Research Korner

Explore and address cultural competent in social work practice

Cultural competent in social work practice in delivering social care services to older people from black and ethnic minority   The essence of research investigation lies in the exploration and addressing of cultural competent presence in social work practice relating to social care services delivery focusing older people from black and ethnic minorities, United kingdom perspective. The need to address concerns and issues of social work practice, social care services, its delivery stance as placed in culture competence of social workers working in to provide effective service delivery to older people mostly concerning to health status of the latter.   <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%"> What is meant by cultural competent in social work practice? How is it manifested and realized in the UK?</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%"> What comprise of social care service delivery? What are the ways of delivering social care services? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%"> How social care services are being delivered to older people? Explain from within black and ethnic minority groups in the UK</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%"> How to address and explore culture competence in UK social work practice? Elaborate and discuss with direct information</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%"> What are the ways and how culture competence will be measured for social work? Provide situations </li>   Preliminary literature organization, assessment routes will be achieved through research papers critiquing as one ideal method of the study, a total of three to six reviewed articles/journals will be in utilization this will be evaluated by the researcher based on the topic specifically on cultural competent domain of social work and such causal relationship to social care services in accordance to delivery pathways accordingly. Thus, case survey method will be an effective tool in gathering first hand information, this will be in survey statement format that will be in composition of various statement sections as the following:   I.                   Relevant Profiling II.                Main Statements   1.1 Cultural Competence of Social Work Practice     No STATEMENTS           1 Cultural competence requires knowledge of varied elements within the larger cultural matrix of social work and those of better practices 1 2 3 4 5 2 Social work need to make competent adjustments to work effectively in cross cultural situations 1 2 3 4 5 3 Skilled social workers can help remedy the situation by developing partnerships with social networks and traditional healers along the person's normal pathway to care 1 2 3 4 5   1.2 Cultural Competence of Delivering Social Care Services     No STATEMENTS           1 Cultural biases in interpretation of care delivery functioning result in conflicting modalities for care delivery 1 2 3 4 5 2 Social services help workers form partnerships with delivery based systems, social care policy must allow social work to achieve success in minority groups 1 2 3 4 5 3 Despite recommendations concerning cultural competencies and standards in the service professions, little attention has been given to development of sound and anchored instrumentation for evaluating cultural competence 1 2 3 4 5   The need to explore the extent to which nature of social work practice with older people from black and ethnic minorities in UK. The outlining of core theories of profession and applicability to social work as well as to critically analyze the impact of delivery within social services areas. Thus, to examine nature of the social workers practice with older people following culture competence into social care legislation for continuation of social work role in relation to services delivery for older people, development of social care is often perceived to be problematic like, older people in minority ethnic communities are socially and economically disadvantaged and might lack the resources to provide care to the level that is needed. Planning and delivery of care services for people in minority communities can leave much to be desired. Among other problems, racism and institutional discrimination can result in services which neglect the needs of minority communities. Examining argument by focusing on care of older people, accepting that problems of racism in the planning and delivery of health and social services are serious and lead to limited access to social services by some. Thus, evident that some minority communities are in better position than others to meet the care needs of older people. Social care services are being provided by social service agencies in the absence of any clearly identified criteria for culturally competent practice. The need to describe development of checklist of agency characteristics that are believed to represent cultural competence to be derived by sampling articles/journals from compilation of relevant literature. Good presence of literature describe existing services for minority groups and provide case examples of specific programs. Systematic case survey procedures will be used to select articles/journals, abstract characteristics from and cluster the characteristics. Pilot applications in social service program provide evidence for observer reliability and concurrent validity, provide context for checklist definition of cultural competency (1992). Cultural competence is crucial to sound social work practice is widely accepted in the profession and existing gap between achievement of the goal of developing culturally competent practitioners through social work education and the ability to measure such competence. A second gap exists between education and the providing of culturally appropriate services in everyday practice (2001). The gaps are due to broad terms used to define cultural competence, slow evolution of instrumentation to measure cultural competence, the lack of culture-specific training and measurement techniques. The assessment for further refinement of the concept and suggest new approach for the development of instruments to measure competence as there provide overview of the construct of cultural competence, analyze conceptual and empirical foundations of measures, provide rationale for development of culture specific instruments ( 2001). Te social work programs are required to include cultural competence material and practical ideas for doing so as successfully employed in social work practice. In the UK, consequence for older people, especially those with less acute needs, is that they may be rationed out, ignored, or treated inappropriately on either side of the boundary. Thus, examining views of professional social care workers as being argued that user perspectives are essential to the development of appropriate services for black and ethnic minority groups and the need to raise these issues are to be discussed. Conceptual approach helps make discussion of past results and future research needs regarding both the aged and health care utilization more coherent, and policy implications may become more apparent as improved by studying older people as special utilization case, broadening applicability in social services as well as health delivery services (1995)

Explore and address cultural competent in social work practice

Cultural competent in social work practice in delivering social care services to older people from black and ethnic minority The esse...

