Laughter :: essays research papers

A little old lady went into the Bank of Melbourne one day, carrying a bag of money. She insisted that she must speak with > the manager of the bank to open a savings account because, "It's a lot of money!" > After much hemming and hawing, the bank staff finally ushered her into the managers's office (the customer is always right!). The bank manager then asked her how much she would like to deposit. > She replied, "$165,000!" and dumped the cash out of her bag onto his desk. > The manager was of course curious as to how she came by all this cash, so he asked her, "Ma'am, I'm surprised you're carrying > so much cash around. Where did you get this money?" > The old lady replied, "I make bets." > The manager then asked, "Bets? What kind of bets?" > The old woman said, "Well, for example, I'll bet you $25,000 that your balls are square." > "Ha!" laughed the manager, "That's a stupid bet. You can never win that kind of bet!" > The old lady challenged, "So, would you like to take my bet?" > "Sure," said the manager, "I'll bet $25,000 that my balls are not square!" > The little old lady then said, "Okay, but since there is a lot of money involved, may I bring my lawyer with me tomorrow at 10am as a witness?" > "Sure!" replied the confident manager. > That night, the manager got very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front of a mirror checking his balls,turning from side to side, again and again. He thoroughly checked them out until he was sure that there was absolutely no way his balls were square and that he would win the bet. > The next morning, at precisely 10am, the little old lady appeared with her lawyer at the manager's office. She introduced the lawyer to the manager and repeated the bet "$25,000 says the manager's balls are square!" The manager agreed with the bet > again and the old lady asked him to drop his pants so they could all see. The manager complied.

Comparing Families of Fifty Years Ago with Families of Today :: Compare Contrast Comparison

The definitions of a family today and a family in the past are far from similar. The definitions may have some similarities but they have changed dramatically in many more ways. 50 years ago, families had rules that were stricter and families were closer in the sense of a relationship. Although some families today are more distant from each other and have fewer rules to maintain order, there are still some that maintain the same styles of the families 50 years ago. Families have changed a lot but still have some similarities depending on their home-life. Families today just do not seem to spend time with each other. The mother and father both have jobs and tend to not be home for the children after school therefore causing more independence among each member of the family. Children that have more independence make mistakes on their own without being warned about them. Independent children have no guidance and get out of hand because there is not a strong boss type figure around most of the time to help distinguish the difference between right and wrong. Eating dinner as a family is a major tradition that has been forgotten as the years have gone by and caused more separation among the family. A family 50 years ago that did not eat dinner together would be a strange one but today it seems to be of the norm. Once again, the job affects this aspect of the family as well. People are just too busy at work or too tired to even participate in dinner at home anymore. Either families just do not have time for each other anymore or they j ust are not together due to divorce. Divorce is another thing that was like â€Å"illegal† 50 years ago. Divorce is tragic for the children in the family today and causes the children to hate both or one of the parents. Divorce causes total chaos. This may result in the children to be neglected because single parents need to work to support themselves and their children. Thus, causing no guidance for a growing child. Losing touch with family ties have caused a lot of trouble and will continue to cause more. Families now and 50 years have similarities among the pile of differences. Comparing Families of Fifty Years Ago with Families of Today :: Compare Contrast Comparison The definitions of a family today and a family in the past are far from similar. The definitions may have some similarities but they have changed dramatically in many more ways. 50 years ago, families had rules that were stricter and families were closer in the sense of a relationship. Although some families today are more distant from each other and have fewer rules to maintain order, there are still some that maintain the same styles of the families 50 years ago. Families have changed a lot but still have some similarities depending on their home-life. Families today just do not seem to spend time with each other. The mother and father both have jobs and tend to not be home for the children after school therefore causing more independence among each member of the family. Children that have more independence make mistakes on their own without being warned about them. Independent children have no guidance and get out of hand because there is not a strong boss type figure around most of the time to help distinguish the difference between right and wrong. Eating dinner as a family is a major tradition that has been forgotten as the years have gone by and caused more separation among the family. A family 50 years ago that did not eat dinner together would be a strange one but today it seems to be of the norm. Once again, the job affects this aspect of the family as well. People are just too busy at work or too tired to even participate in dinner at home anymore. Either families just do not have time for each other anymore or they j ust are not together due to divorce. Divorce is another thing that was like â€Å"illegal† 50 years ago. Divorce is tragic for the children in the family today and causes the children to hate both or one of the parents. Divorce causes total chaos. This may result in the children to be neglected because single parents need to work to support themselves and their children. Thus, causing no guidance for a growing child. Losing touch with family ties have caused a lot of trouble and will continue to cause more. Families now and 50 years have similarities among the pile of differences.

