The war on Polio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The war on Polio - Essay Example President Roosevelt thereby established the Warm Springs Foundation; a polio hydrotherapy center. The organization grew rapidly since it received much support and funding from several sectors. At the time of Roosevelt’s death in 1945, the foundation had already been transformed into the National Foundation which had become a strong organization dealing with voluntary health issues and funding polio research in the United States. In 1948, a significant discovery was made in the United States in relation to the fight against polio. The discovery was made by John Enders with a team of scientists from Harvard University. It was discovered that the virus which caused polio could be cultivated in the non-nervous tissues of the body. This important breakthrough led to the subsequent manufacture of the Polio vaccine. Jonas Salk took a keen interest in this realization and created the formalin-inactive virus that became known as the Salk’s vaccine. Before its release into the ma rket, the vaccine underwent very intensive trials and authorizations in a bid to ensure that it could safely and effectively immunize people against the polio virus. Even though other vaccines became accepted for use against the Polio virus, the Salk vaccine was largely adopted in the United States in the fight against the disease. For instance, Albert Sabin came up with an Oral Poliovirus Vaccine (OPV) in 1948 which was extensively used across the world throughout the next two decades. The OPV eventually ousted Salk’s IPV as the choice vaccine in the United States. This was basically out of the fact that OPV was administered orally and not through injection. Secondly, OPV used a powerful mechanism called â€Å"herd immunity† which could effectively provide immunity to unvaccinated people living near those already vaccinated. Even though the challenge of polio was much addressed in the United States, there was still the danger of the virus since frequent epidemics were a common occurrence in many parts of North Africa and Europe in the post-World War II days. In the mid-1950s the two vaccines effectively helped in combating the menace hitherto realized as a result of the polio virus (Orr 78). IPV and OPV have eradicated most cases of polio from several regions across the world. It must be admitted that the fight against polio is one of the most successful battles ever launched in the history of medicine and healthcare. In the developed world like the United States, it can effectively be stated that polio is no longer a great challenge compared to some of the emerging healthcare issues. However in certain parts of the world, polio is still a major challenge given the remoteness of these areas which limits their accessibility to the polio vaccines. In any case, the few cases of polio normally reported in the United States are basically imported from the developing world where the disease could still be a challenge. The war against polio might not h ave been a really smooth affair throughout the long timeframe. Many challenges always characterized the undertaking from the onset of the research on the vaccines. These challenges range from the post-polio syndrome to the financial aspects in dealing with the challenge in the developing world. Nevertheless, amid all these limitations, it can be well argued that the research

Zipcar Entering the Foreign Market of Germany Case Study

Zipcar Entering the Foreign Market of Germany - Case Study Example The case study "Zipcar Entering the Foreign Market of Germany" talks about the Zipcar company, car rental service. The paper also analyzes why Zipcar decided to choose Germany as their new market. The rental company was established in 2000 and is currently composed of the merged operations of Zipcar and Flexcar, even as its ownership falls into the hands of Avis. 2006-th saw the company moreover branching out from its key American base and into England, in London, as well as Canada, in Toronto. As for 2012, the company had a presence in about 300 university campuses as well as 20 key urban centers scattered in its western markets. In 2014, too, the company lists Spain as a key market. Germany, given its sizable computer and driving population and its centrality to the European economy, is a good fit as an expansion market for Zipcar. If Great Britain and Spain are viable markets because of their economic readiness for Zipcar services, then one can make an argument too for Germany as a viable market, given that it is not only the largest economy in all of Europe but also that it has the largest population in the continent, after Russia. This mix of large population and a massive economic base makes Germany an exciting market for Zipcar from an economic and demographic point of view. Digging deeper into Germany’s demographics and economic profile, out of its about 80 million citizens, close to 63 percent is between the ages of 25 and 64 years, the most economically active years from a demographic point of view.

