Family Planning Essay

In the past 50 years, family-planning programs have been heavily promoted across the developing world. A vast academic literature now tests both the intellectual rationale for these programs, as well as their impact on a wide range of demographic and economic outcomes. In recent years, the availability of new methods and new datasets from the developing world has intensified the academic research on these issues even though the support for family-programs themselves has diminished. This paper examines the economic and demographic literature on family planning programs and summarizes evidence of their impact on fertility as well as additional outcomes such as child mortality, investments in children’s human capital, the economic status of households and the macro-impacts on communities. The goal is to provide policy-makers with an understanding of the strengths, limitations and points of agreement that emerge from this vast literature. PRELIMINARY AND INCOMPLETE DRAFT 1. Introduction In the past 50 years, family planning (FP) programs have been heavily promoted across the developing world as a means to reduce fertility rates and promote economic development. The central assumption behind such programs is that the decline in birth rates during the early stages of demographic transition can promote economic growth, reduce environmental pressures, reduce dependency ratios and strengthen a societies’ ability to invest in health and education (Coale, Hoover, and Press 1958). At the micro-level, it has been assumed that a decline in fertility would relieve women of the burden of repeated child-bearing and free up opportunities for them to increase schooling and participate in the labor-force. A significant literature – shaped by economists and demographers – now tests these assumptions (Kelley and McGreevey 1994; Kelley 1995). Much of the literature however, remains either theoretical or focused on macro-correlations between variables such as fertility or population growth and indicators of development such as GDP growth or female education. The causal impact of declining fertility and/or the impacts of FP programs on fertility have proved to be difficult to find. One of the main challenges faced by researchers is that fertility decline is affected by a wide range of variables, including socioeconomic variables such as income, education (particularly female education) and female employment. Changes in these variables can affect the demand for FP, the structure of the programs, and their ultimate impact. There is also the issue of policy itself. FP programs are rarely rolled out randomly. Placement of programs in areas with distinct characteristics made it di fficult to identify the precise policy driver of any observed change in behavior. In recent years, the research has been enriched by the availability of new methods and new datasets from the developing world. This includes cross-sectional surveys such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), panel datasets such as the Family Life Surveys, and the use of random assignment evaluation methods that study causal relationships under careful scientific experimental structures. This paper examines this literature and summarizes evidence of the impact of FP programs on fertility as well as additional outcomes such as child mortality, investments in children’s human capital, the economic status of households and the macro-impacts on communities. We define an FP program as any organized effort to encourage couples to limit their family size, and space their births by using contraceptive information and services. This includes legislative, regulatory, and programmatic efforts to supply contraceptives to a population as well as efforts to reduce the demand for children and/or increase the demand for contraception through information and/or social marketing campaigns. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 provides a brief history of FP programs in the post WWII era and argues that FP programs have declined in priority after the ICPD conference in Cairo in  1994. Sections 3 and 4 provide an overview of two strands of the literature on FP programs: non-experimental studies that use cross-sectional or panel data to evaluate large-scale FP programs in states, countries or regions; and experimental studies that analyze random or pseudo-random pilot projects. Section 5 examines the literature on the cost-effectiveness of FP programs. Section 6 provides some perspectives that are likely to interest policy-makers. PRELIMINARY AND INCOMPLETE DRAFT 2. Family planning programs: A short history Family planning (FP) programs emerged after World War II. The world’s first major program was established in India in 1951 and was soon after followed by Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, and China. By 1975, about 74 developing countries had established them (Seltzer 2002; Cleland et al. 2006). Most programs fall into three general groups: (a) those that specifically aimed to curtail population growth through explicit policies such as promoting contraception and/or establishing incentives to have fewer children; (b) those that did not aim to curtail population growth, but promoted FP for other purposes; and (c) those with no explicit population policies but allowed outside donors to run programs that were mostly small in scale (Nortman and Hofstatter 1980; Nortman 1985). The first group was dominated by Asian countries, mainly East Asia and some South Asian countries (Mauldin, Berelson, and Sykes 1978; Lapham and Mauldin 1985; Mauldin and Ross 1991)1. In China and Vietnam for e xample, the governments formally announced in the early 1960s that couples should have no more than two or three children and began a wide-range of interventions that either directly or indirectly contributed towards this goal. Many governments provided citizens with incentives to meet these targets. In China, couples with more than two children (or one child in some parts of China) were subjected to fines and penalties, though the enforcement of this program varies significantly (Short and Fengying 1998; Attane 2002). Permanent methods of contraception (mainly sterilization) were often provided for free.2 In Korea, Indonesia and Thailand, FP programs focused heavily on the expansion of usage of IUDs and other temporary methods in addition to permanent  methods. In South Asia, the programs were less strong than in East Asia but large in scope. India for example, established a vast network of clinics that were to provide contraceptive services. In the 1960s, this was followed by a public health–based outreach program which emphasized education and awareness particularly in rural areas (Harkavy and Roy 1997). A common feature of almost all programs in this group was that they were generally led, funded and managed by domestic governments, and involved a broad range of mini stries and mass organizations that focus on educating, promoting, and encouraging couples to use FP methods. Another common feature of programs in this group is that they were typically one component of broader development policies that aimed to increase access to health-care, education and industrialization. These authors have developed quantitative measures of family planning program strength, or â€Å"effort† that are based on the number and quality of institutions that are involved with family planning programs. The measures of effort came from the belief that strong family planning programs must possess some essential features: (a) It should offer a full range of contraceptive methods and deliver them through several delivery systems, particularly in rural areas; (b) It should have a corps of full-time fieldworkers and educated the public about contraception; (c) Prominent leaders should issue frequent statements favoring the use of contraceptives; (d) The program should have a full-time director, placed well up in the government structure, and various ministries and private agencies should provide technical, logistical and financial assistance. More will be said about these criteria, and the studies that support them later in this paper. In Vietnam, Bryant (1998: 246) writes that right before fertility declined, thousands of health workers were given basic training and sent to villages to promote use of mosquito nets, distribute locally made drugs, deliver babies, administer vaccinations, and carry out other standard primary health care functions. PRELIMINARY AND INCOMPLETE DRAFT The second group of countries was dominated by Latin America.3 Until about 1960, governments in this region remained strongly pro-natalist in their ideals (Mundigo 1996). This changed due to a concern about the high incidence of unsafe abortions in the mid-1960s. Abortions performed in unsanitary conditions by unqualified personnel were believed to contribute to maternal mortality and also resulted in large public expenditures as women with abortion-related complications sought care en masse from public hospitals (Mundigo 1996). To minimize disagreement with the Catholic Church however, FP programs in Latin America began as small private initiatives that were largely funded by international donors and NGOs. In most countries, particularly Brazil and Peru, these programs were ultimately incorporated into national public health programs. By the 1980s, countries in this group generally had broader goals than simply reducing fertility and/or the practice of unsafe abortion. They generall y aimed at improving maternal and child health through greater birth spacing, access to pre- and post-natal care. Some Asian programs also fall into this category. Bangladesh is particularly noteworthy. Its national program, launched in 1976, aimed to provide women with a wide a range of contraceptive methods through home-visits by a network of locally recruited female-health care workers. Sterilization was included in the package of options and in the first few years of the program, compensation was offered to those who chose the procedure (Cleland and Mauldin 1991). Yet the program remained largely voluntary and focused on maternal and child-health more broadly. A similar effort is seen in Iran, which launched its program in 1989. Free contraceptives were distributed through a network of village health workers, who also advised women on a broad range of maternal and child health issues. The third group of countries was almost entirely dominated by Sub-Saharan Africa. Some countries did establish programs early on. Kenya and Ghana for example, established FP programs in the late 1960s. Tanzania established a FP program in 1970. Senegal established an urban FP program in 1976 and a rural program in 1979. Much of Francophone Africa however, remained largely untouched by the wave of interest in FP programs throughout this period. A 1920 French law that banned advertising and distribution of contraceptives  continued to prevail. Across most of Africa, issues of population growth remained sensitive and highly politicized throughout the post-war period. Nigeria for example, adopted a national population council to study the issue of population growth but did not adopt any national policies to lower fertility (Caldwell and Caldwell, 1983). This was at least in part because census data that formed the basis of such decisions was regarded as too controversial. The results of the 1962 and 1973 census were actually nullified due to dispute and controversy over accuracy of the size of minority groups. Even when they were adopted, African FP programs differed significantly from their counterparts in other countries in several key ways. First, the focus was almost entirely on temporary methods, since permanent methods were regarded as culturally unacceptable (J. C Caldwell and P. Caldwell 1987; J. C Caldwell and P. Caldwell 1988). The establishment of robust supply chains for temporary contraceptives Only five Latin American countries fell in the first group – Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Guatemala. Mexico is the largest among these. In 1974, access to family planning was declared as a constitutional right for all couples. In 1977, a national coordinating body was establish to expand the supply of contraception and a demographic target of population growth of no more than 2.5 percent per year by 1982 was declared. A wide variety of methods, including oral contraceptives as well as permanent sterilizations, were offered and the contraceptive prevalence rate doubled within a span of less than five years (Rodriguez-Barocio et al., 1980). PRELIMINARY AND INCOMPLETE DRAFT however, proved to be very challenging in the African context. The health-care infrastructure in this region was weak and burdened with a high demand for curative services. Moreover, most rural women resided far away from clinics or health centers (Caldwell and Caldwell 1992). Stringent eligibility criteria also made it difficult to reach women. In many cases, a woman’s access to contraception required the written consent of husband,  proof of marital status or age, blood tests (for oral contraceptives), frequent follow-up visits, and non-evidence based requirements that she be menstruating at the time that she starts using certain methods such as IUDs or hormone-based systems (Campbell et al., 1996). Cultural preferences for high fertility often made women unwilling to be seen attending these clinics. Moreover, since consumers did not receive adequate information about contraceptives, side-effects were often misinterpreted and rumors were propagated. These factors combined to cause discouragement and discontinuation in the long-run (Campbell et al., 1996). Across Asia and Latin America, the spread of primary healthcare services, rapid increases in female schooling, the processes of socio-economic development and the use of marketing campaigns to promote awareness of FP programs may have alleviated some of these problems. A second distinctive feature of African programs is that they were supported by a large number of international donors who rarely coordinated their actions with national governments or even between themselves. Since the weakness of domestic health infrastructure ruled out the establishment of â€Å"vertical† programs that packaged FP with primary health services, donors preferred to fund standalone programs that they could establish, manage and monitor themselves (Seltzer, 2002; Robinson and Ross, 2007; Mayhew, Walt, Lush and Cleland, 2005). The programs thus often remained small-scale. The goals used to evaluate the programs were often short-term in keeping with the demands of short budgetcycles. This approach stands in stark contrast to Asian and Latin American programs that were typically run by Ministries of Health and were backed by long-term budget commitments. Donor retreat International interest in FP programs lost momentum in the early 1980s. The intellectual shift behind this is often referred to as â€Å"revisionist thinking† and refers to a retreat from Malthusian fears about the crippling effect of population growth on economic growth as well as the concern with the adequacy of supplies of food