Bed Wetting in School Children Essay

Bedwetting (also referred to as nocturnal enuresis) is the involuntary passing of urine during sleep after the age at which bladder control usually occurs. It can be an embarrassing, frustrating and distressing problem that affects millions of children. It is more common than most parents think. Many children are dry at night by the time they reach the age of 5 but others take longer to become dry. When children still wet the bed when they are 6 or older, parents usually start to become concerned that their child may have some kind of physical or emotional problem. Some decide not to stress about it and give it time; others will seek medical advice, take their child to counselling or use alternative therapies. Once children go to Primary School and become aware that other kids of their age are dry at night they become embarrassed about it. Some children avoid going to sleepovers and school camps because of the fear of other kids discovering their problem. Teenagers are usually even more distressed by the bedwetting and many worry the problem will never go away. It often has a significant impact on their self-esteem. I decided to choose Bowen Therapy for Bedwetting as the subject for my Research Project because I have always had a passion for working with children. As a mother of two daughters and having dealt with toilet training issues I have experienced how upsetting and frustrating bedwetting can be for a child and their family. As Bowen Therapy is a wonderful holistic technique to promote physical and emotional balance, it is an ideal way to help children gain control of this problem. This research task explores the different causes and methods of treatment of nocturnal enuresis. It also outlines the anatomy of the urinary system and the nerves and muscles involved in micturition to gain a better understanding of how Bowen Therapy addresses this condition. I evaluated the effectiveness of Bowen Therapy on nocturnal enuresis in combination with dietary modifications as recommended by Mr. Bowen. The therapeutic value of omega-3 fatty acids is also mentioned (which have been proven to be effective in treating nocturnal enuresis) and the benefits of Neuro-Developmental reflex integration exercises.

Melina Marchetta’s “Looking for Alibrandi” Essay

In Melina Marchetta’s novel, â€Å"Looking for Alibrandi†, the theme of identity is a process of discovery along a journey for most of the characters. Although John Barton’s journey is short by the end, he knew what he wanted and he made sure that no one was hurt more than necessary when he achieved it. Josephine Alibrandi discovers her identity after many developments in her life, many of which include Jacob Coote, John Barton and Katia Alibrandi. Katia Alibrandi, Josie’s grandmother, (nonna) has experienced a lot in her time but still needs Josie’s help to let go of her past. Jacob Coote went along with what everyone expected of him until he met Josie. She helps him to reopen the door to his journey of identity. Melina Marchetta has provided a text with the identity issues that many face and she has provided her readers with outcomes that prove to be perfect examples of the outcomes of discovery of identity. John Barton does not know what he wants in life but he knows what he does not want. He does not want to follow in his father’s footsteps; to â€Å"make promises I can’t keep†¦I don’t want a lot of responsibilities in life†¦I don’t want to climb to the top† (pg 47). As John Barton continues to discover his identity, he dislikes it more and more. He convinces himself that he does not want to live anymore. It is a fact that many teenagers face and Marchetta portrays it extremely well though John Barton. When John First tells Josie that he does not want to live anymore, she, like many teenage friends, did not fully understand. â€Å"At first I didn’t understand†¦ watching those vacant eyes I realised he meant no other life† (pg 134). Many songs portray the feelings that John Barton fells, an excellent example being the chorus of Simple Plan’s Welcome to my Life: â€Å"To be hurt To fell lost To be left out in the dark To be kicked When you’re down To feel like you’ve been pushed around To be on the edge of breaking down And no ones there to save you No, you don’t know what its like Welcome to my life† The next time that Josie and John are alone together, he seemed fine, â€Å"there was a euphoria about him that was catching,† (pg 228). Marchetta foreshadows John Barton’s future with the link of â€Å"I don’t think I want to live this life anymore,† (pg 134) and â€Å"I’ve got my whole future planned out the way I want it and there is nothing anyone can do to take that away from me,† (pg 229). The journey of John Barton may have been short, but that just made it all the more necessary to understand. Josephine Alibrandi is a senior student, at St Martha’s College, who is confused with her social and cultural status. Josie considers herself to be stuck between two cultures, Australian and Italian. â€Å"As far as the Italians are concerned we weren’t completely one of them. Yet because my grandparents were born in Italy we weren’t completely Australian,† (pg 7) Josie also feels that she does not fit in at school. â€Å"The ones like me didn’t belong in the eastern and northern suburbs,† (pg 8). Josie hated Ivy Lloyd, yet envied her social status and desperately wanted to belong to her world. â€Å"No matter how much I hate Poison Ivy, I want to belong to her world†¦a world where I can be accepted,† (pg 32). All she wants more than anything is to â€Å"be free and think for myself. Not as an Australian and not as an Italian and not as an in between,† (back cover). It was not until after Josie left the walk-a-thon that she realised, with Sister Louise’s help, that she and her friends were not as socially out of it as they thought. â€Å"Socially we weren’t as shitty as we thought we were,† (pg 184). With the mixture of John  Barton’s death and Jacob Coote, breaking up with her Josie realised that she wouldn’t wake up one day and everything would feel liberated. It had taken her a year to become so. â€Å"I just sat there thinking back on the year and I realised that I was emancipated long ago. It wasn’t one particular point either it was several,† (pg 258). The walk-a-thon was one of those points, â€Å"I remember feeling socially out of it at St Martha’s, yet when the fiasco of the walk-a-thon happened, I realised I wasn’t,† (pg 258), after Nonna telling her about Marcus Sandford she realised that her illegitimacy â€Å"had never been my cross. I had only made it mine,† (pg 258) and with her culture she realises that she is not where the people have placed her but â€Å"an Australian with Italian blood flowing rapidly through her veins,à ¢â‚¬  (pg 259). Josie realises that no matter how perfect she is people will still talk. She realises that it only matters â€Å"who I feel like I am – and I feel like Michael and Christina’s daughter; Sera, Anna and Lee’s friend and Roberts’s cousin,† (pg 261). Katia Alibrandi, nonna, is always fighting with her daughter, Christina Alibrandi, and her granddaughter, Josephine Alibrandi. Josie thinks that it is because her grandmother loves to meddle and is forever worrying about what people think and talk about. â€Å"She tends to forget that all she does to mama when they’re together is nag her about the way she’s bringing me up,† (pg 34). Melina Marchetta foreshadows a hint of secrecy and betrayal in Nonna Katia’s past with â€Å"I understand, Christina, more than you think I do,† (pg 97) when they are fighting about her going out on a date. It was not until Josie gave in to the urge to ask about the photos in Katia’s house that Katia told anyone about the mysterious Marcus Sandford, even if it was only a fraction of the whole story. She told Josie about her life in a country where no one could understand her. â€Å"You do not know how much I hated Australia for the first year. No friends. No people who spoke the same language as me,† (pg 114) Melina Marchetta foreshadows the same hint of secrecy and betrayal with another clue; â€Å"Francesco couldn’t afford to come home and then go away again†¦I was†¦alone for Christmas,† (pg 200). Then when Josie was at her Mother’s birthday party it was said â€Å"conceived a week before which was Christmas day,† (pg 215) Josie was furious at her Nonna because she had been such a hypocrite, and it took her a week to realise  that she did not care. Katia told Josie all about the affair with Marcus Sandford and Josie realised Nonna â€Å"hadn’t live the life the way I though†¦hadn’t worried about what other people thought. She had taken chances. Broken rules,† (pg 226). Katia Alibrandi, by discussing her j ourney of identity with her granddaughter, has re-established the relationship with her daughter and granddaughter. Everyone expects Jacob Coote amount to nothing and he would be more than happy to prove them right, he was proud of getting bad marks and thought that it did not matter because he was going to be a mechanic. Right from the beginning he had decided what he was going to be because it was easy and no one expected more from him. That was until he met Josephine Alibrandi. She was smart, and he did not think he was. â€Å"You’re intellectual. I’m an idiot,† (pg 249). When the started going out he started to change, â€Å"I think that during that year Jacob got a bit more ambitious than he used to be,† (pg 260). He did not want to be a mechanic that worked all day and complained about house payments and petrol prices, he wanted to be a mechanic that has a variety of options, and he wants to discover his identity. â€Å"Because you opened me up to this whole new world out there. I don’t want to become a mechanic and work all day long and then at night go to the pub and marry someone just like me and have two children and whinge about housing payments and petrol prices and the economy†¦ But this year I realised, because of you, that there is more to life†¦ I want to step outside my circle and look at other options. I don’t want to be stereotyped because of the school I attend or the suburb I live in,† (pg 251) Melina Marchetta has written a novel, Looking of Alibrandi, which shows the youth of today that in order to discover your identity you need to have travelled the journey of life, however short that may be. She uses John Barton, Josephine Alibrandi, Katia Alibrandi and Jacob Coote to show that no matter how old or how bad you think you life is you can still make the decisions to make it better or worse. She cleverly states that when you no longer have the ability to dream you have nothing left to hope for. â€Å"And to be that smart means you know the answers and when you know all the answers  there’s no room for dreaming.†

