Infusing Technology in the Classroom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Infusing Technology in the Classroom - Essay Example At the departmental meeting a group of teachers presented on more effective means of constructing ‘word walls’ – these are walls of relevant terminology that go up in all the classroom. They opened their presentation with an attention grabbing video and then proceeded to demonstrate ways world walls could be constructed daily through videos instead of the traditional way. There are also other development opportunities. There is even now a site called TeacherTube that is formatted much like YouTube, except that the uploaded videos are a related to teacher development. Many teachers report personally using this for professional development purposes on a number of occasions, and believe that its pool of communal knowledge could be implemented by teachers throughout the nation in developing more efficient means of instruction. Other uses of educational technology through the internet have occurred in the growing use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) among students and teachers. The institution has implemented Ning.com in a number of projects. Ning is a social networking tool that allows students and teachers to create their own social networking site and designated whether it will have a closed or open invitation policy. This technology has been used with great success in a number of classrooms. In some of the humanities classrooms throughout the nation, it has been implemented extremely effectively as students are required to develop a site that corresponds to a particular character, for instance, Hamlet.

International Terrorism Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Terrorism - Coursework Example Iran, Syria and Libya are together considered to be the main backbone of Middle East terror (Charles, 1986a). And the Islamic fundamentalists, pro-Syrian nationalists and Palestinian extremists carry out the lead roles (Charles, 1986a). The objective of these groups is not peace with Israel but peace with no Israel (Charles, 1986a). Terrorism would outlive peace not only due to the Arab-Israeli dispute but for two other reasons of instability, war and murder (Charles, 1986b). The idea of anti-Western, anti-modern and anti-secularist movement in the Islamic world, specially Iran exhibits a serious threat (Charles, 1986b). The only way left for achieving some lasting peace in the Middle East is a steady, unwavering application of all forms of pressure against terrorists and their more easily found sponsors (Charles, 1986c). It calls for the use of every available means to hunt down today’s machine gunners and deter tomorrow’s (Charles, 1986c). Hezbollah, also known as Hizbullah or Hizballah is a religious organization whose only mission is to terrorize and assassinate non-Muslims, chiefly Americans and Jews (Hizballah, 2007). OPEC provides the financial backing to this millions of militants association founded and supervised by Shiite Islamic clerics in Iran (Hizballah, 2007). Islamic Jihad is a Hizballah alias whereas Hamas is a Hizballah ally (Hizballah, 2007). While Hezbollah’s objective like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is the complete liberation of Mandate Palestine while Hamas are ready to accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as its capital (Hizballah, 2007). From a theological aspect, the literature and the statements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad do not talk about jihad as a religious concept to the same extent as that created by Hezbollah (Hizballah, 2007). While the marjiiyya (frame of reference) of Hamas follows the global Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Jihad is deeply influ enced by the marjiiyya of Iran, the

Mosquito: Diseases and Control

Mosquito: Diseases and Control Mosquitoes: The Diseases They Carry and Methods of Controlling the Populations   People who live in Alaska are definitely aware of the tiny insect known as the Mosquito. Most people do not realize the deadly diseases that they may carry and the possible effects that commonly used repellants may have. There are three main diseases carried and transmitted by mosquitoes, they are: West Nile, Malaria, and Dengue. Although these diseases are more prevalent in tropical areas, there is still a high risk for the citizens of Alaska of contracting one of these deadly diseases. Many people drench themselves in repellants, many containing N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), but are there alternatives? There are as many as 230 products containing the chemical DEET known to the EPA, but there are many alternatives to using DEET, such as citronella and essential oils (Hayhurst). DEET has been approved by the EPA for years to help deter mosquitoes from biting. One of the most widely used ways in which modern society tried to control mosquitoes was by spraying dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) over the Island of Sardinia, and island off the coast of Italy. Malaria had been present, but not prevalent until World War II malaria raged to the status of a full on epidemic. The Italian government and a private foundation enlisted the help of 25,000 people working in the field, 5 air craft, two helicopters, countless automobiles, and many field offices. The mosquito that was the subject of the extermination was the Anopheles labranchiae, the known carrier of malaria on the island. This species of mosquito has a soft body, brow coloring, and four dark marks on each wing. Not only did the workers attack the breeding locations of the mosquitoes, but they also sprayed homes, rivers, ponds, and fields with the DDT. In the extermination effort the workers used around 256 tons, 260,000 kilograms, of DDT. The effort was only partially successful. The number of reported malaria cases dropped to just 4 reported cases four years after the dusting, but when scouts went out to search for the Anopheles labrachiae they found that both adults and the larvae in the brackish streams and swamps. In the minds of the Italian government this was a failure (Andrew Spielman Sc.D 148-49). Although the mosquito extermination was seen as a failure, the initial consensus in Greece, where 16% of children tested positive for malaria parasites, was that the use of DDT was a success. There were very few accidental deaths of other insects. Around 1942 over 50 percent of the population of Greece had been infected with malaria. In 1947 the government set out to eradicate the local carrier of malaria, Anopheles sacharovi. The citizens of Greece welcomed the workers who dusted the country as a liberating army (Andrew Spielman Sc.D 149) There were also positive effects on crops. Olive farmers were fortunate to get their olive trees dusted, which killed off the caterpillars that in previous years had destroyed the crops. They were able to have a much larger harvest. Many towns experienced a reduction in all pests, including cockroaches, lice, and fleas, along with the mosquitoes. Soon after the dusting began malaria was gone from the islands. The citizens couldnt be happier, until something unexpected happened (Andrew Spielman Sc.D 149). The scientists were having lunch out in the country, and began to notice the flies returning. They were not overly concerned until they saw the dreaded Anopheles sacharovi flying around them. They scientists could not understand how the mosquitoes were surviving in a place that had been dusted with DDT. It was soon realized that the deadly malaria carrying Anopheles sacharovi had adapted and become DDT resistant. After this discovery scientists discovered how to use the pesticide to upset the cycle of malaria infections (Andrew Spielman Sc.D 149-50). Although DDT was widely used all across the world, a successful mosquito eradication campaign was started in 1900 in New Jersey. Before the start of this rigorous campaign certain low lying areas of large metropolitan areas were uninhabitable because of the high populations of mosquitoes. A scientist by the name of John B. Smith began the campaign and only had rudimentary knowledge of the mosquito behaviors and species in the state. The first state was to identify the dominant species transmitting the malaria. He then identified the most common breeding areas of the mosquitoes of the area, the Ochlerotatus sollicitans and the Anopheles quardrimaculatus. This kind of mosquito particularly liked to breed in brackish water and swamps. Smith termed this effort mosquito control instead of extermination. At first this idea was completely rejected until the results of this revolutionary idea started to appear. Smith sent his crews all over the state to dig drainage ditches that would attrac t the mosquitoes for breeding. After the mosquitoes had laid their eggs in the ditches, the workers went back and filled them with oil. This caused the population of malaria carrying mosquitoes to drop dramatically in the areas where this technique was utilized. This had a positive secondary effect on the economy of the larger cities such as Newark and Elizabeth. There was a housing boom in the formerly unlivable areas and a population growth. In addition to these effects, the cases of malaria were diminished to only a few. These original ditches are still in use today across the states of New Jersey and New York (Andrew Spielman Sc.D). Malaria is one of the most widespread diseases transmitted by mosquitoes carrying the parasite. There are as many as 50 types of malaria carrying Anopheles mosquitoes around the world (Major mosquito-borne diseases). The Anopheles mosquito tends to bite at night, why every person needs to sleep under a mosquito net in areas ravaged with malaria (Brody). The parasite that causes malaria is the Plasmodium. There are four kinds of Plasmodium that affect humans. They are: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale. The most common are Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. One of these happens to be the most dangerous, Plasmodium falciparum (WHO). Even though malaria is a parasitic disease, it is 100 percent preventable and also can be cured with the proper medication. The first symptoms of malaria tend to begin about ten to fifteen days. After the ten to fifteen days the first symptoms tend to be a fever, headache, chills, and vomiting (WHO). Tra velers who do not have immunity and pregnant women, even those who have partial immunity, are at the highest risk for contracting malaria from an infected mosquito (WHO). The most widely used medication to cure malaria is artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). The best chance for curing a patient is early diagnosis and treatment with these medications. Not only is curing the already infected important, but disease prevention, especially in low income countries, is key. In the developing nations of malaria, the disease has a large impact on the economy and but a burden on the country as a whole. The one down side to these widely used drugs is that the Plasmodium parasites are quickly developing a resistance to them. To avoid the resistance people are now using ACTs as well as artemisinin monotherapy (WHO). According to Jane Brody, in recent years there has been a large increase in the number of cases of dengue fever. This mosquito-borne disease is not directly transmitted from human to human, but is transmitted through mosquitoes. If a mosquito bites an infected human, and then bite a non-infected human, the disease will be spread. The main mosquito that transmits the dengue fever is the Aedes aegypti, which likes to bite during the day especially in the morning and late afternoon (Brody). There are four kinds of the virus that cause dengue fever. They are a flavivirus and all vary slightly, but the four kinds are DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. Once a human being is infected with one of the four kinds of dengue fever, they have a life time of immunity to that particular type, but are still susceptible to a secondary infection from any of the other 3 types. Research shows that it is most likely the second infection, instead of the third or fourth, that can lead to dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is much more deadly. When this happens a persons capillaries begin to leak fluid. The person does not die from dengue hemorrhagic fever, but rather dengue shock syndrome due to extreme blood loss (Brody). According to the author of an article in Natural History Magazine, dengue fever may be deadly; the mortality rates are not high. The virus can only live for a short time in a human host and only has an incubation period of between four and seven days. The kinds of mosquitoes that are carriers of the virus are Aedes aegypti, Aedes polynesiensis, and Aedes albopictus. As the Aedes albopictus begins to spread into the western hemisphere, there is a greater risk for people in the United States of contracting this virus. After a person has been infected with a form of dengue they have some immunity against yellow fever and vice versa (Major mosquito-borne diseases). The West Nile virus was first seen in Uganda around the West Nile region, hence the name, in the mid 1900s. Although this disease has been recognized for over 70 years, the first cases appeared in the United States in 1999. Once the disease hit America, the virus spread at an alarming rate across the country and is now reported in almost every state. Even though the virus is wide spread, it is rare to contract this disease. If it is contracted, the symptoms are usually not severe and tend to manifest like a mild case of the flu. The virus become deadly when a person is elderly or has a compromised immune system. If a person with such a condition becomes infected with the virus West Nile becomes deadly because the risk of encephalitis, also known as swelling of the brain, occurring goes up (Tufts University). Certain birds in the United States are the main carriers of the West Nile virus. Those birds are crows and jays. The mosquitoes pick up the virus when they bite an infected bird and the virus then goes to the insects salivary glands. Once an infected mosquito bites a human, the virus incubates for between two and fourteen days. There are other ways, although extremely uncommon, that West Nile can be transmitted. They are: organ transplant, blood transfusion, mother to unborn child, breast-feeding, and laboratory acquisition (Mayo Clinic Staff). The mosquito is a vector of many different diseases, the most common being malaria, dengue fever, and West Nile virus. Many people over the years have tried to eradicate the tiny insect in an effort to prevent disease. Today a solution is needed for the growing mosquito problem across the globe that has not only killed millions in Africa, but is beginning to claim lives in the Northern Hemisphere, including lives in the United States. If steps are not taken to address this problem, tens of millions of people will fall victim to the diseases carried by this tiny insect benign in appearance. The mosquito may seem nonthreatening, and the bite an annoyance, but the itchy welt may spell out disaster for humans in every country of the world.