Change Management Essay

1.1 Introduction Barack Obama started his election campaign with a plan to renew America’s promise with the words â€Å"Change we can believe in†. His Presidential campaign was marked by changes. He wanted to change a nation and its way of acting. Throughout the campaign, Obama’s changes were aimed towards bringing a rapid end to the war in Iraq, decreasing energy dependence, and providing universal health care. In his victory speech Obama said â€Å"change has come to America†. Up to now, not all his plans and ideas have proven successful and only the future will reveal their full potential. The U.S. election was a change of the governmental position which was decided by the nation. In an admittedly smaller world, every person in his or her life as well as every manager of an organisation is faced with changes or the requirement to make changes every day. Let’s concentrate on the business world and have a look at what changes mean? Change is an alteration of a company’s strategy, organization or culture as a result of changes in its environment, structure, technology or people. A manager’s job would be very straightforward and simple (not to say boring) if changes were not occurring in these areas. Good managers have a competence to manage change in the company’s environment. These changes can be alterations in structure (design of jobs, span of control, authority relationships or coordinating mechanisms), in technology (equipment, work processes or work methods) as well as in people (behaviours, perceptions, expectations or attitudes). 1.2 Reasons for Change A complex structure like an organization is driven by external and internal factors in regard to the need for change. There are a number of external forces that create the explicit need for change: Market situation or market place Technology Government laws and regulations Economics The global marketplace has created a huge need for change because of internationalization and the more dynamic situation. Some of this could not have occurred without the various and dramatic changes in technology. An example of the changing marketplace is the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the domestic market. By deregulation, the competitive pressure was put on telephone companies such as the German Telecom which has minimised monopolistic emplacement. Regarding this point, advances in technology have had a big impact on the market. Also, the affordability of equipment and software allows greater competition in the IT-sector. Government laws and regulations can have a large impact on an organization such as with deregulation. Organizations have to change because it is now prescribed. The new tobacco taxes and the legislation requiring tobacco manufacturers to disclose the harmful effects of tobacco smoking have created huge pressures on some large organizations. These organisations now have to change to ensure their economic viability. Finally, these economic ups and downs have a dramatic effect on organizations as well on domestic markets as the worldwide economic influence continues on organizations. This phenomenon could be seen during the last financial crisis. The effects were recognized in the USA first; then they hit Europe, Japan and finally the rest of the world. As a consequence, several automobile manufacturers have announced production cutbacks and reduced employment. Parallel to the external reasons there are different internal forces for change: Corporate strategy Workforce Technology and equipment Employee attitudes It is not unusual for an organization to change its strategy. It can lead e.g. to a large number of changes if the organization decides to adopt a new distribution methodology or a new logistic strategy. Also a merger will change an organisation’s way of acting. (For example, a company decides to  enter the e-commerce business). The introduction of new equipment or new technology is another internal force for change which affects an organization. The implementation of new technology needs new processes or structures. Through this, employees will have to be trained for new work processes or new jobs. The composition of an organization’s workforce never stays static because it changes in terms of gender, age or education. New employees join the organization and other people leave. With these changes, managers may need to redesign work and work groups in order to ensure the job requirements match the skills of the people. Lastly, employee attitudes such as the level of job satisfaction can lead to either negative or positive forces for change. If employees are dissatisfied, then there can be an increased level of employee absenteeism which can lead to changing practices or management of staff. 1.3 Origins of Change Management Again, a distinction between change management as a result of changing technologies and change management based on different management styles has to be made (in practice however, one factor is certainly influencing the other). Change management has his origins in the 1950’s. In those days modern forms of management were introduced (e.g. teamwork, autonomous groups) and the â€Å"war† between followers of top-down (change) approaches and bottom-up (change) approaches began. Top-down organizations are characterizes by the relatively low influence of subsystems. With the exception of the top management, employees are placed in a given process pattern. The organisation’s units are co-ordinated within a system of regulations and the organisation’s development is steered from top down. Bottom-up organizations are characterized by the relatively high influence of subsystems. The organisation’s development is carried by involved employees. A structural partial autonomy is conceded to the single subsystems. The organisation units are relatively independent in their execution of problems and could be basically capable of surviving on their own. Regulations are found primarily in the form of general behavioural instructions and the basis of â€Å"Common Senseâ€Å". The organisation’s development is therefore developing itself bottom-up. The best known concepts of  top-down management are business process re-engineering and business reengineering. The concept of business process re-engineering is aimed at changes concerning quality, service, cost and processing time. The core idea is process orientation. The concept of business process re-engineering takes into consideration strategy creation as well as process creation without describing, however, methods and instruments in detail. The documentation of the actual and the planned processes remain at a relatively coarse level and the main weight lies with few identified core processes. Business re-engineering is aimed at the radical redesign of enterprise strategies or essential enterprise processes. Its purpose is the improvement around scales in significant and measurable achievement dimensions in the areas of costs, quality, service and time. The implementation of this concept requires a â€Å"strong manager† who not only initiates the changes but also encourages the employees to make the necessary changes. Business re-engineering, therefore, is based on order and control, while the comprehensive knowledge of the organisation’s development and the participative system’s creation is maintained. The best known concepts of bottom-up management are kaizen and lean management. Kaizen (Japanese for â€Å"improvement† or â€Å"change for the better†) focuses upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, development, marketing etc. (main business processes), supporting business processes and management. Kaizen as a management approach is based on the idea that no actual status (of a process or an organisation) is good enough to