Group Lending and Mitigation of Adverse Selection in Microfinance

Maurya (2011) perfectly summarised the concepts of adverse selection and group lending. In essence, microfinance works on a joint liability model and the traditional theories of credit lending state that rural credit markets are imperfectly competitive and acquiring information about borrower types on who is risky and who is safe is not costless. This market imperfection leads to high interest rates and drives out safe borrowers from the credit market.In economic literature, this problem is considered as adverse selection problem and the joint liability model tries to solve the problem of adverse selection through group lending (Maurya, 2011). Group lending generally denotes a credit advancing model where individuals who do not have collateral form a group based on joint liability to access loans. It is widely regarded as one of the most important institutional innovations in development policy in the last quarter century (Morduch, 1999).The most understanding feature of group lendin g is joint liability. Joint liability to a group obligation that if one member of the group defaults on their loan all the other group members will contribute jointly to cover the defaulted amount. As a result the whole group is jointly liable for the pool of loans granted to each member of the group. Any member in default will spread the default to other group members regardless of them being personally in default or not.Recently many developments institutions have tried to use group lending to give loans to the poor and achieve the following: Avoid the use of collateral as it would be replaced by joint liability. pass off the screening, monitoring and enforcement of loans to the peers Reduce fixed transaction costs associated with issuing out very small loans The adverse selection problem occurs when lenders cannot distinguish inherently risky borrowers from safer borrowers. If lenders could distinguish by risk type, they could charge different interest rates to different types of borrowers.But with poor information, options are limited. The problem to lenders is that they cannot gather sufficient information at reasonable costs to determine the riskiness of the borrowers. As such to insulate themselves against losses of issuing loans at low interest to very risk borrowers they charge a high blanket interest rates for all loans. Adverse selection may lead to credit rationing as it induces lenders to charge everyone high interest rates to compensate for the possibility of having very risky borrowers in the customer population. (Morduch 2010).If the economy is consisting of safe and risky borrowers, only risk borrowers would remain in the market. Since safe borrowers regard themselves relatively safe debtors they will require a loans at low interest rates which is in tandem with their riskiness. Risky borrowers on the other hand know they are risky and would tolerate high interest rate as it perfectly relates their riskiness. As such when MFIs charge a high bl anket interest rate to avoid a mismatch in risk and return safe borrowers withdrawal from the market as they perceive the rate to be too high for their riskiness.Only risk borrowers would then be left in the market and all loan advances would be mad to risk borrowers – a situation that the MFI would be trying to avoid in the first place. So due to lack of information charging high interest rates to avoid risky borrowers would actually eliminate safe borrowers and attract risky borrowers – thus adverse selection. In principle, group lending with joint responsibility can mitigate this inefficiency (Armendariz and Morduch, 2010). Group lending mechanisms provide incentives to the borrowers to monitor each other to assess the creditworthiness of each member.Aghion (1999) showed theoretically how peer monitoring alone, with random formation of groups can help overcome adverse selection problems when monitoring is costly for lending institutions. Strong social networks have lower monitoring cost, which results in more credit being extended. Social networking provides a group of people who are well acquainted with each other and have a mutual trust in the economic viability and creditworthiness of each other. Poor borrowers cannot provide collateral to lending institutions and even when it is available, legal obstacles often prevent repossessing collateral when borrowers default. Ghatak, 1999). Ghatak (1999) have argued that group lending can solve this problem by taking advantage of information villagers have of each other’s type which is unavailable to the lender. Assortive matching can be discussed under two assumption: (1) when borrowers cannot distinguish the type of the other borrower – private information case and (2) when borrowers can distinguish the other borrower’s type. (Aghion and Gollier, 2000) Under the private information case, borrowers cannot distinguish if the other is of their own type – safe or risky.As s uch borrowers will form groups based on randomly selection cemented by their need for a loan. In such instances the group will be formed of both risky and safe borrowers. Due to joint liability safe borrowers can therefore repay defaulted loans on behalf of risky borrowers and in turn joint liability will reduce the interest rates which attract safe borrowers back into the market. Rates under such group lending will be reduced due to a frequent and stable rate of repayment. (Aghion and Gollier, 2000).Sometimes referred as negative assertive matching, this ensures that the proportion of safe borrowers in the group will generate returns high enough to cover for their defaulting partners. In turn safe borrowers will impose tough social sanctions on the risky borrowers so that they do not default deliberately. This implies that the lender can pass risk from risky borrowers to safe borrowers and thus reduce the overall riskiness of the group. Additionally, auditing costs, monitoring cost s and information gathering costs will be avoided.This enables the lender to reduce their lending rate significantly and still break even. As a result safe borrowers will be lured back into the market through negative assertive matching. In instances where peers have information about the type of the other borrower, safe borrowers will only group together and avoid risky borrowers in their group as this disadvantage them through joint liability. Risky borrowers on the other hand are excluded from safe groups so they will join together and form their own risky group – which won’t be so risky considering the benefit of joint liability.Since can positively assort themselves between safe and risky groups, the lending institution can charge differential rates between these groups depending on the overall riskiness of the group. Groups can be requested to provide information about their members if they want credit. This both reduce costs of information gathering and help the lender determine what class the group can be categorised into – safe or risky. Through use of assertive matching a differentiation previously inhibited due to information unavailability can be made and differential rates be charged to different types of borrowers.The level of gravity of social sanctions imposed by each member in the group helps increase the credibility of the group. As a result the higher the extend of social sanctions in a group the lower the groups risk of default and thus lower rates can be charged to retain safe borrowers. However, assertive cannot be able to completely solve the problem of adverse selection. For example in a group the better performer who is always covering for others defaults can deliberately default on his loan to distress the group and the whole group might default.This is amplified in negative assertive matching where a group may be highly dependent on the performance of one member. In conclusion, assertive matching can lower intere st rates and circumvent credit market inefficiencies even in the case where borrowers are imperfectly informed about each other’s type (Aghion and Gollier, 2000). REFERENCES: Armendariz de Aghion and Gollier. C. (2000), ‘Peer Group Formation in an Adverse Selection Model’, the Economic Journal, 110, p. 632-643. Armendariz de Aghion, B. 1999), â€Å"On the Design of a Credit Agreement with Peer Monitoring†, Journal of Development Economics, 60, p. 79-104 Ghatak, M. (1999), ‘Group Lending, Local Information and Peer Selection’, Journal of Development Economics, 60, p. 27-50 Kumar, A (2005), Self-help groups: Use of Modified ROSCA in Microfinance    Maurya, R. (2010) ‘Poverty Reduction through Microfinance: A study of SHG-Bank Linkage Model,’ the microfinance review, Vol. II (1), January-June 2010 Morduch J. (1999) ‘The microfinance promise,’ Journal of Economic Literature 37, 1569-1614 Group Lending and Mitigation of Adverse Selection in Microfinance Maurya (2011) perfectly summarised the concepts of adverse selection and group lending. In essence, microfinance works on a joint liability model and the traditional theories of credit lending state that rural credit markets are imperfectly competitive and acquiring information about borrower types on who is risky and who is safe is not costless. This market imperfection leads to high interest rates and drives out safe borrowers from the credit market.In economic literature, this problem is considered as adverse selection problem and the joint liability model tries to solve the problem of adverse selection through group lending (Maurya, 2011). Group lending generally denotes a credit advancing model where individuals who do not have collateral form a group based on joint liability to access loans. It is widely regarded as one of the most important institutional innovations in development policy in the last quarter century (Morduch, 1999).The most understanding feature of group lendin g is joint liability. Joint liability to a group obligation that if one member of the group defaults on their loan all the other group members will contribute jointly to cover the defaulted amount. As a result the whole group is jointly liable for the pool of loans granted to each member of the group. Any member in default will spread the default to other group members regardless of them being personally in default or not.Recently many developments institutions have tried to use group lending to give loans to the poor and achieve the following: Avoid the use of collateral as it would be replaced by joint liability. pass off the screening, monitoring and enforcement of loans to the peers Reduce fixed transaction costs associated with issuing out very small loans The adverse selection problem occurs when lenders cannot distinguish inherently risky borrowers from safer borrowers. If lenders could distinguish by risk type, they could charge different interest rates to different types of borrowers.But with poor information, options are limited. The problem to lenders is that they cannot gather sufficient information at reasonable costs to determine the riskiness of the borrowers. As such to insulate themselves against losses of issuing loans at low interest to very risk borrowers they charge a high blanket interest rates for all loans. Adverse selection may lead to credit rationing as it induces lenders to charge everyone high interest rates to compensate for the possibility of having very risky borrowers in the customer population. (Morduch 2010).If the economy is consisting of safe and risky borrowers, only risk borrowers would remain in the market. Since safe borrowers regard themselves relatively safe debtors they will require a loans at low interest rates which is in tandem with their riskiness. Risky borrowers on the other hand know they are risky and would tolerate high interest rate as it perfectly relates their riskiness. As such when MFIs charge a high bl anket interest rate to avoid a mismatch in risk and return safe borrowers withdrawal from the market as they perceive the rate to be too high for their riskiness.Only risk borrowers would then be left in the market and all loan advances would be mad to risk borrowers – a situation that the MFI would be trying to avoid in the first place. So due to lack of information charging high interest rates to avoid risky borrowers would actually eliminate safe borrowers and attract risky borrowers – thus adverse selection. In principle, group lending with joint responsibility can mitigate this inefficiency (Armendariz and Morduch, 2010). Group lending mechanisms provide incentives to the borrowers to monitor each other to assess the creditworthiness of each member.Aghion (1999) showed theoretically how peer monitoring alone, with random formation of groups can help overcome adverse selection problems when monitoring is costly for lending institutions. Strong social networks have lower monitoring cost, which results in more credit being extended. Social networking provides a group of people who are well acquainted with each other and have a mutual trust in the economic viability and creditworthiness of each other. Poor borrowers cannot provide collateral to lending institutions and even when it is available, legal obstacles often prevent repossessing collateral when borrowers default. Ghatak, 1999). Ghatak (1999) have argued that group lending can solve this problem by taking advantage of information villagers have of each other’s type which is unavailable to the lender. Assortive matching can be discussed under two assumption: (1) when borrowers cannot distinguish the type of the other borrower – private information case and (2) when borrowers can distinguish the other borrower’s type. (Aghion and Gollier, 2000) Under the private information case, borrowers cannot distinguish if the other is of their own type – safe or risky.As s uch borrowers will form groups based on randomly selection cemented by their need for a loan. In such instances the group will be formed of both risky and safe borrowers. Due to joint liability safe borrowers can therefore repay defaulted loans on behalf of risky borrowers and in turn joint liability will reduce the interest rates which attract safe borrowers back into the market. Rates under such group lending will be reduced due to a frequent and stable rate of repayment. (Aghion and Gollier, 2000).Sometimes referred as negative assertive matching, this ensures that the proportion of safe borrowers in the group will generate returns high enough to cover for their defaulting partners. In turn safe borrowers will impose tough social sanctions on the risky borrowers so that they do not default deliberately. This implies that the lender can pass risk from risky borrowers to safe borrowers and thus reduce the overall riskiness of the group. Additionally, auditing costs, monitoring cost s and information gathering costs will be avoided.This enables the lender to reduce their lending rate significantly and still break even. As a result safe borrowers will be lured back into the market through negative assertive matching. In instances where peers have information about the type of the other borrower, safe borrowers will only group together and avoid risky borrowers in their group as this disadvantage them through joint liability. Risky borrowers on the other hand are excluded from safe groups so they will join together and form their own risky group – which won’t be so risky considering the benefit of joint liability.Since can positively assort themselves between safe and risky groups, the lending institution can charge differential rates between these groups depending on the overall riskiness of the group. Groups can be requested to provide information about their members if they want credit. This both reduce costs of information gathering and help the lender determine what class the group can be categorised into – safe or risky. Through use of assertive matching a differentiation previously inhibited due to information unavailability can be made and differential rates be charged to different types of borrowers.The level of gravity of social sanctions imposed by each member in the group helps increase the credibility of the group. As a result the higher the extend of social sanctions in a group the lower the groups risk of default and thus lower rates can be charged to retain safe borrowers. However, assertive cannot be able to completely solve the problem of adverse selection. For example in a group the better performer who is always covering for others defaults can deliberately default on his loan to distress the group and the whole group might default.This is amplified in negative assertive matching where a group may be highly dependent on the performance of one member. In conclusion, assertive matching can lower intere st rates and circumvent credit market inefficiencies even in the case where borrowers are imperfectly informed about each other’s type (Aghion and Gollier, 2000). REFERENCES: Armendariz de Aghion and Gollier. C. (2000), ‘Peer Group Formation in an Adverse Selection Model’, the Economic Journal, 110, p. 632-643. Armendariz de Aghion, B. 1999), â€Å"On the Design of a Credit Agreement with Peer Monitoring†, Journal of Development Economics, 60, p. 79-104 Ghatak, M. (1999), ‘Group Lending, Local Information and Peer Selection’, Journal of Development Economics, 60, p. 27-50 Kumar, A (2005), Self-help groups: Use of Modified ROSCA in Microfinance    Maurya, R. (2010) ‘Poverty Reduction through Microfinance: A study of SHG-Bank Linkage Model,’ the microfinance review, Vol. II (1), January-June 2010 Morduch J. (1999) ‘The microfinance promise,’ Journal of Economic Literature 37, 1569-1614