ENGLISH INTO ART

Defining the Canon In a broad point of view canon refers to an authoritative list or collection of literary heritage that includes wide range of fact and fiction. The keepers or authority when it comes to canon are the high cultured and most influential critics, scholars and literary authors (, 1995). The definition of  canon ultimately derives from the ancient Greek word kanna, which referred to useful types of reed, the straight stalk of marsh plants with firm stems. The related Greek term kanon metaphorically and metonymically extends that use to include straight rod, bar, or ruler, as well as rule, standard, and model. In architecture it acquired the meaning of the right measure and, in the arts, corrects proportion (, 1989). The latter sense was developed most explicitly in antiquity by the celebrated sculptor Polykleitos.  Canon is significant in the field of literature studies especially to language because it provides culture and national identity. Canonical texts also have been the basis of Standard English language (, 1984). Literary confers status, social, political, economic, aesthetic, none of which can easily be extricated from the others. Belonging to the canon is a guarantee of quality, and that guarantee of high aesthetic quality serves as a promise, a contract, that announces to the reader has to enjoy some aesthetic objects. Complex, difficult, privileged, the object before you has been winnowed by the sensitive few and the not-so-sensitive many, and it will repay your attention. You will receive pleasure; at least you're supposed to, and if you don't, well, perhaps there's something off with your apparatus." Such an announcement of status by the poem, painting, or building, sonata, or dance that has appeared ensconced within a canon serves a powerful separating purpose: it immediately stands forth, different, better, to be valued, loved, and enjoyed. It is the wheat winnowed from the mock, the exceptional survivor, and it has all the privileges of such survival (, 1973). Traditional Canon   Around the beginning of the first millennium, the discrimination between "ancient" and "modern," classic and contemporary, major and minor, authors was beginning to be formulated, and the first explicit distinction of a whole literary canon, as a collected body of texts, was made. In the first century A.D., Quintilian already counted Cicero among the antiqui, and in the second century,  coined the term classicus to differentiate the ancient model authors. In his celebrated study, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (, 1993).   The canon was implicit to be a complete list of books for study, such as those of Christian literature. The long history of the formation of the authoritative biblical  canon, not officially finalized until the sixteenth century, has been recounted elsewhere (, 1993). Of more relevance here is the subtle shift in definition: Without abandoning the sense of artistic or moral exemplars, the early medieval.    Canon became a list of works for pedagogical instruction in the liberal arts, and especially in grammar, the study of which involved literature as much as linguistic practice per se.The authors studied in medieval schools included pagan and Christian writers, both of which were taken as authorities. Indeed, it was characteristic of the early Middle Ages that all auctores, or curriculum authors, were perceived as equally valuable, that each one was believed to be timeless. Lists of selected auctores were devised as examples to learn from and to follow, and although the lists differ in points of detail and were periodically challenged, a remarkable degree of consistency is also evident, as certain authors reappear on list after list across Europe from the fifth to the thirteenth century and beyond. The great list  of English Literary canon should include: Aesop, Homer, Plato, Terence, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Livy, Ovid, Seneca, Lucan, Statius, Cato, Juvenal, and Boethius (, 1999). As late as the fourteenth century, the esteem in which many of the same writers were held was confirmed in Dante's Inferno (, ll.88-90) and Purgatorio (, ll.97-108), as well as Chaucer's The House of Fame (.1460-1519).   Various debates about Literary Canon Even though there is no particular general list of authors who are "in" our culture's literary canon, and in this sense the literary canon differs from "the books of the Bible officially recognized by the Church" (66 books for Protestants, 82 books for Catholics), canonized authors are those writers who are most normally educated in literary surveys and who are generally included in literary anthologies ( , 1999). The variety of English literature" (but do predominantly white, middle- and  upper-middle class male authors represent variety? (, 1983) The authors being taught, and thus selected for the anthology, represent "the greatness . . . of English literature" (but how is "greatness" defined, and who is privileged to define it?);  that the anthology is a disinterested facilitator of what teachers want to teach "the product of more than a decade of experimentation" by editors "who then proceeded to test the book in their continued teaching" (but to what extent does the anthology actually create the course once the anthology is put into circulation as "a product"? Why has the literary canon consisted mainly of male writers (and here we should qualify, "of white, middle-class and upper middle-class male writers")? ·         What have been the standards by which the works of women (along with non-white males and the economically-disenfranchised) have been judged? ·         Can women, or minorities, or working-class writers be comfortably added to the canon? Does the conception of a literary canon change as such writers are introduced? ·         Does the existence of a literary canon serve any useful purpose? Does it provide the needs of women or other marginalized groups of people (minorities and homosexuals, for example?)