Monday, September 30, 2019

My Goals and Walden Vision and Mission Essay

Being an Emergency Room nurse for 7 years and working as a traveling nurse in many different parts of the country has impacted my future and decision of going back to school. My personal career goal is to become a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) with specialization in pediatric critical care area, mainly pediatric emergency medicine. I have known since a very young age that I had a gift for working with children. My colleagues always call me the â€Å"pediatric nurse†. I feel it takes a very special type of person to work with pediatrics, and this is where my heart is. I chose to become a FNP to broaden my area of expertise and to leave multiple doors open to work in different areas. I have looked into numerous FNP programs across the country, but I was particularly looking for a program that would allow me the flexibility with my changing work schedule and lifestyle. A few co-workers of mine are currently going to Walden and informed me about the school and program. After reading the university and School of Nursing’s vision, mission, and goals, I knew that Walden would be right for me. I strongly agreed with many aspects of what Walden stood for as an overall school. I truly connected to Walden’s mission to provide â€Å"a diverse community of career professionals with the opportunity to transform themselves as scholar-practitioners so that they can affect positive social change† (Walden University, 2013a, para. 2). I value that Walden incorporates everyone’s background and experiences to better the learning of other students. Only being a nurse for 7 years, I have worked in over 17 hospitals and feel that I have gained a vast knowledge of how nursing differs in multiple parts of the country. I relate to Walden University’s statement of the diverse community of students helping to bring positive change including nurses from all aspects of healthcare. Furthermore, two of Walden’s University (2013a) outcomes that really caught my attention were to â€Å"demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning† (para. 5), and also to utilize â€Å"knowledge to positively impact†¦ profession, communities, and in society† (para. 5). I want to continue to broaden my knowledge over the life of my career. I also believe in using this knowledge to positively impact others in all aspects of healthcare. Incorporating Social Change I agree with Walden University’s (2013a) view on social change that â€Å"Walden supports social change through the development of principled, knowledgeable, and ethical scholar-practitioners, who are and will become civic and professional role models by advancing the better of society† (para. 4). I plan to incorporate social change in my profession by applying my past work experiences and knowledge from school to become a better professional role model to my patients, co-workers and community. An example of one learning outcome for the Master of Science in Nursing is to â€Å"exhibit ongoing commitment to professional development† (Walden University, 2013b, para. 3). I am constantly trying to learn new ways to improve and better my knowledge and education. I recently obtained my Certified Emergency Nurse certification and will soon be taking the Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse exam. I only hope that with my past experiences and my future knowledge gained at Walden University, I will be able to become a professional advocate and role model for the future of pediatric care and the patient population thereof.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Caucasian American Race in My Community

Being a Caucasian American residing in Western Massachusetts I believe that my ancestors were native from the polish and Irish descendants. According to the research I conducted I found that under this population the white people are described as those people with an origin from Europe, Middle East or North Africa, the African –American or the popularly known as the â€Å"Blacks† are said to have originated from any black race of the Sub-Saharan Africa, the American Indians who are also referred to as the Alaska Native are those with an origin from any of the people of the North, Central and South America and are popularly known to be maintaining the affiliation of its tribe. The Asian Americans are the people originating from the Far East, South East Asia and the Indian sub-continent and lastly the Hispanics, these is the population that are said to be bi-racial. (Jessica and Claudette, 2002)In the city I find that there are more people from different origins who do no t look like my ethnic group and the majority of them are the African Americans who I find to be people originating from the native Sub-Saharan Africa, who were captives that were enslaved within the boundaries of the United States although some of them originated from the voluntary African Immigrants from Africa. Whereby, in the year 1860, 3.5 million Africans were enslaved in the Southern part of the United States while 500,000 lived free across the United States. (Jessica and Claudette, 2002)How Are The Caucasian Americans Different From The African American?According to research I therefore state that in areas resided by the Caucasian American population is highly developed, taking an example of Western Massachusetts where the Asian Americans are said to be well represented in several professional sectors through which they are said to be earning higher wages especially in the sectors that involve business and technology even though they are poorly represented in the higher manag ement levels. Under this I find that in the year 2002 the businesses for this ethnic group had recorded a number of over 1.1 million businesses where they employed more than 2million workers where they had revenue of above $326 billion.Leadership in My CommunityI find that inequality exist within the ethnic groups in my community, whereby according to a survey done I indicate that disparities exist among the ethnic groups under which it is said that this inequality is practiced where, higher incomes whites and Asians are discriminated from the Blacks the Native Americans.   I therefore say that in my community many leaders come from the rich who take the prerogative to solve problems in the city, solutions put forward by the rich have not worked at all, but have made much harsher the Caucasian American conditions for living where the problem of us the Caucasians get neglected, causing the inter-depended equations to get ever more lopsided and we are back to where we started from i n our normal problems, this shows that there are no solutions that work for the poor and that if there were, communities like mine would already be using them. (Lupton & Power 2002)Under leadership we find this racial discrimination has led to the following effects on the gender sensitivity in my community: Economic development under this, I find that women are said to be disadvantaged by the segregation in the distribution of income and consumption within the Western Massachusetts where the share of the national income shows that there is inequality between women and men in the society, where women are said to have a significantly lower share of national income than men in my city.Personal insecurity the racial discrimination is said to lead to gender segregation among the various ethnic groups in my community thus leading to the women to be at a risk from violence in Western Massachusetts, whereby practices such as the traditional believes where women are regarded as burdens rathe r than assets this is normally practiced in Western MassachusettsMedia Representation of Racism in Western MassachusettsThe need for dependency makes the people in my community to be looking upon the media to be given information about the events taking place and the products present in the market globally, so they have to tolerate the messages by the media so as they get the information about a particular event taking place. In this case we find that the people read, listen and interpret the message depending on their socio-economic class, gender, age, education and their ethnic backgrounds, in this manner we find that they are influenced by the media to carry out a particular action or even to copy the concepts of life shown in the message that is put across to them through advertisements. (Couldry and Curran, 2003)  Under this, I have found out that there is always some disinformation about my ethnic group whereby this practice is not only practiced by the business owners, but it is also used by various political leaders and the government, who influence the media organizations to disseminate certain information that is meant to undermine the Caucasian American community and their leaders in the government and through this, I find that many people are led to take an action depending on the message given to them by the media who are surely, aware that the information included in the advertisement is not true. (Couldry and Curran, 2003)Racial Discrimination in Western Massachusetts SchoolsThe term racial discrimination creates a distinction between one group of people from another, this is normally based on the skin colour, facial features and the hair texture, it normally vary depending on the culture, and social economic factors in my community   According to the secondary research that I conducted, I find that the this area is highly affected by racism in many sectors including schools where racism is practiced through   the separation of students by their colour; I find that many students who attend sub-urban schools are white, since the sub-urban schools are meant for those individuals who are claimed to be belonging to a higher social class this is because the schools are claimed to be of a higher quality compared to the other schools that are attended by the Caucasian   children. (Darnell, James and Downey, 1998)Effects of Racial Segregation in SchoolsI found out that, teachers in many schools are said to be practicing discipline on students depending on the race, gender and socio-economic factors, though many people including teachers, argue that the discipline and policy practices in schools are balanced and objective, there are still main causes that lead to an increase in the number of students of colour being send out of school, there are various causes of racial inequality in discipline implementation in many public schools in my community and   these include;Cultural Insensitivity And Misunderstanding; I find tha t this has been said to be the major factor leading to crisis in discipline systems both in students and the teaching staff that is believed to be leading to the distinction between racial and ethnic groups among students.Due to the growing urban population in my community, many suburban schools are growing, thus increasing the racial and language differences On contrary, the number of teachers decreases as a result of color and social differences in which I find that   many school Administrators employ teachers depending on the number of the colour of the students, this has probably led to a cultural variance through which a number of teachers lack knowledge with the cultural values, and belief systems of the particular students. Therefore due to lack of the teachers’ familiarity with the students’ cultural perspectives the teacher is not able to understand the behaviour of a particular student. (Darnell, James and Downey, 1998)Psychological Insinuation racial discr imination is said to be having psychological implication on various children in the society since the children are forced to participate in a particular culture at school which needs them to alter to their home cultures through this the students face a variety of conflicts giving rise to a psychological and identity problem.Socio-Economic Factors; this is normally experienced in many schools creating differences among the members in the learning institution. For example in a situation where we find a teacher living in a middle social class that has a uniform way of living and a lower income student living in an economically troubled society, this differences between the teacher and the student is said to complicate the relationship between the two groups. (Karl and Linda 1997)Alienation this normally occurs in children due to the assimilation policies that are imposed in schools which are normally meant to break the conversion of culture and language from an older generation to a yo unger generation this leads to the alienating of the native children from their society older to younger stimulating the identity crisis within their societies. This alienation can lead social isolation that might also lead to depression through stress anger and fatigue which normally happen to detract the student from performing in schools.I therefore argue that, racial discrimination in Western Massachusetts   schools has a diversified effects on the students which normally differ with the presence of many factors including those of self attitudes and the cultural and socio-economic backgrounds this factors target the performance of the students whereby a negative impact is brought that is when a school administration fails to address the needs of its students this may be done when the school administers in formulating its curricula that include the exclusion of minority cultures and languages which proves to lack relevance to the students thus making the students to loose inter est whereby they fail to attend school and some of them dropping out of schools due to the boredom caused by the school curricula this course may also lead to a low literacy rate among the members of the society.RecommendationI therefore conclude that, in most cases lack of motivation leads to, absenteeism, poor performance, lack of involvement in activities, and dropout cases in schools. Most students are said to be undergoing various challenges while at school, these problems may include: fear of failure, lack of academic success, social pressures, lack of confidence in themselves, misplacement of papers and books, frequent absenteeism, lack of motivation and quietness at school as a result of racial discrimination. I recommend teachers in Western Massachusetts to focus on the students’ problems culturally, linguistically and socially and at the same time, they should encourage the students to choose subjects that are of interest to them.The government plays a role of ensur ing that commitments to equal rights and opportunities are upheld and delivered, by setting an enabling environment for gender and racial equality at the country level and in the Western Massachusetts community through the formulation and implementation of conferences and international conformities. Therefore, I recommend that the governments should empower the poor Caucasian American community by improving the internal governance structures, finance management systems, skills knowledge and abilities. Promote linkages, learning and dialogue between the poor and support the formation of umbrella groups that can effectively negotiate member interests with outside activists.ReferenceCouldry N. and Curran, J. (2003) – Contesting Media Power, Alternative media in aNetworked world, Lanham & Oxford, Rowman & LittlefieldDarnell A. & Downey D. (1998):-Assessing the OppositionalCulture Explanation for Racial/Ethnic Differences in School Performance American Sociological Review 63: 536- 553.Jessica S. and Claudette E (2002)   The Asian Population: 2000. Census Bureau publication, c2kbr01-16Karl, A. and Linda, N. (1997): Children, Schools, and Inequality: Boulder, Co- WestviewLupton, R & Power A. (2002). â€Å"Social Exclusion and Neighbourhoods In UnderstandingSocial Exclusion† Hills J, Le Grand J. & Piachaud D. Edn pp. 118- 140. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Thomson's paper" A Defense of Abortion" Essay

