American Aviation During Wwi

U. S. Aviation during World War I American aviation was in its infancy when the United States entered WWI in 1917. Most U. S. pilots were untrained in air combat and using aircraft that were less sophisticated than their enemies. When the U. S. joined the allied forces in April of 1917, it had 56 pilots and less than 250 aircraft, which were all obsolete. In July of 1917, congress appropriated $640 million to form 354 combat squadrons. There were no industries in the U. S. at this time manufacturing aircraft. With a few trial and errors supported by the government, the Bureau of Aircraft Production and a separate Division of Military Aeronautics were established. The new industry produced 11,754 aircraft and the Army set up 27 primary flying schools in the United States. American pilots would not be able to utilize these resources until the end of the war. Many of the sorties flown by U. S. aviators were in foreign aircraft. Some of the airframes used were the Salmson observation airplanes, Spad XIII pursuits, Havilland DH-4's, Breguet 14's, and some French balloons. Although many of these airframes helped win decisive air battles, they were no comparison to the German Fokker. Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer that began producing planes in Germany. The â€Å"Fokker Scourge† had revolutionary armament and was the most feared airframe during WWI. An American pilot by the name of Eddie Rickenbacker recalls in his book â€Å"Fighting The Flying Circus† an opportunity to trade a German pilot his life for his Fokker aircraft. Although the United States aviation units lacked training and sufficient aircraft, they were still able to make a difference in WWI and go on to have air superiority almost one hundred years later. This could be accredited to winning decisive battles and the U. S. being a â€Å"learning organization. † With the employment of balloons and fixed wing aircraft for trench warfare {text:soft-page-break} reconnaissance, the U. S. was able to save thousands of soldiers while delivering bombs and bullets from the sky. American military leadership saw the importance of this resource and has budgeted in reconnaissance aircraft ever since. With trench warfare, a stalemate would often develop with both sides having neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. Having air reconnaissance would prove to be valuable in collecting intelligence on enemy positions. These same aircraft would be fitted with bombs to clear forward enemy trench lines and to destroy their rear supply. Air recon planes were outfitted with an observer who would map out enemy strongholds while documenting the size and weapons of the enemy. Aerial reconnaissance later on becomes one the main focuses of the U. S. military. Reconnaissance aircraft during WWI were large, bulky, and slow. This made it easier for enemy ground troops to shoot down and smaller, faster aircraft to destroy. The Allied and Axis powers both began to send out fighter aircraft to protect these recon planes and to destroy any enemies they came in contact with. This use of smaller, faster, well armed aircraft helped usher in the age of supersonic fighters in modern day warfare. WWI demonstrated the importance of fighters and the U. S. has invested a lot of resources and research into their improvement. The United States was involved in various amounts of strategic battles during the last two years of the war. Some of these battles would mark the beginning of America's race for air superiority and the need for heavily-armed aircraft. At the Battle of St. Mihiel, Billy Mitchell was given control of 1, 4821 aircraft, only 40% being American. â€Å"It was the largest air force ever assembled for a single operation, consisting of 366 observation airplanes, 323 day bombers, 91 night bombers, and 701 pursuits. † Pilots reported the destruction of roads and balloons and {text:soft-page-break} aircraft shot down. The American Air Service being inexperienced in air warfare were undertaking an ambitious air campaign that was unheard of at that time. Although St. Mihiel was not a complete success, Col. Mitchell helped create an independent American Air Force that believes that whatever the opposition is, no mission would ever be turned back. Billy Mitchell took intensive courses on aeronautics taught by allied pilots. â€Å"What they had to say and even more, what they were doing, converted him to a theory of air power still unappreciated in the United States. Billy Mitchell understood the importance of air power and how vital it would be to win future wars. He believed this so much that in 1925, he accused Army and Navy leaders of an almost â€Å"treasonable act of national security† when he did not receive the funds asked for. Mitchell was court-martialed and retired shortly afterwards. He has been considered the father of the U. S. Air Force and B-25 Mitchell was named in his honor. D uring WWI, Germany had established air superiority with its flying command â€Å"The Flying Circus† led by the German Ace, Baron Manfred von Richtofen. The â€Å"Red Baron†, hich he was commonly known, had eighty aerial victories. The Baron and his fleet of Fokker's would be America's biggest challenge in getting the upper hand in aerial warfare. Captain Edward Rickenbacker, of the American 94th Aero Pursuit Squadron, was just the man to take on such a powerful foe and make a difference. â€Å"Eddie† Rickenbacker was America's â€Å"Ace of Aces† who accounted for twenty-six aircraft shot down. Twenty-two of airframes were airplanes and four of them were balloons. On September 25th, 1918, Rickenbacker downed two planes on his lone attack on seven German planes. Rickenbacker received the Congressional Medal of Honor for this in 1931. {text:soft-page-break} Captain Rickenbacker was not only an exceptional pilot, but he understood the importance of having a great airframe in the U. S. Army's arsenal. Rickenbacker, and many other U. S. pilots, only had access to substandard aircraft and in many cases, had to borrow from other countries. During a raid in September of 1918, Captain Rickenbacker and Lt. Coolidge (son of Calvin Coolidge) encountered several German enemies over Grand Pre. Lt. Coolidge, one of the best pilots in the 94th Aero Pursuit Squadron, was shot down. Rickenbacker went on to shoot down several German planes before heading back to Allied territory. Rickenbacker noticed a German Fokker on his way back who's engine had apparently stalled. Rickenbacker found himself in a curious position and decided that instead of shooting him down, he would bring his â€Å"prize† back intact. As the German Fokker began to sail down in the direction Rickenbacker had guided him, another aircraft (Rickenbacker was not sure if it was French or American) came out of nowhere and destroyed the plane. â€Å"So nearly had I succeeded in capturing intact a most valuable Fokker from Germany's most famous Squadron! Captain Rickenbacker and many other American pilots understood the importance of having the upper hand in air warfare. They understood that wars can be won from the sky and great aircraft were needed for this to happen. More pilots lives were lost due to aircraft malfunction than to enemy artillery. Life was short during World War I and Ameri can pilots lived it valiantly. This brought the need for safer, reliable aircraft in the U. S. military. With the military's purchase of 11,754 aircraft near the end of the war, the U. S. was on its way to air superiority. Some of these planes were cut from the budget after WWI, but soon became a focus during World War II. {text:soft-page-break} Aeronautical achievement by the end of World War I, had won favor not only by the American military, but with the American public. H. G. Wells writes â€Å"Every aviator who goes up to fight, will fight all the more gladly with two kindred alternatives in his mind, a knighthood or the prompt payment of a generous life assurance policy to his people. Every man who goes up and destroys either an aeroplane or a Zeppelin in the air should, I hold, have a knighthood if he gets down alive. World War I battles involving aviation helped spark America's race for air superiority. Military leadership recognized the role aviation would play in future wars and protecting our homeland. More funds and resources were generated to acquire the best aircraft and the best pilots. Without American involvement in such battles as the â€Å"Battle of St. Mihiel†, America might have joined the aerospace race even later and met with defeat. Billy Mitchell and Eddie Rickenbacker were also very important players to bring about the new dawn of American aviation, Aerospace Expeditionary Forces.