Capstone Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Capstone - Research Paper Example Hence, the study is aimed at assessing the role of innovation in increasing the profitability level of travel and tourism industry in the UAE. In relation to this study, data would be collected with the help of accessing primary sources by the conduct of questionnaire survey and secondary sources comprising books and journals among others. Moreover, findings would be analyzed with the help of qualitative analysis tool of regression, which would be helpful to arrive at definite outcomes. In this globalization and technology driven era, the national economy of several countries is developing rapidly. With this concern, it is to be affirmed that the advent of globalization has certainly enhanced the travel and tourism industry in the global domain (Decelle, 2004). Thus, it can be inferred that after the imposition of globalization, the aforesaid industry has certainly become one of the most vital pillars of the economic development of the nations. There lay several countries whose economy mainly relies upon the travel and tourism industry. In this regard, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is recognized to be one of the most popular countries wherein such industry plays a decisive part in developing its economic position as per the desired level (OECD, 2006). With this concern, the research paper intends to analyze the role of innovation in increasing the profitability level of UAEs travel and tourism industry. While analyzing the above stated subject matter of the study, an attempt has been made to establish the relationship persisting amid innovation and profitability of the industry within the nation. The economic and social conditions of the UAE are undergoing huge transformations from the past few years. The strong economy of this nation is highly depending upon two different sectors such as oil and Tourism industry. It has been apparently observed that every year the

Quality management of clothing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Quality management of clothing - Essay Example Across the world in all industries there is a heightened awareness that quality management goes hand in hand with the realization that quality has a cultural dimension and to attain quality, a culture change is a primary requirement (Dale et al 1997). Though measures like Total Quality Management (TQM) are vigorously undertaken by textile manufactures, half way through the implementation level the programs often run out of steam. Dean and Evans (1994) feel that this problem can be remedied by the development of appropriate culture of quality with in the entire edifice of the organization. Attempts at improving quality in the textile sector have not yielded desired results in the past. Academic research in this area has shown that the failure is largely due to the attempt at improving quality targeting only on the operational level of the industry. Present day research shows that quality management to be effective in real time practice has to be integrated in the organization’s strategy. Beckford (1998) complains that the traditional remedial attempts were aimed at the operational level. . He pointed out that operational constrains eventually lead to compromise in quality. A three fold strategy (derived from Joseph Juran) will influence the organization across the board is put forward by him (Beckford 1998.P.107) Though quality is cardinal in clothing industry for achieving success, it is not any more possible to bask in the glory of the image of the country as a nation, which manufactured products of historic brand equity. Though country of origin image is still valued in the case of heavy equipments, in the textile sector it has become old wives tales. Instead of talking about countries of origin, customers have started taking about countries of origin of brands (Pay and Predergast 2000). Many factors have contributed in the shift of scenario. In the past only products moved from one country to another. Recently capital as well as entire factories

Industerial operations part 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Industerial operations part 2 - Coursework Example Smoothness and color are important non-dimensional attributes in the ‘Paper Pro’ punch. Its body must be designed as per customers’ wants and preferences. For instance, if it is to be used in an office, it must have a corporate look that will often appeal to the consumer. The ‘Paper Pro’ punch can be customer-tailored to meet the specific needs and preferences of divergent consumers. Steel is among the world’s toughest alloys and thus used in making ‘Paper Pro’ punch. While plastic might be used in manufacturing ‘Paper Pro’ punch, the produced product might be too weak to withstand pressure that consumers are likely to exert in the process of using the object and is, therefore, incongruous. The basic process of strengthening the lever and punches part is by using harder steel in the process of making these parts. Moreover, it is also to be noted that to strengthen the steel several factors are taken into consideration. In this regard, if the heated steel cools down at a very slow rate, then the steel would be stronger. Besides, another aspect is the galvanization of the parts to reduce the corrosion of the same for greater effectiveness. In the process of galvanization, the steel is dipped into the molten zinc. This results into the formation of zinc-oxide layer in the surface of the parts. After this special zinc paint is also applied to the same to thwart oxidization. In the process of making a better hole punch tools, the steels that are received by ‘Paper Pro’ are more braced. These steels can be used to make the final parts of punches and levers. These steels are now required to be galvanized and hence, make the punches and the levers free from corrosion. The products, which are having plastic as the material for making the lever parts should be replaced by steel. The molder must mold the steel accordingly and electrify it to circumvent it from rusting. For the purpose of galvanizing the parts, an

Marketing Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Questions - Essay Example While promoting products online, message adaption is a potential promotion strategy advisable for the marketer. The marketer must ensure that her product offerings are visible to local consumers who use internet for finding a business in their area. Furthermore, she has to make certain that her business is listed in business directories where her competitors are findable. Finally, she can use online marketing techniques to promote her sales by creating a contest or offering exclusive discount benefits. 2. â€Å"Cross-border alliances can be defined as partnerships that are formed between two or more firms from different countries for the purpose of pursuing mutual interests through sharing their resources and capabilities† (Schuler, Jackson & Luo, 2003, p.2). A cross border alliance is of different types including joint ventures, mergers, or acquisitions. Cross-border alliance can be considered as a marketing strategy or business expansion strategy as this concept assists firm s to gain numerous competitive advantages over their rivals and to increase market share. Under such a business strategy, involved firms can increase their various resources such as finance and human capital (OECD, 2002, p.63). Economies of large scale operations in a cross-border alliance would assist involved parties to trim down their operating expenses and thereby improve profitability. In the view of Deresky (2006, p.273), organizations can spread their elements of risk by following a cross-border alliance policy. 3. Under list segmentation practice, direct marketers send marketing materials to individuals in his/her list every time he/she introduces a new product or needs to increase sales. As Pearson (2012) indicates, the practice of list segmentation assists a marketer to accurately track where his/her sales are coming from. This information will be of great help for a marketer to identify his/her potential customer groups. Proper targeting is another benefit of list segment ation. Once the marketer identifies major sources of his sales, he can create more customized marketing strategies for the identified potential market segment (PIP, 2012). Conversely, the list segmentation approach would assist a direct marketer to identify his/her poor customer groups and thereby reduce focus on them. Spilt testing is another fruitful advantage of this strategy. This benefit may aid the marketer to periodically refine his/her approach so as to generate more sales. A direct marketer can effectively follow up sales using the list segmentation approach (David Shepard Associates, 1999, p.289). 4. â€Å"Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, interpretation, and reporting of information to help marketers solve specific marketing problems or take advantage of marketing opportunities† (Pride & Ferrel, 2010, p.78). A well structured marketing research would assist marketing managers to obtain an edge over his/her competitors. Marketing research not only assists a marketing manager to get a clear view of the prevailing market trends and customer preferences but also aid him/her to realize what future changes customers expect. McDaniel and Gates (1998) argue that the process of marketing research may benefit decision makers to get information on the effectiveness of current marketing practices. Hence, this process would be extremely

