Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Internal Control Essay

1. Inform the president of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public Each of the five components of an internal control system is important. Let us focus on the control activities. These activities are the backbone of the company’s efforts to address the risks it faces, such as fraud. The specific control activities used by a company will vary depending on management’s assessments of the risks faced. The six principles of control activities are as follows: a. Establishment of responsibility b. Segregation of duties c. Documentation procedures d. Physical controls e. Independent internal verification f. Human resource controls All these apply to most companies and are relevant to both manual and computerized accounting systems. Establishment of responsibility: An essential principle of internal control is to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for given task. Establishing responsibility often requires limiting access only to authorized personnel and then identifying those personal. Segregation of duties: Segregation of duties is indispensable in an internal control system. There are two common applications of this principle: a. Different individuals should be responsible for related activities. b. The responsibility for record-keeping for an asset should be separate from the physical custody of that asset. The rationale for segregation of duties is, the work of one employee should, without a duplication of effort, provide a reliable basis for evaluating the work of another employee. Segregation of related activities – Making one individual responsible for related activities increases the potential for errors and irregularities. Segregation of record-keeping from physical custody – The custodian of the asset is not likely to convert the asset to personal use when one employee maintains the record of the asset, and a different employee has physical custody of the asset. Documentation procedures: Documents provide evidence that transactions and events have occurred. By requiring signatures on the documents, the company can identify the individual responsible for the transaction or event. Companies should document transactions when the transaction occurs. Companies should establish procedures for documents. First, whenever possible, companies should use pre numbered documents, and all documents should be accounted for. Pre numbering helps to prevent a transaction from being recorded more than once or conversely from not being recorded at all. Second, the control system should require that employees promptly forward source documents for accounting entries to the accounting department. This control measure helps to ensure timely recording of the transaction and contributes directly to the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. Physical controls: Use of physical controls is essential. Physical controls relate to the safeguarding of assets and enhance the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. Independent internal verification: Most internal control systems provide for independent internal verification. This principle involves the review of data prepared by employees. To obtain maximum benefit from independent internal verification: a. Companies should verify records periodically or on a surprise basis b. An employee who is independent of the personnel responsible for the information should make the verification c. Discrepancies and exceptions should be reported to a management level that can take appropriate corrective action. Independent internal verification is especially useful in comparing recorded transactions with existing assets. Large companies often assign independent internal verification to internal auditors. Internal auditors are company employees who continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s internal control systems. They review the activities of departments and individuals to determine whether prescribed internal controls are being followed. They also recommend improvements when needed. Human resource controls: Human resource control activities include the following: a. Bond employees who handle cash – Bonding involves obtaining insurance protection against theft by employees. It contributes to the safeguarding of cash in two ways: First, the insurance company carefully screens all individuals before adding them to the policy and may reject risky applicants. Second, bonded employees know that the insurance company will vigorously prosecute all offenders. b. Rotate employees’ duties and require employees to take vacations – these measures deter employees from attempting thefts since they will not be able to permanently conceal their improper actions. c. Conduct through background checks – Many believe that the most important and inexpensive measure any business can take to reduce employee theft and fraud is for the human resources department to conduct through background checks. 2. Advice the president of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommends to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When you advise the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. Some of the things that the company is doing right are: a. Documentation procedures – The organization uses pre numbered invoices. Documents provide evidence that transactions and events have occurred. This internal control activity says that whenever possible the companies should use pre numbered documents and all documents should be accounted for. Pre numbering helps to prevent a transaction from being recorded more than once or conversely from not being recorded at all. This control measure helps to ensure timely recording of the transaction and contributes directly to the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. b. Establishment of responsibility – The organization uses petty cash. Employees are asked to place a note if they use any of the cash. This is according to the internal control activity ‘Establishment of responsibility’. This is an essential principle of internal control is to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for a given task. This limits access only to authorized personnel. c. While interviewing, the president and the accountant do it together. It is good to have more than one people in an interview. d. The fact that he realizes the issues of any problems The president should not buy the indelible ink machine, because anyone in the company will have the access to print. The president has to voluntaries himself and decides about the indelible ink machine. He need not wait for authorization from anybody on installing this indelible ink machine. 3. Advice the president of what the company is doing wrong (they are definitely doing some things poorly). Please be sure to include the internal control principle that is being violated along with a recommendation for improvement. Some of the things that the company is doing wrong are: a. Meeting in a public place to discuss. This should happen in a private room. b. Physical control – The Company does not follow the physical control activity. The company does not have individual passwords to restrict access. The use of physical controls is essential. Physical controls relate to the safeguarding of assets and enhance the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. The organization should have individual passwords for all employees. c. Establishment of responsibility – The Company does not follow the internal control activity of establishing responsibility. The indelible ink machine is a wrong option because anyone can use the machine to print. An essential principle of internal control is to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for a given task. d. Human resource controls – The organization does not follow the human resource controls internal activity. Among the human resource controls internal activity, they do not follow the conduct thorough background checks. The company did not do background check. The employee did pornography and was a convicted felon who served time for molesting children. Conducting thorough background checks is the most important and inexpensive measure any business can take to reduce employee theft and fraud for the human resources department. The two tips are: 1. Check to see whether job applicants actually graduated from the schools they list. 2. Never use the telephone numbers for previous employees given on the reference sheet; always look them up yourself. The company must conduct background checks when recruiting. e. They have faith in their long term employees. The long term employees know well about the organization f. Establishment of responsibility – The organization does not have a responsible person for issuing the pay checks. This is an essential principle of internal control to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for a given task. The company leaves the payday checks in the office for pick up. The paychecks should be mailed separately or it should be deposited directly into the employees’ account. Else one person should have the responsibility to handle the paycheck on pay day. g. Segregation of duties – It is an indispensable internal control system that the organization is not following. The two common applications of this principle are: Different individuals should be responsible for related activities and the responsibility for record keeping for an asset should be separate from the physical custody of that asset. Making one individual responsible for related activities increases the potential for errors and irregularities. The custodian of the asset is not likely to convert the asset to personal use when one employee maintains the record of the asset and a different employee has physical custody of the asset. In a company, same person cannot be both the treasurer and controller. The duties of the employees must be segregated clearly. h. Physical control – Use of physical controls is essential. Physical controls relate to the safeguarding of assets and enhance the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. There is no internet sec urity in the company. They should have proper internet security.

The Decree Abolishing the Feudal System, August 11, 1789

The Decree Abolishing the Feudal System, August 11, 1789 The abolition of the feudal system, which took place during the famous night session of August 4-5, 1789, was caused by the reading of a report on the misery and disorder which prevailed in the provinces. The National Assembly, in a fervor of enthusiasm and excitement, straightaway abolished many of the ancient abuses. The document here given is the revised decree, completed a week later. ARTICLE I. The National Assembly hereby completely abolishes the feudal system.It decrees that, among the existing rights and dues, both feudal and censuel, all those originating in or representing real or personal serfdom shall be abolished without indemnification. All other dues are declared redeemable, the terms and mode of redemption to be fixed by the National Assembly. Those of the said dues which are not extinguished by this decree shall continue to be collected until indemnification shall take place. II. The exclusive right to maintain pigeon houses and dovecotes is abolished.The pigeons shall be confined during the seasons fixed by the community. During such periods they shall be looked upon as game, and every one shall have the right to kill them upon his own land. III. The exclusive right to hunt and to maintain uninclosed warrens is likewise abolished, and every landowner shall have the right to kill, or to have destroyed on his own land, all kinds of game, observing, however, such police regulations as may be established with a view to the safety of the public.All hunting capitaineries, including the royal forests, and all hunting rights under whatever denomination, are likewise abolished. Provision shall be made, however, in a manner compatible with the regard due to property and liberty, for maintaining the personal pleasures of the king. The president of the Assembly shall be commissioned to ask of the king the recall of those sent to the galleys or exiled, simply for violations of the unting regulations, as well as for the release of those at present imprisoned for offenses of this kind, and the dismissal of such cases as are now pending. IV. All manorial courts are hereby suppressed without indemnification. But the magistrates of these courts shall continue to perform their functions until such time as the National Assembly shall provide for the establishment of a new judicial system. V.Tithes of every description, as well as the dues which have been substituted for them, under whatever denomination they are known or collected (even when compounded for), possessed by secular or regular congregations, by holders of benefices, members of corporations (including the Order of Malta and other religious and military orders), as well as those devoted to the maintenance of churches, those impropriated to lay persons, and those substituted for the portion congrue, are abolished, on condition, however, that some other method be devised to provide for the expenses of divine worship, the supp ort of the officiating clergy, for the assistance of the poor, for repairs and rebuilding of churches and parsonages, and for the maintenance of all institutions, seminaries, schools, academies, asylums, and organizations to which the present funds are devoted.Until such provision shall be made and the former possessors shall enter upon the enjoyment of an income on the new system, the National Assembly decrees that the said tithes shall continue to be collected according to law and in the customary manner. Other tithes, of whatever nature they may be, shall be redeemable in such manner as the Assembly shall determine. Until this matter is adjusted, the National Assembly decrees that these, too, shall continue to be collected. VI. All perpetual ground rents, payable either in money or in kind, of whatever nature they may be, whatever their origin and to whomsoever they may be due, . . . shall be redeemable at a rate fixed by the Assembly. No due shall in the future be created which is not redeemable. VII. The sale of judicial and municipal offices shall be abolished forthwith. Justice shall be dispensed gratis.Nevertheless the magistrates at present holding such offices shall continue to exercise their functions and to receive their emoluments until the Assembly shall have made provision for indemnifying them. VIII. The fees of the country priests are abolished, and shall be discontinued so soon as provision shall be made for increasing the minimum salary [portion congrue] of the parish priests and the payment to the curates. A regulation shall be drawn up to determine the status of the priests in the towns. IX. Pecuniary privileges, personal or real, in the payment of taxes are abolished forever. Taxes shall be collected from all the citizens, and from all property, in the same manner and in the same form. Plans shall be considered by which the taxes shall be paid proportionally by all, even for the last six months of the current year. X.Inasmuch as a nationa l constitution and public liberty are of more advantage to the provinces than the privileges which some of these enjoy, and inasmuch as the surrender of such privileges is essential to the intimate union of all parts of the realm, it is decreed that all the peculiar privileges, pecuniary or otherwise, of the provinces, principalities, districts, cantons, cities, and communes, are once for all abolished and are absorbed into the law common to all Frenchmen. XI. All citizens, without distinction of birth, are eligible to any office or dignity, whether ecclesiastical, civil, or military; and no profession shall imply any derogation. XII. Hereafter no remittances shall be made for annates or for any other purpose to the court of Rome, the vice legation at Avignon, or to the nunciature at Lucerne.The clergy of the diocese shall apply to their bishops in regard to the filling of benefices and dispensations, the which shall be granted gratis without regard to reservations, expectancies, an d papal months, all the churches of France enjoying the same freedom. XIII. [This article abolishes various ecclesiastical dues. ] XIV. Pluralities shall not be permitted hereafter in cases where the revenue from the benefice or benefices held shall exceed the sum of three thousand livres. Nor shall any individual be allowed to enjoy several pensions from benefices, or a pension and a benefice, if the revenue which he already enjoys from such sources exceeds the same sum of three thousand livres. XV.The National Assembly shall consider, in conjunction with the king, the report which is to be submitted to it relating to pensions, favors, and salaries, with a view to suppressing all such as are not deserved, and reducing those which shall prove excessive; and the amount shall be fixed which the king may in the future disburse for this purpose. XVI. The National Assembly decrees that a medal shall be struck in memory of the recent grave and important deliberations for the welfare of Fr ance, and that a Te Deum shall be chanted in gratitude in all the parishes and the churches of France. XVII. The National Assembly solemnly proclaims the king, Louis XVI, the Restorer of French Liberty. XVIII.The National Assembly shall present itself in a body before the king, in order to submit to him the decrees which have just been passed, to tender to him the tokens of its most respectful gratitude, and to pray him to permit the Te Deum to be chanted in his chapel, and to be present himself at this service. XIX. The National Assembly shall consider, immediately after the constitution, the drawing up of the laws necessary for the development of the principles which it has laid down in the present decree. The latter shall be transmitted by the deputies without delay to all the provinces, together with the decree of the 10th of this month, in order that it may be printed, published, read from the parish pulpits, and posted up wherever it shall be deemed necessary.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Creating A Constructivist Classroom Education Essay

