European Integration Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

European Integration - Research Paper Example The Second World War had ended in 1945 and the effects were devastating. The economies were shattered, there was resentment against the enemies, people died etc. Generally, the outcomes of the war were negative. Therefore, there was a need for reconciliation and this need was able to bring forth the idea of European integration. The national governments saw that the enmity that had taken them to war had to be buried with the end of the war and forge new relations through integration and union. This was a rational choice in deed. The idea of European integration, in turn, led to the formation of the European Council in 1949. The University of Zurich Speech offered by Winston Churchill in 1949 called for the creation of the United States of Europe through the institutionalization of the Council of Europe (Wendell, 1998). This speech called on the European states to make rational choices and integrate their efforts to the formation of the European Council. The Council’s main achi evement was seen in 1950, exactly one year after inception when it held the first European Convention on Human Rights where the European Court of Human Rights was formed and stationed in Strasbourg. This court was to be the major de facto Supreme Court for both the human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the entire Europe. Other institutions that have since been conceived under the European Union have been the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the European Social Charter which help protect the human right throughout Europe. (Cini, 2007: pp86-89). It is important to note that the European Council holds most of its conventions which are mostly focused on the achievement of legal integration. The legal integration is possible through conventions on legal assistance on issues such as corruption, doping in sports, money laundering and internet crimes among other legal issues. There has also been cultural cooperation under the council. For instance, the 1954 Cultural Convention and other subsequent conventions which focused on issues such as university studies and diplomas as well as the development of minority languages was a clear demonstration of Cultural integration and cooperation. The member state had to cooperate to support this initiative of cultural integration under the umbrella of the European Coun

The factors that influence the well being of children and young people Essay Example for Free

The factors that influence the well being of children and young people Essay The well being of children can depend on many things. Having a good positive mental attitude to life is very important and there are many factors that can determine how we feel and how we think. Building good relationships with family members and friends can have a good outcome on how children feel and can help build a good self esteem and a good sense of who they are. Having emotional security is beneficial to a child so that they know they are loved , wanted and needed. We need to promote a well balanced diet so that children are well nourished with plenty of exercise. Make sure we teach children about good hygiene like everyday things such as washing and brushing teeth regularly. Making sure dentist and doctor appointments are made and kept so that their general health is kept up to date and promote a good sleep pattern so that they have plenty of rest. Explain the importance of resilience for children and young people Read more: Explain how children and young peoples development is influenced by a range of personal factors essay A resilient child is often a child who is strong and unaffected by changes around them unless they choose to be. They will become unaffected by different or new situations and will be able to handle them better. A child who has come from a loving family with strong emotional attachments are given a good sense of security. They will have good knowledge of their culture and will tend to know who they are and where they have come from. They will be more resilient toward negativity and winning or being good at everything will not be a priority to them but a bonus if achieved. If a child feels insecure about things they will find it difficult and may not experience everything they need to experience to get on in life. The well being of a child can be affected by resilience so a good sense of well being is needed and should include their physical and emotional health.