The Internet: Fad or Fortune? :: Computers Technology Web Essays

The Internet: Fad or Fortune? Many people have rushed to Internet much like the gold diggers rushed to California in search for the illusive gold that laid hidden in the hills somewhere. People have come to view the Internet almost as a money tree where all they need to do is put up their business site and within weeks they will be making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much like the siren’s songs in sailors’ legends, consultants, venture capitalists, and others have painted a picture of how the Internet was going to change the world and make everyone who was a part of it rich. A few success stories were all that it took for everyone to jump in and take their stab at it. Now that many dot-coms have crashed and the dust is starting to settle a bit we can take a better look at what has gone wrong with this overly simple and optimistic paradigm. The Internet is an amazing and powerful business tool if it is used in a way that will help an existing or new business become more profitable than it would be without it. There are four basic things that a company or person must keep in mind when trying to take their organization or idea online. These considerations are to 1) know exactly what you want out of your website, 2) know how this website connects to every other part of your business (internal environment), 3) know how this website meets your customers / suppliers needs (external environment), and 4) know when to say â€Å"when.† This list is not meant to be an exhaustive list or a complete set of criteria by which to judge a company’s integration into the World Wide Web. Rather it is a list that is meant to invoke some careful reflection on the part of the business owners or managers before jumping into the shark tank because every body else is. Each of the four considerations will be discussed below. Know what you need first Far to many people jump into the Internet game not really knowing what it is they are after or what they are going to accomplish (aside from some pipe dream to be the next internet millionaire) with their Internet presence.

Wikipedia: the Basis of Unreliable Sources

Over the years that Wikipedia has been running, there has been a continuous debate on whether it is a reliable resource or not and no one has been able to come up with a conclusion. However, there are many people who think that they have come up with a compromise, which includes Wikipedia being a good source for basic information but not for the sole information of any given topic. Especially for college students, Wikipedia can get tricky in the sense where it is easy to just read through and agree with; however, it may be misleading and have incorrect information.People including college English instructor Jenny Meister, Marquette University Law School student blogger Jessica Slavin, and Internet executive Mark Moran can all agree that Wikipedia is helpful in college research but only for basic knowledge, not for sole information. Throughout college, students must do a lot of book and computer research in order to do papers, class work and home work. The computer research is what sc ares professors the most because they know how easy it is for the students to click the first link that comes up on Google-Wikipedia.These students seem to get all of their information from the website, which can be edited by anonymous sources at any time. This means that the information is not always correct which can be frustrating to professors. â€Å"As someone who's been there and done the grading thing, I can tell you that when a professor flips to your Works Cited page and glances over your list of sources, a page full of Wikipedia entries is going to spark a frenzy of eye-rolling and red pen† (Meister).College students not only have to worry about having the wrong information in their school work, but also need to consider Wikipedia in their future careers. They must ask themselves how they should use it and the proper way to use it without hurting themselves. For example, law student Jessica Slavin had stated she was only going to use Wikipedia for background informa tion. â€Å"I will admit that I sometimes read a Wikipedia entry if I want background information about a topic. I do not think, though, that I would cite an entry as proof of anything in court† (Slavin).Wikipedia can be useful at times for background information about a topic, however, it can not be trusted because you are never sure who is writing it, if it is from a reliable source, or if the information is completely accurate. In Mark Moran’s blog about how Wikipedia is not reliable he makes one important point on why it should not be trusted for sole information. â€Å"In March 2009, Irish student Shane Fitzgerald, who was conducting research on the internet and globalization of information, posted a fake quotation on the Wikipedia article about recently deceased French composer Maurice Jarre.Due to the fact that the quote was not attributed to a reliable source, it was removed several times by editors, but Fitzgerald continued re-posting it until it was allowed to remain† (Moran). Moran is making the point that it is the contributor with the strongest agenda who â€Å"wins† and it is not always the one with the most correct information, which makes the site less reliable. For many years, Wikipedia has been known as an unreliable source and to be unused in school, although, it can be useful at times for basic information.Throughout college, students use Wikipedia as a main source which is giving them the wrong information in papers, class work, and school work, which is extremely frustrating for the professors to see. The students need to consider their future and if they would use Wikipedia as a primary source when they are at their future careers. College students should be allowed to use Wikipedia, but only as a basic information source in order to get background knowledge on a topic.