be kept. Kaizen refers to a continuous improvement of all functions and involves all employees from the executive board to the assembly line workers. It also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics and always involves the entire organization. Kaizen was first implemented in several Japanese businesses after the Second World War, influenced in part by American business and quality management teachers who visited the country. It has since spread throughout the world Lean Management explains how to link the advantages of batch-producing organizations (speed, low unit cost) with the benefits of a customer-oriented organisation (high flexibility, customizing, quality). â€Å"Lean† must be understood as â€Å"Lean Enterpriseâ€Å", an enterprise with  customer-oriented organisation which values customers, suppliers and employees. Principles of lean management are a gradual approach, group orientation, own responsibility, constant feedback in lower management levels and a long-term orientation. Other ideas of lean management are an enterprise-wide improvement of the quality, acceleration of the development, harmonious integration of the enterprise into the society as well as outsourcing and concentration on specific strengths of the organisation. The focus lies on the soft factors. Also in relation to a process-oriented thinking and strategy creation, lean management uses the Kaizen approach. Nevertheless, the concentration on a few, significant core processes is strongly stressed here. Comparing the bottom-up and top-down approaches, the advantage of a bottom-up orientation lies with the possibility of adapting the rhythm of the development and the capacity of the organisation for development. Small changes can be achieved at short notice or immediately, while lasting changes run smoothly and could guarantee a constant improvement of the problem solution capacity of the enterprise. On the other hand, permanent change processes and the constant restlessness linked with such change processes can also affect negatively the organisation, as possibly no clear direction is recognizable any longer. Few enterprises are ready for a radical change in their orientation as demanded in a top-down approach. No organisation is able to reorganize itself and the whole value-added chain ad hoc. Frequently the longevity of the soft factor â€Å"enterprise culture† is underestimated. Changes in the enterprise culture need time and, hence, are an object of evolutionary and participative approach and not a revolutionary and authoritarian process. The advantages of the top-down approach are the straight-forward attempt of comprehensive, department-covering thinking and action and the focus on the central processes. Nowadays, within modern change management approaches, top-down and bottom-up approaches are mixed. As shown in fig. 1, analysis and the strategy development is mainly done top-down whereas continuous process improvement is driven from the bottom-up. Constant dialogue between the involved parties guarantees a constant improvement and focusing on the core requirements. Figure 1: Modern Change Management – Bottom-Up meets Top-Down So change management is the: correct understanding of the organizations that want or need to be changed correct understanding of the people who are willing or forced to change the effectively realization of change understanding the dynamics of change Changes should be facilitated by the organizational structure because this enhances adaptation and flexibility. A simple organizational structure will reach a simple dynamic environment or, on the other hand, a simple dynamic environment needs a simple structure only. For a complex dynamic environment an adhocracy will be needed. Adhocracy means more democracy and less bureaucracy. One of the most important points is the people, because they form the organization. The culture of organization includes their way of working, attitudes and norms. These facts are at the core of every change and they are difficult to handle. Personal modifications regarding attitudes or skills in leadership or communication are hard to identify but ineffectiveness can be indicated by problems and conflicts in the management of human resources. 2. Concepts of Change Management A number of models are available to facilitate one’s understanding of transitioning of individuals through the phases of change management and strengthening organizational development initiatives in both government and corporate sectors. 2.1 Lewin ´s Change Theory Kurt Lewin theorized a three-stage model of change that has come to be known as the unfreezing-changerefreeze model which requires prior learning to be rejected and replaced. Edgar Schein provided further detail for a more comprehensive model of change, calling this approach â€Å"cognitive redefinition.† Lewin ´s model will be discussed later in this book in more detail.. 2.2 Chin & Benne ´s â€Å"Effecting Changes in Human System† Chin and Benne (1969) and Havelock (1971) each articulated different approaches but shared some  overlapping concepts. Some of the models had a primary focus on innovation and organization, while others focus on the individual: Empirical-rational approach The basic assumption underlying the empirical-rational model is that individuals are rational and will follow their rational self-interest. Thus, if a â€Å"good† change is suggested, people of good intention will adopt the change. This approach â€Å"posits that change is created by the dissemination of innovative techniques†. A primary strategy of this model is the dissemination of knowledge gained from research. One example of agencies and systems used for the development and diffusion of such research results are agricultural extension systems and the county agents who disseminate the results of agricultural research. In education, these activities are the domain of educational research and development centers,,regional educational laboratories, state departments of education, colleges and universities, national diffusion networks, intermediate service agencies, and staff development personnel within school districts. The rational view generally ignores the fact that school systems are already crowded with existing passive recipients, who may not have the necessary time or expertise to adopt or apply the new knowledge or program. Power-coercive approach The power-coercive approach relies on influencing individuals and systems to change through legislation and external leverage where the power of various types is the dominant factor. Power-coercive strategies emphasize political, economic, and moral sanctions, with the focus on using power of some kind to â€Å"force† individuals to adopt the change. One strategy is non-violent protest and demonstrations. A second strategy is the use of political institutions to achieve change – for example, changing educational policies through state-level legislation. Judicial decisions also impact educational policy. A third power-coercive strategy is recomposing or manipulating the power elite – electing people to public office, for instance, to support an intended change. History is replete with mandates, and other power- coercive strategies, which resulted in little change. Normative-re-educative approach In the normative-re-educative approach, the individual is seen as being actively in search of satisfying needs and interests. The individual does not passively accept what comes, but takes action to advance his/her goals. Further, changes are not just rational responses to new information but occur at the more personal level of values and habits. Additionally, the  individual is guided by social and institutional norms. The overarching principle of this model is that the individual must take part in his/her own change if it is to occur. This model includes direct intervention by change agents, who focus on the client system and who work collaboratively with the clients to identify and solve their problems. The normative-re-educative approach employs the help of change agents to assist clients in the change process by identifying needs; suggesting solutions, examining alternatives, and planning actions; transforming intention into adoption; stabilizing the change. The use of an agent to support clients and facilitate change was present in the early models. The concept of the change agent evolved further and has been reported in studies of educational and other organizational change. 