? ·         To what extent does the notion of a literary canon create marginalization? ·         Is it inevitable that there be a literary canon, or does the attempt to canonize some writers and leave out others serve an often unrecognized political purpose? An effort to overcome the problems associated with tokenism and supplementation, some feminists have compiled anthologies of women writers. Designed to serve as a "core-curriculum" text for the many courses in literature by women that have been developed in the past decade, this collection includes examples of women's work in every genre and period (, 1989). Offering itself as separate but equal, it appears to some a ghetto for women's writing, excusing the "standard" anthologies for their neglect of women authors instead of challenging the assumptions that make the standard anthologies standard (, 1984). More importantly, perhaps, the creation of a new set of accepted and acceptable texts results and the bases for canonization remain unclear. English and Writer’s Sense of Personal and Cultural Identity English as canon is often questioned by the following points: why should the literary works in the English canon composed by non-standard varieties of English language? Does the perspectives of the writers personal and cultural identity has a great influence in these works?             Nowadays, the term “culture” has already become one of the most common words in all kinds of public discourse. It has been constantly heard from journalists and politicians, not to mention of academics especially those in all disciplines of Humanities. “Popular culture”, “research culture”, “mass culture” – there is almost no limit as to the applicability of the term in any context. If one looks at the subject of culture in a historical way, three things came out ( 1994). The first is that culture as a subject and as a social issue is definitely not the invention of this time. as a matter of fact, the farther we go to the eighteenth century, the more we find that culture, its nature and composition is the central issue in the field of Humanities. In addition, it was not really in the 1920s and the 1930s (period of modernism in the English speaking world) that culture became another word for “high art”. The second is that from the beginning of the argument of culture in the eighteenth century, there has been a debate regarding the relative status and merits of its parts. Even though as a general theory, the farther one goes back to the eighteenth century, the more broadly culture is defined, this does not really represent that anything goes. Lastly, the third is that culture has always been a burning issue in times of perceived change and conflict as it is in the moments of change that is has already become relevant to ponder on what is good and worth preserving in a society, what is essentially meaningful to its experience and its civilization. The definition of culture even up to this date continues to be debated by anthropologists and other scholars. In one concept,  (1994) defines culture as “the system of understanding characteristics of that individual’s society or of some subgroup within that society” which includes “values, beliefs, notions about acceptable and unacceptable behavior and other socially constructed ideas that members of the society are taught as ‘true’” (p. 51). The members of cultures go about their daily lives within shared webs of meaning ( 1973). Upon associating the two definitions provided by , one can assess culture as invisible webs composed of values, beliefs, ideas about appropriate behavior and socially constructed truths.             According to  (1996) and  (1983), an individual’s own culture is most of the time invisible to the individual himself or herself. However, it should be noted that they are the circumstances within which people operate and make sense of the world. As individuals come across a culture which is different from their own culture, one of the issues that they face is a set of beliefs that marked themselves in behaviors that differ from their own. It is in this way that people often discuss regarding other people’s cultures and not so much on their own. It has been perceived that an individual’s own culture is usually hidden from them. People even describe it as “the way things are”. Nevertheless, one’s beliefs, ideas and actions are not any more natural or biologically predetermined than any other group’s beliefs, ideas and actions. They have simply emerged from the ways one’s own group has dealt with and deduced the particular circumstances that it has faced. As conditions change, so do cultures; hence, cultures are said to be dynamic.             However, individual cultural identity poses yet another layer of complexity. Even members of the same culture vary significantly in their beliefs and actions. All peoples have unique identities that have been developed within their specified cultures. However, these identities are not fixed or static. For this reason, stereotypes do not hold up since no two individuals from any culture are exactly alike. It should be noted that despite the fact that living inside a culture will allow its members to become acquainted with their total cultural heritage of that specified society, no individual actually internalizes the entire cultural heritage. As a matter of fact, it would actually be impossible for any individual to acquire a society’s entire cultural heritage since there are as you might expect complicated and conflicting values, beliefs and ideas within the specific heritage which is a result of the conditions and events that individuals and groups experience.                 References