Comparative Study Of The Professional Courier Commerce Essay

Comparative Study Of The Professional Courier Commerce Essay The objectives of the research study was to know, to what extent the company is aware about their service effectiveness and also to know to what extend the customers are satisfaction with the company service, it was also to know whether the customers are satisfied with the company policies, and if they are satisfied then to what extent, and if they are dissatisfied why so. and accordingly to identify strengths of company and weaknesses where they lack in serving their customers. It was also to know which are the area where the company has to put more of its attention and to serve those areas in a better ways,. And also to identify the problem of the company and to recommend suggestion on the basis of that and finally to take the necessary measures on problem identified for the company resulting in the research study. The survey carried out was random sample survey and the procedure followed for conducting survey was questionnaire method that is personally explaining the customer about questionnaire and getting them filled, targeting to total of 120 customers of both THE PROFESSIONAL COURIER and FIRST FLIGHT COURIER 6O of each company in three different location Mapusa Siolim, Arambol, Thivim, Pernem, Colvale and Panjim, survey was conducted with random customers of the companys. Questionnaires were filled personally by the employees also personal interaction was made and views about those questions was taken, which gave idea about customer service effectiveness of both the companies. Customer Service Effectiveness Customer Service Effectiveness is the process by which your organization delivers its services or products in a way that allows the customer to access them in the most efficient, fair, cost effective, and humanly satisfying and pleasurable manner possible. Customer service is a process, not a set of actions that might include greeting the customer, smiling, asking if you can help, etc. Effective customer service is all about delivering the answers customers are seeking. How information is stored, augmented and organized will determine how effective any organizations customer service efforts will be. The best knowledgebase technology allows the customer to guide the content, and structure of the knowledgebase, improve the level of service, and decrease the customer service representatives workload.   It recognize that different customers want to be treated in different ways. Not all customers are treated equal, and by going customer-by-customer, region-by-region and country-by-country, we build a custom suit that trades off efficiency and effectiveness, recognizing that we may actually eliminate customers. COMPANYS BACKGROUND THE PROFESSIONAL COURIER The beginning :  was founded in 1987 by Mr .A Braham M r.SAhamed Meeran , Mr. Oommen C. Chacko Late. Mrs. V.Padmavathi Mr. Ronny George Mr. Sumit Batabyal Mr. Suresh Bharathan Mr. Thomas John A year of glory for the Directors of this company because it was the year in which they were united and ventured in to Courier Business was incorporated on 1st November 1987. PROFESSIONAL COURIER gives employment to thousands of people. It has turned hundreds of ambitious aspiring youngsters to be the proud Managers of an elite company. Much more, it is today a Courier organization which is being looked upon by the others as a role model of what a courier should be. Today PROFESSIONAL COURIER in India has 20 Regional Offices, over 2485 Offices, over 5000 Collection Centers and easily well over 25,000 destinations, where delivery is possible, by far, the biggest Courier Network in India. FIRST FLIGHT COURIER First Flight Couriers came into being on Monday, 17th November 1986. It all began with the setting up of three offices at Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi. The overwhelming response from customers, was not just a dream come true, but the fruits of an early realization and recognition of the tremendous potential that the Indian subcontinent offered in terms of market size. It was the foresight and dynamism of the Founder Chairman and Managing Director, O.P.Saboo which created a spring board for the organization to catapult into what it is today   Indias Largest Domestic Courier Company. 930 First Flight Offices across India 2208 Authorized Collection Centers 452 Franchisee Locations Serving over 5000 Pin code Destinations across India Dedicated Workforce of over 10000 plus employees Strategically located 8 own International Offices Serving over 220 countries globally As a natural corollary to its growth endeavor, First Flight is in the process of setting up a large scale integrated Logistics Division to offer an entire gamut of Warehousing, Inventory Management, Supply Chain Services and Distribution Channels, thereby providing total end-to-end solutions to customers. In keeping with times, First Flight continues to invest substantial effort in building a State-of-the-Art Super Information Technology highway. First Flights commitment to corporate excellence and its yearning for making it a common household name opens floodgates of opportunities and challenges and to meet it head on, shall be the corner stone of its philosophy. METHODOLOGY RESEARCH EXPLORATION Qualitative design The method used to measure customer service effectiveness was firstly I meet customers of both companies asked them open ended questions verbally personal interaction as doing pilot study the responses from all the customers was taken which resulted in the final questionnaire and the data was collected from the company employees, the result of study will contribute knowledge about service proved by the company and to known how far it is effective. Pilot test: The qualitative research test was done with small sample size of 40 customers 20 of each courier service providing company. The questions were then framed based on their responses. Research Plan: Once the problem was identified, I prepare structured questionnaire for collecting the information needed for the research. And then to analysis the data collected before making a conclusion. OBJECTIVES Was to know how effective is the companies service. It was also to know the level at which the company customers are satisfied with the service provided by the company. Source of data: Primary data Questionnaire Personal interaction with the customers. Observation. Secondary data Internet Company reports Data collection: The personal interaction with the customers and questioning them with the help of structured questionnaires and which is filled by the customers personally in my presence. Sampling size: The total sample size is 120 for both companies 60 for each of a service providing company. Sample plan: Random Sampling Target audience: service taking customers of both companies THE PROFESSIONAL COURIER and FIRST FLIGHT. NEED FOR STUDY The main reason behind doing customer service effectiveness survey was to know how much the company is able to satisfy its customer as it was founded on discussing with the management of the professional courier and the first flight courier that the performance of the companies was coming down. The reason for doing customer service effectiveness surveys was also to know as to what are those services which the customers Are accepting from the company and due to which the customers are not satisfied with the company service as a result the market share of the company is decreasing. As an external consultant, my purpose in conducting survey with customers was to share information for the common good. It will be confidentiality and I will use the information to assist the company to make positive progress SCOPE FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE EFFECTIVENESS SURVEY Surveys will help company to measure and understand their customers attitude, opinions, motivation, and satisfaction. Surveys and focus groups help the company to identify areas of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. It is the terminology used to describe whether customers are happy and contented and fulfilling their desires and needs at work. Surveys will help the company to measure and understand their training needs for the employees, and also if necessary to put more focused in a particular area were company lake in serving customers. CUSTOMER SERVICE EFFECTIVENESS FOR THE PROFESSIONALCOURIER(PROFESSIONAL COURIER) AND FIRST FLIGHT COURUIER (FIRST FLIGHT) Q1) HOW OFTEN YOU TAKE SERVICE FROM THIS COMPANY (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) The above graphs tells us the users of both the service and how orphan they use the service we can see that customers of PROFESSIONAL COURIER uses service more time than FIRST FLIGHT courier. 2)THE SERVICE DELIVERY DONE BY THE COMPANY VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) In the above graph we can clearly see that compared to first flight courier the service delivery of the professional courier is better as more number of customers say its always no time were as no customers of professional courier say its never on time but some customers of first flight courier says its never on time. 3) PLEASE RATE US IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES outstanding above average average below average poor cannot rate professionalism responsiveness support and assistance follow- up overall satisfaction (FOR THE PROFESSIONAL COURIER) 3) PLEASE RATE US IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES outstanding above average average below average poor cannot rate professionalism responsiveness support and assistance follow- up overall satisfaction (FOR THE FIRST FLIGHT COURIER) 4) CONSIDER THE OVERALL KEY AREAS BELOW TELL US HOW IMPORTANT YOU COSIDER EACH AREA TO BE better customer service variety of available services speed and ease of order placement pickup and delivery quality price CRITERIA very important important somewhat important not as important (FOR THE PROFESSIONAL COURIER) 4) CONSIDER THE OVERALL KEY AREAS BELOW TELL US HOW IMPORTANT YOU COSIDER EACH AREA TO BE better customer service variety of available services speed and ease of order placement pickup and delivery quality price CRITERIA very important important somewhat important not as important (FOR THE FIRST FLIGHT COURIER) 5) THE LEVEL AT WHICH COMPANY TACKLE YOUR PROBLEM VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) If we see in the above graph first flight courier is better than professional courier in term of tackling the problems faced by the customers. Professional courier is also not too bad. As 38 people say its good at tacking. So can conclude looking at graph that the both companies are equally good in tackling your problem. 6) FEES CHARGED BY THE COMPANY VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) With regards to the charges charged for the service given by the companies more customers of both the companies feels that it is charged at reasonable price. There in comparison both the companies are in a same position. 7) IS COMPANY ABLE TO MEET YOUR REQUESTED COMPLITION TIME VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) When it was question of whether the company is able to meet your requested time there were very few customers of both the companies who said its done always but were majority said rarely, sometimes, occasionally. But here while comparing we can say that professional courier is better because there are only 1 customer who said its not at all done on time but with the first flight courier 5customer said its not at all done on time. 8) SERVICE GIVEN WORTH THE MONEY YOU PAY VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) When it was said that the service given by both the companies is worth the money you pay there was only 1 customer of PROFESSIONAL COURIER who was strongly along with 37 agreed but 7 customers of FIRST FLIGHT was strongly agree followed by 30 agree. Where we can conclude first flight courier is better than professional courier. 9) WHAT IS THE LEVEL OF EFFORTS YOU HAV TO PUT IN GETTING YOUR SERVICE DELIVERED VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) In terms of efforts to be put in getting your service delivered the customers of both the companies have to put in more efforts as maximum of the customers of both the companies said they have to put more and lots of effort. So here we can conclude both the companies are week here. 10)SERVICE GIVEN TO YOU IS AS PER YOUR ACCEPTATION VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) when it was said that the service is given to the customers as per their acceptation 44 customers of PROFESSIONAL COURIER was strongly agree and agree were else 37 customers of FIRST FLIGHT was strongly agree and agree. From this we can say that in comparison to FIRST FLIGHT the PROFESSIONAL COURIER is better in meeting the acceptation of the customers. 11) YOUR ORDER IS DELIVERED WHERE AND WHEN YOU REQUESTED IT VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) In terms of order to be delivered where and when it is asked customers of both the companies looks like customers are satisfied with the this service of the company. But if you see gain many take a neutral stand. Where they are not included neither in agree situation nor disagree situation. Therefore compared to FIRST FLIGHT, the PROFESSIONAL COURIER is little bit in better position in term of accurate delivery. 12) HOW IS PROFESSIONAL COURIER SERVICE COMPARED WITH OTHER COURIER VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) First it was whether the customers have used other courier service than what they are using now. All the customers said YES they have used. Were 30 customers of PROFESSIONAL COURIER and 31 customers of FIRST FLIGHT said its same. Where else 28 felt better and only 2 said worse of PROFESSIONAL COURIER. But of FIRST FLIGHT 25 said its same and 4 said its worse. Here again we can conclude to some extent professional courier is better than first flight 13) HOW MANY TIMES IN LAST 6 MONTHS HAVE YOU USED THE PROFESSIONAL COURIER SERVICE VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) In the above graph we can see how many times the customers have used the service in last 6 months. But there are not much customers who have used this service for 30 or more than 30 in last 6 month for both companies. 14) WOULD YOU RECOMMEND USING THE SERVICE OF THIS COURIER IN FUTHURE VS (PROFESSIONAL COURIER) (FIRST FLIGHT) When it was asked whether the customer of the company will use the service in future again almost equal number of customer of both the companies said definitely would. But there were some of both the companies who said probably not and definitely not. And also with the reasons as the common answers are written down as positive once and negative once. For the professional courier user it was asked why would you recommend using the service and the answers were in positive as well as in negative POSITIVE (yes) Due to better quality of service. They reach on time always. Good at handling problem faced. Have good safety delivery. Delivery is always done on time. Parcel is accurately delivered were it is asked. Easy in using. It is faster. NEGATIVE (no) Late in delivery. Not very good service in terms of quality. Few collection centre in Goa. For the first flight courier user it was asked why would you recommend using the service and the answers were in positive as well as in negative POSITIVE (yes) Quick service Good Quality service Delivery is done timely and to the place Good at handling customer problems Because of reasonable price NEGATIVE (no) Delay in delivery Not good at handling situation No pick up service. Less collection centre what you have to say about the delivery done by the company PROFESSIONAL COURIER Positive Good quality delivery Make customer satisfied Dont have to face much difficulties Deliver parcel to the concern person Have good delivery boys for on field service. Negative Not done on time (sometimes). Poor delivery in north India. lack of delivery boys in north Goa. FIRST FLIGHT Positive More trusty and more faster Punctual in their delivery Its delivered when its asked Easy and comfortable Negative Dont provide service on time. Average delivery Parcel damage delivery (These are some of the common answers given by all the customers) Here are some of the suggestions to The Professional Courier. They should concentrate more on timely delivery They should put more attention in solving the queries of the customers should also focused on pick up documents from the customers. Try to be more faster and accurate in giving the delivery. Improve parcel packaging. Try and come up with the possible collection centers across Goa. Add the delivery boys in doing the delivery so that it can be done faster. Here are some of the suggestions to First Flight Courier. Put more efforts in doing delivery on time Try and put more time solving customers problem so that all customers are satisfied with this service. See that they put more focus on doing delivery on the within requested time. Company should add up more employees on field doing service delivery, so that it can be done faster and documents will not be pending. ANALYSIS FINDINGS Customers have to put more efforts for getting their services to be delivered. Both the companies lack in providing timely delivery the delivery is done late. The reasons identified is that they have less delivery boys on field doing delivery and because of which document is left undelivered and is done late later. Bad service providers are not only losing their valuable external customers but also their internal customers who are not willing to be associated with the organization for a longer duration. Retaining the loyalties of the customers, both internal as well as external is very critical for the future of the company. The Professional Courier has Lack of collection centre in Goa which make quit difficult for people in getting their document or parcel to the company office or the. When the question comes of solving problems face by the customers both the companies lack in doing so as they cannot service their 100% to the customers therefore not all the customers are satisfied with this service of the company, which is not profitable for the company as they can lose their customers. On surveying the customers it was founded that 35 respondent of TPC i.e the maximum said the give more preference to BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE and of FF 45 respondent said so which again maximum therefore we can conclude that the customer wants good quality service which include timely, accurate, safe etc. In terms of money or charges charged by both the companies in providing the service is worth the service they provide the maximum respondent of both the companies i.e. 36 of TPC and 38 of FF said its reasonable. So can conclude from this that they are charging fair amount for providing the service. Limitation of the survey: The survey was conducted in a limited duration of six weeks only. No customers are loyal customers they change their service provider whenever they wants so was quit tough to get these companies customers which has taken service from them for quit many times . Many competitors in the market and it was difficult to get the the customer of these both companies. My target audience was the cooperate people and the business people which made it even more difficult to gather information. PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED Communication chain:- the communication system of the company is not in properly form. As the information regarding the company customer any query or any other help required are not directly communicated to the management it takes time due to absent of communication chain. Employee Relation:- Employee relation with the companys customers is not friendly, due to which companies are losing on their business and If you dont have a good relation with your customers it becomes very difficult for you to get business from that person to the company. Responsibilities to employees:- the employees are not much responsible it is said because the customers of both the companies had to put in more efforts in getting their service delivered Lack of collection centre for (TPC):- the customers of colvale, pernem (Tuem industrial estate) has to face difficulties in sending their courier because they have come all the way to mapusa. Delivery:- not all the time delivery by both the companies is done on time. it is not reach as per the customer requested time. SOLUTION In the interest of building a relationship of honesty, integrity, and trust, with the company customer, the results should be communicated effectively to the customers and the company customers should receive information in a timely manner when it is asked. Also company managers need to track progress and communicate implementation successes and failures to the employees so that they can accordingly work on field improving the same. Company should constantly strive to provide necessary information to their customer when ever asked that will increase their awareness of the larger scope of the operation and provide them a sense of satisfaction so that they will continue using your service. Company should also put more focus on talking to the customers could be personally or online how they wants and knowing their quires or problem face by them at any point of time while taking service so that it will gave them a sense of concern for them thinking yes company cares their customers which will help them to retain the customers. Company should try to improve relationship within the company customers. They can do this by constantly keeping in touch with the customers. This will lead to better interaction with the customers and the company employees and this will lead to improved relation which will future give company a good business. Successful Deliveries:- A successful delivery is directly tied into a timely one. Success is more than just getting the goods to their destination on time. It also means a safe delivery, parcel reaching the customer without damage and accurately to the pace where it has been asked. Recommendation / Suggestions to company Add more service delivery boys to improve customer service standards:- This is the most common method that most organizations firmly believe in. They tend to add up the numbers of people in the service delivery chain improving systems and processes which provides a positive result and further improves the process and service experience for the customers. It will also motivates the employees to increase their performance levels and improve the service delivery experience for their customers which ultimately benefits the company. Provide service training to the company employees:-Training the employees goes a long way in ensuring the effectiveness of service delivery of the organization. Training not only helps the employees in learning new techniques and tricks but also helps them in realizing that the company is concerned about their future in the organization and it is taking necessary steps to ensure its growth in the firm. It motivates the employees to increase their performance levels and improve the service delivery experience for their customers. Training and involving the employees in various decisions or discussions of organization. Apart from their routine activities makes them feel good as if they take ownership of the company and could improve the service that they provide to their customers. There is an increase in the willingness to satisfy the customers especially when there is customer complaint in order to ensure that the customer goes back satisfied and his loyalty is retained by the organization the training is very important. Cost saving option:- if you have goods to be delivered that are large and take up a lot of space and weight, a sea freight option likely would make more sense than air freight if the destination is across the country, if the destination is just a few miles away i.e. within the country or in the neighboring states, than some type of road service would likely be the best option in order to minimize the cost CONCLUSION AND LEARNING To conclude I would like to say it was of a great experience conducting my summer internship on comparative study on The Professional Courier and first flight courier. Working on my study I came to know many things about the service industry as how its work. I gained much more knowledge in marketing field as how its function, and as how to out approaching the customer along with the customer acceptation as to what customers wants and what they dont want. flow of proper communication from top to bottom and bottom to top plays a very important role in any organization as timely providing information regarding the customers if any quires is there by the employees to the company helps them to contribute to the success of the company, as company can makes necessary changes where ever required and also to come up with a solution to their quires . Also came to know how the employees deal with the customers of the company as to what is their needs and wants and how they are meet also not meet and how the customers reacts to it later.