2.3 Bullock and Batten’s Phases of Planned Change R.J. Bullock and D. Batten derived their ideas from project management and they recommend using exploration, planning, action, and integration for planned change. Exploration occurs when managers confirm the need for change and secure resources required to achieve it. These resources may be physical or they may be mental, such as a managers’ expertise. The next step, planning, occurs when key decisionmakers and experts create a change plan that they then review and approve. Next, action occurs with enactment of the plan. There should be opportunities for feedback during the action phase. Finally, integration begins when all actions in the change plan have taken place. Integration occurs when the changes have been aligned with the organization and there is some degree of formalization, such as through policies and procedures in the organization. Bullock and Batten analyzed over 30 models of change management and arrived at their own 4-phase model of programmed change management which can be applied to almost any circumstance. The model is useful in that it distinguishes between the ‘phases’ of change which the organization passes through as it implements change, and the ‘processes’ of change, i.e. the methods applied to get the organization to the desired state. The model progresses as follows: Exploration phase – The organization has to make decision on the need for change: Explore and decide on the need for change Identify what  changes are required Identify resources required Planning phase – Understanding the problem: Diagnosis of the problem Clarify goals and objectives Identify specific activities required to undertake change Agree changes with stakeholders Identify supports required to enable change to occur Action phase – Changes identified are agreed and implemented: Support for change is explicit Changes are monitored and evaluated Results are communicated and acted upon Adjustments and refinements are made where necessary Integration phase – Stabilising and embedding change: Changes supported and reinforced Results and outcomes from change communicated throughout the organization Continuous development of employees through training, education Ongoing monitoring and evaluation 2.4 Beckhard and Harris change formula The change formula is a mathematical representation of the change process. The basic notion is that, for change to occur, the costs of change must be outweighed by dissatisfaction with the status quo, the desirability of the proposed change, and the practicality of the change. There will be resistance to change if people are not dissatisfied with the current state of the organization, or if the changes are not seen as an improvement, if the change cannot be done in a feasible way, or the cost is far too high. This formula can also be conceptualized as (D Ãâ€" V Ãâ€" F) > R. D = Dissatisfaction V = Vision F = First Steps R = Resistance to Change The multiplicative nature of this formula indicates that if any variable is zero or near zero, resistance to change will not be overcome. In other words, the variables of D, V, and F do not compensate for one another, and when one is very low, the cost of change is likely to be too high. 2.5 7-S Model Consultants at McKinsey & Company developed the 7S model in the late 1970s to help managers address the difficulties of organizational change. The model  shows that organizational immune systems and the many interconnected variables involved make change complex, and that an effective change effort must address many of these issues simultaneously. The 7-S Model is a framework for analyzing organizations and their effectiveness. It looks at the seven key elements that make the organizations successful, or not: strategy; structure; systems; style; skills; staff; and shared values. The 7-S model is a tool for managerial analysis and action that provides a structure with which to consider a company as a whole, so that the organization’s problems may be diagnosed and a strategy may be developed and implemented. The 7-S diagram illustrates the multiplicity interconnectedness of elements that define an organization’s ability to change. This theory helped to change managers’ thinking about how companies could be improved. It says that it is not just a matter of devising a new strategy and following it through. Nor is it a matter of setting up new systems and letting them generate improvements. To be effective, your organization must have a high degree of fit or internal alignment among all the seven Ss. Each S must be consistent with and reinforce the other Ss. All Ss are interrelated, so a change in one has a ripple effect on all the others. It is impossible to make progress on one without making progress on all. Thus, to improve your organization, you have to master systems thinking and pay attention to all of the seven elements at the same time. There is no starting point or implied hierarchy – different factors may drive the business in any one organization. The 7-S Model is a valuable tool to initiate change processes and to give them direction. A helpful application is to determine the current state of each element and to compare this with the ideal state. Based on this it is possible to develop action plans to achieve the intended state. 3. The Change Process 3.1 Initiating a Top-Down Change Accelerated by global competition, the pressure to change business strategy is a worldwide phenomenon. Industrial activities are shifting from manufacturing to service, globalization of markets, political realignments, technical advances in management information systems, corporate alliances  and downsizing of organizations are changing the structures of corporations and projects. In parallel, organizations are faced with global competition. This competition is becoming more and more obvious in automobile manufacturing, consumer electronics, computers and communications and household manufacturing. Increasingly, the global heavyweight players of the world economy are large corporations involved in international or multinational projects. There is a global market and competition for most products and services. In order to effectively compete in it, organizations must use creativity and transform their cultures, structures and operations. The emergence of these global organizations c reates pressure on domestic organizations and projects to restructure and internationalize their outlook and operations. Because of these powerful forces for globalization, organizations must explore project opportunities all over the world. Technology is changing at a rate greater than at any time in history. One of the most dramatic technological changes affecting the work environment is the rapid expansion of information system technology. This technological revolution is having a profound impact on project structures, power relationships and the management of complex project interfaces. Artificial intelligence, computerintegrated manufacturing and virtual reality are creating new project opportunities in terms of their development and applications. Technology eliminates the problems of physical distance. Audio/Video conferences create the personal and direct interaction that is needed to work as a team. Engineering and manufacturing industries are assisted by robotics and computer-based design and manufacturing techniques like CAD. Fast-changing consumer preferences caused by rapid and frequent technological changes and innovations have shortened the life cycle of several goods and services. The effects of rapid product obsolescence can be dramatic for organizations which cannot adapt and quickly handle this situation. In the pharmaceutical and electronics industries, some products become obsolete in as little six months. Projects aimed at developing products and services in such industries must adapt to this rate of change in a cost-effective manner to be successful. Fig. 1 about a modern change management process showed that change management starts with a (re-)definition of the current enterprise strategy. Deciding upon the right business strategy stands therefore at the beginning of every change process.  