ENGLISH INTO ART

Defining the Canon In a broad point of view canon refers to an authoritative list or collection of literary heritage that includes wide ...

Extended Use of the Marketing Mix

Extended Use of the Marketing Mix               Marketing mix has long been part of strategic management. Basically, the concept is composed of the combined marketing elements and resources of a company. By definition, marketing mix is the outcome of blending, compounding and mixing marketing factors into an integrated whole at a specific period of time. This marketing principle implies that every necessary marketing element has been integrated and arranged on a planned basis. The mix is created through the application of the skills of the marketing management, which requires a systems perspective (1971).             The creation of the marketing mix is intended for the purpose of insuring the achievement of various corporate goals such as profit, volume, image, reputation and return on investment through the satisfaction of the consumers’ wants and needs. It results in the total bundle of utilities actually purchased by consumers in selecting products and services, and it is concerned with such factors as price, design, advertising, packaging and distribution channels. Thus, consumer wants and needs become the basis for developing the mix.             It was around 1960, when marketing mix was first introduced. The concept of the marketing mix primarily revolves around marketing’s four Ps, which include price, product, place and promotion (1994). From then on, this basic marketing mix model remained unchallenged. It even overpowered earlier marketing models Wroe Alderson’s organic functionalist approach as well as the system-oriented approaches and parameters theory advocated by Copenhagen school in Europe. Similarly, previous approaches like the commodity, functional geography-related regional and institutional schools, have long been forgotten. For a long time, the use of marketing mix has been concentrated on the simple business to customer market.             For over forty years, the management paradigm of marketing mix has indeed dominated most thoughts, practice and research of marketing. As time goes, the concept of the marketing mix and the four Ps had become an irrefutable paradigm used in academic research, which in turn results to validity being taken for granted. In most parts of the marketing and academic world, researchers remain to consider the concept as the epitome of marketing truth even up to the present time. Perhaps, the concept remains unchallenged as the attempt to question it was futile.             Academic researchers for instance, who inquire about the conventional marketing mix model is said to be sticking ones neck too far. Authors of marketing publications suggesting other organizations of the marketing mix were immediately corrected by other publishers. Hence, empirical studies related to key marketing variables as well as to how these variables are utilized by managers, have only been neglected. During this time, structure was highly favored over processes. Because of this, marketing educators tend to focus on describing the model itself rather that discussing the processes and real meaning behind the conceptual model (1994).             But then of course times, change and the business-to-customer market use of marketing mix should be extended more that this area. In fact, the conventional paradigm of marketing mix has started to lose its hold on the marketing world. In marketing research, the emergence of several extended uses of marketing mix has been substantial. Perhaps, the most well-known of these extended uses is its ability to improve the perception of the public and create greater understanding and communications. Brought about by the emergence of globalization in the business industry, the recognition of most companies on the significance of customer retention, market economies as the popularization of customer relationship economics, such factors had enforced the changes occurring within mainstream marketing mix.             One way of using the marketing mix in generating greater understanding and communications is through the establishment of long lasting customer relationships. For years, there has been a growing interest on the study of customer relationship economics.  It has been introduced by  (1994) that understanding the concept of market economies means the achievement of understanding the customers rather than focusing on the development of scale economies. One example cited by  (1993) was the result of his study at MBNA, a US credit card business, wherein the integration of this extended use of the marketing mix resulted to a 5 percent increase in retention rate, which in turn provided the company a marked 60 percent increase in profit on its fifth year.             Similar results from industrial studies conducted by  (1990) were reported as well. Greater understanding and communications eventually results to the establishment of long term relationships. This is an effective use of the marketing mix as its employment enables parties, the company and its customers, to learn how to effectively interact with one another. More importantly, such extended use of marketing mix leads to the reduction of the relationship costs for the customers and the service provider or supplier. Based on the suggestions of  (1994), the relationship cost theory is characterized by the quality costs as well as the transaction costs. Applying this theory, when the relationship shared by the company and customers is mutually satisfactory, significant transaction costs can be avoided by the customers. In the same way, suppliers are able to avoid suffering needless quality costs.             Batelco, one of Bahrain’s major telecommunications company, may similarly utilized its marketing mix to generate greater understanding and communications. The focal point of the proposed market mix of the telecommunication company is on the enhancement of its customer and consulting services through the utilization of customer relationship management systems as well as the improvement of its human resource structure. The mix itself being directed to the enhancement of the company’s services to the customers is way of utilizing the mix in generating greater understanding and communications.             The marketing mix of the company is not solely focused on the knowing the needs of the customers, but the company is also extending effort in knowing its customers more through the establishement of a better customer care and consulting services. The company’s marketing mix is not only on directed toward the customers. The restructuring of the HRM system can also be utilized as a provider of greater understanding and communication as its personnel will be more equipped to establish long term relation with their customers.             Utilizing the company’s marketing mix also results to the improvement of its reputation based on the public’s perception. For instance, its efforts of showing the customers their sincerity of serving them better through their customer-oriented marketing mix, generally gives a good impression. The significance of using the marketing mix to improve public perception can be further explained through an actual corporate case.             One of the well-known cases was that of Nestlé, a Swiss multinational conglomerate. The company manufactures the best chocolate as they claim. To supplement breast milk, the company also makes infant formula. After the World War II, company sales were good. However, due to the birth rate in developed countries, sales started to decline. In response to the problem, the company decided to find a new market within third world countries. Eventually, the company was able to market their formula aggressively, achieving dominance in the market share in a billion-dollar industry. At first glance, there is no apparent reason for this marketing mix to go wrong ( 1991). However, according to  (1986, p. 47-61), Nestlé used several promotional strategies that would have been appropriate with a different population but harmed third world consumers. Specifically, it employed missionary sales agents under the guise of milk nurses to give away samples and discourage breast feeding. Nestlé also promoted heavily through physicians. In addition to their marketing practices, Nestlé was criticized for bad quality control and for not ensuring that customers knew how to properly use the formula. Many infant illnesses and deaths resulted. This triggered responses from health agencies and concerned citizens around the world. The media blasted Nestlé. Consumer boycotts of Nestlé products were organized--with notable success. A worldwide boycott started in 1977 and was in full swing by 1981 when the World Health Organization came down on infant formula advertising. At first, the company did not do anything about it but the negatively publicity went on. Eventually, the company agreed to be monitored by a special committee. By 1984, several consumer groups have dropped the issue and Nestlé products revived its status on the worldwide market. In spite of this, there were people who have remained unconvinced, thus significantly affecting the company’s reputation to the public.             According to  (1986), giant corporations should remember the importance as well as the vulnerability of their image to the public. Their marketing strategies should be carefully constructed in such a way that sincerity is implied.  (1986) also recommended that companies devote a good deal of energy to creating and communicating a positive public image that fits the company's mission. He believes that this needs to be done on all levels, from physical facilities to dealers to prices to advertising and public relations.             From this case, two significant points were neglected by the company. One is that it created strategies without thinking about the perception of the public and that the company was unable to use its strategies to communicate well with its consumers. Thus, this case emphasizes on the significance of utilizing the extended uses of marketing mix. Indeed marketing mix is not only for the satisfaction of the customer needs and profit-gaining. The extended uses of marketing mix imply the significance of using the concept to preserve a good image to the public and create long term relations.

Extended Use of the Marketing Mix

Extended Use of the Marketing Mix Marketing mix has long been part of strategic management. Basically, the concept is c...

