What Do You Think Makes a Good Manager?

Kuznetsova Ksenia What do you think makes a good manager? What are the main functions of a manager according to Peter Drucker? Manager is the person who organizes and coordinates the activities of the rest of the staff. The importance of a good manager can’t be overestimated. First of all, a good manager is a leader, a respected, professional and strong-willed person who can motivate inspire and lead people. Great managers accept blame that means that they are fully responsible for their team.They understand the importance of developing – both their subordinates and themselves. In that case I think that good managers make themselves redundant. They always learn something new and acquire useful information from the outside world so as to get the right experience. A good manager is competent: he knows the job perfectly as well as the work of subordinates. Most of the time manager works in a team, so it’s vital to be friendly and sociable and have good communication skills.They have to be persuasive and to convince people to do things like forming teams even those who are responsible for performing individual jobs. Moreover good managers have empathy – the ability to step in someone else’s shoes – because they are good listeners. They are open and always ready to discuss and solve problems. As the managers have to measure the performance of the staff they should give praise if the objectives set for the organization as a whole and for each individual member of it are being achieved. A good manager judges on merit..So managers who regularly give praise are in much stronger position to criticize or reprimand poor performance. In that case it won’t be taken as personal dislike. Good managers are not afraid of others people strengths. Furthermore, good managers encourage employees to use their own initiative, to take decisions on their own. This process is called empowerment. As the result decision making becomes more d ecentralized and less bureaucratic. However, managers should still keep the control of the operations, otherwise their authority could be undermined.As a good manager is a good leader, one should be visible and accusable, provide a clear mission and show what the company’s values are. According to Peter Drucker there are 5 main functions of a manager. First of all, managers set objectives and decide how the organization can achieve them Secondly, managers organize. This involves allocating resources especially human resources so that the overall objectives can be attained. Thirdly, managers communicate objectives to the people responsible for attaining them and motivate the staff.They coordinate and supervise the work of their subordinates. Fourthly, managers evaluate how well company’s objectives are being met. Lastly, managers develop people. Unfortunately not every manager can combine all these characteristics and skills. I consider that the management is more an ar t than a science. First of all a good manager have at least basic flair for leadership so that they can develop their skills. However, not all of them will be able to put management techniques into practice. Others will lack good ideas. Outstanding managers are rather rare.

Public Drinking and Violence: Not Just an Alcohol Problem Essay

The research article was published in Journal of Drug issue 22 in 1992. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach that uses words as the output and input of the research rather than focusing on numbers (Adlers and Clark, 2008). The writer also agrees with the notion that qualitative data have the ability to produce theories that accurately describe real-world issues and processes than do quantitative (Gary Fine and Kimberly Elsbacht, 2000). The researchers suggest that alcohol drinking is very much a part of the Australian culture, a routine activity for Australians. Research by Cohen and Felson (1975) linking routine daily activities with predatory crimes is made reference to by the researches. From this, the researchers state that assaults and homicides frequently involve alcohol in the offenders, victims or both. It is also noted that the researchers pointed to the issue that Australia was facing a hike in violence and made a statement that it was becoming a more violent and lawless country during that period of time. The question that the article wants to address, though, is not the established presence of alcohol intoxication in violent crime cases, but, rather, the researchers want to look into the environment that created the issue. By conducting observational research into pubs and clubs in Sydney, the study attempted to systematically examine the link between aspects of the environment of public drinking and the occurrence of violence. The research aimed to transcend the narrow debate on the effect of ethanol (the substance), by focusing on the total environment of drinking and its regulation (or lack of it) by management, police and public officials. The researchers established a theoretical framework by presenting several past research reports. In a study of serious assault in New South Wales by Robb (1988), the finding stated that 40% of them were nominated by police officers as involving alcohol. Moreover, assaults that come to police attention and are recorded by them frequently occur after midnight around pub closing times, and at least 20% take place in or around licensed premises. The researchers also mentioned a Sydney hospital survey claiming that in a year, many thousands of people, mostly young men, are injured sometimes quite seriously) as a result of assaults occurring in or around licensed premises (Cuthberth, 1990). The article presented a theory by McGregor suggesting that it is quite possible, for example, that male attitudes which legitimize the physical maltreatment of women, or environmental factors like crowding, discomfort, and aggressive bouncers in pubs and clubs, are the real cause of much alcohol related violence (McGregor, 1990). The researchers argued that the regulatory system was dragged down by the notion of the deserved misfortune of victims of pub violence and that this belief is partly responsible for the historic failure in Australia to recognize violence occurrence in, or around, licensed premises as a major societal problem, which has led to the lackluster of legislation and police regulation. This, in the end, has resulted in helping the entrenchment of negative environmental factors, making some establishments into something they dubbed and many more establishments violent on a less predictable basis. The researchers also cited two studies, one conducted in New Zealand and another in Vancouver as influential to their own work. The first study was conducted by Graves, Graves and Semu and Sam (1981) using records kept by security officers employed in twelve pubs in Auckland to examine the frequency and seriousness of pub violence there. The study found that Polynesian patrons drink more and are involved in more violence than European patrons. This was attributed to the former’s preference for drinking longer in larger groups and their tendency to be engaged in group activities rather than individual ones by the study. Thus, the study highlights the importance of patron mix, group sizes, and time spent drinking as variables. The second study by Graham et al (1980) was cited as especially valuable to the researchers as their research’s guide. The study was conducted in Vancouver and found several variables as being positively connected to the aggression; they include percentage of drunken patrons, percentage of American Indians, poor ventilation, the amount of sexual body contact, lack of cleanliness and hostile environment. The authors of the study stressed their view of the environment as an ecological system and implied that the overall effect of this ecology has more impact than the sum of the effects of individual variables. The researchers used the Vancouver study as their starting point for their own study. They used a qualitative method by relying more on unstructured observations on licensed premises, as these are the places where alcohol related aggression most likely will occur. To a lesser degree, they also used semi-structured interviews with some officials and security industry personnel for their study. The study aims to contrast between premises known to have many violence occurrences with the ones noted for their lack of them. Using this design, they hoped to explore the possible drinking settings that were associated with violence by observing any occurrence of violence, however small. The researchers identified 4 premises known for regular violence occurrences and 2 premises known for the lack of them on the basis of first-hand knowledge, police information and exploratory visits. Two observers visited those premises at least 5 times, each observation visit about 2 to 6 hours in duration. It is to be noted that the researchers sent an observation team to another 16 sites, at least once, making a total of 55 visits to 23 sites at 17 establishments. They stated that the total observation times they completed were 300 hours. In the results report, they observed 32 total assaults involving physical violence, excluding 9 rough ejections which were borderline assaults. The results amount to about 11 occurrences per one hundred hours of observation. This is much more than the 7. 4% showed in the Vancouver study. It is to be noted, though, that the researchers oversampled the violent premises and conducted many of the samplings late at night when violence was more likely to occur. Further result comparisons with the Vancouver study show that while the Vancouver study didn’t report any and serious physical injuries, the Sydney study claimed four and several occurrences were rated as physical by their observers. The results presented very interesting variables as the cause of violence occurrences. Presence of big males groups often spell trouble, while single males, groups of mixed males and females, and couples are less likely to be involved in a fight. The researchers also suggested that the boredom factor is one of the key variables in the cause of physical violence occurrence. Premises with entertainment like TVs, game machines and stage entertainment creates comfort levels that appease the patrons’ boredom level which resulted in less violence occurrence. The researchers also suggest that in live bands quality of music matters very much, and that small crowds of patrons entertained with bad quality music will more likely cause trouble than large crowds entertained by good quality music. It is to be noted that, despite all myths, rough pubs with rowdy crowds are not necessarily violent. The results also stressed high levels of drunkenness as a major issue in pubs, especially those caused by management styles encouraging such behaviour, along with the pubs’ staff behaviour, especially with the bouncers. Summarizing the results, the researchers attributed violence occurrences to interactions of several key variables. Some of them are groups of male strangers, high boredom, low comfort, high drunkenness and aggressive bouncers. The researchers pointed out that the NSW legislation bodies did not pay enough attention to the issue, and that there are major flaws in the NSW Liquor Act. They concluded that better regulation and legislation can help solve the problem. They cited Sherman et al (1989) suggesting that it is easier and more desirable to regulate the routine activities of the premises rather than trying to regulate the routine activities of the patrons. Jumping forward to the present day, the NSW Liquor Act 2007 addresses many points being brought up by this study. This includes the need and the enforcement of RSA certification to work in any premises that serve alcohol, fines to servers serving alcohol to intoxicated patrons, setting up 50 meters perimeter from the premises for ejected patrons, and mandating premises to provide free water and also to serve warm meals to help patrons deal with alcohol intoxication. Examining the Sydney study and its comparison with the Vancouver study, it might help for future studies to set up a standard for what constitute a brawl and serious physical injuries. Different observers will have different standards for these issues which might cause discrepancies, especially when studies are being compared with one another.