and natural resources (Kelley 1995; Kelley 2001). A wide range of factors fueled revisionist thought: the rapid pace of fertility decline in Asia, the success of the green revolution, the lack of convincing academic evidence for a negative relationship between population growth and economic growth, etc. Economists emphasized that the long-run impact of population growth in economic development may not necessarily be negative. On the contrary, investments in human capital and innovation in growing populations can even have positive effects on growth and development outcomes (Simon and Lincoln 1977; Boserup 1981). Critics of FP programs used this literature to make the case that many FP programs in the developing world had been conceptualized and implemented with a false sense of urgency after World War II, without sufficient internal debate, deliberation and consensus (Kelley 1995; Kelley 2001). Revisionist intellectual thought was also reinforced by the voices of NGOs in international policy. These groups highlighted examples of FP programs that had not gone well in parts of China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, etc (for a summary, see Seltzer, 2002: 62—70). In India for example, the controversial PRELIMINARY AND INCOMPLETE DRAFT HITTS model (Health Department operated, incentive-based, target-oriented, time-bound, and sterilization-focused) was so unpopular that it contributed to the collapse of the Indian government in 1977 and prompted India to launch a significant critique of FP programs in international policy circles (Harkavay and Roy, 2007).4 Feminists argued that women in particular, paid a high price for population policies, for they had often been viewed as passive â€Å"targets† who needed to become â€Å"acceptors† of contraception (Dixon-Mueller, 1993). They demanded that policies recognize women as key agents in the process of reproduction and must empower them – through education, information and access to health services (that include but are not limited to FP) – to have establish control over their bodies. The impact of the rights-based approach was visible at the Vienna Conference on Human Rights in 1993 where there was an explicit recognition of the importance of reproductive rights and the need for national and international development policies to be built around these rights. The biggest shift however, occurred in Cairo at the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994. The definition of reproductive rights was took center-stage and included not only issues of reproductive decision-making,  but sexual health and female empowerment more generally.6 Delegates explicitly called for dropping demographic and FP program targets in favor of a broader policy agenda that included a range of reproductive and sexual health measures. FP thus became embedded into a broader set of policy-goals. In the words of the UNFPA, â€Å"[The ICPD Programme of Action] places human rights and well-being explicitly at the centre of all population and sustainable development activities. The Programme of Action moves discussion beyond population numbers and demographic targets: its premise is that development objectives — including early stabilization of population growth — can be achieved only by basing policies and programmes on the human rights, the needs and aspirations of individual women and men. Human-centred development -in the sense of investing in people generally, and particularly in health, education and building equity and equality between the sexes — is seen as a firm basis for sustained economic growth and sustainable development (UNFPA, 1995:9).† The representatives of 179 governments agreed on the need to ensure universal access to reproductive health services by the year 2015. These governments also agreed to increase spending on population According to Harkavy and Roy (2007), the government’s Department of Family Planning estimated that more than 20 million births were averted between 1956 and 1975. Calculations based on the number of births averted concluded that the annual birthrate fell from about 42 live births per 1,000 population in 1960–61 to about 38 in 1970–71 and about 35 in 1974–75. The critique of FP programs also came from health advocates who argued that despite the strides made in the safety of technologies such as oral pills and injectibles, safety issues remain. They did not agree that the benefits of choice outweighed the risks and argued that contraceptive safety needed greater attention (Seltzer, 2002). Other health advocates argued that FP had absorbed far too much policy attention and development assistance, neglecting other critically important issues. This includes the right not to be alienated from their sexual or reproductive capacity and bodily integrity through coerced sex or marriage, denial of access to birth control, sterilization without informed consent, freedom from unsafe contraceptive methods, from unwanted pregnancies or coerced child bearing, from unwanted medical attention. PRELIMINARY AND INCOMPLETE DRAFT  and related programs. The needed resources were estimated at $17 billion a year by 2000, climbing to nearly $22 billion by 2015.7 This agenda was however met with resistance by several groups. First, there were those who challenged the coupling of a gender ideology with issues of reproductive health. In Jordan for examples, elites felt that the proposals regarding reproductive health were acceptable, but proposals that aimed to reduce gender-based violence, deliver sex-education to adolescents, spread information about STIs and the promote gender equality conflicted with existing cultural norms and could not be implemented quickly (Luke and Watkins, 2002; Seltzer, 2002). A second challenge to the Cairo agenda came from religious groups felt that the expanded definitions of reproductive health and reproductive choice tacitly included abortion and more controversial methods of fertility reduction. Even though the Cairo agenda was carefully worded to not support abortion in any circumstances, many people believed that the two issues were too deeply related to be separated in practice (Seltzer, 2002).8 In 2001, with support from the Vatican, the United States publicly opposed abortion, once again implemented the â€Å"gag rule† and thereby withdrew association with all organizations that offer women abortion services as a part of their general effort to expand reproductive choices for women.9,10 A final challenge came from the sheer breadth and language of the agenda itself. Some have argued that the focus on sexual health and reproductive rights was so broad that it simply failed to gain traction in parliaments  and chambers of government across the developed world (Glasier et al. 2006; Fathalla et al. 2006). While Cairo advocates emphasized the importance of rights, donors were most interested in arguments that demonstrate a clear economic return on investment (Fathalla et al. 2006). The loss of focus also led to a fragmentation of academic and policy research. Many turned their attention to new competing priorities, such as HIV (Glasier et al. 2006; Fathalla et al. 2006, Blanc and Tsui, 2005). A visible sign of just how divisive the Cairo agenda was comes from the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, agreed to by nearly all nations in 2000. The only goals that were related to reproductive health were the reductions in maternal and child mortality. Reproductive choices and reproductive rights were completely sidelined. In fact, the Cairo goal of universal access to reproductive health services was possibly the only goal that had been agreed to through a series of global conferences that did not make the final list of eight Millennium Development Goals (United Nations, 2000). In 2007, these goals were modified to include â€Å"universal access to reproductive health† by 2015. Progress was to be measured by  www.unfpa.org The Program of Action stated that â€Å"in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning,† and elsewhere that â€Å"in [such] circumstances in which abortion is not against the law, such abortion should be [made] safe.† This was intended to be a compromise between those who opposed abortion on all grounds and those governments and NGOs who permitted abortion in varying degrees. 9 This was one of President George W. Bush’s first acts in office in January, 2001. 10 A cap of $15 million was placed for foreign NGOs and multilateral organizations who could not certify that they will not support any abortion-related activities, even if they use their own funds for these activities four indicators: the contraceptive prevalence rate, the adolescent birth rate, antenatal care coverage, and the unmet need for FP (United Nations 2007; UNFPA 2011)  Another sign of the damage from Cairo is seen in the international HIV policies. In the late 1990s, policymakers in the United States and indeed much of the world, were compelled to focus on the challenge of HIV. Rather than building services into FP programs however, donors chose to establish entirely new programs. One of the biggest examples is the establishment of President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) under US President George W. Bush in 2003. This was one of the largest efforts in history to address the challenge of one disease. The only relationship between this program and FP was i ts attempt to encourage abstinence as a form of prevention of HIV.11 Some have argued that the focus on HIV and AIDS simply replaced the Cairo agenda, when they should have in fact simply reinforced and complemented it (Blanc and A. O Tsui 2005). In summary, the global interest in FP programs has swung from extreme interest after World War II to disinterest at the turn of the century. The weakness of such programs is most pronounced in SubSaharan Africa. The rate of contraceptive prevalence remains only 26%, less than half of the world average, despite significant investments in treating sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV (WDI 2010). At the current time however, there appears to be a renewed interest in the role of FP, particularly in approaches that are broad-based, female-focused, voluntary and respectful of basic human rights. In the section ahead, we review the literature on the effectiveness and impact of FP programs with the goal of demonstrating that such programs can have impact on not just fertility but a variety of other aspects of women’s well-being. 3. What do we know about the impact of FP programs? Perspectives from the non-experimental approach FP programs in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were mostly established in the  absence of scientific evidence or agreement about program â€Å"best-practices†. This is mainly because detailed time-series data on economic as well as demographic variables was scarce at both the micro- and macro-level. Over time however, data was gathered and researchers began to test some of the fundamental assumptions underlying FP programs. The first wave of studies used a non-experimental approach, i.e. they evaluated the impact of FP programs involving using cross-sectional or panel data from a country, region, or set of regions to test the hypothesis that FP programs impacted contraceptive use or fertility. As more data became available, and FP programs were rolled out, these studies were updated and expanded. The research continues to evolve today, even though the interest in FP programs has declined among policy-makers. Most of the research in this area faces two key challenges. The first is the challenge of measurement. Given that FP programs are heterogeneous in goals, quality of services, delivery systems and implementation strategies, researchers must construct a measure of program strength and not rely 11 The following conditions were imposed in the United States Leadership against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003: 20% of funds were to be spent on prevention, 15% to be spent on palliative care, and starting in 2006, at least 55% were to be spent on treatment, at least 10% be spent on orphans and vulnerable children, and at least 33% of appropriated prevention funds be spent on abstinence-until-marriage programs. REFERENCES Amin, S. 1995. Socioeconomic change and the demand for children in rural Bangladesh. Population Council, Research Division. Angeles, G., Jason Dietrich, David Guilkey, Dominic Mancini, Thomas Mroz, Amy Tsui, and Feng Yu Zhang. 2001. A Meta-analysis of the Impact of Family Planning Programs on Fertility Preferences, Contraceptive Method Choice and Fertility. Measure Evaluation Project. Carolina Population Center. Attane, I. 2002. China’s family planning policy: An overview of its past and future. Studies in Family Planning 33, no. 1: 103–113. Bauman, K. E. 1997. The effectiveness of family planning programs evaluated with true experimental designs. American journal of public health 87, no. 4: 666. Becker, G. S, and H. G Lewis. 1973. On the Interaction between the Quantity and Quality of Children. The Journal of Political Economy 81, no. 2: 279–288. Bertrand, J. T, M. E McBride, N. Mangani, N. C Baughman, and M. Kinuani. 1993. Community-based distribution of contraceptives in Zaire. International Family Planning Perspectives: 84–91. Binka, F. N, A. Nazzar, and J. F Phillips. 1995. The Navrongo community health and family planning project. Studies in Family Planning 26, no. 3: 121–139. Birdsall, N., and D. T Jamison. 1983. Income and other factors influencing fertility in China. Population and Development Review 9, no. 4: 651–675. Blanc, A. K, and A. O Tsui. 2005. The dilemma of past success: Insiders’ views on the future of the international family planning movement. Studies in Family Planning 36, no. 4: 263–276. Bongaarts, J. 1987. Does family planning reduce infant mortality rates? Population and Development Review 13, no. 2: 323–334. ———. 1994. The impact of population policies: Comment. Population and Development Review 20, no. 3: 616–620. Bongaarts, J., T. Bà ¼ttner, G. Heilig, and F. Pelletier. 2008. Has the HIV epidemic peaked? Population and Development Review 34, no. 2: 199–224. Bongaarts, J., and S. Greenhalgh. 1985. An alternative to the one-child policy in China. Population and Development Review 11, no. 4: 585–617. Bongaarts, J., W. P Mauldin, and J. F Phillips. 1990. The demographic impact of family planning programs. Studies in Family Planning 21, no. 6: 299–310. Boserup, E. 1981. Population and technological change: A study of long-term trends. University of Chicago Press. Caldwell, J. C, and P. Caldwell. 1987. The cultural context of high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Population and development review 13, no. 3: 409–437. ———. 1988. Is the Asian family planning program model suited to Africa? Studies in Family Planning 19, no. 1: 19–28. Caldwell, J. C, Barkat-e Khuda, Bruce Caldwell, Indrani Pieris, and Pat Caldwell. 1999. The Bangladesh fertility decline: an interpretation. Population and Development Review 25, no. 1: 67–84. Chowdhury, M. E, R. Botlero, M. Koblinsky, S. K Saha, G. Dieltiens, and C. Ronsmans. 2007. Determinants of reduction in maternal