Literature Review: Effect of Employee Motivation on productivity in an organisation

Literature Review: Effect of Employee Motivation on productivity in an organisation   Employee Motivation Organisations require a number of resources, strategies and techniques in order to succeed. From capital, to a business site and to employees, all of these are essential for a business to work. While these components are significant, values, particularly motivation, is also recognised as a vital business element, especially in enabling organisational transformation and enhancement. Motivation permits the business owners and employees to be resourceful, responsible and productive in performing daily business tasks, which in turn helps in uniting the business with its consumers. By means of motivating the employees, managers are able to encourage them to work towards a common goal. This business principle also helps the employees to become more productive, enabling enhancement and transformation to place.   According to Creech (1995), motivation is typically defined by psychologists as a stimulation that causes the creation of aroused, sustained and directed behavior. This behavior in turn leads individuals to work and perform towards goal achievement. Several authors had also studied on the principal concept behind motivation. Kreitner (1995) for instance, has defined motivation as the psychological process that results to a directional and purposeful behavior. Motivation is also defined as the tendency to behave in an appropriate manner to attain certain needs (Buford, Bedeian & Lindner, 1995).   The introduction of several researches on employee motivation has also introduced a number of theories explaining the factors that motivate employees. These theories include the need-hierarchy theory and the two-factor theory. The need-hierarchy theory of Maslow (1943) is among the first motivation theories that had been introduced. In this theoretical model, Maslow noted five levels of employee needs, which include the physiological, social, ego, safety and self-actualising needs. From his work, Maslow is a challenging process and that motivation basically works through a series of needs that are arranged in a certain level. Hersberg on the other hand (Hersberg, Mausner & Snyderman, 1959) had classified motivation into two factors. These two factors are motivators and hygienes. Intrinsic or motivator factors pertain to recognition, achievement and attainment of job satisfaction. Alternatively, extrinsic or hygiene factors refer to job security and payments.   Based from these theoretical perspectives, it is clear that employees would have to receive something in return in order to encourage them to work productively towards transformation and enhancement. There are many specific ways on how the theories of motivation can be applied in actual work settings. Granting due promotion is one example. Benham (1993) stated that promotion is also synonymous to career success where employees are given higher responsibilities or place on higher authority levels. Promotion is considered an important element of human resource management as it encourages employees to perform with quality. This also represents a significant aspect of the internal selection system. The organisational members’ affective reactions towards their job and to the company are also influenced significantly based on their promotional opportunities (Johnston et al., 1993). As explained by the theories of Maslow and Hersberg, motivation can help in drawing out the best each employee can provide; this can be achieved by promotion.   Another means of applying the theories of motivation is through the employment of business coaches, a role which managers themselves can play. Similar to sports, a business coach helps in making the business grow and succeed. The business coach is one who serves as the mentor, counselor and tutor of an organisation. They are very much related to motivations theories as they act as inspirations for the employees to improve and remain challenged (Halle, 1999). According to Nyman and Thach (2002), business coaching can be done through holistic coaching, performance coaching, content coaching or through manager as coach. Furthermore, the process can be done in various setting such as one-on-one coaching, focus group coaching or organisational coaching.               Halle (1999) noted that business coaching has a number of significant purposes in the organisation, particularly in relation to transformation and enhancement. For instance, this technique helps in motivating the employees, especially when problems or issues arise. Through business coaches, the essence of teamwork is emphasised. Moreover, by providing polite criticisms to the employees, they are able to realise their weak points, resulting to developed and more efficient workers.   The ability of business coaches to guide the employees also helps in bringing about transformation in their working skills and performance; this transformation occurs as business coaches stimulate the workers to search for new skills and methods that would help them cope with various business challenges. Business coaches also help in identifying the strong points of the workers and assist in enhancing them further. Business coaching is also related to the enhancement factor as it utilises the concept of constant evaluation. By monitoring both the strengths and weaknesses of the employees, business coaches are able to send in the right feedbacks to each employee, which would allow for continuous enhancement in their skills and work attitudes (Halle, 1999).   References: Benham, P 1993, ‘Developing Organizational Talent: The Key to Performance and Productivity’, SAM Advanced Management Journal, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 34+.   Buford, JA, Jr., Bedeian, AG, & Lindner, JR 1995, Management in Extension, 3rd edn, Ohio State University Extension, Columbus, Ohio.   Creech, R 1995, ‘Employee Motivation’, Management Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 33+.     Halle, R 1999, ‘Coaching in a teaming environment’, Program Manager, (March-April), p. 38.   Johnston, M et al 1993, ‘An exploratory investigation into the relationships between promotion and turnover: a quasi-experimental longitudinal study’, Journal of Management, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 33-49.   Kreitner, R 1995, Management, 6th edn, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.   Maslow, AH 1943, ‘A theory of human motivation’, Psychological Review, (July), pp. 370-396.   Morgan, G 1997, Images of Organization, Sage Publications Thousand Oaks, CA.   Nyman, M & Thach, L 2002, ‘Coaching as a new leadership development option’, SuperVision, vol. 63, no. 9, pp. 3-6.

Literature Review: Effect of Employee Motivation on productivity in an organisation

Literature Review: Effect of Employee Motivation on productivity in an organisation Employee Motivation Organisations require ...