Abstractions:Constructionism claims that scholars are able to build cognition most of course and wholly while they are building some artefacts. This paper explains that cognition acquisition is a procedure of design that is facilitated when scholars are actively engaged in planing cognition instead than simply construing or encoding it i.e. Learners benefit the most from the larning procedure when they are the interior decorators of the instructional experiences. Constructivist instructors encourage pupils to measure how the activity is assisting them derive understanding. By oppugning themselves and their schemes, pupils become adept scholars as they learn how to larn. The pupils so have the tools necessary to go life-long scholars. Educational Technology can help pedagogues in making a constructivist larning environment. It offers a enormous sum of information, tools for creativeness and development, and assorted environments and forums for communicating. Through engineering, pupil s can show themselves and their creative activities and they can reply inquiries that they are presenting for themselves. Hence, this paper tries to set forward the fact that Constructivist pattern is made easier with engineering because it promotes collaborative, synergistic and student-centered acquisition. Cardinal words: Constructionism, instructional experiences, life-long scholars, collaborative, student-centered acquisition.Introduction:Education is at the meeting of powerful and quickly switching educational, technological and political forces that will determine the construction of educational systems across the Earth for the balance of this century. The handiness of engineering may take instructors to integrate constructivist patterns in their schoolroom. Rakes, et.al. ( 1999 ) found that the sum of engineering available, the degree of engineering accomplishments of the instructors, and the usage of engineering were straight related to utilize of constructivist methods in the schoolroom. They province, â€Å" engineering can supply the vehicle for carry throughing constructivist instruction patterns † . Technology complements constructivism by supplying on-going information and tools for pupil creativeness and development, which contributes significantly to an addition in pupil larning results. It serves as a powerful tool for constructivism ‘s cardinal rule that pupils learn by making. Constructivist pattern is made easier with engineering because it promotes collaborative, synergistic and student-centered acquisition. The usage of engineering in the schoolroom besides has a positive consequence on pupil attitudes because they feel more successful, are motivated to larn and hold better assurance ( Dwyer, et Al, 1991 ) . In today ‘s digital economic system, the ability to entree, adapt, and make cognition utilizing engineering is critical to a pupil ‘s success.Significance OF CONSTRUCTIVIST VIEWS OF LEARNING:Merely late has it become executable to see constructivism rules within the context of technology-mediated higher instruction ( Gunawardena, Lowe & A ; Anderson, 1997 ; Blanchette & A ; Kanuka, 1999 ) . This is due chiefly to progresss in communicating engineerings ensuing in an effectual agencies to implement constructivism ru les, which would be hard to carry through with other media ( Driscoll, 1994 ) . Specifically, communicating engineerings have the capacity to supply an synergistic environment that can back up instructional methods required to ease constructivist rules. For these grounds, constructivism has become a popular epistemic place for many pedagogues who are utilizing technology-mediated acquisition. Unfortunately, pedagogues who take on the challenge of seeking to do sense of the literature on constructivism frequently find it to be an overpowering escapade. There are a assortment of epistemic places that coexist in the literature on how we construct knowledge – many utilizing the same constructivist label. Conversely, there are many different labels used to depict the same cardinal thoughts built-in in many constructivist places. Adding to the labeling confusion is another job: some of the instruction literature describes constructivism as a set of instructional schemes, some descr ibe constructivism as a acquisition theory, and others describe constructivism philosophically – or as a manner we come to understand ourselves and our environment. The undermentioned literature reappraisal identifies the Hagiographas on constructivism that are notable. Hagiographas were identified as notable when they made of import theoretical points about the usage of constructivism for technology-mediated acquisition. Constructivism positions larning as a personal, brooding, and transformative procedure where thoughts, experiences, and points of position are processed into something new. In this doctrine, instructors are the facilitators for the pupils ‘ acquisition ( Sandholtz et al. , 1997 ) instead than the provokers. In the knowledge-constructed schoolroom, the pupils work together, sharing the procedure of larning non merely with their equals but with parents and others ( Sandholtz et al. , 1997 ) . The literature is rich with illustrations and grounds back uping the claim that cognition is constructed and non transferred. This attack to acquisition has become known as constructivism ( Jonassen, 1999 ; Riel & A ; Fulton ; Schank, Berman, & A ; Macpherson, 1999 ) . Learning takes topographic point in every schoolroom. The job is that it is frequently non what we expected would be learned ( Smith, 1998 ) . The constructivist larning environment contains a job that is cardinal to the sphere of survey, theoretical accounts of the acquisition procedure by an expert, and is scaffolded by a manager or more adept scholar that extends the ability of the scholar ( Jonassen, 1999 ) . Balakrishnan ( 2001 ) investigated the usage of constructivism and engineering in project-based acquisition in simple schoolrooms and found that instructors ‘ planning and pattern of project-based acquisition activities are focused more on multiple instructional activities and less on integrating of constructivism and engineering. Julius ( 2001 ) investigated how constructivism was evidenced in the beliefs, perceptual experiences, and patterns of in-between degree instructors who were considered to be effectual instructors. The consequences revealed that constructivists held consciousness of the function of both pupil and instructor in impacting the cognitive development in pupils. Classrooms using a constructivist attack to pedagogy would be pupil centered ( Bransford, 2003 ) .PRIORITIES OF EDUCATIONAL TECNOLOGY IN CONSTRUCTIVIST PRACTICE:The four precedences are:Thatch for Intellectual Development1. Critical and originative thought accomplishments development 2. Demonstrated competences in nucleus course of study 3. Effective usage of engineering in the schoolroom in support of larning 4. Application of larning accomplishments to relevant, real-life state of affairssMake Learning Meaningful1. Appreciation of diverseness of larning manners and personalities 2. Appreciation and application of appropriate instruction manners 3. Giving pupils the chance to have their acquisition experiences 4. Developing a passion for life-long acquisitionUse Authentic Assessment1. Set high criterions for ego and pupils 2. Developing a dynamic attack to a changing universe 3. Demonstrate competences through public presentation 4. Promote active engagement in our democratic societyFocus on Students Becoming Manufacturers and Subscribers1. Lend to others in category in and community 2. Foster value as an person and as a conducive member of society 3. Use larning accomplishments in real-life state of affairss and for existent wagess 4. Interact/team with other instructors and community members.ROLE PLAYED BY EDUCATIONAL TECNOLOGY IN CONSTRUCTIVIST CLASSROOM:a-? Paradigm displacement in position of the learning procedure:Paradigm displacement in position of the acquisition procedure coupled with applications of the new information engineerings, may play an of import function in conveying educational systems into alignment with the knowledge-based, information-rich society. The general impression sing the usage of computing machines in instruction is that it may best be used as a tool for drill and pattern plans supplementing the instructional procedure. In such instructional procedures, the scholar receives information already programmed inside the computing machine following an algorithm. Although some sum of interactivity is ensured, the general feeling is that in such instructional procedures, computing machines control the acquisition construction giving the scholar really small room for creativeness, doing h im a inactive receiver of information. There is a demand to research the potencies of this device beyond these traditional impressions i.e. the meaningful designing of computing machine based instructional procedures with increased pupil engagement. Besides, it is non the drawn-out use on the device that would guarantee the coveted acquisition instead the nature of these larning undertakings, which would transform and enrich the instructional procedures. Computer application plans can be used to plan larning experiences to develop originative and critical thought and be used as ‘mind tools ‘ that can be used by pupils to stand for what they know and to prosecute in critical thought about the content.a-? Use of ICT in altering the function of the instructor from ‘prescriptor ‘ to that of ‘orchestor ‘ of acquisition:In schoolrooms today, the function of the instructor needs to alter from the traditional function of prescriptor to that of orchestrato r of larning – which necessitates the designing of ICT integrated schoolrooms advancing higher order cognitive accomplishments. The focal point ought to be more on enquiry-based attacks frequently traveling beyond the prescribed course of study to dig and seek replies to the job under concern but now from different positions. This methodological analysis is disputing both for the instructor every bit good as for the scholar but finally the procedure of self-learning ensures a more strict attack and deeper apprehension of facts. The focal point is more on the procedure of information acquisition, the critical and analytical thought involved in geting information from multiple beginnings, analysing any information and so planing the acquisition results in aesthetic presentations. Such a theoretical account of larning focal points more on the procedure over the merchandise, geting information from multiple beginnings, analytical and critical thought and eventually a comprehensiv e rating measuring different countries of pupil academic growing.a-? Development of educational portfolio through the usage of ICT:An educational portfolio is one such typical invention that can advance constructivist acquisition in the otherwise traditional schoolroom. It is a combination of a figure of larning undertakings and a digest of the results achieved as a consequence of the procedures undergone therein. A critical constituent is the accent on ‘process ‘ over ‘product ‘ and the changeless contemplation of the scholar as he moves from one phase to another in the realisation of the aims. The other important characteristic is the acquisition of information from multiple beginnings and the necessary constituent of changeless informations analysis before continuing to the undermentioned phases in the development of the educational portfolio. Appraisal of larning results besides is a comprehensive one taking into history different countries of scholar aca demic growing as a consequence of the procedures being carried out from designation of ends to acquisition of relevant information and eventually its processing and airing.a-? Promoting portfolio appraisal through ICT:Portfolio appraisal is a comprehensive mode of pupil rating integrating a assortment of larning undertakings with appropriate and timely proviso of the necessary guidelines to finish the same within accorded standards and allotted clip bounds. Portfolio Assessment, with a focal point on growing and development over clip, implemented through choice, contemplation and review of category work, along with end puting and self-evaluation. These are public presentation enablers that define the acceptable criterions expected from the scholar and therefore specify the way that he needs to follow to accomplish excellence. What differentiates the educational portfolio from the traditional signifiers of appraisal is the designing of the portfolio around a set of criterions and lar ning ends which are non the direct results of the schoolroom instructional procedures, instead an enterprise to guarantee pupil higher order acquisition as a consequence of these instructional procedures. Function Direction Construction Classroom Activity Teacher-centered ; didactic Learner-centered ; synergistic Teacher Role Fact Teller ; expert Confederate ; scholar Student Role Listener ; ever the scholar Confederate ; sometimes the expert Instructional Emphasis Facts ; memorisation Relationships ; enquiry and innovation Concept of Knowledge Accretion of facts Transformation of facts Presentation of Success Measure Quality of understanding Appraisal Norm-referenced ; multiple-choice points Criterion-referenced ; portfolios and public presentations Technology Use Drill and pattern Communication, collabor- ation, information entree and retrieval, looka-? Educational engineering advancing multiple positions of acquisition:With the aid of educational engineering the accent is on cognition building, non reproduction ; the composing of information instead than the infliction of cognition ; multiple outlooks instead than multiple workbooks. The instructor must fix with inventive foresight, and imperative penetration in order to excite and imitate effectual brushs that resemble existent life instruction. Wyld, S. and Eklund, J. ( 1997 ) .A province that: â€Å" facing scholars with jobs from multiple positions can advance the pertinence of their cognition across changing state of affairss. Learners have to work with the same construct in different environments at different and with different ends. So they are expected to develop cognitive flexibleness and to bring forth multiple positions of their cognition. † a-? Educational engineering making constructivist schoolroom through active acquisition: Learners can non build cognition merely by passively having, geting, or accepting it ; A nor by inertly listening nor heeding.A Knowledge is non formed during the transmittal of it.A Therefore the accent for direction must be on the creative activity of significance and understanding while meeting new information or new contexts.A Active scholars need to be involved bypartaking, take parting, building and cooperating.A Jonassen ( 1996 ) states that scholars must be given chances to be active in ways that will advance autonomy, creativeness and critical analysis of jobs necessitating a solution.A Wilson ( 1997 ) , created a list of chances for the scholars to develop more active buildings of meaning.A They included simulations, scheme and role-playing games, toolkits and phenomenaria, multimedia larning environments, knowing acquisition environments, storytelling constructions, instance surveies, Socratic duologues, training and scaffolding, larning by design, acquisition by learning, group cooperation, collaborative acquisition and holistic psychotechnologies.a-? Educational engineering advancing collaborative acquisition chances:Collaborative work allows for schoolrooms to be more concerted than competitive.A Students begin to see one another as resources instead than beginnings of ridicule.A The societal context within which a scholar resides is important to their accomplishment. Strommen & A ; Lincoln ( 1992 ) A found that: â€Å" Constructivism has led to the extra find that powerful additions are made when kids work together†¦ ..children are able to reflect on and luxuriant notA merely their ain thoughts but those of their equals as good. Children come to see their equals non as rivals but as resources. † To understand a construct to the point of being able to explicate it to others, is when existent acquisition has occurred and personal cognition has been acquired.A Lunenberg ( 1998 ) believes the value of collaborative acquisition is in the chance for scholars to lucubrate on their ain thoughts every bit good as those of their peers.A Worldwide coaction is besides actuating for both pupils and instructors as it provides an appealing manner for pupils to derive internet accomplishments while go toing to regular schoolroom activities. The worldview of the pupil can be expanded because of the nothing cost of pass oning with other people around the Earth.Decision:Educational Technology provide an array of powerful tools that may assist in transforming the present stray, teacher-centered and text-bound schoolrooms into rich, student-focused, synergistic cognition environments. To run into these challenges, schools must encompass the new engineerings and allow the new ICT tools for larning. They must besides travel towards the end of transforming the traditional paradigm of larning. To carry through this end requires both a alteration in the traditional position of the acquisition procedure and an apprehension of how the new digital engineerings can make new larning environments in which pupils are engaged scholars, able to take greater duty for their ain acquisition and building their ain cognition. Constructivism modifies the function of the instructor so that instructors help pupils to build cognition instead than reproduce a series of facts. The constructivist instructor provides tools such as problem-solving and inquiry-based acquisition activities so that pupils can explicate and prove their thoughts, draw decisions and illations, and convey their cognition in a collaborative acquisition environment.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Take-home exam for Mindfulness and Meditations class Essay