The process of finding the right strategy is illustrated in fig. 2. Figure 2: Finding the right Strategy Countless approaches for strategy definitions are available (e.g. Porter 5-Forces-Model, 7S) and are not topic of this book. Fig. 2 only shows a general approach for the strategic approach during the change process. One step in this approach might differ from a general strategy rehearsal. During a change project, it is necessary to involve an external expert for a strategy audit! A strategy-audit is an important cornerstone for a common image about the general and strategic position of the enterprise. Beside the management or departmental management in particular, the persons who are involved in marketing and sales and therefore have a direct customer contact and should be involved at this stage. The second step in the â€Å"top-down† part has been process analysis. The process analysis reflects the modelling of the existing processes. Participative reconstruction of the processes and the visualisation of the expectations, strengths and weaknesses for the initialization of a lasting change is required. A review process (iterative vote process with the employees questioned) is mandatory. The following stage of process (re-)design cannot be separated with regard to the method and the modelling tools from the process analysis. It is only to be distinguished as an â€Å"incremental† process optimisation and a â€Å"radical† reorganisation of the enterprise processes. The target of the top-down process analysis is firstly the elimination of all non value-increasing activities and secondly the optimisation of all remaining activities. 3.2 Initiating a Bottom-Up Change Managing organizational change from the bottom-up will be more successful if some simple principles are applied. Change management entails thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation and, above all, consultation and involvement of the people affected by those changes. If change is forced, problems will arise. Change must be realistic, achievable and measurable. These aspects are especially relevant to managing personal change. Before starting organizational change, the question of strategic change has to be answered: What do we want to achieve with this change, why, and how will we  know that the change has been achieved? Who is affected by this change, and how will they react to it? How much of this change can we achieve ourselves, and what parts of the change do we need help with? These aspects relate strongly to the management of personal as well as organizational change. Change needs to be understood and managed in a way that people can cope effectively with it. Change can be unsettling, so the manager logically needs to be a settling influence. Whenever an organization imposes new things on people there will be difficulties. Participation, involvement and open, early, full communication are the important factors. Workshops are very useful processes to develop collective understanding, approaches, policies, methods, systems, ideas, etc. Staff surveys are a helpful way to repair damage and mistrust among staff – provided you allow people to complete them anonymously, and provided you publish and act on the findings. Management training, empathy and facilitative capability are priority areas – managers are crucial to the change process – they must enable and facilitate, not merely convey and implement policy from above, which does not work – Change must involve the people change must not be imposed upon the people. One has to be wary of expressions like ‘mindset change’, and ‘changing people’s mindsets’ or ‘changing attitudes’, because this language often indicates a tendency towards imposed or enforced change and it implies strongly that the organization believes that its people currently have the ‘wrong’ mindset, which is never, ever, the case. If people are not approaching their tasks or the organization effectively, then the organization has the wrong mindset, not the people. Change such as new structures, policies, targets, acquisitions, disposals, re-locations, etc., all create new systems and environments, which need to be explained to people as early as possible, so that people’s involvement in validating and refining the changes themselves can be obtained. The following change management principles should be adopted]: At all times involve and agree support from people within the system (system = environment, processes, culture, relationships, behaviours, etc., whether personal or organizational). Understand where you/the organization is at the moment. Understand where you want to be, when, why, and what the measures will be for getting there. Plan development towards No.3 above in appropriate, achievable measurable stages. Communicate, involve, enable and facilitate  involvement from people, as early, openly and as fully as is possible.

Print Media vs Electronic Media

The ancient cave paintings, hieroglyphs, symbols, maps, and drawings are all the examples of how human being communicated from time to time. The major forms of media used all around the world today are print media, electronic media. In this article an attempt has been made to compare print media and electronic media. Print media contain materials that are available to us in printed form and which we can carry with ourselves or we can simply say they are portable. The major types of print media are books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, posters, brochures, press releases etc.Books are the oldest medium among all the print media and they re still one of the most widely used among all. These were the books that contributed to the development of libraries in medieval times across Asia and Europe. Magazines and newspapers are relatively new form of print media which gained popularity and became common in the 20th century all over the world, thus becoming leading medium of mass communi cation. The advent of newspapers and magazines greatly helped in the communication at the local, national as well as global levels during the last two centuries.It can also be said that these acted as agents of globalization to a large extent. They also helped in anti-colonial movements across the world. Electronic media imply to that form of media which can only be accessed by an electronic device. The largely used electronic media are radio, television and internet. Radio is no doubt the oldest of electronic media. It came to the public in late 19th and early 20th century and within few years it became one of the daily items of use for millions of people worldwide.It became one of prime sources of entertainment, knowledge as well as information. Radio was also used as an effective medium to transmit messages during the world wars. The mid-20th century saw the rise of television as an electronic media and it very quickly became the most fascinating all over the world. The reason fo r the success of television is very simple. It appeals to our visual as well as hearing senses. The visual appeal of television is perhaps unparalleled to any mass media. Till now it remains the most popular mass media.With the introduction of World Wide Web (www) the internet Stats there were more than 2. 