Assessing your own leadership capability Essay

Understand leadership styles within an organisation 1.1 Review the prevailing leadership styles in the organisation There are a range of leadership styles that can be adopted by organisations in order to try to achieve their goals. Each of these is often suited to certain situations and has drawbacks preventing any one style being the best style of leadership for all situations. Even within organisation different styles of leadership can be identified with this being more prominent in larger organisations with a longer chain of command. One â€Å"study suggests that differences in the leadership styles practised by managers may be blurred in organisations with short chains of command, while it will tend to be pronounced in organisations with long chains of command, other things being equal.† (Oshagbemi T & Gill R, 2004) Within Dacorum Borough Council there are different prevailing leadership styles present at different levels of the organisation. On a corporate level senior management are trying to adopt a transformational style of leadership, which would reflect the changing nature of the organisation. However a trait style of leadership is far more prevalent, with this being of a task orientated nature. This is due to that although ambitious new projects are planned and underway, often work is set in a very formal manner or very inflexible due to the demand of the politicians who have a large influence on how work is undertaken. This is reinforced by the way telling, rather than selling, or preferential gaining true buy-in, has been adopted with very little staff engagement within the senior levels of the organisation. Even since major management changes four years ago when 50% of the senior management team were made redundant the council has still struggled to fully move to the transformational leadership style that it is clearly trying to establish. When the senior management team was reorganised managers were kept who were flexible and could identify and act on opportunities. However given the political constraints I have mentioned above this is often  problematic with the council needing to fulfil often bureaucratic processes. Although much of the work directed from senior management levels is task orientated, once these have been set the middle managers vary across the organisation in their own styles of leadership. The amount these vary is quite dramatic with some areas adopting a laissez-faire approach and others taking a much more autocratic approach to the leadership style that is used. Much of this can be down to personality and the types of work that are being delivered. Tannenbaum & Schmidt looked at the issue of leadership styles within organisation and developed a leadership continuum. The model demonstrates the relationship between the level of freedom that a manager chooses to give to a team and the level of authority used by the manager. (Tannenbaum, Robert and Schmidt, 1973) This model assists leaders and managers in their choice of leadership pattern by making them aware of the forces which are most relevant. At a middle manager level there are different levels of freedoms within the organisation corresponding to the leadership styles that have been adopted and the service area staff work in. Within my service there is less freedom, as the head of service has a very hand on attitude to certain elements of work, often meaning that rather than having full control over a situation that at best this is done via consultation and more frequently direction. There are three sub teams in my area and even between these different approaches are taken as the head of service is a specialist in one of the areas but has very little interest in another which is reflected in the way that they interact with the managers below. This allows some mangers in the team more freedoms and others less so, thus restricting their own abilities to do there jobs. 1.2 Assess the impact of the prevailing leadership styles on the organisation’s values and performance The task orientated leadership that is demonstrated by Dacorum Borough Council effects the values and performance of the organisation, with the two heavily linked together. With Dacorum being a large complex organisation, which needs to fulfil statutory responsibilities to the tax payers, the senior management need to establish a leadership style that then can both do this but also strive to establish the vast changes that are planned for the organisation in the coming months and years. However this is sometimes at odds with the values that Dacorum have recently been promoting of becoming more innovative and transformational, to match the way in which future working and the physical surroundings themselves will be changing. The task orientated approach leads work and key projects being defined at a senior level with often one of the senior managers taking an active role in the project to oversee these. This has led on occasion to middle managers being disillusioned by having little say over decisions they could be involved in and being told what action is required. This approach may have more positive impacts in areas such as finance and benefits, as this approach would be more suited to a more highly regulated service area which would add certainty in the way work is carried out. One of the core values that the council is fostering is that of creating a high performance culture. However, as I have mentioned above, the style of leadership shown by the senior management can be stifling to the middle level managers below them and not motivate them to want to work towards the vision that they have very little influence over. Middle management at Dacorum has adopted democratic and bureaucratic styles within different areas of the council. Input is taken from lower level managers and a selling approach, rather than telling, used when setting goals and targets. This has a better impact on employees with an understanding of what is trying to be achieved and gains some buy in from those expected to deliver the work programme. This approach will harness better results as the performance of staff under a task orientated or autocratic style when not in a time of crisis. (Unknown (2013)) Be able to review effectiveness of own leadership capability and performance in meeting organisational values and goals 2. 1 Assess own ability to apply different leadership styles in a range of situations Different leadership styles are required for different situations as each style has its own benefits and drawbacks. Examples of when different styles would be required can be seen through Tuckmans (1965) model where teams are forming, storming, norming and performing. As a team is forming, this can be a new team or when new employees have joined the team, the employees need to be given clear direction with reliance upon the leader for both guidance and instruction. During this stage it would be appropriate to adopt a more autocratic approach to leadership; this would be shown towards the left hand side of the Tannenbaum & Schmidt model. Once formed the team would then move to the storming stage where individual’s roles are established. This stage requires coaching to help with uncertainties that could exist within the team and the leadership style to start moving towards the right on the Tannenbaum & Schmidt model. After the storming stage the team will enter the norming, this is where the roles and responsibilities are understood and the team encourage each other with the leader gaining respect. At this stage a democratic style of leadership can be adopted where the leader acts to facilitate rather than give firm direction. The final stage, which some teams may never achieve, is the performing stage. During this stage instruction is no longer required as independence is achieved and the team moves towards shared goals. At this stage a laissez faire style can be adopted where each team member knows what they are doing and needs little guidance. FORMINGSTORMINGNORMINGPERFORMING Team Focus Inclusion: â€Å"Why are we here?† Control: â€Å"I want to have my say.†Openness: â€Å"Let’s do it.† Success: â€Å"Wow, we’re great!† Typical Team Behaviors Dependent on leader/facilitator Uneven/tentative participation Quiet defiance Polite conversation Conflict Question leadership, authority, rules Verbal/nonverbal resistance Dysfunctional behaviour Frustration Give/receive feedback Encourage others Active listening Recognize and discuss differences Trust and comfort Task appears to be effortless Interdependence develops Balanced, supportive participation Differences valued and discussed candidly Facilitator Focus To model openness, disclosure, and active listening To help the team recognize group dynamics and address conflict positively To uncover unspoken issues and encourage self-critique To teach the team to self-facilitate Facilitator Behaviors Listen, especially to what is not said. Be attuned to nonverbal cues that signal apprehension. Intervene. Demonstrate disclosure by expressing your feelings. Ensure objective, goals, and agenda are clear. Use icebreakers to encourage disclosure. Ask team members to clarify their assignments at close of meeting. Pay particular attention to group dynamics. Be specific when describing behaviours. Encourage team members to discuss their feelings. Encourage team members to discuss their interests versus their positions. Immediately point out non-conformance to ground rules. Encourage self-critique. Encourage the full exploration of ideas. Explore inferences. Plan with the team leader how to share leadership role. Coach the team in facilitator skills. Plan brief sessions for the team to recognize progress. Encourage reinforcing and redirecting feedback. As well as this different styles may be appropriate for other reasons, such as adopting a more autocratic approach in times of crisis to speed up decision making without dissent, such as in times of war. When I first started out as a manager I was managing three members of staff, all of which were new to their roles, with two new to the council. The team at this point was very much in a forming stage where clear direction was  needed from all members of the team and a decisive autocratic style was needed to give stability and assurance to the team. Of the three employees it was clear that each had different strengths and weaknesses as well as goals and ambition within their roles. Naturally I have a tendency towards a theory Y (McGregor, 1960) style of management which offers more coaching rather than taking such an autocratic approach. This situation required this firm approach and it was only was each team member was confortable in their roles and the storming process had finished that I was able to move towards my natural tendencies. It was noted that while all team members joined at approximately the same time some settled and became familiar with their responsibilities and objectives quicker than other team members. This meant I could take different approaches when dealing with different members of the team, as some where still storming while others had a clear grasp on their role and were now performing. Moving forwards the team will be changing as will how we work at the council. While we move through this process a transformational style of leadership will be of most benefit to the team, who are now well formed. Rather than continue to use a situational style, the team understand how their work fits in to the organisation goals and with the wider vision. By fostering the feelings of trust, admiration, loyalty and respect, and because of the qualities of the transformational style of leadership, staff are willing to work harder than originally expected (Bass & Riggio, 2006). This style requires the leader to act as a role model for followers, to inspire them while challenging them to take greater ownership for their work. This will be explored in more detail under section 3.1. 2.2 Assess own ability to communicate the organisation’s values and goals to staff in own area Dacorum Borough Council has both clear values and goals. The goals are set out through the corporate vision as well corporate documents by both senior management and middle managers. The values come through from the vision of the council as well as more formalised values within corporate policy documents, although many values, such as performing a good public service  are not explicit in corporate documents. To communicate these values and goals to staff within my own area I use range of communication tools and methods. The most important thing to establish is the individual needs of each member of staff to make a judgement on which methods will work best to get the messages through that I would like to deliver. With all staff in my area who I manage I hold regular 1-2-1’s and appraisals, This helps me understand what types of communication and interaction suits them best as well as giving a clear opportunity to talk about their objectives and demonstrate how these fit in to the wider goals and then to the vision of the organisation. Commitment to goals & values are built through these meetings, where action plans are linked to the key delivery documents (PID’s) which are focused around delivering the organisation goal, which creates the ‘golden thread’ through all the work we do. Feedback through these 1-2-1’s is an important mechanism as this can reinforce positive behaviours that are in keeping with the corporate values and goals although once again the level of feedback will need to be different for different members of staff depending on how they like to be managed. Another method that I regularly use to help communicate the key goals is through regular team meetings. At these meetings it is also important to recognise that the way one speaks to a group may need to differ from interacting with individuals, as it is important to find the best method that helps communicate the goals and values to the group as just using the same techniques may alienate some members of staff. To reinforce the values it is important to ensure that when the goals are set they are grounded in the values of the organisation. This helps that when setting individual objectives with staff that the link between all of this work is clear and easy to identify and understand. Gaining the buy in from the staff ensures that they will By using the corporate values in the work we set it helps to create a consistency and fairness when dealing with all members of staff so that one approach is adopted. As well as this we also hold annual or bi-annual service events where the key messages and values from the organisation are reinforced, with this giving members f staff to not only give feedback on their objectives but also ion the goals which have set. 2.3 Assess own ability to motivate others and build commitment to the organisation’s values and goals In motivating a team the first aspect is to identify what it is that motivates the individuals. When holding regular 1-2-1’s with staff I would look to establish what motivates them so I can look to develop a framework for how I can create the conditions for them to be motivated. It is important to remember that rather than trying to motivate staff we should be trying to create the conditions where staff will be motivated. Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfil the next one, and so on. This model can be used to assist in the understanding of human behaviour and understanding motivation by listing the key driving forces for individuals. Following this framework it shows how manages nee to create the correct environment for their staff and the staff will then act to motivate themselves. Now the team I manage is settled, with all the members of staff settled in their roles, I am able to identify mechanisms that will help create the conditions to motivate each member of staff. Although each member of staff is an individual it is possible to sometimes group individuals together if they share the same individual motivations, e.g. if two members of the team were both seeking further social needs through work then it may be possible  to use the tools to help achieve a situation to motivate both of these employees. Setting clear goals which jointly created objectives can feed into helps in this process of staff understanding why certain tasks are being carried out and helps to create greater ownership of the work they are doing. The CMI motivating the demotivated checklist offers other examples of how staff can be addressed to increase motivation within the work place. The checklist includes offering help with planning, involve the unmotivated, try to get buy in, and make sure the rules are clear. These examples have been carried through to help identify when these approaches can be used to address individual situations. Be able to adopt an effective leadership style to motivate staff to achieve organisational values and goals 3.1 Justify the most effective leadership style to motivate staff in own area, to achieve the organisation’s values and goals While one needs to ensure in a given situation the leadership style that is chosen be explicit in order to remain consistent and ensure that a clear message is delivered, the leadership style chosen must be correct for the situation and be able to be reviewed as a situation changes. Given the range of leadership styles that have been identified it will be important that the correct style is chosen by a leader in order to get the most out of staff. Theories have evolved from the â€Å"great man† notion of heroic leaders, through trait theories, behaviourist theories, situational leadership, contingency theory and on to transactional and transformational leadership. As I have described in previous questions the team are currently in a state where each member knows their roles and are comfortable in the job they are doing. Dacorum Borough Council will be changing the way we work over the  next two years and this will affect all staff in the council including those who work in my area. This will mean that the leadership style that I take on will need to be able to accommodate these changes and motivate staff to get the best results in a time of change. Given the changing nature of the team and the changes due to take place in the future a contingency-situational theory may be appropriate. These theories were developed to indicate that the style to be used is contingent upon such factors as the situation, the people, the task, the organisation, and other environmental variables. (Boulden & Gosling (2003)) A situational style of leadership, such as through the Hersey-Blanchard model of leadership, allows the developmental levels of a leader’s subordinates to play the greatest role in determining which leadership styles are most appropriate. From here four leadership styles develop: Directing, Coaching, Supporting and Delegating. This approach was used when the team first formed and as the team matured and moved towards performing, on the Tuckman stages of team development, so I could change my style to reduce task behaviour and increase relationship behaviour until the followers reach a moderate level of maturity A more recent approach would have been to use a situational model as described by Tannenbaum & Schmidt. Rather than responding to the maturity of subordinates they view leadership along a continuum from one extreme of autocracy to the other as democracy with subordinate’s participation and involvement increasing as you move along. This approach allows you to change based on the situation you are in and more readily respond to changes in the environment. The theories mentioned previously describe ways in which could be used to successfully manage my team, however the leadership style that has the potential to motivate staff in my area most will through a transformational style of leadership. Employees in my area are now well established and performing well but in the future more will be expected from each of us and I feel that this form of leadership has the most potential to give  subordinates genuine self-esteem and self-actualisation. This style of leadership requires me, as the leader, to take actions to increase employees awareness of what is right and important to raise their motivational maturity and to move them to go beyond their own self-interests for the good of the group and the organisation. Transformational Style Leader Behaviour 1) Idealized Behaviours: living one’s ideals †¢ Talk about their most important values and beliefs †¢ Specify the importance of having a strong sense of purpose †¢ Consider the moral and ethical consequences of decisions †¢ Champion exciting new possibilities †¢ Talk about the importance of trusting each other 2) Inspirational Motivation: inspiring others †¢ Talk optimistically about the future †¢ Talk enthusiastically about what needs to be accomplished †¢ Articulate a compelling vision of the future †¢ Express confidence that goals will be achieved †¢ Provide an exciting image of what is essential to consider †¢ Take a stand on controversial issues 3) Intellectual Stimulation: stimulating others †¢ Re-examine critical assumptions to question whether they are appropriate †¢ Seek differing perspectives when solving problems †¢ Get others to look at problems from many different angles †¢ Suggest new ways of looking at how to complete assignments †¢ Encourage non-traditional thinking to deal with traditional problems †¢ Encourage rethinking those ideas which have never been questioned before 4) Individualized Consideration: coaching and development †¢ Spend time teaching and coaching †¢ Treat others as individuals rather than just as members of the group †¢ Consider individuals as having different needs, abilities, and aspirations from others †¢ Help others to develop their strengths †¢ Listen attentively to others’ concerns †¢ Promote self-development 5) Idealized Attributes: Respect, trust, and faith †¢ In still pride in others for being associated with them †¢ Go beyond their self-interests for the good of the group †¢ Act in ways that build others’ respect †¢ Display a sense of power and competence †¢ Make personal sacrifices for others’ benefit †¢ Reassure others that obstacles will be overcome Transformational Leadership Styles and Behaviours (Bass and Riggio, 2006) This approach allows for the elevation of the needs for employees (from security needs to needs for achievement and self-development) which in turn will allow for greater productivity with well-motivated staff and allow for high performance. 3.2 Implement the most effective leadership style in order to motivate staff in own area to achieve the organisation’s values and goals As there are significant barriers that exist in order to implement a change in leadership style at the senior management level within the organisation this approach will be first adopted within my service to use as a test case for the wider organisation. Based on whether this style of leadership is successful this can then be reported back through the organisation through the various senior management meetings. A first step to adopting this within my service area will be to meet with other managers of people, as this approach will need to be adopted across the service area to become effective. Once the buy-in of front line managers and the middle managers has been secured I will meet with staff to discuss the organisational values and see how these fit with theirs. At these meetings I will also again set a clear direction of where and what we want to achieve and reiterate how their specific objectives are working towards our goals of making Dacorum a better place to live and work. These themes will then also run through team meetings and 1-2-1’s to further reinforce this message. The next step will be to set the example of a positive new direction and embracing the changes that we are about to face both for the team and for the council as a whole. Regular communication of these messages will be made through regular meetings and as the changes draw closer team days to look at how we can take the most out of these future opportunities. Some of my time will be allocated towards both mentoring and coaching of staff to help bring out their strengths and to work on any areas which the staff feel require further development. References: Bass B M & Riggio R E (2006). Transformational Leadership (Second ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bolden R & Gosling J (2003), A review of Leadership theory and competency frameworks, Centre for leadership studies: University of Exeter. Hersey P & Blanchard K H (1969), Life cycle theory of leadership, Training and Development Journal, 23 (5), pp 26-34 Maslow A H (1943), A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), pp370-96. McGregor D (1960), The human side of enterprise. McGraw Hill Higher Education Oshagbemi T & Gill R (2004), Differences in leadership styles and behaviour across hierarchical levels in UK organisations, Emerald 25. Tannenbaum R & Schmidt W (1973), Choosing a leadership pattern. Harvard Business Review, May-June 1973, Cambridge, Mass Taraschi R (1998), cutting the ties that bind, Training and development USA, Nov vol. 52 no. 11, pp. 12-14. Tuckman B (1965), development sequence in small goups. Psychological bulletin. 63, pp 84-99, Bethseda Unknown (2013), Various ILM 5 course handouts, May-July