Managing Groups in a Multicultural Setup

Surviving and succeeding in today’s global competitive business environment is obviously difficult. Cross-cultural working, managing changes, technological advantages give the much needed edge to set organizations apart. Our progress and approach strategies clearly defines our success. Developments in recent years have reinforced the view that we are moving from a world in which we determined our destination to one in which we must learn to navigate a path between myriad future possibilities (Stickland,1998).I had been assigned to a study group, which I was to work with, during the first semester. The group members met each other for the first time in the lecture theatre and decided to meet after class. The meeting was informal and we all introduced ourselves, exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers. All five team members talked about their backgrounds and I seemed to like the team from the beginning.Everyone seemed humble. As we kept on talking, it became apparent that s ome team members were more talkative than others. Team members, A and B were very talkative and kept asking questions while C and D were more quiet. I was more like an average participant, but in the end I too talked less. A and B looked at each other and me but not at C and D; C and D were thus not included in the conversations. I noticed this, but decided to ignore it for the time being. I thought I need to only change it later.The five members came from different countries across four continents. A was from India and from experience I knew that Indians would talk a lot and have strong opinions. B was from Honduras whom I thought would be talkative and easy going like my friends from Nicaragua and other Central American countries. While C was from Georgia, a country I did not know much about, D was from the US whom I thought would be a hard working, self-centered and confrontationist.The team was truly diverse. Having lived in Asia, North America and Europe, working with several m ulticultural teams for over a decade; I knew from the beginning that I had to learn more about their cultures and backgrounds. This was perhaps the only way I could interpret their behavior and adapt to them, while they could adapt to me too. I believed that judging people even before you get to know them was wrong, while at the same time I was sure that my assumptions about certain cultures and the norms within these cultures, were mostly right.We were assigned the first group task in management science. I walked into the assignment with a positive attitude and everyone else in the group did, too. After all, the first get-to-know meeting had been positive. Once we had gathered, we decided on where to work. We sat down and focused on the task that had been given to us. We read the assignment and were ready to discuss the task.Here things started to go wrong. As group members are not much familiar with each other, there is a certain amount of uncertainty and suspicion, when interpret ing each other’s conduct and action. Lack of positive relationship carries opportunities for development of serious conflicts. These may not only be difficult to resolve, but also decrease team performance, particularly when a relationship conflict is not differentiated from task disagreements. (Pamela and Sara 2002)As we had not established a hierarchy structure, there was no leader. It was an equal platform for all to put forth their contributions, at an identical level. I come from a consensus driven society and thought that it was the right approach. I believed that everyone knew how dynamics in a consensus driven group works. However, I was proven wrong. People were not listening to each other! People would not let each other talk. Instead they interrupted each other!I could not overcome the feeling that some people wanted to prove that they were intelligent and knowledgeable. We did not have a dialogue. The task’s problems and scope were not discussed. We did not talk about how to solve the task at hand. Instead people presented their solutions!. The team found it hard to keep up the schedules, and inefficient communication was taking its toll.I have worked as a management and strategy consultant in many countries and even founded companies in cultures foreign to me and I had never seen such chaos and unstructured behavior. In fact, gradually the team structure itself broke down and began functioning like two divided teams working on separate agenda. Did this have to do with some people’s inexperience?! Or was this peculiar only to me?.I went along with what was happening in the group, always trying to pull people back to discuss the task’s scope. The group agreed that we needed to look at the scope and understand it. However, people continued to argue their causes defending their ideas. We were not getting anywhere. Time was running out and I knew that we did not have a good solution. This was confirmed when we saw what other groups presented. Now, I wondered whether the other people in the group saw it the same way? But I never asked them. We had talked to each other in the first assignment but not with each other now . We were not communicating well.Several days later, the second assignment was given to us. We went back to the same room we had used earlier. We read the task and, to my surprise, nobody’s approach had changed. Everyone was talking and no one listening. D who had been quiet in the first meeting tried to explain his idea which I thought was good. I wanted people to listen to D and they did after I specifically asked them to. D has only studied English for four years and he had a hard time expressing his thoughts, lacking the necessary vocabulary.Everyone else in the group speaks English fluently. I believed this might be the reason why no one listened to him. Anyway, after D had talked, they resumed their unconstructive debating, ignoring D’s ideas. After I initiated a secon d attempt to get D back into the discussion without any success I must admit that emotions replaced my otherwise logical and rather rational thinking. The other group members’ ignorance upset me. I decided not to participate anymore. Instead, I decided to observe what was going on in the team, making mental notes and checking my initial assumptions about each others’ attitudes.I then realized that initiating a groupwork successfully is very important and difficult. Perhaps the task or objectives at hand need to correspond to an initiation level too. Not much has been said or written on tasks, which are more suitable for groupwork, particularly at the initiation level. But it has been widely accepted that group work must be established in defined stages or steps, so that there is a better sense of direction and focus at the early stages. It would also be more beneficial if the topics and activities are initially focused at a simpler, straightforward and interesting agen da, gradually moving on to complicating issues. (Elisabeth 1990)Once again, we ran out of time without having completed the task, we returned to the lecture theatre only to find that our solution was substandard. At this point, I thought we have had enough and decided that we need to have a team discussion to analyze why we were under performing and how can we improve?. I sent out an e-mail to the group on this and to my surprise the team agreed with me, and we met the next day. During the subsequent meeting everyone admitted that we have been under performing.We also agreed that an important problem was that we were not letting everyone speak up and that some members dominated the discussions. We had to change this. This is when we created a â€Å"Group Work Guidebook† and work structure guidelines. We established guidelines on courtesy, respect, conduct and criticism, which are to be exhibited by all, in the course of our groupwork. We also took certain strategic initiative s like sharing our strengths and weaknesses and setting up a roadmap for achieving our objectives.Even though we did not have specific roles I soon became the facilitator, with many suggesting that I take over as a secretary. I made sure to empower others in the group as we went along but also made sure that discussion went smoothly without getting stuck in details. When emotions started to come up in discussions I tried to intervene usually with humor. I had to skip a meeting as I was sick; however it gave me an opportunity to understand how the team performed in my absence. I was surprised to note that the team was indeed more receptive to each other than before. Meetings were however becoming more hectic due to time constraints caused unnecessarily by professors, and at times we felt like we were slipping off as before.What made me uncomfortable at times was that some group members started to see me as the leader, which I did not like. Group members would look at me when there wa s an argument or when they had questions. I felt like a judge! I did not want this because I felt that it would hold the group back from having open and productive discussions. I believed that we could have â€Å"new leaders† every time depending on what we talked about. The leader would naturally emerge and it would obviously be the one who knew the most about the matter at hand. When I received for example questions, and people looked at me.I would give my opinion but then make sure that I asked everyone else what they thought. It was a time consuming process and ate into our efficiency but it was worth it. We ended up with good results and everyone felt involved. However, not everyone felt that they had been involved every time we met. C had never worked in a multi-cultural team before and likes task-focused approaches. C took over the role of coordinator without us noticing.A says that she comes from a passive culture and thinks she is helping us which isn’t. . In the session, A mentioned that she was not feeling that everyone understood her and she had a hard time expressing her feelings in the group. I spoke to A about it, who needed more reassurance when she worked in groups. She had a tendency to talk a lot and many group members found it distracting and I sensed that she was being kept outside the team a little bit. We had agreed on some guidelines but, especially A and C wanted to work the way they were used to, unwilling to accept others’ ways of working. We started to prepare slides so that we could hit the ground running and it took a long time before we felt comfortable with dividing tasksThe initial phase helped us to bond. As we went along, the group worked harmoniously with some few interruptions. The group bonded more and more as we went along. Mostly, because we now understood each other’s needs and how everyone liked to work. Our team outing also contributed to this bonding, giving us an opportunity to talk on so mething personal. Also, we started to split tasks and worked in small groups. The objectives and approaches were discussed with the team.Then tasks were delegated. We were able to work faster this way. This also satisfied C who wanted a more task oriented approach. However, we did not exaggerate the task focus. A admitted that she in general has problems to express feelings, and we as a team assured her that everyone does have it, but that it is better to talk to us, so that we can support her as we work together almost every day. We were here to learn, try new things and have fun. In the â€Å"group therapy† session, the team agreed that efficiency was an issue although, it had improved over the past weeks. The question now was how quickly we could improve our efficiency and how?. We decided, especially during our project, to pick up the pace and set more deadlines.As we continued to progress well, it was becoming obvious that some team members missed a hierarchical structur e. The more experienced members however, were fine with not having one, while the less experienced ones looked for guidance and at some time even thought that they had turned into leaders as they tried to enforce a hierarchy or assigned themselves tasks such as structuring meetings, etc. I believe this helps them tackle their insecurity.The younger members showed that they could not handle stress very well. When we had client meetings C would get nervous and start bossing people around. I laughed at it initially, but pointed it out to him. Even other group members pointed it out to him and he improved. As we entered the final phase of the project I discovered that the younger members liked to talk in the â€Å"I† form more and more. When I had put together a model with A or C they would still say â€Å"I created XYZ† in the group. B picked up on this and it irritated her as well as me. I explained to them the importance of teamwork and made it clear that it should alwa ys be ‘We’ and not ‘I’.The study group bonded more and more. Even C who in the beginning thought that dinners were simply a waste of time now started to enjoy them and even initiates them. He felt comfortable with the team and the team in general spoke openly about everything. Today, we are still improving our organizational skills and efficiency. However, we are very comfortable with each other, joking and laughing more than we work at times. This slows down work, but we still achieve good results and most importantly we discuss things outside the assignment, which is also a way of developing.The project presentation went very well. C talks and jokes more than he has ever done before – not just with the group. D has found a humorous side as well and has been very calm throughout the process. B is very involved sometimes at a level that is too detailed but she keeps everyone positive. A is motivated again after the Management Science debacle when we scored lower than we had expected. I am more structured in my approach and communicate much clearer (harder) than before pulling the teams back to the essential problems, when needed. And, yes, I still spend much time talking to group members outside the group, helping in any way that I possibly can. Did it require much energy and time? Yes! But it was worth it.I look forward to working with this group again, because we are now working well together, learning more and faster; being adapted to each other’s working style and body language. There are people in the MBA with whom I do not want to work with. These are people who do not understand integrity, honesty and respect. Selfishness does not go well with me. I have understood and realized this only in the past few weeks, more than ever before. I continue to believe that my passive leadership style in which I try to make people discover their flaws themselves is good. Sometimes I have to be more direct, or there will be misun derstandings leading to potential conflicts.Creating a group and implementing a working plan or road map is a difficult and time-consuming task. The planning stage is very crucial for the effective working of the group, however it is also essential that we do not hold on completely to the plan. The group and leader must react to situations impulsively. (Linda 1997). I see myself more of a transformational type leader who set goals and inculcate awareness on the setting and achieving of goals by others to pull them from unworthy preoccupations.Transformational leadership elevates levels of morality and motivation among others and are more effective, It has not been possible to relate their leadership with demographic, social or personal characteristics (Linda et al). I have indeed been benefited by this groupwork experience, a benefit that will remain with me, contributing to whatever I would be involved in.REFERENCESLinda et al., 2001;Organizational Behavior; A Management Challenge, Lawrence Erlbaum AssociatesLinda. F. Groupwork in Occupational Therapy. Nelson Thornes (1997)Elisabeth D. Talking and Learning in Groups. Routledge (1990).Pamela J. and   Sara. K Distributed Work   MIT Press, (2002)Stickland, F.; The Dynamics of Change. Publisher: Routledge, London (1998).

Adolf Hitler And The Nazi Party History Essay

Adolf Hitler And The Nazi Party History Essay Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party wholeheartedly believed that by applying a selective breeding scheme encouraged by social Darwinism, that the human genome could be greatly improved – similar to applying this notion towards breeding superior strains of dog and cattle as seen today. Although it is may be difficult to comprehend the true nature to why Hitler formulated and articulated the ideas of racial policies, in which is now commonly referred to as Nazi ideology; it is widely acceptable that Hitler and the Nazi’s developed and implemented such doctrines in order to protect what they believed to be ‘the superior race’. However, this foolishness resulted in the ‘final solution’, it justified the genocide of approximately â€Å"11 million European Jews†Ã‚   [ 1 ]   in which the Nazi’s judged as ‘the inferior race’. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, coined the survival of the fittest was observed and appli ed to the diversity and complexity of life on earth. However, Hitler crudely manipulated this concept in order to protect and encourage the breeding of the Aryan ‘master race’   [ 2 ]   . The Nazi party â€Å"†¦went further, convincing themselves that, as mankind had become the dominant species through strengthening the features that distinguish humans from lesser beings and handing them down to succeeding generations, so it would be possible to enhance the race by deliberately choosing to breed from men and women whose qualities you wanted to see preserved. The corollary was the suppression, by extermination or enslavement, of people whose undesirable characteristics would pollute the mix†Ã‚   [ 3 ]   . This entailed preventing those perceived as the ‘inferior race’ from assimilating with those believed as superior or Aryan, gifted above all other races – thus effectively reducing the contamination of their gene pool. The notion wa s justified as it was seen to be employing ‘the laws of nature’, as outlined by Hitler in his political autobiography, Mein Kampf or translated to ‘My Struggle’ in which he stated that through the evolution of life, natural selection favoured the breeding of superior organisms and subsequently races. â€Å"No more than Nature desires the mating of weaker with stronger individuals, even less does she desire the blending of a higher with a lower race, since, if she did, her whole work of higher breeding, over perhaps, hundreds of thousands of years, night be ruined with one blow†Ã‚   [ 4 ]   . As such, Hitler who came to power in 1933, by this time he had been undoubtedly convinced that he had found the solution for a better future for the Aryan race as he believed that a person’s characteristics, attitudes, abilities, and behaviour were determined by his or her so-called racial makeup†Ã‚   [ 5 ]   and thus also determined whether or n ot their loyalties lied with Germany. Therefore by intermingling with those believed to be of inferiority; Hitler and the Nazi’s viewed this as the dilution of ideal characteristics and the inconceivable distribution of poisonous genes, with dire consequences to those judged superior. â€Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦he will remain the master as long as he does not fall a victim to defilement of the blood. The result of all racial crossing is therefore in brief always the following:

GANG INTERVENTION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GANG INTERVENTION - Essay Example The prosecution suppression program Operation Hardcore was initially formed in 1979 by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. This is the original prosecution program which aimed to restrain brutal juvenile gang crimes that are severe. Operation Hardcore led to lesser caseloads, further investigative report, vertical prosecution and resources to help victims of gang related offenses (Youth Gang Programs and Strategies, 2000). Currently operating as Hardcore Gang Division (Operation Hardcore), the program is said to be a total success since it provided more convictions for all types of charges and prison/confinement for program subject cases in comparison with cases of the same nature that underwent the standard prosecution procedure. Operation Hardcore is a reputable program that established improvements in managing and administering criminal justice processes on cases involving gang defendants (Youth Gang Programs and Strategies, 2000). On the other hand, police hands-on work or police response is the second aspect of gang suppression programs which began during the early 1980s at the Southwest to deal with the rising problems on youth and adult gangs. This program was implemented by having police officers do gang intelligence work like surveillance and doing neighborhood cruising in a caravan of patrol cars (caravanning) (Youth Gang Programs and Strategies, 2000).