4 billion internet users on June 30, 2012. The internet's popularity as mass media is because of the fact that it enables one to access any and any information by Just click of a button. It is also a two way communication medium as it helps interacting face to face by the use of appropriate instruments and internet connection. Thus we can say that both print and electronic media have contributed greatly in the process of mass communication. Both have their respective advantages as well as disadvantages.But to neglect or ignore one for another would not be the ideal way because each form has its own significance. The books, for example, cannot be replaced by television, while the a ttraction of internet and web cannot fully overtake the charm of newspapers and magazines. Moreover people working in different media fields and their livelihoods would be affected if any media suffer a setback. But at the same time one must also be ready to accept the reality that with time it would become difficult for old media to survive in the new â€Å"digital† age.So, for its survival the old media must make use of new techniques and technologies to upgrade itself and also try to keep intact its genuineness which by no way is an easy task. But still we can try. The production of the e-books, e-newspaper and internet radio are some of the successful efforts to assimilate the old with the ew. The Future of Newspapers Newspapers have been concerned about their future for some time now. While the number of adults reading newspapers and the number of papers sold each week are higher than ever before, the growth of newspaper readership has not kept up with the growth of popu lation in this country.Young people, especially, are not turning to newspapers. Young people who seek news for years have turned to television, which has done a superficial Job, for the most part. And now comes along the Internet. The Internet gives us up-to-the minute news the way radio has been ble to do, but the Internet lets you filter out the news you dont care about and only receive the news you do care about. This certainly begs the question: Are the print media dying? University professors and professionals ask the question at their conventions and conferences.But by some definitions, the newspaper is one of the most interactive media around. That paper product Just isn't electronic. You can start reading them at the beginning, middle or end. You can stop anytime you want, and start again when you want. There are indexes to help you Jump around to the spots you want. You can take it almost anywhere. You don't need batteries. Thirty years ago the experts were predicting that newspapers as we knew them would be dead â€Å"in 10 years. † We'd all be receiving news from videotext machines (a primitive form of computer).Well, today, the experts are not predicting that newspapers are going to go away, but they will change. Readers will look to both the Internet and print editions of the paper for news. Newspapers have strong brand recognition when it comes to news and readers who want reliable news will go to the media they trust. But print media that go online will not succeed simply by shoveling their old content onto the World Wide Web. To make money they will have to provide value added ads, and original Web content.In actuality, there is a greater demand today for news and information. Those who are trained to reliably gather information from a variety of sources, synthesize or make sense of it, and repackage it for dissemination in a variety of formats will be in great demand. New media, which includes the World Wide Web, is one of the fastest g rowing and highest paying career fields for the news media. The vast majority of newspapers in the country now have web sites, though most of them are stuck in the paradigm of creating content for their

Conflict Theorists

Conflict theory was developed from the concern that the structural functionalism theory neglected conflict in society and was politically conservative. This conflict theory also addressed the perceived failure of structural functionalism to account for change in society (Ritzer, 1992, p. 61). This theory has evolved to include elements of structural functionalism and traditional Marxist focus on dominant and subordinate groups.Conflict theory often depicts a: polarization of the forces of â€Å"law and order† on the one hand and left wing political activists and minority group members reacting to what they saw as excessive police repression of political protests and urban riots on the other (Giffen, et al. , 1991, pp. 8-9) This aspect of conflict theory assumes, however, that the dominant and subordinate groups are more or less homogenous in nature.Most research in the field of drug policy recently, however, deals with power being located in â€Å"institutional structures in society such as economic, governmental and religious institutions (Giffen, et al. 1991, p. 10)† that do not presuppose homogenous groups. An example of this would be the comment of Riley after attending a conference on drug issues in the United States, where he remarked that â€Å"many researchers felt the real reason for the war on drugs in that country was that it helped to suppress blacks and minorities. (Riley 1994b)† One of the failings of conflict theory becomes apparent when researchers in the history of this legislation find little in the actual discussion of the laws that pertains to race.Giffen, et al. (1991) write that the early legislation's principle proponents had the â€Å"altruistic aims of supporting the international anti-opium movement† despite the anti-Chinese sentiment of the times (p. 525). The fact that the laws were used solely against the Chinese at first is indicative of this anti-Chinese sentiment, and not the creation of the laws thems elves. Later legislation was driven mainly by enforcement officials, as there was little in the way of public outcry for more rigorous anti-opium legislation (p. 525).Johns (1991) under the heading â€Å"Race: The Creation of an Enemy Class,† writes bluntly: â€Å"The enforcement tactics of the War on Drugs are focused on minority populations† (p. 155). In her paper, Johns (1991) posits that the War on Drugs takes attention away from the factors which underlie the problems of drugs and trafficking, partly because the â€Å"more powerful segments in society† (p. 150) do not want attention focused the poor job they are doing to cure the ills of society. Johns also expands the group being oppressed to include the poor, who have been hit with massive housing and health care cuts under the Republican Presidencies.The dichotomy between those in power and minorities and the poor is self-perpetuating, in that these groups have a limited upward mobility (and, therefore c rimes like trafficking in illicit drugs becomes appealing), and when they do try to increase their wealth through illicit means, those in power see that as justification for minorities and the poor being in the position they are in. The conflict theory is problematic in describing why there is a war on drugs. It may help to explain (as Johns (1991) successfully does) why a War on Drugs continues in the U. S. , but leaves unanswered questions when applied to other situations.