Employability

Definition of EmployabilityEmployability has been used as a public presentation index for higher instruction establishments ( Smith et Al, 2000 ) and represents a signifier of work particular ( pro ) active adaptability that consists of three dimensions: calling individuality, personal adaptability and societal and human capital ( Fugate et Al, 2004 ) . At the same clip, Knight and Yorke ( 2004 ) have put frontward the four wide and interlacing constituents of USEM history of employability: * Understanding ( of the capable subject ) * Skilful patterns in context * Efficacy beliefs * Meta-cognition Nabi ( 2003 ) mentioned that employability is about alumnuss possessing an appropriate degree of accomplishments and properties, and being able to utilize them to derive and stay in appropriate employment. From a human resource development position, employability is a construct that emerged through the ninetiess along with a turning perceptual experience among employees that they can non number on their employers for long-run employment. Employability is a promise to employees that they will hold the accomplishments to happen new occupations rapidly if their occupations end out of the blue ( Baruch, 2001 ) . Prior to this, Harvey ( 2001 ) has defined employability in assorted ways from single and institutional positions. Individual employability is defined as alumnuss being able to show the properties to obtain occupations. Normally, institutional employability relates to the employment rates of the university graduates. However, Harvey argued that employment results of alumnuss are non an index of institutional employability. He presented an employability-development theoretical account shown in Figure 1. The theoretical account illustrated a multi-perspectives position of employability with all related stake-holders.Employability and Higher Education: Key issuesDespite the burgeoning research on employability and handiness of a broad scope of theoretical accounts purporting to explicate it, employability itself remains a combative construct unfastened to a & A ; lsquo ; overpluss of micro-interpretations ‘ ( Harvey, 2003 ) . This can do the undertaking of course of study development peculiarly hard. [ p5 ]The turning importance of employabilityHarmonizing to McNair ( 2003 ) , graduate employability has become a more of import issue for establishments. This is: because of the altering nature of the alumnus labor market, mass engagement in HE, pressures on pupil finance, competition to enroll pupils and outlooks of pupils, employers, parents and authoriti es ( expressed in quality audit and conference tabular arraies ) . On a broader degree, it has been noted that higher instruction, through the coevals and airing of cognition, straight impacts economic fight on a national and international degree ( Brown et al, 2003 ; CIHE, 2003 ; UUK, 2007 ; DIUS, 2008 ) . The significance of the UK HE system to the wider economic system has been by and large acknowledged since the Robbins Report was published in 1963. However, this relationship has been made more expressed in recent old ages and it was with the publication of the Dearing Report ( 1997 ) that the connexion found outstanding look. Dearing strongly expressed the demand for a globally competitory economic system incorporating extremely skilled, extremely trained and extremely motivated alumnuss who could execute efficaciously on the universe ‘s phase. This coupled with the farther development of human-capital theory ( Becker, 1975 ) , which asserts that one function of authorities is to supply and foster conditions which will increase the pool of skilled labor, has created a fertile forum for the discourse of & A ; lsquo ; employability ‘ to boom. The altering nature of the graduate-labour market Dearing ( 1997 ) stated that & amp ; lsquo ; acquisition should be progressively antiphonal to employment demands and include the development of general accomplishments, widely valued in employment ‘ ; nevertheless, the labor market is altering dramatically and at a much faster gait than in the yesteryear. Emerging markets and rapid enlargement of the cognition economic system means that the same set of employability accomplishments which were in demand 10 or even five old ages ago may non be required in the germinating graduate-employment market. Employers are progressively seeking flexible recruits who can work efficaciously in the & A ; lsquo ; de-layered, down-sized, information-technology driven and advanced ‘ administrations in being today ( Harvey et al, 1997: 1 ) . Employers are seeking people who can make more than merely react to alter, they need those who can take alteration. McNair ( 2003 ) remarks on the velocity of labour-market development and notes that a higher per centum of the work force is employed in little and average endeavors ( SMEs ) , a tendency besides reflected in graduate-employment statistics. While this may offer chances to derive early duty in less structured and hierarchal work environments, alumnuss need to hold the accomplishments to make honoring graduate functions function in what Purcell and Elias ( 2004 ) refer to as & A ; lsquo ; niche-graduate businesss ‘ . Niche-graduate businesss are those: where the bulk of officeholders are non alumnuss, but within which there are stable or turning specialist niches that require higher instruction accomplishments and cognition ( Purcell and Elias, 2003: 5 ) . Students hence need to be equipped with accomplishments which enable them to & A ; lsquo ; turn ‘ occupations to graduate degree. HE has been criticised by some as being excessively slow to recognize the changing nature of the labor market and is bring forthing alumnuss who are sick equipped to cover with the worlds of graduate employment ( CBI, 2006 ) . Government policy to widen engagement in HE, taking to increase the proportion of 18-30 twelvemonth olds to 50 per cent by 2010, will no uncertainty have a important impact on the supply of alumnuss in the labor market. Harmonizing to Elias and Purcell ( 2004 ) engagement rates in UK HE about doubled in the decennary 1991-2001, from 1.2 million pupils to 2.1 million. Such rapid enlargement has raised concerns that the addition in the figure of extremely qualified persons may non be coupled with an tantamount rise in demand for their accomplishments and makings ( Brown and Hesketh, 2004 ; Brynin, 2002 ; Keep and Mayhew, 1996, 1999 in Elias and Purcell, 2004 ) . While Elias and Purcell ( 2004 ) conclude that the enlargement of HE at the terminal of the 20th century has been chiefly positive, Purcell et Al ( 2005: 16 ) express concern that & amp ; lsquo ; the tantrum between the supply of alumnuss and employers ‘ demand for their cognition and accomplishments clearly falls some ma nner short of ideal ‘ . There are assorted studies about whether demand for alumnuss will be affected by increasing engagement in higher instruction. The supply of alumnuss has been steadily lifting and there were 258,000 alumnuss in 1997 compared with 319,000 in 2007 ( HESA, 2007 ) . Despite lifting Numberss go forthing HE, harmonizing to DIUS ( 2008 ) , demand for alumnuss remains high and the latest study by the Association of Graduate Recruiters ( AGR 2007 ) suggests that the figure of graduate vacancies increased by 15.1 per cent in 2007. Both DIUS and AGR do nevertheless raise concerns about the mismatch between what employers are looking for and the accomplishments graduates possess ( see Chapter 2 for a more elaborate analysis of accomplishments ) . Despite much contention about the impact of increasing pupil Numberss, it is incontestable that alumnuss are confronting a changing, more competitory labor market and they need to be prepared consequently.The altering nature of the higher instruction lan dscapeBeyond force per unit areas confronting alumnuss in the labor market, universities are confronting increasing demands to account for what they do and prospective pupils and parents are going spoting & A ; lsquo ; clients ‘ when shopping for the most suited HEI ( McNair, 2003 ) . Given the importance of employability in the equation, establishments can non overlook the significance of developing this facet of proviso. Allison et Al ( 2002 ) allude to the force per unit areas confronting HEIs as evidenced by the publication of increasing Numberss of public presentation indexs and counsel paperss such as the QAA Code of Practice for Careers Education, Information and Guidance ( 2001 ) and the Harris Review of Careers Services ( 2001 ) . Yorke and Knight ( 2002: 4 ) have expressed some concern about the manner in which statistics on employment rates used in league tabular arraies can deflect HEIs from the of import undertaking of heightening employability. They province that: one time employment rates become an institutional public presentation index ( HEFCE, 2001 ) , there is a baneful slipstream as establishments seek to & A ; lsquo ; better their tonss ‘ since they know that these tonss will stop up in the alleged & A ; lsquo ; league tabular arraies ‘ published in the imperativeness.Consequently:there is a danger that maximizing the mark will command more institutional attending than carry throughing the educational purpose of heightening employability. Higher Education in the UK has gone through considerable alteration during the last two decennaries. The move from an elitist system to one of mass engagement has been extremely important. Shelley ( 2005 ) indicates that the figure of 18-30 twelvemonth olds in HE rose from 12 per cent in the 1980s to 43 per cent by 2002. This he points out has non been matched with commensurate degrees of support and between 1977 and 1997 authorities outgo per pupil fell by 40 per cent. In recent old ages nevertheless support degrees have improved with HEFCE denoting a figure of & A ; lb ; 6,706 million in recurrent support for 2006-07 to universities and colleges in England ( HEFCE, 2006 ) . Increased support degrees have led to systems of answerability being put in topographic point. These in bend have led to the development of managerial patterns intended to advance new efficiency and customer-focused, customer-led policy models which should guarantee success in a new competitory market. In the eyes of observers such as Bekhradnia ( 2005 ) the last decennary has seen a mixture of successes and failures of managerial enterprises. For some observers ( e.g. Brown and Lauder, 1999 ; Green, 1993 ) these policy directives coupled with the accent placed on the part of HE to the planetary economic system has led to the & A ; lsquo ; marketisation ‘ and the & A ; lsquo ; commodification ‘ of HE and its instruction. Brown and Lauder ( 1999 ) contend that there has been a motion towards a & A ; lsquo ; neo-Fordist ‘ attack to HE in which instruction and acquisition is now emulating the Fordist fabrication procedures of the early 20th century. This construct was characterised by the production assembly line & A ; lsquo ; just-in-time ‘ unitization production methods of fabrication industries. For HE this manifests itself in several ways which Brown and Lauder describe as: scholar administrations with accent on & A ; lsquo ; numerical ‘ flexibleness ( i.e. outcome-related instruction and cost-driven dockets ) , aggregate production of standardized merchandises ( i.e. modularisation/unitisati on of course of study ) , and accent on quality systems to guarantee standardization which consequence in a bland mechanistic experience of larning. [ p9 ] Given the evident consensus among the cardinal stakeholders about which accomplishments are of import and on the demand to turn to employability in HE, it seems unusual that there is so small commonalty in attacks taken by universities to heighten employability. There remains considerable argument on how best sweetening of employability can be achieved, and so the extent to which HE can act upon this facet of pupil development. In an extended reappraisal of HE proviso, Little ( 2004: 4 ) concludes that while there is: international concern that higher instruction should heighten alumnus employability, there is small grounds of systematic believing about how best to make it, allow entirely any theoretical account that can be badged as & A ; lsquo ; best pattern ‘ and adopted wholesale. Developing a common apprehension of how to heighten employability is a extremely complex issue, although Knight ( 2001 ) believes authorities and others persist in handling it in much the same manner as & A ; lsquo ; invention ‘ , as & A ; lsquo ; something simple, to be planned, delivered and evaluated ‘ ( Knight, 2001 cited in Lees, 2002: 1 ) . Trying to organize a co-ordinated and holistic attack to skill development, authorities has introduced many programmes and enterprises to advance accomplishment development and these seem to hold had some impact. The DfEE Higher Education Projects Fund 1998-2000, for illustration, included undertakings to develop cardinal and movable accomplishments and Harvey, Locke and Morey ( 2002 ) have reviewed the tendencies in establishments ‘ attacks to implanting employability. They note that there has been a displacement in HE from developing the specific employability accomplishments within specializer faculties to a more holistic attack where establishments are implanting employability and accomplishments throughout the course of study. They present illustrations of employability enterprises from different HEIs which were extremely varied and based on differing doctrines. Possibly it is inevitable that establishments and even single sections and faculty members will change widely in their attacks to developing employability as they will be runing in the context of their ain frame of mention about instruction, and will be covering with pupils who will change enormously in their ability and aspirations. However, it is clear from the research on employability accomplishments that the properties which employers value and pedagogues recognise as of import are really similar, and there is hope that such consensus in thought can lend to a more consistent attack to curriculum development.