In-Flight Security For Airline Passengers Essay

In-Flight Security For Airline Passengers - Essay Example are to be dealt more cautiously. And now more security provisions are added for airline passengers while in air. The project examines and studies all the security measures adhered to by various airlines including FAMs, Flight Deck Officer, Discrete Codes, Crew Members and Reinforced Cockpit Doors. Their training methods, duties, laws and changed laws after September 11 incident has been mentioned in it. It is highly useful for the general public to be assured regarding the present security provided by the airlines. Even the ethical situation and dilemma has been talked about giving due consideration to the delicate issues. No doubt all the training, requirements and implementation of changed laws needs huge budget. But the Under Secretary and Federal Government are obliged to hold all the cost responsibility of training, supervision, equipment etc. hence leaving no expense to the pilots. Training becomes very ideal when it comes to the security of the public especially when carrying loaded guns to fire when in need. The project clearly shows the comparison between the changed laws before and after the fatal incident of September 11. Budgets have been reformed and the government takes the responsibility. Although TSA initially opposed the Flight Deck Officer program to arm and train cockpit personnel. The conclusion states that the top priority of any organization should be the security of the passengers in airlines. Audience Scenario My project is directly approached to the general public boarding airlines on daily basis. It is to shed all their doubts regarding their security and safety in planes while in air. It will be surely of great help to them to get acquainted to various security methods deployed by airlines for their betterment. After reading the report they'll be more confident and easy while boarding the flights especially after what happened on September

Conway Inn & Restaurant Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Conway Inn & Restaurant - Research Paper Example We removed the franchise tag in the late 1980s because the customer flow was excellent, and there was no need to pay the franchise fee; therefore, we made it into an independent hotel. Conway Inn and Hotel has been a Better Business Bureaus (BBB) accredited enterprise since mid-2010. The BBB came to the determination that Conway Inn and Hotel complied with its accreditations standards. These include the organization’s commitment to resolving all complaints of the consumer in good faith. Nestled in Panhandle, Texas, the Conway Inn and Hotel is a traditional establishment that seeks to be successful in today’s business environment. It has a living room style eating area, a traditional pub area, as well as comfortable fireside sofas. The establishment also has an outdoor area for guests when the weather is permissive. In the hotel and inn areas, there are blackboard areas that offer daily seasonal specials, classic pub favorites as well as some of the establishment’ s own quirky dishes. The bar area has a great wine list while also serving a selection of ales, all available by the glass and the bottle. In the past few years, the customer flow has slowed, and we can see that trend by looking at the registration logs, which we keep for our records to show us the rate of drop. By offering amenities such as refrigerators in the rooms, a free Wi-Fi connection, and cab services for tipsy guests, the organization has always been popular with locals and a preferred hotel for those traveling through the town. However, Conway Inn & Restaurant began to suffer a downturn in the customer flow in 2010, and this decline has been a major area of concern ever since. The organization used to have diverse visitors of various races, but of late, a trend towards senior citizens has been seen, which has reduced the customer flow drastically. This concern has caused the organization to cut back on some of its services such as the discounted cab services. The reduced customer flow has also led to staff layoffs, although this has not been on a large scale. With the decrease in the customer flow, Conway Inn & Restaurant has been forced to cut back on its discounted cab service as discussed. While Conway Inn & Restaurant has always tried to offer the best possible services to its customers, this has become more difficult with the decrease in the customer flow. At the present time, the management is even considering scaling back on its room service as well as subletting some of its rooms. This decision is because Conway Inn & Restaurant has been trying to cut back on costs given the reduced revenue stream. The loss of the discounted cab service altogether would be a big loss given that it has been a major selling point for the organization, especially for the inn customers. I work as a manager with Conway Inn & Restaurant, where I started in 2009. It is under my watch as a manager that the customer flow has decreased, and for this reason, I feel it is up to me to find the underlying cause of the issue and come up with workable solutions. The long time employees at Conway Inn & Restaurant often remember with nostalgia the days when customers would turn back to the inn as well as the fully booked hotel rooms in summer. Last summer, we only had half occupancy, which shows the problem is stark. The recent state of the customer flow has given the employees reasons to worry, as there are constant rumors of layoffs. Problem Statement Conway Inn & Rest

Market Research on Radiation Therapy system Paper

Market on Radiation Therapy system - Research Paper Example Accuray’s commercial release of installed base systems has increased from zero to approximately 600 systems in a decade. These sales have been recorded mainly in the United States and internationally. The high release is as a result of the growing demand for efficient and effective radiation therapy in the market. The development of clinical evidence that support the merits of IMRT and image-guided radiotherapy is also a boost to this technology (Faiz 140). Manufacturers of Radiation Therapy systems Accuray in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 recorded an increase in new orders. The corporation has also installed TomoTherapy H series and the new Cyber-knife M6 series systems. These installations have led to an increase in the gross profit and an improvement in service revenue. A gross total of $53.8 million of new product orders have been recorded in the third quarter of fiscal 2013. The second quarter of fiscal 2013 had a gross product orders totaling to $39.8 million. The net product orders in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 amounted to $44.1 million as compared to the previous quarter with $17.9 million. The company has also recorded ending product backlog of $279.9 million marking a 7% increase from the previous quarter. ... Varian company attained net orders worth $3,122 million and recorded a total of $2,807 million revenue last year. These records show an increase in net orders from $2,933 and an increase in revenue from $2,597 in the previous year. The operating earnings of the company in the fiscal 2011 totaled $588 million which increased to $594 million in fiscal 2012. Net earnings in fiscal 2012 were $427 million from $409 million in the previous year. Elekta Oncology Systems Inc. manufactures integrated x-ray systems, linear accelerators with multileaf collimators and offers clinical solutions for patient fixation and positioning (Arno and Roeske 100). It supplies its products to cancer centers, universities and hospitals. The corporation is famous for introducing critical technological advances in the radiotherapy field. The company focuses on evidence-based medicine with the aim of saving and prolonging life. Some of the techniques used by Elekta are Stereotactic radiation therapy, Image Guide d Radiotherapy, beam shaping and motion management (David et al 730). The company expects the net sales of the fiscal year 2012/1013 to increase by 15% in local currency. It expects an increase of operating profit by over 15% despite effects of exchange rates volatility. The company recorded a total of$1.46 billion and a net income of $0.16 billion. Costs Radiation Therapy systems X-ray radiation therapy system costs about $10 million and requires less space as compared to particle beam therapies whose facility cost up to $100 million. Varian Inc. holds approximately 60% of the international market share of radiation oncology equipment. A brand new system costs $2-3

Hunan Resource-Does motivation come from within a person or is it the Essay

Hunan Resource-Does motivation come from within a person or is it the result of the situation - Essay Example However, motivation seems to arouse out of any of the discussed situations and it has to be considered that motivation cannot be seen in majority of the people as external or internal influence as a whole. Motivation can be classified into two types they are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation are engender within a person as a result of factors such as liability, autonomy to act, capacity to point out and apply the skills and an enthusiasm to face challenging works. Where as Extrinsic Motivation is created in people by outside influences such as rewards, backing, sponsorship, endorsement etc. However, most of the researchers observe Motivation as a behavioural intervention influenced wither by external forces or forces necessitated within the person. It is very important to analyse the reasons every action of human beings as that would help in giving the exact background for motivation. The reasons to get motivated could be sketched out at two levels they are, individual exhibiting certain activity in addition to how these activities came about. There lies a background for every action performed under motivation. The background of motivation might have come from the influence two forces that might be either a positive or a negative force. However, any kind of motivated action constitutes a goal within inside. For example, Toates’s [1980, 1986] observed motivation as involving a goal-oriented pattern, in which an organism is motivated to behave in a particular way; this behaviour might get changed completely after the organism achieves the goal. Therefore, any motivated behaviour is an influence of some conditions, which are required by the organism. Where as McFarland [1989] has a contradictory observation which says that motivation under the influence of a goal would continue even after the goal has been achieved. From this observation, it appears that McFarland’s notion about motivated actions results either from a

Recruitment in Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Recruitment in Human Resource Management - Essay Example According to the study, when recruiting, it is of critical importance for an organization to avoid any form of discrimination because employment laws protect individuals against such treatment. Here, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 has taken care of any discrimination issues that may arise due to pregnancy, childbirth or any other related medical conditions. Specifically, this Act protects individuals against issues related to employment such as promotion, layoffs, training, hiring, and leaves among other conditions related to employment. When discriminations take place, the employee or employees can file lawsuits for unfair treatment. However, it is important to understand that some instances that may pass as discrimination are allowed by the law and include jobs such as those that require members of a certain religion. At times, pregnancy discrimination may be viewed as discrimination based on gender. In the case of Jenny and Melbourne Finance, Jenny has a right to take le gal action against the organization because of how it conducted her previous application for an opportunity. It is clear that she was discriminated because she was pregnant. Although the organization may have had genuine reasons for denying her the opportunity such as that she may have to undertake constant visits to the doctor for pregnancy check-ups, they still violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. This is one of the main mistakes that the organization did during the recruitment. It is appropriate to conclude that she was discriminated because of several reasons that include that she was more aware of how the organization ran implying that she was more qualified than an external individual would be and that the position that she was awarded later was senior to the one that she was denied.

The HR Director - about JAL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

The HR Director - about JAL - Essay Example I would appreciate if the JAL and IASCO workers could come up to me and share with me what they feel about the entire working regime in place and how they can contribute towards a changing climate. This would put an end to the acrimony which has arisen within the JAL umbrella and which needs to be taken care of at the very earliest (Tomei 2003). The organizational fabric is getting hurt and this cannot be tolerated at all. So it is in the best interest of the organization to keep away those factors which are creating some form of nuisance and find a way to deal with him in a very strict and harsh way. On the same token, all out efforts would be made to ensure that there are no problems left at the end, so that the JAL employees and the IASCO workers could take a sigh of relief. The tension thus existent could be thwarted if I am steadfast in my approach to resolve all disputes and if I am geared to meet these problems in a head on manner, which I shall promise to do with all my faith and conviction. I believe the business is going wrong because there is no set philosophy of the work as such. The employees are uncertain about their jobs and some of them think of the other clan as the inferiority group, which is abysmal to state the least. I would take notice of this in a very strict way because at the end of the day, each employee there is meant to attend work so that they can give their best, and not to indulge in petty issues and fights. My aim is to address these matters because these mean a lot for the sake of the organization and which is in essence hurting the cause of JAL as a single unit. The business is also going wrong because no one is paying attention at the moment, and much care has to be brought in within the related equation. At the beginning of my term, I would make it clear that discipline would rule the roost because it is the only thing that unifies the organization as a single entity. If the employees are disciplined enough to understand that their organizational basis depends on their courteous behaviors and actions, the organization shall return the favor to them as well.  