The Nature of Leadership Style in Nursing Management Research Paper

The Nature of Leadership Style in Nursing Management - Research Paper Example The research article ‘The Nature of Leadership style in Nursing Management’ by John Azaare and Janet Gross addresses the problem of leadership among the nurse managers, and how their leadership styles affect nurses and general operations of the health facility setting. The authors have adequately defined the problem as addressed in the research paper. Therefore, the purpose of the study is adequately stated and defined as identifying the style of leadership adopted by nurse leaders, the effectiveness of such leadership styles, and evaluating how different nurses react to such leadership styles in healthcare settings, are taken into account. The study is significant to nursing; it highlights problems in the administration of healthcare facilities and sensitizes nurse managers to adopt effective leadership styles that are evidence-based, and avoid styles that may demoralize the staff leading to low productivity. The significance of the study is to identify the nurse leader ship styles in most developing nations such as Ghana, and how it affects the operations of healthcare facilities. The paradigm in use in the study is the naturalistic paradigm. In a naturalistic paradigm, there are a number of realities involved, which can only be studied holistically; they cannot be controlled, though a good level of understanding regarding these issues can be achieved. Similarly, in this research, there are a number of factors at play in determining the leadership styles of a nurse manager.... This approach increases the value of the study in that by connecting all the aspects of an inquiry in determining nurse managers’ leadership styles, and the effectiveness of such leadership in nursing, the researchers indirectly bring out a certain preferred approach to the idea of nurse leadership. Such preferred approach would be a managerial style that increases nurse motivation while promoting cooperation between the nurse and nurse manager. The theoretical framework which involves citing of previous researches is well integrated throughout the research. Using such a framework in the qualitative research allows the researchers to have some grounds through which they critically examine similar issues regarding nurse managers in different locations. Ethical Aspects The research adequately observed all the ethical requirements, and exhausted the necessary approval and permission from authorities before carrying out the research. Such included obtaining permission from the rel evant hospital authorities before carrying out the research, requesting the nurse to participate in the research willingly, well informed, and by not revealing the names of the respondents and the hospitals in which the research was carried out. However, the author did not take due diligence in protecting the nurses from harm. The research portrays the nurse leaders as harsh and people who use authority to suppress their subordinates. The nurses participating in the above research were outsourced from nursing units and wards in the two hospitals. All the respondents were directly under a nurse manager in these hospitals. Consequently, there were chances of such nurse being victimized by the nurse managers

FEEDBACK ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

FEEDBACK ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY - Essay Example In the theoretical discourse, you bring forward the positive aspects of your chosen leader and put light on her lifelong struggle and sacrifice to bring forward a strong personality. Thus, with your autobiography, it is clearly observable that Christine Caine produces a strong sense of motivation for you. Due to this reason, you formulate different points to bring into light the parallels between you and your chosen personality. You also show all the qualities that you admire. The clarity of expression and well developed approach are reflections of your passion about your chosen leader. It seems that the framework you have developed based on your vision and criteria will further transform your thoughts in the days to come. The life events have played a great role in the development of your autobiography. You have paid great attention to the theory and integrated theory as well as events in the best possible manner in your autobiography. For example when you tell that, â€Å"Leaders know who they are, where they came from, where they are going, and are not afraid of stand for their values, convictions and what is right instead of conforming to what others say.† Of course, this can be seen throughout your autobiography especially at times when you were in Paris and London. As you mentioned that the people over there asked you to realize the fact that you could do so many things. This was the time when you dare to rise against your insecurities. So, your descriptive, focused and analytical approach can be seen throughout your autobiography which is a plus point of the writing. You paid great attention to the contribution of the life events in directing you towards a purposeful life. For example, t he standing of your mother as a role model offers you new spirit in facing the odds of life. In a nutshell, it can be well said that the autobiography is well developed and the events are well integrated throughout the writing. The description

Childhood Christmas to Adulthood Christmas Essay Example for Free

Childhood Christmas to Adulthood Christmas Essay Christmas as a child for me was very fun. I got many presents from Santa as well as many from relatives. Christmas was probably my favorite holiday of the year, to me it meant that if I was good enough Santa would bring me presents. Most of the time I was very good and never got into trouble. In my family when you go from childhood to adulthood it becomes a big deal. For starters you open presents with the adults. You also don’t have to worry about leaving with the other kids while the adults open presents. Seeing that I do not have kids I am sort of at a mid point of whether or not to look forward to this holiday. One of the many reasons I love Christmas is because my grandmother makes the best food. There is more food than any of us can eat and we have leftovers for days. My grandma makes most of the food and some people bring a favorite dessert. All of the food is set out on the dinning room table buffet style. We gather around to bless the food and then us kids get our plates first, most kids are picky I sure was at that age. You couldn’t hardly get me to eat anything as a kid so my plate was full of mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, rolls and probably green beans since I was not much of a turkey eater as a youngster. After we filled our plates with food we are free to eat wherever we please and since we are kids we normally go down into the basement away from the adults. After we eat then the dessert comes out. My favorite dessert would have to be pumpkin pie with cool whip on top. I could probably scarf down a whole pan of that stuff. There are only a few people in my family that like pumpkin pie so all of the leftover pie went to me. Every year we have Christmas lunch and presents at my grandparents house in Atwater California. My grandparents house is huge, they built it sometime before I was born. It is a three story house not including the attic, the first floor has a bathroom, living room, dinning room, and kitchen which has a door leading to the huge basement that could be more living space if needed. Then you have the second floor, that has three bedrooms, an office and 2 bathrooms. I love having Christmas at this house because it is the almost the perfect size for everyone to fit. My family’s very funny, they love to joke around with people. They are also very laid back and always on schedule. Every year we have almost the same people during the holidays. A few years ago we lost my great grandma and my great grandpa a few months after that. Four years ago my aunt Nikki and her husband Gary left for Georgia because that is where he got stationed. My eldest sister Elysebeth got married and has two children and they join us for family holidays. Some of my moms side of the family comes and that’s when things get loud considering we are very obnoxious and you basically need a hearing aid to hear anything. Over the past seven years I have gotten used to the change from childhood to Adulthood Christmas. I thought it was so cool to finally open presents with the adults. A few years went by and I started realizing that the transition was not exactly what I had been hoping for, and I did not want to be with the adults but by then it was to late so I got ov er it. Its not as fun as it used to be but I try to do the best I can for the little ones in the family who still believe in Santa. The downside of the food as an adult is that you have to wait for all the kids to get done filling there plates before you can fill yours. Yes, that sounds greedy but I love my food! Something that can also be a downside is where to sit, at this point all the little kids want to sit up at the table right next to you. The only problem with that is there are not enough seats for everyone to sit right next to you. So you have to be the bad guy and tell someone no. The setback about having Christmas at my grandparents house is that there are a lot of people and it can become crowded and overwhelming. From children running around to presents spread out everywhere. Everyone is either sitting in a chair, on the floor or standing up because there is no where to sit. With everyone catching up and bonding the walls sometimes echo and it’s to cold to have be in the backyard. A fly in the ointment for me about there being a lot of people is that I now start buying presents for everyone, which normally isn’t a bad thing because I love buying things for people but I have an enormous family. When you count all of us together during this holiday there is a total of about eighteen, which is a lot of money to spend! Over the span of time since I have joined the adults in the opening of presents has made me realize that it isn’t necessarily about the gifts. Its being thankful for what you have and the people around you. The  overall exp erience for is a great one because it brings family together and shows you what the holidays are really about rather than just opening presents, eating and leaving. I love my family and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Strategic Planning Management in Tesco