Organisation on learning Essay

Background: Previous research suggests that the organisation of information is integral to its storage in and recall from memory. Aim: Differences with regard to the use of categorisation of information have been observed between cultures and age groups, so the aim is to find out the degree to which categorisation affects the learning of information in 16-18 year olds. Method: 20 participants aged 16-18 had 60 seconds to learn as many words as they could from a grid containing 24 words. The grid contained 6 words in 4 different semantic categories and was either categorised (control) or randomised (experimental). Participants then recalled as many of the words as they could. The amount of words that they recalled was observed. Results: The difference in the number of words remembered between the two conditions was found to be insignificant when put to the independent t-test and tested at the 0.05 level. In fact, participants in Condition B (randomised) recalled more words on average than those in Condition A (organised). However, participants in Condition B showed 68.83% categorisation upon recall, compared with 0.5% that would have been shown if participants recalled the words in the order that they appeared on the radomised grid. Conclusion: The results suggest that the degree of organisation of information upon presentation does not affect the amount of information remembered. However, the actual process of mentally organising the information may be a significant factor in the amount of information remembered. Individual differences may affect the way the information is organised, but this study found that categorical organisation was the most common form of this. Introduction Much evidence suggests that information in memory is highly organised, and that we remember large amounts of information by associating it with other similar pieces of information already stored. It may even be that the organisation of information is a prerequisite for information to be stored; for example, Mandler (1967) stated that memory and organization are not only correlated, but organization is a necessary condition for memory. From this viewpoint, it follows that, by definition, any information stored in the memory must be organised somehow. It may also be that the organisation of information upon presentation facilitates its storage, and that if information is not organised, people will attempt to create their own methods of organisation (Tulving, 1968). Categorical clustering is a term coined by Bousfield (1953) in order to describe one type of organisation in learning. In his research, he presented participants with a list of 60 words (15 from 4 different categories: animals, anthroponyms, professions and vegetables) and asked participants to free-recall the list. He found that, despite not having been told what the categories were, participants tended to recall the words according to their category and thus demonstrated the phenomenon. Bower et al. (1969) presented participants with words which were arranged into conceptual hierarchies. For one group, these were arranged in hierarchical form, and for the other they were listed randomly. The participants who were presented with the words in hierarchical form recalled almost 31/2 times as many words as those to whom they were presented randomly, suggesting that the organisation of the words upon presentation facilitated their storage in memory. A similar trait has also been observed with naturally occurring stimuli. Rubin and Olson (1980) asked students to recall the names of as many members of staff in their school as they could, and found that students showed a strong tendency for the members of staff’s names to be recalled by their respective departments. This also shows evidence for categorical organisation. They further found that students who re-arranged word cards into more categories remembered more words on average than those who created less categories, and that those who were not told to actively remember the words, instead just sort them, remembered the same amount as those asked to remember them. These indicate that not only does categorisation increase the amount of information remembered, but the active process of organisation may even cause the information to be remembered. More support that organisation and learning are intertwined comes from Kahana and Wingfield (2000), who found that the relation between organisation and learning remained the same even after significant differences between participants’ mnemonic abilities had been taken into account.  One case study which suggests that memory is highly organised comes from Hart et al. (1985). Having almost made a complete recovery from a stroke two years previously, M.D. experienced no problems except that he was unable to name different types of fruit and vegetable or sort them into categories. However, he was able to name and sort types of food, for example, and vehicles, which suggests that his inability to carry out these tasks was limited to specific semantic categories. Aims The findings of this previous research suggest that organisation does play a large role in the storage, structuring and restructuring of information in memory. However, organisation does not necessarily imply categorisation, which is what will be tested here. Also, in a similar way that Gutchess et al. (2006) found that age and culture affected the way in which categorisation was used in memory, it may be that young people in turn use it differently. So, the following experiment aims to investigate the effects of organisation on learning in 16-18 year-olds. More specifically, it will investigate the degree to which organisation of information upon presentation affects the storage and recall of words presented in a randomised grid. Following on from research by Bower et al. (1969) and Rubin and Olson (1980), two hypotheses have been drawn:  Experimental hypothesis  Participants will recall, on average, fewer words when the words given are listed randomly, than will the participants for whom the words are listed categorically.

Health promotion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Health promotion - Research Paper Example These strategies are supported by five priority action areas as outlined in the Ottawa Charter for health promotion; build healthy public policy, create supportive environments for health, strengthen community action for health, develop personal skills and re-orient health services. Three of the most common health problems that affect people include cervical cancer, obesity and Hypertension (HTN). Cervical Cancer Considered a prevalent condition among the immigrant Americans, cervical cancer is associated with numerous risk factors; against which campaign are fostered to curb the its effects. Although vaccination against cervical cancer is available, timely testing and screening aid in the prevention and management; ultimately reducing the incidence by 80%. Rampant cases in the US are reported among the Vietnamese and non-Latina women immigrants largely associated with limited access to Pap testing. Drastic measures to curb the disparities include awareness campaigns, encouraging adm inistration of primary care by PCPs, and increase patient-provider communication. Cervix in relation to upper part of vagina and posterior portion of uterus The cervix is the narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top of the vagina. Most cancers of the cervix are squamous cell carcinomas which are in the flattened epithelial cells that line the cervix. Symptoms such as pelvic pain, heavy bleeding from the vagina, leaking of urine or faeces from the vagina, back pain, leg pain, single swollen leg, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, and bone fractures indicate advanced cervical cancer (Green & Kreuter, 1991). Certain risk factors according to the American cancer society include: Chlamydia infection, multiple pregnancies, exposure to the hormonal drug diethylstilbestrol stress and stress related disorders, HPV infection, smoking, HIV infection, diatary factors, hormonal contraception, and family history of cervical cancer. Other risk factors especially for young pers ons are: early age at first intercourse and first pregnancy, compounded by early use of oral contraceptives. There has not been any definitive evidence to support the claim that circumcision of the male partner reduces the risk of cervical cancer, although some researchers say there is compelling epidemiological evidence that men who have been circumcised are less likely to be infected with HPV. However, in men with low-risk sexual behaviour and monogamous female partners, circumcision makes no difference to the risk of cervical cancer (Green & Kreuter, 1991). According to Pham, et al (2003), biopsy procedures is an effective screening test, confirmation of the diagnosis of cervical cancer which is done through colposcopy aided by dilute acetic acid like vinegar solution to highlight abnormal cells on the surface of the cervix. Precancerous lesions are exposed to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia the potential precursor to cervical cancer which is often diagnosed by a pathologist. For premalignant dysplastic changes the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grading is used. The subtypes of cancer include; squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, neuroendocrine tumour, glassy cell carcinoma, villoglandular adenocarcinoma. Non-carcinoma malignancies which can rarely occur in the cervix include; melanoma and lymphoma. According to Mock, et al (2007), prevention of cervical cancer

My Life In film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

My Life In film - Essay Example This will help to construct a connection between my life and the film. It can be very difficult for two people from different cultural backgrounds to form a union when their cultural differences are huge. This is the theme of the movie â€Å"My Big Fat Greek Wedding.† Before watching this movie, I never thought two people from different cultures could really spend a life together. This movie taught me the difference and helped me broaden by mind. Before this movie, I was the kind of person who unconsciously held on to trite cultural stereotypes. But, this movie conveyed this message to me that a rift between two cultures can rapidly stretch into an abyss when people are not willing to abandon certain clichà © stereotypes. Such stereotypes can quite effectively end â€Å"a potential relationship† (Karis & Killian 8). I was also the person who had no value for culture. But, this movie made me realize the importance of my culture knowing there are many immigrants out there for whom the struggle to keep their cultures alive is a never-ending battle as portrayed in the movie. â€Å"Raging Bull† is the name of another movie which casted a deep impression on me and played a role in shaping my life. Before getting the chance to see this movie, I was a very temperamental person who used to act on impulse without thinking of important repercussions. This habit has caused me many losses, but I did not learn my lesson until I watched this movie. This is because this movie presented a lead actor to me who is professionally very good, but destroys his everything at hands of his unbridled rage (Connolly). In the life of that boxer, I saw my life. In his rage, I saw mine and in his failures, I caught a glimpse of mine. This movie made me realize that if I want to escape the end which Jake the boxer meets in the movie due to his uncontrolled temper and

Egyptian Mythology, Egyptians and Tanakh Creations Story Essay - 6

Egyptian Mythology, Egyptians and Tanakh Creations Story - Essay Example The creation stories in the Tanakh and Egyptians epic are similar in that all things were created by the deity conceiving something and pronouncing it by his tongue. The creation stories are also different. The creation stories in the Tanakh have only one Supreme Being, who creates everything. But in the Egyptian and Mesopotamia creation epics, there are many gods, and they are struggling against each other. In the Mesopotamians epic, the opposing force (Tiamat) is destroyed through war but in the Tanakh, the opposing force is not destroyed but cursed. In the Egyptians epic story, the deity is represented by nature like the cloud, sun, earth, sky, etc. But in the Tanakh, God is beyond nature and creation, and He is not part of creation. Biblically, a covenant refers to an agreement between God and His people. God makes promises which He faithfully fulfills if the people abide by the conditions set in the covenant. In the creation, God created Adam and gave him dominion over the earth on the condition that He will not eat the tree of Knowledge of good and evil(Gen 2:17). But Adam disobeyed and ate the fruit and hence broke the covenant and, as a result, was cursed and cast out of Eden. Later on, the world became very corrupt, and God decided to destroy the whole earth by water but saved Noah and his household (Gen 6:7-8). After the Flood had receded, God made a covenant with Noah that God will never again destroy the world by water. After the flood, the people came together and decided to build the tower of Babel that was to reach the sky (Gen 11:3-4). God come and confused the people with different languages, and they were scattered (Gen 11:8). God desired to save man, and He called Abraham so that through Him, the man could come into a relationship with God (Gen 17:1-8). Abraham was to live faithfully and blameless before God. Israelites were not only a people of the covenant but also a political  community. The captives of Judah were allowed to return to Jerusalem by Cyrus, King of Persia in his first year of rule. Ezra and Nehemiah record the reconstitution of the nation of Judah through the rebuilding of the temple.  