The Competitive Landscape In The Banking Industry Marketing Essay

The Competitive Landscape In The Banking Industry Marketing Essay We are living in the 21st century, everything is revolving around the internet and technology, and its all about embracing the convergence. This explosion of the internet and technology has impacted on everything, and its altering the banking industry as well, from branch banks and papers to networked and digitized banking services, it has already made its way in, but over all, the banking industry is still struggling to find a solution for the rapidly changing environment. The root of this problem is that most banking executives are still not ready to see the real impact of the Internet age and act accordingly, few impacts of the internet and technology are discussed below, Altering the Rules of Competition Today, because of the internet dissolving the difference of the size of the businesses, thus letting small business get to set the competitive agenda and get the advantage. Physical processes are being replaced by virtual, and virtual environments are being created, sooner or later one has to enter this market, in order to keep up with the market trend. The only difference is whether youll go by your own rules or follow the ones created by others. Internet representation, and web based outlets, if executed correctly, can give the power to one, to set its own rules for the competition. From Capital Requirements to Knowledge Requirements Traditionally, absence of funds, has served as a hurdle to access into any particular industry. This has been especially true in the banking sector. Today, improving financings of the company is perhaps the one of the least problems, a company struggles with. Investors know that economical techniques of variation are no longer an organizations key asset, its past track record, its brand or anything. Investors today anticipate and are interested in companys knowledge. A large network system, financial muscle and a huge work power may not seem to have as much importance, as before. Brand Building The last two decades, saw a large focus on the growth of manufacturers, and brand building as a differentiation means, thus allowing service providers, banks for instance, to create brand awareness among the customers for their loyalty towards the brand (Czerniawska Potter, 1998). Consequently, multi-million dollars of investment were solely done on the development of the image of the brand. Already on the Internet, there are organizations performing as informers or experts, who help prospective buyers go for the best option, thus making the customers independent, and not be misled by the image created by the brand, and make more conscious decisions when going for a purchase. Customer Segmentation and Relationship With the help of the Internet a bank is able to target specific market online and provide them product information, personalized web pages and services, and other data for any client, when they access the companys web page. In short, the battlefield has changed, today it is brand or product variation, and focus on the most profitable clients, and to keep the customer relations and support the best, for the long term profitability. From Access In Distribution Channels to Amiss to Customers In the 1980s and early 90s, one of the key areas of competition was to have the best distribution networks to make sure that products/services offered by the bank could be delivered to customers (Czerniawska Potter, 1998). Banks used to invest heavily and it was one of the main concerns too, to have the best location of the outlet, and build up their network. However, with the advent of the Internet such resources have become less relevant. Today the customer feels more easy going online and access the their bank account rather than to visit a physical branch. From Regulated Government Policy Its Unregulated Global Market It is believed that regulatory and legal restrictions, other types of hurdle to access determined by Portia, be decreased because of the Internet. For example, in the United States, new opportunities for the banks were created, when the act of branching efficiency or the Rigles Neal Act of 1994 was passed. This Bill allows banks, to become the full service financial institutions and providers (Kalakota Whinston, 1997). Clearly, this change is both a risk and a chance since the limitations that have ceased some from coming into an industry have also restricted the regional development of others. Global competition The erosion of boundaries due to the Internet has accelerated the trend towards global competition. Citibank has entered the Japanese market successfully with its web-based solution. Similarly, The Royal bank of Canada made its way into the US market with the help of the internet, by virtual banks. In summary, the internet is globalizing the banking industry, the battlefield is evolving around the internet, attracting new customers and coming up with unique services and products which werent possible before are needed of the time today. Question 2: Provide an analysis of the resources and capabilities a typical bank needs to have to be able to compete in this environment dominated by the internet and online banking. (500 words) Customer service is the key to survival of any bank. Customer loyalty and commitment is directly proportional to client convenience, personalized services and innovative offers and products. In the 1970s and 1980s, banks were marketing to a generation raised on an old style of banking: personal service at a bank. They were not comfortable with automated services, and were scared to use computers. So, to have a physical branch office nearby was convenience and relaxation. Today, in a banking relationship, individual assistance and convenience are still the crucial aspects, but they are described in a different way. Clients still want the bank to be a financial institution who knows them, and bank the one, they know, but they do not actually want to go to the bank. Today, customers are not afraid of computer techniques and technology; they accept them. Comfort is doing their banking whenever and wherever they want. They are now relaxed with computers and other gadgets. They anticipate quick, effective, and precise assistance. And the only way to be successful, is to provide the immediate, quality assistance that clients demand, and that the competitors provides, is through intensive use of the most innovative and advance technology and through good people qualified in the use of these technological innovations. For all these factors, the banks keep modifying its delivery systems. The New Delivery Systems The increasing price of building brick-and-mortar divisions, and decreasing price of personal computer systems, slow revenue growth and high delivery costs force a