Take-home exam for Mindfulness and Meditations class - Essay Example This quality enables any mindful person to freely interact with their environment. From such free interactions, the person gets to learn more on the ideal response strategies to specific common scenario. Thirdly, mindfulness is characterized with acceptance (Baer 130). In this respect, the person is ready to accept fate and influences of the environment. This dictates that one makes various observations but remains non-judgmental. It is only through acceptance of various uncontrollable developments that one is able to enjoy their lives to the fullest. Finally, Mindfulness is characterized by love. This can be love for oneself or for others and the environment. This aspect of love promotes the acceptability of the mindful person to a wide range of audience. According to Baer, mindfulness involves remaining non-judgmental. In this regard, one is to be a keen observer of occurrences in the environment, but avoid forming stereotyped opinions on the occurrences. Rather, one should accept things as they are, only looking for ideal ways to make the situation better. Further, mindfulness should be present-oriented. This enables the person to tackle and respond to issues in real-time. Such present orientation also enables the person to maintain self-consciousness. Baer further notes the need of mindfulness to involve capacity for self observation, a property that is essential in alleviating over-reliance on secondary data sources. The fourth facet of mindfulness is the association of different scenarios with the intentions behind them. This labeling of words and occurrences is important in creating better understanding of the world. Finally, mindfulness involves non-reactivity. This dictates that one makes critical observations, but exhibits n o negative reactions towards such developments. a. Knowing what is happening while it is happening (Awareness): this aspect is promoted by the focus of mindfulness on present setting. Through such present- centered

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Managing Projects Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Projects - Term Paper Example B. Activity Timing Calculation for Earliest Finish Time (EFT) and LST (Latest Start Time) are shown in the appendix 1. In such context, Field and Keller (2007) gave the following equation to calculate the float time; Float Time= LFT –EST - Duration Generally, float time is defined as the amount of slack time allowed in project or it can be said that amount of time that can be delayed without delaying the completion time of the project. Total float time for the project has been calculated as 29 days and the calculation is given in the appendix 2 section. C. Critical Path It is evident from the research work of Takim, Akintoye and Kelly (2004) that measurement of critical path or the longest route to complete the project plays vital role in project management. Float time has been taken as zero while calculating the critical path. In such context, the path passing through activity points such as A, B, C, F, G, K, L, M, N, O, Q and R has been identified as critical path for the pr oject. Hence, by joining the time scales of these critical activity points we get 50 days as the completion time for the project. At least 50 days will be needed in order to accomplish the project. D. Project Completion Time Project starts on Monday 15th July, 2013 and the project team will work for 5days a week (supposing there will be no holidays except weekend holidays). Taking account of the 50 days project completion period, it can be said that the project will be completed on 20th September, 2013 (Friday). Calculation of the end day of the project has been given in the appendix 3 section. E. Delay in Activity Float time for activity E (not a critical activity) is 2 days which means that maximum 2 days can be delayed for completion of E activity hence delaying activity E for 1 day will not affect the project completion time. Float time for activity P (not a critical activity) is 3 days which means that maximum 3 days can be delayed for completion of P activity hence delaying ac tivity P for 2 days will not affect the project completion time. Q lies in the critical path hence reduction or increase of the duration of the activity will affect the completion time of the project. 1 day early completion of the project Q will help the project to be completed 1 day early. However, delay in activities will definitely increase the cost of the project hence project managers should try to complete each activity on time in order to control the cost of the project. F. Network Diagrams- Limitations Taylor (2006) showed doubt over the usability of network diagram in complex projects while other research scholars pointed out that network diagram is basically probabilistic in nature. Taylor (2006) also pointed out that using network diagram in big project increases the complexity and also creates problem for project members to understand the flow of activities. In such context, limitations of the network diagram can be depicted in the following manner; Concept of Poisson di stribution is used in order to understand the

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Crimonology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Crimonology - Essay Example The main purpose of this program is to reduce congestion in the court by allowing some of the suspects to be tried when operating from outside the confinement of remand. I do find the program much effective given the fact that some of the offences are categorized as petty offences and do not threaten the societal order. These categories of people following a compelling instigation from the officers should indeed be allowed to resume to the society pending trial, as this will reduce unnecessary congestion as proposed in the program (Siegel 122). It can be said to be an alternative court, if one goes through the system, they are no longer required to be tried in court. Whereas the program cushions one to avoid criminal charges by the court, when one fails to comply with the requirements of the program as stipulated it may revert to a full criminal trial. When those who have gone through the system are involved in criminal offences in the future, the criminal record following diversion can still be used to account for a criminal history of a convict. Under the diversion program, the offenders are suppose to complete a program that is aimed at; education them on the need to uphold law and order in order to avert future criminal activities, victims restitution, community service hours, and restraining coming to contact with other people are some of the programs under diversion (Liebmann 113). I do find the process equally effective in the administration of justice, a part from reducing the time needed for arbitration in court; the suspect pleads guilty and serves certain mandatory programs as said above. During this period, the offenders are also prepared for rehabilitation, for example in the program they are made to appreciate upholding law and order in their future life. The willingness of the offenders to serve alternative sanctions is dependent on many factors; if the offenders feel that they have