How Relevant Are the Issues Raised In Educating Rita In the Year 2000 Essays

How Relevant Are the Issues Raised In Educating Rita In the Year 2000 Essays How Relevant Are the Issues Raised In Educating Rita In the Year 2000 Essay How Relevant Are the Issues Raised In Educating Rita In the Year 2000 Essay Essay Topic: Literature In this essay I am going to go into full detail how an unconfident working class women (Rita) and a middle class tutor who is on the bottle get there life together and Im going to write about the issues surrounding them. In the first couple of scenes Frank appears to be the person in control as he is a middle class man and Rita is unsure of what she wants out of a higher education. Frank doesnt really want to tutor Rita and states yes I suppose I did take it on to pay for the drinks. Rita is a less formal person to Frank and you can tell that as soon as she walks into franks office speaking slang saying Its that stupid bleedin handle on the door. Rita took up schooling, as she didnt want to learn whilst at her upper school as learning was for wimps and you should be buying new clothes be into music and chasing fellers when youre a teenager. People dont want Rita to change but she feels she has to and says y have to decide whether its gonna be another change of dress or a change in yourself. Then Frank says But you erm you managed to resist another new dress. This part of the scene has a lot of tension in it but then Willy Russell uses humour to break the tension by using the previous quote. -This is part of an informal education because Rita has learnt from the mistake she made not to learn at school that she wasnt perfect and needed re educating. Rita doesnt know what she wants from her tutor as he asks her what do you want to know and she replies everything. Later on the script Rita wakes up Frank to a bit of life as theyre in a conversation Rita asks What y lookin at me for and Frank replies Because-I think youre marvellous. This is the start of continuous flirting between Frank and Rita. Rita Is a bit self-conscious of what people think about her being twenty-six, married and she still hasnt got a baby. Her husband wants her to have a baby and she has lied to him saying she has come off the pill but she hasnt. She states I dont wanna baby yet. See I wanna discover meself first. I think this is part of the changing role in society because in the twenty first century you wouldnt expect that married twenty-six year old women should certainly have a child. Frank is low in confidence and believes hes not the right tutor for Rita because he says Im actually an appalling teacher and then says appalling teaching is quite in order for most of my appalling students he then says you want a lot and I cant give it. Coming towards the end of the second scene the fist bit of noticeable flirting starts when frank says Right now theres a thousand things Id rather do than teach; most of them with you, young lady. Then Frank asks why didnt you walk in here twenty years ago? This is the start of continuous flirting from Frank. Willy Russell uses this hint of romance between Frank and Rita to keep the audiences attention because from my point of you it kept me reading just to see if the two finally did fall in love. In the third scene Frank waves Ritas essay in the air and asks whats this then Rita replies its a bledin piece of paper isnt it? Again Willy Russell attracts the audiences attention this time by using sarcasm. At the end of the first act Frank tells Rita that if she wants to write essays the way she does shes got to change. Rita wants to change but Frank doesnt want her to change because he likes her the way she is. The second act has just started and Rita has just come back from summer school and has gained a lot of confidence and knowledge. This act is a huge turning point for the relationship between Frank and Rita because Rita got together with a few pupils and she mentions a man called Tiger. They have invited her to go to the South Of France for the Christmas holidays with them. Frank gets very jealous and says is there much point in working towards an examination if youre going to fall in love. Frank tells her she cant go because of her exams even though her exams are before Christmas. Rita trys to change her dress style and the ways she speaks to a more posh way just like her new flat mate. Frank feels that he and Rita are drifting away and turns to the bottle. At the point Tyson is the centre of jealousy and Frank doesnt want Rita to change. Ritas new flat mate then commits suicide and Rita realises she wasnt so special and realises theres no reason why she would want to be like her. Rita then takes her exam and says I never thought there was anythin I could give you anything. But there is Rita then gives frank a haircut and the story is over. The end of the story is left open, which is a good ending because it lets you give your own opinion on what happened after the story finished. I think Willy Russell used romance in the story to get the audiences attention because even though nothing serious happened between the two it just kept you reading to see if anything did. Willy Russell used many techniques to get the audiences attention such as humour, and sarcasm.

Social Analytics Suite See Whats New Improved In CoSchedule

Social Analytics Suite See Whats New Improved In Proving the ROI of social media†¦ is no small task. You spend countless hours gathering stats from multiple social networks†¦ haphazardly analyzing metrics  in hopes of making â€Å"smartish† decisions†¦ and compiling those findings into reports  your stakeholders *might*  understand.🠤ž It’s clunky. It’s disconnected. And it’s a major time-suck. Let’s change that, shall we? With ’s NEW and improved Social Analytics Suite, getting the metrics that matter FAST and in beautiful, easy-to-understand reports is easier than ever! Refine Your Social Strategy With ’s NEW Improved Social Analytics SuiteHere’s the lowdown NEW Social Engagement Report: The holistic report for all your social activity. Get a bird’s eye view on your entire social performance with better filtering, better design, and more context than ever before. Social Profile Reports: Your secret weapon for PER network performance. No more downloading reports from individual platforms (or multiple third-party tools). Quickly view important social KPIs for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. NEW Social Campaign Reports: The report for pinpointing correlations between two campaigns with side-by-side comparisons. Review similar campaigns or posts to test what’s working (and what isn’t).    Top Content Report: Instantly know what content performs best with your audience on social media. Track and measure social shares and repromote your most popular posts. And finallywith all of these reports,  you can easily  create presentation-ready reports to share with your team and VPs. Provide data-driven feedback to your employees and defend your marketing decisions to your CEO with metrics and analysis people can actually understand (Available on our Pro Enterprise plans). Ready to get access to reports you can actually use? Time to dive into each report! Starting with ’s NEW Social Engagement Report Your boss asks you in passing, â€Å"how are we doing on social media?† Do you have the answer? Or is this more familiar? 👇 Get the answers you need FAST with ’s NEW Social Engagement Report. Our latest updates and improvements to this report give you a bird’s eye view of your entire social performance with better filtering, better design, and more context than ever before. Let’s dig into the upgrades. Check out the Engagement Rollup  for a high-level overview of your social performance in one place. The best part you have access to baseline metrics! You’ll get current performance metrics PLUS lifetime averages and last period averages, so you can determine if things are improving or falling off track based on past performance. Want a quick health check of your social promotion? Review your Engagement Growth. This chart breaks down the # of messages you send and how they correlate with the # of engagements throughout your set date range. Are things flatlining? Or are you seeing a steady increase in engagement? Review the graph for answers. Next up learn how your audience engages with your posts AND identify your top social network with Engagements by Interaction. Prioritize which social channels you should invest time and energy into, and which ones you can pull back on. But as you know†¦ Not every post is created equal. Your engagement metrics will vary based on a lot of different factors audience interest, content topic, voice, etc. Which is where New Report Filters  come to the rescue. With improved filtering options, you can run custom reports that segment data by Color Labels, Content Type, Social Profile, and/or Tags. Interested in seeing how your product marketing posts are performing? Select the color label that groups your product marketing projects and posts together on your calendar and ta-da! You have an engagement report that is designed to help your product marketing team improve their social promotion. Best of all you can save any reports youll want to run (and share) again. So create custom reports for each department head or build a report for a specific product line. Giving you all the tools to access valuable, custom social reports in seconds. Heres how to build custom social media reports with @.Social Profile Reports Tired of downloading reports from individual social platforms and spending countless hours formatting them into something you can actually make sense of? With Social Profile Reports, you can access performance data for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest in just one click. These reports are designed to give you an active pulse on how each individual social profile is performing. Are you posting too often? Too little? Review your posting frequency. Look for imbalances in posting frequency to reveal any opportunities to post more often (or move content to fill in gaps on your calendar). Next, uncover the Best Day to Post,   Best Time to Post, and Best Message Type to Post on each individual profile. Your audiences’ preferences and behaviors vary by profile. Make sure to use this data to optimize your social messages for your most engaged followers on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. BONUS: This info will come in handy when you’re building out new social media campaigns. Which leads us to Social Campaign Reports The newest report in ’s Analytics Suite   Social Campaign Reports. Now you can create social media reports for specific projects or pieces of content on your calendar. So when your boss asks for a report on how the latest employee recruitment blog post performed on social media, you can deliver. But the feature that sets this report apart from the rest of ’s Analytics Reports is the comparison report. Now you can compare two projects or pieces of content side-by-side. Making it simple to pinpoint correlations between two campaigns to test what’s working (and what isn’t). Review last year’s fundraising campaign against this year’s event.   Look for similarities and differences to improve your social promotion. Did video posts outperform link posts for the second year in a row? Plan to create more videos for next year’s event. Run campaign reports to unite data and measure the success of your latest event promotion, product launch, or other campaigns on social media. Top Content Report Which leads us to our final report the Top Content Report. Inside this report, you can see your most popular content shared across social media. Instantly identify which blog posts and other content links resonate most with your audience based on how many shares they receive on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. So it’s super simple to re-share your best projects again to maximize their impact.