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 †A Book Analysis Essay Example for Free

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 – A Book Analysis Essay In his book, Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury highlights the power and importance of obtaining knowledge through books but decries the impact that technological innovations, particularly the television, pose in stifling intellectual and creative development. As a science fiction book that was first printed in 1953, many readers particularly literary critics and students correlate the book to state censorship and subsequent cultural decay presaging the eras following the book’s publication. Indeed, it can be easily gleaned from the main character’s occupation as a book-burning fireman that the book burning per se may be emblematic of   a common situation that most societies have found themselves grappling with – specific stages in nations’ histories whereby basic inalienable rights and freedoms were suppressed. Literary censorship, in particular, has been a recurring theme in many great works of literature. In real life, censorship is something that most governments have resorted to for varied reasons other than as a means of quelling what they categorize as rebellion or insurrection, and in almost every instance, books that echo the sentiments of many great nationalists or radical-thinking individuals have borne the brunt of censorship laws. Some analysts point out that in Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, â€Å"The book burning is not a government mandated censorship Instead, it is a society-built degradation of the written word. Society has rejected the black and white messages bound in leather and paper† (Przybyszewski).   The author himself does not dispute this observation. Whether it is art imitating reality or the other way around, Fahrenheit 451 is a successful attempt in making readers including those who got to read the book generations after its initial publication ponder on key social and political issues like censorship, even if the author himself had clarified that his novel â€Å"is actually about how television destroys interest in reading literature† (Oleck, par. 1). A lover of the written word, Ray Bradbury hails from humble beginnings in Illinois, which set the stage for his profound yet realistic insights, searing views and cunning overall approach to his subject matter. He was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois; studied in a Los Angeles High School in 1938, and furthered his education by working nights in the library and pounding away at   typewriter keys and selling newspapers in Los Angeles by day (â€Å"Ray Bradbury Biography†).   It can be noted that Fahrenheit 451, in many ways, pays homage to Bradbury’s Waukegan hometown.   It is in this locality that he developed an enormous and lasting appetite for books and a love for libraries, something which is continually described in his book. As Bradbury himself narrates: From the time I was 9 up through my teens I spent at least two nights a week in the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   town library in Waukegan, Ill. In the summer months, there was hardly a day I could   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   not be found lurking about the stacks, smelling the books like imported spices, drunk   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   on them even before I read them (Moran). Based on the author’s personal narrative, one clearly sees how he obtained the characteristic ease in describing to readers a well-stacked library, and how he skillfully let some of his characters express forceful sentiments about books not just as a storehouse of knowledge and cultural heritage of nations, but as instruments to guide man in living and making decisions about the future. Ray Bradbury’s Waukegan roots likewise armed him with first-hand knowledge and distinct style of writing about a specific subject matter as firefighters. As another writer gathering from Ray Bradbury’s musings in writing Fahrenheit 451: Bradburys wary respect for fire can be traced back to his Waukegan youth, where he   Ã‚  Ã‚   would pass the firehouse on his way to and from the Carnegie Library and end up   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   writing down his descriptions (Moran). Ray Bradbury’s remarkable style is indeed something which has not escaped discerning book readers and analysts. â€Å"While a lesser writer would have to content himself with beating the reader over the head with description and exposition, Bradbury is able to make his nightmare world real with economy and subtlety. The horror never grabs you by the throat as in a Stephen King novel; instead it creeps into your soul almost unnoticed† (Wright). Content-wise, what American writer Ray Bradbury sought to impress on his readers is the fact that humanity stands to be strangled by the very forces – or trappings of modern living   that had originally been conceived to make life better. Bradbury makes a very good point in singling out television as the piece of equipment that most people have been overly relying on, and it comes at a very huge price: a stifled intellectual development. Indeed, of all the new modern conveniences or gadgetry the world has ever seen, one medium of communications which remains all-powerful or influential to minds and attitudes of people of all ages is the television. It is evident that Bradbury possessed remarkable foresight in ascertaining early on that people are bound to be enslaved. One of many insightful reviews about Ray Bradbury and his book states: Bradburys novel — or novella, really — is an inspired criticism of what we now call   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the information society, and the yawning chasm it is creating in our collective soul.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In it he managed to predict with frightening accuracy such current social pathologies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   as the dumbing down of popular entertainment and education, our growing addiction   Ã‚  Ã‚   to empty sensory stimulation, the rise of random violence among youth, the increasing anomie and alienation among everyone (Wright). Indeed, it takes a meticulous eye attuned to his surroundings for a writer to realistically depict current real-life situations as well as future scenarios. One important point that Ray Bradbury stressed in Fahrenheit 451 is that most of the time, people’s enslavement, whether by societal forces or modern technological advances, do occur from their own volition or free will. â€Å"It’s ordinary people who turn away from reading and the habits of thought and reflection it encourages. When the government starts actively censoring information, most people don’t even bat an eye† (Bradbury 183). It is true, of course, that in the present society, there are many cases of jaded individuals – especially ordinary citizens who wield little or no power to go against the powers-that-be – who initially protest but end up allowing circumstances like government   restraints on media/information to prevail or take place.   It is, however, an inescapable fact that many freedoms, like free speech and expression of ideas through books, are not absolute. This is something that advocates of censorship keep harping on. Introspection will show that in many ways, people, during these increasingly complex times and informational bombardment, do succumb or let government impose controls as the latter may deem morally and socially and politically fit. In doing so, it becomes a clear case of the antagonist turning into an ally. In societies which do a good job of balancing interests and rights, this may be permissible. There are, however, exceptions to the rule. There are people may rant and do nothing, but there are some individuals who even band together to form a coalition or cause-oriented group/association to bat for what they perceive as just. To their minds, the words of 18th century political theorist and philosopher Edmund Burke, of letting evil triumph if good men do nothing, may be ringing loud and clear. Reverting to the other main issue tackled by the book, which is the tendency of people to allow themselves to be enslaved by new technology and turn away from the many virtues of reading books, this is a universal problem pervading modern societies today. Ray Bradbury may have crafted decades ago a concise book about a dystopian society, but its message reverberates up to the present age, when gadget-toting new generations turn to books only when school requires them to, or when a bestselling book-turned-movie or escapist adult novels catch their fancy. In effect, the firemen’s task of burning books in the novel is actually a metaphor for the way a society’s citizens allow themselves, or their knowledge and future, to be stunted.   â€Å"The firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord† (Bradbury 87).

Texting and Driving Essay Example for Free

Texting and Driving Essay Texting while driving is the act of composing, sending, reading text messages, email while driving. (Wikipedia) The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group. (2009,NHTSA) With todays technology teenagers feel the need to be connected to their friends at all time. Even the simplest of conversations become extremely important due to the fact that they feel like they need to be talking twenty four seven. Texting and driving is so common that it increases the chances of having an accident at any moment no matter how much control you think you have over whats happening, not only can it increase accidents but you can also harm yourself and others, and just when you think thats all that can happen I tell you that you can kill too. So unless you plan on being someones bitch in jail, I suggest you educate yourself a little on the wrong that you are doing. Just think to yourself Is this conversation really that important? The answer should always be no. Five seconds are the average time your eyes are off the road while texting, when traveling at 55mph, thats enough to cover the length of an entire football field. (2009,VTTI) Thats also enough time to get into a severe car accident. Many people realize the risk they are taking by texting and driving, but they seem to not care, seeing as how their phone is always in the palm of their hands, and theyre paying more attention to it than their driving and surroundings. Forty nine percent of drivers under the age of 35 send or read text messages while driving. (2011, Harris Poll) Thats an extremely high percentage, and any one of those people could cause the biggest collision youve ever seen in your entire life, in a matter of seconds. When youre texting and driving, y oure reaction time is significantly decreased, so those five seconds you used to look at your phone, you couldve used to notice that cars were beginning to brake, and you shouldve too.Congratulations, youve just been in an accident. Now, not only has your car insurance sky rocketed because the collision is your fault, but your medical bill and lawsuit will be a lot too. So, is that text still important to you? In an accident you always risk hurting yourself, and the person in the other car. You see the paramedics hovering you as you slowly open your eyes, you dont remember what happened, so naturally you ask one of them what it was that happened. You got into an accident sir. Well whos the one who caused it? You are, sir. You were texting and didnt stop. Youre now on your way to the hospital with what may be a broken leg because you couldnt wait. Thirty five percent of teens who drive while distracted dont think they get hurt. (2010, AAA and seventeen magazine) To me, driving is serious. My cousin died in a car accident in 2004, and i dont like risking my safety over a text message that could wait, because I know I could get hurt at any second. Not only am I concerned with my safety, and not only should you be concerned with yours. Fact is, teenagers are usually with their friends, driving to the mall, or a party, so you should also be concerned with their safety. Their lives are in your hands, and their medical bill. I dont know about you, but I dont plan on paying a thousand or more on someones injury, when it couldve been avoided by waiting. I like my bones and limbs in tact, and Im pretty sure that i speak for everyone when i say that. Given the choice, we would never want to break or lose them. Twenty two percent of teens who drive wh ile distracted say it makes driving less boring. (2010, AAA and seventeen magazine) Driving isnt supposed to be exciting, youre supposed to take it seriously. Your safety is at risk!!!! No wonder the older generation looks down on us in shame, and thinks were electronic dependent idiots. Distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Alcohol- related accidents among teens have dropped, but teenage traffic fatalities have remained unchanged because distracted driving is on the rise. (2007, Childrens hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm insurance study and NHTSA study) How is it that texting and driving hasnt been made completely illegal everywhere in the United States?! I am completely outraged! If it is killing as many teens as drinking and driving would, then wouldnt common sense tell you to make it illegal? Not only are they risking their own lives, but they are risking everyone elses in the car, family and friends. How would you be able to live with yourself kn owing that you killed your mom or you best friend in a car accident because you were texting K or some worthless text message? Or what if youre texting and you dont notice that innocent twelve year old boy crossing the road, and you run over him? next thing you know, youre paying his funeral, and time in prison. You better hope theres no death penalty in your state, because if I were the mother of that child, Id be pushing for it. How would you be able to live with the fact that you took that innocent childs life?! How you took that mothers reason to breathe away? What would you family have to say about this? Did the not teach you better? Youd have a lot of time to reflect on all of this in prison. Dont give me that this is too much punishment speech, because if the situation were vice versa youd be waning the same amount of punishment, or worst. Texting and driving does cause accidents and some worst than drunk driving accidents, those accidents can lead to major injuries for you and/or the people in the car with you, and not only injuries but you can cause fatalities to people in your car, the other car, or pedestrians. So, another set of bills youll have to pay to add to your stress, due to an accident†¦. awesome! How do you feel about possibly amputating a ligament due to major blood loss or trauma, because of your text? Yeah, I dont like that idea either. Prison? Id rather stay out of it by not texting and driving and avoiding killing someone else. Dont think about the person on the other side of the phone when driving, think b out how youll be the one paying for everything: Physically, emotionally, and mentally. They wont be thinking about you in your time of struggle. Texting can wait.

