Planning in Early Childhood

The observation of children is performed by teachers and educators, to help understand each child, and their characteristics. Along with assessment and evaluation, educators are able to understand each child’s development, and make decisions about appropriate activities and experience to offer each child, to help foster their individual development. (Veale, A. and Piscitelli, B. 1988) This essay will discuss the Value of the Observation Process in Planning for early childhood settings, and the role of each teacher in facilitating children’s individual learning and development. Observation is a very valuable and important part of the planning process as each child is different. Observation and Record Keeping in Early Childhood Programs (Veale, A. and Piscitelli, B. 1988,) Suggests that in order for educators to provide proper learning experience for children, they must know each child’s strengths, weaknesses, interests, fears, joys, ideas and individual interests to plan stimulating and appropriate learning experiences. Through observation, Educators can gather this information on what each child is capable of, how each child behaves under a range of different circumstances and how the child interacts with other children, and adults. The information collected from observation helps educators to develop objectives and plans to â€Å"enhance children’s learning and development† (Planning and Learning, NZTC pg. 5). Effective Planning and developing of learning outcomes for children is a collaborated effort between colleagues, children, Parents/Whanau and the community. DOP 6 outlines that importance of collaboration between colleagues when it comes to forming an effective plan in the early childhood environment. Open relationships and free discussions amongst each other empowers educators to become reflective practitioners and to understand different perspectives (MoE, 1998) By collaborating with parents/ Whanau educators can increase their understanding of the child’s â€Å"thinking and learning, parents and carers become wiser about the child† (Stonehouse, cited in Hanna, 2006, p. 3) and planning becomes more effective and purposeful for the child. Te Whariki states under the principle of Family and Community, â€Å"The wellbeing of children is interdependent with the well-being and culture of local communities and neighborhoods. Children’s learning and development are fostered it the well-being of their family and community is supported. †(MoE, 1996, p. 42) Society is constantly changing, and children grow and change with the community, so educators need to plan for the growth and change. And most importantly the children need to be considered while planning. Children are individuals and their voice needs to be heard. Educators need to be aware of the child’s capabilities, interests and learning needs to provide efficient learning activities that will be effective and enjoyable for the child. â€Å"The purpose of assessment is to give useful information about children’s learning and development to the adults providing the program and to children and their families. † (MoE, 1996 pg. 9) Assessment of the effectiveness of the program and keeping track of the child’s development helps educators to make decisions so effective changes can be made as needed to help the child’s personal progress and learning objectives. Likewise with planning, assessment needs to consider the changes in the community, consider the needs of the child and the parents/whanau to be the most effective for the child’s learning. Evaluation is the final step in the on-going planning of children’s learning. The purpose of evaluation is to make informed judgments about the quality and effectiveness of the program. † (MoE, 1996 Pg. 29) Evaluation is a crucial part of the planning process as it gives educators a chance to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of their program planning and to be better informed for future planning. Educators need to use a range of methods to evaluate the program. This can be done by reflections, regularly updating what works well and monitoring effectiveness, consulting with patents/whanau, and most importantly making appropriate changes. Educators hold the important role of supporting and facilitating each child’s development, one method of facilitating for the child is by recognizing and providing an optimal learning environment. An optimal learning environment is a safe environment specifically designed to facilitate a child’s learning and developmental needs. Educators need to provide time and opportunity for children to respond and experience the world creatively, it also needs to offer exposure to a variety of experience, to be secure and offer stimulating experiences so children can take risks and investigate the world around them safely. Olds (2001) suggests that children need to feel comfortable in their environment for them to explore. Educators need to be vigilant in making sure that each individuals needs are met so the child feels safe and comfortable in the learning environment. Creating an optimal learning environment means educators need to consider the aspects that create this environment. Harris Helm suggests that the overall effectiveness of an early childhood program is dependant on quality of staff, suitable environment, consistent schedules and parent involvement. Another aspect educators need to consider while facilitating learning is the importance of the interpersonal environment. â€Å"Interpersonal environment refers to the relationships established in the environment. † (Planning and Learning, NZTC, 2009, pg 49. ) Educators need to provide an environment that will allow children to learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people (MoE, 1996). Children must feel comfortable safe and secure in order to engage in efficient and meaningful learning. Fu (2004) believes that establishing supportive, responsive relationships with children and parents/whanau helps with the development of knowledge, social skills and attitudes and reinforces learning. Building a relationship with the child and their family will help educators to have a clear understanding of the child’s development and the holistic needs of the child. Educators need to engage in constant interactions with parents to gain proper insight into the child’s individual beliefs, rituals, preference and values, so to build a personal and meaningful relationship with the child. Relationships are the heart of learning. By Building a close relationship with the child allows educators to respond sensitively to each child’s needs. By building this Positive and sensitive relationships, research has shown that it enhance a child’s development and is the base of early childhood education. Vygotsky social constructive theory of the Zone of Proximal Development can effectively help educators with providing the best support and to develop strategies to assist the learning and development of the children. The Zone of Proximal Development is described by Vygotsky as â€Å"the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peer† (L. S. Vygotsky, p. 86) Vygotsky observed that when an individual was tested on tasks alone, they rarely did as well as when they were working in collaboration with an adult. The process of involvement by the adult enabled them to refine their thinking or their performance to make it more effective. James Atherton, 2009) by observing a child, educators can observe what a child needs individually, find out what is changeling for the child and work collaboratively alongside with the child and develop strategies to help further the child’s learning. From this theory the teaching strategy of Co-construction was developed. Con-construction is described as a â€Å"collabora tive process from which new understanding and concepts emerge. (Planning and Learning NZTC, 2009, Pg. 39)By collaborating together to find new understanding and concepts between the child, peers, and adults can develop strategies to offer new ideas and concepts to activities. Educators have the important role of providing a co-constructive environment by listening to the child, playing with the child, and have an active participation in their learning, to help develop a child’s interests in learning further. Educators also need to encourage children â€Å"to share what they think and know† (Planning and Learning, NZTC, 2009, pg. 39) . â€Å"Planning the curriculum should be a continuing process, involving careful observation, identification of needs and capabilities, provision of resources, assessment and evaluation† (MoE, 1996, p. 8) Observation, planning, assessment, and evaluation is an ongoing process that must be part of a daily routine. Every educator will be different in how they plan, but thru collaboration with colleagues, parents/whanau, the child, and consideration of the community will help educators to plan as effectively as they can for each individual and help them to grow and improve, and learn how to provide children with the best possible environment to learn and develop in.

Life cycle marketing

The family life cycle represents a method via which the market for certain goods and services is segmented according to the stage in the family life that the particular consumer has reached. This marketing method takes into consideration the family configuration beginning with young, single persons with no children all the way up through marriage, child rearing, and retirement stages. The variables involved in each stage of the model include age, marital status, income, employment (career), and the existence of children (Fritzsche, 1981). One stage in this model is the bachelor stage, which describes persons who no longer live with parents but who have not married or become parents. They usually have a high level of discretionary income despite the fact that their incomes lower than average. Because of the fewer financial burdens (mortgages, children, etc.) and their commitment to recreation, such persons are usually interested in buying clothing, travel, and basic household furniture or equipment. One magazine that could be used as a marketing tool is People, and TLC’s What Not to Wear represents a television program that would be suitable to this group. Both would be effective as they cater to fashion and to the entertainment interests of that group. Another marketing group according to this model is the Full Nest One (Fritzsche, 1981). The Full Nest One stage finds new parents with their youngest child being under the age of six. The parents at this stage have low discretionary incomes because the demands of the children are placed at the highest priority (1981). These persons are therefore likely only to buy necessities, such as cereals, diapers, and children’s clothing. A television show and magazine that are likely marketing tools for this demographic are (respectively) FOX’s Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader   and Disney’s Family Fun magazine. Parents are likely to watch or read them with their children. The Full Nest Three stage describes older parents with high school or college age children. These persons have a better financial position, with wives likely to be at work and more discretionary income (Fritzsche, 1981). Such a household is likely to be interested in buying holidays, nice furniture, and sophisticated appliances. A good magazine for marketing to such a demographic is Travel and Leisure, as such persons are likely to have the money and time to take vacations. A good television channel for marketing to them is HGTV, as this features tastefully decorated homes that may give them ideas for buying furniture and appliances. Reference Fritzsche, D. J. (1981). â€Å"An analysis of energy consumption patterns by stage of family life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   cycle.† Journal of Marketing Research, 18, pp.227-32.

John Locke Paper Essay

Throughout the 17th century, John Locke presented society with his teachings and theories that clarified the order of natural law and fulfilled humanity’s divine purpose for living. It all began in 1647, as a young boy when he attended the prestigious Westminster School in London under the sponsorship of Alexander Popham. During his years at the Westminster School, he found the work of modern philosophers more interesting than the material being taught at the university. Much of Locke’s influence and later work was characterized by opposition to authoritarianism, which focused on both the level of the individual person and on the level of institutions such as government and church. Locke wanted each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion of authorities or be subject to superstition. He wanted us to proportion go along with the proposition to the evidence for them. Locke came to the conclusion that there must be a balance and mutual understanding between individuality and social institutions where society will not feel suppressed under man made law and restrictions. John Locke believed that all knowledge comes from experience. Experience is composed of two parts: external and internal. External experiences are ideas of supposed external objects. These objects enter our minds through sensation. Examples of sensations would be hot, cold, red, yellow, hard, soft, sweet and bitter. Internal experiences are reflections that make us understand the operation on the objects of sensation. Examples of reflections are thinking, willing, believing, doubting, affirming, denying, and comparing. Once again Locke goes back to his foundation of principles by reaffirming that in order to achieve success and sensation there must be a working relationship between individual goals and the law of society. Sensation and reflection are called the two fountains of knowledge. All of our ideas we can naturally have or have so already come from these two experiences. Sensible qualities convey into the mind, and they produce most of the perceptions and most of the great sources of ideas we have. Sensation and reflection differ from each other because sensation is what happens outside the body, and reflection has to do what happens inside the body with our mind. Also reflection has to do with the ideas it affords being such only as the mind gets by reflecting on its own operations within itself, the mind takes over its own operations and the manner of them. Besides having sensible qualities one also contains primary and secondary qualities. Locke explains that these qualities are two kinds of properties that an object could have. Primary qualities contain solidity, figure, extension, motion and number. They are properties that are objective and independent on senses. On the other hand, secondary qualities consist of color, smell, taste, sound and touch. They are properties that are subjectively perceived. In Locke’s, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he states, â€Å"sensible qualities; which, whatever reality we by mistake attribute to them, are in truth nothing in the objects themselves, but powers to produce various sensations in us†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (John Locke, 77). In other words, secondary qualities are dependent on the primary qualities. According to Locke, ideas are anything that is â€Å"the immediate object of perception, thought, or understanding† (William Lawhead, 91). Locke states that sensation and reflection are classified as simple and complex ideas. Simple ideas are red, yellow, hard, soft, etc and for example, you touch an ice cube, your mind is telling you its cold and it’s hard, you learn that from experience. Locke believed that the mind cannot know an inexperienced idea or create a new simple idea. Although the mind cannot create simple ideas, it can process them into complex ideas. Complex ideas are made up of several simple ideas, such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe. Complex ideas are also broken down into three parts: ideas of substance which is a constant collection of simple ideas, ideas of mode which is a combination of several ideas, which form a mode, like a triangle, last but not least ideas of relationship, which is a comparison of one idea to another. From experience it goes to sensation and reflection, and those are based on simple ideas and that’s all contained in the passive mind, after simple ideas it goes to complex ideas and that’s located in the active mind. Overall in Locke’s theory he uses epistemological dualism, which is the mind that consists of knowing and its ideas. He also states the object in the external world is known by ideas, and our ideas represent those objects. After researching about Locke’s theory of knowledge I would have to agree with what he has stated. Locke states that you go through an internal and external experience and I feel that today’s youth do go through the motions of the internal and external experiences. As a result the youth are able to gain the knowledge from those experiences by allowing the mind to willingly accept these new ideas. For example, when I was younger I put my hand near a hot stove and from the heat irritating and pressuring my hand my mind told me it was a negative stimuli and it was essential to remove my hand from the stove and to keep that memory as a basic instinct. Society goes through experiences throughout life of internal and external and eventually gains knowledge through these experiences. John Locke also stated that the mind does all the knowing and its ideas are known. I agree with what he is saying because your mind is always working, it’s always active, we receive ideas internally through our mind and we receive ideas from the outside that goes into our mind. The balance is necessary between internal and external factors to keep society and individuals stable and yet progressive to adapt to new changes that rise up.