America Must Learn to Respect the Elderly Essay -- Argumentative Persu

America Must Learn to Respect the Elderly It is blatantly evident that America is a country in which youth is king. Everyone wants to look young, feel young, and possess that youthful vigor and dynamism that is so highly respected by both the media and by the public. Our shelves are stocked with products to make us appear younger in any way, shape, or form; our most popular reality TV shows revolve around the lives of the young and beautiful. It seems that America’s population has forgotten that with luck, some day we will all become older. We will become those wrinkly, slow, and uncannily wise beings that hover in the background of today’s society. And what kind of life will we find once we reach that invisible point? Today’s elderly are treated with resentment and antagonism that is in appalling opposition to the respect that they deserve. In many other countries around the globe, especially in the East, growing older is an outward sign of one’s increase in knowledge and experiences. Because of this healthily accurate image of aging, the process is seen as admirable; grand...

Huck Finn

Through Huck’s many adventures, his sense of morality plays a large role in the decisions he makes as well as the relationships he builds with others. Huck’s decisions and actions have the ability to change the lives of those around him; his sense of morality influences his choices, thus leading him to many difficult situations with others. By the time that Huck decides that he is going to follow his heart and save Jim instead of turning him in, his moral development is at an increase, as opposed to his morality in the beginning of the novel.Though his intentions for saving Jim are not completely genuine, he makes the upstanding decision to save Jim and exemplifies his change of heart. Huck displays his nonconformity to the society around him by considering Jim as a friend and not as an insignificant slave. After Huck has found Jim imprisoned at the Phelps’s farm and has encountered Tom, Huck changes in his morality, causing him to make wrong and right decisions that affect lives around him.From when Huck decides to follow his heart and save Jim, the basis of Huck’s moral development grows, but under many circumstances Huck succumbs to Tom’s naivety and unethical choices, thus hindering the progression of his moral growth. The basis of Huck’s morality is developing, but under Tom’s influence Huck slowly loses his grasp on morality and submits to many of Huck’s wrongful ideas. Huck at times shows his morality by making the â€Å"right† decisions in many circumstances, but when following Tom in Tom’s plans, Huck caves into Tom’s devious, immoral, adventure seeking ideas that causes trouble for the Phelps as well as himself.Huck possesses a desire to follow his heart to help Jim as he leaves for Silas Phelps’ farm, and the basis of that wish to be moral persists and influences a few of his actions in dealing with the Phelps: â€Å"Laws knows I wanted to go, bad enough, to see abou t Tom, and all was intending to go, but after that, I wouldn’t a went, not for kingdoms† (350). Huck’s basis of morality still exists even through Tom’s influence. Huck chooses the right decision to stay and keep Aunt Sally from becoming even more sorrowful.Though he knows that Tom is waiting for him, Huck stays not for the benefit of himself, but for Aunt Sally, because he sympathizes for her. Huck’s moral development progresses when not in the presence of Tom’s manipulative words, but when he is around Tom’s influence, Huck gives into falling under the impression of Tom’s ideals and ridiculous, immoral schemes. Huck considers Tom an authoritative, knowledgeable figure and follows Tom in many of Tom’s unreasonable, unethical acts regardless of the negative circumstances Huck knows will undergo: â€Å"’Now you’re talking! I says; ‘Your head gets leveler and leveler all the time, Tom Sawyer,’ I says. ‘Picks is the thing, moral or no moral; and as for me, I don’t care shucks for the morality of it nohow† (307). Tom finds it very important that they make Jim’s escape from bondage an adventure, hence Tom and Huck must steal, life, and cheat to make their somewhat simple situation adventuresome. Huck steals the Phelps’s family’s picks, and disregards the fact that what he is doing is immoral because he is lost in the desire to free Jim out with Tom.Huck relishes in the fact that Tom is helping him and putts of his morality for adventure. Huck acknowledges the fact that stealing the picks is immoral and wrong, but is so caught up with working with Tom that he gives up on morality. Tom’s negative influence over Huck succeeds him to the end of the novel, in which Huck completely loses his sense of moral development. By the end of the novel, after Jim has been emancipated and Huck and Tom are both out of trouble, Huck’s outlook on morality changes and his moral development completely regresses and plans to regress in his subsequent journey.Having been exposed to the influences of Tom and after realizing that after the trouble they cause, that everything results in a trouble free situation with no negative circumstances, Huck feels as if his immorality is acceptable. Jim endures much unnecessary trouble to be released from imprisonment just because of Tom’s whimsical wants and desires; Jim is treated by Huck and Tom as if his life is a trivial game that is intended for their enjoyment.Jim is not treated as a real human being, but is treated as if he were a lesser person, yet Huck is content with how everything turns out: â€Å"But I reckoned it was about as well the way it was† (360). Tom and Huck’s actions and motives to release Jim from imprisonment are completely immoral, but the fact that everything turns out satisfactory, Huck overlooks the importance of morality. Huck loses all r espect for Jim as a human being, and almost considers Jim a slave again and not as a friend.Tom degrades Jim by giving him forty dollars, the same price in which Jim was sold for, in exchange for Jim’s cooperation in Tom’s fun and games; Huck gives Tom silent approval, and doesn’t object to Tom’s act of immorality. Emerson said that a great man keeps his independence and own opinions, and doesn’t conform to the ways of society. Throughout the novel, Huck has shown much self-reliance and assertiveness in his own opinions and values. By the end of the novel, Huck is not the great man that Emerson describes.Though Huck can stand strong on his ideas and desires independently, he conforms to the ideals of society, Tom, by the end of the novel. Before Huck encounters Tom on the Phelps’s farm, he sticks true to his beliefs and his heart’s desires, yet after spending a great deal of time with Tom, he loses his values and his morals under the influence of Tom. Thus Huck is unable to not conform to those around him, therefore unable to be a â€Å"great man† in the eyes of Emerson. Huck Finn Through Huck’s many adventures, his sense of morality plays a large role in the decisions he makes as well as the relationships he builds with others. Huck’s decisions and actions have the ability to change the lives of those around him; his sense of morality influences his choices, thus leading him to many difficult situations with others. By the time that Huck decides that he is going to follow his heart and save Jim instead of turning him in, his moral development is at an increase, as opposed to his morality in the beginning of the novel.Though his intentions for saving Jim are not completely genuine, he makes the upstanding decision to save Jim and exemplifies his change of heart. Huck displays his nonconformity to the society around him by considering Jim as a friend and not as an insignificant slave. After Huck has found Jim imprisoned at the Phelps’s farm and has encountered Tom, Huck changes in his morality, causing him to make wrong and right decisions that affect lives around him.From when Huck decides to follow his heart and save Jim, the basis of Huck’s moral development grows, but under many circumstances Huck succumbs to Tom’s naivety and unethical choices, thus hindering the progression of his moral growth. The basis of Huck’s morality is developing, but under Tom’s influence Huck slowly loses his grasp on morality and submits to many of Huck’s wrongful ideas. Huck at times shows his morality by making the â€Å"right† decisions in many circumstances, but when following Tom in Tom’s plans, Huck caves into Tom’s devious, immoral, adventure seeking ideas that causes trouble for the Phelps as well as himself.Huck possesses a desire to follow his heart to help Jim as he leaves for Silas Phelps’ farm, and the basis of that wish to be moral persists and influences a few of his actions in dealing with the Phelps: â€Å"Laws knows I wanted to go, bad enough, to see abou t Tom, and all was intending to go, but after that, I wouldn’t a went, not for kingdoms† (350). Huck’s basis of morality still exists even through Tom’s influence. Huck chooses the right decision to stay and keep Aunt Sally from becoming even more sorrowful.Though he knows that Tom is waiting for him, Huck stays not for the benefit of himself, but for Aunt Sally, because he sympathizes for her. Huck’s moral development progresses when not in the presence of Tom’s manipulative words, but when he is around Tom’s influence, Huck gives into falling under the impression of Tom’s ideals and ridiculous, immoral schemes. Huck considers Tom an authoritative, knowledgeable figure and follows Tom in many of Tom’s unreasonable, unethical acts regardless of the negative circumstances Huck knows will undergo: â€Å"’Now you’re talking! I says; ‘Your head gets leveler and leveler all the time, Tom Sawyer,’ I says. ‘Picks is the thing, moral or no moral; and as for me, I don’t care shucks for the morality of it nohow† (307). Tom finds it very important that they make Jim’s escape from bondage an adventure, hence Tom and Huck must steal, life, and cheat to make their somewhat simple situation adventuresome. Huck steals the Phelps’s family’s picks, and disregards the fact that what he is doing is immoral because he is lost in the desire to free Jim out with Tom.Huck relishes in the fact that Tom is helping him and putts of his morality for adventure. Huck acknowledges the fact that stealing the picks is immoral and wrong, but is so caught up with working with Tom that he gives up on morality. Tom’s negative influence over Huck succeeds him to the end of the novel, in which Huck completely loses his sense of moral development. By the end of the novel, after Jim has been emancipated and Huck and Tom are both out of trouble, Huck’s outlook on morality changes and his moral development completely regresses and plans to regress in his subsequent journey.Having been exposed to the influences of Tom and after realizing that after the trouble they cause, that everything results in a trouble free situation with no negative circumstances, Huck feels as if his immorality is acceptable. Jim endures much unnecessary trouble to be released from imprisonment just because of Tom’s whimsical wants and desires; Jim is treated by Huck and Tom as if his life is a trivial game that is intended for their enjoyment.Jim is not treated as a real human being, but is treated as if he were a lesser person, yet Huck is content with how everything turns out: â€Å"But I reckoned it was about as well the way it was† (360). Tom and Huck’s actions and motives to release Jim from imprisonment are completely immoral, but the fact that everything turns out satisfactory, Huck overlooks the importance of morality. Huck loses all r espect for Jim as a human being, and almost considers Jim a slave again and not as a friend.Tom degrades Jim by giving him forty dollars, the same price in which Jim was sold for, in exchange for Jim’s cooperation in Tom’s fun and games; Huck gives Tom silent approval, and doesn’t object to Tom’s act of immorality. Emerson said that a great man keeps his independence and own opinions, and doesn’t conform to the ways of society. Throughout the novel, Huck has shown much self-reliance and assertiveness in his own opinions and values. By the end of the novel, Huck is not the great man that Emerson describes.Though Huck can stand strong on his ideas and desires independently, he conforms to the ideals of society, Tom, by the end of the novel. Before Huck encounters Tom on the Phelps’s farm, he sticks true to his beliefs and his heart’s desires, yet after spending a great deal of time with Tom, he loses his values and his morals under the influence of Tom. Thus Huck is unable to not conform to those around him, therefore unable to be a â€Å"great man† in the eyes of Emerson. Huck Finn Superstition and Religion in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, superstition is used throughout the story. Mark Twain uses superstition to show the difference between an organized religion, such as Christianity, and believing in superstition. As Huckleberry Finn and Jim escape to freedom from civilized living and slavery, religion and superstition have a strong effect on them. As they go back and forth between the two faiths, the reader gets an idea of the system of beliefs that people followed living along the Mississippi River.Belief in the supernatural and superstition are the marks of many characters in the storyline. It is Jim and Huck’s shared belief in superstitions that originally draws them together. Jim and Huck explain things using superstition that they cannot otherwise explain. It is possible that the novel parodies religion by comparing it to superstition, since some characters take advantag e of both belief systems to influence and mislead. Most often, superstitions are used as an attempt to explain why bad things happen.When a character has something good happen, most likely religion takes credit for that positive outcome. When someone is punished, or something terrible happens, it is a lot more comforting to put the blame on superstition. Religion, as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, is defined as â€Å"a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices† and â€Å"the service and worship of God or the supernatural: commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance† or â€Å"a cause, principal or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith†.Superstition, as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, is defined as â€Å"a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or false conception of causation† and â€Å"an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition†. Both notions are used throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , in some cases they do not seem to be equivalent to their particular definitions. The question that resides in the core of this novel is â€Å"How is superstition and religion used in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and what defines their meaning?Later on in chapter one, Huck is alone in his room watching a spider crawl up his shoulder. Huck flips the spider off and it falls into the candle, shriveling up and dying. Huck says, â€Å"I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sin and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. I got up and turned around in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time: and when I tied up a little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away. But