Strategic Planning Management in Tesco Introduction Strategic planning is an essential process to be campaigned within, for the success of the organisation. By performing strategic planning an organisation can determine its short term as well as long term goals along with their implementation and scheme to accomplish them. Strategic planning defines strategy, direction, and strength towards the external as well as internal challenges faced by the organisation. It suggests resources and serving allocations, so strategic planning is one of the important liabilities of management. Performing strategic management leads to the answers of following three questions. Where the organisation does stand? What are the goals to be achieved? Financial Brand name How the goals can be accomplishment? Strategic planning and business planning are the basic requirement to be executed by the management members, the former is related to entire organisation while the latter is relate to an individual product or service. Several strategic planning models have been introduces along with the approaches that are used for the welfare of the organisation. The development of a plan is dependent on factors such as culture of organisation, threats to the organisation, structure of the organisation, skilfulness of plan developer. The plan may be of one year or may be of ten years, depending upon the planner and the activities involved in the plan. More the details are included lengthier the plan would be and clear the goals would be. Process of the plan is more important than former sketching of Strategic planning, threats to the organisation, or its current financial status. A good planner emphasize on excelling the organisation rather than victory over competitors. Several organisations view t his process of determining the standpoint of organisation over next years, to forecast they need to know the current status of the organisation and the place where they see the organisation in coming years, this plotting of the direction can be referred as the Strategic Planning. Although over the period of time, each long term strategic plans needs monitoring and modifications. As the plans are made on the basis of assumption of the external and internal environment of the organisation, everything goes well until the prediction turns to be right. Tesco plc. is an internationally recognised organisation, the company was established in 1929 in Middlesex, U.K.. Today the 3rd largest retailer and the 2nd largest profit earning organisation amongst millions of business is Tesco plc. Across the world; this organisation is serving 13 major countries i.e. 32 stores in Malaysia, 81 in Slovakia, 88 in China, 105 in Turkey, 119 in Ireland, 136 in Czech Republic, 142 in Japan, 145 in U.S.A., 176 in Hungary, 305 in South Korea, 336 in Poland, 663 in Thailand, and in United Kingdom the number of stores are more than the numbers of Tesco stores in rest of the countries i.e. 2482 stores. Since Tesco has reached to such heights analysis on strategic planning would be best understood by looking into strategy followed by Tesco plc. Essential Planning Components: Principles, Theories and Tools. The main activity of the organisation is retailing and finance services, finance services such as banking, insurance services and retailing services such as online shopping form television, internet etc. Tesco has reached such heights by applying strategic planning with keen knowledge of its principles and theories. The principles of Strategic planning are Strategic planning serves the foundation of management process. Plans are sort of guidelines to the company for figuring out the financial resources and non-financial resources. Stakeholders play an important role for execution and progress of the plan. Active members of stakeholder will add the strength to the process effectiveness. Performance of an organisation is calculable so a clear strategy leads to accomplish practice goals As the market condition cannot be controlled so its difficult to predict the future environment and as the organisation is dependent on external environment, the plan cannot be exactly designed and few changes may be made in future as required. As the organisation reaches the expected state again the planning is made for the next few years, dew to this characteristic of organisation planning is persistent throughout the life of the organisation. Stakeholders reviews are essential aspect of the planning process, collecting review make out the contribution and commitment of the staff toward the mission and vision of the organisation. These principles are essential to planning process; integrating principles in a strategic planning process may not lead to success but overlooking these principles may cause a failure. A Marketing Plan for Tesco plc. Marketing planning is a process to determine the requirements of customer and a route to fulfil coming requirement, this is done to increase the sales of the product or service provided by the organisation. The diagram below depicts the scheme to increase marketing strategy of Tesco plc. The aim of this marketing strategy is to improve turn a profit and performance of the firm. Examine current market position: Here Tesco must analyse the present position and stand in the market and sketch them. Determine targeted market: Determine where the management wants to be in coming years. Conclude marketing Objectives: Planner may then set achievable goals to be achieved in certain time duration. Choose suitable marketing mix: What scheme should Tesco follow; to achieve determined goals will be chosen in this phase. Develop plan of action: This phase starts to generate the environment to initiate the plan. Implement marketing program: Now Tesco would turn words into action, the journey to achieve determined goals start in this phase. Establish control: The management determines role of each element and intensity of the force applied by the implementation of plan. Implement control: The figured out control over the plan is than implemented. Practising this strategic marketing management, Tesco can plan and implement the marketing goals and achieve the customer satisfaction Role of Stakeholders in Tesco Stakeholders exert a broad range of liability in an organisation; they may be a single person or a group of peoples interested in an organisation. A large amount of weightage is held by the stakeholders on the final consequence of the plan. Stakeholders comprises; shareholders of the company, management members in an organisation, employee or staff of the organisation, businesses supplying services to the organisation, clients who consumes the services or product of the organisation, the local society and the government. Analysing individuals, Stakeholders may be considered as members who are affected by or who may affect the performance and the objectives of an organisation. Lager the organisation is wider the range of stakeholders are. Stakeholders may be classified into several categories Internal and External Narrow and wide Primary and Secondary Active and Passive Internal and external stakeholders are above board differentiated, they are one inside and outside the organisation, internal stakeholders includes staff and management of the organisation, whereas external stakeholders includes customers, businesses providing services to the organisation, the business providing same products or services i.e. competitors and many more. Narrow Stakeholders are those who are affected by the achievements of the organisations such as management and staff, in other words who are dependent on the organisation. Wide stakeholders are those who are affected to a lesser extent such as government, customers with choice of investment to a product etc. Primary stakeholders are those whose participation in the organisation is very important and the survival without them in market is not possible on the other hand secondary stakeholders are those; on whom organisation is dependent to a lesser extent. Active stakeholders are one who monitors and participates directly in an organisation, this does not mean that management and employee always fall in this category, sometimes external bodies fall in this category and internal stakeholders fail to participate in this group. Whilst passive stakeholders are one who does not participate actively in the organisation such as usually role played by shareholders and government towards an organisation. There are many more categories defined by the scholars and researchers on management, such as voluntary stakeholders and involuntary stakeholders, legitimate stakeholders and illegitimate stakeholders, recognised and unrecognised stakeholders and so on. Needs and Expectations of stakeholders in an organisational process Strategic planning emphasises on surrounding of the organisation, the available resources internal and external to the organisation and the potentiality towards the environment. These inputs are not sufficient for the implementation of a plan, as stakeholders have an influence on companies output, a complete research should be made on them. Strategic planning also depends upon the vision of stakeholders. The process starts from Identifying stakeholders who are interested in the organisation, since each party may have different prospects for organisation it is essential for the firm to recognise the and make them realise how important they are to the venture. Then comes the stage of mapping of stakeholders which comprises of determining the expectations of the stakeholders, exercising this establishes policy-making and their priorities. Expectancy assesses two subjects; How much interested the stakeholders are? Do they have the ability to lead the company to determined height? The power/ interest Matrix determine; to which groups of stakeholders should organisation show their interest in. the matrix classifies stakeholders in context of their power and the interest in organisational strategy, this makes easy for the organisation to determine what relation should be maintained with which group?. Intrinsically, this analysis is practicable to know the difficulties and ease of the society in a strategy. It also depicts the proportions of strategic change. Mission and Vision: Tesco plc. Mission statement is that statement which defines about reason behind the existence of the organisation. The aim of an organisation can be determined by the mission statement. Key points and the achievements to be conquered are can be jotted into mission statement. Basically, mission statement is plotted to make the business plans understood by the stakeholders of the company. Since mission statement carries such details of the business it can be said that a mission statement is a base of the organisation. A mission statement should be represented in such a way that it is easy to understand the motto of the firm. It should depict the principles and ethics of a company along with the process of conducting work. Organisation faces ups and downs in the life span of the firm, organisation changes its strategy of planning, marketing and several aspects but the mission of the organisation never changes. The mission of the organisation should be revised in certain time duration so that mana gement can determine that if they are not losing the track. The language used in mission statement should be that easy to be understood by ordinary man. Vision statement is a statement that reflects the state where an organisation seeks itself in coming years. Vision statement depicts the idea, dreams and thoughts of an organisation represented in such a way that employee gets motivated and attracts customers. The ethics and values of an organisation are reflected from a vision statement, the vision statement is accomplished after the determination of mission statement. Vision statement is represented in such a way that it motivates not only employee but also to the customers so as to maintain a long term relation with them. The basic difference between a mission and a vision statement is that vision statement targets on companies value in future whereas the mission statement is one that represents the current status of an organisation. Mission statement is more precise about the present condition in an organisation. Values and objectives of Tesco Tescos main aim is to generate values for customers so as to earn a lifetime loyalty. Tesco believes that its success depends on those people who shops with us and one who works with us. Tesco believes if it serves well to a customer it is more likely that the customer will come back and shop again.

