the company and the companies product to maintain its value at the same time retain standard. This would happen, if the company stand its foot on the ethical behavior. All the existing companies should choose to behave ethically to keep their relationship between their customers and co workers. This is very important in businesses now days to increase their sales of product and services. All the business should maintain first class service. Being ethical also refrains from the companies name or by product also being spoiled and it also keeps the customers happy. But if the leader of the company or the manager misleads the employees or the organisation in a wrong direction, than the rewards bad behavior. Some of these unethical behaviors that are done by the leaders in a bad organization could be lying, cheating and stealing. Even though by lying or cheating might not be a loss for the company, but its like taking the organization and its products and services to a major risk. To run a good ethical behavior organization one must ensure that the leaders abide by the rules and regulation of the particular organization. And the leaders should have the similar ethical thinking of what the organization has. The risks of the organization could take place by running businesses by unethical manners are as follows:- Loss of customers Bad name of the organization in the existing society. Prevents the organisation from growing Bankruptcy Risk of being sued. Breach of consumer responsibility. Loss of good employees. In an organization, employees should form a system to solve any ethical problem that arises with the help of leaders and the managers. As a leader the first step is to specify the appropriate behaviors not just by words but also by your action. To prevent unethical dilemma at a workplace the manager or the leader should provide employees with proper training during the orientation. If you want to make sure your workplace is a good role model of an ethical behavior (doing what is right) the leaders of the organization should ensure the employees continue to follow the rules that are laid out throughout the entity. While it is hard for a company to write some of the simple rules and regulations as long as the general rules are given out, so the company should ask to live by the response of the behavior that they make unethically and hold them accountable for doing so. According to the workforce in todays business culture all individuals should be prepared to deal with stressful situation. Such as when employees are caught for doing previous unethical decision they start blaming the victim (he was stupid enough to fall for it), and finger pointing (she does the same thing, and you never call her on it) will not be tolerated. To make sure that the unethical behaviour does not arise, therefore companys written rule is compulsory for every individual. Also all the rules should be clear easy to understand, and posted to notice board. Even though it is easy to understand the ethical and unethical behaviour thats why the rules made for employees should be memorized. This is how your business can find its way through the gray areas, and the way out on the other end of the tunnel. My past job was also a great experience that the ethical behaviour does pay off in long run. This was when I was back in Sydney. I met Brian Hussain, who was very keen on opening up his own business in a car detailing. He told me that he was going to offer me a job of a manager, since i had two years experience in the detailing of cars. So i took his offer since the income offered to me was great. Brian Hussain spoke to the owner of Premier Parking, which is well known in Australia, to go partners with him in 1998. They both came to an agreement and decided to open up the detailing shop by the name off Elite Car Care in May 1998. The first Elite Car Care was opened in the parking lot of Leichardt mall, Sydney. So i started working from the first day of the opening, business was running a bit slow since most people were not aware of it that the car wash was in the parking lot. Months went past and the business started to make progress, by the end of 1998. The turnover was almost three times more than what we usually use to make. And the workers were really good but the only issue i had that they had a student work permit with only 20 hours of work availability. Since the Car Wash was open for 7 days, it was important for me to have at least four staffs every day except Mondays. Weekends use to be the most busy days of the week, and in order to get the work done I had to ask the employees to do extra hours, which the students 20 hours were exceeded. The immigration was ok with the students if they went over the 20 hour to 23 hours, as long as they dont repeat it often. Brian Hussain, use to come around the work place almost every afternoon just to check up on the hours of the staffs and the sale we did throughout the day. So what Brian Hussain was, cutting down the hours of work the students did to 20 hours even if they worked till 22 to 23 hours. What was done by Brian Hussain was wrong, but i really couldnt do much since he was the boss. The actions of Brian Hussian, made the workers leave, which also made us loss some of our really good customers. Because the work was not done properly and the time frame that the customers had to wait for their vehicles to be cleaned was also stretched. In 1999 i arranged a meeting with Brian Hussain and his partner in the business, who was the owner of premier car park. I told him that the decisions that Brain Hussian made was not ethical and it also affected our business in a great loss. I also suggested that on the busy days of the week if the workers work really hard and skip there lunch to get the work done we should give them a bonus or reward for their effort contributed to the car wash. They knew it will be some extra expenses for the business, but they agreed to do as i suggested. After these changes were made there was a great progress and