Survey Research4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Survey Research4 - Essay Example The quality of service is said to be the gap between customer expectations and the actual performance they receive. (Parasuraman et al, 1994; Tsang and Qu, 2000). When customers are pleased with the service they receive, they are likely to patronize the hotel again and again, which reduces advertising costs. In particular, previous studies have shown that the quality of service offered by front line personnel has a great impact on levels of customer satisfaction (Dunaway, 2002: McKenna, 2002). Furthermore, customer loyalty at hotels may be largely dependent on the quality of housekeeping services and the room itself. (Kandampully and Suhartanto, 2000; Parasuraman et al, 1991). These are some of the important elements that have been identified in the literature as contributing to customer perception of quality in service. In developing a survey instrument, McDowell(2006) points out that the method used must set out a comparison between the theory vs the reality, which is the need identified that is to be examined in the survey. In this case, the theory identifies two important elements that are crucial in customer perception of service. They are (a) the quality of front line services and (b) the room and housekeeping services. The need identified in this study is to examine how these elements may be applicable specifically in four star hotels. On the basis of this, the survey instrument is to be designed.(McDowell, 2006:30-54). In developing face validity for the questionnaire, it is necessary to address the following aspects – what is the need to test the items through the survey? Why do we need to ask these questions and how should they be asked? In this survey, the need that has been identified is that of testing perception of service quality in four-star hotels. The service quality is very important because four-star hotels are more expensive, therefore customers expect higher levels of service from these hotels. As a result, it is

Jonesborough, Tennessee a Community Project Research Paper - 1

Jonesborough, Tennessee a Community Project - Research Paper Example The percentage of the population in Jonesborough with a bachelor’s degree and higher is 25.70%. Over 30% of the population are high school graduates. Over 90% of children 3 years and above attend school. Out of the 2179 households in Jonesborough, there are 1522 household families, 654 households are non-family, 603 are households have children and 1573 households have no children. The average household size in Jonesborough is 2.34. The annual residence turnover in Jonesborough is 16.96% (usa.com, 2010) The median household income for Jonesborough is $44,436. The per capita income is $25,765. In 2012, the unemployment rate in Jonesborough was at 6.3%, which is lower than the national average. The percentage of residents earning an income below the poverty level in Jonesborough is 25.6% a higher percentage compared to the states figure, which is 22.3%. The percentage of children living below the poverty level in Jonesborough is 33.1%. The University of Tennessee reports that al though the number of uninsured adults dropped to 11.2% in 2012, the number of uninsured children in Jonesborough community rose to 2.7% from 2.4%. In Washington County, the average health care cost is $10322. Looking at the health behaviors in Washington County approximately 28% of the adult population smoke, 29% of the adult population are obese, 29% are physically inactive (Countyhealthrankings.org, 2012). In Washington County, the number of premature deaths per 100, 000 of the population is 9028. According to usa.com, the median travel time to work in Jonesborough is 18.84 minutes. Data show less than 1% of the population utilize public transportation. 96% of Jonesborough population drive. Two percent of the population walk or cycle and 1% of the population walk home. The air pollution index of Jonesborough is 105 while its carbon monoxide index is 76. The lead index is 184. Environmentalist rate the good air quality in Jonesborough at 82%.  

Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Media - Essay Example To emphasize this theme of darkness from the beginning, Conrad’s narration took place in the Thames tidal estuary. Marlow recounted that London in ancient times was itself a dark place from the point of view of the Romans. This theme of darkness lurking beneath the surface would appear often as Conrad described the character of Kurtz and through his narrator with his passing sense of understanding with the Africans. In a paragraph, for instance, Marlow said: I tried to break the spell [Marlow says] – the heavy, mute spell of the wilderness – that seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts, by the memory of gratified and monstrous passions. This alone I was convinced, had driven him out of the edge of the forest, to the bush, toward the gleam of fires, the throb of drums, the drone of weird incantations†¦ He had kicked himself loose of the earth†¦ His soul was mad. (p. 183) The darkness theme can also be found in other themes in the novella such as the naivetà © of Europeans regarding the various forms of darkness in Congo, the European colonialists’ abuse and exploitation of the Africans and the human nature’s tendency of duplicity. The Heart of Darkness has at least 10 film or television adaptations after its publication.. A problem in regard to adapting this work of fiction is how to translate the first person narrative first, in the radio adaption; and, second, in film adaptations later on. Marguerite Rippy cited the approach of substituting the eye of the camera for â€Å"I† of Conrad’s narrator. (p. 30) Here, the camera would become Marlow, whose voice would be heard offscreen. This has been implemented in Orson Welles’ adaptation of the novella. He successfully adapted the material in 1938 and that he was eager to reproduce the material on film. Film adaptations of the Heart of Darkness have focused on different interpretations. For example,

The Broadway show Chicago Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Broadway show Chicago - Personal Statement Example The most exhilarating shows in Chicago's lively Downtown Theater District contributed significantly to my appreciation of the aesthetic experience of the mind and the stages of the Ford Center for the Performing Arts/Oriental Theatre, the Cadillac Palace Theatre, the Bank of America Theatre, the Auditorium Theatre and the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place are some of the most notable stages that brought to my mind a really high opinion about stage show Chicago. The Addams Family and Jersey Boys are two of the most incredible shows in the Broadway show in Chicago. Significantly, the former is a splendid new show created by Jersey Boys authors Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice at the Oriental Theater, Ford Center, while the latter is a multi-award winning show. "The weird and wonderful family created by cartoonist Charles Addams comes to devilishly delightful life in a new Broadway Musical The Addams Family Jersey Boys, the mutli-award winning Broadway show about the rise to fame of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons is breaking box office records at the Bank of America Theater in Chicago." (The Best Shows in Chicago) Therefore, my experience in the Broadway show in Chicago has given me an essential opportunity to understand and appreciate aesthetic value of the stage show in Chicago, in which I realized the importance of costume, dance, choreography, musical elements of the show. It is fundamental to note that the Broadway show in Chicago is an absolute beauty, incorporating dance, choreography, music, performances, etc. and the various stages in the show bring before the audience a memorable experience that no one ever forget all through his life. One of the main attractions of the shows here is the costumes used for various performances, dance programs, and musical shows. Significantly, Broadway costumes offer accuracy and professionalism to any performance staged in Chicago. The great wealth of theatrical costumes enhances the beauty of every show presented here, and I was particularly attracted to the theatrical costumes of the Pirates of Penzance and Phantom of the Opera. Another fundamental attraction of the Broadway show in Chicago is, undoubtedly, the pulse-racing revival of the musical 'Chicago' which also incorporates some of the sexiest and most sophisticated dancing on Broadway show. As Ben Brantley maintains, "this new incarnation, directed by Wa lter Bobbie and choreographed by Ann Reinking (who also stars), makes an exhilarating case both for 'Chicago' as a musical for the ages and for the essential legacy of Fosse, whose ghost has never been livelier than it is here." (Brantley) Therefore, the costumes, musical, dancing, and choreography in the Broadway show in Chicago attract a number of theatre-goers today. The Broadway show in Chicago has offered me a great opportunity to recognize my ability to appreciate aesthetic elements of every artistic form. The costumes of the show attracted me very much and the dancers and choreographers seemed amazing to me. Significantly, the stage show in Chicago helped me in realizing the excitement of Chicago tourism and every show I witnessed here will live in my loveliest memories all through my life. The striking revival of Chicago musical and dancing reminded me of the glorious days of the show.

Role and Functions in Law Essay Example for Free

Role and Functions in Law Essay What is law? Law is a system of guidelines and rules that have been set in place to maintain order and conduct. In order to be successful in society or a business the Law plays a significant role in regulating behavior whether in school, home or work. This paper will discuss the functions and role of law in society as well as business, along with the functions and role of law in the Healthcare industry of which I’ve been a part of thru employment for the past 23 years. Functions and Role of Law in Business and Society Whether in Business or Society, the functions and role of law, serves the same purpose, to peacefully resolve disputes, maintain control over a situation, as well as to protect. In businesses, whether corporate America or a family owned business the employees consist of a diverse group of people from different backgrounds and cultures with their own cultural beliefs. With Such a diverse group of individuals there is bound to be conflict not just with the employees but management as well. In businesses there are unethical acts that take place, however, some rules are violated unknowingly, not because the individual is unethical, it is simply because they did not know what the rules were. One way to make sure the Laws are enforced, and the business is in compliance is for Management to go thru training not only to learn the law which are known as policy and procedures and to teach the law but also to be able to handle certain situations that could possibly create a lawsuit such as sexual harassment issues, inappropriate language, misuse of the company’s equipment and/or confidential information Functions and Role of Law Healthcare Being in healthcare for over twenty three years, there are many laws that exist, one that stands out is the Health Insurance Portability Act of 1996 (HIPPA). HIPPA protects patient confidentiality and their privacy which allows the provider to be cautious as to how they share as well as with whom they share patient information with. HIPPA is divided into five rules or standards: The HIPPA Privacy Rule which mandates the privacy and protection of health information, The HIPPA Security Rule mandates the security of electronic medical records, The Transactions and Code Set Rule addresses the use of codes, The HIPPA Unique Identifiers Rule identifiers are used for covered entities to promote efficiency, standardization and consistency and finally The HIPPA Enforcement Rule increase the penalties for HIPPA violation. Diagnosis, treatment, medical records and payments are some of the things that are considered private information. In order for one to be HIPPA compliant the law is broke even if the patient is a family member because at this point, they are a patient. There are penalties for breaching the HIPPA laws, the penalties range from $50,000.00 to one year in jail to $250,000.00 and 10 years in jail along with not ever being able to work in the healthcare industry again. For example, there was a young lady who handled posting patient payments whether it was check, cash or credit cards. While working, The FBI showed up and was taking pictures then seized everything that was on her desk. Come to find out she was a part of a huge identity theft ring and was stealing patient’s credit card information and ordering online as well as using their credit to create other lines of credit. She violated over 200 patients. She now is awaiting trial due to the fact the hospital pressed charges as well as the patients and they are seeking the maximum sentence. Conclusion In conclusion without any type of laws, rules, or policy and procedures in place, there would be no type of order in society as well as at work. True enough, there are those that break the law some by choice and some not but the fact remains, you break the law, you pay the price. References Bagley, C. E., Clarkson, G., Power, R. M. (2010). DEEP LINKS: DOES KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW CHANGE MANAGERS PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE OF LAW AND ETHICS IN BUSINESS? Houston Law Review, 47(2), 259-295 Anderson, W. L. (2010). The HIPPA Example of How Privacy Laws Should Work. Business Journal for Entrepreneurs, 2010(4), 35. Benefield, H., Ashkanazi, G., Rozensky, R. H. (2006). Communication and records: Hippa issues when working in health care settings. Professional Psychology: Research And Practice, 37(3), 273-277. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.37.3.273