Friday, July 26, 2019

Western civilization and western culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Western civilization and western culture - Essay Example Western Civilization and Western Culture have many examples of fascinating masterpieces,and these masterpieces were created by famous and significant people or were made under their rule.It is possible to compose a list of 100 Most Important or Most Interesting Individuals in Western Culture The aim of this paper is to underline great significance and importance of this person and his actions for Western Civilization and Western Culture and explain why Charlemagne should be included in the list of 100 Most Important or Most Interesting Individuals in Western Culture.Charlemagne became an Emperor of the Romans in A.D.800, but before his coronation as an emperor he had created a vast empire in the West, and the territory of his empire included the Western part of the old Roman Empire and some new territories. Under Charlemagne's rule Western Europe made a transition from antique Hellenistic and Roman culture to medieval culture. His rule united three main types of culture and life patt ern of that time: "His reign was based on harmony which developed between three elements: the Roman past, the Germanic way of life, and Christianity. Charlemagne devoted his entire reign to blending these three elements into one kingdom (Kreis, 2000)". So, his rule was based on interaction of three main cultures of his time, and this interaction became one of numerous merits of Charles the Great. He created a strong cultural fundament of his Empire, and this fundament resulted in such important cultural phenomenon of medieval history as Carolingian Renaissance which began in Charlemagne's epoch. One of the most tremendous cultural achievements of Charlemagne was literacy and knowledge revival in Frankish state. In that time there were a few people who could read, even among monks who were concerned the most literary men in the Empire. There were no official standards of writing, and there were many different errors in books of that time. For changing the situation Charlemagne invited Alcuin who was one of the most educated persons in Europe. Under Charlemagne's rule Alcuin founded the basics of education system in Frankish Empire which became widely spread in Europe for centuries: "Here we find the origins of the seven liberal arts: the trivium comprised grammar (how to write), rhetoric (how to speak) and logic (how to think) while the quadrivium was made up of the mathematical arts, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music (Kreis, 2000)". Under Alcuin's leadership Palace School in Aachen (the capital of Frankish Empire) was founded. The Palace School developed interest for philosophy, literature and other spheres of education. In addition to that in Charlemagne time Latin language became the status of official language of the Church - this unification played a great role in medieval history. The writing style was improved, and now it became easier for people to read religious texts. Clergymen were the most educated people in that time, so churches became centers of education and culture. Education became more accessible for many people. In his adulthood Charlemagne learnt to read Latin and Greek and encouraged education. So, Charlemagne contributed much in culture and education of Frankish Empire and medieval world in general. Charlemagne also contributed much in Western Catholic Church rites. Under his rule liturgical rite and music were greatly reformed: "Using the liturgical rite of St. Gregory the Great and the chant form of the Church of Rome as the basis, Charlemagne undertook to create a liturgical and musical standard for his recently founded Holy Roman Empire (Western Catholic Liturgics)". This reform led to unification and standardization of Catholic rites and made Charlemagne one of the leading Christian emperors in medieval history. As was mentioned above, Charlemagne unified Latin as the official language of Catholic Church; he restored Holy Roman Empir

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Understand the Organisational Purposes of Businesses Essay - 1

Understand the Organisational Purposes of Businesses - Essay Example Understand the Organisational Purposes of Businesses In order to be successful, for every kind of organisation irrespective of their categorisation as public, private or charitable, the purposes must be identified, i.e. what the organisations desire to accomplish in its future performances and in what ways they intend to achieve their anticipated purposes. Thus, several organisations intend to develop a mission statement which concisely ascertains the key purpose of the entity specifying the reason for its existence in the market (Cuedirectory, 2010). The public organisations are budgeted and operated by the government and are often termed as state controlled business entities. The key purpose of this kind of organisations is to serve the public offering quality services at minimum costs. In public organisations, funds are at times provided liberally for the improvement of the society. In other words, the public organisations encompass social well-being. Organisations of public sector majorly comprise educational establishments, heath services, national defence & safety sectors and finance segments among others. There are several public organisations which deliver essential services free of cost or below the usual rate. However, certain public organisations also aim toward increasing the revenue along with concentrating on providing quality services to the people (Cuedirectory, 2010). ... Charitable organisations: The third common type of organisation is the charitable establishments. It is also termed as ‘non-profit’ or ‘voluntary organisations’ which concentrates largely on providing services. The main purpose of the charitable sector is to raise finance from several sources which can be used for supporting a particular social concern such as education for poor or food for needy people among other services. Charitable organisations aim at making surplus from the businesses in order to reinvest for certain generous purposes. Unlike private organisations where customers are provided with high priorities, charity or social organisations provide priorities to the unprivileged group of people. Charity organisations basically demonstrate the portion of money which is used for donation purposes through financial statements (Pearson Education Limited, 2012). It can also be observed that the public and private organisations provide several monetary supports to the charitable organisations through or without strategic alliances in order to accomplish their individual social welfare objectives. Each kind of organisation has certain contribution to the society and economy as a whole. Contextually, it is worth mentioning that all kind of organisations need to carry out certain functions in order to ensure that the business runs efficiently performing its operations in relation to administration, marketing, production, customer service and research & development. These functions develop a linkage between the aims of the business with the strategies implemented to accomplish those purposes (Pearson Education Limited, 2012). Article 1.2 Northumbria Police Authority (NPA) is an independent organisation in the UK which provides persuasive quality and

See below Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

See below - Dissertation Example In the last thirty years legal barriers to the employment of women in correction have been removed. Larger numbers of women are now employed in this sector, but there are still issues relating to the concentration of female employees in certain jobs or facilities (horizontal segregation) and at certain levels in correctional organizations (vertical segregation). In the corrections context the segregation between administration and â€Å"frontline† staff, often expressed in the terms â€Å"contact† and â€Å"non-contact† may disguise deep prejudices about what kind of work is â€Å"appropriate† for men and for women. This kind of prejudice is hard to remove. The barriers which now exist are more likely to be cultural and social, as male employees seek to maintain their dominant position. Men are more likely to appoint men, and some of the prevailing cliches about violence and control favour a masculine view of the world. The issue of women being hampered in their career progression by the dominance of men is common in many areas of employment and not just in corrections. There has been extensive work on the â€Å"glass ceiling effect† which is what happens when invisible barriers are placed in the way to prevent women from having equal chances against men. (Wirth, 2001) Studies have shown that gender stereotyping has often used by male correction officers in the past to argue oppose integration of male and female staff. Women’s alleged weakness and vulnerability to rape from prisoners, for example, has been often cited as evidence that women officers in prisons are a security risk. In previous years subtle practices like height and weight requirements filtered out many women from particular roles, but nowadays the arguments used for the preferment of men are more likely to be made on the basis of security concerns, or alternatively the rights of prisoners, the majority of whom are men, to have their privacy respected by keeping their living quarters free of the presence of women. Scholars have pointed out that the evidence from the 1980s and early 1990s shows a greater awareness of the issues, but a mixed result in terms of actual career chances for Women. From the mid 1990s onward there is evidence of considerable intervention and positive action to address equal opportunities in correctional facilities. Key achievements such as the appointment of Kathleen Hawk as the first female Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 1992 are evidence of this. Some of the barriers to women’s success are due to the long traditions that have been built up in training and on the job which unintentionally favour men. Feinman describes for example the tendency of women to achieve lower scores than men on a rifle shooting exercise which was addressed at first by offering women extra training. It was noticed that the rifles were unnecessarily heavy: â€Å"A new lighter and more effective rifle was selecte d, and women achieved very high scores immediately† (Feinman, 1994, p. 168) Other factors such as the location of many male prisons in rural areas can make it difficult for women with children to relocate in order to take up promotion opportunities. A minority of women in senior positions also means that there is a lack of female role models and mentors for future generations.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

People Resourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

People Resourcing - Essay Example The year 2008 saw the economic market hit a bump in a rather smooth road that it was enjoying over the last decade. The year saw the emergence of the global financial crisis that hit the job market all over the world and it has seemed difficult for the market to regain its stable shape. Banks have increased their lending rates over time making it rather difficult for entrepreneurs and other businesses to borrow money from them and consequently expansion of businesses has reduced drastically. This is important information for companies that may seek to continue with traditional trends of haphazard recruitment (McKenna & Beech, 2002, 234). With the minimal number of expansions made by companies, it has become rather difficult for more employment opportunities to pop up in these businesses, which has been a major factor to observe when considering people resourcing. This is from this that companies have faced challenges in that every business seeks to offer more employment opportunities in an effort to improve the quality of its brand or reach a greater market (Roberts, 2000, 164). However, the money required to pay the new employees has become hard to make and thus it is important for employers to reduce the recruitment rates for their companies in an effort to cope with the current market trends. Human Resourcing is very important to a company in different ways. One other manner through which it helps a company is in terms of assisting the organization in achieving both contemporary and future business needs. Human Resourcing incorporates the aspect of having employees carry out different activities in an effort to achieve the various goals that a company sets. One of the major needs that a company has both short term and long term is the attainment of a large profit margin. This is important for the company to bear the ability to maintain existing business assets and in an effort to obtain others for the eventual growth of the company. Businesses should underst and that this is attained by having personnel specialized in various fields that makes it easier for the management of the company to coordinate the activities of each person (Bloisi, 2007, 43). Human Resourcing is also important in that with a large number of personnel and the business products reaching out a great number of people, there are increased chances of investor opportunities in the business. In the contemporary environment and with the existing tough market, investors have started decreasing the amount of investments they make on companies that do not offer the required results. However, an increase in personnel and a larger network of workers ensures that not only the business provides quality products for the customers, but also that the products reach out to a larger community. A combination of both the quality and a large network of workers brings in new investors interested in the company and subsequently growth of the company is assured (Beardwell, Holden & Claydon , 2010, 127). Manufacturing jobs have had the greatest impact on the economy of many different countries. However, contemporary market trends have revealed that the service sector has began making more profits as

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

General Questions About Strategic Planning & Marketing Term Paper

General Questions About Strategic Planning & Marketing - Term Paper Example All of these components are absolutely necessary for mission statements because they demonstrate a comprehensive review of why the organization exists and which customer needs it actually aims to address. This further relates to the formulation of organizational goals and objectives while encouraging employees to act in the required direction. Moreover, the components of a mission statement help in analyzing the progress of an organization, the overall efficiency of management and employees and the lifespan of the firm. Q2. Where do organizational missions originate? How do you explain the evolution of organizational missions as the organization grows and matures? What types of changes are likely to take place in the mission statement? Organizational mission statements are originated by the management team that decides the products and services for the organization along with the target market and long term business strategies. Hence it is more appropriate that the CEO or the partners themselves formulate the mission statement as they are the ones who exactly know the reasons behind the firm’s establishment. Although it is highly significant to have a concise and clear mission statement for an organization prior to the beginning of operations but on the other hand it should be noted that mission statements evolve over the period of time. This implies that managers and company heads are extensively required to update the organizational mission statement as the firm grows and matures. Mission statements are highly dynamic in nature since they are needed to be re-affirmed and re-examined over the time. Analysts also suggest maintaining annual check-in with respect to the mission statement (Reder, 2012). Organizations have been developing mission statements since last few decades. This is possibly because of the fact that it facilitates them in defining the core reasons for which the organization exists.