growth in the business environment, even the workers were satisfied to what the rules that was laid by the organization. By the mid 1999 the turnover was so good that Brian Hussain and his partner decided to open another car wash in Double Bay, which i know was a great idea, because the people that lived there are rich and drive expensive cars. And by the end of 1999 Elite Car Care had a great name in the market of car wash, which made the old customer that we lost in Leichardt to come back to us. This is why i strongly suggest that ethical behaviour pay off in long run and also maintains a healthy relationship with the customers and employees. It is also said what goes around comes back around this is a true saying and I believe to stand by it. References http://www.suite101.com/content/ethics-in-the-modern-workplace-a32979 http://www.asla.org/nonmembers/publicrelations/pressreleases/press071801.htm http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_July_20/ai_76649894/ Question 2 Societys impact will be reflected by the ethical leaders, how the decisions are made and they need to be people oriented. Leaders are there to set an example in an organisation and by doing that they resolve the negative impact on the society. Leaders show ethical behaviour by doing right thing and at the same time they help to motivate the followers. They also help the followers achieve the moral knowledge to its highest peak. In reality ethical leaders cover more encouragement of ethical behaviour. For example, repeating the ethical behaviour programs in their daily life. By being ethical the society helps the base of the business environment to be strong and steady. Right condition should be created by ethical leaders and also organisational culture to encourage the development of ethical behaviour. With a good ethics a leader can convince the world. Society has been represented by a leader or leaders at different levels for e.g can be city, town, village, industry, club, association, country, etc. Such as USA is well known of its power and ethical behaviour, which is unmatchable leader in the world. Another example would be an American leader sent the USA army to Iraq to resolve the conflict they had in Iraq. The lack of corporation and support by the leaders can have a great negative impact on the society and the environment both. This could also result in the rise of crime, corruption, pollution, and social conflict. Todays people blame the leaders for things they have negative impact on the society reason being lack of faith on the leader. For example the voters of Canada no longer believe that their leaders are honest. More than half the people have researched by the British Columbia, which said the government is making their life worst. Being an ethical leader its not just making, doing the jobs that makes the business benefit, but it also must be equally benefit for the people and the society. To complete accurate information through channel leaders need to suggest on professional, personal and legal grounds. By doing this you will have a peace of mind and have no guilt as well as having a respect for the administration of employees. A leader being unethical doesnt just have a impact on the employees but also on the society. If this happens, it could result in a big collapse. One of the great examples that was using a unethical behaviour and then collapsed, is Enron. We can also describe ethical leadership as an trustworthy also describe ethical leaders transparent, honest and trustworthy culture that would later on help them achieve long lasting position of leaders in their groups, nations and organisations. Great example would be a well known person from India his name is Mahatma Gandhi for his great leadership style. In todays generation everybody expects the leaders to have the ethical behaviour and values in the society. By having such a large number of population its hard to separate the evil ones from the good ones. Thats why it gets hard to stay ethical and honest in the world of competition. To improve the ethical leadership in the business environment it is important to introduce ethical from the top first. A leader with ethical behaviour is also a part of social responsible organisation at different levels, which includes legal, economic, and ethical. If a company cannot look after its legal and economics responsibilities then it is not socially responsible. Sometimes company need to do more than it is required to have good impact on the business and in society too. To become more socially responsible a company needs to examine its ethical actions. Apparently company should strives in order to provide ethical treatment to all stakeholders away from shareholders. If the organisation allows their employees and the community in the decision making process as stakeholders then this will have a great impact to reduce negative and at the same time improve the positive outcome for each group. By doing this it also improves the companies action becomes more and more socially responsible. For a leader to have a ethical behaviour in a business organisation, his own thoughts and ethical behaviour should match with the business and society. In todays society leaders should know what kind of behaviour either positive or negative impact on others and the people around them. An ethical leader also helps the business to have a better and healthy communication between the business and society. Some of the good examples of how ethical leaders or an organisation helps the society are as follows:- Disaster Relief whereby for example telecom provide a support to society by proving resources and working twenty four hours , seven days to restore communication to homes and businesses. While working to restore the communication, telecom also provide free calls diverts to all customers and also a free wireless broadband in society. It is also a good thing that a society benefits from ethical behaviour of an organisation because the employees are part of the society.