Corporate governance in Islamic banking Assignment

Corporate governance in Islamic banking - Assignment Example Moreover, Islamic finance is one of the ways to accommodate Islamic value in finance, it insists on the importance of the accountability, transparency, and trust. Islamic banking refers to a system where all banking behavior is consistent with Islamic law and guided by the economics of Islam. Since the introduction of Islamic banking, the number of Islamic financial institutions has increased globally. This is because of the increase in Islamic population and the economic development of Islamic nations. Today, there are more than 300 institutions in more than 75 countries. In addition, there is the development of many Islamic financial products used in financial market activities, for example, trading, and investment. Corporate governance in Islamic finance entails the institutions abiding by the Islamic rules also known as Shariah. The rules govern the bank’s operations, according to Islamic principles that are derived from Quran and Hadith. Islamic financial institutions operate in the same space as the conventional banks and perform all functions expected from a financial institution. In addition, savers are able to collect deposits for the purpose of reward from both types of institutions. However, the difference comes in when agreeing on the reward. Under the conventional system, the reward is normally predetermined and fixed while in Islamic system, the reward is variable and the deposits are acceptable through Musharaka (Lewis, 2001). Additionally, the returns under conventional banking are usually higher on long-term deposits and low for short-term deposits. On the other hand, higher profit sharing is assigned to long-term deposits available for investing in long term projects, earning high returns and low weight for deposit that are short-term that cannot be spent in long term projects. Under Islamic banking, the risk and rewards are

Ultimate Reality of Mahayana Buddhism Research Paper

Ultimate Reality of Mahayana Buddhism - Research Paper Example In Buddhism, there is a common teaching known as Shunyata. Shunyata was closely related with the works of Nagarjuna. This word implies emptiness or being void or even being open. Buddhism is one of the dominant religions in the Eastern religion which extends to most parts of India. The founder of Buddhism was Siddhartha who lived in the Sixth century BC (Valea 6). In the contemporary world, there are two branches of Buddhism. There is the conservative branch on one hand and the liberal branch on the other. The conservative branch is represented by the Thevada School which spreads in Southeast of Asia and Sri-Lanka. On the other hand, the liberal branch involves Mahayana which spread in China, Korea, Tibet, and Japan. The emergence of the Mahayana Buddhism took place between the first century BC and the first century AD. After the death of their masters, the Mahayana sutras were just revealed a long time after. This is because they were not understood by the majority of the people. Th eir teachings were too complex to the people and therefore attracted little attention. However, people began to understand their teachings with time which cultivated their interests in the teachings. On realizing the benefits of the teachings, more people became interested and the teachings were received by a greater number of people. According to Theravada school, in Ultimate Reality, none of the personal god, material or spiritual substance exists by itself (Valea 8). This school further argues that the world’s origin is not as Brahman rather or primordial being. According to this school, things which are manifested are the transitory factors of existence. These factors are not independent, they depend on each other. Therefore, when one factor experiences some problems, the entire system is affected. Buddha commented that â€Å"The world exists because of causal actions, all things are produced by causal actions and all beings are governed and bound by causal actions.

A personal statement for UC transfer applicant

A for UC transfer applicant - Personal Statement Example My high school was among the top schools in China. My dad owned a technology business and employed a diverse workforce. The composition of his workforce had an influence on me that made me learn Japanese and English. I studied Japanese for seven years while in high school. In addition, I learned English as my second language while in middle school and high school. Through my studies, I ensured that I learned the best skills that would assist in my family businesses later in my life. My desire to study a major in economics is also driven by my experience in stock exchange market which my parent also engages in as part of their business. I am interested in the stock market, and I look forward to starting trading when I am through with my major. Thus learning the best skills required to make earning out of stock will help me take over on my mother’s stock market business. I wish also to help my dad and mom while studying even before I complete my major in Economics. I have volunteered during holidays as a community social worker. During my time in campus, I helped organize campus events such as group debate. Moreover, I have been a member of AGS since the spring of 2014 and had held meetings with people intending to join the organization. In addition, I supervised fund raising and all events of the AGS. Furthermore, I have off-campus experiences involving food bank visiting, state park events and attending beach rallies. Moreover, I worked for Starbucks as a part-time intern for over a year. Throughout my internship, I met a lot of people and learned more on how to make beverages. Moreover, it is during my time at the company that I perfected my communication skills. I learnt how to interact will customers and how to handle those who were dissatisfied with the company products and services. Before, my time in Starbuck I was very shy and timid when facing new people. However, the company exposed to me all I needed to fit in the business

Final Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Final - Assignment Example At the moment there is only one international instrument which applies generally to all forests: The Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests 2007. This instrument does not meet the specific needs of tropical rain forests and therefore does not address the specific causes of tropical rain forest deforestation. As a member of Protection of Tropical Rainforests, I would like to suggest the implementation of the International Convention for the Conservation of Tropical Rain Forests and recommend including the following 12 articles: Article 1: State parties will implement measures to promote and improve farming methods and techniques that replenish soil nutrients. (This article was selected because a number of countries in which tropical rain forest exists have poor farmers who depend on farming to survive. The farming methods used by both poor and economically successful farmers can be exploitive and contribute to soil degradation in the tropical rain forest).4 Article 2: State parties undertake to implement a system in which poor farmers are able to own title to a parcel of land in tropical rain forest for the purpose of farming. (This article is necessary as it is believed that once a farmer owns his or her farmland, they will have an incentive to safeguard against soil degradation to ensure that the soil is good for continued farming).5 Article 3: State parties shall introduce policies and laws that prohibits farmers that have been issued title to land for farming using other areas of the tropical rain forest for farming. (This should increase the incentive of farmers to keep the nutrient value of the soil to which they have title. This would also prevent farmers moving on to other areas of the tropical rain forest).6 Article 4: State parties should implement policies for infrastructure planning that minimises the impact on tropical rain forests. (This article is

JOB STRESS, SATISFACTION AND INTENTION TO LEAVE AMONG NEW SAUDI NURSES Research Proposal

JOB STRESS, SATISFACTION AND INTENTION TO LEAVE AMONG NEW SAUDI NURSES - Research Proposal Example The author further associates stress with a positive effect on employee turnover rate. Aflab (2013, p. 12) explains possible factors to the association between workplace stress and both employee’s satisfaction and turnover. According to the author, stress increaser â€Å"safety and healthiness hazards† (12) whose effects include poor psychological health and increased susceptibility to injury and diseases. Cheng (2009, p. 11) supports the role of workplace stress in increasing employee turnover rate and introduces an interaction effect between stress and employee satisfaction to in influencing turnover rate. With reference to the role of organizational change on employees, the author argues that employees’ values influence their stress on job. Stress and job satisfaction then affect each other before they, each, influence employee turnover rate. Empirical studies shows existence of many factors to job stress, job satisfaction, and employees’ intention to leave their organizations, observations that could be indicative of the environment in the nursing profession. A study that aimed at investigating relationship between job stress and depressive symptoms among nurses in Korea established significance of job stress that translates to the symptoms. The symptoms further relates to some work environment factors such as job security and absence of reward. These imply significance of pleasure at work on employees stress that the depressive symptoms can detect (Yoon and Kim 2013, p. 171- 173). Vijay and Vazirani (2012, p. 48- 50) also explains significance of job stress in the nursing environment. Based on empirical results from a study on causes and moderators of stress, the authors note that job environment such as dealing with difficult associates of patients, poor remuneration, and challenges in interpersonal relations i nfluences level of stress in nurses. The level of stress