Monday, July 22, 2019

The Best Way of Communication Essay Example for Free

The Best Way of Communication Essay Nowadays, much of the communication that takes place involves some sort of equipment, such as faxes, telephone calls, and e-mails. According to an investigation by The Associated Press (2010), communication equipment is becoming indispensable to people. In other words, people rely on it as never before. Is it proof that face-to-face communication is no longer important? Absolutely not! Face-to-face communication lets people directly know the actual personalities of people, and interact with each other without any barriers. Although as advanced technology develops, people have many new ways to keep connect with others, face-to-face communication is still the most important and effective method to communicate with others in education, business, and daily life. Education Online education is a teaching method, which uses a network media to allow students and teachers to carry out teaching and learning activities even thousands of miles away. First of all, it really breaks the constraints of time and space, because students and teachers do not have to go to school buildings. They can learn or teach anytime and anywhere. For example, Open University of Britain offers an online and distance education system called ODE, which has a worldwide reputation for education. This program, which has flexible teaching time, exclusively utilizes the online mode of teaching without any face-to-face sessions. In this way, Open University enrolls new students worldwide, and it gives people who do not have much time opportunities to gain professional knowledge. The students do not have to go to Britain, and they do not have to pay the high living expenses of studying in the UK. What’s more, the ODE, through a network teaching platform called FirstClass, provides online learning guides, software demo sites, articles, reports, books, and information resource links to students, and the students can get those resources at anytime. There are other online courses offered by reputable universities and colleges that allow students from different countries to opt for courses pertaining to their individual fields of education. According to an investigation by The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, there were over 3,000 open courseware courses  available from over 300 universities worldwide in 2006. For example, Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University. The aim of the project is to expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn. In addition, each course includes a full set of class lectures produced in high-quali ty video accompanied by such other course materials as syllabi, suggested readings, exams, and problem sets. The lectures are available as downloadable videos, and an audio-only version is also offered. These courses allow people access to information and knowledge in their favorite fields. However, distance education lacks discipline and provides poor opportunities for interaction and social networking. This is because distance education operates through the Internet. This makes it unnecessary for professors and students who are in the same course to synchronize with others in the same time and space. It acts as a driving force for mobility of students, which causes confusion for classes and makes it hard for professors and administrators to supervise students. In addition, the students who attend online courses come from all walks of life, and their social rank, life experiences, attendance goals, learning styles, and cultural and educational backgrounds are all different. These things also increase the difficulty of management in the online education. On the other hand, in face-to-face education, teachers and administrators can monitor and manage students completely, making it possible to keep matters in good order. Students in online courses can, however, access knowledge and information much more easily. It makes students rely on the Internet, not only for personal uses but for work and study as well. As a result, students will sit in front of computers for hours each day and lack enough emotional communication. Today’s distance education neglects the factor of the emotions of students, and is not concerned with the emotional communication between teachers and students. More importantly, emotional education is a significant part of education, particularly in primary and secondary education. Teenagers form their values and moralities when they communicate with teachers or classmates in classes and schools. This is what distance education cannot achieve. As John Dewey (1944) said, Science and technology are not personality forces. They only act as intermediaries in education. No matter how powerful distance education is, if it ignores the  human emotions, it will lose the fundamental purpose of education. Therefore, distance education should never be a substitute for face-to-face education. Last but not least, in distance education, when teachers, students, and educational institutions use copyrighted materials, they cannot get the same treatment as people in physical classrooms. In other words, distance education will suffer many copyright infringement problems. According to the U.S. Copyright Law (1976), Section 110 (2), distance education has three weaknesses. The first is that the law has limited the types of copyrighted materials it recognizes in distance education: only non-dramatic works, articles and music are allowed to be shown in distance classes. Also, in the process of distance education, teachers, students and education institutions easily land in copyright infringement problems. Business With the development of technology, communication equipment is constantly emerging, such as email, the cell phone, text messaging, etc. In business communication, email is the most common method all in use over the world. It has three main advantages: it makes business information more accessible; and it provides for swifter communication in business activities; it breaks the constraints of time and space for business people to make contact with business partners. According to an investigation by the Direct Marketing Association in 2009, if an American business person invests $1 in commercial email, he would get $43.61 in return in one year. It seems that sending e-mails is a best way in business communication. However, the prospects for commercial email have not been good recently. When people receive hundreds of junk emails each week, the high rate of investment return will no longer exist. According to an investigation by FOB Business Forum, subscribers’ inboxes are full of needless emails currently, and 60% of subscribers choose to ignore all emails, this dashes to pieces business people’s hope for electronically establishing relationships with clients. On the contrary, in face-to-face communication, there is not much guesswork involved. Therefore, business people can set the foundation for trust with customers swiftly, and lasting business relationships easily. Video conferencing is also a popular commercial communications media in the 21st century. It is almost like the face-to-face meeting and non-verbal communication is also possible in video  conferencing. In fact, Dr. Albert Mehrabian, author of Silent Messages, said that over 90% of human communication is through nonverbal language like postures, gestures, eye contact and facial expressions. Video conferencing allows people to observe others’ appearances, movements and facial expressions in the same conferencing. What is more, people can show any material object, drawing and document they want. It enables businessmen to maximize the effectiveness of their negotiations. On the other hand, the success of video conferencing proves that face-to-face communication in business is still more effective than other types of communication. However, establishing video a conferencing network requires a great deal of funds, and the cost of maintaining and repairing the video equipment is also very high. It seems that video conferencing is not appropriate for all companies or organizations if face-to-face communication is still feasible. Email and video conferencing are not substitutes for face-to-face contact at all. As the economists Jess Gaspar and Ed Glaeser (2007) have pointed out, they are complements to face-to-face communication. Daily life In today’s world, a variety of communication equipments are packed into our life and electronic communication is better and cheaper than it is ever been. However, abusing communication equipments make people lacks emotional communication and provides poor opportunities for social networking. For example, in workplace, personal face-to-face communications can help people build relationship with their colleagues. The complexities of interpersonal relations cannot be interpreted by an e-mail, and a quick e-mail is absolutely not enough to maintain close association between two people. What is more, face-to-face communication is the key point in teamwork. According to an investigation by Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (2006), people who worked together and communicate with colleagues face-to-face did a better team job than another team who only use intercom to communicate with each colleague. Conclusion We live in the 21st century, an era of advanced science and technology, in which we have a great variety of communication equipment, such as cell phones, faxes, Internet, etc. These things bring a lot of benefits for all aspects of people’s lives. However, other types of communication can never  be a complete substitute for face-to-face communication. In business, education or daily life, face-to-face communication is the best method to communicate with others. References Browning, Dominique (Dec 4, 2011). Talking Face to Face Is So Yesterday. New York Times (Dec 4, 2011), p. SR.5. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com Gopal, Namita (2009). Business Communication. New Age International, Daryaganj, Delhi, IND, 74-77. Harford, Tim. FT.com site: Undercover economist: Keep it real. FT.com (Jan 26, 2007), p. 1. Retrieved from http:// www.ft.comLoose, Cindy. Online Education to Be Free; N.Va. Billionaire Envisions Cyber-U. The Washington Post (Mar 15, 2000), p. A.01. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.libproxy.bridgeport.edu

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Relationship between Aggression and Parenting Styles