Adapting Materials For A Specific Context Education Essay

Adapting Materials For A Specific Context Education Essay Although most people associate language-learning materials with course books, in fact materials encompass a much wider scope. A very general definition would be that materials are anything that teachers and learners use to facilitate learning of a language. As well as course books this could encompass cassettes, videos, dictionaries, grammar books, newspapers, photographs, and much more (Tomlinson 1998). Added to this is the realisation that materials are not simply the mundane apparatus of the language teacher, they are a personification of the aims, values and methods of the particular teaching or learning situation (Hutchinson 1987). Therefore the selection of materials is probably the single most important decision that the language teacher has to make (Hutchinson 1987). With such a broad definition teacher produced materials will obviously play a role. However there are very few teachers who do not use published course materials at some stage in their career and the use of published materials is now more pervasive than ever before with the course book being at the centre (Littlejohn 1998, McDonough Shaw 2003). Although it is convenient to lump both teacher produced materials and commercially sponsored published course materials together there are in fact noteworthy differences pertaining to the circumstances under which they come to be written, produced and distributed. Customarily teacher produced materials are aimed at a more specified local audience, and commercially sponsored materials are for as wide an audience as possible (Dubin Olshtain 1986). Often the sheer time consuming feat of writing your own materials coupled with the reality that many teachers have little or no control over what course book and main materials will be selected leads to most teachers having to live with published materials selected by others (McDonough Shaw 2003). It is rare to find a perfect fit between learner needs and course requirements on the one hand and what the course book contains on the other. Every learning and teaching situation is unique and inimitable (Cunningsworth 1995). For this reason the option open to the teacher is to adapt and develop the materials. However before we can adapt and develop the materials we have to be able to evaluate the materials. Before we can change something we have to be clear about what we are changing (McDonough Shaw 2003). Teachers evaluations of course books and materials usually involves making general impressionistic judgements on materials based upon common assumptions and expectations. Some very common expectations of materials now are that they should achieve impact and have a noticeable effect on learners, help learners feel at ease, help develop learners confidence, and should be perceived by learners as being pertinent and useful. It has become common for materials to be expected to necessitate learners to make discoveries for themselves, expose learners to language in authentic use, entice attention to linguistic features of the input, recycle instruction, and present frequent and abundant exposure to the instructed language features in communicative use (Tomlinson 1998). It is also now highly desired that materials bear in mind that learners differ in learning styles and that learners inclination for a particular learning style is variable depending on what is being learned, where, with who, and for what. It is also hoped materials take into account that learners differ in affective and emotional attitudes (Tomlinson 1998). However a lot of these expectations are things that can mean different things for different groups of learners and teachers. For example achieving impact is variable in different places. What achieves impact in Brazil might not achieve impact in Germany, and what achieves impact in a private language school in Brazil might not achieve impact in a Brazilian high school. Often these expectations and assumptions about what is desirable, and others, such as up to date methodology, being foolproof, and containing realistic language, are all debateable. Is up to date a desirable characteristic in itself (Littlejohn 1998, Tomlinson 1998)? Teachers are also likely to focus less on the programme as a whole in their evaluation and more on whether specific activities and techniques appear to work in the context of a particular lesson (Ellis 1998). This combination of relying on general impressionistic judgements and concern with specific activities and techniques creates a type of micro evaluation that leads to a very eclectic type of adaptation. Rather to ensure a good match between what the course book includes and the requirements of the learning and teaching situation, and to avoid an eclectic approach to evaluation and adaptation teachers need to develop more methodical and potentially informative approaches creating a more in-depth evaluation of materials. (Cunningsworth 1995, Ellis 1998, Littlejohn 1998, Tomlinson 1998,). How do teachers begin a more in depth evaluation of teaching materials? Firstly by understanding that materials are indeed an embodiment of the aims, values and methods of the particular teaching and learning environment teachers can reflect over and analyse their knowledge, understanding and experience of how languages are learnt and should be taught. They can relate this to how near a match there is with the aims and values of the materials. This will lead teachers to be able to clearly state what they actually expect from their materials rather than regurgitating the latest buzzwords in the teaching industry. Teachers are then able to proceed from here and have a basis to analyse what materials contain and aspire to achieve, what materials make learners do while they are learning, how materials assume or even demand the teacher to teach learners in the classroom, and the appropriateness of the materials to the learners needs and interests (Breen Candlin 1987). This will enable us to build our evaluation of materials, and subsequently our adaptation, on the principles built upon our knowledge, understanding and experience of learning and teaching language. This evaluation helps cultivate insights into various views of language and learning and should be done against an environment of knowledge of our learners demands and the potential of the teaching situation (McDonough Shaw 2003). The subsequent stage is gathering as much information as feasible about the spirit and make-up of a course book (Hutchinson 1987). The information gathering of materials begins with what the materials say about themselves by probing the organization of the materials as stated explicitly by the author and publisher on the cover, and in the introduction and contents. Then what is actually presented inside the materials needs a thorough evaluation, and often the contents can be used as a conduit between the external claims and the reality inside (McDonough Shaw 2003). However as well as the importance of information gathering and analysis of the materials, the same is needed of the teaching and learning situation that the materials are required for. This is vital as materials evaluation is essentially a matching process in which the needs and assumptions of particular teaching-learning contexts are matched to available solutions (Hutchinson 1987). The teaching-learning situation and the classroom have a culture of their own. Culture is most commonly used in a very broad way to describe national culture, and there is often a prevailing cultural stimulus that may well be attributable to the wider society, governing for example, the rhythm and movement of classroom groups, and gender segregation. However there are also influences from institutional or professional-academic cultures, which dominate aspects of classroom cultures such as protocols and the formality of certain classroom events which therefore mean we need to be far more precise when we are talking about classroom culture (Holliday 1994). Classes will not have permanent membership, groups meet to carry out restricted and limited activities, the length of history is relatively short, and the culture only exists when the class is in session. Expectations are brought to the class that are built on other, previous classroom experiences (Holliday 1994). This in addition to different personalities and ethics that evolve in different classroom groups makes each classroom contain a unique culture. Cultures of individual classrooms are diffused to new members enabling both teachers and students to be equipped with inferred understandings about what sort of behaviour is acceptable, which they must learn and impart if they are to be fully received into the group. They assert a social force that prevents teachers from replicating their lesson agendas with different classroom groups. These understandings in turn are strengthened by common acceptance by peers (Holliday 1994) Habitually in the field of English language teaching there is frequent discord between the conventional and established interaction of the classroom and the innovation created by new language (Holliday 1994). Many teachers try to stimulate appropriate English teaching with students who are foreign to them, and try to understand their attitudes and ways of doing things, which to the outsider are obscure and unclear. Conversely teachers who are native to countries they work in, and of the same nationality as students they teach are repeatedly endeavouring to decipher methodologies cultivated and developed in the west for ideal teaching-learning situations. Ideal meaning different from the methodologies in their countries and particular teaching-learning situations (Holliday 1994). In some countries and contexts large classes are not necessarily indicative of scarce resources. Large classes might be tolerable where prevailing educational ideologies do not see the role of the teacher as a monitor and overseer of learning, but as a fount and spring of knowledge, which is delivered without any dispensation to students, and which students must exert great effort to attain. This leads to interesting observations in countries where this type of mentality holds sway such as Hollidays (1994) observation in Egypt of a newly graduated junior local lecturer. The local lecturer had undergone numerous hours of training in communicative English language teaching methodology from expatriate personnel and was supposed to be using a course book whose objectives were communicative teaching of pronunciation. The local lecturer was playing what she perceived to be the lecturer role very well. This was built on the basis of the local lecturers conviction that their responsibility s tretched to the extent of presenting the subject matter to their students, not as far as overseeing and administrating learning. Szulc-kurpaska (1992 as cited in Holliday1994) reports an interesting case in Poland of how discontent on the part of students arose pertaining to the degree of informality practised by expatriate lecturers both in and out of the classroom. Students became perplexed and apprehensive over hazy definitions of teacher and student (Holliday 1994). Here we must realise the importance of understanding each unique classroom culture and not trying to enforce an ideal teaching-learning situation in different contexts. What is important is that learning takes place. Unfortunately even taking into consideration that all learners, all teachers and all teaching situations are different, published materials have to treat them as if they were the same, commonly for commercial reasons (Maley 1998). Whether we like it or not any course book will directly or indirectly communicate collections of social and cultural morals and standards that are intrinsic in their make-up. This may be referred to as the hidden curriculum that will bring up issues of sexism, ethnic origin, occupation, age, social class, and disability (Cunningsworth 1995). Whether this is intended or not, it is a reality. Therefore the need to ensure a course book situates its material in the social and cultural contexts that are comprehensible, significant, appropriate and decipherable to learners, in terms of location, social mores and traditions, personal interests of learners, and age group is highly important (Breen Candlin 1987, Cunningsworth 1995). Often this can only be done by e valuation leading to adaptation. Lack of matching the teaching-learning situation to the materials leads to teachers returning from training programmes incapable of instigating what they have learnt, because it does not correspond to the conditions, needs and philosophies of their classrooms, institutions, and communities (Holliday 1994). In fact the materials become a constraint upon teachers sense of what may be appropriate at a given pedagogical moment, and on the autonomy and independence of teachers actions. The reality in the classroom is a trade off between materials, teachers, and learners (Maley 1998). If learners are to judge materials as legitimately offering them the prospect to develop their language knowledge and capabilities, the materials must take account of what learners perceive their needs to be, no matter how various and vague these perceptions may be (Breen Candlin 1987). Therefore information gathering and analysis of materials and the teaching-learning situation although without doubt can be driven by the teacher must include the input and feedback of learners. Especially in situations where the classroom culture is totally alien to the teacher they must be careful not to trample over the already set protocols and behaviours. Although classroom culture is open to large degrees of change, especially in the case of English language education which has supplied an abundance of new methodologies, it is largely conservative. When there is a lack of knowledge of the particular classroom culture, often on the part of the teacher, and a lack of input from the students, change can come that is too abrasive and disturbing. This develops into a crisis that leads to the closing of ranks within the classroom culture (Holliday 1994). Both the information gathering and analysis of the materials and the teaching-learning situation must be based on knowledge, feedb ack, experience, and negotiated learning objectives. This will enable the reduction of wasted time and effort and result in clear pinpointing of the steps which compel attention in the continuous process of evaluation (Bolitho Jolly 1998). The evaluation process is never static, when materials are considered suitable for a particular course after a preliminary evaluation, their ultimate success or failure may only be ascertained after a certain amount of classroom use (McDonough Shaw 2003). Therefore materials whether they are for publication or a teachers next lesson need to be persistently and incessantly evaluated and revised. Ideally materials need to be monitored by authors, other experts not involved in the writing team, and by representative users of the material such as teachers and learners (Tomlinson 1998). A pooled evaluation effort such as this can develop awareness in a number of ways. It obliges teachers to analyse their own presuppositions as to the nature of language and learning. With the almost certain reality that there will be a variance between the various materials that are available for evaluation it forces teachers to establish their priorities, and helps teachers to see materials as an integra l part of the whole teaching and learning situation (Hutchinson 1987). It must be stated that evaluation takes on a wider and more extensive role than merely evaluating to be able to adapt and develop materials by teachers. There is an increased concern for management macro evaluation of programmes and projects, carried out for accountability and developmental purposes and rationales by accumulating information relating to various administrative and curricular aspects and features of the programme. Educational decision makers formulate policy and work out strategies for budgeting and purchasing and therefore teachers do not always have direct involvement. At best they may be invited to make suggestions and comments (Ellis 1998, McDonough Shaw 2003). Such an approach to evaluation is not in concurrence with the perspective that many teachers have about what evaluation involves (Ellis 1998). There is a strong relationship and connection between evaluation and adaptation. Adaptation is a process subsequent to, and dependent on evaluation (McDonough Shaw 2003). Moving from the evaluation of materials and the teaching-learning situation in to the practical aspect of actually adapting the materials teachers will need to consider both external and internal factors. External factors are dynamics such as the characteristics of particular teaching situations, and content, organization, and consistency of the materials being an example of internal factors. To adapt materials is to endeavour to bring together these elements. Just as materials evaluation is a matching process so too is adaptation of materials. A good teacher is persistently striving for congruence and correspondence among materials, methodology, students, and course objectives. The teacher must satisfy the demands of the textbook but in ways that will be satisfying to those who learn from it by matching. Therefore maximising the appropriateness of the teaching materials in the particular teaching-learning context at hand (McDonough Shaw 2003). With evaluation of materials often constructed and fostered upon very impressionistic general judgements, teachers first steps in materials adaptation will also frequently be based on very vague motives and rationales leading to haphazard eclectic adaptation. Teachers will sometimes give the textbook a rest. The songs and games on a wet Friday afternoon are familiar to all teachers. However these dont have to remain part of a chaotic adaptation method. Rather they can be built into teaching in a principled way (Maley 1998). This means returning to our understanding of the underlying principles that evaluation of materials is based upon and subsequently looking at what adapting of materials actually involves. What must be noted is that this doesnt automatically mean adaptation has to continually be a rather formal process, although it often is. Rather, it can also be transitory. A teacher instantly rephrases a textbook elucidation of a language feature and so adapts. A good teacher is constantly adapting whether formally or informally (McDonough Shaw 2003). Therefore adaptation can be quantitative, by altering the amount, or qualitative by altering the methodological nature. This can be done using an assortment of techniques or a single technique applied to different content sections such as leaving out, adding, replacing, and changing. Materials may require adapting because they are not ideal in areas such as methods, language content, subject matter, balance of skills, progression and grading, cultural content, or image (Cunningsworth 1995). All of this must be done within a framework of gauging what materials contain against the requirements of a particular teaching environment and being sensitive to students interests, learning styles and motivation (Cunningsworth 1995, McDonough Shaw 2003). We can add to materials by supplementing them. More is put into them by extending or expanding. Materials are extended when we add more of the same, such as further grammar exercises if the grammar point being studied is difficult. By expanding we actually add to the methodology by moving outside it and developing it in novel directions. Also additions can be made before a language point appears in the framework of the book (McDonough Shaw 2003). Leaving out material is the other side of the same coin from addition. Generally subtracting does not have a significant impact on the overall methodology (McDonough Shaw 2003). Often using other published general course books or our own material for supplementary options is unsuitable. However there are numerous books that focus on skills. These afford a simple option to find exercises at a lower or higher level than the regular course book being used. For example, some general courses do not cover pronunciation as comprehensively or systematically as is necessary. Supplementary pronunciation books can fill in the gap. Usually vocabulary is covered more fully in modern books however there is still scope for supplementary vocabulary learning materials. Most books cover grammar meticulously, but there are still occasions when additional grammar work is needed, or an alternative approach (Cunningsworth 1995). Often the reasons why more pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar is needed are the particular culture of that institution, managerial influences and teacher perceptions as well as the perceived needs of the students. The teacher has to take consideration of all of these to be successful. In my particular experience of teaching in Saudi Arabia the perceived importance and need for exhaustive grammar teaching, that was an influence of the culture of the institute, students, and the wider academic culture in Saudi Arabia, led me to adapt my teaching materials by supplementing the regular course book with grammar exercises from a well known grammar book (See Appendix 1, 2, 3). As a new teacher presented with the challenge of supplementing just because grammar was needed without any questioning I adapted in an extremely eclectic style without any worthwhile evaluation. A return to teaching will provide me with the opportunity to base my evaluation and adaptation on my understandings of teaching and learning and very importantly the context of the teaching-learning situation. Where we can usually make a noteworthy impression on the materials is by changing or modifying. Teachers can effect internal change in the style or focus of an exercise or other piece of material by rewriting when some of the linguistic content needs amendment. A prime example would be relating activities directly to learners backgrounds and interests (McDonough Shaw 2003). We could take a clearly mechanical, pre-communicative activity such as a drill and utilize the idea behind it by making the interaction more genuine and communicative by personalizing the content whilst keeping focus on structure and using authentic content. The important thing is to learn what students are interested in and build on that, showing that the English lesson is not just about English, but is about all aspects of life (Cunningsworth 1995). Restructuring involves classroom management, as in the case of when materials contain role-play for groups of a certain size and the class is too big. We can use si mplification by rephrasing instructions, explanation, or even the visual layout. Obviously there are repercussions and implications for simplification, such as the possibility that any linguistic change will have corresponding stylistic effects and therefore change the meaning or intention of the original text (McDonough Shaw 2003). As well as adapting by adding, taking away, or modifying we can transform the way the content of the materials is presented. Teachers can reorder by putting parts of a course book in a different order. For example we can adjust the sequence of presentation within a unit, or put units in a different sequence. We may do this in circumstances where the teaching programme is too short to work systematically through the book (McDonough Shaw 2003). Obviously there are patent areas of overlap among the various techniques that can be employed in adaptation. At one end adaptation is a practical activity carried out mainly by teachers to make their work more relevant to learners, however it is directly and indirectly related to a wider array of professional concerns such as administration and management of education. Adapting is one consequence of setting of objectives in a particular educational context and can only be executed effectively if it develops from understanding of possible design features of syllabuses and materials (McDonough Shaw 2003). We must be circumspect of becoming enslaved to course books. Rather course books are best seen as a resource in realizing aims and objectives that have already been fixed in terms of learner needs. They should not determine objectives themselves or become the aims. The concern must be with teaching language and not the textbook. The course book should be at the service of teachers and learners and not their master (Cunningsworth 1995). However we must strike a balance and not fall into dismissing all course books of being devoid of any value. The need to adapt does not necessarily entail that a course book is defective (Tomlinson 1998). We have to realise the entire arena of evaluation and adaptation is about matching between materials and the teaching-learning situation, basing this on our understanding and knowledge of teaching, learning and the context. Therefore the possible and inevitable areas of mismatch often can be dealt with by adaptation rather than abandoning the material s available (Tomlinson 1998). APPENDIX 1 Taken from: Headway, a typical EFL course book. The presentation of the grammar point here is not considered in depth enough and so the need to supplement. APPENDIX 2 Taken from: English Grammar In Use, a popular grammar skills book. Present the same grammar point to students as we studied in course book but with some more detail. APPENDIX 3 Taken from: English Grammar In Use. Present these additional exercises to the students usually by writing questions on the board. The students copy questions and complete with answers.