Quantitative Methods for Finance and Investment Essay Example for Free

Quantitative Methods for Finance and Investment Essay University of Bristol School of Economics, Finance and Management QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR FINANCE AND INVESTMENT (EFIMM005) Review Questions Question 1: Concepts a. Deï ¬ ne a stochastic process. Give an example in Finance of a quantity that can be modelled as a stochastic process. b. Deï ¬ ne a stationary stochastic process. c. Consider a stochastic process {Yt , t = 1, . ., T }. Deï ¬ ne the partial autocorrelation function (pacf) associated to this process. d. Explain the diï ¬â‚¬erence between estimator and estimate. e. Let {Ut , t = 1, .., T } be a mean zero white noise process. What is the value of pacf at lag 2 for the process Yt = .5Yt−1 + Ut ? f. Explain the diï ¬â‚¬erence between the autocovariance function and the sample autocovariance function. Question 2: Application The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) can be written as E(Rjt |Rmt , Rf t ) = Rf t + ÃŽ ²j (Rmt − Rf t ), where Rjt is the net return of security j at period t, Rmt is the return on a market portfolio proxy, and Rf t is the return on a risk-free proxy. The coeï ¬Æ'cient ÃŽ ²j is the CAPM beta for security j. Suppose that you have estimated ÃŽ ²j by ordinary least squares and found that the estimated value was 1.37 with standard deviation 2.6. based on 3665 observations. a. A city analyst has told you that security j closely follows the market, in the sense that security j is equally risky, on average, to the market portfolio. Perform a 5% signiï ¬ cance level test of hypothesis to determine whether data support the analysts claim. b. Are hypotheses tested concerning the value of ÃŽ ²j or its estimated values? Question 3: Techniques Consider the moving average process: Yt = ÃŽ µt + ÃŽ ¸1 ÃŽ µt−1 + ÃŽ ¸12 ÃŽ µt−12 with {ÃŽ µt }T a mean zero white noise process with variance ÏÆ' 2 0. t=0 a. Calculate the mean of Yt . b. Calculate the variance of Yt . c. Calculate the autocovariance function of {Yt }T . t=a T =120 d. Assume that {yt }t=1 represents the monthly tons of ice cream sold in the UK between Oct. 2001 and Oct. 2012. What type of dependence can the term ÃŽ ¸12 ÃŽ µt−12 capture? 1