Relationship between Aggression and Parenting Styles 5.1  Introduction This chapter includes the summary of the study, the conclusion derived from the study. The implication of the study and the limitations are also discussed in this chapter followed by the future research suggestions. 5.2  Summary The purpose of the study was to the level of aggression, between adolescents with different styles of perceived parenting style of their fathers. The sample included101 adolescent girls and boys, belonging to the age group of 14 to 16 years coming from various schools of Pune city. The sample included boys and girls from middle class population who were English speaking.The adolescents included in the sample had working fathers and homemaker mothers. The adolescents were categorized into three groups based on their perceived parenting styles of their father. The tools used in the study were Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire (Buss Perry, 1992) to measure Aggression among adolescents and the Parental Authority Questionnaire (Buri, 1991) was used to assess the perceived parenting style. The research design used was non-equivalent multi group post-test design. The sampling method used for this study was Random sampling. Permission was acquired from the various schools selected to participate in the study. After the permission was granted, the target sample (adolescent students) was requested to participate in the study. The questionnaires were handed over to the students and instructions were given. The independent variables parenting style had three levels namely Permissive, Authoritarian and Authoritative. These levels were made into three groups. The mean score on each group was calculated as well as the standard deviation. All candidates whose score lay above the â€Å"one standard deviation up† score were included in the group. Thus the three groups were formed. Since there were three levels of the independent variable giving three mean scores the statistical analysis used for the study was ANOVA. Based on literature review the following hypotheses were formulated. Aggression will be significantly higher among adolescents who have Authoritarian fathers than adolescents who have Authoritative fathers. Aggression will be significantly higher among adolescents who have Permissive fathers than authoritative fathers. Aggression will be significantly higher among adolescents who have Authoritarian fathers than Permissive fathers. Conclusion There was a significant difference in the aggression scores between adolescents who perceived their fathers to be Authoritarian and adolescents who perceived their father to be Authoritative. Thus concluding that, adolescents who perceive their father to be Authoritative are less Aggressive in comparison to adolescents who perceive their father to be Authoritarian. No significant difference was found between the aggression scores of adolescents who perceived their father to be Permissive and Authoritative. Similarly, no significant differences were found between adolescents who perceived their fathers to be Permissive and Authoritarian. 5.4  Implication It was concluded by the study that, adolescents who perceived their fathers to be Authoritarian were more aggressive in comparison to the other two groups. The findings can be used to Psycho – educate parents about the effect of Authoritarian parenting which may help preventing aggressive behaviours among adolescents. The same could be extended to a school setting too, where teachers are also made aware of the consequences of Authoritative interaction with their students. Also as the time spent by the adolescent with the father has been spoken about as a factor influencing aggression. These findings could be used to educate parents about the adequate amount of time that is required to be actively spent with their adolescent. This finding can also be used in future researches by comparing variables such as academic performance with perceived parenting styles. Further research could also include comparing mother’s parenting style and aggression. 5.5Limitation The sample did not include equal number of girls and boys which may have affected the results of the study. A common observation around the world is that males are more aggressive than females (Perry,Perry Weiss, 1989), as aggression is influenced by the male sex hormone testosterone (Dabbs, 1998). Therefore it could have been beneficial to include equal number of boys and girls to control gender differences. The sample included only middle class population. Not including the other social strata in the sample does not allow the sample to be a true representative of Pune city. Hence, the use of only Middle class sample would be counted as a limitation of this study. It was observed that a few responses of a few candidates were influenced by social desirability. This resulted in discarding of such response sheets thus affecting the sample size. The sample size was only 200 out of which only 101 could be included into the three groups made. This constitutes a very small percent of the total population of Pune city and hence the results cannot be generalized. Most of the literature review caters to the Western and European sample, whereas the sample included in this study belongs to the Indian population. In cultures such as African-American and Asian-American, adolescents tend to have less negative effects such as deviant aggressive behaviours as compared to other ethnic groups (Steinberg, 2001). Since there are culture differences found in aggression, culture may have played an essential role in influencing Aggression which may be counted as a limitation. 5.6  Suggestions The study had a number of drawbacksthat could be avoided in the future studies. To begin with, the limitations mentioned above could be looked into. Correcting the limitations of this study would represent the Population better and hence yield more apt results in turn. The most important suggestion would be to increase size of the sample. Since the present study consisted only of 101individuals, there is a possibility that the sample wasn’t represented best. With a larger sample the results may have been more accurate as the general population would be represented in a better manner. In future research it can be ensured that there is equal representation of each gender, as doing so would eliminate the effect of gender differences on the variable aggression. For future research it can be kept in mind that the sample may have equal number individuals from each socioeconomic class and not just middle class as done in this study. A sample that is inclusive of individuals from all classes would be a well represented sample and therefore the results may be generalized to the entire city being studied. Another suggestion for future studies done would be to add the variables that were not included in this study, such as number of hours the father spends with his adolescent. As it has been discussed earlier that number of hours the father spends with the adolescent is an important factor known to have an influence on the adolescent’s aggressive behaviours. Hence, controlling the number of hours the father spends with his adolescent could help avoid this factor to have an influence on the variable – aggression.

Cubism and Henry Moore: A Comparison

Cubism and Henry Moore: A Comparison The 20th century comprised of artists with a broad array of interests and fortes, causing an overlap of stylistic features in artworks ranging from the drawn, the sculpted and even the assemblage works. Sculptures during this era were radical in nature due to their loosening grip of the conventional sculptures that were prior constructed from marble or bronze and the divergence from representing figures. Henry Moore was a well-known sculptor of this period living nearly 90 years who demonstrated this avant-garde emancipation from the standard. In juxtaposition to Moore, Pablo Picasso was associated with the emergence of the Cubism a movement he is noted for. Both artists incorporate themes in their artworks that are both similar and different to one anothers stylistic specialty. The deviation from high-art materials to low-art materials, the influences of both artists from prehistoric to primitive, and the shared and unshared aesthetic qualities of their artworks have been discuss ed in relation to the comparison of Cubism (Picasso) and the sculpture of Henry Moore. Materials were a radical and trans-figurative aspect of both Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore. Both artists had rejected the conventions of traditional art and materials, which were mainly associated with high-art. The aforementioned, Picasso and Moore created their works by breaking these standardizations of the old masters by incorporating materials of low art: an avant-garde aspect that personified this era. Cubism uses every day commercial materials such as newspapers, wallpapers, cardboard, and metal, whereas Henry Moore takes a leap isolating himself from the rest of the sculptors and uses unusual and unique materials in his sculptures. Moores list of materials include: for stone alabaster, ironstone, Corsehill stone, African wonder stone, birds-eye marble; for wood ebony, beech wood, walnut, lignum-vitae; for metals- lead and bronze. It also includes terra cotta and cast stone and various combinations of string and wire with wood and metal (Blackshear, 46). For Picasso and Mo ore, materials were used to provide a contrast; In Moores case paint was not applied or used like the cubists did on their canvases; the use of a variety of materials replaced the act of applying the paint directly in favor of an element of colour interest often lacking in the accumulated work of a sculptor. (blackshear, 46). Both Picasso and Moore also believed to give truth to their materials, which later came to be known as the reduction of means (Kirschenbaum, 169). To extrapolate, both artists believed that the material used, should represent itself rather than insinuating an exterior notion paint should look like paint, wood like wood and stone like stone (Kirschenbaum, 169). The colonization of the African continent by the European powers was a stepping-stone for the emergence of primitive cultures and their influence on the Modern art. It was through this massive bloodshed of the colonization and trade, that the African Tribal Masks made their way to Europe. These masks were merely seen as wooden carvings until the hands of Picasso, Braque and Derain and many more were laid on them. The masks had become a hot commodity in the realm of art aiding in the growing interest of Primitive Art. One of these artists was Picasso, whom surprisingly in different accounts has denied his fascination with these Primitive artifacts. However, this subject is still controversial, because Picasso  remains silent about it and his friend, the art dealer Kahnweiler,  has denied in his writings that the Cubists borrowed from  African art. Despite Picassos refusal to discuss this subject, it is  known from the reminiscences of some of his artist-friends that  he was greatly impressed by and collected African art. He may be touchy about this matter, since Gertrude Stein once reproached  him of using African art as a crutch (Alfert, 391 393). Although Picasso disagrees with those who state that he is in fact indebted to primitive art, his artwork exemplifies otherwise. His early Les Demoiselles DAvignon of 1907 would have been incomplete without the primitive aspects of the mask- the shading, the rough contours, and the explicit twisting of bodies. On the contrary, Moore, who too was influenced by these masks, acknowledges that he borrowed from primitive art (Alfert, 391). In 1930 and just before, he [Moore] produced a number of stone figures  whose facial features are characterized by a concave, heart-shaped  form in which the eyes protrude as small, raised craters. Such a  configuration is common among the works of several African tribes,  notably the Ba-Lega of the North- Eastern Congo. (Alfert, 391) Inevitably, with African sculpture acting as a catalyst in 20th century art, the struggle in art became one for directness, immediacy, and economy of means. (Kirschenbaum, 169). The works of Picasso and Moore have come a long way since their initial exposure to the works of their forefathers of Modern art namely Cezanne and Rodin. (Elsen, 355). Picasso borrowed many of Cezannes pictorial techniques and integrated them into his early cubist works (lecture). He always looked up to Cezanne and admired him greatly since he had initially-before the Cubist movement-deviated from the legacy of the Old Masters; Cezanne instead epitomized new radical practices such as the flattening of the image and the abolishment of perspective-laying the foundation of the Cubist movement. Similarly, Moore looked up to Auguste Rodin who is believed to be the progenitor of Modern sculpture. (ucker, William (1974). Early Modern Sculpture. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-519773-9). It was from Rodin, that Moore developed an interest in the integration of nature and body -a repetitive theme of his works. Moore has explicitly accredited Rodin at many instances: Rodin taught me a lot about the body; its asymmetry from every point of view, how to avoid rigid symmetry, the flexible parts of the body, the head, jaw, neck, thorax, pelvis, knees etc., and that these axes should not parallel each other. These were the ways of giving the figure vitality. (Elsen, 355) Nature, for Moore became an imperative theme in his sculptures. He frequently places his pieces in a horizontal position, which devaluates the importance of the head and stresses the abdomen as the compositional center (Arnheim, 31). By targeting the abdomen, Moore emphasizes his continuous theme of nature, which is also seen in Fauconniers Abudance painting of 1910. Fauconniers piece is a masterful representation of the womb being the center of life regurgitating the role of the woman as being the body in which a growing fruit is held for nine months. This theme of nature used by Moore, is also proven by his favorite theme of the Mother and Child seen in many of his series. Through the integration of Cezanne and Rodins techniques and styles into their artworks, both Picasso and Moore demonstrate how they utilized what they learnt from their Masters to create a bridge towards their individual breakthrough. Aesthetic concepts in the works of Cubism and in the sculptures of Moore are similar in nature. The artists incorporate a sense of uniformity, balance, vitality and emancipation to their pieces to create a dynamic space for it to occupy. The Cubists and Moore have interpreted the occupancy of space by an artwork as being comprised of the relationship of negative and positive space (blackshear, 46). The Cubists believed the non-Euclidian theory where space is not comprised just of the first, second, or third dimension but also the fourth, which symbolizes the notion of timelessness, and simultaneity (textbook). In conjunction to the Cubists idea of space, Moore too has come to use space in all its forms (Blackshear, 46): he uses the dot (zero dimension), line (first dimension), shape (second dimension), volume (third dimension), and movement (form of fourth dimension) (Blackshear, 46). In contrast to cubist works, in which negative spaces cease to exist, Moore makes the use of positiv e and negative space- a tenacious quality of his sculptures (blackshear, 46). Moore utilizes the hollows created in his sculptures the Reclining Figure as the negative space and relates it to another punctured hole to create uniformity. The holes filled with dense air of its surrounding created in his carvings are concave in nature, reminiscent of the concave perforation in Picassos Guitar of 1914 (the Guitars concavities have been influenced by the Grebo Mask). Moore resists using convexities in his pieces because they would obstruct the space aggressively, countering his obsession with coherency. In accordance of invading space, the Guitar is comprised of protruding planes, which jut out in play of substance and void into the air, disrupting its surrounding space. Homogeny in Moores pieces is further achieved through the flow of his units the dead ends of the hands and feet [of the body] merge with each other or stream back into the body of the figure, permitting the circulat ion of energy to continue (Arnheim, 30). Regularity is also attained by the balance and assimilation of the two antagonistic tendencies the internal and external thrusts (Arnheim, 35). Vitality another aesthetic aspect of the work of Picasso and Moore is not achieved in cubist works because the works are to be seen as what they represent, and nothing more meaningful. The shattered fragments of cubist works deny the possession of energy, in favour of embracing spatial incongruity. To compare, for Moore: A work must first have a vitality of its own. I do not mean a reflection  of the vitality of life, of movement, physical action. Frisking, dancing  figures and so on, but that a work can have in it a pent-up energy,  an intense life of its own, independent of the object it may represent. When a work has this powerful vitality we do not connect the word Beauty with it. (3 way piece, 238) For both artists, the labeling of a work with the word Beauty was unacceptable. They both believed that a work should be viewed simply as what it is, similar to how they brought their materials to reductionism, so that they represented what they were and nothing else. Therefore, through the presence of uniformity, balance and the invigorating vitality in Moores works, he complements the surrounding air, by capturing the energy, absorbing it, and then allowing it to evaporate and disseminate into infinity.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