Concepts of Innovation for Business Expansion

Concepts of Innovation for Business Expansion 1.0 INTRODUCTION This assignment looks at the all innovation aspects involved in the influence of the Bakhresa Group of Companies expansion in the East African region and beyond. The assignment considers the position of the company in relation to its environment at this current time and offers possible innovation aspect solutions to its growth possibilities. It has grown out of the need for a strategic look of the company at this time of global change and seeks to find out what the position of the company will be in the future. The work done of this assignment generated from main five questions that have been asked here in this assignment, and answers of each question have been discussed, The questions involved in this assignment as following: Bakhresa Identify the strand of organisation structure and innovation approach used by the group. Is it organic or mechanistic structure followed by the bakhresa group? Which one is more suitable to innovation and why? How can bakhresa group manage the tension between the need for creativity and efficiency? Discuss the main organisational characteristics that facilitate the innovation process in the bakhresa group. Explain the key individual roles within the innovation process and the activities they perform in the ipp group. How did bakhresa group establish innovative environment that propagates the virtuous circle of innovation? Explain its features 2.0 BACKGROUND OF BAKHRESA GROUP Said Salim Bakhresa Co.s and Bakhresa Food Products are a collection of companies each of which is part of a whole that forms the Bakhresa group. It has steadily been expanding its borders from Tanzania to the neighbouring countries and has been gaining a lot of market force over time. Countries operated in currently are:Tanzania, Malawi. Uganda, and Zanzibar This group of companies has specialised in undertaking certain projects in the neighbouring projects while at home, in Tanzania, it has diversified into the making and distribution of various products. Products made include the following: Maize flour, White bran for livestock, Biscuits, Bread (white, brown), Puratha (chapati) Ready to drink beverages It has also invested in the operation of a marine service that has tours to and from the island of Zanzibar. The main offices are on the mainland coast of Dar-es-Salaam where one can process tickets and further information necessary for future trip 3.0 REVIEW OF ENTREPRENEURRSHIP AND INNOVATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP Gibb and Hannon (2006) have defined entrepreneurship as a way of thinking, reasoning, and acting that results in the creation, enhancement, realization, and renewal of value for an individual, group, organization, and society. At the heart of this process is the creation or recognition of opportunities followed by the will and intuitive to seize the opportunities. Hisrich and Peters (2001) Entrepreneurship is the process of creating something different with value by devoting the necessary time and efforts, assuming the accompanying financial, psychic, and social risks, and receiving rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction and independence. Entrepreneurship involves the creation process creating something new of value. The creation has to have value to the entrepreneur and value to the society for which it is developed. Entrepreneurship requires the devotion of the necessary time and effort. and involves assuming the necessary risks. These risks take a variety of forms depending on the field, but generally risks centre around: Financial, Psychology, and Social areas. Also entrepreneurship involves rewards such as: High degree of independence- freedom from constraints, Get to use a variety of skills and talents INNOVATION Innovation can be defined as utilization of inventions to produce new and better quality of products that give greater satisfaction to the consumer and high profits to the entrepreneur. Innovation is the management of all the activities involved in the process of idea generation, technology development, manufacturing and marketing of a new (or improved) product or manufacturing process or equipment. Innovation is the successful implementation of novel and appropriate ideas (creativity) within an organization. Common causes of failure within the innovation process in most organizations can be distilled into five types: Poor goal definition, Poor alignment of actions to goals, Poor participation in teams, Poor monitoring of results and Poor communication and access to information Inventions are new discoveries, new ways of doing things and that products are the eventual outputs form the inventions, that process from new discovery to eventual product is the innovation process. Innovation as a process and not as a single event within organizations helps individuals who define problems, have ideas and perform creative linkages and associations that lead to inventions. Moreover, within organizations it is individuals in the role of managers who decide what activities should be undertaken, the amount of resources to be deployed and how they should be carried out. This has led to the development of so-called key individuals in the innovation process such as inventor, entrepreneur, business sponsor etc. Amabile et al. (1996) propose: All innovation begins with creative ideas . . . We define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization. In this view, creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first is necessary but not sufficient condition for the second. For innovation to occur, something more than the generation of a creative idea or insight is required: the insight must be put into action to make a genuine difference, resulting for example in new or altered business processes within the organization, or changes in the products and services provided. 4.0 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND INNOVATION QUESITON 1 Identify the strand of organization structure and innovation approach used by the bakhresa group.is it organic or mechanistic structure followed by the bakhresa group? INNOVATION IN BAKHRESA group Bakhresa Group applying innovation has linked to performance of different and growth through improvements in efficiency, productivity, quality competitive positioning, market share etc. Innovation helps a Bakhresa Group business house to survive when the winds of change hinted the market caused by economic and social fluctuation of their environment; in fact Innovation has been used by Bakhresa Group as the process of conceptualizing an idea and then transforming an idea into a product/service. This leads the Bakhresa Group to develop and expand their activities in different parts of Tanzania and beyond neighbor countries. Bakhresa Group has successed by having a number of different disciplines such as commercial scanner, project leader contribute to understanding of the innovation process. Firms involved in Group they do not operate in vacuum. They trade with each other; they work together in some areas and compete in others. The role of some other firms is a major factor in understanding innovation. Organizational behavior of the Bakhresa Group had an important role on playing to understand and implement activities which has been necessary to ensure success. Significant discoveries and innovations have been associated with Bakhresa Group . ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND INNOVATION APPROACH USED BY THE BAKHRESA GROUP The structure of an organization is define by Mintzberg (1978) as the sum total of the ways in which it divides its labour into distinct tasks and then achieves coordination among them. There have been numerous useful studies exploring the link between organizational structure and innovative performance. Organic versus Mechanistic Organisational structures:- Organic Mechanistic 1,0 Channels of ?Communication Open with free information flow throughout the organization Highly structured, restricted information flow 2.0 Operating styles Allowed to vary freely Must be uniform and restricted 3.0 Authority for decisions Based on the expertise of the individual Based on formal line management position 4.0 Free Adaptation By the organization to changing circumstance Reluctant Adaptation 5.0 Emphasis on getting things done unconstrained by formally laid down procedures Emphasis on formally laid down procedures 6.0 Loose informal control with emphasis on norm of cooperation Tight control 7.0 Flexible on-job behaviour permitted to be shaped by the requirement Constrained on-job behaviour 8.0 Decision Making participation and group consensus Only superiors make decisions Source: Trott P.,(2004) Innovation Management and New Product Development. Mechanistic organization tends to offer a less suitable environment for managing the creativity and the innovation process. Organization Structures vis-à  -vis Innovation Formalisation There is some evidence of an inverse relationship between formalization and innovation. That is an increase in formalization of procedures will result in a disease in innovative activity. Complexity Where these are several different type of professional groups are working in an organization, it would represent a complex organization Centralisation It refers to the decision making activity and the location of power within an organization. In a decentralized organization fewer levels of hierarchy are usually required: This tends to lead to more responsive decision making cleser to the action. Organisational Size A small business with fewer employees differs significantly on terms of resources from an organization which is big size is a proxy variable for more meaningful dimensions such as economic and organization resources, including number of employees. ANALYISIS OF BAKHRESA GROUP The structure of Bakhresa Group controlled by the activities had performed by company under mechanistic structure caused by division of labours and their tasks, Innovation has being made up of a series of linked activities within a group. The environment of mechanistic has been offered less suitable condition for develop of innovation in Bakhresa Group Business. The culture of the Bakhresa Group is mechanistic structure are characterized as following: The channel of communication is highly structured, In organization structure based in MECHANISTIC, There is restricted information flow, there is no any free chance for information to pass from inside to outside of organization or vice versa. Bakhresa Group under mechanistic structure have been applying implication of restrict information flow with other companies. They making their information have secret issue within Bakhresa Group business and they had not allowed receipt of any information from outside that could influence changes within Group business. Operating styles are uniform and restricted. Bakhresa Group operating their activities under uniform and restricted styles, this style leads the operations being unique by influenced of the ability of making analysis of produce consistent quality products from different entities located in different areas to ensure high level of satisfaction needs to customers spread over, not only, in Tanzania but also in the neighboring countries where their business activities are operate. Authority for decision Based on formal line management position, the authority decisions taken by Bakhresa Group has depend on how it had being reviewed by managers and directors by following steps between low position up to highest position which has been undertaking into the particular organization and seems they can contribute positive results. After being reviewed, the authority for decisions for to be implemented must also proposed by the managers up to the top manager. The management is reluctant to adapt changing circumstances. Change management affects organizational behavior. Because those behaviors are rooted in emotional and psychological responses, leaders and managers of Bakhresa group find them difficult to manage. They understanding that there is an underlying consistency to many of these behaviors help demystify them so they can be proactively managed. Effective change management strategies incorporate an understanding of these common behaviors in deciding change initiative priorities, scope and scheduling, and they include explicit activities to manage the phases of these cycles as they occur throughout the change execution process Which one between mechanistic and organic is more suitable to innovation and why? It suggests that organic is more suitable to innovation, this organic is flexible structure, characterized by the absence of formality and hierarchy, support innovation more effectively than do mechanistic structures. The latter are characterized by long chains of command, rigid work methods, strict task differentiation, extensive procedure and well defined hierarchy. Nevertheless, flexible rather than mechanistic organizational structures are still seen, especially within the business management literature as necessary for successful industrial innovation, In general, an organic organization is more adaptable, more openly communicating, more consensual and more loosely controlled. The mechanistic organization tends to offer a less suitable environment for managing creativity and the innovation process. 5.0 CREATIVITY AND EFFICIENCY QUESTION 2 How can bakhresa group manage the tension between the need for creativity and efficiency? Bakhresa Group managing the tension between the need for creativity and efficiency has been categories as following: Efficiency gains within the bakhresa Group The efficient day to day operations within company have been conducted by application of stable routines which had been achieved in stable and controlled environments in. Creativity gains within the Bakhresa Group Creativity can be defined as the process of developing an original product, service or idea that makes a socially recognized contribution The development of new products/services requires creativity and room to try out new ideas this is achieved in a loose and flexible environment The creativity supported with actions and resources with the time to be creative: organization can try to build sufficient slack into the system to allow for creative thinking and tolerates errors and mistakes and successful ideas need to be rewarded However the long-term economic growth within Bakhresa depends on the ability of firms to make improvements to products and manufacturing processes. The firms has need to make room for creativity and innovation, that is, allow slack in the system. These then is the dilemma: how do firms try to reduce costs and slack to improve competitiveness on the one hand and then try to provide slack for innovation on the other? Bakhresa Group done balancing: the working to ensure there is a constant pressure to drive down costs and improve efficiency in its operations. At the same time it needs to provide room for new product development and improvements to be made the most obvious way forward is to separate production from r d. However there are many improvements and innovations that arise out of the operations of the firm. 6.0 ORGANISATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS QUESTION 3 Discuss The Main Organisational Characteristics That Facilitate The Innovation Process In The Bakhresa Group. Process innovation means the implementation of a new or significantly improved production or delivery method (including significant changes in techniques, equipment and/or software). Minor changes or improvements, an increase in production or service capabilities through the addition of manufacturing or logistical systems which are very similar to those already in use, ceasing to use a process, simple capital replacement or extension, changes resulting purely from changes in factor prices, customisation,regular seasonal and other cyclical changes, trading of new or significantly improved products are not considered innovations. innoviscop. The main organizational characteristics that facilitate the innovation process in the Bakhresa Group as following: Growth orientation;- long term grow rather than short term profit. It is characterized by a commitment to long-term growth rather than short-term profit. Not all companies first and foremost objective is growth. Some companies are established merely to exploit a short-term opportunity, other companies would like to maintain the company at its existing size: the objective of innovative companies is to grow the business the actively plan for the long-term. ANALYSIS OF BAKHRESA GROUP Bakhresa Group started in a humble manner with a small restaurant in the Port City of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, in mid seventies, it has now emerged as a respected business group in the Region. The Group has its operations spread in Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and most recently in Mozambique. Plans are in place to spread its wings to other countries. The group now boasts  of a turnover of more than Three Hundred Million United Sates Dollars and is a proud employer of more than two thousand employees associated directly. There are several companies under its umbrella and have investments mainly in Food and Beverage Sector, Packaging, Logistics and Real Estate Bakhresa Group has been working to expand their business by long term growth by emphasis long term vision and making implementation of it, those implications have been taken a long time, and some of them are still need a time to be implemented. Bakhresa succeed to making steps on growth of the manufactures of Food and Beverage Sector, Packaging, Logistics and Real Estate, product, which leads to the expand of branch company in different parts in Tanzania and beyond Tanzania.Bakhresa offers two groups of product and services: Food Beverages and Services. Commitment to technology It is characterized by the willingness to invest in the long-term development of technology. Bakhresa Group has exhibit patience in permitting ideas to geminate and develop overtime. this needs to be accompanied by a commitment to resources in terms of intellectual input without a long-term approach it would be extremely difficult for the company to attract good scientists. Eg: Azam Bakeries Company Ltd Azam Bakeries, the largest bakery in Tanzania, produces the popular Azam brand bread, cakes and donuts. The state of the art technology is used for producing the bakery products making the company proud of supplying  essential food in the country. It has a modern biscuit factory producing the finest varieties of biscuits. Many varieties of biscuits such as Chai, Creams, Glucose, Coconut, Nice, Marie, and Shortcake are popular in the country.The plant and equipment consists of the latest technology from Italy and has a high capacity automatic packing system capable of producing up to 300packets per minute. Vigilance It is characterized by the ability of the organization to be aware of its threats and opportunities. vigilance requires continual external scanning e.g. within the marketing function the activity would form part of market research and competitor analysis collecting valuable information is one thing, but relaying it to the necessary individuals and acting on it are two necessary associated requirements. Bakhresa Group has working to ensure that they got all external knowledge by doing analysis and researches that has been helping to known new strategic which required to be implemented for the results of achieving goals. Bakhresa Group has being faced with some opportunities and threats as indicated below: Opportunities Appreciation for high-quality local produced raw material such as maize, mills The new generation of individuals and companies has a far greater positive reception of domestic produced starch Current drive by government through the Tanzania Investment Centre and EPZ towards export of locally manufactured agricultural products Current government motive of Kilimo kwanza to promote agro-production Presence of export opportunities such as AGOA, SADCC, EAST AFRICA COMMUNITY, COMESA, etc Climate that favors large scale production of raw material throughout our country Raw material such as rice, maize, mill production initiatives that have started to emerge in different regions in Tanzania Availability of cheap manpower and fertile land for raw material production  locally such as maize, white Threats The present growth in the market may result in market saturation, through competition. This competition could emerge from a variety of given sources including;Established mass market companies that imports Development of new lines and vertically integrating so as to be totally in control of supplies and products being sold on the respective markets New marketing strategies and tactics by established products and companies Existing competition. Intolerable price increases by foreign suppliers may occur Farmers may decide to take their produce for food in case of hunge 7.0 INDIVIDUAL ROLES WITHIN THE INNOVATION PROCESS QUESITON 4 Explain The Key Individual Roles Within The Innovation Process And The Activities They Perform In The Bakhresa Group. Innovation process is essentially a people process and that organizational structure, formal decision making processes, delegation of authority and other formal aspects of a so-called well run company are not necessary conditions for successful technological innovation. The study of Rubenstein has revealed that certain individuals had fulfilled a variety of roles that had contributed to successful technological innovation. Heres the list of roles individual playing within Bakhresa Group facilitate the innovation process by engages;- Commercial scanner: This individual acquires vast amounts of information from outside the organization, often through net working. This may include market and technical information. Bakhresa Group have been working in finding and making analysis of the information from other successful same companies which operate the same products. The access of new ideas could the very Gatekeeper: This individual keeps informed of related developments that occur outside the organization through journals, conferences, colleagues and other companies. Passes information on to others, finds it easy to talk to colleagues. Serves as an informatted resource for others in the organization. Project leader: This individual provides the team with leadership and motivation. Plans and organizes the project ensures that administrative requirements are met. Provides necessary coronation among team members sees that Project moves forward effectively. Balances project goals with organizational needs. Examine and analyze the project for patterns to determine what is and is not working and help you tune your process so its most efficient and so you understand where to focus your resources on opportunities and to correct problems. Sponsor: This individual provides access to a power base within the Bakhresa Group: a senior person. Buffers the Project team from unnecessary organizational constraints. Helps the project team too get what it needs from other parts of the organization. Provides legitimacy and organizational confidence in the project. Heres the another addition list of roles individual playing in innovation process and: 2005 (innovationtools) Connectors A key element of innovation is building bridges to connect distant worlds-industries beyond your own-to generate new products/services and building networks to connect  people to create and distribute the new offering. Combining these attributes with several  other characteristics results in what we call a Connector. Connectors have these characteristics: Are a mile wide and an inch deep. Connectors have the ability to connect departments, organizations, and industries that normally would not be connected. Although they may be an expert in their own field, Connectors are generally people youd describe as a mile wide and an inch deep. They know things about a variety of fields and industries and can connect them. Are one degree separated. Think of the person or people you know who can get anything through the system. They know the person in the mailroom who can expedite getting things delivered fast, they know the administrative assistants that wield the power, and they know the person in purchasing who can order the thingamabob you need. They know everyone inside and outside the organization and can connect you with them. Build networks. Connectors build networks. Their ability to do so means that once an idea has been captured and evaluated (or even during evaluation), they can help you build the network of people to deliver the offering. Jump the tracks. Connectors can jump the tracks, making connections with other people, industries, technologies, ideas, distribution, partners-and they bring others along-which is critical. Because they connect with people, they have the ability to get others to see the benefits for jumping the track. Skyscrape. Connectors, because of their position or people they know in key positions, can easily get or make connections to the upper reaches of an organization. Its likely that you will need several Connectors, since not everyone has all the characteristics above. The person who knows how to work the internal system is usually not a skyscraper-they usually work behind the scenes. Thats ok. Its likely the Connectors you identify will know each other already. Heres what the Connector can do for your innovation initiative: create connections to other people and technologies within your organization, and connect you to customers and business partners who can help you outside your organization. Connectors dramatically reduce the time to find the appropriate connections and improve the chance youll make a valuable connection. Librarian The Librarian holds the key position of collecting ideas and providing organized access to others who can help build the library and make sense of the current collection. The Librarian provides an easy way to check in, check out (as in examine), and add to ideas,  solutions, problems, technologies, and needs. Think of a library where you can write in the books or write your own books, put them back on the shelf, and allow others to do the  same. Librarians have these characteristics. Librarians: Define the meta-data. Librarians determine what information is important to capture about an idea. Librarians determine what information is necessary to capture about an idea and to evaluate it. They determine the formats for the information. Help store and retrieve information. As the number of ideas grows, so does the  complexity of storing, finding and retrieving information about those ideas. Help others help themselves. The capture of information, storage, searching and information retrieval should be a self-help mechanism. A good librarian works themselves out of a job. Heres what the Librarian can do for your innovation initiative: define a consistent data model to help document and capture your ideas. Provide the meta-data and information tags to search and find ideas, and ensure easy retrieval. Help others in the team and associated with the team find information and add to it. Framer The Framer works with business functions and management to determine the appropriate  evaluation schemes and frameworks teams should use to evaluate ideas fairly, transparently and consistently. The Framer: Understands where the organization is trying to go. The strategic direction is critical in evaluating ideas, because new products and services will dictate how fast and far the organization can go in that direction. All evaluations must be made relevant to that direction. Understands who needs to be involved to make the evaluation meaningful. If key individuals or groups are left out of the evaluation, the idea may fail in execution because a key element is missing. Absent heads mean absent hands. The evaluation should include everyone who will be involved in executing and no more. The Framer needs to make sure all heads, hearts, and hands are accounted for in the evaluation process. Understands the need for transparency. Contributors need to understand the evaluation process and the rationale behind it. This will help ensure that ideas are contributed because contributors understand the process is fair; it will also help contributors provide information to make the evaluation easier. Understands how an idea should be evaluated. Different classes of ideas needto be evaluated different ways, but within those classes ideas should be evaluated consistently and in a way that allows ideas to be compared against each other so that the desired portfolio may be achieved. Heres what the Framer can do for your innovation initiative: construct the evaluation  frameworks which your team will use to evaluate your ideas, and ensure the evaluations  are consistent and transparent. Judge The Judge evaluates the ideas, using the Framers framework. Generally speaking there are many Judges for any idea often representing business functions (sales, marketing,  RD), regions or other business silos. Judges follow the evaluation criteria set by the Framers, who worked with all the entities involved in setting the evaluation framework. Judges have these characteristics. Judges: Evaluate ideas and determine which ideas should move forward to prototyping, which should be tabled until an internal or external criteria is met (e.g., good idea when the price of memory falls to one dollar per terabyte), and which should be shelved. Provide the verdict on which ideas merit further investigation and development by the organization. Document their decisions for posterity. Too often decisions are made about initiatives and ideas, and those decisions are not documented. Eventually the idea will be considered again. Without the documentation for the decision, a team may be forced to reconsider an idea that was previously rejected. Heres what a Judge can do for your innovation initiative: evaluate the idea against a standard framework and ensure all the business functions responsible for the idea have weighed in. Establish a verdict on the idea, to move the idea into production, end evaluation of the idea, license the idea to someone else or continue evaluation until conditions change. Document the rationale for the decision so that others can understand why the idea was approved or why it failed the evaluation. Prototyper Many organizations are comfortable with their new product development (NPD) process. Once