The Great C.S. Lewis :: biographies bio biography

C.S. Lewis, the great author, wrote all kinds of reading material: poetry, novels, and even children's fiction. He even wrote at a young age. He would draw his own pictures. People during his time loved his books, and today people still love to read his books. This author was also intelligent, joyful, and charitable. C.S. Lewis was a very intelligent man. He proved this in many ways during his lifetime. The way he lived is a very good example. When Lewis became a Christian, as J.I. Packer and Jerry Root write in their article, "Mind in Motion," His habits of mind also continued unchanged. He was already thinking how he thought a Christian should. He also shows his intelligence during his teen tears at Oxford, when he excelled as a student. He was also intelligent as a tutor. Kenneth Tynan, Lewis’s former pupil, tells in Bruce L. Edwards’s magazine article “Literary Time Travel,” “The great thing about him as a teacher of literature was that he could take you into the medieval mind and the mind of a classical writer. He could make you understand that classicism and medievalism were really vivid and alive-that it was not the business to be ‘relevant’ to us, but our business to be ‘relevant’ to it. It was not a matter of dead books covered in dust on our shelves. He could make you see the world through the eyes of a medieval poet as no other teacher could do. You felt that you had been inside Chaucer’s mind after talking to him.” It is instances like these that show just how intelligent C.S. Lewis really was. C.S. Lewis was a very joyful man, and his joyfulness shone through in all he did. He would assign nicknames to his family members and friends, like Robert E. Havard “the useless Quack” or as he called his walking companion A.C. Harwood, “the Lord of the Walks.” Another glimpse of his joyful spirit is when he finished his first day at Oxford and wrote to his dad, “The place has surpassed my wildest dreams. I never saw anything so beautiful.” Finally, we see his joy when he wrote to one of his friends right after his marriage, “It’s funny having at 59 the sort of happiness most men have at their twenties… ‘Thou hast kept the good wine till now.’” C.S. Lewis was a very joyful man from whom people could learn a lot.

An Unsuitable Job For A Woman: Two Detectives :: essays research papers

While reading, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, by P.D. James and Indemnity Only, by Sara Paretsky, one is given the opportunity to slip in to the life of a female private detective and experience the aspects of what occurs during the process of a murder investigation as seem through the eyes of two very independent women. P.D. James’s character of Cordelia Gray and Sara Paretsky’s character of V.I. Warshawski are two private investigators that display great passion for their jobs and will stop at nothing in order to close their cases. But, are inexperienced Cordelia Gary and wisecracking Warshawski prime examples of private investigators or are they two naà ¯ve women who have entered an occupation where compassion and sympathy are two traits that are better left unused. Both Cordelia and Warshawski display great ability as women to enter a world of hate, lies and murder and take on roles that traditionally only men dared to enter. But, as they sift though evidence left behind by unknown assailants and pry into the lives of dead and living strangers, are these women really living lives of their own or are they becoming to emotionally entangled in a web of self destruction. Putting their lives in harms way in search of justice, an oath that they as private detectives have never took. Both women are clearly excellent detectives; they solved their cases and reaped the self-gratification that comes from hard work and determination. In spite of that, are these two women really doing themselves any justice by restraining from the certain pleasures in life they yearn to experience and enjoy but have sustained from due to the career choice they have chosen, as seem in Cordelia’s reflection of what her life may have been like if she had chosen to attend an university and Warshawski’s reflection in the park of the mother and her children. Both women are still at an age where these reflections can still become reality, yet they have chosen to continue pursuing a career that hampers their ability to achieve these personal goals. Maybe their becoming to emotionally involved in their cases is a result of their search for a way to compensate for the void their career choice has left in their lives. Both Cordelia and Warshawski became a little too preoccupied with their cases. Cordelia became so involved she was sleeping in the same house in which the murder occurred, not to mention the same bed as the deceased and she even began wearing the clothes of the young man whom she was investigating the murder of.