Thomson's paper" A Defense of Abortion" - Essay Example ally permissible even if we grant that a fetus is a person,† seems rather speculative, taking into account the fact that author herself stresses that in many cases abortion is impermissible - until it is about saving mother’s life or aborting a child of violation. Second, the article is an author’s response for responses of other authors and is just a part of a bigger dialogue that can not be estimated totally, and thereby is taken out of context. And while responding to strict moralists, which stress that any of mentioned forward (raping or life-saving) reasons can be taken into account, author looks like an aggressive supporter of abortions. And this analysis would be made with these facts considered. The first, author is flouncing between moral and legal issues. At first she addresses human nature, asking about human wish to be unwillingly bound to someone else, the attention is concentrated on aspect of a free will, and the good nature of it is being preserved. Then focus of attention of the reader switches to an issue of â€Å"whether a human law can oblige human behave humanly†. Thereby a person, who protects her right to choose a way to use her body, is thus can be considered right by the logic and common sense, eventually turns out â€Å"immoral and bad, but still legal†. This way it turns out that the human rights protected by logic and human rights protected by law are way different. Thomson calls the thing, which she claims right, both good and bad. That serves well to my presumption of an ambivalent nature of an article. The second: author is contradicting herself. Thus in the first part of the text she acts emotionally, like speculating on person’s wish to protect own health and property, sympathy to a boy, who had been deprived of his candies, etc. She manipulates with human greed, self-defence reflexes, contradicts the hypocrisy of the opponent: everything that seems quite appropriate in a dialogue with â€Å"goodies†, but looks radical in the

Friday, September 27, 2019

The Athlete's Shack Wireless Upgrade Term Paper

The Athlete's Shack Wireless Upgrade - Term Paper Example 2 Assessment For catering the needs of the business for TAS, there is a requirement of secure and effective wireless network connectivity for all the 10 stores within the same area. There are no requirements for establishing connectivity on long distant stores. However, security is a primary concern, as data channels will be established in the environment. For addressing the security issue, Cisco provides rich features and adds an extra layer of security on the wireless networks. The embedded security technologies on a wireless architecture are now standardized, as they are available by default in all vendor manufactured wireless devices. Some of these technologies are WEP, WPA etc. Moreover, after securing the data in transit by encryption, we have also proposed a wireless intrusion prevention system that will continuously monitor and prevent the network from cyber threats. However, there is no guarantee of the network security, if the iPads are misused and stolen or snatched from o ne of the employees of TAS. For addressing human threats, acceptable use policy and password policies will be implemented. 3 Solution As the TAS environment requires wireless connectivity, ‘access points’ are required. ‘Access points’ are the device which is used to connect devices equipped with wireless technology. ‘Access points’ transmits and receive radio signals adjacent to a network hub over a limited distance. However, distant varies from different model types and wireless technology adopted. The TAS requirement is to provide access of network resources to the staff for connecting the iPads. Cisco delivers a borderless mobility experience which gives users access to the information and resources with the quality and performance. 3.1 Wireless connectivity of TAS sites TAS haw 10 stores within the same area, and there is no information regarding the distance of each of these sites with each other. When designing a wireless point to point c onnectivity, the distance is always considered due to limitation of wireless technology. Cost is also a major factor when implementing and designing a wireless network. There are two methodologies which can be adopted for connecting all 10 sites to provide Internet connectivity. 3.1.1 Wi-Fi 802.11/y It is a relatively new wireless standard defined by IEEE 802.11 standards with more enhanced capabilities as compared to 802.11n. It operates on 3.6 to 3.7 GHz on 54 Mbps with the distance of 3 miles (Parsons & Oja, 2009). The distance which is required to connect all of these 10 sites can be achieved by connecting via 802.11y Wi-Fi technology. However this technology is currently available only in United States of America. The hardware which is required to connect all these 10 sites is relatively of low cost. This is a low cost solution but it has certain limitations as it is available only in the United States. There are very few IEEE 802.11y complaint devices available. The router can be installed at any one end of either side to broadcast the signals

Thursday, September 26, 2019

What is Abortion and is it Morally Permissible Essay

What is Abortion and is it Morally Permissible - Essay Example In order to determine the ‘rightness’ or the ‘wrongness’ of the issue of abortion, virtue ethics can frame the issue, but the questions becomes how to define what is virtue and by whose standards it is defined. In deciding how to discuss abortion, defining the morality of the procedure is dependent upon the personal morals of the individual as they are influenced by their beliefs systems concerning the value of the life within the womb. The effect in the UK as abortion was made legal was profound. After the Abortion Act of 1968 came into existence the first observable consequence was a dramatic drop in emergent medical care as a result of poorly executed and illegal abortions. The number of abortions performed in the first year in England, Wales, and Scotland numbered at 23,641, which rose to 54,819 in 1969 and 160,000 in 1972.1 Through an examination of the statistics, the numbers reveal that a great number of people have determined that the procedure has v alue to them and that the morality of having the procedure either is irrelevant or they are in support of abortion as a moral choice. In addition, the number of women dying each year from poorly executed illegal abortions between 1926 and 1935 was between 400 and 500 per year.2 From this perspective, legal abortion saves the lives of women who might otherwise seek an illegal procedure. The morality of abortion can be related to defining the meaning of the concept. From a social standpoint, however, the definition of abortion becomes much more complicated. Abortion is a cause, it is a crime, it is a political stance, and it is a perspective, all depending on the belief systems within which it is being considered. One perspective on the impact of abortion on gender relations is that it was a contributing factor to increased freedoms for women so that they could participate in the public sector, having jobs and conducting business on an equal basis to men. From another perspective, abo rtion has contributed to an increase in promiscuity which is based on the premise that pregnancy no longer must be a sign of immoral behaviour as the consequences to that behaviour can be eliminated.3 Thomson relates an example of how abortion can be viewed as a right for women. The parable that is used is based on the idea that a grown musician is in medical peril and the music association decides to attach the musician, through a tube, to another person in order to continue his life. Although the person has not given permission for the tube to be attached to save this person’s life, the removal of this tube will kill the musician. The moral question that Thomson poses is whether or not the person who is facilitating the life of the musician is morally obligated to continue to do so because cutting off the ties between them would kill the musician.4 Thomson is suggesting that the individual who is tied to the musician has a right to leave the situation as they were not given the option or choice in facilitating the continuation of the musician’s life. The morality involved is about choice. The right thing to do is dependent upon the choices that an individual makes about how they perceive their obligations within this world. A person who believes that the initial crime of being hooked up to another individual without permission is the moral parable that defines the situation will believe that abortion is a natural extension of individual rights and is morally acceptable. The decision to abort a foetus that will become a child that cannot be cared for appropriately or whose existence will irreparably damage the life of a woman may exert a sense of morality over