Child and young persons development

Understand the kinds Of influences that affect CYP's development Criteria Describe with examples the kinds of influences that affect CYP's development including d) background e) health f) environment 3ackground: The children I'll be working With Will come from a wide range Of backgrounds that will have an impact on their development, such as family composition, culture and beliefs etc.If a child iS from a different culture or belief from most of the other children in the class, then here may be certain rules in that belief that may stop them being involved in a play activity the other children may be taking part in. The child may feel excluded and lonely their physical development could be affected but also their social development could be affected. Health: The children and young people come across may have a number of health issues or disabilities.If a child has a disability that restricts them participating n activities this may have an effect not only primarily on their physical development but also their social development. To avod this, the child must be included as best they can and for them to feel valued. Also Is a child is from a low income family they may not nave the correct diet and nutrition to help them to grow. This may also affect their physical development. Environment: The main environments where a CYP develops Will be their school and home. Both at home and atschool if a child is nurtured and given time then they will develop faster and to a higher level.At home whether the CYP is cared for by parents. grandparents or arers then they will be the first people that the child will develop a bond with. Activities such as read too, and with them and letting them know that their opinion matters will help develop positive growth. A child that is sat in front of a computer playing games may not develop and learn key skills as quickly as a child that has lots of interaction with parents/carers, The surrounding area of the home and school can also hav e an effect. Their development will grow if there are libraries. arks, community centres for Sport and other activities. There they will interact With peer and adults developing a range Of skills. criteria describe with examples the importance of recognising and responding to concerns about children and young people's development. Recognising an Issue with a CYP's development Is Important and responding to any concerns is vital! If during work In a school I have a concern about a pupil's development I would first raise It with the class teacher. I may be asked to record my concerns In-case actions are needed to be taken later.I would need to be sensitive to both the child's and their parent's teelngs and even It others have already raised an issue I should still intorm scrTleone senior in the school. An example that may tind of a child's development being compromised could be a pupil that is new to a school that struggles with English as they may have recently moved to the 13K. This could have an effect on not only their intellectual development through not being able to complete the work done in class, but also their social development. If the pupil has trouble Child and young persons development Understand the kinds Of influences that affect CYP's development Criteria Describe with examples the kinds of influences that affect CYP's development including d) background e) health f) environment 3ackground: The children I'll be working With Will come from a wide range Of backgrounds that will have an impact on their development, such as family composition, culture and beliefs etc.If a child iS from a different culture or belief from most of the other children in the class, then here may be certain rules in that belief that may stop them being involved in a play activity the other children may be taking part in. The child may feel excluded and lonely their physical development could be affected but also their social development could be affected. Health: The children and young people come across may have a number of health issues or disabilities.If a child has a disability that restricts them participating n activities this may have an effect not only primarily on their physical development but also their social development. To avod this, the child must be included as best they can and for them to feel valued. Also Is a child is from a low income family they may not nave the correct diet and nutrition to help them to grow. This may also affect their physical development. Environment: The main environments where a CYP develops Will be their school and home. Both at home and atschool if a child is nurtured and given time then they will develop faster and to a higher level.At home whether the CYP is cared for by parents. grandparents or arers then they will be the first people that the child will develop a bond with. Activities such as read too, and with them and letting them know that their opinion matters will help develop positive growth. A child that is sat in front of a computer playing games may not develop and learn key skills as quickly as a child that has lots of interaction with parents/carers, The surrounding area of the home and school can also hav e an effect. Their development will grow if there are libraries. arks, community centres for Sport and other activities. There they will interact With peer and adults developing a range Of skills. criteria describe with examples the importance of recognising and responding to concerns about children and young people's development. Recognising an Issue with a CYP's development Is Important and responding to any concerns is vital! If during work In a school I have a concern about a pupil's development I would first raise It with the class teacher. I may be asked to record my concerns In-case actions are needed to be taken later.I would need to be sensitive to both the child's and their parent's teelngs and even It others have already raised an issue I should still intorm scrTleone senior in the school. An example that may tind of a child's development being compromised could be a pupil that is new to a school that struggles with English as they may have recently moved to the 13K. This could have an effect on not only their intellectual development through not being able to complete the work done in class, but also their social development. If the pupil has trouble

Deception Point Page 87