I hadn’t no confidence. Huck shows us his supersti tions and his belief in them. These beliefs have been ingrained in him from his father, Pap. In chapter four, Huck turns over the salt-cellar at breakfast. When he goes to throw some of the salt over his left shoulder, Miss Watson stepped in and crossed him off. She tells him to take his hands away and to stop making a mess. The widow Douglas puts in a good word for Huck, but he feels that it will not be enough to ward off the bad luck. After the salt spilling, Huck was feeling worried and shaky and wondering what bad luck would befall him.Since he was unable to perform his ritual, (throwing the salt over his left shoulder) he felt he had to be on the lookout all day. It seems as though Huck’s views on superstition revolve around bad luck more so than good. Huck blames bad happenings on superstition, while good happenings are â€Å"natural† or have been earned in some way. Huck doesn’t trust religion to explain life’s negatives, so he uses his belief in t he supernatural. Huck finds tracks in the snow in chapter 4, a boot print with a cross in the left boot-heel made with big nails, to ward off the devil.He finds the footprints all around then and he follows them, before it struck him who they belonged to. Pap had been checking on Huck and was watching him. This is when the reader finds out that Jim isn’t the only source of Huck’s superstitions beliefs. Some of the superstitions that Huck follows have been passed on to him from his father. Huck uses superstition to justify and explain why some bad events happen. Take the situation with the rattlesnake, Huck thinks to himself, â€Å"We didn’t say a word for a good while. There warn’t anything to say.We both knowed well enough it was some more work of the rattlesnake-skin; so what was the use to talk about it? It would only look like we was finding fault, and that would be bound to fetch more bad luck – and keep on fetching it, too, till we knowed en ough to keep still. Both Jim and Huck continue to expect bad luck because of the rattlesnake skin that Huck touched. In chapter one, the Widow and Miss Watson try to teach Huck about religion. They try to teach him all about heaven and hell. They explain to him that the things you do on earth will decide where you go after death.Huck inevitably decides that since Tom wasn’t going to the good place, he didn’t care to go there either. Huck treats the philosophies of heaven and hell impartially and seems to be a bit immature about the whole idea. All Huck knows is that he does not want to be lonely and he wants to be with his friend, Tom Sawyer. In chapter two, Ben Rogers says that he could not get out much, only on Sundays so Tom Sawyer’s gang could begin then. Surprisingly, all the boys said that it would be wicked to do such a thing on Sunday, as it is a holy day.The interesting part of this logic is that the boys don’t care much about being in a gang, st ealing, or murdering, yet they care enough not to do it on a holy day. In Huck’s case, he seems to care more about the smaller issue of not starting a gang on a holy day, yet does not care much of bigger issues such as heaven and hell, or Noah and the Bulrushers. In chapter 3, Huck is sitting alone in the woods trying to figure out the logistics of religion. He wonders about prayer and how it works.He thinks to himself, â€Å"if a body can get anything they pray for, why don’t Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on pork? Why can’t the widow get back her snuffbox that was stole? Why can’t Miss Watson fat up? † After Miss Watson tells him that he must help people, do everything he could for others, and never think of himself, Huck decides that he does not see any advantage to living that way. He debates over every part of religion and does not accept it all just because it’s part of the whole. He chooses what he does and does not believe, a nd doesn’t look at it as all or nothing.Huck’s view on religion starts to evolve in chapter eighteen. He thinks to himself, â€Å"If you notice, most folks don’t go to church only when they’ve got to: but a hog is different. † Huck starts to realize that people just use religion when it’s good for them. He sees that people use religion to manipulate and get what they want. The Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons sit in church together. Mark Twain shows us how extraordinarily important religion in the South is during this era. The only time that the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons don’t fight is during their time at church.They view their religious gatherings as a common ground and their respect for religion is the only thing that quiets their feud. Huck is perplexed at how these two families can live in the Christian way by following the church and the bible; yet continue to kill each other. Huck sees the king use religion as a tool of de ception. While the king is pretending to be Harvey Wilks’, He tells the town about his congregation in England and how they were sweet on him and he must hurry and settle the estate right away and then leave for home.Again, Huck sees religion being used to manipulate and control people. Although Huck is bombarded with superstitious beliefs and religion, he chooses to go on his own path. He weighs each piece of information he gets and decides to take it all for what it is. Huck believes in different parts of each belief system. Though Huck feels that organized religion is stifling, he still clings to it in his times of despair and uses it as a comfort mechanism. When all is said and done, Huck searches for what is right in his heart and he considers all possibilities, and in the end chooses his own moral code. Huck Finn Daved Najarian American literature II 9:00am Huck, The Duke and Pinocchio One of the primary themes Mark Twain uses throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is that of deception. Twain uses many forms and styles of deception not only to illustrate varying degrees of it, but also to draw a distinction between morally permissible and morally corrupt lies. Twain introduces different forms of deception brought about by a myriad of catalysts. Throughout the book, Twain uses Huck, the Duke and the King to compare and contrast different forms of lying, and to illustrate how context plays a large role in the moral weight of a deception.By portraying each of these characters actions and reactions to their environment, Twain is able to explore the moral importance of familiar circumstances. Huck takes on a more innocent and playful approach to deception and only uses morally weighted lies as a means to protect. While the Duke plays with good intentions, too often the end goals of his dece ptions are for monetary gain. Finally the King is presented as possessing little redeeming quality and is by far the most morally corrupt of the characters. Huck seems to primarily formulate deceptions in two circumstances throughout the novel.The first of these is for an innocent, or even jestful reason, with little or no mal-intent. The second of these is the use of a deception in a more serious manner, but generally used only to preserve the wellbeing of Jim or himself. Unlike the more serious and character damaging lies of the King and the Duke, Huck’s deceptions are, for the most part, spur of the moment rather than premeditated. Towards the beginning of the adventure, Huck seems to deceive for relatively harmless reasons. When Huck goes ashore dressed as a girl to attain town gossip, he lies about who he is, but the moral implications of this lie are slight.He has no malicious motive in mind, and is â€Å"taking advantage† of the newcomers for information alone. In this scene, Huck is very nervous and un-savvy of his character, which leads to him being caught in his deception. Although Huck uses lavish deceptions he is still relatively novice at it, and for this reason his lies depend heavily on the intended victims perception and relationship to him. These sorts of lies seem to represent a sort of â€Å"game† to Huck and he is accordingly unaware of their effects on others. When Huck plays a trick on Jim these effects become apparent. â€Å"Well, this is too many for me, Jim.I hain't seen no fog, nor no islands, nor no troubles, nor nothing. † When Huck tricks Jim into thinking he dreamt up a whole night of troubles, he holds no ill intent. Like his â€Å"girl deception† this lie takes advantage of Jim for his own lighthearted enjoyment, and not for material benefit. Through this depiction, Twain illustrates that it is not just the content of a lie but the intended recipient that determines its moral severity. Once Huc k realizes the effects of this style of fib and the repercussions of tricking those close to him, he discontinues it for the rest of the novel.The second form of deception in Huck’s arsenal is a sort of â€Å"deception for preservation†. The first time Huck lies in this manner is to avoid a dangerous situation with Pap. When Pap awakes to find Huck sleeping with a gun, Huck is quick to fabricate a story about a potential intruder he was â€Å"laying for†. The purpose of this form of a lie is clearly self-preservation, and unlike Huck’s other form of deception, it is brought about by necessity and is spur the moment. Huck uses this level of deception throughout the adventure and therefore gains a mastery of it.Twain seems to suggest that Huck’s circumstances justify some of his lies and deception, playing with the notion of â€Å"necessary lies† Huck is in many ways â€Å"forced† into situations where a lie becomes necessary to preserv e a life. As Huck and Jim grow as friends Huck not only is unable to turn Jim in, but finds himself fabricating elaborate deceptions to keep him safe. In one scene in particular, Huck uses â€Å"reverse psychology† to trick men into believing he wants help on the raft when in fact he wants the opposite. â€Å"I will, sir, I will, honest – but don't leave us, please.It's the – the – Gentlemen, if you'll only pull ahead, and let me heave you the headline, you won't have to come a-near the raft – please do. † In this encounter, Huck is able to create the illusion that he is desperate for help; with a sub lie that those aboard the raft are ill with small pox. What is important to recognize here, is that this level of lie is to protect Jim (and himself) from the greed of slave hunters, not to gain additional benefit from them. Most of the deception created by Huck is simply to maintain the status quo.Huck and Jim do not wish to gain anything mate rial from others but simply want to be left alone. Unlike the King and Duke who look ashore to interact and take with deceit, Huck and Jim lie to distance themselves from those on shore. Twain compares and contrasts the King and the Duke from the moment of their arrival. â€Å"These liars warn't no kings nor dukes, at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds. † Although Huck sees through the King and Duke’s lies right away, there is importance and foreshadowing in their first deception.The very fact that the King places himself higher than the Duke with an outlandish introduction, â€Å"Bilgewater, I am the late Dauphin! † foreshadows that the King is the worse of the two con men. Throughout the trip the Duke utilizes two forms of deception, the first of which focuses on the betterment of the group as a whole. This is illustrated by his attempts to make it easier for them to â€Å"run during the day† rather than the shadow of night. This lie involved the faking of Jim’s capture and deception of reward seeking in order to avoid the attention of others.Like Huck, this lie helps to protect the group but unlike Huck it involves premeditation and a change in the status quo. While Huck lies to protect Jim rather than for selfish intent, the Duke does not. The second form or level of deception the Duke emphasizes is the fabrication of legitimacy to his illegitimate forms of entertainment. In the end, these attempts are commendable but pathetic, â€Å"To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin that makes calamity of so long life†.Although many of the Dukes offerings (such as Shakespeare) tender some level of legitimacy, his back-story and quality of performance are shrouded with deception. What differentiates these lies from others is the emphasis on greed; as the end goal of the Duke’s deceptions often-involved monetary gain and taking from others. Twain paints the King as not only less intelligent than the Duke, bu t also more cruel. As the tale progresses the King’s lies and deception escalate from a moral grey area to out right. From the start, the Kings lies target the innocent, ignorant, and emotionally compromised.In contrast to the Duke, the King’s first performance takes advantage of the kind and empathetic attendees at a religious gathering. From this point on the King’s greed is insatiable, and his lust for money and material goods causes him to be irrational. The King gets so lie crazy at one point that he even lies about lying about who took the gold, saying that he took it, â€Å"‘Nough! – I OWN UP! † These deceptions finally peak during the Wilks’ impersonation when the King is unsatisfied with the $6,000 and wants to sell the girl’s properties.While many of the Duke’s stunts were simply to get by, the King lets his greed completely overwhelm his character. The intellectually superior Duke even looks to get out of the l ong con while they still can, but he is talked back in to it by the King and his greed. Twain uses this character to not only illustrate how, â€Å"One can become the company they keep,† (as all were dragged into the con), but that greed can turn most men to sin. The lies and deceptions portrayed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn introduce ethical and moral issues that are relevant to the reader.Twain does an excellent job of utilizing context to explore the morality of deception. By exploring intent and the inner workings of Huck, the Duke and the King, Twain is able to illustrate how lies can be permissible or damning. The concept of â€Å"necessary lies† carries a great deal of weight when analyzing the morality of a deception, and Twain uses the ethical framework of Utilitarianism to justify this. For Twain is seems as though the morality of a lie is tied to the consequence of that lie, rather than the lie itself.Rather than making deception universally â€Å" wrong†, Twain leaves the door open for moral interpretation. Twain suggests, that by looking at the result of a lie and who is affected, one can determine the â€Å"rightness† or â€Å"wrongness† of that particular lie. The ethical framework of utilitarianism of course brings with it a slue of objections, however; in the context the novel it is intuitive. The most â€Å"morally corrupt lie† in the text negatively effects the largest number of people, whereas many of Huck’s lies positively effect Jim or himself and carry little negative effect to others.The King’s Wilks impersonation, along with others, affected not just those that survived the deceased but the entire town. These â€Å"large scale† deceptions clearly would be considered morally corrupt by Utilitarians; whereas many of Huck’s lies were small scale and produced the smallest ripples. Twain masterfully incorporates ethics into a realistic story, resulting in this mul ti-layered tale. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. pg. 122 [ 2 ]. pg. 166 [ 3 ]. pg. 165 [ 4 ]. 182 [ 5 ]. 276