Paper Critique Sample

src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> The relationship between job satisfaction, occupational and organizational commitment of academics               Job satisfaction is the state of both the mind and feelings of an individual with regards to the work they are currently in. Job satisfaction can be influenced by various factors such as the relationship of the individual to its colleagues and supervisor, the quality of the working environment, the level of fulfilment with the work, or even the relationship of the individual to its family members can influence the satisfaction in the workplace. Organizational commitment on the other hand, is the psychological attachment of an individual to the organisation wherein he or she works, a member or an affiliate.  In the sector of academics, the interest in research on job satisfaction has been done a number of times, however the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment has not been studied.              This paper examines the paper "The relationship between job satisfaction, occupational and organizational commitment of academics." After examination of the paper, a critique will be given regarding the paper using The Critiquing Framework by Bray and Ree (1995).       Critique of the Article Focus             The title of the paper is "The relationship between job satisfaction, occupational and organizational commitment of academics" by Munnever Olcum Cetin. The title itself of the research paper already gives the summary and overview of the whole study. It attracts the interest of the readers on the association of job satisfaction in the organizational and occupational commitment in the sector of academics. Background             The study has been created in order to determine if there is a considerable difference between the satisfaction in the job, occupational commitment and organizational commitment of academics, which is associated with the gender, marital status, age, experience, and title variance. Another goal of the research is to find out whether there is a relationship among job satisfaction, occupational commitment and organizational commitment. The study employed the following tests, the t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson's Moments Multiple Correlation. The results have revealed that there is a positive relationship between the affective and normative commitments that is related to occupational and organizational commitment. Terms of Reference             The objectives of Cetin are to find out the job satisfaction in academics and occupational and organizational commitments and also to determine if there is a correlation between those three mentioned above and the variables such as sex, marital status, age, experience and title in the job, moreover this paper is aimed to find out if there is an association among job satisfaction, occupational and organizational commitments. Study Design             In the study conducted by Cetin, the researcher used the quantitative method in measuring the relationship among job satisfaction, organizational commitment and occupational commitment in academics, as well as the variables such as marital status, age, gender etc. Sample             The individuals that constitute the range of this study are the academics that are currently working in the Educational facilities of the state universities in Istanbul. Educational statistics of the academic year 2003-2004 have revealed that there were 478 lecturers in state universities in the whole of Istanbul that is working in the 4 educational facilities. A random sampling was conducted in order to choose the 132 academicians to form the sample group, which is 51.5% that participated are women, 48.5% were men, 59.8% married, 40.2% were single. And according to the ages of the sample 44.7% were between the ages of 20-30, 38.6% were between the ages of 31-40 and 16.7% were over the age of 41. Among the participants 6.1% were professors, 6.8% were associate professors, 23.5% were assistant professors and 63.3=6% were teaching assistant. And regarding the length of their teaching experience, 47.7% of the participants had 1-5 years of teaching experience, 12.1% had 6-10 years, 22% had 11-15 years and 9.1% had 16-20 years and also 9.1% had 21 years or more experience in the teaching profession.             The employment of the author of the method of random sampling in order to obtain the sample is the right choice because it reduced or even eliminated the bias in the study because all of the samples have equal chances of getting picked or chosen by the author. Data Instrument             In this study the researcher used three scales. The scales are for job satisfaction, occupational commitment and the organizational commitment.             Personal Information Data Form: this form is used in order to identify the academicians demographic variables such as gender and marital status.             Job Satisfaction Questionnaire: the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire was used in order to identify the job satisfaction of the sample.             Occupational Commitment Scale: It measures the occupational commitment in three sub-dimensions which are the reliability of affective commitment to the occupation, continuance commitment to the occupation, normative commitment to the occupation.             Organisational Commitment Scale: In which test organizational commitment under the three sub-dimensions.             For the data analysis the author employed the T-test to test if there is a significant difference between job satisfaction, occupational and organizational commitment related to the variables of gender and marital status. One-way ANOVA to test the significant difference between job satisfaction, occupational and organizational commitment related to the variables of age, job experience and title. The Scheffe and LSD tests are used to find out the source of the difference and the Pearson Moment Correlation were used to determine the relationship between job satisfaction, occupational commitment and organizational commitment. Data Presentations             The author has used tables to present the statistical data of the research. Tables for the result of the factor analysis on the organizational and occupational commitment were presented, as well as the independent t-tests for the relationship between job satisfaction, occupational and organizational commitment and the variables. In addition the results for the ANOVA tests and Pearson Moment Correlation were also presented in the form of tables. Main Findings             The study has determined that there is no difference between the job satisfaction, organizational and occupational commitment levels according to gender. And just like gender there is also no difference between the three and the marital status. In addition, the age variable has also no significant difference in job satisfaction, continuance and normative commitment to the organization, however, the study determined significant differences in the affective, continuance and normative commitment to the occupational levels. Just like the age variable, the title also does not have a significant difference between job satisfaction, continuance and normative commitment to the organization, but there were significant differences in terms of continuance and normative commitment to the occupational levels. And in the experience in teaching, just like the variables of age and title, it also has shown no significant difference in continuance and normative commitment to the organization, but has shown difference in continuance and normative commitment to the occupational levels. Conclusion and Recommendation             In the study it has shown that there are correlations between marital status, age, experience, title of the academics and some of the levels of commitment on the organizational and occupational aspects. But, there is no relationship determined between job satisfaction and the variables. The correlation analysis has revealed that there is a strong relationship to the affective and normative commitment.

Paper Critique Sample

src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> The relationship between job ...