A clash of cultures :: English Literature

A clash of cultures The two main stories which have a negative end are â€Å"The Train from Rhodesia† and â€Å"The Gold Legged Frog†. Both of these stories include the aspect of â€Å"a clash of culture† which acts as a catalyst for the negative endings. â€Å"The Train from Rhodesia† incorporates the aspect of two cultures from different parts of the world coming together. This story is an allegory and outlines the clash of cultures when white people come into black people’s land and exploit them. The story is about a young couple who are on holiday and they have bought lots of souvenirs. At the platform the young women is attracted to a skilfully carved lion. The young woman doesn’t buy the lion since she thinks that the price is too high. When the train starts to leave the platform the old black man comes running after the train and sells the lion to the young man at half the original price. The young man tells her wife about his success and tries to please her but the young women reacts differently; she is furious at her husband. The young women is angry at her husband for humiliating the old man and making him run after the train, on top of that giving him less than half price for the lion. She feels that the price paid does not reflect the creativity and time spent on carving the lion. An alternative interpretation of this situation could be that the young woman was actually angry at her self. â€Å"The heat of shame mounted through her legs and body and sounded in her ears like the sound of sand pouring†. This quote could mean that the woman was actually angry at her self for not buying the lion at full price in the first place, after all her husband was only trying to please her and didn’t think how he was exploiting the poor black man. In this story symbolism is also a main aspect; â€Å"†¦, and the lion, fallen on its side in the corner.† The lion symbolises the exploitation of black men, emphasises how inferior black man are thought of and that at the end of the day skilful work created by black men is just thrown aside. The writer presents the details of the surroundings and the black people living in poverty through the young woman’s eyes; â€Å"Out of the window, on the other side, there was nothing; sand and bush; a thorn tree.† This strong imagery which we discover through the woman’s eyes means that we feel even more sympathetic towards the black and poor people

Lotus Case Study :: essays research papers

Executive Summary & Problems In The Beginning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lotus Development Corporation was created by Mitch Kapor, a software designer whose initial goal was to develop a sophisticated spreadsheet program. The company was founded in 1982 and its headquarters based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1983 Lotus created the first killer application, 1-2-3 DOS for the IBM PC, catapulting them into the largest software company in the world. Lotus was noted as being one of the finest franchises in their business sector. The Rise and Fall Up to 1983 Lotus operated in a largely college industry were only a handful of companies created killer apps such as WordPerfect. Between 1983-1986, Lotus had created Symphony and Jazz which were the first fully integrated application programs to combine word-processing, spreadsheets, graphics, and database management. However, the market responded negatively to the introduction of these products. During 1986, Imitation by Borland and the limited success of Symphony and Jazz prompted newly elected president Jim Manzi to approach product development in at a new angle. Jim Manzi began an acquisition program that would give Lotus, products in every applications category, ultimately resulting in Notes. . Competition Heats Up Competition in the industry was intense during 1990. Borland and Microsoft had both emerged as large competitors of Lotus. Each had develop duplicate versions of Lotus ¡Ã‚ ¦s 1-2-3- program. The popularity of Microsoft surprised the industry when the company introduced a bundled  ¡Ã‚ §suite ¡Ã‚ ¨ that included its spreadsheets, word processors, graphics package, and database manager. There strategic approach to software development and marketing led to a growing market share for the company. Initially Lotus did not write a version of 1-2-3 for Windows because they did not want to help Microsoft build their contribution margin and attain market acceptance. However, over time Lotus could not ignore the growing success of Microsoft so they eventually rushed a flawed a version of 1-2-3 for Windows to market in 1991. The release of the product caused Lotus great embarrassment, because they reacted to the situation instead pf being proactive in the beginning they made a decision and introduced a product that was not ready for market. Lost Opportunity In 1990 Lotus made an attempt to gain a significant share of the network application industry by initiating merger negotiations with Novell. The merger of the two companies would have created the largest computer software company in the world. The combined sales for Lotus and Novell in 1989 were $978 million, compared with Microsoft ¡Ã‚ ¦s $804 million during the same year.