My Experience in Contact Center Essay

Throughout my working experience, I have been a part of the contact centre family for 13 years to date. Today when I look back at how I spent those years and what kind of an individual I have turned out to be, I am glad that I made the right choice because this process has the capability to bring the best out of anyone, anywhere. Imagine getting the opportunity to provide a top draw service on behalf of an organization only by assisting the customer over the phone. Just with a few amendments and clicks, the customers issue is resolved there is self-satisfaction recognition gained from a CSE’s point of view. Besides that, being able to work together with a bunch of supportive colleagues even in unpleasant times, when there is a tense situation for instance and a customer’s call goes to the extent of escalation, I was able to control myself and work with my senior executive to get this issue resolved once and for all. From this experience that I have had, in the past and until today I do not feel abandoned, because I am willing to ask and my fellow colleagues are willing to share their ideas and opinions with me on how to confront the obstacle and make it a learning curve in my career. It is this special family like bond that I have been a part off for so many years now, and I couldn’t wish for any other challenge which constantly educates and provides me with a new direction of approach apart from being here, where I am happy, and best of all, I am home. The Malaysian contact center industry continues to grow despite competitive pressures from other markets like India and the Philippines, even though Contact Center Industry in Malaysia is relatively young but the growth has seen to be very positive. The main reason I believe is because Malaysia has multi language skills ethnics group and this is unique in the region, therefore we offer a good communication infrastructure that is a critical requirement for any good contact center service location. In this industry apart from taking calls, we can utilize as knowledge seeking & career enhancement environment. Providing more humane technical is support with diverse services & products. I feel proud that I am able to do my bit to help more Malaysians aware about broadband which is in line with the government’s National Broadband Initiative (NBI). And the main reason why I choose my career in Contact Center is because I enjoy challenging job that makes me think. I enjoy working with people and this is a job that will help me do that, at the same time my job in the contact center involves helping people meet their full potential.

Family Structure in Revolutionary China essays

Family Structure in Revolutionary China essays Family Structure in Revolutionary China Political turmoil, loyalty to the party, reforms, and the escape from political scorn, tore the many Chinese families apart in the time of the Cultural Revolution; especially once the Great Leap Forward was enacted in 1957. As expresses in Liang Heng and Judith Shapiro's Son of the Revolution (1958-1981) the at home family life was not only difficult, but often didn't exist. The fact that ones actions could be accepted by society one day and could be criticized by it the next often lead to an untrusting nature that permeated the most sacred of societal relationships, including the home-front. The lack of structure in Liang's family was alluded to throughout the book, more specifically in the absence of family members; thus showing that family could make or break ones societal position. After being urged and basically forced to express productive criticisms about her job, Heng's mother was sent away to be re-educated when the political party suddenly changed to an anti-rightist movement. The disgracing of ones name not only hurt the individual but created restrictions on other members of the family which would often lead to constant tormenting. "So perhaps inevitably, over the years, I came to resent my mother for making my life so miserable. I began to believe that she really had done something wrong" (16). Not only did it lead to tormenting, but other members of the family were forced to do what they felt would be best for the family, "Don't come back until you've reformed yourself. The children in this house need a Revolutionary mother, not a Righteous mother" (10). Although Heng's father deeply cared for his wife he felt like he needed to in force that fact that what she had done was wrong. Following the mothers re-education, her and Shan got a divorce and she distanced herself from the family as much as possible as so not to interfere. Then at a later meeting with her youngest son she e ...

Rolling budgets Essays

Rolling budgets Essays Rolling budgets Essay Rolling budgets Essay Given the speed of change and general uncertainty in the external environment, shareholders seek quick results. Companies typically report to shareholders every three months, compared with the normal six months. Rolling budgets involve evaluating the previous twelve months performance on an ongoing basis, and forecasting the next three months performance. We see our budget as a forward looking plan that sees our direction and destination point, other documents such as the balance sheet and the profit loss account allows us to look back and reflect our progress telling us where we have been and how we got to this current position. The companies budget is a fixed type budget and is prepared annually by the contracts manager, finance manager and the 5 leisure centre managers (budgeting team), it is review every month throughout the year to reflect our progress. The budget allows our centre managers to co-ordinate and control the activities of the organisation effectively, it also allows them to implement the business plan as well. The budget is a key management tool for decision making and the steps below that we follow allows the managers to know where they are going. The budget consists of: Income/sales which is based on new members joining the fitness suite, activity levels, patronage users, secondary spends plus the management fee that is paid to us from the council. Expenditure which is based on wages, utilities, repairs and maintenance, admin, marketing etc. Capital expenditure works which include new health and fitness studios, DDA works, building improvements and information technology Once each centres budget is completed the contract manager who is responsible for the 5 leisure centres and the support team co-ordinates the individual budgets into a master budget. The centre manager also co-ordinates the budget down to there duty managers, this shows them what they can spend on certain items and what the income levels should be. When the agreed budget is in place we have several financial procedures to follow this allows us to control the budget daily and is quite easy to run. Each centre manager regularly monitors progress and checks for variances, they fill in a daily income and expenditure spreadsheet which allows them to compare the actual and budgeted results. The budgeting team meet up at the end of each month to view the budget, this allows managers to react on major variances in terms of the likely impact upon the organisations overall budget. The budgeting team can then discuss what revisions are needed to get the budget on its original course. A couple of criticises of a fixed budget is that it works less well when organisations face large or highly correlated risks, or when the financial year is too short to smooth out the natural variability due to repeated chance occurrences. When such uncertainties emerge, the timing of decisions within the financial year takes on added importance. Fixed budgets also provide obvious incentives for over-spending near the end of the financial year. These adverse incentives are then aggravated by the complicated signalling games that take place between central authorities and their subordinates. Ironically, under spending may be taken, as a sign of incompetence that needed work has not been done. While it is difficult to spend every last penny and some lapses are always going to occur, the magnitude of these lapses makes it extremely uncomfortable for three reasons * Significant under spending makes it difficult to justify any increases in these appropriations. * There are concerns that clients needing services are not getting them * Some astute budget analyst is going to notice a pattern and reduce the appropriations, figuring that if we dont spend it we must not need it. A fixed budget does control costs on expenditure levels in our organisation, i. e. if a duty manager is given a certain amount to spend, once that money has gone he can not spend anymore, this keeping a tight control on the budget, on the other hand If a manager needed more sports equipment for a activity to take place and his budget has been spent, this would effect the customer and may prevent them from taking part in the activity. This shows that the budget process can be a barrier to performance. At current the budgeting team have made certain assumptions in determining the original budget (mainly utilities, maintenance and repair costs). If we used a flexible budget adjustments can be made throughout the year to ensure that we operate the centre within the budget we have set, using the knowledge we gain through the operation of the business. I. e. Single loop feedback involves making corrections to current activities in order to get back on course and double loop feedback involves amending the original plans so that they more accurately reflect current business reality. The budget process that we put together is time consuming and costly to put together it is also based on guesswork and unsupported assumptions. Managers spend far to much time analysing their budgets, and other parts of the business seems to suffer. I. e. the front line staff and the customers, how can a manager know what the customers want when he is stuck in the office analysing his budget and not communicating with the customers. Unsupported assumptions and guesswork takes place because he does not communicate and involve his staff in the budgeting process. One of the ways we could improve the system and the control of income and expenditure would be to have site specific administration and expenditure controls to be updated and to be reviewed constantly. The introduction of a new till system will enable us better interrogation of income figures to be undertaken, enabling us to market facilities more effectively and to receive more accurate information regarding users.