Effective Communication in Building Relationships Essay

Communicating effectively is the most important aspect of any relationship. In all venues the way we communicate can determine if that relationship will be successful, this is certainly true in an intimate relationship, but just as important in business relationships, friendships, and familial relationships. Relationships are defined by how we communicate, and how effective we are at getting our message out, but just as important is how well we listen. Healthy relationships require us to know a bit about ourselves, and be willing to share some of ourselves with others, building that trust element helps determine the intensity of a relationship. Understanding some of these components will help you on your way to developing and maintaining a good relationship. Having good communication skills can mean the difference between success and failure of a relationship. Most relationships that are successful are in an â€Å"equitable relationship† (Myers, 2010, pg. 429). Being aware of some of the barriers to effective communication can help you avoid the pitfalls of bad or ineffective communication. There are several communicating errors that can signal the end of a relationship, according to Hybels and Weaver (2007) some of those are, â€Å"aggressive talk, regrettable talk, criticism and complaints, avoidance, and defensive communication† (pg. 199). Having disagreements are a normal part of any relationship, it is how we resolve those conflicts that can mean the difference between a healthy relationship or one that is heading towards destruction. We tend to fall back on the destructive methods when we have no other tools in our toolbox. Aggressive talk is using language that demeans another; it is calling names, using disparaging words, wearing down the self esteem of the other person. This is so destructive to a relationship; it can at times lead to physical violence. But the most insidious form of communication is indirect aggression, or passive aggression. This is when we consciously commit an act that we know will hurt or upset another. We manipulate the situation to get our way, or get our â€Å"dig† into the other person. This way we do not have to  confront directly, it is very subtle, and can be the real killer of a relationship. It is a way to continue an argument without actually saying much at all. The Los Angeles Times (1997) reported on passive aggressive tendencies in relationships, and gave some advice on how to handle the situation, â€Å"first, realize that you may not be able to get your mate to change his or her behavior, but you can change yours† and â€Å"take control of the sit uation by setting limits, figure out what you can do† (pg. 3). Regrettable talk is saying something, and then wishing you could take it back. I think we are all guilty of this to some extent. We blurt out a remark without thinking, and immediately we regret it. Using regrettable talk can leave others with hurt feelings, and cause them to want to avoid us. I think in relationships it is easy to fall into this category, you know someone so well, and feel comfortable saying just about anything, so you let your guard down, and many times the things we say we wish we could take back. I have commented to my spouse that we talk nicer to our neighbors than we do to each other, and if we wish to continue in a relationship we must be aware of this, and make every effort to think before we speak. Criticism and complaints creep into a relationship when couples have no real tools for resolving an argument. In an article from Cosmopolitan, reporter Laura Gilbert (2007) interviews professionals about some of the consequences from constant complaints and criticism, â€Å"After a while, you stop talking with those sweet undertones,† says Edythe Denkin, PhD, author of Relationship Magic, â€Å"and sarcasm or negativity can become more common† 243 (5). There are different styles of attachment, â€Å"people with negative views of others exhibit either the dismissive or the fearful attachment style† (Myers, 2010, pg. 428). Dismissive is a relationship marked by distrust, and fearful attachment is a relationship marked by fear of rejection. Either types can lead to the end of a relationship. Avoidance and defensive communication are two types of negative methods used to get our point across. When we are unhappy we avoid any discussion, the silent treatment is what a lot of couples use to avoid any conflict. This is counterproductive, and will destroy the trust in a relationship. Many  couples mistakenly feel that arguing is the end of a relationship, but in truth it is when we begin avoiding each other that can signal a relationship is in trouble. David Code from the Christian Science Monitor (2009) writes, â€Å"Just because you seldom argue doesn’t mean your marriage is strong, the real silent killer of marriage is distancing yourself from your partner† (pg. 9). He goes on to discuss some possible solutions, and encourages couples to not worry so much about disagreeing, but focus on â€Å"your flight response†, If we can learn to spot the â€Å"distancing pattern in our relationships† we can help â€Å"prevent family problems and divorceà ¢â‚¬  (Code, 2009, pg. 9). Defensive communication occurs as we are trying to defend ourselves from a comment made by our partner. â€Å"Defending ourselves is dealing with a past behavior; it gives us no time to resolve the problem† (Hybels and Weaver, 2007, pg. 200). In a relationship each partner must get out of the relationship â€Å"proportional to what you each put into it† (Myers, 2010, pg. 428). The best way to fix a problem is to recognize and admit you have one in the first place. In Cosmopolitan, Jennifer Benjamin (2007) gives us some common communication pitfalls, and says â€Å"to avoid these, you first have to recognize them† (pg. 126). The article goes on to list five communication mistakes that we as couples tend to make. One