Word Choice Born vs. Borne - Proofread My Papers Academic Blog

Word Choice Born vs. Borne - Proofread My Papers Academic Blog Word Choice: Born vs. Borne The words â€Å"born† and â€Å"borne† are spelled almost the same but differ in meaning. Getting these terms mixed up can therefore impact upon the clarity and accuracy of your written work. To help you avoid this kind of mistake, we’ve compiled a guide on how these terms should be used. Born (in the USA) When Bruce Springsteen sang that he was â€Å"born in a dead man’s town† he was using the word in its literal sense, meaning â€Å"existing as a result of birth.† This is why we say that someone born in a certain place was place-born (e.g., German-born, Canada-born, etc.): New Jersey-born soccer player Carli Loyd was instrumental in the USWNT’s World Cup victory. In a more figurative sense, we sometimes use â€Å"born† to mean â€Å"arising from/of†: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was born of a competition between Shelley and her companions to see who could write the best horror story. Furthermore, if someone has undergone a major change in their life we might say they have been â€Å"born again† (such as a â€Å"born again Christian†). Borne The word â€Å"borne† is the past participle of the verb â€Å"bear.† It therefore means â€Å"to have carried†: On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem borne on the back of a donkey. This is why we use adjectives like â€Å"waterborne† or â€Å"current-borne† when describing something carried by something else (e.g., â€Å"an airborne virus†). Another way in which we use this term is to indicate that someone has taken responsibility for something: The upgrade had been expensive, but the company had borne the brunt of the costs. The term â€Å"borne out,† meanwhile, means to corroborate or confirm something: The scientist’s hypothesis was not borne out by the experiments she conducted. Borne vs. Bore It’s worth noting that the verb â€Å"bear† has another past participle: bore. The difference between â€Å"borne† and â€Å"bore† is that the former is passive and the latter is active. So if we’re using the active voice, in which the subject of the sentence is actively bearing something, we use â€Å"bore†: The palm tree bore coconuts. But when using the passive voice the subject of the sentence is not doing anything, so we use â€Å"borne†: The coconuts were borne by the palm tree. It’s therefore important to remember the distinction between â€Å"bore† and â€Å"borne,† as well as the difference between â€Å"born† and â€Å"borne.†

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyng Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyng - Essay Example The first memoire of the book encompasses the life of her and which pictures her duties to both her natal family and to the royal family Choson Korea (1392- 1910) in detail. Her marriage to Sado, the crown prince made her filial to her martial family, but at the same time she showed her dutiful nature to her natal family. Her decision to commit suicide, in order to follow her deceased husband, is barred from her father’s instructions to look after her son who became vulnerable by the death of his father. The life of the Lady HyegyÃ… ng’s duty towards her marital family can be seen by her servile nature to her husband, Sado, who was executed by the King Yongjo, his father. This incident marks as the beginning of her tragedies. Later, the princess Queen Chongsun’s reign made much harm to the social and political position of her family. She wanted to recover the lost position of her family and so when her son, Chongjo ascended into throne she tried her level best to regain the position of her family; but the suspicion of disloyalty caused the death of Hong Inhan, Hong Ponghan’s younger brother. Later the problems could be solve d by the involvement of Lady HyegyÃ… ng. Still the family did not overcome from the tragedies and so in 1801, Hong Nagim, younger brother of Lady HyegyÃ… ng was executed by the regent, Queen dowager. The reign of the grandson of Lady HyegyÃ… ng, Sunjo showed the end of hardships of her family, as the king was compassionate towards his grandmother. The writers, Hyegyonggung Hong Ssi and JaHyun Kim Haboush say that the Lady HyegyÃ… ng‘s filial duty towards her natal family had been shown in her wishes to be judged fairly and therefore in the first memoire she justifies her family and herself (Hong & Haboush 5). Lady HyegyÃ… ng’s first memoire, addressed to the heir of her natal family, is rather a part of the cross section of both families in her life. The Choson family and Hong

EN102 Article 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Politics and government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Politics and government - Essay Example Additionally, politics is applied on an extensive range of communal levels, from modern local governments, tribes and clans of traditional community, institutions and companies up to international levels, and also to independent states. Therefore, Government is the system through which a community or state is governed. However, the term government can be used scarcely to refer to a combined group of people who carry outs executive authority in a nation. Thus, the broader definition of the word government, generally consists of administrators, arbitrators and legislators. Thus, Government is the means by which the mechanism for determining the policy of the state and enforcement of the state policy. Furthermore, a form of state government thus refers to a set of political institutions and systems that come up with the establishment of a particular government. Additionally, both government and politics are words that are interrelated and are reliant on each other. For instance, for governing one needs to be aware of the politics art. Whereas a politician who is in control must know how to govern. In today’s society, politics is important because it tells people how societies should be formed and how one should act in a community. Moreover, due to the power, governments have abused lately, some people don’t believe its importance in the community or society. However, government is necessary and will be necessary if every new age group comes up with a new crop of predators. Therefore, the governments upholds individual bill of rights through the constitution. For instance, the freedom to speech, freedom to association, freedom of worship among others. Further, the na me of this political system is socialism. Lastly, politicians set rules and regulations that are fundamental for the smooth running of the government (Hague and Harrop, 210). My level of interest in politics and

Vital Knowledge Assets Protection Planning Service Essay

Vital Knowledge Assets Protection Planning Service - Essay Example High turnover rates have caused companies to become stagnant in terms of advancement of knowledge. Knowledge sharpens individuals’ skills, increases association productivity and drives innovation Beazley, H. (2003). Knowledge is highly perishable, increases with sharing and is cumulative Beazley, H. (2003). Retirements of experienced and knowledgeable professionals as well as many employees leaving the organization have caused companies lacking valuable knowledge for advancement. A major consumer products company had to delay the launch of its new products due to technical difficulties and lost a major market share because its competitor had launched the same product during that time period. The agony was that the company had developed the solution to those technical problems, fifteen years ago but those who had developed it and had the knowledge to implement it, had retired. The new professionals did not have the knowledge, nor did they know that the system was in place, Fiel d, A. (2003).Disaster may be termed as a happening or an attack by a malicious attacker or a rival or some mishap that may cause knowledgeable employees to leave the company, O’Sullivan, K. (2010). Such disasters may cause harm to the data that the company possesses or the knowledge that the company has. With competition increasing at such a high pace, complying with ethics is a thing of the past. Disaster may strike in the form of data being corrupted, data being stolen or knowledgeable professionals being lured away. The key question is how a firm may keep itself safe from such disasters and happenings? The first part focuses on the safety of data from disasters. The biggest threat to data security is what the data managers do not know about O’Sullivan, K. (2010). Data storage managers only to cover the basics of security and are exposed to many vulnerabilities. They are exposed to threats from viruses and hackers through their storage web interfaces. In order to avoid this business must have a data recovery plan or DR.