American Changes between 1825-1850 :: essays research papers

In early America between the years of 1825-1850, America was rapidly changing and reforming the way people lived. Societal problems and major discrepancies that had previously been overlooked began to rapidly gain awareness. The main idea of the reforms in the United States at this time was the relatively new sense of Democracy. Reform sought to maximize these benefits in light of Democracy and for this reason came up with many changes in which greater good can be found through freedom, justice, and equality of all people. In addition to extending social and political equality for women and the means to economic affluence for the poor (through education), a number of reforms also extended to various oppressed groups of freedom and justice. Abolitionists in the North sought to emancipate slaves in the cotton-cultivating South through the use of moral suasion as revealed by Patrick Reason’s engraving showing the deprivation of the Negro race in regards to their rights as humans, and later, political freedoms. The penitentiary movement began by Dorothea Dix reformed the nation’s prisons and insane asylums to improve the living conditions and treatment of criminals, paupers, and emotionally disturbed persons. Separate penitentiaries were later instituted for the reformation of juvenile delinquents. Instead of â€Å"confining without distinction the more and less vicious†, where the latter can learn â€Å"little but the ways of the wicked†, their separation will salvage the less vicious through â€Å"religious and moral instruction† and â€Å"render them valuable members of society†. Democratic ideals inspired many reforms from 1825-1850. One such ideal was equality for all people in the United States. Many reformers were especially concerned with those in prison and how they would be treated upon release. Many people, such as those for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, in 1829, hoped that upon release ex-prisoners would become "valuable members of society," but knew that this would only be possible if they were treated like others.

Friday, July 19, 2019

The Use of Alcohol Should be Banned for all State University Undergradu

The Use of Alcohol Should be Banned for all State University Undergraduate Students "According to the Core Institute, an organization that surveys college drinking practices, 300,000 of today's college students will eventually die of alcohol-related causes such as drunk driving accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, various cancers and heart disease" (Phoenix House). All around the State campus, at frat parties, in black-light-lit dorm rooms, and even at casual social gatherings, alcohol can be found in abundance. Despite the many downsides to alcohol use, college students as a whole maintain a very casual attitude toward drinking. I believe that drinking causes many more problems than it is worth to anyone, which is why I propose that the use of alcohol should be banned for all State University undergraduate students. Granted, alcohol has a very strong and important historical and cultural background. "Babylonians were brewing beer, which they considered a gift from the gods, in 5000 B.C" (Hoechsmann). Indeed, it is said that Noah stocked the Ark with beer. Furthermore, wine is mentioned in the Bible about 165 times, and it plays an important role in Christian religious traditions. During church communion, Christians eat bread and drink wine to memorialize the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for their sins. At weddings, the English custom of toasting the bride gave us the modern word bridal (Hoechsmann). Throughout history, alcohol in its various forms has been used for a multitude of rituals; to many people, banning alcohol would be denying them their cultural heritage. Many people — both drinkers and non-drinkers — will argue that alcohol has advantages. Some of the effects of alcohol that are generally seen as positive are gi... ...k." Alcohol Culture. 2000. http://www.drinksmart.org/more.html (7 Nov. 2000). Iowa State University. "Sexual Assault Resources and Information." 2000. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mswc/sexual_assault.html (8 Nov. 2000). Iowa State University. "Tuition and Fees." 21 Aug. 2000. http://www.iastate.edu/~registrar/fees/ (7 Nov. 2000). Phoenix House Foundation. "Facts on Tap." 2000. http://www.factsontap.org/ (5 Nov. 2000). SAMHSA. "Children of Alcoholics: Important Facts." 2000. http://www.health.org/nongovpubs/coafacts/ (8 Nov. 2000). Shyness Clinic. "The Problem." 1998. http://www.shyclinic.com/ (6 Nov. 2000). Soolsc. "Facts and Statistics." Drinking: A Student’s Guide. http://www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html (6 Nov. 2000). ThinkQuest. "The Problem." Driving Under the Influence. 1998. http://library.thinkquest.org/23713/frameset.html (8 Nov. 2000).

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Superheroes Essay -- essays research papers

When you think of a superhero one normally thinks of Spiderman, Batman, or Superman, but there were superheroes long before these characters were created. First one must understand that the basis of this name is hero. What is a hero? A hero is a person who does something special or out of the ordinary in order to help others. It could also be someone who is admired for a characteristic about them, be it physical or mental. They are individuals that normal everyday people can look up to. This being the case, a superhero is nothing more then someone who is a hero, but not just that once and for that one person, but someone who helps many people, or leads them. As time went by the number of people who were true heroes diminished and just doing something for someone was no longer big news. There had to be something more to make them stand out. The American culture needed someone or something to admire and that is where our common day superheroes come into play. It gave them a goal which could never be reached in hopes that people would never stop trying. When one thinks about it, though it may be hard to believe, superheroes stem from God. This began as early back as Greek gods, then leading to Jesus. Jesus was a seemingly normal man who helped everyone, and led people. He was the ultimate superhero of his time. Once he was gone and became no more than a story passed down from father to son, people began to crave what was new, what was ‘in the now.’ That is when tales of knight...