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Summarize the articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summarize the articles - Essay Example le being that additional emphasis should go into preparing teachers to think outside the box especially when faced with various setbacks (Wright & Wilson, 2011). It is also important for teacher trainers to adapt and familiarize themselves with emerging technologies that boost student engagement and participation in class. The purpose of this research was to establish, test and verify the attitudes of junior high school students towards the use of technology using the Attitudes Toward Technology Scale for Junior High School Students as developed in 2005 by Yu et al. The study was to specifically establish a model of junior high school students’ attitudes toward technology, determine the relevance of the model and analyze the correlations among the various factors in the model. These factors are based either in the affective domain or PATT and its related studies. (Yu et al, 2012). The study also identifies three theoretical schemes of attitude towards technology as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and behavior and intention use. The findings of this study show that identification with technology and experience with technology curricula were the primary factors influencing the students’ intentions to pursue careers in technology (Yu et al,

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Industrial Espionage in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Industrial Espionage in America - Essay Example d nations and businesses vulnerable as information can be stolen from electronic storage media and transmitted in seconds without even physically removing the data. The paper attempts to examine and understand the challenge of espionage to industries and businesses in America. However, in doing so, it shall also look at the historical development of espionage and examines how the advances in technology in the recent years have facilitated the act of espionage, and also the measures that may prove useful in controlling industrial espionage. As a prelude to the research, it may be worthwhile to understand how industrial espionage is defined, its nature and implications. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines industrial espionage as â€Å"an individual or private business entity sponsorship or coordination of intelligence activity conducted for the purpose of enhancing their advantage in the marketplace.† [Cited Boni and Kovacich, 2000; p. 48] While the definition may imply industrial espionage to be more or less the same as business or competitive intelligence, John F Quinn explains the essential difference between the two – while business intelligence is generally under private sponsorship using an â€Å"open† methodology, espionage may be either government or privately sponsored and clandestine. [Cited Boni and Kovacich, 2000; p. 47] In the highly competitive and globalized business environment, proprietary intellectual property and economic information is considered the most valuable commodity by all nations, particularly the advanced ones. Businesses and/or governments involve in espionage activities for the purpose of unlawfully or clandestinely obtaining sensitive financial, trade or economic policy information, proprietary/sensitive economic information; or critical technologies including but not limited to data, plans, tools, mechanisms, compounds, designs, formulae, processes, procedures, programs, codes or commercial strategies, whether tangible or

Monday, September 23, 2019

Write an essay on globalisation of trade related to economic

Write an on globalisation of trade related to economic globalisation - Essay Example Among the many movements, globalisation had and is also having a major impact on the people worldwide. Globalisation literally means the transformation of local phenomena into a global one. Globalisation is a practice of interacting and mixing or assimilation among people, companies and governments of different countries whose significant feature is international industrial and financial business structure. Globalisation may be thought of as the widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritually. More formally, globalisation can be categorized as a process that embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions (Wiley, Nandi & Shahidullah 1998, p. 21). Hyperglobalism conceive globalisation as a new age of economic integration that is characterized by open trade, global financial flows as well as multinational corporations. Hyperglobalism is driven by capitalism, communications and transportation technology, integration into one world market and it is increasingly eroding state power and legitimacy. Howe ver another perspective is, in the past few years, more and more people have been complaining that the new liberty in the form of globalisation have gone too far, giving rise to a hypercapitalism (Roberts and Hite 2007, p.263). Probably the largest body of opinion - and one that spans the entire politico-ideological spectrum - consists of what might be called the hyper-globalists, who argue that we live in a borderless world in which the national is no longer relevant (Dickens 2008, p. 6). The so said social relations and transactions are assessed in terms of their extensitivity, intensitivity, velocity and impact and the rate at which they generate transcontinental or interregional flow and networks of activity, interaction and exercise of power. The purpose of this study is

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Philosophy - Empiricism Essay Example for Free

Philosophy Empiricism Essay Immanuel Kant set about to show that the skepticism of the empiricists was unfounded and that science was possible. How does he do this and is his solution viable (that is, did he actually rescue science from the skeptics)? Through his theory of knowledge, Immanuel Kant provided a philosophical answer to Hume’s skepticism. Kant agreed that knowledge did have a source the humean element of sensory impressions, however he claim that there was an additional element in knowledge, which was not derived from sensory experience. The second element that Kant spoke of was derived from the mind itself. Kant felt that the human mind, outfitted with its own pure concepts was nothing like the human mind of empiricists Locke and Hume, whom claimed the mind was as a blank tablet or empty cupboard. Opposing Hume, Kant proposed that the mind was furnished with twelve pure concepts of understanding broken down into four categories. Additionally, Kant argued that the mind was not passive at all, as Hume and the other empiricists had claimed. Quantity Quality Relation Modality unity affirmation substance-accidents possibility plurality negation cause-effect actuality totality limitation causal reciprocity necessity The mind for Kant, was indeed active, it actively interprets the world rather than simply receiving and recording into memory, what it gathers from the external world through the senses. Through the above-mentioned categories, the mind organizes the sensory flux and gives it meaning as substances. Kant considered that the categories were â€Å"logically prior to experience, presupposed by all experience; and that they are independent of experience;† thus experience could never alter them. Kant deemed the categories were responsible for one’s experiences and knowledge, and ultimately were one’s source of understanding. The categories or priori furnished the necessary component for which Hume believed knowledge lacked. Kant denied Hume’s theory of knowledge, which reduced one’s experience and knowledge to nothing but sense impressions. Kant reduces Hume’s theory to nothing at all, as it did not account for the fact that human posses scientific knowledge outside of animal faith. Kant believed that Hume avoided the key questions of â€Å"How is experience of objects possible†, and â€Å"How is science possible. † For this reason, Kant felt that Hume’s theory failed to distinguish that knowledge consisted of both the empirical element and the categories. Kant’s solution in my opinion is viable, as the categories show that there is a necessary connection between the causes and effects.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Why Dating Shows Are so Popular in China Nowadays Essay Example for Free