Gender Differences In Mathematics Performance

Gender Differences In Mathematics Performance This study investigates gender differences in performance on the mathematics component on the Standard 3 National Assessment in Trinidad and Tobago. Of interest is whether there is a relationship between attitudinal differences regarding mathematics and student beliefs in their mathematical abilities and student gender classification. Results indicate that whereas girls performed better than boys on all categories and all skill areas on the test, the effect sizes were small. The results of a MANOVA with follow-up descriptive discriminant analysis also indicate that while boys and girls did not differ with regard to the perception of the school environment, educational values and goals, and general academic self-concept, they differ significantly on the persistence and mathematics self-concept factors. Girls tend to persist more, but hold lower mathematics self-concept than boys. Keywords: persistence, mathematics self-concept, Caribbean Despite some inconsistencies in results, most of the early studies on mathematics achievement found that boys, consistently scored higher than girls on a number of indicators of mathematical proficiency (Fennema Sherman, 1977; Kloosterman, 1988; Manning, 1998; Peterson Fennema, 1985; Randhawa, 1991, 1994). This study examines the phenomenon in the English speaking Caribbean, specifically Trinidad and Tobago, where girls consistently have outperformed boys, and has become a matter of concern for Caribbean governments and educators (Caribbean Education Task Force, 2000). A review of the literature from the USA and other Western societies on gender and mathematics achievement has revealed an inconsistent relationship between gender and mathematics attainment during the early years of schooling. For example, in a 3-year longitudinal study conducted in the USA that examined the strategies that students in the lower primary grades (grade 1-3) utilized in solving mathematics problems, Fennema, Carpenter, Jacobs, Franke, and Levi (1998) did not find gender differences in the ability to solve mathematics problems in grade 3 (8-10 year olds). They found however significant differences in problem-solving strategies in which girls tended to employ concrete solution strategies like modelling and counting, while boys tended to use more abstract solution strategies that reflected conceptual understanding (Fennema Carpenter, 1998, p.4). However, Tapia and Marsh (2004) contend that up to 1994, measurable gender differences in mathematics scores are apparent only f rom age 13 and since that time, whatever gap existed seems to have disappeared. Hanna (2003) contends similarly with regard to the disappearance of the gender gap, while Hyde et al. (1990) and Leahey and Guo (2001) extend this argument and caution against the assertion that there is an evident gender difference in mathematics achievement favouring males. Leahey and Guo (2001) further state that at the elementary level existing differences were not consistent across mathematics skill areas, and where differences existed, were small but in favour of girls. Nevertheless, they did confirm that at the secondary level, males exhibited a consistent but slightly superior performance in the areas of problem-solving (Hyde et al., 1990) and reasoning skill and geometry (Leahey Guo, 2001). Brunner, Krauss and Kunters (2007) examined the performance on mathematics items of students in Germany. In their study they compared gender differences in overall mathematics ability (which as they explain is the standard model commonly found in the literature), and specific mathematics ability, i.e., an ability that influences performance on mathematics items over and above general cognitive ability (p. 405). They found that girls slightly outperformed boys on reasoning ability, but on specific mathematics ability, boys had a significant advantage over girls. Cooper and Dunne (2000) in their study of the influence of the socio-cultural background on students interpretation of realistic mathematical problems on the National Curriculum in England also found that the means for boys were higher than those for girls. Overall, they noted that service class students those from the higher socio-economic levels exhibited superior performance on realistic items than students in the lower socio-economic categories. However, they also observed that boys achieved slightly better scores than girls on realistic items (i.e. items to which they could relate, or were part of their experiences) in comparison to esoteric items (i.e. items that were more abstract.) More recent studies provide additional support for the above findings. For example, Williams, Wo and Lewis (2007) in their investigation of 5-14 year old students progress in mathematics attainment in England indicated that in the early years of schooling, individual differences in mathematics attainment are difficult to establish. In extending the discussion, Neuville and Croizet (2007) in a study of 7-8 year olds conducted in France, found that when gender identity is salient, girls perform better than boys on easy problems. On the other hand, boys performance on mathematics was not affected by gender identity. They were not subjected to stereotype threat that made negative assumptions about their mathematical ability, and so, they performed better on the more difficult problems. The study concluded that young girls are more susceptible to the salience of their stereotyped gender identity than boys. An examination of the Fourth Grade data from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)s Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), to some extent, contrasts slightly with Leahey and Guos (2001) findings. The TIMSS data show that in the majority of the participating countries boys attained higher mean scores in mathematics, however in only three countries Japan, Korea and the Netherlands- were these means statistically significant at alpha = .05. The averages of all country means were: males = 535 and females = 533 (Mullis, Martin, Fierros, Goldberg Stemler, 2000) indicating that differences attributed to gender were minimal and random. In an analysis of the OECDs 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Marks (2008), found that in most countries, girls on average, have à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ lower scores in mathematics than boys and the average across-country gender gap was 11 score points in favour of boys (p.96). He further explains that while in 15 of the 31 countries the gender difference in mathematics was not significant, in three countries, the difference was a sizable 27 score points, and in another two, the gap was moderate. In only three countries did girls do better than boys but the difference was not statistically significant (p.96). Despite the consistency in the research, there remains a growing concern over the academic performance of boys, a concern which is echoed loudly in England (Gorard, Rees Salisbury, 1999; Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), 1996; Younger, Warrington Williams, 1999) as evidenced from the running debate and commentaries in the BBC News (09/18/2003), and the mentoring programme for underachieving Afro-Caribbean boys implemented by the British Government (Odih, 2002). From the above review, while there are slight inconsistencies in the findings, we can conclude that overall at the primary or elementary level, there is no significant difference in the mathematics performance of boys and girls. The differences only become noticeable at the secondary level where boys perform better than girls in geometry and on the more difficult mathematics items. Mathematics Achievement Patterns: The Trinidad and Tobago Contexts The concern over the gender differential in mathematics performance remains the subject of intense debate in the English-speaking Caribbean (Caribbean Education Task Force, 2000). Specific to Trinidad and Tobago, and in contrast to the literature coming out of the U.S. and Western Europe, Jules and Kutnick (1990), Kutnick and Jules (1988) found that girls perform better than boys on teacher-made tests at all ages between 8 and 16, across all curriculum areas and in all curriculum subjects. They achieve better results on the Secondary Education Assessment (SEA) taken in Standard.5 (Std. 5) (age 11-12) and also achieve better results on the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), the Caribbean equivalent to the British GCSE, administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), taken at age 16-17 in Form 5 (Kutnick, Jules Layne, 1997; Parry, 2000). Brown (2005) corroborates the above findings, at least for students in the lower primary school classes. In examining the performance of 7-9 year olds on the mathematics component of the 2000 Trinidad and Tobago National Test, he found that overall the mean achievement score of girls was higher than that of boys. Additionally, he found that the non-response to items was significantly greater for boys than girls, and a significantly greater number of boys than girls were in the lower tail of the distribution. In an attempt to determine whether the tests were biased in favour of girls, Brown and Kanyongo (2007) conducted differential item functioning (DIF) analysis on test items on the mathematics component of the 2004 National Test: Std. 1 (age 7-9). They found that though five of thirty items on the test significantly differentiated in favour of girls, in practical terms, the differences in item function were negligible and therefore could not explain the gender differential in perfo rmance on the test. With regard to Kutnick et al. (1997) and Parrys (2000) observation of student performance on the CSCE, a review of the 2000-2002 CSEC ordinary level results for Trinidad and Tobago allows for alternative interpretations. The results showed that of the students taking mathematics at the general proficiency level, a greater percentage of boys than girls earned Grades I-III (Brown, 2005). This finding seems to give support to the claim that boys on average perform better in higher-level mathematics (Leahey Guo, 2001; Manning, 1998; Randhawa, 1991, 1994); however, it needs to be qualified by the fact that a greater percentage of girls take general proficiency level mathematics the more rigorous course whereas more boys take basic level mathematics (Brown, 2005). Caribbean scholars have tried to understand this phenomenon and have offered a number of possible explanations. Miller (1994) frames his argument in the context of the historical marginalization of the black male in the Caribbean of which disinterest in education has been an inevitable outcome. Chevannes (2001) and Parry (2000) contend; while Conrad (1999) implies that the problem may be due to socialization practices and cultural expectations of gendered behaviour which for males conflict with the ethos of the school, but alternatively, encourage females to be academically successful. Figueroa (1997), on the other hand, posits that what the Caribbean has been witnessing is the result of the traditional independence of Caribbean women, and historic male privileging of which one consequence has been male educational underachievement. The explanations presented all seem plausible. However, with the possible exception of studies by Kutnick et al. (1997) and Parry (2000) which looked at classroom variables, they are yet to be tested. In 2004-2005, the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Education (MOE) began collecting data that went beyond analysis of student performance on the National Tests. While the instrument did not address socio-cultural factors, it addressed affective factors that predict academic achievement. From the instrument, we extract items that examine student motivation, academic self-perception, emphases on the value and purpose of education, and perception of the school. Each of these factors has been found to be predictors of academic achievement in previous research. (Dweck Leggett, 1988; Marsh, 1992). Student Motivation, Academic Self-perception and Beliefs Dwecks Motivation Process Model (Dweck Leggett, 1988) posits that performance is impacted by an individuals belief about his or her ability (or lack thereof). This argument she frames within the concept of learning goals and performance goals. Students with high learning goal orientation are focused on the acquisition of new knowledge or competencies. They place an intrinsic value on knowledge, which is reflected in a desire to learn. Implicit to the desire to learn, is the willingness to make the effort to achieve their goal. As a result, they are more likely to persist with challenging material, responding with increased effort to master the material. Performance oriented students, although also motivated to achieve, place greater emphasis on proving their competence (Grant Dweck, 2003). In the present competitive atmosphere of the school, this often means achieving a desired grade: not as a validation of their learning, but as validation of their ability. The conceptualization of ability as a reflection of ones performance (Burley, Turner Vitulli, 1999) creates the tendency to avoid material that could result in poor performance. They display what Dweck and Leggett (1988) refer to as helpless response low persistence when challenged by difficult material. The emphasis is on demonstrating ones competence and avoiding the appearance of incompetence (Ryan Deci, 2000, Lapointe, Legault Batiste, 2005). Researchers have studied the motivational orientations and student academic self-perception from a variety of theoretical perspectives (Dweck Leggett, 1988; Heyman Dweck, 1992; Ryan and Deci, 2000; Ryan Patrick, 2001; Schommer-Aikens, Brookhart, Hutter Mau, 2000). A summary of the findings suggests a positive relationship between student motivation, self-esteem, academic engagement and academic achievement (Nichols, 1996; Singh, Granville, Dika, 2002). Further, the literature shows that underlying motivation is the individuals beliefs self theories (Lepper Henderlong, 2000). It is this belief in ones ability and its relation to achievement that drives persistence. Therefore, with regard to this study, students who believe in their mathematics ability, and further believe that their ability is linked to their effort in learning mathematics are motivated to work harder and as a result achieve at a higher academic level. But there are other factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to students that are related to their performance in mathematics. While we recognize that the classroom environment created by the teacher and other institutional variables are critical elements in student learning, we also recognize it is students perception of the school and classroom environments that make these environmental factors powerful motivators or demotivators to their academic performance (Ireson Hallam, 2005; Ryan Patrick, 2001). Additionally, student attitude toward mathematics is highly correlated with achievement in mathematics (Ma, 1997; Ma Kishor, 1997). Their belief that mathematics is important to achieving their future goals results in greater effort to succeed in mathematics and as a result, higher achievement scores (Bouchey Harter, 2005). Therefore, students scores on items that address these factors are expected to be related to their scores on the mathematics component on the national test. As part of the growing interest in gender differential in academic performance that is evident at all levels and across disciplines in Trinidad and Tobago, this study seeks to determine whether students attitude towards mathematics and students beliefs in their mathematical abilities are related to the differential in mathematics attainment between boys and girls. Specifically the study asks: Do mean achievement scores differ by gender on a Std. 3 (age 9-10) large-scale mathematics assessment in Trinidad and Tobago? Is there a difference between boys and girls on their perception of school, their persistence when faced with academic challenges, their general academic self-concept and mathematics self-concept, and their educational values? Method Trinidad and Tobago Education System: A Brief Review Trinidad and Tobago is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society in which no area is exclusive to one ethnic or religious grouping. The education system is run by a central authority the Ministry of Education (MOE). The country is divided into eight educational districts which, with the exception of Tobago which is predominantly of African descent, are representative of all socio-economic levels, ethnic and religious grouping in the country. Each educational district is headed by a School Supervisor III (SS III) assisted by SSIIs responsible for secondary schools and SSIs responsible for primary schools. Early Childhood Care and Education is a separate department in the MOE. All educational policies and mandates emanate from the central office to the respective supervisory levels (Oplatka 2004). The public education system of Trinidad and Tobago comprises four levels: early childhood care and education (3-4 year olds), primary education (5-11/12 years) the secondary education (12-16/17 years) and the tertiary level. The public primary education system consists of 484 schools. Of this number, 30 percent are government-funded and managed non-religious schools. The remaining 70 percent are government-funded schools but managed by denominational boards representing Christian, Hindu and Muslim religious persuasions (MOE, 2001). Parents have the right to send their children to any school within their school district. Each primary school is divided into an infant department where students stay for two years (1st and 2nd year infants), and the primary level where students stay for five years Standards (Std.) 1-5. Participants The participants were 561 public elementary school students from an educational district in northern Trinidad. The choice of the educational district was appropriate because its student population is representative of the student populations in the other six educational districts in Trinidad ensuring that the sample represented the demographic make-up of the country (See the-world-factbook). Sixteen students were removed before analysis due to failure to include the student identification code, leaving 545 students (girls = 253, boys = 292, age range 8-10 with a mean of 9.53 years). Of these students, 226 identified themselves as Trinidadian of African descent, 201 of East Indian descent, 4 Chinese, 3 White and 100 Mixed. Eleven students did not indicate their racial/ethnic origin. However, it is important to point out that ethnicity is not a variable of interest in this study. Instruments The national test. Two sources provide the data for this study; student scores on the mathematics component of the Std. 3 National Test and their responses to items on the questionnaire to provide supplementary data. The examination consisted of 25 items which fell into either of the following categories: Number: 11 items, Measurement and Money: 8 items, Geometry: 3 items, and Statistics: 3 items. The national exam tested the following competency (skill) areas: knowledge computation (KC), algorithmic thinking (AT), and problem solving (PS). Some items had multiple parts, with each part testing a different skill, whereas some items tested all three skills simultaneously (Table 1). Items on the examination were dichotomously scored as either 1 for a correct response or 0 for an incorrect response, or polytomously scored as either 2 correct, 1 partially correct or 0 incorrect. The cut scores on the test separated students into the following four mastery levels: Level 1: Below Proficient. Score range 0-17. Level 2: Partially Proficient. Score range 18-29. Level 3: Proficient. Score range 30-39. Level 4: Advanced Proficiency. Score range 40-55. Table 1 Examination questions (items) by category and skill area Category Standard 3 (n=45 parts) KC AT PS No. Parts Total Score Number (11 items) 9 8 4 21 24 Measurement and money (8 items) 7 5 4 16 19 Geometry (3 items) 1 1 1 3 5 Statistics (3 items) 1 3 1 5 7 Entire exam 18 17 10 45 55 We consulted with a mathematics education expert to determine the cognitive demand of the items on the test. The majority of the items were at the procedural without connections, or memorization difficulty level as described by Stein, Grover and Henningsen (1996), and therefore, elicited low-level thinking and reasoning. Only four items were at the level of procedures with connections and had the potential to elicit high-level thinking (Stein et al., 1996). The following are examples of the types of items on the test. Ruth had 7/8 of a kilogram of cheese. She used 3/8 of a kilogram to make pies. How much cheese was left? Answer _______________________ Mrs. Jack is teaching a lesson Measuring Distances to her Standard 3 class. She teaches that 100 centimetres = 1 metre Petrina used a tape marked in centimetres to measure the length of her classroom. She got a measurement of 600 centimetres. 1. Write what Petrina must do to change the length of the classroom into metres. 2. The length of the classroom is ________ metres Figure 1. Examples of types of test items. The questionnaire. Factor analysis was performed on the questionnaire to develop the five factors (Persistence, Academic self-concept, Values and Goals, School Environment, and Mathematics self-concept) that were used in this study as dependent variables. Because these five dependent variables were considered simultaneously, (with gender as the independent variable), we utilized the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) procedure. Although one of the assumptions for the use of factor analysis is that the data are measured on an interval scale, Kim and Mueller (1978) note that ordinal data may be used if the assignments of ordinal categories to the data do not seriously distort the underlying metric scaling. In a review of the literature on the use of data collected on Likert scales, Jaccard and Wan (1996) concluded that, for many statistical tests, rather severe departures from intervalness do not seem to affect Type I and Type II errors dramatically. Other researchers like Binder (1984) and Zumbo and Zimmerman (1993) also found the robustness of parametric coefficients with respect to ordinal distortions. Additionally, we used the Principal Axis Factoring procedure as our method of extraction because it seeks the least amount of factors that account for the most amount of common variance for a given set of variables. We also employed oblique rotation because it often reflects the real world more accurately than orthogonal rotation since most real-world constructs are correlated. (See Fabrigar, Wegener, MacCallum and Strahan, 1999; and Preacher and MacCallum, 2003 for a detailed but non-technical discussion of the topic). The five constructs that we extracted in this study are correlated, another justification for using MANOVA with the five constructs as dependent variables. The questionnaire comprised 50 items. Items 1 to 10 sought demographic information. Of the remaining forty items, twenty eight were variables of interest. These measured academic self-esteem, perception of school/classroom environment, relationship with teacher, goals and value of education, mathematics self concept and persistence on a 5-point scale anchored by 1 disagree very much and 5 agree very much. To test whether the items really measured the underlying dimensions of interest, we subjected the items to a Principal Axis Factoring with Oblique rotation, suppressing loadings on variables lower than .40. This yielded a six-factor solution. The sixth factor accounted for only an additional four percent of variance; therefore, five factors were specified. This resulted in the four items pertaining to student-teacher relationship loading on student perception of school/classroom creating the school environment factor. All other factors remained the same. Additionally, two of the i tems measuring academic self-concept yielded loading values less than .40, and therefore, were deleted from the scale leaving 26 items to provide the data for the study. Two items addressed mathematics self-concept. These items consistently loaded together yielding loadings of .846 and .772 respectively (see Appendix). Table 2 Eigenvalues and variance percentages and scale reliability values Factors Eigenvalues % of Variance Cumulative % Cronbachs alpha Persistence 7.397 28.449 28.449 .85 General self-concept 2.953 11.359 39.808 .80 Math self-concept 2.112 8.123 47.931 .79 Values and goals 2.001 7.696 55.628 .74 School environment 1.297 4.988 60.616 .85 Overall scale reliability: Cronbachs alpha = .90 On this sample, the five factors accounted for 60.62 % of the variance in the set of variables with the first and second factors accounting for 28.45% and 11.36% of the variance. All factors yielded inter-item correlations > .35 with several correlations > .70. Inversely, matrices of partial correlations were very low supporting the presence of factors. The factors were: perception of school/classroom (8 items) e.g., I am glad I go to this school, persistence (6 items) e.g. When work is difficult I try harder, general academic self-concept, (6 items), e.g., I can learn new ideas quickly in school, goals and values (4 items) e.g., Doing well in school is one of my goals, and mathematics self concept (2 items) e.g., I am good at mathematics. Internal consistency reliability for the entire instrument was .90. Table 2 shows the five sub-scales (factors) in the final instrument and their reliability values as well as the percentage of the variance they account for. Procedure Using the student ID numbers, student scores on the mathematics assessment were paired with their responses on the supplementary data questionnaire. Before conducting the statistical analyses, all appropriate statistical assumptions were tested. The assumptions homogeneity of variance and covariance, and linearity were tenable. As expected, all factors displayed negative skewness. To reduce skewness and kurtosis, and by doing so, achieve a better approximation to a normal distribution, variables displaying moderate to substantial skewness and kurtosis were subjected to either a square root or logarithmic transformation. Despite these transformations, some variables still yielded skewness and kurtosis slightly greater than 1, (Sk = 1.5 and K = 1.27). However, with N > 500, and pairwise within group scatterplots revealing no discernible patterns, these small deviations from normality should not present any concerns. Tests for multivariate outliers identified five cases with values abov e the criterion, à Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ ² (df, 4) = 18.47, p =.001. To remove their undue influence, these cases were deleted from the sample. Further screening identified an additional case. This case was removed resulting in a final sample n = 539. Data Analysis First, to investigate gender differences on the mathematics assessment, independent t-tests were performed. Second, to determine the extent to which the male and female examinees differed on the five constructs, a univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on the school environment factor because this was not correlated with the other factors. Third, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed on the four correlated factors (persistence, mathematics self-concept, general self-concept, and goal values) as dependent variables. Descriptive discriminant analysis was conducted as follow-up to a significant multivariate F to determine which variable or variables contributed most to differences between the groups. We used effect size to measure the magnitude of the difference between the mean score for boys and girls on each mathematics category tested. Effect size was obtained by dividing the difference between boys and girls mean by the pooled within-gender stand ard deviation. According to (Cohen, 1992), effect sizes of less than .20 are considered small and represent small practical significance; effect sizes between .20 and .50 are medium and represent moderate practical significance. Effect sizes greater than .50 are considered large. Results The first step in this study sought to determine whether boys and girls differed in performance on a Standard 3 large-scale mathematics assessment in Trinidad and Tobago. To make this determination, we performed an independent t-test between the means of the two samples for each category and skill area. Table 3 shows the means and the effect sizes of the differences between the two samples for each category, cognitive demand level and skill area. In the table, we also report standard error of the means (SEM) to provide an index of the sampling variability of the means. The results indicate that while girls achieved higher mean scores in all categories, difficulty levels and all skill areas on the test, the differences between boys and girls were statistically significant at p Table 3 Mean normal curve equivalent(nce) scores of the test categories, difficulty levels and skills for male and female examinees Category Boys(n=289) Girls (n=250) Sig. Effect Size Mean SEM Mean SEM p D Number 52.20 1.17 57.83 1.22 .001 .29 Measurement and money 52.73 1.18 56.48 1.26 .031 .19 Geometry 52.89 1.20 56.04 1.22 .068 .16 Statistics 50.53 1.16 56.87 1.23 .002 .27 Skill Area Knowledge and computation 51.01 1.16 57.44 1.24 .000 .33 Algorithmic thinking 53.81 1.11 57.92 1.24 .013 .21 Problem-solving 53.60 1.22 58.41 1.25 .006 .24 Cognitive Demand Low memorization 49.08 1.26 51.04 1.31 .754 .09 Low procedural 46.55 1.25 53.92 1.28