Increase of child prostitution desertation paper

Topic IS CHILD PROSTITUTION ON THE INCREASE AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO REDUCE IT?   FIRST ASSESSMENT STRATEGY   Assignment one has two components. First part is a reflective exercise, which requires students (a) To demonstrate awareness of the key characteristics of the different theoretical perspectives which can be adopted on their chosen topics; (b) To select the most suitable perspectives, or combination of perspectives, in relation both to the topic and to the students personal values; and (c) To identify the research method's) most appropriate to the selected perspectives) (1000 words)     The second part consist of (a) Write up of the research proposal which sets out the aims and objectives of the study, the areas of literature consulted/to be consulted; the methodology adopted and a discussion of the ethical and feasibility issues involved; and (b). An action plan and timetable (500 words)       Independent Project   Assignment 1   Introduction Assignment 1 is worth 20% of the Unit grade and comes in two parts. The first is a reflective exercise on your chosen theoretical perspective and methods (1000 words). The second is an outline research proposal (500 words). These are distinct but related topics and so can be organised either separately, discussed one after the other, or as an integrated whole, where theory and methods become parts of an overall research proposal. The aim of this lecture is to provide guidance on how you should approach each part of the Assignment as detailed on page 11 of the Unit Handbook which you are advised to refer to prior to writing your assignment.   The First Part This requires you to undertake three tasks. The first task is for you to show some general awareness of those theoretical perspectives that could be adopted to explore your chosen topic. The lecture Theoretical Perspectives by your tutor could be helpful here. It is now on the Unit’s BREO site. Not all five overarching theoretical perspectives (as presented in the lecture) can usefully be applied to all research topics, so you need to be selective. The handbook’s reference to “the key characteristics” of “the different theoretical perspectives” is referring to their ontological and epistemological characteristics but you are not expected to go into great detail here. The minimum required is two perspectives, in order for you to make a basic comparison.   The second task is for you to choose a theoretical perspective, or a combination of perspectives, and to set out your reasons. This is likely to require a paragraph. For example, why you selected that theoretical perspective and not one of the others you discussed in the first task? The answer will have something to do with the suitability of the perspective for your particular research topic – and you will have to explain this – together with how the perspective best suits your personal assumptions and values, which you will also need to explain. This could easily require two further paragraphs to address each of these items.   The third task is for you to identify the research methodology most appropriate to your theoretical perspective, or combination of perspectives, and to (briefly) give your reasons. This is likely to require a paragraph. You will then need to set out the specific research methods/instruments you intend to use in your dissertation as an expression of your methodological approach in action – and how these will help to provide answers to your research question's). This is likely to require a couple of paragraphs. The links between theory, methodology and methods are all unpacked in the de Mont & Melrose lecture for each of the five overarching theoretical perspectives/traditions of thought.   There is no set distribution of the 1000 words between these three tasks. As a general guide however, you are advised to allocate approximately 250 words for each task so that it can be effectively addressed. Beyond this, you are free to allocate as you see necessary. You should try and stick to the 1000 limit and include a word count at the end of this Part. Your writing must be word processed, double spaced and page numbered. The Second Part This requires you to undertake five tasks, which together make up an outline research proposal. The idea here is essentially for you to organize a framework for your actual dissertation – which is assignment 2 on the Unit. The tasks to cover in your research proposal are as follows and, you are advised, in this sequence:   <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal"> A statement of the aims and objectives of your dissertation. For instance, what questions is your research seeking to find answers for? You could also say something here about your choice of topic (when you could have chosen others, of course, so why this one?). Another objective could be to explore your topic though the lens of a chosen theoretical perspective, to see what might be learned from interpreting a topic from that direction? If you are testing a hypothesis or evaluating a discourse, then either could be included here as well. No more than a single paragraph is needed for this first task.</li> <li class="MsoNormal"> The areas of literature consulted and/or to be consulted. This will include the results of your preliminary literature review, as recommended in the Getting Started on a Dissertation lecture (also on the Unit’s BREO site) and a statement following on from this about which types of literature your dissertation is going to focus on. For example, newspaper archives, peer-approved journals, government reports, oral testimonies, research studies and so on. Please remember that a literature review will be a part of all dissertations, even those that are fieldwork based. Perhaps a couple of paragraphs will be required here.</li> <li class="MsoNormal"> The methodology to be adopted and the methods/instruments to be used. This could simply be a short restatement of what you have covered in the First Part already. Alternatively, it could expand further. For example, whether you are going to do any triangulation in your research by combining quantitative with qualitative methods and data? A single paragraph is likely to be sufficient.</li> <li class="MsoNormal"> The ethical and feasibility issues involved in your research. This involves a statement about the ethical issues arising from any fieldwork proposed or from certain secondary sources to be used. A further statement about ‘feasibility’ refers to any issues to do with what is practical and manageable in the time available for the dissertation. For example, how many interviews are feasible in the time available, bearing in mind the practical problems of transcribing, analyzing and drawing overall findings from the data? You will probably need a couple of paragraphs to cover each set of issues.</li> <li class="MsoNormal"> The timetable and action plan you are following to complete your dissertation on time. This can take the form of a single paragraph or an outline diagram where you set out the actions you have planned and the targets for completing particular sections of the research – each linked to certain dates. The timeline begins with your work on Assignment 1 and ends with the hand-in date for your dissertation (Assignment 2). </li> </ul>   There is no set distribution of the 500 words across these five tasks above. The handbook says that the word count for the whole assignment is “deliberately tight” and meant to “get you to focus and practice concise writing”. You should hence provide a word count at the end of this second Part of the Assignment. As only a general guide, you should aim to allocate up to 100 words for each of the five items but subtract from one (or two) and add accordingly to others as you see necessary. You should try to stick to the 500 word limit and provide a word count at the end of this Part. The broad University regulation is that students may go over an assignment limit by no more than 10%. For Assignment 1 as a whole, 10% translates into a further 150 words.   Conclusion You should reference your work, using the Harvard system to identify the sources of all the information used in the assignment. You are also asked to refer to how you have used any learning achieved in the LRC workshops on Friday mornings, together with how you have taken account of any tutor guidance and supervision to date. You should also note how the handbook points out how you can draw on the work for this Assignment within your dissertation itself, particularly – it says – in “your introduction and methodology sections” that will come in chapter 1 of the dissertation. Wherever possible, you are advised to consult your supervisor on aspects of this Assignment as appropriate.                 Student are required in this part of the assignment to demonstrate how they have used learning achieved in the workshop and how they have taken account of tutor guidance and supervision to date.