Mecca Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mecca - Essay Example As the second most widely practiced religion in the world, hundreds of millions of Muslims have made the hajj to Mecca over the decades and centuries. IN addition to the pilgrimage that has thus far been described, there are many Islamic rituals that are associated with Mecca as well. First among these is the act of circling the Ka’ba seven times and kissing its cornerstone. Further, there is a ritual stoning of the devil that takes place during the pilgrimage as well. Finally, almost each and every Muslim that goes to Mecca drinks from the well of Zamzam; a well believed to have mystical properties. Finally, most pilgrims travel to Arafat; a small hill on which Muhammad is believed to have delivered his final sermon to his followers. Instead of representing rituals only, Mecca is meant to be a place in which Muslims draw upon their traditions and come to a greater and more profound determination of what sets them apart as a unique religious entity. In much the same way that Christians might travel to the Holy Land or to Rome, Muslims consider their pilgrimage to Mecca as a defining element of their faith (Amur 11). Yet, beyond merely religious significance, Mecca is a place in which Muslim families represent a level of solidarity together. Naturally, there are cases in which single individuals attend Mecca and the Hajj; however, the broad and overarching theme is for entire families to go there together. Although children are welcomed, it is traditionally observed that boys and girls attending their first Hajj should be at least in their early teens; not only so that they will remember it but so that it may have a lasting level of religious symbolism and importance to them. Further, the orientation of the city itself is very much fixated with the issues that have already been discussed. The entire city is positioned around tourism and the need to accommodate millions of individuals from around the globe and

Analyzing consumption trends between consumption theories Essay

Analyzing consumption trends between consumption theories - Essay Example It can be stated as a matter of fact that these two theories, relative to the concept of consumer consumption, was introduced at a wide difference of nearly four decades and certainly focuses on distinct assumptions which often tends to contradict each others’ view point. As in the case of Veblen approach, consumers are termed to have no such influence on the price of the commodity; whereas, in the neo-classical theory, customers are considered as one of the major catalysts to influence the commodity price (Himmelweit & et. al., 2001). The concept of consumer consumption is often demonstrated as the pattern of expenditure made by the consumers in exchange of a particular commodity. It is further stated by economists that consumer consumption or the decision taken by the consumers to buy a commodity depends on the price of the product or the services rendered, their requirement or individual preferences, the availability of the product and quality of the commodity served among others. Thus, it may vary according to the changes occurring in relation to any of these variables (Lee & et. al., 2009; Himmelweit & et. al., 2001). However, as mentioned in the theory of ‘consumer sovereignty’ by the neo-classical approach, individual preferences, amid the other factors tend to be one of the strongest influencing factors of consumer consumption. This theory further depicts that these preferences are endogenous in nature and thus tends to be highly influenced by the external factors such as choices favored by the society (King & et. al., 2006; O’Hara & Stagl, 2002). Based on these assumptions, according to the consumer consumption behavior demonstrated by neo-classical theory, the buyers are termed to be one of the major drivers of price change that subsequently leads to change in quantity. The theory further assumes that price and demand for a particular commodity is conversely related which depicts the equilibrium to be as

Critique of Vita Wallaces' essay Give Children the Vote

Critique of Vita Wallaces' Give Children the Vote - Essay Example However, these rights, if not controlled especially to those less than 18 years would eventually be misunderstood turning to be a liability to the society. In her essay, Wallace believes that children under the age of 18 years have the right to vote (Eschholz et. al. 315). To her, the account of age should not be a stumbling block. In her article, she presents her views on the significance of educating children and giving every child the right to vote. Wallace says that in passing the law against child labor and provision for compulsory schooling, the involved, which she refers to as well-meaning people aimed at protecting every child from any form of exploitation. She believes that the decision about schooling I personal. According to her, no punishment should be given in case children choose not to attend school. Rather, she asserts that at whatever age suitable for children to vote, the right should be given. She says, â€Å"What I suggest is that children be allowed to grow into their own right to vote at whatever rate suits them individually† (315). The word individually helps eliminate the aspect of generalization. Accordi ng to her, age limit would hinder capable children from voting. It is from this assertion that Wallace believes that children should have the right to vote. The common believe that if given the chance to vote children will vote in favor of their parents, in effect giving more votes to the parents should, according to Wallace, not be the case (316). Although many of the readers of this article consider Wallace argument thoughtful, I disagree with her point of view. In the entire essay, she presents her opinion. However, the major claim of this assertion could appear as fact or a judgment (Cooper 5). This shows how he overlooks the Toulmin’s theory of argument (Cooper 3). As an activist, she uses an interesting approach, which convinces many readers. Despite her powerful approach, I consider her unsuccessful. Her major claim,

Deborah Tannens But What Do You Mean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Deborah Tannens But What Do You Mean - Essay Example I agree with Tannen’s stance on criticism. Women’s softened criticism originates in their delicate nature. Tannen rightly attributes it to their emphasis upon feelings rather than ego. Women talk to others the way they would like themselves to be talked to. On the other hand, men are straight-forward. Being rough and tough, they expect others to be rough and tough as well. They don’t realize when they are being too tough to the women because they are not women themselves. It’s just that they have never been able to feel how a woman feels when she is being talked to in a straight-forward and critical manner. I also agree to Tannen as she analyzes women’s feelings when they don’t get the same level of formality or politeness that they treat men with. I agree that quite often, women keep thanking others for â€Å"nothing†. Although a man might be trying to be gentle while responding to a woman manager’s thankyou with welcome, yet a woman may not understand that he was trying to play his part on the scale of politeness because his performance was just not up to the mark! I agree that men are stronger at arguing than women because this is what they do all the time. Although women also keep arguing among their community in their little capacity, yet their capacity does not measure equal to that of men. One reason for this may be that men fight over more crucial matters than women and are more often held accountable for their acts than women, though I disagree that women are not taken seriously if they don’t argue enough. I agree that women are more generous and eager in giving feedback while men are more reluctant and critical. What women take very seriously is an ordinary thing to men. Again, it’s the delicacy of women’s nature and the roughness of men’s that is playing a role here! The fact that men tend to bring solution to women for the problems they raise with the intention of

Critique of Vita Wallaces' essay Give Children the Vote

Critique of Vita Wallaces' Give Children the Vote - Essay Example However, these rights, if not controlled especially to those less than 18 years would eventually be misunderstood turning to be a liability to the society. In her essay, Wallace believes that children under the age of 18 years have the right to vote (Eschholz et. al. 315). To her, the account of age should not be a stumbling block. In her article, she presents her views on the significance of educating children and giving every child the right to vote. Wallace says that in passing the law against child labor and provision for compulsory schooling, the involved, which she refers to as well-meaning people aimed at protecting every child from any form of exploitation. She believes that the decision about schooling I personal. According to her, no punishment should be given in case children choose not to attend school. Rather, she asserts that at whatever age suitable for children to vote, the right should be given. She says, â€Å"What I suggest is that children be allowed to grow into their own right to vote at whatever rate suits them individually† (315). The word individually helps eliminate the aspect of generalization. Accordi ng to her, age limit would hinder capable children from voting. It is from this assertion that Wallace believes that children should have the right to vote. The common believe that if given the chance to vote children will vote in favor of their parents, in effect giving more votes to the parents should, according to Wallace, not be the case (316). Although many of the readers of this article consider Wallace argument thoughtful, I disagree with her point of view. In the entire essay, she presents her opinion. However, the major claim of this assertion could appear as fact or a judgment (Cooper 5). This shows how he overlooks the Toulmin’s theory of argument (Cooper 3). As an activist, she uses an interesting approach, which convinces many readers. Despite her powerful approach, I consider her unsuccessful. Her major claim,

Literature Search Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Literature Search - Research Paper Example One of the major problems a hospital administrator has to address is the possibility of the occurrence nosocomial infections (hospital acquired infections). All the leaders of hospitals should aim to eradicate nosocomial infection from their institutions with the assistance of good governance and administrative policies. While aiming for better medical institutes it is also necessary to make the nursing staff knowledgeable. The National Quality Forum has made great steps in providing nurses with scholar program. The National Database of Nursing Quality examined the approach of nurses towards wounds, and they concluded that a nurse’s certification in wound car and handling would increase levels of reliability among patients. A nurse is not complete without his/her license. Apart from passing a nursing exam it is necessary for the nurse to have a license to work. The article ‘Communication Discrepancies between Physicians and Hospitalized Patients† was written by Douglas P. Olsen and Donna M. Windish in 2010. The 2 doctors researched on patient-doctor communication, and the gaps that were present in between them. The research was carried out in the space of 1 year and questionnaires were distributed among physicians and inpatients. Only 18% of the patients admitted knew the names of their doctors whereas about 77% physicians thought the patient knew their name. Most of the patients complained of miscommunication as more than half of the subjects were not briefed about the adverse effects of the drugs they were receiving. Communication between patients and their doctors is the core ingredient in treating a patient and satisfying them. Even though the collaboration is highlighted a lot but there is still a gap between patient and physicians. The results of the questionnaires pointed out difference of opinions and this is an alarmin g stat because it has effect on the health care sector (Olson and Windish, 2010). The article

Deborah Tannens But What Do You Mean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Deborah Tannens But What Do You Mean - Essay Example I agree with Tannen’s stance on criticism. Women’s softened criticism originates in their delicate nature. Tannen rightly attributes it to their emphasis upon feelings rather than ego. Women talk to others the way they would like themselves to be talked to. On the other hand, men are straight-forward. Being rough and tough, they expect others to be rough and tough as well. They don’t realize when they are being too tough to the women because they are not women themselves. It’s just that they have never been able to feel how a woman feels when she is being talked to in a straight-forward and critical manner. I also agree to Tannen as she analyzes women’s feelings when they don’t get the same level of formality or politeness that they treat men with. I agree that quite often, women keep thanking others for â€Å"nothing†. Although a man might be trying to be gentle while responding to a woman manager’s thankyou with welcome, yet a woman may not understand that he was trying to play his part on the scale of politeness because his performance was just not up to the mark! I agree that men are stronger at arguing than women because this is what they do all the time. Although women also keep arguing among their community in their little capacity, yet their capacity does not measure equal to that of men. One reason for this may be that men fight over more crucial matters than women and are more often held accountable for their acts than women, though I disagree that women are not taken seriously if they don’t argue enough. I agree that women are more generous and eager in giving feedback while men are more reluctant and critical. What women take very seriously is an ordinary thing to men. Again, it’s the delicacy of women’s nature and the roughness of men’s that is playing a role here! The fact that men tend to bring solution to women for the problems they raise with the intention of

Literature Search Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Literature Search - Research Paper Example One of the major problems a hospital administrator has to address is the possibility of the occurrence nosocomial infections (hospital acquired infections). All the leaders of hospitals should aim to eradicate nosocomial infection from their institutions with the assistance of good governance and administrative policies. While aiming for better medical institutes it is also necessary to make the nursing staff knowledgeable. The National Quality Forum has made great steps in providing nurses with scholar program. The National Database of Nursing Quality examined the approach of nurses towards wounds, and they concluded that a nurse’s certification in wound car and handling would increase levels of reliability among patients. A nurse is not complete without his/her license. Apart from passing a nursing exam it is necessary for the nurse to have a license to work. The article ‘Communication Discrepancies between Physicians and Hospitalized Patients† was written by Douglas P. Olsen and Donna M. Windish in 2010. The 2 doctors researched on patient-doctor communication, and the gaps that were present in between them. The research was carried out in the space of 1 year and questionnaires were distributed among physicians and inpatients. Only 18% of the patients admitted knew the names of their doctors whereas about 77% physicians thought the patient knew their name. Most of the patients complained of miscommunication as more than half of the subjects were not briefed about the adverse effects of the drugs they were receiving. Communication between patients and their doctors is the core ingredient in treating a patient and satisfying them. Even though the collaboration is highlighted a lot but there is still a gap between patient and physicians. The results of the questionnaires pointed out difference of opinions and this is an alarmin g stat because it has effect on the health care sector (Olson and Windish, 2010). The article