Valero Energy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Valero Energy - Research Paper Example Valero Energy Valero Energy is known for its commitment to excellence, challenging work environment and commitment to community. The company has a policy of using state-of-the-art technology to provide cleaner-burning gasoline. The company manages its innovation process by focusing on alternative energy and latest technologies. It has invested in wind farms outside its McKee Refinery in the Texas Panhandle. The innovation process gets tremendous boost through such investments as energy is generated without environmental concerns. The 3 examples of product innovation are: investments in new infra-red technology to quickly find and repair leaks of gaseous hydrocarbons, investments in new flare-gas recovery systems which is an emission-reducing technology and meeting the challenge of greenhouse gas reduction through scientific, economic, and technological analyses. Product innovation consists of either improving the present product or acquiring technologies for environment-friendly alternative energies (Valero Energy Corporation). Critically evaluate whether Valero Energy is a learning organization. In your answer discuss 3 examples of how the company's leadership structure has affected the degree of learning that occurs within the company The Board of directors of Valero Energy consists of men and women of substantial experience and qualify for a learning environment in the company. As qualified and experienced members, they are in a position to foster a learning environment in the company to encourage innovation and growth. Thus, the company's leadership has succeeded in establishing an attitude for competitive and healthy growth with a socio-economic thrust that balances social needs with economic advantages. The company ranks number one on Fortune magazine's listing of the nation's Best Big companies to work for two consecutive years. It also ranks number five among petroleum refining companies on Fortune magazine's listing of America's most admired companies. It is also ranked at number seven on Fortune's magazines listing of most admired companies worldwide. Besides these, the company has secured many other environmental and safety awards. Such accolades on a continuous basis every year bespeak the company's enlightened leadership in learning. The company is also involved in philanthropic activities and generously donates for volunteer activities and educational support programs. Needless to add, these recognitions can only mean that the culture of learning in the company is sufficiently high to merit them (Valero Energy Corporation). Critically evaluate the competitive dynamics of the industry Valero Energy is in. Provide 3 examples in your answer of how Valero Energy can utilize an entrepreneurial strategy to compete more effectively globally The petroleum industry is a fast evolving industry because of environmental issues. On the one hand, petroleum is required for transportation, power and a host of other economies. On the other hand, the use of petroleum has to be minimal because of its greenhouse gas emission that makes it important to adhere to technologies that reduce air pollution. The company has bolstered its image and revenues through social commitments and growing national network of distributors. Gasoline is a product of universal demand. The only way to grow in the gasoline industry is through achieving technological breakthroughs to address environmental

Lab report (Using NMR) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

(Using NMR) - Lab Report Example Hydrogen molecule found in the hydro carbon is the most frequently observed nuclear in the NMR spectroscopy (Orrell, Ã…  ik & Stephenson, 2010). A 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy experiments entails a set of NMR methods which offer data that has been plotted in a space which is defined by 2 frequency axes and not a single one. The Methods of NMR that will be utilized in the experiment entails correlation spectroscopy, nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy and the hetero nuclear single quantum correlation spectroscopy. Hetero nuclear single quantum correlation spectroscopy will detect the correlation between the nuclei of 2 different types that are divided by a bond. The method often presents a single peak per pair. The original two dimensional experiments were utilized to identify the nuclei which shared a scalar coupling. The presence of the off-diagonal often correlates the coupled partners (Orrell, Ã…  ik & Stephenson, 2010). The procedure is first conducted by collecting a sample of nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer that will be sufficient soluble in the solvent that was requested. The samples were prepared in solid, semi-solid or NMR chromatography. The sample was collected in 5mm nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. The tubes were labeled with the significant concentric label. The purpose of the tubes being labeled was to ensure that the experiment is curried out sufficiently. The sample collected was sufficient enough to yield better results for the experiment since it was able to form the chromatography. In the C10H18O experiment, the experiment is often utilized to analyze coupling relationships between the protons. Clear solutions have been identified to offer the best results with turbid solutions presenting poor spectrum. To achieve the maximum solution, the solvent with the low viscosity was chosen (Orrell, Ã…  ik & Stephenson, 2010). In cases where the signal

How Mass Media and Communication Changed Great Britain Over the Last Essay

How Mass Media and Communication Changed Great Britain Over the Last Years - Essay Example Apart from transmitting the culture of a society from one generation to another, the mass media is very important in collecting information on the various aspects of human life like health, education, environment, economics, politics, culture and social changes. They then communicate any changes in these and help in correlating the many parts of the society in regard to changes in the environment. Because of this, mass media has been able to bring lot of transformations in many societies including Great Britain, especially in the last 10 years. Media-mediated/media-enabled changes in Great Britain There has been considerable experience in relation to the value and role played by the mass media and communication systems in Great Britain in health promotion and bringing about changes in health policies. One of the best examples of this is the public smoking ban. Under this ban, no one is allowed to smoke in places that people visit to obtain various goods and services, especially enclo sed places (Bbc.co.uk. 2010 and Opsi.gov.uk. 2010). These include shopping malls, restaurants, bars, any government premise or office among others. Many people agreed with the ideas of Mrs. Hewitt â€Å"not only will we be able to protect non-smokers and the huge majority of pub workers from the harmful effects of smoke. It will also provide smokers with an environment where it's easier to give up" (BBC News 2005, par ). This bill was, therefore, used to encourage the quitting from smoking in Great Britain. Through the use of mass media approaches, organizations dealing with health matters have been able to conduct some social advocacy which has promoted personal education. According to Catford (1995), the mass media are powerful in promoting health and bringing about responsive organizational and personal changes through the promotion of health products and discouraging the use of destructive products, introducing personal health skills and, providing information and advice on hea lthy living. This, in turn, has led to significant changes in personal and group behaviors in regard to issues affecting health. They have also resulted to environmental and organizational changes. Media outlets that have been important in promoting health in Great Britain include newspapers, television, radio, leaflet, posters and books. Mass media reports about the environment have led to a number of changes in regard to the treatment of the environment. Mass communications have played an important role in communicating environmental issues. Among the hot issues in this respect include global warning and pollution. In regard to this, the mass media has provided an important link between politics and formal environmental science, and the realities of how people and their various social, economic and cultural processes experience and interact with their environment. Continually, they report of the ongoing public understanding and action or engagement on with environmental issues lik e international conferences on the environment and their resultant declarations or resolutions (Boykoff 2009). Although the mass media and communication do not determine engagement, they have greatly increased environmental awareness and valuation by the entire Great Britain society. In essence, mass media have enabled the people of Great Britain make sense of the various complexities relating to governance and environmental sci

Is Odysseus a superman Essay Example for Free

Is Odysseus a superman Essay Odysseus; the strong and brave god-like warrior in the Trojan War, who also possesses characteristics such as compassion, loyalty and talent as an orator, which makes him such a influential character within Homers novel: The Odyssey. The book, depicting the Adventures of Odysseuss misfortune, and the journey through which he must get home to reclaim his life, land and his dear wife, portrays Odysseus as the central character with the unmatchable strength and abilities. But do Odysseuss remarkable qualities classify him as a Superman, and by what means do we exactly class as a Superman? In my mind, a characteristic of Superhuman qualities is one which is that or beyond a normal humans. Therefore, we may classify Odysseuss characteristics as either of superhuman quality, or that like of a normal human beings. Odysseuss physical strength is one of his most remarkable and powerful qualities, which we come to learn of. It is because of this great strength, which allows him to throw the biggest discuss as the Phaeacian Games, hurtling it through the air where it landed far beyond the others. Book VIII The Phaeacian Games With this he leapt to his feet and, not even troubling to remove his cloak, picked up the biggest disk of all, a huge weight, more massive by far that those used in their regular matches. With one swing he launched it from his mighty hand, and the stone hummed on its course. The Phaeacians, lords of the sea and champions of the long oar, cowered down as it hurtled through the air; and so lightly did it fly from his hand that it overshot the marks of all the other throws. His strength is also what allows him to string and draw the great bow with little effort, before the great battle in the hall. Book XXI The Great Bow , he strung the Great Bow without effort or haste and with his right hand proved the string, which gave a lovely sound in answer like a swallows note. This great strength, which Odysseus possessed, was certainly beyond that of normal humans, as demonstrated in these examples and when the suitors failed to string and draw the bow as Odysseus displayed. Therefore, we may conclude that this quality is that in the nature of a Supermans as it is far greater than would normally be so. Odysseus also possessed other qualities, which were demonstrated within the novel. Apart from being the strong and powerful character, which he certainly was, he also had a softer, more timid side. Take for example the chapter in which Odysseus must talk with the ghosts of the dead in Hades. Here, Odysseus experiences panic and fright with what he must endure, as the underworld is that of a dismal and gloomy place. Book XI The Book Of The Dead From this multitude of souls, as they flustered to and fro by the trench, there came a moaning that was horrible to hear. Panic drained the blood from my cheeks. This panic and fright is certainly not of superhuman qualities, as they are stereotyped to be brave and valiant in all situations, which they might have to endure. Odysseus also experiences feelings of compassion and desire during his ventures: Book XI The Book Of The Dead Next came the souls of my dead mother, Anticleia, the daughter of the great Autoclycu, who had still been alive when Isaid farewell and sailed for sacred Ilium. My eyes filled with tears when I saw her there, and I was stirred to compassion. As my mother spoke, there came to me out of the confusion in my heart the one desire Thrice, in my eagerness to clasp her to me, I started forward with my hands outstretched. Thrice, like a shadow or a dream, she slipped through my arms and left me harrowed by an even sharper pain. As I have already mentioned, I have defined a quality that is not of superhuman nature, to be one, which is just as any normal human beings. It goes unsaid saying that normal human beings experience emotions of desire and compassion, and also that of panic and fear, from which we can infer that Odysseus also has qualities which are not like that of a Superman. From these observations and presumptions of the novel The Odyssey, I have found that Odysseus, the brave warrior who fought at Troy, and endured the callous ventures of his misfortunate voyage home, may be one of a diverse character. There is the side of him, which is the superiorly strong and brave fighter; capable of facing and conquering some of the most horrific and atrocious situations one must endure. This may be classified as a quality like that of a superhuman, one of which is that or greater than a normal humans. Then there is the softer and more emotional side, to which Odysseus demonstrates his feeling of compassion and desire, which may be noted as characteristics which are not like that of a superhuman, which I have established as like that of a normal human beings. From this we can conclude, that Odysseus, not only had qualities like that of a superman, but also possessed emotions and desires like that of a normal person.