relook at the traditional delivery systems. Furthermore, growing comfort of technology usage by the client is quickly promoting use online banking for daily transactions. The new focus of the banks today is, that the branch be a place of a wide range of solutions like customer assistance kiosks, telebanking, remote electronic banking and ATMs, not just a high cost transaction hub. New Marketing Opportunities: The new technology and its products are expensive, therefore, banks need to utilize better and do more with the new technology than to just provide information and solutions. Banks have to also market and sell financial commitment products, insurance coverage to get a better come back on this investment. Telebanking can bring financial solutions to the home, especially if they are cost-effective screen mobile phones. By realizing how much interest the client conveys, the bank can market stock and insurance quotations. Interactive clips are a new technology innovation that banks can market their products with, and to maintain personal contact with the client while still decreasing the cost of services. An expert worker is not required in each branch with the interactive video, open brokerage accounts, complex life insurance products, personalized product cases can be accessible were required. The interactive video clips will be cost effective. For banks, the internet is an unique way to reach to customers outside the normal consumer base of a division. Banks need to stay conscious of the customers need for new solutions and strategies and make them available before others do. Question 3: The authors argue that certain theories and concepts used to key for competitive advantage in the traditional business environments are no longer important in this new era of internet dominant environment. Explain. (500 words). As a result of the advent of Internet technology, larger banks no longer gain an advantage based on the economics of scale that they were able to achieve in the past. Physical size and bureaucratic organizational structure can mean high operating costs. as well as inefficient and limited degrees of flexibility. Traditionally, lack of money has acted as a barrier to entry into any particular market (Porter, 1979). This has been especially true in the banking sector. Today, raising finance is perhaps the least difficult task facing an organization. Investors recognize that an organizations key asset is not its economies of scale, its past track record, its brand or any or the other trump cards. What investors are interested in and expect is the organizations knowledge. Financial muscle, a large labour force, and a large branch network may seem to have become less important. With the internet banking, bricks, mortar and physical networks are no longer required. Such a shift has substantially lowered the traditional barrier to entry. Internet banking shifts the competitive rules by levelling the playing field of large and small banks and reduces importance of issues such as physical distance and location. In todays banking environment, the processing of large physical branch network is perhaps no longer a serious competitive advantage or primary concern for customer selecting a bank. From gatekeeper to gateway. In the old gatekeeper model the bank functioned as an inhibiting supplier that restricted the customers product choices. Now in the new gateway model, the bank functions as a flexible intermediary that provides access to an entire spectrum of products and delivery channels. In other words, the bank acts as a gateway, and provides its customers with access to value added services with normal services anywhere in the world. Today, Internet increases the bargaining power of buyers. The more products that become standardized and undifferentiated, the lower the switching cost, and hence more power is yielded to buyers. As more new comers are entering the industry, banking customers are facing more alternatives that increases their bargaining power. Following this most of the internet banking services are now free of charge. Internet Banking enable the emergence of new rules of competition. Therefore, the traditional economics of scale benefits are no longer applicable. The internet is fundamentally changing the way banks conduct business. The processing of a large branch network is no longer a sustainable advantage. The banking market is likely to see the emergence of new small banks that use the internet to compete on equal grounds with the financial giants. Over the past several decades one of the most common tactics that organizations have adopted to sustain competitive advantage has been to establish a set of proprietary standards that keeps their customers from their suppliers and competition. Unfortunately, proprietary standards and the internets open -system architecture are contradictory in nature. The investment that banks have made in developing their own proprietary software to manage user interface is perhaps turning from an asset to a liability as the internet becomes a universal channel for information access. Question 4: Select a bank in your home country and answer the following: (800 words). Using Porters Five Forces model, discuss its competitive environment, Citibank is a U.S. based commercial bank, it was first incorporated in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. Citibank is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. The bank offers mortgage lending, consumer finance, retail banking service and products, investment banking, trade finance, cash management, commercial banking and e-commerce services and products, and private financing services and products. Citigroup, Inc is the parent company of Citibank. It provides credit cards, deposit accounts and loans to consumers and small companies, and uses its parent companys depth of financial solutions by also offering investment and insurance products. The bank mainly operates in America, UK, Asia, Middle East, and Africa including the Japan, US, Hong Kong, China, India, Singapore and the Philippines Porters Five force Model: Availability of Substitutes Replacement of one product with another one increases the competition within an market. It is hard to find an ideal alternatives of banks, the most ideal substitute of banking services are not available but they have a choice to choose between making an investment and preserving their cash. The individual can save their cash at their home or in Nationwide saving centers. The individuals can also invest their cash in stock market. Rivalry among existing firms There are lots of opponents among various banks. There are a wide range of public and personal banks which are offering products and service on competitive prices. Rak bank was granted as the best bank for the year. There are several other IslÄ mic banks which are