Time Management Essay Example for Free

Time Management Essay INTRODUCTION This chapter will begin with a de? nition of time management, and will then discuss common time management problems, and invite you to identify your own issues. It then moves on to examine possible solutions and the guiding principles of time management. To check your understanding there will be a number of scenarios and exercises to practise time management skills, followed by a personal contract aimed at improving your own approach to time management. WHAT IS TIME MANAGEMENT? Time management involves making the best use of time, and getting more done in the time available. It means not wasting time on irrelevant things, instead focusing on important parts of the job. Ultimately this means working calmly and effectively, avoiding the panic and anxiety of the last-minute rush. In the western world, time is treated as a valuable resource which people spend. Most managers claim that they do not have enough time. Often this is blamed on the organisation and colleagues for making too many demands. However, we all have at least some control over how we spend our time. We can and do make choices. Recognising this is the ? rst step on the path to effective time management. DEFINITION OF TIME MANAGEMENT. Time management means taking more control over how we spend our time and making sensible decisions about the way we use it. 29 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co. uk/bookstore. Personal Effectiveness If good time management is about taking control, it involves ? nding those areas where you do have control, and also ? nding those where you think you don’t, but really you do. For example you may have far too many things to do and this makes you feel helpless, but maybe you have the option of renegotiating some parts of your work, or even delegating some activities. There may still be some areas where you don’t have control – for example if a key part of the job is to be available at a certain time to provide advice to others, you cannot just decide to be absent. Or you may have a coursework assignment to submit – some deadlines are not renegotiable. In these areas it is more sensible not to waste time railing against these commitments; instead concentrate on ? nding those areas you do have the power to change, and make the changes that will help you to become more effective. Exercises 2. 1 and 2. 2 should start to help you identify those problem areas and areas where you would like to make changes. PREPARATION FOR CHANGE Before reading further in this chapter it is helpful for you to have an idea of how effective you are as a time manager. Re? ecting on your own time bandits and traps will make this chapter more useful and relevant to you. Begin by brainstorming three barriers that you think prevent you from being effective at work, or at study, as indicated in Exercise 2. 1. Now go on to Exercise 2. 2 and rate your effectiveness using the list provided. This list has been developed by distilling some of the common problems that have been identi?ed by several hundred staff and students in workshops held over the last ? ve years at Imperial College. Further exercises and selfevaluation checks are provided on the website. The accuracy of this tool depends on you being honest with yourself, so make sure you rate yourself according to how you actually behave, not how you would like to be. Once you have done Exercise 2. 2 you can return to Exercise 2. 1 and see if the barriers you ? rst identi? ed relate to those issues you have rated 3 in Exercise 2. 2, and if necessary add to, or amend, your answers to Exercise 2. 1. EXERCISE 2. 1 BARRIERS TO BEING EFFECTIVE What are the three main barriers you have that prevent you being effective? 30 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co. uk/bookstore. Time management EXERCISE 2. 2 PROBLEMS DIAGNOSING YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT Note: assess your behaviour as it is not as you would like it to be Go through the list of time management problems below and rate each one with relation to its frequency as a problem for you and also its severity using the following ratings: 0 this problem does not relate to me 1 this problem partly relates to me, relates some of the time 2 this is a regular problem for me 3 this is a major problem for me, it severely hampers my effectiveness A. Prioritisation and scheduling 1. I am not sure what tasks I have to do each day, I don’t make a to-do list. 2. When I have ? nished one job I just go on to the next without checking on my priorities. 3. I don’t work out which tasks have the biggest gain for me. 4. I have dif? culty in setting priorities. 5. I have dif? culty in keeping to priorities or a schedule I have set. 6. I am a perfectionist and even if I have several tasks to do I allow myself to spend ages on one task to get it right, which can cause problems in completing my work. 7. I often do trivial tasks at my high-energy time of day. 8. I don’t stop to think when my best time of day is for working. B. Persistence, procrastination and focus 9. I ? it from task to task, starting a lot of things but not always ? nishing them. 10. I feel very intimidated by large important tasks, and don’t break them down into smaller ones. 11. I put off dif? cult tasks until the last possible moment. 12. I procrastinate, prevaricate and can’t decide what to do, nor make decisions. 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3. 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 31 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www.cipd. co. uk/bookstore. Personal Effectiveness 13. I put thing off until the last minute and then I have to work in a rush and panic. 14. I allow myself to be interrupted from my work, for example by the phone, talking to others, distractions, new e-mails coming in. 15. I spend ages on the telephone, sur? ng the net, or answering e-mails. 16. Once I get started, I cannot stop a task, even if it is taking far too much time and there are other pressing things to do. 17. I don’t have any protected time in the day when I can get on with my priorities. C. Role de? nition 18. I am not sure what my key objectives are. 19. I am unclear of my role de? nitions and lines of responsibility. 20. I’m not sure how long certain tasks take so ? nd it hard to allocate the appropriate time to them. 21. I try and do everything myself, and do not consider whether it would be better to delegate tasks, or ask for more help and support. D. Work environment and organisation 22. My workspace is a mess, I can never ? nd anything at work, and papers pile up around me without being ? led. 23. I don’t know what to do with paper – I just leave it hanging around. 24. I don’t have anywhere where I can work uninterrupted. 25. My work environment is noisy and distracting, and I don’t ? nd ways to deal with this. 26. If I ? nd myself with free time in the day, for example when commuting, waiting for an appointment, I don’t have things with me to do. 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 32 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co. uk/bookstore. Time management E. Study skills 27. I take ages to read anything, and ? nd it hard to remember what I have read. 28. I’m not sure how to go about academic or work related reading. F. Assertiveness 29. I ? nd it very hard to say ‘no’ to other people. 30. I feel guilty if I am getting on with my own agenda and not focusing on helping others. 31. I spend most of my time doing things for other people, and hardly any time getting on with my own agenda. G. Anxiety, stress and emotion 32. I worry a lot and regularly suffer from work related anxiety and stress. 33. I don’t feel very con? dent so I often worry that I’m not doing well or going about my work in the right way. 34. I never have fun at work, I don’t enjoy my work. 35. I get very bored at work and this slows me down or allows me to get sidetracked. 36. I ? nd it hard to concentrate. H. Life balance 37. I don’t have time for exercise, health, leisure, family, I just work all the time. 38. I get very tired and exhausted at work. Scoring 0–38 Averaging 0s and 1s You are an excellent time manager 39–76 Averaging 1s and 2s You have some areas to work on but overall you are an effective time manager 77–114 Averaging 2s and 3s You have a big problem with time management and need to take action now to get yourself more in control of your time (but don’t worry – that is what this chapter aims to do) 33 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co. uk/bookstore. 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3. 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 Personal Effectiveness Below are some common examples of time management problems. EXAMPLE 2. 1 PROBLEMS EXAMPLES OF TIME MANAGEMENT Work -related ‘I work on a project to implement IT in my organisation, but I report to two bosses, the head of the IT Department, and the Project Leader – their demands of me are diverse and sometimes con? icting and very confusing, as a result I get in a mess. ’ ‘I work in an open-plan of? ce. I constantly get distracted by people talking on the phone, chatting across desks, stopping to talk to me. I just cannot concentrate on my work, and I end up frittering my time on super? cial tasks whilst at work, and then working well into the night at home to catch up with the tougher parts of my work. ’ ‘I am a design engineer and each part of the work I do seems to take at least three times longer than we estimate it will take, meaning that I spend a lot of time explaining why the work is late and reorganising schedules and activities. This impacts negatively on people further down the development process. ’ ‘I set myself priorities but because I also work as a support service for other people in the organisation, I get inundated by e-mails and requests from others. I spend all my time meeting other people’s demands and my priorities go out of the window! ’ ‘Last year I spent ages developing a balanced scorecard system for the organisation to performance manage the managerial team, then a new director was appointed and he pulled the plug on months of work and asked me to set up a totally different scheme. It seems like much of my work is a waste of time. Study -related ‘I am engaged in a part-time professional development programme ‘Into Leadership’ where I am attending day release modules, writing coursework assignments both individually and with a group, and am trying to juggle this in between a busy work schedule in my role in the Laboratories of a Government Department. I feel so panicked with all I have to do I end up feeling paralysed. ‘I don’t seem to be able to get going early enough on my distance learning course assignments and so I often end up staying up into the early hours to get it in the following morning. The work is rushed and mediocre as a result, and I am then tired for days after. ’ ‘I have young children and I ? nd it impossible to get on with my studying at home. As a result I feel incompetent when it comes to discussing case studies in course discussion because I haven’t the faintest idea what they are about as I haven’t read them in advance. WHERE DOES ALL MY TIME GO? – THE TIME BANDITS AND TRAPS A time bandit is a work practice, attitude or behaviour that leads to ineffective working practices or your time getting stolen or expropriated away from your core priorities and frittered on less important activities. 34 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co.uk/bookstore. Time management Epicurus and the pleasure principle Think about your own time management bandits and traps, do you see any patterns? One common pattern is to put the fun, exciting, interesting, easy things ? rst, and put off doing the boring, dull, dif? cult tasks until later. It is a kind of pleasure principle – going for the short-term gains, surrendering to wants and desires as they arise – immediately. Epicurus, the philosopher who is attributed with setting up the foundations for a pleasure principle, believed in following desires. However, he is often mistakenly thought to have been a slave to avarice and pleasure, indulging himself in whatever desire arose at a given moment. This is not actually true. Epicurus followed a simple life, one of healthy food, friendship and good company, freedom and thought, not an undisciplined response to every whim and fancy. In relation to your own work or study, following the Epicurian principle will lead you to doing things you enjoy instead of focusing on your priorities. It is a mistake to think that taking the easy route will improve things in the long run. In reality, giving in to the pleasure principle in the short term results in a mess later on, because over time what happens is the accumulation of a whole mountain of tasks that have been ignored. This can lead to misery, anxiety and depression. A lot of thought and planning went into Epicurus’s way of life, and creating time for a balanced, enjoyable life takes planning and selfdiscipline. The last-minute rush and adrenaline junky Some people like to live fast and furiously, and so working in a calm systematic way can seem very boring. Waiting for a burst of energy, or the adrenaline rush that comes with the fear of a deadline looming can become a way of life, but does usually mean that when the job actually gets done, it is done in a haphazard panicky way, leaving the person exhausted after late-night working and long hours in order to ? nish it on time. In the long run health can be affected, as the ? ght or ? ight impulse that triggers adrenaline is intended for moments of danger, not a lifetime of stress. Hamlet: the procrastinator ‘To be or not to be . . . ’ – ‘should I start this paper or go and deal with those statistics, I don’t know! ’ It isn’t noble to play Hamlet unless you are Lawrence Olivier! If it can’t be faced now, it might be worse later! What is more, as well as getting nothing done, the agony is repeated over