Impact of Knowledge Sharing for Elderly Housing Support

Impact of Knowledge Sharing for Elderly Housing Support The Impact of Knowledge Sharing in the Provision of Floating Support in Sheltered Housing for the elderly. Abstract As the population ages, increasing number of vulnerable older people are living alone in own home, sheltered housing or residential care. The needs of the older people are constantly changing and there is need for long term support. Older people living in sheltered housing with complex and high needs require access to services with a network of different types of support; high staff cover and supervision. Supported people introduced floating support to aid people with high and complex needs. Floating support aimed at preventing homelessness among people with high difficulties; and intensive support, with out-of-hours cover, for people with high needs. Housing services, social services, ‘health services have to liaise and coordinate the services being provided. Knowledge sharing will help ease of the tensions and demands among the agencies. This paper, which is based on an on-going PhD project, begins by examining the field of sheltered housing for the elderly, discusses floating support and the key prayers providing the support. This is followed by analysis of knowledge sharing and potential factors that are important to a successful knowledge-sharing in providing floating support to the services provider. This paper concludes that , trust, motivation, effective communication, shared mindsets, training and leadership are the critical for effective knowledge sharing in provision of floating support in sheltered housing for the elderly. Effective gathering and sharing knowledge and information between supported Housing providers, social services and health and Care agencies through the establishment of the Knowledge sharing initiatives. Keywords: Knowledge sharing, sheltered housing, floating support and Provisions Nowadays Knowledge is regarded as a strategic resource in organizations, and thus the leverage of knowledge is a key managerial issue. Knowledge creation, sharing and dissemination are the main activities in knowledge management. This study examines the influence the social and technological factors such as learning culture and IT use, could have on knowledge sharing of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) students. A cross-sectional survey was used as a methodology for data collection and 137 valid responses were collected from all the three categories of students that include graduates, undergraduates and preparatory students. The study shows that there is a significant positive relationship between the student learning culture and IT use on student knowledge sharing. The study limitations, practical implications, along with directions for further research are discussed.. Despite the strong interests among practitioners, there is a knowledge gap with regard to online communities of practice. This study examines knowledge sharing among critical-care and advanced-practice nurses, who are engaged in a longstanding online community of practice. Lack of knowledge and sharing knowledge with each other was also reflected on (Table 2 and Appendix). The participants from the specialized unit for demented people spoke about their lack of knowledge concerning demented people in general and they wanted more training. Their practical knowledge gained through long experience was put forward by the supervisor. Lack of resources, principally lack of time was another topic for reflection (Table 2 and Appendix). The participants spoke about the work with demented pensioners as time-consuming and that they hardly ever had the time they wanted, for instance to sit down and talk to the pensioners. The descriptions presented during the sessions and derived from practical experience could also support other staff who are dealing with the complexity of caring for demented people. The participants were given the opportunity of sharing their own knowledge with each other through comparing how they handled various tasks. Several studies show that staff who are given the opportunity to share their practical knowledge with others gain a wider variety of experience, attitudes, new ways, views and solutions to problems (Bulechek McCloskey 1985, Kadushin 1985). Johns (1995) emphasized that reflective practice always needs to be guided and that clinical supervision is central to the process of learning. Clinical supervision offers an ideal milieu for the guidance of reflective practice just as reflective practice offers an ideal method to structure what takes place within clinical supervision (Johns 1995). The benefits of these reflective discussions are not the focus of this study. It s eems reasonable, however, to assume that such well-designed discussions also help the nurses to achieve high quality care. (Olsson and Hallberg 1998) Effective knowledge sharing is vital to successful provision of floating support in sheltered housing for the elderly. There is still little knowledge available about home-based professional care for demented people and how to support it from a managerial point of view. In order to develop clinical supervision techniques further and to understand the home care staffs specific problems in their caring for demented people living in their own homes, it seems useful to study the content of supervision sessions. The professionals narratives during such sessions may contribute to a deeper understanding of professional home care for the demented. It is estimated that the best solution for elderly demented people is to stay at home, since their known environment can better support the maintenance of their personal lives and values. Staying at home supposedly gives demented people an opportunity to maintain ADL-performance, and promotes the individuals sense of self and integrity (Zgola 1988, Kihlgren 1990). Studies from Canada and the USA show that demented people remain in their homes during the major part of the disease (Alessi 1991, Gallo et al. 1991). It may well be that the circumstances are the same in Sweden. No studies, however, have been located. Usually demented people who stay at home are cared for by their own families (Dellasega 1991) and this is known to cause strain on the family caregiver (Given et al. 1990, Pushkar Gold et al. 1995). The family caregiver also seems to benefit from increased satisfaction and self-esteem related to taking on and carrying through the responsibility for their demented family membe r and they do not necessarily worry about their demented next of kin, as they tend to do if the demented becomes institutionalized (cf Stephens et al. 1991). On the other hand the family caregiver may suffer from social and affective limitations in his/her life especially at the beginning of the next of kins disease (Grafstrom et al. 1992) and Saveman et al. (1993) show that there is a risk of abuse of elderly people in informal care. Home care staff may have the opportunity to relieve such strain.(Olsson and Hallberg 1998) (Olsson and Hallberg 1998) Research on outcomes in supported housing has been very limited and most published studies are descriptive, rather than evaluative. Cost-effectiveness has generally not been investigated. The outcomes most commonly evaluated are satisfaction and quality of life. A recent GOSW research review has concluded that: Â § There are some beneficial effects of supported housing, particularly in relation to quality of life that could lead to improved health; Â § There is a lack of research into health related outcomes, such as re-admission rates or clinical symptoms; Â § The objective of promoting independence, as stated in the South West Regional Housing Strategy, should be assessed formally; Â § There is a need for formal evaluation of supported housing schemes to ensure that the projects meet the needs of the clients and the wider population. ABSTRACT In the area of knowledge management, many studies have been devoted to investigating how to design an effective knowledge-sharing system in organizations. These studies emphasized the importance of various aspects to the success of the knowledge-sharing system and provided us with hints concerning what critical factors we should consider in the design of a knowledge-sharing system for group learning. In this study, we aim at exploring the critical components of a successful knowledge-sharing system and influential aspects we should consider in the design of a system for group learning. To achieve this task, we conducted an experiment during a semester-long course. The participants in the experiment were the final-year undergraduate students of a business school in Hong Kong. Finally, several factors important to the success of a knowledge-sharing system were identified. Implications for teaching and learning were also provided. Keywords Knowledge sharing, group learning, critical success factor INTRODUCTION Knowledge sharing among students is believed to be an effective approach to facilitate studying and improve their academic performance. Therefore, how we should carry out successful knowledge sharing in the classroom is a meaningful topic and should be given some attention. To build a knowledge-sharing system is an approach worthy of effort in conducting effective knowledge sharing in school. However, which system aspects merit consideration is still a problem under investigation. Based on previous research, the present study explores potential factors that are important to a successful knowledge-sharing system and discusses some implications for academic teaching and learning. LITERATURE REVIEW In the area of knowledge management, many studies have been done to investigate how to establish an efficient system for sharing knowledge in organizations. These studies emphasized the importance of various aspects to the success of knowledge sharing system. For example, Almeida et als study (2002) emphasized the availability of multiple mechanisms, formal and informal, to share and transfer knowledge so as to flexibly and simultaneously move, integrate and develop technical knowledge. Besides, the organizational culture that is capable of supporting the flow of knowledge was also addressed as an important factor. Another study by Nelson and Cooprider (1996) empirically tested the relationships between IS performance and mutual trust and influence among IS groups and their line customers. They found that mutual trust can facilitate knowledge sharing and can then increase shared knowledge. Bryants paper (2003) mainly studied the role of leadership in organizational knowledge manageme nt by comparing the effect of transformational leadership and transactional leadership on knowledge sharing. The involvement of high technology in knowledge sharing is addressed by Hubers study (2001) that claimed that some of the barriers to knowledge sharing can to a certain extent be raised by utilizing appropriate technologies. A few studies noted the role of motivation in knowledge sharing. Most of them discussed the different effects of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on knowledge sharing. It was believed that extrinsic motivation is a short-term approach and cannot create a lasting commitment to sharing knowledge (Kohn, 1993). Moreover, extrinsic motivation is also inappropriate if the knowledge shared is mainly tacit in nature (Osterloh et al., 2000). In Hansens paper (2002), the results showed that project teams who could conveniently access related knowledge from other units by virtue of pre-existing relationships could complete their projects faster than those who failed to do so. Thus, pre-existing relationships are also a facilitating factor due to their shortening the path among units who possess related knowledge. Lastly, a common language is also believed essential for effective knowledge sharing so that knowledge producers and recipients can achieve fluent and accurate communication in exchanging ideas and knowledge (Ali, 2001). EXPERIMENTAL SETUP For this study, we planned an experiment that was conducted during a course and lasted for whole semester. The participants in the experiment were the final-year undergraduate students of a business school. For the purposes of this experiment, we separated all students into different groups with each group consisting of five to six students. We then assigned relevant project topics to different groups and asked them to finish the projects by the end of semester. At the beginning, we counseled the participants that sharing knowledge is an effective way of improving performance and encouraged them to share their knowledge with their group mates as much as possible during the projects. MEASUREMENT A questionnaire was designed to test the participants perceptions concerning knowledge sharing based on their experience acquired in the group projects. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. In the first part, we selected eight factors based on past studies, including knowledge-friendly culture, motivational practices, multiple available channels, leader supportiveness, trust, pre-existing relationship, common language and level of technology. Participants were asked to indicate the extent to which each of these factors is important to the success of knowledge sharing. The second part had four items: Email, Knowledge repository, Face-to-face (F2F) meeting and Formal seminar. We ask participants to indicate the frequency with which they used each of the above methods to share knowledge with their group mates. We distributed the questionnaire to 91 students in a course and finally obtained 75 usable samples for further data analysis. RESULTS The mean, max and min values for each of the eight variables in the first part are summarized in Table 1. In addition, we conducted a series of paired t-tests to statistically compare every possible pair of means. Based on the results of the t-test (Table 2), we categorized the eight factors into five different groups: knowledge-friendly culture and motivational practices, multiple available channels and leader supportiveness, trust, pre-existing relationship and common language, and, lastly, level of technology. Trust Culture Motivation Channels Leader Relation Language Tech MEAN 6.04 5.84 5.76 5.52 5.51 5.12 5.27 4.71 MAX 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 MIN 3 4 4 3 4 3 3 1 Importance MAX MIN Table 1. Results of the first part Culture 2.15 Motivation 2.71 0.92 Channels 4.36 2.66 2.31 Leader 5.18 3.42 2.32 0.12 Relation 6.54 6.11 5.16 2.95 3.04 Language 6.31 4.22 3.66 1.98 1.96 0.95 Tech 9.28 8.41 6.83 5.03 5.73 2.70 3.50 t-value Trust Culture Motivation Channels Leader Relation Language Table 2. Results of paired t-test ( p In each above group that contains more than one factor, the factors are not statistically different from each other. For example, the knowledge-friendly-culture factor is perceived as equally important as the factor on motivational practice. We then prioritized these five groups in terms of their importance to the success of knowledge sharing by comparing their mean level. Obviously, building trust is the most important factor and the level of technology the least, as shown in Table 1. The mean, max and min values of the second part of the dataset are exhibited in Table 3. We also worked out the percentage of responses that rated the item more than 4 points. By referring to this percentage and checking the corresponding mean values, we can obtain information concerning how many of participants at least frequently used each method to share their knowledge with others. To conclude, F2F meeting is the most frequently used approach to sharing knowledge. Formal seminars, on