Creative individual Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Creative individual - Essay Example Throughout his career, Mozart is said to have composed over 600 pieces with many of them being symphonies, chambers and types of choral music. Mozart’s creativity brought him to light at a very young age, where at merely five years of age he was given the opportunity to perform before the European Royalty. Since a young age Mozart had a passion to grow up as a great musician and this is what led him to leave the position of a court musician in Salzburg. Most of his famous works are believed to be composed in Vienna, a little before his death (ABERT, H., SPENCER, S., & EISEN, 2007). Before shedding light on Mozart’s creativity in light of various definitions, creativity theories and academic literature it is highly essential that I put forward my view of the creative personality. Mozart’s creativity if brought to light from the fact that he was, and is most likely the only composer in history to have produced masterpieces in not one, but practically all genres of music. His work was widely spread across various genres and this alone sheds light on how creatively different he was able to think as a musician. It is said about him that Mozart did his first concerto at the young age of just four, while he went on with his first symphony at the age of seven. But Mozart did not stop there, and went to perform at this first Opera at the young age of just 12 years. Throughout the musical world, many have regarded Mozart as a child genius. Moreover, the various manuscripts written by Mozart have led people to believe that his works were often composed in j ust one go, as compared to completing the piece in various sittings (CAMPBELL, 2000). Before proceeding to discuss how, if Mozart was creative at all, it is essential we first understand the definition of creativity. The famous dictionary Merriam Webster defines creativity as the quality of being creative or the ability to create new and different things. Looking at Mozart in the light of this very

Midea Electronics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Midea Electronics - Essay Example Midea attained RMB8 billion revenue for fiscal year 1999 and has set a sales objective of RMB38.6 billion by year 2005. Although Midea has a leading position in air conditioner exports from China and shown a continuous growth in domestic and international market yet with globalization and rapidly changing business scenario, Midea is facing a number of challenges both in domestic and international market. As for major appliances manufacturers are concerned, Asia, and in particular China seems to be with the most potential growth market and hence they are aggressively investing in Chinese domestic market. Almost all major appliances manufacturers are present in the Chinese market either by setting their manufacturing facilities or by establishing the off shore base centers. Compared to these major players, Midea lacks its presence in international market with its brand name and it has to solely rely on its importers brand name. It does not have a well defined global marketing strategy and a more geographical diversified presence with better marketing skills and dedicated international sales and distribution networks. Also major international players like LG (with 74% revenue from international market), Samsung Electronic (66%), Mitsubishi (51% by 2001), Fedders (50%), Carrier (48%) and Sharp and Whirlpool (each with 46%) have immense financial resources with latest technology and state-of-the-art innovation research centers while Midea only generates 10% of its revenue from international market and has limited financial resources, with traditional technology. ... Also major international players like LG (with 74% revenue from international market), Samsung Electronic (66%), Mitsubishi (51% by 2001), Fedders (50%), Carrier (48%) and Sharp and Whirlpool (each with 46%) have immense financial resources with latest technology and state-of-the-art innovation research centers while Midea only generates 10% of its revenue from international market and has limited financial resources, with traditional technology. Moreover the scenario will become more intensive and competitive with the China's imminent entry into World Trade organization (WTO). These are really major concerns to Midea's management team. As in changing global business scenario, any competition can not be viewed as solely domestic and every organization have to defend its position and have to play a double edge knife role to compete both at domestic and global level. For long term business viewpoint Midea too has to play the same role. Being a major domestic player it has to defend its position in Chinese market and also has to show its presence in the international arena. To achieve this Midea has to review its international business strategy and to go for both branding and private label options. In coming sections we will analyze the Midea's strengths and weaknesses relative to domestic and international competitors. Also an assessment of relative attractiveness of domestic and international markets for air conditioners is presented. Finally an international business strategy is recommended to enter and capture market share. Media Group: An Overview Midea was established in April 1968, in Shunde, Guangdong, the southern Chinese province bordering Hong