Beowulf (Christianity vs. Paganism) Essay -- Epic of Beowulf Essays

Christianity vs. Paganism   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the story of Beowulf, there is a noticeable struggle between Christianity and Paganism, and the characters personal battle between the two. Throughout the story the characters display actions that lead towards Paganism and Christianity. Contrary to Pagan belief Beowulf is seen as the epitome of good and beneficent to all of mankind. In Beowulf, the people showed their faith and love in God, however due to horrific events, paranoia caused them to look for a quick fix and turns them to Paganism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The pagan elements in the epic poem Beowulf are evident in the characters superhuman personifications. Beowulf is depicted as a superhero. Beowulf takes it upon himself to save the Danes from Grendel. In his battle with Grendel, Beowulf chooses not to use weapons; he relies on his super strength. During the fight, Beowulf's strength takes over, and Beowulf wrestles with Grendel until he is able to rip one of the monster's arms out of its socket. Superhuman feats also appear in the fight with Grendel's mother. When Beowulf enters the water, he swims, without the use of oxygen, downward for an entire day before he sees the bottom. During the battle with Grendel's mother, Beowulf realizes that Unferth's sword is useless against the monster’s thick skin. He grabs an enormous sword made by giants, almost too heavy to hold, and slashes through the monster's body. This superhero strength continues into t...

Twelve Who Ruled Essay -- essays research papers

Twelve Who Ruled Book Review The year of terror is one of the most complex and misunderstood periods in the French Revolution. Palmer, in his book, Twelve Who Ruled, however, takes this period and skillfully turns it into a written masterpiece. The book is narrated from the point of view of someone with an omniscient knowledge of the subject matter, who is reflecting back on the period from the outside. The book tells the story of a brief moment in history when twelve men (Robespierre, Barere, Saint Just, Couthon, Lindet, Carnot, Saint-Andre, Prieur, Varenne, Herbois, Scholles, and Duvernois) ruled France; even though they were technically under the control of the Convention. Palmer begins by giving the reader an overview of who the twelve men were before they became rulers of a nation. He then goes on to discuss the purpose of the Committee of Public Safety, and the organizational structure of the terror. Palmer then smoothly moves on to discuss the "foreign plot" and how the committee dealt with it. He goes on to explain the "Doom at Lyons" by giving a very detailed description of the events that went on there. Palmer then procedes to depict the missions at Alsace and Brittany. In the last few chapters of the book, he slowly and carefully shows the winding down and eventual collapse of the Committee of Public Safety's power. Throughout this book, Palmer does an exquisite job painting the collage of the twelve men's ride to the top upon the horse of the committee of Public Safety. He wonderfully combines each man's individual actions with the more general problems that the Committee of Public Safety confronted. He discusses in detail the policies adopted to defend the Revolution, as well as how and why they were put into effect. The layout of the chapters in the book is extremely logical; they are basically put in chronological order. The fact that Palmer takes the time to give a full historical background of the twelve men shows that he wanted this book to be accessable to people who held no prior knowledge of the subject or time period. He gives a very lurid account of the most influential people on the committee, - namely Robespierre, Varenne, Carnot, Saint Andre, and Saint Just. In the first pages of the book,... ... they would not normally have acted. Due to the effectiveness of Palmer's presentation of the terror, the reader might get the idea that if he were involved in the Revolution, he might be afraid to speak up and voice his opinion. This is due to the fact that it might upset or oppose any person in power who might overhear what he said. These are the psychological repricutions of the terror. In his book Twelve Who Ruled, Palmer eloquently writes this narrative, "weaving the biographies of the twelve into the history of their time," and provides a coherent and convincing explanation of the terror. The book is not only educational for someone interested in the time period when these twelve men ruled the nation of France, but it is also enjoyable from the perspective of a person reading the book solely for interest in revolutions and how they affect the people who are involved in them. The book deals with a brief period of time during the French Revolution, namely the year of terror. The book ventures to interpret the foundations and rationale for the terror and Palmer illustrates his speculations on the subject through gracious, flowing writing.