the contrary, were the least used. F2F Email Repository Seminar MEAN 5.83 5.41 4.48 3.00 MAX 7 7 7 7 MIN 4 2 2 1 Frequent Usage 94.7% 85.3% 46.7% 21.3% Table 3. Data of the second part IMPLICATIONS Our study has essential implications for course teaching and learning. Our study suggests that in order to facilitate knowledge sharing among students, building trusting relationships is the first and most important step to take. Such trust can be built and strengthened via gradual mutual understanding. Therefore, there should be various opportunities and occasions for students to get to know each other. In this way, improved trust due to good understanding can raise the psychological barriers to communication and can then increase the students willingness to share knowledge. Moreover, a healthy culture should be fostered among students that learning from others and sharing what you know with others is the right thing to do and an effective way of improving study. In this arena, instructors play a particularly critical role. As for the sharing activity itself, increasing interactive communication between students is still an ideal way of proceeding. Whether in class or after class, s tudents should be provided with adequate opportunities for face-to-face discussions without the presence of instructors so that they can actively share knowledge during these discussions. Frequent formal seminars are not an effective approach for sharing knowledge because they hardly communicate with each other to exchange opinions and thoughts during the seminars. REFERENCES Ali, Y. (2001). The intranet and the management of making and using skills. Journal of Knowledge Management, 5, 338-348. Almeida, P., Song, J. and Grant, R. M. (2002). Are firms superior to alliances and markets? An empirical test of cross-border knowledge building. Organization Science, 13, 147-161. Bryant, S. E. (2003). The role of transformational and transactional leadership in creating, sharing and exploiting organizational knowledge. Journal of Leadership Organizational Studies, 9, 32-44. Hansen, M. T. (2002). Knowledge networks: Explaining effective knowledge sharing in multiunit companies. Organization Science, 13, 232-248. Huber, G. P. (2001). Transfer of knowledge in knowledge management systems: unexplored issues and suggested studies. European Journal of Information Systems, 10, 72-79. Kohn, A. (1993). Why incentive plans cannot work. Harvard Business Review, 71,54-63. Nelson, K. M. and J. G. Cooprider (1996). The contribution of shared knowledge to IS group performance. MIS Quarterly, 20, 409-432. Osterloh, M. and Frey, B. S. (2000). Motivation, knowledge transfer, and organizational forms. Organization Science, 11, 538-550. Knowing in Community: 10 Critical Success Factors in Building Communities of Practice The Limits of Knowledge Management Many companies are discovering that the real gold in knowledge management is not in distributing documents or combining databases. In the last few years many companies have used the internet and other new information technology to link professionals across the globe to share documents or compare data. But many are discovering that the real value in knowledge management is in sharing ideas and insights that are not documented and hard to articulate. This undocumented, hard-to-articulate knowledge is what has been called tacit knowledge (Polanyi, 1958). A group of systems designers for a computer company tried to share their knowledge by storing their documentation for client systems in a common database. They soon discovered that they did not need each others documentation. They needed to understand the logic other system designers used — why that software, with that hardware and that type of service plan. They needed to understand the thinking of the other system designers. A petrophysicist trying to interpret unusual data from a deep sea oil well needed help from a colleague who had seen similar anomalies and could help him think through how to interpret it. Only in the course of the discussion were they able to understand the anomaly. A geologist faced with an array of new seismic tools needed to know which would be most useful in his particular application. A product development team at an auto company found through their internet that another development team had developed and rejected a design ideas similar to one they were considering. They needed to understand the reasons for the rejection and get feedback from the other team on the approach they were considering. A sales manager working with a particularly difficult client needed to know how sales managers for other product lines had dealt with that client. In all these cases people needed tacit knowledge; knowledge that was not documented, that their peers had never previously articulated, and t hat needed to be thought about to be shared (McDermott, 1999a). Using typical knowledge management methods to leverage tacit knowledge often results in information junkyards and empty libraries. At the heart of most knowledge management efforts is an attempt to document and share information, ideas and insights so they can be organized, managed and shared. But documenting tacit knowledge frequently does more harm than good. When a major computer company first introduced its knowledge site, it asked field engineers to place their files in a common database. But, like many other companies, this company soon discovered that their staff did not want to hunt through many, redundant entries. As one engineer said, My own file cabinet is bad enough, why would I want look through everyone elses file cabinet. Rather than a resource, the company had created an information junkyard, full of potentially good material that was too much trouble to sort through. The field engineers wanted someone familiar with their discipline to assess the material, decide what is important and to enrich the documents in the database by summarizing, combining, contrasting, and integrating them. This would make the junkyard useful. Another company instructed their professional staff to document key work processes so others could easily learn from them. Most staff felt their work was too varied to capture in a set of procedures, but eventually they completed the task. Within a year the database was populated, but little used, an empty library. Most people found the information to be too general to be useful. The help they needed was still in the experience — the tacit knowledge of their peers. Communities of Practice Leverage Thinking Ironically one of the oldest elements of organization is key to leveraging tacit knowledge, communities of practice. Communities of practice are groups of people who share information, insight, experience, and tools about an area of common interest (Wenger, 1998). A communitys focus could be on a professional discipline like reservoir engineering or biology a skill like machine repair or a topic like a technology, an industry, or a segment of a production process. In a manufacturing company, for example, communities were formed around steps in the production process. Shell Oil Co.s New Orleans operation, which is organized into cross-functional teams, formed them around key disciplines and topics that cross individual teams. Communities of practice have always been part of the informal structure of organizations. They form spontaneously as people seek help, try to solve problems, develop new ideas and approaches. Some say that spontaneous communities of practice have always been the real vehicle through which technical knowledge spreads through organizations. Spontaneous communities of practice are informal. People participate in them as their interest, time and energy dictates. Although they usually gel around a particular topic or domain, the specific issues they focus on change over time, as the needs and interests of their members change. Communities are held together by passionate interest and value. Communities of practice frequently form around topics community members have invested many years in developing; topics they are often passionately interested in, a science, a craft or a manufacturing process. But communities of practice are not just celebrations of common interest. They focus on practical aspects of a practice, everyday problems, new tools, developments in the field, things that work and dont. So people participate because the community provides value. Community members frequently turn to each other to help solve technical problems, like interpreting anomalous data. Because they are often linked, not only to each other but also to suppliers, universities and others outside their organization communities of practice, they often keep members informed of new developments in the field. Because community members share a common technical interest, they can share ideas and concerns with others who really unders tand. And praise from community members is often the most meaningful because technical peers really understand the difficulty of the work or the brilliance of an analysis. As a result, people often have a great deal of their professional identity tied up in their communities. Communities of practice link people in many ways. Communities frequently link people with a common interest who do not have regular day-to-day contact. For example, in Shell Oils New Orleans operation, communities link people who work on different teams. In this double knit organization (McDermott, 1999b) teams are the core organizational structure. Communities form around technical disciplines and topics that draw people from many teams. Each community operates in its own way, but the Turbodudes community is fairly typical. The Turbodudes draw people from different disciplines (geology, geophysics, petrophysics, reservoir engineering) who are interested in a particular kind of geological structure common in the Gulf of Mexico, turbidites. The Turbodudes stay together through five key components: a coordinator, mentors, a weekly meeting, presentations by outside vendors, and a website that stores topics discussed at previous meetings. For the last two years the Turbodudes have met ev ery Tuesday at 7:30 in the morning, before the other organizational meetings begin. Typically twenty to forty people come to the meetings. While there are often many new faces at the meetings, there is a core group of ten high-contributors who make most of the meetings. The meetings seem very informal. The coordinator asks who has a question or problem. After a short presentation, others offer their observations, describing the logic or assumptions they made in formulating those observations. A technical specialist takes notes on her computer. The following day meeting notes are posted on the communitys website. While the meeting only lasts an hour, people often leave in small groups hotly engaged in discussions of the meetings topic. But these meetings are not as informal as they seem. Between meetings the coordinator walks the halls connecting people with others who share similar concerns, following up on the meetings topics, and finding topics for the next meeting. To keep discus sions focused on cutting edge topics and to keep senior community leaders engaged, the community developed a mentorship program for people new to the field. The mentorship program provides an avenue for basic questions and distributes the job of educating new community members in an equitably. Communities thrive on trust. One of the main dynamics of the Turbodudes and many other communities of practice is that members ask for and offer help solving technical problems. Regularly helping each other makes it easier for community members to show their weak spots and learn together in the public space of the community. Having frank and supportive discussions of real problems frequently builds a greater sense of connection and trust between community members. As they share ideas and experiences, community members often develop a shared way of doing things, a set of common practices, and a greater sense of common purpose. Sometimes they formalize these in guidelines and standards, but often they simply remain what everybody knows about good practice. In the course of helping each other, sharing ideas, and collectively solving problems, everybody often becomes a trusted group of peers. Communities of practice are ideal vehicles for leveraging tacit knowledge because they enable person-to-person interaction and engage a whole group in advancing their field of practice. As a result, they can spread the insight from that collaborative thinking across the whole organization Critical Success Factors for Community Building Communities of practice are a new/old kind of organizational form. Even though communities of practice have been part of organizations for many generations, we have only recently begun to understand their dynamics and tried to intentionally develop them. Because they are organic, driven by the value they provide to members, organized around changing topics, and bound by peoples sense of connection, they are very different from teams and other organizational forms most of us are familiar with (McDermott, 1999b; Wenger Snyder, 2000). The challenges they pose and the factors in making them successful are also different. There are four key challenges in starting and supporting communities capable of sharing tacit knowledge and thinking together. The management challenge is to communicate that the organization truly values sharing knowledge. The community challenge is to create real value for community members and insure that the community shares cutting edge thinking, rather than sophisticated copying. The technical challenge is to design human and information systems that not only make information available but help community members think together. And the personal challenge is to be open to the ideas of others and maintain a thirst for developing the communitys practice. Ten factors, dealing with each of these challenges, are critical to the success of communities of practice. Without them, communities tend to flounder or fail. Critical Success Factors in Building Community Management Challenge 1. Focus on topics important to the business and community members. 2. Find a well-respected community member to coordinate the community. 3. Make sure people have time and encouragement to participate. 4. Build on the core values of the organization. Community Challenge 5. Get key thought leaders involved. 6. Build personal relationships among community members. 7. Develop an active passionate core group. 8. Create forums for thinking together as well as systems for sharing information. Technical Challenge 9. Make it easy to contribute and access the communitys knowledge and practices. Personal Challenge 10. Create real dialogue about cutting edge issues. The Management Challenge Knowledge management, like total quality and reengineering has become the latest of management fads. Many professionals have found that if they just keep their heads low they can escape the extra work and impact of these fads. With so many pressures drawing on their time, it is often hard to get the attention of professional staff. Four factors can communicate that management really does support knowledge-sharing communities. 1. Focus on knowledge important to both the business and the people. To show that communities of practice are important, form them around topics at the heart of the business, where leveraging knowledge will have a significant financial or competitive impact. Communities of practice at Shell, a very technically oriented company, started around technical topics. At a manufacturing company, we formed the first communities around major steps of the manufacturing process