recommended by the people there. NBAD, HSBC, RAK Bank, Loyalds TSB bank, Dubai Bank, RBS etc are the few opponents of Citibank. The lots of opponents among these banks gives rise to the difficulties which the opponent bank have to face. The opponents among various banks improves the changing of the clients from one bankss product to the other. Threat of new entrants The banking industry of any nation has always possibilities of growth and competition, so many new banks get in and out of the market. Mostly banks step in the developing nations for growing their divisions. But as global economic recession recently, the risk of new newcomers is limited. Power of buyer Bargaining power of a client is low where the products alternatives are not available and clients are more in number. In case of banks there are lots of other banking intermediaries and banks, having wide assortment, so power of buyer in banking industry is high. The bank can not force any client to buy the preferred product because this directly impacts its reputation, but can persuade its clients by providing them special rewards or discounts. Bargaining power of suppliers Banks have previously acted as suppliers. However, in this new internet banking World, the business model has changed dramatically. Banks are no longer need suppliers, but are the suppliers to the financial products. So there is no bargaining power of the suppliers. There are no suppliers in the banking industry. How the internet impacts it competitive position and These are the effects of the internet: The tremendous challenge that all competitors are experiencing in the banking market. The different systems for the different customers such as International organizations, small-medium businesses and personal customers were challenging more innovative e-business alternatives according with the improving use of the internet. Different providers coming into with new alliances. The new marketplaces that are possibly Citibanks alliances. The alternative products such as local financial, heritage system and technology organizations. how it has continued to preserve its competitive position. Citibank highlight on client care instead of the price, client satisfaction was targeted on the support, technological innovation and reaction time providing assurance to the customers in the form the business was done. The good client support and goods and services are the reasons why Citibank is able to keep its identification and commitment throughout the world. Citibank used many technological innovation to get more customers pleased such as ATMs, phone collections, and the digital system of expenses which is a secure business transaction from the client. Another difference Citibank done was the affordable costs of its products or to match their competitors costs to give affordable costs for the different services and goods. Competitive advantages Lower costs for its solutions and products Multiple ways to access the account for the customers Secure transaction and operations over the internet

Powerful Satire in Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay -- Canterbury Tal

Powerful Satire in The Canterbury Tales If one theme can be considered overriding or defining throughout Medieval European society, it would most likely be the concept of social class structure. During this early historical period in Europe, most of society was divided into three classes or 'estates:' the workers, the nobles, and the clerics. By Chaucer's time, however, the powerful estate structure had begun to wear down. Weaknesses in the system became apparent, as many people, such as Chaucer himself, seemed to no longer belong to any one of the three estates. Wealthy merchants sometimes had more power and influence than poor noblemen, but the merchants technically remained mere workers or peasants. Even Chaucer, who was given the title of Esquire en Service, the lowest ranking of the noble class, was never truly considered a nobleman because he wasn't born into his title. With social structure failing the society and putting pressures on the already fractured classes, it isn't surprising that authors of the time such a s Chaucer began to make commentary on the estates in their works. Driven by his own feelings of class isolation, and his observations of the ludicrous behavior of the other classes, Chaucer clearly intended his work, The Canterbury Tales, to be a satire upon the estates. Central to understanding Chaucer's work is, one can see, coming to an understanding of Chaucer himself. Unlike modern works of fiction, which frequently lack any real sense of meaning beyond simple entertainment, Chaucer works a number of social critiques into The Canterbury Tales. His motivation is relatively clear: the social issues he chooses to address were the issues that largely shaped his life. "Chaucer and some of his peers were... ...trates an enlightened commentary on the three estates. By humorously satirizing the societies faults with pilgrim's such as the Summoner or the Pardoner, and applauding the positive influences on society, the true representatives of the three estates, the Knight, the Parson, and the Ploughman, Chaucer makes a bold and lasting statement on his society. Works Cited Benson, Larry D. The Riverside Chaucer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. Brewer, Derek. Writers and their Background: Geoffrey Chaucer. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1975. Cooper, Helen. Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales. Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1989. Kellogg, Alfred L. Chaucer, Langland, Arthur: Essays in Middle English Literature. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1972. Strohm, Paul. Social Chaucer. England: Harvard University Press, 1989. Â  

Influence of Internet on Family Communication About Sexuality