Andrew Young Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Andrew Young - Research Paper Example At a very young age he realized the difference in treatment of blacks and whites and always wanted to bring a change to the society. At a very early age he learned principles which later became a central part of his contributions towards the Civil rights movement. He realized that fighting was not only the way one can settle a dispute and disputes could be settled through talks (Young 24). After attaining his bachelor’s level degree, he was not sure what he wanted to do and believed that he had a higher purpose to serve. During the summers of 1947, he started working as a volunteer at United Christian Youth Movement (Young 98). When he was operating as a volunteer, he realized that being of service was the best job anyone can have. He started believing that helping people regardless of their age and race was important and thus he finally came up with the decision of attaining the position of a minister. 5 years after working as a volunteer he learned regarding different religi ous leaders through a seminar and was really impressed by the teachings of Mohandas Gandhi (DeRoche 6). The teachings of Gandhi impressed him and he was able to relate with his teachings, especially with Gandhi’s teachings of nonviolent ways of solving disputes. During the same year, he was assigned with task of preaching to the community of Marion and while preaching he made his future life partner who shared Andrew’s ideology as well as objectives. 3 years later Andrew obtained a divinity degree and at that time he even realized that he had the ability to change the conflict taking place in the nation. Andrew started his contributions towards the Civil Rights Movement when he started being a religious preacher in Georgia. While preaching religion, he realized that he should make more efforts for the betterment of the society and thus started advocating the issue of equal voting rights. His

Report question about AMR-US Airways Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Report question about AMR-US Airways - Assignment Example Fuel volatility is bad for the airlines because it reduces airline revenues, trust fund revenues, and access of passengers to the national aviation system. The domestic passenger traffic, reduces by 9% overall. Some airlines in the US decrease of 25%. These decreases declined the revenue of airports, prompting the airports to cut their operating costs, and hold the capital improvement projects. Price fluctuation also led to airports to reduce their airline capacity causing some of the passengers to lose access to the services of commercial air. This is due to increased fares in the passenger market. Smaller airports with fewer flight options, has the largest percentage decrease in their nonstop destinations as well as their reduction in capacity. Therefore, when the price of fuel fluctuates, Trust Fund revenues will fall, thereby contributing to a decrease in the funds non-committed balance (Lehman, 67). The Cost per ASM is computed by calculating the operating cost by the available Seat Miles that an online provides each year, this will vary with capacity. A quick analysis of the ASM from the company shows that the overall capacity has increased since. This explains the reducing Cost of ASM. On the other hand, the operating expenses have increased sharply since. Therefore, CASM for the 3month ending 2013/06/30 The Revenue Seat Miles is the distance an airplane flies times the passenger’s seat available for the passengers (Ones, 76). RSM is normally referred as the available seat miles. Therefore, the operating Cost per Mile is calculated as The difference between the two numbers is calculated as 926 The US Airways: The total operating cost in the 2nd quarter was recorded in $3.4m, this was a one percent increase compared to the previous year. The operating Cost per available seat mile was recorded are 12.88 cents. This was down 2 % on a 4.2% rise in the airlines ASM. When special items like profit and fuel sharing are excluded, the airline’s CASM becomes 8.21 cents. The 8.21 cents is a 0.4% decrease in CASM compared to the previous year. The merger will benefit the firms because it would generate it would raise more than half a billion dollars to the consumers and firms as well. Additionally, the merger will provide an effective competitor to some of the leading companies in the industry (Ones, 76). This will reduce competition by sidelining the market from creating competitive and new flight options for the passengers (Nutriment, 88). Consequently, the merger would result in cutting of services and raises the domestic fares. Also, the merger would be beneficial to the firm because it would result to a more competitive airline industry thereby giving the passengers more choices (Lehman, 67). Also, the merger would bring about the most competitive development in the airline industry. It is in the same dimension that FTC allowed UA-CO merger. However, the FTC is discouraging AA-US merger because the merger would reduce the le gacy carrier number from 4 to 3. This would increase the chances of coordinated professionalism among the airlines. This will lead to higher fees, fare, and diminished services. Therefore, blocking the merging of the two airlines will loosen the competition. This will prolong the cycle of the crisis to the passenger’s detriment, to the US airways, and also to the employees

Andrew Young Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Andrew Young - Research Paper Example At a very young age he realized the difference in treatment of blacks and whites and always wanted to bring a change to the society. At a very early age he learned principles which later became a central part of his contributions towards the Civil rights movement. He realized that fighting was not only the way one can settle a dispute and disputes could be settled through talks (Young 24). After attaining his bachelor’s level degree, he was not sure what he wanted to do and believed that he had a higher purpose to serve. During the summers of 1947, he started working as a volunteer at United Christian Youth Movement (Young 98). When he was operating as a volunteer, he realized that being of service was the best job anyone can have. He started believing that helping people regardless of their age and race was important and thus he finally came up with the decision of attaining the position of a minister. 5 years after working as a volunteer he learned regarding different religi ous leaders through a seminar and was really impressed by the teachings of Mohandas Gandhi (DeRoche 6). The teachings of Gandhi impressed him and he was able to relate with his teachings, especially with Gandhi’s teachings of nonviolent ways of solving disputes. During the same year, he was assigned with task of preaching to the community of Marion and while preaching he made his future life partner who shared Andrew’s ideology as well as objectives. 3 years later Andrew obtained a divinity degree and at that time he even realized that he had the ability to change the conflict taking place in the nation. Andrew started his contributions towards the Civil Rights Movement when he started being a religious preacher in Georgia. While preaching religion, he realized that he should make more efforts for the betterment of the society and thus started advocating the issue of equal voting rights. His

Professionalism and system of Healing Essay Example for Free

Professionalism and system of Healing Essay Much of the existing sociological work on professions and professionalism takes a structural approach (Macdonald 1995); the focus is on how groups of people professionalize, or how professionalism can be defined, which occupations count as ‘true’ professions (Johnson 1981). For this reason ‘professionalism’ is often dismissed as rhetoric. In order to achieve status and monopolistic position in the market for services of some kind, aspiring professionals are seen to stress the distinctness of their knowledge, the undoubted authenticity of their altruism and the responsibility of their members. When professionalism is considered purely as a trope perhaps this is a legitimate line to take. However, it can overlook the fact that professionalism can also be regarded as a set of boundary setting practices. These practices no doubt contribute to status since they distance the professional from the client, but they may also benefit the client. For example, the practitioner may adopt a person in which his or her emotions or prejudices are back grounded and subordinated to the client’s task in hand (Cant and Sharma 1998). Professionalism Professionalism in medicine is nothing more than the institutionalization of a male upper class monopoly. I must never confuse professionalism with expertise. Expertise is something to work for and to share; professionalism is – by definition – elitist and exclusive, sexist, racist and classist. In the American past, women who sought formal medical training were too ready to accept the professionalism that went with it. They made their gains in status – but only on the backs of their less privileged sisters – midwives, nurses and lay healers. The main goal today should never be to open up the exclusive medical profession to women, but to open up medicine to all women. Professionalism is the ability to meet the relationship-centered expectations required to practice medicine competently. What does competence look alike? The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the umbrella organization for certifying boards agree that competent physicians have abilities in the following areas: medical knowledge, patient care, professionalism, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skill, and system based practice. Professionalism integrates all these competencies. It can be observed, for instance, with practice-based learning and improvement when students or residents reflect on their performance and task themselves. Professionalism interfaces with system-based practice when students or residents help patients obtain the care and resources they need to maintain health. Professionalism overlaps with interpersonal and communication skills and with patient care when students or residents are respectful in their interactions with others. The Healing System The integrative practitioner acknowledges the intrinsic restorative capacity of the human organism. Activation of this process is critical to an integrative practitioner’s decisions regarding which therapeutic choices are most beneficial for the patient. Weil has described the concept of a â€Å"healing system† operating in the human organism, not intrinsically different in nature from the â€Å"endocrine system† the â€Å"nervous system, the â€Å"immune system,† or any other conventionally defined functional system in the human body. Like these other systems, the healing system is not specifically located in any single organ, but functions via a subtle and complex web of intracellular signaling systems affecting all levels of the organism, from the cellular level to the tissue-organ level to the levels of mind and spirit. Weil gives an example of the process at the cellular level: when the DNA of a skin cell is damaged by ultraviolet radiation – potentially triggering mutation and unregulated replication, eventually leading to development of a skin malignancy – DNA lipase and a set of related enzymes within the damaged cell’s nucleus are automatically activated, resulting in the identification and removal of the damaged sequence, with restoration of normal replication. If this level of â€Å"automatic healing† fails, then generally, once the cell has mutated and begun to replicate abnormally, immune cells will identify it as foreign and contain and destroy the affected group of cells – without any conscious action on the part of the person affected. At the level of tissues or organs, the spontaneous healing of wounds is an obvious example of the healing system at work. The occurrence of an injury initiates a complex system of intracellular signaling, leading to local inflammation as a defense against infection, increased tissue perfusion to promote healing, and, ultimately, activation of fibroblasts and other cells to repair the damaged skin and subcutaneous tissues. Here again, although this process can potentially be influenced by certain inputs, including medications, botanicals, mind-body therapies, and others, the basic mechanisms of healing are intrinsic and require no intervention to be moved into action. Summary Medicine is a cooperative art and a deeply satisfying profession. Students become professional by paying attention to the relationship of medicine-relationships with patients, colleagues, and mentors. Competence in professionalism is a habit, and its acquisition requires more than knowledge and skill. The inclusion of traditional medical system and other proven modalities in a healing-oriented framework brings us back to a more balanced stance that serves the physician, the patient, and ultimately, the health care system..