The Stress Encountered by a Police Officers

There has been a lot of research on the negative effects of stress on people in general. I am sure you know that police work is one of the top rated professions for job stress next to air traffic controllers and dentists. A good way to start this presentation, I think, is to give a good working definition of police stress. Here it is: The feeling and desire along with the ensuing bodily effects, experienced by a person who has a strong and true longing to choke the living crap out of someone who desperately deserves it, but you can't. Now, while this may sound funny there is a real element of truth to it. An element of truth that says an awful lot about police work. And that is the part of the definition â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦but you can't†. Police work, by it's very nature, calls for an incredible amount of restraint. Continual restraint and draining restraint. It is stressful. The demands on police officers to show even greater restraint have been increasing over the years, and so has the effects of stress on police work. With the recent attention that police suicide has received in the media there have been a number of reviews on it. Between 1934 and 1960 police suicide rates were half that of the general population. Between 1980 to the present, suicide rates in some departments almost doubled. What is the difference? You can't choke them anymore! Street justice is all but gone. Everyone has video cameras. The media gets off on putting down cops. Politicians continue to throw new laws and restrictions for police officers that further tie their hands, and you can't choke anyone with your hands tied! So you start to feel that you're choking yourself. Lets take a quick overview of police work and look at the research of what the biggest stressors are:  · Killing someone in the line of duty.  · Having your partner killed in the line of duty.  · Lack of support by the department/bosses.  · Shift work and disruption of family time/family rituals.  · The daily grind of dealing with the stupidity of the public. Interestingly, physical danger is ranked low on the list of stressors by police officers. One of the worst effects of stress on police officers is of course suicide. We are becoming too familiar with police suicide, especially with the attention the media has given New York City. Twice as many police officers die by their own hand as do in the line of duty. (New York Times, 1994) A study of 2376 Buffalo NY police officers found that, compared to the white male population police officers, there were higher mortality rates for cancer, suicide, and heart disease. The suggested reason: Higher stress levels. Every study done points to the higher levels of stress police officers face, but what form does that stress take? With suicide there seem to be four factors: 1. Divorce. 2. Alcohol, not alcoholism. That was one of the early theories. But in actuality it was the use of alcohol right before the act to â€Å"get up the nerve†. 3. Depression. 4. A failure to get help. (Most officers who commit suicide have no history of having sought counseling). All four factors are symptoms that can come from an officer's stress levels. Police suicide is more directly related to relationship problems than to job stress. Of the last 14 suicides among the police officers in New York City, 12, or 86%, had to do with divorce or relationship breakup. Suicide is often an impulsive act, and the handgun at the officer's side is guaranteed to be lethal in the hands of an experienced shooter. UB professor, John M. Violanti, Ph.D thinks the biggest reason for the high rate of police suicide is because officers think they have nowhere to go for confidential help when personal problems or job stress overwhelms them. â€Å"Police officers are more hesitant than the average citizen to get help for emotional problems. Because of their role, they mistrust many things, and they especially mistrust mental health professionals,† Violanti said. â€Å"Departments should include some sort of suicide awareness training in their stress management program.† Police officers going through a divorce are 5 times more likely to commit suicide than that of an officer in a stable marriage. Relationship problems however, are highly related to job stress. If we consider that officers have an important relationship with their department, we can examine the effect of that relationship gone bad. Officers who get in serious trouble on the job, suspended or facing termination, are 7 times more likely to commit suicide. (Apparently cops like their jobs better than their wives). So we see that stress has an enormous effect on police officers lives, especially their home lives. Studies have called police work a â€Å"high risk lifestyle†. Not high risk in terms of the physical dangers of the job, but a high risk in terms of developing attitudinal problems, behavioral problems, and intimacy and relationship problems. So you learn something about the effects of police work. You learn if you ask the average cop â€Å"Hey, what's been the scariest experience during your police career?† They will answer â€Å"My first marriage!† The national divorce rate is 50%. All research shows police suffer a substantially higher divorce rate with estimates ranging from 60 to 75%. One of the casualties of police work is often the marriage. Although law enforcement officers deal with stressful situations in the normal course of their duties, excessive stress on individual officers may cause them not to carry out their responsibilities. In order to keep law enforcement organizations at 100%, administrators must be able to identify the causes of dysfunctional stress on individual officers. Much of the articles we find today on the causes of law enforcement stress, focus primarily on the factors that are personal to the individual officer. However, other researchers suggest that an officer's ability to live with this stress is hindered by the structure and operation of the organization within which he or she works. â€Å"Police stress† is considered by many to be an important societal problem (Cullen, et al., 1985), and police work is thought of as stressful (Kelling and Pate, 1975). Law enforcement officers must be aware of the dangers of psychological stress. Stress is the result of â€Å"demands placed on the system† and need not be harmful unless it is â€Å"mismanaged† or â€Å"present in large quantities.† However, some analysts say that occupational and life stress can cause mental and even physical problems. For example, one study of 2,300 officers in twenty-nine different police departments reported that thirty-six percent of the officers had serious marital problems, twenty-three percent had serious alcohol problems, twenty percent had serious problems with their children, and ten percent had drug problems. (Kendrix, 1989) Yet, police were well below the average in seeking [medical and] mental treatment. The â€Å"macho† image of a police officer may well keep a police officer from seeking such treatment. Law enforcement officers have significantly higher rates of health problems, premature deaths, suicides and general hospital admissions than other occupations (Richard and Fell, 1975). Law enforcement stress has been categorized into three sections. These are: 1) stress that is internal to the law enforcement system; 2) stress that is in the law enforcement job itself; and 3) stress that is external to law enforcement. Stress internal to the job may be found when police and correctional officers find themselves with conflicting roles. Police spend much of their time in activities not directly related to law enforcement functions, while correction officers are placed in both the role of providing â€Å"custody [and] treatment.† Law enforcement officers can develop personal conflicts by being placed in the position of having to choose between one or more contradictory goals. Such contradictions include the loyalty to fellow officers and honesty within the department. Post Traumatic Stress is a type of stress encountered at incidents that are, or perceived as, capable of causing serious injury or death. The person encountering the stress does not have to be the one whose life is threatened. This stress can also occur to witnesses. By it's nature, Post Traumatic Stress is one of the worst types of stress a person can encounter. It is stress of a nature that is threatening to a person's survival. The psychological and physical reactions of our mind and body to Post Traumatic Stress are at the extremes. Examples of life threatening traumas that can cause Post Traumatic Stress, in their general order of severity, include: natural disasters, serious accidents, serious accidents where a person is at fault, intentional life threatening violence by another person, life threatening trauma caused by betrayal by a trusted individual, and life threatening trauma caused by betrayal by someone you depend on for survival. Police officers, by the nature of their jobs, can be exposed to more stress and trauma in one day than many people will experience in a considerable period of time, maybe even their entire life. Some police officers thrive on stress. They seek out incidents that most people would not care to encounter in their lifetime. Many people seek out a job in police work for this challenge and the personal rewards it provides. Overcoming stress of great magnitude can provide great personal rewards, but these jobs can and do ruin many lives. Dr. George Everly, a noted researcher on emergency services stress, estimates that at any given time15-32% of all emergency responders will be dealing with a reaction to Post Traumatic Stress, and there is a 30-64% chance that they will have a reaction to it during their lifetime. For law enforcement working in urban areas, 20-30% of the officers will develop a reaction to Post Trauma Stress during their lifetimes. These figures are higher than the percentages for the general population (1-3%), urban adolescents (9-15%), and, surprisingly, Vietnam Veterans (15-20%). For a variety of reasons, some of which are not known, many police officers work through Post Traumatic Stress and its affects. The impact of Post Traumatic Stress on their lives is short-lived (if they suffer from it at all). In the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), this is defined as Acute Stress Disorder. It lasts more than two days, but no longer than 4 weeks. There are those, however, that will not be able to cope with the Post Traumatic Stress they have encountered. They may have handled many traumatic incidents without a problem, until one happens that breaks through their ability to cope. These officers will develop what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is Acute Stress Disorder that lasts more than 4 weeks. In their book on â€Å"Emergency Services Stress†, Dr. Jeff Mitchell and Dr. Grady Bray estimate that without proper Post Trauma Stress training, response, and follow-up, roughly 4% of all emergency workers will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These figures do not include those who will develop a reaction to accumulative stress, which can have affects similar to, and additive to, Post Traumatic Stress. They also do not include police officers who grew up in an urban environment and are Vietnam Veterans, of which there are more than a few. These figures also do not separate out those working patrol or traffic duties from those working specialty assignments (narcotics, vice, metro teams) from those working investigative or â€Å"inside† jobs. Uniformed assignments and certain specialty assignments place officers in positions that they will be more likely to encounter traumatic stress.