Immigration and Asylum Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Immigration and Asylum Law - Case Study Example Nationality may also be acquired later in life through naturalization. Under UK law the legal sense of nationality attributed to the meaning of citizenship.The residents of a country generally possess the right of abode in the territory of the country whose legal documents they hold. This, however, is dependent upon the constitution of the named land, and there are exceptions, particularly among more economically stable nations. Asylum law is considered to be the part of international humanitarian law rather than immigration law. The two basic principles of refugee law are, firstly a refugee should not be returned to persecution and secondly that the state must provide an asylum applicant with a procedure to make their claim. Domestic legislation has an important role in asylum law; both in terms of making the international conventions part of our domestic law, and in terms of setting out national procedures and enforcement mechanisms. The asylum law can now be found in international conventions and agreements, such as the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Now shall go through the facts, scopes, major issues, and the relevancy of the conjoined cases of Huang v. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Kashmiri v. ... Now shall go through the facts, scopes, major issues, and the relevancy of the conjoined cases of Huang v. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Kashmiri v. Secretary of State for the Home Department with the application of nationality, immigration and asylum Law. 2 Huang v. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Kashmiri v. Secretary of State for the Home DepartmentThis together heard appeals raised a common question on the decision-making role or function of appellate immigration authorities while deciding appeals, on Convention grounds, against refusal of leave to enter or remain, under section 65 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and Part III of Schedule 4 to that Act. Facts Mrs Huang is a Chinese citizen born on 29 March 1942. Her husband,from whom she is separated, daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons are British citizens living in this country. Mr Kashmiri is an Iranian citizen born on 4 July 1981. His parents and two siblings came to this country in 2000 and were in due course granted indefinite leave to remain as refugees, but Mr Kashmiri's claim to asylum has been refused.Mrs Huang appears before the House as a respondent in an appeal by the Secretary of State and Mr Kashmiri as an appellant in an appeal against the Secretary of State. Neither of the applicants qualifies for the grant of leave to remain in this country under the Immigration Rules and administrative directions currently promulgated. Both claim that the refusal of leave to remain is unlawful because incompatible with their Convention right to respect for

Retail Employee Management-Assignment 5_05 Assignment

Retail Employee Management- 5_05 - Assignment Example Compensation package is always the main attraction for the company. Any employee will remain attached to the company, which is offering a competitive and hansom salary package. In addition to basic salary packages, some extra or additional facilities also motivate employees to be loyal to the company. Employees themselves want to get opportunities of growth and development. Therefore, employees will stay at any company where they can avail many opportunities for personality or we can say skill development. Every time a strict boss behavior is not a good tool for management. Sometimes employees feel privileged when they get any opportunity to be a part of decision making authority. Therefore we can say that employees may be motivated to remain attach to the company where there is participative decision making. A good team is always the true support for any individual for gaining more success towards the goal. A company where there is a very friendly environment and usually people work in teams and groups then this may also be one of the reasons for employee attachment to the

What differences and what similarities can you describe between Essay

What differences and what similarities can you describe between aviation safety and aviation security - Essay Example Aviation security specifically deals with ensuring that the passengers have a safe flight. It involves intelligent procedures for pre-boarding and after-boarding processes. Airport security personnel are authorized and instructed to individually check every passenger and his luggage to make sure there is no risk of terrorism that is prevailing in the air these days, especially after the unfortunate event of 9/11. If at all aviation security has to deal with the airplane itself, it involves security issues like checking that the cockpit doors are made strong enough to withstand firing, bullets and explosives. Although people use the terms, safety and security, in more or less the same meaning, but when we talk about aviation or air travel, the two terms mean entirely differently. The only similarity is that both concepts deal with ensuring that the flight is entirely out of

Business Communication 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Communication 2 - Assignment Example The facilitation of nonverbal communication is featured by the use of gestures, body language, facial expression of eye contact etc. Besides these features, the prospect of one person’s speech being different from another by way of voice, style and stress also constitutes to the functioning of nonverbal communication. Similarly, even in written format of communication, there are certain features like handwriting, organization of sentences and the word selection can altogether constitute an insignia of a person’s nonverbal communication elements. The following paragraphs give a clear-cut ideal of the scope, function and practical application of nonverbal communication in different spheres of life. It is also essential to recognize the prominence of the seven aspects of this model of contact between people such as paralanguage, body language, environment, distance, touch, time and eye contact has to be clearly evaluated for their use and management in the practical applic ation of nonverbal communication. Managing nonverbal communication Managing communication in the absence of words is arguably one of the most challenging tasks for the managers of organized groups. It is equally important to manage the feelings and their reflections in the daily life of individuals. There can be many examples of the regular life of individuals in which they have to adopt the process of nonverbal communication aspects. Sometimes a look or a gesture does the role of a great command. In other contexts, body language or time set for a regular action can influence the stakeholders of the process of exchange of information. There can be certain references to prove that the use of words and their pronunciation doubtlessly making the communication easier and more cognitive; however, the transfer of feelings and intellectual significance of a conversation or relationship between individuals is influenced more by non-verbal communication channels than the routine voice based elements. For instance, as Soon (2012) points out, a meeting of two people is specifically garnished by their shaking each other’s hands or by a hugging; in either case, the process of the meeting commences with the routine greeting of the time covering that meeting. From a certain angle of view, it is visibly annoying to find that the absence of such a physical endorsement of feelings makes the communication less effective. In order to manage the communication using the nonverbal media, the communicator has to effectively analyze and make use of his body language, touch and vocal qualities with the careful concern for time, space and situations. Moreover, it may also be regulated and empowered by the use of symbols and graphic pictures developed by the modern technology such as printed documents, visual projects and placards etc (Pecha Kucha 6 minutes 40 seconds). The functional success of a nonverbal medium is directly connected to time and environment at which it is used. If a person winks an eye at a stranger as a gesture of information transfer, it becomes provoking sometimes to the opposite person. For another instance, the combined atmosphere and distance effect in a nonverbal communication event matters to a great extent in the completion of a meaningful transfer of information. In military operations and surgical or scientific experimental environments, the need for gestures as a device is necessary; and the right cognitive effect of this is analysed by the timing of such

Meter Dose Inhaler verses Nebulizer Treatment Research Paper

Meter Dose Inhaler verses Nebulizer Treatment - Research Paper Example Patients frequently ask health care providers as to which is a better mode of administration in terms of efficacy, convenience and safety. This triggered me to find evidence to ascertain as to which of the two is a better mode of administration in acute wheezing. Thus, it was both problem focused and knowledge focused trigger that generated the clinical question. Names/Types of research sources used The research source used was PubMed. Summation of the research findings as related to the clinical question Rodrigo and Rodrigo (1998) performed a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study to compare the efficacy of salbutamol (or albuterol) delivered by either metered-dose inhaler plus spacer (MDI-spacer) or by nebulization, and to determine the relationships between physiologic responses and plasma salbutamol concentrations. The study revealed that bronchodilatation remained same with metered dose inhalation and nebulization, but side effects were more with nebulization because of higher levels of plasma salbutamol due to increased absorption. Deerajanawong et al (2005) conducted a prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with an aim to compare the efficacy of salbutamol aerosol therapy given metered dose inhaler and nebulization in young children with acute wheezing. ... From the study, it was evident that metered dose inhalers are as efficacious as nebulization to administer albuterol in young children with wheezing. Infact, the study revealed that metered dose inhalers were more convenient in this regard. Integration of research findings Administration of albuterol can be done either through metered dose inhalers or nebulization in acute wheezing conditions in children. Both methods of administration are equally efficacious. However, nebulization is more time consuming and has risk of side effects. Potential practice changes based on research evidence Metered dose inhaler would be recommended as the preferred of administration of albuterol in children with acute wheezing since it is easier to administer, takes less time in the process, can be given anywhere and has less side effects References Deerojanawong, J., Manuyakorn, W., Prapphal, N., Harnruthakorn, C., Sritippayawan, S., Samransamruajkit, R. (2005). Randomized controlled trial of salbutamol aerosol therapy via metered dose inhaler-spacer vs. jet nebulizer in young children with wheezing. Pediatr Pulmonol., 39(5), 466-72. Delgado, A., Chou, K.J., Silver, E.J., Crain, E.F. (2003). Nebulizers vs metered-dose inhalers with spacers for bronchodilator therapy to treat wheezing in children aged 2 to 24 months in a pediatric emergency department. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med., 157(1), 76-80. Rodrigo, C., and Rodrigo, G. (1998). Salbutamol treatment of acute severe asthma in the ED: MDI versus hand-held nebulizer. Am J Emerg Med., 16(7),

Organizational Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organizational Culture - Essay Example And that it is the informal "backstage" or company policies, and culture embodied by these policies that determine the values and assumptions of all employees, and their subsequent performance. In the following paper I am taking a reflective approach to concepts discussed in class, and using them as a filter to interpret organizational practices of the organization that I work for, that is NESMA. Organizational leadership. culture and human resource management at NESMA shall be presented and interpreted through he theories presented in contemporary management literature. Throughout this reflective process, I remind myself and the reader of Lewin's (1951) comment that to understand any organization we do by virtue change it, and so any diagnosis that I make will also be an intervention on my part. What a responsibility! [background of me : ) you!! How old, gender, how long been with company, duties within the organization, why taking this management course, what hope to get from it, how is the course relevant to being a manager]. I am inspired in the knowledge that leaders can be developed. Policies implemented within my organization (generic skills training, progression of responsibilities) provide me with opportunities to develop more as a person, and as a contributing member of NESMA. It would be great if my company adopted a more formal mentoring program, as advocated by Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) in their text Organizational Behaviour (5th ed.). I have an informal mentor, however, I would like to see more support from management towards a mentoring program for all levels of our organization. Bennis and Thomas (2002), in their book, Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values and Defining Moments Shape Leaders, identify factors that are shared across leaders of all cultures. It made a lot of sense to me to view leadership through a filter such as era. Post World War II "geezer" organizations were very military styled, leaders having a commanding or controlling style. Modern organizations are a lot more team-fo cused, with leaders acting as facilitators and encouragers. I can relate to the "geeks" of today, who want a life, not just a career. We accept that diversity is necessary for an organization to grow, and for ourselves to grow as a people. Diversity of thought should be encouraged so as to cultivate personal characteristics that contribute to the organization, and to the employees that make up that organization (Wickenberg & Kylen, 2004). Collaborative problem solving is a much more feasible style of leadership, that enables leaders at all levels of an organization. Service and production can only be enhanced when all employees realize that the sum of their organization can be so much more than the sum of its parts. Bennis and Thomas (2002) also note that geeks want to believe they can contribute, and that they can make a difference in the world. However, this is interesting I think, as the authors point out that contemporary employees have less company loyalty and are becoming entrepreneurs in their wok life. I am one of those employees who are curious, adventurous and experimental in my approach to my working goals, and the goals of my organization. I am willing to try different methods and techniques to lead myself, and to learn to lead others. I understand that change is a necessary part of life, including