The Importance Of Export Diversification

The Importance Of Export Diversification Earlier a countrys economic development was based either on the degree of specialization or diversification of a countrys production and trade structure. Based on Adam Smiths concept towards division of labour and specialization for economic growth and development to Heckscher-Ohlin Samuelson (HOS) model of international trade, countries should specialize in producing and specializing in the goods in which they have a comparative advantage. However, after the Second World War, the idea was that economic growth and development may be achieved by export diversification (not specialization). There were active efforts by the government to promote industrialization and economic growth. Export diversification is often the primary objective of many developed countries. Export diversification is also equally important for many developing countries. Some of the developing countries are dependent on relatively small range of products, generally agricultural commodities. In other words, primary products constitute a large percentage of their overall export earnings. Some economists such as Prebisch have even suggested that there is a long term tendency for primary product prices to decline vis-à  -vis those for manufactured goods. Countries that are commodity dependent or have a narrow export basket usually faces export instability which arises from inelastic and unstable global demand. This can consequently have a significant adverse impact on the macro economy of least developed economies in terms of investment and employment. Thus export diversification is one means to alleviate these constraints. Export diversification refers to the move from traditional to non trad itional exports. Developing countries should diversify their exports since this can; for example, help them to overcome export instability. Diversifying the export portfolio could intensify and accelerate the economic growth. Export instability could discourage necessary investments in the economy by risk-averse firms, increase macroeconomic uncertainty and be damaging to longer term economic growth. Export diversification could therefore help to stabilize export earnings in the longer run (Ghosh and Ostry, 1994; Bleaney and Greenaway, 2001). Countries with the slightest level of export diversification are those which face instability in export earnings. Some examples of countries which have instability in export earnings due to very heavy reliance on exports of one or two commodities are Kiribati, Samoa, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. Reasons for export diversification Export diversification may be an important issue for developing countries for several reasons. First, a diversified bundle of export products provides a hedge towards price variations and shocks in specific product markets (Bertinelli et al., 2006; Levchenko and di Giovanni, 2006). Second, the type of products exported might affect economic growth and the potential for structural change (Hausmann et al., 2007; Hausmann and Klinger, 2006; Whang, 2006). Third, export diversification in the direction of more sophisticated products may be beneficial for economic development. Given these potential benefits of export diversification, an important policy question is what a country can do to diversify its exports. For poor countries to grow rich, it is important for them to modify the composition of their exports which will enable them to look more like that of rich countries. For over 50 years, economic and export diversification has been given high importance on the list of priorities for development policy. The argument was based on the observation that dependence on primary commodity production and exportation by developing countries expose them to commodity shocks, price fluctuations and declining terms of trade. As a result, a countrys foreign exchange reserves and the ability to have funds for imported inputs become subject to instability and uncertainty. The debates about the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis (1959) and the need for industrialization gave priority to diversify economies away from primary commodities because of unfavorable and declining terms of trade, slow productivity growth, and relatively low value added. There are several reasons for developing countries to have export diversification. Firstly, diversifying their bundle of exports will protect them from the risk of unpredictable declining trend in international prices of primary exportable commodities that, in turn, lead to unstable export earnings. Export diversification could therefore help out to stabilize export earnings in the longer run (Ostry, 1994; Greenaway, 2001). FAO (2004) maintains that due to the absence of export diversification in developing countries, decline and fluctuations in export earnings have negatively influenced income, investment and employment. Diversification provides the opportunities to extend investment risks over a wider portfolio of economic sector which eventually increase income (Acemoglu and Zilibotti 1997). Romer (1990) believes that diversification can be seen as an input factor that has an effect of increasing the productivity of other factors of production. Through exports it is also possible to build an environment that creates competition and as a result acquire new skills. Overall economic growth and acquisition of human capital may be slow if there is the absence of pressure from outside competitive forces (Husted and Melvin, 2007). Diversification helps countries to hedge against adverse terms of trade shocks by stabilizing export revenues. It enables them to direct positive terms of trade shocks into growth, knowledge spillovers and increasing returns to scale. Other industries in the country can also gain as export diversification can lead to knowledge spillovers from new techniques of production, management or marketing practices (AminGutierrez de Pineresand Ferrantino, 2000). Furthermore economic growth and structural change depends upon the type of products that is being traded (Hausmann et al., 2007; Hausmann and Klinger, 2006; Whang, 2006). Thus through export diversification, an economy can progress towards the production and exportation of sophisticated products which may highly contributes towards economic development. Export diversification allows the government of an economy to achieve some of its macroeconomic objectives namely sustainable economic growth, satisfactory balance of payment situation, employment and redistribution of income. Strategies to promote export diversification As we see there are potential benefits of export diversification, but the question remains that what a country can do to diversify its exports. Potential determinants of export diversification, such as country size and level of development, trade costs, international distance, and the costs of domestic entry are all potentially associated with larger diversification. What can encourage export diversification? All successful high growth economies have had strategies to promote export diversification. These strategies include: 1. Financial sector development and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Harding and Javorcik (2007) consider financial sector development and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can be helpful in promoting diversification. FDI can encourage exports of host countries by boosting domestic capital for exports, serving to transfer technology and new products for exports, making access to new and large foreign markets easy and improving technical and management skills. 2. Reduce Costs The main debate is associated to cost as export diversification is rather sensitive to costs. Kehoe and Ruhl (2003) with episodes of trade liberalization across 18 countries found variable trade costs to be related with extensive growth margin. Lower cost means that there are fewer obstacles for domestic firm when exporting. The World Bank Doing Business survey through its Trading Across Borders section has included information on the number of procedures required for importing and exporting, as well as the time taken to comply with them. It also included trade costs such as document costs, inland transport costs, customs costs, ports costs, administrative costs and so on. In broad terms, for the promotion of export diversification there must be incentive to make improvement on trade facilitation, i.e. set policy measures to reduce costs. Such policy measures include lowering domestic barriers to entry; facilitate company registration by reducing number of procedures and applying a f ixed registration fee, and removing the need for pre-tax payments. 3. Lowering barriers Lower barriers to firm entry and lower international trade costs, constitutes an important way in which developing countries can help diversify their export baskets. Export margin can be affected by changes in tariff rates and preferences (Debaere and Mostashari, 2005). In policy terms, one efficient way for developing countries to promote export diversification is to center regulatory reform efforts on making entry procedures simpler and less expensive, as well as on trade facilitation measures. 4. Learning-by-doing The endogenous growth model states that exports can be more diversified through learning-by-doing and learning-by-exporting and by adopting practices of developed countries (Pineres and Ferrantino, 1997) 5. Role of Government The government of an economy should play a leading role in the promotion of export. Investment should be directed into various sectors of industry. In so doing, the Government can make sure that investment is not being undertaken on more than just one specific sector so that a diverse industrial base can be built. The Government should provide a favorable environment to attracting new investment in the country. There may also be provision for favorable tax treatment to firms, tax holidays for export oriented undertakings, input used in the production of exports can also be exempted from value-added tax. Subsidies play an important role in promoting exports. Government can introduce cash incentive scheme which may benefit firms such as providing them with subsidies which will consequently encourage trade.. 6. Research and Development Efforts can be put into the RD activities to upgrade the level of industry. This can be done by the help of fiscal and financial incentives which will stimulate RD and technological innovation activities. Besides the Government, the banking system and other financial authorities should offer services to diversify and strengthen a countrys export. The banking system can facilitate diversification by its loan patterns. Schemes to diversify and promote exports need to be complemented by a suitable combination of fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies in order to be successful. 7. Variation in the structure of demand Imbs and Wacziarg (2003) proposed that a growing demand for a range of goods followed by an increase in a countrys income may lead to diversification. In other word, variation in the structure of demand leads to change in a countrys production pattern. Constraints to export diversification In spite of the liberalization in the export sector, there are still the presence of certain issues which limit export diversification especially in least developed countries. Klinger and Lederman put together on Hausmann and Rodrik (2003) to investigate a causal relationship from market failures to inadequate diversification. There may be clash with other national policies in an attempt to promote exports. Export diversification at times may be hindered by a number of factors: Low income elasticities of Demand Some developing countries are failing to export primary products due to the low income elasticities of demand for their primary products. Furthermore, prospects for developing countries to provide manufactured exports are poor because of the competition faced with the industrialized countries. Lack of finance Lack of adequate export finance is identified as a major constraint. Small and medium exporters tend to be more severely affected by this constraint. A fundamental problem of export diversification is the lack of adequate investment in the country, both domestic and foreign. Exporters may face the problem of acquiring export finance. High rate of interest on bank capital is also a constraint since it discourages them to take loan. In other words, exports are being restricted due deficiency in financing of trade by the countrys banking system. Lack of Adequate Infrastructure Efficient infrastructure is the pre-condition for good export performance. Inadequate functioning of infrastructure may adversely affect enterprises in many ways. There may be difficulty in the transportation of goods due to limitations in infrastructure. It obstructs production activities, delays movement of goods and passengers, leading to delay in the delivery of goods. It adds to business uncertainty and risk and imposes additional costs. Bureaucracy and market access Government rules and regulations relating to exports are complicated and too much paper work is needed. Considerable time is spent and officers should be appointed for sorting out matters with the government and agencies. Market access issues are complex. The major market access problems relate to i) non-tariff and para-tariff barriers, ii) stringent quality and standard requirements, iii) stringent rules of origin, iv) labour and environmental standards. Environmental conditionalities are a kind of new protectionism which can hamper market access. Tariff and non-tariff barriers also obstruct market access. Lack of strength in the public institutions The World Bank noted that the lack of strength in the public institutions hinder private sector activities. There is the weakening of sound policy-making and public management, frustration of private entrepreneurship, prevention of competition and rising of corruption due to heavy regulatory and judicial systems and loss-making state-owned enterprise. Private investment can be deterred due because of poorly regulated and undercapitalized commercial banks, problem of telecommunications, infrastructure and law and order problem. Dearth of Skilled Manpower Other constraints include domestic resource scarcity, shortage of skilled labour, and lack of professionalism. There may be lack of skilled manpower in some sectors. Lack of skilled manpower has resulted in under utilization of potential export of services through manpower export as they are catering to only unskilled and semi-skilled needs. Economic growth Economic growth is a long run concept. It is usually defined as an increase in real gross domestic product (GDP), that is, GDP adjusted for inflation. In other words, it is as an increase in the real value of goods and services produced in the economy. For comparing one countrys economic growth to another, GDP or GNP per capita should be used as these take into account population differences between countries. Economic growth can be shown by an outward shift of the Production Possibility Curve (PPC). Economists see dissimilarity between potential and actual growth rates. Potential economic growth represents maximum efficiency with resources. It is determined by the factors of production that a country has as its command. However, actual growth represents resource utilization in practice and shows the result. This is determined by how effectively factors of production available to a nation are developed and combined. There are many factors which determine economic growth in a country. Determinants of economic growth Natural Resources Countries which are gifted with natural resources are expected to have rapid economic growth, assuming that these resources are employed