and over again, and usually by tomorrow there is no change except the increased anxiety of another day gone by without completing the task. There are different reasons for procrastination and prevarication: not having the energy (which is represented by the adrenaline junky above), not having a starting point or the right information (but will you have the information tomorrow?), or being indecisive over what exactly to get on and do. All that happens is that work piles up. It’s all too much However, for some people, being busy is a way of life. They may ask themselves: – Where does all my time go? – Why are there not enough hours in the day? Typically these people then fool themselves with the thought ‘Well, this is just a busy period, once I’ve got this assignment or deadline over then life will be easier and I can relax’. This is ? ne if true, but often one deadline out of the way can just open someone up to a new 35 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co. uk/bookstore. Personal Effectiveness deadline, as they rush from one hectic task to the next. Sometimes this is self-generated: they can’t help but take on more and more and more. Another way they fool themselves is to say ‘I’m a no-limit person. I can keep on taking on more and more and more’. No one is superman or superwoman, there are only 1,440 minutes in a day, 1,000 when we deduct sleeping, washing, dressing, eating, etc, etc, etc. In our lives we probably spend six months waiting for red traf? c lights to change, two years looking for things, 24 years asleep . . .. There is only so much time left, and time is not in? nitely elastic, we do have limits. After all, no one ever said on their deathbed: I wish I’d spent more time at the of? ce! The headless chicken: action without thought There may be other reasons for taking on too much work, being too busy or feeling driven. Some people may be working hard but without having clear priorities, and without planning. Spending much too much time on things that are not at all important. Giving the illusion of working hard but not working productively. The butter? y: ? itting from task to task Helen arrives at work, puts her coat on the door peg, sits down and turns on the computer. She intends to spend the morning writing the proposal for the new performance appraisal system – a very important part of her job. But ? rst she listens to her telephone messages and realises Gerald wants her to produce some ? gures for a meeting the following week. She accesses her computer to pull out the ? gures, and notices she has 21 e-mails, and begins trawling through these. The ? rst few she just looks at and leaves open to come back to later, the sixth one asks her to give some dates for a meeting and she opens her diary to look at dates, and sees that for one of the dates she has a presentation to give on that day. Oh she must remember to take the ? les home for preparing the presentation so she can do it at the weekend. She gets up and opens her ? ling cabinet to retrieve them . . Oh dear, she is feeling rather giddy, .. . . she hasn’t got anything done and she has been at work an hour already . . .. Oh she feels so confused, she thinks . . . I’d better go and get a coffee .. .. One result of not planning or sticking to priorities can be the ‘butter? y’. This is someone who ? its from task to task in a downward spiral of panic and anxiety, getting in a mess, never getting the boost and closure of completion. Many managers have to be butter? ies, for example Mintzberg (1973) and Kotter (1982) showed that managers spend nine minutes or less on 50 per cent of their activities, are subject to constant interruptions and that management is a very fragmented activity. Good time management brings order to this fragmentation, rather than exacerbates it. Interruptions, interruptions There are two types of interruptions: interruptions from others that distract us from our work, and ‘self’ interruptions, ways in which we distract ourselves from our intended activities. What is your working environment like – quiet and easy to concentrate in, or noisy and busy? Some people work in open-plan of? ce environments where they cannot help but get drawn into conversations with others. Think how you manage your interruptions, what happens if you are concentrating on something really important and somebody starts casually chatting to you as they pass your desk or door? 36 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co.uk/bookstore. Time management The proliferation of communication technologies has meant there are a myriad of ways in which we can be interrupted at any time of day. The ding of a new e-mail arriving in the computer, the ringing telephone, the mobile phone, just ensure you are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Take the telephone – this is designed for people to contact you when it is convenient for them, not necessarily for you. Some people spend a long time on the phone, not getting to the point, getting sidetracked into idle talk. How long are your phone calls, could they be shorter? E-mail is also a tempter. In some roles people are receiving 50–100 e-mails a day and if every time one arrives on the computer they stopped what they were doing to look at it, it would never be possible to concentrate. The escapologist: IT and other escapes However, it isn’t just the requirements of others that interrupt us – we also interrupt ourselves. For example, maybe by not being able to resist sur? ng the Net for another couple of hours, just having a look at a couple more search paths for a holiday or outing. Some are self-interrupters, maybe ? nding it dif? cult to concentrate they just have to go off for another coffee or go and chat to someone else, because they can’t quite get down to it. This can be even worse at home – when you spot the washing or ironing or vacuuming out of the corner of your eye. It is amazing how you can suddenly feel the urge to do a bit of gardening or even jobs you normally hate like cleaning the cooker suddenly seem compelling when you are trying to get down to work on a challenging report. The doormat: yes, yes, yes. One problem can be unassertiveness, or unwillingness to say ‘no’: This may be because of low internal self-esteem, wanting to ‘please others’ in order to feel good, or even being too scared to say no. Ironically always saying ‘yes’ may just mean a person is taken for granted, not necessarily respected and liked. In the end, they can cause more problems for other people, because they become ill or are too busy to do everything to which they have committed, which can be very irritating for others. Presenteeism Sam was always ? rst into the of? ce every day and last to leave in the evening. Everyone commented on how committed he was, what a hardworking member of staff. One day Sarah wondered what Sam was actually working on all day at the computer screen, she wandered up to his desk and looked over his shoulder, and found he was playing solitaire! Being at a desk doesn’t mean the same as working – it is passing time instead of spending time. Sometimes the most effective people are those you don’t see, maybe they ? nd somewhere quiet to work where they don’t get interrupted. Effective people don’t necessarily need to impress on others how hard they work – their output is more important than the appearance of work. Some of? ce environments, however, encourage presenteeism – focusing performance evaluation on time spent at the desk, clockwatching, rather than on the quality of work. Wasted spaces It has been calculated that people lose up to 20 per cent of their time waiting. All that time spent sitting on the train into work, or waiting for the printer to ? nish, or a lecture or meeting to start are wasted periods that could have been used to complete a small task, or even begin a bigger one. Do you sit and stare realising you don’t have any work at hand for such 37 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co. uk/bookstore. Personal Effectiveness occasions, or does it even occur to you in the ? rst place to ? ll these spaces? Sometimes a commuter journey is the ideal space in which to plan the day, write out a schedule, or maybe even concentrate on reading an article or report. Finishing a small task, such as ? lling in a form, or even beginning a larger task can be slotted into these moments. Perfectionist The perfectionist pays attention to detail, agonises over every decision, every word in a report. They must get it right. But what is the point if it is too late, or they have ignored several other things – is it all really necessary? Not all tasks have to be done to the same high standard: writing a routine e-mail for example – does it really matter if the grammar is correct? Paper mountains Some people allow a mountain of paper to pile up on their desk, around their ? oor – a trail of paper that doesn’t allow them to be able to ? nd anything they need. They can waste lots of time trying to ?nd things, and the paper mountain doesn’t make for good of? ce sculpture, it festers and exudes stress and incompetence. I’m in a meeting! Consider the costs of 10 people in a one-hour meeting at ? 50 per hour each plus all the overheads and opportunity costs, the time spent travelling, preparation – is it worth it? Worse still are those meetings where people are unprepared, there is no agenda; the chair allows the discussion on trivial items to go on for ages without coming to any decisions. Heather was chairing a students union General Purposes Committee meeting. The meeting discussed for an hour the subject of what colour the new minibus should be – the Labour Society rep suggested red, the Conservative Group rep blue, the Liberal democrat member orange, and the chap from the Greens said they shouldn’t have a minibus at all! Eventually the meeting ran out of time and the main item on the agenda – what to do about the student debt situation never got discussed! Poorly run meetings are not only a waste of time, but also very demoralising. D-I-Y enthusiast. The D-I-Y enthusiast thinks they can do everything themselves, never giving a thought to delegation or sharing the work with others. Moreover, when they get into trouble, they don’t go and ask for help, they soldier on miserably, not getting anywhere except lost and desperate. If you have too much to do, or are stuck, do you look to see how the work can be allocated differently, do you call in for help or the support of others? Why oh why do D-I-Y? Refusing to ask for help may be due to lack of assertiveness, but it may also be arrogance – the belief that no one can do it as well, so it is better done singlehanded. Other people will never learn the skills if they are not given a chance to start. Delegation is not just a downward action, it can also move upwards, for example where something really isn’t a person’s job maybe they need to refer it back. THE CONSEQUENCES Poor time management is one of the greatest sources of managerial stress. It leads to feelings of incompetence and anxiety. The debilitating symptoms and consequences of stress 38 A free sample chapter from Personal Effectiveness by Diana Winstanley. Published by the CIPD. Copyright  © CIPD 2005 All rights reserved; no part of this excerpt may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. If you would like to purchase this book please visit www. cipd. co. uk/bookstore. Time management are discussed more fully in Chapter 9. It also leads to crisis management – where someone responds to whoever is pushing hardest or shouting the loudest. The working environment is likely to be cluttered, with piles of papers on the desk which heaves with awful tasks represented by bits of paper and post-its that decompose or fall off onto the ? oor. It doesn’t just inconvenience the person creating this muddle – it inconveniences others who have to wait for work that is late, or shoddy work that has been done in a rushed way, or invitations that haven’t been responded to. Poor time managers may also feel indispensable; so they can’t take a holiday or a break, because no one can manage without them. Given the choice it is unlikely you would decide to work in this way. But you are always given the choice, and the trick is to take back control and make choices that will make you better time managers. But why don’t you do that already? It is because poor time management is a habit. ARISTOTLE AND THE HABIT OF THE GOOD LIFE It is quite likely that in identifying your own time bandits, you already had an idea what they were. You may even have a good idea of what you should be doing differently. This chapter is not about knowing what to do, it is about putting thought into action, and this requires behavioural change which is a bit trickier to effect. Aristotle talked about the habit of the good life. The good life is not an abstract idea, it is a habit that is nurtured and acted upon over a period of time. Time management is a habit. It is likely you are accustomed to your habits, may even be comfortable with the way you do things, and they won’t be easy to change, because that requires effort and persistence. Therefore it won’t be enough if this chapter merely identi? es for you what you should be doing differently. You have to break a habit, create a habit, and persevere to maintain it. Below are some good habits, but for them to work and guarantee you more time, you will need to put them into practice. When we start something new, it is easier to take one step at a time, building up competence and new habits gradually. The personal contract at the end of this chapter will enable you to plan your behaviour change. Glance at this contract now, and you will see it requires you to identify three changes you intend to make, and to put the ? rst step into practice in the following week. As you read through the good habits think which one would be most relevant for you to start with, which will give you the biggest gain, and which relates most closely to the problems you identi?