mistake many couples make is leaving out important information. We give our partners some of the needed information, but assume that he or she knows me so well; they will know what I am talking about. So vital information is left out, this leads to mis communication, and hurt feelings. Another area that we have to be aware of is the time we pick to have a discussion. During Super Bowl, or when one is rushing off to work, is not the time to have a discussion. Mistake number three, prefacing our remark with doom and gloom statements such as, â€Å"do not take this the wrong way† or â€Å"do not get mad but† it begins the conversation with a sense of impending trouble, and gets our level of anger ratcheted up. Another common mistake is one many women are guilty of, talking the problem to death; we tend to not get to the point, and feel we have to give every single detail. The article says, â€Å"Men have about three minutes of attention for any single discussion† (Benjamin, 2007, pg. 126). The last area is in giving out to much detail. Again women can be guilty of this; we feel we need to tell our man everything, all our past exploitations, we want to be close to our guy, but too much information can  be as damaging as not enough. If we are to avoid the destructive methods of communicating, we must increase our strategic flexi bility, according to Hybels and Weaver (2007) this means â€Å"expanding your communication repertoire† (pg. 6). The more communication skills we have, the more we can draw on them for any scenario or situation. We will be better prepared to handle whatever comes up, while still getting our message across, in the most effective manner. People who possess these skills have much more flourishing interactions with the people in their lives. When discussing communication between partners in an intimate relationship gender and language must be taken into consideration. The way the sexes communicate is very different. According to Hybels and Weaver (2007) â€Å"women use the language of rapport-talk, men use report-talk† (pg. 117). This means that women are trying to form bonds with communication, and increase intimacy levels, men are letting us know their knowledge and skills in a particular subject area. It is a completely different style of communicating, women are â€Å"building relationships† and men are trying to â€Å"fix the problem† (Hybels and Weaver, 2007, pg. 117). In the book, Why Mars and Venus Collide, author Vanessa Bush researches the differences in brain chemistry that is produced by women and men when under stress, â€Å"biochemistry can also explain why women multitask and men are more single-minded in their focus. Problems occur when men and women misinterpret the different ways t he opposite sex responds to and copes with stress† (pg. 104). Several tips that were offered by the author to increase our levels of communication, women should let our partners know when we need support, and men should listen fully to the problem without trying to fix it. I have researched communication in intimate relationships, looked at a lot of studies, and felt I should put my own relationships to the test. I wanted to see if my emotional intelligence matched that of my husband and my children. I wanted to see if the gaps I perceive in our communication as a family was due to the differences in each of our emotional intelligence quotients. What exactly is emotional intelligence; according to Hybels and Weaver (2007) emotional intelligence â€Å"is the ability to understand and get along with others† (pg. 156). In order for us to get along with others, and deal with their emotions, we must first be aware of our own emotions and feelings. We must learn how to appropriately express, and manage our feelings, and learn some self-control,  and we must learn to recognize and handle the feelings of others. I had each family member take the emotional intelligence test, which was retrieved from the Institute for Health and Human Potential. This ev aluates your emotional intelligence, and shows you your strengths and weaknesses. I took the survey, and I had my husband and my daughter take the survey. My daughter and my husband scored very similar on the quiz, my results were about ten points higher than there score. The results said I have a very high emotional intelligence. The results of the emotional intelligence test reflects my life, I am a high achiever, can be very task oriented, and want to ensure that my work with families shows great results. The quiz said I needed to remember why I do the work I do, not get bogged down in tasks, but remember the reason you chose this line of work. The results said I should take time each day to reflect on what brings me the greatest joy. That really reflects me, I enjoy the work tremendously, but sometimes the day to day tasks that have to get done can make me a bit cynical. I think it also translates into my personal life, I can read people well, and feel I am in tune with their emotions, but some days I just do not take the time to really sit down and listen to those closest to me. I can see this reflected in my relationship with my husband. I am so busy being busy; I do not really pay attention to him, and what his concerns are. The emotional intelligence test scores for my husband and daughter both said they have slightly above average emotional intelligence, with room to grow. It reflects what I see in both of them, they are very sensitive to the needs of those around them, but do not always take time for themselves. The quiz also says they may not always communicate their feelings or needs to others. This is very true, especially of my husband; he does not communicate his needs well, and then he can become angry and distant. The quiz gives areas for improvement for both my husband and my daughter. They are to look at what causes them stress and tension, and how they handle those situations, and try and rid themselves of the negative thoughts