The Concepts Of Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Essay

The Concepts Of Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Essay The coursework question is relates with the concept of Alternative dispute resolution. This coursework question is also linked with relationship between ADR, CPR 1998 and EU Directive regarding the matter of Mediation. The comment of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry is a significant part of this coursework. In my coursework I will chronologically discuss the History of ADR, its relationship with Civil Procedure Rules(thereafter CPR), Its implementation in the Courts, Judges attitude on various cases and its impact on European Court of Human Rights (thereafter ECHR) especially in the Art-6. Present situation in legal area and possible probabilities in the future. Alternative dispute resolution (thereafter ADR) is a way of trying to melt civil dispute. The concept of ADR arose mainly from a negative cause such as, dissatisfaction with the delays, costs and inadequacies of litigation process. It is the process of resolving disputes in place of litigation. The most common classification is to describe ADR as a structured dispute resolution process with third party intervention which does not impose a legally binding outcome on the parties.  [1]  It is one kind of facilitated settlement, which is confidential and without prejudice. So the materials of the process need not usually be disclosed to a court  [2]  . The simplest forms of ADR to understand are mediation and conciliation. Some important providers of ADR include arbitration within the ambit of ADR since it is an alternative to litigation in the courts. Others would exclude arbitration on the basis that it is a legal process, the outcome of which is binding. Parties to a dispute have always been able to refer their dispute to arbitration which is a far older and more formal means of dispute resolution than either mediation or conciliation.  [3]   In the 1970s the concept of modern development of ADR established in the United States because of high cost and long delays of litigating business disputes. ADR was playing an increasingly useful part in the commercial area to dissolve some disadvantages of highly expensive and strict adversarial system. In late 1990s the civil justice system in England and Wales go through a massive revolution. Especially Lord Woolf creates a significant impact regarding the matter of ADR in his enormous report, Access to Justice. His view implemented in a amazingly short time by the civil procedure rules 1998 and the Access to justice Act 1999. These changes introduce a new dimension in the culture of litigation. There are different types of ADR used in commercial disputes such as, Arbitration, Conciliation, Mediation, Ombudsmen etc. Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation is the most famous procedure from all of them. Arbitration has the force of law and generally an arbitrators decision called an award which can be enforced in the courts just as a judgment of the court.  [4]  Section 1 of Arbitration Act 1996 introduced some specific rules and regulations regarding this process such as impartial tribunal, un-necessary delay and expenses.  [5]  Conciliation is quite parallel with the concept of mediation. In that process conciliators offer in return not to try the case but this is rarely taken up. The process is mandatory in Switzerland. Mediation is the most famous and accepted method of ADR in England and Wales. It is quick, non-binding, without prejudice and confidential. In that process a mediator acts as a go-between to dissolve the dispute and wants to make a settlement. The mediator must be a neutral party. Mediation is about much more than just assisted without prejudice negotiations but confidentiality and privilege are the very cornerstones of the success of mediation. Parties to mediation need to be sure that what they say in mediation and documents produced for the mediation will not become public knowledge or become evidence in proceedings, whether litigation, arbitration or adjudication.  [6]  There are varieties of reason to choosing mediation over other ways of dispute resolution such as; A less expensive route to follow for dissolves the dispute. It offers a confidential process. It offers multiple and flexible possibilities for resolving a dispute This process consists of a mutual endeavour. It takes place with the aid of a mediator who is a neutral third party. If we analyse the whole process of ADR then we will find that the most significant criteria of this process is the term Confidentiality. This term significantly increase the parties interest regarding the matter of ADR. Confidentiality is integral to the relationship between the mediator and the parties are one of the four fundamental and universal characteristics of mediation. It is the cornerstone of the relationship of trust and that must exist between the mediator and the parties. It is crucial to the voluntariness of participation of the parties and to the impartiality of the mediator. The parties must not feel that they might be disadvantaged by any disclosure that may be used in legal proceedings or in any other way  [7]  In the coursework Question the statement is relates with the matter of mediation. Now i will discuss about mediation and its relationship with CPR 1998, cases and judgement of the courts and the impact of EU Directive. There was no defined overriding objective for civil justice when ADR orders were devised by the commercial court judges. CPR pt 1 has now identified ADR as one of the courts tools of active case management available to achieve that objective.  [8]  Lord Woolf provides significant impact on ADR especially on mediation on his reforms proposal. His aim was given prominent status in the courts new case management powers. Especially in , CPR 1.4 There are some important rules incorporated in the CPR1998 regarding the matter of Mediation or other form of dispute resolution such as, r-1.1(2), 1.3, 1.4, 3.1(2)(m), 26.4(1), 44 etc Rules-1.1(2) provides that mater must be dealing with justly manner if it is practicable. There are some element has to be consider in this part such as, parties must be in equal footing, saving expenses, matters must be dealings proportionately, matter must be deal with expeditiously and fairly.  [9]  Rules-1.3 provides that parties are required to help the court to further the overriding objective. It also provides general duty of the parties.  [10]  Rules-1.4 provides about courts duty towards the parties where stated that court must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases which includes encouraging the parties to co-operate each other, identify the issues in early stage, helping the parties to settle the whole or part of case.  [11]  Rules 3.1(2)(m) stated about general powers of management of the courts where court can take any step to uphold and furthering the overriding objective.  [12]  Rules-26.4(1) stated that parties can request for stay ed. Court can grant their request if they think appropriate.  [13]  Rules-44 provides general rules about the costs of the procedure such as; cost are payable by one party to another, amount of those cost, when to be paid etc. In r-44.3(2)(a)where stated that unsuccessful party will be ordered to pay the costs of the successful party but court can make different order.  [14]   The significant impact of CPR 1998 regarding the matter of dispute resolution could be found in some cases. In the case of Dyson Field exors of Lawrence Twohey deed vs Leeds City Council,  [15]  Ward LJ stated that matter relates with overriding objective of the CPR and courts duty to manage cases according to rule 1.4 of CPR. He also stated court should encourage the parties. In the case of R vs Plymouth City Council  [16]  , where Lord Woolf has given more emphasize on CPR and he also suggested that mediation should get the priority over the litigation. So we can say that modern CPR rules create a significant impact on the matter of dispute resolution. Judges always give emphasize on the matter of ADR in order to save the cost and time. Courts also began to give warnings and issue advice at the conclusion of cases that parties should seriously consider ADR or run the risk of costs penalty. Now i will discuss some relevant cases and judgement which will provide the legal approaches regarding the matter of mediation In the case of Dyson Field vs Leeds city Council  [17]  , Lord Woolf was a member of the CA. The matter was related with mediation where Ward LJ said that court should encourage the parties to use ADR to dissolve their matter and it also should be sooner rather than later. There is another important case which is Cowl vs Plymouth City Council  [18]  , Lord Woolf has given a lead judgement regarding commercial court ADR order. He delivered powerful comment on both parties failure to use an available ADR process and the delay and cost of violently contested of judicial review proceedings. He also stated that if the parties dont go for the mediation then it would be wastage of public money. There are case Hurst vs Leeming  [19]  , where Lightman J. Stated that alternative dispute resolution is at the heart of todays civil justice system although mediation is not in law mandatory but its a significant and attractive aspect of civil justice system. There is another landmark case Dunnett vs Railtrack  [20]  , case regarding the matter of penalty impose for not taking mediation. Mrs Dennett lost her horse because contractors cant padlock the gate. She sued for compensation but lost in the county court because her lawyer wrongly framed the case. She appealed in person and she gets the permission to appeal. Schiemann LJ suggested for mediation but the Realtrack rejected this offer despite the fact that CA offered a free mediation scheme. CA expressed regret about this. They considered whether Realtrack had made Pt 36 offers. Mrs Dennett was unsuccessful. Then Railtrack asked for their costs but CA made a separate judgement on this cost issue. CA held that Railtrack co uldnt recover their cost because they had refused to participate in ADR. So judgement of Railtrack case gets lots of controversy because the party faced adverse cost consequences, even they win the trial. Despite this case mediation is not mandatory or nor it should be because part of the mediation process is that the parties should want to come voluntarily in the process. If mediation becomes mandatory then there is a great chance to lose it significant aspect. In the recent case cost sanction issue raised once again in Halsey v Milton; Steel v Joy (joint Appeal)  [21]  ,in this case the actual fact was if any party ignoring to mediate the dispute which was requested by an inter-party then cost sanctions should be imposed or not. Dyson L.J held the court cannot require a party to proceed to mediation against his will as this would contravene art.6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court did however; confirm that costs consequences could follow from unreasonable failures to mediate.  [22]  But it was not clear whether the court take this point because this point was submitted in the last minute. On 21 May 2008, the Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters was adopted. Article 1 state the aim of the directive is to facilitate access to alternative dispute resolution and to promote the amicable settlement of disputes by encouraging the use of mediation and by ensuring a balanced relationship between mediation and judicial proceedings.Article: 3 of the EU directive provide the definition of mediation as a structured process whereby two or more parties to a dispute attempt by themselves, on a voluntary basis, to reach an agreement on the settlement on their dispute with the assistance of a mediator. Article: 5 of the EU directive provide discretionary power to courts to invite the parties to use mediation to settle their dispute. Article: 6 of the EU directive states that a written mediation settlement may be declare enforceable if all the parties agree to the process. Article: 7 of the EU directive provide reasonable support regarding the matter of guaranteeing the Confidentiality of the mediation process. The Directives basically suggested the state parties to make the laws to encourage the parties to do mediation by the court, not by compulsion. The directive states, the directive applies to civil and commercial matters, and is intended to promote mediation, and ensure a sound relationship between mediation and judicial proceedings.  [23]  EU Parliament and council agreed the Directive to encourage the use of mediation because its a quicker procedure to a civil litigation and cost effective for cross-border commercial disputes. According to the coursework question now this essay will justify the statement which is provided by Lord Rodger of Earlsferry regarding the matter of mediation. Obliging parties to engage in some form of mediation whether as a pre-condition to going to court or as a result of compulsion by the court, seems to berather contrary to the spirit of the guarantee in Article 6 of the European convention for the protection human Rights  [24]   In that above statement he has given more emphasize on present situation of mediation and its application on the Art 6 of ECHR. According to that statement present mediation procedure is quite contrary with the concept of Right to a fair trial. ECHR adopted into English Law from 2 October 2000 as a result of the HRA 1998. Art 6 of ECHR is quite interlinking with ADR. Now the main issue is whether the present procedure of mediation is violating the Art 6 of ECHR or not. Tthe statement of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry is not quite relevant with the present situation of mediation. There are present some reason behind this. Mediation is not a mandatory procedure in our legal system but it has got a special significant aspect after the Woolf reforms 1998. Mediation agreement often specifically state that, The referral of the dispute to mediation does not affect any rights that may exist under Art 6 of ECHR. If the dispute is not settled by the mediation, the parties rights to a fair trial remain unaffected. It is true that EU court encourages parties to settle disputes extra-judicially because it will save cost, time, delay etc. In the matter of mediation court can intervene in the process to protect the right to trial such as; if there is any undue pressure upon a party into a non-judicial process. In the case of Deweer v Belgium  [25]  , the matter related with the debate about whether mandating mediation is permissible or not. Deweer could avoid such proceedings by paying a friendly settlement. He chooses settlement but reserved his right to challenge the proceedings. Then he initiated a challenge regarding the matter of Art 6 of ECHR. Deweer held to have waived his right to go to court only by reason of restraint which vitiate d his consent to paying the friendly settlement.  [26]   In process of mediation, no one is restrained to settle. Participation is entirely voluntary; any hidden matter of the parties or procedure cant later be discussed before a trial or elsewhere because of confidentiality. No one ever enters the process on the basis that they must settle or if they dont that then cant seek remedy from public court. Mediation is not like the status as arbitration because it totally depends on the parties will. In McVicar vs UK  [27]  , EU court has held that Art 6 is not infringed by restraint court access to vexatious litigants, bankrupts, mental patients. In CPR1998 there is lots of provision which should be maintained by the parties before going to any public trial. Before proceeding parties must fulfil some pre-action protocols and practice direction then party must pay court fees at several stages. Parties also need to fulfil other procedural requirement such as; allocation questionnaires, statement of case, disclosure and evidence. In R vs Lord Chancellor exparte witham  [28]  . The matter regarded breach of Art 6 because of withdrawal of court fees exemption scheme for those on income support. So if anyone doesnt follow those procedures regarding CPR they will be liable and they may get punishment or imprisonment. So it seems that these CPR requirement doing breaches Art 6 because parties have to maintain some rules and provision against their wish and will. Now if these are not breach of Art 6 then why ordering of mediation would be breach of Art 6. In Golder v UK  [29]  , it was held that ADR approved in CPR Pt1, where stated a mediation is not breach of such requirements. In Deweer  [30]  case also confirmed that this dispute process is not breach of Art 6 rights. Its clear from the Halsey  [31]  case that mediation must always be voluntary under English Law. Court or judge to order mediation would be a possible breach of Art 6(1) of European convention. If we analyse all of the cases then two significant points would be come out. They are, Forced by a judge into ADR Strongly encouraged towards ADR First approach is likely to violate Art 6, as Halsey confirms. But the second approach is not clear, is immune from challenge under the convention as jack J said summarising in Halsey, the fear of costs sanctions may be used to remove unmerited settlements  [32]  . To distinct between Voluntary and Coerced ADR in this background is hard to draw with certainty. Jack J suggested in Carleton v Strutt Parker  [33]   A litigant who is landed with an unfavourable costs order for failing to agree to ADR goes to mediation at the courts suggestion but is afterwards stigmatised as failing to participate in good faith, could reasonably claim that this outcome operates as obstruct or fetter on the right of access to the court, contrary to Art 6, and that their apparent consent to ADR was no waiver of their fundamental rights now directly enforceable in English Law under the HRA 1998  [34]  . The evidence supporting the use of mandatory mediation is mixed. Central London County Court saw a enormous increase in mediations following Dunnett case, but the settlement rate also consistency declined during that period  [35]  . If judges apply too much pressure, the overriding objectives of the CPR may not be achieved its goal to lower the settlement rates with wasted cost and time but some pressure is needed to ensure that parties should consider mediation as an option but this pressure is less needed than it once was because the legal profession involved in construction litigation now knows the benefits of mediation. Although many countries those have strong conscious about human rights and constitutional rights introduce conciliation or settlement conference chaired by judges in their legal system. This can be called Courts mandate mediation. So by this process they want to put mediation within court process which would be more acceptable regarding the matter of conventional rights. In the Halsey case CA held that court cannot proceed a mediation process against the parties will which would be contrary to the Art 6 of ECHR but in the case of Shirayama Shokusan Co. Ltd v Danovo Ltd  [36]  , court issued a mediation order even though one party was unwilling. CPR r. 1.4(2)(e) emphasised to encourage the parties to use alternative dispute resolution. Sir Anthony Clarke  [37]  states that Court has the power to order compulsory mediation and he also said that Halsey decision was a obiter so there was a chance for the judges to make compulsory mediation order. He also suggested that courts have a jurisdiction to order mediation process under the CPR. Sir Gavin Lightman also expressed his view on behalf of the mediation process. Sir Anthony Colman  [38]  states that there is a close relationship between the court and mediation. He also states that mediation process is not mandatory. Lord Philips  [39]  states that in adversarial litigation there are lots of complications such as; solicitor fees, court fees, defendant is faced with a huge bill for the claimants cost and insurance, delay and complex procedure, disproportionate cost etc. According to him ADR is quite reasonable and flexible procedure because it does not have any additional difficulties. He also states that court order to the parties for mediation is not infringe Art 6 of ECHR. Lord Philips, Sir Anthony Colman and Sir Gavin Lightman are the supporter of mediation process because litigation process has lots of disadvantages and mediation process has flexible, time saving, cost saving and confidential process which is reasonable for the parties as well as for the society. Although EU directives contain some provision where state that court must encourage the parties to use mediation process to settle their disputes. Some cases like Cowl, Dunnett and Halsey cases where maximum of the judges held that parties should use mediation voluntarily rather than mandatory and court always encourage the parties to take this procedure. Although in some cases there was some controversy but different judges has given their views regarding this matter and maximum of them supported the procedure of existing mediation procedure. So at last it can be said that the present procedure of mediation is not obliging the parties but encourages them to further overriding objective of t he court.