for the production of goods and services. However a large amount of natural resources is not adequate to guarantee economic growth. There are a number of less-developed countries which have high natural resources, but still due to various reasons, they have not been successful in exploiting them. To benefit from economic growth, these natural resources must be converted to useful forms, which will need people to be equipped with appropriate skills. Human Capital Human capital and education are considered to be necessary conditions for economic growth. Lucas (1988) focused on the impact of human capital on long-run growth. The rise in productivity needed for economic growth can be achieved by increasing domestic human resources through education and training. Skills acquisition and the ability to keep on learning throughout the lifecycle are needed to develop individuals. Developing human resources through education and training is considered to be a long term process which will upgrade the innovative capacity of an economy. Apart from affecting factor of production, education and human capital can also have impact on factors such as physical capital and natural resources (Bravo-Ortega and De Gregorio 2002. Azariadis and Drazen (1990) proposed that an economy can experience long-run economic growth if the government designs policies toward the promotion of education and human capital. Lucas (1993) pointed out, the accumulation of human capita l specially, knowledge is a key factor in explaining the growth experiences of countries. Capital Accumulation Capital accumulation refers to buildings, machinery, infrastructure and the amount of tools available to the economy. A necessary prerequisite for economic growth is a large capital stock. Developed countries do spend a significant amount on capital formation. For example, in UK in the year 1998 and 1999, 12% of annual GDP was spent on fixed capital. Capital is a major factor affecting growth. The more an economy has as capital, the more it can produce and the higher will be real income. If there are few machines available, a nation will be able to make fewer goods and services. More machines will mean more income can be generated. Therefore, the larger the capital stock, the larger is the potential income. In short, we can say that investment in capital should increase the productive potential of an economy. Young (1994) found that Asian tigers success resulted from rapid accumulation of capital (through high investment). The Solow model predicts that investment rate is a key determ inant of whether a country is rich or poor. Fingleton (1999) found capital accumulation as being the determinant of European region productivity growth. Technology The most important determinant for an economy to grow is associated to its pace of technological progress. This is because with technology, we can obtain more output from same amount of input as before. Neoclassical economists regarded technological progress as a critical source of economic growth. Romer (1990), Aghion and Howitt (1992), Grossman and Helpman (1994) and Basu and Weil (1998), among others, concentrated on the role of innovation and technological progress on long-run growth. Economies must invest in knowledge just as they must invest in fixed capital. The productivity of capital can be increased if machinery is updated so that firms use the latest technologies available. Technological advances are encouraged when there is investment in research and development. De Long and Summers (1993) has shown that the only variable that have a significant positive effect on growth of less-developed economies is the investment in equipment Technological progress, along with accumula tion of human and capital, is essential in determining a nations rate of growth. For example, the large growth in the U.S. economy during the introduction of the Internet and the technology that it brought to U.S. industry as a whole. The Solow-Swan Growth Model which entailed a series of equations shows the concept of growth as an increased stock of capital goods. According to this view, the role of technological change became crucial, even more important than the accumulation of capital. (e) Openness Openness to international trade accelerates productivity and promotes export as well as economic growth. Romer (1989) stressed on the issue that growth in the volume of trade is positively correlated with the growth of output for a country. Edwards (1993) and Rodriguez and Rodrik (2001) also carried an extensive review of the empirical literature on the growth effects of openness. Increasing importance is being attributed to the opening up of the world economy. Globalization is seen to be good for the Worlds economy. Detailed studies suggest that there is a positive correlation between trade liberalization and an increase in per capita income. In other words, the more an economy is open, the higher is rate of growth. Development in Eastern Europe and the World Trade Organization highlight that during the last twenty years, more and more areas of the world economy have been brought into the competitive market-place. Such openness to trade, investment and competition are clearly import ant determinants to productivity growth. For example until 1858 Japan was inaccessible to world trade. The Japanese Government banished the trade restrictions which allowed trading with the rest of the world. Consequently this had lead to a 65% rise in real national income (Huber, 1971; Husted and Melvin, 2007). FDI Inflow There are various channels through which FDI can positively affect economic growth: technological transfer, capital accumulation, access to international markets, managerial and marketing practices and employment (Lall [2000], Te Velde [2001], Borensztein [1998]). FDI can increase competition which will eventually make domestic companies more efficient and encourage diversification. FDI benefits economic growth at large as it contributes to the domestic accumulation of resources. Many studies have been carried out which demonstrated a positive link between FDI an economic growth. Campos and Kinoshita (2002) examined the effects of FDI on growth for 25 Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union economies and found a positive relationship between them. However there are certain studies which are undertaken that do show any influence of FDI on economic growth for example, Carkovic and Levine (2002), Bacha (1974), Saltz (1992) and Alfaro et al. (2002). Inflation There are many evidence which suggest that sustained high rate of inflation can be detrimental to real economic growth even in the long run. Fisher (1993) found negative links between inflation and growth in pooled cross-section, time series regressions for a large set of countries. Investors may face uncertainty about future profitability of investment projects. Barro (1995) put forward that inflation diminishes the propensity to investment which eventually decreases growth. Inflation may also have a negative impact on the balance of payments as it reduces a countrys international competitiveness by making export dearer. Inflation can affect growth by altering borrowing and lending decisions. However whether inflation is good or bad for economic growth depends on its degree. That is, at lower rates of inflation, the relationship is not significant or even positive; but at higher rates, inflation has a significantly negative effect on growth. In their analysis, Bruno and Easterly (19 98) showed that some countries did not go through adverse consequences even if they were experiencing sustained inflations of 20% to 30%. On the other hand, once the rate of inflation go beyond certain critical level (which Bruno and Easterly estimated to be about 40 %), this causes negative effect to growth. However besides the factors mention above, there are also other factors that affect growth. Non-economic factors such as political and social factors too play an important role. The geographic location of a country may also affect economic growth. Government also can adopt both demand and supply-side measures in order to stimulate economic growth. Factors such as population growth, rapid growth of manufactured exports, stable macroeconomic and institutional environment creating confidence in policy makers, exchange rate, and labour force can affect growth in an economy. Link between economic growth and export diversification Policy-makers have tended to emphasize the potential benefits that export diversification can bring to the host economy. One of the main advantages which has been put forward by economists is that export diversification tends to increase economic growth in the host economy. There has been little empirical research on the relationships between export diversification and economic growth. There are two essential questions that the literature on this matter has tried to answer: Does export diversification affect long run economic growth? Can a country improve its economic performance by exporting different types of goods? (Gutià ©rrez-de-Pià ±eres and Ferrantino, 2000). The primary questions are why do countries diversify their exports and does it always benefit countries economic growth? Export instability can adversely affect growth in an economy. Countries which are dependent on a limited amount of commodities may suffer from export concentration. This is because commodity products are often subject to volatility in market prices leading to swings in foreign exchange revenues. Volatility and instability can thus discourage investment in an economy by risk adverse firms, reduce import capacity, increase macroeconomic uncertainty and thus be detrimental to longer-economic growth. There are several channels through which diversification may influence growth. It is therefore essential to make a difference between horizontal and vertical diversification. Both of them are positively related to economic growth. Horizontal diversification means the alteration of the primary export mix in order to neutralize the volatility of global commodity prices. Horizontal export diversification benefits an economy in such a way that it diminishes dependence on a narrow range of commodities that are subject to major price and volume fluctuations. Dawe 1996, Bleaney Greenaway (2001) discovered that horizontal export diversification may present considerable development benefits as this may lead to well-directed economic planning and also contribute towards investment. Vertical export diversification on the other hand refers to contrive further uses of existing and new innovative commodities using value-added venture such as processing and marketing. The Prebish-Singer thesis is o f the view that a tendency towards declining terms of trade of primary products (Athukurola 2000) may make vertical diversification into manufactures more useful. By highlighting the role of increasing returns to scale and dynamic spillover effects (Amin Gutià ©rrez de Pià ±eres and Ferrantino 2000), the endogenous growth theory suggested that it can be assumed that export diversification affects long-run growth. Export may benefit economic growth through generating positive externalities on non-exports (Feder, 1982), increased scale economies, improved allocative efficiency and better ability to produce dynamic comparative advantage (Sharma and Panagiotidis, 2004). Esfahani (1991) concluded that export enables developing countries to alleviate the import shortage they may face up to. Speaking differently, revenue from exports can fill the foreign exchange gap which is identified as barrier to growth. A number of empirical studies have shown that export diversification is contributing to higher per capita income growth. The main theory is that, compared to nations with concentrated export structures, those countries with more diverse economic structures have greater possibilities to sustain periods of high economic growth. Love (1986) suggest that a country should avoid heavy dependence on limited products as it diminishes a countrys potential of partially offsetting fluctuations in some export sectors with sectors in which stability prevails. In his study, Al-Marhubi (2000) put forward that market investment becomes riskier because instability in export earnings is a main cause of economic uncertainty in many commodity-exporting nations. In other words, this may adversely affect investments and in turn negatively impact economic growth. Using a cross-country sample of 91 countries for the period of 1961-88, Al Marhubi concluded that there is a positive and strong relationship bet ween export diversification and economic growth. His regression was undertaken by adding different variables affecting export concentration to the basic growth equation. Regressions on cross-sections of countries (Sachs and Warner 1995, or more recently Gylfason 2004) and panels (de Ferranti et al. 2002) proposed that export concentration is certainly statistically related with slow growth, mostly when export concentration reflects the high proportion of primary products. A broad literature review on export diversification and economic growth was offered by Hesse (2008), where he estimated a simple augmented Solow growth model to examine the connection between export diversification and income per capita growth. There was strong support in Hesses findings that export concentration, measured by a Herfindahl index, is harmful to economic growth in developing countries. The relationship between a countrys productivity and sectoral export variety was studied by Feenstra and Kee (2004). From an estimation of a translog GDP function system for a sample of 34 countries going from 1984 to 1997, they found that a 10 percent boost in export variety of all industries leads to a 1.3 percent increase a countrys productivity. Moreover another model of export diversification and economic growth was developed by Agosin (2007) where countries which lack technology, expand their comparative advantage by learning from and adapting to existing products. The cross-sectional regression of Agosin (2007) found that export diversification strongly affect economic growth. In addition, models in the product life cycle literature (Vernon, 1966; Krugman, 1979; Grossman and Helpman, 1991) gained variety of export products by advancement made by the North and consequently the South adopting and exporting the products from countries where labour cost are low. In his cross-country panel model, Lederman and Maloney (2007) concluded that one cause of diminution in growth prospects is the concentrations in export earnings. The advantages of export diversification for economic growth have been examined both empirically and theoretically in a new literature by Hausmann and Rodrik (2003), Hausmann, Hwang, and Rodrik (2006), and H ausmann and Klinger (2006). Their studies demonstrated that comparative advantage do not lead to economic growth. Instead, growth is achieved when countries diversify their investments into new or a range of activities. The model of Hausmann and Rodrik (2003) explained that there are various uncertainties related to cost in the production of new goods. They believed that the government should help in industrial growth and structural transformation by encouraging entrepreneurship and providing incentives to motivate entrepreneurs to invest in a new range of activities. Hausmann, Hwang, and Rodrik (2006) developed an indicator (EXPY) that determines the productivity level related with a countrys export basket. This measure is significantly affecting economic growth. Faster growth is achieved by countries that produce high-productivity goods than countries with poorer productivity growth. Economic growth is experienced when a country shift its resources from lower-productivity to highe r productivity goods with elastic demand of these goo