The Influence of the Internet in Family Communication about Sexuality Christo Jose Central New Mexico Community College ABSTRACT The mass media are an increasingly accessible way for people to learn about and see sexual behavior. Out of all the mass media today, adolescents use the television and the internet more than any other media resource. The use of internet has risen exponentially in the last few years and within a year, it is estimated that 90% of all families with children will have access to the internet. The word sex is the most popular search term used on the Internet today. The Internet may have both positive and negative effects on sexual health. Internet bombards the minds of the teens these days with images of sex almost every single day. Aside from the daily dose of sexuality and eroticism provided by the mainstream media, 50% of all adolescents have said that they have encountered unwanted pornographic material on the internet. Many studies have been conducted to determine the extent of communication between adolescents and parents about sexuality. It has often been shown that students are more likely to turn to friends and the media before discussing this topic with their parents. The availability of a large and wide scale of information on the internet and the freedom from the embarrassment of confrontation has compelled many adolescents in this path. Because of this, fewer families discuss sex and abstinence in their families. One study has found that the patterns of sexuality communication in a family are also dependent on the gender of the parents as well as the child. Preadolescents who have communicated with their parents about sexuality have been shown to go to their parents for more advice when they are older. The internet does play a very important role in children communicating with their parents about sexuality. The internet provides a wide array of information that can lead or mislead children based on where they look for information. Some studies show that the use of internet in families have reduced the family communication and has led to less and less time spent with the family. This leads to a strain in communication between the children and the parents and this lack of communication makes it uneasy on the children to go to their parents when in need of information about their sexuality. The mainstream mass media (movies, music, T. V. , magazines and the internet) provide frequent and sometimes explicit images of sexuality. Available studies show that the media do have an impact because the media keep sexual behavior on public and personal agendas, media portrayals reinforce a relatively consistent set of sexual and relationship norms, and the media rarely depict sexually responsible models. In the Unites States, children spent about a third of their time a day exposed to some form of mass media. Patterns of media use vary greatly based on age, gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic level. Thus, one can never be sure that a message sent out through any form of media is interpreted as the same by the various people exposed to them. The internet being a bottomless pit of information can never be fully trusted. Though the internet provides more explicit material on sex than any other media, most of these are along the lines of pornography and do more harm than good. The internet, being a product of normal people, isn’t always accurate and can provide information that are biased and may not always prove to be useful. The personal opinions and tips expressed in many websites aren’t usually based on any scientific or medical facts and can thus mislead children looking for information. In a study conducted in 1993, adolescents (aged 15-17) put their friends first, then parents and then the media for sources to acquire information about sexuality. Today, the media has risen in rank and leads as the main source of information for adolescents. Among the various forms of media, internet maintains the top spot. The anonymity provided by the internet is one of the main reasons for the children of these days turning to it for information. The risk of embarrassment and confrontation is negated behind the blinds of the computer screen. The extreme nature of some of the sexual content available causes students to misinterpret many things they see online and mislead them into thinking about the prevalence of some activities in real life. The media as a whole provides a picture that is far detached from the problems of real life and it has been shown that many teenagers strive to achieve that level of unnaturalness in their lives. Patterns of Sexuality Communication Between Preadolescents and Their Mothers and Fathers This was a study conducted to examine the extent of communication and the patterns of communication in various families between preadolescents and their parents. Each member of the triad completed a 10-item measure of communication about risk factors for sexual activity, sexual communication, and sexual risk prevention. A majority of parents and their preadolescents reported communication had occurred about most topics. Mothers and fathers were equally likely to communicate with sons whereas mothers were more likely to communicate with daughters than were fathers. Based on the study results, preadolescence may be the optimal time for parents to provide sexual risk prevention messages to their children before sexual behaviors are initiated. Parents and other family members play critical roles in shaping adolescent sexual behavior through their parenting practices, sexuality communications, and modeling of risk reduction strategies. Greater parental monitoring and less parental permissiveness are consistently related to later sexual initiation, less frequent sexual intercourse, less risky sexual behavior, fewer sexual partners, less pregnancy, and increased condom use among teens. The study found that overall, most preadolescents and their parents report that they have talked about risk factors, sexuality education and sexual risk prevention topics. The parents and the children were more prone to discuss topics like drug abuse and alcohol with their children than other sexual topics. Discussion about condoms and abstinence were least reported. Looking at the study gender-wise, we see that boys have discussed their sexuality with both the parents to the same level and have reported doing so. In the case of daughters, the patterns show that they tend to go to their mothers more for information about sexuality. Dad-daughter pairs rarely reported discussing sexuality, menstruation and puberty. Preadolescents are the time of their lives when they internalize the messages they get from their parents. Children who have been educated at this time tend to not be affected peer relationships and the media as much as those who have not been. Children whose families communicate with each other abstain from risky behaviors and have more tendencies to be less influenced by the outside media. Thus parents need to be encouraged to communicate with their children about sexuality rather than letting them search for information outside the family circle. It is better to communicate with children at the age when they are more receptive to family communication. Family Relations and the Internet: Exploring a Family Boundaries Approach Introduction of internet into the family environment can influence and change the way of life in a family. The increase in the use of internet in families has prompted many researchers to see how it can influence everyday life. Connection to the internet opens a window of information to families about parenting, child’s education and family health. Many studies have also stated that the frequent use of the internet by family members have cut into the time spent as a family. This