Reproduction :: essays research papers

For some time she had watched his movements, appearing coyly in his haunts. And now, had it paid off? Doubtless, he was in love. His muscles were taut; he swooped through the air more like an eagle than a Greylag gander. The only problem was, it was not for her that he then landed in a flurry of quacks and wingbeats, or for her that he dashed off surprise attacks on his fellows. It was, rather, for another - for her preening rival across the Bavarian lake. Poor goose. Will she mate with the gander of her dreams? Or will she trail him for years, laying infertile egg clutches as proof of her faithfulness? Either outcome is possible in an animal world marked daily by scenes of courtship, spurning and love triumphant. And take note: these are not the imaginings of some Disney screen-16 writer. Decades ago Konrad Lorenz, a famed Austrian naturalist, made detailed studies of Greylags and afterwards showed no hesitation in using words like love, grief and even embarrassment to describe the behavior of these large, social birds. At the same time he did not forget that all romance - animal and human - is tied intimately to natural selection. Natural selection brought on the evolution of males and females during prehistoric epochs when environmental change was making life difficult for single-sex species such as bacteria and algae. Generally, these reproduced by splitting into identical copies of themselves. New generations were thus no better than old ones at surviving in an altered world. With the emergence of the sexes, however, youngsters acquired the qualities of two parents. This meant that they were different from both - different and perhaps better at coping with tough problems of survival. At the same time, nature had to furnish a new set of instincts which would make "parents" out of such unreflective entities as mollusks and jellyfish.. The peacock's splendid feathers, the firefly's flash, the humpback whale's resounding bellow - all are means these animals have evolved to obey nature's command: "Find a mate. Transmit your characteristics through time!" But while most males would accept indiscriminate mating, females generally have more on their minds. In most species, after all, they take on reproduction's hardest chores such as carrying young, incubating eggs and tending newborns. Often they can produce only a few young in a lifetime. (Given half a chance, most males would spawn thousands.) So it's no surprising that the ladies are choosy. They want to match their characteristics with those of a successful mate. He may flap his wings or join a hockey team, but somehow he must show that his offspring will not likely be last to eat or first in predatory jaws.