Increase of child prostitution desertation paper

Topic IS CHILD PROSTITUTION ON THE INCREASE AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO REDUCE IT? FIRST ASSESSMENT STRATEGY Assignme...

Micro Finance and Poverty Alleviation Proposal

Micro Finance and Poverty Alleviation Proposal   An Investigation on the Roles of SBLPs and MFIs in Poverty Alleviation and Development of Socio-Economic Structure in India   1.0 Background of the Study             Started by non-profit organisations, self-help groups are community-based financial intermediaries that are usually composed of twenty and below local women. These self-help groups, whom pool money to regular contributions to generate enough financial capital, may be registered and non-registered. The funds that the group was able to collect will be lent back to the members or other members of the community for specific purposes. On the basis of mutual helping, self-help groups function in accordance with broad anti-poverty agendas. Self-help groups are basically viewed as an instrument for women empowerment and leadership development in communities.             Further, one of the basic distinctions of a self-help group is that it serves as a financial intermediary between informal financial market and formal financial actors like micro finance institutions (Rutherford, 1999). Microfinance, on the other hand, is defined as the provision of various financial services to poor or low-income clients including consumers and self-employed for the purpose of supporting their financial and non-financial needs. As a practice, microfinance aimed at sustainable delivery of these services. It is intended that micro finance could lead into effective money management strategies in order for poor people to address their own financial needs hence to live out of poverty in the future.               In theory, microfinance encompasses all initiatives in increasing the access to, or improving the quality of, financial services of people in poverty who could use or could benefit from using the lent money other than the traditional financial services. Nevertheless, the goal of microfinance is not merely monetization but instead to address the several types of needs of poor, near-poor and low-income families. These needs include lifecycle needs, personal emergencies, disasters and investment opportunities (Rutherford, 2000). As such, micro financing conforms to creative, flexible and collaborative way of meeting the needs of underprivileged group of people.              In this way, poor people are given the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities as an instrument in alleviating poverty. Micro financing puts emphasis on building the capacity to participate in micro entrepreneurship, aside from generating employment. Hence, microfinance is considered as a tool for socioeconomic development as it aimed to create self-sustaining businesses among the poor people. These livelihood opportunities are also regarded as an avenue to cope up with financial difficulties such as sending children to school and putting nutritional foods in the table.             In India, the growth of microfinance is stable and continuous through self-help group-bank linkage programme (SBLP) and microfinance institutions (MFIs). SBLPs and MFIs are the main channel of microfinancing in the country wherein they served over 33 million Indians in 2008. Four out of five microfinance clients in India are women. Women, most specifically, are mobilised into self-help groups to build their social capital and facilitate access to finance for the groups and their members. Self-helped groups in Pakistan thus served as specialised microfinance institutions to reintegrate people towards a quality living which impacts literacy and health.       2.0 Statement of the Problem             The problem that will be addressed in this study is the position that SBLPs and MFIs are taking in alleviating poverty and developing socioeconomic structure in India. The key question to be answered is: How SBLPs and MFIs helped in alleviating poverty and developing the socioeconomic structures of people in India? In particular, the research will seek to answer the following research questions. 1)                 How do SBLPs and MFIs contribute in poverty alleviation and socioeconomic development in India? 2)                 In what specific ways does micro financing proved to be beneficial for the people in India?   3.0 Overview of the Methodology             The study will explore the problem in an interpretivist view, using exploratory research strategy because it aims to determine the present facts as well as facts that are not yet explored about the phenomenon. Exploratory research will enable the study to look at the problem in both descriptive and exploratory manner. It will look into the problem by exploring the views of different sets of respondents, as well as by exploring different literatures related with the study.             This study will also employ qualitative research method because it will try to find and build theories that will explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements in research. Through this method, qualitative elements that do not have standard measures such as behavior, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs within the business domain will be analyzed.             This qualitative study will conduct primary and secondary research. The primary source of data will come from the researcher-made questionnaire. The primary data frequently gives the detailed definitions of terms and statistical units used in the study. These are usually broken down into finer classifications.             The secondary sources of data will come from published articles, books, business journals, theses and related studies and the Internet. Acquiring secondary data are more convenient to use because they are already condensed and organized. Moreover, analysis and interpretation are done more easily.     References Rutherford, S. (1999). Self-help groups as microfinance providers: how good they can get? Mimeo. Rutherford, S. (2000). The Poor and Their Money. Oxford University Press: New Delhi.

Micro Finance and Poverty Alleviation Proposal

Micro Finance and Poverty Alleviation Proposal An Investigation on the Roles of SBLPs and MFIs in Poverty Alleviation and Developm...