Unemployment in Hong Kong :: Economics, Unemployment Essays

Introduction The unemployment rate became a hot topic in the past few months when it rose to 3.5 per cent, a recent high for almost 10 years. The jobless rate was higher than the 3.2 per cent unemployment rate recorded in the May to July period. The underemployment rate in the June to August period rose to 2.5 per cent from 2.3 per cent in the May to July period. Until recently, most workers who lost their jobs were from the manufacturing sector. They were middle-aged factory workers with few skills and little education. But in recent months a large number of employees have been laid off in the retail and restaurant businesses. Unemployment has spilled over to the service sector from manufacturing sector. Hong Kong is facing a prolonged economic downturn. The high unemployment rate has raised many social and economic problems. For example, the number of people who commit suicide is increased. It is because more people had lost their jobs for a long time. It is a serious threat to the lives of the poor. The unemployed people may also feel that it is unmeaningful to live. As a result, they will commit suicide to solve the problem. Moreover, the high unemployment rate results in the increase of the rate of crime. There was an unemployed man who stole rice because he was too hungry and he did not have money to even buy food! We can know how serious the unemployment rate is. By the way, higher unemployment rate causes lower purchasing power of people. A lot of kinds of business are affected. Many people lose confidence in economics of Hong Kong. They do not believe unemployment will be improved. Some say that the Government should provide immediate assistance for the jobless. Some also say unemployment is due to the attraction of cheap labor across the border. The Government can no longer play the role of a bystander. All of these above show the influence of the unemployment. In spite of how many people who have talked about the topic of unemployment, everyone will be concerned about this topic. The following sections will analyze this hot topic. Reasons for unemployment in Hong Kong 1. Faster growth in total labor supply relative to that of total employment In 1993 and 1994, the increase in Hong Kong labor force is 2.9% and 3.5% respectively. At the end of 1993, the total labour supply is 2 970 000. Change in the total labour supply is determined by the population growth, total employment and the emigration condition. If the population growth and the total