that play in their minds. I have seen the destructive results of this type of negative thinking, feeling you are unworthy and unlovable. We now know the results of the emotional intelligence quiz, now what. We must come together and as a family and decide how best to proceed. Having the results of this quiz has opened the doors to communication for my family. We saw in print, what each of us sees  reflected in the other. The communication between my husband and me was bordering on becoming destructive, we both were passive aggressive when dealing with issues. I did not want to argue, so I would let it go, but not really, it stayed with me, and I would do mean things to get back at my husband. I might not wake him up, even if I saw he forgot to set his alarm, and was going to be late for work. I might not put his work clothes in the dryer, even when I see he is running late. It would be little inconsequential things I would do, but over the years they have added up, and we were at the brink of separating. My husband was no different; he was just as guilty of allowing the barriers to effective communicating to come between us. I also have to admit that I saw some of the same communication barriers creeping into my teenage daughter’s style of communicating. I think being aware of a problem is half the battle, when we are honest, and do some self assessing, we can truly begin to make some changes. I decided that since my emotional intelligence results were so different from my husband’s that taking a personality test might be in order. I found a personality types questionnaire, and we both took the survey. The survey was published by Dawn Billings, (2004) CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Women’s Network. The Primary colors personality tool asks specific questions, and you rate yourself from highest to lowest in each category. Once finished, you add up the scores and the one with the largest number represents your major personality profile. I took the survey as did my husband and my daughter. The results were very interesting, the one area I found fascinating was that my husband and I both scored the highest in the same category. It said we were both gentle and understanding, which is true, that we are more interested in being loved than in being right, so we may stay with partners that do not treat us well. There have been times in this relationship where I felt I was being mistreated, and my husband has admitted that he has felt the same at times. It also says we may put the needs of others above our own needs, this is very true, and was also reflected in our emotional intelligence test. The tests also said this personality type over commits themselves, and not leave room for those closest to them. This has been a real issue in my marriage; I am so driven by work and school that I forget that I have a husband and a daughter who needs me. Since taking these surveys, the gaps in our communication has closed dramatically. My husband  was open to taking the test, which surprised me; I thought he would balk at doing this. He was as surprised as I was with some of the results; it opened the door for us to begin really talking about issues, as a family, and as a couple. There is more work to be done, taking a couple of quizzes cannot erase years of bad, and ineffective communicating. The pain is there from years of misunderstandings, and from the communication barriers we placed in our paths, but what has happened is the willingness for us to come together as a couple, see what needs to be worked on, and begin that process. Communication skills are vital for any relationship, both personal and professional. This journey has made me aware that I spend a great deal of time working on my professional relationships. I am very careful of how I phrase my comments to coworkers, I am cautious of hurting feelings, or of being misunderstood. I think about what I have to say to a coworker before I actually say it; I try and take into consideration their feelings. But I am not always as conscience at home of the impact my words will have. Communicating effectively is a skill, one that takes work and practice. It also requires that at times we must do some self assessing, see where our strengths are at, but also admit where our weaknesses are at, and begin the process of reducing those barriers. This is the only way we can be both effective at work, and at home, and have a happy, healthy relationship. References Jennifer Benjamin. (2007, October). 5 Talking Mistakes Most Couples Make. Cosmopolitan, 243(4), 126. Retrieved March 21, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1394182521). Billings, D. (2004). Primary color personality tool. The Heart Link women’s network. Bush, V.. (2007, December). Why Mars and Venus Collide: Improving Relationships by Understanding How Men and Women Cope Differently with Stress [review of Why Mars and Venus Collide: Improving Relationships by Understanding How Men and Women Cope Differently with Strss]. The Booklist, 104(8), 4. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1402448851). David Code. (2009, February 13). How emotional distance ruins marriage. The Christian Science Monitor,p. 9. Retrieved March 21, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 1644399621). Laura Gilbert. (2008, September). Couples. Cosmopolitan, 245(3), 145. Retrieved March 21, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1529579221). Hybels, S., and Weaver, R. (2007). Communicating effectively (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Institute for Health and Human Potential. (March, 2010). Emotional intelligence. Retrieved March, 21st, 2010, from http://www.ihhp.com/quiz COMMITTMENTS Caught Up in a Cycle of Nagging, Ignoring :[Home Edition]. (1994, July 25). Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext),p. 3. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from Los Angeles Times. (Document ID: 59646758).