â€Å"Anything?† Rachel asked. The pilot let the arm make several complete rotations. He adjusted some controls and watched. It was all clear. â€Å"Couple of small ships way out on the periphery, but they're heading away from us. We're clear. Miles and miles of open sea in all directions.† Rachel Sexton sighed, although she did not feel particularly relieved. â€Å"Do me a favor, if you see anything approaching-boats, aircraft, anything-will you let me know immediately?† â€Å"Sure thing. Is everything okay?† â€Å"Yeah. I'd just like to know if we're having company.† The pilot shrugged. â€Å"I'll watch the radar, ma'am. If anything blips, you'll be the first to know.† Rachel's senses were tingling as she headed for the hydrolab. When she entered, Corky and Tolland were standing alone in front of a computer monitor and chewing sandwiches. Corky called out to her with his mouth full. â€Å"What'll it be? Fishy chicken, fishy bologna, or fishy egg salad?† Rachel barely heard the question. â€Å"Mike, how fast can we get this information and get off this ship?† 104 Tolland paced the hydrolab, waiting with Rachel and Corky for Xavia's return. The news about the chondrules was almost as discomforting as Rachel's news about her attempted contact with Pickering. The director didn't answer. And someone tried to pulse-snitch the Goya's location. â€Å"Relax,† Tolland told everyone. â€Å"We're safe. The Coast Guard pilot is watching the radar. He can give us plenty of warning if anyone is headed our way.† Rachel nodded in agreement, although she still looked on edge. â€Å"Mike, what the hell is this?† Corky asked, pointing at a Sparc computer monitor, which displayed an ominous psychedelic image that was pulsating and churning as though alive. â€Å"Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler,† Tolland said. â€Å"It's a cross section of the currents and temperature gradients of the ocean underneath the ship.† Rachel stared. â€Å"That's what we're anchored on top of?† Tolland had to admit, the image looked frightening. At the surface, the water appeared as a swirling bluish green, but tracing downward, the colors slowly shifted to a menacing red-orange as the temperatures heated up. Near the bottom, over a mile down, hovering above the ocean floor, a blood-red, cyclone vortex raged. â€Å"That's the megaplume,† Tolland said. Corky grunted. â€Å"Looks like an underwater tornado.† â€Å"Same principle. Oceans are usually colder and more dense near the bottom, but here the dynamics are reversed. The deepwater is heated and lighter, so it rises toward the surface. Meanwhile, the surface water is heavier, so it races downward in a huge spiral to fill the void. You get these drainlike currents in the ocean. Enormous whirlpools.† â€Å"What's that big bump on the seafloor?† Corky pointed at the flat expanse of ocean floor, where a large dome-shaped mound rose up like a bubble. Directly above it swirled the vortex. â€Å"That mound is a magma dome,† Tolland said. â€Å"It's where lava is pushing up beneath the ocean floor.† Corky nodded. â€Å"Like a huge zit.† â€Å"In a manner of speaking.† â€Å"And if it pops?† Tolland frowned, recalling the famous 1986 megaplume event off the Juan de Fuca Ridge, where thousands of tons of twelve hundred degrees Celsius magma spewed up into the ocean all at once, magnifying the plume's intensity almost instantly. Surface currents amplified as the vortex expanded rapidly upward. What happened next was something Tolland had no intention of sharing with Corky and Rachel this evening. â€Å"Atlantic magma domes don't pop,† Tolland said. â€Å"The cold water circulating over the mound continually cools and hardens the earth's crust, keeping the magma safely under a thick layer of rock. Eventually the lava underneath cools, and the spiral disappears. Megaplumes are generally not dangerous.† Corky pointed toward a tattered magazine sitting near the computer. â€Å"So you're saying Scientific American publishes fiction?† Tolland saw the cover, and winced. Someone had apparently pulled it from the Goya's archive of old science magazines: Scientific American, February 1999. The cover showed an artist's rendering of a supertanker swirling out of control in an enormous funnel of ocean. The heading read: MEGAPLUMES-GIANT KILLERS FROM THE DEEP? Tolland laughed it off. â€Å"Totally irrelevant. That article is talking about megaplumes in earthquake zones. It was a popular Bermuda Triangle hypothesis a few years back, explaining ship disappearances. Technically speaking, if there's some sort of cataclysmic geologic event on the ocean floor, which is unheard of around here, the dome could rupture, and the vortex could get big enough to†¦ well, you know†¦ â€Å" â€Å"No, we don't know,† Corky said. Tolland shrugged. â€Å"Rise to the surface.† â€Å"Terrific. So glad you had us aboard.† Xavia entered carrying some papers. â€Å"Admiring the megaplume?† â€Å"Oh, yes,† Corky said sarcastically. â€Å"Mike was just telling us how if that little mound ruptures, we all go spiraling around in a big drain.† â€Å"Drain?† Xavia gave a cold laugh. â€Å"More like getting flushed down the world's largest toilet.† Outside on the deck of the Goya, the Coast Guard helicopter pilot vigilantly watched the EMS radar screen. As a rescue pilot he had seen his share of fear in people's eyes; Rachel Sexton had definitely been afraid when she asked him to keep an eye out for unexpected visitors to the Goya. What kind of visitors is she expecting? he wondered. From all the pilot could see, the sea and air for ten miles in all directions contained nothing that looked out of the ordinary. A fishing boat eight miles off. An occasional aircraft slicing across an edge of their radar field and then disappearing again toward some unknown destination. The pilot sighed, gazing out now at the ocean rushing all around the ship. The sensation was a ghostly one-that of sailing full speed despite being anchored. He returned his eyes to the radar screen and watched. Vigilant. 105 Onboard the Goya, Tolland had now introduced Xavia and Rachel. The ship's geologist was looking increasingly baffled by the distinguished entourage standing before her in the hydrolab. In addition, Rachel's eagerness to run the tests and get off the ship as fast as possible was clearly making Xavia uneasy. Take your time, Xavia, Tolland willed her. We need to know everything. Xavia was talking now, her voice stiff. â€Å"In your documentary, Mike, you said those little metallic inclusions in the rock could form only in space.† Tolland already felt a tremor of apprehension. Chondrules form only in space. That's what NASA told me. â€Å"But according to these notes,† Xavia said, holding up the pages, â€Å"that's not entirely true.† Corky glared. â€Å"Of course it's true!† Xavia scowled at Corky and waved the notes. â€Å"Last year a young geologist named Lee Pollock out of Drew University was using a new breed of marine robot to do Pacific deepwater crust sampling in the Mariana Trench and pulled up a loose rock that contained a geologic feature he had never seen before. The feature was quite similar in appearance to chondrules. He called them ‘plagioclase stress inclusions'-tiny bubbles of metal that apparently had been rehomogenized during deep ocean pressurization events. Dr. Pollock was amazed to find metallic bubbles in an ocean rock, and he formulated a unique theory to explain their presence.† Corky grumbled. â€Å"I suppose he would have to.† Xavia ignored him. â€Å"Dr. Pollock asserted that the rock formed in an ultradeep oceanic environment where extreme pressure metamorphosed a pre-existing rock, permitting some of the disparate metals to fuse.†