The Simpsons as a Sitcom Essay -- Television Animation Cartoons Papers

The Simpsons as a Sitcom "The Simpsons" is an example of an American sitcom. A sitcom is situation comedy, which is when the same setting and same characters appear in every episode. Examples of sitcoms are programs such as "The Crosby Show" and more recent sitcoms such as "Friends". Sitcoms surfaced in the 1950's in America showing the "ideal" family. Slowly sitcoms started to show the reality of life and dealt with social issues such as divorce and unemployment. Sitcoms have become very popular because people could relate to the program and sitcoms show problems, which happen in every day life in a light-hearted way. These are some of the reasons why "The Simpsons" is very successful and popular. In this essay I am going to use the example of "The Simpsons" and evaluate to see how it follows the conventions of the sitcom genre. The opening sequence of "The Simpsons" introduces us to the main characters and we can see the stereotypes, which are used in the programme. In the opening sequence we see Homer at work. This is what a stereotypical father's role is. We are also shown how Homer goes against the stereotype because he takes some radioactive waste with him showing that he is careless. Marge is shown doing the shopping and looking after the baby Maggie. Marge fits the stereotypical role of a mother in the sense that she is a housewife and takes care of the house. In the programme Marge sometimes goes against the stereotype because she seems to be the authority figure of the family and this is what the man of the house is supposed to do. Bart is shown in detention in the title sequence. Bart does not fit the stereotypical ... ...f the air because people would take offence to it. "The Simpsons" is a very successful programme and has been running for a very long time. Many people have different views on "The Simpsons" some think that it is rude and stupid others think that it is funny and realistic. I think that "The Simpsons" shows the reality of life in a light-hearted way. I think this is why it is a successful programme and also the humour kind of hides the rudeness and that is why people don't take offence to it. In some ways "The Simpson" is a sitcom because it has a family in it and has the same characters and the same setting in every episode. In some ways it isn't a sitcom because it goes against stereotypes and does not set a good example to others. Despite this I still think it is a very good programme and should be called a sitcom.

Versatile Change Strategy: Thriving in a Complex World Essay -- busine

Abstract This paper presents a perspective of the multifaceted components associated with change and offers insight on the strategy to effectively manage the change. For the purpose of exploring an actual change process, I have chosen the area of increasing productivity and the rising demands organizations have today to do more with less. I have chosen the subject because of the critical nature of the requirement to change and the firm belief that organizations that do not take a pro-active and holistic approach are destined to fail. Surviving and thriving in a multifaceted world requires a versatile change strategy. There must be more variety in the strategy than in the system you are trying to change (Bennet & Bennet, 2004). This is similar to a common saying that implies we cannot envision the future or change the present with the same thought or intellect processes that we carry from the past or that we used to get to the present. One way of looking at accomplishing the task of breaking out of the old mold is to use a combination of past experiences and adding them to current realities and then projecting a vision of the future to be created with the synergy created by the all of the joined forces. The ICAS (Intelligent Complex Adaptive System) change strategy refers to a connectedness of choices. This means having a clear direction for the future with a cohesive understanding of why that direction is desirable coupled with individual decisions, support, knowledge and sharing and some common beliefs and values (Bennet & Bennet, 2004). Conventional wisdom cannot alone sustain the strategy, and is many times restricted by habit and pre-conceived notions. Habits are funny things. We reach for them mindlessly,... ...Natural Intelligence. Boston. Red Wheel/Weiser. Moore, Christopher. (1996). The Mediation Process. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2007). Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education. Senge, P. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday. Chapter 11 Page 11 Shani, A, & Pasmore, W., (1985). Organization Inquiry: Towards a New Model of the Action Research Process. Glenview: Scott, Foresman. Van de Ven, A., (1986). Central Problems in the Management of Innovation. Management Science. pp. 590-607. Wells, S., (2001). Making Telecommuting Work. HRMagazine. October. pp. 34-45. Zivnuska, S., Kiewitz, C., Hochwarter, W., Perrewe, P., & Zellars, K., (2002). What Is Too Much Or Too Little? Journal of Applied Social Psy

Joseph Heller

In his 1961 piece, Joseph Heller in a subtle way brings an exclusive attention of the readers to the experiences of the world wars to the soldiers. Heller uses the Second World War and John Yossarian, the protagonist as case studies in this milieu. The story transmitted in a third person narrative illuminates the experiences that make Yossarian afraid to continue serving as a soldier. It remains an enlightening piece that divulges the inner spirit of a soldier when masked with fear, more so having seen his or her colleagues die dreadfully. As the narration commences, the story is told within the hospital buildings where Yossarian is hospitalized. The doctors examining him are puzzled with his condition, which means that he would be pretending. They make a determination that if he would be jaundiced, they would treat him, but if not, they discharge him. Explicitly, Yossarian is faking sickness, but in an intelligent manner. It seems that in his mind, the hospital is safe to take solace since liver problems take time to treat. Nurse Duckett signs a note to give him some pills, but interestingly, the liver pain had healed, yet no doctor realized it. Yossarian is the center of the story and everything is deflected from his perspective. Innately, he is determined to remain safe at all times. However, the story is not told in a chronological order, and therefore, the readers must collect all the jaunts together to comprehend what it all implies. It uses flashbacks and presages to depict what happens. For instance, Yossarian is troubled with the memories of Snowden case where a soldier was killed awfully, and as a result, he has lost the aspiration to continue participating in the war. He is more perturbed and feels weak, something that happens with many soldiers on the battlefield. The same applies to other characters such as Dunbar who similarly stay with him in the ward. He wants to stay longer in the hospital by engaging in various boring activities to pass time. Indeed, the hospital setting has become a better place for them. Yossarian has made up his mind to remain in the hospital for the remaining time of the war, and writes a letter to different people known to him, but never tells them the reasons. Having realized that being insane can work for him, he pretends to be insane in order to be discharged from the military service. He is surprised that by claiming that he is insane is a proof that he is actually sane. The readers can see the way a soldier suffers emotionally in the military camp, even if expected to be strong.In conclusion, the story portrays the diverse points of views that the readers can relate to. It gives a pointer to the minds of the characters that depict the inner world of a soldier. It carries the audience with mixed reactions while interacting with the events. Certain events are funny, while others elicit pity. Yossarian is shaken by the storms of the experiences of the war and uses numerous tactics to get himself out of the military service. For instance, he fakes his prolonged stay in the hospital. When he also tries to pretend to be insane, he is openly caught. Rightly, the story compels the readers to see much inside a soldier's heart than just what is seen from outside.

Altex Corporation Case Study Essay

1.Why was a risk management plan considered unnecessary? According to the contract award, contracts at that time did not require that a risk management plan be develop while according to the sponsor the risk management plan was not necessary because most of the new weapon systems requirements are established by military personnel who have no sense of reality about what it takes to develop a weapon system based on technology which does not even exist yet. According Kerzner, in the earlier days of the project management on many commercial programs, the majority of project decisions heavily favored cost and schedule. This was because we knew more about cost and scheduling than we did about the technical risks. But on the other hand it is essential that programs define and implement appropriate risk management and contingency plans to enhance program management effectiveness and provide program managers a key tool to reduce life cycle costs (Kerzner, 2009). 2.Should risk management planning be performed in the proposal stage or after the contract award assuming that it must be done? Risk management is employed throughout the program’s life cycle and should be developed early in the program from the very beginning and addressed continually throughout the program. Risk management is not a separate program function but part and parcel of the overall program planning and management process. In order to be effective, the risk management process must be recognized as a program management activity, and not something limited to the engineering function. Any program element associated with cost, schedule, and performance has a direct interface with the risk management process. This process does not change fundamentally as the program progresses, although some changes or adjustments might occur as the program progress (Kerzner, 2009). 3.Does the customer have the right to expect the contractor to perform risk analysis and develop a risk management plan if it is not called out as part of the contractual statement of work? The customer has the right to expect the contractor to perform risk analysis and develop a risk management plan as part of the project planning. An effective life cycle risk management process requires a commitment on the part of the program manager and the program office to be successful. It is essential that Project manager define and implement an appropriate risk management and contingency plans. The customers expect the contractor to be the expert who knows what needs to be done in any project and that is why he has been hired to do the jobs. Risk management will enhance program effectiveness and provide program managers a key tool to reduce life cycle costs (Kerzner, 2009). 5.How effective will the risk management plan be if developed by the project manager in seclusion? There is no way a project manager will have a risk management plan in seclusion. The reason being first, Risk management planning is the process of deciding how to approach and plan the risk management activities of the project. Secondly the process will include identifying the project charter, current polices, current roles and responsibilities, and the project management plan and, the Risk Management Plan (RMP) strategy needs to be established early in the project and will need to be continually developed throughout the project life cycle. Project risks include business and contractual relationships, cost, funding, management, political, and schedule risks. Other risks are technical, production, and support risks. These entire put together risk management plan has to be part and parcel of the project planning (Kerzner, 2009). 6.Should the customer be allowed to participate in or assist the contractor in developing a risk management plan? Risk management requires early and continual involvement of all of the program team as well as outside help as appropriate. When we are trying to identify the risk we may get our results based on survey of the project and this will involves customer fully. We have to involve the customer since in any case there is a risk then it the risk management program that will support setting realistic cost, schedule, and performance objectives and identifies areas that require special attention. If we don’t involve the customer then that may lead to the customer loosing trust on our company and at the same time we will end up delivering a low quality work (Kerzner, 2009).