results in a lack of communication among the family members which can cause the children to go after various other media to fulfill their curiosities and the need for information. Most parents view the internet as a positive force in the life of their children and buy them computers and connect them to the internet to help them better at school, to do more research and to learn new things. Teens don’t always use the internet to match their parent’s expectations and in these conditions the positive force can turn into a source of conflict in the families. Conflict, if not handled well, can lead to a lack of communication or miscommunication among the family members. This can lead to a lot of assumptions and misconceptions that can surface from a child’s limited view of the internet. Another argument against the use of internet is the large hole it cuts into the child’s available time. Internet use is time consuming and it has been found that internet use in high frequency is directly responsible for the negative effects on family communication and closeness. All this studies are based on the conception that the communication between the family members is a closed system and that the internet cuts a hole in this closed fence. Communication in a family isn’t always related to the use of internet in every family. Many other factors play into this scenario. The schedules of the whole family are important and should be considered when something like this is examined. Dysfunctional families do not need the internet as a hindrance for the lack of communication among its members. Before the advent of the internet, there did exist many families who did not communicate properly within. Even with these arguments in favor of the internet, its effect on the family can not be withheld. It has been shown that frequent internet visitors go there for social purposes and their personality characteristics are influenced by this and differ from normal. Adolescents who use the internet for social and entertainment purposes seem to have more conflict with their family than those who used it for educational purposes. On the whole, it can be seen that increase in the time spent on the internet has had a negative impact on the family time and a positive impact on the family conflicts. Thus, the internet is directly linked to the decrease in family cohesion due to lack of communication and time spent together. CONCLUSION The three articles come to a conclusion about the nature of the influence the internet provides on family communication. Internet is a very useful resource and source of information and we can never deny its importance in everyday life. But, when we consider its influence on the young minds, we need to think about the advantages and the disadvantages. Depending on the point of view of a person, the internet can be good or bad. From the articles we can see that the families who spend a lot of time on the internet do seem to have more communication dysfunction than those who spend less time. This can be due to two different reasons. Adolescents these days depend on many different sources of information available to them to teach them about their sexuality and sometimes these resources can point them in the wrong direction. Children who don’t have a good communication rapport with their parents at a young age usually don’t develop a good communication bridge with their parents when they get older and the peer relationships are stronger. Some of the messages put across by the internet are factually wrong or morally incorrect and many children accept this as the truth due to lack of communication with parents. This leads to development of wrong set of ideas and can lead to various risky behaviors in the sexual context. The excessive amount of explicit sexual content available on the internet can confuse the minds of teens and younger children alike and can lead to a state of mind in which many of the things depicted may seem natural for them. This again leads to risky sexual behavior. Another way the internet seems to affect the family communication is by cutting into the time spent as a family. This goes hand in hand with the earlier mentioned fact as this leads to lack of communication between the parents and the children leading the children to go elsewhere in search of advice or information. The whole thing works as a circle in which the increased use of internet by children has a negative impact on family communication about sexuality. But it has been shown that parents who communicated with their children at a young age make an impact in their receptive minds and can thus strengthen the bond between the members of the family. This can lead to open communication in a family and thus the children can be educated properly and correctly about the various aspects of sexuality. From this, we can come to the conclusion that early development of a good bond with parents and the control of the use of internet (among many other factors) can help children grow up to be sexually responsible adults. Since I am already an adult, I will use this information I have gained in the future with my family. Making sure to have an open and trustful bond with my children would be my primary objective when bringing them up. I will try to communicate better with my family in that way and can teach my children things that I myself have gone to various places to find. During the time I grew up, my main source of information on this topic was the internet and my peers which have led me to learn through trial and error which was risky and dangerous. I realized from writing this article that one of the causes of this was the internet and I will make sure that my children won’t have to repeat my mistakes. Also, on a broader view, communication is very important in getting any kind of point across to people and it is important to look for accurate information when trying to teach someone something. Depending on the internet is not always accurate and in the right point of view. Another thing that can be learned from this is that it is always important to take time to open communication channels and talk to people. Lack of communication can lead to lack of cohesion and more problems anywhere, be it work, family, friends, etc. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, J. (2002). Mass Media Influences on Sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 39(1), 42-45. {text:bookmark-start} P {text:bookmark-end} Wyckoff, S. , Miller, K. , Forehand, R. , Bau, J. , Fasula, A. , Long, N. , et al. (2008). Patterns of Sexuality Communication Between Preadolescents and Their Mothers and Fathers. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 17(5), 649-662. Mesch, G. (2006). Family Relations and the Internet: Exploring a Family Boundaries Approach. Journal of Family Communication, 6(2), 119-138.