The Portrayal of Women in Homers Odyssey Essay -- The Odyssey by Home

Does Homer exhibit gender bias in the Odyssey?   Is the nature of woman as depicted in the Odyssey in any way revealing? Upon examining the text of the Odyssey for differential treatment on men and women, it becomes necessary to distinguish between three possible conclusions.   One, differences in treatment reflect the underlying Homeric thesis that   women are "different but equal in nature,"   Two, different treatment   of men and women in the text reflect a thesis that women are "different and unequal in nature" -- arguments about misogyny fall in here but a host of other interpretive possibilities are possible too. Three, the different treatment reflects simple ignorance. How much do we attribute what we discover to male authorship -- or female authorship? In beginning, we might look to the gods for a clue. The adultery between Ares and Aphrodite for example is evenly represented -- both parties are to blame -- both are shamed -- both are banished. Although there is some "locker room talk" between two of the male gods that they would willingly lie in chains several layers thick to be beside Aphrodite.   Sexuality among mortals is another key to this poem and this question. Women and men are represented differentially in this regard -- The herdsman Eumaios -- Odysseus brother by "adoption" recounts how he came to Ithaka a captive of a slave woman Phoinikia -- a woman who had been seduced by a roving seafarer w... .... 17-27. Griffin, Jasper. Homer on Life and Death, 1980, Clarendon Press. Richard Brilliant, "Kirke's Men: Swine and Sweethearts," pp. 165-73. Helene Foley, "Penelope as Moral Agent," in Beth Cohen, ed., The Distaff Side (Oxford 1995), pp. 93-115. Jennifer Neils, "Les Femmes Fatales: Skylla and the Sirens in Greek Art," pp. 175-84. Lillian Doherty, Siren Songs: Gender, Audiences, and Narrators in the Odyssey (Ann Arbor 1995), esp. chapter 1. Mary Lefkowitz, "Seduction and Rape in Greek Myth," 17-37. Marilyn Arthur Katz, Penelope's Renown: Meaning and Indeterminacy in the Odyssey (Princeton 1991). Nancy Felson-Rubin, Regarding Penelope: From Courtship to Poetics (Princeton 1994).

Equality Essay -- essays research papers

A young man lives in a place where the word "I" does not have meaning. It is a society where there are no individuals. It is, however, a place where you strive to serve your brothers. Equality 7-2521 was taught from birth that the individual is not important. He is in a crazed society where the only form of government is collectivism. Equality, at age 21, has absolutely no freedom. He is a a strong, tall young man who stands about six feet. However, in this society, anyone who is six feet tall was considered to be evil. His dream of going to the House of Scholars is lost and he is sent to the Hose of Street Sweepers instead. Here the rules are very strict. He is not allowed to laugh or sing for any reason. These are a couple of hardships that Equality has to face so far in this mixed up society. His troubles get greater and greater until finally he does something about it. All through his life, Equality thinks he is not capable of accomplishing anything. Through time though, he discovers that he is capable of doing many things by himself and more importantly that he is an individual. When he is in the tunnel, he discovers a light. This provides him with the confidence that he is able to do things. Other experiences, such as falling in love with Liberty and seeing his reflection in the pond also help him to believe in himself as a strong individual. Equality later realizes that he has commited sins as he was growing up. He thinks by showing his invention to th...

Evaluation of Comptronix Corporation: Identifying Inherent Risk and Control Risk Factors Essay