Midwestern Art Museum Essay

Background The present paper reviews a case study as written by Lewicky, Saunders and Barry in the text Negotiations titled Midwestern::Contemporary Art, case number 6. Its focus is on a financial crisis that the museum is facing due to a donors failure to pay a five million dollar pledge. The donor was the museums previous president of the board of directors who had a falling out with the museum director over financial matters and felt minimized by the lack support by board members. The museum is in the process of completing a major capital project and faces the near term possibility of bankruptcy if the pledge is not fulfilled. Results Legal counsel for the museum recommends suing to collect the funding but that strategy presents several negative outcomes. First is that there are very few cases where a museum has sued a donor successfully so this is not a tested option and even if they were successful, collecting the amount awarded by the court may prove very difficult. Secondly, it raises the likelihood of creating negative public relations that could adversely affect future contributions. Lastly, some of the board members are opposed to this idea. Another course of action is to enter in to negotiations to secure the funding. The current president of the board must decide on a course of action to obtain the necessary funding and unite the board in a functional manner. Conclusions A renewed focus on the future relationship between this donor and the MCA needs to be forged through skilled negotiations in a way that will benefit everyone involved. The legal route should not be the first course of action for the MCA to obtain the five million dollar pledge. The board should first try to implement a well planned negotiation strategy to include the legal option as the BATNA. Situation. The Midwestern Contemporary Art (MCA) Museum opened in 1976 and is devoted to modern art. In January of 1989 the MCA hired Keith Schmidt as executive director, and due to his extensive experience much was expected of him. That same year a reputable lawyer from the area named Peter Smith was selected as the board president. He had been a board member since 1981 and was an avid collector of contemporary art along with his wife. Together they had acquired the largest art collection of this type in the Great Lakes area. Peter Smith and Keith Schmidt had very different leadership styles and it led to disagreements on how to expand and grow the MCA. These arguments often became personal and led to animosity and mistrust. Most of their arguments had to deal with the speed of MCA’s expansion, which was pushed by Keith Schmidt. Peter Smith was more concerned about the finances and did not trust that Schmidt could operate the museum in the black. Smith presented his concerns about Schmidt to the other board members but they didn’t share the same feelings of mistrust since Mr. Schmidt’s performance had not proven deficient so far. Due to problems between the two men, Peter Smith resigned from the board in December 1991. The Smiths disappeared from the art scene at the end of 1991 and missed all payments on their $5 million pledge to the MCA. This became a problem because the MCA was planning on constructing a new building. The Smiths’ pledge was a significant amount and the new MCA facilities completion depended on their pledge. Also, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) required all non-profit organizations to record pledges as income so the MCA had already accounted for the money. This caused an even more financial hardship on the museum, and in late 1997, MCA found itself in a financial crisis due to high debt resulting from the construction and the Smiths’ unfulfilled pledge. The current board director is Peggy Fischer and she has just finished a meeting with the board to discuss the possibility of suing the Smiths for the five million dollar pledge. Although she is uncomfortable with several aspects of the legal route, she knows the museum may face bankruptcy without the pledge. She must decide if the MCA should try to pursue negotiations with the Smiths or legal action. It is a big decision to make and the boards’ next meeting is in five days. Who is in Charge? Let’s consider the leadership crisis that got them in the situation to start with. First of all, Keith Schmidt as the executive director should be able to answer the board chairman’s questions in a clear and logical manner and should not expect an â€Å"unsigned check† regardless of how he was treated elsewhere. Beyond that, Peter Smith as the board chairman is clearly micromanaging the director and as a result, both men have let the business relationship become personal. If you insist on micro-managing, you have a problem; if you believe you must check on every detail, your style is symptomatic of insecurity or paranoia. Your style is based on a lack of faith and trust in other people. And, it is repressive. It leads to little growth, it discourages any human resource development, and it focuses on problems of detail, and discourages teamwork. If you don’t trust your manager or his judgment, and you are unwilling to allow him to assume any responsibility, you are cheating yourself of the talent you are paying for. As much as you may want to, you can’t build a one-person organization that will succeed in the long run. Micro-managing may work for a while, but in time, it acts as a brake on all progress. In this case, it is stifling the expansion and growth of the MCA. Mr. Smith doesn’t realize that he is working against himself by discouraging new ideas, new art exhibits, new talent and the push to move forward has been imprisoned in the mind of one person. The two men are experiencing a competitive conflict based on different viewpoints or perspectives. I think that they have the same goals; they just disagree on how to go about obtaining them. Also, this organization is experiencing growing pains with the hiring of the director. Consequently, the roles and expectations of the organization’s members should be clarified. This one area of conflict can be the trickiest because when you are in charge, often perspectives different from your own are misunderstood or pushed aside. Managers and leaders must remember that at least some of their employees will likely have different perspectives. In fact, often different perspectives are where creative solutions are developed. There are ways to structurally reduce conflict in an organization. The ost common and effective way is to provide people with a clear definition and understanding of their role, function, and responsibilities in the workplace. This will provide them with a good understanding of the job and tasks they are to perform as an individual and within any teams they are a part of. It also provides information on where they fit within the organization and who they report to, helping to avoid disputes and misunderstandings over authority. Failing to define workplace roles and responsibilities can create tension, miscommunication and inefficiency within your business (Bulleit, 2006). People may be unsure as to what jobs are their own and who they are required to report to. Mistakes and omissions can also occur where people are unsure of what is required of them, therefore creating inefficiencies which cost time and money. If Peter Smith and Keith Schmidt understood this at the beginning of their relationship, much of the dispute would have been avoided. Once you have defined each person’s roles and responsibilities, you can record this in a â€Å"job description†. This can be as formal or informal as you prefer, however it is important to record the key information. Job descriptions provide the opportunity to clearly communicate each individual’s roles and responsibilities and also serve as a way to measure performance. With the role of each individual in the organization defined, you can also create an organization chart. This chart is a tool that helps to define the inter-relationships between the board, the director and staff. It defines reporting structures and lines of authority and responsibility, providing a picture of how the organization functions. It can be very helpful when creating a new position in an organization to have people write their own job description. This gives you insight in how that person views his responsibilities and creates buy-in on their part. People like to be part of decisions that affect their life as opposed to being told what to do. In this situation, the board of directors and its members should define their roles as well as the executive director and the staff since they are all very different. At MCA the roles are different since it is a not-for-profit organization and there are no shareholders to report to. The role of the chairman is to provide vision and outline the goals of the MCA. The role of the director is to develop a plan of how to achieve those goals and the role of the staff is to execute or put the plan in to action. I’m not sure how large the staff is at MCA, but the structural organization should extend beyond Mr. Schmidt. When defining roles and responsibilities in the workplace, you may need to create a list of all of your staff and a list of all of the tasks and roles within your business. You can then assign the roles to each staff member. It is important to remain flexible and be prepared to modify your plan in consultation with your employees. Peter Smith acted poorly when his advice was not followed by the board. It is his inability to â€Å"pass the torch† thinking that only he can win the race to success and that is largely what caused the whole situation. He is willing to â€Å"take his toys and go home† if he doesn’t get it his way. When Peter Smith’s advice was not followed by the board and he resigned he should have either withdrawn his pledge so the MCA could plan accordingly or honored his commitment. The Decision. Peggy Fischer as the current board chairman has some hard decisions. She needs to consider any alternative approaches to collect the unfulfilled pledge as opposed to a direct approach of just calling and demanding the money. She should also consider what alternatives the Smiths may have. For any successful negotiation, there is a significant amount of homework involved. The legal option may not work out since it is largely untested as pointed out by legal counsel. If that doesn’t work, the MCA will be in even deeper financial trouble with no options left with the Smiths. Ms. Fisher should first clearly identify the goal. I think that the goal should be to establish a positive relationship with the Smiths that will secure the five million dollar contribution soon and create a positive relationship that has future benefits. In addition to this goal, a Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) needs to be established. BATNAs are critical to negotiation because you cannot make a wise decision about whether to accept a negotiated agreement unless you know what your alternatives are. Your BATNA is the only standard which can protect you both from accepting terms that are too unfavorable and from rejecting terms it would be in your interest to accept. For example, the Smiths may agree to assist in finding another source of money to make up the pledge. This is not what is expected, but it may be enough to meet the financial needs of the museum. There may be several options to consider in an agreement that would accomplish the goal without strictly adhering to only two possible outcomes. Get the five million now or sue. In the simplest terms, if the proposed agreement is better than your BATNA, then you should accept it. If the agreement is not better than your BATNA, then you should reopen negotiations. (Fisher & Ury 1991). Along with establishing the negotiation desired outcome or goal and the BATNA, you need to determine the bottom line. A bottom line signifies the worst possible outcome that a negotiator might accept. Maybe it would be acceptable to obtain half of the pledged money with the idea that MCA could come up with the rest elsewhere. The bottom line is meant to act as the final barrier where a negotiation will not proceed further. It is a means to defend oneself against the pressure and temptation that is often exerted on a negotiator to conclude an agreement that is self defeating (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2009). Then the next step in this situation requires her to select a negotiation strategy based on the type of relationship MCA wishes to achieve with the Smiths if any. If the importance of the relationship is high and the importance of the outcome is high, then a collaborative style of negotiation is in order. Do they want to re-establish a long term relationship? If not, then a more competitive strategy is more suitable. In this situation the board members seem to be split on their strategy. Some of the board members have made it clear that they have reservations about using the legal course, or competitive strategy, and at least one supports the chief counsels’ recommendations. If the MCA determines that they do not expect to deal with the Smiths ever again and they do not need their goodwill in the long term, then it may be appropriate to â€Å"play hardball†, seeking to win the negotiation while the other person loses out. Similarly, since there is a great deal at stake in the negotiation, it may be appropriate to prepare in detail and legitimate â€Å"gamesmanship† to gain advantage. Anyone who has been involved with large sales negotiations will be familiar with this. Neither of these approaches is usually much good for resolving disputes with people with whom you have an ongoing relationship: If the MCA plays hardball, then this disadvantages the Smiths and may, quite fairly, lead to reprisal later. Similarly, using tricks and manipulation during a negotiation can undermine trust and damage teamwork. Attempting to manipulate the Smiths in a negotiation may backfire. Here, honesty and openness is the best policy. So let’s consider the basic strategies available. The avoiding strategy is obviously not going to work since there is no clear way to obtain the funds elsewhere. The competitive strategy in this situation is comprised of the legal option that is recommended by the chief counsel and supported by at least one board member. The accommodating strategy would also require that MCA finds another source of funding since they are facing a short term crisis. A collaborative strategy is ideal but is difficult given the short time frame. The best alternative method to seek the cooperation of the Smiths and to collect the unfulfilled pledge is to use any existing relationships among the board member’s. If this is not apparent, she may consider hiring a consultant even if it is only for mapping out a strategy. It may be well worth the money because some research needs to be done to determine the network of contacts which exist around the Smiths. I think that involving a third party at least initially is a good idea to break the ice. In order to collect the five million dollar pledge, the MCA clearly needs the help of influential people to ‘open doors’, make reintroductions and even to ‘make the ask’ when appropriate. Someone is needed who will focus on reinforcing collaborations and partnerships and build on those strengths. Now is the time to put the right people in the right position to both grieve the loss of the Smiths relationship and honor their contributions. Since the Smiths were very involved in the community, the involvement of influential people from outside the museum that may be best to use in a networking and personal approach. The negotiator must be able to avoid focusing on the past and skilled at guiding the discussion to a positive view of the future. Pointing fingers or histrionics are clearly inappropriate because they undermine the rational basis of the negotiation and because they bring a manipulative aspect to them (Phillips, 2011). The smiths need to be convinced that the MCA is important to them and the best person to do this is someone that they trust. Not lost in this situation is the fact that the Smiths are facing a significant life changing event; it may cause them to re-evaluate their relationship with MCA. If the Smiths are approached in a positive manner, they may choose to reclaim the part of their life that they invested so much time and money in as a legacy to Peter. Leaving bequests to museums has a long history. The board should be involved in further discussions leading to a decision about whether or not to file a lawsuit and to this end, Peggy Fisher has some negotiations of her own to accomplish with the board members. The style of the negotiation is important because emotions are high due to the critical situation. Keep in mind that for a negotiation to be ‘win-win’, both parties should feel positive about the negotiation once it’s over. There are those on the board who want to sue and those who are in opposition and this has potential to evolve in to a destructive division. Peggy has to unify the board in a way that will maintain good working relationships afterwards and also govern the style of the negotiation. Emotion can be an important subject of discussion because people’s emotional needs must fairly be met. Usually, emotion is best left out of negotiations but Peter Smiths terminal cancer should not be ignored. If emotion is not discussed where it needs to be, then the agreement reached will be unsatisfactory and temporary. I don’t think the museum should sue the Smiths as a first approach to this situation primarily because the relationship between a foundation and its donors is precious. Suing the people paying the bills is not good public relations and this will definitely generate a lot of attention in the community. Even if MCA wins the lawsuit there is still the big question of how to collect. Will they have to hire a collection agency? Is there one that will even take the job? If for some reason the Smiths don’t have the money it is going to be very difficult to collect. Before going any further with this as the debt collection strategy, the MCA needs to look at this from a clear perspective. Have they given the debtor enough time and notice to repay the debt that they owe? It is crucial that they attempt to contact the debtor directly before starting any legal procedures and suing for money owed. When the Smiths missed their payments, did anyone attempt to collect? This may be an issue in court. It is important to find out exactly why the Smiths have not paid because there could be some fairly legitimate reasons for the shortfall. The legal process may not produce results in the timely manner needed in this situation because it may lead to mediation anyway. Mediation is another debt collection strategy that uses mediators instead of going to court so you are back to a negotiating strategy. A mediator is a professional, hired in order to settle a dispute outside of court. They may make it easier for an agreement to be reached, however this must be reached voluntarily between the two parties (Bailey, 2010). There is a better way for the MCA to attempt the collection of the money pledged by the Smiths however, I think that the sue option is a good BATNA and should be used in this manner as part of a well planned negotiation. Having a good BATNA increases your negotiating power and the trick in this situation is determining when to make that option known to the Smiths in order to strengthen your negotiating power. The negotiation should be well thought out and executed properly. Care should be taken that the BATNA is not seen by negotiators as a safety net, but rather as a point of leverage in negotiations and again, determining when to bring it in the negotiations is a key part that a skilled negotiator must determine. In conclusion, the leadership dispute between Peter Smith and Keith Schmidt and the resulting parting of ways on supposedly bad terms should be put to rest. A renewed focus on the future for the Smiths and the MCA needs to be forged through skilled negotiations that will benefit everyone in the very different situation that both parties now face. The legal route should not be the first course of action for the MCA. The board should first try to implement a well planned negotiation strategy to include the legal option as the BATNA. Peggy Fischer has some negotiation work of her own to accomplish with the board members in order to unify everyone and focus all their resources and efforts in accomplishing a collaborative, long term relationship with the Smiths that will benefit everyone.