Why Dating Shows Are so Popular in China Nowadays Essay 1.Introduction In recently years, Chinese television has been picking up the trends of reality shows, especially dating shows. These fast emerging match making shows have captured millions of viewers and have become very popular in Chinese society. Although the shows contain lots of problems and bring up many controversial topics in our lives, nearly everyone in China is enthusiastically watching one or more of these weekly dating shows. The question is, why? Historic reasons, social reasons and commercial reasons have all contributed to the dating shows popularity. 2.Dating shows nowadays Every Saturday and Sunday night on television, a jury of more or less than 20 single women question a few guys one by one after watching his introductory videos; then press a button to turn off the light if they think the guy is not â€Å"date-worthy†. After three rounds of interaction, if there are girls keeping the light on for the candidate and he likes one of them, he succeeds in the match. And if all twenty-four lights go off, the male loses. In turn, guys can first choose his favorite girl and if he survives the trial, he will have a chance to pick a girl for a date. Most of the shows have the similar pattern. Sometimes situations would inverse, which is a jury of guys can judge a few women one by one. Basically it could be describe as a process of young men and women judging and choosing each other. If lucky, one could find himself or herself a date. Apart from the participants, there will be a humorous host to help organize; also, there will be two or three guest experts to give comments and advice to the participants. 3. Historic Reasons The changing of Chinese women For centuries, patriarchy was rooted deeply in Chinese society. Chinese women owned very limited choice in their lives, especially their marriages. In fact, in Han Dynasty, the Three Obediences and Four Virtues that set the standards of behavior for women. It required women to obey her father and other male family members. In traditional Chinese culture, females should be quiet, tender, compliant and conservative. Pillai (2009) said in her article Women in the Ancient Chinese Culture, â€Å"For almost two thousand years, the life of the Chinese woman was unbearable.† Therefore, they had almost no freedom in choosing husbands. As they have equal chances to receive higher education as men do, now urban Chinese women are becoming more open and self-confident. Faced with completely unfamiliar male candidates, knowing their performance will be shown on TV to millions of viewers, the ladies on stage are never afraid of speaking their opinions on life and marriage and make judgments on the male candidates. It seems that women are in charge of the game—they decide a man’s fate on the stage. All these facts seem to indicate that the Chinese society is going to enter an era of feminism. So compared to ancient China, women in modern China are offered a lot more opportunities to take positions and influence society in their own way. The changing of Chinese dating pattern Back in ancient China, a matchmaker was instrumental in settling a marriage. They provided communications and consulting astrogical charts to ensure the compatibility of the prospective bride and groom as well as the two families. So in ancient China, there was little opportunity for getting to know your future partner, since the heads of the bride and groom’s families would arrange marriages. Sometimes the couples first meeting was on the day of their wedding, a situation most singles today would find outrageous. What is happening today is both men and women are giving more freedom when comes to choosing who to date and who to marry. One can decide his or her date based on various personal standards. By participating dating shows, participants can meet all kinds of potential partners and more likely to find someone who fits their requirements. The changing of people’s attitude towards dating and marriage According to the previous historic reasons, men and women could hardly meet each other before marrying. Therefore, their marriages were purely for reproducing, for relations between families and mostly for stable life for the rest of the lives. So in ancient China, when a man or woman tried to find a life partner, they were not really looking for a love of the life rather than a wife who can take good care of the family or a financially reliable husband. According to what Chen (2003) said in her article Marriage and the Family in China, â€Å"to many people nowadays, income, housework and procreation are no longer top priorities; more important is having a loving, loyal and understanding spouse.† To make a conclusion, two people marry nowadays is because the pleasure that connubial relationship brings them. 4.Social Reasons Viewers’ psychology When browsing the Internet, you can see lots of people are talking about the dating shows. The funny part is, lots of people don’t really buy the performance or the fake romance on stage and they are talking about how lack of intelligence those shows are. Then why those shows are still so popular? I read lots of people’s comments and it shows that many people are watching those so-called boring shows because they are boring after work or on the weekends. Watching those dating shows can take large amount of their dull time. Moreover, viewers have been intrigued by the guests outspoken remarks and the occasional arguments that break out. Liu (2011), the Chinese psychiatrist claims that curiosity is born with human beings, so the curiosity and the tendency to the privacy are innate. As another reason why people enjoy the show, viewers tend to enjoy watching other people’s sometime dramatic dating process and conversations during partners, which originally should be private and personal. Social controversial topics bring up by the shows The show is more than a dating game. It is like a multi-dimensional mirror that reflects social values.—Lin (2010). Materialism Bergman (2010) writes in his article, China’ TV Dating Shows: For Money or for Love, that in China, more and more young women nowadays consider true love as materials. In spite of the outlook or character of the possible suitor, what really concerns those girls are whether or not they have houses, the size of the houses, and wealthy bank account and someday also a fancy car. One famous case involves Ma Nuo, a 22-year-old girl who showed up on Chinas most popular dating show, If You Are the One. She arrogantly rejected a male contestant’s invitation of bike riding and then came up with the famous and controversial reply, Id rather cry in a BMW car than laugh on the backseat of a bicycle. Ma is not the only one, there are far more girl participants thinking and acting just like her. These girls on the stage represent and reflect this generation’s materialism that has become the trends in our society. These girls bring materialism to their dating has brought up social controversy. Chen Zhigang, a critic and playwright, said, They have grown up in a society that is quickly accumulating material wealth. They are snobbish. They worship money, cars and houses because the highly developing economy has made them do so.† This phenomenon is unimaginable back in the China 10, 20 years ago. Are those material girls wrong and superficial? Or is it an improvement in China showing nowadays people are becoming more and more realistic? Some people disdain this materialism while some others say it’s understandable. This is a very controversial question brought up by the dating shows that worth thinking about. Sheng Nan and Sheng Nu (singles who are in their late 20s and over 30) The popularity of television dating programs reflects a collective anxiety of single people, particularly the colony of sheng nan, sheng nu, and their families, said Xiang Jianxin, vice-president of Baihe.com, a dating network company. Dating shows provides lots of Sheng nan and Sheng nu a platform to meet potential date so they often appear on the dating shows. They tend to be successful on their career but they don’t have much time in their life to meet potential dates and need help on finding a good relationship. Unlike the old China, where young men and women would get marry at very young ages like 20 or younger, people’s marry age seems to keep postponing. More and more young people are now focusing on establishing their career instead of finding a good marriage. Therefore, as they get older, they start to be anxious about this marriage thing under the pressure from their family and society. Compared to ancient China, although women in modern China are offered a lot more opportunities to take positions and influence society in their own way, traditional patriarchal values still play an important role. Influenced by such social atmosphere, women are always look for men who are more wealthy and successful than themselves, while men prefer women who have inferior education, incomes or intelligence than they do. This situation can be considered as a social dilemma, which was very much brought up by the dating shows. Conversations on the topic of career verses love can often be viewed on the stage of the dating show. How will this complex be solved? People are very interested in this controversial social problem. 5.Commercial reasons Television companies’ commercial exploitation Commercial exploitation means media or business company hype for their own benefits. By exaggerating, normally they can reach the commercial effect that regular news or advertisement can’t. Usually commercial exploitations are well planned and fellow some routine. The show is as dramatic as a TV soap opera, says Liu Tingting, a married office worker in Beijing and regular viewer of the show. Browsing the comments for the shows on the Internet, you can see many people pointing out that plenty of the dramatic plots and conversations happen in the dating show are planned ahead. Sometimes the television company pays for some pretty women to participate the show and those women are simply acting on the stage. Cha (2012) claims that dating shows are also in the show business and are counted as entertaining shows. This means its ultimate goal is to entertaining the public and to increase its viewer base. Finally it benefits from the popularity. So those participants are used as tools to become popular by the shows in some way. Also, the host and the guest experts play very important roles in the shows. They sometimes judge the participants, sometimes make fun of them and always come up with dramatic comments. Television company draws viewers’ attention by presenting dramatic and controversial scenes on the stages, and eventually reach their goal of profiting. Therefore, in some way, the reason why dating shows are so popular in China is television companies’ commercial exploitation. Personal commercial exploitation Like television companies, there are certain kinds of people who want to become famous by showing up in the public, in this case, the stage of popular dating shows. This is also called commercial exploitation. Nowadays in China, attending dating shows has somehow become a shortcut of become a celebrity. Now we have already got a bunch of dating show stars, some of who have now even starting to take commercial offers and have made a lot of money. Remember the BMW girl Ma Nuo? She can be a great case here. Ma Nuo, a shallow, sharp-tongued, single girl, treats her chastity like used toilet paper because she wants to be a super star, one netizen, Wang Xi Jie, wrote on the popular Internet forum Tianya.cn. There is one article on the Chinanews online that talked about this personal commercial exploitation phenomenon. In this article, the author pointed out that nowadays is getting more and more common to have different girls commercial exploiting themselves on the dating shows and listed several popular ways of how they did it. By being typical material girl, by being cute like a child, by talking in a very sweet voice, by making shocking decisions, by being intellectual and by posting sexy photos can all be the methods of becoming famous. Those girls who acting like this have started to make money by their popularity. In Chinese society, now so many young people want to become famous by taking shortcut rather than making effort. So due to the fact that one can easily be known by the public simply by being dramatic, dating shows become more and more popular with the young girl.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Leadership and Management in Banks | Case Study