Unethical advertising Essay Example for Free

Unethical advertising Essay Generally speaking, advertising is the promotion of goods, services and ideas, usually by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components of the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. Advertisement Advertising is a form of communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain and use them. Many advertisements are also designed to generate increased consumption of those products and services through the creation and reinforcement of brand image and brand loyalty. For these purposes advertisements often contain both factual information and persuasive messages. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, video games, the Internet, and billboards. Advertising is often placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company. Definition of Advertisement Description or presentation of a product, idea, or organization, in order to induce individuals to buy, support, or approve of it. Sponsored informational public notice appearing in any of the print communications media that is designed to appeal to a mass audience in order to persuade, inform, promote, motivate, or otherwise modify behavior toward a favorable pattern of purchasing, supporting, or approving a particular product, service, idea, or organization. When the advertisers message appears in the broadcast media , it is called a commercial . The first advertisement on record in an American newspaper appeared in the Boston News Letter on May 8, 1704. It described an estate for sale in Oyster Bay, Long Island. HISTORY A print advertisement from a 1913 issue of National Geographic However, commercial In ancient times the most common form of advertising was word of mouth. messages and election campaign displays were found in the ruins of Pompeii. Egyptians used papyrus to create sales messages and wall posters. Lost-and-found advertising on papyrus was common in Greece and Rome. As printing developed in the 15th and 16th century, advertising expanded to include handbills. In the 17th century advertisements started to appear in weekly newspapers in England. These early print ads were used mainly to promote books (which were increasingly affordable) and medicines (which were increasingly sought after as disease ravaged Europe). Quack ads became a problem, which ushered in regulation of advertising content. As the economy was expanding during the 19th century,  the need for advertising grew at the same pace. In America, the classified ads became popular, filling pages of newspapers with small print m essages promoting all kinds of goods. The success of this advertising format led to the growth of mail-order advertising. In 1843 the first advertising agency was established by Volney Palmer in Philadelphia. At first the agencies were just brokers for ad space in newspapers, but the 20th century, advertising agencies started to take over responsibility for the content as well. The 1960s saw advertising transform into a modern, more scientific approach in which creativity was allowed to shine, producing unexpected messages that made advertisements interesting to read. The Volkswagen ad campaign featuring such headlines as Think Small and Lemon ushered in the era of modern advertising by promoting a position or unique selling proposition designed to associate each brand with a specific idea in the reader or viewers mind. Today, advertising is evolving even further, with ,Guerrilla promotions that involve unusual approaches such as staged encounters in public places, giveaways of products such as cars that are covered with brand messages, and interactive advertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the advertising message. MEDIA One effective advertising method is to pay people to hold signs in public places. Transit advertising is combined with experiential marketing using pedapods in Australia. Commercial advertising media can include billboards (outdoor advertising), street furniture components, printed flyers, radio, cinema and television ads, web banners, web popups, skywriting, bus stop benches, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses, taxicab doors and roof mounts, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands on disposable diapers, stickers on apples in supermarkets, the opening section of streaming audio and video, and the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts. Any place an identified sponsor pays to deliver their message through a medium is advertising. Covert advertising embedded in other entertainment media is known as product placement. A more recent version of this is advertising in film, by having a main character, use an item or other of a definite brand an example is in the movie minority Report, where Tom Cruises character Tom Anderton owns a computer with the Nokia logo clearly written in the top comer, or his watch engraved with the Bulgari logo. The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective  mass-market advertising format and this is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events. The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as much for its commercial advertisements as for the game itself, and the average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached 2.5 million Increasingly, other mediums such as those discussed below are overtaking television due to a shift towards consumers usage of the Internet as well as devices such as TiVo. Advertising on the World Wide Web is a recent phenomenon. Prices of Web based advertising space are dependent on the relevance of the surrounding web content and the traffic that the website receives. E-mail advertising is another recent phenomenon. Unsolicited bulk E-mail advertising is known as spam. Some companies have proposed to place messages or corporate logos on the side of booster rockets and the International Space Station. Controversy exists on the effectiveness of Subliminal advertising (see mind control), and the pervasiveness of mass messages (see propaganda). Unpaid advertising (also called word of mouth advertising), can provide good exposure at minimal cost. Personal recommendations (bring a friend, sell it by zealot), spreading buzz, or achieving the feat of equating a brand with a common noun (Xerox photocopier, Kleenex tissue, Vaseline petroleum jelly, Kotex tampons, Maxi pads sanitary napkins, Scotch Tape Clear Tape, Band-aid bandage, Visine eye drops, Q-tips cot ton swabs, Rollerblades inline skates) -.- these must provide the stuff of fantasy to the holder of an advertising budget. The most common method for measuring the impact of mass media advertising is the use of the rating point (rp) or the more accurate target rating point (trp). These measures refer to the percentage of the Universe of the existing base of audience members that can be reached by the use of each media outlet in a particular moment in time. The difference between the two is that the rating point refers to the percentage to the entire universe while the target rating point refers to percentage to a particular segment or target. This becomes very useful when focusing advertising efforts on a particular group of people. For example, think of an advertising campaign targeting a female audience aged 25 to 45. While the overall rating of a TV show might be well over 10 rating points it might very well happens that the same show in the same moment of time is  generating only 2.5 trps ( being the target women 25-45). This would mean that while the show has a large universe of viewers it is not necessarily reaching a large universe of women in the ages of 25 to 45 making it a less desirable location to place an ad for an advertiser looking for this p articular demographic. IMPACT Billboard, New York City The impact of advertising has been a matter of considerable debate and many different claims have been made in different contexts. During debates about the banning of cigarette advertising, a common claim from cigarette manufacturers 3.5 that cigarette advertising does not encourage people to smoke who would not otherwise. The (eventually successful) opponents of advertising, on the other hand, claim that advertising does in fact increase consumption. According to many media sources, the past experience and state of mind of the person subjected to advertising may determine the impact that advertising has. Children under the age of four may be unable to distinguish advertising from other television programs, whilst the ability to determine the truthfulness of the message may not be developed until the age of eight . PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISING The same advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about non-commercial issues, such as AIDS, political ideology, energy conservation, religious recruitment, and deforestation. Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences. Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest , it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes. Attributed to Howard Gossage By David Ogilvy Public service advertising, non-commercial advertising, public interest advertising, Cause marketing, and social marketing are different terms for (or aspects of) the use of sophisticated advertising and marketing communications techniques ( generally associated with commercial enterprise) on behalf of non-commercial, public interest issues and initiatives. In the United States, the granting of television and radio licenses by the FCC is contingent upon the station broadcasting a certain amount of public service advertising. Public service advertising reached its height during World Wars I and II under the direction of several U.S. government agencies. SOCIAL IMPACT There have been increasing efforts to  protect the public interest by regulating the content and the reach of advertising. Some examples are the ban on television tobacco advertising imposed in many countries, and the total ban on advertising to children under twelve imposed by the Swedish government in 1991. Though that regulation continues in effect for broadcasts originating within the country, it has been weakened by the European Court of Justice, which has found that Sweden was obliged to accept whatever programming was targeted at it from neighboring countries or via satellite. In Europe and elsewhere there is a vigorous debate on whether and how much advertising to children should be regulated. This debate was exacerbated by a report released by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation in February 2004 which suggested that food advertising targeting children was an important factor in the epidemic of childhood obesity raging across the United States. In many countries namely N ew Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and many European countries the advertising industry operates a system of self-regulation. Advertisers, advertising agencies and the media agree on a code of advertising standards that they attempt to uphold. The general aim of such codes is to ensure that any advertising is legal, decent, honest and truthful. Some self-regulatory organizations are funded by the industry, but remain independent, with the intent of upholding the standards or codes (like the ASA in the UK). Critiques of the medium Advertising wrapped around a train. Minnesota, US As advertising and marketing efforts become increasingly ubiquitous in modern Western societies, the industry has come under criticism of groups such as Ad Busters via culture jamming which criticizes the media and consumerism using advertisings own techniques. The industry is accused of being one of the engines powering a convoluted economic mass production system which promotes consumption. Some advertising campaigns have also been criticized as inadvertently or even intentionally promoting sexism, racism, and ageism. Such criticisms have raised questions about whether this medium is creating or reflecting cultural trends. At very least, advertising often reinforces stereotypes by drawing on recognizable types in order to tell stories in a single image or 30 second time frame. Recognizing the social impact of advertising, Media Watch, a non-profit womens organization, works to educate consumers about how they can register their concerns with advertisers and regulators. It has developed educational  materials for use in schools. The award-winning book, Made You Look How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know , by former Media Watch president Shari Graydon, provides context far these issues for young readers. Public interest groups and free thinkers are increasingly suggesting that access to the mental space targeted by advertisers should be taxed, in that at the present moment that space is being freely taken advantage of by advertisers with no compensation paid to the members of the public who are thus being intruded upon. This kind of tax would be a Pigovian tax in that it would act to reduce what is now increasingly seen as a public nuisance. Efforts to that end are gathering momentum, with Arkansas and Maine considering bills to implement such taxation. Florida enacted such a tax in 1987 but was forced to repeal it after six months, as a result of a concerted effort by national commercial interests, which withdrew planned conventions, causing major losses to the tourism industry, and cancelled advert ising, causing a loss of 12 million dollars to the broadcast industry alone. PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF THE MEDIUM Billboard in Lund, Sweden, saying One Night Stand Over the years, the public perception of advertising has become very negative. It is seen as a medium that inherently promotes a lie, based on the purpose of the advertisement to encourage the target audience to submit to a cause or a belief, and act on it to the advertising partys benefit and consequently the targets disadvantage. They are either perceived as directly lying (stating opinions or untruths directly as facts), lying by omission (usually of terms unfavorable to the customer), portraying a product or service in a light that does not reflect reality or even making up realities where their product has a new role. EFFECTS ON COMMUNICATION MEDIA Another effect of advertising is to modify the nature of the communication media where it is shown. The clearest example is television. Channels that get most of their revenues from publicity try to make their medium a good place for communicating ads. That means trying to make the public stay for long times and in mental state that will make spectators not to switch the channel through the ads. Programs that are low in mental stimulus and require light concentration and are varied are best for long sitting times and make for much easier emotional jumps to ads, that can become more entertaining than regular shows. A simple way to understand the objectives in television programming is to compare contents from channels  paid and chosen by the viewer with channels that get their income mainly from advertisements. FUTURE With the dawn of the Internet have come many new advertising opportunities. Popup, Flash, banner, and email advertisements (the last often being a form of spam) abound. Recently, the advertising community has attempted to make the adverts themselves desirable to the public. In one example, Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as a result contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used. Similarly, product placement for Rolex watches and BMW cars featured in recent James Bond films. Each year, greater sums are paid to obtain a commercial spot during the Super Bowl. Companies attempt to make these commercials sufficiently entertaining that members of the public will actually want to watch them. Particularly since the rise of entertaining advertising, some people may like an advert enough that they wish to watch it later or show a friend. In general, the advertising community has not yet made this easy, although some have used the Internet to widely distribute their adverts to anyone wishing to see or hear them.