Human Relations Vs Classical Approach To Management Essay

This essay will explore the main features in both the â€Å"Human Relation Approach† & â€Å"Classical Approach† to the management of organisations. The essay will compare both approaches and explain why? In my view, the human relation approach is superior to the classical approach in the management of organisations. Before we can declare that the human relation approach is superior to the classic approach in the management of organisations, we must first explore the main features of the two approaches. The Classical Approach The classical approach to management began to come to the fore of management in the first half of the 20th century as organisations looked for more ways in which to improve the number of issues that were surrounding industrial management from that time. Management were striving to find new ways in which to increase productivity, lower costs, increase quality of their products, improve employee/manager relationships and increase efficiency at their factories. The main concern for management using the classical management approach was to find the â€Å"Best Possible Way† in which employees were to perform and manage their daily tasks. What were to come from this were 3 separate branches of the classical approach to management. The 3 branches were as follows, Bureaucratic Management, Classical Scientific Management and Classical Administrative Management. Each of these branches had the one goal of finding the â€Å"Best Possible Way†. Bureaucratic Management The example I will use to explain Bureaucratic Management is Max Webber’s theory on bureaucracy. In the late 1800’s Max Webber criticised organisations because of the way they ran their companies, in some cases like a huge extended family. An example of a company running the business like this would be for a manager to promote a family member for a job  position over another employee simply because he is a relation. The other employee may even be better skilled to carryout the job on offer but this won’t make a difference when the decision is being made. Another scenario would be for management to pick an employee for promotion simply because he gets along with this employee better than he does with the other employees. Webber believes this informal organisation of supervisors and employees inhibited the potential success of a company because power was misplaced. Webber believed in a formal rigid structure of organisation called bureaucracy. This non-personal view of an organisation follows a certain structure of rules, authority and competence. Webber believed that a supervisor’s power within an organisation should only be based on the individual’s position within the organisation, the level of professional competence and the supervisor’s adherence to the organisations rules and regulations. In other words if a company was to make you a supervisor it would be on merit alone or to reverse an old saying â€Å"it’s not who you know it’s what you know†. Following the organisations rules and regulations will ensure that an organisation follows the correct procedures that facilitate consistency in management practices. An example of these rules and regulations would be when an employee calls in sick, the employee must follow the correct procedure i.e. call supervisor before 10am, all employees are expected to follow this procedure and the supervisor is expected to enforce it. The division of labour and work specification was another one of Webbers theories. If an organisation has a workforce of 50 people and management had 4 specific jobs to carry out, the organisation would distribute the jobs to the employees who had the most experience in the specific field in which the job required. Impersonal management was also an important part of Webber’s theory. He believed that while management should be friendly and active with employees they should maintain an impersonal relationship as to promote fair and equal treatment of employees so that unbiased decisions can be made. Classical Scientific Management This branch of classical management focused on the methods and theories in the creation of specialized work processes and workforce skills to complete  a number of the organisations production tasks efficiently. Frederick Taylor, Henry Grant and Frank & Lillian Gilbreth are some of the people who pioneered the classical scientific management theory. They spent their time researching how specific jobs in their companies were being carried out, what steps were taken by an employee to complete the work and the amount of time it took for the worker to complete a task using different methods. These steps were used to determine which way was the most effective. This research led to the 4 principles of scientific management. Number 1, management provide employees with a precise, scientific approach for how a worker completes individual tasks. Number 2, management should choose and train each employee on one specific task. Number 3, management must communicate with staff and ensure the method used to complete the task is in fact the most efficient way to do a task. Number 4, management should create the appropriate division of labour. Following these 4 principles ensured that any organisation that used classical scientific management was left with â€Å"Best Possible Way† of doing things The division of labour allowed management to break down complex and difficult tasks into much smaller and manageable jobs and tasks that single employees could complete. Each employee is given precise instructions and training, specifically in how to best perform their jobs and tasks, each tasks is then watched closely by management who will ensure that the method used is the most efficient method for completing the task. When management is happy with all the methods being used they will watch as the product is passed on from employee to employee. If you think of an assembly line in a factory were each worker has one single job to do over and over in the production of a product on an assembly line, the product is finally ready for sale after each worker completes their specific tasks along the assembly line. Henry Ford’s mass production of the Model T car is a great example of how the assembly line really worked within an organisation. Ford used the  classical scientific management theory along with his own engineering background to determine the â€Å"Best Possible Way† in which he could mass produce the Model T car using the assembly line. First he rationalized the most effective way to build the car based on the size of parts. He then determined the best order to assemble similar sized parts. Workers were trained in assembling these parts on an assembly line. Once the process was defined in only took 93 minutes to produce a Model T car using the assembly line. This allowed Ford to mass produce the car. Classical Administrative Management When systematic management grew in popularity, the number of people who where interested in defining and improving the practice, the likes of Max Weber & Henry Fayol to name a few were among the theorists who sought an alternative more general approach from the specialized functions of scientific management. Where scientific management focused on the workers productivity, administrative management focused on management processes and principles of the organisation. The goal of management theory shifted from exact work methods to the development of managerial principles, which in turn led to the birth of administrative management. The administrative theorist tackled the idea of management from many angles with the goal to designating management as a profession the can be taught to companies anywhere in the world. Weber & Fayol researched topics such as organisational principles, philosophy of management & organizational structure to list a few in order to make management a legitimate force within organisations. For Weber & Fayol management was a profession and an important role within an organisation. Scientific management focused on how to best get a job done administrative management focused on the best way to pull all