Leadership and Management in Banks | Case Study Introduction Soneri Bank was incorporated on September 28, 1991 the first Branch of Soneri Bank Limited formally opened doors for operations in Lahore on April 16, 1992 followed by Karachi Branch on May 09, 1992. The bank now operates with 145 branches spread all over Pakistan including the Northern Areas of the country where no other private bank has ventured so far. Expansion of branches is based on a policy of maintaining a balance between the urban and rural areas with a view to offering services even in the remote areas of Pakistan. Pleasant and sophisticated atmosphere has been provided in the branches which are all fully air-conditioned and computerized. The essence Soneri Bank business philosophy is to cater to the banking requirements of small medium sized entrepreneurs, providing them qualitative competitive services with emphasis on encouraging exports. Nearly forty percent of our credit portfolio is related to export financing and credit decisions are taken within 48 hours Mission Statement: To develop Soneri Bank Ltd into an aggressive and dynamics financial institution having the capabilities to provide personalized service to customer with cutting edge technology and a wide range of products and during the process to ensure maximum return on assets with the ultimate goal of serving the Economy and society. Slogan: We have more time for you Progress to Date: Soneri Bank Ltd was incorporated in 1991 as a public ltd company with paid up capital of Rs: 300 M. Over the last 16 years it has achieved a sustained growth with a network of 90 branches across country. The equity stand at PKR 7.6bn and total asset stand at PKR 88bn at the first quarter of year 2009. Top level management and their Names Boards of Directors: Chairman Legal Advisor Mr. Alauddin Feerasta Manan Associates, Advocates Chief Executive Officer Mr. Safarali K. Lakhani Directors Registered Office Mr. Nooruddin Feerasta Rupali House Mr. Inam Elahi Upper Mall Scheme Mr. S. Ali Zafar Anand Road, Lahore 54000 Mr. Abdul Hayee Registrar and Share Mr. Shahid Anwar (NIT Nominee) Transfer Agent Mr. Manzoor Ahmad (NIT Nominee) THK Associates (Private) Ltd. Company Secretary Ground Floor Mr. Abdul Hayee State Life Building No. 3 Audit Committee Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Mr. Nooruddin Feerasta (Chairman) Karachi 75530 Mr. S. Ali Zafar (Member) UAN: +9221-111-000-322 Mr. Shahid Anwar (Member) Fax: +9221-5655595 Mr. Abdul Hayee (Member Secretary) Auditors: KPMG Taseer Hadi Co.Chartered Accountants PLANNING Definition Planning defines organization goals and objectives establishing overall strategies for achieving those goals. Developing a comprehensive set of plan to integrate coordinate organization work. Type of plan Soneri bank use both formal and informal type of planning Informal In informal planning, their planning is not written down, short term focus and specific to an organization unit Formal In formal planning their planning is not written down, specific long term focus involves shared goals for an organization. Goal/objectives: Financial strength and profitability by making profitable advances Customer satisfaction by providing higher quality of service at an affordable cost. Growth by expanding branch network deposit base Short term objective Profitability Long term objective Profitability MISSION To develop and deliver the most innovative products, manage customers experience, deliver quality service that contributes to brand strength, establishes a competitive advantage and enhances profitability, thus providing value to the stakeholders of the bank. STRATGY Strategy of Soneri Bank are giving loans and accepting deposit. PLAN Plan of Soneri Bank are short term advance and deposit. PROGRAMME Program of Soneri Bank are up to one year or more then one year advance, fixed account, current account, etc POLICIES Policies of Soneri Bank are profitability by making profitability advance and customer satisfaction by providing best services at on affordable cost. RULES Their rules are depending upon by upper level of management according situation. BUDGET Soneri Bank allocates its budget for the following area 1. Diversify products services Anticipating customer needs, Soneri is increasing its focus on new products and services through leveraging its extensive branch network. The Bank is introducing various types of financing structures tailored to the capital investment requirements of its corporate clients as well as small medium sized enterprises. 2. Focus on consumer banking Making use of its computerized network of branches, the Bank plans to enhance its market share and profitability via focusing on consumer banking products and services as well as integrating e-banking into its delivery channels. 3. Increase employee productivity though training new techniques The Bank seeks to increase employee productivity through a combination of training and implementation of modern human resource techniques. Frequent in-house and external training programs are expected to help the Bank in maintaining and developing an efficient work force. 4. Improve credit assessment, loan monitoring debt recovery The management intends to improve asset quality by implementing strategies for identification, measurement and mitigation of risk, which will result in reducing the quantum of non-performing loans. ORGANIZING Manage work in organization but while is an organization? An organization is a deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose. Your banks, Universities is an organization, college, Govt. department all organization because they have three common characteristic. First Each organization has a distinct purpose this purpose is typically expressed in term of goal or set of goals that the organization hopes to accomplish. Second Each organization composed of people. One person working alone is not an organization and it takes people to perform the work thats necessary for the organization to achieve its goals. Third All organization develops some deliberate structure so that their member can do their work. Purpose of organization Work to be done into specific jobs and department in Soneri Bank Co-ordinate diverse organization task in Soneri Bank. Establishes former line of authority in Soneri Bank. Allocates and deploys organization resources in Soneri Bank. Organizational Deign: It means developing or changing an organization structure. A process that involves six elements: Work Specialization, departmentalization, Span of Control, Chain Of Command, Centralization and Decentralization, and Formulization. Work Specialization: The degree to which tasks in an organization are divided into separate jobs, also known as division of labor. Work Specialization in Soneri Bank: At Soneri Bank high work specialization exists. The whole is divided into number of repetitive task. There is division of labor according to the task specification. They perceive that work specialization is an unending tool to do work efficiently and effectively. Secondly they assume that work specialization is helpful in maintaining effective internal control, because if there is fraudulent move by any person regarding particular task, manager can counter that person on the spot. Work specialization is also helpful to maintain organization mechanism. For Example: In case of credit issuance if one person is responsible for checking Security Documents of pledged property and he recommend incorrect document manger of credit issuance can spot him out. Departmentalization: The basis by which jobs are grouped together is called departmentalization. It means the extent to which we need to divide jobs into different department. Departmentalization at Soneri Bank: Departments at Soneri Bank are minimal. Only few departments exist which are listed below IT department Credit Department International Banking Department Domestic Banking Department Accounts and Audit Department IT department facilitate all other department regarding IT services and fixing out problems of IT. Credit department is one which provide loan to businessmen, general public and for agriculture development as well. This department provides a full range of Corporate and retail banking services with special emphasis to provide qualitative and competitive services to small and medium entrepreneurs. The department scrutinizes the whole process of issuing loan and in case of borrower default this very department is responsible to take legal action against defaulter party. A complete range of products for trade finance, is one of core banking activities of Soneri Bank International banking department deals in import, export, foreign exchange and issue Letter of Credit. Domestic Banking department serves in cash, government bonds and securities, deposits, and provide locker facility .A wide range of attractive saving scheme to suit all segments of investors, consumer finance scheme, and Islamic banking products catering to the needs of variety of customers. Accounts and Audit department maintain the books of all discussed department. Marketing activities: There is no separate department for marketing activities rather these are presided by Executive Vice President (EVP). HR Activities: All affairs relating to HR are controlled by Inam Qazi. There is no separate department of Human Resource Management. Financing Activities Financing activities are handled at Central office Karachi. Span of Control: The number of employees a manager can manage efficiently and effectively. Span of control is important to a large degree because it determine the number of levels/layers and managers in an organization. All things being equal the wider the span of control is more efficient the organization is. Span of Control at Soneri Bank: The span of control at Soneri Bank is usually kept short. Bank has vertical and tall span of control. According to bank correspondent sometime span of control is also dependent upon workload in the bank. More work load may lead to wide span of control. Chain of Command: It means the line of authority extending from upper organizational level to the lowest level which clarifies who reports to whom. Chain of Command at Soneri Bank: Chain of command at Soneri Bank is tall or vertical. Flow of information from top to bottom or from bottom to top is slow because information is supposed to pass from each channel. There is no direct interaction between top level managers and front line managers neither through E-mail nor through telephone regarding the exchange of information. For Example if a branch manger wants to communicate information to BODs then 1st he will interact with Controller of Branches (COB), then COB will contact with Divisional General Manager of concerned division, then divisional GM will report to Central office and central office will send information to the Head Office or BODs. In the same way if BODs want to contact branch manager the whole above discussed process will be followed in reverse order. Centralization and Decentralization: Centralization means the degree to which decision making authority lies in the hands of upper level of organizations individuals or managers. It also means decision making with no/low input from lower employees. Decentralization means to what extent the decisions making authority is delegated to lower level employee. Centralization and decentralization at soneri bank: The decision making authority is delegated to employee up to some extent. They can make their decision by using that delegated authority For example If a credit manager of branch has authority to sanction loan up to Rs 4 million when borrower demand is more than Rs 4 million than credit manager of that branch contact COB (controller of branch) who has authority to sanction loan above Rs 4 million, if COB recommend then credit manager will issue loan and so forth. Formalization: Formalization means to what extent organization jobs are standardized and the extent to which behaviors of employees are guided by the rules and procedures. Formalization at Soneri Bank: Formalization at Soneri Bank is high. All the rules and procedures are clearly defined covering work processes which employees are supposed to follow, And employees have less discretion over what is to be done when it is to be done and how it is to be done. Employees are expected to handle the same input in exactly the same way resulting and uniform output. Types of Organization Design: There are two types of organization design Mechanistic design: Mechanistic is a machine like structure, it is rigid and human involvement is minimums. Organic design: Organic structure is highly flexible, humanistic activity is maximum. Elements of Organizational design Mechanistic Structure Organic Structure Work Specialization High Low Departmentalization High Low Span of control Short Wide Chain of command Long Short Centralization High Low Formulization High Low LEADING Leadership The process of influencing a group of people toward achievement of preselected goals is called leadership. Leader The person who makes this purpose is who can influence other / groups of people and who has managerial authority is called leader. The Soneri Bank has formal way of leadership style Traits of leader The leader of Soneri Bank has the following Traits Skills in themselves. Decision making Risk taking Risk bearing Stress taking Stress bearing Communication Power Honesty Strong vision Inter personal skill Step forward Discipline Believe of on equality Type of Leader Democratic leader The leaders, Soneri Bank