Look at the role of the manager in motivating staff in the care setting that I work for, which is a residential childrens home Essay Example for Free

Look at the role of the manager in motivating staff in the care setting that I work for, which is a residential childrens home Essay This essay will look at the role of the manager in motivating staff in the care setting that I work for, which is a residential childrens home. It will look at different methods of motivation that the manager can use and also the way the manager uses it. The way that they use it will depend on the type of manager they are as they could be either a theory x or y type, as defined by D Mcgregor 1960. For the purpose of this essay we will look at the line managers as they have most contact with staff. In order to run an effective home the manager needs to not only ensure that they have a sound structure in place to deal with the day to day running of the home but to also ensure that the staff are motivated to do the job. In respect of the day to day running of the home there will be set procedures in place, that will have to be adhered to by all of the residential homes within RCT in regards to budgets, the manner in which children are admitted, contact with other agencies and so on. Within the home there will be an officer in charge and then seniors. The seniors are your line managers and have the most contact with staff it is their responsibility to ensure that staff are happy in their work and to ensure that there are no problems. The officer in charge will be responsible overall for staff along with the rest of the procedures mentioned earlier. The way that the manager motivates their staff will vary depending on the type of manager in a particular home. If you have a line manager who is a theory x manager this can have an effect on staff as they may not feel able to talk to the manager about things and discussing things is vital in this particular job, as being able to talk about things that affect the children and yourself within the environment you work contributes enormously to the happiness of the children. And the ultimate aim in the home is to provide a stable home for the children. A theory X manager will believe that as individuals you need to be told what to do. This does not then allow for confidence within yourself in regards to your development within the job to develop, as you will worry about what they will think about your work .It would also result in you needing to check everything through with them before you make a decision. This can have long reaching affects as the manager is not always available and as staff you have to make daily decisions in regards to the children and their welfare. On the other hand a theory Y manager will believe that as individuals and as staff that you are capable of making decision for yourself this can lead to them passing on more responsibility to the staff for various tasks within the home. This is something that is dome successfully in beddau with staff having taken responsibility for a number of different things such as doing the weekly menu, ensuring that the training file is up to date, ensuring that the accident, missper and sanction books are updated regularly these along with a number of other tasks done by the staff singularly might not look much but as a whole they contribute greatly to the homes effectiveness. This also show staff that their capabilities are noted it also allows for staff development as you are gaining experience in a number of different aspects of the work done at the home which in itself is good for motivation. This is supported by Fredrick Hertzberg who says if you want someone to do a good job, then give then a good job to do it does not matter the size of the job but that the staff feel appreciated and valued and that you have belief in their abilities. Although financial and physical resources play a big part in the running of a home the greatest contribution is made by the human resources, i.e. staff this includes all members from the domestic to the officer in charge. If the staff are de-motivated for whatever reason then this has an effect on the smooth running of the home. The human relations school of management 1960/70s support this as they say that workers take along with then a number of different things, ideas, knowledge, intelligence, experience, skills humour, expectations and beliefs. In order for these to be utilized effectively then the manager has to be aware of staffs strengths as well as their weaknesses. This can be achieved through supervision. If supervision is used correctly it can be a good motivator for staff. If done incorrectly it can result in further de-motivation. The way in which it is done will again depend on the type of manager. Supervision in itself is not a motivator but a hygiene factor get it right and it will stop your staff becoming ill. I.e. de- motivated. Get it wrong then you have problems as staff will become de-motivated which will result in then doing things wrong or not at all and this will have a detrimental effect on the home. Other hygiene factors that can have an effect on staff are the working conditions salary, interpersonal relations and company policies .As with the above they will not motivate the staff but help to improve the conditions that they work in. this will then lead to their lower needs being met, as defined by A marslow, in his pyramid of needs. He says that in order for a person to reach self-fulfillment they have to meet the different needs in their life as set out in the pyramid. Within the work situation the needs will be met through a number of different way as illustrated appendix1. Steers and porter 1991 suggest that the various organizational factors illustrated can be used to satisfy the different needs. Obviously outside of the jobs the needs will be met in a different way, to a certain degree. The aim of the supervision is to get the work done well, support staff and to encourage staff development .The three strands of supervision are inter wound if you are able to help staff develop by offering then support then this will lead to better work. If one strand of the supervision is weak then the rope is weak. Which could then lead to de- motivation instead of motivation as already mentioned. A good line manager during supervision will not only point out where you are going wrong but will look at what you have achieved in relation to your job no matter how small it might be, it could be something as simple as having picked up a mistake in one of the books which if not rectified could have had an effect on the children or it might be that you have handled a situation with one of the children that resulted in then not harming themselves. A theory X manager would not tell you that you had done well in that instance, as they would say it was your job to deal with such an incident. And even though that is the case, if you just thought like that when dealing with the incident the you would not be giving your all to the job. So for a line manager not only to recognize what you have done but also to make you aware that they recognize it is a huge motivator. The second strand which is support can be met in a number of ways during supervision and on a daily basis. Support can be something that needs to be given when an incident has occurred at the home as above or when something personal is affecting your work .The member of staff receiving support must be able to trust in their supervisor as this will make it easier for them to talk about what is affecting them will then lighten the burden. This trust and also friendship to a certain degree will again depend on the type of manager you have. A good supervisor will also recognize when they are not able to support you and be able to refer you to someone who can, be that another member of staff or possibly a counselling service. The third strand of supervision is staff development. This involves looking at not only the training needed by the member of staff but also at what training they have already achieved and how best to use that to the advantage of the home. In respect of training that is needed it is important to ensure that the member of staff understands why they need that training so that they do not feel inadequate. As if they are not told appropriately why they need it they may feel that the manager thinks of them as being inadequate in a certain area rather that looking at it as a way of developing and progressing within the job. The one that comes to mind for this is NVQ training many staff look on it as something that they have to do or they will lose their job, rather than something that will not only benefit then in the job they do now, but could also lead to job progression for them. If the manager is able to recognize a member of staffs strengths due to training they have received in the past they need to capitalize on this by ensuring that the member of staff is able to use that training in the work place. It could be that they have training and an interest in a particular area which would not possibly have been an area that staff have been able to work in with the children before, such as outdoor pursuits. As before recognizing what someone is good at in its self is a motivator as is recognizing potential within that member of staff. If the manager is not able to recognize these strengths and weaknesses to a certain degree then they are not able to provide the member of staff with appropriate training to help them develop within the job. The member of staff will then start to question their abilities which in turn will have an effect on their work and motivation. In conclusion it has to be said that in order for the home to run effectively and smoothly to give the children a stable home as well as ensuring that their needs are met the staff and their needs are as important. The staff being happy at work comes down to how motivated they are if you have a staff that are well supported by the management and that they get training appropriate for them along with recognition than you will generally have a reasonably effective work force. The managers role in all of this is vital as they need to be looking at and addressing the issues around the above. How they will look at the above and deal with them will vary depending on the type of manager you have. John Harvey Jones said 1988. Management is an art not a science. Each of us approaches the problem from a different background, and each of us is dealing with a situation, and a different culture, and from a different starting point For me this statement sums it up in that different people will deal with things in different ways because of different factors. Ultimately a manager or team leader who is able to listen to and appreciate their staff will have a much more motivated team than one who does not listen to consult with or appreciate their team. As a member of such a team I believe that as a staff that we respond to situations and changes that we face better due to the way in which our team leaders deal with things like supervision, which is in the mode of theory Y management. This then creates an effective home for the children to live at some where they can call home and some where those staff are happy to be.