the jobs together to organise a business. Simply put scientific management was concerned on the parts and administrative management was concerned on the sum. Human Relation Approach As a result of developing the classical management theory by the likes of  Frederick Taylor, Henry Grant and Frank & Lillian Gilbreth was that critics began questioning classical management theory for the potentially harmful effects on employees. It was not so much the way in which management went about finding the most effective way to complete a task that concerned critics, but the assumption of classical management theorist that management and workers would meet half way on their attitudes on standardisation. Many believe that the emphasis on standardisation had in avertedly created an attitude among managers that employees were merely just the clogs in a machine, in this case the organisation. While machines and processes could be standardised, it was unrealistic to expect that standardisation among emotional human beings. Instead the 2 needed to be looked at individually. While Taylor and other classical management theorist continued to study and rollout the standardisation of jobs and processes, others began to look at a new research and approaches that involved the employee. This led to the creation of the human relation approach. The human relation approach attempted to incorporate the behavioural sciences into management thought in order to solve the problems that were encountered when incorporating the classical approach to management. The theory behind this idea was that the roll of management was to use employees to get the work done in organisations, rather than focus on production, structures or technology the human relation approach was concerned with the workers. Human relation theorists concentrated on questions that concerned how to best way to motivate structure and support employees within the organisations. A study during this time called the Hawthorn study was originally devised by a company called Western Electronics and was carried out by their own industrial engineers in 1924. The company was the manufacturing division of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. The Hawthorn Works employed up to 30000 people and at the time was considered a prime example of the techniques and processes that are involved in the mass production of products and the work organisation methods that were advocated by the likes of Fredrick Taylor and Henry Ford. However, there was a difference mainly being the company’s personal and welfare policies that included pensions, medical care, disability benefits and recreational facilities. The first phase of the study aimed at examining the effects of various lighting levels in the workplace and how these lighting levels could affect workers productivity. They divided workers into 2 groups, one that would have the light varied in the room and one that would have a constant illumination level in the room. Engineers expected to see various results in the group with changing light levels in order to determine the correct level of light, however the opposite happened. The group with the changing light levels in their room surprised engineers by actually increasing their output. The only time their work actually decreased was when the light in the room was actually so dim that the work could not continue. Even more startling was that the group with the same constant light levels also increased their work output. The second phase of the study wanted to establish the effects on productivity with increased rest periods, for example shorter working days, reduced working week, refreshments and better friendly communication between workers and supervisors. They tested a group of 6 women in an assembly test room and gave them the new privileges. The initial results were noted by Gillespie (1991:59) [Their] privileged status and a modicum of control over work days brought about a strong identification with the test room among the workers . . . With the introduction of refreshments during the morning rest period, the women’s status soared higher still. Within 2 years of phase 2 starting productivity in the group of 6 had increased up to 30%. This led to the commissions of even more tests being carried out on various groups of people using the new techniques of reducing working hours and providing better care for their employees. The great results in output and employee job satisfaction undermined the assumptions regarding human behaviour that had been previously perceived by other classical management theorists. The study concluded that it was not the changes in the environment such as lighting and refreshments that had improved the production output in the group, but it was in fact the personal and special attention that the workers were receiving that made them perform better. It was in fact that they were being studied that made them improve  performance. This later became known as the â€Å"Hawthorn Effect†. This was the reason why the group had that had same consistent lighting in there room also showed increased performance levels. They also felt special because they were being studied which led to them wanting to impress the people who were studying them. Two major propositions came from the core of the Human Relations approach. The first proposition related to the importance of informal groups within organisations. The Hawthorn Study had proved that employees performed better when they worked as a collective force that cooperated throughout the organisation with no barriers between higher management and the employees. The second proposition was that humans are emotional beings who have a deep need for recognition and the feeling of belonging to something or someone. The Hawthorn Study found that employee’s performance and attitude can change dramatically once these needs are met. This also did not go un noticed by the organisations who also needed to gain the collaboration of these new working groups if they were to get the best performance from their employees. Conclusion For me the Human Relation Approach to management is by far the most rewarding and fair approach between the two. Using this approach to management is both rewarding to the employee and the organisations for which they are working for. The employees get the job satisfaction, acknowledgment and felling of belonging to an organisation through this type of management. The employees will feel proud and honoured by the work that they carryout for the company and will feel secure and happy by the rewards offered. For the organisations, they get a work force that is happy to work for an organisation that treats its employees so well and fair. The production levels increase as a result of this. We as human beings need to be acknowledged in the work place and made to feel we belong to something, in turn we will continue o perform to the best of our abilities. References Bernard Burns (2009). Managing Change a Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics. 5th ed. Harlow England: Pearson Education Limited. P9-90. Bureaucracy: Max Weber’s Theory of Impersonal Management, Education Portal, YouTube 9th October 2014, Viewed 11th November 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buJcTq2b6sE Classical Management Theory, Education Portal, YouTube 31st December 2013, Viewed 02 November 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE9XvUWgwaI Classical Management Theory, Education Portal, YouTube 9th October 2013, Viewed 04 November 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTBAMdA7YGg Classical Administrative School of Management, Education Portal, YouTube 14th October 2014, Viewed 10 November 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhJtRlFgno Classical Administrative School of Management, Education Portal, YouTube 14th October 2014, Viewed 15th November https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhJtRlFgno Neoclassical Theory of Management: The Human Relations Approach, Education Portal, YouTube 14th October 2014, Viewed 16th November 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSJplS8tPY