have, are the types of Democratic. Because the major portion of bank is De-centralized thats why the each leader have the complete power of decision making, but the are working Collaboratively in whole organization with each other. All leaders of bank are involved in decision making, delighting their authority to their higher qualified employees, encouraged the participation of their employees in work and gives them opportunities coaching in well manner. Task Structure Every leader is giving the formal/ formalizes job or task to his employees, for getting the best result. Thats why the task structure also strong in the Soneri Bank. CONTROLING Controlling is the process of monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and of correcting and significant deviation. Importance of control: Control is very much important because it is the final link in the management function. It is the only way manager know whether organizational goals are being met or not and the reason why? In Soneri Bank the importance of control can not be neglected because its a services base organization and deals with finance. Every employee in this organization has direct and indirect interaction with financial activities and finance playing the key role in the progress of the bank. Types of Control: Following are two main types of control. Feed forward control: In feed forward control problem is identified and resolved before accruing. Concurrent control: In contemporaneous control problem is identified and resolved while that is accruing. Division in Soneri Bank for Controlling: Following are two divisions in Soneri Bank for controlling purpose. Credit Monitoring Division: Credit monitoring division monitor all the activities related to following areas Credit card Debit card Auto loans Homes Loans RTC Money Gram Audit and Inspection Division; this division in Soneri Bank conduct the internal audit at the inspections of all the activities in the Soneri Bank to insure the accuracy of work and the performance of the bank. Control at Supervisor and Managerial Level: At lower level in the Bank supervisor and manager ensure the proper handling of the activities and they assign the targets to their subordinates to achieves in a given time and at those bases, they asses the performance of the employee. PROCESS OF CONTROL Measuring actual performance There are two ways to measuring performance in the Soneri Bank. Qualitative Quantities In measurement of performance employees of the organization are being measure qualitatively 40% and quantities 60%. Comparing actual performance with standards The comparing performance of the degree of variation between actual and standards performance Standards In Soneri Bank following standards are set to compare actual performance. General standards Compliance with law Reasonable assurance and safeguards Integrity, competence, and positive attitude SPECIFIC STANDARDS: TEAM LEADER In the Soneri Bank mostly every executive is working together with employer under him/her, and every manager is also working together with employer under him/her and they all are working collaboratively with each other in all the department of whole organization. TRANSFORMATIONAL and TRANSACTIONAL LEADER The leader of Soneri Bank is giving guide line and direction of established goals of these followers by clarifying the rate and task requirements for the best possible unit. Thats why these leaders of bank are TRANSACTIONAL LEADERS but not TRANSFORMATIONAL leader. GOALS OBJECTIVES Goals and objectives are factors through which the companys devotion and commitment to the job can be seen. If the goals are realistic and achievable, than surely that organization is doing its job. Soneri Bank also has certain goals and objectives which it is trying to achieve, through its various strategies and operations. The goals and objectives are mentioned below: To create a sound base, and through efficient systems achieve modern banking through out Pakistan. By the end of every accounting year there is an increase in deposits. As the deposit rate of during 2008 was approximately 72 Million and the same has been increased in 2009 by 97 Million. To create unit banking network in all the branches of Soneri Bank, the end of the year. This means that all the operations of the bank, i.e. deposits to advances, imports, exports, L/C Opening, foreign currency and many more aspects under one roof, so that the customer can be facilitate in one visit. Islamic Banking is one of the goals of Soneri Bank though it has been initiated in the last fiscal year and it is very acceptable for general public. However, there is a lot of work to do for successful implementation of the Islamic Banking Plan. In this regard the Bank is opening specific Islamic Banking Branch under the supervision of its Islamic Banking Division. STRATEGIES Soneri Bank has formulated certain sets of strategies to enable it to achieve its goals and objectives. These strategies are mentioned below: In order to achieve its goals of creating a sound base and presence of efficient modern banking system, Soneri Bank has started operation of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in all the major areas like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and other cities of Pakistan. Soneri Bank is committed to building long-lasting relationships through an assertion to service excellence and providing innovative products to meet the changing needs of our valued customers. Although still in its infancy, compared to the exalted banking standards, Soneri Bank inspired by the vision of its Board and Management, has built up a strong customer base. The Bank provides a full range of banking services to corporate clients, while applying leading technologies. Today the Bank is well-positioned to provide appropriate banking services to customers. The main focus is building relationships and being known by the way they do business. Management recognizes that a banking relationship requires compatibility, communication, and cooperation and that each customer deserves nothing less than full attention and available resources to meet their financial objectives. Core value and corporate culture is based on the belief that superior personalized service is the most important product. Bank is in the process of getting to know customers by name and understand their business and personal financial needs. This one-on-one, personalized service quality has served as Soneri Bank unique signature since inception and continues to separate it from other financial institutions. The Soneri Bank team comprises of some of the most highly skilled and professional financial experts in banking industry. Managers, lenders and trust advisors offer the unique perspective of knowing and understanding in the local economy. The Management focuses its attention on making informed and feasible economic decisions, bringing better returns and more profitability for investors and customers. To acquire the reputation and status of bank which operates on international standard, Soneri Bank was to get the credit rating of Pakistan Credit Rating Agency, which gave it the AA- and A1+ in the long term and short term respectively. SWOT Analysis of Soneri bank (S)trengths Strengths are the core competencies of any organization as far as SONERI is concerned the core competencies of this organization are: Target Achievement Policies Procedures Controlling Standards Priorities Rewards Benefits Job Security for the Employees Favorable, friendly Healthy Working Environment Documentation System is so much accurate Accounting Banking System is Accurate Reliable One (W)eaknesses Weaknesses are the lacking points which every organization must avoid in order to make its operational effectiveness. Hectic Working Environment Work load Lack of Self Marketing Department Low Training Coaching Low incentives like bonuses overtime pay etc. Human Resource Department is not so much effective Appraisal is not done frequently Low salary packages as compared to other banks (O)pportunities In fact, when we study all our weaknesses critically deeply than we come to know that we can convert our weaknesses into strengths. So basically these are our opportunities. The opportunities for SONERI bank are: On the job training coaching sessions can be conducted. Work sharing activities should be started so that a person who is working continuously for 9 hours can get relax. Marketing department should be started in order to promote the name of SONERI. Appraisal should be conducted frequently so that employees get motivated do their work as a loyal employee. Attractive salary packages should be awarded. (T)hreats Though Soneri bank has a strong footing and maintain a good number of loyal customer, still bank has threats in various sectors. The threats are prevailing such as: The conventional banks those having high growth rate and high market share are always being a threat. There is an average not low turnover rate, mainly because of low incentives as compared to the other banks. Absenteeism: Definitions and Categories Absenteeism: Definitions and Categories The purpose of the literature review is to justify absences in order to determine its fundamental causes. The amount of research which exists on school absenteeism witnesses both the existence and consequences of the problem. This issue is without doubt a very critical problem whose consequences is not restricted to students only but extends to the progress of the entire community and stands as a threat to the national economic growth. As a result, not only is the identification of the factors important but the proposed strategies for the improvement and gradual elimination of the problem are equally vital. The first part of this section shall reveal a representative discussion on some of the various categories of definitions on students absenteeism published during the last few years from a variety of perspectives. The second part discusses on previous research on students absenteeism and the causal factors that are considered as sources of such issues. DEFINITIONS AND CATEGORIES OF ABSENCES Absenteeism is the continual interruption of attendance (Gove: 6). It can be simply defined as a failure to appear, especially for work or any other duty. Therefore, based on my research the term student absenteeism refers as a situation where a learner is not at school for an entire day. But this definition is certainly too unclear to give a complete view of the problem. In order to avoid confusion regarding definitional issues the present study has categorized it into specific terms. Excused absences are justified absences from school for any reason recognized as legitimate, for example, attendance at religious ceremonies, illness of the pupil or a member of the pupils family, or death in the home (Good:3). On the other hand, unexcused absences refer to absences from school for reasons that are not recognized as legitimate, for example, absence because of play, truancy, illegal work, etc. (Good:3). However, one of the most common forms of unexcused absences is truancy (Brandibas, 2005; Broadwin, 1932; Johnson et al., 1941; Phelps et al., 1992; Warren, 1948) which is a vague term. Gabb (1994) argues that a child is said to play truant who is absent from school without leave. Truancy refers to the persistent, habitual and unexplained absence from school of a child of compulsory school age that occurs without parental knowledge or consent. Also, unauthorized absences may include truancy, occasional absenteeism, school refusal, school withdrawal and dropping out. Suspensions and expulsions may also be accounted as unauthorized absences. On the other hand, the term fractional truancy has been used to refer to unauthorized absences from school due to lateness, leave early or skip of specific lesson or groups of lessons which seems to be uncontrollable. Researchers like Stickney and Miltenberger (1998) and Malcolm et al (2003) have also used the term school refusal synonymously with a bsenteeism. School refusal refers to absence by children who refuse to attend school in the face of persuasion and punishment by parents, and possible school discipline. This form of absenteeism is widely recognized as a disorder involving persistent non attendance at school, excessive anxiety and physical complaints. Thus, the review of the various categories of definitions of absenteeism is not enough, as the main focus of this study is on the different factors that contribute to this problem. Consequently, not only is the identification of the causal factors significant but the plan of strategies for the improvement and eventual eradication of the issue are equally important. With the abundance of academic literature on the causes and solutions of the phenomenon, this will surely help to clarify my study with a better guidance and proper use of energies and resources in the right direction. This is so, as different researchers have taken different possibilities in investigating the problem from the psychological, social, economical and management perspectives. Hence, the subsequent sections that will follow shall demonstrate various literatures on these perspectives. CAUSAL FACTORS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERCEPTION From past research, it has been noted that psychologists have taken a great interest in the causes of, and solutions to, absenteeism. Accordingly, this has led to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Within the context of this particular perception, a number of causal factors have been identified. A