1. Professional auditing standards present the audit risk model, which is used to determine the nature, timing, and extent of audit procedures. Describe the components of the model and discuss how changes in each component affect the auditor’s need for evidence. The audit risk model is used to determine the nature, timing, and extent of substantive audit procedures. The components of audit risk model usually stated as follows: DR = AR/(IR x CR) Where: DR = detection risk; AR = audit risk; IR = inherent risk; CR = control risk Detection Risk: auditors’ procedures will lead them to conclude that a financial statement assertion is not materially misstated when in fact such misstatement does exist. If auditors want to decrease DR, they had better collect more evidence and make sure the validity of evidence. Audit Risk: auditors may unknowingly fail to appropriately modify their opinion on financial statements that are materially misstated. If AR should be keep in low level, which means the other risks also should be low. Inherent Risk: The risk of material misstatement of a financial statement assertion, assuming there were no related controls. As inherent risk increases, PDR decreases, which in turn increases the auditor’s need for stronger evidence. Control risk: The risk that a material misstatement that could occur in an account will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by internal control. If the strength of internal control is assessed as decreasing, the auditor should pay more attention to control risks. 2. One of the components of the audit risk model is inherent risk. Describe typical factors that auditors evaluate when assessing inherent risk. With the benefit of hindsight, what inherent risk factors were present during the audits of the 1989 through 1992 Comptronix financial statements? Inherent risk is a measure of the auditor’s assessment of the susceptibility of an assertion to a material misstatement assuming there are no related internal controls. Some believe that inherent risk would be greater for some assertions and related account based on some conditions as follows: †¢Complex calculations rather than simple calculations. †¢Non-routine rather than routine transactions. †¢Subjective data rather than objective data. More importantly is that inherent risk is always be effected by external factors as follows: †¢Changes in economic environment †¢Insufficient capital to continue operations †¢Technological improvements. †¢Transactions with related parties. †¢Susceptibility of assets to misappropriation. The inherent risk factors present during the 1989 through 1992 financial statement audits as follows: †¢Loss of Key Customer: Comptronix lost a key customer to SCI after the public offering of stock. Once the company lost their a key customer, Management have a strong motivation manipulate sales and operating performance to satisfy investor expectations because the loss of a key customer put too much pressure on management to meet the requirements of external users. †¢Public Offering of Stock: After Comptronix made its public offering of stock , they have the pressure which push the management to manipulate operating performance too meet the expectations from the external users. †¢Technological Improvement: Comptronix is a manufacture company which main products are circuit boards and the circuit boards’ development depend on technological improvement. The technological improvement has a negative impact on operating performance. †¢Pressures from a new star Company: By the first year of the fraud (1989), Comptronix became a new company which can employ more than 1,800 employees in less than a decade , and at same time, the company expanded its the size of the company in three different locations. The rapid development of company made the management adjusted their operations instead of monitoring company operations. †¢Estimation of Accounts: The high inherent risk accounts include Accounts receivable/ payable, inventory, and property, plant, and equipment. But all the accounts’ computation is based on estimation which led the numbers are very unreliable and subjective. †¢Cash Flow Pressures: Comptronix suffered net losses from 1986. Until the company attracted a venture capitalist, the company was able to generate strong sales and profits. Prior to 1989, Comptronix had generated only two consecutive years of profit after several years of net losses. cash flow of financial statement cannot cover many years of recurring losses. The management has motives to make up operating accounts to look perfect to attract more  investors. 3. Another component of the audit risk model is control risk. Describe the five components of internal control. What characteristics of Comptronix’s internal control increased control risk for the audits of the 1989-1992 year-end financial statements? Five components of control risk are: control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring. Control environment set the tone of an organization by influencing the control consciousness of people. Risk assessment is management’s process for identifying, analyzing, and responding to the risks. Control activities are policies and procedures that help ensure that management’s directives are carried out. Information is needed at all levels of an organization to assist management in meeting the organization’s objectives. Monitoring of controls is a process to assess the quality of internal control performance over time. The information and communication is seriously weak in that he three executives were able to perpetrate the fraud by bypassing the existing accounting system. They could record the fictitious entries manually and other employees were excluded from the manipulations to minimize the likelihood of the fraud being discovered. Besides, the weak control activity and monitoring is represented by the fact that Mr. Shifflett or Mr. Medlin could approve payments based solely on an invoice. Therefore, the fraud team was able to bypass internal controls over cash disbursements. Internal controls were also insufficient to detect the manipulation of sales and accounts receivable. Mr. Medlin had the ability to access the shipping department system. 4. The board of directors, and its audit committee, can be an effective corporate governance mechanism. Discuss the pros and cons of allowing inside directors to sere on the board. Describe typical responsibilities of audit committees.What strengths or weaknesses were present related to Comptronix’s board of directors and audit committee? As shareholders have limited access to the sufficient information, they are hard to monitor the daily transactions and management. They would delegate the responsibilities to the board of directors. Then, board of directors require inside directors to provide sufficient information in order to make decisions those are in the maximum profits of shareholders. However, if the inside directors have improper purposes, it’s easily to be a manipulation tool for management. Audit committee is responsible for ensuring that the company’s financial statements and reports are accurate and use fair and reasonable estimates. More specifically, it is charged with overseeing the financial reporting and disclosure process, monitoring choice of accounting policies and principles, overseeing hiring, performance and independence of the external auditors, oversight of regulatory compliance, monitoring the internal control process, overseeing the performance of the internal audit function, and discussing risk management policies and practices with management. The control environment is significantly influenced by the effectiveness of its board of directors or its audit committee. Factors that bear on the effectiveness of the board or audit committee include the extent of its independence from management, the experience and stature of its members. However, among the seven individuals in Comptronix board of directors, five members are either inside directors or directors had close affiliations with management. In addition, the primary responsibility of the board of directors is to protect the shareholders’ assets and ensure they receive a decent return on their investment. Board members act as trustees of the organization’s assets and must exercise due diligence to oversee that the organization is well managed and that its financial situation remains sound. But the composition of Comptronix’s board of directors obviously lacks objectivity. A qualifying audit committee should be composed of independent directors who are not officers or employees of the organization and who do not have other relationships that impair independence. However, The audit committee of  Comptronix is made up two outside directors and one gray director, which would inevitably impair the independence. What’s more, to qualify, the committee must be composed of outside director with at least one qualifying as a financial expert. Nevertheless, for Comptronix Corporation, there is no indication of whether any of these individuals had accounting or financial reporting backgrounds. Lastly, the audit committee met only twice during 1991, it was not efficiently and sufficiently to monitor and oversee the financial reporting. 5. Public companies must file quarterly financial statements in Form 10-Qs, that have been reviewed by the company’s external auditor. Briefly describe the key requirements of Auditing Standards (AU) Section 722, Interim Financial Statements. Why wouldn’t all companies (public and private) engage their auditors to perform timely reviews of interim financial statements? The term interim financial information means financial information or statements covering a period less than a full year or for a 12-month period ending on a date other than the entity’s fiscal year end. A review consists principally of performing analytical procedures and making inquiries of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and does not contemplate (a) test of accounting records through inspection, observation, or confirmation; (b) tests of controls to evaluate their effectiveness; (c) the obtain net of corroborating evidence in response to inquiries; or (d) the performance of certain other procedures ordinarily performed in an audit. The decision to have a review engagement is a joint decision of the client and auditor. So a review would be performed when the benefits to the auditor and to the client exceed the costs to both parties. In general, firms with high complexity are more likely to be reviewed than firms with low complexity. Firms with high growth opportunities a less likely to be reviewed than those with low growth opportunities for they may be associated with higher information and litigation risks. And it’s also about the firms’ audit assurance and insurance needs. 6. Describe whether you think Comptronix’s executive team was inherently dishonest from the beginning. How is it possible for otherwise honest people to become involved in frauds like the one at Comptronix? We don’t think Comptronix’s executive team was inherently dishonest from the beginning. In opposite, we think there are two main reasons for the company committed the fraud. The first is its weak internal control. First comes to the company’s board of director. The board of directors is responsible for overseeing the actions of management. Factors that bear on the effectiveness of the board include the extent of its independence from management, the experience and stature of its members, the extent to which it raises and pursues difficult questions with management, and its interaction with the internal and external auditors. the audit committee of the board of directors should be composed of independent directors who are not officers or employees of the organization and who do not have other relationships that impair independence. In addition, the audit committee should have one or more members who have financial reporting expertise. However, Comptronix’s board of directors consist of the CEO and the COO of the company, And two of the other five directors who had close affiliations with management, one served as the company’s outside general legal counsel and the other who served as vice president of manufacturing for a significant customer of Comptronix, and one of the remaining outside directors who was a partner in the venture capital firm that owned 574,978 shares (5.3%) of Comptronix’s common stock, the second outside director who was the vice chairman and CEO of the local bank originally loaning money to the company, and the third outside director who was president of an international components supplier based in Taiwan. And there was no indication of whether any of these individuals had accounting or financial reporting backgrounds. 28.6% of the board consisted of inside directors. And even all of the board of directors disobey the independence and  effectiveness of the formation of the board of directors. The interest relationship with the company increased the potential risk for the management to commit fraud. The second reason is the huge pressure of harsh competition for the companies in the industry. The fraud was motivated by the loss of a key customer in 1989 to the three executives’ former employer, SCI. Since the first manipulation of the financial statement, they were forced to manipulate the other years and evidences to hide the manipulation, which created a vicious circle. In conclusion, the weak internal control system provided a good environment for the commission of fraud. The huge pressure of the company brought the motivation of the fraud. Both of them played important roles for the honest people to become involved in frauds. 7. Auditing Standards (AU) Section 316, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, notes that three conditions are generally present when fraud occurs. Research the authoritative standards for auditors and provide a brief summary of each of the three fraud conditions. Additionally, provide an example from the Comptronix fraud of each of the three fraud conditions. (1) Three fraud conditions First, management or other employees have an incentive or are under pressure, which provides a reason to commit fraud. Second, circumstances exist—for example, the absence of controls, ineffective controls, or the ability of management to override controls—that provide an opportunity for a fraud to be perpetrated. Third, those involved are able to rationalize committing a fraudulent act. Some individuals possess an attitude, character, or set of ethical values that allow them to knowingly and intentionally commit a dishonest act. (2) Examples The incentive for top company executive to do fraud is that after the company went public, the company needed an increasing number for profit on the income statement, to attract more investors and make the stock price higher and higher. One of the opportunities for fraud perpetrated in Comptronix is that their internal controls were so insufficient. The three executives had so many authorities to get access to various accounts. They can get control of both checks and accounts payable, which enable them to make fake equipment purchasing recording. Because Comptronix`s quarterly filings were unaudited, the executives were successful in manipulating quarterly financial statements. After they successfully manipulated 1989 year-end sales and receivables, they thought their performance may not be discovered by external auditors and SEC, so they began recording fictitious quarterly sales frequently. 8. Auditing Standards Section 316, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, notes that there is a possibility that management override of controls could occur in every audit and accordingly, the auditor should include audit procedures in every audit to address that risk. a. What do you think is meant by the term â€Å"management override†? Management override of internal controls is the intervention by managers in handling financial information and making decisions contrary to internal control policy. Managers may think they have the ability to operate outside of the internal controls, but this is not true. b. provide two examples of where management override of controls occurred in the Comptronix fraud. For example, Mr. Medilin, as controller and treasurer, has the authorization to manipulate both sales documents and accounts receivable documents. Thus he can enter bogus sales into the accounting system then make fake accounts  receivable to overstate the company`s earnings. Moreover, in order to overstate the equipment and accounts payable, the three company executives cut fake checks to the bogus accounts payable vendors associated with the fake purchases of equipment. However, the check preparing and recording of equipment purchases jobs should be distributed to different staff. Handling these two jobs at the same time by same executives provide them opportunity to make overstated recording of equipment purchasing. c. Research AU Section 316 to identify the three required auditor responses to further address the risk of management override of internal controls. Three required auditor responses to further address the risk of management override: (1) Examining journal entries and other adjustments for evidence of possible material misstatement due to fraud. (2) Reviewing accounting estimates for biases that could result in material misstatement due to fraud. (3) Evaluating the business rationale for significant unusual transactions.