Better Known As No Child Left Behind Education Essay

In 2002, Public Law 107-110 dramatically changed the answerability of public schools. Better known as No Child Left Behind ( NCLB ) , this jurisprudence requires schools to yearly document bettering pupil public presentation through standardised testing. Since all schools must turn out Adequate Yearly Progress ( AYP ) , Fullan noted that redress plans, after school tutoring Sessionss, excess tutoring in mathematics and reading, specially designed single plans, and many other pupil redress attempts have been employed to assist pupils accomplish proficiency. Districts have hired extra instructors to supply remedial mathematics and reading direction, and benchmark appraisals chronicling pupil advancement have become common topographic point ( Fullan, Hill & A ; Crevola, 2006 ) . Fullan observed that schools use informations direction systems to warehouse pupil information, giving instructors entree to real-time public presentation informations, and have developed edifice agendas to give instructors the ability to flexibly group pupils based upon their single public presentation demands. In world, all schools seeking to accomplish or keep AYP continually search for schemes that will give them any advantage in bettering overall pupil public presentation on compulsory high bets trials ( Senge, 2000 ) . Yet, more demands to be done to guarantee that no kid is left behind ( Fullan, 2008 ) . The research worker in this survey stepped off from the microscopic scrutiny of how advanced curricular plans and high-impact schemes increase single trial tonss for pupils. Rather, the research worker looked at the patterns identified and developed by the concern community at big that have been shown to raise the degree of employee battle which so improves a ) public presentation, B ) profitableness, degree Celsius ) client satisfaction, vitamin D ) productiveness, and vitamin E ) lower turnover of concern units ( Buckingham & A ; Coffman, 1999 ) . Since Buckingham noted that there is a profound relationship between success in concern and employee battle, the research worker in this survey will analyse principals ‘ perceptual experiences of patterns that raise employee battle in the concern community and their sensed effectivity in bettering teacher battle in the schools where they lead. Harmonizing to Scarlett, employee battle â€Å" is indispensable in concern, yet few organisations successfully define, step, or pull off this leading theoretical account. † Top-performing concerns understand this force in driving public presentation prosodies ( Coffman, 2003 ) . For this survey, employee battle is defined as the â€Å" measureable grade of an employee ‘s positive or negative emotional fond regard to their occupation, co-workers, and organisation which deeply influences their willingness to larn and execute at work † ( Scarlett, 2011 ) . In order to raise battle, organisations seek to construct partnerships between the organisation and its employees such that employees to the full understand and are committed to accomplishing the organisation ‘s aims and the organisation respects the personal aspirations and aspirations of its employees ensuing in invention and forward motion ( Coffman, 2003 ) . Buckingham and Coffman ( 1999 ) have outlined a strong instance that shows the importance of the director and their managerial patterns in raising the degree of employee battle. So, if implemented by principals, would these same schemes and patterns that have been shown to drive up degrees of employee battle and public presentation positively impact teacher battle? Bellamy and others noted that public presentation outlooks for principals in this high-stakes testing epoch are at unprecedented high degrees. While principals still hold the duty for effectual edifice direction, at no other clip has the force per unit area to better trial tonss so significantly weighed upon their shoulders and focused their attending more on instructional leading. â€Å" Once responsible chiefly for internal operations, principals now are accountable to the community, school territory, province, and even federal authorities for bettering pupil acquisition and shuting the accomplishment spreads between diverse cultural and socioeconomic pupil groups † ( Bellamy, et al. , 2007, p. 1 ) . Pollack and Ford noted that school systems and communities still expect principals to a ) create safe environments, B ) develop effectual agendas, degree Celsius ) hire and supervise quality staff, vitamin D ) speak good in public, vitamin E ) efficaciously discipline pupils, degree Fahrenheit ) manage mountains of paperwork day-to-day, and g ) reference an eternal watercourse of issues that vie for their clip. Pollack continues that while dexterously managing all of these normal outlooks, principals are besides expected to a ) analyze informations, B ) develop programmatic betterment programs, degree Celsiuss ) program and run high quality professional development, vitamin D ) follow a litany of province authorizations related to pupil informations, and e ) create environments contributing to high-performance. They are expected to be change agents while non angering any constituency ( Pollack & A ; Ford, 2009 ) . Porras and Thompson surmised that with all of these outlooks, it is cr itical for principals to understand their alone abilities and duties and allocate the right sum of clip to each, non equal or balanced parts, but instead their ain separately chosen penchants. They need to hold the freedom to take what is of import to make and so hold the assurance to move on what they have chosen ( Porras & A ; Thompson, 2007 ) . Fullan ( 2008 ) noted that the solution to over-taxed administrative duties is â€Å" non to unfetter the principal to move autonomously, but instead to enable focussed coherence † ( p. 13 ) in their actions. One facet of this coherence is to prosecute instructors at high degrees in the mission of the school, a key to efficaciously pull offing schools. Teacher battle is critical to school betterment, measured by the three dimensions of schoolroom instruction and acquisition: a ) teacher-student relationships, B ) pedagogical patterns, and degree Celsius ) teacher relationships with the organisation ( Lesko, 1986 ) . The principal is expected to take schools where his or her instructors are given the chance to prosecute in action research on a sustained footing in a collaborative environment. â€Å" The leader ‘s map is to supply chances for instructors to work together in self-managing squads to better their ain direction, ever with the outlook for improved acquisition † ( DuFour, et al. , 2005, p.147 ) . In a sense, this transportations leading for larning to and raises the battle of the instructor. The relationship between engaged instructor leaders and pupil accomplishment is profound and important ( DuFour, et al. , 2005 ) . Gordon noted that there are organisational barriers to raising teacher battle degrees such as a ) association understandings, B ) school board mandates, degree Celsius ) limited learning schemes, vitamin D ) pupil agendas, and vitamin E ) yesteryear patterns ; those established patterns non portion of formal understandings. These barriers can and make impact the instructor ‘s â€Å" emotional fond regard to their occupation, co-workers, and organisation † ( Scarlett, 2011 ) . It is critical, hence, to concentrate on increasing instructor battle ( Gordon, 2006 ) in order to raise school public presentation. Gordon observed that the literature on raising public presentation through raising employee battle in the workplace is plentiful in business-oriented literature. Gordon continued to detect that raising the degree of employees ‘ battle is non yet as influential in educational scenes as it is in the workplace ; nevertheless, the attempt to prosecute instructors is deriving land. Research has studied the features of the best employees for decennaries. As more surveies of the features of the best instructor continue to emerge, a similarity is that they have a high degree of battle ( Gordon, 2006 ) . Buckingham and Coffman ( 1999 ) touted the importance of holding extremely engaged employees, and organisations like Gallup, the Harvard Business School, the Albert Shanker Institute, and the Academy of Human Resource Development have each noted the positive economic impact of occupied workplaces. Odell ( 2007 ) showed that companies with the highest per centum of occupied workers experience greater net income. â€Å" In a 12-month survey across 50 companies: companies with the highest per centum of occupied workers had a 19 % addition in runing incomes and a 28 % addition in net incomes per portion † ( p. 1 ) . Statisticss like this spring increased inducement to find whether the degree of principals ‘ perceptual experiences of best patterns in concern direction has any impact on instructor battle. Building on the work of infinite business-oriented surveies, this survey will analyze specific patterns that have been identified and shown to raise concern unit public prese ntation and examine principals ‘ perceptual experiences as to whether these same patterns may impact teacher battle in a positive mode.Need for the StudyParents, irrespective of socio-economic or cultural background, want to direct their kids to schools committed to excellence ( Beare, et al. , 1990 ) . Every instructor longs for the professional energy of working in an environment of educational excellence ( McEwan, 2002 ) . Principals dream of taking a community of scholars committed to excellence ( Whitaker, 2003 ) . Overseers, school board members, policy shapers, even existent estate agents all imagine that their communities will be led by schools of excellence ( Fullan, 1993 ) . The hunt for schools of differentiation is a regular portion of eternal conversations about pupil acquisition ( Sparks, 2007 ) . No Child Left Behind statute law has forced schools to a ) examine trial tonss, B ) survey instructor methodological analysis, degree Celsius ) research course of study enterprises, vitamin D ) observe instructional focal point, vitamin E ) investigate edifice agendas, and degree Fahrenheit ) consider multiple informations from a assortment of beginnings. It has besides required the reappraisal and survey of patterns of every constituent that comprises the makeup of schools ( Pa. Dept. of Ed. , 2009 ) . The high force per unit area, high bets environments within schools can impede attitudes and perceptual experiences doing many to rethink the profession ( Gordon, 2006 ) . The demands on principals continue to spread out as the hunt for patterns that will better pupil larning intensifies ( Gordon, 2006 ) . Stronge ( 1988 ) found that a typical principal ‘s twenty-four hours was characterized by multiple managerial undertakings and diverse maps, including a ) clerical, B ) budgetary, and degree Celsius ) other generalist undertakings. At that clip, Stronge stated that change overing principals into instructional leaders would necessitate a drastic function redefinition. Since Stronge ‘s research in his 1988 paper, principals ‘ preparation and support have since shifted off from direction to instructional leading. Instructional leading has become the focal point of a ) seminars, B ) doctorial plans, degree Celsiuss ) national organisations that support instruction, vitamin D ) literature, vitamin E ) professional diaries and vitamin D ) province statute law mandating go oning instruction preparation for principals ( Hallinger, 2003 ) . The managerial undertakings that Stronge mentions, nevertheless, have non disappeared, and today, some chief preparation plans exclude m anagerial preparation. The twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours direction of edifices still exists ( Stronge, 2008 ) . Through the Gallup Corporation, research workers like Buckingham and Coffman ( 1999 ) and Harter, et Al. ( 2009 ) have studied high executing work topographic points for old ages. Business literature has documented the positive public presentation impact of holding engaged employees. Gordon noted that there has been small involvement in developing resources to analyze occupied schools. Reeves ( 2008 ) proposed a new model that would advance effectual alteration through raising the degree of teacher leading and stated that instructors must be actively engaged in prosecuting additions in pupil acquisition. Marzano, et Al. ( 2005 ) and Whitaker ( 2003 ) have documented that the patterns exhibited by principals make a difference in raising pupil public presentation. This education-based literature gives limited attending to outdo patterns in concern direction. Has the good displacement of focal point onto best patterns in instructional leading moved principals ‘ preparation excessi vely far off from best patterns in direction as described in business-oriented literature? In today ‘s educational environment, every advantage, no affair how little, is pursued in order to give schools increased pupil public presentation ; hence, are at that place concern direction patterns implemented by principals that impact instructors ‘ battle degree that would so ensue in improved pupil public presentation? The research worker in this survey will analyze chief perceptual experiences of best concern direction patterns in operating schools and analyze the impact of these perceptual experiences on overall instructor battle.Statement of the ProblemBusinesss expend considerable resources in order to develop occupied employees. Buckingham noted that an increased degree of employee battle drives up a ) public presentation, B ) productiveness, degree Celsius ) client satisfaction and vitamin D ) reduces turnover of single concern units. Therefore, would at that place be similar result on improved acquisition when instructors are more extremely engaged? Buckingha m attributes the success for raising employee battle straight to the director. Whitaker ( 2003 ) has shown that the best principals are taking schools to better pupil larning. Therefore, will the actions of the principal thrust up the degree of instructor battle, holding a coincident positive impact of pupil public presentation? The research worker in this survey assessed the principals ‘ perceptual experiences of concern direction patterns and their impact on instructor battle.Definition of footingsSeveral definitions are necessary to clear up points for depicting this survey sing chief patterns, teacher battle and pupil public presentation. These operational definitions will be referenced throughout this survey. Adequate Yearly Progress ( AYP ) . A signaling system bespeaking whether schools are on path to learn all pupils what they need to cognize each school twelvemonth ( Education Trust, 2004 ) . Business Management Practices. Evidence and experimental patterns that can be imitated, adapted, and continually improved to increase a ) public presentation, B ) productiveness, and degree Celsius ) profitableness ( Welch & A ; Welch, 2005 ) . Business Units. The lowest institutional member of the corporation changing from industry to industry: for banking, it is a subdivision ; for cordial reception it is a eating house or a hotel ; for fabricating it is a mill ; and so on ( Buckingham and Coffman, 1999 ) . Effective Schools. A school characterized by a ) strong administrative leading, B ) effectual direction for ALL kids, degree Celsius ) an orderly ambiance, vitamin D ) larning taking precedency over all other activities, vitamin E ) reallocation of resources to farther cardinal aims, and degree Fahrenheit ) frequent monitoring of pupil advancement ( Edmonds, 1979 ) . Engaged Employees. â€Å" A measureable grade of an employee ‘s positive or negative emotional fond regard to their occupation, co-workers, and organisation which deeply influences their willingness to larn and execute at work † ( Scarlett, 2011 ) . Engaged Teachers. Measured by the three dimensions of schoolroom instruction and acquisition: a ) teacher-student relationships, B ) pedagogical patterns, and degree Celsius ) instructor dealingss with the organisation of learning ( Lesko, 1986 ) and a procedure, analogue to student battle, in which the instructor is consciously cognizant of his or her function in the acquisition procedure ( Kennedy, 1998 ) . Leadership. The act of supplying counsel and supervising to subsidiaries while originating new constructions, processs, and ends ( Sergiovanni, 2000 ) . Moral Purpose. Principled behavior connected to something greater than 1s self that relates to human or societal development ( Fullan, 2003 ) . No Child Left Behind ( NCLB ) . A reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 intended to shut the accomplishment spread with answerability, flexibleness, and pick. ( US Dept. of Ed, 2002 ) . Pennsylvania System of School Assessment ( PSSA ) . A standards-based, criterion-referenced appraisal used to mensurate a pupil ‘s attainment of the academic criterions while besides finding the grade to which school plans enable pupils to achieve proficiency of the criterions ( Pa. Dept. of Ed. , 2012 ) . Principal. The person who is charged with the duties to a ) direct, B ) operate, and degree Celsius ) administer the activities of a school ( The Pennsylvania Code Online ) . Chief patterns. The manner in which principals allocate their attending across major countries of duty, the extent to which principals emphasize different countries of duty in different contexts, and the extent to which personal, single properties affect how principals allocate their clip and attending ( Camburn, 2008 ) . Site-Leadership. A procedure to transform schools into communities where the appropriate people participate constructively in major determinations that affect them ( Elmore, 2000 ) . Sustainability. â€Å" The capacity of a system to prosecute in the complexnesss of uninterrupted betterment consistent with deep values of human intent † ( Fullan, 2005, p. nine ) . Trial Cycles. The one-year procedure of finishing province required testing ( PA Department of Education ) . Transformational Leadership. Style of leading in which the leader identifies a ) the needful alteration, B ) creates a vision to steer the alteration through inspiration, and degree Celsius ) executes the alteration with the committedness of the members of the group ( Kotter & A ; Cohen, 2002 ) .RestrictionsThis survey surveyed and interviewed principals from cardinal Pennsylvania and asked the same principals to react to open-ended inquiries. The little figure of school territories included and the little participant pool may impact the findings of this survey. The study was completed electronically and could hold been impacted by the web administrative scenes at each respondent ‘s school. The interviews of these principals could hold been impacted by attitudes ensuing from current complicated issues happening at their specific schools, such as a ) altering course of study, B ) rapid alterations in demographics, degree Celsius ) decrease of support for specialised plans, vitam in D ) decrease in staffing, vitamin E ) increasing registration, degree Fahrenheit ) alterations in attending boundaries, g ) retirements of cardinal forces, and H ) curtailment of support from outside bureaus like Intermediate Units. Other restrictions may hold occurred if excessively many a ) schemes, B ) plans, and degree Celsius ) enterprises were implemented at the same time, therefore interfering with the ability to place specific plans that impact pupil public presentation and school clime. Finally, the degree of experience and preparation of the principal in instructional leading and concern direction may hold significantly influenced the informations and its correlativities to teacher battle. This may hold caused trouble in accurately analysing the informations and could hold led to inaccurate correlativities impacting teacher battle. The everyday activities of the topics in this survey were minimally interrupted. Each topic was asked to constructively analyse their apprehension of concern patterns and their sensed efficaciousness in impacting the degree of teacher battle. Principals who agreed to take part in this survey could hold felt a sense of insecurity since they might presume that non using these patterns may act upon them in a negative manner. There was minimum hazard to topics due to the confidential nature of the survey, the namelessness of the study participants, and the confidentiality protocols put in topographic point to guarantee the namelessness of the interviewees.Research QuestionsThe intent of this survey was to analyze principals ‘ perceptual experiences of concern leading patterns and their impact on instructor battle. Surveies, unfastened ended responses, and interviews with principals were used to garner perceptual experience informations. The undermentioned inquiries guided this surv ey: What concern direction patterns do principals happen valuable to raising the degree of instructor battle? What does the principal do to implement his or her top five concern direction patterns in order to raise the degree of instructor battle? From the principal ‘s position, how does teacher engagement impact pupil public presentation?DrumheadThe hunt for activities and actions that will give schools public presentation advantages on standardised trials is continuously spread outing. Over the last 20 old ages, much has been written about the principal ‘s function as instructional leader. From Blase to Fullan, from Lambert to Lezotte, from Marzano to McEwen, Reeves, Schmoker, Sergiovanni, Stronge, and Whitaker all have called principals to greater functions in instructional leading. However, during that same timeline, much has been left unexpressed about principals ‘ function in effectual direction of their assigned school. Concurrently, an detonation of research and Hagiographas related chiefly to the concern community has clarified the actions, beliefs, and schemes of best directors. Blanchard, Buckingham, Coffman, Collins, Gordon, Kotter, Lencioni, Maxwell, Porras, Rath, Welch and many others have fille d the shelves of book shop concern subdivisions with information about excellence in direction. This survey analyzed principals ‘ perceptual experiences of concern direction patterns that have been shown to raise employee battle and when implemented in schools ; their sensed impact on instructor battle.