considerable part of the literature on the psychological dimensions of absenteeism has argued that the problem comes from different aspects. Corville et al. (1998); Lotz Lee (1999) find that students that are frequently absent from school have low self-esteem, are less competent in their social relations, perceive less cohesion in their families, less parental acceptance and inconsistent discipline, and indicate less satisfaction regarding school characteristics and personnel. Within the school system, it may be the result of labeling and tracking that create this low self-esteem and negative self-image and hence this becomes a cause for absenteeism for the students. While students with low self-esteem have an ability to feel part of the school culture, they may become frustrated and bored with school, and dislike the teachers, and any form of authority (Bell et al, 1994; Scott Dinham, 2005). Skues, Cunningham, and Pokharel (2005) note that students bullied by peers tend to exhib it less self-esteem and are less motivated to perform well at school. Low motivation, expressed as lack of interest and lack of engagement is linked with the notion of self-esteem and the intrinsic sense of belonging and self-worth. Thompson and Perry (2005) suggested that students who experience low motivation often perform poorly in academic situations. Further, Johnson (1941) and Daleiden Chorpita (1999) believe that school phobia is also an important factor that contributes to absenteeism. The term school phobia is termed as a separation anxiety: that is, intense distress following anticipated or actual separation from others, especially the mother. The child develops a feeling of acute anxiety and begins to feel guilty about leaving the mother to attend school. Moreover, Lauchlan (2003), Egger, Costello, and Angold (2003) examined the association between anxious school refusal, truancy and psychiatric disorders in middle school students and found that the majority of the sample had a psychiatric disorder. Also, some physical factors including physical health and psychological well-being may contribute to the phenomenon. Closs (2000) contends that the major cause of absence, namely, health reasons may be addressed both to support the education of students whose absence is inevitable and to improve the school attendance of students whose health may not otherwise permit it. As it can be noticed from the above declaration, psychological variables are key determinants of absenteeism. Within the context of this finding, one of the solutions to absenteeism appears to lie in the reinforcement of students sense of belonging both through the enhancement of teachers levels of professional commitment and the design of school cultures which will bring about a sense of attachment and reliability among the students. THE SOCIAL PERCEPTION The literature on psychological factors influencing absenteeism is hardly restricted to an analysis. Thus, an investigation of the sociological variables is of great importance. This is so as not only the students themselves contribute to the problem but their school as well as their family backgrounds plays an important role. Nowadays, with the process of rapid development that is taking place, we have more and more working parents. As a result, students receive less supervision at home than in the past (Lotz Lee, 1999). Not only absence of parental supervision but also parents condoning absences by ignoring or supplying excuses when no valid reason is apparent, explains high rates of absenteeism (Kilpatrick, 1996). Reid (1999) found that families are becoming increasingly ill-equipped to provide a home environment that is conducive to academic achievement. Stability at home is one of the major factors that affect absenteeism. He further suggests that parents should be educated to understand the value of their role in reinforcing practices which includes providing incentives for students who attend school regularly, while providing disincentives for non-attendance. Parenting style may therefore have an impact on a childs school behavior and motivation to attend school. It is found that the authoritative parenting style is the most conducive to academic success and high motivation levels. Fragmented and reconstituted family structures and family size are also considered variables in the discussion on absenteeism (Wheatly Spillane, 2001). Research conducted by Butler (2003) found that adolescents experiencing absenteeism revealed a tendency to have single, separated, divorced or remarried families. Statistics also indicate that the greater majority of school children either come from single parent or two-parent-working homes, with the implication in either case being that the primary caregiver is often absent from the house and therefore, not in a position to supervise education and attendance. Of greater significance is the fact that the absence of the adult primary caregiver generally means that the children in question have to perform a number of chores around the home, including, in the case of older siblings, the responsibility of the younger children in the house. In such instances, the children in question are often left too stressed out or tired to wake up in the morning and attend school on time (Pope, 2003). The sociological interpretation of absenteeism tends towards the identification of class and familial conditions as the root causes of the phenomenon. Thus, to gain a fuller picture of the problem, it is imperative to review the literature on the economic factors influencing absenteeism among school children. THE ECONOMIC PERCEPTION The literature on the economic causes of absenteeism compliments the literature on both its psychological and sociological causes. As Mcewan (2000) suggests, the economic causes rarely operate in isolation but tend to give rise to already existent sociological or psychological factors. Zierold, Garman and Anderson (2005) admit that familial and communal culture influence absenteeism but suggest that economic factors are at the roots of the stated. There is the predominant belief that students would benefit more from employment than they would from education. The implication here is that economic circumstances often force school students to seek part-time employment and as a result they have to shoulder other responsibilities other than their school work. Parcel and Dufur (2001) maintain that students who come from lower socio-economic class than the majority of their classmates are generally subjected to verbal taunts which, besides undermining their self-esteem and affecting their academic performance, influence them towards deliberate absences. Further, DeKalb (1999) suggests that this phenomenon is also due to the socio economic reasons such as the traditional marginalization of the poor and minority students. Thus, there is a lack of effort to attach these students to school as well as a lack of communication with the parents. In this case, the students develop no sense of belonging for their school and tend to be absent for long periods of time. THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION According to Osterman (2000), if students do not feel at home in their school environment, they take it upon themselves to reduce the number of hours they spend in that environment per week, either by being tardy or absent. In line with that, Kirkpatrick, Crosnoe and Elder (2001), arrived at the same conclusion. They suggest that school attendance is significantly impacted by the extent to which students sense of belonging. Usually, students who feel comfortable and at ease in their school environment tend to have relatively lower rates of absenteeism compared to those who do not. Also, Crosnoe (2000) reported that lack of sense of belonging at school is also partly dependent on peer influence. Those with high attendance reported that they had many friends at school and felt a sense of social belonging there and those with low attendance reported the opposite. As we are aware for proper motivation of students, there is a need for professional commitment. Hung and Liu (1999) argue a correlation between student engagement with learning and teachers professional commitment. Teachers who exhibit a strong sense of professional commitment usually influence their students towards higher levels of engagement in their learning process and, more significantly, tend to have much higher classroom on-time attendance rates. Also, the punctuality of the teacher, his teaching style, his degree of verbal admiration and warning are all factors associated with pupils finding class interesting (DeKalb, 1999). Moreover, school factors often relate to students experiences of the school environment, and the body of literature consistently identifies several common experiences, including boredom with schoolwork, inadequate student-teacher relationships, being bullied, under threats or involved in fights (Wheatley and Spillane, 2001). Further, Wheatley and Spillane (2001) make the important point that the same characteristics, as outlined in various sources and linked to non-attendance, are similarly linked in a range of research reports as factors contributing to underage school leaving. Furthermore, with the new era of rapid development and competition, there has been a drastic innovation regarding the acquisition of knowledge. Various ways and means are available nowadays for fulfilling the demand for education. Besides, with such alternatives available this has created a downfall significance regarding school and its environment especially regarding regular attendance of students. According to Petroski (2008),ÂÂ  this independent approach to learning has become increasingly viable and accessible for all students through distance learning initiatives such as video conferencing, web casts, pod casts, blogs, Wikis, Twitter and privatized online learning programs such as Nova Net and Plato. These innovations allow students the freedom to access and respond to the information within a flexible timeframe and without the necessity for face-to-face synchronous experiences. Petroski (2008) also states that there are existing colleges whose students never attend a cour se on a physical campus. However, some have serious concerns about the pedagogical implications of introducing or casting audio or visual files of classroom content. Most of the concerns center on the potential drop in classroom attendance or in-class participation (Meng, 2005; OConnor, 2005). Another overarching fear is that educators overprotect immature learners to become ever more passive in their learning and thus retard their development as self-learners. Regarding other typical aspect of acquiring knowledge nowadays is through private tuitions commonly used in almost every country of the global world. According to Hai-Anh Dang and F. Halsey Rogers (2008), private tutoring is now a major component of the education sector in many developing countries, yet education policy too, rarely admits or makes use of it. Also, Hai-Anh Dang and F. Halsey Rogers asked themselves whether private tuitions increase parental choice and improve student achievement, or does it worsen social inequalities and impose heavy costs on households, possibly without improving student outcomes. This survey of the literature examines the extent of private tutoring, identifies the factors that explain its growth, and analyzes its cost-effectiveness in improving student academic performance. In the same direction regarding academic performance, Trevor Cobbold (2009) states that many other factors outside the control of schools also influence a schools results. These include student absenteeism and mobility between schools, the extent of parent involvement in learning at home, and the extent to which students are engaged in after hours tutoring. For example, if a higher proportion of families are engaged in private tutoring in any one year a school will receive a boost to its measured performance. However, private tutoring unfortunately has been institutionalized and has become a threatening feature. It is the source of lack of interest for class work, uncontrollable conduct at school, outright truancy and induced absenteeism because of frustrations and tiredness (Ministry of Education, Mauritius, 1997). In line with this, Sylvain E. Dessyy, Pascal St-Amour and Desire Vencatachellum (1999) carried out a research about the reasons behind private tuitions and the various measures that will effectively reduce private tuitions. The result shows that private tutoring arises mainly because of the expected rewards obtained by skilled workers, and the use of human capital as a selection device for these positions. Also, pupils use private tutoring to complement the education they receive in public schools, and to increase the likelihood of winning the best-paid position in future. The proposed solutions of the research was finally about raising public teachers wages and changing their selection mechanism to limit private tutoring. FINDINGS From the above, even though in brief, the review of this literature has tried to establish useful inquiries about how researchers have, with near-unanimity, defined absences as one of the most severe problem currently confronting the nations schools and its children, the demand of designing and implementing corrective strategies for the reduction and elimination of absences are indisputable and widely accepted. Prior to that, however, it is important to acquire a complete understanding of the causes of absences and the factors which affect it. Thus, the above mentioned literature reviews have not only analysed the theoretical and definitional issues but have also provided a sound theoretical support. With this for the present research, it will be possible to build further knowledge and understanding about the phenomenon. Academic literature and studies on absences have established a huge number of causal factors, divisible into three broad categories: (1) psychological (2) social and economical, (3) environmental. The causal influence of each of these factors, not to mention how they may be struggled or eradicated , shall be explored within the context of this dissertation using both primary and secondary data sources. In the next section, the researchers strategy for the collection and analysis of this data will be outlined. Effect of Age on Friendships and Family Patterns | Proposal Effect of Age on Friendships and Family Patterns | Proposal 1) The Title of the Project Family and Friendship: an investigation of the relationship between age and patterns of friendship within and outside the family: a discourse analysis. 