Listo Systems: Cami Machado, Trainer

Listo Systems: Cami Machado, Trainer Context: Listo Systems is a graphic service agency and is one of the leading companies within the sector. They recently implemented a new black box technology which resulted in a demand for trainings for the employees as well as â€Å"train-the trainer† sessions. Cami Machado is responsible for conducting these sessions and she feels well prepared. She is also the one who represents the company at an annual Computer Graphic Service Trade Show. Key Issues and Problems: Cami Machado has previous experiences and therefore feels confident and eager for the first session of the trainings.However, the general evaluations of the course were poor and most of the trainers had no clue of what was expected from them. Although Cami is not worried, her manager realizes that something needs to be done. The second issue is related to the Graphic Service Trade Show where Cami routinely represents Listo Systems. This year because of the occurring changes, L isto has scheduled a private presentation for key contacts. Cami is assigned to give a flashy, multimedia overview of the clients benefits of the new â€Å"black box system†.However, she is procrastinating and thinks that from sales or marketing would be better suited for this task. Applying concepts: Cami knows that she could do a good job making the â€Å"glamour show†, however she wants to have the presentation reassigned. In this case Cami is able but unwilling and therefore her performance readiness is R3 (at level 3). She prefers to talk to the â€Å"real† people with â€Å"real† questions. As for the trainings that she has been assigned to organize, Cami feels herself able, confident and willing (R4). In the past she has taughtInformation Technology courses at a local university and for that reason she feels well prepared. She has spent two weeks preparing detailed manuals however the professional trainers do not share her enthusiasm and confidence . From their perspective, Cami is an R2, because even though she is very motivated and willing to accomplish this task, the other trainers are not satisfied with her work. She is not very effective in giving precise directions of what should be done and what is expected, and the majority of the trainers are lost and confused.It is important to notice that the concepts of ability and willingness are an â€Å"interacting influence system†. In other words, that they are interconnected and a significant change in one will affect the whole. This is why the amount of knowledge, experience and skills often affect confidence and motivation. Cami feels that she knows what is required for the trainings to be successful because she has had experience at the University. However, it is hard to say whether she has all the skills that are necessary to train-the-trainers.Comments from the trainers also included â€Å"lots of smoke but no fire† and â€Å"talks down to us†. We ca n therefore conclude that the reason why the trainers where not satisfied was not necessarily because of Cami’s technical skills, but maybe her relationship with the employees. Her directive behavior is very high but her relationship and supportive behavior not as much. Looking at the Situational Leadership model, Cam is using S4 leadership style, which includes low relationship and mostly delegating. Alternative Courses of Action:In order to be more successful in leading the others, Cami should use the S2 leadership style, which includes selling and most importantly explaining what she expects from the trainers. Cami considers herself well prepared and experienced however the evaluation of the course was poor because of lack of explanations. Another reason why the employees were not satisfied was because Cami was â€Å"talking down to them†. To avoid this, Cami should be more supportive and use participative leadership style that will allow her to interact with the ot her trainer and to improve her relationship with them.To make everything more certain, Cami should clarify the path by explaining the follower’s – in this case trainers’ work role. Only then she should display her motivations and effort to accomplish the work outcomes. The Chosen course of Action: The combination of all the above-mentioned solutions would work best for Cami’s situation. However, I believe that the biggest issue in this cause was that the trainers where unaware of what was expected from them. And therefore the best solution would be that Cami clarifies the goals of the trainings and only then tries to motivate and encourage the trainers.Action Plan: Although Cami is a very valuable employee, I believe that her manager should be more directive towards her. For example, he shouldn’t let her procrastinate and reassign her tasks. It is obvious that Cami loves her job and making her tasks more certain and a bit stricter would make a posi tive change for everyone. The trainers and employees of the organization are already dedicated and hard-working, therefore no big changes are necessary. However, slight alterations could be beneficial as discussed above. Listo Systems: The New Security System – Buying In Context:Listo Systems is a graphic service agency and is one of the leading companies within the sector. They recently implemented a new black box technology that caused different reactions from the employees. Key Issues and Problems: One of Cami’s team members, Steve, was unsatisfied because he just got used to the â€Å"old† system and doesn’t want to start all over again. He is thinking about transferring to another department within the company that doesn’t involve the use of the black box. The main issue in this case is that the implementation of the new security system can be a potential risk for losing the employees.There might be other employees like Steve, who are not will ing to adapt and who might take to decision to leave. In the long run this could negatively affect the company because the turnover ratio would increase. Applying concepts: Even though Steve was having difficulty adapting to the new system, there are other employees who are willing to do â€Å"whatever is necessary to keep the customers happy and them employed†. The majority of the employees want to keep their current jobs and this is what motivates them to learn and to adjust to the new security system.The company is doing everything that is necessary in order to train the employees, so the main factor that is required for an overall success is the motivation of the employees. It is clear that Steve’s performance readiness was at the very bottom (R1) because he was unable, insecure and unwilling to learn how to work with the black box. He is displaying frustration and has a complaining behavior, which is typical to the level 1 employees. Angie, the second team member, is an R2, because even though the new black box is foreign to her, she is willing and is motivated to learn.The third member, Dorothy, has an extensive experience with the black box, and therefore she is at the highest performance readiness level (R4). She has the right skills and at the same time we can see that she is willing to work with the new system, because she’s encouraging all the other members to support it as well. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, employee’s motivation and performance depend on various factors that need be satisfied at the first place. In this case, we can assume that the physiological, social and safety needs are satisfied. However, as some of the employees don’t feel confident, their esteem nd self-actualization factors are not fully satisfied. This demotivates the members of the company and negatively affects the productivity level. Alternative Courses of Action: As stated in the case, in order to diagnose the perf ormance readiness level, the indicators of ability and willingness should be combined. You have to assess whether the individual is able (presently performing) and whether he is willing or unwilling to perform a certain task. A good way to do that would be by running an emergency survey, right after the implementation of the black box.This would help to find out in which areas the employees need help and guidance, as well to assess the overall satisfaction level. In order to avoid losing more employees, the management should have more individual approach towards its employees. Some people are quick-learner while the other dislike major changes. The results of the survey would show who needs additional help, and the trainers could focus more on this specific group of employees. There is not an appropriate leadership style for this case, because every member needs to be approached in a different way.The S3 level would be the most appropriate because the manager would be able to encour age and help its employees by participating more. The Chosen course of Action: The best solution would first of all be to run a quick survey within the department. After determining the indicators of ability and willingness, it will be much easier to find out the employees’ performance readiness and to decide which leadership style is the most appropriate. Action Plan: Different employees have different opinions and it is hard to keep every single member satisfied.The survey would allow to asses the common weaknesses within the group and to fill the gap by organizing trainings. Listo Systems: Cami Machado – System Conversation Context: Listo Systems is a graphic service agency and is one of the leading companies within the sector. They recently implemented a new black box. Cami, the responsible for the system has taken the black box through all the recommended steps tests and it performed perfectly. The system has also been tested by a former CIA computer specialist an d its was declared to be flawless. Nevertheless, Cami insisted to keep the old system â€Å"just in case†.Key Issues and Problems: Even though everything turned out to work perfectly, Cami confessed that she has never been so nervous in her life. She had asked to keep the old system as well, however she was still very anxious and was sleeping only a few hours at night. Applying concepts: Cami’s performance level in this situation is R3, because even though she was able to make the switch, she was still not confident and very hesitant. However, she had asked to keep the parallel system, so in case if something went wrong, there was an alternative solution. There was no reason for Cami to feel nervous, even if the black box failed.The leadership style that Cami’s manager should use is S3. He should support her in risk-taking and compliment the work. Alternative Courses of Action: The manager should not disempower Cami, because she has done a hard work and deserves appreciation. He should be very supportive and help her to deal with her nervousness. As mentioned above, this would be a S3 leadership style, which would result in building confidence, actively listening and encouraging. The employees should try to adapt to the new system, instead of leaving the department and creating more issues to deal with.They should also be supportive towards Cami, and appreciate her effort. The Chosen course of Action: Cami’s manager should take more participation in the implementation of the black box. He should leave everything on Cami’s shoulders, even though she’s the one responsible for the project. A supportive leadership style would be very effective in this situation and would help Cami to work more productively with less stress and anxiety. Action Plan: With the help of her manager and her employees, Cami should be able to overcome the difficult period at her workplace and gain more confidence in the work that she is doing.The management should help her to increase her performance readiness level to R4, by showing more support and encouragement. Listo Systems: Randy Mack, Trainer, Listo Systems Context: Randy Mack is an experienced trainer for Listo Systems and has worked with the company for a number of years. His evaluations have always been first rate and he has been able to develop a rapport with the people whom he trains. Key Issues and Problems: Recently, Randy is not happy with his job and had received below-par evaluations for the first time. His main concern is the lack of career advancement at Listo Systems.Some of his training have ended in confrontations with the trainees. Applying concepts: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explains clearly why Randy is dissatisfied with his job. Even though he has performed perfectly for so many years, the lack of self-actualization and career advancement demotivates him. With all the new changes occurring with Listo Systems, the management is possibly more focused on profit and the technology rather then promoting its employees. This lack of attention has resulted in demotivation because Randy feels that his work isn’t much appreciated anymore.His performance readiness is at R3, considering that he knows his job very well and his has been number one for a long time. However the lack of career advancement made him unwilling and decreased his productivity. Alternative Courses of Action: The management should use S3 leadership style, in order to improve Randy’s performance readiness level. Considering that he is a valuable employee, it would be a big loss for the company of Randy left. In order to avoid that, the management should try to show more encouragement and offer possible ways of growth within the company.For example, another solution would be motivating him with financial bonuses. The Chosen course of Action: It’s Randy’s experience that makes him a valuable employee, and he cannot be easily replaced . For that reason the managers should compromise by either promoting Randy or suggesting other potentials ways of career advancement. Action Plan: The managers should make a quick decision before it gets any worse. They have to motivate Randy to stay by offering bonuses and showing that they appreciate his work.