Amazon Management Structure

Amazon Management Structure Management and Organization Behavior Introduction Whereas there are divergent views on the subject of leadership and management, the unanimous agreement among leadership experts like Myatt (2013) is that the interaction between managers/leaders and their subjects cannot exist in a vacuum. To fill this gap, several management concepts have been hypothesis over the years ranging from Contingency Theory and Systems Theory, to others such as Trait theory as well as Theory X and Theory Y. for example, Theory X and Y deals with how leaders perceive their employees motivation to work, and how this perception determines how such managers apply power and authority at the workplace. For instance, managers who support theory X believe that workers are naturally unmotivated and hate their jobs. Thus, such managers prefer an authoritarian style of leadership as they believe workers must be pushed to perform.ÂÂ   As we shall see later in the essay, Amazons employees are monitored very closely and strictly because their leaders believe they m ust be pushed to achieve results. On the other hand, managers who support theory Y believe that workers are happy, self-motivated and creative, and that such employees enjoy greater responsibility. Such types of managers allow workers to work freely without interference. According to Miles (2012), each of these leadership philosophies are applicable under unique set of circumstances and cannot therefore be contrasted against one another. Instead, the focus should be on using the relevant facets of each to design a better overall management philosophy that is relevant in the highly dynamic society we live in. One such attempt at understanding organizations and how people within them interact with each other was postulated by Morgan (1997), in his portrayal of organizations as political systems. In this regard, the Author posits that the levels and nature of political activities in organizations are determined by the kind of political rule that exists therein (Evans, Hassard Hyde 2013). Using Morgans model, this paper argues that Amazon is founded upon the political typology of management. Amazon.com, the largest E-commerce company is headquartered in the United States. Consequently, the analysis is based on an article published in the New York Times that offers an insight of what it means to be an employee at Amazon. Based on the personal anecdotes given by past and present workers at the firm, the essay will confirm the existence of all the six varieties of political rule as discussed in the subsequent paragraphs. Autocracy This refers to a situation where an individual or a small group of people within an organization hold absolute power (Grey 1999). This is made possible by the fact that the individual or group controls all the critical resources, holds considerable ownership rights, or is favored by the organizations traditions. Morgans view on the autocratic model is supported by other authors like Vellnagel (2013 p.5) who argues that autocratic or authoritarian leaders are known to employ the use of charisma as well as other personal privileges. He adds that Autocratic leaders view their positions as transcendent and therefore beyond reproach. As can be noted from the article on Amazon, there are certain incidences that point to an autocratic leadership model. For example, the company reportedly fires workers who fail to adapt to the companys corporate philosophy every year in what they term purposeful Darwinism. These lay-offs are ruthless as they target even those who suffer medical illness witho ut giving them time to recover (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). Similarly, autocracy manifests itself in the fact that the founder, Jeff Bezos, still runs the company and dictates the management philosophy although being a huge publicly traded company worth $250 billion. Based on one account from a former employee, Bezos enforces his Articles of Faith philosophy ruthlessly as he considers them a moral benchmark against which everything is to be measured. Moreover, the companys leadership exercise tight control on the flow of information by authorizing only a few senior managers to speak to the media meaning there is little room for freedom of expression with people outside the company. Perhaps the most ideal evidence of autocracy was witnessed from the incident where workers packing boxes were made to work in 100 degree heat without air conditioning and this continued even as some of them passed out. The situation only improved when the story received media coverage. In the last paragraph of the article, it is apparent that Amazon notifies its ca ndidates during job interviews that they either fit the profile or they dont (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). In other words, they have to embrace the Amazon way or leave, a pointer to the outright autocracy. Bureaucracy As noted by (Merz 2013 p.3) while discussing Max Webers theory of bureaucracy, the bureaucratic organization of activities is the hallmark of modernity, a view restate by Morgan when he consider that bureaucracies are based upon rational principles. In addition, bureaucracy refers to the leadership exercised through based upon a set of written words with little room for flexibility. Just like autocracy, bureaucracy is manifested in the management of Amazon based on some of the existing guidelines for employees. The first indication of bureaucracy is seen in the fact that the flow of information is extremely controlled with only a handful of senior management staff authorized to speak on behalf of the company meaning one has to follows a lot of convention to get any information about the company. Moreover, Amazons bureaucracy can be seen in the leadership principles drafted by the founder which dictates how employees should act. Whereas other technology-based companies allow some elem ent of flexibility in their workplace, Amazon drills its rules to both existing and potential workers meaning there is little room for flexibility. Another area where bureaucracy is evident comes from the companys performance improvement plan-a program aimed at putting non-productive workers on notice by administering close supervision to their daily tasks (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). Whereas this is a valuable tool for monitoring or increasing productivity, the model used at Amazon is rather inflexible as workers are punished indiscriminately without taking time to determine the causes of reduced productivity. As can be noted from the accounts of various workers who have fallen victim to the program, failure to meet set targets is most caused by unavoidable circumstances such as ill health (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). Whereas the company is aware of this glitch in their program, it is apparent that senior management has shown little willingness to adjust their performance management policies to consider these factors. Technocracy In this regard, Morgan claimed that authority is exercised through application of knowledge, power of experts, as well as the capacity to generate solutions for common challenges. Other experts like Olson (2015) concur with this view arguing that leadership under technocracy is appointed based on specialized knowledge or expertise. Based on the Amazon corporate philosophy, this is perhaps the most distinct mode of political rule. For instance, the companys founder relies on data-driven type of management. In this regard, Jeff Bezos has extreme confidence in the power of metrics, and this philosophy was influenced by his earlier responsibility at D. E. Shaw in the early 90s whereby the use of algorithms disrupted what was being used by Wall Street at the time. In addition, the application of technocracy to generate solutions can be seen in the companys policy that requires all workers to display ownership by mastering every aspect of their business. Amazons employees are to explore is sues deeply and come up with creative knowledge-based solutions that will help solve customers problems (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). One example of this can be seen as the company is breaking down its technological boundary to come up with new innovative ways to deliver to their customer i.e. package delivery by drone and automated resupply of toilet paper. These ideas are all generated by the companys employees as part of what is expected of them. Based on the account of other workers, Amazon has been rather fast in responding to changes which everybody else in the workplace is just beginning to experience. As summarized by a former personnel officer at the company, data allows the company to continuously monitor individual performance. In this regard, most of the past and present employees at Amazon consistently agree that the company has the technological edge and represents where others would like to be in the future. Co-determination This refers to a type of political rule that involves opposing parties that come together to as one to manage projects that are of mutual interests (Grey 1999). In this regard, each party draws upon a specified power base. Whereas the senior authority or power at Amazon remains largely centralized, there are components of the organization, especially at the lower levels, where the concept of co-determination is evident as can be seen from the accounts of the past and present employees. For example, the Anytime Feedback Tool is a gadget that exists in the company directory with the objective of making it possible for workers to interact with the management team about the progress, or lack of their colleagues (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). While these tools can be used by a section of employees to settle personal scores with their colleagues, it is also a valuable tool as it creates two centers of authority in the workplace. Essentially, the employees from opposing teams can decide to unite to execute projects of mutual interests as opposed to having a go at one another. Direct democracy In this mode of political rule, everyone within the organization has the right to participate in making decisions at any one given time regardless of their title or job designation (Morgan 1997). More importantly, Kane and Patapan (2012) believe this type of political rule encourages workers to take initiative and self-organize as opposed to waiting for instructions on even incidental matters. As can be noted from the example of Amazon, there are several instances that demonstrate the existence of direct democracy. For example, it is Amazons policy to allow workers of all staff to tell each others ideas during meetings without fear of being blame by someone because the companys founder is a strong believer that this free exchange between workers breeds creativity (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). As noted by experts, direct democracy is critical in technology based companies because strict and conservative atmosphere restrain creativity. Thus, Amazon allows even the junior workers to make major contributions as can be seen from the companys development of the delivery-by-drone concept which it made public in the year 2013. Essentially, this project was reportedly a brainchild of one of the lower subordinate engineers called Daniel Buchmueller (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). Another example of direct democracy at Amazon can be seen from the companys use of the Anytime Feedback Tool. Whereas employees whose details are sent to the management team may not be aware of who recommended or criticized their work ethic, it offers every single employee an opportunity to speak their minds about issues or people freely. This tool may also be handy in giving honest feedback about the work environment or conditions to the management. As mentioned earlier, Amazon employs a form of social structure that involves the competition of workers ideas and the best of these win. During this time, workers are encouraged to challenge one another freely. This cherish the feeling of fairness as the workers believe anyone of them has a chance to advance since promotions and other forms of rewards are given on the basis of merit with no favoritism. More importantly, employees are confer the opportunity to defend their colleagues if they feel such workers are being criticised unfairly. As can be noted from the article, the various line supervisors are given time to prepare their case which they can then use to defend members of their teams that are just about to get laid off (Kantor Steitfeld 2015). Conclusion This essay wanted to demonstrate that Amazon, through its founder Jeff Bezos employs the various mode of political rule in running the worlds largest E-commence business. My analysis was based on an article carried in the New York Times detailing the experiences of both past and present workers at the company. Consequently it emerged that Amazon uses Autocracy, bureaucracy, co-determination, technocracy as well as direct democracy in various aspect of the organization. With regard to autocracy, it is possible that the companys employees are forbidden from speaking to the media apart from top hierarchy position. This show just how closely Amazon controls information coming out of the company. Similarly, the workers confessions in the article suggest some level of bureaucracy in the management cycles. For example, the company has certain rules, some of which are obviously counterproductive going by the high number of people leaving the company. However, it is clear that the company is unwilling to change these rules even in the face of these massive turnovers. Besides bureaucracy, there are traces of co-determination at the company as can be seen from the companys policy that makes it possible for workers to work mutually towards their common interests rather than continue to work at cross purposes. The most obvious mode of political rule used at Amazon is technocracy and this is evident in several scenarios. For example, all Amazon employees are expected to master the complicated details of their work as well as the organization as the founder believes the knowledge enables them to solve customers problems better. More importantly, the company relies on performance sets to determine the fate of their employees meaning data forms a big part of the operational philosophy. Overall, Amazons believes is hiring and training the very best as they believe only those with specialised knowledge have the capacity to steer the company to the direction intended by the owner and founder.