2) Rationale, Aims and Objectives Friends and family are clearly important components of everyones lives. They can increase self-esteem, well-being and provide opportunities for socialising. Evidence from the psychological literature suggests that friendships are beneficial, if they are of the right type (Hartup Stevens, 1997). This study will examine the attitudes that two different age-groups have towards friendships and their families. There has been increasing discussion in the sociological literature by some authors (Weeks, Heaphy Donovan, 2001) that friendships are taking over the traditional place of the family in peoples social networks. This study aims to examine this idea in two age-groups, one 18-28 years old and the second, 50-60 years old. It will also aim to look at an aspect of the detraditionalization hypothesis and judge whether the evidence supports it. The objectives in order to reach this aim are to carry out a series of interviews with people in those two age-groups and then carry out a discourse analysis of that data. This will pinpoint the different ways in which people think about their families and friends in two different age-groups. 3) Research Questions The research question will be to examine whether there is a clear difference between the types of friendships formed at different ages. Do younger people rely more on their friends for support in times of crisis than older people? Do older people include more of their kin as their closest friends? How do both groups view their families generally in terms of who they rely on? Alternatively, is there little evidence for a difference in the way people separate and view their friends and their families? 4) Literature Review Individualization is a sweeping social change that has been seen to affect many societies around the world. Beck Beck Gernsheim (2001) point to two different meanings of individualization. The first refers to the weakening of traditional social forms used in the analysis of societies; these include class, gender and the family. Beck Beck Gernsheim (2001) identify this change as occurring as a result of the weakening of tradition, religion and state. The second aspect of individualization is the way in which modern societies are placing new demands on their citizens. This can be seen in the huge numbers of regulations that attempt to control every aspect of our lives. Levels of mobility, argue Beck Beck Gernsheim (2001), are higher than ever in many societies and, as a result, people move freely for economic reasons as there is greater emphasis on individual fulfilment. A natural corollary of this movement is that family ties are frequently left behind in the search for economic opportunity. And so, in the struggle for individual human relatedness, if the family is left behind, to where does the modern member of society turn? Weeks, Heaphy Donovan (2001) point to so-called families of choice, which are essentially groups of friends. Weeks et al. (2001) see society as being at a transition point, from more traditional ideas of family to this notion of the family that has been chosen from a group of friends. People are specifically choosing their family of friends to fit in with their own personal beliefs and attitudes and sometimes choosing to get away from their biological families who do not represent their attitudes and beliefs. This process of choosing friends is seen by Weeks at al. (2001) as a process by which people are shaping their own identities. While Weeks et al.s (2001) research concentrates on non-heterosexuals, they argue that these families of choice are in fact taking over from families of fate throughout society in the UK and elsewhere. This has been similarly understood by Giddens (1992) in terms of transformations in the interpersonal domain. In particular, Giddens (1991) sees these kinds of changes arising from what he terms the emergence of pure relationships (Giddens 1991:58). A pure relationship occurs where the more traditional connections through obligation that are present in family relationships are replaced with relationships based on what each can get out of the other. These changes have been referred to by Giddens (1992) as democratising in nature such that these changes are also affecting the family. Pahl Spencer (2004) explain that this detraditionalization thesis normally draws upon a range of social statistics that appear to demonstrate widespread societal changes. These include higher levels of education, higher rates of divorce, greater mobility both socially and geographically and a larger participation by women in the workforce. These conclusions are, however, disputed by Pahl Spencer (2004) who argue that the use of other research sources can lead in a different direction. They quote research carried out by Park Roberts (2002) which found that the family appeared to be in good health. Their respondents tended to suggest the family represented the first port of call in an emergency for people. Indeed, Pahl Spencer (2004) carried out their own research into friendships which avoids a standard quantitative analysis, asking about length of time known and other such variables, and concentrating more on content. Pahl Spencer (2004), then, look at peoples personal communities. Personal communities, for Pahl Spencer (2004), relate specifically to two main aspects of the relationship: communication and belonging. Pahl Spencer (2004) carried out 60 interviews in different parts of the UK and, in order to access these concepts, they used a map of concentric circles on which people indicated where their friends lay. These friendships were then examined through interviews. As a result, Pahl Spencer (2004) found that it was actually very difficult to separate the notions of friendship from that of family and that one easily flowed into the other. From their detailed findings, Pahl Spencer (2004) assert that there is little evidence for the idea that people are moving away from their family group and towards their chosen friendship groups. There is also little evidence, in Pahl Spencers (2004) view, for the idea that people place more importance on their friendships than their family. Taking a more wide-angle quantitative viewpoint, Pahl Pevalin (2005) use data gathered from the British Household Panel Survey over ten years to analyse potential changes in family and friends. Here, instead of finding a shift to friends away from family, they find that the family still provides a large number of peoples friends. There is a change seen across age-groups, however, with older respondents more likely to nominate family as close friends than those in younger age-groups. The question is, does this represent a change that people go through as they age, or is this a social change that can be seen emerging? Pahl Pevalin (2005) suggest the longitudinal data shows that it is actually a change happening with age, therefore suggesting that this does not support a social change of increasing friendship choices outside kin-groupings. Gross (2005) argues, like Pahl Pevalin (2005) that the extent to which the detraditionalization hypothesis is true has been exaggerated. Its important to note that throughout the literature on families and friendships it is clear that there are certain overlaps in meanings. One clear example is that of partners. For those over the age of 30, Pahl Pevalin (2005) argue that a partner provides the most important relationship. Does this person count as their friend or a family member? Pahl Pevalin (2005) argue that partners form a kind of hybrid category. Partners sit on the cusp of the debate because if they count as members of the family then they add weight to the importance of the family. But, if they count as friends, then they add weight to the idea that people are moving towards greater reliance on friends. There is probably a good argument for each view but certainly excluding partners from the analysis is a mistaken approach. Pahl Pevalin (2005) also criticise Weeks et al.s (2001) findings because they focus on non-heterosexual respondents. It is hypothesised that non-heterosexual respondents will tend to have a greater degree of reliance on friends rather than family as, perhaps, the family will not have been accepting of their sexual orientation thus necessitating an appeal to a group outside their confines. This study should, therefore, take this into account in balancing up the sexual orientations of the respondents. 5) Methodology Carry out a series of semi-structured interviews with participants to ask them about their family and their friendships. This would be carried out with a small group of younger people who are 18-28, as well as with a small group of older people who are 50-60 years old. Interviews will be semi-structured and so will start with questions asking specifically about participants close social ties, who they tend to confide in, who they share attitudes and beliefs with. This will be achieved through the use of maps of personal networks on which people indicate where their friends and family lie. Also, questions will be asked about attitudes and feelings towards the family and how family members fit into this picture. Latter questions will be more open-ended, so that participants are able to speak more freely about their friendships and families. Participants interviews will be transcribed and then analysed using discourse analysis to extract meanings and relationships. 6) Ethical Considerations Ethical approval for carrying out this study will be obtained from the relevant authority. All respondents in the study will be told that taking part is optional and that they may withdraw at any time. Further, they will be assured that they will remain anonymous in the reporting of the results. Personal information relating to individual friendships will, of course, remain completely confidential. Respondents will be reminded that they are entitled to see any of the data that is held by the researcher which specifically relates to them. 7) Costings The project will require a voice recorder and the researchers time involved in carrying out the interviews, transcribing, analysing and writing up. It may also require the cost of travelling to respondents in order to carry out the interviews. Some stationery costs will also be incurred. 8) Communication plans Respondents for the research will be solicited through standard university notice boards. For the older age-group, if suitable respondents cannot be identified in the university, it may be necessary to call on the researchers personal networks of friends and family members. 9) Users and Beneficiaries The ways in which friendships and families operate is of perennial interest to the government. Examining the ways in which personal communities coalesce provides insight into important notions of social support and social capital. For those who work in professions with direct contact with younger age-groups, it would be useful for them to know who young people rely on in times of stress. Is it members of their family, or is there a shift towards relying on friends in hard times? For those who work in professions who care for the elderly it would be extremely useful to know how patterns of friendships change with advancing age (Pahl Pevalin, 2005). For example, do older people rely more on siblings as a result of their partners passing away or do they develop other networks of friends outside their kin relations? References Beck, U., Beck Gernsheim, E. (2001) Individualization. London: Sage Publications. Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge, Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1992) The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in Modern Societies. Cambridge, Polity Press. Gross, N. (2005) The Detraditionalization of Intimacy Reconsidered. Sociological Theory 23(3), 286-311. Hartup, W., Stevens, N. (1997) Friendship and Adaptation in the Life Course. Psychological Bulletin, 121(3), 335–370. Pahl, R., Pevalin, D. J. (2005) Between family and friends: a longitudinal study of friendship choice. The British Journal of Sociology, 56(3), 433-450. Pahl, R., Spencer, L. (2004) Personal Communities: Not Simply Families of ‘Fate or ‘Choice’. Current Sociology 52(2), 199–221. Park, A., Roberts, C. (2002) The Ties that Bind. British Social Attitudes: The 19th Report. Aldershot: Ashgate. Weeks, J., Heaphy, B., Donovan, C. (2001) Same Sex Intimacies: Families of Choice and Other Life Experiments. London: Routledge.